Cruz: I'm voting for Trump

[Cyber Liberty]

Good points, well made. Too bad it's wasted here.

You are completely incapable of commenting without smearing the other members, aren't you?

[geronl]

See you have no rational argument.

Trump did not write the list. He also walked the list back the day after it was released and said his nomination was probably not on the list. We all know he did not like Scalia. Trump liked the Kelo decision, Trump supports affirmative action , Trump supports the gays and the trannies too.

Rationally, Trump will choose someone who tilts towards his own views.

[INVAR]

Weimar Germany had no constitutional, democratic traditions or reliable institutions dedicated to the preservation of basic decency and constitutional order.  Apart from the crippled Weimar government, Germany went from one Imperial ruler to another. The military owed it's loyalty only to the government, not to the people or Constitution.

I'll take the word of someone who actually lived that history over someone who just analyzed it thanks.

That is not the United States.  I don't know if you have any military experience, or know many people of rank in the military, but the overwhelming majority of American military personnel would not tolerate that for a moment in this country.

I just watched the military allow itself to become a social experimentation petri dish over everything from gender and sex roles while promoting respect for Islam, all after 9-11, Iraq and A'stan.  All of that while Obama and Congress drew it's strength down to pre-WWI levels without so much as a whimper of complaint from the brass.

The military will do whatever it is told to do, and since Obama has purged just about everyone of importance who might have been a cog in the wheel - I'm pretty convinced the American military will tolerate whatever it is told to tolerate and take part in, save a few grunts perhaps.  It's already happening.

They're not going to rebel based on a bad Supreme Court decision, but they'd also never tolerate anything like what you're describing.  Nor would the vast majority of police/sheriff's departments, but if they did, they'd quickly find themselves outgunned by citizens, and a noncompliant military would be required -- and would refuse -- to enforce that.

I'm already watching them do it, and reading all the rationalization about why those things are good things for the country.

Same as the SA told my Opa's folks back in the day in the old country.

Analogies to Weimar Germany don't fit the U.S.

Yeah right.  'It can't happen here because 'we're different'.  Keep telling yourself that. 

[Smokin Joe]

@jpsb , that was extremely well said.

I can understand those who don't trust Trump.  No reason to do so, really.  But Hillary has been every open about exactly what she wants to do, her entire party is behind her, and there is no question that stuff is going to happen if she is elected.

It is really difficult to have a substantive conversation here focusing just on Hillary, but it is needed.  She'll get her Supreme Justice, likely more than one.  That Justice will not only be the 5th vote to reverse Heller, but it will be the 5th vote necessary to approve Obama's backdoor, administrative legalization and path to citizenship.  And that means somewhere around 10 million new voters who owe a big debt to the progressive machine. 

How can we possibly come back from that?  The systemic demographic advantage on the left will be too big to overcome.  And that's not even mentioning the likely reversal of Citizens United as well, and resultant clampdown on the ability of anyone but progressives to get an effective message out to voters.  I think some people forget that Citizens United was literally about an anti-Hillary movie "Hillary, the Movie", that the FEC banned from being released.

I really wish some of the sharper #neverTrumps, like @Smokin Joe , would address what the election of Hillary would mean without referencing Trump.  Because if she wins -- which is very likely at this point -- we might as well not even have a GOP primary in 2020.  The numbers will make it a Democrat lock from there moving forward.

Funny you should mention a GOP primary...we didn't have one this year--not for POTUS, not in North Dakota, and we didn't have a caucus, either. The reason I was given was that the GOP changed the rules and there wasn't time to get either up and running in time. As far as I am concerned it was the most honest election year ever, with the GOP finally demonstrating they don't give a flying f**k what we think.
Needless to say, the Democrats don't either.

So here is how I see a Hillary POTUS: She's old and sick, and liable to not finish the term.
(That despite getting the very best medical care).

The Congress is just going to have to get off their dead, Liberal GOP asses and stop her. Shut the government down, if that's what it takes.
If they don't have the sand for that fight, the one they should have been fighting against Obama, well, the works is tits up anyway, and it really won't matter which liberal they lend support to.

One funny thing about government, though. Folks can sit on their keesters in DC and make all the rules they want. Then they have to enforce those rules.

In the last 8 years, Americans have made the AR-15 the most popular rifle in the country. Everyone uses it, from farmers to the police and Military. Everyone who has one knows how they work, how to maintain it, commonly how to field strip it, and a fair percentage can maintain them at the armorer's level. Untold millions have been spent on rifles and ammo and accessories, and I just don't see people giving them up and meekly handing them over. With 80,000,000 firearm owners, a mere three percent is an army of 2.4 million. Every weapon they capture, every box of ammo will be something they are familiar with and they can use--and I'm not counting the veterans.
This is the Second Amendment in action as seen in the Federalist, where the vast majority of the people, even without martial training, but by force of numbers and arms can act to secure their Liberty, even against a standing Army. This is the reason the Amendment exists, not gun clubs, not target ranges, not hunting, not ordinary thugs in the streets. If Hillary wants to try that out, and the Congress is foolish enough to not stop her, there will be blood on their hands.

Congress can interdict any program, incentive, or other attempt at the people's Liberty they have the will to. If we can't get a GOP dominated Congress to fight Hillary, we don't have a two party representative government, and the Republic is dead anyway. Control the House of Representatives, where all revenue measures must originate, and anything can be stopped. Simply refuse to fund it. Any of it--and that includes importing refugees to stuff the ballot boxes.

Ultimately, what a Hillary presidency should look like is gridlock.

[Smokin Joe]

What a crock!!

You guys in here have been treating Donald Trump like a school girl at a Boko Haram picnic.

Everyone of you sicken me.  I pray that when he wins, you'll come back to whatever common sense still remains.   

PS:  I'm not optimistic.

You didn't address my point. Donald Trump has properties in several foreign countries, including Muslim countries. Donald Trump has been heavily leveraged at the same Global Banks everyone accused another candidate's wife of being in league with. Donald Trump has had business dealings with, and been bailed out by Saudis, particularly Prince Al-Walid, current owner of the former Trump Princess.

We're mentioning his record as a 'successful businessman', not passing him around and detaching body parts.

I hope you feel better, but perhaps the nausea you feel is a result of the lousy main party choices this year. If that's the case, I did my best to prevent that situation, but a significant plurality did not agree. I have no such nausea, having made up my mind not to vote for either of those disasters, and will cast my ballot with a clear conscience, just like that nice fellow at the GOP convention said.

My common sense hasn't gone anywhere, if anything, the experience this election cycle has honed it. You may choose your circle of Hell, but I will not accompany you there. As for Trump winning, I'm not optimistic either. I think he has filled his media mess kit with a steaming pile even they can't sell as gourmet material.

[INVAR]

Ultimately, what a Hillary presidency should look like is gridlock.

Ultimately, that is what an Obama presidency should have looked like, especially after 2014.

Instead - well, they handed Obama a defacto dictatorship and spent all their capitol ensuring their own power and money train kept flowing.

With either a Hillary or Trump regime - the State grows to oppressive levels not seen since the Soviet Union collapsed, and Congress has already surrendered most of their duties to the Executive - so either despot that is given the throne is going to wield dictatorial power with impunity.  Trump moreso than Hillary will.

As to arms, I'm not as optimistic as you are - because despite the numbers out there - we as a people are divided among more lines of division than there exist fault lines in the world. This whole election cycle is all the evidence anyone in the future history books will be able to glean and understand how hopelessly fractured the body politick is.   And, given recent history when the government makes examples of the little people, or even threatens them - the people dutifully line up to surrender:

[Smokin Joe]

They're still trashing Cruz, so I'd say the necessary lesson will not be learnt until Trump loses, and will never be if Trump somehow wins.

Yep. Like someone doing something which never should have worked, success this time will lead to multiple major failures down the road. Because it worked that once, it will be tried repeatedly even in the absence of subsequent success.

[Cyber Liberty]

Yep. Like someone doing something which never should have worked, success this time will lead to multiple major failures down the road. Because it worked that once, it will be tried repeatedly even in the absence of subsequent success.

God has a way of continuing to teach lessons when you fail to grasp them.  Until you do.

[libertybele]

Funny you should mention a GOP primary...we didn't have one this year--not for POTUS, not in North Dakota, and we didn't have a caucus, either. The reason I was given was that the GOP changed the rules and there wasn't time to get either up and running in time. As far as I am concerned it was the most honest election year ever, with the GOP finally demonstrating they don't give a flying f**k what we think.
Needless to say, the Democrats don't either.

So here is how I see a Hillary POTUS: She's old and sick, and liable to not finish the term.
(That despite getting the very best medical care).

The Congress is just going to have to get off their dead, Liberal GOP asses and stop her. Shut the government down, if that's what it takes.
If they don't have the sand for that fight, the one they should have been fighting against Obama, well, the works is tits up anyway, and it really won't matter which liberal they lend support to.

One funny thing about government, though. Folks can sit on their keesters in DC and make all the rules they want. Then they have to enforce those rules.

In the last 8 years, Americans have made the AR-15 the most popular rifle in the country. Everyone uses it, from farmers to the police and Military. Everyone who has one knows how they work, how to maintain it, commonly how to field strip it, and a fair percentage can maintain them at the armorer's level. Untold millions have been spent on rifles and ammo and accessories, and I just don't see people giving them up and meekly handing them over. With 80,000,000 firearm owners, a mere three percent is an army of 2.4 million. Every weapon they capture, every box of ammo will be something they are familiar with and they can use--and I'm not counting the veterans.
This is the Second Amendment in action as seen in the Federalist, where the vast majority of the people, even without martial training, but by force of numbers and arms can act to secure their Liberty, even against a standing Army. This is the reason the Amendment exists, not gun clubs, not target ranges, not hunting, not ordinary thugs in the streets. If Hillary wants to try that out, and the Congress is foolish enough to not stop her, there will be blood on their hands.

Congress can interdict any program, incentive, or other attempt at the people's Liberty they have the will to. If we can't get a GOP dominated Congress to fight Hillary, we don't have a two party representative government, and the Republic is dead anyway. Control the House of Representatives, where all revenue measures must originate, and anything can be stopped. Simply refuse to fund it. Any of it--and that includes importing refugees to stuff the ballot boxes.

Ultimately, what a Hillary presidency should look like is gridlock.

I hear what you are saying, but in the same light, given that we currently have a majority in both Houses, an Obama presidency should have looked like gridlock.  Too many RINO's in both Houses, more so in the Senate than in the House and the leadership of McConnell in the Senate is some kind of joke.  You are correct; "if we can't get a GOP dominated Congress to fight Hillary, we don't have a two party representative government" ... we can't get the GOP dominated Congress to fight Hussein now. Not going to happen with Hillary; especially if we don't hold the Senate.  I believe this Republic died the day 'they' corruptly handed Trump the nomination without even a roll call.  Consider also that there was every opportunity for the GOP to back a Conservative for the party and they absolutely failed to do so...the Washington cartel wants Hillary and Trump has already stated in essence that he's willing to play their game.

[Smokin Joe]

I agree, and that's a perfect illustration why not voting for someone doesn't "send a message" of any value.  The only effective way to "send a message" is to support the candidates you prefer in the primary.  Not supporting the nominee sends way too many ambiguous messages because the reasons for not supporting a candidate vary widely between voters.

I'm not saying that means everyone should vote for the nominee just because he's the nominee.  I'm simply saying that if your motivation for not doing so is to "send a message", you've very likely to be disappointed.

Funny thing about sending a message. You need a receiver to get through.

Not supporting yet another more liberal than last time nominee, especially after the TEA party and other grassroots movements tried to get their attention is a pretty clear message.

 Not receiving it is more a case of the GOP hierarchy running around with their fingers in their ears shouting "La" repeatedly than a case of a clear message not being sent.
Why, those damned upstart voters think they should be running things? How dare them think that? 

Not supporting the nominee is not enough. This will require a significant defection to another party, and that message will be somewhat muted by the fear voters who will once again vote for their unsuitable candidate because they find the other unsuitable candidate just a skosh worse.
I'm not sure there is much more than a RCH worth of difference between the two in the long run, so I'm voting for someone else.

[bigheadfred]

@Smokin Joe

Having a gun and having the will to look someone in the eye and kill them are two different animals.

[Bigun]

See you have no rational argument.

All you can do, when I post some very good reasons to vote Trump, is stamp your feet and say "I don't believe it". Well do you believe Hillary when she says he will grant amnesty to millions of illegals in her first 100 days? Do you believe Hillary when she says she will bring in a 100,000 rapefugees a year for years and years? Do you believe Hillary when she says she will raise our taxes? What kind of judges do you think Hillary will appoint? Pretend all you want but know this President Hillary will kill the Republic. By voting anyone but Trump you are helping to kill the republic.

And just how are you ever going to elect a conservative nationally once those tens of millions of new Marxist voter start voting? I'd really like to hear the #NeverTrump answer to that question.

@geronl

Hillary can't kill what is already dead!  The Republic our founders gave us died a LONG time ago!

[Smokin Joe]

Trump has famously said he was running for President of the United States, not President of the world. He is a pro-Brexit, euro skeptic who predicted Britain's leave referendum outcome.

Break down the EU and make room for what follows.

Trump called NATO obsolete and has called for a major revamp of America's military commitments abroad and a re-balancing of trade agreements at home.

NATO is a cold war artifact. If you don't think Russia (new, improved, "Communism is dead", lemon scented, vodka infused) is a threat, do we need NATO? "Rebalancing trade agreements at home?" What, between Indiana and Ohio? Trade agreements aren't the problem so much as regulations, tort law, and taxes which ensure American industry has difficulty competing. Government drove business away that could relocate, and has largely shut down (or tried hard to shut down) the industries which can't. Timber, coal, Oil and Gas, mining, smelting, the list goes on. Now, in some fit of Munchausen's Syndrome, the Government is going to step in and fix what it FUBAR'd? With more Government?

Ri-ight.  yerself.

The notion that someone who's campaign slogan is Make America Great Again is himself is a globalist is absurd and points to an incomplete understanding of both Trump and globalism itself.

 

Understanding propaganda and advertising might be more in line with understanding his campaign slogan. It's a slogan, bumper sticker material, get over it. If America isn't great now, what is it? Trump has his own 'trade partners' around the world. You think his actions in the oval office wouldn't reward those holdings, and his own trade partners to their mutual benefit? 

All of his actions during his lifetime have boiled down to one thing. How does this benefit Donald Trump? This isn't the road to Damascus, here, it's the road to the White House. I'm not looking for a Saul of Tarsus moment.

[Smokin Joe]

Ultimately, that is what an Obama presidency should have looked like, especially after 2014.

Instead - well, they handed Obama a defacto dictatorship and spent all their capitol ensuring their own power and money train kept flowing.

With either a Hillary or Trump regime - the State grows to oppressive levels not seen since the Soviet Union collapsed, and Congress has already surrendered most of their duties to the Executive - so either despot that is given the throne is going to wield dictatorial power with impunity.  Trump moreso than Hillary will.

As to arms, I'm not as optimistic as you are - because despite the numbers out there - we as a people are divided among more lines of division than there exist fault lines in the world. This whole election cycle is all the evidence anyone in the future history books will be able to glean and understand how hopelessly fractured the body politick is.   And, given recent history when the government makes examples of the little people, or even threatens them - the people dutifully line up to surrender:

Not all of the country is as well trained as Connecticut. Out here we look north to the Canadian Long Gun Registry, the one they finally gave up on because of a combination of cost overruns and noncompliance. If no one fills out the paper work, and the Government starts 'surrounding' or attacking people to make examples, it will be time to surround them.

No more Wacos. Look at the response in Nevada (Bundy Ranch), for one.

[jmyrlefuller]

Not all of the country is as well trained as Connecticut. Out here we look north to the Canadian Long Gun Registry, the one they finally gave up on because of a combination of cost overruns and noncompliance. If no one fills out the paper work, and the Government starts 'surrounding' or attacking people to make examples, it will be time to surround them.

No more Wacos. Look at the response in Nevada (Bundy Ranch), for one.

Even New York has resisted the SAFE Act.

[INVAR]

Not all of the country is as well trained as Connecticut. Out here we look north to the Canadian Long Gun Registry, the one they finally gave up on because of a combination of cost overruns and noncompliance. If no one fills out the paper work, and the Government starts 'surrounding' or attacking people to make examples, it will be time to surround them.

No more Wacos. Look at the response in Nevada (Bundy Ranch), for one.

I guess you must have missed what happened to Lavoy Finnicum and the bunch up there win Oregon.

Lots of applause with that 'Waco' - because the death toll was only one and no kids were killed.

But it's the same thing, just not on as big a scale.

[Smokin Joe]

@Smokin Joe

Having a gun and having the will to look someone in the eye and kill them are two different animals.

Yep. Very few would ever consider just killing someone for the heck of it, and they're scary.

But that Will increases in average folks when that other person is bent on doing you harm, or harming your family. Add in taking your stuff, even more, and threatening you with serious injury or death for doing the same benign thing you did yesterday, even more. And when people have nothing left to lose, or are faced with losing it all, they will strike back.

People figured what happened at Ruby Ridge was a fluke (at least the ones who were not familiar with MOVE and that incident. Most haven't heard of Gordon Kahl and the attack by Feds on him and his family. Most have heard of Waco, whether they bought the official BS or did a little homework and realized that was a massacre. The Montana "freemen" were scam artists (or at least presented as such in the media), so no one went out there and went to their aid. Bundy Ranch, though, was a turning point. The People squared off against the Feds. In the long run, the protest in Oregon went overtime and the Feds got even.
If the Federal Government becomes the aggressor, there will be resistance. The more they crack down, the more resistance that will provoke. Controlling media is their only hope of burying the pogrom, and what has been going on in that regard trips a flag, no matter which of the major candidates is elected.

[bigheadfred]

Yep. Very few would ever consider just killing someone for the heck of it, and they're scary.

But that Will increases in average folks when that other person is bent on doing you harm, or harming your family. Add in taking your stuff, even more, and threatening you with serious injury or death for doing the same benign thing you did yesterday, even more. And when people have nothing left to lose, or are faced with losing it all, they will strike back.

People figured what happened at Ruby Ridge was a fluke (at least the ones who were not familiar with MOVE and that incident. Most haven't heard of Gordon Kahl and the attack by Feds on him and his family. Most have heard of Waco, whether they bought the official BS or did a little homework and realized that was a massacre. The Montana "freemen" were scam artists (or at least presented as such in the media), so no one went out there and went to their aid. Bundy Ranch, though, was a turning point. The People squared off against the Feds. In the long run, the protest in Oregon went overtime and the Feds got even.
If the Federal Government becomes the aggressor, there will be resistance. The more they crack down, the more resistance that will provoke. Controlling media is their only hope of burying the pogrom, and what has been going on in that regard trips a flag, no matter which of the major candidates is elected.

I wouldn't kill just anyone. The bucket list. The ones who deserve to kick the bucket first.

[INVAR]

Bundy Ranch, though, was a turning point. The People squared off against the Feds. In the long run, the protest in Oregon went overtime and the Feds got even.

That they did.  Everyone who was there, and just about everyone who was at Bundy Ranch at that standoff has been taken down by the Feds, in due time.

As my Opa said - there was only one Gestapo agent per village center in the farm country.  A climate of fear by the brutal actions of the state made against the few in each village, kept everyone else's heads down out of fear of being the next target. THAT and the snitch programs instituted by the Reich, made everyone suspicious of everyone else.  Old family feuds were exploited and lot of folks found themselves hauled in by the Gestapo over nothing more than an extra ration card for turning in a subversive.

Human nature is what it is.  Nothing new under the sun.

[Smokin Joe]

I guess you must have missed what happened to Lavoy Finnicum and the bunch up there win Oregon.

Lots of applause with that 'Waco' - because the death toll was only one and no kids were killed.

But it's the same thing, just not on as big a scale.

No, I didn't miss it.

The protesters in Oregon hadn't apparently thought things out well enough.

They went in to make a point, and having done so, should have left.

As things dragged out, media paid less attention to the issue that brought them there (toward which I am sympathetic), and more attention to the "armed standoff" aspect.

When they had brought attention to the issue, the mission was accomplished. That was time to pack up and go and write comments and articles on websites pushing the idea they had come to promote, before TPTB had time to set the narrative to favor armed retaliation.

Successful civil disobedience is a passive aggressive act, using just enough disobedience to bring attention to the issue, but not enough to justify violent retaliation. Any such which comes should be easy to present as a brutal act done by an oppressive government, and which produces martyrs for the 'cause'. (The Boston Massacre was one such). The net effect should be sympathy for the protesters, not a sense that any violence toward them was justified.

Where the BLM movement (Black Lives Matter, not Bureau of Land Management--which makes me wonder just a little if the former wasn't to obfusticate the misdeeds of the latter) people lose it (apart from having a less than justified cause because their 'martyrs' are often people who do not garner universal sympathy) is in the violence and looting which instill fear and anger rather than sympathy for their cause. Loot one liquor store, and sympathy goes out the window, and the shotguns come out.

[Smokin Joe]

I wouldn't kill just anyone. The bucket list. The ones who deserve to kick the bucket first.

Everyone should have a list, just don't write it down anywhere.

[Longmire]

Donald Trump has properties in several foreign countries, including Muslim countries. Donald Trump has been heavily leveraged at the same Global Banks everyone accused another candidate's wife of being in league with. Donald Trump has had business dealings with, and been bailed out by Saudis, particularly Prince Al-Walid, current owner of the former Trump Princess.

No one give a flying duck who bought the Trump Princess, its as meaningless as the gibberish you're spouting about Trump being "heavily leveraged" to banks around the world.

Trump released over 100 pages of financial information about his business dealings which clearly show the debt to equity ratio of his real estate portfolio, which is the true measure of leverage, is actually quite modest.

You hate capitalism and capitalists..I get it, and you're clueless about the very real threat to national sovereignty globalism presents.

Fortunately, N. Dakota and America doesn't buy the brand of manure you're peddling. 

[corbe]

No one give a flying duck who bought the Trump Princess, its as meaningless as the gibberish you're spouting about Trump being "heavily leveraged" to banks around the world.

Trump released over 100 pages of financial information about his business dealings which clearly show the debt to equity ratio of his real estate portfolio, which is the true measure of leverage, is actually quite modest.

You hate capitalism and capitalists..I get it, and you're clueless about the very real threat to national sovereignty globalism presents.

Fortunately, N. Dakota and America doesn't buy the brand of manure you're peddling. 

@Longmire


   @Longmire Your whole premise is total CRAP, Those 100 pages you Vault so highly has the credibility of well....most of your Posts.


 Last summer, when Mr. Trump filed the personal financial disclosures required of presidential candidates, his campaign released a statement saying that he was worth more than “TEN BILLION DOLLARS,” capitalizing the outsize figure. When the 92-page document became public, the disclosures by Mr. Trump indicated that he had at least $1.4 billion in assets, including his real estate developments and golf clubs.

Fortune recently pegged his worth at $3.72 billion. Forbes calculated it at $4.5 billion, as of September 2015.

Mr. Trump disputed both numbers, just as he objected to an estimate a decade earlier when Timothy L. O’Brien, a reporter for The New York Times, wrote a book that placed the businessman’s net worth at $150 million to $250 million, based on three confidential sources. During a well-publicized episode, he sued Mr. O’Brien for defamation, but Mr. Trump ultimately failed to prove his case.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/13/donald-trump-on-his-tax-rate-its-none-of-your-business/

   Yes it's the dreaded NY Times and they Love Hillary but they sure seem to have plugged into your boy all these years.

[jmyrlefuller]

No one give a flying duck who bought the Trump Princess, its as meaningless as the gibberish you're spouting about Trump being "heavily leveraged" to banks around the world.

There you go again.

When asked about Trump's qualifications, it's all about his business experience. When called out on the details of that business experience, no one gives a flying duck.

Clown nose on, clown nose off.

[Smokin Joe]

That they did.  Everyone who was there, and just about everyone who was at Bundy Ranch at that standoff has been taken down by the Feds, in due time.

As my Opa said - there was only one Gestapo agent per village center in the farm country.  A climate of fear by the brutal actions of the state made against the few in each village, kept everyone else's heads down out of fear of being the next target. THAT and the snitch programs instituted by the Reich, made everyone suspicious of everyone else.  Old family feuds were exploited and lot of folks found themselves hauled in by the Gestapo over nothing more than an extra ration card for turning in a subversive.

Human nature is what it is.  Nothing new under the sun.

Living modestly, letting no one know what resources you have, not keeping them in the same place, and walking softly creating few enemies in the 'hood are good cover for people who want to make a difference. If you treat everyone with respect, you can have the sort of mobility you might need, socially and otherwise. It pays to have friends in lowly places.

I was told once the ideal person in the intelligence field is one who has no high profile. James Bond is Hollywood fantasy, the effective operative will be more average in appearance and just be invisible by virtue of blending in. That includes modest vehicles like or slightly less nice than those around you. I have many, all mechanically correct, paid for, and a little older, but common in the area. A dark green older suburban, a white cargo van, blend in well here, and a magnetic sign on the doors would completely change the appearance in seconds. Window stickies can make a huge difference quick. License plate readers could be a problem in the future, and surveillance everywhere would make evasion problematical. Everyone should own a gray hoodie, sunglasses, sneakers, and a pair of well worn jeans...

The absence of enemies does not render one immune, just less likely to be sold out out of pique. All the kids have been drilled on "How many people does it take to keep a secret" (The answer is "One. After that, it isn't a secret"). "I don't know" is a great answer. and they have been taught that they should report anyone asking strange questions, especially teachers, doctors, and the like. And never brag about anything, act only slightly impressed by those who do, ('that's nice, wish we had something like that') but not envious or they might see you as a threat.

In situations where people are being rounded up or taken to labor camps, collaborators should be verified, and dealt with harshly, quietly, and without mercy if it comes to that. Hopefully it will never go that far here.