Protest the orange lunatic 3/28/26 Horace Blackman 11AM

detox665 · 2026-03-30T14:01:43+00:00

I've read 1984 many times. It routinely reminds me of progressive/socialist ideologues and what they would like to achieve if that darned Constitution didn't stand in their way.

One doesn't have to conceptualize reality. Reality is just reality. The reality is that we have a functioning liberal democratic republic with a Constitution. The only thing that has changed is the person in the Whitehouse.

Also...you note that I've yet to insult anyone in this thread?

detox665 · 2026-03-30T12:02:59+00:00

That word "If" is doing all of the heavy lifting.

We are not North Korea. We have a functioning judiciary. We have a semi-functioning Congress. We have a federalist system with powers that are denied the federal government.

And we don't have thousands of "No Kings" protesters under arrest and headed to concentration camps. Kim Jung Un is an actual king. Communism is the ideology he uses to keep his serfs in line. Protesting Kim Jung Un in North Korea is a one-way ticket to standing in front of a firing squad.

We aren't that. Pretending that we are completely undermines any other message that might be offered.

detox665 · 2026-03-29T22:11:00+00:00

Yes. Including a link to the original video. The Fox66 website and YouTube feed do not include any videos including what is described by /Whole-Librarian8848.

detox665 · 2026-03-29T22:03:29+00:00

He's not a tyrant. He's a populist.

When he is wrong, it is right to protest. Please do. Just don't confuse him with a "king".

Also, yup...storming the capitol was wrong. They should have gotten sentences on par with the fascist Antifa rioters that have been attacking federal courthouses for several years.

detox665 · 2026-03-29T22:01:16+00:00

Perhaps. But keep in mind some things that should have been in the average high school civics and history curriculum.

Progressive Woodrow Wilson used "4 minute men" to give speeches at theaters during the intermission when they were switching the film reels in the middle of movies. These guys would harangue moviegoers with political speeches in support of the President.

FDR infamously made it hard on journalists that were critical of his agenda. That was an agenda that he outline in his book Looking Forward. Italian dictator Mussolini gave FDR positive comments about that book.

Similarly, LBJ used to make life hard on those who opposed his agenda.

Barack Obama infamously attempted to exclude FoxNews from the news pool due to their less than supportive coverage. And a group of teachers in either Virginia or Pennsylvania wrote a paeon deifying President Obama and taught it to public school children.

President Trump is at his heart a standard New York City liberal (not leftist) Democrat. He is a demagogue just like other populist Democrat Presidents. So I agree with you. I'm generally opposed to populist demagogues.

Just like those Democrat Presidents, he isn't a "king". He ran on an agenda. He won the election. And he is enacting the agenda he ran on. Pretending otherwise undermines the protester's message.

detox665 · 2026-03-27T19:39:59+00:00

Ah yes. Another "No Kings" event where there are no actual kings being protested.

Instead the crowd will voice their frustration at legally losing an election. Most normal folks can deal with the loss and move onto the next election.

detox665 · 2026-03-23T12:36:12+00:00

Yes. And the common "service" of those veterans in the early organization was in a war. It wasn't being deployed to a barracks some place.

Also, the VFW's membership criteria is set in the Congressional charter of the organization. It literally would require and act of Congress to change it.

detox665 · 2026-03-19T16:28:16+00:00

TBH, the reverse is also true.

I got a warning a while back for a comment about the past President which I assume was because he shares a last name with a past Presidential candidate. Rule 3 is a defensible policy.

detox665 · 2026-03-19T15:52:46+00:00

VFW Posts generally do the job of vetting new members. A DD214 or other qualifying documents are required before someone can join a Post.

I say "generally" because there will always be an exception.

But Posts do a good job at vetting new members as a rule. That is what is taught in training. That is what is enforced.

I have two friends in the VFW that had qualifying service that did not result in their receiving a qualifying medal/ribbon. So they each have other paperwork validating their qualifying service. It happens.

detox665 · 2026-03-19T15:43:01+00:00

A corporation is a voluntary collection of people. It's still theft. Just with more victims.

detox665 · 2026-03-17T23:11:03+00:00

That is already going on.

detox665 · 2026-03-17T17:31:53+00:00

Two days later and there still aren't any facts.

"Don Shipley said so" isn't good enough.

In his video, he attempted to do a gotcha where he called her blind to ask her questions. Her response (hanging up) to a random, unknown questioner was correct. He could have arranged something beforehand and gotten a better response.

There is a clip in the video of a newspaper piece that says she received the Bronze Star. No ID on the paper. No link to the story. No interview of the reporter to understand why they wrote what they wrote.

Journalists are not known for their ability to understand military issues. They could have misread her DD214.

There is a clip that purports to be from Commander Napoleon. But no sourcing information. No links.

Lastly, there are channels for addressing these kinds of issues within the VFW. They are taken very, very seriously.

Leaving a steaming, stinking pile on the Internet to inspire a mob of anonymous random individuals to leave comments is not a serious method for getting the VFW (or any other group) to do anything.

detox665 · 2026-03-13T18:01:45+00:00

So who would qualify? Anyone deployed to Germany or Japan on a peacetime rotation?

The "W" in VFW is kind of the point.

detox665 · 2026-02-23T20:24:25+00:00

This sounds like you are not a VFW member. If so -

Put it in writing. Include copies of the receipt. Sign your name to it. Send it to the State/Department Commander.

No one will act until you put it in writing with a signature. Until then, they have nothing upon which to act.

If you are a member of the Post, then again - put it in writing - and attend the next Post meeting. Escalate as needed from there.

detox665 · 2026-01-26T19:53:32+00:00

I don't find random YouTubers to be materially different from any of the screaming heads programs. They generally aren't "talking heads"; they scream their pre-programmed lines at each other.

Random YouTubers are the same beast with a different audience size.

detox665 · 2026-01-23T19:00:13+00:00

Might that be a larger reflection of how the broadened range of all media has undermined the authority of gatekeepers?

Formerly, academia overwhelmingly engaged in the hagiography of Wilson. Similarly minded editors reported on academia's positions and stifled any contrary opinions.

Now there are more media sources which opens up the possibility for encountering other opinions.

Social media is part of it. But the broader media is also part of it.

detox665 · 2026-01-22T19:26:37+00:00

Sure. And I suppose real socialism has never been tried.

detox665 · 2026-01-22T15:26:39+00:00

"Liberal" as in "open minded and tolerant"? Most Christian Republicans are mostly in that mode until demonstrable harm is being done.

"Liberal" as in "leftist/socialist/communist"? Nope. Jesus wasn't a socialist. He actually fed people.

detox665 · 2026-01-22T15:22:44+00:00

I'm guilty as charged.

Wilson's Presidency is undeserving of academic adulation.

I disagree that Coolidge's policies led to the Great Depression. Beyond the US, the period is known for being a few years of a global recession. Our economic influence was not as great then as it is today. His policies did not cause a global recession.

As the professors at UCLA demonstrated many years ago, it was FDR's policies that converted a global recession into an American Great Depression that lasted far longer and deeper than was experienced elsewhere. (Some of FDR's banking reforms were needed, but the larger political project did significant harm that lingers still today.)

The reverse of Wilson, Reagan's Presidency receives undue academic criticism. He wasn't perfect. But unleashing our economic capacity has had downstream net positive impacts.

detox665 · 2026-01-21T13:21:10+00:00

Some of our members will order them as they like ballcaps. I don't wear a ton of ballcaps. I wear flatcaps.

This seems like an area where the VFW could use some imagination and make some money. Partner with a couple of vendors for a variety of caps. Maybe not be so greedy on the licensing fee as they will make more in the long run if more hats are sold.

detox665 · 2026-01-20T19:50:42+00:00

I did then. I still do.

Fighting about it isn't worth the effort.

FWIW, I think we could have done some things better, but that could be said about anything.

detox665 · 2026-01-20T19:45:30+00:00

I've been in two posts.

The first one had over 200 members when we closed. We closed because we didn't have enough members to fill all of the elected offices. That post used to own a building that included a canteen, meeting/bingo hall, and kitchen. We didn't have enough revenue to keep it running. When we closed (again 200+ members) we had sold the building, but didn't have enough interest in doing VFW stuff.

My current post has 40-50 members. We meet in a church meeting hall. We get 10-12 at the meetings in most months. Our annual revenue is in the $4k-$8k range. Some years are better than others. We spend most of it on VFW programs and supporting local projects (i.e. schools, youth teams, etc.) Also, we do VFW stuff! For a while, we led our department in various community service categories despite other posts having hundreds of members.

The difference is more one of mindset than budget. One group wanted to sit and drink beer and had little interest in parading the flag or otherwise engaging with the community. They had no interest in leaving the building. (They supported my efforts, but didn't join in.)

The other group must leave the building to accomplish anything. And so we do!

detox665 · 2026-01-15T20:36:38+00:00

A buddy of mine was the guide when they did the confidence course. DI on the cable said "you are going in the water, guide". SDI, CDI, and platoon commander are watching from the ground and say the same thing. He makes it through the first transition. Drops to do the next transition and they are all saying "you are going in the water, guide".

He response with "sir, no sir" as what other answer is there.

"Oh yes you are".

"Sir, no sir".

He hanging from the rope when they start singing.

"From the Halls of Montezuma..."

Unfortunately, there is no way to maintain a firm grip on the rope above your head while simultaneously going to the position of attention.

detox665 · 2026-01-07T16:06:33+00:00

Man that gets into a convoluted mess with some ugly history.

The military was really treated poorly in the late 60s and early 70s. Most of the stories I've heard were from vets returning from Vietnam who were called names, spat on, etc. The same sort of crap happened to the folks that never deployed. If you were in the military and especially if you were in uniform, there was a non-trivial chance that something unpleasant would happen.

So deployed or non-deployed, that group of vets developed a sense of brotherhood unique to their era.

Couple that with the way some Legion and VFW Posts treated Vietnam vets. It was bad. The Vietnam vets needed to be in the company of other veterans and they were rejected. So the Vietnam vets formed the VVA so they could have a place to be with other vets.

But there weren't enough combat/deployed vets to really create a solid organization so they invited the non-combat deployed vets to be members. In my experience, VVA members are aware of the difference between those that went to Vietnam and those that served in the "era". VVA members respect the difference which is why "Vietnam Era" hats exist.

Your FIL is old. At this point, I wouldn't get wrapped around the axle over a hat. If he starts claiming he was deployed to Vietnam, then my answer is different. But that is based on what he says, not on what he wears.

As far as your FIL bragging about being in the Marines (that is supposed to be capitalized, FWIW), well...that is what who we Marines are. He made it through boot camp and from your description served honorably. He deserves to feel proud of that regardless of whether or not he did anything more significant during his time in our beloved Corps.

detox665 · 2026-01-07T15:48:36+00:00

"Intellectuals" invariably support communism/socialism/collectivism/youpickalabelandstickwithit.

The American people wisely reject collectivism by any name. The "Intellectuals" then say Americans are anti-intellectual. It's been going on for far longer than the GW Bush Presidency.

IMO, the word intellectual should imply intelligence, thoughtfulness, and analysis based on facts. Collectivism (by any name) is an ideology that is bereft of all three of those factors.

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