I’m Still with Milo

 

It’s whiplash-inducing how fast Milo had been tossed under the bus.

Before judging, make sure you know all the facts. Unfortunately too many people on the right (mea culpa, I’m as guilty of this as most) take the liberal headlines at face value and recoil from certain individuals. This happened with Mike Flynn and now it’s happening with Milo. In both cases people have made judgments based on partial information, which is what the other side wants. It isn’t for nothing that the late Andrew Breitbart referred to this as “war.”

I love many of the pundits and podcasters who make their home here on Ricochet. I hold them in high regard, especially the more curmudgeonly types (looking at you, Kevin). But it needs to be said that anytime news reports come out painting someone who identifies as being on the right in a negative light we need to stop, wait and be 100 percent certain that we have all the facts.

I hate that this next bit sounds somewhat conspiratorial, but here goes. The institutional left fronted by the whining, virtue-signaling press corps and backed by the meretricious satraps of the deep state has shown that their philosophy is that the ends always justify the means. Democracy, honesty, decency, morality, probity, these are, in their eyes, weapons to be used when they work and set aside when they don’t.

It pains me to say, but I don’t think this is a war we can win playing by the Marquess of Queensbury rules at this point.

So, I look for my allies where I can find them and make common cause with those who would work with me to muck out the Augean Stables for the left.

.

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  1. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Rodin (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):

    Chuck Enfield (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):
    If Milo had as many troops at his disposal as Stalin did, folk might be more willing to go to bat for him. That’s kinda the whole point.

    In politics, your only value is what you bring to the table. There was no upside for CPAC to defend an alleged pedophilia-apologist. It would have been an untenable drain on their resources to deal with such a scenario.

    You have a point, but I think a better analogy in this case is the French resistance in WWII. They didn’t fight because they were strong. They fought because somebody had to.

    They were also highly expendable.

    Yes, but expend them in a fight with the enemy, don’t execute them and deplete your assets in the fight.

    Milo wasn’t executed. He was caught behind enemy lines and disavowed as an unlawful combatant.

    • #31
  2. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Conservatism Inc. and its adherents are faithless, untrustworthy backstabbers.

    • #32
  3. Quake Voter Inactive
    Quake Voter
    @QuakeVoter

    Brad2971 (View Comment):
    Our country can get along just fine, thank you very much, without conservatism, or its desire to win.

    This may be the single most foolish sentence ever posted on Ricochet.  Even I haven’t come close to it for distilled idiocy.

    • #33
  4. Karon Adams Inactive
    Karon Adams
    @KaronAdams

    THANK YOU for the Marquess of Queensbury reference. one should always, always hear ‘the rest of the story’ before making a judgment. which is the entire reason this country was established int he first place.

    • #34
  5. JcTPatriot Member
    JcTPatriot
    @

    Flynn wasn’t thrown under any bus. Trump doesn’t care what the Left says about his nominees, so that is not what drove his firing. Flynn didn’t respond properly to Pence’s questioning (I refuse to say he lied without knowing the exact lie) and Spicer said that Trump could no longer trust Flynn. As with any job that I have ever had, if your boss doesn’t trust you, that’ll get you fired.

    Milo isn’t a Conservative. He’s a gay Howard Stern who had nothing going for him that could be considered ‘Conservative’ in his résumé and I’m tired of people trying to pretend he did.

    • #35
  6. Karon Adams Inactive
    Karon Adams
    @KaronAdams

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):
    I think there’s still plenty of room for Milo to create new opportunities for himself, but it would have been supremely foolish for CPAC to go to bat for him at this point. They had to act quickly, and it’s almost always better to set someone adrift rather than spend precious resources defending them with very little promise of reward. (Secure your own airmask before helping others.) It’s up to Milo to rehabilitate his reputation and position, not CPAC’s.

    your first paragraph is terrifying. what happened to defnding someone because it is just the RIGHT and JUST thing to do without evidence of wrongdoing? go ahead and put the witch in the water. if she’s a witch, she’ll float, if she dies, well, at least we’ll know she was innocent. so much for “Innocent until proven guilty”. remind me not to depend on you when the going really gets tough and the real damaging false accusations come along.

    • #36
  7. Karon Adams Inactive
    Karon Adams
    @KaronAdams

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Evan Pokroy (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    I think with Milo we see that Breitbart is really just as vulnerable to PC pressure as any other media institution.

    Milo resigned, Breitbart stood behind him.

    Right. Sure. Whatever. I will be on my ocean front property in Arizona if you need me.

    Montana. ocean view property in Montana ;-) I thought I was the only person who ever used this one. I’ve loved it since I was a kidlet.

    • #37
  8. Trinity Waters Member
    Trinity Waters
    @

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):
    The narrative that no one on the right ever does anything wrong without it being an Alinskyite media hatchet job is growing far more tiresome than the alternative.

    Sometimes it’s not a narrative, but a particular issue with attendant facts.  You can be tired of this story, but stating that adds nothing to our understanding of this issue.  Do you have a substantive comment to offer?

    • #38
  9. Karon Adams Inactive
    Karon Adams
    @KaronAdams

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):

    Rodin (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):

    Chuck Enfield (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):
    If Milo had as many troops at his disposal as Stalin did, folk might be more willing to go to bat for him. That’s kinda the whole point.

    In politics, your only value is what you bring to the table. There was no upside for CPAC to defend an alleged pedophilia-apologist. It would have been an untenable drain on their resources to deal with such a scenario.

    You have a point, but I think a better analogy in this case is the French resistance in WWII. They didn’t fight because they were strong. They fought because somebody had to.

    They were also highly expendable.

    Yes, but expend them in a fight with the enemy, don’t execute them and deplete your assets in the fight.

    Milo wasn’t executed. He was caught behind enemy lines and disavowed as an unlawful combatant.

    that, BTW, is how the Freedom from religion foundation works. they pick small targets, too weak to fight back, and beat them down. they can then gather up lots of small victories that set precedents as well as serving as examples to others. as we are seeing now, most school systems simply cave, these days rather than even bother to fight.

    • #39
  10. Trinity Waters Member
    Trinity Waters
    @

    Quake Voter (View Comment):

    Brad2971 (View Comment):
    Our country can get along just fine, thank you very much, without conservatism, or its desire to win.

    This may be the single most foolish sentence ever posted on Ricochet. Even I haven’t come close to it for distilled idiocy.

    If you understand that the conservatism he may be speaking of is the Bushwood variety, Brad is exactly correct.  So much winning!

    • #40
  11. jeffp Member
    jeffp
    @PatJefferson

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):

    GFHandle (View Comment):
    Ironically, a co-worker at Breitbart.com, one of those calling for his firing, is quoted as saying that “every right-thinking person would want to vomit” at whatever it was that Milo said on the unearthed tape.

    Yeah, we all know how those politically correct, line toeing, pearl clutchers at Brietbart are.

    Some internal pressure, according to The Hill.

    • #41
  12. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):
    But heck, if Ted Kennedy can come back from (allegedly) killing a teenaged girl…

    She was in her twenties. And he drove a car off a ferry dock, swam away, and left her to die while he went and sobered up and called his lawyer hours later, even though he had to walk right past houses with phones. She probably lived for an hour or so while Teddy let her just suffocate and drown.

    Allegedly nothing. He got away with at least man slaughter.

    Sorry. Rant/Off.

    I suppose there’s little chance ol’ Teddy’s ghost is gonna sue for libel at this point, so fair enough.

    Be pretty tough those are all documented facts in the investigation.

     

    • #42
  13. Karon Adams Inactive
    Karon Adams
    @KaronAdams

    Mike LaRoche (View Comment):

    Conservatism Inc. and its adherents are faithless, untrustworthy backstabbers.

    sadly, you seem to be right. and they cannot understand why TELLING the electorate how stupid they are doesn’t make them agree.

    • #43
  14. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Karon Adams (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):
    I think there’s still plenty of room for Milo to create new opportunities for himself, but it would have been supremely foolish for CPAC to go to bat for him at this point. They had to act quickly, and it’s almost always better to set someone adrift rather than spend precious resources defending them with very little promise of reward. (Secure your own airmask before helping others.) It’s up to Milo to rehabilitate his reputation and position, not CPAC’s.

    your first paragraph is terrifying. what happened to defnding someone because it is just the RIGHT and JUST thing to do without evidence of wrongdoing? go ahead and put the witch in the water. if she’s a witch, she’ll float, if she dies, well, at least we’ll know she was innocent. so much for “Innocent until proven guilty”. remind me not to depend on you when the going really gets tough and the real damaging false accusations come along.

    Politics is indeed terrifying.

    • #44
  15. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    Mike LaRoche (View Comment):

    Conservatism Inc. and its adherents are faithless, untrustworthy backstabbers.

    If by that you mean, “Those who don’t think pederasty is worth defending,” then, guilty.

    • #45
  16. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Oddly the left side of my Facebook seems to be in defense of Milo.  They seem to believe that despite all of the conservatives talk of tolerance and free speech they don’t seem to be tolerant of Milo’s free speech or tolerant of his point of view or lifestyle.  Seems to me that they are right.  CPAC has managed to screw the pooch on this one.

    • #46
  17. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    What Milo did was cross a line that exists for his audience. The reason PC pressure works is because the public or some significant portion of it that a media celebrity is interested in appealing to holds to those boundaries, and will react negatively when people cross them. PC is just away to negatively label to boundaries of someone else that you don’t share. It is all about crossing social taboos on behavior or expression.

    In the last day or so there is audio of George Takei (good leftist) saying almost exactly the same thing about his first underage sexual contacts with adult men that Milo said.

    Not seeing the freakout.

    Clearly then it is not a line for Takei’s audience. Different audience different rules. If you were always giving speeches before catholic gatherings you don’t pee on a cross, if you only speak before atheists you might get more attention if you do pee on a cross.

    • #47
  18. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Oddly the left side of my Facebook seems to be in defense of Milo. They seem to believe that despite all of the conservatives talk of tolerance and free speech they don’t seem to be tolerant of Milo’s free speech or tolerant of his point of view or lifestyle. Seems to me that they are right. CPAC has managed to screw the pooch on this one.

    The Left side of your Facebook disagreed with the decision of a conservative organization?

    Knock me over with a feather.

    I have no faith that the Left side of your Facebook would have supported CPAC if it had made the opposite decision. I’m much more inclined to believe they’d simply find a different talking point with which to bash CPAC.

    CPAC’s objective is to sell tickets starting at $85 for students and going up to $5,000 for the VIP gold package.  The Left side of your Facebook is not CPAC’s target market.

    CPAC made the decision that defending Milo would have hurt ticket sales. I have no data on which to judge if their analysis was accurate or not.

    • #48
  19. JcTPatriot Member
    JcTPatriot
    @

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Oddly the left side of my Facebook seems to be in defense of Milo. They seem to believe that despite all of the conservatives talk of tolerance and free speech they don’t seem to be tolerant of Milo’s free speech or tolerant of his point of view or lifestyle. Seems to me that they are right. CPAC has managed to screw the pooch on this one.

    Horsefeathers. If Milo was a straight male Christian, would your “left side” be defending him? Of course not. They are defending him because it gives them the opportunity to call us all homophobes. CPAC made the wrong call when they hired this non-Conservative, and they made the right call when they fired him.

    • #49
  20. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    You miss understand PC I think. PC is a relative term every group has their bugaboos.

    Disagree.

    PC means that truth doesn’t matter. Only the narrative matters. Something can be “correct” or it can be “politically correct”.

    To blame “PC” is to claim that Milo is being punished for speaking the truth, and that the right are trying to suppress truth.

    That’s not what happened, IMHO.

    (OTOH, I can be sympathetic to the claim that what he said and what was reported he said don’t quite match up. In that regard, one could argue that the folk who edited the footage were putting the narrative ahead of the truth.)

    Something can also be ambiguously correct and still be politically in correct. For example suppose you say homosexuality is natural. Is that PC or not PC. It depends to whom and when you say it. The validity of the statement is entirely beside the point. What matters is that someone thinks the statement in question is violating some self evident Truth and that very violation creates a public disturbance that requires silencing and correction. PC is all about peoples perception. It is a new word for an old concept of propriety. The reaction and scandal caused by statements is purely in the power of the listener. The speaker violates the propriety of the listener and they are unPC. They tow the line and they are PC. Simple as that.

    • #50
  21. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Oddly the left side of my Facebook seems to be in defense of Milo. They seem to believe that despite all of the conservatives talk of tolerance and free speech they don’t seem to be tolerant of Milo’s free speech or tolerant of his point of view or lifestyle. Seems to me that they are right. CPAC has managed to screw the pooch on this one.

    Because we’re all really concerned about what the left side of your Facebook thinks.

    • #51
  22. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    What does “being with Milo” mean, in practical terms?

    What is one willing to risk for Milo’s sake?

    One could boycott CPAC, but that’s only meaningful if one was going to attend CPAC in the first place.  Better yet, one could call CPAC and promise to buy a $5,000 VIP Gold Package ticket if they reinvite Milo. Here’s their number: (202) 347-9388

    One could boycott Breitbart, but that would only be meaningful if one is a Breitbart funder. I’m not sure what other incentive one could offer Breitbart other than promising to buy something from their merch store if they rehire him.

    One could boycott Simon & Schuster, but that would only be meaningful if one was a regular Simon & Schuster customer. I suppose one could promise to buy Milo’s book if they agree to publish it.

    But really, the single most meaningful thing one could do to support Milo would be to invite him to speak at a meeting of one’s local conservative organization.

    Here’s the email address of Milo’s booking agent for those willing to risk their own reputations, careers, friendships, etc.: zac@yiannopoulos.net

    • #52
  23. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    I agree with Milo that this is “a cynical media witch hunt “.   ???????so we’ve finally found the ONE sexual preference that even the Left won’t tolerate !

    Has anybody read Dave Eggers book, “Your fathers where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?”  It’s the only book  I’ve ever read (no, don’t say “Lolita”; i don’t agree that it’s about pedophilia) which attempts to give a voice  to someone with those propensities.

    If were s’posed to be so respectful of people who “have no choice”, were “born that way” then we have to accept this sexual orientation too.

    And the fact is, the “age of consent” is just an arbitrary statutory line.  Ok, it has to be drawn somewhere.  But does anybody doubt that, past puberty, there are individuals who are capable of consent to sexual activity, even if they haven’t passed the designated birthday?  That’s pretty much all Milo said.

    • #53
  24. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    Hypatia (View Comment):
    I agree with Milo that this is “a cynical media witch hunt “. ???????so we’ve finally found the ONE sexual preference that even the Left won’t tolerate !

    Has anybody read Dave Eggers book, “Your fathers where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?” It’s the only book I’ve ever read (no, don’t say “Lolita”; i don’t agree that it’s about pedophilia) which attempts to give a voice to someone with those propensities.

    If were s’posed to be so respectful of people who “have no choice”, were “born that way” then we have to accept this sexual orientation too.

    And the fact is, the “age of consent” is just an arbitrary statutory line. Ok, it has to be drawn somewhere. But does anybody doubt that, past puberty, there are individuals who are capable of consent to sexual activity, even if they haven’t passed the designated birthday? That’s pretty much all Milo said.

    When did any of this become a conservative position?

    • #54
  25. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Hypatia (View Comment):
    I agree with Milo that this is “a cynical media witch hunt “. ???????so we’ve finally found the ONE sexual preference that even the Left won’t tolerate !

    Has anybody read Dave Eggers book, “Your fathers where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?” It’s the only book I’ve ever read (no, don’t say “Lolita”; i don’t agree that it’s about pedophilia) which attempts to give a voice to someone with those propensities.

    If were s’posed to be so respectful of people who “have no choice”, were “born that way” then we have to accept this sexual orientation too.

    And the fact is, the “age of consent” is just an arbitrary statutory line. Ok, it has to be drawn somewhere. But does anybody doubt that, past puberty, there are individuals who are capable of consent to sexual activity, even if they haven’t passed the designated birthday? That’s pretty much all Milo said.

    Just wait a few years.  The people that are condemning Milo today will be denounced as hateful bigots.  See Obama / SSM.

    • #55
  26. Topher Inactive
    Topher
    @Topher

    I rather like Milo. I think he’d be a gas to have a beer with. He’s the Lenny Bruce of our times. And I think he will do just fine.

    • #56
  27. Chuck Enfield Inactive
    Chuck Enfield
    @ChuckEnfield

    Topher (View Comment):
    I rather like Milo. I think he’d be a gas to have a beer with. He’s the Lenny Bruce of our times. And I think he will do just fine.

    Absolutely. He’s too clever and entertaining to be done in by this episode.   I expect him to learn from it too.

    • #57
  28. Karon Adams Inactive
    Karon Adams
    @KaronAdams

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):

    Karon Adams (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy (View Comment):

    your first paragraph is terrifying. what happened to defnding someone because it is just the RIGHT and JUST thing to do without evidence of wrongdoing? go ahead and put the witch in the water. if she’s a witch, she’ll float, if she dies, well, at least we’ll know she was innocent. so much for “Innocent until proven guilty”. remind me not to depend on you when the going really gets tough and the real damaging false accusations come along.

    Politics is indeed terrifying.

    yes, but when you claim to be the people who do the RIGHT thing and then turn around and do the WORST thing posible, you have shown your principles only extend to the EASY thing.

    I hope the members of your family know that is they are ever accused of a crime, you will simply set them adrift cause it isn’t worth exerting the effort to save them. even if they are completely innocent.

    • #58
  29. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Topher (View Comment):
    I rather like Milo. I think he’d be a gas to have a beer with. He’s the Lenny Bruce of our times. And I think he will do just fine.

    Indeed, if Lenny Bruce could keep going while being repeatedly jailed simply for telling jokes, it’s a fairly safe bet that Milo can survive being disinvited from friggin’ CPAC.

    • #59
  30. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):

    Hypatia (View Comment):
    I agree with Milo that this is “a cynical media witch hunt “. ???????so we’ve finally found the ONE sexual preference that even the Left won’t tolerate !

    Has anybody read Dave Eggers book, “Your fathers where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?” It’s the only book I’ve ever read (no, don’t say “Lolita”; i don’t agree that it’s about pedophilia) which attempts to give a voice to someone with those propensities.

    If were s’posed to be so respectful of people who “have no choice”, were “born that way” then we have to accept this sexual orientation too.

    And the fact is, the “age of consent” is just an arbitrary statutory line. Ok, it has to be drawn somewhere. But does anybody doubt that, past puberty, there are individuals who are capable of consent to sexual activity, even if they haven’t passed the designated birthday? That’s pretty much all Milo said.

    When did any of this become a conservative position?

    I’m not interested, personally, in parroting “conservative” positions.  The point about this is, it exposes the true prudishness and hypocrisy of the Left.  They’re cackling with glee cuz a cool guy on the Right turned out to be a perv.  If you’re on the Left, it’s OK, even “brave”, to dress up as a giant vulva, but it’s horrifying when  a heterosexual man makes a comment related to female genitalia!   Certain deviations are sacred, even privileged above the heterosexual urges which, after all, are what makes the world go round. But other urges, now including male heterosexual aggression,  are so outré, so disgusting,  the Lefties sanctimoniously call for their smelling salts.  Too funny.

    • #60
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