Shadow democracy

A 15-minute video for Elon Musk, and anyone else interested in whether or not the US govt will eventually go bankrupt: https://t.co/t9JqvNPbUB

X seems to be largely and oddly devoid of the heated debate over H1-B visas today.

I note free-speech adorer Walter Kirn has blocked me from commenting on his tweets. I suppose in reaction to my critique of his praise for billionaire Marc Andreesen's 180-degree distortion of the CFPB's function, as accurately laid out by Matt Stoller. So much for free speech.

How many of us are furious at this late date that the two political parties are serving up these two particular presidential candidates?

Ukraine is supposedly hard-pressed to find more able-bodied men for military service. Yet I've noticed that the country only now is lowering the draft age -- to 25 from the previous 27! Does this strike anyone as odd? The US draft age, for instance, is 18 -- and we're not at war.

Not sure. What was the rapist's legal punishment? Had justice been done that way? Even so, there's an argument to be made that the father may have been entitled to do with his own hands what he did.

These people need to be able to leave and find new homes immediately or run the risk of suffering all kinds of cancers. Major funds distributed on a per-household and business basis would allow them to start over, at least until E. Palestine is truly and verifiably cleaned up.

To be sure, this a very rough measure of relief. But any kind of means testing or strict accounting of relief dollars would probably take years and fail to provide the immediate relief East Palestine needs.

An idea for East Palestine, Ohio: A federal law mandating that for every dollar allocated for Ukraine, a nickel goes to the relief of residents in East Palestine and the surrounding area. At $100 billion and counting for Ukraine, that would $5 billion-plus for East Palestine.

Certainly, it confirms what many of us in the US have long suspected: That our military, intelligence agencies and, now, major media have seized complete control, stamping out the last traces of popular rule under a colorably credible democratic republic. The "blob" is to blame.

Rationally, this would lead to a dissolution of NATO and officials of the US and Norway being brought before an international tribunal. At a minimum, it should finally and utterly discredit US standing in the world.

In the former case, Scholtz and his government are guilty of profound fraud and betrayal of their country. In the latter, he's in the tough position of deciding what to do about it. The option of inaction is not on the table.

I would hate to be in German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz's shoes now. There are 2 possibilities: Either Scholtz quietly agreed to the Nordstream sabotage ahead of time. Or he and his government were not informed.

Re the highly detailed Seymour Hersh piece on the US apparently blowing up the Nordstream gas pipelines: It's granted that this was an overt act of war against Russia. But wouldn't it also amount to an act of war against Germany? (And let's not let Norway off the hook, either.)

Well, phooey. The Air Force shot down the Chinese balloon. Or so it appears. But how can we on the ground be certain that the little white dot downed off the S.C. coast was the same little white dot that was over Montana 2 days ago?

Re the Chinese spy balloon: Perhaps the US can't shoot it down? The F-22 service ceiling is something "over 50,000 feet," but the balloon is or was at 60,000. Also, the balloon emits no jet exhaust for air-to-air missiles to home in on. Maybe this is why we've never downed one.

Granted, there are plenty of concerns about wokism and the Deep State/media complex. But my point is that this threat is never weighed against the supposed Trumpian threat. When it comes time to vote in 2024, this may the most essential factor in the choice we have to make.

Much has been said about Donald Trump's threat to "our democracy," and I don't dismiss that possibility. However, what about 2 other threats: the elite insistence on woke language and thought and the unaccountable Deep State's alliance with the media? Which threat is greater?