As we mark another peaceful transfer of presidential power in America – and after an ugly, rancorous political campaign season – it’s worth looking back at perhaps the greatest story of political and personal reconciliation in our history. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson: allies, then friends, then rivals, then political enemies, and then friends again in the closing days of their lives. Let’s take a moment and look at how this lifelong connection grew, went sour, and was rekindled, demonstrating then and now that so long as the “American Mind” is alive, people of different opinions can come together for the common and personal good.

#johnadams #thomasjefferson

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sue Hamas

 

With the most recent images coming out of Gaza, the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo, have announced a class-action lawsuit against Hamas for copyright infringement. The lawsuit seeks $4.3 billion dollars in punitive damages for immeasurable reputational damage.

Exhibit A from the lawsuit

Elon is Still in; Vivek is Out

 

I hate to say I told you so (actually, I kind of enjoy saying that), but two brilliant, large ego and successful men have discovered that sharing the top job is not so easy. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are both men accustomed to being fully in charge and have earned the right to be called the “top dog.”

So what are the rumors? Essentially, Ramaswamy apparently shot himself in the foot—twice. One mistake was his support of the H-1B program. Although both Ramaswamy and Musk supported the program, they had distinctly different ways to describe their perceptions:

Quote of the Day: Basing Federal Policy on Truth

 

Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women’s domestic abuse shelters to women’s workplace showers. This is wrong. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself.

President Donald J. Trump, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, Executive Order, January 20, 2025

Allocution

 

I think the opportunity we’re maybe missing in all these pardons – or preemptive pardons – even is how useful they’ll be in providing transparency for investigators. A pardoned person no longer has a 5th Amendment protection, since they’re not at risk of prosecution… So drag them into Congress (or even grand juries) and ask for the allocution. What exactly have you been pardoned for? And with whom have you committed these crimes? And let’s see all the documentation in regards to the activity you’ve been pardoned for.

I don’t think it’s important to prosecute Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton or even Dr. Fauci … But it is vitally important to get their minions and co-conspirators to understand what they conspired to do.

Another spontaneous post on a momentous day

 

I wasn’t planning on writing a post today, but just like after the election, it seemed one was in order.  I don’t normally pay attention to inaugurations.  However, I was actually at Reagan’s inauguration.  I had gone down to DC on winter break to see an exhibit at the Smithsonian and was scheduled to leave the day before the inauguration.  The cousin I visited said, “Umm, why don’t you stay for the inauguration?” I thought about it and it seemed that I should, so I did.  Clearly, though, it was not at all on my mind when I planned my trip.  But I found myself the last few days genuinely looking forward to the inauguration.  In fact, I was giddy at the thought of it.  I had a call scheduled during the swearing-in and was disappointed that I couldn’t watch it live, but I taped it and watched it right afterward.

Why am I so happy? Let me count the ways…

A Capella Is Better

 

For an awkward 1 minute 50 seconds, Carrie Underwood and the rest of America waited for the music to play at the inauguration. It started for a moment, then stopped. And it didn’t come back. The sound technician apologetically came up to Carrie and said something. She responded, “Let’s sing.”

Carrie asked the crowd to back her up and proceeded to belt out a beautiful a capella rendition of “America the Beautiful.” You could hear the crowd joining in.

Happy Inauguration Day! To celebrate, Peter and Steve sit down with speechwriter and presidential advisor Ken Khachigian to discuss his time working with Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, as laid out in his newly published memoir, Behind Closed DoorsGoing through his start in politics by landing a job under Pat Buchanan in the ’68 campaign to drafting Reagan’s first inaugural and serving as an advisor during key moments in the ’80s, Ken shares a wealth of knowledge on the finer points of good statecraft. The guys also spend some time on the disaster in their beloved state of California and the prospects for national renewal under the new Trump administration.

In this special MLK Day episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Prof. Lerone Martin, Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professor at Stanford University and Director of the MLK Research and Education Institute. Dr. Martin offers deep insights into the life and legacy of Dr. King. He explores MLK’s role as a spiritual and political leader, advocating for nonviolent protest and “soul force.” Prof. Martin discusses the dynamic between Dr. King, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and figures like Bob Moses and Fannie Lou Hamer. He highlights how MLK’s understanding of history, literature, poetry, and hymns influenced his iconic speeches, including the famous “I Have a Dream” address. Dr. Martin then delves into MLK’s struggles in Birmingham, the challenges he faced from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, and his “Mountaintop” speech before his assassination. Prof. Martin also examines the Civil Rights Movement’s impact on both Southern and Northern cities and its place in contemporary education, urging policymakers, schools, and parents to learn from MLK’s teachings.

I’ll Drink to That!

 

I have just poured a glass of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked bourbon to celebrate the departure of the second-worst President of my lifetime.

I wish Joe Biden nothing but peace and comfort in his final years. I also hope that future historians, for the sake of truth and the honor of their profession, will correctly record him as a foolish, deeply corrupt, and fundamentally dishonorable man, and a disgrace to his country.

The Democrat Party Represents the Government

 

Source CNN: Schumer and Pelosi respond to Trump’s 2019 national address on border security

I don’t pay a great deal of attention to the mainstream media.  The benefit of this is that I tend to be happier.  The problem with this, of course, is that I sometimes miss the message they are trying to tell me, and sometimes that message can be rather important.  This is why it has taken until today – the last day of the Biden Administration – for me to recognize three obvious truths, which the mainstream media has been patiently trying to explain to me for the past 10-20 years:

A Light Carrier’s War

 

USS Cowpens was one of nine light aircraft carriers in the United States Navy during World War II. Built on cruiser hulls, these ships were smaller than the fleet carriers the Navy preferred. Yet Cowpens and its sisters could be completed quickly, providing extra fast carriers quickly, before the larger Essex-class fleet carriers could enter service.

The Mighty Moo: The USS Cowpens and Her Epic World War II Journey from Jinx Ship to the Navy’s First Carrier into Tokyo Bay, by Nathan Canestaro, tells the story of Cowpens during World War II. It shows how a ship, initially unwanted by the US Navy, made a major contribution towards victory in the Pacific.

It was built because of an emergency. In 1942 the US Navy was losing fast carriers faster than they could be replaced. A pre-war proposal existed to convert Cleveland-class light cruisers into light aircraft carriers. It had been rejected because the resulting carriers would, at 14,000 tons, be too small to field a full air group. The upcoming 35,000-ton Essex class would do the job better. But carriers were needed quickly, so the Navy ordered nine light carriers, including Cowpens. All were delivered within 22 months.  The first was commissioned in January 1943.

The Strange Online Kerfuffle About Work

 

I’ve had it on my radar for some weeks to write a post about the subject of work, but I haven’t gotten around to it before now because I’ve been really busy…well…working.

Now Christopher Rufo has stirred the pot on X about the very subject I had intended to write about, and there has subsequently ensued a kind of online firestorm on the right-ish side of the social media divide.

Quote of the Day – Wisdom

 

With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone. – Oscar Wilde

As I get older, I seem to grow wiser. I let things pass that would have put me out of joint when I was a younger age. I have learned it often is not worth making a fuss. Making a fuss is often counterproductive.

New cars and old trains and infinite waitresses all the way down… say, did you just hear that?

We Are All Illegal Aliens

 

I figured that we would hear some crazy things about the fires in Los Angeles, but I assumed that the craziest things would be about climate change. And we have heard just those things already mentioned in the mainstream media.

But, in fact, someone has said something even crazier. Listening to the radio, I heard someone say that the reason this happened was because “humans have moved into natural spaces.” I don’t know about you, but I have always lived in a natural space and everyone I know does too.

Nothing “jejune” about this edition, except perhaps for the first-ever use of “jejune” in a podcast, but it is the perfect term to describe Joe Biden’s “farewell address,” which, aside from its jejune content, is a most welcome sound, since he will be gone in about another 48 hours, never to be heard from again one hopes.

This week we take up three topics—one from each of the bartenders: Behold, President Biden amended the Constitution on Friday—all by himself! Aside from the obvious absurdity and low comedy of it, what does it tell us about the state of leftist presumption? Special counsel Jack Smith released his magnum opus, which seems more of a parvum opus if not an opusculum (ask your nearest Latin geek), Finally, Biden’s farewell address—and presidential farewell addresses in general—was our third topic (summary: it was absolutely Biden’s opusculum).

Did It Have to Be Moshe?

 

G-d tells Moshe to go and save the Jews. Moshe’s reply is a question: “Who am I?”

G-d seems to ignore the question, almost as if it was the wrong question! Instead of answering the question directly, G-d replies:

The National Endowment for the Arts has been with us for sixty years, coinciding conspicuously with the ascendancy of nihilistic works that pollute our public spaces. Justin Shubow aims to change all of that. He’s a top candidate to chair the NEA under the second Trump administration and has a particular interest in the proper design of federal architecture. What have columns and Roman arches to do with the re-moralization of the free citizen? Listen in to find out.

Plus, James, Steve and Charlie adjust to Biden’s just-declared 28th amendment; they work their way through the confirmation hearing highlights; and lose themselves in a David Lynch-like daydream.

President Trump Gets His Shorts in a Twist

 

Over the last eight years, I’ve tolerated a lot from Donald Trump. But his latest complaint is truly pathetic. Instead of rising above a small disappointment—that the flag would still be flying at half-staff during his inauguration to acknowledge the passing of Jimmy Carter–he’s complaining about it. From what I can tell, he’s been upset about it for a couple of weeks.

Traditionally, the flag is flown at half-staff for 30 days, to recognize a president’s death. But poor Trump has taken that decision personally and protested the procedure:

The stories you may have missed this week:

  • If there was any doubt about Biden’s mental state it was put to rest with his delusional farewell address
  • Biden throws some immigration bombs on his way out the door
  • Hearings for Pam Bondi and Pete Hesgeth continue apace with stupid questions
  • Special shoutout to Mazie Hirono

The reason for the post-Covid lack of trust in doctors’ advice

 

Vaccines may not be the most spectacular of all the miracles of modern medicine, but they are arguably the most beneficial. They have virtually eliminated the infectious diseases of childhood, including measles, diphtheria, mumps, rubella, smallpox and polio that were once the sources of unimaginable worry and grief for parents everywhere.

Vaccines are estimated to have saved over 150 million lives in the last five decades, cutting infant mortality by 40% globally and over 50% in Africa. Closer to home, of all babies born in the US in 2001 alone, a 2005 study showed that vaccines prevented 33,000 deaths and 14 million illnesses. Vaccines are also the most cost-effective of all medical interventions, easily yielding the greatest amount of benefit received per dollar spent.

RIP David Lynch

 

David Lynch, who only last year announced that many years of smoking had left him with emphysema so serious he could no longer leave the house, has died.

As a lifelong movie fan, I have had something of a love-hate relationship with the work of David Lynch. When I was studying film in college, and had grandiose aspirations of becoming a film auteur myself, I was a big fan. In retrospect, that wasn’t based on much: at that point, he had only two features to his name, Eraserhead and The Elephant Man. But for a teenaged film buff with an interest in the avant-garde, Eraserhead was a masterpiece, a singular vision like nothing else. And The Elephant Man was brilliantly atmospheric, adapting the grim and unsettling tone of the earlier film and packaging it into something that was almost, but not quite, mainstream.