Enjoying the view from Limbo
There is no point in trying to explain any of this, but perhaps by placing it all out there in some semblance of order, a coherent picture will emerge in someone’s mind — preferably not the picture that keeps trying to form in my mind as I look at all of it. Donald Trump summarily canceled sanctions his own administration had leveled against...
What is Progressivism? / World Politics
by Daren Jonescu · Published March 21, 2019 · Last modified March 24, 2019
Less than one week after an empty shell of a man shot dozens of innocent people in Christchurch, New Zealand, that country’s prime minister has announced a ban on “military-style semi-automatic and assault rifles in tough new gun laws.” “Tough new gun laws” is the sort of phraseology the progressive media uses to suggest a brave leader’s no-nonsense approach to justice, thereby masking...
A young Australian man has shot dozens of people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing most of them. The U.S. media, as is their wont, is keen to blame this on Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association, of course. And that is what the young killer wanted them to do, as he explicitly states in his written explanation of the...
Lindsey Graham, who is either a brave American patriot or a weak-kneed traitor to the republic, depending on whether the Trumpanzees think he is agreeing with Trump this week or not, is currently back in the traitor category again — though in fact he is once again agreeing with Trump. Remember, his status is determined by whether the Trump cult thinks he is...
Within the past week, Donald Trump has promised to shut down the government if he does not get funding for his meaningless Wall, and then conceded that of course he is not going to shut down the government, and will support a temporary solution that provides no funding for a wall. He has proudly vowed to proceed with phase two of his massive...
A mass handgun shooting in the city that, in an early example of its typical self-congratulatory and delusional smugness, has long called itself “Toronto the Good,” has just raised this year’s gun murder tally in the city to 27, with another 82 injured. As HuffPost Canada reports: Just after 10 p.m. ET, gunfire was reported in the Danforth and Logan area, which is...
A man has killed ten innocent pedestrians in Toronto in a style of mass killing that has been occurring with increasing frequency in recent years, the vehicular attack. Each time, public officials speak gravely about the terrible loss of life, and about how this sort of crime has to stop. But each time, they blissfully ignore the root of the problem: vans. Every...
Ideas and Reflections / Liberty's Labors Lost
by Daren Jonescu · Published March 31, 2018 · Last modified April 2, 2018
Dear David, (We boring adults typically begin correspondence with expressions like “Dear So-and-So,” even when addressing a person with whom we have strong disputes. We call it being civil, i.e., decent and respectful even toward those with whom one disagrees. Civility seems the most effective and mature pattern of behavior when dealing with others in most contexts, particularly as an alternative to things...
The state of Florida, responding to pressure from the leftist news media, leftist protesters, and leftist-indoctrinated teenagers, has passed a law supposedly aimed at preventing school shootings like the one in Parkland. The new law is a perfect example of the progressive ratchet in action: Government causes a problem, then decrees that the only solution to the problem is more government. Under this...
Over the past week, Donald Trump has: recommended ignoring the due process rights of American citizens deemed (by someone) to be “a potential danger to themselves or others,” in favor of confiscating the person’s firearms and “any weapons”; boasted of being able to ban a certain kind of gun accessory (bump stocks) on his own, without having to go through Congress; accused Republican...
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