News of the Week for September 8th, 2024
- Election 2024
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Election 2024
House and Senate Republicans are starting to panic about a huge money gap with Democrats
GOP leaders on Capitol Hill are privately — and publicly — warning donors they need more money.
Trump making increasingly bizarre God claims while losing grip on Christian voters
Donald Trump has claimed God wants him to ‘straighten out America’ amid struggles with faith-and-values Christian voters.
Trump campaign ‘no longer thinks New Hampshire is winnable and is pulling back from state,’ leaked insider email claims
Trump volunteer Tom Mountain urged supporters to turn their attentions to Pennsylvania instead – because Trump is ‘sure to lose by an even higher margin’ in New Hampshire than he did in 2016 and 2020
Control of U.S. House may come down to six races in California
California is home to six bellwether U.S. House races that analysts say could help determine which party controls Congress in 2025.
Could Nebraska Cost Republicans the Senate?
Independent Dan Osborn’s strategy could give Democrats hope in hostile territory.
House and Senate Republicans are starting to panic about a huge money gap with Democrats
GOP leaders on Capitol Hill are privately — and publicly — warning donors they need more money.
Lara Trump, RNC Co-chair, Prepares for the Election with a New Music Video
When Donald Trump installed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as co-chair of the Republican National Committee, he assuredly picked the best person for the job. Her qualifications to run one of the two major American political parties are impeccable: She studied at the French Culinary Institute in New York, and her last name is Trump.
How Trump Created a Rift With, and Within, the Anti-Abortion Movement
“I feel like Satan is running his campaign,” said one anti-abortion advocate.
The Minnesota Progressive Who Worries Republicans More Than Walz
Peggy Flanagan has significantly influenced the Democratic vice presidential nominee’s political career
Harris campaign, DNC, announce unprecedented down-ballot spending
Harris and the DNC are shipping $20 million to committees supporting House and Senate candidates.
The Girl Scouts sued wife of North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson over nearly $3,000 in “money owed”–and won
According to public records obtained from Guilford County Court, the wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson was sued by Tarheel Triad Girl Scouts over “money owed” in Guilford County Small Claims Court in 2003–and the Girl Scouts won.
People Who Care about Winning Don’t Shoot the Messenger
Some of the louder voices within the online right are angry with our own Natan Ehrenreich for having noticed that Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is spending her time releasing music videos instead of focusing on her role as a co-chair of the Republican National Committee. On Twitter today, Dan Bongino complains that Natan’s assessment will (somehow) have deleterious consequences on the GOP’s chances in November. The end of this year, Bongino writes, will bring with it “the most critical election of our lifetime,” and yet, instead of taking his cues from “the real warriors” who “are trying to save the country,” Natan has had the temerity to criticize the RNC in public. By this infraction, Bongino concludes, Natan has confirmed his membership within “the useful idiocracy class.”
A Distinct Lack of Allred-Mania in Texas This Year
You’re forgiven if you’ve forgotten than Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz is running for reelection this year. Six years ago, the phenomenon of Beto-mania was in full swing, as former Democratic U.S. representative Beto O’Rourke raised more money for a Senate campaign than anyone ever had before, and the national media’s gushing and cheerleading was almost impossible to parody. (Almost.)
Is Anything Trump Does Ever Trump’s Fault?
Laura Ingraham is warming up the bus. She tweeted on Wednesday: “”The most deluded people in American politics are the folks at National Review and elsewhere who think that a win by Harris will give them more influence in the GOP.”
An 1872 election turned violent. It could be a lesson for 2024.
The Reconstruction era was one of the most consequential chapters of U.S. history. Between 1863 and 1877, the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments ended slavery, granted citizenship to everyone born or naturalized in the country, secured all people equal protection of the law, and expanded the franchise. Black educators and their allies also paved the way for public education in the South, and the Negro spiritual refashioned the cultural scene.
Could Texas’s Severe Abortion Regime Help Defeat Ted Cruz?
Texas, the second-largest state, has not elected a Democrat to any statewide office since 1994. No Democratic presidential candidate has carried it since 1976. But the state’s so large, important, and most recently diverse, that Democrats nationally as well as in the Lone Star State keep hoping against hope that the next cycle will take down Texas’s remarkably arrogant and extremist GOP a notch or two. And if Colin Allred wins his U.S. Senate race in November, becoming the first Democrat to do so since 1988, his party would be delighted. The loser in that scenario would be Ted Cruz, a man who often acts as though there’s nothing he can say or do that’s too much for Texas. Cruz is the poster boy for the GOP’s total surrender to Donald Trump, the man who managed to insult Cruz, his wife, and even his father en route to crushing him in the 2016 GOP presidential primary.
Judge Rejects RFK Jr.’s Attempt to Withdraw From Michigan Ballot
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher P. Yates: “Elections are not just games, and the Secretary of State (SOS) is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office.”
‘South Park’ to Return in 2025; Creators Are Skipping Election ‘on Purpose,’ Avoiding Trump Jokes and Also ‘Waiting for Paramount to Figure Their S— Out’
“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone revealed in a new interview with Vanity Fair that their long-running animated series will not return until 2025, which means “South Park” will be skipping the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The duo said the delay is somewhat “on purpose” because they no longer have an interest in lampooning Trump on the show, but Parker added that they’re also “waiting for Paramount to figure all their shit out.”
First ballots to go out in deadlocked White House race
The first ballots in the US election were slated to go out to voters Friday, two months ahead of what looks set to be a nail-biting finish in the race for the White House between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Is Vance still going to hang out with Tucker Carlson, even now?
Like Donald Trump, JD Vance seems dead set on going with his gut, heedless of the consequences.
J. D. Vance’s Smooth-Brain Political Messaging
Noah Rothman is, of course, correct that J. D. Vance’s decision — when told that Liz Cheney is endorsing Kamala Harris — to inject pure poison into our national political discourse by accusing Cheney of being willing to “kill thousands of children” and send “other people’s children off to fight and die for her military conflicts” so that she could “get rich when America’s sons and daughters go off to die” is loathsome and vile and the kind of left-wing fecal matter that was leveled at Republicans and Republican voters for years.
Kamala Harris’s Initials Might as Well Be TBD
On the menu today: Major mainstream-media institutions notice that Kamala Harris has answered fewer questions than any other major-party nominee in memory, and her campaign is answering “no comment” to basic questions about whether she still holds positions from her 2020 campaign. Meanwhile, J. D. Vance takes his message to all those undecided voters in the audiences of Charlie Kirk and Tucker Carlson. And Republicans will probably control the Senate in January, even while bobbling away Senate races that ought to at least be competitive.
J.D. Vance declines to criticize Tucker Carlson over his friendly conversation with Holocaust denier
But Vance’s spokesman tells JI that while he ‘doesn’t believe in guilt-by-association cancel culture,’ he doesn’t agree with the crank podcaster’s downplaying of Nazi atrocities
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
New Mexico starts building an abortion clinic to serve neighboring states, train medical students
Construction is getting underway on a state-funded reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico that will cater to local residents and people who travel from neighboring states such as Texas and Oklahoma with major restrictions on abortion, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday.
Gun Rights
Knife and Gun Control in Germany
In Germany in 2023 there were 13,844, “knife crime” incidents and last month a Syrian “soldier of the Islamic State” stabbed three people to death and wounded eight others at a “Diversity Festival” in Solingen. That got the attention of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who seeks to reduce the length of knives people are allowed to carry from 4.7 inches to 2.4 inches. Chancellor Scholz may be unaware that Theodoric the Great was ahead of the curve on knife control.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Agency Approves First Generation IV Nuclear Reactor
Construction has started on the new facility in iconic Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The Texas Billionaire Who Has Greenpeace USA on the Verge of Bankruptcy
Energy Transfer’s Kelcy Warren, a hypercompetitive mogul, is behind a lawsuit that could deal environmentalists a grievous blow
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
‘Nonmedical’ Assisted Suicide This Way Comes
Certain strains of the euthanasia-advocacy movement believe doctors don’t need to be involved when someone wants to die. For example, the fanatics of Final Exit Network have taught people how to kill themselves, with a couple convicted of assisting via helium.
War & Terror
‘Dark’ tanker crash exposes dangers of China’s thirst for cheap oil
A crude oil tanker traveling from Iran made a delivery to the Chinese port city of Ningbo two months ago before heading back toward the Middle East. The Ceres I had made this round trip several times in the past year, according to ship tracking data. But it didn’t complete this voyage.
F-22, F-35, B-2 Bomber’s Sensitive Data Leaked To China, Russia & Iran; US State Department Fines RTX Corp
The US State Department concluded a $200 million settlement with defense contractor RTX over charges related to mishandling military secrets, including sensitive data about the advanced F-22 and F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets and the B-2 Spirit bomber.
Bypassing airport security via SQL injection
Like many, Sam Curry and I spend a lot of time waiting in airport security lines. If you do this enough, you might sometimes see a special lane at airport security called Known Crewmember (KCM). KCM is a TSA program that allows pilots and flight attendants to bypass security screening, even when flying on domestic personal trips.
Ukraine Allies Expect Iran to Ship Missiles to Russia Imminently
Deliveries would mark a worrying development, people say. US, NATO have repeatedly warned Tehran against shipments.
‘Why Did They Only Send Conscripts to Defend the Border?’
Russian POWs express frustration, relief after being captured during Ukraine’s Kursk offensive.
China’s Campaign to Infiltrate America Is Worse Than You Thought
You know whom I want to win the 2024 elections? American elected officials who work for Americans, not Xi Jinping. Apparently, they’re rarer than you would expect.
DOJ Indicts Russian Propagandists for Allegedly Orchestrating Election-Interference Campaign
The Justice Department is cracking down on suspected Russian attempts to interfere with the 2024 U.S. presidential election through online propaganda, announcing Wednesday the indictment of two Russia-based employees of RT, a Kremlin-backed propaganda outlet, on charges of money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Media start-up from Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, and Dave Rubin was secret Russian influence campaign, indictment alleges
Famous pro-Trump commentators may have been unwittingly duped.
Ukraine’s wild fire-breathing drones have started popping up all around the front lines, videos show
Ukrainian forces appear to be increasingly using drones to rain a fire-like substance down on Russian troop positions in the tree lines, newly released combat footage shows.
NSA document reveals Russians had microwave weapon suspected in attacks
Russia’s government since the 1990s has had the type of microwave weapons that are suspected in the covert attacks on U.S. intelligence officials and diplomats that have caused what has come to be known as “Havana syndrome.”
Chinese lab linked to Covid leak may have also released ANOTHER deadly virus, new research claims
The Chinese lab that the FBI believes likely leaked Covid-19 may have also released a ‘highly evolved’ strain of polio in 2014.
Phase Zero of the Coming War
The world today is more fractured and unstable than at any time since the end of the Cold War, and by all indications we are heading for a period of protracted systemic instability, with Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific increasingly at risk of descending into a wider general war. The war in Ukraine is in its third year since Russia’s second invasion, and the war in the Middle East threatens to escalate into a major regional conflict between Israel and Iran. China and Russia are arming at speed and scale, while the United States and its European allies continue to lag when it comes to defense spending and defense production. Russia and China are de facto allies, having openly declared a “no-limits” partnerships that forms the core of the new “Axis of Dictatorships,” aided and supported by Iran and North Korea. China, which has surpassed the United States as the manufacturing powerhouse, continues to bid for regional hegemony in the Indo-Pacific as it works to unravel the power balance in Asia. For its part, Russia continues to pursue its revisionist course in an attempt to re-litigate the post-Cold War settlement and re-establish its empire in Eastern Europe. At the same time, the United States is politically split, threatened both from within and without. And while NATO maintains its political support for Ukraine, Europe remains divided when it comes to appetite for risk-taking, with countries further away from the eastern flank reluctant to spend the money to rearm.
2 San Diego CBP agents accused of working with cartel, allowing drugs through inspection lanes
Before their arrests earlier this year, two U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers appeared to be living large, according to prosecutors. One had dropped thousands of dollars on luxury items from Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry, owned a stake in a horse racing stable and was building a large home on a Mexican ranch; the other had taken multiple European vacations and was about to attend a pricey boxing match in Las Vegas.
H. R. McMaster on Why the Trump Administration Was ‘At War with Ourselves’
General (ret.) H. R. McMaster, the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, returns to Uncommon Knowledge to discuss his latest book, At War with Ourselves, in which he candidly recounts his experiences as former national-security adviser to President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2018.
Evangelical Leader Warns Trump in ‘Grave Danger’ With Christian Voters
Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler, a long-standing figure in conservative Christian politics, has raised concerns that former President Donald Trump’s recent positions on issues like abortion and in vitro fertilization (IVF) could weaken his support among evangelicals.
Ukraine Is Leading the Charge on Electronic Warfare. America Needs to Follow Suit
I live not far from the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va. The Marines, on occasion, like to have fun and pop off their artillery. This is to the delight of the officer trainees there but much to the detriment of my neighbors, who do not appreciate the soothing melodies of freedom perhaps as much as they should.
Chinese, Russian Ships Sail Near Japan; Tokyo Protests Chinese Incursion into Territorial Waters
Japanese forces tracked Russian Navy and People’s Army Liberation Navy ships conducting separate movements on this week, while Tokyo has protested the intrusion of a Chinese survey ship into Japanese territorial waters.
Iran sends more than 200 ballistic missiles to Russia
Tehran’s support for Moscow’s war escalates with shipment of weapons that could be used to target several cities in Ukraine
Putin: Meh, Kursk Wasn’t That Important Anyway
Russian President Vladimir Putin ruffled some feathers inside his own country this weekend when he appeared to dismiss the recent Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk Oblast inside of Russia as having had “no effect” on the overall war. He insisted that the primary objective of the war had been to retake and fortify annexed lands, primarily in the eastern Donbas region, and that Ukraine’s actions in Kursk had actually hastened Russia’s success there. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top military commander was marched out to counter those claims, saying that the invasion of Kursk was “working” and that Russia had made no new advances in the eastern oblasts. All of this is part of a public relations campaign more than any of the actual battles taking place, but it demonstrates that the situation in Ukraine remains complicated and there still doesn’t appear to be any path toward a negotiated peace agreement on the table.
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González granted political asylum in Spain
González is considered by many to have defeated strongman Nicolás Maduro in July’s election
National
Indiana Secretary of State issues cease-and-desist order against BlackRock’
Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales (R) announced his office issued a cease-and-desist order Aug. 22 against BlackRock, arguing the asset manager misled investors and used non-ESG funds to promote ESG goals.
How “personhood credentials” could help prove you’re a human online
A system proposed by researchers from MIT, OpenAI, Microsoft and others could curb the use of deceptive AI by exploiting the technology’s weaknesses
School Can Keep Student’s Transgender Status Secret From Parents, NH Supreme Court Rules
Court: The mother failed to demonstrate that the school policy infringed a fundamental parenting right under the NH state constitution.
Tucker Carlson Starstruck By Historian Who Calls Churchill, Not Hitler, the ‘Chief Villain’ of WW2 and Casts Holocaust as Accident
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson fawned over Darryl Cooper, whom he described as “the best and most honest popular historian in the United States,” during a recent interview in which Cooper identified Winston Churchill as the “chief villain” of World War Two and appeared to argue that the Holocaust was an accident.
Nevada regent facing criticism after posting controversial tweet
A member of the Nevada Board of Regents has come under fire for a tweet using racial tropes to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris.
Tennessee Shooter’s Manifesto Reveals Hatred Towards Whites, Christianity
The obvious motive didn’t fit the narrative so it’s no wonder this story has been swept under the rug.
Northern Kentucky University closes down DEI office amid nationwide anti-DEI campaign
‘The circumstances under which universities across the commonwealth and the country find themselves, coupled with the legislative priorities of state leaders for the upcoming session, require universities to change,’ NKU’s president wrote.
Controversial Artificial Intelligence Safety Bill Passes California Legislature
Tech companies developing generative AI say the measure could drive AI companies from the state and hinder innovation.
Joe Biden Promises to Leave Politics Forever, Becomes More Popular
Joe Biden is enjoying a renaissance — at least according to Joe Biden’s remaining loyalists.
California’s “Black-Serving Institution” Designation Is Neither Excellent Nor Fair
Further racial grifting will not spur academic excellence.
U.S. and Europe Issue Warnings Over Imported Cases of ‘Sloth Fever’
The reason for the increase in concern is that the illnesses associated with infection have gotten more severe, and cases are being seen in an even wider range geographically.
New School course poses ‘(eco)feminism’ and ‘(eco)Marxism’ as ‘viable alternatives’ to capitalism
A “feminist and decolonial political economist” is teaching the class.
ASU hosts event touting polyamory with ‘lived experience experts’
Arizona State University recently hosted a group discussion event on polyamory as part of its Project Humanities initiative, featuring people with experience in the practice of having multiple romantic or sexual partners.
More of Tennessee Trans Shooter’s Manifesto Released
It’s been the better part of a year and a half since transgender mass murderer Audrey Hale killed three children and three adults in cold blood at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. Almost immediately, we learned that the killer had left behind a “manifesto” (because you apparently can’t be a real mass shooter without a manifesto these days) along with other personal papers and effects. Dribs and drabs of the documents eventually made their way into the public sphere, but multiple people, including the families of some of the victims, were fighting tooth and claw to keep the documents sealed up. Now, however, the Tennessee Star has released a 90-page collection of some of Hale’s writings, including drawings and commentary not previously seen. It’s not everything, but it’s a good start. There is still a lot of potentially crucial foresnic information missing, but this collection does offer a revelatory look into the workings of a twisted, hateful mind.
I read the full Nashville Shooter manifesto. Audrey Hale was an autistic lesbian who convinced herself she was trans.
The full manifesto of the Nashville shooter Audrey Hale was released today. I read it so you don’t have to.
Politico Writes Hit Piece on Moms for Liberty for Exposing Education Deep State Grift
The progressive education industrial complex is largely responsible for the abysmal state of public educatio
Water buffalo escapes slaughter, evades police, becomes local celebrity
A water buffalo who escaped as his owner tried to slaughter him became a folk hero-type figure in Iowa last week as the animal — who was also shot by police — was on the run for days.
Robin DiAngelo Exposed
Robin DiAngelo is the author of White Fragility, a book purporting to show that white people (but of course not her) can’t confront their innate racism and therefore hide from confronting it. Fortunately, bold visionaries like DiAngelo can see the truth and lead us out of our terrible ways if only we will listen — and buy her book.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett describes coming home with bulletproof vest
Asked Friday about the challenges of being a Supreme Court justice and a parent of seven children, Amy Coney Barrett told an audience about a time she was sent home from the court with a bulletproof vest and her 13-year-old son saw it tossed on a bed.
Boeing Starliner capsule lands back on Earth, without astronauts, to end troubled test flight
Starliner has finally come home, more than three months after it launched on a planned 10-day mission.
Social networks can’t be forced to filter content for kids, says judge
The Texas SCOPE Act requires large social networks to keep ‘harmful’ content away from minors.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Pizza wiretapping, free books, and a search during childbirth.
Economy & Taxes
What Americans Can Learn From Venezuela’s Crackdown on ‘Price Gougers’
Things are rarely so bad that decisive action by government officials can’t make things worse.
Big Labor Bullies
In the September 8, 1956, issue of National Review, we said, “For many years, the great bullies in America have been the big, tough, cocky labor unions; yet those who cry out against their excesses are yawned away, dismissed as cranks, pests.” Since then, more Americans have come to see things our way, leaving organized labor behind. But that doesn’t mean the unions have changed.
Basic Economics Is for Losers
When it comes to the scourge of “price-gouging,” Kamala Harris is on an island. Save the usual suspects such as Paul Krugman — who defended the vice president’s price-fixing scheme by insisting that it’s not really a price-fixing scheme — or professors James Galbraith and Isabella Weber — who argue that anti-price-gouging measures are necessary because firms in the sectors the vice president is targeting have (in the distant past) engaged in anticompetitive practices — it’s hard to find an economist on Harris’s side.
Understanding the Unseen
Economics is about the unseen, in Frederic Bastiat’s famous framing. The unseen includes concepts such as opportunity cost and unintended consequences, and that’s the dimension in which economics adds value.
How Rent Controls Are Deepening the Dutch Housing Crisis
A law designed to make homes more affordable ended up aggravating an apartment shortage.
PlayStation shuts down ‘Concord’ two weeks after launch
Holy mackerel.
Russian banks say they’ve run out of yuan as Chinese firms pull away from the nation
Russia’s yuan reserves are nearly depleted due to Chinese banks’ fear of US sanctions. Lenders have urged Russia’s central bank to address the yuan deficit, causing the ruble to drop. China’s hesitance stems from US threats of secondary sanctions over Russia’s Ukraine war financing.
International
US seizes Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro’s airplane in the Dominican Republic
The United States has seized Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro’s airplane after determining that its acquisition was in violation of US sanctions, among other criminal issues. The US flew the aircraft to Florida on Monday, according to two US officials.
Ontario school hid girl’s transition, called CAS on parents questioning trans identity
Their daughter eventually detransitioned. Now, her family is raising the alarm about the power schools have to keep parents in the dark
Germany: A Deepening Crisis
Germany’s AfD, once a conservative, economically liberal “professors’ party,” known for its doubts about German participation in the euro, has, over the years, evolved, particularly in the former East Germany, into a party that genuinely merits that much-abused label of “far right.” There are many reasons for its transformation, not least its opposition to the lax immigration policies pursued by Germany’s establishment including, above all, Angela Merkel’s reckless and self-indulgent decision to throw open Germany’s doors in 2015. The AfD’s ascent is another part of Merkel’s legacy.
Maduro Orders Arrest of Rival to Quell Venezuela Dissent
Venezuela ordered the arrest of presidential candidate Edmundo González, an escalation of the government’s crackdown on dissent in the wake of a disputed election.
Nicolás Maduro decrees ‘advancement of Christmas to October 1’ after González Urrutia arrest warrant
The Chavista leader took advantage of his television program to announce a change in the festive calendar. ‘It is September and it already smells like Christmas’
Like Brazil, the European Union also has an X problem
Elon Musk’s woes are hardly limited to Brazil as he now risks possible EU sanctions in the coming months for allegedly breaking new content rules.
Why everyone is suddenly worried about Mexico’s democracy
The lower house of Mexico’s Congress approved a radical reform of the judicial system on Wednesday — a constitutional amendment that has raised alarms in Washington and in the business community.
Nicaraguan dictatorship wages war against nuns, cancels legal status and seizes bank accounts and property
Priests and monks are not the only targets in Dictator Daniel Ortega’s war on the Catholic Church. Nuns, too, are facing persecution, although their plight has not received as much attention from news media as that of the male clerics. Some nuns have had no choice but to reluctantly leave the country, such as the Missionaries of Charity in the photo above, but others are pledging to stay despite the severe hardships they face. Read the story below for the gruesome details.
Crack pipe vending machines and home delivery do not reduce harm
B.C. NDP dangerously reckless when it comes to drug policy
Hereditary peers to be removed from House of Lords next summer
Ministers say ‘accident of birth’ should not give people the right to make laws
Jamie Sarkonak: Poilievre should fix Senate with the most unapologetic conservatives he can find
If your opponent is fast-tracking vocal allies to the upper house of Parliament, you should prepare to do the same
Opinion
What Is Democracy For, Anyway?
Our system of government is designed, not to stop the majority, but just to slow it down so it has time to think things through.
Forget DEI—Fire the Admissions Office
There has been some salutary progress in recent months shutting down the divisive “diversity, equity, and inclusion” rackets on college campuses in many red states, but after the job of ridding us of the scourge of DEI attention needs to be turned to admissions offices. Thesis: Most admissions offices should be purged wholesale. Not only are most of them likely still violating civil rights law in the aftermath of the Harvard/UNC Supreme Court ruling, but they bear a large share of the responsibility for the campus climate of hate against Jews we are currently witnessing on a mass scale. Admissions officers actually seek out these horrible students.
The Constitution’s Enemies Swing and Miss Again
The New York Times is at it again. Book critic Jennifer Szalai published a long essay with the inflammatory title and subhead of “The Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous? One of the biggest threats to America’s politics might be the country’s founding document.” It’s the usual collection of gripes about the functioning of the Electoral College and the Senate, of the sort that feature regularly in Democratic and media tantrums when they don’t get their way; willful misunderstandings of the motivations and methods of originalism; and arguments that the Constitution is hopelessly tainted by slavery — arguments that rest on a fair amount of mythologizing about how we got the Electoral College. Yuval Levin’s pro-Constitution argument in American Covenant is given halfway-respectful treatment, but Szalai makes some key mistakes, such as taking as a critique of originalism his entirely reasonable point that legal originalism in the courts isn’t enough by itself to make our constitutional system work if the political branches don’t also do their jobs.
Tucker Carlson Is Lying to You
But hey—you might just like it!
Restore the Science Section
In making its science test optional, ACT has bowed to a pernicious trend.
What’s in It for Them?
One of the (very few) blessings of an age in which the edgiest fringes of the right-wing media ecosystem define themselves in opposition to the staid establishmentarian consensus is that it allows proponents of that staid establishmentarian consensus to recycle all the arguments they once deployed against the Left. Take Winston Churchill, for example.
The Tucker op
I want to draw attention to Park MacDougald’s take on what he calls “The Tucker Op” in his daily column at Tablet’s The Scroll. He takes account of more weirdness in the Carlson/Cooper hoedown than I did — e.g., Churchill’s alleged installation as prime minister by shadowy “financiers,” the likening of Israelis to the Nazis (“So, the Nazis were misunderstood, but also the Israelis are a bit like the Nazis. Does that mean the Israelis aren’t so bad? We’ll have to get back to you on that one”)
We Need to Talk about Tucker, Again
I thought I was done with Tucker Carlson after he got fired from Fox News because of his role in encouraging the “stolen/flipped votes” hoax after the November 2020 election, a cynical gambit that helped pave the way to both January 6 and a $787 million settlement bill for the cable network in its defamation-suit payout to Dominion Voting Systems. (Having labelled the man both a “merchant of lies” and a “betrayer of trust,” further commentary felt superfluous.) I was wrong.
Against Progressives
Post-modernism is a weird place to be. There is no real truth anymore, only narrative. Each person can have their own truth and who are we to judge? Exceptions are now the rule so the sky cannot be blue because some colorblind person does not see it that way so none of us are allowed to declare it blue. It is oppressive and maddening.
Pseudo-Scholars and the Rise of the Barbarian Right
Odious views like the Nazi apologia aired by a guest on Tucker Carlson’s podcast this week threaten to make their way from the fringe to the mainstream.
America’s Useful Idiots of Hostile Regimes
On the menu today: Yesterday’s Morning Jolt was about the Chinese government’s efforts to physically assault its critics on U.S. soil, and its surreptitious efforts to influence the U.S. government by bribing state officials. (The trolls on X who are big fans of the Chinese government have discovered the piece, and contend I’m hiding the sinister influence of the Jews.) Today’s newsletter is about how, as our Noah Rothman observes, all hostile states — including both Iran and Russia — are attempting to influence the U.S. political system and Americans’ decision-making.
Message Received
There is a simple but easily forgettable aphorism in politics that prescribes humbly asking for voters’ support rather than merely expecting it. That seems straightforward, but it’s easily forgotten by candidates who succumb to the temptations toward pomposity that accompany efforts to persuade voters of their strength and self-assuredness. The inverse also applies. Voters who are consistently told that they are not wanted tend to take the hint.
Jamie Sarkonak: Poilievre should fix Senate with the most unapologetic conservatives he can find
If your opponent is fast-tracking vocal allies to the upper house of Parliament, you should prepare to do the same
Vance on Tucker
According to Tucker Carlson, Darryl Cooper “may be the best and most honest popular historian in the United States. His latest project is the most forbidden of all: trying to understand World War Two.” Carlson added: “I want people to know who you are and I want you to be widely recognized as the most important historian in the United States.”
No, Churchill Was Not the Villain
The historian Darryl Cooper has argued in an interview on Tucker Carlson’s show that Winston Churchill “was the chief villain of World War II,” which would be both interesting and indeed shocking were his thesis not based on such staggering ignorance and disregard for historical fact that it is safe to disregard completely.
The Problem with Government Is Bigger Than Inefficiency
Yesterday, we heard that Donald Trump “vowed to establish a task force to review federal expenditures, an idea recommended by Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk. Trump said the commission would be ‘tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms.'”
The case of Tucker Carlson
In his 2019 review/essay on Tucker Carlson in the Claremont Review of Books, Michael Anton reasonably assessed: “Tucker Carlson has become the de facto leader of the conservative movement—assuming any such thing can still be said to exist. He didn’t seek the position. I doubt he wants it. He’d probably disclaim it, in fact. But the mantle settled on him nonetheless…” Perhaps without his show on Fox News, which Anton cites, Carlson is no longer the leader, but I think it would be a mistake to ignore his journey down the path of Charles Lindbergh (to put it charitably).
Learning an important, and unintended, lesson from Hillbilly Elegy
Vance was praised for his candor and for calling attention to the impoverished region. He was criticized for overstating his connection to the “hillbillies” and for reducing Appalachia’s complex socioeconomic woes into a morality tale that fit his political ends. The book sold millions of copies and was the basis for the 2020 movie directed by Ron Howard.
