DEFCON ??

[toddnjoyce]

What I mean is there is now a proxy war with Russia, a proxy war with Iran, not to mention what's going on with the border …

Nothing new with US-Russia proxy war; that’s been going on since the Berlin Airlift. Same with Iran since we installed the Shah in 1953. The intent behind proxy wars is to bleed the sponsor nations to death through death by a thousand cuts tactics. That translates to the side that can outspend the other over time usually is the winner. We’ve already done it once with Russia, we’ll do it again because, well, dollars>rubles.

The border has always been loosely enforced; what’s ironic is that it’s harder for me as a citizen of the US to legally enter the US (where I cannot he refused entry) than it is for a non-citizen to do so. That’s been the case since the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

Our current preoccupation with finding and killing single and small groups of terrorists and calling that war is and has been a great distraction from actual warfighting and leads some to make a connection between declaring cartels a terrorist organization which, also ironically, would give Mexican nationals an actual and valid basis to ask for asylum in the US and would likely worsen the overall immigration problem.

Congress has no incentive to solve immigration because it gives the parties one less thing to fight over AND doing so requires a grand compromise, which is undoable in the current environment. Cartels could he solved for, but it literally would take a new form of government in Mexico and a relationship with Mexico that would allow US military and law enforcement to operate freely within Mexico along with the US population deciding that drug users just aren’t worth the hassle of trying to save them during an overdose. Niether ain’t going to happen, either, so no matter what Congress does/doesn’t do, so long as there’s economic incentive for the drug cartels to operate, they will. Sorry, but it is what it is.

Meanwhile, the US is still the only 800 pound gorilla in the room, albeit masquerading as a circus monkey. The rest of the world remembers Yamamoto’s declaration after Pearl Harbor and onows that if push comes to shove, we’ll gladly break out pallets of whoopass and deliver up close and personally.

 

[MountainGirl]

OK, a few fundamental comprehension pointers here...

Biden has not "admitted to be defective," he has simply stated he will not be seeking re-election.

Those who claim he should be immediately removed for that declaration need to go back and re-read the statement his staff wrote for him to sign. Nowhere in it does he admit to any medical or mental reasons for his decision.

Secondly, such ridiculous paranoia that any of these unlikely scenarios will occur as a result of this announcement shows a true ignorance in world events. Nothing has changed in the US government, and any fear that the US has "no means to reply nor react, on a national level" is completely unfounded.

While I am not a supporter of the current administration, I still believe in this great nation. Politics aside, we are still the greatest country in the world and our "global competitors" recognize that.

Also, don't say "Please leave politics out of this" when you start a thread so heavily based on politics. What was the catalyst for this discussion? Biden not seeking re-election.

And "As we have no 'identifiable' leader, let alone a functioning CIC, the time seems overripe for an attack?!?" Such exaggerated overstatements nullify any legitimate point that may have originally been intended.

In fact, this is one of those threads that the original poster should have read twice before starting, as that would have alerted them that it is pointless and unnecessary!

Aw... no reason to get nasty there, big fella.
I do appreciate your and others' inputs, very much so.
Thanks and have a blessed day.

 

[DoubleDuty]

It was a little rushed to market and has a few typos here and there (unless a later version was released with a bit more stringent editing), but if you haven't read it, give Kurt Schlichter's novel The Attack, January 2024, a read. Most of my fiction reading is on a Kindle, but Amazon has it available in hardcover and paperback, too: https://www.amazon.com/Attack-Kurt-Schlichter-ebook/dp/B0CR1N7R8T.

What troubles me more than the figurehead in the Oval Office is what's been happening under those policies to erode--or not in all cases; I don't have any insight, just a twinge of, er, heightened alert levels--our operational capabilities. Not gonna dive into a bore-your-socks-off treatise, but we rapidly began a politicization of both the justice system and the military after Trump left office, and that's led to de facto, even if not published, policy changes as well as the insertion at senior levels of people who (how can I put this politely) might not possess the level of competence they could.

In short, regardless of who's actually running the White House, I think we've made what I believe is the mistake of turning too inward, becoming too much of a political/ideological agenda-driven country. Our military is in a weakened state; recruitment numbers are inadequate and standards seem to be lowered slightly every year; the military budget is barely keeping up with operational necessities and not enough spending is done on R&D; the FBI needs changes at the top levels; the DOJ has been politically weaponized; our local police forces have been decimated of experienced officers following all the BLM/Antifa crap from the summer of 2020 and its aftereffect; our Soros-funded, blue-city district attorneys have managed to construct an environment where every would-be felon knows that, yeah, crime can pay; and--the failing that underpins Schlichter's novel--we've completely opened the borders and have let 11 million illegal aliens inside our country in just the past 3.5 years...we don't really know who they are or where they are now.

Two decades ago a post-apocalyptic fiction scenario for America was nuclear war, or coordinated low-atmosphere EMT blasts that crippled us. Big, massive-stage stuff. But the same way that we learned--or failed to learn--from Viet Nam, the Gulf Wars, 9/11, and the war with ISIS, when the superpowers all have rapid-strike nuclear capability what happens is that technology and techniques march forward differently and it's in the area of asymmetric warfare where things actually change. In terms of threats to CONUS, I think that front is far more likely to be leveraged than some traditional, large-scale, nation-state attack.

We just had one glimpse of a sliver of vulnerability last Friday. A single botched software patch from a single company, CrowdStrike (rather aptly named in a foreshadowing sort of way), was able to halt operations at many large companies on a nationwide scale. We've been lagging behind China, Russia, and even non-nation actors in cyber. And remember Hurricane Beryl? That was a small, accidental taste of a large city struggling to function with just a day or so of no electricity. Everything from the power grids to pipelines are vulnerable to cyberattack. And as far as a boots-on-the-ground perspective, Biden and Mayorkas have let more undocumented people over the southern border than the total population of any state except the top 10. Let that sink in a moment.

Well, damn. Turned into an essay anyway. Wrapping up, what I was disappointed in with Trump's first term as president was that he didn't do as much swamp cleaning as had been promised. Maslow's hierarchy: we've been short-changing the most vital aspects, health and physical safety, in favor of DEI and gender inclusiveness and snowflake feelings bullshit. My hope is that, if Trump gets back in office, that he'll tone down the social media rhetoric, treat the Resolute Desk as a gift, one-term second chance, roll up his sleeves, really clean the swamp, and prioritize making America strong again.

So, yeah. I think our current Alzheimer's-patient-in-charge and the political uncertainty increase our vulnerability. But if that's exploited I don't think it will come as an overt, nation-state military action. I think it would likely be more subtle and insidious. Xi and Taiwan, for example, is long-range planning; a few-month window of possibly enhanced opportunity won't make any practical difference. But I'm buying physical silver and gold when I can (both are near all-time highs right now...gold is up almost 23% just since the start of the year: fine for what I've already got, but I'm putting a lid on it until prices drop a bit), and keeping the ammo supply stocked up.

Thanks to 8 years of demonizing Trump with false propaganda, I don't give a shit whether some don't like him, And the feckless response of elected Republicans we have half the country with TDS and they still support their corrupt party to the detriment of our Republic. They are so far in the Democrat reality distortion field that they are incapable of seeing that their party is working to make them as well as us their subjects. Their pols already think they are in charge of us.

 

[deemus]

There are protocols in place that would be ready to act in case something bad occurred.

 

[MountainGirl]

Nothing new with US-Russia proxy war; that’s been going on since the Berlin Airlift. Same with Iran since we installed the Shah in 1953. The intent behind proxy wars is to bleed the sponsor nations to death through death by a thousand cuts tactics. That translates to the side that can outspend the other over time usually is the winner. We’ve already done it once with Russia, we’ll do it again because, well, dollars>rubles.

The border has always been loosely enforced; what’s ironic is that it’s harder for me as a citizen of the US to legally enter the US (where I cannot he refused entry) than it is for a non-citizen to do so. That’s been the case since the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

Our current preoccupation with finding and killing single and small groups of terrorists and calling that war is and has been a great distraction from actual warfighting and leads some to make a connection between declaring cartels a terrorist organization which, also ironically, would give Mexican nationals an actual and valid basis to ask for asylum in the US and would likely worsen the overall immigration problem.

Congress has no incentive to solve immigration because it gives the parties one less thing to fight over AND doing so requires a grand compromise, which is undoable in the current environment. Cartels could he solved for, but it literally would take a new form of government in Mexico and a relationship with Mexico that would allow US military and law enforcement to operate freely within Mexico along with the US population deciding that drug users just aren’t worth the hassle of trying to save them during an overdose. Niether ain’t going to happen, either, so no matter what Congress does/doesn’t do, so long as there’s economic incentive for the drug cartels to operate, they will. Sorry, but it is what it is.

Meanwhile, the US is still the only 800 pound gorilla in the room, albeit masquerading as a circus monkey. The rest of the world remembers Yamamoto’s declaration after Pearl Harbor and onows that if push comes to shove, we’ll gladly break out pallets of whoopass and deliver up close and personally.

Thanks, I always learn something new from your posts.
Welcome back, btw; hope you had a great trip.

 

[toddnjoyce]

Thanks, I always learn something new from your posts.
Welcome back, btw; hope you had a great trip.

Thanks, we did.

 

[FireInTheWire]

I'll just leave this here....

 

[MountainGirl]

I'll just leave this here....

"How big is Blackrock? Ten trillion under management. Only 2 countries have a bigger gdp - the US and China"

SMH.

Add: Still watching the video. Coming to the realization that internal threats are small potatoes. Thanks for posting it, Fire.

2nd Add: Finished watching. The explanation behind their motivations, in addition to money, power, control - was enlightening.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

I've not seen the above video, but b.r.'s trillions aside, why do they promote perversion through corporate means i.e., men can be women and vice versa, drag queens mixing with children is a-ok, and on and on...why?

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Could the reason they promote perversion is because they're perverts?

If not, what else could it be?

Destroying the U.S. can't be in their best interest...can it?

 

[General Zod]

Destroying the U.S. can't be in their best interest...can it?

When they believe they'll craft an impossible socialist utopia from the ruins? Yes. It is in their interests, however idiotic those interests may be.

 

[Rhino]

Just think - the Russians, Chicoms, Houthis, Iranians, Taliban all know that in six months they are likely to face the POTUS that killed Solemani. They have every motivation to make moves now while they can.

And the Secret Service is BOUND to act in a smooth and coordinated manner in a time of transition, right?

Right?

Yeah, I'd be super concerned if I was a candidate.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

GZ,

Helluva gamble for these marxists...

So, suppose they're able to bring down the U.S.

Will 'the woke' go along with them, as they're the ones that'll be left and I suppose all us 'normies' will be corralled into concentration camps for thinking 'thought crime'...

And, I wonder, as the 'woke' hate the idea of actually working, who'll do the work...oh right, us 'normies' will be enslaved...great system, eh?

 

[General Zod]

GZ,

Helluva gamble for these marxists...

So, suppose they're able to bring down the U.S.

Will 'the woke' go along with them, as they're the ones that'll be left and I suppose all us 'normies' will be corralled into concentration camps for thinking 'thought crime'...

And, I wonder, as the 'woke' hate the idea of actually working, who'll do the work...oh right, us 'normies' will be enslaved...great system, eh?

Pretty much. Remember, every leftist who thinks socialism is a solution and that this country is a horrible racist wasteland where the cops hunt young black men for sport will support this strategy...until they realize they're not the elites who'll be in charge. Then it'll be too late for them.

But then Marxism was never based on reality or reasoning anyway. It's a lie that puts absolute power in the hands of a few...and those few will be insulated from the chaos they cause.

 

[deemus]

Pretty much. Remember, every leftist who thinks socialism is a solution and that this country is a horrible racist wasteland where the cops hunt young black men for sport will support this strategy...until they realize they're not the elites who'll be in charge. Then it'll be too late for them.

But then Marxism was never based on reality or reasoning anyway. It's a lie that puts absolute power in the hands of a few...and those few will be insulated from the chaos they cause.

ie, Argentina

 

[General Zod]

ie, Argentina

The young idealists who usher marxism in are always surprised when they're the first ones up against the wall once it's taken hold. Marxism is threatened by anyone who dreams and works to make those dreams happen. Any dream.

 

[DoubleDuty]

And never learn from history

 

[Tex929rr]

And never learn from history

Hard for them to learn when they don’t know any history to begin with.

 

[General Zod]

Hard for them to learn when they don’t know any history to begin with.

Most important lesson from history: Marxism always works perfectly...if your goal is a totalitarian state where all dissent, free thought and hope are mercilessly crushed out of existence and the populace exists as a supply of expendable slaves to the state.

 

[MountainGirl]

Could the reason they promote perversion is because they're perverts?

If not, what else could it be?

Destroying the U.S. can't be in their best interest...can it?

It's more than Marxist/Socialist goals.

Picture the global elite, rich beyond comprehension. They have everything they want, any time they want it, and have ultimate power - over politicians, corporate leaders and their corporations, and the wealth of the world... But silver platter life can become rote, boring, same old same old.

So what can be their next rush? Their next challenge? The only thing big enough to feed their need would be on a global scale.

Manipulate nations, play God. Destroying the U.S. would be a challenging maneuver in their evil game of chess. Using Marxism to do it would be little more, to them, than sacrificing a Knight, or Bishop. It's the Game that matters, and they'll diddle anything to keep playing it.