In sum, what Americans see as an abject catastrophe, they cheer on as a stunning a

Is Biden’s ‘Success’ 

Our Mess?

What Americans see as an abject catastrophe,

the Biden Administration cheers on as

stunning and planned progress.

By Victor Davis Hanson

American Greatness

May 18, 2022

If an administration deliberately wished:

ü to cause havoc on the border, 

ü to ensure fuel was nearly unaffordable, 

ü to create a crime wave, 

ü to spark 1970s hyperinflation, and 

ü to rekindle racial tensions, 

what would it have done differently than what Joe Biden has done? 

So is Biden malicious, incompetent, or a wannabe left-wing ideologue? 

When pressed about inflation and fuel price hikes, Biden either blames someone or something else, gets mad at the questioner, or claims Donald Trump did it. 

His administration apparently believes things are going well and according to plan. 

When polls disagree, his team either believes the American people are brainwashed or that they themselves have not supplied sufficient propaganda. So they never pivot or compromise, but rededicate themselves to continued failure. 

Why? Apparently, what most in the country see as disasters, Biden envisions as success. 

Take the border—or rather its disappearance. 

Never in U.S. history has an administration simply canceled immigration laws, opened the border, and welcomed in millions of illegal aliens. All arrive illegally, and without audit, or vaccinations and tests in times of a pandemic. 

Cartels now import lethal drugs at will into the United States. We have no idea how many terrorists walk across the border each day. 

Almost all the millions who break the law by entering are poor, without high school diplomas or English skills, and in dire need of massive federal and state housing, food, education, legal, and health subsidies.

Do the leftists in Washington believe that millions of dependent new residents will look to the Left for decades of support and soon find ways to reciprocate with fealty at the polls? Is that why Democrats brag in unapologetic tribalist fashion about changing the demography of the electorate?

Barack Obama’s energy secretary-designate Steven Chu once gaffed in the 2008 campaign when he openly wished that U.S. gas prices would reach European levels. 

In truth, the Left has always believed the only way to achieve their objectives of discouraging driving, forcing middle-class Americans onto trains and buses, and persuading them to live in urban high-rises rather than drive carbon-spewing cars from spacious suburban ranch-style homes was to encourage high fuel prices.

Is that agenda why Biden, during the current energy crisis, simply canceled new federal oil and gas leases? As diesel hits $7 a gallon in California, why else did he refuse to finish the Keystone XL pipeline or reopen Alaskan oil fields? 

Inflation continues officially to exceed eight percent per annum. Most consumers feel it is double that when they pay for food, fuel, building materials, houses, or rent—the essential stuff of life. 

What did the Biden Administration expect would follow from keeping real interest rates at near zero, while printing trillions of dollars at the moment supplies were short and demand was spiking? 

Or did it think inflation more fairly “spreads the wealth”?Does it prompt new necessary attacks on “corporate greed?” Does it demand more federal intervention and socialist policies? 

If inflation is “bad” for most, it may not seem so to this left-wing administration. 

Violent crime is on its way to 1970s levels. The combination of defunding the police, radical city, and county prosecutors who don’t charge or lock up criminals, and emptying jails and prisons have ignited a national crime wave. 

The Biden Administration shrugs. It offers no new federal help to fund more police or charge freed criminals under applicable federal statutes. 

Does it think it is more socially just to let criminals free than incarcerate them? 

Does it buy into “critical legal theory” that laws do not reflect ancient ideas of right and wrong, but instead are “constructed” by the privileged to oppress the already oppressed? 

Is what Americans see as dangerous crime something the Biden zealots applaud as tough social karma? 

Americans are tired of the new woke tribalism. Judging individuals based on their race, gender, or superficial appearance is amoral, and contrary to the entire civil rights movement, and the U.S. Constitution. 

It destroys any idea of meritocracy and divides the country artificially into supposed victims and victimizers. 

But do the Biden people see it that way? 

Or do they promote racial tensions and tribalism, as welcome revolutionary fervor?

In that regard, the Bidenites promote identity politics as a good way to stir up the pot, demonize supposed oppressors and deify the oppressed—all as a way of retaining political power. For the Left, living in a socialist nation controlled by an elite is far preferable to living in a free and prosperous one answerable only to the people. 

The public believes the Biden Administration has failed America, with disastrous results due either to its incompetence, belligerence, or left-wing zealotry. 

But Biden and his delusional team seem delighted with what they have wrought.

In sum, what Americans see as an abject catastrophe, they cheer on as a stunning and planned success.

___________________________________________________

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“BOMBSHELL REPORT: Wuhan Lab was EXPERIMENTING WITH MONKEYPOX Last Year”

May 23, 2022

Something or another on Twitter: “@ChuckCallesto Its weaponized …twitter.com

Chuck Callesto

@ChuckCallesto

BOMBSHELL REPORT: Wuhan Lab was EXPERIMENTING WITH MONKEYPOX Last Year – Published Research Report in International Journal in February 2022…

7:54 PM · May 22, 2022·Twitter Web App[https://twitter.com/ChuckCallesto/status/1528570118992760832]

New Report on the Wuhan Lab Details ‘Greatest Coverup of All Time’

Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis’s Amoris Laetitia. 

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Stop for a moment of silence, ask Jesus Christ what He wants you to do now and next. In this silence remember God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Three Divine Persons yet One God, has an ordered universe where you can know truth and falsehood as well as never forget that He wants you to have eternal happiness with Him as his son or daughter by grace. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.

Francis Notes:

– Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church in such a situation:

“[T]he Pope… WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See.”
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)

Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said “the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church.”
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]

– “If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html

– “Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html

 –  LifeSiteNews, “Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial weight behind communion for adulterers,” December 4, 2017:

The AAS guidelines explicitly allows “sexually active adulterous couples facing ‘complex circumstances’ to ‘access the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'”

–  On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:

“The AAS statement… establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense.”

– On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:

“Francis’ heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters magisterial documents.”

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.

Election Notes: 

– Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: “212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted…Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden” [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]

– Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times “Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003”: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html

– Tucker Carlson’s Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written” according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1

– A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020: 
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1

What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: “Anitfa ‘Agent Provocateurs‘”: 
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1] 

Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God’s Will and to do it.

THE CATHOLIC MONITOR

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Bishop Gracida: “WHEN JORGE BERGOLIO WALKED OUT ON THE BALCONY OF SAINT PETER BASILICA IMMEDIATELY AFTER OF THE CONCLUSION OF THE CONCLAVE IMPROPERLY DRESSED AND FLANKED BY TWO MEN WHO WERE KNOWN OR SUSPECTED TO BE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE GROWING SCANDAL OF HOMOSEXUAL PERVERSION IN THE CHURCH I WAS NOT ALONE IN IMMEDIATELY QUESTIONING THE VALIDITY OF THE ELECTION OF BERGOLIO TO THE CHAIR OF SAINT PETER”

May 21, 2022

Abyssus Abyssum Invocat, Bishop Rene Gracida:

WHEN JORGE BERGOLIO WALKED OUT ON THE BALCONY OF SAINT PETER BASILICA IMMEDIATELY AFTER OF THE CONCLUSION OF THE CONCLAVE IMPROPERLY DRESSED AND FLANKED BY A MASTER OF CEREMONIES WHO HAD KISSED AN ALTAR SERVER ON THE LIPS IN MY PRESENCE AS I WS GETTING VESTED TO CELEBRATE THE PILGRIMS MY MASS IN SAINT PETERS BASICLICA IN THE PREVIOUS HOLY YEAR. AND BERGOLIO WAS FLALSO FLANKED BYTWO MEN WHO WERE KNOWN OR SUSPECTED TO BE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE GROWING SCANDAL OF HOMOSEXUAL PERVERSION IN THE CHURCH I WAS NOT ALONE IN IMMEDIATELY QUESTIONING THE VALIDITY OF THE ELECTION OF BERGOLIO TO THE CHAIR OF SAINT PETER

Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis’s Amoris Laetitia.  Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.Stop for a moment of silence, ask Jesus Christ what He wants you to do now and next. In this silence remember God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Three Divine Persons yet One God, has an ordered universe where you can know truth and falsehood as well as never forget that He wants you to have eternal happiness with Him as his son or daughter by grace. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.Francis Notes:– Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church in such a situation: “[T]he Pope… WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See.” (The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306) Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said “the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church.” [https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]- “If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html– “Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html– If Francis betrays Benedict XVI & the”Roman Rite Communities” like he betrayed the Chinese Catholics we must respond like St. Athanasius, the Saintly English Bishop Robert Grosseteste & “Eminent Canonists and Theologians” by “Resist[ing]” him: https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/12/if-francis-betrays-benedict-xvi.html  –  LifeSiteNews, “Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial weight behind communion for adulterers,” December 4, 2017: The AAS guidelines explicitly allows “sexually active adulterous couples facing ‘complex circumstances’ to ‘access the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'” –  On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont: “The AAS statement… establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense.” – On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida: “Francis’ heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters magisterial documents.” Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.Election Notes: – Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: “212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted…Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden” [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]- Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times “Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003”: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html– Tucker Carlson’s Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written” according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1 – A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020:  http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1 What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: “Anitfa ‘Agent Provocateurs‘”:  http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1]  Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God’s Will and to do it. SHARE

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Is Feser wrong that the “Unanimous Acceptance [Universal Acceptance]… ensure[s] that he [Francis] really is Pope” according to Bishop Gracida?

May 20, 2022

On May 5, Dr. Edward Feser said that “arguments claiming to establish the invalidity of Benedict’s resignation are no good” for the reason “reason is that, for the Church as a whole corporate body to accept as pope a man who is not in fact the pope would be contrary to her indefectibility, and thus contrary to Christ’s promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail against her.  This is just standard, traditional Catholic theology.  (Robert Siscoe [and John Salza] provides a useful overview of the main points here and here.)  Hence the morally unanimous acceptance [universal acceptance] of Francis as pope in the years immediately following his election is by itself enough to ensure that he really is pope.” [[http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2022/05/benedict-is-not-pope-reply-to-some.html]

In 2020, John Salza claimed that Francis was “universally accepted”

“In no case were any of these antipopes universally accepted by the entire episcopacy following their election, as in the case with Pope Francis.”
[http://www.trueorfalsepope.com/p/annbarnhardt-is-liar-and-fool-byjohn.html?m=1]

On March 23, 2019, Bishop Rene Gracida who would have to be part of such a “universal acceptance” demonstrated that Salza’s statement is false:

https://abyssum.org/2019/03/23/why-do-intelligent-men-pursue-the-application-of-an-obsolete-concept-universal-acceptance-to-the-problem-of-the-invalidity-of-the-papacy-of-francis-the-merciful-in-this-day-and-age-of-instant-elec/

WHY DO INTELLIGENT MEN PURSUE THE APPLICATION OF AN OBSOLETE CONCEPT “UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE” TO THE PROBLEM OF THE INVALIDITY OF THE PAPACY OF FRANCIS THE MERCIFUL IN THIS DAY AND AGE OF INSTANT ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AROUND THE WORLD

I am in receipt of an email from Steve Skojec, publisher of the website OnePeterFive in which he defends his posts in which he argues for the validity of the election of Francis the Merciful on the basis of the “universal acceptance” of Francis’ election by the world’s Catholic population. 

The idea of “universal acceptance” of the election of popes of the past may have had it’s origin in the first centuries of the Church when popes were chosen by acclamation of the assembled citizens of Rome, and perhaps later when the princes and kings of Europe decided on the legitimacy of papal contestants in the time of the Avignon captivity of the papacy.

But the idea of “universal acceptance” as the principle determining the validity of Francis’ claim to the Chair of Peter is absurd in this day of instant electronic communication. There is not a world-wide Pew or Gallup poll that can determine the degree of “acceptance” of the Bergolian regime as valid by the world’s Catholic population.

From the moment that Francis appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica improperly dressed and accompanied by men of known or suspected homosexual orientation many Catholics besides myself were shocked and dismayed.

Almost immediately almost every word publicly uttered by Francis shocked Catholic sensibilities, such as telling the woman with several children to “stop breeding like rabbits.” Many Catholics withheld their “acceptance” and adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

Then the Amoris Laeticia debacle unfolded and now an even larger percentage of Catholic around the world began to express reservations about the ‘papacy’ of Francis the Merciful. There was never universal acceptance of the validity of Jorge Bergoglio.

One thing is certain, the popes of the Twentieth Century were aware that the election of future popes was now no longer subject to the interference of kings and princes as in the past, now the corruption of the democratic processes for choosing the heads of nations was threatening the papal conclaves of the Church. Pope Paul VI, perhaps alarmed by the forces for radical reform of the Church follow the lead of his recent predecessor and published a revision of the Apostolic Constitution which governs papal conclaves.
  
It is unthinkable that Pope Saint John Paul II was unaware of the plotting that began with the St. Gallen Mafia in the early 1990s.

 His magnificent Apostolic Constituion, Universi Dominci Gregis, was his prescient action to head off the corruption of the conclaves of the future. Yet, the rot at the center of the hierarchy had progress to such point that Jorge Bergoglio was almost elected instead of Joseph Ratzinger, but the St. Gallen conspirators succeed in 2013 with the election of Francis the Merciful.

What is the sure test of the validity of the election of a cardinal to the papacy? It is not the medieval concept of ‘universal acceptance.’ It is compliance with the law of the Church. The Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis is the only law in effect since it was published by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1992.

If there is one characteristic that is common to the leadership of the Church since the Second Vatican Council is disregard for law, all law, divine law and canon law. Men who would be architects of the Church of the Future ignore the law of God and the law of His Church. That is why some cling to the outmoded concept of ‘universal acceptance’ of a man who obtained the Chair of Peter through the manipulations of many who by their immoral lives reveal their contempt for law, all law, including Divine Law.

His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, having known a prodigious amount of information on this,
was fully knowledgeable in the details of dogmatic and doctrinal principles which previous
to his Apostolic Constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis, could and would be applied to resolve
questions about the validity of a particular historic Papacy, and that His Holiness categorically
and specifically intended to dispense with, and utterly to preempt, the need for, and use of,
any principles which had been applied historically to resolve ambiguities and doubts
about the incumbency of any Pontiff putatively emerging from a Conclave to which His
Apostolic Constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis applied.

 This means that because the status of Monsignor Bergoglio can be determined completely
by a fair and just application of Universi Dominici Gregis without reference to any guidance
external or extrinsic to such Constitution, having recourse to such historic doctrinal and
dogmatic concepts, e.g., universal acceptance, is neither material nor relevant, and never
necessary or proper for the rational discernment of the question of whether or not
Monsignor Bergoglio was validly elected as a true Roman Pontiff.  The “scienter” Promulgation
determines this certainty of discernment confined within the “four corners” of the Constitution:

“This Constitution  .   .   .  is to be fully and integrally implemented and is to serve as a guide
for all to whom it refers.  As determined above, I hereby declare abrogated all Constitutions
and Orders issued in this regard by the Roman Pontiffs, and at the same time I declare
completely null and void anything done by any person, whatever his authority, knowingly
or unknowingly, in any way contrary to this Constitution.”[Promulgation Clause, Apostolic Constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis]


This language does not admit of any exception, and certainly not an exception based on
the degree to which a putative Pope has “acceptance” as such.  “Universal acceptance”
originated in an age before the printing press, a time when what was required was known
by few and what was performed was understood by even less.  It simply has no place
in discerning a Conclave called subject to Universi Dominici Gregis.  What Skojec,
Does not seem to understand is that, long in advance and lawfully, His Holiness, Pope
John Paul II, has forbidden anyone from resorting to “universal acceptance”
or any other principle extrinsic to Universi Dominici Gregis to discern the outcome of papal election.

Thus, His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, having known a prodigious amount of information on this,
was fully knowledgeable in the details of dogmatic and doctrinal principles which previous
to his Apostolic Constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis, could and would be applied to resolve
questions about the validity of a particular historic Papacy, and His Holiness categorically
and specifically intended to dispense with, and utterly to preempt, the need for, and use of,
any such principles which had been applied historically to resolve ambiguities and doubts 
about the incumbency of any Pontiff putatively emerging from a Conclave to which His
Apostolic Constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis applied.
  
This means that because the status of Monsignor Bergoglio can be determined completely
by a fair and just application of Universi Dominici Gregis without reference to any guidance
external or extrinsic to such Constitution, having recourse to any such historic doctrinal and 
dogmatic concept, e.g., universal acceptance, is neither material nor relevant, and never 
necessary or proper for the rational discernment of the question of whether or not 
Monsignor Bergoglio was validly elected as a true Roman Pontiff. The “scienter” Promulgation
determines this certainty of discernment confined within the “four corners” of the Constitution:


“This Constitution . . . is to be fully and integrally implemented and is to serve as a guide
for all to whom it refers. As determined above, I hereby declare abrogated all Constitutions
and Orders issued in this regard by the Roman Pontiffs, and at the same time I declare
completely null and void anything done by any person, whatever his authority, knowingly
or unknowingly, in any way contrary to this Constitution.” [Promulgation Clause, Apostolic Constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis]


This language does not admit of any exception, and certainly not an exception based on 
the degree to which a putative Pope has “acceptance” as such. “Universal acceptance” 
originated in an age before the printing press, a time when what was required was known 
by few and what was performed was understood by even less. It simply has no place
in discerning a Conclave called subject to Universi Dominici Gregis. 

Some do not seem to understand that, long in advance and lawfully, His Holiness, Pope
John Paul II, has forbidden and anyone from resorting to “universal acceptance”
or any other principle extrinsic to Universi Dominici Gregis in order to discern the outcome.
[https://abyssum.org/2019/03/23/why-do-intelligent-men-pursue-the-application-of-an-obsolete-concept-universal-acceptance-to-the-problem-of-the-invalidity-of-the-papacy-of-francis-the-merciful-in-this-day-and-age-of-instant-elec/]
———————————————————————–

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as for the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis’s Amoris Laetitia. 

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Stop for a moment of silence, ask Jesus Christ what He wants you to do now and next. In this silence remember God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Three Divine Persons yet One God, has an ordered universe where you can know truth and falsehood as well as never forget that He wants you to have eternal happiness with Him as his son or daughter by grace. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.

Francis Notes:

– Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church in such a situation:

“[T]he Pope… WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See.”
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)

Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said “the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church.”
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]

– “If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html

– “Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html

– If Francis betrays Benedict XVI & the”Roman Rite Communities” like he betrayed the Chinese Catholics we must respond like St. Athanasius, the Saintly English Bishop Robert Grosseteste & “Eminent Canonists and Theologians” by “Resist[ing]” him: https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/12/if-francis-betrays-benedict-xvi.html 

 –  LifeSiteNews, “Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial weight behind communion for adulterers,” December 4, 2017:

The AAS guidelines explicitly allows “sexually active adulterous couples facing ‘complex circumstances’ to ‘access the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'”

–  On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:

“The AAS statement… establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense.”

– On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:

“Francis’ heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters magisterial documents.”

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.

Election Notes: 

– Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: “212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted…Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden” [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]

– Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times “Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003”: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html

– Tucker Carlson’s Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written” according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1

– A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020: 
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1

What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: “Anitfa ‘Agent Provocateurs‘”: 
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1] 

Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God’s Will and to do it.

BREAKING: Archbishop Cordileone Enforces Canon 915San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is enforcing Canon 915 against pro-abortion “Catholic” Speaker Nancy Pelosi.   From our friends at Fox News:“Therefore, in light of my responsibility as the Archbishop of San Francisco to be ‘concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to [my] care” (Code of Canon Law, can. 383, §1), by means of this communication I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publically repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.” he said. — Fox News (20 May 2022)PRAISE GOD.

Crisis Magazine

A Voice for the Faithful Catholic Laity

MAY 20, 2022

I Saw the Devil on Parliament Hill

KENNEDY HALL

With providential timing, the Canadian March for Life took place on Thursday, May 12, a mere week after the bombshell leak of the impending Roe v. Wade overturning. 

Within short order of the leak, Prime Minister Trudeau was up to his old habits of letting his apostasy shine forth by promising to up his support of ending the lives of baby humans in the womb. Although our two great nations are currently separated by the Covid Curtain, the palpability of the pro-life moment in the south has been felt here like a shockwave.

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Liberal pundits have been losing their minds on TV, and purple-haired feminists have been shrieking in the streets, well, because that is what they tend to do.

It was actually perfect timing that the Canadian March for Life would take place with so much media coverage surrounding the abortion issue, as it emboldened the resolve of both the pro- and anti-life sides of the debate.

Last year, the march was small and took place under one of our many undulating lockdowns. There were, perhaps, one to two thousand of us in Ottawa in 2021, and the center of Ottawa was a ghost town. You see, most of the people who live and work in downtown Ottawa work for the government, so they were entering year two of their Zoom vacation.

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However, this year the energy in Ottawa was completely different. The city was buzzing, the patios were full, and people were primed and ready for an event.

Estimates say that between six to eight thousand pro-lifers showed up to march, which is not as big as the biggest events, which have had ten thousand. Keep in mind that most pro-lifers aren’t jabbed with Trudeau’s favorite medicine, which means they cannot get on a train or a plane and do those things that people with civil rights like to do. Canada is a massive nation, and, in years past, there have been tons of people who would fly in for the march, which was impossible this year.

I was there reporting for LifeSiteNews, and I interviewed a host of peoplewho, like me, drove a day or more to get to Ottawa in order to support unborn children.

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I also interviewed people who do not hold the same views as me.

As I mentioned, after two years of lockdowns, the City of Ottawa—the former home of Freedom Convoy Nation—was primed for a show. 

Hoards of anti-life pro-aborts showed up to drown out the peaceful and prayerful pro-life rally on the Hill. 

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In reality, the pro-life crowd probably outnumbered the pro-death crowd by about 10-1. However, we might say that the Roe v. Wade disciples were legion.

The police had them corralled behind a gated area, and it was the ugliest and most disgusting mass of humanity I have ever seen in my life. Of course, it is a tragedy that souls made in the image and likeness of God could descend to such a dreadful state, but there was a sulfuric putrification that emanated from the crowd. 

At one point, the angry mob breached the gates and got closer to the pro-life crowd. The Gates of Hell might not prevail against the Church, but they came eerily close to prevailing on Parliament Hill.

Topless men/women? with breasts and beards screeched like the demonically possessed, and groups of troubled women wore those utterly stupid Handmaid’s Tale costumes during a Spring heat wave.

I have never heard screams so loud, and I work from home with four children six years old and under. 

The faculty of reason was also greatly lacking on the pro-death side. One woman had a sign that said: “Even corpses get to decide what to do with their bodies.”

I believe she was trying to insinuate that when someone dies with instructions to donate their organs this means they demonstrate some sort of bodily sovereignty post-mortem. This is true…but they make that decision before they die, thus when they are an alive person…not a dead one.

The other side of her sign said: “No forced births like no forced blood donations.” 

Come to think of it, it may be the case that my bosses sent me there to fight the temptation to drink.

The contrast between the two sides was incredible, and it could be seen by passersby who were revolted by the bearded ladies and circus freaks shrieking about babies as “parasites.” To be honest, I think if we encouraged pro-abortion supporters to preach their demonic religion in public, the general public would be so repulsed that they would join the pro-life movement just to have the screaming hoards be quiet.

The only way to describe the pro-death side would be to describe it as demonic or diabolical, and this would not be metaphorical. One woman even told my boss, John-Henry Westen, that her reasons for supporting abortion were “spiritual,” which complimented the idiot wearing a rainbow mask while waving a pentagram flag and yelling “hail Satan.”

Those who have attended the Canadian march for years told me this might have been the craziest thing they have seen, as usually the pro-death crowd is not so overtly satanic. 

Personally, I believe it is a great thing that a demonized hoard showed up to have a tantrum that day. There is no more pretending that abortion is ultimately about a woman’s right—it is about satisfying demons and damning souls.

It is hard to make sense of what I saw in Ottawa, but I can truly say that I saw the Devil on Parliament Hill.

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By Kennedy Hall

Kennedy Hall is the author of two books, Terror of Demons: Reclaiming Traditional Catholic Masculinity and Lockdown with the Devil. He is a full-time journalist for LifeSiteNews and has a growing YouTube channel where he hosts The Kennedy Report. He is married with four children and lives in Ontario, Canada. You can find his work at thekennedyreport.com.

ABYSSUS ABYSSUM INVOCAT / DEEP CALLS TO DEEP

Commentary on all things Catholic, Roman that is!

STOP THE WORLD; LORD HAVE MERCY!

Posted on May 20, 2022 by abyssum

A Couple in Florida Starve Their 2-Year-Old Daughter to Death

May 19, 2022

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, two Davenport parents and the uncle of a 2-year-old girl were taken into custody Wednesday. The 2-year-old was starved to death, according to reports.

Regis Johnson (57) and Rhonda Tillman (35) were both taken into custody at the Polk County Jail on Wednesday. Both of them were charged with one count each of negligent child abuse causing serious harm and the uncle Frank Robinson (64) was also taken into custody.

Grady Judd, Polk County Sheriff stated that the toddler died of long-term hunger. She was found dead in Johnson’s inflatable playpen. The victim was unresponsive after the suspect placed an unresponsive child call on Tuesday.

The police chief Judd described this girl as “bones and skin” and it was heartbreaking watching.

Regis Johnson (57), and Rhonda Tillman (35) are being charged in connection with the death of their child.

Deputies allege Johnson claimed that doctors believed Johnson’s child might have had a genetic link to her mother with muscular dystrophy. After she was tested, however, it was found that the diagnosis was not conclusive.

The toddler’s pediatrician said that her last doctor’s visit was in August 2021. However, she had her 6-month checkup in January 2020. The medical office tried to contact her parents several times, but neither of them responded.

Judd said, “You gasped when this child was seen.” Judd continued, “Well, I can assure you, as a Christian, the only thing that I have found out about this entire situation is that the child isn’t starving or sick anymore. She is safe in Jesus’ arms. ”

Judd said that the girl, born July 25, 2019, should’ve weighed 32 pounds at her age. She was actually only 9.5 lbs when she died.

Judd said that the baby should be talking, linking sentences, and asking questions.

Judd states that Polk County detectives found that the Department of Children and Families had opened a medical neglect investigation into the girl’s situation in December 2019. It was closed after several weight checks.

According to the sheriff’s department, Robinson, Johnson’s brother was at the house and had knowledge of the abuse but didn’t report it.

Johnson and Tillman face additional charges, including murder. Judd called it “appropriate.”

Judd stated additional medical work and an extensive investigation by sheriff’s departments, as well as a reexamination of DCF, must be completed before additional charges can be brought.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Couple in Florida Starve Their 2-Year-Old Daughter to Death

May 19, 2022

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, two Davenport parents and the uncle of a 2-year-old girl were taken into custody Wednesday. The 2-year-old was starved to death, according to reports.

Regis Johnson (57) and Rhonda Tillman (35) were both taken into custody at the Polk County Jail on Wednesday. Both of them were charged with one count each of negligent child abuse causing serious harm and the uncle Frank Robinson (64) was also taken into custody.

Grady Judd, Polk County Sheriff stated that the toddler died of long-term hunger. She was found dead in Johnson’s inflatable playpen. The victim was unresponsive after the suspect placed an unresponsive child call on Tuesday.

The police chief Judd described this girl as “bones and skin” and it was heartbreaking watching.

Regis Johnson (57), and Rhonda Tillman (35) are being charged in connection with the death of their child.

Deputies allege Johnson claimed that doctors believed Johnson’s child might have had a genetic link to her mother with muscular dystrophy. After she was tested, however, it was found that the diagnosis was not conclusive.

The toddler’s pediatrician said that her last doctor’s visit was in August 2021. However, she had her 6-month checkup in January 2020. The medical office tried to contact her parents several times, but neither of them responded.

Judd said, “You gasped when this child was seen.” Judd continued, “Well, I can assure you, as a Christian, the only thing that I have found out about this entire situation is that the child isn’t starving or sick anymore. She is safe in Jesus’ arms. ”

Judd said that the girl, born July 25, 2019, should’ve weighed 32 pounds at her age. She was actually only 9.5 lbs when she died.

Judd said that the baby should be talking, linking sentences, and asking questions.

Judd states that Polk County detectives found that the Department of Children and Families had opened a medical neglect investigation into the girl’s situation in December 2019. It was closed after several weight checks.

According to the sheriff’s department, Robinson, Johnson’s brother was at the house and had knowledge of the abuse but didn’t report it.

Johnson and Tillman face additional charges, including murder. Judd called it “appropriate.”

Judd stated additional medical work and an extensive investigation by sheriff’s departments, as well as a reexamination of DCF, must be completed before additional charges can be brought.

WHEN IN DOUBT,

RUN ABOUT, 

SCREAM AND SHOUT

By: Bill Schoettler

May 16, 2022

Now, what could possibly cause such a reaction? Well, let me think now. 

To begin with, we’re at war. Our country is at war with Russia. How do I know? Because our President has said so…that we’re in for the “long haul”. Our military is helping train Ukraine soldiers, our government is not only sending great gobs of money to Ukraine but is also sending sophisticated (and very expensive) equipment to shoot down helicopters and planes and blow up tanks. Then we are supplying satellite information to help them target Russian generals. Plus there are constant and increasing calls from members of Congress to “escalate”. “We are going to win.” says the Pres.

We have increasing inflation which is hitting everyone. Whether you have a private jet plane or a simple Prius gasoline (and jet fuel) prices are climbing. Food at the neighborhood market is costlier…and scarcer. Fertilizer, a byproduct of fossil fuels, is in short supply hurting food production, plus, of course, the increased transportation costs to get the food from the farmer to your dinner plate. Used car prices are up and house prices also climbing.

SCOTUS, one of the premier arms of our government, heretofore considered sacrosanct and virtually untouchable (except when a Justice retired or died and a replacement was needed) is constantly under assault. Age limits are being sought, more members are needed and instead of simply having litigants appear (through their attorneys), rioting, actual personal threats to individual Justices, mob chants and nationwide uprisings are being used to [threaten] “persuade” opinions to be tailored to suit the loudest voices.

Hallowed institutions of elected representatives are hearing challenges to historical procedures (filibuster), vituperative and insinuating accusations are thrown at candidates for Congress and Senate, and actual threats of physical violence are leveled against not just candidates but their families as well.

Our country at one time not so long ago had two political parties. Today there is only one party, the Democrats and the opposition to the Democrats and [their]elected representatives are nothing more than terrorists who represent the “greatest threat to democracy this country has ever faced since its very beginning”…according to the President. There is no discourse between opposite sides of any issue, there is only the strident scream of the insistent Left and the muted and censored and unacceptable absurdities of the terrorist Right.

In an obvious effort to maintain their control over the reins of power, to stifle dissent, restrict access to social media platforms and censor divergent opinions our benevolent government has instituted the department of “Acceptable-to-the-Administration-Speech” called the Department of Disinformation.  When directly questioned by Congress the Secretary of Homeland Security claimed the subject of “disinformation” was concerned with foreign government statements (i.e., information coming out of Russia and China and Iran and others) but in statements by our President the DoD (definitely NOT the Dept. of Defense) is to stop and squelch talk that disputes government directives and proposals and programs.

A classical example of how this DOD is to operate can be seen in the way the government and its various iterations squelched and punished contrary medical views concerning the handling of the Covid nightmare (such as punishing credentialed doctors for recommending inexpensive and well-proven drugs [such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine] or disputing the effectiveness of masking and social distancing).

The government wants to cancel more than a trillion dollars of student debt. While this may seem attractive to the student debtors it is not welcomed by:

·       previous students who have either paid off or been paying off their student loans, 

·       parents (and other relatives)  and students who have already paid for their college educations,

·       the rest of us taxpayers who will have to pay off those debts through higher taxes.

We have a porous southern border through and over which have passed many millions of foreigners who decided, for whatever reason to come to the USA to reap the benefits of a society that: 

·       is somehow better than whatever the society in which they were raised,

·       offers benefits such as free medical care, free housing, free education, free cell phones, and

·       permits them the maintenance of their own language and culture including ballots in their native language, plus

·       if they find discomfort in this “new country” they now occupy, they get to protest and riot and disregard the police and burn buildings if they don’t like the way their sensibilities demand.

Let us not forget that a whole new “science” is being presented which includes such different concepts as a re-defining and telling of history, gender, grammar, and the requirement that the sensibilities of everyone are sacrosanct (that is…one commits a mortal sin if by word or deed another is offended by your actions). Dissent is permissible only if it is directed at those who have been identified as being racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or white supremacists) All others at whom dissent is directed are protected.

Are we there yet? I mean, can we now run about, scream and shout? Not quite yet. We first have to consider from where some of this nonsense is coming and why.

The almost year-and-a-half of the current Administration’s efforts to re-imagine America have been, I suppose, successful. That is if you start with the premise that our Constitution is not to be considered sacrosanct, that the country was actually founded by racist, white supremacists, misogynists, and slave-owning antiquarians without adequate foresight to recognize the need for a flexible body of rules which can be altered at will to reflect the ever-changing needs of the ruling class (as opposed to the unlettered and uneducated and deplorable public). If one begins with this premise, then President Biden, his supportive Democrat Party, the socialist media, the strident and compliant RINOs, and the so-called Deep State have been, if not successful then certainly well on their way to accomplishing their goals. Those finding this acceptable may wish to leap about with joy in their hearts.

But, as we look about ourselves and carefully listen, not to the strident voices raised in protest to the [previously calm and reasonably focused] traditional beliefs of the citizenry but look at what that citizenry is saying among themselves; if we listen and observe we find quiet protests all around the country. Individuals are running for office in different cities and states, seeking to restore (or maintain) those fundamental principles with which I and many of us were raised. 

There are isolated voices raised in the media that remind us of our core values, that describe the disturbing conduct of those with loud voices, and point out the absurdities of a weak educational system, a dysfunctional national economy, a weakened military establishment, a failing national transportation system and an influx of unwelcome and unwanted strangers whose presence not merely dilutes our national investment but distorts and minimizes our nation itself. 

The party-in-power is not unintelligent and is beginning to recognize the hazard they face when the real voice of the people can be heard in the ballot box. In the coming November election, it is possible (or so we are encouraged to believe by the few voices of rational thought that only occasionally filter through the socialist-moderated media) that the deplorables, those undeserving and outmoded and conservative-thinking radicals who don’t want true democracy (at least as democracy is currently being defined by those in power) just might gain a greater measure of power in the operation of the government. 

“Quel dommage” (as the French might say, “What a shame! What a pity!”)

How can we prevent the destruction or perhaps divert the catastrophe? 

·       By involving the country in a war, 

·       by focusing the national psyche on some other kind of disaster that diverts attention from the newly-manufactured reality, 

·       by limiting the choices available to the public, and, perhaps most importantly, 

·       by shutting down and stamping down and absolutely closing any avenue of FREE SPEECH. 

Well, now we can understand the need for a Department of Disinformation!

So what to do? Well, for one thing, we have to carefully monitor the November elections. Anything that may have happened in 2020 to produce Biden’s win may be assumed to be duplicated in 2022. The deplorables must have poll monitors and attorneys standing by to bring injunctions and be prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure a careful and accurate counting of all ballots for all offices all over the country. 

Predictions of a “landslide” in favor of either side would be premature. If the forthcoming elections are to be legitimate and honest, then maybe, just maybe there may be a reason to run about, scream and shout…for joy.

___________________________________________________

The Cycles of Revolutions

 in Our Midst

The world is fragmenting and changing in all different directions. Unfortunately, contemporary America is offering no guidance.

By: Victor Davis Hanson

American Greatness

May 15, 2022

We are witnessing several radical military, social, and political revolutions that are changing the United States—and the world—in fundamental ways that we still have not appreciated. 

The taboo about never mentioning the first-strike use of nuclear weapons in a major conventional war is now apparently over. Vladimir Putin routinely threatens their use. Communist China hints at its growing nuclear capability and is hell-bent on rushing into production a huge new nuclear missile force. The world is defining nuclear incineration down.

The more China and North Korea talk about nukes, the more necessary it is that uneasy democracies such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan will make adjustments. And the more the United States bows out of its prior role of extending its nuclear umbrella over Western democracies, the more likely these societies will consider going nuclear themselves. Should Iran acquire nuclear weapons—and its patrons Russia and China seem to be ensuring that it will—then the long-feared but heretofore never reified nuclear Middle East arms race will finally break out, as the petro-rich Arab world tries to deter Iran’s unhinged theocrats.

There is also a revolutionary vacuum occurring abroad. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are trying to figure out whether there is still any old-style American deterrence, or whether the woke progressives now in power in Washington dislike the customs and traditions of the United States even more than they do.

Lots of disasters have contributed to the current perilous state of affairs, including the precipitous American retreat from and humiliation in Afghanistan. Add voluntary cutbacks in oil and gas production by the West, and the subsequent embarrassment of a superpower beseeching thuggish regimes to send us their energy. 

The politicized transformation of the U.S. military from a meritocratic force focused on wartime lethality into an extension of the social welfare state driven by diversity, equity and inclusion has encouraged our enemies to take risks they otherwise might not have taken. 

Other contributors to the American power vacuum are the enormous federal debt, hyperinflation, and likely stagflation and recession this winter—along with the worldwide mania following COVID and the disastrous blanket lockdowns. All of the above has suggested to the world that a cognitively challenged 79-year-old Joe Biden is both an illustration and cause of American decline, rather than a temporary embarrassing aberration. 

Certainly, a wrecked downtown Seattle, the homelessness debacle in San Francisco, a Marxist legal regime in Los Angeles, a typical Saturday night of carnage in Chicago, screaming throngs at the homes of Supreme Court justices, and thuggery at the Oscars are now typical vignettes. They should not be the stuff of a supposedly democratic superpower. 

Instead, the new woke United States—from the pride flag that flew atop the now abandoned U.S. embassy in Kabul to its former gender studies programs in now gender-segregated Afghanistan campuses—exudes both arrogance and weakness. That is a fatal combination for a major power. It suggests to those abroad that a once pragmatic, dependable, and competent America no longer exists. Soon it may reach the point that those whom America wishes to help would rather pass on such beneficence, given American propensities to offer sanctimonious and strident lectures coupled with an unreliable and ineffective military record. 

So what should we expect in the next few years? Far greater cohesion between frightened Western democracies on the one hand, while on the other enormous pressures for many to become nuclear themselves. Expect Germany to become more obdurate, either going its own way or ordering the EU and NATO to follow along its path. The more Germany endangers itself and its neighbors with its crackpot policies, the more the world shrugs that 1870, 1914, and 1939 were archetypal, not the anomalous postwar decades.

NATO and the United States may finally invest in credible missile defenses since they are starting to agree with once-demonized conservatives that in extremis Putin would have no moral problem leveling Florence or incinerating Stockholm—no more than North Korea or China on the brink would hesitate to ensure the cinders of Seattle or San Francisco glow.  

Ukraine has been our Spanish Civil War for nearly three months, a laboratory of strategies, tactics, and weapons of wars to come. What are the lessons so far from that conflict? 

Western military technology still remains the world’s most lethal. Russian equipment is not just noncompetitive but reminds us that weapons are simply tools. Their operations hinge on skilled and zealous soldiers. The majority of Russian conscripts are neither.

Moreover, Ukrainians remind us that well-trained, motivated, and courageous small teams of combatants—mastering online, computerized, and sophisticated Westernized anti-tank, anti-aircraft, and anti-personnel drones and rockets—can nullify vast military investment and manpower. So far, the Ukrainian hit teams have rained death upon thousands of Russian soldiers while destroying millions of dollars of supposedly impregnable Russian traditional assets like artillery, armored vehicles, tanks, and ground support helicopters and aircraft.

Given the recent humiliating U.S. defeat in and retreat from Afghanistan—after abandoning tens of billions of dollars worth of sophisticated equipment to terrorists—and the ongoing destruction of the conventional Russian military and billions of dollars of its equipment, we are starting to revisit an earlier pattern of large and well-equipped expeditionary forces of big powers failing to achieve their strategic goals. They prove to be out of place and inept. China may learn the same lessons if it invades Taiwan.

In the American case, the culprits are both White House political ineptitude and the Pentagon’s strategic confusion. In the Russian instance, there was a complete divorce of abstract strategy from reality on the ground, between demoralized conscripts versus motivated volunteers fighting for their families. There were systemic Russian failures to field competent and motivated soldiers and to maintain and wisely employ sophisticated equipment. Russia is showing the world that it is a global player only to the degree it can sell oil and periodically threaten any nation it likes with nuclear weapons—a fact no doubt privately conceded by Putin himself.

In the West in general, and in the United States particularly, we are seeing a final fruition of decades of woke self-loathing. The sight of a pride flag flying on the Kabul embassy as the most lavishly supplied and funded military force in history scrambled to fly home, abandoning allies and employees, was a bitter metaphor for the arrogance, ignorance, and impotence of woke ideology.

What was once an elite boutique parlor game confined to university departments and the schools of education has now filtered throughout all campus courses to the point of being institutionalized. It is lapping into the engineering, math, and physics departments and the schools of medicine and business. The idea of meritocracy is disappearing, replaced by woke reparatory fixations on race, in the manner the ideologically correct Soviet commissariat destroyed Russian institutions or Mao’s cultural revolutionary insanity destroyed millions of Chinese. 

At a time of impending recession, runaway inflation, and climbing interest rates, universities are charging students thousands of dollars in increased tuition and fees to subsidize an unproductive diversity, equity, and inclusion industry. And like all good commissariats, the DEI apparatchiks produce no research, do no teaching, and bully and repress those who do.

Their chief legacy is the millions of opportunistic mediocrities emerging from the shadows to mouth wokester shibboleths about climate change, diversity, equity, and inclusion, identity politics, and transgenderism while damning the customs, traditions, history, and values of a prior society that alone is responsible for their very affluence and leisure. 

The stuff of life—water storage for agriculture, gas and oil production for transportation and home livability, building materials for shelter, deterrent police to ensure safe streets, and competent medical officials and scientists—is now subordinated to ideological censure and audit. All that is not a sustainable proposition for a sophisticated but vulnerable multiracial democracy of 330 million. Nihilist ideology finally trickles down to shelves empty of baby formula, idled diesel semis, and parked cars left open to thieves in hopes they will merely steal rather than also vandalize. Boutique university theories turn deadly when any society is unhinged enough to adopt them.

So this cannibalistic woke revolution is no Wobbly mine take-over, no 1960s Woodstock, not even a Black Panther, Weatherman, or Symbionese Liberation Army violent spasm. Instead, wokeism is so institutionalized that, like the Soviet Party or the adherents of Mao’s little red book, joining the virtue-signaling wokesters is seen as a smart career move. Going woke is a bully’s paradise, an indemnity against a past ill-considered tweet or a future peccadillo. Indeed, it is quasi-religious groupthink proselytizing. 

The world is fragmenting and changing in all different directions. Unfortunately, contemporary America is offering no guidance. To the extent it seeks to lead and inspire, its current elite wishes to take other nations and cultures down a nihilist pathway of self-loathing that few wish to follow.

___________________________________________________