Hennessy's View

In Missouri, the Speaker of the House wields enormous power. No bill or issue comes to a vote without the Speaker’s approval. Lobbyists use the Speaker’s power skillfully. They funnel to campaign donations to the Representative who considers lobbyists their constituents, not the people who live in their district. Currently, the lobbyists are betting on Dean Plocher as their best hope for next Speaker. And Plocher is running hard for the position.

Today, America fled the battlefield in disgrace, leaving behind hundreds of innocent U.S. citizens. Even though the president swore he would remain until the last American was rescued, he changed his mind and decided they were expendable. Today’s disgrace was only the latest, though most profound, in Joe Biden’s dishonorable presidency. He abandoned the Afghan military in the dead of night without warning less than a month ago, precipitating the collapse of the Afghan government.

Let’s make sure Missouri hero, Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz of Wentzville, Missouri, receives a proper salute for his sacrifice. LCPL Schmitz USMC was killed in the terror attack at Kabul airport on Thursday. He was a few weeks shy of his 21st birthday. Let’s cover every overpass and line every street with US and USMC flags. I will update this post with details when they are known. Missouri State Rep. Dottie Bailey has secured a Missouri Highway Patrol honor escort for the remains of LCPL Jared Schmitz of Wentzville.

My wife’s family came from a part of Europe: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Germany, or Austria, depending on the year. I only learned this a few years ago, but I would wonder what life was like for a time. Imagine changing nationalities four times without ever leaving your farm. Now, I kind of know how it feels. This is not the country I grew up in. I grew up in a Christian country where individual freedom and responsibility were paramount.

Vaccinated people are as likely as the unvaccinated to suffer serious illness from COVID. Via Bloomberg: And now, there’s growing concern that vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to serious illness than previously thought. If America still had a free press, this news would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Israel recently reported that over half of COVID hospitalization in July were fully vaccinated. From Science Magazine:

We will feel sense of smug satisfaction when Joe Biden looks into the camera in the Oval Office and says, “I will resign the presidency effective noon tomorrow.” Justice demands Biden’s resignation in disgrace. But his next words should strike terror in the hearts of man. “At that time, in this office, Vice President Harris will be sworn in as the forty-seventh President of the United States.” While Joe Biden is famously stupid and arrogant (he cheated his way through law school, plagiarized numerous speeches, and lies about almost everything), he has been around Washington a long time.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight… oh Lord Phil Collins In the Air Tonight Joe Biden is the loneliest man in the world today. He has escaped Washington, DC, to spend a long weekend at his home in Delaware. His two-week vacation which began as Kabul was falling to the Taliban, has been effectively canceled. This long weekend at home would be the perfect opportunity for Joe and Jill to discuss their career options.

Do you consider yourself a responsible person? Most people I know have decided to say “no” to the COVID vaccines for one or more of the obvious reasons: The vaccines do not prevent infection or transmission of the disease (CDC) There is no evidence that vaccines reduce the incidence of severe cases. (The NIH has used invalid statistical methods) Adverse reactions to the COVID vaccine have killed 45,000 Americans and injured hundred of thousands (perhaps permanently) There are safe, affordable treatments available (HCQ, Ivermectin) All of the available COVID vaccines were made with cells or tissue from aborted babies Two of the three available vaccines are the first mRNA vaccines and pose terrifying long-term risks The inventor of the mRNA vaccine technology advises people to avoid the vaccines at all costs Human testing dispensed with a control group, so the actually efficacy and safety of the vaccines is unknown If you have decided to say “no” to the vaccines, I urge you to prepare yourself for when you do contract the virus.

Failure has consequences. When a great empire fails spectacularly, as the United States failed on its Afghanistan exit, enemies take note. Our enemies include China and Iran. What China and Iran saw in Afghanistan was a weak giant unable to execute an exit strategy despite the best intelligence, equipment, and training in the world. They saw the United States humiliated by goat herders with small arms. But they saw far more than.

Expect Joe Biden to resign or be declared unfit under the 25th Amendment before Labor Day. Last Thursday, I got the sense that Biden would not return from his two-week vacation. There was a certain air of defeat and resignation in his demeanor. I can’t quite put a finger on exactly what. It’s clear that Joe Biden is not up to the job of president. That conclusion was clear long before the election.

The more people say I’m crazy, the more the government tries to prove I’m sane. Last week, I told you that the United States government will begin forcing unvaccinated Americans into internment camps by Christmas. Expect popular support for internment camps to show up in polls starting in September or October when the Lambda Variant takes hold. (Even though Lambda appears to be utterly resilient to vaccinations, the “experts” will, of course, blame the unvaccinated.

Faster than you can imagine, millions of Americans will be rounded up and shipped to internment camps. We can predict this based on a behavioral science principle called Commitment and Consistency. The target population for this internment will be people who refuse to take a COVID vaccine. This roundup and internment will happen despite the undeniable facts surrounding those vaccines: They offer no protection against Coronavirus past 60 days, as evidenced by numerous studies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel.

Perhaps my favorite blessing of the Traditional Latin Mass is the peace and quiet, particularly at the Daily Mass. One finds himself praying and at peace in Christ. Now comes the pope to disturb even that. With his wicked motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, Francis invades the silence of the Latin Mass like an angry siren interrupting a peaceful dream. I noticed today to at Mass, in myself and in the comportment of all I could see, a fidgetiness similar to what one sees at the Novus Ordo.

Imagine the pain and sorrow of learning the church you attend and love has been burned to the ground by arsonists. And you will not be allowed to rebuild. That’s about how Traditional Catholics have felt over the past week. A week and a day have passed since Pope Francis released his Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes. The document has been panned by all quarters except the pope’s sycophantic cheering squad that hates the Church’s timeless teachings.

Many Catholic writers, including priests and bishops, have written or spoken about Pope Francis’s inhumane, vengeful, and rigid attack on Catholics who worship God through the Mass of the Ages—the Traditional Latin Mass. No one denies that Francis’s motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes, is the harshest attack on Catholicism ever written by a pope. As Dr. Peter Kwasniewski writes in The Remnant Newspaper: It is far worse than I had expected: a text that drips with contempt, miserliness, and vindictiveness, lacking even a rhetorical attempt to provide a context or (however insincerely) cushion the blow: a lack of rudimentary grace that has never been seen in a document of such magnitude, affecting so many Catholics.

A major piece of my identity has involved my service in the US Navy. Nine years active, two years in the reserves. Like most people, I have strong attachment to the things that are part of my identity. Yesterday, however, I severed the ties that had bound me to that identity. It was like cutting off a piece of my body. You might wonder if I wrote that post lightly or in the throes of passion, so I thought I should expand a bit.

It’s official: God is a Republican according to the Internal Revenue Service. And I’m not making this up. The IRS rejected a Christian group’s application for tax-exempt status because, in the judgment of the IRS, teaching Biblical values is the same as advocating for the Republican Party. From Fox Business via The Gateway Pundit: “While you educate voters on what the bible says about issues, your educational activities are not neutral,” [the IRS] wrote.

On Wednesday, the company I work for had a party to celebrate the reopening of our campus. What a joy to be around great friends, many of whom I had not seen in person in well over a year. And there were adult beverages. And I’m following a strict ketogenic diet. I had a couple of glasses of dry red wine with my friends. But cheating has consequences. I recently learned from Dr.

“The Bigs” include Big Agriculture, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, and, of course, Big Government. These malfeasant monsters get a lot of help from Big Tech, which silences dissent and demands conformity to the Bigs' “approved” beliefs. But the Bigs care nothing for your health and wellbeing. The Bigs look for ways to increase the prevalence of chronic conditions and diseases. On June 14, I wrote about the spiritual dimensions of keeping your body as healthy as possible.

December 23, 1944. ‘Battle of the Bulge’ An entire US Armored Division was retreating from the Germans in the Ardennes forest when a sergeant in a tank destroyer spotted an American soldier digging a fox hole. The GI, PFC Martin, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, looked up and asked, ‘Are you looking for a safe place?’ ‘Yeah,’ answered the tanker. ‘Well, buddy,’ Martin drawled, ‘just pull your vehicle behind me. I am the 82nd Airborne, and this is as far as the bastards are going.

Why Haven’t I Been Writing? My buddy Ed Martin called me out for not writing enough. Ed is right, and he’s not alone. Others have asked why I’m not writing as often. A gratutous headshot of Ed Martin (for the ladies) The short story is: I am writing a lot, I’m just not posting a lot. Sometimes I lose interest in the subject of my post before I get to a logical conclusion.

My dad took me to the recruiting centers—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines. The recruiting offices were in a strip mall, side-by-side, in South St. Louis. This was 1984. My dad was a veteran of World War II and Korea. Navy. Most of my uncles were also Navy veterans. But I wanted to be a Marine. I spent about three hours between the four services. The Air Force was pretty sure they didn’t want me for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I was a wild kid back then.

Breaking news this Sunday. In Georgia, the facility housing ballots and equipment for the upcoming audit and recanvass have been broken into. See The Gateway Pundit for details. Meanwhile, the Windham, New Hampshire, audit has been taken over by the very people who cheated in November. Again, The Gateway Pundit has more. Now, it’s up to us to turn the tide by recognizing, humbly, we can do nothing. Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood.

One of my favorite recent television series was Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley. One feature that made the show addictive was the cliffhanger ending of each episode. In each 30-minute episode, Richard Hendricks, the hero, saved his fledgling startup from an imminent disaster (usually threatened by a Big Tech oligarch). Invariably, though, Hendrick’s Houdini trick opened the door to an even bigger disaster. The cure was always worse than the disease.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (update at end) Fr. James Altman likes the phrase “abundance of courage,” and the phrase perfectly describes his holy ministry. Decrying the US bishops closing churches and denying the faithful access to the sacraments “out of an abundance of caution,” Altman countered, “No! We must act out of an abundance of COURAGE!” Now, because of Fr. Altman’s courageous preaching of the truth of Jesus Christ and the constant teachings of the Church since the Apostles, Bishop William Callahan of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, has ordered this wonderful priest to resign.

Does it ever feel to you as if all our grassroots work may be wasted? Like we’re on a political and cultural treadmill that’s turning just a little faster than we can run? That the universe is laughing our efforts and mocking our dreams? You may be right. We could be crazy. So, before you fire off that next tweet about the Arizona audit or post a rant about Dave Schatz’s 70% gasoline tax increase in Missouri, I want you know to be sure your work is not in vain.

If honesty were suddenly introduced into politics, it would throw everything off. The whole system would collapse! —George Carlin Why isn’t every Republican and the RNC screaming about the 2020 election? Because honesty about that election would collapse the system. America’s voting system has been artificially complicated in order to funnel money to a few favored companies. This needless complication has concentrated the ability to manipulate elections into the hands of few hard-left zealots in the tech and media industries.

Full headline: Leftist Internet Company Shuts Down “Truth Over Fear: COVID-19 and The Great Reset” Summit In Effort to Silence Health Professionals Concerned About Lockdowns and Experimental Gene Therapy Injections The oligarchs will stop at nothing to block the truth about COVID-19, the experimental gene therapy injection it spawned, and the people who sponsored the pandemic. The latest victim is Patrick Coffin and his Restore the Culture initiative. But read on for great news.

My dad spent the last four weeks of his life in a lonesome hospital bed, completely isolated from his family. He was release just seven hours before he died on a hospital bed in his living room. I was there, thank God, playing his beloved Glenn Miller at maximum volume when he breathed his last. My dad and my family were among the lucky few. Jack died in his own home with dignity in the presence of his only son after receiving the Last Rites of Extreme Unction of the the Church and listening to his favorite band.

THEY WANT DEDICATED LEGISLATORS TO FIND OUT WHO ORDERED OR INFLUENCED DRACONIAN LOCKDOWNS AND REGULATIONS **Take Off Tuesday. Head to Jefferson City to fill the Rotunda of the State Capitol. This is HUGE ** Missouri residents are taking over the rotunda of the State Capitol next Tuesday to hold their own forum on the effects of pandemic lockdown restrictions on vulnerable citizens in need of professional care. The hearings are open to the public and will include testimony from a half-dozen Missourian victims whose loved ones were isolated and afraid in the final days.

Sir Martin Rees is the former Astronomer Royal of Britain. We probably need to establish his scientific credentials no further. In 2002, Sir Martin wrote in chapter six of his book, Our Final Hour: How terror, error, and environmental disaster threaten humankind’s future in this century—on earth and beyond: In 2002 the magazine WIRED, a glossy monthly with a focus on computers and electronic gadgetry, inaugurated a series of “long bets.

A new report published by Microbiology and Infectious Disease is raising alarms. The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could trigger an avalanche of early-onset Alzheimer’s and other degenerative neurological diseases. The zombie apocalypse you’ve read about is coming, and it will resemble No Exit more than The Walking Dead. Assuming this report in Microbiology and Infectious Disease is accurate, the world could soon face a zombie apocalypse far more psychologically terrifying than any portrayed in movies, books, and television.

You’re probably going to hate me for saying this. You might even unsubscribe from my email. You’ll wish I still had a Facebook and Twitter account so you could unfriend me. You will be angry because you know what I am about to write is true. You will be angry because you have already thought this yourself. You have avoided saying it out loud because you can’t fathom the thought of being right—the unbearable weight of the truth.

Dying empires fight hard to control the threats surrounding them. Like wounded beasts, they lash out at anything within their reach. So it was that, amidst a century of decline, the Roman emperor Decius decided to end the Christian problem once and for all. He required everyone in the empire to pay a one-time public tribute to a Roman god. Decius set up a distribution system for the tributes so that citizens and non could walk up to a table in a marketplace and offer a libation to the god of their choice, free of charge.

NoteThis post is a follow-up to This Is What Will Happen, and I Don’t Know How I Know These Things. Jump to end for a movie recommendation that inspired this post. p.tip { background-color: #f0f7fb; border-left: solid 6px #3498db; line-height: 30px; overflow: hidden; padding: 18px; text-indent: 5px; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; } Would you have resisted and defied the Nazis if you’d lived in Germany in the 1930s?

It’s your life. You don’t know how long it’s gonna last, but you know it doesn’t end well. You’ve gotta move forward … as soon as you can figure out what that means. —Mad Men, Season Two, Six Month Leave You might think I’m all doom and gloom. You might think I’ve given up. You’d be wrong, but partially right. America is doomed. If you want me to say, “America’s best days are ahead of us,” you’ll be disappointed.

The FDA has halted the distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s experimental COVID gene therapy injection due to its association with deadly blood clots. Nearly 7 million people have already been injected with the serum. This action follows the suspension of Astra-Zeneca’s experimental COVID injection due to safety problems. The COVID “vaccines” are actually gene therapy. The injections trigger genetic mutations in human beings. Designers hope these mutations will cause the body to rapidly attack Coronaviruses.

Early Christians in the Roman Empire Last week, I published an article that received immediate reaction from some friends of ours. “The first paragraph said it all.” The first paragraph of This Is What Will Happen reads: What I have to say will not sit well with you. It will not sit well because you have already felt it yourself. You hope that feeling is wrong, that you are misinterpreting it.

This Is What Will Happen What I have to say will not sit well with you. It will not sit well because you have already felt it yourself. You hope that feeling is wrong, that you are misinterpreting it. I am here to tell you, the sick feelings and your interpretations of them are real. Sorry. These feelings, I know, are vague. We do not receive clear images of what is to come, but murky sensations.

Major Leave Baseball must benefit from election fraud. Last July, I posted “The End of America,” which has aged quite well, unfortunately. It is altogether fitting and proper (apologies to Abe Lincoln) that the “American pastime” should decide to kill itself now. Major League Baseball announced yesterday that it is boycotting Georgia. The reason? Georgia passed a law to prevent another stolen, sham election. By caving to a demand by Joe Biden, MLB entered the political fray with both feet siding with the Democrats and their allies who rig elections.

The only hill worth dying on is Calvary. Forty-eight hours from the time I sat down to write, Christendom commemorates a very special Passover meal. The one, by our calendar, in 33 anno Domini. Add another 16 hours and you are at the hour when the God-man climbed that hill. For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.

People say all the time how much they’re willing to sacrifice. Will they do it, though? If red states like Missouri want to break from the federal government, we can. Without a fight. Without secession. But doing so will require some sacrifice. Just refuse all federal subsidies to the state. No federal money for education. No federal money for highways, bridges, other infrastructure. No federal money for law enforcement. No federal money for medicine, healthcare, Medicaid, hospitals.

I feel vindicated by this news, but I take no solace or satisfaction. You have to throw away every Nike product you own. Now. Why I Write about Demons When I first started blogging about spiritual warfare, about Satan and demons, about demonic oppression, obsession, and possession, I was afraid. Well, not afraid, but concerned. I knew that some would think I’d gone around the bend. But I felt I had to write.

Now I’m towing my car, there’s a hole in the roof My possessions are causing me suspicion but there’s no proof — Don’t Dream It’s Over by Sixpence, None the Richer. Lyrics by Neil Finn Ah, Freedom! Our possessions bind us. The less we have, the more of ourselves we own. And now that I’ve unshackled my blog from the tyrannical clutches of Google’s Firebase, I am free to write again.

I hate being a hypocrite. Hennessy’s View has been hosted on Firebase. Until today. Today, I switched hosting services. (I won’t name my hosting service. If I do, the evil people will “force” them to delete my account because that’s what this generation of Satanists does to people like you and me.) Firebase is owned by Google and is part of its evil underworld of control, lies, and anti-Christian fervor. I don’t want to do anything that adds value to evil organizations, so I’ve moved to a new hosting provider.

When someone rings our doorbell, our three dogs stand in a circle and bark at each other like idiots. And that’s exactly what we look like when we complain about Twitter’s latest suspension of some conservative. I know that complaining about social media policies is the favorite pastime of many readers, but I’m telling you right now to knock it the hell off. Complaining about Twitter only makes Twitter stronger and you weaker.

I just had the great privilege to join a massive prayer call with our old friend Ed Martin. On that prayer was Bishop Leon Benjamin who taught us that we are living in America’s Red Sea moment. Think back to Exodus 14. Moses was leading the Hebrews out of Egypt when the pharaoh changed his mind and sent 600 chariots to slaughter the Hebrews. The people were fearful and angry at Moses and God for taking them out of Egypt only to die on the banks of the Red Sea.

Yesterday, I disclosed My Secret Plan for America. That plan was simple but difficult. Maybe even painful. The secret plan is to forgive the people who are bent on obliterating the United States. Forgive those who seek to hurt us and cause us to live out our lives in miserable poverty. Forgive those who want us dead. (And they are legion.) Many people were underwhelmed, and I am grateful to all who commented on the post.

I have started to write this post about a dozen times. One such reached 2,200 words before I closed it. Two thousand, two hundred angry, funny, sarcastic, bitter, angst-ridden words. And that was just one of my twelve attempts to encapsulate the events since November 3. And what is likely to follow. Thanks be to God, I never published them. Something (someone) told me they were not right. Accurate, perhaps. Honest, for sure.

MRS. POWELL: Doctor Franklin, what have you wrought us? BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: A republic, if you can keep it. Attorney Lin Wood says exactly what I’m feeling. I agree completely with Lin Wood. If Georgia doesn’t fix its system, no one should vote. Just don’t vote, people. Just don’t vote. As long as we keep voting, Republicans will keep letting you down. Every Georgian who votes on January 5 will be endorsing stolen elections and a stolen country.

The stakes are higher than most people imagine. Trump supporters need to realize Trump’s second term is the least important outcome of this election. The least important. If this fraud stands, there is no more United States of America. It’s done. Stick a fork in it. The country you fought for, that people died for, will be a footnote of history and a nation no more. The geography of our country will remain like a corpse without a soul.

Can you morally play a game you know is rigged? Yesterday, I asked if it’s a sin to vote if one believes the election to be fraudulent. Yet, the Church teaches that participating in elections, in government, is a duty. Given the right to choose our representatives, we are obliged to carry out God’s will through government. This creates a dilemma: voting in a corrupt system endorses the corruption, creating a scandal for others.

Cooperation With Evil Is Evil and Voting Could Be a Sin Yesterday, I said that justice begins with making the victim, the aggrieved party, whole. (Read “Who Gets the Mona Lisa.") Today, we’re going to talk about moral consequences. Specifically, is it moral and just to voluntarily participate in a fraudulent scheme? You know that elections in America are decided by fraud now. It doesn’t matter how you vote or that you vote.

If someone steals the Mona Lisa and gets caught, would it make sense to charge the thief a fine and let him keep the painting? Likewise, if a candidate “wins” an election by fraud, should we fine him and let him keep his office? No. Under absolutely no circumstances. Justice requires that the rightful owner be made whole and the perpetrator be denied the fruits of his crime. Indemnity comes before punishment.

It seems like the only food in the house on Thanksgiving Day is Thanksgiving food. And that’s not available before 3:00. (Let’s be real. Thanksgiving dinner is planned for 3:00. In reality, the turkey’s not done. And whoever brought the mashed potatoes let them get ice cold on the drive over. And someone forgot all about the damn rolls. We actually say the Benedic Domine about 5:27, after the turkey, which “popped” at 3:57, has had time to cool off and dry out.

Please do not share my posts on Twitter or Facebook. Parler is the new Twitter, and MeWe is the new Facebook. If you love America, you’ll move now. Twitter and Facebook make money every time you look at them. People look at them because of the content created by people like you and me. If we stop creating content for them (slave labor), there’s less to look at. And if we stop looking at them, they don’t make money.

If you’re a Supreme Court justice, you what’s coming. You’re going to be asked to decide a case that will likely result in massive social upheaval. It’s possible a majority of the court will try to find a way to deliver justice without rising mass rioting by leftists. Note that this is not my preferred result. But it’s better than the nightmare scenario of a packed court and two new all-Democrat states.

We’re all digital nomads now. We’ve been kicked off of the social media planets we helped make famous. So, like the Robinson family in Lost in Space, we wander around the internet galaxy looking for habitable and hospitable social media planets to make our new home. From Facebook to MeWe From Twitter to Parler From YouTube to Vimeo to Rumble From FoxNews to NewsMax and OANN From Drudge Report to Bongino Report From Hot Air to The Gateway Pundit We ask our Twitter followers to follow us on Parler.

Have you ever noticed how different a place looks when viewed from above? Look at a satellite image of a place you know well—your home, for instance. Zoom in close enough to identify the place, but wide enough to see the surrounding structures and spaces. You might notice how those buildings and streets and rivers seem so much closer than when you’re looking from eye level. You’ll feel a bit embarrassed that you routine drive to that store a few blocks away.

We just saw a completely fraudulent election in Georgia, where the Republican governor, attorney general, and Secretary of State lied repeatedly and helped cover up widespread and pernicious election fraud. The primary vehicle for fraud in Georgia was mail-in and absentee ballots. The Georgia system, which the legislature had made robust, was weakened over the summer when the state’s executive officers, in direct violation of the US and Georgia Constitutions, effectively removed all fraud controls in order appease Black Lives Matter and the ACLU.

We have been lied to since 1960. Everyone knows Richard Nixon beat John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential race. Kennedy “won” because of election fraud in Illinois and Texas. Everyone knows that, too. Nixon decided to let it go. He didn’t contest Illinois on the advice of people like George Romney and Prescott Bush. “Be the bigger man,” they told Nixon. “Put the country first.” Romney and Bush were lying, of course.

The children of darkness seek to steal the United States for as a gift for their evil father. (Please share on Parler) Archbishop Viganó, former Papal Nuncio to the United States, has described the 2020 presidential election as “the most colossal electoral fraud in history.” And he warned us to recognize what we are up against in his open letter to America: Do not think that the children of darkness act with honesty, and do not be scandalized if they operate with deception.

Goodbye Twitter; Hello Parler! Twitter wants me dead. You too, most likely. I don’t like being around people who hate me, especially when I have way to change their heart (except prayer). So I’m leaving Twitter behind and moving to Parler. Parler Believes in Free Speech Twitter began as a developer’s tool to allow developer to stay up-to-date on what other developers were doing. It was a great idea. From that, a new category emerged: micro blogging.

Vote Fraud Is the Summit of the Cancel Culture If you legitimately voted for Candidate X and someone else illegitimately voted for Candidate Y, it’s as if you didn’t vote at all. Your vote got canceled. The cancel culture seeks to eliminate opinions that differ from “official” positions. “Official” position means the opinion of the arbiter and is subject to radical and quick change without notice. The cancel culture has always existed.

Trump has three ways to win, while Biden has only one. And, the longer it takes, the better Trump’s chances. Biden has one path to victory: getting ballots counted and certified without scrutiny. That’s it. If Biden can get enough states to stop counting votes while he’s in the lead, he wins. (As long as all the ballots are legit or assumed legit.) Trump has three ways to win: Get enough states to stop counting votes when he’s in the lead (same as Biden).

The media do not fool themselves; they fool the public. Or try to. Yesterday, I painted a very dark picture of what could evolve over the coming days. Trump wins big, but the networks and newspapers refuse to acknowledge his epic win. Antifa thugs lay siege to the White House. Officials vacillate about using massive force to quell the riot. Nancy Pelosi declares herself president and Joe Biden president-elect. A friend texted me after reading the piece.

WARNING: This post is dark. I post it as a warning of what could happen. In fact, it’s exactly what the left is telling us they will do. Be prepared. It’s as if 2020 were a super-concentrated formula of everything that went wrong in the 20th century. Concentration leads to pressure. Pressure leads to heat. Hot concentrates explode. Tomorrow could see the US explode in a final act of self-immolation.

Leftists treat women like chattel. Take Facebook. Three days before the most important election since America’s founding, Facebook banned the organization Women for Trump. Facebook offered no explanation and it refuses to respond to requests for explanation from the organization, the press, and the president. And this is good news. Blatant Intolerance For Identifiable Groups Facebook, Twitter, and Google openly reject the rights of women and minorities to express their own views.

Cancelled Friends, I’m cancelling the Road Rally. The weather forecast calls for wind gusts up to 30 MPH this afternoon. Combined with highway speeds of 65 MPH, that’s 95 MPH winds–a category 1 hurricane. The flag rig I have is rated up to 65 MPH. What would happen if a Trump flag ripped off a vehicle and caused a crash on the highway? Would that help Trump, or would it become fodder for CNN to ridicule Trump supporters?

You can’t make this up. Democrats and corrupt judges have forced states to adopt vote-by-mail schemes that are proven to invite fraud. Democrats have claimed there’s no evidence of voter fraud anywhere in the United States. Until now. Joe Biden, on a conference call with supporters, just touted his campaign’s voter fraud operations. “We have put together and you…d…guys did…duh..did it for our administra…the president…Obama’s administration have put together, I think the most extensive and inclusive VOTER FRAUD organization in the history of American politics”

Most election polls include a question that pollsters rarely talk about: whom do you expect to win. Yet, the answer to this question is more accurate than any other election forecasting tool. By a lot. Finding the answers to this question is tricky. You have to get hold of the raw datasets and do the math yourself. Pollsters do not publish expectation data. The most recent analysis of expectation data comes from early October, around the first debate.

We have to ask: are your data and money safe with Expensify? Expensify’s CEO David Barrett (@dbarrett) sent an email to his customers threatening civil war if Trump wins re-election. Wow. Just received an extraordinary email from @expensify CEO @dbarrett. I can't remember ever seeing anything even remotely close to it. pic.twitter.com/lPCBMjQSh4 — Rick Klau (@rklau) October 22, 2020 You think Barrett would bat an eye at manipulating the expense data or even draining bank accounts of customers who support Trump?

Let’s take Joe Biden at his word. (I know it’s crazy, but just play along.) In the seconds and final debate of Election 2020, Joe Biden promised two mutually exclusive changes: To eliminate the oil industry. To do so without eliminating jobs. “No one will lose their job,” he says. While President Trump and conservatives are saying, “Joe Biden will kill oil jobs,” I think Joe actually has a plan.

The Commission on Presidential Debates, a partisan, anti-Trump cabal, may have just boosted Trump’s victory margin by trying to cheat. The Trump Train seems to be in a tizzy over the Commission’s new rules and changes to topics for the second presidential debate. The rule change involved cutting the microphone of one party while the other party speaks. The topic change was to drop foreign policy because Trump has been nominated for so many Nobel Peace Prizes that the Commission considers even mentioning the topic unfair.

You might be wondering why Democrats are so brazen. Why would they knowingly impeach Trump on senseless and unimpeachable charges? Why would they wiretap and entrap the incoming Trump administration? Why would they commit so many felonies? Why would they nominate a corrupt and senile old influence peddler for president? It’s simple: 2020 is a winner-take-all election for the Democrats. If Democrats win, they will never lose again, at least, not in the lifetime of anyone alive today.

Like many people, I was struck by Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s description of her opinion-writing methodology. I wonder if her methodology would improve my writing. Specifically, should the ACB Standard make writing more persuasive? The ACB Standard When I write an opinion resolving a case, I read every word from the perspective of the losing party. There’s the succinct version of the ACB Standard. Maybe Judge Barrett is not the first to define this standard, but she’s the first I’ve heard state it so well.

Liberals of all ages and races are twice as likely to suffer from mental illness than conservatives, but white liberals are particularly prone to psychological and psychiatric problems. Researchers have identified a strong correlation between liberalism and mental illness.The correlation is so powerful that almost one in two young white liberals have been diagnosed with mental health disorders according to Pew American Trends research. Crosstab analysis of Pew March 2020 American Trends survey data by Zach Goldberg @ZachG932

October 7, 2016: Access Hollywood October 7, 2016, was a Friday. My wife and I sat in our family room, waiting to leave for the movie theatre to see La La Land. The television served as background noise until about ten minutes before we left. That’s when a Fox News Alert popped up. Fox reported that NBC News had released an audiotape of a conversation between Billy Bush and Donald Trump.

Everyone is expecting the Democrats to use their tired, old playbook against Amy Coney Barrett. You know the playbook I’m talking about: some old flame or old acquaintance will work up the “courage” to sit before the Senate Judiciary Committee and tell his story of something horrible the nominee did during Reagan’s first term. But Democrats could use a very different tactic this time with the help of the Catholic Church.

It isn’t easy. Nothing works out just the way we want. Your best friend is a no-show at your daughter’s wedding. Your boss tells you your job is being eliminated. A thunderstorm hits 30 minutes after you stain the deck in violation of the weather forecast. Setbacks, big and small, dot our lives. Nothing seems to go right for Christian conservatives these days. Even less for traditionalists. Plagues, riots, threats of overthrowing the government, unemployment, uncertainty, division all dominate the headlines.

God does not override our free will. But He sometimes gives us black-or-white choices. And these sharp choices seem to be lining up like train cars, forcing Christians to choose between this world and His Kingdom. The latest example of this black-and-white, heaven-or-earth choice comes from Netflix. The Netflix Decision For the past three years, Netflix has become increasingly leftist in its programming and policies. (Find out how to report Cuties here.

Defenders of Black Lives Matter claim the organization is “spiritual.” No doubt about that. It’s spiritual, alright. But demons are spirits, too. “Spiritual” is not the same as “Godly,” and there’s mounting evidence that BLM’s founders consort with evil spirits. In a guest post on The Gateway Pundit, I recently reported that Antifa/BLM rioters appear to benefit from preternatural (demonic) intelligence. People often surrender rights over their minds and bodies in exchange for hidden knowledge from demons.

For 3,000 years (or more), God has called unworthy men to advance His Kingdom on earth. Why, then, are some Christian conservatives so appalled by President Trump? Specifically, I am thinking of people like Erick Erickson, an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church. Erickson never misses an opportunity to remind his readers and Twitter followers that Donald Trump has been divorced twice, uses foul language, insults people, boasts, and exaggerates. At the same time, Erickson recognizes that Trump is our last human defense against the children of darkness.

It’s not only okay to vote and campaign based on your faith, it’s a duty. And this year’s presidential election lines up beautifully with the Church’s calendar, as we will see shortly. But first, this. You’ve probably heard many Catholic bishops and priests say it’s inappropriate to mix religion and politics. But these bishops and priests are dead wrong. A cursory review shows that bishops who admonish Catholics not to talk about politics talk about politics themselves all the time.

Netflix Distributes Child Pornography According to federal law, child pornography refers to any kind of visual depiction that displays sexually explicit conduct that involves individuals who are under the age of 18 (source: Bartlby). If you want to reference the actual law, it’s 18 U.S. Code § 2252: (a)(2)(A) the producing of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. A new Netflix series, which I have seen only in clips on social media, seems to fit that definition of child porn like a glove.

I recently read the account of a Marine Corps veteran who traveled to Portland, Oregon, seeking a job as a Portland police officer. Along with two other combat veterans trained in urban warfare, this Marine, with permission from the Portland Police Department, decided to witness the nightly siege of Portland by Antifa and BLM activists. His harrowing account can be summed as: don’t go there. Antifa is better trained than any enemy we’ve faced in Iraq or Afghanistan.

To all those who’ve lost their jobs due to COVID-19 and the subsequent panic. If If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

Prayer for the United States of America Almighty and Eternal God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords: graciously turn your gaze to us who invoke You with confidence. Bless us, citizens of the United States of America; grant peace and prosperity to our Nation; illuminate those who govern us so that they may commit themselves to the common good, in respect for Your holy Law. Protect those who, defending the inviolable principles of the Natural Law and Your Commandments, must face the repeated assaults of the Enemy of the human race.

In six years, the present-day United States will find itself in one of three conditions: Marxist-totalitarian dictatorship masquerading as the United States. Dystopian failed state in a perpetual civil war. At least three distinct countries are functioning more or less successfully. The reason for this forecast is simple: a large number of Americans have simply decided they no longer wish to be Americans. We will call this group the “defectors.

Everything seems to be falling apart. Hope fades eternal. Five years ago, apparently, many of us felt the same way. Many people said “thank you” for this post from August 2015. It seems more fitting today than anything new I could write. Why Bother Note: This was written in August, 2015, during the Obama administration. Lamentations about the current state of affairs pertain to an era now past. Hope for the future, though, burns eternal.

It’s time to pare back our addiction to social media, and I will propose an alternative later in this post. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the primary causes of unhappiness, anger, tribalism, and violence in America and many other countries. Text messaging apps are accessories. Heavy Facebook Users Are Miserable and Lonely Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport available on Amazon. Replicated research shows that the top 1/4 of Facebook users are three times as angry and depressed as the bottom 1/4.

I kept crying. And the t-shirt I wore was utterly inappropriate. Last night (July 2), I finally made it to the nightly Rosary by the statue of St. Louis in Forest Park. It was the most fantastic experience. Most amazing. When I arrived, Fr. Stephen Schumacher was leading about fifty people in chanting Vespers in Latin. Right there in the middle of Forest Park. That uniquely and unmistakably Catholic rite of daily prayer.

Do you consider yourself a “compassionate” person? You have probably heard that St. Louis City and County issued a new mask mandate on July 1. What do you think about that? Will the number of new cases decline or continue to rise? Will this mask mandate shorten the duration of the pandemic or prolong the suffering? What do logic and science tell us? Totals Are Meaningless Because The Number of New Cases Can Only Go Up When was the last time you heard of someone dying in a chariot crash?

St. Paul warned us of times like these. Ephesians 6:10-20 warns us that we lack the strength, wisdom, courage, and intellect to fight the forces of darkness alone. That’s not to say we shouldn’t fight or that we should leave it to others. It means the only weapons that work are spiritual. Mere humans cannot forever defend monuments against other humans bent on their destruction. The defilers and destroyers need to get it right only once, while the defenders' vigilance must be perfect at all times.

Our purpose in holding this Rosary event at the statue of St. Louis was to satisfy the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. To that end, we prayed equally for everyone present at the event: For those who attacked us and called us names For those who falsely accused us of being in the KKK For those on both sides of the issues who came to provoke the other side For those police officers who donned riot gear on a hot, humid day to keep us all safe For those who came out to pray For all of them, we prayed to God that He softens our hearts and fills our souls with gifts of the Holy Spirit.

By the grace of God, Jim Hoft, the Gateway Pundit, has called all Catholic Christian men to pray the Rosary at the statue of St. Louis IX, King of France, on Art Hill in Forest Park at Noon on Saturday, June 28, 2020. Please join us. If you cannot join us, please pray for us. Pray that our intentions align with the will of God, that we do nothing out of vainglory or pride.

Five hundred West Point Military Academy graduates became the ideological heirs of Robert E. Lee this week. I bet they didn’t even realize it. The Gateway Pundit reports that 500 former West Point grads denounce “politicization” of the military and refuse to defend America against domestic enemies. Oath of Commissioned Officers I [state your name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.

(Previously, on Civil War…) Amanda Mateo’s door did indeed have balloons on it. A big plastic wreath with fake balloons. As if Martha Stewart went to work for Fischer-Price. “Hello, again,” Amanda said as she opened the door. “How did you know it was safe to open the door?” Mike asked. “I looked through the hole, silly. I’m not stupid.” Amanda stepped back, and Mike walked into her apartment. Brand new everything.

(Previously, in Civil War…) Michael Francis Franklin walked into his San Jose home at six thirty-seven on November 18, 2016. In his hands were a dozen envelopes and ads from his mailbox. On his mind was Amanda Mateo. Franklin was married from 1999 to 2006. He could remember about an hour and a half of being happily married. The rest was torture. In the decade since his divorce, Mike had come to accept that he was meant to be alone.

House Democrats last week introduced a federal police reform bill. As usual, the bill is terrible, even in concept. Policing is a local issue. But, like a broken clock, the Democrat bill is right on one matter: their bill makes qualified immunity a legislative issue instead of a judicial concern. What Is ‘Qualified Immunity’ Qualified immunity bars lawsuits against public officials whose actions cause actual damages unless those actions violate the law.

Just days after I reported that an effective COVID-19 vaccine is highly unlikely, the pharmaceutical company Moderna issued a press release touting promising results from early human trials. People assumed I was wrong. But I’m doubling down. Moderna’s vaccine trials have probably already failed, and Moderna’s “encouraging” press release proves it. Coronavirus Vaccines Are Unlikely From The Humane Approach to Coronavirus Is to Open Up Everything published May 16: There Probably Won’t Be a Coronavirus Vaccine: Since early March, researchers around the world have been warning us that a vaccine for Coronavirus is highly unlikely for a straightforward reason: they have been searching for vaccines against Coronaviruses for decades and have never produced one.

The usual suspects on the CNN and MSNBC claim no president has ever called on the National Guard or the Army to put down riots and revolts. “Unprecedented,” said Larry O’Donnell on MNSBC. “Dictatorship,” declared CNN’s Don Lemon. Once upon a time, people in journalism had good historical educations. Reporters of the past didn’t necessarily study history in college. Most learned history by researching current stories. This is how most people learn most of what they know.

A stunning contrast. Our leaders show more patience and respect (or is it fear?) for hooligans, thugs, and terrorists than for small business owners who pay the leaders' salaries and fill their campaign coffers. Political favoritism shown to violent street gangs will end, or the leaders will face a revolt from the right like nobody’s every seen before. When people feel their backs are to the wall, they fight for their lives.

Today’s post was supposed to be about the public health crisis caused by the Coronavirus quarantine, but something more urgent came up. The Dunning-Kruger effect is a fascinating cognitive bias that causes enormous human suffering. We see it in the prolonged over-reaction to Coronavirus and the riots following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The experts include politicians, police, and community activists (peaceful). Non-experts include anarchists and rioters, on the one side, and anti-riot militias, on the other.

The CDC, today, issued guidelines for reopening offices that ignore medical guidance regarding masks. The latest medical guidance, according to May 21 article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported here, says: Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes).

In the past week, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the New England Journal of Medicine have admitted that masks are little more than symbols. Virtue signaling. For those of you who shout “science” like it’s a Tourette tick, this is from the New England Journal of Medicine on May 21, 2020: We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes).

A recurring theme in the Old Testament went something like this: the people of God (Jews) face a temporal crisis. The people of God surrender to a pagan nation, paying tribute to both the foreigners and to their gods. Most of the chosen people assimilate with their earthly masters. During the Babylonian Exile, they largely abandoned circumcision and most of the Mosaic laws. The Temple was given over to orgies and terrible sacrilege.

Could anything be more entertaining than watching a “woke” priest mock his own religion and its sacraments by spraying an infant with a water gun in the sanctuary? Yet, this is where the “reforms” of Vatican II have landed us. Satan himself has more respect for God than these vested buffoons who use Coronavirus as an excuse to mock God, mock His Church, and mock the seven Holy Sacraments.

When I wrote this post on May 6, I worried how it would be received. Accusing a governor of intentionally killing nursing home residents in order to save money is a serious charge. And, with only circumstantial evidence, difficult to prove. Since then, Andrew Cuomo’s behavior has been consistent with guilt. The latest example is deflection. He’s trying, now, to blame federal guidelines for his order to force uninfected nursing homes to treat confirmed COVID-19 patients even if they lacked the facilities and skills to do so.

Thank you to everyone who replied to the 2020 Hennessy’s View (totally self-serving) Survey. Here are the results: New Blog Design On a scale of 1 to 10, readers give the new design a score of 8.95. I’ll round that up to 9.0. Thank you! What Topics Do You Want to See Covered? Since I didn’t ask permission to post your responses to these questions, I’m going to summarize. I list these topics in the form of questions that I can answer later with posts.

File this one under “As If We Don’t Have Enough to Worry About.” We could be entering an age of revolution around the world, and I blame the sun. Solar Maxima/Solar Minima The sun goes through ~11 year cycles of high activity (solar maxima with lots of solar flares and sunspots) and low activity (solar minima with few solar flares and sunspots). NASA projected April 2020 (+/- 6 months) as the trough of the current cycle, number 24.

Via WGEM: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker responded Friday afternoon to President Donald Trump’s statement earlier in the day where Trump said he had deemed churches and other houses of worship “essential” and called on governors to allow them to reopen this weekend. During his COVID-19 press briefing on Friday afternoon, Gov. Pritzker said Illinois would continue to operate on the basis of science and data. If JB Pritzker, governor of Illinois, took science and data seriously, he’d drop about 280 pounds fast.

The morons in the White House press corps spend most of today’s briefing screaming at press secretary Kayleigh McEnany about President Trump’s order to re-open all churches. The oft-repeated (shouted) question: “What federal law is the president relying on to require states to allow church services?” The question demonstrates the absolute ignorance and laziness, the besst-like stupidity, of most journalists. The president’s authority is the United States Constitution, you mouth-breathing swine!

St. Louis, Missouri, consistently makes everyone’s top 10 lists for worst cities in the United States. The reasons given include crime, lack of opportunity, and dilapidated neighborhoods. Having grown up in the city, and with most of my family still living there, I can add to that list unreliable city services, terrible roads, cronyism, and less than ideal weather. [Cities People Can’t Flee Fast Enough: St. Louis Number 4] Mayors can’t do anything about the weather, of course, but St.

Go ahead and wear a mask, especially if a merchant requires you to, or if not wearing a mask will cause someone undue anxiety. It’s charitable. Also, if you’re highly active (get out a lot), you should probably wear a mask and wash your hands if you’re going to be around people who are more likely to suffer severely from Coronavirus: the elderly, the obese, people with chronic conditions. While we’re at it, basic practices our grandmothers taught us should always apply:

Sadly, very sincere people, almost in tears, ask our forgiveness for wearing masks. “I wear a mask so I don’t unknowingly pass a disease to someone else,” one such explained to me on Twitter. These are not bad people. In fact, they think themselves very, very good people, indeed. The best. The ones willing to wear masks so as not to spread their (remotely possible) contagion to others. [Read why masks actually increase suffering from Coronavirus]

The most humanane approach to Coronavirus is to let it spread without overwhelming the hospitals in any location. Mitigation orders, such as wearing masks, stay-at-home orders, and maintaining six feet of distance, while well-intentioned, actually prolong the agony, except when required in places that are in danger of overwhelming the hospital system. The idea that we can maintain this near-complete shutdown of society for as long as Coronavirus exists is a recipe for disaster on a Biblical scale.

No need for set-up. This is simply the perfect short movie for our time. Please watch and share widely. Especially with your snitch friends. God bless Kevin James.

NEW YORK—New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home genocide passed the Chittagong Hill Tracts genocide of 1977 to take sole possession of 48th place in the all-time genocide list, according to Genocide Watch International. Cuomo is now only 3,100 deaths away from overtaking Slobodan Milošević’s Bosnian genocide of 1992 to 1995 for 47th. All-time list of Greatest Genocides via Wikipedia Over 5,200 nursing home residents in New York died to Coronavirus as a result of Cuomo’s policy of placing elderly Coronavirus patients in otherwise disease-free facilities.

Releasing national security intercepts to unauthorized persons is a federal felony punishable by 10 years in prison. And at least one of the names on this list of top Obama Administration officials is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 18 U.S. Code § 798(a)(4): Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information—obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes—Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

WASHINGTON — Members of the so-called “Obama Alumni Association” feel harassed and abused by the former president whose late-night, drunken conference calls have become annoying, frequent, and less coherent as time goes on. Hennessy’s View has learned that Obama began these occasional conference calls with a handful of former officials about six months after leaving office in 2017. Over time, the 44th president stopped following a semi-weekly schedule of planned calls.

One of the most despicable men alive, ABC News White House reporter Jon Karl, took his shot a Pulitzer for online journalism today by snitching on Fox News' John Roberts. Roberts, aparently, was the last person outdoors in the Rose Garden, to put on his mask. Look a “Karen” Karl’s snotty tweet: Almost everybody in the Rose Garden is wearing a mask — almost everybody. pic.twitter.com/JBnEV05HOd — Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) May 11, 2020 Jon Karl was the kid who made sure the teacher didn’t forget to collect homework.

We have all come to know some things about Dr. Deborah Birx, the doctor responsible for the White House’s Coronavirus response. Her clear explanations often highlighted the nightly White House Coronavirus Task Force press conferences. Night after night, we watched and listened as Dr. Birx carefully explained complex statistical and medical information in a way even a reporter could understand. Her style is considered and precise. Understatement and exaggeration seem genetic impossibilities for Dr.

On Saturday, May 9, in St. Louis, more people were shot than diagnosed with Coronavirus. Two died from gunshot wounds. The other eight are alive in unknown or unreported condition. Via the Washington Times: Authorities say at least 10 people were shot, two of them fatally, in a single day in St. Louis. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the the gunfire began around 1:15 p.m. Saturday when a 28-year-old man was fatally shot.

Everybody’s talking about the fourth stimulus bill. Infrastructure. Payroll tax cut. Vote by mail. But there won’t be one. There will be a stimulus, but it will not come from Congress. The fourth stimulus will come from you and me. There are three reasons for this, which I will get to in a moment. But, first, do me a favor: Please share this post with your members of Congress. It’s that important.

An ice cream parlor in Massachusetts closed one day after re-opening because customers treated his employees like dirt. Owner Mark Lawrence told Fox25 Boston, via Fox News: “People have forgotten how to treat other human beings in the six or seven weeks that they’ve been confined to their homes,” he told the station. “They have no clue how to respect other human beings.” After just one day, Lawrence closed his shop.

If you work for a corporation, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the virtues of efficiency. And, if you’re living in America, you’ve probably noticed shortages of stables like meat, packaged food, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and more. What you probably don’t realize is that business’s pathological concerns for efficiency caused the shortages. And, what’s worse, most of the “expert” recommendations for dealing with pandemics will put us all at risk for precisely the same reason.

Nate Silver let the cat out of the bag. In case you don’t recognize his name, Nate Silver is the data analyst who launched Five Thirty-Eight, orignally in the New York Times. He was famous for not predicting an election a few years ago. Today, Nate unloaded on the media for just one aspect of their narrative-driven Coronavirus coverage. In short, noted the same thing Hennessy’s View pointed out a month ago: positive tests is meaningless unless it’s indexed to the number of tests administered.

Donald Trump just had another one of those weeks for which he’s become famous. There was the week hit bombed Syria while dining with President Xi of China at Mar a Lago. There was Easter Week 2019 when the Mueller Report exonerated and the economy hit new highs. There was the week of the State of the Union Address that included his exoneration in the Senate. But, this week’s outbreak of liberty and its commensurate exposure of Trump’s enemies as pure scum is the best so far.

It would be the most sinister murder plot in US history. Imagine a governor conspiring to thin the population of elderly people, using a pandemic as both cover and weapon. As unimaginable as it would be, evidence is mounting New York Governor Andrew Cuomo did just that: culled the herd in nursing homes by weaponizing Coronavirus. Dumped Off With Their Own Body Bags New York Governor Andrew Cuomo implemented an emergency declaration that required nursing homes to accept active Coronavirus patients regardless of their ability to care for or isolate the infected patients.

A lot of doctors seem to derive much pleasure from convincing people that Coronavirus will kill us all very soon. Very soon. These are the Doomsday Doctors. And if they’re right, we need to eliminate all behavior restrictions immediately and enjoy our final days. The latest tactic of the Doomsday Doctors is to report (non-peer reviewed) that the Coronavirus has mutated into a weapons-grade killer that no one can avoid or resist.

I’ve been writing “around” this topic for weeks, now. But I have to post this today, because Scott Adams scooped me. Tonight on his Coffee with Scott Adams Periscope he exposed the secret I’ve been leading up to. No reason to be subtle any longer. So, here we go. Watch Scott Adams' rant. (Begins about 9:30 mark.) There will be extra cussing tonight. Put the kids to bed. Close your windows and get under the covers.

The leaked Five Eyes dossier on China’s nefarious Coronavirus pandemic provides all the pieces to figure out what happened and why. The dossier doesn’t connect the dots for you, but they’re now easy to connect. So easy, even I can do it. The story goes something like this. China was playing around with dangerous natural microbes in order to prove that it was as good as the USA at studying and neutralizing infectious diseases.

If you believe science, then you disbelieve 2/3 of science. In 2017, the BBC reported on a major problem in science in medicine: two-thirds (67%) of all scientific and medical studies cannot be replicated. Via BBC: Science is facing a “reproducibility crisis” where more than two-thirds of researchers have tried and failed to reproduce another scientist’s experiments, research suggests. Two years earlier, in 2015, a major study found the same problem, with nearly the same numbers, involving psychology.

The only thing more dangerous than a man with unlimited resources is a man with nothing to lose. Thanks to tyrannical and unlawful restrictions on liberty and commerce by a few governors, mayors, and county executives, 30 million Americans have nothing left to lose except their dignity and freedom. Millions of American feel threatened by stupid and tyrannical policies that have no basis in science or evidence. Only the will to power drives governors like Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer.

Agents of the FBI plotted to frame and destroy General James Flynn for politic purposes according to handwritten notes released today. General Flynn, a 30-year Army veteran and 3-star General, pled guilty to false charges in order to protect his family from further harassment by the FBI in 2017. Now, the law firm that once represented Flynn has release thousands of documents it previously illegally refused to turn over. One of those documents is a handwritten note.

In the past 48 hours, the World Health Organization has spread misinformation about the Coronavirus intended to keep economies closed for good. On Saturday, the WHO, through its propaganda tools like the New York Times, Twitter, Facebook, and CNN, released a statement that Coronavirus antibodies offered no protection against catching the disease a second time. This statement was factually wrong, but the media quickly broadcast the false statement. On Sunday, after an outcry by physicians and researchers, the WHO amended its statement to say “there is no evidence” that Coronavirus antibodies protect people from the disease.

Coronavirus could wipe out the open office floor plan as quickly and decisively as it wiped out many corporate bottom lines. Companies that move to an open office cite two benefits for the design: Cost savings by cramming more people into a given amount of space. Increased innovation, driven by collaboration. But multiple studies show that both assumptions are wrong. Now, Coronavirus has proven that open offices represent a significant public health threat, as well.

Why would YouTube and Twitter executives attack an innovative biotech company? Hatred. Pure, unadulterated hate. Nothing but raging emotion can explain why both YouTube and Twitter went on the offensive against the biotech company AYTU Healight this weekend, banning the company from their platforms. What AYTU Healight did to earn deplatforming: it found favor with the man the China-controlled World Health Organization hates. Donald Trump merely asked his mecical experts about the possibilities of AYTU Healight’s Far-UVC catheter technology.

The Congressional Budget Office release a report yesterday (April 24, 2020) that expects our response to Coronavirus will wipe out 40 percent of the US economy and throw 27 million Americans into long-term unemployment. We could see unemployment rates of 20 percent or more for a decade. The Last Depression My parents were born in 1925. Their understanding of the world was shaped by the Great Depression and World War II.

An expert is someone who can’t be fired for being wrong about everything 100 percent of the time. You can call that Hennessy’s Law, and Coronavirus is proving this law iron clad. Iron clad. The latest confirmation of Hennessy’s Law just completed. In March, Donald Trump and others said that warm weather would diminish the spread of Coronavirus, just as it diminishes the flu. The reason: virus that survive well in cool, dry conditions don’t do well in warm, humid conditions.

About three days ago, as the news spread of our world rapidly grinding to a halt, I sent a text to some friends: For you Fourth Turning fans, the Climax is right on time. If you’ve never read my Fourth Turning posts, now might be a good time to do so. I’ll wait right here. (Link to Fourth Turning Posts) Here are some important quotes about the Climax.

I know President Trump mocks the idea of herd immunity, but there’s really no other option absent a vaccine. And if we keep in lockdown until a vaccine is widely available, millions will die from the collapsed economy and collapsed infrastructure. What makes Coronavirus more dangerous than flu is lack of immune people. Let’s say that both kill about .01 to .02 percent of everyone who catches them, just for argument’s sake.

We’ve all been seeing the woeful headlines from the media that hates Trump and hates America: CNN, NYTimes, Washington Post, Drudge Report, etc. The headlines combine and conspire to send a single, unmistakable message: DESPAIR. The headlines and stories are clearly intended to make people panic. The media want people to stay locked in their homes, and they want people to demand that government keeps the brave locked in their homes, as well.

This is a live view of the most important COVID-19 metric: acceleration rates of positive tests, hospitalizations, and deaths. Source: The Covid Tracking Project Key Insight: For every week, Hospitalization rate decreases by about 9.19%. From My Original Tweet The most important number regarding Coronavirus is a number none of the tracking sites or governments will tell you: acceleration. Lower acceleration of hospitalization and deaths is good. It means the number of new incidents yesterday was smaller than the new incidents from the day before.

Wearing masks in public will change the way people behave, and the consequences for society could be devastating. The White House released the plan to Open America Again. It’s reasonable, 3-phase plan that relaxes Coronavirus restrictions in 14-day increments. As a state achieves certain metrics, based on CDC surveillance data, it advances to the next phase. Phases one and two allow increased activity with the recommendation of requiring face masks when in confined public places like work.

Governors, mayors, and county executives are drunk with power, and it’s our job to sober their asses up. Thanks to Josh Schisler and the Reopen Missouri movement, protests are a comin'. We’re gonna pull good ol' fashioned 2009 on a new crop of autocrats in a two-part protest to get Missouri Working Again. Part One: Reopen Missouri @ State Capitol at Noon Jefferson City, Missouri. Noon to 1:00 vehicle protest at the State Capitol.

America will reopen for business much, much faster than most people think. This is only a possible scenario, but it’s the scenario I see as likeliest case. But I’m realistic enough to know I could be terribly wrong. Be careful about acting on anything you read here. Some of my friends, relying on the horribly flawed data models that the CDC and many states relied on, seem to believe the economy will be locked down most of the summer.

If you pay attention to certain sources, you’ll know exactly what to do. One of these sources is the Francis Vatican. Whatever the Francis Vatican says, do the opposite. Francis' Vatican recently called China the best example of Christianity in the world. Thinking people immediately treated China like the incarnation of Satan, which it is. When Francis defiled St. Peter’s Basilica with demonic idols, thinking Christians canceled their planned trip to the Vatican

If a picture can paint 1,000 words, this infographic would fill a library. It is a visual representation of the death toll from various plagues throughout history (most of which originated in China), including COVID-19 (which originated in China). You will notice that COVID-19 is a rather mundane specimen. As of April 10, its death toll fell somewhere between the Yellow Fever of the late 1800s and Ebola of 2014-2015.

Models failed. Miserably. The IHME models the CDC used as their primary source to justify the destruction of President Trump’s beautiful economy turned out to be no better than guesses from three drunks at a bar. The IHME factored in strict mitigation (lockdown), but they still over estimated everything by factors as high as 40. That models were unbelievably bad is not open to debate. The models were hideously bad.

If I asked you, “what’s the perfect act of love and humility?” you’d likely answer, “to give one’s life for his neighbor.” If I asked your for the second greatest, you might say, “to sacrifice one’s life’s greatest work for his neighbor.” Now, if I asked you, “what is Donald Trump’s greatest work?” you’d probably say, “the US economy.” Objectively, the incredible US economy since January 2017 is the greatest accomplishment in Trump’s life.

Last week, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly fired the commanding officer of the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT. I wrote about it here. I supported that decision, but today I am asking President Trump to fire Thomas Modly. Modley fired Captain Brett Crozier after Crozier’s letter to a wide distribution list appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. That five-page letter asked the Navy to move 4,000 sailors from the USS Roosevelt to hotels in Guam to be isolated to protect them from Coronavirus, which was spreading on board the aircraft carrier.

Last week I hoped that the Coronavirus pandemic would kill a few horrible ideas. One of those bad ideas involves bowing down before data models as if they were some sort of pagan god. (I should have added to that list the idea of foundations funded by American billionaires.) Data models are not science, but most people have no idea what science is, so they fall prey to this insidious myth.

I wish I had never read the book Naked Lunch. Once in a while, though, having read it comes in handy. A Gateway Pundit story about Dr. Anthony Fauci reminded me of something from Naked Lunch. Dr. Benway is the chief antagonist of that wretched book. He is a sadist who advises governments on ways to keep populations compliant and submissive through fear. For example, from Naked Lunch by William S.

In the 2003 movie, “Northfork,” two pseudo-government agents working for a power company try to convince a devout Mormon farmer to get out of his home before the construction of a dam floods him out. The farmer insists he must first receive a sign from God. The Mormon has built a replica of Noah’s ark, which he expects will rise with the waters and sail him and has wives to safety.

People like clean storylines with an obvious, likable hero and a sinister, hateable villain. When real life tells us a story, our minds will mold the facts to fit our desired storylines. In other words, we will create a hero and a villain for every story, even if there aren’t any. As we retell our semi-fictionalized story to ourselves or others, we pad the hero’s character and tarnish the villain’s with each telling.

What kind of world will emerge from the coronavirus shutdown? People have gleefully surrendered amazing new powers to governments. We have erected barriers between ourselves and all other humans on the planet. We have surrendered all of our rights, including the First Amendment. We have abandoned religion. The Catholic Church has ordered its priests to disobey Christ’s Great Commission by prohibiting baptisms. We have shut down every business that isn’t part of a global enterprise.

Someone sent me a video. The video shows a doctor explaining how coronavirus is worse than the flu. Should we believe him? I say, no. And the reasons we should not believe this doctor about the relative dangers of two diseases have nothing to do with medicine. They have everything to do with statistics and lying. First, the statistics. The Doctor’s Statistical Error The doctor, a general surgeon, opens the video by stating his conclusion that coronavirus is deadlier than influenza and his proof.

Do We Deserve Freedom? You probably know people who are concerned about a “surveillance state” developing. Maybe you’re one of them. I know I am. It’s a reasonable fear. Some police departments are using drones to spy on people in their homes, peering into living rooms and bedrooms with digital cameras and fining or arresting people who have more than the imposed limit of guests. The justification the state gives for these intrusions is, of course, coronavirus.

SEATTLE — Left-wing terrorist group Antifa has threatened to sue non-members wearing protective masks in public as a violation of the group’s trademark. “Wearing masks in public as a form of intimidation and anonymity is our thing,” said Seattle-area organizer Josh Millgram. “These fascists are ruining the brand. I mean, look, with everybody out there wearing some sort of mask, we don’t even know who to hit.” Antifa Seattle’s general counsel and chief operating officer, Heidi Berkhardt, wrote in a statement, “by long use and general practice, the Antifa mask has become a trademark for the organization.

Last week, I pointed out that the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus is a meaningless number. The media is all atwitter about it, but the media are mostly idiots. (Never trust a reporter.) Bloomberg now cites many “experts” who agree with me on this: It doesn’t matter that the United States surpassed China this week in reported Covid-19 cases because those numbers (83,507 and 81,782 respectively as of March 26) don’t tell us how many people actually became infected in either country.

Bishops have banned public Masses, but that hasn’t stopped the Mass, especially the Traditional Latin Mass. Monsignor Eugene Morris of the Oratory of Ss. Gregory and Augustine is livestreaming the Holy Mass each Sunday at 8:00 a.m. You can watch live on the Oratory’s Facebook page. How to Get the Most from the Mass in Time of Pestilence Msgr. Morris has published a guide to keeping the Mass holy in this time of pestilence as we watch from home instead of participating in the pews.

If you’re looking for a silver lining in the coronavirus pandemic, you don’t have to look far. Several bad ideas have become institutionalized in America in recent decades. These bad ideas have served the virus well, made it more deadly, and forced us to shut down our economy. No more! If we learn anything from this pandemic, these bad ideas will die: Open Offices: Millions of people have seen how moves to open office environments kill productivity and destroy previously good companies.

Today, President Trump nailed it. “What we did was we closed everything down. That was our public health strategy. Just close everything, all businesses, old workers, young people, old people, short people, tall people. Every school closed, everything.” “If you rethought that or had time to analyze that public health strategy, I don’t know that you would say quarantine everyone. I don’t even know that that was the best public health policy.

Hysterical headlines scream about the number of new coronavirus infections every hour. This is a mistake. Ignore those headlines. Number of confirmed cases will rise as number of people tested rises. If we tested everyone for the flu, the number of confirmed flu cases would be astronomical. Doing some casual analysis, it’s pretty obvious what drives the death rate: the number of hospitalizations in a given geographic area. Last week I pointed out that mean averages are meaningless, even destructive if used to project into the future.

“Conservatism is the tacit acknowledgement that all that is finally important in human experience is behind us; that the crucial explorations have been undertaken, and that it is given to man to know what are the great truths that emerged from them.” — William F. Buckley Jr. Moments ago, I caught myself engrossed in a long news story about the goings on in the United States Senate over the two-trillion dollar coronavirus stimulus.

Democrats are bent on plunging America into an economic depression. Democrats love misery. While I’ve been in favor of “overreacting” to the coronavirus pandemic, we will have no choice but to simply return to status quo ante without immediate economic relief. I urge President Trump to give 24 hours to pass the Republican Senate emergency relief bill. If it hasn’t passed, end the national emergency, rescind all disaster declarations declared on behalf of states, and order the DOJ and the National Guard to guarantee freedom of speech, movement, religion, and commerce in every state.

Monsignor Eugene Morris livestreamed his private Mass for the fourth Sunday in Lent today. The Mass is preceded by the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Monsignor’s wonderful homily is worth sharing with everyone you know. I apologize that I did not see this earlier. You will see why I fell in love with the Oratory of Ss. Gregory and Augustine. You can Like their Facebook page to keep track of future livestreamed Masses here.

Newspapers are lying to you. They’re feeding you ads pretending it’s news. The headlines are not only false, they’re dangerous. And wrong. The most common such lie goes like this: “Best Streaming Service For Shelter in Place” or “Here’s What to Binge Watch While Locked Down” Here’s the truth: we will not emerge from the coronavirus crisis stronger or better if we spend this time doing what we’ve always done.

UPDATE: I saw this too late, but Msgr. Eugene Morris livestreamed his private Missa Cantata at 8:00 a.m. today, preceded by the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. You can watch replay here: Please Like the Facebook page of the Oratory of Ss. Gregory and Augustine. Chinese coronavirus has moved bishops around the world to shut down the Catholic Church. Luckily, the Traditional Latin Mass orders continue to offer the Holy Mass.

And in the streets, the children screamed The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken And the three men I admire most The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died — Don McLean, American Pie “We may not get what we want. We may not get what we need,” chanted the young adults in True Colors.

When you hear “coronavirus” or “COVID-19,” you probably think of words like fear, disruption, recession, sick, death, inconvenient, and maybe even China. What if every time you hear “coronavirus,” you automatically think “gratitude?” How do you feel when you feel grateful? Most people associate feeling grateful with relief, appreciation, happiness, joy, and safety. Good feelings. Now, why are you grateful for coronavirus? That’s completely up to you. But I bet you can list just two reasons for being grateful for coronavirus.

You might have heard mention of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 to 1919. Being the great-grandson of a doctor who came out of retirement to assist with St. Louis’s response to that epidemic, I thought I’d should share a little information about the differences and similarities between the Spanish Flu and coronavirus. I’ll briefly cover both the diseases and the responses. Note: The word “pandemic” was unknown in 1918, so contemporaneous references to the disease used the term “epidemic.

Horses are prey to many species. Their behavior, their physiology, is that of a beast under constant threat from, usually, smaller, less beautiful organisms. Yet, wild horses capture our imaginations. Their grace and beauty, their power, and their gentleness reminds us of what we would be if we lived into our highest ideals for ourselves. We would be worthy of our sufferings. Your routine has been obliterated. Nothing you did routinely two weeks ago will be done for at least a month.

If the world has listened to Trump in 2015, the coronavirus pandemic might have happened, but it would have been a lot less severe. I say this with absolutely no fear of error. President Trump become an enemy of the left for just one policy proposal: controlling national borders. Trump not only wanted to restore US border controls that were left to decay since the 1960s, he also encouraged other nations to treat their borders like the front doors of their homes.

Several friends tell me we are overreacting to the Coronavirus pandemic. Others say we are too complacent. So, which is it? When dealing with an epidemic, we need to consider two things: Current numbers are not very useful. Effects are non-linear. Beware Current Numbers The first argument I hear from those who wish we’d just go on with life as usual involves current statistics: number of confirmed cases, number of dead, etc.

UPDATE: St. Louis Archdiocese has ordered all public Masses cancelled until at least April 6, including the planned Mass in Time of Pestilence. I don’t normally invite people to my church explicitly. But I am about to because we are living in a time of pestilence. Mass in Time of Pestilence: Wednesdays Each Wednesday for the remainder of Lent, my parish, the Oratory of Saints Gregory and Augustine, will offer a Mass in Time of Pestilence at 6:30 p.

Americans, in a crisis, want something to do. Maybe this is something. A mission. Senator Martha McSally told Judge Jeanine tonight that the next problem to solve in the coronavirus testing problem is the first mile. We have plenty of labs ready to accept specimens, but getting the specimens from the drive-thru test centers to a drop-off point, say a post office or Fedex drop. Perhaps people could be enlisted to serve as couriers of these specimens.

My wife texted me yesterday asking if we should stock up a couple of weeks worth of food and water. Now, there’s really no empirical reason to stock up on food and water. But there is a psychological/economic reason: the Common Knowledge game. Common Knowledge is something everyone knows everyone knows. When something becomes Common Knowledge, most people will behave as if the “thing” were true, if it is not. Stock markets are perfect example of Common Knowledge games.

Long ago in South St. Louis Mom and Dad would go to an early Mass on Sundays. Maybe 6:30, but I’m not sure. Anyway, it was early. They’d bring home donuts from Donut Drive-In on Chippewa. But between the time they left for Mass and the time they returned with donuts, us kids would get into mischief. As I remember it, my oldest sister, Tee, started it. Tee would come downstairs, go straight to the ice box, open the freezer, pull out the newish carton of Neapolitan ice cream (“newish” because Mom and Dad shopped on Thursdays), and stand over the sink eating it with a big spoon straight from the carton.

The thing that most rankled the left and crony-capitalist “right” about Donald Trump’s Magic Escalator Ride were his statements on illegal immigration. “They’re not sending their best.” The left sees open borders as a means of finally reducing the United States to a pauper nation, a dream long shared by socialists and communists in the US and Europe. Crony capitalists are less prosaic in their aims. They see open borders as a source of cheap labor.

We’ve been trained to believe newer is better and high tech beats analog. Nassim Taleb labeled this cognitive error neomania. Neomania is a pathological preference for the new over the old. Or preference of the untested over the proven. (Later, we will see an extended quote from Taleb’s awesome book Antrfragile which explains the value of the proven.) Iowa Democrats tried to use the latest neomanic technology for their caucuses. It was an Obamacare.

BREAKING: Sources with direct knowledge of the House Intelligence Committee briefing tell Hennessy’s View that a report leaked to the Associated Press claiming Russia is trying to Boost Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump was manufactured by Congressional Democrats, given a stamp of authenticity by anti-Trump staffers inside the National Security Council, and leaked in hopes of undermining President Trump and the Sanders campaign. Democrats are getting really bad at hoaxes, and I’m going to tell you the truth behind the latest Democrat Russian hoax.

They say that time heals all wounds. But some wounds don’t heal. They fester and metastasize until pain demands the intervention of a surgeon’s scalpel. Two years have passed since Eric Greitens was carried from the Missouri Governor’s Mansion by a toxic cocktail of lies, false allegations, and prosecutorial misconduct. For two years, Missouri’s media and establishment Republicans pretended it never happened. They never liked Greitens, and they wanted him to go away.

Last week, the Missouri Ethics Commission fined former Governor Eric Greitens for nothing. Literally, they fined him for doing nothing wrong. Even CNN finds the Missour Ethics Commission unethical and repulsive: A Missouri panel “found no evidence of any wrongdoing” by former Gov. Eric Greitens following a nearly 18-month investigation into allegations of misconduct by his 2016 gubernatorial campaign, according to a report released Thursday (CNN) Political pressure from the current Missouri governor undoubtedly weighed on the MEC.

You’ve probably heard that the Democrat Iowa Caucuses were a humiliating and laugh-out-loud disaster. Apparently, the same idiots who built the Obamacare website (aka Harvard) also built a voting app for the caucuses. Like Obamacare, the app didn’t work. At least, that’s the official story. But it’s never uncharitble to presume the Democrats are cheating. Because Democrats are cheaters by nature and practice. The nightmare scenario for Democrats is Bernie Sanders.

Scott Faughn is the publisher of the lobbyist “newspaper” Missouri Times and bagman for the sponsors of the illegal prosecution of Eric Greitens. When he was caught delivering a laundry bag of cash to attorney Al Watkins to pay off Greitens' accusers and others, the always-broke Faughn claimed the money was somehow related to his forthcoming book on the Greitens administration. He even told his audience that they could order the book at at his website, scottfaughn.

What is “rent-seeking?” Here' a brief description from David John Marotta, What Is Rent-Seeking Behavior in Forbes Rent-seeking doesn’t add any national value. It is coerced trade and benefits only one side. Rent-seeking can include piracy, lobbying the government or even just giving away money. There are two kinds of lobbyists. One kind of lobbyist is necessary to keep legislators and executive-branch bureaucrats informed and on notice. These lobbyists protect the interests of special interest group, but often their special interest needs protection because it is at the mercy of the government.

Parson will sell everything that isn’t nailed down. When the media, crooked businessmen, and corrupt politicians were in the midst of their coup against Eric Greitens, a friend told me, “If they get rid of Greitens, Parson will sell everything that isn’t nailed down.” My friend was wrong. Governor Mike Parson (who may or may not have been a conspirator in the coup) is selling everything in Missouri, but he isn’t stopping at the loose items.

Satan’s grip on the world is tightening, but this video shows a group of boys rescuing their dog from a boa constrictor. These kids are way tougher than I am. Not all heroes wear capes.😇 The things we do for our dogs, bruh...💪🐶😍 pic.twitter.com/25xei1sLVw — Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) September 26, 2019 Though the video ends well, its lasting effect is less than pleasant. Our minds supply the dialog, the sub-plots, and the clichés.

Scott Adams says Donald Trump lives his life like a movie or television series. (See Looking Ahead to Season Four of Trump for a complete explanation.) Being New Year’s Eve, it’s time to look back on Season Five (2019) and, then, look ahead to season six (2020) of Trump. Season Five: Mueller Report and Ukraine Hoax Going into 2019, the Fed had slowed the incredible Trump Economy with aggressive interest rate hikes.

Jerry Garcia Was Wrong Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead was famous for saying “It’s about the journey, not the destination.” Garcia was wrong. There are two possible destinations: Eternal perfection. Eternal misery. It’s all about the destination. The destination is all that matters. The journey matters only insofar as it determines the destination. If you know and pursue the right destination, the journey will be difficult, often painful, often lonely, often frustrating.

A celebrity priest fired up Twitter today by endorsing same-sex “marriage” and by comparing a same-sex couple favorably to the Holy Family. Let’s assume that the good father is not malicious but so poorly educated into reason and Church teaching that his embarrassing tweets make sense to him. Let’s pretend Fr. Sichko thinks he’s right. To help educate the ignorant priest (and educating the ignorant is one of our Christian duties), I’ll pose some questions to Fr.

“There’s no point at which you’ve cleaned yourself so well that you never have to shower again.” —Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life" “I don’t walk my dog anymore.” I walked him all at once. — Comedian Steven Wright “Get in line in that processional / climb into that small confessional / there the guy who’s got religion’ll / tell you if your sin’s original”

A Frenchman named Michel Chiron was possessed by demons for decades. His story of exorcism revealed something remarkable. In an interview with Solène Tadié for National Catholic Register, Chiron said the demons possessing him mocked Jesus but feared “The Woman.” About Jesus: They told me he did exist in the past but that he should be forgotten, as nowadays human beings no longer needed him. They even said that he was with their king now.

This post is about impeachment. But, first, you need to hear about a toy bird from the 1970s. Disappointing Toys When I was seven or eight, I just had to have a Zorr: The Mighty Eagle. Zorr could soar on the wind for hours, just like a real eagle. The TV commercials left me certain that Zorr would make the most popular kid on my block—maybe the whole parish. I’d have a pet eagle, really.

A Brief History of Executive Privilege for Democrats You’ve heard Democrats say that Trump must be removed from office because he asserted executive privilege. Most Democrats believe that executive privilege is a major crime. But must Democrats hate reading, too, so it’s likely they don’t know any better. Because I’m generous with knowledge, information, and wisdom, I’m taking time out of my busy Saturday to help you educate the ignorant Democrats in your life.

IG Report: Obama Out-Dicked Nixon Nixon resigned. He resigned after a half-dozen Republican Senators told him, in the Oval Office, that a majority of Senators would vote to remove him from office if the House impeached him. So Nixon resigned. Nixon’s crimes were limited to covering up a break-in and wiretapping by employees of his re-election committee. Baraka Obama did worse. And he got by. Obama out-dicked Nixon. The IG Report Department of Justice Inspector-General Michael Horowitz released his report on Monday.

Boris Johnson’s Tories will win their biggest victory since Margaret Thatcher. Maybe bigger than Thatcher’s. Praise God! (This will be very short.) The conservative tide continues. People around the world are fed up with the failed ideas of the 1960s and 1970s. Maybe it was nostalgia that drove world leaders to dig up all the political crap I remember from my childhood. It failed then, and it’s failing us now.

If Democrats cross the Rubicon by impeaching President Trump, they will be sending a strong signal: no Republican president will ever survive his first term. How do you expect people to respond? I’m talking about the people President Obama derisively labeled “bitter clingers.” The people RealPolitics data analyst Sean Trende identified as “downscale, Northern, rural … H. Ross Perot voters.” Or, to put it another way, Tea Partiers.

You can deplatform Twitter and damage their business model. You don’t need money or special skills or lawyers. But deplatforming Twitter requires two things: Commitment. Friends. Friends can be strangers, as long as they use Twitter. Twitter followers are perfect friends for this action. What Is “Deplatforming” and Why Should We Do It? Deplatforming is one of these new words that irritate me. But new words have the virtue of universality.

Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38) My Protestant friends were angry at the goings on at the Amazon Synod. It’s not unusual for some Protestants to disagree with the Catholic Church. After all, that’s what makes them “protestants.” What is unusual is why the Protestants are upset at the Church.

Call me “rigid.” Last night, I saw a tweet that broke my heart. A woman wrote that her husband told her he was going to Mass after work. But he went to a bar, instead. She went to the bar. He was there. He was drunk. She asked for our prayers. I said one for her, and two for her husband. The woman is a traditional Catholic, like me. Or what the Holy Father calls “rigid.

Rosary Coast-to-Coast at the Arch in St. Louis We are in a spiritual battle for America’s soul, and we’ve been fighting it all wrong. Politics is important. Christians should engage. But politics isn’t enough. And politics isn’t first. “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places” Ephesians 6:12

The opposites of “rigid” are more unflattering than rigidity: lenient indulgent broken compromising easy imprecise indefinite inexact irresolute unfixed unreliable accommodating liberal permissive resigned soft-hearted And that’s the problem with name-calling. When we impose a derogatory label on someone, we invite scrutiny upon ourselves. We label ourselves as the opposite of the names we impose on others. Some of us are better at name-calling, or “labelling,” than others. Donald Trump does a lot of labeling.

A friend commented on a recent blog of mine that he misses my political analysis. So I need to make this clear: my political analysis is that all problems in the world are demonic in nature. I’ll write that again so no one’s confused: all problems, including all political problems, are demonic. Stop inviting Satan and the demons out of the abyss God made for them, and problems go away.

I’ve always wanted to write a book called How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. But nobody reads autobiographies anymore. So I’ll tell you how to be unpopular, instead. Being unpopular is pretty easy. And it’s hard, too. It’s easy because there’s only one rule, which we’ll get to in a moment. It’s hard for two reasons: beforehand, it’s scary to think about following the rule. Afterwards, it’s lonely and painful to have followed the rule.

Please spread the word. Tweet this. Post to Facebook. If you’re Catholic, please forward to your parish office and ask for a blurb in the Sunday bulletin. Our nation, the Catcholic Church, and the whole world needs prayer. Why? Just read this post. St. Padre Pio’s respond to problems was, “Bring me my weapon!” His weapon was his Holy Rosary. He prayed the Rosary to combat sin and evil. And it worked!

Cross-posted to stlouisteaparty.com Ten years of syndicating my blog Hennessy’s View on stlouisteaparty.com comes to an end with this post. If you’d like to continue receiving emails when I write, please subscribe to Hennessy’s View daily updates. Readers of the Tea Party site have noticed that I rarely write about politics any longer. They’re right. I don’t. They’ve asked me to stop posting my Catholic faith blogs to the Tea Party site.

Join THOUSANDS of faithful Catholics just like you October 13, 2019, at 3:00 p.m. Pray for America and the Church. PLAN 2:30 PM: Opening prayers and sermon by Msgr. Eugene Morris 3:00 PM: The Glorious Mysteries 3:30 PM: Benediction and dismissal Now, read why we’re doing this, via Rosary Coast-to-Coast: Awesome Video Awesome Narrative In 2018 over 1,200 Rosary Rallies across the U.S. and over 50 participating countries!

I was gladdened to see Bishop Robert Barron’s tweets of anger about the Pew survey. Watch the attached video. (You will also be happy to hear the Pew survey didn’t shock the bishop.) I wish, though, his excellency had addressed the real cause of Catholics losing their faith: the ugly and sacrilegious farce that is the Novus Ordo (or Ordinary Form) Mass. Here’s Bishop Barron’s initial tweet. I urge you to watch the video attached.

St. Lawrence of Rome is the patron saint of comedians. I had no idea there was one. But there is, and it’s St. Lawrence. He earned that designation for his obstinate and comedic refusal to deny Christ, even to his death. From The Catholic Company: He was appointed by Pope St. Sixtus II as archdeacon over the seven deacons of Rome, and held the sacred duty of tending to the Church’s wealth and distributing alms to the poor.

This was one of my favorite episodes of Mad Men. The post-Vatican II Church epitomizes Don Draper’s very accurate definition of advertising. “Whatever you’re doing . . . it’s okay. You’re okay.” I’m Not Okay; You’re Not Okay It’s likely yesterday’s screed offended some people. Let me tell you where it came from. A Pew survey found that most Catholics don’t believe things they are required to believe.

“Well,” said the priest, “at least they go.” By “go,” he was referring to Mass. By “they,” he meant the people who dress like tramps, talk and laugh through Mass, and know nothing about the Church’s teachings. People who are pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, and pro-women priests. “At least they go.” Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi The law of prayer is the law of belief. “At least they go” would be a legit argument IF what they “went to” left no doubt about what they were participating in.

Simple minds seek simple answers. A man kills innocents with a gun, and the simple mind blames the gun. When a dog sees an approaching shadow, he attacks his tail. Mass Killings Are Modernism In Action Modernism leads us to simple, but wrong, answers. Modernists have one solution for all problems: consolidate all freedom, all power, all decisions, all goods, all authority, and all thinking into the hands of a few omnipotent men.

(Disclosure: I am a traditional Catholic.) Did you know that for every person who enters the Catholic Church in America six leave? It looks like this: Incoming Catholics Outgoing Catholics 1 6 Why? Simple answers are often problematic, but one answer seems obvious: Catholic leadership sucks. The Church in America offers nothing larger or more significant than the paltry pleasures of television and Amazon.

A prophet is someone who has the gift of recognizing how current behaviors, beliefs, and trends will bring calamity in the future. Prophets tell us what not to do, and predict the dire consequences that will befall us if we don’t listen. And we don’t listen. Yesterday, we looked at three reasons people don’t listen: The Semmelweis Reflex, which says people reject information that contradicts longstanding beliefs. The Power of the Status Quo, which says people believe the future will always be a linear progression of the recent past.

Friends, Let me begin by saying “I am sorry” to Robert Mueller and his family. I have been critical of Mr. Mueller and his sham “investigation.” I have been uncharitable to him. And I am sorry. It became clear today that Mr. Mueller wasn’t a hostile actor. Obviously, Mueller is seriously impaired. What we saw in his selection of lawyers, in his handling of the investigation, in his management of partisan and criminal conduct by senior Justice Department officials under his command resulted not from malice toward the president but from incompetence.

Q: What was the epitaph on the hypochondriac’s tombstone? A: “I told you I was sick!” I happened to see a Facebook post from the George Gilder today. The post announced why Gilder is coming out of retirement at age 79. (I rarely look at Facebook, but there’s flooding in my town today. Facebook is the best source for reports from the ground.) I followed George Gilder closely for many years back in the mid-1990s.

For a few weeks in June and July, Nancy Pelosi was doing a good job of isolating the Hate Squad. Pelosi realizes that the Hate Squad is bad for Democrats. She saw the Hate Squad growing in media attention, and she worked hard to stop that trend. Then, like a genius, Donald Trump did what Trump does best: he stuck out his chin to let his opponent (Pelosi) punch herself out.

If you like reading this blog, please click the Subscribe link at the top. Enter your email address, and you’ll get one email a day at most. Twitter and Facebook and Google are trying to remove all conservatives from their social media platforms. So many people come to this blog by clicking links on those platforms, I’m afraid you will never know when I’m posting unless you subscribe now. I’ll try to keep you informed and entertained.

Should Christians love this world? A Catholic parish has, as part of its mission statement, “we love this world.” Does this bother anyone? Besides me, I mean. I Googled the whole phrase, and here are the top 5 results: Do Not Love the World What Does It Mean to “Love not the things of the world?” What does it mean that we are not to love the world? Love Not the World 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world.

Imagine yourself in a foreign country with a fake passport, a fake name, a fake cover story, and mission to make it home with stolen, top secret documents from that country’s government. Now, imagine it’s the first time you’ve ever done this. That’s how John Braddock begins his third book, A Spy’s Guide to Taking Risks. With the story of his first mission as an alias. In his previous books, A Spy’s Guide to Thinking and A Spy’s Guide to Strategy, Braddock, a retired CIA Field Officer, provided readers with top-notch spy stories and top-shelf tools for success.

The abortion company fires its CEOs as sloppily as it delivers “healthcare.” Before that, the Trump Administration successfully cut some of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding, which may have precipitated the decapitation of its management team. And, today, Planned Parenthood’s hand-picked judge tentatively ruled in complete favor with the journalist the company is suing. Aborting Dr. Wen On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood clumsily fired Dr. Leana Wen as its chief executive. I guess you could call it a late-term firing, since Dr.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman today asked a rhetorical question: Trump’s Going to Get Re-elected, Isn’t He? The headline reflects the question he hears from his Democrat friends. They seem resigned to defeat. And the answer is: Yes. President Trump will win re-election in 2020. The reasons Trump will get re-elected: The Hate Squad. Four radical communist freshmen Representatives are the face of the new Democrat party. They are anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-American.

I write this on Easter Sunday, 2019, and the secular world, particularly the anti-Christian secular world, is losing its mind again. This time, the left’s insanity arises from the final report of the special investigator, Robert Mueller, into alleged crimes committed by the presidential campaign of Donald Trump in 2015 and 2016. Amazingly, what we are seeing in the reaction to that Mueller report was seen by an early father of the Church, St.

I prefer the Latin Mass of 1962 (and a thousand years before) for at least 12 reasons listed here. My last reason for loving the Latin Mass (which I failed to list in that blog post) seems important: how American Catholicism has changed since the inception of the new mass in about 1970. So I turned to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostalate for the numbers. Catholicism is dying in the United States.

Donald Trump’s triumph in the 2016 election drove Chelsea Handler into a depraved descent. Weed and depression. Psychiatrists. Broken. Not because of anything that happened to her. She didn’t lose her home. No one close to her died because of the election. Chelsea Handler lost her mind because reality violated her expectations. I’m pretty sure Ms. Handler doesn’t read Hennessy’s View, but you do. So, for you, I’ll tell you how to avoid losing your mind when reality violates your expectations.

I want to take over the world and leave everybody alone –Libertarian Motto Rex Sinquefield graduated from Bishop DuBourg High School and he’s supposedly something of a libertarian. That’s about all we have in common. Rex left St. Louis and became a billionaire by inventing stock market indexing or something. I went the Navy and still thank God every day that I have roof over my head. Rex is a brilliant chess strategist.

Lately, I’ve been going to Latin Mass instead of the new mass. Latin Mass feels like home to me. It feels like a call to holiness. Every detail of the Latin Mass has meaning, not just to me, but to everyone who’s studied scripture. The words, the gestures, the artifacts like the communion rail all have deep meaning. I don’t think the new mass is heretical; I just don’t think it lifts us up toward God.

I stopped drinking for 90 days Many of you know I enjoy the occasional (hurrumph) adult beverage. You might be curious about my experiences during long periods of abstinence. I’m doing Exodus 90. My exodus began January 21 and ends Easter Sunday, April 21. Exodus 90 is Catholic thing. It challenges men to escape from the slavery of this world through prayer, asceticism, and fraternity. The asceticism includes abstaining from drinking.

Just a quick warning. On break from Lenten retreat, but this is bugging me. Many conservatives are celebrating the Mueller report even though they have no idea what it says. That’s dangerous, as I pointed out in my post on loving Rachel Maddow: Finally, we still don’t know the details of the Mueller report. It could contain information that sends conservatives to Twitter to express our rage and anger. We don’t know.

God gives us so many opportunities to love our enemies. How often do we take him up on those offers? One of those opportunities to love came to us yesterday. Independent counsel Robert Mueller delivered to the Attorney General his final report on potential crimes involving the 2016 presidential election and the Trump campaign. The lede of that story was this: no new indictments. And the left lost their minds.

Tina Turner not withstanding, love is not an emotion, and that’s a good thing. In today’s Gospel (from the modern lectionary), Jesus tells his disciples to “love your enemies” and “pray for those who persecute you.” But how? I find it difficult even to be around certain people, much less love them. Surely, Jesus wasn’t serious when He told us to love our enemies, right? If Jesus meant what He said, then I must not know what love means.

Down in the world’s newest socialist “paradise,” the longest blackout in decades has struck Venezuela. The country has been without power for at least 4 days. That’s how socialism works. The constitutional president, Juan Guaido, has called on Venezuelans to pour into the capital city of Caracas to demand the communist dictator Madura surrender. Guaido correctly points out that Maduro’s socialism caused the problem. Guaido’s call is great, but it doesn’t go far enough.

My heart and soul needed a good spring cleaning, and Lent arrived just in time. Lent is fasting season. Most people know what fasting is, but many people don’t know what religious fasting is for. What good does fasting do the soul? Fasting is form of asceticism. That means intentionally depriving yourself of some comfort or sensual pleasure. Asceticism does not require pain or self-flagellation. Self-flagellation tends to lead to pride and should be avoided.

In a blog I never published for fear of being thought insane, I conveyed a prophecy: Many Christians will be accused of crimes against the state for simply following Christ’s teachings and believing that Jesus is our lord and savior. When you are accused and at trial, the Holy Spirit will speak through you if you let Him. You won’t need to come up with your own defense. Anyone might betray you and cause you to be put to death, even your parents or your children.

I have never looked forward to the start of Lent. Lent is a time of repentance and atonement in anticipation of the commemoration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus. The whole idea of repentance and atonement always bothered me. Until now. This year, I can’t wait for Lent to begin. First, I’ve been called to redirect my zeal away from politics and toward God. Instead of bringing people into communion with the Constitution and liberty, I’m asked to bring people to Christ and Christ to people.

This blog post will probably destroy my property value. Snowstorm Humanitarian Crisis on I-44 Last night, hundreds of people (maybe thousands) were trapped in their cars on I-44 eastbound near Eureka, Missouri for 7, 9, 12 hours. Some even longer. According to police scanners, a baby was born on the highway. It was a humanitarian crisis. Now, St. Louis billionaire Rex Sinquefield wants to make every aspect of your St. Louis County life a humanitarian crisis.

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. (Johhn 3:29) Yesterday, January 9, 2019, was a watershed day for everyone who ever associated with the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition. Your own Dottie Bailey was sworn in as Representative of the 110th State House district of Eureka, Wildwood, and Pacific.

You might have read the post A Fourth Turning Warning. If you did, you’re probably wondering if I’ve lost mind. If you conclude I have not lost my mind, you probably wonder why I’d run from the fight. So I should probably address that. Let’s start, as we should always, with the Word. In this case, the Book of Matthew 5:43-45: “You have heard that is was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

Yesterday, I warned, again, that the center didn’t hold. There is no center in American politics. Americans are more divided than at any time since the Civil War. (Read We Have the War Upon Us by William J. Cooper) Today, I have a short warning from the great book The Fourth Turning by Howe and Strauss. What Should Have Happened after 2016 Strauss and Howe prophesied an election that changed everything sometime during the Crisis era which began with the fall of Lehman Brothers (the last time Nancy Pelosi was Speaker of the House):

Mitt Romney’s naïveté is almost cute. He thinks it’s still 1982. But it’s not cute because it’s destructive. The world has changed, and everything is ready to fall apart. See, Mitt is mad that President Donald Trump hasn’t done more to “unite” the country. Mittens wants the president to be more “unifying.” Because “trying” to unite the country would solve everything, right? But the world has changed. Americans today are as polarized as they were 1861.

Millennials seem to believe anything that comes from the mouth of an “expert.” Even the older Millennials are probably too green to realize that listening to experts will produce worse results than going with your gut. It works like this . . . when we go with our gut (or some non-expert’s suggestion), we build in a wide margin for error. We recognize the fallibility of our own judgment and proceed with due caution.

Fasting is probably the healthiest thing you can do for yourself. It’s also the cheapest healthy thing you can do. Unlike most diets and exercise plans, supplements, and, especially, trips to a doctor, fasting actually saves money. When you fast, you don’t eat. Further, fasting is the simplest thing you can do to improve your physical and mental health. There are only two things to remember: Don’t eat. Drink some water.

I was about five or six the first time I heard my mom say, “I’m glad I won’t be around to see it.” I didn’t understand what she was saying. Nonetheless, it felt ominous and unsettling. I let it go. I’m not sure when I heard it the second time, phrased slightly differenlty: “I won’t be alive when . . . .” I don’t remember what the “when” was. It didn’t matter.

This is the abbey church at St. Meinrad’s Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana. My wife and I took a pilgrimage there this weekend. If you live in the St. Louis area, you’re only about three hours away from a fascinating piece of church history. (Here’s St. Meinrad’s website.) Mass I loved the mass. I won’t spoil it all for you, but I do want to let you know why I loved the mass.

Let’s see if this works, shall we? I spent all day moving my blog from a self-hosted Wordpress site to a Hugo static site. Since I no longer support advertising, I don’t need all the weight of Wordpress. Plus, managing a blog through Github is actually easier for me. I use git professionally. And I pretty much think in Markdown at this point. The final reason for the move is the change in direction for this blog.

You know why. I’ve told you repeatedly. You have one job tomorrow if you live in Eureka, Wildwood, or Pacific. One job. VOTE FOR DOTTIE BAILEY, STATE HOUSE 110. To make the sniveling legalists happy, I am treasurer for Dottie Bailey for Missouri. Please tweet!

Elect Hawley. Retire that wicked witch of the swamp McCaskill so you can walk with a little pride, Missouri. I am 100% voting proudly for Josh Hawley for US Senate, and you will too. No need to say more. Vote for Hawley all the way and silently wonder what’s wrong with anyone who doesn’t. (There’s something wrong. Say a prayer for them.) I repeat: **Hennessy’s for Hawley 100%. **

How will God answer our prayers to make America holy again? For 17 days we’ve been praying, going to confession, going to mass as often as we can. Rosaries. Chaplet of St. Michael. Tomorrow, election day, our back-to-back novenas wrap up. Fr. Heilman asked his Spiritual Warriors to do as many of these daily devotions as possible: Pray in a State of Grace (Go to Confession) Believe God will answer our prayers October 20 – October 28 – Novena #1 – Pray the St.

In case anyone cares. US Senate: Josh Hawley US House, 2nd District: Ann Wagner State Auditor: Saundra McDowell State Senate: Dave Schatz State Rep, 110th: Dottie Bailey Issues Amendment 1: NO (this amendment is intended to make Missouri a blue state. Kill it now) Amendment 2: YES (best step toward ending cannabis war in Missouri) Amendment 3: YES (in case Amendment 2 fails) Amendment 4: YES (why can’t bingo advertise? Casinos can.

Polls open in less than 48 hours. History tells us how to win the election with spiritual warfare. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, agains the world rulers of this present darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Even his supporters say President Trump’s speech is sometimes inelegant. Intentional or accidental, the president’s word choice often triggers his enemies and sometimes confuses his many supporters. But on Friday President Trump had the best words for sure. Talking about the possibility of Democrats seizing control of the US House of Representatives, he said, “could happen . . . could happen.” But the killer line we all must remember came next: “Don’t worry about it.

WARNING: College-educated suburban women should not read this article because it will punch holes in their unicorn-and-rainbows delusions. Democrats use refugees like pawns in their perverted and wicked quest for power. Once upon a time, nearly all asylum seekers were turned away by the United States. These were times when Democrats ran the White House or both Houses of Congress. Most recently, the Obama administration banned all asylum seekers from Cuba.

Lots, actually. But one Stoic practice that’s central to Christianity seems pertinent on All Hallow’s Eve: memento mori. Remember your death. Remember, you will die. We all die. All the tech billionaires spending their fortunes trying to live forever will die. No matter how young and healthy you are, time is running through your hourglass. It will run out. And you probably won’t know when. For over a year I’ve carried a challenge coin that reminds me of my death:

If you read a lot of business and personal improvement blogs, you know they feed a lot of tips for living a better life. By “better” they mean making more money, getting a promotion, being more productive, whatever. Are those things really what makes life better? If so, why do so many successful people burn out? John Belushi, River Phoenix, Amy Winehouse, Janice Joplin, Michael Jackson. Is it show business? Well, look what’s happening to Elon Musk.

Amendment 1 would turn over Missouri’s state and federal gerrymandering to an unelected demographer. This means there’s an 8 to 1 chance (87.5%) that the demographer will be a Democrat. Demography is a social science. Social science majors are mostly far left or liberal. Only a handful of social science majors call themselves conservative: A 2015 study by psychologist José Duarte, then at Arizona State University, and his colleagues in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, entitled “Political Diversity Will Improve Social Psychological Science,” found that 58 to 66 percent of social scientists are liberal and only 5 to 8 percent conservative and that there are eight Democrats for every Republican.

A couple of days back I said the mail “bombs” looked like a false flag. But I left open the possibility of a crazy Republican. Boy, am I glad I gave myself that out. I should have paid more attention to Scott Adams in those days. Scott used pure statistical reasoning to conclude that the packages probably came from a crazy Trump supporter: base cases. There are more crazy people than there are brilliant criminal strategists who hate Trump.

Maybe it’s a false flag. Maybe it’s not. But it looks like a false flag. All these mail bombs I’m talking about. You have to ask yourself: “who would do this two weeks before an election?” If you’re a conservative, do you do something that’s bound to inspire sympathy for lefties right before an election? No. Unless you’re insane. Any sane person would know that a (failed) mail-bomb plot targeting a bunch of Democrats and leftists will only make conservatives look bad.

I get the feeling a lot of people think mid-term elections are like pre-season hockey. These people think the only election that counts is the presidential election. These people are, frankly, idiots. Sorry. They are. What’s at stake in less than two weeks is huge. One of the biggest mid-term elections in your lifetime. If you want it reduced to a simple either/or, here it is. Donald Trump will be an unstoppable swamp drainer and job creator or a lame duck.

And by “fest” I mean “fundraiser.” Or just fun. For Dottie Bailey, soon to be the new Missouri House Rep from 110th District of Wildwood, Eureka, and Pacific. Fun and Fundraiser for Dottie Bailey October 24, 2018 | 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Eureka Wine House 107 S Central Ave, Eureka, MO 63025 Come out and join us! This will be fun. Great chance to meet Dottie and talk to old political friends about the upcoming election.

I keep hearing the media say terrible things about women who live in suburbs and went to college. According to everyone from CNN to the Cook Political Report, these college-educated suburban women have no control over their emotions or their hormones. They self-sabotage and sabotage their families just to quell their own emotional urges. In other words, the media say college-educated suburban women are all hysterical. That’s a terrible, sexist thing for the CNN to say about these women.

You probably heard that a bunch of witches are gathering in New York City today to put hexes on Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump, and others. Don’t take this lightly. Father Richard Heilman and folks at the Holy League have asked Christians to pray the Lorica of St. Patrick for Justice Kavanaugh, substituting “Brett Kavanaugh” or “Justice Kavanaugh” for the first person pronouns. This is a powerful prayer that’s more than 1,500 years old!

No, it’s not more money. Nor better ads. Nor snarkier tweets. Nor more Facebook friends. Keeping the US House of Representatives out of the hands of the #AngryDemocratMob requires supernatural help. We cannot do it alone. The other side has supernatural help. The other side cooperates with Satan for power on earth. Therefore, our battle is not with mere mortals alone, but with demons working in concert with men. Even if we were to assemble a vast army of mere mortals, we will lose.

In less than two years, Donald J. Trump has already achieved more as President of the United States than most of his predecessors did in eight or more years.  Trump has eliminated more federal regulations than all past presidents combined Trump pushed through Congress one of the largest tax cuts in history Trump has renegotiated numerous trade agreements, including NAFTA Trump has reinvigorated American manufacturing Trump has sparked the strongest economy in US history Trump has reduce unemployment for blacks and Hispanics to their lowest levels in history Trump has achieved a remarkable 35% favorability rating among blacks, the highest for a Republican in modern times Trump has placed on the Supreme Court two solidly conservative jurists Trump has given Republicans the courage to stand up to evil progressives Trump has reunited the warring factions of the Republican base Trump has changed Americans' expectations of the office of president Trump has redefined what it means to be presidential Trump has exposed America’s domestic enemies and left vulnerable Even those who viscerally hate Donald Trump—and there are many—cannot deny that Trump’s impact on the USA and on the world exceeds even his impact on the New York City skyline.

I predicted that Judge Brett Kavanaugh would be rejected by the Senate. I was wrong. In a few minutes from the time I write, the Senate will confirm Judge Kavanaugh by a vote of 50 ayes to 48 nays. One Republican will vote “present.” What went wrong? I underestimated the courage and fortitude of three Senators: Republicans Jeff Flake and Susan Collins, and Democrat “Lonely” Joe Manchin. I truly believed Flake would put his hatred of Donald Trump before the good of the country and vote nay.

The trains to Auschwitz ran on time. Brutal dictatorships love efficiency. Stalin. Hitler. Mao. Pol Pot. The best mass murderers are efficient. Psychopaths feed on efficiency. They kill because killing is the most efficient means to their end. They kill to rid society of inefficient people. People who introduce inefficiencies to the system. People who get in the way. Democracy is inefficient. As are all republics. (A republic is any form of government that’s open to the public.

Very scary thought: If the Democrats take over the House and Senate in January, they could impeach both Trump and Pence and try them in the Senate at the same time making Nancy Pelosi president. You’ve Never Lived in a Time Like This One I’m almost old enough to remember the Democrat National Convention of 1968. Almost. What a show. Hippies and Yippies marching, tear gas, Mayor Daley, Buckley threatening to punch Gore Vidal on live TV.

I can’t believe I missed it. A 54-day novena for our nation. It ends on October 7 with the Rosary Coast-to-Coast. Which means it started before I learned of either. But that’s okay. You don’t have to do the novena to do say the Rosary. Just show up at any of the Rosary stations around the area at 3:00 on October 7. I’m helping organize one location at the Black Madonna Shrine in Eureka/Pacific area.

Scott Adams predicts Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed. I don’t. I predict his nomination won’t get out of committee. Jeff Flake of the judiciary committee will vote no. Trump will have to nominate someone else. He’ll nominate Amy Coney Barrett. There will be no hearing for Judge Amy. Diane Feinstein will have no opportunity to spew her anti-Catholic bigotry. She will pass the committee about 72 hours after the Senate receives the nomination.

But the urgency of this moment comes only twice per millennium. Will you be there? On October 7, Christians around the world will unsheathe the most powerful weapon with which God has ever armed his people. We will, together, wage a great battle in the spiritual war of our age. What is this weapon? What is the spiritual war? If you’re paying attention at all, you know the spiritual war we’re all in.

The Kavanaugh thing. I think it’s all a lie. Everything. I’ve been around Democrats and progressives too long. I’ve seen them. I’ve had one live in my house. You underestimate the depths of their hatred for America. They hate it. They hate us. They especially hate themselves. When you hate yourself, nothing is beneath you. When you hate yourself, you debase yourself. When you hate yourself, you are capable and willing to do anything.

The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon! St. Josemaria Escriva On Sunday, October 7 at 3:30 p.m. Central (and simultaneously across the USA and the whole world), millions will say the Rosary in unison. Will you join us? We are at war. A war without borders, where no man is exempt but where most haven’t recognized, let alone been trained, to fight. Casualties often go unseen, but very few are left unwounded.

Unless you’re training a young puppy, you don’t think about it very often. A few decades ago, it still applied to the training of young humans, but that’s passè now. Yet, of all the minor virtues, this one seems the most lacking, the most valuable, and most difficult for libertarians like me. I’m thinking of obedience. My Lesson in Obedience Obedience, like many other virtues, is easy to talk about and difficult to execute.

Stella Is My Teacher This is probably disturbing to theologians and apologists, but it makes sense to me. When I struggle with how to relate personally to Christ, I think of the way my dog relates to me. And when I wonder how God feels about me, I think about how I feel about my dog. Dogs treat their people the way we’re supposed to treat God. And we respond to dogs in a way that teaches us how God responds to us.

A faction in America seems hellbent on destroying the country in order to save it from Donald Trump. What do we owe them? For many years, I wrote and preached that we owe them contempt and anger. That we must fight them tooth and nail. And that we must prevail. And we did. And our victories led to bigger battles. The thrill of victory proved fleeting. Don’t you hope for a victory that lasts?

Judging by the hateful behavior of the materialistic left, you’d think Judge Brett Kavanaugh has a history of driving around neighborhoods and stopping to strangle puppies in front of their 5-year-old masters. There was Kamala Harris’s outburst at the start of the hearings. There was Cory Booker’s sad and embarrassing Spartacus moment which was like a failed scene in a forgotten Woody Allen movie. Now, the left’s hate groups are complaining that the Democrats didn’t go far enough.

You might think I’ve been pretty hard on Pope Francis lately. I’ve questioned whether his refusal to deny Archbishop Viganò’s accusations. And I’ve indicated that, if the allegations are true, the pope’s resignation might be the best thing for the Church. Please understand that my posts are about seeking justice for the many victims of this scandal, includes the many faithful who never directly abused by a priest but, nonetheless, have been harmed by the scandal.

One week after Archbishop Carlo Viganò released his bombshell letter, it looks obvious that Pope Francis admits the key allegation: Francis knew McCarrick to be a serial molester, and he returned McCarrick to public ministry anyway. As we’ll see later in this post, Pope Francis has a pattern of letting molesters and their protectors off the hook. Speaks for Itself Did the pope admit to the horrendous allegations directly? Not directly.

“Good luck with your evangelism,” my wife said. We were discussing my plan to become a Catholic Street Evangelist. My first prayer station event is September 16 under the tutelage of a seasoned team leader. “Why do you say it like that?” I asked her. “This is kind of a bad time to be out trying to bring people into the Catholic church, isn’t it?” She had a point. The church has been in sort of a losing streak of late.

God bless Jim Towey and the work of his school, Ave Maria University. I am confident that he is confused, and we should pray for clarity. I’m talking about his recent series of letters and clarifications regarding how Catholics should express their obedience to the pope. Jim is partially right and partially off base. What Jim Towey Gets Right Jim is right that that conservative Catholics need to be very gracious and obedient when they challenge the pope’s formal teaching on matters like the death penalty.

One man can confirm or deny the central allegation against Pope Francis. The Catholic Church needs that man to step up now. In an 11-page letter by former US Nuncio (ambassador) Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Pope Francis is accused of ignoring warnings about Cardinal Timothy McCarrick. Viganò claims he personally delivered the warning to Pope Francis in 2013. The pope allegedly ignored the warning and the dossier on McCarrick in 2013.

God, come to our assistance O, Lord, make haste to help us Pope Francis ignored evidence of crimes and overturned punishment imposed by Pope Benedict on the wicked and disgraced Cardinal McCarrick. That’s according to a former papal nuncio and corroborated by a former first counselor to the nunciature to the United States speaking on the record. The two men have direct knowledge of the matter. Pope Francis refused to comment on the allegations that he personally covered up McCarrick’s crimes.

Thousands of religions have sprung up around the world. Most lasted less than a generation. Some lasted longer. Only five have shown the stability and breadth to be called “world religions.” They are Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. The Eastern religions—Buddhism and Hinduism—compartmentalize faith from daily life. They protect believers from the risks of a leap of faith. Philosopher Mortimer Adler dismissed Eastern religions because of this “logic-tight compartmentalization.” Religions that segregate faith from action dismiss believers of the need to take a leap of faith.

I’ve been using Google Adsense for years to offset the cost of hosting this site. Google never paid enough to cover the costs, but the ad revenue helped. The thing is, Google is an evil company run by evil men. I don’t want to support evil people, so I’ve eliminated my Google ads. (Google is very unfair to publishers, by the way. They rig their system so you don’t get paid.

Why do you stay a Catholic? Today’s Gospel reading comes from John 6. John chapter 6 is all about the bread of life. In it, Jesus shocks his Jewish followers by announcing that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to achieve eternal life. When some of his disciples challenged this formula for immortality, Jesus doubled down, saying: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

It’s Friday, and our archbishop in St. Louis has done a great thing. (Maybe today would be a good time to thank a priest. Give him encouragement.) But the town blog used deception to report the story. Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis asked Missouri’s Attorney General, Josh Hawley, to review all of the archdiocese’s records regarding abuse cases. Hawley agreed to the Archbishop’s request. Archbishop Carlson deserves our praise and respect for his openness and honesty.

I heard a story a long time ago. From a woman who escaped the Soviet Union and came to America. She told us how lucky we are in America to have priests. She urged us to pray in thanksgiving every day that we have priests. The communists in Russia outlawed religion. While some religions continued to operate, the government seemed to have a particular hatred of Catholics. Russian communists were familiar with the unique power of priests to consecrate the sacrifice and administer sacraments.

Because of my sinfulness and selfishness, I was out of communion with the blessed sacrament for most of my adult life. To anyone who’s never been excommunicated, you cannot imagine the pain and humiliation of being in that state. Being a coward, I avoided mass. I was too embarrassed. Week after week, my neighbors would see me not going to communion. I’d have to get up and let the communicants through, then kneel back down, often alone.

Another day, another 300 accused predatory priests. When will it end, Lord? When will it end? This morning, I tried to listen in silence for God’s answers to my questions. What do we say about the news out of Pennsylvania? How do we answer those who taunt and ridicule the Church? How do we settle our anger at the priests and bishops and cardinals who protected the pederasts for decades? How do we reconcile the hideous criminality of those men with the uncountable graces God freely gave them through the many sacraments they’ve received?

A great colleague and I invented something in 2010. It was a two-day workshop for companies. It has been incredibly successful. In that workshop, we cite a lot of behavioral science research. We also point out that some behavioral science research is bogus. Up to 60 percent by a recent study (which might have been bogus itself.) So how do you know good science from bad? Look for consistency. I’ll give you an example.

I need to practice something. I need to practice being more generous with compliments and praise of others. Yesterday, a colleague asked if she could speak to me. I naturally thought I had done something wrong. When she began by saying, “you know, I always speak my mind,” I thought, “oh, no. Here it comes.” Then she told me, “the other day in a meeting I mentioned how much I love hearing you speak.

God made man and woman, and man and woman screwed everything up. So, eventually, God gave up the comforts of heaven and most of the perks of being God to become a man on earth and show us how to do it right. Instead of thanking Him for the tutoring, we ridiculed, tortured, and murdered Him. Lucky for us, a few guys took notes while Jesus was here. And they published them.

Just a short note to wish my friend Jim a happy birthday. Jim doesn’t know this, but several years ago he planted a seed in my heart that has broken through the crust of the earth and is now starting to bloom. For his birthday, I want him to know how grateful I am for his wisdom. When Jim was in St. Louis, he helped a great deal in getting the St.

Last week, Pope Francis approved a change to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Longtime readers might recall that my views on the death penalty are a bit nuanced. But I didn’t always have the courage to express it. In 2014, I wrote: I don’t buy the idea that the death penalty is no deterrent. I don’t buy the notion that the death penalty should be banned. I think the availability of such a punishment serves its purpose.

Not all television is bad. Yesterday, I wrote about a dark and unpleasant future. [Read “What Should We Do Next?"] I wrote about the possibility of rapid social decay into civil war or oppression of Christians, Jews, and political conservatives. Essentially, the downfall of Western Civilization. Some people would expect me to recommend that we all prepare for combat. I don’t. I do recommend people prepare for hardship. (I’ll write about how in the future.

God laughs at man’s plans. That’s because God has already given us the only plan we need. A plan to get through this life worthy of the next. And that is enough. Lawrence of Rome Followed the Plan Today is the feast day of Saint Lawrence of Rome. Lawrence is the patron saint of, among others, comedians. Lawrence was the leader of a group seven deacons whose mission was to distribute alms to the poor.

Happiness Did you know that the word “happiness” means “blessed?” Neither did I. But when I heard this on EWTN Radio the other day, I remembered there are two translations of the Beatitudes. One version goes with “Blessed are . . .” and the other with “Happy are . . . .” So, I guess it’s true. The words are interchangeable. Happiness, then, doesn’t mean walking around in some lithium-induced state of bliss.

Dottie Bailey defeated Rockwood School Board President Matt Doell in the Republican primary for Missouri House District 110. Dottie now faces Democrat Cody Kelley in November. Dottie is a phenomenal campaigner. She knocked on over 4,000 doors between April and August. Her efforts resulted in an enormous 19 percentage-point win despite being outspent by her opponent. Making Dottie’s more impressive is the fact that Doell had been elected to the Rockwood board three times while this was Dottie’s first race ever.

People ask me how I plan to vote on August 7. Here you go: U.S. Senator - Republican Party Primary → Austin Petersen U.S. Representative, District 2 - Republican Party Primary → Noga Sachs State Auditor - Republican Party Primary→ Paul Curtman Missouri Proposition A→ Yes State Representative, District 110 - Republican Party Primary→ Dottie Bailey St. Louis County Executive - Republican Party Primary→ Paul Berry III St. Louis County Assessor - Republican Party Primary → Dan Hyatt

You made it. If you began the Fast with me, today is the last day of skipping breakfast and lunch. (Unless you decide to makeone-meal-a-day a permanent habit.) What Fasting Can Do Here’s what happened to you during the fast (if you followed the prescription): You probably lost about five pounds. Your pants feel looser. You pull your belt a notch tighter. You saved money. (I saved $98.)  You learned that food is an option most of the time.

We need poll sitters. Poll workers for Dottie Bailey for Missouri House District 110. Eureka, Pacific, and Wildwood. The job is easy. Wear a Dottie Bailey t-shirt in front of a polling place. As voters approach, say “Thank you for coming out to vote today, and we appreciate your support for Dottie Bailey. Why Dottie Dottie is the true conservative, grassroots activist in the race. Her primary opponent is an old nemesis of the Tea Party.

Vote for Dottie Bailey If you don’t vote for Dottie, I’ll come to your house and dance. (You can’t unsee that.)

Matt Doell pretending to be a Republican is the greatest display of cross-dressing since the Broadway premiere of La Cage Aux Folles.1 If you live in Missouri House district 110 (Eureka, Pacific, Wildwood), Matt Doell has been molesting your mailbox with personal attacks on his opponent, Dottie Bailey. (Read voter reactions to Doell’s dirt campaign here and here.) You might have noticed that Doell (I call him Droopy) never attacks Dottie’s positions on issues like jobs, education, the Second Amendment, taxes, crime, etc.

Personally, I like Jeff Roe, the political consultant. He called me the night before Ted Cruz announced his run for president. I was honored, frankly. As Senator Cruz’s campaign manager, Mr. Roe had much bigger fish to fry that night. I’ve heard that Jeff holds no grudges. He genuinely cares about the opposing candidates even while he viciously destroys their careers. I have no doubt Mr. Roe has many great qualities as a person, and I know he has amazing talents as a political operative and strategist.

[caption id=“attachment_36429” align=“alignleft” width=“210”] Droopy (or Disgusting?) Matt Doell[/caption] Voters in House District 110 are asking why they received such a “disgusting” flyer from candidate Matt Doell. Answer: Probably because he’s losing badly. Matt Doell has decided to get dirty. And personal. And mean. (Horrible internals?) While Dottie Bailey has knocked doors, attended coffees, and generally met with voters, Matt Doell rubbed elbows with hot-shots and union bosses and avoided anything that looks like an “ordinary person.

Matt Doell made a desperate attempt to sick the MEC on Hennessy’s View. Makes me so happy. But the MEC shot Doell down like a hovering duck. From the MEC’s official “Wah-wah” letter to the Doell campaign: Therefore, the Commission is not accepting this complaint. Doell’s failed complaint centers on my blog posts that criticize his performance as a member of the Rockwood School Board. For your convenience, here’s the list of my blogs criticizing Rockwood during Doell’s seven-year tenure:

Everyone remembers the horrible audit of the Rockwood School District. ** $1.2 million wasted in double payments ** Contracts awarded to a construction company that had one of its executives on the board ** Feeble, “arrogant” response to the audit from board members ** Bad management! But the worst example of cronyism and arrogance went largely unreported. (The great Elliott Davis caught it, though. Video to follow.) Rockwood Board’s Secret Response The late auditor Tom Schweich released Rockwood’s horrible audit on February 28, 2013.

Rush Limbaugh says radical feminism’s goal is to see that every abortion that can happen does. Today, I witnessed the opposite of that murderous goal. Today, I was lucky enough to rub elbows with beautiful people who make sure every life that can happen does. And every life saved is given the necessities to thrive. At my very first Knights of Columbus meeting in June, a man stood up to speak.

I love listening to Gregorian Chant. It’s all beautiful. But one chant, for me, stands above the rest. I think you’ll enjoy it, so I’m embedding it right here. [audio m4a=“https://www.hennessysview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/18-veni-creator-spiritus-.m4a”][/audio] Veni Creator Spiritus by Schola Sancte Scholasticae and St. Cecilia’s Abbey, UK I hope you enjoy this lovely, calming music as much as I do. If you like it, please leave a note in the comments. Maybe even bookmark this page to listen again and again.

Many years ago, a company hired a new president. After several months on the job, this new president learned that most of his employees couldn’t pick him out of a line-up. He spent so much time in his office or in meetings or traveling that he rarely met with the people who reported to him. To fix this problem, he set up a series of lunches. They were off-site at restaurants around town.

One of the candidates for Missouri House District 110 (Eureka, Wildwood, and Pacific) sent out a mailer to voters today. The mailer talks about “local control” of education, and many other fine platitudes that poll well. In other news,** while this candidate was on the Rockwood School District board of directors** (the district that serves most of Eureka, Wildwood, and Pacific), **bad things happened**. Like this: The Rockwood School District overpaid its longtime construction management company by more than $1.

I invite you to join a centuries-old tradition: fasting for a cause. Moses and Jesus fasted for 40 days. But this Primary Fast will last only 14. Some fasts require that you eat nothing during the fast. But this Primary Fast lets you eat one full, wonderful meal a day. Did you know that General Stanley McChrystal has lived on just one meal a day for decades. And one meal a day was enough to drive him through the war against al Qaeda.

One of the candidates running for the state House of Representatives in District 110 has been on the Rockwood School Board since 2011. In a campaign mailer, this candidate claims he’s cut taxes in the district. Is that true? Well, it’s true that the property tax rate in Rockwood has been reduced twice during his tenure. But that’s not even close to the whole picture. Since the 2010-2011 school year, when this candidate joined the board, Rockwood has raised taxes 5 times.

Some people complain about politicians not representing their constituents well. I disagree. From what I’ve seen in my life, all politicians do a great job of representing their constituents. They really do. If I’m right about politicians being 100% true to their constituents, then why are so many voters so unhappy with the people they voted for? It’s simple: the voters aren’t every politician’s constituents. That’s right. Not all politicians consider the people who vote for them constituents.

You will find yourself saying this out loud as if it we’re a great soliloquy. This prayer is pure strength. (Updated with version found in The Manual for Men.) Lorica (Breastplate) of St. Patrick I bind to myself today the strong virtue of an Invocation of the Trinity: I believe the Trinity in the Unity the Creator of the Universe. I bind to myself today the virtue of the Incarnation of

The American Revolution started in a tavern. Actually, it started in many taverns. But taverns they were. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis hatched their greatest novels in The Eagle and Child tavern in Oxford. If you want to be as great as the founding fathers or as prolific as Tolkien and Lewis, get off social media and get to a bar. I’m going to tell you why. #1: Social Media Breed Depression and Anxiety The more time you spend on Facebook, the more likely you are to suffer depression, attempt suicide, and feel overwhelmed by life.

For 99.875% of modern human existence, women tended the village and the home while men did dangerous things for long periods of time. And for the past 50 years, our academics and planners have pretended the entire history of our species didn’t matter. The academics and planners are killing us. I just looked at a list of 286 quotes about fathers. It is a modern list. For every positive quote about fathers, the list contains eight negative quotes.

Governor Eric Greitens resigned. Friend of the lobbyists, Mike Parson, became Missouri’s governor. In the words of someone who knows the new governor well, Mike Parson will “sell everything that isn’t nailed down.” For those of us who believe in limited government that doesn’t put its thumb on the scale of achievement, it’s time to panic and despair, right? Wrong. It’s never time to panic or despair. And we know this from two of the greatest philosophers of all time, Epictetus and Seneca.

My mom and dad have two anniversaries. One anniversary celebrates the day my uncle Bob drove them to Hot Springs, Arkansas to elope. The other celebrates the day about a week later when, having learned of their civil nuptials, my grandfather ordered them to go see Father English and set themselves right with the church. Like father, like son, I guess. Except, the kid’s a lot slower. Fifteen years slower.

Remember this? I’m sure you have some cosmic rationale But here you are with your faith And your Peter Pan advice You have no scars on your face And you cannot handle pressure The pressure Pressure 1, 2, 3, 4 Pressure! Read more: Billy Joel - Pressure Lyrics | MetroLyrics  Jay Barnes is the chairman of the Missouri House impeachment committee. By all accounts, Greasy Jay, as he’s known on Twitter, is also acting like a raving lunatic.

It’s time. Powerful and corrupt people want to undo the 2016 election. In Washington. In Missouri. Win or lose, Americans deal with the results of elections. Our commitment to open, public government, of the people, by, the people, for people, has sustained this nation. And made it the greatest nation in the history of humanity. But dark forces in Missouri want to turn your government into their private club. A club managed by corrupt business who rely on tax dollars to keep their failed enterprises afloat.

Simple mission: poll your Missouri State Rep. If you don’t know your rep, I’ll give you a link a little later. But hurry. Poll closes Friday, May 18 at 6:00 p.m. Here’s the single poll question: “As your constituent, I want to know: if a vote on impeachment of Governor Greitens were held today, would you vote Yay or Nay?” Then, return to this page to record your Rep’s answer.

I had a friend was a big baseball player back in high school He could throw that speedball by you Make you look like a fool boy Saw him the other night at this roadside bar I was walking in, he was walking out We went back inside sat down had a few drinks but all he kept talking about was Glory Days —Bruce Springsteen, Glory Days

When you hide the name and simply list accomplishments, any reasonable person would agree that Donald Trump has done more good for the country than any president in living memory. Economy ** African-America unemployment lowest in history ** Hispanic unemployment lowest in history ** Female unemployment lowest in 18 years ** Stock market up 35% since *election ** Manufacturing jobs growing for *first time in decades ** Steelworkers going to back to work after humiliating layoffs ** Regulatory cuts have reinvigorated dying industries ** Millions of new jobs planned across the country

Scott Faughn’s name came up in conversation last week. “What’s this Faughn guy’s role in the Greitens' investigation?” someone asked. Faughn is the publisher of Missouri Times and a former mayor of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Papers call him a “power broker.” Others call him the “Candy Man.” I didn’t understand the question. “Not sure,” I said. “His paper hates Grietens, but that’s as much as know. And I’ve been to his weird, hidden party pad in Jefferson City.

“The [Johnson] Treatment” could last anywhere from ten minutes or four hours and it would come whenever and wherever Johnson might find a fellow Senator or politician within his radius. “Its tone could be and included supplication, accusation, cajolery, exuberance, scorn, tears, complaint and the hint of threat.” All of these elements together brought out the spectrum of human emotions. Its velocity was breathtaking, and it was all in one direction.

A great State Rep decides to give up his seat. The seat previously held by the Speaker of the House and a conservative legend. A seat in, perhaps, the most reliably conservative House district in St. Louis County. Now, there’s a battle for that seat. A battle between a left-leaning Establishment Republican and a grassroots Conservative activist. An activist whose work for the right causes earned a star on Heritage Action’s Wall of Honor.

This is the most important documentary of the decade. https://youtu.be/X_AyP9SAEJc What can you do? Start close to home. Don’t tolerate intolerance. Don’t curb your tongue. And don’t elect whimps to government. Missouri’s legislature needs every person with spine it find. You don’t want a mouse in the House. And Dottie Bailey has no places for safe spaces. If you live in Wildwood, Eureka, or Pacific areas, vote for Dottie Bailey.

People have an innate sense of justice.   One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her.

My blog includes links to related posts at the bottom of every individual post page. I usually don’t pay much attention, but today I noticed something. (BTW, this new theme looks great on phones.) One of the old stories in the Eric Greitens category was my first comments on his book Resilience. My old post talked about why it took me so long to finish the book. And it contained two short passages from the book.

People who spend a lot of time in Jefferson City say Rob Schaff is so consumed with Governor Greitens that he’s completely lost his marbles. (I don’t know. Just telling you what I hear.) When I read about Schaff’s latest endorxement of the Clean Missouri petition initiative, I believed the stories. This is dangerous stuff. If Clean Missouri becomes law, State Senator Rob Schaff’s proposal would flip our state legislature from Republican Red to a deep and dirty Democrat Blue.

*Ninety-eight percent of Americans - plumbers, dentists, bus drivers - have skin in the game. We have to worry about the 2 percent - the intellectuals and politicians making the big decisions who don’t have skin in the game and are messing the whole thing up for everybody else. Thirty years ago, the French National Assembly was composed of shop owners, farmers, doctors, veterinarians, and small-town lawyers—people involved in daily activities.

O Divine Poesy, goddess, daughter of Zeus, sustain for me this song of the various-minded man who, after he had plundered the innermost citadel of hallowed Troy, was made to stay grievously about the coasts of men, the sport of their customs, good and bad, while his heart, through all the sea-faring, ached with an agony to redeem himself and bring his company safe home. Vain hope – for them.

We all thought it. “This time, for sure, McCaskill goes down.” We’ve thought it before and been disappointed. But this time is different, right? This time, we have that up-and-coming Attorney General who’s backed by conservatives and establishment Republicans alike. A guy equally at home at a Tea Party conference or a Jack Danforth backyard barbecue. This time, for sure. But this time looks like another disappointment for Missouri Republicans hoping to send another Republican to the US Senate.

I gave up news for Lent.  I also stayed away from blogging. I’m trying to have fewer opinions about fewer things. When you have a lot of opinions about a lot of things, nothing is more important than anything else. But that’s ridiculous. Some things are more important than others. Some questions must be answered before others.  So I gave up news for Lent, and I might never go back.

Nothing has shaken my support for Eric Greitens. People ask me if I’m sorry I supported him. Are you kidding? Governor Greitens signed Right to Work. Something I’ve supported since it first appeared in the 1970s. Governor Greitens strengthened Missouri’s strong Right to Life policies. Governor Greitens is rebuilding Missouri jobs and wages. Governor Greitens is doing exactly what we elected him to do for Missouri. Is he perfect? Of course not.

You probably would like to know how to spot a very stable genius. It’s a skill that can come in handy. (Free Bonus: I’ll point you to the funniest thing I ever read in my life. Just because I like you. But first . . .) Well, today, Donald J. Trump gave us a lesson in genius detection. With the MSM chanting “mentally unfit” and “stupid,” our very stable genius president took to his favorite persuasion tool, Twitter.

Latest: Sheriff sets up emergency shelter for displaced residents: Due to the size and cope of this investigation an emergency shelter has been set up @ East Ridge Rec Center, located at 9568 University Blvd. in Highlands Ranch. If anyone has been displaced from their homes due to this event please feel free to head there. — DC Sheriff (@dcsheriff) December 31, 2017 Earlier: Domestic disturbance led to shots fired, via Douglas County Sheriff:

Do you think Democrats will retake the House, the Senate, or both in the 2018 election? [socialpoll id=“2479812”] Now that you’ve answered, let’s consider the limits of data science in 2018. The best data scientists in the world agreed with nearly absolute certainty. These scientists determined, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hillary Clinton would be the 45th President of the United States. That was in 2016. Those scientists were wrong.

The US Department of State released 2,800 emails involving Hillary aid Huma Abedin that were found on Anthony Weiner’s hard drive last year, Judicial Watch reports. You can read all the emails here: FOIA Abedin Emails In a statement, Judicial Watch, which forced the release through lawsuits, said this: This is a major victory. After years of hard work in federal court, Judicial Watch has forced the State Department to finally allow Americans to see these public documents.

Scott Adams first identified Donald Trump’s greatest strength. What do you think that might be? It’s not his money or his business experience. Those are strengths, sure, but they’re not THE strength. Scott Adams believes Trump’s campaign was a movie script. Here’s what Adams wrote way, way back when Trump’s candidacy was still just a PR stunt because he had zero chance of winning even a single primary: A movie script is almost always arranged in what the professionals call a three-act form.

Regardless of its ideology, that new leadership will assert public authority and demand private sacrifice. Where leaders had once been inclined to alleviate societal pressures, they will now aggravate them to command the nation’s attention. —William Strauss and Neil Howe: The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny Donald Trump can’t stand festering problems. Trump forces problems to the surface, into the daylight, where they can be fought and settled.

If you’re wondering how things will change in 2018, you might think back the mid-1980s. In the 1980s, leftist professors, leftist news media, and leftist entertainers were angry. For years, they’d preached that Ronald Reagan was a neo-Nazi buffoon whose incompetence and malice would destroy America. Maybe even wipe out the human species. “I believe Ronald Reagan can turn America back into what it once was,” said comedian Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live in 1980, “a vast wasteland covered with ice.

I’m scheduling this blog on December 26, 2013. I’m predicting Bill de Blasio will be as bad for New York City as Mayor John Lindsay (1967-1974). Read the original blog here. Now, let’s look back at the New York City de Blasio inherited. According to ZeroHedge blog:  New York crime rates are at historic lows, the $72.7 billion budget is balanced, jobs are at an all-time high and a record 54 million tourists pumped money into the economy this year.

Forgive me. I say “liberal” sometimes when I mean something else. My mistake is habit, not irony. (Irony would require some intent on my part.) I grew up disparaging liberalism. I grew up reading and watching William F. Buckley Jr., for whom liberalism was the enemy. In the post-WWII era, the liberalism of the day was a problem. But it was never the problem. The problem in Western Civilization was a faction that used liberalism as cover.

Yesterday, I predicted the NFL would suffer a season-shortening labor dispute this season or next. The reason: President Trump’s pressure on owners to crack down on anthem haters will stir up a fight between NFL Players Association and the owners. As if on cue: [caption id=“attachment_24766” align=“alignnone” width=“1285”]Fox News[/caption] President Trump, in an exclusive interview with “Fox & Friends,” said that NFL owners are “afraid” to act against their players protesting the national anthem at games across the country.

Blowout. Embarrassment. Lopsided. Laugher. Humiliation. Fans are doing to the NFL what Ray Rice did to his girlfriend in that elevator. https://youtu.be/Dp47DeNAukw Bars are banning football. The VFW has condemned the NFL.  Fans are burning jerseys. American Sniper’s widow livid. Viewership is down 11% year-over-year. Fans boo players they recognize. Baltimore fans demanding Ray Lewis statue come down like he’s General Lee. Major NFL sponsors are under increasing pressure to pull ads.

Jack Kemp is on the top of my wall of heroes. Literally. An autographed Kemp card sits on top of my bookshelf housing the works and images of my heroes. As the NFL self-destructs, it’s worth reading about Jack Kemp’s work for civil rights. And for the Republican Party. And for conservatism. Jack Kemp’s Activism Kemp did it all. And, thanks to Jeffrey Lord, we can remember Kemp’s finest moments of civil rights activism:

Coming to a head. President Trump seems pathologically opposed to festering problems. When he sees a festering problem, he pops it like a zit. For example, the North Korean nukes problem has festered since the Clinton administration. Trump is bringing Little Rocket Man to a head. NAFTA has been festering since the Clinton administration. Trump is bringing NAFTA to a head. The latest example: the NFL anthem-haters. This anthem-hating is over a year old.

By now you’ve seen the photo. The iconic photo. One lone Army Ranger veteran defying his team to salute the flag during the Star-Spangled Banner. [caption id=“attachment_media-17” align=“alignnone” width=“1200”]screenshot CBS[/caption] You know that Alejandro Villanueva’s jersey and t-shirt immediately became the best-selling merchandise from the NFL’s store. Villanueva served three tours of combat duty as an Army Ranger. He’s authorized to wear the Bronze Star. He stood for his country. In Afghanistan with the Army and in Pittsburgh alone.

Brain damage. They all have brain damage. And they’ll likely die from it. Like Aaron Hernandez. 99 out of every 100 football players have serious brain damage. Kneeling for CTE NFL players and owners decided to show their disrespect to the flag, law enforcement, and the USA by kneeling during the national anthem. In a foreign country. The president responded by saying the NFL (and the TV networks) would be in big trouble if people stopped watching or attending games.

You might not know about Franco Harris. You might wonder why he’s so unhappy, like many of us are, with the NFL’s anti-American antics lately. But his wonderful heritage tells a lot about why my favorite running back respects America. His dad was an Army soldier. His dad met his mom in Italy during World War II. They married and returned to New Jersey. [Read this fantastic 1996 Baltimore Sun biography of Franco Harris.

You can see the battle brewing. It’s coming to a head. And no one is telling you the real reason the NFL is dying before your eyes. Everyone sees the symptoms of football’s death spiral: empty stadiums. Crashed ratings. low quality. Criminals on the field. Some people call it “the National Felony League.” Frustrated fans look for better entertainment. Ticket sales remain high for one reason: stupid corporate executives. Stupid executives think it’s still a status symbol to control lots of NFL tickets.

. . . And It’s Deep-State Handlers Jim Hoft is a genius. From his St. Louis home, Jim runs one of the most influential websites in the universe, according to Harvard researchers. He’s a legend. Like Andrew Breitbart, Jim Hoft reshaped the media. Hoft exposes the rotten bastards who call themselves “journalists.” ** Caustic Jim Acosta ** F*** Chuck Todd ** Jake “The Fake” Tapper ** Juannabe Williams Jim Hoft exposed these knuckle-dragging liars.

They were dumbfounded. Those United Nations stuffed shirts were dumbfounded. Struck dumb. Silenced. Shocked. Floored. Those sissy diplomats were shaken. Appalled. Frightened. Never in the sordid history of the United Nations has an American president spoken in unvarnished truth in unvarnished terms. Trump has the best words. Trump used his best words today. The best of the best. Trump called Kim Jung Un “Rocket Man.” The funniest and most effective linguistic kill-shot to date.

Greg Jarrett thinks Jeff Sessions should resign. I do, too. I felt like the lone voice on the right last week when I wrote “Counseling Sessions.” It feels great to have Greg Jarrett agree: Jeff Sessions should resign. As Jarrett puts it: Sessions appears either incapable or incompetent. He has resisted producing the documents relevant to the anti-Trump dossier which were subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee. He has failed to appoint a special counsel to reopen the case against Hillary Clinton for likely violations of the Espionage Act in the use of her email server, obstruction of justice for destroying 33,000 emails under congressional subpoena, and potential self-dealing for profit through her foundation.

James Clapper lied to Chuck Todd. Clapper wiretapped Paul Manafort and lied about it. Just like Trump said. James Clapper looks like a kind old grandfather. Like Josef Stalin. Or an elderly Charles Manson. Like Stalin and Manson, **Clapper’s soiled name deserves to be flushed into the bowels of history’s bio hazard tank. ** James Clapper categorically denied that anyone associated with the Trump campaign was ever wiretapped. He lied.

You will be mad. You probably don’t have a contract with Equifax. Your creditors do. When you apply for a loan, you give creditors permission to: *1. Obtain your credit file. *2. Update your credit file. You expect that creditors vet their vendors, don’t you? You assume banks and credit card companies test their vendors' security. And you expect financial services companies like Equifax to be on the up and up.

CAUTION: This report comes from very fake news blog CNN and may fall apart over the next 24 to 48 hours (like most of CNN’s fake reports fall apart). CNN is reporting that Special Investigator Robert Mueller leaked secret documents to the press indicating the Obama White House “wiretapped” Paul Manafort before and after last year’s election. CNN previously mocked and scorned President Trump for suggesting Obama wiretapped Trump’s campaign. CNN says Mueller’s office cautioned that conclusions about Russian connection were “inconclusive.

Nancy Pelosi is paying a price for statesmanship. Remember when this blog wrote about liberals saving us from Antifa? But one group can save us from the Antifa caliphate. An unlikely group. A group you’d never believe could be the heroes of this terrifying story. Who’s this group? Who will save America? Who will preserve Western Civilization? Christendom? Judaism? Not the Right. Not the Center. Not the Great “Undecided” Voter.

You can almost see it in your mind if you try. The cartons of Chinese takeout. The torn blisters of soy sauce. Nancy Pelosi, former swimsuit model, laughing at The Donald’s off-color jokes. About Mitch McConnell. Or Paul Ryan. While Chuck fills color of his own, about deals he helped The Donald put together back in New York. Stuff that didn’t make it into The Art of the Deal or The Art of the Comeback.

Not often does a person or an event fit every definition of a single word. But Hillary Clinton’s life after the election fits perfectly all three definitions of graceless. __ Graceless. Graceless Hillary. Why didn’t Donald Trump think of that one during the campaign. “Graceless Hillary…” Not a single rational being could challenge the accuracy of that monicker. Graceless Hillary. Clumsy. No sense of propriety or decency. Inferior or clumsy in treatment or performance.

Eight months into the Trump Administration, one cabinet appointment stands out as a flop: Attorney General Jeff Sessions. We all had a lot of hope. Back in January. Hope. Hope for the Trump administration. Hope for American greatness. And hope for justice. If you’re a Tea Partier, you had a lot of hope. Jeff Sessions looked like the ultimate pick for Attorney General. Conservatives berated Mitch McConnell to accelerate Sessions' confirmation by the Senate.

Move Over, Enron: Equifax Is Next The worst problem of modernity lies in the malignant transfer of fragility and antifragility from one party to the other, with one getting the benefits, the other one (unwittingly) getting the harm, with such transfer facilitated by the growing wedge between the ethical and the legal. This state of affairs has existed before, but is acute today— modernity hides it especially well. —Nassim Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto)

By now you’ve heard that President Trump struck a deal with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Trump struck a deal to raise the debt ceiling. Trump struck a deal by going around Congressional Republicans. Trump struck a deal with Democrats. It’s about time, frankly. But Trump can go a lot further on this path. If I were his chief strategist, I’d tell him to go further. How far? Keep reading.

Many people say, “you shouldn’t punish children for sins of the parent.” That’s something we firmly believe as Americans. The US Constitution even prohibits “corruption of blood.” Corruption of blood refers to laws that pass guilt genetically from generation to generation. I think we can all agree that punishing children for their parents' crimes is un-American. But what about children who profit from their parents' crimes? Should they be allowed to keep the booty?

You wake up and nothing works. No electricity. No cell phone or land line. No radio. No electric tooth brush. No internet or cable. No laptop. No tablet. Car: nothing. What happened? No, it’s not a scene from the Twilight Zone. It’s the aftermath of an electromagnetic pulse attack. EMP for short. An EMP attack would look like this: ** North Korea launches an ICBM toward North America ** The warhead detonates 100 miles above Colorado ** Waves of electromagnetic energy pulse down across the fruited plain ** Every semiconductor and small wire in the United States burns out

It might happen before I finish typing this post. Maybe it already happened. Maybe we just haven’t heard. Or maybe it’s a few days away. But it’s coming, folks. Believe me, it’s coming. And it’s gonna be a doozy. So many lefties were hoping that Hurricane Harvey would finally knock out President Trump. If they pray, they prayed. They prayed for a monumental catastrophe. They prayed for total collapse of FEMA.

The left is crying. One guy on twitter is nearly suicidal. Hoft has more. Here’s what happened. Someone posted this photo on twitter. All the sane people laughed. @realDonaldTrump retweeted. And now it’s the left’s new Russian conspiracy. I remember when all the best comedians were liberals. But the new left traded its sense of humor for baseball bats with ten penny nails. USA! Meanwhile, the pre-schoolers at CNN have their panties in a bunch because the President of the United States wore a hat emblazoned with USA.

“It’s your life. You don’t know how long it’s gonna last, but you know it doesn’t end well. You’ve gotta move forward … as soon as you can figure out what that means.” —Don Draper, Mad Men, Season two, Six Month Leave Dear People of Houston (and thereabouts), President Trump has said, “the whole world is watching.” And he’s right! When people say “the whole world is watching,” they usually mean it as a warning.

We’ve been saying “America is back” ever since President Trump’s beautiful inauguration in January. And we meant it. But “America is back” rose to a higher level today. A level not since the days following 9-11. Or maybe the greatest moments of the Reagan administration. Today, in Houston, we saw the America of our dreams. The America that makes us cry when we hear the national anthem. Or when we see a soldier in Iraq bending down to help a tiny Iraqi child.

When I watch President Trump in Texas, I am reminded of one of my favorite books. Arthur C. Brooks wrote in The Conservative Heart: There is a common misconception that conservatives are materialistic. We are not, and this confusion is a central political irony of our time. Progressives truly want to help the poor but have tried to solve poverty primarily with government money, relegating talk of culture to the past and focusing more and more on income inequality.

James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton three months before he interviewed her. James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton before interviewing 16 key witnesses. James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton before he gathered any significant evidence. James Comey gave Hillary Clinton permission to destroy evidence in a felony investigation. James Comey leaked classified information to the media. These are all facts. No one disputes them. They are all crimes of various degrees. Some felonies.

It was probably a coincidence. One day after Hennessy’s View reported Speaker Paul “Dumbbell” Ryan as a member of the Antifa caliphate support team, Speaker Ryan’s office renounced his membership in the terrorist group’s fan club. [caption id=“attachment_23491” align=“alignnone” width=“460”]Paul “Dumbbell” Ryan[/caption] As reported by The Gateway Pundit: Social media was set ablaze after Paul Ryan attacked President Trump for condemning ‘both sides’ for the violence in Charlottesville. Trump supporters hammered Paul Ryan for refusing to condemn Antifa.

Yesterday, I explained the military strategy behind Antifa’s remarkable growth. In case you didn’t realize it, Antifa has effectively shut down grass roots conservative speech. You cannot hold a public rally, march, or carnival if your views conflict with Antifa’s. Antifa has established a small caliphate in North America. Just like ISIS did in Syria and Iraq. And the government’s doing absolutely nothing about it. You should read my military strategy post and all the links.

If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal, we can flee from him. If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

You know this blog rarely criticizes President Trump. There’s a simple reason for that. That reason is the thousands of fraudulent journalists who create and repeat lies about President Trump every day. Like Jake “The Fake” Tapper. Those fake journalists don’t need my help. You also know that I have criticized President Bush, Republican candidates for president, and many, many other Republicans and conservatives. I just adopted a simple rule last year: until the fake news media treats President Trump honestly and fairly, I won’t criticize my president.

Looks like Trump knows how to deal with natural disasters. Things could change. I’m sure the dishonest media will fake stories about minorities getting stiffed by FEMA. Total lies. But right now it looks like Trump knows how to handle disasters. My president

You probably believe the narrative. Because that narrative is strong right now. It has become common knowledge. Common knowledge in the formal, game theory sense of the word. In game theory, common knowledge is something everyone knows everyone knows. And everyone know everyone knows. And everyone knows how everyone else will behave because of that knowledge. Common knowledge doesn’t have to be true. In a common knowledge game, truth doesn’t matter.

You probably don’t believe it. You’re probably reading just to argue. But three minutes from now, you’ll be armed. Armed and ready to do verbal combat. Armed and ready to defend your Trump vote. Armed and read to win any intellectual confrontation. Think it’s impossible? Keep reading. You’ll find out defending your vote for Trump is easier than you could imagine. Your opponent will be standing there, jaw moving, lips quivering, voice lost, brain scrambled.

You kind of knew how the story would end. How the search for the 10 missing sailors would end. This morning, we began hearing about bodies discovered on board the McCain and in waters near the collision. I grieve for those families. The news breaks a lot of hearts. Especially the hearts of people with loved ones deployed on ships in dangerous waters. I know my readers never forget the work our military does.

Elections have consequences. One consequence that we’ve all experienced: when you elect a street fighter, you get street fights. Another consequence that terrorists are experiencing: when you elect a street-fighter patriot, terrorists die. President Trump tonight reminded so many of us why we elected him. Because he’s a street fighter. Because he’s a patriot. Because there are bad people who wish us harm, and Donald Trump is okay with killing them.

This is one-question values study. It’s very revealing. Please take the survey, share your results, and encourage others to take it. The more people take this survey, the more accurate its results would be. I will not record any personal information. You can remain anonymous if you’d like. [os-widget path="/billhennessy1/moral-hypothetical" of=“billhennessy1” comments=“false”] Please forward to friends. Compare your results.

CNN screwed up. And it reminds me of an incident from 1970. A headline writer admitted that the Antifa terror group seeks “peace through violence.” Later, presumably after receiving threats from Antifa terrorists, CNN removed the “peace through violence” sub-head. But the damage was done. CNN stumbled onto real news. Real news that exposes Antifa’s terrorist aims. Before we get to the dangers of normalizing political violence, aka “terrorism,” let’s remember a famous party.

So many people say it’s okay for Antifa to beat people they don’t like. Tim Cook says it. Mitt Romney says it. It’s easy to agree with them. It’s easy to say, “I hate racists and Nazis. I’m glad somebody’s taking the initiative and beating them with clubs.” Many people feel that way. Many people feel it’s good and just to beat and maim wicked people. Especially people who hold wicked beliefs.

Worry about your character, not your reputation. Reputation is what people think of you. Character is who you are. —John Wooden, legendary coach of basketball and character Everyone admits that President Trump cares more about his character than about his reputation. Only a man concerned with his character would tell the truth. Reputation is what people think of you. Character is who you are. The Stoics teach us that reputation is beyond our control.

Charlottesville used to be a place. Now, it’s a thing. On Friday, Charlottesville was a city in Virginia. Today, Charlottesville is an event. A thing. In our hyper-emotional world of 2017, we are told to explore our emotions. Then act upon those emotions. Like poorly trained animals. Like half-wits. Like narcissists and spoiled brats. Like lower primates. Like the KKK and BLM and Antifa thugs who turned that place into a thing yesterday.

Angry texts. I got a bunch of very angry texts this morning. My friends are fired up. Because of Governor Greitens’s executive order. **An executive order that implements a novel approach to prescription drug databases. ** In case you haven’t heard, Governor Greitens signed an executive order on July 17. The EO made Missouri the 50th state to establish some sort of prescription drug tracking. Most states track everything about prescriptions.

“Will Trump survive this?” A friend of mine texted me yesterday. I had no idea what the “this” was. Later, I learned. Turns out, like most of the media’s breathless revelations about Trump’s supposed crimes, the story that people reacted to meant little. The anti-Trump media exploded with fake news, fake interpretations of real news, and speculation that supported their own angry fetishes. But any reasonable person would respond like my friend.

You know it’s coming. Some fake news hack will claim the whole Foxconn-Wisconsin deal was a plot to find a new job for Reince Priebus. Reince Priebus, the erstwhile White House chief of staff who prides himself on blocking deplorables from the White House posts they deserve, has been relieved of duties. He’s on his way back to native Wisconsin where Foxconn is building a $10 billion plant. Maybe Foxconn needs an establishment-connected middle manager.

I’ll set the over-under on Priebus’s resignation/firing at 10 days (August 6). Pick over or under in the comments. Winners will get great satisfaction. I’m taking under. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Gateway Pundit has it all. It’s juicy! Just yesterday, Washington Times pointed out that the very swampy Priebus is increasingly isolated and lonely in the Trump White House. Nobody likes Reince.

I campaigned for and voted for Donald Trump. I stand 100% behind Trump today. I support Trump because he’s a fighter. He’s a man of action. Trump prosecutes his causes, he doesn’t navel gaze. Jeff Sessions is a good man. He’s a good Washington man. He has standards of decorum. Standards I admire. Trump has no standards of decorum. But I voted for Trump because history has made decorum a liability, even a vice.

When Winston Churchill mouthed these eternal words, his nation’s life expectancy was about six months. All of Western Civilization, all of Christiandom, seemed doomed. One defiant man ended a speech to his House of Commons with this: I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

People want cover. Danger drives us together. It’s our nature. Our herding response gave our species an advantage. The herders lived to breed. The wanderers, the stragglers, fell prey. Genes of herders increased. Genes of loners receded. But our strongest cover is our parents. They’re the protection we seek. The pair of humans who brought us into the world provide the best cover. We are born helpless. Our parents sustain us.

If the election were held today, Senator Kid Rock would be a thing. Via The Gateway Pundit: News broke this weekend that Kid Rock is LEADING challenger, Dem Debbie Stabenow in a new poll 30% to 26%! Everyone who wrote this off as a joke, then as a publicity stunt, then as impossible, then as improbable will be forced to say “Senator Rock” soon. Very soon. Try this:

“Some things we can control, some we can’t. We can control our attitudes, opinions, goals and desires – choices of our own. We can’t control health, wealth, fame or power – things we can’t have by choosing them.” —Epictetus Freedom begins with understanding what we control and we do not. Yet very few people even begin to consider this essential dichotomy. Even in the complete absence of “administration” as Tocqueville observed in early 19th century America, no one was free who failed to understand Epictetus’s control dichotomy: some things are under our control, some are not.

My serious Republican friends (think of people like Chris Wallace and Charles Krauthammer) worry. They worry about this trend toward “unserious” politicians getting elected. They worry about “what it says about voters” who elect Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, and (very soon) Kid Rock. These serious Republicans long for the days of serious men and serious matters. Of gray flannel suits beneath salt-and-pepper hair belonging to Yale grads and Harvard Law professors who can, on occasion, in the right circumstances, with just the right audience, shock the world with an (are you ready for this?

Kudos to Governor Greitens and the Missouri legislature. They killed a minimum wage law in St. Louis. The law was designed to make city politicians feel better about themselves. It’s certain result would have been fewer jobs for the people who need jobs the most. Why are you complaining about Governor Greitens' first term? Did you not read his books? Like Donald Trump, Eric Greitens called his plays at the line of scrimmage.

Admit it, Missouri. **You have Illini Envy. ** We all grew up in the shadow of the Lincoln State. We grew up frustrated that the Black Hawks have won Stanley Cups while the Blues end every season in frustration. Everybody in the world knows where Chicago is. And that it’s in Illinois, the Land of Lincoln. Missouri’s a little hit-or-miss on geography quizzes. But Missourians have a chance to make St.

If you think about geopolitics at all, you know North Korea poses many problems for its neighbors. And for the United States. And for the whole world. If we take attack North Korea militarily, over a million South Koreans will die. Along with a lot of Americans on ships and on land over there. Nobody wants that. It might come to that, but nobody wants it. Now, North Korea has ICBMs that can drop a nuke on Alaska.

“As they reach their turn for national leadership, 13ers will produce no-nonsense winners who will excel at cunning, flexibility, and deft timing.” —Neil Howe and William Strauss, 13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail? I’ve written before that 2016 was the first Gen X Election. And that Donald Trump would be the first Gen X president. Not because he’s an Xer, but because he personifies our coming-of-age view of the world.

President Trump makes everything better. Everything. And this video, which he just tweeted, made this 4th of the July the best since 1776. (Click twice to get play this video) #FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017 The left and CNN will, of course, be outraged. They don’t have a sense of humor. President Trump has a fine sense of humor. I can see the grin on his face as he tapped out “#FraudNewsCNN” and hit the send button.

When Reagan was president, we wanted him to hit back harder on the press. We wanted him to put Sam Donaldson in his place. We wanted him to call out the fake news. [caption id=“attachment_22208” align=“aligncenter” width=“750”] 2/5/1981 President Reagan during an interview with Sam Donaldson of ABC News Leslie Stahl of CBS News and Judith Woodruff of NBC News with James Brady at the Cross Hall White House Library[/caption]

When did the narrative break? Was it the assassination attempt on GOP Congressmen? Was it Comey’s admission that Trump was never under investigation? Was it Kathy Griffin’s grim ISIS imitation? Was it Trump’s 5-0 winning streak in special elections? Like the ageless question of how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie-Roll center of a Tootsie-Pop, the world may never know. Never know just when the Russian narrative broke.

[SEARCH CALLED OFF US Navy ends hunt for 7 missing sailors as bodies are found in the ship](https://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/06/18/us-navy-calls-off-search-for-7-missing-sailors-several-bodies-found-inside-destroyer.html) I saw the FoxNews.com headline last night. My face sagged. Those tiny muscles that control our facial expressions all fell asleep at once. A long, slow breath-flood rushed from my slack lips. I thought about those seven families. The families who haven’t heard from their USS Fitzgerald sailors.

You are a target. They want you dead. You are a conservative activist. They call themselves “progressives.” You want to live. And you want to remain active in politics. They want you dead. Or submissive. Like a slave. Or a battered woman. No, you can’t attack them. You shouldn’t engage them. They’re rabid animals. Neither reason nor normal persuasion can change progressives from their deadly habits. So what do you do?

https://youtu.be/JjMfrBY-K6g?t=2m15s President Trump wins praise from all side for his strength, dignity, and leadership following the left’s rifle attack on Republican members of Congress. “We can all agree that we are blessed to be Americans.”

To liberals, the murder of a Republican is like the swatting of a mosquito. They oppose violence in theory, but they also want the pest dead. They’re just too lazy to get out of their easy chairs to do it themselves. Cass Sunstein, a leftist who’s happy whenever a conservative dies early, wrote a book called Nudge. It’s a good psychology book. Nudge is about persuasion, which is my chief interest.

I made a lot of money on the election. Most of that money I cashed out. But I left a small balance in case I saw another opportunity to bet against the prevailing wisdom. I saw that opportunityt last night. My PredictIt Success In January 2016, I bought three kinds of shares on PredictIt, the prediction market. *1. Trump would win the Republican nomination. *2. Trump would win the White House.

Scott Adams pointed out the linguistic brilliance of Donald Trump’s perfect summation of James Comey’s failed takedown attempt. “No obstruction. No collusion. He’s a leaker.” That’s how Trump summarized Comey’s testimony to the Senate’s Russian Conspiracy Hoax Committee. Click to watch: Scott is a genius in persuasion and psychology. Everything he just said about Trump’s linguistic kill-shot is dead-on accurate. Trump destroyed Comey without firing a shot. “No obstruction.

I read a lot of GlassDoor.com reviews. I do it for work. It’s a great way to get a feel for a client’s culture. I’m smart enough to discount reviews from people who were recently fired from the company. I don’t ignore those reviews, but I discount the negative stuff. There’s a good chance that the disgruntled former employee is just venting. They feel wronged, even if they were terrible employees.

Maybe we should consider CNN employees enemy combatants. CNN’s latest hate-crime: **CNN is criticizing London police for using too many bullets. ** That’s right. CNN will soon demand a UN war crimes tribunal to try, convict, and hang the London cops who put down the London Bridge terrorists. This photo caption appeared below this critical headline. CNN has not responded to my request for comments. Specifically, I asked CNN to provide the exact number of rounds police are allowed to use to stop a terrorist.

Previously on Hennessy’s View: Because of tolerance, it’s getting harder and harder to make people laugh with Trump jokes. Everybody’s heard them all. So comedians have to ramp up the shock factor. And they have been. And it was working. Until Kathy Griffin went too far. Comedians and leftist news people are bound to go too far. It’s bio-chemical response. And now, so many leftists are in a race to the top on excess and insanity.

It’s difficult to see in the fog of war, but comedienne Kathy Griffin did Donald Trump a huge favor. Before I explain, look at all the benefits Trump got from Griffin’s decapitation humor: ** Prominent Democrats and CNN turned against Hillary Clinton ** Andrea Mitchell and other journalists began admitting the Russian conspiracy theory is a hoax ** Americans sympathize with the Trump family ** Kathy Griffin’s crazy press conference made Trump look mature, sober, and sane by comparison

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? How could a reporter at New York Times blackmail an FBI or CIA agent? Easily. And everyone who ever went through counter-espionage training knows it. What Went Down This morning, British Prime Minister Theresa May chastised the US government. The UK freely shares anti-terrorism intelligence with the US. The US is expected to keep secrets secret. But the US intel community is one gigantic sieve these days.

On the night that a deranged terrorist murdered and maimed little girls in Manchester England, we can take some solace in the fact that the greatest bastion of Western Civilization is back. America is back. Back on the watch. Back on the hunt. Back in the world. When President Trump became the first American president to speak in Saudi Arabia, he delivered a message beyond his words. He delivered a message that no one missed.

Was Seth Rich murdered as an example? Seth Rich was murdered. Two gunshots to his back. Like you’d see on The Sopranos (video). The police called it a robbery. But nothing was stolen. Not his cell phone. Not his wallet. Not his watch. Not his cash. Shortly after his murder, Wikileaks posted embarrassing emails. Emails from the Democratic National Committee’s email server. Wikileaks maintains that the theft of the emails was an inside job.

From the “we could have told you that” department: Journalists' brains show a lower-than-average level of executive functioning, according to a new study, which means they have a below-average ability to regulate their emotions, suppress biases, solve complex problems, switch between tasks, and show creative and flexible thinking. [emphasis added] It’s okay to laugh. You suspected that reporters are kind of dumb. Now you know. They can’t keep up with Trump, but they probably can’t keep up with a young adult novella, either.

Guest post by Lee A. Presser For those of you who do not follow things as mundane as television rating scores, you may be surprised to learn that Fox News Channel (FNC) is losing its lead as the powerhouse in primetime cable TV ratings to MSNBC. There are a couple of reasons why. First, control of FNC has been transferred to two brothers, Lachlan and James Murdoch, who do not believe in the political message espoused by Fox for the last twenty years.

Do you follow the recommended diets? Low fat. High carbohydrate? Eat lots of fruit? If so, you’re probably overweight. And your blood tests are probably a mess. Maybe your doctor recommends expensive prescriptions to lower your cholesterol. A new study finds the problem is not your fault. Your doctor, poorly educated in nutrition, and government recommendations, prompted by industry lobbyists, are designed to keep you fat and sick. And it’s not just US government.

The Easiest Formula for Mastering Persuasion, Losing Weight, and Avoiding Disease (video) “Persuasion” is part of my job title. When you’re a persuasion professional, you get a lot of questions about persuasion. Some are sincere. Others are skeptical, like, “Okay, persuasion boy, persuade me to give you a hundred dollars.” Persuasion doesn’t work like that. But it also does. Here’s the thing: if you ask me to persuade you to give me a hundred bucks, you already want to give me a hundred bucks.

Congress is about to pass a budget. I call it a “Paul Ryan Special.” This budget lets the government spend money for four months. It expires in September. The budget is horrible. Republicans are spinning a few “wins” in the budget, but that’s a terrible argument. It’s like telling a terminal cancer patient, “but your blood pressure’s pretty good.” Here’s the thing: you cannot control Congress. You can only control what you focus on and what you do next.

Today you’ll learn about action-first persuasion. And start your day in a better mood. First, please do me a favor if you can. Because this little activity will make you happier and more persuasive. Ready? Pick up a pen or pencil. Have it? Good. Now, put the pen horizontally between your teeth and gently hold the pen while you read. Like me: Very gently. And just hold it there while you continue to read.

If you read my blog, you know I’ve had differences with Senator Ted Cruz. But the Senator has stepped up. Bigly! Only a gentleman would do what Cruz just did with his El Chapo bill. Remember the GOP race? Cruz and Trump went at each other like nobody’s business. Wives and all. While Cruz couldn’t bring himself to endorse Trump at the convention, Ted has stepped up a lot since the election.

Picture this. Every time you leave your teenage kids home alone for a weekend, you come back to stink-eyes from your neighbors, a living room that’s a sea of empty beer cans, a yard filled with cigarette butts, and a pregnant cat. Pretty soon, you’d stop leaving those kids to their own devices, wouldn’t you? If you had to leave town, you’d find a sitter. Maybe a retired Marine uncle. Or a friendly cop to send a car by the house every half hour during the dark hours.

You hear people say “follow your passion.” It sounds nice. Then you hear wildly successful people say “do NOT follow your passion.” Mark Cuban is in this camp. So is Dilbert creator Scott Adams. So which is it? Do you follow your passion or not? My answer might disappoint you. Because it’ll sound evasive. But I’ll give it a shot. I’ll need you to help out here, though. Think of this as an exercise.

The contemporary term false flag describes covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that activities appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them. [Wikipedia] Think of a time when you acted on false information. You knew it might be false, but you acted as if it was true. Why did you do that?

“I don’t agree.” Some folks disagreed with my instant assessment of the Syrian strike. My assessment: Trump’s surprise military attack will shift four narratives in Trump’s favor: ** Trump is Hitler: dead ** Trump is a Russian agent: dead ** Trump is incompetent: dying ** Trump is a lightweight among world leaders: dead In other words, it took 59 cruise missiles to blow up the left’s anti-Trump narratives. But my friends disagree.

No child of God should ever suffer such horror. —President Donald J. Trump The most powerful weapon in the world is narrative. The most powerful weapon in the world is narrative. That’s another way of saying the pen is mightier than the sword. The most powerful weapon in the world is narrative. Tonight, President Trump blew up four narratives of the left. And he made America great again in the world.

Susan Rice admitted she lied. She requested unmaskings of Trump associates. Rice says her unmasking requests were routine. Maybe they were. We can find out. It’s simple data analysis. I’ll show you how. But, first, you have to know the right question to ask. And few people do. Right Questions You hear a lot of talk about whether Susan Rice requested unmasking of Trump associates. That’s a good question, but it’s not enough.

Now you know. You can stop doubting. You have more than hope. The Obama administration spied on Donald Trump and his campaign and transition teams. There is no longer any doubt. The questions that remain are: ** Who ordered and authorized the illegal wiretaps? ** Who illegally received and disseminated the intelligence? ** What did Obama know? It’s easy to declare the Obama Admin guilty after Evelyn Farkas’s admissions on MSNBC.

Think about the sun, Pippin Think about her golden glance How she lights the world up Well, now it’s your chance With the guardian of splendor Inviting you to dance Pippin Think about the sun —Finale, Pippin by Stephen Schwarz We were standing near the glass doors at the back of the theatre waiting for the bell.

I’ve changed my mind on priority. Instead of going to tax reform next, President Trump should work on that big-league infrastructure bill. Now. Fast. President Trump needs a big win because power is in perception. He also needs to put Democrats in a bind. Plus, he needs to prove he can pass big legislation without all GOP factions on board. The solution is infrastructure. During the campaign, Trump spoke of a massive building project to rejuvenate our roads, modernize our airports, and more.

This is for my conservative friends who are celebrating the healthcare bill’s demise. You’ll want to read it all. Let’s begin with a little story about a crossing guard. Imagine you are standing at a dangerous intersection now. Cars whizzing by nonstop in all 4 directions. You feel powerless and frustrated. There are no structural safeguards, no physical barriers, to keep us from getting hit. There is a crossing guard, though.

Without power, principles are platitudes. Consider this a favor to the Freedom Caucusers. Those folks can’t see past the end of their own principles. Knowing the Freedom Caucus people pretty well, I know they’re very happy with Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court. I know they’d be very miserable if Gorsuch were rejected and Trump had to nominate someone who could win a few Democrat votes. It’s all about power.

I feel drunk but I’m sober, I’m young and I’m underpaid I’m tired but I’m working, yeah I care but I’m restless, I’m here but I’m really gone I’m wrong and I’m sorry baby —Alanis Morissette, One Hand In My Pocket If your biggest problem involves choosing between multiple appealing jobs, everything else will seem less important. Because picking the right job is a really big deal. For the past decade, you’ve probably worried about finding or keeping any job.

Overexposure to antibiotics and antibacterial soaps and lotions makes bacteria stronger. They adapt. That same thing happened to Obamacare over the years. It’s now untouchable. ** Obamacare survived the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts. So it was born in a toxic environment. ** Then, Obamacare survived two Supreme Court rulings, each time by a single vote from the chief justice. ** Finally, Obamacare survived seven years of Republican promises to repeal it immediately upon winning the White House and Congress.

Yesterday, I placed blame for the healthcare debacle at Speaker Ryan’s feet. I also wrote that I expected the Republican establishment to blame the tea party. To blame us for aborting the Trump presidency in his first 100 days. Today, I’m going to beat the establishment to that punch a little. Because the Freedom Caucus and some of my favorite action organizations looked a little juvenile in this debate. Juvenile and stupid.

General George S. Patton arrived in North Africa with a single mission: lead the Allied forces to victory over the Hun. But Patton’s assignment was also in response to a miserable and deadly failure of leadership. The failed leadership of General Lloyd Fredendall. Fredendall was a Francophobe and an Anglophobe ill-suited to wage coalition warfare; a micromanager who bypassed the chain of command – giving orders as far down as company level; a coward, he allowed animus with subordinates to affect his judgment and undercut their authority; and finally, staring defeat in the face at Kasserine, he tried to pin the blame on others.

President Trump is teaching the world a huge lesson. That valuable lesson goes something like this: Don’t be needy. Jim Camp is a world-famous negotiation coach. Jim has led some enormous negotiations: labor disputes, huge multi-national buys, and mergers. This is is what Jim says about neediness in his book Start With No: It is absolutely imperative that you as a negotiator understand the importance of this point. You do NOT need this deal, because** to be needy is to lose control and make bad decisions**.

Today, President Trump changed the game. He changed the Prisoner’s Dilemma (coordination) into a game of Chicken (competition). Lifer Republicans have no experience with games of chicken. They were raised on coordination games. By changing the game to Chicken, Donald Trump greatly increased the chances that phony Paul Ryan’s healthcare will PASS. Here’s why briefly. Psychologically, people always think they have more time. Republicans, in particular, believe time is limitless. Lifelong Republicans think they can delay any decision until the decision they want is a given.

Yesterday, I established an end: great health care that ordinary people can afford. You remember I talked about John Braddock’s explanation of strategy: choose the end and work backward. Then forword. And Braddock’s first step after choosing an end: what comes immediately before. That’s where we are today. A few weeks back, I wrote several posts about diet (here and here). I warned you that the government and doctors and, especially, dieticians have been poising us for years.

Paul Ryan unveiled a health care bill two weeks ago. Ryan’s favorite lobbyists wrote it. They wrote it in secret. They dumped it on the House GOP caucus. A lot of my friends on the right went hermatile. “Shoved down our throats!” “Obamacare two-point-oh!” “Obamacare Lite!” “Tyranny!” “Entitlements!” “Worse than Obamacare!” The most frequently used key on the keyboards of tea partiers was the exclamation point! It’s easy to get spun up over the way Speaker Ryan handled the bill.

If you see some idiot in a kilt today, it might be me. You know my story. Aon scéal? (Gaelic for “Any story?")

President Donald Trump delivered his budget and a message for Congress. Since I’m lazy, I’ll quote Time magazine. First, the President’s message to Congress: “I urge the members of Congress to remember that last November the American people’s message was loud and clear. The mandate for change, expressed by the American people, was not my mandate; it was our mandate.” Then, the analysis: The President’s meaning was unmistakable: the public wants deep cuts in both spending and taxes, and any legislator who tries to keep the ax from falling risks putting his own neck under an ax at the polls.

You can actually FEEL America getting GREAT again! ADP payroll report shows President Trump made a big down payment on his promise to be the **greatest jobs president ever. ** The economy added nearly 300,000 new jobs last month. Economists expected a rise of 190,000. It was the biggest jump in jobs in 6 years. The jobs were the good kind of jobs Trump talks about: manufacturing, mining. Jobs with grit.

Almost every time Donald Trump says something crazy, something so outlandish and wrong, he later turns out to be right. I know his critics can’t read my blog. (Literally, they can’t. They have a psychological problem that prevents their brains from processing information that’s inconsistent with their beliefs.) But for those of you who want to be right with the truth instead of just right with your own opinion, this will be a great post to forward to your friends.

Newspapers lie. And by “newspapers,” I mean the whole mainstream media. Yesterday I told you how Donald Trump punked the media by pulling a Crazy Ivan maneuver. A critic on Twitter thinks I’m lying. He thinks I’m lying because he read a news article. He read it in the New York Times. This Twitter critic thinks it’s okay for the New York Times to lie (“Wiretapped Data Used In Inquiry of Trump Aides”), as long as they only lie in their headlines.

Cold War submarine lore. I can’t go into all of it here, but I can tell you about one bit of that lore: the Crazy Ivan. Modern submarines have incredible passive sonar arrays. They can hear everything in the ocean for hundreds of miles around. Everything. Everything except something directly behind them. Behind a submarine is a big propeller or “screw.” It turns. It pushes water abaft. The noise and the motion combine to prevent sound waves from reaching the sensors.

John McCain may have done some heroic things, but he is a hero no more. Imagine how you’d feel. A knock on your door. Through the deadlights around your front door, you see a car with government stencils on the side. When you get close enough, you look out and see a man in uniform. An officer. You know. You know why he’s here. Your throat tightens. You want to turn around and walk away.

https://youtu.be/Py8BF0hHPnc In 2012, Barack Obama got caught telling Russian Prime Minister Medvedev that he’d have more “flexibility” after the election. Later in 2012, during a debate, Obama accused GOP candidate Mitt Romney of stoking Cold War fears against our new friends in Moscow. Obama said, “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because…the Cold War’s been over for 20 years!” In fact, in 2012, the whole pantheon of pantsuit partiersmocked warnings about Russia.

https://youtu.be/IEWWRbn4zG0 In 1966, Hollywood liberals made a very funny movie. The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! The movie mocked Cold Warriors and ridiculed hyper-paranoia about the dangers posed by Russia. Some of those same Hollywood liberals are now running around screaming “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” Funny.

Reader Rick reminded me that there’s a Trump rally closer to St. Louis on Saturday. He provides a link to the Facebook page. If you can’t make it to Jeff City, here is another opportunity on Saturday, March 4, 11-1. Vlasis Park, Balwin https://www.facebook.com/events/1227190650721092 See you there! Thanks, Rick! DETAILS MARCH 4 11 am to 1pm 14811 Manchester Rd, BALLWIN 63011 VLASIS PARK * 97.1 FM Emcee Marc Cox Alyssa and Celeste Drinkard perform National Anthem

The President needs us. From Show Me Trump THIS SATURDAY! President Trump needs our support and hundreds of Missourians have already RSVP’d that they’ll be attending! It’s clear he is being severely pressured by Democrats and the media alike. Our rally will send an important message to our new Commander in Chief–We The People support you! Find the Facebook event page by clicking here. These pro-Trump rallies are happening on Saturday across the entire USA - don’t miss the Missouri statewide rally in Jefferson City!

You had to laugh. Claire McCaskill jumped on Twitter to announce she’d never met the Russian ambassador to the US. Before that, she jumped on Twitter to brag about being so damned important and vital that the Russian ambassador sought her oracle-like guidance. After people mocked and scorned her silly lie, Claire McCaskill made up more lies to cover the first lie. You know, like a liar. Senator McCaskill believes Jeff Sessions should resign for not telling a lie.

The Concorde was a supersonic passenger plane. It shuttled people between New York and Paris very quickly. When commercial Concorde flights began in 1976, the novelty and excitement of flying at twice the speed of sound led people to line up to take the flights. But after 27 years and several safety mishaps, the Concorde’s popularity waned. Flights were often less than half full, so British Airways, the operator, was losing money.

Hate John McCain if you want. Call McCain a traitor, even. I look at John McCain and marvel at his strength. Many do. Everyone knows about McCain being shot down over Vietnam and spending 5 years in a POW camp. But most people don’t know about the deep emotional scar McCain brought home with him. And that emotional scar undoubtedly drives him to his fits of anger and telling lies about people he doesn’t like.

What bothers you most when you’re in a bad mood? You can imagine what it’s like be in a bad mood, can’t you? People go through periods of deep funk when nothing seems bright or cheerful, don’t they? And when you’re in those moods, what’s the worst thing? That’s right, it’s being around a bunch of happy people having fun. And that’s exactly how the left feels when they see Trump at a press conference: miserable amid the fun.

Imagine Michael Jordan’s best game ever. Or Tiger Woods. That’s what it was like watching President Trump today. Amazing. The President looked poised, cheerful, and humorous. He volleyed with Jim Acosta of CNN. He rated each question “good” or “bad.” He explained why he doesn’t want a nuclear war with Russia because the press seems to think nuclear war is a good thing. He mocked those in the press who want him to bomb that Russian intel ship off Virginia.

Soon thereafter, this great gate is sealed by the Crisis resolution, when victors are rewarded and enemies punished; when empires or nations are forged or destroyed; when treaties are signed and boundaries redrawn; and when peace is accepted, troops repatriated, and life begun anew. One large chapter of history ends, and another starts. In a very real sense, one society dies— and another is born. —The Fourth Turning

The leftists who want you and me to die (at their hands?) call themselves The Resistance. Okay. Let’s call them that. Author Steven Pressfield wrote a book about defeating The Resistance. It’s called The War of Art, and it’s an awesome, wonderful book. Overcoming and defeating The Resistance, Pressfield tells us, is the key to living the good life. I agree, even if I don’t agree on some of his enemies.

Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a riot? Even if you’ve only seen riots on television, you can probably imagine how it feels to be inside one. Imagine yourself surrounded on all sides by angry faces dressed in shabby clothes, some faces covered with bandanas or ski masks. People are chanting something you can’t quite understand, like a private joke you’re not allowed to get. Or maybe they’re chanting at you.

If you’re sick and fat, it might not be your fault. You listen to your doctor. You follow government diet guidelines. You eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. You cut down on animal fat. You eat more grains. And you just get sicker and fatter. You’re told it’s your fault. But it’s probably not. You might be a good mom or dad who wants your kids to learn healthy eating habits.

If you’re overweight, have high cholesterol, diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, or cancer, it’s probably not your fault. You’ve been told to eat poison your whole life, by people who are supposed to know better. Here’s some truth to set you free. Actually, I don’t know why. But it’s happening to you and millions of other people. Doctors are killing their patients. And they’re getting a lot of help from the government and big agriculture.

Remember when you were a kid? All the weird challenges and contests you’d wage with your friends? There’s a good chance that breath-holding was one of them. Who can hold their breath the longest, right? I was always good at this when I was young, but I’m not that young anymore. I’m 53, but I held my breath for two minutes and 47 seconds last Thursday. And I could have gone longer, but I was bored.

The television activists at CNN look like college seniors who learned upon returning from winter break that credit requirements for graduation were just upped from 120 hours to 180 hours. And there ain’t grandfathering! Diehard NeverTrumpers attack Trump supporters on social media like bitter, divorcing spouses locked in a pitched custody battle. And there ain’t no reconciliation! Establishment Republicans, Democrats who count on union support, the more radical unions like SEIU and NEA, Planned Parenthood baby killers, and tenured communist professors shriek like hormone-crazed adolescents in fall-down hysterics.

I know people, and you probably do too, who are out of work from the United Steel Granite City (aka Granite City Steel) closure. It’s disheartening and depressing for people who worked hard all those years, thrown into the street because of bad trade deals and stifling regulations. But President Trump has ordered the Keystone Pipeline renegotiated to require American steel pipes. That’s great news for our friends and neighbors in GC.

President Trump (who, by the way, has accomplished more in two days than Obama did in eight years) saw Chicago’s horrific crime statistics and warned the mayor and the governor to get to work or he’ll fix it himself. Seventy-five percent of murder victims in Chicago are black. Immediately, leftists, who apparently enjoy all the carnage in Chicago, attacked Trump’s call for fewer shootings and murders. Think of that. LIBERALS WANT MORE MURDER!

One way to summarize Donald Trump’s first business day in office is to say he followed through on many, many campaign promises. Another way to look at it is that Trump slaughtered NeverTrump. Both explanations are accurate, but one is the cause, the other the effect. First, you know I pay very little attention to Facebook. Too much craziness over there. But friends of mine do occasionally send me screen shots of things they find outrageous.

It’s great to be right. Yesterday I told you that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer played the White House press corps by telling the truth. But the press corps and many Americans have a psychosis that literally replaces some words with other words. It’s not dyslexia. It’s far worse because it’s selective. In this case, Spicer said “witness” but journalists everywhere repeated, “attend.” I wrote about it here. Well, today, Spicer explained the situation to a psychotic journalist almost the same way I did.

When your brain automatically alters perceptions, there’s something wrong with you. Reporters have this psychosis. Journalists. They have very bad ADHD it seems. They can’t pay attention. Like kids with ADHD. Chuck Todd and everybody at Business Insider should probably take Ritalin or something. Reporters are also narcissists. No one goes into journalism unless they have a pathologically inflated ego. No one. So I’m going to walk you through the proof, slowly, so even our narcissistic, hyperactive, attention-deficit-disordered journalists can understand that Sean Spicer played with them like a cat pawing a dying moth.

A Good Samaritan was shot and killed and three shot in a “robbery gone very wrong” at Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio, Texas Sunday afternoon about 3:30 p.m. Two others transported to hospitals with other medical conditions. One suspect is still at large and assumed armed and dangerous. The dead man was a shopper who attempted to stop two robbers after they robbed a Kay Jewelers store in the mall.

Trump’s enemies took refuge in the self-created narrative that his campaign was 100% American showmanship. The crooked press and the corrupt establishment, while dissing Trump publicly, scoffed privately. They “knew” his supporters were idiots and yahoos—marginally functional Neanderthals from America’s unreconstructed backwoods whose ability to think, handicapped by genetics, was further crippled by the moonshine distilled in the shed behind their putrid outhouse for personal consumption by their incest-ridden family of knuckle-dragging racist homophobes.

A lot of well-connected St. Louis Democrats like to say “everything’s fine” with the city and the St. Louis region. You know, though, that St. Louis is a mess. A hot, simmering mess covered with rot. (Check out StLouisPatina’s photo essay of St. Louis decay.) But the people responsible for St. Louis’s decay want you to pretend there are no problems. Of course, they do. And it’s getting worse. You might find yourself wondering how bad things are in St.

https://youtu.be/TLYAyuf1I1Q

Jim Durbin called me this evening. “Are you excited?” he asked. Jim was in the crowd at the very first Tea Party in St. Louis, February 27, 2009. A cold Friday. He and more than a thousand other folks took off work and school to see what this protest was all about. Like so many others, Jim knew America needed a change. A big one. A change built on the hopes and dreams and fierce independence of ordinary people.

Many of us are guilty. I am, too. You, probably. In high school (and after) we mocked the kids who took shop. The “greasers” who got credit for wrenching on cars or welding or making cabinets. It was the 1980s and shop, along with home economics, became an elective in most schools. Until the 80s, some practical life skill class was a requirement at most American public and parochial high schools.

You thought Stan Kroenke wanted a team in Los Angeles? I don’t think so. I think Stan is playing a long con. And I think it’s a brilliant strategy. Los Angeles is a terrible market for football teams, but it’s a fantastic market for the NFL. It would be a perfect place to build a permanent home for the Super Bowl. Los Angeles has fantastic weather, great attractions, and a huge pool of football fans, fans of every team in the NFL.

This is about Big Data. You really can’t over-estimate what suckers business people are. I’m not talking about people who create things or improve things. Guys like Steve Jobs and Donald Trump built great businesses. But they weren’t business people. They were builders. Running a business was a necessary evil that allowed them the freedom to build what they wanted to build. They were great businessmen because they cared about the work their companies did.

How will history remember the Tea Party movement of 2009 to 2016? The answer to that question depends on what we do next. The Tea Party movement was an antagonistic movement. We opposed bad stuff. We sought punishment for bad actors. We saw that the experts were wrong, and we pointed out their folly. Like William F. Buckley’s charter for National Review, we stood athwart history, yelling “STOP!” At its heart, the Tea Party movement opposed a corrupt and insulated establishment class.

You might have thought I was paranoid for wondering if some people in the CIA and the Deep State are plotting a coup to overturn our recent election. The Wall Street Journal seems to agree with my conclusion: a coup attempt is going on in America. Rogue actors within the CIA, all of the major leftist media (New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS), and probably major defense contractors seem to be involved, though the Wall Street Journal stops short of accusing advertisers.

Call me paranoid, but it seems Donald Trump’s chances of taking the oath of office for President are diminishing every day. You might find yourself wondering why the CIA would plot a coup against Trump and his supporters. If you haven’t wondered about a CIA coup, you should.** Focus your awareness for a moment on what Trump means to the people of the Deep State.** The Deep State involves those people and institutions that have insulated themselves from the consequences of elections.

Many powerful interests around the world loathe Donald Trump and the people who elected him. There’s no disputing that. One of those powerful interests is the Central Intelligence Agency. One of the CIA’s own, Evan McMullin, attempted to disrupt the election. Like Bay of Pigs and Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction, that CIA plot failed. Even George Will admits the CIA makes some horrible, deadly mistakes. And sometimes those mistakes come from seeing the results they want to see, not the results presented.

No one saw this coming. In the month since the election on November 8, America burst out of the longest economic malaise since the Great Depression. Historians will credit the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. Those historians will be right, of course, but how can that be? President Trump won’t take office until Friday, January 20, 2017. Today is December 8, 2016. Yet Trump has already transformed America more in four weeks than Barack Obama did in eight years.

Roger crashed into his office. His sanctuary. It was only two fifteen, but he wanted a drink. Calls first. He pulled out is cell phone and decided to call the cop again. But the phone buzzed in his hand before he could find the number. “Hello,” Roger said. “Hi, Mr. Thompson? This is Amanda Mateo, one of David’s teachers.” “Hi. Ms. Mateo. Yeah, we met in August.” “Oh, yeah, right. Parents’ Night.

Roger crashed into his office. His sanctuary. It was only two fifteen, but he wanted a drink. Calls first. He pulled out is cell phone and decided to call the cop again. But the phone buzzed in his hand before he could find the number. “Hello,” Roger said. “Hi, Mr. Thompson? This is Amanda Mateo, one of David’s teachers.” “Hi. Ms. Mateo. Yeah, we met in August.” “Oh, yeah, right. Parents’ Night.

Kellogg’s sells mostly simple carbohydrates in the form of breakfast cereal and snacks. Their ad agencies make you think their foods are wholesome and safe. They’re not. They’re mostly simple carbohydrates (grains and sugar) that produce a glycemic shock when eaten. And foods that produce glycemic shock seem to be deadlier than cigarettes. At least that’s the suggestion from a recent study at the University of Texas. The study of 2,000 lung cancer patients and 2,500 people without lung cancer should raise concern.

Tonight, Donald Trump delivered what will become the new standard of presidential oratory in Cincinnati, OH. President-elect Trump thanked Ohio voters for a landslide victory in the state with a barnburner of a speech that rivaled his most animated and colorful rally speeches during the 2015-2016 campaign. The art of the speech will never be the same. Frequently breaking from prepared remarks, Trump attacked the dishonest media, mocked a leftist reporter who cried when Hillary lost, and reminded voters, “Folks, how many times did we hear this?

Roger Thompson had completed his checklist. He’d learned from Jack Murphy, his friend and attorney, that the police sergeant seemed cooperative. With his tasks out of the way, he knew it was time to deal with his wife, Natalie. Natalie and Roger didn’t see eye to eye politically. Natalie described herself as a progressive. Even though they rarely discussed politics, Roger knew Natalie was politically active before they got married. She worked a lot of referendum campaigns in college and after.

Roger Thompson had completed his checklist. He’d learned from Jack Murphy, his friend and attorney, that the police sergeant seemed cooperative. With his tasks out of the way, he knew it was time to deal with his wife, Natalie. Natalie and Roger didn’t see eye to eye politically. Natalie described herself as a progressive. Even though they rarely discussed politics, Roger knew Natalie was politically active before they got married. She worked a lot of referendum campaigns in college and after.

Donald Trump ran on a promise to bring American jobs back to America. And to make America great again. Even though his presidency is still two months away, he’s already delivering. Ford is staying. Apple is looking to move iPhone assembly to the USA. And, last night, Carrier announced it will keep 1,000 jobin Indianapolis. **America is #WINNING again. ** When Donald Trump railed against Carrier Air Conditioner’s decision to move over 1,000 jobs to Mexico, the fake news media mocked and ridiculed Trump.

Chapter Nine “Elizabeth, I’m going to be out of the building the rest of the day. You have my cell. Vice-principal Johnson is in his office.” Elizabeth had a mouthful of Goldfish and could only grunt. But she wrote a note herself and nodded furiously at her boss. Nancy Flanders left the building. Forty-two minutes later, Flanders was parked and walking into the lobby of modern, glass and stainless steel building.

Chapter Nine “Elizabeth, I’m going to be out of the building the rest of the day. You have my cell. Vice-principal Johnson is in his office.” Elizabeth had a mouthful of Goldfish and could only grunt. But she wrote a note herself and nodded furiously at her boss. Nancy Flanders left the building. Forty-two minutes later, Flanders was parked and walking into the lobby of modern, glass and stainless steel building.

Jill Stein has raised nearly $7 million in an effort to overturn election results in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. She has no chance of winning any of those states, and Hillary Clinton has joined Team Stein. So what’s the point? Apparently,Stein and Clinton want the recounts to miss their December 19 deadline. December 19 is the Constitutionally mandated Electoral College vote. If the recounts are incomplete on the 19th, voters in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania will be disenfranchised, no candidate will have 270 electoral votes, and the election will be thrown to the US House of Representatives.

Nancy Flanders sat perfectly still. Amanda Mateo fidgeted and rocked. Between lay a false statement and a pen. Amanda spoke. “I won’t sign that. I’ll write my own report. I should have spoken to the police yesterday. I’ll write my statement and give it you right now. But I’m not signing that,” pointing toward the statement on the desk. “That won’t be necessary. I’m afraid I’ll have to place you on suspension until the board reviews your case.

Nancy Flanders sat perfectly still. Amanda Mateo fidgeted and rocked. Between lay a false statement and a pen. Amanda spoke. “I won’t sign that. I’ll write my own report. I should have spoken to the police yesterday. I’ll write my statement and give it you right now. But I’m not signing that,” pointing toward the statement on the desk. “That won’t be necessary. I’m afraid I’ll have to place you on suspension until the board reviews your case.

We can close the books on the 20th century. Castro was greeted in hell by his peers Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Mussolini, and Hitler. Castro was last seen paddling away from the Caribbean hellhole on a raft bound for hell. Castro leaves behind a nation trapped in the 1950s. Repeating our top story tonight: Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is still valiantly holding on in his fight to remain dead.

Chapter Six “Evan, this is Roger.” “How’s it going? Where are you?” “I’m at home. Listen, I’m going to have to use a sick day today.” “Everything okay?” “Not really. It’s a long story. David got beat up pretty bad yesterday at school. In school,” Roger said. “Well, hell. Sorry to hear that. Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got you covered.” “Thanks, Evan. Sorry about this.” “No worries. It’s the slow season anyway.

Chapter Six “Evan, this is Roger.” “How’s it going? Where are you?” “I’m at home. Listen, I’m going to have to use a sick day today.” “Everything okay?” “Not really. It’s a long story. David got beat up pretty bad yesterday at school. In school,” Roger said. “Well, hell. Sorry to hear that. Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got you covered.” “Thanks, Evan. Sorry about this.” “No worries. It’s the slow season anyway.

Chapter Four “Elizabeth, tell Amanda I need to see her on her planning hour.” Nancy Flanders’ assistant, Elizabeth Schneider, nodded her head, scribbled a note, and continued eating her bagel dripping with pineapple cream cheese and strawberry jam. Flanders returned to her office and closed the door. She sat and snatched the receiver from he desk phone, pressed two numbers, then hung up. She glanced out the window toward the school’s playground then reached for the cell phone on her desk.

Chapter Four “Elizabeth, tell Amanda I need to see her on her planning hour.” Nancy Flanders’ assistant, Elizabeth Schneider, nodded her head, scribbled a note, and continued eating her bagel dripping with pineapple cream cheese and strawberry jam. Flanders returned to her office and closed the door. She sat and snatched the receiver from he desk phone, pressed two numbers, then hung up. She glanced out the window toward the school’s playground then reached for the cell phone on her desk.

You might have heard that President-elect Trump has said he doesn’t want to waste time and attention on Hillary’s email server. You also might have heard that some people are upset about that. I’m not one of them. Months ago I was telling people Trump should announce that, if elected, he will pardon Hillary Clinton for all crimes related to her email scandal. I had two reasons for promoting this strategy.

We are watching The Fourth Turning unfold before our eyes. While you should read all of The Fourth Turning by generational historians William Strauss and Neil Howe, here’s one of their predictions for this point in time. The prediction was published in 1997: The economy will in time recover from its early and vertiginous reversals. Late in the Crisis, with trust and hope and urgency growing fast, it may even achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency and production.

Every Constitutional conservative knows there’s no such thing as “states' rights.” Only people have rights. Governments have powers. People have the right to grant government powers. Governments have no power to assume powers not granted by the people. Anyone who says “states' rights” needs a basic course in political philosophy. For years, a few conservatives mistakenly defended “states' rights” when they meant to say “federalism.” When conservatives made this error, the left jumped all over them.

Roger, David, and Natalie, drove home from the hospital in relative silence. It was already dark at six-thirty. Traffic was still snarled as drivers got used to the end of daylight savings. When they arrived home, David went to his bedroom and Natalie followed. The post-concussion protocol called for lots of rest, no electronics, and soft lighting. David went straight to bed. Roger walked into his home office with a glass of whiskey.

Roger, David, and Natalie, drove home from the hospital in relative silence. It was already dark at six-thirty. Traffic was still snarled as drivers got used to the end of daylight savings. When they arrived home, David went to his bedroom and Natalie followed. The post-concussion protocol called for lots of rest, no electronics, and soft lighting. David went straight to bed. Roger walked into his home office with a glass of whiskey.

Two cops were ambushed today. One in San Antonio. One in St. Louis. St. Louis Hills. An intersection I know very well from my youth. The St. Louis police sergeant is expected to survive. It’s time to end the war on cops. Please pray for the wounded officer, his family, our community, and all our fine police officers and emergency responders.

Roger pulled into the parking garage near St. Mary’s Hospital. Midday, the garage was packed. Roger parked on the roof and sprinted to the stairs. He crossed the short bridge to the third-floor reception area and approached the desk. “I’m Roger Thompson. My son David was brought here,” he said. The woman at the desk smiled at him, then typed on her keyboard. “Can I see your driver’s license please?” she asked Roger.

Roger pulled into the parking garage near St. Mary’s Hospital. Midday, the garage was packed. Roger parked on the roof and sprinted to the stairs. He crossed the short bridge to the third-floor reception area and approached the desk. “I’m Roger Thompson. My son David was brought here,” he said. The woman at the desk smiled at him, then typed on her keyboard. “Can I see your driver’s license please?” she asked Roger.

Last week’s election demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that the United States are still plural. Let me explain. Language changes. Sometimes those changes alter what things mean. And because of the odd way the brain deals with language, some changes create constant confusion in our heads. Once upon a time, “the United States of America” was a plural noun. (I’ll prove it to you in a moment.) Careful writers and speakers would say “the United States are .

You might have noticed “Civil War: Chapter One” here on Hennessy’s View. You may not have realized this is fiction. You might also not realize that chapter one means there’s more to come. I will release a new chapter every other day. Sometimes I might release two chapters at once because some chapters might be too short to release on their own. I don’t know where this story goes, and neither do you.

You might have noticed “Civil War: Chapter One” here on Hennessy’s View. You may not have realized this is fiction. You might also not realize that chapter one means there’s more to come. I will release a new chapter every other day. Sometimes I might release two chapters at once because some chapters might be too short to release on their own. I don’t know where this story goes, and neither do you.

Roger Thompson’s phone vibrated in his pocket. His boss, Evan, couldn’t hear the vibrating phone, but he noticed Roger’s distraction. “Do you need a minute?” Evan asked Roger. “No. Sorry. Damn phone won’t quit ringing. I’ll turn it off.” “Maybe it’s important. Go ahead.” Roger pulled the phone from his pocket and looked. Missed Call: Briarhaven Elementary “It’s my kid’s school,” Roger said. “I should probably call them back.” “Go,” said Evan.

Roger Thompson’s phone vibrated in his pocket. His boss, Evan, couldn’t hear the vibrating phone, but he noticed Roger’s distraction. “Do you need a minute?” Evan asked Roger. “No. Sorry. Damn phone won’t quit ringing. I’ll turn it off.” “Maybe it’s important. Go ahead.” Roger pulled the phone from his pocket and looked. Missed Call: Briarhaven Elementary “It’s my kid’s school,” Roger said. “I should probably call them back.” “Go,” said Evan.

Last weekI made three bold predictions about how Trump would change American culture: *1. Marriage would rebound, as would the fertility rate *2. People would dress better *3. Legacy becomes physical things, not mere laws Trump’s influence on American culture can already be seen in marriage and divorce rates. According to Bloomberg, divorce is down to 35-year lows and marriage rates began pumping up during the recent campaign. The U.

Every dayteachers beat students who like Trump. Every day anti-Trump social justice warriors (SJWs) beat, shoot, and kill Trump supporters. Every day, anti-Trump SJWs vandalize and harass businesses. Every day, anti-Trump reporters lie. And the anti-trumpets better change. Fast. Or there will be hell to pay. People will put up with harassment and violence only so long. People eventually push back. People who fight as a last resort fight for their lives.

Guest Post by Lee A. Presser My friend Bill Hennessy wrote an excellent 11-12-16 blog analysis of Anglo-American history and how it relates to Mr. Trump’s victory (https://hennessysview.com/2016/11/12/how-the-second-born-twin-can-be-older-than-the-first/). After reading that blog I phoned him to add a tangential thought. Bill suggested I share the thought with you. It took 561 years (from the Magna Carta to the Declaration of Independence) for the idea of limited government and political equality to infuse itself into Anglo-American culture.

Trump’s win is far bigger than the vote. As British General Cornwallis said at the end of the movie ‘The Patriot,’ “Everything will change . . . everything has changed.” If you’ve been thinking about policy, you’re thinking really, really small. Trump’s influence is way bigger. Here are three ways Trump will change America for a generation. A Change of Uniform Since the late 1990s, American business and social life have gone uber casual.

Have you ever noticed that twins have a pecking order? Even identical twins born minutes apart show a subtle seniority complex. Usually the first-born twin leads the second-born. Makes you wonder how these Peterson twins will relate to each other, doesn’t it? Because of the time change at the end of daylight saving time, the second-born twin is officially older than the first. That’ll be interesting to watch. And if you find yourself pondering the oddness of those twins' birth order, you can easily find yourself pondering America’s little sister relationship to the UK.

Adam Carolla noticed something I didn’t. Carolla’s first reaction to the election results was this. Hillary Clinton built herself a Logan’s Run type palace for her would-be coronation. Donald Trump accepted the presidency in a room that might double as a Hometown Buffet. Put another way, here’s what the winner’s auditorium: [caption id=“attachment_21054” align=“aligncenter” width=“1000”] Image clipped from UPI[/caption] And here’s the winner’s ballroom: Let that contrast sink in.

Sometimes I forget what originally drove me to call for a tea party protest in St. Louis. One motivation was fear of missing out because a dozen other cities were planning protests. Another driver was a desire change the direction of the country. And at least some of it was the frustrated actor in me looking for an outlet. Since two-thirds of those motivations appeal only to me, let’s focus on the middle one: change the country.

Jim Hoft. Ed Martin. John Burns. Dottie Bailey. Ben Evans. Gina Loudon. Lee Presser. Ben Murphy. Phyllis Schlafly. Those are my friends who were on the Trump Train long before me. If not Day One, Day Two. I resisted. I wanted a kinder, gentler conservative. I was for Dr. Ben Carson. But my friends opened my eyes. Over time, they reminded me that the Tea Party was never about R vs.

A few people have called me tonight to ask my prediction on the election. They know I’ve predicted a Trump landslide. They want to know if I stand by it. My answer: blank slate. I have no expectations. None. I have preferences, but no expectations. It’s kind of silly to expect something you have little or no control over. I have no control over James Comey or Loretta Lynch, much less the millions of American and non-Americans who will vote.

You might be stressing out when you learn that James Comey sent another letter to Congress. In case you didn’t hear, he did. And he said that the emails found on Huma Abedin’s computer did not change his earlier conclusion about Hillary Clinton. It’s easy to panic or get mad or dejected. Totally understandable. But that’s totally counterproductive, too. And being mad or acting dispirited is just what the elites want us to do.

If your favorite player hits a home run or scores a goal, but your favorite team loses, what have you accomplished? If an athlete you despise makes a horrible error but the hated team he plays for wins the championship, how do you feel? In several races across Missouri, some people seem willing to lose the war if it means they can win their private battles. That’s pretty sad, isn’t it?

https://youtu.be/pm8n9qVIK_8 The more you learn about people like William, the more you look forward to President Trump. Make America Great Again

https://youtu.be/vST61W4bGm8 Greatest closing argument ever. Make America great again. Trump is your last chance.

This post is about why you should vote for Eric Greitens. But first, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. Remember August 2015? It was hot, of course, but everybody was talking about when Trump would fade. For example, here’s the RCP Afternoon Edition from August 7, the day after the first GOP debate: Whose Party Is It, Anyway? - Molly Ball, The Atlantic The Republican Debate Was Awesome - David Harsanyi, The Federalist You Cannot Embarrass Donald Trump - Ezra Klein, Vox The Beginning of the End for Trump - Ed Rogers, Washington Post Martin O’Malley, the Dems' Fallback?

Yesterday I speculated that Barack Obama had grown sick of Hillary’s corruption, lies, and criminal disregard for the rule of law. A lot of people thought I was nuts, that I was reading too much into the White House statement that discredited Hillary’s primary talking point about James Comey. But today the Gateway Pundit reports that Michelle Obama has scrubbed all references** to Hillary Clinton from both of her Twitter timelines**.

 Since its revelation in WikiLeaks two weeks ago, Donna Brazile has been justly excoriated for cheating on behalf of Hillary Clinton by passing along a debate question. However, an important aspect to this story has been overlooked. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. Yes, Donna Brazile sent a critically beneficial piece of information - but Hillary Clinton accepted it. Mrs. Clinton accepted it (stealing), used it (cheating), and said nothing (lying).

You might have dated someone who was amazingly good looking. Everything’s great. For awhile. Then you get to know the person. A little too well. Maybe it’s on a weekend trip. Or, God forbid, when you move in together. Then you realize looks aren’t everything. The same thing can happen in political “marriages.” That surface quality that attracted you—donors, influence, contacts, whatever—sometimes isn’t worth the price. Just ask Barack Obama.

You never expect a candidate’s surrogates to tell you their candidate is a crook. But that’s exactly what Hillary’s surrogates are telling you now. From Bill Richardson to Robby Mook, Clinton surrogates are reciting a strange and disturbing talking point: Voters have “baked in” Clinton’s life of crime. [FLASHBACK: I gave James Comey the benefit of the doubt in July] The talking point seems meant to keep Democrats from panicking over the FBI’s re-opened criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.

Everyone knows that the White House is interfering with the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s criminal conspiracies. We know this because the Justice Department is stonewalling the FBI’s request for a warrant to search the hard drive Huma Abedin shared with her ex-husband Anthony Weiner. For those of us too young to remember those black-and-white days of Watergate, here’s a brief timeline via Watergate.info: ** July 13, 1973: Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals in congressional testimony that since 1971 Nixon had recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices.

As I pointed out last Saturday, a tiny faction of Missouri conservatives prefers Missouri’s pathetic status quo to true leadership and positive change. Those people apparently approve of Missouri’s horrible economy, weak schools, and declining stature in the country. And nowhere does Missouri’s decline stand out like San Diego, California. Last week, I spent a few days bumming around San Diego with my son. He is stationed there in the US Navy.

My phone was vibrating like a like a sex toy all afternoon. I couldn’t look. I was with a client and teammates working on serious business. When I got a break, after the client left, I locked myself in a bathroom stall and looked at the messages. Comey is reopening Hillary investigation New emails have been found I didn’t believe it, so I looked at The Gateway Pundit:

https://youtu.be/SHhrZgojY1Q Donna Brazile colluded with Hillary’s campaign and Roland Martin to feed debate to questions to Hillary before a debate. Hillary personally ordered violent protesters to disrupt Trump events. Hillary, Brazile, and PACS broke the law by colluding on disrupting Trump events. Hillary Clinton trashed and intimidated the women her husband raped. Hillary Clinton stole classified material and her minions offered bribes the FBI to help cover up the crimes.

https://youtu.be/MqyNO4XNovs Jen Bird!

Let’s play a little thought experiment. Suppose you read that a scientific study proved dark blue socks look best with a gray suit. Then someone known for his remarkable sense of style shows up wearing purple striped socks with a gray suit. What would you do? Before you answer that, consider this. You’ve probably heard that a handful of conservative activists are supporting the Democrat running for governor. Those misguided conservatives think the GOP nominee isn’t conservative enough.

Donald Trump is taking exactly the right approach on the upcoming rigged election. Every election since 1960 has involved massive election rigging by Democrats. They laugh about it privately and act all offended by the accusation in public. Republicans let it happen. Republicans like John McCain believe they have a “duty” to concede even if an election is rigged. They called “honorable.” But conceding a rigged election is actually a moral failing.

Some people on the right say they won’t vote for Trump. Those people list various reasons, mostly about his demeanor and things he’s said in the past. They think who gets the credit is more important than what gets done. We all know people like that, don’t we? Most of those NeverTrumpers were okay with Trump’s policies. They all love his Supreme Court list. Most of them liked Ted Cruz’s ideas, and Cruz’s weren’t far from Trump’s.

Outcomes. NeverTrumpers seem to believe that the act of voting is a sort of magic spell that can right all past wrongs. Psychologists call this “magical thinking.” Children do it. Magical thinking is the belief that we can change the outside world with our thoughts. Think of rain dances and crossed fingers. Or, as Dr. Ben Hunt explains, Fed policy. Father Christopher J. Pollard, writing in Catholic News Agency, destroys the NeverTrump argument in his essay “On Voting.

If Hillary Clinton wins, Barack Obama will take Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. You NeverTrump cowards need to go read everything you’ve written about Barack Obama. Read what you said about his sick dream to fundamentally transform America. Read everything you’ve written about his hatred of American exceptionalism. But go deeper. Stop being cowards for ten minutes and recall what you’ve said and thought about Barack Obama. In private conversations.

Some people have already decided which candidate to vote for. According to polls, slightly more people favor the psychopath over the braggart. For the undecided, I thought I’d create a simple quiz that will tell you whether you’re more comfortable with a President who says ugly things and brags about accomplishments or a president who gets people killed and gives away national secrets for cash. I know, it’s a tough call.

Have you ever met someone who’s just nasty? Mean? Self-centered? Treats “little people” like dirt? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’ve probably met Hillary Clinton. Hillary is likely a psychopath according to official FBI documents released Friday. What is psychopathy? For the answer, let’s go to the book Almost a Psychopath (h/t Eric Barker): Psychopathy is a psychological condition in which the individual shows a profound lack of empathy for the feelings of others, a willingness to engage in immoral and antisocial behavior for short-term gains, and extreme egocentricity.

CNN is so afraid people will find out they’ve been lied to that CNN is lying harder than ever. It is perfectly legal to visit the Wikileaks.com website. You can even copy information found on the site. Yet CNN’s paid liars are telling viewers it’s against the law. Plus, they’re saying the only way you are allowed to learn the content of the Wikileaks documents is to have it filtered through CNN’s official state-sponsored Department of Truth.

Do you think the Clinton Crime Family whacked Antonin Scalia? You will soon if you let yourself read this and all the links. But first, a strange call I had last week. Something Unrelated At the end of our talk, the reporter said, “do you mind if I ask you about something else? It has nothing to do with my article, and I won’t write about it.” “Uh, sure,” I said.

Lying is tough business. People believe lies with more details. Time, date, people, exact words, what people were wearing, sequences of events. All that. So liars usually provide some gripping details to make their lies more believable. In casual conversation, this works. Once some sucker buys your lie, you’re pretty much in the clear. The problem comes when you broadcast your lie for maximum coverage. The more people who hear the lie, the more people try to verify those details.

I really want to go to bed, but my brain won’t sleep until I type this out. Hillary Clinton told us Trump won the debate with her final answer. Final answer. An audience member asked the closing question. He challenged the candidates to say something nice about their opponents. Hillary went first. The right way to answer those screwball questions is to say something nice and sit down. I’ll explain why in a moment.

Frank Luntz—no fan of Donald J. Trump—said it best: he came into the second debate believing the race was over, but he came out believing Trump is back in the race. I realize CNN bought a poll that said Clinton won the debate. But CNN has a history of lying, cheating, and hiding facts. I wouldn’t bet a wooden nickel on anything I heard on CNN. I watched most of the debate at a bar in South St.

People in the media and the GOP are acting like they learned something on Friday. That’s when the Washington Post released an audio (later conjoined with video) of Donald Trump talking lewd about his exploits with women. I say media people and Republicans are “acting” like they learned something, because they didn’t. We didn’t. Everybody who’s paid attention to the race (or pop culture) already knew how Trump is. Everybody knows Trump brags about his sexual prowess and how women melt around him.

Today, Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) abandoned her party’s nominee to support a rape accomplice for President. Ann Wagner has lost her moral authority on all matters outside of her own home. I call on Mrs. Wagner to resign from the House of Representatives and to retire gracefully from public life. Mrs. Wagner seems to believe that being a woman gives her some unique moral vantage point. She forgets that she’s not the only woman in America.

You might have heard that the Clinton campaign released the 2005 audio of Donald Trump on Friday to affect Sunday’s debate. Maybe, but not likely. It’s more likely that the story dropped to cover up the latest Hillary email scandal. Gwen Ifill agrees (via Breitbart): we would have been paying attention a lot more tonight to some revelations from WikiLeaks about Hillary Clinton’s email — her latest email tranche from the State Department.

Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood audio has a lot of people cringing. Especially a lot of men who remember the things they’ve said about women around other men. And I’m talking about men you respect and admire like husbands and dads and brothers. Comedians know what I ’m talking about. I won’t bore you with the biology of it all, but you probably realize that men and women are fundamentally different. Especially when it comes to reproductive success.

Your life is in danger. At this moment, a Chinese nuclear warhead sits in a missile silo. Its guidance, if launched, instructs the warhead to detonate a mile or two above your home. And this was all made possible by extortion, murder, and illegal campaign contributions to Bill and Hillary Clinton. Remember Ron Brown? Brown was Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce. Ron Brown ran the Clintons' extortion racket in the 1990s.

You don’t need bombs and torpedos to destroy the Navy. Political correctness and terrible senior management are the Navy’s greatest threats. And today the Navy dropped a bomb on itself, with the help of Barack Obama. Obama’s Secretary of the Navy eliminated the 241-year-old Navy enlisted rating system. Because Obama felt the ratings were too politically incorrect? They weren’t gender neutral. Via No more Yeoman, Corpsman, or even Fire Control Technician.

You probably know that I admire Scott Adams quite a bit. He’s brilliantly predicted everything Trump has done. And he’s not finished dazzling us with his prediction skills. Yesterday he made a prediction of how we’ll kill ISIS. It isn’t pretty. He’s not advocating what will happen. He’s just telling us what will happen. I’m going to offer an alternative end to ISIS. It’s one I’ve advocated for attacking radical Islam since 2001.

No honest company would hire FBI Director James Comey. He might be loyal, but he’ll commit crimes of loyalty. Comey would have fit right in at Enron. Or in Ceauşescu’s Romania. Today we learned that Comey flat out lied about Cheryl Mills’s immunity agreement. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) exposed Comey’s lies just minutes after Comey lied to Congress under oath about the extent of immunity granted to Mills, who was both a State Department employee and one of Hillary’s huge stable of personal attorneys.

I love breaking from convention. I get tired of doing the same things, the same ways for no particular reason. If you’d asked me about dropping opening and closing statements from presidential debates, I’d have said “give it try.” Well, Lester Holt gave it a try. I want the statements back. Last night, the debate began with a question and ended with an answer. No opening or closing. Without those framing statements, the whole thing felt like middle music—a name my colleague gave to the music in upscale hotel lobbies that just goes on and on.

Donald Trump missed numerous opportunities to use humor to destroy Hillary Clinton Monday night. The clearest example was on Lester Holt’s question on cyber security. Hillary went first and gave a long, robotic answer, hitting all the buzzwords her handlers made her memorize. Trump countered with a similar answer. But Trump could have crippled Hillary with a single line: If you’re worried about cyber security, don’t elect a woman who runs an email server out of her basement.

Liveblogging the biggest debate in history. Before that, you should read my proposed closing remarks for Donald Trump. Someone told me on twitter that there will be no closing remarks. So maybe Mr. Trump will use my prompts for his opening statement. To make this more fun, you can grade my prediction accuracy at the end of the post.

If he asked me, here’s how I’d end the debate of the century. First, I’d close off any open loops that arose during the debate. Then: American children under 10 have never known a year with three-percent GDP growth. Americans under 40 have no memory real wages going up. And American people of every age, from infant to elderly, never knew a time of greater threat from foreign terrorist attack.

I’ll make this short. I have been highly critical of Senator Roy Blunt for a long time. You can search my blog and find many things that bother me about the Blunts, but that’s not what this is about. This post is about whether the US Constitution survives. This post is about whether that government of the people, by the people, and for the people will perish from the earth.

This is for the people, like me, who realized sometime between June 2015 and June 2016 that Donald Trump is at least better than Hillary and possibly a transformational character who can reverse America’s descent into chaos. “A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.” – General George Patton Jr You might think this post is an attempt to reach #NeverTrumpers and bring them on board the Trump Train.

If you thought the government never made a mistake, this story might surprise (via Breitbart) WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants who had pending deportation orders from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud, according to an internal Homeland Security audit released Monday. The Homeland Security Department’s inspector general found that the immigrants used different names or birthdates to apply for citizenship with U.

Barack Obama has thrown in the towel on Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign. Before you see how that is, let’s look at a study on a key factor of business success or failure. CEO Locus of Control In a series of studies, researchers found that companies whose CEO displayed an external locus of control were 650 percent more likely to fail than similar companies whose CEO showed an internal locus of control (source).

We’re getting close, folks. So close you can feel it. Close your eyes and feel the soft, warm breath on the back of your neck. (Now open your eyes and continue reading. You’re such a good reader.) As you watch the polls shift rapidly toward Trump, you might wonder what’s happening. What’s happening is completely natural, but it’s not normal. Elections don’t usually go this way. And two psychological phenomena are working to deliver the Trump landslide I predicted long ago.

I am making an honest man out of Jake Tapper. This twitter thread tells it all. @whennessy i never made an issue of Trump’s use of the word bomb. so the whole premise of this is nonsense. — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 18, 2016 The controversy began when Hillary Clinton attacked Donald Trump for calling terrorist bombings in New Jersey and New York “bombs.” But in the same interview, Hillary called the bombings “bombing,” making her look like an idiot.

After the Phillies beat the Dodgers on September 20, they owned a 6.5-game lead over the Reds and Cardinals, who were tied for second place. Philadelphia then hosted Cincinnati for three games, and the visiting Reds won all three. Then the Phillies hosted Milwaukee for four, and the visiting Braves won all four. At the end of that series, the Reds were in first place, a game ahead of the Phillies and 1.

You might wonder why I’m thinking about magic so much. What if you let yourself think about magic for a moment? Your mind can make all kinds of connections. It’s as if your mind takes you on a journey inside when you think about magic. When you hear “magic,” you instantly feel like a kid, don’t you? Perhaps you can remember when magic was as real to you as your favorite pillow or a treasured blanket.

Just pretend that this letter is sort of magic. You don’t have to be aware of how it’s magic. Just pretend that you’re reading a magic letter. In a moment you’ll find out how it works. You might find yourself rolling your eyes and thinking you’re too old and too smart for magic letters, but the more you read, the more you might wish this letter really is magic. If you’re still reading, you might even laugh a little at how stupid this sounds.

The more you think about it, the more you realize 2016 gets more and more like 1980 every day. As you ponder Hillary Clinton’s fall from grace (even David Axelrod is trashing her now), you might remember Jimmy Carter’s collapse. I’m not talking about his collapse on election night. I’m talking about one of the two incidents that psychologically destroyed Carter’s image as a leader. In a moment, I’ll remind you of the collapse.

Earlier I said the press has covered up Hillary Clinton’s horrible health problems. The press (or media as some call it) now admit as much. But they’re trying to weasel out of their culpability. See this line from an otherwise sound article on Commentary:  While most serious people dismissed the rumors about Clinton’s health that were being circulated by Donald Trump’s supporters, what happened Sunday morning will deepen suspicions both about her health and whether her campaign has been telling the truth about it.

Maybe you felt a twinge of pity when you saw that video of Hillary Clinton’s scary collapse today. In a moment you’ll see who’s to blame, and it’s not Hillary. If you haven’t seen the disturbing video, here it is, h/t thegatewaypundit.com: https://youtu.be/fo-pG2qChUI You could write off your emotions to the emotions of the day. It’s the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Your nerves are probably a bit frayed as you remember what you were doing when you realized that America was under attack.

Mr. Smiley’s Counter Girl: Whoa! You are so busted. Carolyn Burnham: You know, this really doesn’t concern you. Lester Burnham: Well, actually, Janine is Senior Drive-thru Manager so you are on her turf. — American Beauty, 1999 As you watched Donald Trump destroy Hillary Clinton on NBC’s Commander in Chief forum, something big happened. And you didn’t even know it. A woman who lives her life advancing conservatism, fighting cronyism, and promoting the best of the Republican Party won the chairmanship of Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District Republican committee.

UPDATE: The Gateway Pundit has confirmed Donald Trump will attend Phyllis Schlafly’s funeral in St. Louis. If you’re glad Ronald Reagan was once President, you should thank Phyllis Schlafly. Unfortunately, Mrs. Schlafly passed away, so you can’t thank her personally. But you can celebrate her life and her swift entrance to heaven. **This Saturday at 2:00pm, the ones she left behind will gather at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis (New Cathedral), 4431 Lindell Blvd.

You might find yourself freaking out that NRA endorsed the Democrat for Missouri Governor instead of Republican Eric Greitens. If you think about it, though, the endorsement makes perfect sense from the NRA’s perspective. You realize that the NRA is a lobbying firm, and lobbyists have an easier time working with an established asset like Koster than cultivating an outsider like Greitens. Recruiting and cultivating an asset is to a lobbyist as finding and selling a new customer is to a business.

If you asked me to define Phyllis Schlafly, my answered would be: “She wanted to destroy the king makers.” Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative icon who roared to national prominence with her 1964 classic, A Choice, Not an Echo, passed away today, September 5, 2016. She was 92. Eagle Forum, the pro-family, pro-American organization Phyllis launched in 1974, said in a statement: Phyllis Schlafly spent an astounding** 70 years in public service of her fellow Americans**.

Politico announced Tuesday: Clinton’s Advisors Tell Her to Prep for a Landslide Inquisitor said the same day: Hillary Clinton Campaign Preparing for a Landslide The stories beneath those headlines spoke of the intense hubris inside the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. Their “experts” declared the race over on Tuesday. Assured of a landslide, Clinton stopped campaigning and turned to what the Clinton’s do best: extorting money from the ultra-rich.

Nobody likes confrontation and conflict, am I right? But who doesn’t mind being lost in pretend for a little? So let’s just pretend it’s September 20, one week before the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appear at a joint press conference. (It’s not a debate. Hillary’s health won’t be up to a debate that soon.) Now, let’s pretend that Trump’s outreach to Hispanics and blacks worked because Trump’s ahead in the polls.

You probably never thought you’d see anything like this, but it just happened. What’s it like when a nation turns from strife to peace and healing? Watch this most amazing moment in politics, in history. You might find yourself tearing up when the Bishop wraps The Donald in a prayer shawl. Powerful. https://youtu.be/79OAyAc3G-M?t=3m28s In my remarks to the 500 people at the Tea Party for Trump at Surdyke Harley-Davidson in Festus last Sunday, I spoke about the need for healing in America.

The FBI dumped its Clinton criminal investigation report today, and it’s full of bombshells. Bombs are exploding like the 4th of July, especially the way Clinton lied about Gen. Colin Powell. Clinton has maintained that Powell advised her to use a private email and cell phone instead of using secure systems provided by the US government. Hillary lied. Here’s what the FBI found: Clinton contacted former Secretary of State Colin Powell via e-mail to inquire about his use of a BlackBerry while he was Secretary of State .

Donald Trump will land in Mexico City. He’s there for a summit meeting with Mexico’s President Pena Nieto. Before Trump even woke up this morning, the Washington Post declared the future meeting a complete disaster that Trump will never recover from. The Post predicted a complete visual and verbal disaster even though there’s no historical evidence on which to base such a prediction. The WaPo is probably projecting its wishes, not its beliefs.

If this shocks you, you’re probably a racist. I probably am, too. Blacks want the same things whites want. Well, blacks want the same things non-elitist whites want. And it’s been quantified. By a Jew. Here’s what he found, as reported by Business Insider: His report (featured below) found that black voters care most about lowering taxes in their community, having a strong leader, creating jobs, changing the tax code to help workers and small businesses, making college affordable, and improving the financial health of the US.

Admit it: words trump action. And words trump results. No one really cares what you do or the consequences of your actions. They care about what you say. That’s what we learned in school, right? That action is cheap but words are priceless. You probably memorized this nursery rhyme: Verbs and nouns Can break our crowns But deeds can never hurt us. There was another nursery rhyme with the same meter and opposite meaning.

If you enjoy this post, you have to thank your fellow reader, Tony, for reading the whole TIME article from yesterday’s post. He pointed out more similarities between 1980 and 2016. Especially Reagan’s gaffes and Democrats' complacency. First, the gaffes. You hear about Trump stepping on his own applause lines. He announced Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway the day after the best speech of his life (until then). He wondered aloud (via Twitter) what Mr.

You probably remember that in September 1980 voters couldn’t wait to cast a vote for Reagan. If you remember it like that, you remember wrong. At least a little wrong. TIME magazine examined voter sentiment in its September 15, 1980, issue. Voters that year sounded a lot like voters this year. Here’s how TIME’s Ed Magnuson summarized the voters of 1980: Disenchanted, but not apathetic. Caring about issues, although much more concerned about character.

Time is running out fast. The St. Louis Area Tea Party for Trump is Sunday, August 28 at 4:00 p.m. at Surdyke Harley-Davidson in Festus, MO. Here’s your checklist to make sure you’re ready: [frontend-checklist name=“Tea Party for Trump”] Sign Ideas Make sure your signs embarrass no one. Don’t give the liars at CNN anything act all righteous about. Here are some sign ideas: ** Winning with Trump ** Donald Trump: YOU’RE HIRED ** Trump Stands With US ** Trump Never Sleeps ** Trump Leads from the FRONT ** All Aboard the TRUMP TRAIN ** I’m ALL IN for Trump ** HONK if you’re voting TRUMP ** Make America Great Again ** Make America Work Again ** Make America Safe Again ** Make America Strong Again ** I [HEART] Trump ** Build The Wall ** You Can’t Fake Great Kids ** Legal Immigration Rocks ** Borders Define a Country ** Dignity = Meaningful Work ** I’m Choosing Scalia’s Successor ** What’s Wrong with Greatness?

Everybody loves misdirection. It makes magic shows and movies interesting. You think you know what happens next, then WHAM! the unexpected happens. Now you’re plugged in. Trump gave a head fake. Everybody bought it. (Including me.) Then his legs went the other way, and we stand here flailing at the air. Some people’s heads exploded on CNN. BOOM! I’ll reveal the real misdirection in a moment. You’ll love it. After declaring “I don’t want to change” and hiring Stephen K.

You probably remember that I love The Conservative Heart by Arthur C. Brooks. I learned so much reading that book, and learning feels great. I read a lot and I’m 52-years-old, and I’m amazed at how much I didn’t know. And it feels so good to learn, doesn’t it? Idle Hands Are the Devil’s Workshop One of my favorite stories in The Conservative Heart involves the city of Marienthal, Austria, in the 1930s.

Can you guess Stephen K. Bannon’s mantra at Breitbart? It’s not, “act like a Republican and lose.” It’s not “pivot,” a word I detest. “Honey badger don’t give a s—” is the Breitbart motto, and “the most dangerous political operative in America” is now running Donald Trump’s campaign. Raise the curtain on act three. https://youtu.be/4r7wHMg5Yjg The entire political world is reeling today with news that Donald Trump has named the incredible Stephen K.

The Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft, was pro-Trump long before I was. Like me, he’s fed up with the politically correct elites who profit while America burns. And Jim recognized long before I did that Donald Trump is the voice for American greatness, for the dignity of meaningful work, for the security of strong borders. Jim Hoft will be among the featured speakers at the St. Louis area Tea Party for Trump on August 28, 2016 at Surdyke Harley-Davidson in Festus.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE St. Louis Area Tea Party for Trump August 28 at 4:00 at Surdyke Harley-Davidson in Festus St. Louis Tea Party Co-founders Reunite to Take White House St. Louis, MO, August 16, 2016: Four St. Louis area Tea Party leaders who launched the local tea party movement announced a Tea Party for Trump Rally scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Sunday, August 28, 2016, at Surdyke Harley-Davidson, 2435 Highway 67 South in Festus, Missouri.

https://youtu.be/WjQtDEPETAY No Words Necessary The Tea Party for Trump is Sunday, August 28, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. at Surdyke Harley-Davidson in Festus, MO. Details to follow. GET YOUR FREE TICKETS NOW. Volunteer to help here.

[soundcloud url=“https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/277672779” params=“color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=“100%” height=“166” iframe=“true” /] Permission to Trump: episode 3 August 8, 2016 Ed Martin and Bill Hennessy. (Tim McNabb on assignment.)

We’re having a Tea Party. It’s time. Everybody’s onboard. Now, we need you at the** Tea Party for Trump, Sunday, August 28 at 4;00 p.m. at Surdyke Harley Davidson in Festus, MO**. (Hey, hey, hey—it’s only 20 minutes from South County.) And the band is getting back together (mostly). Expect **many simultaneous Tea Party for Trump events across the country. ** FREE TICKETS ARE LIMITED. GET YOUR FREE TICKETS NOW

Guest post by Lee Presser. America’s fiscal year is October 1 to September 30. With two month left in FY16, the U.S. Treasury has already paid creditors $380,925,428,211.67 in interest costs. (That’s $381 Billion) https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_expense.htm The average interest rate was just over 2%. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/rates/pd/avg/2016/2016_07.htm  It is expected that the last two month’s of this fiscal year, interest costs will increase another $45 to $66 Billion. The total FY16 interest cost may be between $426 and $447 Billion.

France’s population had changed considerably since 1614. The non-aristocratic members of the Third Estate now represented 98 percent of the people but could still be outvoted by the other two bodies. In the lead-up to the May 5 meeting, the Third Estate began to mobilize support for equal representation and the abolishment of the noble veto–in other words, they wanted voting by head and not by status. While all of the orders shared a common desire for fiscal and judicial reform as well as a more representative form of government, the nobles in particular were loath to give up the privileges they enjoyed under the traditional system.

You might be wondering why the Missouri Farm Bureau endorsed Democrat Chris Koster instead of Republican Eric Greitens. The Farm Bureau endorses Republicans about 99% of the time. If you’re thinking it had to do with policy or personality, you’re thinking wrong. (And, no, it wasn’t because of Koster’s hair, Mark Reardon.) This was all about the establishment vs. the people. It’s about power and control. Greitens threatens the establishment.

Why did Trump beat Ted Cruz? Probably the biggest reason is that Trump talks purpose while Cruz talks policy and principles. When people hear Trump, they hear a purpose that aligns with their purpose. I know I do. And it’s similar to the purpose Arthur C. Brooks explained in his great book, The Conservative Heart. Ted Cruz never seemed to have a purpose, just policies and principles. Cruz spoke of abstract principles and left it to the people to figure out if those principles would make their lives better or worse.

I was a guest of Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM channel 125 yesterday. Dan Riehl wrote this very nice story about my appearance on Breitbart News: Tea Party activist Bill Hennessy chronicled his transition from Donald Trump opposition to Trump supporter in the book Turning on Trump and shared some of his insights with_Breitbart News Daily_ SiriusXM host Stephen K. Bannon Wednesday. “I started off very anti-Trump,” said Hennessy, “and over the course of the primary season, I did a complete one-eighty.

Navy SEAL Eric Greitens won the first political race of his life. Few first timers win a major party’s nomination for governor of a state. You’ll probably hear just how rare Greitens’s feat was. But not tonight. I want to tell some stories. Eric Greitens gave up a morning of this campaign to talk to one of my kids. That kid is a man now. He’s in the Navy at a helo combat squadron in San Diego.

This was supposed to be a longer post, so I’ll tell you why I’m voting for Eric Greitens in a minute. First, why I have to cut it short. I got home from door knocking for Eric at about 6:30 and walked straight to my laptop to write. Just as I sat down, my wife called me to dinner. She’d already eaten, but she heated up my dinner, called to me, then walked into our living room and shrieked.

Some people have a loud opinion on each and every Republican Primary race. I have a lot of opinions, but I like to focus on a few key races. Here are my major concerns for the 2016 Republican Primary on August 2. [os-widget path="/billhennessy/2016-republican-primary-key-races1" of=“billhennessy” comments=“false”]

From Dr. Ben Carson: President Obama and his allies are trying to hijack the Republican primary in Missouri by attacking my good friend Eric Greitens. Like me, Eric is a conservative outsider, and that means the political establishment is terrified of him. Obama and his allies are now spending a million dollars falsely attacking Eric Greitens and trying to fool the people of Missouri.

It’s a great honor to be invited to speak at the Arkansas Tea Party Convention August 13 (details in a bit). It’s a bigger honor that they’ve invited me back for a second consecutive year.** I’d love to see familiar Missouri faces in the crowd.** I’m going to talk about how we can be way more persuasive. Persuasion is what wins elections. Not facts. Persuasion. The more you know about persuasion, the more your side will win.

Do you want to help Democrats win? You can, and the Democratic Governors Association just told you how. If you’re a Republican and you follow the advice of the Democratic Governors Association, you won’t vote for Eric Greitens. The DGA wants Democrat Chris Koster to win, so Democrats are telling Missouri’s Republicans not to nominate Greitens. Democrats believe Greitens beats Koster in November. Smart people know that you watch what people do, not what they say.

This is part III of a four-part series. Here’s partI and part II. Why Now? Why did Holzer choose last week to out himself? Why show himself now, putting his old boss, John Brunner, in such a bad light? And right before the August 2 primary? **Holzer has damaged Brunner’s reputation and credibility. **And Brunner spent a ton of his own money in the process, including paying $100,000 to the guy who made the video, then squealed about it.

This is part II of a three-part series. Here’s part__I. That Shadowy Paul Holzer Paul Holzer is a former Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander and a medical student at Dartmouth in New Hampshire. (Oddly, his bio shows MD, MBA, even though is still in medical school and simultaneously working toward an MBA.) Holzer also runs a biotech 501c3 and a political consulting firm, Draper Sterling LLC. He did some work for Donald Trump’s campaign, and he was John Brunner’s chief of staff last year.

Why in the world would a political operative who once worked for John Brunner out himself and expose Brunner as either a liar or a patsy two weeks before an election? Reggie Lampert: Of course, you won’t be able to lie on your back for a while but then you can lie from any position, can’t you? –Charade, 1963 Things just got weirder in Missouri. After the stunning revelation that people associated with John Brunner’s campaign did, in fact, produce a false, negative video attacking Eric Greitens, you might be wondering what’s going on?

Contrasts. Two Politico stories, just weeks apart, demonstrate the remarkable contrasts between the two candidates for president. The headline of the Trump story tells it all: Trump raised $32 million with RNC, but kept only a fraction. And the Hillary story: Leaked emails show officials tried to obscure the fact that Clinton allowed states to keep only a tiny fraction of proceeds from joint fundraising. Trump is on Team America.

So you’ve been Berned. Take some time. Take a breath. And save 25% on my new book, exclusively for Bernie fans. Click here for details.

After the DNCLeak stories, I think Bernie fans deserve a break. Since you’re probably looking for someone to vote for—someone who’s anti-establishment and outside the political class—you might be thinking about Trump. This might help: 25% offthe ultimate guide to turning from anti-Trump to . . . voting for Trump. I did it. You can, too. My book will help. To get the 25% discount (that’s like $2.50 in your pocket), just give me your email address and vouch that you Feel Berned.

Now it makes so much sense. I don’t know how I missed it. Trump’s campaign is so perfectly consistent, it’s almost scary. No, it is scary. It means we’re down to our last hope. When I Turned On Trump I put this in my book, Turning On Trump. I remember the night. I wrote late. Something hit me like wolves howling in the distance. Telling me something had changed. Or some ancient truth, long buried, had been uncovered.

Another terrorist attack is going on in Munich, Germany right now. At least 3 people are dead, but police can’t get into the shooting sites to find out how bad it is. Shooters are still at large. All public transportation has been shut down because terrorists are shooting up subways, too. There’s a 99% chance the terrorists are Muslim immigrants. This is what Hillary’s immigration plan looks like. Two days ago, a Muslim immigrant went on an ax-hacking spree on a German train.

Donald J. Trump overwhelmed the political class last night, smashing up their temple. He destroyed the media myths of everything. Everything. Donald Trump is the anti-myth, the truth-teller, the blunt reporter of reality on reality’s terms. And his speech, his reality manifesto, stole the hearts of thevast majority of Americas. So many myths dispelled. ** The Tea Party myth of a savior in an ill-fitting suit who speaks only two words: constitution and conservatism.

I’m trying to put my finger on exactly why I found Ted Cruz’s remarks Wednesday night so incredibly distasteful. The Pledge thing is a goodly part of it. Simply put, the parties to the Pledge Ted Cruz signed were only Ted Cruz and the RNC (by extension, you can probably include the delegates and voters, too). The Pledge promised support, including data, from the RNC in exchange for Ted Cruz’s endorsement of the eventual nominee.

Parts pulled from comments to this post: Today Cruz proved himself to be Lyin' Ted again. After swearing that his non-endorsement was all about “freedom and the Constitution,” he admitted today that he broke his oath of support solely because Trump insulted his wife and his father. For Ted, this was personal, not business. Ted could have told us it was personal last night. But he lied instead. He could have said something else, too.

You’re probably thinking that Ted Cruz made Donald Trump look bad last night. And he did. Ted Cruz had a prime time speaking slot and he failed to endorse his party’s nominee for president. Hillary Clinton will use it. A lot of people are saying Trump shouldn’t have invited him to speak unless Cruz agreed to endorse Trump. But Trump didn’t even ask for Cruz’s endorsement. Trump just offered Ted the prime time spot, and Ted took it.

In case you didn’t hear, Donald Trump invited Ted Cruz to speak at the RNC in prime time with no expectation that Cruz would keep his word by endorsing Mr. Trump. Senator Cruz immediately accepted the prime time speaking spot. In case you didn’t hear, Donald Trump waived his right to review Senator Cruz’s speech in advance, the first time that’s happened in our lifetimes according to Tucker Carlson. Mr. Trump respects Senator Cruz enough to let the senator say whatever he wants.

You might think big embarrassing mistakes will get you fired, but they don’t. As long as you keep making different kinds of mistakes and your managers know what they’re doing (big “if”), you’ll be fine. Just don’t make the same kind of mistake over and over again. And it helps to work for a guy like Tom Watson or Donald Trump. While the dollar amount has changed over time, the other details are pretty consistent.

Could you stand by a “wrong” answer? Let’s pretend you’re in a room with 10 people about your age and background. You’ve been talking for a while, and you’ve gotten to know the others. Then the task begins. It’s straightforward. On a large TV, you see a line drawing of a face. The instructor calls out people by name and asks if the face is a happy face, a sad face, or neutral face.

After years wasted as the press and politicians covered secondary matters, the major media have finally stepped up to address America’s deepest, most damaging problem. I’m talking about alleged plagiarism. And it’s about damn time. While serious problems fester, the media and politicians waste precious time and energy covering the massacres of police officers by black militants and the slaughter of Bastille Day revelers by Islamic terrorists. Is it any wonder that 70 percent of Americans consider the country on the wrong track?

https://youtu.be/rZPhWRhzGaA Maybe Mr. Trump read my book Turning On Trump. That’s probably where he got the idea for this entrance. Part 3 of Turning On Trump is “Trump, The Champion.” You should read the book and find out why it’s had so much influence. RNC Special - Save 25% Nobody offers 25% off, but I do. For just 4 days, get the paperback edition of Turning On Trump for 25%.

Hillary, Obama, and much of the Democrat Party have fomented race hatred for years. They’ve ratcheted up their lies in recent months, hoping to turn race hatred into votes. They are that cynical and self-serving. Now, Hillary and Obama have lost control of the fire they started. Crazed, racist murderers all across the country have declared war on police officers. From Dallas, Texas, to Ballwin, Missouri, to Baton Rouge, Louisianna, Hillary has sent a message that says it’s okay to kill a cop.

The Never Trump movement tried to make a stand. It failed by a massive margin. –Kyle Cheney, Politico It wasn’t even close, and I feel guilty. I don’t look at Facebook too often. I have been on Facebook lately because it’s a great vehicle for book sales, but I really don’t like it. One problem with Facebook is that I can see what people are thinking. And so many people I know and respect think some really dumb things.

Good morning. One of the reasons Trump will win in a landslide is safety. Trump has warned for years that we are weak and political correctness makes us weaker. Everybody knows he’s right. NeverTrumpers were saying this until Trump said it. Last night,** a Muslim terrorist killed at least 84 people in Nice, France**. They were ordinary people lined up to watch fireworks, the same way you did on the 4th of July.

I believe the greatest threat to human freedom and thriving is the political class. That smirking political class infects both Washington, DC, and Jefferson City, Missouri. And I believe only one candidate has the courage, the brains, and the commitment to destroy that political class in Missouri. That candidate is Eric Greitens. Do you want to live as a slave to that smirking political class? Or do you want to live free and thrive?

You know how this game goes. You make a wish, I’ll do my damnedest to grant it. Because I am just that kinkkind of guy. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, aka Notorious RBG, made a wish last week. Being a lawyer, her wish came with a contingency. I just launched a GoFund.Meproject to grant her that wish. And why not? Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a true Horatio Alger story. Born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, raised in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, RBG rose the highest legal position in the United States: Supreme Court Justice.

It’s possible that some NeverTrumper has already gone there, but I haven’t seen it. Up until now, one complaint of the NeverTurmpers has been that Mr. Trump will hurt Republicans running for Senate, the House, and state offices. They make this claim knowing full well that Trump is ahead of Romney in every poll and with every demographic group. I predict that, come October, people will be saying Trump is virtually running unopposed.

Nobody likes traffic, but St. Louis was built to hold a million people. And it once did, back in the days when Democrats and Republicans took turns being mayor. [Free Offer for Business Owners at Bottom] (read the small print) Now, in this foul year of our Lord twenty-sixteen, just over 300,000 people call the city home. A 70 percent decline! And I’m not one of them. For several reasons that no reasonable person could argue with.

When a person declares himself “NeverTrump,” he thinks he’s making a political statement. Or a moral one. But he’s not. He’s making a psychological commitment that’s very difficult and painful to break. Identity is the highest, most powerful form of persuasion. Identity also drives our decisions in parts of the brain we don’t really have conscious control over. I realize many conservatives reject brain science, but, for those of you who are open to learning, I’ll explain as best I can in a moment.

NeverTrumpers who don’t cross over stand to get a lot of blood on their hands. I’m not the only one noticing. If anything, I’m understating the case. Now we know: to be anti-Trump is to be pro-abortion and pro-race war. To be anti-Trump is to support violence against police officers, especially white police officers. That’s because Hillary is all those things, and to be anti-Trump is, logically, to be pro-Hillary. (If they both live until January 20, either Clinton or Trump will be the next president.

His argument shocked me. I needed more time to think about it, so my response was weak. Maybe that was his intention. To knock me off my game. It worked, but for a very bad reason. I bet he’d like to take it back now, so pay close attention. You, like me, probably know you’re not responsible for what anyone else does, and other people’s behavior doesn’t excuse your behavior. You agree with that, don’t you?

Imagine if you posted on Facebook, “I’m going to the store,” and someone replied, “How come you’re going to buy the world’s largest vibrating dildo?” That other person would deny he’s lying, wouldn’t he? If you accused him of lying, he’d fire off a series of defenses: ** It was a question, not a statement ** You didn’t say you weren’t going to buy the world’s largest dildo, did you? ** Can you prove you weren’t planning to get the world’s largest vibrating dildo?

A lot of people are mad at FBI Director James Comey. Comey read a list of crimes committed by Hillary Clinton, then announced he couldn’t recommend prosecution for those crimes. On its face, it sounds like Comey caved. Let’s play the imagine game. Imagine Comey decided to refer Hillary Clinton’s crimes to the Department of Justice for prosecution. What would happen? First, you’d never hear about it. The FBI and the DOJ don’t discuss active criminal investigations.

Wow! Larry Kudlow really like Turning On Trump. You can listen to my interview with Larry here. My hit starts at 1:36:48, but the whole show is great. [audio preload=“auto” mp3=“https://hennessysview.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Kudlow-Hennessy.mp3”][/audio] On Wednesday, Mark Reardon and I had a great Trump conversation onKMOX Radio. You can listen to that here. You should probably follow Mark on twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkReardonKMOX [audio mp3=“https://hennessysview.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Reardon-hennessy.mp3” preload=“auto”][/audio] And if you missed it, Jamie Allman was so gracious and kind to have me onThe Allman Report on Friday.

[soundcloud url=“https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/272883927” params=“color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=“100%” height=“166” iframe=“true” /] Ed Martin Jr. and I got together again to talk about why you might give yourself Permission to Trump. It’s important that you do. This week’s episode focuses on: ** FBI Director’s report on Hillary Clinton’s illegal and dangerous abuse of classified information ** The horrific massacre of police officers in Dallas ** Bill’s new book,** Turning On Trump** Feel free to share this post with all your friends.

Jamie Allman overstates my accomplishments, but I had a great time on The Allman Report talking Trump and my new book, Turning On Trump.

A lot of people seem to be mad at Trump. You might be one of them. You probably think you know why you’re mad at him. For instance, you might not like what he said about the judge in a lawsuit he’s involved with. Or maybe you didn’t like what he said about Rosie O’Donnell. You might even be mad that he said Saddam Hussein was a bad man who was good at killing terrorists.

Many people grew up with dogs and backyards. If you are such a person, you probably remember being to told to make sure the gate’s shut and locked. Or maybe you were told not to use the gate at all because the dog might get out. A lot of people who grew up with dogs suffered emotional trauma when something bad happened to their dog. Imagine how you’d feel if you were seven or eight and you left the gate open and the dog got out and got hit by a car.

If you’re football team, you’re measured by games won. If you’re a computer company, you’re measured by products shipped. If you’re and international terrorist organization, you’re measured by mayhem created. Let’s face it, ISIS is on a roll. What a week! Nearly 200 murders across three countries on two continents. Not bad for a JV team, huh? Let’s look at the week: ** Istanbul Airport: 45 murdered, 52 hospitalized. ** Bangladesh Bakery: 20 murdered, 13 escaped.

If you’ve tried to figure out what’s wrong with me, my new book might hold the answer. Buy Turning On Trump Right Now Political activist Ben Murphy tweeted: @peddoc63 Bill’s book, Turning on Trump, is an amazing journey from anti-Trump to pro-Trump. A RT by you will #MAGAhttps://t.co/8u3Qn9C3xo — Ben Murphy (@gomurphy) July 2, 2016 Order Now The book is 180 pages and covers three big periods of thinking about Trump:

I sent one email to Jamie Allman. He’s such a great guy, he invited me on two of his shows. Probably not because of me, but because of the subject of Turning On Trump. Still, it’s an honor. Thank you, Jamie. If you’re as curious about Turning On Trump as Jamie Allman is, listen to his show on97.1 FM Tuesday, July 5 at 7:20 a.m. We’ll wait while you make a note to listen.

Tim Gerrity: We may not always get what we want. We may not always get what we need. Just so’s we don’t get what we deserve! –True Colors, 1991 Do you ever get the feeling we’re getting exactly what we deserve? As the Crisis deepens, 13ers will feel little stake in the old order, little sense that their names and signatures are on the social contract. They will have reached full adult maturity without ever believing in either the American Dream or American exceptionalism.

https://youtu.be/d02S3EMY6m8 Read all about my new book here

Think about the word “news.” In a moment, I’m going to ask you more questions about the news. Before that, though, you probably heard about the terrible terrorist attack in Istanbul, Turkey. Dozens killed, scores injured. “It was like hell,” one witness recalled. Where did you get news of this latest terrorist attack? Facebook? Television? Radio? Do you remember what you were doing when you heard the news? Take a moment to think back to when you first heard the news.

Someone you know is PERFECT for this book. It might be you. Here you are, looking at your device, reading these words, and trying to figure out the Trump thing. Or maybe you’ve figured it out, but you want to know how people like you think about it. Or maybe you’re all-in for Trump, but you need help talking to your friends or family about your Trumpism. You might be thinking this book is for you.

Pat Buchanan and George Will have a lot in common, but they’re very different, too. They’re both conservative writers and journalists. But Buchanan’s an activist while Will is a passivist. (New word?) Let me explain. When I was a freshman in college, a professor told me he saw George Will speak. He found Will’s conservatism “intellectual and reasonable,” unlike Ronald Regan’s “extremism.” It was a shot at my Reaganism. I knew it.

Okay, let me explain this in the simplest possible way… you…are…an…idiot. –Scott Adams, Dilbert Lately…the Peter Principle has given way to the “Dilbert Principle.” The basic concept of the Dilbert Principle is that the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management. ― Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle’s-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions

Ever feel like it’s not okay to admit you’re for Trump? Everybody who listens to this new podcast, Permission to Trump, will benefit in one way or another. Some people will feel liberated. Others vindicated. Everyone improved. [soundcloud url=“https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/270829707” params=“auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=“100%” height=“450” iframe=“true” /] You will want to listen and share with your friends. And soon you’ll want to buy my new book Turning on Trump.Sign up to stay up to date now.

When the BBC called Brexit for LEAVE at about 12:30 a.m. CDT today, I thought first of my friend Mike Flynn. Mike had a keen sense of history. He put the Tea Party movement into proper perspective, as he did with all events. Mike kept us from overstating both the Tea Party’s effect and its potential. Or he put them in context and reminded us that our potential depends on ourselves, not outside forces.

As an American, I am proud of the people from whose loins our nation sprang. United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. The Brits rejected globalist, elitist threats and insults to vote for independence. Like America did in 1776. Savor this moment in history. You were alive to see a nation reject foreign tyranny. Every Brit who voted LEAVE showed courage and love of freedom. God bless them all.

“That’s outstanding,” said the Great One. The Republican leadership in Congress doesn’t have the guts to go to the floor of the Senate or the floor of the House and make these charges. This is outstanding. You can’t let Hillary Clinton get away with her corruption, her cronyism, her criminality. I don’t care who you support or don’t support. She’s detestable. [Via Breitbart.com] Mark Levin said some terrible things about Donald Trump.

Let’s play a game, shall we? How would CNN report the following tweets: These are real tweets from real people with one word changed. I replaced “Trump” in the original tweets with “Hillary.” You can see these death-happy tweets and many, many more on Breitbart.com. Real people openly call for assassination as if they were rooting for a basketball team. Scary, isn’t it? You didn’t miss the media outrage over these tweet–it didn’t happen.

Some people say they’re afraid of Donald Trump for bizarre reasons. I’ve heard he’s a dictator, a fascist, a genocidal maniac, and a lousy businessman. If any of that is true, there’s no evidence of it, so he must also own all the media already. And the internet. In fact, if Trump is a lousy businessman who managed to bungle his way to a $10 billion fortune, he must really bad at dictatoring, because he hasn’t even conquered his home country in 70 years.

You knew it would happen, didn’t you? Corey Lewandowski, the obscure, small-potatoes political operative from a tiny state couldn’t possibly run a presidential campaign from start to victory, could he? But this isn’t about Corey Lewandowski. It’s about the next the president of the United States, Donald Trump. And you’ll want to read it all because it’s so true. So true. I read a summary of what happened at Lewandowski’s dismissal meeting, and it sounded exactly like an episode of The Apprentice.

A friend and colleague paid me a huge compliment recently. A compliment I didn’t deserve. He said something about trying to mimic my writing style. That’s an ego-booster, for sure, but, well, I don’t really have a writing style. I cheat. See, I experiment with every writing tool I hear about, and I stick with the ones that measurably improve my writing. Especially when they work as I write (because I hate editing and revision, as you can tell).

Richard Brookhiser called the moment’s start, and I called its death. But before we get into that, are you as surprised as I am about Zuckerberg’s war on gays? You would think that a jihadist attack on a gay nightclub would trigger an anti-terror backlash against Islamic terrorists, would you not? Anti-Gay Jihad Instead, America’s radical left has declared a jihad against gays. Leading this jihad is Imam Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

You likely heard about the letter of the girl who was sexually assaulted on Stanford’s campus. Two passers-by saw a man molesting an unconscious woman. The man was sentenced to six months in jail and three years' probation. Many people were outraged by the sentence, but no one told the woman she needs to do some soul searching, did they? But why not? Why not ask the woman to reflect on her actions and things she might have said.

It’s unlikely you read Hennessy’s View and not The Gateway Pundit, but there’s always the chance. This morning, just as I was taking a break to catch up on news, I got a text from a friend that drew me to a particular post on GP. The headline: After the Pulse Club Massacre, It’s Time for Gays to Come Home to Republican Party In it, my friend Jim Hoft, co-founder of St.

With the Islamic massacre at a gay club in Orlando, there’s a lot of talk about jihad and guns. The Gateway Pundit does a great job of keeping you informed. So you don’t need me adding noise. Instead, I’ll talk about statistics, which everybody loves. There are about 320 million people in the United States. About one percent are Muslims. By comparison, about 2.5 percent of Americans are Jewish. It’s safe to say, then, that there are about 2.

Trump is now running unopposed for president because his only opponent is an empty pantsuit. Hillary Clinton uses other people’s money to surround herself with nearly 1,000 paid staff. Direct paid staff. That a HUGE support team for a crooked sexist like Hillary. Donald Trump spends his own money, so he hires only enough people to get the job done. Trump understands money and people, while Hillary understands comfort. Tonight, Hillary Clinton exposed herself as an amateur in the world of communication.

A lot of people are mad at Paul Ryan. Millions of people want Mr. Ryan to step down as Speaker of the House. I am not mad at him. Paul Ryan is a victim of his circumstances, just like a lot of other Republicans. Paul Ryan stepped up to a microphone this week and said what he was programmed to say. Essentially, Mr. Ryan said he’s not happy with Donald Trump’s statements about a La Raza judge who started issuing anti-Trump rulings after Trump called on America to enforce its immigration laws.

Republicans hate race. Race has been bad for the GOP ever since Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. See, Lyndon Johnson was a Democrat, and he proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Most Democrats violently opposed the bill. But most Republicans supported it. The bill passed, of course, and it survived many Supreme Court challenges. The Civil Rights Act’s aim was to wring racist behavior out of American life.

You’ve probably heard the news that Donald Trump believes it’s possible for a Muslim judge to treat him unfairly. Do you think Trump is wrong about this? When asked by a reporter if Trump believed it would be possible for a Muslim judge to treat him unfairly, Trump answered, “It’s possible, yes. Yeah. That would be possible, absolutely.” Notice that Trump didn’t say, “all Muslim judges are unfair to me.” Nor did he say all Hispanic judges are unfair.

Has any judge, anywhere, ever presided unfairly over a trial? The leftist press is making hay over Donald Trump’s reasonable assertion that a Muslim judge might not be able to fairly adjudicate a case involving Trump. The answer to my opening question is “yes.” Many judges have presided unfairly over trials. For example, many blacks were sent to prison when the same evidence would have exonerated a white defendant. We all know that.

READ THIS ALONE: Are you anti-Trump? You’re going to like this. A lot. While you read this post, you’re going experience bliss and ecstasy. Have you ever read an orgasmic blog post? You will, and you’ll like it. Like it so deeply. Very deep and very satisfying. This will become your favorite blog post ever. You’ll probably bookmark it. Maybe even email it to yourself. You’ll love it. This is only for anti-Trump people.

Do you want to know what Trump supporters are thinking? Many people do. If you supported Ted Cruz, you might not understand how the guy who wrote The Conservative Manifesto in 1993 could support Trump. If you supported Marco Rubio or Ben Carson last year, how do you reconcile your convictions with Donald Trump’s bizarre life? Is Donald Trump a conservative or not? I’ve written a new book about all these things, and you can buy your copy soon.

I admire David French, David French is running for president, but you probably have no idea who he is, right? No, it’s not Buffy and Jody’s man-nanny from the 1960s sitcom Family Affair. That was Mr. French played by Sebastian Cabot, and I forget the character’s first name. Nor is it the guy who publishes most stage play scripts. That’s Samuel French. (Only theatre people will know that name.) If you’re a hard-core conservative or you read National Review for any reason, you might have heard of David French.

The god of Memorial Day is Janus, looking to the future as well as the past. Memorial Day looks back, but it also warns of something coming. The list of war dead is incomplete. It always will be. Each generation looks at its wars and finds something final, but the end never comes. Memorials never end while man roams the earth. When I see the Vietnam Memorial, with its rows and ranks of lost warriors, I see, too, the invisible ledger that stretches to the horizon.

Try not to imagine the worldwide television audience for the Trump vs. Sanders debate. Super Bowl ratings would look skimpy by comparison. Trump vs. Sanders would be the most watched political event ever. And I’m including the future in “ever.” And a Trump vs. Sanders debate would effectively kill Democrats' chances in November. This is huge. Yesterday, I wrote about Trump’s remarkable honesty at his press conference, but that wasn’t the big story of the day.

Donald Trump just exploded the heads of professional talkers on CNN. It was honestly funny. Trump reached 1,237 delegates today, clinching the nomination of the Republican Party. He will be the 45th President of the United States, and his press conferences will be the most popular show on television. It will be huge, believe me. And after the press conference, Trump did something that might have sealed the deal with American voters.

After the 1998 Rams season, I walked into City Limits bar or Brothers bar or whatever its name was then. It’s a strip mall bar in Wildwood. Cindy Schuenke was tending bar, and we started talking about the Rams' dismal season. She said they were hopeless, but I disagreed. “They are four players away,” I said. “A quarterback, a running back, an offensive lineman, and a defensive end.” Later in the year, but before the season, the Rams acquired Trent Green (and Kurt Warner) at QB, Marshall Faulk at RB, Adam Timmermann at offensive guard, and Grant Wistrom moved up to start at defensive end.

Watch what people do and say because action comes before opinion. People write “President Trump” three times as much as they write “President Clinton.” For every one person who writes “President Trump” in a column, blog, tweet, or Facebook post, hundreds of thousands more say or think “President Trump” every day. That’s how I predicted Trump winning by a landslide. I watched what people say and do. A lot of people who subconsciously think “President Trump” will touch the screen or check the box or pull the lever for Trump when they step inside the voting booth.

Relax as you read, because knowledge is power. This simple post will arm you with powerful knowledge that will help you navigate the election. And it will only take a few minutes. No time at all. Here’s what the press refuses to tell you: The man in the picture is the next President of the United States. You might as well start calling him “President Trump.” Three national polls came out this week.

Say what you want about Donald Trump, the customer service at his properties is insanely great. And The Donald personally sets the standard for that service. He also inspects it, and he has a sick level of attention to detail. Donald Trump doesn’t miss a thing when it comes to providing a perfect environment for his guests and residents. The opposite is true of the TSA. Like most government-run operations, the TSA sucks at customer service.

You’ve probably noticed a lot of people are saying “President Trump” lately. And reading “President Trump” online, haven’t you? If not, you’ll probably notice it later today or tomorrow. [Tweet “Catch yourself saying ‘President Trump’ now? @realDonaldTrump”] It’s common during election years for pundits to occasionally say “President So-and-so,” usually sarcastically. And some “President Trump” talk is sarcastic. But most of this President Trump talk is subconscious prediction. People think President Trump is a thing, so their brains are warming up.

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about “principles” lately. Ted Cruz’s entire campaign centered “conservative principles” and being a “principled conservative.” Lately, though, most of that “principles” talk is about how Donald Trump has caused good conservatives to abandon their principles. Maybe that’s true. In fact, I’m starting to believe it. The one principle that many conservatives have abandoned and encouraged others to abandon: keeping your word. The lead advocate for abandoning this principle of keeping one’s word is Jonah Goldberg of National Review and the American Enterprise Institute.

You might have noticed that my predictions have been remarkably accurate lately, have you not? For example, on Sunday, May 1, I predicted Ted Cruz would suspend his campaign after getting trounced in Indiana. Two days later, Cruz lost the Indiana primary to Donald Trump 53 to 36. At the time I wrote, many pundits and pollster still believed Cruz could win that Indiana race, and everyone believed Cruz was telling the truth when he said repeatedly he was staying in the race to Cleveland unless Trump reached 1,237 delegates before then.

Nothing happens in politics by accident. Every move has an angle. Some players are better than others. Paul Ryan and Donald Trump are two of the best players alive, but one is better than the other. We’ll see that tomorrow. House Speaker Paul Ryan has set aside Thursday for meetings with his party’s nominee for President. Every nominee for president meets with the senior members of his party’s Congressional caucus, so there’s nothing odd about the meeting.

Some pro-life activists like Erick Erickson are plotting ways to sabotage Donald Trump’s candidacy for president. They probably haven’t stopped to think. If they succeed in defeating Trump, they will be culpable in many, many abortions. That’s a lot of guilt for a guy like Erickson to carry around, isn’t it? Chances are Congress won’t introduce any major abortion laws in the next four years. That means the abortion battle will remain in the courts.

People think they’re rational, but we’re not. For example, on many issues,** Trump’s positions are almost identical to Ronald Reagan’s.** When it comes to abortion, trade, taxes, foreign policy and the military, and entitlements like Social Security, you can’t fit a dime between Reagan and Trump. So why do people see Trump as far to the left of Reagan? Contrasts and comparisons. Reagan ran against George Bush and John B. Anderson.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill I will choose a path that’s clear I will choose freewill –RUSH, Freewill Last July and August and once in September, I was down on Donald Trump. I predicted that a Trump nomination would be the last nail in the coffin of conservatism.

Every prediction about Trump has been wrong. Except for two. Ann Coulter and Scott Adams predicted Trump would win the nomination and, eventually, the White House in a landslide. They were right. World leaders expect Trump to win, and they are lining up to make all his crazy assertions look like brilliant predictions. Former Mexico president Vicente Fox apologized to Trump, and Trump graciously accepted. That’s a sign that Mexicans expect Trump to become the next US president.

If you’ve ever cheated on your spouse just to get back at your daughter for dating or marrying the wrong man, you’re probably a #nevertrump person like George Will. Suppose your daughter married a man you didn’t approve of. You would probably respond by cheating on your own spouse, would you not? Having an affair would teach your daughter a lesson, right? And if your spouse and your friends and your other children suffered, too bad.

I’m for Trump. I like stating the positive. So I’m for Trump. TheNR Against Trump writers can own it if Hillary wins and appoints a Supreme Court justice who’s to the left of Bader-Ginsberg as Scalia’s replacement. They’ll take that to their graves. For me, I’m for Trump. I’ll admit he wasn’t my first choice, but he was far from my last choice. My first choice, Ben Carson, endorsed The Donald.

I have no idea who will win the Indiana primary 72 hours from the time I write. But the people inside Ted Cruz’s campaign seem to have an idea. And it’s not good for them. Cruz’s top team expects their candidate to lose. And Senator Cruz seems to have accepted that outcome. Expectations Matter More Than Preferences Regular readers know that polls that ask “who do you think will win” trump polls that ask “who do you intend to vote for” or even “who did you vote for?

You’ve probably found yourself saying words like “rigged” and “collusion” recently. They’ve become sexy words, haven’t they. That’s because Donald Trump’s made rigged and collusion household words. He’s put them in your head. You might even use them wrong. “There was a collusion on highway forty-four.” Or “I rigged my shorts.” (BTW, Hillary sounds weak and hoarse, doesn’t she? Grating.) If you haven’t noticed yourself saying rigged and collusion, pay attention tomorrow.

Most of my readers asked for a print edition of my new book, Fight to Evolve: The Government’s Secret War on NTX. Great news! Your book is waiting for you on Amazon. It’s just $17.99, and you’ll be happy to know that I don’t get a penny from the sales. All proceeds go to the Coalition for Safer Drinking and its fight to reduce alcohol’s negative effects on health. If you, like me, prefer electronic books, you can get the Kindle version of Fight to Evolve for just $3.

Let’s regress in time to the 1980s. Remember C. Everett Koop, the Surgeon-General who launched the Safe Sex movement? Koop wanted to curtail the spread of AIDS. The Safe Sex movement started slowly and originally focused on non-monogamous gay men. By 1987, though, everyone was doing it. (Or not doing “it” as the case may be.) A February 17, 1987 New York Times headline declared “Safe Sex Movement Gains Favor Among Heterosexuals.

It’s a beautiful day in spring. The sky is radiant and wonderful blue. Birds singing, trees starting to bloom, grass an impossible shade of vibrant green. A cool and welcoming breeze licks your bare skin, your cheeks, and playfully ruffles your hair like a lover. Your work is done, now, so you sit in your favorite outdoor chair and take in the relaxing, comfortable view. Smell the freshness of spring wildflowers.

Thank you, so much, for asking. (So many have asked.) Fight to Evolve: The Government’s Secret War on NTX will be available in print on April 14. Just go to amazon.com and search for Fight to Evolve. If you can’t wait (and there’s no reason to wait) you can buy the Kindle edition right now. It’s already #2 bestseller on censorship in the Kindle store. Amazon offers FREE Kindle readers for just about every device: Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets.

Just a quick note because I’ve been on the road all week. Fight to Evolve: The Government’s Secret War on NTX just hit Number 2 in Censorship category on the Amazon Kindle store. (These numbers change a lot, so I’m posting this screenshot to prove it.) [caption id=“attachment_19181” align=“aligncenter” width=“630”] Fight to Evolve by Willam T. Hennessy Number 2 on Amazon Kindle Store for Censorship.[/caption] And it’s #1 on Hot New Releases!

In a moment, we’re going to look the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland and find the best strategy for Senate Republicans. In a moment. First, let’s just relax and think about a party. And pretend you’re a paid strategist. Hennessy’s View Podcast: [soundcloud url=“https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/256943967” params=“auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=“100%” height=“450” iframe=“true” /] Party Now or Party Later? Tim and Mary Johnson want to have a party for their friends. They’ve been talking about it since spring, and now it’s nearly winter.

My latest book, Fight to Evolve: The Governments Secret War on NTX, is available for pre-order now at Amazon. GET IT! Folks, this is the war we’re fighting. It’s the war that pits innovation against entrenched incumbents. It’s the too small to survive against too big to fail. And it’s the reason we call ourselves conservatives. Alcohol is killing your body, even if you’re a casual drinking. (I’m 10x casual. Maybe 30x.

I was a pretender. In 2012, I pretended I believed Mitt Romney would win. But I knew better. I just didn’t have the heart to tell the truth to the volunteers banging doors and working call lists from our election office in South County. But I knew Romney would lose. I suspected the GOP would not regain the Senate. When some of our hardest workers showed up to help break down the office and move our belongings, I couldn’t look at them.

That was a strategic kill-shot, to borrow Scott Adams’s word. And it changes everything for conservatives. After a so-so debate performance and in the middle of a 16-hour verbal assault from Marco Rubio, Trump went nuclear. But not the way everyone would expect Trump to go nuclear. Trump didn’t need to invent a brilliant new put-down line to counter Marco. Instead, he calmly introduced Chris Christie to 10,000 fans in Texas.

The world is about to end. Or civil war is about to break out in Dayton, Ohio. Believe it? Glenn Beck, Erick Erickson, and other Republicans have convinced a lot of people that we are doomed if Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination. I know some people who are nearly incapacitated with fear and grief after last night’s Nevada caucuses. Because they listen to Glenn Beck. Sad! Here’s the thing: **nothing is as bad as you think it will be while you’re thinking about it.

Glenn Beck was pretty sure that God killed Antonin Scalia so Ted Cruz would win the presidency. Glenn Beck’s theology is very different from mine. In 2010, I worried that Glenn Beck was doing more harm than good. For days, I’d watched Beck tell his watchers that the world was ending and they would be crushed. Here’s what I wrote: Beck offers no solutions. At least, he hasn’t in the past two days.

Donald Trump probably reads my blog first thing every day. Until today, I figured Donald Trump never heard of me. He’s never mentioned me in his tweet storms. He’s never called me an idiot or a liar during a debate. He’s never pointed to one of my many egregious typos and tweeted: “@whennessy left out the word ‘for’. Confused everyone. Worst blogger in politics. Just sad.” (The guy has 2.

You might have heard that State Senator Dave Schatz gutted ethics reform in Missouri. According to Ryan Johnson of Missouri Alliance for Freedom: Cleaning up the practice of Jefferson City’s revolving door is the reason for Rep. Caleb Rowden’s House Bill 1979 (carried in the Senate by Sen. Bob Onder). It puts in place a one year cooling off period that will make legislators sit out for at least a year before lobbying.

Ted Cruz has a powerful strategy available to him. This strategy could not only determine the winner of the Republican convention but put Cruz in position to influence policy for generations. But it’s probably not what you’re thinking. I’m going to lay out some assumptions, many of which you could disagree with. That’s okay. But for the purposes of this post, let’s stipulate: *1. Ted Cruz believes, like Glenn Beck, that Donald Trump would make a worse president than Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or Bernie Sanders.

I got tire of scrolling. Politico shows the results of each county in South Carolina, my state of residence from 1985 to 1992. Abbeville: Trump Aiken: Trump Allendale: Trump Anderson: Trump Bamberg: Trump Barnwell: Trump Beaufort: Trump Berkeley: Trump It goes on and on and on. Donald Trump not only won the geography, he won the demography: Evangelical Christians: Trump Born-again Christians: Trump Conservative Voters: Trump Moderate Voters: Trump Young Voters: Trump

Who would have thought that Pat Buchanan would become the spokesman for Generation X? I put a lot of stock into generational history. I am a big fan of Howe and Strauss, a pair of historians whose works include Generations: The History of America’s Future, 13ers: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?, Millennials Rising, and, my favorite, The Fourth Turning. As someone born in the 13th generation of Americans, more commonly called Generation X after the book by Douglas Coupland, I am overly captivated by that generation.

The government wants Apple to build a back door into the iPhone. Apple has refused. I’m with Apple on this one. This back door would allow the FBI to access the content of the San Bernardino terrorists’ phone, possibly exposing more terrorists. That would be a good thing. But Apple never built a back door to the iPhone because no one can control the keys to such portals. If Apple builds it, every government spy agency in the world will be able to read your texts, see where you’ve been, and listen to your phone calls.

Pope Francis said today that Donald Trump is not a Christian. I can only assume the Pope has secretly cut a deal with The Donald. “Pope. Donald here. I need you to give me some crap about the wall.” “Si.” “Just, uh, call me a Muslim or something. Make it look sincere, ya know?” “Si.” So the Pope stands at the U.S.-Mexico border and says anyone who wants to build a wall “is not a Christian.

How people responded to yesterday’s post, Maybe he’s not a conservative, varied. But there were two dominant types. Surface thinkers ignored most of the content. I warned you about this early on. I decided against a deep examination of conservatism because people don’t care. Instead, I wrote a rather tongue-in-cheek story about why definitions of conservatism don’t matter. Deep thinkers got the tongue-in-cheek shtick. Maybe they rolled their eyes at my cheap attempt at being clever.

As far as I can tell, the number one reason a few conservatives give for hating Eric Greitens is that he might not be a conservative. He’s probably not. But that shouldn’t make any difference. Figuring out whether Greitens is a conservative or not requires a lot of thinking, a lot of writing, and a lot of clear analysis from readers. I won’t waste time on the first two because I won’t get the last no matter what.

Today I learned that I am not alone. I am not alone in my anger over a morally-bankrupt attempt to smear a great leader. And I learned that I am not alone in recognizing Eric Greitens’s singular ability to inspire and lead. I also learned that Eric Greitens has some really stupid opponents. Cowardly, stupid weasels. Cowardly because Greitens’s opponents funded, produced, and promoted an anonymous video, packed with lies. Stupid because that video so infuriated Missouri’s 500,000 military veterans that Greitens is picking up new supporters.

[Stream of consciousness. Please forgive errors and craziness.] The human brain is very bad at looking to the future. It’s almost impossible to imagine a living person not being here. We naturally assume the future will be a linear progression of the recent past. Then one of five conservative Supreme Court justices dies. And everything’s thrown into chaos. We have only eleven months until a new president takes the oath of office.

Lee A. Presser The American people get to decide who moves into the United States. If immigrants are coming for a free meal, we don’t need them. If immigrants are coming for free healthcare, we don’t need them. If immigrants are coming for free housing, we don’t need them. If immigrants are coming and their presence in the United States increases the public debt, we definitely don’t need them. If immigrants come here to improve their lives and the lives of their family members WITHOUT becoming a burden on American society, we will seriously consider their application.

I re-read Ronald Reagan’s announcement speech the other day. Delivered November 13, 1979, these are the words that launched the greatest presidency of my lifetime. Notice the natural humanity in Reagan’s words. He didn’t browbeat people with abstract concepts like the Constitution or liberty. Instead, he spoke about the real lives of ordinary Americans. And the everyday life of an America that lived up to its ideal. And notice the complete lack of pomposity, vanity, and vulgarity so prevalent in the frontrunners of 2016.

I am Catholic. I believe in and trust the magisterium of the church. Nothing distinguishes me from Protestants more profoundly than that concept: the magisterium, or the teaching authority, of the church. For me, the church is like Locke and Jefferson and Madison. They were learned men who read Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Cato, Epictetus, Epicurus, and other Greek and Roman philosophers, often in the original languages. Those philosophical and political founders interpreted and organized ancient philosophy for England and America.

Leverage: don’t make deals without it. –Donald Trump, The Art of the Deal, 1987 It’s tempting to go Machiavellian during primaries. Even during general elections after primaries. But there’s a great danger for the grassroots. **If we don’t hold candidates accountable during the race when we have all the leverage, how can we possibly hold office-holders accountable? ** Check out this paragraph from the Washington Post: Cruz offered a lawyerly defense of his campaign’s actions, blaming media reporting for the mistake.

I’m going to share a secret about manipulation with you. Please do not use this powerful method for sinister deeds. But first . . . Disclosure 1: Before I get to the Master Manipulator Model, some important background. I work professionally in the field of persuasion and influence. I even invented a workshop that helps big companies make their stuff more persuasive. The point is, I study persuasion, and manipulation is persuasion’s cousin.

The polls were wrong. But that wasn’t the biggest shock. The big shock was . . . who was that guy pretending to be Donald Trump? Millions and millions of people waited to watch The Donald melt down after finishing second behind Ted Cruz. But it didn’t happen. Instead, Trump managed to show humility and graciousness without giving up his signature bravado. Pretty brilliant. As Romney and Rove learned in 2012, though, air power will not win many races.

Reports on Twitter say turnout in Iowa very high. Some caucuses are reportedly running out of ballots. Huge turnout! #IowaCaucus — Jake Putala (@JakePutala) February 2, 2016 The view at Dubuque’s 19th precinct. We had to move to an auditorium to accommodate the large turnout. #IowaCaucus pic.twitter.com/QcWKY1ivAg — Chris Lammer-Heindel (@lammerheindel) February 2, 2016 HUGE turnout in both Democratic and Republican caucuses tonight.

Imaginations can run wild in the affinity bubble. I was in Washington, DC, over the weekend when it dawned on me that we on the right were probably wrong about Obama’s thirst for dictatorial power. Or maybe we were right, but seven years of near-dictatorial power have exhausted the would-be autocrat. He certain looks worn down, as this Time magazine side-by-side shows: [caption id=“attachment_18520” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”] President Obama in 2009 and again in 2016[/caption]

This “VOTING VIOLATION” controversy says bad things about the Cruz campaign. (BTW, Rubio’s campaign sent a similar, but less creepy, mailer, too. So far, I have not seen a large number of complaints about the Rubio mailer.) And I’m not talking about the ethics of publicly shaming people who vote sporadically. I’m talking two gross electioneering violations from a campaign that markets itself as the most scientifically advanced in history. With the mailer Team Cruz showed a lack of strategic understanding of the science and compounded their ignorance by apparently making up numbers.

Yes, you can win a contest before it starts. I gotta tell ya, the people at Fox News are stupid. Dumb. Ignorant. Pliable. Oafish. Any word you want you to use that means cognitively challenged (for the politically correct). But the Fox Newsmorons have a lot of company at National Review. Trump is playing these media elites like a fiddle. When The Donald says “dance,” they dance. When he says “cower,” they cower.

“Aristocrats fear the people, and wish to transfer all power to the higher classes of society.” –Thomas Jefferson to William Short, 1825. National Review has entered dangerous territory: they have inadvertently made the case for Trump. An angry screed by Kevin Williamson titled “Our Post-Literate Politics” (later renamed to “What’s a Book?") makes the case that Trump supporters are illiterate, uneducated, dim-witted, racist, homophobes. To wit (via Breitbart.com’s John Nolte):

Reading two excellent articles by Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight (here and here), I remembered a thought that passed through my mind last Friday. After reading some of National Review’s “Against Trump” issue,I wrote blog post. To me the NR issue showed the magazine is out of touch with voters. I’m not talking about traditional, reliable, motivated, and informed primary voters.** I’m talking about the broader pool of voters who vote in general elections every four, eight, or twelve years** and occasionally in local elections.

**Expectations matter most in how undecided voters decide. ** It’s important to understand how late-deciders tend to vote. This knowledge (especially in Iowa and New Hampshire) could decide the outcome. Primary voters tend to decide whom to for at the last minute. In 2008, 16 percent of voters said they made their choice on election day. Which means we have a long way to go to know how Iowa will turn out.

_UPDATE: Originally I mentioned “apparently fake twitter account.” I’ve learned (after lots of research) that I was mistaken. I’ve removed that statement. Please continue reading. My carelessness was completely my own. _ I agree with Ted Cruz. And welcome Big Government readers. Senator Cruz said, “Katrina Pierson is an utterly fearless principled conservative.” That was just two years ago. Katrina Pierson was challenging Pete Sessions for Congress. I also agree with Ted’s dad, Rafael Cruz, who said of Katrina, “She’s a strict constitutionalist.

They. Don’t. Care. The conservative war against Trump won’t work. I get why National Review and The Weekly Standard devote whole issues of magazines to Trump’s lack of conservative bonafides. I appreciate it. Their work is important. **But their tactic will prove completely useless in defeating Trump. **In fact, the fight is already over, and the cover story proves it. Conservative magazines–online or on paper–are supposed to weigh events and people against conservative principles and pass judgment.

Cars that get 200 MPG. Cures for multiple sclerosis and cancer. Someone saw Elvis in Dallas eating lunch with Jim Morrison. Conspiracy theories satisfy a psychological need to blame others for our problems or explain why the world doesn’t work the way we wish it worked. Maybe two nuns in Peoria found a cure for cancer in 1954 and Big Pharma really did pay J. Edgar Hoover to seize the formula to keep the multi-billion dollar oncology pharmaceutical money-printer cranking out the bucks at full speed.

Beyond Top Secret. Hillary famously kept an email server in her private bedroom where it was safe from being used as Bill’s YouPorn hub. (I’m pretty sure Bill Clinton hasn’t visited the inside of his wife’s sleeping chamber in the 21st century.) Being plugged into the internet, though, and lacking even the most rudimentary security, Hillary’s server was exposed to the prying eyes of Chinese, North Korean, Russian, and Anonymous spies.

Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties: 1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depositary of the public interests. In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves.

When I was a kid (thought I felt kind of old at the time) disaster movies were the thing. Before Star Wars, the 1970s were about killer sharks, towering infernos, earthquakes, and capsized cruise ships. Psychologists and sociologists attributed the genre’s popularity to the people’s need to assimilate nuclear holocaust. I think the movies were just good, cathartic entertainment. Nonnie Parry: [Deck behind the group is flooding rapidly] How long will we stay afloat?

On New Year’s Eve, male Muslim refugees rampaged across Europe. They didn’t use guns and bombs. They used their bodies. On women. This created a political-correctness nightmare for Europe’s leaders. On the one hand, the victims were women, and no means no, and we must always believe a woman who accuses a man of sexual predation (unless the man is Bill Clinton in which case we destroy the woman). On the other hand, the assailants .

THE SECOND COMING --William Butler Yeats Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

You have another chance to improve government and fight petty tyranny by supporting Senator Eric Schmitt’s latest bill to hold local government accountable. Last year, Senator Schmitt became the champion of responsible local government with SB-5, a bill designed to end “taxation by citation” in local governments. This year, Senator Schmitt is back to close a loophole that some cities are exploiting to suck more money out of residents who can least afford it.

I figured it out about the same time Ben Hochman of the Post Dispatch did: Stan Kroenke wrote a letter designed to force the owners to move the Rams to Los Angeles right now. The acrimony created by Kroenke’s relocation request letter makes the situation in St. Louis untenable for the team and its owner. In short, Kroenke calls St. Louis a second-rate, economically depressed, crime-infest toilet of a city full of people so obsessed with baseball that no other sports franchise has the ability to compete for entertainment dollars.

Last year about this time, Business Insider asked 13 Wall Street analysts where the S&P 500 would stand at close of trading today. For background, the S&P 500 began the year at 2058.9. The mean guess for closing number was 2212 with a standard deviation of 83. Here’s the ugly chart: Three of the guesses–Oppenheimer, RBC, and Fundstrat–were more than 3 standard deviations from the actual close of 2050. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, the most overzealous guesser, expected capex to drive the S&P 500 t0 a whopping 2325.

People act according to what they expect. And that, my friends, could be very bad news for the economy in 2016. Social psychologists and usability experts both know that people’s words often conflict with their actions. This is especially true when asking people to predict their own behavior in a hypothetical. For example, one study asked people to predict whether they would buy flowers for a charity. Eight-three percent of respondents said, “yes I would,” but only 43 percent actually did.

Need to visit a federal building or military base after January 10? Your Missouri DL won’t work by itself. If you have a Missouri drivers license or ID card but you do not have a passport or military ID, bring your Social Security card or your birth certificate. That’s the word I got from Navy Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes. The Department of Homeland Security informed Missouri last week that our state’s drivers licenses and ID cards will no longer serve as identification at federal agencies after January 10, 2016.

Once upon a time, in the days of sundials and pendulum clocks, people needed a way to agree on the time. For instance, if my watch says 11:13 and your watch says 1:32, who’s right? One way to coordinate time in a city or a sea port was a time ball placed somewhere highly visible. People could use the ball to set their pocket watches, and use their pocket watches to set their other clocks.

“What was the biggest adjustment for you going from the military to the business world?” Several people have asked me that question, and my answer always surprises them. “In the military,” I say, “every individual has a lot more latitude and authority to act. In the business world, no one can do anything without explicit instructions.” “Really? I thought it would be the other way around,” they say. “That’s the popular culture, but the truth is one-hundred eighty degrees the other way.

A couple weeks ago, the blog Progressives Today ran an attack piece on Eric Greitens for two of his donors (link). The piece generated of lot angst and fury on the right side of social media. **Turns out the story was pretty shoddy journalism. ** Progressives Today didn’t bother to look at the Pritzkers' other donations or the military museum they founded. If they had, they’d know that Jennifer N. Pritzker (formerly James N.

“You know how when you walk into a post office you realize there is such a difference between a government employee and other people,” said Vinny. “The ratings agency people were all like government employees.” The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (movie tie-in) (Movie Tie-in Editions) (p. 156). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition. I wanted to blame the government. Like millions of American conservatives, I had developed a powerful narrative of the way the world works.

With 2015 winding down, here are the most read posts on Hennessy’s View in the last year. Clearly, the governor’s race is the top story. In reverse order (most read on bottom). The GOP’s Sad New Whisper Campaign View Is Earth’s Axis Shifting? View Can John Brunner’s Consultant Do His Duty? View Paris Attacks Expose Narcissists of Mizzou View Analysis of Governor Poll View Providence and Hope in Missouri View

Five for five. The first five people who told me they supported Trump in 2015 also supported Ross Perot in 1992. I realize it’s a tiny sample size. Still, it’s pretty clear that Donald Trump is the reincarnation of H. Ross Perot. Conservatives–all conservatives and all center-right voters–need to come to terms with that fact. We must also deal with the realities of the 2016 election and choose a strategy.

When it comes to the number of potential voters, 2016 is shaping up to be a watershed year in Missouri politics. Take at look at this chart of generational voters in 2008 and 2012: (Source: Missouri Census Data Center) Where Did the Millennials Come From? Leaving biology out of it, it’s simple: 2016 will be the first election in which the entire Millennial cohort is old enough to vote. Plus Millennial-aged immigrants have increased their numbers.

I am a mess. I am a terrible father, a crappy husband (ask my ex-wives), and a difficult employee. I do a lot of things poorly. Most things, in fact. Especially the things I “have” to do. Authority irritates me. While I’m terrible at following plans, I write a week’s worth of blogs on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The pattern keeps me sane. Or semi-sane. I supplement those when events warrant.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, appearing Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” said that “of course” he would back Trump, should he emerge triumphant at next year’s GOP convention in Cleveland. “We need to be unified, we need to win,” Bush said. –The Washington Post, September 3, 2015 The Republican Establishment has exposed itself as a political disease willing to kill its host. Unless we seek treatment and remove the tumor first.

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis My rating: 5 of 5 stars Capitalists are like children and free marketers are like their parents. If the free marketers neglect their duties to feed, protect, teach, and discipline capitalists, some well-meaning but inept government agency will impose itself into the parenting role, destroying the lives of everyone involved and wasting trillions of tax dollars (borrowed from future generations) in the process.

Editor’s Note: This article from 1992 tells a remarkable story of one man’s brave visit to a KKK rally. The stories Lee present serve a cautionary tale: human nature abhors a vacuum. When leaders fail to lead, humanity cries out. And, to paraphrase Steven King, who knows what dread thing will answer. Bear in mind that this rally took place in 1992. George H.W. Bush was president, and the Golden Age of Ronald Reagan was only 3 years in the past.

“I’ll build a wall . . . and I’ll make Donald Trump pay for it.” — Ted Cruz Line of the night in the last GOP Presidential debate of the year of our Lord two thousand and fifteen. This was the most telling debate of all. And it shouldn’t have happened. The more you know about anything, the less you like it. That’s a scientific fact. That’s why the “love of your life” when you were dating is the “lump on the couch” 20 years later.

Editor’s Note: This article from 1992 tells a remarkable story of one man’s brave visit to a KKK rally. The stories Lee present serve a cautionary tale: human nature abhors a vacuum. When leaders fail to lead, humanity cries out. And, to paraphrase Steven King, who knows what dread thing will answer. Bear in mind that this rally took place in 1992. George H.W. Bush was president, and the Golden Age of Ronald Reagan was only 3 years in the past.

Editor’s Note: This article from 1992 tells a remarkable story of one man’s brave visit to a KKK rally. The stories Lee present serve a cautionary tale: human nature abhors a vacuum. When leaders fail to lead, humanity cries out. And, to paraphrase Steven King, who knows what dread thing will answer. Bear in mind that this rally took place in 1992. George H.W. Bush was president, and the Golden Age of Ronald Reagan was only 3 years in the past.

The UN is a game with many players. The UN makes money by convincing member nations that the costs of funding the UN are less than the costs of not funding it. The UN wants to grow as large as possible, like any organization or organism or rear end. The UN is already very large. Its last budget was $5.4 billion, and that represented a 2.9 percent reduction from the previous two years.

Imagine a world in which the Cardinals are not perennial champions. Major league baseball could be working on that scenario right now. The 1970s in Southwest St. Louis The Red Bird Express ran from Ivanhoe to Busch Stadium along Arsenal Street. For about seven dollars, I could get to a game and back, including bus fare, a bleacher ticket, and a hotdog and soda. My mom didn’t know how many times I made that trip, often for day games while she worked at St.

Dave: You hear from your folks, Mooch? Moocher: Yeah, my dad called. He wanted to know if the house was sold. He could use the money something fierce. Dave: Well, you can come and live with me when it’s sold. In Italy, everybody lives together. Moocher: [laughs] Since you won that Italian bike, man, you’ve been acting weird. You’re really getting to think you’re Italian, aren’t you? Cyril: I wouldn’t mind thinking I was someone myself.

Eve: May I ask your name? Chance: Chance. Eve: Chance? Chance: Chance, the gardener. Eve: Chauncey Gardiner? Mr. Chauncey Gardiner. Are you related to Basil and Perdita Gardiner? – Being There, 1979 People tell us who they are, but we ignore it. Because we want them to be what we we want them to be. –Don Draper, Mad Men President Obama used his third Oval Office address in seven years to say “Honey, I shrunk the country.

“I think it’s important that as we again talk about the importance of free speech we make it clear that actions predicated on violent talk are not America," said Lynch. “They are not who we are, they are not what we do, and they will be prosecuted.” (source: Daily Wire) Take a slide on the slippery slope. Yesterday I warned that thePC Police will soon call for summary incarceration of anyone who violates the rules of their nationwide “safe space.

https://youtu.be/siLsflWdhz8 Remarkable account of massacre by a police lieutenant who arrived first on the scene in San Bernardino. Notice the difference between his reaction and the reactions of the left. H/T Lee Presser.

I won’t blame the neighbors, but the neighbors knew. Syed Farook and four or five others worked long hours in Farook’s San Bernardino garage for months leading up to a deadly Islamic terror attack last week. Neighbors knew. They knew Farook and his Pakistani wife, Tashfeen Malik, were up to no good. But the neighbors said nothing until after the massacre at a center for the developmentally disabled. **The suspicious neighbors were afraid, not of the Muslim terrorists, but of political correctness.

John Dos Passos has a mesmerizing name. The “John” doesn’t fit the “Dos Passos,” does it? Shouldn’t be Juan Dos Passos? But John Dos Passos was one of the Four Horsemen of American literature in the first half of the 20th century. And all four horsemen were Nomads, according to generational historians Howe and Strauss. The Nomads Wander Left to Right I’m a Nomad, too. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, and Dos Passos.

Fredo Corleone: I’m your older brother, Mike, and I was stepped over! Michael Corleone: That’s the way Pop wanted it. Fredo Corleone: It ain’t the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I’m smart and I want respect! —The Godfather: Part II I’m sure John Brunner never saw himself as Fredo Corleone. A Burning Question Did you ever ask yourself why John Brunner would release a surreptitious recording of a phone call with an opponent?

Thanksgiving celebrates the Pilgrims' break from socialism. Schools and textbooks avoid the topic, but it’s worth remembering. The Plymouth and Jamestown plantations were dying under “common store” approach. Only by establishing a free market did the settlers thrive. Here’s the beginning of Kent Dillon’s excellent story of Thanksgiving, which you can continue reading in its entirety at The Mises Institute: By Kent Dillon The celebration of Thanksgiving is a celebration of plenty and appreciation of the abundance that has characterized the free enterprise, individualistic, capitalistic systems of the US.

RADAR: Did you lose something, sir? HAWKEYE: Hi, Stinky. RADAR: Uh, sir, that’s the sort of name that kind of sticks with a fella. I’d appreciate it if you’d just call me by my given nickname. —MAS*H Some names stick with a fella. A friend emailed the link and this note: Brunner is indeed a weasel John Brunner, candidate for governor, surreptitiously recorded a phone conversation with his opponent Eric Greitens.

Paul Berry III made me laugh out loud. “Francis Slay hung out the vacancy sign but he’s running the Bates Motel." We were talking about the Syrian refugees and Francis Slay’s insistence that hosting a lot of them is in the city’s vital interest. Leaving aside the question of security and vetting for the refugees, why does Francis Slay want so desperately to host more people who have no jobs, no language, and little hope of flourishing in a city that, on most measures, is failing.

Yesterday, Lee Presser made a great point in this guest post, The Only Rule of Engagement Will Be Victory. As one commenter noted: This is the best analysis of the war on terror that I have read. If we do not fight to win, we shouldn’t be in the fight. Winning the war on terror starts with 1) admitting there is a war on terror, 2) being willing to confront the enemy with force, 3) fighting to win the war rather than appease the enemy, and 4) do whatever it takes to protect Americans and their homeland.

I hate to say “I told you so.” But the St. Louis Post Dispatch has found that I may have been right on November 8. That’s when I made the outlandish comment that the whole race issue at Mizzou is actually an abortion issue. I suspected that Planned Parenthood’s vast lobbyist network is agitating leaders of left-leaning organizations trying to create general unrest. **The manipulators would use campus racial unrest to demand restored privileges for Planned Parenthood.

Guest Post by Lee Presser When FDR sent the troops to fight World War 2, he sent them to win. Since 1945, the political class has not given America’s military that clear instruction when being sent to war. Political considerations have modified the goal of winning. In Korea, it was fight but do not anger the Chinese. In Viet Nam, it was fight but do not attack the enemy if they are standing on the other side of line drawn on a map.

I feel old. It’s not my knees or my eyes. Nothing physical. It’s bigger than that. Be Kind to Him, World My mom framed a column she read in the St. Louis Globe Democrat in about 1969, just about the time I started kindergarten. The Globe title was “Be Kind To Him, World,” but Dan Valentine’s orginal title was “Dear World.” That column moved from place to place in our house most of the time I lived at home.

In the war on terror, you’re on our side or theirs. Barack Obama announced that he will veto any attempt by Congress to require background checks of Syrian refugees in an attempt to weed out ISIS terrorists. The President’s allegiances are now clear. I heard Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) say that we must ensure proper screening in the wake of last Friday’s Islamic terrorist attack in Paris. The House of Representatives is working on legislation to do just that: increase the likelihood that we will catch terrorist infiltraters before they reach American soil.

Viva la France This week, let’s say a special prayer for the people of France. And the whole world. Mayor Slay About to Change Tune on Refugees On September 11, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announced plans to accept 10,000 non-Christian Syrian refugees to St. Louis. After the coordinated attacks by ISIS terrorists in Paris on Friday, expect the mayor come under intense pressure to change plans. News that at least one of the Paris attackers entered France from Serbia as a Syrian war refugee will only intensify the pressure on Slay.

People tell us who they are, but we ignore it. Because we want them to be what we want them to be. –Mad Men You can’t make this stuff up. Concerned Student 1950, the group that seized public ground for private use at the University of Missouri has a new concern today. It seems the kiddos are upset that ISIS deigned to steal the headlines by killing 120 to 150 people in Paris, wounding 200 others.

Disclosure: I am Irish. I know the politically correct way to say it is Irish-American. The accurate way to say it is American of Irish descent. But I grew up in South St. Louis where we were just Irish. And the Italians were Italian and the Germans were German. (That’s about all we had in my neighborhood, plus a few Jewish converts to Catholicism, but they caucused with the Germans.)

Nicholas Christakis is a giant in social psychology. And social psychology is only part of his resume. He’s also a medical doctor. Christakis wrote one of the most important books on social networks (the real kind, not Facebook), Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks. He holds distinguished positions at both Yale and Harvard and has appeared on Time Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Ben Carson The press can’t find people who will corroborate Ben Carson’s low opinion of himself as a young man. And somehow we’re supposed to believe that reflect poorly on Dr. Carson. It reflects poorly on journalism, for sure, but it actually shows that people who knew Dr. Carson won’t speak ill of him. Nice problem to have. Weather Was the weather wonderful this weekend, or what? I hope you got out, even if just to do some yard work.

A few Mizzou football players announced they’re boycotting all sports activities until University of Missouri system president Tim Wolfe quits or is fired. Considering the football team’s dismal performance, the cynic in me wonders if sitting out might help the players' chances of getting an NFL draft. The players and other African-American students at Mizzou believe they are victims of “systematic oppression” and they want Tim Wolfe to fix it simply by resigning.

I am wrong a lot. When I was 25, I was wrong a lot, too. The difference between 1988 and 2015 is not that I’m particularly smarter now, but that I’m used to being wrong. Somewhere along life’s journey, I realized two things: *1. Being wrong isn’t the end of the world. *2. Being wrong is the beginning of learning. When I was 25, I refused to admit being wrong about anything.

When Jim Cramer asks a question, you know everything’s all boogered up. The first hour of the GOP Presidential Debate from Colorado will go down as the first official event of the post-journalism world. The debate ended with John Harwood lying about the debate’s length. Having been an occasional guest of Larry Kudlow, I’m being nice. But the CNBC reporters couldn’t write a story for my high school newspaper. On the substance of what the candidates said, this was the best debate so far.

What has 50 years of loyalty to Democrats won for African-Americans? If you answered “civil rights legislation,” you better look at who voted for the laws and who opposed. (Hint: Republicans yea, Democrats nay.) Welfare? In 1967 the poverty rate was 14 percent. In 2014, the poverty rate was 14 percent. In the interim, we pissed away $22 trillion on bureaucratic sex junkets to Costa Rica and massive government office buildings in every major city.

The headline is a play on the oft-chanted slogan from OWS protests. Please, no “it’s not a democracy” emails. That’s a threat. A couple years ago on a Saturday night, I wrote about 2,000 words on the meaning of “democracy” and “republic.” I never posted it out of pity for you. I’m telling you, there’s a lot of Montesquieu in it, so if you don’t like superfluous vowels, don’t make me post it now.

Maybe Ann Wagner’s the problem. Rep. Ann Wagner (HA-64) is the House Majority Whip. Her job is to know how every GOP member will vote on bills and to cut deals until House leadership gets the numbers it wants. It’s unfathomable that a majority whip would not have seen the Kevin McCarthy meltdown coming long before the House Republican caucus met to nominate a candidate for speaker. But many accounts suggest that the Republican House leadership thought McCarthy had the votes up to the moment he withdrew.

**On Tuesday, September 29th at 7:00 p.m., please join Dan Hyatt as he formally announces his candidacy for the Missouri House of Representatives, 72nd District at the Maryland Heights Community Center, 2344 McKelvey Rd., Maryland Heights, MO 63043. ** Suggested donation is $25. Gold donor $100. RSVP danhyatt4missouri@gmail.com We got to know Dan Hyatt at an After Party at Sky Music Lounge back in about 2011. Dan quickly chose a mission for himself: red light and speed cameras.

Uber X St. Louis rolled into existence on Friday. No, Uber did not win the Metropolitan Taxicab Commission’s permission to operate. Instead, the ride-sharing service filed a federal anti-trade suit against the MTC. In the first weekend, Uber X provided over 5,000 rides, mostly from people leaving bars between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. In other words, by defying the MTC, Uber X kept 5,000 drunk drivers off the road.

Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me,** to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the weakness of my powers so justly inspire**.

I like to say I hate electoral politics. Maybe I just want people to think I’m the kind of person who hates electoral politics. (We are all capable of being wrong about ourselves.) I have to say, briefly, that this was the most encouraging Republican debate since . . . 1980? These are all serious people, and I’m including Trump. They all love America, and not just what they might get from America.

This is pretty cool and a little unnerving. Heritage Action has extended the honor to be one of three Heritage Action Sentinels to question Republican Presidential candidates on Friday, September 17 in Greenville, South Carolina. So far, 12 candidates have confirmed, including Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and Marco Rubio. (Maybe Trump will make fun of my tie.

What did Jefferson mean by “pursuit of happiness” as an unalienable right? If you’ve heard it was a substitute for “property” because Jefferson feared Southerners would equate property with slaves, you heard wrong. For weeks I have repeated a foundational belief of conservatism: every person deserves the dignity of meaningful work and the freedom to pursue happiness. But what does it mean to pursue happiness? What did Jefferson mean? And why did Locke consider pursuit of happiness essential to liberty?

If you read this blog, you have a mile-wide curiosity streak. Many of you want to know more about Eric Greitens. You have a great chance to learn more on Saturday, September 26 at 11:00 a.m. Eric Greitens will have some things to say. Perhaps he won’t say everything you want to hear. (It’s still 11 months until the primary.) But he’ll say things you need to hear. And that’s my favorite thing about Eric.

So many battles are fought in war and in civilian life, and nothing is gained by their victory. Every battle we fight will result in a gain for us or we will not fight . . . There is no great gain in merely being right. To be right about some unimportant subject is not important. –General George S. Patton Jonah Goldberg explains the problem of Trump better than anyone:

I can’t believe I missed this. It’s the story of Marienthal Austria. Marienthal was a town in Austria that thrived thanks to a single employer. When the flax mill went out of business in 1932, Marienthal’s population became mostly unemployed. Thanks to Austria’s liberal unemployment programs that replaced up to 90 percent of income, no one in Marienthal plunged into economic poverty as a result of the mill’s closing. But spiritual poverty was another story.

Oh but now old friends they’re acting strange, They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed Well something’s lost, but something’s gained In living every day. –Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now I’ve looked at poor from both sides now. I get a lot of grief for pushing poverty solutions. And service. Many conservatives believe Mitt Romney was right when he uttered his infamous 47 percent line. In case you forgot:

Why is government involved in marriage at all? Taxes. Brian Bollmann makes an excellent point about same-sex marriage. Brian points out in this post that marriage is not a matter for government; contract law is. Government’s only concern in the case of a marriage is with its contractual implications: At some point in the short history of the United States (and certainly after the Civil War), state governments stepped onto the wall of separation and began getting involved in the religious institution of marriage in the appropriate area of protecting the rights to property – especially that of women.

Sorry for the dearth of posts. You know I have a day job. Sometimes that day job becomes a night job. And a weekend job, too. That’s happened. I’m still keeping up on what’s going on in the world, but travel and software launches and strategic plans have me spinning. I like to write when I have a long periods of uninterrupted time. Well, those blocks of time have been few and far between.

Things are getting bad for Hillary. I hear she’s losing a lot of support from Democrat Party insiders, at least in private. The DNC is meeting this week, and talk will likely surround an alternative Democrats can vote for. While Republicans enjoy the Clinton meltdown, we might want to be careful what we wish for. One of the GOP’s best hopes for the White House is voter enthusiasm. Republicans can’t wait to vote, Democrats dread it.

Something weird happened in the stock market today. Yesterday I blogged about the stock markets. I’d been up early to see what was going on in Europe and Asia. I was watching US futures, too. I decided to write about what might happen. And I told you about Ben Hunt, my favorite economics writer. Ben combines remarkable knowledge of game theory and psychology with his genius in finance and economics.

There seems to be a certain air of inevitability that Trump will win the GOP nomination for President. According to a new poll, 57 percent of Republican voters expect that Trump will be the party’s candidate next year. Why is that important? Expectations Beat Preferences It’s important because expectations are far better predictors of actual winners than preference polls. From a 2012 NY Times story by David Leonhardt: Over the last 60 years, poll questions that asked people which candidate they expected to win have been a better guide to the outcome of the presidential race than questions asking people whom they planned to vote for, the study found.

I was up early this morning sifting through the market stories. ** Asia: crash ** Middle East: crash ** Europe: crash ** USA: set to open There’s good news in all this loss. First, stocks were overpriced. At some point, they will bottom out and it will be time to start buying. Second, the Golden Age of the Central Banker seems to be over. And that is very good news.

A couple weeks ago, I published a simple game for political nerds. Assuming the next president must build a cabinet from current candidates for the Republican nomination for president, how would you assign candidates to cabinet positions. This was meant to be a fun exercise for people who spend too much time thinking about politics. Like the leaders-eat-last poll, this required hide, often dissatisfying choices. As a result, only six people completed the exercise which took up to a half hour.

It’s sad that Donald Trump has inspired so many good conservatives to promote fantasies about the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court addressed the issue of birthright citizenship directly, and Mark Levin and Laura Ingram know it. They are Constitutional lawyers. Both Levin and Ingraham are familiar with United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) which established, thoroughly, that citizenship by birth has been the law of the land since before the Declaration of Independence and was codified by the 14th Amendment.

This is the story of hard choices and how people resist making them. Last week’s poll asked you to watch a video by Simon Sinek before answering two, simple, two-part questions: which Republican candidate for President and Missouri Governor is most likely and least likely to eat last? I intended the poll to be hard. Not complicated, not long, but emotionally challenging. Why the Poll Was Emotionally Challenging For several weeks, I have built a case for the importance of leadership.

If you lack a unique, differentiating value, your only play is price. In business, you command the price play by being very, very big and very, very efficient. In presidential politics, you’re unique or you close up shop and go home. Commodities don’t win executive offices. Usually. Even though it’s early, only four Republican candidates for president have differentiating value propositions: ** Ben Carson ** Donald Trump ** Carly Fiorina ** Ted Cruz

The next US President must be a great communicator. Distilling complex and controversial problems into mental models accessible to large numbers of people is not deception–it’s brilliance. The reason we hang onto sound bites isn’t because we’re stupid–it’s because we’re busy. We all don’t have time to earn masters-degree understanding of every issue facing society and government. Honest, accurate distillations of the complex ideas allow us to choose and act quickly.

Marine Corps officers eat last. That simple insight inspired the title of Simon Sinek’s latest book, “Leaders Eat Last.” If I could influence high school or college curricula, no one would graduate without successfully completing a semester course on that principle. Below is another remarkable video of Simon Sinek discussing how circumstances can override our desire to lead and serve and how leadership and service can fix almost any problem. But first, I’d like you think a bit more about these two critical needs: leadership and service.

My son Patrick (closest to the camera at a civilian’s idea of parade rest) listens to the instructions of the enlisting officer among 9 young men and women preparing to swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States. They were here to make their first commitment to the armed forces. [caption id=“attachment_16700” align=“alignleft” width=“711”]Patrick Hennessy takes the oath of enlistment at the Federal Building in St. Louis August 14, 2015.

Many of you loved Simon Sinek’s Start With Why TEDx talk. I love the way Simon Sinek thinks. It’s no surprise, then, that his TED Talk on leadership could be the greatest definition of leadership I’ve ever heard. Please watch and share. I have some thoughts and a poll following. [ted id=1998] Contrasts give greater clarity. Sinek’s contrast between military leadership and business leadership says a lot about the state of American business.

On my desk is a book titled “Grinning With the Gipper.” It’s 117 pages of Ronald Reagan’s humor.Think of that. A US president who could fill a book with jokes. My cursory review shows that about 60 percent of the jokes are on Reagan himself. And another 20 percent are on Republicans. Ronald Reagan knew that life is too short and too precious to waste it on anger and pride. Better to spend your days getting laughs.

Does it bother you that people would give up essential freedoms before they’d give up their iPhone? While 26 percent of Americans report that they can’t live without their smartphone, only 20 percent of Americans say they can’t live without sex, according to this infographic compiled by FinancesOnline.com, a personal finance website. Seriously. It should bother you. [olympus_highlight color=‘yellow]Without essential freedoms, smart phones can be taken away or banned[/olympus_highlight].

The headline is depressing, but I’m going to write it anyway: America’s Slums Are Exploding The story is in the Atlantic, a progressive publication. But they admit what so many Americans know: the welfare state has failed those who needed it most. And it’s failing those never needed it but were sucked into it nonetheless. Half a century after President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a war on poverty, the number of Americans living in slums is rising at an extraordinary pace.

If you’re still asking “why bother?” read this. If you still believe conservatism is an economic theory, read this. If you’re ready to [olympus_highlight color=“yellow”]create a transformational social movement that improves lives[/olympus_highlight] by providing every America with the dignity of meaningful work and the freedom to pursue happiness, watch this video. It’s Simon Sinek’s TEDx talk about his then-new book, Start With Why, and it’s the most powerful idea I’ve discovered in recent years.

If you have walked a neighborhood foot beat as a police officer, I’d like to talk to you. I am working on a story on policing, and I would like to hear stories from men and women who have both walked neighborhoods as police officers and driven patrols in cruisers. If interested, please contact me with this form: [contact-form to=‘billhennessy@me.com’ subject=‘Police Foot Patrol Response’][contact-field label=‘Name’ type=‘name’ required=‘1’/][contact-field label=‘Email’ type=‘email’ required=‘1’/][contact-field label=‘Comment’ type=‘textarea’/][contact-field label=‘Police Department’ type=‘text’ required=‘1’/][/contact-form]

We believe that meaningful work dignifies and enriches human lives. [olympus_highlight color=“yellow”]Every person who wants to work should find a choice of occupations to pursue. And every occupation improves the life of the person doing the work, the people the work is done for, and the family and community in which the worker lives.[/olympus_highlight] The more workers engaged in meaningful work, the better our country becomes. The opposite of work is not idleness but dependency, and dependency degrades human lives.

Dellena Jones’s 911 Hair Salon was attacked at about 11:15 PM by a small band of young men. The break-in and robbery occurred close to the time of the first shooting. The hair salon is less than 100 yards from the scene of the shooting. But that didn’t stop volunteers from St. Louis Tea Party Coalition and friends from helping. [caption width=“300” id=“attachment_16631” align=“alignright”]Volunteers pose for a picture after helping clean and repair 911 Hair Salon in Ferguson.

Our adopted Ferguson business, the 911 Beauty Salon, appears to have been a target of looters tonight according to KTVI 2. [olympus_cta button_text=“Donate Now” button_color=“red” button_url=“https://www.gofundme.com/911hairsalonferg”]Don’t Let the Looters Win! Save 911[/olympus_cta] Dellena Jones’s business was already struggling. She didn’t need this. Let’s prove that we believe in free enterprise entrepreneurship. That we can help our neighbors. You can donate to help Dellena on this GoFundMe project [olympus_cta button_text=“Donate Now” button_color=“red” button_url=“https://www.

in a democratic system, the minority is by definition the opposition. Their de facto position is fighting against the ideas of the other side. Political minorities fight against something that’s more powerful than they are. And over time, their entire self-identity can become utterly reliant on acting like the principled underdog. –Arthur C Brooks, The Conservative Heart My developmental psychology professor told a story of a female patient. The woman came to him for help with dating.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters “there was a remarkable amount of gunfire out there,” describing the scene on W. Florissant last night. A shooter confronted plain-clothes officers and opened fire. Officers returned fire, striking the suspect. The suspect is in critical, unstable condition in a local hospital. One officer was treated, but the severity and cause of his injury is unknown. The shooting and at least one break-in of a business marred what had been peaceful commemorations of the death of Michael Brown.

Watch. You can see the shooter in a white t-shirt. https://youtu.be/fZmpmVdIfJU We can make a difference. If you want to make the world better, like this, then we have to change the way talk.

Note: This was written in August, 2015, during the Obama administration. Lamentations about the current state of affairs pertain to an era now past. Hope for the future, though, burns eternal. We yearn for civic character but satisfy ourselves with symbolic gestures and celebrity circuses. We perceive no greatness in our leaders, a new meanness in ourselves. Small wonder that each new election brings a new jolt, its aftermath a new disappointment.

My friend Scott Oppelt mentioned his complaint that the GOP has so many great candidates all at once. Why can’t they be spread out over 20 years? Great question. History being what it is, we can’t spread them across time, only across government. So this week’s poll is a little fun. The rules: You must fill the next White House cabinet using only the current candidates for President. You do not know who the President or Vice President is, so assume it’s none of the current candidates.

Did you hear about the ratings? Over 24 million people watched the first Republican debate Thursday. That’s the largest audience ever for a cable program, save for sports. Everybody knows why so many watched: people wanted to see a fight break out between Chris Christie and Rand Paul. Donald Trump’s presence probably didn’t hurt. Let me clarify that. Trump’s appearance helped rating. His performance might have ended his campaign. Donald Trump comported himself with all the dignity and gravitas of a George W.

I should have gone to bed. I wanted to finish a great book called The Conservative Heart by Arthur C. Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute. The book left me feeling happy, proud, and inspired. I should have gone to bed as soon as I finished the book. But the feeling of having read something wonderful wanted to linger, so I sat with it for a bit. Then I really screwed up.

Conservatism blesses the world. Our principles dignify people with work that** produces value**. We leave them **free to pursue happiness**, which includes their work, their leisure, their learning, and their families. Our cause is moral and spiritual, not economic. We want everyone to experience and benefit from meaningful work because work provides people with self-esteem and satisfaction. Work is not punishment; it’s a blessing. We do oppose things, but only those things that threaten to degrade human beings by denying them the dignity and benefits of working and living their own lives.

Readers of this blog believe a stronger service ethic would make America a stronger country, but no one wants the federal government involved. And 95 percent of respondents agree that performing service benefits the volunteer as much or more as it benefits the recipients of the work. Those are the key finding from last week’s poll on service. Specifically, 82 percent agree with the statement “A strong service ethic would make America stronger.

Are you tired of being angry? Did you know that a lot of other people are tired of your anger? Did you know that 70 percent of Americans don’t like politics? Did you know that the 70 percent of Americans who don’t like politics won’t vote for anything an angry person tells them to vote for? Go look it up. It’s totally true. So many conservatives want another Reagan, but they want an angry, vengeful, belligerent Reagan.

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Once upon a time I didn’t like Joe LeGrand. It was 3rd grade. I was in the Epiphany Toppers Drum and Bugle Corps, and Joe was a bugler who stood right in front of me. He kept turning around and giving me dirty looks. So I decided right then and there that I didn’t like him. Joe was a year ahead of me in school. While our lives intersected a lot, we weren’t really close.

There’s a huge, important fiinding in a new poll—one I believe will affect a lot of elections nationally and in Missouri in 2016. In fact, 2016 will come down to one word. Write down what you think that word is before reading on. STLTPC vs. USA on President First, let’s look at some polls. St. Louis Tea Party members see the GOP Presidential race a little differently than the country at large.

Maybe I’m remembering this wrong. Maybe not. I met my best high school friends at the lunch table. Scott Oppelt, John Clancy, Christian Saller, Tom Newport, and . . . and dude with curly blond hair who was in Scott Oppelt’s band. John. John Martin. I met them early in my junior year. We had just one thing in common: we were all transferees. We were not native DuBourgers. We transferred.

Did you ever see a movement grow? Did you see the way it starts? Did you feel it spread around you? Did you hear it rustling the leaves and scraping the sidewalk? Did you want to kill it? The weird thing about movements is that opposition tends to strengthen them. Movements feed on hostility the way rats feed on garbage. The way you kill a movement is infiltration and fragmentation.

The Holy See is in Rome. The Empty See is in St. Louis. The Metropolitan Taxicab Commission (MTC) is a racket to protect incumbent taxicab companies. They use their power to keep St. Louis in the stone age of transportation. It’s time to dissolve the MTC. It has served its purpose and outlived its usefulness. Like the riverboat commission of the 1850s. Until then, I will do everything in my power to avoid taxis in St.

The Transportation Empowerment Act gives states control and funding for their roads. It is a far superior to the Highway Trust Fund, which is slush fund for pork projects. Transportation Empowerment Act (TEA) from Senator Mike Lee would gradually shift federal gasoline taxes from Washington back to the states where they were collected without a Washington DC handling fee and without strings attached. TEA embodies an idea I first heard from Ronald Reaganwhen he was governor of California.

Last week’s poll asked for your degree of support for Donald Trump’s candidacy. This poll received far less attention than the Missouri GOP Governor poll of the previous week, as only 60 people responded. On the plus side, there was no detectable cheating on the Trump poll. One Word: Polarization [caption id=“attachment_16313” align=“aligncenter” width=“600”]Histogram of Trump Poll[/caption] Respondents had choices from 0 to 5 to indicate their degree of support for Trump, with 0 = No Support and 5 = Total Support.

Last week, we posted a 5-part series on national service. This week, we’d like to see what you think. Be heard The poll closes Saturday, August 1 at Midnight. Please vote only once. Last Week’s Poll: Trump Here’s my analysis of last week’s poll on Donald Trump.

My series on National Service is important. Maybe not urgent, but important. (See Eisenhower Square.) So I turned it into an eBook: DOWNLOAD FREE E-BOOK Be warned: I did not edit the posts, so the ebook contains all the links to previous posts in the series. If there’s interest, I’ll go back and clean it up. This is just for convenience. Thanks.

We’ve reached the end. On Monday, we corrected disinformation about The Franklin Project. Next, we looked at the historical conservative framework for national service. Wednesday was a dissection of The Franklin Project’s Plan of Action (as distinguished from the group’s vision.) Yesterday, we examined the consequences of ignoring the call for national service. Today, we offer an oversimplified proposal for Missouri’s version of a national-service program. While inadequate, it is a start.

In part 1 of this series, we clarified some misconceptions and falsehoods about the Franklin Project. In part 2, we examined the debate on the right from 1990 with William F. Buckley and Milton Friedman. Part 3 was a critique of the Franklin Project’s Plan of Action. Today, we will look at the consequences should conservatives turn their backs on the concept of developing a service ethos in America. Generations: Saying “No” Won’t Work Do you remember when Roosevelt died?

This is part three of a five-part series on national service. Part 1 introduced the controversy and corrected a major misconception. Part 2 looked at national service through the eyes of conservative giants, Milton Friedman, William F. Buckley, and Ronald Reagan. So, what’s wrong with the Franklin Project? Plenty. The Franklin Project promotes the idea of a renewed ethos of national service in America. It’s mission: The Franklin Project envisions a future in which a year of full-time national service—a service year—is a cultural expectation, a common opportunity, and a civic rite of passage for every young American.

This is part 2 of a series on national service and the Franklin Project. Read part 1 here. First, answer this for yourself: would you vote for William F. Buckley Jr? Milton Friedman on National Service My friend Lloyd Sloan points out that Milton Friedman disagreed with Buckley’s call for national service. It seems appropriate, then, to view the idea of a service ethos through the eyes of two champions of conservatism of the 20th century.

You know how to tell when a political camp has nothing on an opponent? It begins making stuff up. That “making stuff up” has become the chief form of amusement among those who oppose Eric Greitens for Governor. The current fiction they advance has to do with an organization called The Franklin Project. The fiction advanced by a few Facebook warriors goes something like this: “The Franklin Project wants mandatory national service.

Last week, I launched anonline poll of declared and likely candidates for governor. This was not a controlled survey, so be careful what you read into it. Instead of using the poll as a measure of breadth, I recommend looking at from a few other angles. Suspicious Voting Yes, there was a lot of suspicious voting. At least one candidate received his or her strongest support from a single data center in India.

Donald Trump is back in the news. This time for attacking John McCain’s service record. But he’s dominating the polls. Given what you know of Donald Trump, rate your own support for Donald Trump’s candidacy for president on a scale of 0 to 5 with 0 meaning “no support” and 5 meaning “full support.” [yop_poll id=“3”] This poll closes at Midnight on Saturday, July 25. Please vote only once. Last Week’s Poll Results

You can’t get there from here. The way people get from here to there–and how they pay for the privilege–is about to change. We want you to have a say in the future of transportation. To help, Heritage Action for America is teaming up with St. Louis Tea Party Coalition to put on a Transportation Empowerment night on Saturday, July 25, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. Speakers Include: [gallery ids=“16213,16214,16215”]

Republican consultant David Barklage is in a weird place. Barklage grew up in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, along with Peter Kinder. Barklage has been Kinder’s campaign consultant for years—all of Kinder’s races, as far as I know. They were a team. David Barlage was Peter Kinder’s chief of staff when Kinder was president pro tem of the Missouri Senate in 2002. And a loyal consultant is a great tool for a politician.

Greece’s parliament just signed its surrender to Germany. The country signed over virtually all of its national assets and all its future income for 30 years. No one believes Greece will make good on the agreement, and Greece didn’t want the deal. Germany demanded it, and Greece surrendered. But Greece will default at some point. Then what? Will Germany send its army? Probably. In Washington, Barack Obama berated a skeptical press for questioning the agreement he reached with the world’s largest exporter of Islamic terrorism.

WAR IS A MERE CONTINUATION OF POLICY BY OTHER MEANS. Good old Clausewitz. Best book on war ever written. (The Art of War was about something else.) But the 21st century has reversed his famous line. Politics has become war by other means. Germany has a history of waging wars of conquest. World War I. World War II. The Greek bailout. As Stratfor’s George Friedman explains:

Today was a particularly busy day for me. I had a series of meetings. Like every hour, another meeting. From 9:00 on. I saw the text from my wife. I didn’t have time to click on a video. I was in a room full of people. Important business. Major client and all that. And I completely misunderstood the “H/T Gina L.” thing. For some reason, I thought Angela was mad at Gina.

Were you shocked when you learned that Navy SEAL, author, humanitarian, and charity founder, Eric Greitens, was born and raised and voted Democrat? I was. Sure, I’d heard the rumors. The whispers spread by some Republican campaign operatives. But I’ve learned to trust those campaign operatives about as far as I fund the national debt. Then, Senator John Lamping sent me a link to this Fox News story: Former Navy SEAL: Why I am no longer a Democrat So, the rumors were true.

The greatest mob movie of all time was Get Shorty. (Please, don’t argue.) The whole movie revolved around this exchange: Ronnie Wingate: Excuse me bro', but who the fuck are you? Chili Palmer: I’m the one tellin' you how it is… Last Sunday, Greece was Chili Palmer. A few days later, Angela Merkel is. Funny how things change. You probably heard that Greece’s Prime Minister called for a referendum on the troika’s terms.

Read my analysis of the poll here. [yop_poll id=“2”] You may vote only once. Poll closes at midnight on Saturday.

Down in my former state of South Carolina, the legislature hastily voted to remove the Confederate flag from the state capitol building. That is their prerogative, and I take no offense at their move. What I do worry about is the haste. South Carolina’s action on the flag reflected a spasm instigated by the horrible deeds of a horrible man—an unthinkable crime and grave sin. I can understand how the murderer’s association with the flag would lead people to connect the flag to the murders.

So how to reenergize the innovation diffusion machine? This is key: “A level playing field that does not favour incumbents over entrants. Many policy measures, from environmental to fiscal measures, are designed to favour incumbents.” More entry through startups and more exit by uncompetitive incumbents. –JAMES PETHOKOUKIS, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE The Metropolitan Taxicab Commission is a crony club for taxi company executives and their hospitality friends, and its primary purpose is to kill transportation innovation and thwart price competition.

The world is even more fragile than it was in 2007. The big banks are bigger. Aggregate bank assets are concentrated in fewer hands. The bank derivatives books are much larger. Market liquidity is worse. —James Rickards, The Daily Reckoning Well, ain’t that just dandy? And it’s undeniably true. We were told that the 2008 financial meltdown was caused by entities that had grown too large: banks, insurance companies, corporations, derivitives.

Debt is not a guarantee of future payments in full. Rather, it is a risk that creditors take, in hopes of maybe being paid tomorrow. The key word there is “risk.” If you’re willing to take the risk, you’ll get a premium — in the form of interest. But the downside of that risk is that you lose your money. And Greece just called Germany’s bluff. Jim Edwards nailed a major problem with modern finance.

Greece has voted to reject the “troika’s” bailout terms. The people of Greece said “no” to the central banksters who encourage sovereigns to enslave themselves under mountains of debt. The Greeks showed remarkable courage and resiliency, and their example could disrupt the entire international banking system. Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge: The Greek people have spoken and they said “OXI”! So congratulations Greece: for the first time you had the chance to tell the Troika, the unelected eurocrats, and the entire status quo establishment, not to mention all the banks, how you really felt and based on the most recent results, some 61% of you told it to go fuck itself.

About this time, a variety of railroads began trying to build their own networks to the West, but the St. Louis city government refused to grant the permits required for constructing railroad bridges across the river at their location, even though St. Louis was the logical choice and would have been a perfect place for a rail hub. Apparently, the politicians in St. Louis felt their duty was to protect the riverboat industry, at that time their life and blood, from any and all competition.

William Hennessy: Psychopomps are carriers of the dead, but they carry them to their afterlife. Dottie Bailey: Cool!! William Hennessy: We are in that phase of history. The 20th century is dying, or dead Dottie Bailey: Makes me sad though. William Hennessy: Everything that we called “normal” for all our lives lies listless in the beaks of sparrows—psychopomps—on their way to a new birth. That rebirth won’t happen for another 5 to 10 years.

This post is about the control you have. And the control you don’t have. Last week was tough on a lot of us. The Supreme Court limited your freedom. The same-sex marriage case was very similar to Roe v. Wade in judicial legislation. States lost the power to regulate marriage. (There’s a deep theological discussion around whether the state ever had any say in marriage, but that’s for another post.)

Limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the other tea party principles are not ends. They were never ends. Tea party principles are merely the most effective and efficient means to nobler ends Those ends include a society and a nation that respects and protects life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Without life, of what use are the others? Just as we speak out when “government becomes destructive of these ends,” so we must speak out when misguided and deranged individuals pervert those principles—or any principles—to their own illegitimate and murderous ends.

Someone who met Bill Clinton told me, “I rambled. He probably thought I was an idiot.” No. Bill Clinton wanted you to ramble. He wanted to make you the most important person in the room for two minutes. He listened for a nugget of information–a story–he could use in his next speech. If you’re running for office remember: the most important person in every room is the voter you’re talking with.

Here’s what happens when you raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, according to scientists: Nothing. Well, not nothing. All kinds of bad things happen to the economy. But nothing happens for two groups of people central to the whole debate: workers who get a bump to $15 and employers who have to bump to $15 an hour. Most cities and states that have raised their minimum wage laws to $15 will phase in the increase over five years.

I’ll make this brief. If we must respect (revere?) the erstwhile Bruce Jenner for self-identifying as a woman, we have to respect Rachel Dolezal for self-identifying as black. Both voluntarily left the world of privilege, as it were, to join an underclass–an identifiable minority. Jenner left manhood; Dolezal left whitehood. The left doesn’t see it that way, though. Apparently, rejecting one’s biological sex is okay, but rejecting one’s biological race isn’t.

Without comment . . . Jefferson City, MO, May 29, 2015 - A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 672, passed by the Missouri General Assembly in 2014, was filed in Cole County circuit court on May 29th. The lawsuit claims that the General Assembly ignored the constitutional limits to their legislative authority. The Missouri Constitution includes clauses that prohibit legislators from changing the purpose of a bill, including multiple subjects in one bill, or passing a “special law” that fails to treat everyone equally.

Washington (APP) —In a Rose Garden press conference today, President Barack Obama introduced Art Vandelay as his choice to head the troubled Export Import Bank for a five-year term, pending approval by the Senate. The shake-up comes as Congress debates whether or not to extend the bank’s authorization amid heavy opposition from conservative and libertarian groups led by Heritage Action for America. Mr. Vandelay brings almost 30 years of experience in the export-import business, where he traded in commodities as varied as potato chips, diapers, and matches.

With Opportunity for All; With Favoritism Toward None Join Us Paddy O’s–618 S. 7th Street, St. Louis, MO 4:15 PM Saturday, May 30 RSVP on Facebook They say the Export Import Bank is a tiny agency that creates jobs for small business while producing a profit for the Treasury. And rescues baby rabbits from dangerous predators. And it’s gluten free. Call us skeptics. We saw the news that Goldman Sachs used the Export Import Bank to secure funding for a financially unstable buyer—after paying the Secretary of State’s husband $200,000 for a fifteen-minute speech.

I usually breeze through books. I read Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman in four days. And it has math. I read Eric Greitens’s book The Heart and the Fist in two days. Why did it take me over a month to finish Resilience? I’m not sure, but here’s what I think. First, the book compels action. How could I read this paragraph without writing a blog post? If we are trapped in a life where everything is provided for us, our minds fail to grow, our relationships atrophy, and our spirits deteriorate.

Start small–end big. Raise your hand if you know someone who woke one morning and ran a marathon having never so much as walked around the block. No hands? Of course not. A few freaks of nature might be able to go from zero to 26.2 in no time, but most people would hurt themselves trying. And never do it again. When a sane sedentary person decides to run a marathon, he starts by walking.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. But if that step is in the wrong direction, you might end up 2,000 miles from your goal. Many believe America took a step in the wrong direction long ago–about the time “progressivism” became popular among political, business, and academic elites in the early 20th century. If progressivism was a step in the wrong direction, it’s led us at least 2,000 miles from our target.

Every six months. Just when you can you least afford it. It happens. A breakout. It’s Herpes Ex-Im, a cronyism disease that can make the prettiest economic system look sick. Herpes Ex-Im is a virus that attacks your economy’s competitive system, resulting ugly blemishes. Even your lover won’t want to kiss you. But there’s a cure. **Left untreated by Congress, Herpes Ex-Im will die. ** The free-market system has built-in defenses against crony diseases like Herpes Ex-Im.

Harsh, I know. The St. Louis Blues disappeared from the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in a 4-2, first-round collapse for the third consecutive season. And this year was supposed to be different. So different. With off-season pickups like Jori Lehtera and Paul Stastny, we expected St. Louis to shut down for a parade in June, not in the 3rd period of game six. Instead, we’re wondering how soon will T.J. Oshie sweaters go on the clearance rack at Dick’s?

Could it be? Am I reading this right? Has anyone ever surprised you with a wish? A wish that defied logic? Yesterday, a friend wrote of his concerns about Eric Greitens, the Navy SEAL, humanitarian, Rhodes Scholar, charity founder, and former boxer who’s considering a run for Missouri Governor. His concern began: “Most all GOP candidates proudly trumpet their positions . . . “ He was right, of course. Almost.

We metDellena Jones during our first Ferguson BUYcott in August. Since then, St. Louis Tea Partier, Dottie Bailey, has made it her mission to help Dellena’s business survive and flourish. https://youtu.be/r-ye3nSe2Vk Dellena’s business has fallen 60 percent since the first riots. She’s repaired the damage to her salon, but business is slow. Despite all her challenges, Dellena still found the time and energy to host Center for Self-Governance training in her shop on a Saturday, foregoing that day’s revenue to learn about freedom and responsibility.

Ever come across a text you know, but forgot? I did recently. This gem of a paragraph leapt off the page and into my mind: I believe this nation hungers for a spiritual revival; hungers to once again see honor placed above political expediency; to see government once again the protector of our liberties, not the distributor of gifts and privilege. Government should uphold and not undermine those institutions which are custodians of the very values upon which civilization is founded – Faith, education and, above all, family.

“What if everything goes wrong?” I remember asking myself that on the morning of Friday, February 27, 2009. I was driving on I-44 headed to the Arch to host a Tea Party. My co-hosts were people I’d never met: Dana Loesch, Gina Loudon, Ed Martin, Michelle Moore. Those were the three to offered to help. Others offered to speak: Jim Lembke, Shamed Dogan, and a few others. Others helped organize sign-making, food, sign-in sheets, and music.

Missouri is the only state that doesn’t track your medical prescriptions. People say it like it’s a bad thing. What’s wrong with the government not knowing that one bit of information about your private medical life? Can’t government keep out of at least this one, extremely personal matter? The do-gooders and busy-bodies want Missouri to maintain a database (tied into similar databases in all other states) that keeps a permanent record of every prescription a doctor or dentist writes.

House mortgage-type instrument suggested as means to pay off national debt Guest Post By Lee A. Presser Interest rates have been held artificially low by the Federal Reserve since 2008. This has had the effect of hiding the true cost of increasing debt. As interest rates rise back toward 4%, the U.S. Treasury will have less money to spend on discretionary governmental functions. The FY 2015 budget is approximately $3,900,000,000,000.00. Another way to look at that number is about $12,187.

In its entire history, who was the safest CEO for Apple? In other words, if you were a corporate recruiter hired by Apple’s board to find a chief executive, whom would hire? I’ll answer this later, but first here’s why I’m asking. Who Would You Recruit? In response to yesterday’s post on Brunner vs. Greitens, someone asked me a similar question about Eric Greitens. The inquisitor seems to question my judgment for preferring Greitens over John Brunner.

You know the feeling. You support someone for office. Call this person Candidate A. You’re all in. You’ve told your friends about this great person. Then another candidate jumps in to oppose your candidate. Let’s call this person Candidate B. This insurgent has great qualifications. You campaigned for Candidate B in another race a few years ago. You’ve talked him up. In the past, told your friends to vote for Candidate B.

I own a ton of domain names. Most of them I’ll never use. I bought them–and pay for them–because I don’t want anyone else to have them. Many contain “teabaggers.” Many contain “teaparty.” Many contain “Hennessy,” although the cognac people had sucked up quite a few of those already. Everyone should invest in domains containing their surname. Anyone who is even mildly famous should own the domains containing their full name.

Brett wanted to know more about Eric Greitens. Ben deferred to me to tell the Greitens story. I went through the usual, remarkable life of a man, eleven years my junior, a century my senior. I told him about Duke, boxing, Bosnia, Rwanda, Mother Teresa. I told him about boxing at Oxford and becoming a SEAL. Nothing from Brett. “Really,” I thought. “How stuck-up is this guy?” But we didn’t give up.

A critic is someone who enters the battlefield after the war is over and shoots the wounded. ― Murray Kempton Great leaders inspire thought and action. But their real value? Great leaders inspire action. Hard action. Uncomfortable action. I’m reading Resilience by Eric Greitens. I have already bought six copies of the book, and I’m sure I’ll buy more. I want everyone to read it. The book changes people.

I was hungover. I sat in a booth at the Holiday Inn in Quincy, Illinois, with my wife and two friends from St. Louis. The day before was my wife’s birthday, which she graciously spent waiting for me to speak at a tea party in Quincy. Angela and I sat with Jim Durbin and Ben Evans. About four feet away, sitting at the bar, were Andrew Breitbart and editor-in-chief of Andrew’s BigGovernment.

I was on my high school’s board of education for a year. It was quite an honor, honestly, but I screwed it up. At the time, I was a software architect. They put me on the board as the technology guy. I was supposed to make the case for more funding for smart boards and other tech stuff. But I said kids really don’t need more technology in school. Technology, I said, was like sex education: they’ll get more than they can handle on the streets or watching TV.

I know “House of Cards” character Frank Underwood is fictitious, malicious, and evil. But even an evil fictitious character can hit the nail on its head occasionally. https://youtu.be/QgTIhT5aLCg We might not like his prescription, but he diagnoses America’s chief problem more concretely, more accurately, and more honestly than any American politician ever has. Ever. We’ve been crippled by Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, by welfare, by entitlements. And that is the root of the problem: entitlements.

Note: Updated to remove reference to Jeff Roe Poor Catherine Hanaway. Her shadowy operatives worked so hard to defeat Tom Schweich, but a new threat to Hanaway’s coronation emerged: Eric Greitens. (You can read all about Eric Greitens, here.) The GOP establishment’s inept, new whisper campaign against Greitens is so amateurish and sad it evokes the kind of sympathy one feels toward the ignorance of animals (to paraphrase William F. Buckley).

Updated with new information Leftist donors flooded Texas with money for two years. Wendy Davis was the poster-child in 2014, but she was only a candidate of convenience. Leftists know that turning Texas purple would mean leftist domination in America. In 2013 “purple Texas” was all the talk. From Huffington Post: Last week, Politico reported that national Democrats are creating a “large-scale independent group” aimed at turning Texas into a legitimate electoral battleground.

Let’s accept that people are lazy. I noticed no one rose to argue, so universal laziness is a given. When political consultants and parties recruit candidates, they do the lazy thing. They look for candidates who are easily electable. They want people who look good, speak well, shake hands like they’re still alive, and never made the papers for slapping their spouse. Actually, they want people who are squeaky clean. Boring.

“What did you give up for Lent?” Ever get that one? Like it’s something you’re supposed to post on your Facebook page. A very good priest I knew, Dom Oppenheimer, warned against revealing one’s Lenten sacrifice. “When you tell others what you gave up for Lent, you’re likely to feel some pride,” he explained. “But pride is the worst sin.” That actually makes a lot of sense when you think about.

What would happen if we if worked on: stuff we could actually fix stuff no one could complain about fixing stuff we didn’t care who got credit for fixing? Next question: Name one thing that needs fixing that meets all three criteria (and think of people you hate when answering question 2)

Want to know why Net Neutrality is dangerous? Forget the Constitutional stuff. That’s important, but most people don’t care. Seriously. As soon as you mention the Constitution or mercantilism, the 99% walk away. And the remaining 1% already agree with you. No, the way to scare people about Net Neutrality is this chart from Statista: You will find more statistics at Statista The only thing worse than Comcast’s customer service?

Well, a redneck nerd in a bowling shirt was a-guzzlin' lone star beer Talking religion and-uh politics for all the world to hear. –Kinky Friedman, They Aint' Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore I used to hate to be wrong. In fact, most of my life, I’d deny being wrong long after all doubt had left the room. I’d get angry when I was wrong, too. More accurately, I’d get angry when someone found out I was wrong.

My story on the Justice Department’s Ferguson report addressed race early. . So let’s have a little blunt talk about race from a West County white guy’s point of view (which is alway helpful). Faction A and Faction B Whenever race comes up, two large factions shut down. They shut down intellectually because ‘race’ touches an irrational, emotional nerve. Faction A views every issue as a race problem. They see rain at a picnic as racist.

The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.

The human brain is three times as sensitive to pain as it is to gain. That’s a gross over-simplification, but it’s basically true. In other words, you’ll work three-times harder to save a dollar you have than to earn one you don’t. Put another way, you won’t bet a dollar with even odds unless you stand to gain three dollars for a win. That’s not a flaw. It keeps you alive.

Fate moves in mysterious ways. Just days before State Auditor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Schweich died, Eric Greitens announced an exploratory committee. Greitens wants to test the water of a possible run for Missouri Governor as a Republican. Greitens would be, perhaps, the most remarkable human being ever to pursue the office of Governor of Missouri. Here’s a sampling of Greitens’s achievements: Humanitarian who’s worked in Rwanda, Bosnia, Central America, India and other disaster zones—usually man-made disaster zones Boxer who won championships in England Rhodes Scholar who completed the program at Oxford Navy SEAL who earned the Bronze Star among other accolades in four tours in Iraq Founder of The Mission Continues to give wounded veterans a mission and a purpose in life Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world Forbes’ Magazine’s 50 greatest leaders in the world Purpose Over Party Greitens is no ideologue.

Hancock, who is a political consultant, said he held meetings last fall with prospective donors for a project to register Catholic voters. Hancock said that if he had mentioned that Schweich was Jewish, it would have been in the context that Hanaway was Catholic but that was no indication of how Catholics were likely to vote. Those circling the wagons around John Hancock: woe betide you. God forgive you.

I hear that Jamie Allman ripped into Senator John Danforth yesterday. Allman called Danforth a failure and a thug. According to Allman, Danforth’s sin was defending a friend against lies, defending a people against centuries-old hate. I guess Jamie Allman and his handlers like lies and hate. I’d hate to be Jamie Allman on judgement day. Just sayin'. Mourning for Jamie’s soul.

Ben Evans worked hard to host a joint event with St. Louis Tea Party Coalition and Heritage Foundation a couple years ago. Because of Ben’s hard work, we met Dottie. Then the trouble in Ferguson happened last August. Fearless Dottie joined our band of BUYcotters who went to Ferguson to shop while the city still smoldered. We met Dellena. Dottie cultivated a relationship with Dellena. Saturday, February 28, Dellena hosted Level One training in Self-Governance at her 911 Beauty Salon on W.

Could I ask you to answer a couple of questions. You can do this offline or in the comments of this post. *1. Name 3 people you consider wildly successful. *2. For each person you named, what is the number one criterion for establishing his or her success? Please do that before continuing. Done? Okay. I’m going to guess that, when all the answers are tabulated, wealth and income will be the top criteria for success.

Excerpts from past posts on Hennessy’s View about Tom Schweich “Integrity” is the first word I think of when trying to describe Tom Schweich. Rock n Roll Lunch We met for lunch on a hot day in April 2010. I expected a typical GOP establishment hack: smooth, overly friendly, defensive, and forgettable. I expected the man others told me to expect. But I met someone very different. How different? That lunch ended listening to his band’s recording of their original rock song.

News of Auditor Tom Schweich’s death hit me hard. If you haven’t heard, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported to day that my friend Tom Schweich died of a gunshot wound today. Tom was 54. I am saddened by this news. I pray for Tom’s family and for his rapid entry to eternal happiness. May perpetual light shine on him, and may his soul and all the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.

Paul Hamby asked a question last month. I was only one of the many he asked, and, being the rude bastard I am sometimes, I took a month to reply. And being lazy, I figured I should get a blog post out of it. So here’s my answer to the question “who inspired you to get involved in politics?” In the Summer of 74, I was between 3rd and 4th grade (I think).

I am so embarrassed. I didn’t even know that Fred Sauer, Gretchen Logue, and Anne Gassel were suing Missouri over Common Core. Did you know that? (I probably knew it and forgot. Sorry.) But here’s the thing: THEY WON!!!! Wait. YOU won. You won because Fred, Gretchen, and Anne stuck their necks out for you. And for me. So Thank You! to Fred, Gretchen, and Anne. And this case seems really, really big.

The last two years of Barack Obama’s presidency will see the rise of a new Russian empire. This new empire will resemble the Soviet Union in shape, the Czars in style. We looked at this subject over the summer (here and here). To summarize those blogs: The US-led coup of Ukraine convinced Putin to reassert safer borders Russia wants to build a buffer between itself and NATO Putin wants to re-establish a Russian Empire to revitalize Russian pride and influence Western debt and war-weariness make NATO impotent Putin knows the next US president might be more of a man than Obama, even if its Hillary Putin will want to complete his expansion by January 20, 2017 Ukraine is as good as done and Poland will fall under Russian influence I still believe all of that.

A friend asked my thoughts on net neutrality. I hemmed and hawed and told her a story she probably didn’t want to hear. The best I could come up with was: I don’t trust the FCC or the Obama Administration to do anything honest I don’t trust the Republican establishment to do anything right First, the Obama Administration would love to get control of internet content. They can already read every message, every keystroke anyone types anywhere.

Why have conservatives and right-leaning libertarians made so little progress since 2009? Consider that the GOP was written off for dead following the 2008 election. Republicans disappeared from the press. When a Republican popped up on a Sunday talk show, he was talking about compromise and getting along. Then the Tea Party happened, and all of a sudden the GOP’s testes descended. But after two off-year wave elections that gave the GOP their largest majorities since Hoover, the GOP seems poised to double down on the crony capitalist, elitist policies and candidates that got them tossed out of Washington in 2006 and 2008.

I was scared. Not afraid to say it. And some friends turned hostile. They had good reasons. And I was probably a little cavalier. And I talked way too long. But last September I wanted to start something that would help real people in our neighborhood while advancing liberty and upsetting abusive government. Sure, I’d rather upset the federal government in Washington, but my arms are little short to box with Harry Reid.

Do people become cops just so they can write speeding tickets? According to the National Sheriffs’ Association, writing speeding tickets is a police officer’s noblest calling. People and technologies that help drivers drive more safely and obey the law interfere with that noble mission of revenue generation, and the NSA is out to stop it. According to the Associated Press,the National Sheriffs’ Association wants to crack down on the popular traffic navigation app Waze™ so that people will drive faster and cops can write more tickets.

I had the rare honor of testifying before the Missouri Senate committee on Economic Development. The hearing’s subject was Senator Eric Schmitt’s Senate Bill 5 to reign in traffic court abuses in Missouri. Here’s some perspective: St. Louis County accounts for 22 percent of Missouri’s population and over 50 percent of traffic tickets St. Ann’s traffic court revenue exploded from about $500,000 in 2009 to over $3.5 million last year Traffic court generates 90 percent of the total revenue for one Missouri city Ferguson, Missouri, has three outstanding traffic ticket warrants for every citizen The mayor of Edmundson in North St.

Work screwed up my plans. Our annual St. Louis Tea Party / Heritage Action Christmas Party started at 6:00 in the evening on December 17. I knew Auditor Tom Schweich planned to attend, and I looked forward to seeing him. About 3:00 the problems started. People scurrying to wrap up projects before the Christmas break led to errors, questions, and never-ending email threads. I finally made it out of the office about 7:30 and arrived at Scarecrow in Chesterfield a little after 8:00.

You might have noticed that my report on the Speaker election process lacked enthusiasm. Now you know why. Boehner is moving quickly to purge conservatives from all committees of meaning. He has vowed to cooperate with the White House and Democrats. He has vowed never to shut down government again, no matter how evil, onerous, or destructive of liberty government becomes. Boehner has gone full native. That’s a predictable outcome of a failed coup.

The geniuses at Heritage Action put together a fantastic brief explaining everything you need to know about the Speaker election process. Check this out: Speaker Election Procedural Facts For the record, I’d love to see the election go to a second, third, fourth, or ninety-fifth ballot. But I don’t expect Boehner to lose. And if Boehner should lose, Gohmert might not win. The winner will need a LOT of Republican votes, and Boehner supporters won’t vote for the guy who inserted himself into the race.

It’s the Heritage Action Christmas Party Wednesday, December 17 at 6:00 pm [caption id=“attachment_15660” align=“alignright” width=“300”]Republican Party Animal[/caption] Scarecrow in Chesterfield ( map ) Heavy Hors d’oeuvres complements of Heritage Action for America. Let’s talk about 2015 and $2.15 gasoline. You don’t have to RSVP, but we’d appreciate it.

[audio mp3=“https://hennessysview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/do-police-like-ticket-quotas.mp3”][/audio] What do police officer think about traffic ticket quotas? Here’s one officer’s thoughts: In my agency, those of us in patrol had to keep a “Daily.” This would be a formal document that showed the times, addresses where we went, written in code, of what we had done. On the back were boxes for how many traffic citations, criminal citations, parking citations and felony and misdemeanor arrests we had made on that day.

There’s something happening here But what it is ain’t exactly clear There’s a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware –“For What It’s Worth” by The Buffalo Springfield “This isn’t about Michael Brown.” Those words popped out of my mouth as I watched the Sunday evening news with my dad. It was August 10. Full-scale rioting hadn’t erupted, but the battle lines were drawn: police on one side, people, mostly young people, on the other.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. – The Declaration of Independence Back in August, I asked for your help in pushing for municipal court reform. Cities that abuse their police and courts destroy liberty: ** Abusive citiesturn citizens against their police forces ** Abusive cities sponge off the poor ** Abusive cities operate debtor prisons ** Abusive cities subvert respect for the law and the courts ** Abusive citiesdemean and demoralize their citizens ** Abusive cities repel business and jobs ** Abusive cities condition people to bow down to government

[scroll to updates] And, yes, “House Republican Leadership” is a code word for Ann Wagner. Every victorious Republican ran on a promise to aggressively check Obama’s illegal executive actions. They weren’t all lying. Only the “leaders” lied. House leadership is trying to weasel out of its commitment to voters to block Obama’s illegal activities. The House can easily** attach a rider to the upcoming spending bill** prohibiting any money from going toward Obama’s 10 illegal illegal alien memoranda.

The danger of jumping to conclusions isn’t that you might be wrong. It’s that your brain will be unable to recognize its error. We’ve all heard of the psychological (or just logical) fallacy of confirmation bias. It’s worth looking at three aspects of confirmation bias from Science Daily: *1. In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias (or confirmatory bias) is a tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions, leading to statistical errors.

It’s all a lie.  It didn’t start that way. At first, the Mike Brown protesters were all about Mike Brown and people like him. But not anymore. Even the New York Times admitted the protests in Mike Brown’s name are actually the Revolutionary Communist Party advancing Marxism. (The NYT pulled down the story on Sunday morning. I wouldn’t have linked it, anyway.) I’m not a fan of stomping on someone else’s parade, even if I disagree with their cause.

The US House of Representatives is not a meritocracy. And that’s a shame. House “leadership” doesn’t actually have anything to do with leadership. It has everything to do with money. In a story about the fall from power of Nancy Pelosi, Michael Barone describes how the House leadership process evolved from seniority to raw cash. For years, liberal Democrats had decried the seniority system, which automatically made conservative Southerners (and/or senile members) committee chairmen.

If you think the mall protests are about the police, Ferguson, Mike Brown, or Darren Wilson, you could be wrong. For some, Mike Brown is a pawn. The protests are mere opportunities to exploit. Travis Martin, a protester who was at the bowling alley and the Justice Center, said he didn’t think that activist leaders had done enough planning and promotion for an event at the Galleria. “I think the main organizers weren’t so focused on anti-capitalism.

Gratitude, like love, is bound only by our choices. The more we give, the more we keep. I tried to ignore Ferguson today, but I glanced at Twitter hashtag #Ferguson a moment ago. The first tweet I read inspired this post. Someone wrote that “being able to be thankful after #Fergson is a privilege itself.” I understand how someone could feel that their “gratitude privilege” had been revoked. We lost our daughter just before Christmas in 1994, about four weeks after I got out of the Navy.

Nixon buck-passed while Ferguson burned. With the city’s main business district laid to rubble, buycotts won’t have much effect. And Christmas is around the corner. Who got hurt last night? *1. People who own businesses *2. People who work at businesses *3. People who rely on businesses Time is short. The people affected by last night’s riots need help rebuilding and jobs right now. While I don’t have complete plans, I can throw out eight ideas.

I should be in bed. But I can’t take my eyes off the images of Ferguson burning to the ground. A liberal friend on Twitter admonished me not to be political. Maybe he’s right. But I’m pretty sure Dellena’s 911 Beauty Salon burned in Ferguson tonight. It seems everything else has, too. The airport is closed. St. Louis’s image may be taking a fatal blow. The region might go the way of Gary, Indiana.

I don’t want Barack Obama regulating the internet. At the same time, conservatives who believe big corporations are always right better pop their heads out of their Chambers of Commerce. Greens Didn’t Kill the Incandescent Light Bulb—Corporatists Did The way big businesses got big and stayed big has nothing to do with business and everything to do with politics. Big corporations use their money and influence to bribe government to kill competition.

[caption id=“attachment_15564” align=“alignright” width=“300”]Rex Sinquefield’s Mad Scientist Blimp-Piloting X-Ray Glasses.[/caption] The billionaire with the great big blimp buys another politician. After a raising a measely $66k in campaign contributions, Catherine Hanaway sold her soul to wierd billionaire Rex Sinquefield. The price? $750,000 down plus $10,000 a week through the election. With Rex, nothing is ever what it appears. You might know thatRex is tight with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat.

[caption id=“attachment_15564” align=“alignright” width=“300”]Rex Sinquefield’s Mad Scientist Blimp Piloting X-Ray Glasses[/caption] People tell me Republican consultant John Hancock is a really nice guy. I think they’re right. And, as Hancock’s clients have learned repeatedly, nice guys finish last. The clearest example of Hancock’s failure was John Brunner’s campaign for US Senate in 2012. Brunner is an exceptional businessman with a remarkably clear and accurate political philosophy. Had Brunner succeeded in winning the GOP nomination for Senate, Claire McCaskill would be retired, the GOP would have a Senate majority already, and Rand Paul would have a philosophical friend in the upper chamber.

_Updated: the original title said “Congress is for sale.” My mistake. I meant Government. _ Once upon a time in America, people built companies by filling society’s unmet needs. To survive, a company relied on innovation, quality, and, of course, good advertising. The best advertisement being word of mouth. That’s all changed now. The way to grow a successful company is to get government to protect your market, dampen competition, and require people to buy what you sell.

Let’s be honest with ourselves: President Obama’s unilateral, dictatorial action on immigration is not to benefit illegals. It’s to punish American voters for rejecting him. This is personal. In two years, the next American president will let this and many other Obama executive orders expire. Executive orders are not law. They expire with the term of the president who signed them. No future president is bound to renew them. And the next president won’t.

Governors Republicans were supposed to lose governor seats. Instead, they picked up nine or ten. That’s huge, because governors become presidents. Executive leadership is different from coalition “leadership,” and governors are real executives. Look for the GOP’s gubernatorial wins to play big roles in 2016 and 2020. This Morning (New York Times): Democrats seem to have their best shot in Florida, where the state’s former Republican governor, Charlie Crist, is running as a Democrat against the Republican incumbent, Rick Scott.

I’m sitting at Reagan National Airport waiting for my flight home. I just spent 24 hours meeting the people who keep America free. Well, besides the people in uniform. It’s the Heritage Foundation’s donors and leaders. It’s Heritage Action and its Sentinels. It’s decidedly NOT the ruling class, the two big parties. I had the high privilege of sharing a panel with 14 people who work a lot harder than I do.

The White House and its corrupt Department of Justice has one chance to change the election’s outcome.According to Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight blog, the GOP has a 62.1 percent chance of a Senate majority. With nine days left until the election, and with President Obama’s approval and likability plunging, the Democrats face a huge loss. Apathetic Democrats Many political observers blame Democrat voter apathy, particularly among African-Americans. The black vote that swelled in 2008 and 2012 with Obama on the ballot shows signs of deflating in 2014 as it did in 2010.

From about 1978 until the Monica Lewinsky fiasco, the GOP was called “the party of ideas.” I miss the ideas. William F. Buckley helped. Buckley liked big ideas and smart people. He liked politicians who gave legs to great ideas and governors with the guts to experiment. Governor Ronald Reagan appeared on Buckley’s Firing Line shortly after the Gipper became California’s governor. Reagan talked about many ideas he was trying or hoping to try.

I am scaling back my blogging. I spend about 1-2 hours on most posts. That’s writing, researching, photo editing, etc. It’s time consuming. It’s also worth the effort. Blogging is an opportunity cost, too. Every hour I spend blogging is an hour I’m not doing anything else. The things I’m not doing include: ** admiring my wife ** talking to my kids ** catching up with friends ** advancing my career ** cleaning up my office ** changing my underwear ** cheering on the Blues (or Cardinals or Rams) ** working out ** washing my car ** fixing that door that doesn’t open right ** training my dogs to make a proper CC and club soda ** paying bills ** answering emails ** blowing the leaves out of the garage ** hunting copperheads and rattlesnakes (we have both out here) ** visiting my parents

Maybe this logic sucks, but this is my logic. When I vote, I ignore my positions on issues. Instead, I use my vote to advance two objectives: *1. I want my vote to improve policy towards liberty. *2. I want my vote to maximize my political power. A simple test that I ask myself is this: If I vote for A, do I expect resulting policy to be more or less to my liking?

My phone and inbox lit up all morning. Missouri Republicans are FREAKING OUT that Speaker Apparent John Diehl could go down to defeat at the hands of conservative/libertarian grassroots activists. The freak-out is over a press conference in Queeny Park at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 30. [map] I heard of the Stop Diehl project last week. On Saturday, mostly Republican volunteers began a door-to-door campaign in Diehl’s district to block re-election.

When people asked me to get behind Rick Stream, I first wanted to make sure that was the right thing. I remembered that I have a friend who helped Rick a while ago. So I asked her. Rick Stream is “a quiet leader." “I didn’t see him as a politician,” she told me. We were talking about Rick Stream, the candidate for St. Louis County Executive. [caption id=“attachment_15477” align=“alignright” width=“300”] Representative Rick Stream (R-Kirkwood) chairs the House Appropriations Committee.

I changed the commenting system to Commento from Disqus. For my frequenty commenters, this may require you to re-authenticate. (Sorry, but security, ya know.) I did this for two reasons: Disqus sells user information, and Commento does not. Commento, therefore, respects your privacy more. Disqus slows down my pageload time, and Commento does not. Commento, therefore, respects your time. I have migrated all the old comments to the new platform, so anything you posted previously should appear.

Accountability? We don’t need no stinking accountability. No, Ann Wagner didn’t actually say that. But her comments to a 2nd District Republican committee meeting on Tuesday gave at least one attendee the impression that Mrs. Wagner opposes the idea of conservatives holding Congress accountable. Ann Wagner Attacks the Conservative Heritage Action Rep. Ann Wagner accused the conservative Heritage Action for America of “pitting Republican against Republican” and “never attacking Dems” at the Republican meeting.

Libertarians want to take over the world and leave you alone. What a refreshing ambition! A couple days ago, I wrote that I will not vote for Ann Wagner’s re-election in 2014. I arrived at that position after realizing that Mrs. Wagner and I share incompatible, mutually exclusive views on the proper relationship between government and people. She believes government should run markets. I believe government should make sure markets are fair.

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the lame duck. You can’t trust the GOP establishment. In case you missed it, the House GOP leadership pushed a Continuing Resolution to fund government through December. Now, these same GOP leaders will tell you they expect Republicans to take over the Senate in January. So why would they give Harry Reid a chance to use the lame duck Congress in December to pass an Obama-friendly long term CR?

There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3, 218–224 The problem the Republican Party has, too many people are sitting around, waiting for a wave to take them across the election.

Rep. Ann Wagner’s Heritage Action Score is a disappointing 59. It’s about to drop even lower. Last week, the Republican from Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District came out strongly in support of cronyism by endorsing and vowing to fight for extending the Export-Import Bank. From Wagner’s interview with National Public Radio: “There is some talk about a short-term reauthorization, perhaps six or seven months on Ex-Im,” she said. “I’d like it to be longer than that.

I am embarrassed. I am embarrassed that I didn’t know about this problem sooner. Or I heard about it and ignored it, which is even worse. Maybe I thought it was just the usual liberal whining about trumped up racial problems. Whatever, I should have listened. On September 2, I asked a room of about 30 tea partiers, “Do you trust our justice system?” I heard a chorus of “No.”

If you talk long enough, you can butcher the best joke in the world–even the one from Monty Python that the Allies used to win WWII. https://youtu.be/ienp4J3pW7U Tuesday night at a Tea Party meeting, I managed to destroy a joke of my own, poor making, and insult a friend at the same time. That takes talent. Or . . . something. So, first, let me apologize to Adam Sharp, the best indy video journalist alive, since he was the victim of my horrible comedic delivery.

At 1:00 PM, I’ll be at 911 Beauty Salon: 9193 W Florissant Ave, St Louis, MO 63136, Cross Streets: Between Ferguson Ave and Canfield Dr. Let us knowyour story here. Upload photos, reciepts, and stories. People love stories. You are welcome to join me there at 1:00, or shop and dine on your own. This Ferguson BUYcott is getting massive national attention. Big thanks to everyone who took part last week and who’s joining in this week.

Hi. Bill Hennessy here. If you can, please stop by 111 Clarkson Executive Park, Ellisville, MO 63011 on Tuesday, September 2 at 7 p.m. (RSVP Here if you’d like.) I have something I’d like to talk to you about. It’s about the tea party movement. But it’s really about understanding two very important concepts: *1. Living to our purpose. *2. Doing what’s important. This is not a training session. It’s not an After Party.

Sorry I’m so late on this. This sounds whiny, I know, but I have a really involved week at work this week. Sorry. Crap always seems to work out this way, though. When there’s a great need for Tea Party services, I’m tied up with work obligations. Something has to give, and it’s usually the thing that doesn’t generate revenue. But we all have work to do. Ferguson businesses and families are still struggling with the effects of the riots.

Did you ever wonder why do-gooders and social planners never pay for their crimes? Yesterday, I wrote about Jesse Jackson dressing down at the hands of activists in a McDonald’s parking lot in Ferguson. I pointed out that Martin Luther King and Dick Gregory were similarly dismissed by rioters in the 1960s. Some things never change. One thing that has changed is the economic gap between whites and blacks. That’s gotten worse despite trillions in federal poverty programs that went mostly to “community organizing.

There’s an awesome YouTube video of Jesse Jackson getting skewered in Ferguson. First, though, a little history. One of the greatest books ever on race-based poverty and jobs programs is Tom Wolfe’s Mau-Mauing the Flak-Catchers. You won’t understand race politics in America without reading it. Twice. Four times, maybe. If you’ve read it, you know why Jesse Jackson and Capt. Ron Johnson and all the other “black leaders” are impotent to stop riots.

“And then say what? say, ‘forget you’re hungry, forget you got shot inna back by some racist cop—Chuck was here? Chuck come up to Harlem—’ ”“No, I’ll tell you what—” “‘Chuck come up to Harlem and—’ ”“I’ll tell you what—” “Say,‘Chuck come up to Harlem and gonna take care a business for the black community’?” That does it. Heh-heggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It’s one of those ungodly contralto cackles somewhere out there in the audience.

****UPDATE Tim Jones let me know that I’m giving the legislature more power than it actually has. Veto sessions are limited to overriding vetos. Thus the name. BUT the governor can call a Special Session to vote on a Ferguson Tax Holiday. That session can run concurrent with the Veto Session, saving taxpayer dollars. SO > > > New Action: Ask Jay Nixon (via Twitter and Facebook) to call a Special Session concurrent with the Veto Session to create a Tax Holiday for Ferguson/Dellwood.

You can’t change the world in your living room. That’s why a small band of (mostly) white people from (mostly) West County drove to Ferguson (and Dellwood) to shop tonight. We targeted the small businesses that were hit hard by violence–violence committed (mostly) by out of town agitators, criminals, vandals, and hooligans. We drove to Ferguson to make two statements with our actons: 1) Ferguson is OUR community, and 2) Ferguson is open for business.

Since the Post won’t run my reply a recent op-ed about the Ex-Im Bank, I’ll publish it here: Huge multi-national corporations like to preach from the “small business” bible when it comes to the Export-Import bank. Unfortunately, most of the Ex-Im propaganda about how “small business” benefits crumbles under scrutiny. Professor Stanford Levin of Southern Illinois University recently wrote an Op-Ed supporting reauthorization of the Export Import Bank. As the professor states, the Export-Import Bank provides cheap loans to foreign companies and governments with which to buy products sold by mostly large, multi-national companies with headquarters in the United States.

Here are some businesses people should frequent: Eat at Sweetie Pies on W. Florrisant, or head to Paul’s Market on Elizabeth, Drive down N./S. Florrisant for Shop-n-Save, Chinese Food, local eats, bakeries, dollar tree, etc. Ferguson also extends to New Halls Ferry and 270, where there is a Home Depot, another Shop-n-Save, Party store, UPS store, and more. https://livewellferguson.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FergusonMap5-1.jpg Also, there is Ferguson Bike shop, The Whistle Stop, and Sportsprint (where you might find an I heart Ferguson shirt).

Guest post by Lee A. Presser On Wednesday, April 16, 2003, I was in Bel-Ridge, Missouri, Municipal Court to plead “not guilty.” The violation listed on the ticket did not match the reality of what actually happened on the road. In a file folder, I had documents and photographs to rebut the charge. The ticket stated that Court convened at 6:30 P.M. I arrived twenty minutes early. Before 9:30 that evening, I had been tightly handcuffed twice, verbally abused by police, pushed into a depressing detention cell, and made an example of in front of seventy-five to one hundred people.

Including muster time and location, rules of conduct, and a little story about smiling. CLICK HERE I’ll be on Jamie in the Morning at 6:10 a.m. today, Wednesday, August 20 on FM 97.1. Please listen. Thanks!

What did you think when you first heard reports of violence in Ferguson? I mean, after the shooting death of Michael Brown? Did you ever for a moment think, “this is about more than just Michael Brown?” I hate to say that. It’s embarrassing to admit that I’m so jaded as to think “that’s all” when a young man dies. Sorry. I’m just being honest. I understand community grief and anger.

DON’T STOP SHOPPING! The Buycott is underway. Great turnout on Thursday. Fantastic support from the media. Even Senator Claire McCaskill joined the buycott. Read all about it here. In the meantime, keep shopping Ferguson/Dellwood if you get the chance. And make an appointment on your calendar to shop Ferguson/Dellwood on Labor Day Weekend. Have out-of-town guests? Take them on a tour and have a meal in one of the great restaurants in the area.

The next St. Louis County Executive better brace himself for this: poverty is exploding in the county. I’m not saying poor people do bad things. I’m saying that, at some point, eliminating jobs and hope will drive people to take things. And they will take things by force. And they will show no mercy to anyone who tries to get in their way. Right or wrong, it happens. And no militarized police force will stop it.

I haven’t written about Ferguson because I’ve known too little to add value. But ignorance hasn’t stopped others from stirring up hate and discontent. For example, Missouri’s shakedown artist, Lacy Clay. Lacy Clay, speaking from a private island in the Carribean, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Michael Brown was murdered. Clay knew or should have known the effect of his words: more violence. Either Clay meant to incite violence or he has a casual disregard for the effect of his irresponsible speech.

I shout a lot. Not with my lungs. With my pen. Well, not a pen, actually. With a wireless Bluetooth keyboard. A few years ago, I shouted with my lungs at Tea Party events. I realized pretty quickly that shouting wasn’t doing any good. It worked at first. Shouting carried my voice to people who thought “no one believes what I believe.” Some people heard me yelling at the Arch and came out to see what the hell was going on.

Eurozone’s economy is basically in recession. Walmart lowered expectations. Again. The world is teetering on the edge of World War. The US is launching Iraq War 3.0: Mission Accomplished Accomplished. Germany’s economy is flat, and Italy and France are getting worse. Risk is high. Corporate debt is staggering. The Fed’s balance sheet is a sea of monetized debt. The central banks have nothing left to fix another crash. And the stock markets are rocketing to record highs because of all this news.

Is it possible that we do criminal trials backwards? In the United States, criminal trials have two parts: *1. Determination of guilt or innocence *2. Determination of penalty Does that make sense? What if we did it the other way around? What if, first, the prosecutor and defense attorney had to convince the judge or jury of the appropriate punishment for the crime in question. In this phase, the state would present the facts of the case.

I’m not being judgmental or rhetorical with that title. I’m curious how other people deal with capital punishment. Here' my story: Once upon a time, I advocated for the death penalty. Loudly. Shrilly, at times. In the 1980s and into 1990s, I read a lot. Philosophical. Religious. Legal. Historical. Lots of angles, but few perspectives. You see, I sought out confirming information. I searched high and low for perspectives that would justify my own.

Maybe the chickens are coming home to roost for the GOP in St. Louis County. In my day job, I focus on two subjects: strategic behavioral science and analytics. Really smart people do most of the heavy analytics work. I deal with the human behavior (neuroeconomics, psychology, etc.). In our narrow field of loyalty and motivation, I think we’re the best in the business. Not me, but the people I work with.

On Saturday, I raised a concern about Erick Erickson’s handling of Reince Priebus at Erickson’s annual RedState Gathering. Today, Erick responded to widespread criticism of his decision to protect the GOP Chairman from questions about tactics in the Mississippi Republican Senate Runoff. Here’s the heart of Erickson’s answer: But there was more to it than me knowing people would be angry about Mississippi. First, many of the people told me what they wanted to ask Reince.

Many Republican voters pulled a Democrat ballot August 5th, in St. Louis County. Having crossed over once, how many will do it again in November? It is no secret that the Republican legislature in Jefferson City has exhibited minimal leadership on major issues while spending most of a short legislative calendar talking about issues invented by lobbyists. Republican voters expected more. Many St. Louis County Republican voters are baffled by the absence of political ‘guts’ displayed in Jefferson City.

UPDATE: Welcome, Donald Trump fans! Thanks for reading. Yes, it’s true, I have had disagreements with Erick in the past. I try to assess the situation, not just the person. It’s possible to disagree with someone on one subject and to agree with them on another. If anything, Erick showed consistency by rescinding Trump’s invitation to Red State. Erick didn’t want the event to descend into chaos led by my friends over the Barbour episode; he doesn’t want a descent into chaos led by Donald Trump.

I wrote previously that I hate elections. I have many reasons for hating elections. One reason, though, seems pretty common: horrible, insulting radio ads. Two ads really stick out: The negative ad that mentions the sponsoring candidate’s opponent(s) five times as often as it mentions the candidate you’re supposed to remember at the poll. The couple having a stilted, phony conversation about the sponsoring candidate using words and interruptions that no human being ever uttered or ever will.

If you don’t get The Missouri Torch delivered to your inbox every day, you’re missing out. [caption id=“attachment_15201” align=“aligncenter” width=“1000”] Duane Lester’s Missouri Torch. www.themissouritorch.com[/caption] Duane Lester has built a fantastic blog. The Missouri Torch captures the most important Missouri political news every day and sends you a convenient link list. Plus, Duane’s original pieces are crisp, smart, witty, and dead on. And, like Rush Limbaugh, Duane is almost always right 99.

Now that Amendment 7 has gone down in flames, let’s look at highway funding in Missouri. Amendment 7 would have authorized a 3/4 cent sales tax increase in Missouri. The money was intended for transportation in the broadest sense of the word. Parks with dirt paths qualify, since people can walk on the paths. Even if the bill tightened down the definition of transportation, municipalities and counties would have merely shifted funds to other projects and replaced that money with Amendment 7 taxes.

Go Ed! A few weeks ago, hunkered down at my laptop in my hotel room in Jacksonville, Florida. I was exhausted from seven hours of travel and a time change. But I had to take a moment to recognize Ed Martin’s commitment to all the best the Republican Party stands for. Ed is determined to expose the GOP establishment’s willingness to do anything to destroy grassroots insurgents. Thad Cochran’s forces in Mississippi threw ethics, morality, and decency to the wind in their quest to stop a Tea Party candidate from unseating the 128-term Cochran.

CORRECTION: My sincerest apologies for an inexcusable error in this post earlier. I erroneously congratulated my friend Martin Baker in the US House 1st District primary. I understand that Martin was about 500 votes short. I failed to verify information I received on the race, and I apologize for my irresponsibility. Well, this got people talking. (See the comments.) Yesterday was the Missouri Primary. Congratulations to Rick Stream and Jay Ashcrofton their wins in contested races for St.

No time for deep analysis tonight, but there’s a small political earthquake in St. Louis County. With over 90% of the precincts counted in the Missouri primary, incumbent Congresswoman Ann Wagner has only 500 more votes than her November challenger, Democrat Arthur Lieber. I get that this is a primary and that the St. Louis County Executive race drew a lot of attention. But Wagner won her seat in 2012 by 20 points.

When did first ladies become dictators? Seriously. The president’s family has no more authority than anyone else. The reason people show contempt for activist spouses of presidents is the same reason history hates Marie Antoinette. I know, the all-Democrat Congress passed the school nutrition law in 2010, but Michelle Obama wrote it. Michelle Obama has dictated that no tasty foods may enter any school property. That ban includes school bake sales and snack shops which has PTOs scrambling to replace lost income.

It was 2010. St. Louis was the epicenter of the Tea Party movement. Tea Party Patriots picked St. Louis to host the Gateway to November rally under the Arch. Unlike our rag-tag events, this one would be professional all the way: live music with Sounding Fathers, speakers you heard of before the movement began in February 2009, and real security. The guest speakers began rolling into town on Friday the tenth.

Thanks to MOPP for this fantastic summary for Center for Self-Governance training opportunities in the show me state. Includes links to enroll in class. FYI… TO: MOPP SUPPORTERS  MOPP COUNTY COORDINATORS (please help spread this message by forwarding to your Missouri contacts/networks/thanks!) **_ _** **_ _** **_ _** Citizen involvement is “snowballing” across the State of Missouri as the Center for Self Governance adds more classes to its schedule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbYKydZ3T0Q The weird thing is: isn’t that Sharp Elbows questioning the Chief? When did he become a detective in Michigan? The chief pleaded nolo contendere to identity theft charges. He presented himself as a tea party leader signing up for embarrassing, sexual email lists. From the La Crosse Tea Party: A shocking update to the Town of Campbell Situation this week. Detective Spencer from Monroe County Sheriff’s department called and said that Campbell Police Chief Tim Kelemen confessed to harassment/internet stalking/identity theft regarding my complaint filed to La Crosse P.

You’d think being a political animal of sorts, election season would be my favorite time of year. It’s not. I hate elections. I hate the crappy, predictable radio ads (above all else). I know, they do it because it works. Well, not really, but I’m not going to give a free marketing statistics lesson here. (No one has any idea if the campaign formula works, because no body ever tries anything different.

You don’t hear the word “mainstream” in political spin like you used to. Back in the late 1980s when Jack Kemp, Pat Robertson, Pete DuPont, Al Haig, and George H. W. Bush were battling to replace [caption id=“attachment_15090” align=“alignright” width=“300”] 1988 Republican Candidates[/caption] Ronald Reagan, “mainstream” was in. Candidates fought for the title of “mainstream Republican,” “mainstream Conservative,” “mainstream everything.” I’m glad that word went away. But I’m bringing it back, if only for one blog post.

I confess. When I write about freedoms lost, I don’t itemize the freedoms. I don’t feel too bad, though, because almost no one does. Itemizing sucks. First, it’s hard work. “Losing freedom,” takes about three seconds to type and less time to read. Listing freedoms,on the other hand, takes that much time just to highlight all the freedoms and click the un-ordered list button. God forbid I find myself working in straight HTML and have to hand-type "

Last week I blogged that Ronald Reagan would love the Transportation Empowerment Act (TEA). I included audio of Reagan talking to Bill Buckley on Firing Line about the burden on states from onerous federal taxes and grants. Forgive me, but that was sort of a tease. Here’s the meat: Reagan wrote a proposal for the Republican Governors' Conference of 1967 to allow states to keep about 2 percent of all federal taxes raised in the state.

If you registered as a user but never commented AND you want to continue getting an email notification when new blogs are posted, all you have to do is COMMENT on this blog. Say anything, like “don’t delete me, bro.” Here’s why: my blog has about 8,000 registered users. That sounds great, I know, but it’s not. Most of these registered users are zombies. They were created by a spam bot so the bot could post spam comments.

Have you ever felt like tuning out, giving up, and just riding out whatever storm comes down the pipe next? I have. Many times. Every week. Sometimes more than once a day. I think we can both give ourselves a pass on that feeling. In fact, I think we can both give ourselves a pass on acting on that feeling. It’s okay to check out occasionally. Everyone needs a break now and then.

Proponents of Amendment 7 are telling a lot of lies. (I’m looking at you, St. Louis Business Journal.) The biggest lie involves the quality of Missouri’s roads and bridges. While Mayor Slay and the St. Louis Business Journal tell you Missouri’s roads are “crumbling," two independent studies say the opposite. In fact, Missouri has some of the best roads in the country. Via Show-Me Institute (h/tDarin Morley): We have often commented that Missouri is “middle of the pack” in various state rankings.

Listen to my short podcast about Missouri’s Constitutional Amendment, Amendment 9–the Electronic Data Protection Act. [audio mp3=“https://hennessysview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/HennessyView_20140714.mp3”][/audio] And don’t forget to vote YES on Amendment 9. Restore the4th Amendment. You can read more about Amendment 9 on Ballotpedia. And here’s the Missouri ACLU’s page on Amendment 9.

When a Republican invokes “Reagan’s Sacred and Holy and Inviolable Eleventh Commandment,” (in nomine Patris et Filii et Spritus Sancti, Amen), you can rest assured you’re witnessing a frightened establishment type trying get himself out of trouble. It’s actually comical to watch these guys: shaking with rage, forcing one of those pained, contraindicative grins as they wag a hostile finger at a woman a quarter their size. “Thou shalt NOT speak ill of a fellow Republican!

Since the scrawny punk from Chicago still hasn’t figured it out, this President 101 lesson delivered without further comment: https://youtu.be/9VA4W1wDMAk?t=18s Previously on Hennessy’s View: We Interrupt This World War For a Democratic Fundraiser

[caption id=“attachment_14949” align=“alignright” width=“300”]“What, me worry?"[/caption] Russian troops or Russian proxies murdered 293 people, today, including 23 Americans by many reports. Israel was forced to invade Gaza to destroy tunnels Hamas uses to invade Israel and murder children. The world teeters on the brink of all-out war. But the President refused to cancel partisan fundraising efforts tonight. Via The Blaze: At 2:25 p.m., the White House press office e-mailed a response to an inquiry from TheBlaze, “No scheduling changes to be reported at this time.

Last week, I wrote about the Missouri Republican Establishment’s plan to win a windfall for lobbyist Kit Bond via Senate candidate Jay Ashcroft. Not that the Establishment cares about Bond, but they want Medicaid expansion passed before they beg for money for 2016 from the Missouri Hospital Association and Chamber of Commerce. Well, the St. Louis Post Dispatch asked Ashcroft about the deal, and he couldn’t quite bring himself to deny that he would pass Medicaid expansion if elected.

Doesn’t it suck when Jay Nixon and Francis Slay get on opposite sides of an issue? Where do we go? They’re on opposite sides of Amendment 7, the largest tax increase in Missouri history. And you need to choose a side before August 5, because the ball’s in the voters' court. But there’s no need to fear; Hennessy is here. And I heard Francis the talking Mayor on KMOX this morning (or maybe it was yesterday) talking about how much he loves, Loves, LOVES the 3/4 cent sales tax increase theoretically for transportation.

Want to fix Missouri’s roads and cut taxes at the same time? Well, two American conservative icons showed us the way almost 50 years ago. The Establishment likes to attack grassroots conservatives by claiming Reagan would have opposed the Tea Party. They’re wrong, of course, and the Transportation Empowerment Act tells us why. In 1967, shortly after Ronald Reagan became governor of California, William F. Buckley Jr. asked Governor Reagan if was even possible to be an effective governor.

I’m on the road this week, but I’m thrilled to get this email from Missouri GOP Chairman Ed Martin: Over the past few days, I have reached out to many but not all of you about some of what MissouriRepublicans were asking about re Mississippi especially about the racially divisive ads run in support of Senator Cochran. Many of you gave me good advice, some were silent, and I got lots of input from Mississippi too.

Visuals: Some of the thousands of children suffering in a humanitarian disaster at the US border on the top of the split screen. On the bottom, President Obama drinking beer and shooting pool with locals 246 miles away. Audio: President on deploying National Guard to alleviate humanitarian crisis: “I’d be happy to consider it,” but it would be “a temporary solution.” Face it: the press was going to blame George Bush for Katrina no matter what.

What political label do you give yourself? Yesterday, I blogged about calling myself a Republican. I was a kid. Then, from about 1996 on, I called myself a conservative. Over the past year or so, I’ve taken on the label of libertarian. Now, a simple online test confirms that I’m a right-leaning conservative. [Take the test yourself] That’s exciting, because I feel like I need a new label. Labels Matter I know there was a movement a couple of years ago to abolish political and ideological labels.

It’s funny, really, that America celebrates the day we signed up to fight a brutal war for independence, not the day that war was won. But I want to write about football. I’ve always hated the Dallas Cowboys. Cut me a little slack, though. I was a Big Red fan from childhood, and a season ticket holder from 1978 to 1983. (“Big Red” refers to the St. Louis Football Cardinals for those of you under 40.

A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has been victorious in some way; however, the heavy toll negates any sense of achievement or profit (another term for this would be “hollow victory”). — from Wikipedia I keep some things in a little box in my bedroom. Some Navy and submarine mementos, some letters, favorite photos of the kids that mean things only to me.

What if America didn’t exist? That’s the premise of Dinesh D’Souza’s new movie America: Imagine the world without her. (Find a theatre near you.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyD13lvE_U0 Last Wednesday, my wife took Samantha, Jordan, and me to see the movie to kick off Independence Day weekend. Even without the movie, this July 4th was special for me. My son, Jack, re-enlisted in the US Navy on board the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor.

I love this video. And I’m going to ask you a small favor for my son Jack, so please read all. WARNING: Strong Language https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj6AXvkBnv4 What’s So Great About It? You have to love this American Army sergeant telling the Iraqi police how it is in strong language. Perhaps if the Iraqi police had listened, they wouldn’t be defending Baghdad against the Islamic State right now. But they are. I know some of you might object to this sergeant’s direct assault on these men’s manhood and character.

Lynd: So as charming as you are, Mister Bond, I’ll be keeping my eye on the government’s money and off your perfectly formed arse. Bond: You noticed. Lynd: Even accountants have imaginations. — from Casino Royale, 2006 You have to ask “why?” Why would national Republicans like Roy Blunt, Ann Wagner, Billy Long, and Jason Smith jump into a State Senate primary? The race to replace Senator John Lamping in Missouri’s 24th State Senate district is attracting major attention from Missouri’s US Congress delegation.

How many times have you thought, “I really don’t care for the Republican, but I’ll never vote for a Democrat?” How does that thought make you feel? Weak or strong? Impotent or powerful? Eager or dispirited? Do you know why you feel forced to choose between the lesser of two evils? Because you want to. In almost every race, you have more than two choices. In the 2014 US House elections in Missouri, ballots in all eight districts will have a Libertarian or independent candidate, or both.

The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal—the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men.

What line of work was Tony Soprano in?  Waste management. Did Tony Soprano expect people to believe he was in waste management? No. Tony Soprano expected people realize he was a wise guy and treat him with due respect–or what you and I call fear. Some lies are meant to make the liar seem more successful or more talented or better than he thinks he is. Trust me, I’ve done it.

What do we do with the plank? Yesterday I wrote about a new political dichotomy in America. This new dichotomy supersedes or suspends all other political dichotomies: left vs. right, Democrat vs. Republican, etc. This new American political dichotomy is elites vs. plebeians. Elites and Plebeians Think of elites as the people who donate lots of money and give lots of favors to the party in power in exchange for favors.

Before we get to politics, I want to tell you about a business exercise. The Universal Veto Game Sometimes my job as a consultant involves helping people decide what to do when no ideas have a consensus. Sure, someone in a hierarchy can dictate terms, but dictated solutions don’t really work in business. Cooperation and collaboration are too important for success, and dictated terms are usually executed half-assed. So we play this game.

St. Louisan Eric Greitens did more before graduating from college than most people do in a lifetime. And, as if to insult us all, after college, Eric became a Navy SEAL. In his remarkable book, The Heart and the Fist: The education of a humanitarian, the making of a Navy SEAL , Greitens tells the story of a man who seems too good to be true. Seriously. And the book left me with two big impressions–probably the wrong ones, but that’s how I am.

“Shellacked!” That was the word that stuck out to me. Eric Cantor, the Republican House Majority Leader led by 34 points according to his pollster. He lost by 10. That’s a shellacking. Eric Cantor was the first sitting House Majority Leader ever knocked off in a primary. Cantor was also one of Wall Street’s best friends and the embodiment of crony capitalism—the disease eating the heart out of the GOP.

You know how reckless and tone-deaf Obama is about Army deserters? Missouri’s House and Senate Republican leaders are just as clueless and irresponsible about money. Yes, I said it: the Missouri Republican legislature is about as conservative and principled as Susan Rice on a Sunday talk show. By going on a votes-for-cash spending spree on the last day of the General Assembly, the House and Senate handed Jay “Idiot” Nixon a PR prize worth its weight in pork.

Thanks to Ben Evans of Heritage Action for America and Michelle Moore of St. Louis Tea Party Coalition, you have a treat coming on June 19. Heritage Action/St. Louis Tea Party Social: June 19 On Thursday, June 19 at 6:30pm, we will gather informally at Scarecrow in Chesterfield, 1095 Chesterfield Parkway. All are welcome. Appetizers will be provided. Come down and enjoy the company of fellow grassroots activists. If you have friends who think Tea Partiers are “too extreme” or “racist” or whatever, bring them along.

A lot of good people I know grumble that the House Republicans don’t try to impeach Obama. I usually don’t say much in response. After the disaster of the ill-conceived Clinton impeachment fiasco,** impeachment seems like a superstition**. Like a unicorn. I think impeachment is a dangerous tool and should never be used for political purposes. Besides, Harry Reid’s Senate wouldn’t consider articles of impeachment if they included NSA video of Obama throwing adorable, drooling toddlers off the George Washington Bridge.

Not all casualties of war die in the field. Or even during hostilities. We’ve learned that some of our warriors died because they landed on a “secret waiting list.” Bureaucrats love pleasing their bosses. They live for it. In the case of the Veterans Administration, bureaucrats fired the final shot in the wars of at least 40 American warriors. Sadly, the American government proved a deadlier foe than Hitler, Tito, Saddam, or bin Laden to some of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.

I knew it was getting late. I was leaving work, walking to my car, when I got a text message. My nephew scored two tickets to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.I texted my son, Patrick, to see if he was home. I planned to fly home, put on my Blues sweater, grab Patrick, and fly down to the Scot. But Patrick didn’t need a ride or a ticket. He was already on his way to the game with a friend.

I cried this morning. At work. Tears of shame. Every day when I get to work, I go through a thirty-minute routine. I write down the 3 things I want to accomplish that day. I write down my appointments. I write down a one-sentence prayer. I copy a quote to guide me. With the time remaining, I learn one new thing. Today that one thing I learned was humbling. Shameful, actually.

I’ll give Business Insider some credit. After Tea Party-backed candidates came up empty across the board in Tuesday’s Republican primaries, the website that has spent years maligning our rule-of-law movement could have taken the low road. Instead, blogger Brett Logiurato wrote a fair assessment of what’s happened to the GOP since February 27, 2009. The much-talked about Republican “civil war” is over, at least for the people who thought it even existed in the first place.

If you’re reading this, the Blues blew it. Again. I’m writing this six hours before Game 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks. If I wait to write this after the game, I’ll get a lot of complaints about foul language. Yes, I expect the Blackhawks to end the Blues’ delusions of Market Street parades this afternoon. The Blues’ tenacity, hitting, and heart can’t overcome their lack of goal scoring and playoff goaltending.

I told my nephew Scott that I was worried about the parallels between this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 and last year’s bitter collapse to the LA Kings. That conversation happened last Sunday at an Easter party. The Blues were up 2-0 at the time, preparing for Game 3 in Chicago. My trepidation stemmed from the pattern emerging: ** Blues playing defending Stanley Cup Champions in Round 1 ** Steen wins Game 1 on overtime goal ** Jackman scores game winner in Game 2

In 1977, the National Socialist Party (Nazi) applied to march and rally in Skokie, Illinois. Few communities want Nazis marching down their streets, but Skokie held a stronger case against the Nazis than most towns in America. About one person in every six of Skokie’s large Jewish population was a Nazi prison camp survivor. The debate was clear-cut: American Nazis claimed the right of free speech while their Jewish “targets” claimed the right to live without intimidation.

I hope you read Jonah Goldberg’s short article on National Review Online last week. If not, you missed the best definition of Establishment Republicans EVER! Goldberg’s piece also exploded the myth of “pro-business” way too many conservatives believe. Conservatism isn’t pro-business, it’s pro-market. I’ll let Jonah explain: Just to clarify, the difference between being pro-business and pro-market is categorical. A politician who is a “friend of business” is exactly that, a guy who does favors for his friends.

From the “see, I told ya so” file . . . Rockwood NEA President Suzanne Dotta worked hard to influence the recent school board election. The candidates Ms. Dotta pushed won. The new board hired Ms. Dotta as Director of Professional Learning within 72 hours of the election. I expect Ms. Dotta to teach Rockwood’s professionals how to game the system for personal gain at taxpayer expense. If you’d like to question this apparent quid pro quo, the next Rockwood Board meeting is April 24.

Every inch of US territory is a Constitutionally guaranteed free-speech zone. I am all for arresting and prosecuting without mercy any government employee–including military–who attempt to limit the size or scope of this zone. During the Bundy Ranch standoff in Nevada, the Bureau of Land Management set up “free-speech zones.” I prefer to call them “First Amendment pens.” The government uses these pens to segregate people. The US government says, “If you want to speak your mind, you may do so only within the pen.

Events of the past week show the power of the Second Amendment to challenge government tyranny, regardless of the government’s firepower advantage. Let me back up, though. A Smart Man’s Stupid Argument for Gun Control A year ago, the gun control lobby pumped a Facebook post by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, one of my favorite thinkers. In his post, Taleb argued that the Second Amendment means nothing because the federal government has massively superior firepower:

The NIKKEI Is down 1.56% already. This comes on the heels of a terrible day in US momentum stocks Friday. Also Abenomics begins it’s tax-hike phase tomorrow when Japan’s national sales jumps 60%, to 8 percent from 5 percent. Zerohedge plots Japan’s despair

“Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.” –President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, 1961 A young man named Adam Weinstein recently called for incarceration of disbelievers in the cult of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming (CAGW). His argument mirrors the argument Goebbels used in 1930s to quash dissent from eugenics and to take immediate policy actions for the betterment of humanity.

When you’ve stated your opinion or belief about something important, do you defend your belief to the hilt? Or do you immediately begin questioning your own conclusions? Most of my life, I would defend my opinion to the point of losing friends. Even if I was wrong. Even I knew I was wrong. I’m a coward, what can I say? I’m trying to get better, though. One practice I’ve developed and recommend to everyone is pretty simple but difficult.

Eileen Tyrrell is the only candidate who represents ALL the stakeholders in Rockwood School District. While other candidates focus on more money for the system, Eileen focuses on using Rockwood’s (embarrassingly) ample resources better. Here’s what you need to ask youself: Do you plan to fulfill your duty to vote on April 8? What time of day do you plan to vote? Where will be and what will you be doing immediately before you go to vote?

You’d think American foreign policy couldn’t sink any lower than standing by while Vladimir Putin re-conquers the Warsaw Pact nations. Then you’ve underestimated Barack Obama’s incompetence. Apparently, Obama didn’t bow low enough to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Whatever happened, an “intimate” evening planned for Obama and Abdullah was abruptly cancelled after a two-hour meeting between the two leaders. A meeting intended to “mend fences” between the two men. UPDATE: Here’s the video from Lou Dobbs on Fox Business

Just got a reminder from Tony Pousosa, Republican for St. Louis County Executive: We will be opening up our campaign HQs on Saturday 3/29 at 5pm. 111 Clarkson Executive Park, Ellisville, MO 63011. Please join us if you can. I plan to stop by. You should, too.

Don’t you just love brash upstarts? People with verve and moxie? I do. I like pesky guys full of gumption, like Vladimir Sobotka. I like energetic young political activists like Kenny Newhouse. And I like bold conservative organizers like Eileen Tyrrell. In fact, nothing pleases me more than seeing young, libertarian-ish Republicans making the establishment squirm. Sometimes the squirming establishment is as small as a GOP township or a school district.

This morning, a White House aide told reporters that Obama’s sanctions are visibly “weakening” Putin and Russia. Hours later, the White House recognizes that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could come any moment. Speaking from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, Mike Rogers, the chair of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, said US intelligence officials were convinced “that Putin is not done in Ukraine”. Surprise. As I’ve written, Russian paranoia demands a larger sphere of influence and a large buffer of puppet governments, all the way to the German border with Poland.

You saw Obama stand by as you threatened Georgia in 2009. You heard Obama whisper to Medvedev that he’ll be willing to defy Congress to capitulate to you after Obama’s re-election. You watched Obama and his bumbling Secretary of State mangle its its own strategy in Syria—if the US ever had a Syrian strategy at all. You saw that the US was completely unprepared for your annexation of Crimea. You see the headlines of massive NSA spying on US citizens, though that same NSA was blind to your invasion of Ukraine.

How long has it been since you said, “they just don’t listen to us?” By “they,” you mean politicians, of course. Maybe you feel they listen to lobbyists and big corporations and banksters, but they don’t listen to their constituents. I have to agree with you. Politicians don’t listen to their constituents. They don’t even know who their constituents are. They know demographics and statistics about their constituents, but that’s like saying you know how a banana tastes because you read a chemical assay report of its contents.

Ask yourself this: why did the stock markets rally today after Obama announced sanctions against Russians? I’ll get back to that, but first some background. I’ve often said that Putin plays chess while Obama fumbles with checkers. I picture our president, chin resting on fist, brows squeezed in childlike concentration, as he carefully chooses between jumping Putin’s piece to end the game or getting another of his pieces “kinged.” Of course, Obama goes for the kingship.

Do you live in Rockwood School District? I do. My kids all went to Rockwood schools. My wife taught in a Rockwood school for three years. The teachers in Rockwood tend to think a lot like the people who live here. They’re not a bunch of wacked-out lefties. Not most of them. Still, that good education has come with HUGE price tag. Rockwood is one of the most expensive districts in Missouri.

Here’s a roundup of what to look for in the coming week. St. Louis Monday, 12:30 p.m.: The Ancient Order of Hibernians' Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dogtown. Get there early. Give yourself time to park and walk. Dress warmly. Wednesday, 5:00 p.m.: Protest of St. Louis Archdiocese for its promotion of City-County Merger. Location is Lindell and Grand. Wednesday, 7:00 p.m.: The activist who helped expose scandal, waste, and corruption at Rockwood School District is running for the Rockwood School Board.

Did you ever read a book and think, “I need to tell people about this?” Then you didn’t tell people about it. I mean, you didn’t blog about it. You didn’t “officially” proclaim the book “required reading.” Then something happened that you knew could happen because of the book, but you don’t get credit for calling it because you never got around to pumping the book. That’s how I feel today.

Have you ever said, “vote them all out?” Do you sometimes think anybody would do a better job than the incumbent? Do you feel you have no influence in Jefferson City, Springfield, or Washington? Do you feel that way because you don’t have thousands of dollars to donate and rich friends with oodles of cash you can bundle? I feel that way all the time. Ask my friends Ben Evans and Michelle Moore.

In the 1970s, a magazine ad for Benson & Hedges cigarettes portrayed a hockey fight. Two players slug it out. Sticks and gloves litter the ice. The point of view is on-ice, in the midst of the scrum. The crowd is on its feet, banging the glass. You’re right there with linesmen trying to break it up. The hockey gloves are Coopers. Every hockey player knows the name. In the photo, one of the gloves has been doctored.

Senator Roy Blunt (HA-57) proposed that all Obamacare ads contain a disclaimer: “Paid for by the American Taxpayer.” I get the idea. I can’t stand it when my tax dollars buy ads intended to raise my taxes. It means I’m fighting against myself. Still, I don’t like Senator Blunt’s plan because I think it could backfire. The Psychology of Ownership Right now, few people have a sense of ownership of Obamacare.

If you were out on the Arch steps on February 27, 2009, take a moment to consider what’s happened. ** From near-spontaneous reaction to bailouts, corporate takeovers, and profligate government spending emerged the largest and most sustained political movement since the 1960s ** Both the GOP and Democrat Party are minority parties, as independents have surged ** A new generation identifies with libertarian ideals like freedom from government spying, freedom from failed wars on activities war was never meant to stop, insane spending, the opaque and manipulative Federal Reserve, government manipulation of information, IRS abuse of political groups, and Obamacare.

Ben Evans of Heritage Action has free tickets for his Activist Skills Training. There are still tickets available to the Skills Clinic on Thursday, February 27: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stl-skills-tickets-10683495623 Holding Congress accountable can be tough work. Whether you are new to the fight or a seasoned activist, the Heritage Action Skills Clinic will help you better engage Congress, so your voice can be heard. Join fellow liberty-minded, conservatives for this FREE training as we provide the tools to take meaningful action.

Give all due credit to Rick Santelli. His rant inspired a movement. But words don’t wear boots. More images like this one available at Doctor Bulldog: https://doctorbulldog.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/st-louis-tea-party-by-the-arch/ At 7:00 pm on February 20, Mike Leahy, Eric Odom, Jenny Beth Martin, Michelle Moore, Brooks Bayne, and a few others hijacked the TCOT conference call to answer Santelli’s call for a Tea Party in Chicago. Two days after that, I posted this on Hennessy’s View:St.

Okay, I’m fired up. I’m fired up about Obamacare. I don’t know what got me onto this, exactly. I talked to Jim Durbin tonight, so maybe that was it. I’ve been looking for video of a speech I gave at the Million Med March in Clayton, MO, in 2009. Two-friggin-thousand-and-nine. (I’m a quarter German, so I hold a grudge.) I found it. Here’s the clip I’ve wanted to show Congress since last August.

TV hockey color man Eddie Olczyk said during the USA vs. Slovakia game that TJ Oshie would become well-known in the hockey world during these Olympics. Eddie nailed it. @OSH74 scored 4 shootout goals in 6 chances to lead Team USA to 3-2 win over Russia this morning. The official St. Louis Blues website: T.J. Sochi! [caption id=“attachment_14348” align=“aligncenter” width=“666”] Get your tickets at stlouisblues.com[/caption] Check out these Bruins fans at a Boston bar:

Constitution Not Included

You’re going to hit me with the small sample size argument here, but that’s okay. I firmly believe that the purpose of a company is to make life better, and if it does that well, it will make a profit. If, on the other hand, a company makes life worse, the market should let that company die. Some companies try to improve life with insanely great technology products. Some make life better with fast, safe cars that are fun to drive.

Karl Marx foresaw something that’s now playing out. As corporations cut labor costs to increase profits, they also destroy the markets for their goods and services. This chart shows corporate profits (red) and wages as a percentage of GDP (blue) from 1944 to 2012: [caption id=“attachment_14282” align=“aligncenter” width=“634”] Corporate Profits vs. Wages as Percentage of GDP, 1944-2012[/caption] When the blue line is higher than the red line, you get savings. For the red line to hang above the blue line, you need debt.

I wanted to write this post earlier today, so you’d all think I’m really smart. But I had to work until 10:00 tonight. I never go to it. Now, things are happening that might make this post less prescient. I’m writing it anyway. The Weirdest Index The financial world has a lot of weird indexes. They’re all correlation, no causation. And many of them fail under scrutiny. But one freaky index even has banks worried.

I stand by my assessment that Chris Christie’s leadership and management played a role in the retaliatory shutdown of Fort Lee’s access lanes to the George Washington Bridge. Yesterday,I compared the GWB scandal to several Obama scandals. I pointed out that conservatives must apply the same standards to Christie as we did to Obama when the IRS scandal broke. Today, let’s look at Christie’s response and contrast it to Obama’s.

One argument put forth by conservatives–and even some liberals–regarding the IRS scandal was this: Obama set a tone that encouraged IRS workers to harass conservative and Tea Party groups. He didn’t have to give a direct order. His tone and statements clearly condoned such criminal behavior toward his political enemies. Kimberly Strassel at WSJ.com: Mr. Obama didn’t need to pick up the phone. All he needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds; publicly call out by name political opponents whom he’d like to see harassed; and publicly have his party pressure the IRS to take action.

Use your snow day to join the opening of the Missouri General Assembly Speaker of the House Tim Jones • Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder Representative Eric Burlison and Senator Ed Emery * State Capitol in the beautiful House Lounge next to room 308 201 W. Capitol Ave. Jefferson City, MO Wednesday, January 8th at 10am (be early) Questions? Mary Hill mmdacushill@gmail.Missouri Statewide Right to Work Meeting Afterwards in Hearing room 7 starting at noon!

Last week’s Weednesday Post generated several comments that took my side but the facts wrong. Specifically, a couple of commenters claimed “marijuana is harmless.” That’s not true. While cannabis may be have fewer harmful effects than alcohol and tobacco, someone who abstains from all three will be healthier mentally and physically than the same person smoking pot. On the other hand, a lot proponents of prohibition throw around bad science, too.

Ben Sasse wants to break the back of lobbying and crony capitalism by moving the seat of government from Washington to Nebraska. Sasse is a Republican candidate for US Senate from Nebraska. Who doesn’t want to cripple lobbying? But Sasse’s plan won’t cripple lobbying. It will inconvenience lobbyists for a year while they resettle in the Midwest. Then it’s back to business as usual. Before you throw up your hands and say “it’s hopeless,” here’s an idea that might actually end lobbying as we know it.

I blog about tea party stuff 90 percent of the time. I get decent readership with those blogs, and I appreciate my loyal followers. Very much. But as long as I write about stuff only conservatives and activist libertarians care about, only conservatives and libertarians will read my blog. That means our ideas won’t escape the echo chamber we’ve been yelling in for years. When I write about the conservative/libertarian perspective on issues of wider interest, though, I bring in people who never otherwise read our views.

I repeated my New Year’s Day tradition of proposing cannabis law reform in Missouri and America last Wednesday. The post has generated a lot of serious discussion. I have to thank, especially, Dennis Broadbooks and Lisa, Culture Vigilante, for raising valid issues. Many others commented as well. I will work through your comments as the blizzard rolls through this weekend. But I wanted to pull my reply to Dennis and Lisa and to link directly to their most salient comments.

The Republicans are the Leon Spinks of politics these days. Remember Leon Spinks? He beat Muhammad Ali. Then he got arrested a bunch, gained a lot of weight, and lost to Ali a few months later. He was pretty much done. And Ali was like 50 when Spinks lost to him. Spinks had the whole world served up on a plate. He tried to eat it all at once. He choked on it.

The other one was 1975. At least in my lifetime. 1975 was weird for good reasons and bad. Saturday Night Live debuted with the Not Ready For Prime Time Players: Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtain, Gilda Radner, and Garrett Morris. President Gerald Ford tried to stop inflation with WIN buttons (seriously). New York City faced bankruptcy, but, after initially saying ‘drop dead,’ Gerry Ford ended up bailing it out with $2.

Have you ever wondered why moments end? I wrote about the Irish Moment and the Jewish Moment and the Gay Moment on Saturday. Three Moments enjoyed by identifiable groups of Americans. Moments that ended when the groups joined the main plot of the American story, leaving the artistic sub-plot to the next in line. Demographics offer only one kind of Moment, though. There are cultural moments and fashion moments and, of course, political moments.

The only Christmas I remember getting everything I wanted was in 1975. First, I was finally old enough (12) to not be so shallow and needy and get pissed off if I didn’t exactly what I wanted. Santa Claus and my parents and sisters were really good to me, but until 1975 I could still get worked up if the Erector Set I got wasn’t the 118-piece set with real electric motor.

H/T Bob the retiree Trying to keep the old Christian virtues in check on Christmas.

The vices are, indeed, let loose, and they wander and do damage. But the virtues are let loose also; and the virtues wander more wildly, and the virtues do more terrible damage. The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone. Thus some scientists care for truth; and their truth is pitiless.

Alton, Illinois — Spirits of the dead in the river city of Alton, Illinois, voted last night to organize as a union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Everett Johnson, a lawyer representing the ghosts, says he will begin negotiations with the town’s haunted house tour guides, spirit shops, and even owners of haunted properties. “The living have been exploiting these tortured souls for decades,” Johnson told Hennessy’s View.

Dina Spector breathlessly reports that “December Heat Wave Smashes Temperature Records In New York City” on Business Insider. Her hysteria relies on a Huffington Post piece which relies on an AP story. And they’re all wrong. I checked with NOAA on record temperature maximums in the US on December 21, 2013. There were none. [caption id=“attachment_14162” align=“aligncenter” width=“941”] NOAA Record Highs for 12/21/2013[/caption] The “record” high temperature that Dina, HuffPo, and AP reported was from an unofficial thermometer in Central Park.

Have you ever seen a moment end? I watched Duck Dynasty once or twice. I don’t get it. That makes me different. Fourteen million people watch the show every week. That’s more than watch any other show on television. Clearly, I’m a little odd, especially among conservatives. That’s okay. I’m used to being weird. I never expected that a reality TV show would stop a “moment.” But that’s exactly what’s happened.

I nearly killed my nephew, Scott, when he was about seven-years-old. I was 15 or so. We were at Sunnen Lake near Potosi, Missouri. My dad worked at Sunnen Products, and the company provided Sunnen Lake as a free recreation spot for employees and retirees. (Pretty cool perk.) The recreation complex was pretty rustic then. About ten cabins, a recreation hall with ping-pong and a huge fireplace. The big parking lot near the Rec Hall was covered with pea-size brown and tan gravel held in place by an eight-inch railroad tie wall.

A_t least once every human should have to run for his life, to teach him that milk does not come from supermarkets, that safety does not come from policemen, that ‘news’ is not something that happens to other people. He might learn how his ancestors lived and that he himself is no different–in the crunch his life depends on his agility, alertness, and personal resourcefulness.”_- Robert Heinlein I’m falling in love with teenage girls.

Submitted by Bob, the retiree: To the Millennials of America, All you sniveling, whining, crybaby Millennials need to quit your complaining and get signed up with Obamacare as soon as possible. We really don’t care what it costs you. I am retired now and drawing my Social Security and will sign up for Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and any other Social program available, as soon as I can qualify. I’m entitled, you know!

“There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. There’s a man with a gun over there A-tellin' me I got to beware.” –The Buffalo Springfield, For What It’s Worth Strange Days Indeed Something weird’s going on when I find myself agreeing with Carl Bernstein. But fighting for freedom makes strange bedfellows. Carl Bernstein was a reporter with the Washington Post in the 1970s. With Bob Woodward, Bernstein brought down President Nixon.

My son, Jack, crashed into the house about midnight. (Not literally. He just made a lot of noise coming through the door.) “You were on The Daily Show,” he shouted. “I know.” “You know how big a deal that is?” “Well, I was on Glenn Beck and Neill Cavuto, Larry Kudlow . . .” “Dad, no. You don’t get it. everybody watched Jon Stewart. Everybody I know called me.” I’ll get back to that.

Do you realize that’s been nearly five years since I wrote this post? Realizing how time’s flown since 2009, I’ve been a little nostalgic this weekend. I looked through some of Darin Morley’s excellent videos on YouTube.I searched “St. Louis Tea Party” on duckduckgo.com. Have you thought about what’s happened? While Russ Carnahan survived Ed Martin’s remarkable challenge in 2010, Russ is no longer in Congress, and Ed is chairman of Missouri’s Republican Party.

When I was three, a cat jumped off the roof of a screened deck onto my back as I was walking up the stairs to the deck. The cat shredded my shirt and turned my back to hamburger. I’ll get back to that. You know this cliché: “What goes up must come down.” It’s true. Even satellites and space stations crash back to earth. And the long distance probes like Voyager will eventually crash into some planet or start.

Before I answer that, a little science. Scientists study all kinds of things. One thing they study is ants, because ants teach a lot about communities. In a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ecologists Shigeto Dobata and Kazuki Tsuji studied the effects of “cheaters” in a colony of Pristomyrmex Punctatus ants. P. Punctati segment their society into two groups by age. Younger ants tend to hang around the house reproducing asexually.

I wanted to be William F. Buckley Jr. All I lacked was his intellect, education, and unique experiences. Well, I didn’t want to be him. I wanted to be the next one. Every day, I wrote a 750-word piece. Poorly. I believed that practice would improve my writing. It didn’t. One day, I realized, as long as I tried to be the next William F. Buckley, I was destined for frustration and failure.

I can be pretty hard on Republicans. Not hard enough for some. Too hard for others. But I, at least, try to time my battles for ideological consistency. As a general rule, odd-numbered years are for cleaning up the GOP. Even-numbered years are for cleaning out Democrats. This is an odd-numbered year. Right up to the votes on the continuing resolution,my primary targets were Republicans, especially Roy Blunt. Once the House exercised its Constitutional power of the purse strings, sending a popular continuing resolution to the Senate, the battle lines shifted.

Lowell Weicker was a RINO. So was Lincoln Chaffe for a while. And John Linsday, the mayor who tried to destroy New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. RINO stands for “Republican In Name Only.” Rhinos and Elephants are both pachyderms, so it’s a pretty clever name for people who join the Republican Party but prefer the Democrat platform. The problem is, some people take the concept to extremes.

Today on ABC’s This Week, Speaker of the House John Boehner spoke very powerful words about himself. They reveal his motivation. And it’s very encouraging. “I’m a reasonable guy. But I didn’t come to Washington to be a congressman. I came to do something for my country.” Write that down. That statement echos. Research shows thatpeople motivated by doing, by getting better, by learning, will work harder and stay truer to their principles than people motivated by demonstrating how good they are–being something.

Yeah, I know. Obama’s childish, petulant, and tyrannical tantrums over the continuing resolution makes me want to fight like an angry cat, too. But I don’t actually want to fight. Fighting isn’t in our interest. As Sun Tzu said: Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. I want to succeed in repealing Obamacare and forcing government into its constitutionally limited box.

Will help coordinate highway overpass demonstrations to support the patriotic truckers? America’s truckers are heading to Washington, DC to demand respect for the Constitution. They’ll be coming from all over the USA, and many will come through St. Louis. https://www.facebook.com/ridefortheconstitution I’ll be out of town this week, so I’m asking for some help. Let’s fill the overpasses with Gadsden and American flags, signs, and crowds to wave the truckers on.

I’m sure you’ve all see the reports. WWII Veterans asked the White House for permission to visit the World War II Memorial in case of a shutdown. The veterans are part of the Honor Flights program that helps aging veterans visit the WWII Memorial. Even though there’s no cost involved, the White House chose to dishonor the veterans' request. It send forth “goons,” in Senator Paul’s works, to erect barricades around the memorial.

“I shouldn’t have to offer anything.” Barack Obama on why he’s shutting down the government. Obama keeps forgetting he’s not a dictator. Or maybe I keep forgetting he is. [caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“441”] Democrat Speaker Tip O’Neill shut down the government 12 times.[/caption] Did you see that list of government shutdowns? 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1995. Those first four shutdowns came with Democrat majorities in both houses of Congress.

I was wrong. As the continuing resolution fight approached, I expected House Republicans to cave. I expected Boehner to make a half-hearted attempt to use debt ceiling, instead of continuing resolution, as leverage to stop Obamacare. And I expected Republican Senators to make a stand. But that’s not what happened. In reverse order, Senate Republican leadership ran away from confrontation like schoolgirls spying a snake. Led by Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, and Missouri’s Junior Senator Roy Blunt, the GOP attacked Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz instead of Obamacare.

Sam Adams and friends risked their lives in the commission of a felony in their outrage over government overreach. That was the Boston Tea Party. Look at us now! People furious with me for going after Senator Roy Blunt. I went after him because he announced he will vote for cloture knowing full well that cloture give Harry Reid his only chance to strip the House’s Obamacare defund language from the continuing resolution.

The Republican primary for US Senate in 2016 will actually be a battle for an empty seat. Roy Blunt effectively abdicated his throne today. This morning, I showed where Missouri stands on Obamacare. I’ve called, written, and tweeted to Roy Blunt. So have thousands of other Missourians. And so have Americans across the country. I’m not surprised that Roy Blunt failed to publicly join Ted Cruz’s filibuster. That kind of daring commitment to principle just isn’t in his character.

Imagine how isolated Roy Blunt must feel. Senator Blunt is a party man. He believes in following leadership. He doesn’t rock the boat. And his leader, Senate Minority Leader Slick Mitch McConnell, has decided to help Harry Reid get the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on the continuing resolution. Once debate closes (via cloture), Reid will strip the House’s defund language from the bill and pass it. Senate Republican leadership wants defund language stripped.

Harry Reid needs six Republicans to fund Obamacare. Mitch McConnell signed up immediately. In a statement, McConnell announced he plans to vote against Obamacare by voting for cloture, allowing Harry Reid to strike the defunding language from the bill. McConnell will, of course, vote nay on the final bill. But that’s just a gimmick. McConnell’s slick maneuver is short-sighted. It will bite him.  Slick Mitch knows as well as anyone that Obamacare is a disaster for the American people.

Since the 1980s, the AARP has been lobbying Congress and the White House. The AARP has just one objective: to transfer the future income of the young and the unborn to people over 50. Yes, it’s completely immoral. The AARP is like the father who used his kid’s Social Security Number to run up a ton of debt, then defaults. The kid is left with a permanently damaged credit rating, which prevents him from getting a good job or an affordable house.

I never thought I’d have to ask. In Nairobi, Kenya, al Qaeda terrorists stormed an upscale mall yesterday to kill all the Christians.So far, 59 are dead and at least 175 wounded. Another 30 or so hostages remain inside with the terrorists.Kenyan police are hunting the terrorists and attempting to free the hostages. The USA, surely, is on the side of the Kenyan authorities. Right? Well, last week, President Obama waived (aka, violated) a US law that prohibited the arming of terrorists and terrorist-linked groups.

People are natural creatures. People were created without earthly masters. People are born free to choose. People invented government. Some people created private government by suppressing others. Some people created public government through voluntary cooperation with others. Public governments rule people. Public government serve people. Public governments foster human achievement. Private governments suppress human achievement. Private governments tell people what they can do. Public governments do what people allow. Private governments seek to maximize the power of the ruling class.

Listen carefully. Rewind and listen again. This is Jimmy Rogers talking about Ben Bernanke’s legacy.

I had no idea this was coming when I wrote my blog post on gratitude at midnight. From Heritage Action for America: This morning, House leaders announced they would pass a continuing resolution that funds the government but defunds Obamacare this week. In many ways, today’s announcement represents “a victory…for the GOP’s conservative wing and its tea-party allies.” (Wall Street Journal) However, it also represents a victory for the tens of thousands of workers who have seen their hours cut thanks to Obamacare and to the patients searching for new doctors.

I think I was upset about losing a baseball game. I don’t remember. I’m better now, but when I was a kid, everybody knew when I was upset. I made sure of it. And I hated when someone tried to break those foul moods. Wouldn’t you know it. My mom said, “count your blessings.” Yeah. What blessings? We lost! Wasn’t she listening? I was a real peach. It turns out, my mom was right.

For years, conservatives have relied on a handful of brave State Senators to block really bad bills. One of that small group is Senator Brian Nieves. Here’s how you can help ensure Missouri has some spine in the State Senate for another 4 years. Print 10 copies of this page and hand it to friends. Ask them to join you at Senator Nieves’s Sporting Clays event **State Senator Brian Nieves ** General Laws Committee Chairman and Senate Majority Whip, Invites you to a Special Event Honoring the TRUE Intent of Our 2nd Amendment where YOU may win a Premium AR15!

There’s no such thing as a perfect candidate. So quit waiting for one, and quit staying at home and casting a protest vote. We need your help. Who are we you ask? The voters who have been getting their asses handed to them. We have about a hundred years of making up to do and we need to get started with a strategy. If we can elect a candidate that we agree with:

_Historic Veto Session leaves Missourians frustrated. _ Why is it that we expect more from elected public servants than from ourselves? We demand and expect them to stand up, sometimes alone, in a chamber full of their peers and fight for us, yet we don’t do it in our own communities! When we get frustrated with our elected representatives in Jefferson City (and Washington) who don’t stand up for us, our knee-jerk response is to try to elect someone else in their place and hope that new representative will listen to us.

Are you ready for America’s first Clothing Czar? According to RightQuestion.org, this person, “will decide what you will wear every day for the next four years. If you’re a Goth, what if the Czar disallows Goth? What if he’s an 80s fan and orders collars up? What other questions do you have for the new Clothing Czar? The good news: you can vote for the Clothing Czar of your choice.

John Kerry isn’t fit for Secretary of State, and the whole world knows it. If Obama every had a strategy for Syria, John Kerry destroyed it in a matter of minutes Monday. First, Kerry said any American response to unspeakable humanitarian crisis in Syria would be “unbelievably small.” Man, you know that fired up the Marines floating off the coast of Syria. I can see them, Mae Wests on, ready to charge the beach, hearing that dreadful command: “Fix bottle rockets!

Obama pitched war to a war-weary America, and all he got back was a yawn. Tonight’s speech was touted as the most important of his life. I doubt many will remember in 3 years. “I have asked Congress to find something else to do for a couple of weeks,” seemed to be the theme. Or “there’s something wrong with you people for wanting to bomb a Middle East country. I mean, they’re Muslims for God’s sake.

Eric Cantor’s latest tactic in the battle to defund Obamacare reminds me of the Trojan Rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. According to Business Insider’s Josh Barro: It’s a strategy predicated on the idea that Republican activists are stupid. Many of them are stupid. But they’re not stupid enough to fall for this. (Barro is hard-left, btw.) From what I can gather, Cantor intends to pass two continuing resolutions out of the House.

The White House admits it has no hard evidence that the Syrian government launched the alleged chemical weapons attack. Instead, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough told the Associated Press “a common sense test” implicates the Syrian government. Well, no, it doesn’t. Quite the opposite, in fact. Chemical weapons attacks are signs of desperation. But Assad’s forces have recently gained the upper hand against rebels according to numerous sources.

I got four emails from Republican candidates today. They all sucked. I’ve made every mistake they made, so I won’t beat anyone up over it. But if conservative candidates want to win elections, they have to become—or hire—excellent marketers. Everybody freaks out about the Democrat advantage in data, analytics, and social. But 80 percent of that gap is good execution of scientifically established marketing principles. Republicans tend to despise marketing. They reject psychology.

A Scenario: 1. The USA bombs Syria 2. Syria bombs Israel 3. The USA and Israel bomb Syria 4. Russia gives USA ultimatum 5. USA ignores Russia 6. Syria and Iran bomb Israel and Turkey 7. Turkey bombs Syria and Iran 8. Russia lands troops in Syria 9. USA lands troops in Lebanon 10. . Cold sweat

War is too damn serious to fight in half-measures or for a president’s pride. And I am sick of American troops leaving our shores filled with vigor and ambition and hope only to return disillusioned, scarred, maimed, or dead. On this, left and right are beginning to agree. Here are just some of the wars we fought half-assed in my lifetime: Vietnam El Salvador/Nicaragua Libya Iraq I Iraq II Afghanistan By “half-assed,” I mean sending troops into harms way with no better purpose than to stop fighting on some arbitrary date and time.

I’ve devoted this week to fighting Obama’s march to war in Syria. And I am ready to change parties over this issue. I will not vote for anyone in Congress who votes to authorize bombing in Syria, and I’ve notified my US Representative Ann Wagner and Senator Roy Blunt. Here’s why: I am far from convinced that the chemical attack was perpetrated by the government. Terrorism expert Yosef Brodansky reported that the preponderance of evidence indicates Syrian rebels released the sarin attack.

Over the years I’ve said and written nasty things about liberals. Liberals, progressives, lefties, whatever the name. And I’ve defended conservatives—blindly at times. I’ve publicly defended policies I privately considered stupid. All in the name of advancing my agenda. I believed—and still believe—the liberty agenda is the best one. The only one for people live out the full potential of their lives, to own their own lives, and to leave the world better than they found it.

John McCain and John Boehner believe him. John Kerry believes him. Nancy Pelosi, too. But I don’t. I don’t believe the US has irrefutable, indisputable proof that the Syrian government intentionally killed 1,500 people with sarin gas. I don’t believe it. Not yet. And neither does Yossef Bodansky. You’re probably thinking “this Bodansky guy’s some conspiracy kook, too.” Here’s Bodansky’s Wikipedia header: Yossef Bodansky (born in Israel) is an Israeli-Americanpolitical scientist who served as Director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the US House of Representatives from 1988 to 2004.

The House GOP leadership has a problem. The conservative base wants Boehner to use the continuing resolution to force a showdown over Obamacare. Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, and millions of grassroots activists want the GOP to block passage of a continuing resolution because it funds the unpopular healthcare law. Boehner doesn’t want to. He’s afraid that shutting down the government will hurt Republicans in the 2014 election. Boehner could be right.