In manifestos and the darkly allusive language of prophecy…

“Across the country, people struggling to make a living — from the propertied gentry to smallholders and labourers — were sick of a ruling class that had become a byword for venality and corruption: frittering away taxpayers’ money; incapable of dealing with the slow collapse in public order; indifferent to even the most modest proposals for reform; ineffective and disunited in every respect — except, apparently, when it came to preserving their own vested interests.”

(1) Fraudsters cash in as Dems shovel out billions and billions in COVID relief (NY Post)

“At times, the centre seemed unable to hold. Politicians urging unity and moderation watched aghast as factions tore at each other, all restraint set aside. This was a landscape littered by murders and executions enacted through fearful self-defence and hungry ambition, and justified with the merest skim of legal process. Speaking the language of populism and clamouring for reform, squabbling elites raised private armies and manipulated widespread public discontent to their own advantage, sparking insurgency and revolt against a battered political establishment. The system of hereditary monarchy itself seemed to teeter on the brink.”

(2) Pelosi Skeptical Of Need To Ban Trading Stock In Congress: It’s About ‘Trusting Our Members’ (HUFFPOST)

Quotes are from The Brothers York by Thomas Penn

Minor Incursion?

Biden telegraphs surrender to Putin on Ukraine.

I love lists so here’s one with all of the year-one Biden accomplishments:

(1) Rampant inflation (BBC)
(2) Broken supply-chains (CIPS)
(3) Surging levels of crime (Fox News)
(4) Open-borders (ABC News)
(5) Labelling parents as domestic terrorists (Fox News)
(6) Energy independence (Boston Herald)
(7) Disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan (Financial Times)
(8) Emboldening China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea (Fox News)
(9) Unstainable debt (driving inflation) (NY Times)
(10) Fentanyl crisis (CNN)
(11) Suppressing free speech via censorship in unholy alliance with big tech (NY Post)
(12) COVID response (Daily Mail)
(13) Stoking racial divisions (NY Post)
(14) Orchestrating the January 6 “insurrection” for political gain (TIMCAST)
(15) Weaponizing federal agencies (Daily Mail)

One from Hoyt…

(1) Hold On (According to Hoyt)

“It is tempting to attribute it to malice. And there is malice. As I said, any ideology that sanctifies envy is not on the side of angels. BUT it’s not as coordinated and epic malice as you’d think. It’s just…performative stupidity and thinking they can say the right words and magically there will be rainbows and unicorns.”

Related
America Gone Mad

Weekend 494.0

(1) France’s Great Debate Over the Sources and Meaning of Muslim Terror (Tablet)

“During the electoral campaign of 2011, the Muslims of France, appalled by the populist-nationalist campaign of President Sarkozy—for whom they had voted in large numbers in 2007—had massively rallied behind Sarkozy’s opponent, the socialist candidate Hollande, who based his own campaign on analysis provided by the main left-wing think tank of the era, Terra Nova. According to that analysis, the “traditional” left-wing electorate of the prosperity decades—a mix of the white working class and civil servants—was now leaving the stage, to be replaced by a melting pot of young, well-off urban gays and lesbians, and the young Muslim offspring of migrant families. Hollande mistook the rallying of anti-Sarkozy Muslims to his campaign as a confirmation of that view.”

The risk of think tanks sounds very, very familiar. Our elites / betters are the ones with real privilege and use their wealth and network to experiment with culture in a very dangerous way. You could replace Olivier Roy with John Kerry or John Brennan (or any of the other Yale/Harvard graduates like Eric Ciaramella cycling in and out of government agencies). These are the modern day Chamberlains without an ounce of common sense whose hubris cost blood and treasure.

Some other thoughts…

If you are going to decolonize you better have a plan to protect your borders.
Nuance is a code word used by the left to explain away common sense.
The alliance between the left and radicals like the squad (wink wink) isn’t going to last. It’s a marriage of convenience built on extreme naïveté.

John Kerry and Chris Murphy

John Kerry and Chris Murphy were running shadow diplomacy before Biden was selected and installed. They actively worked against POTUS 45 and US interests.

(1) Pompeo Pushes Investigation Into Kerry for Leaking Secrets to Iran: Kerry must immediately resign from the Biden administration, says Rep. Banks (Free Beacon)

(2) After Stonewalling For Days, Sen. Chris Murphy Finally Admits He Secretly Met With Iranian Regime In Munich (The Federalist)