Megan Parry's Monday Forecast

At ABC News 10 San Diego:

How to Write About the Right

Leftists will always characterize and attack the new populist-nationalist right as racist and xenophobic. That's a given. It's political correctness on steroids and the left's given assumption is one of the very fault-lines of the new politics of identity across the world.

For me, when someone calls me racist I blow it off and throw it back in their faces. Play by the left's rules. They hate that and it confounds and flusters them.

In any case, Professor Mark Lilla had a nice piece at the New York Review in December, "Two Roads for the New French Right." It elicited the typical Pavlovian attacks from the left. See, "How to Write About the Right: An Exchange."

Two Roads for the New French Right | by Mark Lilla | The New York Review of Books https://t.co/fIXJZ1mL1x

— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) December 20, 2018

Mark Lilla: the Left is always accusing the Right, and their defenders (including me), of being nativist, and they are totally wrong. Now let me tell you about The Great Replacement that is going on in Europe. https://t.co/sbgn6Djaee

— Cas Mudde 📢 (@CasMudde) January 4, 2019

And Lilla's response:

Writing about the political right has never been harder. Different kinds of right-wing ideologies and political formations are proliferating and shaking liberal governments around the world, as Greil Marcus points out. This makes it difficult to keep track of all the developments, distinguish them, and establish the connections between them. At the same time, liberal and left forces that want to resist these developments are increasingly hostile to learning anything that does not conform to their settled ideas about the right. A misplaced wokeness works like Ambien, dulling our curiosity and willingness to engage, and thrusting us into an intellectual twilight where the only thing we see is the familiar specter of white supremacy...

Keep reading.

Julia Roberts Rebuffs Politics on the Red Carpet

Good for her.

She looked spectacular, and I didn't watch the show. I hate the leftist politics. It should be about the art, not the leftist virtue signalling.

(See "Moral Preening, Identity Politics Win Big at Golden Globes.")

#Homecoming star and #GoldenGlobes nominee Julia Roberts says she doesn't have a speech prepared https://t.co/BbwbPst27A pic.twitter.com/gLAIQQGH9w

— Variety (@Variety) January 7, 2019

Julia Roberts does not age. EVER. #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/FN6uxdWHH6

— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) January 7, 2019

Julia Roberts, wearing the pants #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/mRlFi5yVBn

— Vanessa Friedman (@VVFriedman) January 7, 2019

Anne Claire Bousquet.

At Drunken Stepfather, "ANNE-CLAIRE BOUSQUET SAYS SHE’S A MODEL, SO HERE ARE HER TITS OF THE DAY."

(More photos: "Anne-Claire Bousquet shot in the French Riviera, in Le Pradet, France by Guillaume Gaubert.")

BONUS: "GOLDEN GLOBES ROUNDUP OF THE DAY."

Brazil's Primal Scream for Freedom

From Mary Anastasia O'Grady, at WSJ, "Brazil's Primal Scream":

‘Socialism just didn’t work out around here.’ Brazil wants to try something new, writes @MaryAnastasiaOG https://t.co/TQ6IhZ1aDH

— MaryAnastasiaO'Grady (@MaryAnastasiaOG) January 7, 2019

In the days after Jair Bolsonaro won the October runoff contest to become president-elect of Brazil, I received some notable mail from supporters offended by the negative media coverage of their choice for a new chief executive.

A letter from a man in São Paulo, who described himself as “a gay person,” read: For the “first time in my life I voted [with conviction] . . . on both the first and the second round. I woke up 6AM on two cold Sundays happily doing it. I voted for Bolsonaro emotionally and with gratitude in my heart.”

Behind the emotion there was reason. This is “the first time a government [will provide] freedom of market and freedom of choice to us. . . . By that I mean understanding that’s what people want and realizing that’s what will drive the economic direction in this new administration.”

On Tuesday the center-right Mr. Bolsonaro became Brazil’s 36th president. As I read inauguration coverage here in the south of the country I wondered if the new president grasps the soaring expectations he has created. Brazil has let go a primal scream for freedom.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s critics claim that his “right wing” views, shaped by his experience in the military, will put Brazil’s liberal democracy at risk. In the lead-up to the vote, this media hysteria reached a fevered pitch.

It hasn’t diminished. But it has lost its force, in part because it has exposed the bias of the chattering classes, at home and abroad. Brazilians rightly ask where these champions of democracy were when the Workers’ Party governments of former Presidents Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva and Dilma Rousseff were financing the Cuban military dictatorship and its satellite Venezuela.

Brazil’s institutions have matured in the 30-plus years since the end of its own military government. This has been a democratic process, driven by civil society’s thirst for pluralism, tolerance and self-government.

The judiciary and federal law enforcement are increasingly independent. Proof of progress is the federal investigation dubbed Operation Car Wash, which exposed the corruption of a range of powerful business executives and high-ranking politicians in a landmark bribery case. So blind was Lady Justice that even the popular Mr. da Silva couldn’t escape responsibility for his role in the scheme. He’s now in jail.

The same institutions are more than likely to check a power-hungry president on the right. It won’t take as long either. The establishment fawned over Lula. Mr. Bolsonaro will be on a short leash.

The legitimate concern is whether the new president can deliver on his promises to better protect human life and to shrink a monster state that devours dreams.

The São Paulo letter-writer put it bluntly: “Socialism just didn’t work out around here.” Another letter came from a man in Europe who had emigrated seven years ago because Brazil was a dead end.

Still more.

Danielle Gersh's Weekend Forecast

Here's the lovely Ms. Danielle from last night. We had some storm and flood warnings for early this morning.

The Virtue of Nationalism

Yoram Hazony's book is available at Amazon, The Virtue of Nationalism.

And at Prager University:

The Character That Matters

I really like Roger Kimball, although sometimes American Greatness grates.

In any case, an excellent piece.

RTWT:

Further thoughts about the "character issue" @theamgreatness https://t.co/nOTNQO0oLA

— Roger Kimball (@rogerkimball) January 5, 2019

Democrats Best Hope

In my classes, I argued throughout 2018 that Joe Biden would be a formidable, if not the best, challenger to President Trump in 2020. That's the case Biden's himself is making.

He's smart. Old. But smart.

And we'll see if he runs. That more than just about any of the identity politics candidates will it interesting.

At NYT:

Joe Biden has indicated that he is leaning toward running for president in 2020 and will likely make a decision within the next 2 weeks, according to Democrats who have spoken to him https://t.co/qa8pPc0YHI

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 6, 2019

Crazy Backflips

Seen earlier:

I can’t do this!
pic.twitter.com/TWe4ziZzKq

— MagaGary (@magagary687) January 6, 2019

Tucker Carlson's Populist-Nationalist Monologue Draws Response (VIDEO)

Abby Hunstman and Conor Friedersdorf were among some of the prominent responses. Video below:

The View's Abby Huntsman Defends Tucker Carlson's Private 'Heart of Gold' After Pay Equality Comments https://t.co/xmlOASVSiA

— People (@people) January 5, 2019

Conservatives ought to be angry when the right’s television hosts mislead the audience. https://t.co/sEee9hA2Fr

— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) January 6, 2019

R.O. Kwon, The Incendiaries

This one looks worth a try.

At Amazon, R.O. Kwon, The Incendiaries: A Novel.

Rashida Tlaib, New Muslim Democrat in Congress, Vows to 'Impeach the Motherf—er!' (VIDEO)

Video at CBS News 4 Boston, "Rep. Rashida Tlaib Not Apologizing After Call Trump an Expletive."

And from Vodka Pundit, at Instapundit, "GREAT MOMENTS IN TOTAL LACK OF SELF-AWARENESS: New Muslim Congresswoman Vows to ‘Impeach the Motherf**ker!’."

Senior Dems, now the majority leadership in Congress, were not pleased. There goes the impeachment messaging, oops!

At Politico, "Dems livid after Tlaib vows to ‘impeach the motherf—er’: Party leaders fear such explosive talk only gives ammunition to the GOP":

From @politico: 'Dems livid after Tlaib vows to ‘impeach the motherf—er.'' Even the guy who filed articles of impeachment on Day 1 is mad at her. But didn't she just say, perhaps in more colorful language, what some of them have said privately? https://t.co/3Znshs0Igi pic.twitter.com/AdRi2D9aNx

— Byron York (@ByronYork) January 4, 2019

This is a bit lame. Can’t be unapologetic about the comments then run away from the press when asked about them https://t.co/YP3udse950

— Sam Stein (@samstein) January 4, 2019

House Democrats are furious that an incoming freshman’s expletive-riddled statement about impeaching Donald Trump has suddenly upended their carefully crafted rhetoric on their plans to take on the president.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats have long argued that impeachment is a last resort that would come at the end of exhaustive oversight and investigations. But on the second day of the new Congress, the news was jammed with talk of Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who told a crowd of progressive activists Thursday night that “we’re gonna impeach the motherf---er.”

Rank-and-file Democrats, immediately fearful of the damage the comment could cause, unloaded on their new colleague Friday morning. Republicans, they argued, would hold it up as proof that Democrats are playing politics rather than pursuing genuine oversight of the president — even if the GOP never showed interest in investigating Trump scandals while it was in power.

“Mueller hasn’t even produced his report yet!” said Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. “People should cool their jets a little bit, let the prosecutors do their job and finish the investigation.”

“Inappropriate,” added Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.). “As elected officials I think we should be expected to set a high bar… It’s not helpful.”

Even Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who introduced an impeachment resolution earlier this week, was shocked. His eyes bulged in disbelief when a reporter read him Tlaib’s comments and he was speechless for several seconds.

After he regained his composure, Sherman said that kind of language is detrimental to the cause: “That’s not language I would use … I think the office of the presidency should be treated with respect.”

Party elders also sought to calm talk of impeachment without criticizing Tlaib directly. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the new chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, called Talib’s comments “inappropriate” and said, “We need to be patient.”

“You can’t accomplish very much of anything unless you have civility and show respect for your colleagues,” Cummings said. “Those kind of comments do not take us in the right direction.”

Pelosi said while she didn’t agree with the language, she also didn’t think anyone “should make a big deal” about the expletive, noting the president is also known for having a foul mouth sometimes.

“I'm not in the censorship business. I don't like that language, I wouldn't use that language, but I wouldn't establish language standards for my colleagues,” Pelosi said during an MSNBC town hall Friday morning.

She added that impeachment is “very divisive“ and shouldn’t be taken “without the facts.”

Meanwhile, Republicans were already seizing on the comment to accuse Democrats of showing their true goal — removing Trump from office...

Lisa Delpit, 'Multiplication Is for White People'

At Amazon, Lisa Delpit, 'Multiplication Is for White People': Raising Expectations for Other People's Children.

Derrick Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well

At Amazon, Derrick Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism.

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory

At Amazon, Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (Third Edition).

Jennifer Delacruz's Weekend Forecast

Clear and cool today, very cold overnight, but rain likely for the weekend.

Here's the fabulous Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

Alexis Ren Thong Bikini

At Drunken Stepfather, "Alexis Ren Still in a Thong of the Day."

Freezing, Blustery Southern California Weather (VIDEO)

This is new, these "hard freeze" warnings.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Mitt Romney Interview with CNN's Jake Tapper (VIDEO)

Folks are pretty pissed off at Romney, who hasn't even been sworn in yet.

He had an op-ed up at WaPo yesterday, supposedly "scorching" President Trump. Maybe if Romney "scorched" the Democrats like he scorches Trump people wouldn't be so angry?

See, "Mitt Romney: The president shapes the public character of the nation."

Policies and appointments are only a part of a presidency. A president must also unite us, inspire us, and defend our vital institutions. https://t.co/jmIw8XbV4k

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) January 2, 2019

And at CNN tonight (I watched it):