RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/what-was-so-different-this-time-about-trumps-election/

In the weeks before the 2016 Trump Electoral College victory, Donald Trump was polling between 35 and 40 percent.

He would average only about 41% approval over his tumultuous four-year tenure.

No one knows what lies ahead over the next four years. But for now, Trump already polls well over 50% approval.

His inauguration in a few weeks will likely not resemble Trump’s 2016 ceremony.

In the 2016-7 transition, Democratic-affiliated interests ran commercials urging electors to become “faithless,” and thus illegally to reject their states’ popular votes and instead elect the loser, Hillary Clinton.

Massive demonstrations met Trump on Inauguration Day.

In less than four months after assuming the presidency, Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate the hoax of Russian collusion.

That wasted 22-month, $40 million investigation found no collusion, but did derail the first two Trump years.

What followed the collusion ruse was a consistent effort to undermine the Trump presidency — two subsequent impeachments, the laptop “disinformation” hoax, the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown, and news suppression of any mention of the Chinese lab origin of the virus or questioning the closing of schools.

In the Trump administration’s last summer of 2020, 120 days of riot, arson, looting, assault, and murder followed, with the denouement of the January 6 turmoil.

In contrast, the 2024-5 Trump transition has all but assumed the presidency. Over 100 foreign leaders have elbowed each other to be invited to Mar-a-Lago or to phone in their congratulations to the newly elected Trump.

Remember that in 2016 the Left screamed “Logan Act” if a Trump transition appointee even talked with foreign officials.

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/12/24/old-saint-knick-washington-irvings-antidote-to-woke/

According to Walter Russell Mead’s recent analysis, “One way to read Trump’s second victory in three elections is that the movement for a post-American America with a successor ideology and post-Judeo Christian cultural and ethical foundation aimed at fundamentally changing American society has reached its sell-by date.”

Do not hold your breath.

The demise of “Woke” has been greatly exaggerated. The unfortunate truth is that the Woke Era, under which the great mass of Americans has been harassed since the reelection of Barack Obama, is merely the latest spasm of the puritanism that has periodically plagued the body politic since the English Civil War. The particular issues change, but the insufferable moralization and coercive war on preexisting cultural traditions and symbols are always recognizable.

Fortunately, Wokeness does appear to be receding at the moment, the antidote having been provided by a New Yorker who “looked at things poetically rather than politically” and “revered the past and the stability that a sense of the past provides.” No, I am not referring to Donald Trump, but another Knickerbocker — Washington Irving.

Born in 1783, the year of victory over the British, Irving’s life would span the entire antebellum period of American history. Fittingly named after the father of his country, Irving would go on to establish himself as the Father of American Literature. He believed that America’s puritanical impulses stunted healthy cultural development, a belief developed in rebellion against a puritanical upbringing under Irving’s strict Presbyterian father.

“I have no relish for Puritans either in religion or politics, who are pushing for principles to an extreme, and overturning everything that stands in the way of their own zealous career,” wrote Irving. Instead, Irving had faith in tradition, where “population, manners, and customs remained fixed.” And nowhere is Irving’s impact on American traditions greater than in the way we celebrate Christmas.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/12/no_daniel_pennys_migrant_sets_woman_on_fire_in_new_york_subway_as_cops_bumble_and_gov_hochul_touts_making_subway_safer.html

In a grotesque confluence of all the horrid doings in wokester New York City, a Guatemalan migrant brazenly set a woman on fire in broad daylight in the New York subway just to watch her burn, and no Daniel Pennys came forward to stop the barbaric crime.

According to the New York Post:

A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested for allegedly lighting a sleeping subway rider on fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning — then watching as his innocent victim burned to death in what the police commissioner called “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit.”

The savage killing — which happened at about 7:30 a.m. on an idling F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station — shocked commuters, MTA workers and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who said Sunday that the heinous crime “took the life of an innocent New Yorker.”

“As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim, who was in a seated position at the end of a subway car … and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch said at a press conference.

Patrolling cops smelled and saw the smoke, then followed it to the flame-covered woman, the commissioner said. 

They extinguished the blaze, but the victim died at the scene.

Horrifying video obtained by The Post showed the suspect calmly looking on as flames consumed the still-unidentified woman, who stood inside the open subway car door.

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/12/23/americans-mostly-like-trumps-idea-of-replacing-income-tax-with-tariffs-ii-tipp-poll/

Soon to be President Donald Trump has talked about getting rid of the U.S. income tax and replacing it with a system of tariffs. He has come under heavy criticism from Democrats and many economists. But average Americans appear to like the idea, with a plurality favoring Trump’s idea, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.

The December online I&I/TIPP Poll asked 1,441 adults across the country the following question: “President Trump has talked about replacing the income tax with tariffs (taxes on selected imports). Would you support or oppose such a move?” The poll has a margin error of +/-2.6 percentage points.

A plurality of those responding answered yes. Specifically, 46% said they either support the idea “strongly” (17%) or “somewhat” (28%). On the other side, 38% said they opposed the idea either “strongly” (24%) or “somewhat” (14%). A sizeable 16% said they were not sure.

But by far the strongest support for the idea came from Trump’s main constituency, Republicans. They support the tariff idea by a hefty 75%, with only 13% standing opposed and 12% “not sure.”

Democrats aren’t so keen on the tariff idea, with 24% supporting and a majority 62% opposing the idea, with 14% not sure.

Independent/third-party respondents once again more or less split on the issue, with 39% supporting it, but 43% opposing. The “not sure” response was 19%, indicating significant indecision on the proposed plan.

http://www.swtotd.blogspot.com

Democrats are puzzled that their majorities among the working-class, blacks and minorities are shrinking. Why, they wonder, is the Party that long showed concern for working Americans being abandoned by those same people? They have forgotten that political parties are not static entities. Democrats’ current bar-bell approach, with coastal elitists offset by those dependent on government, ignores the vast middle-class. Smugness and complacency have enshrouded their leaders, as they did Republicans half a century earlier.

Political parties change, adapting to demands from their wealthiest backers and noisiest constituents. Prior to the Civil War, abolitionists joined the new Republican Party, while slave-holders were mostly Democrats. But over time, the Party of Lincoln morphed into northeast coastal elitists, while Democrat segregationists of the mid-Twentieth Century south joined with civil rights activists. Now, another change, which has been underway for the past few decades, is reaching a climax. New England, dominated by Republicans in the 1950s and ‘60s, has become – with the exception of New Hampshire – a bastion for Democrats. In the past thirty years, there has been only one New England State that voted for a Republican president, and that was New Hampshire in 2000. In contrast, in the 36 years ending in 1988, Republican presidential candidates won more than twice as many New England states as Democrats.

There is a scene in the Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye 1954 movie White Christmas that captures the image: Entertainers Crosby and Kaye follow two girls (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen) they had met in Florida to the Columbia Inn in Pine Tree, Vermont, an inn now run by their former World War II commander, General Waverly (Dean Jagger). Because of a lack of snow, Waverly is having a tough time. Crosby and Kaye decide they must do something, something unusual: “What do you think would be a novelty up here in Vermont?” asks Bing Crosby. “Who knows?” replies Danny Kaye. “Perhaps we can dig up a Democrat.” Today Democrats outnumber Republicans in Vermont by more than two and a half to one. However, empirical evidence suggests Republicans are, once again, beginning to narrow the gap.

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5049614-liberal-business-hate

A horrifying new poll shows 41 percent of American young people find Luigi Mangion’s cowardly assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson “acceptable.” How did our youth come to hate corporate America so much?  

I blame Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other liberal Democrats who continually vilify American businesses, blaming them for being greedy and corrupt and for taking advantage of American consumers.  

Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, seemed to sympathize with Mangione murdering Thompson, a complete stranger. She told the Huffington Post: “The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system. This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they … start to take matters into their own hands.” While she included the obligatory “Violence is never the answer,” it sure sounds like she’s excusing the killer.   

The left is quick to blame right-wing rhetoric for inciting violence; they should admit that their own venomous business-bashing has contributed to one death and could cause more. The New York Post reports that James Harr, founder of a “socialist apparel” brand, has called online for the killing of “titans of greed,” and plans to issue decks of cards with the names and photos of “most wanted CEOs.”   

This rising craziness is the direct result of liberals blaming our big businesses for the terrible hardship brought on by Democrats’ reckless spending, which led to soaring inflation. When rising prices began to devour Americans’ paychecks, angering voters and pummeling Joe Biden’s approval ratings, the president didn’t stop spending; instead, he accused food companies of “ripping off” consumers and playing the public for “suckers.”    

Not to be outdone, during her campaign Vice President Harris accused companies of “nefarious price gouging;” she threatened to “go after bad actors” that she blamed for soaring grocery costs.   

https://thespectator.com/topic/ever-continuing-resolution-congress-doge/

In the 1870s, Gustave Flaubert assembled Le Dictionnaire des idées reçues, a humorous collection of “received ideas” and clichés then current in French society. A new version needs to be produced for contemporary America. As in the original, the humor would often turn on the contradiction or subterfuge implicit in the word or phrase. “Affirmative action” would merit an entry, since it is supposed to be about battling discrimination when in fact it enshrines discrimination in law.

So would the current favorite, “Continuing Resolution” (“CR” among the cognoscenti). The phrase carries the aroma legislative diligence. In fact,…

A “Continuing Resolution” is the fig leaf Congress stitches together in order to conceal, or at least divert attention from, its failure to do its job and provide a fiscally sound budget in a timely manner. It has happened often in recent decades because the self-serving deadbeats we elect to govern us are, well, self-serving deadbeats. Did you know that the last time the United States had a proper budget was 1996? 

The specter of a “government shutdown” is supposed to goad any legislators contemplating a defection from the CR to get back in line. It may not be amiss to note that the phrase “government shutdown” itself deserves a place in our new dictionary of received ideas, since the government never shuts down, more’s the pity. When push comes to shove, those in favor of the CR respond to criticism by shuttering some national parks and some bureaucrats cease even pretending to work. Never mind. The aircraft carriers continue their patrols and the really essential checks, like those that pay congressional salaries, continue to be processed.

https://nypost.com/2024/12/18/opinion/benjamin-weingarten-congress-huge-spending-bill-sneaks-in-a-rescue-for-censors/

Just when Congress seemed poised to strike a blow against the Censorship-Industrial Complex, its 11th-hour maneuvering may have snatched defeat from the jaws of free-speech victory.

Tucked into the 1,547-page continuing resolution now before Congress to fund the government into March is a section titled “Global Engagement Center Extension.”

If not struck, it will prolong the life of a key government censorship cog that had been ticketed for closure.

The State Department recently indicated its plans to shutter the GEC in a court filing.

The department’s announced plan to “realign” the GEC’s staff and funding to other “foreign information manipulation and interference activities” already gave free speech champions pause — but any Deep State concession would have been significant.

GEC was formed to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

But like other parts of the fed-led censorship apparatus, the interagency entity underwent civil rights-eviscerating mission creep, expanding its mandate to suppress the speech of Americans guilty of wrongthink.

https://victorhanson.com/dronomania/

New Jersey is now subject to nonstop and often sensational civilian reports of swarms of nocturnal drones crossing city skies and violating the airspace of airports and military bases.

Terrified thousands demand to know what these drones are doing and to whom they belong.

In response, the Biden administration had initially kept mum.

Then, under mounting public pressure, it assured the public to be calm, given that most of the drones were likely launched by hobbyists and private citizens.

When that narrative failed to convince many, spokespeople pivoted to claims of mass hysteria and mistaken identity.

Amateur sightseers, they inferred, were subject to panic and hallucinations—supposedly wrongly confusing normal civilian and airline planes with drones.

Perhaps.

But as the sightings continued, more government narratives followed that the drones were unidentified but assuredly still harmless and certainly not foreign-operated.

Still, the mysterious sightings continued.

And the public’s initial curiosity soon turned to fear and finally to anger at their government’s silence, subsequent gaslighting, and final mendacity.

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/12/20/biden-promised-a-return-to-normalcy-looks-like-trump-will-deliver-it/

What do a $15 million settlement with ABC News, a Washington, D.C., waitress getting fired, and the Los Angeles Times planning to include a bias meter in its news stories have in common?

They are all welcome signs that the nation is embracing normalcy once again – something that Joe Biden was allegedly going to restore after Donald Trump’s supposedly chaotic years.

Trump’s first term was chaotic, but not because of what he did so much as the four-year hysteria unleashed by his opponents.

Biden, on the other hand, brought true chaos. A tainted election, foreign wars, open borders, runaway inflation, exploding deficits, shortages, censorship, weaponized justice, incompetence, two assassination attempts, rising disunity, despair.

But now that the left’s unhinged efforts to silence conservative voices and block Trump’s reelection have been soundly defeated, a return to some semblance of normalcy is actually possible.

ABC News’ settlement – which includes a public apology in addition to the $15 million to settle a defamation case over “journalist” George Stephanopoulos’ repeated assertion that Trump had been found “liable for rape” – is a sign that news media can’t do or say whatever it wants to push an agenda.