Jobs not Mobs

Protect Minnesota has a new ad out. It’s a good one. Hat tip to PowerLine.

Like I said a good ad. The Democrats have pushed it to the point where it is time for the gloves to come off. It’s all very well being a party that is peaceful and law-abiding, but how many casualties should we take before defending ourselves. We are not at that point yet, but it is approaching. It is something each of us will have to decide for ourselves, but the time to be thinking about that decision is now.

Meanwhile. From FrontPage Magazine

A migrant caravan from Central America is currently heading en masse to the United States. Its members, several thousand strong, are intent on pouring into the U.S. in what amounts to an invasion force. President Trump has correctly branded the caravan an “onslaught” and an “assault on our country.” The president has promised to use military troops if necessary to close the southern border with Mexico. He also threatened to cut off all foreign aid to those Central American countries that are not doing enough to stop the migration caravan in its tracks.

Members of the caravan have already demonstrated their violent streak during an early stage of their trek, as they approached Mexico. They “forced their way through Guatemala’s northwestern border and flooded onto a bridge leading to Mexico,” AFP reported. These migrants, mainly from Honduras, engaged in violent clashes with Mexican riot police as they tried to surge through police lines and cross the bridge into Mexico. Four Mexican police officers were reportedly injured. “Violent entry into the country not only threatens our sovereignty, but also puts the migrants themselves at risk,” Mexico’s President Pena Nieto said. “Mexico does not permit and will not permit entry into its territory in an irregular fashion, much less in a violent fashion.”

Mexican government officials have said that Mexico would be willing to consider asylum requests from members of the caravan on an individual basis, with the assistance of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees (“UNHCR”). Mexico is proposing that UNCHR establish shelters along Mexico’s southern border with Central American countries. Individuals deemed by the UN agency to be eligible for asylum protection, presumably after performing its standard vetting, would be eligible for placement in a host country willing to accept them, which could be Mexico or the United States. Those deemed not to have a legitimate claim would be sent back to their home countries. If someone manages to slip through this system and travels through Mexico before crossing the Mexico-U.S. border into the United States, Mexico has indicated that it would be willing to accept the return of that individual if the U.S. so wishes. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States welcomed and would cooperate with Mexico’s initiative to have Central American migrants processed for possible asylum in Mexico first with UN assistance. The initiative conforms with international law on the handling of claims for refugee status and is an orderly and humane solution to the migration crisis that the caravan has precipitated.

However, the migrant invaders are impatient. “We are going to the United States,” said one of the migrants. “Nobody is going to stop us.” The Associated Press has reported that despite Mexico’s attempt to intervene, “a growing throng of Central American migrants resumed their advance toward the U.S. border early Sunday in southern Mexico.” Their numbers have reportedly grown, after migrants in the caravan decided not to submit to Mexico’s asylum process that would have enabled them to enter Mexico legally. Instead, they took the law into their own hands. Mexico now appears to have largely given up and is doing little to stop them.

Much more at the link. I’m not so sure that Mexico has given up as that it has been overwhelmed. At last report (that I heard) there are something like 15,000 of these invaders, and most are males of military age. That is about one and a half World War II infantry divisions worth of migrants in this bunch.

Trump has indeed promised to use the military, and that means active duty, regular troops, not the National Guard, which since this mob is said to be headed for California, is probably a good thing. The downside is the question of what their Rules of Engagement are.

Personally, I’ve reached the point that I’d have them sitting there, Locked and loaded, right on the border, in plain sight, with the artillery behind firing a constant barrage of capsaicin and tear gas, until they disperse. And when they reform, do it again. If they attempt to cross the border, prevent them. Lethal force authorized. Helo’s and fixed wing air support clearly visible and audible. And in the meantime, completely close the border. There is no reason we should reward Mexico’s failure to deal with this, even if it is understandable. And along that line, no country in Central America should get a dime of any kind of US aid for the foreseeable future.

You know, I learned a long time ago, that while it is nice to be liked, it is imperative to be respected. And right now, the United States isn’t, not by these so-called migrants, and not by the thugs of the Democratic Party. Time to fix that.

Advertisements

Sunday Funnies on Monday

There was a demonstration in London the other day. Here’s a picture.

Here’s a close up of one of the leaders.

There’s a reason I don’t watch anymore. In fact, the entire BBC is like this, including the news. Can you say CNN with a better accent?

Meanwhile over here.

Seven deadly sins, There’s an app for that

And finally, IDF soldier Orin Julie

Some from PowerLine, some from Ace‘s, some from other places that I can’t remember.

The Immortal Memory

As we commented the other day, we have entered the season of critical Anglo-Saxon Battles, yesterday was the 237th Anniversary of Lord Cornwallis”s surrender to General Washington at Yorktown. In 1918 the victorious battles of the allies would soon result in the Armistice. But today is the anniversary of perhaps the most important battle of the modern age.During the negotiations with France when we were trying to buy New Orléans President Jefferson wrote an open letter regarding the return of Louisiana to France from Spain, where he commented that “on that day we shall have to marry ourselves to the British fleet and people”, meaning if France took control of Louisiana it would mean war between France and the United States, and later commented “that from that day forward France shall end at her low water mark” Of course we know that France sold Louisiana to the US so it ended well.

But, this is the day that France (and Spain) would forever lose control of the sea to Great Britain.

Today is the anniversary of a battle to rank with Salamis, with Waterloo, and with Yorktown. For today the English-speaking peoples with our concepts of individual liberty and rights took control of the sea.

That battle is Trafalgar. The battle was fought off of the south-west coast of Spain between the British Squadron with 27 Ships-of-the-Line and the combined French and Spanish fleets with 33.

The Franco-Spanish fleet was under orders to sail for Brest to help accomplish the invasion of England, which was, by far, Napoleons most steadfast enemy.

Remember these were sailing ships, completely dependent on the wind. and at Trafalgar, there was very little. The French and especially the Spanish were short-handed and had to fill their ship’s companies with soldiers. The British on the other hand had blockaded the coast for years and had been drilled mercilessly. Their commander, himself, had not been off the flagship for more than two years.

Alfred Thayer Mahan in his classic The Influence of Sea Power upon History puts it this way: “Those distant, storm-tossed ships, never seen by the Grande Armee, were all that stood between it and world domination.

And so today, in 1805, the battle was joined. The British had the weather gage and a very unusual plan. Because of the light wind (and against standing orders), they would divide their battle line in two, with each squadron approaching the Franco-Spanish line at an acute angle. With a well-trained enemy, this would have been nearly suicidal but, under these conditions it allowed the British to engage the entire fleet and win the battle in a single day.

The British were under the command of a man who had his introduction to naval war in the American Revolution, he fought in several minor battles off Toulon, was integral in the capture of Corsica, was captain of HMS Captain at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. At the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, he lost his right arm, he won a decisive victory over the French at The Battle of the Nile and against the Danes at the Battle of Copenhagen.

At Trafalgar the British fleet went into battle with this signal flying from the flagship:

That flagship is, of course, the HMS Victory, which is now the oldest naval ship in regular commission in the world.

HMS Victory, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth

The Admiral in command was Horatio, Lord Nelson.

Or to give him his full name:

Admiral Lord Nelson

The Most Noble Lord Horatio Nelson, Viscount and Baron Nelson, of the Nile and of Burnham Thorpe in the County of Norfolk, Baron Nelson of the Nile and of Hilborough in the said County, Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Vice Admiral of the White Squadron of the Fleet, Commander in Chief of his Majesty’s Ships and Vessels in the Mediterranean, Duke of Bronté in the Kingdom of Sicily, Knight Grand Cross of the Sicilian Order of St Ferdinand and of Merit, Member of the Ottoman Order of the Crescent, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of St Joachim

as it is inscribed on his coffin in St. Paul’s Cathedral, for he was killed by a French marine during the battle.

The first tribute to Nelson was fittingly offered at sea by sailors of Vice-Admiral Dmitry Senyavin’s passing Russian squadron, which saluted on learning of the death.

It is also interesting Nelson being Vice Admiral of the White is the reason that the Royal Navy from that day flies the White Ensign before it flew all three depending on the fleet commander’s rank. The black hatband on British, American, and Russian naval enlisted caps all memorialize Nelson as well.

King George III, upon receiving the news, is reported to have said, in tears, “We have lost more than we have won”.

And the Times reported:

We do not know whether we should mourn or rejoice. The country has gained the most splendid and decisive Victory that has ever graced the naval annals of England; but it has been dearly purchased.

Great Britain would hold uncontested command of the sea, even joining World War I partly to prevent Germany from overtaking the Royal Navy until, in 1921, she agreed to parity with the United States at the Washington Naval Conference. And it should be noted, that even then, it was not willingly, Britain was exhausted and bankrupt from the Great War, and probably recognized that the US would use her sea power much as Britain had, which has proved to be the case. It is also from this date that the United Kingdom began to recede from the first rank of great powers, although her legacy has been for the most part upheld by the US and the Commonwealth.

That’s fine, I hear you say, what’s that got to do with me, especially as an American, these 212 years later? Several things which we will talk about a bit here.

1. The Atlantic Slave Trade ended because the British decided that it should and the Americans agreed. This led to the establishment of patrols by both navies off the west coast of Africa, effectively ending the trade. Without this, and without the Abolitionist sentiment in the United Kingdom, it is almost inconceivable that slavery would have ended in the western world.
2. The South and Central American Republics remain independent (and sometimes free) countries. After the Napoleonic wars, Metternich’s Council of Vienna considered all of continental Europe helping Spain recover her American colonies until they found out that they would have to go through the Royal Navy. Yes, we proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 after Prime Minister George Canning proposed a joint statement, the story is that Secretary of State John Q. Adams said that would make us look like a cockboat in the wake of the British man-of-war. Therefore, we proclaimed it unilaterally. But it was enforced almost exclusively until the Spanish-American War by the Royal Navy because it was to the advantage of British mercantile interests. Britain thereby performed the same service for the New World that the US would for Europe in the last half of the Twentieth Century.
3. The growth and development of America, if a continental power had regained control of Mexico there is a very good chance that it would have expanded into the heartland of America, certainly Texas and entirely possibly all or most of the Louisiana Purchase.

And so we, as Americans, even as the British, should remain grateful for those ‘distant storm-tossed ships’ of the Royal Navy, led by one of the great commanders of history.

And so, I give you the toast that will be drunk tonight in the Royal Navy and the Commonwealth navies, and at least in some places in the United States Navy and even in other navies and places. It is the one traditionally naval toast that is drunk in total silence:

“The Immortal Memory of Lord Nelson and those who fell with him”

The traditional music to follow the toast is Rule Britannia.

And so today as the Queen Elizabeth, the first of the CVFs prepares to join the fleet, we again see the Royal Navy preparing to take on all the tasks that the Anglo-Saxons have performed for the world’s benefit since the Armada, itself.

In a remarkable coincidence, the other remaining warship of the period USS Constitution was christened on this day in 1797 at the Boston Navy Yard. While HMS Victory is the oldest ship in commission, USS Constitution (nicknamed “Old Ironsides”) is the oldest warship still afloat and able to sail on its own. Victory is in permanent drydock.

And yes, last night, this happened.

pic.twitter.com/lNUxuwXJaw

— College Football by SB Nation 🏈 (@SBNationCFB) October 21, 2018

#Tyler Strong

Nikki Haley, Comedienne

Yeah, I overslept, hey it is Saturday, so here is Nikki Haley at the Al Smith dinner. Well worth your time.

 

She cleans up pretty nice too, as far as I’m concerned.

Democrats and Mobs (BIRM)

Steven Hayward over at PowerLine noticed something, well, so did I, and maybe you did too. The Democrats sure do love their mobs.

News item: Two GOP candidates assaulted in Minnesota.

News item: Antifa mob overruns Portland, and Democratic mayor stands aside. (And to think, I had dinner once with Ted Wheeler a few years ago, before he was elected mayor of Portland, and thought he was a sensible human being. Another case of misleading first impressions I guess.)

New item: Ricin sent to Sen. Susan Collins.

News item: Democrat assaults, critically injures Republican Senator in capitol.

Ok, that last one is from 1851, but it rather makes the point. Others could be added.

• The New York Draft Riots during the Civil War

Not as clearly linked, but given the party’s history of racism, I’d guess there is some connection.

• The East St. Louis riot in 1917
• The Red Summer of 1919

And of course, the whole series in the 1960s culminating for a time at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

And Ferguson, and Baltimore – the list goes on.

And that’s just the high points.

Back when Abraham Lincoln was 28 years old, he gave what we know as his Lyceum Speech, in it, he said this.

But you are, perhaps, ready to ask, “What has this to do with the perpetuation of our political institutions?” I answer, it has much to do with it. Its direct consequences are, comparatively speaking, but a small evil; and much of its danger consists, in the proneness of our minds, to regard its direct, as its only consequences. Abstractly considered, the hanging of the gamblers at Vicksburg, was of but little consequence. They constitute a portion of population, that is worse than useless in any community; and their death, if no pernicious example be set by it, is never matter of reasonable regret with any one. If they were annually swept, from the stage of existence, by the plague or small pox, honest men would, perhaps, be much profited, by the operation. Similar too, is the correct reasoning, in regard to the burning of the negro at St. Louis. He had forfeited his life, by the perpetration of an outrageous murder, upon one of the most worthy and respectable citizens of the city; and had he not died as he did, he must have died by the sentence of the law, in a very short time afterwards. As to him alone, it was as well the way it was, as it could otherwise have been. But the example in either case, was fearful. When men take it in their heads today, to hang gamblers, or burn murderers, they should recollect, that, in the confusion usually attending such transactions, they will be as likely to hang or burn some one, who is neither a gambler nor a murderer as one who is; and that, acting upon the example they set, the mob of tomorrow, may, and probably will, hang or burn some of them, by the very same mistake. And not only so; the innocent, those who have ever set their faces against violations of law in every shape, alike with the guilty, fall victims to the ravages of mob law; and thus it goes on, step by step, till all the walls erected for the defence of the persons and property of individuals, are trodden down, and disregarded. But all this even, is not the full extent of the evil. By such examples, by instances of the perpetrators of such acts going unpunished, the lawless in spirit, are encouraged to become lawless in practice; and having been used to no restraint, but dread of punishment, they thus become, absolutely unrestrained. Having ever regarded Government as their deadliest bane, they make a jubilee of the suspension of its operations; and pray for nothing so much, as its total annihilation. . .

Thus, then, by the operation of this mobocratic spirit, which all must admit, is now abroad in the land, the strongest bulwark of any Government, and particularly of those constituted like ours, may effectually be broken down and destroyed—I mean the attachment of the People. Whenever this effect shall be produced among us; whenever the vicious portion of population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure, and with impunity; depend on it, this Government cannot last.

Hat tip to Steve (link above) for the speech as well. As Steve points out, it seems that even non-radical Democrats think the Constitution needs to be replaced (with their cause of the day, as near as I can figure) so the government not lasting might be considered, by them, as a feature, not a bug.

Well, The Duke of Wellington said of the French after Waterloo, “They came on in the same old way, and we stopped them in the same old way”. One hopes that it doesn’t come to whiffs of grapeshot and the rattle of musketry, but what must be done will be done. That oath says all enemies, foreign and domestic, no exemption for the Democratic Party.

In Federalist #10 James Madison reminds us,  “… democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” And that is exactly the point to the Constitution in this Republic.

Diverse Wonderful Things

I’ve got three articles, here, well I’ve got a lot more than that, but three is enough for today, none long enough for me to make a post about, but all quite interesting, so let’s combine them.

---

Well, that didn’t take long…

Davos just declared that America is great again.

The World Economic Forum, which hosts the annual conference of global elites in Switzerland, said on Tuesday that the United States is the most competitive economy in the world.

The U.S. has not held the number one spot since 2008, when the aftermath of the financial crisis and bungled recovery efforts left the U.S. economy limping.

“The United States, as one of the world’s great innovation powerhouses, is very well positioned in this new competitive landscape,” the Forum said in an article explaining its ranking. “It ranks first overall in the world in three of our twelve pillars; business dynamism, labour markets and financial system. It comes second in another two; innovation (behind Germany) and market size (behind China).”

From Breitbart. Amazing what can happen when you cut the strings holding Gulliver down, and that is an exact analogy for what Trump has done. If we are smart enough to stay the course, there is no telling what the world will look like in 2024, but America will be leading it.

---

Polls are not news, they are news filler.

Everything I need to know about polls I learned in Junior High

It’s funny how some episodes from your past stick in your memory, while more significant ones don’t.

In ninth grade, all students were asked to complete a written survey on the topic of alcohol and drugs. We were told that the survey was being conducted by a grad student at the local university.

Among my friends, this seemed like the perfect spoof. I don’t remember if I’d even tasted beer at the time, but according to my survey answers I was a frequent drinker who blacked out regularly. Drug use? Sure, why not: LSD, cocaine, pills. Heroin too, but no more frequently than once a month.

The induced paranoia of another crowd convinced them that “narcs” were really behind the survey. Answer honestly? Riiiight.

I’m sure the survey made a beautiful grad school paper, complete with line charts, bar graphs and R-squared factors.

But the data it was based on wasn’t worth ca-ca.

From Maley’s Energy Blog. Your mileage may differ, of course, but I bet it doesn’t. Not least because that is my exact experience as well. An anonymous poll is just asking for us to lie, it’s Walter Mitty time, to admit and/or brag about all those things that you know you’d never do, but wish people thought you did. Is there anyone, anywhere, who tells a pollster the truth? Frankly, I doubt it, although a fair number may come within shouting distance of it.

---

Mind games

The headline of this Washington Post article (paper edition) is “Warren dust-up shows Trump sway over Democratic contest.” A better title would substitute “minds” for “contest.”

Trump certainly got in Elizabeth Warren’s head. His constant “Pocahontas” references induced her to take a DNA test, publicize its results, and thereby make herself a source of greater ridicule than before.

Trump is also responsible for the fact that clownish Michael Avenatti is mentioned as a contender for nomination in 2020. Democrats seemed intrigued, for a while at least, by the prospect that he could get into Trump’s head the way Trump has been getting into theirs. (The Dems might want to revise this view after Avenatti’s performance during the Kavanaugh struggle and now that Avenatti’s frivolous suit against Trump resulted in his client having to pay the president’s legal fees).

From PowerLine. It’s true and obvious. Not only the Dems, but the so-called news media worldwide, and, I suspect, a goodly share of other country’s leadership, as well. It’s a hell of an advantage for him, and for the United States. Hardly anybody anywhere is acting anymore, they are reacting to what the US President is saying or doing. And since he speaks pretty closely to what (in my experience, anyway) the average American wants, it has put America in the ascendant, again.

That is the magic wand that Obama insisted didn’t exist – listening to John Q. Public, internalizing what he thinks and turn it into US policy because the people are, and always have been much smarter than the so-called elites in their bubble.