Bank failures: where does the buck stop?

At his Substack, Don Surber has some answers:

The blame game over SVB’s [Silicon Valley Bank’s] collapse is a diversion. The media have rounded up the usual suspects: Trump, greed, bad law, blah, blah, blah. When Captain Renault did that in Casablanca, he knew who the real culprits were. The media is not that bright.

James Hickman is. He is the founder of Sovereign Research. He looked at the numbers and he found the culprit.

Biden. He made government bonds worth less which has banks dropping like cockroaches in a Raid commercial.

. . .

SVB lost money on government bonds by the billion and that brought the bank down.

. . .

Bailing out SVB is not the end, rather it is the beginning.

The New York Times had to admit, “Investors Fear Bank Contagion, Despite a Sweeping Rescue Plan. Shares in regional lenders were under pressure, even after regulators unveiled a vast backstop for U.S. banks after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.”

There goes NYT saying despite again when it means “because of.” The panic at the Fed to create a new program to bail out banks — er, make billionaire depositors whole — was all we needed to know that once again, Biden led us to another economic catastrophe.

The wrecking balls keep coming at us.  Read all about it at Mr Surber’s Substack blog here.

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Don Surber: January 6 false flag

We’ve all recognized the January 6 “insurrection” as a false flag event, a set-up by the FBI, Capitol Police, Nancy Pelosi, and other bad actors. So many lies, so much obstruction, that it has been challenging to piece everything together.  Now with the surveillance videos surfacing on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program, claims of a set-up are now verifiable.  Don Surber got most of it figured out:

For two years now, we have heard about an insurrection that everyone knows was bogus. The media deliberately lied in its vain attempt to ruin President Donald John Trump — one in a series of attempts by the real deniers of election results.

Tucker Carlson’s revelation that the Capitol Police incited peaceful protesters has been dismissed by a media obsessed with lying. The key to Pravda — the Soviet version of propaganda — was not to get people to believe it, but to get people to stop following the news. Judging by television ratings in the 21st century, it is working. It indoctrinates Americans to believe they are powerless and that resistance is futile.

So the lies continue.

.. . .

After two years of selective leaks of video by Pelosi’s Pretorian Guard, the nation finally gets to see the whole story — and the Capitolists hate it.

CNN said, “US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger on Tuesday ripped into Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his commentary about footage from the January 6, 2021, insurrection that he aired Monday night, saying the host cherry-picked from the footage to present offensive and misleading conclusions about the attack.”

The political appointee whined in a memo leaked to CNN, “Last night an opinion program aired commentary that was filled with offensive and misleading conclusions about the January 6 attack.”

Manger also wrote, “The program conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video. The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.”

This is the same group that selective leaked out-of-context video for two years. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy released all the video.

CNN tossed the word insurrection into its report three times, even though it was a mostly peaceful protest. The word insurrection is important for Washington elitists to establish because it is the key to their plan to bar Donald Trump from the presidency.

. . .

Lots more in Mr. Surber’s Substack column here.  Bottom line: there was no "insurrection."

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Throwing Trump under the bus

 

There was no red wave on Tuesday, so many major bloggers are already throwing President Donald Trump under the bus, e.g.:

• Matt Margolia at PJ Media here  ("Trump Mocks DeSantis Again...")
• John Hinderaker at Power Line here  ("Goodbye, Donald")
• Don Surber here   ("Life after Trump")
• UPDATE:  The New York Post

The word “fickle” comes to mind.  

Trump endorsed 174 candidates.  So far, 9 lost.  

So 5% lost.  95% won.  That’s a damn good batting average. 

For those who think that Ron DeSantis is the new standard-bearer for conservatives, please take on board Sundance's deep dive into his campaign contributions (at Conservative Treehouse).

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Don Surber's "unreliable and harmful clams"

 

Don Surber is in the process of closing down his blogspot and moving to Substack.  He’s wing-walking during the transition:

A reader sent me this graphic [above] mocking Google’s censorship of my blog posts for what Google called “unreliable and harmful claims.” Two recently censored posts relied on reporting by the New York Times and the Washington Post, so Google might have a point.

Readers know this Substack account is my response to Google censorship. Eventually I will abandon Google and my blog — https://donsurber.blogspot.com — in favor of Substack. The censors don’t bring me down. They are an annoyance. They are not even mosquitos. They are mere midges. Censoring is a sign that we are winning because they cannot handle the truths we tell.

Mr Surber goes through the laundry list of what he perceives as recent victories for conservatives and patriots.  I am still waiting to see how much election fraud there is in next month’s elections.  Still, this blog also plans to migrate over to Substack;  it is no longer possible to use a Google search even to find this blog -- you’ll eventually find a robot instead.  I also know from tracking the traffic patterns over the past year that someone has tampered with the algorithms.  So we’ll see.  Meanwhile, Mr Surber closes his column with optimism and another clam:

Be of good cheer. We are winning. We will — we will — rock them with our “unreliable and harmful claims.”

We won’t clam up.

Source link is here.

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RINO Rob Portman does it again

 

Strictly speaking, it’s not on the Tea Party agenda, but the latest gun-grab attempt is on everyone’s radar screen.  Don Surber links to the UPI report on legislation working its way through committee and congress:

"The 20 lawmakers -- 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans -- led by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced the package they said would 'protect America's children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country.'"

The compromise is to take your guns more slowly.

93% of guns used in crime are illegal. Enforce that law before you dare try to deprive me of my rights.

And guess who is one of the 10 Republicans are supporting the package?  Why yes, Ohio Senator Rob Portman (OH-RINO). 

RELATED:  Brandon Morse on red-flag laws at Red State here.  The law sounds reasonable, but it is too easily weaponized (pun intended) for political purposes.  And Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is on board with so-called "common sense gun reforms.  

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News out of the Davos conference

 

Mark Wauck of Meaning In History has a very good, if depressing, overview of the relentless bad news coming out of Davos. This blog has already posted a report by Dr Joseph Mercola on the globalists’ threat to our food supply; click here.  Mr. Wauck starts off:

The Elites Are Plotting Against Us In Plain View

Yes, it’s that time of year, and the Neo-Malthusian global elites are meeting in Davos, plotting in plain view, scheming to get us normals under their thumbs—and make it hurt. Not kidding—they’re talking a lot about pain.

Zhou [Biden!] let the cat out of the bag the other day, when he said that high gas prices were part of the “incredible transition”. Incredible transition? Great Reset? Sounds the same to me—and it is. I was struck by this article—no I didn’t read it. I just saw enough at FR to get the gist:

Democrats Quietly Search for an Alternative to Biden in 2024
NY Magazine ^ | 5/24/2022 | By Gabriel Debenedetti

As they look toward 2024, Democrats are unified in their conception of doom: the restoration of Trump, joined down-ballot by anti-democratic Republicans who will end fair elections and any hope of combating climate change.

Climate change.  [This blog recently posted links on that one also; click here.] That’s what caught my eye. The whole point of the electoral coup against Trump was to seize the moment to jam the Green agenda, the Great Neo-Malthusian Reset, down our throats. Problem is, they’ve screwed up so badly that they can see approaching doom, in spite of the rigging.

Don Surber sees what they’re trying to do. I think Zhou’s “incredible transition” moment was an epiphany for Don. Read it all. 

Click here for the rest of Mr. Wauck’s report, including extracts from Don Surber’s blog.

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Portman’s Senate seat: A Decepticon’s decision

 

Sundance at Conservative Treehouse has an interesting take on Sen. Rob Portman’s announcement that he will retire when his term is up in 2023:

With four GOP senators having announced they’re not running (Burr, Johnson, Toomey, Portman) there’s essentially zero chance of the GOP retaking control of the Senate in 2022.  [20 R seats up & only 14 D seats that are in solid D strongholds] it is far more likely the Democrats will gain seats, so keep this in mind…. 

…When we think about forming a third party, the “you will split the vote” crew always peddles their vote split narrative.  However, the GOP doesn’t have a chance in hell to win 2022 given what the base of the Republicans think about these senate DeceptiCons now.

There has never been a better time for a New Party to launch and capture three or four seats from the retiring GOPe crew.  It would be great to see true MAGA representatives that can caucus with Republicans but hold ground on America First principles.

Sundance’s full report with links and commentary is here.

UPDATE:  Don Surber thinks a third party is still a bad idea.  See here.

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Face masks, lockdowns, and curfews: useless!

 

This ironic report via Don Surber’s blog :

 The Associated Press reported, "The World Health Organization has recorded 65 cases of the corona virus among staff based at its headquarters, including five people who worked on the premises and were in contact with one another, an internal email obtained by The Associated Press shows.

"The U.N. health agency said it is investigating how and where the five people became infected — and that it has not determined whether transmission happened at its offices. WHO’s confirmation Monday of the figures in the email was the first time it has publicly provided such a count."

If masks, social distancing, and lockdowns don't work for WHO, just who do these things work for?

And Governor Mike DeWine’s announcement today of his arbitrary statewide 10pm curfew won’t do any good, either.  It will cause more damage, however, to the already crippled bar & restaurant industries.

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Veteran’s Day weekend: a feel-good report

Photo via Don Surber

Via Don Surber at his blog:

Trump will lead the NYC parade he saved

In August 1995, organizers for the annual Veterans Day Parade in New York City looked at how much money they had three months before the big day.

$1.21.

The New York Times reported, "A request to airlines to donate blankets for aging veterans was turned down because logos might not be visible on television."

Wow.

The Times reported, "Then Donald Trump, a non-veteran, agreed to throw in $200,000 as well as raise money from his friends, in exchange for being named grand marshal."

In short order, they had $2.4 million, saving the parade and the city's honor.

On Veterans Day 1995, United Press International reported, "More than 500,000 people jammed the sidewalks of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Saturday to watch three generations of veterans march in the Nation's Parade. The crowd cheered as 25,000 veterans marched in one of the last national events marking the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. The mood of the parade was festive despite the blustery weather, with marching veterans smiling and onlookers shouting 'Thank you.'"

The story also said, "Organizers, who placed the turnout at closer to a million, said the parade would not have been a success if it hadn't been for real estate developer Donald Trump, who contributed $200,000.

"'Donald Trump saved the parade,' said parade director Tom Fox, himself a Vietnam veteran. 'We had asked for donations from 200 corporations, and none of them came through,' he said.

"'This donation is the single most important thing I've ever done,' said a beaming Trump. 'This is more important than all of my buildings and my casinos. This is my way of saying thank you to all the men and women in the armed services who have made it possible for me to become a success. Without them freedom and liberty would be gone.'"

24 years later, hounded by politicians and high taxes, President Trump has moved to Mar-a-Lago.

But he'll be back on Monday in the city he saved to lead the parade he saved.

I like the quote "This is my way of saying thank you to all the men and women in the armed services who have made it possible for me to become a success. Without them freedom and liberty would be gone." Amen. Read the full report here.

The Uniparty in Action, er, Inaction

Don Surber posts daily bullet-points of headlines around the web. Here’s an item from this morning, linked to TownHall:

Michael Reagan wrote, "While I have to watch Democrats in Congress waste time hating and sanctioning the president and trashing America as a racist country after it twice elected a black president, I still have an invasion of illegal immigrants on my southern border.

"And while I watch Democrats -- and Republicans -- in Washington spend another year kicking the health care-reform can down the road, I have a daughter-in-law and son in Los Angeles who suddenly had their private health insurance cancelled and must now sign up with the state's system because there's no competition in California.

"Both Republican and Democrats are at fault for our health care and immigration messes.

"Both parties have recently held total control of Congress and the White House at the same time, yet neither one honestly tried solve the country's two most important problems.

"If they can't find the political courage to fix health care or immigration by next fall, we shouldn't give one member of Congress from either party a single vote.

More here. Background on Uniparty here. 

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Google's thumb is on the scale

Brent Scher at the Washington Free Beacon reports on continuing censorship on Google:

News that Chicago police charged Jussie Smollett with staging a brutal attack on himself was covered on every network and in every major newspaper, but Google is hiding searches of it from its platform due to concerns of "potentially disparaging" the liberal actor.

A review of Google's autocomplete function on searches of Smollett found no references to anything regarding the hate crime, even though the company's own data show it is the only reason his name was ever searched.

The top suggested searches for Smollett included Empire (a show he no longer has a role in), Mighty Ducks (a nearly three-decade old movie he had a small role in as a child), and his wife (who doesn't exist), the Free Beacon found.

Even with a nudge—adding the letter "H" to indicate an interest in the Smollett "hate crime" or "hoax"—the top suggestions were inquiries into his height and ties to Hawaii.

Full report including potential bias in searches re: Hillary's campaign, the Trump presidency, Harvey Weinstein, and the Covington students is here ; the report includes screen shots of the writer’s search results. H/T Don Surber.

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SOTU and the Women in White

photo credit: Breitbart

Breitbart caption: 

President Donald Trump did the unthinkable Tuesday night during his State of the Union address: he inspired a phalanx of left-wing women members of Congress,

 wearing white in protest, to jump to their feet and applaud.

Lots of commentary on President Trump’s State of the Union speech last night – but here’s part of Don Surber’s posting:

President Trump gave Americans a reason to stand up and cheer their nation.

Even Democrats.

In 2018, they stoically refused to applaud anything in his speech even when he noted Democrats were doing well.

This year, be broke that wall of their resistance like it was Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on Election Day. It happened earlier in the speech.

“So let’s work together, compromise, and reach a deal that will truly make America safe. As we work to defend our people’s safety, we must also ensure our economic resurgence continues at a rapid pace. No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58% of the newly created jobs last year,” President Trump said.

The Women In White stood and cheered.

“You weren’t supposed to do that. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before,” President Trump said.

“Don’t sit yet. You are going to like this. And exactly one century after Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in the Congress than at any time before.”

Then they really celebrated and shouted USA! USA! USA!

At that point, the president made it cool to want to Make America Great Again.

That scene told the tale of the night. He made those congresswomen feel good about themselves and about their country.

His full column is here. Full transcript of the SOTU speech is here (Conservative Treehouse).

# # # 

UPDATE: Patricia McCarthy at American Thinker had a more critical take:

Trump's SOTU speech was wonderful, factual and optimistic.  It was a celebration of America and the successes of the last two years.  No one would know it by the visible response of the ladies in white (allegedly an homage to women's suffrage), the mostly newly elected Democrat congresswomen.  The only part of the speech they sincerely applauded was themselves – more women in Congress.  For most of the rest of the speech, they sat on their hands, looking mad (Mazie Hirono), glum (all of them), petulant and dismissive (Kamala Harris), bored and studiously disinterested (Nancy Pelosi).  

. . .

It was a pathetic, un-American spectacle, those women.  In the end, they are about one thing, one thing only: rage.  Rage at whom and what?  Who knows?  But it cannot be the country.  Look at where they are, the success they've attained.  Each of them is an example of the opportunity, freedom, and equality that only this nation provides, and still they are angry.  They still want to abort fully formed infants, tax the rich into oblivion, and impose Venezuelan-style socialism on us all.

McCarthy's article is here.

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chuckle of the day

Image via DonSurber

# # #

The next two years: Surber's forecast

A.F. Branco cartoon credit: firearmlicense.org

The midterm election did not go as well as many of us had hoped. And looking forward, I found Don Surber’s take pretty realistic:

These Democrats don't care [e.g., about “infrastructure.]. . . .

All they care about is power. Lord Acton said power corrupts. Imagine now what happens when you give power to the already corrupted.

. . .

This is not a parlor game among good sports. Democrats selected Pelosi, Nadler, Schiff, and Waters as leaders because they are ruthless. They do not seek compromise. They do not want to work with President Trump or any Republican.

Under Obama, when they controlled Congress, they refused to work with Republicans on health care or the stimulus. They did not seek compromise.

. . .

The next two years will be rough. I hope the president appreciates the seriousness of the danger the House poses to the Republic.

Tea Party grandmas did not take over the House.

Bloodthirsty socialists did.

Surber's full blogpost is here.

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National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day

Photo by USAF Tech Sgt Ashley Tyler

I am a day late with this tribute; via Don Surber:

Friday was a national day to honor the American sacrifice in the Korean War. It coincided with the 65th anniversary of the cease-fire. It remains America's longest war, at 68 years and counting.

Kim Jong Un returned what is believed to be the remains of 55 American soldiers who died in combat. Forensic tests will determine just who these men are.

“For 3 brutal years, our Armed Forces and allies fought valiantly to stop the spread of communism and defend freedom on the Korean Peninsula. On National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, we remember the bravery and sacrifices of those who fought and died for this noble cause,” President Trump said in his proclamation.

The U.S. media gave scant notice to this.

Surber's full report is here.

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Omnibus spending bill: it’s not over till it’s over

cartoon by Alexander Hoffman at dailyreckoning.com

Quite a few conservative bloggers and columnists have been throwing up their hands in despair over President Trump’s signing of the god-awful Omnibus spending bill last week. Headlines such as “Art of the Fail” or “Trump Fought the Swamp and the Swamp Won” were everywhere. But perhaps we are watching another Trump negotiation. Since the Omnibus bill is not a budget, the Executive branch has some flexibility on how (and if) funds are allocated. For example, Ann Coulter suggested he fund the wall using Defense Dept. money.

My own outrage is directed at the GOPe members of the Uniparty, who ran on - and raised millions on - promises they had no intention of ever keeping. They did not expect to win. Some might conclude that they wanted to lose. And we now see them, out in the open, blocking Trump’s agenda at every turn, including this latest maneuver.

As I see it, The GOPe has tried hard to stop Trump from the day he announced his candidacy right up to today. The Omnibus bill was just another opportunity to obstruct and undermine. They don’t want to be in the majority. They want to keep their noses in the trough and raise money by making more empty promises that they can whine about if they are in the minority. And the gloating Democrat leadership would love nothing more than to see Trump’s base lose heart. 

For some more optimistic/realistic takes, try Don Surber, Kurt Schlichter, or Sundance at Conservative Treehouse.

Related: at American Thinker, Joseph Smith asks if it will be “Time for Republicans to stay home in 2018?”

# # #

More useless legislation

image credit: taxpolitix.com

One of the core Tea Party values is limited government, but Congress knows better. Don Surber's blog "House passes phony school safety bill" is spot on:

Two things tell you a piece of legislation is worthless.

First, it has a cute and clever acronym for its title. Second, it passes with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Wednesday, the House passed the STOP School Violence Act, 407-10.

. . .

STOP stands for (drumroll) Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018.

The bill will prevent no violence. But it feels good. It will spend $200 million or so on "training to prevent student violence against others and self, including training for local law enforcement officers, school personnel, and students," ABC News reported.

The bill is another federal solution to a local problem. A federal program helped cause the Parkland high school shooting, as Obama paid the school and the sheriff not to suspend or arrest belligerent students.

But that is what Congress does: it spends money we do not have on things we do not need.

We need less federal aid, and more local control of the schools.

Yup. Surber’s blog is here.

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"Americans are Dreamers, too!"

image credit: 989thewolf.net

I thought President Trump's State of the Union speech was outstanding, and most of the commentary I've read is positive. I especially appreciated a few short takes by Don Surber:

Trump forced one of his nagging critics, Chris Cillizza, CNN's editor-at-large, to concede the brilliance of the move.

"Perhaps not surprising for someone who has lived his life in the spotlight and who built a life on image and brand, the stagecraft of Trump's first State of the Union was outstanding. From the families who lost loved ones to the MS-13 gang to Otto Warmbier's parents to the North Korean defector and his crutches, the visuals -- and the stories they told -- were haunting and memorable," Cillizza wrote.

The photograph that won the night was not President Trump, but rather Ji Seong-ho holding his crutches aloft. He escaped North Korea in 2006, and now lives in South Korea helping others escape.

Here’s the photograph of Ji Seong-ho:

I did not know Ji Seong-ho’s story, and it is harrowing. Here’s the link to the page on Wikipedia. Surber continues:

His presence was testimony to the appreciation of President Trump's efforts to confront Kim Jong Un, which may lead to the departure of Kim, and the unification of the two Koreas.

Incorporating the victims of MS-13 and the heroes of America made his message theirs. And they are more credible to those who are not as Trumpian as we are. They sold his policies.

To be sure, [there] was the co-opting of the Democratic Party line. The line of the night was "Americans are Dreamers, too!"

For the rest of Don Surber’s SOTU commentary, go here and here.  

 # # #

Hurricane's silver lining

Restaurants, chefs rally to help feed those affected by Harvey

Photo and caption credit: Houston Chronicle

Don Surber finds the silver linings in Hurricanes:

The people of Houston and elsewhere in Texas showed a cooperation that shamed the politicians. Guys in boats were trolling their neighborhoods searching for people to rescue. . . .

A nation drunk on politics suddenly was watching people struggle to survive four feet of rainfall.

That was sobering.

America changed. Instantly.

His column is here. And I hope he's right.

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Don Surber's tribute to Phyllis Schlafly

photo credit: blacksportsonline.com

Phyllis Schlafly lived 

Don Surber’s blog columns are often accessible via some of the aggregators. His column yesterday (via Lucianne.com) was a tribute to Phyllis Schlafly, who passed away over the Labor Day weekend. While many Tea Party people will be aware that Mrs. Schlafly’s organization Eagle Forum was recently challenged with a hostile takeover by a faction led, sadly, by her daughter, Surber’s tribute is entirely about Mrs. Schlafly’s courage and effectiveness as a champion of conservative principles. Here's some of his blog column: 

  

The Labor Day death of Phyllis Schlafly at 92 brought out the trolls among the left who called her names. Her death matters less than her life. She kept pushing for an unvarnished and unapologetic conservatism, as championed by Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.

World Net Daily published her last column a few hours ago. [It’s also up on Eagle Forum here.]

Donald Trump’s surprise visit to Mexico, where he met the Mexican president and discussed the many contentious issues between our two countries, reminds me of President Reagan’s important trip to Geneva in 1985. Reagan was more than willing to sit down with the Communist leader of the USSR in an effort to build a personal connection between the two men without sacrificing America’s vital interests in the Cold War.

The 1985 Geneva summit was highly advertised as a potential showdown between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the supposedly reasonable new Soviet leader. When it was over, Americans realized that behind Reagan’s genial affability was a steely determination to protect our country against the threat from Soviet nuclear missiles.

Just as today’s mainstream media are bent on undermining Trump’s call to put Americans first in our dealings with Mexico, the media of the 1980s (led by ABC’s Sam Donaldson and CBS’ Dan Rather) were overwhelmingly pro-Gorbachev and anti-Reagan in their daily coverage.

Her column is a reminder that we are on the right course, and we should remain true. The critics who hate America -- its self-reliance, its upward mobility, its sheer majesty -- never change. Only our heroes do.

Read the rest here. 

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