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Nothing Is Ever Going Back to Normal
National Review — after previously offering that Drag Queen Story Hour was a “blessing of liberty” and railing against Florida Governor Ron de Santis for modest efforts at pushing back against the left — finds itself shocked… shocked … at the metastasizing phenomenon of leftists foisting drag shows (featuring men strutting pretending to be women as if women were clown-prostitutes) on children. “Oh, my heck!” they proclaim. “Who could have foreseen that if we indulged the left in their depravity they would push it even further?“
It’s understandable why (Bush) Republicans and (Atlantic) Conservatives would prefer not to fight the culture wars. It’s just not gentlemanly/ladylike to make a big fuss about leftists sexualizing children. It’s icky and Trumpy to confront the left about their cultural ambitions and their use of every lever of Government to promote them. And because they don’t want to fight, it’s very easy to succumb to denialism. “Yes, sure, there are a few crazies on the fringe of the left, but most of them don’t want to get gay with kids. And if we just calmed down and found some common ground we could get back to normal. Hey, why are those people over there making those kids shove cash in that transvestite’s thong?”
“In Defense of Political Escalation,” Abigail Shrier makes the eminently logical point that the left has no intention of ending the culture wars, or even a ceasefire.
Those waiting on the mythical pendulum to “swing back,” should stop holding their breath. The gender activists are True Believers, akin to jihadists: no amount of reasoning diminishes their resolve, no appeal to data brings them pause, no urge to consider the sanctity of American liberties will convince them to cool it.
While conservatives have been waiting for things to calm down and get back to normal, and fretting that “we oughtn’t do things that are at odds with our precious principles,” the left have seized not just Government power, but also academic power, media power, and even corporate power which they eagerly wield against anyone who dissents from Woke ideology.
If the woke continue to gain ground, where will we skeptics go to educate our children, transact commerce, find fair adjudication of our custody disputes? Where will we publish when not only the New York Times has a “gender director”—when every publication does?
That is the worry that likely motivates DeSantis, the first politician to “weaponize” the Florida tax code. He brought its hammer down on Disney to punish that one company for using its immense corporate coffers to lobby against parents’ rights in Florida. In principle, it’s a move I’m leery of. (And in the case of sending CPS after moms and dads who take their kids to drag shows, it’s a move I would oppose.)
But the gist of this stratagem—escalation—may be necessary. Indeed, it already seems to be working. Playing offense, even raising the stakes, may be the only means of achieving a much-needed truce. I’m out of better ideas. How about you?
Yeah, if there is another way to bring the culture back to plumb, I would be interested to hear it. But pundits writing hand-wringing articles in magazines that are only read by other pundits doesn’t seem like an effective solution to me.
And it’s not just the gender bending. The left will never give up on CRT. They will never give up on Climate Totalitarianism. They will never, despite John Cornyn’s delusions, give up on zero-tolerance gun control.
They don’t want to make a deal; they want our complete submission.
Published in Culture
I would recommend not using the “Messiah” language. It only shows that one doesn’t really understand what animates people on the right. To reduce it to some kind of religious impulse is extremely dismissive and offensive.
Except you thinking he supports local governments is not supported by other things he has said. From Disney to the Florida Parents’ Rights Act, he doesn’t support local government.
I use the term “Messiah” because that is the term used to describe Obama as regarded by his disciples, and I see the same dynamic with Trump. Hey, I voted for the guy in 2020, but I don’t put him on a pedestal or automatically hate anyone who doesn’t worship him as I think they should. I think it’s un-American to idolize presidents.
By the way, Trump thought North Carolina’s bathroom bill was anti-LGBTQ, and said that transgender people should be able to use whatever restroom they wanted to. Not exactly a warrior on this cultural battlefront…
I don’t. I will read all of the above.
He also thinks it is a state’s right to decide.
What makes you think you have Trump supporters pegged correctly? We are some of the only ones I saw in the last 5 years discussing policy.
In fact, the biggest critiques about NR and French are over policy. Not their opinion on Trump. They made it about Trump and not policies.
What’s the point of this factoid other than to say “nyah nyah nyah! Look at what your hero said!”? Since nobody actually believes Trump is the “messiah” we don’t really care if he’s wrong about this. It’s never really been about Trump. He was just the flak-catcher.
I wouldn’t call it “retreat” so much as a recognition of reality. The Left has largely accomplished its “long march” through the institutions, and frankly I think we need to be busy creating our own institutions. I just don’t see how the behemoth of public education can be fixed, so I believe in creating alternatives. Alternatives to pass on the values and accomplishments of Western Civilization. I used to teach at one such school – the Chesterton Academy, which went from 10 students in one room rented in an old elementary school, to a country-wide network of schools (and some overseas as well). So it can be done. Why can’t we open our own libraries? In the meantime, yeah, don’t take your kids to Pride parades and DQSHs.
No, that is not an accurate description of his positions.
That’s like saying “Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one.” (Which might be the atheist point of view for all I know.)
You ignore the entire moral dimension as well as the effect it has on the culture or the minds of young children. Perhaps worse, you believe it has no effect on children.
School boards are supposed to be beholden to parents. Pushing that is a place to start. And parents ARE pushing it. And the feds are saying they are terrorists for it. These parents are examples on what we should be doing.
I do think that the best example we have is the early church. But that means people dying or being imprisoned for standing against this. That means YOU being supportive of their efforts and encouraging of others who see an opportunity and take it. It means praying for their success and not tut tutting their efforts.
Frequently obnoxious.
Oh? What is his view of the Florida PRA?
The offense was intentional.
The point is that the original poster alleges that National Review had been soft on Drag Queen Story Hour, and now we have drag queens exposing themselves to children at Pride parades. I guess we were supposed to link those two. But National Review has never supported the idea, so cherished by the LGBTQ community, namely, that a guy calling himself a gal can use the women’s bathroom if he wants to, and it’s “anti-LGBTQ” to object. Trump agrees. If you’re going to dump on NR for their supposed softness on this issue, why not dump on Trump for his actual support of it?
For one, NR is being dumped on for failing to see the connection between French’s editorial of “blessing of liberty” and “how the hell did we get here???”
McCarthy could have written a response to French at the time, but it just wasn’t that big a deal. A fringe cultural issue that would never become more than that, right?
This position from a “conservative” publication is just one more instance of them being incredibly clueless on the culture war issues.
Second, Trump’s views on homosexuality are well known and were tolerated for his positions on OTHER things – that are the responsibility of president. Immigration, foreign policy, trade. And his view that these issues be decided at the state level made him harmless on these issues as president. I would never elect him governor. He was a GREAT president.
Fascinating distinction that should almost be a thread of its own.
What is good in Presidents that would be bad in governors and vice-versa?
But Trump criticized the Republican Governor of North Carolina and the Republican North Carolina state legislature for enacting a bathroom bill that gave real actual biological women some privacy in women’s bathrooms.
You can give him a pass for that if you want. But others might hold it against him.
Oh, I agree entirely! If change can happen, that’s great, but in some locales it’s a hopeless task. And I think you should take your own advice and stop tut-tutting over National Review.
Hmmm… good idea. I’ll give it a shot unless you beat me to it.
Not me. I don’t write for free. ; )
I never said anything about Trump’s views on homosexuality. I mentioned his support of the LGBTQ position that dudes should be allowed in women’s bathrooms. That’s not a homosexual issue.
Never said that NR doesn’t publish conservative articles. The problem is, they think winning the argument means writing a clever article dinging the left on some point of policy. But all of their punditry doesn’t change anything. It isn’t meant to. It’s conservative pundits writing so that other conservative pundits will nod and mutter “Quite so.” And more to the point, so they will continue to get checks from their benefactors.
(And this sets aside “Against Trump,” “The Covington Kids Might As Well Have Spit on the Cross,” and “Merrick Garland is a fine patriot and the Department of Justice will be in good hands.”)
Conservatism, Inc. likes to write about how the left is wrong, but when someone like Trump or de Santis stands up and tries to enact conservative policy, or aggressively fight the left not just in the “marketplace of ideas” but in the streets and the schools… suddenly, they go all “This is not who we are…” and “Oh, Republicans shouldn’t die on that hill, or that one, and especially not that one.” Remember, these guys thought the “at least he fights” defense of Trump was worthy of ridicule.
It’s not a matter that NR doesn’t have conservative content, it’s more that they go wobbly when elected conservatives begin putting conservative ideas into action.
We are the in the Reconstruction Era of the Culture Wars. The left occupies every institution of influence in the culture. Writing a 500 word essay on “How the Left’s Transgender Ideology Conflicts with Title IX of the Federal Code” isn’t going to cut it any more.
But I disagree with the premise – I emphatically DON’T see the connection between support for the First Amendment, even when it supports things we don’t like, and this alleged “how did we get here” response. I read National Review, and so I simply don’t recognize National Review in your framing of the issue – it’s a straw-man.
The left allows discussion on things like transgender ideology because it knows the arguments don’t really matter. Whatever the arguments, the trend is always left. Why? Because of immigration, for one thing, and subversion of our civil institutions for another. And on those latter topics, no debate is permitted. The left is happy to let you argue all day long about the libertarian case for Drag Queen Story hour or the finer nuances of the 2nd Amendment. None of it matters in the end.
I just glanced at the NR homepage. Nothing about the ongoing invasion of our Southern border, of course. There is a news article about the protestors at Amy Coney Barrett’s house, but nothing about how this is just the latest novel leftist subversion of our institutions. Worry about leftist subversion of things like elections and judicial independence is just so Trumpian, isn’t it? But there’s an article about how Liz Cheney is sticking it to Trump supporters, about how inflation might be worse by November (news flash!), and another about how Biden falling off his bike may have lifted the taboo on talking about his age.
Whistling past the graveyard.
You mean this one:
The January 6 Show
By The EditorsThe January 6 hearings have many villains and fools, but the record of Donald Trump’s conduct is especially damning. O r This One:
Liz Cheney Is Winning the January 6 Committee
By Andrew C. McCarthyShe has used her platform to make a powerful showing that Trump is unfit and that Republicans would be on a suicide mission if they nominated him again. I really wish the comments were about Abigail Shrier on Substack and not NR, but you never know where a discussion is going to go once it’s kicked off.
Of course, they’re paywalled so if a NeverTrump Junkie needs their fix, they’re going to have to pay. First taste is free, and so forth.
Since you’re obviously not a subscriber to National Review, let me correct your stated, stilted view of their purpose, as I am a subscriber and have been for decades: National Review writes for people like me – I am not another conservative pundit (you claim that’s only who they’re writing for), but an ordinary middle class individual. I like to read and learn about the various issues that are plaguing this country from conservative writers who can lay out a reasoned point of view. I want light, not heat – I want to be able to trust that a particular writer’s position is well-reasoned. If I wanted fireworks I could just look up Steve Bannon’s show, which might make me feel really good about myself for feeling the right feelings of hatred and disgust and contempt for anyone who doesn’t share my feelings.
I think it’s just so, so easy and it feels so, so good to label your opponents as squishes. It sure beats the hard work of actually reading and comprehending their arguments.
Trump’s views on allowing dudes in women’s bathrooms is pretty radical left. The Republicans of North Carolina were trying to give women privacy in women’s bathrooms and some corporations threatened boycotts of North Carolina. Trump sided with the corporations threatening to boycott North Carolina.
Oh is that why you oppose him?
When Trump sided with the radical transgender movement against the women of North Carolina, National Review was willing to criticize Trump.
When the Left criticized the Florida legislation, calling it, inaccurately, the “Don’t say gay” bill, National Review defended the Florida legislation.
The reality is that Trump did donate lots of money to Chuch Schumer, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.
You can’t be honest and call those donations Trump made “conservative.”
But there have been articles about the immigration crisis. I’m sorry that when you looked at them today they weren’t covering all of the issues you want them to, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t covered. Are you seriously going to suggest that your one-time glance gives you a complete idea of what is covered?
There’s something else going on here, an undercurrent of anti-snobbery snobbery: here are people who don’t think like I do on everything….. Most of them don’t think the election was stolen…..They must be snobs! Yes, that explains it all!