The Bookworm Beat 6-21-15 — “Happy Father’s Day” edition and Open Thread
Happy Father’s Day to all of you! And now to business:
The Democrat slate is a joke
I find it incredibly amusing to read how Hollywood’s uber-rich, consumer-lifestyle Progressives are turning out for Bernie Sanders, the political fad of the week. The same holds true for Colorado’s affluent crunchy Lefties who also think the man who promises to destroy their lifestyles is wonderful. Clearly, the richer the Leftie, the more serious the brain rot. They’re like cockroaches celebrating the candidate who promises to house them in Roach Motels and perfume them with Raid.
In the sane world, people considering the two slates of candidates — Republican versus Democrat — have noticed that the Democrat candidates are a pathetic bunch, made up of a creepy old socialist, an utterly corrupt sociopath with American blood on her hands, a failed mayor and governor who is loathed by those over whom he had control and, as a backup, a faux Indian and populist.
Of course, we Republicans have our joke candidates too
I’ve often send over the past few weeks that, while I don’t feel all the Republican candidates are qualified to be President, or even Vice President, they all have something to offer and it’s an excellent thing for the American people to have their voices heard.
I have to amend that statement now, because we have one candidate whose voice should be stifled:
Whatever Trump’s appeal is to the Right’s populist elements, it isn’t policy. He is a tax-happy crony capitalist who is hostile to free trade but very enthusiastic about using state violence to homejack private citizens — he backed theKelo decision “100 percent” and has tried to use eminent domain in the service of his own empire of vulgarity — and generally has about as much command of the issues as the average sophomore at a not especially good college, which is what he was (sorry, Fordham) until his family connections got him into Penn.
If it’s not the issues, it’s certainly not the record of the man himself. Never mind that he’s a crony capitalist, he’s not even an especially good crony capitalist: The casino racket is protected from competition by a strict cartel-oriented licensing regime, but Trump, being the type of businessman who could bankrupt a mint, managed to be the biggest loser in Atlantic City, which is no small feat. He is a lifelong supporter of Democratic politicians, including Chuck Schumer and, awkwardly, the woman against whom he is pretending to run: Hillary Rodham Clinton. He is dishonest (“Oh, he lies a great deal,” said architect and collaborator Philip Johnson) and has shown himself to be a bad bet for bankers, business partners, and wives, among others.
“But he speaks his mind!” shout the Trumpkins. Indeed, he does, in a practically stream-of-consciousness fashion: His announcement speech was like Finnegans Wake as reimagined by an unlettered person with a short attention span. The value of speaking one’s mind depends heavily on the mind in question, and Trump’s is second-rate. “He’s the candidate who will take the fight to Hillary!” protest the Trumpkins. Maybe, maybe not: He is on record as a supporter of Herself, and he’s not on record as a presidential candidate, having not bothered to file the FEC paperwork making his candidacy official. “He’ll build a wall on the border and make the Mexicans pay for it!” Unlikely, but even if he did, half of illegal immigrants arrive not on the banks of the Rio Grande but in the airports. Trumpkins: “He’ll show the political elites who’s boss!” They already know, because they already own him: You don’t get into Trump’s game without being a creature of the ruling class. Neither casino licenses nor Manhattan building permits find their way into the hands of the unconnected, in this case the heir to — not the creator of — a New York City real-estate empire.
That’s Kevin Williamson, and it only gets better as you read his entire article.
Bristol Palin starts proving that she’s her mother’s daughter
Part of Sarah Palin’s appeal is that she has the knack of getting to the heart of an issue in clear and concise fashion. (The same is true of the great and mighty Thomas Sowell.) Bristol Palin might have that quality herself, as is shown in her quiet, pointed take-down of the execrable Miley Cyrus. After noting that Cyrus managed to proclaim herself the “least judgmental” person ever, only to excoriate Christians and conservatives, Bristol had this to say (emphasis mine):
Is it just me, or does it seem more than a little fake that someone claiming to be accepting of everyone and everything would spew such judgment towards her own parents and their deeply held religious beliefs?
She wants everyone else to let her be ‘free to be Miley,’ but seems unwilling to offer the same respect to her parents and those who wish to live out their Christian faith.
Oh, Miley. Thanks for giving us the best example of what “tolerance” looks like in Hollywood: it looks a lot like contempt.
I really like that last sentence because it so completely defines Leftist “tolerance.”
White lives matter too — or don’t they?
It’s a sad story from a few weeks ago and I mention it only to point out that, if you’re a contemptuous Leftist, only some deaths matter (hint: the color of the victim and the predator have to meet a certain formula).
I guess we can now reframe that ancient philosophical question about trees falling in forests and the sounds they may or may not make: “If black teens kill white people for fun and profit, and the media ignores it, do those white deaths matter?”
Again, in keeping with my belief that we have only a small window of time before the Left goes from verbal coercion to physical suppression, I’m starting to speak out on these things, asking my Leftist Facebook friends faux naive questions that force them to confront their hypocrisy. In my world, all lives matter — but then again, I’m not a racist.
Karl Rove’s statement on guns
I’m at a loss for words about Karl Rove given his announcement about abolishing the Second Amendment. I never liked the guy, but I assumed he was smarter than, say, Cher or Miley Cyrus or the other outspoken Leftist boneheads. Is he a moron? An fascist? An idiot? A clone, with the real Karl Rove locked away somewhere in a cave in California desperately wishing he had a gun with which to save himself? I don’t know.
All I know is that the numbers don’t lie: More guns, less crime. The only places in which there’s more gun crime are those places that have banned guns (or have brainwashed people into avoiding guns without even being told to do so), whether those places are Democrat-run ghettos, schools, or churches.
More later. I have to run errands now.
