A.C. Grayling, Democracy and Its Crisis

All these learned progressives trying to figure out what went wrong, lol.

They might read Laura Ingraham, for a start.

In any case, at Amazon, A.C. Grayling, Democracy and Its Crisis.

Shop Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

And especially, Shop Char-Broil Gas Grills.

Also, Black & Decker WP900 6-Inch Random Orbit Waxer/Polisher.

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BONUS: Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes, The Soviet World of American Communism.

Twenty-Six Murdered in Texas Church Shooting (VIDEO)

I had to go off Twitter last night, the leftist ghouls were so bad. Some were even cheering the slaughter, saying it was all Texans anyway, and it made him happy. (That guy deleted his tweets later.)

The suspects was dishonorably discharged and court-marshalled, and was this prohibited from possessing. No gun control would have prevented this massacre, since he didn't abide by the law.

More later.

Meanwhile, at Dallas Morning News, "Sutherland Springs church massacre wasn't random, Abbott suggests."

And at CBS News This Morning:

Chloe Goodman

A fine young thing, at Taxi Driver, "Chloe Goodman Forgot Her Bra on Her Night Out."

President Trump Bringing Most Conservative Agenda in a Generation

Even more conservative than President Ronald Reagan, argues Steven Hayward, at LAT, via Instapundit, "WEIRD HOW BILL KRISTOL STILL SEEMS SO CHAFED: Despite the chaos, Trump has managed to push the most conservative agenda in a generation.

“This hitherto ideologically unmoored man has set in motion an administration arguably more conservative than Ronald Reagan’s. While the Congress controlled by his adopted party remains gridlocked, Trump is rolling back regulations and a number of the Obama administration’s most controversial achievements, including the internal structure of Obamacare and the Clean Power Plan. His foreign policy resets look increasingly sure-footed. His judicial nominees are uniformly conservative. It is inconceivable that any of the other leading Republican candidates from the 2016 cycle would have governed as boldly as Trump has.”

LOLZ: Woman Gets Fired for Giving President Trump's Motorcade the Bird

You gotta love it, at HuffPost, "Woman Fired for Flipping Off Donald Trump's Motorcade."

Damn. @jbendery tracked down the woman pictured flipping off Trump’s motorcade who was… subsequently… fired https://t.co/detJtMEHtE

— Sam Stein (@samstein) November 6, 2017

Armando Lucas Correa, The German Girl

At Amazon, Armando Lucas Correa, The German Girl: A Novel.

Emily Ratajkowski Topless Dance Moves (VIDEO)

At the link, via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, "Emily Ratajkowski Dances, Nina Agdal Goes Bare & More Viral Moments."

Mark Sullivan, Beneath a Scarlet Sky

At Amazon, Mark Sullivan, Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel.

George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo

*BUMPED.*

Saunders just won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction for 2017 (an award for the best work of fiction published in the U.K.).

At Amazon, George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo.

Paradise Papers

The world's elite shelter their assets. Well, that's not going to fuel the fires of populist revolt, or anything.

At the Guardian U.K., "Paradise Papers leak reveals secrets of the world elite's hidden wealth: Files from offshore law firm show financial dealings of the Queen, big multinationals and members of Donald Trump’s cabinet."

Huge leak reveals secrets of world elite's hidden wealth #paradisepapers https://t.co/KhkIQyz3qs

— The Guardian (@guardian) November 5, 2017

Shop Deals

At Amazon, Shop Today.

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BONUS: Joachim Fest, Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich.

Nathan Hill, The Nix

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Nathan Hill, The Nix: A Novel.

Why Dems Aren't Winning Against Trump

At U.S. News and World Report, "You Can't Beat Something With Nothing":

The Democrats seem to enjoy gloating about the hot mess that is the Republican Party these days. Former GOP presidents warning the president about the people he surrounds himself with; sitting Republican U.S. senators calling the president unstable and unqualified; and a former GOP speaker of the house saying "there is no Republican Party. The president isn't a Republican." And Democrats' friends in the mainstream media have kindly created an echo chamber that makes them think that they are always right and the Republicans are a bunch of sexist, racist, whack jobs.

So why aren't they winning?

They must be longing for the halcyon days of the Obama election in 2008. They were so eager to lay all of America's troubles entirely at the feet of President George W. Bush: The Iraq War (which most of their party voted to support), Hurricane Katrina response (ignoring any involvement by Democratic local officials) and the financial collapse (which had little to do with Washington – although President Bush and President Barack Obama worked hand in hand to bail the country out of it). They were so full of hope! They were ushering in a new America. A post-racial America where everyone has health care and a good middle-class job. Stories written in the wake of the November election wrote the obituary on the Republican Party (too white, too rich, too old and on top of that, technology morons who can't turn out the vote). The Democrats were here to stay – or so they thought.

That arrogance caused them to nominate Hillary Clinton to be their party's standard bearer. Possibly the only candidate who could lose to Trump. (It's generally accepted that, had Vice President Joe Biden been the nominee, he would have won. And just this week, Trump's pollster posited that Sanders would have beaten Trump, too.) Her major primary opponent was a bit nutty, but that was largely because the Democratic establishment had crowned Clinton early on and crowded everyone else out. She was a fairly strong candidate in the Democratic Party: a well-known former first lady to a very popular president, former U.S. senator, former secretary of state. It was her turn.

Never mind that there is no figure in American politics as guaranteed to unite the GOP base in opposition as the person who coined the term "vast right-wing conspiracy" in an effort to deflect from her husband's misdeeds (which everyone in the country seemed to find plausible, except for her). Never mind her inability to connect with working-class voters in the same folksy way as her husband. Never mind her reputation for refusing to take responsibility for things that happened on her watch (like Benghazi). Everyone should ignore all that. Because it's time for us to shatter that glass ceiling, and no one but Hillary can do it.

The Democrats seemed shocked the race between Clinton and Trump remained relatively close because they seemed to stop talking to the white working-class voters who, for decades, had defined their base.

So when they lost the election, there was a reckoning. The leadership of the Democratic Party was drummed up and new, forward-looking leaders took the reins and offered an alternative to what they saw as the disaster of Donald Trump. Wait, no. That isn't what happened. Instead, they re-elected Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the house. They elected Chuck Schumer as Senate majority leader and completely sold out to the New York and California wings of the Democratic Party.

Instead of talking about middle-class tax cuts, they talked about transgender bathroom access. Instead of talking about fixing Obamacare, which was crushing many in the middle class with high premiums and complicated doctor selections, they walked right into the trap of the alt-right and began tearing down Civil War statues.

In the first big test of party strength: the Virginia governor's race, they have thrown up all over themselves. Virginia should be easy for them. Clinton won it in 2016. Trump's numbers are completely under water. The Republican candidate has awkwardly embraced Trump and some of his controversial positions while trying not to hug him too close. But somehow they ended up with one of the least inspiring Democratic candidates Virginia has seen in a long time. And they backed an ad that seemed to depict Virginians who drive pickup trucks as a bunch of rednecks looking to plow down children of color...

More.

Here the now-pulled Latino Victory Fund ad from the Virginia governor's race. For shame:

Jennifer Delacruz's Cloudy and Overnight Showers Forecast

It's cool and cloudy out right now in Irvine, although it doesn't look like it rained. [UPDATE: My wife says it rained, and my son left the passenger-side window down on his new Jetta. Ooops!]

Either way, here's the beautiful Ms. Jennifer with today's forecast, from last night, at ABC News 10 San Diego:

Trump Voters Are Still Optimistic

At the Irish Times, "Trump has made many Americans feel connected again: Trump – one year on: Those who voted for him are still optimistic – and in Erie, Pennsylvania, a former Obama stronghold, they would do so again":

Frank Victor sits at the head of the conference table at Fralo Industries, the high-tech sheet metal manufacturing plant in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, he owns with his brother Mike – who is now the president of Mercyhurst University – a prestigious private Catholic university located within the city limits.

Across from him is John Bauman, the president of the manufacturing company and a minority owner. Both men are highly educated, successful businessmen who have left this city – which has arguably seen better days – throughout their careers, but returned to invest and be part of pushing its renewal.

A process both men admit will be long.

They both voted for Donald Trump last November and were part of the movement in Pennsylvania and across the Rust Belt that flipped traditional Democratic counties like Erie from Democrat to Republican; a flip which helped push Trump over the top to win the presidency.

And they would do it again.

“In a heartbeat,” said Victor, 54, as he gives a tour of his factory that employs 68 locals in well-paying jobs, something hard to come by in America’s Rust Belt.

Victor and Bauman are the type of American voters who were hiding in plain sight for the American news media and political strategists to see – but didn’t. Not because they weren’t available, not because they would not have admitted they were going to vote for him – but because much of the media and political class, both Democrat and Republican, could not understand why they would, so they didn’t ask.

Twelve months later they still don’t understand why they did.

In fact much of the US is still stuck in a singular moment in politics; for the most part it is still November 8th, 2016 around midnight. If you voted for Trump, you are still excited and still optimistic about his presidency. If you didn’t? You still believe it must be illegitimate; you either still believe the only reason Trump won was because of Russian interference or because former FBI director James Comey’s late actions cast doubt...

More.

'It’s Okay to Be White'

Well, it should be. It should be okay to be whatever natural color or ethnicity you are.

But not on the left. The left hates whiteness. And it hates anyone who doesn't toe the hateful race-bating white supremacy line.

At Instapundit, "SO I GUESS IT’S NOT OKAY. GOOD TO KNOW. ‘It’s Okay To Be White’ Signs Posted At Harvard Law School, Denounced by Dean."

Journalists Spreading Lies and Degrading Democracy

It's Glenn Greenwald, at the Intercept, "Four Viral Claims Spread by Journalists on Twitter in the Last Week Alone That are False":

Four viral claims spread by journalists on Twitter in the last week alone that are false: https://t.co/KrkOFYztQH by @ggreenwald

— The Intercept (@theintercept) November 5, 2017

There is ample talk, particularly of late, about the threats posed by social media to democracy and political discourse. Yet one of the primary ways that democracy is degraded by platforms such and Facebook and Twitter is, for obvious reasons, typically ignored in such discussions: the way they are used by American journalists to endorse factually false claims that quickly spread and become viral, entrenched into narratives, and thus can never be adequately corrected.

The design of Twitter, where many political journalists spend their time, is in large part responsible for this damage. Its space constraints mean that tweeted headlines or tiny summaries of reporting are often assumed to be true with no critical analysis of their accuracy, and are easily spread. Claims from journalists that people want to believe are shared like wildfire, while less popular, subsequent corrections or nuanced debunking are easily ignored. Whatever one’s views are on the actual impact of Twitter Russian bots, surely the propensity of journalistic falsehoods to spread far and wide is at least as significant.

Just in the last week alone, there have been four major factually false claims that have gone viral because journalists on Twitter endorsed and spread them: three about the controversy involving Donna Brazile and the DNC, and one about documents and emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign. It’s well worth examining them, both to document what the actual truth is as well as to understand how often and easily this online journalistic misleading occurs...

Keep reading.

Anxiety is High in Hollywood

Rape allegations rocking Tinseltown.

At LAT, "Who's next? High anxiety in Hollywood":

To women and men in the industry, it would be wise of you to not promote Alec Baldwin. Fair warning. #ROSEARMY pic.twitter.com/x1I9Rti3LX

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) November 5, 2017

The curtain has been pulled back, and, oh, is it messy.

Hollywood has always reveled in scandal. The rumor. The whisper. The unfortunate photograph. The apology and return to grace. But the recent sex abuse stories have turned into a parade of tawdry violations and twisted passions, the stuff of movies acted out in real lives against the unglamorous air of disgrace, endless transgressions that even Ray Donovan, Showtime's half-shaven mercurial fixer, couldn't clean up with all his hush money and muscle.

The rape and sexual abuse allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein, Brett Ratner, James Toback and others have shattered the awards-season aplomb in a town that imagines itself bold and freewheeling but prefers the tempered and scripted. The entertainment industry has slipped into a multi-polar catharsis of emboldened women, nervous men, threatening lawyers, broken deals, spoiled careers and the uncertainty that comes when cracks run like lightning through facades.

“I think the industry is forever changed,” said Marcel Pariseau, a publicist whose clients include Scarlett Johansson and Olivia Munn, one of six women who accused Ratner of sexual misconduct in The Times last week. “Every morning we wake up and we don’t know what’s going to be next. You’re almost afraid to get on your gadget to see what the new story is.

"No one is going to be going to a producer or director's hotel suite anymore," he added. "All meetings will be done with somebody else in the room for protection for both sides. It's a defining moment. It's vigilance."

Instagram accounts are being scrubbed, Facebook pages edited, publicists consulted and memories jogged about what might have happened where and with whom on that blurry night years ago. The cocktail circuit is jittery; the Oscar buzz feels a bit listless. Talent agencies are dropping clients and scouring their own houses. Studios are pruning relationships, firing executives hours after an allegation is made public.

In every pitch or development meeting, “people want to talk about it,” said a female television writer who preferred to remain anonymous. “It’s like everyone needs a little bit of therapy. It’s preoccupying people’s minds because they either have a direct connection to it or it’s like driving by a car crash; you’re just riveted. In the way Trump stuff used to lead a lot of things, now this stuff leads every single sit-down.”

This is the new Hollywood. Restless, unsure, demanding justice, looking for cover and wondering how to move beyond a long history of discrimination and sexual harassment and toward the kind of enlightened world it so often supposes in its art.

“We’re all having a conversation now about whether or not we are protecting people in our industry from people committing violent crimes against them,” said comedian and producer Judd Apatow. “I personally would not be comfortable making it a big part of my business trying to keep rapists and people who commit sexual assaults on the street. We all decide how we want to make money. We all decide what’s ethical. I’m well aware that all criminals deserve representation, but at the same time sometimes we’re putting other people in danger.”

It's hard to fix things when even hallowed names are in the headlines: Dustin Hoffman has apologized after being accused of sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern in 1985. Kevin Spacey said he was seeking "evaluation and treatment" after allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

The consequences against the accused have been swift: Netflix canceled Spacey's "House of Cards" and Warner Brothers cut ties with Ratner, who has denied claims of sexual harassment and misconduct from a number of women.

"When the Dustin Hoffman thing broke I was like, my gosh, now there's going to be a library of great movies that I can't watch anymore because of the ick factor. The ick factor is real," said the TV writer.

Audiences and critics have already begun reevaluating Weinstein's films, many of which were nominated for and won Academy Awards, including "Shakespeare in Love," whose star Gwyneth Paltrow says that the producer assaulted her in a hotel suite when she was 22...

More.

Philip Roth, The Human Stain

At Amazon, Philip Roth, The Human Stain: American Trilogy (3).