Rotten Apples Or Is the Whole Crop Rotten?

The killing of George Floyd by a white police officer has sparked widespread protests not only in the US but around the world. The continuing pattern of violence by mostly white police against African-Americans has become a kind of institutional sickness within the American system. It would be interesting to compare this case with that of Justine Diamond, a white woman killed in 2017 by a black police officer, Mohammed Noor. Noor was convicted in 2019 of third degree murder and manslaughter and sentenced to 12.5 years in prison. While some would argue that police violence is out of control, nobody can deny that racism governs the whole system. White police officers kill black people all the time, and they either get off scot free or they get a mere slap on the wrist.

One idea would be to abolish police unions, which are one of the biggest enemies to reform. Some people would go further. It is clear that the current system is one of criminal injustice.

What To Do About Joe

Just as Joe Biden had virtually wrapped up the Democratic nomination for President, he got hit with accusations of sexual assault or something. The allegations are made by a former staffer over an incident that allegedly happened 27 years ago. It seems unlikely that anything could be proven after all these years. The situation has caused a lot of embarrassment not only for the Democrats but for the entire liberal movement. The liberals embrace of the MeToofers and their premise of guilty-by-accusation has put in them in a predicament. They won't be able to play that card anymore.

Oddly the New York Times has had to concede, obliquely, the folly of guilt-by-accusation.

"With Mr. Trump in the White House, and a country that is learning — very slowly — to reconsider the form that harassment and assault can take, Democrats have staked their political brand on the idea that all allegations should be taken seriously and that every woman has a right to be heard. But that doesn’t mean every woman is right when she speaks."

No kidding. The article also says

"“If this is true, and there is no investigation, his candidacy or his presidency could implode over it” — and, she noted, could take #MeToo down with it."

If MeToo goes down, that would be for the best. Perhaps we should say not only to the MeToofers but to Feminists in general the words of Oliver Cromwell to the Rump Parliament: "You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately. Depart, I say I say, and let us have done with you." (1653).

"Tara Reade's Allegation Is Against Biden, but the Burden Is on Women" by Jessica Bennett and Lisa Lerer.

Vox: Liberal Hypocrisy and Duplicity

An article recently appeared in Vox which show the hypocrisy and selective "compassion" that characterizes not only Vox but also the entire liberal left. One of these is "The whiteness of anti-lockdown protests" by Maia Niguel Hoskin. Hoskin claims that protests against the lockdown are somehow racist. She also claims, that since blacks are somehow more affected by the epidemic, that opposition to her stance is somehow racist. This is an example of the original meaning of the term non sequitur: "it doesn't follow." Considering that Hoskin's real stance is based on rhetoric:

"Oppressed is an interesting word choice. Let’s start first with what racist oppression is. Oppression is not getting a job, a promotion, a business loan, or approved for your dream home solely based on your race — things black people deal with regularly. On the other hand, oppression is not staying in the comfort of your home, with a full fridge, health care, and a 401k. Oppression is also not a term that should be used willy-nilly, at the first feeling of discomfort, crying it to get your way — putting other people’s health and lives at risk. Many of us are uncomfortable right now. But please do not conflate discomfort with oppression."

It's obvious that the only people white people who Hoskin is thinking of are people like herself: affluent, urban types who aren't adversely affected by the shutdown. Skin off who's ass, right?

It is remarkable how smug and arrogant is the stance of Hoskin and people like her. She, like most left liberals, don't realize that putting everything in a black-versus-white stance is actually works to their disadvantage. You are not going to win people over by telling them, as Hoskin does "You're problems don't matter." It is no wonder why middle class whites don't vote for liberals. Because why would they?

Insult Upon Injury, and Then Another Injury

Let us first recap how we got here.

*The government neglected the healthcare system, leaving it unable to cope with an epidemic.

*When the epidemic broke out the government had no response other than to shut down the economy

*There are now 22 million unemployed Americans

*The governments "stimulus checks" program has turned into a clusterfuck, with many people not getting the help they were supposed to get.

Assuming that civilization doesn't collapse, we should hold this stupid government accountable. Kick the bums out, whether they are GOPers or Demos.

No Skin Off Of Their Asses

The latest catchphrase "social distancing" is really a joke. It would only work if everybody walked around wearing space suits or stayed locked inside. Since the former is obviously impossible, the latter has come to be public policy, with shut downs of schools, libraries and increasingly businesses of all sorts. It's not even possible to get anything to eat anymore. Doctors of course don't care; they are making around $150,000 a year and in any case their livelihoods are not affected. Much of the liberal media has also jumped on the bandwagon, based on comparisons with the epidemic of 1918. Except that the epidemic of 1918 was incurable in its time. That is not true today.

The brings the question of what the rest of us are supposed to do. Stay in our homes and starve? Maybe we should be allowed to go about our business, and take our chances with the virus.

Totalitarian Feminism Shows Its Face

The recent decision by Hatchette Publishing to not publish the memoirs of Woody Allen shows the totalitarian nature not only of MeToo but of Feminism in general. Totalitarianism, at its simplest, is a group of people who think they have a mandate to dictate to others what to say, what to read, and what to think. The way in which the management of Hatchette allowed itself to intimidated by feminist hoodlums will go down as one of the worst examples of censorship in history. Another characteristic of totalitarianism is that it is often built around a cult like following of a leader who is supposed to be all knowing and all good. For the MeToofers that leader is Ronan Farrow. What will happen when Ronan Farrow is finally exposed as a scum bag liar with a twisted mother complex? The same thing that happened to communism after the crimes of Stalin were revealed.

Trump's Peace Deal is Falling Apart

Trump's supposed peace deal, which was supposed to lead to a US withdrawal from Afghanistan, is falling apart. The problem is that the Taliban is demanding the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The government of President Ashraf Ghani, however, is refusing. It turns out that the deal was only between the Trump administration and the Taliban. Ghani's government was excluded, which now seems like a big mistake. In the meantime, the fighting in Afghanistan continues. So much for the peace accord.

Donald Trump has been trying to conduct foreign policy the same way he ran his business: on the basis of shady deals. It turns out he is now dealing with opponents who have his number.

The Phony Miracle of the Oily Bible

A strange case has emerged from Dalton, Georgia. One Johnny Taylor claimed that on 1/20/2017, the day Trump was inaugurated, oil stains began to appear on his bible. The oil continued to increase until he started collecting them in vials. Taylor's oil soon became the center of a cult, with people claiming it could cure everything up to and including cancer.

Then on January 10, it turns out that the bible has stopped producing oil. Then it emerged that Taylor himself was buying a type of oil from a tractor supply store. Anybody with a brain should see that Taylor was pulling a scam.

This shows how religious fundamentalism is connected with Trumpism. It is all about pandering to stupid, ignorant people who are ready to believe anything.

Christopher Caldwell Speaks With Forked Tongue

A really bad article recently appeared on Vox. It is titled "Christopher Caldwell’s big idea: The civil rights revolution was a mistake." Christopher Caldwell is better known for writing about the supposed dangers of Moslem immigration to Europe, which shows where he's coming from. The peace is Vox is cast in the form of a debate with Sean Illing, concerns Caldwell's latest book "The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties." Caldwell's point is that because of the civil rights movement White Americans “fell asleep thinking of themselves as the people who had built this country and woke up to find themselves occupying the bottom rung of an official hierarchy of races.”

Let's take this sentence apart. First, white people did not build America by itself. It was also built by African-Americans, much of the time as slaves. The building of America also required lots of labor from Hispanic and Asian immigrants. Second, in what way are Whites at the "bottom" of any racial hierarchy? The fact that working class whites saw their situation deteriorate after the 1960s was caused by economic changes that had nothing to do with the civil rights movement and the drive for social equality.

Caldwell tries to hide his ethnocentric stance by claiming "This book is in no way a defense of Jim Crow or segregation or anything like that." In reality, we always had a system of racial preferences, for Whites, that dated all the way back to the colonial era. One of the big tricks of racists is to deny the problem of race and to claim that they are the victims of racism. Caldwell's most telling remark comes toward the end of the article
"I do not think the Trump movement or the Republican Party more generally is a racist movement." For Caldwell to make a statement like that suggests he is either obtuse or deceptive.

Mexicans Find New Way Over Trump's Wall

In an earlier post I mentioned that border crossers were cutting through the border wall. They have now found a new way to defeat the wall: climb over it with ladders. In some cases not even actual ladders, just makeshift ladders made out of rebar. It seems that Trump didn't know what it would take to build a wall. He's now raiding the Pentagon budget to pay for his stupid idea.

This is information from the article "Brilliant New $5.34 Ladder Defeats Not So Brilliant $2.5 Billion Trump Fever Dream"


by

Abby Zimet, Further columnist commondreams.org.

The article ends with an apt quote:

"A wise man lets a fool build a wall before choosing the height of his ladder.” - Socrates

Feminist "Woo" and What It Is

The New York Times recently published an opinion piece by Elisa Albert and Jennifer Block titled "Who’s Afraid of Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop?" This not only defends Paltrow and her quackery but repeats the standard rhetoric of feminist anti-science. The piece is full of feminist rhetoric about "intuitive measures" and "classic patriarchal devaluation." Absent from the discussion are certain facts like that Paltrow herself is a privileged white female. Albert and Block also ignore that Paltrow and Goop embody the same kind of obscurantism, worship of wealth and celebrity that led to the rise of Trumpism.

It is true that the piece was labeled as opinion. We have to ask ourselves about the decision by the New York Times to publish something like that. The New York Times claims to be the "newspaper of record." Are they going to start publishing articles in support of flat earthism and the anti-vaxxers? Pieces like those make us wonder whether the NY Times is really as credible as it claims to be.

Kobe Bryant and the Bullshit of MeToo

The tragic death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter over the weekend has produced an outpouring of grief. Not only from fans but from people in all walks of life. What people are going to remember about Kobe Bryant are his positive contributions in addition to his athletic prowess.

The only exception are from the feminist media, who are digging up an old rape accusation that everybody except them had forgotten about. The accusation did not even support an indictment let alone a conviction (reminiscent of the Woody Allen case.) This shows how the MeToofers are a bunch of narcissistic, solipsistic jerkasses.

No Hillary Clinton, This Isn't About You

In an upcoming documentary Hillary Clinton lashed out at Bernie Sanders:

"He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it."

HRC also won't commit to supporting Sanders if he wins the Democratic nomination. It's hard to see why HRC would revive her feud with Sanders. She only sounds petty, spiteful and obtuse. HRC has learned nothing from the 2016 campaign, and merely blames everyone and everything but herself. Or maybe she still believes that the Democratic party is her personal property. Maybe it's time we showed her the door.

Rock n Roll Was the Devil's Music

Rock n' roll was the devil's music in the figurative sense. It was one of the cultural trends of the past half century that led us to the hole were in today. Rock n' roll promoted a lifestyle of hedonism and consumerism. It was based around the worship of stars who engaged in anti-social and even criminal behavior. No wonder its listeners turned into oafish morons who never grew up mentally. Of course, the rock culture also promoted widespread drug abuse, across multiple generations. The funny thing is that when they are white we are supposed to feel sorry for them. We are supposed to feel sorry for a "working class" that doesn't actually work.

Rock started out as another white misappropriation of African-American culture. Unlike Jazz, which became an art form, rock never amounted to more than drivel. Maybe we should burn down the rock n' roll hall of fame and everything in it.

Trump the Terrorist and Warmonger

Trump's assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani is ultimately a cheap political stunt to make himself look tough for the election. It actually shows how he and his gang are nothing more than criminals. Trump doesn't have any real foreign policy accomplishments to point to so he decided to start shooting missiles (in compensation for his limp penis.) Who ever believed that Donald Trump was a man of peace? Only a few idiot pacifists whom we can now ignore.