THINK OF IT AS EVOLUTION IN ACTION: When the Gene Pool Self-Chlorinates.

Being sufficiently idealistic can be a capital offense.

ROBESPIERRE LEARNED TOO LATE: First Amendment Rights and the Lesson of Robespierre

So, with Twitter and Facebook “social justice” mobs, it’s not too much to say that we’ve got another reign of terror, in which people can be driven from public life and have their lives and livelihood destroyed by the Robespierres of the mob. When someone protests that their First Amendment rights have been violated, the common answer is that these are private companies. But “first amendment rights“ is something that’s become a convenient shorthand for the natural rights of free speech that the First Amendment exists to protect from government interference. The right is not provided by the First Amendment, it’s guaranteed — however imperfectly — against the government by the First Amendment.

I’d say “read the whole thing,” but that would be immodest.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: When Antifa Chants ‘No America At All’

THE PROPER RESPONSE TO THESE COORDINATED EDITORIALS IS TO LAUGH AT THEM: Thoughts on First Amendment theater:

The media misdirect attention to the First Amendment rather than hold themselves accountable for reporting often wrong, misleading, or incomplete. They choose loaded words, add phrases, insert catty remarks, and bury ledes.

We know. We edit such copy every day. The president doesn’t “slap” on tariffs; he imposes them. He doesn’t “slash” budgets; he reduces them. We edit out Improvised Editorial Devices (IEDs) that have no place in journalism, like the clause “Ever the showman” designed to shape the mental battlefield. We rearrange copy to focus on what is significant, not salacious. We ignore petty subjects they favor and request coverage of significant ones they overlook.

A journalist is only as good as the last story written, and journalists should approach subjects with a full set of skills and little baggage. That’s hard to do when some are paid by news sources, fed rumors by unnamed sources, or personally involved with those about whom they report.

Quality news articles should be as accurate and complete as a nautical chart. To navigate into port, no sea captain would trust a chart that inserted non-existent shoals or omitted real ones.

IT’S COMPLETELY UNPRECEDENTED FOR TRUMP TO PULL A CLEARANCE: Or maybe not.

A Trump-supporting Pentagon analyst was stripped of his security clearance by Obama-appointed officials after he complained of questionable government contracts to Stefan Halper, the FBI informant who spied on the Trump presidential campaign.

Adam Lovinger, a 12-year strategist in the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment, complained to his bosses about Halper contracts in the fall of 2016, his attorney, Sean M. Bigley, told The Washington Times.

On May 1, 2017, his superiors yanked his security clearance and relegated him to clerical chores.

Read the whole thing. There are some — familiar names.

DON’T MAKE US ANGRY. YOU WON’T LIKE US WHEN WE’RE ANGRY: Sarah Hoyt Silencing the Opposition is Like Tamping Down a Powder Keg

SARAH HOYT: We are the counterculture!

BOOK PLUG FRIDAY: Mackey Chandler interview plus books by Grant, Boykin, Curtis, Tinney & Batten, and Burkhead

THE WONDER OF THE DANCING BEAR: Yahoo publishes a (reasonably) even-handed piece on Brandon Straka, founder of the #WalkAway movement.

ARE YOU A SERF OR A CITIZEN: Sarah Hoyt asks How Long Will You Tolerate Having Your Franchise Deprecated and Nullified?

AND I STILL THINK ALEX JONES SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN “DEPLATFORMED”: Alex Jones and his crowd of incels at the 2008 Denver Democratic Convention, vs Michelle Malkin. I’m the large crew-cutted obstacle in the black shirt.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Yeah, whenever I think of Alex Jones, this is what I think of. He’s a total dick. But what they did to him was still wrong. And they’re already warming up to do it to others.

NEO-NEO-NEOCON: Neoneocon, who is often linked here, has changed sites. Look for her at thenewneo.com

SARAH HOYT: The Left Are the Locusts of Culture

EVERGREEN HEADLINE: The NEA is a Racist and Evil Organization

BOOK PLUG FRIDAY: Give Your Characters Bodies with Alma Boykin on her indie writing, and books from Durgampudi, Snedeker, Melson, and Instapunditeer Austin Bay.

WHEN YOUR NOVEL DIES: Sarah Hoyt on the middle-of-the-book paralysis.

THE LEFT’S GREATEST DESIRE IS TO FIT IN: Sarah Hoyt on the “cool kids” in DC and Hollywood.

DO WE NEED WEB SERVERS? I’ve got a new piece up about a “serverless” web.

WRITING SHORT IS DIFFICULT:  Today’s Lesson: 21 Words to Write Your Story

Book Plug Friday, and no Glenn didn’t write the article part.

SARAH HOYT TEACHES WRITING FOR A LIVING: How To Write When You Don’t Want To

SARAH HOYT ASKS: Why Do Americans Have Political Blogs, and Why Are They Rare Elsewhere?

WOMAN KILLED, MAN IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER NERVE AGENT POISONING IN UK:  U.K. woman dies after exposure to Novichok, the same nerve agent used in Skripal attack

WE MUST DESTROY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN ORDER TO SAVE IT: Ed links below to Neo-Neocon’s rebuttal to Max Boot et al. Here’s what I think people must understand:

Here’s what Democrats are campaigning on:

• Raise taxes by a trillion dollars — at least. Trillions more if they got all the programs they want.
• A $15 minimum wage
• Universal single-payer health care
• End pretty much any control over the borders or immigration enforcement inside the U.S. — and while I believe in open borders in principle, open borders and a $15 minimum wage and expanding social programs are, finally, just crazy talk.
• Impeachment — followed by an extended Constitutional crisis, either with McConnell pointing and laughing, or Chuck Schumer trying to push it through, and then failing to get two-thirds of the Senate to vote to convict. Or getting a conviction followed by Pence becoming president, rinse and repeat.

Let’s be real emphatic here: by pushing for votes for Democrats to “punish Trump” or “save the Republican Party” that’s what you’re advocating. Voting for Democrats means voting for their policies.

The notion that it’s worth giving up all of that in order to punish the electorate for electing a crude real-estate developer instead of the Right Kind of People might make you any number of things.

“Conservative,” however, is not one of them.

YOU MUST MEASURE YOUR BLOOD SUGAR TO MANAGE YOUR BLOOD SUGAR: Why the One Drop Glucometer is the One to Buy

WHAT’S IT WORTH TO TEACH TRUMP A LESSON? #NeverTrump: Objectively Pro-Democrat