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Monday, February 27, 2023

The West's Latest Crusade

 


Friends, in case you haven't noticed, the West is prosecuting its (indirect) crusade against Russia with an almost religious fervor, and with about the same amount of critical thinking that the medieval crusaders employed before they set off on their (mostly farcical and foolish) expeditions in the Near East.  My latest article takes the West to task for the deficiencies in its grand strategy in Ukraine.  If you read it, and you bleed blue and yellow like most establishment drones these days, you won't be happy!  That's fair warning.


No End in Sight


President Biden's victory/self-congratulation tour of Kiev notwithstanding, as we enter the second year of the Russia-Ukraine War that we helped to precipitate, there is no sign of impending triumph for either side, and certainly not for us. Russia continues to build up its forces for renewed offensives, while Ukrainian counteroffensives have stalled. A long, grinding war of attrition is looming.

The total cost of the war so far is incalculable, but it would have to include the $113 billion in aid that the U.S. has committed, over $50 billion in assistance from EU countries, the roughly 100,000 military casualties on both sides of the conflict, 8 million refugees, a staggering amount of damage inside Ukraine itself (valued at $350 billion +), tens of thousands of civilians killed and injured, tens of millions of people worldwide facing increased food insecurity, and trillions in lost economic production globally, due to sanctions, higher energy prices, and other disruptions.

These are the costs easiest to enumerate, but what is more intangible, and undoubtedly more serious in the long run, is the gathering sense of doom and menace that now haunts most of the world, as Russia and the West drift ever closer to a resumption of the Cold War, at best, and to World War III and universal armageddon, at worst.

The West has been shockingly cavalier about assuming these risks, and inflicting these burdens. Crude depictions of Vladimir Putin as the reincarnation of Hitler cannot hide the fact that aggression and inhumanity have been practiced on much grander scales in recent memory (think “the African World War” in the Congo, for instance), without the U.S. and EU/NATO countries demonstrating even a fraction of the outrage that they have focused on Putin and Russia, and sometimes without the West even showing cursory interest. What's more, Ukraine was, before the war started, a poor country, wracked with corruption, on the far fringes of Europe's geopolitical core, and universally judged to be ineligible for both EU and NATO membership. It was and is a curious choice, therefore, as the casus belli for what may become World War III, given how little demonstrable importance it has or had for either the West or for Russia, except as an occasionally profitable backwater trading partner, on par with Bangladesh and Nigeria.

Despite the seeming irrationality of the massive military and economic commitments that Russia, the U.S., and Europe have made to the present conflict, the tendency has been for both sides to raise the stakes inexorably, and for any and all peace feelers or suggestions of compromise to be shrugged off. Western propaganda assures us that the Russian army is close to obliteration, that the Russian economy is teetering, and that Vladimir Putin is sure to be overthrown by his own people. In other words, the war cannot but end with complete victory for the good guys, i.e. us (and, secondarily, our obedient proxies). The imminent exhilaration is so palpable that it can already be seen on the self-satisfied faces of many Western politicians and talking heads. The rather sensible objection that, if all or most of this did come to pass, Russia would have little to lose by nuking Ukraine, elicits yet more hand-waving and self-assurance. “Well, then we'll make 'em pay!” And where does that lead?

The fact is, though, that propagandists have been at work in Russia no less than in the West. The most recent evidence we have indicates that Russian support for the war is more or less unchanged since it began, despite the fact that Russians now realize the war will be longer and more costly than first assumed. What's more, Putin's approval rating is up, not down, as one might expect, in fact, for any commander-in-chief in wartime conditions – if, that is, one did not have the newspaper ink of the New York Times running through one's veins. Are a small number of Russians protesting the war, at great personal risk? Yes, and just as notable is the vicious public scorn that ordinary Russians pour on these dissidents, as the country rallies around the flag and girds itself for what their leader describes as an existential struggle against Western “imperialism” and “fascism”.

That Western policymakers and opinion leaders are unable to dictate public opinion in Russia is perhaps not surprising, but their failure to accurately gauge, or intelligently manage, world opinion is ultimately more telling. In China, for example, 79% of those polled in December/January view Russia as an “ally” or as a “necessary partner”, and just 20% see Russia as a “rival” or an “adversary”. The equivalent numbers in the U.S. are 14% and 71%, respectively: a near perfect reversal. Our failure to propagate our preferred narrative about the Russia-Ukraine War goes far beyond China, however. 80% of Indians view Russia as an “ally” or as a “necessary partner”, as do 69% of Turks (fellow members of NATO). The same poll finds the international community deeply skeptical of Western claims that it is fighting (indirectly) in Ukraine for “democracy”. Instead, the prevailing view is that obsessive U.S. and Western engagement in the conflict is generated by self-interest and a desire for “dominance”. Even the notion that the current war has exposed Russian weakness, which is almost universal in the West, is not shared internationally.

The key takeaway here should be that, while Americans and Europeans are more convinced than ever of the justice of their cause and of the inevitability of their victory in Ukraine (combined, of course, with their ironclad determination to do none of the fighting themselves), Russia and its key global partners see events in Ukraine in a completely different light. As long as they continue to do so, and as long as they continue to possess the means to resist the Western onslaught, we can expect that this war will grind on – relentlessly consuming the military and economic resources of Russia, Ukraine, and the West, and just as steadily eroding the credibility and legitimacy of the Western elite on the world stage.

In the end, we will be lucky if only the Western-dominated global order is extinguished by the Russia-Ukraine War. The greater danger is that a wider conflict could imperil the very existence of Russia and the West, not to mention countries like China and India, which for the moment are merely watching our and Russia's antics with a jaundiced eye, and believing little or nothing of what they hear about the conflict from us. They have yet to turn unambiguously against us, true, but we should be under no illusion that they are, or ever will be, “with us” either.

Instead, it is we, and we alone, who will have to beat back the rampaging hordes of barbaric Russians, or, perhaps, sit down with them and talk, as we did in days of yore?


Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.

 

And here it is at American Greatness:

 

https://amgreatness.com/2023/02/26/no-end-in-sight/ 

 

***

 

In other news, Elon Musk has defended the comments made by Dilbert's creator.  Basically, he's pointing out that all the leftists gasping in horror at Scott Adam's "racism" happily and regularly endorse racism themselves, so long as it's targeted correctly.  Please also take note of the media's characterizations of Adams's comments as a "rant" or a "tirade".  Would they ever use those words in reference to the racist, anti-white utterings of a person of color?  Of course not.  Anti-white racism is always respectable, because whites are presumptively bad.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64790657 


Finally, the GOP is asking anyone who wishes to participate in its presidential primary debates to pledge to support the eventual nominee.  This is an interesting test for DJT.  Assuming he demurs, he would (probably) be excluded, which could be a big problem for his campaign.  Now, I think we all have our doubts about whether Trump would accept any result that isn't a win for him.  Let's say that DeSantis won the nomination -- would Trump then run as an independent, mainly for spite?  Let's be frank: we can't rule it out.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-other-republicans-will-have-to-pledge-loyalty-to-2024-presidential-nominee-party-chief-says/ar-AA17Y11A

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Et Tu, James Bond?

 


Friends, in the latest case of wokeness run amok, the collected works of Ian Fleming have been edited by his publisher to remove wording that might offend black people, or "Black" people, as they prefer to be...uh, capitalized.  In short, Bond villains simply can't be black, just as Bond himself simply can't be a white male.  I fully expect that, when the next Bond film is released, he won't be.  Sorry, she won't be.  Ze won't be?  In any case, I fully expect that I won't see the damn film!


https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/james-bond-007-ian-fleming/2023/02/26/id/1110229/

 

Cancel culture has also caught up with the creator of the "Dilbert" cartoon franchise, who made some intemperate and racially-charged remarks.  He expressed himself poorly, but his basic point was that people who are racist are bad people.  His mistake was in averring that "Black" people can be, and often are, racist.  Of course, that's true, and there's polling evidence to prove it.  Now, imagine if the roles were reversed.  Imagine that this Dilbert guy was black, and he was counseling black people to avoid white people, because of their nasty penchant for racism.  Would he be drummed out of his profession...or would he be rewarded with accolades and paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak at college graduations?  You be the judge!

 

https://www.breitbart.com/news/media-drop-dilbert-after-creators-black-hate-group-remark/ 


Finally, the Western establishment, early on, suppressed any and all suggestions that COVID could have originated in a Chinese lab (duh!), and ever since they've slow-walked the process that could and should lead us to reconsider the question.  More and more, the "experts" are concluding that COVID was leaked from the lab in Wuhan.  Of course, quietly conceding that fact years after COVID hit the Western world like a tsunami is a great way of ensuring that the Chinese will never be held even remotely accountable.  This is yet another way in which our so-called leaders are carrying water for the Chinese Communist Party  Shame on them!


https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a

Friday, February 24, 2023

A Spring in His Step?

 


Friends, as you know, American and Western foreign policy is based mostly on wish fulfillment, not rationality.  So, for instance, we'll talk endlessly about how Ukraine is going to beat Russia into the ground, and Vladimir Putin will be overthrown, and good ole Tomski Jefferson will become Russia's new head of state, and we'll ride off into the sunset together and eat ice cream!  Sounds nice, doesn't it?  The only problem is that there's no reason to think that Putin's regime is in any danger, and there's precious little justification for the assumption that either Ukraine or Russia is on the verge of anything, except more bloodshed.  I repeat: self-congratulation is not an exit strategy!


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-support-for-putins-war-in-ukraine-is-hardening/ar-AA17P6vI

 

In other news, DEI is taking over this country, bit by bit, and Joe Biden is doing his best to ensure that the federal government is shot through with DEI bureaucrats and commissars.  In other words, our leftist Deep State will, in predictable fashion, become even more leftist and even more self-consciously and proudly racist the longer we let Biden and friends rule the roost.  At the very least, we need to educate ourselves on the tactics of the DEI crowd so we have a fighting chance if we choose to resist (and I sure hope we will).


https://rufo.substack.com/p/biden-creates-a-national-dei-bureaucracy

 

Finally, in yet another case of "Do as I say, not as I do", U.S. higher education is becoming more and more elitist at the same time that it howls at the top of its lungs about "equity" and "inclusion".  Our Ivy League universities and the junior ivies are thriving, as well-connected and well-heeled youngsters flock there.  Our less prestigious private colleges are struggling, and in fact they're disappearing at a fast clip.  Meanwhile, the high cost of higher ed is persuading many young adults to forego college altogether.  In the end, we'll have fewer colleges and universities, and probably a declining percentage of Americans will attend them.  Who will they be?  They'll be the privileged few who can afford to pay, plus the "disadvantaged" few who get a free ride based on their demographic star power and their ideological pliability.  Is that "equity"?  You tell me.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/22/more-colleges-to-close-even-as-top-schools-experience-application-boom.html 

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Dead Presidents' Day

 


Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show is replete with hard-hitting analysis of the political fallout from the Ohio train derailment, the South Park episode about woke heroes Harry and Meghan, the vagaries of "misinformation", the life and times of George Washington, and the import of the Tet Offensive.


Wow!  Is it even legal to range so freely from topic to topic?  Maybe not for much longer, so my advice is to listen in while you still can...


https://wlea.net/newsmaker-february-22-2023-dr-nick-waddy/

 

***

 

In other news, you may have noticed that the greatest president in American history, Joe Biden, savior of Ukraine, etc etc., has still not declared his candidacy for reelection.  Many speculated that he would so soon after Trump made his intentions known.  Biden's hesitancy is fueling speculation, which is bound to increase with time.  My take: whatever drags Biden over the finish line and convinces him that the Democratic Party and the nation can't do without him is all to the good, because a weak Biden is a nearly perfect foil for whoever happens to become the GOP nominee.  Dems, please, stick with Biden -- he's a prince among men, I swear!


https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/22/bidenworld-joe-may-not-run-2024-00083905

 

Finally, there's a massive, almost 30-point gap between how many young men and young women say they're in relationships these days.  It's not unusual for the number to be higher among women, but 30 points???  Are some women dating women, or "women"?  Sure they are, but not nearly enough to account for this discrepancy.  The only explanation that makes any sense is that an extraordinary number of young women are delusional.  They think they're in a relationship with some man, but, as far as the man is concerned, they're just hot little numbers with a tendency to get carried away.  Hmmmm.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/22/63-of-young-american-men-are-single-most-young-women-are-in-relationships/

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

The Big Apple Gets the DeSantis Treatment

 


Friends, it appears that Ron DeSantis is inching closer to declaring his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2024.  One reason I assert that is because he's now hitting the (campaign?) trail, visiting deep blue states like Illinois and New York to position himself as an alternative to wokeness and progressive misgovernance.  Hear hear!  As a New Yorker myself, I say: come again, Ron!  We could use a whole lot more common sense conservatives like you in these parts...


https://dnyuz.com/2023/02/20/desantis-visits-new-york-on-tour-meant-to-show-he-is-tough-on-crime/

 

Speaking of common sense, DeSantis is dispensing a lot of sensible analysis re: Ukraine, and that's a rarity in American politics today.  He's saying that we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if the Biden Administration had projected strength instead of weakness.  I agree.  He's saying that the West has no clear "strategic objective" in Ukraine.  No kidding!  We're gonna "beat Russia", whatever that means, but it's very unclear that the Ukrainians can manage it, and, even if they did, that it would gain them anything but a reprieve from eventual national annihilation.  More to the point, Ron is saying that we shouldn't be picking a fight with Russia when China is clearly a much bigger threat...and we let them get away with anything and everything.  Hear hear!

 

https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/20/not-acceptable-desantis-slams-biden-for-handing-ukraine-a-blank-check/ 


Trump, for his part, is taking on DeSantis more and more directly, and apparently he feels he has the upper hand in the polls.  Trump's attack lines are interesting.  He's claiming that DeSantis is against Social Security and Medicare (for some reason), and that he's tied too closely to the GOP establishment.  We shall see if DJT can deliver the goods...


https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/tuetrump-slams-desantis-jeb-light-embraces-early-voting-2024-have

 

We here at WaddyIsRight welcome all-star CNN "journalist" Don Lemon back to the airwaves, for two reasons: 1) no one watches CNN, so he can't really do much harm there, and 2) Don is quite obviously past his "prime", so he can't be held responsible for every little sexist remark that escapes his gaping maw.

 

https://apnews.com/article/don-lemon-nikki-haley-344670aba56c09e97b60df2469735bf8 


Lastly, I would like to express my unalloyed contempt for this singer, who took it upon herself to sing an altered version of her own national anthem (that of Canada), which she felt better expressed her shame at the country's mistreatment of "First Nations" peoples.  My opinion is that Canadians have made groveling at the feet of Native Americans their national pastime.  It's about time, therefore, that they give it a rest.  What's more, anyone who thinks that their own personal agenda trumps honoring their country doesn't deserve to be a "native" or a citizen of that country to begin with.  Hate America?  Hate Canada?  Then go live somewhere less hateful, and in the meantime keep your virtue-signaling to yourself!!!


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64722763

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Charlie and the [Wokeness] Factory

 


Friends, just when you thought wokeness couldn't get any more extreme, absurd, or Orwellian, it does just that.  The works of Roald Dahl have been "edited" for cultural sensitivity by Dahl's publisher, Puffin Books.  Now, it would be one thing if footnotes were added to Dahl's works to add literary or historical context, but, no, Puffin thinks it's better if we just pretend Dahl is a modern social justice warrior and, if he disapproves, well, he's dead, so who cares?  I agree wholeheartedly with this analysis, which says that we all need to stand against this insanity, and posthaste too, before the original versions of our great books are scrubbed from our memories.


https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/02/19/the-rewriting-of-roald-dahl-should-disturb-us-all/

 

In other news, one Republican Congressman is claiming that as many as 400 of the 435 members of the House of Representatives are in accord when it comes to showering Ukraine with direct military aid, so as to escalate and prolong the Russia-Ukraine War, regardless of the risks.  The sad truth is...he's right.  Virtually no one in Washington thinks courting WWIII is a bad idea, and almost every single member of our political establishment has bought into the fantasy that Ukraine can "defeat" Russia, not only in the short term but in the long term too.  I tell you: if only Ukraine is obliterated by this idiotic policy, we can count ourselves lucky.  I just hope the war doesn't spread.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/02/19/gop-rep-turner-only-handful-on-both-sides-in-congress-dont-support-ukraine-aid/ 

Friday, February 17, 2023

Demon DeSantis?

 


Friends, the polls are, as usual, hard to make sense of in their totality.  Some put support for DJT and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis about equal.  Others give Trump a substantial edge.  Pretty much all of them agree that Trump currently has the support of about 40-45% of Republicans.  That's a plurality, but it means there are lots of potential supporters out there for an anti-Trump.  Another thing the polls agree on is that, while Biden and Trump's negatives are high, DeSantis's are much more subdued, except among Democrats and progressives.  The media is working hard to get Team Blue on the same page when it comes to hating all things Florida, and it's inevitable that some of their narratives will spill over and delude independents and centrists too.  Right now DeSantis looks the safer choice for Republicans, but what we can't know for certain is how he'll fare when the harsh glare of the national spotlight shines on him, unrelentingly and malevolently, as it has for Donald Trump for about seven years now.  Bottom line: all the polls really tell us at this point is that Biden, Trump, and DeSantis all have a decent shot at winning in 2024, but none of them will enjoy a cakewalk.  This is a 50/50 country, after all, and there's no reason to think that will change anytime soon.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/17/harvard-poll-donald-trump-doubles-ron-desantis-potential-gop-primary-matchup/

 

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/rasmussen-donald-trump-polls/2023/02/17/id/1109154/ 


Here's a glowing review of DeSantis's record and his rapport with Floridians.  The best guide to how a politician will behave and will fare in the future is, of course, his record, and DeSantis's inspires a lot of hope and optimism, and sometimes even veneration.


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/the-desantis-they-know

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Being a Leftist Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

 


Friends, the Left hates Matt Gaetz, so naturally progressives were overjoyed when he was accused of being a pedophile.  Well, those accusations have come to nothing, and the DOJ is quietly exonerating Gaetz, which means, of course, that leftists will simply move on to their next smear campaign, and will never breathe a whiff of regret about what they did to Gaetz.  What else is new?


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-wont-charge-matt-gaetz-with-crimes-sex-trafficking-probe

 

Inflation is persistent and elevated -- unless you listen to Joe Biden, that is.  He says it's never been lower, and, as a man who hasn't paid for his own eggs since the dawn of chickenhood, he should know.

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/wholesale-inflation-surges-january-more-expected-high-prices-persist 


You know, say what you want about the lefties running a brain-damaged candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2022, but they won, didn't they?  Now that pathetic shell of a man is "clinically depressed"...  No kidding!  I would be too if I was a mere pawn in the Dems' power plays.  I feel sorry for the guy.  He should resign ASAP and let some other progressive stooge take his place.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/16/john-fetterman-checks-himself-hospital-clinical-depression/

 

In Trump-related news, the former president holds a slim lead over DeSantis, at least according to this Quinnipiac poll.  All in all, it points to what could be a highly competitive race, both in the primaries and in the general election.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/16/poll-donald-trump-holds-lead-over-crowded-gop-primary-field/

 

Interestingly, Trump is reconsidering his aversion to mail-in voting.  He still thinks it's vulnerable to fraud, but now he's more interested in winning than in fixing a flawed electoral system.  I know how you feel, Donald!  It's about time we beat the Dems at their own game.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-changes-tune-on-mail-in-voting-ballot-collection-fa7193be 


Finally, Mitch McConnell's obsession with Ukraine mirrors similar sentiments across the political spectrum among our establishment grandees.  How these people became more patriotic for the yellow and blue than for the red, white, and blue, I haven't a clue.  It's darn peculiar!  Did they ever stop to think that the Ukrainian people would be far better off if we'd never chosen to "rescue" them in the first place?  Nah.  That would require them to have common sense, and there's never been much danger of that.


https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/02/16/mcconnell-defeating-the-russians-in-ukraine-is-the-single-most-important-event-going-on-in-the-world-right-now/

Taking Potshots at Red China

 


Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show, even though it's half as long as usual, addresses a lot of hot-button topics, including the U.S. government's suddenly and suspiciously aggressive moves towards Chinese (?) balloons, the net effect of Nikki Haley's presidential run, the terrible toll of drug overdoses and suicide among our youth, our ongoing battle with inflation, the succession buzz in North Korea, and Mike Pence's legal troubles.


It's no exaggeration to say that, at the Newsmaker Show, we bring you the world!

 

https://wlea.net/newsmaker-february-16-2023-senators-borrello-omara-and-dr-waddy/ 

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Big Pharma's Big Play for Bigger Profits

 


Friends, don't you just love it when the super-rich hire lobbyists to write our laws so that they, the super-rich, get even richer?  I sure don't!  My latest article exposes an instance of this pernicious phenomenon that's a lot more common than you might think.

 

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2023/02/14/the-road-to-riches-for-big-pharma-n2619553 

It's On!

 


Friends, the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is officially...a race!  That's because, at long last, we have two viable contenders: Donald J. Trump and Nikki Haley.  Many more candidates are expected to join the fray.  Does Nikki Haley have a good chance of winning?  Not according to the latest polls, but hey -- a DJT versus DeSantis slugfest could open doors for virtually anyone.  As an aside, you might note in this story DJT's very mild reaction to Haley's candidacy.  He's not apoplectic or aggrieved, as one might expect.  One wonders, therefore, whether the net effect of Haley's campaign will be to help divide Republican votes between so many candidates that Trump can win (again) with only a plurality of Republicans behind him.  Perhaps Haley already knows this.  Perhaps Trump does too.  Perhaps they've even coordinated strategies.  A conspiracy theory, you say?  Could be, but politics makes strange bedfellows, does it not?


https://www.breitbart.com/news/haley-announces-presidential-campaign-challenging-trump/

 

Two things seem to be happening in Gen Z: they're getting more and more progressive, and they're getting more and more unhappy and unhinged.  The two phenomena may be closely linked!  A lot of establishment propaganda aimed at young people is not exactly optimistic and ego-boosting, after all.  Sometimes, one is tempted to regard the leftist worldview, which sees a white supremacist, a Russian agent, a killer virus, and a climate catastrophe behind every bush, as an elaborate scheme to convince humanity to self-annihilate.  Certainly quite a few kids seem to be taking it in that spirit.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/14/nolte-democrat-war-children-explodes-overdose-deaths-suicide-attempts/

 

What is "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI)?  No one really knows, but one potential answer is that it's the greatest manifestation of virtue-signaling in American history.  In other words, it's an (elaborate and expensive) effort by corporate America and all our various institutions to make it seem like they're advancing "racial and social justice", when all they're really doing is hiring some progressive blowhards to nag us a few times a year.  Maybe you have a different definition of DEI?  I'd love to hear it.

 

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2023/02/14/the_sudden_dominance_of_the_diversity_industrial_complex_880202.html 


Is the climate getting steadily worse?  That's certainly the party line, but there's some evidence to suggest that these claims are, at best, way overblown.


https://issuesinsights.com/2023/02/14/the-climate-scare-narrative-continues-to-collapse/

 

No doubt you've heard that inflation is slowly coming under control, as the brilliant minds in the Biden Administration and at the Fed work their magic.  Well, the signals are mixed, and there's certainly no clear evidence that inflation will cease to be a worry anytime soon.  The bottom line for the average worker: your real (inflation-adjusted) income is 2% lower than it was a year ago.  Of course, that's not Biden's fault.  Oh, heck no!  He only takes credit.  He never assumes blame.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/14/consumer-price-index-january-2023-.html 


Finally, add the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to the (very) long list of agencies, organizations, and institutions that the Left is weaponizing to force all of us in line.  Some of its high-handed actions could cause corporate America to resist, of course.  Then again, corporate stooges might also decide to knuckle under and hop on the DEI train, and the climate catastrophe train, and the open borders train, and all those other leftist trains, in order to avoid the wrath of Biden (and friends).


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/14/republican-ftc-commissioner-wilson-announces-resignation.html

Friday, February 10, 2023

Classic Misdirection

 


Friends, today we learned that Mike Pence's home has been raided by the FBI, which is valiantly searching for those pesky classified documents that seem to infest almost every residence and office of current and former D.C. politicians.  And that, I suspect, is the point of the focus on Mike Pence.  The FBI and the Democratic Party (which are one in the same, in so many respects) need to foster the narrative that there are lots of secret papers floating around out there, and thus Biden's garage full of them is basically just standard sloppiness.  No big deal.  Trump's trove of SUPER secret documents, on the other hand, and his shameless efforts at "obstruction of justice", put him in a totally different category.  To further this narrative, I suspect many more Republicans will see their homes and offices raided in an ever-expanding documentary dragnet.  In the process, Sleepy Joe's misdeeds will be almost entirely forgotten, at least as far as the mainstream media and the DOJ are concerned.


https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/mike-pence-fbi-raid/2023/02/09/id/1108070/

 

Efforts to delude and deceive the American people will accelerate as President Biden inches towards declaring his candidacy for reelection.  The DNC Chair reveals the playbook in this (wildly irresponsible and heavily biased) article: paint the Republicans as "un-American" and crazy, and you can't lose!

 

https://news.yahoo.com/dnc-chair-says-biden-run-195349466.html 


Finally, anti-Musk and anti-Twitter stories aren't appearing in the news quite as often these days, but don't think for a moment that the establishment is going to let up on its crusade to obliterate free speech.  In the end, it's far more likely that Twitter will fall in line and censor whomever it is told to censor than that it will survive as the lone social media platform espousing liberty.  Musk may be a lot richer than you or me, but he still faces an uphill battle in reframing public discourse.  The sad truth is that censorship has now been normalized.  In fact, hundreds of millions of people worldwide DEMAND it!


https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/02/10/eu-attacks-elon-musks-twitter-for-allegedly-failing-so-called-disinformation-test/

Thursday, February 9, 2023

The Princess of Whales

 


Hearty congrats to Kim Ju-ae today, Kim Jong-Un's ten-year-old daughter, as more and more signals point to her selection as North Korea's next "Dear Leader".  Now, I know what many of you are thinking: "Oh no!  Does this mean that Kim Jong-Un, beloved and beneficient savior of Stalinism, is in bad health?"  No no no!  Relax.  Chill out.  There's every reason to assume that he'll be enslaving vile class enemies for years to come.  Now we know, however, who will someday take over the reins of Kimdom when Kim Jong-Un goes to frolic with his illustrious ancestors...wherever they happen to be.  I, for one, commend the People's Democratic Republic of North Korea for handling the problem of succession with such subtlety and assurance.  Our system of elections, by contrast, is so upsetting and chaotic!  We could learn a thing or two from the Kims, needless to say.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64581465

 

In other news, what is the news?  Why, it's whatever you make of it, of course!  Is the "mishandling" of confidential government documents a big deal?  That all depends on who's running the newsroom, and who's doing the mishandling...

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/02/09/media_coverage_of_bidens_documents_148840.html 


Did you know that God is "trans"?  That's the rising consensus in the Church of England, at any rate.  I assume most of my ancestors are turning in their graves, and maybe that's the point.  If enough of our ancestors are sufficiently mortified, and enough skeletons start spinning at once, maybe we'll finally discover that perfect and limitless form of "alternative energy" that the lefties have been dreaming of...  That's assuming that they haven't been turned into pillars of salt, of course.


https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/02/09/gender-neutral-god-church-of-england-to-launch-liturgical-pronoun-project/

 

Finally, DJT is back on FB and Instagram, which, when you think about it, is ironic.  He refuses to tweet, because of his loyalty to his rival social media app, Truth Social, and despite Twitter's massive shift to the political center.  Meta, on the other hand, remains in the hands of crazed leftists, and yet Trump has no problem indulging them, and they him.  My guess is that this rapprochement won't last long.  When the chips are down, Meta and Google will do anything and everything to ensure that someone of Trump's ilk never gets near the White House again.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64585429 

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Pusillanimous Politicians Pontificate Pointlessly

 



Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show tackles, among other topics, China's insidious influence operations inside the United States (and every other major country), which have compromised our ability to defend our own interests and, as it turns out, our own territorial integrity.  Witness our failure to shoot down China's surveillance balloon until it had already completed its mission in American skies.  In addition, Brian and I consider Biden's (disingenuous) proposal to increase taxes on the super-rich, i.e. people slightly richer than him, the nature of "cultural Marxism", SUNY's embrace of DEI initiatives, including a mandatory new course for all students, the progress of the Russia-Ukraine War, and more!


Holy moly!  Who could resist such an action-packed, insight-filled radio program???


https://wlea.net/newsmaker-february-8-2023-dr-nick-waddy/


***


In other news, some old guy gave a speech.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-state-of-the-union-address-america-polling-economy-covid-11675809441?mod=djemalertNEWS


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/02/07/trump_the_real_state_of_the_union_is_biden_is_leading_us_to_wwiii_and_hes_the_most_corrupt_president_in_history.html


And here is the very persuasive homage to Governor DeSantis which Ray mentioned:


https://www.wayoflife.org/pdf/fcnn-24-02.pdf

Monday, February 6, 2023

DeSantis Shows Us the Way

 


Friends, my latest article is an homage to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who took on the College Board and won, dealing a body blow to wokeness and irritating more than a few leftist talking heads in the process.  We conservatives notch so few triumphs in the culture wars that it's worth taking a victory lap now!


Current Score: DeSantis 1, Wokeness 0


Wokeness is, make no mistake, a multi-headed hydra that imperils Western Civilization in countless ways, attacks relentlessly, and is almost impossible to kill. Having said all of that, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently notched a rare win against the raging beast: he played a commanding role in efforts to convince the College Board to revise its “African American Studies” course. In doing so, he's proven that there is hope for conservatism, for common sense, and even for constructive criticism in modern America – all revelations that come as a shock to cynics like me.

The changes that DeSantis helped to engender in the AP African American Studies course are sweeping. The course now omits mandatory indoctrination in Black Lives Matter, “Black Queer Studies”, reparations, the “prison industrial complex”, and “The Black Feminist Movement and Womanism” (whatever “women” are – I'm still puzzling that one out). In short, the whole character and tone of the course has been massively altered, and it has been wrenched free of its culturally Marxist foundations in dramatic fashion.

Not at all surprisingly, leftists are aghast. They charge that conservatives “bullied” the College Board, and that it has compromised its academic integrity by appeasing “fascists” like the wildly popular Florida Governor. Woke nags are used to getting their way, and so a public reversal on this scale stings severely.

Will the College Board thus succeed in winning Florida's acceptance of the new-and-improved African American Studies course? That remains to be seen.

Will the College Board's leadership be digitally tarred and feathered by an enraged neo-Marxist Twitter mob, such that it is (re)bullied into (re)designing the course, to once again amplify all the leftist themes that it so recently muted? This too we cannot rule out.

Another caveat: the character of AP African American Studies courses, as they are actually taught, will be determined more by their instructors than by the formal curriculum. Ergo, as long as most public schoolteachers and college professors are leftists, we can assume that the woke bias that the College Board originally intended would infuse this course will, in fact, still be present for the vast majority of students who take it. In other words, the only way to change the nature of elementary, secondary, and tertiary education in America fundamentally is to replace at least some of the people teaching it. But that's a challenge for another day.

For now, Governor DeSantis is to be applauded for having the courage and foresight to take on wokeness on a very specific front, where presumably he sensed vulnerability, and for achieving such a rare and notable triumph. Conservatives in the Republican Party's base are looking for a champion who can do more than just rile the Left. They are looking for a candidate in 2024 who can win real, tangible victories over leftism – who can beat the woke hydra so badly that it retreats back to its watery lair, never to be heard from again.

Ron DeSantis, more and more every day, looks like he's the man for the job.


Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.

 

And here it is at World Net Daily:

 

https://www.wnd.com/2023/02/score-desantis-1-wokeness-0/ 

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Is the Empire State an Empire...of Wokeness?

 

 

Friends, kudos to the New York Post, which came out strongly in favor of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's efforts to combat woke indoctrination in our education system, and strongly against the recent moves by SUNY (the State University of New York) to require all college students to complete a course in "diversity, equity, and inclusion".  The devil is in the details, as always, but the omnipresence of DEI ideology these days, and the insistence that everyone bend a knee to it, is immensely troubling.  And make no mistake: the forces of wokeness are, by and large, still on the offensive.  Once in a while they make a tactical retreat, but if you think the DeSantises of this world are winning the war, you're kidding yourself!

 

https://nypost.com/2023/02/02/suny-needs-its-own-ron-desantis-as-a-savior-from-woke-insanity/ 


In other news, a fierce debate continues in both parties about whether Biden and Trump are strong candidates, or even viable candidates, and you can see why.  The polling evidence is ambiguous at best.  Trump seems to have mounted a recovery of late, but that likely reflects the fact that news coverage has shifted away from him (temporarily).  The bottom line for me is that, in our closely divided country, virtually anyone could win in 2024, including Biden and Trump, but that doesn't mean that either one of them represent the best that the Dems and the GOP have to offer.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/05/poll-trump-takes-lead-biden-eve-state-union-address/

Friday, February 3, 2023

Binders Full of Women

 


Friends, in the latest episode of everyone's favorite show, The Biden-Harris Variety Hour, Sleepy Joe is quoted thusly: "more than half the women in my administration are women".  Now, there's an argument to be made that Biden is saying something reasonably profound, since quite a few of the "women" who work for him have penises, and thus their womanhood has been called into question.  Then again, what is a "woman"?  Good luck finding a Democrat who can give you a straight answer to that one.  One assumes that even biologists are demurring on this sensitive topic nowadays.  Anyway, kudos to President Biden for at least beginning a conversation about who's a woman and who isn't.  That shows real political courage in the present climate!


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/03/joe-biden-more-half-women-my-administration-women/

 

In other news, there's a sinister Chicom balloon floating over these United States, and some reports even indicate that it may be filled with MSG.  Top brass are currently debating whether or not to shoot down this alien craft, but the Biden Administration is leaning towards giving it refugee status and free bus fare.  Stay tuned!

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/03/shoot-down-the-balloon-trump-calls-for-chinese-spy-balloon-to-be-shot-down/ 

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Leave It To...Zuckerberg?

 


Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show covers an enormous amount of ground (what else is new?), including the factors that determine the American people's selection of presidents, our industrial decline, Facebook's (long overdue) reinstatement of Donald Trump's account, the strengths and weaknesses of America's rising generation (Gen Z), the removal of Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee, the first rallies that DJT has held as a presidential candidate (for the '24 cycle), and so much more!  There's a theme that runs through this week's program, in my view: the importance of the family, and the fact that so many of our nation's problems come down to indifferent/incompetent parenting.  Anyway, it's a great show, in my humble opinion, so give it a listen...


https://wlea.net/newsmaker-february-1-2023-dr-nick-waddy/


***


In other news, how does the "Deep State", including the National Archives, bend the narrative to damage conservatives and shield leftists?  Here's a case in point:


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/national-archives-not-allowed-reveal-biden-classified-documents-discovery


The SUNY DEI course referenced below is actually one that I teach, believe it or not!  At first, here at Alfred State, it was called "Global Perspectives," but it's been reworked as "Global and Diverse Perspectives" to appease the DEI crowd.  I will say, however, that a course description has, in practice, relatively little impact on how a course is taught, or on what subject matter is covered.  I doubt that SUNY will compel me to teach the class in such a way that I would be forced to endorse any particular ideology.  Ergo, the question people ought to be asking is not so much "What courses are on the books?" as "Who is teaching them?"  Everything is ultimately a matter of perspective, and it's beyond obvious at this stage that the vast majority of college professors agree with the leftist, neo-Marxist paradigm.  Thus, their courses are going to be filled with nonsense, regardless of what the course description says.


https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2023/02/01/suny-makes-racial-equity-course-mandatory-for-graduation-at-all-schools/


Lastly, I've opined before on the potential upsides and downsides of A.I., but here's a MAJOR pitfall: A.I. "learns" from the internet, and especially from those online sources that it is told are "reliable".  It should come as no surprise, therefore, that most forms of A.I. will parrot the ideology of the digital Masters of the Universe who run the internet, and of the woke techies who program A.I. in the first place.  This is, or ought to be, a very serious concern.  A.I. is destined to wield significant power in our society.  In fact, it already does.  It already manages most social media censorship regimes.  We can safely assume, moreover, that it will exercise this power in a biased fashion, and maybe even with genuine hatred or contempt for "right-wing extremists" like ourselves (but without any form of compassion to mitigate its disdain).  You've been warned!


https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2023/02/01/openais-chatgpt-gushes-about-joe-biden-refuses-to-praise-trump-or-desantis/