#Arkhaven INFOGALACTIC #Castalia House
As evidenced by (((Ben Shapiro)))
Five weeks later….
Jack Greer explains:
Jack Greer @15Midichlorians
according to @benshapiro #NeverTrump means “never Primary Trump” but Ben likes the stability and presidential-ness of General Trump
Ah, so “never” for varying values of the term. Well, rats only swarm a winning ship. This is just an early sign of the coming Trumpslide. Let’s all welcome (((Ben))) aboard the #TrumpTrain!
I believe we are now beginning to see the signs of a preference cascade that are necessary if there is to be the predicted Trumpslide in November:
Donald Trump’s lead over Hillary Clinton in the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times national tracking poll grew to nearly six percentage points on Thursday, his largest advantage since his post-convention bounce in July.
The biggest reason appears to be an increase in the likelihood of Trump supporters who say they plan to vote, combined with a drop among Clinton supporters on that question. The nominees are now roughly equal in the voting commitment of their supporters, erasing an advantage previously held by Clinton.
The poll shows Trump leading Clinton, 47%-41%.
Yes, it’s just a national poll. But the state polls are showing a distinctly Trumpward direction as well.
Keep in mind that as recently as August 21, Clinton was +5 in Ohio. That is a ten-point swing in three weeks. If the trend continues, Trump won’t just win, it will be a Trumpslide. I’ll be interested to get dh’s read on this, if he stops by the blog today, as he’s more up on the state polls than I am.
Publius Decius Mus is taking a considerable amount of flak from conservatives because he is directly over the target, which is the staunchly pusillanimous way in which they have betrayed America and Americans for at least 50 years, and the way some of them are still trying to do so:
Conservatives have shouted since the beginning of Trump’s improbable rise: He’s not one of us! He is not conservative! And, indeed, in many ways, Trump is downright liberal. You might think that would make him more acceptable to the Left. But no. As “compassionate conservatism” did nothing to blunt leftist hatred of George W. Bush, neither do Trump’s quasi-liberal economic positions. In fact, they hate Trump much more. Trump is not conservative enough for the conservatives but way too conservative for the Left, yet somehow they find common cause. Earlier I posited that the reason is Trump’s position on immigration. Let me add two others.
The first is simply that Trump might win. He is not playing his assigned role of gentlemanly loser the way McCain and Romney did, and may well have tapped into some previously untapped sentiment that he can ride to victory. This is a problem for both the Right and the Left. The professional Right (correctly) fears that a Trump victory will finally make their irrelevance undeniable. The Left knows that so long as Republicans kept playing by the same rules and appealing to the same dwindling base of voters, there was no danger. Even if one of the old breed had won, nothing much would have changed, since their positions on the most decisive issues were effectively the same as the Democrats and because they posed no serious challenge to the administrative state.
Which points to the far more important reason. I urge readers to go back through John Marini’s argument, to which I cannot do anything close to full justice. Suffice to say here, the current governing arrangement of the United States is rule by a transnational managerial class in conjunction with the administrative state. To the extent that the parties are adversarial at the national level, it is merely to determine who gets to run the administrative state for four years. Challenging the administrative state is out of the question. The Democrats are united on this point. The Republicans are at least nominally divided. But those nominally opposed (to the extent that they even understand the problem, which is: not much) are unwilling or unable to actually do anything about it. Are challenges to the administrative state allowed only if they are guaranteed to be ineffectual? If so, the current conservative movement is tailor-made for the task. Meanwhile, the much stronger Ryan wing of the Party actively abets the administrative state and works to further the managerial class agenda.
Trump is the first candidate since Reagan to threaten this arrangement. To again oversimplify Marini (and Aristotle), the question here is: who rules? The many or the few? The people or the oligarchs? Our Constitution says: the people are sovereign, and their rule is mediated through representative institutions, limited by written Constitutional norms. The administrative state says: experts must rule because various advances (the march of history) have made governing too complicated for public deliberation, and besides, the unwise people often lack knowledge of their own best interests even on rudimentary matters. When the people want something that they shouldn’t want or mustn’t have, the administrative state prevents it, no matter what the people vote for. When the people don’t want something that the administrative state sees as salutary or necessary, it is simply imposed by fiat.
Don’t want more immigration? Too bad, we know what’s best. Think bathrooms should be reserved for the two biological sexes? Too bad, we rule. And so on and on.
To all the “conservatives” yammering about my supposed opposition to Constitutional principle (more on that below) and who hate Trump, I say: Trump is mounting the first serious national-political defense of the Constitution in a generation. He may not see himself in those terms. I believe he sees himself as a straightforward patriot who just wants to do what is best for his country and its people. Whatever the case, he is asserting the right of the sovereign people to make their government do what they want it to do, and not do things they don’t want it to do, in the teeth of determined opposition from a managerial class and administrative state that want not merely different policies but above all to perpetuate their own rule.
If the Constitution has any force or meaning, then “We the People” get to decide not merely who gets to run the administrative state—which, whatever the outcome, will always continue on the same path—more fundamentally, we get to decide what policies we want and which we don’t.
Conservatism as we have known it since Reagan is dead. Whether the Alt Right or NeoTrumpism or something else will ascend in its place is presently unknown, but we can be fairly certain that conservatives will never win another national election, thanks to the demographic transformation they supported, and, in many cases, still support.
Shed no tears and spare no pity for them. Like every ideology that stands in opposition to observable reality, their eventual irrelevance is assured, it is merely a question of time.
Needless to say, the meme magic has the Hillary campaign, or what is left of it, running scared.
Hillary Clinton has officially declared war on Pepe the Frog, a popular Internet meme.
The embattled candidate has dedicated an entire page on her campaign site about the cartoon frog she believes is “racist.”
“That cartoon frog is more sinister than you might realize,” declared HillaryClinton.com. “Pepe is a cartoon frog who began his internet life as an innocent meme enjoyed by teenagers and pop stars alike. But in recent months, Pepe’s been almost entirely co-opted by the white supremacists who call themselves the ‘alt-right.’”
Additionally, the Hillary campaign linked Alex Jones and Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos to Pepe the Frog, implying they are also “white supremacists. Yiannopoulos in particular is a predominant commentator on the alt-right who’s often mislabeled as its leader.
If I was Horde, I would say “kek”.
Nothing more clearly demonstrates the clueless myopia of the left-center mainstream than this piece from the American Interest:
The alt-right is more diffuse, and diverse in its tactics and objectives, than the PC left. It encompasses sophisticated neo-reactionary Silicon Valley engineers like Curtis Yarvin, 1990s-style white nationalists like Jared Taylor, and legions of race-baiting online trolls with Pepe the frog as their Twitter avatars. But they are united by their contempt for pluralistic liberal democracy, their view that Western Civilization is in a profound and perhaps irreversible state of decline due to the empowerment of women and minorities, and their open embrace of white identity politics, and even white separatism, as the only solution.
This is a precarious cultural moment. How can it be that it is impossible to really understand the 2016 U.S. presidential election without reference to anti-liberal ideologies developed in the dark corners of 4chan and the inner sanctums of once-marginal campus bureaucracies?
Many commentators have observed that the radicalisms of the right and left feed on one another, teaming up to suck the liberal center dry. On the one hand, excessive left-wing speech policing and cultural brinksmanship on issues of race and gender was bound to make Milo-style ideological transgression more appealing. On the other hand, the alt-right’s newfound cultural power seems to vindicate some of the assumptions of the PC left: that racism and misogyny are deeply embedded in America’s cultural fabric, just below the surface, ready to erupt unless controls on thought and language are continuously tightened.
But what if instead of thinking of the campus left and the alt-right as mortal enemies, each bringing out perpetually heavier firepower in a long-running war of attrition, we thought of them as allies in a battle for the fate of liberalism? Because despite what they might say about each other, the radicalisms of 2016 actually align with one another more than they align with the Anglo-American Enlightenment tradition that has always occupied the American political center.
The Alt-Right is no ally of the campus left and never will be. What’s really happening is that the campus left, long coddled by the left-liberal center, is starting to scare the mainstream thumbsuckers. And starting to scare them nearly as much as the Alt-Right does.
There is no space left for the Weimar Republicans and Social Democrats. Their age of playing touch football with each other are over. They’re going to need to learn how to put on pads if they’re going to play according to the new rules.
In which it is observed that immigrants, the children of immigrants, and even the great-great-grandchildren of immigrants cannot be trusted to vote in the interests of their new country. A reader comments at John Wright’s site:
As a Republican who has tentatively decided not to vote for Trump (tentatively because it is foolish to bind yourself with oaths before the vote; who knows where my conscience might lead me come November?), I read the article as per your advice. I sympathize with the author, but I do not agree for the most part. I suppose I am either a fool or a conservative intellectual, because I do not believe Trump is worth trying.
The author admits that Trump is to the left of Hillary on most every issue except immigration, and immigration is quite frankly the issue I care least about. I understand the concerns of my fellow conservatives, but I am not afraid of immigrants. We are a country of immigrants: my great-great grandfather was an immigrant who came from a people and culture that many (perhaps most) Americans at the time thought was too stupid ever become proper citizens. Later they were considered dangerous, and it was said that they had come from a culture that was too radical and subversive to ever assimilate. Yet assimilate they did, and I stand here because of it. I am hesitant to close the door that my ancestors came through, and I have faith enough in assimilation and the melting pot, even if the Left does not.
Even after five generations, this particular US citizen cares less about “his” country than he does about his native identity. Because, by his own admission, he still identifies more with those who are not Americans than those who are, and is still more concerned with the well-being of those who are not Americans than those who are.
I found the statement “I am not afraid of immigrants” to be particularly fatuous. Because, of course, one high-performance immigrant from Germany is the same as 600 million immigrants from Mexico, China, or Nigeria. There is neither quantity nor quality, neither newcomer nor native, because all men are created equal.
Remember this solipsistic virtue-signaling if you’re ever tempted to regret the decline and fall of the United States, or find yourself asking “why”?
Even the cucks are now starting to believe that there is something up with Hillary Clinton’s collapse yesterday:
First of all – let us talk about walking pneumonia.
I have no doubt that Mrs. Clinton may have been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday. That is entirely possible. 70 year olds have pneumonia all the time. My point is that pneumonia in and of itself – WOULD NEVER make someone do what happened today. I am fully aware of walking pneumonia – and indeed – by definition – it is “walking”. It is a type of pneumonia caused by very specific organism(s) that are much different than those types that will put you in the hospital. The point being – walking pneumonia will produce ill symptoms – often a cough and overall malaise – but will never ever cause a syncope like episode. Pneumonia or reaction to antibiotics simply do not produce what happened today in the absence of many other grave symptoms – and believe me people would not be walking through a parking lot with these symptoms.
I want to clarify the cardiac arrhythmia issue as well. AFIB with RVR is but one of many types of rhythm problems that could be going on – it is by far the most common therefore the most likely. This is what happens when people have afib: the atria – the top chambers of the heart – are beating in total chaos. Normally – your AV node protects the bottom part – ventricles – or pumping chambers from being exposed to the chaos. You can go for long times months even years without any problems at all. However, ever so often the AV node fails in its protection – the chaos from above is transported to the ventricles below and suddenly the bottom of the heart is beating 150, 160 whatever. Just think how you feel after 15 minutes on a treadmill. Running hard. Heart rate of 150 – light-headed and short of breath. Now imagine that you get off the treadmill – and your heart just keeps right on going at 150. In about 10 minutes you will begin to feel very bad. This is manifested in different ways by different people. Shortness of breath is very common. The feeling of being flushed or hot is very common. Nausea and vomiting are very very common. But your heart will not slow down. After several minutes of this – even the most simple exertion like walking – can lead to such low blood pressure that you will have syncope (pass out). That is why AFIB with RVR is so high on the differential diagnosis of the tape I saw today.
Something else of concern that has been running through my mind since I saw that tape is yet another diagnosis that I neglected to put in the initial discussion. This is EXACTLY how people will react if they have an implantable defibrillator and it fires. This would be the same as having the big paddles put on you in the ER – and shocked. Over the past 20 years or so – we have been putting “paddles” directly into patients chest that fire and shock them whenever the computer that is attached to them perceives there is a problem. These patients would already have a diagnosis of a cardiac rhythm problem. One of two things in my experience happens. 1) The rhythm problem comes out of nowhere – and the patient is shocked. They would seem to drop to the ground instantly 2) Often, the rhythm problem is lurking for several minutes before the shock occurs. It all depends on the diagnosis and the settings of the device. But the patient will often feel very very weak and tired, dizzy, hot and light-headed in the seconds/minutes before the device fires. When it does fire however – most of the time – the patient goes down temporarily – just like Mrs. Clinton did today.
Will someone ask her please if she has a defibrillator in her chest? This may or may not be so – but do you want someone who can be shocked like that in charge of the country in a crisis?
I want to for personal reasons address concerns about my ethics in some of the above comments.
I agree – no diagnosis should ever be made without the patient being right in front of you. And many of the tapes and videos used in the past month about Mrs. Clinton’s health have been “out there”. I am not making a diagnosis on her – I am offering up medical facts about what could have caused something like this to occur. Common things occur commonly. This video today is clearly not from the lunatic fringe like some of the others I have seen this past few weeks. I am gravely concerned about this after what I saw today – and I wholeheartedly believe the voters need to know the whole story – whatever that may be – and what the campaign is telling and putting forth makes little sense medically speaking. As is so often in politics – it is the lies and confusion put forward to cover things up – that gets people in trouble.
I like most of America am absolutely dismayed with the choices we have this year for President. This video today did not help decrease my concern about this election.
Another question I have – and about this I need to be perfectly clear. Had I seen that video on any of my patients – and believe me – having things caught on video is actually very common in medicine today – my very very first reaction would be GET THAT PATIENT TO THE ER – I AM MEETING YOU THERE. Why on earth was Mrs. Clinton not rushed to the hospital???? — That issue alone brings up all sorts of concerning thoughts in my mind..
And about her personal physician – Dr. Raback. In my haste – to get the previous comment done – and typing quickly – I did not fully convey her status with the Board of Internal Medicine. She is listed as CERTIFIED – but NOT PARTICIPATING in MAINTENANCE. That means that she has made the decision not to maintain her certification. She passed her initial exams and was certified at some point in the past – but is not participating in maintaining this going forward. At some point – this will put her at great risk of being dropped from insurance panels, etc. This is a huge thorn in the side of the internal medicine community at this point. The whole thing is a total mess. It is an example of government regulation gone horribly awry. But the fact of the matter is that she is not participating in her continued certification – There are those in internal medicine who would think that to be not a good thing.
It’s interesting that he concluded that Clinton is suffering from cardiac arrhythmia, which, if true, would also dictate her retirement. Regardless, it is now obvious that with her now-uncertified doctor, her handler, her conversion van, and her avoidance of the hospital, Hillary Clinton is doing her best to hide her health issues from the electorate.
But she clearly isn’t feeling fine, or she wouldn’t have canceled her trip to California today. Or to have sent out what looks like a body-double to pop out, wave at the plebs, and promptly disappear for days.
It would be very surprising if this situation didn’t affect the polls. It’s about time we should start seeing signs of the Trumpslide.
Hillary’s health narrative changes direction faster and more smoothly than a school of fish.
It is no secret that she is sick. But it now appears increasingly unlikely that Hillary Clinton is even going to make it to November as a viable candidate:
Hillary Clinton had a “medical episode” that required her to leave a 9/11 commemoration ceremony early, a law enforcement source who witnessed the event told Fox News. The Democratic presidential nominee appeared to faint on her way into her van and had to be helped by her security, the source said. She was “clearly having some type of medical episode.”
Clinton’s stumbled off the curb, her “knees buckled” and she lost a shoe as she was helped into a van during her “unexpected early departure,” a witness told Fox News.
A separate law enforcement source told Fox News that Clinton left the event because she wasn’t feeling well.
I won’t be surprised if Team Clinton starts trying to ban video of her public appearances. But was her collapse due to illness, exhaustion, or something darker and more sinister….
Consider the following sequence:
Bingo: “We are told by the campaign that we are no longer allowed to shoot anything from the ceremony.”
– NBC Pool Report
UPDATE: The video of her trying to get into the van. It’s funny to see all the mainstream journalists trying to see if they can get permission to use the video. Why not just FILM THE CANDIDATE WITH YOUR OWN CAMERAS?
UPDATE: the Daily Mail now has the story and the video. The US media is trying to bury it, but the UK media doesn’t care.