The Other McCain

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

There Is No Substitute for Victory

Posted on | December 2, 2019 | 1 Comment

 

My Army son got an eight-point buck (click on the photo to see full-size) Sunday morning in the Georgia hills, yet this was small consolation for Saturday night’s tragedy, of which it is still too painful for me to speak. I spent most of Sunday working on a column for The American Spectator, and when I called my editor, Wlady Pleszczynski, to discuss the story, he had the poor taste to make a joke about Saturday’s game. I resisted the temptation to respond with a Polak joke. SEC football etiquette lesson: One does not joke with a ’Bama fan after a game like that.

The column I was working on will not be posted until this afternoon, but it involved accusations of “racism” against a conservative, and let me say this: I am proud to be an Alabama-American. Although my parents immigrated to Atlanta before I was born, my ancestral roots in Randolph County are deep — two of my ancestors served in Alabama regiments during the War for Southern Independence, and my father graduated from the University in 1950, so I was raised with an Alabamian identity. Human beings are tribal by nature, you see, so that despite growing up in Georgia, my affinity was always for the tribal homeland, so to speak.

Team spirit is an expression of man’s tribal nature. Humans are social creatures, so that those Enlightenment philosophers who theorized about man in a “state of nature” — a solitary creature, totally free and ungoverned by any system of law — were all just eloquent fools. Even if one is an atheist Darwinian fanatic (which I’m not), it should be obvious that our most primitive ancestors who deserve the title “human” could not have survived without cooperation among their kindred, so they were governed by the Law of the Tribe (i.e., whatever shared customs were required to secure the necessary teamwork) long before they developed any means to codify their tribal laws in written form.

Furthermore — and this is something that most intellectuals ignore — we are not the descendants of failures. If any primitive clan of paleolithic hunters could not develop a shared code of moral norms and social custom that enabled them to survive natural hardship and to successfully compete against rival clans, those primitive humans did not survive to produce progeny. We are the descendants of the survivors, so that our very existence is flesh-and-blood testimony to the efficacy of our ancestors’ Law of the Tribe. When I consider the harsh conditions that existed in northeastern Alabama when my pioneer ancestors arrived on that frontier wilderness circa 1840, perhaps you can understand how profound my admiration is of their hardy nature, which enabled them to survive by the sweat of their brows, clearing the forests, tilling the soil, building cabins, etc. My ancestors were survivors, or else I wouldn’t be here, and so my sense of tribal pride — team spirit — should be as understandable as, for example, the descendant of Irish immigrants celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, or a third-generation Mexican-American kid at an Ivy League college who buys into all that radical Aztlán nonsense even though he’s barely fluent in Spanish. You must represent your tribe, and I must represent my tribe: Roll Tide!

 

These three younger members of the McCain Tribe — Jefferson is 20, Reagan is 16, and Emerson is 18 — represent somewhat of a hybrid, considering that their mother is an Ohio native. They can thus claim membership in the Buckeye Nation, and my wife’s kinfolk enjoy ragging me when the Buckeyes are up (now 12-0 after defeating their hated rival Michigan) and the Crimson Tide is down. But I love them anyway, because Jesus taught His followers that we should love our enemies, and so I must even forgive my wife’s ancestors for fighting on the wrong side in the War for Southern Independence. Selah.

Now, if a proud Alabama-American can love a Yankee, as I do my Ohio-born wife, then why should Americans hate each other so much over comparatively trivial distinctions of ethnicity? Just because I’m the patriarch of McCain Nation doesn’t mean I hate other people as inferior. However great our family’s accomplishments might be — hey, did your son kill an eight-point buck this weekend? — we know that other folks have their own useful traits and talents to add to the common good. Yea, verily, I say unto you, even some Auburn fans are worthwhile human beings. Just because I’ve never met an intelligent Auburn fan doesn’t mean all Auburn fans are all idiots, and there’s no point repeating the common stereotype of all Auburn girls being ugly sluts. In fact, some of those Auburn sluts are kind of cute. But I digress . . .

My point is that life has a way of separating human beings into two large categories: Winners and losers. You can measure success however you want — wealth, fame, political power, football prowess or whatever — but in the grand scheme of human life, it is life itself that we must count. Perhaps it is egotistical of me to think that success might best be measured by the number of my descendants, but everything else I might have accomplished in life seems to me insignificant when I consider the enormously greater impact my six children could have on the future of humanity. Whatever difference one McCain might make in the world, alone and unaided, is exponentially multiplied in the collective potential of six McCains. My wife and I have tried to raise our children with high standards and high expectations, and have thus far been pleased with their accomplishments. Already we have four grandchildren, and my wife took a flight south on Saturday headed toward a certain swing state with palm trees, where our oldest daughter lives. Read more

Category: Family, Shoe Leather Fund

FMJRA 2.0: Neuronengesang

Posted on | December 1, 2019 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Rule 5 Wednesday: Busy In The Kitchen
Animal Magnetism
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive
EBL

Devin Nunes Sues CNN and Daily Beast Over ‘Demonstrably False’ Stories
EBL

Crazy People Are Dangerous
Bacon Time
A View From The Beach
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: All About Chemistry
The Pirate’s Cove
A View From The Beach
EBL

Climate Change Cult Update
First Street Journal
Dark Brightness
A View From The Beach
EBL

Is This the Kanye Factor?
Bacon Time
EBL

Authorities: Remains of Aniah Blanchard Found; Two More Suspects Charged
Dark Brightness
Locomotive Breath
EBL

The Present Crisis
EBL

Hereditary Genius
EBL

In The Mailbox: 11.27.19
Proof Positive
EBL

Administrivia
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
EBL

Murder Charge Expected; Authorities Confirm Aniah Blanchard’s Remains
EBL

Why Do Democrats Hate Jesus?
Pushing Rubber Downhill
EBL

UPDATE: Sources Say Suspect in London Knife Attack Is NOT From Belgium UPDATE II: Male Violence in Netherlands
357 Magnum
EBL
A View From The Beach

Top linkers for the week ending November 29:

  1.  EBL (14)
  2.  A View From The Beach (6)

Thanks to everyone for all the linkagery!

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Try Amazon Music Unlimited Free Trial
Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans
Give the Gift of Amazon Prime




Category: FMJRA Award

The Other Podcast Gives Thanks

Posted on | November 30, 2019 | Comments Off on The Other Podcast Gives Thanks

John Hoge and I have done nearly 90 episodes of The Other Podcast, regularly scheduled on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET, and if you can’t listen live you can always catch the replays. Tonight, I’m being tortured by the fact that Alabama and Auburn are playing and it’s close. Too close.

Anyway, please tune in to The Other Podcast and enjoy it!




 

Category: The Other Podcast

Dutch Stabbing Attack Update

Posted on | November 30, 2019 | Comments Off on Dutch Stabbing Attack Update

Having updated readers earlier on the London stabbing attack, we now have more information about the attack in the Netherlands:

Police in the Dutch city of The Hague have arrested a man aged 35 over a stabbing attack on a shopping street on Friday, in which three teenagers were injured.
The suspect, who has no fixed abode, will be transferred to a police station for questioning, local police said.
Those hurt, two girls aged 15 and a boy of 13, did not know each other, and no motive has been reported.
Al three were released from hospital following treatment.
Police said earlier that they were investigating “several scenarios” and that it was “too early to speculate” about a possible terror motive.
The attack in The Hague came hours after a stabbing in London in which two people were killed and three injured before police shot dead the suspect.
British police say the London attack was a terrorist incident.

Notice how Europe’s police procedures (and press policies) are so different from those in the United States. In the U.S., police are more or less required to name any suspect arrested, and to release the mug shot of the suspect. While political correctness sometimes shapes press coverage of crime in America, most news organizations will not hesitate to pursue off-the-record sources to gather background information about cases. “Sources close to the investigation” will be cited to provide information about the motive, etc., and reporters will seek out witnesses, neighbors and family members in order to get a complete story about any major crime. Even if it’s one of those crimes that is strictly “local news” (because it reflects unfavorably on Democrat Party constituents), you can almost always get good stuff from local newspaper and TV reporters. Quality coverage of local crime — well, that sells newspapers, and American publishers are greedy capitalists, thank God.




 

Category: Netherlands, Terrorism

Pakistani-Born Usman Khan Named as Killer in London Bridge Knife Attack

Posted on | November 30, 2019 | 2 Comments

 

He doesn’t look Belgian* to me, and now we know why:

A “serious jihadist” who had been jailed over a plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange and potentially kill Boris Johnson has carried out a deadly assault in the heart of the British capital, triggering a political storm over why the knife-wielding terrorist was set free just a year earlier.
Heavily armed police shot dead Usman Khan on London Bridge after the 28-year-old stabbed two people to death and injured three others at a nearby conference on prison rehabilitation.
Khan launched the rampage — the second on the bridge in less than three years — at a Cambridge University conference called ‘Learning Together’ at the historic Fishmonger’s Hall. He had been invited to share his prison experience with participants and was fitted with an electronic tag to monitor his movements.
Khan stabbed delegates inside the building before running to London Bridge, where he was tackled by half a dozen members of the public. He was shot dead by heavily armed tactical officers within five minutes of the first call for help, and later found to be wearing a hoax suicide vest.
A man and woman were killed and three others injured — one critically. . . .
The Pakistani-born man was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2012 over a plot to detonate a bomb inside the stock exchange, and target other locations including the US embassy and the home of Johnson, then mayor of London and now Prime Minister. The jihadist and other members of a UK terror cell also planed to build and train at a terrorist military training facility in Kashmir, and discussed launching a Mumbai-style assault on Parliament.
Praising the bravery of members of the public who chased Khan and pinned him to the ground before police arrived, Johnson also suggested the killer should not have been on the streets.
“I have long argued that it is a mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early and it is very important that we get out of that habit and that we reinforce the appropriate sentence for dangerous criminals, and especially terrorists,” he said.

Cambridge University geniuses: “Hey, let’s invite a violent Pakistani jihadist to our conference, because what could possibly go wrong?”

And the sweetest touch of irony here is that the conference was called “Learning Together.” You think maybe they learned something?

Meanwhile, at The Hague:

An assailant stabbed three people Friday night in a busy shopping district in the Netherlands, and police were searching for the suspect, authorities said. . . .
A Dutch police spokeswoman said it was too early to establish a motive for the attack in The Hague.

Oh, “too early to establish a motive.” Could be anything. Might even be one of those radical Lutherans, for all we know.

– – – – – – – –

* “Belgian” — In my post about the London Bridge attack Friday, I sarcastically suggested a Belgian must be responsible. To explain: Back in 2009, when Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs smeared me as a “white supremacist,” I had a great time making fun of CJ’s paranoid fears, including how he smeared Pamela Geller as a “neo-fascist” because of her association with Vlaams Belang. That was a right-wing party in Belgium, led by Geert Wilders, that was concerned with the impact of Muslim immigration on their country. Geller, a Jewish conservative who has focused relentlessly on the threat of Islamic terrorism for more than 15 years, had traveled to Belgium to meet with European activists concerned with the threat to their own countries. According to CJ’s paranoid worldview, Geller hanging around right-wing Belgians was a worse danger than Al-Qaeda. Because the word Vlaams is Dutch for “Flemish,” I made it a running joke, whenever there was a terrorist attack, that the suspects must be Belgians — part of The Flemish Menace.

And who can ever forget Charles Johnson: Race Detective?

 

You ought to hit my tip jar if you appreciate quality sarcasm, even if you don’t know who the heck Charles Johnson is. He’s faded into complete obscurity, and really, that’s where he always belonged.

CORRECTION: Geert Wilders is Dutch, not Belgian. His leads the Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom). Apologies for the error.




 

Category: Great Britain, Terrorism, The Flemish Menace

UPDATE: Sources Say Suspect in London Knife Attack Is NOT From Belgium UPDATE II: Male Violence in Netherlands

Posted on | November 29, 2019 | 2 Comments

All day long, Fox News was reporting the knife attack on London Bridge in which a man reportedly stabbed five people, two of them fatally. And yet authorities in England will say nothing about the identity of the suspect or the motive behind what is plainly an act of terrorism.

Probably another Belgian extremist, I’d guess . . .

UPDATE: What? You’re telling me the suspect is not Belgian?

The knife attacker shot dead on London Bridge was known to police and had connections to terror groups, a security source said.
The attacker had links to Islamist terror groups, the security source added.
The knife-wielding terrorist, who was wearing a fake suicide vest and has not been named, was killed on London Bridge on Friday afternoon in full view of horrified onlookers.
The attacker was a convicted terrorist who had served time in prison and was wearing an electronic tag, according to The Times newspaper. The paper added he was attending a Cambridge University conference on prisoner rehabilitation being held at Fishmongers’ Hall and ‘threatened to blow up’ the building. . . .
[The Times quoted] unnamed Whitehall sources as saying the attacker had been released from prison around a year ago after serving time for a ‘terrorism-related offence’, and had agreed to wear an electronic tag.

My apologies to our Belgian readers for the earlier mistake.

UPDATE II: Further violence of mysterious motives:

Hours after London Bridge was shut down due to a stabbing attack, another stabbing incident was reported out of The Hague in the Netherlands.
Multiple media outlets report that a number of people were wounded during an attack that took place on the main shopping street in The Hague’s Grote Markt district. The attacker is believed to be male and is being pursued by the Dutch police as emergency services attend to the victims.

Oh, “the attacker is believed to be male“? Probably another “incel” misogynist from #GamerGate who’s angry at SJW remakes of his favorite movies like Ghostbusters. I mean, what else could it be? Feminists have assured us that white male terrorism is an “emergency,” right?




 

Category: Great Britain, Terrorism, The Flemish Menace

Why Do Democrats Hate Jesus?

Posted on | November 28, 2019 | 3 Comments

 

It’s Thanksgiving Day. Our two youngest sons, Jefferson and Emerson, are home from college, while my wife is roasting a turkey and preparing all the other delicious food for our afternoon feast. Meanwhile, Democrats are mad because a popular rapper is praising God:

An atheist group has gone on the attack against rapper Kanye West for performing his Sunday Service at a Texas prison claiming that the event was an “egregious” violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) blasted Texas Sheriff Ed Gonzalez for allowing the “Jesus Walks” rapper to appear at the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, on November 17 in a four-page letter.
Kanye West performed his weekly Sunday Service before more than 500 inmates, both male and female, in two different services at the county jail facilities. The performance was given high praise by Texas Governor Greg Abbott who tweeted out his compliments saying, “If he moves just one person closer to God the world will be a more peaceful place.”
But the FFRF was far less pleased with the rapper’s church service.
In its letter, the atheist group demanded that the county cease any other efforts to “organize or promote worship services in the future.”
However, a representative of the First Liberty Institute told Fox News that there is no reason that Kanye West should be barred from conducting a service in a county jail.
“Kanye West visited the Harris County Jail to offer hope and encouragement,” said Mike Berry, First Liberty chief of staff. “The last time I checked, you can do that in this country. If every sheriff in America invited Kanye West to visit their jails, we might have less need for jails.”

Let’s not pretend that we don’t know what who these atheists are, or what they’re really about. They are Democrats, who hate God for the same reason Democrats hate motherhood and patriotism — because they hate America, and anything that is good for America, Democrats are against.




 

Category: Celebrities, Culture, Religion, Texas

Murder Charge Expected; Authorities Confirm Aniah Blanchard’s Remains

Posted on | November 27, 2019 | Comments Off on Murder Charge Expected; Authorities Confirm Aniah Blanchard’s Remains

Ibraheem Yazeed, 29 (left) is suspected of murdering Aniah Blanchard, 19 (right).

She disappeared Oct. 23:

Authorities have positively identified the remains found in rural Macon County as those of Aniah Blanchard.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce that the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences has positively identified the remains as those of Aniah Haley Blanchard,’’ according to an Auburn Police press release.
“At this point, the case will move forward as a homicide investigation, and additional charges are forthcoming.” . . .
Human remains were found Monday during a search in the 38,000 block of County Road 2 in Shorter, Alabama. . . .
“That would have been the worst scenario, is that we were not be able to find and give the answers to this family,” said Auburn Police Chief Paul Register Wednesday afternoon. “We have spoken to the family. Obviously, they are heartbroken but at least they can now begin to deal with this and move forward.”
Officials are still waiting to learn the cause and manner of her death, said District Attorney Brandon Hughes.
Once that happens, Hughes said he and Register would discuss what additional charges might be filed in the case. Hughes said he will not comment on a possible time frame in which upgraded charges could be filed.
The announcement of the identification came exactly five weeks after Blanchard was last seen alive. Her disappearance sparked an outpouring of concern and support.
“I am heartbroken for the family of Aniah Blanchard,” Governor Kay Ivey said after Blanchard’s body was identified. . . .
Three people have been arrested in connection with Blanchard’s disappearance.
Ibraheem Yazeed, 29, and Antwain “Squirmy” Fisher, 35, are charged with first-degree kidnapping. Yazeed is being held in the Lee County Jail without bond. Fisher remains held on $50,000 bond. Authorities said Fisher “provided material assistance to Yazeed by providing transportation to Yazeed, and disposing of evidence,’’ according to court records.
David Lee Johnson Sr., 63, is charged with hindering prosecution. Authorities say he knew his son allegedly drove Yazeed to Florida, but instead told investigators Yazeed left his home with an unidentified woman. Johnson has been released on bond.
The Southern Union College student from Homewood was officially reported missing Thursday, Oct. 24. She last communicated with a friend late on the night of Oct. 23. Police said her vehicle was seen in the early-morning hours of Oct. 24 along South College Street.
Police recovered the teen’s black 2017 Honda CRV from an apartment complex on the 6100 block of Boardwalk Boulevard in Montgomery around 6:15 p.m. the following evening, which was Friday. A citizen reported the vehicle to police.
Charging documents against Yazeed state that blood evidence was discovered in the passenger’s compartment of the vehicle and was “indicative of someone suffering a life-threatening injury.” The evidence was submitted to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences and confirmed to be that of Blanchard.
Video evidence from the convenience store at 1599 South College Street placed both Blanchard and Yazeed at the store during the same time. “This was the last time she was seen,” Mixon wrote. A witness later identified Yazeed as the individual.
Yazeed has a history of arrests for violent crimes.

So far, not a single prominent feminist has commented on this case of “violence against women.” Their silence is so . . . mysterious.

PREVIOUSLY:




 

Category: Alabama, Violence Against Women
« go back — keep looking »

    About

    This is an area on your website where you can add text. This will serve as an informative location on your website, where you can talk about your site.

    Subscribe to our feed

    Search

    Admin