"They do nothing, but talk"

Also a quote from Braveheart.  When I read one of these guys, that's the way I hear them.  They talk, but they DO nothing.

Step up to the plate and do something, or shut the fuck up.

By the way, you can learn a lot from a movie.  If only the schools would do their jobs, and this wouldn't be necessary.


Update:

Yeah, and joining the Establishment is to fight it.  Anybody ever heard of Doctor, cure thyself?

Update:

When I say "DO" something, I don't mean start a war.  I don't mean harming anyone physically.  I think they constantly refer to wrong things, but mention no way someone can get involved and do something constructive about it.  The only thing they can recommend is to "vote the way we want", or send some organization some of your money.  That's not good enough because elections are but every two years, but governance is full time.  That is what I mean.  You seem to only hear this kind of discussion during elections.

"Our little ruse succeeded. Thank you."

From the movie, Braveheart.  The King, aka "Longshanks" sends his daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, to buy off William Wallace, who has just sacked York.  He anticipates that Wallace will refuse the bribe, so he has dispatched a large army in order to outflank him.  The Princess is shocked to hear how she has been used.

I think this anti-Trump business is a ruse.  The best thing that you could think of Cruz is that he is unaware as the Princess is in understanding how he is being used by the Establishment.  If Cruz is not innocent, and knows better, then how else can you interpret what he is doing but to betray somebody.  At best, Cruz is an innocent young lamb being led to the slaughter.  At worst, he is as big or worse cutthroat than the Establishment.  Either way, it is not good for Cruz.

A ruse is a false impression deliberately given with the intention of deceiving, therefore, it is quite definitely a fancy term for lying.  So, who's lying:  Cruz or the Establishment or both?

I think the most realistic assessment is that both are lying.  It all depends on who is the bigger liar.  You can get a feel for what is going on here if you read Shirer's book.  Then you can understand how evil Hitler really was.  Not saying that anybody is Hitler, here.  Only using it as an example, and that I think that they are both lying to themselves, to us, and to each other.  In the end, there will be betrayal.

We ought to know by now what the Establishment is.  What about Cruz?  We can surmise what his nature is by observing his campaign, and how he conducts it:


Cruz's campaign tactics:


Small donors at first, to sucker in the unwary and the unsophisticated

Somehow I got on Cruz's lists.  I've made donations before, but hardly none since 2006, when I began to suspect being taken for a ride.  I've gotten a close up of this character for a long time now.  For awhile there, I believed him.  But not enough to send him money.

Claims to be against what he termed the "cartel" that he now wants to join

See above.  Why would he want to join what he says he opposes?

Cruz's delegate strategy is undemocratic, in spite of all this; not a man of the people

This isn't really about the people, but the opposite.  Selling out.

Refusal to campaign against Trump until the end of the process

The unkindest ruse of them all.

Additional reasons for not believing Cruz.

After all this, then why believe Cruz?

What's up with the Russians?

They buzz one of our ships.  The plane was said to be only about 30 feet away.

I read about that, and generally such things kind of roll off my back.  But this one demands attention.  Russia has a significant military capability.  Why would they risk an international incident like this?

There's an article via Real Clear Politics, that discusses some of what is going on.  Besides, we aren't in the best possible military position to go picking fights with anybody right now.  Just saying.

Official policies are generally stupid, but that's par for the course for this country.  One of these days, we are going to run out of luck.

All the more reason to dump these clowns from top to bottom.  Hopefully, we will get the time to get our shit together.

Update:

Maybe a couple hours or more since I read the article linked to above.  I recall reading in the article that the Doomsday Clock has been moved to near midnight.  This is as bad as it was during the Cold War, but nobody seems to be paying attention.

You might want to start.

Past, Present, and Future: It's about time

This is probably going to be another one of those short posts, because it is just a thought.

Next to me, lies a book I've been re-reading.  It's the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by Shirer.  There have been Hitler comparisons recently, and this has sparked my renewed interest in the book.  The book is about the past, some seventy to eighty years ago.

Of course, I've been following the presidential politics on the GOP side for the last few months, perhaps.  This is about the present.

Now, I've been going over to the Next Big Future blog, and studying things that may be in our future.

Trying to figure all this out might get you something, or take you nowhere.  You can't do anything about the past, but learn from it.  You might speculate about the future, so as to prepare for it.  While in the present, however, forces far greater than yourself may prevent you from doing much about the present.  One might confine oneself to studying only things that may be of benefit to oneself, but how the hell do you know what that is?

At least it is something to do.

Solar energy developments

Not a big fan of solar.  In fact, I think it is really dumb.  But some people believe in it.

Here's a few tidbits I've rounded up.  If it can be made to work, Elon Musk is going to try it.  He's got "gigafactories" in the works that can drive prices down.  According to this, down to  $2500 kw when it's built.  Not cheap, but cheaper than it was.

Solarcity gigafactory for solar cells could make solar plus batteries cheaper than fossil fuels

I knew about the gigafactory for batteries.  You'll need batteries too, kemosabe.  They aren't cheap either, but also getting cheaper.

Tesla Is Building a $5-Billion Gigafactory Powered By Renewable Energy For Their Electric Cars

Tesla has already got a powerwall for sale.  I think 3k bucks can get you 7kwh of power, which would require more than the $2500 mentioned above for the panels.  On a sunny day, you might get a modest amount of energy out of the thing.

tesla powerwall home battery

Seems to me that a simple propane generator can produce more energy for a lot less money.  But that puts all that icky carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  Well, you cannot win 'em all.

Don Rafael

Michael looks straight into Kay's eyes, and lies his butt off.  She wants to believe him, so she accepts his denial, and walks into the next room.  She looks back, and sees the murderers pay homage to  their new Don, and realizes that she had been lied to.

If I am right about Cruz, he's just like this character in this scene.  He'll look into your eyes, and lie his butt off.  Only later will you realize that you've been had.

The thing to consider today is, do people care that they are being lied to?  There are some who may justify dishonesty on the basis of necessity of one kind or another.

If you are tempted to justify behavior like this, then just remember that necessity never forces someone to be dishonest.

Glen Beck says he doesn't understand support for Trump

I watched about 4 minutes of this.

Conservatives have largely lost the argument on big government.  They lost that one a very long time ago.   If they think they can win with a pure conservative, they are kidding themselves.  The best you can hope for at this point, is to keep it from further expansion.

I don't get the sense that Trump will expand government the way the libs do.  I could be wrong, but I don't get the sense that he will.  So, I will discount that criticism.

Finally, on the issue with Latinos.  Morris said that the American born Latinos don't have immigration as their top priority.  These Latinos make up 3/4 of the population.  Now, why cater to that 1/4th?  It doesn't make sense unless you are afraid of being called a racist.

Now that 3/4ths are with the conservatives on the issues that they say they care about, so why antagonize them if they also want a bit more government?  You don't have to expand it, just don't try to get them to think like the rest are going to, because that is not what they are.  You cannot do anything about what has already happened.  The important thing to me, it would seem, would be getting control over the border. 

I'm sorry, but I don't think these guys care that much about this.  They prefer the cheap labor.  It's all about the bucks, not the conservative "principles".  I have to call BS on that.

I say issues win for Trump.  The guys with the "principles" like BS stories, and they think that will win.   The BS is wearing mighty thin.

Limbaugh says that GOP doesn't exist to win elections.

No kidding?  Coulda fooled me!  /sarc

Update:

Rush is really trying to be even handed, as I can see here. But he is really an establishment guy himself.  I think they have co opted him into serving their interest.

The trouble is that establishment co-opts things and turns it towards serving them.  You have to have a clean break from them. You don't align yourselves with them as Cruz is doing.  You don't align with them stealthily, and expect to fool people.

Cruz has lost, but he still thinks he can win by joining with the establishment.  By the way, that is giving Cruz a lot more leeway than he deserves.  I think he is establishment himself, and all of this is a great big act.

The only way for Cruz to get the nomination is for to join the establishment openly.  Then, they will love him for one of their own, because betrayal is one of their favorite tricks.

It won't matter to them if he loses, because they aren't about winning anyway.

Wow

Look at how the choppy waters pound against the drone ship.  Besides that, it looks tiny compared to the rocket.  Incredible.

Ann Coulter and Dick Morris

Both are still good reads.  Maybe because I agree with them.  yuk, yuk

We all like people who agree with us, don't we?  We, maybe that is enough to keep one humble, for one can be wrong.  Anybody can be wrong, but I'm not.  yuk, yuk

In the world that's coming, you will not be able to crack jokes like that, comrade.  And that is no joke.

But we're still okay for now, at least.

Ann Coulter points out the latest falsehood of the pro Cruz faction.  That is to say, there is no rule that allows them to do what they did in Colorado.  She said that she researched it.  Now, the trouble is, when you do all this researching, you are using valuable time to rebut their ridiculous claims.  Like I said, it is a distraction from what this is really all about.  Coulter is getting close to that realization, but she doesn't quite make that final step.  She expresses her exasperation that she keeps tracking down these false claims when we should be discussing the real issues!  Imagine that.  Discussing real issues.  What a concept!

Morris talks about the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.  Once again he mentions how Trump brings in all these new voters.  Cruz can't, but he sure knows da rules! [not]  I thought it was about getting votes.  Silly me. 

Whatever these anti Trump people are doing, it is not about winning an election.

You can tell the trade/borders is THE issue...

Because that is the LAST thing these people want to talk about.  Hence, we hear nothing but these other irrelevant things.  They are irrelevant things because it is intended to avoid the main issue, which is this...

Do these people really want a country anymore?

As Trump said, no borders, no country.  Why would these people be so vehemently against that?  One thing that they certainly cannot afford is to give that impression.  Thus, the discussion must always be diverted elsewhere.

The best strategy is to always divert the discussion right back at them.  Why don't you people want a country anymore?

Update:

Perfect example:  Battery charges were dropped against Lewandowski.  What the "Redstaters" want you to do is argue with them over the case.  They'll try to provoke, but don't be provoked.  It may be hard restrain oneself from these types of ridiculous charges, but that's is what they are fishing for, your righteous indignation ( which is justified ).

Always direct the discussion back to trade/open borders.  That will confound them no end.

GOP majority think Constitution is ok

No need for any change?  The poll may not have asked about abortion.  I thought there was an amendment in reference to abortion.  If so, then most GOP'ers must be against it.  Since abortion is the law of the land, by judicial decree, it would seem that the GOP is okay with this, if you can take the poll at face value.

What's the point?  Everybody is getting herded like sheep.  The antidote is independent minded people, but how do you get to such an outcome when everyone is dependent? 

Dependence isn't a liberal phenomenon.  It is built into the society that we've inherited. If you are relying upon a trading for goods type economic system, then you must arrive at general interdependence.  It then comes down to who are you dependent upon?  Reality being what it is, it generally devolves upon the government.

Is it all Kabuki Theater?

Hitting the pause button here...

As you all folks, or bots, whichever the case may be, may have noticed, is that I'm following the election on this here blog...

You may have noticed some changes on my left sidebar recently.  One change has not been discussed yet, and now may be the time for that.  Besides mentioning that, I may want to elaborate a little further.

Ann Barnhardt's link got taken down.  Why?  I think that she's gone too far, basically.  She starting to question the entire premise of modern civilization, it seems.  While there is a lot to criticize about modern civilization, I'm not with her on it in the main.

I'm in favor of self governance.  I don't see any better alternatives.

She's been highly skeptical of the political progress for some time now.  She has something else up on her site today.  Is it worth considering?  Or is it too much?

She's saying that it is all theater.  Not the exact words, but more or less, it is all fake.

That much is worth a thought.  Because it could be.  I'm not so sure, though.  If it is all a fake, then they are putting on a pretty good show.  Yes, it could all be a BIG SHOW.  But I am not convinced that it is.

If it is a big show, then Trump knows he is going to lose.  But that won't matter to him because his payoff is somewhere else.  That doesn't convince me.  The real payoff is the presidency, not in losing it  on purpose.

If he wins, then the argument would be that he wants only the power and the money.  That's the hardest thing to unravel, because that is something that's deep in his character.

There's something to consider in the Bible.  Maybe it is applicable here.

I watched some Biblical Stories yesterday.  One of them was David v. Goliath.  I don't know how close this came to the real Biblical story, but it was Hollywood 1960.  You had King Saul of Israel being confronted by the Prophet Samuel, who told him his reign was near the end.  He said that Saul had lost favor with God, and that he was going to be replaced soon.

Of course you know who replaced him, right?

Now, the thing that struck me is that King Saul looked like he was in on an assassination plot against David, who had just won a big victory over the Philistines.   At the moment of truth, Saul popped an arrow through David's would be assassin, and blessed the new King.

Why can't something like that happen today?  Are we that far gone?  Maybe, but I am not convinced.

Update:

The above scenario would be nice, but the real Bible ain't like the movie!  Checked it out.

Well, I never said I was a Bible Thumper.

Trump ain't David, but when he has to go against the entire Establishment, he's definitely the underdog.

Cruz Campaign Embarrassed After Fact Checking Site Exposes Lie About His Chances of Winning

Cruz Campaign Embarrassed After Fact Checking Site Exposes Lie About His Chances of Winning



Cruz may have an undeserved reputation for integrity.



Busted!

Update:

The site is probably a liberal site, but the point is probably valid.  Checking...

Trump and Gestapo Tactics

Much is being made of the use of the term "Gestapo Tactics" in reference to the Cruz campaign.  Even Limbaugh felt  it necessary to chime in on the subject.  After all, that is why I am making this post.  Limbaugh discusses the interview that Wolf Blitzer did of Katrina Pierson about that very subject.

Now, the thing that Pierson points out was that there was no such concern about the Hitler comparisons with respect to Trump.  Why now?

Why now, indeed!  I've check Limbaugh's archives a bit, but I found no defense of Trump of the Hitler comparisons.

I don't agree with the use of the term, but if it does one thing, it shows the hypocrisy of all concerned, and maybe that includes el Rushbo himself.  If he didn't defend Trump on this, that is.  If he did, it didn't show up where I looked.  I looked at it at the same time I posted a protest of that use, which was sometime back in March.  A little deeper search of my own archives shows the comparisons being made in November, by the New York Times.

Rush defends Trump a little.  But he really charges in to defend Cruz, which shows something about Rush that may not be so good.

Just listen to the guy, and then make up your mind

With all of this anti-Trump all the time news coverage, it may be useful to bring out one of Rush Limbaugh's questions to people who hate him.  Rush would ask, "Have you ever listened to the show?"  The reason for the question is that people will follow what they've heard others say, not necessarily what they've seen or heard themselves.

Trump points out some facts and figures about the area in which he is holding this rally.  You may argue about the cause of their problems, but you cannot argue that the area has been hard hit.

There has to be some accountability, or the same things will keep happening.

Cruz says that Trump has no substance

If that were true, then why the vehement opposition?  Cruz is a globalist, as is just about all the GOP.  He is like the cross being displayed to Dracula.  They shrink in horror.  Why?  He is opposed to free trade/open borders uber alles. 

Looks like a substantive disagreement to me.

Climate science balderdash

These people can be persuasive to those who only hear their side of the story.  I was going to comment upon one of these yayhoos' pieces, when I was cutoff by a tech difficulty.  It seems a lot of the times that occurrences of one kind or other tend towards an effort to censor any dissenting views.  That may be wrong, but what else can I think?  These people are not in the mainstream in terms of the American tradition of free expression.  In fact, I suspect that so called climate science is part of the attempt to overturn the entire society. 

Under the old system, in which they are trying to overthrow, one had the right to dissent and to present opposing views.  These people do not allow dissent.  So, how can a system that does not allow dissent be self correcting?  It cannot.  It will be forever mired in institutional groupthink.

Evidently those who present their beliefs of climate catastrophes have some doubt about their evidence, or otherwise, why suppress that information?  They want to use the heavy hand of the state in order to suppress opposing viewpoints.  If anything is to be punished, that should be.  It is illegal, as in the First Amendment.

Ah, but we don't need such outmoded thinking that came from dead white guys.  Get with the times. /sarc

Who ya gonna listen to?

Victor Davis Hanson quoted to have said the next president is going to be hated.  Well, that depends.  If the next president is a failure, then he will be hated indeed.  For even if things get pretty bad, if it is followed by victory, then all will be forgiven.  Churchill wasn't hated by his contemporaries.  ( But who knows today?)



Note:  This is classified under the WTF category because it surprises me even today how supposedly knowledgeable people can get something wrong.

Western Civilization in mortal crisis, any suggestions anyone?

The outcome of the 2012 was deeply disturbing to many.  I recall reading the story of one man, whose name I've forgotten, who was affected so.  How was it that Obama could get elected and reelected in this country?  I've wondered many times about that myself.  Even Limbaugh stated on his show that we lost the country.  Without a doubt, something is deeply wrong somewhere, and most everybody knows it, too.

As for me, I'm on my own little quest here to look for some answers.  Throughout these last five and a half years, I figured I was on the right track.  It should be relatively easy to get back on track, or so I thought.  Obviously, this is not happening.  If anything, things appear to be getting much worse, much faster.

Evidently, the problem must be a lot deeper than I thought.  A lot deeper than anyone is thinking at this moment in time.  Getting the answer and getting it implemented in time may be beyond us.

I was just thinking this morning about how the political contest was going in context with this.  Much has been made of Trump's lack of knowledgeable people to advise him on foreign policy.  But if the Establishment is wrong, then anybody else would be an unknown by definition.  That's because the Establishment has been running things for a long time. They are everywhere.  If you are going to change things, the Establishment is going to have to go, and new faces are going to have to replace the old.

If everything is so good now, why make any changes at all?  That new faces appear is not much of an argument in favor of keeping the old ones, who are making all these messes.  Their attacks would be so easy to defeat, but there doesn't seem to be anyone capable of making the winning moves.  Hence, my criticism of Trump.  He could have gone a long way towards providing the victory, but he now doesn't appear to be up to the task required.  He has succeeded in highlighting the problem, however.

Trump's shortcomings don't mean that what's left is competent.  I have come to the recent conclusion that Cruz is just another one of the Establishment's men, thus he has no answers either.  In fact, Cruz, like the Establishment itself, is the problem, not the solution.  Trump has accomplished this much in pointing this out.  But more is needed.  He needs to convince the public why they are the problem, and why they must go.

In a sense, Cruz is the Establishment what Gorbachev was to the Soviet Union.  As glasnost and perestroika didn't save the Soviet Union, and Gorby failed, so shall Cruz.  The reason these guys are so opposed to Trump is that Trump is flatly telling them to go eff off, with their open borders and free trade.  But he has to seal that bargain with the public, and in this, he is failing. ( People must like their food stamps a lot.)  Free stuff and endless entertainment may save some individual leaders for a time, but it cannot save a nation.  Bread and circuses didn't save Rome.  Eventually, the bread and circuses run out.  When it does...

The reason the Establishment has to go is that they run everything, including both parties.  They have managed to fool everybody into thinking that there's real opposition between the parties.  The failure of the GOP to oppose Obama should have opened more than a few eyes, but evidently not.

Somebody or something had better and soon.  It is getting late.

Who ya gonna listen to?

This isn't a bad column.  It is somewhat like what I wrote myself at the time.  Too bad nobody pays attention to just plain, old common sense.

Trump should get serious or quit

Nope, I'm not kidding.  I hate to write this, but I think he has probably lost his chance.

The negativity has been firmly established.  He cannot turn it around easily, if at all.  Not to mention that he won't spend his own money in order to do that.  That was his ace in the hole.  If he won't use it, and it appears that he has no intention to using it, then he has no real chance.

Trump needs a massive PR campaign.  Look, the GOP likes him in New York, so he must not be all that bad once you know him.  He had to bring that basic likability with him to the national spotlight.  It is a bit hard for him to do that now since he has pretty much defined himself in such a way as to make that very unlikely to succeed.  Thus, even if he did spend his money, he may not even succeed at doing that now.  It is a self-inflicted wound in all too many cases.  He has a long shot chance at turning it around, but he has to get really serious about it.

Yes, the GOP hasn't been fair with him.  But it would be a lot harder for them to do what they're doing if Trump hadn't made so many mistakes.  The mistakes didn't seem to hurt him at first, but the cumulative effect is now overwhelming.

I do not think Cruz will win in the general.  What is needed is a guy like Trump, plus the "fire in the belly" to succeed.  Trump doesn't seem to have it.  Cruz doesn't have what Trump has, but he does have the "fire" to try to win.  It isn't likely to be enough, though.

I still don't like Cruz.  But Trump is probably unelectable at this point.  Unless something big happens to change all that, he should get out.


Update:

I've always had this suspicion about Trump not being serious.  So, this is not new for me.

The crux of the matter

In this presidential race, almost all of the vituperation seems to be directed at Donald Trump.  It is a curious thing to me.  If it were Kasich who had the lead, it wouldn't be like this.  If Rand Paul had the lead, they wouldn't be acting like this.  Romney didn't produce this kind of reaction.  So, what is driving this phenomenal opposition?

It must be free trade and open borders.  What else could it be?  Big money at stake, ya'll.  There's money in them thar trade deals.  Especially for the crooks negotiators who make the deals.

Cruz cannot escape this because he is on record for supporting TPA.  Without TPA, there's no TPP.  TPP leads to unlimited migration.  No?  Well, that's what I heard that it does.  Heck, that's why Obama wanted it.  It has to be true.  Why else would the bamster be for it?

Cruz claims to be against it, but it doesn't fool me.  If he didn't want Obama to have that power, he should have opposed TPA.  With TPA, you get unlimited migration.  It overrides Congressional limits that may be in place.  Cruz is worse than Rubio.  But he is a lot slicker than Rubio.  He can be all over the place on an issue, but make himself look as firm as the Rock of Gibraltar.

Glenn Reynolds wrote a book about an Army of Davids.  More like an Army of Judas's.

A foolish consistency...

Who said that?  It is a quote of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I was thinking of that in respect to what I just wrote about Milton Friedman, and how it would be wonderful for us if we could get the rest of the world to accept paper dollars for goods.

It is foolishly consistent to take Economic Theory to its logical conclusion to the extent he did, and then try to justify it on the basis of economics alone.  You could not make that scenario work in the real world, because not all people are fools.  If you give away your power and strength in exchange for a few baubles, then you are the fool.  This is what these free traders are doing.  They don't know the difference between wealth and money.  Wealth is know how.  Money is just a medium of exchange.  It can only have value if it is backed by true wealth, which is the collective know how of a people.  If a nation neglects its people in exchange for baubles from abroad, then that nation can not exist for long.

The conclusion follows, if you are courageous enough to face the truth.

Why are people scared of nuclear power?

In my opinion, they are scared because the powers-that-be want them to be scared.  If the powers-that-be wanted people to lose their fear of nuclear power, then they would educate them about it.  Instead of doing that, the powers-that-be do everything in their power to frighten people.  And so they are frightened.   No mystery there.

The educational program required would be extensive, but that is no excuse.   After all, they can get   people to accept that two plus two equals five, then they can do most anything.

Now, nuclear power is too safe to use.  One marvels at these people's ingenuity to make up stuff.

To get better leadership, you have to get these people out.

Trade policies

There has only been some brief mention of this issue, reason being that it hasn't been a big deal to me.  Thanks to all the Trump bashing, it now is.

Truth be told, I never did believe in free trade uber alles.  This must be coming from the Chicago school of Economics, led by the Nobel Prize winner, Milton Friedman.

I know somewhere in this blog, I mentioned his book Free To Choose.  In that book, Friedman asserts that we don't have to worry about big trade deficits.  He went on to say that if we could only give our trading partners paper dollars in exchange for goods, that this would be "wonderful for us".  But this looks at the situation only from an economics perspective.  For if we went to war with the Axis powers with no other ability than to make currency, we couldn't have defeated Hitler nor Tojo.  Consequently, I have always had my doubts about how wonderful that scenario would be for us.

Trade deficits are bad.  Why else would China seek them, but at our expense?  We are all led to believe that this is harmless, but with China inheriting so much of what was once ours, what kind of future can we expect to have?

Since China was let into the WTO, the USA has been in state of economic decline.  Is this mere coincidence?  Or have we made some fundamental mistake that has cost us dearly?

China is now attempting to take over trade routes in the Pacific.  Why do you think they can do this?

Cruz is on video here in support of TPA, which was necessary for the TPP.  Yet another trade deal.  After all the mess that these deals have made, why should he be trusted after he did this?

The GOP has long been in favor in H1B visas.  Those are for tech jobs.  I remember reading on a bulletin board about how a guy lost his job because of this.  Yep, it definitely looks like the GOP really doesn't like working class people.  If they are going to abuse people this way, what sense does it make to support them anymore?  Back then, it didn't seem to matter as much.  But after all these years of continual abuse, it starts to pile up.  The GOP has something to answer for.  If there is going to be accountability, you have to pay attention to these kinds of things.

Either the accountability is going to take place within the party, it will take place outside.  If outside, it means the left, and that cannot be good news for the GOP.  Not that they care about that, mind you.  They can always take their money and run.

Battle of San Jacinto

It is curious how Santa Anna managed to get beaten so badly there.  Obviously, the reason for it was that he wasn't expecting it.  He knew the Texan army was in the area, but he probably did not know their will to fight, nor did he know their true numbers.  For these were kept secret from him. 

All he could know for certain was that Houston retreated continually.  Santa Anna had to know that he was hot on Houston's heels the whole time of the retreat.  For Gen. Houston was in Gonzales at the time of the Alamo.  He had ordered it destroyed, and that the men there were to join him at Gonzales.  But they didn't do that, of course.  Once Houston had found out that the Alamo had fallen, he ordered a retreat.  Not a moment too soon.  Within a day, the Mexican Army was in Gonzales.  Houston had it burned, and it was reported that it was still smoldering when the Mexicans arrived.

Santa Anna had to know that General Houston's army was the last one remaining.  He had just taken the Alamo, and he had ordered Fannin and his men to be executed after having been captured at Goliad.  Victory was all but achieved.  Houston's retreat must have signaled cowardice to him.  That's what the interim President of Texas, David G. Burnet thought.  Burnet had been nearly captured himself just before San Jacinto.  He fled to Galveston Island.  Santa Anna had Harrisburg burned, and continued following Houston.

A key bit of information about Gen. Houston's intentions came to Santa Anna's attention.  But it was false intelligence.  Supposedly, Houston wanted to go to Galveston with Burnet.  It may explain the positioning of Santa Anna's army at San Jacinto.  This position blocks any movement toward Galveston along a land route.  The Mexican general could not know how his navy was not having  success at blockading the coast.  Communications were bad.

His lieutenants protested the positioning of the camp.  It violated military doctrine.

On the other side, waited Gen. Houston.  Carefully screening his position so as to not give away his true numbers, he waited for the right time to attack.   Consequently, Santa Anna may have believed that he faced only a remnant of Houston's forces.  The rest supposedly had gone to Galveston to join Burnet.

Why not believe that Houston would retreat to Galveston?  Wasn't that what he was doing all this time instead of fighting?

A large number of men had come in to reinforce the Mexican side.  But they were tired and needed rest.  A guard was kept up for that night, but there was no attack.  The guard came down, and the Mexicans relaxed.

A look at the terrain shows how Santa Anna could have been surprised.  The area was surrounded by marshes and trees.  There was a depression running right down the center of the peninsula, and may at one time had been a stream.  It may have been as much as 20 feet deep.  This separated the two camps, so Houston's men had to cross this bit of terrain, but while doing so, they wouldn't have been noticed until they were really close to the Mexican lines.  This aided the element of surprise.

The time of the attack was at the siesta, a time of the day taken for rest.  The Mexicans were not expecting the attack.  When it came, it came suddenly.  The battle was over in a mere 18 minutes.

Santa Anna was known to make snap judgments.  He misjudged the enemy due to faulty intelligence and poor communications.  He let down his guard, and didn't follow military doctrine.  The result was a catastrophic loss of life, and his own capture.  His military plans had come to naught.  Texas was free.

Note the roads. On the peninsula towards the bottom, the road splits.  The top branch goes inland, the bottom goes towards the coast.  The Texans are behind the road that goes inland, the Mexican force is on the other side. 

So much falsity out there, who do you trust?

Evidently, nobody!

You've got claims that pro-Trumpsters will never give up, and then there are reports that they would.  Both stories cannot be true at the same time.

This won't be a long post.  Just a warning to anybody out there that whatever you hear might not be true.  It may be false information designed to discourage you.

The Establishment has gotten into panic mode.  They will do anything.  As for me, I am taking everything I hear or read about with a grain of salt.  I suggest that everyone else do the same.