Space Force Cadets

Did someone say Space Force? That’s just too irresistible a topic for this podcast not to tackle in depth. So we do. But that’s not all. No sir. We also call on our friends Matt Continetti (he of the must listen Right and Righter podcast) to talk about Alexandria Cortez-Ocasio and what she means for American politics, and Byron York takes us for a deep dive on the status of the Mueller investigation. We learned a lot in this segment and we bet you will too. Also, Rob goes long on the Academy’s new Most Popular Movie category. Hoping for a podcast category soon.

Music from this week’s show: Space Cowboy by The Steve Miller Band

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  1. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    You probably should read Dinesh D’Souza book and see his movie before misrepresenting it.  I recommend the book over the movie in that it is not as heavy handed.  

    • #31
  2. filmklassik Inactive
    filmklassik
    @filmklassik

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Quake Voter (Vifilmklassik (View Comment):

    You understand, of course, that what you are doing right now amounts to standing at a white board with a lab coat and pointer and trying to prove, scientifically, that what I just found funny is in fact not remotely funny.

    That’s a fool’s errand. It can’t be done. It is every bit as absurd as using an Excel spreadsheet to try to prove to someone, mathematically, that the joke that just left them cold is in fact sidesplittingly funny and they were wrong not to laugh. The premise itself is farcical.

    As to your other point — you’ve heard the aphorism “To thine own self be true”? It’s a cliche for a reason. So I am not going to make an ex post facto decision that the thing I just finished mocking isn’t the least bit amusing simply because my ideological opponents also laughed at it.

    Remember when Mitt Romney said that Russia was a great big threat, and Obama and the left – your ideological opponents – thought it was funny?

    They were wrong then too. And so were you, if you also laughed along with them that time.

    Not sure what Romney’s factual statement that was pooh-poohed six years ago by a bunch of people who should know better has to do with a jackass turn of phrase that hits my ear as funny.   Romney’s statement was a bulletin about a hostile and sinister country, while Space Force is a term that a backward 3rd grader would come up with.

    • #32
  3. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    It’s a shame that you don’t see it.  But then again, if you did, you wouldn’t be doing it.

    • #33
  4. filmklassik Inactive
    filmklassik
    @filmklassik

    kedavis (View Comment):

    It’s a shame that you don’t see it. But then again, if you did, you wouldn’t be doing it.

    We’re talking past one another, but what it boils down to is that you think something I find funny is unfunny. That’s it.  Forgive me but you sound like a scold in church. Or a feminist.  Or a campus SJW. (“That’s not funny!!” they cry.)

    I disagree. But humor’s like that. There’s no intellectualizing it. It’s like one’s taste in food, or sex, or James Bond movies (I prefer the early ones with Sean Connery, especially Goldfinger).  But everyone’s different.

    • #34
  5. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    I’ve agreed that some people might find it “funny” NOW, because of the pejorative interpretation it’s had over years because it’s NOT real.  So “space cadet” for example, is an insult in that sense.  But if you’re unable to see that the only real reason it might be “funny” NOW is because of that, and that it changes if/when something real does occur, that’s a failing on your part, a lock-in of juvenility or something.

    It would be like you went to a prestigious medical school, graduated with honors, quickly blazed a trail of great skill etc, and then you have a patient with a debilitating form of cancer…  but all you can do is giggle like a 10-year-old because your patient, who may be at death’s door, because of their condition, is farting.

    • #35
  6. Roderic Fabian Coolidge
    Roderic Fabian
    @rhfabian

    Part of this podcast was spent heaping scorn on Alexandria Octavio-Cortez as a candidate who constantly gets things wrong and obviously knows nothing.  Rob Long, of course, takes the occasion to take a swipe at the President for the same thing.  All of you are missing the important point here, which is that with both the President and Cortez the fact that they are ignorant of all the stuff the members of the DC ruling class are supposed to know means nothing to their supporters.  Facts don’t matter.  Tape that up on your mirrors at home, “Facts Don’t Matter” and repeat it to yourselves every morning until it sinks in.

    Remember how everyone who mattered knew that Trump was going to lose?  Remember how they were all wrong?  People who bet against Cortez are making the same mistake.  She has the Trump chops, friends.  She’s the real deal.  She knows how to win support.  Underestimate her at your peril.  I say this as a conservative who does not want to see her and her ilk taking control of the Democratic Party.

    She is out there every day saying the things that her base wants to hear.  Pretty soon, if it has not happened already, they will be convinced that she has their back, and they will have her back.  They will be making excuses for her in the same “crazy” way Trump supporters make excuses for Trump.   Because they know that she will be in there saying the things and doing the things that they want said and done, and nothing else matters.

    Scott Adams, the cartoonist who predicted Trump was going to win well in advance of the primaries, thinks Cortez has the same kind of mojo Trump has.  In fact, when she accused Ben Shapiro of “catcalling” Adams thought that was a brilliant move on her part that would resonate with her base.   Three dimensional chess?  No, just a skill at persuasion we know little about.   I think we need to start learning, because that will be the only way to counter it.

    • #36
  7. Richard Easton Coolidge
    Richard Easton
    @RichardEaston

    Roderic Fabian (View Comment):

    Part of this podcast was spent heaping scorn on Alexandria Octavio-Cortez as a candidate who constantly gets things wrong and obviously knows nothing. Rob Long, of course, takes the occasion to take a swipe at the President for the same thing. All of you are missing the important point here, which is that with both the President and Cortez the fact that they are ignorant of all the stuff the members of the DC ruling class are supposed to know means nothing to their supporters. Facts don’t matter. Tape that up on your mirrors at home, “Facts Don’t Matter” and repeat it to yourselves every morning until it sinks in.

    The problem with with this argument is that facts don’t matter to the ruling class either.  W said that Islam is a religion of peace. Obama uttered similar fables about it.  The ruling class asserts that Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner is a woman and only a bigot thinks otherwise.

     

    • #37
  8. OccupantCDN Coolidge
    OccupantCDN
    @OccupantCDN

    Roderic Fabian (View Comment):

    Part of this podcast was spent heaping scorn on Alexandria Octavio-Cortez as a candidate who constantly gets things wrong and obviously knows nothing. Rob Long, of course, takes the occasion to take a swipe at the President for the same thing. All of you are missing the important point here, which is that with both the President and Cortez the fact that they are ignorant of all the stuff the members of the DC ruling class are supposed to know means nothing to their supporters. Facts don’t matter. Tape that up on your mirrors at home, “Facts Don’t Matter” and repeat it to yourselves every morning until it sinks in.

    Remember how everyone who mattered knew that Trump was going to lose? Remember how they were all wrong? People who bet against Cortez are making the same mistake. She has the Trump chops, friends. She’s the real deal. She knows how to win support. Underestimate her at your peril. I say this as a conservative who does not want to see her and her ilk taking control of the Democratic Party.

    I take your warning seriously, however I wonder if everyone is overestimating Cortez – she was campaigning against an incumbent who didnt mount a campaign. When it comes to the general election – it seems that she’ll divide her own supporters and could loose the election. She’s facing write-in campaigns for the incumbent she beat, and she’s busy around the country not campaigning for herself – she’s making the same mistake her opponent did, she’s not mounting her own campaign in her own district.  She really does know nothing – Trump for all his faults (and they’re numerous) had a successful 50 year career in media and real estate to provide him with some knowledge or instinct. In contrast 7 years after graduation, Octavio-Cortez is still a bartender.

    • #38
  9. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Tape that up on your mirrors at home, “Facts Don’t Matter” and repeat it to yourselves every morning until it sinks in.

    That’s a factual statement, then? (See also black and white, sole believers in, Sith) They matter to me, if I want to keep my bearings. 

    Scott Adams, the cartoonist who predicted Trump was going to win well in advance of the primaries, thinks Cortez has the same kind of mojo Trump has. In fact, when she accused Ben Shapiro of “catcalling” Adams thought that was a brilliant move on her part that would resonate with her base. Three dimensional chess? No, just a skill at persuasion we know little about.

    If it reinforced her base’s preconceptions, that’s not persuasion. 

    • #39
  10. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Tape that up on your mirrors at home, “Facts Don’t Matter” and repeat it to yourselves every morning until it sinks in.

    That’s a factual statement, then? (See also black and white, sole believers in, Sith) They matter to me, if I want to keep my bearings.

    Scott Adams, the cartoonist who predicted Trump was going to win well in advance of the primaries, thinks Cortez has the same kind of mojo Trump has. In fact, when she accused Ben Shapiro of “catcalling” Adams thought that was a brilliant move on her part that would resonate with her base. Three dimensional chess? No, just a skill at persuasion we know little about.

    If it reinforced her base’s preconceptions, that’s not persuasion.

    True, they don’t need to be persuaded to agree with her.  But they do need to be persuaded to put out whatever effort (not very much, unfortunately) is required to vote for her.

    • #40
  11. ToryWarWriter Coolidge
    ToryWarWriter
    @ToryWarWriter

    But Islam is a religion of Peace.  When were all Muslims we will have Peace.  

    • #41
  12. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    ToryWarWriter (View Comment):

    But Islam is a religion of Peace. When were all Muslims we will have Peace.

    Doubtful.  I notice the Muslims tend to fight each other as much as others.  If they ever got their act together and decided to all fight the same foe we would be lost.

    • #42
  13. OccupantCDN Coolidge
    OccupantCDN
    @OccupantCDN

    ToryWarWriter (View Comment):

    But Islam is a religion of Peace. When were all Muslims we will have Peace.

    I know you’re being sarcastic. Muslims have more sectarian violence than all other religions combined.

    • #43
  14. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Let’s have some fun:

    Christopher Columbus: “I wish to spend a lot of money to explore the world, looking for a new route to India, eventually discovering North America which will turn into the United States and change the world forever.”

    King Peter Robinson: “No.”

     

    • #44
  15. filmklassik Inactive
    filmklassik
    @filmklassik

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Let’s have some fun:

    Christopher Columbus: “I wish to spend a lot of money to explore the world, looking for a new route to India, eventually discovering North America which will turn into the United States and change the world forever.”

    King Peter Robinson: “No.”

    Along similar lines:

    The most recent winning NY Lottery number was 11 26 44 45 46

    What the hell was anyone thinking in not playing that lottery number??!!  I mean, it came out, didn’t it?   So why the hell didn’t more people play it??!!  What is their problem??!!

    • #45
  16. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    That’s hardly comparable.  More like this:

    President John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

    We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say that we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.

    continued in next post…

    • #46
  17. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

    We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.

    President or Senator or whatever, Peter Robinson:  “No.”

    • #47
  18. ToryWarWriter Coolidge
    ToryWarWriter
    @ToryWarWriter

    I am not being sarcastic.  Thats actually how Muslims religious scholars interpret the line.  

    Whenever our politicians spout it, they are engaging in a form of Islamic propaganda.

    • #48
  19. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    ToryWarWriter (View Comment):

    I am not being sarcastic. Thats actually how Muslims religious scholars interpret the line.

    Whenever our politicians spout it, they are engaging in a form of Islamic propaganda.

    Well then, you weren’t being sarcastic.  But the muslim scholars, or at least the people out there actually leading crowds, don’t just mean “muslim” they mean a particular type, maybe “shiite” or “sunni” or whatever.  Or in many cases they really mean “when the world is MY kind of muslim and the world follows ME, there will be peace.”

    • #49
  20. Mrs. Ink Inactive
    Mrs. Ink
    @MrsInk

    I think we need a space force, but I don’t understand why it can’t be part of the Air Force. The Air Force Space Command and the Air Force Global Strike Commandalready exist, why not combine and expand them? (I work for the federal government, the savings in letterhead and logo design would make using already existing entities cost effective, believe me.)

    That being said, “hard science fiction” almost always has space-going military as a navy, I suppose because ships are ships and crews are crews. Of the original seven Mercury astronauts, three were Navy and one was a Marine. Four Apollo astronauts were Navy.

    “Space force” doesn’t sound particularly silly to me, and if the Russians have a space force, we should have one.

    • #50
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