George Rebane
Putin’s favorite party is the Democrats by far. As they lavish their baseless stream of Big Lies on America’s electorate about Trump’s Russia collusion, for which there is absolutely no evidence after years of investigations cum witchunts, the truth again is the Alinsky opposite. Since they can’t do it through legislation, the Left continues to stifle the production, transport, and distribution of America’s fossil energy through legacy regulations and litigation. This has made America’s sale of natural gas to Europe uncompetitive with what Putin can deliver through its expanded Baltic pipelines to countries like Germany et al. (more here) There is no doubt that Putin, Xi, and the Iranian ragheads (e.g. recipients of pallets of cash) favor our demonic Dems over any Republican. Besides crippling our country’s lead as the world’s energy producer, our progressives continue to do everything they can to weaken our ability to project power as the world’s white hat hegemon. And you ain’t seen nothin’ yet until they really rule the roost in Washington. Our Left has given new meaning to colluding with despots.
[16jul20 update] In ‘The Politics of Hydroxychloroquine’ Allysia Finley presents an update of results from the clinical applications and testing of HCQ. The bottom line of it is that HCQ has very large domain of beneficial use in fighting the corona virus where it saves lives and greatly reduces the morbidity of the disease. Finley correctly argues that the physician, taking this information into account, should determine its use on a per-patient basis. However, almost all of these results are still suppressed in the lamestream media (we recall that the socialists’ utility for fighting the pandemic is to maximize mortality while suppressing economic recovery). Not only that, but much of the politically motivated anti-HCQ reporting continues to be fraudulent – ‘fake news’ is too mild of an appellation for murderous journalism. HCQ is overwhelmingly safe when applied according to its standard of care, and has been for decades. Banning it has been part and parcel of the TDS toolkit for defeating Trump in November. Since the end has always justified the means – being a socialist means never having to say you’re sorry.
A rational liberal answers. I asked a longtime friend, who has been drifting leftward over the years and purposely limits his intake to overwhelmingly lamestream outlets, to comment on the video of Rep Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (D-MN) with the question “How do you interpret her remarks and her goals for America?” His answer sheds a lot of light on how far we have drifted apart, and by no means is he alone in the ranks of the thinking Left who view themselves as mid-roaders.
I’m not overwhelmed by carefully extracted snippets from the most radical edge of the Democratic Party. She and her opinions couldn’t get elected in 90% of the other Democratically held districts, so I don’t consider her a spokesperson for the Party. Additionally, she didn’t propose a Government-controlled, centrally planned economy, the abolition of private property, pro-Communism, or any of the other things that are attributed to the radical left by conservatives. I believe that the present system is not cost-effective from an income distribution perspective. I think the economy would be stronger and more robust if more of the income were in the hands of the lower 50%. They have to spend all their money, so it goes directly into the consumer portion of the economy. Most of that is spent on food and shelter and would directly help the Agriculture industry overcome the shortfalls that have resulted from the Tariff War with China. The challenge, of course, is the choice of mechanism for broader income distribution. The problem is the conservatives either don’t see income disparity as a national problem or are convinced that the cure would be worse than the disease. I don’t believe wanting to fix it makes one a Communist.
[17jul20 update] Opening schools this fall. I have no idea why our politicos are making this into a cause celebre. Every day confirms that there is no ‘settled science’ on the C19 virus or its prophylactics and prescriptions. Rebane Doctrine gives kudos to President Trump for using his bully pulpit to push for school attendance for a number of good reasons. Local school districts have the final word, and should do their best to max the hours kids will spend in classrooms. But all the controversy would come to an end if we adopt the public policy that honors the wishes of the parents (what a concept!). Let the parents be the final arbiters on whether and how their children will attend school. Problem solved. (Also fight those evil politicians who want to take school choice away from parents, and support those who work to expand school choice across our land.)
The liberals really do fear Trump the dictator. I want to share another bagatelle from correspondence with my longtime buddy who claims to be a mid-roader (and member of No Labels) and writes – “It is my humble opinion that President Trump with his need for total control, his egomania that everything revolves around him, his penchant for punishing any foe or less-than-loyal friend has established the most invasive Central Government the US has seen in a long time. He has threatened to defund schools if they don't open fully in the Fall, attacked (both verbally and legally) States and Cities that offend him, sent members of Federal Law Enforcement Teams into cities (DC and Portland) without uniform markings in plain vehicles to seize citizens without a shred of due process.”
[18jul20 update] For those clutching their pearls about Trump's belated recognition of Lewis' passing, I would advise them to get a more firm grip on the same as they read my tribute, had I occupied the Oval Office –
'John Lewis was a giant in the vineyards of civil rights when it counted in the 1960s. In those years he joined with other African-American leaders who put on the line their lives, treasure, and sacred honor to level the legal playing field for all Americans in their access to public facilities, the workplace, and the ballot box. However, in his later years as a MOC he went off the rails, and did his race and his constituents a disservice as he proposed and promoted Democrat policies which destroyed the black nuclear family, laid waste to inner city black neighborhoods, gave them second class schools, and established the 'plantation' that ensconced African-Americans with the permanent taint of perennial victimhood that could only be assuaged by ever bigger government and more transfer payments.'
[19jul20 update] ‘Four Months of Unprecedented Government Malfeasance’ writes Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute. We have met Ms MacDonald before in these pages (here and here). The prominently published socio-political analyst and commentator is an ideological soulmate of mine, and in this May/June 2020 Imprimis piece she convincingly presents the case that – “Over the last four months, Americans have lived through what is arguably the most consequential period of government malfeasance in US history. Public officials’ overreaction to the novel coronavirus put American cities into a coma; those same officials’ passivity in the face of widespread rioting threatens to deliver the coup de grace. Together, these back-to-back governmental failures will transform the American polity and cripple urban life for decades.”
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