Non-Negotiable

Greetings from Florida, friends. I am somewhat distracted from our common crusade against the Bolshevist horde, as I bask in the glow of the sub-tropical sun. Nonetheless, before I left Rochester, I found the time to write this article, which I dare say is one of my most important. Revelations continue to percolate to the effect that it is the Democrats who tried to "steal" the 2016 election by conniving with Russian spies. The time has come, therefore, to expose their shamelessness. Read on in American Greatness:

https://amgreatness.com/2017/12/29/a-special-prosecutor-should-probe-democrats-malfeasance/

And It Begins...

I wrote recently about Tom Steyer's ad blitz designed (at least superficially) to promote the impeachment of President Trump.  In fact, as I opined, Steyer's real objective was to promote himself.  Below you will find the first article I've encountered making the case for a Tom Steyer Presidential bid (!).  Why mess around with the Senate or the governorship of California when you can go straight to the top?  Steyer has doubled down on his impeachment outlays, and that's no surprise -- he is indeed getting traction with angry liberals (is there any other kind?).  Conservatives should take this threat seriously.  My best guess is that 40% of the country will believe ANY negative story or claim made about Donald Trump.  By no means is "Russia collusion" the worst they can dream up.  In my view, there ought to be a vigorous counterattack taking place against the impeachment zealots, and against the loonier elements in the Democratic Party.  Republicans and conservatives never win anything by default.  The left is organized and motivated, and we need to match them, stroke for stroke.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/27/trump-impeachment-digital-army-steyer-316702

Merry Christmas to All!

Friends, it goes without saying, I suppose, but I'll say it anyway -- MERRY CHRISTMAS!  I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday.  It's a season to be hopeful, thankful, reverent, and maybe a little joyous (time permitting).  Above all, it's a time to revel in the fact that, flawed as we miserable humans may be, God loves us anyway!  Talk about a stroke of luck...

As we prepare to welcome 2018, let's also reflect on all we've accomplished as Americans in 2017, which was a big year for our country.  The media is working feverishly to convince us that this is the darkest age that man has ever known.  Piffle!  Here is a brilliant summary of many of the things that have gone right under President Trump:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/year-one-list-81-major-trump-achievements-11-obama-legacy-items-repealed/article/2644159

To Resign or Not to Resign -- That is the Question...

Friends, I personally was surprised when the acerbic gadfly Al Franken announced his intention to resign from the U.S. Senate.  As the world's foremost debating society, the Senate was an ideal platform for Franken, whose delight in mocking conservatives and Republicans was all too evident.  How could a blowhard like Franken ever give up the limelight?  It seemed inconceivable, even if he had been, because of the sexual harassment and misconduct allegations against him, hoisted on his own petard. 

Now, though, it appears my instincts may be proven correct.  Recent reports indicate that there is a groundswell of support among Democrats and leftists for the idea that Franken should...un-resign!  As you will see in the article below, the argument is that Franken was railroaded, and surely he deserves due process before his political career is forfeited.  Quite right, but it is curious that liberals are discovering their fondness for one of the core principles of American justice after the defeat of Roy Moore, whose political life was ended by unproven accusations, which he steadfastly denied.  This leads us to ask: was Franken's resignation mere political theater, designed to give Democrats the moral high ground, so as to allow them to deal the deathblow to Moore, and thus pick up a critical seat in the Senate?  Or, alternatively, do Democrats simply dismiss the need to give conservatives and Republicans the same due process that they (occasionally) acknowledge is the birthright and constitutional prerogative of most Americans.  There was no hand-wringing on the left, after all, about Moore's rights, presumably because the left was happy to assume his guilt -- and they viewed any means that came to hand to destroy him politically to be worth trying.  Contrast this to the left's reaction to the innumerable allegations of sexual harassment (and worse) leveled against Bill Clinton.  President Clinton was vigorously defended by liberals, and his accusers were viciously attacked, most stridently of all by avowed feminists like Hillary Clinton.  The only consistency to the leftist line on sexual harassment and impropriety that I can detect, therefore, is this: conservatives who are accused of any crime whatsoever are automatically guilty, end of discussion.  (President Trump will know what I am talking about.)  Liberals who are similarly accused are entitled to a presumption of innocence and due process, probably (but possibly not, if they are white males and the news cycle is distinctly unfavorable to them).  Liberals who are important to the left's political viability, however -- a Democratic President, for instance, or a Democratic Senator in a state with a Republican Governor -- are not only presumed innocent; they must be innocent, because the alternative (of giving conservatives a temporary political advantage) is unacceptable, principles be damned!  This is, I think, the only formulation of leftist "justice" that makes any sense, given the evidence at hand... 

Am I wrong?  Believe me, I wish I was.  My gut tells me, though, that the liberal line on sexual harassment and impropriety is the same as their line on everything else: all is relative, in their eyes, and what it is relative to is the overriding assumption that leftist ideology, and leftist ideologues, must not be deflected from their long march to victory.  The achievement of a leftist utopia, therefore, justifies the negation of any and all countervailing conventional moralities.  It also justifies a scorched earth approach to political combat, according to which whoever gets in their way will be burnt to a cinder.  In my opinion, any conservative who does not fear immolation at the hands of these "progressive" zealots is simply not paying attention.

Here, then, is the promised article.  Waddy reports, you decide:

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/18/manchin-franken-senate-resign-300843

As Alabama Goes, So Goes...Nothing Much

Hi, friends.  Well, it happened -- the Democrat Doug Jones defeated Judge Roy Moore in Alabama.  The Republican Senate majority is now a puny 51-49.  That's a bummer, and it will make it harder to achieve many conservative goals, but life will go on, and, as I explain in my latest article, the results of the 2018 mid-term elections are anything but a foregone conclusion.  To make a long story short, Alabama, and America, will rise again!  Read all about it here:

When Moore is Less: What We Can Learn from Roy Moore's Defeat

Doug Jones' narrow win over Judge Roy Moore in deep-red Alabama will come as a disappointment to many conservatives. Republicans must also fear that Jones' win signals impending doom for GOP candidates across the country in 2018. Such is unlikely to be the case.

First, the circumstances in the Alabama race were, to put it mildly, unusual. The accusations of sexual impropriety leveled against Moore were devastating, especially in the context of his ambiguous denials. We may never know how much truth there is in the various allegations, but there is no doubt that they accomplished their objective, from the perspective of the Washington Post: they defeated Roy Moore. Granted, Moore was already a weak candidate with a checkered past, and, absent the sexual misconduct story line, he would only have won narrowly, but he would have won, all the same. Needless to say, though, Democrats cannot count on every Republican candidate in 2018 being credibly accused of pedophilia, so these peculiar dynamics will never be reproduced.

Second, Moore lost in large measure because he was critically handicapped by a lack of conservative and Republican support. Numerous Republicans called on Moore to drop out of the race and/or suggested that he should be expelled from the Senate if he won the election. For several critical weeks the National Senate Republican Committee severed its ties with the Moore campaign. Likewise, although President Trump eventually declared his support for Moore, he did so with a focus on Doug Jones' liberalism, rather than on Moore himself, and he refused to visit Alabama. Most importantly, Jones received a torrent of donations from across the country, while Moore's fundraising languished. Jones was able to outspend Moore on the airwaves approximately 6 to 1. Arguably, the only thing that could have saved Moore was a heavy investment in negative ads against Doug Jones, in order to level the playing field, but given the lack of establishment support for Moore this was impossible. Democrats also benefited from the fact that, because the special election in Alabama was, at the time, the only election going, they could concentrate their resources and make a maximum effort.

Because of all these singular considerations, it is fairly obvious that the political dynamics in 2018 will be extremely different from those that resulted in Doug Jones' victory. Nonetheless, Republicans and conservatives should not be complacent. 

For one thing, Democrats have demonstrated, in Virginia and in Alabama, an ability to mobilize their core constituencies. It would appear that the media's efforts to keep liberals in a holding pattern of continuous frothing rage are working. Somewhat surprisingly, even black voters responded enthusiastically to Doug Jones' candidacy – or, at any rate, to the opportunity to defeat Roy Moore. This means that it is likely that Democratic turnout in 2018 will be robust.

In addition, conservatives should not console themselves with the idea that they “dodged a bullet” by avoiding Roy Moore's presence in the Senate. True, Moore would have been a potential albatross around the neck of Republicans, but the liberal attack lines against GOP candidates will be unchanged. The left will always label Republicans “anti-women,” as well as racist and homophobic, and they will always find evidence, even if it is contrived or ridiculous, to support their attacks. Republicans should not delude themselves with the idea that, by offering Roy Moore as a human sacrifice to political correctness, they can insulate themselves from charges of bigotry, chauvinism, and lechery. Far from it. 

It would appear that, as the Russia collusion narrative gradually unravels, liberals believe that sexual misconduct allegations may yet become the silver bullet that slays Donald Trump. Given the success that the left achieved along these lines in Alabama, we can expect such accusations to multiply even further in number. Of course, this is a double-edged sword for Democrats, since many of their own are susceptible to the same kind of charges.

In the end, while Republicans are right to worry about 2018, especially since the laws of political gravity suggest that a party currently so strong in almost every facet of American political life is due for a comeuppance, they should realize that nothing is inevitable, and indeed 11 months are a very long time in politics. 

Perhaps what should comfort Republicans the most is the fact that their present standing in state legislatures, governorships, and in the House of Representatives is so historically strong that Democrats would need to make truly massive gains in order to fundamentally alter the state of the nation's politics. There are innumerable ways in which they can be stymied, and surely, if Republicans can merely fight their way to a tie in the popular vote on election night, they will, by default, be the winners. 

In the Senate, moreover, the lineup of contests in 2018 is so favorable to Republicans that they could easily gain seats in that chamber even if they suffer losses in every other political domain. There is ample reason to hope, therefore, that the slender 51-49 majority that Republicans now enjoy in the Senate will soon be growing.

Republicans and conservatives, it may seem that we have arrived at a truly desperate hour, when even the good people of Alabama cannot be counted on to vote for Republicans. The truth, though, is that the country remains fundamentally divided between left and right, blue and red, and Democrats will have no easy time of it taking America by storm. If we keep our heads, we can ensure that they never do.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com.

Does America Need More Moore?

Friends, sometimes voters face hard choices.  They must consider voting for a candidate in whom they do not have complete confidence.  They may also have to weigh serious charges against a candidate, which may or may not be true, and which will almost always be politically-motivated.  If you live in the great state of Alabama, you know exactly what I mean.  Here is my analysis of the choice that Alabama voters face on Tuesday, December 12th:

Roy Moore for Senate – For Now...

On Tuesday, Alabama voters face a difficult choice. They can vote for Republican and conservative Judge Roy Moore, accused of sexual misconduct. They can vote for the Democrat, Doug Jones, and potentially scuttle the barely functioning Republican majority in the Senate. Or, lastly, they can choose to not vote at all, which is, given the political dynamics, effectively a vote for Jones and for Democratic obstructionism. Of these options, clearly the best is to vote for Roy Moore, as I will explain.

There are currently 52 Republicans out of 100 Senators, giving the Republicans a precarious majority, and in many instances a wholly insufficient one, given the filibuster. Mitch McConnell failed to push a repeal of Obamacare through the Senate largely because of this flimsy majority. The tax bill only passed by a razor thin 51-49 margin. Since the election, moreover, the only thing the Senate has done with a degree of efficiency and dispatch is approve President Trump's cabinet appointments and judicial nominees. Even this will become difficult, however, if Democrat Doug Jones prevails and becomes Alabama's next Senator. In short, the ability of conservatives to accomplish anything whatsoever in Washington, D.C. hinges on maintaining and expanding the Republican majority in the Senate. That conservatives would acquiesce to shrinking this majority is inconceivable. This is ample reason to vote for Roy Moore.

In addition, as Americans, we should remember that Roy Moore is entitled to a presumption of innocence. Various women accuse him of various misdeeds. Some of these allegations are relatively inconsequential; some of them are extremely consequential, amounting to sexual assault and child abuse. It is possible that Roy Moore is guilty of the former and innocent of the latter. If so, this would surely matter. It is possible that he is wholly innocent. It is also possible, we must admit, that he is guilty of everything of which he has been accused, and maybe of even worse. We do not know for sure, and that is the point: we cannot condemn a man solely on the basis of accusations. Evidence must be weighed, and due process must be applied.

What would due process look like? It could occur in the context of a Senate Ethics Committee investigation, or one or more of the women who accuse Moore could sue him in civil court, perhaps arguing that he has defamed their character by denying their truthful allegations, and then a jury would have the opportunity to decide the case. This would be infinitely preferable to trying Moore in the court of public opinion, and thus allowing the moral conscience of the Washington Post to decide who is eligible to become a U.S. Senator. 
 

If Moore was to be proven guilty of any crime, then presumably he would resign from the Senate, or he would be deprived of his seat by a two-thirds vote of his colleagues. Alabama's Republican Governor would then appoint a (suitably conservative) replacement, and we would be right back where we started. In the interim, therefore, electing Roy Moore to the Senate does no obvious harm.

Alabama voters are justly hesitant to vote for a man accused of sexual impropriety. They should remember, however, that it is impossible to know the heart of any political candidate with absolute certainty. Any politician could turn out to be a sexual predator, a homicidal maniac, a serial arsonist, or even a lawyer. We live in a fallen world, and thus it would be folly to expect that any potential officeholder will embody perfection. Nevertheless, we should always give our fellow men and women the benefit of the doubt.

Along these lines, we should not lose sight of the fact that Roy Moore is a principled conservative, who has demonstrated a willingness to make personal sacrifices in order to uphold his most deeply cherished beliefs. (And these beliefs are, after all, the real reason why liberals detest him.) Twice, Moore has been removed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. Both times, this was because of his adamant refusal to comply with judicial orders he thought were wrong. Although dedicated to the law, in other words, Moore recognizes a higher law, which he is unwilling to transgress. This makes Moore, arguably, a bad judge, but it does not make him a bad man. Even liberals admire civil disobedience, when they sympathize with the underlying cause.

Roy Moore's granite resolve, I would argue, does not make him unfit to be a U.S. Senator. It makes him uniquely fit to be a U.S. Senator, especially in an age when few other politicians are willing to jeopardize their power and perquisites to serve a higher cause. The question, then, is whether Moore's alleged misdeeds negate his obvious merits. Only time will tell, and for now, therefore, Alabama voters should base their choice on what we know about Judge Moore – that he is a devout Christian and a steadfast conservative – and not on politically-motivated and largely unsubstantiated allegations.

Alabama voters should pick Moore, secure in the knowledge that, if the allegations against him are ever proven true, then there is a system in place to remove him, and the people of Alabama, not the press, will once again decide who gets to represent them in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com.

The Impeachment Circus Comes to Town

Friends, it's finally happened: the House of Representatives has voted on articles of impeachment directed at President Trump.  Now, today's vote was purely symbolic, but the numbers are interesting.  58 Democrats (and zero Republicans) voted to proceed with the articles of impeachment.  Keep in mind that these articles didn't even specify a violation of the law -- they merely advanced the argument that Trump is a big meanie stupidhead, and thus should be ejected from office.  To my mind, 58 seems like a low number.  Liberals all across the country are embracing impeachment wholeheartedly, and they long ago convicted Trump, in their warped minds, of treason, obstruction of justice, jaywalking, and other assorted high crimes and misdemeanors.  In addition, any Democrat who DOESN'T vote for impeachment risks a primary challenge from the left.  Why not get on with it and impeach him, therefore?  Partly, their hesitation is a result of fidelity to the Democratic leadership, which believes that we need to let the investigations of Trump play out before impeaching him (big of them, I know).  Partly, Democrats are also worried that impeachment could backfire.  After all, Republican efforts to impeach President Clinton only polarized the country and gave him breathing space to rebuild his popularity.  He left office in good shape, if his polling numbers are a reliable indicator.  Impeachment is an extreme remedy, after all, and in some ways Democrats might prefer to wound Trump rather than remove him.  They seem to expect that they will make massive gains in 2018 -- why jeopardize those gains by pursuing a risky impeachment gambit?  For now, President Trump is safe.  Presumably, though, Mueller will give the impeachment crowd cover to advance their agenda out in the open, and in strength, soon enough.  Don't be surprised if Mueller waits to release his specious "findings" until they can do maximum damage to Republicans.  Above all, gird yourselves, because this is only the beginning of a long, gruesome fight!

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/363544-house-rejects-democratic-resolution-to-impeach-trump#.WihRfp5ieWA.twitter

Just When You Thought the NFL Was Recovering Its Sanity...

Friends, the kneeling and black power salutes have abated somewhat, but what price is the NFL prepared to pay to keep a lid on its un-patriotic players?  Check out this article, which details the NFL's plans to steer its charitable giving to radical leftist organizations linked to George Soros.  Sadly, this is a common ploy on the left: essentially, businesses and organizations are given an ultimatum either to donate to leftist causes (and institute quotas) or face unending charges of "racism!", "sexism!", etc etc.  Jesse Jackson was a master practitioner of this form of P.C. extortion.  It's sad, needless to say, to see the NFL succumb to these tactics.  In the end, the only way to defeat them is to fight fire with fire.  By that I don't mean to fight extortion with extortion, but rather to use the power of the purse to motivate organizations like the NFL to straighten up and fly right.  In short, if fans refuse to watch the NFL, or attend games, or buy merchandise, advertisers will in turn pressure the league to show more respect to the flag and cease patronizing radical groups.  This can be a winning strategy, but in all likelihood it will necessitate canning Roger Goodell.  When that happens, we'll know the tide has finally turned.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/4/nfl-inks-deal-george-soros-linked-social-justice-g/

Tom Steyer: Public Enemy Number One?

Hi friends.  Dr. Waddy is at it again -- calling out the Left for its dastardly deeds.  Today I published an expose of Tom Steyer in The Daily Caller.  Steyer is the billionaire who is funding tv and internet ads calling for the impeachment of President Trump.  His reasoning is of course specious, but his agenda is even more frightening.  His contempt for democracy and for the rights of conservative Americans is also boundless.  This is a man who you need to keep tabs on.  Elite leftists like Tom Steyer will impose judicial tyranny on us, if they get half a chance.  Read on, and arm yourself with knowledge!

http://dailycaller.com/2017/12/01/the-billionaire-behind-calls-for-trumps-impeachment-has-a-hidden-agenda/