Buy It Now: ‘The Last Falangist’ Review; Wombat Shows the Hard Face

Posted on | July 11, 2014 | 57 Comments

In case you don’t recognize the name Kevin Trainor, he is our very own Wombat, the co-blogger who compiles the daily “Live at Five” headline roundup and now the author of The Last Falangist: Essays on Culture and Politics in America — CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW.

Wombat points out in the introduction that he is not actually a member of the Franco’s Movimiento Nacional, just a very conservative Catholic from a military background. Nor is his book merely a compendium of reactionary nostalgia, despite the fact that much of it was written in the Good Old Days, when George W. Bush was president and almost nobody outside Chicago had ever heard of a guy named Barack Hussein Obama. It is a shock to realize that this time in history now seems almost as distant as the era of the Generalissimo’s rule in Spain.

How far back does The Last Falangist go, you ask? On Page 59, we find an entry from January 2005 that begins thus:

“I’ve been thinking about the long comment Allahpundit left on Michele’s old blog . . .”

Yes: In 2005, there was no HotAir.com and Allahpundit was just another dude hanging out in the blogosphere.

The Last Falangist: Essays on Culture and Politics in America
ONLY $1.99! CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW!

Excuse the heavy-duty sales hype, but the purpose of publishing an ebook is to sell the ebook to people who will read the ebook, and supporting our ethos of shameless capitalism compels me to point out that such a transaction requires that you actually click the link. (Although there are still a few old-timers like Wombat and me, the online world nowadays is crawling with noobz who don’t understand how this here innerwebs stuff works.) If living well is the best revenge, surviving long enough to tell the story of the people who f–ked you over is maybe the second-best revenge, and did I ever mention that Wombat is divorced?

Hate was not an option. Hate was the enemy. Hate had to be ruthlessly suppressed, choked off, buried so deep nobody outside my skin could find it. Hate was weakness, because to hate someone, you must care what happens to them, and I no longer cared. . . .
The only option was to soldier on, show the hard face, and cultivate apathy like a poisonous plant. F–k It. Drive On.

This is not just excellent prose, it’s also an expression of Stoic philosophy. To “show the hard face,” as Wombat so brilliantly describes it, is to deprive bad people of the sadistic pleasure they ordinarily get from f–king other people over. If you can “cultivate apathy” toward the Evil Lying Bitch From Hell, you win.

The Last Falangist: Essays on Culture and Politics in America
ONLY $1.99! CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW!

Of course, this isn’t Charlie Sheen-style “winning,” and if Wombat is cavorting with porn starlets half his age, he is being awful secretive about it, but what other options are available? Toward the end of The Last Falangist — Page 114, to be exact — we find Wombat returning to the subject to acknowledge the pain:

The whole point of having a mother and a father working together is so that you have backup when one of you drops the ball; the other one is there to quickly scoop up the errant pigskin or maybe make the catch and run it in. Unfortunately, divorce screws up that neat metaphor, because all of a sudden Mom and Dad aren’t really on the same team any more. . . .
When you and the Mrs. are constantly fighting over every little thing, when a lot of her energy is going toward building up the new boyfriend and tearing you down for not being a passive, enabling doormat, it becomes damn near impossible. Because the kids know what’s going on. They may not understand it, but they know.

If “the personal is political,” as the feminists insist, what is the politics of Stoicism? It might involve an indifference to the endless whining of self-declared Victims of Society, the people who insist that they are oppressed by the rest of us, as if we don’t have enough problems of our own to keep us busy, as if we had time to bother discriminating against them — Social Injustice as a hobby.

The Last Falangist: Essays on Culture and Politics in America
ONLY $1.99! CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW!

Did I mention that Wombat is not only Hispanic on his mother’s side, but also Jewish? Yep: His maternal ancestry is traceable to the Sephardic “crypto-Jews” of New Mexico, as we learn on Page 81 of The Last Falangist, so if you don’t buy his book, you’re not only a xenophobic anti-Latino yanqui bigot, but also a Jew-hater. Such is the logic of the Obama Age, where all opposition to the president’s policies is explained by the mainstream media as a byproduct of some kind of irrational hate. It is therefore amusing to read Wombat’s reaction (Page 73) to a Jay Rosen essay:

His point that bloggers rely on the MSM for news collection is very well taken, but he goes astray when he elides the distinction between bloggers who attack media bias because they can’t stand the hypocritical claim of objectivity and conservative bloggers who want the Gang of 500 taken out, shot, and impaled as a warning to others who cross the Right-Wing Death Beast Party. There are certainly bloggers in the latter category, but the former type can be found all over the political spectrum, and a lot of us agree that the problem would go away for us if ABC/CBS/CNN/NBC/PBS would just come out of the closet and admit they’re a bunch of Democrats.

That was written in 2004. Sic semper hoc.

Such flashback reminders of what has changed (and what hasn’t) in the past decade are scattered through The Last Falangist, and if you won’t spend $1.99 to enjoy the excellence of Wombat’s insightful analysis, you’re obviously an agent of the Comintern.

Do not smirk, Comrade — despite the title of Wombat’s book, there are probably still a few other Falangist holdouts, and you subversives will regret it if Movimiento Nacional gets their hands on you.

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Category: Books

Comments

57 Responses to “Buy It Now: ‘The Last Falangist’ Review; Wombat Shows the Hard Face”

richard mcenroe
July 11th, 2014 @ 11:39 am

Dammit Stacy, a professional journalist like you should know to put the important information FIRST.

I mean, I got no problem with Wombat being Catholic, or Hispanic or even Jewish, but related to people from New Mexico?! Dammit, and I’d already one-click-bought the damned thing…probably got 50 pages on the freaking Taos Hum…
Dennis Mahon
July 11th, 2014 @ 11:44 am

Will there be a print edition?
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 12:01 pm

I don’t know. He likes Ranch Dressing. Pretty poor taste if you ask me.
The Last Falangist by Kevin Trainor | Batshit Crazy News
July 11th, 2014 @ 1:10 pm

[…] TOM: A Book Review of The Last Falangist […]
Evi L. Bloggerlady
July 11th, 2014 @ 1:11 pm

http://batshitcrazynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Generalissimo-Wombat-Socho.png

Feel free to download this if you want a book cover!
DeadMessenger
July 11th, 2014 @ 1:11 pm

I love reactionary nostalgia, so I bought it. That, and the fact that I didn’t want to have to denounce myself as an anti-Semitic, anti-Latino, anti-Catholic, anti-Southwestern/American, anti-Australian marsupial yanqui xenophobe, i.e., RAAAAACIST.
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 1:22 pm

Hale Generalissimo Wombat!
Aewl
July 11th, 2014 @ 1:32 pm

Just bought the book. Started reading it and after a couple of essays, my Kindle died. WTF? Wombat, that’s some powerful writing! (yeah, I forgot to charge my Kindle)
Evi L. Bloggerlady
July 11th, 2014 @ 1:38 pm

He goes after trolls like Franco went after socialists!
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 1:42 pm

I almost said “Heil” instead of Hail, but that might have been taken wrong. 🙂
The Osprey
July 11th, 2014 @ 2:00 pm

This thread needs some music.

Miguel Fleta, el tenor Falangista.

Saludos, camaradas!
K-Bob
July 11th, 2014 @ 3:13 pm

That’s okay. We’d never let New Mexicans cross the border into the Conch Republic.
K-Bob
July 11th, 2014 @ 3:18 pm

Purchased!

I want it delivered by quad-copter.

I need a new quad copter.
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 3:22 pm

No, it’s OK. The book is so high energy it just sucked the batteries dry in jig time.
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 3:52 pm

I hate to inconvenience you, but it’s in e-book format only and will stay that way unless we get enough orders to convince me that the deluxe leather-bound and personally autographed edition ought to be a thing. 😉
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 3:52 pm

I…I am not worthy!
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 3:53 pm

I see he has his Air Force gloves on. 🙂
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 4:33 pm

That place is useless. No good grazing for sheep or Moroccans. 😉
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 4:34 pm

Well, I don’t like it on the underage pr0n stars, mainly because I don’t like underage pr0n stars. Ew.
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 4:44 pm

Depends entirely on the e-book sales.
Dianna Deeley
July 11th, 2014 @ 4:48 pm

Purchased, of course, and congratulations to Wombat!
Dianna Deeley
July 11th, 2014 @ 4:50 pm

Or, “As the Stalinists went after the Anarchists”, if you prefer.
RS
July 11th, 2014 @ 4:51 pm

“The Last Falangist” sounds like the protagonist in a novel set in some indeterminate, dystopian future. Sort of like The Hunger Games, but without Jennifer Lawrence in tight, but nevertheless battle-functional clothing, and appealing to old guys. Your next project?
BMD99
July 11th, 2014 @ 5:16 pm

Purchased.

While the sales pitch was hard to resist what sold me was the allusion to Stoicism, especially where McCain describes it as the “indifference to the endless whining of self-declared Victims of Society, the people who insist that they are oppressed by the rest of us…” Such describes my attitude towards the endless parade of vicitms. Oh, so you’re a tranny and you’re not oppressed? Sorry. I don’t care. Oh. You’re pissed you can’t get ‘married’ like normal people do? Sorry. Don’t care. Oh. It’s my white priviledge and not my advanced degrees, work ethic, prudent choices, and delayed gratification that allow me to make better money than you? Sorry. Don’t care. Now would someone please pass the salt?

Suffice it to say I look forward to what I expect will be a thoroughly enjoyable read.
cmdr358
July 11th, 2014 @ 5:55 pm

Then K-Bob should order a Kindle and have it delivered by quad copter.

That way yourself and Stacy get shekels and Bob gets the copter.
🙂

BTW….ordered it. (the eBook… already have a Kindle)
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 6:25 pm

John Ringo is already two-thirds of the way through that series, which starts with Under a Graveyard Sky.
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 6:28 pm

I need to expand on the idea of stoicism…maybe I should write a post on it. It’s a severely under-appreciated philosophy. For now you’ll have to make do with “Living Only Through Apathy” and related essays in the book.
Buy It Now: ‘The Last Falangist’ Review; Wombat Shows the Hard Face | That Mr. G Guy's Blog
July 11th, 2014 @ 7:34 pm

[…] Buy It Now: ‘The Last Falangist’ Review; Wombat Shows the Hard Face. […]
Mike G.
July 11th, 2014 @ 7:39 pm

As soon as I can afford a kindle, I’m going to buy it, although I’m old school when it comes to books.
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 7:40 pm

It can be read on your computer, phone, or tablet with the free Kindle software, for which Stacy gets a taste if you download it through the ads here, hint hint. 😉
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 8:06 pm

Well, at least you have some standards. They might be low, but you have them. 🙂
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 8:07 pm

Or the Trotskyites.
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 8:09 pm

My Air Force father would get onto my brother and I about keeping our hands in our pockets. I was ready when I got to Navy boot as I was already in the habit of not doing that.
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 8:09 pm

Sounds much like NSDAP music. Funny how that worked.
Quartermaster
July 11th, 2014 @ 8:11 pm

This place is getting so commercial.
Mike G.
July 11th, 2014 @ 8:14 pm

I’ll do that…just as soon as I get another job. Right now, living on what little savings we have.

Have you seen the price of groceries lately? Over $5 a pound for @#&$%^& Hamburger. And gas? Fugedaboutit.
Mike G.
July 11th, 2014 @ 8:17 pm

Good thing we have a substantial stash of canned goods and a freezer that’s getting emptier by the day.
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 10:34 pm

Much like Fourmyle of Ceres, I believe having bad taste is better than no taste at all. 🙂
Wombat_socho
July 11th, 2014 @ 10:36 pm

Yeah. The book can definitely wait. Good luck finding a job in Recovery Summer V.
Bob Recommends: Buy It Now – ‘The Last Falangist’ Review; @Wombat_Socho Shows the Hard Face | The Camp Of The Saints
July 11th, 2014 @ 11:57 pm

[…] Buy It Now: ‘The Last Falangist’ Review; Wombat Shows the Hard Face : The Other McCain. […]
vorozab
July 12th, 2014 @ 12:37 am

Conservative Catholic with a military bent? Wouldn’t “The Last Carlist” be more accurate?
The Osprey
July 12th, 2014 @ 2:08 am

Except I’ve never heard an opera singer perform “Horst Wessel Lied” but I suppose it might have happened.

On the other hand, Ernst “Putzi” Hanfstaengl, a Harvard educated German businessman and early confidant of Hitler, who had written several marches for the Harvard football team, wrote the Deutscher Föhn March. There’s a tie in with Franco here, as Hanfstaengl had a falling out with Hitler after several arguments with Goebbels and British fascist Unity Mitford, and was told he was going to be dropped behind “loyalist” lines during the Spanish Civil War, which would have meant almost certain death at the hands of the Spanish Communists and their Soviet NKVD advisors. Hanfstaengl later defected to Britain, and then made his way to the US, where he provided valuable info to the OSS about Hitler’s psychological background.
The Osprey
July 12th, 2014 @ 2:25 am

Miguel Fleta was one of the greatest opera performers of the 1920’s. He joined the Falange in 1936. He died during the Spanish Civil War, not from a Communist bullet, but from kidney disease.
K-Bob
July 12th, 2014 @ 6:36 am

I’ll bet you were paid to write that.
K-Bob
July 12th, 2014 @ 6:38 am

Oh, I have kindle, android, and computer versions already downloaded. I just wanted to write “quadcopter.”

I’m fighting back against people calling them “drones.” THIS is a drone:

http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Drone11111111-133298-133842-640×480.jpg
K-Bob
July 12th, 2014 @ 6:42 am

I had an uncle that used to get on us about hands in pockets.

Now I know why. He was a colonel in the Air Force.
K-Bob
July 12th, 2014 @ 6:59 am

Way off topic, but cool: while following links to drone images for my pithy comment earlier, I ended up looking at this page, regarding attempts to thwart surveilliance.

This is face-recognition thwarting makeup:
http://ahprojects.com/projects/cv-dazzle/

The site has other interesting notions about thwarting heat sensors, etc. I’m not so sure such thwarts would last for long, but it’s neat to see folks working on it.

Plus I got to type “thwart” several times, which is nice.
Quartermaster
July 12th, 2014 @ 3:50 pm

Die Fahne Hoch was more of a hymn to the NSDAP than anything else. Had it been composed to a Wagnerian tune, or something similar, an Opera Singer might have performed it.
Wombat_socho
July 12th, 2014 @ 6:50 pm

An “old shirt”, then. God rest him.
Wombat_socho
July 12th, 2014 @ 6:51 pm

SOON. 🙂