Category Archives: English

From Purges At #NationalReview To #Duggar Pedophilia

Celebrity, Conservatism, English, Ilana Mercer, Neoconservatism, Republicans

“From Purges At National Review To Duggar Pedophilia” is the latest column, and one “of the few chatty columns I’m likely to write.” On The Unz Review. An excerpt:

Fellow Canadian Kathy Shaidle sends her latest Taki’s Magazine column, “Beta Male Suckiness at National Review.” In it I learn that Kathy’s benevolence approaches the saintly; only recently has she terminated her subscription to National Review (NR). I did so about 15 years ago. The Alberta Report, a Canadian paleoconservative publication with libertarian leanings, soon became the subscription of choice in the home of this budget-conscious, coupon-clipping, immigrant. (Scientific American was another guilty pleasure.) …

… from whom I learn that a National Review editor has terminated Mark Steyn’s print-magazine column. I still recall searching frantically for Florence King’s back-page “Misanthrope’s Corner,” which was retired in 2002. That’s how long ago I bid “adios” to NR’s print version (I access Kevin D. Williamson online, as do I appreciate Josh Gelernter’s mention of my work on South Africa).

But why retire the Steyn byline? Steyn is a star. He also supports wars and is extremely talented. To wit, he managed to both defend and diss columnist John Derbyshire, who himself was dismissed from NR (where he freelanced), for writing “The Talk: Nonblack Version,” published, too, at Taki’s.

By the time the “girlie boys” of NR came for Ann Coulter, I was unaware the magazine still appeared in print. Ann’s column was expunged from National Review after 9/11. The reason? Most real people had a 9/11 moment. Miss Coulter’s cri de coeur was particularly memorable. For exhorting, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity,” she was given the boot. This was a puzzling purge, considering neoconservatives promptly adopted her recommendations, invaded Muslim countries and killed their leaders.

In fact, the neoconservatives at NR supported all Coulter’s recommendations save the peaceful one (Christian conversion). Still do. Clicking through the ENORMOUS icons on the new NR website reveals that Lindsey Graham, John McCain’s evil ideological twin, is touted alongside the Patriot Act, whose “expiration” is mourned. (Fear not, fearless ones, your metadata remains unsafe. The USA Freedom Act, to replace Section 215 of the Patriot Act, is a mere mutation. It privatizes the Patriot Act, by co-opting corporations into the service of the Surveillance State.) …

… Read the rest.“From Purges At National Review To Duggar Pedophilia” is the latest column, now on The Unz Review.

An English Speaker’s View Of ‘A Room To Destroy’ *

Crime, English, Race

I’m going to defend Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who claims she misspoke or was misconstrued when she said about the rioters in Baltimore: “We also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well.”

This is a case of English misspoken. These days I no longer understand what most people around me say, because they can’t put together grammatically coherent sentences. What the mayor meant to convey is that there were unintended consequences to giving the crowds the “space” to protest: hooligans took advantage of the provisions put in place for peaceful protest.

“We also gave those who wished to destroy, space as well” came out wrong. The fact that the mayor’s response to the riots mirrored her botched words—her police force stood down—didn’t bolster the credibility of her office’s clarification.

* The post’s title is a botched play on E. M. Forster’s “A Room With A View.” Sorry, my bad.

The Hideousness Of Humorlessness

Critique, English, Intelligence, The Zeitgeist

On the facts, “The Worst Crimes Against Humanity, Ever” were those of Communism. While being humorless does not come in a close second or even third—it’s still pretty hideous.

In response to the column “The Worst Crimes … “ WND reader “krowbro” (10 hours ago) proved himself a scold and a sourpuss. He quotes this line from my column disapprovingly:

This month, Kim Kardashian and Pope Francis, in order of importance …

The gets that big fat finger of his wagging:

Does this add anything to what would otherwise be a rather insightful commentary? I get the point, Ms. Mercer thinks Pope Francis is inconsequential, but what the heck does that have to do with crimes against humanity? Including snarky snippets like this in one’s commentary detracts from the message and makes one appear sophomoric.

My reply:

No, you don’t get the point of, “This month, Kim Kardashian and Pope Francis, in order of importance …”: This is called humor; cynicism; it’s a quip about a culture in which more people value KK than value the Pontiff. Wit should not need explanation, nor warrant a scolding. Even worse than the importance of KK to our corrupt culture is the inability to “get” an underhanded dig.

What’s so elusive about my sense of humor? Humor is the reason I like Ann Coulter and think she’s immensely talented (even though I disagree with most of her position): She’s witty.

Move On. Nothing More To See @ The Site Of The Rand Paul Crash (Ron, Rand: Politicians Both)

English, Iran, libertarianism, Republicans, Ron Paul

Libertarians seem fascinated with tracking Rand Paul’s every move, waiting for some critical-mass of evidence to show that Rand is no libertarian. How often can one relive the same eureka moment? Move on. There’s nothing more to see at the site of the Rand Paul crash.

“Rand Paul: Action Hero, Or Political Performance Artist?” was penned in 3/1/2013, when Rand was first presenting himself to the public in a big way. Back then, there were still questions to be asked. Matters were inconclusive on the Rand Paul front.

Like most Americans, I like an action hero. I am just incapable of telling whether Rand Paul is such a hero, or whether he is no more than a political performance artist.

One thing should always be a certainty for libertarians:

“It is a smart libertarian who retains a healthy contempt for politicians, even the libertarian ones. Ultimately, they’re all empire builders, who see nothing wrong in using fame and the public dime to peddle their influence and their products.
The people—at least those who’ve never fed at the “public” trough, unlike every single politician and his aide—are always morally superior to the politicians.
In all, some politicians are less sickening than others, but all fit somewhere along a sick-making scale.”

The Daily Beast’s “Why Real Libertarians Hate Rand Paul” is yet more hoo-ha about Rand Paul’s latest un-libertarian mistep—Paul signied Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) open letter to “the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The letter stated, rather condescendingly, that Iranian leaders ‘do not fully understand our constitutional system.’ Soon a new president would be in office, Cotton wrote, and that president could (if Republican, would) ‘revoke’ any executive agreement President Obama signs.”

While the Beast pardons Justin Raimondo for his prolonged Rand Paul crush; I cannot forgive the Beastly writer for a usage such as “cyber-bullying” and “… it feels like.”

UPDATED (3/22): Ron, Rand: Politicians Both.

Ron and Rand Paul are just … politicians. A few years back, in the midst of the Ron Paul orgy, Karen De Coster pointed this out rather gruffly. She must have gotten flack of the order even she didn’t feel like handling, because she did not repeat the observation. It bears repetition. Here: Rand and Ron Paul are politicians. Senior is way better than junior, but he too showed all the trappings of a politician. We just turned a blind eye, b/c he was ours.