At Amazon, Alistair Horne, The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71.
Friday, December 21, 2018
Ross Douthat's 'Conservatism' Syllabus
I found this at the American Conservative, "Cormac McCarthy’s Conservative Pessimism."
I could quibble with the argument there that McCarty's America's great living conservative novelist, but that's not as interesing as Ross Douthat's syllabus.
I'm posting here for posterity, via Samuel Moyn:
I could quibble with the argument there that McCarty's America's great living conservative novelist, but that's not as interesing as Ross Douthat's syllabus.
I'm posting here for posterity, via Samuel Moyn:
Sweden’s 'Immigrant' Ghettos
From Andy Ngo, at National Review, "Sweden’s Parallel Society":
Ngo's a brave mofo, lol.
Excellent, unfliching on-the-ground reporting by @MrAndyNgo on the consequences of mass immigration without assimilation in Sweden -- a recipe for ruin==> https://t.co/gHxC47h0NW— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) December 21, 2018
I don’t go to those places without security,” a Swedish journalist tells me when I ask whether she would accompany me to some of her country’s “especially vulnerable” areas. The label is given by police to neighborhoods where crime is rampant and parallel social structures compete for authority with the state. To the politically incorrect, these are also known as “immigrant ghettos.”That's a great essay. Keep reading.
While much attention was focused on Germany during the 2015 refugee crisis, in which more than a million migrants from the Middle East and Africa entered the continent at the behest of Angela Merkel, the country that admitted the most migrants per capita was Sweden. In one year alone, the northern European nation of 10 million added nearly 2 percent to its population. Most of those arrivals were young men. Tens of thousands more have continued to arrive since then.
It is too early to see the long-term impact of the 2015 migrant crisis, but if the past is any indication of Sweden’s future, the answer may be found in its “vulnerable” neighborhoods. In recent years, the Nordic state known for scoring among the highest among all nations in quality-of-life indexes has also gained a reputation for gang shootings, grenade attacks, and sexual crimes.
Days before I was due to arrive in Sweden last summer, the country was rocked by mass car burnings across its west coast. Authorities faulted “youth gangs” for the fires, a euphemism for criminal young men of migrant backgrounds. My first visit was to Rosengård, Seved, and Nydala, immigrant neighborhoods in the southern city of Malmö and among the 23 “especially vulnerable” areas across Sweden. At times, ambulances and fire trucks will enter only with police protection. Desperate police have appealed to imams and clan leaders for help when they cannot contain the violence.
From Malmö’s central train station, I began walking alone to Rosengård, an area rocked by some of the country’s most violent riots in 2008 after a mosque was denied a new lease. Halfway through my journey, I stopped outside the Malmö Synagogue. I was greeted by a metal security fence and closed-circuit cameras. In 2010, the synagogue was attacked with explosives. And in December 2017, hundreds of protesters in the city chanted for an intifada and promised to “shoot the Jews” after President Trump announced the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. One of the consequences of mass migration to Europe that no one had predicted was the importation of a different strain of anti-Semitism.
I continued onward.
The closer the GPS told me I was to my destination, the more headscarves I saw and the less Swedish I heard. In Rosengård, youths gathered during school hours in streets and parks around the public housing that lined the neighborhood. In fact, fewer than half of ninth-graders here pass enough classes to enroll in high school.
Four hundred miles north, in the country’s capital, I witnessed similar social phenomena in some Stockholm neighborhoods. I was more discreet on that trip; journalists have been violently attacked in those areas.
In Rinkeby, young girls and even some babies were dressed in modesty headscarves. Cafés were in practice male-only spaces, and a restaurant in the town center offered segregated seating, with a curtain, for “families,” a euphemism for women.
Here, there were no H&Ms or other hallmarks of Swedish fashion. Instead, small clothing stores sold Islamic robes, hijabs, and face veils. And in contrast to the near-cashless society I encountered elsewhere in urban Sweden, many businesses here accepted only cash.
In Tensta, another “extremely vulnerable” district near Rinkeby, I stopped by the local administrative office. It is one of the few visible institutions of the Swedish state in the area. Security guards stood at the door. The week before, masked assailants left burning tires outside the office — one of a number of attacks on authorities in the neighborhood.
Left-wing parties also plastered campaign posters all over featuring politicians of conspicuous Muslim background. The Left party played Arabic-language music and distributed food in Alby, a “vulnerable” district in southern Stockholm.
The on-the-ground reality I witnessed in some parts of Sweden stood in stark contrast to the egalitarian utopia I had been sold by American progressives. How did Sweden, on the whole a prosperous and peaceful nation, also develop parallel, segregated societies afflicted by criminality and violence? The starkest reminder of this reality are the numerous grenade explosions and gun murders that have become a regular occurrence across some sections of society. In fact, Sweden’s homicide rate is now above the Western European average...
Ngo's a brave mofo, lol.
Syria Withdrawal and Push for Border Wall Demonstrate Trump's 'America First' Worldview
Leftist media outlets have been slobbering all over themselves the last 24 hours, with a concatenation of news events they hope will damage the White House.
Actually, a lot of this is good news. The Mattis resignation isn't out of the ordinary at all. The economy's actually strong and markets are betting on the future, especially Federal Reserve moves that could dampen growth. Fact is, final 3rd quarter numbers show the economy humming along at 3.5 percent growth. Travel numbers for the season are at record numbers and it should be a booming Christmas shopping season.
For the leftist establishment take on Mattis see NYT, via Memeorandum, "Defense Secretary Jim Mattis Resigns, Rebuking Trump's Worldview."
And for the America First viewpoint, make sure you're following Diana West on Twitter:
And at the Los Angeles Times, "Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria and build a border wall instead marks a key moment for his 'America first' view":
Actually, a lot of this is good news. The Mattis resignation isn't out of the ordinary at all. The economy's actually strong and markets are betting on the future, especially Federal Reserve moves that could dampen growth. Fact is, final 3rd quarter numbers show the economy humming along at 3.5 percent growth. Travel numbers for the season are at record numbers and it should be a booming Christmas shopping season.
For the leftist establishment take on Mattis see NYT, via Memeorandum, "Defense Secretary Jim Mattis Resigns, Rebuking Trump's Worldview."
And for the America First viewpoint, make sure you're following Diana West on Twitter:
There is nothing to win in the Islamic world and everything to lose at home. https://t.co/398cEasuM7— Diana West (@diana_west_) December 21, 2018
And at the Los Angeles Times, "Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria and build a border wall instead marks a key moment for his 'America first' view":
Trump's decision to withdraw from #Syria and build a border wall instead marks a key moment for his '#AmericaFirst' view: #ThankYouTrump #SyriaWithdrawal https://t.co/15SlZSdHwM @diana_west_— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) December 21, 2018
President Trump, in a pair of tweets Wednesday summarizing his worldview, justified his decision to order American troops withdrawn from Syria while promising that the military would instead put resources into building the wall he’s long espoused along the U.S.-Mexico border.Still more.
“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump tweeted, shortly before his press secretary announced that “we have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign.”
That declaration from Trump came shortly after another Twitter missive in which he declared that “because of the tremendous dangers at the Border, including large scale criminal and drug inflow, the United States Military will build the Wall!”
The joint tweets offered perhaps the clearest distillation to date of Trump’s “America first” policy: a simple and abrupt vow to disengage from one of the world’s most nettlesome conflicts, with a potentially premature declaration of victory over the militants of Islamic State, also known as ISIS, coupled with an unlikely promise that the world’s most sophisticated fighting force would be deployed to build a literal fortification around the homeland.
The order to withdraw the roughly 2,000 troops currently in Syria provided the latest example of how Trump’s instinct to turn inward, whatever the risk and costs to the United States’ influence and reputation abroad, may clash with the views of the generals and foreign policy experts who serve inside and outside his administration.
Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, for example, a retired four-star general who once commanded American forces in the Middle East, was pushed aside by President Obama for advocating more forceful engagement in the region. Pentagon officials over the last two years have repeatedly clashed with Trump’s desires to limit the kind of muscular U.S. role in the Mideast that Mattis has advocated in the past.
Trump’s announcement raised fears among national security professionals that he might follow the Syria decision with a troop drawdown in Afghanistan, something he has long wanted to do.
Either exit involves a strategic gamble by Trump and could also cost the president politically if Islamic State violence resurges or the region destabilizes during the 2020 election campaign.
“It is a major blunder,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “If it isn’t reversed, it will haunt this administration and America for years to come.”
As is often the case, many officials worked Wednesday to mitigate the immediate impacts of Trump’s declaration, by slowing the withdrawal timeline and following his instructions only approximately. Others who have grown accustomed to Trump’s splashy promises and the fluidity of his decision-making cautioned that Wednesday’s announcement may not come immediately to fruition or could be tempered by the time the military implements it.
Trump’s about-face came only weeks after some of his own advisors said U.S. troops would remain in Syria until Iran, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, agreed to remove its own troops from the country. That expanded mission appeared to reflect the wishes of anti-Iran hard-liners, including national security advisor John Bolton, rather than Trump’s views.
A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity put the matter bluntly. Asked about the cascade of recent statements by Bolton and others vowing to stay in Syria as long as Iran remained engaged, the official said that Trump is doing what Trump wants to do.
“The issue here is that the president has made a decision,” the official said. “He gets to do that. It’s his prerogative.”
The official conceded that the Islamic State threat has not been eliminated from the region beyond Syria’s borders, even if the militants have been significantly hobbled inside.
Some of Trump’s closest allies in the Republican Party oppose his plan...
Thursday, December 20, 2018
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.
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More here, Samsung QN65Q6F Flat 65” QLED 4K UHD 6 Series Smart TV 2018.
BONUS: Gordon Marino, The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age.
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.
Also, Nutri Ninja Personal and Countertop Blender with 1200-Watt Auto-iQ Base, 72-Ounce Pitcher, and 18, 24, and 32-Ounce Cups with Spout Lids (BL642).
More, Cuisinart DFP-14CPYAMZ Custom 14 Food Processor Brushed Metal Series - Copper.
Plus, Drones with Camera for Adult and Kids Gifts – U49WF RC WiFi FPV Camera Drones for Beginners, Remote Control Quadcopter Helicopter Toy w/ Extra Battery.
And, Dremel 4300-5/40 High Performance Rotary Tool Kit with Universal 3-Jaw Chuck, 5 Attachments and 40 Accessories.
Still more, Horny Goat Weed Herbal Complex Extract for Men & Women | Ginseng, 100% Maca Root Tongkat Ali Powder, and Prime Labs Men's Testosterone Booster (60 Caplets) - Natural Stamina, Endurance and Strength Booster - Fortifies Metabolism - Promotes Healthy Weight Loss and Fat Burning.
More here, Samsung QN65Q6F Flat 65” QLED 4K UHD 6 Series Smart TV 2018.
BONUS: Gordon Marino, The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age.
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":
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.Still more.
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...
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.Still more.
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...
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
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!"
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
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More here, Samsung QN65Q6F Flat 65” QLED 4K UHD 6 Series Smart TV 2018.
BONUS: Lisa Halliday, Asymmetry: A Novel.
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).
Here, Luxury Cotton Bathroom Bath Towels: 6 Piece Towel Set for Household Bathrooms - Soft Plush and Absorbent Cotton with Double Stitch Hems - Bath / Shower Towels, Hand Towels, and Washcloths.
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:
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."
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:
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.
"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.There's more at the link, but you get the idea.
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...
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.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
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.
And, Nutrichef Upgraded Multi-Function Rotisserie Oven - Vertical Countertop Oven with Bake, Turkey Thanksgiving, Broil Roasting Kebab Rack with Adjustable Settings, 2 Shelves 1500 Watt - PKRT97.
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.
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.
And, Nutrichef Upgraded Multi-Function Rotisserie Oven - Vertical Countertop Oven with Bake, Turkey Thanksgiving, Broil Roasting Kebab Rack with Adjustable Settings, 2 Shelves 1500 Watt - PKRT97.
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.
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.)
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:
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:
On Twitter:
1. I'll be listing the advertisers on tonight's Tucker Carlson -- along with any other notable moments -- on this thread.— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 18, 2018
So far Pacific Life, Indeed, Smile Direct Club, and Bowflex have suspended their advertising.
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:
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:
At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:
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