In Memoriam, 2023, by Robert Gore

This article was first posted on Straight Line Logic on Memorial Day, 2015. It will be published every Memorial Day for as long as SLL continues as a website.

You don’t fight for your country, you fight for your government.

The Golden Pinnacle, by Robert Gore

On Memorial Day, America remembers and honors those who died while serving in the military. It is altogether fitting and proper to ask: for what did they die? Do the rationales offered by the military and government officials who decide when and how the US will go to war, and embraced by the public, particularly those who lose loved ones, stand up to scrutiny and analysis? Some will recoil, claiming it inappropriate on a day devoted to honoring the dead. However, it is because war is a matter of life and death, for members of the military and inevitably civilians, that its putative justifications be subject to the strictest tests of truth and the most probing of analyses.

Millions have marched off to war believing they were defending the US, which implies the US was under attack. Yet, setting aside for a moment Pearl Harbor and 9/11, US territory hasn’t been invaded by a foreign power since the Mexican-American War (arguably—Mexico claimed the territory it “invaded” was part of Mexico), or, if the Confederacy is considered a foreign power, the Civil War. That war ended a century-and-a-half ago, yet every US military involvement since has been justified as a defense of the US. That has gradually attenuated, in a little noted slide, to a defense of US “interests,” which is something far different.

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Ants at the Picnic, Part One, by Robert Gore

Enough ants can kill an elephant . . . or a globalist conspiracy.

Bullets and blogs are the ants at the globalist picnic, and they may prove just as hard to eradicate. It’s a war between decentralized and centralized power, and it’s not a layup for the latter. At a picnic, you can spray pesticide to eradicate the ants, but it ruins the outing. Who wants to eat hamburgers and hot dogs that taste like Raid®? In like vein, globalist efforts to exterminate the ants may leave the world a smoking ruin.

At best, government is a protection racket that offers security to its citizens from external and internal violence and criminality at an acceptable cost. At worst, which is most of the time, the biggest threat of violence and criminality comes from government itself—extortion, fraud, theft, corruption, brutality, and murder.

Propelling Donald Trump’s insurgent candidacies in 2016 and 2020 was a critical mass of people who distrust and despise the Corruptocracy. That critical mass knows uniparty criminals are leading the country into a ditch and they threw a hand grenade into politics as usual.

What informed and fueled the critical mass? It wasn’t the legacy mainstream media, or MSM. Much has been made of Trump’s adept use of Twitter, and he certainly couldn’t have made his run without it. Less noted has been the role of the alternative media, or AM, although Trump wouldn’t have won without it, either. His election marked its ascendancy.

The overwhelming number of sites that let their political preferences be known favored Trump. The AM and his Twitter self-promotion gave him the only positive coverage he received. You certainly didn’t get the photos and videos of 70 or 80 thousand people at standing-room-only Trump rallies from your nightly news. Trump recognized the importance of the AM, plucking Steve Bannon from Breitbart to head his 2016 campaign.

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As the counterweight to the MSM, it was natural for the AM to support the candidate they despised. Trump’s enemies were the AM’s enemies. The more vitriolic the entrenched elite and their media minions grew, the more vociferous became the alternative media’s support. There was an element of self-interest to it as well. Put Trump in the title of an article on your blog and it meant extra clicks and advertising dollars.

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Thank You For Your Servitude, by Donald Jeffries

Who is a real hero? From Donald Jeffries at djeffries.substack.com:

I wrote this last Memorial Day, on my regular Substack, where you can subscribe here: https://donaldjeffries.substack.com/ It reflects my sentiments about our lust for war, which the great Smedley Butler so accurately described as a “racket.”

I don’t want to spoil anyone’s Memorial Day. To those who lost loved ones in uniform, your pain and tragedy is real, and you have my sympathy. I prefer the view that my friend Cindy Sheehan holds. She lost a young son in our senseless Middle East misadventures. They couldn’t assuage her with medals and patriotic rhetoric.

In my view, the last justified war that America participated in was the War of 1812. Our shores were invaded, and we were directly attacked. That was the only war of defense America has ever fought. I’m no pacifist; we all have the right to defend ourselves, and that includes the country itself. Some of you might respond, “Hey, what about Pearl Harbor? What about those dirty sneaky rotten Japs?” Please read my book Crimes and Cover-Ups in American Politics: 1776-1963 for a detailed examination of FDR’s foreknowledge of the event. He might as well have been flying a plane himself.

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Some Facts For Consideration, by Karen Kwiatkowski

The facts seem to point to the collapse of the U.S. government. From Karen Kwiatkowski at lewrockwell.com:

FACT:  Things than can’t go on forever, don’t.  Herb Stein’s famous “rule” is good to remember in times like these – whether it is applied to Ukraine, the US debt and spending cycle, even this new US base being built in the territory another country where we have neither a treaty or permission to be there.

As an example of things that obviously can’t go on forever – we could look at the mismatched US/NATO proxy war over Ukraine.  On one hand, you have a patient, strategic, well-supplied and well-led Army and PMC contractors doing the bidding of a domestically popular political leadership that entered the war reservedly but with valid nationalist, security and moral reasons.   On the other hand, you have a frenetic, confused, poorly-led and even less well-supplied and trained military, with an unpopular President who spends more time making demands than defending his people’s interests.  On the third hand, you have the US/NATO men in suits who, in true elite fashion, consist of non-warriors, death cultists, narcissists, and useful idiots.

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Homeschooling is Key to Preserving Liberty, by Ron Paul

Socialist indoctrination in public education certainly won’t preserve what’s left of liberty. From Ron Paul at ronpaulinstitute.org:

The most recent release from the federally funded Nation’s Report Card shows that 40 percent of eighth graders lack even a basic understanding of US history, while only 14 percent are proficient or advanced in history. This score from 2022 showing so many students lack basic understanding is bad. It also indicates a continuation of a decline that started in 2018, the last time the score was previously reported.

This report should frighten everyone who wants to restore limited, constitutional government and a true free-market economy. Students who graduate high school without basic knowledge of how the government is supposed to work and why the drafters of the Constitution designed it the way they did, as well as the history of the US, are more likely to fall for the lies of authoritarian demagogues who promise economic and personal security in exchange for the people’s liberty.

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Mind Control

Once a Sheep, Always a Sheep

h/t The Automatic Earth

Another Brick in The Absurdity Wall, by Matt Taibbi

The Germans and the press are going after Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters to “suspicion of incitement of the people” for satirizing Nazis. From Matt Taibbi at racket.news:

Germany investigates Roger Waters for incitement to parody

Pink Floyd star Roger Waters gave a concert in Berlin on Wednesday, May 17, and last week we learned German officials responded by investigating him for “suspicion of incitement of the people.” Berlin police sent a statement to CNN:

The context of the clothing worn is deemed capable of approving, glorifying or justifying the violent and arbitrary rule of the Nazi regime in a manner that violates the dignity of the victims and thereby disrupts public peace.

This story was media catnip and inspired an explosion of headlines. By Memorial Day, Waters completed his ascent into the Hitler-of-the-minute club, displacing Donald Trump, Jill Stein, Robert Kennedy, Vladimir Putin, Elon Musk, Trump again, and others on the media naughty list. We were reminded Waters is an antisemite and Putin-lover who supports genocide in Ukraine and “desecrated the memory of Anne Frank.” Twitter search returns for Roger Waters + scum populated.

After watching the film Sunday night to make sure, my adult mind concludes The Wall’s themes hold up 40-plus years after release. It’s a great album that sadly has more relevance now, as evidenced by this extraordinary episode of authorities attacking a satirical image as the real thing. In fact, a record that probably did seem confused and a little ridiculous in 1979 suddenly makes a lot of sense, which enhances the general feeling, which I’ve had a lot lately, that the whole world is stoned.

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Most Important Medical History Lesson We Must Never Forget, by Dr. Joseph Mercola

Covid was insanity and it’s an open question whether the perpetrators will be able to pull off another such travesty. They might. From Dr. Joseph Mercola at theburningplatform.com:

Story at-a-glance

  • One of the most egregious lies spread by mainstream media hosts and health authorities like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky was that the COVID “vaccine” would stop the spread of infection, thereby ending the pandemic. It was a provable lie, because none of the COVID shots had ever been tested to see if they could prevent the spread of infection
  • As hospitals filled up with “vaccinated” individuals who were supposed to be immune, the PR slogan “Pandemic of the unvaccinated” was endlessly circulated — until the reality of the situation finally became too obvious to ignore. Then, suddenly, hospitals and health authorities simply quit keeping track of COVID hospitalizations
  • The list of COVID measures that were arbitrary, unscientific and plain stupid is a long one. For example, in Michigan, hardware stores that were allowed to remain open were not allowed to sell carpet, flooring, furniture, garden supplies or paint. Businesses were also prohibited from advertising any product other than “groceries, medical supplies, or items that are necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation and basic operation of residences”

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Memorial Service, by James Howard Kunstler

The U.S. confronts its psychopathic ruling class. From James Howard Kunstler at kunstler.com:

“Liberalism was never about freedom, but nurtured a profound desire to change humanity above all other aspects. This rendered it a willing ally of tyrants promising to do the dirty work of such a project.” — John Waters on Substack

An anxious silence falls over the land this Memorial Day as we discern increasingly that those we put in charge of this shape-shifting thing called the public interest are running out of trips to lay on the people. Something grotesque is revealing itself: a bankruptcy not just of money but of national purpose, meaning, and legitimacy. You realize this day, with a breaking heart, that your country has been stolen by psychopaths.

     Brace for impact. We’re already off the road and now it’s only a matter of how this vehicle comes to a stop in the ditch. Then, it’s a question of how each of us emerges from the smoldering wreckage. The main thing, though, is clear to everyone: What we were riding in is no more. We’re out there stumbling around in the dark, in shock, trying desperately to assess our whereabouts and what has happened to us.

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The Half-Truths About EVs, by Eric Peters

There is a lot they’re not telling you about EVs. From Eric Peters at ericpetersautos.com:

One of the most effective ways to spread a lie is to tell a partial truth. As for example that people were getting sick a couple of years ago. That truth was used to spread the lie that everyone was in danger of becoming so sick they might die – when the truth was that unless you were someone who was already old or already chronically sick with some other malady, you would probably be fine.

Another, more current half truth – about EVs and powering them up – is that it’s just a matter of building more places to power them up; i.e., those “fast” charging stations where you wait for half an hour or longer to put a partial charge back into your EV. But the truth is that these “fast” charging places are not like gas stations – though the half-truthers want you to think that they are, for the same essential reason that those pushing the “pandemic” wanted you to think there was one.

A gas station can be built almost anywhere and once it is built, it is ready to dispense fuel to vehicles.

That is the full truth.

A “fast” charging” station can also be built almost anywhere. But once built, it is not ready to dispense power – electricity – to vehicles. Not unless power lines have also been built, to connect the “fast” charger to the source of power.

The difference is critical to understand because it exposes a truth they’re not telling people about.

It is not necessary to run pipelines from a refinery or a fuel depot to each and every gas station -or any of them – because they get the fuel they dispense via tanker trucks that bring it to wherever the station is – which for this reason can be anywhere a tanker truck can get to. It is why there are gas stations in far-away, lonely places. Which makes it possible to drive there – and get back from there, too.

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Kissinger vs. ‘The Most Dangerous Man in America’, by Kevin Gosztola

Kissinger is one of the ideological forefathers of today’s neocons. This is the story of his contentious relationship with Daniel Ellsberg. From Kevin Gosztola at scheerpost.com:

Screen shot of Henry Kissinger in 2018 testifying before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (Video from Senator Tim Scott)

“Daniel Ellsberg is the most dangerous man in America. He must be stopped at all costs.” —Henry Kissinger

In 1970, before whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg shared copies of the Pentagon Papers with several newspapers in the United States, Ellsberg was invited by his friend Lloyd Shearer, who was the editor of Parade magazine, to attend a lunch with President Richard Nixon’s national security adviser Henry Kissinger.

Ellsberg recounted the lunch in his book, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. Kissinger knew Ellsberg from his work at the RAND Corporation,and what Ellsberg recounted is vital to understanding the festering and unrepentant diplomat as the world marks his 100th birthday.

The contrast between the two could not be more stark. Ellsberg has spent the past 50-plus years constantly atoning for the part he played in the Vietnam War while Kissinger has shirked accountability for the vast amount of bloodshed that he enabled.

Kissinger’s reaction to Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers exposed more about who he was deep down than his philosophy or any advice he ever offered on U.S. foreign policy.

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