Okay, Let Me Get This Out of My System

If I react to everything stupid that opponents of Trump say and do for the next 4 years as they insist that the Trumptatorship is descending on us, I'm not going to make it.

I'm not a fan of Trump. He was literally the last Republican candidate that I wanted. But I'm a huge fan of not-Hillary. And the opponents of Trump who have turned their Holy Dissent up to 11 for every single thing he does make me not a fan of their opinions.

Yet it could be a full time job to reply to all the stupidity. So I'm going to dump out some of the things I've read and heard here and hopefully move on from being outraged at the idiocy and double standards.

And the idiocy. Did I mention the idiocy? Yes? Well okay, then.

1--Let's see, first I have from the CNN description of the Prime Minister May--President Trump meeting: "Theresa May praises Trump but pledges end to ‘failed’ foreign wars." CNN can imply that Trump disagrees with the idea of ending "failed" wars? I'm not happy with Trump for attacking the Iraq War. But Trump campaigned on that! Why a "but" implying this is a slap at Trump and not an "and?"

Keep in mind that despite Obama's pledge of  "responsibly ending our wars," that President Obama is the one who set the record by being the first president ever to be at war for every single day of 8 years in office--including waging Iraq War 2.0!

2--Democrats freak out over a call for patriotic devotion. “Guys, this is why Red America hates us.” The Left likes to indignantly say that the Right doesn't have a monopoly on patriotism. They'd make a more believable case if they didn't react to the American flag the way vampires react to sunlight and Holy Water.

I didn't put my love of country in a blind trust for the duration of the Obama presidency. And if you can't separate our country from whoever happens to be in the Oval Office, you have a serious problem.

3--California liberals are singing "Dixie" these days. But don't you dare call them unpatriotic!

4--Liberals are turning the dial to 11 again over administration effort to control our border. A temporary ban on people coming from certain problematic countries is being treated like a massive horrific crime against humanity. This is not a Moslem ban. Moslems from many Moslem-majority countries not on the list--a list made under law that Obama signed--are not affected.

Given how awful these protesters say America is becoming under the Trump dictatorship, you'd think this halt would be considered a kindness, but no. Humorously, some Democrats complaining about Trump's order simultaneously complain that more Arab states like Saudi Arabia weren't included! Huh? A bad move would be better with more bad? Do they even think through the logic of their tantrums?

More importantly, Obama had a six-month ban on Iraqis coming here and the press said nothing. And remember when Bill Clinton was applauded for wanting to restrict illegal immigration? Did Senator Schumer (back when he was a Representative) cry or applaud during that speech? Did he pluck a nose hair and tear up two years ago when he supported a pause of Syrian refugees coming to America?

And there is this: While green card holders shouldn't be part of this--and despite the fury of the Left, they are being let back in after a screening and not banned--the list of countries Trump used came from the Obama administration. And consider that Obama banned Iraqis for 6 months without a peep from the press or Democrats (technically that's not completely redundant).

Amazingly, the Washington Post "fact checker" said that the different media coverage was because Obama ordered his pause in secret--so the media only prints "news" if Democrats hand them the story?--and that the Obama order wasn't based on religion--yet neither is Trump's which is based on countries. Great job!

The idea that we don't have the right as a sovereign entity to control our borders is just nonsense. Funny, there were no sad faces of outrage at the end of last year with this round of deportations. Because hope and change made it great!

Look, there are reasons to disagree with all or parts of the order. I don't agree with the totality of it. But it is policy that is well within our laws, for God's sake--not atrocity. If the Left keeps turning it up to 11 for every darned thing, they're going to collapse in an exhausted heap by April. Pace yourselves Leftists. You've got 4 (and if you keep acting like idiots, 8) years to go. And this is interesting.

5--Fake news: It's not just for deplorables! (No snowflakes, Trump did not establish secret prisons for detaining foreigners under the limited travel suspension.)

6--Starbucks announced it would hire 10,000 refugees over the next 5 years. It was greeted with delirious joy by the Left. Which is fine and their right, of course. And the coffee company has a right to do this, assuming protected minorities under our laws aren't adversely impacted by the decision. But why do I get the feeling that the delirious happiness is felt by the privileged liberals who will never need to seek a job at a Starbucks rather than felt by people who might actually want to apply for those jobs.

7--Speaking of outrageous left wing reaction to the building (and manning) of a southern border "wall," enforcing our immigration laws is actually a normal thing that nations do rather than being a fascist outrage: "Mexico has more severe laws against illegal immigrants, and enforces them more vigorously than does the United States. ... All this was noticed in the U.S. and politicians there found themselves under increasing pressure to enforce American migration laws as vigorously as Mexico (and Canada) did. By 2016 that brought to power an American government that seemed serious about applying Mexican practices to illegal migrants and actually did so." I guess all three nations belong to the North American Fascist Tactics Agreement.

8--I see that Democrats are going to remind us every day that Trump is a minority president. Which is true, he failing to exceed Hillary's total let alone get a majority of voters. Let me just point out that while Clinton won a plurality in 1992, his percentage of the vote was lower than Trump's; and Clinton still failed to get a majority in 1996. Yet Democrats have made him a secular saint. The key is legitimacy, and Trump has it as much as Bill Clinton had. Trump certainly has a harder job of maintaining popular support for his actions given his vote total, but that's a political issue that Clinton also faced.

9--I am amused that liberals are complaining that Trump's limited travel suspension from certain countries (until regular policies can be formulated) will harm Iraqi interpreters, an Iraqi general, and Iraqi trainee F-16 pilots trying to come to America. One, I agree but I assume this will be sorted out. But two, since when did our liberals who became anti-war in autumn 2004 become so defensive about Iraqis who worked with the hated Bush 43 Bushtatorship in that "bad" war of choice? Can it be that the soothing balms of hope and change dispatched to Iraq by Obama in 2014 for Iraq War 2.0 magically transformed the entire campaign into a "good" war? Saints be praised!

10-A post-election "hate crime" hotline was used by Trump backers nearly as much as by Clinton backers was contrary to whose expectations exactly?  And considering that this was Massachusetts, I dare say that if you measured it as attacks per 1,000 voters that Trump backers were attacked proportionally more than Clinton backers, even though the hotline was no doubt marketed to the Left. Tip to Instapundit.

11-Representative Elizabeth Esty on the Trump travel suspension: Wait. What? There's a record of bills I co-sponsored?

12-The long battle between Control and KAOS continues.

13-No, skittish bunnies, Trump did not issue a "gag order" to the EPA. Tip to the Instapundit Borg.

14-So backers of President Obama whose inaction helped create the Syrian refugee crisis are furiously and morally outraged that President Trump does not want America to bear the brunt of that Obama failure? Nice work if you can get it, as the expression goes.

Regime change years ago before jihadis flocked to Syria and when Assad looked vulnerable (and when President Obama was confident enough of that judgment to announce that Assad must step down with confidence that nothing would be required of Obama to make that come true) would have been a better strategy to save Syrians, you must admit.

Seriously, are you trying to argue that the American response to murderous tyrants is to let them kill as many people as they can, with as many different weapons including chemical warfare; but open our borders to anybody that manages to survive the mass killing spree? Really? That's humanity in action?

And so the band plays on, with the authors feeling an eerie inter-war vibe about our era, as I've long held.

And Donald Trump himself is the biggest problem our Left can see. That's just effing great.

15-So the very same people who have spend my entire adult life telling us that "states' rights" is just a code word for racism want to make California a so-called "sanctuary state" in defiance of federal law? So when does the California star and bear flag get adapted to the "stars and bears" flag?

16-If an attendee at a Tea Party rally had a parking ticket, it was evidence of dangerous fascist tendencies of the whole movement as far as the media was concerned. This type of violent rhetoric by some leftist scumbag is just equality, or something. Clearly, this pre-school teacher doesn't play well with others. Ah the values of anti-Trump rally speakers! Nothing to see, move along. Sadly we have not reached Peak Stupid yet.

17-If Trump is an imminent fascist, why are all the Socially Aware (SA) storm trooper street thugs on the Left? It seems like the fragile bunnies in fear of the Trumpocaust have more to fear from the Left's usual suspect menagerie of anarchists and communist street scum. If Democrats keep up this stupid rage/temper tantrum--over what is basically just a normal range of policies--they'll lose more ground in 2 years. Normal people don't think riots and unearned moral superiority displays are what democracy looks like.

And as a bonus question, will reporters ask every Democratic office holder at every chance if they condemn the violence at Berkeley by their SA "woke" street thugs?

Will reporters ask local officials why there weren't mass arrests in response to that chaos and violence that disrupted freedom of speech? Because that is not what democracy looks like, as a-hole rioters like to claim. That intimidation of free speech is what totalitarianism looks like.

My questions are rhetorical, of course. The media will not hound Democrats the way they hound Republicans for far less.

18-Sexism in the age of Trump. Fight the hate.

19-Democrats think Trump is an un-American authoritarian. Just ask them. Shouldn't that mean that they and their press allies treat him with loving respect and adulation like a rock star?

20-All those on the Left contemplating moving to a more tolerant (and gun-free!) Canada may want to reconsider their travel plans. Still, they might want to go more urgently when you consider that Trump has managed to travel back in time to kill with his refugee executive order!

21-She's pretty, but Sarah Silverman is dumb as a rock with her "we have to destroy democracy to save it" tweet. And repulsive, too. When I became a soldier I took an oath, as every soldier does, to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America (and of the state of Michigan, as a Guard soldier). The oath does not depend on who is president. Hollywood may lack honor. Our military does not lack honor and will not participate in such a crime as Silverman urged. Duty, honor, country, freedom.

22-Why does the Left hate gay free speech so much? I both defend Milo Yiannopoulos' right to free speech and my right not to care what he says or even pay much attention to him. The left could argue against him but they seem more interested in shutting him down. And it is no use for the left to claim he is extreme and so deserving of this attention, because leftists successfully shut down lots of Republican or conservative speakers routinely on campuses. America is a free speech zone. Campuses seem to be cult factories for anti-freedom close-minded fanatics.

23-The Left's SA storm trooper street thugs continue their battle to suppress free speech.  This time in New York. This is what thuggery looks--and sounds--like. Can't let the west coast scum have all the fun, eh? Tips to Instapundit.

24-That Lion of the Left, Robert Reich, spreads rumors that the anarchists at Berkeley who hijacked a peaceful student protest were actually right-wingers out to make liberals look bad. Nice theory except that the Left with their anarchist and ANSWER street thugs doesn't need conservatives to make them look bad. Next interview complete with tinfoil cap, I assume.

25-The federal bureaucracy won't let a little thing like an election tell them what to do. Liberalism today . . . liberalism tomorrow . . . liberalism forever. Trump, perhaps with the help of Congress, needs a vertical chop of entire uncooperative sections of some departments that avoids civil service protections by eliminating the funding for an entire entity. Eliminating the position is different than firing someone, right? A Roman decimation was always intended to affect the 90% who remain standing, after all. I expect that bureaucracies will drag their feet on policies they don't like. But there should be limits to how brazen it can be given that they are supposed to be nonpartisan employees of all Americans and not just Democrats.

26-All those leftists claiming Trump is a fascist don't really understand what the word means. As one wag put it, wait until all those people suddenly buying 1984 and Animal Farm in response to the Trump victory discover that the books are about communism.

27-Communists are protesting against the immigration executive order. Note in pictures 23 and 24 of the 24 that Los Angeles Communists (ANSWER) is participating. Not that you have to be a communist to oppose the order. But will the media ask every Democrat every day if they reject the support of communists in this policy debate? Because this is one of those "if Republicans had someone reprehensible supporting them the media would ask 24/7" issues.

28-The Left likes to claim that the temporary ban on people coming in from 7 Moslem-majority states (identified by the Obama administration as problematic, terror-wise) is actually a "Moslem ban" because those states are almost exclusively Moslem. Other than the fact that many more Moslems live in countries not under the temporary ban, isn't the fact that those 7 states don't have significant religious minority communities a condemnation of their success in ethnically cleansing other religions over the centuries since their conquest by Islamic armies?

29-The real "resistance" in San Francisco. Tolerance is a beautiful thing to behold.

30-Do you recall the obscenity-laced rant by a professor at some anti-Trump protest, which everybody thought made perfect sense to be coming from a professor? Other than her rant giving a bad name to what your humble host strives to provide, it turns out that--saints preserve us--the "professor" is in fact a "lobster porn performance artist." We live in a great big weird world, don't we? I sincerely hope that I find out that this is just a joke. I will happily update this if that is the case.

31-A kid was attacked on a school bus for wearing a Trump hat. School officials say they want the victim and attackers to get together and "reach a peaceful understanding." I say the understanding should be that you don't attack people for their views.
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So that's it. Some of the Democratic concerns could have been policy questions, but liberal Trump Hysteria Condition elevated them to sheer stupidity.

Trump can certainly learn some lessons in areas he did not consult on early in the drafting of his refugee executive order, but in the end changes will be made to fix problems and it will work out fine. And he has the advantage of having acted quickly, which demonstrates a desire to change things.

And given that Trump sounds like a typical leftist when he equates America with Russia's Putin where rule of law is (and opponents are) dead, can you understand why I'm not fully comfortable with Trump and why I can't fathom why the Left of all people hates him with such unhinged fear? He rose from liberal ranks!

Democrats could rightly ridicule the fringe right that claimed Obama was a secret Moslem, a communist, and not even born in America. I didn't see why you couldn't oppose President Obama as an ill-prepared, Christian, social democrat at heart, who was born in Hawaii. That was bad enough.

But it seems like virtually the entire Democratic party with their nostalgia for "phone and pen" Obama has beclowned itself by acting as if they and their SA storm troopers are the "resistance" to a new autocrat!

There. I feel better now. This is sort of a Trump Hysteria Condition data dump. I hope to leave it in the rear view mirror, as much as possible.

Trump has disturbing liberal and isolationist tendencies that I don't like. I will disagree with some of his foreign (and domestic, but I try to stay in my lane) policy, I'm sure, if he overrides his cabinet on policies that are important, I'm sure they will try to redirect him (like the value of NATO, for example).

But reacting to all the stupid from the Left pose a danger of pushing me to reflexively defend Trump regardless of the issue. The Left already got me to more easily accept Trump as the not-Hillary through their pre-election hate-filled tantrum against Trump supporters. These Trump voters disagree with the Left--they are not deplorable because of it.

Jesus Christ, you fruit loops on the left! Your fantasies of Trump as Hitler are nonsense and serve only to bolster your self esteem as brave members of the "Resistance" who are in no danger of being beaten by thug storm troopers--those street enforcers are on your side, remember?

I'm going to tune out the Left as much as possible. Or at least try not to blog about them much even when the real issue is media bias in covering them rather than the Leftist outrage of the moment.

Besides, I am a defense blogger even if the Left annoys me on a broader array of issues. Others will document the hysteria far better than I can. By turning the Dissent Dial to 11, liberals have forfeited their credibility on Trump and his policies as far as I'm concerned.

I'll not be dragged down by liberal mental health issues. That's my plan, anyway.