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Biden and Cuomo: The End of an Era

December 20, 2020
by Peter Feinman
1824: The Ugly Election That Birthed Modern American Politics (nationalgeographic.com)

Our next presidential election will be the bicentennial of the election of 1824. That year might not ring a bell with people but it marked an important transition in American history. In that election, America transformed from what is called the First Party system to the Second Party system. The First Parties were the Federalists (Hamilton, Adams) and the Anti-Federalists/Republicans (Jefferson). The Second Parties were the Whigs (Clay, Webster) and the Democrats (Jackson). The “Stop the Steal” election of 1824 was the transition point. It occurred two years before the 50th anniversary of the birth of the nation just as 2024 will be two years before the 250th anniversary, a number that would have been outstanding to them.

Today we take for granted not only the two-party system but the existence of the two parties we have at present. The election of 1824 involved 4 major presidential candidates. While 2024 is likely to have fewer, there are four factions which will be competing for the top spot. In this blog, I wish to address two of them: the Democratic Party and the Diversity Party.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY VERSUS THE DIVERSITY PARTY

The modern Democratic Party as we know it emerged in the 1930’s under Franklin Roosevelt. Three of its components were the Irish (Joe Biden), the Italian (Andy Cuomo), and the Jewish (Chuck Schumer). It included white Southerners who especially since the 1960s, have migrated to the Republican/Confederate Party. It did not include Negroes who later became African Americans and who migrated from the Republican/Lincoln Party to the Democratic Party.

That era is over. Non-transgendered white male heterosexuals like Biden, Cuomo, and Schumer have no future in the Diversity Party. Candidates and appointees need to be diverse. I am not suggesting that this will be an instantaneous transformation at the federal, state, and local level. It will happen gradually through direct frontal challenges (the AOC election) and through attrition. For example, in my own congressional district a traditional Democrat was replaced by a Diverse person. Now all the Hudson Valley congressional representations are diverse. Cuomo already was challenged by a Diverse candidate. When he finally leaves office, the odds are a Diverse person will replace him. Similarly for Schumer.

This situation is playing out in California now. There is one Senate opening due to the incumbent being elected Vice President. Soon there will be a second one. The current Democrat is 87 years old and past her prime. Whether Feinstein steps down or hangs on until the end of her term, the Democrat will be succeeded by a Diverse representative. The different hyphen-groups already are jousting for the Harris seat. Perhaps there will be a compromise where one hyphen group gets the Harris seat and a second one gets the Feinstein seat. Welcome to the world of New York City Council elections.

Biden also faces the obligation to appoint people from the Diverse Party. He seems to be trying to do so with people who have diverse characteristics but Democratic Party values. Since he has many positions to fill, he has a lot of options as he juggles his responsibilities. He still can appoint non-transgendered white male heterosexuals instead of a diverse person as long as he explains why.

The Diverse Party is quite outspoken about its expectations from the new administration. Yes, they want a seat at the table in the room where it happens. They even can designate how many seats they want – more than a token. Similarly, they do not want seats in the back of the room by the kitchen door. They want to be seat upfront in seats of power and prestige.

The Diverse Party like the Tea Party a decade earlier is not likely to become a separate political party. It will continue to operate within the Democratic Party gradually building up its strength especially as the older Democratic officials retire or are retired.

DIVERSE PARTY LINGO

The Diverse Party has its own convoluted lingo where words don’t mean what they seem to mean. Here are two recent examples from consecutive days in The New York Times.

“Asian-Americans Have a Lesson for Democrats” by Viet Thanh Nguyen (12/17/20 print)

Consider his second sentence:

For Democrats, Asian-Americans are suddenly crucial: They are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S. electorate…

What makes this comment so extraordinarily absurd? First, Asia is a continent. The word comes from the Greeks. They were referring to what today is Turkey where “Murder on Orient Express” was headed. Second, Asia is not a racial or ethnic group. Later on in the op-ed, the author acknowledges that “The category ‘Asian-Americans’ is not natural, for people in Asia do not typically imagine themselves as Asians, but rather identify with specific nationalities or ethnicities.”

In his bio, Nguyen is listed as covering South East Asia. That makes sense. He is of Vietnamese descent. The United States fought a long war in what was routinely identified as Southeast Asia. The Vice-President elect is routinely identified as being South Asian. The Boston Marathon bombers are of Central Asian descent. The area the Greeks referred to as Asia is now mainly Southwest Asia in academic studies and the Middle East in political discussions. And let’s not forget where Siberia is located.

“ASIANS” IS NOT A RACIAL TERM.
WHAT WORD DOES IDENTIFY THE RACE OF THE PEOPLE IDENTIFIED AS ASIAN-AMERICANS? CAN YOU THINK OF ONE?

Nguyen goes on to note that Asian-Americans support policies consistent with those supported by people of color. That means Asian-Americans are not people of color. What color are they then? Or are they a people of no color?

President of Queens College

Here we see the nonsense of the politically-corrected terminology that twists people into absurd knots. Now we know that Asian-Americans are a people of no color who do not include all Americans of Asian descent and who have no name for their race. How progressive.

Want more?

“Biden makes History by Picking Native American for the Cabinet” by Coral Davenport (12/18/20 print)

In this example of twisted reporting, Deb Haaland, the article mentions:

native as an adjective once
Native as a noun once
Native America six times
Indigenous three times
Indian twice as part of the name of government entities.

Can you imagine an article on Joe Biden where he is identified as Irish, Celtic, European, and white during the course of the writing?

One might think that government entities responsible for Indians means that the people over whom they are responsible are Indians. That is true but politically incorrect. Instead the reader is treated to a plethora of terms. Indians do know that all people born in the United States are native Americans. Indians should also know that no native Americans should be privileged over any other native American. Indians however have what the Southeast Asians and East Asians do not have: a real name for themselves – INDIAN.

According to this article, Elizabeth Kronk Warner, dean and professor of law at the University of Utah, and a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa INDIANS [and presumably of Utah, too] said:

It’s momentous to see an INDIAN promoted out of the shadows of American history to a seat at the table in the White House. Tribes and the federal government have a relationship that goes back to the 18th century ⸺ but despite that relationship we have never had an American INDIAN at this level of government.

Apparently the only ones who can use the term “Indian” are Indians themselves. While that is somewhat of an exaggeration, it isn’t by as much as it should be.

As we head towards the 1824 Presidential Election Bicentennial, it is reasonable to anticipate that the Diversity Party will become more and more insistent that politically-corrected vocabulary be used that no matter how convoluted and distorted it is. It is reasonable to anticipate that the Democratic Party will follow the lead of the Diversity Party. It is reasonable to anticipate that more and more white people will object to the microaggressions of having to toe the Diversity Party line or be subject to the Thought Police. What is not known is whether the opposition will stop being the party of stupid cowering weenies in the face of this politically-corrected assault and will realize the opportunity it presents if it was capable of being the party of Lincoln.

More to come on the 1824 Bicentennial.

National Emergency Crisis: The Howard Baker Moment Is Now

January 11, 2019
by Peter Feinman
Canadian Terrorist Burning of the White House during the War of 1812 (Columbia Pictures)

During the course of American history, the country has faced many national emergency crises.

During the War of 1812, Canada burned the White House and the Pentagon in its terrorist assault on the country. To pour fuel on the fire, almost two centuries later Canada imposed on its weaker southern neighbor the worst economic treaty in American history. It is only when our Lord and Savior ascended to the Oval Office, that he rectified the wrong with the greatest economic treaty in American history….although he had to shut down the government to get Congress to pass NAFTA II.

Turning now from the alternate reality to the real world, there have been national emergency crises that tested the mettle of the Oval Office occupant.

The Day of Infamy.

The Cuban Missile Crisis.

9/11.

Each of one these events became a defining moment for the American President. They became the events through which the American people saw whether the President had the right stuff to rise to the occasion and safely steer the ship of state. They became the events historians would study and school kids would learn in districts where American history is still taught. What they all had in common was that the threat to the country came from outside, the crisis was foreign-generated.

Sometimes the crisis could be economic in nature:

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Sometimes the crisis could be in nature:

“Heckuva job, Brownie.”

For better and for worse these events also became defining ones of the President. Who can forget the picture of the President of the United States having fun tossing rolls of paper towels in Puerto Rico?

“Wee. I’m having fun. It’s all about me. Wee!”

Through this photo-op, We the People had the opportunity to see for ourselves how the current occupant proved he was an A+ president with this heroic display of leadership.

Now we come to the current national emergency crisis. At this point, it is no secret that “Build a Wall!” was a great campaign gimmick to shout in professional wrestling arenas. The call and response of who was going to pay for the Great Wall of Trump was an added bonus. The audience really got into the show that was being presented just as it does at a real professional wrestling match only this time they apparently thought it was real.

One of in the indelible images of the campaign, at least for me although I have not seen it replayed on the cable talk shows, occurred after the Mexican President stated that Mexico would not, in fact, pay for the wall. At the professional wrestling arena campaign event, the immature child responded to Mexico in true hissy fit fashion:

Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
You are going to pay and the wall is going to be ten feet higher!

Many people have forgotten that campaign promise to build the wall ten feet higher. What made the moment indelible was the young white man sitting behind him and to his right. When Little Donnee Wannee declared that Mexico not only would pay for the wall but that it would be ten feet higher, this young white man leaped to his feet and thrust his arm to the heavens. It was a great display of the perfect con at work. One wonders how this individual feels now knowing that there never was any expectation that Mexico would pay for the wall and it would be the expense of the American taxpayer if built.

What began as a fraudulent con now has become real. Back in December, the wall looked like it would slide into the abyss never to be constructed. Nothing had happened in two years. The route had not been documented the way the Alaskan Pipeline was before it had been constructed. Eminent domain proceedings had not been initiated to seize the private property along the planned route. Environmental plans had not been filed. I don’t even know if a final design had been selected yet alone one that was ten feet higher. All in all, the world’s worst manager had demonstrated how he had been a serial failure in business by doing nothing to prepare for the construction of the wall in event Congress did approve it.

Following the 2018 election, it looked like time was running out. December was the last opportunity to pass a spending bill with a Republican majority in the House. When the weeny President caved, Ann Coulter was there to provide him the “backbone” that he lacked. Now it was an issue. The line had been drawn in the sand and he would not back down.

There is a saying that when you are in a hole, stop digging. That adage does not apply to this President. After all, he is a winner, He never loses. He won the election in 2016 including the popular vote since all the illegal votes for Crooked Hillary should not have been counted. He won the election in 2018 since he added two seats in the Senate and loss fewer seats in the House than Obama had. That was true on Election night when the losses were only in the 20s and remained true as they creeped up and reached 40. Hannity told him so.

The talking heads often talk about how he needs to show his Republican base that he is fighting for them. That misses the point.

The talking heads often talk about how he needs to placate Fox, Ann, and Rush. That misses the point.

The reason why this truly is a national emergency crisis is because he has to show to himself that he is a winner and not a loser. Even though the wall started as a campaign gimmick it now has become the measure of whether he is a winner or not.  If the wall is not built then NanChuck won and he lost. That is unacceptable. Therefore the wall will be built no matter what, no matter what it takes for him to build it even if the government remains shut down months or years or he has the military build it. NanChuck have left him no other choice but to play the national emergency card.

On one level, the national emergency crisis provides an easy way to end the government shutdown. The Senate could immediate pass all the funding bills submitted by the House or the one it passed in December with no funding for the wall. After, the funding is being taken care of through the military due to the national emergency crisis. Therefore the spending bills to reopen the government could be passed and signed into law right away.

Lawsuits would gum up this process. We know that the military is not ready to build the wall. We know that despite all the fuss about their being a crisis RIGHT NOW, nothing would happen right now. We know that Captain Chaotica does not have the mental necessities to manage such a construction project. But at least if it appeared that the national emergency crisis was underway with the military charged with building it, the justification for shutting down the government would be over. A lawsuit stopping that process also would continue the shutdown of the government since no spending bill would be signed if no building was authorized.

Now we come to the Howard Baker moment. Mitch McConnell is no Howard Baker. Mitch McConnell will never be a profile in courage. Mitch McConnell will never rise to the occasion. But the Howard Baker moment is not about a Senator or Senators going to the President, it is about Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell. It is about Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell and saying enough is enough. It is about Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell and saying the needs of the country come first. It is about Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell and saying the Republican Party cannot afford another victory like the one in 2018. It is about the Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell and saying we must pass veto-proof spending bills with no spending for the wall and PASS IT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THERE IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY CRISIS AND IT IS THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.

Will the Republican Senators rise to the occasion and provide the leadership We the People need?

Hotspur versus Bonespur: Having the Right Stuff to Go in the Arena

December 30, 2018
by Peter Feinman
Statue of Henry Percy "Hotspur" 1364-1403” Alnwick Castle (tripadvisor.com)

According to the Constitution, the American President is designated with one specific task: to serve as commander in-chief. In the 20th century, the title was expanded in the popular culture to include “commander in-chief and leader of the free world.” The expansion was due to America’s role in World War I, World War II, and World War III (the Cold War). We were on the winning side in all three wars and had a leading role in those victories. The abandonment of that role by the current President will be the subject of another post.

The phrase “in the arena” comes from a speech by Teddy Roosevelt on April 23, 1910:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

One famous example of a story of a person going into the arena consistent with the popular image did not actually err again and again but proved quite successful against all odds. The story of David and Goliath has become part of the vocabulary in the American culture. Closer to home, another figure did go into the arena again and again, sometimes winning and sometimes losing. Rocky has become a mythic figure in the American Civil Religion. His iconic image has become a tourist site at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In America, even ordinary citizens can attain the heights once reserved for the kings.

The phrase “the right stuff” comes from a book by Tom Wolfe with that title. It later became a movie with the same title. It refers to the military pilots in Project Mercury when America began its journey to fulfill a presidential challenge to have a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Mission accomplished.

Together these terms and images call upon the American President and the American citizen to reach for the stars, to fulfill the American Dream, and in this instance at least, to risk one’s life to do so.

How does President Bonespurs measure up against this standard?

Unlike John Kerry and John McCain but like William Jefferson Clinton, President Bonespurs did not serve. As always, he has not told the truth when referring to this event in his life.

His first real experience of going into the arena was not even a real event at all. It occurred in the professional wrestling arena, still his favorite venue. Here he followed a scripted sequence and faked having the right stuff to go into the arena in the real world. Thus his combat experience is as fake as his hair.

His second experience going into the arena occurred during the second presidential debate in 2016 (Predator in Chief, Our Lady of Perpetual Victimhood: A Presidential Election Retrospective). In this competition he was pitted against the champion of the opposing political party. If you heard the encounter on the radio, then you probably would conclude that the Democrat won the war of words on the debate stage. Democrats frequently conclude that their side won and that mistake contributed to their defeat in the election.

Simultaneously with the debate “war of words,” a second confrontation occurred. This was the reality game “Survivor.” In this battle, the fight is not with words. Instead, it is a physical struggle. During the Presidential “Survivor,” a large male predator stalked his smaller female victim. As he prowled the stage, he marked his turf and asserted his dominion over this domain. People who watched THE DONALD in action came away thinking that he was the real deal. They still have not caught on that THE DONALD is an act, a persona Little Donnee-Wanee developed precisely for the purpose of conning people into thinking he had the right stuff to go into the arena.

Later the Democratic victim acknowledged her mistake in again being the victim as she had been for decades. Democratic observers took her to task for not standing up to the predator and putting him in his place. Unfortunately for the Democrats it was too late. Even to this very day, there are still people, especially Republicans, who think THE DONALD is not only a successful fighter but a real one…even as he cannot say “You’re fired” in person face-to-face and hides behind tweets instead.

His third experience occurred on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, in a press conference with Vladimir Putin (Putin and the American President: Who Has the Right Stuff to Go into the Arena?). He can now legitimately claim to have participated in the most humiliating summit with a Soviet/Russian leader in American history. Under ordinary circumstances such a pathetic performance would doom a president. He came across less manly than Dukakis in a tank. But for him it was just another embarrassment before moving on to the next one.

Now Bonespurs is faced with a real political battle against NanChuck. For the first two years of his administration there was no direct challenge to him. No Day of Infamy. No Cuban Missile Crisis. No 9/11. And no politician who confronted him in a showdown at high noon. So far the only person who may do so is Robert Mueller but President Bonespurs is girding up to prevent Mueller from exposing him.

With NanChuck the situation is quite different. The television reality show he hosted at the White House blew up in his face. Without even trying to, NanChuck got him to accept responsibility for the government shut down over the funding to build his wall. In that one public failure, he proved why he should not be allowed to testify under oath under any circumstances.

When Bonespurs subsequently was willing to reach a deal with NanChuck he was undermined by his own team. Fox, Ann, Rush, and the RHINO Freedom Caucus read him the riot act. They put him on notice that if he caved on his signature issue there would be hell to pay come election time. Instead of calling their bluff (whom else would they support in 2020?), he caved and boxed himself in. They forced him to toe the line but offered no way to get out of this showdown.

In an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN on December 20, presidential advisor Stephen Miller became quite agitated and intense in conveying the urgency of the current situation:

“Right now as we speak there is a surge of illegal immigration heading toward our country that presents a national crisis now.”

“Not a month from now, not a year from now, right now. And this president took an oath, like every lawmaker in Congress to defend the citizens of this country. How many more innocent people have to die in pursuit of an open-borders agenda?”

According to Miller and the various acolytes on the Bull Trump network, there is a crisis RIGHT NOW! Drug dealers are pouring across the border RIGHT NOW! Terrorists are pouring across the border RIGHT NOW! Criminals are pouring across the border RIGHT NOW! They are pouring across the border because Democrats believe in open borders so illegal aliens can vote not just once but multiple times by changing their hat and shirt as they run around the polling places.

Left unexplained in this emotional tirade about the desperate need to save the country RIGHT NOW is how a $5 billion spending bill will change anything RIGHT NOW! Will the $5 billion spending build a new wall RIGHT NOW! Will the $5 billion spending even build a teeny-tiny part of the wall RIGHT NOW! How will this authorization stop this NATIONAL CRISIS RIGHT NOW!

Do you Stephen Miller have a plan to stop this national crisis not a year from now, not a month from now, but RIGHT NOW?

Do you Fox, Ann, and Rush, have a plan to stop this national crisis not a year from now, not a month from now, but RIGHT NOW?

Do you RHINO Freedom Caucus have a plan to stop this national crisis not a year from now, not a month from now, but RIGHT NOW!

The advantage Bonespurs has during the shutdown is that he no more cares about the Americans than he does the Kurds or the Israelis whom he threw under the bus. Besides, the government employees who are furloughed or working without pay are Democrats and they support the shutdown for border security anyway. The very stable genius knows this because he is the smartest person in the room.

We have learned the hard way, from Charlottesville and Harvey, that Bonespurs is not capable of rising to the occasion. The difference now is that he has an actual foe in NanChuck. Plus he is boxed in. If the world’s greatest negotiator creates a deal and claims victory even though he has not won, Fox, Ann, Rush, and the RHINO Freedom Caucus will be there to call him out. He won’t be able to get away with conning his own side this time.

What then should he do?

What does an immature child do when cornered? He lashes out. “Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! I’ll show you who is in charge! I’ll shut down the southern border.” The mind boggles imagining the world’s worst manager supervising the shutdown of the border. Can you imagine the chaos that would result? He does not even have 1% the managerial skills Herbert Hoover had. He lacks both the competence to shut down the southern border and the mental necessities to understand the consequences. Democrats should call his bluff just to expose his shortcomings and inadequacies for even Republicans to see.

There is a better solution.

How about asking China to fund the Great Wall of Trump? They would even build it too, if only Bonespurs would ask.