Friday, May 07, 2021

Totalitarianism, Cancel Culture, Lenin and Hamlet

Hamlet - Broadway (New York)
 "Testimony" is the autobiography of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. In it, Shostakovich tells the story of why the William Shakespeare play Hamlet was never shown in Russia during the 20th century. 

According to Shostakovich, Joseph Stalin, the communist totalitarian dictator appeared at the Art Theater in Moscow when Hamlet was playing. Stalin said, "Why is this necessary - playing "Hamlet" in the Art Theater?" Though the Soviet dictator never commanded that Hamlet be removed, his question was all it took. 

For decades after Stalin's statement, the greatest Shakespearan play did not adorn the stages of the Soviet Union. Why? Because the government authority (Stalin) let it be known that Hamlet did not convey views consistent with the government. Stalin didn't want "Russians watching plays with plots that displeased him," writes reporter John Miltimore. "You never know what might pop into the mind of some demented person." 

The purpose of "canceling culture" is to "control the cult of culture." Next time you hear of people wanting to "cancel" books or movies or institutions in America, remind yourself of the Soviet dictator who killed millions of people. The reason to cancel culture is to control the masses. 

Cancel culture is evil.

79 comments:

  1. Notice also that the cancel culture is passive aggressive.

    The "evil" is carried out under the facade of concern and tenderheartedness toward others. Especially the "weak, marginalized, and vulnerable".

    ReplyDelete
  2. "beati pauperes spiritu quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum"

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Wade - love you, have to ask:

    "Next time you hear of people wanting to "cancel" books or movies or institutions in America, remind yourself of the Soviet dictator who killed millions of people."

    https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8318263
    Southern Baptists end 8-year Disney boycott

    https://religionnews.com/2021/03/09/
    Moore’s criticism of the 45th president’s abusive behavior toward women and her advocacy for sexual abuse victims turned her from a beloved icon to a pariah in the denomination she loved all her life.

    https://www.christianpost.com/news/
    Organizers of the Southern Baptist Convention's Pastors' Conference are facing backlash from some SBC pastors who've reportedly threatened to boycott the conference over the inclusion of female teaching pastor


    I know you don't necessarily personally support any/all the above actions, but my question is whether these actions are philosophically different than the cancel culture of the left.

    thanks
    Paul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I fear there is a tremendous backlash of sentiment bubbling about SOME aspects of "Me Too".

      Some have good reasons.

      The pastor's conference is not "a church" would be me my basic argument for letting the lady preach if organizers so desire.

      I never could get beyond "...your Sons and Daughters shall prophesy...", personally.

      Delete
  4. Paul,

    You are "Spot on." The moment the SBC did the above, I wrote AGAINST the actions.

    Here is an example: https://www.wadeburleson.org/2007/05/why-wiley-drake-should-not-be-vp-of-sbc.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. pluralism, freedom of religion and standing for the truth are very difficult concepts to reconcile in real life. Looking forward to the day it's all set right.

    thanks
    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Restaurants Ready to Hire, but Welfare Keeps Workers Home"
    "Texas 'Critical Race Theory' Opponents Win School Board Election"
    "Inflation Fears Grow as Commodity Prices Take Off"
    "Lawmakers Demand Answers From FBI on FISA Abuse Revelations"
    "More 'House' Christians Detained in Southwest China"
    "Leaked Documents Reveal CCP Plan to Control Global Internet"
    "NJ Nurse Suspended After Saying Masks Harmful to Students"
    "Texas City Becomes 'Sanctuary City for the Unborn' Following Vote"

    All in a single day's reporting.

    THAT'S why I read "The Epoch Times". Good luck finding coverage on such "non-Woke" events anywhere else.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The name “Lenin” appears once in the Post, and he’s not mentioned in the comments.

    Vladimir Lenin | Biography, Facts, & Ideology | Britannica

    “Founder of the Russian Communist Party.
    As an adolescent Lenin suffered two blows that unquestionably influenced his subsequent decision to take the path of revolution. First, his father was threatened shortly before his untimely death with premature retirement by a reactionary government that had grown fearful of the spread of public education. Second, in 1887 his beloved eldest brother, Aleksandr, a student at the University of St. Petersburg was hanged for conspiring with a revolutionary terrorist group that plotted to assassinate Emperor Alexander III.”

    ReplyDelete
  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXVG98MOfxs

    Anti-mask protesters disrupt school board meeting.


    State revises mask mandate for outdoor athletics after Summit HS runner collapses at finish line - KTVZ

    ReplyDelete
  9. My brother’s first kiss.

    In the first grade, Hez asked: “Wonder what it feels like to Kiss a girl?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Ask Mama.”
    Mother said, “Who’s been asking you about kissing girls?”
    “Hez asked me.”
    She might have stunted our growth in that department, but we went to another school about every year, and never got acquainted with any girls.
    When we were 18 and seniors in high school, I started dating. Hez said, “Well, Rex, how does it feel to kiss a girl?
    I didn’t like the sly way he asked and didn’t think it was any of his business. I said, “It’s like kissing a dead fish!”
    It’s hard to believe he was a senior in college at Fairbanks Alaska, and had never kissed a girl. Once, in order to see where the noses would go, he steamed a mirror in the boy’s dorm. He left imprints by kissing on it. Someone asked what he was doing; he lied.
    He was dating Beverly (a freshman) and madly in love. Many dates he promised himself he was going to kiss her, but never got the nerve. At last, he did. She said, “What was that?” (He kissed her on top of her head.)
    “You know what that was.”
    “No I don’t!”
    “Yes you do.”
    “No I don’t!”
    “Yes you do.”
    Hez doesn’t lose arguments but he did that one, and finally said, “That was a kiss.
    “You call that a kiss! I’ll show you what a kiss is!”
    She planted one on him that made his mind go round and round, ‘Rex lied to me!”

    (They got married.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Heavy shades of the consequences of socialism is already surfacing as private enterprise must compete with the government's provision for the livelihood of citizens without their working.

    This is very predictable and 100% consistent with all former attempts of the implementation of socialist ideology. We witnessed this personally in socialist Zambia in the 1980s and 1990s. The will of even those citizens with a high-work ethic diminishes to conceding to the trend of the majority of those who choose to stay at home in their leisure while receiving the checks from the government instead of working. Companies fail due to not being able to provide goods and services due to a lack of labor force.

    Just ordered a wood storage shed. Anticipated time to begin construction? 12 weeks! Why? The storage building company said they could not find enough builders.

    Where do socialist governments get the money for distribution of monthly life-support checks?
    From the diminishing number of working labor force's taxes and increased taxes on private companies.
    Where do socialist governments get money for life-support checks when tax revenue is insufficient?
    Borrow-from other countries or printing from its own currencies which de-value drastically and rapidly.
    How much do citizens get from the government provided life-support checks?
    As much or as little as the government chooses to give them.
    How can citizens increase their means of livelihood?
    They cannot, unless they become part of the small group of government elite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spot on RB. And the dynamic you describe has creeped already into every crook and corner of the GDP.

      Delete
  11. irrationality continues as ALL of the extremists 'roar their terrible roars'

    “and while faith based on theological reasoning is today universally
    engaged in a bitter struggle with doubt and resistance from the
    prevailing brand of rationalism,
    it does seem that the naked fundamental
    experience itself, that primal seizure of mystic insight, stripped of
    religious concepts, perhaps no longer to be regarded as a religious
    experience at all, has undergone an immense expansion and now forms the
    soul of that complex irrationalism that haunts our era like a night bird
    lost in the dawn.”

    (Robert Musil)

    we are in the times of weaponized golden statues of 'the annointed one' and of wild conspiracy theories conducive to all forms of hubris and contempt for 'the others'

    a time in which both extremes scream at one another with cries so shrill that no sense can be made of the noise generated in a land where a people have lost the will to listen to one another (?)

    'How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?'
    (Psalm 137)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christianne:

      Doubt you've seen bonafide "extremism" to date.

      Delete
  12. the sound and the fury . . . we saw, and we heard, and people died

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ06ojG_dFs

    ReplyDelete
  13. What I see in the videos of the attack on our nation's Capitol is a group of people intent on violence.

    For those who 'believe the Big Lie', the insurrectionists are 'patriots' devoted to the 'annointed one'

    but for those who do not believe the Big Lie, the insurrectionists were terrorists acting on the urgings of their 'great leader'

    There remains a small remnant of the Republican Party, but the majority seems to have bought into 'the Big Lie' on the surface, in hopes of currying favor from 'the leader' but I think in the end,
    those Republicans who confront the insurrectionists will take a stand AS a group against the 'Big Lie' and they will stand up for Republican traditional values once more. When the insurrectionists and their leaders try to crucify people like Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney, you know that the Republicans are in trouble as a party and unable to govern in a democracy.

    The lines are drawn. On Jan 6th, 'Murum Aries Attigit: the ram has touched the wall' so to speak. The country must sort this out and resolve it. Can it be done non-violently? Homegrown terrorism was display for our nation openly on Jan 6th. So it is not 'impossible'. Fascists can weaponize voting laws to 'maintain the purity of the ballot' and this argument has been resurrected in Texas (same wording as was used historically).

    The vote in 2022 will move the story forward, but in what direction and with what consequences for the nation? We shall see. But if we are to remain a 'nation of laws', then it must be noted that 'the Big Lie' was not accepted by our state courts OR our Supreme Court in 2020. The REASON(S)? If you don't know, find out for yourself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Take it over to CNN Christianne.

      The only casualty on Captital Hill that day was a young unarmed Trump supporter shot center mass in the head by capital police.

      Name still not diclosed. I do not call people being ushered into the building by capital police "an attack" until it turns to looting and property damage.

      The young woman shot in the head was tragically wrong place wrong time.

      Delete
  14. We SAW and we HEARD

    Jan 6th, 2021

    ReplyDelete
  15. An American Tragedy
    https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/department-justice-closes-investigation-death-ashli-babbitt

    ReplyDelete
  16. CHRISTIANE,

    Why do you keep beating a dead horse to death?

    You said, “What I see in the videos of the attack on our nation’s Capitol is a group of people intent on violence. For those who 'believe the Big Lie', the insurrectionists are 'patriots' devoted to the 'anointed one', but for those who do not believe the Big Lie, the insurrectionists were terrorists acting on the urgings of their 'great leader’.”

    Why did you say “anointed one” and ‘great leader’ when you mean Trump? I believe you wanted to slander Trump in a cute kind of way.

    Trump supporters gathered Jan 5 which was peaceful. If they had planned to attack the Capitol, that day would have been the best day to have ‘surprise’ on their side.

    So, who attacked the Capitol?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Percenters#:~:text=The%20Three%20Percenters%2C%20also%20styled,resistance%20to%20U.S.%20federal%20government.

    “At least one man tied to the Three Percenter movement was arrested and charged with involvement of the attack; the man was also reportedly tied to two other extremist groups, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.”


    https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-man-son-reported-fbi-capitol-riot-15895931.php

    The link above tells how a son of one of the Three Percenters turned his father in to the FBI. They had movies of his father, breaking into the Capitol, but didn’t know who he was until his son told them.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hello REX RAY,

    not sure we are understanding one another,
    but it's a shame that son had to turn his father in, it would have been better for them both IF the father had been man enough to turn himself in. That would have spared his son all that trouble at least.

    I think we are witnessing an American Tragedy in process.
    I don't think it's over. The divisions are too deep and there is too great a divide between how people see the truth.
    I always blamed that people lived in bubbles (enclosed sources of information) and only thought what the people they trusted told them was true. It's good to have those videos because we at least can be visual witnesses to some of the goings-on.

    Hundreds of the people who broke into the Capitol have been identified and charged. We are waiting to see the outcome of those charges. Some are already jailed and some are already out on bond. I expect for there to be legal trials with due process going forward. It's a tragedy for our country that this is happening.

    Don't worry for Trump, REX RAY. Trump's influence, if not his power, is strong among some people that believe 'the Big Lie'. I do not believe it. Trump started priming the pump before there ever was an election by saying 'the only way I could lose is if the election is a fraud', and people believed that even before any votes were cast. No evidence was ever found that our country's courts would accept that the election was a fraud. The evidence just wasn't there. Even the Supreme Court knew that there was no evidence. If you want to believe differently, you are certainly free to do so AND I support your right to see things differently and to disagree. But I can't support trumpism, no. There are still patriotic American politicians (Romney and Liz Cheney,etc.) in the Republican Party, even if they are now being persecuted by Trump followers. That patriotic remnant may in time be able to save the Republican Party as their values that ethical and still treasured by many conservative Americans who could never support Trump. Trump crossed some lines too many. We shall see in time if the Republican Party becomes 'Republican' again instead of 'the Party of Trump'.

    I enjoyed your cute story about your brother and Beverley. Thanks :)

    You take care.
    I'm getting ready for my son to come home from Alaska this summer!!!! Can't wait to see him. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christianne:

      The "bigger lie" is that you are touch with reality when it comes to one Donald Trump.

      You're completely off the rails obsessed with the guy.

      You might possibly have the most severe case of TDS the world has ever seen.😂

      Delete
    2. Christianne:

      Do Romney and Cheney really look "persecuted" to you? We should ALL be so lucky as to be blessed with what you call "persecution".

      Cheney and Romney are neither trusted nor respected by their party and they've both certainly earned the party's ire.

      Can't toss em fast enough IMO.

      Delete
  18. CHRISTIANE,

    I’m glad you liked my brother’s ‘first kiss’. They had four girls and a boy. Their marriage ended like this:

    She lives in Seattle with a daughter. Last year, his daughter had his headstone placed between our parents and mine that’s a mile from here. It has what he wrote her:

    “If I should leave too soon this sunlit place
    I’ll watch for you from the hills of grace,
    And when you leave to earth your charms,
    I’ll greet you here in heaven’s arms!

    ReplyDelete
  19. (He died from pneumonia. His daughter had his ashes and headstone…)

    He was ‘losing it’ at the end. I asked if he knew how old we were going to be on our next birthday. “No.”

    “If you take 8 and 8 and stand them sided by side, that’s how old we’ll be.”
    “YOU MEAN WE’RE GOING TO BE 16?” He lived to 88 and 7 days.

    For his last two years, he was paralyzed from the waist down and had dialysis three time a week. On our last visit, I overheard him saying, “I’m sure going to miss Rex.”

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm sorry you lost your brother, REX RAY, and I know you miss him very much; but it is good that he had good care during his last years and was conscious and very able to think about family. That is a blessing.

    I listened to that link and I thought about the difference between the darkness and the light. It will take more than we humans may possess to be able to overcome the darkness of a world-wide pandemic, so I call on my resources to bring up hope for the Holy Spirit to point us all once again to Christ, the Light of the World.

    Comes to mind, this:
    "There is no greater mystery to me than that of light traveling through darkness."
    (Alexander Volkov)

    what does it mean to be 'en-light-end' by Christ? Can we forget 'self' and look out towards others more freely? Can we stop and take care of the ones who are in need of help? Christ-the Bringer of Light into the World comes to us through the darkness that keeps us from seeing and hearing 'our neighbor'. What does He show us? Having once crucified Him with our sins, how do we now best respond to Him as the Risen Lord????

    St. Matthew's gospel helps us to know some of the ways.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Christiane, as mentioned in former conversations between us, your comments regarding the Capitol protests, etc., would be so much more credible and worth consideration if there was some iota of objectivity portrayed in your assessment of things.

    For instance, during the violent riots of BLM and the anarchists this past year or so and their taking over entire cities and burning down businesses and violently confronting innocent people dining, etc., we heard ZERO concern expressed by you. Then the one incident of the Capitol protest occurs and your are all up in arms.

    During the time of the orchestrated "caravans" of illegal immigrants in the past several years with the resulting gathering of thousands at the border and the border agents struggling to provide some semblance of safe, but admittedly crowded and imperfect accommodations for children, you were vehemently in protest and expressing your horror and dismay.

    NOW that things are a thousand times worse at the border with this Administration and control has been totally abandoned with thousands of children crowded into inhumane conditions, we hear ZERO concern expressed by you. None! Total silence.

    Can you see how hypocritical and non-legitimate your totally politicized comments on issues are seen? The hypocrisy is so distorted as to make your comments on such issues absurd and without any credibility. I would genuinely like to seriously consider your comments as being of some value but cannot.

    You seem to be a very informed and intelligent person and I am sure that with some measure of objectivity displayed your input could become beneficial. Perhaps that's only a pipe dream.

    ReplyDelete

  22. Hello Mr. Kuter,
    Believe me, I am very aware that I cannot communicate well and it makes me very sad indeed. I've thought, well I have good intent but I use different sources; I have good intent but I see things differently, I have good intent but my personal history affects me emotionally maybe to the point where I lose perspective in other ways;

    but in the end, I am not very good at communicating here, no. The videos fortunately speak for themselves when you know the 'backstory' of how those people came to be at the Capitol that day and at that time and what their goals were. But it's the backstory you may not know about and my sources are way different from your Epoch Times, yes.

    Sometimes I will say something that conveys my own sadness about what is happening, and that is when I'm being most honest. There are no winners here. Well, maybe Putin and his Russian security forces who interfered with our elections. And there is some truth coming from those who are being put on trial for storming the Capitol . . . they blame 'Foxitis' . . . the unrelenting message coming to them from their very trusted 'Fox News' commentators.

    I know about the difficulty trying to understand one another. I know I have 'listened'. I know I come from another way of seeing things , even faith-oriented, but I still see a lot of hope that when the fog clears, we WILL 'reconcile' as a nation. We will be a different country though, having learned much from our experiences of misunderstanding, but still we will learn and analyze 'what went wrong' and 'why'. Trump is a 'symptom'. I know this. Over fifty years ago, there were others: I remember McCarthy and how he tried to 'take over' with his campaign against communism. I remember those who FINALLY spoke up to him and stood up to him without fear. And there was this moment of 'the emperor has no clothes'. There will always be a 'McCarthy' or a 'Trump' and there will always be those who believe them and support them. But in the end, I see us coming out of all of this trouble better for it, not whole, no; but 'wiser' from observing how much pain was caused by our divisions. We are a great country. That day, they didn't hang Mike Pence or totally stop the workings of the Constitution at the Capitol, no. That day, our country got a good look at what happens when 'hate rallies' stir the storm, and we saw and heard 'insurrection'.

    As far as the border is concerned, I cannot equate what is being done now with the immorality of the Trump 'Family Separation Policy' under the guidance of Stephen Miller. At least the present administration is moving to correct some of the evil that was done to those families and to those children.

    You are right. I don't succeed in communicating, no. I get my ideas from way too different places and times and sources, some modern, some ancient. But I do believe that eventually the 'truth' comes out. And then healing can begin in our land.

    Hope you had a good Lord's Day. I'm looking at bouquets of Mother's Day flowers and munching on chocolate-covered strawberries. My family came through for Mother's Day.

    Be patient, Mr. Kuter. Things work out eventually. There are a lot more people of 'good will' in this country than we can count. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Christiane, the videos and other links could be helpful but given that they are always from one perspective and very biased toward your already communicated position their proposals are meaningless. It's why conservatives don't watch CNN or liberals don't watch Fox. Why bother? True, I do continue to seek our information from resources that lean "right" but at the same time go to some effort to provide reports of some credibility.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scary thing is she sounds like some public school teachers working to keep kids dumbed down and left-leaning.

      Delete
  24. Hello Mr. Kuter,

    I think the video of the Jan 6th event that shows what was going on AND you can hear the voices of those yelling as they try to enter the Capitol. People can make of it what they want, but the video records an event in progress.

    Admittedly, Fox News did NOT present the side of the Capitol police who were attacked, no. Although the evening that showed the funeral of one of the officers who had been killed, even Fox News showed the funeral without negative commentary which is to their credit.

    I watch some of all of them, and I read a lot of printed media. I think I figured out what Fox News has done: it promotes Trump heavily, even to sometimes getting 'sued' for slander (Dominion Voting Machines company) whereupon Fox News will not back up the 'credibility' of certain of its commentators, but just say that they are there for 'entertainment'.
    Kind of like the lawyer of Giuliani, Sydney Powell, who upon getting sued for defamation by Dominion, said argued that she did not defame Dominion because her statements were not factual in nature at all, but instead were merely her opinions.

    Indeed, Powell goes so far as to say that "reasonable people would not accept such statements as true"

    Always good to check many different sources and then compare and contrast and THEN, do your own thinking. I think you might have a tiger by the tail with Epoch News, Mr. Kuter . . . my honest opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christianne.

      It has been proven and testified by the man's own wife and family that the capital officer who died did so of natural causes and not the result of being attacked.

      A lie is a lie whether told by Republicans or Democrats.

      Delete
  25. RB,

    It’s needless to present facts to CHRISTIANE, because I believe her mind’s made up, and there’s none so blind as those who refuse to see.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hello dear people,

    'Facts' were needed by the courts when Trump claimed that the elections were 'stolen' and when he asked for the courts to intervene and keep him in power. But 'the facts' were not presented to these formal courts of law.

    I am very sure that had real evidence been presented to the courts, it would have been the duty of the courts to take a look at those facts;
    but the REASON the courts and even the Supreme Court of the US refused the case was the ABSENCE of evidence. Hearsay, 'opinion' from lawyers and commentators, gossip, and conspiracy theories don't count in a court of law.

    If someone here KNOWS of real evidence that a court would accept, why wasn't it brought forward when the courts asked for it??? That is not 'my mind made up', REX RAY, that is an American citizen asking 'what facts?'.

    There is not an American I know who would tolerate the stealing of an election IF there was real proof (facts) that could be presented in a court of law. No facts? No case.
    That is what I know to be true: the courts told Trump 'no'.

    Who pushed it that there were facts that confirmed a stolen election? Who first voiced that this was 'true'? Well, even BEFORE there was an election, Donald Trump claimed that the only way he could lose would be if there was 'fraud'. He set the stage. He lit the fire. He spoke to the crowds prior to the attack on the Capitol. All this is on record. 'His' attorney general WOULD have presented real evidence and real facts to the courts if they had surfaced. But he did not. He did not.

    And the reason the crowd was chanting 'hang Mike Pence' is even uglier. Mike Pence?
    What did Trump say about Mike Pence to get that crowd calling him a 'traitor' worthy of hanging?

    I am left thinking only that all this is a terrible tragedy and that a lot of very good people have been hood-winked. In time, we will know more. I will wait for that time to 'make up my mind', but I am very sad about how people turn on one another because they see things differently. We Americans value our right to our own opinions and we need to respect that right for those people who see things differently from ourselves.
    But we know that 'opinion' and 'fact' are not always the same; hence we are a lot better off as 'a nation of laws'. Our courts held. Our legislators did their Constitution duty on Jan. 6th, though it was late into the night before they could finish their task. Mike Pence did not get hung. The United States of America is still in business. For now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christianne:

      Balderdash. I believe YOU would steal an election rather than support a Republican.

      Beyond that, I believe you would interpret such theft as a "service to God".

      Yes, you're that off the rails when it comes to politics IMO.

      Delete
    2. Christianne:

      The uproar over voter IDs is all the proof I need to declare that Democrats will exhaust all creative means, not only to STEAL elections but to caustically erode our freedoms and Constitutional rights in the process.

      I see absolutely nothing "patriotic" about them.

      Delete
    3. Christianne:

      There is a time for every season under heaven.

      There are times and good reasons why people "turn on one another" in human history.

      Wars and rumors of war etc.

      Delete
  27. CHRISTIANE,

    Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.

    Former President Donald Trump acquitted in 2nd impeachment trial - ABC News (go.com)

    “Exactly a month and a week after insurrectionists incited a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial came to a climactic end on Saturday afternoon, with Trump being acquitted for his alleged role of inciting the deadly event.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Acquittal" being the equivalent of innocence or finding no substance in the charges under law.

      Delete
  28. Christiane, I am sure Rex Ray is right when he concludes that your mind is made up. That's okay. I guess my mind, and most of ours, is made up in terms of particular ideologies we support and oppose and recognizing those high-profile people who align with those.

    I am sure that you do view and read diverse sources of media and news. The thing is that you quote and advocate only those who support your position, as in the case of choosing which riots to support and defend, which administration to condemn or overlook in the mistreatment of border children, etc.

    "The Epoch Times" is of course not the "only" source I use in gathering information. I continue to read "The Wall Street Journal" among others. It is biased toward the left although no where close to the ridiculous approach of CNN and most other mainstream media sources. I do prefer viewing the BBC and would put it in the scale of "The Wall Street Journal".

    Still, I hope I never come across as being one who ignores the reality of the situation by citing the weakness or failure of one while ignoring the even greater failure of the other afflicting much more damage in regards to the same issue, as in the case of handling the riots or the border children. That's like the "speck in YOUR eye when I have a log in MY eye" comparison.

    Christiane, instead of misaligned, continued, Trump-bashing, why don't you cite some of the current regime's successes and positive achievements in terms of employment, border administration, economy, and any COVID advancements to which the regime can be given credit? We haven't heard any of that. Let's hear it for Kamala, AOC, and Susan Rice (All who we hear are really running the show behind the man)for a change!

    I promise to give due consideration to your thoughts then.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Don't hold your breath waiting on balance from the lemmings of the left.

    Tiz an excercise in futility as you plainly see.

    ReplyDelete
  30. https://www.wsj.com/video/trump-full-speech-at-dc-rally-on-jan-6/E4E7BBBF-23B1-4401-ADCE-7D4432D07030.html

    ReplyDelete
  31. Always good to see and hear 'source' material for yourselves. Fortunately, for history, speeches and events are recorded that can be used to witness to what actually happened. People can view these recordings and then come to their own conclusions.

    'Seeing' and 'hearing' actual events makes US a 'witness' to history. Then we do not need to 'rely' on theories, gossip, commentary from third parties, 'opinions' from lawyers who later tell us that we should not have taken them seriously, etc.

    Being able to see and hear the words of another as spoken or the actions committed by another allows us to evaluate FOR OURSELVES. In a country such as ours, recordings of events and words allow us to 'be present' in a special way as 'witnesses'. As citizens, we can then respond to what is seen and heard on more solid information than 'theories, opinions, third-party commentary, and gossip'. This gives us MORE responsibility to examine and evaluate FOR OURSELVES without having to rely on 'alternate' sources of information that may not represent what is seen and heard on the original recording of events.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christianne:

      Not when the recordings and videos are edited and lifted highly out of context.

      By "academics" even.😎

      Delete
    2. If its the "full text" Christianne, you will hear Trump clearly say to "march peacefullyband RESPECT the Capital Police.

      All I need to hear. Beyond that becomes a matter of individual choice with regard to the lawlessness of either left or right.

      Delete
  32. NEWS FLASH!

    A group in Russia caused a cyberattack that shut down the major U.S. fuel pipeline from Houston, Texas to New Jersey!

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/08/us/politics/cyberattack-colonial-pipeline.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trump did it as sour grapes, right Christianne?

      Delete
  33. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57053074

    “Israel has launched air strikes against militant targets in the Gaza Strip, after rockets were fired from the territory towards Jerusalem.
    The Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said 20 people, including children, had died in the strikes. In Jerusalem, the rocket fire caused Israel's parliament to be evacuated as sirens sounded.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rex:

      And all we hear from most reports on this is the number killed by Israeli airstrikes.

      Nothing about Palestinians firing rockets onto Ashdod and Ashkelon.

      Delete
  34. "...because governmental authority would not recognize views inconsistent with Stalin".

    Fast forward 2021 USA, "Come on man, that's not who we are as Americans".

    While women and children are being used as chattel and contained like transport vegetables with organized crime making big bucks based on current "policy" at our Texas border etc.

    Don't think the blood we're seeing is coming from "bleeding hearts".

    ReplyDelete
  35. Rex Ray, NEWS FLASH!!!!
    Source of hacking into the Colonial Pipeline supply for gasoline to eastern US was oil industry hackers intent to escalating pump prices!!

    I made that up, but I would believe it to be as likely as those mean Russians or Chinese doing it.

    I believe that the Russian and Chinese governments are used as scapegoats for the incompetence, scheming, and corrupt scandals of our own US government and marxist players. I will never believe that the Chinese instigated COVID and think it was more likely that they were victimized along with the rest of the world. Did you know that in 2017 the CDC "lost" all sorts of vials of experimental flu virus samples being engineered to simulate the 1918 strains? The USA Today reported it and the CDC when to great efforts to cover it up. It's amazing THAT source of leakage was never seriously investigated by US Intelligence to track down how it went missing, why the intentional cover-up and where it went! This is TRUE from a legitimate report. I can give you the links but I already did last year when COVID first became a celebrity virus.

    I never believe reports of Russian and Chinese collaboration to infiltrate and hack US elections and systems. Why would they? All they need to do is to sit back in their recliners and watch us self-annihilate. Then they can come in take over the spoils or we'll forced to submit to them due to our being so far in debt to them that we have no choice. Our own corrupt government pointing its fingers at outside players is likely to only be a means of distraction to escape scrutiny for its own ineptness and corruption. I don't believe there is a government in the world (well, maybe North Korea) that is any worse morally than this one. I hate saying it, but do believe it.

    Believe me, it pains me to be so cynical and disillusioned with this US political structure but in my estimation it has lost all credibility for having any scruples or anything close to Godly principles. It murders, fixes elections, intentionally sabotages the political campaigns of opponents, breaks Constitutional Laws at the drop of a hat, manipulates and bribes foreign forces for personal and political gain, destroys evidence that might be used to incriminate players, manipulates the intelligence and judicial systems to accommodate its vile strategies and bullies and persecutes any and all private citizens that might pose a threat or get in its ugly, corrupt way.

    It has, in effect, sold its soul, and for sure, the current regime is NOT going to "win back the soul" of America as they so facetiously proclaimed during the election campaigns. How ironic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I share your cynicism at all your previously elaborated points RB.

      Especially after the roasting of Dr Fauci's deceptive hide this afternoon by Rand Paul.

      Delete
  36. Liz Cheney voted over 90% for Trump's policies during his administration. Her possible 'replacement' who may come into power tomorrow voted LESS THAN 80% of that time for Trump's policies.

    Yet Liz Cheney is being 'replaced'. Not for her lack of support for Trump's policies, no. But because she would not show fealty to Trump's lies concerning 'a stolen election', she would NOT 'bend the knee' to Trump as 'the annointed one' by abandoning the truth as she knew it to be, because Trump's lies were not backed up by any evidence that would stand up in a court of law, and she knew our nation was a nation of laws.

    She is not the only Republican who knows what Trump is, but she is one of only a few who will stand up for the health of a Republican Party as a viable political entity that operates within a nation of laws according the the US Constitution. That takes character. To do what is right knowing it means persecution and yet still having the courage to openly publicly say 'let right be done'.

    Here is a portion of her speech today:


    from Liz Cheney's speech tonight:

    " . . . Today, we face a threat America has never seen before. A former president who provoked a violent attack on this Capitol in an effort to steal the election has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him. He risks inciting further violence.

    Millions of Americans have been misled by the former president. They have heard only his words but not the truth. As he continues to undermine our democratic process, sowing seeds of doubt about whether democracy really works at all.

    I am a conservative Republican and the most conservative of conservative principles is reverence for the rule of law.

    The Electoral College has voted. More than 60 state and federal courts, including multiple judges the former president appointed, have rejected his claims.

    The Trump Department of Justice investigated the former president's claims of widespread fraud and found no evidence to support them.

    The election is over.

    That is the rule of law.

    That is our constitutional process.

    Those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the Constitution.

    Our duty is clear. Every one of us who has sworn the oath must act to prevent the unraveling of our democracy.

    This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans.

    Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. I will not participate in that. I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy.

    As the party of Reagan, Republicans have championed democracy, won the cold war and defeated the Soviet communists. Today, America is on the cusp of another cold war. This time with communist China. Attacks against our democratic process and the rule of law empower our adversaries and feed communist propaganda that American democracy is a failure.

    We must speak the truth. Our election was not stolen and America has not failed. ...."


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christianne:

      Without voter IDs elections will CONTINUE to be STOLEN.

      I really don't think TRUTH is your primary concern with all the incessant Trump bashing you relish in.

      Liz Cheney can't be removed quick enough. She would make a much better Democrat and they are certainly welcome to her.

      Delete
    2. Christianne:

      What really "empowers" enemies is putting a guy like Biden in the White House.

      Delete
    3. Suffice to say Christianne, you and I have totally different and antithetical "responsibilities to America".

      The gloves are coming off.

      Delete
  37. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9tERzYyc4Y

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Christianne:

      I mean this with all sincerity: To Hell with YouTube.

      Delete
  38. CHRISTIANE,

    I’m so angry at my mother for voting for Biden, I’m not going to visit her grave again! This woman doesn’t know straight up. Comparing Trump to Biden; look at the Texas border; watch the price of gasoline going higher. Unemployment pays more than if people worked, because Biden is giving them our children and grandchildren’s money. Biden couldn’t find Easter eggs even if he hid them. God help us.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Christianne writes: "Cheney would not abandon truth as she knew it...".

    That's the problem. Cheney has a hard time, like you, apprehending "truth". So today, she gets canned by her colleagues.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Christianne:

    Those "at war with the Constitution" are those who seek to eliminate voter ID requirements while replacing individual state controlled elections with Federal administration.

    Let me give you a hint. It's not Trump or Republicans.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Liz Chaney and all the other Trump-haters continue to say there was never any evidence of an election stolen due to under-handed and corrupt ballot fixing.

    That is totally an unfounded claim. There has NEVER been any investigation into ballot box stuffing and non-credible, illegitimate ballot fixing. There has NEVER been any investigation to follow-up on legitimate evidence that shows the illegal actions of corrupt ballot workers stuffing boxes.

    Georgia is "one" such case where there was credible, video, evidence of ballot workers stuffing ballot boxes but there was never any action taken to identify, interrogate, and ascertain the illegal motives of those workers. No court ever required investigations to take place even when there was evidence indicating a distorted reporting of the election results in areas where there was substantial margins of registered voters supporting Trump instead of the opposition.

    This is why Cheney and all other Trump-haters are discredited and their attempts to belittle and shame those who maintain an insistence that there be future safeguards to assure legitimate elections fall on deaf ears.

    Further evidence that there is indeed a conspiracy to use fraudulent voting methods is seen as ANY attempts by state governments to apply basic measures to assure credible voting procedures are attacked by the corrupt parties using tactics such as accusing those governments, like Georgia and others, of denying minorities the right to vote. That is totally bogus and should be seen as such by anyone using the least amount of sense and objectivity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When they don't want voter IDs and flood the border with illegal immigrants, you can rest assured that free and fair elections will cease to exist.

      Delete
  42. "When they don't want voter IDs and flood the border with illegal immigrants, you can rest assured that free and fair elections will cease to exist."

    Now, you and I see this as being clear and simple fact derived from open viewing and rationally concluding the obvious intent. Why else would there be opposition to protecting the integrity at the ballot box using methods that in now way discriminate against legally qualified voter other than attempting to contaminate the election in favor of one side?

    It is so obvious, that those supporting such underhanded tactics offer NO credible explanation for why they are taking their position opposing the application and enforcement of rules, policies, and laws made to protect the rights of voters and political candidates. Their only response is to make incredulous outcries like, "If you require voter identification authenticity YOU ARE RACISTS!!!"

    But, that's the society in which we live.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RB.

      I've been called a lot worse than racist by professing Christians.

      Like water off a duck's back.

      Delete
  43. I thought it was a good idea for the Cheney speech to be here in her own words, hence the 'link' to see and hear Liz Cheney on video. In my mind, she represents a small but valid remnant of those who may be able to save the Republican Party as a political party that honors the rule of law and the Constitution of the USA. Our country needs a healthy Republican Party that affirms the rule of law now.

    I like it that Liz Cheney stood up and said her words openly and forthrightly. I do not share her political views on some issues, no; but I support her right to her opinion and her right to speak openly.

    As to 'fact' and 'opinion', for me the line was drawn by the courts of law in our country on the issue of 'voter fraud proof'. Legally, the courts refused the case of Trump for lack of factual evidence. I also support all of us having the right to consider information and opinions for ourselves and make up our own minds about what we support.

    Today there are 'hearings' on the insurrection but I noticed Fox News was not carrying them. If I can find a link for those of you who missed seeing them, I will share it with you, but this may take a while.

    REX RAY, you can be angry at people like me for my opinions and how I vote, but don't be angry at your dear mother. Your mother is your mother is your mother. Honor her accordingly, and you will be more peaceful. Whole families are now divided because of trumpism and conspiracy theories coming from other countries and from places like QAnon. There is so much to be sad about that happening in our land. The strength and bonds of 'family' are a part of our national strength as a nation. Sorry for lecture, I am out of line here, but also still grieving loss. No 'excuse', I know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christianne:

      Guess you missed all the previous comments which conclude the testimony of Liz Cheney is NOT VALID. That's the very reason she just got canned.

      Like you, she is more interested in leftwing democrat talking points than "truth".

      Did you really get from Rex's joke that he is angry at his mother?

      Delete
    2. Christianne:

      What gives you the impression that we have not repeatedly viewed the materials you post long before you post them?

      Delete
  44. This is a prime example of the passive-aggressive nature of the radical socialist left in America.

    Christianne: The idea that election tampering is not possible, has not occurred or will not occur is like declaring that Fauci was not aware (including redirection of OUR tax dollars) that gain-of-function research was being conducted in Wuhan as a partnership with highly questionable "allies".

    It defies rational sanity as well as any spiritual sensitivity toward any concept of the depravity of man nor the fall of creation, IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  45. CHRISTIANE,

    “REX RAY, you can be angry at people like me for my opinions and how I vote, but don't be angry at your dear mother.”

    Oh, come one, Christiane, that joke’s been on Wade’s Post before. The joke implies dead people voted for Biden when Trump was cheated from being elected as President again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She knows that. Its part of the play book to pontificate, fail to respond with substance when challenged on the pontification, and then circle back to play the caring, well intentioned victim.

      Delete
  46. I'd like to say one thing after reading the comments here today. I have been appalled at the number of insults and ridicule directed toward Christiane. To my knowledge she has never resorted to this type of comment, but rather shares evidence for her opinions with a strong sense of self-confidence.

    I applaud Christiane for her comments here....and I agree with them wholeheartedly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Victorious:

      Apalling the liberal socialist left is a very GOOD thing IMO.

      Hope it escalates and continues.

      Delete
  47. Agreeing with her comments wholeheartedly is fortunately not our problem Victorious.

    Good luck wjth that.

    I have complimented Christianne for many of her comments here, but the most recent rightly draw rebuttal and requests for substance. The passive aggressive approach notwithstanding.

    ReplyDelete
  48. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Jan. 6th - full text of Trump's speech - important to read it in its FULL context:

    https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Donald_Trump%27s_Save_America_Rally_Speech

    ReplyDelete

Please discuss principle and do not denigrate people. Vulgar comments or those which violate the simple request above will be deleted.