I lived in Massachusetts while Romney was governor. He was useless. This knife in Trump’s back is completely in character for Willard Mitt Romney. I remember when he challenged Ted Kennedy for his senate seat. Romney, a supposedly sincere Mormon twisted himself into a pretzel explaining how abortion wouldn’t raise any moral problems if he had to vote for it. And as Governor he would take all the abuse from the Democrats and the Press with nary a peep. He’s the only Republican I’ve ever seen that can make the Bushes seem macho by comparison.
I guess we can depend on Romney to be the new spoiler in the Republican senate delegation. But boy will he get praise from the media. I wonder if they remember his binders full of women?
Ken Masugi has a post on resurgent nationalism and uses as a proof that even “reliable liberal E.J. Dionne, … makes apologies on behalf of nationalism.” in an article that Masugi quotes.
Well at least we don’t have to click on Dionne’s post. This tells you that the 2020 Dem candidates will be touting themselves as populists. Hah!
Here’s my retrospective on 2018, completely subjective of course and whenever I can’t make up my mind or I don’t want to leave something out I’ll cheat and provide more than one choice. And that’s one of the wonderful things about being the boss, you get to break the rules and do what you want.
Best Quotes of the Day
Some are political, some philosophical and some just human nature. The order is just chronological of their appearance on the site.
“In the many forms of government which have sprung up there has always been an acknowledgement of justice and proportionate equality, although mankind fail in attaining them, as indeed I have already explained. Democracy, for example, arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal.”
Aristotle
“No state will be well administered unless the middle class holds sway.”
Aristotle
“When there aren’t any smart decisions, I suppose you just have to pick the stupid decision you like best.”
Orson Scott Card
“No one likes the fellow who is all rogue, but we’ll forgive him almost anything if there is warmth of human sympathy underneath his rogueries. The immortal types of comedy are just such men.”
W. C. Fields
“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”
H.L. Mencken
Carpe diem! Seize the day! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think.
Horace
“And this is the simple truth – that to live is to feel oneself lost. He who accepts it has already begun to find himself, to be on firm ground. Instinctively, as do the shipwrecked, he will look around for something to which to cling, and that tragic, ruthless glance, absolutely sincere, because it is a question of his salvation, will cause him to bring order into the chaos of his life. These are the only genuine ideas; the ideas of the shipwrecked. All the rest is rhetoric, posturing, farce.”
Soren Kierkegaard
If civilization had been left in female hands we would still be living in grass huts.
Over the course of 2018 I read and reviewed all eight of the volumes in the main series (first volume linked above) and they only got better as the series went along. It was good old mil-sci-fi space opera. I assume I won’t live long enough to see the end of the series but so far that isn’t a problem. I look forward to the next installment soon and am in no way tired of this particular universe. Kudos to Anspach and Cole. Long may they stoke their dumpster fire at the Edge of the Galaxy!
Vega is an acquired taste for me and as I’ve written about him, “It’s for those who like gritty crime dramas with a staccato, post-modern, minimalist writing style.” Even though my tastes are a little more conventional I appreciate that there is an audience for the more unusual so I look around for interesting stuff. As I’ve said before, your call.
Non-Fiction
The two books listed below provide two different takes on the way to interpret the results of ancient DNA analysis.
“The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution” by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending
“Who We Are and How We Got Here; Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Past” by David Reich
David Reich being an academic embedded in the politically correct culture of the university system treads ever so gently around the edges of how the science of human genetic history should be interpreted. Cochran and Harpending are much more direct and sometimes possibly presumptuous in the conclusions they draw from the evidence. Both books together tell a fascinating story of how much we now know about the complex and diverse origins of the various human populations.
This is a kids’ movie but it far exceeds any of the other “superhero” movies for just plain entertainment value. I won’t say it was as original as the first installment but it mostly kept to the spirit of the original and provided a fun vehicle for parents (or grandparents) to enjoy a movie with their kids.
This is a twofer. For younger folks I’ll only recommend the new version by the Coen Brothers. For people who grew up on the John Wayne movies of old I recommend they view both movies back to back in chronological order. They each have facets to its advantage. Each differs slightly from the source material. But each is a fine movie. And I’ll also recommend the novel that is the source for the movies. It also has facets that aren’t available in either movie.
Music
Country Music
Album of the Year
Colter Wall by Colter Wall
Song of the Year
Pan Bowl by Sturgill Simpson
My music choices are very idiosyncratic so I won’t try to justify them. To paraphrase a recent annoying politician, they just reflect who I am Pan Bowl is an older song from Simpson’s 2014 album.
TV
The only truly notable television I watched in 2018 was the State of the Union address by the president. Everything else was at best just okay.
On – Line Articles
Here are the articles that I thought were informative on our political situation. There were many others that were intersting but these seem to encapsulate the developments in the political thinking this year. Basically it’s the red-pilling of the normies.
American Museum of Natural History, New York City, Sony NEX 5N, Sony 24mm F\1.8 APSC lensmacrophotography with Sony A7 III, Minolta 200mm f\4 macro lens and extension tubes, long horned beetleMonotropa uniflora, Indian pipe, ghost plant, corpse plant, Sony A7 III with Minolta 200mm f\4 Macro lensSony A7 III with the Sigma MC-11 Adapter and the Sigma 180mm f\2.8 APO Macro EX DG HSM OS for Canon
Well, here we are. Christmas is a fond memory and the do-nothing Republican led House is about to become the cannot-do-anything Democrat led House. President Trump is bringing home the troops from the Middle East and will let the partial government shutdown send the bureaucrats home without their big fat paychecks.
I’ll have to read up on the actual constraints of shutting down the government. I’m guessing the military will have sufficient funds to fuel jets and feed troops. I don’t know what happens to Social Security checks and Medicare bills. Both sides are making noises about who will pay the price for turning out the lights in D.C. and filling in the Grand Canyon during the hiatus. Several people on our side of the divide have opined that since most of the civil service are Democrat supporters this will hurt them more than us and will bring them to the bargaining table first. Sounds plausible.
I’m guessing that Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi will be the brokers on their side. And I’m wondering if the “Dreamers” will be the carrot that will be waived to get the wall built. I’m hoping that they won’t be given any amnesty. It’s just too slippery a slope. Before you know it everyone in the Third World will be identified as a Dreamer.
More importantly, what will be the path forward to evicting the tens of millions of squatters who currently inhabit the country? At some point it has to be started if the wall is to have any meaning. Enforcing the current immigration laws has to be part of any strategy to secure the border and return authority over the country to the legal residents. And since it is already within existing legislation to do it, no battles in Congress are necessary. All that is needed is the will and control over the bureaucracy and law enforcement agents whose job it is to carry out these existing policies.
I say this as if it were easy. It’s not. Currently the Justice Department isn’t even under the control of the President. He must first get his Attorney General appointed and the mutinous crew currently running the various agencies fired and out of the buildings. Then he has to find capable honest people to take their places and doing the job. I don’t envy him the task. It’s enormous.
It should be a very interesting January. A few weeks without their paychecks should focus the minds of a lot of bureaucrats and hopefully make them more receptive to cutting a deal over immigration. This will also be a real test of President Trump. Battling Congress and dealing with his executive branch mutiny, not to mention the Mueller comedy is a titanic assignment. I think he is up to the challenge and I wish him all the luck and success he can get. Maybe it’s just the lingering Christmas food glow but somehow, I’m feeling optimistic. We’ll probably know by Valentine’s Day who wins the game of chicken.
Professor Gunnar Heinsohn provides a primer on how explosive population growth in moslem middle eastern countries makes employing small groups of American soldiers as peace keepers tantamount to suicide with no possible useful outcome as an offset. Once again Trump is the realistic grown-up in the room.
I used to read Jonah Goldberg and am not as adamant in my condemnation of him as I am for the more traitorous neo-cons like Max Boot and Bill Kristol. But it is always useful to read the most severe critics of the neocons. There is a lot to be condemned.
Roger Kimball has a very nice article on the Wall Funding / Government Shutdown intersection. Remembering the G H W Bush, Read My Lips fail is very instructive. This is could be a decisive moment in the Trump presidency.
Last week was the mockery of the Weekly Standard closing. This week he tweaks the Press when their White House “Holiday” Party gets deep sixed. Ho – Ho – Ho.
I was talking to a friend at work who is right wing guy. He is definitely more pessimistic than I am at this point. He was talking about events and how bleak things looked to him. I tried to cheer him up by reminding him that the press does a cyclic “Mueller is going to jail Trump” thing every month or so and it doesn’t make much sense getting worried about it. But he was just generally discouraged and stressed that the way things were going there was no way things would get better. I couldn’t tell him that I believed that we would definitely prevail against the Left because that would be overly optimistic. But I told him that I wasn’t going to despair even if we don’t beat the Left in the next few years. What I said was that if all else fails it’s our job to protect our own families from being propagandized and destroyed by the Left. He agreed but was extremely negative about the future. I ended by saying that at least we would know soon enough which way things will go because Trump is the strongest card we have to play. If he fails, we can’t expect a better chance to come along. With this he agreed.
I got to thinking about this while I was driving home. It really is true. President Trump is the last best hope we have of prevailing in the foreseeable future. If he fails, we’re each on our own. If we can form some kind of underground it will be a grass roots business with small groups based on friendship and family connections. Larger than that will leave it open to the type of surveillance that the security apparatus has perfected. To expand beyond that will take community building that resembles a religious group. We know that the government has already shown its willingness to harass religious groups in any way it wants. But that is probably still the best way to grow a grassroots movement. It provides a way to meet and socialize. The idea of founding a fraternal organizational that allows people to preserve the traditional beliefs and share in community activities appeals to me strongly. It could have all kinds of worthwhile and fun activities. And I just want to state for the record that although I am willing to accept the title of Grand Master, I absolutely refuse to wear a fez.
All kidding aside, it is without a doubt the case that if President Trump is defeated, we must assume that controlling the government won’t be an avenue for preserving traditional life. I’ll take it to mean that the dissident right is correct in thinking that the United States as we knew it, no longer exists. That’s a sobering thought.
Okay, enough gloom and doom. Now let’s accentuate the positive. Trump is President and didn’t let the maniacs bust through the southern border. He says he’ll get the army to build the wall if needed. And he yelled at Nancy Pelosi and Cryin’ Chuck Schumer at the White House this week. He is still providing quality entertainment while defying our enemies. And even if Trump is succeeding, it doesn’t mean I can’t declare myself the Grand Poobah anyway.
Dramatis Personae: Robert Iger – (RI); The Ghost of Walt Disney – (GWD); Steven Spielberg – (SS); Robert De Niro – (RD); President Trump – (PT);
Scene 1 – Robert Iger’s Office, Steven Spielberg and Robert DeNiro are sitting facing Iger’s desk.
RI – Look Steve and Bob we’ve got to do something about this Oscar mess. ABC is hosting the Oscars this year and we’re depending on the ratings to get us through the doldrums between the Superbowl and Spring training. And considering the money we’re losing on the ESPN fiasco we need this bad.
SS – Robert, why don’t we have Bob over here do the hosting? Everyone loves him. He’d be great.
RD – Yeah, Robert, I’ll kill it. I can start out with a Trump bash and end up with a #MeToo medley of monsters we’ve purged this year.
RI – Are you insane? We’re trying to expand our base beyond the weirdos and cat ladies. Can’t you try and be human?
SS – Robert, what’s wrong with playing to our base?
RI – Look, other than Marvel superhero movies and cartoons this studio hasn’t made a dime on any of these other pictures in years. We’ve got to start bringing in normal people soon or I’m going to sell off the other business to China and just keep Pixar and Marvel. Now who do we have who can bring in the normies?
SS – How about Tom Hanks?
RD – No good. Back when he was doing Bosom Buddies, he called his co-star a fruit while the camera was rolling. That’s hate speech.
RI – Great Caesar’s Ghost! Doesn’t GLAAD ever take a break?
SS – I’m sorry Robert, Tom was our last straight man that hasn’t been #MeToo’ed.
RI – Alright you two idiots, get out of here. I’ve got to have some quiet so I can think.
Scene 2 – Robert Iger’s bedroom that same night. Iger in his bed alone talking to himself.
RI – What can I do? I’ve tried every actor, singer, politician and intellectual in the country and every one is either compromised or unwilling. What can I do, what can I do.
Suddenly the ghost of Walt Disney appears over Iger’s bed.
GWD – Iger, you idiot, how did such a loser end up running my company?
RI – Is that really you Walt Disney?
GWD – No I’m Tupac Shakur. Of course, it’s me, you idiot. You’ve got a life size picture of me on your office wall. What’s the matter, are you blind?
RI – I just can’t believe you’re really here.
GWD – Well, it’s not as if I had a choice. I can’t let a congenital imbecile like you chloroform my company.
RI – But what can I do? The only man who isn’t afraid of #MeToo is Rosie ODonnell.
GWD – The answer is staring you in the face. (Disney punches Iger between the eyes) And when you wake up you’ll have the answer.
Scene 3 – Host’s Dais at the Dolby Theater for the Oscars. President Trump walks to the microphone to the sound of screams and boos.
PT – Good evening weirdos and losers of Hollywood. I’m here because I’m the only living man in these United States who isn’t afraid of the Outrage Police. So, I’ve been tasked with announcing the nominees and keeping it under four hours.
Well I can do a lot better than that. How about four minutes? All you need to know is that no one who voted for me will see a single one of the pictures you’ve nominated. And I’ll tell you something else. If you don’t start making movies like they did in the last century you’ll be lucky if the Oscars make it to the next decade. My vote is for Deadpool 2. Oh, and DeNiro, you suck. Trump out.
