“A Republic, if you can keep it.” Donald Trump and the Tyranny of the Mob…

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For the last eight years I’ve been shaking my head, simply bewildered that so many Americans could be so insane as to vote for Barack Obama for president. Not surprisingly, once Obama was ensconced in the White House things played out pretty much as predicted with virtually every month bringing new news of a faltering economy, a shrinking workforce and more government waste, intervention and tyranny. In 2012, after Fast and Furious, the IRS Tea Party scandal, Obamacare and, most of all, Benghazi, I was sure that Americans would rise up and throw out the anti American Obama and vote for the less than conservative, but exponentially superior Mittens Romney. Alas, the population spoke, and they doubled down on the fascist living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

I was certain that year that if only a real conservative who could eloquently articulate the basic tenets of small government and fiscal responsibility had run he would have won by a landslide. After all, wasn’t it obvious that Barack Obama was the worst president in American history and the Democrats were rapidly devolving into open Socialism? But as we know, there was no such conservative running and Milquetoast Mitt was shellacked.

Now, in 2016 we find ourselves in an utterly different situation. We have a rock solid conservative running for the White House. Who can and does eloquently articulate the ideas behind our founding principles of limited government, individual liberty as well as the fundamental idea of American Exceptionalism. Yet, somehow he’s losing the GOP nomination fight… to a guy who’s a big government crony capitalist who has spent most of his life supporting Democrats and their liberal policies. Essentially he’s losing to a vapid populist whose idea of debating is throwing insults and lies around like confetti rather than providing substantive positions on practically any issue.

The next couple of weeks will tell the story, but the fact that we are at this point says a lot about the United States and the American people. That half the population are voting for an avowed socialist or a socialist in liberal clothing is sad. That one third of the remainder are actively supporting a populist candidate with little understanding of the issues at stake never mind the concepts of limited government, free markets and individual freedom upon which this country was founded, is disheartening.

The United States is not a democracy and never has been. We are a republic with a separation of powers and limited government that are unique in the history of government. It was that limited government and the companion individual liberties upon which the government is not to tread that created more prosperity for more people around the world than any government, state or entity in all of human history. Today all of that is in peril as almost 2/3 of the population are seemingly prepared to travel down a path of dismantling the limitations on government our Founding Fathers put in place.

After eight years under a president who decried the Constitution as a “Charter of negative liberties” the next president will have a choice. Either bring the progressive attack on the Constitution and freedom to a halt or pick up where Obama leaves off and continue down that path. Unfortunately, three of the four remaining candidates – John Kasich doesn’t count as a real candidate – are more than happy to jettison the Constitution and pander to the masses. Whether it’s Germany or Argentina or Venezuela, such populist movements rarely turn out well.

Populist movements share one underlying characteristic… they seek to harness the anger of the mob. Once the shackles of constitutional limits are thrown off, there is little to restrain government or the people other than the character of the leaders, and often that’s simply not enough. As Maximilien Robespierre learned, the consequences of doing so can be, shall we say, unforeseen… and unfortunate.

Today we see just such a mob mentality in the GOP race, and it starts at the top. Donald Trump claims the will of the people is being thwarted whenever he loses. He suggests the rules are tilted against him and therefore should be ignored. He’s even suggested that if he doesn’t walk away with the nomination despite not reaching 1,237, there will be riots. His followers have taken to preemptively threatening delegates to the convention if they don’t support him. Even his cheerleader Rush Limbaugh has suggested that if the Donald isn’t given the nomination his supporters will go nuclear. None of that bodes well for the future. If the threat of mob violence and anarchy are enough to do away with the rules when Trump has nothing but a vocal minority of GOP voters on his side, what chance do Constitutional restraints on government have when he is in charge of the entire government infrastructure?

The American people have twice put in office a man with a demonstrated antagonism towards the Constitution and he has spent the last eight years trampling on it. Once that bell has been rung, it’s hard to unring, and history has shown that the siren call of power is hard to resist, even for those without Donald Trump’s HUUUUGE ego. There are four candidates for president remaining. Three of them will pick up where Barack Obama leaves off and continue the progressive march towards the fall of the Republic because they see government as nothing more than an instrument for imposing their ideas on the population. And then there is Ted Cruz, who would turn back virtually everything Barack Obama has done because he understands the value of a strong Constitution, a limited government and a free people.

Emerging from Independence Hall after the Constitutional Convention, Ben Franklin was asked by a woman what kind of government we had. Franklin replied “A Republic, if you can keep it.” One can’t help but wonder if Americans are willing to vote to keep their republic and the rule of law or are instead going to finally pass the torch to the tyranny of the mob, also known as democracy.

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The congress over the last seven years has failed to carry out the expectations of the American people or the conscripts of the Constitution.
The impeachment of the entire congress should be undertaken
The illegal immigrant in the wipe house is a historical stain upon American history, the legacy that is left in one of shame and disgust.
The leaders of the world no longer listen to him or acknowledge him.
he is a muslim terrorist, history will soon demonstrate this fact. CIA has long known about his activities.

Vince,
You would have loved to be in Utah during their caucus/primary.
They set up a totally failed electronic absentee voting system.
59,000 Utahns used it and failed to cast any vote.
All Election Day those people were told via media and at the caucus sites that, having already tried to cast a ballot and failed, they would NOT be allowed to ”vote twice.”
So, they stayed home.
But, as the night went on, and it looked like Cruz’ victory would not be enough for a full state delegate sweep, officials came around to caucus rooms (not on media, not to the folks at home) and said that now permission was granted for all those failed votes to be recast in person.
With less than an hour to go Cruz’ numbers rose from 52% of the vote (not enough to sweep) to 79% of the votes cast.
Those 59,000 voters’ names were all crossed off the list as having come in and voted.
It stunk to high heaven.

But that’s not the end of the corruption of the Mormon running of the state.
After a few more state elections these same Mormon leaders saw that Trump might just be the nominee.
So, they came out and told their flock that they would all be voting for BERNIE should Trump be the Republican nominee!
This state is/was the reddest of all red states.
But it is a partial theocracy.
And the leaders of that majority church (49% of all adults are Mormons) are ordering Bernie votes over Republican votes.

Paternalism is alive and well.
Paternalistic pundits.
Paternalistic religious leaders.
BUT…..America’s youth are about as anti-paternalistic as possible. They have tantrums and expect to get their way on everything.
No wonder the pundits and religious leaders are failing when they use paternalism to try to gain their support.

After Rush has demanded NO COMPROMISE of course it was going to be mob rule
And who are you going to blame for Clinton’s nominee being confirmed in SCOTUS?
Most Americans think Cruz is too extreme he advocates no abortion for rape or invest how do youbthinkbthat goes over with the girls?

First of all, Excellent article Vince, do you mind if I excerpt it to post elsewhere?

Now to respond to the substance of what your wrote.

In his penultimate movie entitled America, Dinesh D’Souza pointed out that up until the formation of the untied states the paradigm has been rule by force.

This being military force or simply numerical advantages or what have you, it was always those who had the better weapons or more people who ruled over those without these things. In essence it’s been mob rule that decided the fate of everyone. Individuals – the smallest minority – did not have any rights, save that which was granted by the collective rights of the mob.

The Rule of law set up by the founding fathers changed all of that – people were now governed by the Limited power of the government and not by the transitory whims of the mob. People had freedom because in essence the mob was restricted on what it could do to individuals.

One of the more disturbing elements of the primary season is that the Donners are reverting to this mob or ‘populist’ mentality.

Don’t like the nomination process, threaten delegates with harm if they don’t acquiesce to the mob.

Don’t like that some have more money, raise taxes on the wealthy and take at the point of a gun.

This is part of the problem that you have pointed out here, and if one mob can dictate certain actions.. what’s to stop a bigger mob from dictating contravening actions?

Mob rule, or at least the aspiration to mob rule, was already established on the Left over a decade ago. That such a large portion of the Right has decided to emulate them shows that the American experiment is headed towards failure.

Large majorities of both parties have no knowledge of history, flimsy critical thinking skills and no ability to participate in an actual argument.

The weakness of the US Constitution is that it requires a population that is both educated and engaged in order to function. We have neither, and the culmination of that is an election where a thuggish big-government crony capitalist will be taking on a different thuggish big-government crony capitalist. As I’ve said before, this will not end well.

When inflammatory language such as the first commentator used is deemed acceptable by any party how can you pretend to be surprised when the mob assembles with torches and pitchforks?

As for raising taxes on the rich 50 years ago when the maximum rate was much higher our country Was prosperous

Excellent post, Vince. About the only correction I can make would be changing this:

We are a republic with a separation of powers and limited government that are unique in the history of government.

To this: We were a republic with a separation of powers and limited government that were unique in the history of government.

Nowadays, one has to search for the facts among what the corrupt liberal medi offers as “news”. What does anyone know about Cruz other than “he shut down the government”? Do they know that, other than the pain the administration intentionally inflicted, there was hardly a ripple causes the the shutdown? Or that Obama later, illegal and unilaterally, imposed the exact same thing Cruz was filibustering to accomplish legally? Do they know he actually HAS conservative principles and (like it or not) will endure whatever happens to stand by them? Most likely not.

Conservatives decline to throw their hat in the ring because of the hammering they receive from the media that supports the liberal candidate in every case. Now that the families become collateral damage, we lose, I think, a lot of good candidates.

Exactly what I was going to say, past tense. And that, in and of itself IMHO, is part of the reason that Trump has such support. When it appears that there is a Uniparty with the SQRLS branch not doing a thing different than the party of Evil branch, then they are done with anyone having any ties to it. And that includes Ted and his ties to Bushes and Goldman Sachs which owns both branches.

The Media !!!
Americans have a wide variety of media choices conservatives complain tha Americans don’t all watch Fox News
On the internet you have daily caller brier art drudge
Yet you still whine about the media stop claiming victimization!
You have rush
Stop crying about the media

Educated ??? Most Americans didn’t graduate from high school in the 40s
Keep families off limits in campaigns ??? Tell me how many times on this site I saw references to Bill Clinton having some sort of unapproved sex
Or Chelsea Clinton
Of course some how the best way to excuse it is to just say it is the fault of the liberals
The liberals are the reason why any conservative ever does anything wrong

@John: Amost all the newspapers, all network “news”, PBS, Kos, Media Matters, Huffington all bear far left. Don’t pretend the vast majority of information AND entertainment media (which many, many liberals confuse with fact) is anything but leftist propaganda.

If you take the first comment up above as your current position, left would be your direction of travel if you wish to get to reality. Pack some granola bars and top up your canteen. It could be a pretty long hike.

@John:
You seem to have tunnel vision on history. That old taxes were higher 50 years ago and the country was prosperous, as if there is some connection, is foolish on it’s face.
First of all virtually no one paid the highest tax rate as there were numerous deductions long since eliminated. Second it was shortly after WWII and the US was about the only game in town. Europe was mostly rubble. China and Russia were not economic powers, they were mostly agrarian. Japan was a non factor. There was a lot of pent up demand in the US after the war and we didn’t have to recover from cities being bombed, so we prospered. It had nothing to so with emptying people wallets through high taxes to hand it over to Washington.
But if you think paying more to the government will help, start writing checks, the US treasury will cash them.

@Bill: Bill ibdontbpretend that the vast majority of media that Americans choose to consume would be called leftist by you
Your problem with the media is that YOU do not approve of what other Americans choose
You want them to use more media that you think is better for them
Don’t pretend that most Americans somehow want more right wing media but don’t have the opportunity because leftists are somehow forcing them to consume leftist propaganda
During the prime time news hour about 10% of Americans choose to watch Fox News mist want ABC CBS or NBCno one is forcing them

@Mully:
Ok
Let’s not go back 40 years ago
Let’s try 30 years ago
If youvwerecto business and had a very good year with money left over and you had 2 choices pay a large tax on your profit or reduce that tax liability by investing it in infrastructure or human resources which would you do ?
Government? Or reinvest?

@Mully:
Most Americans feel that the rich should be paying more
Apparently you don’t
Many are also concerned that the extremely wealthy are turning this country into a political oligarchy
Apparently you do not
Trump Cruz and Clinton looks like you will be happy no matter who wins as they certainly will not be raising taxes on the super wealthy

@John:
The problem as I see it is not the taxing of the rich. We are generally taxing those trying to become rich. That makes it more difficult and can be discouraging. Many of the richest people have taxable incomes far below their wealth level. and have accounting groups handling all their wealth to minimize taxes. I do think it’s funny that families with the most owned wealth (non-taxed) got it from someone else that worked for it-possibly as crookedly as the kennedy clan-but still earned. People who get unearned wealth seem to turn socialist as they do not have any idea of the value of work. Even funnier is that if the socialist revolution does take place, they’ll be the first to get the chop.
I am for a flat tax.

@Tor: Thank you for that. Please feel free to quote it or link to it.
.

@John: See, I think the media should be neither right wing or left wing. I don’t want a “balance”, I want all the media to report the news. Unfortunately, they don’t and they chose to leave out much of it that shows like real failure.

Cruz is a FRAUD.
Cruz is a SNAKE.

It’s easy to appear to be noble, principled and conservative when you know from the outset that your “causes” have no chance of succeeding in the first place.

Cruz SUPPORTS massive immigration AND the Trans Pacific Trade fiasco:

* May 2015 – Cruz creates a “Fast Track” Trans Pacific trade rider to attach to TPA, which changes the vote threshold for approval/disapproval to a simple majority – thereby ensuring its passage. Cruz also votes down an Amendment requiring congressional notification prior to China/Russia joining deal.

* June/July 2015 – Cruz votes against his own TPA bill (PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY), though the rider created ensures its passage.

Cruz is consciously acting as a PUPPET of the GOP Establishment by playing the spoiler. Should blocking Trump be successful, the GOPe THEN has the choice, either to:
1) sweep Cruz to the side and go with some as-of-yet-unannounced GOPe toady “fresh face”
(which would mean the automatic suicide of the GOP),
OR
2) finagle a way to hand Cruz the nomination (which would be only a Pyrrhic Victory)
followed by millions of Democrat and Independent crossover voters
(plus the Trump supporting GOP Base) walking away from Cruz,
giving America a President Clinton.

Option #2 above gives the GOPe the advantage of being able to not only
save face (i.e. try to salvage a chance of viability for the future) by projecting blame
but also being able to say, “See? A conservative can NEVER win!”

In either case, with Trump out of the way,
the GOPe can maintain the Status Quo of control of power
by having their Democrat elite “relative” Hillary win…
…AND CRUZ IS CONSCIOUSLY GOING ALONG WITH EVERY BIT OF THIS.

At this point, the GOPe is utterly schizophrenic,
trying *anything* to appear fair, all while sabotaging Trump.

They claim, ”We need a bigger tent,”
BUT: they only use this as an excuse to move their policies closer to the Socialist Democrats.
Then they claim, ”We need more conservatives, not radicals like Trump,”
BUT: they say that, all while sabotaging REAL conservatives like Chris McDaniels, Dave Brat and others.

They don’t want a “bigger tent.”
They don’t want
more conservatives.
The GOPe only wants MORE SLAVES ON THEIR ESTABLISHMENT PLANTATION…
…and to USE CRUZ to preserve their Status Quo.

@John:
I guess you’ve never seen the breakdown of who actually pays taxes in this country. Which is why we should not make law based on “feelings”. I am not one who believes all of my earnings should go to the government and they decide how much I get back to live on as you obviously do.
It’s also rather strange people like Obama and Clinton want to raise taxes yet they use every deduction and tax dodge they can to pay as little as possible. Example: http://dailycaller.com/2016/04/25/exclusive-kerry-heinz-family-has-millions-invested-in-offshore-tax-havens/
It was JFK who advocated for lower taxes to spur economic growth. He was right. Government is very inefficient with our money. Handing government more money is like handing a junkie more drugs. Wealth is to be earned not redistributed, especially by a political class that will use it to buy votes.
Again if you think the government needs more, start writing checks to the US treasury. You clearly think they are better with your money than you are.
Those who invest to make money will stop doing so if government takes more and more of the potential profit. It just won’t be worth the risk.
The rich will also move out of the country. Then who will you tax? France tried this and the move was on.
Nice to see you admit your mistake about the 90 per cent tax rate after WWII. Perhaps you are learning.

Suggesting that anyone person should voluntarily pay more is really not the way to pay for our government
Corporate profits in the USA are at alll time highs
Wages are stagnant
If a company has 2 choices pay higher taxes or reinvest in infrastructure and human resources which do you believe they will do?
Either will help, simply sending that money into off shore accounts does not
Of course your views are your own in the next election they will be shown to be what a minority of the country wants
Most Americans do want the super rich to pay more, not many want it put on the backs of the middle class
Someone must pay to keep the government going who do you think that should be? Maybe put kids to work and tax them ?

@Mully:always strikes me as a bit funny that the red states take more money from the Feds than they give back in taxes
So back invest you consider Americas best years what was the tax rate on the rich?
Woukd you like to see the tax rate like it was in the 80s?
Why the red states complain so much about taxes when they pay so much less than the blues?

@John: Hey John get with it we are in the age of the ultasound.http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/01/22/pro-life-ultrasound-ma
Wake up out of your bra burning era and put on a condom.
The red states have much lower population can you post that red states take more information?

Kitt MS takes in about 1.4$ from the Feds and gives in 1$
I am at work and using iPhone
Just google using
” do red states take in more from the Feds than they give out
If you need more help than that I’ll try and find the time
Let me know what you find

@Kauf Buch:

T.R.O.L.L. How much does it pay?

old Coach
My job ? 17$ per hour
Unsure what that has to do with it
Do you work or living off government. Kiss each month

What Obama said:
“That’s how we have always made this country great, not by building walls but by tearing down barriers.”
October 2015.

What Obama does:
There are plans to raise the height of the White House security fence by 5 feet and add a new concrete foundation to reduce the risk of fence-jumpers.
April 2016.

And Donald Trump is the two-faced tyrant!?

@John: Did a bit of digging yes southern states were highly dependent on federal dollars for thier state budgets but looking back on history of politics in those areas
During the many decades in the 20th century when the South was solidly Democratic, its congressional representatives in both the House and the Senate, enjoying great seniority, came to hold leadership positions on powerful committees, which they used to send federal dollars back to their home states.
Once the government ball starts rolling it takes a while to slow it then turn it around.
I wonder when you figure in direct to population federal dollars SS, SSI and AHCA how it changes.

@Nanny G:

And Donald Trump is the two-faced tyrant!?

In a word, YES.

Donates to Democrats and the hated GOPers. for years.
Uses the government loop holes to create his own personal wealth.
Inherited his father’s business and business/political connections from building low income housing (much like Valerie Jarrett)
Has the morals of an alley tom cat, cheating on his ex-wives
Went into bankruptcy four times shafting others out of a lot of money (so much for hiring only the best to run his companies)
Hangs with the hated GOP establishment (John Boehner, Chris Christie, Mitch McConnell, et al)

For 40 years he was everything you abhorred but now he’s great and wonderful and it’s all going to be sunshine and lollypops when he’s elected all because he’s selling “hopey change” with a new label.

@kitt:

The biggest recipient of federal largess is Alaska. Ummm, isn’t their former governor supporting Donald Trump?

@Nanny G:
Obamacwill probably be out. Before that fence is finished

Well the southern red states are magnets for retired people and I would guess have higher federal cost programs
Sort of funny isn’t it that the blue state Dems are willing to pay more in taxes when a larger share seems to go to red states ???
You would think it would be the other way around

@retire05: Take the entire population of Alaska vs New York, they are using percentages give me real dollars sent to the state. And how much land mass of that state is owned by the Feds, you know how they love to twist numbers to crap on the truth of it. Do they nix the monies taken in with oil, mining and grazing leases? Also with the oil do they divide the tax proceeds from gas produced and take it from their totals?
At least John was a bit honest saying the southern states attract retired people, mostly for the climate, but they have payed taxes in to blue states while they worked kinda evens out huh.

@The Old Coach: You have nothing of substance to add. BE GONE, fool.

Kitt red states were and are still most dependent on federal dollars
Mostly now it
Is because they are poorer
They are like our poor cousins that we have to help out
And like poor cousins they sometimes have bad things to say about us although still happy to take our monies
And blame it on Dems from 50 years ago

@kitt:
You seem to forget that all of Alaska was a Federal territory owned by all Americans including all of the mineral rights
We (all of America) gave to the newly formed state those lands that we wanted to give they were never “yours” we didn’t take them we just didn’t give them

@John: So break it down in actual numbers. What per cent of “rich” pay what per cent of federal taxes? Lets see your definition of rich. Is it John Kerry rich, George Soros rich, Warren Buffet rich? Go ahead spill the facts out in numbers.

Since you like to go on feelings and you think people should pay more to the federal government you should be HAPPY to send extra money to them. Put your money where your mouth is.

@John: An evolution is happening under our very noses, The liberals fleeing the blue states for red states, the shi**y thing is they are taking their voting habits with them and turning the red states purple or blue, creating a new hell hole of regulation and high taxes exactly what they flee from.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Politics-Voices/2015/0728/Yes-red-states-are-attracting-blue-state-voters.-But-they-don-t-stay-red.

@John: As was every territory, the fed government has no business being in the land business, statehood should mean something. The state should have the right to develop and tax the land within its borders. That would not include national Parks.
http://dailysignal.com/2014/06/23/government-much-land-west-states-wan

So let’s see here
The people of the United States bought and paid for the territory of Alaska thus it became the property of the people of the USA
Later you think that the people of the United States who paid for that land
Should voluntarily and without recompense give it all away ??
After “we” bought it now “you” say it’s yours? Because you live there? Sorry that’s not how it works it never was “yours” it will always be ours

@John: I do not live in Alaska and yes if its good enough to be given statehood and borders let that state manage it. Where in the constitution does it say the federal Government shall amass as much land as it can and not develop it?
The state is still within the USAs Border you are not “giving” it away , its just under new management. Why are liberals such centralist control freaks?

@kitt: I certainly agree that states should manage the land in their borders with the exception of National forests. (Even then, if the National Forests are not being managed properly they should revert to the state)

The author’s sentiments mirror my own. On the plus side, the masks are off and the Democrats are now an openly, joyously Marxist-socialist party and those Trump supporters who have claimed the conservative mantle all of these years have shown themselves to be nothing more than unprincipled proto-fascists waiting for The Man On The White Horse to come along. Well, here he is, in the person of a TV reality show star with bad hair and orange skin and a foul mouth. Behold his mighty grandeur.

On the downside, a Trump nomination ensures a Hillary Clinton victory, which in turn brings us that much closer to cataclysm. Americans, unlike Europeans, do not have a tradition of submission to an all-powerful State. A socialist superstate demands such submission and would attempt to enforce it. One can easily imagine where such an attempt might lead. I fear for my country.

That is what people said 8 years ago
No the majority of Americans will be leading happy lives
A small minority will be having hissy fits because they think only they know what is best for the country, and we will be listening to more doom and gloom

@John: Yeah, 8 years of Trump will have things pretty well turned around. The libs will be complaining, not enough free stuff, minimum wage not $25 yet.

@John: No, the “happy” people are those on the government dole or liberal millionaires happy to hand over $1 million of the $50 million stash. Those complaining work for a living and are getting weary of supporting the “happy ones”.

@Redteam: Red you know to move an economy as big as the USAs it takes at least 8 years, look what happened Reagan did the hard lifting and Clinton took the credit. If nothing happens in 4 the short attention span of the Nation will blame Trump and we will end up with a socialist again. Reagan got 8 by lowering rampant inflation and getting the hostages, Dont know what could fall in Trumps lap that would make his opponents feel warm and fuzzy for 8.
I really believe Obama got his 8 by widespread voter fraud and the GOP cramming a moderate into the nomination..

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