Stories You Might Have Missed

(hat tip to Bunkerville, whose excellent site is on my blog rounds)

Worth a few moments of your time: 

Spot-On Satire

Senator Rand Paul's Christmas 2022 satire:

🎄 I wrote and performed my own scary version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas 🎄 Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/IHI0uNyW0N

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 20, 2022

Weep for our republic, which is being driven into the ground by the federal-government big spenders ("public servants"). Both parties are guilty of political malpractice!

Conservatives are Happier than Liberals

Silverfiddle Rant!

For decades now, study after study has shown conservatives report more happiness than liberals.

There is one single study flying gnat-like in the face of facts, insisting cons are in reality no happier than libs.

"The portrait of conservatives that emerges is different from the view that conservatives are generally fearful, low in self-esteem, and rationalize away social inequality. Conservatives are more satisfied with their lives, in general... report better mental health and fewer mental and emotional problems (all after controlling for age, sex, income, and education), and view social justice in ways that are consistent with binding moral foundations, such as by emphasizing personal agency and equity. Liberals have become less happy over the last several decades, but this decline is associated with increasingly secular attitudes and actions." (Why Are Conservatives Happier Than Liberals?)

 
What say you?

Quote Of The Day

Recently, here at Always On Watch, in frustration with the manifestations of the political and sociological polarization of the 21st Century, team member Silverfiddle commented as follows (lightly edited):

.....I really do wish you would treat each of us here as individuals, not a cartoon cut out.

Anyway continue on with your low IQ red-team, blue-team sports.

Red Baaaaaaaaaasaaaaad!

Such is the state of our nation.  

We scream at — and past — each other when we subscribe to opposing ideologies. 

The discussion goes this way....

"I'm right!" screams one commenter.

"No!  I'm right!" screams the other commenter.

Sheesh.

What grade level are these exchanges?  There are multiple such exchanges to almost every blog post.

Are we Americans losing the ability to think and to engage in reasoned debate?

Gaslighting

First, the video footage from the annual 2022 Congressional Baseball Game, played for charity:

Democrat Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA) flips off the Republican dug out. Her team got blown out 10-0.pic.twitter.com/CgPOaEsLs4

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) July 29, 2022

Ms. Sanchez did the job of any batter at the plate: she got onto first base. Then, the team coach put in a pinch runner, at which point Ms. Sanchez trotted back to the Democrat Party dugout amid cheers.  Just another day in baseball.

As Ms. Sanchez trotted past the Republican Party dugout, however, she threw the rude gesture depicted in the video above and was roundly criticized in social media for her unsportsmanlike behavior and divisiveness.

After that, the reality gets muddy and more than once.

From LINDA SANCHEZ CHANGES STORY YET AGAIN, CALLS OUT REPUBLICAN WOMEN:

...Sanchez flipped off the Republican dugout during what was supposed to be a unifying baseball game, claiming a “nerve was struck” after she heard an “offensive and misogynistic comment from the Republican side” on her way back to the dugout.

She then changed her story to basically say, ‘Just kidding, it wasn’t from the actual dugout but from the stands, and it’s the same person every year but I won’t reveal what was said.’

And then, she shifted to bashing Republican women in attendance for not defending her … even though nobody, besides the Congresswomen [sic], has so far heard the alleged comments....

Sheesh.  What a laughable story!

The above insignificant baseball story reminds me of other recent but significant news stories with shifting narratives and shifting definitions.  Two examples: the very definition of the word recession and the lie that the border is secure (when the word secure clearly does not describe the border situation).

What's happening here?  A particular kind of lying known as gaslighting: 

psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.

How successful the Democrat Party's recent multiple perpetrations of gaslighting will be when the 2022 midterm elections roll around remains to be seen.  

After all, gaslighting in politics is often quite successful.  Until the day comes when it isn't.

What other examples of gaslighting, recent or otherwise, can you provide?  Successful or not?

Elon Musks Turns On The Democrat Party?

This will light up some Dems and others who think that the Democratic Party has any integrity:

All true.

Bet most people still don’t know that a Clinton campaign lawyer, using campaign funds, created an elaborate hoax about Trump and Russia.

Makes you wonder what else is fake.

https://t.co/avtjEdthmA

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022

And then, there's this:

In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party.

But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.

Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold … 🍿

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022

Democrat Fear and Smear

Silverfiddle Rant!

First off, I damn all Republican politicians and public figures for not making this simple statement, loudly and frequently:  

"To the Buffalo killer, and anyone who would be inspired by his manifesto, know this: You’re not fighting for the white race. White people hate you. You are alone."  (NY Post Editorial Board)

The Infotainment Media Complex, in its long march to elect more democrats and smear everyone to the right of Nancy Pelosi is now tarring mainstream Republicans with the Great Replacement Theory.  

This is a neat trick progressives have used over and over, but thankfully with diminishing returns.  They have made the term 'racist' almost meaningless, and I'm sure you can come up with some other words and concepts they have despoiled by blatant and irresponsible misuse.

So anyhoo, the questions I have are...

* What is the proper, progressive-approved way to voice opposition to illegal immigration?

* Can an American express pride in this nation without being labeled a white supremacist (I know, it makes no sense, but we are talking about the progressive left) 

* Can someone avoid being labeled a neo-Hitlerian if she expresses concern that bringing in too many people with dissimilar cultures, practices and mores will negatively affect our society?

This is what the left does best: Smearing good people with odious labels to stifle debate.

What say you?

Is the Left Losing Its Grip?

Silverfiddle Rant!

Why has the left become so brittle, humorless and fragile?

Progressives love crowing that "white people" will soon be a minority, and that realization is driving "white people" to fearful, hate-filled extremism. There is no evidence to support this pseudointellectual cotton candy.  Unfortunately, we do have a blessedly small and mostly powerless number of neo-nazi and white supremacists among us.  Always have.  When I was a teen living in Denver in the 80's, white supremacists from the Silent Brotherhood killed Jewish talk show host Alan Berg in front of his home.

If "white people" were really that unstable and angered that they were being replaced, our nation would be suffering a sharp increase in "white people" violently attacking and murdering "people of color."  We are not, thank God.

"The Truth Will Not Replace Us!"

Progressives are the ones growing more sweaty and desperate, like meth heads backed into the corner of their kitchen screaming at the snakes swarming out of the kitchen cabinets.  

Their angry lectures, loud scolding, and cajoling everyone to get on the "right side of history," belies a quivering insecurity.

Why is the left so hell-bent on silencing and controlling people?  

Why are they so quick to hurl the racism label?  Most importantly, and disturbingly, why are people on the left so eager to dox people, wreck people's lives, and get people fired from their jobs?  It is a sick and poisonous urge to want to destroy people and take away their livelihoods forever.

People on the left have gone beyond trolling and now actually believe all the nasty and demeaning snipes they direct at the right: anti-science, pro-Russian, white supremacist, disseminators of disinformation, etc.  

The left's increasing shrillness and love of corporate censorship stems from fear and insecurity.  They are losing their sweaty, totalitarian grip on society.  Even worse, they have dictated to the rest of us for so long, they have forgotten how to debate and persuade, which is why their rhetoric becomes shriller and louder. 

Progressive totalitarianism is under attack from thousands of blogs, twitter accounts, websites, podcasts, and worst of all, word of mouth among people experiencing the stench of progressivism's rotten fruit with their own five senses.  

Progressives have lost control

They are no longer the gatekeepers because the gates have been smashed and the old institutions discredited.  They are losing control of the courts, information dissemination, and even their citadels of academia are under attack, with many good liberals fighting back against the narrow-minded progressive pogroms that chase down dissidents and free-thinkers. 

Free-Thinking and Departing from Orthodoxy Unhinges the Left

The left is becoming increasingly unhinged.  Solid liberal free-thinkers like Jon Stewart, Glenn Greenwald, Bill Maher and Russell Brand skewer the latest progressive illiberal stupidities, and the left strikes back by casting a cloud of suspicion over them or even labeling them "rightwingers."  

Progressive Establishmentarians are asking, Why Don't They Believe Us Anymore?

Answer:  Because the CDC is hiding data.  They have to figure out how to spin it before releasing it.  Wouldn't want all those data scientists taking it and providing everyone the plain facts without an establishment-approved narrative...

Wouldn't want somebody saying something crazy like, "SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be reverse-transcribed and integrated into the genome of human cells," would we?

Progressivism is looking more and more like the final days of the Ceausescus...

See Also...

The Red Pilling of Russell Brand

Ruy Teixeira: The Democrats’ Working Class Voter Problem

21st Century Banana Wars

Silverfiddle Rant!

George Bush--and latterly, Obama-Biden Democrats--have done the equivalent of the following: Cosy up to nations or peoples living in very bad neighborhoods and encourage them to poke their dangerous neighbors in the eye, maybe stick their tongues out and brag that they are friends with the US.

I agree with retired Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor, who said something to the effect that if we become friendly with a nation that sits next to a more powerful, and perhaps dangerous nation, we should help that nation work out a modus vivendi.  Our empty promises did not work for Georgia or Ukraine, while failed projects like Libya, Syria and Afghanistan lie bleeding.

We cannot protect the whole world, and we should stop acting like we can, most especially in light of our horrible string of failures since WWII. 

United Fruit Company - Eastern Europe Branch

Obama-Biden imperialists (and, we could argue, the Clintonistas and Bushites) have sparked their very own Banana Wars in Eastern Europe (Maybe we can call them the Pipeline Wars...)  

Obama's State Department ran its own business investment brokerage out of the Kiev embassy, linking up well-connected global elites with preferred Ukrainian Oligarchs.  If a Ukrainian leader got out of line and started gumming up the money-making, they plotted his ouster.   

Now Ukraine has learned that buddying up with Democrats and their preferred foreign lobbyists and investors is just as dangerous as buddying up with Republican chickenhawk warmongers.  

Americans have learned, thanks to Senator Rubio questioning State Department poobah Victoria Nuland, that... 

“uh, Ukraine has, uh, biological research facilities. We are now in fact quite concerned that Russian troops, Russian forces, may be seeking to, uh, gain control of [those labs]” (Glenn Greenwald)

Echoes of Iraq

The gullibility of our ruling class and its media minions to Ukrainian information operations is no confidence-builder either. No one can blame Ukraine for trying to convince the West to join its fight – its survival is on the line. But we can blame our best and brightest – ugh – for believing every too-good-to-be-true story. There’s a sucker born every minute, and a bunch of them will eventually attend Harvard.

No, we’ve sacrificed enough to the foreign policy screw-ups of Ivy League incompetents. Who got us into the Vietnam War? Who got us into Iraq? Not a lot of guys with high school diplomas, but those guys got asked to fight those wars. The same is true here. I see a lot of Twitter tough guys with the yellow and blue flag in their bios and not a lot of them seem to be accepting Ukraine’s appeal for fighters and enlisting in the Bill Kristol Brigade. (Kurt Schlichter - No Sacrifices for Ukraine)

The next quote from George Soros calls to mind Dennis Prager's statement that if he found an article in the New York Times that agreed with a position he held, it would force him to rethink the position.

We can only hope that Putin and Xi will be removed from power before they can destroy our civilization. (George Soros - Vladimir Putin and the Risk of World War III)

Finally, Bill Maher (a dangerous turncoat rightwinger, in the eyes of the progressive left) lampoons Americans who view international events through their parochial political lenses. 

"Don't make world war 3 all about you," Maher said as he got into it. "Watching the reactions to war in Ukraine these past few weeks, it's become obvious that America in this age suffers acutely from a particular disease of the mind, which is: Everything proves what we already believed and everything goes back to the thing we already hate."

All issues today: Pandemic, war, whatever, become a stress test for our reflexive partisanship," he continued. "Can you take a vastly complex situation that is 100% not about your thing and somehow still make it about your thing? Our answer is, 'watch me.'"

What say you?

Related Links:

Putin's Fall? Possible, but Unlikely

Tucker Carlson: "It's time to notice the things that matter"

Worth your time and consideration:

Is there any way to put the brakes on these nation-crippling, republic-destroying trends?  Put the brakes on on-time, that is?

The Future

I know that many of you don't like Tucker Carlson and what he often has to say. Even so, if you have not seen the video clip below, please watch now.

.@nedryun & @TuckerCarlson Calling Out America Last Republicans (@LindseyGrahamSC) For Trying To Push For Amnesty & Return The GOP To Being A Neo-Con Globalist Party

Ned Ryun: "America First is not going away." #AmericaFirst pic.twitter.com/8bjMWV9ni9

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) November 7, 2020

Related reading, this comment by Bocopro, frequenter of Z's blog, and this comment well states the future I see for our country (erstwhile republic)...

O.K. Everybody who voted “for” Biden – living or otherwise – legally or not – only once, or frequently – by proxy – whatever . . . listen up: 

Until the intermittent moron, quid-pro-Joe, mysteriously disappears from the White House and the Marxist concubine wiggles her seditious butt into the power position, just remember – you own it. 

And when Sundowner Joe is in ICU at Walter Reed after a massive cerebral artery clog and Horizontal Harris begins issuing EOs in end-runs around the Senate, just remember – you own it. 

Let’s not hear complaints about higher taxes, new taxes, excise taxes, value-added taxes, rising prices, unemployment increases, inflation, exorbitant health care costs – just remember, you bought it. 

Don’t get your knickers in a wad because of massive fees to support climate control or skinny paychecks because of reparations – you asked for it. 

Just suck it up when your stocks deflate and your 401K dries up like a west Texas mudhole in August . . . it won’t be Trump’s fault. 

Become a devout stoic when your children learn nothing in school except political correctness and “F-E-E-E-E-lings” and “White males are the problem” even though the costs have risen exponentially – it’s what liberals do when they have the power. 

Step into your big-boy hat and big-girl panties when you lose your job because millions of illegals suddenly become citizens and millions more Muslim “refugees” appear and take your job – that’s what you wanted, isn’t it? 

And be reasonable when minimum wage rises to the point that employers can no longer afford to employ you or your children or your grandchildren, much less offer them benefits . . . it’s only fair, right? 

And when “peaceful” protesters such as Antifa and BLM destroy city property and crime rates soar and your community is no longer safe to live in . . . hey – that’s the “new normal” you said we have to adjust for. 

And when jobs dry up because the capital left the country and it’s cheaper to import things from Asia, just remember who told us that “China is not our enemy”: that was quid pro Joe, who made grunches of money off deals with China. 

And you should be happy when interest rates on loans get so high that you can’t even consider asking for one, and you can’t afford to replace that old Chevy, and you’re suddenly upside down on your mortgage – that’s your boy, the silver-tongued sniffer. 

No complaints, Dems . . . the hateful Orangeman is gone and Happy Days Are Here Again now that we have a proper career politician running things. It’s what you asked for . . . so just keep your trap shut and own it. Nobody wants to hear you bitching about getting what you said was best “for the American people.” 

You asked for it, and now you own it. Congratulations, Meathead.

Now What?

So, here we are, the day after the 2020 National Election.  At least six states are "too early to call."  Why is that?

Both Democrats and Republicans are claiming victory, with the latter crying "Foul!"  Perhaps the Democrats are, too.  I haven't checked.0

The great divide continues.

Where does America go from here?

Breaking Speculation!

Delivered with dramatic lead-in music and breathless voices — as if those touches will change or predict a single thing. My email inboxes reaches overflow within a few hours every single day the past few weeks. 

 I wonder how many hours I have spent deleting emails? Those hours must have added up to at least several weeks. I kid you not! Hours upon hours deleted from my remaining finite hours.

I'm so sick of all this breaking speculation with regard to the 2020 National Election. We will find out the election results when we find out. 

Days? 

Weeks? 

Months?

Meanwhile, "THE COVID" is doing what viruses do: spreading.  Hysteria does nothing to prevent the spread.

Truth & Reconciliation Commission?

Really?  Really?

 

About Robert Reich.

Black Trump Supporter Viciously Attacked

From Gateway Pundit, dated October 17, 2020:

On Saturday black Trump supporter Philip Anderson attended a rally for free speech in San Francisco. 

 Philip was attacked by an Antifa street thug while escorting a fellow conservative from the rally. Philip Anderson did not see the punch coming. 

He was sucker-punched by an Antifa thug and lost both of his front teeth while he was trying to help a fellow patriot get to the event safely....

Read and watch the rest HERE.

Vote accordingly.

What A Tangled Web!

I received the email below from a friend.  

I haven't confirmed each of the statements, so feel free to debunk any statement.  If doing so, please provide a link to support your assertion.

THE GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN USED TO WORK FOR GEORGE SOROS. 

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM IS NANCY PELOSI'S NEPHEW. 

ADAM SHIFF'S SISTER IS MARRIED TO GEORGE SOROS’ SON. 

JOHN KERRY'S DAUGHTER IS MARRIED TO A MULLAH'S SON IN IRAN. 

HILLARY'S DAUGHTER CHELSEA IS MARRIED TO GEORGE SOROS' NEPHEW. 

ABC NEWS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER IAN CAMERON IS MARRIED TO SUSAN RICE, OBAMA'S FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER. 

CBS PRESIDENT DAVID RHODES IS THE BROTHER OF BEN RHODES, OBAMA'S DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS. 

ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT CLAIRE SHIPMAN IS MARRIED TO JAY CARNEY, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY.

ABC NEWS AND UNIVISION REPORTER MATTHEW JAFFE IS MARRIED TO KATIE HOGAN, OBAMA'S FORMER DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY. 

ABC PRESIDENT BEN SHERWOOD IS THE BROTHER OF ELIZABETH SHERWOOD, OBAMA'S FORMER SPECIAL ADVISER. 

CNN PRESIDENT VIRGINIA MOSELEY IS MARRIED TO TOM NIDES, FORMER HILLARY CLINTON'S DEPUTY SECRETARY. 

STACKED DECK, ANYONE?

"Unrest" In Portland

[Note: since I queued up this blog post, more information and other videos have surfaced.  Please feel free to post that information in the comments section and to discuss that additional information]

Difficult to watch....

Portland: A man accused of trying to run over protesters crashed his vehicle. BLM & Antifa militants then pull him from the car and violently assault him. pic.twitter.com/DiUbV9Mcy5

— Kalen From Scriberr (@FromKalen) August 17, 2020

One of the comments to the above:

Black Lives Matter Endorses Looting

 

 

Photo credit: Yogi Dalal hugs his daughter Jigisha as his other daughter Kajal, left, bows her head at the family food and liquor store Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, after the family business was vandalized in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)  

From Black Lives Matter holds rally in Chicago to support those arrested after looting, unrest:

Black Lives Matter members in Chicago held a rally on Monday to support the more than 100 arrested last night following widespread looting and rioting that caused at least $60 million in property damage and saw 13 police officers injured, according to a report.

 

The rally was organized by Black Lives Matter Chicago and was held at a police station in the South Loop where organizers say individuals are currently being held in custody. At least one organizer called the looting tantamount to "reparations."

 

Read the rest HERE.  Also watch the short video. 

So much for "peaceful protests," commemorating the death of George Floyd, huh?

Related reading: MSNBC skips coverage of Chicago riots during prime time, CNN airs less than 3 minutes.

Remember This....

Related reading, from the Patriot Post, July 25, 2020: Stolen Elections Show the Vulnerabilities of Absentee Ballots.  Excerpt:

No question about it: some people need absentee ballots — those with disabilities, those living abroad and others who can’t make it to the polls on Election Day. But pushing for more absentee balloting — even all-mail elections — is unwise. It would make election fraud far easier.

In-person voting occurs under the supervision of election officials, with election observers there to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. This transparency is a vital hallmark of the democratic process. Mail-in ballots, however, are susceptible to being stolen, altered, forged and forced.

All states ban electioneering in polling places, but there are no such bans on electioneering in voters’ homes. This leaves at-home voters vulnerable to intimidation and coercion by campaign staffers, political party activists, and others with a vested interest in the electoral outcome.

Four elections in California, Florida, Indiana, and North Carolina — stolen through absentee-ballot fraud — demonstrate some of the problems.....

Read the rest HERE.

What would Stalin have said about mail-in ballots? Hmmmm?

Recommended Reading

Returning from blog break, however temporarily, to post this because yesterday I was disgusted beyond belief...

Read and watch the video clips at Legal Insurrection's Democrats Disgrace Themselves During AG Barr Hearing With ‘Reclaiming My Time’ Constant Interruptions. Teaser....

Barr: “Well, this is a hearing. I thought I was the one who was supposed to be heard.”

Read and watch it all HERE.

Quite the spectacle staged by the Democrat Party!  And these are our so-called leaders?