The Bookworm Beat 3/3/16 — the GOP crackup edition and open thread

Woman-writing-300x265I’ve been collecting articles for days, so I’ll try to share them with you as efficiently as possible in a single post.  My goal — no more than two sentences per recommended article.

Ted Cruz is a decent human being.  Contrary to Rubio, Trump, and Ted’s former college roommate (who was offended from the get-go by Cruz’s lifelong conservativism), those who know Ted Cruz say he’s an extremely nice and decent man.

Many good reasons to vote for Ted Cruz.  Melissa Clouthier’s letter to her fellow Texans asking them to vote for Cruz seems to have worked.  Perhaps residents in states with upcoming primaries might want to read it too.

Why does Donald Trump like Harry Reid?  Nobody likes Harry Reid, not even his colleagues and constituents, but Trump keeps going around saying nice things about him.

Is Marco Rubio everything that was bad about Bush?  Laura Ingraham thinks that Marco Rubio will be George Bush all over again, except only the bad parts of his presidency.

Thomas Sowell thinks this election is our last chance to get it right.  Sowell, level-headed Sowell, is thinking in apocalyptic terms about the world Obama leaves us and the need to elect the right president to steer our ship of state.  (NB:  Sowell doesn’t think Trump has the temperament or ability to captain this ship.)

Megan McArdle on #NeverTrump people.  They’re genuinely offended by Trump’s character (or lack of same).

The Founders tried to block the Trumps of this world.  The Founding Fathers were terribly worried about the rise of demagogues.  They tried to set up a system to stop that, but we’ve dismantled the system over the past two hundred years.

An honest Saudi Arabian on Islamophobia.  A Saudi-born, Qatar-based journalist castigates her fellow Muslims for being angry at Americans for so-called “Islamophobia” (i.e., unreasonable fear of Muslims).  She suggests that, if Christians did to Muslims what Muslims are doing to everyone else, Muslims would be equally fearful and angry at those who are attacking them.

Genetics and Middle Eastern madness.  In tribal societies, the only ones you can trust are your tribe members.  When your tribe members are also your blood relatives, you get damaged children, which may explain so much of what’s wrong in the Middle East.

C.S. Lewis on trying to harmonize Islam and Christianity.  I’ve written more than once about C.S. Lewis’s take on Islam, Christianity, and worshiping a moral God.  William Kilpatrick makes a similar point, only he actually has what I like:  a deep understanding of religion so that he knows what he’s talking about.

Is America a Christian nation?  Patrick O’Hannigan reviews a book that claims it isn’t.

The moral case against Trump.  Another person who knows about Christianity is Greg, at Rhymes With Right.  He makes a strong moral argument for voting against Trump.

Another voice against Trump.  David French has become one of my favorite writers.  I agree with his take on the moral problems attendant on voting for Trump.

Abortion industry comes clean.  Contrary to Hillary’s oft repeated “abortions should be safe, rare, and legal” mantra, the abortion industry doesn’t care if abortions are safe and it doesn’t want them to be rare; it just wants them to be legal.

Your tax dollars fund terrorists.  Actually, your tax dollars fund Iran, which funds terrorists.

Your tax dollars celebrate terrorists.  Actually, your tax dollars fund the University of Minnesota, which celebrates sadistic, murderous Black Panthers as heroes.

Your tax dollars fund insanity.  Academics used to use Latin to create their private, elite club, to which ordinary people could not belong.  Latin at least was a real language, though, as opposed to the gibberish that has invaded academia (see here and here).

Your tax dollars lost in bad bookkeeping.  Uncle Sam doesn’t know how to keep the books.  The one thing I know with certainty is that whatever the American financial situation is, it’s worse than we’re being told.

Reminders about who many of the male refugees in Europe are.  These two posts, one about an Iraqi heading back home to his wife and family, and another about a Syrian-born UFC champion, remind us that many of the “refugees” are just economic migrants.  There’s nothing wrong with trying to make a better life, but there’s a big problem with Western nations immolating themselves on the so-called “refugee” funeral pyre.

I love it when the PC class eats its own.  A white Leftist professor who was in the midst of apologizing for her white privilege used the “N” word and got the boot.

What it looks like when there is no First Amendment.  In Canada, a comedian faces prison for telling a joke that offended a handicapped man.  Keep in mind that Donald wants unilaterally to amend the First Amendment.

Facebook’s racist employees.  Facebook’s employees are disgusting racists who think “all” lives matter.  Mark Zuckerberg, a true Progressive, understands that only black lives matter.

If you unbuild prisons, the bad guys will come (to your community).  It’s weird — you let bad guys out of prison and they do bad stuff.  Who knew?  <sarcasm>

A socialist accidentally speaks the truth.  In Venezuela, socialism was never about building prosperity; it was always about building dependent voting blocs.

And the Obama administration brings it home.  Meanwhile, through abusing the Community Reinvestment Act, Obama, working with hard Left groups, hopes to turn every city and suburb into a mini-Venezuela.

Women don’t need to be victims.  Two videos showing women fighting back, one with a gun, one with self-defense skills.

I knew I liked Kevin Spacey.  He’s not only a superb actor and an admirably private public figure, he also understands that modern media has created modern politics.  (Warning:  autoplay video at link.)

I don’t like Leo DiCaprio.  He’s a good actor but an icky, hypocritical human being.

Free tuition leads to higher costs.  When funds are channeled through inflexible, large government, rather than adaptable, bargain-hunting citizens, the system invariably becomes bloated and inefficient, with government inevitably favoring certain providers.

Bernie’s socialism isn’t classic liberalism.  Bernie’s star may be on its decline, but it’s still worthwhile reading a rather old-fashioned Democrat explain that Bernie’s a socialist, not a Democrat.