Good Morning, and Go Red Sox!
The cognitive dissonance scale will come in handy today:
1 Cultural incompetence. “First Man,” about the first landing on the Moon, is a bust at the box office, and that result should have been completely predictable to anyone who has any sense at all about U.S. culture. Maybe if Hollywood loses enough money, it will figure out that its role is to celebrate and contribute to U.S. culture and values, not to trash them. The decision to omit the planting of the flag on the moon may have been rationalized as an artistic choice, but it resonated as a tone-deaf (at best) or obnoxious political one. That blurry, stiffened flag on the Moon is certainly one of my most vivid memories of the event—why would any film excise it, unless it was trying to make an anti-patriotic statement? Writes lonely Hollywood conservative critic Christian Toto:
Why did it matter? That moon walk represented a monumental U.S. victory. The moment gave the U.S. a decisive space race blow against the Soviets. Armstrong’s heroism completed President John F. Kennedy’s vow to reach the moon by decade’s end. The flag mattered.
Well, of course. The real question is, how estranged from their own nation and history must the filmmakers be not to know this? The American flag, American achievements, American pride, and patriotism are all high on the CD scale for most citizens and movie-goers except for the most estranged and anti-democratic of our education system’s victims. Openly opposing them drives the messenger down the scale.
(The film’s British co-star, Claire Foy, calling President Trump “the penis of America” in an interview probably didn’t help either.)
2. Translation: “We are really, really stupid, shameless and desperate!” PETA has launched an anti-milk campaign attempting to link the beverage to white supremacy, tweeting “Cows’ milk has long been a symbol used by white supremacists. One more reason to #DitchDairy” and blogging,
“Aside from ‘lactose-tolerant’ white supremacists, cow’s milk really is the perfect drink of choice for all (even unwitting) supremacists, since the dairy industry inflicts extreme violence on other living beings. PETA is trying to wake people up to the implications of choosing this white beverage and suggesting that they choose something else pronto.”
Of course, this is just Cognitive Dissonance Scale gaming 101. Democrats and the left-biased news media have tried to use the white supremacy smear to attack President Trump and conservatives, but the scale didn’t get used the way they hoped. Instead of linking the President to racism and dragging his scale ranking down, they linked themselves to dishonest race-baiting and unscrupulous name-calling, both very low on the scale, and dragged themselves down the scale.
Morons.
3. Did Republicans recruit the migrant mob? If they didn’t, they might as well have. A hoard of South Americans openly intending to defy U.S. law and force their way across the boarder, looking for all the world like one of the deadly “herds” of zombies that periodically menace the heroes of “The Walking Dead” and “Fear the Walking Dead” …
could not provide a better illustration of why the progressive position on illegal immigration is nuts, and thus indefensible. It is amusing watching the mainstream media trying to spin the unspinnable: these are people openly planning on defying U.S. sovereignty and law, and they think they can get away with it because of the irresponsible rhetoric of Democrats and shills like David Hogg, who told a college audience that the U.S. is “stolen land” and thus illegal immigration is justified.
Cognitive dissonance scale analysis: Hoards of non-citizens trying to force themselves across our boarders are low on the scale, in deep negative numbers, like zombies. Those who rationalize, justify or support them will be pulled lower on the scale by associating themselves with them.
4. The Good/Bad/Good/I’m so confused! illegal immigrant saga. Remember that illegal immigrant pizza delivery man whose arrest for defying a deportation order was attacked by illegal immigration advocates, like the New York Times? A criminal complaint now alleges that Pablo Villavicencio pushed his wife against a wall, slapped her and grabbed her phone to keep her from calling police. How do progressives keep all of their rules straight? Doesn’t the complainant, his wife, have a right to be believed? Isn’t domestic abuse a serious crime, or does being a Good Illegal Immigrant trump assaulting women? I can’t figure out the Left’s cognitive dissonance scale at all. Should all male citizens accused of domestic abuse be deported, and illegal immigrant spousal abusers stay? Should illegal immigrant families be kept together even when it means that the family is going to get beaten up? Are good illegal immigrants still good after committing crimes? Do progressives ever bother about consistency and integrity at all?
5. A Nation of Assholes update. I warned you!
- A man who twice groped a sleeping woman on a plane, fondling her breasts, argued that it was OK because President Trump said so. The rationalizations and fallacies this guy is accessing are impressive—appeal to authority, the unethical role model, many others—but the fact is that President Trump never said anything of the kind, and even his years- old, over-heard and videoed discussion with Billy Bush didn’t say doing what this creep did was “OK.”
But such distortions are predictable when the elected national role model has such a massive character deficit and doesn’t try to hide it.
- Scott Wallace, a Democratic congressional candidate in Pennsylvania, said “Ah, fuck!” during a debate with his Republican opponent, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R- Pa.)at Congregation Tifereth Israel in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The candidates were standing on the synagogue’s bimah, an elevated platform used for reading the Torah during services.
Nice!
“Ironically, there was a later question about the need for civility in politics,” Fitzpatrick told reporters afterwards. “Well, a good start is to not use vulgarities in the sanctuary of a synagogue in the middle of a congressional debate.” Wallace released a statement on Monday “explaining” his remark:
“I was exasperated by yet another attempt from Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick to hide from his votes to take away protections for people with pre-existing conditions. I apologize for any offense that might have been taken, I am passionate about protecting people from insurance company abuses, and I’m sorry that in this instance, my frustration got the best of me.”
On the apology scale, this is a 9 or a 10, which is to say, a lousy and unethical apology. Adults and public servants are supposed to eb able to remain civil in public: “I was exasperated/I’m passionate/ I’m frustrated” may be an explanation when a 13-year-old acts out, but it’s no excuse for a candidate for Congress.
Cognitive dissonance scale analysis: If the Democrats fail to take Congress, it will be because the party has grabbed a hold of multiple low-scale behaviors and positions, in this case, talking like a street punk.
Ethics Alarms 
2#- I wonder if PETA is aware that the whole “milk is a symbol of white supremacy” was a hilarious troll unleashed upon the gullible progressive media by the folks of 4chan, and ranks up there on the hilarity scale of other trolls swallowed hook line and sinker by the media such as:
-The ‘OK sign’ meaning “White Power”
-The ‘Peace sign’ symbolizing “Only 2 genders”
-The ‘Thumbs Up’ gesture symbolizing the infamous “14 Words”
To think that there are still people in the media and the general public who believe this…….it saddens me, but also makes me laugh quite heartily.
To quote The Comedian-“It’s a joke…It’s all a joke….”
There’s already a standard progressive response to this fact, to wit:
“It started as a joke but real white supremacists adopted it too. In fact, they deliberately adopted the joke as their real coded symbol so they can gaslight us and use it as a white supremacy symbol and then say we’re idiots because it’s just a joke.”
So as it turns out, the fact that it’s a dumb troll joke with no basis in reality doesn’t damage the accusations, it PROVES that it’s all a Nazi plot!
In other words, the classic “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”
Alinsky tactics
Indeed.
It almost harkens back to the Salem Witch Trials, with the reasoning that, “Only a true witch would deny being a witch!”
Anyone who strays from the liberal plantation’s ideas will be called a ‘white supremacist’. After calling anyone who disagreed with them ‘racist’, for so many years, people have gone numb to that label. “White Supremacist” is the new racist. For fun, I looked up t-shirt racist on Goggle. The top images were t-shirts that said “Racist: someone who wins an argument against a liberal”, “Don’t Call Me White: It represents everything I hate”, “All White People Are Racist”, “We Don’t Have An Immigration Problem, We Have A Racism Problem”, “This Is My Nazi Punching Shirt”, and “It Doesn’t Matter What This Shirt Says, Liberals Will Still Say It’s Racist”. You can really see the divide between people who insist anyone who disagrees with them is racist and people who have become numb to that game. I hope everyone becomes numb to ‘white supremacist’, ‘white nationalist’, and ‘alt-right’ as well. As for me, I now need to order the T-shirt that says “Meat is Murder…tasty, tasty murder”.
PETA is People Eating Tasty Animals
#1. Those of us old enough to remember took great pride in such a marvelous accomplishment for science and – quite naturally – the height of the Cold War. Another sanitized version of history. Good thing it was a flag and not a statue.
#2. This one is beyond all reasoning. I tossed away my milk bottle at three and never went back, but I may just do that today. But I do love ice cream so somehow that may be in the SJW equation Du Jour. If I have a chocolate cone and I making some type of racial statement? As noted the whole item is manufactured.
#3. Migrants. Refugees. Immigrants. Families in need. Humanitarian seekers. Employment seekers. Victims of (fill in the blank). That is what I have seen/read the last few days. Guess I should avoid CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NYT, Boston Globe.
#1 I wish it was a statue. We’d have an awesome space race trying to be the liberal group to topple it.
No such program conceived and executed by liberals would ever make it into space. Look at how all the progressive initiatives have turned out: I would not ride a rocket turned out by such as these…
Careful now, Kennedy was not exactly conservative. Further caution, SpaceX is doing amazing things and is run by Elon Musk; someone who is quite friendly with the concept of socialism. Our successful space program was government created and run.
Slick, you and I agree on many issues, but we shouldn’t paint with too broad a brush.
Fair points, but in both cases the progressive idiocy was not a factor. Kennedy was to the right of Reagan on many policies, and SpaceX does not allow fantasy to dictate sound engineering, therefore is not run by progressives QED. Musk is a figurehead who has little touch with running that company.
Still, the ‘too broad a brush’ comment is valid. I am not feeling charitable toward progressives of late.
SpaceX receives massive government grants, does it not?
No, spaceX does not receive government grants. They’re launching satellites and hauling cargo to the space station for the government at a lower price than anyone else can.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html
?
That looks like a grant to me!
a)Looks like our government trying to pick winners and losers through subsidies. Sadly, an all too common practice these past few decades.
b)States have been bidding to secure (mostly) manufacturing plants for quite a while as well. Also see the bidding for Amazon’s new HQ. Many arguments pro and con about this practice, but it’s very widespread.
I wouldn’t characterize either of these practices as ‘government grants’ in what I think is the generally accepted mean of the phrase, but I would point to them as a problem in our society.
I am not old enough to remember that historical day of man landing on the Moon, but I still view it as not only a great accomplishment for humanity, but a great AMERICAN accomplishment.
No amount of revisionist or historical omission is going to change that.
“No amount of revisionist or historical omission is going to change that.”
Fun historic fact and periodic reminder of the duty for politicians to retire:
Our oldest member of the Supreme Court was born closer in time to the Battle of Churubusco than to the present.
The oldest members of Congress were born closer to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law than to the present.
On #5a, I thought the “One Free Grope” rule was already established under Bill Clinton? Or did #MeToo finally overturn that ruling?
re: #5
Although one could argue that Al Franken did.
Franken lead, er, groped by example.
Harrumpf,
I looking forward to “First Man”, half expecting it to use the recently restored HD version of the actual moon footage of the first steps and flag….
They could even use the same sound stage.
Boy are YOU bad…
Looking to make a killing by telling the nutjobs that their tinfoil expires every 24 hours, and they need to buy new hat making material from you more often?
🙂
But the Magic Bullet!
1. Piss on common traditional American values, lose money at the box office. I see no downside here. Hollywood needs us, common Americans, to buy their product. Writing off over half of Americans has not worked well for Democrats, nor will it for Hollywood.
2. “Milk is racist” unless it comes from black cows? How does this work? What if the cows are white spotted with black blotches? Black with white blotches? Should we, ala’ organic produce, have a seal of approval for milk, saying it came from ‘woke’ cows? Why can’t we just judge the cows by the content of their character, and not the color of their hide?
Is chocolate milk okay? Almond milk? Soy milk? Are soy beans racist? So much to worry about…
3. I have heard that there are very few women and children in this mob. Marxists from Honduras is what I heard on the radio this morning, that are being trucked between photo ops.
Notice that there are strollers. Such could not stand up to a 2,000 mile journey. Note that someone has to be financing this, as water, food, medical care, and sanitation facilities all cost money along the way. Someone sent a bomb to Soros this week: I wonder if this is why?
What about the muslims and MS-13 members we have heard of infiltrating the mob? Fromthe Canada Free Press:
https://canadafreepress.com/article/honduran-caravan-includes-military-aged-male-migrants-from-bangladesh-haiti
The MSM is gaslighting the American Public on who these people are and what they want.
4. Progressives care not a whit about those who are ‘collateral damage’ in their quest for political power. All that matters is the ends justifying the means, and the means are whatever pushes them closer to totalitarian control in this moment. They virtue signal when it makes them look good, and leave others to clean up the mess they have made in broken human lives. Change my mind.
5. Seems that this was all that dastardly Republican’s fault: “he made me mad, so I lost my civility”
“If the Democrats fail to take Congress, it will be because the party has grabbed a hold of multiple low-scale behaviors and positions, in this case, talking like a street punk.”
If Democrats take Congress, it is a sign that Americans deserve what they will get: supporting a party that acts as Democrats have is signature significance of apathy or stupidity.
6. There is no number 6
Re: No. 3:
No, Rich in CT. Last night on CNN, Anderson Cooper conclusively established/declared that there are no terrorists, gang members, or other nefarious sorts in and among the Migrant Caravans. In fact, he dismissed the suggestion as absolutely ridiculous. Moreover, these Caravaners are merely coming to the US in search of safety, better lives and futures for their children.
They are absolutely not coming here in droves to break US immigration laws. No. They are noble. In fact, they are better than you, me, and anyone else unfortunate enough to have been born in the US and impose their white, racist, male, heteronormative, Islamophobic, xenophobic,cysgneder, and misogynist (did I forget anyone?) power structures on the rest of the world; these are the same people arrogant enough to believe that the US alone conquered space by planting that silly banner on the Moon, thereby polluting the last know frontier with its hegemonic ways. Check your privilege, mate, or be crushed against the right side of history.
jvb
Anderson Cooper can BITE ME.
But that has been a true statement for years…
“PETA is trying to wake people up to the implications of choosing this white beverage and suggesting that they choose something else pronto.”
The soy jokes write themselves.
2. Out of curiosity, what do people think of the illegal immigration from Guatemala into Mexico?
Also, Jack, did you get my email the other day?
I’m debating running a poll on twitter—
Texans, would you rather stop a flow of 7,000 refugees from Honduras or 7,000 refugees from California?
You wouldn’t have a choice of the latter, Mistah West. Not over my cold, dead body clutching in rigors of stubbornness the last crisp cannabis leaf in the city of San Francisco in one hand and the last tattered rainbow flag in the other. No, sir! … Colorado maybe, but Texas? NEVER!
Ha!
“Colorado maybe, but Texas? NEVER!”
I fully endorse this message. I am slickwilly, lifelong Texan and running for the office of wizard-in-residence.
(Luv ya, Penn!)
I’d vote for ya, but I can’t cross into Texas, baby!
“Texans, would you rather stop a flow of 7,000 refugees from Honduras or 7,000 refugees from California?”
Easy. Honduras is at least a somewhat allied nation.
On top of that, historically, Hondurans have shown a greater aptitude AND desire to assimilate and adopt American values than have Californians.
I know, right?
Maybe so. But Californians have never started a war with El Salvador. As I recall, a few presidents back . . .
Ever heard of the cruise missile that destroyed an aspirin factory, in an attempted diversion from a certain sexual act in the Oval Office?
Not that I know of. I’ll check.
3) I wonder if the essential fear of massive waves of immigration is rooted in an essential assumption on the Right that our previously reliable institutions of assimilation are broken. Or worse, actually encourage non-assimilation or non-espousal of non-American values.
My gut tells me, given the state of education and the state of the media, that their fears are justified.
I think the Market itself goes along way in assimilating and infusing many American values into immigrants, but I don’t think it captures the whole heart and mind.
How is assimilation broken?
Someone dropped it on the floor.
#3 If this has already been covered above sorry; I’m limited on time to read a lot these days.
Someone please explain the Posse Comitatus Act in some detail and how it could possibly apply to this massive caravan of migrants heading towards the United States with the intent of physically overwhelming the United States international border and literally invade, yes invade, the United States of America?
If my understanding of the Posse Comitatus Act is even remotely correct; I think that this 7000+ caravan of invading migrants (and the smaller second one that is reported to be growing behind it) is likely a planned political maneuver by the political left to use potential migrants as political pawns and it’s orchestrated by activists inspiring those potential migrants to come en masse as pawns to intentionally force Trumps hand to stop a literal mass invasion at our international border using the military in an attempt to entrap Trump into improperly utilizing the United States military to enforce domestic law, that is of course if immigration law is actually considered domestic law.
Nice run-on sentence there Zoltar. This also has the potential of creating an international border skirmish incident between armed law enforcement and military and unarmed political pawn migrants. Trump should be very careful in how he deals with this.
If it’s even possible, I’d like the FBI to investigate how this massive caravan and the one following it was formed, there may be some real collusion between United States immigration activist citizens and foreign nationals to invade the United States. This is NOT spontaneous, this is planned.
#1 I was dragged to the movie, I really didn’t like it very much.
#2 PETA have their pompous heads buried up their own ass so far that they’ll likely never ever see the sunlight again; absolutely nothing they do surprises me. Have you ever met and heard some of these people talk the talk, I have; they’re walking, talking examples of you can’t fix stupid.
#4 Jack asked, “Do progressives ever bother about consistency and integrity at all?”
The answer is no. It’s all ends justifies the means for Progressives and it’s infecting our entire society.
#5 Our growing Nation of Assholes is only going to get worse, first because people in general are assholes but they keep it non-public, and second because it’s become socially acceptable to publicly release your inner asshole, it’s as if it’s a badge of honor now.
1. “Drag Me To Hell”—now THAT’S a fun movie! I recommend it highly.
Jack Marshall wrote, ” “Drag Me To Hell”—now THAT’S a fun movie! I recommend it highly.”
I’m not much for the thriller genre. Based on your recommendation I just watched the trailer, interesting plot, I might watch this one.
It is a Sam Raimi creation, he that gave us the Evil Dead films, Xena and the first Spiderman. Horror with humor. Tough to pull off, but he’s a master at it.
I wonder if these people side with the far right in Europe.
After all, European land is not stolen, and the far right merely wants to stop foreigners from stealing European land.