Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Victor Davis Hanson: Peak Jacobinism?

Jacobin: historical A member of a democratic club established in Paris in 1789. The Jacobins were the most radical and ruthless of the political groups formed in the wake of the French Revolution, and in association with Robespierre they instituted the Terror of 1793–4.

Victor Davis Hanson
So the revolution is tiring, devouring its own, terrifying its enablers, embarrassing its abettors, and becoming worried that somewhere some courageous nobody might dare say, “You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?

"The Jacobin Left is just now beginning to get edgy. 
"A few of its appeasers and abettors are becoming embarrassed by some of the outright racists and nihilists of BLM and the Maoists of Antifa — and their wannabe hangers-on who troll the Internet hoping to scalp some minor celebrity. 
"The woke rich too are worried over talk about substantial wealth, capital-gains, and income taxes, even though they have the resources to navigate around the legislation from their wink-and-nod brethren. Soon, even Hunter Biden and the Clintons could be checking in with their legal teams to see how much it will cost them to get around the Squad’s new tax plan.
"The lines are thinning a bit for the guillotine. And the guillotiners are starting to panic as they glimpse faces of a restless mob always starved for something to top last night’s torching. Finally, even looters and arsonists get tired of doing the same old, same old each night. They get bored with the puerile bullhorn chants, the on-spec spray-paint defacement, and the petite fascists among them who hog the megaphones. For the lazy and bored, statue toppling — all of those ropes, those icky pry bars, those heavy sledgehammers, and so much pulling — becomes hard work, especially as the police, camera crews, and fisticuffs thin out on the ground. And the easy bronze and stone prey are now mostly rubble. Now it’s either the big, tough stuff like Mount Rushmore or the crazy targets like Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. 
"There are only so many ways for adult-adolescents to chant monotonously “Eat the Rich! Kill the Pigs! Black Lives Matter!” blah, blah, blah. And there are only so many Road Warrior Antifa ensembles of black hoodies, black masks, black pants, and black padding — before it all it ends up like just another shrill teachers’-union meeting in the school cafeteria or a prolonged adolescent Halloween prankster show.
"Some 150 leftist writers and artists recently signed a letter attesting that they are suddenly wary of cancel culture. They want it stopped and prefer free speech. Of course, they first throat-cleared about the evil Trump, as if the president had surveilled Associated Press reporters, or sicced the FBI on a political campaign, or used CIA informants and foreign dossier-mongers to undermine a political opponent. And some petition signers soon retracted, with “I didn’t know what I was doing” apologies. Nonetheless, it was a small sign that not all of the liberal intelligentsia were going to sit still and wait for the mob to swallow them. " . . .
The streets of our big cities are no longer a “summer of love” hate-fest targeting Donald Trump, but downright scary, given that murdering someone on sight is a COVID-get-out-of-jail-free crime. Blue-state officials green-lighted the multibillion-dollar wreckage and are now coming cup in hand, begging the Trump administration to pay for it. Their logic is: “Don’t dare send your damn troops to interrupt our beautiful looting and arson, but now please send your racist money for us to clean up the mess.” . . .
. . . As the cities turn into wastelands, children are gunned down, and careers are destroyed, fewer and fewer bore us by intoning that Trump is Mussolini, or that he resembles the operators of Auschwitz. Fewer still care about the spiraling tragic carnage of the inner cities — not Black Lives Matter, not the Squad, not Nancy Pelosi." . . .

Announcing Reader’s Choice Award: Select The Liberal Media Propagandist Of The Year For 2020


Conservative Firing Line "As regular readers know, we routinely highlight the bias and sometimes outright lies put forward by what we call the “Democrat-Media Complex” — what others call the “Mainstream media.”
"The fact is that “journalism” has been dead for quite some time.  Media outlets like CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC. CBS and others have become nothing more than willing propagandists for the Democrat Party, doing everything they can to hurt President Trump and foment division and hatred in America.
"For that reason, this writer no longer refers to those who work at these outlets as “reporters.”  In my mind, they’re nothing but propagandists.
"So I decided to start a new tradition here at the Conservative Firing Line, and I’d like your input.  I’d like to name the one person who best exemplifies what the “media” has become.
"Here are the rules:
"Below is a poll that lists several names.  You may select up to three names or you may add a name if the person you want to win isn’t listed." . . . Full article here

Propagandist - search results

Washington Redskins no more. What's next?

http://www.terrellaftermath.com/
Image by Will O'Toole of Otoons.com
Washington Post opinion editor says the Texas Rangers MLB franchise should drop their name because the law enforcement officers they're named after are a 'cruel, racist force'  I'd say they are named after a wonderful law enforcement agency that presently is one of the best in the nation. When will this all end?



To quote an old joke, the NFL’s team in the nation’s capital has suddenly discovered that their name is offensive. The new name will be … the DC Redskins.

Our parodical son, the Babylon Bee reports:
Here's What's Problematic With Each Of The NFL's 32 Team Names Examples:
. . . Indianapolis Colts - This name glorifies guns.
Jacksonville Jaguars - Jaguars are driven by evil rich billionaires as they run over poor people.
Kansas City Chiefs - We suggest switching to Kansas City Wise Indigenous Tribal Elders.
Las Vegas Raiders - Celebrates The Raiders of the Lost Ark, which featured prominent Nazi imagery.
Los Angeles Chargers - We don't think anyone who has faced down a line of charging riot police would find this name the least bit funny.
Los Angeles Rams - Dodge Rams contribute heavily to the climate crisis.
Miami Dolphins - Painful reminder that Sea World still exists. . . .

Pinocchi-Joe's Trouble With Truth

Biden's manifold problems run far deeper than his own marked cognitive decline. If, as president, he delivers an Oval Office address in a time of crisis, whose words will we actually be hearing?

Douglas Andrews  "With everyone so keenly focused on Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, too little time has been spent on the man’s character — or lack thereof. But even before he came to Washington 47 years ago, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee had a troubled relationship with the truth. Put another way, Scranton Joe is a lying, dog-faced pony soldier from way back.
"It’s not clear when Biden told his first lie, but the ease with which he does so leads us to believe he got an early start. While it isn’t true that he coined the phrase, “Dog-faced pony soldier ate my homework,” but Biden has a penchant for lying about his academic prowess. In 1987, for example, when he first ran for president, the candidate was politely asked by a man at a New Hampshire event where he’d gone to school and what his class ranking was. An indignant Biden bellowed, “I think I have a much higher IQ than you do, I suspect. I went to law school on a full academic scholarship — the only one in my class to have a full academic scholarship.”
"And he was just getting warmed up.

“ 'The first year in law school,” Biden continued, “I decided I didn’t want to be in law school and ended up in the bottom two-thirds of my class. And then decided I wanted to stay, went back to law school and, in fact, ended up in the top half of my class. I won the international Moot Court competition. I was the outstanding student in the political science department at the end of my year. I graduated with three degrees from undergraduate school and 165 credits. I only needed 123 credits.”
"Every word of this it true — every word, that is, except the part about him going to law school on a full academic scholarship, and the part about him graduating in the top half of his class (he was a dismal 76th out of 85), and the part about him obtaining three undergraduate degrees." . . .
Best of all was this classic before cognitive malfunction when Joe was the real Joe:
Joe Biden plagiarised Neil Kinnock speech
What's in a quote? For Joe Biden, his plagiarisation of a speech delivered by Neil Kinnock, then Labour leader, helped put pay to his own campaign to win the Democrats' presidential nomination more than 20 years ago.
"In his 1988 presidential bid, Joe Biden, who is now a Democratic presidential candidate for 2020, plagiarized portions of speeches made by former President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) and British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. It effectively led to him dropping out of the race."

Black Lives Matter Leader Declares War On Police – Says Will Develop Highly-Trained Military Arm

No comment available from BLM supporter Kamala Harris yet. Expect MSNBC or CNN to refer to these people as "a merry caravan". TD


AND

That is the face od Democrats at the State of the Union
"In an interview with the Daily Mail, Hawk Newsome, Chairman of Black Lives Matter’s Greater New York chapter, says the black rights group is ‘mobilizing’ its base.
“We have black Special Forces officers advising us, and we will teach and train people in our communities,” Newsome told the Daily Mail.
“We pattern ourselves after the Black Panthers, after the Nation of Islam, we believe that we need an arm to defend ourselves,” said Newsome.
"He also said that “we don’t believe in equality. in the Daily Mail interview.
"Andy Ngo, who has followed and reported on ANTIFA and Black Lives Matters, saying:
“There is & always was a reason BLM founders openly looked up to violent members of the Black Liberation Army & Black Panthers. They’ve been able to fool left, right & center into supporting a Marxist revolutionary cause under the guise of a simple slogan.“    ANDY NGO VIA TWITTER
. . .  "Newsome was interviewed by Candace Owens, on 10 March 2019, in a far-reaching interview in which she asks why the Black community will not support conservative Blacks, like Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, who have “literally” come from nothing. Candace challenged Newsome on why the only time “police brutality” becomes a popular issue in the news cycle and is pushed by the media during election cycles. She noted as soon as the election was over in 2016, the media abandoned Black Lives Matters. The almost two-hour interview with Newsome can be found here." . . .



Monday, July 13, 2020

NBA Bans The Phrase “Free Hong Kong” From Custom Jersey Maker – Allows “Kill Cops” Though…

NBA Bans Custom Jerseys With ‘FreeHongKong,’ But Allows ‘Burn Jews’ And ‘Kill Cops’  "The National Basketball Association is now blocking fans from customizing jerseys to include “FreeHongKong,” while allowing a range of gross activist slogans on its merchandise. Through its online store, the league has long let fans create jerseys with personalized messages on the back. In fact, the feature recently become a key part of the NBA’s push to allow players to sport activist statements on their jerseys. Today, however, it became clear the NBA doesn’t love all protests equally.
"As first pointed out by Twitter users, the NBA store is blocking any fans from making jerseys with popular protester slogan “FreeHongKong.” This happens despite the site allowing numerous antisemitic and anti-police slogans. Right now, you can make a custom NBA jersey with “Kill Cops,””‘F-ck Police,” and “Burn Jews” among many other objectionable phrases. It appears that supporting a pro-democracy movement, however, is too extreme."
 . . ."F-ckHongKong,” which contains the same number of letters as “FreeHongKong,” is also allowed, meaning the ban seems only to extend to statements affirming the pro-democracy movement." . . .
Added by TD from Weasel Zippers
. . . "As the NBA blocks statements offensive to the Communist Party of China, protesters are being arrested in the city under a harsh new “security” law. Pro-democracy demonstrators can now be jailed for life. Disrupting roads is now considered a terrorist act, and any attempts to work with the international community have been made criminal." . . .

Whatever happened to American journalism?

Yellow Journalism earned the founder of Hearst newspapers that magnificent castle above San Simeon, CA   
. . . "Today, the term “yellow journalism” is used negatively to describe any journalistic style that treats real news either unprofessionally or unethically. or that puts forth information as true, which has no basis in fact. Examples of yellow journalism stories that would be treated in such a way are those that are either scare-mongering or scandal-mongering. The late American historian and journalist Frank Luther Mott said that examples of yellow journalism can essentially be defined by the following traits: . . ." This 2016 article fails to discuss CNN and MSNBC, only Fox.

https://www.lucianne.com/
Jake Tapper Receives Inconvenient Reminder About CNN Guests He’s Interviewed After Trying to Mask-Shame Trump  . . . "Many media outlets erroneously “reported” that it was the first time Trump had been seen in public wearing a mask since the pandemic began, which in reality was not true, as this May 21st tweet from NBC News proves:" . . .

Liberal Lawyer Shreds CNN Legal Analyst’s Take on Roger Stone’s Commutation in Less Than Five Paragraphs

CNN Host Don Lemon’s Bigoted Blasphemy: “Jesus Christ Was Not Perfect”
On Monday, CNN’s Don Lemon undermined his own argument when it comes to removing statues by engaging in what any Christian should consider outright blasphemy. In a truly bizarre moment, the CNN host suggested that the Founders were not perfect … just like Jesus Christ.“But here’s the thing. Jesus Christ, if that’s who you believe in, Jesus Christ, admittedly was not perfect when he was here on this earth,” the CNN host falsely claimed. “So why are we deifying the Founders of this country? Many of whom owned slaves.” 

Local Gun Store Offers Free AR15 to St Louis Couple After Gun Used to Protect Home from BLM was Confiscated

100%FedUp  "The McCloskey family has been through so much since they were filmed pointing guns at BLM protesters who came on their property. They had to hire security and boarded up their windows because the BLM thugs kept coming to harass them in front of their home.


Their boarded-up home
. . . "As if they haven’t been through enough, a search warrant was issued for Mark and Patricia McCloskey’s home on Friday. The McCloskey’s lawyer handed over the gun used by Patricia McCloskey on Saturday and Mark McCloskey told Todd Starnes on Friday:
“We complied with the search warrant. They took my AR. I’m absolutely surprised by this.”
"After the local gun store, Alien Armory Tactical caught wind of what happened; the store announced they would donate a free AR15 to the McCloskeys.
"Gateway Pundit reported that the gun store posted an announcement on Facebook:

(IF ANYONE KNOWS THE ST. LOUIS COUPLE PLEASE PASS THIS POST ALONG TO THEM ) Let me say this to all the St.Louis city cops. You should of protested serving this warrant! This couple did what they needed to do to protect private property as the property was being ambushed. I’ve seen videos and some of these so called protesters were carrying firearms and they clearly broke the gate to make way on to the private property ( A THREAT ) To the couple that had this warrant served, please come on by our shop and we will gladly rearm you with a brand new ar15 for ( FREE ) thats right if you see this post contact our page and we will gladly assist you with a replacement for you to protect your private property for FREE! Also we will assist you with some FREE firearms training so if anything were to happen you will be better prepared, we will take you with your brand new ar15 and show you how to be better prepared! Thank you from your friendly neighborhood watch😆

Goya boycott backfires bigly as Trump supporters buy up Goya products like it’s Christmas

BPR

"The Left’s “Boycott Goya” campaign to bully and silence Goya Food CEO Robert Unanue for praising President Trump backfired in epic fashion after scores of Trump supporters launched their own counter-boycott called “Goya Buy-cott.”
"The “Buy-cott” campaign inspired countless Trump supporters to go to their local stores and buy up Goya olives, seasonings, beans, and frozen foods like it’s Christmas.
"In fact, Goya couldn’t have asked for better marketing if it had paid millions of dollars in prime-time TV and newspaper ads.
"President Trump kicked things off by tweeting, “I love Goya Foods!”'   . . .
Naturally, this silliness could not avoid the satire of Babylon Bee:
Democrats Call For Labels Warning Consumers If A Company's CEO Voted For Trump
It could work well in California. That state is deeply committed to warning labels and to hating anything Trumpish. TD

"Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic representatives proposed a new law today that would help consumers make better-informed decisions when it comes to really political purchases like beans."The new law would force CEOs who voted for Trump to disclose this important nutritional information on all the company's products."When you're shopping for beans, like, the first thing you want to know is, like, if the CEO is a Trump supporter," said Ocasio-Cortez. "My abuelita and I would, like, go shopping at the bodega when I was growing up in hard-knock Yorktown Heights. And she'd always tell me, 'Mija, the first thing to know about buying good food is you have to make sure the CEO of the company isn't a Republican.' And, like, that always stuck with me.""When asked what nutritional value this could possibly have, Ocasio-Cortez called the reporter racist and said he was "catcalling" her." . . .

LA teachers union wants more money by defunding the police, calls for medicare for all

Fox News  "United Teachers Los Angeles recently released a research paper on steps needed to safely reopen public schools amid the coronavirus outbreak and pointed to the need to free up additional funding by defunding the police.
“ 'Police violence is a leading cause of death and trauma for Black people, and is a serious public health and moral issue,” the paper said, citing the American Public Health Association. “We must shift the astronomical amount of money devoted to policing, to education and other essential needs such as housing and public health.”
"Teachers unions have long been criticized by Republicans as an extension of the Democrat Party. Republicans will likely use the paper to support that claim. The union's paper also took aim at charter schools and reportedly called for a federal Medicare-for-All program.
"The union's paper did not offer a dollar amount to cut from the police. The Los Angeles City Council already cut the LAPD budget by $150 million and said the money will be earmarked for disadvantaged communities.  The union did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News." . . .

Hilton calls for education tax refund if schools don't reopen: 'Why should you pay for service you are not getting?'


"The Next Revolution" host Steve Hilton suggested on his show Sunday that parents should receive education tax dollar refunds if schools stay shuttered in the fall.
"We believe in decentralization on this show and we believe above all in people power," Hilton said during his opening monologue.
"It is time to use it over this school fiasco. If your child's school won't open in the fall, demand your money back so you can find an alternative. It is your child, your tax dollars. Why should you pay for service you are not getting?' " . . .

Did saying 'all lives matter' to a group of blacks get a mother of a young child shot and killed?

Mike Harris
Thomas Lifson  "The demonization of the commonsense expression "all lives matter" has reached the point of lethal violence against those who utter it, if an eyewitness account of a murder in Indianapolis is true.  This deeply distressing story of an incident on Independence Day weekend had received zero coverage in the mainstream media until Fox News picked it up a few hours ago.  Bradford Betz writes for Fox: . . ."
Full article here.
"If anything good can be salvaged from this awful killing, it would be a pushback against the demonization of "all lives matter."  Claims that those three words are racist are self-evidently ridiculous.  If it is untrue that all lives matter because "black lives matter" is trendy and being pushed heavily, then some lives logically do not matter.  Because of race.  That position is abhorrent.  And it may have led to murder."

Mother of 3-Yr-Old Shot and Killed While Walking Away From Argument Over Allegedly Responding “All Lives Matter” To Group of Strangers Shouting “Black Lives Matter”  
. . . "Cassandra Fairbanks of The Gateway Pundit reached out to the family of Jessica Doty-Whitaker and reported- Unlike Charlottesville or any violence from the right, this killing was reported so quietly that barely anyone even noticed.
"Her grandfather posted on Facebook that “multiple black assailants” shot her in the head.
“ 'Why isn’t anybody outraged about this?” he asked in the post. “Is it that BLM was involved or that it was white young adults that [were] the victims?' ” . . .

The woke white woman: America's latest casualty in the culture wars  "Stella Morabito over at the Federalist has just written a masterful piece describing a bizarre new phenomenon in America: the woke white woman.  The article is called "Why Do So Many White Women Hate Themselves?"
"Why, indeed?
"These young, middle-class white women can be found spitting harangues into the faces of police officers, including black officers, trying to lecture and shame them into obedience, writes Morabito, plus more:  . . ." 

Never Trumpers turn on their own

Benjamin Franklin, 250 years ago, when asked which is preferred, a monarchy or a republic answered, “A republic . . . if you can keep it.” The NeverTrump so-called “constitutional conservatives” are playing with fire, willing to destroy our republic over petty spite. President Trump is the last bulwark against monarchy or worse. NeverTrumpers are happily helping to burn down the lone gate between America the beautiful and anarchy.
NeverTrumpers Out of the Closet as Liberal Democrats in Drag  . . . "I do not recall the NeverTrumpers endorsing Obama and his policies, in fact some were actively working against Obama. Yet their hatred of the Orange Man is so over the top that they are now endorsing an older demented version of Obama and a far more radically left party compared to 2008.
"What happens if the NeverTrumpers get their wish? If Biden wins, his coattails will likely give Democrats control of the House and Senate.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would immediately eliminate the filibuster, giving Democrats full control of the Executive and Legislative branches of government, with the Judicial branch soon following.
"Taxes could be raised with impunity, regulations added without resistance. The Green New Deal and Medicare-For-All would easily become law on a party-line vote. Democrats want to expand the Supreme Court and with full control of Congress, could easily confirm a Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Lawrence Tribe, or Michelle Obama to the high court, creating a permanent far-left majority to rewrite the Constitution.
"How is that for the Lincoln Project’s fidelity to the Constitution? Is this the same Constitution NeverTrumpers have been advocating for in their think tanks and on their cruises?" . . .
. . . "NeverTrumpers have joined forces with the anti-American left and the Marxist BLM group all because they don’t like Trump’s style or his tweets.   Since President Trump did not purchase their services and won the election on his own with a handful of campaign staff rather than scores of ego-inflated GOP consultants, the Republican establishment is pouting and willing to throw their lifetime work and principles to the wind to teach the country a lesson."
Beyond the Bubble podcast: Never Trumpers turn on their own  . . . "Join McClatchy’s Alex Roarty, Francesca Chambers and David Catanese as they discuss why some anti-Trump Republican operatives are not only working against the president, but some GOP senators who are up for reelection this fall. Plus, we examine why even famed Republican pollster Frank Luntz is baffled by Trump’s recent 2020 campaign message." . . .



Roger Stone Fires Back at Mitt Romney: “You Are As Phony As Your Hair Color” "On Saturday, Roger Stone punched back at never-Trump Republican Senator Mitt Romney who blasted President Trump for commuting his prison sentence.
“ 'Mitt Romney is such a pathetic butt hurt loser. He can’t even get facts regarding my case correct,” Stone started.
“ 'I was prosecuted because I refused to lie about the President. Because I refused to bear false witness against him,” he continued. “Because I refused to say what prosecutors wanted me to say not because I was hiding any inappropriate act by the President. I would tell you go back to Utah but the people back there don’t want you either.
Mitt Romney, you are as phony as your hair color.”
"The comments from Stone came after Romney accused President Trump of “historic corruption.' ” . . .
RINO Mitt Romney Blasted After Falsely Claiming Trump’s Commutation of Roger Stone was “Unprecedented”  . . . "Romney was slammed for his false claim that the move by the president was “unprecedented” with some experts bringing up Iran-Contra.
"GWU Law Professor Jonathan Turley commented:
“Romney stated that it is ‘unprecedented’ that ‘an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.’ However, Romney has long heralded his respect and support of President George H.W. Bush despite Bush’s executive clemency actions for six former senior government officials implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal, including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Bush himself was implicated in that scandal and some alleged was protected by their silence.”