Wednesday, December 27, 2017

The longest tantrum

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face -- for ever.
1984, George Orwell
It's been over a year since Donald Trump won the presidential election; nearly a year since he was sworn into office. And yet, the American far left is still pitching a fit. Why? It's because of who they see themselves as in that quote from 1984. No, in their minds they're not the human face and Trump isn't the boot. In their version, they are the boot and they were to do the stamping -- for ever.

The Left has been pulling the levers of power in the US since the 1930s. Some might argue far longer than that. The election of the occasional Republican or conservative to the White House meant little over the long run. However, the election of Donald Trump is another matter. He's not one of "those" Republicans. You know the type... The respectable kind who think that "go along to get along" will one day get them something. They're the Charlie Brown of politics; perpetually kicking at the football and never suspecting that Lucy will pull it away again. Trump is different.

He kicked Lucy and took the ball away.

And worse yet, now he's going to toss the ball into a wood chipper.

For all of their talk, deep down, the Republicans were never about smaller government. Like their esteemed colleagues on the Left, they wanted to be the boot too. Ultimately, they view government just like the Left does: As a club to hit people with. They feigned outrage when the Left swung that club, but they wanted their turn at bat one day. Or if you prefer Game of Thrones imagery, they were looking forward to the day when their spoke on the wheel would be on top.



Donald Trump may not have long, flowing, silver hair, or access to dragons, but he's out to break the wheel too. To the Left, that's their wheel; it belongs to them; it's always supposed to belong to them; their spoke is supposed to be on top. For ever.

Then along comes President Trump. He doesn't just advocate different policies. He's actually dismantling the government; the Left's Government. He's tearing down what took them decades to build. No wonder they're losing their minds! And no wonder the GOP establishment tried so desperately to stop him. How could their spoke ever reach the top if the wheel is broken? But unlike the Charlie Brown Party, the Left is having a harder time accepting the loss. Hence the year long tantrum.

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Why "CalExit" isn't going to be a thing

OK... I know that it's been a while. My attention has been elsewhere. This subject, however, is a good one for this sort of "long form" format...

So here's why "CalExit" isn't going to happen: The national Democrat Party will never allow it.

California is the beating heart and soul of the Democrat Party. Its powerbase is here. Democrat money comes from here. The Democrat-controlled media is based here. When they last controlled Congress, their majority came from here. There's a reason why Nancy Pelosi is still in charge of the House Democrats. Every four years, Democrat presidential candidates start election night with California's 55 electoral college votes in the bag; before a single vote has been cast here. When the votes were cast, Hillary Clinton won 2 votes here for every 1 Donald Trump won. The notion that Clinton won the popular vote exists only because of this disparity.

Next, let's look at the process itself. There is a procedure to admit a new state, but no mechanism for a State to leave the Union. Before California could secede, the Constitution would have to be amended to include a "divorce" clause. This is where the Confederacy went wrong. They thought that simply demanding to go their own way would be sufficient. Crazy Californians here are making the same mistake.

Now there are some in Red State America that might go along with a CalExit plan. These red States might be tempted to go ahead with plans to take 55 Electoral College votes, 2 Senators, and (at least) 38 Representatives away from the Democrats. However, there aren't enough red States to push through such an amendment. 3/4 of the States must ratify an amendment before it becomes part of the Constitution. Blue States would be needed and those Democrats would never let this happen. The last thing they want is to be members of a permanent minority party. CalExit would guarantee that fate.

Every last Democrat in California might want to leave the US, but every last Democrat in the rest of the country would oppose them.