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About theartfuldilettante

The Artful Dilettante is a native of Pittsburgh, PA, and a graduate of Penn State University. He is a lover of liberty and a lifelong and passionate student of the same. He is voracious reader of books on the Enlightenment and the American colonial and revolutionary periods. He is a student of libertarian and Objectivist philosophies. He collects revolutionary war and period currency, books, and newspapers. He is married and the father of one teenage son. He is kind, witty, generous to a fault, and unjustifiably proud of himself. He is the life of the party and an unparalleled raconteur.

Our Communist Party

As Victor Davis Hanson notes, “our Soviet Union” features our own Brezhnev in Joe Biden and our own Pravda in the establishment media that praises the Delaware dullard as “sharp as a tack.”  Our Soviet Union also features Stalinist show-trials, imprisonment without trial, government control of media, deep state agencies deployed against the people, and our very own communist party.

Long before the Russia hoax, the Soviet Union interfered with American elections by running their own candidates of the Communist Party USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of the USSR. The CPUSA candidate in 1924, 1928 and 1932 was William Z. Foster, author of  Toward Soviet America: The Crises and Decline of Capitalism and the Impending Rise of Socialism in the United StatesThat classic was first published in 1932, when Stalin was planning his career in mass murder. The Soviets also supported proxies in the Progressive Party such as Henry Wallace (1948) and Vincent Hallinan (1952),  but during the 1960s they returned to the CPUSA.

The CPUSA ticket in 1968 was Charlene Mitchell and Mark Zagarell. In 1972, the CPUSA offered the Stalinist Gus Hall and Jarvis Tyner. That Communist duo ran again in 1976, when future CIA boss John Brennan voted for Hall. In 1980, the CPUSA paired Hall with Angela Davis, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize. As in 1980, Reagan and Bush crushed them. From 1988 on, as Marxists.org helpfully explains, voters were “urged to support the Democratic Party,” which now bears the hallmarks of the CPUSA.

The Democrat Party tolerates no anti-Communists such as Daniel Patrick MoynihanSam Nunn or Henry “Scoop” Jackson, sponsor of the Jackson-Vanik amendment that made trade with the USSR conditional on the Soviets relaxing restrictions on Jewish emigration. In similar style, the Democratic Party tolerates no social conservatives or libertarian types. Everybody maintains the party line and Democrats regard America as a horrible, racist place – except for their government paychecks and pensions, their bank accounts, stock portfolios, lavish residences and such.

The Party shuns open debate and deploys sulfuric hatred for the opposition in the style of Saul Alinsky, mentor of Hillary Clinton, the carpetbagger who usurped the Senate seat of Moynihan. Obama’s beloved Frank Marshall Davis was a CPUSA stalwart and lifelong admirer of the Soviet Union’s all-white dictatorship. Bernie Sanders is basically a Rip Van Winkle communist, and like Obama, Sanders never saw a Stalinist dictator he didn’t like.

Angela Davis now comes billed as an advocate of “social justice,” and back in 2020 Davis was a big booster of Joe Biden. The Delaware Democrat was “problematic in many ways” but “to vote for ourselves I think that means that we will have to campaign for and vote for Joe Biden.”

The former Communist Party USA candidate has been rather quiet about Biden’s record in office. We’ll see who the Lenin Peace Prize winner endorses in November.

Lloyd Billingsley

Dear President Trump

Dear President Trump…

If you didn’t know before, you know now. The Deep State will do everything, including assassination, to prevent you from assuming your rightful role as President of the United States.

  1. In 2020, They committed massive voter fraud, cancelling the counting and removing Republican observers in five swing states, during which Biden ‘miraculously’ got a huge ballot boost. Then the Gaslight Media proceeded to declare every assertion that the fraud existed as ‘false, disproven, debunked, and discredited’….in fact, they clearly went to Roget’s Thesaurus to deploy every synonym they could find. Then they judge-shopped to ensure valid evidence of the fraud never saw light of day, including their favorite form of legal coverup, what has come to be known as “SCOTUS Judge Roberts Dodge”, which is to declare that the party bringing the legal action has ‘no standing’.
  2. They then criminalized the act of questioning the results of the election, despite people such as Al Gore and Hillary Clinton having long and storied histories doing just that. They even prosecuted you for calling Georgia’s SOS to see if the vote count had any irregularities… which, later, it was proven it did.
  3. They prosecuted you successfully in New York for an act committed by a subordinate in which you had ZERO involvement, and in the process, bent the laws in such a manner that your convictions are sure to be overturned. This is due to the denial of your rights and the introduction of novel (and legally improper) procedures and interpretations.
  4. Now they have taken the course of the Ultimate Cancellation: Murder. The circumstances surrounding the assassination attempt are that a 20 year old was allowed into your venue with a ladder and a firearm, and a laser rangefinder before that. That shooter was allowed to crawl on the roof of a building (with a firearm) where a shot could be taken, in full view of Secret Service, for over 25 minutes. They tell us now that there were three SS agents in the very building the shooter was perched on. Can we be sure the round that nearly got you came from that shooter? Or could have come from inside the building?Note that Biden had a sinister grin when he said you would be challenged in a way you had never been challenged before. I take this comment as a threat.

You must know that your life is in imminent peril. The Deep State will not stop with this failed assassination attempt.

I strongly suggest that the following actions be taken on your part:

  1. Every single Secret Service agent involved in your protection during this event must be barred from ever serving as your SS detail from this point forward. Any additional and new SS Agents must be thoroughly vetted, and — to the extent possible –no agent should be in a position where they can actively harm you. Your private security detail MUST have command-and-control powers.
  2. You travel by aircraft quite a bit. See if there can be a module placed on your plane that allows a parachuted escape, in case your plane experiences ‘unexpected failure’.
  3. I understand you already have a food tester. Ensure all your food is tested with an eye towards the addition of long-term agents that can kill you in months or years. I suggest some form of lab equipment be used.
  4. Have someone around you with a Geiger-counter to detect the presence of radiological agents.
  5. Be aware that some nations have employed binary chemical agents to kill political opponents. Try to come up with security to prevent that.
  6. Drones can be equipped with deadly agents. Explore and employ anti-drone technology.
  7. The shooter had explosive components with him. All people who are to be near you must go through a TSA-like screening.

The Deep State is not done yet, and that includes when you are elected President in November. They have crossed the Rubicon, they will not stop.

Be safe, my President.

Raz A. Mataz

When the Government Wants You Dead

Not long after I came to New Hampshire, decades back, a chap in Littleton decided to hold up the local bank. Unfortunately, he made the elementary mistake of rolling the ski-mask down over his face not just for the robbery but also to case the joint. A teller at the bank, strolling back from lunch, noticed the ski-masked bloke standing on Main Street peering through the windows for some length of time, and she thought it rather odd. So, when he entered the lobby to hold up the joint, they were ready for him.

That’s pretty much what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania – except, instead of a perspicacious bank clerk acting swiftly to prevent the crime, there were vast numbers of Secret Service agents who instead let the guy go ahead and commit it.

In the last seventy-two hours, we have learned there were at least three government snipers in the very building whose rooftop the assassin was trying to access. They sat inside and watched him through the windows, as he arrived and peered up at the roof, and then wandered away.

They watched him when he came back and took out a laser range-finder to calculate the distance between the building and Trump’s head, and then left again.

They watched him a third time when he returned with a bulky backpack.

They watched him for the best part of half-an-hour …and then they let him go ahead and shoot the Republican presidential candidate.

When seconds count, the police are half-an-hour away from getting off their butts. The Federalist‘s Sean Davis asks the relevant question:

Who gave the order to do nothing until after the assassin shot Trump, killed an innocent man on that stage, and fired round after round after round after round?

That’s a good way to put it: the Secret Service agents on-site did nothing for half-an-hour because that’s what they were ordered to do, by some fellow somewhere in the bureaucracy in a position to give such an order. Who is he?

There were consequences to his decision: A genuine public servant – volunteer fireman Corey Comperatore – died shielding his wife and daughters because the ersatz “public servants” of the Secret Service allowed his killer to open fire.

They sat back and watched as his killer cased the roof, made his range-finder calculations, returned with the backpack, and then ascended to his position. The Secret Service provided no service whatsoever; they were the Secret Spectators: they did nothing until after Mr Comperatore, Trump and the others had been shot.

Why?

Mark Steyn

Life’s too Short for Pointless Anxiety

Contrary to what the drug companies would have you think, anxiety can sometimes be useful and necessary. Like, for example, when that anxiety triggers a call to sensible action. Let’s say you feel anxious at the sight of an oncoming physical threat. You duck, move, run, or strike out against it. All of these things involve action – rational action that could save your life.

The problem arises when anxiety is based on things for which no immediate action is possible, or perhaps where no action is required. The most common form of this (and I see it every day in my office) is worry over something you can’t control.

The purpose of anxiety is to guard against real and actual dangers, not just perceived ones. And there are certainly enough real dangers out there. But the modern world, made possible by the limited science, rationality and freedom humans have permitted themselves to have, shields us from many dangers we might otherwise face. Put simply, it’s a lot less dangerous to live in a society with automobiles, grocery stores and satellite technology than to eke out an existence in a primitive jungle as a hunter-gatherer.

Danger is an objective term, but also a contextual one. What we consider dangerous in a contemporary society is different from the dangers faced daily by someone unfortunate enough to be born into an impoverished country. The responsibility therefore falls on us to regulate our own anxiety. And regulate does not simply mean control. It means assuming responsibility for gaps that might, at any given moment, exist between our minds and objective reality.

In many cases, the best way to accomplish this is to ask yourself, “What’s the real danger here?” When you’re anxious, your brain is telling you, “Danger, danger!” But by asking yourself, “What is the danger, exactly?” you accomplish two things: First, you determine whether there is, in fact, a clear threat. Usually there isn’t; the brain has simply reacted automatically. Second, if a plan of action is actually required, then you focus on that.

People who worry about things they can’t control should ask themselves, “What form of action is possible for me right now?” If none exists, and all precautions have been taken, then permission must be granted, by oneself to oneself, to let it go and focus on something else. In other words, people who live their lives in a near-chronic state of anxiety are not facing constant or immediate danger. They just feel that they are.

This can be fixed by taking time to reprogram the mind to recognize the degree to which one’s anxiety is out of proportion to objective reality. If you’re living life in twenty-first century civilization, and you feel you’re constantly in danger, chances are (unless you’re an international spy – I don’t know any of them) you’re probably not in danger at all. Yes, you might be uncomfortable. And perhaps you’re in need of some rational planning. But that doesn’t change the fact that most advanced societies require less need to confront immediate, physical dangers. But they do place an added responsibility on the individual to plan and think long range; to anticipate trouble and do whatever needs to be done to prevent it from arriving. Good examples could include bankruptcy, a bad marriage, or having children before one is ready.

The question I am most often asked is, “How can I get rid of my anxiety — and quickly?” If you want to live your life with less anxiety, you’ve got to start looking at things differently. Train yourself to stop anticipating danger around every corner, and instead look for opportunities to grow, survive and plan. It can take a long time and a lot of effort to reprogram your mind to these new habits, yet, in any single moment, you still retain the power to choose whether – or not – to  think rationally.

Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Charleston SC). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on Twitter at @MichaelJHurd1, drmichaelhurd on Instagram, Michael Hurd Ph.D. on LinkedIn, @DrHurd on TruthSocial

America on the Precipice

The mystery surrounding Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, the slain gunman who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Saturday, continues to deepen as law enforcement investigators are no closer to finding a motive behind the shooting.

The FBI has analyzed Crooks’ cell phone and talked to Crooks’ parents, Matthew and Mary Crooks, but have found little insight, other than Crooks’ parents describing him as someone who didn’t appear to have any strong political leanings and had few, if any, friends, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.”

The government can’t find any motives or explanation for the attempt to kill an American president? THAT’S BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT IS INVOLVED IN THE ATTEMPTED KILLING. You can’t expect a criminal to reveal any findings about himself. If you put a serial killer in charge of investigating himself, he would not incriminate himself.

Our own government is our biggest enemy. When they finish with Trump, they are coming for any and all dissenters, beyond what they are already doing. America is not America. It’s just another corrupt, authoritarian dictatorship. I base this assertion not on theory or feelings; I base it on 100 percent of their actions. They prove what they are every hour of every day.

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“Nobody wants to hear this because of the implications, but oh well, because it needs to be said: Joe Biden’s security regime deliberately and with malice and forethought created the conditions that led to an attempted assassin shooting Donald Trump in the head. It is by the grace of God that he lived and our nation is not currently in the midst of a violent civil war.

They deliberately starved Trump’s security team of the resources it needed. And they did it repeatedly, over many weeks and months.”

— from The Federalist

*******************

The head of the Secret Service will not resign. Of course she won’t. She’s doing what they’re all paid to do–get Trump, by any means possible. Then get all who support him. If reason and justice are ever to return to America, she will be near the top of the list for a treason conviction, along with appropriate punishment. Anything less, and America will not survive.

Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Charleston SC). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on Twitter at @MichaelJHurd1, drmichaelhurd on Instagram, Michael Hurd Ph.D. on LinkedIn, @DrHurd on TruthSocial

A Donald Trump Victory in 2024 is Now Conventional Wisdom. BUT …

The conventional wisdom now seems to be that Donald Trump is going to win the November election.

I understand the reasons for that conclusion.

However, one overriding fact remains: The Establishment WILL NOT — I repeat WILL NOT — permit this to happen. The Establishment WILL NOT let Donald Trump (nor anyone like him) ever be president again. Not unless or until the Establishment is toppled, imprisoned and defeated to a point where they cannot come back.

By “Establishment” I mean just about everyone — the Uniparty, the bureaucracy, the Biden-Obama regime, the Deep State, the universities, the woke corporations, the out-in-the-open “dark” money (primarily Soros), the careerists in Congress and the executive branch, possibly the entire Supreme Court (minus Alito and Thomas), most (not all) of the federal courts, the high up woke, Commiefascist officials in the military, the weaponized and politicized legal system, the utterly compliant media … EVERYONE.

They WILL NOT permit Donald Trump to be president again.

Does this mean Trump will not be president again? I cannot predict that. He will try like nothing we have ever seen. Does this mean they, the Establishment, will take particular actions to prevent it? Presumably so — additional actions, that is. Inventing legal crimes and convicting him in kangaroo court seems like a preventative tactic; lying daily in the media is a preventative tactic; SHOOTING the former president while he’s campaigning, with the apparent help of a selectively weakened Secret Service operation (that works just fine for the Establishment) seems like a preventative tactic. What in the hell more evidence do you need?

I will say it again, hoping to penetrate your denial. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO LET IT HAPPEN.

This is not speculation. We are talking overwhelming facts … most of them observable in plain daylight.

So be ready. And stay ready.

Michael J. Hurd