Bookworm Beat 10/31/2018 — the scary Halloween edition and open thread

This Bookworm Beat shows that, on Halloween, there’s nothing scarier than Leftist politics and the consequent racist, anti-American shenanigans.

Bookworm BeatFor Halloween we now have two racially approved costumes. If you’re still struggling to think of a costume for yourself or your child, I am happy to report that the Black Panther creators and the gal who voices Moana have both stated explicitly that all races are allowed to use their costumes. Whew! The only thing sad about these two linked stories is that we live in a world in which people of various races need permission to dress up as wildly popular fictional characters whom they admire.

As the election nears, the Left escalates its Hitler comparisons. I was listen to today’s Dan Bongino show, and he dedicates the first few minutes to discussing the escalating Trump = Hitler rhetoric from the Left and from the NeverTrumpers who, like true converts and zealots, outdo their new political travelers when it comes to heated rhetoric. Bongino played audio of the various talking heads fighting to come up with the most extreme Trump = Hitler (or ISIS) analogy (I’ve queued the audio to the point at which the Trump = Hitler tape begins):

TV media is not alone. This is a recent headline from the WaPo:

An alternative headline for that same opinion piece could have been “Hitler was an honest leader.”

Even that hardcore socialist (and pedophile supporter) Pope Francis gets into the Hitler comparison act, comparing “populists” who oppose mass Muslim migration to Hitler. His use of the word “populist” interests me, because it’s a reminder that, to the elites, it’s inconceivable that the masses might have a good idea. If the masses want it, it must automatically be bad. Frankly, I don’t see anything bad about Europeans resisting an influx of people who subscribe to an ideology that is the antithesis of everything the West has struggled to achieve over the centuries in terms of civil rights, individual liberty, respect for different races and faiths, etc. The Pope is insulated from this influx behind is walls, but the Europeans being murdered, raped, stabbed, blown up, and evicted by the new immigrants have skin in this game.

For some good push back against this type of rhetorical  madness, I recommend Sarah Hoyt’s Don’t Let The Media and Democrats Get Away With It. I especially liked her conclusion, although I do recommend reading the whole thing:

Whenever the left is meeting with opposition they retreat into this condemnation of our lack of civility.

They are right, you know? If we shut up and let them beat us, attack us and call for guillotines to kill us, without protest, it’s all very civil. Or at least, there isn’t a fight.

Are you going to do that? Are you going into cowering and apologizing mode because the left is hanging a multiply-convicted felon with an incoherent hodgepodge of beliefs around your necks? Are you going to let them get away with it AGAIN?

Or are you going to answer this the only way you can? With humor? “Oh, please, if he were a real Republican he’d know how to build bombs that go boom. We’re competent.” Or “Yeah? Hey, he hates Monsanto. Weren’t you yelling about Monsanto last week?” Or “Did I hear you beating your chest and apologizing for the shooting of Scalize? The beating of Rand Paul? No? Then take my answer as the same.” Or “You know if you guys didn’t keep felons out of jail this stuff wouldn’t happen.” Or my favorite “Not my circus, not my monkeys. We know you’re a hive mind, but we’re individuals. None of us know this nut.”

Keep calm and “no sale”the left’s bullshit.

And vote. Vote like your life depends on it. With the calls for guillotines and Antifa on the loose it very well might.

The EU continues its bow to sharia law. Speaking of the effect of the elite-approved Muslim invasion of Europe, you probably already read that an EU court in Austria held that the EU’s promise of free expression does not extend to insulting Mohammed:

The European Court of Human Rights says an Austrian woman’s conviction for calling the prophet of Islam a pedophile didn’t breach her freedom of speech.

The Strasbourg-based ECHR ruled Thursday that Austrian courts had “carefully balanced her right to freedom of expression with the right of others to have their religious feelings protected.”

You know what else prohibits insulting Mohammed? Sharia law, that’s what.

I’m not really that shocked, although I am saddened. Europe has never had the tradition of free speech that we used to take for granted in America. Ordinary Europeans always risked running afoul of the law when they insulted their overlords. This ruling is the same sensibility, just for a different set of overlords. Also, see my point above about the elites’ hostility to the wisdom of the masses.

On immigration . . . it’s about power. I don’t feel like talking at length about the invasion heading our way through Mexico. Trump is sending troops and we’ll see what happens. However, I do think that Tucker Carlson explains what’s really going on:

Speaking of immigration, now that Trump has decided to challenge birthright citizenship for babies born to people who are not legal residents in the U.S., it’s fun to watch Harry Reid, back in 1993, hewing to the old Democrat line, when Democrats used to support America’s working and middle class:

Incidentally, don’t be confused by the claim that the 14th Amendment and the Supreme Court, combined, mandate birthright citizenship. They don’t. Here’s the relevant language from the 14th Amendment:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

The Supreme Court has never determined whether “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means geographic jurisdiction or political jurisdiction. On its face, though, that clause must be understood to mean political jurisdiction. Otherwise the clause is redundant. That is, reading the second clause to refer only to geography means that the 14th Amendment opens by saying that “all persons born . . . in the United States, [and born in the United States] are citizens….” I happen to know that one of the paramount principles of statutory or constitutional construction is that the law eschews redundancy.

The 1898 Supreme Court case, U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, does not change this interpretation because it referred to the children of parents who were “resident aliens” (i.e., legal residents). In other words, those parents are had legally subjected themselves to the political and legal jurisdiction of the United States. To date, the Supreme Court has never opined about illegal aliens who break into our country and have babies here, only to claim all sorts of rights, mostly economic, flowing from those babies.

Ann Coulter has a way with words. I’ve been one of those who believes that the media’s Khashoggi outrage is false. Media figures and political Lefties generally ignore the fact that totalitarian regimes across the Middle East and Africa routinely slaughter people with whom they disagree or whom they fear. Khashoggi is different for the media because his case is being trumpeted by Turkey, which has positioned itself as an Iranian vassal. Turkey and Iran, through their hostility to America — and Trump’s hostility to them — are not friends of the Dems and the media (but I repeat myself).

This isn’t to give Saudi Arabia for its brutality. It’s just to remind everyone that the Leftist political complex only cares about politics. Given this cynicism, I found cynically amusing Ann Coulter’s take on the matter:

Meanwhile, heading back to the expanding schisms within the Islamic world, the following is a pretty darn fascinating bit of video out of Abu Dhabi:

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The one thing one can say for the Obama presidency is that it shook up the Middle East and resulted in new alliances that are good for Israel insofar as she wishes to avoid being blown up entirely.

What happens when environmentalism starts to lose its hold. One of my favorite Penn and Teller videos, which is about ten or more years old, has the duo examine how many different recycling bins the average well-intentioned American will use in service to environmentalism. Here, you can see for yourself just what people were ostensibly willing to do (language warning):

To no one’s surprise (or at least to no conservative’s surprise), it’s easier to think in the abstract about zero waste/sorted recycling than it is to practice it in reality. That’s why true blue Marin’s zero waste program is flagging — indeed, more than flagging, it’s moving backwards:

It’s been 12 years since Marin County governments set a goal to become zero waste by 2025, but recent data shows the county is throwing more waste away and diverting less from landfills the closer it gets to the deadline.

Waste diversion from landfills dipped from 75 percent in 2011 to 69 percent in 2017, with the percentage steadily decreasing between the years. For comparison, in 2006 — the year the zero-waste goal was adopted — the county’s waste diversion rate was 72 percent, though the state’s waste diversion calculation method changed in 2007.

The county also did not meet its goal of 80 percent waste diversion by 2012.

And it’s not just in Marin:

Statewide, waste disposal has also increased since 2012. Waste diversion — which essentially means keeping waste from being placed into landfill or being incinerated — has also declined statewide in recent years, according to statewide data. Despite its own declines, Marin County has led the state in keeping waste out of landfills, with its diversion rates higher than the state average.

Meanwhile, recent state laws are calling for even greater efforts to keep waste from the landfill. These changes, local waste management officials say, will require not only more infrastructure, oversight and investment, but also significant changes in the habits of residents and businesses.

Apparently people don’t want to be slaves to their garbage.

Hillary’s failed racist joke. Okay, you’ve already all heard about Hillary’s little joke:

Take it from me, a former Democrat — what she said was a joke. It was a “Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, this is how Deplorables think” joke. That’s why the audience laughed.

But the real joke, of course, is on the Leftists. Because that’s not how ordinary Americans think. Unlike Leftists, who constantly slice and dice people into categories (he’s a black, gay man; she’s a transgender Jewish Hispanic; they’re physically handicapped white LGBTQ people), ordinary Americans see individuals.

That’s why ordinary Americans (Hillary’s Deplorables) know, without any confusion, that Corey Booker is an unhinged Senator from New Jersey who lies a lot, violates Senate rules, and thinks he’s Spartacus; and that Eric Holder is a former U.S. Attorney who was hard-Left activist in his younger days and who used the Department of Justice to push an unconstitutional racist and gender identity agenda. The two men’s ideology draws from the same well, but they’re not the same person.

Ignore the Leftist media; this is America. The media wants desperately for all Americans to think that we are a country deeply divided along racial lines. That may be true in Progressive circles, but outside of those circles, it’s not. To emphasize that point, I’ll periodically be posting videos and articles showing the love and respect binding together all Americans, regardless of race, color, creed, sex, gender identity, country of national origin, etc. I am a Nationalist for this America.

And then there’s this:

And finally, enjoy this amazing story out of Nebraska about a woman whose far-away veteran brother was ill, who thought she was calling his social worker, and who ended up calling Jimmy John’s restaurant instead. You have to read the whole story, you really do.

Trump is the right kind of nationalist. Just remember, there’s nothing wrong with being a “nationalist” (i.e., someone who loves his or her country and wants the best for all citizens and legal residents):

That’s the kind of nationalist Trump is. To the extent media Leftists keep claiming to hear racist dog whistles that no one else hears, they’re only proving that they’re the racist dogs. This is Trump:

Speaking at the East Room, Trump told about 350 young supporters he expects “three or four” in the room will one day become president. “You are going to be standing right here. I have no doubt,” Trump said.

No wonder civil rights leaders loved Trump right up until he announced he was running as a Republican.

Funnily enough, Trump’s belief in minority abilities and accomplishments far exceeds the expectations Senator Joe Donnelly (Dem — Ind.) has when it comes to minorities. As far as he’s concerned, it’s noteworthy if they can tie their shoes in the morning (emphasis mine):

Our state director is Indian-American, but he does an amazing job,” he commented. “Our director of all constituent services, she’s African-American, but she does an even more incredible job than you could ever imagine.

On the subject of dog whistles and the Left’s escalating, and Orwellian, attempts to control language and forbid thought, I’ll end the post with this wonderful thread from Yoram Hazony: