To be fair, I have never heard this from Trump, and it would not be the first time the media, the left, or in particular the NY Times have put words in his mouth which turn out to be projection. Remember when he was going to name himself President for Life, or hand the country over to Putin?
Still the point is well made. It's one many of us distrustful of the government have always innately used. I simplify it even more - does it give government more power? Then no.
Is it giving the government more power, or just shifting the balance of power within the government?
For sure I get the point of the article, but we also saw in real time how electing the Trump did nothing, because he had no real power and was surrounded by the deep state.
I have long said whomever you vote for, the government always gets in. It would at least be nice if succeeding at getting your guy in could actually change anything. As such, I have to disagree with the article.
Where I disagree with Trump is my total lack of faith in him going through with any such reforms. I can indeed see him being played, to create such power, but then being too dumb or scared to use it to raze and scorch the Earth of these scum that so desperately deserve it.
Trump displayed his unique talent for hiring the worst people and then figuring out they were the worst after everyone in the universe had figured it out first.
Or, was his plan all along to pretend to be against the swamp, while furthering it’s causes? I mean, how did he survive in the business world with instincts and judgement that bad?
Bigs nailed it. These are already executive branch agencies and per the constitution should be under executive control. Congress can establish them, but the president was always supposed to be in charge of them. We can always fire the president or members of congress, but these folks in the agencies are running amok precisely because they are accountable to nobody. Right now Congress can eliminate or defund them, but how’s that been working out for 200+ years?
Agreed, exactly the point I was thinking to make -- Constitutionally the President already controls these groups, or should.
I believe Gato's corollary point is the key: get rid of them outright. You can't trim them back, it's like removing part of a tumor. You have to kill the entire thing. Every agency that is not authorized in the Constitution should go. Either the President can kill them -- fire everyone -- or Congress can defund them. Maybe both; but the President is not obligated to spend Congressional appropriations. These agencies exist at the whim of both Congress and the President, either can kill them.
George Washington had four cabinet ministers, one for each of the Constitutionally authorized federal powers: Attorney General, Treasury, State, and War (now called Defense).
Treasury can be cut way back - eliminating the IRS - by switching to a national sales tax on all (100%) goods and services, no exceptions, like the Fair Tax. No other federal taxes -- NONE. Collected by the states as they do today; the few states with no sales tax will probably change over with no federal income tax infrastructure to lean on. Pay when you buy and that's it -- no audits, statute of limitation, etc.
Some, like the FTC, are not even executive branch agencies but are the proverbial headless fourth branch, although they are funded by (and therefore beholden to) Congress.
I support Ramaswamy's approach of culling the sheer unsustainable number of government employees by asking them to work in locations far from DC. Move or quit. Reign them in or run them out. Whatever it takes. I can trust him to do that more than Trump. Maybe as 45's VP?
Such an important point. It must be said that the 'deep state' - that portion of government that stays the same and grows in power regardless of who is at the top - needs some kind of check and balance. It's possible that more power in the hands of the chief executive could be the answer. Just looking at the treacherous 'health' officials who fed Trump lies at the beginning of the convid debacle - knowingly fed him lies - is an argument for more presidential power.
No new power should be vested in ANY of the branches, but especially not in the executive. Cliches become cliches because the are pretty much true, and the one that comes to mind here is power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Limiting government, not expanding its authority over us, was the intent of the Constitution, and the left has done a magnificent job of undermining it, with the help, btw, of short sighted Republicans. Truly time to make them understand what its like to try to herd cats.
The first thing is to get organized, something the conservatives have been near total failures at. Find and existing group, if you can, or start one if you can't. The Tea Parties almost accomplished it, but after the initial successes, they got to infighting, ego tripping, and complacency, and lost much of what they had gained. Also, start attending local government or school board meetings and speak up at every one. Let them know exactly what you think of their policies, exactly. The time for waiting for someone else to do this, to become a "leader" is over. Individuals acting as cohesive groups are the key. Cats in a herd. Meow...
yeah I agree with doing this, however it still won't end these federal bureaucracies. I believe the executive branch should be run by the Executive and it isn't now.
My thought too. As I told my TDS mom, this wouldn't be the first time they exaggerated what he said. Saying.powerful.people get away with sexual assault became a literal admission if having committed sexual.assault a la "I, Donald I Trump, hereby confess to...". Seriously she insisted to me he said that, then tried to argue his genera comment was the same. (Has he dine it? Probably,but that wasn't an outright admission).
Or him tweeting about how he sure would like being a dictator, presumably while on the toilet, became a full-blown admission of a carefully laid out plot to repeal the Bill of Rights and install himself as dictator--and she still believes it, insisting him pardoning his own friends who got caught up in the witch hunt against him was " tearing the Constitution apart" preparatory to total Hit parish overthrow of the government.
Or how standard protest language used for eons by all sides (we're going to the capitol and we'll fight like hell) tuned I to " I want you to gather up.all your weapons and launch a full violent assault on the capitol" (but make sure you set them to self destruct later using the Russian tech all Trumpets possess so they wont actually be able to collect the truckloads of weapons to prove it).
Don't get me started on the challenges of reasoning with a 76 year old who thinks having a classified physical file is the biggest crime ever but wheeling and dealing classified info with foreign nations over insecure servers is not nearly as bad or as dangerous. Or how she truly believes the FBI agent who moved the barrier on Jan 6 was actually a pro Trump traitor who has been charged and prosecuted because in this world there is the Democrats and there is everything else, and all that isn't Democrat is good.
Isn’t this just a restoration of the Constitutional order? None of these bureaucracies have Constitutional existence and their ‘independence’ allows them to be tyrannical. So, what I’d like to see is a massive trimming of the Federal Government. Some departments to eliminate, significantly reduce, or restructure: Education, EPA, Energy,Commerce, BATF, IRS.
Yes, these agencies are all already executive branch, and exist for the benefit of the President, to make his job easier. They are not independent like the NYT is claiming, and they are not non-executive like Gato seems to think.
Trump is correctly illuminating how the executive bureaucracy has become an extra-Constitutional 4th branch of government, and a corrupt mire that is no longer serving the people through the single elected representative we have in the executive (the President being the unitary executive in the American system), and needs to be reigned back to the direct control of the duly elected representative, or killed off if it refuses to be reigned back in.
This is correct Constitutionally, and he's recommending a decrease in size and scope of government, not an increase. I'm usually with Gato, but there have been some real stinkers lately.
I don't believe Gato asserts a Truth Value to that NYT reference. I think he was merely suggesting a scenario which more than a few would find distasteful, and with which others can sympathize even if they don't harbor dislike for Trump, as motivation for - I think almost specifically - the many Anti-Trump People of All Jersey Colors so that they can apreciate the peril of their own most assuredly justifiable seizure of power.
I read this more as he thinks bringing these agencies under control of the President is somehow the executive becoming more powerful, even though these agencies are already executive branches and the point here is to let the actual elected person yoink a bunch of power back from these unelected career bureaucrats.
...the President is already nominally in charge of these agencies, that's the point. They're executive agencies, the President is the unitary head of the executive. Their current "independence" is predicated on their ability to act as arms of the President in the enforcement of law, that's it.
Trump's point is that they are no longer listening to the President, and that's a grave problem which needs to be solved immediately, or we're just a military/intelligence junta by another name. Gato, and potentially you, and the NY Times, appear to think that these agencies live in some kind of independent branch of government that a President could conquer and use to increase his own executive power.
I understand the desire to not have one single person with full executive power, but I'd much rather have an elected body or person with full executive power than thousands of people who cannot be removed from office holding that full executive power, and the current civic system of the US is extremely clear that the executive is supposed to be unitary.
"but I'd much rather have an elected body or person with full executive power than thousands of people who cannot be removed from office holding that full executive power"
As would I and, fortunately for me, I see more than two options.
Well yes there is that. However, I was thinking something else that requires no violence. The Corporations are the ones pulling the strings, enriching the corrupt politicians. If everyone stopped spending their money with organizations that hate them we could have some significant pressure on these people. But most of you want what you want when you want it, and cheap plastic crap is more satisfying than deprivation.
You’re likely still doing business with anti-2a and woke companies that hate you. All the major banks, all the tech companies (where you are the product), Kroger, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Yeti, Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc ad infinitum. Public policy is being determined in a board room and y’all still giving them your money. Like I said, you won’t like it and you won’t do it.
The lockdowns were so incredibly ruinous. Millions of small businesses were closed permanently further reducing our ability to vote with our dollar. We transferred massive amounts of wealth and power to giant corporations who are buying our politicians and writing our legislation. Fascism is alive and well.
You're absolutely right. And the truth hurts. We need to be willing to sacrifice. The lefties thought their sacred cows so important that they were willing to sacrifice their humanity, and even their sanity and civility to maintain them... us? I can't be bothered to have less than 2 day shipping on some new sun glasses.
I’m for bulldozing the entire federal government, and most of the state governments, leaving a tiny, humbled minimally empowered shell that must use fundraising to fill its coffers. Only then can we rest assured our liberty is safe.
Agreed, but short of a revolution how do we do it?
The only way that I see anything getting better is through the reelection of Donald Trump.
He will most likely win the Republican nomination and no democrat will make anything better, in fact they are almost guaranteed to make things much worse.....
SubStack must be glitching ... Hard to believe that Doctor Kitt, the Cat Doctor, is the only person to comment on the Bad Cat's post so far ..!
Well, as usual, couldn't agree more, but then ... After more years than I wish to numerate having to muck around this planet and watching the Humans manage to f*** up literally every political system they touch, there is a reason that "As limited as you can possibly make it without allowing murder, rape and shoe theft to stand" is the only form of so-called "government" that I can support or advocate. (I don't even like calling it that, because "government" implies a lack of consent, but ... For now, I'll leave that word until we can figure out a better one.)
As to the clown at hand -- the fact that the so-called "Right" continues to embrace him as anything other than proof positive that the State can be clever a couple of times a day ... Just shaking my head.
As if the big government rhetoric wasn't enough, need I remind everyone that he was a VEHEMENT advocate for the vaxx while in office -- and has failed, to this day, to even acknowledge that it is a murder weapon? Holy smokes, guys, do we really need that (imminently meme-able) NYT screenshot to illuminate the Batman villian we are looking at here? (... A cross between the Buffoon version of Joker and the Penguin, apparently.)
Hardly. And no savior. And far too easily swayed/flattered. (And Jared's post-Trump admin. business deals, what little I know of them, don't seem right to me . . . .)
But--
At least the "clown at hand" seems to be influenced/influenceable, at least somewhat, by his voters--and not solely by current donors/current professional political consultants/current foreign cash providers/current insider stock tip providers/future book deal publishers/future media gig employers/future academic gig employers/future defense industry employers/future pharma industry employers/current teleprompter and cue-card creators/current illicit goods and services providers/current IC community or other blackmail holders/ and the like . . .
And he at least *seems* skeptical of the war business . . .
It is a significant concern. But it is also, in some ways, the flip side of his being able to be swayed by everyday voters, if they can make themselves heard/seen.
the "clown's" greatest triumph is making a court that follows the Constitution.
No biggie to those with stage 5 TDS - still.
Along with the court returning the abortion issue to the states- i.e. to the People.
He's such a tyrant, though, right?
In addition to being the only one in DC who has come out against WW3 and cluster munitions, what a Buffoon, ha ha!
I read the never ending snark towards Trump in these comments and it's like you never learned that the Russia hoax was a hoax, that those impeachments were a hoax, that those boxes at Mar a Lago are another hoax- you are still clinging to all the lies to fuel your contempt and you are fine with that.
He is a threat to Washington because they cannot kill him, yet, and you call him a Joker?
No president could possibly know all the qualifications of every judge they appoint so it's sensible to seek guidance. They are, as we've seen recently, very consequential.
FWIW, at least appointing judges is well within the purview of The Prez via The Constitution. The EPA? Dept of Ed? Nope.
Well this "MAGA nut", does not see Mr Trump as a savior. Never have, never will.
When someone is offering a lifeline, it doesn't make sense to swim away towards the churning feeding frenzy. Those aren't mermaids stirring up the water.
I’m curious. My understanding is that the lifeline you refer to is Trump. What makes you think the other candidates are bigger government anchors? If I was to use an anchor analogy I’d say that Trump is the only candidate that could possibly sink the GOP chances of a 2024 presidency.
Your opinion. Every other candidate has proposed solutions to the problems they focus on, that rely on regulation, committees, or programs. Each one of these "solutions" grows government. Not one has promised to reduce the size or scope of government. Not one has been bold enough to suggest reducing any agency size, without the caveat of something "more modern" to replace it. Not one candidate has a track record of bureaucracy reduction.
I agree President Trump made many mistakes, has many flaws, but at the core his presidency (even while hamstrung by the deep state, by sycophantic sociopaths in his administration and by a Uniparty scared shitless that their money laundering schemes would be exposed) still did ten times more good for this country than any president in recent history.
Consider this: his first two years were spent fighting the entrenched DC establishment, in his third year he was mostly allowed to make positive changes with minimal hindrance (if you can call the russia, ukraine, stormy hoaxes minimal) and his fourth year was marred with the bioweapons attack from the CCP and CIA alliance, all while trying to be just flexible enough to win a second term.
We have a difference of opinion and perspective. I think MAGA is the way forward. I don't particularly like being called "a nut", and I will stand by my opinions.
John... Your on point however, the challenge you and other like you, like me, have is trying to converse sensibly with people who choose not to acknowledge the power of the globalist establishment.
I appreciate that you are being polite about it! :)
I see where you're coming from, believe me, but ... The problem I have is that this guy has set himself up to be even MORE polarizing than OBAMA. I just can't get behind that as a leadership role -- and that's even *before* we see a glimpse of his game plan, as illuminated by Mr. Gato.
The enemy of my enemy is still not my friend, nor even an ally. But, perhaps I'm just rogue that way.
LOL the Left wants free s***, but nothing is free. So, the Left wants someone to steal from the Makers and give to the Takers.
Believe me, I am not a TDS sufferer. I've been analyzing the mistake of believing in him for years now. My conclusion is simply the same as most, at this point: He's in it for himself. My additional conclusion is that the dominant Uniparty figured out how to use him to their advantage VERY shortly after he got into office. That's El Gato's point here. What powers he grants to the Federal Government under the wing of the so-called "Right" can and WILL be used by the Left the millisecond that they get back into power -- which clearly, they will again. The pendulum of politics ever swings.
Trump made lots of minarchist promises. Not a one did he uphold, and chaos now reigns. Even though we all know that the 2020 election was B.S., he still managed to become unpopular enough with the centrists and independents by that time that the sham was almost convincing. (Not to anyone paying attention, but still.)
At this point, I'd prefer Darth Vader. At least with him, WYSIWYG.
"(I don't even like calling it that, because "government" implies a lack of consent, but ... For now, I'll leave that word until we can figure out a better one.)"
Govern means to control, and men, ment & mens is the mind, or thought.
The mind that created the system CAN NOT THINK ITS WAY OUT using the same mind that created it.
The puppet masters are showing how psychotic the left brain truly is when it's left to its own imbalanced state.
Red and blue make Tyrian Purple (from Phoenicians Tyre), from whence the word 'tyrant'.
That's not the etymology or meaning of government though. It comes from "gubernare", latin which originally meant "to steer" or "to pilot". It entered english via Old French some 500-600 years ago.
Tyrant was adopted by the ancient greeks from another Eastern Mediterranean culture, and meant "sovereign ruler unlimited by law or constitution"; the notions of violence and actively terrorising people are later additions to the name, to the greeks it was simply a way to distinguish between a tyrant and the traditional kings and hereditary nobility.
However- how is 'to steer' or 'to pilot' not 'to govern'? And men/mens/ment is absolutely related to the mind.
I was a 'governess' once, to 'steer/pilot' the girl was an apt description. I taught (some) lessons, corrected her speech, deportment, exercise, etc. I would say its hair splitting, but I'm always happy to be corrected.
Tyrant was adopted by the ancient Greeks "from another Eastern Mediterranean culture" which happened to be the Phoenicians of Tyre. Your definition is accurate, as is the fact that the definition changed through the years. This is the kind of thing I write about. Pleased to know ya. :)
" "As limited as you can possibly make it without allowing murder, rape and shoe theft to stand" is the only form of so-called "government" that I can support or advocate."
This is nearly all we should require of any government.
One of my former coworkers, who was rabidly anti-Trump, was crowing one night about all the executive orders his hero Biden had signed. Did he know what was in them? No. Didn't matter. All that mattered was it was more than Trump, more than any other president. I asked him, please tell me what is the difference between an executive order and what a dictator does. That got him for a minute. He said none. I said I thought this was supposed to be a government BY THE PEOPLE, OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE. Not a one man government where there is no vote. I say abolish executive orders. They have no place in a democracy.
The solution to over-reach and corruption in the Federal Government appears to be to either move authority from the Federal Level to the state or county level, or to nullify it entirely, remanding it to the people. Adding to the powers of the central authorities is going in the wrong direction. We are where we are because of excessive federal power and its abuses. I agree with the Coyote Law in this sense, although truth be told, many of the powers of the Federal Government have been stealthily enacted, as in the laws that created the underpinnings of the pandemic, such as the E.U.A.. These things were snuck in stupidly enacted by our legislature who failed to consider the dark forces that were behind them. As usual, the Devil is dressed in benevolence and good intentions. This legislation needs to be overturned and the people need to be more vigilant about how their power is being robbed from them right under their notice with the false pretense of "protecting" them. We need protection from this kind of legislative protection, and only we the people can get the job done. Everyone else is paid off.
The problem with shifting authorities back to the "local" level, is that in many cases, these "locals" are radical leftists. Look at local school boards, water boards or county/city governments as examples; until conservatives wake up and start caring about local elections.
Or crony capitalists. Several board members on planning and zoning in our county stood to benefit from solar farms. They blocked local community efforts to limit them. But our small activist group had a good influence despite this. But Chicago and the Democrat super majority took the right to set ordinances with renewables away. It gets expensive to try to lobby the legislature.
Yup. And if people do bother to actually look at these local boards and governments they will soon see that many times they are at least as bad as and often worse than the feds.
A standard trick in the activist's playbook is: Always appear to represent the majority of any one group.
This makes people think they are in the minority when they feel anal sex instructions to minors is wrong, whether in or out of school libraries.
Corollary to that trick is this: Always ensure media focus on the most deranged, aggressive and out-there opponent, thereby delegitimising any opposition before it gets off the ground. Usually, this is accomplished by keeping tabs on the opposition and whenever the opportunity presents itself name above-mentioned looney tune as if they were representative, integral and a leader-figure.
This works (in part) due to journalists never being interested in the truth, only in a good story (aka a good narrative). Knowing how this works means you can weaponise it and use it yourself, and try to prevent it being used against you.
The last thing we need is even more powerful state governments. It is the concentration of power that has created the mess we are in. We need to redistribute power back to the individual sovereigns. Nullify at least 90% of all laws, and seriously review those remaining.
"only we the people can get the job done" I agree entirely and I also believe we need a radical shift in power from the elected back to the electorate. I believe we have the means and the opportunity to do this using the kind of technology that is now ubiquitous.
"The solution to over-reach and corruption in the Federal Government appears to be to either move authority from the Federal Level to the state or county level"
All governance should begin at the lowest level possible and allow for people to choose between competing municipalities for their, hopefully minimal, tax dollars.
Isn’t he pretty much a lifelong beneficiary of the political system? Lead a rebellion? That would surprise me. I think the good that he could bring would be effective management.
Coyote's law is a good one. It is really a restatement of "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Applied to government. We have gone so far those track now and to quote Jethro Tull " Someone stole the handle and the train won't slow down'. Where do we even begin? As you said, it ain't by giving more power to a president. It has to be power to people with rights they already actually have in the constitution bu the system has gainsaid the constitution and most important law and principles. 1st we get rid of all the lawyers. All laws should be plain speak. most laws should have sunset clauses, so that after a short period of years they must be examined an if still needed voted for again, else they expire.
"All laws should be plain speak. most laws should have sunset clauses, so that after a short period of years they must be examined an if still needed voted for again, else they expire."
Excellent suggestion - this is (in general principle and spirit) how the non-romanised parts of Europe were run until feodalism and christianity imposed the roots of modern power structures on the peoples, by way of first corrupting clan chiefs and kings and the letting the ideas trickle down (or be imposed with sword, fire and scripture).
The law was short enough that everyone could memorise it. New laws were voted on by every Ting, and old laws could only be challenged and changed by the Ting. All deals were brokered in public at theTing, before witnesses. All accusations of crimes and the settling of scores were to be aired at the Ting ("att bära sak mot någon", lit. "to claim cause for redress"), and all witnesses and verdicts were heard and announced in public - no backroom deals.
And everyone were armed - the crossbow was called "farmer's friend" here in Sweden up until the onset of the 16th century.
I am a 1st generation American on my fathers side. He was born in Norway and used to talk about the early ways they governed. He was marginally Lutheran but deep down his pagan roots were showing. As a teen I got a copy of The Viking Age by Paul B. Du Chaillu. Mine was an original 1884 edition. A few years ago I bough a set printed in 1890 that had both volumes. What an amazing resource, and beautifully illustrated. I believe one can still buy the sets. (I found mine through an Amazon affiliate book seller). I always liked that concept of governance. I can see it as a possibility in the aftermath of the collapse we are in, particularly for parallel economy and reorganization of village life. I also liked the concept of the All-Pting where regional problems were settled the same way.
"most laws should have sunset clauses, so that after a short period of years they must be examined an if still needed voted for again, else they expire."
It’s not that I disagree with El gato’s point, I do. I simply look at the actions of the last two administrations and there is a clear marked contrast between which one has attempted to gain and use power over the people and which one did not.
Also, there is my belief that 4 more years of the current administration and our country (and the world) will become an unrecognizable dystopian fascist surveillance state...so there is that.
If election integrity can be restored and our side grows a pair and stops being afraid to stand up and say “no”; things will go well next year; and we should be able to wipe the floor with these fascists. Then it will be 12-16 years of playing whack-a-mole and installing steel mesh that never allows these rats entry again.
But it’s going to require good leadership, a North Star of liberty and free speech, and a steel resolve this generation has never seen before.
I think all things happen for a reason. These past few years happened for the precise reason that we needed to know what the wrong way looked like.
For the people, a new age reaffirming our founders vision. For the politicians and bureaucrats who have censored our speech, prevented our freedom of assembly, opened our borders, and declared war on our children…winter is coming.
Optimism vs reality can exist at the same time. We all have a shed of optimism (or maybe denial) or we'd all fall on our swords. But the reality is that we do have a uniparty and getting the GOP to grow a pair isn't possible because they don't care to. Lol. They make plenty of money doing things exactly as they are. But i do think it's great that you're optimistic! Someone needs to be!
Your suggestions are fine and dandy, however the wretches, exactly as those in power presently, will run roughshod over any established government that is in place. Just as they have done for the past three years. They care not for rules, laws and others opinions. They believe they are gods and to hell with the "little people"! Sadly when the progressives/liberals/Democrats (whatever you want to call them) are elected they become what they really are......Marxists/Fascists demons and America becomes Pandemonium!
👏👏👏 they are a group of madmen... I am increasingly starting to think the uniparty is a real problem. And THAT'S what needs to stop. Best case we need to have ways to immediately remove the offenders from office when they defy the Constitutional rights of the US. I feel like our Govt is no longer accountable or punished for their treachery.
Charles Murray wrote a book on 2015 or so called By the People that lays out a possible solution to the overwhelming bureaucracy in this country. He said civil disobedience on the many ridiculous regulations coupled with defense funds that help businesses and people defend themselves against the regulators to render their power useless would eventually overwhelm them and force them to stay in the bounds of common sense instead of the tyranny we are witnessing now.
I would much rather try that possible solution then give more power to the government to try and accomplish it.
what is the path out of ending the massive, bewildering bureacratic over-reach. Who oversees this 4th branch?
How do we take back the power of that?
Constitutionally, I'd guess that oversight of these branches would reside in the Executive. Certainly not SCOTUS and unlikely legislative, so Executive authority is constitutional. Happy to be proven wrong, but what is the answer to creating accountability for these agencies, many of which have essentially gone rogue?
Trump said if he is reelected president, he “will do everything I can to challenge the Impoundment Control Act in court, and if necessary, get Congress to overturn it.”
“I will then use the president’s long-recognized impoundment power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings,” he said.
Trump said restoring impoundment power “is the only way we will ever return to a balanced budget.” And he said “bringing back impoundment will give us a crucial tool with which to obliterate the Deep State, Drain the Swamp, and starve the Warmongers — these people that want wars all over the place.”
I never was. I understond the problems with vaccines in general, and knew they would never make a successful vaccine against a Corona virus because it mutates too rapidly. Not to mention the expert virologists correctly predicting that using a leaky vaccine during an outbreak only causes mutations so that people can be infected multiple times instead of just once.
It was the final nail in the coffin for me. Very disappointed. Medicine shouldn't puncture an organ and bypass the primary immune system- the gut- but should take the whole creature (body and soul) and its history in to account.
They do it in Israel using German New Medicine (GNM).
Quite true, and New Zealand (with a similar population) had the same thing done.
I suspect both are considered 'petrie dish' countries, little study groups- which doesn't really bode well for the future... The difference I suppose is NZ doesn't have nurses trained in the psychological origin of some illnesses.
While not suggesting the vaccine was a psychological illness by any stretch, a damaged 'psyche' (soul) seems to have a direct influence on the individual's health. Reductionist scientismic thinking of a patient as 'just a physical body' is so 20th century and western nurses(&doctors) are still running on that program.
"The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America."
The only Article II power lives in the presidency. There are no independent administrative agencies anywhere in the Constitution. But "eliminate whole fricking agencies," yes. Sharply reduce the duties and reach of government, and the presidency isn't a problem. Having a monstrous government, enormous and intrusive, and then freeing it from control, isn't an improvement.
*sigh* I am so tired of hearing people say Trump is unprofessional- he's simply the most accomplished professional asshole I have ever seen.
What do Trump, Hillary, and Biden have in common? THEY ARE ALL TOO DAMN OLD for pity sake. If Trump actually runs he will be 78 when he takes office. Good grief!
Those things said, the gato is exactly, precisely, resoundingly correct. Somehow people have forgotten that in American politics there are NO gaurantees. They blather on about "flight 93" elections and being "on the right side of history." Yet they are all just one election away from being gone. None of them, no party, no ideology, no philosophy EVER really wins. And yup, America lurches back and forth between left and right like a drunken teenager on his first binge, never but never learning their lesson. At some point it gets very hard to feel sorry for people because they refuse to learn and hence bring it all on themselves.
Trump won't save us, he will make things worse. Ditto Biden. We keep peeing the bed and complaining about having to sleep in it. Duh.
To be fair, I have never heard this from Trump, and it would not be the first time the media, the left, or in particular the NY Times have put words in his mouth which turn out to be projection. Remember when he was going to name himself President for Life, or hand the country over to Putin?
Still the point is well made. It's one many of us distrustful of the government have always innately used. I simplify it even more - does it give government more power? Then no.
I had this thought, too.
Misrepresentation by the NYT?
Perish the thought.
Is it giving the government more power, or just shifting the balance of power within the government?
For sure I get the point of the article, but we also saw in real time how electing the Trump did nothing, because he had no real power and was surrounded by the deep state.
I have long said whomever you vote for, the government always gets in. It would at least be nice if succeeding at getting your guy in could actually change anything. As such, I have to disagree with the article.
Where I disagree with Trump is my total lack of faith in him going through with any such reforms. I can indeed see him being played, to create such power, but then being too dumb or scared to use it to raze and scorch the Earth of these scum that so desperately deserve it.
Trump displayed his unique talent for hiring the worst people and then figuring out they were the worst after everyone in the universe had figured it out first.
@SCA- I think Trump was shockingly surprised at how deep the swamp really was.
Trump isn't a naive person. He's got the lack of courage of all insecure men who are desperate to be liked and to seem masterful.
He had pretty good instincts all his business career. He dropped them down a sewer when he became President.
he was an outsider to The Club and was surrounded by RINO traitors.
His mistake was not realizing how deepand wide the treachery in his own admin was.
He is well aware now.
His mistake was in being ruled by his inner moron. That's been tripping him up all his life.
Yet he does not admit his mistakes, like bombing Syria or assassinating Suleimani, nor his biggest mistake of all, initiating Warp Speed.
Are you saying that he is now aware that he fucked up?
Or, was his plan all along to pretend to be against the swamp, while furthering it’s causes? I mean, how did he survive in the business world with instincts and judgement that bad?
A chess player he's not.
Trump is a trojan horse getting voted in in the hope of 'change'
Lol!! So true.
I contend that Joseph Biden has hired the worst possible people to work for him and he still hasn’t figured it out.
Bigs nailed it. These are already executive branch agencies and per the constitution should be under executive control. Congress can establish them, but the president was always supposed to be in charge of them. We can always fire the president or members of congress, but these folks in the agencies are running amok precisely because they are accountable to nobody. Right now Congress can eliminate or defund them, but how’s that been working out for 200+ years?
Agreed, exactly the point I was thinking to make -- Constitutionally the President already controls these groups, or should.
I believe Gato's corollary point is the key: get rid of them outright. You can't trim them back, it's like removing part of a tumor. You have to kill the entire thing. Every agency that is not authorized in the Constitution should go. Either the President can kill them -- fire everyone -- or Congress can defund them. Maybe both; but the President is not obligated to spend Congressional appropriations. These agencies exist at the whim of both Congress and the President, either can kill them.
George Washington had four cabinet ministers, one for each of the Constitutionally authorized federal powers: Attorney General, Treasury, State, and War (now called Defense).
Treasury can be cut way back - eliminating the IRS - by switching to a national sales tax on all (100%) goods and services, no exceptions, like the Fair Tax. No other federal taxes -- NONE. Collected by the states as they do today; the few states with no sales tax will probably change over with no federal income tax infrastructure to lean on. Pay when you buy and that's it -- no audits, statute of limitation, etc.
Some, like the FTC, are not even executive branch agencies but are the proverbial headless fourth branch, although they are funded by (and therefore beholden to) Congress.
My thoughts exactly. %100
I support Ramaswamy's approach of culling the sheer unsustainable number of government employees by asking them to work in locations far from DC. Move or quit. Reign them in or run them out. Whatever it takes. I can trust him to do that more than Trump. Maybe as 45's VP?
"Move or quit. Reign them in or run them out."
Thin the herd.
I would love Ramaswamy as Trump’s VP. Maybe he could teach Trump how to keep his ego in check? 🤣🤣🤣. Well, hope springs eternal.
Will never happen. Ramaswamy is way too smart for Trump. Trump does not want an intelligent person lurking in his shadow. Hence Pence.
Pence is smart, just swampy.
"Is it giving the government more power, or just shifting the balance of power within the government?"
A distinction without a difference. https://imgflip.com/i/7k4gjq
I used to say, "Uniparty delenda est!" but now I just refer people to My Friend Lillia's Substack post: The Elephant and Ass Show
https://lilliagajewski.substack.com/p/the-elephant-and-ass-show?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Felephant%2520and%2520ass&utm_medium=reader2
Thank you so much for this statement and direction to her stack. Excellent
Lil is great!
Agree. Lily said it well - "Our two party system is a dog and pony show, or to be more precise, an elephant and ass show."
And from the same post, "I was listening to a conservative talking head and I never had to hear how wonderful the Republican Party was."
Check her out.
Such an important point. It must be said that the 'deep state' - that portion of government that stays the same and grows in power regardless of who is at the top - needs some kind of check and balance. It's possible that more power in the hands of the chief executive could be the answer. Just looking at the treacherous 'health' officials who fed Trump lies at the beginning of the convid debacle - knowingly fed him lies - is an argument for more presidential power.
NYT lies all the time.
I never read their stuff, everrrr.
Same with Washington ComPost.
No new power should be vested in ANY of the branches, but especially not in the executive. Cliches become cliches because the are pretty much true, and the one that comes to mind here is power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Limiting government, not expanding its authority over us, was the intent of the Constitution, and the left has done a magnificent job of undermining it, with the help, btw, of short sighted Republicans. Truly time to make them understand what its like to try to herd cats.
OK but how can we curtail these bureaucracies that are running our lives?
The first thing is to get organized, something the conservatives have been near total failures at. Find and existing group, if you can, or start one if you can't. The Tea Parties almost accomplished it, but after the initial successes, they got to infighting, ego tripping, and complacency, and lost much of what they had gained. Also, start attending local government or school board meetings and speak up at every one. Let them know exactly what you think of their policies, exactly. The time for waiting for someone else to do this, to become a "leader" is over. Individuals acting as cohesive groups are the key. Cats in a herd. Meow...
yeah I agree with doing this, however it still won't end these federal bureaucracies. I believe the executive branch should be run by the Executive and it isn't now.
"I simplify it even more - does it give government more power? Then no."
I picture = 1 kiloword: https://thetaborfoundation.org/should-the-government-nope/
"no" what?
This shit's been going on longer than anyone of us has been alive.
" "no" what?"
Then start saying NO today. Next chance we get. Stand firm.
BigFedGov: "We should increase The Minimum Wage to $Lotsa."
We the Little People: "No."
BigFedGov: "We should make all people wear masks."
We the Little People: "No."
BigFedGov: "A Pony in Every Pot."
We the Little People: "No."
He did basically say this during his interview with Maria Bartriromo on her show this past Sunday.
My thought too. As I told my TDS mom, this wouldn't be the first time they exaggerated what he said. Saying.powerful.people get away with sexual assault became a literal admission if having committed sexual.assault a la "I, Donald I Trump, hereby confess to...". Seriously she insisted to me he said that, then tried to argue his genera comment was the same. (Has he dine it? Probably,but that wasn't an outright admission).
Or him tweeting about how he sure would like being a dictator, presumably while on the toilet, became a full-blown admission of a carefully laid out plot to repeal the Bill of Rights and install himself as dictator--and she still believes it, insisting him pardoning his own friends who got caught up in the witch hunt against him was " tearing the Constitution apart" preparatory to total Hit parish overthrow of the government.
Or how standard protest language used for eons by all sides (we're going to the capitol and we'll fight like hell) tuned I to " I want you to gather up.all your weapons and launch a full violent assault on the capitol" (but make sure you set them to self destruct later using the Russian tech all Trumpets possess so they wont actually be able to collect the truckloads of weapons to prove it).
Don't get me started on the challenges of reasoning with a 76 year old who thinks having a classified physical file is the biggest crime ever but wheeling and dealing classified info with foreign nations over insecure servers is not nearly as bad or as dangerous. Or how she truly believes the FBI agent who moved the barrier on Jan 6 was actually a pro Trump traitor who has been charged and prosecuted because in this world there is the Democrats and there is everything else, and all that isn't Democrat is good.
Look up Executive Order 13957. This totally freaked out the administrative state!
Isn’t this just a restoration of the Constitutional order? None of these bureaucracies have Constitutional existence and their ‘independence’ allows them to be tyrannical. So, what I’d like to see is a massive trimming of the Federal Government. Some departments to eliminate, significantly reduce, or restructure: Education, EPA, Energy,Commerce, BATF, IRS.
Yes, these agencies are all already executive branch, and exist for the benefit of the President, to make his job easier. They are not independent like the NYT is claiming, and they are not non-executive like Gato seems to think.
Trump is correctly illuminating how the executive bureaucracy has become an extra-Constitutional 4th branch of government, and a corrupt mire that is no longer serving the people through the single elected representative we have in the executive (the President being the unitary executive in the American system), and needs to be reigned back to the direct control of the duly elected representative, or killed off if it refuses to be reigned back in.
This is correct Constitutionally, and he's recommending a decrease in size and scope of government, not an increase. I'm usually with Gato, but there have been some real stinkers lately.
"I'm usually with Gato"
I don't believe Gato asserts a Truth Value to that NYT reference. I think he was merely suggesting a scenario which more than a few would find distasteful, and with which others can sympathize even if they don't harbor dislike for Trump, as motivation for - I think almost specifically - the many Anti-Trump People of All Jersey Colors so that they can apreciate the peril of their own most assuredly justifiable seizure of power.
I read this more as he thinks bringing these agencies under control of the President is somehow the executive becoming more powerful, even though these agencies are already executive branches and the point here is to let the actual elected person yoink a bunch of power back from these unelected career bureaucrats.
"I read this more as he thinks bringing these agencies under control of the President'
And I read it as an example of things that we wouldn't want The Other Guy in charge of, no matter which Jersey he donned to get to The Oblong Office.
...the President is already nominally in charge of these agencies, that's the point. They're executive agencies, the President is the unitary head of the executive. Their current "independence" is predicated on their ability to act as arms of the President in the enforcement of law, that's it.
Trump's point is that they are no longer listening to the President, and that's a grave problem which needs to be solved immediately, or we're just a military/intelligence junta by another name. Gato, and potentially you, and the NY Times, appear to think that these agencies live in some kind of independent branch of government that a President could conquer and use to increase his own executive power.
I understand the desire to not have one single person with full executive power, but I'd much rather have an elected body or person with full executive power than thousands of people who cannot be removed from office holding that full executive power, and the current civic system of the US is extremely clear that the executive is supposed to be unitary.
"but I'd much rather have an elected body or person with full executive power than thousands of people who cannot be removed from office holding that full executive power"
As would I and, fortunately for me, I see more than two options.
thank you- most illuminating comment in the thread
"Isn’t this just a restoration of the Constitutional order?'"
Yes. *shrugs* Kinda makes you wonder why it's so seemingly controversial.
Everything Constitutional is now controversial... if not out-and-out insurrectionist.
The US hasn't been governed constitutionally since at least the 1930s.
We're the society that saw it necessary to instruct people how to use toothpicks. It shouldn't be so surprising.
https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Wonko_the_Sane
Sounds great. Bulldoze whole agencies. Massively reduce the power of the Federal government. Take away the power that they have seized.
Get them to leave us the hell alone.
Now tell me how to do it.....
I can tell you how to do it, but you won’t like it and you won’t do it.
And you can’t speak it or bad guys with big guns show up at your door.
Well yes there is that. However, I was thinking something else that requires no violence. The Corporations are the ones pulling the strings, enriching the corrupt politicians. If everyone stopped spending their money with organizations that hate them we could have some significant pressure on these people. But most of you want what you want when you want it, and cheap plastic crap is more satisfying than deprivation.
You’re likely still doing business with anti-2a and woke companies that hate you. All the major banks, all the tech companies (where you are the product), Kroger, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Yeti, Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc ad infinitum. Public policy is being determined in a board room and y’all still giving them your money. Like I said, you won’t like it and you won’t do it.
The lockdowns were so incredibly ruinous. Millions of small businesses were closed permanently further reducing our ability to vote with our dollar. We transferred massive amounts of wealth and power to giant corporations who are buying our politicians and writing our legislation. Fascism is alive and well.
That, like the other option, takes a concerted effort by many, many people who are completely fed up.
I’m not sure that enough people are mad enough yet.
You're absolutely right. And the truth hurts. We need to be willing to sacrifice. The lefties thought their sacred cows so important that they were willing to sacrifice their humanity, and even their sanity and civility to maintain them... us? I can't be bothered to have less than 2 day shipping on some new sun glasses.
I didn’t realize Kroger was involved, bummer!
They hopped on the anti-2a bandwagon several years ago.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/04/kroger-bans-open-carry-asks-congress-to-pass-more-gun-control/
I bet Kroger does not ban open carry for police "policy" officers. Fascism is alive and well, as Meme correctly points out.
Not yet and it takes more than one person.
We need to see how ‘fortified’ the next election is.
"eliminate whole fricking agencies."
"Now tell me how to do it....."
Elect people who will do this for us, or...
"Get them to leave us the hell alone."
I hope The John Galt Moment is imminent.
"elect"... Hahaha
I foresee a little more scrutiny on elections, especially at the lower levels.
Will it be enough to overcome 81 million ballots? Hope so.
*crosses fingers*
I'd just settle for a little more transparency. #PipeDreams
I’m for bulldozing the entire federal government, and most of the state governments, leaving a tiny, humbled minimally empowered shell that must use fundraising to fill its coffers. Only then can we rest assured our liberty is safe.
Agreed, but short of a revolution how do we do it?
The only way that I see anything getting better is through the reelection of Donald Trump.
He will most likely win the Republican nomination and no democrat will make anything better, in fact they are almost guaranteed to make things much worse.....
To quote the great Frank Zappa, "that is the crux of the biscuit. " 😎😎
https://www.wikihow.com/Drive-a-Bulldozer
SubStack must be glitching ... Hard to believe that Doctor Kitt, the Cat Doctor, is the only person to comment on the Bad Cat's post so far ..!
Well, as usual, couldn't agree more, but then ... After more years than I wish to numerate having to muck around this planet and watching the Humans manage to f*** up literally every political system they touch, there is a reason that "As limited as you can possibly make it without allowing murder, rape and shoe theft to stand" is the only form of so-called "government" that I can support or advocate. (I don't even like calling it that, because "government" implies a lack of consent, but ... For now, I'll leave that word until we can figure out a better one.)
As to the clown at hand -- the fact that the so-called "Right" continues to embrace him as anything other than proof positive that the State can be clever a couple of times a day ... Just shaking my head.
As if the big government rhetoric wasn't enough, need I remind everyone that he was a VEHEMENT advocate for the vaxx while in office -- and has failed, to this day, to even acknowledge that it is a murder weapon? Holy smokes, guys, do we really need that (imminently meme-able) NYT screenshot to illuminate the Batman villian we are looking at here? (... A cross between the Buffoon version of Joker and the Penguin, apparently.)
Not so vehement as to mandate it.
5D chess?
Hardly. And no savior. And far too easily swayed/flattered. (And Jared's post-Trump admin. business deals, what little I know of them, don't seem right to me . . . .)
But--
At least the "clown at hand" seems to be influenced/influenceable, at least somewhat, by his voters--and not solely by current donors/current professional political consultants/current foreign cash providers/current insider stock tip providers/future book deal publishers/future media gig employers/future academic gig employers/future defense industry employers/future pharma industry employers/current teleprompter and cue-card creators/current illicit goods and services providers/current IC community or other blackmail holders/ and the like . . .
And he at least *seems* skeptical of the war business . . .
"And far too easily swayed/flattered."
He was always so but it seems so much more a concern now than it was even just a few years ago.
It is a significant concern. But it is also, in some ways, the flip side of his being able to be swayed by everyday voters, if they can make themselves heard/seen.
the "clown's" greatest triumph is making a court that follows the Constitution.
No biggie to those with stage 5 TDS - still.
Along with the court returning the abortion issue to the states- i.e. to the People.
He's such a tyrant, though, right?
In addition to being the only one in DC who has come out against WW3 and cluster munitions, what a Buffoon, ha ha!
I read the never ending snark towards Trump in these comments and it's like you never learned that the Russia hoax was a hoax, that those impeachments were a hoax, that those boxes at Mar a Lago are another hoax- you are still clinging to all the lies to fuel your contempt and you are fine with that.
He is a threat to Washington because they cannot kill him, yet, and you call him a Joker?
But you the smartest guys in the room.
" "the "clown's" greatest triumph is making a court that follows the Constitution."
Whatever else, this should never be discounted.
Basically, he nominated judges recommended to him by The Federalist Society.
No president could possibly know all the qualifications of every judge they appoint so it's sensible to seek guidance. They are, as we've seen recently, very consequential.
FWIW, at least appointing judges is well within the purview of The Prez via The Constitution. The EPA? Dept of Ed? Nope.
Not arguing any of that, just that "the judges" is not some uniquely trumpian achievement.
Basically, Trump nominated the same set of judges that any other Team R president would have likely nominated.
I'm not so certain of that.. I think Jeb Bush would have liked to nominate outside of the federalist society...
Perhaps.
The Federal Society has advised presidents on SC nominees since it's inception.
so if that's another attempt to denigrate Trump's listening to the federal society's advice, your attempt at ridicule is a FAIL
Very well said sir. Unfortunately the MAGA nuts can’t see their savior is anything but.
Well this "MAGA nut", does not see Mr Trump as a savior. Never have, never will.
When someone is offering a lifeline, it doesn't make sense to swim away towards the churning feeding frenzy. Those aren't mermaids stirring up the water.
That lifeline you are being offered is not what you think it is. Which ties into the point of the article.
There are no other lifelines. Every other string in the water has a bigger government anchor tied to the other end. But your choice.
I’m curious. My understanding is that the lifeline you refer to is Trump. What makes you think the other candidates are bigger government anchors? If I was to use an anchor analogy I’d say that Trump is the only candidate that could possibly sink the GOP chances of a 2024 presidency.
Your opinion. Every other candidate has proposed solutions to the problems they focus on, that rely on regulation, committees, or programs. Each one of these "solutions" grows government. Not one has promised to reduce the size or scope of government. Not one has been bold enough to suggest reducing any agency size, without the caveat of something "more modern" to replace it. Not one candidate has a track record of bureaucracy reduction.
I agree President Trump made many mistakes, has many flaws, but at the core his presidency (even while hamstrung by the deep state, by sycophantic sociopaths in his administration and by a Uniparty scared shitless that their money laundering schemes would be exposed) still did ten times more good for this country than any president in recent history.
Consider this: his first two years were spent fighting the entrenched DC establishment, in his third year he was mostly allowed to make positive changes with minimal hindrance (if you can call the russia, ukraine, stormy hoaxes minimal) and his fourth year was marred with the bioweapons attack from the CCP and CIA alliance, all while trying to be just flexible enough to win a second term.
We have a difference of opinion and perspective. I think MAGA is the way forward. I don't particularly like being called "a nut", and I will stand by my opinions.
To be fair in most mythologies mermaids were worse than sharks.
John... Your on point however, the challenge you and other like you, like me, have is trying to converse sensibly with people who choose not to acknowledge the power of the globalist establishment.
Pretty astonishing, eh Zig?
Really? After all the Covid behavior?
Politely disagree with all but your second paragraph.
I appreciate that you are being polite about it! :)
I see where you're coming from, believe me, but ... The problem I have is that this guy has set himself up to be even MORE polarizing than OBAMA. I just can't get behind that as a leadership role -- and that's even *before* we see a glimpse of his game plan, as illuminated by Mr. Gato.
The enemy of my enemy is still not my friend, nor even an ally. But, perhaps I'm just rogue that way.
So you're proposing the "go along, get along" strategy of the Pence types? I believe polarization is correct in matters of right and wrong.
Obama is a fag.
LOL NO. I am proposing nothing. I loathe all politicians equally.
Obama is definitely a fag, regardless of whether Michelle is actually Michael or not.
My favorite quote is from Rip Torn, "The only thing worse than a politician is a child molester."
Are you saying Trump can't be a leader because the Left won't accept him?
I can't accept compromising the truth with lies. So what does the Left want?
LOL the Left wants free s***, but nothing is free. So, the Left wants someone to steal from the Makers and give to the Takers.
Believe me, I am not a TDS sufferer. I've been analyzing the mistake of believing in him for years now. My conclusion is simply the same as most, at this point: He's in it for himself. My additional conclusion is that the dominant Uniparty figured out how to use him to their advantage VERY shortly after he got into office. That's El Gato's point here. What powers he grants to the Federal Government under the wing of the so-called "Right" can and WILL be used by the Left the millisecond that they get back into power -- which clearly, they will again. The pendulum of politics ever swings.
Trump made lots of minarchist promises. Not a one did he uphold, and chaos now reigns. Even though we all know that the 2020 election was B.S., he still managed to become unpopular enough with the centrists and independents by that time that the sham was almost convincing. (Not to anyone paying attention, but still.)
At this point, I'd prefer Darth Vader. At least with him, WYSIWYG.
"(I don't even like calling it that, because "government" implies a lack of consent, but ... For now, I'll leave that word until we can figure out a better one.)"
Govern means to control, and men, ment & mens is the mind, or thought.
The mind that created the system CAN NOT THINK ITS WAY OUT using the same mind that created it.
The puppet masters are showing how psychotic the left brain truly is when it's left to its own imbalanced state.
Red and blue make Tyrian Purple (from Phoenicians Tyre), from whence the word 'tyrant'.
Tyrant used to simply mean 'ruler'.
That's not the etymology or meaning of government though. It comes from "gubernare", latin which originally meant "to steer" or "to pilot". It entered english via Old French some 500-600 years ago.
Tyrant was adopted by the ancient greeks from another Eastern Mediterranean culture, and meant "sovereign ruler unlimited by law or constitution"; the notions of violence and actively terrorising people are later additions to the name, to the greeks it was simply a way to distinguish between a tyrant and the traditional kings and hereditary nobility.
Cool. No argument from me.
However- how is 'to steer' or 'to pilot' not 'to govern'? And men/mens/ment is absolutely related to the mind.
I was a 'governess' once, to 'steer/pilot' the girl was an apt description. I taught (some) lessons, corrected her speech, deportment, exercise, etc. I would say its hair splitting, but I'm always happy to be corrected.
Tyrant was adopted by the ancient Greeks "from another Eastern Mediterranean culture" which happened to be the Phoenicians of Tyre. Your definition is accurate, as is the fact that the definition changed through the years. This is the kind of thing I write about. Pleased to know ya. :)
" "As limited as you can possibly make it without allowing murder, rape and shoe theft to stand" is the only form of so-called "government" that I can support or advocate."
This is nearly all we should require of any government.
One of my former coworkers, who was rabidly anti-Trump, was crowing one night about all the executive orders his hero Biden had signed. Did he know what was in them? No. Didn't matter. All that mattered was it was more than Trump, more than any other president. I asked him, please tell me what is the difference between an executive order and what a dictator does. That got him for a minute. He said none. I said I thought this was supposed to be a government BY THE PEOPLE, OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE. Not a one man government where there is no vote. I say abolish executive orders. They have no place in a democracy.
The solution to over-reach and corruption in the Federal Government appears to be to either move authority from the Federal Level to the state or county level, or to nullify it entirely, remanding it to the people. Adding to the powers of the central authorities is going in the wrong direction. We are where we are because of excessive federal power and its abuses. I agree with the Coyote Law in this sense, although truth be told, many of the powers of the Federal Government have been stealthily enacted, as in the laws that created the underpinnings of the pandemic, such as the E.U.A.. These things were snuck in stupidly enacted by our legislature who failed to consider the dark forces that were behind them. As usual, the Devil is dressed in benevolence and good intentions. This legislation needs to be overturned and the people need to be more vigilant about how their power is being robbed from them right under their notice with the false pretense of "protecting" them. We need protection from this kind of legislative protection, and only we the people can get the job done. Everyone else is paid off.
The problem with shifting authorities back to the "local" level, is that in many cases, these "locals" are radical leftists. Look at local school boards, water boards or county/city governments as examples; until conservatives wake up and start caring about local elections.
"until conservatives wake up and start caring about local elections"
I think they are. Moms for Liberty are an example. They've infuence quite a few local school boards and their influence.
Know how you can tell? Because MSNBC devoted a whole Government Spokesmodel segment to demonizing them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msj4FZaByAQ
MMA reports in from their recent "hate-filled" conference and finds so little hatefulness that they resort to bashing the catering. The freakin' _catering_. https://www.mediamatters.org/moms-liberty/what-i-learned-lavish-catering-moms-libertys-hate-filled-conference
Or crony capitalists. Several board members on planning and zoning in our county stood to benefit from solar farms. They blocked local community efforts to limit them. But our small activist group had a good influence despite this. But Chicago and the Democrat super majority took the right to set ordinances with renewables away. It gets expensive to try to lobby the legislature.
"Several board members on planning and zoning in our county stood to benefit from solar farms."
Thanks to their support for COVID Theater, there will be plenty of Metropolitan Real Estate on which to mount solar panels.
1. Throw some pickle ball courts on the inside.
2. Power the lights with the sun.
3. Profit!
Yup. And if people do bother to actually look at these local boards and governments they will soon see that many times they are at least as bad as and often worse than the feds.
But much easier to fix.
A standard trick in the activist's playbook is: Always appear to represent the majority of any one group.
This makes people think they are in the minority when they feel anal sex instructions to minors is wrong, whether in or out of school libraries.
Corollary to that trick is this: Always ensure media focus on the most deranged, aggressive and out-there opponent, thereby delegitimising any opposition before it gets off the ground. Usually, this is accomplished by keeping tabs on the opposition and whenever the opportunity presents itself name above-mentioned looney tune as if they were representative, integral and a leader-figure.
This works (in part) due to journalists never being interested in the truth, only in a good story (aka a good narrative). Knowing how this works means you can weaponise it and use it yourself, and try to prevent it being used against you.
The last thing we need is even more powerful state governments. It is the concentration of power that has created the mess we are in. We need to redistribute power back to the individual sovereigns. Nullify at least 90% of all laws, and seriously review those remaining.
I live in the Seattle area and I can attest that this is FACT!
"only we the people can get the job done" I agree entirely and I also believe we need a radical shift in power from the elected back to the electorate. I believe we have the means and the opportunity to do this using the kind of technology that is now ubiquitous.
"The solution to over-reach and corruption in the Federal Government appears to be to either move authority from the Federal Level to the state or county level"
All governance should begin at the lowest level possible and allow for people to choose between competing municipalities for their, hopefully minimal, tax dollars.
Yes. I hope DeSantis does not get the nomination and instead leads a rebellion of the states: a second Union if you will.
Isn’t he pretty much a lifelong beneficiary of the political system? Lead a rebellion? That would surprise me. I think the good that he could bring would be effective management.
As the wise people at South Park illustrated, the candidates are giant douche and turd sandwich. Vote or die. (Oh, and the election is rigged.)
Coyote's law is a good one. It is really a restatement of "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Applied to government. We have gone so far those track now and to quote Jethro Tull " Someone stole the handle and the train won't slow down'. Where do we even begin? As you said, it ain't by giving more power to a president. It has to be power to people with rights they already actually have in the constitution bu the system has gainsaid the constitution and most important law and principles. 1st we get rid of all the lawyers. All laws should be plain speak. most laws should have sunset clauses, so that after a short period of years they must be examined an if still needed voted for again, else they expire.
Bonus like for Jethro Tull quote. Aqualung, great album.
Thanks
"All laws should be plain speak. most laws should have sunset clauses, so that after a short period of years they must be examined an if still needed voted for again, else they expire."
Excellent suggestion - this is (in general principle and spirit) how the non-romanised parts of Europe were run until feodalism and christianity imposed the roots of modern power structures on the peoples, by way of first corrupting clan chiefs and kings and the letting the ideas trickle down (or be imposed with sword, fire and scripture).
The law was short enough that everyone could memorise it. New laws were voted on by every Ting, and old laws could only be challenged and changed by the Ting. All deals were brokered in public at theTing, before witnesses. All accusations of crimes and the settling of scores were to be aired at the Ting ("att bära sak mot någon", lit. "to claim cause for redress"), and all witnesses and verdicts were heard and announced in public - no backroom deals.
And everyone were armed - the crossbow was called "farmer's friend" here in Sweden up until the onset of the 16th century.
I am a 1st generation American on my fathers side. He was born in Norway and used to talk about the early ways they governed. He was marginally Lutheran but deep down his pagan roots were showing. As a teen I got a copy of The Viking Age by Paul B. Du Chaillu. Mine was an original 1884 edition. A few years ago I bough a set printed in 1890 that had both volumes. What an amazing resource, and beautifully illustrated. I believe one can still buy the sets. (I found mine through an Amazon affiliate book seller). I always liked that concept of governance. I can see it as a possibility in the aftermath of the collapse we are in, particularly for parallel economy and reorganization of village life. I also liked the concept of the All-Pting where regional problems were settled the same way.
"most laws should have sunset clauses, so that after a short period of years they must be examined an if still needed voted for again, else they expire."
YES!
Looks like projection...again.
It’s not that I disagree with El gato’s point, I do. I simply look at the actions of the last two administrations and there is a clear marked contrast between which one has attempted to gain and use power over the people and which one did not.
Also, there is my belief that 4 more years of the current administration and our country (and the world) will become an unrecognizable dystopian fascist surveillance state...so there is that.
Too late. Feels irrepairable.
I don’t believe that.
I’m an optimist (and a fairly decent historian 😃)
If election integrity can be restored and our side grows a pair and stops being afraid to stand up and say “no”; things will go well next year; and we should be able to wipe the floor with these fascists. Then it will be 12-16 years of playing whack-a-mole and installing steel mesh that never allows these rats entry again.
But it’s going to require good leadership, a North Star of liberty and free speech, and a steel resolve this generation has never seen before.
I think all things happen for a reason. These past few years happened for the precise reason that we needed to know what the wrong way looked like.
For the people, a new age reaffirming our founders vision. For the politicians and bureaucrats who have censored our speech, prevented our freedom of assembly, opened our borders, and declared war on our children…winter is coming.
"If election integrity can be restored..........."
What makes you optimistic about that, much less the 'growing a pair' part?
Like I said, I’m an optimist. 😃
I’m a generally upbeat person. I could be depressed and hopeless but what would be the point? Call it a hunch.
Optimism vs reality can exist at the same time. We all have a shed of optimism (or maybe denial) or we'd all fall on our swords. But the reality is that we do have a uniparty and getting the GOP to grow a pair isn't possible because they don't care to. Lol. They make plenty of money doing things exactly as they are. But i do think it's great that you're optimistic! Someone needs to be!
Your suggestions are fine and dandy, however the wretches, exactly as those in power presently, will run roughshod over any established government that is in place. Just as they have done for the past three years. They care not for rules, laws and others opinions. They believe they are gods and to hell with the "little people"! Sadly when the progressives/liberals/Democrats (whatever you want to call them) are elected they become what they really are......Marxists/Fascists demons and America becomes Pandemonium!
👏👏👏 they are a group of madmen... I am increasingly starting to think the uniparty is a real problem. And THAT'S what needs to stop. Best case we need to have ways to immediately remove the offenders from office when they defy the Constitutional rights of the US. I feel like our Govt is no longer accountable or punished for their treachery.
Our government has been getting away with ever increasingly treasonous behavior since it’s inception. It is the very nature of the beast.
Betsy... 💥🎯🙌👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Charles Murray wrote a book on 2015 or so called By the People that lays out a possible solution to the overwhelming bureaucracy in this country. He said civil disobedience on the many ridiculous regulations coupled with defense funds that help businesses and people defend themselves against the regulators to render their power useless would eventually overwhelm them and force them to stay in the bounds of common sense instead of the tyranny we are witnessing now.
I would much rather try that possible solution then give more power to the government to try and accomplish it.
Excellent book.
Fair enough, BUT...
what is the path out of ending the massive, bewildering bureacratic over-reach. Who oversees this 4th branch?
How do we take back the power of that?
Constitutionally, I'd guess that oversight of these branches would reside in the Executive. Certainly not SCOTUS and unlikely legislative, so Executive authority is constitutional. Happy to be proven wrong, but what is the answer to creating accountability for these agencies, many of which have essentially gone rogue?
" imagine that power wielded by the politician you hate most, because one day it will be.”
This was true when we had fair elections. Now that our elections have been "fortified", the Democrats no longer need to fear the other side.
Is this what you're talking about?
Trump said if he is reelected president, he “will do everything I can to challenge the Impoundment Control Act in court, and if necessary, get Congress to overturn it.”
“I will then use the president’s long-recognized impoundment power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings,” he said.
Trump said restoring impoundment power “is the only way we will ever return to a balanced budget.” And he said “bringing back impoundment will give us a crucial tool with which to obliterate the Deep State, Drain the Swamp, and starve the Warmongers — these people that want wars all over the place.”
https://rollcall.com/2023/06/20/trump-says-hell-restore-presidential-impoundment-authority/
He also said he'd investigate vaccines because big pharm was corrupt, but was all for warp speed vax.
at the time, so was I
I never was. I understond the problems with vaccines in general, and knew they would never make a successful vaccine against a Corona virus because it mutates too rapidly. Not to mention the expert virologists correctly predicting that using a leaky vaccine during an outbreak only causes mutations so that people can be infected multiple times instead of just once.
Honestly, many were duped.
It was the final nail in the coffin for me. Very disappointed. Medicine shouldn't puncture an organ and bypass the primary immune system- the gut- but should take the whole creature (body and soul) and its history in to account.
They do it in Israel using German New Medicine (GNM).
Except Israel forced the jabs on the entire population, with devastating results.
Quite true, and New Zealand (with a similar population) had the same thing done.
I suspect both are considered 'petrie dish' countries, little study groups- which doesn't really bode well for the future... The difference I suppose is NZ doesn't have nurses trained in the psychological origin of some illnesses.
While not suggesting the vaccine was a psychological illness by any stretch, a damaged 'psyche' (soul) seems to have a direct influence on the individual's health. Reductionist scientismic thinking of a patient as 'just a physical body' is so 20th century and western nurses(&doctors) are still running on that program.
"The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America."
The only Article II power lives in the presidency. There are no independent administrative agencies anywhere in the Constitution. But "eliminate whole fricking agencies," yes. Sharply reduce the duties and reach of government, and the presidency isn't a problem. Having a monstrous government, enormous and intrusive, and then freeing it from control, isn't an improvement.
As always, you say it so well.
*sigh* I am so tired of hearing people say Trump is unprofessional- he's simply the most accomplished professional asshole I have ever seen.
What do Trump, Hillary, and Biden have in common? THEY ARE ALL TOO DAMN OLD for pity sake. If Trump actually runs he will be 78 when he takes office. Good grief!
Those things said, the gato is exactly, precisely, resoundingly correct. Somehow people have forgotten that in American politics there are NO gaurantees. They blather on about "flight 93" elections and being "on the right side of history." Yet they are all just one election away from being gone. None of them, no party, no ideology, no philosophy EVER really wins. And yup, America lurches back and forth between left and right like a drunken teenager on his first binge, never but never learning their lesson. At some point it gets very hard to feel sorry for people because they refuse to learn and hence bring it all on themselves.
Trump won't save us, he will make things worse. Ditto Biden. We keep peeing the bed and complaining about having to sleep in it. Duh.
“He’s simply the most accomplished professional asshole I have ever seen.” This might be the most apt description of Trump I’ve ever heard.
Thank you. *grin* Really it's just my observation though.
Which parties approved the terror act in 2001? Which parties keep renewing it? Which presidents keep extending it? ALL OF THEM.
True... funny how no one ever, ever takes their power away.