“If we could convince Kamala Harris that illegal aliens are actually journalists trying to ask her questions she’d build that border wall in five seconds.” — JD Vance
The Quote column each week shows the importance of the 1st Amendment. If they weren’t free to spew their garbage, we couldn’t even imagine how insane they really are.
RFK voices what a lot of liberals say-the party left them and is now foreign to them. They need to take the final step. They need to understand that their ideas that government power can fix all problems was always going to lead to what we see now. Today’s Democrat party has merely taken leftist philosophy to its logical conclusion.
I think this also ties into the way Musk and a lot of other former Democrat supporters feel. Every progressive will probably at some point become conservative, at some point you have reached a reasonable state that you want to conserve instead of always moving on to the next escalation. But some people are only happy if they can keep forcing change on a society they hate.
A lot of conservatives were laughed at when they employed the slippery slope argument that was called a fallacy and now you got pornography in school libraries, minors consenting to hormones and surgery and even a push in some circles to normalize pedophilia.
"The rhetorical challenge of progressivism is that it is by nature abstract: It imagines a world that does not yet exist, rather than advocating to return to some previous version of the one we know."
I think this helps explain why Progressives are terrible at doing their jobs and simply running their states/cities, because Progressivism is the utopian cotton-candy of political thought, an upscale bauble for people who've never missed a meal or fought for safety and security, much more a fantasy than a way to run a society. (Not to mention the toxic combo of staggering arrogance and staggering ignorance to think that you and your friends from the Womens Studies Dept can surpass the wisdom of our entire human ancestry.)
"It imagines a world that does not yet exist" means it can never be judged based on results or consequences, as the Egalitarian can just gets kicked down the road, and that the way to get ahead is to promise the most flowers and unicorns, to posit the most glorious future where everyone "feels seen" and no one is anyway better than anyone else, because that would be hurtful and cause emotional trauma (with all negative emotions being saved and focused on any dissenters or skeptics, who must be denounced and silenced).
I am no kind of misogynist but when I see what kind of thoughts and thought patterns our age of The Future is Female has coughed up, the mother-hennishness, the conformity and censorship, the underhanded social ostracism (even by women like Joyce Oates, who should know better), the erasure of fact in favor of feeling and the ascendance of "vibes" and Safety Uber Alles, it has taught me why every prior society was founded and run by men.
"Progressivism" is the faith of a people in decline, designed by and for Nietzsche's Last (Wo)Man.
Indeed, Progressivism is this poisonous, powerfully addictive mixture of "utopian cotton candy" (beautifully said by the way) and Greek tragedy level "hubris"......
and don't forget decontextualized Christianity, the Marxist Oppressor/Oppressed binary, plus a dash of Maoism—and voila! Suitable for any lost soul looking to join our most popular cult.
“Yeah, I think it’s a really good campaign, and people really like her, she’s gotten to be a really gifted, Obama-level orator.” — Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast
Every time I read this truly moronic comment, I can't decide whether to laugh or throw up.
Last month they were suggesting Joe Biden deserved a space on Mount Rushmore. This is simply the current version.
Brad, I love your work. I am not a paid subscriber, but I wanted to comment on your essay about lockdowns. The impact of lockdowns was devastating for the poorest people in the world, and it has went virtually unnoticed in west.
165 million people in Asia and Africa were pushed into $2 a day poverty with the introduction of lockdowns. From 1998 until 2020, the number of people living in abject poverty decreased each and every single year. Lockdowns ended decades of progress in poverty reduction.
I know a couple of people who spent much of 2020 in Africa. They said Covid was not a big deal there, as they have much worse things to deal with. But, they still had various rules to get across borders. Covid tests from a guy in a cab who already had the negative results for you. For a small fee, of course. Hardly any other tourists, so the high end safari resorts were dirt cheap. Worst part was that the employees were struggling without tourist tips, so the few tourists who were there were inundated with "help".
Also finally something funny happened on Colberts Show, he had a CNN host on as a guest and said the line: "I know you guys are objective over there [at CNN], that you just report the news as it is. "
To laughter from the audience. They ain't buying it either.
"McFaul believes it’s our duty to vote without information. If the executive branch wants to sever the social contract, why shouldn’t the deal go both ways?"
"If the president has no obligation to the public, seems to me the public has no obligation to pay taxes."
Meh. I agree she has no "moral obligation" to do a press conference, and people have no moral obligation to vote for her. McFly's point (I think?) is that remaining silent is a strategy, especially if Trump keeps annoying on-the-fence voters by running his mouth.
You have four unbearably obnoxious quotes in a row here, from the abysmally stupid public school union creature Gates to the hilariously delusional Jong-Fast....I'm thinking that is probably the most consecutive imbecility one can take without the interposition of a sane or witty or thoughtful semiconservative quote....
It's simple the same way Forrest Gump is simple. By all means talk about food, remind people of their grocery bills. Although their price-control plan might be popular with some (even though this never works, you can't force producers to sell at a loss for long).
"I find it telling that Walz keeps using the word joy when he talks about the campaign and about his running mate."
He's been instructed to use the word joy as much as possible—because it's a marketing ploy probably determined by consultants and focus groups, who know most voters decide based on emotion, and this helps distract from her almost complete lack of policy discussion.
Please be in prayer for a Pinetops, NC police officer (John Carl) who was arrested today for being in DC on 1/6. Folks, this stuff is still happening. But wait....we have the distraction of OBiden, Harris and demon Walz, right?
I would love to go back to the 1950's. Let see - it was before the socialist created campaign of feminism began, we had no troops on the ground in Vietnam to have Hanoi Jane mocking us over and those who treated those veterans horribly on their return, we had more white and black two parent households before socialists began to tear it apart, God was at the center of our country, in the home and in the schools. More mothers were praised for their roles as MOTHERS and raised their children and took care of the home while husbands worked to provide and protect their families. Hmmm......would I go back to the 1950's versus 2024? YOU BETCHA.
This is a common propaganda ploy pulled out of the socialists playbook. I've had it written against me several times before "YOU JUST WANT US TO GO BACK TO THE 1950'S!" Now I just yawn and write back "don't you have any new propaganda yet? This gets so tiresome."
The 50s were a hard time for gay people. These days folks mostly don´t care about there neighbors sexual orientation, but back then coming out of the closet was a harrowing ordeal. Is there a lot of LBGTQ craziness now? Absolutely. Would I want to go back to the 50s? No way.
I'm a boomer. I remember the 50s. Parts of it were good. Other parts weren't. I for one appreciated many aspects of 60s feminism. I agree feminism today is unrecognizable to me. But I appreciate many of the freedoms I enjoy today as a result of the 60s.
"in the Soviet Union they had state-run media, in our country we have a media-run state.” "Media-Run State" is a great three word description of the television age. The MSM spell might finally be breaking (way too late) but perhaps the greatest tragedy of our era is that the great majority of the citizenry has been pointing its collective finger at the wrong enemy. Yes our politicians and governments have been awful. But the MSM has spent the past few decades egging them on in this delusion when - all the time - the real power has been that Academia/Media Complex itself.
I think it starts with the universities, but really this is the same class of people, they all have more in common with each other than with the average person.
Yes absolutely it started with the universities....and I've lost count of the number of essays I've published down the years saying exactly that. Like this one for instance: "Key to the success of this invasion is that – crucially in its early stages – it managed to advance largely under the MSM radar. It’s not that there has been no spirited resistance but - conceived of in counter-insurgency terms - the performance of the defenders of ‘traditional values’ has been a textbook case in strategic failure. They started with all the advantage on their side; in particular an American public with solidly conservative instincts. The failure was to let themselves be blindsided by the enemy’s secret weapon: its longstanding grip on the institutions of ‘higher education’......" https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/invasion-of-the-virtue-signallers
I would not have called it joy but it was definitely enthusiasm for the MAGA people.
However can the Dems sustain joy for another two months? Last I checked it was an ephemeral emotion emotion which is harris' specialty. The pharmas will be working 3 shifts to keep that going.
I think she's playing a dangerous game by not rewarding the media loyalists with more access. Unlike Trump she needs the media bubble - and corporate media might even prefer another Trump presidency because that gives them material for years. It only takes a few more getting out of line because they first and foremost serve themselves.
i am wondering if she many intentionally self-destruct. I think she is smart enough to know she is in way over her head. Would not be surprised if she is slammed during her acceptance speech.
The other day I was shocked to read that some places you can vote as early as Sept. 21! Really? That would mean we're a little more than a month away from people voting. Is it true that most people will have voted before Nov. 5th?
My wife and I have our primary residence (and vote) in Teton Co. Wyoming. Since we will be out of the area in November, we stopped by the county registrar's office to order mail in ballots. The counter woman said that the ballots would be mailed to us in September, although I forget if that was early-mid-late September.
They can sustain their demonic joy if we are put under martial law and those of us who refuse to bow down are inprisoned or worse. On that subject, please be in prayer for a Pinetops, NC police officer who was arrested today for being in DC on 1/6. Folks, this stuff is still happening. But wait....we have the distraction of OBiden, Harris and demon Walz, right?
I believe at least one person each day is arrested on J6 charges, three and 1/2 years after the event. They (the DC US Attorney's office) have no intention of stopping, unless and until every single person who was at (not just in) the US Capitol grounds on Jan 6 is arrested, charged, convicted, and imprisoned.
molly jong-fast, the joy reid of white chicks
At least you can dunk on her with no one calling you racist.
thats raycis!
“If we could convince Kamala Harris that illegal aliens are actually journalists trying to ask her questions she’d build that border wall in five seconds.” — JD Vance
That's actually really funny.
Excellent!
The Quote column each week shows the importance of the 1st Amendment. If they weren’t free to spew their garbage, we couldn’t even imagine how insane they really are.
RFK voices what a lot of liberals say-the party left them and is now foreign to them. They need to take the final step. They need to understand that their ideas that government power can fix all problems was always going to lead to what we see now. Today’s Democrat party has merely taken leftist philosophy to its logical conclusion.
I think this also ties into the way Musk and a lot of other former Democrat supporters feel. Every progressive will probably at some point become conservative, at some point you have reached a reasonable state that you want to conserve instead of always moving on to the next escalation. But some people are only happy if they can keep forcing change on a society they hate.
A lot of conservatives were laughed at when they employed the slippery slope argument that was called a fallacy and now you got pornography in school libraries, minors consenting to hormones and surgery and even a push in some circles to normalize pedophilia.
"The rhetorical challenge of progressivism is that it is by nature abstract: It imagines a world that does not yet exist, rather than advocating to return to some previous version of the one we know."
I think this helps explain why Progressives are terrible at doing their jobs and simply running their states/cities, because Progressivism is the utopian cotton-candy of political thought, an upscale bauble for people who've never missed a meal or fought for safety and security, much more a fantasy than a way to run a society. (Not to mention the toxic combo of staggering arrogance and staggering ignorance to think that you and your friends from the Womens Studies Dept can surpass the wisdom of our entire human ancestry.)
"It imagines a world that does not yet exist" means it can never be judged based on results or consequences, as the Egalitarian can just gets kicked down the road, and that the way to get ahead is to promise the most flowers and unicorns, to posit the most glorious future where everyone "feels seen" and no one is anyway better than anyone else, because that would be hurtful and cause emotional trauma (with all negative emotions being saved and focused on any dissenters or skeptics, who must be denounced and silenced).
I am no kind of misogynist but when I see what kind of thoughts and thought patterns our age of The Future is Female has coughed up, the mother-hennishness, the conformity and censorship, the underhanded social ostracism (even by women like Joyce Oates, who should know better), the erasure of fact in favor of feeling and the ascendance of "vibes" and Safety Uber Alles, it has taught me why every prior society was founded and run by men.
"Progressivism" is the faith of a people in decline, designed by and for Nietzsche's Last (Wo)Man.
Indeed, Progressivism is this poisonous, powerfully addictive mixture of "utopian cotton candy" (beautifully said by the way) and Greek tragedy level "hubris"......
thanks!
and don't forget decontextualized Christianity, the Marxist Oppressor/Oppressed binary, plus a dash of Maoism—and voila! Suitable for any lost soul looking to join our most popular cult.
“Yeah, I think it’s a really good campaign, and people really like her, she’s gotten to be a really gifted, Obama-level orator.” — Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast
Every time I read this truly moronic comment, I can't decide whether to laugh or throw up.
Last month they were suggesting Joe Biden deserved a space on Mount Rushmore. This is simply the current version.
Brad, I love your work. I am not a paid subscriber, but I wanted to comment on your essay about lockdowns. The impact of lockdowns was devastating for the poorest people in the world, and it has went virtually unnoticed in west.
165 million people in Asia and Africa were pushed into $2 a day poverty with the introduction of lockdowns. From 1998 until 2020, the number of people living in abject poverty decreased each and every single year. Lockdowns ended decades of progress in poverty reduction.
Were lockdowns widespread in Africa? My impression was Africa pretty much ignored most of the craziness the rest of us underwent.
I know a couple of people who spent much of 2020 in Africa. They said Covid was not a big deal there, as they have much worse things to deal with. But, they still had various rules to get across borders. Covid tests from a guy in a cab who already had the negative results for you. For a small fee, of course. Hardly any other tourists, so the high end safari resorts were dirt cheap. Worst part was that the employees were struggling without tourist tips, so the few tourists who were there were inundated with "help".
Also finally something funny happened on Colberts Show, he had a CNN host on as a guest and said the line: "I know you guys are objective over there [at CNN], that you just report the news as it is. "
To laughter from the audience. They ain't buying it either.
That Michael McFaul quote: WTF????!!!!
As Matt Taibbi put it in response:
"McFaul believes it’s our duty to vote without information. If the executive branch wants to sever the social contract, why shouldn’t the deal go both ways?"
"If the president has no obligation to the public, seems to me the public has no obligation to pay taxes."
Found this by Taibbi: "McFaul is the dumbest person I’ve encountered in politics, but makes up for it by being the most irrationally self-regarding."
Meh. I agree she has no "moral obligation" to do a press conference, and people have no moral obligation to vote for her. McFly's point (I think?) is that remaining silent is a strategy, especially if Trump keeps annoying on-the-fence voters by running his mouth.
His statement is essentially "The ends justify the means."
I thought that was generally considered a bad idea?
The Megan McArdle quote reminds me of this little gem from the Bee:
https://babylonbee.com/news/you-know-these-fine-citizens-may-really-have-a-point-and-id-like-to-learn-more-about-their-cause-thinks-driver-blocked-by-protesters-for-3-hours
You have four unbearably obnoxious quotes in a row here, from the abysmally stupid public school union creature Gates to the hilariously delusional Jong-Fast....I'm thinking that is probably the most consecutive imbecility one can take without the interposition of a sane or witty or thoughtful semiconservative quote....
"In foregrounding food, Harris and Walz are making theirs the candidacy of terrestrial pleasure and straightforward abundance. It’s simple, really.”
This article is stupid, really.
It's simple the same way Forrest Gump is simple. By all means talk about food, remind people of their grocery bills. Although their price-control plan might be popular with some (even though this never works, you can't force producers to sell at a loss for long).
"I find it telling that Walz keeps using the word joy when he talks about the campaign and about his running mate."
He's been instructed to use the word joy as much as possible—because it's a marketing ploy probably determined by consultants and focus groups, who know most voters decide based on emotion, and this helps distract from her almost complete lack of policy discussion.
Please be in prayer for a Pinetops, NC police officer (John Carl) who was arrested today for being in DC on 1/6. Folks, this stuff is still happening. But wait....we have the distraction of OBiden, Harris and demon Walz, right?
I would love to go back to the 1950's. Let see - it was before the socialist created campaign of feminism began, we had no troops on the ground in Vietnam to have Hanoi Jane mocking us over and those who treated those veterans horribly on their return, we had more white and black two parent households before socialists began to tear it apart, God was at the center of our country, in the home and in the schools. More mothers were praised for their roles as MOTHERS and raised their children and took care of the home while husbands worked to provide and protect their families. Hmmm......would I go back to the 1950's versus 2024? YOU BETCHA.
This is a common propaganda ploy pulled out of the socialists playbook. I've had it written against me several times before "YOU JUST WANT US TO GO BACK TO THE 1950'S!" Now I just yawn and write back "don't you have any new propaganda yet? This gets so tiresome."
The 50s were a hard time for gay people. These days folks mostly don´t care about there neighbors sexual orientation, but back then coming out of the closet was a harrowing ordeal. Is there a lot of LBGTQ craziness now? Absolutely. Would I want to go back to the 50s? No way.
How about the 90ies?
Better for sure.
I'm a boomer. I remember the 50s. Parts of it were good. Other parts weren't. I for one appreciated many aspects of 60s feminism. I agree feminism today is unrecognizable to me. But I appreciate many of the freedoms I enjoy today as a result of the 60s.
"in the Soviet Union they had state-run media, in our country we have a media-run state.” "Media-Run State" is a great three word description of the television age. The MSM spell might finally be breaking (way too late) but perhaps the greatest tragedy of our era is that the great majority of the citizenry has been pointing its collective finger at the wrong enemy. Yes our politicians and governments have been awful. But the MSM has spent the past few decades egging them on in this delusion when - all the time - the real power has been that Academia/Media Complex itself.
I think it starts with the universities, but really this is the same class of people, they all have more in common with each other than with the average person.
Yes absolutely it started with the universities....and I've lost count of the number of essays I've published down the years saying exactly that. Like this one for instance: "Key to the success of this invasion is that – crucially in its early stages – it managed to advance largely under the MSM radar. It’s not that there has been no spirited resistance but - conceived of in counter-insurgency terms - the performance of the defenders of ‘traditional values’ has been a textbook case in strategic failure. They started with all the advantage on their side; in particular an American public with solidly conservative instincts. The failure was to let themselves be blindsided by the enemy’s secret weapon: its longstanding grip on the institutions of ‘higher education’......" https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/invasion-of-the-virtue-signallers
Broken clocks.....
Brian Stelter is right this time.
I was more so including the quote because of the "joy Trump fans felt in 2016" part.
got it - good point
I would not have called it joy but it was definitely enthusiasm for the MAGA people.
However can the Dems sustain joy for another two months? Last I checked it was an ephemeral emotion emotion which is harris' specialty. The pharmas will be working 3 shifts to keep that going.
I firmly believe that the Kamala crash is inevitable...it's just a matter of whether it happens before or after the election.
Please, ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaeohplease!!!
I am SO sick of her, but I’m worried that my “Trump Ennui” is catching up with how much I despise her.
Can somebody PLEASE convince him that calling her names is NOT a winning strategy???
sending trump to jail oughta get him back on top!!
I think she's playing a dangerous game by not rewarding the media loyalists with more access. Unlike Trump she needs the media bubble - and corporate media might even prefer another Trump presidency because that gives them material for years. It only takes a few more getting out of line because they first and foremost serve themselves.
'corporate media might even prefer another Trump presidency because that gives them material for years'
Because material = $. The media's been profiting off Trump since 2015.
i am wondering if she many intentionally self-destruct. I think she is smart enough to know she is in way over her head. Would not be surprised if she is slammed during her acceptance speech.
The other day I was shocked to read that some places you can vote as early as Sept. 21! Really? That would mean we're a little more than a month away from people voting. Is it true that most people will have voted before Nov. 5th?
My wife and I have our primary residence (and vote) in Teton Co. Wyoming. Since we will be out of the area in November, we stopped by the county registrar's office to order mail in ballots. The counter woman said that the ballots would be mailed to us in September, although I forget if that was early-mid-late September.
Ha, my last home town of 40+ years.
Imagine if you had voted in September and then some October surprise happens. I don't think you can take back your vote.
They can sustain their demonic joy if we are put under martial law and those of us who refuse to bow down are inprisoned or worse. On that subject, please be in prayer for a Pinetops, NC police officer who was arrested today for being in DC on 1/6. Folks, this stuff is still happening. But wait....we have the distraction of OBiden, Harris and demon Walz, right?
https://www.witn.com/2024/08/16/pinetops-police-officer-arrested-jan-6th-capitol-attack/
I believe at least one person each day is arrested on J6 charges, three and 1/2 years after the event. They (the DC US Attorney's office) have no intention of stopping, unless and until every single person who was at (not just in) the US Capitol grounds on Jan 6 is arrested, charged, convicted, and imprisoned.
For being in the capital building, or just for being in DC?
https://www.witn.com/2024/08/16/pinetops-police-officer-arrested-jan-6th-capitol-attack/
Democratic joy right now is entirely manufactured as a marketing ploy.
Even though I had TDS at the time, I can recognize that Trump fans were feeling an authentic emotion.