Source: Front Page Magazine.

David Horowitz gives a useful summary of major risks to the United states.

A summary, of course, leaves a lot out and may therefore give the wrong impression. Here I think that Horowitz wrongly ignores the role of personal integrity among everyday, ordinary Americans as a potential bulwark against the collapse of our nation. I do not mean that citizen heroes will save the empire. I mean that the demise of personal integrity among the citizenry may itself breed catastrophe.

For example, Horowitz notes that fentanyl from China killed 70,000 Americans last year. This is deeply sad, but is this tragedy really China’s fault or is it the result of 70,000 bad decisions made by dissipated Americans and their enablers?

This story is older than history. A nation without a spiritual (not to say religious) foundation is easy to destroy. Our elites are certainly to blame, as Horowitz notes, but they are also puny.

Transcripted version.

Although the title sounds negative, the video message is actually positive. Economist Pippa Malmgren notes that when wars end it is normal for the vanquished to become reintegrated into civilization. She points out that since the eventual reintegration is inevitable, it should be always possible to avoid wars in the first place through diplomacy.

That’s a paraphrase, of course, but the perspective arises from basic economics. When people shift from producing food, clothing, shelter and children to destroying them, the resulting deadweight losses become profound. Think of it this way: Suppose a victorious combatant doubles his land and population. It may seem he has doubled his wealth, but in reality he has also doubled (or more) his debt (or, obligations). In effect, the only way to win the game is to not play.

Source: Time.

Some are heralding Time’s article (at the link) as a pivot point. They suggest that U.S. policy in support of the war in Ukraine has changed — without any formal announcement — and that material and practical aid will soon end, as well. The war has observably been lost, they say.

I don’t know the truth of that. My view has always been that the Ukraine war was lost (by Ukraine) the day it started for purely technical, material reasons.

That said, something in Time’s piece stands out to me as especially notable. On his latest trip to the U.S. Zelensky’s “aides tried to arrange an in-person appearance for him on Fox News and an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Neither one came through.”

Is it not odd that Fox and Oprah would decline to interview Zelensky during his visit?

Source: ZeroHedge.

President Biden’s plan to visit Israel tomorrow is very foolish.

It should be obvious that by entering the war zone he is risking his life and — potentially — our lives, too. It also is clear that grandstanding such as this has nothing to gain that could not be gained by other, less dramatic, means. Further, Biden’s frailty and dementia are sure to create problems we don’t need. What if he loses his temper in public, or falls down?

I don’t know how to resolve the conflict at hand, but I’m sure that bombs and bloodshed are unlikely to be effective. We must hope that our president has something better in mind as the purpose of his visit.

Our Bufoon in Chief has spoken.

No more thinking on the matter will be allowed. It is time to start killing women and children in the Middle East again.

An alternative might be to partner with Russia and China to defuse the conflict. But that would be to appease “unmitigated evil,” if I understand Uncle Joe correctly.

Source: Libertarian.

I like this:

Washington, DC, September 12, 2023 — The Libertarian National Committee is taking urgent action to protect the interests of the American population, with imminent plans to file for conservatorships for President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The clear incapacitation, mental lapses, and deficiencies in decision-making that are clearly observable in numerous, recent, and well-publicized instances necessitate these actions.

But I don’t expect much to come of it. Wikipedia has a brief article on conservatorship. As I understand it, becoming a conservatoree is not, technically, a barrier to remaining in office, although it might count against a candidate in a competition or as an impeachment target. There are also legal questions as to whether a political party can sue to place someone into conservatorship. I can imagine any number of constitutional reasons that “lawfare” of this sort should be prohibited.

As a result, LNC’s efforts may be little more than circus-making. Only, LNC’s point that incapacitated persons should not be allowed to operate in the public sphere seems a good one.

Source: The Wall Street Journal (free link).

I have mixed feelings about the potential impeachment of President Biden. On one hand I have no doubt that Biden’s corruption and incompetence represent an active danger to our nation. On the other hand, corruption and incompetence are so prevalent in our nation that it seems unlikely to me the removal of this president would make much difference.

Mixed feelings aside, I support the impeachment inquiry. I don’t know what we will learn or what may happen as a result, but learning is inherently superior to not-learning.

Source: The Wall Street Journal (free link).

Because I’m open to the possibility that UFOs are piloted by intelligent extraterrestrials, I’m glad to see that NASA is considering a project to try to figure them out.

Source: Russia’s Academy Award Winning Performance For Best Coup, Prigozhin Scores Best Actor.

Various theories are being advanced to explain the peculiar event of Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s private military company, Wagner Group, attempting, then abandoning, a military coup against Russian president Vladimir Putin. I am partial to the hypothesis offered in the source article.

Continue reading “What to Make of the Wagner Mutiny?” →

Here are three items from my reading this morning that stand out.

Sound of Freedom: The Story of One Man’s War on Child Trafficking

Few subjects inspire pre-recorded denials and deflections as reliably as this one. Were there any liberals around, one of them predictably would mention Catholic priests; another would claim the numbers are inflated; still another would accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist. Yet, sadly, this story is not going away.

More Falsehoods of World War II

This follow-on to my recent post about WW II covers a variety of astonishments: The technical and strategic prowess of Stalin’s military; the Nazi/Zionist alliance prior to the war; Jewish soldiers in Hitler’s army. The writer hopes that the true history of WW II will inspire diplomatic humility of the sort that may allow present risks of WW III to be defused.

Unmasking the Bureaucracy: Philip Howard on the Administrative State | The Vivek Show

It’s a campaign video, but one that usefully explores a subject that too often is dismissed and ignored: the civil service threat to democracy. We’re going to need a very powerful or forceful president to solve this problem.