The Other McCain

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

Bob Owens, R.I.P.

Posted on | May 9, 2017 | Comments Off on Bob Owens, R.I.P.

 

Yesterday I saw on Instapundit the news that Bob Owens, editor of the Bearing Arms site, had died. I remember Bob from his days as an independent blogger at Confederate Yankee, back in the paleo-blogging era, before giant media organizations zoomed in to scoop up all the traffic. News of his death — he was only 46 — was disturbing, and I figured it must have been a heart attack. However, the Washington Post reports that Bob apparently committed suicide, after posting a message to Facebook in which he called himself a “coward, and selfish son of a b–ch.” What happened? We may never know, although his friend Katie Pavlich writes that Bob “recently landed a book deal,” and perhaps the extra burden of that project on top of his other work overwhelmed him. As I’ve sometimes remarked, a deadline for a non-fiction book is a crisis that probably can’t be imagined by anyone who hasn’t endured it. He was already working as an editor and as a firearms trainer. Was this book contract too much? I make that suggestion, not knowing what might have been troubling Bob Owens, but knowing how easily depression can snowball for any writer if your productivity starts lagging.

People have become too comfortable in recent years speaking of depression as a clinical disorder, an incurable disease whereby as soon as you’re diagnosed as afflicted with it, you will require professional treatment the rest of your life. This medicalized view of depression is, not coincidentally, a bonanza for the pharmaceutical industry and providers of psychiatric care. And while I don’t want to start an argument with the mental health profession, I think that in general our society is over-diagnosed. You see this problem very clearly in the world of feminist Tumblr, which is full of young women claiming to be victims of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, even PTSD, like they just got back from the Battle of Khe Sanh or something. Reading their endless whining, you want to reach through the computer screen, slap their faces and scream: “You are not a victim! You’re a pathetic spoiled brat with a bad haircut! Log off the Internet, go get a job and stop blaming the patriarchy for all your problems! Also, maybe you could stand to lose 20 or 30 pounds, just sayin’ . . .”

Anyway, if having a diagnosed mental illness makes you a victim of oppression, I’m sure anyone who knows me could confirm that I’m crazy, but what I’ve tried to do is to monetize my insanity, turning craziness into a career skill. And “depression”? Well, I don’t know that you need a diagnosis if you write for a living. Writers are inherently prone to depression, simply because it’s such a solitary endeavor. Whatever else is involved in the job, ultimately it comes down to sitting alone in front of a computer screen for hours every day. Even if you’re going out to do on-the-scene reporting, when it’s time to turn your notes into a story, you’re still going to spend three or four hours at the keyboard banging it out. Anybody who’s ever been around me when I’m writing on deadline — filing from a convention or a debate or a campaign rally — knows what a horrible monster I can become under those conditions.

All of this discussion of the psychological stress inherent to writing for a living, however, may be entirely irrelevant to Bob Owens’ suicide. We don’t have any explanation for what may have been bothering him, and in the absence of facts, we should not speculate. We have lost a valued comrade, and Bob leaves behind a widow and two daughters, ages 9 and 17. There’s a Go Fund Me page where you can contribute to help, so please go hit the tip jar for old Bob. I already did. R.I.P., Confederate Yankee!

 

Category: Blogging

Liberal Paranoia in the Trump Age

Posted on | May 9, 2017 | 1 Comment

 

Ever since Hillary lost the election, Democrats have been stoking the fires of fear, hatred and suspicion among their liberal voter base. This fear-mongering is an attempt to overcome the demoralization Democrats face after last November’s unexpected defeat. However, the anti-Trump propaganda campaign relies on a misguided demonization of Republicans as “fascists,” perpetrators of hate crimes and other atrocities. Because this narrative is essentially false, the Democrats are quite literally driving many of their supporters crazy, filling their minds with preposterous paranoid conspiracy theories that have no basis in reality.

Shortly after Election Day, someone vandalized an Episcopal church in the tiny crossroads hamlet of Beanblossom, Indiana, in rural Brown County, population 15,242, about an hour south of Indianapolis. The vandals painted “Heil Trump” and “Fag Church” on the church. Given the Episcopal denomination’s drift into liberalism, and the fact that Brown County went more than 2-to-1 for Trump (who got 63% of the county’s vote to Hillary’s 31%), this “Fag Church” attack seemed entirely plausible to liberals who claimed America was besieged by a wave of Trump-inspired hate crimes. “The Southern Poverty Law Center counted 867 cases of hateful harassment or intimidation in the United States in the 10 days after the November 8 election,” CNN reported at the time:

On Sunday morning, the Rev. Kelsey Hutto got the news that vandals had painted “Heil Trump,” an anti-gay slur and a swastika on the side of her church, Saint David’s Episcopal in Beanblossom, Indiana.
She told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota . . . that she was at first sad, but believes that the church was targeted because it has always been inclusive to everyone. So, she said, she is taking comfort that whoever did this actually did this for the right reason, because the church has always been welcoming to everyone.
“Doing the right thing is not always the popular thing.” . . .
The Brown County Sheriff’s Department tells CNN it is investigating the incident. Investigators don’t currently have any suspects or leads, but they have shared their report with the state police department and are hoping someone in the community will come forward with information if they have it.

Earlier this month, police apprehended the culprit, George Nathaniel Stang, a 26-year-old homosexual who plays organ at the church:

Stang told everyone he discovered the graffiti when he arrived for Sunday morning services. . . .
According to court records, when confronted with the evidence, the 26-year-old gay man confessed.
Investigators say Stang admitted to painting the “Heil Trump” and “Fag Church” graffiti himself because he wanted to “mobilize a movement after being disappointed in and fearful of the outcome of the national election.” He insisted his actions were not motivated by anti-Christian or anti-gay sentiments. . . .
Brown County Prosecutor Ted Adams talked about Stang’s alleged motive.
“He explained that one of the reasons he had done it was because of fear. He was concerned about the results of the election,” Adams said.
In a three-page, handwritten statement, Stang, according to court records, wanted to “mobilize a movement.”
“I suppose I wanted to give local people a reason to fight for good, even if it was a false flag,” he wrote. “To be clear my actions were not motivated by hate for the church or its congregation. I of course realize now, this was NOT the way to go about inspiring activism.”

To give people “a reason to fight for good,” you try to “mobilize a movement” by perpetrating a crime you blame on your political opponents. Can you say “Reichstag fire,” boys and girls?

For all the talk of Trump being a neo-fascist, Democrats seem to be the ones resorting to Nazi-style propaganda tactics in America lately. The media are contributing to this paranoia, as even liberal Chris Cillizza laments in citing multiple recent examples in which “liberals, fueled by Twitter outrage, jumped to conclusions that portrayed Trump and other Republicans in the poorest possible light. And, on each occasion, the fuller story either totally or mostly rebutted the version of the story the left had seized on. . . . Democrats run the risk of appearing like the boy who cried wolf.” As Stephen Green comments at Instapundit, this “panic-mongering” is “about keeping the base riled up” until the next election.

The problem is that this requires constant hyping of anti-Republican paranoia and, as the case of the Beanblossom hate hoax shows, many Democrat voters are already so emotionally unstable as to be dangerous.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!



 

Category: Crime, Democrats, Liberals, Media Bias

In The Mailbox: 05.09.17

Posted on | May 9, 2017 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 05.09.17

— compiled by Wombat-socho


OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: Democrat Mayor Ed Murray, Accused Of Molesting Boys, Not Running For Re-Election
Twitchy: Obama Lectures America On Food Waste, Eating Meat – Gets Fact-checked By Former Chef
Louder With Crowder: FBI Discovers ISIS Supporter Planning Terrorist Attack In NYC


RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: The Lottery Odds Of Marriage For Men
American Power: Pepe The Frog Is Dead (He lives forever in our memes. – WS)
American Thinker: The Real Reason WaPo Republicans Hate Donald Trump
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Icons Of Rock News
Bring The HEAT: ZERO
Da Tech Guy: France Rejects First Woman President – Where Is The MSM Outrage?
Don Surber: We Will Feed, Clothe, And Bathe Our Conquerors
Dustbury: Four’s A Crowd
The Geller Report: Double Murder Suspect Gets 364-Day Sentence So Judge Can Save Him From Deportation
Hogewash: I’m Not Making This Up, You Know
Jammie Wearing Fools: Classy! OFA Goon Laughs At GOP Congressman Telling Story Of Wife’s Cancer
Joe For America: At Corruption Trial, Dem Rep Corrine Brown Found To Have Spent Charity’s Money On Daughter’s $750 Birthday Cake
JustOneMinute: The Comey Letter – It Sunk Her, It Sunk Her Not
Power Line: On The Judiciary, The AP Parrots The DNC
Shark Tank: Governor Scott Likely To Veto $82.4 Billion Budget
Shot In The Dark: Paging The 14th Amendment…?
STUMP: Literal Suicide And Media
The Jawa Report: Blogosphere Co-Founder Bob Owens Takes Own Life, also, Lebanese Bring Cultural Enrichment To Australia
The Political Hat: Left Wing Cuck Squad And The Giant Spiders
This Ain’t Hell: And In The WTF Department, also, Heather Wilson Conformed As AF Secretary
War Is Boring: Russia Sends One Of Its Four AWACS Planes To Syria
Weasel Zippers: UW-Madison Student Government Chair – “All White People Are Racist”, also, California May End Ban On Communists In Government Jobs
Megan McArdle: In France, The “Can’t Lose” Candidate Pays A Price
Mark Steyn: The Midnight Train


Today’s Digital Deals

Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 05.08.17

Posted on | May 8, 2017 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho


OVER THE TRANSOM
Proof Positive: Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol.2 – A Review, Sort Of
EBL: Victory In Europe May 8 1945 – Wait, Who Won?
Twitchy: Daily Beast Tracks Down More “Stolen” Judicial Seats And Fingers Culprit
Louder With Crowder: Texas Mom Trolls Home Intruder With Security Cam Footage And A Shotgun


RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Yoga Is Not Exercise
American Power: Macron Defeats Le Pen
American Thinker: The Venezuelan Crisis Is Due To Economic Ignorance
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Da Tech Guy: John Ruberry – Puerto Rico’s Dire Warning For Blue States
Don Surber: Obama Spokeswoman Dumps On Hillary
Dustbury: Strange Search Engine Queries, also, Not Available On LP
The Geller Report: Devout Muslims Who Shot & Killed State Trooper Quoted Koran During Attack
Hogewash: Yours Truly, Johnny Atsign, also, Hoge v. Kimberlin et al News
Jammie Wearing Fools: In Chicagoland, Ten Shot Dead & Two Wounded At Memorial For Earlier Shooting
Joe For America: Ashley Judd Wants To Live In Middle East Where Women “Have More Rights”
JustOneMinute: Vive La France!
Power Line: Socialism, The 21st Century Diet Plan, also, Obama Biographer Says “The Vessel Was Hollow To The Core”
Shark Tank: DeSantis Considering Run For Governor
Shot In The Dark: The Strib – Fake News Opinion
STUMP: More Puerto Rico – Roundup Of Current Commentary & Followups
The Jawa Report: Meanwhile In Somalia, also, Attention Twitter Luser @abofatmah08577
The Political Hat: Venezuela’s Socialist Utopia – Chaos And A Coming Constitutional Coup
This Ain’t Hell: Mattis Stops Military Academy Graduates From Immediately Turning Pro, also, Dog Killer Marinna Robbins Offs Herself
War Is Boring: The Real Reason The World Should Pay Attention To China’s Carrier Fleet
Weasel Zippers: Defying Top NJ Judge, ICE continues Courthouse Arrests, also, Obama Demands Congress Show “Courage” and Not Repeal Obamacare
Megan McArdle: Le Pen’s Voters, Like Trump’s, Should Be Taken Seriously
Mark Steyn: “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)”?, also, Leading By Example


Today’s Digital Deals

Category: Linkagery

Rule 5 Sunday: Cinco De Mayo

Posted on | May 7, 2017 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Another Sunday, another opportunity to take a break from politics* and enjoy some attractive young ladies. This week, the over-hyped 5th of May, which much like the Feast of St. Patrick is celebrated to a greater extent (and more drunkenly) than in its home country of Mexico. Historical details here, for those interested. Appropriately enough, we have as our appetizer this week a patriotic young Mexican lass clad in patriotic garb.
As usual, most of the following links are to pictures generally considered NSFW, and the management is not responsible for any damages incurred by readers who fail to click at an appropriate time and place. All fat content in this post is assumed to be 100% cage-free, natural, organic, free-range and pesticide-free unless labeled otherwise.

I, too, like tacos.

This week we begin with A View From The Beach, who got his links in early on account of travel. The Perfect Canvas – Kenza Fourati, Fish Pic Friday – Bad to the Bone – Bonefish, Full-on Wacky Cousin Katy Mode, Reason #5537 That Trump Was Elected, Mermaid Wednesday, Eyes Don’t Work, That’s Why They Call Them “Rub Rails”, Reason #5535 That Trump Was Elected, Monday Morning in Madagascar and “Smoke on the Water”

Ninety Miles From Tyranny serves up Hot Pick of the Late Night, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns; Goodstuff presents Brigitte Nielsen along with “…plenty lowbrow art and all the essential vitamins that a Dude needs.” How can one resist? Meanwhile, Animal Magnetism stirs the pot with Rule Five “That’s Racist” Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon.


EBL’s herd includes Goat Yoga, May Day May-hem, Brigitte Bardot, Delta Airlines, Women Drinking Tequila, Derby Day, and Bruce Mozert’s Underwater Women.

Proof Positive’s Friday Night Babe is Emily Berrington, his Vintage Babe is Barbara Windsor, and Sex in Advertising is covered by Christina Hendricks. At Dustbury, it’s Mary-Kate Olsen and Jenny Scordamaglia.

Thanks to everyone for all their linkagery!

*And, of course, from the vile state of popular culture.

Visit Amazon’s Intimate Apparel Shop
Amazon Fashion – Jewelry For Women

Category: Rule 5

FMJRA 2.0: Policy Of Truth

Posted on | May 6, 2017 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Rule 5 Sunday: Formal Affairs
Animal Magnetism
A View From The Beach
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
Proof Positive
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: The Way It Is
The Pirate’s Cove
A View From The Beach
EBL

Media Trolled? Liberal Reporter Claims ‘OK’ Gesture Is ‘White Power’ Signal
A View From The Beach
EBL

New Jersey Computer Whiz Kid Discovers That Real Life Isn’t Like Web Design
EBL

In The Mailbox: 05.01.17
Proof Positive
EBL

Surprised? Feminists Who Hate Babies Declare Breast-Feeding Is Not ‘Natural’
The Pirate’s Cove
Darkness Over The Land
A View From The Beach
EBL

In The Mailbox: 5.02.17
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive
EBL

Woman Gets 25 Years in Prison for Her Role in Florida Teen Sex-Slavery Case
EBL

In The Mailbox: 05.03.17
Proof Positive
EBL

#FireColbert? How Much Do You Want ME to Explain Why This Is Hypocrisy?
EBL

In The Mailbox: 05.04.17
Proof Positive
EBL

What Does ‘Homophobia’ Mean?
A Conservative Lesbian
EBL

In The Mailbox: 05.05.17
Proof Positive
EBL

Top linkers this week:

  1.  EBL (13)
  2.  Proof Positive (6)
  3.  A View From The Beach (5)

Thanks to everyone for their linkagery!

Today’s Digital Deals

Category: FMJRA Award

In The Mailbox: 05.05.17

Posted on | May 5, 2017 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 05.05.17

— compiled by Wombat-socho


OVER THE TRANSOM
BattleSwarm: Clinton Corruption Update
EBL: Tequila Drinking Rule 5
Twitchy: Ben Shapiro Unleashes Sick Takedown Of Alyssa Milano’s Dramatic “Pre-Existing Condition”
Louder With Crowder: NC Passes Law Allowing Drivers To Run Over Protesters Blocking Traffic
According To Hoyt: “Lost and Found”
Monster Hunter Nation: A Snippet From My Story In Forged In Blood
Vox Popoli: The Strength Of An Argument


RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Podcast #46 – The Believing The Media Episode, also, Keep Calm And Hawt Chicks
American Power: The Collapse Of American Identity
American Thinker: Black People – Don’t You Worry About A Thing, Kat Timpf Will Save You
Animal Magnetism: Rule 5 “That’s Racist” Friday
BLACKFIVE: May 5 In U.S. Military History
Bring The HEAT: Air Force To Replace Compass Call
Da Tech Guy: Fausta – Browsing Through Drudge’s Headlines
Don Surber: Obamacare Repeal Is A $1.5 Billion Tax Cut
Dustbury: Lovely Spam, Wonderful Spam
The Geller Report: More Muslim “Refugees” Arrested For Minnesota Olive Garden Shootings
Hogewash: Go Ahead. Make My Day.
Jammie Wearing Fools: Emotional Trainwreck Chrissy Teigen Wants Trump To Pay Medical Bills For Her “Crippling Anxiety”
Joe For America: NYT Reports FBI Believed Obama Was Trying To Rig U.S. Election
Power Line: House Votes To Repeal & Replace Obamacare, Democrats Lose Big & Spin Furiously, also, Intel Reports Raise Serious Questions About Obama Administration Surveillance
Shark Tank: “Alligator Ron” Bergeron Eyes Governor’s Mansion
Shot In The Dark: Wages Of Complacency
STUMP: Friday Trumpery – The Murder/Suicide Of Expertise
The Jawa Report: Jawa Plug For Anatomy Of Terror, also, War Porn – Boom And Boom Again
The Political Hat: Anime Waifus Now As Valid As Homosexuality
This Ain’t Hell: Army Needs A Scout Helicopter, also, Dunford Dedicates Monument To Chosin Few
War Is Boring: China/Pakistani Twin-Seat Budget Fighter Is Impressive
Weasel Zippers: Fauxcahontas Shrieks “People Will Die” From House Healthcare Bill, also, Radical NY Magazine Writer Beclowns Herself With Call To Scream And Pee At Trump Tower
Megan McArdle: Death Spirals And Other Problems The GOP Healthcare Bill Doesn’t Solve
Mark Steyn: Comply With Me, Comply Comply Away


Today’s Digital Deals

Category: Linkagery

What Does ‘Homophobia’ Mean?

Posted on | May 4, 2017 | 2 Comments

 

The question raised by the #FireColbert controversy goes to the very heart of our 21st-century Culture War over “sexuality”:

If I wanted to insult Stephen Colbert, I might have called him a lot of things, but “cock holster” probably wouldn’t have come to mind. By the standards of Stephen Colbert, however, there are no standards, so I can call him any slang synonym for homosexual and still hope to get a network TV contract.
Alas, my phone isn’t blowing up with return calls from CBS executives, which probably means you won’t see “The Stacy McCain Gay Joke Show” on their fall schedule. And I had so much material ready . . .
Being almost as notoriously heterosexual as President Trump, I wouldn’t be much offended at being targeted by an anti-gay slur. It’s an odd thing about what are commonly called “homophobic” insults: Who’s insulted?
If you’re not actually gay, why would someone call you a faggot? Is he trying to start a fight? Aren’t anti-gay insults, when aimed at a target who is not even suspected of homosexuality, just a way of saying, “I don’t like you”?
OK, you don’t like me, so you call me a faggot. And then what?
How am I expected to react to this non sequitur? Call the Civility Police and report you for violating the law against homophobia?
Oh — wait a minute! Homophobia is not actually against the law. It’s a free country, and you have a right to your own opinion. . . .

Read the whole thing at The Patriarch Tree.

That article was funded by readers who contributed in support of what I promised would be a 2,000-word “sledgehammer blow” against liberal orthodoxy, to be delivered by noon today. Actually, when I hit the “publish” button on the article, it was 2,097 words at 12:04 p.m. ET, so I was four minutes late and nearly 100 words beyond my proposed length. There were a couple of ideas I had in mind when I began writing that I didn’t get around to addressing specifically — e.g., isn’t “homophobia” more or less a prerequisite to heteroseuxality? — but we can hash out some of those points later. Please go read the entire article and let me know (either in responses there, or in the comments here) what you think of my work. Did I deliver on my promise? Did I focus attention on the proper response to the #FireColbert controversy? Did I raise the right questions and suggest the right answers?

Thanks to those who hit the tip jar: Leslie W., Jeffrey H., Steven J., Steve W., Cheryl B., Jennifer N., Louis M., Randall S., Whitney G., Philip M., David G., Peter S., Jonathan D., Stephen S., Laurel L., and Jason B. One reason I’m late in posting this acknowledgement is that the cable company decided today would be a good time to call my attention to my past-due bill by suspending my Internet service. So I called the service number to remedy this neglect and, checking my balance after I’d gotten the service restored, I was happy to discover that the Pay Pal contributions received in the preceding 12 hours were about $50 more than what I owed on the cable bill. Your donations were like answered prayer to a need I didn’t even know I had. God moves in mysterious ways, and all I can hope to do in gratitude is to try to give readers their money’s worth.



 

Category: Celebrities, Culture, Gays, Media Bias
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