What did we expect?

With regard to the hush money show trial, Walt can only say that Act II is finally over. As any opera or drama lover knows, Act II is when things grow darkest for the good guys. Act III is when there's a big turnaround, the cavalry arrives, and the good triumph, as is Only Right And Just.

A thought from Ed. Did you ever notice that "Trump" is only two letters short of "triumph"? Just sayin'...

In the first two acts, the Dumbocrats' DEI appointee, Alvin Braggart, won bigly. He got the indictments, kept President Trump off the campaign trail for weeks, and finally got convictions on all 34 counts. With Judge Merchan of Death, a former prosecutor and kangaroo trainer in charge of things, it couldn't be otherwise. He took over the persecution from Day One, leaving the D.A.s with nothing to do but nod and applaud.

Just to make sure, though, the judge did two things at the end of the trial which largely forced the jury to find for the State state's case. First, he failed to sequester the jury. Maybe during the trial that wasn't necessary, but when the jury began its deliberations theyshould have been kept incommunicado, thus insulated from the anti-Trump rants of interested parties and the lickspittle media. 

Then, yesterday, the highly conflicted judge did something unheard of. Normally, when a judge has something to say to a jury, he says it in open court, with all parties and their counsel present, to ensure transparency and fairness. Yesterday, around 1600 EDT, the jury, having deliberated (???) for nearly 11 hours, wanted to call it quits for the day. 

Normally -- and I grant you this show trial has been anything but normal -- the presiding judge would call the jury back into the courtroom to admonish them not to discuss the case with anyone (haha) and send them home. Or he might just send the bailiff to the jury room to let them go. But is that what happened?

Noooo.... At about 1620, Judge Doom, having learned that the jury had not reached a verdict, decided to go into the jury room himself to have a little talk with the seven unbiased men and five unbiased women (haha) who were supposed to decide Mr Trump's fate. Sort of like the puppet-master appearing from behind the curtain to make sure the strings were fastened correctly.

And sure enough, a few minutes later the court was told that the jury had reached a decision after all. A unanimous decision, no-one dissenting. Guilty. On all 34 counts. Quelle surprise!

The decision will be appealed, of course. The Merchan of Death to Trump committed so many reversible errors that the verdict cannot possibly stand. Remember what happend in Episodes IV, V and VI of Star Wars? Let's go have a drink (or three) and make ourselves comfortable for Act III. It ain't over until Lizzo sings!

You'll see a lot of these memes in the coming days. We got this one from Blazing Cat Fur. Follow the link to read "Yes, It Was Rigged", Rich Lowry, Editor-in-Chief of the National Review, 30/5/24. Pass it on to all the anti-Trumpers you know.

VIDEO: "Introducing the Dumbocrats"

Walt has often referred to the leading lights of the Democratic Party as "Dumbocrats". That's because said leading lights are not that bright. In fact, some are positively dim. Still, I suppose it would be churlish [and futile. Ed.] to suggest that the terminally dumb should be barred from politics. If we did that, there'd be mighty few politicians left. [What's wrong with that? Ed.] 

Instead, we should learn to recognize them for what they are, and salute their bravery in putting themselves out there. Right? Well... maybe not...

This brilliant video, which originally appeared on "X", was created by the Dilley Meme Team, who (full disclosure) are doing their best to MAGA. Go and do ye likewise.

Incoming!!!

Gotta love this cartoon by Dick Wright.

New York Dumbocrats look out! The Trump tidal wave is coming!

Judge Judy blames liberal prosecutors for skyrocketing crime rate

The following is an edited version of an article published by the (UK) Daily Mail. 

In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Judge Judy (Sheindlin) blamed liberal district attorneys for leaving America's cities "ruined", and said they would be better employed "filling ice-cream cones."

The veteran reality TV star, known for making rough the path of the wicked, said the country is in worse shape than it was when her popular programme started 30 years ago because "a small group of people who have very loud voices created a scenario where bad people got rewarded."

And she lashed out at a culture that increasingly excuses people's behaviour on the basis of their background. "I know how we got here," she said. "When society started to make excuses for bad behaviour, and react to criminality based upon the excuses, it fell apart."

Judge Judy spoke out after Multnomah County (OR) DA Mike Schmidt became the latest liberal prosecutor elected in the wake of the Black Lives Matter scam to lose his bid for re-election. "When you have district attorneys who are charged, whose job it is to do justice, but to keep the community safe, when you have elected district attorneys who don't know what their job is, they should go find another job," said the judge. "'Fill ice cream cones someplace, but don't ruin cities."

She added, "And what's happened around New York City, Portland, San Francisco, you had district attorneys who didn't know what their job was. And the cities are ruined, people are leaving."

So far this year, robberies are up 5.2% in the Big Apple, while recorded hate crimes have jumped 11% per cent. In Portland, larceny offenses jumped to more than 26,000 in the year to April, while arrests for prostitution more than doubled amid an ongoing drugs and homelessness crisis. 

Meanwhile, in the District of Columia, homicides jumped by 35% while robberies were up 67%. In San Francisco, DA Chesa Boudin lost his job in a 2022 recall election after securing just three -- count `em, 3 -- drug convictions the previous year.

Judge Sheindlin lashed out at the state of New York's 2019 decision to raise the minimum age at which a suspect can be tried as an adult to 18, branding it "ridiculous... If you have family, if you have a mother who's 65 years old who's walking to the grocery store and some crazy for no reason hits her over the head with a steel pipe and kills her, and they're 17, that person should never be allowed to walk the street again, because society can't take a chance.

"If I wouldn't take a chance on him living next to me why would I take a chance on him living next to you? You're just as dead as somebody 18 kills you, or 17. And if you're 17 years old and kill somebody, you don't belong with kids who are 12, in a juvenile facility. But a very small group of people pushed through in New York State, for instance, raising the level of criminal responsibility."

The explanations for why a person becomes a criminal should never be confused with excuses, she said. "You know there is always a reason for criminal behaviour. 

"Didn't have a good upbringing, didn't have two parents in the house, didn't have one parent in the house, there's always a reason. You're mentally ill. That's a reason. You took drugs, that's a reason. You took alcohol, your brain is fried, whatever it is. There is never an excuse for bad behaviour."

Judge Judy also reflected on how the situation has deteriorated since she began her TV career. "Here we are, 30 years later, and are we in a worse shape as a country, as a world, than we were in 1993? You bet your bottom we are. I think we better get smarter before we get lost," she added. "Permanently lost."

"Democrat messaging is full of shit", sez Democrat James Carville

According to Wikipedia, C. James Carville Jr. -- the "C" is for "Chester", not "Crazy" -- is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and abroad. He is a certified liberal and a registered Democrat. 

Mr Carville is redeemed (in Walt's eyes) by the fact that every now and then he tells Democrats that their emperor -- Slick Willy, the Prez, or Demented Joe, it doesn't matter -- has no clothes. 

This weekend, Mr Carville went on an extended rant on Politicon. WARNING: We haven't embedded the video because of Mr C's Very Strong Language. Click on the link to hear the craziness yourself. Although Brother Carville sounds like the angry grandpa from South Park, he's trying to tell Dumbocrats some stone truths. 

In the "wut?" part of his message, starting at 6:15, Mr Carville says Democrats are losing younger voters and black voters because they are ignoring the economy. "The generational thievery that has occurred in this country is criminality of the first order. 

"We keep wondering why these young people are not coming home to the Democrats. Why are blacks not coming home to the Democrats? Because Democrat messaging is full of shit, that’s why. 

"And talk about cost of living, and we’re going to help deal with this. Don’t talk about fucking Gaza and student loans. That is so out. Why are we forgiving student loans for people that go to Harvard? Which, according to Scott Galloway, quite accurately, is nothing but a hedge fund that has classrooms. Well, they got a $52 billion fucking surplus. 

"Why are taxpayers going to bail these people out? Why don’t you come out with a proposal to tax every university with an endowment of over $5 billion and use that money to give their former students relief?

"We all know where where we are. We all know the position we are in. We all know what the polls say. We all know how old President Biden is. Quit fucking arguing what’s in front of your face and start laying something out."

Sounds to me like Mr Carville has a pretty good grip on the reality of the policies of the Democratic Party today. Will the Dumbocrats listen to him in time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Not bloody likely! Lifetime pct .989.

It also sounds to me as if Mr Carville has read -- and taken to heart -- Listen, Liberal, a brilliant but obscure book by Thomas Frank (Henry Holt & Co., 2016), which Walt recommended in "Stumbling towards the decline and fall of the USA", WWW 23/5/24. The Democrats didn't pay attention to Mr Frank in 2016, so why would they do so to Mr Carville now? Is a puzzlement.

Islamic morality

Stumbling towards the decline and fall of the USA

What (Walt hears you ask) is The United States Department of Defense's Office of Net Assessment (ONA), and why do we need (and pay for) one? Well sir... The ONA was created 51 years ago by Richard Nixon to serve as an "internal think tank" for the Pentagon. Aided by outside contractors, it's supposed to look into the future of the military -- kind of like a khaki crystal ball -- and produces report [prophecies? Ed.] on the results of its research.

"Do we really need this?" Walt hears you ask. The official answer is that it is important to have a good grasp of net assessment because it is an "important part of the language spoken by leaders in the higher levels of DOD" and officers who lack familiarity "will be at a disadvantage in communicating with the civilian leadership." Got it now?

No? Does it help for me to tell  you the Director of the ONA is one James H. Baker, who has held that position since 2015, serving under the Prez, then No. 45, and now Senile Joe? One of the "ourside organizations" who assist the ONA is the Rand Corporation. Understand now? We're talking Deep State here!

According to a report prepared for the Office of Net Assessment by the Rand Corporation, the future of the Paranoid States of America isn't so bright. "The Sources of Renewed National Dynamism" looks at the US competitive position as it faces a rising China, and finds that America is stumbling towards a decline from which few great powers ever recover. 

The US of A is diminishing in power on a relative basis geopolitically, militarily, financially, economically, and technologically. Competitive pressures from within include slowing productivity growth, an aging population, a polarized political system [No kidding? Ed.] and a "corrupted information environment". Does that mean (Walt wonders) that someone is lying to us? Who could it be?

These problems are exacerbated by an addiction to luxury, failure to keep pace with technology, an ossified bureaucracy, an overstretched military and "self-interested and warring elites." Again... who are they talking about? A clue may be found in Listen, Liberal, a brilliant but obscure book by Thomas Frank (Henry Holt & Co., 2016), which Walt recommends highly.

The title is misleading. It's not a rant by an Alex Jones type, but a stinging criticism by a certified liberal of the Democratic Party, the "professional elites" and the corporate and cultural elitism, which dominates liberal politics and is responsible for the ever-deepening rift between the rich and poor in America and elsewhere.

The ONA report concludes that unless Americans can unite to identify and fix the problems it outlines, the US of A risks falling into the same downward spiral that resulted in the fall of the Roman, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires. 

Is it too late to reverse the decline? Is it too late to make America great again? You be the judge... on November 5th!

Excerpt from Listen Liberal (cited above): 

Popular attitudes toward the professions started to sour in the 1970s. "Technocracy" was the new term for describing the reign of professionalism, and its connotations were almost entirely negative.

Rule-by-expert, it began to seem, excluded rule-by-the people. It was dehumanizing and mechanical. In a technocracy, the important policy decisions were made in faraway offices that were insulated from the larger whirl of society. The people making the decisions identified far more with society's rulers than they did with the ruled, and their decisions often completely ignored public concerns.

Busing was one of the era's classic examples of failed technocratic overreach; another was the Vietnam War, a catastrophic intervention in which tens of thousands of working-classs Americans were sent to their deaths...largely because foreign-policy professionals in Washington were unwilling to listen to voices from outside their discipline, bearing uncomfortable views.

The hush money show trial - a possible "middle way"

At tne end of my earlier post (scroll down) I predicted that NY persecutor Alvin Braggart would not succeed in getting convictions on the 34 felony charges brought against President Trump, in an effort to keep him from winning the next presidential election. Our legal beagle says there's a reasonable doubt that any "crimes" were covered up, there being nothing wrong [especially in New York! Ed.] with two consenting adults having a casual roll in the hay.

Former New York state judge Ethan Greenberg, writing in the Wall Street Journal, opines that "it’s entirely conceivable that the jury could conclude that Mr Trump deliberately falsified business records but did so merely to avoid public embarrassment and marital trouble, rather than to cover up another crime." 

That, the learned judge explains, could make the former president guilty of misdemeanor charges, rather than the felony charges he now faces. The judge wrote that Mr Trump's lawyers could "gamble" by requesting the judge instruct the jury to "consider 34 misdemeanor counts of falsifying business records in the second degree" in what is known as a "lesser included offense," or "LIO".

Calling the LIO a "hedge," Judge Greenberg added, "With each of the 34 felony counts carrying a sentence of up to four years, Mr Trump theoretically could get what amounts to a life sentence." But, he added, "it would be less risky to ask the jury to consider misdemeanor charges, which because of New York merger rules would at most sentence the former president to two years in jail."

If Judge Merchan instructs the jury to consider only the felony charges and it concludes that Mr Trump falsified business records but lacked the intent to cover up another crime then the former president will be acquitted. But either the prosecution or the defence can ask the jury to alternatively consider misdemeanor charges, or the judge can put those charges to the jury on his own hook. As things stand now, only the felony charges are in play. Stay tuned.

In times like these...

...we need all the laughs we can get. Here are two excellent funny bits sent along by Agent 9, to whom Walt would tip his biretta, if he had one. [You don't have a gun? Ed.] 

This one is a rare two-fer... a two puns for one!

Walt is awaiting the conclusion of the show trial, and predicts an acquittal. Why? Because (according to our legal beagle) the offence has to prove that the "hush money" was paid to cover up a crime. 

But so far there has been lots of evidence of President Trump's dalliance with the slutty lady, but no evidence of any crime! If having sex outside the bounds of matrimony were a crime, the majority of "our crowd" would have been in the crowbar hotel long ago. 

Lifetime pct .988. Get yer bets down now, at the usual address.

When Trump and Biden meet to debate

Ed. here. Now that Walt has his garden in, he will have more time to spend on WWW. Today, however, his sole message is: If you're thinking of planting sunchokes... DON'T.

Further reading: "Will the Biden-Trump Debates Even Matter?", by Matthew Confinetti, in  The Patriot Post, 18/5/24.

Man wielding "a block of cheese" attacks Newfoundland cop

The following is a true story. The report was published by the Canadian Press and posted on Post Media, more or less as you read it. We could have inserted any number of cheesy jokes, but we'll leave that to our readers. Ed.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary have laid charges on a "very irate male" who attacked a patrol officer with a block of cheese. 

Constable James Cadigan told the Canadian Press the attack is an example of the unexpected challenges that law enforcement faces while on duty. "It shows we can never let our guard down."

According to an RNC press release, the incident occurred during a domestic disturbance call release. In an overnight report, Staff Sergeant Justin Soo wrote, "Upon arrival, officers encountered a very irate male who then assaulted the officers with a block of cheese. The male was arrested and conveyed to the St. John’s lockup to await court,"

Police said the man was allegedly in breach of his probation. The officer who was attacked did not require medical attention, they added. The type of cheese used and the reason for the assault was not known. The man was arrested and charged with assault, assaulting a police officer and breach of probation.

Prime Minister in critical condition after assassination attempt

Oh... Sorry, hosers! The prime minister referred to is not Canuckistan's Blackie McBlackface but Robert Fico, the populist PM of Slovakia. As of an hours ago, he is said to be fighting for his life after three hours in surgery in hospital in a small town northeast of Bratislava, the country's capital. 

Reports on the Slovakian TV channel TA3 said Mr Fico, 59, was hit in the stomach after four shots were fired outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlová, about 90 miles NE of Bratislava. We have video from 9 News Australia.

 

The police say a suspect has been detained, but have not revealed his name -- be it Mohammed or something else -- or any other information about him.

UPDATE ADDED 16/5/24. After hours of surgery, Prime Minister Fico is now said to be in serious but stable condition. The attacker is said to be a native Slovak, a 71-year-old poet and woke peace activist. Yes, beware of peace activists bearing guns!

"Modern society is revolting..."

Modern society is revolting against God and his created order. In some ways, there's nothing new: "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto his own, and his own received Him not." (St. John 1:10-11 DRV) 

In another way, the revolt seems to have arrived at its theoretical conclusion: we are the gods of our own creation. 

Society accepts that humans can become animals; which was preceded by the idea animals are persons too; which was preceded by a rejection of human dignity (physician assisted suicide); Preceded by the rejection of sexual differences of male and female (gender ideology); preceded by the rejection of the nature of marriage (homosexual "marriage"); preceded by the rejection of heterosexual normalcy (gay rights); 

Preceded by the rejection of the sanctity of human life (abortion); preceded by the rejection of the dignity of motherhood (feminism); preceded by the rejection of differentiated roles (women in the workforce); which was preceded by the rejection of the sanctity of marriage (legalized divorce); which was preceded by a rejection of the family as the unit of society (women's suffrage). 

The descent has not been slow -- all these things (except perhaps women's suffrage) happened within living memory -- but it has been sure. 

It only remains for the revolutionaries to eliminate the dissenters. Let them come. What can separate us from the love of God? 

Based on a message from Father Robert Novokowsky, FSSP, the Parish Priest of Saint Aloysius Parish in the Diocese of Saint Catharines, Canada. Click here to visit TLM in Thorold South, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter's YouTube channel.

VIDEO: Remarkable speech: politician calls for humility and free will

It's very unusual for a politician to utter anything than vaguely religious platitudes when speaking to an audience of Christians. Indeed, many would not even attend such a gathering for fear of offending the non-believers and anti-Christians who dominate the polity in today's secular humanist society. 

Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (and, please God, Prime Minister in waiting) is not that type of mealy-mouthed politician. On May 7th, he addressed the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event held in Ottawa under the authority of the speakers of the Senate and the House of Commons on behalf of the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast Group. 

M Poilievre had the temerity to bring up some important points that most pols would prefer not to discuss. For instance... "Minister" means "servant", as in servant of the people, someone who ministers to the needs of those who elect them. Being a good minister means being humble and listening to the people.

And another... God told people what's right and what's wrong, and gave them free will to choose beetween the two. He did not try to force His will on the people, but told them what He wanted, and the consequences of doing otherwise.

Finally... At the end of the day, God is in His Heaven, and He will reign, unto the end of time, no matter what mere mortals do. As the psalmist wrote (45:11 DRV): "Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted amont the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth."

UPDATED: Rex Murphy, RIP + VIDEO of Jordan Peterson interview

Rex Murphy, the witty, voluble, and, above all, Canadian writer and broadcaster, has died, of cancer, at age 77. RIP+.

For decades, Mr Murphy was a fixture of the Canadian commentariat, writing and speaking primarily on political and social matters. 

For some time he was politically correct enough to have regular gigs with the CBC, Canada's liberal state broadcaster. He did POV pieces during the national news, and was the host of CBC Radio's "Cross-Country Checkup", a nationwide call-in show, for 21 years ending in 2015.

He also wrote op-ed pieces for the Globe and Mail, Canada's self-styled national newspaper, which has become nothing more than the print version of the CBC. 

As the Groan and Wail moved left, Mr Murphy moved right, and, in 2010, was one of the first victims of cancel culture. The National Post, founded by arch-conservative Conrad Black, snapped him up, and he wrote for them as often as he could right up till this week. His last column, on Prime Minister McBlackface's two-faced stance on the Hamas atrocities of October 7th, appeared on the front page of the Post's print edition the day before his death.

Rex Murphy was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland in 1947, before that province even was a province, to Harry and Marie Murphy, the second of five children. He grew up in the community of Freshwater, about ten minutes up the road. He skipped two grades and eventually, in 1968, headed to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, before returning home and, after bailing on a Master of English degree, settled into a very long and very fruitful career in the media.

A collection of Mr Murphy's columns, reviews and commentaries has been published in two books: Points of View and Canada And Other Matters of Opinion. Walt recommends them both. Even if you don't share his political views, you can't help but admire his command of the English language. Perhaps being from Newfoundland had something to do with it. 

In the last years of his life, Rex Murphy embraced the Internet, creating podcasts and his own YouTube channel, REXTV. In tribute to Rex, and to perpetuate his memory, I've chosen to repost his November 2019 interview with Dr Jordan Peterson. The two very learned gentlemen talk for almost an hour about the modern state of education, politics, identity, and the new media. You won't hear intelligent and astute commentary like this any more. Not from Rex at least. I miss him already. 

 

Further reading: Tributes to Mr Murphy are appearing all over the Internet. Here are two which Walt thinks are pictularly good.

"Rex Murphy was the true guardian of Canadian identity — not the pretenders on the left", by Father Raymond J. de Souza, in the National Post, 10/5/24. Mr Murphy's full name, according to Father de Souza, was Robert Rex Raphael Murphy. Who knew?!

"No one could outsmart or outword Rex Murphy — I miss you, my friend", by Peter Mansbridge, the last good host of the CBC's national TV news, in the National Post, 10/5/24.

I wouldn't even attempt to write such eloquent farewell pieces. I can only add: Rex, ave atque vale.

Anti-semitism then and now

FAKE poster for Monkey Premium Cereal

Yes, folks, it's a fake. The image of LeBron James is real enough, but there's no such product as Monkey Premium Cereal.

This poster is supposed to be a joke, but I can see where some might call it "racist". It was created by a student at New Hartford Central School in Utica NY as a parody of cereal advertisements, as an entry in a contest..

According to Breitbart News (whose editors deleted a tweet containing the image), some sensitive parents contacted Utica radio station WIBX in alarm. How, they asked, could the school could allow the art featuring the word "monkey" to be coupled with a photo of a famed black athlete to be entered into the art contest and to go on display at the school. 

It is a longstanding racist trope to equate blacks to monkeys, and the complaining parents were shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- that the school did not put a stop to the student’s use of LeBron James’ image in the “Monkey Cereal” artwork.

New Hartford Superintendent of Schools Dr Cosimo Cramer [Ed., please check before posting. I think his last name is Tangorra] said the school is investigating the incident and noted that the student, whose identity and other details [Like his/her race, maybe? Ed.] he did not divulge, was "contacted."

Dr Tangorra [is correct, Ed.] seemed untroubled by the incident, saying that officials are "using this as a teachable moment.... Despite our efforts," he added, "it is clear that more work needs to be done to challenge and raise awareness about stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination."

George Carlin talks about the mob

"Stupid people in a large group"... aka "mob". They're winning at Walt's alma matter (one of the Poison Ivy League schools), and at universities, colleges, and even high schools across North America. We now live in an era of mob rule, and those in power seemingly have no power.

Walt will return

We know it's spring because the Leafs are out. [That's a Canuck joke. Ed.] Walt is preoccupied with planting. Out in the sunshine and fresh air, it's hard to get angry enough to write, so it's a good thing there's nothing serious going on in either the US of A or Canada. I'll see you when you see me, not before.

To our Ukrainian friends and readers...

We wish all our Ukrainian friends and readers a very Happy Easter. 

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

It's that time of year again