Before the next article about the next entrant into the field of the GOP for 2024, a reminder is in order. This was originally written in November of last year in preparation for the 2024 GOP nomination battle that begins now.
An inflection point is coming. In preparation for what we are about to witness, it is critical to understand that both the DNC and RNC are private corporations with no affiliation to government.
It is a difficult shift in thinking to appropriately understand, but the party system in U.S. politics revolves around two clubs that feed from the same corporate trough and position for influence and affluence within a political dynamic they control.
The priority for both clubs, Republican and Democrat, is NOT primarily ideological. In the modern era, the corporate priority first begins with a battle over who controls each corporation.
As long as there is no challenge, the clubs operate without issue. However, when there is a battle for control of the corporation, a battle that will ultimately determine the financial outcome, the internal battle becomes the priority.
2024 is going to be the election season when we see this corporate battle explode inside in the Republican group. Decades of entrenched power are at stake, and there has been four years of counter positioning and backroom discussion leading up to this moment.
As a consequence, and I know this might sound odd to many people – but winning and/or losing elections becomes a secondary issue. The RNC is not focused on winning elections. The RNC corporation is focused on retaining control.
The RNC want to give the illusion of support for MAGA conservatism because they need the base voter, and they need to maintain the illusion of choice. However, every move they make on an operational level is exactly in line with their previous outlook toward cocktail class republicanism. The MAGA base of support cannot trust this corporate group and we must not be blind or unguarded about the Machiavellian schemes they construct.
When you hear the Sea Island influence group, specifically Ken Griffin, saying the two priorities for control of the Republican Club involve, (1) eliminating populism in the ranks; and (2) realigning with multinational corporate objectives (vis a vis Wall Street), what they are publicly expressing is their RNC corporate need to get rid of the America First economic agenda; to get rid of the MAGA influence.
How has this historically surfaced?
Well, at a national level there is a unique policy priority that almost every politician, on both sides, will avoid discussing. At a national level a single policy priority determines all other national policy outlooks. That policy is the national economic policy.
The national economic policy of a presidential candidate determines all other national policies that flow from the presidential candidate. The national economic policy impacts the obvious policies like energy and trade, and also determines the lesser obvious policies like regulation and even foreign policy.
It is specifically because a candidate’s national economic outlook impacts all other issues, that most national politicians never talk about it.
It would be impossible to support Main Street USA, a popular talking point, and still support the Paris Climate Treaty, the Transpacific Trade Partnership (TPP) or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
To avoid the contradictions, most Democrat and Republican politicians avoid discussing their national economic policy. It is an unspoken rule within the billionaire club and donor game, an economic code of omerta amid most political candidates.
President Trump broke the rule and even went so far as to campaign on an America First economic policy agenda. That core outlook forms the Make America Great Again foundation. MAGA is based on a national economic policy outlook that determines every other national policy as carried by President Trump.
While most Americans may not be able to articulate how the national economic policy impacts them, almost every American feels the consequences through gasoline prices, energy prices, employment, wage rates and the expenses within their everyday lives. To try and hide this reality, often media and economic analysts will say the U.S. President has no control over gasoline prices; however, this is unequivocally false.
Yes, it is true that oil prices are determined by the global market for the product, the supply and the demand. However, the energy policy of the president determines the domestic investment in natural resource development and extraction by oil companies. The energy policy determines domestic supply. The regulatory policy determines the expansion, or lack therein, of oil and gasoline refinery capacity. So yes, it is ultimately the U.S President who determines gasoline prices indirectly through energy and regulatory policy.
If this were not the case, then gasoline would cost nearly the same in almost every nation. It doesn’t. Right now, gasoline in Mexico is almost $1 less than gasoline in the United States, specifically because Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador is not trying to reduce oil resource investment, development and/or gasoline refinery capacity.
President Trump was the first presidential candidate who campaigned on a domestic national economic policy. He even went one step further and stated the T-word, tariffs. Yes, the commerce department holds tools to support a national economic policy.
The tariff tool is another aspect to national economics that most politicians avoid discussing because the toolbox is counter to the interests of Wall Street, multinational corporations and hedge fund managers.
For a reference point you might remember the apoplectic fits from financial and economic punditry to President Trump’s 2017 and 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs.
Economic security is determined by national economic policy. National security is also an outcome of national economic policy. Again, President Trump was also the first modern president to put that outlook to work when he said, “economic security is national security,” and then began constructing a foreign policy agenda using the cornerstone of national economic policy. The result was quite remarkable and led to what eventually became the Trump Doctrine.
It was inherently the US national economic policy that underpinned President Trump challenging NATO to meet their financial obligations. It was national economic policy that drove trade policy and created the north American USMCA trade agreement. It was national economic policy that led to countervailing duties on Chinese and European imports. Which had the remarkable effect of actually lowering prices inside the United States.
We began importing deflation through lower priced goods as the value of the dollar increased and China/EU central banks devalued their currency to avoid the impact of tariffs. Asia and the EU also subsidized their export manufacturing with incentives in order to lower costs as an offset to the tariffs, while simultaneously Asian and European companies began investing in production facilities inside the U.S. as a long-term approach to retaining access to the U.S. market. To put it succinctly, this was MAGAnomics at work.
U.S. wages increased, U.S. job growth increased, U.S. energy prices dropped with increased energy development and a massive cut in regulations, and that in turn lowered the cost of domestic goods. Suddenly we were importing goods at lower prices and generating goods internally at lower prices. More MAGAnomic outcomes, which, not coincidentally, was the exact opposite of all Wall Street claims and predictions.
Making America Great Again, was an outcome of national economic policy. At its core, MAGA is a national economic dynamic within a political movement that is represented by President Donald J Trump.
It is critical to understand, the MAGA economic policy is essentially a national policy completely, and uniquely, under the control of the office of the President. The impact to the lives of Americans is a direct outcome from national economic policy. If a president wants to lead an independently wealthy country, he/she applies a very specific economic outlook to all other policy areas including energy, regulation and foreign policy.
It is also true that opposition to President Donald Trump is uniquely connected to the America-First economic agenda.
Multimillion-dollar lobbyist firms like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, along with dozens of economically established SuperPAC’s funded by Wall Street and multinational corporations, are vehemently opposed to the America-First economic agenda.
All of the national politicians and political candidates taking money from these aforementioned groups necessarily bind themselves to a position that stands against the America-First economic agenda.
In essence, if you take money from the multinationals you cannot deliver on MAGA economic outcomes for banking, trade, finance etc. And that’s exactly where we run into the problem.
Because MAGA national economic priorities conflict with the multinational corporations, hedge funds and the Wall Street donor class, all of the politicians who accept the influence checks from these self-interested groups cannot run on, or deliver, a MAGA national economic agenda.
At a local, county and state level you have direct impact on the political policy agenda in your community. Who you elect to the city council, school board, state house and senate as well as governor’s office has an impact on those local and state priorities. However, national economic policy, national energy and trade policy and national foreign policy are not under your control.
As a result, the same skillset, or policy outlook, that makes a governor a successful state politician doesn’t carry into a federal office, [see the example of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker]. Yes, there are some executive and administration skills that carry over; however, on the bigger issue of steering the national policy agenda, almost every candidate for office comes with the baggage of having accepted donor contributions from a class of people who are paying for economic policy influence.
MAGA cannot be purchased. It is a political outlook that seeks only to enhance the best interests of the American people, regardless of consequence for the multinationals or foreign beneficiaries of globalist U.S. economic policy. Unfortunately, as a result, all of the beneficiaries are aligned to make sure the MAGA economic policy outlook is extinguished. There are literally trillions at stake. This reality underpins the opposition to Donald Trump.
When you understand why the national economic outlook of the President is so important, you can also understand why every political candidate is told not to discuss it by the handlers and campaign managers who are essentially selling their candidate to a millionaire and billionaire donor class who do not want an America-First economic policy agenda.
There is no easy solution for this problem, and ironically this core economic issue is where you find supporters of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in alignment.
Where the Sanders and Trump camps split is on the solution. Team Sanders wants the government to play the role of economic referee (regulation), while Team Trump wants the government to change the rules of the economic game (countervailing duties, tariffs etc).
Before Donald Trump entered politics there was no home for people voting on the issue of a national economic agenda. Both Democrat and Republican candidates had essentially the same worldview on national economic policy because they are all getting money from the same multinational corporate trough. However, President Trump changed that dynamic by presenting an alternative national economic policy called America-First.
For decades middle America was begging the McConnell’s, Ryans, Boehners, Romney’s, McCain’s, Bushes, et al, to make America First economic policies their priority. All of our shouts for help fell upon deaf political ears plugged by corporate donations and influence. Our communities were literally collapsing around us (see rust belt), and yet no national politician would do anything of consequence.
By the time Donald Trump arrived decades of frustration exploded in an eruption of massive applause because he was articulating the central economic issue that was being ignored by the professional political class. The America First agenda is the restoration agenda. From Trump’s national economic policy, the middle-class erosion stopped. Economic security, specifically U.S. employment stability and wage rates, goes hand in glove with border security and immigration controls.
MAGAnomics is the core of the great MAGA republican coalition, a working-class coalition that cuts through all other distinctions and divisions. It is not republican because of political affiliation, it is “MAGA republican” only because the republican party was the political vehicle selected by Donald Trump to install the policy.
This reality creates a problem for the DC professional political class and the corporate media. Because MAGAnomics is the fundamentally binding principle there is no way to fracture the Trump supporter coalition.
I am a “MAGA Republican” by default of my wanting a national economic agenda that looks out for the economic interests of American’s first.
Donald Trump is the irreplaceable Great MAGA King because Donald Trump is the only one who holds that same outlook. Unfortunately, the Republican corporation does not carry that priority. Thus, the Big Ugly battle for control of the Republican Party is being previewed right now, and will grow in scale and consequence very soon.
Let me emphasize the key point. The Republican Party is not positioning to win the 2024 election.
The people in control of Republican Club do not care who is in the White House, that is a secondary objective. What they care about right now is controlling the Republican corporation and stopping the hostile takeover.
Every single Republican presidential candidate for 2024, sans Trump, will be inserted into the race to help the Republican corporation in this battle. When you see them enter, instead of asking, ‘how can they win‘, ask yourself what is their mission on behalf of the Club priority?
This article is correct. I’ll add that money to run elections has to come from somewhere. So far, and I do not see it changing, MAGA Republicans will not donate. You cannot win elections with no money.
Who says MAGA “republicans” won’t donate?
The ONLY donations i have ever given is to President Trump DIRECT, not the republican party.
Ronna is rotten to the core, and the repulsive repubs installed her again. How sickening is that.
I have ONLY donated DIRECTLY to Trump and my local US Rep GOP guy…
Only to Trump.
Is this the best place to donate?
https://secure.winred.com/save-america-joint-fundraising-committee/6abd7e07d3b7cc069/?utm_campaign=20230318&utm_medium=website&_ga=2.52565480.1931508030.1679671940-1001170546.1679671940
NO, this is Ronna McDaniel / Big Club Winred.
But I do not know where to send a snail mail check to VSG. I haven’t come across anyone posting that here.
NO… NOT WINRED, EVER.
Why P. Trump uses that platform for fundraising, is beyond me. Grifters, for sure.
What is the address, online or snail mail, to send directly to President Trump, please!
It will be on his website.
We could … if the election were fair and honest.
In that case, Trump wouldn’t even have to campaign.
He’d still be swept into office.
So the problem isn’t money. It’s fixing the election system.
Why can’t any of you see that?
Because THEY ARE the REASON it is FIXED – ON PURPOSE. They aren’t in the mood to CONFESS.
Pence is THE BIGGEST traitor to the US!!!
He’s no republican, and he’s certainly no christian. He’s nothing but a liar
You missed my point. I know the UNIPARTY (including the GOPe) are the reason the elections are fixed. What I’m saying is that Trump doesn’t need money as much as he needs our help in making the election system fair and honest again. THAT is what we should be focused on doing in the next year.
And I maintain we won’t do that through lawsuits and lawyers, courts, appeals to the GOP leadership, using the media or any other usual method. It’s too late, even if the UNIPARTY wasn’t in control of most of that. It’s going to take our standing in the streets telling the powers that be that we will shut down the machine if they done return the election process to what it was when we could trust it to be fair and honest.
I second that!
Haven’t supported faux news since 2015! Too bad the rest of the clowns don’t get off their azz, and search for real news. Instead, they STILL support huge dem donors like fakebook. People are lazy, selfish, and stupid! Only when their starving will they friggin wake up!
You think a boycot … of any kind .. is going to alter the path we’re on? You are NOT going to change the election system with an economic … or Fox News … boycott. And the election system is the problem.
Agree 100%! Create people’s initiatives in each State to replace voting machines with secure, hand-counted paper ballots, voter id, in-person, single-day voting. Mailed-in ballots only for extremely limited cases-e.g., deployed military, physically incapacitated.
The problem is that can’t be done in time. I think you know this too. The only way we are going to get the system changed before 2024 is to FORCE the establishment to make the changes we want. We force them by shutting down the country if necessary until they do. We do it by interfering with the delivery of food, electricity, water, gas and other goods to and inside blue controlled cities. We make the blue voter base realize that unless our demands are met, they are not going to live their comfortable lives. Not then and not in the future. And given the fact that what we want is actually quite fair to everyone … to both sides, they have no reason not to go along with our demand and force their own party to make the changes before 2024. There is no alternative to this but 1984.
Be A Chooser,
Such a smart point and yet one that is ignored.
NOTHING has been done to eliminate another stolen election. NOTHING………
Remember Rush talking about the day there would be no more real elections.
As usual he was absolutly correct.
We’re there. Unless Trump…………it really doesn’t matter which brand of evil they “elect.”
You aren’t listening. As I’ve said repeatedly, the only fair and honest system is the one we used to have. In person voting on Election Day only, unless physically disabled, then by absentee ballot BEFORE Election Day. Paper ballots only. No counting of the absentee votes before hand. No late votes accepted. Votes counted BY HAND (no machines involved) by the next day. By people we can all trust. Who are carefully watched. ID and signature verification required to vote. No ballet harvesting. Voting only in your precinct. It’s not complex and they never had problems counting the votes in time for the winners to be announced the next day.
The GOPe has no say in this. WE DO. Anyone who wants anything else … especially voting by machine and ballot harvesting is suspect. That alone in my view makes them UNIPARTY.
As for economic activism making them fix the broken election system, you’re dreaming. Boycotting Fox News is not going to make the 2024 GOP primary, much less the 2024 general election fair and honest. You know this in your heart. They frankly don’t care at this point if you don’t watch the mainstream media. The UNIPARTY doesn’t care if Fox News reports every little illegality of the UNIPARTY … because Fox News does not count the votes, does not determine the election system, and until we fix this broken election system, the real vote count isn’t going to matter. 2020 and 2022 should have proven that to all of you.
With the current system in place, however many votes Trump gets in the General election, his UNIPARTY opponent is going to get 5 to 10% more. Guaranteed. And you folks know this is true, all *hope* aside.
But it’s not “either/or” … It’s “both/and”.
Bad Read on MAGA, guy!
Biggest Difference is the Small Doors for MAGA have easily kept up with Mega donors of the Special interests for RINOS and DIMS, and it is the Small INDIVIDUAL donors for those two groups who do NOT keep up, but Many Billionaires who make up the difference – usually for the BIG BUCKS they shuffle around out of OUR TAX MONEY and OUR BANKING.
WHAT those “Billionaires” have Stolen from the CITIZENS with their Expensive “Contracts” with the Govt and MEGA OVERCHARGING in Tax-payer funded “Projects”. ROBBERIES.
Dirty Shyster DEALS! FRAUD! PONZI SCHEMES.
Very short-sighted and baseless comment.
Ummm … this is Donald Trump we are talking about here. A self-made billionaire who didn’t sell his soul to Satan to get where he is. Unlike all the rest of them. He could pay for an entire political campaign and “expense it.”
But he wants people joining him. If not enough people care, then he won’t do it himself.
Not a PRESIDENTIAL campaign, unless he wants to spend ALL his money.
He already paid for 2016 out of pocket. That’s enough! If we want him, we pay for him!
I am a maga republican and I will not donate to the rnc.
Before making any donation, I look at where it goes.
Anything related to the rnc is a STOP sign to my money.
MAGA Republicans need donation portals where their donations are not siphoned off to non-MAGA candidates and RNC administration….YESTERDAY!!!
And there’s your REALLY BIG PROBLEM. After years on my Central Committee, running campaigns (back in pre-internet” days, running phone banks, organizing precinct canvassing, ad nauseum…
I discovered just how cheap they were.
As stated on an earlier post, if PDT gets on a debate stage with all of the rino globalist puppets, he should force a commitment from each of them to restore America’s energy independence and stopping everything related to the Green New Scam. It would be priceless to watch the rinos choke on such commitments
Or they will all just lie like they do so easily about everything else.
Good luck lying to the American People with PDJT on the stage.
This is gonna be more savage than 2016.
They had the chance to do what the Dems did, with Bernie in 2020.
Every Candidate on the stage, raised their hand in agreement, of every Bernie proposal, remember?
This is the “Dillusion” strategy, eliminated Bernie’s uniqueness, by having all 16 candidates parrot them.
They didn’t do this in 2016, and they can not do it again, for the reason Sundance enumerates.
They can not give voice and support to policy positions which flow naturally from PDJT’s economic policies, whether it’s the border, trade with China, National Security/Ukraine.
You see what happened when RDS stepped off the reservation on Ukraine; he quickly got spanked by his handlers, and sent out to try to “clean it up”.
They did NOT have him retract the “pornstar payoff” carefully rehearsed to look off the cuff line, that sealed his fate with his donor/masters.
They GAVE him that line, and they liked it.
The RNC does NOT want PDJT to have the nomination, but will they use the authority they clearly have, to simply deny him the endorsement?
I think not. The next bone of contention will be over his choice of VP.
He will not want another Pence, and THEY don’t want KL, and will urge he take one of the primary losers (RINO) to “heal the interparty rift, and unite the party, so we can beat the Dems”.
They will continue to throw everything they have at him, which seems to have a fundraiser effect for him, as well as boosting his poll #’s.
Just the rumor of arrest, and his campaign coffers have increased by $1.5 mil/week.
His poll #’s continue to climb while his nearest opponents drops (and MAGA don’t do polling!).
The election, and the battle in the U.S. is not Dem vs Rep., it’s MAGA vs UNIPARTY.
Worldwide it’s Nationalist vs. Globalist.
And the 2024 election is the final showdown, the battle for control of the Republican party that has been waged since at least 1964.
Because PDJT chose the Republican party as the vehicle, we are MAGA Republicans,..we should probably consider registering AS Republicans, as a “gesture” of support for PDJT and MAGA, if previously, as a gesture we de-registered from the R party, out of disgust.
That is, if you are MAGA, then you are MAGA Republican, so why not register that way, rather than as “unaffiliated” and call yourself “Independent”.
The vast majority of “Indies” are MAGA.
If they all registered “R” there would be a roughly 2:1 registration “advantage” of R to D.
And it costs NOTHING, but a change in Outlook.
“K.L.” – Kari Lake NEEDS TO BE IN ARIZONA and start THAT DOMINO ROLL on the Move. She has Great Moves going on in COURT now.
I would be very happy with Mike Lindell.
Many want Gen. Flynn.
James O’Keefe III is of age! Now, THERE is some Wild Integrity!
Yes, Kari needs to be in AZ!
Lindell needs to do his MyPillow thing. He doesn’t have a gravitas or the poise to be Veep.
Why would I want to be associated with a sleezy organization like the RNC by registering as an R.
To vote in the Primary.
Lol. They’ll all be doing the Ron DeSantis head adjustment
Which they would not keep anyway. Regardless of which wing – same Vulture.
Nice one!
Where is Mitch, the ring leader? Odd how not a peep about him is spoken.
“Give us the House, give us the Senate, give us the White House”. I will not forgive, I will not forget.
The Turtle is getting ready for exit stage left. Thune is playing possum. This play is intended to ride out the 2024 election cycle, at which point the Turtle retires and Thune steps into his shoes.
Yup, has been coming for a while. Mitch had to stick his head out, way to often in his attempt to snap at PDJT.
By actions and words, he exposed himself and the true nature of the Uniparty, for all to see.
He was forced to, by the emergence of Trump.
Support for Ukraine, Biden spending spree, taking finance off the table for new house, calling for halt to release of J6 tapes, were all right there with Schumer and Biden, which destroys the ILLUSION of a “two opposing parties” narrative (ILLUSION) that he is supposed to maintain.
Too much attention has led to too much animosity directed at Mitch by US, hence he has to go, bring in a “new face” not well known Nationally, because he has been groomed to be Turtles replacement.
Someone suggested that with a couple of Dim SENATORS ‘s “out of sight” right now, it isn’t a “good time” for the Balance of the UNIPARTY for Mitch to take advantage of “Right Wing” advantages.
But I wonder if Mitch is out of sight for the same reason that John Fetterman is.
And another Dim Senator, I’ve forgotten who, also an “illness”, or “something”….
Sen. Ben Ray Luján…
Feinstein has also ‘disappeared’ since her stroke. “some” think she is dead, but like Fetterman, being kept very, very quiet.
If that were the case, Newsom would be eager to put another water carrier in the Senate.
Diane Feinstein.
Cannot stand the lying turtle face.
Pray he has a stroke. He’s due.
When Trump wins the primary…what changes in the voting process have been made since the last stolen election? Not much! We now have AZ & PA turned blue….due to their filthy cheating. That’s 2 states we need. I don’t believe we will conquer ballot harvesting over the dems dialed in tactics. Not to mention all the other ways they cheat with the voting machines etc.
We really need a shot at ‘Discovery’ in the AZ courts that Lake is still battling….to possibly regain AZ. It’s near impossible to win an honest election….when the election is fraudulent to start with. We have a tough road ahead…..
You’re right. Next to nothing has changed with regards to the election system. It’s still controlled by the UNIPARTY and it’s still as corrupt as can be. AZ and PA in 2022 proved that.
I’ve challenged CTH posters repeatedly to name a state that Biden *won* in 2016 that Trump would win in 2024. The only response I get is crickets because everyone knows we are not going to win the election with the current corrupt system.
And you are not going to fix this in the courts. There isn’t time, even if the courts weren’t owned by the UNIPARTY … which they are. The only way we’ll fix this is by massive protests where we threaten to shut down the whole machine unless the election system goes back to something where cheating is next to impossible. Anything less and we might as well prepare ourselves for 1984.
My Governor Mo-Ron DeScumbag, completely ignored millions of Floridian phone calls and email demanding our State be returned to one day only voting and tabulation on watermarked, handcounted paper ballots!! MILLIONS!
You always get to it eventually…In my opinion everything else has been a distraction to keep us dogs chasing the stick over and over again… Trump was aware of the problem before the 2020 election and did nothing to clean up the mess…state republican legislatures and governors at that time actually made it easier for Trumps defeat and their own…PA House is now controlled by Demoocrats. The fix is still in, but who’s really at fault? The barking dogs. Throwing sand in the machine doesn’t happen by making a lot of noise about something and expecting someone else to come up with solutions and to act on our behalf. There are thousands of nonviolent ways to break them and defeat them and it starts with noncompliance to all petty rules and regulations (i.e. vehicle registrations, insurance, etc). It takes building a parallel society that eliminates the need for government intervention in our lives and which replaces their propaganda machines . Ask somebody receiving social security benefits if they would be willing to end social security for the greater benefit of society and the likely response will be… no way I paid into that, I deserve that. They don’t take into account that all people coming after them actually pay in more than they ever did and ignore the warning from Social Security that retirees after 2034 will receive only 700 something dollars for every $1000 due. Ask the beneficiary of medicare and medicaid if they will forego the use of these programs and support the elimination of these programs. The likely answer is no. Everyone seems to want to live forever no matter the cost…Even when they are confronted with the data showing that these programs actually inflate the real cost of healthcare and eldercare they will circle the wagons around what benefits them no matter the expense to others, no matter the cost to freedom. Ask parents to homeschool their kids and they will come up with any excuse as to why they cannot. Unfortunately, the reality is, government involvement inflates the cost of everything. If and when people are willing to sacrifice change will come. Until then change will only come when the system collapses and even then the cycle will eventually repeat itself. The problem and the solutions begin with us. My advice is to rely on the Bible and the Words of Christ for guidance because as we’ve learned from the examples of countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, France, etc. people will sell their souls and freedoms future for a few short term benefits that some other poor schmuck has to pay for… Christ’s way goes against human nature but it’s the only way that ends the vicious corrupt cycle that history has shown us will be repeated again and again and again. This is just my steadfast belief and opinion and for me is not up for debate.
So, how did that clown DA in NYC come into play?
It seems to me that Trump, by announcing his upcoming arrest practiced Patton’s best defense… an offense.
Doing so it he achieved several goals:
Shifts the inquiry away from Trump and into Alvin Bragg.
Now Bragg himself is the target of investigations of political corruption.
Pretty much stops Bragg from indicting Trump.
Unites the majority of the RINOs behind Trump. They can not avoid this, they now stand naked: either you are for or against a banana republic.
Unifies a lot of people behind Trump because the excesses of the Left are clear and obvious.
More and more, Trump keeps amazing me in his ability to make chess moves ahead of the competition.
The “clown” in NY is only in play to the extent UniParty REPUGNICANs and the GOPe Inc will “accommodate” his lawlessness as part of the broader “destroy “Trump” agenda.
Forgot “Makes $1.5 million in a week, in campaign contributions; it was at least in part a “fundraiser”.
Enjoy the lemonade, it’s just sweet enough, while still being quite tart!😚
If Trump is the nominee, what they’ve been doing covertly since 2016 will become public in 2024. It’s been happening in every election since. They’re simply done, the curtains are being pulled down and they know everything’s about to collapse. That’s why they want a seat at the table, or what they think will be a table.
‘Do you think that’s air you’re breathing now?’
Sundance, The tensions and pull inside the uniparty (R) are well summarized. With Rona at the helm control is maintained. How can MAGA box the GOPe in so there are consequences for losing? They did nothing to combat the changes or challenge “the most secure election ever” in 2020 and will repeat for 2024.
PDJT (again) is their worst case scenario.
I believe there must be a new party started asap to prevent GOPe sedition from handling over the election.
The ’24 election has already been stolen. Nothing has been done to fix 2020. 6+ million military age invaders are on U.S. soil. Your fight is not at the ballot box, thats just a distraction. Get ready.
That being the case, for the sake of discussion, you and those who agree are saying “Trump can not win, in 2024” and if he can not win, he has NOTHING to lose.
Nothing more fearsome than the man who has nothing to lose.
IF he agrees with your assessment, he can campaign so as to force the issue with the RNC/GOPe, either forcing them to deny him the RNC endorsement, or forcing the issue over his VP pick.
IMHO, the only way PDJT can start a second (A1) party, is if the RNC effectively kicks HIM out, rather than him leaving them.
Maybe, just as for the RNC/GOPe it is “not about winning the 2024 election” it is about control of the Party, PDJT needs to fight on the same level?
Nicely said. Is mandating “support for the eventual winner” the same as kicking PDJT out?
Question;
Kari Lake, at CPAC stated that she was visited by,..someone she knew, who called first but said they wanted to discuss something with her, but not over the phone.
When they arrived at her house, they said they had an offer from “eastern interests” (or something to that effect, IIRC).
The offer was conditional on her agreeing to stay out of politics, specifically not to run for any political office, FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS.
As we know, she is currently in a legal battle, to resolve her last election to public office.
So, WHAT office IS it, that they didn’t want her to run for, within the next two years, i.e. in 2024.
Senator or Congresswoman for AZ?
Obviously, it’s VPOTUS.
When she turned down their offer, of a Board position and huge salary, they asked her “What WOULD it take”, basically inviting her to “name her price”.
If THEY do not want her on the ticket, it’s a pretty good sign that SHE is EXACTLY who mudt be the VP Candidate, just as PDJT is who MUST be the Candidate for POTUS.
KARI is on the VERGE of smashing the Case of Fraudulent Election in Arizona, there is NOWHERE she needs to be WORSE than IN ARIZONA.
FABULOUS NEWS on THAT FRONT this week!
We may need to look at some of our Brilliant Pundits, Like Michael Flynn, Mike Lindell, Bobby Kennedy Jr., James O’Keefe III, James Woods or Jon Voight…. C’MON, there are some OTHER NAMES and some of them are BRILLIANT.
Actually, they are thinking: 1) an assassination, and 2) VP stepping up, someone completely Uniparty, where they can just do what they want.
If Kari runs, all those bets are off.
Why would anyone vote for a “republicon”? They do not deserve a vote they deserve a sturdy oak branch. Hey – they hate your guts.
So many traitors in our ranks. Ron DeShutdown is not even close to an answer.
Vote with our wallet. National strikes and protests as a start. People need to sacrifice. Build small networks and communities.
Yes, it would be a sacrifice of luxuries basically, nothing that would hurt too bad really—but make the Children of the Evil Empire understand it as such.
As Real Buddy says below this is all correct. He is incorrect that MAGA won’t donate. Reps raise millions on $40 donations. The Dimms have the Limousine Liberal class.
Here is the problem.
I just read two complete articles here in the early morning .
The first was this article, the second was the link to The Trump Doctrine.
Both are very detailed and had great information.
But I am unusual, even among our group.
I’ll read it all. Most Americans won’t, some of them, more every day, can’t.
I now have to get ready to go to work in a construction trailer full of Engineers like myself.
I can point people to this stuff but can’t make them read and absorb this. We need two things quickly: first is to condense this into some sort of outline, chart, bullet list naming as In The Trump Doctrine who is responsible for the local regional outcome and shining a light on them as with Pakistan and the Taliban.Who is responsible for East Palestine OH and making them own it. Whi is responsible for Iran? The EU. Etc,etc.
Second is we need this list In front of Trump so he will stop his childish name calling and call out the real enemy.
His speeches should be “Ron Desantis is ok as a Governor, I endorsed him, but now he is surrounded with these actors,( name them) in these organizations ( name them, like the USChamber of Commerce etc) who want to drive out our Economic Nationalism.and reinstitute Globalist internationalist job snatching and factory stealing.
He needs to Attack Desantis by shining a light on who is supporting him and what they want.
The recent Prager U ad with two kids in chairs back to back said short courses clarified the info so he could make short, sharp points to sell his POV.
Sundance, that is what we need and Trump needs or we will just be hollering into the wind.
We need this condensed now so we can make these points at the coffee pot or the waters cooler, or we won’t connect with the audience.
Hammer meet nail. Well said.
You want to step up as campaign manager? You’d be exactly what he needs.
I really find that with these cerebral types (i e, engineers), that the Socratic Method, asking questions in an area in which the listener has interest, can unlock the door to curiosity on a cretain issue..
And then gently leading him/her to think more deeply, think long-term, etc.
It’s non-threatening, respectful, effective.
Excellent briefing in every way and it matches the observed actions of DC pols and most state governors since 2000.
How do we distill this down further for ammunition when talking to old guard repubs or low info voters?
It is really about the money and everyone but President Trump wants The Big Company to get your money.
2022 midterm results (national and state level…..AZ, GA, etc) is evidence #1 that RNC does not care about winning elections, but getting back control of their corporation.
If Trump is not the 2024 nominee, I WILL NOT vote for the GOPrick RINOrat choice we are given. As suggested in reply to my post a few days ago, I will write his name in. I’ve never written/typed in a name on a ballot before.
Trump and Trump 2024.
One begins to wonder if there is some kind of grand machination in play to provoke and divide.
Where the political figures themselves are ALL just puppets.
For example, the “freedom cities” proposal on March 3 sounded like something we might hear from an authoritarian socialist state leader. Very far from the founding principles of America. Was the point to further divide the base? To make Trump supporters look like fools? Both?
https://truthsocial.com/users/realDonaldTrump/statuses/109960680734613154
Meanwhile, as we fixate on the corrupt political posturing, the 100 Year Plan proceeds apace:
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/why-xi-and-putins-no-limits-partnership-should-be-a-wake-up-call-for-biden/
With all the combined intentional decimations of the US and western alliance continuing apace, along with the complete control mechanisms being moved into place, preparing for the coming “multipolar global governance”.
The biowarfare democide being a key part of the decimation and control mechanisms deployed.
As US citizens ignored realities (e.g. “identity class equity” corroding everything it infects into impotent groupthink mediocrity), even the original “kinetic advantage” of the US was overcome…
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/why-hypersonic-weapons-change-everything
… and the bidenpuppet regime continues weakening the military and depleting what kinetic tools remain, while pushing even harder for a WWIII and capitulation that will collapse the US into a Sino-Russian vassal. (The end state of “the great reset”.)
The core battle in the Republican Party began with Taft and Eisenhower in 1952. You might even say it began in 1912 with Taft and Roosevelt when Taft took trust busting too seriously for Roosevelt and the monied interests likings.
As I read this I wondered if the Republican candidates fully understand — and accept — why they are not supposed to talk about the national economic outlook? Because if they do, then they are complicit in the con being foisted on us.
I am not sure that most really understand how having a particular national economic outlook determines how everything is downstream from that. Some probably do, but just like Satan whispering in someone’s ear that God didn’t really say “that”, these candidates often are led by sweet talking manipulative evil individuals that DO understand. I think more are incompetent than actually evil. But unfortunately, the evil ones seem to rise to the top of the chain of command.
A must read article for every MAGA supporter.
That picture with Trump and DeSantis having dinner looks very different than it did 18(?) months ago.
“The Republican Party is not positioning to win the 2024 election.”
True..
But,Trump is fighting Goliath and some are dividing his base.
The people who say it’s wrong for Trump to support and campaign for Republicans ,
Are the ones I blame for losing the senate to democrats.
SO…..Third party projects are a waste of time and have no TRUMP support..
THIS SHOWS GLARINGLY in Every Election Win the GOP has had in 30 YRS, when the GOP wins the head position, whether the Pres or the Top Congressional Seats, they proceed to out-Commie the Dims by MAGNITUDES, such as going from the Extreme Budgets of the Dims to BLANK CHECK budgets of the GOP who “don’t want to argue” about $$$. They want to be “PLEASANT”.
There has LONG been NO watering down of EVIL from the GOP.
THANKFULLY, this is One Glaring Reason we can so easily see the God Anointing of Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah and Elisha, and Daniel on Donald John Trump.
“John” for “St John”, no doubt.
There is No Question this Anointing is upon him, And such men do NOT fail.
Because The Lord God!
A few others were Offered such an Anointing, but we can tell which of them didn’t even bother to shoulder it, because of the SPECTACULAR WAY they failed to walk in it.
Even though the ones who DID take it made Mistakes – yes, SINNED but in coming to the Lord and Repenting, they were forgiven, and it was not like those who sought their Own satisfaction instead of to please the Lord God of Heaven.
For instance – between King Saul, David, and Solomon, Even though for David’s sake, Solomon achieved amazing recognition, and many think God was Pleased with him, but God gave him a STERN WARNING to not take many wives, or foreign wives, and he took a THOUSAND and most WERE Foreign and he built CITIES for them to worship their false gods in, And God warned him not to do that, but he did, and thus he FAILED to have his line continue on the Throne.
Even though Rehoboam was on the throne a SHORT while, he didn’t fare even as well as King Saul! He was Rotten. and so Solomon FAILED to have a MAN on the throne and Rehoboam was humiliatingly removed for CRASS Stupidity.
1 Kings 11:1-11 …
1 Kings 9:1-9…
Amen, the GOP does not care to win the Presidency in ‘24. They will be working for defeat if PDJT is the nominee. The nomination is the early stages of running the Gauntlet.
The new China-Russia alliance changes everything. Hard to argue that trade with China does not enrich Russia. The trade dynamic is altered. Chinese divestment is looking better every day.
The republicans are destined to lose. While their democratic partners in crime have been tweaking and perfecting ballot harvesting and election fraud the republicans deny it exists. They will never be able to overcome this cheat no matter who they run. Instead of unifying the party, getting behind the one person who could get the most votes DJT, they are busy trying to destroy him and somehow not lose his MAGA America first voters. This is self destructing right before your very eyes.
My first thanks of each day go to the Almighty for everything; the good, the bad, and the ugly. But increasingly I find myself in daily thanks for what is expounded here. For me political discourse is like trying to grasp the complexities of astronomy without a basic understanding of the math. You make things understandable to even the simple minded, and that takes real work. All I can offer is my heartfelt thanks. Thank you Sundance.
Finally, a clear picture of what Americans can expect in electing a President. Now, how do we plant that message into the minds of our middle class (all parties)? Most average Americans if they knew how it affected them personally would vote for the MAGA pathway!
Establishment Republicans (GOPe) have already said they want Biden to remain in 2024 – He is so corrupt and easy to control. However, the GOPe’s main problem is that Biden may not make it – even a room in the psych ward next to Fetterman’s would be fine with the GOPe. Gov DeSantis is a tool, that’s it.
OK I’ll take the heat. There’s no question that President Trump was the most brilliant President in my lifetime, possibly ever. His accomplishments are legion. There’s also no question that it took Biden less than 2 years to destroy most all of these accomplishments all while the Republican Party sat back and watched. Could Trump bring back the days of America First with a win in 2024? I firmly believe he would. HOWEVER, as we’ve witnessed the reversal of our fortunes can only be considered temporary as there are no America First “Republicans” waiting in the wings to continue on this path. Without “representative government” the republic is doomed. Knowing what we know regarding the “two party system” exactly how does the republic survive the long term?
An economics question.
They raised interest rates under Trump. Why didn’t that crush the economy under Trump?
They really raised interest rates under Volcker. They got as high as 21.5%. So in a two word quick answer: Poor Management.
It is going to take awhile to see what really happened. What has leaked out already is they knew since 2019 SVB had big problems. Bank of England talked to the Fed over a year before anything happened about the problems at SVB. My gut some big VC money shorted SVB stock and then pulled money out of SVB. 42 Billion of deposits got pulled in 24 hours. The shorts made a killing. No Risk Management Officer for a year and the new one was hired in January. We do not know yet how much of the Bonds were made up of MBS. Treasury had very poor management also. This episode could have and should have been prevented. Then Yellen says we will not cover Regional and small banks and there we go. Then she says we will cover deposits at those instituions. So Poor Bank Management and Incompetence by the Biden Team.
Properly run banks can stand a big run without problems. Poorly Run Banks cannot.
Because the growth P. Trump engendered offset the normally deflationary effect of rising rates.
Joe is raising rates into a depression, magnifying the deflationary pressures.
It is tiime for Donald Trump to dismiss the Republican Party – he does not, after all, need their money – and create a brand-new party of his own. Get his name on all 50 ballots as an independent or the new-formed “MAGA Party.”
Trump is entirely correct to see that “economic security is national security,” and nowhere is this more apparent than in Ukraine. If Russian commanders all along a thousand-kilometer battle front want 40,000 artillery rounds a day, they can get them – along with as many fresh-built tanks as they ask for. The USA/EU/NATO can no longer do this. The “arsenal of democracy” no longer exists. It is a “rust belt” filled with people who no longer know how to hold down a heavy-factory job and, with their purple hair and nose rings, wouldn’t want to. (And if you drafted them and put a uniform on them, they couldn’t fight.)
And that is why, despite the blow-hard rhetoric and the occasional wunderwaffen, they cannot win this war – nor any war against a first-class economic enemy such as Russia or China. Yet they are now threatening both …
“Make [Your_Country] Great Again” should be an easy concept to grasp. Because, if you won’t do this, of course nobody else will. (Why should they?)
Not enough time… It takes LOTS OF MONEY and TIME to create, register, organize, fund, and qualify a new party…Been there, done that (Perot), and it will cost billions.
Needs at least two years to get it up and running.
Excellent article. Tkyvm
As long as Elections are rigged if both parties do not put up a controlled candidate….I’d rather have a hill of beans……
Our local Republican state delegate kicks off his campaign this Tuesday. All of his emails list his “sponsors” and a colored star indicates their sponsorship “level” (Diamond; Platinum; Gold etc). He is saying all the right things but is playing the money game hard, and my gut tells me he’ll continue to play it if elected – to his benefit, not mine. I’m on his mailing list since I was a Republican poll watcher last cycle, and a county election officer. This year I’ll serve as an election officer, but want nothing to do with the Republican Party, at least as far as being involved as a foot soldier.
I am a numbers guy. If I ran the RNC and had a candidate that got a record amount of votes, for the first time ever received more votes in second campaign than the first, and gave us the most prosperity in history, I would be backing that person all the way. With the RNC doing the opposite, it must not be about winning.
It’s not about winning. It’s all about power/control AND MONEY!!!
The thing that floors me the most is how the average person doesn’t connect the terrible economic situation, we are in, due to the actions of our government. Partly due to people struggling to get by day to day, partially due to to our Pravda. I’m around prosperous and educated seniors, and many of them have no clue.
Excerpt from Chapter 9. Towards an Absolute National Divorce and Permanent Civil Dissolution. In forthcoming Gabby Press book: A Civil Dissolution: The Solution to America’s Ideological Conflict.
Note to readers: This article is the Introduction to Chapter 9 of the forthcoming Gabby Press book, A Civil Dissolution. The longer article for the Introduction is available at Substack civildissolution.substack.com
The entire new book of Civil Dissolution is scheduled for publication sometime in August 2023.
All of our books about national divorce and civil dissolution are available for purchase at http://www.gabbypress.com.
The cover image below is from our recent book, Reclaiming the American Democratic Impulse.
We publish our blog about national divorce at our website http://www.civildissolution.com
Introduction to Chapter 9. Towards an Absolute National Divorce and Permanent Civil Dissolution.
Laurie Thomas Vass, http://www.gabbypress.com
March 24, 2023.
Our book has argued that there are two interrelated issues in America’s ideological conflict between MAGA Trump voters and Democrat Marxists.
The first issue is that the current constitution does not provide the right framework for creating a future voluntary allegiance of free citizens to obey the rule of law.
Madison’s constitution is defective, beyond repair or amendment, for solving the ideological conflict because it is the defects in Madison’s framework of centralized power which allowed the Marxist Democrats to seize illegitimate power.
The second issue is that even if Madison’s constitution could continue to serve as the basis of government, the Marxists are now a permanent political force in America.
Politics in America changed, forever, after Obama’s election in 2008, and the collaboration between globalist corporations and Marxist Democrats undermines the national sovereignty of the United States, as a sovereign nation.
We have argued that the best solution to the irreconcilable conflict is an absolute national divorce, and a permanent civil dissolution.
Our mission in this book is to convince 75 million MAGA Trump voters that it is time to start over at the point in history of the Spirit of Liberty of the patriots who fought for American Independence.
Someone please explain the broadside Sundance leveled at Vivek Ramaswamy, comparing him to the odious Evan McMuffin in 2015 and accusing him of being a deep state plant. I don’t see it and would recommend people google and listen to Ramaswamy speaking at the recently held CPAC meeting. Sundance must have some information to guide his opinion and I think I’m not the only one waiting for clarification.
“What they care about right now is controlling the Republican corporation and stopping the hostile takeover.”
Thanks for saying the quiet part out loud. It isn’t just “us” against the left. The difference between the extreme left and the Rino left is the speed of change. What to do? If history does not repeat, but it rhymes, why is that? If we believe in God the Father Almighty, and his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and the Holy Spirit who creates a holy Christian Church, then we believe that God, not man, is in control of history, as well as climate, solar eruptions, war, economy, earthquakes, famines, and the like. The rhyming of history is the direct result of the way the Lord of History consistently operates.
So why did he left a virus escape a lab in Wuhan? Why did he let a criminal family cheat its way into the White House? Why did he answer our prayers (He is able to do more all than we can ask or imagine) that President Trump would expose the corruption in our government? Will he now remove it? How will he carry out his promises that the wicked will fail, blown away like dry grass?
Those who know him and trust him have no fear. Are there more of us than of them? If he is in control, a majority of one is enough. Trump reminds us that they are not just against him, they are against us. But wait, there is more. As BLM said in their goals, they wanted to dethrone God. Others of similar outlook say the same thing–WEF, CCP, whatever. He that sits enthroned in heaven laughs at them, and we can too. Will elections help? Will voter roll cleanups help? Will common sense economic preparations help? Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might because you do not know whether this or that will succeed. The trouble the wicked have caused and continue to cause can only result in patient endurance and hope that cannot disappoint. Maybe all I can do is to pray and tell the truth. Maybe I can do more. But nothing is to hard for the Lord.
“all of the politicians who accept the influence checks from these self-interested groups cannot run on, or deliver, a MAGA national economic agenda.”
Nonsense. All you need is to be a good liar.
“Read my lips….,”. Georgie
Fake MAGA snake Kayleigh. That Paul Ryan money must be too good to let go.
Beware of Fake MAGA grifters. Steve is flat out lying about PDJT not building the wall. This is one of the DeSimpers talking points of lies.
I would like to see Sundance surmise Donald Trumps deportation sucesses. I heard that wall was completed, and then Trump decided to extend it. I also heard that border crossings had a 96% reduction under President Trump. Steve Cortes is an ASS.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1639017840299892736.html
Asa Hutchison is the Grand Wizard of the club.
Looking beyond Trump, we may need another Party – MAGA Economic Party – to assure a long-term future for the Country.
This is why many of the Republican Presidential candidates are talking about reforming Social security and Medicare. They don’t want to win the White House and that’s one of the best ways to lose an election…allow the Democrats to paint all Republicans as wanting to roll Grandma off the cliff in her wheelchair.
Trump has said not to touch SS & MC. Nothing will happen until the Feds have to reduce SS checks for recipients because the Democrats won’t deal. So, a calamity has to happen first. Of course it isn’t responsible but we’re talking Marxists across the table from us.
It would be fun to have Republicans say that if you don’t have kids, either biologically or adopting, then you can’t get a Social Security check when you’re retired. Who do you think pays for old people’s checks? Someone’s kids when they reach the labor force! Oh, but immigration, you ask? How’s that going? 7-10 million men aged 22-54 are out of the labor force, that’s how its going. Maybe if men had good jobs, they wouldn’t commit crime?
Just a couple of thoughts.
“what is their mission on behalf of the Club?” A DeSantis 2024 campaign splits votes and damages himself, two birds one stone. He should realize the true purpose of his grooming… he is being fitted for his suicide vest.
Hey Sundance- great article. you didn’t really have to explain the “Sea Island influence group.” But since you did, my ass twitches every time I see it in writing. No donations to RNC from me!!
If Trump is not on the 2024 ballot, the American people lose. …If not Trump, it doesn’t matter who is the President. NEVER Desantis in 2024 primary. Continue to focus on down ballot races, Senate, Congress, Governor, etc.
Have not read all the comments, but why can’t Trump go on the offensive and declare his economic strategy, and dare all others to declare theirs? If the other candidates won’t discuss it, Trump should be able to run with that. Every press conference, every rally, he should hone in on the fact that no other candidates will discuss economics because they are bought and paid for by Wall Street and big money donors.
The ugly as sin advisor to Bill Clinton, James Carville, used to preach– it’s all about the economy, stupid! Trump could separate himself from the entire field if he would preach money for average American.
YES, BUT…. If all that voters care about is their pocketbooks, they’ll vote for any liar that will put a chicken in their pots. Like Obunghole.
If they don’t care about the quality (and cost) of schools, the freedom to speak their minds, financial privacy, private property rights, etc, the economy will not function.
About 15 years ago, I saw a coal miner in WV, talking about how angry he was that he wasn’t making $95K/year, with a raft of huge benefits, anymore. How he was “worth more”. Huh?? More entitlement union crap from a barely literate coal miner.
If all they care about is money, what distinguishes these voters from the CoC or any of the political grifters who ALSO care only about money??
Better think about it. GM & UAW, mine workers, SEIU, etc, priced themselves out of the market, and don’t know the first thing about a “free market”. Nor do they care.
I think the truth about the average American voter can be found in your comment.
I don’t have my mind made up because we still have over 18 months to go before the next election. The downside may be that there will be a distinct choice whereas the lesser of the two evils is concerned.
There are a lot of media in Fox talk and their news that are pure shills. They are actually working with the dems to defeat Trump. If they were for America really winning, they would be proTrump all the way. DeSantis voting record in congress is cutting medicare and in 2013 begging Obama administration to send money to help Ukraine after the Victoria Nuland offensive when the Russian president had to leave. They hate all that is Russia because they are evil. The only athletes that refuse to wear the gay pride shirts in hockey, basketball are from Russia. Gays now want it forced into athletics to make them feel better. Would they be allowed to wear pro Christ Tshirts with a cross one night? The men better wake up and be men..right now. It is a fight between good and evil. Of course Putin is not a saint and corrupt but he stands up for what is in the Bible. They never talk about how corrupt Zelensky is.
What are some of the questions we should be asking local and state level politicians to help discern who is Main Street vs Wall Street?
I think I have an idea, but there are many out there who get to the point better than I do.
doesn’t matter they will lie.
See who funds and supports them. The only true test.
Yes. Communist LGBTQ Washington University (St. Louis) is funding some of our esteemed state RINOs who are attempting to water down/delay passing parental rights bills they claim to support. We have a RINO Watch and MAGA group and some great America First members and candidates who do the research and call their funding and voting records out for all to see.