Quote of the Day: Wisdom is at Your Fingertips

 

Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens that you should say, ‘Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it? No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.

Deut. 30:11-14

Recently I had the delightful experience of exchanging brief emails with Mollie Hemingway! I’m definitely a fan girl. I wrote to her because she said on her podcast, You’re Wrong, with David Harsanyi, that she had begun to read the Jewish Bible (Torah) from the very beginning, chapter by chapter, and is enjoying it immensely. (She had experienced the Old Testament in her Lutheran faith but not in this manner.)

If You Bought the Russia Hoax, Why Should I Trust You on Anything? Ever?

 

If you bought the Russia Collusion hoax, why should I ever trust you about anything?  Of course, you believed it.  That’s not the issue.  The issue is why you believed it.  You believed what you needed to believe in order to silence the cognitive dissonance (look it up, it’s more than a catchphrase) between two narratives.  On the one hand, you had a healthy conservative distrust of most things government and, in particular, the Democrats’ stories about Republicans. On the other hand, you had this on-its-face ridiculous set of assertions being touted by the leftist media.  The further left, the more they loved it, and you went right ahead and loved it too.

Everybody needs to live in their own space.  If your wife is further left than you are, and stronger than you are, then you are likely to adopt increasingly leftist positions, to watch leftist news, to believe leftist stories, and to repeat the stories told by the left about the right.  About us.  How are you not simply a member of the left at that point, regardless of your personal (but unspeakable at home for fear of upsetting your wife), deeply-held, cherished beliefs about how you are a conservative?

Bumping Up Against the Debt Ceiling

 

The two bedrock structural principles of the Constitution are the separation of powers and a system of checks and balances. These are always in tension. The principle of separation of powers places with Congress the power to issue the public debt in the name of the United States: Article I, Section 8, cl. 1, states baldly: “The Congress shall have Power To . . . borrow Money on the credit of the United States.”

The power comes after the parallel grant to Congress to impose taxes. Together these two clauses are the main revenue drivers for the United States. Yet the current constitutional structure subjects any such debt issuance to a presidential veto that can be overridden only by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. That number cannot be obtained at present, given the rough parity of power between the two parties.

The good side of this arrangement is that it divides power to avoid the risk of tyranny, as James Madison or Alexander Hamilton said in Federalist No. 51, by setting ambition against ambition. But there is also this downside: the constitutional structure creates what is commonly called a “bilateral monopoly,” where each side has a blocking power to any solution that purports to deviate from the status quo ante, which in this case is the unappetizing prospect of a US default on its debt obligations, fraught with uncertain consequences, if the two sides cannot agree on an acceptable compromise. The situation therefore resembles one which arises under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which creates just this structure in the context of collective bargaining negotiations between a monopolist union and a recalcitrant employer. Each side is subject to a statutory obligation to bargain in good faith with the other, even though neither side is required to make any specific substantive concession. Needless to say, the absence of any device—e.g., compulsory arbitration—to force a deal leads to breakdowns in negotiations that can, and often do, lead to lockouts or strikes.

Daniel Penny, Subway Hero, Good Samaritan, and Former Marine: Semper Fi!

 

We all have blind spots about things we either like or dislike to an irrational level. One of mine is my exuberant, near-fanatical love of the Blue Angels, only partially sated by my newfound ability to go to their practice sessions every week and see the show over and over again!

But I have another lifetime blind spot and it involves my love of the United States Marine Corps— The Proud, The Few, The Marines! At the risk of offending the delicate little sensitivities of the woke snowflake liberals who hate men – especially the toxic variety, whatever that means – I have always regarded the Marines as the last real men in American society. Semper Fi!

Why go through this litany of my biases and prejudices in favor of two of the finest, most respected units of our military services? The reason is that in thinking about, and writing about, the very fine young ex-Marine who probably saved lives in that subway car in New York City, it is well nigh impossible for me to even pretend to be objective. After reviewing a large number of “news” accounts—apologies for the quotes but it is a recognition of the depths to which the journalism “profession” has fallen— of what we know of the incident thus far and initially planning to write a piece synthesizing all the accounts, I decided to take an approach one only finds rarely in the mainstream media. I will try to do something here quite radical for our times, maybe unthinkable: I view this from the standpoint of the former Marine who honorably served his country, Daniel Penny, and the lives he very probably saved on May 1 in that subway car.

News Media Unimpressed by Durham Report

 

The Durham Report released Monday is over 300 pages of documentation of the cooperation between the Democratic Party, the news media, and the FBI and CIA. The Clinton campaign paid for the Steele dossier, the FBI quickly figured out that there was no evidence to support it, and then the FBI offered its author $1 million of taxpayer dollars for any evidence at all. Which he could not produce. The FBI launched an investigation anyway, and the news media covered for them, while continuing to help the FBI bury the many and obvious crimes by Hillary herself. Lordy.

Powerline has some good stuff up about the Durham report already, including some responses from the news media, who played such an important role in this enormous political scandal. Even The New York Times acknowledged the damning findings of the report, but followed their recognition of the facts with this remarkable paragraph:

Mr. Durham’s 306-page report appeared to show little substantial new information about the F.B.I.’s handling of the Russia investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane, and it failed to produce the kinds of blockbuster revelations impugning the bureau that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies had once suggested that Mr. Durham would find.

Make America Anti-Weasel

 

The so-called “dirty 51” who signed the absurd letter declaring the Hunter Biden laptop bore the earmarks of Russian disinformation should be stripped of security clearance and barred from any future policy-related positions.  History tells us that integrity in intelligence services is absolutely vital.  Weasels who seek favor or advancement by telling those in power what they want to hear do the country a grave disservice and should face sanctions because it is always disastrous:

  • Cuban invasion plans? We are good to go, boss. The anti-Castro elements are fully operational.  The regime will fold like a cheap suit when the invasion begins. 
  • The local support for the Viet Cong is paper thin. You are correct that a war of general attrition with lots of aerial bombardment is just the ticket. 
  • It’s a slam dunk, sir. Saddam’s WMD development is now way ahead of where it was when we went in back in 1990.

First, those 51 guys (plus the additional nine unnamed super secret spooks and the execrable Mr. Blinken) prostituted their professional credentials to execute a partisan stunt and intentionally mislead the American voting public. Second, they made no attempt to examine or verify the materials and yet opined as if they had acquired enough information and analysis to make a professional judgment. Third, they have stuck to the brazen weasel position that if the Russians were to have done something it could have been similar to this actual scandal, therefore they did not really lie. 

Protesting Homes of SC Justices: Free Speech or Intimidation?

 

We all know that people have been protesting outside of the homes of originalist Justices since the Dobbs decision was leaked. We also know that this is against a Federal law designed to stop the intimidation of the Justices and Judges on the bench. Today I saw this thread:

A Teacher Who Changed My Life

 

Last night I had a dream that I never showed appreciation to Chazzan Berkowitz, and so I woke with the resolution that I would do so today.

I don’t come from a family of musicians. Though my maternal grandfather was a (non-observant) Yiddish storyteller who loved to sing at gatherings, none of my other grandparents had a musical bone in their bodies. Indeed, my father, who is still with us, is so distinctly atonal that when he sings, dogs howl. We had an old family friend who was a cantor. For years, he was in a coma, and we were told he was brain dead. My father would bring us along to visit him. My father sang to him, and the cantor, in a vegetative state, used to grimace in pain.

Sometimes It Takes a Good Guy with a … Slingshot?

 

We’ve heard that adage about a good guy with a gun stopping a bad guy with a gun. How about a kid with a slingshot stopping his sister’s would-be kidnapper? Take a read:

Michigan State Police said in a news release that the 8-year-old girl was in her backyard when the alleged assailant came out of the woods, grabbed her and covered her mouth. Authorities said the girl’s brother, 13, hit the alleged attacker in the head and chest using a slingshot.

A Fascinating Retrospective

 

I’ve been interested in comments made by various public health officials reflecting total amnesia about events during Covid. The canard, actively promoted by the officials and known to be fictitious, that the vaccines prevented transmission, was a dagger in the heart of an already fragile social cohesion.  And now these officials are pretending to be mystified by the suggestion that they had anything to do with lockdowns, mandates, contact tracing, school closures, etc.

The people at Grabien have compiled a helpful retrospective to keep actual events and media perspectives from being memory-holed. Worth watching.

Anyone? Let Us Pray.

 

Every day I read many different so-called conservative websites to keep up with all the world and national developments.  Here and there are suggestions of what to do to change the direction and make something better.  None sound likely to work.

But today it occurred to me that we should do something radical:  join together and pray.  If all believers joined our prayers and trusted G-d, something wonderful might happen.  And I don’t mean to pray for this or that political candidate or for specific policies to be enacted or anything like that.  What I mean is that we all just pray for the welfare of this country trusting that G-d’s will still governs all things for His glory.

Leftist Rituals

 

I’ve often written that leftism is better understood as a religion than as a political movement.  The ideology of the left is universally destructive, and thus makes no logical sense.  If you think about it.  Which leftists hope that you do not.  You just have to believe.

Religions remind their followers of important things through rituals.  My fellow Christians have many such rituals, such as The Lord’s Prayer.  Perhaps leftists could adopt something similar:

Our Father, who art in Washington, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in Red States, as it is in Blue.
Give us this day our daily entitlements.
And forgive us our crimes, though we don’t forgive the crimes of others.
And lead us not into prosperity, but deliver us from freedom.
For thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.

Normalizing Pedophilia

 

Why is our culture, even the world, so determined to destroy the lives of our children by the obsessive focus on sex? There seems to be no end to grooming our children to experience their lives primarily through sexuality, and although we haven’t legalized pedophilia in the United States, we are definitely moving in that direction. Much has been said about legislation that was passed in Minnesota to supposedly clarify the definition of pedophilia, but there are some who believe that the Minnesota legislators will eventually move to legalize it.

Unfortunately, the U.N. and the International Commission of Jurists have stepped in with specific efforts to decriminalize pedophilia:

Consensual sexual conduct, irrespective of the type of sexual activity, the sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of the people involved or their marital status, may not be criminalized in any circumstances. … With respect to the enforcement of criminal law, any prescribed minimum age of consent to sex must be applied in a non-discriminatory manner. … Moreover, sexual conduct involving persons below the domestically prescribed minimum age of consent to sex may be consensual, in fact, if not in law. In this context, the enforcement of criminal law should reflect the rights and capacities of persons under 18 years of age to make decisions about engaging in consensual sexual conduct and their right to be heard in matters concerning them.

To Protect Free Speech We Must Preserve Language

 

The plight of Brian Tingley (Tingley v. Ferguson), a licensed counselor who has been practicing in Washington state for more than twenty years, demonstrates the importance of language in defending free speech.

Throughout his career in counseling, Brian has helped adults, couples, teenagers, and children identify and achieve the goals that they set for themselves, consistent with their own moral values and religious beliefs. Under Brian’s guidance, his clients have pursued meaningful and positive changes in their lives.

Everybody dance now! We’re gonna make you sweat as Toby and James bust a few moves and take to the dance floor. After the terpsichorean trip down memory lane they talk Donald Trump’s CNN town hall and, closer to home, Rev. Calvin Robinson’s GBNews monologue on Ukraine (available here) and author Ian Rons’ criticism of it in the pages of The Daily Sceptic. That leads to a wider discussion about journalistic ethics.

This week in Culture Corner, James endorses Silo (AppleTV+) and Sanctuary (Netflix), Toby offers up The Diplomat (Netflix). We also get an answer to last week’s “genre” question. And we wrap things up with a discussion about the reviews surrounding Queen Cleopatra on Rotten Tomatoes.

The House is Not About to Impeach Biden — Is That Trump’s Fault?

 

Yes, a bit of a poke-in-the-eye post, but I want this on the record for when Trump is the nominee and the NT wailing brigade goes full klaxon about how it’s Trump’s fault we can’t win in 2024.

I am not supporting or defending Trump per se. I do not feel that he will win the general. On the other hand, I certainly have no patience for the same people sneering the same “proof” offered last time.

Quote of the Day: For Mother’s Day

 

Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty:

The Most Important Person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral–a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body. . . . The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God’s creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation. . . . What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?

A Texas Beowulf and Its Creator

 

Donald Mace Williams is a Texas poet and former newspaperman. His best known poem is “Wolfe,” which recasts Beowulf as a Western. He recently celebrated his ninetieth birthday.

“Wolfe and Being Ninety: Old West Monsters and A Texas Poet’s Life,” by Donald Mace Williams collects Williams’s poem and a memoir of his life in one volume.

“Wolfe” updates “Beowulf.” Set in a Texas Panhandle ranch during the 1890s, the ranch house replaces the king’s hall, the ranch owner, the aged king, with ranch hands serving as thanes. Williams substitutes iambic quadrameter (commonly used in cowboy ballads) for Beowulf’s Old English meter. He updates the Dark Ages character names with modern American equivalents. This campfire song transformation of Beowulf works remarkably well.

Quote of the Day: Luck

 

“Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work – and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.” – Lucille Ball

Your experience might differ, but I find much wisdom in what Lucille Ball says. Good luck is not just chance. Rather it is recognizing and seizing an opportunity for which you are prepared due to prior hard work. Similarly, bad luck is frequently lack of preparation catching up to you.

How the Gulag Archipelago Influenced My Spiritual Life

 

A friend a while back wrote me to say he had just finished reading The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The reading reminded him of me. I wrote back and said that it was my reading of Solzhenitsyn’s work when I was a teenager that helped form my religious-political positions today.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian dissident, a man who stood up to the dictatorial beliefs of the then-powerful USSR. He was imprisoned by the “gulag” (the agency which forced people into labor detention camps) for his beliefs. His writings made it to the West, to free people who called for his release. 

But it was Solzhenitsyn’s prison experience that led him to belief in God. “Bless you, prison,” Solzhenitsyn wrote, “Thank you for being in my life.” It was behind bars that Solzhenitsyn found freedom in Christ. Receiving the Templeton Prize for promoting religion in atheist countries, Solzhenitsyn said that communism happened because people had forgotten God. 

Weaponizing Moral Relativism

 

Have you noticed that in the last few years, the term moral relativism has disappeared from the public lexicon? There are those who believe that it has been banished, but they are wrong. In fact, the application of moral relativism has gone underground and its advocates are working tirelessly to meet their agenda, as well as using it to recruit new adherents to their cause.

For those who may have forgotten, moral relativism has a long history. Here’s a working definition:

Moral relativism is the idea that there is no universal or absolute set of moral principles. It’s a version of morality that advocates ‘to each her own,’ and those who follow it say, ‘Who am I to judge?’

Photo courtesy of Karith Foster

On this episode, Andrew and Beth speak with comedian and diversity trainer, Karith Foster.

The Battle for Bakhmut

 

The battle for Bakhmut has lasted for about nine months. It is the bloodiest and most intense fight in Europe since WWII. Advances and retreats are measured in two to six kilometers increments.

Thousands of Russian and Ukrainian forces have been killed in this battle as Russian forces try to encircle the city, and Ukrainian forces try to prevent the taking of the city.

The Beclowning of a Magazine I Once Enjoyed

 

Oh, I know, it’s nothing new: Scientific American has been compromising both science and America for a long time. I subscribed to it through much of the 1980s, during my ersatz-libertarian years, before finally getting tired of the obligatory left-leaning social-topic article which began every issue. (I eventually abandoned Reason for much the same reason: I don’t mind reading stuff with which I disagree, but I don’t want to fund its distribution.)

But this bit of ham-handed nonsense ended up in my inbox this afternoon, courtesy of one or another of the several conservative news blurbs I receive daily. With it, I think a once entertaining magazine has finally jumped the shark — if it hadn’t already while I wasn’t paying attention. (It probably had.)