The most important part of the morning is coffee. This week’s appetizer is courtesy of Rule 5 Texan on X. Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.
As I mentioned Friday, the 1972 season in Pete’s league is over (Yankees won) and we’re gearing up for the 1973 season. As mentioned here, there are four expansion teams available and the deadline to let Pete know you want one of them is November 2 – next Saturday. Pete’s looking to get the draft going on the 16th, which beats last season when the draft began while I was in Nashville for the Confinement SF convention. As you can guess from the pic (which is definitely related) my Senators are staying in DC and not moving to Texas. Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia? Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt? Patere tua consilia non sentis, constrictam iam horum omnium scientia teneri coniurationem tuam non vides? Quid proxima, quid superiore nocte egeris, ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii ceperis, quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris?
O tempora, o mores! Senatus haec intellegit. Consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit? immo vero etiam in senatum venit, fit publici consilii particeps, notat et designat oculis ad caedem unum quemque nostrum.
— Marcus Tullius Cicero,
First Oration Against Catiline, 63 B.C.
The last time I quoted Cicero here was June 2012, in reference to the Kimberlin affair. The insolence of the Pipsqueak Pipebomber, and the very fact that he was not still in prison, was as outrageous to me as Catline’s presence in the Senate was to Cicero. When he laments the decadence of the age — “O tempora, o mores!” — what Cicero means is that, in an earlier era, Romans knew how to deal with such a criminal, who would have already been executed for sedition, given what was known of Catiline’s conspiracy: hic tamen vivit. “Yet this man lives.”
Such is the outrage any intelligent person must feel when, for the umpteenth time, we get the Trump-is-Hitler smear from MSNBC — the same MSNBC that provides a platform to Al Sharpton who, to this day, has never apologized for inciting the 1991 Crown Heights pogrom.
“How long, O Catline, do you intend to abuse our patience? How long do you think your rage can elude us? How far will you go with this unbridled audacity of yours?” This is perhaps not the best translation. Some 30 years ago, I know I had a really eloquent translation — dating back to the Victorian era, as I recall — but today when I went to find it, all I found on my bookshelf was a 1948 translation that lacked the poetic quality of the version I remembered. The original Latin has a certain cadence to it, the way Churchill’s best speeches did, and I missed that dignified cadence in the translation used by Roger Kimball in his latest column:
Whose fault was it?
That of course is going to be the overwhelming question Democrats will be asking themselves after Kamala Harris loses on November 5.
It is worth stressing that a question can also be an accusation. Cicero reminded us of this in his first oration against Catiline, which opens with more than half a dozen questions spat out like bullets from a Gatling gun. Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? “How long, Catiline, will you go on exhausting our patience?” Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? “And how long will that madness of yours mock us?”
The biased circus concession that we call much of the media has an interest in drawing out the festivities surrounding an election. So in the case of Trump vs Harris, the answer to Cicero’s questions is “as long as possible” . . .
Kimball’s scholarship is, no doubt, superior to my own, but I still miss the stately cadence of the translation I remember from decades ago. Nevertheless, it’s good to see Cicero invoked this way, to remind the 21st-century readership that, not so many years ago, a man was not considered truly educated unless he knew Latin and Greek. And along with that knowledge, of course, the educated man also acquired some knowledge of ancient history, which our Founding Fathers knew so well.
One of the worst traits of liberals is their quasi-religious faith in progress, the idea that we — the present generation — are more educated, more intelligent and morally superior to our ancestors. The beliefs and customs of the past are to be disdained as crude, primitive and backward, and nothing about our forebears is genuinely admirable, so that monuments to heroes once universally admired are toppled because our erstwhile heroes are now condemned as racist colonizers or whatever.
Studying the controversies of the distant past, such as Catline’s conspiracy and Cicero’s role in exposing it, tends to give us a better perspective on contemporary controversies, a point made in the comments earlier today by my old friend Bert the Samoan Lawyer:
We are in uncharted territory insofar as the brief history of this Republic is concerned. Viewed in the light of all of human history, however … Well, I’ll defer to Ozymandias for comment.
The resignation of Robert Kagan, in response to billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos ordering the paper not to endorse Kamala Harris, is a preview of the open intermural warfare we’ll see among Democrats if Kamala Harris loses next month. Failure in politics requires scapegoats, and Harris herself is exempt from blame because (according to the rules that Democrats impose) anyone who criticizes her is a racist and a sexist and, perhaps, literally Hitler. Forbidden to blame the candidate who led them to defeat, therefore, Democrats will point the finger of blame at each other, and we will witness a Carnival of Recriminations — if, as I say, Kamala loses. The fact that the Washington Post is imploding now, less than 10 days before Election Day, is a sort of signal of which way the winds are blowing. Robert Kagan wouldn’t be resigning his job if he didn’t think a Trump victory was highly probable.
What’s going on here? Professor Glenn Reynolds floats the theory — relevant to Bill Clinton throwing shade on Harris — that there’s an internecine combat between the Clinton clique and the Obama clique, with the Clintons aiming to get a measure of revenge. Team Clinton wants to make sure that they get none of the blame for an expected Harris defeat. But what about this thing at the Washington Post? Certainly it strikes me as an omen of a Harris defeat — Bezos wouldn’t have held back the Post‘s endorsement if he thought Harris was on her way to the White House. And, in examining this — again, hat-tip to Professor Reynolds — Ann Althouse mentions the similar non-endorsement by the Los Angeles Times:
According to the daughter of the paper’s owner — Patrick Soon-Shiong — “This is a refusal to ENDORSE a candidate that is overseeing a war on children…. For me, genocide is the line in the sand.”
So, this may be all about Israel. The papers don’t want to elaborate the reasons for supporting Harris because they would need to avoid or somehow deal with the topic of Israel’s war against Hamas. Harris can’t explain her position very well either. She needs help, and she’s not getting it. She’s evasive, and the newspapers are — in this endorsement avoidance — evasive too.
Nika Soon-Shiong, the outspoken pro-Palestinian activist daughter of Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, defended the paper’s non-endorsement of a presidential candidate on Friday . . .
The 31-year-old progressive activist for causes like Palestine and guaranteed income is a divisive figure in the Times’ universe, where her influence on editorial decisions has stirred internal controversy.
You can read her anti-Israel rant on X here. But if the LA Times didn’t endorse Harris because Harris is too pro-Israel, my hunch is that the opposite is more likely the case with Bezos and the WaPo. That is to say, I believe Bezos is, if not adamantly pro-Israel, certainly not pro-Hamas, and — this is pure speculation on my part — I’d furthermore guess that Bezos has been offended by the blatantly anti-Jewish nature of campus protests since last year’s October 7 massacre. Bezos has also seen Amazon targeted by various pressure campaigns, demanding he cut off any business with Israel, and perhaps that has alienated him even more from the pro-Hamas “progressive” movement. Whatever the case may be, the explanation for the non-endorsement of Harris at the Washington Post is likely to be much different, if not directly opposite, of the reasons the LA Times didn’t endorse her. And that’s fine with me.
Whenever there’s infighting among Democrats, the important thing — from a conservative perspective — is not to choose sides amongst the factions. Certainly I would never defend the sold-out and morally bankrupt establishment leadership of the Democratic Party, but at the same time I have nothing but contempt for the wild-eyed fanatics and fringe ideologues of the party’s left-wing grassroots. The really important thing is that (a) we defeat the Democrats at election time, so that (b) the simmering tensions between the Democratic Party’s establishment and the left-wing grassroots burst into open conflict, thereby (c) inflicting permanent damage on the Democratic Party’s coalition.
Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts. Happy Friday! Pete’s Dynasty League will be drafting soon for the 1973 season, and there’s four teams available if you want an expansion team. Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.
Israel on Friday launched a wave of retaliatory airstrikes against Iran after the Islamic Republic fired a barrage of missiles toward Israelis earlier this month.
Explosions were heard near Iran’s capital of Tehran and nearby Karaj, Reuters reported, citing local media.
“In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel – right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil. Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized. We will do whatever necessary to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.” . . .
The Israeli military action comes after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed a “precise and deadly” response to the more than 180 missiles Iran targeted Israel with on Oct. 1, some of which were intercepted with the help of the U.S.
Last week, during the leadup to the Israeli attack, reports emerged that the Israeli Defense Forces presented a list of potential targets to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gallant as officials conducted “sensitive coordination” with other countries in the Middle East.
“The regime is vulnerable, and it’s up to us to decide which message we want to send to them,” Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon also told Fox News Digital. “It will be very painful for the Iranian regime, and they will think twice in the future whether to attack Israel or not.” Last week, during the leadup to the Israeli attack, reports emerged that the Israeli Defense Forces presented a list of potential targets to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gallant as officials conducted “sensitive coordination” with other countries in the Middle East.
“The regime is vulnerable, and it’s up to us to decide which message we want to send to them,” Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon also told Fox News Digital. “It will be very painful for the Iranian regime, and they will think twice in the future whether to attack Israel or not.”
Many years ago, when I worked at the Washington Times, my colleague Victor Morton was wont to speak of “secular events” affecting politics. In other words, while candidates, parties and campaign staff work to promote their various messages, wooing voters with rallies or TV commercials, sometimes the most important event in any election cycle is something beyond the control of politicians and their handlers. These secular events — e.g., the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina hitting Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — frustrate the ambitions of political strategists, because there’s no way to plan for them, no tactical playbook.
So, here we are, barely 10 days away from Election Day, and Israel is at war with Iran. Gosh, now we’re teetering on the brink of World War III, who is most capable of handling a situation like this?
Voters will have a choice on who gets that job.
In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel—right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran.
The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking… pic.twitter.com/OcHUy7nQvN
This business of working on the county election board is kicking my ass. Every day this week when I’ve gotten out at 5 PM, I’m tired enough to go home and go to bed, but I’ve had stuff to do that kept me up. Well, tomorrow’s Nevada Day, and the county offices are closed, so I’ll get caught up then. Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.
“In the future, everyone will be Hitler for 15 minutes.” – James Lileks “The future is now.” – Vince Lombardi
