Even after months of relentless scandal, last week the NFL was dealt what may have been its most consequential blow yet. Lebron James, arguably the world’s greatest athlete, announced that he prohibits his two young sons from playing football. “Only basketball, baseball and soccer are allowed in my house,” James declared.
Despite getting paid obscene amounts of money to espouse political analysis, pundits chronically underestimate the extent to which raw resentment fuels voter behavior. I have occasionally fallen into this trap myself; it did not seem likely to me that the GOP would score easy gubernatorial victories in Wisconsin and Michigan last week, for example. But… Continue reading The Democrats Lost Last Week Because Of Lena Dunham
Just a brief note on an interesting aspect of Cory Gardner’s election Tuesday that I have not seen mentioned anywhere. In the fall of 2013, I spent a fair chunk of time in the rural outreaches of Eastern Colorado — the Eastern Plains, as the area is called — after several counties held a non-binding… Continue reading A Brief Note on Senator-Elect Cory Gardner of Colorado
Yet another international “crisis” has been sparked by none other than Jeffrey Goldberg, a confirmed fraud whose propagandistic browbeating in favor of the Iraq War should’ve decimated any remnant of journalistic credibility he ever had, but instead further bolstered his influence and stature. Because as we all know, the incentive structures of elite journalism are… Continue reading Jeffrey Goldberg Strikes Again Despite Being A Confirmed Fraud
With two attacks on Canadian military personnel last week carried out by mentally-unstable transients in the name of global jihad, as well as a “hatchet attack” on NYPD officers in Queens carried out by another (likely) mentally ill transient, debate has broken out once again on the nature of the nexus between mental health and… Continue reading There’s A Lot Of Muddled Thinking About Terrorism, Motivation, Belief, And Such
As this shameful saga continues to unfold, there’s an aspect of the whole Mike Brown issue that I don’t feel has received enough attention. According to the most recent leaked info put out by an obviously police-sympathetic St. Louis Post-Dispatch crime reporter, Officer Darren Wilson — you know, the person who fatally shot an unarmed… Continue reading An Annoying Aspect Of The Mike Brown Incident That Hasn’t Been Adequately Discussed
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