The Other McCain

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

George Will: Apologist For Tyranny?

Posted on | January 13, 2019 | Comments Off on George Will: Apologist For Tyranny?

by Smitty

I remember reading Will back in the day and feeling edified. He has wandered far in his dotage, first embracing Her Majesty against Trump, and now coming out against Brexit.

A June 2016 referendum endorsed (52 percent to 48 percent) exiting the EU. Implementing this has, however, become messier than anyone, especially voters, anticipated. In a House of Commons debate on Brexit, a Conservative member said that democracy is like sex — if it isn’t messy, you’re not doing it right. However, messiness is not proof of correctness.

Read the whole thing.
George Will sounds as though he might have sided with George William Frederick against George Washington back in the 18th century.

Of course liberty is fraught with peril, Will. As with taking the square root of a number, negative results are part of the process. This concept of “correctness” is a fine theological pursuit for each of us. Politics? Politics is the flesh, which is why the comparison to sex is so apropos.

But the point is that, in minimizing the risk of being shagged undesirably by your government, the more local the power, the greater the likelihood of a desirable outcome.

I just can’t fathom Will’s slide into licking the authoritarian boot.

Category: Uncategorized

FMJRA 2.0: John The Baptist Was A Real Humdinger

Posted on | January 13, 2019 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Rule Five Tuesday
Animal Magnetism
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive
EBL

Living Well Is the Best Revenge
EBL

Latina Lesbian Murdered by Two Men (But Don’t Blame Racist Homophobes)
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: (Like) There’s No Tomorrow
A View From The Beach
EBL

Media’s Anti-White Bias Makes Houston Drive-By Shooting National News
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.07.19
Proof Positive
EBL

Crazy People Are Dangerous: Florida Stripper Had Mass Murder Fantasies
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.08.19
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive
EBL

Schumer and Pelosi Own the Shutdown Even as They Try to Blame Trump
The Universal Spectator
A View From The Beach
Pushing Rubber Downhill
EBL

Step Back From The Wall And Consider
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.09.19
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
Proof Positive
EBL

The Happiness Gap
Pushing Rubber Downhill
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.10.19
357 Magnum
Proof Positive
EBL

Google: ‘To Control the Narrative, We Planted Stories with Journalists’
EBL

Girl Found Alive After Being Kidnapped by Man Who Murdered Her Parents
EBL

Friday Fiction: 100 Word Challenge
EBL

Crazy People Are Dangerous
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.11.19
Proof Positive
EBL

Top linkers for the week ending January 11:

  1.  EBL (18)
  2.  (tied) A View From The Beach and Proof Positive (6)

Thanks to everyone for all the linkagery!

Amazon Warehouse Deals

If you like Jason & The Scorchers. you’ll like this solo album by lead singer Jason Ringenberg.
New Year New You
Try Amazon Music Unlimited Free Trial

Category: FMJRA Award

The Compulsory Approval Doctrine: Sliding Down the Slippery Slope

Posted on | January 12, 2019 | Comments Off on The Compulsory Approval Doctrine: Sliding Down the Slippery Slope

 

Pete Da Tech Guy this week noticed that Ford Motor Company fired a contractor at one of its Michigan plants for posting an online comment critical of transgender ideology. The contractor said he “was told to pack up my belongings immediately, to leave my badge and computer, then I was walked out of the building like a criminal,” Tyler O’Neill reported at PJMedia, because of an “intolerant” comment which, not coincidentally, was “a paraphrased version of a statement … from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB].” Evidently, Catholics cannot express their religious beliefs if they work at Ford, and this reflects what in March 2015 I called the Compulsory Approval Doctrine:

This new dispensation . . . has the consequence of abolishing religious liberty. “Marriage equality” requires universal recognition of same-sex unions. Woe be unto the baker who, for religious reasons, refuses to provide a cake or the florist who refuses to provide flowers for a gay wedding.

Since the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell decision, this doctrine has been used by advocates of transgenderism to bully into silence anyone who disagrees with their bizarre ideology. While almost no one wishes to interfere in the private lives of adults, the Compulsory Approval Doctrine has the effect of prohibiting the expression of any opinion that the most fanatical LGBTQ zealot might consider “offensive.” And, it would appear, there is no feasible limit to what they will do to promote their agenda:

On Monday, 10-year-old Canadian boy Nemis Quinn Mélançon-Golden was featured in a troubling Huck Magazine piece highlighting the life of a so-called “child drag queen.”
Young Nemis, whose drag name is “Queen Lactacia,” was shot by photographer Jonathan Frederick Turton for the spread. In one of the shots that did not make the magazine, Nemis, in full drag makeup and a black dress, is posing for a photo with the Season 7 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Violet Chachki. In the shocking photo, Violet is wearing nothing but a pair of heels and a small piece of fabric covering his genitals . . . .
In the jarring Huck Magazine piece — which ironically bashes Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro for calling out parents for over-sexualizing their “drag kids” — Nemis’ mother, Jessica Melancon, conceded that drag has a sexual component and is unapologetic about her young son wearing sexually suggestive clothing if it “makes him feel beautiful” . . .
In 2017, Nemis appeared on stage with popular drag queen Bianca Del Rio at a drag show his mother brought him to. The clip of the two on stage together, wherein the drag queen repeatedly uses the word “b****” and drops an “f”-bomb, quickly went viral.
“That video happened and everyone went crazy,” Jessica recalled. “But we knew from the get-go we never wanted to lose control, or lose sight of it being fun for Nemis.”
According to Jessica, drag is “how Nemis chooses to express himself. He’s just a kid playing.” . . .
Nemis also appears to already be an LGBT advocate. “Choose Love. Be Proud. Smash the Patriarchy and be kind to one another, always! #pride #lovenothate#loveislove #nonbinary #thefutureisfluid,” reads a post on the boy’s Instagram account, which is said to be run by his mother.

You can read the rest at Daily Wire. It seems obvious that the child’s mother is engaged in a Munchausen-by-proxy manipulation of her son, encouraging his transvestite activity to gain attention for herself, but no one is allowed to say so, because that would be intolerant.



 

Category: The Transgender Cult

In The Mailbox: 01.11.19

Posted on | January 12, 2019 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: There’s No Cure For Being Mitt Romney
Twitchy: Byron York Questions Whether NYT Article is About Trump Or FBI Malfeasance
Louder With Crowder: Three MS-13 Members Stab Teen In The Neck. Yes, They’re Here Illegally.
According To Hoyt: The Crazy Is Infectious
Monster Hunter Nation: House Of Assassins Book Tour Schedule
Vox Popoli: Heuristics Are Not Proof

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Friday Hawt Chicks & Links – The Illegal Immigrants Are Illegal Edition
American Power: Emma Cline, The Girls
American Thinker: Hiding Evidence – The Continuing Coverup
Animal Magnetism:  Rule Five Political Hypocrite News
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm For January 11
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Da Tech Guy: Ford Has Chosen – Now How Many Christians Like Me Will Make Different Choices? also, Andre Galloway, Jazmine Barnes, And Da Tech Guy’s Third Law Of Media Outrage
Don Surber: Who Gave National Review The Power To Excommunicate? also, Star Democrat Freshman Says She’ll Vote For The Wall
Dustbury: When You Need Better Friends
First Street Journal: The Only Acceptable Answer? None Of Your F*cking Business!
The Geller Report: UK Exhibit Featuring Muslims Who Helped Jews During Holocaust Canceled Due To Muslim Protest, also, Marco Rubio Explains Anti-BDS Bill Blocked By Democrats
Hogewash: This Offends Me, also, Team Kimberlin Post of The Day
Hollywood In Toto: Why Upside May Change Kevin Hart’s Career
Joe For America: New Study Says Pork Fat One Of Top Ten Most Nutritious Foods
JustOneMinute: Girding For Ginsburg
Legal Insurrection: CNN’s Ana Navarro Files Her Nails During Discussion Of Americans Murdered By Illegals, also, Dem Rep Tulsi Gabbard Is Running For President, And That’s Important
The PanAm Post: Colombia – Calls For Greater Initiative In Border Region As Venezuelan Collapse Continues
Power Line: A Warning From Robert P. George – Democrats Will Turn On Israel, also, The Great Undoing Continues
Shark Tank: DeSantis Replaces Scott Israel, Appoints New Broward County Sheriff
Shot In The Dark: “Pour Encourager Les Autres”
STUMP: Math Stupidity – Comparing Pizzas & What’s Important
The Political Hat: Is there A Catgirl Gap?
This Ain’t Hell: Sgt. Trey Troney Saving The World, also, Marines To Reduce Infantryman’s Load By Recruiting Fewer Wussies
Victory Girls: Texas GOP Squashes Bigotry In Its Own Ranks
Volokh Conspiracy: Short Circuit – A Roundup Of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Weasel Zippers: NC Police Report Three Illegals Busted With $200,000 In Meth, also,  Former Broward County Sheriff Israel Blames NRA For His Removal
Megan McArdle: Let’s Step back From The Wall And Consider – Why Does Anyone Even Care?
Mark Steyn: The Beto & Cher Show


Category: Linkagery

Crazy People Are Dangerous

Posted on | January 12, 2019 | Comments Off on Crazy People Are Dangerous

On Dec. 28, sheriff’s deputies in Stevens County, Washington, responded to the report of a shooting at a home near Colville, about 70 miles north of Spokane. They arrived to find that Mark Leland, 51, had been shot with a .357 revolver by his father-in-law, James Gates, 72, as the result of an apparent domestic dispute. Leland died later than night in a nearby hospital. He and his wife had been visiting her father, and this shooting in Washington state made headlines in the Portland Oregonian because Leland’s wife — Gates’s daughter — was one of the most notorious killers in Oregon history. In 1980, when she was 13 years old, Michele Gates drowned a 4-year-old girl she had been babysitting. While being questioned by police, Michele Gates confessed that two years earlier, she had drowned her 3-year-old cousin by shoving her into a pond at the zoo. The case spent years in the juvenile justice system:

Psychiatrists deemed the girl a sociopath, incapable of controlling short-term impulses. She almost avoided prosecution because of debate over her mental state. She spent time at a home for troubled kids in Maine, and at one point before the case was resolved, police were alarmed to learn she had gotten a job as swimming coach at the local YMCA.
Finally, in January 1985, when she was 18, Gates was convicted of the juvenile equivalent of murder. She avoided prison because state law at the time forbade incarcerating female juvenile offenders past the age of 18. That conviction was later expunged, allowing her to legally say on job applications that she’d never been convicted of a crime.
That lasted until 1992, when Gates, then 26 and using the last name Shorthouse, was indicted in federal court on charges of arson and solicitation to commit murder. She was accused of hiring one of her ex-boyfriends to kill her fiance’s ex-girlfriend.
Gates had blamed the woman for telling others of her criminal past, and Gates wanted to help her fiance win back custody of his young son, prosecutors alleged. She pleaded guilty that year to lesser charges of abetting arson and interstate travel with intent to commit murder, and was sentenced to 15 years in federal custody.

To recap: Sociopath killed two children and later attempted to kill another woman, and now her father shot her husband to death.

Crazy people are dangerous.

(Hat-tip: Kirby McCain on Twitter.)

 

Category: Crime, Oregon, Washington State

Friday Fiction: 100 Word Challenge

Posted on | January 11, 2019 | Comments Off on Friday Fiction: 100 Word Challenge

by Smitty

“Haven’t been across Grandpa Eddy’s Bridge in 40 years,” I say, looking at young Tim, angry at being peeled off of his iPad for a walk with his grandfather, “I heard they’d renovated it last year.”

“This is stupid,” decides Tim with a 7 year old’s vehemence. We make the right turn, head down.
“Stupid? He took me up into the forest where he had a still.”
“A still what?”
“Still haven’t figured out there’s more to life than electronics.”
We go up the hill quite a bit slower than I used to.
The old oak marks the turn.
There it is.
—
via Darleen

Category: Friday Fiction

Girl Found Alive After Being Kidnapped by Man Who Murdered Her Parents

Posted on | January 11, 2019 | Comments Off on Girl Found Alive After Being Kidnapped by Man Who Murdered Her Parents

 

Thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs escaped with her life Thursday after being held captive for nearly three months by the man who police say murdered her parents James and Denise Closs. The suspect, 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson, specifically targeted the Closs home Oct. 15 with the intention of kidnapping Jayme, according to authorities in Wisconsin:

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said Patterson had ‘zero’ criminal history, but said he had “specific intent” to kidnap Jayme Closs, during a 4 p.m. press conference Friday.
Fitzgerald said the suspect used a shotgun to shoot open the door to the Closs family home on Oct. 15 and then used the gun to kill James and Denise Closs before kidnapping Jayme. Fitzgerald said law enforcement recovered a gun that is consistent with the gun used at the crime scene. Investigators are waiting on forensics to prove that it is the same weapon.
Patterson planned his actions and took significant steps to hide his identity from law enforcement, according to Fitzgerald. Those steps included shaving his head so he would not leave trace evidence of his hair at the crime scene.
Jayme escaped from Patterson’s home in Gordon, which is in Douglas County, Thursday afternoon when Patterson was not home, according to Fitzgerald.
“Jayme is the hero in this case, there is no question about it,” Fitzgerald said.
She left the house on foot and was found around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, a short distance away from Patterson’s home, after approaching a woman who was walking her dog. The woman took Jayme to a neighbor’s home and the homeowner called 911.
Douglas County Sheriff Tom Dalbeck said his deputies responded and quickly identified Jayme. They soon located a vehicle matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle given to them by Jayme. Police believe Patterson was out looking for Jayme when they made contact with him. Patterson was arrested 10 minutes after Jayme was found. Officers interviewed Patterson and then brought him to Barron County.

 

The place where Jayme was found was about 70 miles north of where she was kidnapped, and at this point we don’t know how or why Patterson choose her as the target of what was evidently a crime he had planned carefully. We know almost nothing about Patterson, but there must be something unusual in his background to explain the level of evil required to do what he is accused of doing. Details of her escape:

On Thursday, Closs was able to escape from a cabin before flagging down a person walking a dog in Gordon and asking for help. Jeanne Nutter, the woman who first spotted Closs, told The Associated Press she “was terrified” but wanted to “get her to a safe place.” She recalled the teen looked disheveled, dirty and thin. She also noted Closs was wearing shoes too big for her feet.
“She [Closs] just yelled, ‘Please help me, I don’t know where I am. I’m lost,'” Nutter recalled.
The two went to the home of Peter and Kristin Kasinskas who called 911.
Kristin Kasinskas told The Associated Press she did not know why the teen was targeted. She said Closs told her that the suspect “killed my parents and took me.” Kasinskas said she didn’t know Patterson, although he lived three doors down from her. She said she taught him science in middle school but remembered him as being quiet. She said she did not see him during the months Closs was missing.

Another “quiet loner” type.



 

Category: Crime, Wisconsin

Google: ‘To Control the Narrative, We Planted Stories with Journalists’

Posted on | January 11, 2019 | 1 Comment

 

One of the things I noticed during the August 2017 controversy about Google’s firing of James Damore was that the media were promoting “fake news” about the Harvard-educated scientist:

Repeatedly, headlines mischaracterize Damore’s views as “anti-diversity” (despite his clearly stated support for diversity) and news articles falsely assert that Damore argued women were “genetically unsuited” (Washington Post) or “biologically unfit” (CNN) to work in high tech.
Are these journalists simply illiterate? Do they lack the reading comprehension skills necessary to understand what James Damore wrote?

We now know the answer to that question, thanks to an anonymous Google employee who has told the truth about what happened:

I was involved in the internal decisions involving James Damore’s memo, and it’s terrible what we did to him. . . .
To quell dissent, we: told executives to write to their employees condemning the memo; manipulated our internal Memegen to bias the ratings towards anti-Damore posts (the head of Memegen is an “ally” to the diversity cause); and gave every manager talking points on what to tell their reports about the memo. In all our communications, we concentrated on how hurt employees purportedly were and diverted attention from Google’s discriminatory employment practices and political hegemony, never mind the science.
We needed to make an example of Damore. . . . When we did fire him, our reputation and integrity took a hit, but at least other employees were now afraid to speak up. . . .
To control the narrative, we planted stories with journalists and flexed Google’s muscles where necessary. In exchange for insider access and preferential treatment, all we ask for is their loyalty. For online media, Google’s ads pay their paycheck and our search brings their customers, so our influence shouldn’t be underestimated. . . .

Read the whole thing by Deb Heine at PJ Media (hat-tip: Instapundit).

What happened to Damore was eerily reminiscent of Stalin-era purges in the Soviet Union — the dezinformatsiya campaign spread through party-controlled channels, demonizing the targets as an “enemy of the people” (vrag naroda) to justify their destruction.

A successful campaign to “control the narrative” produces a strange reversal of reality: When all the “respectable” media are repeating the officially approved lie, those who tell the truth are made to seem like dangerous extremists, proponents of “racism,” etc. If you have read Robert Conquest’s The Great Terror, you know the targets of Stalin’s purges — veteran Bolsheviks who had risked their lives for the Revolution — were smeared as spies, saboteurs, Trotskyists and so forth. And many in the Western media repeated these transparently false Stalinist propaganda smears as if they were actually true.

The quote emblazoned atop my blog — “One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up” — is from Arthur Koestler, a disillusioned ex-Communist whose famous novel Darkness at Noon dramatized the reality of Soviet life under Stalinism. The younger generation, who know nothing of the bloody 20th-century history of “social justice,” are being led toward their own destruction.



 

Category: Intellectuals, Media Bias
« go back — keep looking »