The Other McCain

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

In The Mailbox: 03.08.22

Posted on | March 9, 2022 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.08.22

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

Guess she’s just a spud girl…looking for that REAL tomato.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Lack of EMS Personnel At The Tipping Point
EBL: Captured Russian Officer Apologizes For Ukraine Attack, also, “Crude Oil Blues”
Twitchy: The Atlantic Thinks Slow Joe Is Doing Fine With Ukraine, also, In Texas, Joe Biden Says There’s Nothing He Can Do About The “Putin Spike At The Gas Pump”
Louder With Crowder: Stephen Colbert Is OK With You Paying $15/Gallon For Gas, also, Founder Of Critical Race Theory Admits To Indoctrination In K-12 Education
Vox Popoli: Hostile Countries, Neocons Threaten Red China, and Poland Washes Its Hands
Gab News: The Real Threat Is The Regime

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Are We The Baddies?
American Conservative: The Looming Food Crisis
American Greatness: The FBI Goes On Trial In The Whitmer Case, also, Reject Liz Cheney’s War
American Power: Ukraine, The New Right, & Defending The West, also, Emirate & Saudi Leaders Decline Biden’s Calls During Ukraine Crisis
American Thinker: Why Should Deplorables Fight For Those Who Hate Them? also, Why The Washington Post Can’t “Correct” Its Trayvon Tribute
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Sky News News
Babalu Blog: Cuba Continues To Earn Millions From Its Slave Doctors In South Africa, also, Biden Now Sucking Up To Venezuela’s Brutal & Corrupt Regime For Oil
BattleSwarm: Can Ukraine Actually Win? also, Russo-Ukrainian War Update
Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted American, Local Texas Pols Lean On Congressmen To Get Starship Approved By FAA, and Ben Rich, The Skunk Works, & The F-117 Stealth Fighter
Cafe Hayek: More Proper Praise For Petroleum, also, Essential Women Of Liberty
CDR Salamander: The Blob Wants A War
Da Tech Guy: No Fly, No Oil, No Kidding, The Corrupt Madigan Enterprise & The Illinois Democratic Party, and Report From Louisiana – Chasing Chickens & Facebook Jail
Don Surber: May This War End Globalism, Zelensky Is The Latest CNN Hero, and Only 40% Of Democrats Would Defend America – But 88% Would Defend Albania
First Street Journal: How Far From The Tree Did The Apple Fall? also, Another Murder In Lexington
Gates Of Vienna: Interviews With Donbas Residents, A Hall Of Mirrors, and The Fog Of Peace & The Clarity Of War
The Geller Report: Whoever Is Behind “Joe Biden” Has Done All They Could To Derail American Life
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, Zooming In To Arp 143, and Crocus
Hollywood In Toto: A Cuomo Comeback? Blame Hollywood’s Mega #MeToo Fail, also, Droll Hyperions Can’t Summon That Superhero Sizzle
The Lid: Ukraine War Has Thrown Global Markets Into Complete & Utter Chaos
Legal Insurrection: Virginia Democrat Mayor Nixes “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day” After Backlash, Iranians Out-Negotiated Biden Administration With Help From Russia, Red China, and Conservative Students At Boston U Explain How To Go On Offense Against Liberalism
Nebraska Energy Observer: Ukraine, Continued, also, Rollin’
Outkick: Far-Left Nut Rex Chapman To Work March Madness, Broncos Score Russell Watson In Seahawks Trade, and Enes Freedom Calls NBA Hypocrites For Supporting Ukraine
Power Line: Our Present Bewilderment, The Madness Of Slow Joe, Iran Edition (5), and Environmentalists Vs. Science
Shark Tank: Legislative Session Headed To Overtime
Shot In The Dark: Lie First, Lie Always – John Marty Is Coming For Your Guns, also, “Great Time For A Strike, Denise…”
The Political Hat: Newspeak Dictionary & The Nomenklatura
This Ain’t Hell: Ukraine Wants Foreign Reinforcements, Arvil Reed In The News, also, It’s Vindman Again
Transterrestrial Musings: Climate & The Real Crisis, The Wargame Before The War, and NYC Subways
Victory Girls: Joe Biden’s Dirty Lies About U.S. Energy Production
Volokh Conspiracy: FIRE Lawsuit Against Collin College
Weasel Zippers: Bad Orange Woman Claims Slow Joe “Will Do Everything He Can” To Reduce Gas Prices, also, Racist Joy Reid Claims America Only Cares About Ukraine Because They’re White
The Federalist: The Full List Of Every Lie Joe Biden Has Told As President, Wisc. School District Says Parents Aren’t Entitled To Know If Their Kid Is Trans, and Half The Country Did Speak The Truths CDC Director Insists Nobody Said – And They Were Smeared
Mark Steyn: Shots In The Dark, Naked In a Russian Winter, and Poles Apart

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Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 03.07.22

Posted on | March 8, 2022 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.07.22

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.
OVER THE TRANSOM
McG’s Tally Book: Absolutely Not
A View From The Beach: This Is Not A Smart Military Blog
EBL: Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech, also, Met Opera Fires Russian Diva Anna Netrebko For Not Denouncing Putin (Sufficiently)
Twitchy: “RIP To The Reporter Ron DeSantis Just Murdered,” also, Subversive Floridians Say “Gay” In Stunning & Brave Video
Louder With Crowder: Ron DeSantis Exposes Truth About Alleged “Don’t Say Gay” Bill, Blasts Reporters For Sucking At Their Jobs
Vox Popoli: Why Russia Is Holding Back, We Are Wizards, and The U.S. Wants War
Gab News: Feds Paid Media To Shill The Jab

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Acting On The Lies
American Conservative: Have We Cornered Ourselves? also, We’ve Had Enough Of Zero-Sum Democracy
American Greatness: Wokeness On Energy Is Weakness, also, Big Pharma Funds “Studies” By Radical Transgender Groups Encouraging Transition Procedures For Children
American Power: Herbert Marcuse & The Left’s Endless Campaign Against Western “Repression”, also, How War In Ukraine Drives U.S. Inflation At Farms, Supermarkets, & Retailers
American Thinker: COVID Vaccines – What Happened To “Safe & Effective”? also, Addict, Degenerate, & Bagman Of A Corrupt Family Enterprise Exposed
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Putin, Che, & The Castro Brothers All Had The Same KGB Boss, also, Cuba’s Apartheid Tourist Industry Loses Its Main (Russian) Clientele Due To Ukraine War
BattleSwarm: @MKHammer Tells School Boards Why Parents Now Hate Them, also, The Failed Logistics Of The Russian Invasion
Behind The Black: Pushback – High School Student Sues School For Religious Persecution, Red China Launches Seven Satellites With Long March 2C Rocket, and Fractured Terrain On Mars
Cafe Hayek: Jonathan Sumption On COVIDocratic Tyranny, also, An Unseen Cost of Debt-Financing Government Expenditures
Chicago Boyz: Can The EU Significantly Reduce Russian Gas Imports? also, Ukraine Thread Part 3
CDR Salamander: Red China’s 2022 – On Midrats, also, In Ukraine, We Enter A More Brutal Stage
Da Tech Guy: OK, Kids, Who Wants To Be Drafted First?, Thinking About What Happens After Ukraine Falls, and “I Did That!” Ukraine War Variant
Don Surber: Shell Buys Russian Oil, Trumpenfreude For Twitter, and Macgregor – Zelensky Is No Hero
First Street Journal: The Warmongers Keep Beating The Drums, also, This Is Exactly What The Left Wants
Gates Of Vienna: Heim Ins Reich, Who is Bombing Whom?, and Playing With Fire In Molenbeek
The Geller Report: Ports Are Open – DeSantis Says Global Shipping Company Moving From California To Florida, also, Freedom Convoy On The March
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, Deimos, and I’m Not Making This Up, You Know
Hollywood In Toto: Here’s How The Batman Delivers An Essential Superhero Story, also, Clueless Oscars Can’t Face Ratings Reality
The Lid: Silence About Russia & Red China Adds To Coca-Cola’s Historic Amorality, also, Durham – Sussman’s Lie A Key Driver In Clinton-Originated Russian Collusion Investigation
Legal Insurrection: Harvard Law Professors Praise Joe Biden Economy, Exposing BLM At School – A Deep Dive Into The Indoctrination Of Fourth-Graders, and Democrat Operative David Brock Declares Jihad On Republican Election Lawyers
Nebraska Energy Observer: Random Observations, also, Sunday Matinee
Outkick: Tennessee Cracks Top Ten, Former ASU QB Jayden Daniels Transfers To LSU, and Michael Wilbon Uses The “T” Word To Describe Grayson Allen, Gets Off Scot-Free
Power Line: Another Industry Destroyed By Taxes, The Idiocy Of Seattle, and The Madness Of Slow Joe, Iran Edition (3)
Shark Tank: Christina Pushaw Triggers Progressive Democrat Pols
Shot In The Dark: Obvious & Impossible, also, Decisions
STUMP: Motor Vehicle Accident Deaths, Part Three
The Political Hat: Anti-Racist Audit – Attempted Murder Fine, Parent Involvement Bad
This Ain’t Hell: Russia’s Military Track Record Suggests They’ll Be In Ukraine A While, Another Two Accounted For, and NPRC Returns To Full Operations
Transterrestrial Musings: The World’s Longest POW Camp, Elon & Russia, and Mastercard & Visa
Victory Girls: Trudeau & Freudian Slippage, On Putin – The Right Needs To Check Itself, and Biden Administration Tries To Schmooze For Venezuelan Oil
Volokh Conspiracy: A Million Little Carrots, also, UC Hastings Faculty Sends Letter To Concerned Students
Weasel Zippers: Buttigieg Says People Upset With High Gas Prices Should Buy An Electric Car, Second Russian General Now In Hell, and Nearly 20,000 Volunteers Have Reportedly Signed Up To Fight For Ukraine
The Federalist: Bad Orange Woman Is A Lying Liar Who Lies – Insane Gas Prices Edition, Five New Special Counsel Arguments Against A Russia Hoaxer’s Attempt To Escape, and Why Cheerleading VISA’s Russia Ban Is A Recipe For Disaster
Mark Steyn: Death Becomes Him – Bob Fosse & All That Jazz, Nobody, and War In Europe – Day Twelve

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Category: Linkagery

Why Ukraine Is Winning (So Far)

Posted on | March 7, 2022 | Comments Off on Why Ukraine Is Winning (So Far)

Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, surnamed Cunctator (c. 280 – 203 BC), was a Roman statesman and general of the third century BC. . . . His agnomen, Cunctator, usually translated as “the delayer”, refers to the strategy that he employed against Hannibal’s forces during the Second Punic War. Facing an outstanding commander with superior numbers, he pursued a then-novel strategy of targeting the enemy’s supply lines, and accepting only smaller engagements on favourable ground, rather than risking his entire army on direct confrontation with Hannibal himself. As a result, he is regarded as the originator of many tactics used in guerrilla warfare.

The so-called Fabian strategy of avoiding pitched battle while attacking the enemy’s supply lines has proven its value in Ukraine, where the defenders are inflicting real damage on the Russian invaders:

The remains of a Russian Tigr fighting vehicle sat smoldering on the side of the road, as Ukrainian troops lounged outside their trenches smoking cigarettes. Nearby, a group of local villagers was tinkering with a captured T-90 tank, trying to get it running again so that the Ukrainian Army might put it to use.
For three days, Russian forces had fought to take Mykolaiv, but by Sunday, Ukrainian troops had driven them back from the city limits and retaken the airport, halting the Russian advance along the Black Sea, at least temporarily. By Monday morning Russian forces had resumed their attack.
“Few expected such strength from our people because, when you haven’t slept for three days, and when you only have one dry ration because the rest burned up, when it’s negative temperature out and there is nothing to warm you, and when you are constantly in the fight, believe me, it is physically very difficult,” an exhausted Col. Sviatoslav Stetsenko, of the Ukrainian Army’s 59th Brigade, said in an interview. “But our people endured this.”
Taking Mykolaiv remains a key objective for Russian forces, and the thwomp of artillery in the distance on Sunday suggested that the Ukrainians had not pushed them back that far. But the unexpected Ukrainian success of defending this critical port, about 65 miles from Odessa, underscores two emerging trends in the war.
Russia’s failure to seize Mykolaiv and other cities quickly, as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia appears to have intended, is largely a function of its military’s faltering performance. Russian forces have suffered from logistical snafus, baffling tactical decisions and low morale. . . .

You can read the whole thing, but it is Russia’s “logistical snafus” that are crucial to understanding why Ukraine is winning. Russia doesn’t have enough trucks to supply its army, the tires on their trucks are crap, and their entire supply line is vulnerable to attack. Using small forces to strike the Russian supply columns in hit-and-run attacks, the Ukrainians can prevent Russia’s assault forces from being able to bring their full strength to bear in attempting to capture Ukrainian cities. When the Russian invasion began, many experts expected Kyiv to capitulate within four days. We’re now in Day 11, and Kyiv is still hanging on:

Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former defense minister now at a Kyiv think tank, said the Ukrainian special forces, Pentagon-funded and -trained since 2015, had engaged in efforts to demoralize the enemy, assaulting Russian convoys and striking Russian camps at night. “They attack when they’re least expected,” he said.
Ukrainian special forces also have been instrumental in holding off Russian advances north of Kyiv, and in counterattacks that have prevented Russia from consolidating gains.
“Going deep into our territory, Russian troops are stretched and lose contact with their command,” said Yurii Kochevenko, an officer with Ukraine’s 95th Airborne Assault Brigade. “Their logistics are disrupted. They have great difficulties with the supply of fuel, with the delivery of ammunition. They abandon their equipment and scatter in all directions.”

An army cannot fight if it cannot be supplied. The odds against Ukraine are still formidable, but every day that they can delay Russian victory works in their favor and against Putin. Here is a 20-minute video further explaining Russia’s logistics problem in Ukraine:

 

(Hat-tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)




 

Category: Military, Russia, Ukraine

Rule 5 Double Scoop Sunday: W*ng D*ng Sw**t P**nt*ng

Posted on | March 7, 2022 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Double Scoop Sunday: W*ng D*ng Sw**t P**nt*ng

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Lo, having returned from Nashville (or a suburb of it, anyway) I feel it is incumbent on me to salute a butt-kicking band named after the introduction to one of Uncle Ted’s biggest hits, or at least its lead guitarist Ruyter Suys (pronounced “Rider Sighs”, according to Infogalactic) who can shred with the best and looks pretty good doing it.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Ninety Miles From Tyranny: Hot Pick Of The Late Night, The Ninety Miles Mystery Box Episode #1638, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns. Second helping: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1645, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns.

Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Civil Forfeiture Friday, Rule Five Seeking Beauty Friday, last week’s Saturday Gingermageddon, and this week’s Gingermageddon as well. 

EBL: MAGA & Ukraine Both Betrayed, Long Live Free Ukraine, Nobody Bus Fight Scene, GOP Should Open Doors For Ukrainian Refugees, National Tile Day Rule 5, Sarah Stogner – Any Publicity Is Good Publicity?, Margarita Day, From, Severance, The Barber Of Seville, Nobody Final Fight Scene, Julie London, Ukrainian Warrior Babes, More Ukrainian Warrior Women, Vikings: Valhalla, and Inventing Anna.

A View From The Beach: Kristen Louelle – I Blame Olivia Culpo, Fish Pic Friday – Kaitlyn Young, RIP: Hot Lips Houlihan, NYC DA Drops Trump Case, Prosecutors Pissed Off, Resign, Tattoo Thursday, A Woman Scorned?, The Wednesday Wetness, VS Takes On Down’s Syndrome Model, A Political Status Post, In My Head, The Monday Morning Stimulus, Fishnets Recycled Into Cell Phones, Palm Sunday, Pearls Before Swine . . ., Tanya Bayer, Science Eliminates Gypsy Moth, Fish Pic Friday – Jackie, Drunk and I Don’t Want to Go Home, Wednesday Wetness – Wade in the Water, “Ukraine Girls Really Knock Me Out”, Tuesday Tanlines, The Oyster Shell Game, Monday Morning Stimulus, Did You Ever Wonder Why Corals Live in the Tropics?, Palm Sunday and Crime Wave Affects L.A. Woman.

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

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Category: Rule 5

FMJRA 2.0: Somebody

Posted on | March 6, 2022 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Somebody

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Not a bad week for the Senators – split two two-game series against the White Sox and Cardinals respectively, so we still have a shot at .500. Not much of a shot, but a shot. Amazing what good starting pitching can achieve. Also, if you’re interested in getting an expansion team in this league contact Pete over at Da Tech Guy’s blog.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

UKRAINE: Kyiv Survives Another Day
A View From The Beach
EBL

What a Real President Looks Like
Animal Magnetism
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

The Blessings of St. Javelin
The Political Hat
A View From The Beach
EBL

Listen to the Experts!
EBL

Our Feeble-Minded Commander-in-Chief
EBL

The Science™ Is Actually The Politics™
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

War and the Meaning of Nationhood
EBL
357 Magnum

Infamous Race Hustler Uses Ukraine War to — You Guessed It — Hustle Race
The First Street Journal
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 03.02.22
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

Crazy People Are Dangerous
The Pirate’s Cove
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 03.03.22 (Afternoon Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 03.03.22 (Evening Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum
Proof Positive

Crazy People Are Dangerous
EBL
357 Magnum

Teetering on the Brink
EBL

In The Mailbox: 03.04.22
EBL
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending March 4:

  1.  EBL (15)
  2.  357 Magnum (9)
  3.  A View From The Beach (8) 

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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Category: FMJRA Award

What ‘Intellectuals’ Believe

Posted on | March 6, 2022 | Comments Off on What ‘Intellectuals’ Believe

Elie Mystal Jr. is the son of a Haitian immigrant. His father became a politician in Suffolk County, N.Y., whose “tenure as a county lawmaker ended in 2008 after he faced charges that he lied about living in the district in 2007 and 2008, a period during which he was splitting his time between Huntington Station, which was outside the district, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He was sentenced to five years of probation and was ordered to pay $84,300 in restitution.” The younger Mystal attended Harvard, where he graduated in 2000 and got a law degree in 2003.

Having been educated at an elite private university, of course, Elie Mystal is filled with hatred for the United States:

The Nation’s justice correspondent Elie Mystal said Friday on ABC’s “The View” that the United States Constitution is “trash” written by slave-owning white people.
Discussing his new book “Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution,” Mystal said, “Republicans are obviously trying to manipulate those laws, particularly the rights of minorities, women, and the LGBTQ communities, and I explain it in ways we can understand so we can fight them.”
Co-host Ana Navarro said, “I live in Florida, so I’m, like, on ground zero of where all of this is happening. I’m out of my mind about the bills banning conversations about race and ethnicity and LGBTQ, just even mentioning gender identity in primary schools…Are you arguing for throwing out the Constitution? Should the Constitution be thrown out? What do we do? Is it a living document, or is it a sacred document?”
Mystal said, “It’s certainly not sacred. Let’s start there. The Constitution is kind of trash. Again, let’s just talk as adults for a second.”
Co-host Joy Behar said, “What did you say?”
Mystal said, “It’s kind of trash. It was written by slavers and colonists and white people willing to make deals with slavers and colonists. They didn’t ask anybody who looked like me what they thought about the Constitution.”
He added, “This document was without the consent of black and brown people in this country and without the consent of women. I say if that was the starting point, the very least we can do is ignore what those slavers and colonists and misogynists thought and interpret the Constitution in a way that makes sense for our modern world.”

Note that Ana Navaro, the daughter of a wealthy Nicaraguan family, is only an American because her family was granted asylum while fleeing the Sandinistas. She repays our national generosity by trashing the country, expressing ridiculous concerns that the Florida legislature is denying public school children their opportunity to be indoctrinated with Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ propaganda. And as for Elie Mystal’s comments about the Constitution as “trash,” does this Harvard-educated intellectual not realize that he is implicitly endorsing the arguments against racial equality made by, e.g., Jefferson Davis?

“Mr. President, the propositions, both the main one contained in the bill and that contained in the amendment, I think, rest on two fundamental errors: in the first place, that our Government was instituted for eleemosynary purposes, and in the next place, that it was instituted for a mixed race. This Government was not founded by negroes nor for negroes, but by white men for white men. It was not founded for eleemosynary purposes, but as an agent of the States; and there is no right to take one dollar from the Treasury to appropriate it to public schools. . . .
“The errors are fundamental on which the bill rests; and these errors have been developed by the alliance which it has brought from the other side, developing, as a consequence of the very proposition, this controversy as to the rights of whites, and the equality of the negroes. I do not choose to argue with any one who thinks proper to assert the equality of the negro and the white man. The man who makes the assertion may prove to me his equality with the negro. He proves to me no more; and I accept his argument only for so much.” [Emphasis added.]
— Sen. Jefferson Davis, April 12, 1860

Asserting that our government was founded “by white men for white men” — how is this different from Elie Mystal’s argument? Does the Harvard-educated intellectual wish us to conclude that Jefferson Davis was right? He might succeed in persuading us, however inadvertently.

If the cost of achieving “equality” is to discard our Constitution as “trash,” and to degrade our Founders as unworthy of consideration — if we must ignore those slavers, as Mystal insists — then how many Americans will conclude that this is bad bargain? The consequences of this are perhaps too frightening to imagine, yet seem not to have occurred to Elie Mystal, nor to the producers of “The View” who invited him on ABC to promote his noxious views. Can anyone imagine “The View” inviting on a white guest to express equally controversial opinions? While I’m sure Jared Taylor or Peter Brimelow would accept the invitation — there’s no such thing as bad publicity — dissident whites are not given the red-carpet treatment that the liberal media extends to black dissidents.

There seems to be a belief, among a certain type of liberal, that black radicals must be allowed to spew hateful nonsense as a sort of “release valve” for whatever grievances and resentments might exist in the black community. These grievances are assumed to be inherently legitimate — the Harvard-educated son of a New York politician is so obviously oppressed, after all — whereas it is considered impossible that white people might have legitimate grievances with the current state of race relations in America. And the next time some deranged cracker goes off on a shooting rampage after posting his neo-Nazi “manifesto” on Facebook, who will be invited onto “The View” to discuss this bloody tragedy? Well, it won’t be Peter Brimelow, that’s for sure. Merely to name him is to risk the accusation of dangerous “extremism,” even though Brimelow doesn’t habitually denounce the Constitution as “trash.”

It would be dangerous for “The View” to host Brimelow, you see, because the producers would not want to be responsible for what might happen if millions of their viewers found themselves agreeing with Brimelow, yet they’ll have on someone like Elie Mystal as if his opinions are harmless. If that’s the attitude they’re going to take — that even the most extreme views ought to be given a hearing, so long as the person espousing them is black — then why don’t the producers of “The View” book as a guest Augustus Claudius Romain, Jr., a/k/a “Gazi Kodzo”?


If it’s black radicalism they want, why not give ’em the real thing? But of course, Gazi Kodzo doesn’t have a Harvard diploma, so he won’t get a shot at peddling his flavor of racial insanity to ABC daytime audiences, whereas Elie Mystal — though arguably just as deranged — is OK.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast . . .

UC Berkeley Prof. Zeus Leonardo:
Abolish Whiteness, Abolish White People

He’s employed at taxpayer expense:

Zeus Leonardo made $248,514 in total compensation. Of this total $166,933 was received as a salary, $53,159 was received as benefits and $28,422 came from other types of compensation . This information is according to University of California payrolls for the 2019 fiscal year.

Being an intellectual can be a very lucrative racket.




 

Category: ABC, Constitution, Intellectuals, Racism

Never Take Military Advice From (Or Give Money to) #NeverTrump Grifters

Posted on | March 5, 2022 | Comments Off on Never Take Military Advice From (Or Give Money to) #NeverTrump Grifters

What’s weird about Rick Wilson is that most people never heard of him until Twitter came along, but the consulting game is so lucrative that lots of people you never heard of collect fat paychecks. Wilson first came onto my radar as a Twitter personality associated with the Tea Party circa 2009, but he had a history before that:

Wilson played a significant role in the 2002 United States Senate election in Georgia, in which Saxby Chambliss was facing Democratic Party Senator Max Cleland, a disabled Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Silver Star. Wilson helped make an ad that criticized Cleland, while also tying him to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. The ad appeared to question Cleland’s patriotism.

As political crackback blocks go, that was one of the most brutal hits in recent memory, and was part of the shocking 2002 midterm where Republicans reversed the historic trend by actually gaining seats. The GOP machine was firing on all cylinders in those post-911 days and it would have been inconceivable to most of us at the time that, in 2006, Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats would win the congressional majority and that a guy named Barack Obama would be elected president in 2008. The spiraling downward trajectory of the Republican Party from its peak of influence to the depths of the early Obama years is a phenomenon for which Rick Wilson and his colleagues have never been called to account. We’re supposed to forget this as ancient history, irrelevant to the current political landscape. However, when the #NeverTrump brigade claim a devotion to “principle,” and assert that their goal is to restore the “norms” of our political life, one is inspired to wonder exactly what “principles” and “norms” they have in mind. Another campaign for the conquest and occupation of Mesopotamia, perhaps? Imputations of treason against political opponents? Most recently, Wilson has tried his hand at offering bad military advice, suggesting “that America could transfer A10s to Ukraine, and [pilot] contractors could fly them in combat.”

Everybody who has seen that long Russian column stretching for miles down toward Kyiv understands what a perfect target it would be for the famous “tankbuster” A10 Warthog, the most innovative air-to-ground weapon since the Stuka divebomber. But as Jim Thompson explains, the scheme of sending A10s to Ukraine on a sort of lend-lease arrangement is unworkable for several reasons. The A10 requires extensive backup in terms of experienced ground crews and so forth that simply can’t be transferred to another country in the way that Javelin missiles can.

Such is the power of war fever, however, that Rick Wilson’s tactically impossible suggestion got nearly 600 likes and 6,000 retweets from his Twitter following. And anyone who points out the folly of Wilson’s suggestion will be accused of being a Traitorous Putin Stooge.

This is essentially what Wilson said in his recent appearance on a Salon-dot-com video podcast: “Putin has this deep appeal to the modern Republican Party because he believes in power, he believes in wealth, he believes in control.” Wilson added bluntly, the GOP “have become very friendly to dictatorship, to authoritarianism … people like Putin.”

Sure, Rick. Just like Max Cleland was a Saddam Hussein fanboy.

The “norms” and “principles” to which #NeverTrump profess devotion turn out to be difficult to define beyond an ironclad certainty of their own intellectual and moral superiority to anyone who disagrees with them.

Just last night, by the way, I was discussing with my brother the possibility that the Ukrainians could find some way to hit that long Russian column. It struck me that one of the reasons the Russians might have decided to launch their invasion in late February — rather than waiting for May, as more traditional doctrine would suggest — is that by attacking in winter, they deny the Ukrainians the concealment of hiding in forests. You look at those satellite images of the convoy strung out along a single highway and notice that there are forested approaches which might be used by the Ukrainians to stage an attack on the Russians, but there are no leaves on the trees, and so an attacking force would be sitting ducks, at least in daylight. Nevertheless, I’m sure the Ukrainian military leadership must be trying to figure out some way to hit that convoy, like Stonewall Jackson hit Pope’s supply line during the Second Manassas campaign. The only hope for Ukraine is to make a daring counterattack before the Russians can get everything in place for a siege of Kyiv, and smashing that Russian supply convoy would obviously be an objective of such a counterattack. Alas, hope is not a strategy, and a realistic assessment of Ukraine’s situation does not inspire optimism.

Those of us who, on the one hand, are praying that Ukraine can miraculously defeat the Russians but, on the other hand, know that there are limits to how much the U.S. and its allies can assist the Ukrainians without risking World War III, are expected to yield the floor to Rick Wilson and his dumbass schemes, because to criticize Rick Wilson is to be an accomplice of authoritarianism. The brilliant thing about the #NeverTrump hustle is how their rhetoric makes them personally synonymous with “norms” and “principles” and “democracy,” so that any possibility of sincere disagreement is automatically excluded.

If I say I am pro-X and anti-Y — if I strive to make myself a prominent spokesman for these positions, celebrating them as a sacred cause — then it is logical to infer that my critics are anti-X and pro-Y. This logic works reasonably well if X and Y refer to specific policy positions, but when the likes of Rick Wilson start attaching this logic to nebulous abstractions like “democracy,” so that choosing between Democrats and Republicans becomes a moral referendum, with opposition to Democrats categorized as “authoritarian,” this becomes a crude hustle that can deceive no intelligent or reasonably well-educated person.

But hey, let’s talk about those True Conservative™ principles:

Y’know, I might feel sympathy for the people who got swindled by McMullin, but fools and their money are soon parted, and if any fools ever deserved to be fleeced and ripped off, it was #NeverTrump fools.

(Hat-tips: Evil Blogger Lady, Instapundit, Ace of Spades.)




 

Category: Politics

Ukraine: Russia Agrees to Temporary Cease-Fire in Besieged Mariupol

Posted on | March 5, 2022 | Comments Off on Ukraine: Russia Agrees to Temporary Cease-Fire in Besieged Mariupol

Breaking news overnight:

Russia said Saturday it was observing a temporary cease-fire in the key Ukrainian port city Mariupol, which it has besieged for days, to allow the creation of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.
The cease-fire went into effect at 2 a.m. E.T. and will cover both Mariupol and the smaller nearby city Volnovakha, Russia’s ministry of defense said.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Twitter that the evacuation corridors were being prepared and that a cease-fire was in effect in those areas. Mariupol’s city council said evacuations would begin at 4 a.m. ET and last until the end of the cease-fire at 9 a.m. ET.
The move comes after a second round of talks between the two countries earlier this week produced an agreement on the issue, though no progress on a broader cease-fire or end to Moscow’s attack on its democratic neighbor.
For days Russia has encircled and bombarded Mariupol, a large southeastern city on the Azov Sea, hitting critical infrastructure leaving it without water, heat or electricity.
The strategically important city has remained in Ukrainian hands, but the city council accused Russia of creating a “humanitarian catastrophe” and hindering the supply of food.

The southern front is where Russia has made the most gains.




 

Category: Russia, Ukraine
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