If Obama Loses, Will There Be Riots?

C'mon, we're all thinking it. Might as well ask.

A Dispatch from Pride Weekend

The crime and folly of the court of Ravenna was expiated a third time by the calamities of Rome. The king of the Goths, who no longer dissembled his appetite for plunder and revenge, appeared in arms under the walls of the capital; and the trembling senate, without any hopes of relief, prepared, by a desperate resistance, to delay the ruin of their country. But they were unable to guard against the secret conspiracy of their slaves and domestics; who, either from birth or interest, were attached to the cause of the enemy. At the hour of midnight, the Salarian gate was silently opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet. Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome, the Imperial city, which had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia.

A Love Letter To Red Eye

Dear Red Eye,

It was a typical evening for me stretching into the early hours of February 6, 2007. I was watching the replays of all the prime time shows on Fox News Channel. Then, 2:00 AM rolled around and all of a sudden something new was there. It was you.

I was confused, bewildered, and intrigued. Saw this new music, new set, new people, and the crawl at the bottom of the screen was gone. I was like, "WTF is this?". I watched. I saw something that really appealed to me and it took all of about 5 minutes for me to decide I loved you.

Greg Gutfeld came on and started talking about whatever was in the news that day, but there was a bit of a twist. It wasn't like the normal Fox News shows, this was different. He appealed to my ADD nature and my love of current events. Then it was thrown to your repulsive side-kick Bill Schulz and his witty remarks came on and I wanted more. Then at halfway through, this guy named Andy Levy came on and gave an ombudsman report right in the middle of the show calling no bullshit from those on the panel. This also appealed to me because this was different than any other show on television.

I endeavored to stay up the next night to make sure you were not an anomaly. You weren't, I was relieved. Ever since that first night and that first week, you have given me reason to stay up at night to see fun social commentary on the days events.

You have also brought me to know a lot of cool people on Facebook and Twitter. Some I've met in person. Some I wish I could meet in person. Also, Red Eye, you have read a couple of my letters on air. I thank you for giving me that personal connection. In addition to that personal connection, Bill and Andy have both tweeted at me, which was super cool.

Now, something I didn't like is when you switched from 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM. I didn't want you to go a changing but you did. Reluctantly, I accepted those changes. There were some other changes with the show which were less objectionable such as no longer "drawing the news" or having a certain Canadienne who was a regular at first.

So, with that said, thank you for being there for me, and I'll always be there for you.

From the saddle of my magical unicorn,

Bryan

Trev & Me

Friends, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bryan and I've had
contact outside of the twitters with our dear friend Trev over the
last year and a half or so.

Trev got in touch with me while I was at vigil with my mother last
year. Since then he's confided in me some information about himself,

his SSA (Same Sex Attraction), and things from his past. For that I
thank him immensely.

When the Tyler Clementi story broke and
I read Trev's reaction to what had happened, I
felt a stronger connection to him because I knew what he was going
through with the information he gave me. Learning what Trev has gone

through in the past, it's easy to see how that could have just as

easily been him years ago. I'm happy that never happened.

Trev has a heart of pure gold. So much so, if Glenn Beck or Ron Paul
were to find out about it, they would say something to the affect of
"BUY TREV NOW!"

Now, unlike the case with Trev's friend Jason Australia, Trev did not reveal a "crush" on me. Which is cool,
since just because he's living with SSA doesn't mean he's

automatically sexually interested in every man. Just like even though
I do not have SSA, I'm not sexually attracted to each female.

Jason talks about male bonding. Trev has told me that it's sometimes

been difficult to hang out with other men and watch a football game or
something similar since he lacked a close male role model growing up
to solidify that kind of bond.

Recently in a conversation with Trev, he recounted how he could see
generations of family relationships setting him up for the childhood
wounds he carries. Children shouldn't have to pay for the sins of
parents and grandparents.

Trev has talked to me about what it's like to have an interest in
other close male friends. He has said it certainly is not easy for him
to live with the desire and urge to tell them and not to act upon it.

You might not know it from his online personality, but in conversation

Trev displays great self-control and adherence to his own philosophy
of abstinence.

My discussions Trev do not always involve talking about SSA or related
issues. We talk about random other stuff like anyone does; jobs,

movies, food, politics, and of course the thing that brought us
together in the first place... Red Eye.

Of course Trev was nervous about telling me a lot about himself, so in

turn I have shared my own stories so he doesn't feel like he's the
only one revealing so much. I figure that's what a good friend should
do: make sure that we can trust each other.

Trev is funny. He makes me laugh a lot and is a very close and dear

friend. His friendship and his trusting me has meant so much.

With that said all that said, I am thankful Trev is in my life and we
call each other friends.

Trev "Interviews" Markos Moulitsas-of-Elections-Past

Transcript and Links

TREV to audience:

Welcome back, tweeps and friends. My guest today is Markos Moulitsas-of-elections-past. Markos founded Daily Kos in 2002 as the "Net Roots" developed on the progressive left. These forces lost the 2004 elections but kept the pressure on for the 2006 races, helping Nancy Pelosi become Speaker of the House and Harry Reed Majority Leader of the Senate.

In ‘08, Kos and the rest of the Net Roots consolidated behind Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries against Hillary Clinton and helped Obama crush John McCain in the general election while also propelling the Democrats to super-majorities in both Houses of Congress.

As a first order of business in 2007, these Kos-backed Democrat majorities tried to force American defeat in Iraq and thankfully failed. With President Bush’s help domestically, however, they did grow the national debt for the remaining two years of his second term through a failed stimulus and then by passing the Wall Street bailout, which morphed into a United Auto Workers Bailout. Oh, and don’t forget the Kos-backed Democrats’ important work of banning the incandescent light bulb.

TREV to MARKOS:

So, Markos of Elections Past, following the ‘06 victories by the Democrats you blogged about "Taking a Bow." Please take us back to that moment and elaborate.

MARKOS:

...in the end, none of this would've happened without the effort all of us made. Those who think the net roots and grassroots don't deserve credit are idiots. We all had our roles to play, and we wouldn't be where we are today without all of us doing our part.
...
So I'm ready to get beyond the "who gets credit" conversation, because we all do. Take a bow. The bloggers. The grassroots activists. The field ops. The 527s. MoveOn. The party leaders...

TREV to MARKOS:

Gotcha. And Markos-of-elections-past, following the ‘06 elections, what was your take on Karl Rove’s earlier predictions of a GOP realignment?

MARKOS:

Let them reap what they sowed. They deserve every humiliation they designed for those in the minority status.

And stripped of their perks, forced to fire large numbers of staff, shunted off to the dingiest offices on Capitol Hill, let's hope more Republicans decide that life on K Street is more enjoyable than life in the minority.

TREV to MARKOS:

What a truly fascinating take from 2006, Markos-of-elections-past!

TREV to audience:

So later, following the ‘08 vote, President Obama and his Democrat super-majorities, again, elected in part thanks to Markos here, then proceeded to spend $800 billion on a new failed stimulus that bailed out state governments and protected the jobs of government workers while millions of Americans in the private sector lost their jobs. Kos-backed Obama then raped the GM and Chrysler bondholders by awarding control of those companies to the same parasitic unions that drove them to bankruptcy. Next the Kos-backed Democrats passed massive new energy taxes and pay-offs to windmill-makers through the Cap and Trade bill in the House. Then, after a year of wrangling, the Kos-backed Democrats, although they failed to establish the "public option" favored by Kos and the Net Roots, did succeed in passing ObamaCare, which so far has resulted in the largest health insurance premium increases in many years and forced many employers to devalue themselves and jettison health coverage, just to name a few consequences. To top it all off, the Kos-backed Democrats left DC to campaign while doing nothing to halt the pending largest tax increase in American history.

TREV to MARKOS

Again, Markos-of-elections-past, this was all made possible in part by your hard work for Democrats, especially the farthest Left Democrats, in ‘06 and ‘08. Take us back to 2008. Going into that election, you wrote about how you wanted to quote "Break their back, crush their spirits." Please share those insights with us again.

MARKOS:

So with conservatives bracing for the worst, they won't experience the kind of pain we did…

TREV to MARKOS:

Your pain of 2004.

MARKOS:

…Not unless we deliver a defeat even worse than their worst nightmares. And I'll be honest with you -- I want them to hurt as much as we did. I want their spirits crushed, their backs broken.

TREV to MARKOS:

Please say that again.

MARKOS:

I want them to hurt as much as we did. I want their spirits crushed, their backs broken.

So the way we do that is we deliver a defeat worse than they ever imagined. We do that by winning states that have no business turning Blue. We do that by electing a 60-seat super-majority in the Senate. We do that by defeating their leadership, like Mitch McConnell in the Senate. We do that by defeating their heroes, like wing nut…hero John Shadegg. We do that by making sure a record number of Americans reject conservative ideology, leaving it utterly discredited.

The day after the election, I want to see an electoral battlefield littered with defeated Republicans, their ranks demoralized, their treasury in heavy debt, and no real leadership to take the helm. I want a vacuum so complete, that a bloody leadership battle between the neocons, theocons, and corporate cons shakes the GOP to its core, and leaves it fractured and ill-equipped to stymie the progressive agenda, much less ramp up for an even bleaker (for them) 2010.

TREV to MARKOS:

Go on, Marcos Circa 2008.

MARKOS:

We're not out to win this thing. We're out to crush them!
...
There's a lot of us, and a lot of little gestures adds up to a whole lot of action. We are approaching a historic night, and one that can radically transform the direction of our country.

TREV to MARKOS:

Excellent round-up, Markos Moulitsas-of-elections-past. After the elections tomorrow, maybe you should write about how the Democrats' big mistake was not being progressive enough. That will provide great post-hangover laughs for the rest of the week.

TREV to audience:

Tweeps and friends, Trev went door-to-door in 2006 in a Republican district the Democrats took from us that year by less than two percent of the vote. Later, that district's new, Kos-backed, Democrat congressman went on to vote for an agenda that prolonged America’s economic crisis and further indebted us to Communist China. That year, dozens of Republican and generally freedom-loving voters turned down my face-to-face entreaties to keep a Republican majority in Congress. I had the same reservations as they, but I did not think America deserved to be tyrannized by Kos-backed Democrats.

Many Republicans and conservatives also stayed home in 2008 as they had in 2006, or gave into the eloquent temptation of Barrack Obama. And let’s be honest, John McCain did not give us much to vote for.

So here we are in 2010 and some of the Republicans who lost Congress in 2006 and then lost it again in ‘08 along with the White House are still in leadership positions in the Republican party and will be next year. In a moment of crisis, many also voted for TARP. RINOs still inhabit much of the GOP’s upper echelons and will remain there after tomorrow.

But that does not mean they will be in charge.

You see, Markos was wrong about a very important point – America did not reject conservatism in 2008, because conservatism was not on the ballot, conservatism had not guided the leadership of the Republican party for a long time, and many conservatives knew this. So make no mistake and let me be clear: after tomorrow, the Republican Party works for us. For the conservatives, libertarians, constitutionalists and yes, the Tea Partiers, who have stood against a progressive statist agenda foreign to America’s founding principles. Many called us bigoted or crazy, and in the case of a "conservatarian" like Trev, "self-hating."

In closing, freedom-loving patriots, I ask that you recall the treasured memory of United Flight 93 as judgment day is upon us. Remember, not so long ago, when ordinary Americans realized that their nation was under attack from an alien ideology, they fought back against tyranny. The brave patriots on Flight 93 did not want to make the ultimate sacrifice, yet they were willing to risk such sacrifice for their freedom and for the lives and freedom of others. If such patriots and our brave military can risk so much for our freedom, how could any of us fail to risk so much less between now and the time polls close tomorrow?

First, please vote if you have not already. Second, contact your local candidates’ offices or local Republican Party to see if there is anything more you can do. Or contact a group like Freedom Works, Americans for Prosperity, American Crossroads, or your local Tea Party organization. Our voters need rides to polls. Polls need to be watched to counter Obama Justice Department-backed fraud. Signs need waving. Absentee ballots requested need to be returned. Phone banks need callers. Make sure your friends are voting or have voted.

The country is on the line here, patriots. Let us put on the full armor of God. Let’s win one for the Gipper. Let’s water the tree of liberty by firing as many Kos-backed, Obama-backed Democrats as possible.

Patriots, LET'S ROLL!

From Trev's straight guy pal

Dear fans and friends of Trev:

Jason here. I'm a straight guy who is friends with Trev "in real life." He is my best friend, and I'm proud as hell of him.

I thought this was a very important passage from Trev's post on the Tyler Clementi tragedy:

Like I said, I was there once. Actually a few times. In my case, when I broke down and told my straight college roommate that I was attracted to men, specifically him, and that I couldn't take my infatuation with him anymore...he held me. It was something he'd never done before nor wanted to. He assured me of his steadfast friendship. He bought me lunch, listened to me, and prayed with me too. Our relationship was sometimes strained after that, though we were doing pretty well five years later when I served as best man at his wedding. But what I noticed most was that when my heart found genuine friendship with this guy, my sexual imagination didn't fixate on him very much anymore.

In fact, I've been blessed to find that real friendships with other men give me in reality what my libido is looking for in fantasy.

Yes, I know that's not the gay experience you're used to hearing. It's still mine and I wish I could have talked with Tyler Clementi about it and listened to him talk about his. I would have told him that there is more for guys like us. There can be friendship, insight, adventure, unselfish love, and forgiveness if you want to look for it. There's so much more than doom.

Although I am not the straight guy described above, I have known Trev for a number of years, and we were already good friends before he told me about his same-sex attraction. I was in my early 20s living on my own for the first time then, getting a lot of first dates with women but not a lot of second ones. My initial reaction was to be thoroughly weirded out, because like the other guy, this revelation of Trev’s came along with his confession of a painful infatuation with me that he wanted a way out of. He only told me because he was desperate for a way out of the pit he described finding himself in.

Many would have told Trev the solution to his dilemma was to “come out” to the world as gay at that point. I told him myself that I’d be more comfortable with the situation if at least other friends of ours knew, and the situation put a strain on our friendship. I know he felt particularly ashamed to find himself in such a circumstance for a second time. We struggled through it, but we remained friends. Eventually I came to appreciate the pressure Trev was under from trying to follow Christian values in the face of what the culture is telling us. I also came to understand that what Trev really needed was a genuine friend.

What I now understand (and take to heart as a dad) is that normal male bonding is critical to emotionally-stable boys and men. It's why fathers are so important to young boys and why male-bonding is so important as men pass through their teenage years and into adulthood. I'm glad to see Fox News' Steven Crowder gets this too. And it's an example of how sick our culture is that fatherhood is only now coming back into vogue after decades of being trashed in movies and on tv. I'm especially offended at how male-bonding is mocked as being proto-gay activity (the truth, I think, is more the reverse).

I’m glad Trev trusted me despite the rough patch that followed. I’m honored that in Trev’s life he chooses good friendships like ours over "coming out." I also now agree with him that it wouldn't be in his best interest - if he were to be out to the world, it could impact his career, in addition to him having the debate forced on him all the time instead of being able to compose his thoughts in writing.

The truth is Trev is “out” to hundreds of people by now. Despite some unfortunate misfires (I’ve witnessed a few), Trev shares this part of himself with people he can trust who share his values on manhood, brotherhood, and sexual morality.

So, my job is to be a normal friend to Trev. And his job is to be my friend. We help one another through the daily challenges of life and we’re ready to be there for each other in life-or-death crises.

My Bushie Beer Summit

Trev never wanted Bush.

George W. Bush that is. If I had been old enough in the 80s I would have wanted George H.W. Bush even less. And in the 50s Sen. Prescott Bush, *even* less. So I guess you could say my estimation of the Bushes improves as younger Bush men move up the ranks. Jeb's even better than Dubya...though not as good as he used to be.

Naturally there are enough Bushes for me to have crushes on a couple of 'em. This one is more for old time's sake. For this one my crush derives maybe 90% from this story and his mugshot.

And squishy as Dubya himself may have been on federal spending and government intervention in education, health care, and free speech (not to mention pushing democracy on reluctant third-worlders instead of righteous annihilation), he was ALL MAN here and even here.

While Trev is as fascinated by the Bush dynasty as anyone, and recognizes that they are as a clan both more politically successful and generally way better looking than the Kennedys, I am not now, nor have I ever been a "Bushie." I never campaigned or worked for Dubya, although he somehow wrangled my grudging, halfhearted vote twice.

So it could only have been through a serendipitous turn of events that Trev found himself knee-deep in Bushie gossip over adult beverages last night - my very own Bushie Beer Summit!

I shall spare identifying details (of course!), but here is what I gleaned...

On the Bush White House and its aftermath:

By the second term, Dubya was easily incensed at suggestions that Vice President Cheney was the real decision-maker in the White House. Sounds like by that point a good way to get the President agree to something was to point out Cheney was for the opposite. Of course this usually involved Cheney wanting to do the more politically *conservative* thing.

The picture I got last night confirmed what I have read about conservative Matt Latimer's disappointing experience as a Bush speech writer. Remember - Bush: "I redefined the Republican Party."

That's right, he did do some redefining and we saw the full effect of Dubya's redefinition of the Republican Party in 2006 and 2008. The ultimate result came earlier this year when the overwhelming Democrat majorities in Congress, including a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, abolished America's health care system.

Thanks for all the redefining, President Bush!

Incidentally, a Latimer column out just yesterday confirms - from the Cheney perspective - the consensus among Bushie Beer Summit participants that the former Veep was not much of an inside player in the Bush White House. No one seems to think Dubya at all approves of Cheney attacking the new president who Bush says, "deserves [Bush's] silence."

In fact, the supposition among these Bushies was that Cheney backed down because his criticism were proving ineffective. I don't think I agree with that. Cheney has after all gone through another major surgery on his heart this past year.

Parties out of presidential power tend to go non-interventionist in the wilderness. My suspicion is that public figures like Cheney, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton's mustache have helped keep a chunk of Republican voters and Republican-leaning independents committed to strong defense and victory over Islamofascism. Of course the Ft. Hood shooter, failed Christmas Day "crotch-bomber," and failed Times Square bomber have also helped keep this set of issues on the front burner for conservatives.

On the Obama White House:

According to Bushie Beer Summit participants, the Obama Administration West Wing and EEOB are chock full of do-nothing, patronage job-holding lazy ex-activists. Maybe not at the David Axelrod or Valerie Jarrett level, but the bulk of White House staff.

The upshot of White House staff slothfulness and having way too many of them is they work in an echo chamber preoccupied by their own internal rivalries. They neglect their former colleagues in the "Professional Left" until it's time to give them orders.

A lot of folks who didn't get into the Administration helped get Obama elected, and rather than collaborate with them, the Administration regards them as mere foot soldiers. So that insight provided me with some background on recent hippie-punching charges by Leftists and scolding from Vice President Biden.

On the shear size of the Obama White House staff, I haven't seen much out there on that to be honest, except for this dust-up over comparing Laura Bush and Michelle Obama's respective taxpayer-funded entourages. But I think it would be a good idea for someone to compare the size of Obama's White House staff versus George W. Bush's.

The idea that Obama's Administration is teaming with unaccountable White House policy czars, though, is clearly embedded in today's political environment. Criticism of the czar model will only grow more prominent when (at least) a likely new Republican House of Representatives dusts off the concept of Congressional oversight. Most operatives I talk to - including Bushie Beer Summit participants - expect Obama to abandon a legislative strategy for implementing "Change" and turn exclusively to Executive Branch regulatory efforts.



(h/t Phil Kerpen)

So it was an interesting contrast for Trev to be around such insidery folk after 20 months reveling in the Tea Party revival. Constitutional conservatives need allies in the ruling class if we want to make any kind of difference with the new majority (majorities?) coming in next year. We need hacks and bureaucratic knife-fighter types and in some states and districts we do need whoever's electable who will play ball.

I just don't want these people to start thinking they are back in charge. We saw what they did with the Republican Party and the legacy of 1980 and 1994 when they held power. Every American will be paying for their capitulations to Progressivism for decades to come.

Now, how about we re-redefine the Republican Party on November 2nd AND give Pelosi, Reid, and Obama what they've got coming to 'em!