The response to the Tibbets case is another fascinating example of how a country can have tens of thousands of discussions on an issue and still not have a single original thought.

First, on the Right. “Not all immigrants are like this, but” if we had better immigration policy, Tibbets would still be alive.

Tactically, this is true. And yet, we find ourselves with the usual “not all (insert group here)” argument and what I am forced to call the “but” argument. 1st and 2nd amendment supporters will know this by the phrases “I support free speech, but” as a lead-in to promoting censorship and “I support the 2nd Amendment, but” as a lead in to a gun ban. Continue reading Tibbets →

So, Trump met with Putin, for reasons I still don’t understand. The Left is having their usual conniption about treason or how this is obviously a sign that Trump is pro Russia, but I’m not entirely sure that’s true.

Ben Shaprio, in his program today, observed rather rightly that Trump’s words and actions don’t always seem to be in line with each other. In the eyes of his opposition, Trump regularly vacillates from Russian puppet, to someone who will start World War 3 by bombing Syria, then he’s back to Russian puppet. And herein lies the problem. Think about what has been used as a watershed moment over the years to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trump was red on the inside. Countless random documents that amounted to ultimately nothing, a comment from a rally with at best providential timing, but not much else, and about a year ago, the fact that he had starred in a Russian pop star’s video was seen as evidence of deeper collusion. Continue reading Russia Episode 2: Soul-searching →

For all of three days, there was a spark of hope for a return to civility, Erick Erickson’s appearance on “Meet the Press” saw him state that “as society becomes more secular and religion fades, more people are finding their salvation and their morals in their politics.” Several high-ranking Democrats came out against Maxine Waters’ demand to a crowd that they harass every member of the Trump cabinet they see, and for a moment there was a glimpse of civility. Continue reading Civility War →

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” Says the teacher.” Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises….All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing” Ecclesiastes 1:2-5, 8

Depression has ended, in the last few months, in at least three suicides (Avicii, Kate Spade and now Anthony Bourdain), and at least two mass shootings. (Parkland and, debatably, Santa Fe. Although, it is a common thread among mass shooters)

There is a stigma surrounding it. Some insidious blend of the Osteenian call to “just look on the bright side” and a cultural zeitgeist reminding you that “other people have it far worse than you”. These both serve to make it appear that your demons aren’t the monsters you see them as, but little speed bumps that you should be ashamed for not overcoming. Even when we’re not talking about shootings and racism, in America, it seems the evil is always “out there” I’ve quoted this before, but N.T. Wright once observed that our perception of evil was that it was always wild and exuberant outside of ourselves. Inside, we like to think, we have it all under control. So, the idea that someone can’t just buck up and put down their personal demons is obviously because they are weak. If they can’t handle the nothingness in their own hearts, what good are they to the ills the befall the nation in general? Continue reading Mental →

As discussed in “2016” and “The Assistance”. The moral argument has no place in the current political climate. Despte that, I’ve realized now what’s really going on with the fallout over Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet. This is not, as Don Lemon would have you believe “about the normalization of racism”. That already happened, it’s just that it’s taken place on both sides. With groups like “The Root”, essays like this basically implying that all white people are dangerous, and a demand that all white people submit to the doctrine of white privilege (even, apparently, the poor and middle class people),

What this is about, is trying to take over a moral high ground they have no right to. An essay by American Greatness’ Julie Kelly takes a review of all the things the #resistance has done and said, and the fanatical scream that has come from them ever since. Of particular note is the hypocrisy so prevalent in Washington that they apparently just now realized exists, as well as their Matrix-installed expertise in all things relevant to defeating Trump: Continue reading #resist and #regress →

““Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.” H.L. Mencken

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.” C.S. Lewis Continue reading Menckenite →