I remember former Interior Secretary James Watt well: he was the most embarrassing Reagan appointee, a far right religious fanatic who was incapable of knowing when to keep his faith out his duties, or when to shut up. When he accused the Beach Boys of being poor representatives of the U.S. in the July 4th celebration on the Mall and recommended Wayne Newton as a replacement, I realized he was the kind of reactionary extremist that gave conservatives a bad name, and that he was so estranged from the U.S. culture that he wouldn’t last. He didn’t.

But the New York Times obituary demonstrates how even wackos in the throes of paranoia about progressives can prove prophetic, and how the current extremist Left—like the Times—can’t perceive the problems with their own obsessions.

Ann’s readers manage to touch on anything else I could say. You’ll enjoy their analysis.

I suspect that there are quite a few companies that I would have to cease dealing with if I investigated their charitable contributions and the activities of their foundations. Maybe I should. Maybe it’s irresponsible not to. However, I don’t use Target enough for the objects of its generosity to get priority over the sock drawer. Now that I know, however—well, as Kramer says in “The Contest,” “I’m out.”

Fox News’ investigation—it wasn’t hard— found that Target’s nonprofit foundation has funded the NDN Collective, a South Dakota-based nonprofit that approaches its mission with a “racial equity lens,” being “dedicated to building Indigenous power [t]hrough organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking… and narrative change.” NDN embraces “intersectionality,” a critical race theory staple, holding that America is poisoned with structurally racist and misogynistic systems, that combine to create persistent cultural persecution. The organization’s “LANDBACK” campaign, a parallel movement to reparations for slavery, wants the U.S. to give back its public lands.”The closure of Mount Rushmore, return of that land and all public lands in the Black Hills, South Dakota is our cornerstone battle,” NDN proclaims. “Not only does Mount Rushmore sit in the heart of the sacred Black Hills, but it is an international symbol of White supremacy and colonization. To truly dismantle white supremacy and systems of oppression, we have to go back to the roots. Which, for us, is putting Indigenous Lands back in Indigenous hands.”

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It was a very lively weekend here at Ethics Alarms, though few but the most hardy regulars chose to partake in it (as usual on weekends). Meanwhile, a backlog of impressive proportions started clogging the canal, so I have little choice but to do a multi-issue post despite my pledge to cut down on them (too much time to write, too few readers).

Among the weekend’s joys for me was a barrage of insulting and woke-intense attempted comments from a single ideologue, attacking nine separate posts with standard issue progressive talking points and “it isn’t what it is” rants. I especially enjoyed being called a racist because I wrote this in the post about ESPN’s Stephen A Smith:

If anyone would be thrilled to excuse black culture malignancy by crying “systemic racism,” it would be Smith. Instead, the amazing number of shootings in Chicago over the Memorial Day Weekend prompted Smith to ask the black community: “When are we going to look at ourselves when it comes to black people being killed in the streets of America?”

The destructive nature of American black culture has been a topic of scholarship and analysis by researchers, social scientists and pundits for more than 50 years. It may be unfashionable to speak plainly on the topic (as Smith was trying to do), but using the racist label to avoid addressing the problem by denying its existence is part of a tragic trend. No, his comment(s) never made it out of moderation. On this post, he called me an extreme right “denialist” for calling Ireland’s cow slaughtering plan absurd. Again I ask, “Who are these people? How did they get this way? Can they be helped?”

1. Wait, what? Self-checkout machines in Big Box stores, coffee shops, bakeries, airports and sports stadiums are suggesting to customers that they leave a 20% tip, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Unbelievable. I refuse to use the damn things because a) half the time they don’t work 2) I don’t trust them 3) they are putting people out of jobs 4) I enjoy interacting with human beings behind counters, so I wasn’t aware of this emotional extortion attempt (which is now ‘5)’ on my list. This is a scheme for companies to pass off the burden of paying employees on the customer rather than increasing employee salaries. Despicable. Here’s a tip: Bite me!

2. Curmie Corner: Over at his own blog, Curmudgeon Central, Ethics Alarms commenter Curmie has posted a superb, many faceted, provocative essay about Pink Floyd’s former composer-bassist Roger Waters and his problem with German police for wearing a “Nazi-style uniform” at a recent concert in Berlin. This is the kind of deep ethics dive I wish I could do more of, and, as you may have noticed, Curmie is a deft writer who, unlike your host, avoids typos. You will want to read “Roger Waters, Pink, Nazis, and Freedom of Speech.”

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I’m just glad this didn’t happen in the United States. France and weenies go together like…well, the U.S. and wieners, and if this could happen here, please don’t tell me until tomorrow. I’ve already thrown myself in a woodchipper once today.

In less hyperbolic terms, I can’t understand this crazy ethics episode at all.

No.16 seeds Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi of Japan were playing a doubles match in the French Open today, a set down to Czech Republic doubles team of Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, but winning the second set, 3-1. Kato slammed the ball to the opposite end of the court between points, inadvertently hitting the ball girl, who burst into tears. Chair umpire Alexandre Juge issued a code violation warning, but that wasn’t enough for Bouzkova and Tormo, who insisted that the Japanese women be disqualified because—get this—the ball girl was crying.

They shouldn’t even have been warned! Here’s the rule: players “shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball within the precincts of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up)”

When told by the umpire that it was an accident, Sorribes Tormo protested, “She didn’t do it on purpose? She’s crying!” “And she has blood,” Bouzkova added, prompting the umpire to go to check on the ball girl, who was sobbing away. Then he consulted with the tournament referee and the Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McEwen, went back up to his chair on the court, and announced the end of the match. Sutjiadi and Kato were disqualified. Many in the crowd jeered. Kato apologized and was in tears as she left the court.

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I can’t stand it. All sides are too stupid to breathe or too cynical to be tolerated. This is the kind of thing that drove Sweeney Todd to serial killing. I think I’ll just ask my neighbor Ted to feed me through his woodchipper, like Steve Buscemi in the memorable moment above from “Fargo.”

A Utah state law passed last year allows school districts to remove “pornographic or indecent” books from school libraries. Someone in the Davis School District, seeking to demonstrate the law’s over-reach, submitted a complaint about the King James Bible, arguing the text was “pornographic by our new definition.” The complaint was treated as if it were made in good faith, and the Bible was duly pulled from elementary school libraries, thus making Utah conservatives look ridiculous.

Which was the whole idea. And which they are.

I admit to having a low threshold of tolerance for idiots, but still: State Sen. Todd Weiler (R), who sponsored the obscene book law in the Utah Senate, said he hoped the district’s decision would be overturned, but he called the Bible’s removal a “fair trade” for the removal of other books containing what he described as “explicit X-rated content.”

That’s a good policy: let’s barter for books! The Right gets to throw out “Catcher in the Rye,” and the Left gets to throw out “Founding Brothers,” about all those racists who founded the nation.

Gah. First, nobody’s banning books, nor are they, as the Washington Post claims in typical spinning style, restricting what students read. Parents still have the right and power to let their children read anything on the planet, from “Huckleberry Finn” to “Sexus,” Nexus,” and “Plexus.” The issue is whether parents should be able to limit what their children read in school, now that the trustworthiness of teachers and school administrators is legitimately open to question, and ideological and sexual indoctrination are rampant. It is a valid issue.

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“What’s going on here?” Good question: even more appropriate than usual. Who started this ethics mess may never be known, but who is responsible for it getting out of control is clear.

This adorable group, the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir…

based in Greenville, South Carolina, had toured Williamsburg, Virginia before coming last week to Washington, D.C., to visit key historical and governmental sites. The group was about to sing the National Anthem in National Statuary Hall when Andrew Tremel, the visitor operations manager at the Architect of the Capitol, halted them. But David Rasbach, the founder and director of the choir, told Tremel that congressional offices had granted permission for the group to perform, so Tremel relented and gave the okay. Video of the debacle, however, shows Rasbach cutting off the singers in the middle of the “Star Spangled Banner’s” fourth verse of the song. A female Capitol Police officer had directed a congressional staffer to stop the performance. Rasbach told everyone who would listen that she informed him that such performances are considered demonstrations, and that demonstrations in the U.S. Capitol are banned (as many jailed January 6, 2021 protest participants will now attest).

She also said, allegedly, that some people were or would be “offended” (by little children singing their nation’s patriotic anthem in the U.S. Capitol. You know, like in “Doctor Strangelove”: “Gentlemen. You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”).

The Capitol Police dutifully rose in defense of one of its own, saying in a statement:

“Recently somebody posted a video of a children’s choir singing the Star-Spangled Banner in the U.S. Capitol Building and wrongfully claimed we stopped the performance because it ‘might offend someone. Here is the truth. Demonstrations and musical performances are not allowed in the U.S. Capitol. Of course, because the singers in this situation were children, our officers were reasonable and allowed the children to finish their beautiful rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. The Congressional staff member who was accompanying the group knew the rules, yet lied to the officers multiple times about having permission from various offices. The staffer put both the choir and our officers, who were simply doing their jobs, in an awkward and embarrassing position.”

Oh no you don’t, said Rasbach. “That is not true—he did not lie to anybody,” the director said of the congressional staffer. Rasbach said that the female officer put her hand down, directing the staffer to stop the performance. Indeed, the video shows that the choir was not allowed to finish, as you can see at the 2:26 mark in the video below…

🚨The Rushingbrook Children's Choir sang the National Anthem in Statuary Hall. a Capitol Police officer stopped them mid-song. Capitol Police claims they didn't stop the choir. The choir director tells the whole story in my exclusive interview here. 🚨https://t.co/ZRNbWy75la pic.twitter.com/ijiq4pw3X8

— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) June 2, 2023

After he had directed the choir to stop singing, Rasbach says he spoke to the female officer and asked her, “How do you think this is going to affect these children? Their first time visiting their Capitol and then they have this disappointment.” Her response, he claims: “She shrugged her shoulders, saying, ‘They sounded beautiful, but… They can go outside and sing.”

But wait! There’s more!

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