The Left Trusts Trump Supporters

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/10/trump-comes-to-rochester.php

My wife and I tried to get in to see Trump in Rochester Thursday night -- we didn't, but it was an amazing experience anyway. The BIG observation is that Black women, Muslim women and frail white women and men in pussy hats don't actually believe the nasty things they say about Trump supporters. Exhibit A ...

Would you go to N Minneapolis and walk around happy and confident with a sign reading "ALL Lives Matter! I Support the Police! ??? I wouldn't, because I would consider it to be provocation, and I would be unsurprised if the local residents responded violently. I actually would not blame them all that much -- I'm invading their turf with a provocotive message after all. 

The attitude of the leftist protestors last night was much like that of preschooler teasing a dog through a fence or poking some animal in a cage -- primitive, giddy, unserious, "it's a game and we know that we are safe". On one hand, I'm extremely proud of the Trump crowd -- as we all know, the odds that many of them are Christian are pretty high, and they fully displayed it as lefties waded out into the crowd yelling obscenities, showing signs with obscenities, and naturally belittleing the President any way they could. The media loves to report to us every time Trump "mocks somebody" -- right after which they do an article on how he is crazy, stupid, looks funny and is pretty much "Hitler". 

My mind goes back to the VERY moderate and reasoned Tea Party "demonstrators" (like the description hardly fits)  in 2010 -- specific messages like "Cut the Debt", "Smaller Government", "Follow the Constitution", etc, No profanity, virtually nothing about Obama beyond maybe "We DID build this!", or "Bitterly and HAPPILY Clinging to Bible and guns!". Naturally, the Tea Party was maligned as RACIST ... and sexist, homophobic, backward, stupid white men, DANGEROUS!, etc. 

We have become tribal, but it is obvious that our tribes are very much not "the same"!

How crazy and violent will the left need to get before they awake the sleeping giant of the right? Standing in the MASSIVE crowd trying to get in to see Trump last night, I'm wondering if they have not already accomplished their task? 

Certainly we all now know that the left has no interest in such arcane morality as "The Golden Rule" --  nobody would want what has been done to Kavenaugh and his family done to them or those they love. We can of course never know "for sure" what happened between two people 35 years ago, but we CERTAINLY know WHY what has happened to Kavenaugh NOW has happened! Ford decided that she wanted to smear Kavenaugh and prevent him from gaining the SCOTUS! Wether it is made up out of completely whole cloth, or she saw him "behaving badly" (in her judgement) at some party once, or exactly what, we can't know -- but since nobody corroborates her story, reasonable people must conclude that what she says happened did not -- at least if "reasonable people" assumes the presumption of innocence. If it doesn't, then "reason" really doesn't mean much. 

Certainly anyone with some semblance of "reason" remaining understands that when you go up against "The Party" (TP-D), there is no presumption of innocence and the burden of proof is on whomever is not of the party. It is also important to know that even if whatever infraction you are accused of -- say a remark, or a look deemed to be sexist, racist, homophobic, etc, there is absolutely NO REDEMPTION. If you are a member of TP in good standing, any "infractions" are unlikely to even be of interest (Ted Kennedy, Slick Willie, Hildebeast, BO, etc) however if there is ANY interest, time redeems TP members in a matter of weeks. 

For example ... 

Oh, and if they call you a "rapist", any response on your part means you "lack judical temprament"! Oh please! 

The Liberal Mind on ATVs

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/01/20/editorial-ban-atvs-iowa-roads/79064158/

I'm re-reading the excellent work "The Liberal Mind" by Kenneth Minogue and plan to blog on it later. I originally read it in 2000 before I started blogging my books. The book is very academic / intellectual and points out that the roots of "liberalism" contain the strain of "libertarianism", and the book documents how the desire for "total agreement" has trumped the libertarian  strain over the years.

I ran into thos column while looking up the rules for riding UTVs on roads in IA and found it to be an excellent example of the liberal mind.

The modern liberal mind is often described as "ideas so good they must be mandatory!". On issues of "safety", "liberals" have long ago decided that they know better than any individual what trade-offs ought to be made in order for one to be made as safe as "liberals" deem ought be required.

From seat belts, air bags and a chorus of warning gongs and lights in our cars, motorcycle helmet laws, gas cans that don't pour, packages that don't open and various attempts to restrict fireworks to disallow even the lowly sparkler, "liberals" have our best interests in mind, and THEY know what those interests are FAR better than we do! In fact, they use the force of law to make CERTAIN that we follow their wishes, lest they be forced to fine or jail us "for our own good".

The linked article is fairly standard fare -- there are a bunch of ATVs/UTVs out there, people want to drive them on the highway, they aren't as safe as cars, CHILDREN might be hurt, THEREFORE, ban the them from the road! Simple.

As is pointed out in some detail in "Coddling", life is actually about more than "safety". Is it better to die in a recreational accident at 14 or commit suicide at 24? Obviously, we are thankfully talking about relatively small numbers for ATV/UTV deaths  ... order 500 deaths per year  ... for suicide, the numbers are not so small -- suicide deaths are order 45K a year and rising. What we are beginning to understand is that some level of risk taking may well be at least a near requirement for a worthwhile human life -- apparently sitting in your bedroom with a cell phone and a video game console, while "safe", is actually not actually "a life". Churchill said that "there is nothing quite so exhilerating as being shot at without effect". It may well be that without some actaul (NOT "imagined") exhilerating danger in life, either our spirit or our brains are tragically stunted.

The Iowa House of Representatives sided with the industry, approving the bill on a vote of 75-22. Thankfully, Democrats in the Iowa Senate believed the health and safety of Iowans was more important than the profits of ATV dealers and put a stop to the legislation. But that action did nothing with regard to county roads, which is why counties continue to pass ordinances allowing ATVs on their roads. 

State legislators should ban ATVs from public roads, and while they’re at it, they should take a hard look at the existing state law on age limits. Today in Iowa, a child of any age can drive an all-terrain vehicle of any size on private property, without regard to training, certification or parental supervision. That’s a prescription for disaster.

Letting people decide what their children are capable of doing on their own private property is "a prescription for disaster" in the liberal mind. Only the Nanny State may decide what is "good" and "prudent" in the liberal state. What they totally fail to understand is that "life" is not equivalent to "safety". One of the old benefits of Christian Faith was the idea that this mortal coil was only a prelude to a greater life to follow. It was a life to be LIVED in gratitude and joy, NOT a life to be hidden away by like the man that hid the talent in the parable of the talents (Matt 25 14:30).

"Liberals" have a remarkable tendency to destroy all they touch -- as the suicide rate climbs we have excellent evidence that they have succeeded in destroying the joy in life itself!

Reagan's Letter To Dying Father In Law

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/opinions/wp/2018/09/14/ronald-reagans-letter-to-his-dying-father-in-law-annotated/?noredirect=on&__twitter_impression=true

Back before BOistan, in America, a great Christian country, we once had this man for president! God's blessings are for this life as well as the next!

Worth the read -- maybe once a year or so. I especially liked this section -- but it is all good, and a reminder of what a great country America was,  how great a president Reagan was, and a strong foreshadowing that if we have but a little faith, we will see Reagan in eternity!

The miracle is that a young man of 30 yrs. without credentials as a scholar or priest began preaching on street corners. He owned nothing but the clothes on his back & he didn’t travel beyond a circle less than one hundred miles across. He did this for only 3 years and then was executed as a common criminal. 

But for two thousand years he has … had more impact on the world than all the teachers, scientists, emperors, generals and admirals who ever lived, all put together. 

The apostle John said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who so ever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life.”

Krauthammer

https://www.nationalreview.com/g-file/remembering-charles-krauthammer/

Charles has passed on to his eternal reward -- I know that faith was hard for him, my hope and prayer is that since it is Christ's desire that "none should perish", we  all get a final chance at Grace on the way out. I don't think anyone ought to hang their hope on that, but it makes me feel better to add that to my bag of hopes for others, especially those like Charles that I very much admire.

He passed within a week or so of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain who were in AFAIK decent health and had much to live for, yet they took their own lives. Charles, living in a wheel chair with at least limited use of his hands had no desire to die, yet it was his time. He made a wonderful life out of living with what for many would be a a tradgedy that would very much limit them. The column by Goldberg does a good job of covering some specifics.

I especially liked this paragraph ... the whole thing is worth the time. Having just finished "Suicide of the West", I must say I'm intrigued by "The Remnant" (also since I'm in Isaiah in my Bible reading). Some info on "The Remnant" is included in the linked column. No doubt more thoughts from / on Jonah to follow.

This morning, I was on Fox talking about Charles, and I got a little emotional towards the end. I am fully open to the idea that my remorse got in the way of my clarity. But the point I was trying to make is one I am happy to reiterate here: It’s great and good that people are praising Charles. But it would be nice if more people on the right thought for a moment about why his insights and contributions were so valued. Charles came to play. He brought facts with him and he never went beyond them. He never caved on principle, either. In short, he didn’t pander to his audience. He told them what he thought they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. Moreover, Charles was never mean or conspiratorial or demagogic. There was not an ounce of cruelty in Charles Krauthammer, yet we live in a moment when too many people think cruelty is a form of strength.