Le doute n’est pas un état bien agréable,
mais l’assurance est un état ridicule.
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.
François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), Letter to Frederick William, Prince of Prussia (November 28, 1770). English: in S.G. Tallentyre (ed.), Voltaire in His Letters (1919), p. 232.
On September 20, 480 BC, Greeks defeated Persian forces in the battle of Salamis.
Disinformation spewed by Hillary Clinton, that is.
Mrs. Clinton has escaped jail time for all her previous crimes, whether committed singly or in partnership with her husband. But now we are going to have a brand-new crime to charge her with. And boy, is she a serial offender!!!!!!
The irony is, we would not even be able to charge anybody with this new category of crime — if indeed we’ll be able to; there’s still some controversy about it — but for the contempt of Hillary Clinton and politicians like her for the First Amendment rights that a large minority of Americans hold so dear.
Hillary Clinton, on MSNBC: “I think it’s important to indict the Russians … who were engaged in direct election interference.… But I also think there are Americans who are engaged in this kind of propaganda, and whether they should be civilly or even in some cases criminally charged is something that would be a better deterrent.”
Yes, Hillary Clinton “got away with” everything else. But can she get away with all her lies and, let’s face it, downright disinformation, certainly heavily disseminated by her around election times?
Heck, even if the new category of criminal offense won’t be applicable retroactively, thus giving her a free pass for the last umpteen years, are we in any danger of running out of actionable Hillary disinformation going forward? Does a leopard change its spots?
Maybe she’s counting on selective enforcement.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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I’d rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph.
Ken Kesey, as quoted in Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kook-Aid Acid Test (1968), Chapter One.
On September 19, 1778, the Continental Congress passed the first budget of the United States.
Congress last passed a budget in 1997.
We are headed toward World War III. People deserve the truth from those who pretend to lead.
Years ago, I would have advocated bringing our troops home. Today, I think it’s too late. A military pullout by the United States would be disastrous for both Asia and us. And anything less will require standing up to China. Now or later.
Not to mention that ending the U.S. role in Asia is not even being discussed.
Which means that U.S. assets in the region will eventually be attacked. Already we see the harassment of Taiwan and the bullying of the Philippines and others in the South China Sea. The U.S. has treaty commitments to fight for Japan, South Korea and the Philippines — plus, through the Taiwan Relations Act, we have pledged to help Taiwan stay free.
I would therefore call for spending more on the military. On weapons of war. On military capabilities half a world away. (Hard to believe it myself.) And I would prepare the country for the horrific possibility of war.
I think that is the only way to back China down from its aggressions against just about every neighbor as well as the rule-based international order and, ultimately, us.
The best news on this front is that the U.S. is not having to beg and plead for support for an alliance to check China or to go it alone:
Why? All fear China.
Right now what the world needs is an alliance of the free. And a leader … to be very brave.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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