It’s Monday, July 6th, 2020…but before we begin, it occurred to us this weekend so many events seem to be unfolding so fast it’s easy to be both overwhelmed and disheartened. Every aspect of life in America seems to be under attack by increasingly strident, unreasoned, radical voices screaming for wholesale change.
But no single assault has been as concerted and continuous as that launched against our nation’s Judeo-Christian morals and values, as evidenced by what NRO‘s John Hirschauer describes as…
“Pride Month has a sacramental character to it, if you look hard enough.
…The sacrament relies, in part, on reactionary enemies for its fulfillment. As Adrian Vermeule observes, the “sacramental character” of liberalism requires forces of reaction against which the “children of light” can rebel, and over which they can eventually triumph.After Obergefell neutered some of the country’s reactionary elements, Vermeule notes how quickly transgender issues “filled the gap, defining new forces of reaction and thus enabling new iterations” of the sacrament of liberation.The demand for bigots, as the saying goes, outstrips the supply, and the LGBT acronym expands to usher in new frontiers in the perpetual war against stigma and shame.
In his book The Triumph of the Therapeutic, the late sociologist Philip Rieff posited that “spectacle” would replace the religious sacrament when a culture reached a “breaking point” with its past:
At the breaking point, a culture can no longer maintain itself as an established span of moral demands. Its jurisdiction contracts; it demands less, permits more. Bread and circuses become confused with right and duty. Spectacle becomes a substitute for sacrament.
Every culture, Rieff said, has “controls” and “releases,” or informal mechanisms that balance the rigor of inherited rules with the need for mercy and liberty.Rieff concluded that the spectacular would replace the sacramental when “the releasing or remissive symbolic” — meaning the play in the joints that allows norms to be transgressed and old allegiances to be broken — “grows more compelling than the controlling one.”
Each June, we are treated to the spectacle that attends to the triumph of the “remissive symbolic.”Multinational corporations run advertisements proclaiming that Love Is Love, and the Hegelian promise Love Wins is tattooed on buildings and street signs.Nike — which does much of its business in a country that puts dissidents in concentration camps — reminds patrons to “Be True,” and celebrates those who “use their voices for change.” (They should try it sometime.) Planned Parenthood, an organization that poisons viable fetuses and extracts their shriveled corpses from their mothers’ wombs for profit, demands that society pursue “justice for all” during Pride Month.Companies that pay their employees starvation wages render their logos in rainbowed hues, demonstrating solidarity with the movement.All the while, tens of thousands of scantily clad demonstrators keep the accidents of the sacrament alive, taking to streets to play-act as revolutionaries while corporations mouth gnostic slogans about “being an ally” and “gender identity.”
The sacrament retains immense cultural power.Last week, for example, thousands took part in Chicago’s “Reclaim Pride” march.Scores more took to the streets in Manhattan for the Queer Liberation March. The public-health clerisy that told people not to attend funerals, demanded that businesses remain shut down at great personal cost, and insisted that disabled children forgo in-person therapy have offered nary a word about these demonstrations.
Perhaps they fear blaspheming the national faith.“
Verbal Kint, aka Keyser Söze had it right:
Because if Satan doesn’t exist, it opens up the possibility GOD doesn’t exist. And if there’s no God, than there’s no ultimate arbiter of morals. And if there’s no ultimate moral arbiter, who’s to say what’s right or wrong, what constitutes sin…or if there’s any such thing as sin.
But friends, take heart, and remember: God does exist, and God remains in control. And because God’s in control, we can be certain, as Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Now, to borrow a phrase from the late Walter Winchell, good morning, Mr. and Mrs. America, from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea. Now, here’s The Gouge!
First up, courtesy of Jeff Foutch, Just the News informs us, contrary to what been’s reported by the MSM…
“House Intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff saw reports back in February that Russia was purportedly paying Taliban operatives to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan but took no action, according to a news report released as the California Democrat accuses President Trump is downplaying those same reports out of allegiance to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Federalist reported Thursday that “multiple intelligence sources” told the publication that some members of Schiff’s staff “were briefed in February on intelligence about Russia offering the Taliban bounties in Afghanistan,” but that Schiff “took no action in response to the briefing.”
News of the purported arrangement between Russia and the Taliban leaked last week, leading to sharp criticism from U.S. officials. Democrats have slammed Trump in recent days for referring to the allegations as “possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax.” Schiff this week accused Trump of “taking the Kremlin’s side” on the matter.
The Federalist notes that, as chairman of the Intelligence committee, Schiff “had the authority to immediately brief the full committee and convene hearings on the matter” when he allegedly learned of them in February, yet he apparently did nothing…”
As Mr. Foutch noted, any question who leaked the Trump narrative to The Times?!?
Since we’re on the subject of dissimulating weasels, writing at NRO, John McCormack details why the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court quite literally has blood on his hands, as…
“…In his Hellerstedt dissent, Justice Samuel Alito took care to explain why Texas had enacted the law in the first place: to protect women from the likes of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell.
In 2013, Gosnell was convicted for the murders of three infants born alive as well as the manslaughter of Karnamaya Mongar, a woman seeking an abortion. “Gosnell had not been actively supervised by state or local authorities or by his peers, and the Philadelphia grand jury that investigated the case recommended that the Commonwealth adopt a law requiring abortion clinics to comply with the same regulations as [ambulatory surgical centers]. If Pennsylvania had had such a requirement in force, the Gosnell facility may have been shut down before his crimes,” Alito wrote.
Indeed, the Gosnell grand jury found that the “abhorrent conditions and practices inside Gosnell’s clinic [were] directly attributable to the Pennsylvania Health Department’s refusal to treat abortion clinics as ambulatory surgical facilities.”
According to the report, the Gosnell clinic’s narrow hallways hampered efforts to help women injured there: “Ambulances were summoned to pick up the waiting patients, but (just as on the night Mrs. Mongar died three months earlier), no one, not even Gosnell, knew where the keys were to open the emergency exit. Emergency personnel had to use bolt cutters to remove the lock. They discovered they could not maneuver stretchers through the building’s narrow hallways to reach the patients (just as emergency personnel had been obstructed from reaching Mrs. Mongar).”
Justice Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts joined Alito’s Hellerstedt dissent in 2016. But on Monday, Roberts handed a victory to would-be Kermit Gosnells in voting to strike down a 2014 Louisiana law almost identical to the Texas law at stake in Hellerstedt…”
Roberts need never be in a hurry, as Jeffery Epstein’s saving him a seat.
Next, a word on the resurgent effort to force a Redskins name change: absurd. It’s as absurd as the thought expressed by the graffiti some ignoramus scrawled across the rock beneath Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid…
…which we frankly feel was not an actual protest, but rather commentary highlighting the level of insanity to which the cancel culture has reached.
Take this to the bank: The name “Redskin” ISN’T offensive to anyone NOT looking TO BEoffended. Native Americans have been repeatedly polled on this issue, and the vast majority of modern-day Redskins aren’t offended. And if the average American Indian doesn’t deem the moniker offensive, why would or should it offend the likes of D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser and perpetual parasite Eleanor Holmes Norton, let alone adversely impact their lives?
More importantly, how would modifying the name of a professional football team positively impact or in any way change the lives of the District’s citizens…or anyone anywhere else in the country?!?
Keep in mind, other than the memory of our dear, departed father…
…we’ve got no “Skin” in this particular game, as we gave up watching the NFL immediately after it became apparent only certain kneeling…
…was discouraged.
But when anyone can show even an infinitesimal decline in gun violence in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area after the Bullets became the Wizards, any positive change it provided citizens of any color, any decrease in Black-on-Black violence, a decrease in poverty or an increase in school performance we’ll be happy to concede the point.
In a related item, the Hodge Twins not only weigh in on inanity inherent in proposals the NFL substitute the “Black National Anthem” for The Star Spangled Banner prior to kick-off at games with an increasingly decreasing audience, but provide the perfect segue into our next subject:
In other words, what Chris Rock suggested some two decades ago:
Two cases to the Hodge twins point: Exhibit “A”, one Elijah McClain, who was the subject of a 911 call reporting a suspicious person the night of August 24, 2019…
…while walking in Aurora, CO wearing a ski mask and “flailing” his arms. The caller stated he didn’t believe McClain was armed, nor did he believe McClain was an immediate danger to himself or anyone else. While all three officers who responded to the call had their body cams knocked off during their encounter with McClain, the sound portion was unaffected, so let’s go to the audio…
…followed by the thoughts of an email acquaintance and friend of a good friend with significant law enforcement experience:
“Your point [referencing a comment by another friend] has always been my resolution to all of this: Kids need to be taughtdo not resist arrest. You’ll have your day in court to plead your case, and most likely everything will be on video.At least you get to live to see it. 19 years in law enforcement, and neither I nor anyone around me ever got physical with someone who didn’t resist. We are all trained to work off a “force continuum” that is clearly laid out in scale. What people [lacking such training] don’t understand is that it doesn’t work tit-for-tat.We have to be one step higher than the person resisting or control can’t be maintained. All of our training is in ways to get control without serious physical harm, but if someone pushes us to the limit, deadly force is on the list, but never first.“
Now, Exhibit “B”, as FOX News reports (with our comments added as we felt appropriate) how a…
“A black man was shot a [and] killed by a Wisconsin police officer Thursday after authorities say he chased a woman with a pair of knives and then advanced on the officer. Family members of Kevan Ruffin, 32, said he had psychiatric issues but believe his race played a role in the shooting.
Only if the knives he was carrying were Black!
Sheboygan, Wis., Police Chief Christopher Domagalski said police officers responded to a call that a man was chasing a women with “sai-style” kitchen knives at around 5:50 a.m. According to a local news report, the responding officer tried to talk to him and fired his Taser before Ruffin allegedly charged him with the knives, “forcing the officer to use a firearm.”
…Court records show that Ruffin was arrested several times between 2008 and 2019, but was often found not guilty due to his mental health issues. “But because he was black, he was considered as a threat from the beginning,” Sheriyah Appleton, a cousin, said.
No, he was considered a threat because he was chasing a woman with two knives, then, despite being warned and tased, continued to advance upon a law enforcement officer brandishing lethal weapons.
“This stuff has been going on all around the world, this is why everyone is protesting, this is why we are upset.The color of our skin should not determine whether we are taken into custody or taken to the morgue.”
Once again, Sheriyah’s fanciful claims to the contrary notwithstanding, it wasn’t the color of her cousin’s skin, but his ACTIONS which put him in the morgue.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Wisconsin called for an open and transparent investigation. “We need to know why Sheboygan police killed Mr. Ruffin instead of handling this in a nonviolent way,” Chris Ott, the ALCU Wisconsin Executive Director said Thursday.“
Again, we’re gonna go out on a limb and predict MR. RUFFIN’S BEHAVIOR and the two knives he was carrying determined why he was killed.
“…Shem Clayborn Jr. said Ruffin was his cousin, and that Sheboygan police knew he had a mental disability. Clayborn heard from other family members that Ruffin was “going down a bad path” in recent days, and that something needed to be done with his medication.
“What’s up with the system where they haven’t realized he’s going through all this?” Clayborn said, describing his cousin as a nonviolent person who was intelligent and funny but had a “very debilitating” disability.
Other family described Ruffin as a “teddy bear,” a former cheerleader at South High who liked to teach himself languages, loved music and was an expert at helping polish a resume…”
Shem Clayborn Jr. is obviously under the impression when a 911 call comes in reporting a man with two knives chasing after a woman at 0530 police are instantly aware of his identity and mental/medical history. Not to mention it’s too bad Shem or any other members of his subsequently caring family bothered to steer Kevan off the bad path they knew him to be following.
And though Ruffin was undoubtedly deranged, given the audio we heard from body cam(s) in the McClain case, it seemed, at least to us, as if he too was at least one card short of a full deck.
Here’s the juice: While neither Messrs. McClain or Ruffin deserved to die, the fact remains both would be alive today had they listened to the lawful commands of law enforcement. The sooner everyone of every color learns this, the better.
In a related item detailing how far the pendulum has already swung, FOX News reports on an incident not unlike the St. Louis couple defending their home against The Mob, as a…
* Why not just rewrite the headline to read, “Racist white couple looking for trouble arrested after threatening to shoot completely innocent black family totally minding their own business”?!?
“A white couple was arrested after at least one handgun was pulled on a black woman and her daughters during a videotaped confrontation in a restaurant parking lot in Michigan, authorities said Thursday. Jillian Wuestenberg, 32, and Eric Wuestenberg, 42, were charged with felonious assault over the Wednesday incident, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said.
Takelia Hill, who is black, told the Detroit Free Press that her daughter asked Wuestenberg to apologize after she bumped into her outside of a Chipotle in Orion Township, about 40 miles outside of Detroit, but Wuestenberg instead started to yell at her.
The video shows Wuestenberg get in her car after the tense back-and-forth that included accusations of racism…“You can not just go around calling white people racist,” Jillian Wuestenberg says from the passenger seat. “White people aren’t racist…I care about you.”
As their car pulls out, Hill taps(taps?!?) the back window. She later told the Detroit News she thought the driver was going to hit them…”
We report, you decide, but from what we saw, the video shows a lot more than a “tense back-and-forth that included accusations or racism”…a lot more…almost NONE of which backs up the Hills’ telling of the tale.
We never hear Jillian Wuestenberg raising her voice at anyone until her vehicle has been repeatedly pounded (pounded, NOT u!) by Takelia Hill. We hear Hill hurling derogatory expletives at Mrs. Wuestenberg before threatening Mr. Wuestenberg with physical assault. We then hear several loud thumps, not taps, as the Wuestenbergs back out of their parking space, followed by Jillian Wuestenberg finally exiting the vehicle and giving the Hills a dose of their own medicine.
We’ll wait for the facts, but, despite the reporting which in no way mirrors the facts conveyed in the video, this sounds like three individuals with chips on their shoulders…
“Dumb-ass b*tch. Yeah, I said it and you [face around] I’ll beat your White ass too!“
…under the impression their skin color entitles them to do or say whatever they please picking on the wrong party. And as these Twitter comments, confirm, we’re not alone in our assessment…
Yet the Wuestenberg’s were the ones charged. Good luck trying that case in front any jury, regardless of color composition.
Speaking of confrontations, in light of what ranks near the top of the MSM’s most deranged Trump-related reporting, Townhall.com‘s Matt Vespa wonders…
“With citizens and media figures questioning Joe Biden’s mental fitness to become president, Biden took to the internet yesterday to shut down the naysayers once and for all. On a live video from his basement, Biden held up a Fisher-Price See ‘n Say and flawlessly recited all the sounds animals can make.
“My memory cognitives are per-perfect, they’re perfect,” Biden insisted. “If my brain is no anymore not work, could I do this?” Biden then began to go through all the common farm animals and the sounds they make, starting with “cow,” which says “moo.” He got into a little trouble with the chicken, which he thought said “quack,” but after some help from his live-in nurse, he got back on track. After reciting all the animal sounds almost perfectly, Biden smiled smugly, dropped the mic, and cut the feed.
After the video, CNN praised Biden’s performance and reported an immediate 382% increase in Biden’s poll numbers…”
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