Quotes and Links
A week in review
“He can be anything he wants. He can have the job I’m looking for.” — Joe Biden, regarding Gavin Newsom.
“I know folks say, ‘Oh, they’re just cleaning up this place because all these fancy leaders are coming into town.’ That’s true because it’s true.” — Gavin Newsom. The drug addicts and homeless encampments plaguing downtown San Francisco miraculously disappeared in preparation for the meeting between Biden and China’s Xi Jinping, leaving many to wonder why it was worth making the city safer, cleaner, and more attractive for a foreign dictator, but not for full-time residents.
“What would a second term [of Trump] look like? It would look a lot like Vladimir Putin in Russia.” — Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin.
“How to Talk to Your Crazy Republican Uncle About Osama bin Laden’s Good Side This Thanksgiving.” — National Review’s Charles Cooke. The latest trend on TikTok is leftists praising Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America,” in which he justifies the mass murder of civilians.
“Can pretty safely state that bin Laden and I did not, uh, agree on much, but blowing up the World Trade Center is probably the most principled and defensible thing he ever did.” — Author Gretchen Felker-Martin.
“My goddaughter is six years old and has fewer rights than I had 30 years ago.” — Mara Gay of the New York Times. This is the same person who said that Mike Bloomberg could have given every single American a million dollars because he spent $500 million on his presidential campaign.
“For the political press corp – especially our friends at the Gray Lady – it’s time to meet the moment and responsibly inform the electorate of what their lives might look like if the leading GOP candidate for president is allowed back in the WH.” — A press email from the Biden campaign. Because lord knows the media isn’t quite hackish enough for Biden, and isn’t quite critical enough of Trump.
“I truly cannot think of a brand more wildly out of step with the modern conservative movement than ‘George Bush in a pantsuit’ but that’s what Nikki Haley and her team are going with.” — Matt Walsh.
“The Times would take the side of the burglar who injured himself breaking into your house and then sued for medical bills.” — Podcaster Jeff Blehar, regarding a New York Times article lamenting how illegal migrants are injuring themselves trying to scale barriers along the southern border.
“Donald trump is openly planning to impose a military dictatorship and put tanks in the streets against his enemies if he seizes power again. I am going to post this repeatedly so no one can say they haven’t been told.” — Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr.
“I’ve a hard time squaring years of left-wing arguments that society should be hunting for any possible racist implication of words and symbols, even if unintended today, with the claim that ‘from the river to the sea’ must be judged only by what the speaker says is in their heart.” — Nicholas Grossman, an International Relations professor at the University of Illinois.
“It’s like watching somebody trying to do brain surgery whilst wearing boxing gloves.” — Author Douglas Murray, on listening to Jeremy Corbyn talk about solving the Middle East’s problems.
“CBP reports 240,988 migrant encounters at the southern border during the month of October, making it the highest October ever recorded. CBP also reports 13 Border Patrol arrests of people on the FBI terror watchlist in October.” — Fox News’ Bill Melugin.
“I hope your ancestors died in ovens and it will be the same for you and your family soon during a 2nd Shoah (fingers crossed). When that happens, I'm going to sh*t on Israeli flags while dancing.” — Amaury Letort, a senior project manager for Punch Cut.
“Trump’s affinity for Hitler was always covered under an umbrella of his stupidity.” — MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace.
“Progressives have a blind spot, which is that they don’t understand that compassion in excess can have a really dark side. It can lead to its opposite, which is cruelty.” — Public’s Michael Shellenberger.
“[I]n the 38 years that we have published this guide, no single person has ever eclipsed our analysis as much as Donald Trump eclipses 2024.” — The Economist’s annual “World Ahead” guide, which identifies Donald Trump as the biggest global danger of 2024.
“We are fighting against a root cause, which is white supremacy, and trying to build a world which is beyond Zionism, beyond racism, beyond white supremacy.” — Anna Babboni, a senior at Scripps College and leader of the local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
“Irony: Campus antisemitism is pure privilege. It’s a yearning to be relevant and part of A Great Cause by identifying with an oppressed group as a way of mitigating the reality that you’re on an elite campus living a beautifully cosseted life.” — The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols.
“Not only is the U.S. economy doing well, it’s doing almost miraculously well.” — Paul Krugman, during an interview on MSNBC.
A Golf Digest piece on the making of the movie Caddyshack.
“The COVID Wars,” from Tablet.
An essay from the American Scholar on the perils of instant gratification.
“Woke: Collectivist or Individualist?” by N.S. Lyons.
A Smithsonian story about how Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga.
“The Doctor, the Dentist, and the Killer,” from Texas Monthly.
Screaming into the Void: “The Power of Anonymous”
“The Path To Self-Transcendence Begins with 3,100 Miles,” from Outside magazine.
A Vox piece on “How Twitter can ruin a life.”
Each week the roundup shows more clearly why it's so important. This insanity needs to be documented and called out. It's not just an armchair exercise any more.
As to the comment here about supporters of Israel and genocide:
Of course people feel empathy for innocents in war zones, as are Palestinians. And any decent person should also feel sympathy for the victims on Oct 7.
That is the easy part.
The tough part is assessing moral responsibility for the situation, and what is to be done to avoid endless repeat occurrences.
The idea that a culture that shows its devotion to 7th century values at every opportunity will peacefully coexist with their avowed enemy, if only they are given the land to do so, is sheer lunacy.
Only one of these cultures promotes genocide. It takes massive blinders to decide that culture is Judaism.
““Irony: Campus antisemitism is pure privilege. It’s a yearning to be relevant and part of A Great Cause by identifying with an oppressed group as a way of mitigating the reality that you’re on an elite campus living a beautifully cosseted life.” — The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols.”
Sums it up perfectly.