Althouse: "The reality is that Barr is... marketing apocalyptic hogwash because, for his boss to get re-elected, Trump’s supporters must continue to believe..."

November 27, 2019

"The reality is that Barr is... marketing apocalyptic hogwash because, for his boss to get re-elected, Trump’s supporters must continue to believe..."

"... that liberals and the Democratic Party are the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life. Relentless pressure to maintain the urgency of that threat is crucial to Trump’s political survival. It is embedded in the president’s rhetoric, core to his manic ambition and essential to his re-election strategy. The unanswered question is whether it is necessary not only to bolster Trump’s at once inflated and fragile ego, but also for the continued competitive strength of the Republican Party. Based on the evidence before us now, it certainly seems that it is."

Those are the last few lines of "Liberals Do Not Want to Destroy the Family/Or society, for that matter. How did this preposterous idea leap to the forefront of conservative thinking?" by Thomas Edsall (NYT). He's reacting to the recent speech in which Barr railed against "licentiousness — the unbridled pursuit of personal appetites at the expense of the common good."

I'm too jaded to take any of that seriously. Don't liberals also rail against "the unbridled pursuit of personal appetites at the expense of the common good"? And don't Democrats, to get elected, seem to think people must believe that the GOP is the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life?

130 comments:

MadTownGuy said...: Projection = business as usual.; 11/27/19, 1:08 PM
Seeing Red said...: I'm too jaded to take any of that seriously. Don't liberals also rail against "the unbridled pursuit of personal appetites at the expense of the common good"?

In Berlin’s ideal world, we would abandon work and fulfill the horny needs of society. And to him, his image exemplifies what he believes to be our society’s sexual appetite. “My wish didn’t come true that I would inspire people to the point where I see hundreds of Peter Berlins running around on the street. I don’t see one,” he says. In Berlin’s sexual utopia, we wouldn’t be “desensitized” and “robotic” but rather libidinous animals in tight white pants. When he looks at People’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” he finds “nothing hot about it,” he exclaims.; 11/27/19, 1:10 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Seeing Red

Yeah, that's what I thought about too.; 11/27/19, 1:11 PM
Original Mike said...: "Don't liberals also rail against "the unbridled pursuit of personal appetites at the expense of the common good"?"

Not if "unbridled pursuit of personal appetites" entails stuffing your pie hole, apparently.; 11/27/19, 1:13 PM
robother said...: "And don't Democrats, to get elected, seem to think people must believe that the GOP is the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life?"

But that's one Edsall happens to agree with!; 11/27/19, 1:14 PM
Seeing Red said...: Liberals Do Not Want to Destroy the Family

We are 50 years after “The Great Society” passed.

The Black family has been destroyed for progress and now those policies designed to “help” are filtering out to the other classes.; 11/27/19, 1:16 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: I always thought the left thinks of the right as evil, after all we are the racist, sexist, honophobic, bigoted bunch. And I thought the right typically think of the left as stupid and unwise.; 11/27/19, 1:17 PM
Bilwick said...: "Liberals" (by which I mean of course "tax-happy, coercion-addicted, power-tripping government humpers and State fellators"): individual liberty is over-rated; the Constitution is archaic and unreadable, so let's ignore it or get rid of it; the market is chaotic, so let's bring it under the control of the bureaucracy.

Me: So you want to jettison what's left of the American heritage and put a socialist society in its place?

"Liberals": Hey, why are you slandering us?!; 11/27/19, 1:17 PM
Matt Sablan said...: It is not Republicans who write every year about how they're going to give up on their family and friends who believe differently than them.; 11/27/19, 1:18 PM
Michael K said...: The "Culture Wars" of the past 30 years pretty much prove that the left is doing this.; 11/27/19, 1:19 PM
langford peel said...: Liberal do want to destroy the family and traditional values.

That’s what gay marriage is all about.

Next the want to force a dude with a dick into the girls locker room.

Soon will be a drive to legalize pedophilia.

It is all part of the plan for people like you professor.; 11/27/19, 1:20 PM
YoungHegelian said...: that liberals and the Democratic Party are the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life.

Well, I don't know about evil, but I do know that a sizable fraction of the modern Left seeks to empty the public square of ANYONE who actually believes in Christianity or Orthodox Judaism.

C'mon, Edsall, which side turned the Cathedrals of Notre Dame & Chartres into "Temples to Reason"? Which side said in the halls of Congress "the dogma lives loudly within you" & called out another judicial candidate for belonging to that notorious "Hate Group", the Knights of Columbus? The Knights of Columbus, for fuck's sake! Is there a more anodyne group of codgers on the fucking planet than the Knights of Columbus?

I'm sorry, but this is one of my major beefs with the moderate Left --- they have never faced up to the depths of evil that the Far Left has perpetrated, often with the moderate Left's tacit demurral (e.g. how many moderates ever discuss the death toll of the 20th C. Communist regimes? How many even believe it?). The moderates still fail as we speak to face up to Antifa & other Leftist extremists active in the Democratic Party today.; 11/27/19, 1:20 PM
stever said...: What they accuse you of doing is what they are doing; 11/27/19, 1:21 PM
langford peel said...: Liberal do want to destroy the family and traditional values.

That’s what gay marriage is all about.

Next the want to force a dude with a dick into the girls locker room.

Soon will be a drive to legalize pedophilia.

It is all part of the plan for people like you professor.; 11/27/19, 1:22 PM
chickelit said...: Two current planks of the Democratic platform include open borders and free healthcare for anyone who gets here. They aren’t saying otherwise so why not call those attempts to destroy our way of life?; 11/27/19, 1:23 PM
sinz52 said...: Too many Republicans, like too many Democrats, are making a fatal error in politics:

NEVER START TO BELIEVE YOUR OWN PROPAGANDA.

It's one thing to spread scare stories about how your political opponents will destroy the country and/or the entire world if they get elected. Hyperbole has been part of American politics since the beginning of the Republic. (Learn what some 19th-century political campaigns were like.)

But you yourself must keep your head and always remember how much is true and how much is just scaremongering to energize your base and get them turning out and contributing to political campaigns.

Too many Americans--from both political parties--can no longer tell the difference between hyperbole and reality. They've started to take politics much too seriously.; 11/27/19, 1:24 PM
tim maguire said...: Democrats don't want to destroy the family or society, they just support programs that will lead to the destruction of families and society if left unchecked. That's why I like the 2-party system--I don't want either side to be given free reign to pursue their dreams.; 11/27/19, 1:25 PM
hstad said...: Yeah another fanciful article by a NY Times (Slimes) writer whose expertise is what [an opinion]? Gees, the Democrats started the "War on Poverty" when that crook President Johnson,in the 1960s, signed "Welfare" legislation. Let's see, after spending Trillions of Dollars on "Poverty", we fast forward today. Find me one Democrat who believes there is no poverty today - LOL.; 11/27/19, 1:29 PM
rhhardin said...: The dems never deconstruct their own party, as to what their slogans conceal rather than reveal. COnceal from themselves. That's what deconstruction is about.; 11/27/19, 1:32 PM
Leland said...: Still catching up with the last week of "The Impeachment Show". It does seem that DC has decided we need a Fall ratings program. Last year, it was "The Kavanaugh Hearings". Next year, it will be "Election 2020".

Alas, I was in the UK last week, which is having its national elections next month. There, Jeremy Corbyn announced Labour's "Election Manifesto" (their words), and then held up his little red book (seriously), and outlined how when Labour would nationalize various UK industries once they obtain power. This BBC special coverage was shown a few days after I visited Churchill's War Room. It was a contrast.

Now Labour doesn't have a prayer of winning, despite BBC's glowing coverage. Still, it is sad that there is little talk in the news of what Communism was like for much of Europe in the last century. "Embodiment of Evil" is a near apt description for those surrounded by the Iron Curtain.; 11/27/19, 1:33 PM
Michael K said...: Hyperbole has been part of American politics since the beginning of the Republic. (Learn what some 19th-century political campaigns were like.)<

Yeah, like 1860. Have you noticed the violent demonstrations on college campuses and in the streets of left wing cities ?; 11/27/19, 1:34 PM
Xmas said...: There's this belief that several different investigations will come out with shocking findings as to what happened in the FBI, CIA and White House during the Obama years. It's a conspiracy theory based on the idea that people reacted to Trump's run for the presidency with panicky criminality.

As we know, sane people would not overreact to a reality star using his popularity to squeak out a win against a Democratic candidate that was well-liked and much more qualified to hold the highest office in the land.

Article's like this are just trying to get people to realize that things they've literally read in government documents released through FOIA requests do not match the established fact that nothing bad happened during the Obama years and anyone who says otherwise has fallen victim to Russian propaganda.; 11/27/19, 1:37 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: The people who are complaining that US Attorney General William Barr is corrupt and must be removed are the same people who were complaining that Ukraine's General-Prosecutor Viktor Shokin was corrupt and had to be removed.; 11/27/19, 1:38 PM
hombre said...: The Vault Dweller said...
“I always thought the left thinks of the right as evil, after all we are the racist, sexist, honophobic, bigoted bunch. And I thought the right typically think of the left as stupid and unwise.”

Nah. The “evil” bit is just the usually lefty projection. The adjectives are the made up justifications. They think of us only as “the political enemy to be overcome.” Amoral people are not moved by moral considerations.

OTOH, it would be stupid and dangerous for us not to appreciate the evil nature of leftist leadership and the stupidity of their minions.

As for “destruction of the American way of life”: Take open borders, for example. Is it possible to rationalize the damage from illegal immigration to our education, criminal justice and health care systems as contributing to anything other than destruction of our way of life? Destruction of families is pretty much a done deal thanks to LBJ and the feminazis.; 11/27/19, 1:39 PM
walter said...: Existential/"expodential" threat!
Dude gotta go!; 11/27/19, 1:41 PM
Leland said...: "Liberals Do Not Want to Destroy the Family"

Sablan: "It is not Republicans who write every year about how they're going to give up on their family and friends who believe differently than them."

Indeed...

2014: "How to talk to your TEA Party uncle about Obamacare this Thanksgiving" - Thinkprogress

2019: "How to talk about impeachment at Thanksgiving" - The Hill's Changing America (interesting column title...)

Me: Why talk about divisive topics with your family, when the day is about giving thanks?; 11/27/19, 1:42 PM
Sebastian said...: "Don't liberals also rail against "the unbridled pursuit of personal appetites at the expense of the common good"?"

Well, yes, they do, though the appetites they rail against, like the desire for profit, typically promote the common good, and the pursuits involved are hardly unbridled.

But they do want to pursue certain other appetites unbridledly, as Peter Berlin helpfully explained. Sex, drugs, petty crime, other people's money -- that sort of thing. At least some of those clearly harm the "common good."; 11/27/19, 1:45 PM
Seeing Red said...: Alas, I was in the UK last week, which is having its national elections next month. There, Jeremy Corbyn announced Labour's "Election Manifesto" (their words), and then held up his little red book (seriously), and outlined how when Labour would nationalize various UK industries once they obtain power. This BBC special coverage was shown a few days after I visited Churchill's War Room. It was a contrast.

How 1970s.

It’ll work this time!

Why did Michael Caine and so many other actors leave England then?; 11/27/19, 1:53 PM
dreams said...: I don't think Barr was being hyperbolic.

Is this hyperbolic? "Goodwin: Remembering when the New York Times had higher standards"

“"How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asks. “Two ways,” Mike responds. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

As we know, the pattern of “gradually then suddenly” is not limited to bankruptcy. It can be applied to everything from expanding waistlines to the breakup of nations. Similarly, it is clear that many current problems in America reflect decades of eroding educational and moral standards.

Consider changing views toward Christopher Columbus and George Washington.

Once universally celebrated as heroes, they are now reviled in some quarters. The move to take down statues or, in Washington’s case, paint over a 1936 mural, strike me as evidence that many schools failed to teach history and instill a sense of patriotism in their students. We are reaping a bitter harvest decades in the making."

https://nypost.com/2019/11/26/goodwin-remembering-when-the-new-york-times-had-higher-standards/?fbclid=IwAR2FYQR5aSYDYIQtrLC7tUdoTYBNvlqtRTjst1_8M0fJa1sW5sKKG1EnD80; 11/27/19, 1:58 PM
Michael said...: "Liberals" covers a lot of ground. Replace it in Edsell's headline with "Progressives" and it's much harder to refute.; 11/27/19, 1:58 PM
Drago said...: sinz52: "Too many Republicans, like too many Democrats, are making a fatal error in politics:

NEVER START TO BELIEVE YOUR OWN PROPAGANDA."

LOLOLOL

The classic lefty "tell"!!

Whenever a lefty pops up and claims something is impacting both parties what they really mean is now that the dems have been exposed cant we all just agree to share the blame?

Sorry sinz. Your weak tea BS isnt fooling anyone. You and your crazies have been hellbent on transforming the US into a socialist paradise, weaponizing govt to frame and abuse domestic political opponents and using lawfare to win in the courts with judge-shopped jurists what you couldnt at the polls.

You are the antifa thugs. You seek to shut down opponents speech and rights, disarm the nation, etc.

You aren't fooling anyone.; 11/27/19, 1:59 PM
tim in vermont said...: What does “fundamentally transform America” mean if it doesn’t mean change our way of life? As Rush used to say: “Words mean things!"; 11/27/19, 2:05 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Liberals?
No.
Progressive totalitarians and deep state government whores like Adam Schitt and Brennan cannot abide Trump. So they trample our constitution.; 11/27/19, 2:06 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Chickelit @ 1:23.

For the win.; 11/27/19, 2:07 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Barr's speech was spectacular. Suggest one listen/watch it before opining on it.; 11/27/19, 2:12 PM
Comanche Voter said...: Pot Kettle. Projection thy name is Democrat.; 11/27/19, 2:15 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: The left want to act like totalitarian Nazis, but when you call them on it, they go ape shit and fling poo.; 11/27/19, 2:29 PM
Michael K said...: As we know, sane people would not overreact to a reality star using his popularity to squeak out a win against a Democratic candidate that was well-liked and much more qualified to hold the highest office in the land.

Sez a freaked out lefty and Hillary loser.; 11/27/19, 2:40 PM
n.n said...: Liberalism is divergent. Progressivism is monotonic. Conservativism is moderating. Principles matter.; 11/27/19, 2:41 PM
dreams said...: "a Democratic candidate that was well-liked and much more qualified to hold the highest office in the land."

Now that is some serious hyperbole, case closed.; 11/27/19, 2:44 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Projection = business as usual."

Yep. From both sides. As usual.

Continuing as usual, they both suck.; 11/27/19, 2:47 PM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: I've been busy all day pre-cooking and cleaning, getting ready for Thanksgiving guests, so I'm too tired to do a lot of research. Off the top of my head:

Colorado baker persecuted for not supporting gay marriage.
The current transgender madness.
Western canon denigrated.
Old dead white men.
The Salvation Army is, apparently, an evil organization consisting of gay and trans haters.

And on and on and on.; 11/27/19, 2:52 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Liberal do want to destroy the family and traditional values.

"That’s what gay marriage is all about."

This utterly stupid idea is an evergreen, yet there is never any explanation given how allowing gay people to marry will destroy the family or traditional values, (or which traditional values...some being quite horrid!). Now that gay people may marry and are marrying, there's no sign any harm at all is being done to "the family and traditional values."; 11/27/19, 2:53 PM
Gahrie said...: there's no sign any harm at all is being done to "the family and traditional values.

Pay no attention to the rising illegitimacy and divorce rates.; 11/27/19, 2:58 PM
doctrev said...: Drago said...

You aren't fooling anyone.

11/27/19, 1:59 PM

If liberals believed they were winning, Bloomberg wouldn't vault to the front of the Democrat parade. They're losing, no matter how much elite money floods in, and the Bloombergs/ Soroses of the world are petrified beyond the capacity of words to describe.

Their scam is coming to an end.; 11/27/19, 3:01 PM
Drago said...: Cookie: "Yep. From both sides. As usual.
Continuing as usual, they both suck."

Communists and their enablers are the absolute worst.; 11/27/19, 3:02 PM
mccullough said...: Trump has done a solid job of transforming the GOP. The Bushes are long gone. So is Paul Ryan — The Brains of the GOP. The Neo-Con bullshit is dead.

He also expunged the Clintons from the Dem Party. His re-election hopefully will transform the Dems. Get rid of the Pelosis and The Socialists.; 11/27/19, 3:03 PM
ga6 said...: If impeachment and removal from office does not work writers at the Financial Times have another solution to the "deplorables". Intervention by foreign powers and occupation of the United States.

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2019/11/where-would-we-bury-all-bodies.html

https://www.ft.com/content/4c94809e-0b27-11ea-bb52-34c8d9dc6d84; 11/27/19, 3:05 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @RC,

Now that gay people may marry and are marrying, there's no sign any harm at all is being done to "the family and traditional values.

Well, let's ask Massachusetts Catholic Adoption Services their opinion....

Oh, wait, they're gone. Shut down because the state made them chose between placing babies with gay couples or following Church teaching. 'Cause nothing helps out the orphans of Massachusetts like knowing the faggots have got their back, right?

RC, we've discussed this multiple times here before. It may be that in the future gay rights may bear great moral fruits. I don't think so, but, maybe. But, for cryin' out loud, don't start whining about "Well, they don't want to change anybody...". We're too many bakers into a dozen to buy that horseshit.; 11/27/19, 3:06 PM
Seeing Red said...: The Salvation Army and Chick-fil-A

They chose poorly and their skin will be worn.; 11/27/19, 3:12 PM
Rusty said...: "The reality is that Barr is... marketing apocalyptic hogwash because, for his boss to get re-elected, Trump’s supporters must continue to believe..."

"... that liberals and the Democratic Party are the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life."
Well. Aren't they?
You only have to look as far as our own usual suspects.; 11/27/19, 3:17 PM
tim in vermont said...: We are not the ones who want to destroy women’s sports.; 11/27/19, 3:19 PM
tim in vermont said...: Or even the NFL, for that matter. Oh yeah, hot dogs are bad for the climate and apple pie is probably tainted with Alar, Chevrolets? Well Warren tweeted a wink to the #BanCars people with her “end traffic violence” bit.; 11/27/19, 3:21 PM
rcocean said...: Whenever some liberal starts talking about how the Left "Isn't that extreme" and "Would NEVER support that" just remember:

2000 Liberals on Immigration vs. Liberal/Left 2020 "We support Open Borders - you bigot"

OR

2000 Liberals "Gay Marriage" Liberals 2020 - Bake us a Gay Wedding Cake or Else

Just the NYT playing the same scam they've run for 30 years. It always seem to work though. "I mean why would they lie?" says the dumbo Center-right.; 11/27/19, 3:22 PM
tim in vermont said...: Ice Cream? Methane!
Short skirts? Male gaze!
Work hard young and retire early? Wealth tax!
White and want to have kids? White supremacist!

Oh, I could go on, and on, and on.

Cookie wants to tear the entire economy down and put us on a model that has never worked.; 11/27/19, 3:24 PM
rcocean said...: The Liberal/LEft wants open borders. Unlimited immigration. No enforcement. See California. And EVERYONE gets free medicare, education, schooling, etc. the minute the step across the border. And votes too, since D's don't believe in enforcing voter laws. They're against foreigners voting in US Elections in the same way SF is against Peeing on the streets.; 11/27/19, 3:25 PM
traditionalguy said...: Query: If Progressives do not want to destroy the American Way of Life, then why have they written that they do plan it and also worked so for the last 50 years to indoctrinate our children at government schools to see our way of life as a CRIME AGAINST THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES for which justice requires our death after confiscation of our property and our enslavement by Community Organizers like Castro, Chavez and Sanders. But first there is the little matter of the confiscation of arms.

We also know who has pushed Global Warming as a mass faked theory and science fiction to use as an excuse to reduce population by 95%.; 11/27/19, 3:26 PM
mccullough said...: Hopefully Trump’s re-election will also banish the SJWs back to the fringes. Return some normalcy to our primary and secondary schools and our colleges and universities.

And return some normalcy to the culture. Cancel the Cancel Culture.; 11/27/19, 3:34 PM
tim in vermont said...: Thanksgiving? Day of shame!
Columbus Day? Day of shame!
Fourth of July? Racist national anthem!; 11/27/19, 3:36 PM
tim in vermont said...: 1776? 1619!

No, they don’t want to change our “way of life” at all whatsoever.; 11/27/19, 3:39 PM
narciso said...: they don't want people to complain, about the boiling pot, but dial up the flame nonetheless,; 11/27/19, 3:43 PM
tim in vermont said...: Bill of Rights? Don’t apply to POTUS in impeachment, not even so much as a penumbra!; 11/27/19, 3:44 PM
Mary Beth said...: I don't think that "liberals and the Democratic Party are the embodiment of evil". At least the Democratic voters I know aren't the embodiment of evil. None of them are very rational thinkers, though.; 11/27/19, 3:45 PM
Francisco D said...: Hopefully Trump’s re-election will also banish the SJWs back to the fringes. Return some normalcy to our primary and secondary schools and our colleges and universities.

The Red Guard is here to stay, at least in my lifetime.; 11/27/19, 3:47 PM
Gahrie said...: I'm too jaded to take any of that seriously. Don't liberals also rail against "the unbridled pursuit of personal appetites at the expense of the common good"? And don't Democrats, to get elected, seem to think people must believe that the GOP is the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life?

Who wants to "Make America great again" and who wants to "fundamentally change America"?; 11/27/19, 3:47 PM
Jupiter said...: "... that liberals and the Democratic Party are the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life."

Not the embodiment, just the enablement.; 11/27/19, 3:50 PM
narciso said...: here's a twist, totally unexpected, Shirley, five women, allege sexual harassment by Gordon sundland,; 11/27/19, 3:57 PM
walter said...: Proponents of CAGW/Greed Nude Eel call out the Right for apocalyptic ranting...; 11/27/19, 4:15 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Edsell is not close to getting it. Donald Trump does not have a fragile ego. He likes it when people say mean (usually dumb) things about him. He is a skilled and vicious counter-puncher.

Edsell liked it when top Republicans (the Bushes, Romney) meekly held their fire. Those days are over, and they aren't coming back.; 11/27/19, 4:23 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: The goal of all authoritarians is to destroy all mediating institutions. Authoritarians want the only conflict to between the individual and the state. Strangely enough, Libertarians agree with them.; 11/27/19, 4:25 PM
Rory said...: Recall the NYT poll: white Clinton voters (same as NYT readers) think black Americans are plain better than white Americans.; 11/27/19, 4:28 PM
Big Mike said...: The reality is that Barr is... marketing apocalyptic hogwash because, for his boss to get re-elected, Trump’s supporters must continue to believe that liberals and the Democratic Party are the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life.

They aren’t?? Could have fooled me.; 11/27/19, 4:31 PM
Blair said...: There, Jeremy Corbyn announced Labour's "Election Manifesto" (their words), and then held up his little red book (seriously)

That's what the party platforms are called in the UK. The Conservatives call their election manifesto a manifesto too. And it's blue, because that is the party colour. As is red for Labour.

But yes, Jeremy Corbyn is a filthy communist. Just not for those reasons.; 11/27/19, 4:44 PM
Elliott A said...: Is it not destroying the American ideal when a president (Obama) tells his A.G. (Holder) to not enforce a law which has been duly passed by Congress and signed by the president (Clinton)...DOMA. Like it or not, selective enforcement of laws has spread to every Democratic area, both cities and states. Hate the police, release violent criminals because they are illegal aliens, prevent citizens from enjoying their civil and constitutional rights (not confronting people who prevent others from speaking). Etc. They are basically unraveling the fabric of our society. I feel someone attempting to awaken the public to the dangers of this behavior is the opposite of evil.; 11/27/19, 4:45 PM
madAsHell said...: As Bacon's Law approaches zero!!; 11/27/19, 4:49 PM
narciso said...: hmm interesting:

https://twitter.com/RoscoeBDavis1/status/1199773161400807426?s=20; 11/27/19, 5:05 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: I look at it as a class thing, more than a political thing. The bourgeois, especially the elite bourgeois, have had a more flexible morality than the workers since at least the Elizabethan age. Sometime in the 1960s, when progressivism became the politics of the bourgeois, the bourgeois decided that the workers must accept their moral vision.
But the bourgeois have resources the workers do not. They can fail, often more than once, and still recover, thanks to family resources.
The people of the masses cannot. If they divorce, their children will be raised in poverty. If a poor woman raises her children w/o a husband, those children will be raised in poverty. If a worker gets busted for drug use, or becomes addicted to drugs, this can destroy his chance at getting a good job, forever. If you are a worker, you don't get three strikes, you get one strike, and the antiquated moral rules they are taught, and that they believe in, are intended to keep them from striking out.; 11/27/19, 5:14 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: I doubt the leftist even listened to Barr's speech, which was fabulous and on-target.; 11/27/19, 5:24 PM
narciso said...: likely

https://pjmedia.com/trending/chick-fil-a-bankrolled-the-splc-now-even-christian-groups-are-boycotting-it/; 11/27/19, 5:28 PM
Browndog said...: Seeing Red said...

The Salvation Army and Chick-fil-A

They chose poorly and their skin will be worn.

..while demanding respect.; 11/27/19, 5:43 PM
Joe said...: Remembers, to leftists intentions are what matter. Their intention isn't to harm the family, so if that happens, it's not their fault.; 11/27/19, 5:44 PM
cfkane1701 said...: I'm surprised not to see the "civility bullshit" tag.; 11/27/19, 5:51 PM
Tomcc said...: It's reassuring that someone like Bill Barr is willing to make that argument, loudly, and in public. Reminds me of Bill Bennett.; 11/27/19, 5:53 PM
narciso said...: and the ap is being funded by left wing groups, re Daniel greenfield, so it becomes a powerful echo chamber,; 11/27/19, 6:03 PM
Michael K said...: Blogger Rory said...
Recall the NYT poll: white Clinton voters (same as NYT readers) think black Americans are plain better than white Americans.

They don't actually, This is telling the inferiors they are great to make them vote for you. Nobody who supports affirmative action thinks blacks are superior. Ditto for ethnic math, etc.; 11/27/19, 6:08 PM
Browndog said...: It's reassuring that someone like Bill Barr is willing to make that argument, loudly, and in public. Reminds me of Bill Bennett.

Similar in more ways that one.; 11/27/19, 6:11 PM
narciso said...: vanity fair's marie brenner, has a long screen on barr, misrepresenting much including the connection to Epstein, of course, graydon carter covered with a pillow back in 2004; 11/27/19, 6:13 PM
Browndog said...: The Qanon "trust the plan" fucktards are going to have a rough few weeks coming shortly.; 11/27/19, 6:15 PM
narciso said...: the security services are structurally designed for self preservation, excessive classification leads to scraps of data like Alperovitz, collected that didn't tell the whole picture,

https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/61168.html

take playa giron, the taylor report, whitewashed the lead players, responsible for executing the operation, it left little imput for those like gray lynch and rip Richardson, who believed in it's viability,; 11/27/19, 6:19 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "The reality is that Barr is... marketing apocalyptic hogwash because, for his boss to get re-elected, Trump’s supporters must continue to believe that liberals and the Democratic Party are the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life."

Bill Clinton raping Juanita Broderick. Harvey Weinstein. Jeffrey Epstein. The gay "top Democrat donor" killing black guys in LA with meth. The NXIVM cult branding women. Anthony Weiner, and on and on, all the way down to things like Gwyneth Paltrow's science-challenging business and Whole Foods as a "temple to pseudoscience".

No one has to convince anyone the Democrats aren't right when they do the job so well themselves.; 11/27/19, 6:35 PM
narciso said...: they kill their own golden egg

https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/11/california-plans-to-hike-tax-on-legal-marijuana-threatening-new-market-with-rapid-extinction/; 11/27/19, 6:50 PM
bagoh20 said...: Thanks, Crack. You saved me all that typing, and without all my grammar and spelin mistakes.

I always ask where are the equivalent people on the right to the bad actors on the left. There are some, of course, but one side is a pack of hyenas by comparison.; 11/27/19, 6:51 PM
bagoh20 said...: Trump, who is a life-long womanizer and the most randy of the Republicans, still never got as sick as Clinton, Gore, Epstein, Wiener, and a host of others. They may not intend to destroy the family, but hey sure as hell are not supporting or championing it, unless you call your multiple abortions a family.; 11/27/19, 6:55 PM
Browndog said...: Crack forgot "spirit cooking" via the Podesta emails-

You know the ones-

Seth Rich murdered, Roger Stone and Julian Assange going to rot in prison over them being exposed.; 11/27/19, 6:59 PM
bagoh20 said...: "california-plans-to-hike-tax-on-..." anything and everything, animal, vegetable, mineral or financial. I sincerely expect them to start taxing you for leaving the state. They'll soon have to erect a Berlin-style wall.; 11/27/19, 7:00 PM
narciso said...: Well i dont necessarily subscribe to these plots but i have questions. Was berlusconi the most ciecumapect is boros johnson.; 11/27/19, 7:06 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Blogger narciso said...

they kill their own golden egg

I always wondered how you put a significant tax on a commodity you can grow in your closet. Another great idea of the NORML shot to Hell: "legalize it and tax it!" I mean, how was that even supposed to work? What is the cost of growing a couple of plants in your closet? $5 or $10 per oz?; 11/27/19, 7:18 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Blogger bagoh20 said...

"california-plans-to-hike-tax-on-..." anything and everything, animal, vegetable, mineral or financial. I sincerely expect them to start taxing you for leaving the state. They'll soon have to erect a Berlin-style wall.

I imagine a lot of the exodus is retired state employees taking their pensions with them. Ouch! Double hit!; 11/27/19, 7:19 PM
bagoh20 said...: "I imagine a lot of the exodus is retired state employees taking their pensions with them. Ouch! Double hit!"

They'll pass a 60% tax to send the checks out of state.; 11/27/19, 7:31 PM
Birkel said...: bagoh20,
Illinois already taxes people for leaving the state, if they're selling a house anyway.
Expect an extra UHaul tax soon.; 11/27/19, 7:49 PM
Gospace said...: Lewis Wetzel said...
.....
I imagine a lot of the exodus is retired state employees taking their pensions with them. Ouch! Double hit!

IF someone is drawing retirement pay from CA, CA knows the the retirement was earned on income from income earned in the state,and will require a CA state tax return each year.

Theoretically, CA wants me to pay tax on 4/21 of my Navy retirement since I was stationed there for 4 years, spending more than two of those years on deployment. I'm not complying.

NYS doesn't tax state retiree pay, and therefore, by court decisions, can't tax federal retirement pay.; 11/27/19, 7:55 PM
tim in vermont said...: “I’m sick of these golden eggs! Tonight we are having goose!"; 11/27/19, 8:07 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: I don't think so, GoSpace, but I'm not sure. I vaguely Cali trying to do this maybe ten-twenty years ago, and they got slapped down by the Supreme Court. It interfered with the ability of citizens to move from one state to another.
A quick internet check shows that, no, California cannot tax non-residents, regardless of where their retirement income originated.
"On Jan. 10, 1996, P.L. 104-95 took effect. This federal law prohibits any state from taxing pension income of non-residents, even if the pension was earned within the state. Before the passage of this law, California, New York and several other states maintained a source tax on pension earned within the state."; 11/27/19, 8:18 PM
Gospace said...: Thomas Edsall (NYT) is one of those referred to by Stalin (or was it Lenin? Both for I know.) as a useful idiot. Where do Republicans and Conservatives get the idea that Democrats and liberals want to destroy the family? Not really a tough question. Democrat leaders like Bernie and AOC openly advocate for Communism, as did CIA Director Brennan wen younger. (Remind me - how the hell did he get a security clearance?) But this time, it will be different, because as we all know, or have been told, TRUE Communism has never been tried.

Have you ever read Communist texts? And philosophy? In order for Communism to be fully established, the family unit, the basis for capitalism and thus all evil in the world, must be destroyed. Children must be removed from their parents, and raised by the state in a communal setting, trained in the Communist way of life. Only then will the true potential of Communism be realized.

We get that idea from the very texts they worship and idealize, convinced in their minds that they're the ones who are going to do Communism right, that Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Che, and other mass murderers were not representative of Communism, but aberrant in some way. Yet every Communist state has it's mass murderers... EVERY one of them. Because TRUE Communism has never been tried. This time, they're going to do it right.... Because they're better...; 11/27/19, 8:22 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: I lived in Kona for about fifteen years. A few subdivisions were heavily populated by Calpers refugees. At that time (the 90s) the Calpers person would sell his house in Cali, and by a house in, say, Kona Highlands, for half of what his Cali house sold for. Sweet!
I don't know if you can do that anymore, Kona prices are close to Honolulu & Cali prices these days.; 11/27/19, 8:22 PM
langford peel said...: Gay marriage was sold as not causing the destruction of traditional values. As normAl and good.

Then they tried to destroy traditional businesses like bakeries that did not want to join in the celebrations of sexual perversion.

Which will inevitably lead to destroying religion institutions that will not celebrate pederasty in their religious rites.

Soon it lead to the demand that we accept a dude with a dick in your daughters bathrooms.

The liberals demand that we normalize perversion is nothing less then an attempt to destroy our society.

I have come to the conclusion that the Muslims are right about the homosexuals.; 11/27/19, 8:24 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Democrat presidential candidate: "America was never great. America was built on slavery, and the genocide of indigenous peoples, and the blood of the workers! Vote for me if want to see America transformed into a nation you can be proud of! But don't worry, I won't change anything important!"; 11/27/19, 8:30 PM
Gospace said...: Lewis Wetzel said...

"On Jan. 10, 1996, P.L. 104-95 took effect

I retired from active duty in 1994. It was well known then that CA felt it had the right to tax pensions earned in state. Since I ignored their rapacious greed in any event, I didn't pay attention to P.L. 104-95 coming into effect. If you go to any military blog inhabited by us old timers, you'll likely find a lot of people who think CA's pension grab is still in effect.

Sometime laws get changed and no one affected knows until later. When I went to register my car on base in IL I ws told my NJ license was expired. It was, but it's good as long as I'm on active duty. "No, they changed that law 2 years ago... I had to get an IL license, and to top that off, since my license had been expired for 2 years (with an 8 year old expiration date...), I had to take a road test.; 11/27/19, 8:33 PM
Temujin said...: "Liberals Do Not Want to Destroy the Family"

Sure they do. They've been doing it for decades now, working overtime, from every angle to do just that. The very pillars of society that hold the family together, they have worked tirelessly to remove from our lives.

I love how some of the 'best and brightest' don't see what is staring back at them if they would only look and listen. It's hard to look and listen when your nose is pointed upward and you're talking over people.; 11/27/19, 9:13 PM
Narayanan said...: Good on Ralphie.

All grown up and AG too.
https://images.app.goo.gl/XTLiGVRrEjbKwFpf7; 11/27/19, 9:15 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: This is a topic near & dear to me, Gospace, I work for a non-profit in a high-tax state (not California), and on July 1st next year I will retire to a lower tax state. So who do I pay my state taxes to for next year's income?
Right now it looks like I will pay all payroll taxes to the high tax state (since I will have been living and working there until July 1), and I will pay taxes on any pension withdrawals after I move to the low tax state. I think. It's a matter of a few thousand $ if I get it wrong.; 11/27/19, 9:19 PM
Narayanan said...: Children must be removed from their parents, and raised by the state in a communal setting, trained in the Communist way of life.
____&&&____
Is actually Plato : much veneration by conservative intellectuals.; 11/27/19, 9:32 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Blogger Temujin said...
"Liberals Do Not Want to Destroy the Family"
Sure they do. They've been doing it for decades now, working overtime, from every angle to do just that.
It would help if they did not identify the family as the source of all they see as evil in the world, and state-run institutions as the source of all that is righteous and good.
You think that liberals support an independent labor movement? Think again. What will happen when a union proposes rules that are seen as less than inclusive on the basis of perceived gender or ethnicity? The liberals will stomp them flat.; 11/27/19, 9:37 PM
Rick said...: "Liberals" covers a lot of ground. Replace it in Edsell's headline with "Progressives" and it's much harder to refute.

The difference between liberals and progressives covers a large range of ideas but not so many people. There's a reason proggies can't distinguish Althouse from a conservative.; 11/27/19, 9:38 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: I don't think "classical liberal" and Libertarians have realized, yet, what the American People (in their wisdom) have realized -- that socially liberal + democracy, results in our current world. The people vote for liberty, and just as convincingly vote to make other people pay for the mistakes they made in their liberty.; 11/27/19, 9:49 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Blogger narciso said...
Well i dont necessarily subscribe to these plots but i have questions. Was berlusconi the most ciecumapect is boros johnson.
11/27/19, 7:06 PM
The more important question, Narciso, is How do you know Berlusconi & Boris Johnson are circumsized?; 11/27/19, 9:58 PM
narciso said...: Circumspect, hes no choir boy, but corbyn is a trotskyite practically a terrorist.; 11/27/19, 10:10 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Well, I'm not sure that there is a terrorist Corbyn would object to, on principle. Circumsized or not.; 11/27/19, 10:13 PM
narciso said...: A militia member, an ulster unionist maybr a a member of the azov battalion.; 11/27/19, 10:25 PM
Mark said...: Progress -- and therefore progressivism -- is by definition all about moving beyond what is and what has gone before to create something different, which in their hubris they automatically deem better.

Progressivism -- and therefore the present-day Democrat Party -- abhors tradition, that is, the collected wisdom of the ages and the idea that the past might have something to teach us and that what we build, we do on the shoulders of giants. The Democrat Party today and nearly all of its adherents are all about tearing down what went before in order to recreate the world to be better than the original creation -- to recreate truth, even. Number one on the list was family, then fundamental relationships like marriage, and now it is the nature of the human person, made male and female.

As Obama put it, they are bent on the "fundamental transformation" of not only America, but the world and all humanity. And as Joseph Ratzinger put it, what we are seeing is the dictatorship of relativism.; 11/27/19, 11:34 PM
Mark said...: that liberals and the Democratic Party are the embodiment of evil, determined to destroy the American way of life.

Well, I don't know about evil

Sure you do, YH, since I'm sure you know what "evil" is, as rightly understood. Namely, the privation or distortion or corruption of truth (sometimes characterized as a privation of good, but good is necessarily consistent with truth), particularly Truth. And there are too many examples of the people of the left taking what is right and just and calling it wrong and unjust to not be able to make those conclusions.; 11/27/19, 11:48 PM
Mark said...: yet there is never any explanation given how allowing gay people to marry will destroy the family or traditional values

But of course, RC, there has been explanation -- often and loud -- but some people simply refuse to listen.

"Gay" people have always been allowed to marry. Since the beginning of the world. The problem is, today, that "gay" people do not want to marry, that is, to enter into what is by definition a relationship involving people of opposite sexes. Instead, they want to do something else and call it marriage. And that necessarily changes what marriage is.

And when it is imposed by government, rather than a natural development of society, then that also changes marriage from a natural institution with inherent significance to being "just a piece of paper."

Some people insist on being obtuse on this point, however.; 11/28/19, 12:01 AM
Seeing Red said...: So evof thus is getting to the popcorn stage.

Some trans now complain gays are transphobic because gays might not want to dates trannies.

Now that this illness is going to destroy Womens’ sports In The Olympics, let’s get rid of Title IX and free up that money. Pay down the debt.; 11/28/19, 7:10 AM
Craig Howard said...: Don’t conflate homosexuals with raving, lunatic Marxist agitators.

Yes, there is some overlap there, but the two are not synonymous.; 11/28/19, 7:27 AM
TANSTAAFL said...: I am constantly amazed at the levels of psychological projection reactionary leftists use.

If you want to know what the reactionary left is doing (or planning to do) look at what they are accusing others of doing; 11/28/19, 8:01 AM
Kevin said...: Liberals want to extend the school day so mom and dad can work even more.

Taking care of the home creates no taxable income.; 11/28/19, 10:12 AM
Robert Cook said...: ”...what is by definition a relationship involving people of opposite sexes.”

Sez who? It’s all just words. Humankind invented the word and concept of marriage and it is, therefore, open to any application.; 11/28/19, 10:28 AM
Anonymous said...: Sez who? It’s all just words. Humankind invented the word and concept of marriage and it is, therefore, open to any application.

Humankind invented a lot of words and concepts. They're all just words, and therefore open to any application.

Sure you're happy with that formulation, Cookie old boy?; 11/28/19, 11:07 AM
Mark said...: Sez who? It’s all just words.

And, hence, we see the very destruction he protests too much about not existing.

Says who? Says the nature of the human person. Says the human body, which is made male and female, equal and complementary to each other in such a fashion that by their sexual joinder, that is, the "marrying" of their bodies, there is the potential for procreation and the perpetuation of the species. Early on, society recognized this reality and decided that this special relationship -- which neither individual humans nor society nor government invented -- should have social recognition and legal protections.

Contrarywise, male-male and female-female do not have that capacity for procreation solely within their joinder. Whatever else you might want to call such same-sex relationships, it is not marriage -- and if you insist that it is, then and only then has it be reduced to "just words."

But back to your first assertion that no one has ever said this before. Again, they have -- and they have again. Although I suspect that not too long from now you and others will once again claim (falsely -- and knowingly so, hence, a lie) that no one has ever expressed a reason for why changing marriage changes marriage.; 11/28/19, 12:29 PM
ccscientist said...: Yes in fact the Left does want to destroy the American way of life. It is the left (feminists) who insist male-female sex is rape, women in marriage are oppressed, and men are toxic. It is the Left who insist that all whites are racist. The Left that tries to destroy our history, is against patriotism, hates the flag, and calls the US the worst country in the world. Just to name a few.; 11/28/19, 9:37 PM