I’ve been reading John Lewis Gaddis’s book The Cold War: A New History, and a question occurred to me that I’d never actually thought about before.

Communism, at least as formulated by Marx and pursued by Lenin, was supposed to be a natural consequence of the failings of capitalism. It was supposed to be the masses, the proletariat, overthrowing the small minority that was oppressing them. As such, it was supposed to be what would make life better for the vast majority of people.

I read the following in July 16th’s Wall Street Journal:

The Obama Jus­tice De­part­ment made a prac­tice of set­tling law­suits against cor­po­rate de­fen­dants by re­quir­ing they make large do­na­tions to groups like La Raza. It was, in the words of House Ju­di­ciary Com­mittee Chair­man Bob Goodlatte, “a scheme to fun­nel money to po­lit­i­cally fa­vored spe­cial in­ter­est groups.” In a let­ter sent to At­tor­ney Gen­eral Loretta Lynch in the clos­ing days of the Obama ad­min­is­tra­tion, Mr. Good­latte noted that “in just the last two years, DOJ has di­rected nearly $1 bil­lion to ac­tivist groups, en­tirely out­side of Con­gress’s spend­ing and over­sight au­thor­ity.”

Bloomberg released a poll Monday in which they gauged Americans’ mood six months into the new presidency. While Trump didn’t fare too well, Americans are quite optimistic about the economy in general and their personal financial health. As part of the study, Bloomberg asked respondents what they think is the top issue facing the country. Here are the results:

In my most recent The Week column, I argue it’s a pretty big deal in GOPland that the Senate health bill keeps Obamacare’s investment tax hikes. And it’s not just any tax hike, mind you. It’s a capital gains tax hike, something Republican economic orthodoxy — especially as espoused by the supply-side wing — identifies as particularly harmful for savings and investment. As I note in the piece:

The Club for Growth called the tax “an anathema to conservatives as it suppresses economic growth and opportunity throughout our nation.” And this from Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform: “The faster we get the capital gains tax cut down, the faster we’ll get further growth and investment.” Conservative economist Brian Riedl even claims “killing the [tax] is key to unshackling the sluggish economy.”

Personally I’d love a pimp-slapping to everyone obstructing him. Obviously he can do better but we are witnessing unprecedented behavior on the part of Democrats in congress, the media, and government in general. I doubt our President is going to take this coup lightly and I suspect it might get pretty ugly, including our President’s reactions to the non-stop assault on his family, regardless of what level of justification there may be. I expect him to fight and I hope he fights intelligently. But even if he throws wild haymakers, I want people hurt because of their actions. The opponents of democracy have made their beds, I hope there are nails waiting for them when they are forced to lie in them.

I do seriously want your ideas about what he should say. Health care, tax reform, budgets, foreign policy, terrorism, Russia, media, intelligence agency issues, Obama’s spy machine, leaks, trade deals, immigration, walls, and the lot of it. NT’s and skeptics I hope can come up with something better than resignation because that’s not happening.

My middle son, in the still-dark theater as the credits rolled after two hours and twenty minutes of War of the Planet of the Apes:

Wow. It’s like a group of screenwriters made a really stupid bet. “Who can write a movie that will make an audience boo humans and cheer monkeys?”

I’ve quietly withdrawn from the public square as I lament the sorrowful condition of the Republican Party and the conservative movement. If this is what winning looks like, then I’m not sure that it was worth it. Obviously “establishment” Republicans and conservatives would just as soon see a smooth-talking political party animal in the White House; they don’t know what to do with an unpredictable, inelegant, sometimes vulgar leader who despite his clumsy manner is trying to do what the majority of Americans want done.

I have to admire the Left. Like zombies, they just keep coming at you; they are relentless. Whether they win or lose, they never stop their pursuit of power. In the end they will win — that’s my fear.