When an army is defeated on the battlefield, the first thing that happens is the lines break and order breaks down. Some units surrender right away, while others try to reform and keep fighting. Still others will retreat, finding the quickest way to escape in order to avoid capture or potential slaughter. The military saying is that you learn everything about an army when they are defeated.
That’s true of political arrangements as well. A political party or an ideological movement takes on a very different character when it runs into trouble. That’s because we get to see inside once it is cracked open. The things that were hidden behind the rhetoric, tactics and institutions are not only made public, but the motivations behind them are made public. It’s never a pretty picture.
The feuding and blood letting we are seeing in the American political class is one of those rare chances to see behind the curtain of power, at what really is going on with our rulers. The other day the NYTimes dropped a bombshell report on how Chuck Schumer, Marco Rubio and Roger Ailes tried to hoodwink conservatives into buying off on amnesty. The gist of the story is it was an orchestrated effort to have Fox News sell a Democrat policy to conservatives.
As much as this damages Fox News, it also damages the Left. Their voters loathe the idea that the fix is in and that both parties plot in secret to hose the voters. Liberals hate this more than conservatives, who tend to suspect it anyway. In the past, this is the sort of story that would never be reported, but today the lines are breaking and it is a free-for-all. The NYTimes is taking a shot at Fox, even if it helps Trump, who they hate.
Of course, the on-going implosion of conservative media offers the best glimpse into the reality of the so-called conservative movement. We see some of them pledging to support Hillary Clinton. Others have broken into the old liberal chants from the Bush years. Still others are claiming Trump is a member of the KKK, the Nazi Party, the Italian Mafia and a Progressive Democrat. I guess that’s what George Bush meant when he said he wanted to be a “uniter” not a divider.
The shocking part for many Americans is seeing people who have spent decades claiming to be their champion, suddenly turn on them and call them morons and fascists. But, it’s what happens when the lines break down and there is no longer anyone around to maintain order. We see the true nature of the combatants. In this case, most of the people in conservative media never cared much for their customers. The audience is just there to be farmed, like cattle.
Scrape away the ranting and raving and what you see is that all of them have been committed to the open borders project. Mickey Kaus pointed out a year ago that the simplest way to derail Donald Trump was for the party to adopt the polices of Jeff Sessions. These are wildly popular with voters and well within the traditions of America. They could not do it. They were willing to go to war with their own voters in order to save the open borders dream.
There are plenty of examples from history where the ruling elite has decided that a popular belief had to be purged. Wodinism was purged from the British Isles by force. Whole villages were forcibly converted to the new religion. This only worked because the people doing the converting were believers too and their new religion offered something of value to the converted. If Christianity was good enough for the king, then the people could go along with it.
The fantasy of open borders turns this on its head. The managerial elites live in bunkered communities, immune from the costs of open borders. They live in these Potemkin villages that resemble college campuses, where the diversity is only skin deep. Everyone has an advanced degree, a job in government and a worldview to match it. The people they plan to forcibly convert are the people they intend to stick with the cost of it, while the elites plan to enjoy the benefits.
The insanity of this plan is that it assumes things about humans that, if true, would spell the end of the managerial class. After all, if people are willing to go along with having the value of their citizenship vaporized, that means they no longer see it as having any value. How in the world will the managerial class command loyalty from the people when there is no longer any point in being loyal? After all, you can’t have patriotic duty without patriotism and you can’t have that if it no longer has any value.
What we are seeing here is something about how the Cloud People view the Dirt People. Loyalty to a society has always been anchored in loyalty to the people in that society. A man is willing to take up the sword on behalf of the king, because the king is doing the same for his subjects. In other words, you’re not fighting for the king, you’re fighting for what the king embodies, what the king represents. Loyalty flows in both directions.
What’s happening is the a realization on the part of the Dirt People that the Cloud People hold them in contempt. What started out as some small skirmishes over the last decade, have now turned into a full blown war and the lines of the political establishment have broken. We’re getting to see the ugly truth that lies behind them. For most people, this is infuriating and that’s why they have flocked to the evil dirt monster that is Donald Trump
It’s also why the bellowing from conservative media over Trump has backfired. The people are angry at the Republicans for their treachery. They are hardly going to listen to the party’s propaganda organs lecture them on the need to be loyal in the fight against the dirt monster. If anything, like the peasants in the Italian countryside when Alaric approached Rome, they will side with the wrecker.
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Dig into the next layer and you find that Trump is the cloudiest of cloud people. The Republicans could beat him easily – Trump is winning primaries with 33% of the vote. Just yank Rubio and Kasich out of race, and Cruz to victory.
But in reality, they like the fake populist deal-maker far better than the guy who reads the Constitution. I’m becoming convinced that the “establishment” GOP is purposely helping Trump at this point.
This is a popular fantasy in snow globe conservative circles, but none of the data backs it up. Yeah, a pure Trump – Cruz race would be a lot closer, but Trump still wins. It’s easy to forget just how unpleasant Cruz is on the stump. As soon as he breaks into the phony preacher voice, 90% of Americans have to go outside and vomit. Even his friends admit he is off-putting, under the best of circumstances. In a mass media democracy, you can’t be the sort of person no one wants in their home. That’s what gets missed about… Read more »
Only the Stupid Party would think they could beat him 1 on 4. I don’t think even they are that stupid, so they are purposefully forgoing their only chance (however slim) of stopping him.
Hanlon’s Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. Exactly no one inside the GOP bubble thought Trump would run, much less be a legitimate threat to win the nomination. Again, it’s comforting to think there is a conspiracy at work against your guy, but there is no conspiracy. Ted Cruz is just not a very good candidate for a number of reasons, but he has a deeply committed core of voters. That allows him to hang in the race.
Oh, I think there definitely is a conspiracy against Trump. They just organized it a day late, and a shekel short.
I guess I’m an anachronism. I’m not looking for a good candidate. I’m more interested in a potential President who shares my values and may actually govern in a way that isn’t counter to my values and interests – or the long-term interests of my children.
Snowden had the real race in a tweet. He Said, “The real race is between Trump and Goldman Sachs”.
Oh ya they are That Stupid. This is rich. you know what they are going to do before the start of the next Republican debate?
Mitt Romney, who along with the RINO brain trust couldn’t, who couldn’t beat obama in 2012, is going to be given national prime time air time, get up in front of us all, and inform the Dirt People they are to unite behind the GOPe and defeat Trump. I shit you not. We are going to told how we are to obey.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-03-02/republicans-wrestle-with-trump-after-dominant-super-tuesday-wins
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/03/02/mitt-romney-coordinates-pre-debate-speech-to-set-stage-for-thursday-night-ambush/
Trump is winning 40 – 45% of the vote in a good number of primaries. And this is in a three way (sometimes four way) split. In a one on one race, Trump will be getting high 50’s low 60’s percent of the vote. He has more delegates in the bag now, than all the other candidates put together.
The only primary in which Trump was above 40% was Massachusetts – which is absolutely meaningless.
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This is an excellent article. I don’t know what Trump can do for the dirt people but any taking down of the cloud folk can only help those left in the dust.
“How in the world will the managerial class command loyalty from the people when there is no longer any point in being loyal?”
I don’t think they expect to “command” loyalty, rather, their plan is to ENFORCE loyalty. Talk back to the man, and you get a beating. Keep talking back, and you get thrown in the hole. Anyone who has bothered to pay attention knows that, over the last hundred years or so, the United States is slowly, slowly being transformed into a giant open-air prison.
Da man can also use you. Remember the fellow who did that video which was used as the excuse for Benghazi? I’ll bet the backstory would show he was ordered to make it as part of his parole rules. Lot of good it did him.
It’s the rate of change that the progressive’s supporters don’t understand. My father (Merchant sailor on US flagged ships) walked home alone, at night from South Boston through Dorchester and Roxbury to Squantum. With six months pay in cash in his pocket. Nothing about that trip is recommended or even possible today. I worked at night in Boston for decades and anyone I met I could talk to since we both had the same language. There are neighborhoods in Boston, Quincy and even Braintree that I wouldn’t walk or park my vehicle in today. Or understand the local language. I… Read more »
I think we’re looking for a war leader now. The next one will be of the “Civil” variety. *The* least* civil of all.
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I read this morning that Tom Delay declared Trump is going to ruin the Republican Party. As if that were a bad thing. No clue that he’s eliciting support for Trump. Here’s the message for ya, Tom: Bush, Dole, Bush, McCain, Romney=Trump. Top that off with Boener, Hastert, and Ryan. Oh, and take Roberts with you out the door. Your observations about Cruz are ringing every bell, unfortunately. This is no longer a debate, or a discussion, it’s a war, and Cruz is a no show. The artillery is already firing, mon. I loved how Trump handled the KKK incoming.… Read more »
And Delay did so much to improve the GOP and its reputation. Guffaw.
Absolutely right re: Trump and the KKK accusations. There has always been a standard pattern to this dance: The Virtuous say the booga-booga words, and the Accused hastens to lay his exculpation before their feet. One one level, nothing happens: the people who like the Accused never believed the accusation in the first place, and the Virtuous won’t admit they were wrong under any circumstances. So it *looks* as if nothing has happened. But in fact, something important HAS happened: the Accused has acknowledged that the Virtuous are his judges. By “responding to” or “denying” the charges, he has presented… Read more »
KKK accusations against Trump are all the rage from the “conservative” media. Even more so than the demonrat media. Hewitt was blathering on last night about this “game changer” failure but he could not get his media guests to agree.
Not only does Trump refuse to participate, he turns the tables on the idiots who think they have him cornered. Even his “I disavow it” statements were made with contempt for the people doing the questioning. This is why the Dirt People love Trump: they have been held in contempt for so long, they are ecstatic to see someone give the Cloud People the finger.
We got here via WRSA [http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/]. And we’ll definitely return.
This is the best analysis I’ve seen so far of the Trump phenomenon. It’ll be mirrored at our website, with a recommendation to read the comments.
Thanks for the traffic. I’m grateful so many come by a read my stuff.
That guy GoV is top shelf honorable all the way fellow ZMan.
Runs probably the finest blog on Christianity and Islam on the net.
Before many of us even knew what he was writing about.
Forget the Italians, read up on what Arminius did in the Teutoburg Forest. The ancient dirt people (the Germans) made sure the ancient sky people (the Romans) never crossed the Rhine or the Limes and it was down hill for the ancient sky people after that. Bottom line – never trust people you pay to defend your interests, especially when they’re not keen on you or your politics in the first place. The world has a long history of sky people and dirt people. The dirt people usually end up using the sky people’s villas to house their cows, sheep… Read more »
I have a theory that the armed forces who protect the great and good can only be pushed so far. “I was only taking orders” will, at some point, effectively turn into “I was only taking the lives of those who gave the orders.” The question is when will that point be reached? It may be soon or a long way off depending on culture and education, but the more the ‘leaders’ laud it over the ordinary people, the more likely there will come a time when the ordinary people will turn to relatives, friend and even their own conscience… Read more »
“Varus, where are my legions?!”
It’s not that I disagree with George Will or Jonah Goldberg, or any of the other cucks. I no longer read anything they write, or let their voices enter my home. Nor do I read anything negative about Trump; because I just don’t care. If I have to write his name on the ballot in November, that’s what I will do. Nothing and no one can sway me at this point. I want the old system to burn completely to the ground, so I can dance in the ashes.
“I want the old system to burn completely to the ground, so I can dance in the ashes.”
This a thousand times
Bingo.
He’s my weapon of choice to murder the Republican Party
If my FB is at all representative, the left is completely unhinged by Trump- all out of proportion to who he is and what he represents. And as for the RINOs- Governor Charlie Baker announced he won’t vote for Trump if he is the nominee. And- does anybody know the origin and /or meaning of the ‘Drumpf’ meme?
His family name was Drumpf. His great grandfather changed it for some reason. I guess he wanted it to be more American.
The fact that the anti-Trump axis has polarized around a distant ancestor’s decision to change the family name shows you how bereft of ideas they are. Trump is a man who has been under the media spotlight– especially the New York media spotlight– for thirty years now. Thirty years!! If they could find something on him, it would have been uncovered decades ago. Now they stumbled on this “Drumpf” thing because, apparently, its literally the last thing they could find to use against him. Pathetic.
>while the elites plan to enjoy the benefits. Nope. Even though there are some benefits to the moderately wealthy who might be able to afford a nanny or someone to mow their lawn, this isn’t the driving force. Nor is it that the super-rich want it for ‘cheap labor’, considering that they can open up a plant in China, Bangladesh, Mexico or Vietnam and get even cheaper labor and a successful local economy to buy products. What’s happened is that some people have taken the ruling ‘anti-racism’ ethos to puritanical extremes. You noted that back in the day, Christians took… Read more »
You are right the muslims have to go along with the extreme, because they have not only the devotion but also the guns, and more importantly, the will to use them. It has been observed before that the islamic faith has been built on the ability to make real the threats it makes, and as most muslims don’t want trouble they must in some fashion support those who shout in anger and wave weapons. This may mean trouble but within its own confines, it is far less trouble than rejecting violence to other groups or beliefs. There may well be… Read more »
I also think a lot of this irrational self-destruction stems from decayed Christianity. Maybe it’s to stifle self-doubt, or to clang pot-lids louder and louder to get some sort of response from God. But taken far enough, and you get nutcases like Mark Shea claiming that the only REAL Catholic course of action is to eschew self-defence before violence (guns are sinful), quit worrying about Muslim terrorism (it shows a lack of trust in God), and let anyone who wants to pour into your country (nationalism is an abomination) http://tinyurl.com/jubxzp6. This sort of extremism seems to take Christian virtue and… Read more »
I’d agree with you up to a point. For example, the idea of loving one’s enemy has bled out of orthodox Christianity and infected the chattering classes, who absolutely love the idea. God is Love. We are Love. We love our enemies even more than we love our society and our friends. I didn’t know Jesus firsthand but I doubt he meant to love our enemies to the detriment of our fellow-man. Either way, we’re talking about taking a certain directive and following it to illogical, reckless, dangerous extreme. As though that one directive is the only directive that counts.… Read more »
Excellent term: “decayed Christianity”. In Europe, all or most of organized Christianity is state-owned, thus the Church tax on all Swedes. But it’s decayed and rotting, still too toxic to be helpful for planting anything new. The Chinese version(s) of Christianity, including the state-sponsored (read “congtrolled”) one, are closer to the original genius of Jerusalem’s Christ-disciples. Paul’s more Romanized Christ-followers – many of them Hellenized Jews – was crucial after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It is the latter we’re familiar with. The Jerusalem type is what springs up and flourishes under persecution. We are beginning to see… Read more »
“quit worrying about Muslim terrorism (it shows a lack of trust in God)”
Oosh. So trust in the Will of Allah, then? Hmmm. I haven’t heard of this Mark Shea character before, but his conception of Christianity seems to be open to …outside influence, shall we say?
Back in the Dark Ages when I was in college, we had to take this thing called “humanities,” in which we at least glanced at the Dead White Males and what they had to say about government — you know, Plato, Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, Hamilton, the Fonz… anyway, I seem to remember something called “legitimacy,” and another thing called “the social contract.” I vaguely recall that violating the one costs you the other, which entails that subjects / citizens are no longer under any obligation to the ruling power, as it is now just a gangster cabal running things for… Read more »
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Sounds like cloud people need to be District 13’d.
Great post.
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