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David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

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David McElroy

‘Resisting arrest’? When police have wrongly invaded your home?

By David McElroy · July 21, 2011

There’s something wrong with the “justice” system when a jury convicts a man of a crime, but sends a note to the judge saying, “We’ve all reached a verdict. To us we feel he has been wronged. Please consider that in his sentencing.”

In other words, the jury felt that the accused was actually the victim in the case, but they still did what the judge and prosecutor told them to do. That’s wrong. (They’ve probably never heard of jury nullification, because judges work pretty hard to make sure jurors aren’t aware of their real rights and responsibilities.)

A Texas jury convicted a man of resisting arrest after police mistook him for a burglar and broke into his home — and he tried to escape from them. Police say a neighbor reported — wrongly — seeing a black male kicking in a door to the house. For some odd reason, this Hispanic man apparently didn’t trust that police who had just broken into his own home had his best interests at heart.

The man’s attorney says his client has the mind of a child and also struggles with the English/Spanish language barrier, but I’d say the guy showed good judgement in resisting the people who were breaking in and trying to grab him, whether they were dressed in police costumes or not.

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‘I’m just quitting’: A scene out of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ in Birmingham

By David McElroy · July 20, 2011

If it had been a scene in “Atlas Shrugged,” the guy would have disappeared into the secrecy of Colorado with a shadowy figure who we would later learn to be John Galt. In real life, the story will probably be more complex. But I wonder how long it’s going to be before businesspeople really do start walking away and deciding it’s not worth doing business in America today. Or is it already happening and we just don’t know it?

The man you see in the picture is Ronnie Bryant. He operates coal mines in Alabama. I’d never heard of him until this morning, but after what I saw and heard from him, I’d say he’s a bit like a southern version of Ellis Wyatt from Ayn Rand’s novel. What I saw made an impression on me.

I was at a public hearing in an inner-city Birmingham neighborhood for various government officials to get public input on some local environmental issues. There are several hot topics, but one of the highest-profile disputes is over a proposal for a coal mine near a river that serves as a source of drinking water for parts of the Birmingham metro area. Mine operators and state environmental officials say the mine can be operated without threatening the water supply. Environmentalists claim it will be a threat.

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Arrogance and stupidity go hand in hand for the coercive state

By David McElroy · July 20, 2011

A city council in a small Arkansas town has decreed that no group is allowed to meet without council approval to discuss the city. Further, it bans the city’s mayor from meeting with people to discuss city business and it purports to disband a private citizens group.

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I couldn’t decide whether the story was a better example of arrogance or stupidity. Either way, there’s ignorance all around. Watch the video for yourself.

Anyone with even a passing familiarity with First Amendment law knows that the move is unconstitutional, so I’m not going to dwell on the legal points. If it were just a legal matter, I’d laugh at the ignorance and stupidity of people making rules that they don’t have the authority to make.

But I see it as indicative of something much more sinister. I see it as the heart of what the coercive state is all about. At its core, the state is about the majority seizing power and deciding what everyone else is allowed to do — and that’s wrong, whether you’re telling people they can’t express their opinions or telling them what kind of toilets they must install or what kind of light bulbs they’re allowed to buy.

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Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the the D.C. Reflecting Pool turning green. The dastardly deed was carried out by a specially trained squad of Antifa cats trained by the Far Left. It’s not his fault. Arrest all the cats! #satire #parody
This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmar This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmart near my house just a few minutes ago. It was a beautiful light show for just a few minutes.
Here’s proof that reality and satire are indisting Here’s proof that reality and satire are indistinguishable these days.
This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot out This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot outside of the Walmart near my house just after the sun went down Friday evening.
This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy gas a little while ago. Even at a no-name brand, the price was $4.09. If I remember correctly, it was $2.29 a gallon at the same station on the day the war started. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of winning. 🤣
For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, check out the sponsor of one of my upcoming YouTube video episodes. 🙃 #parody #threestooges
Have you felt as though you’re living through Grou Have you felt as though you’re living through Groundhog Day lately? Me, too. Here’s a quick-and-dirty political satire I made this evening for fun and stress relief.
About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color is poking through the skies to the east of my back yard.
The lights and color might have been more spectacu The lights and color might have been more spectacular a couple of minutes before this, but this was the best view I had of the Monday afternoon sunset from a bridge over I-20 in Moody, Ala.
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If you look at Oliver’s ears, you can tell that he If you look at Oliver’s ears, you can tell that he is still unhappy about the fireworks that have been going off in the neighborhood for most of the night. As soon as I got home, he wanted to be picked up and he started purring, but he was still wary about all the noise.
Alex isn’t thrilled with the fireworks in the neig Alex isn’t thrilled with the fireworks in the neighborhood tonight, so he’s been hanging out with me.
A few minutes before sunset, Sam is watching some A few minutes before sunset, Sam is watching some people in the distance setting off firecrackers. He’s not scared by the noise so far, but he’s mesmerized.
Alex is asleep on my desk late Saturday afternoon Alex is asleep on my desk late Saturday afternoon and Oliver is giving him a withering look as he wanders by, as though to judge Alex for sleeping this late in the day. I think Oliver wants to play.
Oliver is the only one of the cats still hanging o Oliver is the only one of the cats still hanging out with me at almost 2 a.m. Alex and Sam have already gone to the office, but Oliver has been on the bed near me while I’ve been writing. But he’s finally given up and gone to sleep.
Alex just came to the bedroom to remind me that I Alex just came to the bedroom to remind me that I haven’t yet gotten around to feeding him — and he’s making it clear that I will pay for this transgression with my very soul unless I act quickly.
Alex has been busy with his daily “castle destruct Alex has been busy with his daily “castle destruction” duties — as you can see on the column at the left — so he’s about ready to spend the rest of the day recovering from this hard work.
At midnight, Oliver posed on the mantle for me. Al At midnight, Oliver posed on the mantle for me. All the lights were off in the office except for on light over the window right next to the mantle, so it worked as a spotlight for him.
When Sam was watching Oliver — see photo from a fe When Sam was watching Oliver — see photo from a few minutes ago — this is what Oliver was doing on the mantle. He was watching out the window, not planning a sneak attack on his little brother.
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It turns out that the radical far left has been training “Antifa cats” to sabotage anything important to Donald Trump. Everything he did was perfect. Honest. It was all the cats’ fault. Arrest all the cats! This is the latest of my ridiculous satirical shorts. Please go watch it. Then “like” it and subscribe. Please. I’m begging you. (Too much?) Although a couple of the previous videos have had views in the hundreds, most have still been seen by fewer than 20 people. So I seem to be having trouble letting people know that page exists.

Here’s the latest of my ridiculous parody shorts. It crossed my mind Tuesday to wonder what a slick and fast-talking car dealer might do right now to try to turn the high price of gasoline to his advantage. So I conceived of a fat and lovable character who tried to sell cars that don’t use any fuel — and then I started wondering if it would be funnier if all the characters were felines. Designing the King Cashpaw character took about four hours, but the rest took only another four hours, so this was a relatively quick piece that virtually wrote itself. I know it’s almost impossible for these parody videos to find a larger audience, but at least they amuse me — and there are 19 of them on my YouTube page now. The first few were very limited, but they’re getting more complex.

The Republican Party is dead. It still exists in name, of course, but it’s nothing but a shell. All that’s left are idiots and stooges and con men of the MAGA party. When Donald Trump is gone — which won’t be long — those populist idiots and pragmatic fools will have no one to follow. Democrats will thrive. They will take more power than ever and they will push the federal government further to the radical far left than ever. When that happens, don’t just blame Trump if you’re a conservative. Blame every person who has claimed to be a conservative and has given up on principles, character and everything else that Republicans once claimed to stand for. As someone who worked as a GOP political consultant for many years, this is disgusting and disturbing to me. Those who have enabled Trump to have almost unchecked power are going to be shocked when they see what they will unleash in the long run. It’s been plain all along what this narcissistic con man is. It’s your fault that you chose to pretend not to see what he really is.

We are ruled by the dumbest and most incompetent people among us — and we have a system which allows stupid and irresponsible people to force the costs of their idiocy onto smarter and wiser people. Can we get away with that? Yes, for quite some time. But we eventually reach a point at which the dumbest of the dumb — who are habitual liars and mentally ill fools — lead us to the disasters and destruction that some of us have seen coming for years. We are approaching that point. And yet most of the idiots around us still wave their rhetorical banners of support for the evil people who are leading us to ruin — and all of them point their fingers at someone else, never noticing that their own enthusiastic support of evil is to blame. When things finally fall apart, blame yourself for your blindness to the evil, not whoever happens to be in power when it happens.

I’ve been making some changes to the site lately and there are more changes coming in the days ahead, so don’t be surprised if you some small differences. This is not a wholesale redesign, but rather the addition of some features. Since they’re smarter than I am, I’ve put Oliver and Alex in charge of the technical work, which you can see in this action photo from the control room of our media complex. I recently added a series of landing pages for readers who randomly discover the site from an Internet search. I’ve also changed the YouTube link at the top of the page to go to the new YouTube channel for video essays that reflect things I’ve already published here. (Here’s a little bit about both of the YouTube channels I’m working on.) In addition, I’m trying to move away from using Instagram, so I’m experimenting with photo plug-ins that will eventually allow me to host the pictures — cats, dogs, sunsets, whatever — that I often take. So don’t be surprised to see more changes. Thanks for your patience. Let’s hope Alex and Oliver know what they’re doing.

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