What’s the Point?

 

We live in a country where fraud and lies are expected by nearly everyone. Where our values and beliefs are repeatedly trampled so that there is nearly nothing left of them. Where our children will be estranged from us because the authorities’ agenda uses propaganda to alienate them from us. Where loyalty to one’s party is superior to protecting the laws and beliefs of our country. Where the Constitution and Bill of Rights are discredited as archaic and useless. Where the federal government and its bureaucrats reign supreme. Where dissent is labelled as dangerous and allegiance to the state is celebrated. Where crime on the streets is considered to be the new norm and the criminals roam freely. Where our personal fortunes can be seized by the government if they deem it so. Where we can be banned from the streets and imprisoned in our homes for the greater good.

This realization must be akin to being mugged.

Or maybe I’m being melodramatic.

I feel abandoned and numb. What now?

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  1. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    By the way, I read a Twitter thread from Ron Coleman that pointed out a few things. I’ll try to find it again to link for you, but in the meantime I’ll recap:

    First, that this was in no way a normal midterm. Never has there been a time when one party controlled so much of public life—-the usual list: News media, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Madison Avenue, academia, sports, the legal profession, the medical profession…if you think about it, it says a lot that the Republicans were able to do as well as they did. Zeldin almost won in freakin’ New York?! And, viewed in this light, it makes DeSantis’ victory in Florida even more encouraging. 

    Second, though this was obviously bad for America, it as also, actually,  bad for the Democratic party. If they’d gotten doused with a really big bucket of cold, red water,  the muckety-mucks at the DNC would’ve had a good excuse for getting rid of Biden and evicting (or at least tamping down) the uber-progressives who now dominate the party.  (I was actually making this pitch to relatively-normal Democrat friends before the election: “Look, if you want to be done with Biden, and if you want the Democrats to stop being the party of crazies and freaks, hurt them at the polls!”)

    Instead, they’re still stuck with Biden who, if he’s still breathing on his own, will run in 2024. And they’re stuck with the Wokestapo, who will continue to be their oh-so-charming selves, alienating yet more Americans.  The countdown to 2024 begins, and I’m not sure they’re really in such good shape.  

     

    • #61
  2. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    GrannyDude (View Comment):

    We can make improvements, but even these aren’t permanent. “Making the world a better place” isn’t like carving a marble statue, it’s like cleaning a public restroom—that kind of work, and just as impermanent. It’s not creation (God did that), it’s maintenance.

    So I told myself: “You know, as soon as your mood improves…pick up a sponge and a can of Ajax and get back to it. ” 

    #True, and well said.

    • #62
  3. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    GrannyDude (View Comment):
    The countdown to 2024 begins, and I’m not sure they’re really in such good shape.  

    Thanks, GrannyDude. The Dems might not be in good shape, but they’ll never admit it. After all, they do believe in the perfectability of man. As I look at the future, I continue to feel bewildered and frustrated. I have no idea how all this happened, and I have no idea what the remedy should be. It seems like I’ve heard just about every approach imaginable, much of which has been tried in the past, and none of it resonates with me. I think I just need some quiet time to contemplate what might lay ahead of us. 

    • #63
  4. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):
    #True, and well said.

    or there’s always, “chop wood, carry water . . . “

    • #64
  5. The Elephant in the Room Member
    The Elephant in the Room
    @ElephasAmericanus

    Jim George (View Comment):

    The Elephant in the Room (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    I have little respect for PA in they they elected a brain damaged ogre instead of an accomplished doctor.

    I think that’s a bit unfair. Most Lefties in Pennsylvania probably felt camaraderie with Fetterman due to his situation. I mean, after watching Fetterman struggle with a severe mental impairment, most Progressives probably thought, “Wow, I can identify with that.”

    This comment represents exactly what I feared and what I saw more than one commentator express concerns about- that the voters of the “compassionate” party, a/k/a the party of people who cheered on the George Floyd BLM riots, the attempted assassination of a sitting Supreme Court Justice, the overt threats by a Senate Majority Leader in front of the Supreme Court building to the Justices who were thought to be voting to overrule Roe v. Wade, etc., etc., — would vote for a functional ignoramus who should have been cared for by a loving family and not put out before the lights of a campaign.

    I was actually just making a joke that both parties have severe mental handicaps: Fetterman suffers from a stroke injury, and most Democrats suffer from Progressivism.

    But the Fetterman case should end the Democrats’ nonsense that Republicans must be feared because they all vote in lockstep. Clearly the Dems know that Fetterman is little more than a giant flesh paperweight who will simply push the button his minders put the cookie in front of. Just like the Chinese Communist Party, Putin’s United Russia, Erdoğan’s AKP, ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe, etc., the Democrats constitute a classic rubber stamp legislature for their autocratic executives.

    • #65
  6. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: I feel abandoned and numb. What now?

    Religion.

    Have seen my Pope? Not much hope there.

    No, I meant good religion.

    It is the only one that matters.  It is the only one that was created.

    • #66
  7. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: I feel abandoned and numb. What now?

    Religion.

    Have seen my Pope? Not much hope there.

    No, I meant good religion.

    It is the only one that matters. It is the only one that was created.

    You mean revealed?

    • #67
  8. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    Jim George (View Comment):

    The Elephant in the Room (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    I have little respect for PA in they they elected a brain damaged ogre instead of an accomplished doctor.

    I think that’s a bit unfair. Most Lefties in Pennsylvania probably felt camaraderie with Fetterman due to his situation. I mean, after watching Fetterman struggle with a severe mental impairment, most Progressives probably thought, “Wow, I can identify with that.”

    This comment represents exactly what I feared and what I saw more than one commentator express concerns about- that the voters of the “compassionate” party, a/k/a the party of people who cheered on the George Floyd BLM riots, the attempted assassination of a sitting Supreme Court Justice, the overt threats by a Senate Majority Leader in front of the Supreme Court building to the Justices who were thought to be voting to overrule Roe v. Wade, etc., etc., — would vote for a functional ignoramus who should have been cared for by a loving family and not put out before the lights of a campaign. How anyone can find that to be a positive thing is way beyond me, but then after last night, and actually before last night, almost everything is beyond me. President Calvin Coolidge, in my humble opinion one of the truly great Presidents in American history, had this to say about that kind of misplace priority:

    Some day, I pray, we will return to the good, solid, American common sense of Presidents Coolidge and Reagan.

    God Bless America!

    Bingo. 

    • #68
  9. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    GrannyDude (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: I feel abandoned and numb. What now?

    Religion.

    Have seen my Pope? Not much hope there.

    No, I meant good religion.

    I had a conversation with a pastor-friend about this. I’d realized (after a very gloomy morning) that the fight goes on because the fight is eternal. Good and evil. Light and darkness. Love and Not-Love.

    It would have been wonderful if the red wave had been huge, and a real soaker…but even if it had been, evil would still not only exist but dominate. It always has and it always will, this side of heaven.

    Because this is how we are. “We” meaning human beings. We’re a fallen bunch: selfish, small, prone to violence and the tolerance thereof, easily led by obvious creeps and charlatans. It’s a wonder God bothers with us at all. What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

    It is a huge, but common mistake/sin to think that human beings have the capacity for perfecting human life. We don’t.

    We can make improvements, but even these aren’t permanent. “Making the world a better place” isn’t like carving a marble statue, it’s like cleaning a public restroom—that kind of work, and just as impermanent. It’s not creation (God did that), it’s maintenance.

    So I told myself: “You know, as soon as your mood improves…pick up a sponge and a can of Ajax and get back to it. ”

     

    That is why I like Michael Walsh’s The Devil’s Pleasure Palace. Your pastor must have read it or good believers all understand this. 

    • #69
  10. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Red Herring (View Comment):

    Jim George (View Comment):

    The Elephant in the Room (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    I have little respect for PA in they they elected a brain damaged ogre instead of an accomplished doctor.

    I think that’s a bit unfair. Most Lefties in Pennsylvania probably felt camaraderie with Fetterman due to his situation. I mean, after watching Fetterman struggle with a severe mental impairment, most Progressives probably thought, “Wow, I can identify with that.”

    This comment represents exactly what I feared and what I saw more than one commentator express concerns about- that the voters of the “compassionate” party, a/k/a the party of people who cheered on the George Floyd BLM riots, the attempted assassination of a sitting Supreme Court Justice, the overt threats by a Senate Majority Leader in front of the Supreme Court building to the Justices who were thought to be voting to overrule Roe v. Wade, etc., etc., — would vote for a functional ignoramus who should have been cared for by a loving family and not put out before the lights of a campaign. How anyone can find that to be a positive thing is way beyond me, but then after last night, and actually before last night, almost everything is beyond me. President Calvin Coolidge, in my humble opinion one of the truly great Presidents in American history, had this to say about that kind of misplace priority:

    Some day, I pray, we will return to the good, solid, American common sense of Presidents Coolidge and Reagan.

    God Bless America!

    Bingo.

    Not going to happen.  

    • #70
  11. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Not going to happen.  

    I am coming round to your point of view, @fakejohnjanegalt, but I am not happy about it.

    • #71
  12. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Rodin (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Not going to happen.

    I am coming round to your point of view, @ fakejohnjanegalt, but I am not happy about it.

    Do I ever sound happy?  There is a cost to being a realist.  Wish I had the rose colored glasses to live in most people’s fantasy world.  being Red Pilled is not fun but it is real.

    • #72
  13. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Rodin (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Not going to happen.

    I am coming round to your point of view, @ fakejohnjanegalt, but I am not happy about it.

    I appreciate so much your unhappiness. While I am still lifting myself out of my sadness, I’ve also been inspired to not give up. More to come shortly.

    • #73
  14. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Rodin (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Not going to happen.

    I am coming round to your point of view, @ fakejohnjanegalt, but I am not happy about it.

    Do I ever sound happy? There is a cost to being a realist. Wish I had the rose colored glasses to live in most people’s fantasy world. being Red Pilled is not fun but it is real.

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Rodin (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Not going to happen.

    I am coming round to your point of view, @ fakejohnjanegalt, but I am not happy about it.

    I appreciate so much your unhappiness. While I am still lifting myself out of my sadness, I’ve also been inspired to not give up. More to come shortly.

    Still here:

    • #74
  15. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    It’s been a few years now that I’ve been saying this:  I no longer understand this country.  The radicals have won.  I trace this to electing Obama.  Apparently he did transform this country.

    • #75
  16. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Manny (View Comment):

    It’s been a few years now that I’ve been saying this: I no longer understand this country. The radicals have won. I trace this to electing Obama. Apparently he did transform this country.

    Every time I think I’ve figured things out, I’m stymied again. So I’m with you, Manny.

    • #76
  17. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    Manny (View Comment):

    It’s been a few years now that I’ve been saying this: I no longer understand this country. The radicals have won. I trace this to electing Obama. Apparently he did transform this country.

    I put the fault event in mid 2006. It was the mis-handled invasion of Iraq. The left took advantage of it, and someone on that side lined up Obama. He’s not intelligent or hardworking enough to have done it himself.

    • #77
  18. Rōnin Coolidge
    Rōnin
    @Ronin

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Rōnin (View Comment):

    What do we do when our creativity is severely damaged on the Right?

    Well @susanquinn, I was thinking about writing about this in more detail, but since you asked:

    Toynbee developed his concept of an “internal proletariat” (non-dominant minorities that follow and are controlled by the dominant minorities) and an “external proletariat” (non-dominant minorities that do not follow and are not controlled by the dominant minorities – i.e. deplorables)  to describe quite different opposition groups within and outside the “frontiers of a civilization” or those groups that are seen as socially and culturally acceptable, and those groups that are not.  Both of these groups, however, find themselves bound to the fate of the civilization.  During its decline and disintegration, they are increasingly disenfranchised or alienated, and thus lose their immediate sense of loyalty or of obligation to maintain the “status quo” of the culture and society at large. Nonetheless an “internal proletariat,” untrusting of the dominant minority, may form a “universal church” which survives the civilization’s demise, co-opting the useful structures such as marriage laws of the earlier time while creating a new philosophical or religious pattern for the next stage of history. Before the process of disintegration, the dominant minority had held the internal proletariat in subjugation within the confines of the civilization, causing these oppressed to grow bitter. The external proletariat, living outside the civilization in poverty and chaos, grows envious. Then, in the social stress resulting from the failure of the civilization, the bitterness and envy increase markedly.

    Toynbee argues that as civilizations decay, there is a “schism” within the society. In this environment of discord, people resort to archaism (idealization of the past), futurism (idealization of the future), detachment (removal of oneself from the realities of a decaying world), and transcendence (meeting the challenges of the decaying civilization with new insight, e.g., by following a new religion). From among members of an “internal proletariat” who transcend the social decay a “church” may arise. Such an association would contain new and stronger spiritual insights, around which a subsequent civilization may begin to form. Toynbee here uses the word “church” in a general sense, e.g., to refer to a collective spiritual bond found in common worship, or the unity found in an agreed social order.

    Both Toynbee and Spengler seem to agree that out of the decline and eventual fall of the dominant minority social order, a new more dynamic social order “may” arise, depending on depth of cultural/social collapse and external threats, i.e. outside groups and nations taking advantage of  the power vacuum that will follow.

    Remember, these are concepts and theories and not an exact science.  Only God knows how this plays out in the end.  So I’ll end with VDH review of the situation.  All is not lost.  We got a C grade when we needed a A – but we still past.  We got to work harder.

    • #78
  19. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Rōnin (View Comment):
    Remember, these are concepts and theories and not an exact science.  Only God knows how this plays out in the end.  So I’ll end with VDH review of the situation.  All is not lost.  We got a C grade when we needed a A – but we still past.  We got to work harder.

    Inshallah.

    Bongino concurs, with analogy to NYC before Rudy.

    • #79
  20. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Barfly (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    It’s been a few years now that I’ve been saying this: I no longer understand this country. The radicals have won. I trace this to electing Obama. Apparently he did transform this country.

    I put the fault event in mid 2006. It was the mis-handled invasion of Iraq. The left took advantage of it, and someone on that side lined up Obama. He’s not intelligent or hardworking enough to have done it himself.

    And the big spending. And Too Big to Fail.

    • #80
  21. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Manny (View Comment):

    It’s been a few years now that I’ve been saying this: I no longer understand this country. The radicals have won. I trace this to electing Obama. Apparently he did transform this country.

    Yes.

    https://ricochet.com/1335923/what-happened-and-what-now

    • #81
  22. Rōnin Coolidge
    Rōnin
    @Ronin

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    It’s been a few years now that I’ve been saying this: I no longer understand this country. The radicals have won. I trace this to electing Obama. Apparently he did transform this country.

    I put the fault event in mid 2006. It was the mis-handled invasion of Iraq. The left took advantage of it, and someone on that side lined up Obama. He’s not intelligent or hardworking enough to have done it himself.

    And the big spending. And Too Big to Fail.

    It goes back further then that, it starts with the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and the fundamental changing of  the nation’s economic policies and the beginnings of the deep bureaucratic state and industrial/military (corporate/government partnership) complex.  But the change really takes off with the 1960 election of the Kennedy Clan to the White House, and gave us a war we could not afford to fight or lose (see Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order by Ray Dalio. Ray does a good job explaining why Nixon took us off the gold standard).  Needless to say, the 1960’s are where the current brand of leftist “Progressivism” got its start (which produced the Clintons and Obama), and continues today.  Yes, it’s been a “long march” for the progressives to get to this point.  Which means it’s going to be a long hard march for us, and those like us, to take it back.  

    • #82
  23. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Rōnin (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    It’s been a few years now that I’ve been saying this: I no longer understand this country. The radicals have won. I trace this to electing Obama. Apparently he did transform this country.

    I put the fault event in mid 2006. It was the mis-handled invasion of Iraq. The left took advantage of it, and someone on that side lined up Obama. He’s not intelligent or hardworking enough to have done it himself.

    And the big spending. And Too Big to Fail.

    It goes back further then that, it starts with the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and the fundamental changing of the nation’s economic policies and the beginnings of the deep bureaucratic state and industrial/military (corporate/government partnership) complex. But the change really takes off with the 1960 election of the Kennedy Clan to the White House, and gave us a war we could not afford to fight or lose (see Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order by Ray Dalio. Ray does a good job explaining why Nixon took us off the gold standard). Needless to say, the 1960’s are where the current brand of leftist “Progressivism” got its start (which produced the Clintons and Obama), and continues today. Yes, it’s been a “long march” for the progressives to get to this point. Which means it’s going to be a long hard march for us, and those like us, to take it back.

    True.

    • #83
  24. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    Why should we accept blame for what happened? We voted for liberty and prosperity. We don’t cheat. We didn’t get TDS. Those who stayed home didn’t lift a finger to prevent this but we have always had people who are not interested in voting. They feel it doesn’t make a difference and they have a point. Others blame the candidates and Trump but in every case the Repub was a better choice than the Dem. Their TDS is their own shortfall.  The blame lies in all who voted for Democrats. Freedom isn’t free and they didn’t earn it. For many, killing babies was their #1 priority. Why should we believe God doesn’t disapprove? Dems sold skulls full of mush the idea that we are evil and they fell for it. They don’t deserve freedom. Others voted for government to take money from those who earned it and give it to those with student debt. They don’t deserve freedom. Others do not appreciate our country and want to remake it into their Marxist utopia. They do t deserve freedom. Too many on our side hated Trump so much they refused to entertain the idea the Dems have corrupted the system. They don’t deserve freedom.

    Quit feeling like failures. You did your part. Place the blame where it lies. 

    • #84
  25. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Red Herring (View Comment):

    Why should we accept blame for what happened? We voted for liberty and prosperity. We don’t cheat. We didn’t get TDS. Those who stayed home didn’t lift a finger to prevent this but we have always had people who are not interested in voting. They feel it doesn’t make a difference and they have a point. Others blame the candidates and Trump but in every case the Repub was a better choice than the Dem. Their TDS is their own shortfall. The blame lies in all who voted for Democrats. Freedom isn’t free and they didn’t earn it. For many, killing babies was their #1 priority. Why should we believe God doesn’t disapprove? Dems sold skulls full of mush the idea that we are evil and they fell for it. They don’t deserve freedom. Others voted for government to take money from those who earned it and give it to those with student debt. They don’t deserve freedom. Others do not appreciate our country and want to remake it into their Marxist utopia. They do t deserve freedom. Too many on our side hated Trump so much they refused to entertain the idea the Dems have corrupted the system. They don’t deserve freedom.

    Quit feeling like failures. You did your part. Place the blame where it lies.

    Thanks, Red.  I don’t see myself as a failure. I’m just kinda worn out. But I was energized and put up a post on the Member Feed that I hope will encourage people not to dwell on our losses, but to storm ahead!

    • #85
  26. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    I’m not anywhere near giving up, but I hate being beaten by people who don’t play by the rules. I’m angrier every day. Do they really want people like us to give up on the rules and start chiseling every little advantage? Do they want me to cheat? Do they want me to be like them?

    I never try to get even, no matter what anyone does to me. I either let it slide or I escalate things.

    • #86
  27. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Barfly (View Comment):

    Do they want me to be like them?

    I never try to get even, no matter what anyone does to me. I either let it slide or I escalate things.

    That’s it: they want you to be just like them. It would suit them fine.

    • #87
  28. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    Do they want me to be like them?

    I never try to get even, no matter what anyone does to me. I either let it slide or I escalate things.

    That’s it: they want you to be just like them. It would suit them fine.

    This raises the question of what is ethical self-defense in politics? If they cheat, do you cheat? If they pervert the levers of law do you pervert the levers of law? Or do you simply revolt and tear things apart for a restoration?

    • #88
  29. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Rodin (View Comment):
    This raises the question of what is ethical self-defense in politics? If they cheat, do you cheat? If they pervert the levers of law do you pervert the levers of law? Or do you simply revolt and tear things apart for a restoration?

    This will be a huge question that we need to look at honestly and thoroughly. I hate the idea of cheating, but bending the rules? 

    • #89
  30. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Barfly (View Comment):

    I’m not anywhere near giving up, but I hate being beaten by people who don’t play by the rules. I’m angrier every day. Do they really want people like us to give up on the rules and start chiseling every little advantage? Do they want me to cheat? Do they want me to be like them?

    I never try to get even, no matter what anyone does to me. I either let it slide or I escalate things.

    They play by the rules.  I doubt you will find what they do illegal. Just not ethical.  From their point of view if they win all is good.  The issue is the new mail in ballot system.  They have made voting frictionless and then have made it a status to stop the Nazi by doing a very easy thing.  They are saving the country by stopping us.  And all they have to do is sent out a ballot marked Democrat by everybody in their family and friends.  They have made voting by the lazy and uninformed the goal in their GOV efforts.   The GOP wants quality votes but that really does not matter.  All that matters is quantity.  

     

    • #90
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