Being Wrong
People are often wrong about fundamental things. Here is one that matters, which I offer up for your consideration.
Karl Marx famously proclaimed – in espousing communism – that the inexorable forces of history render individuals irrelevant. Which they plainly are not.
George Washington did not create our Republic. But he personally constructed many of its key foundations. Abraham Lincoln did not hold the United States together by himself. Yet without him, the trajectory of the world changes. Winston Churchill did not save western civilization on his own. Yet were he not Britain’s Prime Minister, western civilization would almost certainly have fallen a mere 85 years ago. That is, within the living memory of some of our fellow citizens.
Vladimir Putin is another pivotal individual who has personally and profoundly impacted our present and – in yet unknowable ways – our future. Previously an unremarkable KGB operative, Putin, in the right place at the wrong time, was handed power by another pivotal figure – Boris Yeltsin. Who, as president of the Russian Federation during its first critical years, was an active alcoholic.
Mr. Putin claims that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is to liberate territory from fascism (allegedly personified by Volodymyr Zelensky – a Jewish “Nazi”) and save it from western expansionism. All of which is deliberate nonsense.
A more accurate assessment of Mr. Putin’s war is provided by the Oxford Dictionary. It defines “genocide” as “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.” To which I would add “regardless of what they do. For genocide has no causal element. The offense is merely existing.” Mr. Putin has repeatedly asserted that the nation of Ukraine simply does not exist, except as an obstacle to reconstituting Czarist Russia.
Mr. Trump unashamedly supports Putin even as Putin’s political enemies fall down stairs, are poisoned, and shot out of the sky. While president, Trump explicitly endorsed Putin’s veracity over those of our own intelligence services. He later praised Putin as a genius for invading Ukraine and, hundreds of thousands deaths later, has invited Putin to invade other countries that are not paying their way under NATO.
What makes Trump a man who is changing the world is not his base stupidity, intellectual laziness, moral emptiness, unmistakable mental deterioration, and obvious physical collapse (as a very flabby, increasingly haggard, near octogenarian). Rather, it is his destruction of America’s two-party system and, through it, our ability to function as a nation on the world stage.
Because with no actual Republican party, all that is left are the Democrats, who – on the merits – are deservedly considered out of step by a majority of Americans on a majority of issues. Worse, a deeply dysfunctional Congress has allowed Trump to singlehandedly hasten the deaths of many real people; that is, Ukrainian fathers, husbands, mothers, and wives, who are being denied the ammunition they need to stay alive. Worse still, Trump is doing so for the basest of reasons. It is not about policy. If brought to a vote, Ukrainian aid is widely supported in Congress across the aisle. It is about sowing chaos, which is Trump’s best hope for re-election.
Of course, Trump is not doing this alone. He has the help of the stupid (like Van Drew, who can at least rest on his low intellect as an excuse) and the spineless (like Kean, Jr., whose cowardice is inexcusable). That is, Trump is once again being enabled by a decided segment of Republican members of Congress.
With what outcome? As Anne Applebaum recently observed, this degree of malfeasance is already now stripping the United States in real time of its greatest competitive advantage; the alliances that keep us relatively safer and our economy pre-eminent.
Trump is creating (and actively working towards) a world in which our word is empty, our economy will falter, and our enemies (China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea) will kill many more people much more often. In the incredibly dangerous nuclear tinder box that we live in but understandably prefer not to think about, Trump may well be pointing us towards Armageddon. Because – you understand – Trump is a “winner,” and he wants to win this November.
How is that working for us now? How will that work for our children in the very near future?
This article began with the observation that Marx was wrong. Our lives are actually not determined by the immutable forces of history. They are determined by individuals, which includes us. Individually.
We cannot fix this overnight. But here is a place to start. Let’s try to save some lives. Contact your members of Congress and tell them to provide Ukraine with the aid package that is being shamefully obstructed. Surely, we can do that much. And we can do it today.
I contacted my representatives requesting they protect the US Border first, above All else.
That was very bold of you. Congratulations.
Andrew Leven goes to the tired banal practice of calling names of the people he disagrees with. Typical of a leftist!
If you have been actually paying attention to what Mr. Leven has been saying, you would understand that he is not a leftist. Neither is Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Chris Christie, Christine Todd Whitman, or Nikki Haley. But what these individuals have, that you apparently don’t is the ability to recognize the very real danger Trump poses to our Nation, and to the world. I am left of center on many issues, but I can recognize the moral courage of moderates, and yes, some conservatives, who show, by example, that they can think outside the box. You can take this to the bank: The Supreme Court, which, as you know, is ideologically 6-3 conservative, will allow Trump to be on the ballots in November, but it will also rule that he is NOT above the law, that he CAN be prosecuted for crimes he committed as President, because, sometimes, the needs of the one out way the needs of the many, while, at other times, the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the one.
Henry,
I do not comment on most replies because I want to encourage them. The marketplace of ideas is, after all, worth facilitating.
That said, you left out someone who is all about the “tired banal practice” of calling people names with whom he disagrees. Does “Little Marco” Rubio,” “Deranged” Jack Smith,” “Ron Desanctimonious” DeSanits, “Birdbrain” Nikki Haley, “Crooked Joe” Biden,” or “Lying” Ted Cruz ring a bell?
Here’s a hint. That person is not a leftist. Or a real Republican. Or a real conservative. But he is the most flawed human being General Kelly has ever met. And I am quite certain that General Kelly has met a lot of people.
Generall Matis: Trumps not mature. He’s a 5th grader.
General Mmaster: trumps a dope , a kindergartner idiot.
General Kelley: trumps crazy, an unhinged idiot.
Col Esper: IRRESPONSIBLE
General Milley : CRAZY
General Huron: IDIOT
Mr. Jefferson – if the sneaker fits, wear it.
Mr. Leven, I don’t know what you’re talking about. It seems they banned my response to your inane, insane column.
But, in response to O. Henry, another left wingnut like Mr. Leven, when he says “Neither is Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Chris Christie, Christine Todd Whitman, or Nikki Haley”. I’m sorry but, when you mention they are moderates, that’s code for Democrat-Lite. The names he mentions are nothing more than Deep State establishment politicians that are no longer Republican, but their own brand of “moderates”. And, Nikki Haley is Republican in name only, given the fact she is accepting millions of dollars in donations from Democrat donors.
When O. Henry starts spouting Star Trek’s Mr. Spock’s philosophies, I know O. Henry is a delusional lunatic of the first order. In fact, Mr. Spock’s philosophies are nothing more than Communism in all its forms.
Comments that Trump “poses a danger to our nation” is nothing more than projection by the Leftists/ Socialists/Communists/Democrats, because their own candidate, China Joe Biden, is the real “danger to our nation”, and the evidence proves it. O.Henry and Leven can’t get over the fact that over 100 MILLION real Americans are supporting Trump. So, all they can do is make personal ad hominem attacks on Republicans, Conservatives and Right-Wingers. It’s so typical of what the Nazi Party and Stalin’s Soviets did to the Jews, and then murdered millions upon millions of them.
Thomas…
You’ve confirmed what many of us here might already have deduced about you? And that is that critical thinking may not be your strongest attribute?
Keep trying.
Mr. Jefferson,
I have to inform you that Mr. Spock has been monitoring your attempts at civilized communication on this site (via a specially constructed temporal portal, as the technical advisor to Star Fleet Temporal Police)and has informed me that your pen name is not Thomas Jefferson. He informs me that you are a member of the Pakled species, who, among numerous other transgressions kidnapped Commander LaForge after he tried to fix your vessel’s engine in an incident known as The Samaritan Snare. Mr. Spock further informs that other Pakleds like yourself have come to Our Country, here on Earth because you see in one Donald John Trump, a kindred spirit. The Vulcan assures me that your hero will not become President again. He advises that you and your fellow Pakleds should return to your home world to eliminate further contamination of this timeline.
Messrs. Resmer and O.Henry have nothing of relevance to impart, so what do these left-wing Communist useful idiots resort to: Wait for it—Personal ad hominem attacks. This is the mantra that the Leftists-Communists use when they cannot argue their point cogently, since Demcrats can never win their arguments without personal attacks or screaming “racism” at everybody.
As for Messr. Resmer’s comment that critical thinking may not be my strongest attribute, I ask Messr. Resmer what is the definition of “critical thinking”, because he throws around terms he knows nothing about. Once again, his vitriolic personal ad hominem attacks show his lack of mental capacity. I would posit that Messr. Resmer’s version of “critical thinking” is akin to Critical Race Theory (CRT), which is nothing more than a failing race-baiting construct.
When “Thomas Jefferson” accuses others of ad hominem attacks, he should look at his own ad hominem attacks on others in this particular setting of his hate and vitriol. He is not interested in looking at the danger Trump poses, should he be elected for a 2nd time. Mr. Trump and his co-Horts have already tried to circumvent the Will of We, the People in 6 states by attempting to seat false electors in those states. He cannot be allowed to do that ever again. If he or his followers try to deny me or others our Constitutional right to vote, and have our votes count, there will be the “terrible swift sword” of justice ( a figure of speech, not an actual sword) that the Battle Hymn of the Republic refers to, for sociopaths like Trump and him.
Mr. O.Henry, please provide me detailed statements with what “hate and vitriol” I’m supposed to giving out that you allege. Please provide all of us with specificity and particularity based on your purported “expertise” as to what danger Trump is to democracy. The danger to democracy is in reality the Democrat-Communist Party and their “useful idiots” like O.Henry. And, I’m not making a personal ad hominem attack on O.Henry. I’m just stating a fact based on Communist Dictator Vladimir Lenin’s definition of what he coined as a “useful idiot”; it is a Communist supporter that doesn’t know he’s a Communist supporter.
Mr. Jefferson, your supposed namesake wrote a seminal founding document purporting that All Men are Created Equal, except for the slaves he owned. You may think that latching on to one of Lenin’s catch phrases makes you an expert on communism, and allows you to conceal your angst against political positions you cannot possibly agree with by making poorly informed calculations that Democrats are Communists. It is ironic that you use a derogatory phrase coined by a man whose positions you despise to pigeonhole people who don’t agree with you. Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy did the same. In the end he was a broken man, unrepentant of the damage he caused. President Eisenhower stood up to him, to his great credit. The unfortunate truth here, is that you are either intellectually incapable, or, at the least, unwilling to consider that Trump represents the WORST in all of us. He truly is a mirror hog, as Governor Christie has said. Trump has said he could kill some one and his supporters would let him get away with it. Would you? He and his supporters tried to nullify the Will of voters in 6 states by attempting to seat false electors. Did the 6-3 Conservative Supreme Court overturn the election in his favor? No. That is because THEY put COUNTRY before politics.
O.Henry, everything you say is projection. You accuse Trump and the MAGA Republicans of the very thing your criminal candidate, China Joe, and the Democrat-Communists are actually doing. As for me being an expert on communism, it is obvious you weren’t around long enough to witness it. I had family members that lived through it. Their friends lived through it (some of them). My uncle, was in the U.S. Army and was killed in Korea by the Chinese Communists in November 1950 at the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. He and his men were outnumbered 50-1 and held off the Chinese for weeks. I learned about communism, socialism and fascism n school and college by taking courses on the “isms” and numerous economics, civics, American and World History courses. There is no difference between communism and fascism.
So, for you as a Democrat-Communist, to try and upbraid me and tell me what I should think, shows that you are intellectually bereft because you know not what you speak of. Trump has over 100 MILLION voters on his side, and he just proved it last night on “Super Tuesday” that he is putting COUNTRY before politics. And, by the way, I am hoping he starts arresting the Democrat criminals in the Biden Racketeering Crime Family, the Obamas, Cong. Jamie Ratface, Adam Schitt, Chuck-you Schumer, Eric Swallowell and his Chinese Communist paramour Fang-Fang, Mayorkas, Becerra, Kabala Harris, AOC, Ilhan Omar and her brother-husband, Ayana Pressley, Tlaib, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, the MSM Kabal (MSLSD, CNN, NYTimes, WAPO, LA Times, Politico, the 51 intelligence liars that signed a treasonous letter imposing a coup against Trump to try and impeach him, et al., for treason, sedition, coup against a sitting President (Trump) and claim they were only trying to make it a “peaceful transfer of power”, and election interference.
“Thomas Jefferson” , May fortune smile on our country, and May the Trump campaign hire you as its Chief Campaign Spokesperson.
“O. Henry”, Fortune will smile on our country in a major landslide sweeping Trump and the Red Wave into office in November. At least you acknowledge I have the ability to speak the truth.
As an aside, O.Henry was a great short story writer that the writing community commenced a prize in his name for other short story writers. He lived in Texas. He was convicted of embezzling money from a bank he worked at.
“Thomas Jefferson” you are consumed by the irrational exuberance of your own pomposity. When your Red Wave does not happen, you can thank yourself, and your idol and criminal, (Biden’s one-term predecessor) for that. The disgraceful adjectives you hurled at Democrats shows us the full measure of you as a wretched and pathetic individual who sadly follows the hate-inspiring rhetoric of a fascist narcissist.
O.Henry: If the shoe fits, wear it. Democrats are Communists. The Democrat Party is the Party of Death (abortion, continuing wars in Ukraine, Israel, Mideast, Africa, etc., allowing for 100,000 deaths due to fentanyl because of open borders, allowing illegal alien criminals to murder, rape, rob, assault, kidnap and traffick Americans and their children, etc.). There is no other definition for what you and your leftist ilk are–a “useful idiot” for the Party of Death.