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Beware the Reptiles Among Us…
“You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil?” Matthew 12:34
This morning I came across an opinion piece in the local newspaper titled, “Trump Impeachment, no unity until his defenders repent.” Although I did not have my sackcloth and ashes nearby, I believed that I just had to read the article. It was instructive for a number of reasons.
After reading the title, I skipped to the bottom to get some background on the author. As it turns out, Tom Nichols is a “Professor of Security Affairs” at the Naval War College. (Evidently, he comes from the Max Boot School of Combat in that he has never spent one day in uniform.) Also, the background included the useful blurb, “He is a Senior Advisor to the Lincoln Project.” A ha!
As I was anxious to determine the exact reasons concerning my need for repentance, I dived into the article. I was particularly struck by the smooth tones of conciliation,
“We have had enough violence and rancor among us, and we need no further confrontations in the ranks of the American Family…These voters (Trump’s) are not my enemies. This about patriotism, not politics.”
Sounds good, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want to sign up for that? But, just a minute. If this is about “patriotism,” why do we Trump voters need to repent?
Don’t waste time agonizing over an answer; there is none. No time need be squandered over people, such as those from the Lincoln Project, who have made an art form of speaking out of both sides of their mouths.
I really don’t have much of a problem with people such as Charles Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and the like. They have made it very clear that they are the enemies of freedom and, as such, are my enemies. I don’t even have that much of a problem with AOC and her squad, even though their latest addition, Cori Bush, is busy calling for the resignation of my elected representative. They make no effort to hide their agenda and, as such, they are the enemies of freedom and, by extension, my enemies.
However, what is particularly repugnant about “conservatives” such as Nichols are their reptilian assertions that we, who voted for and supported Trump, “are not my enemy.” Yes, Mr. Nichols, you are my enemy and I despise everything about you.
When I am out in the wild and I encounter a reptile, I will, invariably, head in the opposite direction. When I encounter one next to my house, well, my reaction will be quite different.
Published in General
What “sounds weird”? Are you not familiar with the term “struggle session”? Let me help you. From Wikipedia:
I believe this is what Nichols and Brennan really want for Trump supporters, especially those in politics.
It would have been more appropriate for you to have acknowledged this sometime in the past four years and offered solutions.
I voted for Trump last November. I have repented.
Folks who voted for Biden who are reasonably rational are going to learn that we just destroyed the Republic. They will probably blame it on Trump. Trumps personal attributes and use of tweets was never appreciated by those who prefer finer political rhetoric, which he did a lot of as well, but they dismissed, because of his tweets and because media told them what to believe and they did. They do not and did not understand how much political communication in the US has been totally destroyed and at best undermined by big tech, the media, and academia folks. They do not understand what totalitarianism looks like in the modern technological age. Such remote from reality folks prefer good familiar rhetoric even if meaningless or at best mostly just dishonest. With time we could probably sort it out but would still emerge very different but that’s if we can avoid being dominated by the Chinese. The narrow, ignorant clever kids who run big tech do not understand much about the world, its history, its totalitarian enemies, why they are themselves totalitarian and how easy it will be for the Chinese to take over if we do not return to the kind of decentralization that Trump was pushing and that would take years we won’t have.
I thought you meant a different kind of reptile that we have to beware of.
Bryan and others – stop letting Gary Robbins get under your skin. Just ignore his comments if you want to. Some people get a lot out of pushing buttons.
Is this Twit post for real??????? If so, this is unbelievable and very disgusting.
The “repentance” crowd is made of the same type of people who invented suing for “emotional distress” or “mental anguish.”
See, it’s not any damage Trump did. It’s what you did. You foisted him on them and made them all emotional basket cases and now you must pay for it.
That’s one of the first things I thought about when I read the article. Hopefully, we’ll know more about this “extra screening” in the next few days. Through my military career I served under LBJ, then took a 10 year break in service followed by 24 years when I served under Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton and finally, Bush Jr. During those 27 years I certainly kept my political leanings but would never have let those leanings interfere with my duty to the United States of America. I took an oath (like those who served with me) to the nation; not to a person.
No doubt, there were a few I served with that may have had some extremist leanings but I never saw any of them do anything that would have crossed the line that would have brought them under UCMJ.
What bothers me now is that we have military leadership that may be seeking to move that line and that is problematic.
Could we put Trump aside for just a second and concentrate on what makes this country what it is?
When I look at the history of this country (the good and the bad) one thing I never forget are the principles it was founded on; from the Declaration of Independence through the Constitution with the Federalist Papers interspersed throughout. Then, comes the sacrifices (including blood) that have been made for the ideas in all those documents.
What we’re facing today goes far beyond mere political clashes. When one takes a hard, realistic look at all the rhetoric that is fast becoming reality, it becomes very apparent to me that the freedoms we enjoy (including what is guaranteed in the First and Second Amendments) are in real danger.
What sort of “fellow citizens” do we have that are doing their best to take these freedoms from us? What sort of “fellow citizens” are these that wish us to, like Cincinnatus decreed, bow our heads, pass under a yoke of three spears, and declare our “repentence”?
I’m afraid I don’t need a “re-thinking” of my position. And, my assessment of those “fellow citizens” stands.
Unfortunately, yes. You can find it on his feed. Downside: you may have to wade through other idiotic stuff.
I just want to know why known Communist John Brennan was ever given any sort of security clearance let alone made head of the CIA.
The man is a menace.
I’m sure they’ll eat you last.
Thats where they get the slogan from!
Eat the red ones last!
I had never heard of those things before….I remember Ayds and Bonkers, but not Smarties.
Its a Canadian thing.
We were dominated by the Chinese starting on March 13th 2020. The moment that the President asserted that COVID 19 deserved “pandemic”status.
China somehow rapidly recovered from this epidemic, and its economic engine is once again ruling the world.
Meanwhile we in the USA are more divided than ever, with the anti-mask, pro health side of the equation in a losing fight against the pro-mask, pro-vaccine side of the equation.
Already so little foot traffic is occurring in stores that many more stores have AI scanning/and what not, with store employees being replaced, even as they grouse at customers for not having their masks on properly.
We are on a road to hell, run by the CCP.
One wonders what the whiff test consists of. A really, really strenuous sniffing?
If so, I’ve got just the guy for it! Gary’s hero! We’ll all be much safer, with fewer domestic extremism whiffs lazily floating about us.
Whiff away, Sir-Whiffs-Quite-Frequently.
This is so anodyne as to be essentially meaningless. Perfect opportunity to insert Commie Thoughts.
Seriously. What is that? Presidents now go on Acknowledgement Tours? Every voter, living or dead, gets acknowledged by a fearless leader?
Maybe you should take a look at the Federalist papers. We do not need President Daddy, despite all the caterwauling and clinginess from those who just need their President to be ok for them.
A fellow citizen becomes your enemy if he breaks into your house and kills your spouse.
Other than his actions in the election, which I wouldn’t view as authoritarian – misguided, stupid, probably, but not authoritarian – you’re still going to have to list the authoritarian things Trump did, compared to, say, maybe the president prior to Trump, for comparison.
Otherwise, that piece of it is just talking points being done over and over, and over again, until they become someone’s reality.
This is the type of over the top rhetoric that unnecessarily contributes to our inability to discuss rationally. If anyone tried to end the republic it was Trump and that we have survived, and we will also survive the rhetoric.
The Trump experiment failed, predictably for some of us, not unlike the Jessie Ventura experiment in Minnesota. And what republicans need to take away is a much healthier cynicism when republican politicians speak to us. Hawley and Cruz in particular see former Trump voters as simple creatures who can be easily harvested.
Disagree. Rhetoric can color reality, it cannot become reality. Right now there is a lot of rhetoric about Trump continually pushing lies about the election. There will be no push to reduce 1st amendment protections. The only related push was to eliminate the Section 320 protection from libel for internet sites, and that was Trump.
But Republicans have a problem. There are a number, and not a small number, of republicans whose public pronouncements do not match their private. And you cannot extract Trump from that. Trump has spent 4+ years feeding lies into the body politic.
note: George Washington was at one time the head of the Society of Cincinnatus, which was viewed by many of our founders as distinctly anti-democratic.
Note: There were several disagreements at the founding.
Sorry, but rhetoric can indeed become reality when left unchecked. AOC’s star is on the rise; that cannot be disputed. When she proposes a federal commission to regulate the press, I take her seriously and so should everyone. In taking a look at revolutions throughout history, virtually all of them began with over-the-top rhetoric that did indeed become reality.
Although, so far, there has been no official “push to reduce 1st amendment protections”, the cancel culture that is ascendant on college campuses, Hollywood, social media and mass media might as well be written law. How many real challenges do we see to it? Again, I’ll stand by my assessment.
Sometimes talking points are facts. A months long operation to cast doubt on the election process, processes put together by public officials, elected and appointed, when no facts are provided is intent to subvert the election process. And Trump did the same in 2016. Short of declaring your self king, cannot get more authoritarian. His specific directive for Pence to perform an unconstitutional act was authoritarian.
And how would this be done?
One more remark before I, and the rest of Richochet, move on. Please take a look at the below link. Don’t get wrapped up in the source of the link. Don’t even pay attention to the right-wing folks that are quoted here. Instead, read the words of those who control the message:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/liberal-media-members-deprogramming-deplatforming-trump-supporters
When Republicans/Conservatives lost presidential elections in ’92, ’96, ’08 and ’12, I don’t recall a single Clinton or Obama supporter that openly called for a “deprogramming” or “deplatforming” of Conservatives. The political paradigm has shifted perhaps as much as 180 degrees.
Now, there are some conservatives who will say something to the effect of, “They’re not really after us. They’re really after the hard core Trump supporters”. Then just who will be deemed as someone who has “signed up for the cult of Trump”? (As the ever-perky Katie Couric, put it.) Where will that line be drawn?
There were some at Ricochet who got their knickers in a twist because I used the word “enemies”. Again, don’t listen to me. Listen to the words coming from the left.
Does it matter if those words come from an Iranian, a member of the CCP, or a member of the American Left? To me, it does not.
You’re asking the wrong person. It was AOC that said “talks are underway”. Again, I take her words seriously…
Perhaps it will take some longer to figure out what we silly irrationals see based on longer years doing it professionally in more places with greater range of far left, far right and types of government.
And I take my 6 year old granddaughter seriously when she discusses sloths.
Sen. Hawley wanted to overturn a presidential election but could not.
If you’re comparing your 6 year old granddaughter to dedicated leftists, well, you’ve taken your first step into La-La Land. Enjoy your journey.