Friends, a lot of the most interesting news stories today have a consistent theme: our right to free speech, and the various ways in which that fundamental right is imperiled. For one thing, it seems increasingly likely that the Biden Administration will appeal all the way to the Supreme Court to try to maintain its ability to...persuade/cajole social media companies into persecuting and silencing those who dare to refute deep state orthodoxy. Talk about a high stakes case! Also, there's a poll that reveals what we already knew: Democrats and liberals/progressives are much more comfortable than conservatives with the idea of restricting speech. In many cases, lefties don't even care what's being said. Their urge to proscribe has more to do with who's saying it! Scary stuff. In addition, we have below an account of a man who was locked out of all of his Amazon devices, and "the cloud", simply because a black delivery driver erroneously reported that his doorbell (I kid you not!) was racist. He had to prove his innocence, but the scariest part is that Amazon's devices are in our pockets and in our homes, and the company is thus in a position to surveil us indiscriminately, and to persecute us or cut us off altogether if it doesn't like the cut of our jib. Lastly, I offer you the Wall Street Journal's defense of Rupert Murdoch and his legacy. Whatever you may think of Murdoch and Fox, he did completely revolutionize the news business and make Republican/conservative news, opinion, and analysis, well, possible. Fox and News Corp may not be on the frontier of conservative thought anymore -- in fact, they may have defected to the establishment in important ways -- but they blazed a trail that many others, including myself, are still pursuing, even as I write these very words!
https://nypost.com/2023/09/20/how-dr-jay-bhattacharya-beat-biden-administration-censorship/
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/man-amazon-erased
In other news, Senator Bob Menendez (D - New Jersey) has been indicted on charges of corruption. This puzzles me, because he's a Democrat, and isn't the purpose of our system of justice to protect "democracy"...by persecuting Republicans? Very odd!
Nikki Haley has gained some momentum of late, due perhaps to her strong performance in the recent Republican debate. She's criticizing DJT for his wishy-washy position on Ukraine. Certainly Trump has been more willing to criticize Ukraine and the West's lavish support for that country than most Republicans, but whether, as president, he would fundamentally change our (adversarial) relationship with Russia is questionable. The establishment kept President Trump on a short leash last time (think: Trump's failed attempt to pull us out of Syria), and, as someone suspected of "collusion" with Russia, he might feel a lot of political pressure to stand firm against Putin. In any case, Trump's position on the Russia-Ukraine War only matters if he becomes president again, and I personally don't regard that as very likely.
Here's an extremely interesting analysis of what ails Western Civilization and civil society by Christopher Rufo. He suggests that we are now dominated by an elite afflicted by a range of psychological abnormalities, and which exults in its collective psychosis. He puts much of the blame on the feminization of modern society and women's tendency to elevate victimhood and grievance over all other possible standards of rectitude. There's much truth in what he says, but, as always, we might also question how many of these pathologies afflict us, as conservatives, too.
Finally, there are signs of dissension amongst the Chicoms, which, as per usual, we in the West might be tempted to applaud as a sign of China's impending decline, but on the other hand we might also find deeply troubling, since an unstable superpower is, almost by definition, a dangerous one!
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Ditto to the max on Fox. Before Rush and Fox broadcast media was as thoroughly infested with antiamerican leftist bias and vicious intolerance as living in NY state is today. TV "host"Phil Donahue's haughty dismissiveness of any view contrary to that of the antiamerican left was exemplary of this. The failure of his attempted return to the airways is to be celebrated. He was so sure that he would bring it all back but he fluffed. Fox and Rush gave us the alternative we once thought impossible .
ReplyDeleteRAY TO DR.NICK
ReplyDeleteGlad you mentioned how pathologies might afflict conservatives too.
Remember Ayn Rand who always championed the "virtues" of Capitalism? I used to read her books and was impressed with her novels, especially "Atlas Shrugged." But it took me a long time to realize that she was no less whacky than many on The Left, and particularly after I realized that she was a confirmed atheist.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I think a reelected DJT would be a vindictive and far wiser President.Both virtues would do America well in our present state, with our very civilization at great hazard. It might not be politic for him to say this during the campaign but I hope he thinks this way: "If I'm reelected I won't have to think about another campaign and I will be unemcumbered by the concerns that would attend it. I'm going to make the Dems regret they ever messed with me and the America which knows I stand for them. And being FAR more experienced and tempered by the antiamerican left's vicious onslaught on me, my family and therefore on America, I'll abide by my own counsel! Let my GOP successor thrive after me on his or her own abilities and fortitude. A VP DeSantis would be ideal.My domestic opponents mean business and don't I know about that! Give me another chance and I will make them RUE!
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteDeSantis will never accept a position subordinate to Trump. Trump needs to pick a competent woman as his VP. The most dangerous situation/opposition Trump faces now is states that are trying to remove him from the ballot, which California and Colorado are in the process of doing.
If a Republican does not become president next year, there will never be another one for a very long time, so in that regard it does not have to be Trump.
However, probably DeSantis is the only one who could really
handle the job if Trump is not (re)elected.
Dr. Waddy and Ray et al from Jack: I only go by Rand's reputation and my having read part of The Fountainhead. Her doctrine of complete self reliance appears exemplary only. It's just not practical. Unchallenged capitalism manifested much evil but this was remedied by sensible nonmarxist regulation and nonmarxist union activity. Atheism is one of the most presumptuous doctrines ever. How can it proven?Could someone cite an author who has made a plausible argument against the existence of God? That would be a hard row to hoe!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy and Ray et al from Jack: But Rand was right to rail about the onerous possibilities of thorough going collectivism. Gads how well we should KNOW that now!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: China is supremely motivated to prevent the evil which was done to it by foreigners during it's period of dissolution from approx. 1820 to 1949 and the terrible consequences of its catastrophic and unChinese marxist reaction to these travails. Should a new period of even relative Chinese chaos occur let the outside world take this fully into account when formulating China policy because it will be China's dominant concern. If you want a fiercely united China on your case , just remind it of the Opium Wars or the Boxer Rebellion. They are a 3000 year old civilization and are very proud of it.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Rufo's article: But isn't our conservatism itself our antidote to personal degradation by the pathologies so well described in his article? If we are afflicted by them it is despite ourselves. Let us take care in acknowledging any weakness that our opponents in this existential, civilization affirming conflict would hasten to work to their advantage. They are loath to engage in objective introspection on their myriad shortcomings.
ReplyDeleteJack, yes, there is now a conservative media, which is great. The once mildly liberal mainstream media, however, is now the loony, Trump-hating, destroy-the-GOP-at-all-costs mainstream media. I'd say it's one step forward, two or three steps back.
ReplyDeleteRay, I know plenty of conservatives who are unhinged, and, if Trump Derangement Syndrome is a thing, I suggest that Trump Dependency Syndrome may be too.
Jack, I hope you're right about Trump and a second term, but he doesn't seem "tempered" to me. He seems hot-tempered and erratic and just as egomaniacal as ever. Does Trump "evolve"? We better hope he does!!!
Ray, a woman would probably be a very wise choice for Trump. He needs to blunt some of the concerns people have that he's a chauvinist/rapist/racist monster. Will he win over any Dems? Of course not, but he doesn't need to. Just a handful of independents.
Jack, there can be no compelling or conclusive argument against the existence of God. Nonetheless, there is no objective, scientific evidence that He exists, either. They call it "faith" for a reason!
Jack, one thing I am fairly sure of, vis-a-vis China, is that we won't be sending an expeditionary force all that way to Peking anytime soon.
Jack, is "conservatism" an antidote to madness? It could be, but it depends on what you mean by conservatism. For most people nowadays, being a conservative means being someone who hates liberals. That, I fear, is entirely compatible with lunacy!
Dr. Waddy from Jack: If DJT does not anoint DeSantis I hope he will turn to Texas Gov. Abbot. Not only is he the gutsy Governor of a very important state but his disability makes him fairly redolent of political correctness. If he can campaign in enormous Texas with his affliction he can do the US. Among women I'd favor S. Dakota Gov. Noem or Iowa Senator Ernst over a still mostly good Nikki.
ReplyDeleteDr.. Waddy from Jack: By "tempered" I meant as metal is tempered by fire; its made stronger. DJT is still demonstrative, that's for sure but it takes alot of fortitude to survive the travails he has had so far and he'll need it in a second term. He's got da moxie and he don't back down!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: One thing is for sure, the far left HATES us! But if a liberal is a person of good will who, with good intent, leans left then yes they do not rate hatred. Pore 'ol Biden is mostly around that campfire.Nevertheless we must defeat them because they support the neomarxists who plan radical evil for our country. Biden's puppeteers are in that category and to harbor the most intense possible antipathy to their historically condemned doctrine is sane, I think.
ReplyDeletend fear he most
Jack, my guess is that Trump will pick someone who will be willing to fade into the background and be a loyal lieutenant. Nikki Haley might not be that someone. She doesn't strike me as demure or deferential, and quitting the Trump Administration is not a great resume-builder if you want to be Trump's VP. I don't know enough about Noem or Ernst to comment intelligently. Abbott I suspect would be too much of a big fish.
ReplyDeleteAgreed: Trump has moxie and self-belief in spades. It's primarily his judgement that I question.
Hmm. You intrigue me, Jack! The question is: does hatred of our political enemies accomplish anything? Sure, much about leftism is hateful, but what do we gain by hating it (or them)? "Low-propensity" voters may need to be bucked up with hatred just to get off their duffs, but do you and I? I think not. I honestly find it hard to rouse myself to hatred of anyone or anything, and I'm not sure that I see that as much of a problem. That's a reflection of my personality, of course. I'm impassive to a fault.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: True, "99 Days at 'Peking' " will not be reprised but being that it considers Taiwan its own, China might consider any intervention on Taiwan's behalf as just the same old thing. We need to be fully cognizant of how China views it's history, no matter what we do. Consider the lack of understanding of Ukrainian and Russian history we have recently displayed and it's tragic consequences.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy fromJack: But in having "evolved" into the antiamerican leftist shill, the slander machine ,it is, the MSM has presumed as much as to excite the antipathy of a very significant portion of our polity. Prolific Conservative commentators,DJT and such as DeSantis and McCarthy mobilize this finally manifested realization of the antiamerican left's certain totalitarian intent.
ReplyDelete