Archive for the 'America' Category

CNN.

The case was just the latest example of how red states, supported by Republican-appointed judges, are engaging in a multi-front offensive to seize control of national policy even while Democrats hold the White House and nominally control both the House and Senate. The red states are moving social policy sharply to the right within their borders on issues from abortion to LGBTQ rights and classroom censorship, while simultaneously working to hobble the ability of either the federal government or their own largest metro areas to set a different course.

Right out of the gate, the author makes the same mistake all progressives make.  Since they are mostly comprised of flunkies and lackeys who await instructions from their “leaders” on what to believe, what to say and what to do, they assume the entire world behaves that way.

The problem the author never points to because of his bias is the root of the issue.  More on that momentarily.

To a degree unimaginable even a decade ago, this broad offensive increasingly looks like an effort to define a nation within a nation — one operating with a set of rules and policies that diverge from the rest of America more than in almost any previous era.”

The only time I can recall in American history even remotely like this [divergence] was after the Civil War when the separate but equal doctrine began to emerge” across the South as a backlash against the attempts of the 13th, 14th and 15th Constitutional amendments to ensure equality for the freed slaves, says Donald Kettl, the former dean of the public policy school at the University of Maryland and author of the book, “The Divided States of America.” He added, “It’s a multifront war with very sharp swords.”

The elements of the red state offensive include a flurry of lawsuits seeking to block actions from Biden’s administration on issues from the environment to civil rights to immigration; other lawsuits, such as the case around a Mississippi law that prompted the Supreme Court to overturn the right to abortion, aimed at providing states more leeway to deviate from previously nationally guaranteed rights; a flurry of red state laws that advance the cultural priorities of the GOP’s predominantly White Christian electoral base; and a steady flow of red state statutes blocking Democratic-leaning large cities and counties from setting their own policies on everything from police budgets to recycling.

The willingness of so many red states to adopt these common approaches testifies in part to the energetic organizing efforts of many conservative groups, from Heritage Action and the American Legislative Exchange Council to the Republican Attorneys General Association. But even more profoundly, the alignment of so many red states behind this shared agenda and strategy underscores how many of them are being shaped by a common set of economic and demographic trends.

You see, by finding no right mentioned in the constitution to abortion, the Supreme Court is denying “civil rights,” while failing to mention the one most significant right discussion, that of the RKBA which underlies all of the others.

And don’t fail to note that the author mentions formalized groups such as the AG association.  He fails to understand that these AGs are elected and are doing the bidding of their constituency.  In other words, this is as grass roots a movement as any in the history of the country.  The people are deciding to seek distance from FedGov.  The author doesn’t like it, but cannot seem to understand the root cause.

On everything from gun ownership and religious affiliation to reliance on fossil fuels and participation (or not) in the 21st century information economy, most red states are following similar tracks, while diverging more sharply from the experience in blue states. Broadly speaking, blue states are more heavily exposed to the big demographic, cultural and economic forces reshaping American life, while red states are less exposed, and to the extent they are, those changes are centered overwhelmingly on their large metropolitan areas, which are trending Democratic and often — like in Austin or Atlanta — are a target for the Republicans controlling state government.

“It’s not at the level of Jim Crow, or certainly the difference between slave states and free states, but the differences are major,” says Jake Grumbach, a University of Washington political scientist who studies divergence among the states. And like Kettl, Grumbach believes the economic and political differences between the red and blue states are on track to only widen.

Once again, those concerned for sovereign borders and the RKBA are compared to Jim Crow.  In other words, they are racists.

Yet the real threat in the red state effort to set their own course may be less an advantage for one side or another than a challenge to the nation’s underlying cohesion. As red states grow more aggressive about going their own way, while working to preempt challenges from above (the federal government) or below (blue local governments), they are testing how much divergence the nation’s fundamental cohesion can take before it begins to unravel.

“You have a very dangerous situation,” said David Leopold, a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and legal adviser to the immigration advocacy group America’s Voice. “This is a direct threat to the nation as a unified entity. This is one step closer to the country dividing into two separate countries.”

It isn’t the progressives pushing open borders, spending money we don’t have, engaging in globalism, pushing worldwide wars, pushing fake pandemics, and pressing for abortion on demand, who are “testing how much divergence the nation’s fundamental cohesion can take before it begins to unravel.”  In their world and life view, it’s anyone who doesn’t share their goals and seeks others.  You see, it’s your fault, not theirs.

And finally, note that the author and his “experts,” while laudably noting that there are massive problems afoot, still miss the boat on the magnitude of them.  They see the current events as a precursor to the beginning of the unraveling.

Here’s a news flash for them.  The great unraveling began long, long ago, and is proceeding apace today.  It has just become so obvious now that they cannot ignore it.

Yes, the country may divide into two separate countries if the opposing forces seek a peaceful divorce.  That would be best for all parties.  Without that, their worst fears will obtain.

My money is on the fact that they don’t even having an inkling of what that would look like.  That doesn’t bode well.

Via WRSA, this piece at The Burning Platform is interesting.

What do I owe to my country?  Its central government is thoroughly and irredeemably corrupt. It is bankrupt both fiscally and morally. As of this writing, its judiciary has shown itself incapable of defending the Republic against the depredations of leftist rabble. The tentacles of its bureaucracy reach into the lives and wallets of the productive class “eating out the substance of the people” exactly as Jefferson warned.  Yet still, with the stench of corruption and theft pervading the country, this government  assumes my loyalty.

What, pray tell, has it done to deserve it? Mobs of the indoctrinated expect that we should all just “get over it” and “come together to heal” as if the gangrenous clot of necrotic tissue that is the political culture of this nation will ever heal.  Our rulers, our media, and half our “countrymen” piss down our backs and still insist it’s raining. The fealty of helots is what the Lords of Washington expect. They will not get it from me.

The loyalty of free men is reserved for a government of equals, not an aristocracy of reptiles. The latter is what we suffer now. The former we once possessed, but it lies now in the dust of history. The outward form and function remain, but the spirit of liberty, which animated it, has gone. The ties by which free men bind themselves voluntarily to any form of government have long since been sundered by the actions of those who have chosen to rule rather than govern. I will not suffer those ties to become shackles.

Since my forbears bequeathed to me a form of government that no longer exists, I am released from further obligation to the abomination that has replaced it. My loyalty, like my liberty, belongs to me and me alone. It is mine to give or to withdraw as I see fit. I owe the rulers of this land nothing: not life, not liberty, not the pursuit of my own happiness. These things are mine from my first breath to my last gasp. They cannot be abrogated, regulated, or terminated by the denizens of a distant city who presume to know what is best for me. These…people (I do not have the words for the contempt I feel for them) have polluted our forms of government, destroying what they can, dismantling what they cannot.

Everywhere is grift and graft. They have taken nearly everything, yet they still want more. They want my body shackled, my spirit humbled, and my mind enslaved. They try to steal the very breath from my body with their filthy rags. They have trampled upon my God-given rights, indoctrinated my children, accused me, threatened me, and silenced me. Now they have stolen even my choice from me. This government and its leftist appendages have betrayed my trust and half my fellow citizens treat me and mine with undisguised contempt. My loyalty to them and to their government is at an end.

Whether he knows it or not, he’s describing covenant and contract.  Lawyers take classes in this sort of thing, and remember it only when it’s convenient for them and pads their wallets.  Since lawyers are taught not to believe in God’s law, they believe that rights come from the state.

This is simple and easy to remember, and makes life understandable.  Rights come from the Almighty, of course (as do the corollary duties and responsibilities as He dictates), and He governs His creation in only a single way: covenants.  This is true of families, church and its leadership, state and economics.  If a church denies the authority of the Scriptures, even if you have taken a vow of submission to the church (you won’t bring divisiveness or schism, you’ll use your talents to help your fellow congregants, etc., all very customary for church membership), those vows are null and void because the church leadership has broken covenant.

If a man regularly beats his wife or harms his children, or is unfaithful to his wife, they are no longer under obligation to fealty and faithfulness to him.  God recognizes the legitimacy of divorce in circumstances like that because the covenant has been breached.

If a man steals from you, the Scriptures say that he is to become your slave until the debt is paid back in multiples.  God’s covenant of property ownership has been broken and must be restored.  There is no such thing as a crime against society.  God doesn’t recognize this false notion.  There are crimes against individuals, and justice must be served.

When the state breaks covenant with tyranny, the terms of the covenant are broken and God doesn’t recognize it as legitimate.  This Calvinian concept of covenant was taught in church sermons on a regular basis well prior to and leading up to the war of independence.  It is the basis for our liberty.

I am not a libertarian.  I am a Christian libertarian.  Liberty and freedom are to be found in God’s laws, following His commandments, and following His covenant structure for all of life.  R. J. Rushdoony has taught us this.  Remember this lesson.

BLM has made their intentions clear.

A Black Lives Matter leader told Fox News on Wednesday evening that if they are not given what they want then they will “burn down” the system.

Hawk Newsome, head of Black Lives Matter for Greater New York, part of the neo-Marxist Black Lives Matter movement, made the remarks in a combative interview with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum.

[ … ]

“If this country doesn’t give us what we want then we will burn down the system and replace it,” Newsome responded. “All right. And I could be speaking figuratively, I could be speaking literally. It’s a matter of interpretation. Like let’s be very real and observe the history of the 1960s. When black people were rioting we have their highest growth and wealth and property ownership.”

People have begun to look to the future and what it may look like.

America faces three scenarios.

• One: Trump is re-elected on a wave of anger over the looting and anarchy unleashed by the “I-Can’t-Breathe” narrative. Trump sends Javanka packing, dispatches the troops to restore order, extends the immigration moratorium, finally builds the wall, and begins mass deportations as the White House protects the dissident Right from deplatforming by the Tech Totalitarians.

That scenario is most likely a fantasy.

[ … ]

• Two: Trump loses, and the Blob and its allies triumph. But because this is a country now and not a nation, with no shared sense of common identity and agreed-upon history, culture, beliefs, or language, only a full-blown police state can hold it together.

Even that might not ensure order in a chaotic post-America, and the diminishing number of whites will surely not enjoy the protection of the state. At some point, white Americans might well be living like white South Africans, ever in fear for their lives.

[ … ]

• Three: The country breaks apart, and the Historic American people establish enclaves for themselves and others who love and fondly remember the old America.

Those scenarios are possible, except for #1.  Actually, #2 could only ever be temporary, as I don’t even believe that a full blown police state could hold it together.  Neither do others, I suspect, as witness the massive gun and ammunition buying spree Americans are currently on.

But burning the system down isn’t something that will happen in the future- it’s already happened.  The fruits of Horace Mann (1796 – 1859) and John Dewey took a long time to ferment, but they did, and their children now self flagellate over “wokeness” and whiteness and imaginary infractions and sins, all the while ignoring the maker of the universe, the only sovereign, and the only potentate who can legitimately demand loyalty and obedience.

The real root of the problem lies not in the current disembowelment, but rather, that it is a replacement religion for the vacuum left by the utter and complete failure of classic Christianity in the West.  True religion, Christianity, was under attack for centuries by German higher criticism and modern philosophy, but actually held fairly strong in America until about the early 20 century.

By that time, the influence of John Darby (1800 – 1882) had begun to be felt, and his acolyte Scofield (1843 – 1921) popularized his ideas.  Mann’s ideas would have had little traction had it not been for a weakened, decimated Christianity that believes that the world is getting worse and worse and worse and Jesus is coming soon, and rather than “take every thought captive” to the claims of Christ, as the Calvinist would say, the job of the Christian is to make converts, cloister and expect the soon release from the hell that the church themselves created by turning their backs on the world.

Rather than be salt and light as commanded, the church turned over science to Darwin, the arts to the pagans in Hollywood, and politics and law to the demons in Washington and their “expert” linguists in the schools of law to teach them how to twist every word ever spoken.  The racists want reparations, or more redistribution of wealth (a colloquial term for theft), the woke mob is even now targeting STEM, and the Marxists want to tear down now just statues, but every vestige of Western history and culture, most especially the church.

America is not going to rupture, it has already ruptured.  The framework had begun to be hatcheted some century or more ago.  The American church is to blame.  “Go forth and make disciples” became “Go forth and snatch brands from the fire before we all get a free ride out of here, and maybe there will be football, beer and brats in heaven.”  The church got one half of it right, but therefore all of it wrong because it missed the “disciples” part of it.

Dispensational, premillennial rapturism neutered American Christians and rendered them pathetic; it is the greatest lie and hoax ever perpetrated on the Christian church.  If you’re looking for a root cause of all of the pain and suffering we are soon to endure, look no further than ourselves.

NC Scout has his most recent podcast up, and I had intended to link this earlier.  It’s well worth the 40 minutes.  I like his style – humble and unassuming.

Sitting at the table of the Father, obeying His moral law, as a sovereign individual, at peace with others.

General Cornwallis had as his strategy to conduct war in South Carolina, taking and holding the important port city of Charleston, and then move north through North Carolina, meeting up with General Howe to end the campaign.  It was a bold plan, and he had dealt a blow to the continental forces on the field of battle on a number of occasions.

But the size of the continent and the temperament of the people made it impossible to prosecute a war of this kind with the forces and lines of logistics he had at his disposal.  The linchpin of his plan called for the utilization of loyalist forces to do battle with patriots.

Enter Major Patrick Ferguson, who was tasked by Cornwallis with leading loyalist forces, whom he had no difficulty recruiting in his sweep through South Carolina.  He sent a message to the patriots: “If you do not desist your opposition to the British Arms, I shall march this army over the mountains, hang your leaders, and lay waste your country with fire and sword.”

Not dissuaded from battle, the patriot forces, enhanced mainly by the “Overmountain men,” decided to give chase to Major Patrick Ferguson and the loyalists.  The loyalist forces heard of the plan because of a couple of deserters from the patriot forces, and decided to retreat to the protection of Cornwallis and his forces.

The Overmountain Men had ridden horseback for a protracted period to convene with other forces, much of it sleeping in the day and riding at night.  But now they had to move quickly.  After convening, they had to ride horseback through the night, and much of the day, and prosecuted battle in the afternoon hours with no sleep.  Yet they dealt a decisive blow to the loyalist forces.

Many of the Overmountain Men were under the age of 18, raised hard and experienced in the American bush and hills.  In the small townships in the Appalachian mountains, the men had to stay and tend crops, tend livestock, and protect the family.  Sons had to be dispatched to fight the campaign.  Women and men, mothers and fathers, lined the roads and sang hymns as their sons rode by and they dispatched their sons to war.  They saw it as a religious quest.

The patriot victory at King’s Mountain had great significance.  Cornwallis, who had planned to use a victory over the patriots there, held his plans in abatement.  His plans to use loyalists completely shattered and abandoned, he got bogged down in a guerrilla campaign in South Carolina in the bush and swamps.  He finally set out through North Carolina, but his forces were so depleted, sick and without logistics that all he could manage was a retreat to the coast to ensconce until surrender.  His lines of logistics had effectively been cut by the patriots.

This marked the turning point of the campaign.  Cornwallis won conventional victories, but was never able to manage the insurgency in South Carolina.  The British lost, and General Howe wasn’t far behind the surrender of Cornwallis.

This fourth of July, celebrate the lives of the great men who brought you what liberty you enjoy.

I know my readers.  And I know why you come to TCJ.  You come here because this is the only place you can find the kind of scholarship you seek.  Here you can get everything from epistemology and ethics, to sectional density and ballistic coefficient.  If I can’t give it to you all the time, the commenters will. Give yourself and me a pat on the back.

It’s in that spirit that I offer up this worthy viewing for the day.  Language warning.

GAO:

The 20 federal law enforcement agencies in GAO’s review reported spending at least $38.8 million on firearms, $325.9 million on ammunition, and $1.14 billion on tactical equipment—at least $1.5 billion in total—from fiscal years 2010 through 2017, based on data agencies provided to GAO.

And Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution comes to mind.

Calvin Coolidge:

No one can examine this record and escape the conclusion that in the great outline of its principles the Declaration was the result of the religious teachings of the preceding period. The profound philosophy which Jonathan Edwards applied to theology, the popular preaching of George Whitefield, had aroused the thought and stirred the people of the Colonies in preparation for this great event. No doubt the speculations which had been going on in England, and especially on the Continent, lent their influence to the general sentiment of the times. Of course, the world is always influenced by all the experience and all the thought of the past. But when we come to a contemplation of the immediate conception of the principles of human relationship which went into the Declaration of Independence we are not required to extend our search beyond our own shores. They are found in the texts, the sermons, and the writings of the early colonial clergy who were earnestly undertaking to instruct their congregations in the great mystery of how to live. They preached equality because they believed in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. They justified freedom by the text that we are all created in the divine image, all partakers of the divine spirit.

Jonathan Edwards is rightly called the greatest philosopher America ever produced, and Whitefield perhaps the greatest preacher – both Calvinists.

The roots of the American revolution go to continental Calvinism and the doctrine of covenant, just as we have discussed before.

We haven’t had a president like Coolidge since him, and we’re likely never to have another one.

Happy independence day.

Enjoy it with family and friends.  And remember.  King George was just a man.  There have been many other such men throughout history, are many such now, and will be many in the future, who would “erect a multitude of New Offices,” and send “hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”

All usurpation of God’s authority and governance over mankind is wickedness.  Always and forever.