After the Revolution

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My guess is more than a few readers have nursed some rather detailed revenge fantasies about what they would like to see after the revolution. Given the current crisis, it is understandable. Revenge is a big part of every revolution. While bringing back the hangman has its attractions, that’s not the sort of revolution we are likely to see. Instead, ours will be a political revolution. If the forces of darkness prevail in November, we head into the post-national, post-democratic future our rulers promise. If the forces of light prevail, then we may head into a period of raucous reform.

Let’s assume the good guys win for a change and Trump wins the November election. One thing that will happen quickly is there will be calls for him to pardon Hillary Clinton. It is well known that there is an open investigation into the Clinton foundation. It is on the slow track due to the election. If it goes active after the election, it will mean the e-mail crimes will be reopened. Official Washington will want Trump to pardon her and/or quash the FBI investigation into Clinton. We’ll hear a lot of stuff about closing the books for the good of the country.

That was the argument behind pardoning Nixon. Gerald Ford was pressured into taking one for the team in order to preserve “the tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks could be irreparably lost by the prospects of bringing to trial a former President of the United States.” Whether or not Ford truly believed this is hard to know, because there was never a full airing of what happened to bring down Nixon. It was a Silent Coup that has cast a shadow over our politics for forty years.

Trump should not pardon Clinton. Instead he should appoint a special prosecutor with the authority to go where the evidence takes him. The Clinton crime family did not operate in a vacuum. Lots of people have greased the wheels so that these two grifters from the Ozarks could hold official Washington captive for close to a quarter century. Getting all of it out into the open would do a lot of damage to the political class, but it would do a world of good for the nation’s politics. The corrupt bargain that has prevailed in DC needs to come to an end.

The point is not to put Hillary Clinton in prison, even though that would be a happy outcome. The Clintons have come to symbolize everything that has gone wrong in Washington over the last several decades. They are an extreme example of the ethos that has come to dominate American politics. It is a culture where everything is for sale, nothing is ever on the level and no scam is too small. Washington has become something like a rotten police precinct, where morality is inverted. Instead of the criminals fearing detection by the honest, it is the honest who fear the criminals.

Along the same lines, the IRS investigation has to be reopened so that the truth of that fiasco is laid bare. Nixon was run out of town, in part, because his people talked about using the IRS as a weapon. Whether or not the Obama people were involved in the IRS targeting scandal is unknown, but it needs to be known. There are certain things that must remain beyond the pale in order to maintain civilized government. It is why the West eventually got rid of blood feuds. Politicizing the IRS is one of those things that can never be permitted.

In all probability, the people in the IRS acted on their own initiative. Lois Lerner is a fanatic. That much is obvious. Putting her in a cage for a very long time sends the message to other fanatics that the IRS is no place for their kind. It also sends the message to the politicians who appoint these people. That was supposed to be the lesson of Watergate. It was not enough to obey the letter of the law. Politicians were supposed to obey the spirit of the law. Prosecuting the people responsible for the IRS scandal reestablishes that principle.

Whether any of this will happen is open to debate. The nation is at a crossroads, similar to where we were when Andrew Jackson came to Washington. There are also similarities between this period and the end of the Industrial Revolution a century ago. Then as now, new fortunes accelerated the corruption of the political class to the point where the public had lost confidence in their rulers. In order to avoid something much worse than a period of raucous reform, we need a period of raucous reform. If a Trump presidency merely clears the field for a new generation of reformers, that would be a pleasant result.

Cause otherwise what comes net will be much worse.

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Comments (Historical)

The comments below were originally posted to thezman.com.

66 Comments

King George III #17284 September 12, 2016 8:00 pm 26
I want a complete break.The last 25 years have brought in about 100 million people that just don’t belong, about 20 trillion-with-a-T of debt and 84 trillion-with-a-T of unfunded liabilities, all of which needs to be totally eliminated, and the dissolution of morality and masculinity in public and private life.What we need is the reassertion of the primacy of the family, with the family patriarch at its head, 90% of Washington looking for other work, if any, and the manufacturing base, the fount of wealth of the middle-class, restored.I don’t see any way to walk this thing back without Caesar Augustus.
Rick Allen #17289 September 12, 2016 9:52 pm 1
How does “Caesar Augustus” reassert “the primacy of the family, with the family patriarch at its heart”? In fact, Augustus Caesar tried to do it, with a variety of laws aimed at making Roman men become good heads of families. Any history of Roman Law during the early Principate will provide whatever detail you want. Of course they failed.The law cannot make or destroy healthy families. But a man can choose to work hard, to love his wife, to raise his children, to set an example. It’s not easy, but I know plenty of families like that, plenty of men like that, and they can’t be created by Caesar–and they certainly can’t be created by a libertine like Donald Trump.I’m sorry more men don’t choose to live that way. But you can’t force anyone to be responsible.And there are no “complete breaks.”
Guest #17298 September 13, 2016 12:17 am 12
You place your blame on the wrong gender. The succinct answer to your question is: Ceasar Augustus reasserts the primacy of the family with the family patriarch at its heart by eliminating, or at least drastically reducing, the welfare state and by reversing modern divorce laws, both of which made modern feminism possible.Approximately 70% of divorces in America are initiated by women. In modern divorce, women usually get custody of the kids and obtain cash and prizes in court when hubby makes buck, and if not they secure sustenance from the welfare state. Eliminate the economic incentives for women to divorce and watch the divorce rate drop like a stone.None of this will happen until the dollar loses its status as the default reserve currency, at which point our current arrangements can no longer be financed.
GuestX #17300 September 13, 2016 1:50 am 6
And I’ve known men that chose to work hard and love their wives and STILL had everything stolen from them with the full blessings of the state and the encouragement of white knights. It’s always instructive to see folks like you completely ignore the utter depravity and feral behavior of Western women when lecturing from on high. But, no matter – men just need to “Man-up and marry those sluts” eh, Rick? I suppose you’re the only *RealMan* here and are going to tell all of us lessers how we have dissapointed you. The collapse cannot come soon enough.
Ken #17348 September 13, 2016 10:17 pm 1
Fools like you are soooo tiresome.
fodderwing #17290 September 12, 2016 10:14 pm 7
King George, what I find refreshing in the Alt-Right reaction to the problems you state is that, as a movement, it is a clear re-assertion of the Patriarchy. Not all in that camp are willing to use such terms, but at it’s heart every Alt-Righter knows that it’s time for men to take the wheel and assert themselves in traditional roles. The Left is not invincible, as long as there are intact families they must contend with. And if only family Patriarchs and their sons were allowed to vote in the upcoming election, we all know who would win it.
Orabilis #17319 September 13, 2016 1:37 pm 5
Eve was deceived, and Adam — standing right there with her — failed to protect her from the serpent’s lies.There’s enough guilt to go around, with both Adam and Eve culpable.But the man is the head (protector and defender) and it is his responsibility to seek what is good, right, proper, pure, and honorable — and to transmit these traits to his children. (Psalm 78:1-4.)When he fails — by being a nasty brute, ruled by his glands, or sinking into effeminacy, the woman’s response is to let *her* particular variety of sin rule her heart, too: to be master over the man — almost as if this were her revenge for Adam’s gross failure to protect and defend her.Until men nurture their own character and be who God created them to be, the family in our society will continue to disintegrate. Don’t expect the easily deceived ones — women — to rescue Western Civilization, although they have their own character to nurture as well.
Karl Horst Germany #17320 September 13, 2016 2:18 pm -9
“The last 25 years have brought in about 100 million people that just don’t belong”…I bet in 1776 Native American’s were thinking exactly the same thing when deciding to vote to support the French or British.
Christopher S. Johns #17325 September 13, 2016 2:59 pm 10
You’re twenty years too late (but your lefty historical concern trolling is touching). The Indians, generally speaking, supported France in the French and Indian War. William Pitt, wisely, hired Prussian mercenaries to do the fighting after the bickering colonials proved ineffective in the field (a young G. Washington prominent among them). Eventually, France and their Indian allies got their asses handed to them. The outcome ended France’s possessions in North America, and with them the departure of the Indians only hope of thwarting colonial land grabs. C’est la vie.
DFCtomm #17384 September 14, 2016 3:04 pm 0
Leave it to a German to try and shame someone for colonialism. Do you a German really want to air past sins, and assign guilt? Do you imagine you’ll come out ahead in such an endeavor?
Karl Horst Germany #17387 September 14, 2016 4:07 pm 0
@ DFCtomm – The Brits were far better at colonialism than the Americans, you are one of their early efforts in fact. Yes, America managed 50-states and a few territories – barely. But nice try. Germany? No, we’re not very good at that at all. Even worse than the Italians actually. But the French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese…now they did very well. Still, you have to give credit where it’s due. And the Brits really knew how to do it right.
DFCtomm #17388 September 14, 2016 4:23 pm 1
That wasn’t my point, but nonetheless. We have been taught that having come out of WWII the only industrial power intact that we declined empire, but now it appears that wasn’t so. We simply decided, since so many other empires had failed, that we would pursue empire 2.0, a different kind of empire, modeled more after corporate fascism. We ruled but did not occupy. I think we are currently in the decline and fall of that new type of empire.
Karl Horst Germany #17436 September 15, 2016 4:35 pm 0
@ DFCtomm – “Ruled but did not occupy?” Are you serious?Campbell Barracks Army Base in Heidelberg, Landstuhl Medical Center, Patrick Henry Village Army Base in Heidelberg, Ansbach Army Base, Bamberg Army Base, Baumholder Army Base, not to mention Grafenwoehr, Hohenfels and Lee Barracks also come to mind.That’s no even count Wiesbaden, Hahn, Spangdahlem, Rheinmain, and Ramstein Air Force bases and those others still here under British forces. Not occupied did you say? Believe me, nothing says “you’re occupied” like American jets in our skies and American tanks and armored vehicles rolling through our village streets during Reforger exercises.Don’t kid yourself – America conquered Germany and has occupied it since 1945. And you seriously believe there was some sort of “different” expansion of the American empire?
DFCtomm #17438 September 15, 2016 5:27 pm 1
I’m hurt. You forgot Coleman Barracks. That’s where I was stationed. I excluded Germany for obvious reasons. Oh Yes you were occupied, Germany was very naughty and they got occupied, but outside the Axis that wasn’t true, and we did leave if asked.
Karl Horst Germany #17505 September 16, 2016 12:58 pm 0
DFCtomm – My apologies! Yes, our grandfathers did a few “naughty” things back in their youth. Ah the young – what to do? But yes, “payback…” as they say. I do hope you enjoyed your tour here. 🙂
DFCtomm #17628 September 18, 2016 11:03 pm 0
I did. It’s a lovely country with fine people, and it’s sad to see what’s happening to it.
DFCtomm #17385 September 14, 2016 3:08 pm 0
Let the tribe of man that is without sin cast the first stone.
notsothoreau #17287 September 12, 2016 8:48 pm 22
My personal war is with bureaucrats, so I can think of a number of agencies to shut down. But realistically, I want immigration controlled, with illegals committing criminal acts booted out of the country. And I want a roll back of obama’s illegal executive actions and regulations rolled back. And I want every bullet, every gun, every piece of military equipment removed from government agencies. If they need someone to enforce a law, let them call in the local law enforcement.They want gun control? let’s give it to them.
Christopher S. Johns #17326 September 13, 2016 3:20 pm 7
The following is by “Publius” in the most recent Claremont Review of Books:“…the current governing arrangement of the United States is rule by a transnational managerial class in conjunction with the administrative state. To the extent that the parties are adversarial at the national level, it is merely to determine who gets to run the administrative state for four years. Challenging the administrative state is out of the question. The Democrats are united on this point. The Republicans are at least nominally divided. But those nominally opposed (to the extent that they even understand the problem, which is: not much) are unwilling or unable to actually do anything about it. Are challenges to the administrative state allowed only if they are guaranteed to be ineffectual? If so, the current conservative movement is tailor-made for the task. Meanwhile, the much stronger Ryan wing of the Party actively abets the administrative state and works to further the managerial class agenda.Trump is the first candidate since Reagan to threaten this arrangement….Our Constitution says: the people are sovereign, and their rule is mediated through representative institutions, limited by written Constitutional norms. The administrative state says: experts must rule because various advances (the march of history) have made governing too complicated for public deliberation, and besides, the unwise people often lack knowledge of their own best interests even on rudimentary matters. When the people want something that they shouldn’t want or mustn’t have, the administrative state prevents it, no matter what the people vote for. When the people don’t want something that the administrative state sees as salutary or necessary, it is simply imposed by fiat.[….]If Hillary wins, there will still be a country, in the sense of a geographic territory with a people, a government, and various institutions. Things will mostly look the same, just as—outwardly—Rome changed little on the ascension of Augustus. It will not be tyranny or Caesarism—not yet. But it will represent, in my view, an irreversible triumph for the administrative state….The country will go on, but it will not be a constitutional republic. It will be a blue state on a national scale.”Publius sounds as though he’s been reading this blog. The articles, “The Flight 93 Election” and a follow-up, are well worth reading in full:http://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-flight-93-election/http://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/restatement-on-flight-93/
thezman #17327 September 13, 2016 3:51 pm 11
More than one person has asked me if I’m that guy because of the similar themes. Maybe he reds me. Maybe he is just another super-intelligent handsome guy. There could be two such people.
Lorenzo #17283 September 12, 2016 7:56 pm 18
A good part of the hate that Trump is getting from the managerial and ruling classes comes from the fear that Trump would start the investigations and cleanup that you suggesr. Big businesses are getting sweet deals from “free” trade and competition-stifling regulation while exporting good jobs and importing cheap labor.. The anti-Trumpers keep telling us Deplorables that Trump won’t do what he says. More likely, they’re afraid that he will.
LetsPlay #17303 September 13, 2016 4:44 am 4
While I like the freshness of Trump-speak, calling out liars and such, I am still hesitant to throw all-in. I am still skeptical to a large degree especially when his first efforts at creating jobs are built around feeding the MIC. Sure we do need to rebuild the military after the gutting that Barry has done but I would have rather he focused on rebuilding our nations infrastructure. You know, those shovel ready jobs like repairing and rebuilding/replacing roads, highways, bridges, sewage systems, electrical and many other things that are needed to keep life going at home. Job creation!And then there is energy. I’ve mentioned before about embarking on a Kennedy-like space program for energy. How about a drive to make energy independence and alternative energy creation a 20-30 year goal with a 50 year goal of transforming our national infrastructure off petroleum domination? Fuck the middle east!But what concerns me most is his lack of attention to Banking, The FED, finance in general , the deficit, the profligate spending especially the criminal ramp during Barry’s terms. Absolutely criminal. People need to hang.Crony capitalism. It is the wild west where one big bad guy runs the whole town until someone with some guts comes in and says “There’s a new sheriff in town!” Take almost any industry and things are out of control with respect to competition, pricing, marketing practices, quality, customer support, you name it. The old dictate of “caveat emptor” still applies but the choices are being whittled down to where the consumer may think they have a choice but it is all a mirage as products all come from the same conglomerate. All with government blessing.And then there is the government messing where it don’t belong. Libs lament lack of regulation but truth is corporations have turned that puppy around to their own benefit and with lobbyists now control regulation to their own benefit, cancelling out competition and real free trade, and rigging prices in a monopolistic behemoth. Even Peter Thiel thinks that is the way to go. Asshole. Who needs competition if you can own the entire playing field?Trump has a lot of hard work cut out for him if he is truly going to make good on all his words. I hope to God he is pulling some good team and plans together and getting ready for the fight of his life because he is going to get one, from both sides of the aisle. This could truly be the Greatest Invasion Ever!
Trimegistus #17312 September 13, 2016 10:08 am 6
Concern troll is concerned.
John the River #17322 September 13, 2016 2:31 pm 5
A valid point, but like stocking up for an emergency without addressing the need for personal protection (i.e. guns) you might just be supplying someone else with emergency supplies. The first duty of the President is to defend the nation. The rifle then the plow.
LetsPlay #17352 September 13, 2016 10:32 pm 3
Just last night I caught up with Trumps speech in Fairport, CT. (Which was awesome BTW! In 110 degree heat and he did not wilt like Hillary did in 80 degree temps). I finally heard him address issues on the domestic front related to infrastructure. I will vote for him. Never said I wouldn’t. I never said defense was not important. And I sure as hell do not want Hillary anywhere near the WH. He said he will be putting out a comprehensive plan in a couple of weeks. More details is what I am looking for. That is all.
JohnTyler #17329 September 13, 2016 4:57 pm 3
The next president WILL appoint several justices of the Supreme Court. These justices will serve well beyond the next eight years.If Hillary appoints these justices, gun rights, free speech/religion/assembly will disappear. Hate Trump all you want, but the “legacy” of the next president will endure way in excess of 8 years. This is reason enough to vote for Trump.
Doc Holliday #17345 September 13, 2016 9:06 pm 0
“Why, Johnny Tyler! Madcap! Where you goin’ with that shotgun?” …”Doc? I didn’t know you was in town…”
JohnTyler #17309 September 13, 2016 8:30 am 11
Hard to believe the IRS crimes of Lerner, et.al., were initiated at her level.Obama is a proven liar and fraud and either he or someone near him must have passed on the word to look into conservative groups. Obama, a crook, is surrounded by highly partisan Chekistas who can deal in dirt every bit as well as the Clintonista mafia.Recall that Dr. Ben Carson had never in his life been audited by the IRS until he gave a speech at some national prayer breakfast (can’t figure out for the life of me why Obama was at a prayer breakfast; perhaps he was praying to Saul Alynsky, ISIS and the top dog at the “low down club.” ) criticizing Obama-care.After that he was audited for three years in a row.If Trump should win, he should initiate a criminal investigation of the IRS, the folks that ran Fast and Furious, the illegal ransom paid to Iran, all those govt. officials who lied to Congress and/or withheld/destroyed documents under subpoena, as well as the Clinton (Peronista) Foundation.If the investigation leads to criminal indictments of Obama, Holder, the FBI director, Rice, Clinton, his aides and cabinet officers, etc. , as well as numerous govt. bureaucrats, so be it.
Shelby #17288 September 12, 2016 8:54 pm 11
Finally. A plan. A blueprint at least of how we go forward. Thank you Zman, what a relief. Now that you have written it down so matter of factly my old brain feels clear again.I am very close to 70 years old and in poor health and it does my heart good to see a silver lining forming up.Trump/Pence16
Doug #17285 September 12, 2016 8:30 pm 11
I sure hope with all my heart peaceful rational people prevail, that virtues and principles, savings grace win the day. I think it was what this republic was founded on, and many who fought in that founding revolution, through the many decades leading up to last resorts of resorting to violent revolution, gave up everything for those beliefs in happiness, and prosperity, and rule of law and not men.That is the leadership that is desperately needed.The ugly truth is leadership begins at the top, and right now the federal government, and lots of States, are leading not with the ideals in mind and heart which created this great place, but with ulterior and corrupt motives. That their malice is enforced through the barrel of a gun, because they have destroyed legitimacy of a government of the will of the governed to provide for themselves over everything else.Leadership of government being it begins at the top, employing threat of force and use of violence to enforce it’s power means it has lost the mandate of will of the governed, they have sowed the wind with force and usurpations, and now that wind is being reaped.There is a savings grace in all this worth everything to recognize. We are a nation of arms, hundreds of millions of us deplorable’s own weapons. Millions have equipped themselves accordingly to defend themselves, family and property. No other people on earth are armed as such. And for such reasons. And what is so remarkable, nobody or anything of consequence with those people and their arms, but mostly a quiet resolve. Nobody is shooting or hanging politicians and associated crooks. Funny that. What does that say, in a nation of at conservative estimates there are hundreds of millions of weapons, and if the lore is to be given a reckoning, it is about 3 percent of the population who would bear arms against their government. 3% of 345 million Americans is approximately 10,350,00 people who are potential “revolutionary’s. There is no army that large. If there is even a modicum of truth in those numbers, why aren’t they shooting?And if it ever came to pass, armed revolution that is, how many who would never raise a fist in anger and violence, how many would nonetheless sympathize, or support such a army?Maybe we are still a nation of people who have those virtues and principles on that account?Now wouldn’t that be something else?And maybe that is part of the answer of what comes after Mr. Zman.That we are a people of consequence, that we know in our bones and heart of hearts unintended consequences are worth avoiding, even in the face of the worst thing the worst of us do to others?That tolerance is the greatest of virtues in this case, and maybe that says everything about us. As it says in the Declaration of Independence, about suffering ills and tribulations long after most would break.And maybe too, a little saber rattling is a good thing also. That shaking our rifles in our tyrants faces is proper and warranted, if for no other reason than to let the bastards now they are messing with the wrong deplorable’s.That is a very large difference between defiant protest and violent revolution.Besides, just who is it who has stigmatized who as “domestic terrorists” anyways?You know the story about rocks and glass houses.Ask the woman and children of Waco Texas who where incinerated alive, 78 of them in fact, or Randy Weaver’s wife Vicky and their beautiful and boy up on Ruby Ridge, I bet LeVoy Finnicum would have some words of wisdom too. if they where alive to provide it.
James LePore #17310 September 13, 2016 8:51 am 6
I agree the Clintons should be fully and fiercely prosecuted, but only to get leverage for the two things that Trump has to do for our survival as a country: build the wall and keep out jihadis. The Progs will oppose this agenda like wild dogs. The only way to get them to get out of the way of the wall and a muslim ban will be to offer to let the Clintons go free. The Clinton machine will get behind this deal and we will have our wall and our ban.
LetsPlay #17313 September 13, 2016 11:32 am 5
Negatory. Follow the money. Go after the people funding both issues and maybe things will have a chance of getting to some sense of normalcy. The Clinton’s cannot, I repeat, cannot go free. Don’t give them shit.
James LePore #17323 September 13, 2016 2:39 pm 1
Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re reptilian, but I’d rather have the wall and the ban. Their karma can’t be good.
UKer #17301 September 13, 2016 3:12 am 6
Revolutions are nasty things, and a lot of evil is done slyly and plenty of old scores are settled under the guise of ‘improving’ society. The useless Left glibly talks about ‘revolutions’ as if it is all going to be soft mattresses and cosy evenings round the fireplace, spent agreeing on how much fairness we now enjoy.What we have right now is a complex societal arrangement where we are probably at any given time no more than few days away from total anarchy, mayhem and almost certain starvation. The fact is the whole show is kept going simply because a large number of people, for the time being, are willing to enforce some rules and pay wages that — again for the time being — mean open trade can take place. We have the chance, each day the farmers gather the food and trucks run and the cops by and large keep the peace, to think about the day after tomorrow.Curiously, thinking about the day after tomorrow is what politicians like to indulge in, so I suppose we are feeding them so they can go on dreaming of unicorns and equality and all the rest of the nice though somewhat unreal things.But you pose the question what many of us would like to see if there is a revolution. For my part, I would, no matter what the ‘feelings’ of people, like to see honesty make a return — though I accept that honesty may not actually ever been well-represented in the past. Things for us however have been so dishonest for so long that while it would be a storm of fresh air that would blow a few shaky structures away, we could at least see what is happening and what has to be done to make our lives (and more importantly, the lives of our offspring) better. Truth will, in a world of deception, be hard to take but that would be the real revolution.Okay, I also admit I want to to see the liars shown up for what they are and not only run out of town, but off the planet. Sorry for my desires for revenge.
meema #17305 September 13, 2016 5:46 am 2
Fighting lies and liars seems to be the new normal nowadays. It’s a condition prevalent in every increment of daily life from personal to global. Trump isn’t going to make a dent in that no matter how big the club he swings. On the personal level, I am not interested in revenge. I wouldn’t even care if there was no revelation of the truth if evil would just go away. However, while that sounds righteous and all, it’s also selfish in a way. When evil is never exposed it simply goes somewhere else to ruin another gullible fool.Sometimes revenge is less about getting justice than it is about prevention. Sometimes someone has to bravely point the light at darkness and say, enough!
Ivar #17315 September 13, 2016 12:16 pm 1
Revenge is a completely acceptable motive, no need to apologize for wanting it. It is nice to see one of the British cousins who does not apologize for every step he takes.
John the River #17292 September 12, 2016 11:21 pm 6
Your mouth to God’s ear. The rest of us, praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.
james wilson #17282 September 12, 2016 7:56 pm 5
If ever the left owned a word, that word is reform. In the great words of a man who has since abandoned his soul to cuckservatism, we don’t want to know how to make Washington work, we want to know how to make it stop. Who tries to reform Leviathan will just end up like P J O’Rourke.
thezman #17307 September 13, 2016 6:39 am 19
I would not assume “reform” means to make government better. My own view is we are living in the period when the roast is removed from the oven and placed on the counter to rest. It continues to heat up for 15 minutes or so, but then begins to cool. The Cold War was an impetus and a restraint. On the one hand, it drove the creation of the welfare state and all the social experimentation. On the other, it put a natural limit on certain impulses, namely the internationalist and globalist impulses. Once the Cold War ended, we have seen the internationalists run riot, but we may be headed for a great snap back.Another thing that is long overdue is a rebuilding of anti-trust and the busting up of great fortunes. About 50 people are responsible for 90% of campaign spending. Massive conglomerates control vast parts of society now. It is time to break up the Googles of the world. A guy like George Soros should never be allowed to exist.
Karl Hungus #17324 September 13, 2016 2:43 pm -5
Wealth tax.
teapartydoc #17362 September 14, 2016 6:58 am 0
Stuff like that always ends up being something the middle class pays and the truly wealthy can get out of. Like the income tax. I like the idea of breaking up the big companies and destroying the ways that they preserve power within their class by abolishing non profit status of corporations and universities (which are corporations, but I just wanted to make it clear that these need to be destroyed).
Alexander Dumas #17332 September 13, 2016 5:55 pm 8
I am a lifelong administrator employed by the private sector in various start-ups, established businesses, and ventures. For the last two and longest years of my life, I am working for a gov’t agency in an impoverished state in the South. I’ve gone through so much disbelief, frank horror, and abject despair in watching how the Department of Departments syndrome is turning simple lives into something out of the movieBrazil. Buttle. Tuttle.Today, in contemplating the institutional rot that is our state’s government, I realize it is no conspiracy, it is a self-propagating organism, alive and self-willed as surely as I am breathing. No one component is evil, and no two components are colluding darkly in a way that they would even understand it was what they are doing. They arecooperatingwiththe way things get done.Moral principles don’t even come into its collective brain, and to posit their existence is to be a conjurer of evil spells. The separation of departments that Jamie Gorelick famously defended is the bane of every good thing such an organism might produce. Nobody knows who does what, or who is responsible for approving anything. 50% turnover at the top assures chaos, and we have it.Make.it.stop. There is no fixing. Not when older employees who refuse to learn or modernize their systems are on a double-dip retirement-while-working program just to keep some continuity. They won’t upgrade, can’t be fired, and won’t retire. There isn’t a legislator that will touch it.It’s whole is worse than the sum of its parts.
Kay de Leon #17339 September 13, 2016 7:49 pm 5
I have to work with the various town/city/county building departments in miami dade. ‘Brazil’ is the only word for it. Almost makes an anarchist out of you.
Al from da Nort #17311 September 13, 2016 9:06 am 4
It would be wiser (and more fun – see below) to let the Clintonistas flee and form an emigre community in the south of somewhere (France_?). That way they wouldn’t be tempted to go for the coup and could spend the rest of their sorry lives worrying about keeping the local ‘migrants’ from taking them over and expelling them penniless, if they were lucky.
Fred #17314 September 13, 2016 11:45 am 3
“The corrupt bargain that has prevailed in DC needs to come to an end.” Too much power and money at stake. Never happen, til the money is gone. The rule of law is dead.
Severian #17306 September 13, 2016 6:16 am 3
Whatever else happens if Trump wins, we need a post-WWII-style Committee of Truth and Reconciliation to identify collaborators, as in five years or so the loudest members of the “Alt-Right” will be former SJWs. True Believers gonna True Believer, and the only way to right the ship (if it’s still possible) is to cram True Believers back under the rocks they came from. Fortunately, the internet makes this so much easier: “Ahem, so-called ‘Vile Faceless Minion’ #6239, it says here you took Transgendered Disabled Chicana Studies 101 back in undergrad, and your Twitter logs show you once made up a pronoun for yourself. Five years’ hard labor.”
Barbara Langdon #17375 September 14, 2016 10:04 am 2
You might want to check on the date for the end of the industrial revolution if you indeed did mean to say that it ended a century ago. Lois Lerner had contact with the White House. The administration is not innocent of this.
Strelnikov #17318 September 13, 2016 1:30 pm 1
One glaring distinction: Ford was a Republican pardoning a Republican. Quite different to expect a President of the other side to pardon his opposition’s Heart of Darkness. Oh, yeah, almost forgot: Let. It. Burn.
Fuel Filter #17316 September 13, 2016 1:21 pm 1
Z, I’m not nearly as sanguine as you. I see plenty of blood on the horizon. We are in deep sh!t no matter who is elected.Got these links from the Woodpile via WRSs (I’m sure you read it both blogs. They both link to you weekly).http://www.naturalnews.com/055146_social_chaos_election_results_popular_revolt.htmlThis one is somewhat of a rehash of the first link:http://www.dcclothesline.com/2016/09/06/is-the-clock-running-out-on-the-united-states-devolves-into-an-armed-revolt/This delves into some of the economic clouds:http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/09/10/disturbing-signs-global-conflict-continue-gather-pace.htmlA cogent history of the Conservative Movement from the 30s to today…a  long but excellent essay. I slightly disagree with come of his carachterizatins (sp?) of the Trump phenomena but well worth the read:http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Populism–I–American-conservatism-and-the-problem-of-populism-8462
Larry Sheldon #17295 September 12, 2016 11:52 pm 1
I do not think Pardon for Hillary will be possible. I still think that if it becomes clear that she has irretrievably lost (not sure how that can be, but let us dream on), Obama will pardon her and as many others as he can, then he will resign so Biden can Pardon the Obamas.
LetsPlay #17302 September 13, 2016 3:45 am 0
I agree. If and when Barry does leave, he will do a “Mark Rich” on the way out and pardon the Bitch, if she is still alive. If not, I shudder to think of the love-fest the liberals/dems and media will have with her funeral and tributes to the “vagina that could”. And she did. Snatch as much as she could.
Crispin #17308 September 13, 2016 7:56 am 1
She might not be alive. The pass-out scene at the van may have been her expiration.this is intriguing:http://sitsshow.blogspot.com/2016/09/SENSATIONAL-WABC-TV-Ch-7-in-NYC-Reports-Hillary-Clinton-s-DEATH-she-was-Replaced-by-a-Body-Double.html
Dorf #17328 September 13, 2016 4:51 pm 0
Convict then pardon due to frailty after the trial.
NorthGunner #17335 September 13, 2016 7:00 pm 0
“Oh if only we can elect the ‘right people’..if only we can ‘get back to the constitution’..if only ‘rule of law’ was respected by everyone and everyone had good people governing them….’Frogsnott and curdled Batguano!!This is what happens when people believe in and act according to the ‘most dangerous superstition’ per Larken Rose.democracy, communism, fascism (properly called corpratism), socialism it’s all the same collectivist/statist enslaving drivel spun by sociopathic klepto-narcissists to parasitize everyone else around such pathological jackals..and enforced by gangs of thugs who’re hallucinating the same insane superstition! As long as people continue to believe in such provably unreal garbage, they will continue to be enslaved and robbed and assaulted by those who profit from its false belief..and no, voting or other such pseudo-religious rituals WON’T help in the slightest!‘authority/gov’ exists to the same extent as volcano gods, the tooth fairy, santa claus and unicorns prancing along merrily as they fart sunshine ladden skittles out their rears. It’s NOT REAL, it doesn’t exist and it never will!Here’s why:Larken Roses ‘Five Questions for Statists’http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=50317The Whole Problem (and Solution) in Two Minuteshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-sRbR2QQ7wStill don’t believe me or Larken?…here’s a link to his book available free via PDF. Download itand read it for yourself and see if you still believe and support such an insane idea as ‘gov/authority’.Yours In Liberty w/o any beilef in the ‘most dangerous superstition’!NorthGunner III
Mark Breza #17400 September 14, 2016 11:44 pm -1
The Redcoats are coming the Redcoats are coming !!Kill an overpaid cop — Join the Tea Party.They dont call them PIGS for nothing;first to the trough.After the Revolution read your Whiskey Rebellion history,where GW & Alexander(central bank)Hamiltonslammed a federal excise tax on the poor corn farmers& backed it up personally with the military force !They are not patriots they are revolutionaries.As was the case the first time , this time also the Tea Party will lead to the destruction of the nation.Though both the latter & the present were not against their mother country they naively thoughtthat they could have a revolution without separation, killing bloodshed, violence, war.If you do not know history it will repeat itself.NO THE TEA PARTY DOES NOT LIKE AMERIKA It is a sick bird; AN ILL EAGLE !!!
Liberty4Ever #17337 September 13, 2016 7:32 pm -1
There would be a significant conflict of interest if president Trump pardoned Hillary and/or Bill for their corrupt misdeeds under The Clinton Foundation, considering that according to Trump’s records and the records of The Clinton Foundation, he gave them at least $100,000.I definitely get the perspective that HRC is evil. I totally get that. What I can’t see is concluding that Trump must therefore be one of “the good guys”. Trump is like the GOP version of Hope & Change. People desperately read anything in him they want to see and blithely ignore what they don’t like. Trump has called for a national waiting list for all firearms purchases. He said Secretary of State Clinton was a hard worker and she’s going a good job. He liked Michael Bloomberg. He was among the first to advocate in favor of the Iraq War before being against it. While I was volunteering a year of my life trying to unelect Mitch McConnell, Trump and his close relatives funneled A LOT of money into McConnell’s SuperPAC. Why would a guy in New York City send millions of dollars to a US Senate campaign in Kentucky? I can only assume it’s because he’s such a political outsider. That’s probably why he gave money to the Clinton Crime Syndicate, too.
Karl Horst Germany #17321 September 13, 2016 2:27 pm -7
The problem currently facing the US is the same everywhere. Corruption at the highest levels of government, lack of faith in leadership, bold face lies, misdirection and lack of actually making anything work properly. One would think that after so many years of free elections in western democratic countries, our brilliant leaders would have solved all the problems we put them in office to fix in the first place.But no…it’s just more of the same. Same in the US, same in the UK, Germany and the rest of Europe and everywhere else. Nothing new under the sun. We’re all broke, our leaders have no clue how to resolve the most basic problems and then refuse to enforce laws they swore to uphold. And of course we have ourselves to blame because we, the citizens of our respective countries, put them there in the first place.I think for Americans, the worst realization is you are stuck with these two. Out of 318-million Americans, your leading parties put these two up for you to choose from. No one envies your choices and everyone dreads the outcome.
Shelby #17330 September 13, 2016 5:21 pm 12
Forgive me Karl, but do not assume that I dread voting for Trump. At this time voting for just another slimy jackass made no sense.If I live long enough, I will make sure the party I hang my hat on does not include one ‘NeverTrump’ jackass.I can’t do much to help but he damn sure has all my support.
Karl Horst Germany #17389 September 14, 2016 4:34 pm 1
@ Shelby – Be honest. Put your hand on your heart and tell the world you really believe that he is the best man for the job. That one day, if you lived long enough, you would be proud to see his face on Mt. Rushmore side by side with the other great US presidents. Really?Of the 300-something million Americans, you really believe he really the ONLY man in your entire country that can solve all the problems everyone claims Obama is responsible for? That he’s the only man who can turn your country around? And that after 4-years of “The Donald” you honestly believe jobs will suddenly re-appear, the 1% will suddenly realize their folly, that major corporations will wake up and return all the off-shored jobs and peace and prosperity will return to America? Do you, and most Trump supporters, seriously believe that’s what will happen?I suspect you know he isn’t the best option and in fact, you also know nothing will change. You may support him, but only because you’re stuck with him. And now you have to rationalize and justify why Trump is the best man for the job when you honestly know deep down in your heart, he really isn’t the man you want running your country.I suspect at best, he really has nothing much to offer other than the idea he’s better than the other option. And that’s the real dread.
Shelby #18134 September 26, 2016 7:52 pm 0
Karl, I truly believe he is the only one who could shake millions of us awake and get us out there voting.I also know beyond a shadow of a doubt that sane people don’t put themselves through this kind of hell just to be elected.What will you say if he does a good job?Will you make a public statement that some old lady in America knew more than you?Yes, my fingers are crossed. Hahaha
Notsothoreau #17331 September 13, 2016 5:22 pm 8
I don’t dread the outcome and I don’t dread a Trump Presidency. In fact, I think we need a lot fewer career politicians in office. Career politicians have a lot in common with college students. College students learn to do well on tests. Politicians learn how to win elections. It doesn’t show competency on anything else. In case they don’t cover it in the news, there are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people that are happy to vote for Trump. I don’t personally know of anyone happy to vote for Hillary but maybe they exist.
LetsPlay #17349 September 13, 2016 10:20 pm 1
Karl, you are right in the sense that it is about corruption. But the other side of the coin is the lack of consequences. Of course they “know” how to fix problems, the problem is they have no incentive to fix problems because as others have said, they have their ways of simply getting reelected. We need term limits. Period. And with legal lobbying, they get greased to do what others want, not those who elected them.And when everyone knows who the avowed communists are (domestic enemies) and traitors, sellouts to corporations and foreign governments … heads should roll. But we think we have become so “civilized” that we are beyond such activities. All I know is that you or I would be in jail for even a small fraction of what these people perpetrate. Take the Clinton’s and their scam with the Haitian Relief efforts. It is a travesty. Watch some video reports. They and the NGO’s, and other non-profit orgainzations have taken crime and money laundering to a new level. But the IRS, FBI and others do not have anything better to do than go after Americans expressing their First Amendment Rights. And the DOJ is enforcing their “bakeries gotta bake cakes for anyone” policy because that affects so many lives and millions/billions of dollars.That is the joke. Justice. There used to be some semblance of justice but that has been folded, spindled and mutilated by lawyers, yes, fricking Attorneys and Politician scumbags who are usually one and the same.
Karl Horst Germany #17356 September 14, 2016 1:07 am 1
@ LetsPlay – Agreed. Corruption without consequence supported with the wink and nod of those who are supposed to monitor their actions and punish wrong doers. It is the same here. While you think the American situation and European situations are different, they are very much the same on any number of levels. You can call it what you want, but it if walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.
Haxo Angmark #17340 September 13, 2016 8:30 pm -9
I hope this fake-populist fraud Trump does not win. If he does, the Buyers’ Remorse among alt-Rights is going to be so intense as to occasion mass suicides. His first acts, incidentally, would be a touchback amnesty for the illegals, then another blast of H1b’s. The System vomited up Trump in order to keep the stupid White People participating in the System while the System destroys them.
Ken #17350 September 13, 2016 10:22 pm 3
Yawn.
teapartydoc #17365 September 14, 2016 7:26 am 4
You need to read some Dostoyevsky and find a good church.


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