I hate to be the skunk at the party here, but the Long March Through the Institutions will not be reversed or defeated by the results of a single election, no matter how stinging a rebuke, and no matter how much Trump makes college professors act like they belong to a country club that was just invaded by Rodney Dangerfield.
The Long March achieved all its success one brain at a time, then one Admin or HR Dept at a time, through the power of memetic ideas and the cultivation of good feelings (compassion and the desire for fairness) that they were able to exploit and transform into bad feelings (denunciations, promiscuous bigotry accusations, tantrums). For every Blue-Haired They that's on X now performing her nonbinary rage, behind her stands an army of monomaniacal activists and Foucault Studies profs who worked fanatically to create these people, their beliefs and actions. (It helped that they are fanatics.)
Social Justice still remains the sacred ideology of America's liberal class (as well as the entire Anglosphere), these people still control almost all of academia and culture, and they will not be deprogrammed into a mellow, tolerant liberalism just because Trump pinned Kamala at WrestleMania 2024.
Trump's win is a victory for those of us who prize free speech, thought and expression, but his opponents will not just roll over and die and we aren't going back to the South Park anti-PC 90s anytime soon. Hopefully an explosion of creative freedom and a new infusion of fun and joy into American culture will follow this week, because that will be decisive—as freedom, fun and joy are garlic and crosses to the vampires of Woke.
Articulated beautifully. I know it's been a cathartic week, but watching my entire timeline double down on "the country must be purged of hate" left zero doubt in my mind that there is a very, very long road ahead.
I understand the joy and relief (I feel it too), but there's simply no way that armies of people devote their lives to a sacred belief system, conquer all before their path, then dissolve at the first serious setback. There will be a regrouping and counterattack.
This is a good step, but just one battle in a long war.
I agree and maybe I'm naive, but I hope that maybe the more the far left rages against the election results, the more support will grow for freedom, etc,, Trump-style. Maybe the more the left says more than half the country was wrong, the more everyone else will refuse to go along.
Buffy---I don't think you're naive at all (though I don't use the terms left and right because they don't seem to represent our current sociopolitical reality of transition very well.).
I think we can let such people and behaviors expose themselves---absolutely NO need to repress their right to express themselves!---and, as they do so, cooler heads will watch and realize they don't want to be aligned with that sort of behavior.
Completely agree. The Leftists have had a strong grip on the culture for many years-40 plus by my calculations and it may not take that long to dislodge them but it will take many years of hard bargaining. They are the emotional ones and the most difficult emotion for them is admitting they were wrong.
Having just spoken to the "leftists," they're prepared to trade a few operas Verismo for a a number of unspecified rodeos. It's contingent on a promise the NASCAR will not expand in the next four years, however.
Ah Karen Karen Karen... what to say to someone who has just seen their entire ideology, the cause they have devoted their life to, come crashing down around them? Maybe just, "there there."
Better a "Manly He-Man" than a Manly She-Man. I think even most feminists, deep down, would agree with that.
But keep coming back. I admire your spunk. You keep things lively on this site.
Lert me know if you need help changing that lightbulb... There's a lot of good joke material in your site name.
Oh, my ideology is quite safe. I’m going to copy right wingers and simply ignore the loss. Y’all have done quite well by completely foregoing anything resembling self-reflection so I’m going to try that route.
As for the lightbulb, I bought the expensive Green ones. It’ll be years before it burns out. Thanks for the offer, though!
You always wanted a police state and your bullshit about ‘freedom’ was nothing more than a desire to say and do whatever bigoted and destructive nonsense floated through you otherwise empty brains. Thank you for admitting that you’re a brownshirt.
Especially because this isn't any kind of rebuke at all. The vote is 75% because of inflation and 25% because of bad crime/immigration policies. Trump would have had near as bad inflation had he been in office 2020-24
Of course State Media/ the Democrats would have responded differently if Trump had presided over a 20% cumulative inflation rate for three years (not so different from 12 years of Obama/ Trump). Shouting "we beat inflation!" for the 2.5% inflation annual rate most recently, would not have cut it; he probably would have been impeached again. Similarly, if Trump had presided over the slaughter of Palestinians like Biden for over a year (quite likely) Trump would have been excoriated (correctly) as a monster, and probably impeached again.
However, these things (and Biden's war on Ukraine/Russia) happened on Biden's watch, so all are A-OK to State Media/ the Democrats and even most of the Republican warmongers.
Once, in a jungle far, far away, there lived a donkey and a tiger.
One day, while they were having a conversation, the donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger disagreed. This cannot be. No, the grass is green.”, scuffed the tiger.
The argument became so heated that they decided to approach the king of the jungle, the lion, for arbitration.
As they approached the lion’s throne, the donkey cried out, “Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?” To which the lion replied, “If you believe it is true, the grass is blue.”
The donkey continued, “The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me, annoys me…please punish him!”
The lion agreed. He declared that the tiger would be punished with three days of silence.
The donkey was overjoyed and went on his way, repeating, “The grass is blue! The grass is blue!”
The tiger asked the lion why he was punished, “After all, the grass is green.”
The lion replied, “You’ve known and seen that the grass is green. The punishment is not for the color of the grass but for wasting your time arguing with a donkey"
I'm not sure it's any big secret that Trump approved the first COVID bill at $2.2T, had bought off on a second $1.9T Covid 2.0 bill (Dems wouldn't give it to him at that level right before 2020 election and demanded $2.2T instead; but the final deal after Biden took office was $1.9T, the same level Trump would have done), that Trump campaigned on a $1T in infrastructure, or that Trump is pretty happy to avoid fiscal discipline if it makes him look good in the short term.
The question comes down to how many of that army are “true believers” and how many were “get go a longs” and opportunist? If they Pell away it may be a different story.
The future is now passing into the hands of Gen X. The millennials are the first generation of True Woke Believers. I have assumed that Gen Z was so far fallen into the woke cauldron that they will cease to be individual entities by the time they are fully in power. The main source of hope I found in the election results is that a significant percentage of Zoomers are shifting rightward. Overall, however, I am generally happy that I will not live long enough to find our for sure.
I'm stealing that! I accuse my neighbors (music professors, one w PHD) of having the political maturity of 14 year olds. But "unreconstructed hippies" is sooooo much better! Seriously cool!
Hippies are irrelevant. They've effectively been gone since 1975. Sure, scattered remnants live on in the hill country, where they live by charming the tourists, but a "woke army" of hippies is a figment of your overheated imagination.
They all bought houses in the Bay Area, watched their equity rocket and their neighborhoods become multimillion dollar piggy banks. They are happily maintaining a false vaneer of "Woke!" while being a huge source of the problems the rest of us have to deal with.
Yes, but the ray of light here is that their efforts to purge the country of hate are now turned inward, on an ever-shrinking demographic of Democratic voters willing to put up with obvious fucking idiots telling them to do "emotional labor".
2020 was a massive outlier due to the pandemic and high unemployment. If you remove that data point, the Democratic trajectory looks extremely bleak, and the start of the downturn coincides with this second coming of the PC "little Napoleons". This was their Waterloo; they just haven't realized it yet.
The thing is, the institutions they dominate are more and more paper tigers — we saw the impotence of corporate media and Hollywood in this election and both are suffering from catastrophic revenue contraction, academia likewise is in deep shit as enrollment plummets and more and more “educational” institutions close up and/or eliminate course offerings especially in the humanities. If Trump somehow succeeds in gutting the federal government (esp the Dept of Education) and devolving power back to the states that will be big too.
The long march through the institutions presumed those institutions were durable if not immortal. But as we see now, they are not, and with the pace of change possible in modern society, could be swept away much faster than most people think.
im mostly interested in brains and worldviews and ideologies and their sticky contagiousness, and not so much institutions, but this is my own myopia.
but then again i have always thought (or more like hoped and prayed) that the conquest of our culture by the poison whipped up in the labs of the Parisian Maoists would end up killing off anyone who drank too deeply of them, that their victory would be a poisoned chalice. they do seem to be masters of destruction but useless for creating, so perhaps we've reached their endgame—what's left for them now that they've destroyed everything they touch?
"The long march through the institutions presumed those institutions were durable if not immortal. But as we see now, they are not, and with the pace of change possible in modern society, could be swept away much faster than most people think."
I was thinking and maybe still do, that the only hope for the US to return to the merit-based system is the existence of an external power that provides a threat to the US “elite” world dominance. See “Sputnik, the Scare of the Century”, book that depicts how (personal accounts included) the external scare turned the mindset of the US people more towards science and technology. Like overnight.
Probably we will be able to pull ourselves out of this swamp ourselves. But if not - there’s still hope in other parties on the globe ))
Sure, I saw impotence in celebrity endorsement, but to discount corporate media influence is somewhat shortsighted. Think about it, if I controlled the vast political and monetary resources that the (let's be honest, EVIL)globalists do, I'm pretty damn sure that I'll find a way into a new avenue of influence. Face it, we might have elected a beginning, but more vigilance and actions are need to reverse the tide.
As for the Dept of Education, I'd like to maybe see it continue. The power of the unions needs to be broken--they don't help the teachers or students. But it would be good, at least for a time, the have a department that guides schools in eliminating CRT-based teaching and things like transgender ideology, while tying funds to the teaching of civics and critical thinking.
I agree that the teacher union monopolies need to be dissolved. They are the iron hand that centralizes a school structure that is ostensibly local. Local control is what is needed so keeping a centralized structure like DOE to implement that is both unlikely to work and leaves that centralized structure in place to be refocused under a different administration. The issue is teacher unions selecting their candidates for school boards who in return pay and administer the teachers as the union desires rather than parents or students. That doom loop needs to be broken.
The Dept of Education has a budget of 238 billion. 14% of k-12 funding comes from the Feds. Looks like most of it goes to student loans? There are 3,912 employees at DOE. Pay them off and then distribute the rest to the states. I heard Charlie Kirk say he wants to be part of fixing education.
Buffy, please tell me one thing we need a "department of education" for. Federal money can be dished out to local school districts without being massively skimmed by DC bureaucrats. Right?
They’re focused on hearts and minds of young people, it used to be called “class consciousness”, but now intersectionality. I remember not too long ago we were exulting over the defeat of communism, which instead has morphed into this post-modernism. It’s nothing abstract—family members won’t talk to each other because of this.
Yes! on the pace of change. Thank you for expressing that I believe there are factors to speed up the clean up - that are discreet yet extraordinarily powerful.
And then what? The bureaucracy, propaganda, and cops came about because people wanted the stuff the system seemed to provide. They still want the stuff, even if the system is broken.
Love the writing here! You’re right that the left is just regrouping. We cannot take anything for granted. But, this election has made me so much more optimistic that the majority of our country has not been worn down by the constant bleating of the media and all the damage already done by the egregious policies of the left. We need to recruit more clear eyed escapees from the rubble. It will be a long and bumpy ride, but I can see a brighter future if we don’t squander this opportunity.
One thing I wonder about, and would be curious if you or anyone else has any perspective on, is what impact the size of the public administrative class has on things? I bring it up in the context of some comments about a few hundred thousand votes in some key states as possible margins sometimes. Also, my understanding is the Federal Government is the largest employer in the world.
Taking the north east for example, many of these deep blue states tend to have large public sectors that tend to vote in blocks. The one I fled from literally referred to Election Day as Pension Day and through the unions marshal their votes and have successfully gotten their generous benefits guaranteed by the State Constitution. They always dominate the private sector at the ballot box. The tax base is enslaved and the state is functionally bankrupt, they will either need a bail out or somehow cut future promises.
So I guess what I’m struggling with is, changing hearts and minds is definitely needed, but just as the private sector typically votes on the economy, the public sector does as well- they know where their bread gets buttered. Knowing the federal government is the largest employer in the world, and the public sector dominates the voting booth in some of these states, does anyone have any sense of how big a challenge this is? Who would vote themselves out of their living for an ideological battle and are there enough of them to stymie reform over the time it will take to do it? Or is this really not an issue for some reason I'm missing.
Completely agree, but unfortunately in our brand of “Capitalism”, Corporate and Public entities are exempt from having to account for the risks associated with living, or in the case of Wall Street, playing, beyond their means. That notion is reserved for citizens only.
Always wondered about that, too. It seems there ought to be a threshold as a fraction of voting population that would suspend the right to vote for members of the federal bureaucracy, but it would never square with the Constitution.
Clever, I take exception (even us redneck whites are part of the "anglosphere") to being included with the "liberal class". While I agree that the captured academia will "not go gentle into that good night", we have to hold our heads high and feel that the burden of our future is within our reach. By the way, the comedy of Tony Hinchcliffe, as well as others, are a harbinger of the return of "anti-PC". The leftist can suck it!
Nearly one half of the country voted for Harris. Of that half what percent are instilled with TDS or wokism or both…50%? I believe that the Dems have been quiet, congenial to a point of raising suspicion. What do they have planned before confirming the electoral votes and the inauguration. I dislike the thought but I do believe they have a plan. Not until Trump is inaugurated will I rest easier.
Thomas Sowell "“Envy was once considered to be one of the seven deadly sins before it became one of the most admired virtues under its new name, 'social justice'.”
Getting rid of the Department of Education would cut deeply into woke schooling. They are the trough these orgs feed from. In exchange for the free money they have to follow the rules, to the letter. Common core, etc. have failed miserably and teachers hate it. but it comes with newly printed money!
I think it may be better to turn the tables on the Dept. of Ed than to eliminate it. Use it to impose "right to work" for teacher and to promote charter schools;. Make sure CRT, DEI, and tans ideology are out and meritocracy, civics, the Constitution, and critical thinking are in.
But why would we trust them to do this? The same people who have taught CRT and gender ideology? They’re not going to teach anything like civics and meritocracy.
I've been a teacher since 1973 and inside classrooms until 2020. It sounds quaint but In the late eighties I did a double take when teachers began appearing in front of their classes with take-out coffees. In the early nineties I was nonplussed when I saw a young teacher squat down to retrieve something on the floor for one of her third graders only to reveal a tattoo above her partially exposed bum. Eventually everyone was encouraged to bring their 'authentic' selves to work, broadcast their allegiances, and indoctrinate even very young children. Being inked with rainbows and unicorns, wearing tee shirts with knives proclaiming 'Protect Trans Kids', piercings, green hair, books about drag queens read by drag queens, male principals that announce on the PA that they are henceforth a woman and shall be demanding female pronouns is now considered good, meaningful, and very important.
My generation of educators were expected to dress and behave in a professional manner while at school or whenever interacting with students. We were taught to be firm, fair, and friendly (in that order) to students. Oh and by the way, in my 50 year career teaching K through 12, I have never once had a 'transkid' in my classroom.
I don't doubt one thing you said Hillary. If the teachers we need to teach civics and meritocracy were LIKE YOU, it would be a win. With I'd bet at least 50% of teachers, they'd continue to teach gender ideology despite new guidelines. Jimmy Carter started the DoE, and I think they've proven they're not up to the task.
You think they actually believe in social justice? Their followers do, but social justice is just another cynical ploy among several that have got them hopelessly entangled and unable to see the wood for the trees - and now "stunned" by the election result. The "Democrats" don't give a fuck about social justice, of course.
"...feelings..." being the key word in my view. Lives directed and decided upon the emotions that switch like the wind in the trees rather than rational thought. In some cases life changing decision from which there is no return. And out of the feelings focus we have "triggers" and "safe spaces" rather than simply telling them life can be hard, you might encounter those who dislike you because they can and not for anything you have or have not done and needing to develop a thicker skin.
Agree. Not only will sanity not be magically restored, I expect nothing but further and more deeply entrenched division ahead. We also shouldn't pretend that Trump isn't surrounded by a group of oligarchs who are just as bad as the group that had hitched their wagons to Biden/Harris. There will be no escape from the future, because there is always too much money to be made in controlling it and exploiting the masses. In response to that famous advertising campaign, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way", the only morally viable choice is the 3rd option. We should stop hoping for anyone to save us by fixing the system; it can't be done. We need to band together to reject this gangster/bankster-owned dystopia through whatever non-violent forms of resistance are available.
But… It took them fifty years to infiltrate these institutions. They had to be stealthy because they knew how unpopular it would be if the takeover were overt. The system is awful for everyone but the leadership. It will not take fifty years to dismantle what it took fifty years to build. Most rank and file members are just as sick of it as the rest of us and they will welcome the change. It’s already happening.
'Social justice' has the same relation to real justice as a wooden Indian has to a real Indian; so it's important to exploit this beachhead. If Trump and Vance can succeed in deprogramming ideologically captured federal institutions over the next four years that would be a historic achievement, the first really significant push-back against the world-wide, centuries-long trend of ever-expanding bureaucracies. If they and their team can also succeed in repairing immigration and the economy, Vance should be well-positioned for a winning presidential run in 2028.
I wonder if they can deprogram the Federal civil service. I work for the Department of the Interior and it's mostly a cult now. I'm in over my head with trying to describe...maybe a couple of examples? DOI spends tens of thousands of dollars making all public facing documents "508 compliant," which means accessible to the tiny population of visually impaired readers. Rather than just put a button on DOI websites saying "click here to request 508" or something like that.
The top level managers at my agency insist that "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is the most important thing we do," that it is "everyone's job" and we should "find ways to incorporate it into every action." (DOI manages public lands and minerals.)
DOI has spent-is currently spending- millions on contracts with different consultants to help with "Environmental Justice outreach." No one knows what the goal is because the EJ policy is unclear.
The Secretary of the Interior feels that the people who belong to tribes are more important than other Americans and has made them the sole focus of her tenure.
DOI employees were informed not long ago how exciting it is that we can include our pronouns in our work profile. (Mercifully, that one never became a requirement.)
Anyway. Deprogramming would be an historic achievement. Agree.
and duplicate your experience across hundreds (thousands?) of federal, state and local agency sectors filled with millions of people and one can get a feel for how big a monster this really is
The top 2 problems are the media/censorship and fraudulent elections. As nice a victory as this was, it was still only about a 2% popular vote win. If the real results were published, we'd realize we are much more than a narrow majority in this country.
The question is whether all of the achievements of the Long March were actually successful, the election having a corrective effect on the Overton window, for instance.
X is all a-twitter with a fresh conspiracy theory that Musk used Starlink to hack the voting machines and change the tallies. So it’s not even close to being over I’m afraid.
Gloating (hubris) is always a mistake. "Pride goeth..." hasn't survived as a cautionary guideline to the 'wise' for no reason. We can see 'their' blind spots easily. Would that we could our own so clearly.
I agree though it is tempting. Let's hope what this next administration focuses on getting some solid work done asap. They are also facing republican vipers waiting to bring them down so spending any time gloating or seeking revenge will serve no one and they've only got 4 years.
Probably only two years. There's usually a backlash in the midterms. Trump has control over both Houses of Congress and SCOTUS (sort of) and needs to act quickly while he can. The FBI and CIA aren't going away.
A little celebration (not to be confused with gloating/hubris) is delightful. Compliancy is the killer. Evil never stops and must always be guarded against.
Some of them are questioning the difference between the number of ballots in 2020, & now. They are real close to a profound truth, but they aren't quite there.
I can almost see the wheels turning. . .
I encourage every one of them to demand an audit, demand an investigation.
If we all start ignoring these silly conspiracists it will end sooner than later. Ignore, mute, and block. They’ll run out of steam when we pay no heed.
Funny how that works. When we complain, we're insurrectionist election deniers. When they complain, they're concerned citizens. Elon should file a defamation suit, and cite the precedent of the Dominion suit...
You’re right, but to @Matt’s point, they’re in the cult, but because they eat they’re own most can’t sustain the constant shaming and abuse and you end up with Tuesday’s results.
But they claim that they were voting to protect women's rights to have an abortion (up to the moment of birth in all 50 states), to prevent fascism from being implemented, & to stop Trump (the most evil person who ever walked the earth).
I think they are done, once people start pointing and laughing at the naked emperor it’s all over but the shouting. At least from a cultural perspective, I’m sure the deep state still has some tricks up its sleeve on the political front.
Yes. The best weapon against the majority of the looney left is humor and mockery. They hate that and we need to pour it on, as it’s very effective on the cultural front. And it's wonderfully nonviolent. Sadly, I think you are right about the persistence of the deep state on the political front. Expect the unexpected. They are a wretched hive of scum and villainy…we must be cautious.
As always, it is pressure that gets the job done. i know that I have been remiss in not contacting my representatives on issue I am concerned about. If enough people do this, it works! Maybe, voting, gloating, and noting?
And as for Matt’s rhetorical question—“Is it really safe to laugh?”—I’d say we’re in cautious chuckle territory. While the most dogmatic ideologues might be on the retreat, the bureaucratic strongholds where they’ve entrenched themselves—academia, public education, and media—still remain. Sure, the monster is down, but it might just be catching its breath. Here’s hoping it stays down long enough for the rest of us to reclaim a sense of humor without fear of a ‘professionalism concern card’ being filed.
They won't go away. Their audiences are hooked on the amygdala high. All these "influencers' have to do is keep the Trumpfare up. The movers and shakers behind the scenes, however, will be rolling out the next Xdemic to fright us all into submission. My worst fear is that Blinken and Nod will get us into WWIII at Israel's invitation. Nothing unites a nation like war. Question: If there is a draft, do transmen have to go? I know transwomen don't.
They may be smoldering on the outside, but inside is a volcano building to spew toxic Trump rhetoric like lava as soon as he takes office. They live for this stuff. It’s easy too. All they have to do is take any statement, let’s say he says “The economy works great for people who want to work,” or something. The Joy Reids and the View ladies will get their talking points from on high and start in with “Trump disses disabled people and others who cannot work.” You know, the endless drumbeat of fake “quotes” that worked well for them last time.
I keep an eye on Heather Cox Richardson and commenters, seemingly all of them certifiably insane. HCR is a bellwether for the leftist narrative. She was writing about the MSG Trump “Nazi rally” before anyone else. Today, Veterans Day, she didn’t mention Trump once. But her followers! “Trump evil” is seared into their brains. Hatred is eating them alive.
I remind myself (almost) each time I look in the mirror that I'm staring at a fool. I'm not at all worried about the intelligence of others, I'm much more concerned about the bs I'm always/often feeding myself - especially during those times I'm laughing at others.
A few relatives on Facebook were having a pity party and talking about revenge. Someone responded with a very heartfelt response on why they voted for trump. Immigration, crime, inflation and the woke dishonesty. Then they gently chided them for their talk of revenge and said their parents would never lose friends based on how they voted. What did the relative do in response? Publicly unfriended them of course. These people are in the grip of a serious mind warp and deserve all the ridicule they receive. Constructive criticism clearly isn't working.
I’ve learned never to talk to my family after an election their side lost until they bring it up. Rubbing salt into the wound. They will get over it, just as we all do.
I live in Boulder, Colorado where even coffee is blue. Those of us who learned a while ago that the Democratic party's train was heading straight for an unfenced canyon and it was best to jump into the sagebrush near the track, are now nervously looking over our shoulders as public displays of disbelief morph into tantrums and hair pulling that rival the reactions of B-movie extras in a 1950s sci-fi flick doomed to be eaten by a space monster. Even wait staffs at some restaurants and shops have been so destabilized that there's a good chance you'll see tears if you ask the kitchen to substitute raspberries for blueberries. Apparently, even the color of food you order has taken on grim new meaning.
You're absolutely right, particularly the LA transplants. I don't blame them for leaving California (two words: Gavin Newsom), but I sure as hell wish they'd learn how to drive in snow.
Here in Texas we feared the same phenomena, but luckily most of our immigrants actually fled California to escape the blue. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems a lot of the immigration to Colorado began years ago and wasn't necessarily caused by flight from blue oppression.
I've been here for 30 years, and have seen waves related to various events. The wildfires have also been a big driver. California state taxes and what were relatively favorable real estate prices in Colorado have been big factors. Homeless issues in and around LA and SF were reasons cited by Californians I know personally who relocated to CO. don't think anyone is suggesting people fled California specifically to escape blue ideology, but rather that they brought it with them and have made CO far more blue than previously.
I worried about the same thing, but it seems to me that Texas changes people more than the other way around. Also, I wonder Colorado is close enough to California to have more of a shared culture these days.
Texas is still very much its own country. And with the Valley turning red, it doesn’t seem that we’ll be turning blue any time soon. Remember how recently the Democrat Party was so sure that with increased migration from the south, it was just a matter of time?
"…but I sure as hell wish they'd learn how to drive in snow."
That’s so true. It’s driving trough Colorado in December on our way from Canada to our winter destination in Texas that scares us most. Cars in the ditch, pileups everywhere.
it was in 2010 when they instituted universal mail-in ballots state wide. The next election, solid reddish purple Colorado went blue and has never looked back. We couldn't go red if we tried. It was "the blueprint" fully realized bought and paid for in part by our now governor. I highly recommend The Blueprint by Adam Schrager.
When I look at the US map of counties that voted for Trump (aka, rejected tyranny and cultural insanity), with 49 of 50 states becoming redder, I feel like I discovered that the majority I suspected felt the same way I did is actually much, much greater than I thought. That gives me such hope. I think that we now have a tremendous network of people in this country who see the ugly, highly censored truth and are willing to defend it and defend America. Anything the elites try to pull now will risk a colossal reckoning.
Yes, we must remain on guard against their arsenal of dirty tricks and evil acts, but we must also continue to expose the truth to those who have never seen all that was censored. That will likely increase the unity of Americans.
I imagine that the majority of the voters in this election have ever-so-profoundly delivered the possibility of a new world to the entire planet. I say this quietly, prayerfully. We have provided a ~clearing~ for better things to arise . . . with the leadership of Donald Trump, Bobby Kennedy, Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek, MattTiabbi, Michael Shellenberger. We have voices now, and some power. I see it as a whole new day.
«When I look at the US map of counties that voted for Trump (aka, rejected tyranny and cultural insanity)»
I think too that it was a protest vote by the lower middle class and the working class but against higher housing and living costs and against more competition against low-wage foreign labor, whether immigrant or offshore.
Purge the deep state. Eliminate woke policies. Eradicate DEI & CRT. Cancel your subscription to the NYT & WaPo until they go bankrupt. It’s a lot to ask.
A good reminder that no one changes their mind suddenly. This election may be the beginning of a change to the Zeitgeist, but it will be a long process. Two hundred thousand voters in PA and MI and it would have gone the other way. If we show the left that our way is better, and no threat to them, we will win a few more; fail at that and we will be right back where we started.
As tempting as it might be to echo Obama’s sneering “We won,” it would be manifestly counterproductive, not to mention counter to our fundamental sense of right.
My thoughts exactly. Woke totalitarianism is going nowhere if we don’t change minds, and who’s ever been swayed by gloating? As hard as it is, we need to put down the axes and instead persuade them it’s better “over here”. The water’s warm and the beer is cold; take off your hate and dip in a toe…
Most people never leave the Democrat party. They realize the party left them, and it’s different realization for each person. But most of us carry our liberal values into the R or I party nonetheless.
And there is room for them, as long as you come in looking for common ground rather than hoping to subvert. I forget who it was who said that Democrats look for heretics while Republicans look for converts, and both find what they look for.
A summary wouldn’t really be the point; she wasn’t revealing a hidden scandal or anything. She was just another lifelong Democrat who had worked as a consultant to several campaigns — Obama, Clinton, and several Congressional races - ultimately raising 50 million dollars for Democrats. But this cycle finally made her see how out of touch and hypocritical the party is: “The Democratic Party has evolved into a group that signals virtue but lacks real values,” and, somewhat to her own surprise she voted for Trump.
Nothing is actually undone yet, and Trump's administration will be battled much as it was during his first term. The fight is only just beginning. This isn't a movie.
It will be very interesting (and scary) if a Governor literally tries to block Border Patrol or ICE from picking up illegal immigrants with deportation orders by using armed State Troopers. What the hell happens then?
Saying it’s illegal and doing something about it are different things. Those states will certainly not help the Feds. But what about when ICE goes to a local jail and tries to pick up an illegal criminal and the cops won’t give him up? Will ICE agents draw weapons saying they have the law on their side?
Battling a newly elected administration is counterproductive, and will hurt the populace. Trump in 2016 was quite a different leader than he is now, not knowing DC. You’ve tried everything. Let the Leader lead. Please.
If Trump is successful in his second term, I think the cult of the Left is done as an influencing agent on American society. If the ship hits an iceberg - recession or one of the conflicts started under Biden widens to a regional war - then the media hysteria might just reach enough low information voters to convince a slim majority of Americans to run back to Big Brother.
As far as just screaming "RaCisT" and trusting that will get the job done, those days are over. Jimmy Kimmel's crocodile tears aren't fooling anyone anymore.
The scenario you describe is an important one. The outgoing administration has left quite a job in every sphere for the Trump administration. It is the primary reason he won. Our border invasion, our geopolitical crises, our economy state. Biden’s actions purposely overturned Trump’s success in his 1st administration. He is facing a much bigger lift this time to get the economic engine roaring, and moving non-citizens off of our land. The four years he had to observe the mess made were spent determining how to address each part, giving some consolation. Building a coalition was also a smart move.
I certainly hope that if that happens, we make sure that people like Rand Paul and Jay Bhattacharya are in charge of the management of the pandemic, and not the WHO and Fauci proteges.
Good advice. The woke and the Deep State are like the Terminators. One narrow election will not deter them, they will consider their next steps and will be back.
In 1945 people thought that Naziism and Jew hatred were done, and look at 2024. In 1989 people though Communism was dead and it was The End of History. How naive that looks.
I hate to be the skunk at the party here, but the Long March Through the Institutions will not be reversed or defeated by the results of a single election, no matter how stinging a rebuke, and no matter how much Trump makes college professors act like they belong to a country club that was just invaded by Rodney Dangerfield.
The Long March achieved all its success one brain at a time, then one Admin or HR Dept at a time, through the power of memetic ideas and the cultivation of good feelings (compassion and the desire for fairness) that they were able to exploit and transform into bad feelings (denunciations, promiscuous bigotry accusations, tantrums). For every Blue-Haired They that's on X now performing her nonbinary rage, behind her stands an army of monomaniacal activists and Foucault Studies profs who worked fanatically to create these people, their beliefs and actions. (It helped that they are fanatics.)
Social Justice still remains the sacred ideology of America's liberal class (as well as the entire Anglosphere), these people still control almost all of academia and culture, and they will not be deprogrammed into a mellow, tolerant liberalism just because Trump pinned Kamala at WrestleMania 2024.
Trump's win is a victory for those of us who prize free speech, thought and expression, but his opponents will not just roll over and die and we aren't going back to the South Park anti-PC 90s anytime soon. Hopefully an explosion of creative freedom and a new infusion of fun and joy into American culture will follow this week, because that will be decisive—as freedom, fun and joy are garlic and crosses to the vampires of Woke.
Articulated beautifully. I know it's been a cathartic week, but watching my entire timeline double down on "the country must be purged of hate" left zero doubt in my mind that there is a very, very long road ahead.
Thanks!
I understand the joy and relief (I feel it too), but there's simply no way that armies of people devote their lives to a sacred belief system, conquer all before their path, then dissolve at the first serious setback. There will be a regrouping and counterattack.
This is a good step, but just one battle in a long war.
I agree and maybe I'm naive, but I hope that maybe the more the far left rages against the election results, the more support will grow for freedom, etc,, Trump-style. Maybe the more the left says more than half the country was wrong, the more everyone else will refuse to go along.
Buffy---I don't think you're naive at all (though I don't use the terms left and right because they don't seem to represent our current sociopolitical reality of transition very well.).
I think we can let such people and behaviors expose themselves---absolutely NO need to repress their right to express themselves!---and, as they do so, cooler heads will watch and realize they don't want to be aligned with that sort of behavior.
"Freedom, Trump-style." That shit come in a bottle or a squeeze-tube?
Thought your contract expired with the loss. I guess you’re just underscoring Taibbi’s point.
Nah. Feldspar will always be the Crash Davis of Racket.
Aerosol. It's an air freshener.
Comes in a suppository, just for assholes ..
I've heard that one before.
Completely agree. The Leftists have had a strong grip on the culture for many years-40 plus by my calculations and it may not take that long to dislodge them but it will take many years of hard bargaining. They are the emotional ones and the most difficult emotion for them is admitting they were wrong.
Having just spoken to the "leftists," they're prepared to trade a few operas Verismo for a a number of unspecified rodeos. It's contingent on a promise the NASCAR will not expand in the next four years, however.
I thought Western culture (such as the opera) was a product of the patriarchy and white supremacy.
You've seen too many Singspiels.
Seriously? Assigning high culture only to leftists is like dusting off and putting formal wear on the walking dead.
Or wearing brown shoes with tux
You Manly He-Man types do understand that anger is an emotion? I realize you never experience anything else, but it is an emotion as well.
Ah Karen Karen Karen... what to say to someone who has just seen their entire ideology, the cause they have devoted their life to, come crashing down around them? Maybe just, "there there."
Better a "Manly He-Man" than a Manly She-Man. I think even most feminists, deep down, would agree with that.
But keep coming back. I admire your spunk. You keep things lively on this site.
Lert me know if you need help changing that lightbulb... There's a lot of good joke material in your site name.
Oh, my ideology is quite safe. I’m going to copy right wingers and simply ignore the loss. Y’all have done quite well by completely foregoing anything resembling self-reflection so I’m going to try that route.
As for the lightbulb, I bought the expensive Green ones. It’ll be years before it burns out. Thanks for the offer, though!
pelosi is already foamimg
I hope her role in promoting the riot of J6 will be exposed, not as a matter of retribution but as a matter of justice.
Will Trump pardon the J6ers?
for the non-violent ones, yes, he should
Retribution ain’t so bad…
You always wanted a police state and your bullshit about ‘freedom’ was nothing more than a desire to say and do whatever bigoted and destructive nonsense floated through you otherwise empty brains. Thank you for admitting that you’re a brownshirt.
Spot on, Buffy. Keep hammering that point.
Especially because this isn't any kind of rebuke at all. The vote is 75% because of inflation and 25% because of bad crime/immigration policies. Trump would have had near as bad inflation had he been in office 2020-24
Agree.
Of course State Media/ the Democrats would have responded differently if Trump had presided over a 20% cumulative inflation rate for three years (not so different from 12 years of Obama/ Trump). Shouting "we beat inflation!" for the 2.5% inflation annual rate most recently, would not have cut it; he probably would have been impeached again. Similarly, if Trump had presided over the slaughter of Palestinians like Biden for over a year (quite likely) Trump would have been excoriated (correctly) as a monster, and probably impeached again.
However, these things (and Biden's war on Ukraine/Russia) happened on Biden's watch, so all are A-OK to State Media/ the Democrats and even most of the Republican warmongers.
And your data to support that argument is...................where?
Do you agree that the cause of inflation has been government spending?
That's a question, not data.
Thanks NostraKrugman!
Once, in a jungle far, far away, there lived a donkey and a tiger.
One day, while they were having a conversation, the donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger disagreed. This cannot be. No, the grass is green.”, scuffed the tiger.
The argument became so heated that they decided to approach the king of the jungle, the lion, for arbitration.
As they approached the lion’s throne, the donkey cried out, “Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?” To which the lion replied, “If you believe it is true, the grass is blue.”
The donkey continued, “The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me, annoys me…please punish him!”
The lion agreed. He declared that the tiger would be punished with three days of silence.
The donkey was overjoyed and went on his way, repeating, “The grass is blue! The grass is blue!”
The tiger asked the lion why he was punished, “After all, the grass is green.”
The lion replied, “You’ve known and seen that the grass is green. The punishment is not for the color of the grass but for wasting your time arguing with a donkey"
Overheard while waiting for a bus?
Nope
Couda, Woodard, shouda. Who left you in charge of inflation predictions?
I'm not sure it's any big secret that Trump approved the first COVID bill at $2.2T, had bought off on a second $1.9T Covid 2.0 bill (Dems wouldn't give it to him at that level right before 2020 election and demanded $2.2T instead; but the final deal after Biden took office was $1.9T, the same level Trump would have done), that Trump campaigned on a $1T in infrastructure, or that Trump is pretty happy to avoid fiscal discipline if it makes him look good in the short term.
The question comes down to how many of that army are “true believers” and how many were “get go a longs” and opportunist? If they Pell away it may be a different story.
The future is now passing into the hands of Gen X. The millennials are the first generation of True Woke Believers. I have assumed that Gen Z was so far fallen into the woke cauldron that they will cease to be individual entities by the time they are fully in power. The main source of hope I found in the election results is that a significant percentage of Zoomers are shifting rightward. Overall, however, I am generally happy that I will not live long enough to find our for sure.
Another woke army are the unreconstructed hippies from the '60's. this is their second chance to be relevant, and they aren't letting go!
I'm stealing that! I accuse my neighbors (music professors, one w PHD) of having the political maturity of 14 year olds. But "unreconstructed hippies" is sooooo much better! Seriously cool!
Hippies are irrelevant. They've effectively been gone since 1975. Sure, scattered remnants live on in the hill country, where they live by charming the tourists, but a "woke army" of hippies is a figment of your overheated imagination.
Nope.
They all bought houses in the Bay Area, watched their equity rocket and their neighborhoods become multimillion dollar piggy banks. They are happily maintaining a false vaneer of "Woke!" while being a huge source of the problems the rest of us have to deal with.
True. A few live in the Appalachian mounts around tourist towns. Selling vegetables to us flat landers.
Great music though. And they think it only belongs to them. Keep on rockin in the free world.
Those hippies wrecked the universities and brainwashed the generation who are now the current professors brainwashing Gen Z.
❤️ x 100
“unreconstructed hippies” LOL!!
Is there anything more pathetic than an old hippie? Asking for a friend.
I have birthed two Millenials and one Gen. Z. Were going to be fine😄
Reflects well on you as a parent and on your kids as human beings. Godspeed!
Awesome: I believe it. Let it be so! xoxoxox
Yikes I have to wonder what PURGING HATE would actually look like ?! maybe somewhat like legislating love - sounds good but …
In fact very tricky and painful if not impossible
It will be done by the Ministry of Love
I swear, I just heard Barry White singing!
I applied for job today
Leaving people the fuck alone would be a good start.
Purging Hate would look a lot like JOY.
Yes, but the ray of light here is that their efforts to purge the country of hate are now turned inward, on an ever-shrinking demographic of Democratic voters willing to put up with obvious fucking idiots telling them to do "emotional labor".
2020 was a massive outlier due to the pandemic and high unemployment. If you remove that data point, the Democratic trajectory looks extremely bleak, and the start of the downturn coincides with this second coming of the PC "little Napoleons". This was their Waterloo; they just haven't realized it yet.
Also , 2022 did not rebuke Biden due to the supreme court ruling on Roe. The dems should love the court. It gave them one policy point
The thing is, the institutions they dominate are more and more paper tigers — we saw the impotence of corporate media and Hollywood in this election and both are suffering from catastrophic revenue contraction, academia likewise is in deep shit as enrollment plummets and more and more “educational” institutions close up and/or eliminate course offerings especially in the humanities. If Trump somehow succeeds in gutting the federal government (esp the Dept of Education) and devolving power back to the states that will be big too.
The long march through the institutions presumed those institutions were durable if not immortal. But as we see now, they are not, and with the pace of change possible in modern society, could be swept away much faster than most people think.
im mostly interested in brains and worldviews and ideologies and their sticky contagiousness, and not so much institutions, but this is my own myopia.
but then again i have always thought (or more like hoped and prayed) that the conquest of our culture by the poison whipped up in the labs of the Parisian Maoists would end up killing off anyone who drank too deeply of them, that their victory would be a poisoned chalice. they do seem to be masters of destruction but useless for creating, so perhaps we've reached their endgame—what's left for them now that they've destroyed everything they touch?
"The long march through the institutions presumed those institutions were durable if not immortal. But as we see now, they are not, and with the pace of change possible in modern society, could be swept away much faster than most people think."
You've convinced me (to be optimistic)—thanks!
I was thinking and maybe still do, that the only hope for the US to return to the merit-based system is the existence of an external power that provides a threat to the US “elite” world dominance. See “Sputnik, the Scare of the Century”, book that depicts how (personal accounts included) the external scare turned the mindset of the US people more towards science and technology. Like overnight.
Probably we will be able to pull ourselves out of this swamp ourselves. But if not - there’s still hope in other parties on the globe ))
Sure, I saw impotence in celebrity endorsement, but to discount corporate media influence is somewhat shortsighted. Think about it, if I controlled the vast political and monetary resources that the (let's be honest, EVIL)globalists do, I'm pretty damn sure that I'll find a way into a new avenue of influence. Face it, we might have elected a beginning, but more vigilance and actions are need to reverse the tide.
It is not the end, or even the beginning of the end, but perhaps it is the end of the beginning.
Is that a Kamala quote?
LOL, close, Churchill.
Heh heh... it is kind of word-salady...
the beginning of the beginning
That’s hopeful.
As for the Dept of Education, I'd like to maybe see it continue. The power of the unions needs to be broken--they don't help the teachers or students. But it would be good, at least for a time, the have a department that guides schools in eliminating CRT-based teaching and things like transgender ideology, while tying funds to the teaching of civics and critical thinking.
I agree that the teacher union monopolies need to be dissolved. They are the iron hand that centralizes a school structure that is ostensibly local. Local control is what is needed so keeping a centralized structure like DOE to implement that is both unlikely to work and leaves that centralized structure in place to be refocused under a different administration. The issue is teacher unions selecting their candidates for school boards who in return pay and administer the teachers as the union desires rather than parents or students. That doom loop needs to be broken.
The Dept of Education has a budget of 238 billion. 14% of k-12 funding comes from the Feds. Looks like most of it goes to student loans? There are 3,912 employees at DOE. Pay them off and then distribute the rest to the states. I heard Charlie Kirk say he wants to be part of fixing education.
They are actually giving money back that belongs to us.
I have dedicated my "career" to teaching civics and critical thinking. Fwiw I am nowhere near as optimistic as you are with regard to the D of Ed.
Buffy, please tell me one thing we need a "department of education" for. Federal money can be dished out to local school districts without being massively skimmed by DC bureaucrats. Right?
They’re focused on hearts and minds of young people, it used to be called “class consciousness”, but now intersectionality. I remember not too long ago we were exulting over the defeat of communism, which instead has morphed into this post-modernism. It’s nothing abstract—family members won’t talk to each other because of this.
I sure hope so.
Yes! on the pace of change. Thank you for expressing that I believe there are factors to speed up the clean up - that are discreet yet extraordinarily powerful.
And then what? The bureaucracy, propaganda, and cops came about because people wanted the stuff the system seemed to provide. They still want the stuff, even if the system is broken.
Love the writing here! You’re right that the left is just regrouping. We cannot take anything for granted. But, this election has made me so much more optimistic that the majority of our country has not been worn down by the constant bleating of the media and all the damage already done by the egregious policies of the left. We need to recruit more clear eyed escapees from the rubble. It will be a long and bumpy ride, but I can see a brighter future if we don’t squander this opportunity.
Wait till you see the real results of this election after fraud and machine manipulation is uncovered.
One thing I wonder about, and would be curious if you or anyone else has any perspective on, is what impact the size of the public administrative class has on things? I bring it up in the context of some comments about a few hundred thousand votes in some key states as possible margins sometimes. Also, my understanding is the Federal Government is the largest employer in the world.
Taking the north east for example, many of these deep blue states tend to have large public sectors that tend to vote in blocks. The one I fled from literally referred to Election Day as Pension Day and through the unions marshal their votes and have successfully gotten their generous benefits guaranteed by the State Constitution. They always dominate the private sector at the ballot box. The tax base is enslaved and the state is functionally bankrupt, they will either need a bail out or somehow cut future promises.
So I guess what I’m struggling with is, changing hearts and minds is definitely needed, but just as the private sector typically votes on the economy, the public sector does as well- they know where their bread gets buttered. Knowing the federal government is the largest employer in the world, and the public sector dominates the voting booth in some of these states, does anyone have any sense of how big a challenge this is? Who would vote themselves out of their living for an ideological battle and are there enough of them to stymie reform over the time it will take to do it? Or is this really not an issue for some reason I'm missing.
Bail no one out.
Completely agree, but unfortunately in our brand of “Capitalism”, Corporate and Public entities are exempt from having to account for the risks associated with living, or in the case of Wall Street, playing, beyond their means. That notion is reserved for citizens only.
The truth!
it is, most definitely, an issue
Always wondered about that, too. It seems there ought to be a threshold as a fraction of voting population that would suspend the right to vote for members of the federal bureaucracy, but it would never square with the Constitution.
Not in a million years
Clever, I take exception (even us redneck whites are part of the "anglosphere") to being included with the "liberal class". While I agree that the captured academia will "not go gentle into that good night", we have to hold our heads high and feel that the burden of our future is within our reach. By the way, the comedy of Tony Hinchcliffe, as well as others, are a harbinger of the return of "anti-PC". The leftist can suck it!
You writes purty fancee for a red neck. I likes it
Nearly one half of the country voted for Harris. Of that half what percent are instilled with TDS or wokism or both…50%? I believe that the Dems have been quiet, congenial to a point of raising suspicion. What do they have planned before confirming the electoral votes and the inauguration. I dislike the thought but I do believe they have a plan. Not until Trump is inaugurated will I rest easier.
Admins come and go. You are right, they have the rest and their backers at the WEF.
Thomas Sowell "“Envy was once considered to be one of the seven deadly sins before it became one of the most admired virtues under its new name, 'social justice'.”
Getting rid of the Department of Education would cut deeply into woke schooling. They are the trough these orgs feed from. In exchange for the free money they have to follow the rules, to the letter. Common core, etc. have failed miserably and teachers hate it. but it comes with newly printed money!
I think it may be better to turn the tables on the Dept. of Ed than to eliminate it. Use it to impose "right to work" for teacher and to promote charter schools;. Make sure CRT, DEI, and tans ideology are out and meritocracy, civics, the Constitution, and critical thinking are in.
No, just get rid of it. Leave it around and it will soon be up to its old tricks.
But why would we trust them to do this? The same people who have taught CRT and gender ideology? They’re not going to teach anything like civics and meritocracy.
I've been a teacher since 1973 and inside classrooms until 2020. It sounds quaint but In the late eighties I did a double take when teachers began appearing in front of their classes with take-out coffees. In the early nineties I was nonplussed when I saw a young teacher squat down to retrieve something on the floor for one of her third graders only to reveal a tattoo above her partially exposed bum. Eventually everyone was encouraged to bring their 'authentic' selves to work, broadcast their allegiances, and indoctrinate even very young children. Being inked with rainbows and unicorns, wearing tee shirts with knives proclaiming 'Protect Trans Kids', piercings, green hair, books about drag queens read by drag queens, male principals that announce on the PA that they are henceforth a woman and shall be demanding female pronouns is now considered good, meaningful, and very important.
My generation of educators were expected to dress and behave in a professional manner while at school or whenever interacting with students. We were taught to be firm, fair, and friendly (in that order) to students. Oh and by the way, in my 50 year career teaching K through 12, I have never once had a 'transkid' in my classroom.
I don't doubt one thing you said Hillary. If the teachers we need to teach civics and meritocracy were LIKE YOU, it would be a win. With I'd bet at least 50% of teachers, they'd continue to teach gender ideology despite new guidelines. Jimmy Carter started the DoE, and I think they've proven they're not up to the task.
Spot on, Hillary. Agreed with every point. Thanks for your decades of service to our kids.
I’m afraid that if you don’t drive a stake into them, they will rise from the earth
Problem is, too damned many of them to turn the tables on. They would re turn the tables, requiring us to replace all the tables with round tables.
You think they actually believe in social justice? Their followers do, but social justice is just another cynical ploy among several that have got them hopelessly entangled and unable to see the wood for the trees - and now "stunned" by the election result. The "Democrats" don't give a fuck about social justice, of course.
Social justice is just camoflauge for ideological uniformity.
"...feelings..." being the key word in my view. Lives directed and decided upon the emotions that switch like the wind in the trees rather than rational thought. In some cases life changing decision from which there is no return. And out of the feelings focus we have "triggers" and "safe spaces" rather than simply telling them life can be hard, you might encounter those who dislike you because they can and not for anything you have or have not done and needing to develop a thicker skin.
Agree. Not only will sanity not be magically restored, I expect nothing but further and more deeply entrenched division ahead. We also shouldn't pretend that Trump isn't surrounded by a group of oligarchs who are just as bad as the group that had hitched their wagons to Biden/Harris. There will be no escape from the future, because there is always too much money to be made in controlling it and exploiting the masses. In response to that famous advertising campaign, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way", the only morally viable choice is the 3rd option. We should stop hoping for anyone to save us by fixing the system; it can't be done. We need to band together to reject this gangster/bankster-owned dystopia through whatever non-violent forms of resistance are available.
yes.
But… It took them fifty years to infiltrate these institutions. They had to be stealthy because they knew how unpopular it would be if the takeover were overt. The system is awful for everyone but the leadership. It will not take fifty years to dismantle what it took fifty years to build. Most rank and file members are just as sick of it as the rest of us and they will welcome the change. It’s already happening.
'Social justice' has the same relation to real justice as a wooden Indian has to a real Indian; so it's important to exploit this beachhead. If Trump and Vance can succeed in deprogramming ideologically captured federal institutions over the next four years that would be a historic achievement, the first really significant push-back against the world-wide, centuries-long trend of ever-expanding bureaucracies. If they and their team can also succeed in repairing immigration and the economy, Vance should be well-positioned for a winning presidential run in 2028.
I wonder if they can deprogram the Federal civil service. I work for the Department of the Interior and it's mostly a cult now. I'm in over my head with trying to describe...maybe a couple of examples? DOI spends tens of thousands of dollars making all public facing documents "508 compliant," which means accessible to the tiny population of visually impaired readers. Rather than just put a button on DOI websites saying "click here to request 508" or something like that.
The top level managers at my agency insist that "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is the most important thing we do," that it is "everyone's job" and we should "find ways to incorporate it into every action." (DOI manages public lands and minerals.)
DOI has spent-is currently spending- millions on contracts with different consultants to help with "Environmental Justice outreach." No one knows what the goal is because the EJ policy is unclear.
The Secretary of the Interior feels that the people who belong to tribes are more important than other Americans and has made them the sole focus of her tenure.
DOI employees were informed not long ago how exciting it is that we can include our pronouns in our work profile. (Mercifully, that one never became a requirement.)
Anyway. Deprogramming would be an historic achievement. Agree.
and duplicate your experience across hundreds (thousands?) of federal, state and local agency sectors filled with millions of people and one can get a feel for how big a monster this really is
If DEI is your most important mission, the agency is unnecessary. (Those pronouns in every email were so silly.) Retired.
*isn’t necessary (correction)
Ha! Exactly. I wish I had been fast enough on my feet to think of that retort when I heard that bit of nonsense. Happy retirement to you.
The top 2 problems are the media/censorship and fraudulent elections. As nice a victory as this was, it was still only about a 2% popular vote win. If the real results were published, we'd realize we are much more than a narrow majority in this country.
The question is whether all of the achievements of the Long March were actually successful, the election having a corrective effect on the Overton window, for instance.
X is all a-twitter with a fresh conspiracy theory that Musk used Starlink to hack the voting machines and change the tallies. So it’s not even close to being over I’m afraid.
Gloating (hubris) is always a mistake. "Pride goeth..." hasn't survived as a cautionary guideline to the 'wise' for no reason. We can see 'their' blind spots easily. Would that we could our own so clearly.
I agree though it is tempting. Let's hope what this next administration focuses on getting some solid work done asap. They are also facing republican vipers waiting to bring them down so spending any time gloating or seeking revenge will serve no one and they've only got 4 years.
Probably only two years. There's usually a backlash in the midterms. Trump has control over both Houses of Congress and SCOTUS (sort of) and needs to act quickly while he can. The FBI and CIA aren't going away.
A little celebration (not to be confused with gloating/hubris) is delightful. Compliancy is the killer. Evil never stops and must always be guarded against.
Pride goeth before the fall ... But it's OK after Sept. 21 ... so DO IT!!
Just don’t wear white.
Exactly. Slippery slope, gloating that.
I don't believe in gloating for that reason. I am, however, enjoying the meltdowns on Instagram and TikTok of the insane progressives.
I contend we don’t have time to waste hunting down the the woke masters. Throw a few in jail, and move on
So I’m assuming they are now in favor of paper ballots and one day of voting then right?
Some of them are questioning the difference between the number of ballots in 2020, & now. They are real close to a profound truth, but they aren't quite there.
I can almost see the wheels turning. . .
I encourage every one of them to demand an audit, demand an investigation.
Vote fraud hurts us all.
Which year would be deemed correct with an audit? And yes, the profound truth has been clear for 4 years.
Aha!! Good eye Coco
B-b-but I thought X was a Nazi cesspool where only racist and hateful pro-Trump ideas are allowed?
If he did then I guess he can be the first governor of Mars
Some of the goofballs on Substack are claiming that Putin was involved, too.
Of course.
He was. He sent pictures of Pelosi in Moscow hotel kissing pictures of Trump
yeah, as if Putin would rather have Trump as POTUS than Harris,,,,don't believe it
Personally in my darkest hours I was hoping that the Israelis would do a walkie talkie sweep of our voting machines but it wasn’t necessary! OY
Yup, heard this one today. Being repeated by people who are intelligent enough to know a rumor is not evidence. Sigh.
Not that intelligent, I would surmise
If we all start ignoring these silly conspiracists it will end sooner than later. Ignore, mute, and block. They’ll run out of steam when we pay no heed.
Who are you trying to convince? Yourself or the "conspiracists"?
Funny how that works. When we complain, we're insurrectionist election deniers. When they complain, they're concerned citizens. Elon should file a defamation suit, and cite the precedent of the Dominion suit...
Oh hell that's a new one😄
omigawd!
People did go to prison for voter fraud committed in 2020.
People are exhausted by the perpetual hectoring. No one is voting for a party that’s just become the HR department.
No, about 46% of those voting, voted for exactly that.
You’re right, but to @Matt’s point, they’re in the cult, but because they eat they’re own most can’t sustain the constant shaming and abuse and you end up with Tuesday’s results.
Sadly so. How or why? WTF are thes people thinking?
Thinking and critical thought are not the same. Thus...
But they claim that they were voting to protect women's rights to have an abortion (up to the moment of birth in all 50 states), to prevent fascism from being implemented, & to stop Trump (the most evil person who ever walked the earth).
Good point!
Absolutely right!
I think they are done, once people start pointing and laughing at the naked emperor it’s all over but the shouting. At least from a cultural perspective, I’m sure the deep state still has some tricks up its sleeve on the political front.
Yes. The best weapon against the majority of the looney left is humor and mockery. They hate that and we need to pour it on, as it’s very effective on the cultural front. And it's wonderfully nonviolent. Sadly, I think you are right about the persistence of the deep state on the political front. Expect the unexpected. They are a wretched hive of scum and villainy…we must be cautious.
As always, it is pressure that gets the job done. i know that I have been remiss in not contacting my representatives on issue I am concerned about. If enough people do this, it works! Maybe, voting, gloating, and noting?
"hive of scum and villainy"... the best description of Democratic controlled spaces ever!
And as for Matt’s rhetorical question—“Is it really safe to laugh?”—I’d say we’re in cautious chuckle territory. While the most dogmatic ideologues might be on the retreat, the bureaucratic strongholds where they’ve entrenched themselves—academia, public education, and media—still remain. Sure, the monster is down, but it might just be catching its breath. Here’s hoping it stays down long enough for the rest of us to reclaim a sense of humor without fear of a ‘professionalism concern card’ being filed.
I’m going with a cautious “smirk” for now
Iffn I were to see Joy Reid get canned, I might upgrade to giggling
I wonder whether Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow, & the harpies on The View will maybe spontaneously combust during a second Trump term?
They won't go away. Their audiences are hooked on the amygdala high. All these "influencers' have to do is keep the Trumpfare up. The movers and shakers behind the scenes, however, will be rolling out the next Xdemic to fright us all into submission. My worst fear is that Blinken and Nod will get us into WWIII at Israel's invitation. Nothing unites a nation like war. Question: If there is a draft, do transmen have to go? I know transwomen don't.
Ha!
We can only hope
Or start a go fund me to make it happen
Speaking of which, did Rob Reiner set himself on fire yet?
I always figured he'd just stroke out in the middle of an anti-Trump rant on social media.
I'm still waiting for the private jets leaving Hollywood headed to Toronto...and not Saskatchewan = too many redneck Canadians there
Where there's smoke there's a liar.
No combustion.
They may be smoldering on the outside, but inside is a volcano building to spew toxic Trump rhetoric like lava as soon as he takes office. They live for this stuff. It’s easy too. All they have to do is take any statement, let’s say he says “The economy works great for people who want to work,” or something. The Joy Reids and the View ladies will get their talking points from on high and start in with “Trump disses disabled people and others who cannot work.” You know, the endless drumbeat of fake “quotes” that worked well for them last time.
That’s what is getting them fired up!
I keep an eye on Heather Cox Richardson and commenters, seemingly all of them certifiably insane. HCR is a bellwether for the leftist narrative. She was writing about the MSG Trump “Nazi rally” before anyone else. Today, Veterans Day, she didn’t mention Trump once. But her followers! “Trump evil” is seared into their brains. Hatred is eating them alive.
But I wonder whether their audience may eventually tire of this stuff?
I don't know.
I hope she keeps it up. Hammers the point home don't ya think?
ooh! Be still my heart! That would be so uplifting.
I remind myself (almost) each time I look in the mirror that I'm staring at a fool. I'm not at all worried about the intelligence of others, I'm much more concerned about the bs I'm always/often feeding myself - especially during those times I'm laughing at others.
Thank God, I'm not that introspective. I'd probably not like.
Reading your stuff, I'd say you can laugh at yourself pretty easily!
LOL
... or at least to 'get the axe' ;)
A few relatives on Facebook were having a pity party and talking about revenge. Someone responded with a very heartfelt response on why they voted for trump. Immigration, crime, inflation and the woke dishonesty. Then they gently chided them for their talk of revenge and said their parents would never lose friends based on how they voted. What did the relative do in response? Publicly unfriended them of course. These people are in the grip of a serious mind warp and deserve all the ridicule they receive. Constructive criticism clearly isn't working.
I’ve learned never to talk to my family after an election their side lost until they bring it up. Rubbing salt into the wound. They will get over it, just as we all do.
this sounds like 1930s Germany when people wouldn't join the correct socialist party, doesn't it? I've heard first hand stories. it sounds the same.
I live in Boulder, Colorado where even coffee is blue. Those of us who learned a while ago that the Democratic party's train was heading straight for an unfenced canyon and it was best to jump into the sagebrush near the track, are now nervously looking over our shoulders as public displays of disbelief morph into tantrums and hair pulling that rival the reactions of B-movie extras in a 1950s sci-fi flick doomed to be eaten by a space monster. Even wait staffs at some restaurants and shops have been so destabilized that there's a good chance you'll see tears if you ask the kitchen to substitute raspberries for blueberries. Apparently, even the color of food you order has taken on grim new meaning.
I was amazed to see Colorado, formerly a Red state, vote for Kamala at a greater rate than even Connecticut!
My take is that it’s all those blue immigrants from LA, NYC and Chicago over the last 30 years. Am I wrong?
You're absolutely right, particularly the LA transplants. I don't blame them for leaving California (two words: Gavin Newsom), but I sure as hell wish they'd learn how to drive in snow.
Here in Texas we feared the same phenomena, but luckily most of our immigrants actually fled California to escape the blue. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems a lot of the immigration to Colorado began years ago and wasn't necessarily caused by flight from blue oppression.
I lived in Colorado during the 70s and 80s and even in 1976 I had a bumper sticker on my car that said "Don't Californicate Colorado."
I've been here for 30 years, and have seen waves related to various events. The wildfires have also been a big driver. California state taxes and what were relatively favorable real estate prices in Colorado have been big factors. Homeless issues in and around LA and SF were reasons cited by Californians I know personally who relocated to CO. don't think anyone is suggesting people fled California specifically to escape blue ideology, but rather that they brought it with them and have made CO far more blue than previously.
I worried about the same thing, but it seems to me that Texas changes people more than the other way around. Also, I wonder Colorado is close enough to California to have more of a shared culture these days.
Texas is still very much its own country. And with the Valley turning red, it doesn’t seem that we’ll be turning blue any time soon. Remember how recently the Democrat Party was so sure that with increased migration from the south, it was just a matter of time?
"…but I sure as hell wish they'd learn how to drive in snow."
That’s so true. It’s driving trough Colorado in December on our way from Canada to our winter destination in Texas that scares us most. Cars in the ditch, pileups everywhere.
Not looking forward to that.
non sequitor, but I didn't want to forget:
Highest number of children in foster care are from California.
or research before voting
it was in 2010 when they instituted universal mail-in ballots state wide. The next election, solid reddish purple Colorado went blue and has never looked back. We couldn't go red if we tried. It was "the blueprint" fully realized bought and paid for in part by our now governor. I highly recommend The Blueprint by Adam Schrager.
Boulder sounds a lot like Austin. Fortunately, unlike Boulder, Austin's sensibilities are muted by a larger, realists populace.
I think realism is key, regardless of where your natural alignments might be.
I think they are infected with mind control - seriously hyper neurotic panicked delusional and dangerous - spiteful and mean. A bad combo.
well said - I'm in Plano Texas - ditto
Blue coffee? Do you mean there's LITERALLY blue coffee?
I love weird food! Tell me more.
Not literally... though right before the election there was a noticeable uptick in blue hairstyles, especially near the CU campus :)
Maybe we ought to keep a tax on their tips, just for fun.
Hard to say. My Jonestown friends are unnervingly quiet.
"My Jonestown friends" lolol
I think I know some people down there in Guyana too
I think we need NEW friends
When I look at the US map of counties that voted for Trump (aka, rejected tyranny and cultural insanity), with 49 of 50 states becoming redder, I feel like I discovered that the majority I suspected felt the same way I did is actually much, much greater than I thought. That gives me such hope. I think that we now have a tremendous network of people in this country who see the ugly, highly censored truth and are willing to defend it and defend America. Anything the elites try to pull now will risk a colossal reckoning.
Yes, we must remain on guard against their arsenal of dirty tricks and evil acts, but we must also continue to expose the truth to those who have never seen all that was censored. That will likely increase the unity of Americans.
Let the Golden Age begin!
I imagine that the majority of the voters in this election have ever-so-profoundly delivered the possibility of a new world to the entire planet. I say this quietly, prayerfully. We have provided a ~clearing~ for better things to arise . . . with the leadership of Donald Trump, Bobby Kennedy, Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek, MattTiabbi, Michael Shellenberger. We have voices now, and some power. I see it as a whole new day.
«When I look at the US map of counties that voted for Trump (aka, rejected tyranny and cultural insanity)»
I think too that it was a protest vote by the lower middle class and the working class but against higher housing and living costs and against more competition against low-wage foreign labor, whether immigrant or offshore.
"49 of 50", you say?
What was the exception?
I believe it was Utah.
Not one of the answers I was anticipating! Those goofy Mormons....
I was surprised too!
Purge the deep state. Eliminate woke policies. Eradicate DEI & CRT. Cancel your subscription to the NYT & WaPo until they go bankrupt. It’s a lot to ask.
I just watched "The Coddling of the American Mind", came away w/ some hope! Worth the watch BTW!
Wow - that presentation was 5 years ago - just before that sort of 'wrong-think' became impermissible
Get the “free” digital version from your local library so you can monitor them, but definitely Defund!
Evan Barker had a striking piece in The Free Press about being a devoted Democrat who finally had enough and voted for Trump this year: https://www.thefp.com/p/democrat-fundraiser-evan-barker-i-voted-trump
I commented:
A good reminder that no one changes their mind suddenly. This election may be the beginning of a change to the Zeitgeist, but it will be a long process. Two hundred thousand voters in PA and MI and it would have gone the other way. If we show the left that our way is better, and no threat to them, we will win a few more; fail at that and we will be right back where we started.
As tempting as it might be to echo Obama’s sneering “We won,” it would be manifestly counterproductive, not to mention counter to our fundamental sense of right.
My thoughts exactly. Woke totalitarianism is going nowhere if we don’t change minds, and who’s ever been swayed by gloating? As hard as it is, we need to put down the axes and instead persuade them it’s better “over here”. The water’s warm and the beer is cold; take off your hate and dip in a toe…
yes. xoxoxo
I hope more and more people find their way to The Free Press.
Most people never leave the Democrat party. They realize the party left them, and it’s different realization for each person. But most of us carry our liberal values into the R or I party nonetheless.
And there is room for them, as long as you come in looking for common ground rather than hoping to subvert. I forget who it was who said that Democrats look for heretics while Republicans look for converts, and both find what they look for.
lol.
Paywall. Can you summarize what sh said please?
Sorry, I didn’t realize.
A summary wouldn’t really be the point; she wasn’t revealing a hidden scandal or anything. She was just another lifelong Democrat who had worked as a consultant to several campaigns — Obama, Clinton, and several Congressional races - ultimately raising 50 million dollars for Democrats. But this cycle finally made her see how out of touch and hypocritical the party is: “The Democratic Party has evolved into a group that signals virtue but lacks real values,” and, somewhat to her own surprise she voted for Trump.
Thanks!
Nothing is actually undone yet, and Trump's administration will be battled much as it was during his first term. The fight is only just beginning. This isn't a movie.
https://principlesvstribes.substack.com/p/this-isnt-a-movie
It will be very interesting (and scary) if a Governor literally tries to block Border Patrol or ICE from picking up illegal immigrants with deportation orders by using armed State Troopers. What the hell happens then?
Federal law prohibits state laws from interfering with federal law. Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
Saying it’s illegal and doing something about it are different things. Those states will certainly not help the Feds. But what about when ICE goes to a local jail and tries to pick up an illegal criminal and the cops won’t give him up? Will ICE agents draw weapons saying they have the law on their side?
I don’t think they will draw weapons! The federal law will need to be enforced- in a court of law. My prediction.
Battling a newly elected administration is counterproductive, and will hurt the populace. Trump in 2016 was quite a different leader than he is now, not knowing DC. You’ve tried everything. Let the Leader lead. Please.
If only…
No thank you.
Look at accreditation guidelines for any academic program.
If Trump is successful in his second term, I think the cult of the Left is done as an influencing agent on American society. If the ship hits an iceberg - recession or one of the conflicts started under Biden widens to a regional war - then the media hysteria might just reach enough low information voters to convince a slim majority of Americans to run back to Big Brother.
As far as just screaming "RaCisT" and trusting that will get the job done, those days are over. Jimmy Kimmel's crocodile tears aren't fooling anyone anymore.
The scenario you describe is an important one. The outgoing administration has left quite a job in every sphere for the Trump administration. It is the primary reason he won. Our border invasion, our geopolitical crises, our economy state. Biden’s actions purposely overturned Trump’s success in his 1st administration. He is facing a much bigger lift this time to get the economic engine roaring, and moving non-citizens off of our land. The four years he had to observe the mess made were spent determining how to address each part, giving some consolation. Building a coalition was also a smart move.
Tell me, how does one go about removing all the "non-citizens" off the land?
In whatever way Tom Holman determines will work.
His tears may not have fooled anyone, but it earned my disrespect and laughter.
"I'm sorry *sob*...I just *blubber* love my country...and I fear for it."
Remember that...?
I was just thinking about him today and his amazing hypocrisy.
I think that they're going to release another virus and try to shut us all down again.
I certainly hope that if that happens, we make sure that people like Rand Paul and Jay Bhattacharya are in charge of the management of the pandemic, and not the WHO and Fauci proteges.
I hope you're right!!
NFW. Zombies never die. The cult isn’t dead they’re laying in wait. Get your shit together folks the battle has just begun.
By their very nature (so I understand), zombies are brainless.
Good advice. The woke and the Deep State are like the Terminators. One narrow election will not deter them, they will consider their next steps and will be back.
In 1945 people thought that Naziism and Jew hatred were done, and look at 2024. In 1989 people though Communism was dead and it was The End of History. How naive that looks.
And here come the boys:
Musk owns Trump
Putin owns Musk
Xi owns Putin
Thiel owns Vance
But who owns the lawnmower?