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On Bellwethers and Blinders
Photo Credit: Emilian Robert Vicol
This past November 10th, my wife and I were in a small, country diner having breakfast with our friend, a Cold War Intelligence hero. He had served under President Reagan, so we were keenly interested in knowing his thoughts on the presidential election of two days before. However, as our friend was regaling us with his analysis, something happened, a bellwether; an exceedingly unsettling one.
A couple of tables away from us sat a man. He was accompanied by an elderly gentleman who was wearing a WWII veteran cap; the elderly man was obviously under this younger man’s care. Overhearing our conversation, the younger man decided to make us aware that he approved of neither the election results nor of us happily discussing those results in front of him. He began speaking, loudly and with agitation, apparently to the elderly gentleman, but really to us. His comments were racially tinged and clearly meant to intimidate: Clinton won the popular vote; Trump doesn’t represent people like me, he represents people like them over there. He continued in that manner for some minutes.
It was a situation that bordered on the surreal. Here I was, in a room with my wife, two elderly, legitimate American heroes, and a guy, radicalized by Leftist narrative, who was quickly becoming unhinged. Further adding to my discomfort was the fact that I was both armed and blocked from being able to quietly leave and stow my weapon in my car.
Thankfully, the situation defused without incident, but I was left rattled. I began to ask myself: If someone could behave this irrationally over the election, with a WWII vet in his care, in mostly conservative Wyoming, if the Left’s current propaganda narrative of electoral illegitimacy and Popular Vote vs. Electoral College could be so effective here, then what must the rest of the country be like?
With this concern in mind, I relayed the event to a few political peers. I added to the telling the growing political fear of mine that the Democrats were planning to sow as much social unrest as possible before the handover, and in doing so, were possibly giving Obama an excuse not to do the handover.
The responses I received were discouraging: One of my peers dismissed me outright as delving into conspiracy, another engaged in abject ridicule. And yet, what I found far more discouraging was watching the weeks and days leading up to the inauguration unfold pretty much exactly as that bellwether in the diner had led me to fear.
The Democrats and their media, frantic for a narrative that would resonate, bounced from “Popular Vote” to “Fake News” before finally landing on their most effective narrative: “Russian hacking.” And with each narrative push to delegitimize Trump’s electoral victory, the Democrat base became more agitated. This agitation eventually began bearing rotten fruit, as America evidenced in horror when they watched news reports of a mentally disabled man who was tortured for hours on a Facebook live video stream because his torturers assumed him to be a Trump supporter.
On the same day as the Facebook torture video, after eight years of Russian foreign policy highlighted by a ridiculous “Reset” button and a live mic admission, “After my election, I’ll have more flexibility;” after a constant barrage from the Democrats and their media that the Russians had “hacked” a United States Presidential election; after having ejected 35 Russian diplomats as spies only five days earlier with Russian hacking cited as the reason, Barack Obama moved US Special Forces to the border of Russia.
Describing Obama’s actions as an “outrageous provocation” is an understatement. And describing that as an understatement is itself an understatement. But, when you consider that Obama pulled this little stunt with only seventeen days remaining until the inauguration, perhaps a more “conspiratorial” description is justified.
And then, just six days later, BuzzFeed published a now debunked report that, while in Russia, Donald Trump hired prostitutes to engage in a session of passive-aggressive urinary revenge-kink against Barack and Michelle Obama, and that he was covertly filmed while doing so.
Of course the Democrat base, now agitated beyond any semblance of reason, believed every absurd word of all of it. So much so that the very next day on Twitter, which was already flush with tweets to an #AssassinateTrump hashtag, Hollywood elite Rosie O’Donnell tweeted her demand that martial law be imposed to “delay” the inauguration.
But, despite all of the Democrats hysterical accusations, blatant agit-prop, and ham-handed militaristic stunts, in response to them Russia did… nothing. And now, as a delicious satire that the Democrats themselves wrote, they have to come to grips with their own malfeasance come back to bite them: i.e., Russia actually was instrumental in securing the Presidency for Trump, because Putin wasn’t stupid enough to take Obama’s and the Democrats’ outrageous bait to war.
But now, unfortunately, the rest of the country as well has to come to grips with the aftermath of what the Democrats have wrought in their obscene temper tantrum, a tantrum which had and has not yet ceased:
- Two days before the inauguration, Wolf Blitzer on CNN pondered, “What if an incoming president and his immediate successors were wiped out on day one?” as an introduction to a CNN piece on how an Obama cabinet secretary could become the next President.
- During his speech on the day of the inauguration, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, identified himself with, and quoted at length from, an American Civil War soldier, about to die in battle and vowing to never give up his fight.
- The day after the inauguration, while addressing the purported half million protesters who attended the D.C. “Pussy March,” Hollywood elite Madonna Louise Ciccone confessed to having fantasies of “blowing up the White House.”
- And over the inauguration weekend, up to 230 anarchist agitators (possibly paid for) smashed windows and set fires in D.C. and are now facing charges of felony rioting with prison sentences of up to 10 years.
However, I think one of the most telling tantrums is the one that focus group guru Frank Luntz experienced over the inauguration weekend. He was assaulted in the lobby of a D.C. hotel. A screaming protester threw glitter at his eyes: because tiny, jagged pieces of metallic plastic in an eye socket make for a laugh riot. Seriously. Try it sometime. And here’s what Luntz had to say about the incident on Fox News:
These protests are out of control … and to have to face this personally … I never thought this would be America. I never thought that this would happen in this country.
Unfortunately, Mr. Luntz, some of us did. But that’s the thing about bellwethers: A bellwether doesn’t appear often or to everyone, and if you don’t have your blinders off, you’ll miss it, and if you miss it, then you’ll probably find the report of one unthinkable.
Regardless, this is who and what the Left are now: once beyond parody and now apparently beyond conspiracy. And, thanks to them, this is what our country is now. As such, I’d like to suggest that maybe the day has past when one can glibly dismiss another’s fear concerning the Left as silly conspiracy simply because one considers that fear to be “unthinkable.” Just ask Frank Luntz, I suspect he might agree. Just as I suspect that he’s started to realize that tin foil can be fashioned into any number of items: not just hats, but all sorts of blinders.
This post was originally published on Jan. 29, 2017.
Published in General
Some people in California would like to take their ball and go home; whether or not they are a majority is a very open question. We should definitely hope for the best and prepare for the worst, but I think there is cause for optimism. It is a mistake to assume that the most extreme hard leftists represent all those who vote democrat.
I am 57 years old and have never – not one time – seen a conservative behave rudely to someone of opposite beliefs in a public setting of a non-political nature. I have, however, been exposed to the same kind of rudeness Rick describes here. If it were just a matter of some people not having the same self control as others then you would expect the offenses to be split 50-50, with an equal number of jerks on each side.
What is it about the left which causes this? Emotional immaturity? Irrational hatred of others? Just plain meanness? What is it about the left that makes them think anyone cares about or is going to have their mind changed by such an outburst?
I don’t assume that. However, it’s hard to find where to draw the line. A friend of the family is a committed Democrat but not some extreme hard leftist. However, she was convinced that Bush was going to institute a theocracy in his second term. How do you get to that point?
The extremists have succeeded in convincing a large portion of the soft-liberals that they’re righteous and we’re a basket of deplorables. The only options I see before us are to either give in or drive them back. They’ll never be satisfied with any compromise we might offer. They want us converted or subjugated.
Stand Firm. Hold the line.
Politics is a substitute religion for them. It defines good and evil (they’re good, of course) and gives their lives meaning.
The old saying is you should never discuss politics or religion because disagreements in these realms can seldom be bridged via reason. For the left, that goes double.
I actually hope that California votes on this secession thing; it would probably go down in flames, and then the hard left will be further isolated. It is hard to know where the line is; some hard data would be good.
Never give up. Never surrender!
Beautiful. Quick, efficient, effective and without gratuitous violence.
The Bush Administration was the opposite of aggressive, despite the reputation built on lies told by the protesters who always got away with it.
I live just outside Springfield, work and worship in the city. Mayor Sarno’s capitulation was immediate because the city of Springfield is broke. NoHo (and Amherst) will crack when the money stops flowing. It will be plus amusant to watch.
Yes, it will be :) I do think that there is a massive cultural difference between Noho, Amherst, and Springfield and places like Chicopee. Huge, huge, huge, and Thank God for that.
Jay and Silent Bob are characters from a series of movies written and directed by Kevin Smith. A common setting in the movies consists of the characters, Jay and Silent Bob, loitering outside a convenience store, Quick Stop. Jay often engages in non-stop stream of consciousness muttering and singing while Silent Bob is silent. On the surface they are somewhat crude and sophomoric. Beneath the surface they are even more crude and sophomoric and satirical. Kevin Smith and his movies were quite popular with the college crowd since the release of his first movie Clerks in 1994 and continuing until somewhat recently. If you are not familiar with the movies it is not really worthwhile to investigate. Many of us who were associated with the university crowd during that time had an interesting view of the mind set and beliefs of some of our youth.
“The Second Coming” – W. B, Yeats (1919)
Seems every generation has its own representations of this…
Given the antics at DFW, some other religion is acting like they’re having a revival first. (WT C-o-C!)
(also posted elsewhere)
In October 2004 my minivan bore two I’M NOT FONDA KERRY bumper stickers, one fore, one aft. Leaving a meeting at Riverside Church in the upper west side of Manhattan (one of my favorite neighborhoods this side of Nørrebro), while opening the van in the church parking lot I was accosted by a 60ish man, by his mien likely a Jewish professional, who had behind him a potpourri of people of different looks and ethnicities, some carrying gifts and cards. Clearly they were leaving a betrothal party or some such.
Him, to me: “Sir, is that your van?”
‘Yes.’
“Does that sticker really say “I’M NOT FONDA KERRY”
‘Yes. Do you like it? I have another if you want it.’ (this was true, I had a dozen to give to friends)
“I do NOT like it. How can you say such a thing?”
‘It seems apt to the candidate’ (or some such; I likely was less self-assured than memory tells).
“That’s terrible”
‘You may think so, but it’s my van. Since you seem to be celebrating something, perhaps we can talk another time’
At which a young, tall black gentleman, one of the partiers, spoke privately to my new friend; they walked away, although not without an icy look back.
I was glad it ended quietly and without leaving a nasty memory for the partiers.
Ever since, I have been impressed by, and cautious of, the stupid arrogance of leftist elites.
I don’t think the madness is going to stop. The media is atrocious. I assume they’ll continue to be atrocious.
I agree. They are just getting started.
I am really worried.
They are illegal when the TT morphs into vandalism, etc. (We don’t need more laws, just more enforcement.)
@Bigfoot: Thank you for the explanation. :)They guys I know who hang out at the convenience store are mostly over the age of 60; at least a couple of them are veterans. I get the impression that they hang out there because they prefer it to hanging out in a bar. And the Muslims who run the place seem to enjoy having them around :)
“Which of you, by worrying, can add a moment to his lifespan?” said Someone once…
@rodin, @simontemplar, @ilanlevine, @judithanncampbell, @robertmcreynolds, @brad2971, @ejhill, @skipsul, @bossmongo, @cdor, @dougwatt, @bigfoot, @arahant, @susanquinn, @terrymott, @frontseatcat, @westernchauvinist, @profdlp, @doctorrobert, @nandapanjandrum, @9thdistrictneighbor, @docjay, @marcin, and @okiesailor, thanks for reading.
Thank you, Judith. I appreciate that.
I certainly hope not.
Exactly. Thanks, EJ.
Yes, it was predictable. And yes, it is disgusting. Thanks, Skip.
Thanks, Boss.
Hi all,
New here, and very much appreciating the content!
Can anyone offer to explain more to me (does not have to be here on the open forums) regarding the paid-for-protester theories? I’ve been seeing this a lot, but I feel like I am late to the party…not sure if this refers to well-funded organizations sending their people out to protest, or theories that random people are being paid to protest? Or is it an overblown theory?
Thanks in advance :)
KGW
“My Favorite Hungarian.” Sounds like a wacky 1960’s sitcom.
Thank you, Susan.
Thank you, WC.