Bookworm Room

Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.

Scott Adams errs badly about Antifa

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Scott Adams errs badly in excusing Antifa on the grounds that it’s just risk-craving young men having fun committing non-lethal violence against bad guys.

Antifa LogoWhen Scott Adams first heard about the way Antifa brutally attacked gay Vietnamese-American journalist Andy Ngo, he was as outraged as any decent person would be. (Leftists, by celebrating the attack or, in Jim Acosta’s case, ignoring it despite an entire book about journalists — i.e., Jim Acosta — being under siege, have shown themselves to be indecent people.) A problem arose, though, when Adams, who rightly prides himself on being logical and thinking out of the box, watched a video that made him do a 180: suddenly, he has no problem with Antifa. All I can say is that this bright man had a short in his logic circuit.

Adams watched a video in which an Antifa member claimed that it wasn’t really a political group at all. It was just young men finding an outlet for their natural craving for risk and a way to prove their manhood. Pounding on neo-Nazis in non-fatal ways, he explained, is a fun proving ground.

Adams found that argument so compelling that he says we should ignore Antifa and just let its members and the neo-Nazi groups pound away at each other. He didn’t say so, but I think his theory is a combination of “boys will be boys” and “it would be great if both sides lost this war.” If we view Antifa this way, says Adams, its political powers goes away and it just becomes a gangster group. (I think he’s envisioning a kind of Wanderers versus Ducky Boys fight scene.)

By taking this position, Adams proves that, while he isn’t often wrong (indeed, I think he’s mostly right about things or at least thinking about them creatively), when he does go wrong, he’s really wrong.

First, regarding a young man’s urge to engage in risky activity, I agree that both Adams and the Antifa guy he listened to have a point. Many young men do feel the need to prove themselves through dangerous displays. As a mother, I worry every time my son goes off skiing or doing some other activity in which, through showing off, he can really hurt himself. I never have that worry with my daughter. However, the biological push to prove oneself through dangerous activity is not a justification for crime. [Read more…]

Scott Adams gets it wrong on abortion

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On abortion, I argue that Scott Adams, one of the smartest, most intellectually honest people in America, errs in thinking only women have a say.

Scott Adams abortionI want to preface this post by saying that I am a great admirer of Scott Adams, I think he’s completely intellectually honest, I believe his insights into persuasion are extraordinary, and I always feel enriched after I’ve listened to his explanations about persuasion. It’s just that, with abortion, I think he’s made a mistake by buying into the pro-abortion premise.

The reason I’m writing this post is because I was listening to Scott Adams’ podcast about the dishonest, unprincipled, and violent Leftist attack on the Covington kids. In it, Adams apologizes for his initial error in accepting the media myth as true and breaks down how the media and other Leftists lied about the incident. He also talks about the way the Left has succeeded in convincing its base that a red MAGA hat (“Make America Great Again”) is every bit as racist as a KKK hood or a Nazi swastika. Adams doesn’t agree with that persuasion success; he just notes it for what it is. He’s right in every particular.

Where Adams goes off the rails though (at least in my opinion) is with his claim that Covington boys had no business being at the Right to Life rally to begin with. Adams believes that the only people who can opine about abortion are women. I get where he’s coming from — in my pro-abortion days I came from that same intellectual place — but having had children has made me realize that this viewpoint is unsustainable because . . . Nature. [Read more…]

[VIDEO] Scott Adams: fake news relies on our imperfect knowledge

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Scott Adams demonstrates in real time how the media distributes fake news by relying on our understandable inability to have perfect knowledge.

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What Business Thinks



[VIDEO] Scott Adams feels that the FBI has gone too far

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Having heard the news about the raid on Michael Cohen, Scott Adams says “Fire ’em all,” and explains why.

[If the above video won’t play, you can find the content here.]

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What Business Thinks



A Scott Adams’ Dilbert cartoon that’s an Obamacare Rorschach test

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Obamacare Scott Adams DilbertSince I don’t have a license to reproduce Scott Adams’ Dilbert cartoons, I won’t. Still, I very much want you to see his cartoon for July 21. The comments indicate that Adams’ readers think he was making a dig at Norton products or similar computer programs.

I think differently. I took one look at the cartoon and thought, “Obamacare. He’s completely attacking Obamacare.”

What do you think? Was Adams specifically making an Obamacare joke or is he really just ragging computer programs?

[VIDEO] Scott Adams demonstrates how the Russia collusion smear works

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Lacking evidence that Trump or his team were guilty of actual Russia collusion, they resort to smears. Scott Adams shows how this technique works.

Don Lemon Russia CollusionAlthough the election is over and Scott Adams is no longer making predictions, I still check his blog on a regular basis. He thinks entirely outside of the box, but not in a crazy, unrealistic way. Instead, his clever ideas open up new ways of thinking about things.

This video-podcast he did shows him taking on the Russia collusion meme that dominates progressive thought. His targets CNN’s Don Lemon, which is a lovely thing, because Lemon is at the head of the pack when it comes to the Russia collusion smear:

Also, here’s some food for thought from John Hinderaker about the whole Russia collusion meme: [Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 3/22/17 — the “let’s pretend that terrorist attacks in London are ordinary” edition

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This round-up post opens with the London terrorist attack, but also covers Trump and Obamacare, the Sudan, climate change, media bias, faith, and risky sex.

Victim of March 22 London terrorist attackIn the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in London, people were remembering last year, when London’s first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, said that terrorism is just part of life in the big city. He’s correct — that is, he’s correct if Islam is ascendant in the world. It is, after all, a faith that has terror as its foundation. Wherever Islam goes, it brings with it the fire and the sword. It’s a safer world when Islam is cowed, not ascendant.

I do feel terribly sorry for the people who were hurt and I’m saddened about the lives lost. My sympathy lies with their families and friends. Having said that, I’m quickly running out of patience for the whole European attitude towards Islamic terrorism. We get one attack after another filling our screens with bloody images, and all that the Europeans do is mull over what could possibly have caused someone suddenly to go off his rocker, scream “Allahu Akhbar” and kill a bunch of people.

Here’s a great poster illustrating the European approach to terror:

Until Europeans start taking Islamic terrorism seriously, why should I? If you all are so filled with cultural self-loathing that you have a death wish, my only hope is that you don’t drag me down with you.

And that’s all I have to say about what happened in London. However, I do have a few links I’ve saved, and I’d like to share them with you. In no particular order:

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[VIDEO] Donald Trump’s superb final campaign video — and our obligation to share it

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This is Donald Trump’s final campaign for before Tuesday’s election. Watch it first and then think about the unusually high praise that Scott Adams heaps upon it:

Before I get to Adams, though, please take a look at the message I got from YouTube when I got the code so that I could share the video with you:

trump-video-dont-share

Yeah — they wish. Your job is the share this video far and wide.

Back to Adams. Here’s part of what he said. You have to go here for the rest (and you should probably share Adams’ take too, along with the video itself, if you don’t want Hillary to win):

I had been wondering if Trump was planning some sort of special closing argument. He did not disappoint. In my opinion, his final ad is the political ad of the year, if not the best ever.

[snip]

Here’s what makes this ad so special:

1. Trump delivers his lines perfectly, like an experienced actor. We haven’t heard him like this before. You probably didn’t think he had this in him. He stays calm and assured, but not cocky. That is an effective counter-framing to Clinton’s framing of Trump as an unpredictable madman. Here Trump comes off as perfectly reasonable and deeply empathetic.

2. The timing is perfect. This race went so low that even the trolls were starting to gasp for oxygen. Trump made us wait for relief – Hollywood style. He made us crave civility and sanity. And just when we thought it was out of reach, he goes ultra-positive.

But here’s the best part. [If you want the best part, you have to read it on Adams’ own site.]

The Bookworm Beat 10/25/16 — the CLINTON BULLIES edition and open thread

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leftist-bullyScott Adams says don’t let Clinton’s unconscionable bullies win. Scott Adams, who’s called this election season with amazing accuracy, has written what may be his most important post to date. In it, he calls out the bullies that populate the Clinton camp. Unsurprisingly, Adams has lots of stories about bullying from the Left, including car keying, sign stealing, public shaming, and even job loss. But that’s business as usual on the Left. This is what really gets Adams’ goat:

Team Clinton has succeeded in perpetuating one of the greatest evils I have seen in my lifetime. Her side has branded Trump supporters (40%+ of voters) as Nazis, sexists, homophobes, racists, and a few other fighting words. Their argument is built on confirmation bias and persuasion. But facts don’t matter because facts never matter in politics. What matters is that Clinton’s framing of Trump provides moral cover for any bullying behavior online or in person. No one can be a bad person for opposing Hitler, right?

[snip]

Yes, yes, I realize Trump supporters say bad things about Clinton supporters too. I don’t defend the bad apples on either side. I’ll just point out that Trump’s message is about uniting all Americans under one flag. The Clinton message is that some Americans are good people and the other 40% are some form of deplorables, deserving of shame, vandalism, punishing taxation, and violence. She has literally turned Americans on each other. It is hard for me to imagine a worse thing for a presidential candidate to do.

I’ll say that again.

As far as I can tell, the worst thing a presidential candidate can do is turn Americans against each other. Clinton is doing that, intentionally.

Adams’ post is a must read, must share post. If you’ve hitherto been lukewarm about Trump and feel that Hillary is the “safer” candidate, ask yourself if a candidate is really safe when she and her followers are bullies who are perfectly ready to destroy the American fabric if that’s what it takes to gain power (or, rather, to keep the power Obama has aggregated in the government).

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