Government Shutdown May Be Needed

Query: When is a government shutdown not such a bad idea? Answer: Now.

There are two reasons Democrats won elections back in 2006 and wrested control of Congress from the Republican party: the Democrats ran like Republicans and the Republicans governed like Democrats.

As to the first reason, Democrats strategically recruited and proffered candidates in 2006 who promised to confront their own party leadership and rein in federal spending. That was all nonsense, of course, but frustrated voters bought it nonetheless and decided to give Democrats a chance.

As to the second, Republicans had been governing like Democrats, with wildly out of control spending and huge budget deficits that voters saw, rightly, as a betrayal — just the sort of fiscal policy Republicans had promised to end. Such myopic governance by Republicans served to alienate them from their own base of support, and left them vulnerable to the Democrats party’s duplicity.

Recent history is on the verge of repeating itself. Democrats have already shown their hand with congressional candidates, like Conor Lamb, who sound like moderate Republicans (a sure bet they wouldn’t govern that way). Republicans, meanwhile, govern as though deliberately attempting to alienate the voters who put them back in power … blowing it … again!

The only thing that can save Republicans from themselves may be a presidential veto and a temporary government shutdown.

Here’s hoping for one.

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The Era of Zero-Sum Politics

Its roots are in the presidency of Barack Obama, a man who famously refused to negotiate with Republicans, unless, of course, they gave him everything he wanted — Mr. Obama would have considered that a fair negotiation. When he did not get his way, he vilified Republicans in Congress and used executive orders to marginalize them; even as he weaponized powerful organs of the federal government to punish his political enemies.

Toward the end of Mr. Obama’s second term, he and the rest of the established political order fully expected Hillary Clinton to take up the reins as our next president. They envisioned a bright future for themselves, a future of unbridled immigration via open borders; of a newly amalgamated citizenry, ill-informed and heavily dependent on government, with little appreciation for the duties and privileges of citizenship; of an ever-expanding, all-powerful, politically weaponized administrative state; of entrenched liberal dominance as far as the eye could see.

Their sense of entitlement, of imminence, led some establishment politicians and bureaucrats to a deeply corrupt place, doing inappropriate and perhaps illegal things, certain they would get away with it. They could, for instance, conduct a sham investigation of Hillary Clinton’s classified email imbroglio, or falsely obtain a FISA warrant to spy on candidate Trump and his campaign; because candidate Clinton benefited from their malfeasance, and a President Clinton would never hold them accountable.

In the Autumn of 2016, with Mrs. Clinton on the verge of victory, the established political order were that close to having it all. But Trump didn’t lose to Clinton, as written in their script. And now, they see it all slipping away. They are bitter. And angry. And vulnerable.

If Democrats can re-take Congress, if they can destroy and humiliate Donald Trump, if they can intimidate congressional Republicans into submission as once was customary … they may still have a chance. This is why Democrats, with their allies in the Liberal Media Complex and the Deep State, are now so partisan and vicious. Their struggle is existential. They will win … or suffer a slow death … on this field of political battle.

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Sex and Cynicism Home to Roost

Earlier on these pages, I queried whether mega-producer Harvey Weinstein would be facing his hard-earned day of reckoning had his political ally, Hillary Clinton, won the presidency in 2016. For that matter, would actor Kevin Spacey? Or Senator Al Franken? Of course, Judge Roy Moore would be in trouble down in Alabama. He’s ultra-conservative and Republican. I digress.

The larger point is … Cynical, demagogic liberals are beginning to throw Hillary and Bill Clinton overboard. Because they can. The Clintons are no longer political kingmakers and unlikely (as in ‘no chance’) to enjoy such status again. When such a high-level coup occurs, so does collateral damage.

The even larger point is … It’s not as though we suddenly know things about Bill’s engaging in, and Hillary’s enabling of, sordid sexual imbroglios that were unknown prior to November 8, 2016, or even some twenty years before that. It’s just that one year ago, twenty years ago, when the Clintons held great power and influence, and, equally important, served the political needs of the liberal establishment in support of legal abortion and what have you, they were given a pass. Until now.

As former allies turn on the Clintons — very suddenly, it seems — there is the attempt to deflect away from said allies’ own hypocrisy, even so as to re-write history. For example, it is claimed that, in 1998, Republicans pursued charges of perjury against then President Clinton when they should have focused, instead, on the President’s sexual predations. That is poppycock!

Bill Clinton’s detractors condemned his sexual predations in 1998; even as his defenders in the Democrat party and the Liberal Media Complex rejected such condemnation, claiming, for instance, that Bill’s sexual dalliance with young White House intern Monica Lewinsky was “sex between two consenting adults” and, therefore, nobody else’s business. As for Mr. Clinton’s other accusers, they were roundly dismissed by establishment liberals as ‘tramps,’ ‘trailer trash,’ or otherwise lacking credibility.

Such obvious hypocrisies aside, getting rid of the Clinton’s now serves another deeply cynical purpose. The establishment left hopes to clear a pathway to President Donald Trump. After all, if sexual predators are dropping like flies in multiple industries and on both sides of the aisle, and if we now (better late than never, eh?) recognize the sex-related travesties of a former president, how can we ignore any sex-related charges conjured up against the current president?

It is easy to imagine this cynical ploy bandied about by establishment liberals … as they continue and intensify their quest to destroy a sitting President.

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“The League of Extraordinary Candidates”

Today’s big story concerns an insurgent push to elect anti-establishment candidates to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as state governorships.

And it’s not just Democrat seats that are vulnerable in 2018.

For details … click here.

Establishment Republicans, quite a few of them, are vulnerable as well.

This push is to elect as many of a so-called “League of Extraordinary Candidates” as possible; to drain government swamplands of politicians obstructing the populist reforms currently spearheaded by President Trump.

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As Children Often Do

What do children, really little children, do when they don’t get their way?

Quite often, they throw tantrums: screaming, crying, kicking furniture, laying face-down on the floor, etc. in order to get what they want. We all know the drill because, at various times, we’ve witnessed this ultimate negotiating tactic of the very young and immature.

We see a similar phenomenon these days among Democrat politicians, the celebrity set, the Liberal Media Complex, assorted DC swamp-dwellers and denizens of social media — purportedly grown-ups, mind you — refusing to accept the fact that their preferred candidate lost the presidency.

The most immature brat of them all is the candidate herself, Hillary Clinton, currently touring the nation, whining, blaming, casting aspersions and otherwise setting a poor example for her emotionally fragile cadre.

One hopes, perhaps against hope, these dour souls can exhibit the emotional grace of at least a five-year-old, stop behaving so poorly, and get on with the business of governing, entertaining, reporting the news or clogging up the works … as their talents dictate.

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