POTUS Favors Mental Hospitals

Multiple media outlets are reporting President Trump is favorable to reopening the long shuttered mental hospitals that once dotted our great land. That would be a real step forward toward an orderly and pleasant society, I hope he acts on that thought.

A quick search shows the first time I wrote advocating such a move was in 2007 when this blog was less than 6 months old. I have echoed that call about twice a year, on average ever since. 

Do you suppose we'll finally see some action on this front? I'm a realist ... breath holding is not recommended.

Tuesday Snark

Images courtesy of RealClearPolitics'

Cartoons of the Week.

SNAFU

Great headline from the New York Post.

54 shot, 7 killed in Chicago weekend bloodbath after Pritzker claims Trump, National Guard not needed

No worries, just a normal weekend of live fire fun and ER mayhem in Chicago.

BB: Reverse Crusade

The following from the satirical Babylon Bee, quoted in its entirety.

LONDON — In what political analysts described as a historic turning point for Western Civilization, Great Britain announced a "Reverse Crusade" where they invite Muslims to come and destroy England.

With the original Crusades of the Britons journeying to the Middle East to free the Holy Land from Islamic rule long in the past, UK leaders said it was time to wipe the slate clean and turn the tables to allow Muslims to return the favor.

"We're flipping the script," said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "We can now look back and see the flaws in our approach to invading Islamic territories centuries ago to reclaim Jerusalem from the Turks, so we decided to make things fair by inviting millions of Muslims to come and drive the British people into extinction."

Though the Reverse Crusade was only officially announced today, leaders admitted that it has been effectively taking place for the last two decades. "We needed to let the Muslims have their turn," said Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. "We had our time back in the day, but the proper thing to do is to allow the Muslims to travel here, out-populate us, destroy our culture, wipe us all out, and conquer England. It might sound like an extreme move, but fair is fair. We had a good run, but turnabout is fair play and all."

One could wish this was more satire and less truth.

Machiavelli … Still Relevant

Imagine an Indian gentleman serving as an advisor on foreign affairs to the Norwegian embassy in Australia. Now have him quoting with favor renaissance-era Italian political philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli. 

A novelist who wrote the above would find critics calling it shark-jumping whimsy. Nope, he’s the real deal, Sharmeek Godara writes for RealClearDefense:

Survival often requires acting against conventional morality while appearing virtuous. He (Machiavelli) warned that “it is much safer to be feared than loved” in a world where human beings are “ungrateful, fickle, liars and deceivers”. States today, like princes in Renaissance Italy, are operating under the same logic: secure survival first, manage appearances second.

Godara reflects on the ambivalent policies of middle-sized nations, a description that fits both Australia and Norway. Another way of describing their behavior would be “trying to have it both ways” or, in Trump’s terms, putting national interest first.