Friday, February 17, 2017

A Lot of People, Who Should Know Better, Have Gotten a Contact High on Trump’s Power

By Jack Perry

Is the honeymoon over yet? At this last press conference, Trump just said he’s going to build the biggest military the United States has ever seen or had. And, what, he’ll do it using double coupons and shopping wisely, I suppose? There is only ONE way a military gets built and that’s with money. Specifically, tax dollars. Wake up. This is neocon warehouse overstock with a new label. And if this was anyone but Trump, the people that usually whine about military spending would blow a head gasket. More to the point, the bigger a military gets, the bigger the temptation to use it gets.

Then he’s alluded to the creation of new federal police agencies to deal with crime. Plus, he’s referenced the need to “do something” about drugs. Meaning, the War On Drugs is going into extra innings. I would imagine tanks and APCs on the streets are not far behind. Why not? There are reports that he’s weighing the option of using National Guard troops to round up illegals. What’s wrong with that, you say? Because it sets a precedent, people. Once you’re using any military force to enforce laws, you’re already a police state. I guess the usual Cassandras are too busy cheering it because it’s “their guy” doing it.

Look, people, it’s already too late. Too many are drinking the Kool-Aid, willing to overlook the authoritarian Big State despot right in front of their faces just because he’s doing a few things they like. And you think this won’t set precedents for the future? (That is, if the End Game isn’t revealed sooner.) Now, rather than abide by the checks-and-balances of the judicial branch and let go of the refugee ban, he’s said he’s going to write a different executive order next week. Again, precedents. Let’s see everyone applaud executive orders when a Democrat gets in and uses one to ban the importation of all firearms. He or she will say, “Well, gosh, Trump banned people from coming in, so we can surely ban guns from coming in. And we’re not saying you can’t own a gun, we’re just saying it has to be American made here in the United States. By an American company.” Then when a federal court challenges it, he or she just writes another. Can’t happen? Just wait.

Look, if this was Hillary doing this, we’d hear screams of outrage. Especially the part about increased federal police power and the possible use of military force to enforce a law on American streets. What’s wrong with that? Well, once you’ve said it’s okay to use National Guard to round up illegals, it then becomes okay to use them to confiscate guns the government says are illegal. Or man “security checkpoints” to “deter crime” in cities. Before you know it, there’s a tank at every intersection and everyone sits there and looks shocked and acts like they don’t know how this happened.  And, right, just what we need. More federal police agencies on top of that. And people are cheering this on like it’s a good thing?! What was it, just a year ago people were on here complaining about the militarization of the police? So, what, it’s okay now? Because it’s “your guy” doing it?

I think a lot of people have gotten a contact high on Trump’s power. And people that ought to know better.

The above originally appeared at LewRockwell.com

6 comments:

  1. As usual, Jack Perry nails it. Here's a fun game. Make a list of policy moves by the FedGuv for say, the last 24 years. Then ask a typical voter to pick which party (or alternately, lefty or righty) pushed that policy. Oh, and I mean real actualized policy, not campaign bullshit.

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  2. With every passing Presidential Election, dialogue and staging become progressively more like LSD laced cartoon versions of Leni Riefenstahl's classic propaganda film, Triumph of The Will. In the cartoon world we are now forced to live in, reality holds no sway over voters who see their candidates as superhero's bound by honor to protect them from evildoers. People become so emotionally invested in the political candidates pronouncements that they go blind to all other considerations.

    The problem is that anyone who wants freedom and reality is the enemy. Life is about to go to a very dark place in short order.

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  3. "Too many are drinking the Kool-Aid, willing to overlook the authoritarian Big State despot right in front of their faces just because he’s doing a few things they like."

    This different from the fans of every president exactly how?

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  4. MY first choice this last election was a bloody civil war that saw lefties getting thrown from helicopters and congress lined up against a wall and shot. Trump was what I could realistically expect.

    I'm. Not. Kidding.

    American libertarians have for far too long been drinking the Ayn Rand kool-aid when what they really needed a drink or two from a cup of Heinlein. Start with Moon is a Harsh Mistress and transition to Starship Troopers. Revolution followed by limited government where anyone can participate provided they go through ten years of Hell first. That will keep the parasites from being able to vote for a living. Probably won't stop the foreign military interventions but at least Americans will have the country promised to them, which would be a definite upgrade from what we have currently.

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    1. We must destroy freedom and kill people who disagree with us to have a country based on freedom, where you can't be killed for disagreeing.

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  5. All of these anti-liberty actions are a travesty.

    My musing, however, is whether Trump is doing for the state what speculators do for markets. The speculator does the market a favor (if he guesses correctly) by accelerating pricing towards where it would go anyway, thus allowing others to perceive reality, and make appropriate decisions, faster. So if the speculator guesses that there will be a shortage of a good and this will cause pricing to go up, he buys aggressively now, and causes pricing to rise, which causes others to start economizing on this good now rather than later.

    The natural evolution of the state is to grow, with more anti-liberty travesties being put in place each year. Perhaps Trump is accelerating the state's hypertrophy, and thus this will cause people to see the ugliness of the state faster than they would otherwise.

    OK, maybe this is a futile search for a silver lining . . .

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