FLASHBACK: Tom Shales and his NPR interviewer try to make sense of a new movie called Star Wars, this strange new “complete science fiction fantasy with absolutely no redeeming moral values or moralistic values either” that’s “taking the country by proverbial storm.”
Are the special effects any good?, Shales is asked at one point. “Gee, it’s kind of hard to describe the whole universe blowing up in your face.”
YEAH, BARACK, YOU BLEW IT — WAIT, WHAT? ‘I Started The Arab Spring. Now Death Is Everywhere, And Extremism Blooming.’
IT’S COME TO THIS: Kentucky School District Censors A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Actually, considering where CBS was headed at the time, I’m kind of surprised it got on the air in the first place. As Lee Habeeb wrote in his 2011 article, which NRO republished this month to celebrate the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas:
As far back as 1965 — just a few years before Time magazine asked “Is God Dead?” — CBS executives thought a Bible reading might turn off a nation populated with Christians. And during a Christmas special, no less! Ah, the perils of living on an island in the northeast called Manhattan.
It took them half a century, but CBS finally managed to spread the “Progressive” word from Black Rock to Johnson County, Kentucky.
DON SURBER: Your Political Joke Of The Day.
PRIVATE COLLEGES: ‘WHERE FREE SPEECH IS LEAST FREE IN AMERICA’: I encourage everyone to check out this new article by George Leef about the growing threats to free speech on private college campuses. In addition to deftly summarizing what is expected of private campuses in regard to protecting free speech, Leef describes one of the most recent examples of blatant administrative censorship: Colorado College student Thaddeus Pryor’s suspension for making a six word joke on Yik Yak.
You can read Leef’s article over at Forbes.com, and read more about Colorado College’s war on Yik Yak comments over at FIRE’s news blog.
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WAS ANYONE SACKED? Harvard Apologizes For “Social Justice” Placemats. Because when lefties complain, somebody is usually sacked.
TEXAS ALUMNI ORGANIZATION apologizes for Scalia smear.
As I recounted in The American Spectator, and here, the University of Texas alumni organization (of which I am a Life Member) denounced Justice Scalia for a question he asked during the December 9 oral argument in Fisher v. UT, irresponsibly calling his remark “racist and offensive.” I promptly demanded a retraction and apology, which Texas Exes’s vice president of digital strategy, Tim Taliaferro, stridently refused. (The entire e-mail exchange is reproduced in the TAS piece.) I went public (as I had threatened to do if an apology was not forthcoming), and within days, the President of Texas Exes issued an apology. Tepid? Yes. Inadequate? Undoubtedly. (Taliaferro should have been fired.) But gratifying? Certainly. Even the most politically correct, Left-leaning alumni organizations can be confronted and forced to back down if only vocal members speak up. As I stated in my previous Bench Memos post, “silence is assent.” Texas Exes is eating crow. Make it happen at your alma mater.
As a famous leader said: Get in their faces. Punch back twice as hard.
TIME MAGAZINE: U.S. Race Relations at 20-Year Low, Survey Finds.
Well, that’s a form of change, I suppose. When does the hope arrive?
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Professor: I Don’t Care Where My Children Go To College.
DOUBLE DOWN: Sam’s Club responds after black CEO’s anti-white male discrimination stirs calls for boycott. “The president and CEO of WalMart Stores Inc., who owns Sam’s Club, Doug McMillon said the company supports Ms. Brewer and added that they ask their suppliers ‘to prioritize the talent and diversity of their sales teams.'”
PROBABLY ALL PLACED IN KEY “SWING” PRECINCTS: As lawmakers clash over refugees, Syrian immigration quietly tops 100,000 since 2012.
I SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED BUYING MYSELF A DRONE FOR CHRISTMAS — THIS ONE — BUT THIS TOOK THE SHINE OFF OF IT SOMEHOW: Next Monday, Mandatory Drone Registration Begins.
My prediction, however, is that most people will just ignore the rule, which is how things should work.
BLOOMBERG: Why This Year’s Christmas Season Is So Angry:
Yup, it’s an angry Christmas, and it’s worth thinking about why. Something has changed to create such a shift in the public’s leanings, from taking a chance on Obama’s audacity of hope to delighting in Trump’s straight-up audacity. Fear of Islamic terrorism has something to do with it. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that achieved approximately nothing* and the stunning rise of China as a rival power have also left many Americans feeling confused and vulnerable. But the most potent fuel for Trumpism is undoubtedly the sick economy. A long stretch of underperformance** has seeded mistrust in the American Dream among millions of would-be breadwinners, especially people without college educations.
Related: ‘Go To Hell’: Chris Matthews Curses MRCTV for Asking If His Leg Is Still Thrilled for Obama.
* Nice use of passive voice there, champ.
** Unexpectedly.
DISPATCHES FROM THE RPG WORLD: The Long Shadow of D&D’s Alignment System.
From Moe Lane at the PJ Lifestyle section.
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