The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Update From the Dept. of Ironic Crime

Posted on | October 5, 2023 | 1 Comment

Saturday we shared the tale of a young woman who made the fatal choice of Baltimore as an ideal place for “building a deeply inclusive culture.”

Since then, there seems to have been a rash of such ironic crimes. Irony is not to be confused with comedy, of course, and we would not want people to laugh at death, which is not funny. Except sometimes . . .

A left-wing Philadelphia journalist who mocked concern over rising crime in Democrat-run cities was shot to death in his home.
Josh Kruger was shot seven times after someone entered his home, shot him at the base of his stairs, and then fled. Kruger ran outside seeking help from his neighbors and collapsed, where police found them after responding to call just before 1:30 a.m. on the 2300 block of Watkins Street.
Kruger, 39, was rushed to the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he died just before 2:15 a.m.
No arrests have been made, and there was no sign of forced entry into the home, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.
“Either the door was open, or the offender knew how to get the door open,” he said. “We just don’t know yet.”

It would be wrong to yield to the temptation of schadenfreude in such a case, but having spent some time delving through Josh Kruger’s social media, I’ve got to say that he seemed utterly obsessed with challenging what he often called “myths” about the danger of urban violence.

Permit me here to share two basic rules for a happy life:

1. Never argue with fools;

and

2. Stay the hell out of Philadelphia.

So far, so good — at least for me, but Josh Kruger had other ideas, e.g., that he was living in a “white supremacist police state.” There is a word for people who believe such things, and that word is crazy.

And speaking of crazy people . . .

Social justice activist fatally stabbed
in front of girlfriend in Brooklyn

Ryan Carson “dedicated his life to fighting for social justice,” and worked at a left-wing non-profit founded by Ralph Nader. Irony alert:

The 32-year-old was waiting for a bus with his girlfriend when police said he was brutally attacked. Surveillance video obtained by PIX11 News showed an unidentified man, who police described as emotionally disturbed, stabbing Carson several times.
The attack happened early Monday morning at the intersection of Malcolm X Boulevard and Lafayette Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, police said. Carson and his girlfriend were on their way home from a wedding.
Carson was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries. His roommates said it could have happened to anyone at any time.
The New York Public Interest Research Group, where Carson had worked, released a statement on Tuesday: “Ryan was a beloved staffer, colleague and friend, and a creative, talented, relentless and upbeat advocate for students and the environment.”

More ironic details:

The apparently unprovoked attack occurred shortly before 4 a.m. Monday. The incident was captured on surveillance footage.
The suspect walked past the couple while they were seated on a bench at a bus stop, police said. As the two then walked toward the suspect, he started to damage scooters and said to Carson, “What are you looking at?” according to [NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph] Kenny.
As Carson tried to de-escalate the situation, the suspect swung a knife at him, Kenny said. Carson backed up and tripped, falling to the ground. The suspect then stabbed him three times, with the knife piercing his heart, Kenny said.

Despite the assertion by Carson’s roommates that this “could have happened to anyone at any time,” I’d say the fact that it happened at 4 a.m. in Bedford-Stuyvesant is probably kind of relevant.

“Excuse me, sir, can you give me directions?”

“Sure, where you headed?”

“Well, I’m looking for someplace to get stabbed to death.”

“Oh, Bedford-Stuyvesant is the place you’re looking for.”

“Any particular area in Bedford-Stuyvesant? Because I’m really in a hurry to get stabbed as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, anywhere along Malcolm X Boulevard, I’d say.”

“Thanks for the help.”

“Sure. And, oh, one more thing . . .”

“What’s that?”

“Probably try to get there about four in the morning.”

“Four in the morning?”

“Yeah, that’s prime time for getting stabbed to death in Beford-Stuyvesant.”

What the heck was this Carson guy thinking, hanging out in Bedford-Stuyvesant at 4 a.m.? Waiting for a bus? He couldn’t call a cab? He couldn’t get a ride from a friend? Oh, and check this out:

(Hat-tip: John Sexton at Hot Air.) Let me be clear: Murder is bad. I am anti-murder, and no one should think that I am happy to see left-wingers getting murdered like this. Also, I am anti-carjacking, and thus cannot be accused of celebrating when a Democratic congressmen gets carjacked at gunpoint in D.C. My point in calling attention to these cases is not to advocate in favor of violence against liberals, but rather to say that, when Democrats support soft-on-crime policies, they seldom expect that they personally will suffer as a consequence of the ill-considered policies they embrace. When the boomerang comes whirling around to smack them in the back of the skull? Some might say it serves them right.

I’m just saying it’s ironic.



 

Category: Crime

In The Mailbox: 10.04.23 (Punditocracy Edition)

Posted on | October 4, 2023 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 10.04.23 (Punditocracy Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

This has been a rough week so far, and the next couple of weeks aren’t looking too good either.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

Get in the robot, Shinji. God wills it!

OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: Democrat Jamaal Bowman Pulls A Fire Alarm at the Capitol, Gavin Newsom apppoints Marylander Laphonza Butler to fill Dianne Feinstein’s California Senate Seat, and Kevin McCarthy’s Bad Weekend
Twitchy: Sadly, Scott Adams Gets The Last Laugh, “Do Not Trust The Press”, and DA Explains How Zero Bail Policy Will Make The Country Safer
Louder With Crowder: Addicts Are Not Too Happy Over San Francisco Mayor’s Proposal To Enforce Drug Tests, Treatment For Welfare Recipients, Liberal audience roars as Ron DeSantis reminds Bill Maher about his election-denying “Hollywood friends” in 2016, and What’s more cringe: Biden forgetting where he is, or supporters singing a pro-Biden Backstreet Boys parody song to him?
Vox Popoli: The Kids are All Right, The Material Side of the Spiritual War, China Signs On, Immigration of Color = Bankruptcy, and The Saga of the Baen Exemplar
Stoic Observations: The Public Speaker
Gab News: An Amazon Alternative For The Parallel Economy

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
CDR Salamander: Fall Maritime Free For All – On Midrats, also, What If Everyone Wanted A Maritime Strategy But…
Dana Loesch: Jamaal Bowman Didn’t Mean To Call You Nazis Or Pull That Fire Alarm, Either
Don Surber: Donald Trump Was Right, 

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Category: Linkagery

A Self-Inflicted Disaster as Republicans Vote to Boot Kevin McCarthy as Speaker

Posted on | October 4, 2023 | 1 Comment

Perhaps some of my readers are not sad to see Kevin McCarthy voted out as Speaker of the House. And I’m here to tell you, you’re wrong.

Perhaps you recall the scene from Gone With the Wind in which Rhett is helping Scarlett and Melanie escape Atlanta before the Yankee invaders arrive. At one point, the road is blocked by a passing column of Confederate troops. Scarlett frets: “Oh, dear, I wish they’d hurry,” to which Rhett replies, “I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to see them go if I were you. With them goes the last semblance of law and order.”

So it is with ex-Speaker McCarthy. Some conservatives may have loathed McCarthy as a compromised, unprincipled sellout, and I have no interest in debating anyone about McCarthy’s faults. The problem is that, having created this vacancy, the GOP insurgents offer no candidate capable of filling the void. Critics may say that anyone would be better than McCarthy, but which “anyone” do they have in mind?

Some people are simply incapable of teamwork. They are so monstrously selfish that they would rather rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven. It is unfortunate that such egomaniacs are often elected to public office, where their own vanity and ambition makes them dangerous and untrustworthy. Such is the character, I suspect, of Kevin McCarthy’s enemies, whose appetite for destruction is unlikely to coincide with similar talent for creating anything to replace what they’ve destroyed.



 

Category: Congress

Rule 5 Sunday: Meanwhile In The Kitchen

Posted on | October 2, 2023 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Sunday: Meanwhile In The Kitchen

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Things are getting a little cold to be frolicking outside in bikinis (especially here in Tonopah, where it’s getting down to the 30s at night) but there’s always fun to be had in the kitchen, right? This week’s appetizer courtesy of kbdabear’s Saturday Night Sideboob tweets.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Banana for scale

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Rule Five Flying Illegals Friday, and the Saturday Gingermageddon. 

EBL: Saturday Night Girls With Guns, Anti-MAGA Dirty Whore Judge, Is Spider Venom The New Viagra? La Dolce Vita, Miss Zimbabwe, If No-one Watched The GOP Debate…, Belarus Recruiting Women? How To Resist Pumpkin Spice Season, The Most Wunderbar Time Of The Year, Drops Of God, The Covenant, The Continental, and Silo. 

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Emily Elizabeth, Fish Pic Friday – Allie Beth Tolliver, Rose, A Dolphin Storm Chaser Visits Baltimore, The Wednesday Wetness, RIP: Illya Kuryakin, Hunter Sues Rudy, Tuesday Tanlines, Dutch Cutie Warns of War on Hamburgers, The Monday Morning Stimulus, Flotsam and Jetsam in the Wake of Ophelia, Sunday Sunrise and Fall is Fell

FLAPPR: T.I.T.S. For September 29

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

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Category: Rule 5

Let’s Play, ‘Find the Hidden Racism’!

Posted on | October 1, 2023 | 1 Comment

Appalling is a word we don’t use often enough, but it’s perhaps the best word for what is going on in America’s public schools in the name of “social justice.” You may not be able to read the text in that screen-cap, but apparently academics have invented a term, “evaded racism.” Here’s a brief summary from a journal article:

Evaded Racism
Prominent race scholar, Richard Valencia (2012) argues that while in the past intellectual inferiority and cultural deprivation were prominent theories used to uphold racial inequity in schooling, today, individualized analysis of underachievement are tools that maintain the status quo. K. D. Brown & Brown (2012) contend that dominant rhetoric blames students of Color and their families for a lack of academic success, promoting a shift in their behavior as the solution (e.g., reminding parents to read more to their children; advocating for a growth mind-set), rather than suggesting shifts to structures or policies that systematically fail students of Color (e.g., limited resources, racial profiling; Malagon & Alvarez, 2010). Blaming communities of Color for educational inequality at the individual level invisiblizes institutional responsibility, thus providing a rationale to study race yet evade concrete analyses of racism (Bonilla Silva, 2006).

Got it? Now watch this short video clip:

This person — and anyone who thinks like her — should never be allowed anywhere near a classroom. But that’s obvious enough. What perhaps requires more explanation is why liberals think this way. Once again, I must recommend Thomas Sowell’s The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy as the single best description of the psychology of modern liberalism, which I think is highly relevant to this kind of “woke” nonsense that’s infesting American education.

Liberals are unwitting guilty, as I recently remarked, of being “childishly simple-minded . . . Whatever they like is good, and whatever they dislike is evil.” Although they consider themselves sophisticated and intellectually superior to others, liberals exhibit a tendency to think in a sort of Manichean dualism, where every controversy is seen as a struggle between the forces of good (i.e., themselves) and the forces of darkness (i.e., anyone who disagrees with them). Often, as a practical matter, it is impossible to distinguish between the liberal’s professed ideals — in this case, “equity” in education — and the narrow political interests of the Democratic Party. In this specific example, why are liberals so obsessed with the belief that “structures or policies” in public schools “systematically fail students of Color”? (Resist the temptation to ask why the authors felt the need to capitalize “Color.” Time is too precious.)

The reason why liberals are obsessed with racial “equity” in public schools is because the Democratic Party relies on votes from black and Hispanic people to win elections, period. Viewing these groups as their natural constituents, whose interests the Democratic Party exists to serve, liberals therefore must believe that (a) black and Hispanic people are extraordinarily virtuous, and therefore (b) anything bad that happens to black and Hispanic people is not their fault. So if it is demonstrably true that black and Hispanic students are, on average, lagging behind white and Asian students — the data on this point is abundant — the liberal must find some way to blame this problem on racism.

Let me tell you something about “equity” in education as the father of six children: No two children are identical, not even twins. Our children, two of whom are twin boys, have had quite varied education outcomes. Our oldest daughter got her university degree summa cum laude, a feat that none of her brothers have matched. The baby sister (now studying abroad for her junior year in university) also aspires to be summa cum laude, but we’ll have to wait and see for that. My point is that, if we cannot produce educational “equity” even among siblings who share the same genetic background and grew up in the same home, what are the chances of achieving “equity” in inner city Baltimore or Philadelphia?

“Equity” is a fool’s errand, a snipe hunt, and once you acknowledge the impossibility of such a goal, only politics can explain why anyone would waste time in pursuit of this ridiculous will-o’-the-wisp.

Something else: You can’t make chicken salad from chicken manure.

By the time children show up for their first day of school, at age 4 or 5, their basic educational aptitude is already pretty much established, and whatever the budget, policy or personnel of the school, educators do not possess a magic formula that can turn a stupid or lazy child into a future summa cum laude graduate. You don’t need any fancy theory or academic jargon to understand this basic truth. The need for theory and jargon arises from a desire to obscure the truth.

Actually, liberals turn the facts upside down, preferring to live in a weird inverted universe that is diametrically opposed to reality: The student didn’t fail school — the school failed the student! This pretzel-logic is required, as I say, by the political interests of the Democratic Party. Because the schools where “students of Color” are experiencing a “lack of academic success” are generally in deep-blue districts (Biden got 87% of the vote in Baltimore, 81% of the vote in Philadelphia, etc.), and the parents of these students are Democratic voters, the common-sense explanation of the problem is politically taboo. No one in an urban school system is going to tell the parents of their students: “Hey, you dumbass Biden voters, your kids have inherited your stupidity.”

The stupid apple seldom falls far from the stupid tree.

The need to avoid this obvious truth, you see, explains why liberals have put on their Magic X-Ray Spex, which enable them to see the invisible ultra-racism hidden in the “structural inequality” of education.

By the way — and it shouldn’t be necessary to point this out, but I will — is it not a fact that the vast majority of public school employees are Democrats? Isn’t it also a fact that most professors of education in our universities are loyal Democratic voters? And what about school boards in cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore? Aren’t these people all Democrats? So if there is “racial inequity in schooling,” whose fault is that? How could anyone blame Republicans for this?

It’s kind of like Jussie Smollett, claiming he got attacked by two racist homophobic Trump supporters in downtown Chicago at 2 a.m.

The story that liberals are telling about what’s wrong with our education system simply doesn’t add up. It’s not an explanation, it’s an excuse.



 

Category: Education, Racism

FMJRA 2.0: I Was Dreaming I Was Awake

Posted on | October 1, 2023 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: I Was Dreaming I Was Awake

— compiled by Wombat-socho

The Senators were on the road this week, taking two out of three from the Hated Yankees at Yankee Stadium and then sweeping the Reds at Cinergy Park, which is a lot like RFK only with less foul ground. Pat Dobson racked up his eighth and ninth wins, Vicente Romo got his fourth win and eleventh save against the Reds, and Bill Gogolewski is now 3-0 with two saves out of the bullpen. Next week, it’s a pair of games against the Red Sox at Fenway followed by three games at home against the Orioles.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Fly the Curly W flag!

Still ‘No Evidence’ of Biden Corruption?
The DaleyGator
EBL
A View From The Beach
Flappr
357 Magnum

FMJRA 2.0: Gewitter
A View From The Beach
EBL

Rule 5 Monday: Farm Girls
Animal Magnetism
A View From The Beach
EBL

‘Who Fought for Ukrainian Independence Against the Russians’ in WWII?
EBL
Flappr
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 09.26.23
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 09.27.23 (Morning Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 09.27.23 (Evening Edition)
The DaleyGator
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 09.29.23 (Afternoon Edition)
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 09.29.23 (Evening Edition)
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum

Top linkers for the week ending September 30:

  1.   EBL (10)
  2.   (tied) A View From The Beach and 357 Magnum (8)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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Category: FMJRA Award

House Passes Spending Bill After Democrat (Allegedly) Pulls Fire Alarm

Posted on | September 30, 2023 | Comments Off on House Passes Spending Bill After Democrat (Allegedly) Pulls Fire Alarm

It’s always “allegedly” with these people:

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) allegedly pulled a fire alarm in the United States Capitol complex moments before the House was scheduled to vote on a bill preventing a government shutdown, according to the House Administration Committee.
U.S. Capitol Police and the House Administration Committee, which oversees House operations and Capitol security, are investigating. . . .
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) gave a long filibuster speech minutes later as Democrats attempted to delay the vote on a 45-day extension of government funding. The bill eventually passed by a large margin after the incident.
Rep. Jim Banks is among those calling for Bowman’s arrest, tweeting the possibility that Bowman’s actions could be part of a conspiracy among Democrats.

J6 protesters were sentenced to years in federal prison for “interrupting official proceedings,” and yet a Democrat thinks he can pull a fire alarm to stop a congressional vote. “Allegedly,” I hasten to add. Before the House overwhelmingly passed its bill, 335-91, Mitch McConnell had already announced that Senate Republicans would vote for the House version, rather than the garbage “compromise” bill that Chuck Schumer wanted the Senate to pass instead. So this looks like a win — even though my podcast partner John Hoge is ready for a shutdown at his contracting job (building space robots for NASA). We’ll see . . .



 

Category: Budget, Congress, Senate

An Unusual Consensus

Posted on | September 30, 2023 | Comments Off on An Unusual Consensus

Tyson Bagent — remember that name, because some people who know a lot about football agree that he’ll be the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears before this season is over.

Remember what I told you last month about Trey Lance?

In the 2021 NFL draft, five quarterbacks were first-round picks:

1. Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) — Jacksonville Jaguars
2. Zack Wilson (Brigham Young) — New York Jets
3. Trey Lawrence (North Dakota State) — S.F. 49ers
11. Justin Fields (Ohio State) — Chicago Bears
15. Mac Jones (Alabama) — New England Patriots

Being a lifelong Alabama fan, of course I was outraged by the implied disrespect to my boy Mac, who had just led the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season and a national championship. Mac had the most passing yards of any college quarterback that season, and set an NCAA record for highest percentage of passes completed (77.4).

Barely three weeks later, the 49ers traded Lance to Dallas in exchange for a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft, vindicating my judgment. As for Zack Wilson, New York Jets legend said he’s “seen enough” of him.

That brings us to the subject of Justin Fields. After three games, the Bears are 0-3, and the former Ohio State quarterback doesn’t look like he belongs in the NFL. Fields may actually be worse than Zack Wilson, which is as about as bad as it gets. Fields has completed 51 of 88 passes (58%) for 526 yards and three touchdowns, and has thrown four interceptions. Meanwhile, Mac Jones — despite playing behind a shoddy patchwork offensive line — has completed 81 of 125 passes (65%) for 748 and five TDs, with two interceptions. There is no question which one is the best quarterback, and it ain’t Justin Fields. Meanwhile . . .

Tyson Bagent, from Martinsburg, West Virginia, attended tiny Shepard University, a Division II school with barely 3,000 students. Six-foot-three and 210 pounds, Bagent broke all the records:

Bagent became the starting quarterback for the Shepherd Rams as a freshman and was named first team All-Mountain East Conference (MEC) after completing 253 of 387 pass attempts for 3,029 yards and 29 touchdowns. He was named second team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East, Shepherd’s new athletic conference, after passing for 4,349 yards and 36 touchdowns [as a sophomore]. . . .
In 2021, Bagent passed for 5,000 yards and 53 touchdowns and was named the PSAC East Offensive Player of the Year and won the Harlon Hill Trophy. Bagent also won the Hardman Award as the best amateur athlete in West Virginia. After the season, Bagent entered the NCAA transfer portal and visited West Virginia and Maryland, but ultimately opted to stay at Shepherd for his final season of eligibility.
On December 3, 2022, Bagent broke the record for touchdown passes across all NCAA divisions with 159, in Shepherd’s 48–13 win over IUP during their quarterfinal game. . . .
Bagent participated in the 2023 NFL Combine. He went undrafted but was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He made the Bears’ 53-man roster at the end of the preseason. He was named third on the Bears depth chart to begin the season behind starter Justin Fields and veteran Nathan Peterman.

The veteran backup QB Peterman is only there as an insurance policy, but Chicago fans fell in love with Tyson Bagent who, in three preseason games, completed 20 of 29 passes (69%) for 156 yards. And given how badly Fields has played, I’m not the only expert on football who thinks Bagent is going to be taking over as Chicago’s QB pretty soon:

“If Fields continues to think and not react, they got a guy named Bagent, their rookie that I predict you will be seeing him before the season’s over. Even though I wish Justin Fields the very best, but this kid Bagent — just like [San Francisco’s] Brock Purdy — he’s played a lot of college football at quarterback and he’s ready to be a pro quarterback.”

The source of that prediction? A guy named O.J. Simpson.

The two things that O.J. Simpson knows best are football, and how to get away with murder. So when he says Tyson Bagent’s going to be starting for the Bears? Well, if the prediction fits, Justin Fields quits.

Serves ’em right for not drafting Mac Jones.



 

Category: Football
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