lewrockwell--2020-11-13--Hey, Goldman Sachs, Keep Your Stinkin’ Lottery Tickets

The starting point for understanding the delusional fantasy of the present moment is this : The mainstream narrative is so corrupted by greed , sloth , group think and will to power that it has become a risible caricature of itself .
In plain English , what is held to be true by the powers-that-be is flat-out unreliable , unhinged and unsustainable .
For instance , bubble vision is jawing giddily this morning about the new stock market forecast from Goldman ’ s chief equity strategist , David Kostin .
According to this overpaid genius , the silver bullet of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Pfizer announcement ( but see the debunking below ) , so we will soon be back to normal and the stock market will soar to 4,300 on the S & P by the end of next year ( 2021 ) .
So back up the trucks !
That ’ s a 25 % gain ( with dividends ) from here if you are an old-fashioned troglodyte who buys stock with cash .
But for an eazy peazy fortune , just call your Goldman broker and order some December 2021 calls .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on that date can be had for $ 115 per share , meaning that you stand to make 3.5X your money just by closing your eyes , hitting the buy key and waiting for Goldman to send you the check for the $ 400 gain when its forecast comes true .
Anyone Who Tells You V ... Coleman , Dr Vernon Buy New $ 3.99 Then again , it needs be recalled that in their wisdom , sell side analysts now see December 2020 LTM earnings on the S & P 500 coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then leaping upwards by 47 % to $ 135.13 per share by December 2021 .
Yet even if the latter hockey stick should come true , the implied PE multiple at Goldman ’ s swell new December 2021 price target is 31.8X !
That ’ s right .
If you shell out the $ 115 per share options premium you ’ ve got to believe that neither Sleepy Joe , nor Kamala Harris and her progressive-left comrades , nor the Covid , nor a gridlocked Washington , nor a confused or faltering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will stand in the way over the next 14 months of a booming return to economic normalcy , a 47 % gain in profits and a PE multiple more than double the historic average !
Or , in the alternative , even at a frisky December 2021 PE multiple of 18X on that year ’ s reported earnings , the latter would have to post at $ 240 per share on an LTM basis to hit the Goldman target .
Now , that would be up by 73 % from the pre-Covid all-time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ December 2019 and 164 % compared to the ( optimistic ) Wall Street consensus for December 2020 .
But , hey , don ’ t snicker .
That ’ s the mighty Goldman Sachs reinforcing the mainstream narrative .
Just the same , and to paraphrase Abe Lincoln ’ s famous story about the man who was tarred , feathered and run out of town on a rail : If it weren ’ t for the honor of doing business with Goldman , we ’ d just as soon keep the $ 115 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t base its stock price forecast on the kind of earnings that CEOs and CFOs must report honestly to the SEC on penalty of jail time : Namely , GAAP net income .
Instead , they want you to believe that multiples are “ reasonable ” via the use of ex-items earnings , which are always 10-30 % higher than reported earnings because they eliminate purported one-time gains and losses and non-cash items charged to the P & L in the current period like goodwill write-downs or restructuring provisions .
But here ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the income statement was a cash item at some point in either the past ( e.g .
goodwill ) or the future ( e.g .
restructuring provisions ) and if it carries a negative sign it represents a dissipation of corporate resources and value .
Peak Trump : The Undrai ... David A. Stockman Best Price : $ 12.72 Buy New $ 43.07 Likewise , eliminating one-time gains and losses is not a valid earnings-neutral smoothing procedure because in every quarter as far as the eye can see going back into the fog @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exceed one-time gains , and usually vastly so .
Thus , during the September 2020 LTM period , GAAP earnings posted at $ 97.68 per share or 19 % below the Goldman-favored ex-items figure of $ 120.48 per share , while the shortfall in the June 2020 LTM figure was 21 % .
For the last 12 quarters combined , the average ex-items figure of $ 142 per share was 16 % higher than the GAAP figure of $ 122 per share .
So you can take the “ reasonable ” PE canard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even then the current Goldman stock price forecast embodies the mother of all hockey sticks .
That is , ex-items earnings for the S & P 500 are now forecast by the street consensus to weigh in at $ 117.36 per share for the December 2020 LTM period , which figure Goldman projects to rise to $ 175 per share by December 2021 .
So you have to believe that ex-items earnings will soar by 50 % in just one year ’ s time and still be willing to pay 24.5X for said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy that shows exactly no signs at the moment of getting up on its hind legs and leaping skyward .
We do believe , therefore , that “ unhinged ” does aptly characterize the current mainstream narrative , and that ’ s in part because we think the imminence and efficacy of the vaccine silver bullet is way overdone ; and also because despite the Fed ’ s best verbal flim-flam we do not think the laws of sound money have been repealed and that the Fed can keep monetizing 100 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deficits indefinitely .
Yet , if there is no vaccine silver bullet next year , you will have the Virus Patrol re-energized and completely unshackled under the nation ’ s new man of “ science ” in the Oval Office .
Just this afternoon , for instance , one of Sleepy Joe ’ s closest helpmates – Gauleiter Andrew Cuomo of New York – decreed that anyone entertaining more than 10 guests in their own private home will be subject to fine and arrest for allegedly spreading the Plague .
Covid-19 : The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New $ 14.71 Likewise , if the Eccles Building does not keep buying up Uncle Sam ’ s tsunami of supply , the bond market is a cataclysm waiting to happen .
As to the silver bullet , just consider what Pfizer actually reported .
Namely , that from a trial pool of 43,538 participants they now have results for 94 individuals who tested positive for Covid-19 , of which 86 were in the placebo group and 8 among those getting the two-shot vaccinations .
That ’ s how they get their ballyhooed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say , whoa !
That conclusion is based on only 0.216 % of the trial universe , yet the company ’ s press release – -which enabled the CEO to sell 60 % of his stock at a huge profit on Monday – contained zero information on whether the 94 cases were representative of the study population with respect to age , medical condition etc .
and whether the actual Covid cases among the 94 reported to have tested positive were sniffles , mild , moderate , severe or death-threatening .
The truth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ release amounted to nothing more than an ( apparently ) legal stock touting ad .
Mr. Albert Bourla is now $ 6 million richer , but the most substantive thing contained in the press release not previously known was , well , this bit of soap-selling : Today is a great day for science and humanity .
The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine ’ s ability to prevent COVID-19 , ” said Dr. Albert Bourla , Pfizer Chairman and CEO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the irrepressible Jon Rappaport keeps raising .
To wit , why would anyone think that a 0.216 % share of the trial universe is meaningful or reliable ?
Moreover , why would the FDA go along with this , or especially the entire study protocol , about which the company ’ s press release conveys the following : The trial is continuing to enroll and is expected to continue through the final analysis when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued .
The Great Deformation : ... David Stockman Best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 8.99 Yes , forget about the 43,538 participants and all the efforts to ensure its representative nature because Pfizer is going to quit when exactly 0.377 % ( 164 participants ) of the sample have reported .
A half-way attentive lay person might well say , WTF !
But having said that , he might upon modest further investigation also grasp the entire scam involved in fast-tracking the vaccine and the so-called Operation Warp Speed championed by the White House – the latter having been heralded as some kind of Republican “ can-do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to how a “ businessman ” like the Donald gets things done .
Well , no , not even close .
The reason for shutting down the trial after less than one-half of one percent of the participants have been heard from is that in this day and age you can ’ t test a vaccine candidate by deliberately infecting a patient with the virus , most especially the unlucky folks who get the salt water tablet placebo .
Instead , what you have to do is put your feet up on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the disease and become infected in the “ wild ” .
That is , in their homes and on the highways and bi-ways of normal life .
But alas , Tony Fauci and his malpracticing doctors , the wan na be Robespierre ’ s they have unleashed among Blue State mayors and and governors , and the constant Chyrons of death running across the cable TV screens , have most of the sheeples , including those enrolled in the Pfizer study , scarred to death .
So they do not leave home without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sidewalks , hallways and grocery store checkout counters .
So , then , how in the hell are study participants supposed to catch the Covid in the wild ?
Under the rules of ethics in these matters , the ones getting the real shot can not even be told to get frisky and drop their mask every now and then in order to help the corporate folks at Pfizer complete their study and harvest their tens of billions of vaccine sales .
COVID Operation : What ... Prier , Shane D Best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 19.99 Needless to say , that ’ s why only 0.216 % of participants ( 94 ) managed to get the Plague , which is allegedly running rampant in America , during the first three months of the trial ; and why at that rate it would take 11 years to get a return from even 10 % of the participants .
So there is a reason why it normally takes 3-5 years to do a vaccine trial : It seems that even the FDA is unwilling to let drug companies deliberately kill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the process .
And that gets us to an even more insidious aspect of the silver bullet myth .
Namely , because it takes so ungodly long for mask-up trial participants to get infected in the “ wild ” when the latter is operating effectively under economic martial law , the study protocol assumes that any old case will do – even if so mild as to be barely symptomatic and readily cured with bed rest and drinking lots of liquids .
As Jon Rappaport noted regarding the generic case with all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vaccine maker starts out with 30,000 HEALTHY volunteers .
So , if they waited for 150 of them to come down with severe pneumonia , a serious case of COVID , how long do you think that would take ?
Five years ?
Ten years ?
These 150 COVID cases the vaccine maker is looking for would be mild .
Just a cough .
Or chills and fever .
That scenario would only take a few months to develop .
And face it , chills , cough , and fever aren ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come down with those symptoms .
THEREFORE , THE WHOLE CLINICAL TRIAL IS DESIGNED , UP FRONT , TO FIND 150 CASES OF MILD AND MEANINGLESS AND SELF-CURING “ COVID.
” About which , no one cares .
No one should care .
But , as we see , Pfizer is trumpeting their clinical trial of the vaccine as a landmark in human history .
What Rappoport is saying is that by the very nature of the Covid , the only point of a vaccine is to protect the small minority who develop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or otherwise weakened immune systems , and especially those who suffer a life-threatening course of the disease .
But as of the present , the CDC estimates that about 88 million American ’ s have been infected – the overwhelming bulk of whom didn ’ t even know it because they were asymptomatic or experienced a mild-course of the disease and were home cured .
In fact , only 500,000 of these 88 million have been hospitalized according to CDC data as of yesterday .
And based on the CDC ’ s expansive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ WITH-Covid deaths now stands at 231,000 , a majority portion of which occurred in hospitals .
So no matter how you slice it , more than 87 million of the 88 million infected persons so far were in no mortal danger , and wouldn ’ t have been helped much even if Pfizer ’ s or any other vaccine had been available from day one .
So the question recurs : Among the 94 cases reported on Monday to the tune of a $ 1.5 trillion stock market rally , how many cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home-cured course of the illness ?
The company ’ s press release didn ’ t say , and when they run the clock to the FDA-approved protocol ’ s 164 positive cases mark , they won ’ t say either .
That ’ s because , again , based on the any-case-will-do study design , the trial results can not prove that the vaccine is effective in individuals who would otherwise suffer a severe course of the disease .
In fact , based on the current national metrics , among any random universe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ persons would be hospitalized and 0.26 persons would die .
Alas , perhaps even the purportedly brilliant Mr. Kostin would agree that you can ’ t prove efficacy by comparing fractions of a person .
Nevertheless , out there in the “ wild ” after the vaccine is broadly distributed by , say , next June , the universe of the vaccinated will not be 8 souls who have contracted the disease under the Pfizer study to date , but tens of millions .
And if it doesn ’ t work on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths and/or hospitalizations are reported among the vaccinated , there will be panic in the already frightened streets .
As we said , the mainstream narrative is risibly corrupt .
Come to think of it , Goldman can keep its stinkin ’ $ 115 lottery tickets , too .
The Best of David Stockman

The starting point for understanding the delusional fantasy of the present moment is this: The mainstream narrative is so corrupted by greed, sloth, group think and will to power that it has become a risible caricature of itself. In plain English, what is held to be true by the powers-that-be is flat-out unreliable, unhinged and unsustainable.
For instance, bubble vision is jawing giddily this morning about the new stock market forecast from Goldman’s chief equity strategist, David Kostin. According to this overpaid genius, the silver bullet of a Covid vaccine is now assured owing to the Pfizer announcement (but see the debunking below), so we will soon be back to normal and the stock market will soar to 4,300 on the S&P by the end of next year (2021).
So back up the trucks!
That’s a 25% gain (with dividends) from here if you are an old-fashioned troglodyte who buys stock with cash. But for an eazy peazy fortune, just call your Goldman broker and order some December 2021 calls. For instance, 3900 strike calls expiring on that date can be had for $115 per share, meaning that you stand to make 3.5X your money just by closing your eyes, hitting the buy key and waiting for Goldman to send you the check for the $400 gain when its forecast comes true. Anyone Who Tells You V... Coleman, Dr Vernon Buy New $3.99 (as of 04:06 UTC - Details)
Then again, it needs be recalled that in their wisdom, sell side analysts now see December 2020 LTM earnings on the S&P 500 coming in at $91.80 per share, and then leaping upwards by 47% to $135.13 per share by December 2021. Yet even if the latter hockey stick should come true, the implied PE multiple at Goldman’s swell new December 2021 price target is 31.8X!
That’s right. If you shell out the $115 per share options premium you’ve got to believe that neither Sleepy Joe, nor Kamala Harris and her progressive-left comrades, nor the Covid, nor a gridlocked Washington, nor a confused or faltering Fed, nor any other untoward development will stand in the way over the next 14 months of a booming return to economic normalcy, a 47% gain in profits and a PE multiple more than double the historic average!
Or, in the alternative, even at a frisky December 2021 PE multiple of 18X on that year’s reported earnings, the latter would have to post at $240 per share on an LTM basis to hit the Goldman target. Now, that would be up by 73% from the pre-Covid all-time peak of $139 per share in December 2019 and 164% compared to the (optimistic) Wall Street consensus for December 2020.
But, hey, don’t snicker. That’s the mighty Goldman Sachs reinforcing the mainstream narrative.
Just the same, and to paraphrase Abe Lincoln’s famous story about the man who was tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail: If it weren’t for the honor of doing business with Goldman, we’d just as soon keep the $115.
Of course, Goldman doesn’t base its stock price forecast on the kind of earnings that CEOs and CFOs must report honestly to the SEC on penalty of jail time: Namely, GAAP net income.
Instead, they want you to believe that multiples are “reasonable” via the use of ex-items earnings, which are always 10-30% higher than reported earnings because they eliminate purported one-time gains and losses and non-cash items charged to the P&L in the current period like goodwill write-downs or restructuring provisions.
But here’s the thing. Anything that hits the income statement was a cash item at some point in either the past (e.g. goodwill) or the future (e.g. restructuring provisions) and if it carries a negative sign it represents a dissipation of corporate resources and value. Peak Trump: The Undrai... David A. Stockman Best Price: $12.72 Buy New $43.07 (as of 11:40 UTC - Details)
Likewise, eliminating one-time gains and losses is not a valid earnings-neutral smoothing procedure because in every quarter as far as the eye can see going back into the fog of ancient history, one-time losses always exceed one-time gains, and usually vastly so.
Thus, during the September 2020 LTM period, GAAP earnings posted at $97.68 per share or 19% below the Goldman-favored ex-items figure of $120.48 per share, while the shortfall in the June 2020 LTM figure was 21%.
For the last 12 quarters combined, the average ex-items figure of $142 per share was 16% higher than the GAAP figure of $122 per share. So you can take the “reasonable” PE canard with a grain of salt, but even then the current Goldman stock price forecast embodies the mother of all hockey sticks.
That is, ex-items earnings for the S&P 500 are now forecast by the street consensus to weigh in at $117.36 per share for the December 2020 LTM period, which figure Goldman projects to rise to $175 per share by December 2021.
So you have to believe that ex-items earnings will soar by 50% in just one year’s time and still be willing to pay 24.5X for said miracle of escape from a Covid/Lockdown shattered economy that shows exactly no signs at the moment of getting up on its hind legs and leaping skyward.
We do believe, therefore, that “unhinged” does aptly characterize the current mainstream narrative, and that’s in part because we think the imminence and efficacy of the vaccine silver bullet is way overdone; and also because despite the Fed’s best verbal flim-flam we do not think the laws of sound money have been repealed and that the Fed can keep monetizing 100% of Uncle Sam’s $2-3 trillion deficits indefinitely.
Yet, if there is no vaccine silver bullet next year, you will have the Virus Patrol re-energized and completely unshackled under the nation’s new man of “science” in the Oval Office. Just this afternoon, for instance, one of Sleepy Joe’s closest helpmates – Gauleiter Andrew Cuomo of New York – decreed that anyone entertaining more than 10 guests in their own private home will be subject to fine and arrest for allegedly spreading the Plague. Covid-19: The Greatest... Coleman, Dr Vernon Buy New $14.71 (as of 04:43 UTC - Details)
Likewise, if the Eccles Building does not keep buying up Uncle Sam’s tsunami of supply, the bond market is a cataclysm waiting to happen.
As to the silver bullet, just consider what Pfizer actually reported. Namely, that from a trial pool of 43,538 participants they now have results for 94 individuals who tested positive for Covid-19, of which 86 were in the placebo group and 8 among those getting the two-shot vaccinations.
That’s how they get their ballyhooed 90% effectiveness claim, but we say, whoa!
That conclusion is based on only 0.216% of the trial universe, yet the company’s press release – -which enabled the CEO to sell 60% of his stock at a huge profit on Monday – contained zero information on whether the 94 cases were representative of the study population with respect to age, medical condition etc. and whether the actual Covid cases among the 94 reported to have tested positive were sniffles, mild, moderate, severe or death-threatening.
The truth is, the company’s press release amounted to nothing more than an (apparently) legal stock touting ad. Mr. Albert Bourla is now $6 million richer, but the most substantive thing contained in the press release not previously known was, well, this bit of soap-selling:
Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO.
This gets us to the point that the irrepressible Jon Rappaport keeps raising. To wit, why would anyone think that a 0.216% share of the trial universe is meaningful or reliable?
Moreover, why would the FDA go along with this, or especially the entire study protocol, about which the company’s press release conveys the following:
The trial is continuing to enroll and is expected to continue through the final analysis when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued. The Great Deformation:... David Stockman Best Price: $4.26 Buy New $8.99 (as of 05:50 UTC - Details)
Yes, forget about the 43,538 participants and all the efforts to ensure its representative nature because Pfizer is going to quit when exactly 0.377% (164 participants) of the sample have reported.
A half-way attentive lay person might well say, WTF!
But having said that, he might upon modest further investigation also grasp the entire scam involved in fast-tracking the vaccine and the so-called Operation Warp Speed championed by the White House – the latter having been heralded as some kind of Republican “can-do” demonstration to the Swamp Creatures as to how a “businessman” like the Donald gets things done.
Well, no, not even close. The reason for shutting down the trial after less than one-half of one percent of the participants have been heard from is that in this day and age you can’t test a vaccine candidate by deliberately infecting a patient with the virus, most especially the unlucky folks who get the salt water tablet placebo.
Instead, what you have to do is put your feet up on a stool and wait for participants to contract the disease and become infected in the “wild”. That is, in their homes and on the highways and bi-ways of normal life.
But alas, Tony Fauci and his malpracticing doctors, the wanna be Robespierre’s they have unleashed among Blue State mayors and and governors, and the constant Chyrons of death running across the cable TV screens, have most of the sheeples, including those enrolled in the Pfizer study, scarred to death. So they do not leave home without their mask-up and without social distancing on the sidewalks, hallways and grocery store checkout counters.
So, then, how in the hell are study participants supposed to catch the Covid in the wild? Under the rules of ethics in these matters, the ones getting the real shot cannot even be told to get frisky and drop their mask every now and then in order to help the corporate folks at Pfizer complete their study and harvest their tens of billions of vaccine sales. COVID Operation: What ... Prier, Shane D Best Price: $26.63 Buy New $19.99 (as of 06:48 UTC - Details)
Needless to say, that’s why only 0.216% of participants (94) managed to get the Plague, which is allegedly running rampant in America, during the first three months of the trial; and why at that rate it would take 11 years to get a return from even 10% of the participants.
So there is a reason why it normally takes 3-5 years to do a vaccine trial: It seems that even the FDA is unwilling to let drug companies deliberately kill placebo-taking patients in order to speed up the process.
And that gets us to an even more insidious aspect of the silver bullet myth. Namely, because it takes so ungodly long for mask-up trial participants to get infected in the “wild” when the latter is operating effectively under economic martial law, the study protocol assumes that any old case will do – even if so mild as to be barely symptomatic and readily cured with bed rest and drinking lots of liquids.
As Jon Rappaport noted regarding the generic case with all of these Covid-vaccine trials:
You see, the vaccine maker starts out with 30,000 HEALTHY volunteers. So, if they waited for 150 of them to come down with severe pneumonia, a serious case of COVID, how long do you think that would take? Five years? Ten years?
The vaccine maker can’t possibly wait that long.
These 150 COVID cases the vaccine maker is looking for would be mild. Just a cough. Or chills and fever. That scenario would only take a few months to develop. And face it, chills, cough, and fever aren’t unique to COVID. Anyone can come down with those symptoms.
THEREFORE, THE WHOLE CLINICAL TRIAL IS DESIGNED, UP FRONT, TO FIND 150 CASES OF MILD AND MEANINGLESS AND SELF-CURING “COVID.”
About which, no one cares. No one should care.
But, as we see, Pfizer is trumpeting their clinical trial of the vaccine as a landmark in human history.
What Rappoport is saying is that by the very nature of the Covid, the only point of a vaccine is to protect the small minority who develop severe cases owing to age, comorbidites or otherwise weakened immune systems, and especially those who suffer a life-threatening course of the disease. But as of the present, the CDC estimates that about 88 million American’s have been infected – the overwhelming bulk of whom didn’t even know it because they were asymptomatic or experienced a mild-course of the disease and were home cured.
In fact, only 500,000 of these 88 million have been hospitalized according to CDC data as of yesterday. And based on the CDC’s expansive way of counting, the number of WITH-Covid deaths now stands at 231,000, a majority portion of which occurred in hospitals.
So no matter how you slice it, more than 87 million of the 88 million infected persons so far were in no mortal danger, and wouldn’t have been helped much even if Pfizer’s or any other vaccine had been available from day one.
So the question recurs: Among the 94 cases reported on Monday to the tune of a $1.5 trillion stock market rally, how many cases required hospitalization or involved even a serious home-cured course of the illness?
The company’s press release didn’t say, and when they run the clock to the FDA-approved protocol’s 164 positive cases mark, they won’t say either.
That’s because, again, based on the any-case-will-do study design, the trial results cannot prove that the vaccine is effective in individuals who would otherwise suffer a severe course of the disease. In fact, based on the current national metrics, among any random universe of 164 infected people, exactly 0.57 persons would be hospitalized and 0.26 persons would die.
Alas, perhaps even the purportedly brilliant Mr. Kostin would agree that you can’t prove efficacy by comparing fractions of a person.
Nevertheless, out there in the “wild” after the vaccine is broadly distributed by, say, next June, the universe of the vaccinated will not be 8 souls who have contracted the disease under the Pfizer study to date, but tens of millions. And if it doesn’t work on the severe cases and even a few hundred deaths and/or hospitalizations are reported among the vaccinated, there will be panic in the already frightened streets.
As we said, the mainstream narrative is risibly corrupt.
Come to think of it, Goldman can keep its stinkin’ $115 lottery tickets, too.
PEAK TRUMP, IMPENDING CRISES, ESSENTIAL INFO & ACTION
Reprinted with permission from David Stockman’s Contra Corner.
The Best of David Stockman


lewrockwell--2020-11-13--When Should Libertarians Attach Themselves to Political Causes?

In a hyperpoliticized 2020 , libertarian support for Trump this election has probably been the greatest for a Republican candidate other than Ron Paul .
It may not be out of an admiration for Trump , but rather to vote against the socialism and violence characterized by the modern American left .
The Right at least believes in some degree of property rights and that the government does not have the answers to all of our problems , but are Trump and his followers so much better that we must hitch our wagon to theirs ?
The problem with American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than the state , loves the past more than liberty , feels a greater attachment to nationalism than to the idea of self-determination , believes brute force is the answer to all social problems , and thinks it is better to impose truth rather than risk losing one ’ s soul to heresy .
It has never understood the idea of freedom as a self-ordering principle of society .
It has never seen the state as the enemy of what conservatives purport to favor .
It has always looked to presidential power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right and true about America .
Economics in One Lesso ... Hazlitt , Henry Best Price : $ 2.43 Buy New $ 7.43 This summation is unfortunately sounding like an increasing number of libertarians , and if we attach ourselves to the conservative movement and focus on hating the Left more than we do the state , we will fail just as they have at losing ground to the Left , and the state will continue to grow .
Whether Trump has been deceitful or unable to make much progress against the deep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get behind have not been fulfilled .
US troops are still littered across the globe and the wars wage on .
The Swamp has not been drained .
Gun rights have not improved .
Bump stocks , a firearm novelty , have been banned by the ATF under his administration ( something even Obama did not do ) .
Let us also not forget that socialism has expanded under Trump in the previous year through increased unemployment benefits and stimulus checks .
[ * ] There is no evidence that four more years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Certainly , there have been some bright spots during the Trump era that should be championed , such as a number of pardons and commutations for nonviolent drug offenders , tax cuts early in his presidency , and the removal of the Obamacare mandate , but these are drops in a bucket .
Perhaps the support for a second term is not about the aforementioned but about being on the right side of the culture war ( pun intended ) , but does voting with the Trump crowd advance the libertarian cause ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and family ” comes much baggage .
Look at any Trump rally or boat parade and it will be filled with thin blue line flags , a symbol that should make anyone who knows the evils of the state shudder .
These are people who unabashedly support the strong arm of the state , the goons that enforce any number of unconstitutional and immoral laws .
They do not want to do away with having masters ; they just want a better master .
Our Enemy , the State Albert Jay Nock Best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9.95 This is not to say we should not align with the Right when applicable , but our focus can not devolve into a war against the Left as conservatives have erred in doing .
Fighting against the Left and their path to the destruction of Western civilization is absolutely necessary , but it is still only a means .
The end is the restoration of absolute property rights through the abolition of the state .
Participating in the democratic process and therefore legitimizing mob rule does not help this process .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden , despite evidence of mass voter fraud .
Biden may well be installed illegitimately .
This is outraging , of course , as the pretenses of fairness are being dropped , but the truth is that all elections are illegitimate .
No man has the right to rule over another no matter how many check a box next to their name .
This should be the focus .
Instead , many libertarians have decided to use a sacred tool of the state to support a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what can be done instead ?
Unfortunately , there is no immediate solution to stopping the expansion of the state , but ideological battles are fought by playing the long game .
The Left has gained immense power , but it took decades of indoctrinating the youth .
Against the State : An ... Rockwell Jr. , Llewelly ... Best Price : $ 5.02 Buy New $ 5.52 We must find ways to spread our ideas .
If education is key , then removing our children from government schools is foundational .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to explore libertarian works .
The Mises Institute is currently offering f of Hazlitt ’ s Economics in One Lesson to do just that .
This book may not question the legitimacy of the state , but it gets the reader to think about unseen economic costs—something so basic and yet overlooked in the mainstream .
This may be the first domino to fall for many who read it .
We must also be prepared to respond to the violence waged against us by the state , whether from the left or the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and well trained .
More than anything , we must not forget that the state is the problem .
The Left is a problem because of their adoration of the state and their willingness to use violence to see that their ends are met .
The Right is problematic for the very same reasons , just watered down .
Danger may be imminent , and it is appealing to pick the better of two sides .
But if we lose sight of what is actually the problem , we fail the many great @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many of us to be enemies of the state .
[ * ] This is not to say that it is problematic to take back money that has been stolen from you , but this was not the reason the money was issued .

In a hyperpoliticized 2020, libertarian support for Trump this election has probably been the greatest for a Republican candidate other than Ron Paul. It may not be out of an admiration for Trump, but rather to vote against the socialism and violence characterized by the modern American left. The Right at least believes in some degree of property rights and that the government does not have the answers to all of our problems, but are Trump and his followers so much better that we must hitch our wagon to theirs?
In 2006, Lew Rockwell w rote that
The problem with American conservatism is that it hates the left more than the state, loves the past more than liberty, feels a greater attachment to nationalism than to the idea of self-determination, believes brute force is the answer to all social problems, and thinks it is better to impose truth rather than risk losing one’s soul to heresy. It has never understood the idea of freedom as a self-ordering principle of society. It has never seen the state as the enemy of what conservatives purport to favor. It has always looked to presidential power as the saving grace of what is right and true about America.
Economics in One Lesso... Hazlitt, Henry Best Price: $2.43 Buy New $7.43 (as of 12:35 UTC - Details) This summation is unfortunately sounding like an increasing number of libertarians, and if we attach ourselves to the conservative movement and focus on hating the Left more than we do the state, we will fail just as they have at losing ground to the Left, and the state will continue to grow.
Whether Trump has been deceitful or unable to make much progress against the deep state, the promises that libertarians could get behind have not been fulfilled. US troops are still littered across the globe and the wars wage on. The Swamp has not been drained. Gun rights have not improved. Bump stocks, a firearm novelty, have been banned by the ATF under his administration (something even Obama did not do). Let us also not forget that socialism has expanded under Trump in the previous year through increased unemployment benefits and stimulus checks.[*] There is no evidence that four more years of Trump would yield different results.
Certainly, there have been some bright spots during the Trump era that should be championed, such as a number of pardons and commutations for nonviolent drug offenders, tax cuts early in his presidency, and the removal of the Obamacare mandate, but these are drops in a bucket.
Perhaps the support for a second term is not about the aforementioned but about being on the right side of the culture war (pun intended), but does voting with the Trump crowd advance the libertarian cause? With the “God, guns, and family” comes much baggage. Look at any Trump rally or boat parade and it will be filled with thin blue line flags, a symbol that should make anyone who knows the evils of the state shudder. These are people who unabashedly support the strong arm of the state, the goons that enforce any number of unconstitutional and immoral laws. They do not want to do away with having masters; they just want a better master. Our Enemy, the State Albert Jay Nock Best Price: $9.84 Buy New $9.95 (as of 03:20 UTC - Details)
This is not to say we should not align with the Right when applicable, but our focus cannot devolve into a war against the Left as conservatives have erred in doing. Fighting against the Left and their path to the destruction of Western civilization is absolutely necessary, but it is still only a means. The end is the restoration of absolute property rights through the abolition of the state. Participating in the democratic process and therefore legitimizing mob rule does not help this process.
As I am writing, the media has called the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden, despite evidence of mass voter fraud. Biden may well be installed illegitimately. This is outraging, of course, as the pretenses of fairness are being dropped, but the truth is that all elections are illegitimate. No man has the right to rule over another no matter how many check a box next to their name. This should be the focus. Instead, many libertarians have decided to use a sacred tool of the state to support a cause that is not profreedom.
So what can be done instead? Unfortunately, there is no immediate solution to stopping the expansion of the state, but ideological battles are fought by playing the long game. The Left has gained immense power, but it took decades of indoctrinating the youth. Against the State: An ... Rockwell Jr., Llewelly... Best Price: $5.02 Buy New $5.52 (as of 11:35 UTC - Details)
We must find ways to spread our ideas. If education is key, then removing our children from government schools is foundational. We must also encourage those with questioning minds to explore libertarian works. The Mises Institute is currently offering f ree copies of Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson to do just that. This book may not question the legitimacy of the state, but it gets the reader to think about unseen economic costs—something so basic and yet overlooked in the mainstream. This may be the first domino to fall for many who read it.
We must also be prepared to respond to the violence waged against us by the state, whether from the left or the right. This means being well armed and well trained. More than anything, we must not forget that the state is the problem. The Left is a problem because of their adoration of the state and their willingness to use violence to see that their ends are met. The Right is problematic for the very same reasons, just watered down. Danger may be imminent, and it is appealing to pick the better of two sides. But if we lose sight of what is actually the problem, we fail the many great men before us who have encouraged so many of us to be enemies of the state.
[*] This is not to say that it is problematic to take back money that has been stolen from you, but this was not the reason the money was issued.


lewrockwell--2020-11-13--Vote Fraud: The News Networks are the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain, the Great Wall of China

I TOLD YOU Joe Biden ’ s handlers have a plan to put America into the darkness .
They want a death-march .
Dr. Michael Osterholm , the newest Biden Covid-19 advisor , is calling for a national lockdown .
Since he ’ s an economic genius , he claims the government can bail out everyone in the country with $ $ to keep us from suffering .
So if you don ’ t think the election and vote fraud are important , think again .
Here is the basic fact : the only stage props standing between The People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the major news networks .
Read that again .
Get it into your head .
If the networks can ’ t hold back the truth , their wall falls .
And THEN everything changes .
Have you been seeing what ’ s happening at FOX ?
That part of the wall is already down .
FOX is disintegrating .
The straight pork-head news people are carrying on with their usual line of nonsense about the election and the new president ; Biden .
Meanwhile , Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity are exposing vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sitting in a very large frying pan and the heat is ratcheting up every day .
It ’ s a circus of schizophrenia .
That leaves NBC , CBS , ABC , and CNN .
They ’ re the “ remain calm ” crowd .
They have a big problem .
They don ’ t want to engage in an all-out fight by arguing the election was damn real and damn honest .
That would send a signal there IS something to fight about .
So instead they run stories about the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the country .
But that ’ s not going to work .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is telling Democrats to stop lecturing Republicans about the need to concede the election .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo bluntly told FOX that verifying the actual and legitimate vote count is part of the electoral process .
When these men talk , it ’ s automatically news .
You can ’ t pretend they ’ re not talking .
So the networks do report their statements and THEN pretend nothing has happened .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trying to keep its citizens from learning about the Beatles .
The television anchors at CBS , NBC , ABC , and CNN know what ’ s going on .
They realize the vote-fraud story is exploding all over the world .
They know it ’ s not going away .
They also know it ’ s legitimate .
After all , the networks made the calls and projections of victory for Biden .
They ’ re in the middle of the fraud , up to their necks .
It only takes one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , reaching the end of his rope .
He blurts out : OK , WE DON ’ T KNOW .
WE DON ’ T KNOW WHO WON THE ELECTION .
Some unhinged loon over at CNN , where they hire anyone off the street to report the news , might say : “ This whole thing ’ s a farce .
I just parrot the party line .
You want the truth ?
I have no idea who won.
” Here ’ s a Zen koan for you : what ’ s the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crashing all at once ?
These news networks look like a giant iron wall .
But they ’ re not .
Not anymore .
Imagine an ocean at night , and in the middle of that vast expanse , there is one aircraft carrier .
On the carrier , under bright lights , sit these networks , floating and bobbing , transmitting gibberish to the rest of the world .
The networks ’ stand-in , social media , are trying to contain and black out comments about vote-fraud , but that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sieve .
Jokesters are now calling themselves president-elect Jack and president-elect Mary and president-elect Carl .
Anybody can be a president-elect .
For years , I ’ ve been writing about the severe decline in the network-anchor talent pool .
There is no Walter Cronkite , no Harry Reasoner , no Chet Huntley anymore .
They don ’ t breed them .
We ’ re down to the third and fourth string benchwarmers .
Lester Holt , the Lurch cadaver .
David Muir , the Sears underwear model .
Norah O ’ Donnell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Wolf Blitzer , air-raid warden from the first Iraq war , whose name alone gave him gravitas , because it fit with the US bombing runs .
They can ’ t hold the line against the army of vote-fraud fact-finders .
THIS CAN BE THE MOMENT .
The networks are ready to fall and collapse .
If the thunderous avalanche of vote-fraud reveals keeps rolling , millions and millions MORE people will realize , and speak out about , the farce that is mainstream news .
The networks reported the election results @ @ @ @ @ @ @ projected their winner .
They lied on cue .
Afterwards , they refused to face facts .
They covered up the facts .
They lied about their own lies .
They fixed an election .
No matter who is inaugurated as the next president , this isn ’ t over .
Make that promise .
Take that vow .
The rabid culture-cancelers are celebrating their victory , their hero , the old man who can ’ t talk straight and should be sitting on a back porch staring out at pastures and hills @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a real fall of a real institution looks like .
They will have an idea , if we keep going .
The news networks are ready to go down below the waves .
The term , Fourth Estate , was once used to describe the press .
It meant journalists were supposed to provide a check against the runaway power of government .
Now it means : mouthpiece for dictatorial government and advocate for a chosen political party .
So be it .
The networks have made their bed .
A bed of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So let ’ s put them to sleep in that bed and say good night .
Let ’ s make a world in which they have no part .
Why the hell not ?
Anything is possible .
If you can ’ t see that right now , you ’ re making yourself blind on purpose .
It ’ s a nice trick , but stop doing it .
Get to work , end the steal .
The WHOLE steal .
The steal of the news .
The steal of reality .
@ @ @ @ @

I TOLD YOU Joe Biden’s handlers have a plan to put America into the darkness. They want a death-march. Dr. Michael Osterholm, the newest Biden Covid-19 advisor, is calling for a national lockdown.
Since he’s an economic genius, he claims the government can bail out everyone in the country with $$ to keep us from suffering.
So if you don’t think the election and vote fraud are important, think again.
Here is the basic fact: the only stage props standing between The People and the truth about vote fraud are the major news networks.
Read that again. Get it into your head.
If the networks can’t hold back the truth, their wall falls.
And THEN everything changes.
Have you been seeing what’s happening at FOX? That part of the wall is already down. FOX is disintegrating.
The straight pork-head news people are carrying on with their usual line of nonsense about the election and the new president; Biden. Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity are exposing vote fraud. The executives at FOX are sitting in a very large frying pan and the heat is ratcheting up every day. It’s a circus of schizophrenia.
That leaves NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN. They’re the “remain calm” crowd. They have a big problem. They don’t want to engage in an all-out fight by arguing the election was damn real and damn honest. That would send a signal there IS something to fight about.
So instead they run stories about the “new Biden administration” and its plans for the country. But that’s not going to work. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is telling Democrats to stop lecturing Republicans about the need to concede the election. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo bluntly told FOX that verifying the actual and legitimate vote count is part of the electoral process.
When these men talk, it’s automatically news. You can’t pretend they’re not talking. So the networks do report their statements and THEN pretend nothing has happened.
It’s like the old Soviet Union trying to keep its citizens from learning about the Beatles.
The television anchors at CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN know what’s going on. They realize the vote-fraud story is exploding all over the world. They know it’s not going away. They also know it’s legitimate.
After all, the networks made the calls and projections of victory for Biden. They’re in the middle of the fraud, up to their necks.
It only takes one. One anchor, or major reporter, reaching the end of his rope. He blurts out: OK, WE DON’T KNOW. WE DON’T KNOW WHO WON THE ELECTION.
Some unhinged loon over at CNN, where they hire anyone off the street to report the news, might say: “This whole thing’s a farce. I just parrot the party line. You want the truth? I have no idea who won.”
Here’s a Zen koan for you: what’s the sound of a thousand virtual information systems crashing all at once?
These news networks look like a giant iron wall. But they’re not. Not anymore. Imagine an ocean at night, and in the middle of that vast expanse, there is one aircraft carrier. On the carrier, under bright lights, sit these networks, floating and bobbing, transmitting gibberish to the rest of the world.
The networks’ stand-in, social media, are trying to contain and black out comments about vote-fraud, but that’s a losing battle. Twitter is a sieve. Jokesters are now calling themselves president-elect Jack and president-elect Mary and president-elect Carl. Anybody can be a president-elect.
For years, I’ve been writing about the severe decline in the network-anchor talent pool. There is no Walter Cronkite, no Harry Reasoner, no Chet Huntley anymore. They don’t breed them. We’re down to the third and fourth string benchwarmers.
Lester Holt, the Lurch cadaver. David Muir, the Sears underwear model. Norah O’Donnell, baton-twirling runner-up in a county fair. Wolf Blitzer, air-raid warden from the first Iraq war, whose name alone gave him gravitas, because it fit with the US bombing runs.
They can’t hold the line against the army of vote-fraud fact-finders.
THIS CAN BE THE MOMENT.
The networks are ready to fall and collapse.
If the thunderous avalanche of vote-fraud reveals keeps rolling, millions and millions MORE people will realize, and speak out about, the farce that is mainstream news.
The networks reported the election results. They cooked the results. They projected their winner. They lied on cue. Afterwards, they refused to face facts. They covered up the facts. They lied about their own lies. They fixed an election.
No matter who is inaugurated as the next president, this isn’t over. Make that promise. Take that vow.
The rabid culture-cancelers are celebrating their victory, their hero, the old man who can’t talk straight and should be sitting on a back porch staring out at pastures and hills. These cancelers have no idea what a real fall of a real institution looks like.
They will have an idea, if we keep going. The news networks are ready to go down below the waves.
The term, Fourth Estate, was once used to describe the press. It meant journalists were supposed to provide a check against the runaway power of government. Now it means: mouthpiece for dictatorial government and advocate for a chosen political party.
So be it. The networks have made their bed. A bed of lies on every vital issue we face. So let’s put them to sleep in that bed and say good night.
Let’s make a world in which they have no part. Why the hell not?
Anything is possible. If you can’t see that right now, you’re making yourself blind on purpose. It’s a nice trick, but stop doing it.
Get to work, end the steal. The WHOLE steal. The steal of the news. The steal of reality.
Reprinted with permission from Jon Rappoport’s blog.
The Best of Jon Rappoport


lewrockwell--2020-11-13--A Biden Adminstration Makes the Lessons of WWI Newly Relevant

It ’ s November the 11th again .
The poppies are all out , worn by TV personalities ( as instructed by their PR department ) , and politicians who have long forgotten what it was supposed to mean .
“ Never Again ” , that was the intention .
But it happened again .
And again and again and again and again .
The wars never stopped , not because of religion or racism or humanity ’ s bloodthirsty nature…but because of money .
Money and power for the very few – the driving force behind almost every war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ War is a racket ” , that ’ s how Major General Smedley D. Butler , put it : War is a Racket - The ... Smedley Butler , Smedle ... Best Price : $ 5.41 Buy New $ 5.40 I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country ’ s most agile military force , the Marine Corps .
I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General .
And during that period , I spent most of my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Big Business , for Wall Street and for the Bankers .
In short , I was a racketeer , a gangster for capitalism .
This message is more important than ever now , with a Biden administration being crow-barred into power at the cost of even the facade of democracy .
Biden is not “ progressive ” , no matter what they call him or how many rainbow flags they wave .
He is not new .
He is old , in more ways than one .
The Warhawks in politics and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea .
The BBC is putting out a new “ documentary ” series about Syria .
The Guardian is writing about “ US leadership on the world stage ” .
One year on from his death , the press has decided that Russia is to blame for James Le Mesurier ’ s “ suicide ” .
The Plot to Seize the ... Archer , Jules Best Price : $ 2.76 Buy New $ 8.89 Back in September , Josh Rogin writing in the Washington Post was even more flagrant , demanding Biden : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see where this is going .
Whatever Trump may be , there ’ s no denying he ’ s been the least militarily aggressive president in recent memory .
For the first time in nearly 40 years , a President did not start a new war in his term .
That is likely to change .
They will begin drip-feeding propaganda on some “ enemy ” state soon enough – most likely Syria .
The war drums will bang softly at first , they always do , but they will build .

It’s November the 11th again. The poppies are all out, worn by TV personalities (as instructed by their PR department), and politicians who have long forgotten what it was supposed to mean.
“Never Again”, that was the intention. But it happened again. And again and again and again and again.
The wars never stopped, not because of religion or racism or humanity’s bloodthirsty nature…but because of money. Money and power for the very few – the driving force behind almost every war, no matter the thin ideological veneer.
“War is a racket”, that’s how Major General Smedley D. Butler, put it: War is a Racket - The ... Smedley Butler, Smedle... Best Price: $5.41 Buy New $5.40 (as of 05:40 UTC - Details)
I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
This message is more important than ever now, with a Biden administration being crow-barred into power at the cost of even the facade of democracy. Biden is not “progressive”, no matter what they call him or how many rainbow flags they wave. He is not new. He is old, in more ways than one.
The Warhawks in politics and the press are already salivating at the idea. The BBC is putting out a new “documentary” series about Syria. The Guardian is writing about “US leadership on the world stage”. One year on from his death, the press has decided that Russia is to blame for James Le Mesurier’s “suicide”.
The Plot to Seize the ... Archer, Jules Best Price: $2.76 Buy New $8.89 (as of 05:57 UTC - Details) Back in September, Josh Rogin writing in the Washington Post was even more flagrant, demanding Biden:
…increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to secure some dignity, safety and justice for the Syrian people.”
It’s not to hard to see where this is going. Whatever Trump may be, there’s no denying he’s been the least militarily aggressive president in recent memory. For the first time in nearly 40 years, a President did not start a new war in his term.
That is likely to change. They will begin drip-feeding propaganda on some “enemy” state soon enough – most likely Syria. The war drums will bang softly at first, they always do, but they will build.
Read the Whole Article


lewrockwell--2020-11-13--New Judicial Watch analysis finds 353 counties in 29 states with voter registration over 100%

Report : New Judicial Watch analysis finds 353 counties in 29 states with voter registration over 100 % This is @ @ @ @ @ ” Blue states have counties with more registered voters than residents .
You Lie !
@ @ @ @ @ , Jack Best Price : $ 5.93 Buy New $ 17.79 Remember : The lying @ @ @ @ @ Times devoted their front page to the lie that there was no vote fraud .
@ @ @ @ @ made NO INVESTIGATION of vote fraud but knows that none exists .
Remember : the @ @ @ @ @ news organization .
It is part of the Democrat/Deep State Propaganda Ministry .
The NY @ @ @ @ @ who are convinced that white people are racists and Trump is a Russian agent .
@ @ @ @ @ deadly enemy of America .
The Best of Paul Craig Roberts

Report: New Judicial Watch analysis finds 353 counties in 29 states with voter registration over 100%
This is the way Democrats “won.”Blue states have counties with more registered voters than residents. You Lie!: The Evasions... Cashill, Jack Best Price: $5.93 Buy New $17.79 (as of 11:38 UTC - Details)
Remember: The lying scum at the New York Times devoted their front page to the lie that there was no vote fraud.
Remember: the NY Times made NO INVESTIGATION of vote fraud but knows that none exists.
Remember: the NY Times is not a news organization. It is part of the Democrat/Deep State Propaganda Ministry.
The NY Times is for true believers who are convinced that white people are racists and Trump is a Russian agent.
The NY Times is the deadly enemy of America.
The Best of Paul Craig Roberts