Author Archive: Glenn Reynolds

IT’S AN INSURRECTION, AND AN INSURGENCY, AND IT’S FOREIGN-FUNDED AND ORGANIZED:

THE GOVERNMENT AS CURRENTLY CONSTITUTED IS JUST A MONEY LAUNDRY FOR POLITICAL TYPES:

THE LEFT’S WORST NIGHTMARE, A FLOURISHING AMERICA:

JAMES FREEMAN: American Exceptionalism: It’s about time a European official forcefully rebutted the ‘Newsroom’ fallacy.

Even Barack Obama eventually came around to embracing American exceptionalism. But if one hangs around social media, one is periodically treated to a clip from an old HBO program in which a character played by Jeff Daniels seems to puncture the idea that there is something special and unique about the United States of America. The clip is often shared by those who wish to demonstrate that they are too smart and knowledgable to succumb to enthusiastic patriotism.

In the scene from a show called “The Newsroom,” Mr. Daniels is wittingly or unwittingly portraying a self-important and semi-informed media personage. His character dismisses the idea that the U.S. is the greatest country in the world and argues that freedom doesn’t particularly distinguish the U.S. He quickly rattles off an extensive list of other countries where people also enjoy freedom.

What he does not mention is that in every single one of the countries on his list, free people enjoy the protection of the American defense umbrella. The smug character then goes on to make the preposterous suggestion that roughly 180 countries in the world are free, as if it’s the natural state of things and not a blessing paid for with the blood of Americans and other brave people over many generations.

Of course there have also been enormous financial bills to pay. In only one country did free people build an economy large enough to fund the worldwide defense of liberty for decades. This exceptional and indispensable quality of America underlines why the financial health of the U.S. is also indispensable. There is no backstop for us. It’s essential that U.S. government spending is reduced and put on a path toward budget balance not just for Americans but because a collapse of the United States would be uniquely catastrophic for the world. Search history and it’s hard to find happy endings for governments that took on so much debt that interest payments rose above defense spending, as has recently occurred in the U.S.

Trump understands this.

THE WALL OF DENIAL IS CRUMBLING ALL OVER:

PUT THIS IN THE ELLIPSIS HALL OF FAME:

Yes. He actually yada-yadaed freedom of religion.

ICE HAS THE CHANCE TO DO THE FUNNIEST THING:

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

TWO-TIER JUSTICE:

THE “WARMTH OF COLLECTIVISM” TURNS OUT AS USUAL:

UPDATE: Zohran Mamdani Wore Custom Carhartt to Tackle His First Snowstorm as Mayor: Snowstorms have long been an aptitude test for New York City mayors. For this particular blizzard, Mamdani coolly dressed the part.

So he’s flunked the test, but at least he was sharply dressed. (Bumped).

#JOURNALISM: