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Obama The Jacobin

Via American Greatness

Obama’s remarks at the John Lewis funeral amount to an ultimatum. Coexistence is no longer possible: America must choose between the Republic of the past and a glorious progressive future.

Many people were quick to call Obama’s eulogy for John Lewis distasteful, and that it was. But there is a hazard of being too offended on Lewis’s behalf. Really, it is hard to imagine that a man who dedicated his life to revolutionary politics would object to the nation’s arch-progressive giving a fire-and-brimstone speech at his funeral. This is, after all, the man who skipped the president’s inauguration.

Of course, what people really found outrageous was not Obama’s audacity, per se, but the audacity of his ideas. Obama dropped every pretense of republican tolerance and laid his cards bare. The filibuster must go; Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. must become states. Politics has become totally uncompromising. Every possible measure to shore up majority rule must be taken at once, and the “bitter clingers” of old habits must be crushed—forever.

It was the most revolutionary speech Obama has ever given. Many reactions focused on the means Obama proposed, and understandably as they were so extreme. But all means have ends, and while rather transparent about his means, Obama was dicier about his ends.

Rightly so, as his speech was nothing short of a manifesto for regime change. Being Obama, he was careful to cover up this radical purpose in an exterior of sentimentality (and affected, folksy demeanor.) After 20 minutes of throat-clearing about the departed, Obama got to the heart of the matter, although you’d be forgiven for missing it. It came and went very quickly:

America was built by John Lewises. He, as much as anyone in our history, brought this country a little bit closer to our highest ideals. And someday when we do finish that long journey towards freedom, when we do form a more perfect union, whether it’s years from now, or decades, or even if it takes another two centuries, John Lewis will be a founding father of that fuller, fairer, better America.

In a time when the American Founders are being torn down, Obama uttered not a word in their defense. He mentioned the founding just four times, once by quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., and he never mentioned the Founders directly. The only time he used the term “Founding Father” was in reference to John Lewis. (Elsewhere, Lewis is “John the Baptist preparing the way.”)

Revolution Was His Subject
What’s going on here? Obama knows that America is in the midst of a violent upheaval. If it’s true that “silence is violence,” one can only assume that he isn’t bothered by the chaos. That isn’t to say that he skirted the topic. Far from it. Revolution was his subject. He simply affirmed that the revolution is good. However long it takes, whatever is necessary, nothing is off-limits.

While Obama paints a rosy picture of this “fairer” and “fuller” society, the America of his dreams is a revolutionary tyranny, in which the minority is unable to dissent and in which political violence is justified, so long as it’s in pursuit of the cause. He might have proscribed violence at some point, given that this was a speech honoring a so-called icon of nonviolent resistance, but for Obama, rioters in Portland are “peaceful demonstrators” and months of lawlessness and looting are best characterized as “people trying to be better, truer versions of ourselves.”

His meaning couldn’t be clearer: Lewis was a revolutionary “founder” whose work remains unfinished. That work continues in the current unrest, and it must continue for decades, even centuries, before utopia is even close to consummation.

Centuries! How many Americans could imagine this chaos going on for one more year?

For Obama, what’s happening right now is trivial compared to what is necessary, since what is necessary is nothing less than the re-founding of the country. Notice the passage, “when we do form a more perfect union.” The framers might have said the same thing while drafting the Constitution. “To form a more perfect Union” was their purpose! But for Obama, the Constitution might as well not exist. (Not that we needed more evidence.) The task of forming a more perfect union hasn’t even begun.

What is this if not a call for regime change?

Read the entire article HERE.

Seattle BLM protesters to strangers: ‘Give up your house. Give black people back their homes’

Via HotAir

Last night a group of anti-gentrification protesters in Seattle marched through a section of town for a couple hours to complain that white people were living on stolen land. Well, not stolen exactly. They aren’t claiming the black people who used to live in this neighborhood were pushed out at gunpoint. But they are claiming that an injustice has taken place because white people are now living in new homes in this formerly black neighborhood.

The crowd of maybe 50 people was marching down the street after dark chanting “Black people used to live here!” At one point the woman holding the bullhorn and leading the chants noticed a group of white residents having a party on the roof of a multi-story apartment building. “We’re talking to you gentrifiers,” she said. The crowd stopped next to the building and continued chanting at the people on the roof.

At this point one of the other organizers called for a pause so he could say something. “Hey guys, do you know that you are living in a historically black neighborhood right now?” he shouted from the street. “Do you know that before your white ass came here this was all black people?” he added. “Do you know that people like you came in here and basically bought all the land from the black people less than what it was worth, kicked them out so you could live here? Do you know that? Cause if you don’t, now you f**kin do so do something about it.”

“Open your wallet,” the woman with the bullhorn interjected.

The other organizer shouted, “How do you plan to fix it because you are living on black people’s land right now.” He quickly corrected himself, “I mean native land but black people lived here too.”

The woman on the bullhorn had a suggestion for how to fix it. “Is your name [inaudible] or John, whatever it is, give up your house. Give black people back their homes. You’re sitting their comfortably—comfortable as f**k as if they didn’t help gentrify this neighborhood.” She continued, “I used to live in this neighborhood and my family was pushed out and you’re sitting up there having a good time with your other white friends.”

Read the entire article HERE.

Who Stands to Benefit? Group Behind Occupy Wall Street Plans 50-Day ‘White House Siege’

Via PJ Media

Adbusters, the group credited with energizing the Occupy Wall Street protests, is now pushing a 50-day siege on the White House beginning on September 17. This date is the same day the Occupy riots started in 2011. The group is an anti-consumerism magazine based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

You might call Adbusters the marketing wing of the revolution. It would be naive to think the use of the words “siege” and “occupation” are unintentional. They did occupy Wall Street for nearly two months from Zuccotti Park in New York City’s financial district. Protests continued through the first anniversary and have recurred at least annually since.

They have an activist wing, the Blackspot Collective. They claim they have 13,000 activists in their collective and are explicit in their desire to overturn liberal democracy. Liberal, in this case, refers to our foundational ideas—free speech, individual rights and freedoms, property rights, and objective reality—not left-wing politics.

You would also have to be pretty wet behind the ears to assume some of the agitators in Lafayette Park recently were not their operatives. It is highly likely they used the Peaceful Protestors™ as cover to collect intelligence about how federal law enforcement operates and to develop plans.

During the Occupy riots, NPR reported that Adbusters distanced themselves from the protests:

dbusters is an anti-consumerism magazine based in Vancouver, British Columbia. This summer, it proposed a Sept. 17 “occupation” of Wall Street, and the idea caught fire.

Adbusters doesn’t claim any control over the protests. It wouldn’t give NPR an interview, for instance, for fear of overshadowing the movement. It sees itself more as an idea shop, sort of an “anti-advertising firm” that takes special glee in creating fake ads to subvert the message of real products

With the new activist arm, this type of distance from any outcome of the advertised “siege” becomes much more difficult. The two groups share a website and make their association quite clear. Adbusters has a manifesto, and so does Blackspot.

Adbusters provides the visual art to communicate ideas in what they refer to as The Metamematic Insurrection, or meme war:

In short, we must rethink almost all economic, political, and cultural precepts we’ve taken for granted for generations. We must breathe fresh life into progressivism, revive its mojo, and return it to the visionary force for change it once was.

Our strategy is to zero in on a new grand narrative, a once-in-a-millennium mind shift, a set of big ideas — metamemes — so fundamental, so systemic, so profound that a sane and sustainable future is unthinkable without them.

In short, they are shooting for an economic, political, and cultural revolution. When you watch the latest rant on Adbusters’ website, the things they hate become clear. Capitalism, individual freedom, and private property are the things they seek to tear down. You can see this clearly in their featured video. The background narrative is comedian George Carlin, so it is only fair to provide a language warning:

It is interesting to note that woke CEO Jeff Bezos is featured. One has to wonder when these successful businessmen will understand there is no amount of virtue signaling that will save them from the mob. They are genuinely the frogs in the pot.

Now Blackspot is much more direct in their language. They are explicitly calling for a collectivist and intersectional revolution. Note the reference to tactical briefings. Attorney General Bill Barr is not overstating the organization and training these insurrectionist groups engage in:

Acting as one, we can overturn the failing neoliberal order, revitalize democracy and secure a sustainable future that computes. But only if we can summon the radical ideas and revolutionary spirit equal to overcoming these threats — existential threats that we all must face together.

We’re at a tipping point. The internet has reversed a centuries old power dynamic. Billions of us now hold the most revolutionary tool ever invented in the palms of our hands. Backed by collectives like ours, the streets have unprecedented power. After centuries of rule by kings, emperors, tyrants, mad men, fascists, communists, Maoists, military dictatorships, corporations and white supremacists like Donald Trump, we can now take charge of our own destiny and start calling the shots from below.

Today we are 10,000 strong. Tomorrow we will be 100,000. The day after next, we could amass a billion people — enough to spark a world revolution in how we live, love and think.

Read the entire article HERE.

Resistance sees military removing Trump from office

Via The Washington Examiner

With 80 days left before the presidential election, a new and dangerous rhetoric has emerged from some corners of the Resistance. A number of President Trump’s most implacable critics are fantasizing about deploying the U.S. military to remove him from the White House on Jan. 20, 2021, based on their assumption that a.) he will lose the election, and b.) he will refuse to leave office on his own.

Recently, two retired Army officers speculated about deploying a brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division to overpower Trump’s “private army” that they believe the defeated president will use to try to cling to office. Another retired officer, a former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, imagined the military in battle with armed Trump supporters, the result being that “all bets are off as to how much blood might flow.” In addition, a group of former government officials, political operatives, and journalists concocted a scenario in which Trump actually won reelection but Democrat Joe Biden refused to accept the result in hopes that the military would side with him against the president.

What is going on? Why have seemingly responsible people taken to embracing fantastical visions of tanks in the streets of Washington, D.C.?

They, of course, would blame Trump. In a July 19 appearance on Fox News Sunday, the president was asked, “Can you give a direct answer you will accept the election?” Trump’s answer was, “I have to see. I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time, either.”

Trump’s response, similar to the answers he gave in 2016 when he was asked whether he would accept the results of that election, set off the usual firestorm. Trump will ignore the will of the voters! He’ll set off a constitutional crisis! He’ll destroy American democracy!

The speculation might have been less fevered had anyone actually noted how Trump has behaved in office. For example, what has Trump, as president, done when a judge tells him to stop doing something? He stops doing it. Starting with his travel ban and going on through his plan to end DACA and his move to impose new rules on asylum, his effort to revoke a reporter’s White House credential and his effort to detain families at the U.S.-Mexico border and his move to stop former national security adviser John Bolton’s book and his action to end sanctuary cities and his plan to impose a “public charge” test on immigrants and his multiple attempts to change various environmental policies and his plan to streamline the deportation process and his plan to liberalize energy restrictions and much, much more, Trump has done what judges tell him to do. No, he doesn’t deserve a medal for simply respecting the rule of law. But his conduct in office suggests he will not defy the legally certified result of an election.

Of course, that result might not be known on the night of Nov. 3, and if it is not, Trump might not immediately concede defeat, even if he is the ultimate loser. There might be litigation. But what is wrong with that? We have been hearing for a long time that, given heavy voting by mail, the voters’ verdict might not be known for weeks. Does anyone believe that Biden, if he were trailing by a small margin, would concede prematurely with the counting still underway?

Given the chances of widespread dysfunction in vote tabulation, there is certainly the possibility of a crisis after Nov. 3. But if it happens, it would likely involve the chaos brought on by a deeply divided nation going weeks or months without knowing who the next president will be — not a losing Trump refusing to leave the White House.

Nevertheless, hysterical scenarios are coming from some sources in the Resistance — a phenomenon that is particularly troubling when it comes from men with ties to the military. Start with the two retired Army officers, Paul Yingling and John Nagl. Yingling is a retired lieutenant colonel with several combat tours, including serving as Gen. H.R. McMaster’s deputy in the first Iraq war. Nagl, also a retired lieutenant colonel, is currently headmaster of the Haverford School in Pennsylvania. This week, the two men published, in the mainstream publication Defense One, an article entitled, “‘…All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic’: An Open Letter to Gen. Milley.” The addressee is Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Relying on MSNBC-style talking points, the two argue that the president is facing “near certain electoral defeat” and after losing would face “not merely political ignominy, but also criminal charges.” Nagl and Yingling say an ex-President Trump will face prosecution by the Manhattan District Attorney and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for bank fraud, insurance fraud, and “many examples of self-dealing.”

This, Yingling and Nagl allege, has made Trump a desperate man. And he has already begun taking desperate measures. “Given this dizzying array of threats not merely to his political prospects, but also his liberty and wealth,” they write, “Mr. Trump is following the playbook of dictators throughout history: he is building a private army answerable only to him.”

By “private army,” Nagl and Yingling appear to be referring to the president’s decision to send Department of Homeland Security officers to Portland, Oregon, to protect the federal courthouse there from rioters. “The members of this private army, often lacking police insignia or other identification, exist not to enforce the law but to intimidate the president’s political opponents,” Nagl and Yingling write.

That is where Milley comes in. Because Trump is a desperate man with a private army at his command, they argue, the Joint Chiefs chairman must order troops into the streets on Inauguration Day. “The clock will strike 12:01 PM, January 20, 2021, and Donald Trump will be sitting in the Oval Office,” Yingling and Nagl write. “The street protests will inevitably swell outside the White House, and the ranks of Trump’s private army will grow inside its grounds. The Speaker of the House will declare the Trump presidency at an end, and direct the Secret Service and Federal Marshals to remove Trump from the premises. These agents will realize that they are outmanned and outgunned by Trump’s private army, and the moment of decision will arrive. At this moment of constitutional crisis, only two options remain. Under the first, U.S. military forces escort the former president from the White House grounds. Trump’s little green men, so intimidating to lightly armed federal law enforcement agents, step aside and fade away, realizing they would not constitute a good morning’s work for a brigade of the 82nd Airborne. Under the second, the U.S. military remains inert while the Constitution dies. The succession of government is determined by extralegal violence between Trump’s private army and street protesters; Black Lives Matter Plaza becomes Tahrir Square.”

What is one to make of such a hallucinatory vision? “It’s bananas,” said one Republican lawmaker who has been following the talk. But it is more than just crazy, although it is crazy. It is chilling that retired military men are discussing military intervention in the transfer of political power based on Maddow-esque theorizing about the president’s imagined motivations and actions.

A second scenario of military intervention came from another prominent former Army officer. Appearing on Bill Maher’s Real Time, retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (a former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell) outlined a scene from the apocalypse on Inauguration Day. Wilkerson said he believed the military would stay in their barracks under most scenarios. But then: “I wonder what will happen if Trump calls his base to the streets with their guns. His base owns something like 60-70% of the 300, 400 million guns in America. If they answer that call and come to the streets with guns, then we probably are going to have a need for the military. And then, all bets are off as to how much blood might flow.”

Wilkerson is part of an anti-Trump group called the Transition Integrity Project, which was founded to promote the notion that Trump “may seek to manipulate, ignore, undermine or disrupt the 2020 presidential election and transition process.” The group recently made news by holding “war games” to explore some possible election scenarios. The project, which includes about 100 former government officials, political operatives, academics, and journalists, explored two Biden victory scenarios, one a blowout, the other a narrow win. In the blowout, Trump left office on Jan. 20, 2021, with little drama. In the narrow win, Trump did not concede defeat, there were street protests, and a signal from the Secret Service that it would escort Trump out of the White House when the time came. After what the group called an “uneasy and combative but ultimately successful” transition, Trump left office on Jan. 20, 2021. In both scenarios, a defeated Trump left the White House at the appointed time. Neither scenario involved the military.

Read the entire article HERE.

Letters From Melbourne: A “Ghost Town Police State” Under Brutal COVID Lockdown

Via Zero Hedge

The citizens of Australia’s second most populous city are suffering under the harshest lockdown conditions of all Western democracies. Their voices need to be heard.

In the last several weeks, Melbourne has introduced shockingly draconian anti-Covid measures, imposed on the metropolis of some 5 million souls. What tragedy was responsible for spurring officials to leap into action? To blame was a fractional uptick in the number of coronavirus deaths – seven to be exact, and all involving citizens above the age of 70 years old.

The media jumped on the “new single-day record in Victoria,” which brought the state death toll to 56. I repeat, 56, and the overwhelming majority of those cases involved elderly people in nursing facilities, some of which are under investigation for their handling of patients. While it goes without saying that elderly lives matter, do seven elderly deaths really warrant the shutdown of one of Australia’s busiest cities?

Despite the extremely low death rate, Melbourne residents – or shall we call them what they really are, prisoners – must adhere to the following rules:

• No traveling more than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from their homes;
• No traveling to other states inside of the country;
• Those under house arrest are permitted to leave home for just one hour each day for exercise;
• Only one person is permitted to go shopping per family each day; shopping is to be done within 5 kilometers from home;
• Unlike traditional prisons, visitations are not permitted to house arrestees;
• All school activities are to be conducted online;
• All businesses, services and construction cancelled;
• Organized sport, forget it;
• In the case of funerals, try and delay your demise if at all possible, otherwise, expect just 10 guests;
• Ditto for weddings;
• Curfew in effect between 8 pm and 5 am.

These restrictions will be in place for (at least) six weeks.

Meanwhile, as to be expected, the authorities have been enthusiastic about meting out their street justice on people who allegedly violate the regime’s rules. And not just on the street. The police have been authorized to enter private residences without a warrant.

Read the entire article HERE.

Report: Kamala Harris Already Vetting VP Picks

Via The Babylon Bee (Satire)

U.S.—Supporters of Kamala Harris have been eagerly awaiting an announcement on who her VP pick will be when she takes over as president approximately 5 minutes after Joe Biden is inaugurated. According to sources close to the campaign, she is already vetting possible candidates for the job.

“I am proud to announce I will soon be announcing my pick for Vice President of the United States,” said Harris. “We have searched all across this great land. While I cannot yet confirm who my pick will be, I can say this: my pick for VP will be even MORE of a woman and even MORE of color than I am. It will be the most colorful and womanly team ever!” She then threw her head back and cackled maniacally.

Joe Biden was also thrilled to hear the news that he would be getting not just one, but two female vice presidents.

The VP search has stalled since it has proven difficult to find a woman of color who survived both Kamala Harris’ pro-abortion policies as well as her aggressive imprisonment of minorities. In a statement, the campaign also promised to announce a pick while all The Babylon Bee writers are sleeping so they won’t have a chance to write a funny headline about it.

Check out all of the Bee’s takes on politics and culture HERE.

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