Look, here's the thing. We are the revolution. The Leftists are the Counter-Revolution sent by the establishment. The establishment has violated all norms, customs, laws, and taboos this year. Everything has been violated solely to maintain power.
I said this a few days after election night, and I'll say it again: This is not a win for them.
These are very aggressive, and very desperate moves. Trump is continuing to play within the rules. Should he decide to bend those rules, we end up in a much worse situation for the establishment.
During any revolutionary or civil war period, the law stopped mattering. What mattered, fundamentally, was raw support. Trump has a level of raw support that the Establishment do not have. The level or resistance to Establishment will has only increased, this breaks their objectives of war.
As a reminder, Clausewitz defines war as:
War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale. Countless duels go to make up war, but a picture of it as a whole can be formed by imagining a pair of wrestlers. Each tries through physical force to compel the other to do his will; his immediate aim is to throw his opponent in order to make him incapable of further resistance.
War is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will. Force, to counter opposing force equips itself with the inventions of art and science. Attached to force are certain self-imposed, imperceptible limitations hardly worth mentioning, known as international law and custom, but they scarcely weaken it. Force - that is, physical force, for moral force has no existence save as expressed in the state and the law - is thus the means of war; to impose our will on the enemy is its object. To secure that object we must render the enemy powerless; and that, in theory, is the true aim of warfare. That aim takes the place of the object, discarding it as something not actually part of war itself.
I keep harping on this definition because it explains Leftism fully. You must understand that the Left and the establishment are on war-footing. They are already at war. Not in the normal sense, but bureaucratic, legal, and political sense, they are fully at war. This definition reminds you, that the law means nothing in war. International law is an irrelevant self-imposition. The law itself, is nothing more than a form moral force. The law is effectively a political argument... and and it's a weak one.
This is why Cicero said:
Silent enim lēgēs inter arma
"In times of war, the law falls silent."
This is because law is a means in a war. It is only a moral force. And the only people who accept moral force from you... are your allies. Not your enemies. Your enemies are not effected by your moral force. Otherwise, they wouldn't be shooting at you.
By corrupting the courts, the police, the legislatures, and the law; they have caused it to fall silent on the ears of many tens of many millions. Not just the voter fraud. But political prosecutions of right-wingers. The refusal to pursue charges on Leftist Lynchers. The demand to charge the people who defended themselves against the lynchers.
I'm not surprised SCOTUS won't take up any court cases. After Brown v. Board, they very nearly destroyed their own legitimacy in the South. The more activist they became, the more state, and even some federal courts rebuked them, and the more silent the law fell. So eventually, they moved more quietly. SCOTUS has spoken loudly many times, and it occasionally bled Americans dry by doing so. So now, they're trying to shut up, hoping that the law breathes a whisper of moral force on someone.
But it's too late. I can't stop this. We can't stop this. No one can stop this anymore.
With each and every violation, the establishment guaranteed an outcome that they wanted, at a price no amount of printed money can afford. Raw legitimacy has been violated. No moral force of law can have any impact on a people that do not accept it.
Trump, and his base, are not likely to openly violate the law as they see the constitution as a moral force. However, if Trump were to bend some portion of federal code, to otherwise protect the constitution, that could have an impact on the establishment that it is not prepared for. Trump keeps playing within the bounds of the law, but if he stretches it, the whole thing could break, and the Establishment would find themselves without any real support at all.
The establishment is on a war-footing to legitimize itself. That is not an offensive action, it is a defensive one. They are absolutely on the brink of disaster. Even if Trump concedes, and fades quietly away... I don't think they can avert it. Trump is only an avatar of an up-swelling of a cultural shift I believe will change this entire century, and I don't think anybody knows it.
To be clear about the answer to your question: I don't know if he can or can't. What I do know is that Trump is only a few weeks from not mattering anymore. And what comes after him are unavoidable, and bigger than anything he might personally intend.
Why would the establishment be on the brink of disaster? They wield the power of deep state, media, big tech, wall street - all Biden shills or Biden admin.
From the Melian dialogues, power does not need to "legitimize" itself, it just does.
Meaningful resistance against this stacked deck is years away.
By that time all the big backers would have already made their money, flexed on the plebs, then retire to Spain or something. All the smaller useful idiots can stay behind and face the music. Mission accomplished.
Why would the establishment be on the brink of disaster? They wield the power of deep state, media, big tech, wall street - all Biden shills or Biden admin.
And those institutions haven't been this unpopular and this uninfluential, maybe ever. Certainly not all at the same time. The power of the establishment has seriously waned.
From the Melian dialogues, power does not need to "legitimize" itself, it just does.
That's not the same thing. The powerful do not try to engage in Melian dialogues because it guarantees resistance. It is an arrogant threat made at a victim. The reason the Athenian commander made that negotiation, is because he was backed by a fleet and invasion force that he asserted the people of Melos could not resist effectively. That is not the definition of all power, not unless you intend to be shot in the face at the first sign of trouble.
The Melian dialogue is a hostile act between a warring party, and an ambushed target. If you don't back it up, it'll cost you everything. That's why you don't do it unless it works. If you underestimate your foe, it kills you. It's like walking up to a man in the street and saying "I've got a gun in my pocket and I'm going to kill you when I finish counting: 3...". If you picked the wrong person, you won't make it to 2.
A Melian dialogue is an act of War.
Meaningful resistance against this stacked deck is years away.
That's a defeatist and ridiculous sentiment. Meaningful resistance always exists so long as you are prepared to engage in it. Your issue is about what you consider "meaningful" and what you consider a valid price for that resistance. On my part, I consider the price for that resistance to be low compared to the consequences of being trapped in the same sphere of influence as the Leftists when they start purging themselves. There were no rightists in the Khmer Rouge's killing fields.
By that time all the big backers would have already made their money, flexed on the plebs, then retire to Spain or something.
They would never retire to Spain. That day never comes. They never stop, and they're not trying to prove anything to the plebs. This is about preserving what they have and the gains they promised themselves in their fantasies.
And those institutions haven't been this unpopular and this uninfluential, maybe ever. Certainly not all at the same time. The power of the establishment has seriously waned.
It's massively popular to 80 million Americans. Only 74 million Americans distrust them.
The point is, I considered the chance of winning the conflict.
The deep state/ex-Obama security people now work for CNN & MSNBC, the media being their lying useful idiots. Deep state then possibly re-used their CIA regime change bullshit like "red mirage" or Noam Eisner's "color revolution" to win.
To win meaningful resistance you need to overcome:
big tech censorship (NYpost, youtube)
big finance censorship (https://archive.vn/cmzTL
breitbart
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Sounds Alarm over Cryptocurrency Rule that Could Empower Financial Censors
by ALLUM BOKHARI 13 Dec 20201)
big funding (Tom Steyer/Refuse Facism, Koch bros NOT funding Trump but Soros Dems)
deep state spy shit
organized paramilitary - antifa - which the FBI and DHS tell us are unimportant, I wonder why.
ancient organized paramilitary like professor Bill Ayers of Weather Underground fame
On the Trump team there's enthusiasim but little power. You need to be as slick, effective and loyal as the corrupt Bush admin and his pocket judges, but I don't see it on the Trump team today.
Proud Boys are a drinking club, not backed by Bill Ayers or deep state antifa simps.
Unless I'm missing something, they aren't there yet, so I say it needs time for the Trump side to get better.
The "Resistance" antifa, lying media and bamboozled public, didn't grow on a tree, they were nurtured by time, money and simps. And so will the Resistance to the Resistance.
The Killing Fields were stopped by an invasion of a larger power, Vietnam, tipping the scales to the defenders. Maybe it takes years, months, who knows.
They would never retire to Spain. That day never comes.
The neolibs can run to Spain while leaving the dogmatic progressives behind.
There's a bunch of things in your post that I could address, but I'd rather stick to the heart of the matter. You're still clamoring about how strong institutional power is, I'm denying that, but I don't think you're getting me here: It's never been this week.
For God's sake, look at your name. The Progressive Corporate media has been the enemy of the people since Pulitzer helped start the Spanish-American War. The guy who's name was applied to the highest award for journalism ever. Which was given to the guy your named after, who was an active spy and activist for the Soviet Union, who intentionally ignored mass slaughter. And was well-respected for decades.
The power of all of these institutions was more than you could possibly believe. There was a reason why LBJ was concerned about Walter Cronkite's opinion. That's the kind of sway they held. You're worried about financial censorship, but FDR criminalized gold/silver for 40 years from a single executive order. You're worried about Deep State spy shit, but have you ever heard of J. Edgar Hoover? You're worried about Big Funding, but do you realize how the Fed was created? You're worried about tech censorship, but do you remember when the FCC killed pirate radio (to this very day)?
Yes, sure, Trump doesn't have much institutional power. He's had to build it himself, effectively from scratch.
This is a revolution. The revolutionaries a plucky little fighters who don't have much institutional power, but it doesn't mean they just lose. They just haven't won yet.
Yes, there's a longer war ahead for all of us, but the institutions have never been this weak before, an it looks like their collapse is not gonna take 50 years. I doubt they make it even 20. I can't tell you what 2030 looks like, the acceleration of their collapse has outpaced all historical norms.
The neolibs can run to Spain while leaving the dogmatic progressives behind.
Dude, Spain is like Progressive Saudi Arabia. You're not going to avoid any dogmatic progressives there.
Convinced? No, absolutely not.
Could it still happen? Yeah it could.
Look, here's the thing. We are the revolution. The Leftists are the Counter-Revolution sent by the establishment. The establishment has violated all norms, customs, laws, and taboos this year. Everything has been violated solely to maintain power.
I said this a few days after election night, and I'll say it again: This is not a win for them.
These are very aggressive, and very desperate moves. Trump is continuing to play within the rules. Should he decide to bend those rules, we end up in a much worse situation for the establishment.
During any revolutionary or civil war period, the law stopped mattering. What mattered, fundamentally, was raw support. Trump has a level of raw support that the Establishment do not have. The level or resistance to Establishment will has only increased, this breaks their objectives of war.
As a reminder, Clausewitz defines war as:
I keep harping on this definition because it explains Leftism fully. You must understand that the Left and the establishment are on war-footing. They are already at war. Not in the normal sense, but bureaucratic, legal, and political sense, they are fully at war. This definition reminds you, that the law means nothing in war. International law is an irrelevant self-imposition. The law itself, is nothing more than a form moral force. The law is effectively a political argument... and and it's a weak one.
This is why Cicero said:
"In times of war, the law falls silent."
This is because law is a means in a war. It is only a moral force. And the only people who accept moral force from you... are your allies. Not your enemies. Your enemies are not effected by your moral force. Otherwise, they wouldn't be shooting at you.
By corrupting the courts, the police, the legislatures, and the law; they have caused it to fall silent on the ears of many tens of many millions. Not just the voter fraud. But political prosecutions of right-wingers. The refusal to pursue charges on Leftist Lynchers. The demand to charge the people who defended themselves against the lynchers.
I'm not surprised SCOTUS won't take up any court cases. After Brown v. Board, they very nearly destroyed their own legitimacy in the South. The more activist they became, the more state, and even some federal courts rebuked them, and the more silent the law fell. So eventually, they moved more quietly. SCOTUS has spoken loudly many times, and it occasionally bled Americans dry by doing so. So now, they're trying to shut up, hoping that the law breathes a whisper of moral force on someone.
But it's too late. I can't stop this. We can't stop this. No one can stop this anymore.
With each and every violation, the establishment guaranteed an outcome that they wanted, at a price no amount of printed money can afford. Raw legitimacy has been violated. No moral force of law can have any impact on a people that do not accept it.
Trump, and his base, are not likely to openly violate the law as they see the constitution as a moral force. However, if Trump were to bend some portion of federal code, to otherwise protect the constitution, that could have an impact on the establishment that it is not prepared for. Trump keeps playing within the bounds of the law, but if he stretches it, the whole thing could break, and the Establishment would find themselves without any real support at all.
The establishment is on a war-footing to legitimize itself. That is not an offensive action, it is a defensive one. They are absolutely on the brink of disaster. Even if Trump concedes, and fades quietly away... I don't think they can avert it. Trump is only an avatar of an up-swelling of a cultural shift I believe will change this entire century, and I don't think anybody knows it.
To be clear about the answer to your question: I don't know if he can or can't. What I do know is that Trump is only a few weeks from not mattering anymore. And what comes after him are unavoidable, and bigger than anything he might personally intend.
Why would the establishment be on the brink of disaster? They wield the power of deep state, media, big tech, wall street - all Biden shills or Biden admin.
From the Melian dialogues, power does not need to "legitimize" itself, it just does.
Meaningful resistance against this stacked deck is years away.
By that time all the big backers would have already made their money, flexed on the plebs, then retire to Spain or something. All the smaller useful idiots can stay behind and face the music. Mission accomplished.
And those institutions haven't been this unpopular and this uninfluential, maybe ever. Certainly not all at the same time. The power of the establishment has seriously waned.
That's not the same thing. The powerful do not try to engage in Melian dialogues because it guarantees resistance. It is an arrogant threat made at a victim. The reason the Athenian commander made that negotiation, is because he was backed by a fleet and invasion force that he asserted the people of Melos could not resist effectively. That is not the definition of all power, not unless you intend to be shot in the face at the first sign of trouble.
The Melian dialogue is a hostile act between a warring party, and an ambushed target. If you don't back it up, it'll cost you everything. That's why you don't do it unless it works. If you underestimate your foe, it kills you. It's like walking up to a man in the street and saying "I've got a gun in my pocket and I'm going to kill you when I finish counting: 3...". If you picked the wrong person, you won't make it to 2.
A Melian dialogue is an act of War.
That's a defeatist and ridiculous sentiment. Meaningful resistance always exists so long as you are prepared to engage in it. Your issue is about what you consider "meaningful" and what you consider a valid price for that resistance. On my part, I consider the price for that resistance to be low compared to the consequences of being trapped in the same sphere of influence as the Leftists when they start purging themselves. There were no rightists in the Khmer Rouge's killing fields.
They would never retire to Spain. That day never comes. They never stop, and they're not trying to prove anything to the plebs. This is about preserving what they have and the gains they promised themselves in their fantasies.
It's massively popular to 80 million Americans. Only 74 million Americans distrust them.
The point is, I considered the chance of winning the conflict.
The deep state/ex-Obama security people now work for CNN & MSNBC, the media being their lying useful idiots. Deep state then possibly re-used their CIA regime change bullshit like "red mirage" or Noam Eisner's "color revolution" to win.
To win meaningful resistance you need to overcome:
big tech censorship (NYpost, youtube)
big finance censorship (https://archive.vn/cmzTL breitbart Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Sounds Alarm over Cryptocurrency Rule that Could Empower Financial Censors by ALLUM BOKHARI 13 Dec 20201)
big funding (Tom Steyer/Refuse Facism, Koch bros NOT funding Trump but Soros Dems)
deep state spy shit
organized paramilitary - antifa - which the FBI and DHS tell us are unimportant, I wonder why.
ancient organized paramilitary like professor Bill Ayers of Weather Underground fame
On the Trump team there's enthusiasim but little power. You need to be as slick, effective and loyal as the corrupt Bush admin and his pocket judges, but I don't see it on the Trump team today.
Proud Boys are a drinking club, not backed by Bill Ayers or deep state antifa simps.
Unless I'm missing something, they aren't there yet, so I say it needs time for the Trump side to get better.
The "Resistance" antifa, lying media and bamboozled public, didn't grow on a tree, they were nurtured by time, money and simps. And so will the Resistance to the Resistance.
The Killing Fields were stopped by an invasion of a larger power, Vietnam, tipping the scales to the defenders. Maybe it takes years, months, who knows.
The neolibs can run to Spain while leaving the dogmatic progressives behind.
There's a bunch of things in your post that I could address, but I'd rather stick to the heart of the matter. You're still clamoring about how strong institutional power is, I'm denying that, but I don't think you're getting me here: It's never been this week.
For God's sake, look at your name. The Progressive Corporate media has been the enemy of the people since Pulitzer helped start the Spanish-American War. The guy who's name was applied to the highest award for journalism ever. Which was given to the guy your named after, who was an active spy and activist for the Soviet Union, who intentionally ignored mass slaughter. And was well-respected for decades.
The power of all of these institutions was more than you could possibly believe. There was a reason why LBJ was concerned about Walter Cronkite's opinion. That's the kind of sway they held. You're worried about financial censorship, but FDR criminalized gold/silver for 40 years from a single executive order. You're worried about Deep State spy shit, but have you ever heard of J. Edgar Hoover? You're worried about Big Funding, but do you realize how the Fed was created? You're worried about tech censorship, but do you remember when the FCC killed pirate radio (to this very day)?
Yes, sure, Trump doesn't have much institutional power. He's had to build it himself, effectively from scratch.
This is a revolution. The revolutionaries a plucky little fighters who don't have much institutional power, but it doesn't mean they just lose. They just haven't won yet.
Yes, there's a longer war ahead for all of us, but the institutions have never been this weak before, an it looks like their collapse is not gonna take 50 years. I doubt they make it even 20. I can't tell you what 2030 looks like, the acceleration of their collapse has outpaced all historical norms.
Dude, Spain is like Progressive Saudi Arabia. You're not going to avoid any dogmatic progressives there.