The Classical (Trumpian) Liberal

            Leaving aside the recent wild and conflicting reports of Russian bounties on American and allied troops in Afghanistan, the Russia problem continues to bedevil us well into the 21^st century. While some of it is utter nonsense, such as President Trump being a Russian asset, Russian internet bots almost single-handedly reversed an American presidential election, and other idiocy and borderline treasonous accusations, the Russian Bear remains a threat on numerous fronts, ranging from Eastern and Western Europe, North Korea, Syria, Iran, to outer and cyberspace.

            Unfortunately, ever since President Reagan’s aggressive strategy of countering the Soviet aggression, American actions against the succeeding Russian Federation have ranged from confused, half-hearted to feckless. Forgiving (albeit within reason) the vacation from history that took place under the Clinton administration, and the terrorist preoccupation under the second Bush administration, the Obama administration was almost a dream come true for Russia’s geopolitical position.

            The massive military cuts that took place as President Obama was finishing his first term and beginning his second, which saw pink slips going out to combat-tested men and officers, an ever heavier reliance on aging equipment, all while Russia strengthened her defenses, put America and Europe under greater threat. The loss of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine put European security at great risk, seeing parts of a pro-Western country fall under the shadow of Russia once more. During the initial stages of this, the U.S. rushed to the aid of Ukraine consisting of? Blankets, Meals Ready to Eat and other non-lethal aid, all while the Ukrainian military and militias faced off against sophisticated weapons systems, Russian special forces and tanks.

            On the economic front, the fracking revolution saw American dependence on foreign oil slacken significantly, despite Obama’s best attempts to strangle the energy industry (simultaneously shoveling out subsidies for pointless green energy almost as quickly as corporations are bankrolling Black Lives Matter currently). Regulations, speechifying, and priorities were all against energy, which only played into Russia’s hands, as a large segment of her economy is based on oil and gas. This was also a betrayal of Eastern Europe, which was held economically hostage by Russian threats of energy cutoffs.

            When Obama argued that Governor Romney in 2012 was out of touch regarding Russia, and saying on another occasion that he would have greater flexibility to give Russia additional consideration after the election, America’s policy was one of appeasement. This after he withdrew the missile defense system in Central and Eastern Europe, started playing footsy with the thuggish Iranian regime, all in hope of securing a grand bargain involving Russia on the Iranian issue. This was the wise and firm reset that promised greater relations with Russia. This was accomplished, all at the cost of Western security and American prestige.

            In came President Trump. While his rhetoric was in favor of rapprochement with Russia, and though his stance was similar regarding many countries and what the America First strategy called for, the actions were entirely different. Following Theodore Roosevelt’s maxim of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, Trump and his administration began a massive campaign to push back against Russian aggression and dubious acts. Using both hard and soft power, the Brookings Institute (a politically left think-tank) has noted that the administration has committed 52 actions against Russia. These actions from 2017 to the end of 2019 range from sanctions, statements, expulsions of actual and potential Russian agents, a military strike against Russian mercenaries in Syria, along with treaty withdrawals, all displayed a new and a tough stance against Russia.

            In addition to these actions, the military supporting the Assad regime in Syria was struck twice by missiles strikes, putting the Russian client state on notice that using chemical weapons is unacceptable, and a not so veiled threat that Russia should choose her friends more carefully. And in Ukraine, there was no more sending of nearly expired meals, instead, anti-tank missiles were sent, in part thwarting the Russian advances throughout the country. Military spending was increased dramatically, a classic act of deterrence and challenge to Russia’s upstart behavior.

            In a bitter irony, Germany has undermined American and Western interests, both by supporting the now-defunct Iran deal (Russian supported) and accepting natural gas projects emanating from Russia. Trump has castigated the Teutonic nation for putting NATO in an untenable position, placing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project on notice (putting Europe even more under Russia’s energy hammer), and the President has put pressure on Germany and other European nations who wish to allow Iran’s regime (Russian supported) to continue to spread terrorism and create more conflicts. This, all while America has unleashed her energy potential in oil and gas fields, depleting the treasuries in Moscow and Tehran in large measure.

            These actions don’t do justice to the the whole picture, but they do create the beginnings of a mosaic revealing an important truth; President Trump, if a Russian agent, has proven to be Putin’s worst nightmare, since the former KGB agent assumed control of Russia’s political reins two decades ago. While there is more the Trump administration could have done, such as placing more defenses in the North Atlantic to prevent Russian naval assets from entering the Mediterranean, and the President himself could speak more firmly about Russia (the Helsinki meeting of 2018 wasn’t exactly the finest hour of his presidency), there is no question about the actions, along with their effects and messaging.  

            Objectively, President Trump has been by far, the toughest President on Russia since President Reagan, full stop. In fact, Trump has almost certainly ordered the military to kill more Russians the 40^th President did. For all of the talk, and all of the speeches, Trump’s policy has in one form or another slowed or dislodged Russian ambitions. From militarily challenging the Kremlin in Ukraine, to stopping the war on fracking, to jacking up defense spending, Trump must go down in history as the man who turned back the soft Russia policy of the early 21^st century. Let us just hope that as history is being rewritten before our very eyes, this history won’t be stricken from the annals of Twitter, CNN, the New York Times, and other anti-Trump platforms who grudgingly must admit to their frightful wrongheadedness about ‘Putin’s asset.’

Sincerely, your humble servant,

Winston Publius

The watchwords of the past few weeks have been ‘mostly peaceful protests.’ While this is ‘mostly a lie,’ protest is sacrosanct in this country, regardless of whether they are logical, thoughtful or even showcasing mere moderate decency. The protests immediately after George Floyd’s death excluded, the protests afterwards have been in large part based on lies, half-truths and a mishmash of fanciful or dangerous advocacy. However, these too must be protected, because so long as they remain lawful, government and individual whims cannot play favorites.

Obviously, nobody is saying to end the protests from on high, again, so long as they are lawful. This does not and should not leave the protests above scrutiny and condemnation, with these protests needing stern review now more than ever. Leaving aside the riots, acts of arson, assault and other crimes (which the protests either provide cover for, witting or unwittingly), the protests are no longer about justice for George Floyd (not for quite some time in many cases), general cries for justice, or sensible calls for modest reform.

Instead, the protests have devolved into the mob. A mob which doesn’t answer to rule, order or laws. A mob which doesn’t put their grievances forth in a methodical and reasonable way. The mob isn’t looking to compromise or create an environment for that faux term ‘national conversation’ to begin. The protests aren’t to make the country better, the protests are now against the country, a country deemed to be too evil at her core, too evil in her humble beginnings to be reformed, let alone redeemed.

Otherwise, why destroy statues, particularly those of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Grant, abolitionists, or Confederates who displayed decency after the Civil War such as General Lee? Why destroy and loot property, or even more damnably, excuse it, leaving innocent people broken spiritually and financially? Why call for the defunding of police (as an aside, when Republicans called for defunding Planned Parenthood, there was no confusion over the term ‘defunding,’ it was meant to take away all federal funds from the abortion organization), when they are one of the only lines between individuals and the edge of civilization?

You don’t destroy something you adore, you don’t hamstring your fellow citizen if you care about him, you don’t continually denigrate institutions if you hope to see them improve and maintain their influence over society. When a person enjoys something, believes in that something, they don’t need lies to convince themselves to commit acts of destruction, menacing and violence against that object of respect. Passion will not overwhelm intellect and common sense, instead, reason will not only subdue the barbarous passions, reason will stand courageously against passion, no matter the cost. Again, individuals will use reason and discernment to keep emotions at bay, if they care that is. That would be actual protesting.

Protest is necessary to redress actual grievances, not to bring up phantoms of today, nor castigate the defeated ghosts of the pasts. Protest is in place to give the people the right to express themselves, not to give them license to take away the rights of their fellow citizens. Today though, protest is no longer what society deemed it appropriately to be. What started as protests against an actual injustice by law enforcement, have grown into a monster that hopes to overwhelm the host that is United States as she is in existence today.

When the lies of ‘hands up don’t shoot’ (a thought carefully seconded by Obama’s liberal Justice Department), saying America is a systemically racist country (see affirmative action, preferential treatment, hate crime legislation, etc.), to the half-truths of American history about race (whites weren’t the only slaveholders in America), and the outrageous and confusing advocacy regarding: defunding police, no cash bail, saying black lives matter when in reality police commit only a tiny fraction of the killings of black men, redistributing wealth, universal healthcare, segregated racial judicial systems, etc., it is hard to keep up and take the protesters seriously. They want everything, and yet nothing at all, wanting utopia, but not willing to keep the fabric of society together to have any chance of making paradise possible.

Well, it is time to take these fools, liars and subversives seriously, even if their aims are insulting to the intellect (not to mention the sense of smell) as well as to the desires for order and decorum. They are either actively destroying our history and our institutions at this very moment, all while the protesting useful idiots are either providing a smoke screen or gladly using themselves as proverbial cannon fodder, spouting empty slogans or holding meaningless signs. The protests need a protest to stand against them. Not a counter protest, but a protest against protests that advocate destruction, destitution and a dystopic future.

Only then, can life maybe, just maybe, begin to return to normal. For without a firm hand from the people, people of decency and courage standing against the pitiless tormentors which hope to upend all which our forefathers strove so hard to create, the only other way to stop a mob is by subjecting oneself to tyranny. And America has already said no to that option. So now, the options are the mob, or a response of strength. Let us all pray the country makes the right choice before more is lost, and inevitably consumed by the flames of unreason.

Sincerely, your humble servant,

Winston Publius

The eightieth anniversary of two of the greatest speeches ever, passed by earlier this month with little notice. With the pandemic, economic upheaval and societal fraying, it would’ve been easy to skip by these epic works of art. This isn’t a good enough answer though, because these speeches are still relevant to us, because both embody the heroism and perseverance we all desire in times of crisis, and they are speeches that in part laid the cornerstone of where members of Western society sit today.

Also earlier this month, a moment of disgrace occurred in the United Kingdom. The great man who gave both the ‘We Shall Fight on the Beaches’ and ‘Finest Hour’ speeches, Sir Winston Churchill, had his statue in Parliament Square attacked by Black Lives Matter protestors and vandals. Spray painting the words ‘was a racist’ and other crude words on the base forced authorities to put a box around the statue, and later was part of the focus of protesting and rioting between pro-Churchill and anti-Churchill forces. This isn’t to cast blame or favor upon either side’s motives, noble or otherwise, but that the most famous Briton was the focal point in one of these racially-tinged skirmishes is a disgrace, and is a far cry from the regard he was held in 1940, the greatest of heroes in World War II. This moment of shame shouldn’t take away from all the man accomplished in those desperate months eighty years ago.

With Britain on the ropes against the German Army and Luftwaffe in the late spring of 1940, Churchill, only recently been made Prime Minister, was preparing for the utter annihilation of British fighting capacity. Dunkirk was being prepped to become a mass grave or a mass surrender spectacle for the British Expeditionary Force, as the German panzers and troops drew the noose around the port ever tighter. Fortunately for both Britain and the Free World, Churchill’s guts (along with that of the planners, civilian sailors, the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the stranded troops), incompetence by the German High Command, and the ‘miracle of deliverance’ as Churchill put it, all led to the evacuation of almost the entire force.

While Churchill spoke of this ‘miracle’ in the House of Commons on June 4^th, 1940, he reminded the public, that ‘wars are not won by evacuations’ (a lesson that could be potentially applied during the ever-harsher calls for widespread, unthoughtful economic lock-downs in the name of public health). With the loss of most of the tanks, artillery and other equipment and stores on the shores of Dunkirk, the situation was beyond difficult for the British people. Hitler was poised to do something Napoleon and the Spanish Armada had failed to do; invade the island of Britain and impose Nazi rule.

Undaunted, Churchill finished the military assessment of the situation, paying homage to the sacrifices and gallantry of the British armed services in nearly impossible circumstances. It was here that that the Prime Minister unfurled his finest command of the English language, which President John F Kennedy would later say was one of Churchill’s mobilizations of the English language, sending it into battle.

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender

Facing defeat on land, hardship at sea, and impending onslaught from the air, Churchill never flagged, nor gave Hitler any intimation of backing down. Despite the odds stacked against a now ill-equipped Britain, the struggle would carry on for another five bloody years, with freedom’s greatest champion preparing for the ultimate death-match between liberty and totalitarianism.

Two weeks later, Churchill would follow up his ‘Fight on the Beaches’ speech with another triumph. The situation in Europe though had taken a turn for the worse. Paris had been taken, and the French Army was preparing to quit the war. War production in Britain was nowhere near able to replace the losses sustained at Dunkirk. Hitler was now on the cusp of another coup, which the Germans had failed to do in 1914; defeat the French in a quick and decisive series of engagements.

Nevertheless, Churchill stuck to his guns, lamenting the loss of so many allies to the German war machine, but adamant there would be a prolonged resistance to Hitler. In his ‘Finest Hour’ speech, Churchill prophesied (correctly) that Hitler would have to destroy the British resolve and ability to fight, or the war would be lost for the Fuhrer’s Thousand Reich. Again, Churchill would save his best for last as the speech drew to a close, with both a warning, and a call to fight in the upcoming glorious conflict, for both the sake of freedom and for posterity.

If we can stand up to him [Hitler], all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

Returning to today, even though Hitler is dead, these speeches and words should still be inspiring Britons, Americans and all those who value freedom as much, if not more, than life. However, with the torrent of recrimination against Western civilization, and against the defenders of that noble ideal, our heroes begin to fade, and in their place, false demi-villains supplant them. If we truly care about the West, if we truly care about freedom, liberty and all the other tenets which liberal Western society promotes, we must continually defend them, and that same effort must be extended to persons who gave it a chance to survive and later flourish.

As Fidel Castro once said, without Churchill, the Nazis likely would’ve won, and though Castro was a Communist, he was smart enough, and even slightly humble enough to admit that an old-school liberal British imperialist was the world’s champion. This should be a lesson to Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and any others who say they are merely fighting against the forces of white supremacy, fascism and injustice. Well, Churchill did all of that, even before it was popular, and did so when it was truly hazardous for his own health.

For without Churchill, not only would Castro have been nothing or a mere minor footnote in history, but inspirational leaders in their own right, such as MLK, Malcolm X, Obama and countless other black and brown leaders, and those of countless other backgrounds of today and yesterday would likely never have had the ability or the privilege of carrying their messages to the world. They all have the Right Honourable Sir Winston Churchill to thank for that.

Sincerely, your humble servant,

Winston Publius

America’s current status lies on the butcher’s table, experiencing the preparatory phases before the specific cuts of meat are to be cut and prepared accordingly. However, despite the state of affairs encountered today, the position of the country has been on said table for quite some time. With the presence of coronavirus and racial tensions sucking most of the oxygen out of the social and political rooms, many other concerns of massive import are being ignored, only to the peril of the American electorate.

On economic front, the U.S. was just beginning to recover from the 2008-2009 recession. While the GDP and stock market numbers had recovered years before President Trump’s administration came into being, the wages of American workers were growing at a snail’s pace, particularly in the middle and lower economic classes. The ‘Trump Bump’ was finally taking hold in 2018-2019, but this was merely making up ground from the prior years (many would say decades), putting many Americans finally into a semi-comfortable position once more. Combined with tax cuts for most workers and businesses, not to mention deregulation and trade negotiations, 2020 was looking like a great year for work, saving and investing.

With the coronavirus, these gains were almost entirely wiped out, and only massive government and monetary intervention prevented even further economic destruction. The already enormous deficits of both the Obama and Trump years were taken from already nearly unseen heights, to deficits not seen since World War II. The projected yearly deficit is approaching FOUR trillion dollars, and the national debt is now well over $25 trillion. With low interest rates, the interest payments haven’t completely overwhelmed and overtaken entitlements or defense spending… yet. This isn’t building roads, providing tax cuts to small business and middle-class workers, it is precious resources being squandered on essentially nothing.

One very small gleam of hope comes from this gargantuan deficit. After the retreat of American military power during much of the Obama years, also came the partial divestment of military funding, so as to reduce the deficit and pay for social programs (e.g. Obamacare, food stamp expansion, etc.). Fortunately, the efforts of President Trump and Defense Secretary Mattis put an end to this madness, and the additional defense spending so desperately needed to maintain American capabilities, was restored to semi-sustainable levels. However, as previously mentioned, this only has increased American deficits.

The foreign policy situation is not rosy either, as Russia is continuing to play games in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and other places of American interest. Iran is continuing to meddle in the Middle East, putting American and allied interests at risk. Saudi Arabia is engaged in an oil war with Russia, harming American energy markets, which have been crucial to much of America’s economic recovery for the past decade. Europe is continuing to poke America, from not taking their own defense responsibilities seriously, to placing trade barriers on American imports, to providing cover or even support to American adversaries in the U.N. This is a double damn, due to the perceived conception of supposed European unwavering support to their transatlantic benefactor. Mexico and Latin America continues to aid illegal immigrants crossing the Rio Grande (albeit much less with the current health crisis), undermining American security and economic stability.

China deserves the most attention and accompanying consternation on the front abroad, and not just for lying and intentionally spreading the virus (by continuing travel abroad after it was obvious the virus was spreadable from human to human). The stealing of intellectual property, even greater trade blocks placed than by the Europeans, the continual general militarization of the People’s Liberation Army, not to mention the buildup in the South China Sea, the repression of Hong Kong, the use of thousands upon thousands of spies and agents in America’s scientific and academic institutions, the list of condemnable acts could go on ad nauseum. Yet, the media reports the false numbers of cases and deaths in the communist nation, actively promoting Chinese propaganda, while playing up American numbers to undermine American international strength.

On the cultural and social front, Americans are divided seemingly beyond reconciliation, with a sizable portion of the population confused and/or extremely nervous about the unraveling of societal calm. Black Lives Matter is now more popular than ever, even more so than either the Democrats or the Republicans, despite the actual organization(s) being virulently anti-Western and calling for the overthrow of the current American government. Antifa is either ignored, called some version of an urban myth, or is falsely called a noble group fighting against ‘fascists’ (all while employing fascist tactics against innocent Americans). Looting has only very recently been reduced, and arson has switched from buildings to monuments. Monuments, regardless of the historical figure, are being smashed and taken down, vaguely reminiscent of the cultural purges of Nazi Germany or Mao’s Communist China. Other than President Trump, a few Republican Senators and Representatives, almost no one at the federal level is attempting to stand up to, or in the case of the political class of instigators, pullback the forces of mayhem and mindless destruction.

Where does this leave America? In short, in a very weakened position, one that will no doubt harm not only her present standing, but her future as well. When a society as noble as the American one has flatly given up on what made her great, when this society gives up on security and demonizes economic productivity and success, the future is rather bleak, with nothing sturdy to support the foundation of the society. Negatively introspective societies, or societies dominated by apathy cannot survive, both at home and abroad. Focus on completely dominating viruses, which are mutable and unseen, or fighting racial division which is largely ginned up by small bands of racists and an ever-salivating media and political establishment which hopes to take advantage of the current strife and health crisis, and hopefully pick up the pieces for future play in their continued hijinks, these are near-ultimate signs of moral, cultural and spiritual exhaustion. Fighting largely invisible and ever-changing enemies, combined with self-appointed moral arbiters moving the proverbial goalposts to unconquerable heights, reveals a society which prefers to engage in false battle and surrender to unreason.

This obviously isn’t a solutions list, rather a short, but stark list of ills that plague the American nation and her people. Should many of these pressing shortfalls not be addressed, and done so with fervor and dispatch, America could very well fall into something akin to an exhausted post World War Two British Empire at best, or a decadent and teetering pre Dark Age Rome at worst. Today, conditions in America are not optimal for revival, whether it be culturally, economically, on any front. However, not all is lost.

1800. 1831. 1860. 1929. 1941. 1957. 1968. All of these years have one thing in common. They were years in which America was on the brink of some sort of collapse, whether it be physical, spiritual, moral, or world standing. In addition, all of these years saw America bounce back from great adversity and become even greater each time. The one aspect that allowed for these recoveries? Virtue was the difference, and virtue of the American people shone forth each time, rather than shrinking from the task. The greatest of the virtues that makes all the others possible, courage, is what is needed now. In these uncertain times, specific solutions will appear so long as courage doesn’t give way to fear.

As we ponder the future, maintaining some form of public and civic virtue will overcome disaster and keep hope alive. Emulating all those who came before us, let us remember these lesson and examples, and the overwhelming facts of gloom cannot defeat America, no matter how desperate the conditions on the ground seemingly are.

Sincerely, your humble servant,

Winston Publius

America is both an idea, and a physical reality. To sidestep either element of her would strip away much of her glory, and much of what she has to offer so many people. This stark divide separates the American people, placing idealists into the camp of hopeless dreamers and dangerous ideologues, while the realists are condemned to the underworld of the uncultured and racism (and any other ‘ist’ or ‘ism’ one can cook up in this toxic cultural brew we call civil discourse today). While both are necessary to keep the promise of America and Western excellence alive and bountiful, with one side is gaining at the unacceptable expense of the other.

Idealism is written into our Founding. Saying that all men are created equal, that men have the right to govern their own affairs, that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are rights endowed from a Creator, these are still bold and dare I say it? Progressive… yes progressive, as these ideals are beyond much of the human experience. Much of recorded history is that of kings, warlords, strongmen and others who decided that force was the way to power and to maintain civilization. Instead, the American experience, guided in large part by the British predecessors and contemporaries from across the ocean, sought to render this brutal and brutish calculus moot.

The history of mankind is replete with atrocities: slavery, raping, pillaging, plundering, massacring, and so many other lamentable crimes, it would be an unending task to properly name them all. However, America, knowing that it is always possible for these evil elements to rear their ugly heads, due to living in an imperfect world, combined with the relative constancy of human nature, decided that instead of using force to either promote or temper the debaucheries laid plain just now, the Founders charted a new course. On this perilous plunge into the unknown, they decided that laws, customs and tradition would reign in the American colonies, not tyrants or mobs, as most other lands have been ruled throughout the ages.

This was the idealism which created the United States. This system, constitutional republicanism, was a great departure in the history of the West, even from very liberal England. That a man could be his own ruler, within a set of rules and laws which governed all men, this was truly revolutionary. While it didn’t manifest itself in full for quite sometime most blacks, women and many lower class white men, it began a tectonic shift in how the ruled viewed their rulers, and how the rulers became more cognizant of their people and their needs. In our time, we tend to take this all for granted, not thankful at the massive progress so many nations have taken in the past 250 years, in large thanks due to some measure of direct or indirect mimicking of the American experience by so many nations and peoples across the globe. There is no toast or any other simple measure of gratitude given for all those who came before us, and toiled and struggled to get us all to this point… so many forget so soon…

Fast forward to the present day, in which the world finds itself gripped in the virus from Wuhan, and racial tensions in America are at noxious levels not seen for many decades. While there is plenty to be frustrated at, from the lock downs, the incompetence or miscalculations of many government officials (not to mention the health experts), and revolting images of incidents displaying police brutality, the widespread looting, violence and calls for defunding police, realism and leaders practicing realism should be our safe harbor.

While America was Founded on idealistic principles, realism didn’t falter and find itself on the proverbial scrapheap. In fact, realism, an ability to identify an imperfect people and imperfect world in an ever-changing sea of circumstance, was also critical to cementing the gains of the Revolution. The Articles of Confederation, which proceeded the current federal government we have now, created too much discord, too much uncertainty, too much unease. Instead of a velvet-gloved iron-hand of Westminster and the King of England maintaining peace and order, the colonies began to slip into quasi-anarchy and there is almost no doubt the men who had won the war were worried that tyranny would be replaced by that other governing evil which history has constantly warned those who cared to listen, since the time of the ancient Greeks: the mob.

The realism secured in the Constitution set forth boundaries that both protect and encourage the rights of citizens who wish to participate in civil, economic, political and cultural life. Instead of shunning those who are unpopular, it created a countrywide forum for a man to speak his piece, regardless of fame and fortune. It allowed for the airing of grievances without the need for mob violence, or the need to tear down the system erected in the hallowed Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The mob is therefore rendered unnecessary, and yet it remains.

Unfortunately, the mob of today either doesn’t care/know enough about these parameters, let alone the long path of history that led to this mighty inheritance few on this earth ever have bestowed on them, or they curse this beautiful system because of its past inequities, including slavery, no suffrage for women, socio-economic disparities, the Indians of the frontier, and so on and so forth. As an aside, it might be also wondered if the protesters and agitators of today despise the wigs the Founders wore, especially the white ones, as their color is both racist and their use likely unhealthy for the environment…

These inequities cannot be explained away, nor should they be. In fact, they are part of the American story. However, the constant improvement is conveniently overlooked (not unlike a socialist overlooking an A-list Hollywood actor making far more than almost any company CEO in America), and the ability to place oneself back in time while reading history in proper context going forward, is practically non-existent. Preaching from on-high is possibly all well and good in the present moment, but not understanding context and other factors, including the aforementioned propensity for that pesky human nature element, is a mortal sin.

Using slavery as an example, America didn’t create this institution out of whole cloth, nor did America create a new version of slavery based on race. Slavery is a part of being human, and it has been a dastardly practice which has afflicted all races, and still afflicts the globe to this day. Yes, America should hold itself to a higher standard, because of our Founding documents and our national heritage of self-improvement, but nevertheless, all should tread carefully before judging too harshly. For America is also made up of imperfect people, lest we forget.

Ironically today, imperfect people still exist to this very day. All of this despite the effort to build the new ‘Soviet man’ or the attempt by Maoist China to make a clean break with the past of ancient China, yet mankind and many of the stories remain, no matter how brutal or repressive the ‘progress’ element of society forces. As the statues keep coming down across the country, regardless of Confederate, Union, abolitionist, American backgrounds, they are all now under siege, because they represent an American past, an imperfect past. These men were not perfect, the history isn’t perfect, but the lesson should be remembered that these men as makers of history, speak to us from beyond death. The lessons of their imperfection in an imperfect world should be teaching moments, American moments in time, instead of destructive moments.

Destruction and mob justice are what the country is seemingly choosing now however, reason and thoughtfulness be damned. Learned lessons aren’t apparently worth the time. These men must be forgotten to achieve utopia, end Americana. The greatest of ironies though, is that heroes of yesterday can become the villains of today. The mob, not exactly the exemplars of thought and intellect, has not thought this through, refusing to check their destructive, and eventually self-destructive behavior and precedence-setting. Their heroes could disappear almost instantly in another flurry of violence and mayhem.

As a parting thought, not only could your hero become unrighteous in the blink of an eye, but you yourself could be pilloried by the mob now or in the future, because you weren’t ‘woke’ enough by their standards of now, or the future. You can never out ‘woke’ the mob at some point, particularly if you aren’t tethered to anything but the mob’s delusions…

In the midst of this current chaos enveloping us, and the recent dramatic slide towards radicalism, Leftism and just a basic lack of historical knowledge, it was high time to speak up. Whether or not you like President Trump, whether or not you want a ‘green economy’, or whatever your claim or stance happens to be, honest debate in this country has fallen to the wayside, and most of this is being fomented by one side. From Twitter shadow-banning people, to the New York Times not allowing certain Senators to express themselves in the Opinion section (while letting the ultimate ‘puppet-master’ Russian President Vladimir Putin write one as Russian forces were assisting the Syrian government in breaking the rebels during the height of the Syrian civil war), it is clear one side of the aisle doesn’t want the debate to be honest and fair. Why is this?

Because they know they would lose. They know most of their ideas are either based on fantasy, are unacceptable to most Americans, or would create tremendous heartache (most celebrities and rich folks have plenty of money for private security, so they have little to fear from police being reduced or withdrawn). While there are crazy loons who believe like Lenin that the worldwide spread of communism is inevitable, or there are green energy zealots who believe wind power is going to save humanity from the scourge of global warming (albeit, in a future world with far less birds, as they are picked off by wind turbines by the bushel), most of these ‘change’ advocates aren’t that stupid or naive. Most of these advocates are concerned with one overarching goal: power.

Power, not money, is the root of all evil. Being able to dictate your own terms is exhilarating for most people. Not only controlling one’s own destiny, but controlling others puts the powerful in the catbird’s seat, in a position similar to a god. Enforcing one’s will as an ideal drives many opponents of the American Revolution, who see individual freedom and effort as either wasteful at best, or purely evil at worst. To them, the collective is superior; the Soviet Union was a great model, but it was run by the wrong people and/or it was a bit too harsh on the proletariat; China of today is a beacon for a promising future, just hopefully with a bit more emphasis human rights to keep the masses quelled (maybe not locking people from the outsides of the doors to their apartments during a health crisis might not go amiss as well?).

People are things that need to be controlled, vessels to create this brave new world, and this is something that must be wholeheartedly stood against. Masquerading around as if the stealing of rights, the erasure of history, the silencing of decent people, all of it is a saintly gesture, then it is preferable to be on the side of the demons. For too long I’ve seen this monstrosity grow, from being a student in the academic industrial complex, to the urban centers, whether it be the affluent, decadent white-dominated zones, to a poor forgotten part of an inner city with an almost total minority population. With these and all of my other life experiences, it is a small wonder of the world why this pen has not been lent to the struggle. Should this blog be too late to sway (inspire?) anyone, or even move the needle in the slightest direction towards Americanism/Westernism, at least this blog dared greatly, not among those timid souls Theodore Roosevelt castigated so long ago, for not entering the arena.

In this preamble, I close with that scene from the HBO show John Adams, when many of the future signers are gathered in a debate to sign a declaration of independence. After Mr. Dickinson of Pennsylvania eloquently argued for continued moderation towards the British Empire, John Adams issued his reply. While the scene is not perfect history, there are two elements from the speech which drive this blog. When speaking of the Declaration of Independence, the future of which both America and mankind stood on edge, Adams passionately says, “All that I have, all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready to stake upon it.” And after he pauses, he concludes, “While I live, let me have a country… a free country!”

Ladies and gentlemen, America is in trouble. Western civilization, and all of its bounties are in peril. History is being cleansed. Still, all of it is worth fighting for, no matter the odds, because without these most beautiful of ideas, manifestations and memories, we would be nothing. If we care about individualism, freedom and liberty, the rule of law, free markets and free minds, it is therefore our duty to go out and defend it, as our ancestors have done so many occasions, even in the olden times, which we have seemingly forgotten.

All I ask for now, is that I have a country… a free country…

Sincerely, your humble servant,

Winston Publius