Thank you for distilling the horror of 2020 and the ritualistic mutilation of the Republic that preceded it. I awoke to the horror when I lived in a city that was systematically looted and burned during that summer of 2020. After the looting stopped at night the Biden voters would drive around neighborhoods in trucks ordering white people out of their homes. When that failed, they set fire to the forests around the city to smoke out the residents. To this day most people refuse to believe these events really happened but once I saw with my own eyes the brutal Satanic forces motivating the Democrats I would have voted for anybody but Biden. The entire country has now been treated to his corrupt, racist, incompetent administration, and I hope they reach the same conclusion.
This was truly an outstanding essay and summary of the last decade. I hope you write a book about this journey and the consequences. I think more than a few readers are already concerned this trend of Woke Authoritarianism Democratic Party will continue to dominate past our lifetime and into our grandchildren’s. That people like Biden, Fetterman, Feinstein, McConnel, Romney, Graham are in office show how deep the swamp is.
"Perhaps one day, when the fog dissipates, they too will hang their heads in shame." I'm not sure that day will come. For me, this realization came after watching Sam Harris interviewed on Triggernometry. This supposed paragon of left-wing reasonableness freely admitted that lying and manipulation of elections was all well and good if it furthered "The Cause." These people are true believers - they are in a cult. They are happy in this cult, the have friends, they have moral superiority. What's not to like? I don't know how to break through to them. I have a personal story on how I moved from left to right, as does Sasha, and perhaps many of her readers. But the move was on an individual level and required a lot of curiosity, research, mental effort, and honesty with oneself. Most of the people I know are on the left. They are comfortable where they are.
Interesting piece Sasha, thank you. The problem we face is not one-sided, however. It is a uniparty. We have warhawks on both sides. We have MARXISTS, who hate God and everything normative. We have a perverse group pushing every form of idolatry and wickedness upon our children… grooming them not only for sexual exploitation but psychological illnesses. A Godless nation reaps what it sows. Apollyon is tying his shoes.
Sasha, I so admire you for having the fortitude to re-examine beliefs that you held for your whole life. Many of us cling to our anchors no matter what evidence is presented to the contrary. You present such a contrast to those who parrot the same things over and over, and constantly look for reinforcement from the same old tired tropes.
It’s not easy to wander from your philosophical base. Much easier to keep spouting the same conclusions that you reached at 18, confident that you have it all figured out.
I am starting to see a glimmer of hope for my Progressive friends. I think they are embarrassed by being taken in by the Russiagate thing, where their trusted news organs used and abused them. If we could only get an actual centrist party up and running, there are a lot of people ready to jump from both sides.
One criticism of yet another great post -- In the 2016 election, there was no measurable impact from pro-Trump bot posts on Facebook. Those of us in the online tech industry understand there were a relatively low number of these posts, and clickthroughs were extremely rare. What's hard for us to understand is how that myth still has credence with well-read, intellectual pros. The rest of this personal essay was enlightening and relatable.
Sasha, it didn't start in 2020. Yes, traditional Catholics like me are outraged that an FBI agent could seriously recommend spying on us. But they did it to MLK Jr. Even the much lamented Bobby Kennedy signed off on that, thinking it would be for a month, some say. Only recently reports came out that FBI agents suggested that MLK kill himself.
Hoover spied on nobody knows how many Americans.
Credible reports put mafia and CIA figures in the Kennedy assassination, and most terribly of all, some claim that Johnson knew.
You grew up as a well meaning flower child, but by God's help you're getting wise to the scene-- a very ugly scene. To be truly wise we need divine help and the divine word. My favorite translations are the Vulgate and Douay Rheims.
I am working so hard to despise the character of Obama, his comments, his politics, and not him personally that I am perspiring from the effort.
"Biden’s legacy might include wiping both Putin and Trump off the map, which would be, for the Obama/Hillary coalition quite the victory."
I don't believe I've encountered a more chilling prospect.
"Who will have blood on their hands once we make our way through this fog of war?"
No one currently living.
"Perhaps one day, when the fog dissipates, they too will hang their heads in shame."
I admire your optimism - I suppose it could happen, but it won't be those who were involved - it may be those who, studying it a generation on, come to realize just what happened. Even then, it won't matter - either republicans will have found a way to right the ship, or this nation will cease to exist as a constitutional republic.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was Hillary's campaign in the primaries that started the birther movement targeting Obama. Whether or not Obama was foreign born I can say that a good friend of mine and his wife took a trip to Africa and, upon landing in Nairobi immediately saw a large sign that said, "Welcome to Kenya, birthplace of Barak Obama".
Regarding the 2020 riots, see the link. I think what it really shows is that in Idaho the police and prosecutors would back up the innocent, while in Oregon and Washington one could be charged if one did not allow oneself to be victimized. The rioters had trashed the downtown of a city 20 miles away in Washington, and I doubt the those people were much different than those in Coeur d'Alene.
Thank you for distilling the horror of 2020 and the ritualistic mutilation of the Republic that preceded it. I awoke to the horror when I lived in a city that was systematically looted and burned during that summer of 2020. After the looting stopped at night the Biden voters would drive around neighborhoods in trucks ordering white people out of their homes. When that failed, they set fire to the forests around the city to smoke out the residents. To this day most people refuse to believe these events really happened but once I saw with my own eyes the brutal Satanic forces motivating the Democrats I would have voted for anybody but Biden. The entire country has now been treated to his corrupt, racist, incompetent administration, and I hope they reach the same conclusion.
"Perhaps one day, when the fog dissipates, they too will hang their heads in shame."
The left controls academia, so no. Historians will dutifully write what the Borg determines to be The Narrative.
It will be memory-holed and historians will declare that Russia did in fact install Trump as his puppet in 2016.
This was truly an outstanding essay and summary of the last decade. I hope you write a book about this journey and the consequences. I think more than a few readers are already concerned this trend of Woke Authoritarianism Democratic Party will continue to dominate past our lifetime and into our grandchildren’s. That people like Biden, Fetterman, Feinstein, McConnel, Romney, Graham are in office show how deep the swamp is.
"Perhaps one day, when the fog dissipates, they too will hang their heads in shame." I'm not sure that day will come. For me, this realization came after watching Sam Harris interviewed on Triggernometry. This supposed paragon of left-wing reasonableness freely admitted that lying and manipulation of elections was all well and good if it furthered "The Cause." These people are true believers - they are in a cult. They are happy in this cult, the have friends, they have moral superiority. What's not to like? I don't know how to break through to them. I have a personal story on how I moved from left to right, as does Sasha, and perhaps many of her readers. But the move was on an individual level and required a lot of curiosity, research, mental effort, and honesty with oneself. Most of the people I know are on the left. They are comfortable where they are.
Interesting piece Sasha, thank you. The problem we face is not one-sided, however. It is a uniparty. We have warhawks on both sides. We have MARXISTS, who hate God and everything normative. We have a perverse group pushing every form of idolatry and wickedness upon our children… grooming them not only for sexual exploitation but psychological illnesses. A Godless nation reaps what it sows. Apollyon is tying his shoes.
Sasha, I so admire you for having the fortitude to re-examine beliefs that you held for your whole life. Many of us cling to our anchors no matter what evidence is presented to the contrary. You present such a contrast to those who parrot the same things over and over, and constantly look for reinforcement from the same old tired tropes.
It’s not easy to wander from your philosophical base. Much easier to keep spouting the same conclusions that you reached at 18, confident that you have it all figured out.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
I am starting to see a glimmer of hope for my Progressive friends. I think they are embarrassed by being taken in by the Russiagate thing, where their trusted news organs used and abused them. If we could only get an actual centrist party up and running, there are a lot of people ready to jump from both sides.
I watched all this from Australia and was amazed at the madness that engulfed the left and media.
Sasha,
I love your undying optimism regarding the coming reckoning for democrats. I really wish I had your sunny worldview.
I hope you're the first guest on Tucker's new show.
One criticism of yet another great post -- In the 2016 election, there was no measurable impact from pro-Trump bot posts on Facebook. Those of us in the online tech industry understand there were a relatively low number of these posts, and clickthroughs were extremely rare. What's hard for us to understand is how that myth still has credence with well-read, intellectual pros. The rest of this personal essay was enlightening and relatable.
Sasha, it didn't start in 2020. Yes, traditional Catholics like me are outraged that an FBI agent could seriously recommend spying on us. But they did it to MLK Jr. Even the much lamented Bobby Kennedy signed off on that, thinking it would be for a month, some say. Only recently reports came out that FBI agents suggested that MLK kill himself.
Hoover spied on nobody knows how many Americans.
Credible reports put mafia and CIA figures in the Kennedy assassination, and most terribly of all, some claim that Johnson knew.
You grew up as a well meaning flower child, but by God's help you're getting wise to the scene-- a very ugly scene. To be truly wise we need divine help and the divine word. My favorite translations are the Vulgate and Douay Rheims.
Almost home!
I am working so hard to despise the character of Obama, his comments, his politics, and not him personally that I am perspiring from the effort.
"Biden’s legacy might include wiping both Putin and Trump off the map, which would be, for the Obama/Hillary coalition quite the victory."
I don't believe I've encountered a more chilling prospect.
"Who will have blood on their hands once we make our way through this fog of war?"
No one currently living.
"Perhaps one day, when the fog dissipates, they too will hang their heads in shame."
I admire your optimism - I suppose it could happen, but it won't be those who were involved - it may be those who, studying it a generation on, come to realize just what happened. Even then, it won't matter - either republicans will have found a way to right the ship, or this nation will cease to exist as a constitutional republic.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was Hillary's campaign in the primaries that started the birther movement targeting Obama. Whether or not Obama was foreign born I can say that a good friend of mine and his wife took a trip to Africa and, upon landing in Nairobi immediately saw a large sign that said, "Welcome to Kenya, birthplace of Barak Obama".
Regarding the 2020 riots, see the link. I think what it really shows is that in Idaho the police and prosecutors would back up the innocent, while in Oregon and Washington one could be charged if one did not allow oneself to be victimized. The rioters had trashed the downtown of a city 20 miles away in Washington, and I doubt the those people were much different than those in Coeur d'Alene.
https://www.itsmac.com/2020/06/16/a-tale-of-two-cities-coeur-dalene-id-vs-seattle-wa/
Great compendium, Sasha. This will take me the day to get through.
Speaking of dark money, though, and the Donkeys, I found this rather disturbing -- both that it happened and that it flew completely under the radar.
https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/30/meet-the-nonpartisan-dark-money-group-rigging-michigan-elections-so-democrats-cant-lose/
“Hang their heads in shame”...? Nope, not gonna’ happen. Never!