Today, the term “patriot” has been highjacked by those who bestow honor and virtue upon themselves simply because of their ability to push back on social media, blab away on cable news shows, and attract attention simply because they exist. Merriam-Webster partially defines who some of these people are….

Today, active fighting or resistance is not a requirement to being a patriot: a person only needs a strong sense of love for one’s country.

Over the last few months, there have been numerous stories of veterans making an additional sacrifice for their country.

They are running for office.

Five retired Navy SEALs running for Congress
Six former Navy SEALs run for Congress with one goal
Army veteran, GOP Senate candidate, accuses Twitter of flagging July 4 post of his salute in uniform

It seems clear some veterans have had enough of people who (either chose not to serve, found ways to avoid serving or) place their own personal interests above the best interests of the country. They appear to have had enough of those who sell out our nation to foreign powers and have no problem sending Americans to fight battles that are not vital to our national security, meanwhile look the other way when genuine enemies are empowered, at worse with our tax dollars.

In 1959, science fiction writer Robert Heinlein wrote the novel Starship Troopers. “Heinlein firmly endorsed the anti-communist sentiment of the Cold War era in his writing. Heinlein served in the US Navy for five years after graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1929. His experience in the military profoundly influenced his fiction.”

One scene from the 1997 film adaptation sums up his sentiment on where he believed “democracy” was going and what was a possible solution.

Being a citizen and having a vote is something that’s been taken for granted for many years. Some people don’t vote because they believe it’s a meaningless gesture and others believe it’s a tool to be manipulated for political and/or personal gain. Most of those who play games with votes have never served to protect that right, among others. In fact, politicians have sought (and at times succeeded) to mute the votes of active duty servicemembers simply because they didn’t like a Commander-in-Chief they’d most likely vote for.

Many of these politicians who’ve never even considered protecting the nation with their lives are the very ones who are crying about the “fragile” nature of our democracy and were the first to cower in fear during the Capitol riot.

Is THIS how veterans would have reacted to the breach? Seeing how almost every conservative rally since 2009 has been totally peaceful (when no liberals counter-protested and brought signature destruction and violence with them), chances are veteran lawmakers would have personally gone to the protesters with appropriate backup, told them this was not right and go home. Running towards “danger” was what they were trained to do.

January 6 was hardly an event that would make a wartime veteran retreat.

A veteran would not have shed tears recounting an event where very few weapons were present. You wouldn’t see sobs from veterans who weren’t anywhere near the location in question and make it all about them.

Look at all those who interfere with our lives on a daily basis. Overpaid government health officials, state and federal office holders, Big Tech, legacy media pundits and columnists, social media trolls; how many of them have served and understand the value of the very freedoms veterans put their lives on the line to protect? Look at those who are quick to subvert votes so they can attain power over millions. Do these people appreciate that right and could the case be made they don’t deserve it because they never made the personal decision to defend it?

Of course, there are notable exceptions.

While Senator Lindsey Graham DID serve, he was commissioned as an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG Corps) in the Air Force. He was never really in the shit and spent most of his service in air-conditioned offices. No responsible officer would recklessly, publicly call for the assassination of a foreign leader (no matter how despicable) because we understand how that could later be directed at our Commander-in-Chief.

Seeing how so many of us have been banned from Twitter for “hate speech” or something else intentionally vague, how is it this Tweet is allowed?

And do academics (with little if any real world experience) deserve the power they have, especially when they can play God with “science” to the physical peril of every man, woman, and child on the planet, especially when too many went to college to avoid serving? Do political media blabbermouths deserve the right to dictate how people should react to policies they prefer and be allowed to publicly demonize those they disagree with, seeing how most were too chickenshit to personally defend those rights? Do politicians, who are quick to restrict the free movement and assembly of those they claim to represent while disregarding restrictions that personally inconvenience them, deserve power they’ve never put all on the line to earn? It’s clearly past time to jettison and replace those who bestow the right to vote to those who aren’t even lawful citizens.

Maybe this is why we see a conscious effort (by those who didn’t serve) to dilute the intestinal fortitude of those serving and who’ll they’ll be once they leave: patriots who’ll unquestioningly obey the cowardly.

The case could be made that it’s time for those who literally put their lives on the line to take charge. For whatever the initial inspiration to join, only a veteran understands the seriousness “duty to country” took once they voluntarily signed away their own personal freedom and made their own lives subject to the whims of those whose motivations may or may not be what’s best for the country. Maybe it’s time for veterans to no longer be props for top-heavy nonprofits and indifferent government contractors who use them for self-enrichment or government agencies whose employees tolerate their presence because they simply represent a paycheck and pension.

Maybe it’s time for the real patriots to “save our democracy” because those who are in charge now know nothing about sacrifice and that’s the problem.

During Donald Trump’s first term, Democrats were in vocal and legislative opposition but they weren’t hurting financially either. Their personal portfolios have benefited like those of millions of Americans. But after the 2018 midterms, a political fissure erupted within the Democrat Party; a fissure that was unprecedented and probably horrifying to blindsided leadership.

It was called gross insubordination by punk ass freshmen.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi implored her majority, after days of high-profile public infighting, to focus on common goals — including defeating President Donald Trump — and to silence the sniping that threatens their fragile hold on power. The lengthy closed-door session underscored the broader divisions between her centrist and liberal members — and between Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with her “squad” of star-power freshmen — that are testing party unity and reshaping Democrats ahead of the 2020 election.

“We’re a family and we have our moments,” Pelosi told colleagues. “You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just OK.”
— Associated Press, 7/10/19

Incoming freshmen were traditionally given closet-size rooms on the top floor of the Cannon House Office Building, furthest away from the elevator and closest to the stairs. They may receive insignificant committee assignments, if at all. Their first term was one of learning the ropes, and above all else, respecting the established hierarchy. The 2018 Democrat freshmen class, led by AOC, blew that up.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been “singling out” freshman congresswomen of color — the latest charge in a growing rift between the leader of the party in the chamber and the high-profile progressive freshman.

“When these comments first started, I kind of thought that she was keeping the progressive flank at more of an arm’s distance in order to protect more moderate members, which I understood,” Ocasio-Cortez told The Washington Post in an interview published Wednesday. “But the persistent singling out … it got to a point where it was just outright disrespectful … the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
— CNN, 7/11/19

Democrats like to accuse others, rightly or wrongly, of racism. They, especially a Democrat speaker, don’t like it when they’re accused by petulant “women of color” freshmen. You know Pelosi was privately fuming….

According to the media, there was a reconciliation.

Really?

At that time, the Trump economy was rolling along like a freight train. If you go by James Carville’s “It’s the economy, stupid”, higher ups within the DNC were probably ready to throw in the 2020 towel. But there was another problem: AOC and the Squad had the attention of millions, they were driving a socialist agenda that was way too radical for a party that always tried to appear level-headed and “moderate”. The Squad’s followers were rabid and out of the control of Pelosi and other senior party members.

Could the total upheaval of norms we’re seeing today be a plot to assure Democrats lose ugly in 2020?

After every presidential election, there is that customary public postmortem.

Speaker Pelosi will not accept any blame for a Trump landslide victory. She will not pile on the Democratic National Committee or any party PAC. Democrat Capitol Hill leadership will not assume responsibility for an electoral beat down. Despite any political loss, Pelosi and her party leadership will personally weather any storm so burning down the house will not put them on the street.

However, Democrats might blame a 2020 presidential and down-ballot shellacking on the disastrous messaging from irrational freshmen and call for a more reasoned and traditional agenda for the Democrat Party. Translation: they’ll summarily set the insubordinate children up to be primaried and hopefully banished in 2022.

Seriously, even the staunchest of Democrats weren’t for a job-killing Green New Deal, let alone the violence and destruction associated with #BlackLivesMatter and a George Floyd crisis not wasted. Most Democrat voters aren’t for dismantling police forces around the country. Liberal CEOs, professionals, academics, entertainment celebrities, and other big money donors nationwide are being bit by the millennials’ #CancelCulture and you know whose private phone numbers they have on speed dial.

Maybe the party is giving their socialist know-it-all loudmouths the rope to hang themselves.

And given the media allegiance to the Democrat Party, all these polls implying President Trump being behind by double digits is not a fluke. The Democrat base is being set up for a face plant into the concrete. Look who they’re presenting to their base as the party presidential nominee. A possibly senile old man who really has nothing to lose when it comes to a political career, unlike those whose names are being bandied about. Why do you think it’s taking so long for Joe Biden’s campaign to find a running mate? Who’s going to want that on a resume once the long knives of finger-pointing begins the morning after a Trump landslide?

A mass defection to Donald Trump combined with a depressed party turnout mean Democrats could find themselves in the minority again. Do you really think Nancy Pelosi will accept blame when having to give up the gavel while positioning herself to be Minority Leader? Do you think any of the senior members will decide embracing and publicly justifying socialism, CHOP zones, vandalism and/or removal of monuments, and “mostly peaceful” protests in the streets will be the template for 2022 success?

Do you think they’ll allow themselves to be forced to kneel again… ever?

Washington, D.C. should be renamed to what it’s always been known for: Washington CYA. Specifically, that’s how Democrats become old Democrats.

There will be a concerted effort, should the Election 2020 Democrat ass-whuppin’ be felt from Capitol Hill down through every state legislature, to have a message publicly sent that things will go back to the ways they’ve always been done. Democrats will again want to appear moderate and they’ll promise to go back to their safer default where they can “pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it”.

The media will be directed to turn on The Squad. Their arrogance will be highlighted and replayed in slow motion. Apologies won’t be issued, making matters worse. The inside-the-Beltway establishment will assert their rightful authority, showing no desire to spare the rod. Like the old days, these children will be spanked in the street for all to see.

UPDATE

Not only has the Democrat Party put all their eggs in a basket carried by a man with clear cognitive issues, but now with a woman who was so popular with the base that she was the first to drop out during their presidential primary season.

Who does that?

Again, the question should be why….

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) told a San Fernando Valley fundraiser audience that the Council on American–Islamic Relations was founded because Muslims were given increased scrutiny after the 9/11 attacks because…

“they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”

Not that the September 11 terror attacks forever changed the way Americans live within our own borders.

Five months later to the day, during the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Ceremony in New York City, Representative Omar’s comments were addressed by a private citizen.

Wearing a shirt with the Muslim Minnesota congresswoman’s infamous words emblazoned on it, Nicholas Haros Jr. paused from reading the names of the dead at the televised Ground Zero service to lambaste Omar.
— New York Post, 9/11/19

You probably won’t see this clip on any of the major news outlets because the New York Times clarified who was really responsible.

“Airplanes took aim”, possibly with “some people” who “did something”.

Glad we finally got that cleared up.

Not sure who originally said that but it accurately illustrates the enabled egos of four freshmen Congress “women of color” who were elected to a legislative body and decided they were suddenly qualified to run the place. They believe their social media lemmings support their personal agendas and any opposition is to be met with the very bully tactics they claim is being imposed on them.

Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) accused Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of playing the race card after the freshman lawmaker complained that Speaker Nancy Pelosi had again singled out young, progressive lawmakers of color for strong public criticism.

Saying he was personally offended at the suggestion, the long-tenured member of the Congressional Black Caucus said Thursday that Ocasio-Cortez and three fellow progressive freshmen women who call themselves “the Squad” were lashing out because “they didn’t get their way” as the tensions between the old guard of Democratic leadership and the young, assertive lawmakers with outsized social network presences exploded into public view.

As Clay—who has been targeted for a primary challenge by Justice Democrats, the group that propelled Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign—went off on the group, his colleagues rallied to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s defense. But for Democrats like Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Ocasio-Cortez’s comments resonated. “I don’t think the speaker is used to having a group of members who has bigger Twitter followings than her,” she told Politico.
— Daily Beast, 7/12/19

So, the chickens came home to roost within the party that consistently exploits the race/gender card, a senior black congressman is being targeted by narcissistic rookie Democrats, and now they needed a way of diverting attention away from the accusations of internal racism (seeing how socialists traditionally never had much use for black people and that appears how things are shaking out now).

Modern racial justice movements like Black Lives Matter are embracing the historically false assumption that socialism is anti-racist.

There is, in other words, a growing assumption among racial justice advocates that more socialism would result in less racism and, even, that socialism is, in itself, anti-racist. There is, in fact, no such necessary connection between socialism and anti-racism, as a closer look at early socialist writings amply shows.
— Foundation for Economic Education, 11/14/17

Do a quick search and aside from fellow “Squad” members, how many pics of them do you see of them with “people of color”? You won’t see many (outside of the necessary 2018 campaign stumping).

Never letting a good crisis go to waste, President Trump poured fuel on the Democrat’s internal fire.

Of course, the president’s quote would fall into the bias-by-omission column and the selective “why don’t they go back” phrase was complemented with a uniform message for his supporters.

Trump Is a Racist. If You Still Support Him, So Are You.

Progressive women almost always tout their brains and strength, that is until (like most liberals) their ideas are challenged. Then they either refuse to debate their ideas or make themselves the victim. Having a social media megaphone makes the latter a direction that requires the least amount of gray matter.

With the benefit of a friendly, liberal media that very seldom factchecks Democrats, Omar, Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib knew they could say anything they wanted about President Trump and be unchallenged for accuracy.

But again, this was not a genuine attack on the president based on anything he put out on social media but yet another Democrat bait-and-switch; this time to deflect from their targeted, internal racial division. These four loose cannons (led by @AOC whose Justice Democrats) are targeting current officeholders who aren’t enthusiastically onboard with HER agenda, and when black Democrats are targeted from within and fingers can’t be pointed at evil Republicans, there is an optics problem.

So it’s time to do what Democrats do best: create a problem and then demand a Republican assume the responsibility and fix it while they sanctimoniously criticize the suggested solutions. For those who whine about having too much work, calling someone a racist is much easier.

At the whitest of annual progressive gatherings, Netroots Nation 2019, we got the latest from one of the Democrat freshmen big mouths who’re now targeting those within her own party who won’t do what SHE wants, when SHE wants it.

I don’t want to bring a chair to an old table. This is the time to shake the table. This is the time to redefine that table. Because if you’re going to come to this table, all of you who have aspirations of running for office. If you’re not prepared to come to that table and represent that voice, don’t come, because we don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice. We don’t need black faces that don’t want to be a black voice. We don’t need Muslims that don’t want to be a Muslim voice. We don’t need queers that don’t want to be a queer voice. If you’re worried about being marginalized and stereotyped, please don’t even show up because we need you to represent that voice.
— Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)

Yeah, because just wanting be an American voice is such a waste.

And exactly who are these “we”?

“The Squad” believes they alone are now setting the rules and anyone not willing to play by those rules will be targeted for political elimination. They have no problem publicly saying what would be called racist/xenophobic/homophobic if anyone else said what Pressley said, and it’s being noticed.

These humility-challenged, self-appointed women of color (two of whom could play the white female card if convenient) are again playing the victim and taking great offense at a series of Tweets by the president.

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
— President Donald Trump, 7/14/19

While the Democrat media has predictably run mostly with the “why don’t they go back” headline, President Trump does make some good points as many have asked those fleeing their #shithole countries why they aren’t staying home and organizing to make their homelands a better place. We wouldn’t want to have the United States become a nation of cowards, right?

These “Squad” women have shown the worst in those who believe they are not just elected representatives, but mini rulers. But they also exhibit immature weakness when defaulting to being a victim after they spit on someone bigger and have to start dodging punches.

In politics, alliances have to be made; even unholy ones. If you wish to go it alone, fine but a martyr is only as good as the amount of people who appreciate the personal sacrifice. We’ll soon see if the artificial social media numbers of “friends” and “followers” will actually translate to votes in 2020 for “The Squad” because their actually support may be tenuous at best, they know it, and that’s why they’re lashing out at everyone around them.

Wow!

In 1987, President Reagan’s secretary of education, Bill Bennett, published a now classic New York Times op-ed titled “Our Greedy Colleges” in which he argued that the government’s attempts to make higher education more accessible may have also accidentally made it more expensive. “If anything,” he wrote, “increases in financial aid in recent years have enabled colleges and universities blithely to raise their tuitions, confident that Federal loan subsidies would help cushion the increase.” Ever since then, academics have sparred over whether the so-called Bennett hypothesis is really true. Do colleges actually take advantage of all those federal grants and loans by hiking their prices? And if so, are some schools even more callous about it than others?
— Slate, 9/8/15

It’s clear Weissmann is torn because he’d never envision liberal academics “taking advantage” of anyone, let alone the children, and even more horrifying is the possibility the hallowed halls of academia just may “callous”.

A few years ago, I had an opportunity to speak to students at Roger Williams University and during the discussion of a host of issues, I said if I had the authority, I’d do away with all federally-funded student loans. You can imagine the sounds of gasps in lecture hall.

I explained my rationale to the students this way….

If you went to a car dealer, saw a vehicle you liked but found out it was too expensive, you’d leave and seek out another dealer that may have a similar model that fell within your budget. If enough people looked at that car and walked away, the dealer would be forced to lower the price in order to sell it.

HOWEVER, if you were to walk into that same dealer with a blank check from the federal government (trumpet fanfare!) and instead of buying that cheaper car, you could leave the lot with any car you wanted, just what do you think would happen to the price of all the cars on the lot? Once you inject the power of a government check that’ll cover whatever you choose, all bets are off.

Oh and by the way, it’s only a loan. You can leave the lot with that pricey car but you’ll still have to pay for it later and as it’s from this federal government, the whole notion of a “fixed” loan was never an option and they can up and take it out of your future earnings if they wish.

So, apply that concept to a college.

Aside from some brand new student centers and laptop giveaways, the value of the education is not worth the price. Students are, in some cases, forced to buy new reprints of books written decades ago. Math never changes. English evolves but not by a value of thousands of dollars, and the only thing really different are new, socially-oriented courses that do very little to enhance the value of a graduate to a future employer.

Women’s, Afro-American, environmental studies, etc., are fairly useless courses that keep some of our least productive, but “victimized” citizens employed as faculty. It makes the campus hierarchy and politicians happy, keeps students angry and active, and are ultimately a total rip off.

BUT, you get to pay for it with a federally-funded student loan with a higher-than-normal interest rate. Now you see why some of the Democrat presidential candidates are pushing for so-called “student loan forgiveness”. The rates are so high, the post-student income so inadequate for paying for that loan, poor parents have their entitled children moving back in with them, and let’s not forget one other fact that should damage the sense of youthful self-importance: they are WRONG about college.

Do you really think a college would try to find a way to admit them to their campus if they had no access to money? To be blunt, no college really gives a damn about a student until a check clears. They don’t care if the shit they put in kids’ heads leads to a meaningful career or not, and if they can jack up the tuition costs higher so tenured faculty can take even more sabbaticals and work even less than nine months out of the year, it’ll happen as long as students keep taking out those loans.

VIDEO UPDATE:

So before former students decide to whine about their college debt, remember, no one asked you to go to a college you couldn’t afford, no one asked you to accept a variable loan no homeowner would agree to without shopping around for more options.

Then again, we are living in a time where ignorance is an excuse and poor choices are forgiven so very expensive lessons never have to be learned.

Even in college.