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Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Is HAL 9000 Coming For Your Job?

 


Friends, if you're like most people, you probably think a supercomputer has it out for you -- or at least poses an existential risk to your job.  On the latter score, I suspect you may be right, and I, among many Americans, may see my career field cast into obsolescence by the rise of artificial intelligence.  Already, most computers are more personable and lifelike than I am.  It's just a matter of time before they're better at just about everything else!  Yikes.


This is just one of many fascinating topics that Brian and I cover on this week's Newsmaker Show.  We also address the presidential sweepstakes of Trump versus DeSantis, the significance of the deal on the debt ceiling, and the charms of the Emerald Isle!  When we get to This Day in History, Brian and I discuss the ousting of Richard Nixon and what it meant and means for the "Deep State", the Battle of Jutland, and the trial and execution of Adolf Eichmann, one of the chief organizers of the Jewish Holocaust.  


Now that's a radio show!  Ergo, only a certifiable lunatic would refuse to tune in...

 

 https://wlea.net/newsmaker-may-31-2023-dr-nick-waddy/


***


Here's the article on A.I. and the threat it poses to humanity that prompted me to bring up the subject on the show:


https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65746524

 

In other news, although opinions differ on just how evil Anheuser-Busch is, as a corporation, its Bud Light brand is still getting hammered because of the company's embrace of Dylan Mulvaney, "transgender influencer", as a spokes...person.  I don't have a dog in this fight, but it is nice to see that conservatives can make a boycott stick, which will certainly get the attention of corporate America as nothing else could.

 

https://www.newsweek.com/bud-light-sales-decline-dylan-mulvaney-boycott-latest-1803292 

 

Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic is being criticized for having the temerity to make an overtly political statement at a tennis competition about a beleaguered country...that isn't Ukraine.  I mean, how dare he?  Doesn't he realize that staying on script is a requirement of the job?

 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/65764399 


Perennial presidential candidate Chris Christie appears to have decided to join the race for the Republican nomination in 2024.  Apparently, all the other times the GOP base has slapped him down weren't enough!  He's back for more.


https://www.newsmax.com/politics/chris-christie-white-house-run/2023/05/31/id/1121836/


Finally, here's an excellent article on where we stand re: racial preferences.  It's getting harder and harder for schools and businesses to discriminate on the basis of race directly (much as they want to!), so they are increasingly turning to indirect means that are designed to achieve the same effects, i.e. increase black and Hispanic representation at all costs.  I believe it's likely that the Supreme Court will soon disallow any use of race preferences in college admissions.  I also believe it's inevitable that the cultural Marxists in charge of American education, and much else besides, will get around the ruling by pursuing more subtle and creative approaches to racial discrimination.  For instance, standardized tests are about to go the way of the dodo bird -- and we all know why.


https://www.city-journal.org/article/engineering-racial-outcomes

Sunday, May 28, 2023

A Texas-Sized Kerfuffle

 


Friends, I don't pretend to understand the legal particulars, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been impeached by the (mostly Republican) Texas House of Representatives, meaning a trial will now take place in the Senate.  DJT is coming to the defense of Paxton, but it's hard to believe that so many Republicans would turn on Paxton merely based on charges that were...trumped up.  Impeachments have become all too common in modern American politics, but seldom do we see a party turn on one of its own.  Whatever happens, we can safely assume that the next Attorney General of Texas will be a conservative Republican, whether that's Paxton or someone else.  Long may it last!


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-impeached-texas-house-of-representatives/

 

In other news, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Generalissimo Biden have reached a basic agreement on a resolution to the standoff over the debt ceiling.  This surprises me not in the least.  It will probably be seen as a modest win for Republicans, which is nice, but what it won't do is put our country on a fiscally sound path.  That battle has yet to be fought, and it probably never will be -- not until members of Congress have no choice but to tighten our collective belt.

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/27/mccarthy-and-biden-reach-agreement-in-principle-on-debt-limit-00099107 

Saturday, May 27, 2023

All Eyes on Florida

 


Friends, the mainstream media is dutifully following the party line, as always, and these days that means trashing the reputations of Florida as a whole and Governor Ron DeSantis, in particular.  Breathless reporting about alleged fascist atrocities, including book "bans" and disallowing LGBT indoctrination in the public schools, has the Left up in arms.  Civil rights groups are reinforcing the narrative by suggesting that people of color and members of the LGBT community would be "unsafe" if they visit the Sunshine State.  The irony, of course, is that no one is leaving Florida, plenty of people are moving there, and the actual, verifiable dangers that people of color, and people of no particular color, face living in deep blue jurisdictions -- from violent criminals, for instance -- concerns these civil rights organizations not in the least.  The "news" really is what you make of it!


https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/26/black-americans-embrace-florida/

 

Ron DeSantis has been taking his first shots at DJT, and I must say this line of attack rings true for me: DeSantis is saying that Trump got played, in effect, on COVID policy.  While he verbally protested the lockdowns and the mandates, he did nothing in practice to block them, and he even allowed Mister Lockdown himself, a.k.a. Dr. Fauci, to remain in charge of our pandemic response.  Is that the kind of insurgent leadership we need in D.C.?  I don't think so.  So often Trump seems to be all bark and no bite.

 

https://www.theflstandard.com/desantis-rips-trumps-covid-response-he-turned-the-country-over-to-fauci/ 


I reflected recently on the significance of Elon Musk's seeming support for Ron DeSantis, and DeSantis's overall prospects in the race for the White House.  I haven't been able to access this article myself, but maybe you'll have more luck:


https://sputnikglobe.com/20230525/mastering-social-media-more-important-to-desantis-than-musks-backing-1110588118.html

 

What would happen to a person who blamed one gender, or one race, for all the world's fundamental problems?  They'd get a sweet deal with Netflix, that's what!  They surely wouldn't be canceled.  Oh no -- not as long as they pick their demon gender, and their demon race, very, very carefully...

 

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/05/27/jane-fonda-blames-men-for-climate-change-we-have-to-arrest-and-jail-those-men/ 


Finally, I visited the Titanic Museum in Belfast today.  Very neat.  Coincidentally, amazing discoveries are still being made at the site of the shipwreck.  


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-65721611

 

Relatedly, I'm learning a lot about Belfast's rich history, including its status as a great industrial city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Belfast's own Harland and Wolff is still cranking out massive ships as we speak!

 

https://www.harland-wolff.com/ 

Friday, May 26, 2023

Luck of the Waddys

 


Friends, greetings from the Emerald Isle!  Your very own Professor Waddy is currently in Dublin, about to begin a two-week sojourn touring the length and breadth of Ireland.  For most of that time I will be part of an organized tour group with an expert guide, and I expect that will enhance my appreciation of Irish history and culture to no end.  I promise I'll do my best to bring back a leprechaun for each and every one of you!


In other news, we're inching closer to interfacing the human brain with computers, and I, for one, couldn't be happier.  I frankly don't see any way that I could ever live in a woke, Marxist dystopia -- like, say, New York State -- unless someone digitally alters my consciousness, permitting me to appreciate the upside of idiocy and civilizational self-sabotage...  And now there's hope!  Boy, is there any problem that Elon Musk can't solve?  What a fellar!


https://www.bbc.com/news/health-65717487

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Dreaming the Impossible Dream

 


Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show addresses the recently declared candidacy of Senator Tim Scott for the presidency.  Does he have a chance?  If so, is it one in a hundred or one in a thousand or one in a zillion?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Brian and I also talk over the politics of the debt ceiling negotiations, the increasingly high stakes battle over school choice and DEI, the question of "trans rights" versus parents' rights, the political viability of DJT, whether the U.S. and other Western countries are "complicit" in Chinese neo-colonialism, whether green energy can answer some (or all) of our energy needs, and the ongoing saga of E. Jean Carroll versus Donald Trump.

 

That's right: no time for "This Day in History" this week!  There's just too much breaking news to cover...


https://wlea.net/newsmaker-may-24-2023-dr-nick-waddy/

 

***

 

As you may have heard, an obscure governor by the name of Ronald Dion DeSantis has announced that he's running for president!  Who saw that coming?  Well, everyone, in point of fact, and probably DJT most of all.   DeSantis's launch was not without its technical glitches, apparently, but I personally find it interesting and telling that he did it via Twitter and with the active participation of Elon Musk, who's become something of an honorary conservative of late.  Can DeSantis take the heat of a presidential campaign, and can he survive barbs coming at him from Trump and the Dems and the media simultaneously?  We shall see.  I'll be watching, and I know you will too.

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ron-desantis-2024-presidential-run-paperwork-twitter-spaces/ 

 

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/donald-trump-ron-desantis-2024/2023/05/24/id/1121116/ 

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

To Trump, Or Not To Trump...

 


Friends, my latest article addresses what is arguably the most pressing question facing Republicans and conservatives these days.  No, not "Should I jump off a bridge?"  The question is: should we or shouldn't we choose Donald Trump as our candidate in 2024?  I examine both sides of the argument, and in doing so I might just give you something new to think about...


https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/22/third-times-the-charm-for-trump/

 

What are your thoughts on the wisdom of a third-straight attempt by Republicans to elect Donald J. Trump as president???

 

***

 

In other news, and there's lots of it, at least some Democrats are calling for Joe Biden to face real competition in the Democratic presidential primaries (sorry, but RFK, Jr. ain't it).  These Democrats see what's staring them in the face: Biden is a weak candidate, and running a weak candidate is just plain dumb!

 

https://www.persuasion.community/p/why-democratic-candidates-should?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=61579&post_id=123078608&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email 


This is perhaps the most important thing currently happening in this country -- and I don't say that lightly.  There is a coordinated campaign going on (there's no other word for it) to tarnish the reputation and deny the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.  If this campaign succeeds, ultimately SCOTUS will be nullified by the executive branch, and our constitutional system will cease to function.  The stakes could not be higher!!!


https://thespectator.com/topic/campaign-supreme-court-legitimacy/

 

Senator Tim Scott is officially running for president, and DJT...wishes him "good luck"!  Ha!  That tells you all you need to know about Scott's chances of becoming the Republican nominee, and it also tells you that DJT understands the obvious: the more candidates in the race, the greater are his chances of being the nominee.

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/trump-calls-tim-scott-a-big-step-up-from-desantis 


Good ole Fox News!  You gotta love it, right?  No, not really.  For any number of reasons, Fox's "conservatism" appears to be more feigned than genuine.  Here's a good example:


https://www.breitbart.com/health/2023/05/22/report-woke-fox-news-imposes-transgenderism-workforce/

 

How important to the Left is their domination of the public schools, and, through those schools, their ability to indoctrinate the young?  VERY IMPORTANT!!!  Look at the North Carolina Governor's reaction to efforts by the Republican legislature to expand school choice:

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/22/democrat-north-carolina-governor-declares-state-emergency-public-education/ 


As you know, red states are trying to ban things like CRT and DEI, and that's a good thing, insofar as CRT and DEI are bad things.  However, I have my doubts about whether these legal efforts will do much good.  You can't really ban people from saying and thinking and doing Marxist things, and the Marxists can always adapt their terminology so that the ideological substructure remains intact.  Still, it's worth a try...


https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/texas-dei-state/2023/05/22/id/1120794/

 

Finally, it didn't take E. Jean Carroll long to sue Trump...again.  Basically, the argument here is that, every time Trump defends himself from Carroll's accusations and denies his guilt, he's "defaming" her again, and thus may be liable for additional damages.  The Dems may have found a backdoor that will allow them to demolish the First Amendment!  I doubt this will shut Trump up, but it's a tactic that might be very effective against conservatives who don't have his deep pockets...


https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/trump/2023/05/22/id/1120793/

Sunday, May 21, 2023

Is Matriarchy the Answer?

 


Friends, it's a claim you hear with astonishing frequency on the Left: the world would be a much better, kinder, more equitable and peaceful place if women ran the show.  Natalie Portman, rarely for a progressive, is pushing back on this notion by observing that women are "simply humans".  What???  I'll accept (with misgivings) the idea that women are human, but why is an avowed leftist acknowledging that even females are capable of moral nuance?  Hasn't she read up on cultural Marxism, which stipulates that criticism of women is always sexist, and women are, as a sex, by definition blameless and aggrieved?  My advice to Mrs.Portman is that she rethink her position ASAP.  The Left does not tolerate ambiguity.  You're either good or bad, and you're either for them or against them.  And, if you're against them, it's only a matter of time before they crush you underfoot.  Don't say we didn't warn you, Natalie!


P.S. While we're on the topic, a legitimate riposte to Portman would be this question: don't women rule the world already?  I mean, sure, they don't literally occupy the (nominal) seats of power, but they may well be the éminence grise that actually controls modern society.  Consider that women are, for instance, the majority of the electorate, and their support for Joe Biden is the reason why he prevailed in the last presidential election.  If it were up to men, Trump would still reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!  There's a strong argument to be made that many aspects of our popular culture have been feminized, too.  I'm just sayin': patriarchy ain't what it used to be...


https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/05/21/natalie-portman-the-world-would-not-be-a-kinder-place-if-women-ran-everything/

 

In other news, the U.S. is inching closer and closer to default (on its debts), and Joe Biden is making it clear that it's those nasty "MAGA Republicans" who are to blame.  Gee, what a shock!  Even he seems to realize, however, that the sitting president just might suffer a tad politically if our economy goes down the drain.  Ergo, I believe there's a good chance that this game of chicken will lead to a deal, and to Republicans extracting significant concessions from the Biden Administration -- not that we will be deflected from our path to a fiscal apocalypse all that much, or for all that long.


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-declares-himself-blameless-us-defaults-debt-ive-done-my-part

 

Finally, many civil rights groups are warning Americans not to travel to Florida, where fascism and racism and sexism and homophobia and COVID and alligators are running rampant.  These notifications are pure political opportunism, of course, but they don't change the fact that progressives are coming to believe what they're told about Florida and about Ron DeSantis.  The bottom line: the vilification of DeSantis is "progressing" apace, and you can count on the fact that tens of millions of Americans are already dying to vote against him in 2024.  Does DeSantis have the potential to win in '24, and to outperform someone like Trump with independents, moderates, women, suburbanites, and voters of color?  Yes, he does, but no one should be naive about the tremendous obstacles that he, and any Republican nominee, would face.


https://www.newsmax.com/us/florida-ron-desantis-naacp/2023/05/21/id/1120657/

Friday, May 19, 2023

Puppet Mastery

 


Friends, my latest article beats a familiar drum: I encourage New York's two Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to reject efforts to persecute and overregulate PBMs, i.e. "pharmacy benefit managers".  

 

Behold:


Dancing to the Lobbyists' Tune Won't Lower Prescription Drug Costs


Chuck Schumer's heart is in the right place: he wants to lower health care and prescription drug costs for New Yorkers and for Americans, and he's calling on his fellow Senators, like our own Kirsten Gillibrand, to pass a major health care reform bill this year. We could certainly use one. The question is: what kind of reforms do we need?

Unfortunately, all too often regulators and Congresspeople fall for the “solutions” proposed by lobbyists and favored by major campaign contributors. And, all too often, these “solutions” backfire, increasing federal spending, health insurance rates, and out-of-pocket costs for ordinary citizens.

With the so-called PBM Transparency Act, it sure looks like many Senators are in danger of falling into this same old trap, even if they don't realize it. On the advice of players in the marketplace that have every interest in raising drug prices, they're proposing to crack down on a pillar of the health care industry – PBMs, or “pharmacy benefit managers” – that are already doing exactly what they're designed to do: exert downward pressure on drug prices and save Americans billions of dollars every year. Obviously, the lobbyists are having none of that!

Everyone agrees on the scale of the problem. Here in New York we pay more for health care than the residents of any other state (about $14,000 per year in 2020), just like we pay more in taxes, and invest more in our public schools. Seldom, however, do we get a return on these “investments” that justifies their vast expense.

New Yorkers, like Americans across this country, pay vastly more for the same prescription drugs than do patients worldwide. The truth, however, is that this problem could be worse. It will be worse, if we keep listening to the same lobbyists and special interests who got us into this mess in the first place. It will also be worse if we crack the whip against PBMs, which negotiate with pharmaceutical wholesalers to lower drug prices. PBMs reduce Medicare's outlays for prescriptions by 20%, and, by one measure, they save each and every American about $1,000 per year. Few little-known companies can make that claim!

No wonder, therefore, that the three corporations that dominate the drug wholesaling business – McKesson, Cardinal, and AmeriSourceBergen – would like to put these pesky PBMs in their place. And no wonder that the pharmaceutical and “health products” industry as a whole, which just reaped a record windfall from the COVID pandemic, is spending record amounts, $374 million in 2022 alone, on lobbying, with the goal of further padding their profits. That makes drug companies the top sponsors of political lobbying efforts, and by a country mile, too.

What's more, the benevolence of corporations like McKesson, Cardinal, and AmeriSourceBergen cannot simply be assumed. McKesson recently agreed to a $141 million settlement with its own shareholders over concealing the benefits it reaped from an illegal price-fixing scheme. In March, a unit of McKesson announced 800 layoffs, despite the company's robust sales and profitability.

Cardinal Health recently inked a $557 million deal to sell part of its Chinese operations to government-owned “Shanghai Pharma” – demonstrating an impressive capacity to monetize drug use under both capitalist and Marxist-Leninist conditions.

AmeriSourceBergen is the biggest of the three companies. It recently agreed to pay $6 billion to settle a case brought by the Department of Justice involving the careless distribution of opioids (a similar settlement was agreed with New York State in 2021), but it faces additional legal challenges on the opioid front. It also recently laid off 450 people, despite enjoying almost $1.7 billion in net income in 2022. Either to shore up its tarnished reputation, or to remove the sting of its association with a place as provincial as “America” (the company aims to boost its global reach), AmeriSourceBergen will soon rename itself “Cencora”.

If, therefore, the Senate wants only to scratch the backs of corporate megadonors and insider lobbyists, then by all means it should pass the “PBM Transparency Act” expeditiously. If, on the other hand, like our Senators Schumer and Gillibrand they want to improve our health care system and lower costs, they should tap the brakes. Punishing the few forces at work in American health care that exist only to control costs is not the answer.


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 the Olean Times-Herald:

 

https://www.oleantimesherald.com/opinion/dancing-to-lobbyists-tune-wont-lower-rx-drug-costs/article_42ec9c15-76a2-5019-a40f-2f5380ab4033.html 

 

***

 

In other news, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina is about ready to declare his candidancy for the Republican nomination for president.  Is he really running for president, or for vice-president?  Your guess is as good as mine, but I suppose, if DJT ends up in the Big House, virtually anything could happen in 2024, right?

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/05/19/sen_tim_scott_set_to_announce_presidential_campaign.html 

 

Fox News may or may not right the ship after the Dominion/Tucker Carlson debacle, but for now they seem to be firing people left and right.  That hardly seems like a good sign, does it?

 

https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2023/05/19/report-fox-news-layoff-entire-investigative-unit-787-5-million-dominion-settlement/ 

 

This is the second article I've seen about "No Labels" and its desire to run a third-party candidate for president.  This is the first I've seen about speculation that Joe Manchin could be that candidate.  I like the idea!  There's no quicker, easier way to elect Trump, and to send Biden into retirement, than by dividing the anti-Trump vote.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2023/05/19/report-no-labels-looking-at-third-party-run-in-2024-with-joe-manchin/ 

 

Houghton University, a local Christian college, is in hot water because it fired two employees who refused to delete their preferred pronouns from their email signatures...although it is by no means clear that that was the only reason for their dismissal.  Bottom line: the culture wars are impacting Christian colleges and universities no less than they are secular institutions of higher learning.  What's more, wokeness is imperiling Christianity just as it is every other facet of Western Civilization.

 

https://www.newsmax.com/us/houghton-university-new-york/2023/05/19/id/1120554/ 

 

Finally, this is a very interesting article about Japan's internal dialogue about whether or not it should become more of a military power.  Japan increasingly believes that it requires robust means of self-defense, if it's to deter Chinese aggression, and it may even require offensive capabilities, if it's to come to the defense of regional allies like Taiwan and South Korea.  My take: Japan can build up its forces all it likes, but only nuclear weapons can guarantee Japan's security.  I know the Japanese have a well-founded aversion to nukes, but they do have their uses...

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65643346 

Thursday, May 18, 2023

"A Woman's Right to Choose"

 


Friends, how did we go from a circumstance in which virtually no one questioned laws banning abortion, to one in which most women regard their right to terminate a pregnancy as fundamental to their human rights?  I guess you could say that, as per usual, it's all a matter of perspective, and perspectives on the rights of women, and the status (even the humanity) of the unborn, have changed a great deal in recent decades.


This is one of the main themes we explore on this week's Newsmaker Show.  Brian and I also consider the fallout from the Durham Report and the whole sorry spectacle of the Trump-Russia hoax, the frequency and credibility of claims of "rigged" elections, the reasons behind Tucker Carlson's firing, and the likelihood that the federal government will default on its debts.  When we turn to "This Day in History:, we consider the proliferation of nuclear weapons to India in 1974, Germany's qualms about the reliability of their Italian allies in 1943, and the legacy of the "Selective Service Act" of 1917.

 

Wow!  What a lineup, huh?  Hard to resist...


https://wlea.net/links/the-waddy-newsmakers/

 

***

 

In other news, have you ever wondered how extensive leftist infiltration is in the sciences, and how the Left steadily expands its control of "objective" disciplines like, say, biology or physics?  Read on!  The political pressures on the scientific community are burgeoning all the time.  In the second article, you'll find that therapists are increasingly falling under cultural Marxism's spell too.

 

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2023/05/16/the_numbers_are_in_on_how_biden-era_funding_is_skewing_scientific_research_ever-wokeward_899601.html 


https://www.thefp.com/p/how-therapists-became-social-justice-warriors

 

How do most Republicans and conservatives feel about Fox News?  That's a mixed picture.  How do they feel about Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk?  That's a much less mixed picture!  Bottom line: Fox faces some serious problems in retaining the loyalty and trust of its "base".

 

https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2023/05/18/nolte-tucker-carlsons-net-favorability-with-republicans-62-points-higher-than-fox-newss/ 

 

Finally, RFK, Jr. is showing signs of seriousness as a candidate for president.  He's chosen Dennis Kucinich as his campaign manager, and you might remember Kucinich as a very effective anti-war Democratic Congressman.  Good choice, Bobby!  Smart people might actually listen to you.  Of course, no one has ever won an election just by appealing to smart people...


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/18/robert-f-kennedy-jr-names-dennis-kucinich-presidential-campaign-manager/

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

More Mustache Than Man

 


Friends, the long-awaited Durham Report on the Trump-Russia hoax and its Deep State perpetrators is out, and it's making waves -- not big red waves, mind you, but little Robert Reich-sized waves.  In short, Durham finds that the FBI and DOJ discarded their own professional standards, as well as common sense, in doggedly pursuing a fanciful narrative of Trump-Russia collusion.  What he doesn't find is that any of the prime suspects in this "crime of the century", as per Trump, actually committed any crimes.  That is to say, besides a verbal rebuke, none of the evildoers will face accountability or justice or any kind.  And that means, of course, that, next time we have an election, or a Republican president, the dastardly Dems will do it all over again...and worse!


https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/donald-trump-john-durham-report/2023/05/16/id/1120066/

 

In other news, the Left's contempt for SCOTUS knows no bounds, and nor does its abiding love for abortion.  New Jersey's Democratic Governor is open to the possibility of defying a (hypothetical) Supreme Court ruling against a key abortion drug.  I repeat what I've said before: it is only a matter of time before the Dems give the Supremes the heave-ho.


https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/05/17/nj-gov-murphy-well-defy-scotus-to-save-lives-if-they-rule-against-abortion-pill/

 

Here's some useful info on woke corporations.  To avoid doing business with the worst offenders in corporate America, we would need to know who they are.  This handy guide is a great first step.

 

https://amac.us/corporate-americas-woke-report-card/ 


https://1792exchange.com/spotlightreports/

 

And here's your election report.  The first link takes you to a comprehensive, and, in my view, very persuasive analysis of why there was no "red wave" in 2022.  The upshot: the Dems outspent and outorganized us in a small number of key states.  The second link describes the results of the elections and primaries that took place on Tuesday.  One takeaway is that the Dems are still performing pretty darn well, winning in swing areas that we'll need in 2024 if we're going to change the direction of this country.

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/05/16/mystery_at_the_midterm_what_happened_to_the_red_wave_149208.html 


https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4007904-five-takeaways-from-elections-in-kentucky-pennsylvania-and-florida/

 

Somewhat unusually for me, I found myself watching Fox News yesterday, and I saw this illuminating interview with RFK, Jr.  He makes a great deal of sense on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine War, and in general has begun to articulate a message that could go over well with many Democrats and independents.  It's interesting that Fox is promoting RFK, Jr., but I still don't assess his chances of beating out Joe Biden to be very high.  In fact, I'd say he hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of being the Democratic presidential nominee.

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/05/16/robert_f_kennedy_jr_americans_are_tired_of_being_a_warfare_state_abroad_and_a_surveillance_state_at_home.html 


Finally, Ron DeSantis is deep in the trenches of the culture wars, as per usual.  I like his views on almost all cultural issues, and in many ways it's only fair that we Republicans should use the power of state governments to banish wokeism from public institutions like K-12 schools and colleges and universities, BUT there's no question that DeSantis is painting himself into a culturally conservative corner that could limit his electability in 2024, if he gets that far.  Democrats almost universally regard DeSantis as a retrograde sexist, racist, homophobic monster, and they can, between now and November 2024, given their media and social media dominance, convince much of America (probably at least half) that this is so.  I would imagine that DeSantis feels he needs to go hard right in the here and now to be competitive with Trump, and that may be so, but I would hate to see his brand tarnished any more than it needs to be.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65627756

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Happy Mother's Day!!!

 


From all of us here at WaddyIsRight, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!  On this Mother's Day, we're thinking especially of all the mothers with male genitalia, because they're truly on the frontier of motherhood...  But for you "traditional" mothers, or cis-mothers, if you will, you deserve recognition and plaudits too (just not as much).  

 

I'm told the process of giving birth is something of a chore.  After that, mothering a baby, toddler, child, teenager, and especially an unemployed adult stoner addicted to video gaming, can be quite taxing.  You mothers make so many sacrifices, and, lest we forget, you literally chart the future of the human race.  A yearly carton of bonbons and dinner at Applebee's is the least we can do to express our profound thanks.  

 

All hail mothers, and all hail the venerable institution of motherhood!


In other news, I recommend to you Ron DeSantis's thoughts on why we conservatives and Republicans must "reject the culture of losing" in 2024.  That is to say, we cannot continue to pursue grievances and make excuses related to what happened in 2020.  We cannot throw up our hands and say that the system is "rigged".  We need to be forward-looking, optimistic, but also relentlessly focused on the failures of the Biden Administration.  If we can do that, we can and will win.  Democrats, of course, have a plan to prevent this from happening.  They plan for us to nominate Trump, and for Trump to be so busy fighting off lawsuits and prosecutions that he won't be able to articulate anything resembling a vision for the country.


https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/ron-desantis-2024-iowa/2023/05/13/id/1119688/

 

This is an interesting perspective on how the Left is luring its legions of followers further and further from reality and the truth.  Certainly, as Americans become captive to propagandistic media "bubbles", underlying realities become less and less relevant, and the truth becomes what news directors make of it.  Roger Kimball says, however, that these alternate realities constructed by ideologues are "fragile".  Presumably, that's true, since, only by applying thick coats of censorship to public discourse can the leftists preserve their dominance over it.  The second article suggests that we are nearing a "tipping point" beyond which the Left's ability to control public opinion may slip away.  That sounds more than a little optimistic to me.  Could such a "tipping point" be reached?  Sure.  I see few signs that we're there yet, and I have no idea what might trigger it.


https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/13/deliver-us-from-reality/

 

https://amac.us/four-tipping-points-is-the-left-and-its-power-collapsing/ 

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Circling the Wagons

 


Friends, inside the conservative laager, we don't have much choice but to have each other's backs, lest the bestial enemy mangle our fronts.  Ergo, when Donald Trump faces unfair and unreasonable attacks (as he so often does), I feel obligated to come to his defense, whether or not I support Trump as the GOP presidential nominee in 2024.  That's what I do in this latest Sputnik News article.  The piece incorrectly identifies me as someone who "openly declares himself a Trump supporter".  Not so.  I haven't thrown my support behind any of the (declared and undeclared) Republican candidates for president.  I have, however, thrown my weight behind a fully-throated campaign against wokeism, against Marxism, and against the subordination of the rule of law to leftist orthodoxy.  The Left is currently using the law and the justice system to destroy its enemies.  There's a good chance that they will succeed, too, given the vast resources at their disposal, and given the timidity and naivety of many of their opponents.  Personally, I think that would be a shame, because it would be the end, for all intents and purposes, of democracy and freedom.  A society that doesn't permit dissent isn't one that affords its citizens (or subjects) real dignity.


https://sputnikglobe.com/20230510/scholar-on-trumps-court-sentence-democrats-wage-lawfare-against-conservatives-1110246087.html?fbclid=IwAR2mjZOv8SoyT7mJMQHEdA899H5TFMf0JeKJjslwEo4G-Ky2bIUwAmYHB8Q

 

In other news, here's a very comprehensive analysis that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about how internet censorship works, and how the Big Tech establishment maintains its dominance over our digital discourse.

 

https://www.racket.news/p/report-on-the-censorship-industrial-74b 


This one really intrigues me.  Former Southern Tier (Western New York) Congressman Tom Reed is ever so excited about a potential third party campaign for the presidency in 2024, launched by his organization "No Labels".  He assures us that No Labels won't split the vote and thus help Donald Trump win.  Gee, thanks, Tom!  My take: any credible or significant third party movements in 2024 will, in fact, have exactly that effect: they will, by siphoning votes away from Biden, help Trump potentially clinch victory.  Ergo, we can expect a full court press from the Left and the establishment to vilify and destroy No Labels, the Greens, the "Forward Party", and anyone else who gets it their way.


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/05/11/third-party_presidential_effort_is_game_changer_149210.html

 

Finally, Elon Musk says he's found a woman to take over as Twitter CEO, although we don't yet know who she is.  This is almost certainly a positive development.  Musk's leadership of Twitter has been somewhat erratic, and it attracts way too much mainstream media interest and criticism.  A less sensational leader will hopefully calm things down and create the conditions for free speech to flourish on the platform, instead of empowering Elon Musk personally to censor and uncensor at will.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/news/elon-musk-says-hes-found-a-new-ceo-for-twitter-a-woman-who-will-start-in-6-weeks/ 

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Head and Shoulders Above Little Winston?

 


Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show includes a plethora of sagacity, as per usual.  In terms of current events, Brian and I talk about DJT's standing in the polls and the fact that both major parties' presidential candidates are likely to have a strong chance of victory (no matter how dreadful they are).  We also discuss the historical significance of Charles III's coronation, the principled non-interventionism of RFK, Jr., the career prospects of Tucker Carlson, and the future of the Second Amendment.  When we turn to "This Day in History", we analyze the Chicoms'  successful strategy of tyranny and intransigence in 1989, the twist of fate that landed Winston Churchill at 10 Downing Street in May 1940, and the long, deep legacy of the Franco-Prussian War.  

 

Unfamiliar with the lessons of history, are you?  We'll fix that problem in 25 minutes or less, if only you would listen in to the Newsmaker Show!


https://wlea.net/newsmaker-may-10-2023-dr-nick-waddy/

 

***

 

In other news, CNN let a dragon into the lion's den, as it were, by inviting Donald Trump to star in one of the network's "town hall" events.  He was, as anyone with half a brain would expect, brash and unapologetic.  Will CNN continue to give Trump a valuable platform?  They will if they want higher ratings.  If, on the other hand, they want plaudits from progressives, they may not.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/10/trump-hijacks-cnn-steamrolls-kaitlan-collins-in-new-hampshire-townhall-you-are-a-nasty-person/

 

Tucker Carlson, as everyone knows by now, intends to move his show to Twitter...but Elon Musk denies that any specific, contractual relationship between Carlson and Twitter exists.  How, then, would Tucker monetize a streamed version of his show?  Would there be advertisers?  Is Twitter itself commerically viable, since the Left and the corporate elite are working to undermine it?  Will it, by and by, be banned in many countries for hosting content that is "hateful" or "dangerous" or "misinformation"?  I'd like to think that Tucker has a bright future on Twitter, but at this point we can't be sure.


https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/musk-carlson-lemon/2023/05/10/id/1119365/

 

Finally, RFK, Jr. makes another good point below.  He observes that we are experiencing an epidemic of mass shootings and moral callousness in this country, as well as profound mental health issues, and there may be a correlation between these social ills and the mass prescription of antipsychotic drugs.  Certainly, never before in history have so many people been under the influence of such powerful mind-altering medications -- and, at the same time, never before has the political and economic influence of pharmaceutical companies been so extensive.  Makes you think, doesn't it?


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/05/10/robert_f_kennedy_almost_every_mass_shooter_is_on_ssri_drugs.html

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Dream Team?

 


Friends, rumors about an alliance between Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk turn out to be...true!  Carlson announced today that he'll "soon" be doing a version of his show on Twitter.  Well!  What remains to be seen is what Fox News has to say about it.  Technically, Carlson is still bound by his contract with Fox.  Whether they will release him from his obligations, and under what conditions, is uncertain.  Since Fox hasn't deigned to tell us why they ended Tucker's show, we can only speculate about their rationale, and whether silencing Tucker, per se, is one of their primary objectives.


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/05/09/tucker_carlson_starting_a_new_show_on_twitter_the_last_big_platform_that_allows_free_speech.html

 

In other news, a Manhattan federal jury has found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll, despite the fact that she cannot recall what year the alleged incident took place and only leveled her accusations as Trump was running for office.  My guess is that Trump supporters will shrug this off and bemoan the weaponization of the justice system against conservatives, while leftists will crow endlessly and claim vindication.  How will those few persuadable swing voters feel about the matter, though?  Your guess is as good as mine.  In any case, Trump is in so much legal jeopardy these days that it can truly make your head spin.  Plus, now we know that a New York City jury is (always?) primed and ready to find DJT guilty, which could mean that Alvin Bragg has him dead to rights.  Will Trump be breaking rocks in a New York penitentiary soon?  Don't dismiss the possibility!


https://www.axios.com/2023/05/09/trump-verdict-e-jean-carroll-lawsuit-damages

 

What's more, why stop at imprisoning Trump?  Why not throw every conservative behind bars, or at least as many as possible?  It looks like poor George Santos is about to have the book thrown at him too.  Come to think of it, didn't I hear that Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk gang-raped E. Jean Carroll in the restroom of an Orange Julius in the mid-1990s?  Yeah, I think so...  This could get ugly!!!

 

 https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/09/report-federal-prosecutors-indict-new-york-rep-george-santos/

 

Lastly, not that anyone cares, but the fiscal soundness of these United States is going straight down the tubes.  Sooner or later, this budgetary train wreck is going to affect each and every one of us.  In fact, we may soon have cause to envy those, like DJT, who are safe and sound in the Big House, because life on the outside may get immeasurably harder.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/congressional-budget-office-federal-spending-tax-revenues-mitch-mcconnell-kevin-mccarthy-f8652e40?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

Monday, May 8, 2023

He Speaks the Truth (!?!!)

 


Friends, as the Democratic Party/progressive hate machine shifts into high gear to complete its personal and professional destruction of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., he's pounding the pavement, kissing babies (assuming he can find any -- they're getting mighty rare), and answering reporters' questions with shocking candor for a politician.  Or is he a politician?  It sounds to me as if he's telling the neocons and establishment warmongers that they are, and always have been, dead wrong, and that's the sort of thing that a politician would never do -- or, if he did, he'd probably find his skull or his torso ventilated double-quick!  But enough family history.  Let's allow RFK, Jr. to speak for himself.  What he's talking about here is the Russia-Ukraine War, how it was a setup from the start, designed to hobble Russia at the cost of horrific numbers of Ukrainian lives.  According to Bobby, moreover, Ukraine is fated to lose this war, mainly because Russia will never, CAN never, accept defeat.  Hmm.  Could it be so?  Time will tell, but I must say that I like the cut of this man's jib.  I also see why Joe Biden, Deep State drone, would never, ever debate him.


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/05/07/rfk_jr_on_ukraine_war_were_being_told_russia_is_losing_but_they_cannot_afford_to_lose.html

 

https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/05/08/robert-kennedy-jr-lets-be-honest-its-a-us-war-against-russia/ 


In other news, Biden's poll numbers are starting to ebb again, and thus some are asking questions about his political durability.  There is, of course, plenty of time for the Dems to shove someone else on stage.  I wonder, frankly, whether RFK, Jr. could be the canary in the coal mine.  If Biden shows enough weakness, then, as RFK (Sr.) followed Gene McCarthy's lead, could someone like Gavin Newsom jump into the race if RFK, Jr. proves that Biden is vulnerable?


https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/05/the-biden-countdown-clock.php

 

This article asks a very pertinent question: why, and how, are so many mainstream media stories emerging simultaneously about the alleged ethical lapses of conservative Supreme Court Justices?  Is this the (by now fairly standard) stratagem of bullying conservative jurists into retirement and/or into kowtowing to leftist demands?  Or is it, perhaps, the elaborate prep work needed when one intends to jettison "judicial review" altogether and therefore to defy (openly) the high court's rulings?  I personally believe the latter scenario is coming, and probably sooner than you think.


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/05/07/mollie_hemingway_who_is_running_this_coordinated_campaign_to_delegitimize_the_supreme_court.html

 

Finally, there's been an awful lot of electoral victories in Latin America of late for left-wing candidates, so it's nice to see that Chile is taking a turn to the right.  Long may it last!

 

https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2023/05/08/leftist-riots-backfire-chile-gives-conservatives-majority-power-to-rewrite-constitution/ 

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

The Most Secure Southern Border in History!

 



Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show makes history, as per usual.  Brian and I talk over the looming clash between Trump and DeSantis, and whether there's anything that can dent Trump's seemingly unstoppable momentum (emphasis on "seemingly").  We also discuss India's newfound status as the world's most populous country and what it means for the balance of power, the global problem with low fertility, the extraordinary resilience of the Dems' Duo of Dullards, Biden and Harris, Trump's potential preferences vis-a-vis his own running mate, as well as the deteriorating situation at the southern border and whether or not Joe Biden will ever pay a political price for it.  When we get to This Day in History, we briefly analyze President Truman's dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur, and whether the West missed key opportunities to obliterate imperialistic communism.


https://wlea.net/newsmaker-may-3-2023-dr-nick-waddy/


***


In other news, is Fox News selectively leaking material to try to discredit Tucker Carlson?  It wouldn't come as a shock.


https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2023/05/03/conservatives-blast-tucker-carlson-leaks-he-just-looks-even-cooler/


According to Donald Trump, Jr., Fox hasn't shown the slightest interest in talking to him in nine months.  That's a rather interesting omission!  It will be fascinating to see what sort of line Fox takes when Ron DeSantis joins the fray.  Will Fox go all in for DeSantis?  Right now they seem smitten with Haley and Scott, but perhaps their real preference is...anyone but DJT?


https://thehill.com/homenews/3984066-trump-jr-complains-fox-news/


Is it possible that Hunter Biden could actually face indictment for (some of) his various crimes?  I tend to doubt it, but I guess miracles do happen!


https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/charges-doj-hunter-biden/2023/05/03/id/1118448/


What's that "giant sucking sound", you ask?  It's thousands of people, especially the well-off, leaving expensive, high-tax blue states for greener pastures in the Sun Belt.  And who can blame them???


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/02/new-york-california-lose-billions-in-income-to-low-tax-states.html


This is is an interesting perspective on trade.  Do we need an "industrial policy" that encourages/subsidizes the manufacture of critical technologies in countries that we (hope we) can trust?  There's an argument here that merits our consideration, even if we conservatives hate government intervention in the free market.


https://www.ft.com/content/7276f9d6-1fc3-4623-a5cb-4fc0c43a9d40?segmentId=b385c2ad-87ed-d8ff-aaec-0f8435cd42d9


Finally, this is a warning that all conservatives need to heed.  Youngsters nowadays are shockingly leftist, socialist, and woke.  The youngest of our American whippersnappers are so bonkers for Bolshevism that you really have to wonder whether the damage that the progressives have already done to the rising generation could ever be undone...


https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/02/the-gop-has-a-gen-z-problem/

Monday, May 1, 2023

Hooray for Bolshevism!!!

 


Friends, sometimes we forget that every year brings us that much closer to the Workers' Paradise, thanks to the ironclad laws of dialectical materialism...  What a source of comfort, am I right?


In France, this May Day, leftists celebrated by rioting, as per usual, but they did so with alacrity this year because they're still mad that they can't retire at 62.  The poor dears!


https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/france-protests-macron/2023/05/01/id/1118159/

 

 Meanwhile, the AP is airbrushing history -- a leftist speciality -- by continuously redefining the word "insurrection".  It turns out that behaving badly inside a capitol building isn't necessarily tantamount to insurrection!  Gee, how about that?


https://humanevents.com/2023/04/29/associated-press-who-used-capitol-protest-to-redefine-insurrection-now-outraged-by-gop

 

Of course, all this is mere trivia compared to this next story, and I truly mean that.  Marxism is 90% nonsense, but demography really is destiny, in a profound way, and we just hit a demographic milestone that ought to be grabbing everyone's attention.  You and I have always lived in a world in which the world's most populous country was China.  No more!  Now it's India.  Man, that sea change crept up on us, didn't it?  In fact, we barely hear about India.  China is the no-longer-sleeping dragon that's going to shake the world.  Russia is the erstwhile totalitarian superpower that everyone loves to hate.  But India?  What's India known for?  Sacred cows and spicy food?  In truth, India has changed a great deal since you last took note of it, and it's gaining steam all the time.  It has a long way to go before it catches up with China, in the economic or political or reputational or military sense, but trust me: we ignore the world's biggest country (in human terms) at our peril!  (P.S. Keep in mind that British India included current India, plus Pakistan and Bangladesh and sometimes Burma.  In other words, if the British still held sway there, they would be ruling over around 1.9 billion people today.  But instead they're trying to figure out which gender they are, like all the rest of us Western pantywaists.  How the mighty are fallen!)


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65322706

 

It looks like the GOP House has succeeded in forcing President Biden to negotiate on the debt ceiling.  Wow!  That's big news.  I don't expect Republicans will get much for their trouble, or if they even want much, other than to declare victory, but it's nice to see a little give and take in D.C. again.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/01/white-house-caves-joe-biden-asks-kevin-mccarthy-negotiate-debt-limit/ 


Finally, we've been hearing for years how the U.S. economy is circling the drain, and yet the promised recession never quite seems to arrive, or at least it never bites as fiercely as expected.  We've also been hearing about how our financial system is hopelessly overextended and doomed.  Well, there too the U.S. has shown surprising resilience -- the U.S. dollar in particular, which remains strong against most global currencies.  Is the party just beginning to end, though?  Maybe.  It bears watching.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-air-has-come-out-of-the-dollar-36c4c03f?mod=hp_lead_pos2