The Pussification of the Republican Party I

There has never been a time where the Republicans were faced with a more crushable set of opponents.  What 2020 is shaping up as is better than 2016 when Hillary, one of the post despised creatures on the political scene, lurched and shambled to the leadership of her party.

But what happened in 2016 was, or should be, a cautionary tale of the greatest magnitude.  Hillary SHOULD have been crushed beyond recognition.  She was crooked as the day is long (look up what she did, or tried to do to the Matrix Company down here in Florida) and really really disliked by everybody.  In fact, if there was ever a unifying moment, it was when Hillary became a public figure.  Think about it.  Think about the things that united us as a nation, united irrespective of political party, race, gender, age...

• Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
• King George III
• 9/11
• Hillary Clinton

Am I right?  Of course I am.  Chelsea and Bill mock her when she isn't looking.  

So why, ladies and gentlemen, did she win the popular vote?  Why is she still, like a revenant emerging from her sepulcher, trailing pieces of shroud, lurching back to haunt us?

Ex-Clinton aide: Hillary will run again in 2020

The horrid story

There is a reason my friends.  The same damn reason that could elect Bernie Sanders.  It is because of the Pussification of the Republican Party.  Mitch McConnell is even selling hats on his website:

I'm just warming up.  More tomorrow, or in a day or two ...

The Real Donald Trump

I grew up in NY. I remember Trump back in the day. The Wollman Skating Rink had most new Yorkers chuckling at the ineptitude of government. But make no mistake, the guy was a loud mouth player. Unpleasant and "downscale". He was like some bad impersonation of a goomba low life italian on the borders of the Mafia.

Hey, yo, ya like gold? Fuck, I got a gold shitter. Here, sit on it. Nice huh? Know how much that shitter cost me? Don't ask.

Like that. Tony Soprano with out class. Dismissable. A NYC Character. The kind of guy you would never socialize with and you probably would not trust as far as you could throw.

Now, I have also loathed and despised Hillary Clinton since she chaired the committee that put together a proposal for redoing health insurance. She was phony to the core and made my skin crawl.

Where Trump was a crude buffoon, I saw her as a real danger.

When they ran against each other, for me it was an almost mechanical decision.

Hillary = Vote Other

I will not pretend that this decision was entirely rational. But I also related to the promises that he made, things he would do upon taking office.
https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/_landin ... actv02.pdf
The very fact that he mentioned some of these things (term limits??!!!?!!) made an impression.

Anyway. He got elected. And the "resistance" began. I am not sure why it started but it started before he was inaugurated. The left/democrats have done everything imaginable to assure that Trump's presidency was a failure. I have never seen anything like it. And it is as bad as the result of any possible Russian interference with the election, they are doing their level best, on every front, to undermine and destroy the result of our election. The Kaveneugh thing, the "collusion" thing now the Ukraine thing.  Yeah, it is a slow coup.

The net of this is that, contrarian as I am, I really support Trump now. Fuck them and the horse they rode in on. It is, once again, not about Trump, it is about them.

But I have a question. The left characterizes Trump as a racist. They characterize everyone they don't agree with as a racist so, to me at least, the term is devoid of meaning. So ... is he a racist? They cite remarks he made after the Charlottesville events. I investigated. He said absolutely nothing that a reasonable person would disagree with. His remarks might even be viewed as conciliatory. So I ask again, is he a racist?

Aside from being a boor, what evils has he committed? The left responds to him in a stereotypical way, almost Orwellian.

Anyway, done with the rant of the day.

Obama's Parting Gifts

A Not Funny Cartoon

A lot of folks are raising the specter of Trumpian assaults on speech and press and so on. I've thought for a while that the outrage is of sorta questionable sincerity since Obama had long since put the tools in place for a repressive regime.  

Don't get me wrong, I understand that Bush vastly expanded NSA and government snooping generally but thing is that once a President is in office for a bit, say a day, all of those nasty things become his.  So it was Obama's NSA.  Other areas of repression include his pursuit of leakers and journalists who dared to publish.  In any event, I came across a relevant series of lectures at Columbia Law School.  I down loaded the three lectures for later reading and include the links here.  The thing that caught me was this from the article that pointed me to them:

Eben Moglen, a law professor at Columbia University, gave a series of lectures in which he discussed the idea of “fastening the procedures of totalitarianism on the substance of democratic society.” Moglen’s lectures were mostly concerned with surveillance by the National Security Agency — the title of his talks was “Snowden and the Future” — but his idea applies to other procedures the U.S. government has recently become fond of. Few are more important than targeting whistleblowers and journalists, and Obama has begun the fastening process.

https://theintercept.com/2016/04/06/obamas-gift-to-donald-trump-a-policy-of-cracking-down-on-journalists-and-their-sources/

It is a phrase worth repeating, it resonates because of it's truth:

“fastening the procedures of totalitarianism on the substance of democratic society”

That is what Obama did, that is what every well meaning Chief Executive does when they make things "safer" for us.

The lectures ...

http://snowdenandthefuture.info/PartI.html

http://snowdenandthefuture.info/PartII.html

http://snowdenandthefuture.info/PartIII.html

The question is not whether Trump would ever exploit such potential abuses, the question is whether he will make them unuseable by future Presidents.  I am not hopeful.

PLUG: If you have an interest in matters of privacy and free speech then I encourage you to visit Popehat.com.  The folks there write eloquently on these topics and more.  In fact I am going to wax eloquent shortly on some points that one of the contributors there, Ken White, made concerning privacy, government snooping and other issues that should be uniting for hippies and righties and basically all Americans.

Just sayin'.

Secrecy and our government

There does come a point where the risk of danger, even violence, becomes preferable to our government having basically unlimited access to our personal lives. Complete safety is a chimera and the result of attempting to attain it will result in an Orwellian environment that would be the envy of the NAZI police state.

Our government has demonstrated that they cannot be trusted. Even a cursory examination of the statements issued and the realty show lies and obfuscation. Post 9/11 laws have been directed toward criminal matters that were never the stated targets when they were under discussion. The FISA "court" is a reeking corruption of the term "court"; our courts are not secret, are not held in private with results that are kept from our citizens. Allowing this horror shows how far down the absolutist path we have gone.

We need more than a restatement of a few aspects of the relevant law, we need to gut what is there and then have a national, public debate on how much we are willing to give up for the promise of safety (which seems hollow given the notion of personal Jihad).

We do need to wake up and take control of the policing that threatens to make all of us look over our shoulders, not at terrorists but at agents of our own government.

Investing in Firearms

I've sort of casually invested in firearms for many years.  I say "casually" because I have never investigated market conditions, nor have I studied what was hot and what was not.  I had an informal awareness of the fact that Lugers were increasing in value at an obscene rate and that the Python I foolishly sold years ago was now the price of a respectable used fishing boat.  

I have always like Lugers and other early German pistols, as well as Smith's and a few others. These were the basis of my "portfolio".  I also was fortunate to be the recipient of a number of firearms from friends and relatives over the years.   I was doubly fortunate in that most of these were in excellent condition and were very "collectable".   So these weapons are the basis of my Firearm Portfolio:

Manufacturer	Model	Date	Caliber (mm)
Sauer	38H	~1941	7.65 mm (.32 ACP)
Browning	High Power	1986*	9mm
Inland Division	M1 Carbine	1941*	.30 Carbine
Mauser Werke	Mod. 1895	Pre-War	7.63×25mm Mauser
Mauser Werke	Mod. 1895	Red 9	9mm
Smith and Wesson	Model 1950	1952	.45ACP
Smith and Wesson	Model 624	1985	.44 Special
Colt	Officers Model	1916*	.38 Special
DWM	P .08 Luger	1927	9mm
DWM	P .08 Luger	1916	9mm
Mauser Werke	P .08 Luger	1938*	9mm
Mauser Werke	P.08 Artillery	1917*	9mm
Mauser Werke	P-38	1943*	9mm
Walther	P-38	1944*	9mm
UBERTI	S&W #3	Modern	.44 Russian
Colt	Targetsman	1974*	.22 LR

The asterisks indicate dates of manufacture that are either on the weapon or have been confirmed by a record search.  All are in Excellent condition.  The Mod. 1895's are virtually new. The Lugers have some holster wear but are very nice.  The point is that any collector of these things would be happy to add any of the examples to his collection.

How has this portfolio performed?  Better than my stocks, that's for sure.  However, some of the values, while all have grown, have not increased as much as would have guessed.  The High Power is only about 15% more than I paid though it is virtually new.   The M1 went from (I am embarrassed to say) around $175 to around $1000 (I said "buy smart", didn't I?)

I bring this subject up because of a neat little piece published by our pals at the Rock Island Auction Company (RIAC):

Stocks, Bonds or Barrels by RIAC

It's a good read because if you are  shooter and own firearms, you have already invested.

I commented on the piece but will repeat my thoughts here:

Interesting, and in support of what I have been saying for some time. The main thing (aside from the good caveats that you already mentioned) is condition, condition, condition. Buy one fabulous Python (or Luger or Broomhandle or Mauser Pocket Pistol) rather than 5 Fair Condition C&R .45s. The rate of increase for the good stuff will be jaw dropping, the other stuff will appreciate but it may take a lot more time.

I have a rule of thumb: if you buy a firearm intelligently (ie. used, good price etc) you will be, on average, at break even in 12-18 months. In 2-3 years you will show a healthy profit.

Finally, I would encourage people to not think of firearms as speculative investments. The AR boom has come and gone and AR's, unless collectable, are simply ugly tools whose value is fairly stable. 

Finally, finally, the question always is "is it too late?". That is should one actually buy a Python at today's prices?. I think so, provided you can get something of a deal. Do your research and try to find one that is reasonably undervalued. Then DO NOT HESITATE: go for it and don't look back.

Another thing. If you start accumulating collectable firearms you have to think about storage. Rather than rattle on, perhaps our friends at RIAC could do a piece on that topic.

Thanks for good information guys/gals.

OK, so you are in your cabin near Big Bear

and you hear that old Chris Dorner may be in the neighborhood looking to pay you a visit.

He may even want to share some of his thoughts for his future activities with you, viz.

I will conduct DA operations to destroy, exploit and seize designated targets. If unsuccessful or unable to meet objectives in these initial small-scale offensive actions, I will reassess my BDA and re-attack until objectives are met. I have nothing to lose. My personal casualty means nothing. Just alike AAF’s, ACM’s, and AIF’s, you can not prevail against an enemy combatant who has no fear of death. An enemy who embraces death is a lose, lose situation for their enemy combatants.

The Manifesto

Yessir, that could make for some stimulating conversation.

Now, as you settle into a long evening in your cabin ...

Alone ...

An hour from any help ...

Not near a cop or neighbor ..

I ask you:

What size magazine do you "NEED"?