Civil Society and Military Firepower
Never was the moon so bright. The uniforms on the Town Hall steps are like chalk. The windows glisten. The moonlit half of the church tower is a mirror of green silk. With gleaning helmets and visors the stone knights by the doorway spring forward from the wall of shadows.
‘Back! Or we fire!’ comes the command coldly.
The decades-long battle to make Washington D.C. a state will once again reach the halls of Congress later today, where the U.S. House is set to vote on the revitalized bill. Proponents of D.C. statehood repeat the mantra of our nation’s capital — “no taxation without representation”, alluding to the lack of voting representation the […]
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For those who missed the original broadcast (or Ricochet’s live chat) as I did or want to watch again, I found this live stream video of the July 4th DC Salute to America on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3679&v=03K5VZj0NNk Starting around 1:01:13 mark is the color guard presentation followed by President Trump’s speech, fly overs, and music […]
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This week on Banter, whistling champion and Managing Director and Director of Global Communications at the Carlyle Group Chris Ullman joined the show to discuss his new book, “Find Your Whistle: Simple Gifts Touch Hearts and Change Lives” as well as his career trajectory in Washington, DC. Prior to joining Carlyle, Ullman worked in government as Director of Communications at OMB. Formerly, he was public affairs director for the Securities and Exchange Commission, and he worked on Capitol Hill as Director of Communications for the House Budget Committee. You can check out the book webpage at the link below.
Learn More:
Trump’s Military Parade Idea Sets Up Democrats for Another Fall
Trump was inspired by the Bastille Day parade he attended last summer in Paris.
President Trump and the Pentagon are quietly planning a grand military parade to roll through Washington DC later this year:
The Cavalry Isn’t Coming from DC – States Need to Save Themselves
Obama brought us Obamacare, the Stimulus, and doubled the debt to $20 trillion. George W. Bush brought us the Wall Street bailout and interminable middle-eastern wars. Congress, alternately run by Democrats and Republicans over the past 16 years, approved all of these messes. And seeing how everyone in DC — politicians, press, lobbyists, and probably Uber drivers — have spent the past five months in an endless slap fight, we shouldn’t expect the Beltway to produce much of consequence for the foreseeable future.
How do we enact conservative change in this environment? The best option is to build a doorless wall around DC; Washingtonians of every stripe can give each other swirlies while the rest of America gets about fixing the nation. But since that effort might be frowned upon, let’s just ignore the lot of them the best we can and focus closer to home.
The United States wasn’t designed to be run by some far-off mandarins in an imperial capital. Most day-to-day responsibilities were handed to each state, and most state responsibilities were handed to counties, cities and towns.
Member Post
The Left’s Next Battlefront If you thought the transgender bathroom was the hill upon which the progressive movement would die, get ready for the next outrageous little war the left is waging against common sense. Last week the City of San Francisco passed an amendment (9-2) to lower the voting age to 16 years old. It will appear […]
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The Metro: DC’s Real Memorial
By Ben Schumin – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
I live in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. I can get in my car and drive by the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument within minutes. These sites and others are commemorations to the people and the ideas that shaped this great nation. They are beautiful, and like most people who live close to world-famous objects, I probably don’t appreciate them as much as I should.
An Unearthly Analysis of American Politics
Our country’s politics has become so partisan, so horribly toxic, that it is nearly impossible to find an objective view of the current situation. At least, here on Earth. That is why the Ricochet Intelligence Service has expanded its covert operations beyond our own planet. As usual, our spies have performed brilliantly. We are pleased to make the following Top-Secret document available to Ricochet readers on a one-time, eyes-only basis. This means you are authorized to read the document, but not to discuss it with, or forward it to, anyone else. If you are unable to accept these restrictions, you must stop reading now. Or else …
From: The Director of Martian Intelligence
To: His Magnificence the Leader of Mars
One might well ask, why is it not a big deal when the Government “shuts down” for a blizzard, but it’s a veritable Apocalypse if it “shuts downs” because of a budget impasse? Demonstrating once again that many of the people who fancy themselves the Best and the Brightest for the most part lack even the basic competence that’s […]
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Another Win for the Second Amendment
Future historians will undoubtedly note two great ironies of the leftmost administration since Lyndon Johnson: that President Obama’s tenure coincided with (1) massive increases in domestic fossil fuel production and (2) historic expansions of the Second Amendment.
The latest incident happened on Monday, when U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. issued a preliminary injunction against Washington DC’s may-issue rules for concealed carry permits. Under the rules formerly in place, residents had to show not only that they had generally good reasons to wish to protect themselves, but positive proof that they had been specifically threatened:
A person shall demonstrate a good reason to fear injury to his or her person by showing a special need for self-protection distinguishable from the general community as supported by evidence of specific threats or previous attacks which demonstrate a special danger to the applicant’s life. 24 D.C.M.R. § 2333.1
A Capital Idea
Washington, D.C., has been the capital of the United States since 1790. In the intervening years, of course, the country has expanded to the Pacific, and the population has spread southward and westward. So isn’t it time to at least think about moving the capital to another region? Perhaps to a red state? Perhaps to a warm area? Perhaps to a city where it’s possible to drive for more than three minutes without becoming hopelessly lost? I’m sorry, Phoenix, Arizona, but I nominate you.
Now, before you Phoenicians get too upset, think about the upside. The capital rains money on those who live and work with, for or near it. According to most estimates, six if the ten richest counties in the country are in the D.C. metro area. Plus, the Feds already own over 74% of the land in Arizona, so you’re used to them, and there’s plenty of room for shiny new edifices. As for the old ones back in D.C., they’ll become museums and such, and the tourists will continue to flock there. They’ll even be able to get near the old White House again (or, as it would likely be renamed, the White House Museum). We’ll have plenty of time to create jokes about what will be exhibited there.
DC Meetup
Dem Chair Compares Gov. Walker to Wifebeater
The Democratic Party’s “War on Women” rhetoric just reached its ultimate conclusion:
Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz ripped into Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s record Wednesday during a round-table discussion on women’s issues at the Milwaukee Athletic Club.
