Reagan's Biggest Headache

 

Friends, believe it or not, there was a moment in Reagan's presidency when some were questioning whether "The Gipper" could retain the trust and confidence of the American people.  It was during the "Iran-Contra" scandal that plagued the Reagan Administration in 1986-87.  The scandal was immensely complex, but the upshot was that Reagan's involvement was sufficiently vague that he was never himself under any legal cloud.  Of course, that vagueness was partly the result of the destruction of evidence by several of the principals in the scandal.  Be that as it may, Reagan recovered his footing and left office greatly loved by most Americans.  No wonder conservatives think of the Reagan era as the "good ole days"!  Oh, he also kicked the USSR's behind, in his spare time.  That's nifty too.  In any case, in this week's Newsmaker Show, Brian and I delve deep into Iran-Contra, and, when we've slaked our thirst there, we also talk about DJT's legal troubles and the state of the polls heading into November.  Don't miss out!

https://wlea.net/newsmaker-august-31-2022-dr-nick-waddy/

Farewell, Gorby!

 

Friends, today we bid "Adieu!", or, more accurately, "Dasvidania!", to Mikhail Gorbachev, last leader of the Soviet Union before its untimely demise in 1991.  It bears mentioning that our victory in the Cold War (by default), and the USSR's obliteration, were never part of Gorbachev's master plan.  In many ways, the Soviet unraveling, and the opening of Soviet society that preceded it, were accidental developments that quickly spun out of Gorbachev's control.  Ergo, he was less a brilliant or a successful leader than he was one blessed with blind luck.  Or was it luck?  Many Russians now view "Gorby" as a lackey of the West, and as the man who torpedoed Greater Russia in favor of opening a few McDonald's franchises.  Be that as it may, we in the West owe Gorbachev hearty thanks, and for countless reasons, but first among them the fact that, as the Soviet Union unraveled -- a process fraught with peril for the whole world -- his leadership was just steady enough to prevent armageddon.  Whew!  We dodged the bullet there.  So...spasiba, Mikhail!  In a very real sense, those of us still alive and kicking today are only so fortunate because of you.  Let's try not to blow the immense gift that God and Gorbachev, working (somewhat incongruously) together, have given us, hmm?

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-62732807

 

In other news, the social media giants are conspiring to maintain their monopolistic grip on digital discourse in countless ways, but first among them is a series of devious machinations to crush the competition.  First, it was Parler, and now it's Truth Social.  I've been meaning to get on Truth Social for a while now.  Sadly, my Android phone won't be of much help -- and Google aims to keep it that way.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/google/2022/08/30/id/1085263/

The Science of Hypocrisy

 

Friends, the U.S. Open (the tennis version) is getting underway, and notably absent, as many of you will know, will be Novak Djokovic.  The reason?  He's unvaccinated.  As the article belows lays bare, unvaccinated people will fill the stands at the Open, but Djokovic, because he's a non-citizen, won't even be allowed in the country, and he certainly won't be allowed to compete.  That makes zero sense.  It's simply an expression of the Left's COVID fascism.  They believe, as a matter of principle, that unvaccinated people should be treated like dirt.  Sadly, from their perspective, unvaccinated citizens still have rights, which our courts are inclined to respect (a little).  Unvaccinated non-citizens, however -- foreigners -- have fewer rights, and therefore the government can treat them like dirt all it likes.  And so it does.  And keep in mind that the left-wing bureaucrats and Dem politicians who are making these decisions about discriminating against unvaccinated non-citizens are, in many cases, the same people who advocate giving welfare and free medical care, via Medicaid, to non-citizens, and indeed to illegal aliens.  They also increasingly favor giving VOTING RIGHTS to non-citizens, and some deep blue municipalities have already done so.  But denying unvaccinated non-citizens the ability to enter the country and/or play tennis?  Oh, that's a no-brainer.  Figure that one out.  Already this year Russian nationals were denied the opportunity to play at Wimbledon.  Now one of the best players in the world is being excluded from the U.S. Open for equally arbitrary and asinine reasons.  This is cancel culture run amok, if you ask me.  For shame!

https://www.commonsense.news/p/let-djokovic-play

How 'Bout THESE Meloni?

 

Friends, this woman, Giorgia Meloni, is poised to become Italy's next Prime Minister, and the talking heads are all agape.  That's because she's "extreme", "far-right", "right-wing", "Eurosceptic", and "fascist".  In other words, she's my kinda gal!  Study up on her, because she could be the first wave of a bunch of new conservative, nationalist rulers who come to power in the midst of Europe's Ukraine-induced recession -- and the latest wave of illegal immigrants.  I'm cautiously optimistic.

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220826-italy-s-far-right-meloni-launches-campaign-riding-high-in-the-polls

 

In other news, you guessed it: you can either vote for Democrats in 2022, or you can vote to replace our democracy with blood-spattered "semi-fascism".  Gee, where have I heard that before?  It almost seems like everything we hold dear hangs by a thread in EVERY election, doesn't it?  It's enough to make you break out in cold sweats.

 

 https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/08/25/biden_maga_republicans_are_a_threat_to_our_democracy_embrace_political_violence.html

Out of the Mouth of Babes

 

Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show is replete with gold-plated analysis of the election results from Tuesday, including right here in the People's Republic of New York and in the Celestial Kingdom of DeSantia.  Brian and I also consider President Biden's bold decision to spend more of your money on student loan forgiveness, the teetering American psyche, plus the likelihood that California will succeed in its ambition to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars.

When we turn to "This Day in History", Brian and I analyze the legacy of Samantha Smith, kid activist in the 1980s who paid a goodwill visit to the Soviet Union, and we also talk about German atrocities in Belgium in 1914, President Reagan's stance on civil rights, and President Truman's seizure of the railways in 1950 and the disturbing precedents that exist in American history for the curtailment of almost all of our rights.

Gee, sounds like a real downer!  And yet...you'd be a fool not to tune in...

https://wlea.net/newsmaker-august-25-2022-dr-nick-waddy/

 

***

 

In other news, I said recently that we'll know the recession in the housing market is real when prices actually start to fall.  We didn't have long to wait!

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/home-prices-tumble-july-posting-biggest-decline-2011 

Finally, are you ready for Reason # 337 why the 2020 election was rigged in Joe Biden's favor?  Here it is.  There's a real possibility that good news about COVID vaccines was delayed until after the election so as to ensure Trump's defeat.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/covid-19-vaccines-nate-silver/2022/08/25/id/1084664/

Gulp!

 

Friends, my latest article is every bit as thrilling as a James Cameron film, but let's just say that the ending might resemble Titanic more than it does Aliens.  Read into that what you will.  The upshot of my analysis is that I am troubled by how depressed and anxious most Americans are already, when the worst of our economic challenges still lie ahead.  See if you don't agree.

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2022/08/23/the-yawning-abyss-n2612119

 

***

 

In other news, look for President Biden to play Fairy God-Grandfather to the American people in the next few weeks by greatly expanding federal student loan forgiveness.  Needless to say, Democrats couldn't care less about the long-term financial or fiscal consequences.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/22/politics/student-loan-white-house/index.html 

Here are two signs that the "looming" recession might already be here, or is at least nearer than economists would like to think.  The housing market is just beginning to slide into recession.  We'll know it's for real when prices start to ease.  And overall private sector economic activity is down: that's a metric that's harder to second-guess!

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/homes/new-home-sales-july/index.html

 

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-private-sector-activity-contracts-again-august-survey-shows-2022-08-23/ 

Finally, what North Carolina's Supreme Court is doing is truly shocking: they're selectively nullifying actions of the state legislature and popular votes on constitutional amendments because the redistricting of said legislature was later found to be improper.  Think about that precedent!  I mean, why not nullify everything that Trump did, including his SCOTUS appointments, because the 2016 election was compromised by foreign interference...  Makes every bit as much sense.  Look for more seditious pettifoggery like this to emerge after we win in November.  Many Democrats will reject the legitimacy of those wins, I guarantee you!

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/north-carolina-judges-progressive/2022/08/23/id/1084247/

I'm Sorry, Dave, But You're A Fascist Butthead

 

Friends, there's oodles of fascinating news today, including this piece, which discusses a novel form of artificial intelligence that Facebook hopes to use to "fact-check" Wikipedia articles.  That raises the intriguing question: can A.I., once it becomes mainstream, be taught to replicate and affirm the same twisted leftist values espoused by most of the "experts" who created it?  Remember, only conservatives are capable of creating and sharing "misinformation".  Information purveyed by leftists, even if it's false, is by definition safe for mass consumption.  It's not hard to imagine that leftist preferences can be transformed into hardware and software, is it?  Look out!

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/22/unholy-alliance-facebook-wants-to-fix-wikipedia-with-ai/

 

In yet another sign that civilization is slipping from our grasp, the American Historical Association, which I suppose I must have joined once upon a time when I was looking for work, has distinguished itself by its sycophancy towards woke radicals.  Read all about it here:

 

https://www.aier.org/article/the-suicide-of-the-american-historical-association/ 

Meanwhile, the leftist narrative, which is more or less synonymous with the mainstream media narrative, is increasingly coalescing around one simple theme: that conservatives and Republicans are violent, lawless, and dangerous.  Now, when you consider all the thousands of Americans who've been skinned alive by roving bands of maniacal Trumpers, sure, that makes a certain amount of sense.  The scary thing, though, is not that Americans will accept this leftist narrative at face value -- they won't -- but that leftists themselves believe their own crap, and leftists are running the country, in case anyone's forgotten.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: assuming these people believe what they say, why wouldn't they assassinate or jail Trump, or mount a coup in 2024, or cancel the next presidential election, or send us all to live in camps?  I mean, they'd be doing a public service, by the logic of their own (demented) worldview...

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/21/all-republicans-are-now-terrorists/

 

The Left supports discrimination.  It's that simple.  Here's Exhibit #582.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/education/2022/08/22/report-uc-berkeley-off-campus-house-bans-white-guests-from-common-areas-to-avoid-white-violence/ 

Finally, the vast majority of economists believe that we're not currently in a recession, BUT we soon will be.  Ponder that.  What it means is that economic conditions now are but a modest foretaste of the adversity to come.  In that light, also ponder this recent Gallup poll.  It says record numbers of Americans define themselves as "suffering".  A slim majority still classify as "thriving", mind you.  Of course, these are extremely subjective psychological states.  The important thing is: how much worse could the public mood become, if a severe and deep recession were to unfold in 2023...or even a mild downturn?  Wait and see.

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2022/08/22/72-of-economists-expect-a-recession-by-middle-of-next-year/

 

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/gallup-poll-americans/2022/08/22/id/1084074/ 

Make Babies, Already!

 

Friends, today I invite you to read this fascinating and detailed analysis of the fertility crisis besetting -- currently -- the Western world and -- soon -- the world as a whole.  Many of its insights I agree with completely, except for one.  It suggests that young people aren't procreating because of their rational concerns about climate change, poor job prospects, and declining standards of living.  Nonsense!  Never has humanity been less vulnerable to weather-related threats.  Never have personal incomes and living standards been higher, and they're still rising overall.  Sure, adjusting to the modern economy can be challenging, and some people have made dreadful choices that make their path to success moderately perilous, but if people just stopped to compare their "first world problems" to the deprivation, oppression, and constant physical danger that most human beings faced through most of history, they might gain a little perspective.  So, America, get off your backsides and get fruitful and multiply ASAP!  I insist.

https://quillette.com/2022/08/20/the-unexpected-future/?fbclid=IwAR29U0Hg-HwVW3ZYy0o9zDqBuoWeGu0miEQPt8yDCjVgDNBvLKGw0VSbgn0

 

In other news, here's a (terribly written) editorial defending the new policy of Minneapolis's public schools that they will fire white teachers before they fire black ones.  The shameless racism you'll see here is truly jaw-dropping.  The normalization of racial discrimination on the Left is something we have to contend with, though -- and, if we get another term of "Democratic" rule in 2024-28, you can bet that neo-Marxist judges will be imposing this sort of bigotry on all of us, and don't even dream of complaining about it when you're given a pick slip, because that would be (you guessed it) RACIST!

 

https://thegrio.com/2022/08/19/the-whitelash-behind-minneapolis-plan-to-fire-white-teachers-explained/ 

Speaking of education, here's an eloquent defense of charter schools, school choice, and indeed any alternative that presents itself to subjecting your kids to the horrors of a public school miseducation!

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/traditional-public-schools-deserve-all-the-blame-for-their-own-enrollment-crisis

The Gestapo: Back in Business?

 

Friends, today you might want to ponder two very interesting polls by Rasmussen Reports.  One asks likely voters whether, in the aftermath of the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid, Biden is now treating G-Men as his "personal Gestapo".  53% agree!  That's extraordinary.  Depending on how you look at it, this means most Americans equate the FBI with Nazi Germany's secret police, OR they equate Biden himself with Hitler and/or Himmler.  Either way, you'd have to conclude that a) the American people are deeply cynical and pessimistic about the state of the nation, and b) they are profoundly ignorant of the reality of fascism and totalitarian rule.  On the other hand, slightly more Americans have a positive view of the FBI, overall, than have a negative view.  Figure that one out!  I sure can't.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/majority-see-fbi-as-bidens-personal-gestapo-after-trump-raid

 

In other Rasmussen Reports-related news, Republicans have expanded their lead over Democrats on the generic ballot question, which, if you're keeping track, is precisely the OPPOSITE of what has happened in several MSM polls.  In other words, who's got the edge heading into November?  Pick your pollster carefully, and you'll get whatever answer to that question you desire.  That makes prognosticating more difficult than ever, although the average of polls, and the oddsmakers, agree that it's unlikely that the Dems can hold both houses.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/19/rasmussen-poll-republicans-expand-lead-generic-congressional-ballot-5-points/ 

Who's More Enraged?

 

Friends, the results that come in on election night in November will depend, as always, on turnout, and that in turn relies on motivation.  Some say that rank-and-file Dems are finally getting off their duffs because of anger over abortion rights, SCOTUS, miscellaneous "insurrections", and what not.  Maybe.  Others say that the most important issues to voters -- inflation, crime, illegal immigration -- all break Republicans' way.  Still others opine that the FBI raid on Trump's home might light a fire under Trumpers and drive them headlong to the polls.  Truthfully, no one knows for sure.  That's why we hold elections!  Personally, I'm still optimistic.  I believe that many MSM polls overstate Democratic support, and I would be genuinely shocked if, therefore, Republicans failed to capture the House.  The Senate, on the other hand, is a bigger lift.  Let's hope that Trump loyalists are fully activated, because without them the good guys don't stand a chance...

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/yougov-poll-trafalgar-group/2022/08/18/id/1083743/

Hitler's Understudy

 

Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show is replete with insights on the current predicament and future prospects of Liz Cheney, as well as the political fallout from the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid.  That is ample reason to tune in, but, in addition, Brian and I added some historical analysis of two WWII luminaries: George S. Patton and Rudolf Hess, Nazi Germany's Deputy Fuhrer.  Both men's careers took some mighty surprising twists and turns, as you'll find out (if you didn't know already).  I'd love to hear your thoughts on how history has judged, and misjudged, Patton and Hess...

https://wlea.net/newsmaker-august-18-2022-dr-nick-waddy/

 

***

 

In other news, there is very significant overlap between the FBI officials who brought you the Trump-Russia hoax and the Mueller inquiry, and those who were involved with the recent raid on Mar-a-Lago.  It's the Deep State in action, people!  Far from being held accountable for their misdeeds, Trump's original accusers are up to their old tricks.

 

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2022/08/18/fbi_unit_leading_mar-a-lago_probe_previously_led_russiagate_hoax_848582.html 

I'm not generally impressed or interested in anti-vaxxer claims, but even I had to sit up and take notice of this story.  It requires further scrutiny, if you ask me.  The corners that were cut during the pandemic, and the lack of transparency about the vaccines, are greatly troubling.

https://amgreatness.com/2022/08/16/report-44-percent-of-pregnant-women-in-pfizer-trial-lost-their-babies-fda-and-cdc-recommended-jabs-for-expectant-mothers-anyway/

 

Finally, public attitudes towards immigration and illegal immigration have grown more critical in recent years.  Gee, I wonder why?  Democrats are under the impression that everything is hunky-dory at the border, but everyone else sees the situation for the crisis that it is.  And NPR, needless to say, sees a racist behind every bush.

 

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/southern-border-invasion-immigration/2022/08/18/id/1083616/ 

She Has Only Begun to Fight

 

Friends, Liz Cheney lost big last night, as expected, and, also as expected, she had a big grin on her face like the Cheshire Cat.  That's because ole Liz probably never entertained any hope of holding on to her seat in Wyoming, the reddest of red states.  Instead, she's auditioning for the role of the Anti-Trump in the 2024 presidential campaign, or else she's going to continue her attempts to wreck the Republican Party by condemning anyone in it who doesn't profess vehement hatred of Donald Trump and Trumpism in all its forms.  In other words, she's a Republican who hates Republicans...and as such she's the only kind of Republican which the mainstream media can stomach.  She's got a bright future ahead of her in journalism, if she decides to go that route, but in all likelihood she intends instead to try to kneecap DJT on the campaign trail -- and perhaps to run in 2024 as an independent, although that would risk helping Trump as much, or more, than she hurts him.  Whatever happens, you can bet your bottom dollar that we haven't heard the last from Liz Cheney, and from all the Trump-hating RINOs she represents.

https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/16/wyoming-republicans-throw-liz-cheney-out-of-congress/

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62514009 

Electoral Hanky-Panky

 

Friends, while election fraud can be frustratingly hard to prove, inconsistencies in how the votes are counted can be every bit as decisive to the outcomes of our electoral process, and those inconsistencies are staring us in the face.  Check out this article.  Depending on whether election authorities in Los Angeles County are looking to maximize the numbers of votes -- as in a presidential election -- or minimize the numbers of signatures -- as in an attempt to recall a Democratic District Attorney -- they can fine-tune their screening of mail-in ballots accordingly to produce the desired result.  This happened in a big way in 2020: mail-in ballots, which had historically yielded high error rates, all of a sudden were almost never thrown out, because (you guessed it!) they were mostly votes for Biden, and therefore much too precious to waste.  This is why we need as many election observers, preferably with keen eyesight and law degrees, as humanly possible.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/16/l-a-claims-27-error-rate-in-recall-signatures-1-error-rate-in-mail-in-ballots-2020/

 

It's intriguing how few kids these days make use of Facebook.  Not so long ago Facebook was "cool", and everyone was on it, especially the young.  Now, the whippersnappers have all migrated to other social media platforms, and it's just your grandma on Facebook posting pictures of her cat.  Popular culture and public tastes sure do evolve quickly nowadays!

 

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2022/08/16/pew-research-gen-z-is-done-with-facebook-but-67-use-tiktok/ 

President Putin of Russia is accusing the U.S. of prolonging the fighting in Ukraine, irrespective of how many Ukrainians get fed into the meatgrinder of an unwinnable war.  I have to say, he may be right: it's hard to see how Ukraine can accomplish anything by this fighting except delaying the inevitable loss of Donbas.  It sure looks as though our main objective in supplying weapons to Ukraine is hobbling Russia, even though, by all appearances, Russia is hobbling already!

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/russia-u-s-security/2022/08/16/id/1083257/

 

Don't look now, but Robert Reich -- the leftist I love to hate -- is praising Liz Cheney!  That's a sure sign that she's doomed in tonight's primary, and also that Republicans are 100% right to throw her under the bus.  Sadly, as I posted yesterday, I think it's very unlikely that Cheney will "go away" after her primary defeat.  She seems to enjoy the limelight, and for the forseeable future the media will almost certainly be happy to give it to her.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/16/liz-cheney-politicians-stand-by-principles 

The Left is refreshingly consistent, if totally off base, on one important point: they believe that the answer to racial discrimination is...more discrimination.  They're happy to codify it into law as well, or to put it down in black and white in a contract.  As a matter of fact, they like to brag about how they discriminate on the basis of race, and they'll shamelessly promote their latest iteration of bigotry as a "national model"!  These people are something.  They are, quite literally, everything they profess to hate.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/16/white-minnesota-teachers-would-be-laid-off-first-under-new-contract/

The Liz Cheney Show: Renewed For Another Season?

 

Friends, tomorrow, Tuesday, Liz Cheney finally faces Wyoming voters, after having spat in their faces for the past two years, promoting Trump-hatred over the interests of the GOP, the conservative movement, and the nation.  She'll almost certainly lose her seat in Congress, but, as this article persuasively argues, she may remain active in U.S. politics for years to come, with an eye on challenging Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024.  She may not get many votes in that race either, but she'll get a whole lot of media interviews and oodles of campaign cash (note that she's already got a massive wad, most of which she's saving for a rainy day).

https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/15/cheneys-wyoming-fiasco-is-the-prelude-to-her-gadfly-gop-presidential-run/

 

In other news, the Dems are pressing hard on "abortion rights" leading up to November.  Is that a sign that they're sure the issue breaks in their favor, or is it merely a factor of their desperation, and their realization that most other "bread and butter" issues are a lost cause for Democrats, given the poor state of the economy, the border, crime, etc.?  Can "social issues" and pure, blinding Trump-hatred save Team Blue?  We shall see.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/why-abortion-has-become-a-centerpiece-of-democratic-tv-ads-in-2022/

 

I know many rank-and-file Republicans like myself would love to see Lisa Murkowski, RINO extraordinaire, ejected from the Senate, but, as this article suggests, she's a wily competitor and might not be easy to beat.

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3598974-why-trumps-effort-to-oust-murkowski-could-hit-hurdles/ 

Finally, the campaign of legal harassment against DJT and his associates continues to escalate.  It turns out the FBI confiscated Trump's passports when they raided his home.  Now they're sheepishly agreeing to return them.  And Rudy Giuliani is the focus of a criminal probe in Georgia regarding the 2020 election.  I have to ask: if a Fulton County prosecutor can target Giuliani over his alleged violations of the law regarding the 2020 election -- a total crock, mind you -- then why can't some Republican prosecutors target all those politicians and elections officials who we know broke the law in their conduct of the same election?  Aren't they every bit as guilty of undermining our democracy and tainting the process?  But of course Democrats and Bidenists who break the law are never held accountable.  What was I thinking?

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/15/trump-team-drops-email-proving-fbi-wrongly-seized-passports-media-doj-attempted-mislead-public/

 

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/giuiani-trumip-election/2022/08/15/id/1083167/ 

The Face of Justice

 

Friends, for better or worse, Merrick Garland has wagered his reputation on the legality and propriety of the FBI's recent raid on the home of Donald J. Trump.  It sure looks like the purpose of the raid was to cart off everything that wasn't nailed down.  Was it a fishing expedition?  Or is it the precursor to a small-minded prosecution of Trump for failing to respect the sanctity of federal documents?  One thing is for sure: Republicans have almost unanimously condemned the raid, and so has the New York Post, which was not inevitable, since the Post is part of the Murdoch empire, and the current crop of Murdochs are clearly not Trumpers.  Politically, therefore, what the raid seems to have accomplished is that it's driving more and more Republicans and conservatively-minded independents into the arms of DJT.  At a guess, that probably wasn't the goal.  A selective prosecution of Trump could make matters worse.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/13/ag-merrick-garlands-raid-of-trumps-mar-a-lago-is-a-farce-of-law/

 

On the other hand, the voters aren't nearly as outraged about the Mar-a-Lago raid as prominent conservatives seem to be.  They suspect political motivations, yes, but most of them also suspect that Trump is automatically guilty.  Bottom line: if the fruit of this tree is going to be a Trump prosecution, the American people won't exactly be up in arms about it.  Quite a few establishment Republicans might quietly cheer, as a matter of fact, even as they publicly tut-tut.

 

https://nypost.com/2022/08/12/voters-ok-with-mar-a-lago-raid-but-still-want-trump-24-run-poll/ 

 

Does communist China exert a troubling degree of influence over America's key institutions and its leadership class?  You betcha.  The same problem exists in Britain, as you'll see here.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/08/14/uk-university-posts-being-hand-selected-by-chinese-communist-party-according-to-political-beliefs-report/ 

Meanwhile, the Dems are pressing ahead with their bizarre strategy of offending China at the very same moment that we're juicing up a new Cold War with Russia.  I mean, what could go wrong?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62541750

 

Finally, it seems many British Conservatives are experiencing some buyers' remorse -- or is it sellers' remorse?  Most now wish they could keep Boris Johnson as P.M.  Mainly, that's a reflection on the voters' lack of enthusiasm for the two candidates vying to replace him.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/08/14/wrong-move-polls-show-boris-would-crush-wef-linked-sunak-truss-in-vote-for-tory-leadership/

Ever Faithful

 

 

Friends, the FBI's recent raid on Mar-a-Lago may have been all about building a case for prosecution, or it might simply have been part and parcel of the grand narrative the Left has been fostering for years that Trump is a dangerous, lawless maniac.  One thing is for sure: the latest attempt by the Dem/leftist establishment to blacken the name of Donald Trump has fallen flat, especially with Republicans.  In fact, DJT's numbers have gone up with GOP voters, and his favorability remains better than Biden's.  Now, that doesn't mean that the DOJ won't try to put Trump in the slammer and throw away the key if he "mishandled" even one precious document, but it sure does complicate this rearguard action to game the results of the 2024 presidential election long before the campaigning even gets underway.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/12/nolte-republican-support-trump-hits-record-high-after-fascist-fbi-raid/

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/other/FavorabilityRatingsPoliticalLeaders.html 

In other news, with the release of the warrant used to search Trump's home, we know a little more about the nature of the materials that the FBI was looking for.  The revelation that there may be a "mole" in Trump's inner circle is intriguing.  Trump has been plagued by leakers and turncoats from the beginning.  That's presumably because all of the Dem establishment and most of the Republican establishment loathes Trump, and will do virtually anything to destroy him.  My personal opinion is that Trump had better get A LOT better at discerning his friends from his enemies if he hopes to win in 2024, and if he hopes thereafter to get anything done.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-62527797

 

This breathless article about how the GOP plans to pull the rug out from under the public education system is worth a read.  Frankly, some of this angst is justified, because the Dems and their education allies must know that, as soon as parents are given a meaningful choice about how to educate their children, many of our failing and neo-Marxist public schools are in deep trouble.  I sincerely hope we end the government school monopoly on K-12 education, because doing so would be the singlest best step we could take to "save America" from the flood tide of crypto-Bolshevism. 

https://newrepublic.com/article/167375/republican-plan-devastate-public-education-america

 

As many of you know, we're about to get yet more government spending, and higher taxes, because Joe Manchin decided to back Senator Schumer's slimmed-down Build Back Better bill.  If Manchin hoped to earn anyone's gratitude, he must be sorely disappointed.  In fact, his favorability ratings have cratered.  Lefties still hate him, and now conservatives do too!  No wonder "compromise" is so hard to engineer in Washington, D.C.  It usually succeeds in pleasing no one, which is apparently Manchin's speciality.

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/manchin-net-favorable-rating-drops-29-points-after-reconciliation-deal/?taid=62f5b4de1a1c2c0001d14ca1 

FBI-sur-Mer

 

Friends, my latest appearance on the Newsmaker Show allowed me and Brian O'Neil to tackle some truly momentous issues, including the FBI raid on Donald Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, and it's implications for the American politics and American justice.  Basically, the Left is trumpeting a new form of "justice" in which everyone, and every group, it favors is above the law or automatically innocent, whereas the guilt of Trump and prominent Trumpers is a given and it becomes the duty of law enforcement and prosecutors to "get" the right before the voters have a chance to weigh its merits.  Bottom line: DJT is very unlikely to receive "equal justice" from the FBI, DOJ, or even the federal courts, and so he is indeed in legal jeopardy.  It would not be shocking to see him frog-marched off to federal prison.  (Good news for Team DeSantis?)

 

Brian and I also talk about the perils of NATO expansion, the "long game" for Liz Cheney, the futility of stirring the Taiwanese pot and incurring China's wrath, and the high stakes of the 2022 election, given that the Dems are very close (numerically) to bending the House and the Senate to their will -- and their will includes measures that would effectively end our multiparty democracy.  In a word, therefore, get out and VOTE! 

https://wlea.net/newsmaker-august-10-2022-dr-nick-waddy/

 

***

 

In other news, just in case you thought the DOJ's dragnet is only ensnaring Donald J. Trump, guess again.  FBI agents also seized the cell phone of a Trump ally in Congress.  What were they looking for?  Evidence of another "insurrection" (any day now), I would guess...  It sure looks like the Washington establishment has decided that their standard playbook of incessant calumny isn't working against Trump and Trumpism, so the time has come to "shake the tree" and experiment with the tools of law enforcement/malicious prosecution.  How far are they prepared to go?  We'll soon find out.

 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-ally-rep-scott-perry-says-fbi-seized-cell-phone-one-day-after-mar-a-lago-raid 

Electoral Eschatology

 

Friends, it's your lucky day!  The world may be ending soon, and you get a sneak peek...  No need to thank me.

My latest article is about how, should Republicans lose in 2022, there's at least a chance that all subsequent elections in the U.S. of A will be moot.  See if you don't agree...

Is the End Nigh for Republicans?

Nikki Haley recently made an offhand comment that "If we don't win in 2022, there won't be a 2024". It's unclear what she meant by that admonition, but it's one that we on the right should take seriously.

Clearly, the “we” in Haley's statement means Republicans and conservatives. Haley is implying that the election of 2022 represents an existential threat to the Republican Party, to the conservative movement, or perhaps to our constitutional order, our democracy, and our cherished freedoms. As it turns out, she's right on all counts.

Consider this: the absolute worst case scenario for the GOP in 2022 is that it will narrowly fail to capture the House and it will lose ground in the Senate. If that happens -- and it's about a 20% likelihood at this stage, according to most prognosticators -- then the Dems will be freed from the numerical and procedural shackles that have bound them since January 2021. They will be in a position to abolish the filibuster in the Senate, which in turn means that they could push through even the most ambitious items on their agenda: trillions in new spending, major steps towards socialized medicine, the evisceration of Americans' gun rights, the addition of several (blue) states to the Union, the federalization of our elections (rendering them much more susceptible to fraud), and, most importantly, they could pack the Supreme Court with pliant leftists, meaning they could implement even more radical changes without bothering to hold any votes in Congress at all. Neo-Marxism could be – would be – imposed on Americans by judicial fiat. And that, in case anyone is in doubt, means that it would be GAME OVER for Republicans and indeed for anyone who dissents from the Dem/progressive agenda. In all likelihood, dissent itself would become “hate speech”, the Republican Party would be proscribed, and all its “insurrectionist” leaders would end up breaking rocks in the Alaskan wilderness.

A tad hyperbolic, you say? The Dems would never push things so far? Maybe. Maybe not.

Consider that the vast majority of the Democratic caucus in the Senate already favors weakening or eliminating the filibuster so that “transformative” legislation can be passed. Opposition to the filibuster has grown on the Left (unsurprisingly) since the Dems took control of Congress. Electing a few more Democratic Senators would make this momentous step feasible.

And what about court packing? Surely the Dems would not be so audacious as to monkey with the high court? Think again: a steady drumbeat of anti-SCOTUS rhetoric now fills leftist airwaves, while a shocking 62% of Democrats already support kneecapping the judiciary through court packing.

But would the Dems actually persecute Republicans and conservatives, once they take full control of our political institutions? I mean, that sounds kinda mean! Here again, the evidence is clear: frightfully high numbers of Democrats expressed past support for detaining, censoring, fining, digitally tracking, or denying child custody to people who refused to get COVID vaccines, or who questioned the efficacy of those vaccines (and Democrats naturally correlate those behaviors to Trumpism). Polls also show that there has a been a massive rise in the number of Americans who believe that political violence can be justifiable, and by no means is this trend confined, as the media would have us believe, to Republicans and Trump supporters. Tens of millions of Democrats and leftists are primed to support violence against the right, and to assume that “fascists” deserve what they get. The Beltway elite, moreover, moves in “progressive” social circles where such views are routinely expressed and rarely questioned. Republicans and conservatives, beware!

I remain optimistic about 2020, but the truth is nevertheless that our country is poised on the edge of an abyss. We are literally just one inclement election cycle away from, as the Dems would have it, "abolishing democracy" and losing all or most of our constitutional rights. We would do well to remember that, and thus to exert ourselves mightily to win, win, win in 2022, as though our lives and our liberties depended on it.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.

 

And here it is at World Net Daily:

 

https://www.wnd.com/2022/08/end-nigh-republicans/ 

 

***

 

In other news, another pro-impeachment "Republican" bites the dust.  Good riddance.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/08/trump-backed-joe-kent-projected-defeat-impeachment-backer-jaime-herrera-beutler-washington-state/ 

And, just in case you were unaware, the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida today.  The pretext appears to be the potential mishandling of presidential records.  Can you say "prosecutorial discretion/misconduct"?  It will be fascinating to see how this will play out politically.  If the goal was to intimidate Trump himself, the raid appears to have been a monumental failure.

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/donald-trump-fbi/2022/08/08/id/1082256/

The Unbearable Trumpness of Being

 

Friends, another day, another big win for Trump -- in a poll of conservatives' preferred choice for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.  Big yawn, you say?  Fair enough, but the remarkable durability of Trump's appeal, flying in the face of ceaseless, practically manic efforts by the establishment to blacken his name, is remarkable, to say the least.  What's more, an election loss is usually more than enough to cause disenchantment to take hold among a former president's supporters.  Not for Trump.  His likeability and favorability, as far as Republicans and Americans in general is concerned, is more or less unchanged from 2020.  In fact, it's slightly higher -- the January 6th committee be damned!  Trump has been defying gravity since 2015.  Can he do so once more in 2024?  Don't count him out.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3591195-trump-wins-cpac-straw-poll-with-more-than-two-thirds-of-the-vote/

 

Nikki Haley recently made an offhand comment that "If we don't win in 2022, there won't be a 2024".  She doesn't seem to have explained what she meant, but it's a concept that we on the right should take seriously.  The absolute worst case scenario for the GOP in 2022 is that they will narrowly fail to capture the House and they will lose ground in the Senate.  If that happens -- and it's about a 20% likelihood at this stage -- then the Dems will be in a position to abolish the filibuster, add (blue) states to the Union, federalize our elections, and most importantly pack the Supreme Court with pliant leftists.  I remain optimistic about 2020, but the truth is nevertheless that our country is poised on the edge of an abyss.  We are just one election cycle away from, as the Dems would have it, "abolishing democracy" for all intents and purposes.  We would do well to remember that and thus to exert ourselves mightily to win, win, win in 2022.

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/nikki-haley-midterms/2022/08/07/id/1082081/

 

Finally, Stacey Abrams, Georgia's pseudo-Governor and honorary President of Earth, talks nonsense all the time, but recently she made the extraodinary claim that abortion should not be restricted based on "arbitrary gestational limits".  Now, a trimester-based calendar of abortion rights is precisely what Roe v. Wade was based on.  What Abrams is saying, although she would never admit it, is that she and the progressive movement have moved way beyond Roe and the Supreme Court of 1973 in their advocacy of abortion rights.  They want late-term abortions, in short, and lots of them.  They also want to be free to trumpet Roe as a pillar of American liberty while at the same time rejecting its fundamental logic in favor of more radical forms of social engineering.  In other words, they want to make contradictory claims simultaneously and they feel entitled never to be called on their non sequiturs.  As long as Abrams keeps appearing on NBC, her wish will probably be granted.

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/08/07/stacey-abrams-abortion-laws-can-not-set-arbitrary-gestational-limits/

Can the Rule of Law Be Overruled?

 

Friends, if there's one thing that the modern Left believes, it's that people it doesn't like are automatically guilty of...everything, while people it does like, usually for reasons of partisan affiliation or identity politics, are automatically innocent.  Evidence, per se, is beside the point.  That's why it's so scary when leftists become judges, or prosecutors, because the Constitution and the law, as they are written, quickly become mere loose guidelines in the hands of these creative thinkers.  Their subtle minds can explain to you all day long why Donald Trump is guilty of insurrection and fraud merely for questioning an election, while Stacey Abrams isn't.  They can also explain why the Constitution, which never mentions abortion, contains a right to an abortion, but which does mention a right to keep and bear arms actually doesn't protect gun rights in the least.  But I digress: the point is that, when people whose comprehension of "truth" and "law" is so slippery get control of, say, the FBI, or the Department of Justice, or a federal judgeship, or a state Attorney General's office, or become a city District Attorney, they quickly find that great swaths of constitutional interpretation and of federal, state, and local law are odious to them...and so they set about trying to abolish them, either by commission or omission.  It's the latter that I would draw to your attention today.  "Justice Democrats" across this country are advocating the non-enforcement of laws that they find racist, sexist, homophobic, or merely inconvenient.  The Biden administration is embodying this approach in its refusal to implement our nation's laws against illegal immigration.  Worse, many local prosecutors are, as a matter of policy and on principle, refusing to prosecute people charged with the commission of a long list of serious crimes, many of them violent crimes.  As a result, crime is surging, especially in urban areas, but the prosecutors elected by the deep blue constituencies in these areas actually congratulate themselves for rolling back the hyper-racist police state that supposedly oppressed minorities until the progressives came along to liberate us from law and order.  This article, though, is about a specific case in which a specific conservative Republican, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, took a stand against this trend of deliberate and shameless non-enforcement of the law.  He suspended an elected prosecutor in the Tampa area, and a firestorm of controversy has predictably ensued.  Was DeSantis in the right, legally and constitutionally speaking?  I have no idea.  That's ultimately up to Florida judges and Florida legislators to decide -- and, even more fundamentally, up to the people of Florida.  Personally, I'd say they'll all have their hands full, because the simple truth is that vast numbers of highly placed officials in our criminal justice system now believe that it is their duty not to uphold the law, but to undermine it in the interests of "social justice"...or, to be frank, they believe simply that "the law" is and ought to be whatever they say it is in the moment.  This is a very serious problem, and gubernatorial oversight and intervention isn't a perfect solution by any means, partly because Governors are just as likely to be part of the problem as they are part of the solution.  What do you think of Governor DeSantis's actions?  Is there a way we might bring these rogue prosecutors who refuse to prosecute, and judges who refuse to judge, and policemen who refuse to police, to heel?  I'm curious if you see any reason for optimism, because I'm struggling to find a silver lining myself.

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/ron-desantis-was-right-to-suspend-tampas-woke-prosecutor/

Reflections on the Frozen North

 

Friends, now that I've returned from my visit to Montreal, I figured I would give you my two cents (that's two Canadian cents) on Canada.  

 

Basically, as a conservative, I have to contend with my fellow right-wingers' ingrained assumptions about the Land of Maple Syrup and Socialized Medicine -- namely, that it is a place where government runs riot, where basic constitutional rights are not respected, and where taxes, mandates, and wokeness dominate daily life.  

 

Now, all this is true, to a point.  Canada really does have socialized medicine -- to a degree that few other countries, even in Europe, can match.  It has higher taxes than the U.S.  It persecutes those who engage in "hate speech" (and dissent?) more vigorously than we do.  It wears its identity politics on its sleeve.  It instituted one of the strictest, most draconian COVID regimes in the Western world.  It prides itself on its openness to immigration, although, thanks to its geographical isolation, the overwhelming majority of that migration occurs through legal channels.  As many of you will know, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to make it virtually impossible for Canadians to own many classes of firearms.  And so, from a conservative perspective, all this looks mighty bleak!

On the other hand, Canada, to the casual observer and to the ordinary tourist, presents itself in a generally favorable light.  The country appears prosperous, the people are happy, healthy, and welcoming, and the land is extremely beautiful and blessed with almost limitless resources.  Much as American conservatives might like to portray Canada as a land of fascistic tyranny, there seems to be little evidence that Canadians themselves feel particularly oppressed, or that they wish to escape their plight in favor of exile in the States.  Canada is a place where most of the items on American progressives' extensive wish list have already been implemented as law and policy...and yet life goes on, and seemingly without any great gnashing of teeth.  The same might be said, arguably, for life in California, or New York, or Hawaii, or the District of Columbia, or any number of other progressive bastions.  This is not to suggest that these areas do not suffer from significant dysfunctions, because they do, but proving, objectively and definitively, that life is worse in leftist regions, or that people are less content, is far from easy.  That's my impression, at least -- if I'm wrong, and any of this blog's faithful followers can prove me so, I'll be happy to admit my error.

In sum, therefore, I conclude based on my brief sojourn in Canada, that life in the frozen north is less tortuous and baleful than we American right-wingers have been led to believe.  Some of this may simply be down to the extraordinary material prosperity of all modern Western societies, in which almost all political and social setbacks can be borne, because, at the end of the day, no one's survival is greatly imperiled -- or at least most people's well-being is more or less secure.  Some of this may also be a factor of the extraordinary stability of Western political institutions and (classically) liberal norms, both of which may be wavering at present, casting into doubt whether U.S., Canadian, and European contentment will last much longer.  But that is speculation about the future.  For the present, life in Canada, and the U.S., ain't so bad.

So, in a word, my message to the people of Canada is a very simple one: Sorry!  That is, I'm sorry to have exaggerated your mania for Marxism ever so slightly, and I am genuinely impressed by the pleasing political, social, and economic order you've built.  Keep up the good work, Canucks!

EXTRA! EXTRA! No One Reads Newspapers Anymore!

 

Friends, the golden age of print journalism is behind us now -- way, way behind us.  One of my conservative amigos has written a great piece on the evolving (devolving?) mass media, and I recommend it to you highly:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/08/04/the_decline_and_fall_of_newspapers_147991.html

 

I applaud Josh Hawley for being the only U.S. Senator to vote against NATO expansion.  Too many other Senators -- including Republicans, it seems -- are caught up in jingoistic Russophobia right now, and can't see the inherent risks in doubling down on an alliance that has never amounted to anything but a blank check U.S. security guarantee to most of Europe.  How dumb can we be???  Pretty dumb, apparently!

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-votes-support-finland-sweden-joining-nato/story?id=87900093 

Finally, the establishment is circling the wagons, trying to shield Liz Cheney from Republicans' wrath, so as to make it a little less likely that the mega-ogre DJT will be the GOP nominee in 2024.  I say: good luck to them!  No one cares what Dick Cheney thinks anymore, and it's just plain sad how much the party's old guard is openly in revolt against the populism and nationalism that now -- rightly! -- define conservatism.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/election-2022-wyoming-dick-cheney/2022/08/04/id/1081829/

Put Up Your Dukes, Red China!

 

Friends, Crazy Nancy is spoiling for a fight, and so she's decided to swing by Taiwan during her tour of East Asia...or did she just take a wrong turn on the way to the liquor store?  You be the judge.  Personally, I'm inclined to agree with President Trump, who asserts that Pelosi's visit is ill-advised and poorly-timed.  I mean, here we are hip-deep in Russophobia, and Crazy Nancy decides to pay a courtesy call to Taiwan???  Why stick a finger in Xi's eye now, of all times?  I don't get it.  Personally, while I also have grave doubts and fears re China's rise and its future relations with the West, I don't see why we would pick Taiwan as a potential casus belli.  We recognize Taiwan as a part of China, which makes going to war, or taking a stand, to defend Taiwan from China more than a little uncomfortable, and irrational to boot.  I would let China have its way with Taiwan, in the final analysis, and I would dig in my heels and do everything in my power to STOP Red China from continuing to have its way with us.  Call me nuts, but that's how I see it.

https://apnews.com/article/china-asia-beijing-malaysia-a5a6acc391511c99b1b4c2d69e67b133

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/08/02/pelosis_asia_trip_exposes_divides_in_both_parties_over_taiwan_147985.html 

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/taiwan-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi/2022/08/02/id/1081443/

 

In other news, Biden's DOJ is suing Idaho to prevent the implementation of its sweeping anti-abortion law.  The pretext is interesting.  Take note, because, if you thought the fate of abortion in America had been decided by the recent Dobbs decision, guess again!  The Dems can find new legal chimeras from here to judgement day.  They'll fight this battle literally until they run out of trial lawyers, and that ain't happenin' anytime soon.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/02/politics/justice-department-abortion-idaho/index.html 

NATO Nightmare?

 

Friends, I bring you greetings from the great city of Montreal, Quebec!  I'll share more of my reflections on the wonders of Canada in the days ahead.

Before I do, consider this article by Senator Josh Hawley, who is daring to go against the conventional wisdom and oppose the addition of Sweden and Finland to NATO.  He makes some excellent points: we may well be overextended in Europe, and, as I've said on many occasions, we prioritize Russia over China at our peril.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-i-won%E2%80%99t-vote-add-sweden-and-finland-nato-203925

 

Trump is making some very interesting and critical comments about Ukraine's position vis-a-vis Russia.  Basically, he's saying that Ukraine helped to bring its present plight on itself, and so did we.  I agree wholeheartedly, and I also think Trump has a point that, if he'd been reelected, Russia might never have had the impetus, or the gumption, to attack Ukraine.

 

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/donald-trump-ukraine-russia/2022/08/01/id/1081272/ 

Finally, I know many of you enjoy the programming offered by Fox News, but make no mistake: Fox is engaged in a conscious, concerted effort to prevent Donald Trump from becoming the Republican nominee in 2024.  In that sense, Fox is now allied with the mainstream media, and it is hellbent on manipulating its own (credulous?) customers.  Are you one of them?  Well, then you should at least be aware of the agenda that is governing the "news" you're given.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/jul/29/once-home-to-trump-fox-news-now-often-ignores-him/?amp-content=amp