The Day Before Halloween
Something surprising happened to me on Wednesday, the day before Halloween.
The news cycle had just changed from hysterical declarations that "Trump hates Latinos, especially Puerto Ricans" because of a misbegotten joke by an insult comedian to "President Biden thinks Trump Supporters are garbage". That story still hasn't completely died. But on Wednesday, Biden's remarks were completely overshadowing the dramatic "closing argument" speech by Kamala Harris. Her message was mostly about how scary Donald Trump is. She seems to have adopted this theme as her final message. Other than that, the news cycles have been changing fast!
I had a doctor appointment in the morning, and on my way home, I stopped at Walmart in Selma to pick up a couple of packages of Halloween candy (chocolate), since the Halloween candy supply near where we live might not have been reliable so late.
I found a check-out stand with only one other customer and got in line. I moved his blueberries onto the conveyor and then tried to catch his attention to make sure that's what he wanted, but he seemed preoccupied. When he turned a little, I could see that he was Victor Davis Hanson!
SURPRISE!
I introduced myself and told him that sometimes I wrote about him at Ace of Spades HQ. He had a somewhat quizzical look. I probably didn't fit the image of an AoSHQ co-blogger. And I did not have my secret AoSHQ co-blogger I.D. with me. I guess I will have to do better.
We exchanged some pleasantries. I mentioned that this was a crazy week and he thought that things would calm down some after the election, though we agreed that some nuttiness would continue. He was cautiously optimistic about the election, but mentioned that the left would go crazy if they lost.
I had sometimes thought that someday I might run into VDH at Sal's Mexican Restaurant (The Mister's favorite in our region) but I had never thought I would meet him in Walmart.
The local news on October 30 was that a ring stealing agricultural equipment in the San Joaquin Valley had been broken up. Forklifts and backhoes were the most popular items stolen. Law enforcement still gets readings from some unrecovered equipment in Mexico. The ring is reportedly connected to cartels in Mexico. These criminal rings and cartels will transport all sorts of things across the border for profit - - Both ways.
VDH was probably interested in that story, too. His deeper attention might have to wait until after the election though.
But local elections are important! Several sheriff's departments, etc. seemed to work together well on this case. Pay attention!
Halloween Day
Here's a piece VDH published on Halloween:
Once Joyful Harris Now Goes the Full McCarthyite
In the last two weeks, Kamala Harris has been trying to revive her stagnant campaign by smearing Trump as being Hitlerian and a fascist. She claims Trump is planning to put his enemies in encampments.
Yet in the modern era, it was not Trump who put large numbers of U.S. residents and citizens into “relocation camps,” but liberal Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt who sent Japanese-American citizens and residents into them.
If Harris refers to Trump’s supposed fascist policies during his prior four-year tenure, there is no such evidence.
Nonetheless, the once “joyful” Harris is ending her campaign by trafficking in lies and smears reminiscent of the Joe McCarthy era.
Many examples are given of Trump's lack of fascist activities along with fascist actions on the part of Trump's opponents.
And:
Fascists seek to control and weaponize the media. So, Facebook and Twitter both conspired with the FBI to censure news accounts favorable to Trump. The major newspapers, social media corporations, television networks, and public broadcasting systematically and continually attacked Trump, censured his supporters, and fused with his opponents.
Why then the charges of Trump the fascist and Hitler reincarnation?
Simple. Harris’s personal negatives are rising, her polls inert.
She has abandoned her prior run-out-the-clock avoidance of the media, her smiley “joy” campaign, and instead now embraces the big lie, while Joe Biden writes off Trump supporters as “garbage”.
Harris is now confirming to voters that she really can neither think nor speak well and has no consistent agenda that appeals to the middle class.
So, in final desperation, Harris is smearing Trump as a fascist, even though ironically, he has been the target of fascist machinations from her own party and supporters for nearly a decade.
I personally think that Kamala can think and speak well if she's in her "San Francisco Elite Power" environment. Or if she has a teleprompter. That's about it, though.
On the topic of hostility of the opposition, I had (barely) mentioned to VDH an article that had come up in the comments to last week's Thread before the Gardening Thread (specifically about characterizing Trump as Hitlerian in The Atlantic and also a mention of insurrection by James Carville):
Tom Servo quoting me:
It is entirely reasonable to think that this was planned as part of a larger psy-op rolling out over several days to justify violence at some point in time if "necessary".”
Tom Servo:
They don’t actually have the command and control to launch anything that coordinated, even if some of them wish they did. There’s a great essay on substack, linked on X, by a poster calling himself
Bennett's Phylactery. His thesis is:
“We've seen a lot of Vulgar Displays of Power in the last few years (COVID, BLM, Epstein, the steal, etc). But they never seem to go anywhere, because USG is not a human institution with goals - it is a fungus.”
In other words, the radical Left is huge, and powerful, and invasive, and terrifying. But it has no intelligence, and routinely makes errors that anyone could avoid with even a little bit of thought. (Like nominating Kamala). Worth finding and reading.
I did look it up and read it. Here's the thread on X and here is the link to the article, Civil war, but the other side is a fungus.
This piece is by a guy who was actually cancelled in real life, so he knows that the left has power to hurt people. I think what he is saying is that the government is not prepared for an organized civil war. We're not currently at the Soviet Gulag stage. The piece is quite involved, though not long. I'm not sure he is right about everything, but there is a lot to think about in the piece. A few points that struck me:
Hearing a lot of buzz about the impending civil war on the TL, because the Deep State will “stop at nothing” to ensure that Trump does not take office.
It is certainly true that there are powerful constituencies within the state doing everything in their power to ensure that Trump is not elected, with little regard for the law and less regard for “institutional integrity”.
But the way these constituencies act in concert has more in common with an anthill than an explicit criminal conspiracy. The degree to which the system can seem intelligent is frequently uncanny — but it’s swarm intelligence, not human intelligence. No one is calling the shots at the top — which dramatically changes what they can and can’t do to stop him.
This explains many mysteries of the Regime’s inscrutable will.
If They have been shambling toward war with Russia for the last fifteen years, why didn’t They make any preparations for the logistical and infrastructural costs of fighting such a war? Likewise China — why antagonize them while making zero effort to restore America’s industrial base?
More examples are given.
It isn’t just that the parties are individually stupid. These are decisions that even a very stupid executive would not make, if he were really in charge. The system’s behavior is more like a slime mold, blindly crawling toward nutrients — or zombies piling up against a wall until one can climb over the top.
All of these decisions make good sense as the response of individual actors to individual incentives within their narrow bureaucratic fiefs.
There are many other sensible points, beautifully organized, but you should read the whole thing. Might change the way you think about the "God-Emperor Obama".
Concerning actions against ordinary people:
COVID was the high water line of managerial liberalism’s control over the American people.
If you were a boomer-doomer prepper in the 90s, waiting to be deloused in a FEMA camp and microchipped with the Mark of the Beast, COVID was the vindication of all your worst fears — sort of.
Just as you would have predicted, government bureaucrats revealed themselves to be bottomlessly tyrannical, and venal, and soulless, and the American people pretty much went along with it like cattle.
The Illuminati had us right where they wanted us, injected with the demonic sterility plague and cowering in our homes, unable to buy or sell.
But then what happened?
Well, the various tyrannies and absurdities went on in a haphazard way for several more months, enforced unevenly according to the ego and cussedness and status anxiety of local bureaucrats — but the cabal never sprang their trap and permanently consolidated totalitarian control over the citizens.
Instead, every institution of American public life torched decades (if not centuries) of accumulated credibility and good will, only for the herd to eventually get bored and confused, and trundle back to normal life a few months later. . .
Dangers posed by the state because of the election (and by others due to the weaknesses of the state) are described.
Then there's this, which may be applicable to some regulars at this site:
Regardless of which way the election goes, the way to prepare is the same.
Get to a jurisdiction where your civil and property rights will be respected. Get together often with useful friends. Secure assets that are difficult to inflate away or expropriate.
What do you think?
Weekend Reading
It's tough when J.J. Sefton's computer is down.
But Ace is back on Twitter/X and you might look into some of his tweets and retweets from time to time if you start to feel like you are missing something.
Contrast to government that thinks like a fungus:
Calm, short, civilized summary of reasons to vote for Trump, by David Foster. Pass it on or create your own. Get those men in swing states voting!
And other people, too!
The persistent Obama machine - Tablet
Most Americans are heading into the 2024 election convinced that the outcome will be affected by cheating. Polls show that 66% of the electorate are very or somewhat concerned that the vote will be compromised, including 55% of Democratic voters, 58% of Independents, and 83% of Republicans. The reason voters are worried, rightly, about the integrity of the coming election is because Trump has never stopped talking about the last one.
Detailed piece. One to think about.
Byron York:
As election nears, a final torrent of BS . . .
This morning, you might have woken up to the news that former President Donald Trump called for one of his highest-profile antagonists, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, to be executed by firing squad. There it was on the Drudge Report: “TRUMP CALLS FOR CHENEY’S EXECUTION.” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said Trump “called for Liz Cheney being shot in the face by nine rifles.” It quickly became common among the journalistic elite to say that Trump had called for Cheney “to face a firing squad.” It was repeated over and over and over again.
You don't hate the corporate media enough.
Quotes
Of course the DC establishment's real problem with Trump is that he's NOT Hitler
Not militaristic and expansionist enough, for one thing. Not deluded, as Hitler was, about the prospect of dominating Russia.
But except for NOT wanting to exterminate every Jew, and invading and conquering an entire continent, and experimenting and mutilating humans via medical horrors, he's EXACTLY THE SAME.
That's a fascinating take on the situation. The DC establishment would prefer to adopt Hitler's expansionist and militaristic agenda rather than cede control to a disruptor who would block their agenda, so they made him into some ruthless enemy of the people and named him Hitler.
Music
Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Hungarians
Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.
This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.
Last week's thread, Thread before the Gardening Thread, October 26
Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.