Current Events Write-Up: Conservative Diversity on Human Depravity, Roberts Abortion Decision, Trump’s One-Sided China Trade Deal, Revolt, The Right to Bear Cannons, Environmentalist Infighting, Korea

The American Conservative: “Why Conservative Fusionism Was Destined to Disintegrate,” by Tony Woodlief.

This takes off from Tucker Carlson’s controversial comment that people are not born evil. Conservative Christians will disagree! Yet, Tucker is a renowned conservative. This part is noteworthy: “For the individualists, be they libertarians, free-market globalization advocates, or just Creaster Republicans with business degrees, man is essentially pretty good, and will add all kinds of value to the GDP if government will only get out of his way. Cut taxes and regulation, keep oil prices low, and maybe even consider reducing our debt, and the country will do just fine.

“To the neocons and their establishment DC heirs, man is as good or bad as his ideas. The Russkies got Marx, we got Madison, and therein lies all the difference. Use diplomacy or a smart bomb or a few thousand expendable young Marines to depose a guy clutching The Communist Manifesto, replace him with a guy who has The Federalist Papers stuffed into his back pocket, and that’s how you illuminate a darkened world one freedom beacon at a time.

“To the traditionalists, meanwhile, if man is not born evil then he certainly comes out of the womb bent in that direction. His worst impulses must therefore be restrained, his virtue cultivated. What’s more, because original sin implies the existence of God, the aims society ought pursue, as Eric Voegelin argued, extend before the cradle and past the grave.”

The Daily Signal: “With Highly Questionable Legal Reasoning, Roberts Gives Liberals a Win on Abortion,” by Amy Swearer.

“At its core, June Medical Services v. Russo was not a challenge to Roe v. Wade or a woman’s ‘right’ to an abortion. The Louisiana law at issue neither outlawed abortion, nor imposed additional requirements directly on women seeking an abortion. Instead, Louisiana passed a law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital so that, if something went wrong requiring that the woman be hospitalized, the doctor could accompany her and treat here there. The law was passed to protect the health and safety of women seeking abortions by acting as a quality-control measure for abortion clinics. That was not without good reason: The state’s abortion clinics have a long and well-documented history of hiring unqualified doctors who provided substandard care to patients. The requirement of hospital admitting privileges is common for physicians who conduct surgical procedures elsewhere, and the process of obtaining such privileges provides additional oversight for those clinics.”

The Dispatch: “Trump’s China Trade Deal Was Designed to Fail,” by Scott Linicome.

This makes me think more highly of Trump! “In terms of substantive commitments, the Phase One agreement was very one-sided: China committed to purchase fixed amounts of U.S. goods and services and to abide by various rules on agriculture, currency, financial services, and intellectual property rights protection, while the United States committed to almost nothing—not even the limited reduction in the U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports that supposedly achieved the agreement.”

Unherd: “Why the Rich Are Revolting,” by Ed West.

The subtitle is: “The Great Awokening and the 2020 protests are the product of growing radicalisation among the upper-middle-class.” The article, in my opinion, is rather contradictory: Are these rich kids with time on their hands, or are they educated people in desperate search for a job and looking for a career in wokeness? This quote from Chesterton is classic, brilliant, and timely: “You’ve got that eternal idiotic idea that if anarchy came it would come from the poor. Why should it? The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists: they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn’t; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all. Aristocrats were always anarchists.”

The American Conservative: “Hillary Was Right About BLM,” by Gregor Baszac.


Hillary to BLM activists in 2016: “You’re gonna have to come together as a movement and say, here’s what we want done about it. Because you can get lip service from as many white people as you can pack into Yankee Stadium and a million more like it who are gonna say: Oh, we get it, we get it, we’re gonna be nicer. That’s not enough. At least, that’s not how I see politics. So the consciousness raising, the advocacy, the passion, the youth of your movement is so critical, but now all I’m suggesting is, even for us sinners, find some common ground on agendas that can make a difference right here and now in people’s lives…But at the end of the day, we can do a whole lot to change some hearts and change some systems and create more opportunities for people who deserve to have them to live up to their own god-given potential, to live safely, without fear of violence in their own communities, to have a decent school, to have a decent house, to have a decent future. So, we can do it one of many ways: You can keep the movement going, which you have started, and through it, you may actually change some hearts. But if that’s all that happens, we’ll be back here in ten years having the same conversation.”

The Daily Signal: “Remembering Frederick Douglass’ Great Fourth of July Speech in Context,” by Dean Nelson.

Douglass not only was lambasting white Americans who celebrated the Fourth of July while enslaving African-Americans. He was also criticizing the abolitionists who wanted to scrap the Constitution altogether. The article would have been better had it addressed the parts of the Constitution that tolerate or even support slavery: the three-fifths compromise and the Fugitive Slave Clause in Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3.

Ammo: “Bowling Alone: How Washington Has Helped Destroy American Civil Society and Family Life,” by Sam Jacobs.

This site’s outreach manager recommended this article to me. I enjoyed it and other articles on the site. Communitarianism troubles me, as a person with Asperger’s. Still, I can understand why conservatives would embrace it. These two passages from the article stood out to me: “Another place where this can be seen is the destruction of the black middle class. A frequently untold story of American life is that by the 1950s, the United States actually had a thriving black middle class. Black business ownership peaked during the years between the end of the Second World War and the Great Society. Every city with any significant black population hosted a black business district where a primarily black clientele spent their money within their own community. Black home ownership was likewise high at this point. This is all very much a thing of the past…There is another, highly unlikely and ironic, culprit behind the decimation of black business and the black community – integration. This is a position championed by Clay Middleton of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Basically, under segregation, black consumers were limited in their choices of business. They could not, in many cases, go to (for example) white hamburger joints. Instead, they had to patronize the equivalent business for black customers. In many cases, these businesses were owned and operated by fellow black Americans. Black hotels are another example of this phenomenon. The point is not that Southern states should reintroduce segregation to prop up black businesses, but simply to give a broader and more complete picture of how and why black business districts have disappeared. It also offers some insight into the destruction of small business in America in general.”

And: “What did people do before the advent of social welfare programs? This is a question that even few libertarians can answer without stammering something about private charity. And indeed, private charity did play a role in meeting social needs for the less fortunate. However, there is a hidden story in how communities met social needs prior to the advent of the welfare state. Mutual aid in the 21st century is largely a nonprofit form of insurance, particularly life insurance – a sort of analog to the credit union. However, in earlier days they oversaw a number of social welfare programs.”

Bearing Arms: “Joe Biden’s Cannon Claim Shows He’s Wrong On History And Gun Control,” by Cam Edwards.

Biden says that the Second Amendment does not grant an unlimited right to bear arms because people could not own a cannon in the 1700’s. Actually, they could: they were called privateers. Interesting observation, but where should we go with that? Should individuals be allowed to own nuclear weapons?

Quellette: “On Behalf Of Environmentalists, I Apologize For The Climate Scare,” by Michael Shellenberger; American Thinker: “A Winning Trifecta for Climate Science and Rationality,” by Charles Battig.

Michael Moore and environmentalist Michael Shellenberger take on other environmentalists. You think that solar is better for the environment? Think again. The Shellenberger article also challenges other myths. His book probably offers more documentation for his claims.

Responsible Statecraft: “Don’t Tie Peace on the Korean Peninsula to Denuclearization in the North,” by Dan DePetris.

Why North Korea wants to nuclearize, and how the U.S. is standing in the way of peace between North and South.

Global Research: “War Crimes: US Destruction of North Korea Must Not be Forgotten,” by Brett Wilkins.

A revisionist perspective on the Korean War that is critical of the U.S. and sympathetic towards North Korea.

Current Events Write-Up: Ann Coulter on Confederate Monuments, a Third Way on Religious and LGBT Rights, Waco Regrets

A brief current events write up:

Ann Coulter: “Yale Has to Go!”

Ann Coulter defends keeping up Confederate monuments: “America concluded its civil war by dominating and subjugating the losers, but also honoring their bravery…At Appomattox, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant allowed Gen. Robert E. Lee to keep his sword. As Lee mounted his horse to leave, Grant saluted him. After announcing the South’s surrender at the White House, President Lincoln ordered the band to play ‘Dixie.’ It was an amazing way to end a civil war.”

SCOTUS Blog: “Symposium: LGBT Rights and Religious Freedom—Finding a Better Way,” by Alexander Dushku and R. Shawn Gunnarson.

“Congress should clarify that federal law protects both LGBT equality and religious freedom. In contrast with the Equality Act, the Fairness for All Act, H. R. 5331, 116th Cong., 1st Sess. (2019), offers a balanced approach respectful of our pluralistic society. It would confirm Bostock’s holding that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is unlawful while also securing meaningful protections for churches, religious schools and other religious organizations. This legislation, the product of years of delicate negotiations between LGBT rights groups and major religious organizations, offers the promise of LGBT rights plus religious freedom—not a false choice between them.”

“Righting Waco: Confessions of a Hollywood Propagandist,” by Phil Penningroth.

I recently watched the Waco miniseries. It depicted Koresh as charismatic, approachable, and compassionate. I recalled a 1993 movie about Waco starring Tim Daly as Koresh. Koresh, there, was depicted as a deranged, harsh fanatic. This article is by the writer of the 1993 movie. He expresses regret and laments that he was swallowing what the government was saying at the time.

Current Events Write-Up: Deficit Non-Disaster; Unafraid Phyllis; Norma McCorvey; Trump’s New Press Secretary

Mises Institute: “The Federal Deficit Is Setting New Records as Spending Explodes,” by Ryan McMaken.

Why has the U.S. Government been able to go into the red year after year, without the occurrence of the perils that are usually associated with deficit spending (i.e., high interest rates, cuts in federal spending to pay down the national debt, etc.)? McMaken explains: “So far, the US has avoided this fate.  This is in part due to the fact the world still views US bonds (for now) as a relatively risk free investment compared to bonds from other countries. After all, for as much as the US is engaging in deficit spending, much of the rest of the world is acting similarly, so US debt ends up looking relatively good. Another reason the US avoids its day of reckoning on debt is the fact the US dollar itself is still in demand as a global world currency. Foreigners still want dollars, and that makes it easier for the US’s central bank to buy up US government debt in order to keep interest rates low — and thus government debt payments.. The central bank creates new money to do this, but this can only be sustained because so many foreigners want US dollars which helps keep US domestic price inflation low. In fact, demand for both US dollars and debt is so high at the moment, there is a ‘dollar shortage.'”

FACT CHECK: Was Phyllis Schlafly Scared To Debate Bella Abzug?

I have been enjoying this Eagle Forum series responding to the FX/Hulu miniseries Mrs. America, though it has also made me upset at the miniseries. Why would the miniseries depict Phyllis as afraid to debate Bella Abzug? Bella was no dolt, but she was not more superb at debating as anyone else Phyllis debated.

LifeNews: “Pro-Abortion Documentary ‘AKA Jane Roe’ Falsely Claims Norma McCorvey Wasn’t Truly Pro-Life,” by Steven Ertelt.

This article does not refute the main arguments for McCorvey’s retraction: a former Operation Rescue official admitted to paying McCorvey to claim to be pro-life, and McCorvey admitting to that on camera. But it does raise important considerations. McCorvey was still saying pro-life things shortly before her death.

CBN: “Kayleigh McEnany’s Emotional Tribute to Ravi Zacharias,” by David Brody.

Kayleigh McEnany is President Trump’s new White House Press Secretary. What interested me about this article was what it said about her. She is a devout Christian and attended Oxford University.

Current Events Write-Up: Solutions, Public Transit, Ahmaud Arbery, Safe Haven, Foreign Aid, Mrs. America

Here is a Current Events Write-Up:

Transcript of ABC This Week, May 17, 2020.

One of my Sunday rituals is to tape and watch ABC This Week. On weekdays, I now watch NBC News with Lester Holt, since he is not as over-the-top in his coverage of Trump as ABC News. But when it comes to Sunday news shows, I like the discussions on ABC This Week. Democrats usually get on my nerves, since they come across as smug self-righteous know-it-alls, and they make a mountain out of a molehill whenever Trump opens his mouth. Rahm Emanuel, though, had an intelligent comment: “And I think on the Democratic side, on messaging we look a little too — messaging — too much about resistance, about reopening, too much about reluctance about reopening, and we should go to a message of rebuilding America. If the president wants to talk about reopening, we want to talk about rebuilding America in the relief. Let’s take the unemployed. If you’re unemployed in the service sector, J.C. Penney, some of these others, those jobs aren’t coming back, so we’re going to give you a coupon, go become a computer coder in six months. We’ll pay for it. You don’t have to pay a penny out of your pocket, go become somebody in cybersecurity in six months and get the certificate. We, the country, will pay. So when when we reemerged out of this, we have rebuilt America. America never lost a challenge by investing in America and Americans. And that should become the Democratic mantra. It’s too much reopening, or reluctance and resistance. We have to go, you want reopening we want rebuilding. Rebuild our infrastructure right now. Rebuild the skills of America, that should be the tone which is affirmative.” How feasible this is, that is a good question, but Rahm does well here to focus on solutions and to transcend the debate between health and the economy. If the Democrats did more of this and less identity politics, virtue-signalling, and Trump derangement syndrome, I would be more eager to vote for them.

The Federalist: “How Public Transit Makes the Nation More Vulnerable to Disasters Like Covid-19,” by Randal O’Toole (Cato Institute).

On the one hand, libertarians make an important contribution to the public debate. They highlight where government hampers competition, makes resources less available, and privileges the already wealthy and powerful. On the other hand, it is articles like this that make me reluctant to vote Republican. This article essentially argues that we should get rid of public transit and everyone should drive a car instead. I cannot refute all of its points, but the fact is that I depend on public transit to get to work. Not everyone has a car.

New York Times: “Where Ahmaud Arbery Ran, Neighbors Cast Wary Eyes.”

First, I listened to the narrative that the people who shot Ahmaud were a couple of racist rednecks who shot Ahmaud in cold blood. Then, I listened to the narrative that Ahmaud had a criminal record, was casing a house-under-construction for a future robbery, and was violent and belligerent when the two men were calmly trying to detain him until the police arrived. This narrative said that Ahmaud visited the house a few times before. Then, I heard that the African-American who visited the house before may not have even been Ahmaud. This New York Times piece offers another explanation as to what Ahmaud may have been doing in that house: he was getting a drink of water, since the house had a water supply. The article also does not demonize the shooters but places what they did within the context of the burglaries and 9-1-1 calls that were occurring with frequency in their neighborhood.

Defense Priorities: “Debunking the Safe Haven Myth,” by Daniel L. Davis.

You know the argument that the U.S. should stay in Afghanistan because, otherwise, the terrorists will find safe haven there, and another 9/11 could then happen? This article disputes that. I am glad that I subscribed to this group’s updates, as it offers cogent and informative defenses of a generally non-interventionist foreign policy.

American Thinker: “The United Nations Is Failing the World When We Need It Most,” by Noah Phillips.

This article criticizes the UN for providing humanitarian assistance to Assad. This article is unlike what I normally read, which tends to defend Assad and to decry U.S. attempts to overthrow him. But it raises important considerations about foreign aid. Foreign aid is often criticized by conservatives because it sends money to oppressive regimes, which may decide not to use it for humanitarian purposes. This article raises the question of whether there are alternative ways to do foreign aid: to send it to localities, for example, rather than the national leader.

Right Now Podcast: “J.D. Vance, Mrs. America, and the Greenwich Republicans.”

This new podcast from the paleoconservative American Conservative, along with this review from the libertarian Reason magazine, makes me a little more open to watching the Mrs. America miniseries about Phyllis Schlafly. Granted, from what I have heard, there are still things that I hate about the miniseries. I hate the way it portrays the relationship between Fred and Phyllis as antagonistic, even going so far as to say that Fred raped her. I hate that it depicts Phyllis as ignorant about a court case in a debate, when she was on-the-ball in debates; meanwhile, some of her opponents had their share of gaffes. I hate that it presents Phyllis as, well, a bitch. And I hate that some in the mainstream media trot out these experts who say that the miniseries is accurate and dismiss those who say otherwise as merely Phyllis Schlafly’s family: I mean, what could her family possibly know about her? Moreover, the miniseries not only portrays Phyllis as a bitch but also her feminist opponents: Brenda Fasteau comes across as calmer in the real debate than her portrayal in the miniseries. But, according to these reviews, the miniseries, on some level, depicts both sides three-dimensionally: the depiction of the Schlafly-Fasteau debate sets the stage for Phyllis to go to law school, and the miniseries presents the leaders of both sides attempting to deal with the extremists in their own ranks. I wish, though, that it had more accurately portrayed Phyllis and Fred’s disagreement on whether she should go to law school: Fred, in reality, was initially upset, but he then encouraged Phyllis to do it. Someone on the podcast said that, if conservatives dislike Hulu/FXX’s portrayal of Schlafly, then they should create their own portrayal. Maybe, but I am skeptical. For one, I do not want a hagiography. Second, many of the actors who have talent are liberal.

Current Events Write-Up: Oil Wars; Pro-WHO and Anti-Taiwan Articles; Unfair Criticisms of Conservative Christians; Wisconsin Voter Suppression…by Democrats!

Some links:

The Last American Vagabond: “Driven by the Dramatic Collapse of US Shale, the Trump Administration Takes Aim at Venezuela,” by Whitney Webb.

Webb argues that the Trump Administration is trying to link Venezuela in the public mind with the illicit drug trade, as a way to take over Venezuela’s oil. A comparison is made with George H.W. Bush’s invasion of Panama. Bush did so on the pretense that Noriega was involved in drug-trafficking, even though Noriega trafficked drugs on behalf of the U.S., and America’s lackeys and puppets themselves were tied with narco-gangs. Largely unreported in the mainstream media, Bush’s invasion of Panama killed numerous Panamanian civilians. Webb believes that the invasion had an economic motivation: the Panama Canal was about to belong to Panama, and the U.S. sought to eliminate Panama’s military ability to safeguard it for itself. Webb also questions the narrative that the U.S. has finally arrived at a state of energy independence.

Unz: “The Russia-Saudi Oil-Price War Is a Fraud and a Farce,” by Mike Whitney.

According to Whitney, the Russia-Saudi oil war was not about the Saudis trying to attack Russia economically. Rather, the Saudis sought to undermine the U.S., and for good reason. The U.S. relies on the Saudis to keep up the price of oil, while refusing to reduce oil production itself. Essentially, the U.S. piggybacks and freeloads off of the Saudi inflation of the oil price. The Saudis responded by dramatically decreasing the price of oil through flooding the market.

World Affairs: “Did the World Health Organization (WHO) Drop the Ball on Coronavirus?”

This article argues “no.” I know, I have been posting anti-WHO links for a few weeks. Now that the anti-WHO narrative is gaining prominence, I want to post an alternative voice. Same with the next link:

Digital Empire: “New Cambridge Research Puts Taiwan and Hong Kong to Shame.”

“A new research paper by Peter Forster and Lucy Forster reveals that the Corona Virus was successfully mitigated by Chinese Authorities, subsequently sparing HK and Taiwan from disastrous fatalities…The Ministry of foreign affairs of Taiwan will never admit to hubris, but you only need to take one look at the research to understand that Wuhan’s strict lockdown was what prevented Strain B from spreading much faster and at greater magnitude.”

Federalist: “4 Times LGBT Media Turned Coronavirus Coverage into Attacks on Christians,” by Chad Felix Greene.

Greene fact-checks the web site LGBTQ Nation, but what Greene says is relevant to what a lot of liberals have said online. You know that pastor who died of coronavirus after holding a church service, and the gloating that occurred after that? The pastor was not defying social distancing. To quote Greene: “What they left out, detailed by local news CBS 6 News Richmond, is that the March 22 sermon, regularly aired on the news channel, occurred a day before the state of Virginia officially banned gatherings of 10 or more people. The church has held drive-in sermons since.” You know how liberals say that Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse refuses to treat gay people? Wrong! It refuses to hire people in same-sex unions because that violates its religious beliefs. Regarding who gets help, let’s quote Franklin Graham: “We don’t discriminate against anybody we help. We provide our services to everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation. We don’t discriminate. Period.”

Federalist: “What The MSM Won’t Tell You About Democrats’ Voter Suppression In The Wisconsin Election,” by Kylee Zempel.

We are hearing that the Republicans suppressed voting in Wisconsin. Zempel says it was the other way around. The Republicans were open to extending Election Day in light of the Coronavirus. The Democratic Governor was the one who delayed on this until the very last minute. In terms of how the Democrats suppressed voters, a conservative operative explains: “The early voting that went on in Madison and Milwaukee for a week and a half before any of the areas that typically vote more conservative — that is just a week and a half where liberal precincts get to turn out their voters in droves in their biggest strongholds. And then you get into the thick of the election itself, and you’ve got the voter ID stuff, and you’ve got the lawsuits, and … the shifting rules and the fighting over it and everything…And then you close it with the governor basically the day before the election doing nothing other than cause confusion and make it so that people in part of the state that haven’t had the chance to vote yet may think they can’t vote on election day — the people that disadvantages is conservatives because as is shown time and again election after election, conservatives turn out on Election Day.”

Current Events Write-Up: 4/15/20

Here is a Current Events Write-Up for today. There will be four categories of articles in this post. First, there will be right-wing articles. I have had to watch CNN and MSNBC in the lunchroom at work this week, and I have gotten tired of the one-sided anti-Trump rhetoric. I have had an appetite for reasonable right-wing analysis of current events. Second, there will be a specific category of right-wing article: ones critiquing the FX/Hulu Mrs. America hatchet-job about the late Phyllis Schlafly.  Third, there will be one left-wing article. Fourth, there will be articles I have been sitting on for a while but have not yet posted because the sites are controversial. Still, the articles make some valuable points. Not all of these articles are strictly about “current events,” for some are more historical.

Right-Wing Articles

Federalist: “Why Trump Is Right Not To Cede Power Over The Lockdowns,” by David Marcus.

“So why at this juncture would Trump concede that he has no authority over the lockdowns? Does he get any advantage from it? Do we even know that it’s true? This is completely uncharted territory. Who knows how interstate commerce plays into a state-by-state national lockdown? Trump can force companies to switch to making medical supplies, but he can’t tell dentists or restaurants to open? Are we sure? Do we have any basis upon which to know with certainty?

“It is entirely appropriate for the Trump administration to want some leverage here. The president has been clear day after day and week after week that he prefers the heavy lifting to be done by governors closest to the situation, with his help from Washington. But that is not inconsistent with maintaining a position that the executive branch has some cards to play. That it is not some powerless dispassionate observer.”

American Thinker: “Yes, Trump Can Open America,” by Frank Friday.

“Trump is also right on his authority to override the various governors and their public health orders. Under the Supremacy clause, federal law beats state laws, and boy, is the Defense Production Act a law. By the terms of 50 USC 55, Sect. 4533, there is a general power to ‘create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore domestic industrial base capabilities essential for the national defense…’  and by which ‘…the President may make provision — for the development of production capabilities.'”

Daily Caller: “Cuomo: ‘We Don’t Need Any Additional Ventilators,” by Mary Margaret Olohan.

I didn’t care for Governor Cuomo’s grandstanding.

Daily Signal: “The Left Is Calling for Mail-In Voting. Here’s Why It’s a Bad Idea.”

I live in a state that uses mail-in voting rather than polling sites, and I like that system. It bypasses the problem of people not being able to go to the polls because they have to work on Election Day. It also may be apropos amidst the Corona-virus pandemic, when people cannot gather at polling locations in large numbers. Still, this interview raises thoughtful considerations against the idea. First, there is the question of where the ballots will end up. Are some of them going to dead voters? Can voters be more easily intimidated outside of the voting booth? If political organizations can mail people’s ballots for them, is that not a conflict-of-interest, since they can dispense with ballots that do not fit their agenda? Second, the article argues that absentee ballots can address the problem of people needing to vote from home due to the Corona-virus. The article also discusses how a mail-in system could work well, provided there are safeguards. And it critiques early voting, since, were the results to be leaked, that could impact party strategy, the options before the voters, and how voters will vote.

Reason: “WHO Cares?”, by Brian Doherty.

This is actually a libertarian article and is from 2002, but it is relevant to the President’s recent call for the U.S. to defund WHO. According to this article, WHO initially had a decent track record in eradicating diseases, but it has shifted its focus towards First World concerns, socio-political engineering, and reinforcing its plush bureaucracy. It is also rife with cronyism.


Right-Wing Mrs. America Articles

Federalist: “Elites Hate Phyllis Schlafly Because She Defeated Them From Home With Six Kids In Tow,” by Colleen Holcomb.

“‘Mrs. America’ portrays Schlafly as the consummate victim, persecuted by her own conservative ideology and even by God, as she desperately inquires of her priest why God ‘put this fire in her’ to fight a political battle — as if it were wrong to do so. They show her belittled by the chauvinist men in the conservative movement, and oppressed, scolded, and even raped by her own husband.

“The characterization is intentionally false and would be laughable if it weren’t so patently offensive. Schlafly biographer Don Critchlow — who, in addition to interviewing Schlafly, her family, and associates, had full access to her archives, financial records, correspondence, and family letters — called the series’ depiction of Schlafly’s marriage, ‘So inaccurate, it’s absolutely shocking.’

“Producers never bothered to ask family members or any of the hundreds of living people who actually knew Schlafly about her real experiences, her true character, and her marriage. Instead of risking pushback by depicting any of Schlafly’s supporters who are still alive, producers went the cowardly route, choosing to create fictional characters bearing the names of only deceased ERA opponents.”

Federalist: “Phyllis Schlafly’s Daughter On Why ‘Mrs. America’ Gets Her Mother Wrong,” by Emily Jashinsky.

“Here’s one example of how that does a disservice to viewers. I asked Cori what it was like to see Blanchett play her mother in the trailers. ‘She has the hair, and the makeup, and the costuming correct,’ Cori said. ‘What she misses is the warmth in my mother’s eyes.’

“‘She plays her as a cold, calculating, power-hungry woman. My mother led a volunteer group of women, and I don’t think she could lead volunteer women unless she was warm and inspiring. And she was. She was encouraging, she got women to do things, and you can’t do it if you bark and order it around. You do it by building up leadership. And that’s what she did. She said, ‘Nobody is born a leader, leaders are made.’ And she made it her mission to make a multitude of leaders.'”

Left-Wing Article

The Nation: “No, Italy Is Not the Case Against Medicare for All,” by Vale Disamistade.

Subtitle: “The Americanization of Italian health care plays a part in the country’s disastrous coronavirus outbreak.” But the article also tries to argue that Italy’s response was more effective than is commonly thought.

Articles from Controversial Sites

National Justice: “Yes Rabbi, the Impossible Burger is a Conspiracy Against White Working People,” by Erik Striker.

“There is only an issue when technocratic ghouls begin pushing austerity through the back door by suggesting turning meat and dairy products into sin-taxxed luxury items in the name of fighting climate change.

“This is no conspiracy theory, it is documented in depth by Elaine Graham-Leigh in her 2015 book, A Diet of Austerity. Graham-Leigh, not a Nazi but a Marxist, meticulously documents why billionaires and neo-liberal think-tanks they fund would much rather place the blame for environmental degradation on ordinary people who have to drive to work and enjoy the simple pleasure of a hamburger instead of big business.

“Critics, in other words, believe the world’s robber barons are pouring billions into climate change think-tanks with the long-term goal of extracting more wealth upwards by lowering our living standards even further. The green figleaf is their cover.”

American Renaissance: “Brown v. Board: The Real Story,” by Jared Taylor.

Taylor talks about the back-door political machinations behind the decision, and the misleading usage of the “dolls” study. Particularly interesting is this:

“Today, even some of those who cheered the loudest for Brown have second thoughts. Derrick Bell is a black lawyer and former Harvard Law School professor. During the 1960s, he worked for the NAACP, trying to short circuit the legislative process, arguing dozens of school cases before dozens of judges. By 1976, he had concluded that integration was a false goal and that blacks should have instead petitioned for the ‘equal’ in the ‘separate but equal,’ established in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson. ‘Civil rights lawyers were misguided in requiring racial balance of each school’s student population as a measure of compliance and the guarantee of effective schooling,’ he wrote. ‘In short, while the rhetoric of integration promised much, court orders to ensure that black youngsters received the education they needed to progress would have achieved much more.’ This year, the 50th anniversary of Brown, Prof. Bell put the case even more bluntly. ‘From the standpoint of education,” he says, “we would have been better served had the court in Brown rejected the petitioners’ arguments to overrule Plessy v. Ferguson.'”

Mintpress: “How a Hidden Parliamentary Session Revealed Trump’s True Motives in Iraq,” by Whitney Webb.

Essentially: the Trump Administration promises to help Iraq rebuild its infrastructure in exchange for Iraq giving up 50 percent of its oil exports then fails to help adequately, Iraq receives a better offer from China, and the Trump Administration threatens to engineer an uprising against the Iraqi government.

Revolutionary Left Radio: “A Coup in Venezuela: Imperialism, Fascism, and Class War.”

A Marxist defends Marduro against the usual American talking-points.

Current Events Write-Up: Religious Liberty;”Buy American”; Easter Not Pagan; Alt-Right Defense of China

Here is a Current Events Write-Up, in which I post links to articles that I like. I used to do this once a week. Now, I’ll do it whenever I feel like it.

Here we go:

Federalist: “Recovering the Religious Liberty of the Founders,” by Tony Sumpter.

“[Religious liberty attorney] Luke Goodrich writes, ‘My thesis is simple. The government shouldn’t promote religion in the public square. Neither should it scrub religion from the public square. Instead, it should treat religion as a natural part of the public square’ (emphasis original). Elsewhere, he gives an example of what he means: ‘In short, in a society that is deeply divided over human sexuality, the abortion model does the best job of respecting both sides. Same-sex couples are free to live according to their views; religious people are free to live according to theirs. The government doesn’t force either side to violate their deeply held beliefs about human sexuality. Why would anyone object to this kind of compromise?'”

Opposing Viewpoints: Should the U.S. Government Have a ‘Buy American” Requirement on its Purchase of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies?

Yes: Dr. Sanjai Baghat (Federalist)
No: Veronique De Rugy (Reason)

Townhall: “No, Easter Is Not Derived From an Ancient Pagan Holiday,” by Ashley Herzog.

My Armstrongite heritage notwithstanding!

Erik Striker: “International Finance’s Anti-China Crusade.”

A white nationalist’s defense of China as a bulwark against global capitalism and neoliberalism.

Current Events Write-Up Announcement

I have been doing a Friday Current Events Write-Up over the last six months or so, in which I have linked to news and opinion pieces that I found interesting on a given week. I will be dropping that for the time being. I will still post Church Write-Ups about the church services that I attend, and at least one book review a week about any review books that I receive.

Current Events Write-Up: 12/1/2018

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

Former President George H.W. Bush Dead at 94.

I have had ambivalent feelings about this President throughout my life. When I was a conservative, I thought he wasn’t conservative enough, yet I rooted for him in the 88 and 92 elections. I even read his 1988 autobiography, Looking Forward. He came across as a decent, down-to-earth person, a gentleman, a grandfather, one who fought in World War II. But he was part of the political and governmental establishment and the elite, and people claim there is behind-the-scenes and even not-so-behind-the-scenes dirt. I was thinking earlier this week that Gulf War I was phony. “This act of aggression shall not stand.” Yet, the U.S. allows plenty of acts of aggression to stand and may even support and participate in them.

Thom Hartmann program.

On November 27, I was flipping through channels. I don’t watch TV during the day since I have work to do, but I was briefly seeing what the programs that evening would be about. I came across Thom Hartmann’s daytime call-in program. I have followed him off and on, mostly off, during the years. I have somewhat mocked progressive talk radio as an unsuccessful attempt to imitate Rush Limbaugh, only from a left-leaning perspective. But I kind of liked what I heard. Hartmann lucidly and calmly took apart Trump’s tariff policy: it is based on a national security provision, so it is temporary, and that is why jobs are not flocking back to the U.S. I won’t be taping his program every day and watching it, since three hours a day is quite a commitment. But I subscribed to his free newsletter to get updates.

“If Patterns Hold, There May Indeed Be Terrorists Inside the Border Caravan,” by Todd Bensman.

“Middle Easterners do travel the same routes as Hondurans to the U.S. southern border, and rising numbers of suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the border in recent years.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Dishes It Right Back To Lindsey Graham In Twitter Tiff.

I ordinarily am not the sort of person who gleefully says “SNAP!” But I said it this time. Maybe it’s because I like it when someone refuses to let someone else set the narrative and to be condescending to her. The same thing appeals to me about Trump. He fights back.

“Is Putin the Provocateur in the Kerch Crisis?”, by Pat Buchanan.

Pat has written columns like this before, but this is an interesting read if you are interesting in Putin’s perspective on Crimea and the Ukraine.

“Mission Agency Clears Away Some False Assumptions about John Chau’s Missionary Work,” by Denny Burk.

Explores the depth of John Chau’s commitment and preparation.

Taki: “In Defense of Franklin Armstrong,” by Jim Goad.

I am not agreeing with this site, but I liked aspects of this article. It defends Charles Schulz from accusations of racism, while telling the story of why Schulz created the character Franklin Armstrong.

Current Events Write-Up: May’s Un-Brexit Brexit Deal; Radical Environmentalists and Wildfires; Bay Buchanan on Israel

Here are some links for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

The Federalist: “Theresa May’s Deal Is A Betrayal Of Brexit Voters That Could Cost Her Prime Ministership,” by Helen Raleigh.

I have read more than one critique of Theresa May’s Brexit deal. This is the first one that broke it down in a way that I could understand.

The Washington Times: “Zinke blames lawsuits by ‘radical environmentalists’ for creating more wildfires,” by Dave Boyer.

Brief article, but it is a summary of what Donald Trump’s Interior Secretary said, and his basis for saying it.

Townhall: “Trump’s Leadership Is Just What America Needs Now,” by Bay Buchanan.

I’m not necessarily agreeing with the article, but what interests me is that Bay Buchanan takes a staunch pro-Israel stance. Her brother Pat, by contrast, often does not.

Current Events Write-Up: Wildfires, Macron, on Workers Running Their Companies, Deaths

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

California Wildfires

Some articles at the Federalist defended the President’s claim that mismanagement has contributed to the forest fires. James Taylor argues that climate change is not the problem because forest fires in California have been declining, and he contends that local and state authorities have failed to warn people. Krystina Skurk details environmental policies that she believes have exasperated the problem.

On the other side, Matthew Hurteau at the Guardian challenges the President’s claim.

Libertarian environmentalist and attorney Jonathan Wood proposes ways to reduce the cost of addresses the wildfires. One suggestion intersects with criminal justice reform.

Macron

Two conservative columnists apparently disagree on how to characterize French President Emmanuel Macron. Pat Buchanan depicts Macron as a globalist, whereas Rachel Marsden sees Macron as rather nationalistic.

Economics

Some socialists talk about the importance of letting workers run their companies. Libertarian economist Daniel Mitchell highlights an example in which that did not work, and the workers actually wanted a manager.

Deaths

Stan Lee passed on this week. I have fond memories of reading X-Men comics while eating my dinner. Jonah Goldberg has an insightful article about how Stan Lee’s comics reflected their historical context.

Little House on the Prairie actress Katherine MacGregor passed on. She played the over-the-top, mean Mrs. Oleson. I have read that MacGregor in real life was one of the nicest people you’d ever meet.

Current Events Write-Up: Elections, the Caravan, Health Care, Odd Political Bedfellows, Whitewashing the Vietnam War

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up. Some of these items will be reruns, since I posted or reblogged them earlier this week.

Elections

The Federalist: “What’s Behind Educated, Suburban Women Flipping to Democrats,” by Denise C. McAllister.

McAllister’s answer to this question is not surprising, but I still like the article because it highlight things that I did not know. For example, why did more educated, suburban women vote for Mitt Romney in 2012 than for Donald Trump in 2016? Also, you hear frequently about how gerrymandering helps the Republicans. Well, it helped the Democrats in 2018!

The Nation: “Where the Blue Wave Hit a Red Wall,” by D.D. Guttenplan.

To quote the subtitle, “Progressives picked up some sweet victories, but Election Day also brought some sobering lessons.”

The Caravan: Opposing Viewpoints

The Nation: “Why the Refugee Caravan Is So Big, and What We Need to Do About It,” by Laura Carlsen.

The article details the dire straits in which people of Honduras find themselves and how the United States has contributed to their country’s problems. It is a little thin on the “What We Need to Do About It” part, but it does say that Mexico is offering the refugees’ jobs.

The Stream: “An Interview With Rev. Samuel Rodriguez on the Migrant Caravan and How Christians Should Respond,” by James Robison, and The Stream: “I’m a US Citizen Living in Honduras. Here’s What I Think About the Caravan,” by Jennifer Zilly Canales.

A point that both articles make is that most of the refugees have not taken Mexico up on its offer for asylum and jobs. The second article presents the problems in Honduras as bad, but not as dire, and it states that some people in Hondurans refuse help and want to come to the U.S. for more opportunities, not in a desperate search for asylum.

Health Care

The Federalist: “What the Press Isn’t Telling You about the Politics of Pre-existing Conditions,” by Christopher Jacobs.

One argument that this article makes is that Obamacare has its own backhanded way of turning down people with certain pre-existing conditions.

Naked Capitalism: “Former Health Insurance Executive Debunks Trump Attacks on Single Payer,” by Yves Smith.

Responds to the usual objections.

Townhall: “Big Government Will Raise Drug Costs for Medicare Patients,” by Paul Anuzis.

“Medicare patients are not allowed to benefit from discount coupons that drug manufacturers offer to increase access, and many do not have private add-on plans to help them pay for their prescriptions. For Medicare beneficiaries prescribed the above cholesterol-lowering drug, this meant that they had to pay up to $370 out-of-pocket every time they filled their prescription.”

Other

The Nation: “When Environmentalism Meets Xenophobia,” by Gaby Del Valle.

Where early twentieth-century environmentalism overlapped with xenophobia and eugenicism.

Tomgram: Arnold Isaacs, Misremembering Vietnam. 

“The Pentagon Whitewashes a Troubling Past.”

The Nation: Why the Refugee Caravan Is So Big—and What We Need to Do About It

The Nation: Why the Refugee Caravan Is So Big—and What We Need to Do About It

Current Events Write-Up: 11/3/2018

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

The Economy

The Federalist: “When Attacking the Federal Reserve, Trump Actually Attacks Anyone with Savings,” by Christopher Jacobs.

Conventional Ron-Paulite wisdom is that an easy money supply leads to inflation. Christopher Jacobs provides evidence that this is happening.

LewRockwell.com: “Hitler’s Economics,” by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

Hitler and Keynes.

Health Care

The Federalist: “How an Obscure Regulatory Change Could Transform American Health Insurance,” by Christopher Jacobs.

Can’t say I understood this, but I am saving it for future reference. The outcome of this policy would be portable health insurance. It reminds me somewhat of John McCain’s 2008 plan, and the plan that Republicans were floating during George W. Bush’s second term.

Townhall: “Supreme Court Decision Will Mean Higher Pharmaceutical Prices,” by Andrew Wilford.

A tax that suppresses supply and competition.

Immigration

Townhall: “The True History of Millstone Babies,” by Ann Coulter.

I do not endorse Ann Coulter’s snark, but she does have a way of crystallizing issues. Here, she challenges the idea that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants in the United States.

The Federalist: “Here’s the Key Clause in the Birthright Citizenship Debate, Briefly Explained,” by Elad Hakim.

Basically a polite, more detailed version of the Ann Coulter piece.

Election

Politico: “The Democrats’ Culture Divide,” by David Freedlander.

Here’s the subtitle: “Energized progressives are thrilled with their momentum in the Trump era. But the party’s blue-collar base might not want what the new left is delivering.” The article was a little contradictory: it said that the rich progressives support socially democratic candidates, yet they are reluctant to pay more taxes for government health insurance. The article also presented a disturbing detail about Ocasio-Cortez’s opposition to an affordable housing measure.

The Federalist: “Steve King Isn’t a Nazi, but He Still Shouldn’t Be Re-elected,” by Lyman Stone.

Where Stone thinks Steve King was right, where Stone thinks Steve King was wrong, and where Stone thinks Steve King was just plain tacky.

Other

The Federalist: “No, Pence Did Not Invite a Messianic Jew to Pray at Pittsburgh,” by Chad Felix Greene. 

Presents more nuance to the situation. What I got out of the article was: No, that’s not what happened, but so what if it did? I oppose demonizing Messianic Jews. At the same time, that may not have been an appropriate way to respond to the Pittsburgh tragedy.

“Liberals Seek Ban on Metaphors in Wake of Arizona Shooting,” by Ann Coulter.

This is actually an old column, dated to January 12, 2011. It responds to those who blamed the Arizona shooting on Palin putting bulls-eyes on politicians’ districts. This column came to mind due to the recent attempts to blame Donald Trump for tragedies.

Current Events Write-Up: Arms Control

The only article I feel like sharing for this week’s Current Events Write-Up is this blog post on arms control. I was wondering why Trump wants to cancel that nuclear agreement with Russia, and this blog post showed up on my feed. I already shared it on my WordPress blog, so this is a rerun for readers there. I read other articles this week, but this is the only one I feel like sharing.

Dan Smith: The crumbling architecture of arms control

Current Events Write-Up: Mental Health Facilities; Military Transgender Policies; Brazil Presidential Election

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

National Review: “To Help Fix American Mental-Health Care, Reform Certificate-of-Need Laws,” by Mark Flatten.

“The simplest way to eliminate the nation’s dire shortage of inpatient mental-health beds is to remove the chief obstacle to new facilities’ construction.”  Another example of corporatism driving up the cost of health care.

The Federalist: “Stop Lying: The Trump Administration Has Not Banned Transgender Americans From Military Service,” by Chad Felix Greene.

“The administration has merely required that transgender individuals meet the same requirements as all other Americans who apply for military service.”  Detailed examination of the pre-Obama policy, the Obama policy, and the Trump policy, with the rationales and the challenges.

Opposing Viewpoints: “Future of Western Democracy Is Being Played Out in Brazil,” by Pepe Escobar (Consortium) vs. “Jair Bolsonaro’s Campaign to Save Brazil From Corruption And Crime,” by Brian Darling (Townhall).

Two opposite perspectives on the left vs. right political battle in Brazil’s Presidential election.

Current Events Write-Up: Economy on Paper, Abortion and Ireland, Jerry Brown

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

Global Research: “Trump at the UN: Lies, Damn Lies, & Statistics,” by Dr. Jack Rasmus.

Essentially, the article argues that what President Trump said about the economy is not so.  What is on paper and what is on the ground are not the same thing.  The same thing can probably be said for many leaders who brag about their economic records, not just Trump.

The Federalist: “The Irish Mother Emma Thompson Wrote To Didn’t Die Because Abortion Was Illegal,” by Nicole Russell.

An nuanced look at that case, as well as an interesting look at abortion law and politics in Ireland.

Townhall: “Governor Moonbeam: Making California Great Again?”, by Arthur Schaper.

A conservative finds things to praise about Governor Jerry Brown of California.

Current Events Write-Up: Fahrenheit 11/9, Iran-U.S. Friendship, EU Austerity and the Collapsed Bridge, Hospital Monopolies

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

Counterpunch: “Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit 11/9’: Entertaining Film, Crappy Politics,” by Louis Proyect.

Reviews Michael Moore’s newest film about the Trump victory, while contrasting current Democratic Socialist candidates with old-style socialists.

Vridar: “Iran, Iran, If Only We Had Been Friends,” by Neil Godfrey.

Iran was standing beside the U.S. soon after 9/11, ready to help the U.S. take on the Taliban.  Then President Bush said Iran was part of the “Axis of Evil.”

Consortium News: “Privatization, the EU and a Bridge,” by Andrew Spannaus.

The EU’s austerity measures hinder Italy from making necessary infrastructure improvements, with dire results.  Yet, the article acknowledges that Italy is mired in waste and bureaucracy and has lots of debt.

The Federalist: “Why Hospital Monopolies Are What’s Wrong with American Health Care,” by Christopher Jacobs.

To quote the subtitle: “Obamacare’s crony capitalism—allowing hospitals to grow their operations in exchange for political endorsements—continues to contribute to higher premiums.”

Current Events Write-Up: Yemen, Obamacare and Netflix, Bernie vs. Debs

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

TomDispatch: “The American War in Yemen,” by Rajan Menon.

The saddening story about the U.S.-supported war in Yemen, which has resulted in numerous civilian casualties.

The Federalist: “How Obamacare Is Making the U.S. Health-Care System Run Like Netflix,” by Adam Barsouk.

According to Barsouk, Netflix makes its own movies, and it skimps on quality for the sake of profit: the company wants to make money from subscribers, without spending a lot on production.  Similarly, Obamacare, in an attempt to contain costs, limits people to a particular network.  They cannot go outside of that network for care that may have more quality.  Barsouk also criticizes insurance company-run health care providers, as they seek to skimp on care in order to make more profits for the insurance companies.  Interesting analogy.  I read an article a while back that said that combining health insurance companies and health care providers into one is the way to go because, that way, both would not be waging war with each other, with the providers wanting to allow more treatments and thus make money, and the insurance companies wanting to deny treatments for the sake of their own bottom line.  But there are disadvantages to combining them into one.  Progressives, of course, would say that this is why we need to get profits out of the U.S. health care system.  On Netflix, I like some of its original programming, especially the Marvel series (i.e., Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist).  And, of course, there is Stranger Things!

Counterpunch: “When Bernie Sold Out His Hero, Anti-Authoritarians Paid,” by Bruce E. Levine.

Levine argues that Bernie is too much of a warmonger and has become a shrill for the Democrats.  His old hero, Eugene Debs, by contrast, started out as a Democrat and came to see the system as corrupt.  There were people during the 2016 election who were saying that Bernie is not as progressive as people think.  Maybe.  Still, I am glad that he gave Hillary a run for her money!  And I will not apologize for feeling that way.  On his becoming a shrill for the Democrats, he may think that is the best option for the country: for him to work within the system and to move the Democratic Party further left.

Current Events and History Write-Up: 9/15/2018

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.  Actually, this is more of a History Write-Up, but most of these articles bring up the past within the context of Current Events discussions.

Townhall: “Wonder Where All the Government’s Money Goes? Look to the Lawsuits,” by Bruce Bialosky.

“Every governmental entity is grappling for money. They all have gargantuan unfunded liabilities for employees’ retirement and health benefits that already are impacting their annual budgets. The federal government has underfunded Social Security and Medicare costs. Despite this, these governmental agencies are spending massive taxpayer sums suing each other to the detriment of us all.”

Mother Jones: “California Wants All Its Electricity Carbon-Free. How’s That Possible?”, by Nathanael Johnson.

Challenges and possible solutions.

The Federalist: “The ACLU Has Become A Big Fat Hypocrite On Free Speech,” by Jay Hobbs.

How the ACLU is inconsistent in which free speech cases it will take, and how it has changed from its former free speech absolutism.  The article also discusses corporatist attempts to stifle free speech, and corporatism is a topic of interest of mine.

The Federalist: “Read A Pile Of Top Nazis Talking About How They Love Leftist Marxism,” by Paul Jossey.

This article argues for the typical right-wing “The Nazis were liberals, not conservatives” spiel.  (Not an exact quotation, but the substance of the argument.)  Still, it is an interesting article.  It talks about Hitler’s private views on Marxism, religion, and the occult, his tolerance for private enterprise, and the racist and nationalist tendencies of prominent Communists.  I am currently reading Mein Kampf, and I will discuss Hitler’s views on Marxism there when I do my Book Write-Up of it.

National Review: “Did France’s Gun Control Hurt Its Resistance to the Nazis?”, by Robert Verbruggen.

Discusses a book by a Second Amendment lawyer.

Persephone Rising: “Patterns: Why I Am Nervous About the Far Right Fringe.”

To add balance, check out this old post, which argues that the Nazis were right-wing, not left-wing.

Reason: “The Alt-Right Loves H.L. Mencken. The Feeling Would Not Have Been Mutual,” by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers.

Menken fought for civil rights.

Tomgram: “Sandy Tolan, Was Oslo Doomed From the Start?”

Why did the Oslo accords in the 1990’s fail?  Tom’s introduction to the article also criticizes President Trump’s reduction of aid to the Palestinians.