Court Rules Kentucky Print Shop Has Right to Avoid Making Gay Pride T-shirts

Good.

Screw the homosexual Nazis.

At WSJ (via Memeorandum and Vox Populi):

Court Rules Kentucky Print Shop Has Right to Avoid Making Gay Pride Shirts... https://t.co/xEoLZoiPgp

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) May 13, 2017

A Kentucky appellate court on Friday ruled that the Christian owner of a printing shop in Lexington had the right to refuse to make T-shirts promoting a local gay pride festival.

The dispute represents the latest court fight testing the limits of antidiscrimination protections for gays and lesbians following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 landmark ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

The cases have led to a number of state court rulings against Christian-owned businesses that refused to bake cakes, design floral arrangements or take portrait photographs for same-sex weddings.

The ruling by the Kentucky Court of Appeals favored the business owner. A crucial difference in this case was the expressive nature of the service denied: literally words on a shirt.

In a split vote, a three-judge panel concluded that the store, Hands on Originals, couldn’t be forced to print a message with which the owner disagreed.

The dispute started in 2012 when Gay and Lesbian Services Organization in Kentucky asked Hands on Originals to make T-shirts with the name and logo of a pride festival...

Flashback to the Weekly Standard, "You Will Be Assimilated":

You Will Be Assimilatedhttp://t.co/1gu8Ivan7U pic.twitter.com/dguZejRK72

— The Weekly Standard (@weeklystandard) June 26, 2015

Rush Limbaugh: 'I Wish People Would Take a Moment and Step Back, and Realize What an Epic Presidency This Is?' (AUDIO)

At RCP, "Limbaugh: Can We Take a Moment and Appreciate How Epic Trump Presidency Is?"

I wish people would take a moment to step back and realize what an epic presidency this is and realize we are never gonna see anything like this again our lifetimes, and we’ve never had it prior to this in my lifetime. I mean, normally we get idiots like Jimmy Carter, who do great damaging things. I mean, while Trump is doing all this, the country is vastly improving! As I have detailed today. Some of the core things that were destroying the guts of this country are being reversed. And it’s…

Trump and Russia, Nixon and Watergate

Following-up from yesterday, "It's Not Watergate People. It's Just Fucking Not."

Here's another good comparative piece, at USA Today.

It's not the same, people. Leftists have gone insane.

Trump and Russia, Nixon and Watergate: What's different? https://t.co/yF064I23yD (Photo: AP) pic.twitter.com/yGldO7N2Ru

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 11, 2017

Chris Wallace's 'Must-Watch' Critique of Trump White House (VIDEO)

I don't know if it's "must watch," but it's interesting.

At Mediaite, "‘It Took My Breath Away’: Chris Wallace Offers Stunning, Must-Watch Critique of Trump White House."

'It Took My Breath Away': Chris Wallace Offers Stunning, Must-Watch Critique of Trump White House https://t.co/tBvkODvgcT (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/qTzr5455AO

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) May 12, 2017

Remember, Chris Wallace is an establishment insider. He represents the "hard news" side of the Fox News bullpen. Indeed, expect to see more of this kind of harsh, critical anti-Trump commentary as the network attempts to restore its mojo following the relentless left-wing wave of diabolical lawfare.

More video, with Martha MacCallum, "Wallace: White House answers only raise more questions."

Belgium Shining Bright from Space

A great piece, which points out Belgium's environmental hypocrisy.

Beautiful photography too. Absolutely astonishing.

At NYT:

A Photo From Space Shows Belgium Shining Bright, and Social Media Lights Up. https://t.co/clqnd3Pe0b

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 12, 2017

James H. Merrell, Into the American Woods

*BUMPED.*

Merrell's a phenomenal scholar. Just absolutely outstanding.

Don't miss his work.

At Amazon, James H. Merrell, Into the American Woods: Negotiations on the Pennsylvania Frontier.

Kate Upton Feels Herself (VIDEO)

Via Theo Spark:

Verizon AT&T Chick Has a Great Rack

It's Milana Vayntrub, and she's hot.

At Celeb Jihad, "MILANA VAYNTRUB PARTYING WITH HER TITS OUT."

ADDED: At Playboy, "That Girl From the AT&T Commercials Looks Way Better When She's Not in Uniform." Also, at AdWeek, "How Milana Vayntrub Quickly Rose From Surprise Ad Star Into a Creative Force for Good."

It's Not Watergate People. It's Just Fucking Not

I found the comparisons amusing the other night. I'm finding them fucking infuriating now.

Far-left tool James Fallows blocked me eons ago on Twitter, or else I'd give him a piece of my mind. Here's his hacktastic hot-take today, via Memeorandum, "Five Reasons Why the Comey Affair Is Worse Than Watergate.

It's not worse people. It's not even close. Leftist hysteria is peaking, but we're not there yet. It's going to get worse. Progs will lose their minds, and publicly. There'll be violence.

I've seen a few good articles making reasonable comparisons, but so far this one's the best, and amazingly, it's at the left-wing BBC, "Comey sacking doesn't rise to Watergate levels" (via Instapundit):

How does the Saturday Night Massacre from Watergate compare to #Comey's termination?
https://t.co/f1lNpbcvhS

— BBC North America (@BBCNorthAmerica) May 11, 2017

The New York Times called for the president to leave office immediately, describing it as "the last great service" he could perform for the country.

The Washington Post demanded impeachment, followed by a Senate trial. Time magazine, deeming it necessary to publish its first-ever editorial, thundered: "The president should resign."

Outside the White House, protesters waved placards at passing motorists: "Honk for Impeachment." Even Washington's most influential columnist, Stewart Alsop, who was normally supportive of the president, called him an "ass." The president had lost his moral authority, argued his critics, and with it, his ability to govern. The country faced a constitutional crisis. The republic was imperilled.

Such was the feverish reaction to the events of 20 October, 1973, a date remembered in the national memory as the "Saturday Night Massacre" - a pivotal moment in the unfolding Watergate controversy.

With scandal engulfing the White House, Richard Nixon decided to fire Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate "all offenses arising out of the 1972 election… involving the president, the White House staff or presidential appointments".

Nixon's Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, and his Deputy Attorney General, William Ruckelshaus, resigned rather than carry out the president's order. Eventually, the Solicitor General Robert Bork, who was third in command at the justice department, was prepared to fire Cox.

The White House announced the news at 20:22 that Saturday evening.

On Wednesday, almost as quickly as the news that he had been sacked as head of the FBI reached James Comey in Los Angeles, these two dramatic episodes were being described as historically analogous.

The president had fired the lead figure in an investigation into alleged wrongdoing by members of his own team.
The Nixonian parallels were obvious.

Roger Stone, a Trump associate who also worked in 1972 for the notorious Committee to Re-elect the President, told the New York Times: "Somewhere Dick Nixon is smiling."

The Nixon presidential library even trolled the White House on Twitter: "FUN FACT: President Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI #FBIDirector #notNixonian."

Democrats insinuated that Comey was fired for similar reasons to Cox, because he was closing in on the truth.

There were other resemblances, too. In the lead-up to the Saturday Night Massacre, the Nixon White House was still reeling from the resignation of the president's chief of staff, Bob Haldeman, a central figure in the Watergate scandal, just as the Trump administration continues to be buffeted by the swirl of controversy surrounding the forced departure of Gen Michael Flynn, his former National Security Adviser.

There's the suspicion now, as there was four decades ago, that an embattled White House has something to hide.
So is this truly a re-run of the events of 1973? Is the past repeating itself?

Even by the standards of the Nixon presidency, the autumn of 1973 was unusually chaotic...

Keep reading.

Shop Electronics, Computers, and Accessories

*BUMPED.*

Thanks for your support.

At Amazon, Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs, and More.

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Leftist Media Hysteria Over James Comey Firing (VIDEO)

A quick clip with from RCP, "Mollie Hemingway: Manner With Which Media Covering Comey Story Borderline Delusional."

And at Fox News, the inimitable Charles Krauthammer:

Thanks to the Reader Who Bought John Keegan's, The Face of Battle

Actually, thanks to all my readers for visiting the blog, reading my posts and sharing, and of course shopping through my Amazon links. I greatly appreciate it.

But here I wanted to give a shout out to my reader who picked up a copy of Keegan's, The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme. That's a classic book. It was cited in the footnotes of my scholarly readings in grad school, all the time. I had kind of a flashback moment seeing the title pop up in my associate's statistics page.

Thanks again!

Teaching Racism in K-12 Classrooms

From Matthew Vadum, at FrontPage Magazine, "Leftist educators are corrupting the young":

Teaching Racism in K-12 Classrooms @fpmaghttps://t.co/1s86edlNBO

— All American Girl (@AIIAmericanGirI) May 9, 2017

Teachers at Highlands Elementary, a school in Edina, Minnesota, are indoctrinating five-year-olds in order to radicalize them and encourage them to become activists obsessed with race.

Public school teachers across America already saturate students with information about racial injustice in America in a nonstop barrage of historic facts and ahistorical nonsense. And in the culture at large, the media, politicians, and the entertainment industry can’t stop talking about race. The last thing any young student in America needs is to be taught about is race. Race matters only to radicals.

Leftists believe you have to get ’em while they’re young and impressionable.

Marxist theorist Paolo Freire advocated in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, that schools be used to inculcate radical values in students so they become agents of social change. Freire held that the so-called dominant pedagogy “silences” poor and minority children and that there is no such thing as a neutral educational system.

Joining Freire in his desire to use the educational system to level institutions is unrepentant communist terrorist and education theorist Bill Ayers, who has long advocated poisoning the minds of the young so they can agitate to fundamentally transform American society.

“If we want change to come, we would do well not to look at the sites of power we have no access to; the White House, the Congress, the Pentagon,” he said in 2012. “We have absolute access to the community, the school, the neighborhood, the street, the classroom, the workplace, the shop, the farm.”

This brings us to Highlands Elementary, which is located in one of the most affluent cities in Minnesota. Its school district is among the best in the state, Daniel Lattier reports at Intellectual Takeout. Highlands students do well in standardized testing: more than 85 percent of its students are proficient in reading and math.

But racial and social justice indoctrination have found their way onto the Highlands curriculum over the past year, according to Lattier. The phenomenon is not limited to Highlands, he adds. “[A] large percentage of students in public schools today are being trained to view the world primarily through the lenses of race, class, and gender.”

Katie Mahoney, who took over as principal of Highlands last fall, is proud of the school’s “Melanin Project.” She tweeted April 26: “Kindergarten tackles the Melanin project! @edinaschools @LeslieStageberg[.]” (Leslie Stageberg is a teacher.)

A poster made of construction paper is shown that reads, "Stop thinking your skin color is better than anyone elses[sic]! Everyone is Special!"

This message in itself isn’t sinister. American children shouldn’t be taught skin color is a mark of superiority, inferiority, or of anything in particular.

But one has to question the appropriateness of getting intellectually, emotionally immature Kindergarteners thinking about skin color at all, before they know how to think critically.

Why the rush?

It is to soften young minds in order to make the indoctrination process easier throughout students’ time in school. If a young child is already self-righteously hyperventilating about race and supposed systemic racism in America, it makes that child more susceptible to other leftist ideas.

The Highlands Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) wasn’t lying when it stated in the banner photo of its Facebook page that “Highlands is Planting Seeds of Change.”

Something else about the Melanin Project is disturbing. Discussions of melanin have an ugly pedigree. Racists are particularly fascinated by melanin.

Radical activists use melanin for political purposes, spewing pseudoscientific nonsense to create the illusion that their warped ideas about race somehow have an empirical basis in science. Melanin itself, a blanket term for a group of pigments, is the primary determinant of human skin color. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun triggers a process by which an amino acid called tyrosine becomes melanin, which protects the skin from sun damage. The thinking is that over time the more a population is exposed to the sun, the more melanin is generated and the darker their skin.

Leonard Jeffries Jr., a black studies professor at the City College of New York, is an influential thinker on the black racist Left. This Afrocentrist academic embraces “melanin theory,” maintaining that melanin possesses supernatural powers and makes those who have large quantities of it smarter and stronger than those who don’t. Blacks are therefore, peaceful and compassionate “sun people,” and are culturally and racially superior to whites, the violent, cruel “ice people.” Melanin empowers black people to “negotiate the vibrations of the universe and to deal with the ultraviolet rays of the sun," Jeffries says.

This fetishizing of human anatomy is surprisingly commonplace on the Left. The low-rent James Baldwin wannabe, Ta-Nehisi Coates, now the toast of bicoastal elites and academics, talks about “black bodies” as objects worthy of veneration without regard to the individuals occupying them. His phraseology is now boilerplate among members of the violent, racist Black Lives Matter movement.

Highlands was recently awarded a grant that will allow fourth- and fifth-graders to take part in the Stages Theatre Company’s “Perspectives on Peace” (PoP) project, Lattier notes. PoP is run by Nikki Swoboda, “whose directorial credits include: “Virgin Territory,” which “tak[es] a hard look at the ‘ideals’ of virginity and how those are perceived in society”; and “Ball: A Musical Tribute to My Lost Testicle.”

PoP promotional material states that the project “illuminates current world events and broadens students’ attitudes toward tolerance, respect, understanding, and peace…” A promotional video for PoP that was linked to in an email sent to Highlands parents associates Black Lives Matter with “peace.”

At South View Middle School in Edina, older students are encouraged to get involved in something called Dare 2 Be Real. A presentation slide that begins with “Be The Change You Wish To See In The World! – Mahatma Gandhi” states [emphases in original]...

More.

Democrats' James Comey Hypocrisy (VIDEO)

From the RNC:

Sunny San Diego Morning

Lovely.

At the San Diego Union-Tribune:

While many toiled in the city some played on a sunny San Diego morning. pic.twitter.com/MrySmomBEz

— The Union-Tribune (@sdut) May 11, 2017

Xenia Deli Swimsuit on the Beach

At Drunken Stepfather, "SUGAR BABY XENIA DELI ON THE BEACH OF THE DAY."

BONUS: "Xenia Deli's Naked Beach Shoot from Last Year of the Day."

Instagram Models to Follow in 2017

At Egotastic!, "Boobtastic Instagram Models to Follow in 2017."

What is Socialism?

Following-up from Tuesday, "Victims of Communism Day."

From the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, an awesome video:

Director Laura Poitras Reveals 'Falling Out' with Julian Assange (VIDEO)

Via A.P.:

Jackie Johnson's Cooler Temperatures Forecast

It'll be cooler Thursday and Friday, and then back up into the 70s for the weekend.

I'm not complaining. It's been mild.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jackie, whose forecast I didn't get a chance to post last night, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Krauthammer on Comey Firing and Leftist Backlash: 'Democrats Are Hypocrites from the Day of Their Birth. It's in Their DNA' (VIDEO)

Watch, from today's "all-star panel" on Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier, "Trump defends firing Comey amid Democratic backlash."

Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey. Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2017

Joanna Krupa Smoldering Instagram Throwback

At the Daily Express U.K., "Joanna Krupa puts on a very busty display as she goes TOPLESS in smoldering snap: JOANNA KRUPA gave her fans a treat as she shared a topless shot of herself on her Instagram page last night."

BONUS: At the Nip Slip, "Joanna Krupa in a Brown Dress!"

'Down So Long'

Some music, until tonight.

Enjoy the lovely Ms. Jewel, getting bluesy:

Anthony Summers, The Arrogance of Power

A timely read, and excellent too.

From Anthony Summers, at Amazon, The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon.

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BONUS: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All the President's Men.

Genevieve Morton Goes Completely Bare (VIDEO)

Via Theo Spark:

Actor Antonio Sabato, Jr., to Run for Congress

The conservative television star was supposedly blackballed from Hollywood after campaigning for President Trump's election last year, at the GOP convention.

He's a stud, and a solid bedrock conservative family man.

We need more guys like him in Congress:

The former “Melrose Place” actor could be the next celebrity headed to Washington https://t.co/0Co7uQGKJ4

— New York Post (@nypost) May 9, 2017

Constitutional Crisis?

Following-up, from the hyper-dramatic Morning Joe segment (whatever sells airtime, I guess), here's Elizabeth Price Foley, at Politico:

Is This a Constitutional Crisis? No. Next question? https://t.co/ipddJ1k2lh @instapundit

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 10, 2017

'Trump made the only legally correct call'
Elizabeth Price Foley is a professor of law at Florida International University.

The FBI director, like all other officers of the executive branch, is an at will employee, which means he can be fired at any time, at the sole discretion of the president. When the deputy attorney general concluded that Director Comey usurped the role of the Department of Justice in his decision not to recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton, President Trump made the only legally correct call, to fire the director. The country deserves an FBI director who respects his limited role as an investigator, and whose reputation is not sullied by inappropriately political behavior. If there is any ongoing FBI investigation into any of Trump's associates, this investigation can and will continue unabated. This is far from a constitutional crisis--it is a confirmation that the Constitution is working exactly as it should.

It's not a constitutional crisis.

It's a partisan witch-hunt.

Democrats are corrupt, evil, and un-American. It's been six month since the election. There's no evidence of Russian collusion or hacking of our democracy. It's a partisan scam.

Just duck beneath all the bullshit flying today.

Olivia Culpo

Lovely.

Beautiful Olivia Culpo steps out in white dress and satin trench in NYC: https://t.co/auAqVpimYV

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 10, 2017

More Echoes of Watergate

Following-up from last night, at Morning Joe:

Melania's First 100 Days

Now that's a First Lady!

All the low-key stuff Melania Trump has done in her first 100 days: https://t.co/pQpJDmQSv1 (Photo: AP) pic.twitter.com/HWXOhOn9cM

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 10, 2017

James Comey Headlines

It's not a "constitutional crisis." Democrats want to make it into one, but it's not.

Today you gotta just sit back and take cover while the partisan bilge flies.

Headlines:

Trump fires Comey as FBI director: A look at Wednesday's front page pic.twitter.com/6tvIdUxJpa

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 10, 2017

On today's #frontpage: @FBI director #Comey's ouster stuns #Washington; #Colleges vexed by rise in #MentalHealth needs pic.twitter.com/740AIPv7t3

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 10, 2017

The front page of The New York Times for Wednesday, May 10, 2017 pic.twitter.com/yPEiXwMXgl

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 10, 2017

Echoes of Watergate

Huge headlines tonight, at the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "F.B.I. Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump," and "Live Updates and Reactions to F.B.I. Director Comey's Firing."

Plus, I love this, below. It reminds me of when I first started following politics. My first political science professor, Mr. McDonald at Saddleback College, was a old-school kinda guy who loved to talk about party machines and political scandals. We had to read two non-fiction books on politics for his course, and I read Teddy White, The Making of the President 1960, and Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon.

Good times, heh.

Analysis: Trump fired the man who may have helped make him president — and the man who perhaps most threatened him https://t.co/QMle9SvrSI

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) May 10, 2017

Conservatives Need Deep Soul-Searching

From Daniel Horowitz, at Conservative Review, "After budget betrayal, conservatives need deep soul-searching":

Thursday, May 4, 2017, will go down as a watershed moment in political history. This day showed us the culmination of all of the vices of our 28-year addiction to the binary idolatry of politics. Under the false dichotomy of binary choices (“but you might get the Democrats”), we are left with a political system that looks like a bad unibrow. If we don’t engage in some serious introspection and forward-looking planning, there is essentially no purpose to continuing this red vs. blue game. We have reached the moment when, just like the Whigs in 1854, after they failed to stand for anything related to the issues of their time, a group of us will have to meet in a schoolhouse and chart a new course.

Speaking of binary choices, I began the day with the choice of watching C-Span 1, where House Republicans sounded like Democrats on health care and were making ObamaCare popular again, or watching C-Span 2 and seeing Senate Republicans extol the virtues of a Democrat budget while having full control over government. For my own blood pressure, I opted for neither.

The events of Thursday – betraying the ultimate promise to save a sixth of our economy and pass a Democrat budget, all with control of all three branches – is the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act moment for the GOP. I am not comparing these issues to slavery, but the political dynamic is identical. At the time, the new Republicans recognized that the Whig Party was completely maladroit and failed to confront the consummate challenge of its time. That is the context from which the Republican Party was born. Yet we have now been keeping a comatose party afloat for 28 years – since the retirement of Reagan – longer than the entire shelf life of the Whig Party.

Too many people will get caught up in the minutiae of the politics, details, and process of the health care and budget bills. The reality is much broader. The party just doesn’t share our values. When a party has principles, it finds a way to win even when it has very little power. Thus the Democrats. When a party has no principles, it finds a way to lose, even with full control of government. Thus the Republicans...

Keep reading.

Carmen Goséy, 'Woke' Student Leader at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Attacks 'All White People' as 'Racist'

This is really something else.

I don't get too many students who are this hardcore on my campus. This chick's got it bad.

At the the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Daily Cardinal, "Outgoing ASM chair condemns university’s attitude toward students of color."

Former ASM Chair issued a letter to the campus community condemning UW-Madison's treatment of students of color. https://t.co/zTc44WQyzG pic.twitter.com/XB1s92ALrN

— The Daily Cardinal (@dailycardinal) May 4, 2017

And at the College Fix, "Head of UW-Madison student gov. leaves in a huff; blames racism, oppression."

Here's her farewell letter:

Dear Campus Community,

As I move on from the role as Chair of Student Council, I believe it is necessary to leave honestly. The University is on stolen, Ho-Chunk land, yet does little to recognize its historic significance. For the University to truly recognize this sacred land and its inhabitants it would have to acknowledge the resentment and oppression that people of color face every day. This institution perpetuates and suppresses the voices that are the most vulnerable. As Chair, I used to be hopeful. I used to be proud. I am no longer content with the University's action and active silencing of students of color on this campus. I ask people of color to reconsider your place at this institution. I ask parents of color to rethink sending your children to this institution.

This University lacks the capacity, courage, and integrity to protect communities of color. I have held one of the highest student positions on campus, and I was a token for white supremacists. In my first semester, I was ambitious to implement change and new initiatives surrounding diversity and inclusion. However, I found myself lost and defeated. I was operating in a white position as a person of color. Now I see that this University was not designed for the success of minority communities; it was designed for white students to learn about my oppression while not having to participate in dismantling it. I have struggled with the juxtaposition of my identity and representing a campus that does not look like me or remotely relate to my experience.

Racism is an institutionalized structure which is embedded in ASM and the University. Racism is a system designed to disadvantage people of color and create inequalities in each pocket os society. All white people are racist. Not only by upholding a system of disadvantage but being born into a conditioned environment where you are many steps ahead. Being a racist is not an option, it is a condition. However, being an anti-racist is a choice. A choice that white people will have to make which boils down to what they are willing to do to actively participate in deconstructing racism.

My last and final words call out an unfortunate reality; this institution does not care about people of color. This institution does care about people of color.

Sincerely,

Your woke, ratchet 23rd ASM Chair Carmen Goséy

Seriously, "woke."

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Steve Bannon and Julius Evola

At the time, a few weeks months ago, the progressive Twitter literati was all "lit" up about this piece, at NYT, "Steve Bannon Cited Italian Thinker Who Inspired Fascists":

Steve Bannon Cited Italian Thinker Who Inspired Fascists. @jasondhorowitz via @nytimes https://t.co/FaVVkYi6OT

— Michiko Kakutani (@michikokakutani) February 19, 2017

ROME — Those trying to divine the roots of Stephen K. Bannon’s dark and at times apocalyptic worldview have repeatedly combed over a speech that Mr. Bannon, President Trump’s ideological guru, made in 2014 to a Vatican conference, where he expounded on Islam, populism and capitalism.

But for all the examination of those remarks, a passing reference by Mr. Bannon to an esoteric Italian philosopher has gone little noticed, except perhaps by scholars and followers of the deeply taboo, Nazi-affiliated thinker, Julius Evola.

“The fact that Bannon even knows Evola is significant,” said Mark Sedgwick, a leading scholar of Traditionalists at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Evola, who died in 1974, wrote on everything from Eastern religions to the metaphysics of sex to alchemy. But he is best known as a leading proponent of Traditionalism, a worldview popular in far-right and alternative religious circles that believes progress and equality are poisonous illusions.

Evola became a darling of Italian Fascists, and Italy’s post-Fascist terrorists of the 1960s and 1970s looked to him as a spiritual and intellectual godfather.

They called themselves Children of the Sun after Evola’s vision of a bourgeoisie-smashing new order that he called the Solar Civilization. Today, the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn includes his works on its suggested reading list, and the leader of Jobbik, the Hungarian nationalist party, admires Evola and wrote an introduction to his works.

More important for the current American administration, Evola also caught on in the United States with leaders of the alt-right movement, which Mr. Bannon nurtured as the head of Breitbart News and then helped harness for Mr. Trump.

“Julius Evola is one of the most fascinating men of the 20th century,” said Richard Spencer, the white nationalist leader who is a top figure in the alt-right movement, which has attracted white supremacists, racists and anti-immigrant elements.

In the days after the election, Mr. Spencer led a Washington alt-right conference in chants of “Hail Trump!” But he also invoked Evola’s idea of a prehistoric and pre-Christian spirituality — referring to the awakening of whites, whom he called the Children of the Sun.

Mr. Spencer said “it means a tremendous amount” that Mr. Bannon was aware of Evola and other Traditionalist thinkers.

“Even if he hasn’t fully imbibed them and been changed by them, he is at least open to them,” he said. “He at least recognizes that they are there. That is a stark difference to the American conservative movement that either was ignorant of them or attempted to suppress them.”

Mr. Bannon, who did not return a request for comment for this article, is an avid and wide-ranging reader. He has spoken enthusiastically about everything from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” to “The Fourth Turning” by William Strauss and Neil Howe, which sees history in cycles of cataclysmic and order-obliterating change. His awareness of and reference to Evola in itself only reflects that reading. But some on the alt-right consider Mr. Bannon a door through which Evola’s ideas of a hierarchical society run by a spiritually superior caste can enter in a period of crisis.

“Evolists view his ship as coming in,” said Prof. Richard Drake at the University of Montana, who wrote about Evola in his book “The Revolutionary Mystique and Terrorism in Contemporary Italy.”

For some of them, it has been a long time coming.

“It’s the first time that an adviser to the American president knows Evola, or maybe has a Traditionalist formation,” said Gianfranco De Turris, an Evola biographer and apologist based in Rome who runs the Evola Foundation out of his apartment.

“If Bannon has these ideas, we have to see how he influences the politics of Trump,” he said...

You see, it's very important to document how Trump's key advisers may have been --- or may not have been --- influenced by esoteric fascist thinkers from the 1930s who nobody's even heard about. But when Obama spent a lifetime at the teat of the most radical Marxists, Weather Underground terrorists, and black liberation revolutionaries, to even raise concerns is "racist," gauche, and thus fundamentally lowbrow. You're clinging to guns and religion, bro.

This is why Trump won. And it's why Americans hate politics and the corrupt leftist media.

More (FWIW).

Brittany Pettibone

Following-up from yesterday, "Macron's Regime: So It Begins."

She traveled to France to cover the election --- in style, I might add.

Off to Paris for the French Election. May Le Pen be victorious! pic.twitter.com/eLnoKSkNmu

— Brittany Pettibone (@BrittPettibone) May 5, 2017

Why Macron Won

Here's NYT "voxsplaining" the French election:

Et voilà. MUST READ this very good @AdamNossiter analysis of why Emmanuel Macron won and Marine Le Pen lost. https://t.co/EPWo2V6ofz

— Rachel Donadio — NYT (@RachelDonadio) May 8, 2017

PARIS — The French presidential runoff transcended national politics. It was globalization against nationalism. It was the future versus the past. Open versus closed.

But in his resounding victory on Sunday night, Emmanuel Macron, the centrist who has never held elected office, won because he was the beneficiary of a uniquely French historic and cultural legacy, where many voters wanted change but were appalled at the type of populist anger that had upturned politics in Britain and the United States. He trounced the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, keeping her well under 40 percent, even as her aides said before the vote that anything below that figure would be considered a failure.

His victory quickly brought joy from Europe’s political establishment, especially since a Le Pen victory would have plunged the European Union into crisis. But in the end, Mr. Macron, only 39, a former investment banker and an uninspired campaigner, won because of luck, an unexpected demonstration of political skill, and the ingrained fears and contempt that a majority of French still feel toward Ms. Le Pen and her party, the National Front.

For the past year, a pressing political question has been whether widespread public frustration against Western political establishments had morphed into a global populist movement. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union last June, followed by the presidential election of Donald J. Trump in the United States, created the impression of a mounting wave. Ms. Le Pen, stalwart of the European far right, was the next truly big test.

But Ms. Le Pen’s challenge was different because French history is different. She has spent the last six years as president of the National Front single-mindedly focused on one objective: erasing the stain of her party’s association with the ex-collaborationists, right-wing extremists, immigrant-hating racists and anti-Semites who founded it 45 years ago.

She knew — as her father, the party patriarch Jean-Marie Le Pen, always refused to acknowledge — that she would always be a minority candidate as long as she reminded the French of perhaps the greatest stain in their history, the four years of far-right rule during World War II. Inside and outside the party this process was called “undemonization” — a term suggesting the demons still associated with her party. The French do not want them back.

“There was no choice. I couldn’t vote for Le Pen. You’re not going to vote for the extremist,” said Martine Nurit, 52, a small-restaurant owner who had just cast her ballot in Paris’s 20th Arrondissement on Sunday. She had voted for the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round, on April 23, and it was with “not an ounce of joy” that she voted for the “business-oriented” Mr. Macron in the second.

“Mostly, I voted against Le Pen,” she said.

In the end Ms. Le Pen failed to “undemonize,” spectacularly. She failed during the course of the campaign, when her angry rallies drew the Front inexorably back into the swamp from which it had emerged. And then she failed decisively in one of the campaign’s critical moments, last week’s debate with Mr. Macron, when she effectively “redemonized” herself and the party, as many French commentators noted...

More.

You know, that's fair enough, as far as it goes. I wouldn't vote for a party that was essentially the Vichy warmed over. But that's not what the National Front is today. Alas, too late. The party's going to change its name, attempting to put its so-called collaborationist, right-wing extremist, immigrant-hating, and racist anti-Semitic history behind. At Politico:

National Front will change its name after Le Pen’s defeat https://t.co/psbUtUDRA4 pic.twitter.com/90v1Yh2aGj

— POLITICO Europe (@POLITICOEurope) May 7, 2017

Victims of Communism Day

Via David Horowitz, on Twitter:

Communist May Day - now a day of protest for progressive neo-communists. Here's an informed view: https://t.co/OtrmAzy3zr

— David Horowitz (@horowitz39) May 1, 2017

Uncensored Richard Nixon Interview with Pat Buchanan from 1982 (VIDEO)

This showed up in my featured recommendations, and it's worth a look.

Take the way-back machine to the early years of cable television, and I guess, the rehabilitation of Richard Nixon:

Pepe the Frog is Dead

Pepe is Dead. Long Live Pepe!

Heh.

At Althouse, "'Pepe the Frog is dead' — as depicted in the new comic strip by Matt Furie, the artist who originally drew the character."

I don't take this stuff too seriously, but apparently some people do, including the cartoonist who created Pepe.

At the BBC:

Pepe the Frog 'is killed off to avoid being a hate symbol' https://t.co/MONlOpnxZ3

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 8, 2017

Kaloea Surfer Girls (VIDEO)

Via Theo Spark:

Rule 5

Lovely.

@TwistysExile @TMBbyCiccio @kkoij75 @withlovealways2 @BrutuslWallie @goodstuffpage @Naughty_Flash @kokoroco25 @hannahobeyed @mayasroses @cCynthii @pjot_rock @elisomed5 @bustersmith6 @h20kogi @Daisykia @Elsie_geselsie @koerperkontakt @LourdesDean88 @vill_ha_dig @lovesladys57 @isrc1970 @Ginaoben @Tedhenrya @K__S__J__A @vipgirls4free @desires_unknown @daddyskitty6 @Coach0302 🦋@TwistysExile🦋#ClassyBabes#TeamBeauty#VIP pic.twitter.com/hmwyfbjUOP

— ღ Sabrina ღ 158K (@saby292) May 2, 2017

Antonella Kahllo

On Twitter, "Busty Pinup Glamour Model 100% All-Natural."

Holger Hoock, Scars of Independence

Out tomorrow, at Amazon, Holger Hoock, Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth.

Amber Lee's Slightly Warmer Forecast

It was mild today. Perfectly nice weather. And no rain, heh.

Here's the lovely Ms. Amber, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

California Democrats to End Ban on Communists in State Government

I had to sign a loyalty oath when I was a teaching assistant at U.C. Santa Barbara. I have to admit, I was caught off guard when the form was first handed to me. I'd never had to do that before, but of course I had no problem with it. It just seemed so hardcore.

I'm older today, though. And given the nature of leftist subversion, I think it's a big mistake to do away those requirements now. Frankly, some of the Republicans are furious at this piece, at the Sacramento Bee, via Memeorandum, "California may end ban on communists in government jobs."

California may end ban on communists in government jobs (Sophia Bollag / Associated Press) https://t.co/jLWuU6ie3h https://t.co/WfS1t1ZLWI

— memeorandum (@memeorandum) May 9, 2017

Macron's Regime: So It Begins

Seen at Brittany Pettibone's feed:

And so it begins. pic.twitter.com/Upa8AKmBJW

— Brittany Pettibone (@BrittPettibone) May 8, 2017

ADDED: It's worth noting, but this Breitbart piece is a week old. Still, it definitely "begins" with the election of that dang macaroon.

Emmanuel Macron, No Nutritional Value

Heh, via Lauren Southern:

pic.twitter.com/5wJjNw4r9e

— Lauren Southern (@Lauren_Southern) May 8, 2017

Francesca Eastwood in See Through Sweater

At Taxi Driver:

Francesca Eastwood Braless in See Through Tight Sweater - https://t.co/EblEMHkxPs - pic.twitter.com/ZqFtkoMfRY

— Taxi Driver (@TaxiDriverMovie) May 8, 2017

Lindsey Pelas Braless in See Through Dress

At Taxi Driver:

Lindsey Pelas Braless in See Through Tight Dress - https://t.co/6oqCrerQ1E - pic.twitter.com/4jhDuT8jrJ

— Taxi Driver (@TaxiDriverMovie) May 8, 2017

Was the American Revolution Such a Good Idea?

Heh. Here's the quick Instapundit reply, "YES. NEXT QUESTION? Was the American Revolution such a good idea?":

“We could have been Canada,” Adam Gopnik says. Well, there’s a Canada right up there for anyone who wants it.

But, as good and satisfying as quick snark feels, it pays to drive the point home, that this piece, from Adam Gopnik, at the New Yorker, is fundamentally evil. I can't be more emphatic. The world today would be a much worse place without the U.S., but for demonic leftists like Gopnik, Australia and Canada are models of modern enlightened nation-states. Fuck the racist U.S. You should have been aborted, you cancer on the world.

Like I said, this is evil incarnate. Leftists are evil. Never, ever forget that.

Was the American Revolution such a good idea? https://t.co/09Rinf2qq7 via @adamgopnik

— Marc-William Palen (@MWPalen) May 8, 2017

France's Surrender

At Politico:

Pro-Brexit group compares Macron’s election win to France’s surrender in World War II – POLITICO https://t.co/tetkA5oqEp

— Mike Allen (@AMike4761) May 8, 2017

And from Ben Garrison:

Don't do it #France No Suicide by Political Correctness! #VivelaFrance #jevotepour #LePen #BenGarrison #cartoons https://t.co/Oj98iIxEAZ pic.twitter.com/tUO8xqQCdl

— BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) May 7, 2017

Au revoir en France! #MacronPresident #frenchelection https://t.co/Oj98iIxEAZ pic.twitter.com/Djg7UfcZKG

— BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) May 7, 2017

Melanie Phillips, Londonistan

Following-up from earlier today, "Melanie Phillips Braves Berkeley (VIDEO)."

At Amazon, Melanie Phillips, Londonistan.

Condoleezza Rice

She's got a new book out tomorrow, at Amazon, Condoleezza Rice, Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom.

And at CBS This Morning:

Melanie Phillips Braves Berkeley (VIDEO)

There's video at the link, "Melanie at Berkeley":

I’m on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, where conservative speakers are being systematically censored by violent protests designed to prevent them from speaking. I am on Sproul plaza in the centre of the campus, where free speech was supposedly enshrined back in the sixties but where it is now appallingly being suppressed.

This is the campus where conservative views are called fascism and shouted down. As you can see from these posters on this campus noticeboard.

This is where Jewish students in particular are being intimidated by threatening pro-Palestinian demonstrators. I was originally asked to speak at Berkeley Hillel, the Jewish student centre here. But remarkably, even that was considered too dangerous for me.

So I spoke instead to Jewish students at another, more discreet centre. These students had to be personally coaxed to attend my meeting – because Jewish students at Berkeley are now too frightened for their own safety to attend pro-Israel presentations. That is the truly shocking state of affairs in this prestigious seat of learning today...

More.

Hat Tip: Blazing Cat Fur.

Storm Brings Snow to Local Mountains (VIDEO)

Snowy weather in May.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Nathan Damigo

Faith Goldy interviews the white nationalist from Central California --- the guy who decked Emily Rose Mitchell.

I've Finished The Last of the Mohicans

Boy, what a book. You've gotta wade through a novel like that; it's not always easy going, although I found myself riveted at times.

Check it out, at Amazon, The Last of the Mohicans.

I hadn't realized it beforehand, but the 1992 film version of the book alters the story considerably. Reading around online, some commentary indicates the alterations improve the story, making the tale more into a romance thriller of sorts.

Either way, it's worth a look, in paperback or on DVD.

Jennifer Delacruz's Lingering Showers Forecast

The San Diego Padres cancelled today's game against the Dodgers, and rescheduled for September 2nd, which'll be a double-header.

We're having some winter weather in May. I stayed in all day, reading and watching baseball. The Angels had no problems with the weather, but lost to the Astros 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium.

In any case, here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer with the weather report, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

Emmanuel Macron Beats Marine Le Pen

It was as I expected. I don't know if a "far-right" candidate's ever going to win in France, and Marine was the right's best candidate ever.

At Bloomberg and the Telegraph U.K.:

Emmanuel Macron beats Marine Le Pen in the #Frenchelection with 65% of vote - exit polls https://t.co/6aSX0XS5dJ pic.twitter.com/oSUq89nrTJ

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 7, 2017

39-year-old Macron will become the youngest president in French history https://t.co/kXLJZUcWM6 #Presidentielle2017 pic.twitter.com/4Wz8a5fg5Q

— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) May 7, 2017

Jennifer Delacruz's Thunderstorms Forecast

The lovely Ms. Jennifer's back for the Sunday forecast, and we've got a 90 percent chance rain with possible thunderstorms.

At ABC News 10 San Diego:

ICYMI: Richard White, The Middle Ground

My copy came today.

Once again, thanks for your support.

At Amazon, Richard White, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815.

Deals Today

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Today's Deals: New deals. Every day. Shop our Deal of the Day, Lightning Deals and more daily deals and limited-time sales.

Specifially, Save 20% on Pura d'Or Haircare Products.

More here, MTech USA MT-086 Series Fixed Blade Hunting Knife, Straight Edge Blade, Black Handle, 12-1/4-Inch Overall.

Plus, Dirt Devil Vacuum Cleaner Dynamite Plus Corded Bagless Upright Vacuum with Tools M084650 RED.

Also, LG Power Pair Special - LG Turbo Series Ultra-Capacity Laundry System with Steam *PURE WHITE COLOR*.

And, Mountain House Just In Case...Essential Bucket.

More, AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable - 6 Feet (1.8 Meters) - Black.

Still more, KIND Breakfast Bars, Peanut Butter, Gluten Free, 1.8 Ounce, 32 Count.

BONUS: Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness.

Emmanuel Macron's Emails Hacked Ahead of French Presidential Election (VIDEO)

Heh.

You gotta love it.

At the Telegraph U.K., "French election: Are Russian hackers to blame for Emmanuel Macron's leaked emails - and could they target UK general election?"

Is the Macron campaign that stupid? They can't secure their own emails? Like John Podesta caught in a phishing scam? These people are idiots.

More from Jack Posobiec, at the Rebel:

Prominent French Leftists to Abstain in Sunday's Presidential Vote

They won't vote.

Looks like the so-called establishment candidate, Emmanuel Macron, doesn't appeal to the leftist establishment.

At NYT:

Pascal Bruckner, Zeev Sternhell, Agnès Varda, Sophia Aram et al vs. Emmanuel Todd & other left-wing abstainers. https://t.co/181ymA8KP2

— Rachel Donadio — NYT (@RachelDonadio) May 6, 2017

PARIS — The French comedian Sophia Aram took to the airwaves of one of France’s most popular morning radio shows this week. In the squealy voice of a teenage girl, she cried, “I can be against toothbrushes, and against cavities!” She then added: “Hashtag: NeitherCheeseNorDessert.”

Ms. Aram was making light of what she saw as a worrisome trend ahead of the French presidential election on Sunday, a race that has divided the country’s intellectuals and cultural figures: voters, especially on the left, who might abstain or cast a blank ballot because they intensely dislike both the centrist front-runner Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen.

The “Neither-Nor” impulse, as it’s called here, was a factor in past French elections, but greater discontent — with conventional political parties and the European Union — has been particularly strong this time.

“A lot of people don’t recognize themselves in either of these candidates,” said Sudhir Hazareesingh, a politics professor at Oxford University and the author of “How the French Think.” The backdrop is a French left that’s divided, especially over the big Cs: capitalism and communism — and the collapse of the governing Socialist party in this election.

Keep reading.

Devon A. Mihesuah, Repatriation Reader

At Amazon, Devon A. Mihesuah, Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains?

This is fascinating.

Fergus Bordewich had a chapter on it, in Killing the White Man's Indian: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century.

Camila Mendes

At Drunken Stepfather, "Camila Mendes – Not Hot – but Worth a F**k."

BONUS: "Steplinks of the Day":

Trying to convince a girl to let me braid my beard into her pussy hair – so that we can feel like conjoined twins…connected in this universe…is really not taken as seriously as it should…because it’s the only thing I want to do..and bitches just laugh it off...

Evelyn Taft's Chance of Scattered Showers Forecast

Very mild and pleasant in the O.C. today, although no rain.

Hopefully it'll be just like that tomorrow.

Here's the lovely Ms. Evelyn, for KCAL 9 News Los Angeles:

Fidget Spinners

The new hot thing:

Say hello to fidget spinners, the latest toy sensation https://t.co/pF88u75Fu7 pic.twitter.com/7dLYpf4eBs

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) May 5, 2017

Teachers are totally over fidget spinners: https://t.co/aAT5lzeQe5

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 5, 2017

Stacy Washington Resigns from St. Louis Post-Dispatch (VIDEO)

It's Stacy on the Right, who's a cool chick.

At Fox Business:

Bella Thorne Magic Mountain

At London's Daily Mail, "Look, no bra! Bella Thorne proudly flashes underboob while wearing flimsy crop top to theme park with Kendall Jenner's 'ex' Jordan Clarkson."

And TMZ, "BELLA THORNE AND JORDAN CLARKSON -- MAGIC MOUNTAIN SHOTS."

Also at Taxi Driver, "Bella Thorne Nipples in Braless Cutoff White Beater."

Who Wins and Who Loses in the Latest G.O.P. Health Care Bill

The House bill would weaken federal mandates, allowing insurers to impose limits on lifetime coverage in employer-sponsored plans, which got a lot of attention yesterday.

Frankly, I'm not quite sure what the bill does exactly. It's going to lift the individual mandate, but charge you extra for initial enrollment if you've been uninsured longer than two months. And it's going to phase out federal ObamaCare subsidies for Medicaid, or something like that.

In any case, maybe this piece will help, at NYT, "Who Wins and Who Loses in the Latest G.O.P. Health Care Bill":

The American Health Care Act, which narrowly won passage in the House on Thursday, could transform the nation’s health insurance system and create a new slate of winners and losers.

While the Senate will probably demand changes, this bill, if it becomes law in its current form, will repeal and replace large portions of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). It will change the rules and subsidies for people who buy their own insurance coverage, and make major cuts to the Medicaid program, which funds care for the poor and disabled.

Any sizable change in our complex health care system leaves some people and businesses better or worse off. For some, insurance will become more affordable — or their taxes will be lower. Others will lose out on financial support or health care coverage. You can see how you might be affected in our summary of winners and losers...

Keep reading.

ADDED: Ignoring the dramatic, sky-is-falling headline, and the leftist bent, you get a gist of the major provisions here, at LAT, "All the horrific details of the GOP's new Obamacare repeal bill: A handy guide."

MORE: After reading around, I like the bill --- it's repealing the most reviled elements of ObamaCare, and returning more power to the states. I think we need to keep some protections for the poorest and the elderly, but we don't need the ObamaCare mandates to do that.

See additional analysis, at Heritage, "The House Acts on Obamacare. Time for the Senate to Follow Suit."

Devon A. Mihesuah, American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities

*BUMPED.*

My copy came yesterday Wednesday.

Thanks to reader support I'm able to keep my book collection going.

I really appreciate it!

At Amazon, Devon A. Mihesuah, American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities.

This is a nifty little book, by the way. It's a myth-busting little tome, chock full of bibliographic citations.

Don't miss it!

Cinco de Mayo in the Trump Era

So stupid. Everything is so politicized.

Folks can still celebrate Cinco without being all depressed about heightened immigration enforcement. Leftists are just such fucking goons.

At ABC News 10 San Diego, using the AP wire service:

Cinco de Mayo in Trump era leaves Mexican-Americans torn https://t.co/2sQ8TuntdV

— 10News (@10News) May 5, 2017

For years, Yazmin Irazoqui Ruiz saw Cinco de Mayo as a reason to eat tacos and listen to Mexican music.

The 25-year-old Mexican-born medical student left Mexico for the U.S. as a child and celebrates the day to honor a homeland she hardly remembers.

But the Albuquerque, New Mexico, resident said she's reluctant to take part in Cinco de Mayo festivities this year as President Donald Trump steps up federal immigration enforcement and supporters back his call for the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"I mean, what is it about? You want to eat our food and listen to our music, but when we need you to defend us, where are you?" Irazoqui Ruiz asked about the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.

She isn't alone. Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric are leaving some Mexican Americans and immigrants feeling at odds with a holiday they already thought was appropriated by beer and liquor companies, event promoters and bars.

Latino activists and scholars say that ambivalence is bolstered by the hazy history of Cinco de Mayo and by stereotypes exploited by marketers.

The once-obscure holiday marking a 19th century-battle between Mexico and invading French forces is now a regular celebration in the U.S., where party-goers flock to bars for cheap margaritas and tacos. Television beer commercials often show mostly white actors on a beach celebrating.

"The narrative around Cinco de Mayo seems to say, 'this day really isn't yours'," said Cynthia Duarte, a sociology professor at California Lutheran University...

More.

Evelyn Taft's Chance of Showers Forecast

Just a nice mild day today.

It's getting toward the end of the semester, though, so I'm ragged after a full day. It'll be nice to lounge around tomorrow and read books. The weather's certainly suited for it. I hope it's not too hot, heh.

Here's the lovely Ms. Evelyn, herself sporting the robust red tonight, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

The Collapse of American Identity

Here's a great piece, from Robert P. Jones, at the New York Times (surprisingly).

Jones is the author of The End of White Christian America.

.@PatriarchTree The Collapse of American Identity: #MAGA https://t.co/eiJS0QWBgg

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 2, 2017

There have been other times in our history when the fabric of American identity was stretched in similar ways — the Civil War, heightened levels of immigration at the turn of the 20th century and the cultural upheavals of the 1960s.

But during these eras, white Christians were still secure as a demographic and cultural majority in the nation. The question at stake was whether they were going to make room for new groups at a table they still owned. Typically, a group would gain its seat in exchange for assimilation to the majority culture. But as white Christians have slipped from the majority over the past decade, this familiar strategy is no longer viable.

White Christians are today struggling to face a new reality: the inevitable surrender of table ownership in exchange for an equal seat. And it’s this new higher-stakes challenge that is fueling the great partisan reorientation we are witnessing today.

The temptation for the Republican Party, especially with Donald Trump in the White House, is to double down on a form of white Christian nationalism, which treats racial and religious identity as tribal markers and defends a shrinking demographic with increasingly autocratic assertions of power.

For its part, the Democratic Party is contending with the difficulties of organizing its more diverse coalition while facing its own tribal temptations to embrace an identity politics that has room to celebrate every group except whites who strongly identify as Christian. If this realignment continues, left out of this opposition will be a significant number of whites who are both wary of white Christian nationalism and weary of feeling discounted in the context of identity politics.

This end is not inevitable, but if we are to continue to make one out of many, leaders of both parties will have to step back from the reactivity of the present and take up the more arduous task of weaving a new national narrative in which all Americans can see themselves.

RTWT.

Devin Brugman and Natasha Oakley on the Beach in Miami

These two have a pretty sweet life, I gotta say.

From Hawaii to Miami and tropical locales in between, it's rough out there.

At Egotastic!, "Devin Brugman and Natasha Oakley Sweet Thong Sisters."

There's times where I forget what a beach girl I am 💫🌴 So happy to be in Miami wearing @mondayswimwear X pic.twitter.com/I11d6aYcjq

— Natasha Oakley (@Tashoakley) May 4, 2017

Shop Today's Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

And, Mountain House Just In Case...Essential Bucket.

More, AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable - 6 Feet (1.8 Meters) - Black.

Plus, Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen, Sensitive SPF 30+, 5-Ounce.

Also, Save on Craftsman Tools.

Still more, KIND Breakfast Bars, Peanut Butter, Gluten Free, 1.8 Ounce, 32 Count.

BONUS: Paul MacDonald, Networks of Domination: The Social Foundations of Peripheral Conquest in International Politics.

Dennis Prager on Communism's Horrific Legacy

Prager's a great guy.

This is most excellent, man.

Aleister, Long-Time Blog Personality, Comes Out as Mike LaChance

Formerly of "American Glob," Aleister used a pseudonym for about 10 years, and then revealed his true identity just the other day.

I probably should have started with a pseudonym, lol.

At Legal Insurrection, "Meet Mike LaChance, aka “Aleister”."

He's been blogging full-time for a few years now. More power to him.

Jessica Gomes Uncovered for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017 (VIDEO)

Lovely.

Naomi Schaefer Riley Interview at Prager University (VIDEO)

Following-up from Tuesday, "Ending the Trust System Will Do More for American Indians Than Changing the Name of the Washington Redskins."

At Prager U:

Trump White House Deliberates on Afghanistan War

From Eli Lake, at Bloomberg:

.@EliLake reports on the White House's deliberations over the war in Afghanistan - https://t.co/L2n0Jy1lzj

— FPI (@ForeignPolicyI) May 2, 2017

The New York Times Prints Fake Facts

From the Center for Security Policy:

.@nytimes Prints the Fake Facts that Fit its #FakeNews Narratives https://t.co/H33V9uvJzt

— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) May 2, 2017

Patricia Murphy Responds

On Twitter Tuesday:

@1PatriciaMurphy That's really cool, Patricia!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 2, 2017

@AmPowerBlog Thanks! I've known the fight song since birth.

— Patricia Murphy (@1PatriciaMurphy) May 2, 2017

Lock 'em Up: Code Pink Protesters at Sessions Hearing Could Face Year in Prison

Fuck 'em.

The woman who laughed during the confirmation hearing of Jeff Sessions was convicted and could face a year in prison https://t.co/yHfUsgB66R

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 4, 2017

Jackie Johnson's Increasing Clouds with Chance of Showers Forecast

It's going to be another spectacular day tomorrow, with sunny and warm conditions. But through the weekend we'll have a low pressure system coming in, with increasing clouds and possible showers. Here's the lovely Ms. Jackie and a robust red dress that accentuates her natural assets!

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles: