Month: February 2021

Binary Option

Two-Minute Hate

Here’s a situation worth reading about:

Ciara Nolan and Jean-Francois Bonnet found eight-year-old golden retriever Neesha near a summit in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland, on February 6.
They wrapped the dog, who had been reported missing two weeks earlier, in a coat before Jean carried her on his back for six miles to reach level ground.

And a pic:

And:

One of Neesha’s owners, Erina O’Shea Goetelen, said they had started to give up hope before Ciara and Jean stumbled across the pooch by chance.
After being reunited Erina took Neesha to the vets who said the family pet had lost a third of her body weight during the two weeks away from home.

But the dog will be fine.  Her rescuers?  Not so much:

After the video went viral a member of the public reported the couple for breaching non-essential travel rules, and the Gardai – Ireland’s police force – is now making enquiries.

…which brings us to the binary question alluded to in the title of this post.

For that “member of the public”:

Public flogging, or lifetime shunning?

Your choice in Comments.

Style

Drive Time

From an earlier post:  “And in other news:  normal blogging service should resume tomorrow with the usual mixture of guns,  rants, booze, invective and boobs.”

I forgot cars.

This one appeared at C.W.’s place, and for its full story follow the link.

As Longtime Readers know, I am generally leery of American automotive styling, especially during the decades following WWII.  This Caddy, however, looks absolutely spectacular, in that “American Excess” fashion.  The purple slash on the sides is the only thing which makes me a tad nauseated — white would have been better, to give that “tuxedo” look — but the overall shape of the car is quite lovely.

Even New Wife, who is still more conservative than I in these matters, nodded with approval.

Early Days

Conservatism

Via GatewayPundit comes this survey result:

And what I think this means is that’s the Trump who got the Arabs and Izzies to talk nice to each other, who started to build a wall on our southern border, who got corporations to pull back from China, who lowered taxes, who got Keystone XL going, who caused the economy to boom, energized crowds and all that.  The Trump we’re not interested in is the poltroon who shot his mouth off on Twatter, let his mouth run away from him in important speeches and allowed the Left to demonize and attack him.

So just as a thought exercise, and realizing that it’s four years till the next election where we get to toss Kamala Harris out of the Oval Office, let’s talk about this a little.  I think we should forget about Trump ever running (or for that matter winning) for POTUS again.  For one thing, he’ll be too old in 2020 and for another, I think that while he showed the way, his race is run.  Time to move on.

I know it’s way premature and others may arise in years to come, but as I see it, the politicians who right now seem to be most like Trump (and without all those annoying little ego quirks) are as follows, in no specific order:

“Establishment” candidates:

Ron DeSantis (FloridaGov).  My Floriduh Readers may be able to shed a little more light on DeSantis, but from what I’ve seen so far, with the proper grooming he could be Trump’s heir apparent.  Most tellingly, from the depth and viciousness of the Left’s attacks on him right now, I think they see him as a dangerous opponent.  I prefer my presidents to have executive experience (unlike, say, Obama) in politics or even in business (like Trump), and DeSantis has that.

Mike Pompeo (ex-SecState and CIA Director under Trump).  Brilliant foreign policy formulator, always has America’s interests at heart, no-nonsense attitude, and has Congressional experience as a former Congressman.

Kristi Noem (SDGov).  I think I’d prefer to see her as the VP, simply because running a tiny state like South Dakota  isn’t comparable to the same job in Texas or Florida.  But she’s strong on values (conservative values) and she was also in Congress so she’ll know how that snakepit functions.

Richard Grenell (former ambassador and acting head of DNI).  I like this man’s attitude and my only concern is that he has had no executive experience — but I think he’d be a real quick learner.  I understand that if CalGov Newsom is recalled (I wish), Grenell wants to run against him in the follow-up election, and if he wins and gets any kind of success in pulling California away from the pit, he’d be a really string contender in 2024.

Rick Scott (R-FL senator and ex-FLGov).  On paper, he has it all:  executive experience in business and government, strong conservative credentials and he understands how Congress works.  He’s now 68 and would be 72 in 2024, if that matters.

Scott Walker (ex-WIGov).  He gets up the Left’s collective nose, and has actually had good conservative results despite rabid opposition from the Commies.  Also has executive experience, and is a full-blown Midwesterner.

Mike Pence (ex-VP under Trump, ex-INGov and congressman).   I think that Pence has the character aspect sewn up, and none of the Left’s attacks on him have worked.  Ordinarily, the VP is the heir apparent, but he’s definitely not Trump II — which is both good and bad.  He certainly has all the experience anyone could bring to the table.  Under any other president than Trump, Pence would be a shoo-in for the next election.  He still might be.

“Wild Card” candidate:

Dan Crenshaw (R-TX congressman, ex-SEAL Team 3).  He looks like a pirate, has few if any equals in terms of military cred, and his no-bullshit attitude is better than Trump’s.  He has little executive experience other than in the military.  Definitely a long-term prospect.

I don’t care about any of the associated characteristics of the above (DeSantis is Hispanic, Grenell is a homo, Noem has a vagina etc.) because none of that matters.  What matters is the next Republican candidate’s closeness to Trumpist philosophy and governing style (minus, as I said, the silly tweets and non-Presidential extemporaneous remarks).

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.