Archive for 2020
September 19, 2020
MATTHEW CONTINETTI: How Trump Changed The World: By defying conventional wisdom on the Middle East and China, he reshaped both political parties.
On Sept. 16 the editorial board of the New York Times did the impossible. It said something nice about President Trump. “The normalization of relations between Israel and two Arab states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, is, on the face of it, a good and beneficial development,” the editors wrote. They even went so far as to say that the “Trump administration deserves credit for brokering it.” I had to read that sentence twice to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Perhaps the world really is ending.
Or perhaps the Times cannot avoid the reality that the “Abraham Accords” between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain are a historic achievement. It is the first advance toward peace in the Middle East since Israel signed a treaty with Jordan in 1994. By exposing the intransigence and corruption of the Palestinian authorities, and thereby removing them from the diplomatic equation, the Trump administration reestablished the “peace process” as a negotiation between states. And because the states in the region face a common foe—Iran—they have every incentive to band together. This is textbook realpolitik. The world is better off for it.
Just as remarkable as the deal itself is the bipartisan applause that greeted it in the United States. No one needs reminding that domestic politics is polarized and paranoid. Each party is convinced that the other one will extinguish democracy at the first opportunity. The past three presidencies have been jarringly discontinuous in style, temperament, and policy. But the same Democrats who sometimes appear eager to remove Donald Trump from office by any means necessary treated this foreign policy accomplishment with equanimity and acquiescence. “It is good to see others in the Middle East recognizing Israel and even welcoming it as a partner,” Biden said in a statement, adding that “a Biden-Harris administration will build on these steps.” Senator Chris Coons of Delaware told Jewish Insider that the agreement is “a very positive thing.”
The irony is that Trump’s opponents are ready to accept this “very positive thing” despite warning against and objecting to the policies that contributed to it.
That’s usually how it works.
THAT’S WHAT XI SAID: More Biden: China’s not an opponent of the US, just a “competitor.”
BECAUSE IT’S THE LAST CHANCE TO AVOID A CIVIL WAR? THAT WOULD BE A GOOD REASON: Ted Cruz Explains Perfectly Why RBG’s Seat Must Be Filled Before the Election.
FOR-GAINST IT: Biden Flip-Flops (Again) to Support Banning Fracking Again.
PERHAPS WE SHOULD BRING BACK DUELING: In 2020, We Have Forgotten How To Leave People Alone.
THE BABYLON BEE: TOMORROW’S NEWS TODAY! Biden Forgets To Put On Clothes, Media Praises His Majestic Outfit.
OUTBREAK OF COMMON SENSE REPORTED AT EEOC: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against the Kroger grocery store chain for violating the First Amendment religious freedom rights of two employees who declined to wear a uniform apron bearing the LGBQT symbol.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT LAST NIGHT: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies.
IT’S VIRTUE SIGNALING ALL THE WAY DOWN. AND PROBABLY PART OF “ROLL LEFT AND DIE.” HOLLYWOOD IS IN TROUBLE: The Oscar’s Cynical Affirmative Action Won’t Satisfy Anyone.
I’M SO OLD I KNEW THE ’80S BEFORE THEY WERE HISTORY: New ‘historical’ American Girl doll is from way back in the ‘80s.
COMMIES GOT TO COMMIE. THERE’S A REASON WE USED TO LIKEN THEM TO ZOMBIES: Since the BLM autonomous zone was such a raging success in Seattle, BLM has decided to set one up in Minneapolis.
RUSSIANS CONSERVATIVES HACKED HIS TELEPROMPTER!!!
Joe Biden makes multiple dubious claims at CNN town hall.
“When you guys started talking on television about ‘Biden, if he wins, will be the first person without an Ivy League degree to be elected president,’ I said, ‘Who the hell makes you think I need an Ivy League degree to be president?’” Biden said. “I’m not joking.”
#42 Bill Clinton: Georgetown.
#40 Ronald Reagan: Eureka College.
#39 Jimmy Carter: US Naval Academy (Annapolis).
#38 Gerald Ford: University of Michigan.
#37 Richard Nixon: Whittier College.
#36 LBJ: Texas State University.
#34 Dwight Eisenhower: US military Academy (West Point).
#33 Harry Truman: Spaldings Commercial College (Withdrew without degree).
AND:
Did not graduate from college
- George Washington(the death of Washington’s father ended his formal schooling; however, he believed strongly in formal education, and his will left money and/or stocks to support three educational institutions)[1]
- James Monroe(attended the College of William and Mary, but dropped out to fight in the Revolutionary War)
- Andrew Jackson
- Martin Van Buren
- William Henry Harrison(attended college, but never received a degree)
- Zachary Taylor
- Millard Fillmore(founded the University at Buffalo)
- Abraham Lincoln(had only about a year of formal schooling of any kind)
- Andrew Johnson(no formal schooling of any kind)
- Grover Cleveland
- William McKinley(attended Allegheny College, but did not graduate; also attended Albany Law School, but also did not graduate)
- Harry S. Truman(went to business college and law school, but did not receive a degree from either)
SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED: Practically no COVID-19 illnesses among professional athletes.
I DON’T KNOW. BUT IT’S NOT THE FIRST TIME I HEARD IT FLOATED: Is this idea about the origin of the Wuhan virus too off the wall?
I LARGELY AGREE WITH THIS: Ruth Bader Ginsburg — first thoughts and Open Thread.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO OUR JEWISH READERS. AND LET’S WRAP UP THIS WUFLU THING ALREADY: COVID19 update, Rosh Hashana edition: (1) Israel’s “lockdown lite”; (2) miscellaneous updates.
SO COULD CHINA. AND BASICALLY EVERYONE WHO IS IN THE PAY OF CHINA. WHAT I FAIL TO SEE IS WHY THIS IS A CONSUMMATION DEVOUTLY TO BE HOPED FOR: Big Tech Companies Facing Antitrust Cases Could Benefit From Biden-Harris Ticket, Experts Say.
BECAUSE THEY’RE STUPID ENOUGH TO THINK THEY CAN TAKE POWER — AND HOLD IT — BY CHEATING AND GETTING A SUPREME COURT RUBBER STAMP: Senate Democrats: Supreme Court Vacancy Shouldn’t be Filled Until After Election.
The hold it is the rub, of course.