Shop Today in Time for Christmas

Should be able to get a few things delivered in time, if you're still gathering gifts for loved ones.

At Amazon, Today's Deals Save on our top deals every day.

And, Anker Soundcore Space NC Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones with Touch Control, 20-Hour Playtime, Foldable Design for Travel, Work, and Home, and Anker Wireless Headphones, Soundcore Spirit X Bluetooth Sports Headsets w/Mic, Bluetooth 5.0, 12-Hour Battery, Noise Isolation, IPX7 Wireless Earbuds, SweatGuard Technology for Gym Running Workout.

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BONUS: Gordon Marino, The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age.

Ron Chernow, Grant

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Ron Chernow, Grant.

Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café

At Amazon, Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Others.

Reading is Fashionable Again

Well, it never went out of style for me, lol.

At the Irish Times, "‘Like vinyl, reading is fashionable again’: Bookshops booming as readers turn page to new post-peak-Kindle chapter":

‘Like vinyl, reading is fashionable again’ https://t.co/t5CSITOFcR via @IrishTimesCultr

— Irish Times Culture (@IrishTimesCultr) December 19, 2018

Store manager of the Winding Stair Maire Griffin flits around book-laden tables, clambering over a dog lead, to add another text to the growing pile in one customer’s arms.

The popular bookshop on Lower Ormond Street on Dublin’s north quays is a hub for book fans and international tourists seeking a literary window into Irish culture.

“Seamus Heaney’s 100 Poems has been really popular. I’ve been encouraging everyone to go to the Heaney exhibition at the National Library,” says Griffin.

“You can really influence what people buy because there’s quite a talkative vibe here, which you wouldn’t get in the bigger stores,” she goes on. Books, she believes, are an experience.

The man with the dog lead over which she clambered, and the attached hound, butts in: “I love it here because it’s one of the only places you can bring your dog to.”

Griffins is not alone in believing that readers have reached “the peak-Kindle point”, where they have now begun to resume the love affair with print, not antiseptic e-screens.

Book sales in Ireland are up by 7 per cent this year. In the United Kingdom, sales are up by £22 million, according to Nielson BookScan, which gathers data from 6,500 booksellers across the UK.

Meanwhile, ebook sales, once the biggest threat to high street booksellers, fell by 4 per cent in 2016 and a further 3 per cent in 2017, as part of a 17 per cent drop in Britain’s overall ebook consumer market.

Special edition classics

“We feel the impact of online markets at this time because they are cheaper on price, but we don’t get many people complaining about that. Because we don’t buy in bulk, we go niche,” says Griffins.

The shelves in the Winding Stair are laden with special edition classics, vintage mini-series, Irish literature, old and new, and more recently international books that reflect the growing immigrant population.

“Particularly for children’s books there is increasing demand to show a different range of experiences. Lots of kids are not in your typical Catholic school, so parents are keen to show them the wider world.”

In the back, the Winding Stair has an armchair, a reading lamp and a second-hand book “treasure chest” for bookworms to rifle out a bargain, passing away the hours .

“Like vinyl, reading is fashionable again,” she says. “Suddenly we’re back to the Dead Poets Society days where people are proud to carry a book under their arm.”

Across town, Ranelagh’s tiny outlet, Company of Books, is bustling with shoppers asking for Christmas recommendations. Owner, Gwen Alman knows most of them by name, and by their reading choice.

The store opened in 2009 at the height of the recession and Kindle boom, but business has grown steadily over the years...

Still more.

The Rise in Suicide and an Epidemic of Loneliness

From Karol Markowicz, at the New York Post, "Soaring suicides are another sign of our toxic social disconnect":

Opinion: Soaring suicides are another sign of our toxic social disconnect https://t.co/7zeJa1q7Zy pic.twitter.com/Kun7wkhtCs

— New York Post (@nypost) December 18, 2018

Americans are dying — earlier than they have been and often at their own hands.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2017 tally, there has been a dramatic rise in the numbers of US deaths by suicide and drug overdose.

As Tamar Lapin noted in these pages, “The last time the US experienced this long of a general decline in life expectancy was in the late 1910s, when the Spanish influenza and World War I killed nearly 1 million Americans.” This time we’re doing it to ourselves.

Suicide is hard to combat. Often there are no signs. It’s quiet and hidden until its devastation is out in the open. There is rarely a particular cause to blame. Two recent cases highlight the bedeviling ­nature of the problem.


“SNL” star Pete Davidson gave the world a scare over the weekend with a cryptic Instagram post in which he said: “I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore.”

Davidson has received an outpouring of support and been accounted for. Not so for Jessica Starr. Last week, the 35-year-old Detroit meteorologist took her own life. A successful TV journalist and mother of two decided she couldn’t live anymore. It could happen to anyone — and it does.

The spike in the number of people taking their own lives is a public-health emergency. It’s something we have to combat — and not just when the victims are famous.

After high-profile suicides, like those of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade, we’re bombarded with stories about how to detect the signs of someone in trouble and how to help. But we need to be doing more on a regular basis to support those around us who are struggling.

One wider issue is that Americans have lost the ability to cope. The power to persevere and go on is an important one to develop. It helps to have people to turn to in times of trouble.

But many Americans are bereft of people to lean on. The demise of tight-knit communities has had a profound effect on us. We’re increasingly living our lives on the Internet, alone amid vast digital crowds. Social media have replaced socializing. We’re all guilty of staring too often at our phones. We curl up at night with the latest Chrome browser.

The loneliness is killing us...

Still more.

Walter Kaufmann, Nietzsche

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Walter Kaufmann, Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist.

Rachel McAdams in Versace and Diamonds

Here's Jodie Kantor, on Twitter, "Rachel McAdams, pumping in Versace and diamonds."

That would be "pumping" her breasts, with breast pumps, while stylishly decked out in Versace with a diamond necklace.

Yes Rachel McAdams is rad, heh.

Also, from the photographer Claire Rothstein on Instagram, "A million reasons why I wanted to post this picture," and "HOLD THE PHONE! 📞WE’VE GONE VIRAL!"

Shopping Today

At Amazon, Today's Deals. Save on our top deals every day.

And especially, Gevalia Signature Blend Coffee, K-CUP Pods, 100 Count.

Also, Tenergy Otis Robot Vacuum Cleaner, Max Power Suction Robotic Vacuum, Self-Charging, Smart Sensor, HEPA Pet Hair Filter Allergens Friendly, Remote Control Vacuum Cleans Hard Floors/Thin Carpets.

And, Fast & Furious: The Ultimate Ride Collection: Limited Edition, Limited Edition Blu-ray and Digital.

Plus, Levi's Men's Four-Pocket Hooded Jacket.

More, Modernhome Digital Air Fryers (7Qt Digital with Auto-Stirring Arm, 7 Presets, Baking Pan, and Recipe Book).

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And Pixel Premium ABC Magnets for Kids Gift Set - 142 Magnetic Letters for Fridge, Dry Erase Magnetic Board and FREE e-Book with 40+ Learning & Spelling Games - Best Alphabet Magnets for Refrigerator Fun!

Still more, MusclePharm Combat Protein Powder - Essential blend of Whey, Isolate, Casein and Egg Protein with BCAA's and Glutamine for Recovery, Chocolate Milk, 4 Pound.

Also, HX outdoors - Fixed Blade Tactical Knives with Sheath, Tanto Blade Outdoor Survival Knife, Special Forces Tactical Knife, Ergonomics G10 Anti-skidding Handle.

More here, Samsung QN65Q6F Flat 65” QLED 4K UHD 6 Series Smart TV 2018.

BONUS: Lisa Halliday, Asymmetry: A Novel.

What's Become of Conservatism?

Some time ago I removed "neocon" from my Twitter profile. I'm still neoconservative, though.

"American Power" retains its founding epigram at top, "Commentary and analysis on American politics, culture, and national identity, U.S. foreign policy and international relations, and the state of education — from a neoconservative perspective!"

I wouldn't change it even if I knew how, lol. (Blogger's templates are completely changed and I haven't bothered to figure them out, although it's not a big deal, heh.)

I mention this not because attacks on neoconservatives are new (paleocons have despised neocons like forever). What's new is how the most fervent supporters of President Trump have taken to attacking Bill Kristol-style neocons with a fervor that's even more fanatical than what's reserved for the radical left. Why? I guess #MAGA conservatives not only see no difference between neocons and radical leftists, but they're absolutely livid at the perceived treason of those taking the moniker of a "right-winger" while (allegedly) simultaneously working for the destruction of the movement from within.

Longtime readers know that my neoconservativism has been genuine in a number of ways: For one, simply, it's really a "new conservatism" for me, as I was a registered Democrat until the 2004 presidential election — a Truman Democrat, but still. Moreover, I'm ideologically neoconservative across the board, on domestic and foreign policy, and not someone who glommed onto the movement as a rah-rah cheerleader for the (then popular) Iraq war and an ambitious and muscular foreign policy during the G.W. Bush administration. Frankly, most so-called conservatives or erstwhile bandwagoning "neoconservatives" would hardly recognize names like Irving Howe and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It was Irving Kristol who famously defined a neoconservative as "a liberal who'd been mugged by reality."

There's a long pedigree there. I myself have never worried at being attacked as a "closet leftist" or "pseudo conservative" because I've never tried to prove anything to anyone who's purportedly on the right. My writing, blogging, tweeting, and teaching speak for themselves. That said, I've embraced Donald Trump not so much because he's a conservative ideologue (he's clearly and emphatically not) but because he stands up and fights for what he believes in, and what he believes in mostly and so clearly is America and the interests of Americans. If that puts me at odds with "genuine" conservatives, like Jonah Goldberg and the cruise-ship right-wing, so be it.

It's complicated being a neocon Trump supporter these days, heh.

So, why all these pixels to hash out some defense of my persuasions? Well, mostly because I'm disgusted with all the latest bickering, infighting, and hatred I've been seeing on the right. It's ugly and not flattering to those engaged in it, and it's besmirching the reputations of some serious institutions out there. The newfangled populist right flagship "American Greatness" comes to mind. I like the website. Victor Davis Hanson publishes there, and he's among the smartest, most principled conservatives working today (and no spring chicken of the movement at that). But American Greatness is in the business of settling scores, it seems, and policing the right for ideological purity. And it's unbecoming, to put it mildly.

Exhibit A is this over-the-top Trumpist-nationalist manifesto seen there earlier this week, "Death of The Weekly Standard Signals Rebirth of the Right." It's authored by Chris Buskirk, who's the publisher and editor of the website. I don't know Chris Buskirk. I've been involved in what's sometimes called "movement conservatism" for about a decade now, and I've never heard of the guy. Maybe he's paid his dues. I have no idea. But he's certainly got some ax to grind, or he's got something to prove, or you pick your neologism. Here's the first parts from the article, which might be labeled a screed:

Death of The Weekly Standard Signals Rebirth of the Right https://t.co/FnlbRrZeC0 pic.twitter.com/UdD1wRnHcz

— American Greatness (@theamgreatness) December 17, 2018

Neoconservatism is dead, long live American conservatism. That’s what I thought when I learned The Weekly Standard would be shuttered by longtime owner Clarity Media. The Standard was a creature of a particular time and place—the 1990s, the Bush-Clinton ascendancy, and Washington, D.C.’s insular, self-referential political class. As such, it never really fit within the broad flow of historic American conservatism. It was always, and intentionally, something different. So perhaps the magazine’s opposition to Donald Trump, his voters, and the America First agenda should come as no surprise.

Max Boot described the magazine as “a redoubt of neoconservatism” in 2002 and he was right. If the National Review of the 1970s and ’80s was the journal of Reaganism, The Weekly Standard carried the banner of Bushism. But the Bushes never carried the Reagan mantle and were never conservatives. They were always blithely unconstrained by any identifiable political philosophy other than the unwavering belief that they should run the country. They represented nothing so much as the mid-20th-century country club set that was content to see the size and scope of government expand as long as they got a piece of the action. And The Weekly Standard was there every step of the way, advocating so-called big-government conservatism at home and moral imperialism abroad. All of it failed. The Bush Administration was discredited by its failed policies and incompetence so it was just a matter of time before the chief organ of Bushism failed too.

But the life and death of The Weekly Standard is really the story of the death and rebirth of American conservatism, which is nothing more than the modern political expression of America’s founding principles.

As with other more virulent forms of Left-liberal politics, the neoconservatives maintain a sense of aristocratic entitlement to rule despite having killed almost everything they touched. It is their combination of titanic hubris and priggish moralism that is behind their aggressive advocacy of endless foreign wars and meddling in the internal affairs of other countries. For The Weekly Standard, it made sense to send thousands of Americans to their deaths defending Iraq’s borders, but they wouldn’t lift a finger to protect our own. As the real world results of their misadventures came home to roost, conservatives realized that The Weekly Standard didn’t represent them.

For years, neoconservatives undermined and discredited the work of conservatives from Lincoln to Reagan who held to a set of common principles and a common sense understanding that America is for Americans and it is the job of government to protect the rights and interests of the American people—and only the American people. But over the past few years, Bill Kristol became more transparent about his real beliefs. For example, he let us know in a tweet that he “Obviously strongly prefer(s) normal democratic and constitutional politics. But if it comes to it, prefer the deep state to the Trump state” and in another that, “The GOP tax bill’s bringing out my inner socialist.” The point is that Kristol and the Standard’s attachment to conservative principles was always provisional and transactional. The Republican Party and the conservative movement were a temporary vehicle for their personal and policy agendas. Now, Kristol and others have moved on in search of a new host organism.

That’s because the world of Beltway neoconservatism of which the Standard was the arch example is only partially about ideas, it’s also about power and more especially about privilege—and that means sinecures. That’s a nice way of saying that it’s what people hate about politics, that it often becomes self-serving and careerist rather than about the American ideal of building and maintaining the institutions of government that allow the individual, the family, and the church to thrive...

There's more at the link, but you get the idea.

While I can agree with some of the attacks here on elitism and stupid establishment sinecures, the attack on "moral imperialism abroad" might as well have been written by Patrick Buchanan, if not Lew Rockwell. It's stupid. Who would ever argue that President Ronald Reagan failed to espouse a moral American foreign policy, which by virtue of its overwhelming materialist power and geographic stretch has been long characterized as a practical American imperialism by such august scholars as the historian Paul Kennedy and the late political scientist Chalmers Johnson (even in his pre-paleonservative days)?

Besides, it's just personal and nasty. Which brings me to this really ugly kerfuffle of the last few days seen on Twitter, featuring American Greatness feature writer Julie Kelly and National Review's David French and his wife Nancy. You can get up to speed by clicking through at the tweet below, but in short, this is the politics of personal destruction plain and simple, and in my experience it's been the ghouls on the left who've mastered this kind of no-hold-barred ideological combat (and now the so-called new wave warriors of the populist right). See also the Resurgent, "David French Defends Wife on Twitter," and "Julie Kelly of American Greatness Attacks a Victim of Sexual Abuse Because Trump."

I told @DavidAFrench to ignore her characterization of me, until I was finally able to admit the pain of her lies. Both @julie_kelly2 and my pedophile equated 'victims' as 'lovers.' I do not fear anyone who uses the language of the sex predator to score political points. https://t.co/tjkpTDfEGn

— Nancy French (@NancyAFrench) December 18, 2018

So what has become of conservatism? Is a conservative someone who's a populist-nationalist, tough on trade type with "blood and soil" proclivities? Or is a conservative really just the old hardcore free-market libertarian with the social ethos of the old Ward Cleaver suburban cultural demographic?

Actually, it's neither of these things nowadays, if a look around at the right's contemporary ideological battlespace is any clue. It's Trump über alles these days. And that includes a lot of hatin' on those who haven't drunk the Kool-Aid. To be a "true" conservative you basically have to hate the "cruise ship" establishment crowd that's reigned in D.C. for a couple of decades now. But hey, forget small government ideology. I mean, what's that? President Trump recently said that he couldn't care less about the size of the federal budget, because "I won’t be here" when it blows up. I guess being "conservative" now is more about who you hate than what you stand for.

These debates over ideological purity come and go. We had a big schism on the right after Barack Obama was elected in 2008. We had more of that in 2012 when so-called "faux-conservative" Mitt Romney won the GOP nomination that year. Donald Trump's unpredictable victory in 2016 produced perhaps the most vociferous ideological schism of all. It's rather tiring to me, but then, I've been but a minor figure at the margins of the movement, it turns out. And when push comes to shove, being a political activist or operative isn't my first job: I'm a professor and teacher of politics first (and a father and family man); a blogger and ideological political combatant second.

But whenever these schisms over ideology break out I always refer to my favorite book on what it means to be a conservative, Barry Goldwater's 1960 masterpiece, The Conscience of a Conservative. What sticks out most for me in that book is Goldwater's unabashed and robust defense of the conservative ideal as epitomized as human freedom. And to achieve that human freedom --- the essential liberty of mankind --- government must be limited and reduced to its core functions, providing public order, basic public goods, most especially the vital protection of our nation's security against external enemies. Interestingly, Goldwater's last chapter is "The Soviet Menace," where he writes:

And still the awful truth remains: We can establish the domestic conditions for maximizing freedom, along the lines I have indicated [in the book's previous chapters], and yet become slaves. We can do this by losing the Cold War to the Soviet Union.

It's interesting to me, then, to finish by highlighting that the true "conscience of a conservative" is to be deeply concerned with America's forward moral role in the world, because by only making national security a core prerequisite for securing conservative ideals can a genuine and true "right wing" ideological program at home succeed. This isn't, therefore, the kind of ideology of the folks at American Greatness or other acolytes of the war on the cruise-ship elites. There are some great current conservative voices that might seem to be in the camp of the Chris Buskirks and Julie Kellys --- like the inimitable Kurt Schlichter, for example --- but they're not really, for they're distinctive in their strong moral advocacy for American economic and military power, and for a unabashed support for America's many forward strategic missions currently in operation around the world.

So with that I conclude. We have a strong and powerful current of conservative ideological belief on which to draw. For me it's less about being a "neocon" than being for a unique American philosophy of exceptionalism worth defending. A true exceptionalism as an ideal different from other so-called conservative countries. It's a frontier exceptionalism that's pure and most conducive to human freedom. And it's a conservatism that need not tear others down in vicious bursts of online ugliness nor a conservatism that wants to roll up the drawbridge, turning its back to the problems of the world. It's the conservatism of both ideals and action, and of standing as the beacon for right and a light unto others, at home and abroad.

That's what I believe.

Shop Today

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Today's Deals. Save on our top deals every day.

And especially, Instant Pot DUO Plus 8 Qt 9-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Egg Cooker, Sauté, Steamer, Warmer, and Sterilizer.

Also, Ultimate Ears BOOM 2 LE Limited Edition Wireless Speaker Phantom.

More, bObsweep Pet Hair Plus Robotic Vacuum Cleaner and Mop, Midnight.

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Still more, Craftsman Evolv 83 Pc. Homeowner Tool Set W/bag (41283).

Plus, MusclePharm Combat Protein Powder - Essential blend of Whey, Isolate, Casein and Egg Protein with BCAA's and Glutamine for Recovery, Chocolate Milk, 4 Pound.

Here, WORKPRO Axe and Fixed Blade Knife Combo Set Full Tang Wood Handle for Outdoor Camping Survival Hunting, Nylon Sheath Included.

And, Maglite ML50LX LED 2-Cell C Matte Black Flashlight.

Plus here, Samsung QN65Q6F Flat 65” QLED 4K UHD 6 Series Smart TV 2018.

BONUS: James Johnson, The Black Bruins: The Remarkable Lives of UCLA's Jackie Robinson, Woody Strode, Tom Bradley, Kenny Washington, and Ray Bartlett.

Katya Apekina, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish

I'm picking up a copy.

At Amazon, Katya Apekina, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish: A Novel.

Emma Roberts Bikini

At Drunken Stepfather, "Emma Roberts Bikini Book Club of the Day."

She's reading Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel. (Very progressive and right-thinking, lol.)

Emma Roberts Drool-Inducing In A Tiny Retro Bikini https://t.co/Z85UIiiL2a pic.twitter.com/l8B65n2BI2

— Popoholic (@Popoholic) December 18, 2018

Far-Left Judd Legum Targets Tucker Carlson for Destruction (VIDEO)

Tucker Carlson's spot-on commentaries assailing open borders have been so effective that he must be stopped, so says radical leftist Judd Legum, a Soros lackey who was the former editor-in-chief at the Center for American Progress attack site "Think Progress."

On Twitter:

1. I'll be listing the advertisers on tonight's Tucker Carlson -- along with any other notable moments -- on this thread.

So far Pacific Life, Indeed, Smile Direct Club, and Bowflex have suspended their advertising.

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 18, 2018

Carlson's crime? He rightfully argued that the illegals of the migrant caravan will make America "dirtier." The migrants are soiling Tijuana, and sowing crime and anarchy in the streets of that city. Of course that will happen here if we throw open our borders to them. Judd Legum would never face the consequences of that anarchy in his own life's reality. Leftists never do, holed up in their elite beachfront mansions and (exclusive and unaffordable) progressive urban enclaves. This is all politics. Populist nationalism is winning and leftists must therefore resort to fascist tactics to destroy it.

Fight the left people. They're your enemies. Fight them.

Here's Tucker's segment from last night. He's very effective. When you're that good the left paints a target on your back:

Danielle Gersh's Wonderful Weather Forecast

She's so beautiful.

And it's going to be calm Christmas weather this week. That's why folks live in California. It's Palm Springs weather most of the time, heh.

Here's Ms. Danielle:

Vita Sidorkina Reveals Her Struggles (VIDEO)

She can reveal some of her struggles to me, lol.

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

William Easterly, The Tyranny of Experts

At Amazon, William Easterly, The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor.

First Couple's Official Christmas Portrait

So happy we have the Trumps in the White House. We are blessed.

The first couple's "Official Christmas Portrait" pic.twitter.com/GJsoEIPD0k

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 18, 2018

Sue Prideaux, I Am Dynamite!

*BUMPED.*

[I'm currently reading this one, and it's great!]

At Amazon, Sue Prideaux, I Am Dynamite! A Life of Nietzsche.

Haruki Murakami, Killing Commendatore

At Amazon, Haruki Murakami, Killing Commendatore: A Novel.

Roger Scruton, Culture Counts

At Amazon, Roger Scruton, Culture Counts: Faith and Feeling in a World Besieged.