Althouse: "At this moment, the difference between the candidates is a chasm. There has never been a greater difference...."

August 12, 2020

"At this moment, the difference between the candidates is a chasm. There has never been a greater difference...."

"Take Biden's campaign positions. Farther to the left than any Democratic candidate in memory on things like climate. It's far better than anything that preceded it. Not because Biden had a personal conversion or the DNC had some great insight, but because they're being hammered on by activists coming out of the Sanders movement and others. The climate program, a $2 trillion commitment to dealing with the extreme threat of environmental catastrophe, was largely written by the Sunrise Movement and strongly endorsed by the leading activists on climate change, the ones who managed to get the Green New Deal on the legislative agenda. That's real politics.... This is not support for Biden. It is support for the activists who have been at work constantly, creating the background within the party in which the shifts took place, and who have followed Sanders in actually entering the campaign and influencing it. Support for them. Support for real politics. The left position is you rarely support anyone. You vote against the worst. You keep the pressure and activism going."

Said Noam Chomsky, quoted in "Noam Chomsky wants you to vote for Joe Biden and then haunt his dreams/The lion of the left on the pandemic, the election, the word Bernie Sanders needs to stop using, the Harper's letter, the 1619 Project, patriotism, and the greatest social movement in U.S. history" (The.Ink).

77 comments:

rehajm said...: If you believe in humanity these activists, these policies need to be rejected. A brief look at the history of the outcomes of these polices is all it takes.

You vote against the worst.

I shall...; 8/12/20, 6:58 AM
rehajm said...: In a humanity ruled by the policies Chomksy pushes, Chomksy is a bug squashed by the windshield*.

* The bug in the urinal is the superior parable, but it doesn't resonate with women...; 8/12/20, 7:01 AM
Drago said...: "Take Biden's campaign positions. Farther to the left than any Democratic candidate in memory on things like climate."

Music to LLR ears.....; 8/12/20, 7:05 AM
Jake said...: Egads; 8/12/20, 7:05 AM
KJE said...: So it’s clear, we aren’t voting for a candidate.

We are voting for an orthodoxy.; 8/12/20, 7:07 AM
rehajm said...: The vision of the future these progressives envision does not include respect for pontificating old white guys. It is a future of vengeance upon them. They will not be spared...; 8/12/20, 7:07 AM
tim maguire said...: According to Chomsky, it's a good thing that the party is being run by activists. I can see how someone like him might take that attitude. The problem is, to be effective, the activist has to be single-minded. They, almost by definition, cannot look at the larger picture and as a result, when given any advantage, they always over-play their hand. They "win" not when they take power themselves, but when their signature issues get adopted by the party. That is, when their thunder gets stolen (see, for example, The Grange).

As someone once pointed out, a movement has come of age when it can control the extremists within its own ranks. Not only has the Democratic Party not come of age, it is moving backwards.; 8/12/20, 7:14 AM
Leland said...: I thought nobody was self identifying as an activist.; 8/12/20, 7:17 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: Shorter Chomsky:

Biden is our figurehead for Leftwing activism.; 8/12/20, 7:18 AM
gilbar said...: well, i WAS on the fence; but if Noam Chompsky says so...; 8/12/20, 7:19 AM
Gordy said...: The climate program, a $2 trillion commitment

How in the world would lefties spend this much money on climate change? Certainly not on nuclear power solutions.; 8/12/20, 7:20 AM
AllenS said...: What I got from Chomsky, is that he thinks Biden can be easily manipulated.; 8/12/20, 7:24 AM
Temujin said...: Yes, we'll take our lead from a lifelong, hardened Socialist. Noam has never met a collapsed country and culture that he didn't praise. Sometimes people are so smart they become stupid and do not understand what is happening in front of them on the streets. They manage to ignore the evidence of their senses in order to hold tight to their theories. Such is this case. But he stated the back drop of the Democrat Party today.

Biden is not a candidate. He's a placeholder. A placeholder for a socialist activist movement. Kamala is the perfect choice for 2nd in command because she holds no firm philosophical beliefs anyway. She will be whatever they want her to be. Climate is not their cause. That was a laughable quote. Climate is just a name they give to one of their demands for taking over the economy, culture, and direction of our country and any other free Western country.

Classic Liberalism is the enemy of socialists. Noam Chomsky represents the death of Western Civilization, and nothing less. Today's Democrats are the soldiers of this movement. Vote Dem and lose what's left of a free nation. It's really that simple. If you cannot see it, you choosing to not look.; 8/12/20, 7:28 AM
traditionalguy said...: Hail the threats of the Revolution of the proletariat. They really want to kill traditional Americans. We hear them . Kings Mountain redux.; 8/12/20, 7:31 AM
Leon said...: Wasn't he the centrist candidate?; 8/12/20, 7:32 AM
Owen said...: The millenarianism that infects our culture today is well analyzed by Angelo Codevilla in the new issue of Claremont Review of Books (free link via Steve Hayward’s post today at the Powerline blog). This insanity is part of the historical cycle that goes back through the Middle Ages and probably long before. It always ends badly, even (or especially) for the proponents and their followers; but despite the cost of the lesson to those who survive, their progeny inevitably forget the lesson and must learn it again. See also Kipling’s “Gods of the Copybook Headings.”

The environmental movement IMHO was a leading indicator and pilot-stage initiative In the larger effort to overthrow the established order. It had the virtue of apparent purity of purpose —who could oppose a cleaner, greener Earth without self-condemning themselves as dirty and death-addicted?— and the very real advantage of unfalsifiable scientism as the rhetorical armament to force change and indeed to attract bureaucrats, ambitious junior faculty, grant-cadging NGO operatives and other rent-seekers to the cause. Largely unopposed or at any rate ineradicable, this movement from a Woodstock Nation pop-cultural efflorescence to a complete industry of well-funded saboteurs and alarmists, legitimating itself by mere persistence and the relatively low tax it imposed. It cost industry less to pay lip service and buy off the mob, and mounting a serious defense based on science depended on public literacy that has declined yearly.
So it went on; and provided a template and a salient which other, sister, movements could use. Thus now we have widespread attacks on the establishment because of its environmental crimes, but also for its environmental racism, its production of hazards that disproportionately burden or disadvantage Group X or Gender Y, etc etc. It’s a lucrative game and it feeds in itself.
We’re almost over the event horizon. Hang on tight!; 8/12/20, 7:36 AM
JRoberts said...: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Obama was an empty suit whose smile and pleasing voice hid some of the worst policies ever inflicted upon this country.

Biden is merely a trojan horse filled with "handlers" who will make Obama's reign look like Ronald Reagan's by comparison.

The original trojan horse was quickly abandoned once the invaders were in the gates. Is there any doubt the same fate awaits Joe Biden if he gets elected?; 8/12/20, 7:39 AM
stlcdr said...: This isn't really a vote for the candidates, its a vote on ideology. A vote for Biden is a vote for city dystopia and violence - coming to a town near you.

It doesn't matter that Trump/Biden are assholes - they are; that's their job. Trump has been pushing for state and individual independence and a non-dependence on federal government, not in words but in deeds. Biden and his policies want the federal government to tell you what you can do (aka. Democrats would make everything illegal unless they say it's OK, and are happy with 'Trumps Gestapo' enforcing those laws).; 8/12/20, 7:39 AM
Kevin said...: Well, there is a traditional left position, which has been pretty much forgotten, unfortunately, but it's the one I think we should adhere to. That's the position that real politics is constant activism. It's quite different from the establishment position, which says politics means focus, laser-like, on the quadrennial extravaganza, then go home and let your superiors take over.

The left position has always been: You're working all the time, and every once in a while there's an event called an election. This should take you away from real politics for 10 or 15 minutes. Then you go back to work.

At this moment, the difference between the candidates is a chasm. There has never been a greater difference. It should be obvious to anyone who's not living under a rock. So the traditional left position says, "Take the 15 minutes, push the lever, go back to work."

Remember this when the left says a vote for them is a return to normal.

Constant rioting and demonstrations are the normal for the left.

Chomsky is demanding it continue no matter who is elected.; 8/12/20, 7:45 AM
JPS said...: It's interesting to me that when you get far enough to the left of the Democratic Party - not naming names around here - you can again be honest about the Democratic Party.; 8/12/20, 7:45 AM
Birkel said...: So Chomsky thinks we are asked to elect a figurehead, same as me?
Finally Chomsky is correct about something, which is nice.; 8/12/20, 7:49 AM
Craig Howard said...: Chomsky became famous decades ago for his theory that babies are born with knowledge of the grammar of all human languages. That theory has long ago been thoroughly discredited.

Nonetheless, he remains a superstar of sorts. So odd.; 8/12/20, 7:54 AM
buwaya said...: The "left position" on "climate change" is driven by corporate interests that want a legislated or regulatory mandate to force the public to pay them (directly or indirectly) energy prices far above what would be market rate. It is legalized robbery.; 8/12/20, 7:55 AM
Todd said...: My wish for Noam and all other lefties/progressives is that THEY get to live in the world they want. That just so happens to also be my wish for conservatives. I have my suspicions as to which group would fair better...; 8/12/20, 7:59 AM
wendybar said...: Kamala co-sponsored the bill to let Transgenders play in womens sports....That right there is a good reason NOT to vote for her. (Amongst lots of other reasons!!); 8/12/20, 8:02 AM
Clyde said...: Chomsky is like a compass that only points south. He's useful because you should do the exact opposite of whatever he says.; 8/12/20, 8:13 AM
Butkus51 said...: Noam Chomsky, the anti-capitalist capitalist. No respect whatsoever.; 8/12/20, 8:14 AM
MayBee said...: I believe this is the fifth Most Important Election of our Lifetimes in my lifetime.; 8/12/20, 8:17 AM
Clyde said...: Gordy said...
The climate program, a $2 trillion commitment

How in the world would lefties spend this much money on climate change? Certainly not on nuclear power solutions.

At least a trillion of it would go to graft for Democrat politicians, their families and their henchmen. The rest of it would be spent on wind and solar, while they merrily banned fracking and all fossil fuels. Then would come the blackouts. Democrat strongholds would look like Pyongyang at night in the satellite photos, the rest of us would not be so fortunate. Then would come the North Korean-style famines. Republican hoarders and wreckers would be blamed for the latter, of course. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.; 8/12/20, 8:19 AM
Darrell said...: I was thinking that Chomsky could fall in a chipper/shredder right before COVID took his miserable life.; 8/12/20, 8:25 AM
Chest Rockwell said...: "How in the world would lefties spend this much money on climate change?"

I'm sure they'll find a way.

Remember 6 months ago when we laughed at the spending bill for the GND? Well, now that we've printed 3 trillion or so dollars in a matter of months, I really don't see a good excuse why we can't do it again!

The end result will be a lower standard of living for us all though.; 8/12/20, 8:35 AM
MayBee said...: Is Greta going to speak to the Democratic National Convention?; 8/12/20, 8:36 AM
Big Mike said...: The sooner Chomsky dies, the sooner linguistics becomes a real science.; 8/12/20, 8:58 AM
Sebastian said...: "Biden's campaign positions."

Subtle phrasing. At least he doesn't ascribe any positions to "Biden."

Treating him as a token and figurehead, nothing more. Dems are fine with it.

So, nice women of America, are you with Noam?; 8/12/20, 9:01 AM
Wince said...: You Happy Puppet

A dullard strung on the wire
When the master's gone you hang there
With your eyes and your limbs so lifeless

Tell me something, if the world is so insane
Is it making you sane again to
Let another man tug at the thread
That pulls up your empty wooden head?

Your hollow head, your marble eyes
Your wooden hands and your metal jaw pins
All wait in limbo for the man
Who knows how to move you this way; 8/12/20, 9:15 AM
Fernandinande said...: C'mon, man! What does Kamaltoes hair smell like?; 8/12/20, 9:22 AM
Tom T. said...: I'm not sure that Chomsky's endorsement of the Democratic collective is going to be all that helpful to Biden in the general.; 8/12/20, 9:26 AM
Michael K said...: The rest of it would be spent on wind and solar, while they merrily banned fracking and all fossil fuels. Then would come the blackouts.

This is happening right now in Australia in Victoria state. Meanwhile coal companies sell coal to China.; 8/12/20, 9:27 AM
Mary Beth said...: Transformational politics.; 8/12/20, 9:31 AM
hombre said...: “The left position is you rarely support anyone. You vote against the worst. You keep the pressure and activism going."

Psalms 12:8
“On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.”

“The worst” to these evil no-nothings would be the First and Second Amendments, a thriving economy that lifts everyone, the unborn, the Jewish State of Israel and its supporters, a strong military, independence from the economic domination of China, God, actual borders, clean government, and the like.

Perhaps there are still rational people in swing states like Wisconsin who can picture the havoc that would be wrought by electing The Evil Party. Its defeat seems unlikely given the 20% or so edge crated by media dishonesty, genitalia voters and voter fraud, but we can hope.; 8/12/20, 9:46 AM
MikeR said...: All very good politics, but totally disconnected from what will actually help the country. Terrible policy plan, being forced down the throat of the rest of the country that will (a) pay for it, and (b) lose by it.
I hope Donald Trump wins somehow.; 8/12/20, 9:48 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Ol’ Chompy is a rabid America-hating lefty who thinks Bernie Sanders isn’t commie enough. He’ll soon quit flapping his gums, but he’ll still have just as much influence with the American public as ever.; 8/12/20, 9:50 AM
rehajm said...: I believe this is the fifth Most Important Election of our Lifetimes in my lifetime.

Heh. Very funny...and true...; 8/12/20, 9:53 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I believe this is the fifth Most Important Election of our Lifetimes in my lifetime.

It's like the IRA's message to Thatcher.; 8/12/20, 9:55 AM
rcocean said...: Here's the thing about Biden. Some people desperately want to believe Biden's a moderate and they will quote his comments from 20,30,40 years ago. "Why Joe was against Gay Marriage and Busing!" Well, not quite. Biden was willing to adopt moderate positions TO GET ELECTED. Once he didn't have to take those positions for electoral reasons, he moved Left. Biden has always been as Left-wing as the traffic will bear. That's why he's had *zero* problem adopting Bernie's Radical Agenda.

Its not that Biden is pandering and will revel his "True" Moderate beliefs when elected. That's nonsense. He's shown he will NOT stand up to Left-wing pressure and believes it himself. The same is true of Harris. When she was SF DA and Calf DA she was forced by electoral politics to do her job and put crooks in jail. But as the state went further and further left, her decisions went further and further to the Left. She's a true believer just like Obama and Bernie.; 8/12/20, 10:11 AM
rcocean said...: When the NYT's calls Harris a "pragmatic deal maker" what they mean is she will do what the Billionaire Democrats want in terms of globalism, and taxes on the rich.
Harris isn't going to go full blown socialist and confiscate and redistribute property, or raise the capital gains tax to 90%. But she will turn the USA into California.; 8/12/20, 10:15 AM
gerry said...: I was thinking that Chomsky could fall in a chipper/shredder right before COVID took his miserable life.

He'd jam it.; 8/12/20, 10:28 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Vote for the activists - or you'll get more Portland Antifa terror.; 8/12/20, 10:35 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: The Trump campaign needs ALL the footage of the Portland riots.

That is what you will get if you let the radical leftwing take over. + new green deal will never clean the climate - it will only make people like Al Gore and Bernie Sanders rich.; 8/12/20, 10:38 AM
gilbar said...: Noam Chompsky! Super Genius! Best known for Inventing Universal Grammar
here's some comments from ACTUAL Linguists about Chompsky's Universal Grammar:

Geoffrey Sampson maintains that universal grammar theories are not falsifiable and are therefore pseudoscientific

James Hurford argues that the postulate of a language acquisition device (LAD) essentially amounts to the trivial claim that languages are learnt by humans, and thus, that the LAD is less a theory than an explanandum looking for theories.

Daniel Everett has argued that even if a universal grammar is not impossible in principle, it should not be accepted because we have equally or more plausible theories that are simpler. In his words, "universal grammar doesn't seem to work, there doesn't seem to be much evidence for [it]. And what can we put in its place?
A complex interplay of factors, of which culture, the values human beings share, plays a major role in structuring the way that we talk and the things that we talk about."; 8/12/20, 10:42 AM
MD Greene said...: The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that TikTok, the Chinese app with at least 100 million American subscribers, came with a special encrypted feature to collect data on every one of its users.

I don't care much for politics and am not sure I will vote this year.

But I will NOT vote for a candidate who, when he was vice president, let his loser son take a billion dollars from the Chinese government and/or its insiders for said loser's "investment fund."

I'm so old I can remember when such would automatically disqualify any candidate for either party's nomination.; 8/12/20, 10:48 AM
YoungHegelian said...: The climate program, a $2 trillion commitment

Kinda strange isn't it how a supposed "anarcho-syndicalist" like Chomsky likes a massive government spending program? Where did that money come from? Oh, taxes. And how were those taxes gotten out of the population? Did they pay willingly, or was it gotten out of them under penalty of law, i.e. in other words, through the threat of state violence?

For an anarchist, Chomsky sure seems enamored of Big State Action. But, then again, there's a long tradition of crazy, out-of-nowhere, and internally inconsistent Marxism in the Anglo-American Analytic philosophical tradition, of which Chomsky is a part. You can read about it here.; 8/12/20, 10:54 AM
PM said...: Good read.
Hey, AOC, Chomsky blew you off.; 8/12/20, 11:08 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "I'm not sure that Chomsky's endorsement of the Democratic collective is going to be all that helpful to Biden in the general."

Not at all helpful. Just another indicator that the Democrat's powers-that-be, for reasons unknown, don't want to win this particular election. The weird corrupt candidates, the hostility to law and order, the relentless absurdities. None of these indicate a desire to win. The mass of people certainly don't give a shit about the things that animate Chomsky's activists.; 8/12/20, 11:11 AM
Luke Lea said...: "
Blogger Owen said...
The millenarianism that infects our culture today . . ."

Hey, it's not all bad. See here for instance: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735316008; 8/12/20, 11:13 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: What Big Mike said.

Also, in other news, the sun rose in the east today.; 8/12/20, 11:20 AM
Drago said...: There is no further point in discussing Joe Biden as a President.....according to Joe Biden.

“I’ve decided that Kamala Harris is the best person to help me take this fight to Donald Trump and Mike Pence and then to lead this nation starting in January 2021.”
--Joe Biden, Aug 11, 2020; 8/12/20, 11:21 AM
Big Mike said...: I hope Donald Trump wins somehow.

Send money to his campaign. Volunteer to work for your GOP candidate for Congress and give him or her some money.; 8/12/20, 11:21 AM
Big Mike said...: @Maybee, besides 1980, which elections would you rate as more important?; 8/12/20, 11:24 AM
mikee said...: The end state of "You keep the pressure and activism going" is Venezuela, and every other socialist state that has devolved into an authoritarian kleptocracy, with the rulers atop a heap of ashes that used to be a functioning state.; 8/12/20, 11:29 AM
Marshall Rose said...: Master of puppets, I'm pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing
Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream
Master
Master
Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream
Master
Master; 8/12/20, 11:34 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: Well if Biden is elected, this is what you're getting. And you're going to get it good and hard (that is Joe can remember what he campaigned on).; 8/12/20, 12:11 PM
n.n said...: The left-right nexus is leftist.; 8/12/20, 12:13 PM
tcrosse said...: The difference between the candidates is a cosmic charisma chasm.; 8/12/20, 12:39 PM
MayBee said...: Big Mike said...
@Maybee, besides 1980, which elections would you rate as more important?

I would rate them all as equally important. And I don't like people trying to frighten other voters into voting.; 8/12/20, 12:46 PM
Drago said...: "I'm not sure that Chomsky's endorsement of the Democratic collective is going to be all that helpful to Biden in the general."

We are just moments away from LLR-lefty Chuck popping in with "The 'Conservative Case' For Why Noam Chomsky Represents The Best Of Traditional And 'Principled' 'Conservative' Political Philosophy....And Why Democrats Are Best Suited To Conserve Conservatism"

It'll be another LLR-lefty Chuck "smasher".; 8/12/20, 12:47 PM
Rosalyn C. said...: When you run to Chomsky for guidance you really are in a state of deep confusion. The fact that Chomsky is busier than ever tells you the left is in a state of complete chaos. All they have are their beliefs of how the world "should" be. They know they really don't have a clue how anything works. They are running against someone who does.

Chomskyites -- "let's celebrate failure and unrealistic expectations but we still want to live in a world with new cars and reliable transportation and services and food and luxury items, etc."

I agree with The Cracker Emcee Refulgent. The Democratic ticket seems like a bad joke.; 8/12/20, 12:49 PM
Fernandinande said...: Nim Chimpsky (November 19, 1973 – March 10, 2000), we hardly knew ye.; 8/12/20, 1:21 PM
Mattman26 said...: I started reading the quote and figured we were playing the "Who said it?" game.

I guessed either Trump or a Trump surrogate.

I gotta work on my skills.; 8/12/20, 1:45 PM
Lnelson said...: The difference in supporters is also a chasm.
In Portland they fly Communist flags.
In Hong Kong they fly American flags.

Historically, democracies don't last... because the people eventually get what they want.

Reminds me of this anonymous quote:
There are two kinds of tragedies.
Not getting what you want.
Getting what you want.; 8/12/20, 2:32 PM
PhilD said...: I consider the Nuremberg Trials a crime against humanity. Not because a bunch of nazis got executed, the richly deserved that, but because their Russian accusers and judges weren't hanged besides them.

Pol Pot Chompsky can serve as illustration why I think that.; 8/12/20, 3:42 PM
The Godfather said...: Remember: If Biden-Harris win, so do the Democrats. They take control of the Senate and increase their margin in the House. For at least two years, they'll run wild. (The Supremes won't stop them, or even pause them.) Think of the first two Obama Years, but on steroids.

And the Democrats won't WANT to dig the country out of the Pandemic Recession -- and even if they did, they wouldn't know how to do it.; 8/12/20, 4:57 PM
Kevin said...: The climate program, a $2 trillion commitment

Sucker.

That's just the ante in the game they're begging you to play.; 8/12/20, 5:05 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Wasn't he the centrist candidate?"

Yes. That's what makes him farther to the left than any recent Democrat presidents. Hah!; 8/12/20, 5:17 PM
bagoh20 said...: Whose army do these leftists think they will employ to maintain their totalitarian state? Maybe they can use all those cops they plan on getting rid of. I bet they would be gun ho to help out.; 8/12/20, 5:29 PM
bagoh20 said...: I suppose they could put 100% tax on unemployment pay.; 8/12/20, 5:33 PM
Unknown said...: Is Chomsky are Republican plant?; 8/13/20, 2:25 AM