ELSEWHERE
Another Leftist "naked" protest here Leftists will do anything to draw attention to themselves. They did the same last year. See here or here.
The wisdom of ordinary people beats the elites: "James Surowiecki is fascinated by prediction markets. In his opinion, they demonstrate that crowds are often wise. He rejects the widespread view that groups of ordinary people are usually wrong--and that we do better to ignore them and follow experts instead. Even when individuals blunder, he believes, groups can excel: "Under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter than the smartest people in them." This is so even when "most of the people within the group are not especially well-informed or rational."" Conservatives from Burke through Disraeli and Hayek to Reagan have of course always trusted the people as a whole to come up with better decisions than elites do. Burke looked to the wisdom of the people of both the past and present combined; Disraeli saw the ordinary people of England as "angels in marble" and Hayek saw the information available to the population as a whole as infinitely superior to any other information source. And trust in the wisdom and goodness of the ordinary people as a whole is something Reagan was famous for. He constantly said that the great achievements of his era were not his but those of the American people as a whole. And libertarians have of course always looked to the aggregation of individual decisions in markets as the premier fount of wisdom.
The House of Lords once again proves its value as a guardian of traditional British liberties: "Proposals for a ban on smacking children as a disciplinary measure failed to pass the upper house of the British parliament yesterday. During a debate on amendments to the Children Bill, the House of Lords adopted by a vote of 226-91 a motion to allow "moderate" smacking that leaves no cuts, bruises or psychological harm. The proposal would also make it an offence to hit a child with an instrument, such as a belt or a cane. But the House of Lords defeated, by 250-75, a more draconian proposal that would have made it a crime in Britain to smack a youngster to any degree whatsoever."
Tom Barrett: "As I watched a defiant Saddam Hussein bluster his way through his first court appearance for war crimes in Iraq, I was struck with the fact that on at least one important point he and John Kerry are in agreement. Saddam stated that he shouldn’t be on trial, that Bush and the United States were the real war criminals".
"A generation ago, American satirist Walter Kelly amended Commodore Perry's 1813 dispatch 'We have met the enemy and he is ours' to read, 'We have met the enemy and he is us.' By the same token, one might say to the peoples of Mesopotamia: 'You have met the enemy, and he is you.' Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurd have one thing in common: they all eschew the American 'melting pot' model of democracy. They are determined to pursue their own tragic destinies instead.... I believe that there is among the Kurds, enough people who love freedom for itself and who will struggle for it obstinately until the Kurds enjoy self-rule."
Political boundaries should not be sacred: "One of the ballasts that our current political balloons carry is that of the sanctity of existing boundaries; the belief that all existing states are to be preserved in their current shape and size. This is, in numerous cases, an irrational position for which the global community and interstate peace currently pays and will in the future continue to pay, an excessive price."
Island of justice in the Middle East: "Question: Where in the Middle East did the following occur? Arab villagers file a petition to their High Court, claiming their human rights are being violated by the state. The villagers prevail. The Kingdom of Jordan, perhaps? Syria? Lebanon? Did a High Court of Justice there intervene on behalf of the Little Lebanese Guy against his Syrian overlords? ... When polled, Europeans said that this country, whose supreme court ruled against the state for violating a standard designed to 'strike a balance between security and human rights,' was the greatest threat to world peace."
The Leftists won't like this: There is now a Muslim free-market institute!
Now that the "Kyoto" global warming bandwagon seems to have ground to a halt, the Church of England has decided to give it a push. Though don't ask me what that has to do with saving souls and preparing for the afterlife -- which is what Jesus was on about. Anyway, the C of E has what seems a new twist: They want poor people to pollute MORE! All men should be equal polluters, apparently. As I pointed out some time ago, the old established churches are mostly just Leftist fronts these days -- dedicated to getting attention by stirring up mindless dissension and trouble rather than anything else. M4 Monologue has got a pretty good take on that sort of "Christian" too.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
HOLLYWOOD
Hollywood's betrayal of America: "How many Americans are aware that the most sophisticated tools of modern communication are being used on a daily basis in a vast program of disinformation about this country and its people that is beamed into almost every country on Earth? Every time I travel abroad I see this at work and witness its results. 'I am so grateful for this opportunity to get to know you and your family,' a Muslim Indian woman told me in 2000. 'We thought that Americans have no values, that they are materialistic, and care only about themselves. We thought there is no commitment to children and families, that everyone lives in immorality. It is so wonderful to see that these things are not true!' Where does this image of America come from? If someone had set out to create a powerful propaganda strategy to completely discredit America, they could not have come up with anything more effective than the Hollywood product shown daily to billions of people."
Hollywood ideology: "Once upon a time, there were people in Hollywood who loved America. And when America came under attack from enemies abroad, these actors, producers, screenwriters, and directors put aside their partisan differences and created movies that-unlike Michael Moore's new shlockumentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 -made all moviegoers proud to be Americans.... The movies depicted good and evil in stark terms. And there was no politically correct revisionism about who our enemies were. By contrast, even tough-guy Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to stand up to Hollywood mushes who were afraid to depict Arab terrorists in his post-Sept. 11 movie, Collateral Damage. Instead of encouraging Americans to confront the true face and nature of the Islamist threat, Schwarzenegger and his producers turned the Arab terrorists into Colombian terrorists so no one would complain about "racial profiling." Similarly, Steven Spielberg's new movie about an asylum seeker, The Terminal, indulges in weak-willed liberal escapism by demonizing Department of Homeland Security officials just trying to do their jobs.
**********************************
ELSEWHERE
The Happy Carpenter has just put up an impassioned response to the antiwar Left. It's a must-read. Worthy of Bill Whittle. Excerpt: "It was mentioned a few times at the beginning of the war and its 14 month rush-to-war that NAZI = BAATH. They are both acronyms for National Socialism.... It is no coincidence that they both involved mass murder, attempted genocide on Jews, multiple invasions of neighbors, and stubborn blind violence after nominal defeat. What seems absolutely unique to me, a very casual student of history, is the lazy acceptance of traitors in our midst. The new American Left wants us to fail. They want just enough American soldiers and Marines to die so they can whip the public into demanding another Vietnam style retreat. They make no bones about this among themselves, although they viciously insist that we patriots recognize their "protest" as the highest form of patriotism. It is not. We must not be afraid of their name-calling. Just as the insult of `bigot' and `racist' has worn thin and no longer stings like it once did, we must counter the left's lies. When they say "How dare you question my patriotism!" we must say "I question your patriotism because you are a traitor. You want America to fail. You want Americans to die. And you want this because you are a socialist who believes America is the greatest evil in the world. I denounce you. I spit on you. You are a traitor.""
Kerry betrays America ... again: "How is America supposed to win in Iraq, and how are the Iraqi people supposed to reclaim their country, when so many Washington leaders seem to be rooting for failure in Baghdad? ... Now top Democrats are talking down a war that has cost 800- plus Americans their lives -- with little regard to how their sniping might affect the war effort. You would think that Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., never heard of the word "morale," by the way he is badmouthing a war that he himself had voted to authorize. Consider that while Iraqis have resented America's military presence, even in Iraq citizens were more upbeat than Kerry about the transfer of power. A Baghdad newspaper, New Morning, wrote a story headlined, "America Keeps Its Promise," for its next edition, according to NBC news. Yet in America, Kerry, who voted for the war, looked as if he had lost a bet. ..... The issue is this: If Kerry votes for a war, he owes it to the troops to root for victory. ...Instead, he has spent months undermining the coalition in order to bolster his own career."
How bad news from Iraq gets "created". "Iraq veterans often say they are confused by American news coverage, because their experience differs so greatly from what journalists report. Soldiers and Marines point to the slow, steady progress in almost all areas of Iraqi life and wonder why they don't get much notice - or in many cases, any notice at all. Part of the explanation is Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post.... While its national clout lags behind the New York Times, many reporters look to the Post for cues on how to approach a story. The Post interprets events, and the herd of independent minds bleat their approval and start tapping on their keyboards with their hooves. Chandrasekaran's crew generates a relentlessly negative stream of articles from Iraq - and if there are no events to report, they resort to man-on-the-street interviews and cobble together a story from that." (Via Mark Shea).
The latest threat from Iran: "Iranians are frantically increasing their efforts to drive Coalition forces out of Iraq, to wreck the Iraqi economy - and especially to inflate oil prices, which the mullahs hope will bring down the Bush presidency - and to destabilize the fragile Karzai government in Afghanistan. They, and their Syrian and Saudi allies, are doing this because the liberation of Iraq is indeed threatening the authority of the remaining terror masters in Tehran, Damascus, and Riadh. The entire region is bubbling from the heat of democratic revolution"
Further to my recent posts about homosexuality and Fascism, I have just posted here an extract from the 1938 edition of 'Inside Europe' by John Gunther which says that Hitler himself was completely asexual.
Oil can be a curse: "It is not coincidental that the only Moslem country with a working democracy is Turkey, which has no oil. Malaysia is also semi-democratic and "suffers" from not being mineral-rich. .."
The Australian Left are quiet about the Howard government's achievements in black education: "...the proportion of indigenous children staying on to year 12 has increased from 29 per cent to 39 per cent since 1996. The number of indigenous students undertaking bachelor or higher degree courses has risen by 36 per cent at the same time. This financial year, the Howard Government will spend 39 per cent more in real terms than the Keating government did in its last year. .."
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Hollywood's betrayal of America: "How many Americans are aware that the most sophisticated tools of modern communication are being used on a daily basis in a vast program of disinformation about this country and its people that is beamed into almost every country on Earth? Every time I travel abroad I see this at work and witness its results. 'I am so grateful for this opportunity to get to know you and your family,' a Muslim Indian woman told me in 2000. 'We thought that Americans have no values, that they are materialistic, and care only about themselves. We thought there is no commitment to children and families, that everyone lives in immorality. It is so wonderful to see that these things are not true!' Where does this image of America come from? If someone had set out to create a powerful propaganda strategy to completely discredit America, they could not have come up with anything more effective than the Hollywood product shown daily to billions of people."
Hollywood ideology: "Once upon a time, there were people in Hollywood who loved America. And when America came under attack from enemies abroad, these actors, producers, screenwriters, and directors put aside their partisan differences and created movies that-unlike Michael Moore's new shlockumentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 -made all moviegoers proud to be Americans.... The movies depicted good and evil in stark terms. And there was no politically correct revisionism about who our enemies were. By contrast, even tough-guy Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to stand up to Hollywood mushes who were afraid to depict Arab terrorists in his post-Sept. 11 movie, Collateral Damage. Instead of encouraging Americans to confront the true face and nature of the Islamist threat, Schwarzenegger and his producers turned the Arab terrorists into Colombian terrorists so no one would complain about "racial profiling." Similarly, Steven Spielberg's new movie about an asylum seeker, The Terminal, indulges in weak-willed liberal escapism by demonizing Department of Homeland Security officials just trying to do their jobs.
**********************************
ELSEWHERE
The Happy Carpenter has just put up an impassioned response to the antiwar Left. It's a must-read. Worthy of Bill Whittle. Excerpt: "It was mentioned a few times at the beginning of the war and its 14 month rush-to-war that NAZI = BAATH. They are both acronyms for National Socialism.... It is no coincidence that they both involved mass murder, attempted genocide on Jews, multiple invasions of neighbors, and stubborn blind violence after nominal defeat. What seems absolutely unique to me, a very casual student of history, is the lazy acceptance of traitors in our midst. The new American Left wants us to fail. They want just enough American soldiers and Marines to die so they can whip the public into demanding another Vietnam style retreat. They make no bones about this among themselves, although they viciously insist that we patriots recognize their "protest" as the highest form of patriotism. It is not. We must not be afraid of their name-calling. Just as the insult of `bigot' and `racist' has worn thin and no longer stings like it once did, we must counter the left's lies. When they say "How dare you question my patriotism!" we must say "I question your patriotism because you are a traitor. You want America to fail. You want Americans to die. And you want this because you are a socialist who believes America is the greatest evil in the world. I denounce you. I spit on you. You are a traitor.""
Kerry betrays America ... again: "How is America supposed to win in Iraq, and how are the Iraqi people supposed to reclaim their country, when so many Washington leaders seem to be rooting for failure in Baghdad? ... Now top Democrats are talking down a war that has cost 800- plus Americans their lives -- with little regard to how their sniping might affect the war effort. You would think that Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., never heard of the word "morale," by the way he is badmouthing a war that he himself had voted to authorize. Consider that while Iraqis have resented America's military presence, even in Iraq citizens were more upbeat than Kerry about the transfer of power. A Baghdad newspaper, New Morning, wrote a story headlined, "America Keeps Its Promise," for its next edition, according to NBC news. Yet in America, Kerry, who voted for the war, looked as if he had lost a bet. ..... The issue is this: If Kerry votes for a war, he owes it to the troops to root for victory. ...Instead, he has spent months undermining the coalition in order to bolster his own career."
How bad news from Iraq gets "created". "Iraq veterans often say they are confused by American news coverage, because their experience differs so greatly from what journalists report. Soldiers and Marines point to the slow, steady progress in almost all areas of Iraqi life and wonder why they don't get much notice - or in many cases, any notice at all. Part of the explanation is Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post.... While its national clout lags behind the New York Times, many reporters look to the Post for cues on how to approach a story. The Post interprets events, and the herd of independent minds bleat their approval and start tapping on their keyboards with their hooves. Chandrasekaran's crew generates a relentlessly negative stream of articles from Iraq - and if there are no events to report, they resort to man-on-the-street interviews and cobble together a story from that." (Via Mark Shea).
The latest threat from Iran: "Iranians are frantically increasing their efforts to drive Coalition forces out of Iraq, to wreck the Iraqi economy - and especially to inflate oil prices, which the mullahs hope will bring down the Bush presidency - and to destabilize the fragile Karzai government in Afghanistan. They, and their Syrian and Saudi allies, are doing this because the liberation of Iraq is indeed threatening the authority of the remaining terror masters in Tehran, Damascus, and Riadh. The entire region is bubbling from the heat of democratic revolution"
Further to my recent posts about homosexuality and Fascism, I have just posted here an extract from the 1938 edition of 'Inside Europe' by John Gunther which says that Hitler himself was completely asexual.
Oil can be a curse: "It is not coincidental that the only Moslem country with a working democracy is Turkey, which has no oil. Malaysia is also semi-democratic and "suffers" from not being mineral-rich. .."
The Australian Left are quiet about the Howard government's achievements in black education: "...the proportion of indigenous children staying on to year 12 has increased from 29 per cent to 39 per cent since 1996. The number of indigenous students undertaking bachelor or higher degree courses has risen by 36 per cent at the same time. This financial year, the Howard Government will spend 39 per cent more in real terms than the Keating government did in its last year. .."
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Monday, July 05, 2004
"GODLESS"
"Godless", over at "Gene Expression" is a good chap but he seems to have got bogged in a couple of ways. Being Godless myself, perhaps I can help: He is puzzled by the fact that a black with an IQ of 70 seems to function better socially than a similarly low IQ white. The obvious comment is that psychopaths seem to function well socially in some ways too but they soon drop out into antisocial behaviour. But even conceding the very doubtful premise that low IQ blacks function well socially (are high levels of crime and violence "good" functioning?), it need have nothing to do with faults in the IQ tests. For a white to be so low, he will generally have other deficits as well as the IQ deficit whereas low IQ is normal for blacks so will not usually go with other deficits.
In another post, Godless says that the continued approval for Communism among Leftists is the root cause of a lot of other crazy things that Leftists assert. He says that attacking their love of Communism will bring down their whole house of cards. He is totally mistaken. Their love of Communism is a symptom, not a cause. The crucial fact is that they don't CARE about Communism being brutal. They know the facts about Communism as well as anyone. How could they not know? They LIKE Communism, including its evils. Their love of Communism reflects their psychology, not any consistent philosophy. Leftists actually believe in nothing at all except themselves. They have only postures, not beliefs. They themselves repeatedly tell us that they think there is no such thing as right and wrong or truth and falsehood. So arguing with them is almost always pointless.
Take this comment on Leftist inconsistency by Dick McDonald, for instance: "I have never understood the elite's rant that Middle Easterners are not like us; democracy won't work. The same elites covet the proposition that blacks are just like whites". You just cannot argue with dishonesty as deep as that. As I pointed out years ago, for Leftists what counts as evidence is entirely a function of the conclusions desired. What Dick summarizes is just one Leftist posture in conflict with another and the only thing that makes sense of such posturing lies at the psychological level -- in a need to be contrary (at the minimum) -- not at the level of reasonable argument from the evidence.
********************************
"Godless", over at "Gene Expression" is a good chap but he seems to have got bogged in a couple of ways. Being Godless myself, perhaps I can help: He is puzzled by the fact that a black with an IQ of 70 seems to function better socially than a similarly low IQ white. The obvious comment is that psychopaths seem to function well socially in some ways too but they soon drop out into antisocial behaviour. But even conceding the very doubtful premise that low IQ blacks function well socially (are high levels of crime and violence "good" functioning?), it need have nothing to do with faults in the IQ tests. For a white to be so low, he will generally have other deficits as well as the IQ deficit whereas low IQ is normal for blacks so will not usually go with other deficits.
In another post, Godless says that the continued approval for Communism among Leftists is the root cause of a lot of other crazy things that Leftists assert. He says that attacking their love of Communism will bring down their whole house of cards. He is totally mistaken. Their love of Communism is a symptom, not a cause. The crucial fact is that they don't CARE about Communism being brutal. They know the facts about Communism as well as anyone. How could they not know? They LIKE Communism, including its evils. Their love of Communism reflects their psychology, not any consistent philosophy. Leftists actually believe in nothing at all except themselves. They have only postures, not beliefs. They themselves repeatedly tell us that they think there is no such thing as right and wrong or truth and falsehood. So arguing with them is almost always pointless.
Take this comment on Leftist inconsistency by Dick McDonald, for instance: "I have never understood the elite's rant that Middle Easterners are not like us; democracy won't work. The same elites covet the proposition that blacks are just like whites". You just cannot argue with dishonesty as deep as that. As I pointed out years ago, for Leftists what counts as evidence is entirely a function of the conclusions desired. What Dick summarizes is just one Leftist posture in conflict with another and the only thing that makes sense of such posturing lies at the psychological level -- in a need to be contrary (at the minimum) -- not at the level of reasonable argument from the evidence.
********************************
ELSEWHERE
Dick Mcdonald has reproduced a wonderful 4th of July speech by Ronald Reagan.
V.D. Hanson has a good article up about Iraq. One excerpt: "Iraq now is what the Left all throughout the 1960s and 1970s said America should be doing-and nothing is more saddening than to see earnest and courageous reformers of the new Iraqi government being grilled and pilloried on TV by smug American pundits and reporters.... We are in dangerous times, because beyond the normal Democratic/Republican, Left/Right natural give-and- take, there is now a growing and very crazy New, New Left. It has transcended both the old Marxism of the 1930s and the counterculture of the 1960s, and transmogrified into a strange sort of aristocratic, boutique damnation of Main Street, USA."
One of my readers writes: "Historian William Marina, an anti-Iraq war paleocon has an article that should be of interest even to conservatives who are strong supporters of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. There are two points of interest. Firstly he points out that the US war of independence was a broadly popular revolt. The Left, for reasons of their own, like to make great play of the myth that the American revolution was supported "by only 1/3rd of the population". This myth is a salve to their elitist agenda. They are forever advocating radical social change without popular grassroots support, hence their modern reliance on bureaucratic and judicial activism, not the ballot box, to engineer their reforms. The American 'revolution' was a broadly popular reassertion by the American colonists of "the rights of Englishmen". The very kind of rights the modern left is most opposed to. Secondly he points out that militia forces are by no means ineffective or obsolete. Indeed the US military is running into considerable difficulty with Iraqi militias of different persuasions. So the argument used by the gun controllers that the need for an armed populace for defence purposes has been made obsolete by modern technology is void. Of course an armed populace alone is insufficient for national defence but it still packs a sting, even against well armed opponents."
The just-retired (Leftist) Lord Mayor of my home town of Brisbane (Jim Soorley) had some sensible things to say about education in yesterday's Brisbane Sunday Mail: "In Australia, we have an education system which is considered liberal and affirming of the child. I have long been comfortable with this approach, until I saw the French film To Be and To Have. This confronting documentary turns all that liberal stuff on its head. In a small one-teacher school in rural France, children are made to listen rather than talk, self-expression is kept to a minimum, little ones are encouraged to colour between the lines - no Jackson Pollock-type explosions of art here. And yet it seems to work. The children are polite and respectful, they are fond of their teacher, they gain an understanding of philosophy through their experiences in the classroom. Apparently this is fairly typical of the French education system and effectively prepares students for life after school".
I liked a recent post on Red Line Rants. He has taken to calling all bloggers "digital Brownshirts" -- in mockery of Al Gore's recent Nazi slur against conservatives who use the internet. It reminds me of the phrase "reptiles of the Press". Australian and British journalists often describe themselves quite gleefully as that -- although the person who first uttered the phrase was no doubt trying to be insulting. I wish I knew who DID originate the phrase. Anyway, Red Line Rants has a good point about the recent rise in U.S. job creation. But why he puts grease in his hair beats me.
LOL: I got an indignant email from Tim Lambert in reponse to the surprise I expressed yesterday about his not criticizing my latest excerpt from John Lott Jr. Apparently he has already criticized that article. I might have known. Lott's work does appear to be very uneven and Lambert is his avenging angel, ever ready to pounce on any failings.
Maverick Philosopher has a fun takedown of an email he received from a Leftist nut. Conservative bloggers get illogical emails like that all the time. Leftists rarely even try to be objective.
Wicked Thoughts notes the Leftist claim that it is normal for blacks to smash their kids to death (!).
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Dick Mcdonald has reproduced a wonderful 4th of July speech by Ronald Reagan.
V.D. Hanson has a good article up about Iraq. One excerpt: "Iraq now is what the Left all throughout the 1960s and 1970s said America should be doing-and nothing is more saddening than to see earnest and courageous reformers of the new Iraqi government being grilled and pilloried on TV by smug American pundits and reporters.... We are in dangerous times, because beyond the normal Democratic/Republican, Left/Right natural give-and- take, there is now a growing and very crazy New, New Left. It has transcended both the old Marxism of the 1930s and the counterculture of the 1960s, and transmogrified into a strange sort of aristocratic, boutique damnation of Main Street, USA."
One of my readers writes: "Historian William Marina, an anti-Iraq war paleocon has an article that should be of interest even to conservatives who are strong supporters of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. There are two points of interest. Firstly he points out that the US war of independence was a broadly popular revolt. The Left, for reasons of their own, like to make great play of the myth that the American revolution was supported "by only 1/3rd of the population". This myth is a salve to their elitist agenda. They are forever advocating radical social change without popular grassroots support, hence their modern reliance on bureaucratic and judicial activism, not the ballot box, to engineer their reforms. The American 'revolution' was a broadly popular reassertion by the American colonists of "the rights of Englishmen". The very kind of rights the modern left is most opposed to. Secondly he points out that militia forces are by no means ineffective or obsolete. Indeed the US military is running into considerable difficulty with Iraqi militias of different persuasions. So the argument used by the gun controllers that the need for an armed populace for defence purposes has been made obsolete by modern technology is void. Of course an armed populace alone is insufficient for national defence but it still packs a sting, even against well armed opponents."
The just-retired (Leftist) Lord Mayor of my home town of Brisbane (Jim Soorley) had some sensible things to say about education in yesterday's Brisbane Sunday Mail: "In Australia, we have an education system which is considered liberal and affirming of the child. I have long been comfortable with this approach, until I saw the French film To Be and To Have. This confronting documentary turns all that liberal stuff on its head. In a small one-teacher school in rural France, children are made to listen rather than talk, self-expression is kept to a minimum, little ones are encouraged to colour between the lines - no Jackson Pollock-type explosions of art here. And yet it seems to work. The children are polite and respectful, they are fond of their teacher, they gain an understanding of philosophy through their experiences in the classroom. Apparently this is fairly typical of the French education system and effectively prepares students for life after school".
I liked a recent post on Red Line Rants. He has taken to calling all bloggers "digital Brownshirts" -- in mockery of Al Gore's recent Nazi slur against conservatives who use the internet. It reminds me of the phrase "reptiles of the Press". Australian and British journalists often describe themselves quite gleefully as that -- although the person who first uttered the phrase was no doubt trying to be insulting. I wish I knew who DID originate the phrase. Anyway, Red Line Rants has a good point about the recent rise in U.S. job creation. But why he puts grease in his hair beats me.
LOL: I got an indignant email from Tim Lambert in reponse to the surprise I expressed yesterday about his not criticizing my latest excerpt from John Lott Jr. Apparently he has already criticized that article. I might have known. Lott's work does appear to be very uneven and Lambert is his avenging angel, ever ready to pounce on any failings.
Maverick Philosopher has a fun takedown of an email he received from a Leftist nut. Conservative bloggers get illogical emails like that all the time. Leftists rarely even try to be objective.
Wicked Thoughts notes the Leftist claim that it is normal for blacks to smash their kids to death (!).
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Blogspot has been very erratic for the last 24 hours so goodness knows when the posts below will show up:
FASCISM AND HOMOSEXUALITY
There is an extended discussion on Evangelical Outpost about the connection between Fascism and homosexuality -- which I mentioned briefly on 2nd. One quote: "We are often blinded by the stereotype of the effeminate gay man to see that homosexuality is at its core a form of self-worship. Rejecting - whether because of genetics or behavior - the natural complementarity of the male/female sexual union, homosexual men develop an idealization of the masculine. The veneration of such masculine traits as power and domination inevitably leads to the development of fantasies in which these characteristics are able to be expressed. It shouldn't surprise us, then, to find these fantasies of sexual mastery being played out, whether in the bedroom as sadomasochistic sex or in the nation-state as fascism".
The contributors are a bit confused about what Fascism is. They point out -- rightly -- that Dutch homosexual nationalist Pim Fortuyn was generally Leftist. So they argue that he was not a Fascist. But ALL the Fascists were Leftists. Fascism is the Leftist form of nationalism, and a very extreme and aggressive form it generally is -- given the typical amorality and psychopathic tendencies of Leftists. The confusion arises because the Left has always been split between the nationalists and the internationalists and the internationalists very much have the upper hand these days. But Leftist nationalists are of course as old as the original Fascist -- Napoleon Bonaparte. For more on Napoleon see here.
Another confusion is over the fact that the Nazis also persecuted homosexuals. Yet that also is typically Leftist. Leftists are chronic haters (see here, here and here) and they are quite prone to hating one-another -- as the ice-pick in the head that Leon Trotsky got courtesy of Joseph Stalin attests. I also think that the much decried Scott Lively has a point. Like everybody else, he notes that homosexuals are divided into the effeminate and the butch types and says that the Nazi persecution of homosexuals was largely the work of butch homosexuals despising the effeminate ones. He says that it was largely the effeminate ones who went to the gas chambers.
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FASCISM AND HOMOSEXUALITY
There is an extended discussion on Evangelical Outpost about the connection between Fascism and homosexuality -- which I mentioned briefly on 2nd. One quote: "We are often blinded by the stereotype of the effeminate gay man to see that homosexuality is at its core a form of self-worship. Rejecting - whether because of genetics or behavior - the natural complementarity of the male/female sexual union, homosexual men develop an idealization of the masculine. The veneration of such masculine traits as power and domination inevitably leads to the development of fantasies in which these characteristics are able to be expressed. It shouldn't surprise us, then, to find these fantasies of sexual mastery being played out, whether in the bedroom as sadomasochistic sex or in the nation-state as fascism".
The contributors are a bit confused about what Fascism is. They point out -- rightly -- that Dutch homosexual nationalist Pim Fortuyn was generally Leftist. So they argue that he was not a Fascist. But ALL the Fascists were Leftists. Fascism is the Leftist form of nationalism, and a very extreme and aggressive form it generally is -- given the typical amorality and psychopathic tendencies of Leftists. The confusion arises because the Left has always been split between the nationalists and the internationalists and the internationalists very much have the upper hand these days. But Leftist nationalists are of course as old as the original Fascist -- Napoleon Bonaparte. For more on Napoleon see here.
Another confusion is over the fact that the Nazis also persecuted homosexuals. Yet that also is typically Leftist. Leftists are chronic haters (see here, here and here) and they are quite prone to hating one-another -- as the ice-pick in the head that Leon Trotsky got courtesy of Joseph Stalin attests. I also think that the much decried Scott Lively has a point. Like everybody else, he notes that homosexuals are divided into the effeminate and the butch types and says that the Nazi persecution of homosexuals was largely the work of butch homosexuals despising the effeminate ones. He says that it was largely the effeminate ones who went to the gas chambers.
************************************
ELSEWHERE
"On the Fourth of July we celebrate our nation's birth, announced to the world some 228 years ago through a remarkable document: the Declaration of Independence. In that document the Founders set forth both the reasons that impelled them to independence and, more important, the moral vision that has inspired us, and millions more around the world, ever since. Individual liberty, secured by limited government: that is its essence. Too often today, however, government is not serving liberty but is at war with it, telling us that it knows best, that it will decide for us."
In response to my recent mention that there were some good guys among the French intellectuals of the past, one of my readers has pointed out something said by A.V. Dicey, the great English legal historian, in The Law Of The Constitution, Third Edition of 1889: "The most celebrated literary works of France were published abroad. Montesquieu's L'Esprit des Lois appeared at Geneva. Voltaire's Henriade was printed in England; the most remarkable of his and of Rousseau's writings were published in London, in Geneva, or in Amsterdam. In 1775 a work entitled Philosophie de la Nature was destroyed by the order of the Parliament of Paris, the author was decreed guilty of treason against God and man, and would have been burnt if he could have been arrested. In 1781, eight years before the meeting of the States General, Raynal was pronounced by the Parliament guilty of blasphemy on account of his Histoire des Indes" (p. 239). So they still needed the English and other Protestants to publish their works. Both before and after their revolution, the French have been great believers in political censorship. If you doubt it, read Dicey.
Socialized medicine: "NSW hospitals are taking critically ill babies despite being overloaded, says a director at a leading Sydney hospital. The Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick has been on code red nearly every day over the past fortnight but the director of newborn care, Kei Lui, said he rarely turned away sick babies".
Wow! The Boston Globe has finally got around to noting the huges rise in the number of antisemitic attacks in Britain and Europe in recent years! But Arabs don't get a mention until the last sentence!
The wisdom of Ralph Nader: ""What has been happening over the years is a predictable routine of foreign visitation from the head of the Israeli government," Nader said. "The Israeli puppeteer travels to Washington. The Israeli puppeteer meets with the puppet in the White House, and then moves down Pennsylvania Avenue, and meets with the puppets in Congress. And then takes back billions of taxpayer dollars. It is time for the Washington puppet show to be replaced by the Washington peace show." So St. Ralph is a good old conspiracy theorist after all. It does not say much for his intellect to see that as the level of his understanding.
Check out these test questions on the New York State school examinations for global history, U.S. history & government, for the years 2000-04. The exams should really be referred to as a test in Leftist distortions of history.
I put up six posts on gun control yesterday and the ever-vigilant Tim Lambert has savaged one of them. I thought he might. He rightly points out that comparisons of crime-rates between countries are almost meaningless because of different reporting standards and categories etc. I myself think that only murder-rates have a reasonable chance of being comparable across jurisdictions. And even then overall rates are pretty meaningless unless we separate out comparable demographic categories. The obvious example of that, of course is the black/white difference in American crime-rates. I was rather staggered that Lambert ignored my quote of something by John Lott Jr., however. Of the first 500 posts on his blog, 399 were about Lott. But Lambert does respect the data. In his post of 18th June, he concluded that Australia' recent big spasm of gun control was a waste of time.
One of my readers has very kindly converted my article on Hitler to a nicely set-out PDF file. I would be happy to email a copy to those who like pdf files. I suppose I could put it on the net but it would be very slow to download compared to the html equivalent that is already up.
Chris Brand has just done some interesting postings here -- including a report about another one of those terrible British cases of false child-abuse accusations. If blogspot is still not showing recent posts when you read this, see at the bottom of Chris's original page here.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
Some very good news on "Greenie Watch" today.
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
"On the Fourth of July we celebrate our nation's birth, announced to the world some 228 years ago through a remarkable document: the Declaration of Independence. In that document the Founders set forth both the reasons that impelled them to independence and, more important, the moral vision that has inspired us, and millions more around the world, ever since. Individual liberty, secured by limited government: that is its essence. Too often today, however, government is not serving liberty but is at war with it, telling us that it knows best, that it will decide for us."
In response to my recent mention that there were some good guys among the French intellectuals of the past, one of my readers has pointed out something said by A.V. Dicey, the great English legal historian, in The Law Of The Constitution, Third Edition of 1889: "The most celebrated literary works of France were published abroad. Montesquieu's L'Esprit des Lois appeared at Geneva. Voltaire's Henriade was printed in England; the most remarkable of his and of Rousseau's writings were published in London, in Geneva, or in Amsterdam. In 1775 a work entitled Philosophie de la Nature was destroyed by the order of the Parliament of Paris, the author was decreed guilty of treason against God and man, and would have been burnt if he could have been arrested. In 1781, eight years before the meeting of the States General, Raynal was pronounced by the Parliament guilty of blasphemy on account of his Histoire des Indes" (p. 239). So they still needed the English and other Protestants to publish their works. Both before and after their revolution, the French have been great believers in political censorship. If you doubt it, read Dicey.
Socialized medicine: "NSW hospitals are taking critically ill babies despite being overloaded, says a director at a leading Sydney hospital. The Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick has been on code red nearly every day over the past fortnight but the director of newborn care, Kei Lui, said he rarely turned away sick babies".
Wow! The Boston Globe has finally got around to noting the huges rise in the number of antisemitic attacks in Britain and Europe in recent years! But Arabs don't get a mention until the last sentence!
The wisdom of Ralph Nader: ""What has been happening over the years is a predictable routine of foreign visitation from the head of the Israeli government," Nader said. "The Israeli puppeteer travels to Washington. The Israeli puppeteer meets with the puppet in the White House, and then moves down Pennsylvania Avenue, and meets with the puppets in Congress. And then takes back billions of taxpayer dollars. It is time for the Washington puppet show to be replaced by the Washington peace show." So St. Ralph is a good old conspiracy theorist after all. It does not say much for his intellect to see that as the level of his understanding.
Check out these test questions on the New York State school examinations for global history, U.S. history & government, for the years 2000-04. The exams should really be referred to as a test in Leftist distortions of history.
I put up six posts on gun control yesterday and the ever-vigilant Tim Lambert has savaged one of them. I thought he might. He rightly points out that comparisons of crime-rates between countries are almost meaningless because of different reporting standards and categories etc. I myself think that only murder-rates have a reasonable chance of being comparable across jurisdictions. And even then overall rates are pretty meaningless unless we separate out comparable demographic categories. The obvious example of that, of course is the black/white difference in American crime-rates. I was rather staggered that Lambert ignored my quote of something by John Lott Jr., however. Of the first 500 posts on his blog, 399 were about Lott. But Lambert does respect the data. In his post of 18th June, he concluded that Australia' recent big spasm of gun control was a waste of time.
One of my readers has very kindly converted my article on Hitler to a nicely set-out PDF file. I would be happy to email a copy to those who like pdf files. I suppose I could put it on the net but it would be very slow to download compared to the html equivalent that is already up.
Chris Brand has just done some interesting postings here -- including a report about another one of those terrible British cases of false child-abuse accusations. If blogspot is still not showing recent posts when you read this, see at the bottom of Chris's original page here.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
Some very good news on "Greenie Watch" today.
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Saturday, July 03, 2004
THOSE WICKED GUNS AGAIN
"The gun-control movement's stock has tanked. Violent crime overall has continued to drop, leaving partisans to fret over the much smaller problem of accidental gun injuries. Most of the holdout states have now passed laws allowing citizens to carry personal-protection firearms -- and civilization as we know it has not ended. The 1994 Clinton ban on semi-automatic rifles is set to expire in September, and even some of its biggest supporters now agree that the law failed to cut crime. Still, gun-control foot soldiers in organized medicine churn out articles for relatively obscure scientific journals. Their message is increasingly devoid of any useful findings; it is mostly an attempt to paint gun owners as sociopaths or Neanderthals."
Crime and gun-control in Australia: "As with Britain, Australia invoked massive gun control following a mass murder, where a mentally ill man used firearms to commit the crime.... As with the UK study, it is important to establish a pre-ban baseline and then compare it to similar research after the ban to determine crime trends.... Here are some key findings about Australian crime trends for the period of 1995 (pre-ban) to 2001 (post-ban): The rate of assault has increased steadily from 563 victims per 100,000 people in 1995 to 779 per 100,000 people in 2001. In 2001 the rate for robbery peaked at 136 per 100,000 people- the highest recorded since 1995. The rate of sexual assault was 86 per 100,000 people, which is higher than any previous year. Here is the comparison in violent crime trends between Australia and the United States for the period of 1995 to 2001... Homicide: AUS down 11%; US down 32%.
Rah for the Pink Pistols! "Initially three, then later, four members of the Central Ohio Pink Pistols, a group promoting the safe handling of firearms in the GLBT community, were threatened by the Executive Director of Stonewall Columbus, who wielded a 2-foot club, and up to 30 volunteer security personnel at the Stonewall Columbus Pride Event on Saturday, June 26. The Pink Pistols were repeatedly ordered to surrender their legally-owned and carried firearms by a steadily-growing army of guards. Knowing the law was on their side, the Pink Pistols refused to surrender their property or knuckle under to illegal threats of violence, search, and seizure by Stonewall Columbus personnel. Police were summoned at Pink Pistols request. No firearms were surrendered or confiscated, and no arrests were made, as no laws were broken."
Indian enterprise: "With a view to provide a cheap and country-made weapon to the common people of the country for their self-defence, he had manufactured the weapon. This fact was revealed after interrogating Mahesh Sav, the person who had sent a pistol and a cartridge to President APJ Abdul Kalam last week in a parcel. Sav was brought to the Capital by a police team. He is likely to be produced before a court. The police said that during the interrogation, it was revealed that Sav has no criminal background. He is a small-time shopkeeper in Mojahidpur village near Patna and the idea to make a pistol struck him all of a sudden. He said he has been working on it for many years. He wanted to make an indigenous, cheap weapon for self-defence of the common people. A senior police official said that he got this idea a few years ago when he saw an advertisement of a country-made pistol in a newspaper."
10th anniversary of concealed weapons in Arizona: "Major civil-rights legislation reaches its tenth anniversary one month from today, and prospects for a vigorous future seem strong, according to industry experts. 'None of the hoplophobic (weapon-fearing) horror stories released ten years ago turned out to be true,' said Alan Korwin, author of The Arizona Gun Owner's Guide. 'Widespread reports about impending shootouts in traffic or in restaurants can now be seen, in 20/20 hindsight, as virtually delusional ...'"
"The gun-control movement is in trouble internationally. From Britain to Australia to Canada, promises of lower crime rates from gun control have turned into historic increases in crime. While the normal knee-jerk solutions are to press for even more controls, once guns are banned the explanation that the laws failed simply because they didn't go far enough becomes almost humorous. All these experiments were adopted under what gun-control advocates would argue were ideal conditions. All three countries adopted laws that applied to the entire country. Australia and Britain are surrounded by water, and thus do not have the easy smuggling problem that Canada claims to exist with regard to the U.S."
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"The gun-control movement's stock has tanked. Violent crime overall has continued to drop, leaving partisans to fret over the much smaller problem of accidental gun injuries. Most of the holdout states have now passed laws allowing citizens to carry personal-protection firearms -- and civilization as we know it has not ended. The 1994 Clinton ban on semi-automatic rifles is set to expire in September, and even some of its biggest supporters now agree that the law failed to cut crime. Still, gun-control foot soldiers in organized medicine churn out articles for relatively obscure scientific journals. Their message is increasingly devoid of any useful findings; it is mostly an attempt to paint gun owners as sociopaths or Neanderthals."
Crime and gun-control in Australia: "As with Britain, Australia invoked massive gun control following a mass murder, where a mentally ill man used firearms to commit the crime.... As with the UK study, it is important to establish a pre-ban baseline and then compare it to similar research after the ban to determine crime trends.... Here are some key findings about Australian crime trends for the period of 1995 (pre-ban) to 2001 (post-ban): The rate of assault has increased steadily from 563 victims per 100,000 people in 1995 to 779 per 100,000 people in 2001. In 2001 the rate for robbery peaked at 136 per 100,000 people- the highest recorded since 1995. The rate of sexual assault was 86 per 100,000 people, which is higher than any previous year. Here is the comparison in violent crime trends between Australia and the United States for the period of 1995 to 2001... Homicide: AUS down 11%; US down 32%.
Rah for the Pink Pistols! "Initially three, then later, four members of the Central Ohio Pink Pistols, a group promoting the safe handling of firearms in the GLBT community, were threatened by the Executive Director of Stonewall Columbus, who wielded a 2-foot club, and up to 30 volunteer security personnel at the Stonewall Columbus Pride Event on Saturday, June 26. The Pink Pistols were repeatedly ordered to surrender their legally-owned and carried firearms by a steadily-growing army of guards. Knowing the law was on their side, the Pink Pistols refused to surrender their property or knuckle under to illegal threats of violence, search, and seizure by Stonewall Columbus personnel. Police were summoned at Pink Pistols request. No firearms were surrendered or confiscated, and no arrests were made, as no laws were broken."
Indian enterprise: "With a view to provide a cheap and country-made weapon to the common people of the country for their self-defence, he had manufactured the weapon. This fact was revealed after interrogating Mahesh Sav, the person who had sent a pistol and a cartridge to President APJ Abdul Kalam last week in a parcel. Sav was brought to the Capital by a police team. He is likely to be produced before a court. The police said that during the interrogation, it was revealed that Sav has no criminal background. He is a small-time shopkeeper in Mojahidpur village near Patna and the idea to make a pistol struck him all of a sudden. He said he has been working on it for many years. He wanted to make an indigenous, cheap weapon for self-defence of the common people. A senior police official said that he got this idea a few years ago when he saw an advertisement of a country-made pistol in a newspaper."
10th anniversary of concealed weapons in Arizona: "Major civil-rights legislation reaches its tenth anniversary one month from today, and prospects for a vigorous future seem strong, according to industry experts. 'None of the hoplophobic (weapon-fearing) horror stories released ten years ago turned out to be true,' said Alan Korwin, author of The Arizona Gun Owner's Guide. 'Widespread reports about impending shootouts in traffic or in restaurants can now be seen, in 20/20 hindsight, as virtually delusional ...'"
"The gun-control movement is in trouble internationally. From Britain to Australia to Canada, promises of lower crime rates from gun control have turned into historic increases in crime. While the normal knee-jerk solutions are to press for even more controls, once guns are banned the explanation that the laws failed simply because they didn't go far enough becomes almost humorous. All these experiments were adopted under what gun-control advocates would argue were ideal conditions. All three countries adopted laws that applied to the entire country. Australia and Britain are surrounded by water, and thus do not have the easy smuggling problem that Canada claims to exist with regard to the U.S."
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ELSEWHERE
Now wait for the backtrack: "Sen. John Kerry pledged Tuesday in Phoenix that within 100 days of becoming president he would ask Congress for immigration reforms that would put undocumented immigrants on a path toward U.S. citizenship and establish a guest-worker program for temporary labor."
A Leftist comment on St. Ralph: "While Nader continues to campaign against corporate abuse, his own record, according to many of those who have worked closely with him, is characterized by arrogance, underhanded attacks on friends and associates, secrecy, paranoia and mean-spiritedness -- even at the expense of his own causes. If he were a corporate CEO, subject to the laws governing publicly held and federally regulated firms, there can be little doubt he would have been removed long ago by his company's board of directors."
Moore illogic: "Moore totally avoids the question of Israel. ... Here are some questions for Moore: If Bush is so 'in the pocket' of Saudi Arabia, why is he Ariel Sharon's strongest backer? Why, when he had Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah down at the Texas ranch a few years ago, did he flip off the Saudi's peace plan? And most important, why did he invade Iraq -- since Saudi Arabia was strongly opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq?"
Some French good guys: "Nowhere does one find such clear and lucid expositions and defenses of human liberty as those found among the French classical liberals of the nineteenth century, a group that included Jean-Baptiste Say, Frederic Bastiat, Charles Dunoyer, Charles Comte, Gustave de Molinari, Paul Leroy Beaulieu, Emile Faguet, and Yves Guyot, to name a few. Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) was one of the brightest stars in this constellation of thinkers."
"Reports circulated last week that the Bush administration will soon be unveiling a major mental health initiative that will recommend screening every citizen for mental illness. This latest manifestation of the nanny state is called, in Orwellian fashion, the New Freedom Initiative (of course).... While the Framers envisioned a limited federal government confined to enumerated powers, we instead have a bloated federal government obsessed with the minute personal details of its citizens' lives"
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Now wait for the backtrack: "Sen. John Kerry pledged Tuesday in Phoenix that within 100 days of becoming president he would ask Congress for immigration reforms that would put undocumented immigrants on a path toward U.S. citizenship and establish a guest-worker program for temporary labor."
A Leftist comment on St. Ralph: "While Nader continues to campaign against corporate abuse, his own record, according to many of those who have worked closely with him, is characterized by arrogance, underhanded attacks on friends and associates, secrecy, paranoia and mean-spiritedness -- even at the expense of his own causes. If he were a corporate CEO, subject to the laws governing publicly held and federally regulated firms, there can be little doubt he would have been removed long ago by his company's board of directors."
Moore illogic: "Moore totally avoids the question of Israel. ... Here are some questions for Moore: If Bush is so 'in the pocket' of Saudi Arabia, why is he Ariel Sharon's strongest backer? Why, when he had Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah down at the Texas ranch a few years ago, did he flip off the Saudi's peace plan? And most important, why did he invade Iraq -- since Saudi Arabia was strongly opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq?"
Some French good guys: "Nowhere does one find such clear and lucid expositions and defenses of human liberty as those found among the French classical liberals of the nineteenth century, a group that included Jean-Baptiste Say, Frederic Bastiat, Charles Dunoyer, Charles Comte, Gustave de Molinari, Paul Leroy Beaulieu, Emile Faguet, and Yves Guyot, to name a few. Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) was one of the brightest stars in this constellation of thinkers."
"Reports circulated last week that the Bush administration will soon be unveiling a major mental health initiative that will recommend screening every citizen for mental illness. This latest manifestation of the nanny state is called, in Orwellian fashion, the New Freedom Initiative (of course).... While the Framers envisioned a limited federal government confined to enumerated powers, we instead have a bloated federal government obsessed with the minute personal details of its citizens' lives"
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Friday, July 02, 2004
LEFTISTS LIE WHEN THEY SAY "BUSH LIED"
The likelihood is that most people have never heard nor seen the following quotes in the media, but the irony is that they are from a press conference. Below is an excerpt from a verbatim transcript of remarks by the President and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a White House press conference on January 31, 2003 4:12 P.M. EST.
Goebbels lives! "The media and the Democrats have been using one Big Lie after another to attack Bush. Another example: the Times' White House reporter wrote that Bush claimed the threat from Iraq was imminent. But Bush actually said was the threat wasn't imminent, and then he proceeded to argue that we should act anyway"
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The likelihood is that most people have never heard nor seen the following quotes in the media, but the irony is that they are from a press conference. Below is an excerpt from a verbatim transcript of remarks by the President and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a White House press conference on January 31, 2003 4:12 P.M. EST.
"THE PRIME MINISTER: Adam.
[Adam Boulton, Sky News (London):] Q One question for you both. Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?
THE PRESIDENT: I can't make that claim.
THE PRIME MINISTER: That answers your question. The one thing I would say, however, is I've absolutely no doubt at all that unless we deal with both of these threats, they will come together in a deadly form. Because, you know, what do we know after September the 11th? We know that these terrorists networks would use any means they can to cause maximum death and destruction. And we know also that they will do whatever they can to acquire the most deadly weaponry they can. And that's why it's important to deal with these issues together."
Goebbels lives! "The media and the Democrats have been using one Big Lie after another to attack Bush. Another example: the Times' White House reporter wrote that Bush claimed the threat from Iraq was imminent. But Bush actually said was the threat wasn't imminent, and then he proceeded to argue that we should act anyway"
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ELSEWHERE
Fascinating study: Australian Leftist politicians are way to the Left of those who vote for them but conservative politicians are about the same as those who vote for them: "While 89 per cent of Coalition candidates wanted lower taxes and 77 per cent of their supporters agreed, only 11 per cent of Labor candidates wanted tax cuts, compared with 55 per cent of their voters." The Left are the least democratic, in other words. No big surprise there!
Surprising to see a Leftist admit this: "The twisted truth is that gay men have been at the heart of every major fascist movement that ever was - including the gay-gassing, homo-cidal Third Reich. With the exception of Jean-Marie Le Pen, all the most high-profile fascists in Europe in the past thirty years have been gay". I have myself pointed that out. In fact, even in the Australian neo-Nazis that I studied over 30 years ago, there was a distinct homosexual element. And even Mussolini (who was himself a dedicated Italian family man) referred to Hitler as a "pederast" in one of his speeches.
Dave Huber has a fun account of the twists and turns by a far-Left professor as he endeavours to deal with the issue of Leftist bias in the academy. The one thing that shines through his whole performance is his elitist contempt for the students. There is a fun bit at the end where a smart conservative student used post-modernism against him. Since Leftist professors are such great preachers of their beliefs, you would think that they would have to be brain-dead to say that there is no such thing as right and wrong but they do!
Prophecy: The Left are going to agree with what Saddam says at his trial. Such as this: ``This is all a theater by Bush, the criminal.''
The "moral" United Nations: "The Left's dogmatic insistence that the answer to all of America's foreign policy questions lie within the hallowed halls of the United Nations continues to bewilder the clear-thinking. The persistent belief that the UN is somehow the world's 'moral compass' is due more to hopes and dreams than fact and reason. The UN's record of incompetence and corruption is truly mind-boggling, and it seems to grow every day."
An insider's view of the U.N.: "A new book by three experienced United Nations staffers provides an unusual and candid look at the incompetence and corruption that has plagued the organization?s peacekeeping efforts over the last twelve years. ... The powerfully written book chiefly describes their individual journeys from their first days with the U.N. to the present."
Buchanan: "Perusing the Washington Post on Sunday, two stories leapt out that suggest that America may have passed that point beyond which the growth of government can never again be reined in. The balance of forces in this city has turned against fiscal restraint, and deficits ad infinitum may be our future, until we go the way of the great commercial republics of the past: Holland, Spain and Great Britain."
William F. Buckley, Jr. goes libertarian on marijuana: "Conservatives pride themselves on resisting change, which is as it should be. But intelligent deference to tradition and stability can evolve into intellectual sloth and moral fanaticism, as when conservatives simply decline to look up from dogma because the effort to raise their heads and reconsider is too great. ... And although there is a perfectly respectable case against using marijuana, the penalties imposed on those who reject that case, or who give way to weakness of resolution, are very difficult to defend."
You cannot force respect: "As a 23-year U.S. Navy serviceman, Vietnam War veteran, former official in the Reagan Defense Department, and lifelong Republican, I revere the flag and that 'for which it stands.' I still get a lump in my throat when I see the flag raised or lowered. Nonetheless, I unalterably oppose the constitutional amendment prohibiting its desecration that is scheduled to be sent to the Senate floor soon. During my years of military and government service during the Cold War, I believed I was working to uphold democracy against totalitarianism. I did not believe then, nor do I believe now, that I was defending lines on a map; rather, I was defending a way of life. If this amendment becomes part of the Constitution, this way of life will be diminished. America will be less free and more like the former Soviet Union, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, or Afghanistan under the Taliban."
One of my non-religious readers, however, makes a case in defence of flag laws, loyalty oaths and public Christian observances. See here.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Fascinating study: Australian Leftist politicians are way to the Left of those who vote for them but conservative politicians are about the same as those who vote for them: "While 89 per cent of Coalition candidates wanted lower taxes and 77 per cent of their supporters agreed, only 11 per cent of Labor candidates wanted tax cuts, compared with 55 per cent of their voters." The Left are the least democratic, in other words. No big surprise there!
Surprising to see a Leftist admit this: "The twisted truth is that gay men have been at the heart of every major fascist movement that ever was - including the gay-gassing, homo-cidal Third Reich. With the exception of Jean-Marie Le Pen, all the most high-profile fascists in Europe in the past thirty years have been gay". I have myself pointed that out. In fact, even in the Australian neo-Nazis that I studied over 30 years ago, there was a distinct homosexual element. And even Mussolini (who was himself a dedicated Italian family man) referred to Hitler as a "pederast" in one of his speeches.
Dave Huber has a fun account of the twists and turns by a far-Left professor as he endeavours to deal with the issue of Leftist bias in the academy. The one thing that shines through his whole performance is his elitist contempt for the students. There is a fun bit at the end where a smart conservative student used post-modernism against him. Since Leftist professors are such great preachers of their beliefs, you would think that they would have to be brain-dead to say that there is no such thing as right and wrong but they do!
Prophecy: The Left are going to agree with what Saddam says at his trial. Such as this: ``This is all a theater by Bush, the criminal.''
The "moral" United Nations: "The Left's dogmatic insistence that the answer to all of America's foreign policy questions lie within the hallowed halls of the United Nations continues to bewilder the clear-thinking. The persistent belief that the UN is somehow the world's 'moral compass' is due more to hopes and dreams than fact and reason. The UN's record of incompetence and corruption is truly mind-boggling, and it seems to grow every day."
An insider's view of the U.N.: "A new book by three experienced United Nations staffers provides an unusual and candid look at the incompetence and corruption that has plagued the organization?s peacekeeping efforts over the last twelve years. ... The powerfully written book chiefly describes their individual journeys from their first days with the U.N. to the present."
Buchanan: "Perusing the Washington Post on Sunday, two stories leapt out that suggest that America may have passed that point beyond which the growth of government can never again be reined in. The balance of forces in this city has turned against fiscal restraint, and deficits ad infinitum may be our future, until we go the way of the great commercial republics of the past: Holland, Spain and Great Britain."
William F. Buckley, Jr. goes libertarian on marijuana: "Conservatives pride themselves on resisting change, which is as it should be. But intelligent deference to tradition and stability can evolve into intellectual sloth and moral fanaticism, as when conservatives simply decline to look up from dogma because the effort to raise their heads and reconsider is too great. ... And although there is a perfectly respectable case against using marijuana, the penalties imposed on those who reject that case, or who give way to weakness of resolution, are very difficult to defend."
You cannot force respect: "As a 23-year U.S. Navy serviceman, Vietnam War veteran, former official in the Reagan Defense Department, and lifelong Republican, I revere the flag and that 'for which it stands.' I still get a lump in my throat when I see the flag raised or lowered. Nonetheless, I unalterably oppose the constitutional amendment prohibiting its desecration that is scheduled to be sent to the Senate floor soon. During my years of military and government service during the Cold War, I believed I was working to uphold democracy against totalitarianism. I did not believe then, nor do I believe now, that I was defending lines on a map; rather, I was defending a way of life. If this amendment becomes part of the Constitution, this way of life will be diminished. America will be less free and more like the former Soviet Union, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, or Afghanistan under the Taliban."
One of my non-religious readers, however, makes a case in defence of flag laws, loyalty oaths and public Christian observances. See here.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Thursday, July 01, 2004
FROM BROOKES NEWS
Maureen Dowd slimes President Bush over the liberation of Iraq Dowd's obvious shortage of brain cells has been made painfully evident by her latest attack on President Bush
Sen. Tom Harkin tries to censor the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show Rush Limbaugh was certainly taken aback when he learnt that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was using his position as a senator to try and silence him
Does constant money supply lead to economic stability? According to Nobel laureate in economics Milton Friedman and his followers the volatility in the rate of the money supply is the major source of boom-bust cycles. They are wrong
American economy and The Washington Times: wage fallacies and profits The Washington Times recently publish several egregious economic fallacies, among them was the purchasing power theory of wages
Anti-Bush ad overstates case against Halliburton Moveon.org's accusations that Bush gave Halliburton no-bid contracts "on a silver platter" and that the company was "caught" overcharging by tens of millions of dollars are baseless
Details here
***********************************
FROM THINK ISRAEL:
"'ARAB' MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY" by Nonie Darwish
"THE PSYCHOANALYTIC ROOTS OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM" by Phyllis Chesler
"WOMEN'S NON-EXISTENCE IN THE ARAB WORLD" by Ariell Choy
"UNDERSTANDING THE UNIQUE BARBARISM OF PALESTINIAN TERRORISM" by Louis Rene Beres
"A CAMPAIGN OF DENIAL TO DISINHERIT THE JEWS" by Nadav Shragai
"WHY THEY HATE US" by Robert Spencer
"ISLAM VERSUS JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY: SOME OBSERVATIONS" by Ariel Natan Pasko
**************************************
Maureen Dowd slimes President Bush over the liberation of Iraq Dowd's obvious shortage of brain cells has been made painfully evident by her latest attack on President Bush
Sen. Tom Harkin tries to censor the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show Rush Limbaugh was certainly taken aback when he learnt that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was using his position as a senator to try and silence him
Does constant money supply lead to economic stability? According to Nobel laureate in economics Milton Friedman and his followers the volatility in the rate of the money supply is the major source of boom-bust cycles. They are wrong
American economy and The Washington Times: wage fallacies and profits The Washington Times recently publish several egregious economic fallacies, among them was the purchasing power theory of wages
Anti-Bush ad overstates case against Halliburton Moveon.org's accusations that Bush gave Halliburton no-bid contracts "on a silver platter" and that the company was "caught" overcharging by tens of millions of dollars are baseless
Details here
***********************************
FROM THINK ISRAEL:
"'ARAB' MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY" by Nonie Darwish
"THE PSYCHOANALYTIC ROOTS OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM" by Phyllis Chesler
"WOMEN'S NON-EXISTENCE IN THE ARAB WORLD" by Ariell Choy
"UNDERSTANDING THE UNIQUE BARBARISM OF PALESTINIAN TERRORISM" by Louis Rene Beres
"A CAMPAIGN OF DENIAL TO DISINHERIT THE JEWS" by Nadav Shragai
"WHY THEY HATE US" by Robert Spencer
"ISLAM VERSUS JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY: SOME OBSERVATIONS" by Ariel Natan Pasko
**************************************
ELSEWHERE
David Boxenhorn thinks that Europeans are more submissive to State power because they were for centuries tenant farmers whilst Americans were originally independent farmers. There could be something in that. David's view that Leftists advocate what they do because they do not foresee the ill effects of their policies suggests to me that he has been conned, however. Conservatives point out all the follies way in advance but the Left just will not listen. They don't WANT to know about the consequences of their actions. They just want to feel good by sounding big and kind at the time. At best they are irresponsible. At worst, frauds.
New book out: "Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man features expanded, in-depth analysis of Bowling for Columbine, Stupid White Men, and more, but it is also a compilation and extension of more than 15 years worth of research, analysis, and proof that exposes the real truth about Michael Moore"
"I've got another reason why Kerry doesn't have a prayer in November. My reason is neither infallible nor earthshaking, and it's based on one of those "iron laws of history" that have a bad habit of melting away once you notice them. But it has considerable support when one looks at the history of US presidential elections. Call it the Alamo Principle: When troops are in the field, in sufficient enough numbers for the nation to consider itself "at war," the candidate who looks more convincingly hawkish will always win."
A British Muslim says that the British government's "tolerance" of Islam leads to hardship for the children of British Muslims. She says the British government should take the Mullahs on for the sake of the children.
Kerry vs. Kerry : "Presidential candidate John Kerry is his own worst enemy. On the one hand he has pledged to increase jobs by 10 million in four years and reduce the offshoring of jobs. On the other, he proposes a minimum wage increase that will lower employment and encourage shipping jobs overseas. On June 18 Mr. Kerry proposed a 36 percent increase in the federal minimum wage, from the present $5.15 an hour to $7 an hour by 2007.... What he hasn't said is who would lose jobs or not get hired because of a higher minimum wage."
Sowell on 'outsourcing': "When the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect a decade ago, there were dire predictions of "a giant sucking sound" as American jobs were drawn away, to Mexico especially. In reality, the number of jobs in the United States increased by millions after NAFTA went into effect and the unemployment rate fell to low levels not seen in years. Behind the radically wrong predictions was a simple confusion between wage rates and labor costs. Wage rates per unit of time are not the same as labor costs per unit of output. When workers are paid twice as much per hour and produce three times as much per hour, the labor costs per unit of output are lower. That is why high-wage countries have been exporting to low-wage countries for centuries".
People are sometimes surprised that Mahatma Gandhi is a great hero of mine. But why would not a libertarian hail the man who liberated India? And he did it peacefully! He was not perfect of course and his "back-to-the-village" economics would be hilarious if they had not misled so many. It had escaped my attention that would have opposed things like affirmative action, though. Wendy McElroy notes: "Gandhi once said that the means are the ends in process. It is not possible to achieve equality and tolerance by instituting policies of preference and exclusion. The result will only be more preference and more exclusion.
In response to my post yesterday about Michael Moore, Marc Miyake emailed me the good comment that Moore's fans "are not genuinely concerned about America but are more concerned about feeling superior to the masses brainwashed by Bush. A comic book fan mailing list I am on has recently turned into a Mike al-Moor fan club list. I have received literally hundreds of e-mails over the past week praising Full-of-Hate 9/11 to the sky and beyond. What is really disturbing is the *joy* these people feel at watching al-Moor attack America. A true patriot moved by genuine criticism would feel pain and the urge to set things right. But these people are just looking for a "hate high". Mike al-Moor is selling it ... and making a fortune in the process". Yes. The Leftist need to feel superior really is pathetic. It completely dominates their thought processes.
Carnival of the Vanities is up again with its usual range of selected blogospheric reading.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
David Boxenhorn thinks that Europeans are more submissive to State power because they were for centuries tenant farmers whilst Americans were originally independent farmers. There could be something in that. David's view that Leftists advocate what they do because they do not foresee the ill effects of their policies suggests to me that he has been conned, however. Conservatives point out all the follies way in advance but the Left just will not listen. They don't WANT to know about the consequences of their actions. They just want to feel good by sounding big and kind at the time. At best they are irresponsible. At worst, frauds.
New book out: "Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man features expanded, in-depth analysis of Bowling for Columbine, Stupid White Men, and more, but it is also a compilation and extension of more than 15 years worth of research, analysis, and proof that exposes the real truth about Michael Moore"
"I've got another reason why Kerry doesn't have a prayer in November. My reason is neither infallible nor earthshaking, and it's based on one of those "iron laws of history" that have a bad habit of melting away once you notice them. But it has considerable support when one looks at the history of US presidential elections. Call it the Alamo Principle: When troops are in the field, in sufficient enough numbers for the nation to consider itself "at war," the candidate who looks more convincingly hawkish will always win."
A British Muslim says that the British government's "tolerance" of Islam leads to hardship for the children of British Muslims. She says the British government should take the Mullahs on for the sake of the children.
Kerry vs. Kerry : "Presidential candidate John Kerry is his own worst enemy. On the one hand he has pledged to increase jobs by 10 million in four years and reduce the offshoring of jobs. On the other, he proposes a minimum wage increase that will lower employment and encourage shipping jobs overseas. On June 18 Mr. Kerry proposed a 36 percent increase in the federal minimum wage, from the present $5.15 an hour to $7 an hour by 2007.... What he hasn't said is who would lose jobs or not get hired because of a higher minimum wage."
Sowell on 'outsourcing': "When the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect a decade ago, there were dire predictions of "a giant sucking sound" as American jobs were drawn away, to Mexico especially. In reality, the number of jobs in the United States increased by millions after NAFTA went into effect and the unemployment rate fell to low levels not seen in years. Behind the radically wrong predictions was a simple confusion between wage rates and labor costs. Wage rates per unit of time are not the same as labor costs per unit of output. When workers are paid twice as much per hour and produce three times as much per hour, the labor costs per unit of output are lower. That is why high-wage countries have been exporting to low-wage countries for centuries".
People are sometimes surprised that Mahatma Gandhi is a great hero of mine. But why would not a libertarian hail the man who liberated India? And he did it peacefully! He was not perfect of course and his "back-to-the-village" economics would be hilarious if they had not misled so many. It had escaped my attention that would have opposed things like affirmative action, though. Wendy McElroy notes: "Gandhi once said that the means are the ends in process. It is not possible to achieve equality and tolerance by instituting policies of preference and exclusion. The result will only be more preference and more exclusion.
In response to my post yesterday about Michael Moore, Marc Miyake emailed me the good comment that Moore's fans "are not genuinely concerned about America but are more concerned about feeling superior to the masses brainwashed by Bush. A comic book fan mailing list I am on has recently turned into a Mike al-Moor fan club list. I have received literally hundreds of e-mails over the past week praising Full-of-Hate 9/11 to the sky and beyond. What is really disturbing is the *joy* these people feel at watching al-Moor attack America. A true patriot moved by genuine criticism would feel pain and the urge to set things right. But these people are just looking for a "hate high". Mike al-Moor is selling it ... and making a fortune in the process". Yes. The Leftist need to feel superior really is pathetic. It completely dominates their thought processes.
Carnival of the Vanities is up again with its usual range of selected blogospheric reading.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights.
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
SOME HISTORY
Another answer to the Leftist lie that Russia was primitive before the Soviets took over: "Russia under Nicholas II, with all the survivals of feudalism, had opposition political parties, independent trade unions and newspapers, a rather radical parliament and a modern legal system. Its agriculture was on the level of the USA, with industry rapidly approaching the West European level. In the USSR there was total tyranny, no political liberties and practically no human rights. Its economy was not viable; agriculture was destroyed. The terror against the population reached a scope unprecedented in history. No wonder many Russians look back at Tsarist Russia as a paradise lost." Soviet defector, Oleg Gordievsky, letter to The Independent (London), 21st July 1998.
In defense of President Warren Harding: "In another 50 years, Harding will look much better than he does today. His most sensational move was to name Andrew Mellon, the Pittsburgh banker, Treasury Secretary, which is why the Twenties roared. Mellon was the best Treasury Secretary after Alexander Hamilton. Harding's second great move (which preceded his Mellon pick) was to name Calvin Coolidge his running mate. Coolidge is derided because he didn't advocate Big Government, but he was Reagan's hero."
Margaret Sanger and the human weeds: "Against the excuses of her modern defenders, it should be remembered that the founder of Planned Parenthood's main interest in the legalization of abortion was not that women should be freed from the bonds of childbearing, but that unsavory types should be cleansed from the larger population. ... The same woman considered a saint today by the pro-choice crowd warned supporters in 1939 that they did not want 'word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.'"
"The essence of Reagan's policies was always the same: trust the American people. Rather than trying to plan, fine-tune, manage, order, or cajole Americans out of doldrums, he turned the job over to them. He restored an environment in which people could build better lives for themselves -- low inflation so they could count on money they earned being there in the future, and fewer regulations so they could make decisions based on what the economy really needed, rather than on what some bureaucrat in Washington decided it needed."
Richard Cobden , early and largely successful British advocate of free trade, was born just over 200 years ago.
Vox Day has a good article here listing in full the "Fascist Manifesto" of Mussolini. There is plenty of socialism in it, showing that it is the Left, not conservatives, who are the Fascists.
Leftists praise Hitler: "Once in a while I like to take a dark trip down into the deep reaches of the Democratic Underground, a popular message board for ultra-left chatter. Personally, when the topic isn't just another round of Bush bashing, I'm curious to find what the big government proponents and anti-individualists have to say. It's like a frightening reality show guaranteed to give one occasional nightmares. In my browsing today, I came across two separate threads ( here and here) posted by those detailing why they believe Adolf Hitler was better than George Bush. Disliking Bush, even intensily, could be understandable and is not the issue here. Watering down the memory of the Holocaust and 'humanizing' Hitler to the point of making serious comparisons to US presidents is an issue. "We Must Never Forget"? I believe some have. Scary stuff". Since Hitler was a socialist such attitudes are not really very surprising, however.
*********************************
Another answer to the Leftist lie that Russia was primitive before the Soviets took over: "Russia under Nicholas II, with all the survivals of feudalism, had opposition political parties, independent trade unions and newspapers, a rather radical parliament and a modern legal system. Its agriculture was on the level of the USA, with industry rapidly approaching the West European level. In the USSR there was total tyranny, no political liberties and practically no human rights. Its economy was not viable; agriculture was destroyed. The terror against the population reached a scope unprecedented in history. No wonder many Russians look back at Tsarist Russia as a paradise lost." Soviet defector, Oleg Gordievsky, letter to The Independent (London), 21st July 1998.
In defense of President Warren Harding: "In another 50 years, Harding will look much better than he does today. His most sensational move was to name Andrew Mellon, the Pittsburgh banker, Treasury Secretary, which is why the Twenties roared. Mellon was the best Treasury Secretary after Alexander Hamilton. Harding's second great move (which preceded his Mellon pick) was to name Calvin Coolidge his running mate. Coolidge is derided because he didn't advocate Big Government, but he was Reagan's hero."
Margaret Sanger and the human weeds: "Against the excuses of her modern defenders, it should be remembered that the founder of Planned Parenthood's main interest in the legalization of abortion was not that women should be freed from the bonds of childbearing, but that unsavory types should be cleansed from the larger population. ... The same woman considered a saint today by the pro-choice crowd warned supporters in 1939 that they did not want 'word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.'"
"The essence of Reagan's policies was always the same: trust the American people. Rather than trying to plan, fine-tune, manage, order, or cajole Americans out of doldrums, he turned the job over to them. He restored an environment in which people could build better lives for themselves -- low inflation so they could count on money they earned being there in the future, and fewer regulations so they could make decisions based on what the economy really needed, rather than on what some bureaucrat in Washington decided it needed."
Richard Cobden , early and largely successful British advocate of free trade, was born just over 200 years ago.
Vox Day has a good article here listing in full the "Fascist Manifesto" of Mussolini. There is plenty of socialism in it, showing that it is the Left, not conservatives, who are the Fascists.
Leftists praise Hitler: "Once in a while I like to take a dark trip down into the deep reaches of the Democratic Underground, a popular message board for ultra-left chatter. Personally, when the topic isn't just another round of Bush bashing, I'm curious to find what the big government proponents and anti-individualists have to say. It's like a frightening reality show guaranteed to give one occasional nightmares. In my browsing today, I came across two separate threads ( here and here) posted by those detailing why they believe Adolf Hitler was better than George Bush. Disliking Bush, even intensily, could be understandable and is not the issue here. Watering down the memory of the Holocaust and 'humanizing' Hitler to the point of making serious comparisons to US presidents is an issue. "We Must Never Forget"? I believe some have. Scary stuff". Since Hitler was a socialist such attitudes are not really very surprising, however.
*********************************
ELSEWHERE
Professional Skeptic James Randi debunks Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine by showing some of the techniques Moore uses. I myself think that Moore has devised a lucrative schtick and just plays it up for fun and profit. A lot of what he says is so extreme that he has got to be laughing at the sad souls who lap it up.
Tom Barrett: "Bill Clinton’s book of “memoirs” is being advertised under the name “My Life.” Someone obviously made a mistake when they titled it. Anyone who had actually read the book would have titled it “My Lies.” It is a shameless attempt to distort history and whitewash Clinton’s disgraceful legacy of sexual misconduct, lying under oath, and using the office of the presidency for his own personal gain."
The perils of conservative government: "Australia's economy has been voted the most resilient in the world for the third consecutive year by one of the world's most respected business schools. The International Management Development school in Switzerland also ranked Australia the fourth most competitive economy in the world - up from seventh in 2003. Australia was positioned number one for resilience to economic cycles, and the speed with which a new business could be started. It was second for consistency of government policy and transparency of financial institutions".
"Some of the erosion in Bush's numbers comes from a rather surprising cohort. While Iraq has undoubtedly hurt Bush, he is also facing trouble among his base. Bruce Bartlett recently speculated that Bush has lost the support of fiscal conservatives with his betrayal on a number of issues: tariffs, higher spending on education and agriculture, support for the National Endowment of the Arts, and, of course, the prescription drug bill. A look at the historical numbers from the Washington Post/ABCNews poll suggests this is true."
The death of Right and wrong by Tammy Bruce seems to be a very good book. The author is a former member of the homosexual elite. I say more about it on Leftists as Elitists. She says Leftists suffer from "malignant narcissism" (self-love).
Dick McDonald has some optimistic posts up today -- about immigrants etc.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Professional Skeptic James Randi debunks Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine by showing some of the techniques Moore uses. I myself think that Moore has devised a lucrative schtick and just plays it up for fun and profit. A lot of what he says is so extreme that he has got to be laughing at the sad souls who lap it up.
Tom Barrett: "Bill Clinton’s book of “memoirs” is being advertised under the name “My Life.” Someone obviously made a mistake when they titled it. Anyone who had actually read the book would have titled it “My Lies.” It is a shameless attempt to distort history and whitewash Clinton’s disgraceful legacy of sexual misconduct, lying under oath, and using the office of the presidency for his own personal gain."
The perils of conservative government: "Australia's economy has been voted the most resilient in the world for the third consecutive year by one of the world's most respected business schools. The International Management Development school in Switzerland also ranked Australia the fourth most competitive economy in the world - up from seventh in 2003. Australia was positioned number one for resilience to economic cycles, and the speed with which a new business could be started. It was second for consistency of government policy and transparency of financial institutions".
"Some of the erosion in Bush's numbers comes from a rather surprising cohort. While Iraq has undoubtedly hurt Bush, he is also facing trouble among his base. Bruce Bartlett recently speculated that Bush has lost the support of fiscal conservatives with his betrayal on a number of issues: tariffs, higher spending on education and agriculture, support for the National Endowment of the Arts, and, of course, the prescription drug bill. A look at the historical numbers from the Washington Post/ABCNews poll suggests this is true."
The death of Right and wrong by Tammy Bruce seems to be a very good book. The author is a former member of the homosexual elite. I say more about it on Leftists as Elitists. She says Leftists suffer from "malignant narcissism" (self-love).
Dick McDonald has some optimistic posts up today -- about immigrants etc.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
SOME CATHOLIC THOUGHT ON THE EU
Ratzinger Fan Club: "Papal passions were again on display June 20 when he delivered his Sunday Angelus address, his first public comment since the European Union adopted its new constitution. It acknowledges the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance" of Europe, but omits the specific reference to the continent's Christian heritage that had long been requested by John Paul. It also makes no mention of God. The result embittered the Pope, and it showed. "I want to thank Poland for faithfully defending in European institutions the Christian roots of our continent, from which have grown our culture and the civil progress of our time," he said in his native Polish. Poland was among the handful of European nations -- Italy, Portugal, Malta, and the Czech Republic -- that persevered until the end in requesting a reference to Christianity, but in the end they were blocked by more powerful nations, especially France. (Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing headed the drafting commission). Thus the papal barb: "One does not cut off the roots from which one is born."
Vatican repercussions: "Finally, I suspect the outcome will to some extent embolden the pro-American faction within the Vatican and the College of Cardinals. Broadly speaking, church leaders have long been divided between those who want Europe to emerge as a third pole in global affairs with a more Catholic vision of society, and those who think the church ought to cast its lot with the Americans because they're the only game in town. This second group would include figures such as Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope's vicar for the diocese of Rome, and Bishop Rino Fisichella, rector of the Lateran University. The failure of European leaders to even use the word "Christian," let alone articulate a Christian social vision, in their new constitution makes the pro-American argument that much more convincing. "
On EU "Christopohobia": "To deny that Christianity had anything to do with the evolution of free, law-governed, and prosperous European societies is more than a question of falsifying the past; it is also a matter of creating a future in which moral truth has no role in governance, in the determination of public policy, in understandings of justice, and in the definition of that freedom which democracy is intended to embody. Were these ideas to triumph in Europe, that would be bad for Europe; but it would also be bad for the United States, for that triumph would inevitably reinforce similar tendencies in our own high culture, and ultimately in our law".
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Ratzinger Fan Club: "Papal passions were again on display June 20 when he delivered his Sunday Angelus address, his first public comment since the European Union adopted its new constitution. It acknowledges the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance" of Europe, but omits the specific reference to the continent's Christian heritage that had long been requested by John Paul. It also makes no mention of God. The result embittered the Pope, and it showed. "I want to thank Poland for faithfully defending in European institutions the Christian roots of our continent, from which have grown our culture and the civil progress of our time," he said in his native Polish. Poland was among the handful of European nations -- Italy, Portugal, Malta, and the Czech Republic -- that persevered until the end in requesting a reference to Christianity, but in the end they were blocked by more powerful nations, especially France. (Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing headed the drafting commission). Thus the papal barb: "One does not cut off the roots from which one is born."
Vatican repercussions: "Finally, I suspect the outcome will to some extent embolden the pro-American faction within the Vatican and the College of Cardinals. Broadly speaking, church leaders have long been divided between those who want Europe to emerge as a third pole in global affairs with a more Catholic vision of society, and those who think the church ought to cast its lot with the Americans because they're the only game in town. This second group would include figures such as Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope's vicar for the diocese of Rome, and Bishop Rino Fisichella, rector of the Lateran University. The failure of European leaders to even use the word "Christian," let alone articulate a Christian social vision, in their new constitution makes the pro-American argument that much more convincing. "
On EU "Christopohobia": "To deny that Christianity had anything to do with the evolution of free, law-governed, and prosperous European societies is more than a question of falsifying the past; it is also a matter of creating a future in which moral truth has no role in governance, in the determination of public policy, in understandings of justice, and in the definition of that freedom which democracy is intended to embody. Were these ideas to triumph in Europe, that would be bad for Europe; but it would also be bad for the United States, for that triumph would inevitably reinforce similar tendencies in our own high culture, and ultimately in our law".
***************************************
ELSEWHERE
Good point by a letter-writer: "I see in the news that an American soldier is going to be court-martialed for killing a wounded terrorist in Iraq. Well pardon me but isn't that exactly what John Kerry did in Vietnam and he got a Silver Star for it! While in Vietnam, John Kerry finished off a wounded Viet Cong after beaching his boat and putting his crew in great jeopardy. He wrote himself up for a Silver Star and got it. I question why this soldier should be tried for murder while John Kerry, hero of the liberal left, was decorated for doing exactly the same thing. In accordance with International Law, terrorists are subject to immediate summary execution. Perhaps that is the policy that we should adopt. Instead, we are incarcerating these clowns and are criticized for abuse, while they behead American prisoners. And the international press says nothing. We really need to grow up and stop fighting this war like a bunch of liberal social workers. If we do not get things in a proper perspective and start supporting our President and troops we are going to lose this war!"
Jeff Jacoby points out some of the troubling changes that same-sex marriage will inevitably lead to. It seems likely, for instance, that any mention of heterosexual parenting as preferable will soon become incorrect and penalized.
Dick McDonald has put up a moving account of how much it matters to Christians around the world that GWB has stood up to Muslim oppression. Muslims are beginning to think twice about persecuting their Christian minorities. Dick did not give a link to his source but you can find it here.
A Swedish comment on the new EU constitution: "Our democratic, peaceful Europe is a minor miracle, well worth celebrating - as long as we, and not only the eastern Europeans, remember that it was Nato forces, US generosity and Anglo-Saxon values that for decades ensured the European prosperity, democracy and peace which now, supposedly, Giscard d'Estaing's brainchild will guard. (It is an intriguing paradox that we will live under a legal umbrella constructed by a man who would, in any country governed by Anglo-Saxon law, now be in jail.)"
Dennis Prager points out what high value Mexican immigrants are to the USA -- compared to the Muslim immigrants that infest Europe. He rightly notes that the major problem with the Hispanics is the unwillingness of the U.S. political establishment to encourage them to assimilate.
Arlene Peck says that it is hard to understand how much evil there is in Islam but that it has to be faced.
Clayton Cramer on the Boston archdiocese of the Catholic church: "The leadership covered up criminal acts that damaged thousands (at least) of Catholic kids, destroying the morals of many, destroying the faith of others. In some cases, this depraved covering up of evil destroyed lives, by driving young men to suicide, because they did not know how to handle the conflict between what these perverts did, and their claim to be the earthly representatives of Jesus Christ... That anyone could claim to be closer than the laity to Jesus Christ while covering up these sort of crimes just overwhelms me with disgust "
Terry Teachout says that the decline of Musical Comedy is an indicator of America's cultural disintegration.
Saddam is still writing novels!: "for Saddam, writing seems more a consolation for his political failings. He knew that his career as an overlord was on the wane after the 1991 Gulf war, and it is no coincidence that this is when his literary endeavours began"
I have just transferred here Chris Brand's postings for June. I was surprised to hear that Prince Charles had comprehensively criticized Britain's very politically correct school system. Chris has also recently been having fun with a theory that there are three types of European.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Good point by a letter-writer: "I see in the news that an American soldier is going to be court-martialed for killing a wounded terrorist in Iraq. Well pardon me but isn't that exactly what John Kerry did in Vietnam and he got a Silver Star for it! While in Vietnam, John Kerry finished off a wounded Viet Cong after beaching his boat and putting his crew in great jeopardy. He wrote himself up for a Silver Star and got it. I question why this soldier should be tried for murder while John Kerry, hero of the liberal left, was decorated for doing exactly the same thing. In accordance with International Law, terrorists are subject to immediate summary execution. Perhaps that is the policy that we should adopt. Instead, we are incarcerating these clowns and are criticized for abuse, while they behead American prisoners. And the international press says nothing. We really need to grow up and stop fighting this war like a bunch of liberal social workers. If we do not get things in a proper perspective and start supporting our President and troops we are going to lose this war!"
Jeff Jacoby points out some of the troubling changes that same-sex marriage will inevitably lead to. It seems likely, for instance, that any mention of heterosexual parenting as preferable will soon become incorrect and penalized.
Dick McDonald has put up a moving account of how much it matters to Christians around the world that GWB has stood up to Muslim oppression. Muslims are beginning to think twice about persecuting their Christian minorities. Dick did not give a link to his source but you can find it here.
A Swedish comment on the new EU constitution: "Our democratic, peaceful Europe is a minor miracle, well worth celebrating - as long as we, and not only the eastern Europeans, remember that it was Nato forces, US generosity and Anglo-Saxon values that for decades ensured the European prosperity, democracy and peace which now, supposedly, Giscard d'Estaing's brainchild will guard. (It is an intriguing paradox that we will live under a legal umbrella constructed by a man who would, in any country governed by Anglo-Saxon law, now be in jail.)"
Dennis Prager points out what high value Mexican immigrants are to the USA -- compared to the Muslim immigrants that infest Europe. He rightly notes that the major problem with the Hispanics is the unwillingness of the U.S. political establishment to encourage them to assimilate.
Arlene Peck says that it is hard to understand how much evil there is in Islam but that it has to be faced.
Clayton Cramer on the Boston archdiocese of the Catholic church: "The leadership covered up criminal acts that damaged thousands (at least) of Catholic kids, destroying the morals of many, destroying the faith of others. In some cases, this depraved covering up of evil destroyed lives, by driving young men to suicide, because they did not know how to handle the conflict between what these perverts did, and their claim to be the earthly representatives of Jesus Christ... That anyone could claim to be closer than the laity to Jesus Christ while covering up these sort of crimes just overwhelms me with disgust "
Terry Teachout says that the decline of Musical Comedy is an indicator of America's cultural disintegration.
Saddam is still writing novels!: "for Saddam, writing seems more a consolation for his political failings. He knew that his career as an overlord was on the wane after the 1991 Gulf war, and it is no coincidence that this is when his literary endeavours began"
I have just transferred here Chris Brand's postings for June. I was surprised to hear that Prince Charles had comprehensively criticized Britain's very politically correct school system. Chris has also recently been having fun with a theory that there are three types of European.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Monday, June 28, 2004
DUBIOUS INTELLECTUALS
A further note on Straussianism: Strauss focuses on the major thinkers of the ancient world to find precedents for his view that the REAL knowledge must be kept secret from "the masses". In fact, however, it was the mediaeval Catholic church that really put such ideas into practice. The "mysteries" of the Mass were celebrated behind a "rude screen" in mediaeval cathedrals -- so that the people could not see what was going on. And the church's opposition to the Bible in the language of the people (because of the "danger" of it being "misunderstood") is well-known. So if anybody thinks that this real-life Straussian entity was an ideal arrangement, they have all all the Protestant thinkers from Wycliffe and Luther onwards to contend with -- not to mention the many earlier Catholic reformers as diverse as Abelard and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. I should add, however, that there are large divides among Straussians and I would agree with some (e.g. Mansfield) much more than others. See here. Understood as an attack on moral relativism, Straussianism can be valuable.
The Straussians seem generally to be seen as part of neoconservatism -- probably because of a shared elitism. The older neoconservatives are of course ex-Trotskyists so lack the traditional conservative suspicion of the State. They just want to use the State in a more realistic and hence more benign way than their former brethren on the Left. But lovers of the State they are. I personally am very glad that no type of neoconservatism seems to have any mass following. Their influence seems to be solely of a think-tank kind. Note this report of the current thinking of Irving Kristol, probably the leading light among the founders of neoconservatism. He has what I can only call a horrifying vision for America. He wants America to become the world's new dictator, no less. He won't sell that idea anywhere in mainstream America. I think Rockwell voices the libertarian reply to the neoconservatives pretty well here.
One person who does agree with Kristol is, of all things, a Scottish historian: Niall Ferguson. There is a good article on Ferguson here which both sets out his arguments and mentions some of the problems with them. A lot of intellectuals are obviously way out of touch with ordinary people. The idea that you could persuade the average American to take on the burdens of empire for some dreamy reason is absurd. The great majority of Americans just want to be left alone to get on with their own lives in peace and safety.
The statist mind: "The Greeks had a name for this monstrous ego: hubris, which, as far as I'm concerned, is the defining characteristic of the State. They considered it a madness, one that the afflicted never knew was affecting them. They defined a sequence--koros (stability) to hubris (monstrous, conscienceless arrogance) to ate (a madness where evil appears as good) to nemesis (destruction)..... A more modern term for hubris, for Kirk's monstrous ego, is narcissism. Perceiving people as things, ones not fully human, is the essence of narcissism. Peck wrote this about narcissism, "Since [narcissists] deep down, feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world's fault. Since they must deny their own badness, they must perceive others as bad. They project their own evil onto the world."
Orrin Judd has an account of intellectuals which implies an inbuilt bias to the Left in them: "an "intellectual" is someone who deals in pure ideas, that is ideas untested by reality. The term "Intellectual" in turn has come to denote anyone who believes that these untested ideas should be tried out upon society. Once we accept these fairly simple definitions, it becomes pretty obvious why America has an anti-intellectual tradition ... it is the nature of "intellect" to oppose the existing order". I think Orrin is a bit sweeping there but there is something to what he says.
*********************************
A further note on Straussianism: Strauss focuses on the major thinkers of the ancient world to find precedents for his view that the REAL knowledge must be kept secret from "the masses". In fact, however, it was the mediaeval Catholic church that really put such ideas into practice. The "mysteries" of the Mass were celebrated behind a "rude screen" in mediaeval cathedrals -- so that the people could not see what was going on. And the church's opposition to the Bible in the language of the people (because of the "danger" of it being "misunderstood") is well-known. So if anybody thinks that this real-life Straussian entity was an ideal arrangement, they have all all the Protestant thinkers from Wycliffe and Luther onwards to contend with -- not to mention the many earlier Catholic reformers as diverse as Abelard and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. I should add, however, that there are large divides among Straussians and I would agree with some (e.g. Mansfield) much more than others. See here. Understood as an attack on moral relativism, Straussianism can be valuable.
The Straussians seem generally to be seen as part of neoconservatism -- probably because of a shared elitism. The older neoconservatives are of course ex-Trotskyists so lack the traditional conservative suspicion of the State. They just want to use the State in a more realistic and hence more benign way than their former brethren on the Left. But lovers of the State they are. I personally am very glad that no type of neoconservatism seems to have any mass following. Their influence seems to be solely of a think-tank kind. Note this report of the current thinking of Irving Kristol, probably the leading light among the founders of neoconservatism. He has what I can only call a horrifying vision for America. He wants America to become the world's new dictator, no less. He won't sell that idea anywhere in mainstream America. I think Rockwell voices the libertarian reply to the neoconservatives pretty well here.
One person who does agree with Kristol is, of all things, a Scottish historian: Niall Ferguson. There is a good article on Ferguson here which both sets out his arguments and mentions some of the problems with them. A lot of intellectuals are obviously way out of touch with ordinary people. The idea that you could persuade the average American to take on the burdens of empire for some dreamy reason is absurd. The great majority of Americans just want to be left alone to get on with their own lives in peace and safety.
The statist mind: "The Greeks had a name for this monstrous ego: hubris, which, as far as I'm concerned, is the defining characteristic of the State. They considered it a madness, one that the afflicted never knew was affecting them. They defined a sequence--koros (stability) to hubris (monstrous, conscienceless arrogance) to ate (a madness where evil appears as good) to nemesis (destruction)..... A more modern term for hubris, for Kirk's monstrous ego, is narcissism. Perceiving people as things, ones not fully human, is the essence of narcissism. Peck wrote this about narcissism, "Since [narcissists] deep down, feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world's fault. Since they must deny their own badness, they must perceive others as bad. They project their own evil onto the world."
Orrin Judd has an account of intellectuals which implies an inbuilt bias to the Left in them: "an "intellectual" is someone who deals in pure ideas, that is ideas untested by reality. The term "Intellectual" in turn has come to denote anyone who believes that these untested ideas should be tried out upon society. Once we accept these fairly simple definitions, it becomes pretty obvious why America has an anti-intellectual tradition ... it is the nature of "intellect" to oppose the existing order". I think Orrin is a bit sweeping there but there is something to what he says.
*********************************
ELSEWHERE
New Icelandic blogger Great Auk has a pretty inspiring report of what Friedmanite economics have done for Iceland in recent years. They REALLY cut back government in Iceland and what was the result? I don't think I need to tell you.
What a blow! French supermarkets are beginning to stock Australian wines. No doubt the French elites will think as much of that as they do of McDonalds.
A major Australian newspaper has a well-informed review of the latest Michael Moore film, stressing how anti-American and one-sided Moore is.
Good to see that the Iraqi Shiites are getting ready to deal with Falluja as soon as they get the chance. Falluja seems to be the major remnant of the Saddam regime.
Medicare: The rich pay more for it but get more out of it too, surprisingly.
Non-Government Organizations undermining democracy: It's Sunday morning and there's a knock on the door. The kids answer it and soon enough are demanding money to give to the whales, the poor, the starving... Your money is not just being spent to save dolphins, your name is being used to support the political agenda of everything on that donor organisation's list of priorities.... Your views don't count.... "The NGO phenomenon, if taken too far, constitutes a challenge to representative systems and traditional political accountability," Johns and Roskam argue. "The collection of all possible NGOs does not constitute public opinion." Yet they argue that "while the role of NGOs as a voice of the public is developing apace, the ability of the representative system to manage and decipher these voices is under considerable pressure".... the Johns and Roskam analysis of NGO infiltration of government is essentially correct".
Randall Parker has an interesting post on the odd attitude of The Wall St Journal to immigration. The WSJ seems to want open borders and is pretty vicious with immigration restrictionists. It's all pretty amazing to an Australian conservative: Australia's conservative government is notoriously tough on immigration control -- to much applause from the voters. American libertarians seem to lean towards open borders, however, so I suppose the WSJ could be seen as taking a libertarian line. The accusation that the WSJ is backing open borders because cheap Mexican labour is good for its business cronies is unfortunately plausible, however. See also Michelle Malkin on the matter.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
New Icelandic blogger Great Auk has a pretty inspiring report of what Friedmanite economics have done for Iceland in recent years. They REALLY cut back government in Iceland and what was the result? I don't think I need to tell you.
What a blow! French supermarkets are beginning to stock Australian wines. No doubt the French elites will think as much of that as they do of McDonalds.
A major Australian newspaper has a well-informed review of the latest Michael Moore film, stressing how anti-American and one-sided Moore is.
Good to see that the Iraqi Shiites are getting ready to deal with Falluja as soon as they get the chance. Falluja seems to be the major remnant of the Saddam regime.
Medicare: The rich pay more for it but get more out of it too, surprisingly.
Non-Government Organizations undermining democracy: It's Sunday morning and there's a knock on the door. The kids answer it and soon enough are demanding money to give to the whales, the poor, the starving... Your money is not just being spent to save dolphins, your name is being used to support the political agenda of everything on that donor organisation's list of priorities.... Your views don't count.... "The NGO phenomenon, if taken too far, constitutes a challenge to representative systems and traditional political accountability," Johns and Roskam argue. "The collection of all possible NGOs does not constitute public opinion." Yet they argue that "while the role of NGOs as a voice of the public is developing apace, the ability of the representative system to manage and decipher these voices is under considerable pressure".... the Johns and Roskam analysis of NGO infiltration of government is essentially correct".
Randall Parker has an interesting post on the odd attitude of The Wall St Journal to immigration. The WSJ seems to want open borders and is pretty vicious with immigration restrictionists. It's all pretty amazing to an Australian conservative: Australia's conservative government is notoriously tough on immigration control -- to much applause from the voters. American libertarians seem to lean towards open borders, however, so I suppose the WSJ could be seen as taking a libertarian line. The accusation that the WSJ is backing open borders because cheap Mexican labour is good for its business cronies is unfortunately plausible, however. See also Michelle Malkin on the matter.
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
********************************
Sunday, June 27, 2004
EDUCATION
Jeff Jacoby: "If teachers unions in Massachusetts spent as much time trying to improve the large number of public schools they control as they do trying to hurt the minuscule number of charter schools they don't control, public education in the Bay State would be the pride of the Western world. Alas, quality of education has never been the highest priority of the unions and the many school-district bureaucrats who do their bidding. Like other monopolists, they are less interested in improving their product than in trying to stomp out competition -- especially when it comes from a tiny but popular upstart. In terms of numbers, charter schools are barely a blip on the Massachusetts radar screen. Of the nearly 1,900 public schools in the state, only 50 are charters. Of the 980,000 children enrolled in public education, only 19,000 -- fewer than 2 percent -- attend charter schools."
Dave Huber has some acerbic comments about the lack of "diversity" at the University of Delaware.
A fruitcake mother: "Kyle Samejima's decision -- to send her three children to the local public school here -- was an unusual one among her neighbors. But she liked the open-education philosophy of Windom magnet school [of Minneapolis, MN], liked that it was just a couple of blocks away, liked the diversity. Now she's helping to spearhead an effort to make Windom even more distinctive, turning it into a dual immersion Spanish school that her youngest child -- a kindergartner already bilingual in Japanese -- will begin next year. 'You can put a label on a school, and if you look at Windom's test scores, they don't look so great,' says Ms. Samejima. 'But test scores don't always tell the whole story.' Many other Minneapolis parents, though, are looking at the test scores. And with an exceptionally high degree of school choice, they're increasingly choosing options outside the district."
*********************************
Jeff Jacoby: "If teachers unions in Massachusetts spent as much time trying to improve the large number of public schools they control as they do trying to hurt the minuscule number of charter schools they don't control, public education in the Bay State would be the pride of the Western world. Alas, quality of education has never been the highest priority of the unions and the many school-district bureaucrats who do their bidding. Like other monopolists, they are less interested in improving their product than in trying to stomp out competition -- especially when it comes from a tiny but popular upstart. In terms of numbers, charter schools are barely a blip on the Massachusetts radar screen. Of the nearly 1,900 public schools in the state, only 50 are charters. Of the 980,000 children enrolled in public education, only 19,000 -- fewer than 2 percent -- attend charter schools."
Dave Huber has some acerbic comments about the lack of "diversity" at the University of Delaware.
A fruitcake mother: "Kyle Samejima's decision -- to send her three children to the local public school here -- was an unusual one among her neighbors. But she liked the open-education philosophy of Windom magnet school [of Minneapolis, MN], liked that it was just a couple of blocks away, liked the diversity. Now she's helping to spearhead an effort to make Windom even more distinctive, turning it into a dual immersion Spanish school that her youngest child -- a kindergartner already bilingual in Japanese -- will begin next year. 'You can put a label on a school, and if you look at Windom's test scores, they don't look so great,' says Ms. Samejima. 'But test scores don't always tell the whole story.' Many other Minneapolis parents, though, are looking at the test scores. And with an exceptionally high degree of school choice, they're increasingly choosing options outside the district."
*********************************
ELSEWHERE
The latest Harvard flap over the fact that its small number of black students are mostly not American blacks is amusing. Blacks who come from REALLY poor environments in Africa and the Caribbean are twice as good at getting into Harvard as American blacks are. So the Leftist explanation that "poverty" keeps blacks out is sheer bunk. Surely, there is only one explanation for the difference: motivation. As black conservative sites like Crispus and Booker Rising often point out, instead of American blacks being challenged and being taught to strive and become independent, what affirmative action -- and "liberal" policies generally -- teach American blacks is passivity: the feeling of victimhood and dependency. The advantage that blacks from Africa and the Caribbean have is that they have NOT been reared in the poisonous politically correct environment of modern-day America.
I have always found Roger Scruton's view of conservatism rather idiosyncratic. To me he is a reactionary, not a conservative. He has a recent summary of his views here. There is much that he says about conservatism which is insightful but he claims to say what conservatism is without once mentioning individual liberty. Is there ANY American -- conservative or not -- who would agree that "the future is the past"? That is Scruton's summary of a core conservative outlook. By that criterion there are no (or very few) conservatives in America, I would think. I prefer an infinitely more influential conservative's view of what conservatism is, Ronald Reagan's: "If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.... The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom"
John Lewis: "Professor Henry Reynolds contends that our white forebears murdered over 20,000 of our black forebears. Keith Windschuttle argues that this figure is grossly exaggerated, prompting a call from academics and others for all men and women of good will to rise against Windschuttle and bring him down. Curiously, those who oppose Windschuttle appear to be more interested in maintaining previously-held beliefs than in determining what really happened, and do not seem to realise that figures of the magnitude claimed by Reynolds arguably contain more insult to our black than our white forebears".
Cuba could teach the U.S. a lot about democracy. You don't believe it? The Minneapolis Star-Tribune says so. Maybe they should rename it the Minneapolis Pravda. The old Soviet propaganda mill is still running smoothly in the USA.
The latest Harvard flap over the fact that its small number of black students are mostly not American blacks is amusing. Blacks who come from REALLY poor environments in Africa and the Caribbean are twice as good at getting into Harvard as American blacks are. So the Leftist explanation that "poverty" keeps blacks out is sheer bunk. Surely, there is only one explanation for the difference: motivation. As black conservative sites like Crispus and Booker Rising often point out, instead of American blacks being challenged and being taught to strive and become independent, what affirmative action -- and "liberal" policies generally -- teach American blacks is passivity: the feeling of victimhood and dependency. The advantage that blacks from Africa and the Caribbean have is that they have NOT been reared in the poisonous politically correct environment of modern-day America.
I have always found Roger Scruton's view of conservatism rather idiosyncratic. To me he is a reactionary, not a conservative. He has a recent summary of his views here. There is much that he says about conservatism which is insightful but he claims to say what conservatism is without once mentioning individual liberty. Is there ANY American -- conservative or not -- who would agree that "the future is the past"? That is Scruton's summary of a core conservative outlook. By that criterion there are no (or very few) conservatives in America, I would think. I prefer an infinitely more influential conservative's view of what conservatism is, Ronald Reagan's: "If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.... The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom"
John Lewis: "Professor Henry Reynolds contends that our white forebears murdered over 20,000 of our black forebears. Keith Windschuttle argues that this figure is grossly exaggerated, prompting a call from academics and others for all men and women of good will to rise against Windschuttle and bring him down. Curiously, those who oppose Windschuttle appear to be more interested in maintaining previously-held beliefs than in determining what really happened, and do not seem to realise that figures of the magnitude claimed by Reynolds arguably contain more insult to our black than our white forebears".
Cuba could teach the U.S. a lot about democracy. You don't believe it? The Minneapolis Star-Tribune says so. Maybe they should rename it the Minneapolis Pravda. The old Soviet propaganda mill is still running smoothly in the USA.
Al Gore thinks that answering back to criticism makes you a Nazi! He said recently: "The Administration works closely with a network of "rapid response" digital Brown Shirts" It's Gore's attitude that sounds like the Nazi one to me. Gore clearly believes in neither freedom of speech nor natural justice. But what Leftist ever really did? Opinion Journal has some more comments on the strangeness of Gore.
Fun! Charles Giacometti, the rage-filled Leftist that I reported a correspondence with on 24th., is apparently a serial abuser. And, like Gore, he wants to prevent people from answering him back. Leftists just can't take dissent. New England Republican gives you the lowdown on him.
Mark Shea has a fun picture of Al Gore which he calls: "Former Veep coughs up hairball"
Evil Conservatives Inc. is a good spoof site, parodying or mocking a lot of Green/Left arguments.
Amy Welborn has a good story about how middle America is not rushing out to buy Clinton's book: "by noon, Lewis had not sold one of his shop's 20 copies, and he intended to cancel the 30 additional copies on order".
In response to my post yesterday about Straussianism , a reader notes similarities between Straussians and Fabian socialists:
Wicked Thoughts has a serious post up for once -- with a good document about "Islamophobia"
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
********************************
Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
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Fun! Charles Giacometti, the rage-filled Leftist that I reported a correspondence with on 24th., is apparently a serial abuser. And, like Gore, he wants to prevent people from answering him back. Leftists just can't take dissent. New England Republican gives you the lowdown on him.
Mark Shea has a fun picture of Al Gore which he calls: "Former Veep coughs up hairball"
Evil Conservatives Inc. is a good spoof site, parodying or mocking a lot of Green/Left arguments.
Amy Welborn has a good story about how middle America is not rushing out to buy Clinton's book: "by noon, Lewis had not sold one of his shop's 20 copies, and he intended to cancel the 30 additional copies on order".
In response to my post yesterday about Straussianism , a reader notes similarities between Straussians and Fabian socialists:
Wicked Thoughts has a serious post up for once -- with a good document about "Islamophobia"
For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here
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Leftism is more popular with young people than with older people largely because Leftism is itself juvenile: They criticize what they don't understand. Which makes it ironic that "We know best" and "It's for your own good" are the basic Leftist messages. Leftists have never got past the simplistic thinking or the arrogance that are the characteristic limitations of youth
"Created" equal in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is a religious way of saying that people are NOT equal but start out with the same rights
Comments? Email me or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.
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Saturday, June 26, 2004
STRAUSS AND THE STRAUSSIANS
Urged on by one of my correspondents, I spent a while last night reading about conservative philosopher Leo Strauss and his followers. I read accounts by various sorts of Straussians and anti-Straussians as a way of deciding if it seemed worthwhile to sit down and read the great man himself. He is said to be a difficult and ambiguous study so preliminary enquiry seemed needed. Two of the many accounts I read are here and here. Strauss disciples do seem to be rather prominent in the Bush administration and that does of course get the Left frothing at the mouth and trotting out their usual conspiracy theories. And for once there is a small germ of truth in what they say. Strauss was what would usually be called a "Gnostic" -- a purveyor of "hidden" knowledge or knowledge known only to initiates. Gnostics were very influential and widely followed in the ancient world both before and after the time of Christ. The best known Gnostic sects of the modern world are probably the Rosicrucians, the Scientologists and whatever is left of the old Freemasons.
I myself think that all Gnosticism is rubbish so will not be reading Strauss. The idea of any real and widely useful knowledge remaining secret for thousands of years is ludicrous. But I can see the appeal of Straussianism. Like all Gnostic sects it is both elitist and fraternal -- which is a pretty powerful combination. It both tells you that you are superior and that you have a band of similarly wise brothers on your side. No wonder it has attracted followers! I find its elitism particularly obnoxious. Elites as such are no problem for me. They exist. They become obnoxious when they see themselves as a natural ruling class who are licensed to lie, conceal, collude and deceive in order to bend "the masses" to their will -- "for their own good", of course. Yuk! Straussianism has too much in common with the Left for me. I will stick with libertarian conservatism. Many conservatives are pretty appalled at the big-government agenda of GWB and I have argued that GWB is in fact in some ways to the Left of Clinton. Maybe he really has been influenced by his Straussian advisors.
What primarily motivated Strauss was his concern that the "nihilism" or moral relativism preached by Leftist ideologues (and now accepted by many educated people) would eventually make civilization impossible. There are however many alternatives in philosophy to moral relativism and I think my version of ethical naturalism is only one of many accounts of morality which take into account the arguments for moral relativism but still show or purport to show that values and standards are important, non-arbitrary and persuasive.
The practical upshot of Straussian thought does seem to be reasonably conservative in that Strauss opposed both Communism and Nazism and supported Christianity and traditional values but his reasons for those conclusions seem to be peculiarily his own.
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Urged on by one of my correspondents, I spent a while last night reading about conservative philosopher Leo Strauss and his followers. I read accounts by various sorts of Straussians and anti-Straussians as a way of deciding if it seemed worthwhile to sit down and read the great man himself. He is said to be a difficult and ambiguous study so preliminary enquiry seemed needed. Two of the many accounts I read are here and here. Strauss disciples do seem to be rather prominent in the Bush administration and that does of course get the Left frothing at the mouth and trotting out their usual conspiracy theories. And for once there is a small germ of truth in what they say. Strauss was what would usually be called a "Gnostic" -- a purveyor of "hidden" knowledge or knowledge known only to initiates. Gnostics were very influential and widely followed in the ancient world both before and after the time of Christ. The best known Gnostic sects of the modern world are probably the Rosicrucians, the Scientologists and whatever is left of the old Freemasons.
I myself think that all Gnosticism is rubbish so will not be reading Strauss. The idea of any real and widely useful knowledge remaining secret for thousands of years is ludicrous. But I can see the appeal of Straussianism. Like all Gnostic sects it is both elitist and fraternal -- which is a pretty powerful combination. It both tells you that you are superior and that you have a band of similarly wise brothers on your side. No wonder it has attracted followers! I find its elitism particularly obnoxious. Elites as such are no problem for me. They exist. They become obnoxious when they see themselves as a natural ruling class who are licensed to lie, conceal, collude and deceive in order to bend "the masses" to their will -- "for their own good", of course. Yuk! Straussianism has too much in common with the Left for me. I will stick with libertarian conservatism. Many conservatives are pretty appalled at the big-government agenda of GWB and I have argued that GWB is in fact in some ways to the Left of Clinton. Maybe he really has been influenced by his Straussian advisors.
What primarily motivated Strauss was his concern that the "nihilism" or moral relativism preached by Leftist ideologues (and now accepted by many educated people) would eventually make civilization impossible. There are however many alternatives in philosophy to moral relativism and I think my version of ethical naturalism is only one of many accounts of morality which take into account the arguments for moral relativism but still show or purport to show that values and standards are important, non-arbitrary and persuasive.
The practical upshot of Straussian thought does seem to be reasonably conservative in that Strauss opposed both Communism and Nazism and supported Christianity and traditional values but his reasons for those conclusions seem to be peculiarily his own.
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