Friday 14 February 2025 11:42:35 PM CDT

I suspect that I am not the only one who respects Any Rand's intellect while not entirely embracing her philosophy and finding her writing not as polished as some. Being Russian - English not her first language - and living under Stalin briefly would have influenced her thinking. I don't pretend to be a writer but understand the problems some people have with her work when compared to other writers. Still I find myself agreeing most of the time. I read Atlas when I was fourteen or so - I was in junior high and one of my older siblings brought it home - and even then I found it a little uneven in places. It wasn't assigned reading (already a subversive at that age!) and might well not be allowed in government school libraries today. I read Taylor Caldwell's The Devil's Advocate around that time and had a similar impression of the writing - perhaps dystopian scenarios aren't easy to envision even when you are living in one. We were close to the edge of one (I suppose the J6 prisoners and others who were imprisoned and sometimes killed considered it to be already here) but it seems that we at least have a temporary reprieve.

How close were we? In 2018 Ron DeSantis was elected governor of Florida by just over 30,000 votes of over eight million - close enough that had the Democrats succeeded in their usual recount-until-you-win tactics the governor of Florida in 2019 - as the Plandemic was launched - would have been a corrupt and mantally ill drug addict who would have subjected Florida to the same abuse as the governors of New York, Michigan and other blue states. Instead Florida was wide open and not only did not have its economy wrecked but benefited from the influx of refugees from Democrat regimes. Governor DeSantis easily defeated former Republican (and former Republican governor) Charlie Crist who seems about as mentally stable as the other guy. Whether Crist is a Democrat or Republican or something else these days hardly matters as he is as irrelevant as Mike Pence.

Had Florida suffered through a Democrat reign of error during the Plandemic it might have booted him and replaced him with a Republican but that is by no means certain and the damage would have taken longer to repair. Florida dodged a big bullet and when Donald Trump literally dodged a literal bullet it seemed to be the point at which his return to the presidency was assured. Had he failed he would now be in prison and Elon Musk's 400-billion business empire would be seized by the government and he would probably be in prison as well. That is how close we were.

They were salivating over the prospect of having SpaceX, StarLink and of course having X back under their control. Tesla would become a guaranteed revenue stream as EV mandates were imposed. NASA leaves astronauts stranded? No problem, we'll own SpaceX soon. Never mind that they would fuck this stuff up as badly as they have everything else.

Silexis@MyndCryme

Indeed, but there is still that feeling that I might wake up and find that it was all a dream. Not as much now but it isn't going to be easy. The lawfare continues now with judges obstructing - or attempting to obstruct - reforms and probably will slow it some. The good news that there are so many targets, moving targets, and the enemy doesn't have the coherent organization to deal with them. It has been too easy for too long - controlling the executive branch and using it to ruthlessly crush dissent and spineless Republicans and an apathetic/demoralized population - they don't seem to have an effective backup plan. The reaction to DOGE has been one of abject terror among the big Democrats - I suspect the revelations may be as bad as the Epstein files if we ever see the good stuff. I'm not holding my breath for that one.

I hoped he would go after some of his attackers with criminal charges, the wholesale pardons notwithstanding. There are always ways and if nothing else these types don't stop being criminals. Find something they've done since and nail them. But he seems to be doing well so far and perhaps some at least will pay. The way the DOJ went after New York is encouraging. Fat Alvin and the other tool, Latisha or whoever, may still end up being perp-walked.

MiniLindy@MyneCryme















































People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I've learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one's reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one's master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person's view requires to be faked. The man who lies to the world, is the world's slave from then on. There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
You would think that as a society becomes more prosperous, manners and the sense of courtesy would improve. Actually, the opposite is true, and this is yet another example of the truth that without an elite minority to lead and rule, the majority will mar virtually everything with which it comes into contact.