The Anglophilic Anglican during Lent: a quick note on politics, or lack thereof.

As my long-term readers may recall, this little blog originated to be just what its title indicates: a place for this particular Anglophilic Anglican to share posts relating to my love of England, Britain, the British Isles generally, and the classical Anglican tradition, with diversions into more-or-less related realms of nature and culture.

Unfortunately, the refugee crisis of 2015 in Europe, the sudden and vicious assault on anything Confederate (and now expanding ever-outward from that point to include even the Founding Fathers and founding documents themselves) in the U.S. in the same year, and the insane-asylum reaction of the sociopolitical Left to the election of President Trump in 2016, all of which have continued to ramify, led me to believe that I needed to do my part, however small, and however localized in this little backwater corner of the internet, to defend the West – the history, heritage, traditions, and customs of Western Civilization – from those who appear to be actively seeking its overthrow.

But this is Lent. It is the season of self-examination, of penitence and preparation, leading up to the events of Holy Week and Easter, culminating with the Feast of the Resurrection itself. And while it is important to do what we can, when we can, to hold the line for what is left of Western Christendom, and that civilization whose history is so closely interwoven with it, it is also touching upon the sin of pride to believe that on my efforts alone depends the success or failure of that mission. As my dear late mother would remind me, “God is still in charge.”

And so part of my Lenten discipline for this year is to resist the hubris of assuming that it is up to me to reverse the decline. I can’t save the world, although perhaps I can help in some minor way to advance that goal. All I can do is tend my small corner of the vineyard. And to do that effectively, I have also to tend to my own spiritual well-being.

All of which is a long-way-’round way of saying that – barring something so egregious that refraining from comment would be a worse fault than commenting, which I hope does not occur – I shall be refraining from specifically political posts in this blog for the duration of Lent (and hopefully the Octave of Easter, as well). I shall be posting cultural posts, historical posts, literary or architectural or musical posts, natural history posts, and hopefully an above-average percentage of Anglican or other posts of a religious or theological nature.

But I am on sabbatical – or “fasting,” if you prefer – from overtly political posts, for the duration of this holy season of Lent. To reflect this, I have changed the header image to a slightly less-pugilistic version of the St. George flag… albeit one whose slightly tarnished visage reflects the reality that all is not entirely well in the Realm of Merrie Olde England, or indeed, the West as a whole.

I pray God grants you a holy, blessed, and fruitful Lenten observance. And I ask you to pray for me as well. Thank you, and God bless!

— Fr. Tom (“The Anglophilic Anglican”)

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect for the First Day of Lent, commonly Called Ash-Wednesday. The Book of Common Prayer 1928.

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And of course, as the “Voluntary Disclaimer” posted on my right sidebar notes:

Unless specifically stated to the contrary, the opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not represent the opinions, policies, or perspectives of any other person, religious organization, business, or other entity.

Bloomberg implied farming doesn’t take intelligence in 2016 comments | Fox News

Bloomberg: “I could teach anybody, even people in this room, no offense intended, to be a farmer… Now comes the information economy… You have to have a different skill set, you have to have a lot more gray matter.”

Source: Bloomberg implied farming doesn’t take intelligence in 2016 comments | Fox News

When you’re not sure which is more breathtaking, the ignorance or the arrogance…! This is the frickin’ idiot that’s running for the Democratic Presidential ticket. I have to say, I don’t like any of them, but this is over the top. “We, the intelligentsia,” indeed. Horse puckey!

From one of the comments: “A farmer can live without Mike Bloomberg but Mike Bloomberg can’t live without a farmer, and I will side with the farmer.” Amen! Yes. So will I. Any day of the week! Bloomberg is a menace, on many levels. I have never liked him, for his opposition to the Second Amendment, but bashing farmers makes me despise him on a whole different level.

I will say one thing: this male (I won’t call him a man), and the rest of his “intelligentsia” (read: the arrogant coastal / urban elite) couldn’t live a week without what they disparage as “flyover country,” and the basket of deplorables, bitterly clinging to God and guns, who live there.

This individual is not only a sorry excuse for a political candidate, but he is a sorry excuse for a human being. Not that that’s new information, for me! I’ve known it for a long time; this is merely additional grist for the mill. I’d say he’s is full of bullsh_t, but that would be insulting to bulls. Putrid pustule of a person!

Because I hate to end on a negative note – Paul Harvey, among others, is one who thought of farmers rather differently than Bloomberg. Here he is:

 

“After Attending a Trump Rally, I Realized Democrats Are Not Ready For 2020”

After attending Donald Trump’s campaign rally in New Hampshire, a 20-year Democrat realizes her party’s odds are slim in 2020.

Source: After Attending a Trump Rally, I Realized Democrats Are Not Ready For 2020

It is dangerous in the extreme to take anything for granted. But this is certainly encouraging for those of us who think a Democratic victory in the 2020 elections would be horrible for our country! This account, by a left-leaning (former) Democrat (she has decided to #WalkAway, and become an Independent), is well worth a read.

“I think the Democrats have an ass-kicking coming to them in November, and I think most of them will be utterly shocked when it happens, because they’re existing in an echo chamber that is not reflective of the broader reality. I hope it’s a wake-up call that causes them to take a long look in the mirror and really ask themselves how they got here. Maybe then they’ll start listening. I tend to doubt it, but I can hope.”

And yes, I’ve heard about the absurdities on the knitting boards…

The Deep State Comes Out Of The Shadows | Issues & Insights

Two news stories published over the weekend had the same message. The State Department was out to get President Donald Trump after suffering years of “frustration.” At least these denizens of the deep state are being honest.

Source: The Deep State Comes Out Of The Shadows – Issues & Insights

“Trump’s critics say that his claims about a deep state are the result of his paranoid delusions. But after what the country has witnessed over the past three years, and now the bragging by State Department officials bent on getting Trump out of Washington, it’s the denial of the deep state that is delusional.”

We’re in a bad situation when the intelligence community and the State Department are openly colluding against a Constitutionally-elected President. The “Deep State” (a.k.a. “the Swamp”) is all too real!

 

A Conservative Russian Lion With Real Mass Influence – The Painter Ilya Glazunov | Russian Insider

 

Source: A Conservative Russian Lion With Real Mass Influence – The Painter Ilya Glazunov

While I’m on Russian Insider: an interesting article on an interesting individual!

“In contrast to the values of the marketplace, [Glazunov] calls for placing spiritual and political ideals in first place. He believes that patriotism, service to society and its head, a monarch, are far more important than filthy lucre.”

Two examples of his paintings will illuminate the point.

R.I.P. Russiagate. Here’s What We Learned | Bloomberg Opinion

 

 

Source: R.I.P. Russiagate. Here’s What We Learned

My apologies for once again inserting a political post into Lent.

But I did say that I’d make exceptions for significant incidents, and I’d say that the conclusion of the Mueller investigation – a two-year muck-raking expedition foisted on the American public square by Democrats and their fellow-travelers on the left side of the political aisle in an attempt to bring down the President, which has now ended without finding any evidence whatsoever of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign – is a significant incident.

“People who pushed the conspiracy theory are already busy telling their audiences that Trump still isn’t out of legal trouble. None of the legalistic niggling, however, will change the basic fact: A thorough, hard-hitting two-year investigation by a team that can’t be accused of being Trump sympathizers has found no proof of a conspiracy that has dominated U.S. airwaves since before Trump got elected. After this, any further political use of Russiagate can, and will, be deflected with an eye-roll.”

The author of this piece clearly has no love for Trump (unsurprisingly, for a Bloomberg contributor), but that makes it even more of an indictment of the Democrats’ absurdity in pursuing this misguided strategy:

“Democrats have clearly shot themselves in the foot. Instead of wasting their time on Russiagate, they could have focused more clearly on issues such as inequality, health care, the opioid epidemic, climate change. They have a chance to run a more meaningful campaign now that Mueller’s done – but the mistake will hang over them just as the Iraq war still hangs over the Republicans.”

It’s interestingly ironic – and it would be amusingly ironic, if not for the huge and lengthy expenditure of time, energy, and cash, not to mention the further polarization of American politics, resulting from this political fishing expedition – that many of the same people who accused (not entirely without justification) the likes of Breitbart and Alex Jones with promoting conspiracy theories have themselves been… promoting a conspiracy theory. “The pot calling the kettle black,” as my mother would have said.

Not cool, kids. Go to your rooms. No supper for you!

Small Beer: Raising a Glass for Freedom | The Imaginative Conservative

Distributism is the only practical solution to the problem of rampant corporatism and the globalism which is its inevitable consequence. Next time we raise a glass of craft-brewed ale, we should not merely enjoy its flavor, we should also raise a toast to the political and economic freedom that it represents. (essay by Joseph Pearce)

Source: Small Beer: Raising a Glass for Freedom ~ The Imaginative Conservative

It doesn’t take the proverbial rocket-scientist to perceive the perils and pitfalls of socialism. Tens of millions of dead, and untold misery among the living, over the last century provide more than ample reason to view socialism as what it is: a tried-and-failed vision of political economy, a utopian ideal in the worst sense of the word (“utopia” means, literally, “no place” – a vision that is by its very nature impossible to achieve), a shipwreck foundered upon the shoals of its own misunderstanding of human nature.

What is less obvious – especially among many on the conservative side of the political aisle – is that capitalism doesn’t exactly enjoy a shining historical record, either. As a useful ally to Western liberal democracies (back when “liberal” meant something close to its original definition) during the long struggle against totalitarian Communism, being seen as the antithesis to Marxism, capitalism acquired something of a luster that it may not entirely deserve.

While capitalism has not (so far, at least) sent anyone to the gulags, that does not mean its effects have been entirely benign, either.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Didn’t try too hard, either…!

And when the Democratic candidates were dropping in the polls, and Republican ones rising, with a caravan of would-be-illegal-immigrants on the way…? I’m sorry, I don’t claim to know the truth behind the mail-bombs – the perpetrator may indeed be mentally deranged, and acting entirely on his own – but the whole thing still seems just way too convenient, to me!

Florida man Cesar Sayoc arrested in “insidious” mail bomb spree as more packages are found – ABC News

Cesar Sayoc, 56, faces 48 years in prison for the charges, officials said.

Source: Florida man Cesar Sayoc arrested in ‘insidious’ mail bomb spree as more packages are found: LIVE UPDATES – ABC News

In my last posting in this blog, I suggested that the recent spate of mail-bombs looked suspiciously like a false-flag operation by left-wing operatives.

Well, alternatively, it could just be one whacked-out nut-job with a bad attitude and a rap sheet as long as my arm!

I hasten to note that I left myself an “out” by including the caveat, “unless the perpetrator is, in fact, certifiably insane.” It appears well that I did so: within hours after I’d posted my last, law enforcement officials arrested and took into custody a suspect – one should probably say “the” suspect, as they are quite sure they “caught the right guy” – in the mailings. The individual, Cesar Sayoc, 56, appears to be vigorously pro-Trump and anti-Democrat, and as I say a repeat offender:

“Court documents obtained by ABC News show that Sayoc has a long history of criminal charges, including at least eight arrests in Florida alone, ranging from giving false information to get a refund to grand theft auto.”

He was also no stranger to explosive threats, though it remains open to question whether his devices would actually explode.

Investigators search for person who sent mail bombs, motive | Associated Press

Investigators have been searching coast to coast for the culprit and motives behind the bizarre mail bomb plot aimed at critics of the president

Source: Investigators search for person who sent mail bombs, motive

First, before I say anything else, let me be clear about one thing: politically-motivated terror is never acceptable, under any circumstances, and that is exactly what this is regardless of who is responsible or the motives behind it. I condemn in the strongest possible terms any use of terrorism to advance a political agenda.

I particularly abhor the fact that this is happening here, in the United States, where we supposedly have representative, Constitutional government, and the rule of law, and where there is a defined and clearly functional (despite the fact that some people will, inevitably, not like the results) system to bringing about political change in an orderly, rational, and legal way. That system must be defending against lunatics and zealots, alike.

That critical point having been made clear, let’s talk about the current situation.