The “none of these candidates” option has won in Nevada’s symbolic Republican presidential primary contest‚ an embarrassing result for Nikki Haley‚ who was the only major candidate on the ballot. The former U.N. ambassador opted to compete in the state-run primary election Tuesday instead of the party’s presidential caucuses‚ the only contest in the state that awards delegates toward the nomination. Former President Donald Trump is the only major candidate competing in the caucuses on...

One of his favourites. The post Steve Marriott: The singer so good Ozzy Osbourne thought he was lip-syncing first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Mitch McConnell has to be finished as the caucus leader for the Republicans in the Senate. Now. He has to resign‚ and if he won’t‚ then that caucus needs to get together and force him out. Now. Not next week‚ not next month‚ not after this election cycle. Now. McConnell gave a speech Monday demanding a “yes” vote on that atrocious border bill that Melissa Mackenzie and I both wrote about here at The American Spectator on Tuesday and discuss in the next episode of The Spectacle podcast. By now you already know how utterly awful a bill it was. And after McConnell blathered on for a while about what a good bill it was‚ the public outrage over the bill was so white-hot that three hours later McConnell relented: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recommended that Republicans vote against the $118 billion border security bill‚ at least for now. Even Oklahoma Senator Jim Lankford‚ one of the bill’s authors‚ indicated that it was too soon to bring the bill to a vote. The sudden about-face on the part of the GOP caucus left Democrat Brian Shatz saying on X‚ “Just gobsmacked. I’ve never seen anything like it. They literally demanded specific policy‚ got it‚ and then killed it.” The cloture vote scheduled for Wednesday is certain to fail. Without the momentum of its much-anticipated release and the tactical advantage of not giving anyone time to read it‚ it seems that if the bill does pass‚ it is unlikely to resemble the atrocity unveiled Sunday night. I quoted this from Ace of Spades in the open to The Spectacle episode‚ and I think it bears repeating here: McConnell’s determination to ram through yet another Comprehensive Amnesty will have several terrible aftereffects. On the strictly political side‚ it gives Biden and Schumer what they actually wanted all along: A way to blame Republicans for the Democrats’ border catastrophe. Democrats will claim the solution to the open border crisis was at hand‚ but Republicans rejected it for political reasons. Indeed‚ turncoat “Republican” liberal James Lankford is going out on all the political talk shows making exactly that case. On the policy side‚ Democrats will now insist that this weak “deal” establish the contours of any future “deal.” In other words: The Republicans have announced that they seek only the tiniest breadcrumbs in exchange for mass amnesty; why would Democrats ever agree to offer more than breadcrumbs in any “deal”? McConnell has committed us‚ out to the medium future‚ to sharing the Democrats’ Amnesty First‚ Security Last (or Never) agenda. The “deal‚” by the way‚ contained a Very Special Betrayal for conservatives: The bill would make the ultra-liberal DC Circuit Court the only court empowered to decide questions about immigration and border enforcement. We’ve seen some good rulings coming out of the Fifth Circuit on the border; this “deal” would take all cases away from any conservative-tilted court and give them all to the leftwing DC circuit. This is a “deal.” You guys are excited by this “deal‚” right? Ace has it exactly right. What McConnell has done in taking an issue that had gone absolutely‚ utterly septic for the Democrat Party — an issue that held the promise to ruin Democrats in all federal (and quite a few state) elections this fall — and offer a Solyndra-style bailout in the form of that border bill has been to utterly and completely neutralize the issue. READ MORE from Scott McKay: Chuck Schumer: ‘I Have Never Worked More Closely With Leader McConnell’ Because Republican voters now know that the GOP candidate running for the Senate in their states is utterly worthless on the issue no matter what he or she says. They know this because they now know that the Republican leadership is completely willing to sell them out on the border issue. But for the public outcry‚ they’d have already done it with this atrocity of a bill. That would have gone straight to the House floor‚ and it would have been up to Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team to keep it from getting a vote while being pulverized by the Washington media and political class. Johnson has all of 219 votes in his caucus. There is little reason to believe he could hold that slim majority together to kill that bill if it came over to the House. And McConnell was more than happy to jam up Johnson and keep him from having a policy win. McConnell was quite happy to stab Johnson in the throat the way he repeatedly stabbed John Boehner in the throat before Boehner realized it was better to join the D.C. slimeball cabal than to attempt to fight it (and‚ yes‚ that didn’t take very long‚ to be sure). Maybe Johnson is made of sterner stuff. But maybe we’ve been through enough of this crap. Maybe it’s time that there are consequences to this kind of Failure Theater. McConnell is a cat with nine-times-nine lives. But the abject mess he made with this border bill‚ which has Democrats like Schatz pointing and guffawing like drunken hillbillies at a cockfight‚ should be enough to finish him. Certainly because every member of the Senate GOP caucus who didn’t publicly trash this bill now looks like an utter buffoon — most especially James Lankford — or‚ perhaps more appropriately‚ James Walktheplankford‚ given what McConnell did in sending him out to commit political suicide in “negotiating” this utter surrender. These are the people who have remained loyal to McConnell‚ by far the least popular politician in Washington and the one constant factor in the Republican Party’s thorough underachievement in election after election in every cycle since 2008. By now they can’t possibly miss the fact that McConnell is an anchor dragging the whole party down. Even if they’re establishment hacks like he is‚ they have to recognize that whatever magic the Turtle once offered has evaporated‚ so much so that this week’s debacle is the future of their caucus’ performance until new blood comes in. Most importantly‚ though‚ what Ace said is the most important reason McConnell has to go. Because of the terrible border deal McConnell had Lankford craft in concert with the execrable Chuck Schumer and his flunkies Chris Murphy and Kyrsten Sinema‚ the GOP is now locked in a box of its own making. They’re in no position to refuse various forms of amnesty or even encouragement of further migrant invasions — because GOP leadership has already agreed to those. There is only one option available to break out of that box‚ and that is to replace McConnell and the GOP leadership. The same people cannot present different conditions for negotiation. The good news is that in Johnson and the House leadership‚ you have something to build from. The House already passed a legitimate border security bill nine months ago. Sure‚ Schumer says it’s a non-starter in the Senate‚ but a new Republican Senate leadership that was actually interested in representing Republican voters could force Schumer to the table with the House bill as the starting point. And when — not if‚ when‚ because Chuck Schumer has never negotiated in good faith in his entire miserable life — he refuses to do a deal with a newly unified GOP on Capitol Hill‚ at least we can return to our natural point of origin. Which is an understanding that Biden’s border invasion was no accident‚ that it’s the result of a deliberate policy agenda the Democrats have intended for a long time‚ that it’s an intentional disregard of our national security‚ and that the people most damaged by it are core Democrat voters. And that what Republicans are asking for is a return to the successful policies of the Trump administration‚ which had slowed illegal immigration to a near-standstill before Biden blew up that status quo. That understanding is honest‚ and it’s truthful. We don’t have it right now because of what McConnell has done. That it has blown up in his face must carry political consequences of the most severe kind. He has to go. Now. Beat it‚ Mitch — you’ve done enough damage. The post This Has to Be the End of the Road for Mitch McConnell appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

It’s taken far too long‚ but it seems that some corners of the Left are beginning to question whether encouraging children to undergo medical procedures to approximate a gender transition is actually a good idea. On today’s episode of The Spectator P.M. Podcast‚ hosts Ellie Gardey and Aubrey Gulick discuss the story of detransitioner Grace Powell and a recent op-ed in the New York Times admitting that “gender-affirming care” might just be so ideologically charged that its practitioners are no longer practicing medicine. Ellie and Aubrey discuss the difference between the standards that most forms of therapy and medical procedures must meet and those that “gender-affirming care” has to meet. Watch to hear their analysis! Like and share The Spectator P.M. Podcast‚ and be sure to tune in to our next episode! Read Aubrey and Ellie’s writing here and here. Listen to the Spectator P.M. Podcast with Aubrey Gulick and Ellie Gardey on Spotify. Watch the Spectator P.M. Podcast with Aubrey Gulick and Ellie Gardey on Rumble.  The post <;i>;The Spectator P.M. Podcast<;/i>; Ep. 20: <;i>;New York Times<;/i>; Questions Transgender Insanity appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Last month I had a feeling that something terrible had happened to one of my most beloved former girlfriends‚ Sherri Schultz. I looked for her on the internet and saw that she’d recently died. A couple of weeks before her 60th birthday. I was stunned — Sherri was 17 years younger than me. And the fulsome online tributes to her‚ from her very progressive “Northwest Editors Guild” friends in Seattle‚ brought me no closure. They all focused on her joyful spirit; none revealed how she died‚ or why she died so young. READ MORE from Mark Satin: The Inner Lives of Socialists I spent a couple of hours suspecting the worst‚ then got in touch with one of her friends at the guild. My suspicions were confirmed: Sherri had committed suicide. She had deliberately starved herself to death and died homeless on the street in Eugene‚ Oregon‚ where she’d gone to college 40 years before. Sherri’s friend rushed to tell me that Sherri was an adult‚ that suicide was her “choice‚” and that it was important for all of us to use her death to celebrate “life” and not focus on the grisly end. I disagree. Sherri was not just a book editor living a private life; before her death‚ she had become one of the Pacific Northwest’s most ardent advocates of “micro-housing” (living in tiny houses and apartments) and defenders of the lifestyle that goes with it — no marriage‚ no kids‚ no car‚ minimal personal belongings or consumption‚ and no big-deal professional career. She called it‚ rather proudly‚ “Living small.” Living small is a frontal attack on the American Dream. It is‚ in various versions‚ what many idealistic young people are up to these days‚ and Sherri’s suicide could act as an alarm bell for them. For me it is even harder to confront. I think she died in part because of me. ***** When Sherri and I met‚ in 1989‚ I had written an idealistic mini-bestseller called New Age Politics and was editing a “transformational” Washington‚ D.C.–based national political newsletter called New Options. Sherri went to work for me part-time‚ and soon we were in love‚ though she’d often call me a “laughable old baby boomer” and other uppity things. What she was drawn to even more than old man me were my ideas. She had described herself to me as “a very young 26” who was “looking for direction” after a couple of years in the conventional peace movement‚ and I was more than happy — I was proud as punch — to induct her into my transformational worldview. She loved my New Age Politics book and laughed out loud at the passage where I say the size of American homes had doubled since World War II — proof positive‚ we both agreed‚ that Americans are greedy and materialistic beyond measure. She was floored by my argument (derived from Ivan Illich) that Americans travel only five miles an hour in their cars‚ if you add up all the time we spend parking them‚ tending to them‚ earning money to pay for them‚ etc. Sherri Schultz in Washington‚ D.C.‚ 1989 (Mark Satin) She totally bought into my love for and identification with the homeless. I had spent nearly two years without a home myself‚ couch-surfing (and double-bed-surfing) across North America while promoting my book‚ and of course I stressed the most romantic and anti-Establishment aspects of that to her. She squealed — the only time I ever heard her squeal — when she discovered that Mitch Snyder‚ Washington‚ D.C.’s then-famous champion of the homeless‚ had inscribed a very supportive note to me in a book about his work. Another thing that impressed Sherri deeply was the New Age’s aversion to high-powered careers; supposedly‚ they left little room for friendships‚ volunteer work‚ spontaneity‚ and play. Alas for me‚ it wasn’t long before the apprentice began outpacing the master — and accusing him of rank hypocrisy. She couldn’t abide that I’d usually order takeout. When I pointed out that I needed to work 80 hours a week on my newsletter‚ she asked if I’d ever actually read my book. Wasn’t the New Age about having the time to cook good healthy meals and enjoy every other aspect of daily life on this earth‚ as I claimed the Native Americans did? She had a sweet and delicate demeanor but was also whip-smart. So when prominent left-wing military analyst William Arkin chose her over 200 other applicants to be his assistant at Greenpeace‚ I was thrilled for her. As these things usually go in D.C.‚ after a couple of years Arkin would help her get into public policy graduate school at Harvard or Princeton‚ and she’d end up having a career at the State Department that was commensurate with her abilities. But after a couple of months‚ Sherri told me she’d decided to quit — she didn’t want to spend her days thinking about “bombs and throw-weights.” When I urged her to reconsider‚ she exploded. Hadn’t Mr. New Age Politics Himself walked away from an all-expenses-paid fellowship to graduate school after six weeks‚ because he didn’t want to become a cog in the System? When Sherri told me she thought I’d gotten her pregnant and she’d need an abortion‚ I immediately volunteered to live with her and help support and raise the child. She was aghast — where had that even come from? Didn’t New Age Politics describe the nuclear family as the perfect transmission belt for the modernistic‚ thing- and death-oriented “prison of consciousness” we Americans are afflicted with‚ and are afflicting the rest of the world with? ***** Sherri and I didn’t last as a couple for more than about seven months‚ and I shut my newsletter down a year later. I felt I had outgrown it. I went back to school‚ started a much more balanced political newsletter called Radical Middle‚ met the love of my life (a woman my age)‚ and lived pretty conventionally ever after. Sherri‚ though‚ continued down the New Age/living-small path for the rest of her life. She never married. In 1992 she moved to Seattle with an anti-corporate activist from Haverford College‚ but the relationship didn’t last. Later there was an environmental activist from Stanford‚ but that ended after they tried living on a rural commune near the Washington–Oregon border. She never had children‚ though she did obtain custody of a sweet and delicate-looking cat from the Stanford guy. She was content to work as an independent copyeditor of books from mostly small publishers for the last three decades of her life. Because she was soon gifted with money from relatives‚ she was able to get by while editing only about six books a year. The rest of the time she devoted to nonprofit work around Seattle‚ including helping to start the Northwest Editors Guild and save a home for elderly women. Her real passion in her late 40s‚ I’ve been told‚ was participating in Seattle’s flash mobs. Dozens of mostly young people would suddenly show up near department stores or at shopping malls and start dancing and singing‚ then just as suddenly stop and fade away. It wasn’t the State Department‚ but it did supposedly communicate to bourgeois American citizens that there’s more to life than consuming‚ such as spontaneity and play. ***** Sherri kept her New Age/living-small lifestyle up until her mid-50s. Then an emptiness appeared. None of her friends could tell what was wrong; neither could she. Spooked by reports of climate change and the earthquakes that would surely come‚ she sold her beloved little condo in an old building on top of a Seattle hill‚ disbursed most of her already minimal personal possessions‚ and began couch-surfing at friends’ houses. But nothing seemed to stir her. Finally she had a beguiling idea: She would return to Eugene‚ her old college town‚ and live at the Collegian‚ a dorm-like residential building near campus. It was meant for students‚ but others were allowed to live there too. Her environmental footprint there could not have been smaller: Her room was almost unimaginably tiny‚ and all her meals were provided in a collective dining hall. This arrangement worked for a while. She blogged about living small‚ did a YouTube video‚ got herself into the Eugene Register-Guard‚ and did meetups with local book editors. But after a while the emptiness returned. She had a dispute with management at the Collegian‚ left or was evicted‚ and started couch-surfing around town. She still had money‚ but it wasn’t money that she needed. After the couch-surfing got old‚ she ambled off to die. Her X feed has been scrubbed except for the top‚ which informs us that Eugene is on stolen tribal land. It may be no accident that she let go on the eve of the 4th of July. Sherri‚ dear Sherri‚ had anyone told me you were dying on the streets of Eugene‚ I’d have flown up there and tried to call you back to life. Or at least‚ tried to apologize for helping sell you a bill of goods. Since I can’t do either now‚ let me dedicate this article to you. While it does not exactly celebrate your life‚ it raises the question your life poses for all Americans who passionately want to save the environment and mitigate human suffering: Is it wise to live without an intimate life partner‚ without having children‚ without creature comforts‚ without a job or profession that taxes you to the utmost of your abilities‚ and without loving your nation? Is it even sustainable? Mark Satin is the author of Up From Socialism: My 60-Year Search for a Healing New Radical Politics (Bombardier Books‚ 2023). The post My Super-Woke Ideas Helped Kill My Former Girlfriend appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The future is never as you imagined it. We’re supposed to be in it. At least that’s what the cartoons said when I was a kid. Reality is nothing like those childhood predictions. It’s 2024‚ cars still don’t fly‚ and now the big news is that Apple has invented … diving goggles. We still have to diet if we want to lose weight‚ the price of beer keeps going up‚ and Tinder is full of abominable chicks. The future is a stinking scam! And aesthetically speaking‚ it is as close to what we dreamed of as a Tesla Cybertruck is to a Bugatti Royale. READ MORE from Itxu Díaz: The Regrettable ‘Gay Christ’ Poster vs. the Magnificent Holy Week in Seville This week the streets are filling up with futuristic flies. In the old days we killed them with pesticides‚ and now we pay over $3‚500 to become one of them. If you see a guy wandering around in a suit and diving goggles doing weird things with his index finger‚ dodge him‚ quicken your pace‚ and be on your way. He is not trying to spearfish. Nor is he making obscene gestures at you (I assume). He’s just bought an Apple Vision Pro and is most likely watching a movie‚ listening to a song‚ or trying to recover his damn password; Apple is forcing those who lose their password to reset it in the store‚ and what I don’t know is if it now also forces you to wipe the floor with your tongue in order to recover your favorite pet’s name. In any case‚ if Google were to do the same with Gmail‚ it would be cheaper for me to rent an apartment in front of its offices.  The tech gurus have decided that even though we stare at our cellphone screens all day long‚ we still pay too much attention to ourselves. So they have invented this gadget to get rid of the rest of the universe. Now you can walk around objects and humans without interacting with any of them‚ because everyone has to understand that you’re busy‚ maybe playing Minesweeper‚ or whatever the hell they call that thing people play in the office when the boss is in a meeting.  The first images of Apple Vision Pro users look like something out of a horror movie‚ a technological utopia‚ or a vision of hell. Guys having lunch together with their glasses on; another one talking to himself on the train with a technological scuba mask covering his face; another guy speeding around on a scooter with his AVPs on‚ looking extremely amused‚ but without a beer in his hand or anything; and some really clever guy who decided to take a drive with his new glasses to conduct an experiment that‚ for whatever reason‚ didn’t seem like such a good idea to the police when they stopped him. The award for the Smartest YouTuber this year should go to the guy who decided to test the resistance of his AVP by throwing them against the wall‚ then dropping them from 6 feet and smashing them in a thousand different ways. That guy is a natural; 3‚500 bucks down the drain to finally show the depressing result and exclaim‚ “Damn‚ in the end they break!” Aside from all that‚ in a time when social classes as such no longer exist‚ we may have to divide ourselves again into two large groups: those who go through life absent‚ and those who go through it present. The absent‚ permanently connected to ever-more-absorbing devices‚ will have everything just a click away (sorry‚ with AVPs I think it’s a wink; I don’t even want to think about the number of accidental emails I might send before breakfast when spring allergies bring on the morning sneezes)‚ but they will have nothing in reality. (READ MORE: Take an Exclusive Look Inside Itxu Díaz’s New Book: I Will Not Eat Crickets: An Angry Satirist Declares War on the Globalist Elite) Those present‚ on the other hand‚ will continue to be enriched by the old experience of sharing life in society — talking‚ looking into each other’s eyes‚ touching‚ kissing. The absent will be easily manipulated through any mechanism that combines pernicious ideas and technology. Those present will still be able to develop a modicum of criteria‚ contrasting their own knowledge with that of others‚ and learning much more about human beings through an afternoon of beers with a friend than those absent‚ no matter how many hours they spend watching Netflix documentaries of What Is Man at the bus stop.  Yes‚ I’m getting older‚ more intolerant‚ and cantankerous. Not like when I was young‚ when I was just cantankerous‚ intolerant‚ and old. And it overwhelms me to see people disguised as flies walking around outside and inside bars‚ mired in a world of lies and corruption. This invasion of spectacles scares the hell out of me. It seems to me like the prelude to the end of the world. I can’t understand how it’s come to this. It should be banned! It’s aesthetic terrorism! The end of civilization! I’m ashamed to be human! By the way‚ can anyone lend me their Apple Vision Pros to watch the game on Saturday? 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 Apple’s Latest Invention: Streets Overrun by Guys With Minion Eyes appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Country music giant Toby Keith died peacefully of stomach cancer Monday in his native Oklahoma. He was 62. He’s survived by his wife‚ Tricia‚ and three children. His family was with him at his death. Keith was a country megastar‚ scoring 20 No. 1 country hits and selling more than 40 million albums. He ran the table on country music awards. He wrote most of his own songs and was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015. His songs contain the clever wording‚ humor‚ and patriotism that account for why country music has millions of fans (include me in). One of the great song titles of all time is Keith’s “Beer for My Horses.” Keith’s breakout hit in 1993 was “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” (How many accountants have thought this at tax season?) More hits followed: “How Do You Like Me Now?!”; “I Wanna Talk About Me”; “I Love This Bar”; “As Good as I Once Was”; and others. One of his later hits was “Don’t Let the Old Man In‚” the theme song of Clint Eastwood’s most recent movie‚ Cry Macho. (READ MORE from Larry Thornberry: The Good‚ the Bad‚ and the Unlikely) Keith was the authentic country item‚ born in Clinton‚ Oklahoma. His father was an oilfield worker‚ his mother a housewife. Before his musical success‚ Keith worked as a rodeo hand and an oilfield roughneck. He even played defensive end for a bit for the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers. (Keith was a big‚ strong boy.) He clearly has the blue-collar bona fides of so many country stars. Before success called on him‚ Keith paid his dues‚ working first in an Oklahoma group called the Easy Money Band‚ which played in some rough night spots. When Keith made it to Nashville‚ he started out busking on streets corners. Overnight success took years. But it came‚ and it was well deserved. After 9/11‚ Keith’s songs took on a more patriotic tone‚ including “Courtesy of the Red‚ White and Blue.” This one stuck in many liberal craws‚ creating a tiny backlash among those for whom 100-proof patriotism causes a rash. The New York Times obit writer said that the song could be heard as either “a patriotic rallying cry or a jingoistic rant.” No points for guessing how Keith and the song are seen in the Times newsroom. Faced with the small-bore kvetching from the left‚ Keith shrugged it off by saying that he would never apologize for “being patriotic.” Keith never served his country in uniform‚ but he had the greatest respect for those who did‚ doing 11 overseas USO tours singing for the troops‚ with whom he was a great favorite. His father did serve‚ losing an eye in service. Keith said he never complained of this and flew an American flag at his house every day. Keith was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2020. He fought it with chemotherapy‚ radiation‚ and surgery. This grueling regimen allowed his to return to the stage for final concerts in Las Vegas last December. But he lost his battle Monday. In a statement‚ his family said‚ “He fought his fight with grace and courage.” NO one who knew Keith could doubt this. In addition to his successful music career‚ Keith knew the meaning of “give back.” He was active in and generous to various charities‚ including building a home in Oklahoma City for children battling cancer. Keith was a fine country singer‚ a true gent‚ and a great American. RIP‚ cowboy. You done good. We’re sorry to see you go so soon. The post A Tip of the Cowboy Hat to Toby Keith appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

I don’t know whether I should be proud or ashamed to say this publicly. (Let me pause a moment to be sure I want to admit this.) (Still thinking…) (Still…) Oh‚ OK. What the heck. Here goes: READ MORE from Dov Fischer: Cut Off the UNRWA I have never ever in my life heard a single song by Taylor Swift. I would not recognize a Taylor Swift melody or lyric if it hit me in the head. I would not recognize a lyric. In time‚ I will try to read some lyrics on one of those websites to acquaint myself with the phenomenon. But until now‚ I don’t know what she sounds like‚ and I don’t care what she‚ uh‚ thinks. I don’t care what she is wearing today or whether she will be with Kelce‚ or whether she will eat pizza at the Super Bowl. A few people last the test of time. Meryl Streep. Michael Douglas. Oprah. Martin Short. Dolly Parton. These others are flashes in the pan. They come‚ and they go. I have lived through my share of them. For a few years‚ all the media craze was Britney Spears. You couldn’t go anywhere‚ read anything without hearing about Britney Spears. I once was in a doctor’s waiting room‚ and the TV was on‚ and she was being interviewed: “How does it feel to be a role model for young girls?” She answered‚ “I don’t see myself as a role model.” I thought to myself: “Wisdom beyond her years!” Soon enough‚ poor thing was being admitted into UCLA Medical Center‚ and some hospital staffer eventually violated her privacy‚ broke into the computers‚ downloaded Britney’s records‚ and sold them to one of the gossip rags. Poor thing. Shoulda bin a cowgirl. They come and go. Like seasons. Many‚ like Oprah‚ have invested wisely and now are gazillionaires who own restaurant chains or TV networks or islands or planets. Some simply were happy to leave Hollywood and the high intensity of the spotlight or the pressure to do a concert in another city every night‚ never able to cancel a performance‚ no matter how sick they got‚ because it would mean canceling 20‚000 pre-sold and scalped tickets at hundreds of dollars each. So they take drugs to keep going. Some‚ like Michael Jackson and Jimi Hendrix and Prince and Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison and even the King ultimately manage to kill themselves one way or another. Shoulda bin cowboys. Poor thing. Demi Moore? One day she is married to Bruce Willis‚ then to a handsome guy a hundred years younger than she. Last I remember‚ she was using leeches to cure someone or something. Remember all the fuss about Lindsay Lohan? Hottest person of the day. Poor thing‚ ended up getting caught stealing a necklace. Shoulda been a cowgirl. One day George Reeves was Superman. I still sometimes catch an old episode on Amazon Prime. Next day he was dead by suicide‚ and not by Kryptonite but by deep personal issues. They come and go. The bigger the flash‚ the smaller the pan in which they get fried. Tonya Harding‚ Olympic medalist? Lance Armstrong‚ biking sensation? Deeply flawed media heroes. Shoulda bin cowboys. They call themselves “stars.” But I don’t see them in any galaxy. Or R. Kelly. No one will be seeing him anywhere for a while. Or howzabout that New Jersey crowd that were all the rage? Snooki? Pauly D? Mike “The Situation”? A combined IQ of 2. How did they capture so much attention? The Situation? Really? Or‚ while on that level of intellect‚ how about Tila Tequila? And the chicken of the sea‚ Jessica Simpson‚ a nice enough person‚ but to be idolized? We live in what we Orthodox rabbis call “The World of Sheker” — the world of Lies. A world in which a corrupt media that lives on promoting Fake News‚ corrupt morality‚ violence‚ and just unwholesome garbage dominates the minds of the masses. And they could not get away with it if the masses did not buy in. If masses did not buy tickets to those movies‚ did not consume those products. If. There are others — worlds greater‚ true stars in a galaxy — outside the limelight‚ unknown. In my world‚ names you may not know: Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l‚ Rav Yosef Ber Soloveichik zt”l‚ Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l. Rav Avigdor Miller zt”l. They lived into their 80s‚ and each impacted hundreds of thousands for half a century. Instead of fading with time‚ their genius and wisdom grew‚ as did their followings. They rarely or never made the New York Times. Just as well because‚ if they had‚ they would have been caricatured and misquoted. I am thinking a great deal about the nature of “celebrity” today‚ as I read of the passing of Toby Keith at the comparatively young age of 62 of stomach cancer. He was no Rav Feinstein‚ Rav Soloveichik‚ Rav Yosef‚ or Rav Miller. I really cannot discuss him in the same paragraph as them. So a new paragraph: But he was very important to me and in many ways touched my soul with his music. After 9/11‚ I needed to hear him sing about “The American Way” and how we would hit back hard “Courtesy of the Red‚ White and Blue.” I knew then‚ and know now‚ that our America now paradoxically does not fight “The American Way.” We fight like France and Italy‚ unable to win‚ begging others to join us even when we are dealing with medieval rag-tag Houthis‚ and changing sides midway through wars as we did in Vietnam and again with Taiwan and now partly with Israel. We are not the America of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt and Truman. Of Mount Rushmore. We are the America of Obama‚ Biden‚ and Taylor Swift. Maybe we will make America great again soon. And maybe not. It was important for me to hear real anger after 9/11. Toby Keith provided it. Darryl Worley provided it after 9/11 in “Have You Forgotten?” It is like the anger that resonates and comes now from Jason Aldean in “Try That in a Small Town.” It is the anger amid the craziness of the late 1960s that was expressed so powerfully by Merle Haggard in “The Fightin’ Side of Me” and‚ especially‚ in “Okie From Muskogee.” Toby Keith had a wicked sense of humor‚ too‚ that spoke to me equally. I love my wife. My readers in this column know that I was married 20 years to the love of my life until glioblastoma‚ a form of cancer‚ took her in 2020. And now I am remarried‚ blessed with a wonderful‚ sweet‚ kind wife who literally has saved my life more than once as she dragged me to a hospital to be evaluated immediately for a lung transplant. So I love her‚ OK? And I loved my wife of 20 years. But Toby Keith’s “I Wanna Talk About Me” hit the mark so well that I have been humming it for the past 22 years. ’Nuff said about that. Before I married Ellen of blessed memory‚ I had been through a tough 25-year marriage and then a deeply painful‚ though not litigated‚ divorce. For the first time in a quarter of a century‚ I was alone at home. My kids‚ whom I loved and still love to pieces‚ no longer were 5 feet away from a hug and kiss but only present half the week. It was tough. I had not yet met Ellen. And then Toby Keith came out with “How Do You Like Me Now?!” I cannot begin to describe what that song did for me at that time. I knew my best days were ahead of me.  That song pushed me forward. Which brought me Full Toby. I am called to be a rabbi. I also am passionate about writing and teaching. I do not have the slightest interest in making money or being rich. I leave that to Tevye. My goal: just to have enough. In my first marriage‚ forces restrained my passions and coerced me to pursue a different path‚ that of lawyering. And then I would listen to “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” I know Toby did not mean it quite the way I needed to hear it. But I would be sitting in the law library at Jones Day at 3 in the morning‚ preparing for a deposition or drafting a legal memorandum due by 9 a.m.‚ and I would pause to think: “I don’t want to be here. I was a practicing rabbi for 10 years. It is my calling. I have got to get back to that‚ somehow.” Soon‚ I would start singing softly to myself‚ with my own set of lyrics‚ “I Shoulda bin a Rabbi.” And unlike the singer‚ I was determined not just to pine but indeed to be like Gene and Roy. I always wanted to meet Toby Keith for a “New York minute” to say thanks for how he touched my life. I feel the same about the early Garth Brooks and his “If Tomorrow Never Comes‚” “The River‚” “The Dance‚” “Unanswered Prayers‚” and “The Change.” But we shall leave that early pre–Trish Garth for another day. With Toby Keith dying‚ a part of me dies with him. We will always have his music‚ but we will never know how much more might he have written and sung. For me‚ there is the similarly impactful everlasting music of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach‚ the deeply moving lyrics of Safam who dried out‚ and‚ more recently‚ the extraordinary songs of Israel’s Ishay Ribo. We are left to wonder‚ as George Jones did‚ “Who’s gonna fill their shoes?” Or his. To receive Rav Fischer’s Weekly Extensive Torah Commentaries or to attend any or all of Rav Fischer’s weekly 60-minute live Zoom classes on the Weekly Torah Portion‚ the Biblical Prophets‚ the Mishnah‚ Rambam Mishneh Torah‚ or Advanced Judaic Texts‚ send an email to: shulstuff@yioc.org His 10-part exciting and fact-based series of one-hour classes on the Jewish Underground liberation movement (Irgun‚ Lechi‚ and Haganah) and the Rise of Modern Israel can be found here. In it‚ he uses historic video clips of Irgun‚ Lechi‚ and Haganah actions‚ decades of past Arab terrorist atrocities‚ as well as stirring musical selections from the Underground and video’d interviews of participants‚ to augment data‚ statistics‚ maps‚ and additional historical records to create a fascinating‚ often gripping‚ and scholarly enriching educational experience about issues that remain deeply relevant today as Israel engages in an existential war in Gaza against Hamas terrorism. His latest deeply moving weekly series of informational and inspirational programs on the Hamas Gaza war may be found here. His 40-part Bible Study series covering all of I Samuel (First Samuel) intensively with Talmudic and Midrashic commentaries is now up here. And his 9-part intensive Megillah (Book of Esther) Bible Study series is up temporarily here at until Purim. The post Toby Keith’s Songs Touched My Life appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

China offers a cautionary lesson on what happens when an elite exclusively rules. The Celestial Empire has come crashing down to earth: the latest sign being a $6 trillion stock loss over the last three years. The world’s largest country‚ the world’s second largest economy‚ and America’s only superpower adversary is confronted and confounded by serious problems. What is more: These serious problems are ones its own elite created. READ MORE: Joseph Nye Claims Trump Supporters Are a Greater Threat Than China China was once the paragon of decisive action. Overpopulated and underdeveloped‚ backward and bullied‚ China’s elite perceived its problems and with absolute autonomy took aim. It was not bogged down by the inefficiencies of democracy and dissent. It ruled by fiat and issued forthwith its solutions. Ah‚ to be China‚ the rest of the world’s leaders‚ entangled in their democracies‚ sighed. Now the full flowering of the Chinese elite’s imperiousness is blossoming in full view. For its over-population problem‚ China’s elite prescribed a one-child policy that ran from 1979 to 2015. It was wildly successful in reducing China’s population by discouraging births and aborting babies (especially girls). Now its consequences have become clear: Today‚ China faces a demographic crisis of plummeting birthrates‚ an aging population‚ a skewed gender balance in the younger population‚ and a declining workforce‚ as there are insufficient workers to replace its retiring elderly. As the Committee to Unleash Prosperity points out‚ China’s population shrank by 2 million in 2023 — double 2022’s loss — and the average births to women of child-bearing age dropped to less than half (1.0) of the 2.10 required to simply maintain the population. One Chinese village is now offering rewards to matchmakers who can make a marriage. For its backwardness‚ China’s elite prescribed a host of measures. Adopting a mercantilist mindset‚ it pursued growth at any cost. Internally‚ its one-child policy helped reduce the demand on resources. Externally‚ it aggressively exported and controlled imports. IP rights of foreign competitors were (and still are) ignored and limitations put on foreign investment in China. China’s economic development has been extremely uneven. There is too little personal consumption (see: one-child policy)‚ while too much investment has flowed into SOEs (state-owned enterprises) and speculative real-estate investment. The abridgement of foreign countries’ rights in trade has brought retaliation. Together‚ these have triggered decreases in much-needed foreign investment and sell-offs in China’s stock markets. Of course‚ the elites were not only focused on economic development when it came to China’s perceived backwardness. There were also recalcitrant groups and individuals who stood in the way of dictated progress. China’s elite does not brook dissent. The treatment of ethnic minorities has been labeled genocide in the Uyghurs’ case‚ Tibet is a captive‚ Hong Kong’s promise of “One Country‚ Two Systems” was broken‚ individual rights are abridged‚ and there are political prisoners aplenty. For being bullied‚ China’s elite prescribed an aggressive-to-the-point-of-belligerent foreign policy. As a result‚ China has alienated all around it — including those not in proximity to it. With its massive Belt and Road Initiative‚ it has made enemies even where it has made investments. The result has been that China is largely a global pariah with only other pariahs — Russia‚ North Korea‚ Cuba‚ Venezuela‚ and Iran — as its only dependable friends. China’s elite has made the country a global example of what happens in the absence of the checks supplied economically and politically by broader society. Of course‚ the economically and politically excluded Chinese people are the first and biggest victims of their elite’s unrestrained hubris. But they are hardly alone. China’s elite has inflicted its policies’ fallout globally — and threatens to do so even more (ask Taiwan‚ India‚ or Japan about that). And then there is the question of culpability in COVID — a question not of “if‚” only how much: Does it extend all the way back to the virus’s creation and a lab leak (which appears increasingly likely) or just to a coverup‚ foot-dragging‚ and lack of cooperation after the discovery? But China is unique‚ you say? Hardly. Note well who China’s allies are. Russia‚ North Korea‚ Cuba‚ Venezuela‚ and Iran are themselves exclusively ruled by their own elites. And each country is racked with its own elite-inflicted problems as bad or worse than China’s. All autocratic countries share the same pyramidal structure of rule by an apex that believes it has the sole ability and right to govern. But it cannot happen here‚ you say? Just recount into how many blind alleys our comparatively democratically encumbered elite has already led us. They have given us DEI’s transparent racism; they have squandered federal resources on green energy projects that average Americans don’t want‚ while targeting home appliances that average Americans do use; they are at the forefront of the cancel culture mob mentality; they welcome and urge removing from ballots politicians they find objectionable and refuse to cover speeches made by them; and during the pandemic they favored draconian lockdowns and censoring dissent (even from credible sources with credible facts that later turned out to be right) if these ran counter to its views of what official practice should be. As the global diversity of today’s examples of exclusionary elites shows‚ their negative practices will happen anywhere an elite is given an exclusive opportunity to govern. And it will because these elites all share the same fundamentally fatal flaw: a belief that they are smarter than any one of us‚ and that this in turn makes them smarter than all of us put together. J.T. Young was a professional staffer in the House and Senate from 1987–2000‚ served in the Department of Treasury and Office of Management and Budget from 2001–2004‚ and was director of government relations for a Fortune 20 company from 2004–2023. The post The US Learns China’s Lessons on Elitism appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.