Progressitarianism Is A Cult

Click on the photo and enlarge it to get the full cult energy. https://t.co/ElCn1gRKzP

— A New Radical Centrism (@a_centrism) October 23, 2020

"Let's Finish This"

I'm actually kinda starting to actually like this guy.

White House source tells @OANN Trump walked off stage, looked at staff, said "let's finish this" and walked off to the motorcade.

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 23, 2020

"I Ran Because Of You, Joe"

dayum

That was so vicious it was painful to watch...

But, honestly, it drove home a point to me that I'd only partially appreciated before: the trope about do-nothing politicians isn't just an insult.  It's easy to jaw, jaw, jaw about all the big things you're going to do. Ridiculously much harder to actually do them. Trump's got lots of actual accomplishments--including some amazing ones (like, oh, say: peace in the Middle East...). Biden...well...

   I tend to focus on the fact that the things Biden says he wants are mostly bad. 

   But the Trump point is probably a more powerful one.

   Of course: better a feckless progressive than a feckful one...

   But better a non-progressive over either type.

“...you guys did nothing. You know Joe, I ran because of you. I ran because of Barack Obama. Because you did a poor job.”

Great shot from @realDonaldTrump

pic.twitter.com/gQQ1qgqkhf

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) October 23, 2020

[Also don't miss: "You're a politician" (and I'm not...)]

Will "America Remain America?" Pubs: Yes. Dems: No

 I honestly never thought it would come to this.

It Takes A Kook To Speak The Truth

That's one measure of how far down the rabbit-hole things have fallen. The only prominent guy in politics who's willing to speak the (approximate) truth is Trump. Who's, well, kind of a kook. The people who seem fairly normal (at least for politics)--e.g. Biden--stand there and lie and lie...and say shit with utter sincerity that are utter nonsense...and recite dogma, chapter and verse, from the Holy Book Of Contemporary Myths. Like: climate change is an existential crisis, and the USA is packed with "systemic racism," and carbon neutral by 2035!

   Nobody wants the kook in control. 

   Except it turns out that his kookiness is mostly superficial. In terms of actual substance, he's mostly an ordinary guy, speaking ordinary--but politically incorrect--truths. 

   I agree that we need a president who's both substantially and stylistically reasonable. In fact, I think the stylistic stuff is very, very important.

   But I have to choose between a stylistic kook and substantive kook.

   And I just don't have it in me to support the guy who stands up there and spews falsehoods nonstop with a straight goddamn face. Trump repulses people with his style. I get that. What I don't get is how people aren't repulsed by someone spewing absolute lunatic falsehoods. That's what really repulses me. In fact, it's worse that someone can say false and crazy things with a reasonable demeanor.

   At least Trump's bullshitting tends to be superficial...or even to serve to illuminate the greater bullshit of the other side. His spastic demeanor is combined with a bunch of pretty ordinary views--and they stand opposed to the ordinary demeanor and crazy views of the other guys. I understand why people depend so heavily on demeanor. It's a pretty reliable indicator of the other stuff. It's a good thing to go on if you need to make a snap judgment, or have nothing else to go on. But neither of those things is true in this case.

ABC Kicks Into Full-Bore Anti-Trump Mode

Do progressives really not care that their media treats them like this?
Wow...ABC's just flat-out lying at this point.
"Most people won't even know what the President was talking about" re: the corruption charges. Um...right. Who's making sure they don't know? 

So they're defense is really that Joe hasn't been proven to have gotten any of that money...and didn't declare it on his tax returns?
Absolute, full-bore anti-Trump bullshit.

Boy, if these assholes win this, I am going to be pissed as hell. 

What a bunch of lying, cheating assholes.

They really do make Trump look good.

Scott Adams: Solid Debate. Trump Won

Solid debate. Trump won.

— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) October 23, 2020

Could be. I can never tell. I don't know how to judge rhetorical contests if they're even close. Trump's such a spastic goofball. He did pretty well. Biden's a lying sack of shit, and he again deployed the lies about Trump's alleged racism. Trump didn't bust him on it. Aside from being lying sacks of shit, it's the blue team that's tearing the country apart with their nonstop lies about how the country is made of racism. So even if you don't care about the truth, maybe you care about that...

Final Question: Whaddaya Say To The People Who Didn't Vote For You?

Biden: Better words.

Trump: More money.

I'll take the money.

Notice how Stephanopolous got that accusation of racism into his summary?

Other dude: declares Biden the winner.

Other woman: declares Biden the winner.

Other dude: Surprisingly, does not declare Biden the winner!

ABC, in general: declares Biden the winner.

Zero Emissions By 2025?????

whut????

"Climate Change Is An Existential Threat To Humanity"...Eight Years to "The Point Of No Return"

 Both outright lies.

Even the IPCC doesn't think it's an existential threat to humanity.

Lies, lies, lies. Outright lies.

Biden Is A Lying Sack Of Shit

Everything Biden just said is a lie.

Trump's not busting him on any of it.

...Not Enough People In Jail... / Central Park Five

He was probably right...there probably aren't enough people in jail.

As for the Central Park Five being innocent: utter bullshit. 

...With The POSSIBLE Exception Of Abraham Lincoln...

facepalm

The 1% With Lowest IQs Come Back

 wince

And it's not 1%.

Biden: Amnesty For All 11 Million Illegals

There it is.

Trump Just Can't Keep His Mouth Shut

Repeatedly talking over the female moderator...probably not the best way to get those suburban women to vote for you...

[He really, really can't.]

Malarky...His Family...My Family...Your Family...Scranton...Community College...Kitchen Table...

 Blah blah blah

Biden Is So Full Of Shit

He's going to...did he mean force?...everyone to wear a mask all the time.

Fuck off, asshole.

"He is xenophobic"...but not for the reason I said he was...

This guy is a lying fucking asshole.

BE AFRAIIIIIIIIID!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL "Joe locks himself up in a basement." Nice.

The moderator is not even pretending to be neutral.

Trump: We're learning to live with it.

Biden: WE'RE LEARNING TO DIE WITH IT

BE AFRAIIIIIIIIIIID!!!!!!

[incoherent nonsense]

Biden: "I'm going to shut down the virus not the country"

So, so, so full of shit.

Trump: We can't close down the country or we won't have a country.

[true]

Biden: [some bullshit] c'mon

Moderator:  Did you call Fauci and everybody else idiots?

Legit burn.

Trump:  WAAAALLLL STREEEET I KEEEEE YOOOUUUUU

Egad.

Biden: [Continuing to pretend that Russiagate was for real]

            [Pretends that Giuliani isn't onto anything.]

            [Pretends the Russian bounties in Afghanistan were real.]

Moderator: [Pretends Russiagate was for real.]

Trump: Your family got money from Russia and China.

Biden: No you did!

Wow Biden is a piece of shit.

Camp Of The Saints "Under Review" For A Year At Amazon

 I think it's going on a year now that the Kindle version of Camp Of The Saints has been "under review"...which obviously means censored at this point. $70 for a used paperback, $130 for a new one...:

Beats BN.com, where a search doesn't turn up the title at all...

Is Trump's Approval At 52%??

 Big if true.

The Left Plans Havoc If Trump Wins

 Not exactly surprising.

Do Progressives Not Know That The MSM Is Lying To Them, Or Do They Not Care?

Honestly, even if I were still on the blue team, I'd blow my stack if I knew the MSM were doing what it's doing. Granted, I have a lot less political-tribal allegiance than a lot of people of my ilk...but...that much less?

   I think I personally know only one other academician (actually: former) who used to be blue-team but has been so repulsed by recent events she's gone Trumpy. One! I mean...I understand how repellant Trump can be. But, even given that, if people were deciding on rational grounds, we'd expect to see a mass defection from the blue team. There are extremely good reasons for a liberal (an actual liberal--where I don't mean that in some No-True-Scotsman-y sense) to support Trump over Harris-Biden. The fact that there doesn't seem to be any such defection indicates--I think--that the decision is being made on particularly non-rational grounds. Of course there's a ton of nonrationality and subjectivity in such decisions under most conditions. So I suppose it's no big surprise.

   Complicating factor: the blue team has become so unhinged that there is a high price to pay for admitting you're supporting Trump. So there may be more "shy" academic Trumpians than we think. In fact...there almost have to be.

   Still...the very fact that there's psychotic pressure from the left against voting for Trump...you'd think that itself would generate some defection from the blue team... Except that academicians aren't particularly independent or brave, so far as I can tell. Far from both, it actually seems...

Out Of the Nonstop Stream Of Bullshit About Batflu, Finally Something Of Real Concern

Very weird.

Berenson is great on this stuff, and I've been checking in to keep updated on the Danish mask study--which is allegedly the best thing we've got. But can't get published.

Which means: it found that masks don't work (or make things worse).

Anyway, bigger news is the below. I don't believe it, but its huge if true: a permanent (???) loss of IQ. Holy crap! Very strange that he dismisses that as "tiny," since even mild cases seem to have (allegedly) produced losses. Severe cases allegedly produced -8.5 IQ? =? 10 years of aging?:

1/ Huge UK Study: being on a ventilator is bad for you! Luckily, of the 84,000 people in the study, only 60 were on ventilators. The vast majority of people who supposedly had the ro (that bar on the left) needed no medical aid and showed tiny cognitive losses - ~0.5 IQ points... https://t.co/Hq7QzSkHKQ

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) October 21, 2020

Probably just more hysteria. Just one study. We've heard almost every crazy claim about this stuff. But scary. 

No Justice, No Peace

Sounds like a conditional at first; 

Is actually a conjunction.

Blueprint For Electoral Disaster

You could hardly do worse if you tried.

Leftists *Contra* The Constitution

Needless to say, such things should--must--be discussed, especially at universities.

But one of the problems is--or so I'll put it now--that the left listens too much to its intellectual wing, and too much to its leftest wing, and there's too much overlap between those wings.

Should this view take hold--and I'd bet some money that it will--it won't remain purely theoretical. The left always wants to put its crazy ideas into practice--and to do it now. 

I have a professional obligation to think about crazy ideas. But, having done that now for 30-odd years, I've--provisionally--come to the Peircean conclusion: philosophy and practice must be kept apart (as much as possible) for the benefit of both. Merging 'em wrecks both of 'em.

This possible dispute, should it turn actual, would be representative of the broader divide between conservatives and the left. The conservative view would roughly be: we won the government lottery; the Constitution is the product of genius and experience; it's stood the test of time and done its job better than the Founders probably had any right to hope, and better than we probably deserve. DO NOT FUCK WITH IT. Not in any major way anyway. The leftist view is: Oh, hai, I just had this, like, SUPER-fun idea that I came up with on the basis of a Chomsky podcast I didn't finish and this one queer theory course I got a 'C' in...let's ditch our whole form of government and start from this here scratch I just thought up!

I may not be giving the left its best case there. But I'm fed up with 'em.

Nobody thinks total stasis will work. 

But I now think that conservatives are deeply right about the Burkean point: slow, deliberate evolution is almost always preferable to revolution / radical change. 

Imagine a new Constitution written by the dim luminaries of the contemporary left. That thought ought to be enough to put the stop in dystopia.

Trump Running Ahead of 2016 Polls In Top Battleground States

 And I'd bet money that there are more shy Trump voters now than then. We may stay in the frying pan yet.

4 Cheers For Kemi Badenoch, Conservative MP and Treasuries And Equalities Minister

 The article.

The video:

The Equalities Minister could not have been clearer:

Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory are political and do not belong in schools.

Teaching ideas such as 'white privilege' as a factual reality is breaking the law! 🚫👨‍🏫 pic.twitter.com/6VoIDVJxLi

— Calvin Robinson (@calvinrobinson) October 20, 2020

I mean she is right smack dab on the money. I think I'm going to look into bringing her in as a visiting scholar...if we ever have visiting scholars again...so she can give my university a right good talking-to. 

"86 45"

I think '86' means something like get rid of--not kill.

Let's not turn into the other guys, ok?

Even The CPD is Cheating Trump

link.  Trump, as usual, shot himself in the ass by refusing to participate in the virtual debate...but the CPD is cheating, too. They've appointed anti-Trump moderators ever time, and are now cheating him out of a foreign policy debate...which is, weirdly, where he might be strongest. 

The Myth Of Moderate Democrats

 There's a lot more to say about this general topic. Most people voting for Biden don't participate in Democratic party politics, and have no influence over the direction of the party. It's the party of radical, progressive, identity politics--and political correctness--now. There's no Bill Clinton to put the brakes on. I understand pining for a post-Trump, less exhausting and embarrassing presidency...but not if that means handing the keys over to a frail and fading Biden who doesn't seem to have a half-term in him. And who's backed up by the most leftist member of the Senate.

Steve Inskeep (NPR) Interviews Michael Anton

link. Neither guy covers himself with glory. They seem fed up with each other immediately. dunno whether they had some kind of pre-interview discussion that went bad, or are just natural enemies. I think Anton is right--and Inskeep immediately going to "Fox News!" to counter Anton's claim that the blues control everything basically proves his (Anton's) point. But Anton is too exercised and flustered and doesn't make his points well. I listened to a little more NPR afterwards on the clip...used to be a big fan, then finally caught on to their game, haven't listened at all in something like 5 years. Wow, they're slimy.

Progressive Race Hysteria: ACB Edition

Look...when a political faction goes so batshit crazy about race that they argue that adopting kids of another race shows that you're racist...well they've pegged the needle at that point. That's a kind of practical Kafkatrap. It's the practical equivalent of claiming that having black friends provides no evidence that you're not racist. If having black friends isn't evidence that you aren't racist, then what is? 

   Answer: nothing. 

   Which is what identity-politics progressivism has been saying for years: there is no defense against accusations of racism. This is the racial analog of: believe all women. If you've been accused, then you're guilty. To deny your guilt shows that you're a racist (or: sexual assailant)...and you're a liar. 

   Though, actually, I've read some stuff by Kendi that's right--and way less crazy than standard progressive fare. In this case, all I've read from him is the claim that white couples adopting nonwhite kids doesn't guarantee that they're not racist. Which is true. In fact, most notably: does anyone doubt that there are white progressive couples out there with severely fucked-up attitudes on race...who adopt nonwhite kids to virtue-signal and assuage their own consciences? 

   Anyway. There's plenty to complain about about progressivism. No need to exaggerate.

One Of The Main Reasons To Vote For Trump: Progressivism Is Made Of False Accusations Of Racism

Disgusting lies from the Hartford Courant.

Donald Trump isn't a racist. But the progressive left continues to lie in order to make him seem like one. The unhinging of the left on this issue is, even by itself, grounds for voting against them. Because this isn't about Trump--this is about everyone who has a sane view of race, and everyone who opposes the progressive left. They spew these lies at all who oppose them--Trump's just the most prominent example.

   I rarely make such arguments, because I think it should be enough to point out that someone is lying in such a systematic way. But: these aren't just any lies. These are scurrilous lies that aim at character assassination. And they are tearing the country apart. The claims that the U.S. is a racist nation are lies--systematically promoted by the left in order to achieve their nefarious ends. They're happy to convince black Americans that their President--and their country--hates them. If that's the price of vilifying conservatives, they're happy to pay it. 

   These lies are particularly destructive lies. Even if you don't care that they are lies, and nor that they aim to besmirch the character of an extremely flawed, but basically good man, you should at least care that these lies are on a trajectory to destroy the country.

Twitter Refuses To Unlock NY Post Account Unless Posts About Hunger Biden Deleted

link

I think that finding your way out of the prison of the left is largely a matter of getting out of the prison constructed by the mainstream media. As long as you get all your information from there, you have virtually no chance of busting out. 

Your Blue Future: Your Free Speech Is Violence; Their Violence Is Free Speech

 The left is very open about its aim to narrow the bounds of free speech. Make no mistake about it: a blue future is a future without freedom of speech.

Trump: "Lock Up The Biden's", Lock Up Hillary

 You just can't have a president who says shit like this. It's right out. That sort of thing really does make him sound like a dictator--though he obviously isn't one. He loves to talk, but it's the part of the job he's worst at. He simply can't control his moth--nor his thumbs. If the other side hadn't gone nuts, and times weren't desperate, Trump simply couldn't even be considered for the Presidency.

Michael Yon on (a) Proud Boys and (b) America's Drug Problem

 He's just back from Asia, and traveling around the PNW. His take: (a) are not a problem; (b) is a problem.

Remember How Trump Was Undeniably In Violation Of The Emoluments Clause?

 Funny how he's always so obviously a crook, but the evidence is just never there...

Jimmy Dore on Russiagate

 

Trump on The Biden "Crime Family"

This is not the sort of thing a president should say without conclusive proof. It's this kind of thing that's going to give us a half-year of Biden and 3.5 years of Kamala Harris...

   OTOH, the left constantly (and, no, I don't mean repeatedly) falsely accuses Trump of racism. And that's worse, in many ways. So we could call it even...if it were anywhere close to even. Both Biden and Harris have repeatedly repeated the "Very Fine People" lie--which is the equivalent of accusing him of racism. Or "white supremacy"...even in its older, normal, meaning. God knows what it means now... And, of course--and as I've repeated said--this has nothing to do with Trump. Accusing everyone who disagrees with them of racism (and similar things) at every turn is the progressive left's modus operandi. And the only reason they're not calling people something worse is that they haven't thought of anything yet. When they do, you can rest assured they'll add that to the list.

   Anyway: progressivism and its multifaceted Pravda have slightly better manners than Trump...but they're way, way crazier. His demeanor is worse--but, in a way, that's better. They're sneakier, crazier, and meaner. Trump's antipresidential demeanor is a big problem. But it's nothing compared to the deep, wide streak of mean and crazy on the other side. Trump's problems are immediately discernible...and when you actually get to understand the guy, you see that he's way less bad than he initially seems. (Unless you're doing business with him, apparently.) The Dems seem fine at first--especially with their saccharine weeping for the downtrodden... But when you get to know them...they turn out to be very, very, very bad. 

   So, we've gotta choose between a President who--via Twitter, for the love of God--accuses his opponent of criminality...or an entire, unhinged, political faction that controls all of our institutions spewing accusations of racism at everyone who opposes them. Non-stop...

   So far as I can tell, Trump's one of the main things standing between us and something akin to the destruction of the country. If I thought Biden would push back harder against the loony left, I'd be voting for him. But he won't. So I'm not.

How The Media Is Misreporting The Batflu Death Toll

Seems about right to me, but I really don't know.

An Ex-Liberal Reluctantly Supports Trump

 We're not 100% on the same page...but I agree with a lot of this...  He's got a lot of views about the recent history of American politics that I can't speak on. I have new skepticism about Obama, but haven't gone as far as Siegel has. Anyway: way work a read.

Translation: Give Us Your Guns

 link

Amy Coney Barrett Is Really Freakin' Smart

 Look, to be honest, I'm notably far down the right-hand-side of the IQ curve... But I'm dissolute and feckless, which more than cancel out my God-given smarts. It would have been so much better if a more noble and diligent person had received the natural gifts I have squandered... But anyway, the point of this is: it's not all that often that I'm brought up short, right in my tracks, and find myself thinking/saying: That person is freakin' smart.

But Amy Coney Barrett is freakin' smart.

Scummy Lincoln Project / Vindman Commercial

First: thanks to Vindman for his service. I respect him for it.

Second: that made you feel threatened? Oh come on.

Biden's Blarney About Gays and Transgendered Children

The story about his dad and the two gay dudes kissing sounds pretty false--but big props to him if it is true.*

The "trans" stuff is nuts in most cases, especially re: kids. She turns out to be a Democratic activist, too. What a surprise, both ABC and NBC packed both the Trump and Biden events with blue-team ringers.

Asked by a mother of a transgender child about what he will do to protect LGBTQ rights, former VP Biden says: "I will flat out just change the law." https://t.co/JEyTOkB6qk #BidenTownHall pic.twitter.com/fxg7AhKwHG

— ABC News (@ABC) October 16, 2020

*Whoa...in retrospect...how much ambiguity can you (by which I mean I...) pack into one sentence? Do I always write that badly?

[update]

The Hunter Biden Laptop Story: For Real?

I'm just going on record with my position:

I have no idea.

I think I've already said that I think it's idiotic that this is the story that might make the difference, given that Russiagate / Russiagategate ought to lock the Dems out of the presidency and legislature for a decade...

But, if all the allegations currently on the table are true, that has to be it for Biden. Because that would include not only influence-peddling but kickbacks from it to Biden himself.

I doubt that they're all true--but even if some of them are, it'd probably be the end of the road for Biden in a sane world.

But in this one? 

Dunno.

I'd think this was all pretty unlikely if we handn't already caught the Democrats running a secret coup out of the Oval Office. But we have. So I don't.

Anyway, at some point it's simply going to become impossible for the MSM (aka Progressive Pravda) to stifle all of these stories...isn't it?

In Case You're Wondering Whether Masks Work

Well that's a pretty good jokey/informal experiment, I gotta say...

   I go back and forth on this, but mostly I think: masks probably do something, so it's a good idea to wear them a fair bit when you're around other people. I don't wear them outside unless there are a lot of people around, and I don't wear them inside unless a fair number of people are fairly close to each other. 

   I think that the left has handled this badly, as usual, insisting on wildly differing things, and then settling on WEAR MASKS ALL THE TIME, BIGOT, OR YOU'RE A MURDERER!!!!111

   All that does is give the rest of us legitimate reason to wear them less than we might otherwise have. Because now it's become a legit issue about freedom--a legit battle in the culture war. I certainly wear them less than I would if the prog-left didn't tell me I have to...

In case you’re wondering if masks work: pic.twitter.com/fqAgYgmWcb

— spooky roly poly 🎃👻🙀 (@rolypolyistaken) October 16, 2020