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Moderator Note:
Please stop spamming Ricochet's comment sections.For Noah Rothman, it ain’t about the standards of conservative media, [redacted].
Charlie and Matt in the Morning, coming soon to Russia Today.
Noah sounds jealous of James O’Keefe’s prior successes. You can hear in Noah’s voice how much he is enjoying his schadenfreude. Nice to see that conservatives tearing down other conservatives happens in the media as well as Congress.
Dear Michael:
Well, you’ve finally done it: You’ve lost me. Not that you’ll care. There are plenty of McCain haters from Ricochet to take my place. The thing that got me was when you said that this man, who was willing to give his life for his country, was not now a good man. Excuse me, but where is it written (except in the Michael Graham Handbook on how to be a good person) that a man ceases to be good because of some votes? And your pro-forma declaration that he was a war hero does not detract from the incendiary message that came afterward.
You do make a good point though: We do need someone, with some good ideas, to lead the conservative movement. With this morning’s performance, that emphatically, in my humble judgement, leaves you out. Ideas do not just mean Policy Ideas, and Conservatism, again, in my humble judgement, is not just about policy. It is about ideas on how to conserve what made Western Civilization civil: Morals + Manners + Policy. All three legs of the stool. And conservatism has lost its way with the abandonment of the first two legs. And you have furthered that abandonment with your incessant attacks on a man who is giving his all, and doing what he considers right, for the country he loves.
Sure, he has made some big mistakes. I think McCain-Feingold was perhaps his biggest. And their were others. But he has high conservative marks. He’s never forsaken the unborn, for example, something that used to be considered important, before the scourge of Populism took over our movement.
So, Goodbye Michael. Good Luck and God Bless. Something tells me you are going to need His Blessings.
George Townsend
I liked some of what O’Keefe did before but anyone who jumped on the Trump and now Roy Moore trains, is a fool. There is nothing “conservative” about lying to support a disgusting man like Roy Moore.
Moderator Note:
Please stop this spamming, and the unfounded accusations.[Redacted.]
Oh, for goodness sake! Did Noah Rothman really say the writers at Commentary, Reason and NR are the ones doing the good work in conservatism? Name me one person whose vote was changed by any of those sources.
I’d submit to you that groups like Americans for Prosperity have garnered a heck of a lot more votes for our side than has Noah Rothman and his band of intellectuals.
Teri, please don’t consider this an unwarranted criticism? I do enjoy your work. But it was the spadework of intellectuals that lay the groundwork for our Revolution. Without the magnificent Declaration of Independence, the waiting world might not have understood why we had to change the way we were being represented (or not represented). Ideas precede action, and this is why the publications you seem to disparage exist.
I don’t consider it a criticism at all! I just don’t think that today’s intellectuals are doing the heavy lifting for the conservative movement. Maybe no one is, I’m really not sure.
Hey, Michael! Nobody else has beaten you up for this yet today, so I’ll take it. Why are you always envisioning Native Americans as the Plains Indians with their teepees and bison? The Cherokee lived probably pretty close to where you grew up. They were the Appalachian farmers of the Native American world. They were farming in sedentary communities and hunting deer and raccoon and squirrel. How many bison did you run into growing up there in the Carolinas? The Cherokee were part of what the Europeans called the Civilized Tribes. There were also the coastal tribes in their fishing communities.
This is like saying, “Oh, you know those Indo-Europeans all came from the Caspian Steppe originally. They all ride horses or in their chariots and shoot bows.” Quite frankly, when my family came here from Warwickshire, they probably were not living day-to-day too much differently from the Cherokee other than speaking a different language, having a different religion, and a few small cultural things. Both sets of people were farmers living in the same area of the South.
As you point out, the Cherokees lived in the Appalachian mountains, not by the ocean. The early Cherokees did not have crab recipes.
You might be right with that statement, Teri. All an intellectual can do, really, is to give his or her opinion. Perhaps the reason there is no “heavy lifting” is because there is such diversity in the field of opinion. I admire the National Review folk myself, especially Jonah Goldberg. It is too bad there is no real giant like Bill Buckley around today. Time marches on, I guess. But we really do miss having Bill around.
Just wanted to comment on this part of your statement: It is nice to see you here. We may not agree on certain things, but, unlike Michael, your jousting is something I can live with. He doesn’t even answer my taunts.
As far as why no one else has reacted to my statement: It is as I said: Ricochet is loaded with McCain haters. I hate no one. Maybe those really nasty people, with whom I could do without. Although your views, Arahant, are closer to Michael’s, than to mine, you seem to express them better. For that, I am grateful. You are still wrong, but I thank you anyway. :-)
No doubt about it. I’m not defending Fauxcahontas, just harassing Michael. Didn’t you hear him say how much he likes it here at Ricochet because of being harassed? ;^D
You just have to work on them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yjNbcKkNY
I don’t hate him, either, but that does not mean I think he is a great man. Yes, he served in the Navy, as did his father, grandfather, son, etc. But since then, he has done an excellent job of serving himself and keeping media attention. McCain has the same need to be in the spotlight that Trump does, but his strategy in pursuing it is more detrimental to our nation and way of life. I realize that you will disagree with that last part.
Lastly, I think that many of our Congress Critters stay too long and become corrupted by the system until they are the ones corrupting it. The Keating Five is not news. John McCain was involved in corruption as early as 1989. That was 28 years ago, nearly five full Senate terms. Now, he’s very ill, but going to keep sticking a knife in his own party because someone he doesn’t like wound up as President, a term-limited position, unlike the Senate. If McCain lives through what’s ailing him, he could be there in the Senate another four or more terms. His mother is still alive, after all.
I don’t even hate Michael. I am, however, greatly disappointed in him. He once said that he couldn’t understand why there were people who hated others, especially because of their status. (Forgive me, I don’t remember exactly what brought this up. I am old, after all, and the memory is going.) I wrote in sympathy to what he was saying. Now, he spends most days, trying to read someone’s mind, who he apparently has grown, not only not to admire, but even show contempt for.
I think you’ve done close to that. You haven’t gone as far as he does. But, to name just one thing (which you were right in saying that I would take issue): You cannot possibly know what he does what he does because he doesn’t like Trump. For example: I truly believe Trump is harming my country, which I deeply love. So am not his biggest fan, to put it mildly. And yet I wrote several posts detailing the good things he has accomplished, and even held out the possibility – remote as it is – that I may vote for him this time. I believe McCain loves his country even more than I do (since I can’t see getting into an airplane, and possibly killing myself). He would not be so petty as to premise his votes an important legislation on his contempt for Trump. I cannot and will not believe he would.
Could I just say once one thing about this?
McCain is a politician. They all crave attention. I don’t as go as far as you do in saying he is just serving himself. But, yes, he does want attention. You don’t think Graham craves attention? Look at the silly gimmicks he has on his show (which I will be saved from listening to from now on)! We all crave attention, to one degree or another. I obviously do by writing to Michael. I should just stop listening. But I feel a need to tell him why, and see if he has the guts to respond.
Sounds like mind reading to me, or worse, projection. I have no problem admitting I have no idea why he does what he does, but I do know that I am not impressed with it.
Mind reading? Projection? Perhaps. Like, maybe, I do with you, when I decided that I kind of like you, and don’t think you mean badly – despite the things you write!
Agreed.
Without a doubt, but he has to have ears to sell to advertisers, so he is in a slightly different category.
Let’s just look at politicians for a bit. Would you say McCain’s craving for attention is closer to Bill Clinton’s or Ben Sass’?
I’d try harder to be mean, but I’m lazy and being mean takes too much energy.
I have an addendum: I was just thinking about projection. I think we all engage in it. This is especially true when good people refuse to believe that there are downright wicked people in the world.
I hasten to add that this has nothing to do with John McCain. You just brought the thought out in me. And, since I have more time than I ever had before to ruminate about things, I just thought I would pass on (the benefit of?) my thoughts.
I know that I would like to believe that most people had the same kind of thoughts of others that I do. I mean, if I step on someone’s foot my accident, I am liable to go into a panic. I know that many, if not most, are not like that, and that are really bad people in the world. And it does get to be dangerous when there is someone who refuses to do the right thing because he or she just really believes that you if treat someone well they just have to treat you well. Wars have been started due to this miscalculation.
Anyhow…… Enough of this rumination. Good Night!!!
Oh, Michael, you make me sad.
Repeat after me: bibimbap is pronounced BEE-BEEM. BOP. (bibim = mixed, bop = rice)
Hot or cold, it’s happiness in a bowl.
In that case, let’s drink to laziness!
I can’t think of anyone – politician or not – who craves attention the way Bill Clinton does.
Yours is an interesting question: We can get into why people crave attention. If you wouldn’t mind my getting personal for a second? I think I want attention because I genuinely believe I have something to say. And I want to people to listen. And (here comes the lack of humility) get a different perspective, perhaps, from what I have to say. And make them think. I think Sass is like this. This is why he wrote his book. He knows he is bright. He wants to share his experiences with others, and try to make a better world.
To get back to McCain: I really believe he is closer to Sass (I can here you saying now: You’ve got to be kidding). I believe that Bill Clinton is the ultimate Solipsist. He really does believe the world begins and ends with him. Whether it be sex or just public adoration, he needs to have his “needs” met. If we divide the world in solipsism and altruism (that stark a choice, for our purposes) I believe McCain is closer to altruism.