Conservative Conversation + Podcasts

DavidBSable

| August 18, 2019 (4 Hours Ago)

25 COMMENTS

Last year at a local meet the candidate forum, the State House contender approached the lectern and said somberly and boldly, “Climate change is real.”

He would have accomplished just as much had he said, “The sun rises” or “Dogs bark.” Yet another example of uncritical soundbite over meaningful distinctions.

By Seawriter

Seawriter

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Seawriter is a former Shuttle software engineer who successfully made the transition to the oil and gas industry as a technical writer after the end of the Shuttle program. It is not the first career

| August 18, 2019 (5 Hours Ago)

12 COMMENTS

I left the Soviet Union to escape communism, socialism, Marxism — whatever you want to call it. America was and still is the only place in the world you are truly free, and you are losing it. Now the evil is coming here; it is all around us, especially where I live in California. These people are ignorant, they have no historical knowledge, and they are very dangerous. The ideology is seductive to America’s naive youth and always ends up with people dead. – Svetlana, the pseudonym of a Soviet émigré to the United States, now in her 80s.

The quote comes from a woman interviewed for a Washington Times article on the seduction of socialism. They kept her name secret for fear of the consequences to her if they revealed it. The need for secrecy is real and all very soviet. A SJW mob would show no reluctance to dogpile an eighty-something woman who warns of the consequences of the mob’s actions.

By Clifford A. Brown

Clifford A. Brown

Retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Colonel after 30 years of active and reserve assignments. M.A. Political Science, M.S. Strategic Studies, Army War College, JD. Served in 1st Armored Division in West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down, in 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea during the regime of Kim Il Sung, and commanded a logistics battalion in Iraq 2003-2004. Wide-ranging public policy interests. Occasional home brewer and infuser of alcohol spirits.

| August 18, 2019 (7 Hours Ago)

17 COMMENTS

Xi puzzle “Facts don’t care about your feelings,” as Ben Shapiro is wont to say. Indeed, John Adams admonishes us: “facts are very stubborn things.” In the midst of all the virtual ink spillage, and pundit and politico posturing, the inconvenient truth is that Hong Kong is a city in communist China. This unfeeling and stubborn fact fundamentally limits what the United States, any other nation, and people inside Hong Kong can do to affect conditions on the ground. Yet, there may be a move, within the larger Chinese puzzle, that President Trump can play now that might slow Hong Kong’s descent into normal Chinese city status.

Cautionary Tales of Careless Words:

By OmegaPaladin

Moderator

OmegaPaladin

| August 18, 2019 (9 Hours Ago)

12 COMMENTS

“Of all forms of slavery there is none that is so harmful and degrading as that form of slavery which tempts one human being to hate another by reason of his race or color. One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.”
“In any country, regardless of what its laws say, wherever people act upon the idea that the disadvantage of one man is the good of another, there slavery exists. Wherever, in any country the whole people feel that the happiness of all is dependent upon the happiness of the weakest, there freedom exists.”

By Susan Quinn

Susan Quinn

Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator

| August 17, 2019

11 COMMENTS

When the rain falls gently, soothing the leaves on trees, darkening the streets slowly, satisfying the thirst of eager flowers, I welcome those soft showers. But my experience with the “raining cats and dogs” variety of storms has been terrifying, and I could definitely do without them. Unfortunately, nature will have her way.

Three terrifying experiences that have never been duplicated came to mind when I thought of raining cats and dogs. The first was on a cross-country drive, and we were on a Texas highway. My husband drove one car and I drove the other, as we were in the process of moving from CA to MA. We amused ourselves by taking turns being in front, and to make sure I didn’t get sleepy, he would occasionally call me on my cellphone. (This was in 2006* when you couldn’t get arrested for using a cellphone while driving.)

By KentForrester

KentForrester

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I grew up in the 50s in the blue-collar city of Compton, California, just before it turned dangerous. I spent my youth in pool halls and bowling alleys. I had no interest in school. To make money, I delivered newspapers, set pins in the bowling alley, kept score, and even shined shoes in dive bars on Compton Boulevard. I was drafted into the Army in 1958 and spent 18 months in Germany, where I started thinking hard about what I wanted to do with my life. So I returned to Compton Junior College f… [more]

| August 17, 2019

59 COMMENTS

About a week ago, I posted a poem of mine about a toad. It landed with a thud on the Ricochet Member Feed. It was soon a lonely and pathetic thing as it moved inexorably down the morning posts with hardly even a Pity Like.

But that was a week ago. I’ve discovered that my poetic Muse won’t leave me alone, even at the risk of ridicule and shame.

By Susan Quinn

Law Talk With Epstein, Yoo & Senik #124

Susan Quinn

Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator

| August 17, 2019

18 COMMENTS

At least someone has decided to stand up to Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s anti-Semitic and anti-Israel agenda. It’s clear that our Congress will not.

Last month, a visit to Israel by these two lawmakers had been approved. Just two days before the trip, however, both women announced that they planned to use the trip to promote the Boycott-Divest-Sanction (BDS) movement, an international effort to cripple the Israeli economy and delegitimize the Jewish state. When their agenda became clear, Israel enforced a law passed in 2017 which prohibits entry to those who promote boycotting the country. Foreign Minister Israel Katz spoke out supporting the ban–referring to their support of BDS, terrorism and minimizing the Holocaust:

By Doug Watt

| August 17, 2019

Summer is the tourist season for Americans. There are Americans that believe their passport is some sort of talisman that turns the entire world into Disney World. Disney World is a bit different than North Korea; bad behavior in Disney World means being escorted out of the park, bad behavior outside the borders of the United States can become a nightmare.

Americans regardless of their political beliefs make mistakes when choosing a vacation destination. Trekking across the border of Iran is really not a good choice, and I would suggest taking a visit to Yemen off your bucket list, unless it’s the last item on your bucket list.

“You Asked”

August 17, 2019

5 COMMENTS

Hosted by John Yoo, Richard Epstein, Troy Senik

Once a year we throw open the doors of the faculty lounge and let the Law Talk audience ask questions of Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo. This year’s result: a conversation that touches on everything from acquiring Greenland to whether John Adams was a constitutional scofflaw, from whether federal courts have gotten too trigger happy with injunctions to which foods make the professors wretch. Most importantly: which class did Richard struggle with in law school? The answer will … not surprise you at all.

By She

Thatcher

She

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"She can milk She brews good ale She can sew She can knit She can wash and scour She can spin She hath many nameless virtues . . ." She is a recovering IT professional living on a farm in Southwestern Pennsylvania with a numerous sheep, goats, rabbits, cats, dogs, and a long-suffering husband.

| August 16, 2019

21 COMMENTS

To commemorate the 74th anniversary of V-J Day on August 15, herewith, a couple of family recipes for War Cake a more-or-less appetizing (de gustibus, and all that) sop to the sweet tooth of the war-weary denizens from the Old and New Worlds. One is from 1942 and was shared with me by a friend in the early 1970s, and the other we found handwritten on a slip of paper that fell out of my grandmother’s favorite cookbook when we were sorting out her stuff after she died. It and the paper it’s written on are of sufficient antiquity that it’s quite possible this one is from WWI. Our guess is that it was sent to Granny by the branch of the family that emigrated to British Columbia; hence its name, Canadian Cake (click to embiggen):

By KentForrester

| August 16, 2019

In the early 1980s, a colleague and I published a poetry journal. That encouraged me to take up the writing of poetry — for a year or so, anyway. Yesterday, I was browsing my bookcase and came across a few of these poems. So I said to myself, “Self, I bet Ricochet people dig poetry, so I’ll lay this one on ‘em.”

The Spadefoot Toad

By DavidBSable

DavidBSable

| August 16, 2019

26 COMMENTS

After two synagogue shootings, a local Episcopalian priest joined forces with the Rabbi and other left-to-moderate clergy to encourage solidarity in spite of differences in beliefs. Soon campaign size white signs appeared upon the lawns of many in our little mountain community that say “Say No To Hate. Say Yes To Love. Love God. Love Your Neighbor.” After much thought and a couple of revisions, here are my thoughts that will likely be a letter to the editor:

The recent proliferation of the “Say Yes to Love Say No to Hate” signs are controversial because we are at a cultural moment where the various factions of our society no longer agree on what love and hate, or good and evil, consists of. A conspiratorial reading of the signs may be that love means “accept all narratives of LGBT advocacy groups without question” while hate means “voting for Donald Trump” or “robbing a woman of the same autonomy men have by advocating for the unborn.”

By iWe

Reagan

iWe

54412812,428

| August 16, 2019

31 COMMENTS

This is what Trump should do: Offer US citizenship to all Hong Kong and Chinese nationals who can ace English fluency and the US AP History test, and, as a condition of immigration, agree to no access to our welfare systems.

This would be a huge boost to our economy and nation, and a massive brain drain for China. Win-Win. (Bonus: the threat alone might check Chinese ambitions.)

By WillowSpring

WillowSpring

91141,057

Retired Manager/Engineer/Programmer. I specialized in embedded systems – that is, systems where it isn't obvious there is a computer. Willow Spring is the 1803 log home where we now live (Wife, 1 remaining Deerhound out of our pack of 3) The picture is of Leap (Flying Leap, officially) on the porch looking towards the Apple orchard where the deer sometimes come. Behind here is the corner of the Summer Kitchen, a separate one room building with a VERY large fireplace for cooking.

| August 16, 2019

6 COMMENTS

Saturday evening, my wife and I were in our usual position – rocking chairs on the porch overlooking our neighbor’s hayfield and watching the lengthening shadows. Although we are nominally reading, we mostly look out at the waves across the hay. I happened to look up and saw a large bird high up in the air. It wasn’t flying like a vulture (which is a pretty common occurrence here). Then, I saw the white head and tail feathers – it was a bald eagle. We stood up and watched as it soared higher and higher until it flew west over Short Hill Mountain. It was only visible for about 30 seconds and if I hadn’t seen it in the 15 seconds it was visible from our chairs on the porch, we would have missed it.

We were in the right place at the right time.

The Conservatarians #154

Greenland: The 51st State

August 16, 2019

6 COMMENTS

Hosted by Jon Gabriel, Stephen Miller

“Greenland’s not for sale,” Denmark says, but who discussed money? Jon and Stephen discuss the pros and cons of Trump seizing the frozen island (how hard could it be?) and offer our most likely conspiracy theories regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s death.

The intro/outro song and Jon’s song of the week is “Kill Switch” by Ride. Stephen’s song of the week is “Random Rules” by Bon Iver. To listen to all the music featured on The Conservatarians, subscribe to our Spotify playlist!

By Jim Wright

Jim Wright

Southern California born and raised. Left long enough to miss it. Returned in time to regret what it's become, but still call it Home.

| August 16, 2019

17 COMMENTS

“When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.” — Taylia, age 11

A collection of “childhood wisdom” graced my Facebook feed this week; this was one of the standouts, though there were several in the same vein: common-sense lessons learned early in life through personal experience. Some were in the “Things I’ll-never-try-again” category (“Never hold a Dustbuster and a cat at the same time.” — Kyoyo, age 9), and others check the “fool-me-once” box (“Don’t pull Dad’s finger when he tells you to.” — Emily, age 10). There’s even a Joe-Biden-in-training in the mix (“Never squat with your spurs on.” — Neil Kinnock, 1987).

Ricochet Podcast #460

Buying Greenland?

August 16, 2019

44 COMMENTS

Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson

With guests Bill McGurn & Kevin Williamson

Hey, don’t laugh — we could do it (and another President reportedly thought about it too). So yes, we discuss that, a troubled Congressional trip to the Holy Land, the great Kevin Williamson on his new book The Smallest Minority: Independent Thinking in an Age of Mob Politics, and the WSJ’s Bill McGurn on the turmoil in Hong Kong (he knows the city well — he lived for ten years. Also, how did the name Ricochet come to land upon this blessed website? You’ll have to tune in for the answer to that one.

Music from this week’s show: Fight the Power by Public Enemy

By Gary McVey

Gary McVey

| August 16, 2019

54 COMMENTS

You’ve read the conventional wisdom, and it usually has some truth in it. “Until December 7, 1941, nobody knew that America would get dragged into World War II.” “The A-bombing of Nagasaki was cruel and unnecessary—everybody knew the Japanese were ready to surrender after Hiroshima.” “On October 4, 1957, the Soviets stunned the world. Nobody knew they were on the brink of launching the Earth’s first artificial moon.”

You’ve read the confident cynics, too. “Everybody knew John F. Kennedy was having extramarital affairs.” “Everyone knew the reason Nixon ‘killed’ Apollo was that he was jealous of JFK’s role in starting it.” And of course, “Everybody in Hollywood knew about Harvey Weinstein. They had to know.”

By Titus Techera

Titus Techera

Executive Director, American Cinema Foundation. Contributor: National Review, Law&Liberty, American Conservative, The Federalist, Modern Age, University Bookman.

| August 16, 2019

0 COMMENTS

The podcast’s going back to the great De Palma–our fifth, after The Untouchables, Blow Out, Body Double, and Carlito’s Way. You’ve got Al Pacino, cocaine, Miami, an Oliver Stone script, and the ’80s: So naturally everything goes crazy and turns into a tragedy. Scarface is both a rebuke to liberals who look at criminals as mere victims and to conservatives who look at them as failures. American liberalism–Jimmy Carter–invites immigrants on moral grounds; conservatism–capitalism–invites workers on economic grounds. But Scarface escapes both morality and business, revealing the weaknesses of an American society that cannot deal with the poor or with narco-capitalism.

By Doug Watt

| August 16, 2019

Portland is gearing up for a potential clash between Antifa and the Proud Boys on Saturday, August 17. Some merchants and civic groups have canceled events they had planned for downtown Portland. This includes Kells Irish Pub; they had planned to hold some amateur boxing matches on Saturday. Rather ironic that.

The mayor and a disparate group of civic leaders and community organizers held an outdoor gathering pleading for calm. One Rabbi stepped up to the microphone and defended Antifa; she might have a touch of the Jesuit within her, or at the very least Father Pfleger of Chicago. She was not the only one that believes that Antifa is a defender of Portland’s virtue.

By Bethany Mandel

Editor

Bethany Mandel

Bethany Mandel is a part-time editor at Ricochet and columnist at the Jewish Daily Forward. She is a stay-at-home mother of three kids, four years old and younger. She also is a co-host of That Sethany Show and LadyBrains Podcast.

| August 16, 2019

17 COMMENTS

There’s a great deal of outrage this week about Israel’s decision to bar two Congresswomen from entering the country. A sample of the criticism:

Joe Lieberman: Israel made a 'serious mistake' in barring Omar and Tlaib from entering country @CNN https://t.co/NpPFEW9Whh

By Ed G.

Ed G.

312,124

I am a married father of four and a devout Catholic (I hope). I've been an accountant in various capacities and industries for almost twenty years now. Born, raised, and still living in Chicago.

| August 16, 2019

78 COMMENTS

Just watched the new Crowder Change My Mind installment. I love these videos and I highly recommend watching all of them. They can be infuriating but they can also be instructive. But I’m not posting this to be an unpaid promoter. Watching the most recent video, Trump Is Not Racist: Change My Mind,

By Dr. Bastiat