Jonathan Chait, one of America’s foremost trolls, and hence one of America’s most influential political analysts, has written a widely-recommended apologia about football. Chait played as a young man, you see, and can speak from personal experience about football’s virtues. According to Chait, football provides boys with a means by which to channel their masculine… Continue reading Another Brief Note On The Idioicy Of Pro-Football Arguments
Because I keep hearing the same objections to my “Football is Irredeemably Depraved” thesis, I figured I would write a FAQ. This seems doubly timely given the recent revelations of a sexual torture regime at the “storied” Sayreville, NJ high school football program, which many are predictably explaining away by invoking the failed “a few… Continue reading Why Football At All Levels Must Be Immediately Abolished: A FAQ
Freddie deBoer has gone on a long, digressive diatribe about the evils of US foreign policy toward Muslim nations, with the presumed intention of arguing that these evils have been under-acknowledged by the tandem of Bill Maher and Sam Harris, in service of glorifying themselves. A few points. The resistance to acknowledging differences between Bill… Continue reading Breaking: Vapid Left-Liberal Posturing About Islam Still Vapid
Joan Rivers made the world a stupider, shallower, more annoying place—so of course she has been celebrated widely since her death last week. But let’s get real for a minute. Joan Rivers wasn’t funny, she wasn’t a good person, and she wasn’t someone who ought to be revered or held up as an example. If… Continue reading Joan Rivers Was A Horrible Person And You Should Feel Bad For Liking Her
The Chris Christie 22 point re-election romp two weeks ago occasioned an avalanche of chatter, but one curiously buried detail comes from the City of Camden. Perennially ranked as the most crime-ridden, poverty-stricken municipality in the U.S., Christie received more than double the votes there as he had four years earlier. On its face this seems jarring.… Continue reading Christie and Camden — A Success Story
Since news broke last week that Ray Kelly, the New York City police commissioner (or “Top Cop” as media sometimes affectionately put it) was prevented by protesters from delivering an address on “proactive policing” at Brown University, a debate has raged on what I’ll tentatively call the “Left Twittersphere” about the propriety of the protesters’… Continue reading Ray Kelly, State Power, and the Principle of Unfettered Free Speech
There are many self-described “libertarians” for whom opposing social welfare spending is a top priority. Recently I spoke with Peter Schiff, the popular radio host and failed Republican senate candidate from Connecticut. Schiff told me he would vote for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama if forced to choose, owing to Obama’s imposition of marginally-higher tax… Continue reading Libertarian Priorities on Obama versus Romney
Since Hugo Chavez of Venezuela was announced the victor Sunday night in his closely-watched bid for reelection, conservatives and libertarians across America have, predictably, sneered. They disdain Chavez for a range of reasons — his inclination toward state control of the economy, his blusterous style, and so forth. Certainly, Chavez should not be immune to criticism. He has suppressed dissent within his borders, interfered with press freedoms,… Continue reading The American Right-Wing’s Hypocritical Attacks on Hugo Chavez
MT: I think the major reason I was more appalled by the Democratic Convention was because at least with the Republicans, you know what you’re getting. RN: Oh yeah — everything was scripted, censored. It was like the Commissars were in charge. All the speakers had to be — to use the terrible term —… Continue reading Ralph Nader on Middle East Turmoil, Ron/Rand Paul, Netanyahu, DNC Militarism, and More
There are two general species of conservative who, astonishingly, defended Mitt Romney yesterday — notwithstanding the candidate’s manifestly depraved comments with respect to the attacks on U.S. Diplomatic Posts in Libya and Egypt. The first species: Movement Conservatives, long ideologically-committed to the election of Mitt Romney, and totally untethered to principle. Doubtless Romney himself has made friendly… Continue reading In Time of Crisis, Movement Conservatism Exposes Itself