I graduated from high school in 1968 – the most polarized time in this nation’s history, until today. I studied politics in college and have always had strongly-held political views, but when my daughter was a child I did not try to inculcate her with my own political philosophy. Instead, I pointed out that human beings are not…
I graduated from high school in 1968 – the most polarized time in this nation’s history, until today. I studied politics in college and have always had strongly-held political views, but when my daughter was a child I did not try to inculcate her with my own political philosophy. Instead, I pointed out that human beings are not intelligent enough to ever get things “right” for any length of time. On any given subject our species will inevitably swing between one stupid extreme and its opposite. If, as a society, we seem to have something figured out, it’s just at the optimal point in the pendulum swing at the present moment, having left one excess and on the way to its obverse.
Given this immutable law of human nature, it’s hardly to be expected that either of our political parties can be right for very long before going off the rails in one stupid direction or another. History confirms this fact, regardless of where you think “right” lies. The Republicans gave us Union martyr Lincoln, and Teapot Dome grifter Harding; the Democrats, National Bank nemesis Jackson, and bank whore Obama.
If you have always felt that you had your political compass fixed, but are increasingly feeling lost at sea, that’s because we are in the midst of a fundamental reorientation of our political landscape – a sea change.
If someone had predicted eight years ago, or even four, that Dick Cheney would ever back a Democratic presidential candidate and, in the same year, RFK Jr. would side with the Republican, they would have been laughed off the stage.
Aren’t Republicans supposed to be the authoritarians? Then why are the Democrats putting the foundation for totalitarian control of our lives in place? Aren’t Democrats supposed to defend our civil liberties? Then why are their leaders intent upon revoking our inalienable right to Free Speech?
Sea Change? Change is often unwelcome and seldom easy. Blame Bill Clinton, who tap-danced circles around the Republicans and stole the center (actually, well right of center) from them. With the heart of their ideological territory lost, the Party of Lincoln were pushed ever further to the right, until they risked falling off the edge of the earth. Equally significant, Clinton abandoned the working classes for the deeper pockets of a growing “professional class,” creating a new donor base that has since embraced the deepest pockets of all: Silicon Valley. (It’s the donors, stupid.)
To this day party dinosaurs like Mitch McConnell are by-God not going to be out-conservatived. What has changed is a younger generation of Republicans like J.D. Vance and Josh Hawley, who are increasingly independent of the fossils, and embarked upon reinventing the party. Vance is not alone in actually caring about working people, and trying to readdress their increasingly dire needs. Not incidentally, that’s where the votes are going to be.
Will they prevail, as the Old Guard dies off? Too soon to tell, but an intriguing possibility, and plausible cause for hope for the future.
Perhaps more significant than migrating politicians is the wave of formerly liberal commentators. Our own James Howard Kunstler professes to being a life-long registered Democrat. Others, including Max Blumenthal, Jimmy Dore, Glenn Greenwald, Chris Hedges, Aaron Mate, Matt Taibbi, and Bret Weinstein are all now resolute critics of the Democratic Party. Clayton Morris and Tucker Carlson both left Fox News to attack the Official Narrative from their own perspective. And, of course, two powerful voices of opposition, Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr., former contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, are now both
Democrat persona non grata.
When lost at sea you can never know where the ship is going to come ashore, or if it will founder on the rocks, but the landscape will certainly soon be different – and just possibly much improved.
Democrats were the biggest slave owners, that says it all, not that the North didnt have em too, but the most ardent for slavery were democrats and they still are today
I agree but let me tell you a story that orally given to my great-great grandfather form his father.
In 1854 my great-great-great grandfather came to the US from Ireland. He got a job building railroads out in the US West.
Well when thy came where they had to blast rock for the train track tunnels it was a tricky job back then so many workers got killed or maimed in the blastings.
There were three principal ethnic groups that worked on the railroad-Irish, Chinese Coolies and black slaves.
When there was blasting the boss would send only Irish or Chinese-because if they died they didn't get paid on Friday-if the black slave died it was a loss property around $2k.
I live in this country because my great grandfather's brother died in a dynamite accident, working in a stone quarry in England. My great grandfather then came to the US to work in another quarry, cutting stone for the Erie Canal.
The problem is that the narrative has it that 'blacks had it bad' and 'whites had it good'-and, on the average correct-but the stories like mine and yours illustrate that the Woke narrative is much too simple and Manichean like all their values.
No, that's not correct about whites having it good. Most whites did NOT own slaves and had an extremely hard existence just staying alive. Blacks were well cared-for by their owners because they were valuable property. The vast majority of whites throughout the budding United States lived a "hand to mouth" existence and struggled to survive!
Have you seen what a “steel driving” man like John Henry had to do to bore the holes for dynamite charges. One holding the spike and one banging on it with a sledge hammer. No thanks.
One thing often overlooked re: the civil war was the demographics at the time. The antebellum, agrarian south did not have a lot of folks, whereas the North full of cities, had many more people and thus votes. In our country, the South never stood a chance politically and it was the end of the compromise era that drove the South to try to exit. The real battle here was between the manufacturing North, and ENGLAND. The South was a “colony” of both, providing resources to both on-coming manufacturing giants. The South was backed by England throughout the war, Surprise!!!! The demographic advantage, ie, the number of available soldiers, was what did in the South. Grant just threw troops at Lee until Lee had no one left.
The victory of the North is what spurred on the Gilded Age which drove the USA way past England in economic power.
BTW, look at today. The power of the cities politically (Blue) contesting the power of the agrarian sector (Red). Politically, the cities will win, just like 1865, but today a strike by teamsters could undo any power the cities have. Cities today are much more dependent than in the 1860s.
Being from Massholechusetts I was never taught that there may have been other valid viewpoints about the Civil War 1 (given our probable future and the real possibility of future uncivil wars, I'm numbering them).
1968 was the year I blew my chance at a comfy academic position at a second-rate Cali State College by getting involved in the Fresno Resistance and, at one rally, publicly eating my draft card with catsup on it. "Destruction of United States Gubmit Property", a Five-and-Dime. So I absquatulated, became a political exile, ending up in dour Vancouver-by-the-Void.
The fevered emotions ran high. The shit-kicking San Joaquin Valley cowboys who made up the majority of the student body were not amused. George Murphy and S.I. Hayakawa were for a crackdown. Bobby Kennedy intersected a fast-moving projectile in L.A.
One of the Vietnamese students I had been assigned to shepherd (they were, by the way, the ones that radicalized me against the US intervention) was Nguyen Thai Binh, first showcased by Jane Fonda and other antiwar stars before being discarded. He became famous for trying to hijack a 747 at Tan Son Nhut Airport (eggs wrapped in tinfoil). An American shot him and they dumped his body onto the runway. He is now a national martyr in Vietnam; schools and roads are named after him.
The Vietnam war was the first expansion attempt by the MIC and its leader , the Deep State. Look where we are today and realize that it is the Deep State that has expanded for 70 years against the people, regardless of party affiliation. The Vietnam protestors who were trying to curtail the expansion of the MIC, would be MAGA today, an ironic state of affairs.
Ready? RFK, Jr is a reflection of his dad and uncle, who were both terminated by Deep State forces for countering the MIC trying to control the war.. IMHO, both would be MAGA today.
If you recall, President Eisenhower reminded/warned us about the MIC as he left Office. Nope. Vietnam was a continuing action, of constant "actions" that spread far and wide. What irks the h**l out of me is how it was all couched in "democracy". And, being good, decent, honest, and innocent/ignorant of how degenerate that government was, we cheered for democracy.
JFK and his dad promised the Mafia that if he was elected he would get Havana back from the Castroites. He tried and failed. The military and CIA failed miserably. The he made a huge mistake, he told the Military that he was going to withdraw the “advisors” from Vietnam, as Bobby was announcing a crack down on the Mafia. The CIA and the Mafia held a meeting. The Capos got their revenge and the CIA got its war.
He was one, Allan Dulles. But so did Sam Giancana and his counter part in NYC. I don’t smoke anyway, but yes I get a cigar on this one. Also, LBJ got his war also. JFK was in everyone’s sights it seems.
Sam and his brother wrote a book together claiming that the Mafia was hired by the CIA to do the job. Another Mafia type from the time that worked for the capo in NYC is on You Tube giving details on the hit, including the second shooter was in a storm drain in front of the caravan and was responsible for the head shot no one can explain.
Jack Kennedy was as you say, that is, until his "come to Jesus moment" at American University. His statement that we are all mortal still sends shivers down my spine.
Sigh, if its any consolation you are certainly not alone in this category-my older son and I watched "Am I a Racist" last week-he's not Woke-but he hides it.
But when we went back to his place after the movie when he parked the car, he looked me in the eyes so solemnly I thought he was going to tell me he has 'cancer' but he demanded, that I tell Liz , his wife-high school teacher'- we saw 'Saturday Night" -as she is very, very Woke.
My young son, he's not Woke at all , but he is a laze about still at home at 27 drinking beer, smoking weed and eating on Dad and Mom's tab-I don't know what is worse...
Sounds like my nephew. "His dad ruined him" my sister says. So at 30, he's allowed to sponge off them both, not have a job, etc. Sure. How was he "ruined"? Well, his dad was emotionally unavailable. The horror! Yet, millions like him are able to work and run their own lives. He's even blessed with a high IQ. The problem there is that my sister is a toxic codependent who thinks that her family would die on the spot if she's not there catering to them. Something is very wrong in our society. She's not an outlier, IOW, she is typical.
You both have described the Nanny State that the government is trying to create, both kids finding easy touch parentage afraid to tell them “No”. The entire country is being threatened by 50% of folks being exactly the same as these two, and a Deep State kow-towing to them to get votes, unwilling to say “No”.
My most sincere condolences on the state of family affairs outlined above. Not to brag, but I have two very unwoke daughters-one married a LEO and the other is divorced but happily so. They had three sons between them, one of whom is making bank as an RN and the other doing likewise financially handling automated production at a large local food processing facility. The other one, well, he's not living at home, nor is he "woke," but he has "issues" involving drugs and the usual assortment of problems which accompany that. But hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad, like Meat Loaf told us. Somehow I have to think our strict Christian upbringing had something to do with it. YMMV.
Yes: I wonder. Because my sister and I were raised Catholic (along with a slew of other siblings - because - we were Catholic) and her kids were not raised with any religion whatsoever. The daughter is doing well, though. The son, not so much. Maybe he could have used the morality and spiritual toughness needed in life so he wouldn't be so paralyzed.
Most people are aware that something has happened to the young males in our society. It has been bantered about for many years now.
I raised three daughters and two stepchildren. When they turned 16, they had to get a job. It was mandatory. I explained that they had to learn discipline, to be on time, to deal with bosses and coworkers. Two worked at a grocery store, the others restaurants or as beach attendants. They all loved their jobs, made many friends and had positive experiences. To this day, all have an incredible work ethic.
We helped with college, but they had to earn their own spending money for the year because with five kids in school, they needed to help and take some responsibility for their education. Four out of five graduated and the one who didn’t is doing well in tech—self-taught.
They all played sports—where they learned self-discipline, teamwork, etc. They sailed, played soccer, golfed, played tennis. We are not wealthy, but we prioritized and made mandatory different disciplines and experiences.
We are really proud of all of them—they are out in the world as a teacher, an event planner for a major sports network, a nurse, and two in tech. My POINT here is not to pat myself on the back but to show you THIS ALL STARTS AT HOME.
Well done! You should pat yourself on the back. This is truly the biggest gift to yourself, your children and society, to raise children in this way. It's sad that some people are just not equipped any more to do this, and I will venture to say most of them are left-leaning. It seems to be the political camp for the victim-minded. I figured this out only in the past few years, that the conservatives I grew up with were all doing so well, while the lefties struggled. Surely there is a common denominator.
Scarcity? We had a ski house in New Hampshire, traveled to many exciting places. They wanted for nothing in life. But yeah, they had actual CHORES, and learned responsibility by having small jobs at a formative age in life. They are all happy, healthy adults. I’d love to write a book about the lazy, entitled kids I see today.
You are so right. I believe that men are pretty simple creatures, for the most part. Yes, I'm a woman. Just as in Genesis of the Holy Bible, we see that meen tend to want to please the ladies. I believe we've bitten the apple. Somehow, we (or many) embraced feminism, then it became toxic. We took God given roles from men- they don't know what to do, it appears, if they don't have the light God provides- direction, regardless of what people try to force on us.
Then, so many families having to work- with parents, sometimes 2 jobs each- who raises the kids?
We all know single parent households do not give kids enough of the exposure of either role.
Not to worry, the globie tell us- we won't be men or women!
We really lucked out. All six of our kids (ages 50-23) are conservatives. A few of them had brief moments of “teenage liberalism”...but they grew out of it LOL!!
I think it was Winston Churchill that said, “If you’re not a liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative when you’re old, you have no brain.”
I don’t know that we did anything in particular, but we always made it a point to expose the differences (liberal vs conservative) whenever the opportunities arose. They are all very much “awake” (not woke)!
Haha!!! Same here. You didn’t steer your daughter in a political direction. But, I did.
I was an active conservative and enlisted my kids in campaigns . I figured it backfired which accounts for at least one of my kids becoming radically liberal.
No matter the approach, we probably have little influence on our children because our society has much more.
Yeah, I think I was thinking more of confronting adults with really dumb beliefs. You are right about education. What the kids get today is not a proper education.
Howard. By age six, parental “programming” is over, most of personality is in place. All the stuff that is blamed on schools is in place before school starts. Parents!!!!!!
No, you were sold a bill of goods, that the Democrats are the party of Joe Average, the working man, and the GOP was the party of the Elite. The Dems pulled off the biggest con job in US history, and we are seeing the re-alignment of the parties now because of the lies that have been promulgated for 70 years. MAGA vs, Know-Nothings.
I saw the change with Bill Clinton in the ‘92 race when he was hawking the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council). I went to an event with him and at the time was fighting him about Mena and the whole “Compromised” Terry Reed thing . As soon as I shook his hand I knew he was a rat. Little did I know that his “Stand By Your Man” wife would become the biggest rat of all.
Indeed, Mary Rose. For me it was a bit of a painful transition, oscillating between the joy and amazement of discovery, and the angst of information overload and feeling forlorn. Admittedly, it's only been about 6 years since I was "red-pilled". The journey continues.
Well you are honest and authentic, obviously, and I bet it was diflicult socially, economically even to make the conversion-so you aren't a coward either.
You are right about the pendulum. It is the swinging back and forth that has kept the country on a steady course on average. Until 1988. The Bush boys are as left as the Ult-Left folks today, war, open border, corrupt DOJ, all the things we discuss here. We have been steadily Left of center for 36 years, so is it no wonder that the Deep State, all factions, are so far Left. The RINO contingent ARE NOT conservative, they are neo-con, MIC, tax and spend, blatant Deep Staters that have joined the Far Left in their desire to create a socialistic nanny state. Planted squarely in front of this whole bloc are the MAGA folks, led by the Golden Golem. What we are witnessing going into this election is a ripping apart of the political country, leaving a Left Right orientation into a different alignment of parties. IMHO, two parties are emerging, one, MAGA, center right and two, the “Know Nothings” Far Left. It reflects the Leftward drift of the country for the 36 years. MAGA is center right as its leader was a Democrat at one time and has some of that old democrat dogma inside his head. The Deep State hates MAGA as its prime directive is to reduce the noose around the country that the nanny state wants to install. The RINOs are an integral part of the Deep State and also hate MAGA and its leader. However, a new breed has arisen, old fashioned moderate Democrats who still love the country as it is, without the nanny state. These folks are moving to the right to join MAGA as they do no want the Constitution re-written. Two parties are arising, center right and far left. The cause is the attempted installation of socialism and the nanny state by a Deep State desperate to ward off the attempted control of their power and bureaucracy by the upstarts in MAGA. It definitely could turn bloody.
Side bar. Know Nothings fit well as a descriptor because during the last four years, the Obama Left has rolled out every article of their dogma, passed it into DC with dictatorial EOs and we have witnessed its total failure in every way possible. That is why Harris is running as she is, she has absolutely nothing positive to run on. So instead, we get empty nothing promises Called the Opportunity Economy with absolutely no idea what that means. Warning: Opportunity Economy sounds like a whole bunch of fiat spending, welfare spending, war spending, Deep State expansion spending, immigrant spending, ignoring every economic law ever invented. The Know-Nothing Party. If America votes these nincompoops into control, the Ens Times of this country draws near, and all the dunderheads that vote for the nanny state are going to find out, it will not and cannot ever exist. 0 bucks.
" If America votes these nincompoops into control...".
Whoa there Pardner! These "nincompoops" weren't voted into control in 2020. They STILL won't be in 2024. The Big Difference may be the old dictum, "Fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice, shame on you".
Is it so difficult to imagine that there are less opportunities for a young person to "step into the adult world", than there were 30 years ago; and that 30 years ago, there were less opportunities than there were 60 years ago?
Sixty years ago, our parents had experienced tough times in their early years, and a War that transitioned the masses into the adult world. Schooling focused on teaching the 3 R's, and the trades. Few students were diagnosed and treated for a disability. The country was tooled-up as a result of the war. The US population was a bit over half of what it is today. America was positioned to benefit from the key currency status. And I would suggest that the majority of people our age lived through the "sweet spot".
Today, the obstacles are greater, and there are fewer legitimate opportunities (no, people like Kamala Harris should have more sense than to set themselves up for failure). I would argue that the money in politics, coupled with the existing format for life, has been a major detriment to the various determinants, and to label individuals as "Know Nothings" fails to recognize the cause, and is not productive.
Would an "Opportunity Economy" be beneficial at this point in time? Would major construction projects, and the associated economic activity, be beneficial for the citizens of the world? If presented with the opportunity, is there potential for some responsible individuals of lower-income households, and/or the migrant population, to set a leadership example that would help "Know Nothings" step into the adult world?
As you point out, politics is a major factor for our current predicament. So, we need to eliminate the nonsense, and correctly assess and address the problems. And, in this day and age, I don't think isolationism is a prudent solution.
I will vote for Trump in the hope that he will eliminate the nonsense, and perhaps as the cycle plays out, the problems will be correctly assessed and addressed.
The Know-Nothings were a party around Civil War 1 times that got that moniker because they did not have a clue what to do about the pending schism approaching. Sorta like today, hence the label.
The Know Nothings were against mass immigration. They were right. Everyone else was wrong. Their America was destroyed by the endless stream of Irish, Poles, and Italians.
I was born in 1968. In downtown Chicago, actually, during the chaotic Democratic Convention.
So here’s one brutal GenX take on your generation: you’re all haunted. Unable to detangle yourselves from the political traumas and skepticism of the 60s and 70s. And now, to be honest, you’ve lost your edge, and it’s becoming painfully obvious that retirement does not agree with you. Or rather, the kinds of retirement you’re living are sorting and cleaving you from mainline society.
We don’t know what to do with you. But we still admire you and wish you’d stop poisoning yourself with garbage media infotainment, parroting the political nonsense there, and feeling like everything in the news is about prosecuting the debates of your day in perpetuity.
Because it isn’t. And, sorry, but it’s no longer about you.
Nothing like learning from your elders, and respecting them. You're not much younger than me Paul, but I for one appreciate the wisdom being handed down to me by thoughtful, experienced people who share this wisdom with those who follow. As for all time, healthy societies will always look to, and learn from, older and wiser individuals such as many of those on this site, and provide them the dignity their years deserve.
Wishful thinking of the deposed. Don't expect it. We have just enough energy remaining to dance on the graves of disrespectful elders. Or perhaps enough to spin tunes in the DJ booth so that the younger ones can really tear it up.
Welp Paul P. both Jim Kunstler and I were born in 1948 and I don't think we'd agree that we are "poisoning [ourself] with garbage media infotainment...".
When Jim was my age, he was lucid enough to criticize it. Now, sometimes, he sounds afflicted by it. And while it's regrettable to read that result of that devolution at times, he has a good audience, that, I hope and imagine, it helping pad his retirement. So maybe he is out to demonstrate that there is something virtuous to the PT Barnum's strategy of fleecing suckers?
Howard, outstanding comment. The talented Mr. Clinton really did scramble the tokens on the game board, didn't he? If you had more time or space, I'm sure you would have included a paragraph on the possible effects of mass illegal immigration on the American electorate--not only in election years to come but also three and half weeks from now.
Lawyers probably have more power and influence in the U.S. than in any other country. Whatever their party affiliation (or none), they are an elite class.
Hence all the pseudcons who say, "We're a nation of immigrants! More more more! As long as they're legal." That word legal bathes their gray cells like a shot of Johnnie Walker Black.
Whenever a public figure is accused of, or charged with, a crime the first words out of his mouth are not, "I behaved according to the highest moral principles." No. They are, "I didn't do anything illegal." As if that's all that matters.
That may be our biggest problem. The fact that everything is run by Lawyers, most of whom are pure shysters. It really pisses me off to be required to read some legal document that is 10 pages long and could have been covered quite well with one short paragraph.
I wasn’t politically aware when I graduated from high school in 1968, but I can’t imagine it compares to our current situation. It’s hard to know what you didn’t experience. However, too many adult Americans reside in the same place I did at age 18. However, unlike my young self, they vote.
As a protester I was just a foot soldier, but we manned the barricades, protesting the war in Vietnam, saw students murdered at Kent State by the National Guard. The country was coming apart. But I agree that today is worse, because we still had resilient institutions, economy, and infrastructure then, to carry on with after things settled down. Now all of that is gone.
Even Libertarianism. Government needs to be controlled. BUT it is absolutely necessary. I do not remember which of the Great Philosophers it was, but he said government is requires when two or more people live together.
I was class of 1978 and had the Good fortune to Graduate in 1974 from Edison Jr. High-school where they actually taught young men Metals class, Drafting, Wood Working as they taught young Ladies Home Economics, Cooking, Arts & Crafts. Some guys in our High Speed, The Pekin Chinks (Now politically Corrected to Dragons) had Shotguns or .22 Rifles on racks in the back window of their pickup truck. Nobody EVER got shot. We learned Power Mechanics and More Wood Working. When we left dchool, we went to work in a Trade and made good money while continuing to learn instead of racking up unsustainable debt. Our parents bought a 14 acre farm for $19k wiyh a 6 bedroom house, a large barn and pump house. Life was hard work but we were strong and up to the task. Today, too many migrate to the cities so they can be closer to hospitals in case they get sick. The hope and change promised by Free Trade, Free Health Insurance, Free College and Free stuff never happened and is on it's way to Extinction. #DefundTyranny #ResumeAmericanIndependenceAndDominanceOrExpectToDieCommunist #FreedomIsNotFree
Harding himself was honest, aside from his inability to keep his pants on (though compared to Bubba, FDR, JFK, and LBJ, he was a virgin); he just had some crooks in his administration, just like Grant, Nixon and Trump.
Sea Change
I graduated from high school in 1968 – the most polarized time in this nation’s history, until today. I studied politics in college and have always had strongly-held political views, but when my daughter was a child I did not try to inculcate her with my own political philosophy. Instead, I pointed out that human beings are not intelligent enough to ever get things “right” for any length of time. On any given subject our species will inevitably swing between one stupid extreme and its opposite. If, as a society, we seem to have something figured out, it’s just at the optimal point in the pendulum swing at the present moment, having left one excess and on the way to its obverse.
Given this immutable law of human nature, it’s hardly to be expected that either of our political parties can be right for very long before going off the rails in one stupid direction or another. History confirms this fact, regardless of where you think “right” lies. The Republicans gave us Union martyr Lincoln, and Teapot Dome grifter Harding; the Democrats, National Bank nemesis Jackson, and bank whore Obama.
If you have always felt that you had your political compass fixed, but are increasingly feeling lost at sea, that’s because we are in the midst of a fundamental reorientation of our political landscape – a sea change.
If someone had predicted eight years ago, or even four, that Dick Cheney would ever back a Democratic presidential candidate and, in the same year, RFK Jr. would side with the Republican, they would have been laughed off the stage.
Aren’t Republicans supposed to be the authoritarians? Then why are the Democrats putting the foundation for totalitarian control of our lives in place? Aren’t Democrats supposed to defend our civil liberties? Then why are their leaders intent upon revoking our inalienable right to Free Speech?
Sea Change? Change is often unwelcome and seldom easy. Blame Bill Clinton, who tap-danced circles around the Republicans and stole the center (actually, well right of center) from them. With the heart of their ideological territory lost, the Party of Lincoln were pushed ever further to the right, until they risked falling off the edge of the earth. Equally significant, Clinton abandoned the working classes for the deeper pockets of a growing “professional class,” creating a new donor base that has since embraced the deepest pockets of all: Silicon Valley. (It’s the donors, stupid.)
To this day party dinosaurs like Mitch McConnell are by-God not going to be out-conservatived. What has changed is a younger generation of Republicans like J.D. Vance and Josh Hawley, who are increasingly independent of the fossils, and embarked upon reinventing the party. Vance is not alone in actually caring about working people, and trying to readdress their increasingly dire needs. Not incidentally, that’s where the votes are going to be.
Will they prevail, as the Old Guard dies off? Too soon to tell, but an intriguing possibility, and plausible cause for hope for the future.
Perhaps more significant than migrating politicians is the wave of formerly liberal commentators. Our own James Howard Kunstler professes to being a life-long registered Democrat. Others, including Max Blumenthal, Jimmy Dore, Glenn Greenwald, Chris Hedges, Aaron Mate, Matt Taibbi, and Bret Weinstein are all now resolute critics of the Democratic Party. Clayton Morris and Tucker Carlson both left Fox News to attack the Official Narrative from their own perspective. And, of course, two powerful voices of opposition, Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr., former contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, are now both
Democrat persona non grata.
When lost at sea you can never know where the ship is going to come ashore, or if it will founder on the rocks, but the landscape will certainly soon be different – and just possibly much improved.
Democrats were the biggest slave owners, that says it all, not that the North didnt have em too, but the most ardent for slavery were democrats and they still are today
And Kamala's family was the biggest slaveholder om Jamaica.
Such a long post. I can see why you missed the Typo.
Cumala
What are the sources of your statement that Harris family was the biggest slaveholder? Never read or heard this anywhere else.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Brown
https://www.jamaicaglobalonline.com/kamala-harris-jamaican-heritage/
The sources are legion, mostly based on these and genealogy researchers.
I agree but let me tell you a story that orally given to my great-great grandfather form his father.
In 1854 my great-great-great grandfather came to the US from Ireland. He got a job building railroads out in the US West.
Well when thy came where they had to blast rock for the train track tunnels it was a tricky job back then so many workers got killed or maimed in the blastings.
There were three principal ethnic groups that worked on the railroad-Irish, Chinese Coolies and black slaves.
When there was blasting the boss would send only Irish or Chinese-because if they died they didn't get paid on Friday-if the black slave died it was a loss property around $2k.
So there are many nuances.
I live in this country because my great grandfather's brother died in a dynamite accident, working in a stone quarry in England. My great grandfather then came to the US to work in another quarry, cutting stone for the Erie Canal.
The problem is that the narrative has it that 'blacks had it bad' and 'whites had it good'-and, on the average correct-but the stories like mine and yours illustrate that the Woke narrative is much too simple and Manichean like all their values.
No, that's not correct about whites having it good. Most whites did NOT own slaves and had an extremely hard existence just staying alive. Blacks were well cared-for by their owners because they were valuable property. The vast majority of whites throughout the budding United States lived a "hand to mouth" existence and struggled to survive!
You are generalizing.
In my humble opinion, in the main, it was better to not be a slave than to be a slave-yet there are exceptions as I have offered above.
In the case of blacks, it was better to be a slave.
Have you seen what a “steel driving” man like John Henry had to do to bore the holes for dynamite charges. One holding the spike and one banging on it with a sledge hammer. No thanks.
That's horrible, but some elites tend to feel entitled to treat people in abusive ways.
Darlin, The northerners shipped slaves from Africa to the Carribean for years after the civil war.
Yep, the War of Northern Aggression was only to force a one government rule, just like they are trying to do now to the world.
One thing often overlooked re: the civil war was the demographics at the time. The antebellum, agrarian south did not have a lot of folks, whereas the North full of cities, had many more people and thus votes. In our country, the South never stood a chance politically and it was the end of the compromise era that drove the South to try to exit. The real battle here was between the manufacturing North, and ENGLAND. The South was a “colony” of both, providing resources to both on-coming manufacturing giants. The South was backed by England throughout the war, Surprise!!!! The demographic advantage, ie, the number of available soldiers, was what did in the South. Grant just threw troops at Lee until Lee had no one left.
The victory of the North is what spurred on the Gilded Age which drove the USA way past England in economic power.
BTW, look at today. The power of the cities politically (Blue) contesting the power of the agrarian sector (Red). Politically, the cities will win, just like 1865, but today a strike by teamsters could undo any power the cities have. Cities today are much more dependent than in the 1860s.
Being from Massholechusetts I was never taught that there may have been other valid viewpoints about the Civil War 1 (given our probable future and the real possibility of future uncivil wars, I'm numbering them).
And take away states rights
The Arabs were the biggest slave traders and they preferred white meat.
They as just do good at lies and deception. Gaslighting and projection. Foolery and coersion.
"They are just so good at lies and deception..." like my spell checker
1968 was the year I blew my chance at a comfy academic position at a second-rate Cali State College by getting involved in the Fresno Resistance and, at one rally, publicly eating my draft card with catsup on it. "Destruction of United States Gubmit Property", a Five-and-Dime. So I absquatulated, became a political exile, ending up in dour Vancouver-by-the-Void.
The fevered emotions ran high. The shit-kicking San Joaquin Valley cowboys who made up the majority of the student body were not amused. George Murphy and S.I. Hayakawa were for a crackdown. Bobby Kennedy intersected a fast-moving projectile in L.A.
One of the Vietnamese students I had been assigned to shepherd (they were, by the way, the ones that radicalized me against the US intervention) was Nguyen Thai Binh, first showcased by Jane Fonda and other antiwar stars before being discarded. He became famous for trying to hijack a 747 at Tan Son Nhut Airport (eggs wrapped in tinfoil). An American shot him and they dumped his body onto the runway. He is now a national martyr in Vietnam; schools and roads are named after him.
Exciting times. Another realm of reality.
The Vietnam war was the first expansion attempt by the MIC and its leader , the Deep State. Look where we are today and realize that it is the Deep State that has expanded for 70 years against the people, regardless of party affiliation. The Vietnam protestors who were trying to curtail the expansion of the MIC, would be MAGA today, an ironic state of affairs.
Ready? RFK, Jr is a reflection of his dad and uncle, who were both terminated by Deep State forces for countering the MIC trying to control the war.. IMHO, both would be MAGA today.
If you recall, President Eisenhower reminded/warned us about the MIC as he left Office. Nope. Vietnam was a continuing action, of constant "actions" that spread far and wide. What irks the h**l out of me is how it was all couched in "democracy". And, being good, decent, honest, and innocent/ignorant of how degenerate that government was, we cheered for democracy.
JFK was all over the place, once saying that we should disarm in favor of the United Nations. Very, very philosophically immature.
JFK and his dad promised the Mafia that if he was elected he would get Havana back from the Castroites. He tried and failed. The military and CIA failed miserably. The he made a huge mistake, he told the Military that he was going to withdraw the “advisors” from Vietnam, as Bobby was announcing a crack down on the Mafia. The CIA and the Mafia held a meeting. The Capos got their revenge and the CIA got its war.
Nope, sorry, no cigar Johnny. It was the CIA's boss who got his revenge.
He was one, Allan Dulles. But so did Sam Giancana and his counter part in NYC. I don’t smoke anyway, but yes I get a cigar on this one. Also, LBJ got his war also. JFK was in everyone’s sights it seems.
Sam and his brother wrote a book together claiming that the Mafia was hired by the CIA to do the job. Another Mafia type from the time that worked for the capo in NYC is on You Tube giving details on the hit, including the second shooter was in a storm drain in front of the caravan and was responsible for the head shot no one can explain.
The You Tube guy is Gianna Russo and his boss that made the NYC deal with Joseph Kennedy was Frank Costello.
Another guy I have found is Mark Shaw which I will look at.
Have you read James Douglass' book? JFK and the Unspeakable??
Allen Dulles is rotting in hell, God willing.
Jack Kennedy was as you say, that is, until his "come to Jesus moment" at American University. His statement that we are all mortal still sends shivers down my spine.
Is your daughter Woke or is she following your sage advice?
Of course not, Drew. My daughter is woke as hell, and her father is an idiot.
Sigh, if its any consolation you are certainly not alone in this category-my older son and I watched "Am I a Racist" last week-he's not Woke-but he hides it.
But when we went back to his place after the movie when he parked the car, he looked me in the eyes so solemnly I thought he was going to tell me he has 'cancer' but he demanded, that I tell Liz , his wife-high school teacher'- we saw 'Saturday Night" -as she is very, very Woke.
My young son, he's not Woke at all , but he is a laze about still at home at 27 drinking beer, smoking weed and eating on Dad and Mom's tab-I don't know what is worse...
Sounds like my nephew. "His dad ruined him" my sister says. So at 30, he's allowed to sponge off them both, not have a job, etc. Sure. How was he "ruined"? Well, his dad was emotionally unavailable. The horror! Yet, millions like him are able to work and run their own lives. He's even blessed with a high IQ. The problem there is that my sister is a toxic codependent who thinks that her family would die on the spot if she's not there catering to them. Something is very wrong in our society. She's not an outlier, IOW, she is typical.
You both have described the Nanny State that the government is trying to create, both kids finding easy touch parentage afraid to tell them “No”. The entire country is being threatened by 50% of folks being exactly the same as these two, and a Deep State kow-towing to them to get votes, unwilling to say “No”.
My most sincere condolences on the state of family affairs outlined above. Not to brag, but I have two very unwoke daughters-one married a LEO and the other is divorced but happily so. They had three sons between them, one of whom is making bank as an RN and the other doing likewise financially handling automated production at a large local food processing facility. The other one, well, he's not living at home, nor is he "woke," but he has "issues" involving drugs and the usual assortment of problems which accompany that. But hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad, like Meat Loaf told us. Somehow I have to think our strict Christian upbringing had something to do with it. YMMV.
Yes: I wonder. Because my sister and I were raised Catholic (along with a slew of other siblings - because - we were Catholic) and her kids were not raised with any religion whatsoever. The daughter is doing well, though. The son, not so much. Maybe he could have used the morality and spiritual toughness needed in life so he wouldn't be so paralyzed.
Most people are aware that something has happened to the young males in our society. It has been bantered about for many years now.
I raised three daughters and two stepchildren. When they turned 16, they had to get a job. It was mandatory. I explained that they had to learn discipline, to be on time, to deal with bosses and coworkers. Two worked at a grocery store, the others restaurants or as beach attendants. They all loved their jobs, made many friends and had positive experiences. To this day, all have an incredible work ethic.
We helped with college, but they had to earn their own spending money for the year because with five kids in school, they needed to help and take some responsibility for their education. Four out of five graduated and the one who didn’t is doing well in tech—self-taught.
They all played sports—where they learned self-discipline, teamwork, etc. They sailed, played soccer, golfed, played tennis. We are not wealthy, but we prioritized and made mandatory different disciplines and experiences.
We are really proud of all of them—they are out in the world as a teacher, an event planner for a major sports network, a nurse, and two in tech. My POINT here is not to pat myself on the back but to show you THIS ALL STARTS AT HOME.
Well done! You should pat yourself on the back. This is truly the biggest gift to yourself, your children and society, to raise children in this way. It's sad that some people are just not equipped any more to do this, and I will venture to say most of them are left-leaning. It seems to be the political camp for the victim-minded. I figured this out only in the past few years, that the conservatives I grew up with were all doing so well, while the lefties struggled. Surely there is a common denominator.
You taught them the rules of scarcity and how to react to the word,”No”. A really good job of parenting, you should write a book.
Scarcity? We had a ski house in New Hampshire, traveled to many exciting places. They wanted for nothing in life. But yeah, they had actual CHORES, and learned responsibility by having small jobs at a formative age in life. They are all happy, healthy adults. I’d love to write a book about the lazy, entitled kids I see today.
You are so right. I believe that men are pretty simple creatures, for the most part. Yes, I'm a woman. Just as in Genesis of the Holy Bible, we see that meen tend to want to please the ladies. I believe we've bitten the apple. Somehow, we (or many) embraced feminism, then it became toxic. We took God given roles from men- they don't know what to do, it appears, if they don't have the light God provides- direction, regardless of what people try to force on us.
Then, so many families having to work- with parents, sometimes 2 jobs each- who raises the kids?
We all know single parent households do not give kids enough of the exposure of either role.
Not to worry, the globie tell us- we won't be men or women!
Well, they want to create dependence and this socialist thing then sounds wonderful- until it isnt.
"Ditto" on not alone.
What's worse? Having parents who allow him to do that.
It's just a matter of time for the older. Hopefully sooner, or he'll squander his whole life being cucked by her.
We really lucked out. All six of our kids (ages 50-23) are conservatives. A few of them had brief moments of “teenage liberalism”...but they grew out of it LOL!!
I think it was Winston Churchill that said, “If you’re not a liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative when you’re old, you have no brain.”
He admitted in his memoirs that the real reason for WW2 was that Germany wouldn't renounce its sovereignty in favor of the nascent New World Order.
How did you manage that????? Even though it’s too late for me I’d still like to know. Maybe I can practice on my grandchildren.
I don’t know that we did anything in particular, but we always made it a point to expose the differences (liberal vs conservative) whenever the opportunities arose. They are all very much “awake” (not woke)!
It is this dichotomy that drives the Turnings. Do not trust anyone over 30, right?
That's pretty poignant!
Haha!!! Same here. You didn’t steer your daughter in a political direction. But, I did.
I was an active conservative and enlisted my kids in campaigns . I figured it backfired which accounts for at least one of my kids becoming radically liberal.
No matter the approach, we probably have little influence on our children because our society has much more.
Homeschool. Peer pressure is the surrounding family. 🤷
Research suggests that by age ten our kids are more influenced by their peers than they will ever be by adults again,
Close the schools. The people will benefit a hundred-fold - Lao Tzu
I've said for decades, I'd rather have my kids raised by wolves than be victims of the public schools.
The first question you should ask is to explain why they believe what they do. Then rip them apart with truths.
Wrong again, JAZ. You start out with proper education. The rest follows seamlessly.
Yeah, I think I was thinking more of confronting adults with really dumb beliefs. You are right about education. What the kids get today is not a proper education.
Howard. By age six, parental “programming” is over, most of personality is in place. All the stuff that is blamed on schools is in place before school starts. Parents!!!!!!
Thre is no solver bullet in this paradigm
Peer pressure/Tribal Unity is SO powerful. I was a Democrat until 2019. I don’t brag about that, or my change.
No, you were sold a bill of goods, that the Democrats are the party of Joe Average, the working man, and the GOP was the party of the Elite. The Dems pulled off the biggest con job in US history, and we are seeing the re-alignment of the parties now because of the lies that have been promulgated for 70 years. MAGA vs, Know-Nothings.
I saw the change with Bill Clinton in the ‘92 race when he was hawking the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council). I went to an event with him and at the time was fighting him about Mena and the whole “Compromised” Terry Reed thing . As soon as I shook his hand I knew he was a rat. Little did I know that his “Stand By Your Man” wife would become the biggest rat of all.
💯
Welcome to the deprogrammed world. It is glorious, indeed.
Indeed, Mary Rose. For me it was a bit of a painful transition, oscillating between the joy and amazement of discovery, and the angst of information overload and feeling forlorn. Admittedly, it's only been about 6 years since I was "red-pilled". The journey continues.
It was easy for me when I began to see what hypocritical liars democrats are.
Just like in the Matrix when Neo learns the real world is an illusion.
Or The Truman Show!
Well you are honest and authentic, obviously, and I bet it was diflicult socially, economically even to make the conversion-so you aren't a coward either.
Glad you are on our side now
Appreciate your honesty. I had that same question.
I wondered the same thing.
You are right about the pendulum. It is the swinging back and forth that has kept the country on a steady course on average. Until 1988. The Bush boys are as left as the Ult-Left folks today, war, open border, corrupt DOJ, all the things we discuss here. We have been steadily Left of center for 36 years, so is it no wonder that the Deep State, all factions, are so far Left. The RINO contingent ARE NOT conservative, they are neo-con, MIC, tax and spend, blatant Deep Staters that have joined the Far Left in their desire to create a socialistic nanny state. Planted squarely in front of this whole bloc are the MAGA folks, led by the Golden Golem. What we are witnessing going into this election is a ripping apart of the political country, leaving a Left Right orientation into a different alignment of parties. IMHO, two parties are emerging, one, MAGA, center right and two, the “Know Nothings” Far Left. It reflects the Leftward drift of the country for the 36 years. MAGA is center right as its leader was a Democrat at one time and has some of that old democrat dogma inside his head. The Deep State hates MAGA as its prime directive is to reduce the noose around the country that the nanny state wants to install. The RINOs are an integral part of the Deep State and also hate MAGA and its leader. However, a new breed has arisen, old fashioned moderate Democrats who still love the country as it is, without the nanny state. These folks are moving to the right to join MAGA as they do no want the Constitution re-written. Two parties are arising, center right and far left. The cause is the attempted installation of socialism and the nanny state by a Deep State desperate to ward off the attempted control of their power and bureaucracy by the upstarts in MAGA. It definitely could turn bloody.
Side bar. Know Nothings fit well as a descriptor because during the last four years, the Obama Left has rolled out every article of their dogma, passed it into DC with dictatorial EOs and we have witnessed its total failure in every way possible. That is why Harris is running as she is, she has absolutely nothing positive to run on. So instead, we get empty nothing promises Called the Opportunity Economy with absolutely no idea what that means. Warning: Opportunity Economy sounds like a whole bunch of fiat spending, welfare spending, war spending, Deep State expansion spending, immigrant spending, ignoring every economic law ever invented. The Know-Nothing Party. If America votes these nincompoops into control, the Ens Times of this country draws near, and all the dunderheads that vote for the nanny state are going to find out, it will not and cannot ever exist. 0 bucks.
[Whispering in your ear, JohnAZ]
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You know ... paragraph breaks.
" If America votes these nincompoops into control...".
Whoa there Pardner! These "nincompoops" weren't voted into control in 2020. They STILL won't be in 2024. The Big Difference may be the old dictum, "Fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice, shame on you".
Ahemmm...No, you've got it backwards. FYI...Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me. (Should've learned not to get fooled again)
John, I will suggest that your post, and the related discussions, need to take into account Dalio's ...
Relative Standing of Great Empires
https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/C5612AQGpy_Er6e1IUw/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1632403422433?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=TmI5ifiZS2ImFkfKWcjf4EoDxKukS7139CxQxpM3bk4
and the major factors that create great empires ...
The Archetypical Rise and Decline of an Empire by Determinant
https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/C5612AQHFBE0wREnEtg/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1632403585672?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=fiVMI-3wsmVZf5Yr7j1zc10HKV2-EOF-pwgMheUdTcI
Is it so difficult to imagine that there are less opportunities for a young person to "step into the adult world", than there were 30 years ago; and that 30 years ago, there were less opportunities than there were 60 years ago?
Sixty years ago, our parents had experienced tough times in their early years, and a War that transitioned the masses into the adult world. Schooling focused on teaching the 3 R's, and the trades. Few students were diagnosed and treated for a disability. The country was tooled-up as a result of the war. The US population was a bit over half of what it is today. America was positioned to benefit from the key currency status. And I would suggest that the majority of people our age lived through the "sweet spot".
Today, the obstacles are greater, and there are fewer legitimate opportunities (no, people like Kamala Harris should have more sense than to set themselves up for failure). I would argue that the money in politics, coupled with the existing format for life, has been a major detriment to the various determinants, and to label individuals as "Know Nothings" fails to recognize the cause, and is not productive.
Would an "Opportunity Economy" be beneficial at this point in time? Would major construction projects, and the associated economic activity, be beneficial for the citizens of the world? If presented with the opportunity, is there potential for some responsible individuals of lower-income households, and/or the migrant population, to set a leadership example that would help "Know Nothings" step into the adult world?
As you point out, politics is a major factor for our current predicament. So, we need to eliminate the nonsense, and correctly assess and address the problems. And, in this day and age, I don't think isolationism is a prudent solution.
I will vote for Trump in the hope that he will eliminate the nonsense, and perhaps as the cycle plays out, the problems will be correctly assessed and addressed.
The Know-Nothings were a party around Civil War 1 times that got that moniker because they did not have a clue what to do about the pending schism approaching. Sorta like today, hence the label.
The Know Nothings were against mass immigration. They were right. Everyone else was wrong. Their America was destroyed by the endless stream of Irish, Poles, and Italians.
This makes zero sense, Jarek.
How not so?
Wow, this Skillington guy even outbloviates RS. Not that he's wrong, just overly wordy.
What superfluous part should I have omitted?
Zero
I was born in 1968. In downtown Chicago, actually, during the chaotic Democratic Convention.
So here’s one brutal GenX take on your generation: you’re all haunted. Unable to detangle yourselves from the political traumas and skepticism of the 60s and 70s. And now, to be honest, you’ve lost your edge, and it’s becoming painfully obvious that retirement does not agree with you. Or rather, the kinds of retirement you’re living are sorting and cleaving you from mainline society.
We don’t know what to do with you. But we still admire you and wish you’d stop poisoning yourself with garbage media infotainment, parroting the political nonsense there, and feeling like everything in the news is about prosecuting the debates of your day in perpetuity.
Because it isn’t. And, sorry, but it’s no longer about you.
Oh how precious. Go outside and play and let the grownups talk
Paul P Westhelle, courtesy of ChatGPT
Nah. I have toe fungus. Pretty sure that disqualifies me.
Nothing like learning from your elders, and respecting them. You're not much younger than me Paul, but I for one appreciate the wisdom being handed down to me by thoughtful, experienced people who share this wisdom with those who follow. As for all time, healthy societies will always look to, and learn from, older and wiser individuals such as many of those on this site, and provide them the dignity their years deserve.
Punks run revolutions.
And after the revolution they are the first to get their throats cut
Wishful thinking of the deposed. Don't expect it. We have just enough energy remaining to dance on the graves of disrespectful elders. Or perhaps enough to spin tunes in the DJ booth so that the younger ones can really tear it up.
Welp Paul P. both Jim Kunstler and I were born in 1948 and I don't think we'd agree that we are "poisoning [ourself] with garbage media infotainment...".
When Jim was my age, he was lucid enough to criticize it. Now, sometimes, he sounds afflicted by it. And while it's regrettable to read that result of that devolution at times, he has a good audience, that, I hope and imagine, it helping pad his retirement. So maybe he is out to demonstrate that there is something virtuous to the PT Barnum's strategy of fleecing suckers?
Howard, outstanding comment. The talented Mr. Clinton really did scramble the tokens on the game board, didn't he? If you had more time or space, I'm sure you would have included a paragraph on the possible effects of mass illegal immigration on the American electorate--not only in election years to come but also three and half weeks from now.
Just legalize the illegals. Presto! Somali and Haitian primitives would suddenly become as Americans as you or I. This was George Bush Jr's solution.
Lawyers probably have more power and influence in the U.S. than in any other country. Whatever their party affiliation (or none), they are an elite class.
Hence all the pseudcons who say, "We're a nation of immigrants! More more more! As long as they're legal." That word legal bathes their gray cells like a shot of Johnnie Walker Black.
Whenever a public figure is accused of, or charged with, a crime the first words out of his mouth are not, "I behaved according to the highest moral principles." No. They are, "I didn't do anything illegal." As if that's all that matters.
That may be our biggest problem. The fact that everything is run by Lawyers, most of whom are pure shysters. It really pisses me off to be required to read some legal document that is 10 pages long and could have been covered quite well with one short paragraph.
George Bush Jr. was a dimwit, alcoholic - one an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.
Insightful synopsis. Thank you.
I wasn’t politically aware when I graduated from high school in 1968, but I can’t imagine it compares to our current situation. It’s hard to know what you didn’t experience. However, too many adult Americans reside in the same place I did at age 18. However, unlike my young self, they vote.
As a protester I was just a foot soldier, but we manned the barricades, protesting the war in Vietnam, saw students murdered at Kent State by the National Guard. The country was coming apart. But I agree that today is worse, because we still had resilient institutions, economy, and infrastructure then, to carry on with after things settled down. Now all of that is gone.
And you were against those institutions back then, right? Marxism is a disease, a mind virus, just like Feminism or Libertarianism.
Yup! Good statement LUGH.
Even Libertarianism. Government needs to be controlled. BUT it is absolutely necessary. I do not remember which of the Great Philosophers it was, but he said government is requires when two or more people live together.
Tulsi is WEF 'young global leader'. She's a Trojan Horse - imho.
Noe. Tulsi is authentic. There was no place for her with the Dems and she retains her integrity with the Republicans.
The Dems suing to keep RFKJR OFF the ballot in some states while suing to keep him ON in others finally makes sense: https://x.com/thelastrefuge2/status/1847215489186988412?s=43&t=-eDDmxb9gSDxiUXuEV2zTA
I was class of 1978 and had the Good fortune to Graduate in 1974 from Edison Jr. High-school where they actually taught young men Metals class, Drafting, Wood Working as they taught young Ladies Home Economics, Cooking, Arts & Crafts. Some guys in our High Speed, The Pekin Chinks (Now politically Corrected to Dragons) had Shotguns or .22 Rifles on racks in the back window of their pickup truck. Nobody EVER got shot. We learned Power Mechanics and More Wood Working. When we left dchool, we went to work in a Trade and made good money while continuing to learn instead of racking up unsustainable debt. Our parents bought a 14 acre farm for $19k wiyh a 6 bedroom house, a large barn and pump house. Life was hard work but we were strong and up to the task. Today, too many migrate to the cities so they can be closer to hospitals in case they get sick. The hope and change promised by Free Trade, Free Health Insurance, Free College and Free stuff never happened and is on it's way to Extinction. #DefundTyranny #ResumeAmericanIndependenceAndDominanceOrExpectToDieCommunist #FreedomIsNotFree
And we are at an unfortunate point in history where both of the major parties of the United States are left-of-center, wrong, and retarded.
Other non-fossils come to mind like Jordan, Stefanik, Mace, etc
Harding himself was honest, aside from his inability to keep his pants on (though compared to Bubba, FDR, JFK, and LBJ, he was a virgin); he just had some crooks in his administration, just like Grant, Nixon and Trump.
As you probably know, the record for crooks in an administration is Reagan's.
Feel sorry for your daughter!
It's a play, and you are in the cheap seats.