In The Shadow of the Russian Bear

Abandoning a core tenet of western civilization is the opposite of conservatism.

Some things are abundantly clear now. First, Donald Trump lied about the contacts between his campaign staff and Russian government. Second, Donald Trump, Jr. repeatedly lied about a meeting he had with individuals with curious ties to the Russian government. Third, the entire MAGA movement position that the Russian collusion story being a fallacious story concocted by the media created for the sole purpose of discrediting the president is itself a fallacious story concocted by the president for the sole purpose of discrediting the media.

I am not going to pretend to know the details of any of these meetings, or, with any certainty, that they were necessarily dubious in intent. However, after the release of the emails by Donald Trump, Jr. of his correspondence with and the ever changing inconsistent story regarding first even the existence of the meeting, then the nature of the meaning, and even how many people attended the meaning, no rational person can continue to argue that the Trump White House is honest.

The driving force of the Make America Great Again movement was, at least allegedly, a reaction to the perceived rampant dishonesty from the Democratic administration of Barack Obama and the complicit media that, for eight years, strained the credulity of Americans by shoving one bad policy after another onto the backs of the American people while the media simply abandoned any pretense of objectivity or even reality by outright failing to report on stories that were inconsistent with the political needs of the Democratic party.

Americans were simply tired of being lied to, either openly or by simple omission.

“You lie!“
-Joe Wilson-

Then along came Donald Trump. In plain, smash mouth rhetoric, Donald Trump waded into the front, hitting back at the partisan media. He called them out on their lies, usually on issues where the media was being obviously deceitful with a clear political agenda, but also in defense of politically ridiculous assertions (such as the matter of Obama’s birth certificate) that the media rightfully pushed back against him.

Among the core principles of “western civilization” (something the MAGA set loudly and often hysterically claim to be staunch defenders of) is that of devotion to personal integrity. This devotion to integrity is, as I just demonstrated, the very reason many Americans were so angry in the first place. When Harry Reid stood on the Senate floor, abusing the privileges of speech within the rules of the Senate and the Constitution, and falsely accused Mitt Romney of tax evasion, Conservatives were outraged because his statements were lies!

When Obama promised that Americans would pay an average of $2500 less a year on premiums, that they could keep their doctors, that if they liked their plan, they could keep their plan, Conservatives were outraged, because they knew that basic economic showed that insurance companies could not offer more services to more people for less cost. When MSNBC purposefully pushed the narrative that “white racists” were threatening violence against Barack Obama, because they some were carrying guns to a protest, Conservatives were justifiably offended when it turned out that the “racist gun toting white protester”  turned out to be a Black conservative gun rights advocate.

The shameless dishonesty of these Democratic Leaders and a complicit media created the very political wave that would lead to Trump’s electoral victory.

“To the best of my knowledge no person that
I deal with [has anything to do with Russia].”
-Donald Trump-

Now that Trump is the president, however, and Republicans control Congress, the same people who once howled in outrage over the bald faced lies of their political opponents now not only tolerate exactly the same bald faced dishonesty from Donald Trump and his brood of conspirators, Fox News, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Breitbart, Info Wars (which should have no more credibility than the side show National Enquirer), they perpetuate the lies.

Even while Trump’s eldest son reveals that everyone around Trump, including high up in his campaign had regular dealings with Russian officials, the MAGA movement proves that it cares even less about the devotion to personal integrity than the radical left they oppose. Abandoning a core tenet of western civilization is the opposite of conservatism. It is a betrayal of it. None that pursue a policy based on deceit and propaganda can be counted among patriots. Not now. Not ever.

Liberty is For The Win!

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The Economics Quarterly: 2017Q2

GDP GROWTH DATA

The GDP Growth Rate for 2017 Quarter 1 was officially 1.4%, considerably below the 15-year mean, which includes the 2007-2008 recession that makes that number considerably easier to beat. The 4-year trend from 2013 through Quarter 1 of this year continues to show a downward trend, though 2013 and 2014 were the strongest economic years of Obama’s 8 years in office, and the economy has cooled off considerably since. The Q1 number missed the forecasted number of 2.5% considerably, which proved my concern that poor initial job numbers for March, which have since been revised down even further to 50,000, reflected slower GDP growth in Q1.

GDP Growth Rate – 15-Year (1/1/2002-7/7/2017)
united-states-gdp-growth

GDP Growth Rate – 4-Year Trend (7/1/2013-7/7/2017)

united-states-gdp-growth-4year

FEDERAL FUNDS RATE DATA

In June, the Federal Reserve announced yet another interest rate hike, bringing the Federal Funds Rate to 1.25%. While still at a historically low level, far below its peak of 5.25% in 2006-2007, and well below the 15-year mean, the Fed seem intent on driving up the Funds Rate as quickly as they can while somewhat positive trends continue. The Interbank Rate is at 1.30%, which is also pretty well below the 15-year mean and has been creeping upward since early 2016.

Federal Funds Rate Rate – 15-Year (1/1/2002-7/7/2017)
united-states-interest-rate

Interbank Loan Rate – 15-Year (1/1/2002-7/7/2017)
united-states-interbank-rate

INFLATION RATE DATA

Inflation has cooled down to 1.9% from its high of 2.7% in February and is back below the 15-year mean. Though it remains above the mean since January 2016 (not shown), the trend downward could reflect either a trend down in the market itself or the market’s reaction to a tightening money supply, however, the Fed Funds rate still being very low makes the latter highly unlikely. Regardless, the rate is still on an upward trend since at least 2015.

Inflation Rate – 15-Year (1/1/2002-7/7/2017)
united-states-inflation-cpi

CAPITAL GOODS NEW ORDERS (Non-Defense) DATA

New Orders of capital goods remains above the 15-year mean, but decreased in March in a reflection of the slowdown in the economy in Q1. There has been an upward trend since mid 2016, however, fairly in line with the up tick in Labor Force Participation.

Capital Goods New Orders – 15-Year (1/1/2002-7/7/2017)
united-states-new-orders

JOB NUMBER DATA

The jobs numbers for 2017 Quarter 1 totaled 498,000 net jobs, down from the initial Q1 estimate of 533,000, compared to 443,000 net jobs in 2016 Quarter 4 and 588,000 jobs in 2016 Quarter 1, so job numbers in Q1 were a mixed signal. The job numbers for 2017 Quarter 2 totaled 581,000, as of the preliminary numbers for just released yesterday. Presently, Q2 seems to be on track to be slightly below the 4-year average of 210,000 monthly jobs, with the 150,000 May numbers dragging it down, even though the 222,000 jobs (preliminary) in June are on the mark for the 4-year median.

Job Numbers – 4-Year (1/1/2013-7/7/2017)
latest_numbers_CES0000000001_2013_2017_all_period_M06_net_1mth

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE DATA

The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) continues to a recent positive trend since April 2015 (not graphed), climbing to 62.8% in June. The LFPR remains at historic lows, however, far below the 15-year mean, with no indication of any increases in the near future. The 4-year trend remains negative with very slow recovery.

Labor Force Participation Rate – 15-Year (1/1/2002-7/7/2017)

united-states-labor-force-participation-rate

Labor Force Participation Rate – 4-Year (4/1/2013-7/7/2017)

 united-states-labor-force-participation-rate-4year

GOVERNMENT DEBT TO GDP DATA

Finally, the National Debt to GDP ratio climbed to 106.10% at the end of 2016. There isn’t any data from 2017, but we should have some indication by the next Economics Quarterly for the first part of this year. Most people reading this will understand what this means, for those that don’t, however, presently the federal debt load is more than all of the wealth that the entire US economy generates in a year. This does not include future obligations (such as Medicare and Social Security).

Debt to GDP – 4-Year (4/1/2013-7/7/2017)
united-states-government-debt-to-gdp

THE READ

 

The read from the previous Economics Quarterly was bearish, and I remain so. The Q1 GDP Growth was considerably lower than the market was predicting, but was in line with a market pumping its brakes through March. Republicans suggest that a lot of this slow down was from inclement weather in the North East, but there really wasn’t that significant an interruption of the economy, having caused days of disruption, not weeks. The biggest news of March was the failure of the GOP American Health Care Act “Repeal & Replace” legislation.

More than a few economic hopes were pinned on a Republican Party that’s done nothing but promise “Repeal” for 7 years, and their failure to overcome their own party’s concerns threw cold water on a lot of people’s expectations. Since then, of course, the House finally did push through a slightly modified plan, moving the ball to the Senate where partisan obstacles are even higher. With the Senate plan falling apart in the last week, Republicans are now forced to figure out a new direction.

GDP Growth in Quarter 2 will be stronger than in Quarter 1, but don’t look for any doors to be blown off the hinges. A GDP number of 2.5% to 3.0% is possible by seems very unlikely given other factors in the economy. The rising Fed Funds Rate will cool off the money supply some. The Inflation Rate has cooled down 3 months in a row, and the Core Inflation Rate (not graphed) has cooled off 4 months in a row. Coupled with both a drop in orders of Capital Goods and passable Job Numbers, including a relatively bland number in May, all the stumbling blocks are in place for a brief to moderate correction.

The economy has been expanding for about 5 to 6 years, depending on where the recovery is scored. I believe that ObamaCare is keeping the economy from heating up too much, acting as a heavy tax on the economy, but the steep increase in the Inflation Rate that began in late 2014, early 2015, is pushing is sign that the economy is having trouble finding places to move capital effectively. That indicates that a pull back is imminent, because the market is over priced right now. I believe that this, more so than the very moderate Inflation Rate, is driving the Fed to push up the Federal Funds Rate at such an unusually steep rate.

That’s my read. Be cautious.

One more thing, a lot of noise has been made in the news lately from Republicans about numbers they’ve randomly taken from the political cycle that they flaunt without any benefit of context. I’ll focus on two points that I found extra ridiculous. First, a few weeks ago, Republicans were flaunting “historically low” unemployment number among Black Americans, as if Donald Trump’s policies were the direct cause. This is ludicrous. Below is the unemployment rate among Blacks or African Americans for the last 10 years. Unemployment has clearly and steadily been decreasing in the Black community for years. Let’s celebrate when Black unemployment is the same as White unemployment.

latest_numbers_LNS14000006_2007_2017_all_period_M06_data

Second, Republicans recently shared an article that celebrated a $22 Million cut to the Federal Budget, negotiated under the most recent Omnibus budget deal that passed Congress and was signed by President Trump in early May. To get an idea of how ridiculous touting this is, let’s compare the $22 Million cut to the 2016 budget. The 2016 budget was $3.54 Trillion, with a budget deficit of $552 Billion. That $22 Million cut represents a total of 0.000006214689265536723% cut to the 2016 budget. How much did the Republicans and Democrats cut? 0%. Nothing.

The only thing that’s clear about federal budget right now is that no one in Washington is taking the federal budget seriously. That there are people actually gullible enough to believe that $22 Million represents a significant portion of the budget is simply embarrassing and demonstrates just how uneducated in matters of the economy and the federal budget the American populace is.

This has been the Liberty Is For The Win Economic Quarterly. Catch you all in a few months.

Liberty is For The Win!

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Independence by Dissent and Treason

True patriot Conservatives understand that our nation was itself born of dissent and literal treason and, so long as the cause is just, such dissent and treason is our right and our duty.

A year into a war that would change the shape of the world for centuries to come, men who had traveled from across the country arrived in Pennsylvania’s State House. These men were faced with the challenge of answering a single question, a question that had, over the course of two years, resulted in political resistance, growing civil disobedience, and finally open revolt in confrontations that began in Lexington and Concord.

Over weeks of discussion, these men became resigned to a single conclusion. There was no longer any realistic hope of peaceful reconciliation with the government of their birth, and the reasons for their dissent, being many and just, finally lead them to but one course of action: Independence. They knew well the natural risk to themselves and to their countrymen this choice entailed. By declaring themselves truly independent of the crown, they would committing treason against the Crown of England.

On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress put a motion to vote on the question of whether the colonies would formally declare independence from the British Crown. The vote to declare independence from the crown was unanimous. At that moment, our nation was born. The Declaration of Independence that was signed two days later was but the birth certificate of the infant United States of America.

“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most
memorable Epocha, in the History of America.”
-John Adams-

The present political climate is nothing short of unsettling, as what was once the Conservative movement folds in on itself like some deranged animal, biting its own tail, recoiling in pain, only to assault its own flesh again. As the political winds continue to turn against the Republican White House, the president’s rank and file supporters turn on anyone that criticizes their president, now hurling accusations of “treason” at anyone that continues to put principle before party.

Their behavior can only be explained as partisan insanity born of people fueled by their own ignorance and blind rage. These wretches, in their fear and desperation, have abandoned the firm ground of age old principles of individual freedom and self determination in exchange for the vain glory of one man’s cult of personality. It has become abundantly clear that, with them, there can no longer be any rational debate. With them, their can be no reconciliation.

True patriot Conservatives understand that our nation was itself born of dissent and literal treason and, so long as the cause is just, such dissent and treason is our right and our duty.

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design
to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their
right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government…”
-Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence-

If the Conservative movement is to survive, “principle before party” Conservatives must forge a course forward, and we must do so independent of the cultish mob that has consumed the party of Reagan. Just as our Founding Fathers resigned themselves to do on a hot July day in 1776, so will we, as principled and patriotic Conservatives who put Liberty before party and principles before politics, must “dissolve the political bands” that bind us to those who would put us on a course toward national infamy and moral bankruptcy.

The choice before patriot Conservatives cannot be any more clear: submit to mad cult of an ego maniacal president or seek to form a more perfect political party based not on political expedience and pedestrian pragmatism but on what is right for all Americans. Do we trade the despotism of the Left for the despotism of a corporatist profiteer, or do we rein in our out of control government and a reestablish the form and function of government that once ensured the common rights and prosperity of our fore fathers?

The answer is clear. We must retake up the work started on this day 241 years ago and dedicate ourselves to the purpose of reforming a more perfect union and to ensuring the personal Liberties of all Americans, regardless of their political beliefs, their ethnicity, or any other happy accident of their birth. Every man, woman, and child is endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights, and our duty, as citizens of these the United States of America, is to seek a government than ensures that those unalienable rights are protected.

Liberty is For The Win.

We just checked, and it turns out that fighting for Liberty isn’t free, because it requires time and energy to research, prepare, and propagate this message for you. Please drop just a dollar a month into the proverbial tip jar and become a Patriot Patron. Of course, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share. Keep this fight for Liberty going! – @LibertyIsFTW

Painting the Leopard: Never Means Never

Like many conservatives in 2016 and 2017, I believed the definition of “never” was well understood and generally accepted, and when people said it, I thought I knew what they meant. I was mistaken.

“Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.”
-Jeremiah 13:23-

The problem with absolutes, such as “always“, “every“, “all“, “never“, and “none“, especially when used in philosophy or even politics, is that it takes just one counter example to blow up even the most well constructed argument. Just when you think something is absolutely true of “all” people “everywhere“, someone inevitably comes along and, merely by existing, punches a neat, irreparable hole in any political theory.

This, of course, isn’t a new idea, having been around since at least Adam Smith first observed the obvious problems with even the most benevolent of planned economies. People rarely do what planners want them to do, or even what planners think the people should do in their own best interest. Their reasons for doing (or not doing) anything at any given time are often incomprehensible to anyone but themselves, with whim, not wit, guiding their decisions.

While these observations, liberally paraphrased as they may be, are most typically used in economic arguments against the sort of top down economic structures common among mercantilist and socialist economies, they were, and remain, primarily observations of basic human nature. People may, in fact, act in a certain way, but they aren’t likely to act in that way forever or for the reasons you even expect.

All of this being said, however, there are still some things that are fundamentally and always true, and, as conservatives, these assumptions are part and parcel of our ideological framework.

“What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man!
Who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment and death itself
in vindication of his own liberty, and the next moment, be deaf to all
those motives whose powers supported him through his trial…”
-Thomas Jefferson-

The political right has often, with good reason, objected to radical redefinitions of established words, like “marriage” (which has long been culturally defined) and “gender” (which has long been scientifically defined), and resisted creation of meaningless words, like “assault rifle” (as if there is any other kind of rifle) or “transgender” (as if throwing a dress on a man makes him anything other than a man), loaded terms that provoke a debate outside the scope of this article.

Despite the right’s repeated and principled rejection of novel meanings of words, suffice to say, there is a very large segment of the political right that has taken gross liberties with the definition of a very simple word that’s meaning has, until the last year or so, been extremely well understood: “Never.” Let’s get the definition of this word absolutely clear. Simply put, “Never” means “not ever“. Less simply, it means “under no circumstance“, “at no point in time (before, during, or since)“, “absolutely not“, “to no extent or degree“, and is a direct opposite of “always“, “sometimes“, and “in certain conditions“.

My memory is very clear on this. All around me, there were men and women who stood up and declared, with full throated conviction, “I will never support Donald Trump!” The #NeverTrump hashtag was born on numerous social media platforms with the purpose of spreading and supporting this commitment to principled politics ethics. Like many conservatives in 2016 and 2017, I believed the definition of “never” was well understood and generally accepted, and when people said it, I thought I knew what they meant. I was mistaken.

“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.”
-Thomas Jefferson-

Despite whatever the moral cowards in the Republican Party or the “Make America Great Again” crowd may presently believe, no amount and no combination of election victories makes an unworthy man elevated to the presidency of the United States any less unworthy of that office. As Donald Trump has demonstrated time and time again, he is a man whose fundamental disconnect from the truth and adolescent obsession with trite and petty insult borders on the pathological.

More disturbing than Donald’s own demonstrable inability to conduct himself with any integrity at all, is his millions of accomplices across the country who defend even his most ludicrous and provably false statements. Regardless how “well intentioned” their motives may be (and that, itself, is more than a little dubious), no amount of white washing can eradicate the spots of any leopard, particularly one who insists on revealing those spots for the entire world to see practically every day on Twitter.

And shouting “Fake News” until blue in the face doesn’t repair the demonstrable abandonment of even the very simple rules of English vocabulary. If the meaning of the word “never” can be so easily abandoned, there is no ground to stand on with respect to the definitions of “marriage“, “man“, “woman“, or even “rights“. So congratulations Trump Train, merely by existing, you have punched a neat and irreparable hole in your own mind numbing circular arguments. Bravo.

As it turns out, painting a leopard still remains a time terrible idea. Always. Every time.

Liberty is For The Win.

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A Culture of Vice or of Virtue

Why should we care at all about “virtue”? Because people will protest over the political. They will kill over virtue.

Once upon a time, there was a largely peaceful and prosperous country filled with people who believed their most precious possession was Liberty. They believed in living as they pleased, so long as they harmed no one, being left alone, and, in turn, leaving others alone. Most importantly, they believed in a government that reflected these values, staying out of the lives of private citizens who sought, for the most part, to peaceably go about their lives.

These people also believed in working hard, living frugally, and saving rainy days. While it was true that some people did not do as well as others, most people did well enough, and some did very well indeed. When a neighbor needed help, they helped, not because they were forced to, but because it was the right thing to do. Communities thrived  based on compassion and not on compulsion. Society worked, because, by and large, everyone played by these very simple rules.

No, it wasn’t perfect. There were serious injustices stemming from long held racial prejudices that had infested human society since its earliest days. From the question of chattel slavery to the grotesque mistreatment of the native populace, from the internment of law abiding Japanese Americans during the Second World War to the generational poverty machine that has devoured so many minorities, America has an imperfect record.

In America’s defense, where they have done wrong, they have always been voices of reason and virtue that have persecuted those wrongs, and those voices put blood on the line where necessary to set things right. Even in times great injustice, the seeds of change were sewn and, often over generations, unjust practices have been and will continue to be discarded, not despite the philosophy of the Founding Fathers but because of them.

It is part of the American culture to wet the appetite of each generation to make a better nation than the previous generation.

“God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion.”
-Thomas Jefferson-

Why should we care at all about “virtue“? Because people will protest over the political. They will kill over virtue. Berkeley, CA, Huntington Beach, CA, and Alexandria, VA prove that the ideal of peaceful pluralism in America is a thing of the past, at least for the time being. Today, two vast political camps dominate the American landscape, motivated by a toxic brew of inflammatory misinformation and entrenched habitual mistrust of “the other“.

Over the last twenty years, we’ve witnessed endless cycles of prejudicial witch hunts and reprisal campaigns of character assassination, with each side trying to break the will of the other to continue the fight, but only ever succeeding in fueling the animosity that inevitably leads to cycle of escalation. We’ve finally reached the point in America that rhetoric is finally spilling over into actual physical violence, rabidly self righteous “Antifa” socialists facing off with just as rabidly self righteous “MAGA” nationalists in altercations with increasing frequency.

Sadly, this is basic human nature, revealing its bared teeth and blood soaked hands again, and, given the example of history, there’s little chance of escaping what is likely inevitable at this point. Even though our society remains deeply fractured and ideologically rudderless, both the left and the right have one thing in common. Both believe they are definitively “virtuous“, at least as far as their own definitions of virtue are concerned, making it all the more easy to persecute their opposition.

It is this keen sense of “virtue” versus “vice” that motivates people to action, not political rhetoric, and so long as we live in a country with no coherent shared national virtue, social anarchy will rule.

Unless…

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
-Dr. Seuss, The Lorax-

Take any boring local ordinance or state level legislation, and these same people will barely pay any attention at all. Charge it, however, with the “virtue” of helping the poor or getting rid of needless restrictions on business freedom, then instill the opposition with “vice“, for being indifferent to the plight of the poor or being unAmerican by being hostile to business owners who just want to ply an honest trade, suddenly it provokes both sides to action.

Whether or not a point of law or a candidate are capable of actually saving the country or personally ending inequality becomes entirely irrelevant. The only thing people care about is their emotional response. Political propagandists redefine “virtue” to whatever they need it to be to motivate their base, even if this makes it impossible for opposing sides to discuss things civilly or even at all, and even if it drives people to resorting to physical violence.

The only way to counter this malignant manipulation of the people is to reestablish an objective, coherent, and consistent national virtue, independent of the pundit class of both political parties. Make no mistake, this will not be easy, because there is a lack of a shared political vocabulary, which makes even rudimentary conversations between factions difficult. A larger obstacle still is the sheer number of people on both sides that simply aren’t equipped to engage in any kind of discussion.

Unless we successfully offer a new “American virtue” and corresponding political party to help buttress it, the violence in America will simply continue to get worse, and a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt.

Liberty is For The Win.

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Bought with Blood

Today is Memorial Day. It is not a day to thank those who served nor those who are now serving.

On rocky hillsides, over furrowed fields, on grassy plains, and down sandy shores, flows the blood of patriots, brave and unsung. There is no retreat, no surrender for them. The clamor of battle has claimed their all. For them remains only the still repose of time. Theirs is a sacrifice their country cannot repay, save in ever striving to be worthy of what was purchased in full measure. Let not a single precious drop go to waste, saved only for the tree of Liberty.

Today is Memorial Day.

It is not a day to thank those who served nor those who are now serving. This day is to remember those who can no longer be thanked. To the brothers, sons, and husbands, the sisters, daughters, and wives, who have become part of the tapestry of man’s insatiable thirst for the blood of their fellow man. This day is for those that can no longer turn to face the flag of the free and the brave.

With special reverence, please take a moment to remember those whose bravery no less paid for this day and every day hereafter, who, in defense of freedom, gave even their names, leaving behind families that hoped in vain. Interred on foreign hills, rough and unmarked graves, and the depths of the vast sea, remember them, for it is all that they have left.

Remember those who are missing in action, and hope against hope that they will yet find their way home, to the families and a nation that yearn for their return.

Happy Memorial Day, America.

Liberty is For The Win.

We just checked, and it turns out that fighting for Liberty isn’t free, because it requires time and energy to research, prepare, and propagate this message for you. Please drop just a dollar a month into the proverbial tip jar and become a Patriot Patron. Of course, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share. Keep this fight for Liberty going! – @LibertyIsFTW

The Shoes Begin to Fall

[T]he guiding philosophy of the “MAGA” movement has been “victory at any cost”, from the very start. Unfortunately for them, the bill has come due.

Excepting the misguided opinions of his most delusional supporters, it is undeniable that the Trump Administration is in deep political trouble, though whether Trump is in actual legal trouble is a question for another time. Speaking only in terms of the “optics“, as the American media is fond of calling them, the situation has reached parody level. Tragically, this situation wouldn’t even be possible except for Donald’s own inability to cap his boiling pettiness, shallow conceit, and personal vindictiveness, even when surrounded by men and women who ostensibly know better.

Let’s get this out of the way, just so we understand where we are at: “We told you so.“

Whether or not you were on the “Trump Train” or, more appropriately now, the “Donald Disaster“, from the beginning, or you got on board after your preferred candidate dropped out of the primaries, you have hitched your personal integrity and your political fortunes to a demonstrably unscrupulous man whose personality flaws are as obvious as they are mercurial. “MAGA” owns this sideshow freak presidency that, as much as you may protest otherwise, the mainstream media has not only the right to spotlight its inequities, they have a duty to do so.

“He referred to my hands, if they’re small,
something else must be small. I guarantee
you there’s no problem. I guarantee it.”
-Donald Trump-

When Trump talked about the size of his manhood on the stage of a nationally televised presidential debate; you own that. When Trump attacked the wife of another candidate; you own that, too. When the Donald suggested the father of one of his political rivals may actually have been involved in the assassination plot of John F. Kennedy, because he read it in the National Enquirer; you own that, too. And when he bragged about sexual liberties with women and his sexual predation on women; you own that, as well.

These are all inseparable from the person and identity of Donald Trump. Such outbursts are so normal for him that his ability to get through a two hour speech without doing or saying something morally repugnant is applauded as “being presidential“. This was once just considered normal human politeness, and no one was delusional enough to think that reading a carefully prepared speech had anything to do with “being presidential“. Our political leaders cannot be but a reflection of what we as a people esteem to be, and what a reflection it is.

Regardless, the guiding philosophy of the “MAGA” movement has been “victory at any cost“, from the very start. Unfortunately for them, the bill has come due.

“As President I wanted to share [classified
intelligence] with Russia… which I have the
absolute right to do, facts pertaining to
terrorism and airline flight safety.”
–Donald Trump–

After two days of his White House staff denying Donald Trump had disclosed classified “code word” intelligence with Russian diplomats, he revealed on Twitter that, in fact, he did exactly that. This came just days after he terminated the director of the FBI allegedly for refusing to back off of investigations into connections between the Russian government and Trump’s closest advisors and staff. A termination which Trump has now been accused of bragging about to those same Russian diplomats.

If the president were anyone other than Donald Trump, this reporting would be almost completely inconceivable, but this is the same man that bragged about his genitals in front of a national audience. His total lack of anything resembling a filter, the very thing his “MAGA” supporters said was his greatest asset, is the very thing that makes the many increasingly implausible insinuations of ridiculous outbursts entirely credible. The one thing his supporters could never say is “Trump would never say that.”, because, it is a matter of demonstrable fact he very often has.

As the curtain falls the second to the last time on this three act play that is a comedy for some and a tragedy for many others, with the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations of collusion with a foreign power surrounding the Trump White House, the finale promises to be climactic. Though “MAGA” holds out hope for the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, as played by the mainstream media, it is just as likely that their Caesar is set to meet a grizzly end on the Senate floor.

The only certainty is that when the final curtain falls, it will do so with a crash.

Liberty is For The Win!

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