Tom Suozzi‚ a former Democratic congressman‚ won a closely watched special House election in New York on Tuesday‚ narrowing the Republican majority in Washington and offering his party a potential playbook to run in key suburban swing areas in November. His victory in the Queens and Long Island district avenged a year of humiliation unleashed by the seat’s former occupant‚ George Santos‚ and stanched a trend that had seen Republicans capture nearly every major election on Long Island since...

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Joe Biden did on Monday what he should have done on Thursday. He told a joke instead of becoming one. “I know it doesn’t look like it‚ but I’ve been around a while‚” he said at the National Association of Counties meeting Monday. “I do remember that.” Humor‚ certainly not mean-mugging‚ is the best way to alleviate tension. On Thursday‚ the president demonstrated the charges against him in his manner of denying them. On Monday‚ he displayed humor about the senility accusations dogging him at the same time he demonstrated a modicum of with-it-ness as jokes so often do. Someone finally offered him good advice. Someone finally took it. (RELATED: The Deepening Joe Deadhorse Dilemma) Following a week in which he separately spoke about conversing with the long-dead leaders of France and Germany‚ faced characterization by a special counsel as “a sympathetic‚ well-meaning‚ elderly man with a poor memory‚” and confused the presidents of Egypt and Mexico in a surreal press conference aiming to rebut charges of diminished mental capacity‚ Biden helped himself in making light of something heavy. But after years of witnessing his sharpness dull‚ the public is unlikely to forget about all his forgetting just because he shows a sense of humor about it. In laying out a Plan B‚ Politico’s Charlie Mathesian and Steven Shepard concede: “The truth is that a backup strategy can only be deployed if Biden voluntarily steps aside — or is physically unable to stand for nomination.” In other words‚ it’s not too late to switch horses but the horse must assent or show an incapacity to assent. A precedent‚ of sorts‚ exists for this. “Things are bad‚” Senator Barry Goldwater told President Richard Nixon on Aug. 7‚ 1974. “Less than half a dozen votes?” Nixon asked about senators willing to protect him from conviction. “Ten at most‚” Goldwater answered. “Maybe less. Some aren’t firm.” (READ MORE: The Spectator P.M. Podcast Ep. 21: Who Thinks Biden Can Make It Another Term? Not Left-Wing Media.) Goldwater‚ who counted on Nixon’s support when Bill Scranton‚ Nelson Rockefeller‚ and others in his party undermined him as nominee in 1964 and returned the favor by later endorsing Nixon over Ronald Reagan in 1968 and sticking by Nixon over John Ashbrook in 1972‚ dramatically indicated that he fell into the not-so-firm camp. The next day the president announced his resignation effective Aug. 9. Biden’s well-wishers‚ including the likes of Nancy Pelosi‚ Dick Durbin‚ Chris Coons‚ Jim Clyburn‚ and‚ perhaps Barack Obama and Jill Biden‚ should show the courage of Barry Goldwater in telling the president‚ for the good of the country‚ his party‚ and his dignity‚ to stand down. Biden pulling out certainly does not serve the good of the Republican Party‚ no matter how many of its members would celebrate it. Donald Trump undoubtedly does better against Joe Biden than against almost any other Democrat in the conversation to replace him. But an 86-year-old serving as the leader of the free world in 2028 causes any smart gambler to bet on the bad guys. Circumstances task Coons‚ Clyburn‚ et al. with an easier sell than what Goldwater presented to Nixon. Biden not only need not resign the presidency but he can claim that he ran for the same reasons he dropped out: to save the country from another Donald Trump term. In one move he transforms himself from a pathetic to a heroic figure among Democrats. (READ MORE: Joe Biden’s Tragic Invulnerability) But Nixon was a realist and Biden is a fantasist. His fabulistic stories of getting arrested in South Africa protesting for Nelson Mandela or his family members emerging from coal mines to play football surely indicate this. In other words‚ Nixon told lies to further his ends; Biden tells them — most loudly to himself — just because. This precise trait possessed by Joe Biden means that he cannot assess negative information in the way the realist Nixon did days before his resignation. One suspects Biden recognizes the bleakness of his final political errand not until Nov. 6. The post Biden‚ Always Delusional‚ Likely Stays in Race appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

When I was a boy riding the bus to our diocesan high school‚ an older kid sometimes sat in the seat next to me. He was an intelligent fellow who has since become a lawyer of considerable reputation. We might be sitting there quietly‚ when all at once‚ in a deadpan voice‚ he would turn to me and ask me why a certain state of affairs was‚ so — why‚ for example‚ do we deliver our electricity by wires above ground rather than burying them? That was my cue. “I don’t know‚” I said.  “Why do we have our wires above ground?” “It’s all a communist plot‚” he said. He went on to describe‚ always in that deadpan voice‚ some absurd concatenation of motives and means that would make a communist plot out of it.  (READ MORE by Anthony Esolen: Freedom as License Is Slavery in Disguise) Why do we use seven digits in our local telephone numbers? Why are our stop signs octagonal? Why do we brush our teeth with fluorides? It’s all a communist plot. He was in jest‚ of course. But our theorists in the humanities are not. Why is there only one woman among the top 100 chess players in the world?  Why is Shakespeare regarded as the greatest poet who ever lived? Why is reason supposed to impose an order on our passions? It’s all a patriarchal plot. And so forth‚ for other political desiderata. Opening Our Eyes Theory — which comes from the Greek theorein‚ meaning to look at‚ to consider closely — should help to open our eyes to the complexity‚ integrity‚ wild variety‚ or beauty of what we are considering‚ quite independent of any feelings we may have about it or any use to which we might put it. It is not something we impose upon the object‚ but what the object reveals to us regardless of what we would like it to be. The true theorist must be patient and humble; like Kepler‚ who wanted the orbits of the planets to observe ratios derivable from the Platonic solids‚ who discovered instead that they were elliptical; and who wanted the orbits to preserve a constant speed‚ but who concluded from their elliptical orbits that they were always accelerating or decelerating‚ or passing in a twice-yearly instant from one state to the other. (READ MORE from Anthony Esolen: Ignorance to the Fourth Degree) If you are dealing with something as varied and wild as human history in all its glory and shame‚ or human nature‚ or either one of those as reflected in the arts‚ especially literature‚ any theory worthy of its name must make the theorist more sensitive to meaning‚ not less; more able to thrill in sympathy with a human thought that is not his own; more like a child who imagines he can open a door and enter another world‚ a world that possesses its own order and wholeness‚ not like his world‚ and still somehow understandable; the foreign place that can yet become a home. What we get instead are pseudo-theories‚ such as the Soviets had‚ that “solve” literature by dissolving it‚ seeing in Dostoyevsky‚ for instance‚ only a half-hearted champion of the poor‚ corrupted as he was by his reactionary embrace of the Orthodox faith. Soviet theorists look like acute and subtle geniuses when compared with our usually ill-read sorts‚ who apply‚ like the stamp on the printing machine my mother-in-law once worked in one of the world’s biggest candy factories‚ their theory to every single pre-formed bit of literary sweets‚ so that they all come out the same way‚ saying the same thing‚ world without end‚ Amen. Pseudo-theory‚ Applied to Art‚ Is Destructive Such stuff attracts second-rate minds‚ often those actuated by ressentiment‚ the hatred of someone else’s greatness‚ a hatred accompanied by an inversion of values‚ so that you take your hatred to be a virtue‚ just as you take your theory to be intellectually superior to the work of art you have stamped it upon. After an initial adolescent thrill‚ the application of reductive and politically motivated pseudo-theories is a dull affair‚ and if you do love the material you want to learn about‚ you must reject them‚ just as if you want eventually to fall in love with a girl of real flesh and blood‚ your mirror is not the place to find her. Now then‚ if students are given to suppose that this is what reading literature or studying history or looking at paintings is all about‚ the best of them‚ or those with the coldest eyes for scouting out foolishness‚ will simply shrug and walk away‚ if they ever get into the matter in the first place. Thus we get caught in a stupidly destructive spiral. The theorists apply their Little Orphan Annie Decoder Ring to Milton‚ and Milton comes out as the Ring has predetermined‚ though our Annie is peculiarly flippant and ill-mannered‚ shrill‚ and sometimes obscene. They say that this is what reading Milton is for — if we read Milton at all rather than some current author‚ the gist of whose politics can be gotten for free from a million people on the internet. People take them at their word‚ and say‚ reasonably enough‚ that if that’s what it is‚ it’s not worth the expense. The very mind of Milton and his brilliant art go the way of all flesh‚ where such minds and such art are not supposed to go. Budgets for the humanities are slashed‚ and Shakespeare and Milton are replaced by second-rate authors whom the professors who have scorned greatness find easiest for their sensitive nerves. And the deterioration goes on. (READ MORE: Happy Birthday‚ Rhapsody in Blue) This is already bad enough‚ a colossal betrayal of our literary heritage. But I do not blame it on theory‚ not exactly. For some potent literary theory is just what we need now to counter the crass and simplistic materialism that is the default philosophy of our elites‚ and it is just what we are unlikely to get because those whose minds might be capable of conceiving it have learned from the “theorists” that all things are reducible‚ in a programmatic way‚ to politics; so they turn to theorizing but without the bracing‚ maturing‚ and mind-deepening experiences that literature could provide for them. Theory Could Yet Save Us From Pseudo-Theory Let me venture here a suggestion as to what might have been possible. I am taking my cue from Walker Percy’s Lost in the Cosmos. Percy is a theorist of signs‚ and it is precisely as a sign-maker that man‚ as he sees him‚ is irreducible to mere matter and the forces that act upon it. For the sign‚ he says‚ is that third thing along with man and the world about him‚ itself entering the world‚ and by its very presence providing that world with a new dimension — as you might think of raising a world of cubes and spheres from a flat world of squares and circles. Other creatures make signals: a blue jay outside my window has just given his crow signal‚ which he does sometimes as a benefit to the smaller birds whose nests he often robs. But it is not a sign‚ properly speaking. The jay does not raise it to the status of independent existence. He does not‚ as the poet does‚ play with it‚ turn it ’round‚ contradict it‚ apply it to new things‚ connect it with other signs in an ordered and beautiful way‚ or use it as a means to uncover new truths about himself and the world. So far as we know‚ in all the universe outside of man there is not a single sign‚ unless‚ as Augustine suggested‚ thinking of Scripture‚ the universe itself is a vast array of ordered signs‚ the allegory of the creator God‚ whereby a creature is more itself‚ possesses a fuller measure of its own peculiar being‚ the more of a sign it is‚ the more significant it is. So man is among all creatures the great sign-bearer of God‚ made in his image after his likeness‚ and man alone among all creatures is a maker of signs. What manner of existence does the sign possess? Genuine literary theory should ask that question without reducing the sign to a mere social convention or a mere political impulse. How does Hamlet‚ the prince of Denmark‚ exist? What does it say about the mind of man‚ that he can speak intelligibly about the character of Hamlet‚ of an imaginary being‚ an organism of signs‚ so that one critic’s understanding of the Dane may be truer than another’s? Are we to reduce Hamlet to ink blots on paper‚ or the flashing of neurons in a brain? What sense can that possibly make? That is just to approach Hamlet from the question of what manner of thing he is; what he‚ that organism of signs‚ created by a sign-maker and sign-bearer called Shakespeare‚ has to say about our passions‚ our doubts‚ our crossed purposes‚ our ability to ferret out the truth‚ and our proneness to self-deception‚ is‚ of course‚ the real attraction he holds out for us‚ and shall‚ so long as men can read and eyes can see. The post Theory Can Save Us From Pseudo-Theories appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Chronic readers of this column are surely aware that one of my favorite authors‚ who also happens to be a personal friend‚ is Kurt Schlichter. Kurt has written eight novels in his Kelly Turnbull series‚ and I’m not sure I let more than a couple of weeks pass between their release and my devouring of them. They’re a rollicking good time — the lead character is a certifiable bad-ass‚ an old-school action hero in the Sly Stallone-Chuck Norris tradition‚ whose adventures are set against a backdrop of an America of a decade or two in the future which has split apart into red states and blue. Somebody at some point ought to take those books and turn them into a TV series. I’d be shocked if they didn’t make a hit show. They’re way too much fun not to be. (READ MORE: Woodrow Wilson: A Madman‚ or Merely Misunderstood?) But Schlichter’s newest fiction offering‚ The Attack‚ isn’t quite as fun — which is not to say it shouldn’t be on your reading list. In fact‚ The Attack is mandatory reading. This isn’t a light‚ breezy‚ fun novel. This is a gut punch. And then a head slap. I’m not giving away anything by way of spoilers when I tell you the plot of the book – Schlichter gives it away in the first few pages. It’s like this: all those military-age males making their way across our southern border from the kinds of countries that set off red flags? The ones that Donald Trump caused such consternation when he declared a moratorium on immigration early in his presidential term? In The Attack‚ the bill comes due for letting them in. That bill is paid in blood. Some 10‚000 jihadist terrorists‚ sponsored by Iran‚ are set loose on a three-day kamikaze assault on the American homeland in the novel. Before they’re done they manage to kill well over 100‚000 Americans in the worst terrorist attack in human history. On the first day‚ the terrorists stage a wave of mass shootings in public places — schools‚ malls‚ police stations‚ airports — and use man-portable air defense missiles to knock jumbo jets out of the sky near airports across the country. On the second day‚ after a national stay-at-home order is in place as a means of preventing more mass-casualty attacks‚ four-man shooter teams assault suburban neighborhoods all over America in a savage murder spree. (READ MORE: Biting the (Left) Hand That Feeds Him) On the third day‚ which in the book is Aug. 29 of this year‚ they go after our infrastructure — cyber attacks‚ rifle shots to power transformers‚ assaults on oil refineries‚ and so on. The story is told as an oral history and each chapter is the personal story of someone who survived The Attack — a cop in Cincinnati‚ an HVAC contractor in suburban Philadelphia‚ a Secret Service agent‚ an Army general‚ a traumatized 15-year-old girl made an orphan on the second day‚ the owner of a refuge for dogs made homeless by the murders of their owners‚ and many more. The tales these fictional characters tell come off as very‚ very real. The most striking — and disturbing — thing about The Attack is that what Schlichter describes in its pages isn’t just plausible‚ it’s quite likely. Our border is wide open‚ and people from the worst and most hostile places on earth are streaming across. It’s hard not to believe that the migrant invasion doesn’t contain thousands and thousands of people who hate America and seek to do us harm. And you saw what 19 of them could do on Sept. 11‚ 2001. Schlichter wrote The Attack after he saw what Hamas managed to do to Israel on Oct. 7 of last year. His conclusions are very valid — as is his judgment of the likely performance of our president and vice president should such a crisis occur. I’ll leave the result of that for the reader to find out for himself. It’s an interesting scenario‚ to be sure. The Attack deserves both your readership and your consideration. You shouldn’t just devour this excellent book — it should do for recognition of the possibility of terrorism affecting your life what Bill Fortschen and Newt Gingrich did several years ago for the recognition of the threat an EMP poses when they wrote One Second After. You should act on what Schlichter is telling us. (READ MORE: The Enduring Ronald Reagan) We are far too soft a target and we need to do a much‚ much better job of protecting ourselves. We’ve outsourced that function to the police‚ and in lots of places in America‚ the cops are stretched to their limit on a good day. Should a collection of four-man shooter teams set out into your part of town looking to kill as many Americans as they can before being martyred for Allah‚ Baphomet‚ or even Klaus Schwab‚ the chances are good that your self-defense capabilities are all that will save your family from a fate the book describes for countless of our countrymen. It’s a book told from a conservative perspective‚ but it’s universal in its lessons to our people. Get it‚ read it‚ take it to heart. It’s an important book — one of the most important you’ll read all year. The post Kurt Schlichter’s <;i>;The Attack<;/i>; Is A Must-Read For 2024 appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

In a little-noticed presentation on Dec. 9‚ 2023‚ at COP28 in Dubai‚ a panel of soil experts presented the case for cows as climate allies‚ not gas-spewing destroyers. The event‚ titled “Conscious Livestock Rearing and Soil Health‚” discussed “animal rearing’s impact on soil health‚ and its place as a part of the climate solution.” Contrary to the anti-cow cacophony of the climate crisis crowd‚ these experts explained the vital role ruminants like cows play in nourishing and rebuilding precious soils. It turns out‚ grazing cows sequester massive amounts of carbon. On the panel of experts was Seth J. Itzvan‚ co-founder of SOIL4Climate‚ Inc.‚ a nonprofit that “promotes soil restoration as a climate solution‚” and a man akin to a Lorax for the cows. (READ MORE: French Farmers Are Fighting Woke Climate Policies in Paris With Tractors) “I would respectfully push back against the less animals narrative‚” Itzkan said‚ referring to calls to reduce the number of cows on the planet. “I actually don’t think there’s nearly enough‚” he continued. “I think we’re going to need way more ruminants on the Earth‚ maybe twice as many as there are now‚ and they will need to be managed in this way that is beneficial.” The Case for More Cows Bill Gates‚ Klaus Schwab‚ and globalists of their ilk‚ claim humans must cut back on meat to save the planet from doom. The entire argument is premised on claims of enteric methane emissions from cattle confined in unnatural factory operations: Rotationally grazed cows sequester more carbon dioxide in the soil with their manure than they emit when they burp. Cow manure rebuilds soils destroyed by synthetic fertilizers and other chemicals‚ nurturing microbial life that feeds on methane. Robust natural soils sequester more carbon dioxide than forests‚ yet bovines are denied any carbon credit. (READ MORE: Roberts and Milei Set Fire to Libs at Davos) Itzvan was one of many soil and agriculture experts on hidden display at the global climate summit who explained that soil health is a key element of effective environmental stewardship and that ruminants are integral to that ancient cycle. Itzvan argued that: [G]rasslands‚ the second largest ecosystem on the planet after the oceans‚ coevolved with extensive herds of grazing ruminants. These migratory mammals were essential to giving grasslands their fertile soils which store an enormous amount of carbon. A great deal of this carbon has been lost because of poorly managed cropping and grazing. However‚ ecologically beneficial cropping techniques‚ and grazing in a way that replicates the behavior of wild herds‚ can replenish much of this essential element. Where the Buffalo Roam North America’s legendary bison herds once thundered across the Great Plains nurturing soils and the entire ecosystem. Efforts to eradicate the buffalo to undermine Native Americans starved the precious soil microbiome; subsequent compaction and tilling by tractors and equipment gradually weakened and eroded topsoils. Synthetic fertilizers (manufactured from natural gas‚ aka methane) replaced bison manure‚ while various chemical concoctions began killing off soil microbes‚ poisoning wells‚ and wiping out colonies of vital honeybees. (READ MORE: The Buzz on ‘The Great Honey Bee Die-Off’) The push to eliminate cows has been crafted by the same industrial forces that imprisoned them in Confined Animal Feed Operations (CAFOs). Synthetic and fake meats grown from soy or corn harvested with tractors and chemicals do not rebuild soils‚ instead accelerating erosion and the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Cows returned to roam the fields and hillsides converting grass to meat and milk while replenishing soil health naturally. Cows are not the cause‚ but the solution‚ of climate change. Humanity needs more cows‚ not fewer! Those who say otherwise are simply manure deniers. The post More Cows Needed to Reverse Climate Change‚ Experts Say appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Talking is easy. It happens when air passes from the lungs through airways and the larynx‚ making the vocal cords vibrate and resulting in sounds that‚ in most adults‚ we interpret as language. When those sounds correspond to the concrete code of some language‚ the speaker will be saying things that the listener can decode and understand. After what I have just heard‚ I suspect that Robin DiAngelo is speaking‚ because I hear her‚ but she is not saying things that any human receiver can decode. (READ MORE: ‘Gratuitous‚ Inaccurate‚ and Inappropriate’: Kamala Lies Some More) The woman‚ who is striking gold with purportedly anti-racist verbiage‚ has taken to a podcast to declare that the clearest example of white supremacy and patriarchy is‚ hold on tight to your hats now‚ the Sistine Chapel. I’m not lying to you and it’s early‚ I mean‚ I haven’t even had enough to drink yet: The single image I use to capture the concept of white supremacy is Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: God Creating Man. Where God is in a cloud‚ and there are all these angels‚ and he’s reaching out and he’s touching — I don’t know who that is‚ David or something? — and God is white‚ David is white‚ and the angels are white. Like‚ that is the perfect convergence of white supremacy‚ patriarchy. Of course‚ DiAngelo has difficulty understanding painting‚ and lacks any sense of ridicule: “David or something?” It’s so wonderful‚ so exciting‚ so funny that it’s impossible to satirize because the fact itself is insurmountable. You may no longer remember‚ but there was a time when illiterate people‚ fools‚ and idiots kept a low profile in intellectual debates. In the same way‚ I also keep a low profile when talking about mechanical issues in a car engine‚ because all I know about cars is how to start them‚ step on the gas‚ and pay for speeding tickets. In my case‚ the same is true of the sex life of crabs‚ quantum physics‚ and Zumba classes. These are subjects that are alien to me. Silence is always prudent in such cases. Unfortunately‚ the time for prudent courtesy and intellectual honesty seems to be over for some people. That faint modesty has disappeared. Now the ignorant launch themselves into public debates for which they are not equipped and unblushingly pontificate the most immense amount of nonsense you can imagine‚ with the conviction that we are obliged to listen to them and that they have the right to have their point of view respected. The truth is that they don’t know much about that either. What we have to respect is the person — after all‚ we are all children of God — but not their stupid ideas. I do not respect stupid ideas. (READ MORE by Itxu Díaz: Apple’s Vision Pro Heralds Doomsday) I guess it’s the democratization of knowledge‚ but run through the progressive filter. Cultural democratization was supposed to be about equal opportunity to gain knowledge‚ but for the Left and Robin that just means that everyone has the right to talk about things they don’t know about and don’t plan to learn. Anyway‚ considering that the woman has made a superhuman effort to find racism in Michelangelo’s great work‚ I feel obliged to join her cause and help find racism in other unexpected places. In my opinion‚ there is nothing more racist than milk‚ because by all accounts it is white; the fact that we sit on black leather chairs is a clear allegory of white supremacy; and I find it absolutely scandalous that we have not yet banned clouds‚ which are white and in the sky‚ the pernicious double implication is clear. There are still too many pretty actresses on the big screen‚ and that’s obviously supremacism. The protagonist of history’s greatest novel‚ Don Quixote‚ is described as being tall‚ thin‚ and pale-looking‚ which is another example of literary racism almost as horrific as the Sistine Chapel. Finally‚ people keep painting ceilings white and wearing black soles on their shoes and I can’t wait for DiAngelo to record an urgent podcast on this clarifying her position. (READ MORE by Itxu Díaz: The Regrettable ‘Gay Christ’ Poster vs. the Magnificent Holy Week in Seville) DiAngelo has written several black books‚ some frankly dark‚ and has coined the term “white fragility” — which‚ in the paranoid imaginary of racism-seekers‚ I must embody to perfection‚ along with John Ford‚ almond blossoms‚ Scarlett Johansson‚ egg yolk‚ and Michelangelo’s David — which shows that‚ in addition to being a racist‚ he was also a repeat offender. Translated by Joel Dalmau. Buy Itxu Díaz’s new book‚ I Will Not Eat Crickets: An Angry Satirist Declares War on the Globalist Elite‚ here today! The post The ‘White Fragility’ of Michelangelo’s the <;i>;Creation of Adam<;/i>; appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.