Infrastructure Spending

The appointments and rumors of appointments by the Trump administration over the last week have been horrifying. Hardline militarists, economic ignoramuses, and international/domestic revanchists- all with passions for their fiefdom at the expense of all else. 
He is signaling a desire to greatly increase government spending, expand the scope of our current international invasions and entanglements, ratchet up domestic spying, and further empower various government agencies to “protect” them from sundry boogeyman.  

But he will make sure the trains run on time. 

Purple Revolution

No, this isn’t about Prince. Just some stray thoughts that are beginning to coalesce. 
The current protests are not dying, and I believe that the organizations encouraging them will continue to press for the electors in various red states to switch to Clinton. 
An article from USAToday includes this paragraph-

Why is there an Electoral College? As we wrote in our 2008 story, most of the nation’s founders were actually rather afraid of democracy, and wanted an extra layer beyond the direct election of the president. As Alexander Hamilton writes in “The Federalist Papers,” the Constitution is designed to ensure “that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.” The point of the Electoral College is to preserve “the sense of the people,” while at the same time ensuring that a president is chosen “by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.”

If the Clinton Deep State team decides to go this route, and argue that Trump is unfit, I fear that the resulting regime instability could be very dangerous. A large minority of Trump supporters will not quietly accept that turn of events. Loss of faith in government institutions is already abysmal, and such a move could potentially lead to conflict. The factions of the Deep State that do not like or trust Hillary will undermine any legitimacy she has. 
Although my feelings about Trump are well apparent, a de facto coup by Clinton could backfire dramatically. Tensions inside the country are already at a boiling point, and there is no way to predict the full response of people and institutions that would rail against it. 
Perhaps #CalExit could become #Texit. And Fleerida. And I’ll stop with the portmanteaus. 

I really hope Emmett Rensin gets awards for this article.

He nails “Smug Liberalism“. 
Very insightful look at the mindset of modern liberals. 

Random positive thoughts

Wrapping my mind around the fact that Donald Trump will be the new president of the United States has been difficult. 

As detailed in a post several weeks ago, in which I endorsed him, I did not believe that he would win. Even as the early November FBI investigation bombshell rocked Clinton, I could not foresee a real path to victory. Although I had seen the upper Midwest strategy on election sites, it seemed unlikely. 
I had not read this amazing article by Emmett Rensin, which predicted (from an ultra liberal perspective) the deep divide between “urban/urbane” Democrats and the blue collar underclass they were supposed to represent. I had not believed my mother, when when she told me how enthusiastic people she talked to were; or cousins, who didn’t like political bullshit but liked that Trump seemed to care about how our government bureaucracy was hurting us; or my lifelong Democratic great aunt, who voted for FDR in her first election and cast a vote for Trump because of how dodgy Hillary is. Like most liberals, I simply assumed She would be coronated. The coordinated media attacks against him would stop his supporters from even pretending to vote. 
I sat up until 2am, staring in disbelief, although I sent a text to my mom at 1031pm conceding that he was going to win. I’m generally ahead of the game. I knew how dangerous he was 14 months ago when I started this blog. I had not dared believe he would win. 
So, positive thoughts. 
He’s going to cool off the saber rattling with Russia. Hillary would’ve pushed for WW3. 
He will probably negotiate on all of his campaign proposals, and some may improve the current horrific regulatory environment. 
That’s it. 

#CalExit

I hope that California, Oregon and Washington ALL embrace #CalExit and secede to become Cascadia. 

I’m not sure how any libertarian can disagree. 

Without Cascadia the Democrats would be even more drastically reduced as a major party. If the New England states joined them, Republicans would be a unipolar power, ripe for libertarian dissent. The more socialists cities would slowly die while the South and Midwest would thrive if libertarianism is the path to peace and prosperity. 

Though I doubt the Deep State would allow them to go alone, and the mere provocation will be thoroughly dismissed by house organs such as WaPo and NYTimes if it becomes more than a momentary meme, if it escapes the clutches of the corporate media then ALL Libertarians should support it. 

All decentralization should be embraced, even if it means leaving people with warped economic views to manage their own government. If the majority embraces socialism, no amount of education will help until they see the problems themselves. 

Without Cascadia the Democrats would be even more drastically reduced as a major party. If the New England states joined them, Republicans would be a unipolar power, ripe for libertarian dissent. The more socialists cities would slowly die while the South and Midwest would thrive if libertarianism is the path to peace and prosperity. 

Doug Casey on Trumpussolini

Will Trump winning mean a real change in direction for the US? Unlikely. Don’t mistake Trump for a libertarian. He has all kinds of stupid notions—torture as official policy, killing families of accused terrorists, and putting on import duties. He has no grasp of economics. He’s an authoritarian. His cabinet choices, so far, are all neocons and Deep State hangers-on. He’s likely to treat the US as if it were his 100% owned corporation.

—
A real battle for the soul of the country is shaping up. But I fear it won’t be heroic, so much as sordid. The knaves versus the fools. The Dems are the evil party, but the Reps are just the stupid party.
Why? Trump and the Trumpers have no ideology except a vision of a vanished world. They’re understandably angry, but don’t know what to do about it. They have no real program, except to say the Dems have gone too far. No coherent philosophy, just a nebulous belief that the Democrats are wrong. They’re justifiably fed up with the Establishment that gave them non-entities like Dole, McCain, and Romney.
MORE

John Whitehead on 7 Principles of Free Government

The following seven principles are a good starting point for understanding what free government is really all about.
First, the maxim that power corrupts is an absolute truth. Realizing this, those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights held one principle sacrosanct: a distrust of all who hold governmental power. As James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, proclaimed, “All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” Moreover, in questions of power, Thomas Jefferson warned, “Let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” As such, those who drafted our founding documents would see today’s government as an out-of-control, unmanageable beast.
FULL ARTICLE 

Trumpussolini is showing obeisance to the Pentagram

This lobby loves power and strength. It loves military spending and weaponry. It loves its positions in and out of government that preach enemies, national security and defense spending. It loves military technology and military profits. It extols the armed forces.
The whole show is its idea of manlihood, its display of aggressiveness. What? Are its proponents impotent or sexually dysfunctional? Is this their only way of demonstrating their manhood?

This lobby loves to bully other countries. It loves to expand the U.S. empire and push it to its limits. It loves to be pugnacious and antagonistic. Its thirst for domination and subjection of other countries is insatiable. Every victory and every defeat equally whet its appetite for more and more and more. The most ardent and zealous members of this lobby are truly cuckoo madmen.
Michael S. Rozeff

We MUST Stop TRUMPUSSOLINI!

When I started this blog last year I had a gnawing fear that he would win. Too many of his comments appealed to segments of the country that have been ignored for decades. His outspoken persona and status as an outsider, pledging to “Clean Up The Swamp”, endeared him to many democrats and independents. His emotional appeals to those who felt marginalized by political correctness and victimized by endemic corruption resonated, and by Tuesday I was 25% certain he would win. By 9pm my dread was fully fledged, and by the time I fell asleep I was tortured by my visions of our “Turnkey Totalitarian” state in the hands of a man utterly unaware of the real limits of government powers. 

We have transferred so much power into the executive office over the last 150+ years that any truly egregious behavior by the President would take years of court challenges to stop. The president has bombed and invaded and spied and lied so extensively over the decades, using Executive Orders to carry out legislation by diktat, that the Judiciary and Legislature (not to mention the States) have effectively handed over power. Never give your enemies anything they can use against you in the future. The supine Republican majority in the Congress is less likely than the Supreme Court to challenge him, meaning even more delay in stopping any extra-legal action Trump undertakes. 

The makeup of his current transition staff indicates a pivot towards the NeoCons and National Security State apparatus, and he is already hedging his bets with public statements. 

The large minority currently supports him wholeheartedly, and it will take a major betrayal for them to turn against him. 

This blog will be far more active in the future. Trumpussolini is the biggest threat to our liberties in my lifetime. We must put aside petty differences and make sure Congress steps up. If we work together to limit the damage he can do, even if it means the country parting peacefully once we stop him, our nation will be stronger. 

#CalExit

Can Trumpussolini fight the Elite and NeoCons?

Michael S. Rozeff
What happens next in Washington? Trump fills out his administration. At the same time, Washington insiders attempt to capture Trump and influence his positions, policies and decisions. The presidency is an institution, not a man, not a president. The presidency is a network of enormous power with Trump now at its center. Washington insiders who live and breathe politics are now in a race for positions of power and influence. They hanker and vie for appointments. Trump must make appointments. He cannot operate alone. He must delegate power to make decisions. He cannot monitor all information pertinent to every issue in which the government has a hand. The presidency is not 100% centralized. Decision-making power is allocated to levels below the president himself and to levels surrounding him. It also lies outside the presidency in Congress. Trump has his ideas and desires for actions, but their realization depends on the people he appoints. He loses control and locks himself in with every appointment that he makes. People around him want his power and want to influence him. They have a heavy influence on what he hears, whom he sees, the options presented to him, and the evaluations of competing personnel. Trump will likely form a very small team of offshoots of himself, people whom he trusts implicitly, in order to extend his capacity to choose people who will adhere to and execute his agenda.

More here.