Tag: National Review

There Goes a Young American

 

The sun sets on my 20s.

In 1964, Jack Weinberg gave a simple command: “Don’t trust anybody over 30.” In his mid-20s at the time, Weinberg had just graduated from UC Berkeley, where he had been a student activist. He turned 30 on April 4, 1970. But the phrase he bequeathed hardly died with the end of his 20s. It has, instead, become a timeless refrain of youth the planet over, a shorthand valorization of the superiority of young people and novelty against the stodginess of their elders and the inheritance of the past.

A reflexive rejection of what has come before fits uneasily with conservatism, concerned as it is with historical reverence. Indeed, in the 1955 mission statement of National Review (for whose website I am submissions editor), one of William F. Buckley’s main complaints about contemporary America was that, rather than embrace its past, it was “tormented by its tradition of fixed postulates having to do with the meaning of existence, with the relationship of the state to the individual, of the individual to his neighbor, so clearly enunciated in the enabling documents of our Republic.” (Buckley was 29 when he wrote these words.)

Are Trump Supporters Ready for Change?

 

Most food packages come with one of two expiration dates. One says “best if used by” a date after which the quality slowly declines. The second one says “use by” or “expires by,” after which the product may be hazardous to your health.

It appears that Donald Trump may have hit his expiration date. It is hazardous for Republicans to nominate him for another White House run.

It’s Time for a Family Conversation, GOP

 

Dear fellow Republicans – especially those of you who remain loyal and ardently supportive of former President Donald Trump. We need to have a serious and frank family conversation.

I’m no “never Trumper.” I voted for Trump twice. Reluctantly the first time since I’d strongly supported my friend and former US Senator Rick Santorum’s (R-PA) candidacy for the GOP nomination, followed by US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), and then finally a vote in the Pennsylvania GOP primary in 2016 for US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). Still, there was no way I was voting to help elect Hillary Clinton. Trump got my vote in 2016, Access Hollywood tape and all.

As Chad Benson’s week of sitting in for Greg comes to a close, everything is coming up roses for the Republicans in the midterms – the GOP gubernatorial candidates are enjoying a well-timed late surge of momentum, a slew of Senate seats that once seemed out of reach are now in play, and not only are Democratic candidates avoiding Joe Biden, they’re keeping their distance from Kamala Harris and the Clintons.

Chad Benson remains in for Greg Corombos, and the midterms are heating up. Chad and Jim wonder whether Kathy Hochul’s shrinking lead in New York is significant, gaze across the Atlantic at a leadership crisis in the United Kingdom, and wonder why Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs is so scared to get on a debate stage with Kari Lake.

National Review and Me

 

My father was a William F. Buckley buff.  I still prize his autographed copy of WFB’s second book,  McCarthy and His Enemies (co-authored in 1954 with L. Brent Bozell, Jr, Buckley’s brother-in-law).  One year later, Buckley founded National Review.  

By the time the sixties rolled around, it’s fair to say I was destined to be an NR reader.  For me, and with respect to Andrew Breitbart,  politics was not downstream from culture.  I saw no inconsistency in loving The Who, the Stones, MC5, and National Review, much to the chagrin of some of my contemporaries.  And I think the Buckley fandom made my father happy, which was a bonus.  You’ll still find a 1965 Buckley for Mayor of New York City poster in my home.

A Petulant Kevin Williamson: Trump Deserves No Credit for the Dobbs Decision

 

Hoo-Boy. Roe v. Wade was overturned last week in no small part due to Trump-appointed Justices Comey-Barrett, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch. If Hillary had prevailed in 2016 (as Never Trumpers would have preferred*), all three of those justices would have been replaced with ideological clones of Ruth Bader “Populations We Don’t Want to Have Too Many Of” Ginsberg. (Which, incidentally, means the gun rights and religious schools cases would have gone the other way as well).  The Babylon Bee brilliantly as usual captured the spirit of the thing.

[Member Post]

 

After a two year hiatus, National Review is resuming their cruise trips. I have signed up for the Western Caribbean Trip this November 12th to 19th and I am looking to see if any of my fellow Ricochetti will be attending this NR event. I ask because they will endeavor to seat friends and families […]

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[Member Post]

 

In my bubble, today is #CelebrationWednesday. Perhaps I should call it #ReliefWednesday instead. Regardless, it is the day to celebrate the end of emails begging for dollars under the insidious guise of #GivingTuesday. The paint is wearing off my keyboard’s “delete” button. And it is essentially my fault. Not because I’m the one pounding the […]

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Happy Thanksgiving! For your holiday feast, let’s remember our three good martinis following Election Day this year as Jim and Greg rejoice over GOP wins in Virginia, strong showing in New Jersey and other areas Republicans generally don’t do very well, and clear signs that the left didn’t learn a thing from the results.

 

Jim & Greg unveil the reasons they are politically thankful in 2021. From the personal to the practical to this very podcast, we are very blessed. Enjoy! And have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Jim and Greg stand up and cheer for Women’s Tennis Association President Steve Simon and numerous players for publicly demanding that China prove that longtime tennis star Peng Shuai is alive and well and their her allegations of rape against a former high-ranking communist party official be seriously investigated. And they cheer Simon for willing to lose a billion dollars by pulling our of events in China if his concerns are not addressed quickly. They also cringe as the House of Representatives passes the bloated, deficit-growing spending bill known as Build Back Better, but they take a bit of solace in knowing this version likely won’t become law. And they fire back at an MSNBC columnist for telling parents that making demands about school policy and the curriculum is like telling a surgeon how to operate on your child.

Join Jim and Greg as they dissect DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas telling lawmakers Vice President Harris really isn’t involved on major immigration policy decisions like “Remain in Mexico” or the proper role of ICE. They also fume at Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI after a whistleblower reveals that the counterterrorism division was involved in tracking parents for alleged threats towards school officials. And they discuss when Democrats will get transparent about President Biden’s health after a new poll shows huge swings in the number of people who don’t think Biden is in good health or mentally up to the job.

 

Join Jim and Greg as they serve up three bad but important martinis today. First, they roll their eyes as the Biden administration suddenly blames energy companies for high gas prices and suggests the Congressional Budget Office cannot be trusted if it gives the reconciliation plan a bad score. And they shudder as a a former high-ranking Chinese tennis player disappears after accusing a top government official of raping her. And the latest evidence, supposedly suggesting she is alive and well, actually makes us think exactly the opposite.

 

Join Jim and Greg as they serve up three good martinis. First, they applaud incoming New York City Mayor Eric Adams for rejecting threats from Black Lives Matter and vowing to restore law and order to the city.  They also issue a very rare good martini to President Biden for placing a diplomatic boycott on the Winter Olympics in China early next year. And they pop a lot of popcorn as former staffers of Vice President Kamala Harris vent her frustrations to CNN that she is getting lousy assignments from President Biden and that the administration refuses to defend her as vigorously as it sticks up for Pete Buttigieg.

Join Jim and Greg as they relish a stunning Washington post poll showing Republicans with a 10-point advantage on the generic ballot and Republicans with a big edge in the suburbs.  Given those political conditions, they welcome the news that Beto O’Rourke thinks this is is the cycle that Democrats can win back the governor’s office in Texas.  And they fire back as Jen Psaki suggests rapidly rising energy prices are proof we need to move away from fossil fuels and left-leaning media suggest the real story in this economic mess is that we need to lower our expectations.

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome some non-conservative voices explaining that another massive spending bill will only make inflation worse.  They also cringe as 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September after 4.3 million did the same in August. And Jim throws up his hands as blue states are stunned that COVID cases are on the rise despite their high vaccination rates.

Jon Gabriel is in for Jim. Join Jon and Greg as they explore the radical record of the avowed Marxist whom Pres. Biden is nominating to be comptroller of the currency. They also slam John Kerry for saying China’s genocide against Uyghurs is “not my lane” as he tries to get a climate deal with the communists in Beijing. And they express their deep thanks to America’s veterans for their service and sacrifice to keep our nation safe and free.

 

Rob Long is in for Jim. join Rob and Greg as they cheer efforts to end changing the clocks twice a year and get a kick out of the fierce rivalry between activists trying to put an end to time changes. They also groan as inflation swells at the worst pace in more than 30 years. And they listen to another radical whom Loudoun County, Virginia, paid half a million dollars to stress that schools are no longer about learning.