We Have A President Again

[Infidel 762]

Imagine how fast World War II might have ended if Hitler had been taken out in the opening salvo. It’s a reminder of how much early leadership and timing can shape the entire course of a war. Now look at what happened when we took out Khomeini-this is a different animal, and it has a more gammy taste to it, lol

 

[Widow maker 223]

At the end of the day, we’re all on the same side here, even if we see some things differently.

And I’ll admit, I was out of line with the Kool-Aid sippy cup comment

… any of y’all been calling coyotes lately?

No you weren't that was gold. . I slayed a beaver last night if that counts.

 

[popper43]

Gas shock? Yup, when I moved to Texas - 35 cents/gal.! 35 cents/gal. for regular - you're stealing from me!! Poor Mobile gas guy didn't know what to say.

 

[hm1996]

Remember 19 cents/gal and they gave you a free water glass w/fill up.

 

[hunt0168]

Well, as cheap as I ever remember gas being was $0.68 a gallon. this was in 1978. My parents bought me a brand spankin new Honda XR 75 dirt bike. I was 9 years old at the time and had a short push across the street from our house to ride in a field/parking lot sorta place. If I had to guess it was approximately 4 acres of land that I could ride on about 3/4 of it. Anyway, being a 4 stroke I didn't need to worry about mixing oil in the gas so I used to push my bike to the local Hess Station less than a quarter mile from the house. That was the easy part. The hard part was finding neighbors and family members willing to part with some spare change to donate. There was plenty of taking out the trash, Sweeping the walkways/driveways and mowing the lawn involved in filling up my bike. If memory serves me correctly, the tank held just shy of 1 gallon of fuel so if I was lucky enough to score an actual dollar bill I could fill my tank and have enough change left to grab a bunch of candy and a soda. Gotta keep your strength up to be a world class parking lot racer you know!

 

[hm1996]

1941: 19 cents per gallon (about $4.38 in 2026 dollars when adjusted for inflation)

I was only 5 years old in '41 but I remember paying .19/gal, probably during a local gas war in '52 or 3.

 

[hunt0168]

I think a year later gas prices rose because of the crisis caused by Iranian Revolution. I don't honestly remember what the prices were. At age 10 my best friend and I kind of went into business for ourselves you might say. Our local Bait Shop guy Jake LaBuz would pay us to pick Night Crawlers. $0.50 per 100 crawlers. We would pick every chance we got and were raking in the dough! Crisis meant nothing to a couple 10 year old entrepreneurs! I had gas money galore. I gotta admit... This time with Iran, I'm feeling it and it means something! I may need to supplement my income with night crawlers if this keeps up!

 

[Stu Farish]

I remember weekend gas wars in TX, when it would get down to 17 cents. I was 9 - 10 then

 

[Sgt_Mike]

I recall as low as .22 cents in Georgia before the Fuel crisis under POTUS Carter admin. which sky rocketed under the crisis. and fuel was a hit or miss if it was available. And yeah I do recall waiting only for the station to run out before getting to the pump.

 

[hm1996]

I was working lots of overtime (callouts) during that time and having a devil of a time finding enough gas to drive 17 miles each way to work a couple of times a day. Some stations limited the number of gallons you could buy, but others just shut down when their tanks went dry. I put a 2nd tank on my pickup for total capy of 37 gal or so and made it through OK.

 

[shoots100]

No you weren't that was gold. . I slayed a beaver last night if that counts.

Gold ? Kool-aid sippy cup is so 90's and I felt embarrassed for Jeremy that he resorted to using such drivel.
Gold is an old white guy telling a black Journalist that you ain't black if you vote for Trump.
It's good to be able to let out your frustrations and this thread is great for that.
If you don't like being lied to or having promises broken, stay away from Politics.
You might get upset by hearing a politician say " No new Taxes ! ", "I didn't have sex with that Woman.", "You can keep your Doctor.", tell you that "You can read the Bill after you sign the Bill.","What difference does it make.", We don't know how that shooter got onto a roof top 150 yards from Trump."
No coyote hunting for me until October 1'st, so it's just popping mice and rats with my new Wave scope on the PCP rifle till then.
SJC

 

[popper43]

We lived in Ks and close local gas station was a Standard oil across the state line. 15c normal, 13c when in a gas war. Funny as the next nearest station was miles away.

 

[Foxpro.223]

The Permanent War Government: Who’s Really Calling the Shots in Washington?

Does any president still lead in any meaningful constitutional sense once the permanent war government gets moving?

thenewamerican.com

ByJohn and Nisha Whitehead May 28, 2026
Who is actually running the government?

That is no longer a rhetorical question.

As America’s war with Iran lurches from escalation to ceasefire to renewed threats of military force, Americans are being asked to trust that someone, somewhere, knows what they are doing.
But who?

This is the constitutional crisis hiding in plain sight.

The question is not merely whether Donald Trump is fit to lead. The question is whether any president still leads in any meaningful constitutional sense once the permanent war government gets moving.

The Iran war is merely the latest test case.

If the war machine keeps moving even when the public cannot tell who is steering it, then what remains of constitutional government?

This is the nightmare Rod Serling warned about in Seven Days in May.

Released in 1964, Seven Days in May imagined a dramatic military coup: generals plotting in secret to overthrow an unpopular president because they believed they knew better than the American people what was best for the nation.

The coup is eventually foiled. The republic is saved. The Constitution survives.

At least on screen.

In the real world, the plot has thickened and spread out over decades.

The old fear was that the military might seize power from the civilian government.

The modern reality is that the permanent government does not need to seize power.

It already has it.

The coup no longer requires generals in smoke-filled rooms plotting to overthrow the president at midnight. It does not require tanks on Pennsylvania Avenue or soldiers storming the Capitol. It does not even require an official suspension of the Constitution.

All it requires is secrecy, fear, endless war, executive power, emergency declarations, classified intelligence, compliant courts, cowardly legislators, corporate profiteers, militarized police, and a public too distracted, exhausted or frightened to resist.

That coup has been underway for decades.

It is the coup that occurs when Congress surrenders its war powers to the president.

It is the coup that occurs when presidents of both parties wage war without meaningful constitutional authorization.

It is the coup that occurs when intelligence agencies spy on the American people and then hide behind national security.

It is the coup that occurs when federal agencies arm themselves like military units.

It is the coup that occurs when local police are transformed into extensions of the military.

It is the coup that occurs when whistleblowers are punished, dissenters are surveilled, protesters are treated like enemies, and the public is told to trust whatever version of events the government chooses to release.

It is the coup that occurs when unelected bureaucrats, contractors, data brokers, intelligence analysts, defense executives and crisis managers exercise more practical control over government policy than the voters do.

This is how freedom disappears: not all at once, not in one dramatic seizure of power, but incrementally, bureaucratically, profitably and in the name of national security.

Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about this in 1961.

A five-star general who understood war better than most modern politicians ever will, Eisenhower cautioned Americans to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex.” The danger, he warned, was that “misplaced power” would endanger liberty and democratic processes.

He was right.

The military industrial complex has become one of the most powerful governing forces in America.

This is not a left-right problem.

Both parties built this.

Republicans and Democrats alike have funded the wars, renewed the surveillance powers, armed the police, expanded executive authority, protected intelligence agencies, rewarded defense contractors, and treated the Constitution as an inconvenience whenever fear could be used to silence dissent.

One president abuses power. The next one inherits it. The next one expands it. The next one normalizes it. The next one weaponizes it.

This is how emergency powers become everyday powers.

This is how temporary measures become permanent law.

This is how the president becomes a king in all but name.

And this is how the people become spectators in their own government.

This is exactly where we are.

We have allowed the government to wage war without declarations of war.

We have allowed intelligence agencies to operate behind walls of secrecy.

We have allowed presidents to rule by executive order.

We have allowed Congress to become a spectator.

We have allowed the courts to defer to national security.

We have allowed police to become soldiers.

We have allowed corporations to profit from fear.

We have allowed unelected officials to make decisions that alter the course of the nation.

And then we act surprised when no one seems to know who is actually in charge.

The answer is as obvious as it is disturbing.

The permanent war government is in charge.

This is the coup that does not end.

This is the lesson of our age: the greatest threat to freedom is not always a madman seizing power in a single moment of crisis. Sometimes it is a bureaucracy that never sleeps, a war machine that never stops, a security state that never shrinks, and a political class that never says no.

So what do we do?

We stop allowing the government to turn every crisis into a blank check for more power.

And we start insisting, relentlessly, that those who claim to defend the United States must defend it with the tools the Constitution supplies.

If the government wants war, make Congress vote on it.

If the government wants surveillance, make it get a warrant.

If the government wants to police dissent, make it answer to the First Amendment.

If the government wants to spend trillions on war, make it explain why the American people are being robbed blind to enrich defense contractors.

If the government wants emergency powers, make it prove the emergency and surrender the powers when the crisis passes.

If the Pentagon wants to run foreign policy, remind it that in a constitutional republic, the military answers to civilian authority, and civilian authority answers to the people.

The permanent war government has given us endless wars, bankrupting debt, militarized police, mass surveillance, constitutional erosion, fear-driven politics, and a republic that increasingly resembles an occupied territory.

If we are to remain free, the war machine must be brought back under constitutional control.

The generals, bureaucrats, contractors, intelligence agencies, police forces and presidents must all be reminded of the same truth: They do not own this country.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, they do not rule us.

They work for us.

 

[Sgt_Mike]

I want to know EXACTLY what is wrong with me drinking Kool-aid from a sippy cup. When I'm at the range banging steel or putting holes in targets. I resemble that remark..........


Actually just got back around noon from the range and then figured the sippy cup thing would be fun to poke at.....

 

[Infidel 762]

Gold ? Kool-aid sippy cup is so 90's and I felt embarrassed for Jeremy that he resorted to using such drivel.
Gold is an old white guy telling a black Journalist that you ain't black if you vote for Trump.
It's good to be able to let out your frustrations and this thread is great for that.
If you don't like being lied to or having promises broken, stay away from Politics.
You might get upset by hearing a politician say " No new Taxes ! ", "I didn't have sex with that Woman.", "You can keep your Doctor.", tell you that "You can read the Bill after you sign the Bill.","What difference does it make.", We don't know how that shooter got onto a roof top 150 yards from Trump."
No coyote hunting for me until October 1'st, so it's just popping mice and rats with my new Wave scope on the PCP rifle till then.
SJC

The Kool-Aid cup jab was beneath my usual level of nonsense. I caught myself falling into the same polarization that seems to consume everything these days.

That said, pointing out that politicians lie isn't really a rebuttal to anything. If the standard is "all politicians lie," then we should be holding all of them accountable, not giving a pass to the ones on our side. Think about how far we've fallen if that's the standard now. And there's a difference between campaign promises that never materialize and simply making things up about what's happening in real time.

As for staying away from politics because politicians lie, I would argue that's exactly the opposite of what we should do. If politicians lie, break promises, and spin narratives, that is all the more reason to pay attention, not less. Ignoring politics doesn't make the behavior go away; it just lowers the chances anyone gets held accountable for it.

And that's where I get lost. If someone says Biden lied, Clinton lied, Bush lied, or Obama lied, I'll probably agree with half of it before they finish the sentence. But somehow when the discussion turns to Trump, we're supposed to shrug and say, "Well, politicians lie."

I thought the whole point was that Trump was supposed to be different. He wasn't supposed to be a career politician.

So yes, politicians break promises. The question isn't whether they do it. The question is why people suddenly stop caring—or worse yet, start defending the lies—when it's their guy doing it. Am I wrong?

 

[Sgt_Mike]

I thought the whole point was that Trump was supposed to be different. He wasn't supposed to be a career politician.

I would have agreed wholeheartedly IF he had ONLY one term. Not because it's Trump, but for any person that takes or seeks the position. On the second term anyone would to me have been a career politician therefore in the second attempt I would have lumped them into the career political status. Now this isn't on Trump to me this goes for anyone seeking a office for more than one term.

So yes, politicians break promises. The question isn't whether they do it. The question is why people suddenly stop caring—or worse yet, start defending the lies—when it's their guy doing it. Am I wrong?

Hades No, your not wrong in my opinion. I'm I as upset with the candidate (reason for using this term vs name to to make it equal vs personal) as you are? Most likely not, but then again I'll wait until a little later in the term to actually be upset. The Bush's yes both of them I did vote for them, yet at the end of their collective terms I wasn't a big fan.

I for one don't think you needed to apologize, I freaking thought it was funny. We should have thick skin, and it's ok to attack a thought process. It is what keeps us balanced as a collective group of peoples.

 

[hunt0168]

I’ve pretty much stayed out of this thread because I come to Predator Masters for the enjoyment of the sport I love. I’ve followed along and100% agree with what Jeremy has been saying all along. I voted for Trump twice and still think I made the correct choice both times given the choices. But God as my witness, I wish there was an alternative! I fully agree with most of his policies. I also KNOW that he is a egotistical megalomaniac that REALLY thinks he is the be-all end-all answer to all of the problems we now face as a nation. If it were true, we wouldn’t be looking at building additions to the White House or $250 bills with Trump’s picture on it. We would see progress where it matters.

Tribal? Seems like it given the choices. How we got here is sad. As a nation, we seem to SETTLE. Why? As a whole, there hasn’t been a candidate that had the best interest of the country in my lifetime. I’ll continue to push forward my tribal, right leaning core values. It’s what I believe in, and hope to see progress. I hope to see strong leadership with the fate of our nation front and center as the sole purpose. Not an avenue for some historical stamp to feed a legacy ego.

GOD help us! We need it. Just my opinion. You won’t see me back in this thread going forward. I’m going back to being a predator hunter and coming here for like minded comraderie. Real tribal shit!

 

[Rhett Steele]

Well said hunt0168.