The Existential Election

 

Events have been accelerating. We saw the warning signs and now we are in the maelstrom. Two posts from earlier in the Member Feed highlight the latest warnings: Barr vs Nadler Live (as well as @ susanquinn’s The Hearing of Attorney General Barr Is an Abomination) and The Video That YouTube, Facebook and Twitter Have Censored. The former is the outrageous conduct of the Democrat jackals with AG Barr. As many on Ricochet have remarked, if anything Barr has been so neutral and even-handed in the administration of justice that one worries that he is not aggressive enough to save the nation. But, no, the Democrats have to demonize anyone who is not firmly committed to their vision of chaos.

As John Hinderaker at Powerline blog posts:

We are approaching a very weird election in which one of our major parties is taking a stand in favor of rioting, looting, arson, destruction of federal property, and violent attacks on law enforcement. The Democrats seem to think that this is a winning formula. If it is, our republic is doomed.

And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on. Why? The second post involves tech giants taking maximum advantage of their Congressionally granted exemption from publication liability to censor speech. The Republicans (or at least those that support President Trump) are the target and yet too few of our politicians are sounding the alarm.

Can we avoid Heinlein’s famous formulation:

“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck.”

Are we in for an extended run of “bad luck”?

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  1. Kevin Schulte Member
    Kevin Schulte
    @KevinSchulte

    Rodin: And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on. Why?

    They too see it as a means to dispense Trump. Also, is there some Yuan going into Republican leaderships interest’s ? Me think’s so.

    • #1
  2. DonG (skeptic) Coolidge
    DonG (skeptic)
    @DonG

    I am very disturbed the coordinated blocking of the video of those doctors promoting HCQ.  People will die.  Perhaps millions around the world, because of the game Big Tech and the DNC are playing. 

    • #2
  3. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    DonG (skeptic) (View Comment):

    I am very disturbed the coordinated blocking of the video of those doctors promoting HCQ. People will die. Perhaps millions around the world, because of the game Big Tech and the DNC are playing. 

    image.png

    • #3
  4. Jon1979 Inactive
    Jon1979
    @Jon1979

    The Barr hearing will be a good Rorschach Test for the #NeverTrump folks who have not totally gone over to the other side, as with The Lincoln Project and The Bulwark, and are openly rooting not just for Trump’s defeat, but a down-ballot sweep be Democrats as well (and then again in 2022).

    If you watched any of the hearing, or any unedited sections of the hearing online and found yourself rooting for the House Democrats in their actions against Barr, your anger over Trump’s Al Czervik-on-steroids decorum and Barr’s defense of the president has taken you to a place where you’re now cheering on behavior that’s worse than the thing you hate.

    • #4
  5. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    There is also the poverty of the imagination and of ethics. 

    • #5
  6. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    What’s tough is that there are a lot of people who still aren’t paying attention. I was talking to a pastor friend the other day—pleasant, reasonably sensible, considered herself reasonably well-informed (one would think)—and I used the word “woke.” She didn’t know what it meant. She made me see why my efforts to wake my friends and relatives so often fail; I’m assuming a level of awareness that isn’t there. 

    Many and perhaps most of these folks don’t know that the news they’re watching/reading/listening to is biased; that it consistently leaves out information that would contradict the progressive line. They assume—as I did, a few years back—that what was reported on NPR was factual and reasonably complete. They also assume that everyone in the country is receiving the same information (except for the “lies” on Fox). If NPR tells you “the poor are in desperate need of carrots” and the Deplorables say “nope, not sending carrots” the reason can only be that the Deplorables are horrible and selfish (with a spoken or unspoken “unlike us…”). It can’t be that the Deplorables are aware of facts about carrots and/or the needs of the poor that the bien pensant are not. 

    A good, dear, still-progressive friend of mine had an outboard motor stolen from her recently. We were discussing this in a small group of similarly-inclined ladies, and they all agreed solemnly that the person who stole the motor was probably “starving.” There are people in our own town who don’t have enough to eat, they said. As if they imagined skeletal children shivering in garrets, one pawned outboard motor away from a Dickensian death.

    I pointed out that, of the three or four of us, I was the only one who actually spent time around poor people. I’ve been in their houses, seen their possessions, even had occasion to look into their kitchen cupboards. The working poor—people who are supporting themselves on paychecks—“look poor”in the sense that they don’t have as much stuff,  though they are not starving. The jobless, welfare-dependent have far more and newer possessions than those with jobs and you generally couldn’t describe them as “skeletal” unless, of course, they are hard-core drug addicts. In which case, they are spending 150 to 200 dollars a day to support their habit. Where does that money come from? Well, they figure out how to monetize their own or their loved ones’ food stamps and other welfare benefits. And they steal stuff. Like outboard motors.

    These were intelligent, well-educated women. They hadn’t considered any of this. And in a way, why would they? They’ve got jobs, families and lives that demand their attention and expertise. We don’t see what we don’t look for, and if we believe the world to be one way, we can literally gaze right at evidence that it isn’t that way and not see it. 

    It is good news that even a few Democrat muckety-mucks are opining aloud about the potential for voters to be turned off by the mob-rule-Biden equation. That means that they think a critical number are actually aware that the mostly-peaceful-protests (I also want a t-shirt that says “mostly peaceful”) are actually…not. 

    I hope the Democrats are, indeed, helplessly stuck  “riding the tiger.” That #BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors has publicly declared that the  DNC must go left (even further left) or else, Pelosi, Nadler, Biden et al may still be trying to thread that needle. 

     The alternative explanation, put forth at PJ Media  is that the Democrats aren’t worried about the election at all. They plan to “win” by any means necessary, and henceforth ensure that there is never another genuine election again.

    If that is the case, I fear it will represent a Pyrrhic victory for Ms. Cullors and her ilk; once the old white elite Dems have their spotty claws back on the reins of power, #BLM and Antifa will—mirabile!—be revealed as the thugs they are,  and it’ll be time for a Night of the Long Knives. There are no principles.  Once the rules —freedom of speech and conscience, the right to peacefully petition the government for redress, the presumption of innocence for the accused and so on—have been cast out, and its all about power, the activists will discover the dirty little secret; they don’t really have any power.  Not when compared with whoever is pulling the strings for Uncle Joe.  

     

    • #6
  7. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    GrannyDude (View Comment):
    [O]nce the old white elite Dems have their spotty claws back on the reins of power, #BLM and Antifa will—mirabile!—be revealed as the thugs they are, and it’ll be time for a Night of the Long Knives. There are no principles. Once the rules —freedom of speech and conscience, the right to peacefully petition the government for redress, the presumption of innocence for the accused and so on—have been cast out, and its all about power, the activists will discover the dirty little secret; they don’t really have any power. Not when compared with whoever is pulling the strings for Uncle Joe.

    Sad to think of this as the best case scenario if Dems win — that the means and manner of the Dem House becomes our government, just without riots from the Left.

    Your point, @GrannyDude, about your friends’ inability to see the propogandic nature of the information they are being fed is very disheartening. If true, the Dems have succeeded.

     

    • #7
  8. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    To me, one of the most telling thing about the current crop of Democrat leaders is their lack of humor. When was the last time you saw a Democrat smile? Those seen on TV always seem to be snarling about something. Their only joy is “The Struggle.”

    • #8
  9. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Rodin: And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on. Why? The second post involves tech giants taking maximum advantage of their Congressionally granted exemption from publication liability to censor speech.

    Maybe that’s because they know the fix is in:

    Labelled “Confidential,” the Jim Jordan Memo is something you’re not supposed to see.

    Cernovich Media has obtained this Memo and … posted it in full.

    Highlights:

    • The Memo gives Republican talking points needed to defend Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.

    • The Jim Jordan Memo is clear. Zero antitrust action against Apple, Google, or Amazon will be supported by the GOP, and the memo is loaded with talking points defending Big Tech’s monopoly power.

    • “Even if this hearing suggests that Google, Amazon, Apple, or Facebook have acted unlawfully, that would not necessarily mean underlying antitrust law needs an overhaul.”

    • #9
  10. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Hans von Spakovsky reminds us that there are many fronts in this war:

    . . .An unprecedented number of lawsuits have been filed by the radical left (at last count over 150 and counting) trying to use the COVID-19 health crisis as an excuse to nullify state requirements like voter ID laws.

    They are also trying to force states to make numerous unwise changes, such as taking away the ability of voters to vote in person by forcing them to vote by mail.

    The Heritage Foundation has published a new case study, “Four Stolen Elections: The Vulnerabilities of Absentee and Mail-In Ballots,” that demonstrates the risks of voting by mail.

    And in 2012, The New York Times—yes, The New York Times!—actually published an informative article about the problems with absentee ballots, pointing out that “votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised, and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show.”

    So all of the groups pushing mail-in voting are also pushing to have more voters disenfranchised in November.

    Emphasis added

    I take issue with the wording of his last statement, though. Democrats want to disenfranchise citizens.

    The Democrats work hard to see to it that non-citizens  vote (and that illegal immigrants count for Congressional apportionment.)

    • #10
  11. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Rodin: And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on. Why? The second post involves tech giants taking maximum advantage of their Congressionally granted exemption from publication liability to censor speech.

    Maybe that’s because they know the fix is in:

    Labelled “Confidential,” the Jim Jordan Memo is something you’re not supposed to see.

    Cernovich Media has obtained this Memo and … posted it in full.

    Highlights:

    • The Memo gives Republican talking points needed to defend Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.

    • The Jim Jordan Memo is clear. Zero antitrust action against Apple, Google, or Amazon will be supported by the GOP, and the memo is loaded with talking points defending Big Tech’s monopoly power.

    • “Even if this hearing suggests that Google, Amazon, Apple, or Facebook have acted unlawfully, that would not necessarily mean underlying antitrust law needs an overhaul.”

    I skimmed the memo and had a different takeaway. Jordan is not defending tech giants. But he wants them to be taken on within existing law rather than giving Democrats the ability to rewrite anti-trust law. I will come back to this later for fuller study, but it is unclear to me that Jordan is a sellout.   

    • #11
  12. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    To me, one of the most telling thing about the current crop of Democrat leaders is their lack of humor. When was the last time you saw a Democrat smile? Those seen on TV always seem to be snarling about something. Their only joy is “The Struggle.”

    There is nothing to smile about when literally Hitler is in the White House and literally nazis number in the millions. 

    What I can’t figure, though, is how many actually believe that versus just cynically say they believe that. I used to think the Dems mostly just said that to beat us over the head but knew it wasn’t actually true. Now I’m not so sure. Then again, after decades of beating us over the head that way is it any wonder that the rank and file have taken it to heart?

    • #12
  13. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    Rodin (View Comment):

     

    Your point, @GrannyDude, about your friends’ inability to see the propogandic nature of the information they are being fed is very disheartening. If true, the Dems have succeeded.

    Here’s the thing though—I could’ve said exactly the same thing about myself up until, say, 2014. What happened in 2014 (or so?): a subject I am personally and professionally invested in and knowledgeable about became a major news story, one that was covered extensively and intensively for weeks, months, years (and down to the present). 

    Had it been a single news story, I might’ve missed it. Even if I’d caught it, I could’ve dismissed or overlooked a day or two of bad, innacurate coverage. It was the relentless, day-after-day coverage of law enforcement after Michael Brown’s death that forced me to recognize not just that the stories being told were wrong, but the pattern of “errors” showed  they were deliberately wrong. And people I care about were being placed in mortal danger as a result. 

    The next obvious step was to ask  myself: If they are telling lies about this subject…what else are they lying about? 

    My hope—faint though it may be—is that this is happening to other people too. Well, I know it is—that’s what the Harper’s Letter tells you. And yes, a lot of the signers of that letter had participated in creating the cancel culture they now oppose, but that’s always the way, isn’t it? (I can think of lots of instances in which I made my own (considerably smaller) contributions to the present mess!) The furious backlash to the letter could only have persuaded the signers of just how awful “their” side has become. The same surely goes for any nice, progressive Portland, Seattle or Chicago voter who sees how badly the Mostly Peaceful Protesters (MPPs) have treated their nice, progressive, accommodating/enabling mayors.  Or Asian-Americans, who find that their kids will be shut out of opportunities on grounds of “fairness” because they have straight hair and an epicanthic fold. I wonder how my friends who send their kids to local independent schools (Waldorf, Montessori, etc) will feel when they discover that banning private schools on grounds of fairness is becoming a mainstream progressive idea? 

    And so on.

     

     

    • #13
  14. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Rodin: And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on. Why? The second post involves tech giants taking maximum advantage of their Congressionally granted exemption from publication liability to censor speech.

    Maybe that’s because they know the fix is in:

    Labelled “Confidential,” the Jim Jordan Memo is something you’re not supposed to see.

    Cernovich Media has obtained this Memo and … posted it in full.

    Highlights:

    • The Memo gives Republican talking points needed to defend Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.

    • The Jim Jordan Memo is clear. Zero antitrust action against Apple, Google, or Amazon will be supported by the GOP, and the memo is loaded with talking points defending Big Tech’s monopoly power.

    • “Even if this hearing suggests that Google, Amazon, Apple, or Facebook have acted unlawfully, that would not necessarily mean underlying antitrust law needs an overhaul.”

    Is there a quid pro quo on this? 

    • #14
  15. ape2ag Member
    ape2ag
    @ape2ag

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Rodin: And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on. Why? The second post involves tech giants taking maximum advantage of their Congressionally granted exemption from publication liability to censor speech.

    Maybe that’s because they know the fix is in:

    Labelled “Confidential,” the Jim Jordan Memo is something you’re not supposed to see.

    Cernovich Media has obtained this Memo and … posted it in full.

    Highlights:

    • The Memo gives Republican talking points needed to defend Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.

    • The Jim Jordan Memo is clear. Zero antitrust action against Apple, Google, or Amazon will be supported by the GOP, and the memo is loaded with talking points defending Big Tech’s monopoly power.

    • “Even if this hearing suggests that Google, Amazon, Apple, or Facebook have acted unlawfully, that would not necessarily mean underlying antitrust law needs an overhaul.”

    Democrats are willing to threaten tech with anti-trust.  Republicans are slavishly opposed to anti-trust.  Who will tech be more responsive to?

    • #15
  16. brad2971 Inactive
    brad2971
    @brad2971

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Rodin: And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on. Why? The second post involves tech giants taking maximum advantage of their Congressionally granted exemption from publication liability to censor speech.

    Maybe that’s because they know the fix is in:

    Labelled “Confidential,” the Jim Jordan Memo is something you’re not supposed to see.

    Cernovich Media has obtained this Memo and … posted it in full.

    Highlights:

    • The Memo gives Republican talking points needed to defend Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.

    • The Jim Jordan Memo is clear. Zero antitrust action against Apple, Google, or Amazon will be supported by the GOP, and the memo is loaded with talking points defending Big Tech’s monopoly power.

    • “Even if this hearing suggests that Google, Amazon, Apple, or Facebook have acted unlawfully, that would not necessarily mean underlying antitrust law needs an overhaul.”

    We keep hearing about “cancel culture” disproportionately affecting the Right. With so many in Hollywood and Silicon Valley wanting to cancel Mike Cernovich, why does he still have a Twitter account?

    • #16
  17. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Rodin: And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on. Why? The second post involves tech giants taking maximum advantage of their Congressionally granted exemption from publication liability to censor speech.

    Maybe that’s because they know the fix is in:

    Labelled “Confidential,” the Jim Jordan Memo is something you’re not supposed to see.

    Cernovich Media has obtained this Memo and … posted it in full.

    Highlights:

    • The Memo gives Republican talking points needed to defend Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.

    • The Jim Jordan Memo is clear. Zero antitrust action against Apple, Google, or Amazon will be supported by the GOP, and the memo is loaded with talking points defending Big Tech’s monopoly power.

    • “Even if this hearing suggests that Google, Amazon, Apple, or Facebook have acted unlawfully, that would not necessarily mean underlying antitrust law needs an overhaul.”

    Now that I have had the opportunity to read the Jordan Memo carefully, the highlights above are not (IMO) a correct representation of the Memo. The Memo highlights all of the concerns that conservatives have expressed about censorship and shadow banning (including speech by Jordan himself). The misconception arises from Jordan’s belief that existing investigations into the tech giants by the FTC/DOJ should continue rather than being preempted by Congressional action. If you believe that FTC/DOJ will not address the important issues then it is understandable that you would disagree with Jordan, but that is not “protection” of tech giants by Jordan. Jordan’s concern is not to start to amend anti-trust statutes and regulations. (That is a different issue than removing the liability protection for platforms.)  Like concerns that are raised when there is a call for a Constitutional Convention, there is no certainty that once the legislature starts acting that you will be happier with the outcome than before. Jordan’s memo has footnote citation to various authors that caution against this.

    So Cernovich may be right, but the memo as written does not state what he says it does.

    • #17
  18. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Rodin: And yet, many Republicans seem far too complacent about what is going on

    The Republican non-response bothers me more than the Democrats totalitarian behavior. 

    The Democrat behavior could easily work against Democrats in the election, but it won’t if the Republicans stay silent. They have to speak up for proper behavior, whether they do it through the media or by going around the media. If they do it through the media, they will have to say things for which the media will attack them; otherwise they will get no air time.

    But the current non-response does not speak well for the results.

    • #18
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