Wokeness v Democracy

For John, BLUF:  The Author, Ms Bari Weiss, knows of what she speaks.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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We Got Here Because of Cowardice. We Get Out With Courage

Here is the sub-headline:

Say no to the Woke Revolution

From Commentary Magazine, by Writer Bari Weiss, November 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

A lot of people want to convince you that you need a Ph.D. or a law degree or dozens of hours of free time to read dense texts about critical theory to understand the woke movement and its worldview.  You do not.  You simply need to believe your own eyes and ears. Let me offer the briefest overview of the core beliefs of the Woke Revolution, which are abundantly clear to anyone willing to look past the hashtags and the jargon.

And now you need to go to the article.

"Wokeness" is allowing a group of bullies to shut dow the free speech of many other citizens.  It filters a bunch of bad stuff, but also truths,  Truths free men and women, even if in jest, should feel free to speak,  No freedom to speakmeans no free elections, which means no democracy.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

It Is Getting Ugly Out There

For John, BLUF:  The exposure of people willng to put down hispanics in the name of putting down Caucasians who don't conform to today's woke definitions.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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On the Hypocrites at Apple Who Canceled Antonio Garcia-Martinez

Here is the sub-headline:

Much easier to ruin a career than mess with a corporate cash cow

From TK News, by Writer Matt Taibbi, 14 March 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

I’m biased, because I know Antonio Garcia-Martinez and something like the same thing once happened to me, but the decision by Apple to bend to a posse of internal complainers and fire him over a passage in a five-year-old book is ridiculous hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy by the complainers, and defamatory cowardice by the bosses — about right for the Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style era of timorous conformity and duncecap monoculture the woke mobs at these places are trying to build as their new Jerusalem.

Garcia-Martinez is a brilliant, funny, multi-talented Cuban-American whose confessional memoir Chaos Monkeys is to big tech what Michael Lewis’s Liar’s Poker was to finance.  A onetime high-level Facebook executive — he ran Facebook Ads — Antonio’s book shows the House of Zuckerberg to be a cult full of on-the-spectrum zealots who talked like justice activists while possessing the business ethics of Vlad the Impaler:

Facebook is full of true believers who really, really, really are not doing it for the money, and really, really will not stop until every man, woman, and child on earth is staring into a blue-framed window with a Facebook logo.

Writer Matt Taibbi shows nothing but distain for the executives, and workers, at Apple, who hired and then fired, in short order, Mr Antonio García-Martínez.  I don't know Mr García-Martínez from Adam's Odd Ox.  However, it looks like the mob is coming for him and those of us still sane need to stand by him, in whatever way we can.

It isn't like Mr García-Martínez was a buddy of Mr Jeffrey Epstein.  Nor is Mr García-Martínez a known spouse abuser.  However, it is obvious that Apple employees have no sense of humor and no sense of tolerence for the opinions of others if they diverge from the accepted line.  That means we are approaching the French Revolution stage known as the Reign of Terror.

You have been warned.

Regards  —  Cliff

Stand up to the Mob

For John, BLUF:  It is Sunday, so I am trying to get caught up.  This is about the Cancel Culture.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Bill Maher mocks social justice warriors, warns cancel culture is 'real, insane, and coming to a neighborhood near you'

Here is the sub-headline:

'Memo to social justice warriors:  When what you're doing sounds like an Onion headline, stop'

From The Blaze, by Mr Paul Sacca, 27 February 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

On the latest episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher," the liberal talk show host warned that cancel culture is not just reserved for celebrities, but the outrage mob is also coming to punish everyday Americans and even historical figures like Abraham Lincoln.

Bill Maher began his monologue by saying, "Liberals need a Stand Your Ground law ... for cancel culture.  So that when the woke mob comes after you for some ridiculous offense, you'll stand your ground, stop apologizing.  Because I can't keep up with who's on the s*** list."

"Cancel culture is real, it's insane, it's growing exponentially, and it's coming to a neighborhood near you," he cautioned.  "If you think it's just for celebrities – no.  In an era when everyone is online, everyone is a public figure."

I think Mr Maher has said what needs to be said.

Regards  —  Cliff

Fighting Back Against Wokism

For John, BLUF:  The author of this piece is former NYT Editor Bari Weiss.  She offers us 10 ways to fight woke culture, which I leave to you to look up at the URL.  I do provide her opening argument.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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10 ways to fight back against woke culture

From The New York Post, by Writer Bari Weiss, 31 January 2021, 10:05pm.

Here is the lede plus four:

I realize the faddish thing to say these days is that we live in the worst, most broken and backward country in the world and maybe in the history of civilization.  It’s utter nonsense.

I have a few basic litmus tests in my own life:  Can I wear a tank top in public?  Can I walk down the street holding the hand of my partner, a (beautiful) woman, in many places in America without getting a second glance?  Can I wear a Jewish star without fear?

I do not take those things for granted.  I know very well that in many other places, the answers would be different, and my life wouldn’t be possible at all.

America is imperfect.  (Does it even need to be said?)  There is bigotry toward blacks and gays and Jews and immigrants; there is intense polarization; political violence is becoming more regular; elected representatives believe conspiracy theories.  All true here as in many other countries being torn apart by the dislocations of the 21st century.

But there is no gulag in America.  There are no laws permitting honor killings.  There is no formal social credit system of the kind that exists right now in China.  By any measure, we have achieved incredible progress and enjoy extraordinary freedoms.  And yet people aren’t acting that way.  They are acting, increasingly, like subjects in a totalitarian country.

No gulag, no sanctioned honor killings, no social credit system.  Considering what is happening in the rest of the world, life in these United States is pretty good.  Not perfect.  But, relatively, pretty good.

The problem is we could lose it all if we don't stand up to the tyranny of the woke left, the politically correct, who would suppress our liberal freedoms, such as free speech and an open economy.  We don't need to fight, but we do need to stand fast, and support others who are standing fast and being canceled, being fired, being beaten up in mostly peaceful demoonstrations.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Teaching Failure

For John, BLUF:  It appears the schools that educated the members of the San Francisco School Board failed, miserably.  How else to explain their meeting where they de-named 44 schools?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Don’t care much about history

Here is the sub-headline:

From the Blog Linking and Thinking on Education, by Ms Joanne Jacobs, 1 February 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

In a process marked by “ignorance and incompetence,” San Francisco’s school board voted to rename 44 schools, ratifying historical errors and angering parents of “Remote School 1, Remote School 2 and so on,” writes Joe Eskenazi in Mission Local.

The board, which is in no rush to reopen schools, spent five seconds confirming the cancelation of “Abraham Lincoln.”  The Great Emancipator isn’t fit to have a school named after him because he supported the transcontinental railroad and the Homestead Act, which opened up the West for settlement, which displaced indigenous peoples.

The part I don't get is why they are living in San Francisco, California, if President Abraham Lincoln was so in the wrong for opening up the West.  Maybe they have the Cape Horn exemption.

This action by the San Francisco School Board is an act of woke madness.

Here is a good exit quote from the Blog:

The school Board did not listen to historians because they are way too busy not listening to scientists telling them that it is now safe to reopen schools with the due cautionary measures in place.  And of course, being so busy not listening they cannot possibly be expected to see that they are shepherding a generations of young San Franciscans into isolation, depression and disengagement from learning.

Maybe they are all science denying Republicans.  That is all I can figure.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

All The Cooking Fit For Wokism

For John, BLUF:  Political Correctness ruined a popular cooking show from Bon Appetit  Who benefitted?  Not the many people who viewed the show and learned about cooking while being entertained.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How Toxic Leftism Killed The Vibrant Bon Appetit YouTube Channel

Here is the sub-headline:

The Bon Appetit saga proved you can politicize everything, as the mob demands, or you can create a vibrant, innovative culture — but you can't have both.

From The Federalist, by Sommelier Ellie Bufkin, 10 December 2020.

Here is the lede plus five:

During the lockdown regime of the past year, millions of Americans turned to their televisions, computers, and phone screens to escape despair.  Because we are creatures of innovation and curiosity, however, many people taught themselves to make sourdough bread starters from the internet and something new the next day.

The bread-baking game got so out of hand at one point this summer that yeast vanished from grocery store shelves.  The appetite for hobbies, knowledge, and bread was ferocious.

Suddenly barred from dining out, the gastronomically inclined turned to their own kitchens, ordered new tools from the internet, and taught themselves culinary tricks.  Social media overflowed with images of the burgeoning class of new home chefs, spurned from their favorite table at Le Diplomate but finally finding joy in sipping Gamay at home while searing their first-ever magret de canard.

It takes a nearly perfect combination of skill, approachability, and charisma to hook an audience the way Julia Child did, but one cooking channel stood above the rest, garnering millions of loyal followers even before the pandemic.  Bon Appetit’s “Test Kitchen” series on YouTube seemed to truly understand people’s modern need for a combination of real instruction with a willingness to fail.

Even in the vast sea of online cooking shows, this one stood out.  Imagine the natural give and take of NBC’s enormously popular sitcom “Friends” in a cooking show.  That was the vibe from the bright and engaging stars of the “Test Kitchen.”

Even with all its charisma and promise, however, Bon Appetit couldn’t stave off the death grip of leftist ideology.  It became one more source of entertainment and inspiration relegated to the burning cultural heap just when Americans most needed a pandemic and political escape.

Many of us learn from our mistakes.  That is not good enough for our woke masters.  For them it is one strike and you are out.  There is no redemption.  It is an attitude that reminds me more of the Chinese Communist Party than of America.  Freedom means the right to be wrong.  It is not a license to do wrong, but it is the space to grow and correct one's mistakes.

Bad behavior is not to be encouraged.  Rather, it is to be discouraged.  Having an alternative view is one thing, and being a bore, or being insulting to other people is another.  There may be a fine line in some cases.  We must leave space for alternative views, although not necessarily in our own parlor or our local drinking establishment.  Alternative views help us advance.  Much of what we knew to be true 121 years ago has now been proven false.  And it is a better world for it.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Farewell Indian Maiden

For John, BLUF:  From my teen years in California I remember the Land-O-Lakes packaging, even though we used a different brand.  Now it is gone.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Land O Lakes Indian Maiden Bows to Political Correctness

From PJ Mwsia, by Ms Victoria Taft, 16 April 2020.

Here is the lede plus four:

The politically-correct crowd has claimed another scalp.

Quietly and without fanfare, the makers of Land O Lakes butter rubbed out the lovely maiden that was the centerpiece of the company’s logo for 100 years.

In the middle of the logo now is a big zero.

That stands for the amount of sense that it makes to get rid of a lovely image that offended few if any Native Americans, for whom it was supposedly removed.

“You know who loves being represented in American culture?  According to a survey of 4000 Native Americans by NAGA, Native Americans do,” the red-headed libertarian tweeted.  “You know who doesn’t love Native Americans being represented in American Culture?  Woke suburban white women.”

It goes down hill from there.

I guess there was a reason for changing the logo, but this wasn't it.  Being sensitive to the feelings of others is important.  However, when the minority exercises tyranny over the majority there should be questions asked.  For example, are you offended because something is being misrepresented or are you offended because you enjoy the power of being offended and expressing it?

In fifty years only the prurient will remember this.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Hate Fighting "Hate"

For John, BLUF:  The SPLC, and CAIR, have been spewing hate for some time.  In the case of the SPLC, it seems to have evolved to its current position.  Which is sad.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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SPLC, CAIR Take Aim at $121 Billion Industry in Effort to Silence Conservative 'Hate Groups'

From PJ Media, by Reporter Tyler o'Neil, 11 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus two:

Liberal activist groups are pressuring donor-advised funds (DAFs) to blacklist conservative and Christian organizations in the name of fighting white supremacy and "hate."  On Tuesday, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), themselves far from immune from scandal, released a report urging this philanthropic sector — which held more than $121 billion in donor contributions in 2018 — to join the political warfare effort of isolating conservative voices from polite society.  The report favorably cites Fidelity Charitable's and Schwab Charitable's decisions to ban contributions to the NRA, citing San Francisco's resolution condemning the NRA as a "terrorist organization."

"Straddling the intersection of public and private, the philanthropic sector — like tech companies — functions as a powerful platform for hate," the report warns.  The SPLC and CAIR pepper their report with mentions of specific white nationalist groups and terrorist attacks inspired by white supremacy, associating these things with SPLC-accused "hate groups."

The SPLC's much-vaunted "hate group" list includes mainstream Christian charities (like the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom and the policy group Family Research Council) and conservative nonprofits like the Center for Security Policy, ACT for America, and the Center for Immigration Studies.  Amid a racism and sexism scandal last year, former SPLC employees confessed that the "hate group" list is a fundraising scam.  A would-be terrorist even used the SPLC "hate map" to target the Family Research Council for a mass shooting in 2012.  The SPLC faces multiple defamation lawsuits regarding the accusations.  (I cover all this and more in detail in my book Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center.)

The Fascist/Communist approach of the SPLC and CAIR to those who deviate from the Party Line is abominable, and very un-American.  These are the thought police.  If you deviate from their line you are evil. As an American, who believes in the value of free speech, this is embarrassing.  Worse, there are those who actually think the SPLC is a criminal enterprise.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Chris Matthews Crumbles

For John, BLUF:  Two questions.  Are we now banning all history involving National Socialists?  If National Socialism is banned, why not 20th Century Communism?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Chris Matthews Issues On-Air Apology to Bernie Sanders:  ‘I Was Wrong’

From Mediaite, by Reporter Josh Feldman, 24 February 2020.

Here is the lede plus four:

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews opened his show Monday night with an apology to Bernie Sanders.

Over the weekend, Matthews compared Sanders’ ascendancy in the Democratic race for the presidency to when the Nazis took France:

“I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940, and the general, Reynaud, calls up Churchill and says, ‘It’s over.’  And Churchill says ‘How can it be?  You’ve got the greatest army in Europe.  How can it be over?’  He said, ‘It’s over.’”

Tonight Matthews addressed those comments and apologized:

“As I watched the one-sided results of Saturday’s Democratic caucus in Nevada, I reached for a historical analogy and used a bad one.  I was wrong to refer to an event from… the first days of World War II.  Senator Sanders, I’m sorry for comparing anything from that tragic error in which so many suffered, especially the Jewish people, to an electoral result in which you were the well-deserved winner.  This is going to be a hard-fought heated campaign of ideas.  In the days and weeks and months ahead, I will strive to do a better job myself of elevating the political discussion.”

This is a corrupt case.  Reporter Matthews didn't compare anyone to Nazis.  This was not an insult to the memory of Senator Sanders' relatives who were consumed in the Holocaust.

This was about conveying surprising bad news.  I like the historic example.  The reaction of MSNBC shows a sensitivity to appearance over an understanding of history.♠

I am sad for Mr Matthews.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The German Army success in France in 1940 owed little to the ideology of National Socialism and a lot to do with the German Army going to school after The Great War, and the French not.

Good Bye Laura Ingalls Wilder

For John, BLUF:  The past is a bog in which we can be trapped and killed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Laura Ingalls Wilder's name removed from book award over racism concerns

Here is the sub-headline:

American Library Association changes award name after examining ‘expressions of stereotypical attitudes’ in books

From The Guardian, by the Associated Press in Chicago, 24 June 2018.

At some level I don't care.  I didn't read the Little House on the Prairie series.  I read My Ántonia in school.  But, maybe it wasn't a real children's book, what with the burial of the suicide at the crossroads discussion.

This is why we need to be careful about naming public buildings and the like after living people.  When we are digging up the dead and desecrating their graves in the name of Presentism, how much more risky is commemorating the living?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Anti-Blasphemy LawsRules

For John, BLUF:  The PC Police are out of hand.  Freedom, and thus democracy and economic growth, are at risk.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Samizdata quote of the day

From Samizdata, posted by Mr Perry de Havilland (London), 15 March 2018.

Here it is:

In Britain in the 21st century you can be punished for mocking gods.  You can be expelled from the kingdom, frozen out, if you dare to diss Allah.  Perversely adopting medieval Islamic blasphemy laws, modern Britain has made it clear that it will tolerate no individual who says scurrilous or reviling things about the Islamic god or prophet.  Witness the authorities’ refusal to grant entrance to the nation to the alt-right Christian YouTuber Lauren Southern.  Her crime?  She once distributed a leaflet in Luton with the words ‘Allah is gay, Allah is trans, Allah is lesbian…’, and according to the letter she received from the Home Office informing her of her ban from Britain, such behaviour poses a ‘threat to the fundamental interests of [British] society’.

This is a very serious matter and the lack of outrage about it in the mainstream press, not least among those who call themselves liberal, is deeply disturbing.

– Brendan O’Neill

Much as I applaud The United Kingdom for moving to leave the European Union (BREXIT), I think this kind of high handedness to be appalling.

Regards  —  Cliff

Culturally Corrupt Academics

For John, BLUF:  It is just UMass Amherst being UMass Amherst, wandering off the left side of a steep slope.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Amherst course puzzles over how women become conservative

This is from Campus Reform, and their Massachusetts Campus Correspondent, Ms Kassy Dillon (@kassydillon), on 5 October 2017.

The key paragraph:

According to the course description, the seminar will explore “the consequences of neoliberalism, cultural conservatism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiments for women of different social and economic strata as well as women’s divergent political responses.”

But, it seems to follow the line being presented by Former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

"Protecting the Children"

For John, BLUF:  Some groups are politically protected and some aren't.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The charismatic leader of a ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect "was reportedly taking part in a purification ritual last Friday when he was swept away by an unusually strong river current."

That is the headline at the Althouse Blog for this story at the (Canadian) National Post.

The National Post reports in "Drowning of Lev Tahor leader raises fears over ultra-Orthodox sect's future/The strict rules [Shlomo] Helbrans imposed led Israelis to nickname the cult-like group the Jewish Taliban, because female members wear burka-like robes beginning at age three."

Per the news report the Lev Tahor Sect has moved from the outskirts of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, north of Montreal, to Chatham, Ontario, then on to Guatemala, due to fears of Political Authorities taking their children from them.

Would we (or the Canadians, in this case) threaten to do the same to some Muslim sect here in the US (or in this case, Canada)?  I am doubtful.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

CNN: No Sense of Humor

For John, BLUF:  Frankly, I don't care what CNN thinks.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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CNN:  Trump’s Wrestling Meme May Be Racist, Antisemitic

This is from Breitbart, by Reporter Joel B Pollak, on 3 July 2017

The lede:

CNN is fighting back after President Donald Trump tweeted a spoof video on Sunday showing him wrestling the network to the ground. On Sunday, network commentators described the video as a form of incitement; on Monday, the network reported that the video raised “questions” about “racism, bigotry, and violence … [and] antisemitism.”

This is rubbish.

And as for antisemitism, I bet if the President's Son-in-Law looked he would find way more at CNN than in his Father-in-Law's tweet.

Hat tip to Memeorandum.

Regards  —  Cliff

Trump's Real Sin

For John, BLUF:  Trump didn't just win, he rejected the values of the Progressives.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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No Guilt This Time

This is from a site known as American Greatness, by Dr Mark Bauerlein, a Senior Editor at First Things and Professor of English at Emory University,

Here is an excerpt that sums up the thesis:

Which brings us back to Donald Trump.  Why do people hate him so?  Because he won’t accept this appointed condition.  He has no white guilt.  He doesn’t feel any male guilt, either, or American guilt or Christian guilt.  He talks about the United States with uncritical approval—’America First’—and that’s a thought crime in the eyes of liberals.

Here is how Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds sums it up:

He rejects their assumed position of moral and intellectual supremacy.  Which is both fair, and painful, because that position has always been a lie.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Is It Really Free Speech?

For John, BLUF:  Be glad you live in Lowell and not Wellesley.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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FREE SPEECH IS NOT VIOLATED AT WELLESLEY

I am still trying to figure out the ebb and flow of tweeting, but this one helps me understand.  First I get this item from David Burge, the Iowa Hawk, some six hours ago:

David Burge Retweeted Byron York
Good lord, the whole passage is a hate crime against grammar.

He is referring to a passage from The Wellesley News, which Byron York is talking about, where he says:

Student editors insist free speech is not violated at Wellesley, threaten those who disagree.

Here are a couple of paragraph from the item in The Wellesley News:

We have all said problematic claims, the origins of which were ingrained in us by our discriminatory and biased society.  Luckily, most of us have been taught by our peers and mentors at Wellesley in a productive way.  It is vital that we encourage people to correct and learn from their mistakes rather than berate them for a lack of education they could not control.  While it is expected that these lessons will be difficult and often personal, holding difficult conversations for the sake of educating is very different from shaming on the basis of ignorance.

This being said, if people are given the resources to learn and either continue to speak hate speech or refuse to adapt their beliefs, then hostility may be warranted.  If people continue to support racist politicians or pay for speakers that prop up speech that will lead to the harm of others, then it is critical to take the appropriate measures to hold them accountable for their actions.  It is important to note that our preference for education over beration regards students who may have not been given the chance to learn.  Rather, we are not referring to those who have already had the incentive to learn and should have taken the opportunities to do so.  Paid professional lecturers and politicians are among those who should know better.

OK, I get it.  If you go to college at Wellesley you conform or they beat you up.  That seems straight forward.  And another reason to go to a commuter college or university.

I know you want to get away from your parents, but why trade one group that is telling you how to live your life for another group that is telling you how to live your life.  Submission is submission. Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Middlebury College Meltdown

For John, BLUF:  You can walk away from someone speaking, but shutting them down is not the American Way.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Charles Murray’s ‘Provocative’ Talk

From The Old Gray Lady, and its "Gray Matter" column in the "Sunday Review", for 15 April 2017.  The Authors are Wendy M Williams and Stephen J Ceci.

Here is how it starts:

The talk that the political scientist Charles Murray attempted to deliver last month at Middlebury College in Vermont must have been quite provocative — perhaps even offensive or an instance of hate speech.  How else to explain the vehement opposition to it?

Before Mr. Murray’s arrival on campus, an open letter to the college from several hundred alumni protested that his scholarly opinions were “deceptive statistics masking unfounded bigotry.”  And when it came time for Mr. Murray to give his speech, which was based on his 2012 book, “Coming Apart,” an analysis of the predicament of the white working class in the United States, he was shouted down by student and faculty protesters. In chants they accused him of being a racist and a white supremacist.  Some of the protesters became unruly and physically violent, forcing Mr. Murray to flee.

Mr. Murray ended up giving a version of his talk later that day, via livestream, from another room.  How extreme were his views?

We have our own opinion, but as social scientists we hoped to get a more objective answer.  So we transcribed Mr. Murray’s speech and — without indicating who wrote it — sent it to a group of 70 college professors (women and men, of different ranks, at different universities).  We asked them to rate the material on a scale from 1 to 9, ranging from very liberal to very conservative, with 5 defined as “middle of the road.”  We also offered them a chance to explain why they gave the material the score they did.

Here are the results from their first pass at the issue:

American college professors are overwhelmingly liberal. Still, the 57 professors who responded to our request gave Mr. Murray’s talk an average score of 5.05, or “middle of the road.”  Some professors said that they judged the speech to be liberal or left-leaning because it addressed issues like poverty and incarceration, or because it discussed social change in terms of economic forces rather than morality.  Others suggested that they detected a hint of discontent with the fact that Donald Trump was elected president.  No one raised concerns that the material was contentious, dangerous or otherwise worthy of censure.

That was the blind test.  Here is a test a little further out toward the edge:

We also sent the transcript to a group of 70 college professors who were told that the speech was by Mr. Murray. The 44 who responded gave it an average rating of 5.77. That score is significantly more conservative, statistically speaking, than the rating given by the professors unaware of the author’s identity (suggesting that knowing Mr. Murray was the author colored the evaluation of the content). Even still, 5.77 is not too far from “middle of the road.”

The following is the third slice of the pie"

Finally, we divided Mr. Murray’s speech into 10 portions and got ratings on each portion from a paid sample of 200 American adults via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, an online marketplace for jobs and tasks. These participants identified themselves as having an average political orientation of 4.21, or leaning slightly liberal. When their ratings for the 10 sections were averaged, they too gave the talk a centrist score: 5.22. (Average ratings for the 10 portions ranged from 4 to 6.)

What happened to the free exchange of ideas?  If we are going to shut down free speech we are going to end up with distorted political outcomes.  In fact, part of what propelled Mr Trump, in my humble opinion, was the idea that political correctness was distorting the political discourse.  People voted for Mr Trump who felt that Mrs Clinton represented a political correctness out of control.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

There is No Truth

For John, BLUF:  What was Pilate's line?  "What is truth?" (John 18:38).  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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All the lies…          
          …that are fit to print.

As Ms Neo-Neocon says:

Find them in the NY Times:

Check it out and read the comments.  And check out this link from the Blog Post.

I particularly like the fact that the Mr Michael Oren, currently a Knesset Member and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy in the Prime Minister's Office, suggested to the person in The New York Times Editorial Office that the Allied Landing in Normandy in 1944 was a fact and the response was a waffle.

Here is the article from The Claremont Independent, a student newspaper where three students condemn the paper for believing there is truth out there, as truth.

We are in a post-modern era. Take this item out of Pajama Media

That is the only way to read an open letter written by three students who say the idea of objective truth is a "myth" designed to "silence oppressed peoples."  The authors, Dray Denson, Avery Jonas, and Shanaya Stephenso, along with over twenty co-signers, are demanding that all five Claremont Colleges “take action” against the conservative journalists on the staff of The Claremont Independent, presumably for reporting facts that make them feel unsafe.

In their letter the three students state:

The idea that there is a single truth–‘the Truth’–is a construct of the Euro-West that is deeply rooted in the Enlightenment, which was a movement that also described Black and Brown people as both subhuman and impervious to pain.  This construction is a myth and white supremacy, imperialism, colonization, capitalism, and the United States of America are all of its progeny. The idea that the truth is an entity for which we must search, in matters that endanger our abilities to exist in open spaces, is an attempt to silence oppressed peoples.

This, of course, goes along with the item in The Huffington Post call for Caucasian Males to be denied the right to vote for twenty years.  "Could It Be Time To Deny White Men The Franchise?  This redistribution of the world’s wealth is long overdue, and it is not just South Africa where white males own a disproportionate amount of wealth."  The person writing what turned out to be a hoax called herself Shelley Garland, a Master of Arts Philosophy Student.  The publication date was 13 April 2017.  Perhaps a belated April Fools Joke.  There are comments on the item here, at National Review.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Remembering the Dead, and the Survivors, Properly

TRIGGER WARNING:  In which I say that sometimes the truth is not PC.

For John, BLUF:  Sometimes the competition amongst the various snow flakes erases history.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Publicly-Funded War Memorial Gets PC Treatment, Causing Fury Among Veterans

From Heat Street, yesterday.

Mateship.  It’s a term that embodies loyalty, solidarity and camaraderie, so why are people finding this sign so offensive?

A sign along the Kokoda Track, a sacred military site in Papua New Guinea, has long been etched with the word “mateship” but it has now been changed to “friendship”, causing fury among Australian war veterans.

As we lead up to the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda Track campaign, part of the Pacific War of WWII, veterans feel as though they’re forgotten as “mateship” disappears from the memorial sign at the Kokoda Track’s Owers Corner.

The memorial was to describe the “mateship” between the Australian and Papua New Guinean military.

Veterans are concerned the change in the sign, which is one of four memorial signs on the Kokoda Track — courage, mateship, endurance, sacrifice — could take away from the trail’s military history.

I worry that political correctness will begin to hide the truth of life and of national survival.  Then will arise those who are not interested in the Politically Correct.

Just saying.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The MSM Still Doesn't Get It

For John, BLUF:  Tuesday was a busy day.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Law Professor Glenn Reynolds we have "Donald Trump is the response to a bullying culture" And here is the sub-headline:  "Abusive political correctness drives voters into the impolitic billionaire's loud embrace."

The lede:

Back in February, analyzing Donald Trump’s appeal, David Gelernter wrote:  Political correctness.  Trump hasn't made it a campaign theme exactly, but he mentions it often with angry disgust. Reporters, pundits, and the other candidates treat it as a sideshow, a handy way for Trump (King Kong Jr.) to smack down the pitiful airplanes that attack him as he bestrides his mighty tower, roaring.  But the analysts have it exactly backward.  Political correctness is the biggest issue facing America today.  Even Trump has just barely faced up to it.  The ironic name disguises the real nature of this force, which ought to be called invasive leftism or thought-police liberalism or metastasized progressivism.  The old-time American mainstream, working- and middle-class white males and their families, is mad as hell about political correctness and the havoc it has wreaked for 40 years — havoc made worse by the flat refusal of most serious Republicans to confront it.”

Yes, the political and academic elites and the press created a space and The Donald filled it.♠

Then Mr Ed Driscoll gives us a link to Rush Limbaugh talking about Mr Donald Trump's Press Conference:♥

The Press Conference Republican Voters Have Wanted to See for Years

So, the big lesson in the next headline is that Mr Trump is rather moderate.  From The Daily Mail we have this headline:  "Philippines' Duterte endorses killing corrupt journalists".  It is a solution, but not one I recommend.  One does have to ask, are those folks at anti-Trump rallies with the Philippine flag endorsing that sort of thing on behalf of Senator Sanders?

But, back in the US, it seems like Mr Trump has the "What can they do to me?" attitude.  And what can someone do to Mr Trump?  Not vote for him?  I guess that an incoming non-Trump Administration could go Latin America on us and go after Mr Trump in retaliation for his having the chutzpah to run.  I guess if you can ignore the rules on Preservation of Government Records you can trump up charges against Trump.

Then we finally have someone (Mr George Friedman) speaking up about "Fascism".  The headline is "Nationalism Is Rising, Not Fascism".  The sub-headline is "The claims of an increase in fascism in Europe and the U.S. derive from a misunderstanding of the term."

Now that is a shock.  A misunderstanding of terms, which are the tools of any discussion of politics.

Recently, there have been a number of articles and statements asserting that fascism is rising in Europe, and that Donald Trump is an American example of fascism.  This is a misrepresentation of a very real phenomenon.  The nation-state is reasserting itself as the primary vehicle of political life.  Multinational institutions like the European Union and multilateral trade treaties are being challenged because they are seen by some as not being in the national interest.  The charge of a rise in fascism derives from a profound misunderstanding of what fascism is.  It is also an attempt to discredit the resurgence of nationalism and to defend the multinational systems that have dominated the West since World War II.

Here are some comment on the article by Mr George Friedman from someone thinking in this area:

There are two parts to his commentary....  No quibble with the need to be clear on nationalism versus fascism... (that's the least we should be able to expect from educated people.)

The other part concerns the backlash against multilateralism and internationalism....  The backlash does NOT necessarily connote a "long live the nation-state" mentality ....  Rather, leaders are scapegoating international organizations and treaties (or trade partners) to deflect attention from the failures of their own domestic policies (that applies both in the US and Europe).

But people are not as stupid as their leaders think....  They know that "the state" has failed them, meaning their leaders.  Given the anti-establishment revolt seen across the Western world, it is not clear that there is some rational/utopian "nation-state" that represents a comforting antithesis to the pattern of integration we have witnessed.

Some will persist in using the term "fascist", since it is a dog whistle for Democrats.  Some will eschew this term.  We will see how the backers of former SecState Clinton roll.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  If Trump did not exist, we would have to invent him.  (With apologies to Voltaire)
♥  What is the line Glenn Reynolds uses?  "Democrat operatives with bylines"?