Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Political Tactics

  • The Enemies of Liberty “Will not go Quietly into the Night”

    On the morning of November 6th, I wrote, "But this is no time to gloat over the defeat  of our enemies. They will not give up or give in."  Here is how Peter Boghossian makes the point. (A little over six minutes.)  Now that we of the Coalition of the Sane and the Reasonable (my…

  • Morning in America!

    Hats off to all the patriots who did their civic duty.  But this is no time to gloat over the defeat  of our enemies. They will not give up or give in. For these totalitarian dogs, the political is everything.  They do not suffer, as we do, from The Conservative Disadvantage. The war is just…

  • Three Lockean Reasons to Oppose the Destructive Dems

    New, improved, updated.  Top o' the Stack.  A call to action. Get off your lazy butts and do something for the great Republic that has made it possible for you to live a good life. What are you, an ingrate? Do you have children, grandchildren? Don't you want them to have a good life?  Are…

  • Rights and Needs

    You can have a right to a thing whether or not you have or will have a need for it. So the best response to the leftist who asks, "Why do you need a gun?" is wrong question! Stop the pointless conversation right there. "The question is not whether I need one; the question is whether I…

  • No Complacency! All Hands on Deck!

    The Republic hangs by a thread. We must defeat the Kamalists* and do so decisively.  They need not just defeat but demoralization. Unfortunately, too many 'influencers' are predicting a Trump victory.  Not wise.  We must not wax complacent. Our political enemies will do anything to win. No moral or legal considerations constrain them. We know…

  • Bumper Stickers and Yard Signs

    As November 5th approaches, I am seeing a lot of them, especially yard signs. I myself prefer to 'go gray' inasmuch as such signage will reliably trigger emotions, but never persuade anyone to change his position.  Suppose you have good relations with your neighbor across the street. You share some interests, but have never talked…

  • Political Enemies and Political Tactics

    I had an interesting exchange with Dr. Caiati about political tactics in the comment thread to Haitians, Cats, and Red Herrings. Here are some further thoughts. When our political enemies use our virtues against us, we should use their vices against them. Call it the Converse Alinskyite Tactic (CAT). I used to say to them:…

  • The New Politics: A Battle of Billionaires

    Some cynics (Moldbug?) will say that it has always been like that: the essence of the political is captured in the Golden Rule: Those with the gold, rule.  If that is so, let the battle proceed. I am glad we have Trump and Musk on our side. You don't defeat transgender Unsinn with calm arguments…

  • Tucker Carlson on What is to be Done

    We have been discussing how to proceed against our anti-civilizational political enemies. This essay by Carlson is not all that good, but it is worth a quick read-through. His points about truth and death are spot on. Nicole Gelinas in Regressives explains how a healthy progressivism transmogrified into regressivism rendering Gotham the shithole it now…

  • 2024: The Last Year of the Republic?

    A New York friend of mine writes, When I settled in Jackson Heights after leaving Mom's Bronx nest almost a half-century ago, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Great architecture, uncongested sidewalks, a police presence, and elderly ladies taking a stroll in the early evening were among the first things that struck…

  • Resuming the “Never-Trump Mentality” Thread

    Tom Tillett often leaves very good comments, but he is 'slow on the trigger.' As a result, his contributions often get buried and go unread. I get the impression that he is someone who actually works for a living [grin].  Today he left two long but very good comments on the Never-Trump Mentality post.  Here…

  • What’s Wrong with Illegal Immigration?

    I present a number of arguments, some 'liberal,' atop the Stack. I am well aware of the infirmity of reason, and of the stupidity and suggestibility of people, especially in this Age of Feeling and Xed-out attention spans.  And so I am well aware of just how little is accomplished by calm and careful argumentation…

  • Third Parties

    Stack man is against them.  Third parties are discussion societies in political drag.

  • Political Opponents or Political Enemies?

    If you are among the sane, reasonable, and morally decent, then you ought to consider leftists, and this includes today's Democrats, as political enemies. Here is one reason among many: Earlier this year, RCP [RealClear Politics] learned that it was one of many news sites that appeared on an advertising blacklist put out by a…

  • A Lefty Sees the Light

    Sasha Stone, An Ex-Democrat's Case for Trump Good advice: What the Democrats and Never Trumpers want now is to push Trump and MAGA back into the danger zone. They want more violence. They want riots. They want an uprising [so] that they can then bring in the military, weaponize dissent, speech, and ideology, and have…