Cal Clifford’s fascination with octopuses took a real turn when his father decided to surprise him by purchasing one online‚ thus starting their extraordinary journey with an unconventional pet named Terrance. What began as a simple act of fulfilling a young boy’s curiosity soon morphed into a series of unpredictable events that captivated their entire... The post Father and son dumbfounded when their ‘male’ pet octopus gives birth to 50 babies appeared first on Animal Channel.

This Bow-Tie Pasta Salad is loaded with delicious vegetables and great seasonings. It’s a fantastic side dish that goes great with just about any meal&;#33; If you love this salad you will also want to our Amish Pasta Salad‚ it is incredible and has wonderful reviews. ❤️WHY WE LOVE THIS RECIPE We love the combination...

When Passover began Monday evening at Columbia University‚ Jewish student Parker De Dek&;eacute;r like many others had already departed the New York City campus for his own safety. De Dek&;eacute;r — a first-year student at the Ivy League school — is from Wisconsin and told Blaze News a major reason why he chose Columbia was for the opportunity to study while living among a good deal more Jewish people than he's encountered in his home state. He said he was becoming more &;quot;religiously observant&;quot; — and a big part of that has been wearing his yarmulke. But when some spotted De Dek&;eacute;r donning the universally well-known Jewish identifier atop his head last week‚ that spelled trouble for him. As readers of Blaze News know‚ pro-Palestinian students last week set up tents on Columbia's campus and refused to leave until the school met a list of demands‚ including divesting from companies with ties to Israel. The New York Times said some referred to it as the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Columbia University president Minouche Shafik on Thursday morning authorized New York City police to clear the encampment; officers made more than 100 arrests. One of the arrestees was none other than the daughter of far-left U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.); as you might guess‚ Omar — not an Israel fan by any stretch — said she's &;quot;enormously proud&;quot; of her daughter for &;quot;pushing her school to stand against genocide.&;quot; Columbia also reportedly barred an Israel-born‚ Jewish professor from entering the school's main campus Monday morning by deactivating his identification card. Shai Davidai said Columbia indicated it could not ensure his safety. 'You f***ing Jew&;#33;' De Dek&;eacute;r told Blaze News he got a taste of that danger last Wednesday evening on his way to a gathering at the Chabad house. He said someone hollered at him — among other things — &;quot;you f***ing Jew&;#33;&;quot; &;quot;The only way they could identify me as Jewish was my yarmulke‚&;quot; De Dek&;eacute;r recounted to Blaze News. He added that a friend soon advised him to cease wearing it as doing so was &;quot;not safe.&;quot; De Dek&;eacute;r told Blaze News‚ &;quot;I took off my yarmulke and put it in my pocket.&;quot; When he arrived at the gathering‚ he said he put it back on — but then removed it again when he left the Chabad house. The experience of feeling &;quot;powerless&;quot; was &;quot;emotionally upsetting‚&;quot; De Dek&;eacute;r recalled — and he said he shed tears that night. &;quot;Wow‚ this genuinely hurts‚&;quot; De Dek&;eacute;r recounted to Blaze News in regard to his raw feelings in those painful‚ &;quot;emotionally exhausting&;quot; moments. 'You know what&;#63;' But something changed in De Dek&;eacute;r the next morning. He said that &;quot;when I woke up Thursday‚ I thought‚ 'You know what&;#63;'&;quot; That's right. De Dek&;eacute;r told Blaze News he felt compelled to look the &;quot;hatred&;quot; around him square in the eye — and wear his yarmulke all day Thursday as well as all day Friday. Indeed‚ the vitriol was all too real. Apart from the sight of protesters waving Hezbollah flags and holding up cellphones adorned with the Hamas logo‚ among the anti-Semitic outbursts De Dek&;eacute;r knew of were: &;quot;Bomb bomb Tel Aviv&;#33;&;quot;&;quot;Go back to Poland&;#33;&;quot; &;quot;Genocidal maniacs&;#33;&;quot;&;quot;There is only one solution — intifada revolution&;#33;&;quot; — (@) 'I shouldn't have to change'Despite it all‚ De Dek&;eacute;r shared with Blaze News that wearing his yarmulke &;quot;gave me more confidence and clarity&;quot; — and he realized that &;quot;I shouldn't have to change.&;quot;Not that his resolve mattered to others intent on harassing him. De Dek&;eacute;r shared with Blaze News that he endured still more anti-Semitism when he helped a friend move Thursday night as well as when he made his own decision to leave campus Friday.&;quot;Yes‚ you leave campus‚ k***&;#33;&;quot; he recalled one person shouting at him — with an anti-Semitic slur attached — while another told him‚ &;quot;I'm so happy that you Zionists are finally leaving campus&;#33;&;quot;De Dek&;eacute;r told Blaze News he's staying with a friend's family out of state but plans to return to campus Thursday. He added that in his estimation‚ about 60% of Jewish students at Columbia already planned on leaving campus for Passover — but the unrest in many cases &;quot;sped up&;quot; their departures.Indeed‚ Rabbi Elie Buechler with the Columbia/Barnard Hillel on Sunday told Jewish students that police &;quot;cannot guarantee [their] safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy.&;quot; Buechler also advised Jewish students to &;quot;return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved. It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus.”Columbia announced that its main campus will switch to remote-option learning for the remainder of the semester‚ WABC-TV stated‚ adding that U.S. House Republicans from New York have urged President Shafik to resign.De Dek&;eacute;r told Blaze News he's happy there's a safer learning option than in-person-only but is &;quot;heartbroken&;quot; that Columbia has &;quot;lost control of the situation‚&;quot; adding that &;quot;tensions and conflict ... have evidently overwhelmed our administration.&;quot; De Dek&;eacute;r also said he would have preferred that the school address &;quot;the issue of anti-Semitism head on.&;quot;In addition‚ Robert Kraft — a Columbia alum and owner of the New England Patriots — said he's pulling his considerable financial support of the school as he's &;quot;no longer confident that Columbia can protect its student and staff‚ and I am not comfortable supporting the university until collective action is taken.&;quot;'My experience is not unique'De Dek&;eacute;r told Blaze News that &;quot;my experience is not unique&;quot; in regard to facing anti-Semitism and that because of it‚ many Jewish students feel pressure to hide their identities‚ to hide the Stars of David — to hide their yarmulkes: &;quot;They don't want to get hurt.&;quot;But he also noted that he senses that those outside of Columbia are primarily responsible for the spread of anti-Semitism on campus. In addition‚ De Dek&;eacute;r told Blaze News that despite rules in place barring non-students from infiltrating school property‚ they've somehow managed to do so.De Dek&;eacute;r added that when Columbia's gates are closed &;quot;it's like Fort Knox&;quot; — so &;quot;how are they getting on&;quot; campus&;#63;He also told Blaze News that he's felt &;quot;morally let down&;quot; by Columbia amid this &;quot;heartbreaking&;quot; episode as he previously saw the school as standing as &;quot;a pinnacle and space for dialogue.&;quot;De Dek&;eacute;r acknowledged‚ &;quot;My anger and frustration is with the university.&;quot;What did Columbia have to say&;#63; Blaze News on Tuesday reached out to Columbia's Department of Public Safety in regard to De Dek&;eacute;r's assertions that non-students have been able to access campus and spew hatred at Jewish students — along with his questions regarding why university authorities seemingly have been unable to protect Jewish students‚ many of whom have chosen to leave for their own safety. Public Safety on Tuesday referred Blaze News' request for comment to the university's communications department — which on Tuesday did not immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment on the matter. Like Blaze News&;#63; Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here&;#33;

There are lots of opportunities for misunderstandings these days. This is bad because online discussions — which are way more important than real-life discussions because they happen separate from the totalitarian self-censorship regime that’s taken hold in America — are dominated by nonproductive personality feuds where misunderstandings (intentional or otherwise) serve as the primary source of ammunition. I’m not an academic. I don’t have any kind of graduate or professional education other than one semester of a never-completed film studies MA (an expensive but fortunately brief mistake) and auditing a single job-related course at UC Berkeley (it was fun‚ TBH). Nothing I write is intended to be cited in a book or anything like that‚ although I try to make my writing as accurate as possible. All it really takes to solve seemingly unsolvable civilizational problems is for people to just “wake up” en masse. Rather‚ my hope is that the history‚ movies‚ books‚ and video games I write about can just be part of the wallpaper in the back of your mind. That’s the main problem facing conservatives today‚ I think. The wallpaper needs to be updated. Why mental models matter A mental model is basically your internal understanding of how the outside world works. When you see something happen‚ it might have happened for 1‚000 different reasons‚ but you will have one particular reason in your head to explain how and why it happened. This is usually not a conscious process. It’s more like a reflex. The Condundrum Cluster Understanding mental models is important today because even though everyone is nominally responding to the same real world‚ people think that that world works in very different ways. I’m sure you have noticed that oftentimes when you talk about politics or current events with someone else‚ it seems like you are talking to a crazy person. He might be intelligent‚ he might be credentialed or well-educated or whatever‚ you might have known him for years‚ but there’s something that is just not connecting for him‚ and no matter how you explain it‚ it never will. This is because there are mental models essential to understanding the world that normal people will just never be exposed to in the course of their regular lives. I’ve already written about this phenomenon in history. People understand the world through stories and anecdotes. As people become more disconnected from reality due to television and the internet‚ the stories they will accept take on a crazier and crazier tone‚ even though they remain relatively high functioning. They can go to work‚ maintain relationships with friends and family‚ and seem reasonable until you hit one of their emotional tripwires. After that‚ they can become very unreasonable. The fake injustice that spawned Black Lives Matter So‚ back to my brilliant and insightful article about mental models in history: Take the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson‚ Missouri. This was the incident that led to the professionalization of the Black Lives Matter movement‚ which raised billions of dollars and ultimately reshaped criminal justice and hiring practices nationwide. The controversy over Brown’s shooting was entirely fake. The shooting was unambiguously justified. The phenomenon activists were supposedly responding to‚ unarmed black men being killed by police‚ is actually extremely rare. It’s about a dozen per year‚ which is less than a rounding error in a country of more than 300 million people. I’ve heard people say they think that the number of unarmed black men killed by police is 10‚000+ per year. It’s crazy. Many of those extremely rare shootings (such as Brown’s) were unambiguously justified as well. The BLM movement‚ based on these lies‚ was a vehicle for an enormous amount of real-world organized violence to achieve systemic political change. Totally forgotten: The initial national BLM protest campaign climaxed with a black nationalist killing 5 police officers in Dallas‚ after which the professional activists organizing the BLM movement turned it off like a light switch until it was activated again during the run-up to the 2020 election. Getty Images/Spencer Platt So‚ what is going on here&;#63; The controversy was fake‚ the issue is fake‚ but the feelings are real. It’s not cynical for the overwhelming majority of participants. The violence is real‚ too. What are they all reacting to&;#63; Why did tens of thousands of people participate in armed mobs and roadblocks&;#63; Why are people shooting innocent drivers over this&;#63; Well‚ they’re reacting to decades of programming from the media and schools and even their parents. In short‚ their mental model tells them that the propaganda they see on TV is real and also that the appropriate response to this propaganda is real-world violence. The real mental model that people should have developed after the Ferguson incident was that everything professional race activists say is a lie and that large numbers are happy to use those lies to justify violence. Conservatives for rioting&;#63; I think I’m the only person who remembers this‚ but during the initial Floyd riots‚ many right wingers were supporting the rioters using a number of pretexts. The rioters were really speaking out against “government abuse” or manifesting the true Bronze Age Mindset according to these people. It was not a small number of right wingers who were cheering on the revolution. Even those who opposed BLM during 2020 riots responded mostly with passivity. Many suggested that‚ even though they might oppose the rioters’ methods‚ the rioters kind of had a point. The consequences of this rioting (total surrender to BLM criminal justice policy proposals almost nationwide) may have had such a visible negative impact on quality of life that people are now allowed to mentally object to the movement and its aims‚ but it was touch and go for a while. Attitudes may be changing‚ Republicans and moderates (to the extent those still exist) seem to be getting to the right place (or at least are open to being brought there) on many issues‚ but the civilizational reflex revealed in 2020 should be sending alarm bells through everyone’s heads. So‚ for the shooting of Michael Brown. People heard that a young black man had been killed by police. Their mental model told them that young black men are systemically targeted by trigger-happy cops and that that’s what happened in Ferguson‚ Missouri‚ in 2014. No new piece of evidence could convince them otherwise‚ even though the initial story was almost immediately discredited‚ and the police officer was completely exonerated. They were speaking a different language. In fact‚ their conviction in this belief was only strengthened by similar‚ equally fake‚ outrage stories that emerged in the years that followed. This model was echoed in entertainment media‚ “news‚” and the education system. It’s how people think the world works‚ and it’s just not real. The mental models people have today are fried. Everything a person knows about a given subject might be completely fake. The exact opposite of what they learned might be true. Lies my teacher told me This phenomenon has been around for a very long time: take the Sacco and Vanzetti case. There have been tens of thousands of pages written (and movies made‚ etc.) claiming the pair was innocent‚ when actually pretty much all of the evidence available suggests that they were guilty. At the very least‚ they were active members of a terrorist organization‚ rather than the peaceful political dissidents they are painted as in nearly all media related to the case. Propaganda can snowball for centuries until the only story people will be exposed to is a complete inversion of what actually happened. This gives them some bizarre mental models. There is a values crisis‚ and I don’t mean that in a moralizing way. What people literally value or find important has been distorted to the point that they are no longer able to navigate reality. The revelation that a celebrity used a racial slur online ten years ago would get far more attention and generate far more outrage than a shooting spree. The U.S. Army recently set aside the convictions of more than 100 black soldiers who mutinied and went on a rampage killing any white civilians they encountered‚ all based on dubious claims that the mutineers were fighting systemic racism. The Army public relations official who handled the pushback to this decision seemed to genuinely not understand why people were upset that these unambiguously guilty men were being legally exonerated for racial politics reasons 100 years after the fact. He said that the soldiers shouldn’t have even been put on trial for the murders. Defusing the bomb America has a bomb sitting in its lap. There are tens of millions‚ maybe hundreds of millions‚ of Americans who hold beliefs so crazy that they likely would have been grounds for hospitalization in the past. The things people will support are objectively depraved: jailing people for self-defense‚ providing irreversible pseudoscientific surgeries to mentally ill children‚ letting criminals steal with impunity‚ allowing tens of millions of people to illegally immigrate for the express purpose of politically transforming the U.S. What’s more‚ they are passionate about this support. It is not cynical or financially motivated for the overwhelming majority. Rather‚ it taps into their deepest feelings‚ messages that they’ve heard for years and even decades. Conservatives‚ even if they understand the issues facing the country‚ generally do not seem to grasp the size of this bomb and what it means for resolving political problems today. They try to negotiate with the bomb‚ they argue with the bomb‚ they count on the bomb to act rationally and with proportionality. Edgier conservatives think that they can solve their problems by yelling at the bomb or blowing the bomb up in their lap. All of these solutions leave much to be desired. You have to disarm the bomb. My skepticism toward paths like national divorce‚ Civil War‚ or really anything that substantially disrupts the current system has been greatly criticized for years. People often tell me that I just don’t know how bad things are because I (at least used to) live in the San Francisco Bay Area‚ work in tech marketing‚ and eat avocado toast. But my skepticism toward these things doesn’t come from me minimizing the problems we face. Rather‚ I think that the situation for the American right is actually much worse than these people‚ who are supposedly more extreme than I am‚ realize. The bomb isn’t just a small group of radical liberal government officials‚ anarchist heroin addict terrorists‚ or comically na&;iuml;ve kindergarten-teacher types — it’s probably over half of the country. It’s your friends and families‚ and neighbors‚ and people who have never done you any wrong in your whole life. They’re not bad people‚ but they have been primed to support very bad things‚ or at least oppose anyone who wants to stop the bad things. In a crisis‚ these people could not be relied upon to do anything productive. In fact‚ they should be counted on to try to block any productive action. A lesson from the Russian Revolution An historical incident that can help us understand our situation is the fall of the city of Rostov at the start of the Russian Civil War. Rostov was the seat of the Don Cossack Host (basically the Cossack government). The Cossacks are a semi-nomadic people-group (not quite ethnic‚ not quite not-ethnic) that played a prominent role in the pre-Revolution Russian military. They were settled in frontier areas and often served as border guards and internal police during times of unrest. Although they had a reputation for loyalty to the Czar (which made them hated by the Russian left)‚ they were also granted a great deal of autonomy in the Russian Empire. Hulton Archive/Getty Images By the time of the crisis of the Russian Revolution rolled around‚ Cossacks had a very sophisticated political tradition stretching back hundreds of years. In the Revolution‚ the Czar was removed‚ arrested‚ and taken away to parts unknown‚ then replaced by an extremely weak liberal democratic government headed by Alexander Kerensky. Kerensky and his followers were so incompetent that they were overthrown by the Bolsheviks‚ communist radicals who from the very beginning plotted civil war in order to kill their enemies en masse‚ a few months later. The Cossacks‚ when faced with an illegal Bolshevik coup that seized most major cities in European Russia and captured the national government bureaucracy mostly intact‚ were in a uniquely favorable position compared to other non-Bolshevik factions. They already had their own autonomous government with legitimacy that stretched back hundreds of years. They had a reputation for conservatism‚ independence‚ and toughness (something like the mental image people have of Texas today). They also had enormous stockpiles of arms and ammunition belonging to the old government. Further strengthening the Cossack position‚ thousands of Russian officers and soldiers fled to the Cossack-controlled areas after the Bolsheviks began massacring their political opponents and gave the lower classes a license to rob and murder. The Don Cossacks had a government‚ they had weapons‚ and they had a potential army of seasoned troops. The Bolshevik military organization was extremely primitive; decent people didn’t want to participate in it. The success of the Bolshevik Revolution mainly relied on the unwillingness of all elements of Russian society to defend the weak and dysfunctional liberal Kerensky government. Lenin’s Bolshevik dictatorship was never popular and never had a majority of support in Russian society. Paralyzed by preconceptions What did the Don Cossacks do&;#63; Nothing. They sat around‚ they debated‚ they allowed the Bolsheviks to consolidate. Bolshevik-backed demonstrations and strikes increasingly paralyzed Don Cossack territory. The Revolution was coming to the Don. An association of Russian officers called the Volunteer Army formed for the purpose of fighting the Bolshevik coup. They were regarded as troublemakers by the Don government and received little support‚ though they were used by the Cossacks (who had trouble maintaining law and order with their meager local forces) as police. When the Volunteer Army eventually had to use force to suppress an attempted Bolshevik uprising‚ its members were promptly thrown under the bus. They were treated as butchers‚ even by refugee officers who had seen firsthand what a Bolshevik takeover entailed. Going along with the existing narrative that brutal reactionaries are slaughtering innocent political dissidents&;#63; That’s easy. Admitting that those political dissidents weren’t peaceful at all and were planning something far worse was much harder. They didn’t have the right programming. It was as if Russians in general couldn’t grasp what was happening to them. Their mental models only allowed them to oppose conservative “counter-revolutionaries” and paralyzed their response to the real threat of the Bolsheviks. The city of Rostov was the seat of the Don Cossack government and home to more than 8‚000 refugee Russian military officers. But by the time the Bolshevik advance on Don Cossack territory began it could only muster a few hundred defenders. Most decided to wait and see what would happen. Although they knew on one level the revolution meant bad things‚ and even death‚ for them‚ they also viewed it as inevitable and even justified. They saw the counter-revolutionaries as somehow worse and that left them unable to save their own lives. The few defenders were mostly retired senior officers and teenaged military cadets. The Volunteer Army chose to evacuate the city to seek reinforcements elsewhere‚ crossing the barren and frozen steppe‚ because they knew they would receive no help from the locals. The leader of the Don Cossack Host‚ Ataman Kaledin‚ was so disgusted by the passivity of the Cossacks he loved so much that he resigned his post and then shot himself in despair. The Don Cossack government‚ which had all those advantages and seemed unbreakable just a few months before‚ fell almost entirely without a fight. Demoralized people are not good for anything. People with bad programming are worse than useless in a crisis. The problem today is not that right wingers have not come up with the right arguments‚ or that they have not done something decisive and fantastical or whatever‚ but rather that normal life doesn’t really exist anymore. There is no baseline of normalcy to operate from‚ and it is distorting everyone’s worldview and behavior. People do not have the mental models they need to make good decisions. One senior Russian official in the years before the Russian Revolution remarked that the peasantry was so prone to depraved and desperate violence‚ the intelligentsia was so divorced from reality‚ and the upper classes were aloof and apathetic‚ that his role was really that of a zookeeper. If you are an American who understands the problems facing this country and wants to solve them‚ I encourage you to see yourself in this role. You have to stop the fighting in a way that doesn’t kill everyone. With this in mind‚ right-wing victory in American society will not come in the form of a decisive desperate struggle. You’re not going to accomplish anything by just rattling someone’s cage. It’s not going to be “The Turner Diaries” or whatever violent fantasy people are drawn to these days. Rather‚ it’s going to be more like Shakespeare’s play “The Taming of the Shrew.” You have all these crazy people who have been rendered dysfunctional and even deranged for any number of reasons‚ and you must seduce them into being normal and happy again so that positive change can actually occur. Getty Images/Adam Larkey Radical decelerationIn my opinion‚ conservatives should make every effort to visibly improve quality of life and calm people down. I call this Radical Deceleration. There is no crisis. Nothing that crazy is happening. You can breathe easy and actually think about what’s going on. There’s no need to just blindly react. Unclench your jaw and take a deep breath. As the enormous‚ almost miraculous‚ success of anti-immigration parties in Germanic and Scandinavian countries in just the last few years has shown‚ all it really takes to solve seemingly unsolvable civilizational problems is for people to just “wake up” en masse. It’s important to remember that they weren’t “convinced” into adopting crazy positions‚ like allowing unlimited numbers of Africans and Middle Easterners into their countries‚ in the first place. They did this reflexively (with lots of help from the government and mass media). They were operating under a totally fried mental model‚ which had been drilled into them for decades by television and the education system. The model changed‚ at first gradually and later like a dam breaking. The problems and the solutions were always obvious to those who knew how to see. A big contributor to this sudden change‚ I think‚ is the fundamental differences in lifestyle and culture between America and these European countries. I’m sure I’m not breaking new ground when I say this‚ but Germanic and Scandinavian Europeans are consistently happier and healthier than Americans. Although this was a common talking point among leftists due to these countries' robust welfare systems‚ I think their success is more due to their extreme homogeneity‚ deference to authority‚ and literally conservative worldview: They don’t like change very much and value conformity. Although these traits can be bad in many ways (it allowed them to eventually be manipulated into pursuing suicidal policies like mass immigration)‚ things move slower‚ and as a result‚ people have more time to breathe and respond to changes in a healthy way. They can pull out of a tailspin. In America‚ everything moves at light speed. This can be a good thing‚ because a wealthy nation with such a strong meritocratic bent offers ambitious and well-meaning people the ability to make positive change quickly. However‚ this phenomenon has taken a sinister tone in recent years. Things can get worse much faster‚ too. Everyone is stressed out now. You can see it on their faces. People look rough. Obesity has been kicked into overdrive. Drug use (both prescription and otherwise) is at all-time highs. Tattoos and piercings are everywhere now. The country is becoming schizophrenic‚ and its politics are reflecting that. Politicians on both the left and right increasingly have lives as insane as their constituents. Serious social dysfunction affects all regions‚ demographics‚ and classes. Although I suspect this is because America has decisively turned away from the unique and dynamic WASP culture and value system that shaped the country for hundreds of years‚ whatever the cause‚ this is not an environment conducive to positive change. The power of living normally I’ve already written about the importance of reducing stress in your own life. This importance goes beyond just you. American Expeditionary Force intelligence officer Montgomery Schuyler noted in his reports on the Russian Civil War that the big obstacle to resistance to the Bolsheviks was that the Russian people had become “so thoroughly disorganized and lifeless as a result of the last three years‚ that they are unable even to think for themselves far less to govern themselves.” Demoralized people feel and act helpless. They are drawn to indecision‚ despair‚ comforting lies‚ or even counterproductive fake solutions to their problems. Every effort should be made to recreate the appearance of normal life. It’s OK to fake it a little bit. I won’t tell. Good feelings are contagious. Optimism is contagious. I think that generally people want to rise to the occasion. They want to be part of something with high standards and live somewhere that they can be proud of. Much of General Wrangel’s remarkable success during the closing stages of the Russian Civil War‚ despite being outnumbered nearly 10 to 1 and having basically zero stockpiles to draw from‚ was his insistence on the maintenance of discipline and good order among his men and the areas he controlled. He may have had 200 troops‚ but when those 200 troops showed up somewhere‚ they were a real army‚ not a band of thugs. The crimes against civilians‚ looting‚ or even just obnoxious behavior like public drunkenness‚ commonplace under other White Army commanders‚ were not tolerated by Wrangel and his forces. These were not people playing dress-up‚ these were serious men who wanted to save their country. This is something that the American right must replicate. Rather than watch society fail with resignation or even delight‚ conservatives should make every effort to improve the areas they control. There is no reason that so many conservative states should be dominated by a few blue urban centers‚ which are visibly in decline yet grow in influence more and more as they fail. These areas are like open psychic wounds. They tell people that bizarre behavior is normal and provide a critical base of support to expand the decline into relatively unaffected areas. Although liberals benefit from decline‚ diminishing the public disgust response to social dysfunction‚ for conservatives‚ strength generates strength and weakness generates weakness. Five principles for the future This phenomenon has to extend beyond the realm of pure policy. Circling back to the start of the essay‚ the wallpaper in people’s minds needs to change. Their reflexes and instincts need to change at the mass scale. This has to be a priority. Correcting this problem will require that the messages people receive every day be different. If any kind of shakeup occurs under the current conditions‚ disaster for the American right is guaranteed. Real victory is something that’s going to have to be eased into. This essay has already gone on for way too long‚ so I think I’ll conclude it with a few principles that I think are going to be important in years ahead. 1. Systems over SymbolsI’m sure everyone today has noticed the presence of numerous stunts and empty gestures emerging from conservative politicians. These should be greeted with hostility. It’s not going to be a single touchstone event that changes the current order‚ it’s going to be processes that can be repeated hundreds‚ even thousands‚ of times. A good illustration of this can be found in the difference between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ very dumb Martha’s Vineyard flights and DeSantis’ courageous mass termination of DEI officials at major state universities. Although the former was a largely empty gesture that had no long-term impact on the problem‚ the latter is something that seriously disrupts organized liberal activism and can be replicated at schools all over the state. Liberal policies are often extremely unpopular and have immediate real-world negative consequences; they only succeed due to well-organized cabals and mafias. Organization must be matched with organization.2. Coherence over CircusesToo many people want to turn conservatism into a “snobs vs. slobs” movie from the 1980s: a loose coalition of downtrodden outsiders. It’s tempting to try to bring together the biggest anti-liberal coalition possible. However‚ sacrificing political organization and standards for raw numbers is a bad trade. Systems live and die on discipline. If people have different goals and different worldviews‚ there’s a danger of losing focus. This is one of the reasons Trump is so important: a single leader who can bring disparate elements together‚ resolving disputes internally‚ to effectively pursue a single vision.3. Truth over TriviaI think the negative impact of conspiracy culture on the right becomes more obvious every day. People know nothing now. They barely get any useful information from schools‚ and “mainstream” sources are often just naked propaganda. Because of this‚ you see a kind of nihilism developing: Nothing is real‚ everything is presumed to be fake. It becomes a meme: Space is fake‚ everything happens as a result of a shadowy conspiracy or supernatural forces‚ etc.Even when the conspiracies are true‚ this knowledge doesn’t seem to spur anything good. People will learn something‚ then have no idea how to place it in context or use it in a productive way. They often end up in dumber places than if they were just oblivious. You can’t master a given subject‚ or even have a basic understanding of it‚ by just reading one book‚ watching a video‚ or seeing a tweet. This stuff takes time. If the right wants to get anywhere‚ it needs to slow down.4. Quality over QuantityIt’s hard to escape the decline of the American public mind. You see fads and stuff that are just obviously not true being pushed all the time these days by increasingly mainstream figures. People treat it like a game and ham it up. That sort of behavior may get big audiences‚ but it turns off high-quality people‚ those who want to be part of something serious and are concerned with truth. It’s degrading to be lied to. This is the (increasingly small) demographic that can make good happen in society. They’re who we need to “capture” if we want to win. As a broader matter‚ it’s just difficult to work with people who aren’t coming at these issues from the right place. They’ll develop hardline positions or behave ruthlessly where it’s not really appropriate‚ or‚ conversely‚ become willing to accept the unacceptable. There’s also the problem of excitability‚ which encourages superficial thinking and makes long-term action impossible. To make positive change‚ you need to arm people with a new way to see the world‚ but only certain types are going to be open to this at first.5. Health over EverythingIf you really want to inspire loyalty and commitment‚ make someone’s life better. For a very long time‚ developing extreme right-wing views was pretty much only guaranteed to make your life worse. People got really frustrated that knowing “the truth” didn’t correspond to any kind of real-world benefit to them. They felt betrayed and then angry. This is why so many earlier right-wing movements fell apart or just went insane. One of the best developments in recent years has been the connection between right-wing views and renewed interest in health and nutrition. Liberals really have backed themselves into a corner with their insistence on blind deference to the medical authorities at a time when health outcomes are reaching all-time lows. Once you’ve broken out of the box‚ it’s remarkable how good you can feel all the time. Healthy people aren’t just stronger and faster‚ they can think more clearly. They’re in better control of their emotions. They even have higher IQs. If attitudes are going to change on a truly mass scale‚ I think the best vehicle is the new wellness movement.Something built to last This was written over the course of a few weeks. I’m still not sure what prompted it. I’m just concerned about the direction of the quack right‚ which has been responsible for so much good in recent years. All the recent progress that’s been made can be lost over the course of a few very bad months. A large disorganized mob can easily be scattered by a ruthless organized minority. Conservatives need to be building a movement to last‚ and that is going to take a lot of time and focus. I just don’t hear people talking about this stuff very often. I recently watched newly unearthed footage of a very elderly Peter Kemp speaking about his WW2 experiences with British special forces. I was struck by just how lively he was. He was full of vivid memories and could speak intelligently about his experiences even at the end of his life. Kemp was the product of a society that doesn’t exist anymore. He was built to last‚ his talents and instincts were cultivated for a long time‚ and he punched well above his weight for his entire life. That’s an effect that the American right needs to recreate if it’s going to make it through the next year‚ much less the long struggle we’re looking at ahead.This essay originally appeared on his Substack; it has been lightly edited for clarity.

When Dexter Reed died in a shoot-out with Chicago police on March 21‚ the incident was quickly grafted onto a narrative that began in 2014 after a policeman killed Michael Brown in Ferguson‚ Missouri — namely‚ that the United States faces an epidemic of violence by unbridled cops who do not believe black lives matter. “Killing of Dexter Reed raises questions about Chicago police reform. ‘The message is‚ go in guns blazing‚’” blared a headline in the Chicago Sun-Times. Reed’s death joins a long list of police shootings that have received wide media coverage and political scrutiny — especially those involving African-Americans. Over the years‚ many police departments embraced reforms‚ including the use of body cams‚ to document incidents — an effort bolstered by a public eager to use smartphones to record the behavior of cops. In 2015‚ the Washington Post created a database logging every person shot dead by police in the United States. Only a tiny fraction of police interactions with civilians — “we’re talking about some .002% a year” — result in lethal gunfire. The belief was that this attention would make all law enforcement officers‚ especially the bad ones‚ think twice before pulling the trigger and significantly reduce the number of shootings — which stood at 994 the year Brown was shot. Instead‚ there have been steady‚ incremental increases. “Police killed the highest number of people on record in 2023‚” the Post reported as the number of deadly police-involved shootings hit 1‚162 last year. But if neither a glaring spotlight nor reform gestures to date have moved the needle much in terms of reducing fatal police shootings‚ perhaps something else explains law enforcement lethality and public alarm about it. Numerous professional criminologists told RealClearInvestigations that the problem isn’t racist or trigger-happy police officers. Instead‚ a handful of intertwined factors are at work: the almost immutable math of crime and demographics; media sensationalism; distorted public perceptions about race and guns; and the inability of inertia-bound police departments to adapt in ways to make a difference. First‚ the math “The number of improper‚ bad shootings is very small‚” said Geoffrey Alpert‚ a professor in the criminal justice department of the University of South Carolina. “The vast majority are not questionable.” There are some 18‚000 police departments in the United States with a population of more than 335 million people‚ leading to some 50 and 60 million annual encounters between police and civilians‚ according to an analysis of Justice Department data‚ said Justin Nix‚ a criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska. Nix said only a tiny fraction of those interactions — “we’re talking about some .002% a year” — result in lethal gunfire. Under present circumstances‚ he said‚ the ballpark figure of 1‚000 fatal police shootings annually is “baked into the cake‚” adding‚ “You have to wonder what all the reforms can do that would really make a dent in this.” What’s more‚ police aren’t exaggerating the lethal threats they face. In 2023‚ the Washington Post database showed 83% of people killed by police bullets were armed — 62% with a gun and another 15% with a knife — percentages that criminologists said have held steady over the years. In other cases‚ officers are facing potentially lethal situations with vehicles‚ or even deranged people charging them with swords‚ hatchets‚ or garden tools. Media coverage distorts the circumstances Several criminal justice professors stressed that most lethal shootings by police involve clear justification. Nevertheless‚ the media and its audience tend to focus on those deaths where there is no clear justification‚ or where the claim of justification appears dubious. The focus on the small subset of dubious or wrongful shootings often reflects “split-second syndrome‚” said John Shjarback‚ a criminal justice professor at Rowan University. That means a focus on the moment a trigger is pulled and a bullet fired‚ rather than the time that led up to that fateful moment. “We focus on the split second when the officer pulled the trigger‚ but there are myriad reasons for that and a lot of them are upstream from when they do so‚” Nix said. “We need to move beyond that final frame to understand why the encounters ended the way they did.” But that rollback works both ways‚ criminologists said‚ and may show steps taken by the suspect that made gunshots more likely too. Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson‚ Missouri‚ is a case in point. In the immediate aftermath of his shooting‚ a version of events quickly took hold that Brown‚ 6'4&;quot; and weighing more than 290 pounds‚ was a “gentle giant” who had been in the road‚ submissive with hands raised saying‚ “Don’t shoot.” Raw numbers ignore the fact that black people are more likely to commit crimes. That made the shooting seem like an extrajudicial execution. But when the tape was rewound back from that final frame‚ and after a meticulous investigation by President Obama’s Justice Department‚ it emerged that in the time leading up to the lethal encounter‚ Brown had physically bullied a shopkeeper after stealing from him and later grappled with the officer‚ trying to get his handgun. He never raised his hands in surrender. No charges were brought against the officer. Shjarback said you can endlessly parse raw numbers that seem to tell an alarming story‚ but when they are examined more carefully‚ they challenge the claim that there is a national crisis around police shootings. “Most of these cases involve incidents where cops were well within their authority to use lethal force‚” Shjarback said. “However‚ you could also look at cases that were lawful but awful. There might have been cases where officers escalated things‚ failed to use proper tactics (e.g.‚ distance‚ cover)‚ or placed themselves in situations called ‘officer-created jeopardy‚’ that eventually lead to them having to use deadly force.” The fatal Reed shooting is an illustration. Overlooked by many in the furor over the heavy fire poured out by Chicago Police Department officers — 96 shots — is the fact that Reed deliberately disobeyed repeated orders from increasingly nervous police officers‚ then opened fire and wounded one of them‚ precipitating the bloody ending. Distorted public perceptions heighten alarm Research also challenges the idea that African-Americans are targeted by the police. In 2023‚ the Guardian newspaper published a dataset — Mapping Police Violence — including not just shootings but all lethal encounters involving police. It concludes that black people “were killed at a rate 2.6 times higher than white people.” But such raw numbers ignore the fact that black people are more likely to commit crimes. In a seminal study of Houston police that echoes other findings‚ Roland Fryer‚ a black economist at Harvard University‚ reported‚ “On the most extreme use of force — officer-involved shootings — we find no racial differences in either the raw data or when contextual factors are taken into account.” Once the number of police encounters was factored in‚ Fryer found‚ police were markedly less likely to shoot at blacks and Hispanics than at whites. After publishing his paper — whose conclusions he found so surprising that he ran the numbers twice — Fryer said‚ “all hell broke loose.” He told Bari Weiss of the Free Press‚ “I had colleagues take me to the side and say‚ ‘Don’t publish this. You’ll ruin your career.’” Distorted public perceptions about guns Some criminologists RCI spoke with said the proliferation of guns helps explain why the number of fatal police shootings has not gone down. Americans have bought more than 60 million firearms since the COVID pandemic‚ and purchases are rising. But while Americans now own about 400 million legal firearms‚ the percentage of households possessing at least one firearm has‚ with ups and downs‚ remained largely unchanged since 1972 — at about 43%‚ according to Statista. Although several states have passed concealed carry laws‚ there is no consensus among experts about their impact. “Evidence that concealed-carry laws may increase violent crime is limited‚” a RAND Corporation study found. Ultimately‚ though‚ the issue of gun ownership and permit laws has little bearing on police killings because the guns police encounter are so frequently illegally acquired‚ said Jeff Bumgarner‚ director of the criminal justice department at Texas State University. And if gun purchases and pro-gun-rights laws were directly linked to fatal police shootings‚ the annual total would reflect much bigger increases. Instead‚ the United States has seen creeping increases. Change is slow Criminologists say there has been more talk than action regarding police reforms since 2015 — even after the high-profile turmoil and budget-focused (and largely unsuccessful) “defund the police” campaigns that activists led after the deaths of Brown in 2014 and George Floyd in Minneapolis six years later. “Policing does not change fast‚” said Philip Stinson‚ a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University who specializes in police crime‚ or “the arrests of sworn officers.” “To my knowledge‚ firearms training and use of force training has not substantively changed across policing‚” Stinson explained. “It is business as usual in policing‚ and that is why we haven’t seen a reduction in police shootings.” If there were a complete reorientation in the approach of most law enforcement agencies‚ the numbers could be reduced. While some big-city police departments have improved training‚ the effort‚ funding‚ and commitment to change have yet to be widely embraced by the nation’s roughly 18‚000 police forces. But if there were a complete reorientation in the approach of most law enforcement agencies‚ the numbers could be reduced‚ many criminologists believe. Chuck Wexler‚ the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum‚ is one who believes “business as usual” can change. At its core‚ this involves abandoning the ancient mantra of cops beginning a shift — get home safely — to “the sanctity of human life.” Wexler said it will be “much more challenging” to shift the numbers on the 60% of lethal shootings that involve a suspect with a gun‚ “but with the other 40%‚ that’s where I believe we can make a difference.” “Instead of ‘get home safe’ we should be thinking ‘everyone gets home alive’ — arrested‚ in custody‚ but alive‚” he told RealClearInvestigations. The idea seemed revolutionary when cops in Scotland first presented it to him‚ Wexler said‚ because it cut against the blue line’s ingrained philosophy. Bumgarner‚ a former cop‚ seconded the concept. “The culture of police should shift to where there is a primacy on life‚” he said. That thinking animated a set of “Guiding Principles on Use of Force” that PERF published in 2016‚ two years after Brown’s shooting. There was an intense backlash against the manifesto‚ led in part by the International Association of Chiefs of Police‚ which did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Not all law enforcement officials objected to the new thinking‚ however. One of them was Sheriff Michael Chitwood of Volusia County‚ Florida. The former Daytona Beach police chief was elected in 2016‚ and he embraced PERF’s “Integrating Communications‚ Assessment‚ and Tactics‚” a training program PERF offers free through the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to any officer who comes to its Decatur‚ Illinois‚ facility. “In my first six months in office we had more than a half a dozen shootings‚” Chitwood said. “Something had to change. I started looking into it and it was crazy‚ given how quickly they would return fire‚ I couldn’t believe my deputies hadn’t wound up shooting each other.” The Volusia County deputies had six incidents involving deadly force in 2017‚ Chitwood’s first year in office‚ and since then the number has fallen: from four‚ then two‚ three‚ four‚ and‚ in 2022‚ zero. The sheriff’s office said its 2023 report was not concluded‚ but there was an incident last August in which a career criminal was killed in a shoot-out with authorities. Investigators concluded the killing bullet did not come from a Volusia County deputy‚ however. The decline and eventual full year without a lethal shooting happened because deputies made the “sanctity of life” their cardinal principle‚ Chitwood said‚ a change that began to take root around 2019. The training was sorely tested in December when‚ around 4:30 a.m.‚ they were called about a theft from a Wawa convenience store by a robber with a knife. The suspect fled in a getaway car‚ tried to ram one deputy’s vehicle‚ blew two tires on a traffic rail cops set down‚ and wound up in the driveway of his house. When officers tried to approach him there‚ he opened fire. By now‚ cops were swarming a scene that seemed destined to end in bloodshed. Deputies managed to clear the suspect’s son and dog from the house and then used a Bearcat‚ a SWAT vehicle‚ to block the suspect’s driveway and force the car into the garage. From there‚ the suspect went into his house and up to the attic and eventually set his home ablaze. At this point‚ Chitwood said‚ the cops were convinced the suspect was trying to commit “suicide by cop‚” which would still have involved bullets flying to and from the house. As smoke and flames began to appear‚ the suspect emerged a moment later on a second-floor balcony. That’s when deputies used a giant rook on the Bearcat to tear down the balcony and arrest the man on the ground. “A few years ago‚ they would have just shot that guy. There’s no doubt in my mind‚” Chitwood said. “I mean‚ every time a bad guy would open fire they’d respond.” But the results seem convincing‚ if not indisputable. Chitwood said the use of force by the department is down by about 50% and injuries to his officers by 62%. The 600‚000 people of Volusia County seem to like their new force‚ too: Chitwood’s been re-elected twice — running unopposed both times. Editor's note: This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.

Transparency and receiving even basic information about how the government is spending taxpayer money is critical and should be among the government’s top priorities. Unfortunately‚ this process is difficult and time-consuming.While the Freedom of Information Act is supposed to give Americans a glimpse into the inner workings of Washington‚ D.C.‚ the process has become more cumbersome. According to a March 2024 report released by the Government Accountability Office‚ the number of backlogged FOIA requests has grown from less than 100‚000 in fiscal year 2013 to more than 200‚000 in FY 2022. Federal agencies need to address this backlog immediately and work to communicate more consistently with the American people. Bureaucrats should not be in the business of hoarding secrets and hiding the truth from taxpayers.The U.S. Postal Service might like to think it’s a spying agency‚ but as long as its core mission is delivering the mail‚ it needs to be more upfront with the American people.FOIAs are not easy to write. There must be a specific ask and any misunderstood wording can be reason for denial or administrative purgatory. But‚ if worded correctly‚ Americans can receive specific information about the activities and communications of the federal government.Agencies receiving FOIA requests ordinarily have 20 working days to process them. Even if an agency anticipates taking longer than that due to unusual circumstances‚ it must communicate that to filers and (eventually) allow filers to alter their request. However‚ this process breaks down when FOIA requests are simply added to a pile of unprocessed paperwork.The GAO found in its report that more than 20% of all requests received are left unprocessed by agencies beyond any acceptable statutory time limit. The “Departments of Justice (DOJ)‚ Homeland Security‚ Defense‚ State‚ and Health and Human Services (HHS) accounted for 80 percent of all backlogged requests” and receive about 80% of all new requests.The Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy assists in the implementation of FOIA and directs agencies struggling to keep up with requests to create a backlog reduction plan. Yet‚ the “OIP does not specify what agencies should include in these plans so most have not included key elements. Of the 14 agencies directed to develop 2023 plans‚ two included goals and none included timelines for implementing actions.”In addition to chronically backlogged agencies such as HHS and the Justice Department‚ some agencies are far too eager to deny any reasonable request that comes across their desk. In FY 2023‚ the U.S. Postal Service processed an astounding 4‚104 requests for information and rejected the vast majority of them. The agency only issued 447 full responses and partially responded to an additional 749 requests. Nearly 3‚000 requests‚ or about 70% of processed FOIA submissions to the agency‚ were completely rejected by the agency.If the USPS held state secrets akin to the Central Intelligence Agency‚ such a high rejection rate might make sense. The agency might like to think it’s a spying agency‚ but as long as its core mission is delivering the mail‚ it needs to be more upfront with the American people. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation has been trying hard to get secretive agencies such as the USPS to divulge their secrets. On February 2‚ TPAF submitted a FOIA to the Postal Service asking for basic information about the agency’s electric vehicle procurement costs and policies.On March 8‚ the USPS delivered its (non)-response. TPAF received procurement contracts for EV chargers but with heavy redactions that obscured all relevant figures.In addition to citing a slew of court cases to support its secrecy‚ the USPS stated‚ “[39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(2)] provides that ‘information of a commercial nature‚ including trade secrets‚ whether or not obtained from a person outside the Postal Service‚ which under good business practice would not be publicly disclosed’ is exempt from the disclosure requirements of the FOIA.”In other words‚ the USPS can claim wide latitude to hide anything business-related even if taxpayers are footing the bill.If it wanted to‚ the USPS could insist that this information be public. Taxpayers are regularly informed about the cost of contracts in other contexts across the government‚ and it doesn’t seem like the information would significantly impact commercial interests. Any minor annoyance faced by a company having to publish this information would surely be outweighed by its taxpayer-funded payday. But the USPS seems to relish in pretending it is the CIA and hiding basic information from the public.Lawmakers and the Biden administration should insist that all agencies‚ especially secretive ones such as the USPS‚ embrace transparency and release basic financial information to taxpayers. They should also push for backlogged agencies to release concrete plans (including timetables) to process outstanding FOIA requests. There is no excuse for agencies to continue withholding information from the American people.

Recently‚ I came across an interesting online exchange. A Facebook poster expressed puzzlement over the apparent lack of interest in America’s coming semiquincentennial in 2026. In response‚ a commenter wrote simply‚ “Waiting to see if we make it that far…” The silence is odd‚ the poster argued‚ because the lead-up to America’s Bicentennial in 1976 generated endless hype and public interest‚ and not just for history buffs. The hoopla surrounding both the 1976 Bicentennial and the 1987 Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution was so intense that both events inspired in me an intense interest and curiosity about American history. Yet it hadn’t even occurred to me until seeing that post that America’s 250th birthday is just around the corner. Naturally‚ my first question was‚ “Why am I and‚ apparently‚ most Americans feeling this lack of enthusiasm&;#63;” Maybe the commenter is right. Americans may be uninterested in celebrating this coming milestone because they are on edge about whether “we make it that far.” Or perhaps‚ Americans are uninterested because they don’t want to take part in the hypocrisy of celebrating the “birthday” of an already dead regime. By calling America “an already dead regime‚” of course‚ I don’t mean that the country called the United States of America no longer exists. I mean that its soul has been drained out‚ even as the body politic lives on. Celebrating America as it is now and pretending that it is‚ in any real or meaningful sense‚ the heir to the work of the founders is more than a stretch. In what sense may we say that the United States of America‚ in its current form‚ is connected to the regime born out of the American Revolution&;#63; Celebrating the occasion of America’s birth as if it had not already slipped away and become something else is to take part in a lie. America may still wear the parchment-colored vestments of our founding‚ but it doesn’t adhere to the same political creed or even worship at the same altar as its founders. Some forms of the old Constitution may still apply — we still recognize only three branches of government‚ for example. But the truth is that our real government is composed of thousands of nameless‚ faceless‚ unelected career bureaucrats advancing an ever-leftward press for more control of the citizens. Yes‚ we still have a bicameral legislature composed of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate‚ but we have given up on expecting it to be held accountable for the legislation it passes. Instead‚ lawmakers pass the buck to a vast administrative state that requires not only our money but our ongoing servitude. That governing apparatus does the bidding of the expert and donor classes‚ and we are supposed to be grateful to them for their wisdom and for “keeping up with the times.” We still elect (or‚ perhaps‚ we think we elect) a president who is said to oversee this bureaucracy — this so-called executive branch of government. But today it is unclear whether the bureaucracy answers to the president or if he must answer to them. And‚ of course‚ we still have what people are pleased to call an independent judiciary. But this “independence” now appears to be independence from the Constitution itself. The forms of the original Constitution‚ therefore‚ no longer hold much power over the moral imaginations of citizens or our elected politicians. And we think nothing of changing our understanding of those forms if the “times” or the power of a political faction demand it. In short‚ the Constitution is not‚ in any way‚ sacred to us. In government schools‚ our children are taught that our founding was the work of racist‚ sexist‚ slaveholding bigots who only wanted to protect their economic interests‚ kill Indians‚ and probably didn’t even ask people what their preferred pronouns were. Are we surprised‚ then‚ that young people don’t want to celebrate that&;#63; The gloss on the pious left’s narrative is that America is to be celebrated because of what it is becoming — the evolving utopia where history’s injustices will finally be avenged and the people will be ruled in accordance with the left’s own expertise and wisdom. This dreamy potential is the American story for them — and those who cannot be excited by it are the kind of retrograde deplorables Joe Biden decried in his recent State of the Union address. In other words‚ the kind of people the left think have it coming. So if Americans are hesitant to celebrate the coming 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence and founding as a nation‚ it would be hard to blame them. What‚ exactly‚ would they be celebrating: a previous regime they have been taught to believe was evil or a coming regime that they can readily see is evil&;#63; For those like me who look back upon America’s founding and see in it principles that were worthy of defending because they were worthy of free and self-governing men‚ there is little to do but mourn its passing. We can and should remember that regime. We may even be hopeful of a potential resurrection. But we cannot rightly call this doppelganger going by the name “United States of America” the same regime as the regime of our founders. Celebrating the occasion of America’s birth as if it had not already slipped away and become something else is to take part in a lie. Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at Chronicles.

Today‚ I'd like to focus on an important staple of the genre: the mediocre Western. These are often my favorites. They’re not John Ford or Sergio Leone‚ but sometimes that’s a relief.I mean‚ just listen to this: Sunset In The West - Roy Rogers (1950) youtu.be Sometimes‚ you want to put your feet up and take a load off. That's when you turn to Roy Rogers‚ the original Rhinestone Cowboy.I love this movie. Adore it. When I’m having a bad day‚ it’s either Roy Rogers or John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in &;quot;El Dorado.&;quot;There’s a plot. I’m sure there is. But it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Almost like the script was written by AI. But it doesn't matter. Show me some gun fights‚ some horse chases‚ some ups and downs. Tell me how to feel with the music and the characters’ reactions. And some humor‚ like the hiccuping barber who shaves the guy’s wig. Haha. The spontaneous musical scenes are fantastic. So perfectly unnatural. Very dated. And thank God for that‚ to have a perfect timestamp on a supposedly insignificant moment in the grand scheme of things. I love it when Westerns spontaneously burst into lynching scenes‚ when townspeople spontaneously form into a murderous group of persecutors. But‚ come on‚ this is &;quot;Sunset in the West.&;quot; The good guy is going to win. And he'll do it in style on his “we fit like a glove” palomino‚ Trigger. We watch these kinds of Westerns because sometimes it just doesn’t feel right to see the innocents die. Sometimes you can’t stomach the hint of a thought of a lovely little child losing candy‚ let alone winding up in the scummy depths of a well (as in Budd Boetticher's &;quot;The Tall T&;quot;).This isn’t a lazy entry‚ per se. But‚ in many ways‚ it ought to be. What does the title &;quot;Sunset in the West&;quot; have to do with what happens in the movie&;#63; There’s never so much as an attempt at the sort of high-brow philosophical wordplay you find in more venerable Westerns. Then again‚ we don’t watch Westerns for lessons on Plato and Hegel. We migrate to them instinctively‚ because real life is full of bad days‚ treacherous days‚ and it’s nice to have a friendly face on the TV‚ a warm singing voice to let us know that light really does triumph over darkness. Roy Rogers has not one but four different stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Well deserved‚ I say. &;quot;Sunset in the West&;quot; features Roy Rogers and his beautiful horse‚ Trigger‚ as well as the country Western band Riders of the Purple Sage. At the time‚ a review in the theater owners trade magazine BoxOffice noted:“Patrons may have occasion to wonder just what relation the title has to the subject matter — the answer is‚ none at all — but otherwise the picture ranks with the best Rogers has made in recent months.”The best picture he’s made in recent months. Not years. Not decades. Months. That’s how many Westerns Roy Rogers was starring in — that year alone‚ 1950‚ he was in six. A tidy little film. It’s deeply formulaic. But I happen to be a fan of the formula. Westerns evince disorder. Social violence‚ widespread and extreme. I mean the slapstick barroom brawl scene‚ which goes on way too long and features at least one beanbag prop of a human performing impractical tricks. The best part is the total lack of concern from the producers and cinematographers and special effects experts. They did not care. But‚ plenty of positives‚ also. The chase scene is great cinema. Lots of action. Pure action‚ really. Directed by William Whitney — I’m sure that’s important. Or it isn’t. Which is nice‚ because not every Western has to be a masterpiece in order to be a treasure. One of my favorite things about Westerns is the blend of garish stage sets and intoxicating wilderness. But the switch between them is often sloppy. Oh‚ man‚ I love it when it is. The jolt in perspective actually draws me closer to the characters. &;quot;Sunset in the West&;quot; is not &;quot;Stagecoach&;quot; or &;quot;The Searchers.&;quot; This is a film‚ a Western‚ designed to satisfy people who just want a good story‚ pinned to a familiar face.Oh man‚ and that fight scene. Watch “Sunset in the West” simply for that.The response of the townsfolk to the sheriff is oddly civilized compared to many Westerns. Or‚ at least it starts that way. Those scene-fade transitions are lovely. In general‚ the whole thing feels rushed‚ but somehow that makes it more enjoyable — the cut corners give this film a feisty charm. Sometimes‚ it’s nice to see a bit of bad slapstick‚ dogs that steal sausages from food carts run by sleepy Mexicans. Some psychopath hurts the dog. But don't worry — this isn't &;quot;Hondo.&;quot; He lives to pilfer sausages another day. The B Westerns have so many lovely characteristics. Their charm‚ for one. The accents. Either they’re perfect or they’re awful. Either the actors are real-deal country folk‚ with a few good actors in there; or bad actors stuck in the B-circuit‚ desperate enough to alienate everyone. Ultimately‚ though‚ you watch this movie for one reason: Roy Rogers. Like John Wayne or Randolph Scott or Robert Mitchum or Jimmy Stewart or Barbara Stanwyck‚ I‘ll watch any movie with Roy Rogers in it. And‚ whether or not it’s good‚ I’ll probably keep it on repeat. There’s something deeply relaxing about Roy Rogers. His presence. Wholesome‚ calming. A good ol' boy who lives to protect the innocent and chase down the bad guys.Then‚ there’s the unlikely cure for hiccups‚ a scene that exemplifies everything I’m touting here: somewhat bad acting‚ overly staged‚ a little rushed‚ but incredibly valuable in its laziness and imperfections. To tell you the truth‚ the first time I watched &;quot;Sunset in the West‚&;quot; I stopped paying attention about halfway through. Still‚ it was lovely to have on in the background.Since then‚ I’ve probably put it on several more times. It's that kind of movie. And sometimes‚ that's just the kind of movie you need.

“Meet the Double Agent Who Now Controls House Conservatives‚” the headline reads. “The spy’s mission was simple‚” the story begins. “Gain their trust‚ become one of them‚ and eventually take them over.” The article claims to describe “the perfect mole” — a “clean-cut” politician “hungry for power and influence.” The subject: Republican Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana. The twist: It was written in November 2018 — five years before Johnson rose to become the unlikely speaker of a deeply divided Republican House. It turns out that the ambitious Louisianan’s careful presentation could conceal more than one play at a time. Published in the left-wing Daily Beast‚ the story's reporter used interviews with multiple Republican colleagues to paint Johnson as an ambitious politician who downplayed his relationship with the conservative House Freedom Caucus in order to gain the acceptance‚ and the eventual chairmanship‚ of the powerful Republican Study Committee. “For two years‚” Andrew Desiderio wrote‚ “he was groomed and positioned‚ never denouncing but never formally affiliating with the Freedom Caucus and all the while getting closer and closer to his goal of total control over conservative Republicans in the House. And it worked.” Of course‚ it’s easy to see the story in a different light now that Johnson has climbed the ladder to the top of his conference and used his authority to cut deals with Democrats‚ most recently selling out border security to send more than $60 billion to Ukraine over the objections of a majority of his own party. It turns out that the ambitious Louisianan’s careful presentation could conceal more than one play at a time. Today‚ Johnson is effectively the head of a center-left coalition government‚ having passed every important spending bill of his tenure with Democrats’ support‚ and even relying on Democrats to protect him from being ousted from the speakership by the GOP. It’s always more difficult to discern motives than it might seem‚ and much of what happens in Washington‚ D.C.‚ is significantly closer to an episode of “Veep” than an episode of “House of Cards.” “There wasn’t some grand strategy here‚” one current Freedom Caucus member told me‚ waving away theories that Johnson had kept a friendly distance from the caucus to protect his potential path to leadership. “He’s contended‚ and others have‚ that it was strategic‚ but that’s revisionist history.” Johnson’s socially conservative credentials were solid before he took the speakership. He has the right friends‚ including his fellow Louisianan Tony Perkins‚ president of the Family Research Council‚ and he once took a lot of the right stances — but could be counted on to vote with leadership when pressure mounted. When Republican leadership demanded a yes vote on the National Defense Authorization Act that signed women up for the draft‚ for example‚ Johnson‚ then a member of the powerful House Armed Services Committee‚ voted yes. When leadership asked members to bust budget caps for Biden’s 2023 budget‚ he voted yes. When leadership wanted to pass a farm bill with all the handouts it entailed‚ he was a yes. The list goes on. “I think he’s mobilized by a belief that to some degree he’s called by God to be there to lead‚” the Freedom Caucus member‚ who asked not to be named to speak freely‚ explained. “To do the things that he believes he needs to do‚ like fund Ukraine‚ like cut deals to get bills funded‚ and yes‚ move up and use those conservative credentials to effectively have the conservative movement be behind him and to try to leverage that. But meanwhile‚ we’re doing whatever the defense world wants us to do: Reauthorize FISA‚ bust caps‚ fund foreign aid.” “The speaker‚” the congressman continued‚ “is who he is. This is someone who’s been upfront that he wanted to get funding to Ukraine‚ he was upfront about not wanting to have a shutdown. At the end of the day‚ he’s going to value and prize those types of things ... at the expense of the difficult kind of leadership that it takes in Washington.” “How does it feel to be a RINO&;#63;” one member of the Republican Main Street Caucus reportedly joked to Johnson when the speaker met with the more liberal group of lawmakers April 17. He was working at the time to gain Republican allies for his $95 billion foreign aid package. Johnson‚ the Washington Post reported‚ responded with “a simultaneous shrug‚ awkward chuckle‚ and a gentle pump of his fist.” The speaker is “someone who can forgive himself for lying because he thinks it’s for a higher purpose‚” a senior conservative staffer who worked closely with Johnson in 2018 explained. “He has an exceptional capacity for self-justification.” Five years ago‚ it seems‚ Mike Johnson’s colleagues understood the kind of man they were dealing with. Neither side realized where those attributes would take him.

CBS’ Dan Rather ended his nightly telecasts in the mid 2000s with the word “courage.”An online news site just posted a negative Taylor Swift review without a byline‚ fearing the Swifties’ wrath.We’ve come a long way‚ baby.Not only do today’s journalists cover for President Joe Biden’s mental decline‚ they can’t even stand up to pre-teens on social media.Then again‚ the CBS anchor is back in the news despite the endless shadow RatherGate cast on his career. Netflix will debut “Rather” May 1‚ by all accounts a fawning documentary covering his days in journalism.It’s like tackling the life of O.J. Simpson and downplaying the whole &;quot;murder trial&;quot; thing.It’s not even the first time Hollywood pretended Rather didn’t attempt to rig the 2004 presidential election. Remember “Truth&;#63;” The 2015 film cast Robert Redford as Rather‚ suggesting he had the Texas National Guard story dead to rights all along.Working title: “Fake but Accurate: The Movie&;#33;”Then again‚ maybe you don’t remember it. “Truth” made a microscopic $2 million at the U.S. box office.SNL pulls its punches ... again“Saturday Night Live” has nothing to say about the anti-Israel protests raging across college campuses. The closest the once-mighty show got to the topic was mocking the three Ivy League presidents’ D.C. testimony‚ but that sketch targeted the GOP’s Elise Stefanik more harshly than the morally warped trio.SNL still may have predicted today’s campus chaos ... nine years ago. The older sketch has Dakota Johnson playing a young woman getting dropped off to college for the first time by her teary-eyed dad (Taran Killam):They exchange pleasantries and‚ after she leaves the car‚ an ISIS truck swings by and picks her up. The ISIS soldiers fire off their weapons and say‚ “Death to America&;#33;”Sound familiar&;#63;Too bad we need the Wayback Machine for SNL to speak truth to power ...Maher speaks truth to power ... for nowBill Maher has been swatting woke crazies on his HBO showcase for the last few years. Nothing new there.Last week‚ Maher took it a step farther. A Neil Armstrong-sized step. He:praised Gov. Ron DeSantis for calling out Disney’s grooming practices‚attacked his fellow liberals for ignoring the latter point‚decried Drag Queen Story Hour in no uncertain terms‚ andslammed Disney for its “not-so-secret gay agenda.”Did Rush Limbaugh come back to life in Maher’s body&;#63; Is the comedian gunning for Trump’s VP slot&;#63;No. He just can’t stand to see the modern left devolve into a cult-like party.Conservatives aren’t locking arms around their new best chum. Some say Maher’s rhetoric is a pose‚ a feint to draw a few right-leaning fans. Others argue he’ll still vote for President Biden over Donald Trump.Either way‚ no one in mainstream pop culture is saying what Maher is‚ and he’s reaching an audience that may‚ sadly‚ tune out a Limbaugh successor.So‚ yeah‚ Maher matters.Hollywood gets box office bellyacheThe box office is making studio executives as nervous as Morgan Wallen’s PR team. The numbers are way down this month‚ and upcoming titles like “The Latest Planet of the Apes Movie No One Asked For” won’t help.Then there’s this.“Spider-Man 2” released in 2004‚ hit theaters anew this year and became the number 2 movie at the box office April 22‚ beaten only by “Civil War.” It gets worse. The Spidey sequel was shown in fewer than 500 theaters‚ while most new releases get 2‚000-4‚000 screens.People would rather watch an old movie they’ve already seen than spanking new flicks like “Abigail‚” “Money Man” or “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.”Better buy Tums in bulk‚ Tinseltown.Mark Hamill goes full Jedi mind-trick “Star Wars” alum Mark Hamill declared on X that Joe Biden is the best American president. Ever.Here’s hoping his intervention goes as planned.The same holds for Michael Douglas. The Oscar-winning actor‚ when pressed on the fact that our president (81) is roughly his own age (79)‚ responded by saying Biden is “sharp as a tack.”Thoughts and prayers for our elderly A-listers.