Oh, Please, Give Me Another Unnecessary Lecture About Classical Liberalism

Posted on | November 19, 2020 | 1 Comment

Nothing annoys me quite so much as people who presume me to be so ignorant of political philosophy that they must tutor me. Sometimes this happens in the comments (you know who you are) whenever I use the word “liberal” to mean, roughly, whatever Democrats believe this week.

Conservatism, in the American sense, is opposition to liberalism.

An American conservative is not to be confused with a Tory. The Brits have their own peculiar system of government, their own parties and coalitions which are distinct from ours, so that their Tories — operating under the name of the Conservative Party — may in many ways align with conservatives here in the U.S. of A., but an American conservative is something different, because America is different. Q.E.D.

The conservative movement in America congealed in the 1950s, at a time when liberalism (so-called) was not merely the guiding principle of the Democratic Party — Adlai Stevenson was an avowed liberal — but when many Republicans also considered themselves liberal. It was the project of Bill Buckley to cure America of this problem, and thus his 1959 classic was called Up From Liberalism. There are those who say that the conservative movement has largely failed and, while I recognize the validity of this claim (e.g., same-sex “marriage,” mandated by a Supreme Court whose majority decision was written by Reagan-appointed Justice Kennedy), the movement has also recorded a certain number of victories. We can only imagine how worse matters might have been had liberalism been permitted to advance unopposed. But I digress . . .

Because the left wing of the Democratic Party has now gone so far leftward that one needs a telescope to glimpse its furthest extremity, there are those who say that “liberal” is no longer meaningful. There are others who say that Democrats were never really liberal anyway, that their adoption of this label in the 1920s was from its inception a sort of hijacking, since what FDR’s supporters meant by “liberal” had very little to do with classical liberalism — John Locke and all that.

Whenever I denounce liberalism, invariably someone will pop up to say, “But what about classical liberalism?” As if I never heard the term!

And if, by the steady leftward drift of the Democratic Party, they have long ago abandoned even the pretense of liberalism, so what?

Nowadays, we usually speak of “the Left” when describing the activists and ideologues who dominate the Democrats, but is “liberal” no longer meaningful to describe Democrats? Would it be better to call them “progressives,” as they now more often describe themselves?

Discussing terminology like this is a colossal waste of time. Yes, I know that Friedrich Hayek never called himself a “conservative” and preferred to be called a “liberal,” but so what? Why do you feel compelled to lecture me about “classical liberalism,” as if I were a schoolboy in need of your tutoring? All of this rant, by the way, was inspired by Ed Driscoll linking to a column about “classical liberalism” by Sarah Downey.

Downey’s main point seems to be calling out the Stalinist impulse of “cancel culture” on the Left, which I consider just a logical next step in the slide down the slippery slope. Hayek’s classic The Road to Serfdom was intended to warn Western liberals about this tendency, by which even as early as the 1940s we had already begun moving by incremental steps in a totalitarian direction. There can be no liberty without economic liberty, and the power to deprive people of their livelihood for political reasons — which is what “cancel culture” is about — is the ultimate source of totalitarian authority. Creating phony controversies (Downey discusses how transgenderism was used to “cancel” Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling) is an exercise in thought control enforced by the economic power of boycott. The real issue at stake is not pronouns, but rather power; the Left is merely exploiting transgenderism in the same way the Left exploits racial issues, and for the same purpose — to accumulate political power. As always, this expansion of power involves the destruction of freedom, and if First Amendment liberties are being shredded for the sake of a transgender agenda that few people actually understand, an issue which directly affects only a tiny percentage of the population, so what? The Left seeks to increase its power “by any means necessary,” and they aren’t scrupulous as to their tactics.

People alarmed by the latest manifestation of the Left’s totalitarian impulse are missing the point if, like Downey, they imagine they can shame Democrats into abandoning their current project by pointing out how it contradicts basic principles of old-fashioned liberalism. In fact, American liberalism has always been a Gordian knot of contradictions; there was never a time when these contradictions were not apparent. Anyone who ever expect liberals to be consistent was certain to be disappointed, which is why FDR’s New Deal coalition finally unraveled during LBJ’s presidency in the 1960s. An awful lot of people who considered themselves liberals (Ronald Reagan was once a self-declared “bleeding heart” liberal) discovered that the alleged “principles” of liberalism led to policy disasters that hurt the people whom liberals claimed they were trying to help. Liberals in theory support public schools; in practice, however, liberalism ruins public schools, while every liberal sends their own children to private schools, if they can afford it. Contradictions like this rapidly multiplied in the 1960s, and some liberals driven out of the Democratic Party coalition by the catastrophic failures of liberal policy began calling themselves “neoconservatives.”

Do I want to review this entire history now? No, I do not. My point is that arguing over semantics like this is a waste of time. It is all very good for Downey to inform her young friends that speech codes and cancel culture are inherently illiberal. But do I need another lecture about “classical liberalism”? No, thank you. I am not afraid to call myself a conservative, but if you don’t like the connotations of that word, you can call yourself anything you’d prefer. As long as you never vote for Democrats (and don’t presume to lecture me), we’ll get along just fine.

Category: Intellectuals, Liberals

Send Ben Sasse to Afghanistan

Posted on | November 18, 2020 | Comments Off on Send Ben Sasse to Afghanistan

Give him a rifle and a one-way ticket to Kabul:

U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after it was reported that the U.S. is withdrawing thousands of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Headlines about ‘bringing the boys home’ sound good, but that’s not what’s happening. After this retreat, there will still be American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most important question is whether those remaining troops will be able to prevent al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, Iranian proxies, and others from plotting attacks that can spill American blood, or if they will be exposed as jihadis gain ground. Terrorists will exploit vacuums – President Obama’s 2011 withdrawal from Iraq opened the door for ISIS. I fear this weak retreat is not grounded in reality and will make the world a more dangerous place.”

We’ve been there 20 years, and it’s OK with me if the Pentagon wants to maintain a strategic “footprint” in Afghanistan — an airbase with sufficient force to protect our assets — but I’d like some honesty from our leaders about the nature of our mission there. This bellicose rhetoric about a “weak retreat” does not enlighten the public about what we’re doing over there and why we’re doing it. Maintaining a “forward base of operations” just in case Iran or some other future enemy in the region wants to make trouble? Fine. But tell the truth.

Unfortunately, Ben Sasse went to Harvard University, an institution full of traitors, cowards and liars. No honest man would go to Harvard.

Category: Aghanistan

Dopehead Biker Dies of ‘White Privilege’ and Blunt-Force Trauma, But Mainly …

Posted on | November 18, 2020 | Comments Off on Dopehead Biker Dies of ‘White Privilege’ and Blunt-Force Trauma, But Mainly …

. . . it was the blunt-force trauma:

A Berkeley County deputy will not face charges in connection with a fatal collision with a motorcycle that occurred in Summerville in April [2017].
A grand jury convened Thursday in Dorchester County and declined to indict for reckless homicide, according to Senior Assistant Solicitor Don Sorenson with the First Circuit Court.
“They found there was not enough evidence,” Sorenson said.
Robert Lee Clark Jr., 30, of Goose Creek, died after his Harley Davidson collided with Deputy James Vansant’s SUV on Main Street, near Richardson Avenue, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the lead investigative agency in the case. Berkeley County sheriff’s officials said its agency also conducted its own investigation.
Vansant has been on leave from the sheriff’s office since the April 19 crash.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said Vansant will remain on leave until the sheriff’s office completes its internal investigation.
He reiterated that Clark was driving “erratically” and failed to stop.
“It is important to realize that deputies have a dangerous job. Traffic stops and domestic violence investigations are among the most dangerous and unpredictable things that they do. It’s unfortunate that a loss of life occurred in this case and both families have been impacted by this incident,” Lewis said.
In the days after the incident, fellow members of the local motorcycle community gathered at Hutchinson Square to rally against the sheriff’s office and its pursuit policy.
The sheriff’s office was also quick to release dash cam footage of the chase and crash, which showed the deputy’s vehicle hit the motorcycle two different times. But sheriff’s officials said they believed Clark failed to shift properly, slowing the bike and causing the officer’s SUV to hit it. Vansant’s vehicle was traveling at more than 100 mph during parts of the chase.
The sheriff’s office said the chase started when Vansant observed the motorcycle traveling 66 mph in a 45 mph zone headed toward Crowfield Boulevard from Interstate 26. At the time Vansant was conducting radar near Ace Hardware on College Park Road, an incident report stated.
Despite lights and sirens, Clark failed to stop for the deputy and a 7-mile chase ensued. Dash cam footage showed the motorcyclist fluctuate in speed during the event. The motorcyclist also made “abrupt lane changes” at times, Vansant wrote in his report. A second deputy also joined the chase at Ridge Church Road.
The motorcyclist crashed when he swerved to avoid a third vehicle that had stopped for lights and sirens, and in trying to speed away, missed a gear, slowed down the bike and forced it to clip the front of Vansant’s vehicle, the sheriff’s office said. Clark and his bike crashed into the curb.

I found this story after watching video of the April 2017 pursuit:

Do “fellow members of the local motorcycle community” believe speed limits should not apply to them? Why? Because they’re white?

Honestly, that’s the only possible explanation why anyone would attempt to defend what Clark did. He was carrying nearly two ounces of marijuana when the deputy blue-lighted him and maybe — in his feeble dopehead brain — he thought he could get away, so he took off running for seven miles at speeds in excess of 100 mph. You watch enough police pursuit videos, and after a while you start hoping for the suspect to die, preferably in a spectacular crash, like when a Texas bank robber at the wheel of a Dodge Challenger “veered off the road, hit a power pole and went airborne into a tree.” Die, criminal, die!

The dead criminal in that case was black, and it would be racist of me not to applaud the death of a white criminal with equal enthusiasm.

We need to have a serious talk in this country about crime. Complaints about “mass incarceration” miss the point. People would not be incarcerated if they hadn’t broken the law, but they also wouldn’t be incarcerated if the cops had just killed them while they had the chance.

Maybe if we weren’t so sensitive about police using “excessive force,” there would be less crime. What if more Americans were like this grand jury in South Carolina that refused to indict the deputy for running the dopehead biker off the road? That is to say, what if we as a society stopped being so sympathetic toward criminals, and instead supported law enforcement as the authorized guardians of our safety?

Democrats like Joe Biden say law enforcement is part of “systemic racism” and what if we stipulate this, for the sake of argument? If enforcing the law is “white supremacy,” what does this say about situations where cops kill a white criminal? Will the SPLC say my lack of sympathy for white criminals is part of “white supremacy”?

Frankly, I would hesitate to deny such an accusation. Expecting people to conform to the rules of civilized society, and authorizing police to use force against those who don’t comply — if that’s what “white supremacy” means, then who wouldn’t be a “white supremacist”?

Americans have for too long permitted criminals, whatever their race, to impose on our sympathy. Too many movies have celebrated the outlaw as a heroic or romantic figure, which has resulted in a diminished respect not only for police, but for law-abiding citizens. White people are deeply implicated in this hero-worship of criminals. The Godfather won multiple Academy Awards for its celebration of gangster life. If it’s OK for white people to romanticize the Mafia, isn’t it racist for us to complain about black teenagers who think it’s cool to be gangbanging with the Crips?

If we don’t want our society to descend into anarchy, we must stop having sympathy for criminals and start supporting law enforcement, even if this means we must forfeit the “white privilege” that would otherwise permit us to do 100 mph on a Harley with two ounces of weed.

Let’s face it, everybody would like to do that. Toke up a big spliff, hop on your Harley and — ZOOM! — off you go at 100 mph.

Just don’t try that in Summerville, South Carolina. They’ll run you off the road, and you’ll get zero sympathy from me, dopehead loser.

Category: Crime, South Carolina

In The Mailbox: 11.17.20

Posted on | November 17, 2020 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Director Blue: Statistical Proof – Smartmatic Vote Counting System Manipulated In GA, PA To Overturn Trump’s Victory
EBL: Save The Last Refuge/Conservative Treehouse
Twitchy: Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) Calls For “Widespread Investigation & Prosecution” Of Trump Administration Members
Louder With Crowder: Senator Cruz Shreds Big Tech CEOs For “Fact Checking” Voter Fraud Stories
Vox Popoli: Where Is The Trumpslide? also, Amended Claims Are Not Withdrawn

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: WordPress Don’t Need No Conservatives
American Conservative: “Decapitations” At DOD – “Purge”, “Coup”, Or Something Else?
American Greatness: Sworn Affidavit From High-Ranking Military Officer Claims Smartmatic Was Designed To Change Votes Without Being Detected
American Power: Leftists Crushed By Failure Of “Emerging Democratic Coalition” To Emerge
American Thinker: Justice Department Prosecuting Democrats “Ringing Up” Votes In Philly
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Ethanol News
Babalu Blog: Boasting How She Beat The “Republican Cuban Establishment” Didn’t End Well For Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
BattleSwarm: Tolerant Liberals Ban To Kill A Mockingbird, also, Blogging & Its Discontents
Cafe Hayek: Quotation Of The Day
CDR Salamander: So What Happened With Azerbaijan & Armenia?
Da Tech Guy: Even As Jack Denies Twitter Censorship To Ted Cruz Under Oath, I’m Locked Out A Fourth Time Over Benford’s Law, also, Report From Louisiana – Governor Wins Another Challenge
Don Surber: What Happens When You Run Out Of Other Peoples’ Money
First Street Journal: Professor “Unfriended” By Virginia Wesleyan U, also, Could The Credentialed Media fawn Any Harder Over Joe Biden?
The Geller Report: Smartmatic Director Admitted Their System Was Able To Create “At Least One Million” Phantom Votes In 2017 Venezuela Election, also, Dominion Director Of Strategy & Security Eric Coomer – “Trump Won’t Win, I Made F***ing Sure Of That”
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, also, Hate Crimes
Hollywood In Toto: How Dystopian Low End Kid Captures Our Risk-Averse Age, also, Why Dennis Quaid’s Reagan Biopic Can’t Arrive Soon Enough
JustOneMinute: A Speedbump On The Road To An Eternally Emerging Democratic Majority
The Lid: AZ SecState Hobbs Accused Trump Of Being “On The Side Of Nazis” Mutliple Times
Legal Insurrection: Burgess Owens Flips UT-4 Back To GOP, also, Democrats Already Pressuring Joe Biden To Forgive Student Loans
Michelle Malkin: COVIDGATE – The Corruption Of Clinical Trials (Part 1)
Power Line: Terrorists Can’t Hide From Israel Or Trump, also, Voter Fraud – The Crime That Must Not Be Mentioned
Shark Tank: FL Democrats Call For Mask Mandate
Shot In The Dark: Real Science Vs. Media Science
The Political Hat: When Everyone Is White
This Ain’t Hell: Vets’ Trucks Targeted? also, Boss Tweed Would Be So Proud
Victory Girls: A Democratic Socialist Is Nothing More Than A Socialist
Volokh Conspiracy: Biden Transition Team Member’s Op-Ed On “Why America Needs A Hate Speech Law”
Weasel Zippers: CA Legislators Head To Hawaii With Lobbyists Despite COVID Rules Prohibiting It, also, Trump Resumes Tradition Of Wreaths At Arlington
The Federalist: Democrats Claim They Want “Unity” But Keep Calling Me A Nazi, also, California & Washington Lawmakers Flee To Hawaii After Cancelling Thanksgiving
Mark Steyn: The Way You Look Tonight, also, Election By Algorithm

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Category: Linkagery

Convicted Sex Offender Charged in Attack on Trump Supporters at D.C. Event

Posted on | November 17, 2020 | 2 Comments

Saturday’s pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C., was a gigantic success, and the attacks on Trump supporters after the rally gave further indication of who and what “Black Lives Matter” really represents:

A man caught on video sucker-punching a Trump supporter in Washington, D.C., this weekend is also a registered child sex offender.
“39-year-old Kenneth Wayne Deberry, of Southwest, DC, was arrested for Disorderly Conduct – Inciting Violence, Aggravated Assault and Felon in Possession of a Firearm after he was found to be in possession of a handgun,” DC Metro Police said in an announcement of arrests made following violence against Trump supporters after the “Million MAGA March.”
Deberry is also a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2008 of second-degree child sexual abuse against a person under 16 years of age in Washington, D.C. . . .
“The suspects were involved in a collaborative effort to incite violence during first amendment assemblies at the listed location. One of the suspects struck the victim rendering him unconscious. Other suspects assaulted the victim and took his property. Four suspects were apprehended at the scene by responding officers,” police said in a statement.

The same media that told us this summer’s riots were “mostly peaceful protests” have been lying about the Black Lives Matter movement since it began in 2014. It is not a movement against “systemic racism,” but a movement against law enforcement, period. Rather, it is an organization whose purpose is to promote terrorist violence against police, and also to incite anti-white racial hatred in the black community.

Certainly it is not a coincidence that the “activist” Kenneth DeBerry is a convicted sex offender. Recall that in Kenosha, it was convicted child rapist “JoJo” Rosenbaum who attacked Kyle Rittenhouse.

This is entirely logical. A “protest” movement against law enforcement will automatically attract criminals, perverts, and maniacs motivated by every warped and destructive impulse that otherwise might be restrained by law, custom and religion. “Systemic racism” is merely a propaganda slogan around which this terrorist movement is organized.

Category: Crime, Terrorism

In The Mailbox: 11.16.20

Posted on | November 17, 2020 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 11.16.20

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Red Pilled Jew: Random Thoughts
357 Magnum: The News
Director Blue: NYT Real-Time Election Data Seems To Confirm Massive Georgia Vote Fraud
EBL: Two Reviews – Liberator and Let Him Go
Twitchy: “The Recount In Georgia Is A Sham” – AP’s Fact-Check of President Trump Gets Fact-Checked
Louder With Crowder: PM Zoolander Exposes Truth About Pandemic, also, Five Videos Of Antifa Attacking The “Million MAGA March” You Need to See
Vox Popoli: The Election Arrests Begin, also, Proof Of Pennsylvania Fraud
Stoic Observations: A Proper Race Booklist, If You’re Sick Of Critical Race Theory

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Trump Will Win, also, This Is Why Prog Women Are Angry All The Time
American Conservative: The Extremist At Dominion Voting Systems
American Greatness: Antifa Terrorists Viciously Attack Women, Children, & Elderly Following Million MAGA March, also, The Trump CT Scanner
American Power: With Trench Warfare Deepening, Parties Face Unsettled Electoral Map
American Thinker: What’s Kraken? also, It’s A Coup! Just Say It!
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Cuban Americans – American As Apple Pie & Cuban As Pan Con Lechon
BattleSwarm: Joe Rogan On Antifa, also, Election Fraud Update For November 16
Cafe Hayek: Keeping COVID Perspective, also, Persuasion Isn’t Predation
CDR Salamander: Carriers, Workhorse & Warhorse, On Midrats
Da Tech Guy: Make California Crazy Again, also, Not A Bad General Election For Illinois Conservatives
Don Surber: Judge Threw Out PA Election Over Fraud – In 1994, also, National Review Likes Being A Chump
First Street Journal: What’s Happened To The First Street Journal? also, Governors Depend On Officious Little Pricks To Enforce Their Authoritarian Decrees
The Geller Report: Biden Campaign Director Arrested For Electoral Fraud, also, Dominion Voting Systems Security Chief Participated In Antifa Calls, Posted Antifa Manifesto Letter To Trump Online
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, I Never Had A Student Loan
Hollywood In Toto: Seven Reasons The #FireGinaCarano Hashtag Campaign Matters, also, Target Flirts With Censorship As Free Speech Groups Yawn
JustOneMinute: Running Out Of Ways To Win
The Lid: Big Tech Silences Conservative News With Sick New Tactic, also, Obama Is Disappointed That Millions Of You Are Questioning Election Results
Legal Insurrection: GOP Scores Big Gains In House, Pelosi Barely Hanging On, also, Media Collusion To Smother Biden Influence Peddling Scandal Worked
Power Line: There Is No “I” In Team, But Plenty In Rice, also, Conspiracy Theory Or Stolen Election?
Shark Tank: Essential Workers In Florida’s Blue Collar Economy Gain Political Strength Following November Election
Shot In The Dark: This Is The Song That Never Ends…, also, Your Lyin’Eyes
The Political Hat: Corona-chan Brings Communism To LA
This Ain’t Hell: Media Catches Heat For Ignoring Violent Leftist Attacks On Trump Supporters, also, A Scumbag Gets Whacked
Victory Girls: Biden Cancer Initiative To Nowhere
Volokh Conspiracy: We Now Have More Parler Subscribers Than Twitter Subscribers
Weasel Zippers: Philly Mob Boss May Have Been Involved In Stealing Election For Biden, also, Biden Transition Official Wrote Op-Ed Calling For Restrictions On Free Speech
The Federalist: Republicans Have Good Reason Not To Trust The Election Results, also, Berkeley Prof Says Questioning Surgical Experimentation On Minors Is Fascist, But Burning Books Is A-OK
Mark Steyn: The Ghost, also, An Ambulance With No Chasers

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Category: Linkagery

Bob Chipman’s Kiwi Farms Fan Club

Posted on | November 16, 2020 | Comments Off on Bob Chipman’s Kiwi Farms Fan Club

How did I not realize that “MovieBob” Chipman had a Kiwi Farms file? Yes, of course he would, but I never knew it until Saturday, when a Kiwi linked back to my post about Chipman. If you are unfamiliar with Kiwi Farms, usually the best way to read a Lolcow file is to scan the first page to get the basics, and then go to the end and read backwards to get the latest developments. Right now, Chipman has his Twitter account locked, but he promises to unlock it this week. Meanwhile, however, the Kiwi’s still have access and are updating us on Chipman’s ongoing activity. Did you know — and I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn — that Chipman is a big fan of the Netflix pedophile movie Cuties? Also, he loves him some trannies, so that he was enraged when Target decided against banning a book critical of the transgender cult. He hates Tulsi Gabbard.

All kinds of fun stuff you can learn from the Kiwi Farms file on MovieBob, like the time he referred to Republican voters as “obsolete hinterland mayonnaise ghouls.” Classy guy, that Bob. So sad that he has now completely trashed his already trashy reputation.

UPDATE: In a note appended to a 2018 anti-Trump rant, Chipman makes explicit the nature of his grievance against Red State America:

I seldom end up saying anything I genuinely regret or feel I’m “wrong” about, and I’m certainly not losing any sleep over the myriad euphamisms I’ve managed to conjure from the bile when it comes to The GOP, the political wasteland of “Red State” America and the Trump Cult in particular. I’m well aware that not everyone likes the fact that I won’t pretend to have patience for “economic anxiety” or the supposed marginalization of “Rust Belt Whites” as excuses for plain-to-see bald-faced racism, and if nothing else “The Obsolescents,” “Mayonnaise Ghouls” and “Trashlings” are more fun to work with rhetorically than just constantly heaving an exasperated sigh followed by “Look at this fucking asshole!”

You see, Mr. Midwestern Republican voter, your quaint belief that factory jobs for people in your town is a good thing is just an excuse for “bald-faced racism.” Elsewhere in the same rant, Chipman characterizes Tucker Carlson’s defense of Trump immigration policy as “out-and-proud White Ethno-Nationalism stopping only a few steps short of Carlson simply reading ‘The Fourteen Words’,” i.e., the murderous creed of neo-Nazi terrorist David Lane. The implications of this deliberate smear are numerous, including the suggestion that it is criminal — akin to Lane’s terrorist violence — to be concerned about your own economic prospects, if such a concern leads you to vote Republican.

Of course, perceived economic self-interest also motivates Democratic voters, but the legitimacy of their self-interest is immune to criticism in MovieBob’s universe. He is a native of deep-blue Massachusetts and therefore not prone to questioning his own motives. He is seemingly incapable of understanding, for example, that what he calls “the political wasteland of ‘Red State’ America” actually represents the rising force in our national affairs. When John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960, Massachusetts had 14 seats in the House of Representatives; it now has nine — a 36% loss of political influence. Texas had 22 House seats in 1960; it now has 36 seats — a 64% increase in its influence.

The counterfactual belief that Republican-voting areas are a “wasteland” full of obsolete “Mayonnaise Ghouls” is a rationalization by which Bob Chipman justifies his hatred of people he’s never even met. We need a word to describe irrational hatred based on negative stereotypes. Gosh, if only I could think of such a word. But I’m just a stupid Mayonnaise Ghoul from the political wasteland, and my vocabulary is quite limited.

Category: Celebrities

Rule 5 Sunday: Paulina Porizkova

Posted on | November 16, 2020 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Remember when Sports Illustrated used to have hot chicks in swimsuits adorning their issues, as opposed to landwhales espousing “body positive” Fatness? I remember, but I’m old. Anyway, while downloading The Cars’ debut album this weekend, it struck me that the Widow Ocasek would make a fine appetizer for this week’s Rule 5 post, and here she is from a 2014 Sports Illustrated photoshoot.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.