Friends, apparently efforts are underway to bring Trump and Zelensky together to deescalate tensions between the fellow who may soon be president again and "our man in Kyiv". How nice. Wouldn't want that flow of arms to be interrupted even for a millisecond! Meanwhile, an extraordinary tete-a-tete occurred last night between Trump and the leftist U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Starmer and his associates have demonized Trump, but now they want to butter him up, just in case he becomes leader of the free world again. Can't say I blame them. Prudence before progressivism is a wise approach.
Here's a very perceptive analysis of what is, from a leftist perspective, an extremely puzzling and troubling trend: growing non-white support for Trump. I mean, Trump is a Nazi, right? Why would blacks, Hispanics, and Asians lend him their votes? You have to give the people at Vox credit -- they put their invective aside for five minutes to examine the question...
Finally, the failures of the Secret Service in Butler, PA are quite extraordinary, and the Feds' reticence to share information with the public even more so. I'm not a conspiracy theorist myself, but I do question how high a priority it can be for a Trump-hating government agency (and let's be honest: all our government agencies are stacked with Trump haters) to protect Donald J. Trump from those who wish to harm him...
RAY TO DR. WADDY
ReplyDeleteWhy aren't you a "conspiracy theorist"? You teach college-level history, so how could you not be a "conspiracy theorist"! Don't misunderstand, please. I'm not bashing you for you views on this subject. But, I taught college-level history too, and always told my students that conspiracies abound throughout history, globally.
Some conspiracies are fake, or designed for propaganda purposes. Real ones often fail, but more than a few are successful, don't you think? How about the JFK or RFK assassinations? Did anyone ever really believe "The Warren Report" on those tragedies? Don't you think it is time to rethink the meaning meaning behind accusations of "conspiracy theorist"? How about the assassination of Martin Luther Kind, Jr. ?
RAY TO DR. WADDY
DeleteOf course I meant Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
RAY TO DR. WADDY
DeleteI'm not "challenging you to a duel" on Conspiracy Theories. Ha! Just asking for a definition on what you believe makes someone a conspiracy theorist. I certainly don't believe in a conspiracy "behind every bush", but I do believe there are bonafide conspiracies.
Was the assassination of the the Arch Duke at Sarajevo a Conspiracy? Over 100 years later it certainly seems
so. What about Lenin's trip to Russia in a "sealed train". Well, we know a bunch of Germans in Imperial Germany towards the end of World War One got together and made it happen. What about Pearl Harbor? David Bergamini (spelling) wrote a book many years ago titled "Japan's Imperial Conspiracy" and made a good case for the Emperor to be involved in the events prior to and during World War Two .
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I think DJT's willingness to get along with people who have expressed scorn for him (eg. JD and Starmer) is very possibly indicative of a statesmanlike DJT who may well have matured in other vital aspects of effective leadership.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting that Harris did not meet with the PM. Could it be that Starmer is not radical enough for the antiamerican left? Starmer and any American President may in the near future have a far more serious relationship should Russian endurance of British and American missiles hitting it finally end. I hope the dialogue between DJT and Starmer was informed by full comprehension of Russia's position and intent in this war. Starmer's government is new enough that he might well steer it in a different, sane direction on Ukraine without incurring unacceptable political damage. Comparisons of Putin to Hitler and of those who urge objective understanding of Putin's position (despite his evil treatment of Ukraine), to Chamberlain, would perhaps be best gainsaid by the Brits. Munich is a vital part of their history and they may understand the wisdom or tragic lack thereof of considering Ukraine to be analogous to the Munich situation.
Dr. Waddy from "Prudence before progressivism" : a well worded slogan encompassing one of conservatism's key tenets. The left would of course shorten it to "Prudence before progress" in order to disingenuously and destructively allege that it is our byword.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: In considering the possibility of truly dangerous hostility to DJT in the FBI or Secret Service I wonder how law enforcement types could be turned so. But then, I believe that FBI and Secret Service jobs require a college degree and there I see a point at which they might be corrupted.
ReplyDeleteI very much doubt that in law enforcement agencies like police, which often do not require college, that such radicalism would be tolerated. Perhaps some big city departments are an exception.
Ray, that's a fair point. There are genuine conspiracies, sure. Usually they leave fingerprints and breadcrumbs and what not and historians are able to trace them to their roots. Well, I say "usually", but by definition we don't know how many conspiracies stay under the radar, do we? I tend to believe in the simplest viable explanation. With COVID, for example, when a respiratory disease mysteriously surfaces in a city known for secretly investigating respiratory diseases, well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that it might not have been bats that were at the bottom of it. Was there a "conspiracy" to suppress that knowledge? Yes! But, like most conspiracies, it left plenty of traces behind for people to unpack and analyze. With respect to JFK or RFK, while I don't claim to be an expert or even a novice, I've never seen any documentary or convincing evidence of a conspiracy, but I don't rule out the possibility.
ReplyDeleteJack, I unfortunately have no reason to think that Starmer and his crew would be any more inclined to a sane approach to Ukraine and Russia than, say, Biden or Harris. Britain has been very aggressive and outspoken about supporting Ukraine and dissing Russia. I suspect Starmer and all the Eurocrats would strive to talk Trump into keeping the armaments spigot open, if Trump got a second term, and I wouldn't be shocked if they succeeded.
Jack, I have no difficulty imagining how law enforcement officials, especially higher up the food chain, could be dangerously leftist and could seethe with contempt for Trump. The closer you get to Washington, D.C., the more intense TDS becomes.
RAY TO DR. WADDY
DeleteJust think in terms of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare, and ask yourself what part of NBC might be "all the rage" now and in the future.
Ray from Jack: We may be learning much from the Ukraine war about the present state of war fighting. Certainly our Navy has paid close attention to the way Ukraine ravaged Russia's Black Sea fleet, apparently with drones. That was astonishing. And hard pressed Israel, which has always risen to the challenge, may well be schooling us in what today's technology makes possible.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy, Ray, et al from Jack: Perhaps the American legal system should reassess the fact that we, unlike many nations, consider "conspiracy" a crime. Maybe it would be better simply to individually charge every participant in a crime with the crime itself and various already established degrees of aggravation. That would not , I think, prevent the use of such statutes as RICO as it addresses an intended to be specific form of cooperation in achieving an unlawful end. Perhaps in our political dialogue we have overused the term "conspiracy" (eg. Hillary's "vast right wing conspiracy" against her faultless "husband").
ReplyDeleteRay, if you mean to imply that biological weapons and warfare have virtually limitless destructive potential, I agree! If humans are ever to be wiped out, I'd wager it's a manufactured disease that will do the job. It would be a real kick in the pants if that outcome was realized by accident or due to negligence, but maybe it would serve us hairless apes right?
ReplyDeleteGood point about conspiracies, Jack. The word has historical and journalistic significance, and then again it has a legal definition. Possibly the latter is so loosely formulated that virtually all of us are "in" on one conspiracy or another. I mean, I donated to Trump in 2020. Surely Fani Willis will set her sights on me sooner or later, right?
Dr. Waddy from Jack: We can earnestly hope that Fani Willis and her disdainful paramour will soon be far too busy defending themselves legally for their prostitution of the law against DJT to be able to vex anyone.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but I rather suspect that the decline and fall of Fani is an irrelevance. There are probably a hundred or a thousand more leftist prosecutors who would be more than happy to take her place.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Yes: she, Letitia James and Alvin Bragg are prime examples of prosecutors who casually and seemingly shamelessly misuse the law for their partisan satisfaction.They casually presume that they will pay no political price for their presumption.As long as they do so freely they will of course attract emulators.
ReplyDeleteSo far, the purveyors of lawfare, and innumerable other forms of Trump persecution/harassment, have been correct in assuming that they bear no risk in doing so, and that they have much to gain. Can Trump change that equation??? It remains to be seen.
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