Archive for 2021
May 29, 2021
ANDREW SULLIVAN: Removing The Bedrock Of Liberalism: What the “Critical Race Theory” debate is really about.
As the origins of our current moral panic about “white supremacy” become more widely debated, we have an obvious problem: how to define the term “Critical Race Theory.” This was never going to be easy, since so much of the academic discourse behind the term is deliberately impenetrable, as it tries to disrupt and dismantle the Western concept of discourse itself. The sheer volume of jargon words, and their mutual relationships, along with the usual internal bitter controversies, all serve to sow confusion. . . .
In his forthcoming book, “The Constitution of Knowledge,” Jonathan Rauch lays out some core principles that liberal societies rely upon. These are not optional if liberal society is to survive. And they are not easy, which is why we have created many institutions and practices to keep them alive. Rauch lists some of them: fallibilism, the belief that anyone, especially you, can always be wrong; objectivity, a rejection of any theory that cannot be proven or disproven by reality; accountability, the openness to conceding and correcting error; and pluralism, the maintenance of intellectual diversity so we maximize our chances of finding the truth.
The only human civilization that has ever depended on these principles is the modern West since the Enlightenment. That’s a few hundred years as opposed to 200,000 or so of Homo sapiens’ history, when tribalism, creedalism, warfare, theocracy or totalitarianism reigned. . . .
My central problem with critical theory is that it takes precise aim at these very core principles and rejects them. By rejecting them, in the otherwise noble cause of helping the marginalized, it is a very seductive and potent threat to liberal civilization.
It’s not in a noble cause. It just pretends to be. It is in fact about gaining and retaining power through the deliberate employment of bigotry.
HOW’S THAT WELCOME WAGON PROGRAM FOR FORMER RESIDENTS OF BLUE STATES COMING ALONG? Louisiana alligator shows up on South Texas beach.
DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: Paying the price of free speech.
Consider, to take another example, the fate of our colleges and universities. Once upon a time, and it was not so long ago, they were institutions dedicated to the pursuit of truth and the transmission of the highest values of our civilization. Today, most are dedicated to the repudiation of truth and the subversion of those values. In short, they are laboratories for the cultivation of wokeness. This is especially true, with only a handful of exceptions, of the most prestigious institutions: the tonier and more expensive the college, the more woke it is likely to be.
There are two central tenets of the woke philosophy. The first is feigned fragility. The second is angry intolerance. The union of fragility and intolerance has given us that curious and malevolent hybrid I have called the crybully, a delicate yet venomous species that thrives chiefly in lush, pampered environments.
The 18th-century German aphorist G.C. Lichtenberg observed, ‘Nowadays we everywhere seek to propagate wisdom: who knows whether in a couple of centuries there may not exist universities for restoring the old ignorance.’ Doubtless Lichtenberg thought he was being clever. How astonished he would have been to discover that he was a prophet, not a satirist.
It’s Roger Kimball, so read the whole thing.
IT’S THE RETURN OF CREEPY JOE: ‘Looks like she’s 19:’ Uproar after Biden’s remarks about girl at Virginia military base.
Flashback: Joe Biden Accused of Groping Breast of Secret Service Agent’s Girlfriend During 2009 Photo-Op. “According to the report, an unidentified Secret Service agent was suspended for a week after the incident for shoving the vice president ‘after he cupped his girlfriend’s breast while the couple was taking a photo with him’.”
Flashback: Democrat Makes #MeToo Claim Against Joe Biden: He Smelled Me and Kissed My Head. “Flores said that pictures of Biden touching other women inappropriately made it more difficult to keep silent, referring to Biden nuzzling the neck of Secretary of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s wife, kissing Sen. Chuck Grassley’s wife on the lips, whispering in women’s ears, and snuggling women on the campaign trail.”
Flashback: It’s time to talk about former Vice President Joe Biden, the open sexual predator.
Biden Swims Naked, Upsetting Female Secret Service Agents:
“Agents say that, whether at the vice president’s residence or at his home in Delaware, Biden has a habit of swimming in his pool nude,” Kessler writes in the book – due for release Aug. 5.
“Female Secret Service agents find that offensive,” he writes.
“Biden likes to be revered as everyday Joe,” an unnamed agent told Kessler. “But the reality is no agents want to go on his detail because Biden makes agents’ lives so tough.”
Plus: Washington Post: What Are We Going To Do About Creepy Uncle Joe Biden?
Also: Joe Biden’s Woman-Touching Habit.
Related: Talking Points Memo: Why Does Creepy Uncle Joe Biden Get A Pass From Liberals?
Plus:
UPDATE: America Shouldn’t Tolerate ‘Biden Being Biden,’ Karol Markowicz warned in 2015 in Time magazine:
The most recent victim is Stephanie Carter. Her husband, Ashton Carter, was sworn in as the new defense secretary. As Ashton spoke at the podium, Biden rubbed Stephanie’s shoulders and whispered in her ear. She is only the latest in a series of women inappropriately groped by the vice president, America’s “Creepy Uncle Joe” as people stood by and watched. One of the more awkward moments from the Joe Biden inappropriate behavior reel is his whispering, grabbing, and ultimately trying to kiss Delaware Senator Chris Coon’ daughter Maggie. She is 13. Coons defended Biden saying that “he was being Joe” and it was just his way of being “thoughtful and sweet” to a young girl in the spotlight. Ultimately, what else could he say? Biden being Biden is an acceptable explanation to the media watching, what is a senator from the vice president’s party supposed to do?
But last year, voters decided that voting out #OrangeManBad was more important than #metoo:
(Updated and bumped.)
WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Exoskeleton reduces amount of work required to walk.
CALIFORNIA COULD DO FAR WORSE — AND HAS. Vote Bear! New video from Reason TV:
LATEST ECONOMIC DATA SHOW RED STATES CRUSHING BLUE STATES — AND HERE’S WHY: “In particular, the unemployment rates different states are experiencing are strongly correlated with the harshness and length of the pandemic lockdowns their state governments imposed. With a few exceptions, Republican governors rolled back restrictions on the economy much faster than their Democratic counterparts…Republican-led states such as Texas have started rejecting the federal welfare expansion en masse, restoring economic sanity to their states’ safety nets. With blue states likely to cling to the benefits until they (hopefully) expire in September, this difference will surely exacerbate the unemployment discrepancy.”
FORGET POLICE, DEFUND HIGHER EDUCATION: Rutgers University Chancellor Christopher J. Molloy Condemns the Rise in Antisemitic Violence; and then Apologizes for Doing So.
#1 BEST SELLER IN FASCISM: The Antifa: Stories From Inside the Black Bloc.
HOSTILE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT: Brandeis University dean: ‘Yes, all white people are racist.’
QUESTION ASKED: Should Roe V. Wade Stand?
At this point, the debate shifts to the juridical question of whether the principle of stare decisis—let the decision stand—insulates Roe from being overruled. We can be confident that this issue will add yet another layer of controversy to the underlying question. The consequences of reinjecting the issue into the political arena will be endlessly debated, with many fearing its increased salience can only increase societal unrest. It seems quite likely that overturning Roe would fracture what remains of the uneasy coalition between pro-market Republicans and their religious compatriots, potentially undermining Republican chances of retaking the House and Senate in 2022.
My own weak preference is to let Roe stand, wrong as it is, and to use moral suasion to reduce the number of abortions throughout the United States. But the ultimate resolution depends on how the above arguments resonate with the five or six conservatives on the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roberts is likely to trim his sails by voting to keep Roe, but he is no longer the swing vote. The five other conservative justices are likely to take the opposite course for either or both of two reasons: first, their sense of judicial restraint recoils at Roe’s unprincipled constitutional adventurism; and second, that abortions are wrongful conduct that state legislatures should be permitted to regulate and punish. Even in this highly charged world, I cannot think of any strong substantive constitutional argument that could persuade them not to overturn Roe.
Read the whole thing.
THE USUAL ACADEMIC “DIVERSITY” DEFENSES WON’T FLY WHEN YOU’RE CHOOSING BUSINESSES BY RACE: Princeton implements ‘supplier diversity action plan.’ And you know that’s what they’ll be doing.
PREDICTING THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: “If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, ‘brethren!’ Be careful, teachers!”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., 1947.
“SHAME, SHAME, SHAME:” Trump Laments Memorial Day Drivers Facing Highest Gas Prices In Seven Years. “Soon Russia and the Middle East will be making a fortune on oil, and you will be saying how good it was to have me as your President. Wasn’t it great to be energy independent, but we are energy independent no more.”
But who are you going to believe, the Biden administration or your lying eyes? Is Jen Psaki Completely Clueless on Gas Prices or Did She Just Tell a Huge Whopper?
Psaki can claim that everything is fine all that she wants, but as PJ Media’s Bryan Preston noted (in a great article for our VIP subscribers), gas prices were already going up before the Colonial Pipeline fiasco, and Biden’s policies likely have a great deal to do with that price bump.
Finally, if Americans are “paying less in real terms for gas,” that might be due to increasing inflation — the natural result of Biden’s massive spending proposals and his laughably inadequate tax plan. That’s not exactly a selling point, Ms. Psaki.
Psaki’s odd statement on gas prices is nothing but shoddy damage control. Americans know that things are different under Joe Biden, they know Biden is cracking down on the gas industry and they know gas prices are higher than they’ve been in nearly a decade. No amount of massaging can erase these facts.
And the hits just keep on coming: Bank of America: “Transitory Hyperinflation Ahead.”
Welcome Back, Carter!
TRUE: The Big Secret Behind the Proposed TRIPS Waiver. “Those who clamor for a waiver seem to ignore that robust, reliable trade secret laws enable such transactions. It may seem counterintuitive, but it’s well established that enforceable secrecy leads to more dissemination of technology, not less.”
AS A WISE COMMUNITY ORGANIZER ADVISES, PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Slapped With Racial Discrimination Lawsuit.
NO ONE SHOULD: Salena Zito: Tim Scott won’t wear your left-wing label.
ANOTHER REASON TO ABOLISH QUALIFIED IMMUNITY: See the FBI Dig Through an Innocent Woman’s Safe Deposit Box. “Federal agents took those boxes, as Reason previously reported, even though they did not have a warrant for them or their contents. The business that housed them, U.S. Private Vaults, is suspected of conspiracy to distribute drugs, launder money, and avoid mandatory deposit reporting requirements. But the unsealed warrant authorizing the raid of U.S. Private Vaults granted the FBI permission to seize only the business’s computers, money counters, security cameras, and large steel frames that effectively act as bookshelves for the boxes themselves.”
PERMITLESS CARRY IS BECOMING A CULTURAL AND LEGAL NORM: Texas Adoption ‘Continues the Momentum for Permitless Carry Across the Country.’
YES, VACCINES ARE ONLY ONE WAY TO ACQUIRE IMMUNITY: Johns Hopkins Prof: Half Of Americans Have Natural Immunity; Dismissing It Is ‘Biggest failure Of Medical Leadership.’
Related: Rand Paul: The science proves people with natural immunity should skip COVID vaccines. “To dictate that a person recovered from COVID-19 with natural immunity also submit to a vaccine — without scientific evidence — is nothing more than hubris. If you have no proof that people who acquired natural immunity are getting or transmitting the disease in real numbers, then perhaps you should just be quiet. People are not getting re-infected in large numbers. And that’s not me saying so, that’s the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, quietly admitting that on its website. One thing they also admitted, while at first trying to hide it, was that there are no studies showing that getting the vaccine if you already have natural immunity is of any benefit at all. They can’t show that, because it has not yet been studied. It took my friend Congressman Thomas Massie to make them admit this, by the way. They originally denied their own studies on this.”
Plus: “We know this. Doctors know this. Scientists who design vaccines know this. Vaccines are created to attempt to replicate the immunity we get from having been infected with a disease. I want all the science deniers to read that again. Vaccines are a replacement for natural immunity. They aren’t necessarily better. In fact, natural immunity from measles confers lifelong immunity and the vaccine immunity wanes over a few decades. I choose to follow the science with COVID, rather than submit to fear-mongering.”
Related, from The Lancet:
A study in the UK reported in The Lancet by Victoria Hall and colleagues,8 called the SARS-CoV-2 Immunity and Reinfection Evaluation (SIREN) study, suggests that being seropositive to SARS-CoV-2 through natural infection protects robustly from asymptomatic and symptomatic reinfection. . . . The findings of the authors suggest that infection and the development of an antibody response provides protection similar to or even better than currently used SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Although antibodies induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection are more variable and often lower in titre than antibody responses induced after vaccination, this observation does make sense considering current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines induce systemic immune responses to spike proteins while natural infection also induces mucosal immune responses and immune responses against the many other open reading frames encoded by the approximately 29 900 nucleotides of SARS-CoV-2. The SIREN study adds to a growing number of studies, which demonstrate that infection does protect against reinfection, and probably in an antibody-dependent manner.
In my house, we believe science is real. And Rand Paul’s track record on Covid is vastly better than Fauci’s. Or the CDC’s.
SHOCKINGLY, “FURRY POTATO” IS APPARENTLY NOT CNN’S BRIAN STELTER: Guilty Plea for Anti-Semitic Death Threats + Odd Link to Transgender YouTuber.