Ben Weingarten

Reader. Writer. Thinker. Commentator. Truth Seeker.

Month: February 2014

The Lebowski Economy: Creating an Infant Culture Where Government Decides and Self Sufficiency Subsides

“I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.” – Walter Sobchak in “The Big Lebowski

When news broke that the Congressional Budget Office Report indicated that the equivalent of 2.5 million jobs would be lost by 2024 under Obamacare, to a chorus of laughable cheerleading that the “job-locked” would be “liberated” and America could now restore its national “work-life balance,” one man came to mind: Jeffrey Lebowski, properly known as the Dude, or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.

For I would submit that the explicit purpose of the progressive agenda is to create a nation of Lebowskis (Dudes) and Julias (Dudettes), or at least a two-class system in which big business and big labor are protected by government in the way that the Mafia protects your friendly local butcher, while Lebowskis and Julias are showered with benefits in exchange for votes.

If I sound cynical it’s because I’ve been watching a lot of “House of Cards” lately (culture matters).

Continue reading at TheBlaze…

An interview with Lt. Gen. Ion Pacepa, the highest ranking Soviet bloc intel officer to ever defect

In a gripping interview with Blaze Books in connection with his most-recent title, “Disinformation“, the highest-ranking Soviet bloc intelligence officer to ever defect, Lt. Gen. Ion Pacepa provided his insights on a wide array of topics, from Putin’s Russia to the disinformation campaign to rebrand Pope Pius XII to “Hitler’s Pope” to the links between Leftism and anti-Semitism to the Boston bombing, and all things in-between.

Below is our interview, which was conducted via email. It has been abridged for readability. All citations are courtesy of Lt. Gen. Pacepa.

Playing devil’s advocate here, some might argue that since the Soviet Union was defeated, Americans shouldn’t care about a book on Soviet disinformation tactics. What would you say to these people?

Pacepa: The very idea that the Soviet Union was defeated is disinformation in itself. The Soviet Union changed its name and dropped its façade of Marxism, but it remained the same samoderzhaviye, the historical Russian form of autocracy in which a tsar is running the country with the help of his political police.

During the Soviet Union, the KGB was a state within the state. Now the KGB is the state. Over 6,000 former KGB officers are running Russia’s federal and local governments. The Soviet Union had one KGB officer for every 428 citizens. In 2004, Russia had one FSB officer for every 297 citizens.

How would you describe today’s Russia?

Russia today is the first intelligence dictatorship in history. It is a brand new form of totalitarianism, which we are not yet familiar with. Now the KGB, rechristened FSB, is openly running Russia.

On Sept. 11, 2002, hordes of former KGB officers gathered in Moscow at the Lubyanka—the headquarters of the old and new KGB. They had not congregated to sympathize with America’s national tragedy of the previous year, but to celebrate the 125th birthday of Feliks Dzerzhinsky—the man who created the most criminal institution in contemporary history. One of my former bosses, KGB chairman Vladimir Semichastny, groused to a crowd: “I think a goal was set to destroy the KGB, to make it toothless.”[1] A few days later, Moscow’s mayor, Yury Lushkov, one of Russia’s most influential politicians, reversed himself by saying he now wanted to restore Dzerzhinsky’s statue to its place on Lubyanka Square.

It will not be easy to break Russia’s five-century-old tradition of being a police state. Nevertheless, man would not have learned to walk on the moon had he not first studied what the moon was really made of and where it lay in the universe. This is one reason we wrote “Disinformation.” Let’s hope a new generation of Russians will learn the truth, and will give that immense country a new national identity.

What would you hope is the primary takeaway for readers from your book?

Pacepa: That Marxism and its earthly Socialism are immense disinformation operations, and that all they have left behind is former Marxist countries that ended up looking like trailer camps hit by a hurricane, and leaders roasting in Dante’s Inferno. That all Marxists who have ever risen to lead a country have ended up in hell—all, from Trotsky to Stalin, Tito to Enver Hoxha to Mátyás Rakosi, Sékou Touré, Nyeree and Hugo Chavez. That all had their days of temporary glory, but that all ended in eternal disgrace. Some, like Khrushchev and Ceausescu, were even found unworthy of having their final resting place marked by any gravestone. A few remnants, like Fidel and Raul Castro, are still hanging on, but they certainly have a place in hell reserved and waiting for them.

Perhaps our book may also help President Obama abandon his craving for Marx’s utopian ideology, “to each according to his need,” which is transforming the United States into a decaying socialist country in all but name.

Read more at TheBlaze…

They Don’t Make Men Like Ralph Kiner Anymore

Ralph Kiner was born Oct. 27, 1922 in Santa Rita, N. M.

Raised in Alhambra, Cali. to Beatrice Grayson, a nurse during World War I in France and Ralph Macklin Kiner, a baker, Ralph Kiner sadly did not get to experience the boyhood rite of passage of playing catch with his father. Ralph Macklin Kiner passed away when his son was only 4-years-old. Kiner would find and fall in love with the game of baseball only through the encouragement of one of his neighbors.

As “AP” noted, these high school days were special: Kiner would hang around the Pacific Coast League’s Hollywood Stars and hobnob with the all-time greats of baseball such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. He also hit a homerun off Satchel Paige during a barnstorming tour.

Upon graduation from Alhambra High, Kiner signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates and headed to the minor leagues where he would start his career in Albany. On Dec. 7, 1941, the 19-year-old Kiner was playing in a semi-pro game in Pasadena when the news struck that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Kiner noted:

“Upon hearing about the attack, we all immediately said the same thing: You can’t do that to this country! The next day, instead of playing baseball, I went and enlisted in the United States Navy. It happened that fast.”

He would not be called into service until early in the 1943 season, while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Double-A affiliate.

Ralph Kiner's Naval Aviator Certificate. (Image Source: mydesert.com)

Ralph Kiner’s Naval Aviator Certificate. (Image Source: mydesert.com)

Kiner served in the Navy as a fighter pilot, flying anti-submarine missions in the Pacific, initially as a navigator, in a time before there was radar.

Ralph Kiner was honorably discharged on Dec. 5, 1945, having barely played any baseball at all during his time of service. Kiner said:

“Though I rarely got on the field myself, I wasn’t jealous of those who did. Everyone who volunteered for the service possessed a singular focus on saving this country. I never felt like I was missing out on anything because I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. For all of us ballplayers in the service, our duty to our country was always more important than playing baseball.”

He acknowledged that other baseball greats like Ted Williams were not so lucky:

“The guys that stayed in the reserves got called back during Korea. That’s what happened to Ted Williams.

“Williams was called back. He had to serve time in the Marine Corps. He was one of the greatest hitters, if not the greatest hitter. He was more proud of being a Marine than being in the Hall of Fame.”

One gets the sense that though his Naval service reads as a footnote, this might be more attributable to modesty than a lack of valor.

Continue reading at TheBlaze…

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén