Last week‚ I watched Laura for maybe the twentieth time‚ during Turner Classic Movies’  glorious annual 31 Days of Oscar marathon. The 1944 film-noir gem is a master class in the lost trade of screenwriting and film construction. People forced to endure the slop that passes for cinema today have little notion of the labor and artistry that went into movie production under the studio system‚ beginning with the dramaturgy and very much including the now forgotten music score. And they can start by helping girls resist the anti-man crap being thrown at them by Democrats and Disney. As marvelous as is every aspect of Laura‚ David Raskin’s haunting theme for the picture — about disparate characters affected by the murder of a dynamic beauty is a stand apart symphonic classic. Last week‚ the industry newspaper Variety took a break from hyping this year’s Oscar junk to cite great film scores snubbed by the Academy. Laura was number one. (READ MORE from Lou Aguilar: The Conservative Writer’s Block) It’s a testimony to how much the old filmmakers respected their audience‚ and how hard they worked to entertain it. Compare the lovely opening titles of Laura to any modern movie‚ which routinely omits the main credits in a hurry to start the dreck. Or the very first line of the picture to anything written today: “I shall never forget the weekend Laura died.” The lowest listed crew member in Laura and his or her successors will forever have something to be proud of — the family name on a masterpiece. Boy‚ could Hollywood ever use this lesson‚ having just suffered another disastrous weekend at the box-office. The tally was down 32 percent over the same period last year to a total of $64 million. As Breitbart’s John Nolte brutally put it‚ “That’s not what one movie earned this weekend. This is what ALL the movies earned.” Every filmmaker who contributed to this catastrophe should be strapped to a chair and forced to watch Laura — only in a soundproof screening room to silence their triggered screams. Yet there’s another group that would most benefit from watching Laura — feminists. Anticipating the ridiculous Hollywoke mandate that only women can fictionalize women — by which they mean feminist women — the writer of the novel and the movie‚ Vera Caspary‚ created a memorable one based on actual female nature not progressive fantasy. Caspary’s Laura Hunt is herself a feminist‚ at least initially. Though unlike the bitter‚ angry‚ deliberately ugly modern incarnations of this errant ideology‚ she’s an enticing‚ feminine‚ and thoroughly believable girl. As the Amazon book blurb describes her‚ “Laura Hunt was the ideal modern woman: beautiful‚ elegant‚ highly ambitious‚ and utterly mysterious. No man could resist her charms — not even the hardboiled NYPD detective sent to investigate her murder.” And Caspary was a good and true enough writer to make her male characters just as three-dimensional. They included not only Laura’s two beta male suitors — Waldo Lydecker and Shelby Carpenter — but tough cop Mark McPherson‚ a “toxic male” by contemporary standards whom no Hollywoke screenwriter‚ female or male‚ could approximate today. Otto Preminger’s brilliant film version brought these characters to immortal life‚ especially with his perfect casting of the stunning Gene Tierney in the lead. If feminists could get over their indoctrinated revulsion to grace and beauty‚ and their antipathy to real men‚ they might gleam something of value from Tierney’s Laura. Such as in one scene with Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews in one of two classic roles along with The Best Years of Our Lives). In the kitchen with the sophisticated‚ alluring Laura‚ McPherson acts surprised when she takes over the stove. “Don’t tell me you can cook‚” he says chauvinistically. Laura answers‚ “My mother always listened sympathetically to my dreams of a career‚ and then taught me another recipe.” This simple perfect line may be offensive to the feminist brain‚ but it offers profound wisdom to the rare open mind — and threatens one insane political party and its media lapdogs. (READ MORE: The Decline and Fall of Hollywoke) Former Democratic Senator and current MSNBC analyst Claire McCaskill bridges both dystopian worlds. Last week‚ McCaskill demanded that the liberal press cease even its reluctant fact checking of Joe Biden because it might help Donald Trump. “I move that every newspaper in America quits doing any fact checks on Joe Biden until they fact check Donald Trump every morning on the front page‚” she said. This prompted a response from normally measured Dilbert creator and persuasion expert Scott Adams. “Batsh_t crazy women have taken over the Democratic party‚” he posted on X. “None of this looks like politics to me. Looks like organized mental illness.” Adams may be on to something‚ according to a new Gallup survey. The survey found that young women are increasingly moving left‚ and are 15 percentage points more likely to identify as liberal than men in the same group. The gap is five times larger than it was in 2000‚ with social and mainstream media leftist propaganda cited as chief factors. Yet men subject to the same influences have become more conservative. Consequently‚ it will be up to them to rescue the damsels in disorientation. (READ MORE: The Woke of Zorro) And they can start by helping girls resist the anti-man crap being thrown at them by Democrats and Disney‚ and getting them to watch fine art like Laura. Until the shrews and wimps brainwashing them can only whine the way Waldo Lydecker (played brilliantly by Clifton Webb in the film) does after losing Laura to tough guy McPherson. “It’s the same obvious pattern‚ Laura. If McPherson weren’t muscular and handsome in a cheap sort of way‚ you’d see through him in a second.” One second is all it takes to start a family and exit madness. The post <;i>;Laura<;/i>; and the Feminist Delusion appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

On February 24th‚  the Russian war to conquer Ukraine passed the two-year mark. Actually‚ no. It marked — imprecisely — the tenth anniversary of Russia’s military takeover and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula as well as the date on which Russia attacked Ukraine again. As the Russian war on Ukraine passes into its third year‚ we can’t give up on Ukraine. The outlook for Ukraine is pretty bleak. Ukrainian forces are low on artillery ammunition‚ Russian forces — which hold about twenty percent of Ukraine now — are taking back some of the gains made in Ukraine’s 2023 counter-offensive. The U.S. Congress has delayed‚ and may deny‚ further aid. The European Union’s parliament has approved more financial aid to Ukraine but the EU alone can’t possibly make up Ukraine’s munitions shortfall. (READ MORE from Jed Babbin: Putin Loves Biden) What have we learned in the past two years or the past ten? Not much. It’s no surprise to those of us who have been paying attention that Russian President Putin wants to conquer Ukraine to re-assemble the former Soviet empire. His ambition has been plain since at least 2005. We’ve known that Putin’s belief that Ukraine is essential to that restoration because his “philosopher” — Alexander Dugin — wrote in his “Foundations of Geopolitics” that unless Ukraine again becomes part of Russia‚ Putin may as well not bother with the other nations that escaped Soviet rule. The hollowness of Russia’s army is an ephemeral lesson. Putin has shifted Russia’s economy to a wartime status and his military is still a threat to every NATO nation. Putin’s conscription of troops‚ while unpopular‚ may sustain the Russian army for years. Many commentators say that Putin is weaker than he was before he launched the invasion of Ukraine. The facts dictate otherwise. He survived the one-day coup launched by his Wagner Group commander‚ Yevgeny Prighozin‚ whose death Putin subsequently arranged. The death — probable murder — of Alexei Navalny in a Siberian prison camp is another demonstration of Putin’s ruthless power. It was a surprise that Russia didn’t establish air supremacy immediately and that Ukraine was able to score well‚ in the war’s early days‚ in air-to-air combat. But Ukraine has too few combat aircraft and too few anti-air defenses to take away Russia’s advantages in the air or to kill Russian artillery. What we have also learned is that some — too many — Republicans have blinders on. They see Ukraine aid as something Biden wants without any other value. They created a straw man about border security to block further aid to Ukraine. It was a nice try but failed because Biden refuses to make any pretense of securing the border against illegal immigrants. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) may not bring the Ukraine aid package — which also contains aid funds for Israel — to the House floor for a vote. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Oh) tried to justify blocking aid to Ukraine by saying last week that further aid won’t change the situation on the ground or give Putin a reason to negotiate a peace deal. Vance’s reasoning is circular. The aid package Biden has proposed certainly won’t bring about Ukrainian victory but the absence of it is forcing Ukraine to retreat in the face of Russian advances. (READ MORE: Ukraine Is Stalemated Again) Ukraine abandoned the city of Avdiivka last week because it lacks airpower and artillery ammunition to stave off the Russian advances. To restore the Russian empire to its Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe‚ Putin needs to break NATO. NATO’s failure as an alliance is foreseeable‚  forced by several circumstances. First and foremost is the fact that NATO is unwilling to support its own defense. Former president Trump was right when he bashed the NATO members who haven’t spent two percent of their Gross Domestic Product on defense.  That failure goes deep and has become obvious even to some liberals in the media. Even The Economist — a traditionally liberal newspaper that has gone nuts in support of “climate change” — has noticed. In its most recent issue‚ an editorial says the restoration of NATO’s strength is essential but nearly impossible. It wrote‚ “That means raising defense spending to a level not seen in decades‚ restoring Europe’s neglected military traditions‚ restructuring its arms industries and preparing for possible war.” That’s because as long as Putin is alive … he won’t end his war against Ukraine. War with Russia is far from the minds of European governments. As that same Economist editorial pointed out‚ twenty percent of NATO defense budgets are supposed to be spent on weapons. The shortfall of European Union NATO members (plus Norway) has amounted to $600 billion since 1991. Trump is adding to the problem by saying that he won’t defend a NATO member that hasn’t spent enough on defense. Bizarrely‚ he went further saying he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that don’t meet NATO’s defense spending guidelines. Russia isn’t about to attack the nations among the worst in failing to spend enough on defense. To reach Germany‚ Italy‚ France‚ and Spain — four of the worst — he’d have to first go through most of Eastern Europe‚ nations which for the most part are spending adequately (or more) on their own defenses. But what would Trump do if‚ for example‚ Russia attacked Germany or one of the other worst defense spending offenders? Any of them would immediately invoke Article 5 of the NATO Treaty‚ requiring all other NATO nations to come to its defense. Would Trump abandon our obligations under the NATO Treaty and fail to come to their defense? If he or any U.S. president failed to meet our mutual defense obligation under the NATO Treaty‚ that act would break NATO and achieve one of Putin’s most important goals. On the other side of the coin‚ NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg — who has been saying Ukraine could become a NATO member — said last week that Ukraine’s NATO membership is “inevitable.” It isn’t and shouldn’t be. (READ MORE: Wars Raise Two More Critical Issues) That’s because as long as Putin is alive — and as long as his thinking is dominated by Alexander Dugin — he won’t end his war against Ukraine. After most of the former Soviet captive nations have joined NATO‚ Putin must be thinking as did Kaiser Wilhelm II in the years before World War One. Wilhelm believed Germany was being surrounded and diminished by other nations’ alliances‚ especially Britain’s. Ukraine should not be made a NATO member while Putin lives‚ and probably not after he goes. So what is to be done? Ukrainian corruption is a frequent reason given by Republicans for refusing more aid. But the European Union gave Ukrainian President Zelensky seven policy goals to achieve in fighting corruption. In Zelensky’s very recent interview with Fox News’s Brett Baier‚ Zelensky claimed to have satisfied all of those goals. Are those acts enough to placate congressional Republicans? Probably not because they pay no attention to them. Ukraine’s forces are‚ we know‚ terribly short of artillery ammunition. More needs to come from the U.S. as should the financial aid Biden promised. If congressional Republicans want Putin to win his Ukraine war‚ they should continue to block the aid. If they want Putin to lose‚ they should approve the aid Biden wants and do more. Two points need to be made. First‚ as I’ve written repeatedly‚ we have no vital national security interest in Ukraine’s survival so we should not go to war in its defense. Second‚ our derivative national security interest in Ukraine demands that we support its war of survival to thwart Putin’s aggression because we have a significant interest in so doing. As the Russian war on Ukraine passes into its third year‚ we can’t give up on Ukraine. Our solipsism has immersed us in news of nothing else than the 2024 election. We need to walk and chew gum at the same time. Our global responsibilities demand that attention be paid to the wars we are engaged in albeit peripherally‚ even if that means giving Biden a small win on Ukraine.     The post Ukraine‚ Putin‚ Congress‚ and Trump appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

A ruling by the Government Accountability Office allows Joe Biden to keep Julie Su in charge of the Labor Department without confirmation by the Senate. Before Biden tapped her for the post‚ Su headed California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA)‚ which oversees the Employment Development Department (EDD)‚ responsible for unemployment claims. [T]he state budget deficit for the 2024-2025 year has increased from previous estimates of $58 billion and $68 billion to a whopping $73 billion. On Su’s watch‚ the EDD sent more than $31 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims to California‚ out of state‚ and out of the country. Scammers and convicts‚ file hundreds of fake claims‚ with no accountability in evidence. That problem did not disappear. (READ MORE from Lloyd Billingsley: Still Looking at You‚ Kids: Congress Aims to Extend Warrantless Surveillance for the Foreseeable Future) As the California Globe reports‚ “Bank of America quickly decided to get out of providing unemployment benefits‚ because of their part in the $32 billion in fraud and giving out outdated cards with no fraud prevention chips.” EDD has now turned to the Money Network for unemployment‚ disability‚ and Paid Family Leave debit card payments. As it happens‚ the Money Network also handled California’s middle class tax refund (MCTR)‚ a program also rife with fraud. “Scammer may have snagged your California Middle Class Tax Refund‚” NBC Los Angeles reported last July. The Money Network‚ the contractor hired to run the program‚ will receive $25 million‚ but California isn’t tracking how much fraud occurred. Californians waited for their refund to arrive‚ then learned that the card had been stolen and used at a convenience store ATM. Other problems were soon to follow. “Hackers took their Middle Class Tax Refunds and now victims are getting a tax bill‚” ABC news reported. Many Californians found out they might have to pay income taxes on money they never received. California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned of “scammers targeting California’s middle-class tax refund‚” but did not indicate how much fraud his office had prevented‚ or how much money had been recovered. Despite this record‚ the EDD turned to the Money Network‚ paying around $32.3 million over the next five years to cover the costs of direct deposit transactions alone. According to the EDD‚ “Money Network customers get the benefits of embedded microchips and state-of-the-art encryption for making contactless payments.” Based on their experience with the Money Network and state government‚ the “customers” can have more than a reasonable doubt. As they understand‚ the original $32 billion EDD fraud would not have happened if Julie Su had implemented proper safeguards. She didn’t‚ and unemployment fraud was not her only problem. (READ MORE: Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom Team Up Against Voters) Su was a prime mover of Assembly Bill 5‚ a frontal assault on independent workers. In the style of Marxist scholar Saule Omarova‚ Biden’s pick for comptroller of the currency‚ Julie Su‚ was the worst possible choice for Labor Secretary. A federal “accountability” office allowed Biden to keep Su in the post‚ but her absence from California did not end the state woes. According to California’s independent Legislative Analyst Office‚ the state budget deficit for the 2024-2025 year has increased from previous estimates of $58 billion and $68 billion to a whopping $73 billion. That massive deficit is due in part to workers and businesses moving out of state. In 2021‚ for the first time in 171 years‚ California lost a congressional seat while Texas gained two. According to U-Haul‚ 2023 marked the fourth consecutive year that more Californians rented one-way trucks to leave California than residents of any other state. When Attorney General Bonta was a member of the state Assembly‚ he backed a measure that would continue to tax people for ten years after they left the state. “We believe we can do that‚” Bonta told reporters. “We think it’s a sound approach and has a strong legal foundation.” As the Yale law alum should know‚ it doesn’t. The Bay Area Democrat was undeterred. “I don’t think the image of folks fleeing has panned out‚ I don’t think it’s historically true.” (READ MORE: The California Exodus Gets a Gag Order) It certainly is now‚ as the numbers confirm. Even with Julie Su in Washington‚ California’s waste‚ fraud‚ and abuse is likely to get worse. Lloyd Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland‚ Calif. The post Biden Labor Secretary Left California a Mess appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

What the pluck? Is that still a question? Or‚ is it now a matter of who gets to do the plucking? An insidious ensemble is strumming American heartstrings. Dictatorial DJs are calling the tunes of public emotion. They only bring one record to the national sock hop. Side A bleeds for the casualties‚ or purportedly wounded‚ with gushing excess. Side B doles out the grief for those found less worthy like Scrooge at a foreclosure. Which side gets play‚ after unfortunate events‚ is decided at a tier above all pay grades. There are people who can be fooled all of the time. Their slice of the pie chart widens as Alphabet Corporation and other search engines keep reshuffling the deck. The spinning industry finds itself confronted with constitutional crisis when crowds won’t sway to the choreography they’ve plotted. Kirk Van Houten only asked to borrow a feeling.  Modern media minions insist “feelings” must be permanently inflicted. The ruling professoriate has a score to settle with anyone unmoved by official tear-jerking. They want straight-shooting stoics‚ poor‚ unheard‚ dehumanized and unfriended. The panic about artificial intelligence is churning out of an artificial emotion industry. Shouldn’t we all have been blubbering like Jacob Frey at George Floyd’s casket based on editorially mandated cues? What kind of skeptic would accuse the Minneapolis mayor of chewing up scenery for the camera? What kind of imbecile could have seen anything else? Does any honest human really buy that people make off with flat screens or cases of Belvedere because of how dear “justice” is to their hearts? Whatever anyone actually “feels” … our betters prefer an environment where it’s unsafe to speak it out loud. (READ MORE: ‘Free Media’ for Trump Feels Like 2016 Again) Little Landen Hoffman took the plunge from the third tier of the Mall of America down to the first 40 feet below in April 2019. A man named Emmanuel Arranda tossed the 5-year-old over the rail. It got its ration of ink back then. Was it adequate? There is no official manual prescribing the proper dosage of copy for such a case. All we know is that the news cycle failed to stall or even speed bump over the story. Reporters did not obsess on the background details of the culprit. Something toxic about noting the demography looms between the lines in certain cases. It’s as strangely toxic as not noticing in a case like George Floyd’s. Do incidents with the gravity of Landen’s get slapdash coverage by accident? Do other‚ qualifying or disqualifying‚ factors bear on what evolves into mass perception? Major media has been grappling with what is in or out of “context” since at least 1961. That was when “The Young Savages‚” a film distantly based on the Salvador Agron case‚ pulled an inexplicable identity switch. A character based on Agron‚ the Puerto Rican killer‚ was made the injured party. Anthony Krzesinski and Robert Young Jr.‚ the actual dead boys‚ were packing DNA Tinsel Town found unwelcome in the victim class. That was over half a century ago. So‚ the bad guys in the movie had to be made to look like the fatalities instead of the actual killer. Otherwise‚ Joe-Twelve-Pack might fall prey to disinfo‚ misinfo‚ propaganda and fake news that might conform to physical reality. Making narratives match up with facts on the ground can equal heresy in Hollywood. It was all in an honest day’s work. Somebody has to be a gatekeeper‚ a filter‚ a digestive interlude between nutritional truth and what is fit for the palates of deplorable slobs. A distant professoriate will rule on demographic entitlement to any sense of grievance. What goes on in the world is irrelevant. You can bet the farm that if Landen hadn’t been white and the guy who tossed him over had been‚ the child would be more renowned than George Floyd today. The WilmerHale law firm‚ according to Lauren Hirsch at the NYT‚ prepped University Presidents’ Claudine Gay‚ Elizabeth Magill and Sally Kornbluth. They represented Harvard‚ UPenn‚ and MIT respectively on December 5‚ 2023 in a Hill hearing that focused on anti-Semitism. All three wielded brand name doctorates. Mere laymen would expect those credentials‚ bolstered by the counsel of a global law firm‚ to keep the trio’s guards’ up to buck-in-season levels. Anyone who saw does-in-headlights instead must have been guilty of homogeneity‚ inequity‚ and exclusion. (READ MORE: Supreme Court Should Reexamine New York Times v. Sullivan) In the peasant world‚ it’d be a chore finding someone who doesn’t know to duck when a question including the words “Jew” and “genocide” come at them in the same sentence. We might have been spared incomprehensible drivel about “context” if Archie Bunker was getting grilled. Psychopathic-babble has replaced Latin as lingua franca in Ubermenschenstan. The follow up question that should have been put to the professoriate testifying before the House on December 5‚ is this: “In what “context” would advocacy of lynching be acceptable?” Claudine Gay’s answer to that while still in the hot seat is sorely missed. Elected officials rarely muster the wit of Bill Maher‚ Groucho Marx‚ or Al Jaffe going after their prey. Media motives in what violence it chooses to graphically describe can be valid and humane. Not providing tinder for kindling lynch mobs comes first on the list. We are dangerously past the point where the excesses and restraints in the literalism of copy are doing more harm than good. Any editor‚ writer‚ reporter‚ broadcaster‚ news producer — whatever — who continues to see the consuming public as a tabula rasa to etch upon is not only unfit for post‚ but a major threat to the whole industry … and society at-large. This shortlist leaves off hundreds‚ if not thousands‚ of allies fighting on the side to abridge both “the freedom of speech” and “of the press.” There are people who can be fooled all of the time. Their slice of the pie chart widens as Alphabet Corporation and other search engines keep reshuffling the deck. Tracking down factual details that aren’t convenient to certain perspectives can often be sped up using a library and no electronic sources. Do news industry suits actually foresee a day when info-hungry peasants will feed from a single trough? Who will do the slopping? Someone with the integrity of Claas Relotius? The world wariness of Sabrina Erdely? What if people like them and Jussie Smollett never got caught? Silicon Valley and the DHS could be on the lookout for “journalists” with the stealth of Kim Philby going by what we saw in the Hunter laptop suppression incident. It was Joseph Goebels who said: “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly — it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.” Whatever academic doctrine reigns at the Columbia School of Journalism these days‚ it’s the Nazi numero duo’s M/O that flies in corporate suites. At the top of the info industry food chain‚ other items on the Third Reich’s informing agenda have been known to apply. Remember when Hillary Clinton’s emails hit Wikileaks? It was when Chris Cuomo told the world: “Also interesting is‚ remember‚ it’s illegal to possess these stolen documents. It’s different for the media. So everything you learn about this‚ you’re learning from us.” It’d be nice to know how many executives in the Fourth Estate estate were nodding along as Chris said this — and if any of them has wised up since.  What was “interesting” was a Fordham law grad making so silly a statement. He publicly embraced a feudally archaic legal theory of entitlement. It is tiresome to continue reciting the First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion‚ or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech‚ or of the press” to make a simple point. “Freedom of the press‚” said A. J. Liebling‚ “is guaranteed only to those who own one.” A man who died in 1963 couldn’t have foreseen the reach that would be accomplished by those with less means in the internet age. Some see Liebling‚ including Jack Shafer‚ as the greatest media critic yet known. Does that really stand in the present media era? Was the word “press‚” in Amendment one‚ ever referring to an entitled class? Wasn’t “press” rather‚ simply a contraption that facilitated access to a mass audience? Liebling constantly complained about the concentration of ownership. Internet access‚ at one point‚ had gone a long way toward resolving that complaint. Google‚ Facebook‚ Amazon and Microsoft are doing their damnedest to reverse that and recentralize the newsfeed. They’d gladly reincarnate Colonel McCormick and Cissy Patterson today if it would rescue them from the plague of the plebian voice. The idea that you have a right to be heard has been contested by The Atlantic Council‚ The New York Times‚ The Washington Post‚ The Los Angeles Times‚ Facebook‚ Twitter‚ The Democratic Party and‚ particularly‚ the Biden administration itself. This shortlist leaves off hundreds‚ if not thousands‚ of allies fighting on the side to abridge both “the freedom of speech” and “of the press.” That is‚ if the modern equivalent of a “press” is something a yokel can get his hands on. (READ MORE: The New York Times Attacks Musk‚ Hires Antisemites) When Philip Bump tells us‚ “Doing your own research is a good way to end up being wrong‚” it’s mighty hard to resist adding the letters t-i-o-u-s to his surname. And guess what? Phil was able to find a study that confirms his conclusion. Is there any contention that falls under the rubric of “sociology” that hasn’t been proven by a paper cranked out of a higher education mill somewhere? The Washington Post cites scores of unnamed experts on some news days. Vetting the flows of spurious contention from the “experts” cited across legacy media would require an office and full-time staff. The cost of diversity‚ equity and inclusion in reporting is not hard to compute. The demographic majority in the U.S. is losing its foothold in lifespan‚ wealth‚ and contentment.  And‚ while Harvard may have gotten a flash of color into its presidential pan‚ the overwhelming majority of the black population in the U.S. hasn’t gained a meaningful step in decades. All the “concern” pulsating from plush academic lairs‚ Wall Street boardrooms‚ DC double-think-tanks and media conclaves‚ for Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth‚ isn’t raising any oppressed group upward. It is simply reducing more and more people into the realms of serfdom. The zero-sum game being described is the very bludgeon knee-capping general opportunity. The elitist version of “truth” isn’t freeing any souls. It is solidifying a caste system far worse than the one Isabel Wilkerson imagines. The post The Media Control of ‘Context’ appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

One of the funniest passages in Mark Twain’s autobiography involves the effect of old age on his mental acuity: “When I was younger‚ I could remember anything‚ whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened.” It’s less amusing when we recall that this could have been said by President Biden — if he could string together two coherent sentences. The latest example of his ability to remember things that never happened occurred last week‚ when he told  fundraisers that foreign leaders have warned him former President Trump threatens democracy. Once today’s journalists finally die off‚ objective historians … will marvel that a cipher like Biden ever occupied the Oval Office. According to a CNN report Biden said‚ “As I walk out of meetings‚ a head of state will find an excuse to come up close … and say‚ ‘You’ve got to win.’ Not because I’m so special. ‘You’ve got to win because my democracy is at stake if the other guy wins.’ Nine heads of state have done that with me.” This is obviously what Mark Twain would have called a “stretcher.” Even if we accept the implausible claim that so many foreign leaders would be this indiscreet about Trump‚ a man who may very well be the President of the United States this time next year‚ there isn’t the slightest chance that Biden would recall it with such clarity. As Special Counsel Robert Hur noted in his report on Biden’s mishandling of classified documents: He did not remember when he was vice president‚ forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (“if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?”)‚ and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (“in 2009‚ am I still Vice President?”). He did not remember‚ even within several years‚ when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. This is where things get scary. Biden barely remembers major events in his political career and personal life‚ yet easily recalls things that never occurred. On January 30‚ for example‚ when asked if he would use his executive authority to ameliorate the immigration crisis‚ he responded thus: “I’ve done all I can do. Just give me the power. I’ve asked from the very day I got into office. Give me the Border Patrol.” In reality‚ of course‚ Biden hasn’t asked for this power because he already possesses it. He can solve the crisis by reversing some of his own executive orders and allowing the Border Patrol to do its job. Yet‚ when he shouted the above-quoted answer over the din of Marine One‚ he clearly believed his own words. (READ MORE from David Catron: Non-Citizens Have Been Voting Since 2008) Biden has always been a man of imperfect honesty‚ but the increasing volume and implausibility of his “lies” suggests that he can no longer differentiate between fact and fiction. Last year‚ for example‚ Biden said he visited Ground Zero the day after 9/11: “I remember standing there the next day and looking at the building. I felt like I was looking through the gates of hell.” Even CNN called him out on that one. This isn’t like fudging the facts on Bidenomics. Is Biden’s cognitive state such that he “remembers” being at Ground Zero on 9/12? We don’t know because the White House has ignored the concerns of Congress‚ including those of former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas): This is the fifth time we’ve sent a letter to the White House demanding Biden take a cognitive exam‚ however‚ while the administration has chosen to ignore each of these requests … As the former physician to three United States Presidents‚ extending over fourteen years‚ I know what it takes‚ mentally and physically‚ to be President. It is an extremely demanding job and being anything but top shape puts our country and American lives at risk. Indeed it does‚ but the White House and the Democratic leadership in Congress are obviously more concerned about remaining in power than in the well-being of Americans in general or the country as a whole. Consequently‚ instead of expressing relief when Special Counsel Robert Hur decided not to prosecute Biden for “willfully” retaining and illegally “disclosing” classified materials over a period of several years‚ they were outraged that he pointed out the “significant limitations” of his memory. But this is hardly news to the public. According to the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll‚ “86 percent of Americans think Biden‚ 81‚ is too old to serve another term as president.” The only real surprise was that ABC didn’t bury the poll. (READ MORE: Biden’s Sound and Fury) This brings us back to Mark Twain. In today’s degraded education system‚ it’s unlikely that many people know he published the Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. Grant had a very low opinion of journalists because of the slanderous treatment he received at their hands. Twain famously said‚ “Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.” Grant‚ a Republican‚ was once considered one of our worst presidents. Yet he has been steadily climbing in the rankings. Meanwhile‚ once revered presidents like Democrat Andrew Jackson have been heading south. Once today’s journalists finally die off‚ objective historians the age of my grandchildren will marvel that a cipher like Biden ever occupied the Oval Office. READ MORE from David Catron: Trump’s Swing State Challenge Is This What Biden Meant By ‘Unity’? The post Biden’s Cognitive Decline Continues Apace appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

In an important and timely essay in Foreign Affairs‚ the Naval War College’s Andrew Erickson‚ Gabriel Collins of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy‚ and Matt Pottinger‚ who served as President Trump’s Deputy National Security Adviser‚ invoke General Douglas MacArthur to warn of the catastrophic consequences that would result from Communist China’s takeover of Taiwan. In 1950‚ the authors note‚ in a top-secret memo written when MacArthur was overseeing the recovery and transformation of Japan from a militaristic imperial power to a democratic ally of the United States‚ MacArthur said that the fall of Taiwan (which was then commonly called “Formosa”) “would be a disaster of utmost importance to the United States.” “More than 70 years later‚” the authors write‚ “MacArthur’s words ring truer than ever.” “From this island chain‚” he said‚ “we can dominate with sea and air power every Asiatic port from Vladivostok to Singapore. Erickson‚ Collins‚ and Pottinger believe that Taiwan is even more important to U.S. national security now than it was at the time MacArthur wrote the memo. Today‚ unlike in the 1950s‚ Taiwan is a flourishing democracy whose independence puts the lie to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) claim that China’s prosperity depends on the party’s totalitarian rule. Taiwan‚ like West Berlin was during the Cold War‚ is an “island” of freedom that attracts freedom-loving peoples (in Taiwan’s case‚ their Chinese cousins on the mainland) suffering from communist oppression‚ and thereby threatens the CCP’s legitimacy. Also‚ unlike the 1950s‚ Taiwan “is economically crucial to the rest of the world” due to its production of most of the world’s advanced microchips. Furthermore‚ the authors note‚ unlike in MacArthur’s time‚ the Indo-Pacific region hosts a “wide network of U.S. allies … that rely on U.S. support for their security.” The loss of Taiwan would erode U.S. credibility to the point where our regional allies might release the nuclear weapons genie with incalculable consequences for East Asia and the rest of the world. And Communist China is today a much more formidable challenger to American security interests than it was in the 1950s. (READ MORE from Francis P. Sempa: Ranking Presidents‚ Miseducating Our Children) MacArthur‚ the authors recall‚ compared Taiwan to an “unsinkable aircraft carrier and submarine tender” that could threaten U.S. forces in Japan and the Philippines. The Communists could‚ MacArthur said‚ use Taiwan as a “springboard for military aggression” in East Asia and the Pacific. The United States‚ on the other hand‚ can use Taiwan to help contain Chinese ambitions in the western Pacific. What else not mentioned by Erickson‚ Collins‚ and Pottinger did MacArthur say about the importance of Taiwan? In his famous “Old Soldiers Never Die” address to Congress after being relieved of command in Korea by President Truman‚ MacArthur noted that the United States controls the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Asia “by a chain of islands extending in an arc from the Aleutians to the Marianas.” “From this island chain‚” he said‚ “we can dominate with sea and air power every Asiatic port from Vladivostok to Singapore … and prevent any hostile movement into the Pacific.” The island chain — what MacArthur called a “littoral defense line in the western Pacific” — was anchored by Taiwan. “[U]nder no circumstances‚” MacArthur said‚ “must Formosa fall under Communist control. Such an eventuality would at once threaten the freedom of the Philippines and the loss of Japan and might well force our western frontier back to the coast of California‚ Oregon‚ and Washington.” MacArthur noted that the people of Taiwan under the government of Chiang Kai-shek “appear to be advancing along sound and constructive lines” politically‚ economically‚ and socially. That is even more true of Taiwan’s people today. (READ MORE: Joseph Nye Claims Trump Supporters Are a Greater Threat Than China) Thanks to Erickson‚ Collins‚ and Pottinger Douglas MacArthur’s voice from more than 70 years ago echoes today in the waves of the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait‚ and throughout the western Pacific. We ignore that voice at our peril.     The post What Else MacArthur Said About Taiwan appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

There are many terrifying happenings going on in the world today. The Middle East is a tinder box with nuclear bomb kindling. The terrorist enemies of Israel‚ the most glorious nation on earth after America‚ have resorted to war crimes and crimes against humanity that would make Himmler blush. “The world” defends these horribly sick men and women everywhere except here in America and in the Philippines and in some places in Western Europe. Even in our beloved America‚ powerful members of Congress‚ for some reason all blacks and all women‚ defend murderous rapists and torturers of women and girls if the victims are Jews and the criminals are Muslims. Our President and his staff say little or nothing to condemn this evil. And then there is Iran‚ thinly “disguised” as “Houthi rebels‚” attacking merchant and naval shipping on the high seas‚ a real war against the West and Japan already underway. All of these are dreadful. But something else is happening. To my mind‚ it’s just as terrible. It is an attack on the Constitution by the leftists of the Democrat party. In that attack‚ prosecutors and grand juries and hyper-political media are attacking elected officials and a future President through sham trials for made-up violations of law. These legal fictions‚ eerily reminiscent of Comrade Stalin’s Show Trials of the 1930s‚ would be comical were it not for this fact: there are so many attacks‚ so many “indictments” scattered wherever a militant leftist prosecutor can find a grand jury‚ that even a man of Mr. Trump’s resourcefulness and intelligence has an almost impossible task swatting them away. They are a swarm of poisonous hornets and even a powerful man and powerful political party will not be able to defeat them. They are a plague of wasps attacking a lion: the lion can kill thousands of them‚ but eventually‚ they will take him down. This is a new form of Civil War. It can outrun the Constitution if the Supreme Court does not stop it now by Presidential Immunity. And even then‚ what happens when we have a new court‚ who’s to say what the law will be? Will we even have a Constitution? Can Prosecutorial misconduct defeat the Founding Fathers? So far‚ so bad. READ MORE from Ben Stein: Something Bad Has Happened to the Grand Old Party Goodbye to Sandpoint True Facts About America The post The Democrats’ New Form of Civil War appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

by Brian Lupo‚ The Gateway Pundit: The Republican Primary is well underway in South Carolina and already there are reports of issues with voting tabulators in at least one precinct in Richland County. Real America’s Voice Michelle Backus was on the ground in Satchel Ford Elementary in Columbia‚ SC.  She spoke Tony Burkes‚ a voter […]