Category Archives: Media Criticism

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

OK, Does Trump Have The Goods?

21 Comments

…or is he just continuing to bluff out a poker hand?

In an interview with the Associated Press, Trump alleged that Mr. Obama had been “a terrible student,” and wondered how he could have been accepted to prestigious schools like Columbia and Harvard Universities.

“I heard he was a terrible student, terrible,” Trump told the AP. “How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard? I’m thinking about it, I’m certainly looking into it. Let him show his records.”

I would be very depressed about a choice between Obama and Trump, about as much as I was with the choice last time (partly depending on running mate — Palin was the only saving grace of the ticket), but I am popping lots of corn right now. Notwithstanding my current restrictions for salt and carbs…

If what I suspect is the truth eventually comes out, it will be a horrific indictment of affirmative action, which in this case may have resulted in the Peter Principle being accelerated to the nth power, having been instituted by the entire electorate. On the other hand, it may have inoculated the nation from making such a mistake again for decades. On the gripping hand, it will be bad news for good black candidates for decades, as I warned Obama supporters at the time.

[Update Monday evening[

But don’t say he’s not a conservative! Trump gave fifty grand to Rahm Emmanuel’s mayoral campaign. He must think that Republicans are stupid. Sadly, there’s a lot of evidence to support his belief.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Space, Technology and Society

Just A Right-Wing Fantasy

5 Comments

No, of course Atlas Shrugged has nothing to do with life in modern America:

Ah, that must be the Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Law, or one of the Fairness Laws, or something, right? The WSJ isn’t sure what law the NLRB is talking about, either. Not only do businesses routinely relocate to find the most advantageous environment possible, states and cities compete for that business by calculating their business climate. If this has escaped the notice of the NLRB, perhaps they should get out more.

This will be an important court case, assuming it’s fought. Then again, it’s hard to feel too bad for Boeing — as Mickey says, live by crony capitalism, die by crony capitalism. Sadly, we’ve also seen this sort of corporatism/fascism wasting our space dollars as well, in addition to inhibiting innovation.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

Thoughts On Muslim Charity

7 Comments

…and fake “reformers”:

Sura 9:60 explicitly says that one category of Muslims to whom alms are to be given is those toiling “in the cause of Allah.” This passage is interpreted by classical Islamic scholarship to refer to those engaged in violent jihadist operations — a proposition for which I cite Reliance of the Traveller and the annotations to the official Saudi version of the Koran that interpret sura 9:60.

It is not an answer to this to say, as Ms. Qudosi does, “I am not an Islamic scholar.” She makes that concession, by the way, in order chastise National Review because “all it takes is a little bit of research and fact-checking to make sure you know what you’re talking about, rather than indulging in bigoted statements that ensure higher readership among a fringe audience.” But who is the one who has failed to do the research and fact-checking? I’d be delighted if Ms. Qudosi’s jihad-bleached version of Islam enjoyed such broad acceptance among Muslims that the interpretation I am writing about could be described as “fringe.” Unfortunately, it is accepted by millions of Muslims the world over, precisely because it represents the Islam of authoritative Islamic scholars and jurisprudents. Saying, “I’m not a scholar,” and putting your head in the sand rather than giving us a compelling reason why these scholars have it wrong may win you applause from Westerners desperate to be convinced, or from Muslims whose idea of “reform” is to pretend that the bad stuff is not in the doctrine. But it is not going to get you anywhere with the millions of Muslims who believe al-Azhar sheikhs and other scholars who’ve spent their lives studying authoritative sources like Reliance of the Traveller are a more reliable guide.

If it were only them sticking their heads in the sand, it would be one thing, but they insist that we all do.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society

Earth Day Thoughts

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Steven Hayward:

The ultimate reason environmental conditions in the U.S. have improved so much is economic prosperity and technological innovation. Of course regulation has played a role, but the problem is that our style of environmental regulation relates to the improvements in real conditions in much the same way that police brutality pushes down the crime rate (in other words, the EPA is the environmental equivalent of rogue cops). If you drop back and look at the data for the whole world (as I do in the Introduction to the Almanac), you will see that the nations with the best environmental conditions are those with strong property rights, economic freedom, and prosperity — three things environmentalists hate or define so narrowly as to be meaningless. The nations with the worst environmental conditions are poor and without property rights and economic freedom.

They love the “earth” more than they do their fellow humans. And they indoctrinate our children in their religion under the guise of “science.”

[Update a few minutes later]

A penitent CNN reporter confesses to his eco-sins. But don’t call it a religion!

[Update Saturday afternoon]

Breaking up over religious differences:

Sam started writing on my Facebook wall and sent me flirty messages packed with our inside jokes. Soon, we were messaging every other day. It was like old times, except, you know, without the sex.

But one day, I logged on and saw that he had weighed in on a virtual debate and assumed a staunch position.

“Global warming isn’t scientifically proven,” he wrote.

WHAT??? Does he think the world is flat, too? I thought in horror. I’m from California. I’ve been recycling and saving dolphins since I was in the womb. Suddenly, memories came rushing back to me like a horrible movie montage: The arguments we had about hybrid cars—he contended that it didn’t make a damn difference, since car companies still pollute in other ways. I thought he was just defensive about his decidedly not-green race car. And the way he would constantly rib on Al Gore, even after “An Inconvenient Truth” won the Academy Award… He was always so skeptical about the merits of organic food, too. And, hey, did he even have a recycling bin?!

And poof! Just like that, my desire for him zoomed off into the sunset. We’re still in touch, but we’re not going to get touchy-feely again.

He’s better off without her.

[Bumped]

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

The Obama Likeability Gap

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Thoughts from Dan Henninger.

I have to say that I’ve never found him that likeable. Of course, I saw through the con early on. I just didn’t realize how many others didn’t.

And I think he’s got this wrong, though it’s still the conventional wisdom:

In 2007-08, Obama’s high-toned, consistent persona was everything. What else was there? Barack Obama took a blank slate and wrote a masterpiece of a presidential campaign across it. From nothing, this fresh Obama persona defeated the familiar, experienced Hillary Clinton in the primaries. In the general election, he ran famously on “hope and change,” gave a stirring speech on race in America, and persuaded enough moderate and independent voters to turn 2008 into a “historic” American election.

I disagree that the campaign was a “masterpiece.” He beat Hillary because the Democrats wanted an alternative, and he beat McCain because he ran an awful campaign, and the voters were tired of Republicans after Bush. Not to mention the affirmative action factor. And as Henninger points out, 53% wasn’t exactly a landslide. Now that the voters have affirmed their non-racism by electing him once, they’ll feel no further need to validate it next year.

[Update a couple minutes later]

The Jurassic president.