Politics and What Remains of the English Language

Victor Davis Hanson

"Here is a list of a few trendy words, overused, politicized, and empty of meaning, that now plague popular communications."

Read the list here.

. . . "This tiny vocabulary sampling reflects another recent epidemic of victimhood, as the English language is further squeezed and massaged to create reality from fantasy.

"First, over a half-century of institutionalized equal opportunity has not led to an equality of result. Particular self-identified groups feel collectively that they are less well off than others and are bewildered that this is still possible, since they can point to no law or custom that precludes their opportunity by race, class, or gender. Therefore, inventing a vocabulary of grievances is far more effective in gaining concessions than self-criticism and self-reliance are in winning parity.

"Second, in an affluent, leisured and postmodern society of $300 Jordan-label sneakers that sell out in hours, big-screen televisions at Walmart that become prizes for warring consumers on Black Friday, and over 50% of the population exempt from income taxes, it is becoming harder to define, in the material sense, oppression-driven victimhood. In such a world, even multi-billionaire Oprah has difficulty finding discrimination and so becomes reduced to whining about a perceived snub in a Swiss boutique that sells six-figure purses. Language is pressed into service to create victims where there are few, but where many are sorely needed, psychologically -- and on the chance such a prized status might lead to a profitable trajectory otherwise impossible by passé notions of work and achievement."

ABC Pushes Polyamory

MRC Culture

Marriage ‘equality’ for same-sex couples? That’s so yesterday.

"ABC’s Nightline hyped a polyamorous, “trailblazing triad” on Thursday evening, highlighting the threesome’s “unusual modern family.”

"The segment began with a shot of the throuple in bed together with their two children, who share a father but were each born to one of his “wives.”

“ 'This triad wants to make it clear that they are not polygamists,” ABC’s Abbie Boudreau eagerly explained, and that they are all sexual partners with each other. This arrangement began when Melinda Phoenix decided she wanted to add a man to her “marriage” to Dani, a woman.

"Two lesbians decided they desired a masculine man. He impregnated both of the women and their children were born five weeks apart." . . . 

ABC's 'Nightline' Spins Polygamy as 'Normal'
What is most disturbing about this report was the portrayal of polygamy as just a normal way of life and the implications such a view has. The story was reported by ABC News correspondent Cecilia Vega who claimed that "the residents of Centennial Park say they want to show just how average, how normal their lives are," and that the idea of polygamy is "a fundamentalist version of a modern family." 

Obama: Syrian refugees are like pilgrims on the Mayflower. Ann Coulter sees things differently.

The Hill

. . . “I hope that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving, surrounded by loved ones and full of joy and gratitude,” he said. “And together, may we all play our own small part in the American story, and write a next chapter that future generations can be thankful for.”

"The House passed a measure earlier this month making it more difficult for Syrian refugees fleeing the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to enter the country.

"Republicans have cast doubt on whether refugees can be properly vetted to ensure that they are not terrorists.

"At least one assailant in the Nov. 13 Paris terrorist attack, in which 130 people were killed, is suspected of entering France posed as a migrant."

And if you like your ISIS renter, you can keep him. Period

Ann Coulter has much to say about this as you may expect
"Americans keep being hectored to take "refugees" from terrorist-producing countries because to do otherwise would be "a betrayal of our values," as President Obama said on Monday. 
"The rise of Donald Trump reminds us of the popularity of another, long-forgotten American value: protecting Americans. 
"Contrary to Obama's laughable reference to "the universal values" that "all of humanity" share, most of the world does not share our values, at all. They barely seem to share our DNA. As indignantly explained by the lawyer representing two Iraqis accused of child rape in Nebraska, America's views about women and children "put us in the minority position in the world." 
"Pederasty, child brides, honor killings, clitorectomies, stonings, wife beatings -- when will America grow up and join the 21st century? (A lot sooner if Marco Rubio has his way!) 
"The New York Times boasts about how amazingly painstaking the "vetting" of Syrian refugees will be, but I notice the main point the paper keeps stressing is how long it will take. Twenty-four months! 
" 'Waiting" is not "vetting." What is 24 months to people who can hold a grudge for a thousand years? . . ." 

White House Gave ISIS 45 Minute Warning Before Bombing Oil Tankers

Why did it take 15 months for the U.S. to target the Islamic State's oil infrastructure?

Infowars

"The Obama White House is giving ISIS a 45 minute warning before bombing their oil tankers by dropping leaflets advising potential jihadists to flee before air strikes in Syria.

“ 'Get out of your trucks now, and run away from them. Warning: air strikes are coming. Oil trucks will be destroyed. Get away from your oil trucks immediately. Do not risk your life,” the leaflet reads.

"The leaflet drops are justified under the premise that the oil tanker drivers might be civilians and not ISIS recruits, although it’s an explanation that doesn’t wash with critics.

. . . 

"FrontPageMag’s Daniel Greenfield makes a similar point, commenting, “So after all this time, they came up with a great plan; drop flyers on ISIS trucks so that the drivers, who may or may not be ISIS members, can run away in time. Meanwhile ISIS gets 45 minutes of warning.”

"Compare the Obama White House’s approach to fighting ISIS to that of Russia.

"While it took the U.S. fifteen months to even begin targeting ISIS’ oil refineries and tankers, air strikes by Moscow destroyed more than 1,000 tankers in a period of just five days."

"U.S. military pilots have also confirmed that they were ordered not to drop 75 per cent of their ordnance on ISIS targets because they could not get clearance from their superiors."

Full article

Attack of the Campus Crybullies

Frontpage   "For over half a century, American universities, with few exceptions, have ceased teaching and begun indoctrinating. In the last few weeks, this downhill spiral has accelerated. The university is now a caricature of an educational institution. It is difficult to come up with an idea or policy that is more absurd than the ideas and policies that now dominate American campuses.

"The University of California, once an elite public institution, now circulates a list of "microaggressions" that students and faculty must be careful to avoid lest they engage in racism and bigotry. 

"Some examples:

" 'There is only one race, the human race."

"You read that right. The denial of the significance of race in favor of the primacy of the individual and the affirmation of the equality of all human beings — one of the noblest achievements of liberal Western society — is now officially listed by the University of California as a racist statement. It is a pure expression of moral inversion.

" 'America is a melting pot."

"The University of California considers this, too, a racist statement. Throughout American history the melting pot idea has been an expression of America's unique ability to transform people of every race, ethnicity, and nationality into Americans. It is now deemed racist."  . . .

On Obama's cooked ISIS intelligence

Exclusive: 50 Spies Say ISIS Intelligence Was Cooked
"It’s being called a ‘revolt’ by intelligence pros who are paid to give their honest assessment of the ISIS war—but are instead seeing their reports turned into happy talk."

"Two of the officials who spoke to The Daily Beast said that analysts began airing their complaints in October in an effort to address the issue internally and only went to the inspector general when that effort failed. Some of those who complained were urged to retire, one official familiar with the report told The Daily Beast. Some agreed to leave."

 Attkisson Source: Obama Is Flat Out Refusing to Hear Intel on Islamic Terror Groups   . . .  " 'I have talked to people who have worked in the Obama administration who firmly believe he has made up his mind, I would say closed his mind, they say, to the intelligence they try to bring him about various groups he does not consider terrorists even if they're on the U.S. list of designated terrorists," Attkisson said. "I don't know the reasoning for it I’ve only been told by those who have allegedly attempted to present him or been in the circle that has attempted to present him with certain intelligence that they said he doesn’t want it, he said he doesn't want it or he won't read it in some instances.' " . . . 

Is the U.S. Less Safe Under President Obama’s Watch?

. . . "National security has surfaced as the key concern for most Americans following the dreadful terrorist attack in Paris.

"But according to a CBS poll, only 23 percent of Americans trust Obama’s national security, in particular, his plan to defeat ISIS.

"From The Washington Free Beacon:" . . .

U.S. Dithering on ISIS Continues

"This stubbornly imposed indolence is apparently based on Obama’s Islamophilia, pacifism, and historical skepticism of the uses of American military power, but it has furnished a convenient excuse for the entire Western Alliance, such as it remains, to follow the American lead in doing as little as possible, in accord with slack public opinion." 

hopenchangecartoons.

The commander in chief’s meltdown in the polls

"Analysts at U.S. Central Command were pressured to ease off negative assessments about the Islamic State threat and were even told in an email to “cut it out,” Fox News has learned – as an investigation expands into whether intelligence reports were altered to present a more positive picture.
Fox News is told by a source close to the CENTCOM analysts that the pressure on them included at least two emails saying they needed to “cut it out” and “toe the line.”
Separately, a former Pentagon official told Fox News there apparently was an attempt to destroy the communications. The Pentagon official said the email warnings were “not well received” by the analysts.

 "Democrats better figure out a way to break through to him — or break away. Sticking by a president this lacking in credibility on the issue now most important to voters is a recipe for political disaster."

What Our Presidents’ Thanksgiving Proclamations Tell Us About America

The Federalist
"Compare George Washington’s proclamation of a day for national thanksgiving with President Obama’s. You will find three notable differences."

. . . "Obama overemphasizes the narrative of Indians-helping-Pilgrims so he force upon us a redefinition of what it means to give. (If a presidential proclamation can magically turn 9/11 into a day of volunteerism then nothing, not even Thanksgiving, will be safe.) To learn what life was like for the Pilgrims, including their relationships with the various Indian tribes, I recommend checking out William Bradford’s firsthand account in “Of Plymouth Plantation.”

"Our nation’s Thanksgiving Day proclamations show both our progress and regress, particularly when you take 2015 and compare it with 1789. Despite our modern achievements, Washington’s America had a greater affinity for and devotion to God and, in turn, to reality."

Oh, by the way:  Obama Administration Announces 144 Big Regulations Right Before Thanksgiving
"President Obama is nothing if not predictable. Required by law to release plans for new regulations twice a year, the administration has consistently done so just before major holidays, when few are paying attention."

Race in Obama's America

Chicago paid $5 million to shooting victim's family, keeping them quiet and video secret while Rahm re-elected


. . . "It is rather remarkable that the shooting was not a major issue in the election.  No campaigning by the family of young McDonald, no indictment, and no release of the video.  Perhaps this had something to do with it, as reported by DNAinfo Chicago:

"The city has already paid a $5 million settlement to the family for the shooting.

"The details of the shooting threatened to become public prior to the February election, but action was taken to keep the video under wraps and the [family] quiet." . . .

. . . "Now, with his re-election accomplished, the mayor is coming to a judgment of Officer Van Dyke’s action before his trial:

"Mayor Emanuel told reporters, "We hold our police officers to a high standard, and obviously in this case, Jason Van Dyke violated the standards of professionalism of becoming a police officer, but also basic moral standards that bind our community together."

"If I were Emanuel, I would be careful about using language like “basic moral standards.”

"How long will it be until the mainstream media catches on about the payoff with public money that kept the video secret, the family quiet, and the mayor re-elected?"

A return to the paranoid style in African-American politics

"From time to time, something will leap out to me as an illustration of the fact that blacks and whites often inhabit separate realities. I’ve often told the story of the editorial in a black neighborhood newspaper in Philadelphia warning African-Americans to flee urban areas in the lead-up to the 2004 presidential elections because George W. Bush was planning to — this was presented as unquestionable fact – use nuclear weapons against the inner cities to suppress the black vote. This wasn’t somebody ranting on Twitter — this was in print, in a regularly published newspaper that was, in the early days of the 21st century, still a going concern."   Read more...

The ‘Legacy of Slavery’ Is an Excuse for Social Degeneration

"But slavery became the rhetorical distraction for the political magicians’ trick of making their own responsibility for social degeneration vanish into thin air by sleight of hand."

"What would it take to break this cheap little spell and make us wake up and inquire what on earth we are doing when we make the Clinton family drama — yet again—a central part of our own politics?" . . .

Althouse  " . . .Wrote the late Christopher Hitchens in January 2008, quoted in this morning's NYT in a review of a new collection of some of his essays. (The book is "And Yet...") From the review:

It’s a shame Mr. Hitchens isn’t here to comment on Donald Trump’s political moment. He saw in the ideas behind Ross Perot’s candidacy some of what he might have distrusted in Mr. Trump’s, that is the idea that “government should give way to management.”...

"Yes, "management" — I was just saying that's Trump's "stock one-word answer to queries about how he'll do something he says he will do." So I dug up the old Hitchens essay. Here. It's in The Wilson Quarterly. The Wilson Quarterly? Egad.Woodrow Wilson. That name is mud this week. And the Hitchens essay is "Bring on the Mud/Mud-slinging in politics is a time-honored American tradition. But is there anything so bad about throwing a few political barbs?" It's not mostly about government as management, and the whole thing is on such a high level that I want to weep for our loss:" . . .

Teenage ‘poster girl’ for Islamic State beaten to death

The Times of Israel

Sabina Selimovic, left, and Samra Kesinovic, right

"A teenage Austrian girl who became a public icon for the Islamic State group was beaten to death for trying to escape the jihadist-controlled regions in Syria and return home.

"Austrian newspapers Österreich and Kronen Zeitung reported this week that Samra Kesinovic, 17, was killed as she tried to slip out of Raqqa in war-torn Syria.
. . . 

"Kesinovic and Selimovic, made headlines in April 2014 when they left their middle-class Vienna homes to join the Islamic State. After flying to Turkey, they made their way across the border into Syria.

"Pictures of the two dressed in hijabs and brandishing weapons or surrounded by armed men then began circulating on social media." . . .

Did Marco Rubio Kill Obamacare? "You bet he did"

Legal Insurrection

. . . "Laskey pointed to a 2013 article written by Joshua Green which explained why Rubio’s legislation could be deadly to Obamacare:

When the law was written, the winners and losers were expected to balance out, making the risk corridors budget-neutral. But if too many insurers lose money, the government may need to step in. While the ACA’s risk corridors are meant to transfer money from winners to losers, the text of the law (it’s Section 1342, for those following at home) makes clear that the government will pay insurers whose costs end up being significantly higher than anticipated. This is what Rubio is seizing on in his new bill—he’s calling it a “bailout” and trying to stop it.

There’s definitely some validity to the scenario Rubio is warning about, although no one can yet say whether it will happen—or, if it does, what the cost might be to taxpayers. Obama’s decision to allow people in the individual market to keep their plans certainly raises the likelihood. A Nov. 14 letter to Congress from the American Academy of Actuaries warned that if “lower-cost individuals retain their prior coverage, and higher-cost people move to new coverage, the medical costs for those purchasing new insurance would be higher than expected.” This would create a set of conditions “more likely to trigger risk corridor payments.”

If Rubio were truly motivated by concern that taxpayers might end up footing a “bailout,” there’s an easy solution: Write a bill stipulating that risk corridors must be budget-neutral. Presto, problem solved. But Rubio’s bill is far more sweeping than that—it eliminates risk corridors altogether by striking Section 1342 from the law. This is a clue that his real motivation isn’t to eliminate the possibility of a payout but to eliminate the Affordable Care Act altogether.

"In October, the Obama Administration confirmed Senator Rubio’s fight against taxpayer-funded bailouts of health insurance companies under ObamaCare succeeded in saving taxpayers over $2.5 billion this past year:" . . .

Cartoons tell the story