The Other McCain

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

Dan Riehl Always Gets His Man: Madison Althouse Stalker James L. Shankman UPDATE: Social F–ing Justice Theory? Shankman Quotes … Pope Leo XIII!

Posted on | March 18, 2011 | 47 Comments

Hey, did I call this one or what?

I’d expect online research maestro Dan Riehl is going to have much, much more to tell us about Mr. Shankman.

As soon as Shankman was ID’d as author of the anti-Althouse rant, Dan’s name crossed my mind and within a couple hours he was on the phone with Shankman:

Shankman is currently unemployed, claims to not be a member of a union and says he most often works as a dishwasher when employed. He insists that he does not advocate for violence and in some ways sought to distance himself from his “manifesto,” while also acknowledging authorship. He says he’s done with the issue and was simply giving voice to thoughts and rhetoric he “regularly hears in the street.”
“I’m done with it,” said Shankman . . .

Damn right you’re “done with it,” Jim — just like a cockroach is done feeding on crumbs when somebody turns on the kitchen light.

Go read the rest of Dan Riehl’s interview, and I’ll be back in a few minutes to tell you what’s been going on behind the refrigerator where this roach has been hiding.

UPDATE: On Althouse’s original post, commenter “Mike” wrote:

Kim’s the dean over at Benedictine college, we could always let her know what her son is up to.

That was one little tidbit I checked out last night, but it seemed like a long run for a short slide, so I dropped it and moved on to other things.

However, public records show that Jim Shankman has an address in Atchison, Kansas, and Kimberly Shankman, Ph.D. is dean of Benedictine College,  1020, N. 2nd St., Atchison, Kansas. A conservative, Dr. Shankman has written for the Claremont Institute, and was recently awarded a St. Thomas Aquinas Fellowship from a Catholic educational foundation.

Those who saw Shankman’s now-defunct Facebook page (see commenters at The Underground Conservative) say it indicated that Dr. Shankman was, indeed, his mother. If so, one wonders what went so horribly wrong in Jim Shankman’s life that the son of an eminent conservative Catholic academic became a ranting moonbat — and itinerant dishwasher — in Madison, Wisconsin.

More to the story? You betcha!

UPDATE II: Longtime readers know that, as a student of Mises and Hayek (and Calvinistic Protestant), I have from time to time criticized the Catholic “social justice” teachings of Rerum Novarum, Centesimus Annus, etc.

Grant that the Christian in business should think in terms of the Golden Rule, striving to deal righteously with his fellow man; nevertheless this obligation does not create “worker’s rights” in the sense that secular liberals conceive that term. And if the AFL-CIO is an agent of divine Providence, it is so only in the sense that Jehovah employed the Babylonians to smite ancient Israel. A wrathful God sometimes uses the heathen to chastise His straying children. But I digress . . .

It is interesting, in light of Catholic “social justice” theory, to find this in Dan Riehl’s interview with Jim Shankman:

While denying he is a socialist, or Marxist, Shankman labeled his economic ideology “distributionist.” He believes we should divide the wealth of America across the population “so that everyone can buy a house,” feed and support themselves, starting over from there based upon some concept modeled somewhat after Catholic charity.

Well, that was a quick Google search away:

Distributism (also known as distributionism, distributivism) is a third-way economic philosophy formulated by such Catholic thinkers as G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc to apply the principles of Catholic social teaching articulated by the Catholic Church, especially in Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum and more expansively explained by Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quadragesimo Anno.

So you see that Shankman’s adoption of this dangerous (and I dare say heretical) Catholic doctrine was what inspired his obscenity-filled rant against Ann Althouse: “God told me to f*** you up!”

(Aside: How did Chesterton get mixed up in this daft scheme? And what would G.K. say to find Shankman his self-proclaimed disciple?)

From Mises we learn that, ultimately, “Christian socialism” is . . . socialism. So it is just a different sort of good intentions that pave the proverbial road to a familiar and unfortunate destination. (“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man . . .”)

His mind darkened by this “distributionist” folly, Shankman ranted that advocates of economic liberty are “unkind, unChristian and anti-American.” As though those grim Calvinists who sought to make this land a “shining city on a hill” were un-American, you see. 

But come back in a bit. I’m not finished yet.

UPDATE III: Invariably, my many Catholic readers (who so often praise my writings on family issues) are offended when my aim is directed at their church’s “social justice” teaching. It would be a sin of omission on my part, however, if I did not speak out against this dangerous doctrine that seems to have filled Jim Shankman with so much self-righteous rage against Ann Althouse.

It would be wrong to bite my tongue merely to flatter those who, with “itching ears,” will not “endure sound doctrine.”

Now, I’m not blaming  Leo XIII or JPII for the Madison dishwasher’s anti-Althouse rant, nor saying that any other Catholics is complicit in Shankman’s spectacular application of the New Motherf–ing Tone. I do say, however, that Shankman’s left-wing “distributionist” mentality is a plausible interpretation of Rerum Novarum, and that therefore we ought to take seriously his demented beliefs.

The Catholic/Marxists who propagated heretical “liberation theology” also thought themselves divinely sanctioned to support the Sandinistas. They were taken seriously, and not dismissed as mere “kooks.” Yet how many American Catholics today support the Obama agenda on similar “social justice” grounds as Shankman? Tens of millions, I’d estimate.

“Jeez, what a pathetic loser,” Professor Reynolds says of Shankman, and Jim Hoft says, “The dude is nuts.”

As with Jared Loughner’s Zeitgeist obsession, it’s too easy to dismiss as insignificant or irrelevant the particular content of a crackpot’s madness, especially when so many seemingly “sane” people believe the same crazy things. Not every “social justice” fanatic posts hate-filled rants on the Internet, and not every 9/11 Truther turns into Jared Loughner (or Charlie Sheen). But if ideas have consequences, as Richard Weaver taught us, then bad ideas have bad consequences —  Judge Maryann Sumi’s restraining order, to cite an obvious example.

The Religious Left collects millions of dollars to propagate its heretical heaven-on-earth political gospel, poisoning the minds of gullible young people like Jim Shankman.

And yet not one of them ever hit my tip jar. Talk about “social injustice” — I’m a father of six. It’s for the children!

UPDATE IV: From the cache of Shankman’s Facebook page:

The source is quoted accurately, if out of context: Leo XIII’s so-called “just wage” doctrine from Rerum Novarum:

45. Let the working man and the employer make free agreements, and in particular let them agree freely as to the wages; nevertheless, there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, namely, that wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner. If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accept harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford him no better, he is made the victim of force and injustice.

To explain what’s wrong with that, as basic economics, would require a long argument. But it is wrong: There is no “just wage,” nor is there a “fair price.” 

Most of you are reading this blog for free — a relative handful of readers ever hit the tip jar — but this does not make me “the victim of force and injustice.” I’m just a clueless chump who hasn’t figured out a better scheme to monetize the full value of his blog traffic. If I ever find a way to de-chump myself, I’ll let you know in my final post before jetting off to my private island in the Caribbean.

But in the meantime, hit the tip jar, Ye Tight-Fisted Overlords of the Internet. I’m sure Mises or Hayek addressed themselves to this “just wage” fallacy somewhere. Maybe one of the oppressed peasants in the comments will link to a relevant treatise, just as one commenter already tipped me to this Facebook item.

Category: Ann Althouse, Dan Riehl, Economics, Unions, Wisconsin

Ladd Ehlinger: The Wisdom Of Niccolo In 1/10th The Space

Posted on | March 18, 2011 | 2 Comments

by Smitty

To paraphrase George S. Patton, “No bastard ever won an election by dying for his platform. He won the election by making some other poor dumb bastard die for his platform.”
Starting from a picture of George C. Scott as Blood-n-Guts, Ehlinger calls his 10 point essay ‘The Prince: Advice For Citizen Candidates‘. Ladd, of course, is the rebel auteur whose viral videos punched far above their weight in the 20082010 [thanks, Ladd] election cycle. By ‘Citizen Candidates’ he may not be including the Ruling Class Overlord types who would, say, hire foreigners over Americans.

A taste:

1. It’s a Marketing Campaign, Stupid

Just because the common nomenclature is “political campaign,” it doesn’t change the fact that you are embarking on a short-term marketing campaign.

Your stand on the issues matter little if no one knows who you are. Obviously, you can use your stand on the issues to help increase name recognition. But this is only one small component of the big picture. You are running a marketing campaign so people will investigate your stand on the issues. Don’t put the cart before the horse.

If you’re a newbie candidate, your name recognition is the first and primary obstacle you must overcome.

That means hiring a marketing team. That means videos. That means social media. That means pulling out all the stops. Everything must be geared to taking this hill.

Special tip: Going to public functions and shaking hands is good for local races, but when you have to reach out to 100,000 or more people, that’s a secondary priority to mass media.

2. Polling Is For Morons

You’re a newbie candidate. No one knows who you are, so your standing in the polls will of course be pathetic. If you’re going to run, run to change the polls. Don’t run based on what polls say. Don’t change your views based on what polls say. Figure out how to market your views. Your job is to change the polls in your favor. Period.

And never, ever wait to do something because you’re “waiting on your polling data to come back” (see next).

Read, and heed, the whole thing.

Category: Ladd Ehlinger

Can You Hear Me Cheering From The Middle Of Asia?

Posted on | March 18, 2011 | 4 Comments

by Smitty (via Cubachi)

Oh Kentucky, the pride you must feel in having a Senator who is packin’ the gear:

Senator Rand Paul unveiled his five-year path to a balanced budget, which includes cutting four federal government departments: Departments of Education, Energy, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development.

The proposal also calls for the repeal of “Obamacare,” leaves entitlements untouched, and he also said he is willing to make changes to the cuts, but there will have to be cuts elsewhere.

That’s by no means a destination, but quite a bit better start than others have been willing to undertake.
Jamie Radtke, you know what you gotta do.

Update: More at Ace of Spades HQ.

Category: Ace of Spades, Blogging, Kentucky

Althouse Discovers A Problematic Pattern With Our Society: Living In The Present Tense

Posted on | March 18, 2011 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

Concerning the punkish online behavior of a couple of people she’s encountered in the last three weeks:

Even if you have no human kindness at all and care only about yourself, how can a moment of passion be worth all the damage you do to your reputation? Do you think a potential employer who reads something like what we discussed here and here would consider hiring you? You may think you are really just a harmless guy with “good politics,” having some fun, and you may not care at all whether you scare me or not, but you are hurting yourself.

The cultural divide could not be more stark. The young lack all capacity to step back and view their lives from a distance. They tend toward the momentary: morally, mentally, sexually, professionally. The scope of their vision doesn’t really extend past the next SMS message on the phone.
This is the fruit of Progress. The opposite of liberty is dependency. These young idiots are secure in their faith that an exception will be found for any transgression. The Government God will never actually punish; an exception will always be found, or the violated rule ignored. The Government God is all mushy sentimentality, and always gives another subsidy. Justice is a capitalistic notion, carried out by the Satanic market. This is why the idolatrous, Satanic markets must be stripped of their capitalistic priests and made subservient to the Government God. Government God will re-distribute the seized goods of the capitalistic priests in accordance with notions of Real Lawful Justice.
Past all that sad farce, these kids need de-programming, if that is possible. They’ve been enslaved by Progressives and are totally confused. They badly need to be held accountable for their actions, allowed to fail, and permitted to let hunger and want teach them the value of things in the real world.

Update: As a case in point, via Drudge, we have a brawl over rule-breaking on the subway in New York:

In the video, which contains profanity, starts with some arguing. Then one woman says, “What kind of animals eat on the train?”

The woman eating the spaghetti responds, “What kind of fat ****** looks like you?”

The back-and forth continues until both women stand up and get in each other’s faces. Then the spaghetti went flying and the two passengers start a physical confrontation. Other people on the broke up the fight but the back and forth continues until the video ends.

The notion of there being any enforceable rules eludes the spaghetti eater. Had a suitable authority figure been the one to call her out, it would have been raaaaacism, and Al Sharpton would have been conjured to plead the unfairness of the situation to a slobbering media.
Witness that media stunned at the lack of looting in Japan after the recent tragedy. Just to be perfectly clear, I have plenty of heathen relatives in my own extended family who have, in their own way, been the spaghetti-eater in the subway equation. There is not shred #1 of racial specificity in the cultural problem at hand.
What to do? I was walking back from a workout the other day, and my T-shirt had come un-tucked from my gym shorts. A very junior petty officer, walking the other way, said “Check your shirt.”
I replied “You’re right. Thanks,” tucked the T-shirt into my gym shorts. Completely minor point of uniformity, but the junior sailor was correct and my place was to shut up and stand corrected.

Category: Ann Althouse

Virginia: Jamie Radtke For U.S. Senate? George Allen Had Better Guard His Six

Posted on | March 18, 2011 | 5 Comments

by Smitty

Though only a Virginian for the past twelve years, it’s hard to avoid a passion for the country if you spend much time in the Commonwealth. Patriotic radiation coming from Mount Vernon, perhaps. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to see someone like Jamie Radtke appear on the scene and command attention.

Waking Up Is Hard To Do
The 2006 election of James Webb to the Senate was over three syllables uttered in August, which triggered 30 stories in the Washington Post within two months (!) and led to a vast 0.3% margin of triumph for Webb. Though I didn’t vote for the gentleman, I did harbor hopes that a Vietnam veteran and fellow Naval Academy grad would prove something other than a tool of those who’d put him in office. Rather a wash, overall.

Possibly my criticism of Senator Webb’s tenure has even been caustic. In any case, one hopes the door doesn’t impact Webb’s backside on exit.

But what of George Allen? On the one hand, it’s possible to lower the anti-elitist boom on the fellow:

By “mistakes,” Viguerie is referring to Allen’s voting record in the Senate. He voted for No Child Left Behind and President George W. Bush’s Medicare prescription drug program. Radtke has said Allen’s voting record helped add $3.1 trillion to the national debt, including $90 billion in earmarks.

That all seems so long ago, way back in 2 BLF (Before Liberal Fascism), when I joined a growing cadre of Americans wondering if maybe the Ruling Class wasn’t driving the country off a cliff.

Is George Allen A Special Case?
Past the recreational egalitarian sentiment, there are indeed some things to admire about Senator Allen:

  • He sucked it up. He never, to my knowledge, has publicly complained about the blatant WaPo propaganda campaign in 2006. One admires winners over whiners.
  • He’s a team player. He has supported even the tough campaigns, where I got to meet him personally.
  • Experience is not a dis-qualifier. While the notion of staffing all of the elected positions in the Federal government via the Boston phone book makes a great thought experiment, it does help to have a few old goats around who at least know the rules of the Senate, plus maybe the location of one or two bodies.

Torpedo The Dams Anyway?
Despite the wisdom of retaining some experience, there is the notion that the GOP insiders are simply too compromised to be trusted, no matter how much fellow Virginia resident Dan Riehl springs to their defense.  Which brings us back to Ms. Radtke:

Another way Radtke is different from Allen is she’s likely to line up more with DeMint, Paul and Sens. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, and Mike Lee, Utah Republican. Allen’s critics say he’s more likely to play ball with the Republican leadership.

Radtke is also a staunch defender of grassroots activism, and believes in the power of the Tea Party movement. “Not just in Virginia, but everywhere, there is no doubt that I believe that our salvation depends on the grassroots movement,” Radtke said. “They will either continue to be committed and passionate and determined to keep their liberty and push government out of their lives or not. And, I believe that they are.”

Radtke has faith in the Tea Party’s ability to remain influential, adding that the two-year-old movement is “getting more sophisticated” and “learning what worked and didn’t work and improving upon that.” She thinks it’s funny, though, that so many “Republicans in Name Only,” or RINOs, are trying to attach themselves to the vibrant Tea Party movement. Radtke noted that Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, has appeared at several different Tea Party events as of late, and laughed about a new Virginia group, “Tea Party Patriots for George Allen.”

“We were going to start calling them TINOs, or ‘Tea Party in Name Only,’” Radtke joked. “That’s going to be our new nickname for them.”

The Old Guard Vs. The Young Turks
Moving to a conclusion, then, three points at least may apply:

  • The Old Guard has some ‘splainin’ to do. Just as Mitt has to answer the mail on RomneyCare, George Allen has to articulate the lessons he’s learned about the Ghosts of Legislation Past. And the explanations had better be good.
  • The budget for laurels has been cut. Every candidate should face a challenge in the primary. The Ruling Class, with its elitist sense of entitlement, can go to Old Europe. Once the primaries are done, then conservatives should get behind the victor with full support. Another Lisa Murkowski incident, like abortion, should be opposed.
  • Detail Counts. George Allen’s experience could best be deployed by going to the People That Know and getting real answers. What is the ground truth on entitlements, and what are the attainable things that can be done in the next administration? Experience could make George a Patriot In Fact (PIF) like Senator Jim DeMint, etc. in contrast to the RINOs who are “not good at getting things done, but, rather, talking about things as if they had been done,” to quote an old derelict I know.

As a Virginian, the historical bar is set high. Gov. McDonnell and AG Cuccinelli are carrying on a fine tradition. Radtke may well prove to ready to cruise at that altitude.  George Allen is by no means either out of the picture or sitting in the catbird seat.  Exciting times.

More at Bearing Drift.

Category: Election 2012, Virginia

LIVE AT FIVE – 03.18.11

Posted on | March 18, 2011 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

Well, not exactly. The Mighty Wombat appears to be under the weather, still. While awaiting his restoration to full health, your attention is drawn to the equally formidable Jimmie Bise.
Get better, Wombat!

Category: Live at Five

Note To Tim Pawlenty: Ladd Ehlinger

Posted on | March 17, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

SOL/Puffington Host reports that Governor Pawlenty has retained some Canuck named Baiano to improve the cut of his jib:

Lucas Baiano, a 23-year-old former Hillary Clinton supporter, is Canadian-born and dresses in perfectly-starched white shirts, slim-fitting sports jackets and tight designer jeans.

His job is to make Pawlenty appear larger than life. And he’s good at it.

I don’t know what unplugged knob of a consultant argued for that call, but how did you overlook His Laddness, the Laddage, the Guy With The Ladd Attitude?

This is not the time for ‘Minnesota Nice’, Governor. The country is on the ropes. Full tilt boogie, sir.

Update: Now, I guess you can logically assert that ‘full tilt boogie’ might imply playing the Dale Peterson card. But it need not necessarily do that. Without resorting to a firearm, for example, Tim Pawlenty could be dressed in hockey gear and doing a high-speed slalom down the ice with a puck through a forest of teleprompters. Quotations from any Barely Honest Onager that comes to mind could be scrolling up the prompters as Pawlenty maneuvers. After navigating them, Pawlenty faces a lone goalie. Pawlenty does a sliding, lunging shot on goal and scores.
He gets up and collects himself, and skates over to the goalie. The goalie removes his mask, revealing Wayne Gretzky.
Gretzky: “Yeah, that was OK, but stick to politics.”

Category: Election 2012, Ladd Ehlinger, Minnesota

If I Had A Dollar For Every Time Someone Like A Fat Film Maker With A Baseball Cap Blathered About Insufficient Taxation, I Could Buy A Death-Porn Doorstop

Posted on | March 17, 2011 | 7 Comments

by Smitty (title allusion)

Stephen Edwin King: Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform.

“As a rich person, I pay 28 percent tax… what I want to ask you is, why am I not paying 50?”

Balls. Why don’t we, as a thought experiment, separate the gentleman from all of his property. All numbers are morally equivalent after all. Why stop at 50? Would sudden poverty be a cure for King’s idiocy? What about the rest of the country? Stay tuned, sports fans.
Aside: I don’t read horror fiction or movies. Not my kind of catharsis.

Update: Driscoll-lanche!

Category: Taxes
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