U.S. Society

Friday Open Forum, Dedicated To Major Tipton…

/ Jack Marshall / 40 Comments

Yeah, it’s crazy out there.

I’m thinking of designating this chapter in The Great Stupid as “The Big Crazy.”

And one whole side of the political spectrum wants it to be crazy. You can talk about whatever intrigues you here, of course, but I wanted to post this Twitter/”X” statement from “Cynical Publius,” an articulate and clever conservative, which I believe is spot on:

Dear Democrat ICE Protestors:

Hi. How have you been? I know we don’t see eye-to-eye on much, but I am hoping you will nevertheless give me 5 minutes of your time, if for no other reason than for your own protection. I am going to speak some hard truths. Please listen. First of all, everything Trump and ICE are doing with illegal aliens is totally legal. They are completely operating within the bounds of federal law. The deportations are legal. The raids are legal. The detentions are legal. Your Democrat leaders know this, and they know it would be politically disastrous to just say “ignore the law.” Instead, they are attempting to delegitimize ICE while skirting around the full legality of what ICE does. To accomplish this, they need to paint ICE as being truly, horrifically evil. Nazi-level evil. They NEED that to be the image the public sees. That’s where you come in. When Democrat politicians, “organizers” and journalists send you out in the street to obstruct ICE operations, they are doing so with the specific and deliberate attempt to create a situation where ICE kills a bunch of seemingly “peaceful” protestors, all for the cameras. They want another Boston Massacre. They want another Tiananmen Square. They want another Kent State. They are desperately hoping for the deaths and injuries of scores of people just like you. THEY WANT YOU TO DIE IN FURTHERANCE OF THE CAUSE. Did you not know that already? Renee Good was a nice start, but she screwed up by hitting the ICE agent with her SUV. What they need is dozens of Renee Goods who—based on what the cameras show and do not show—were murdered in cold blood by ICE. THAT IS THE GOAL OF YOUR LEADERSHIP. Did you realize that people like Tim Walz and Hakeem Jeffries see you as mere cannon fodder in their war on America? Did you know that? It’s not that they specifically want you, John Doe at 123 Main Street, to die, but if you are one of the victims, so be it. All for The Cause. Is this what you signed up for? To be a martyr? If so, good for you. But if not, please consider my words. For your own good.

Best regards, CP

Over to you, Clarence…

Unethical Speech of the Month, and Probably the Year: Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey (D)

/ Jack Marshall / 36 Comments

Unlike President Trump, DFH and Jacob Frey, I am not going to comment on what really happened that resulted in a “middle-aged white woman” being shot and killed by an I.C.E. officer after she deliberately used her vehicle to impede law enforcement activities. I will comment on Jacob Frey’s inflammatory, irresponsible rant in front of TV cameras, because I heard the whole thing, and was incredulous throughout. Points:

Interestingly, the New York Times has ignore Frey’s diatribe, and concentrated on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz more measured response. This suggests to me that the Axis believes that Frey went too far, and the less focus on it the better.

1. If President Trump’s tone and rhetoric were as deliberately provocative on January 6, 2021 as Frey’s were on January 7, 2025, I would have been more inclined to back the special prosecutor’s argument that Trump was trying to start an insurrection.

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Today’s Trump-Deranged Facebook Meme on Maduro’s Arrest

/ Jack Marshall / 8 Comments

The above was posted by one of my formerly intelligent and rational Trump Deranged Facebook friends, as usual with no dissent and a lot of “likes,” “loves,” “wows” and angry face emogis. Again, to anyone not rendered a drooling cretin by bias, the thing shouldn’t need any further commentary: it “speaks for itself,” res ipsa loquitur. Nonetheless, the meme is instructive regarding just how completely such TDS victims have left reality while their critical thinking functions head into oblivion.

“He wants the oil” is the one arguably legitimate statement, if we generously permit over-simplification because of the genre’s intrinsic limitations. There are many benefits, to the American economy, to the Venezuelan people, and to global stability of removing Venezuelan oil production from its longtime role of assisting U.S. adversaries and Communist governments. The statement is deceitful, of course: Trump does not “want the oil” for himself, not is be determined to take the oil without just compensation to the nation. U.S. companies like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and others are expected to take advantage of investment opportunities by rebuilding Venezuela’s deteriorating oil infrastructure. This will benefit that nation’s economy and welfare as well.

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Ethics Quiz: The Turncoat Fat Comic

/ Jack Marshall / 7 Comments

I decided to skip this issue a month ago when comic Amy Schumer was being called a hypocrite for suddenly showing off her newly svelte, Ozempic-drowned body all over social media after spending years defending being”plus size.” Then she posted bikini photos yesterday and social media was freaking out again.

“I think there’s nothing wrong with being plus size,” Schumer argued in a tiff with Glamour Magazine a decade ago. “Beautiful healthy women.” Amy got progressively more plus-size as the years went by and was more militantly anti-fatshaming as a “body-positivity” advocate while the pounds piled on.

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Now THAT’S Non-Traditional Casting!

/ Jack Marshall / 12 Comments

Estonian theater Kinoteater recently staged Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in a production with Romeo played by a rally truck and his secret love Juliet by a red Ford pickup truck. The climactic duel between Tybalt and Mercutio consisted of two excavators swinging their metal buckets in front of each other. The performance was staged in a limestone quarry. “Romula ja Julia” had virtually no lines, as there were no human actors, just ten drivers, two mechanics, a pyrotechnics expert, an excavator operator, and many vehicles to convey the classic love story. Among the Shakespearean were a front-end loader, a concrete mixer, a fire truck, city buses, other large machinery, and some smaller vehicles.

Co-director Paavo Piik explained that the contrast between the powerful vehicles and the themes of love and poetry is central to the production’s experimental approach. “I would still say that even though it was cars, it felt really sweet and cute. Like when you had the scene where the cars were, you would assume, kissing, the energy was captured really well. The sweetness and the love,” one spectator told Reuters.

Right. No lines, and a bunch of machines “kissing.” By what theory could such a spectacle be legitimately called “Shakespeare,” much less “Romeo and Juliet”? They might just as well have called a demolition derby “The Illiad.”

Ethics Alarms always takes the position that the acid test of any non-traditional theatrical concept or casting is 1) whether the creator’s message and vision is being fairly respected, and 2) whether the production “works” beyond the novelty factor.

Let’s just say that I’m highly dubious about this production.

(Curmie, Curmie! Wherefore art thou, Curmie?)

On Maduro’s Arrest, the Ethics Dunces and Villains Are All In Agreement: What Does This Tell Us? [Part 2] [Updated]

/ Jack Marshall / 58 Comments

Part 1 is here.

I assumed that headline was a misstatement, because the jokes write themselves (Hamas is condemning an abduction?). But I checked some Arab world sources, and indeed, all of the terrorist organizations are big mad over President Trump nabbing Maduro. From an Arabic news agency:

Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has condemned the US aggression against Venezuela as a blatant and unprecedented violation of international law…Hezbollah movement, in a statement, condemned the U.S. aggression against Venezuela and the targeting of the country’s vital facilities, civilians, and residential buildings, describing it as a blatant and unprecedented violation of international law….It added that the military aggression shows disregard for global stability and security, and aimed at entrenching the “law of the jungle” in order to dismantle the remnants of the international system and strip it of any substance that could serve as a safeguard for nations and peoples.

The Palestinian movement, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, denounced what it called an “imperialist American aggression” on Venezuela, including airstrikes and missile attacks on Caracas and civilian, residential, and military sites, casting it as a new episode of ‘organized American terrorism” against sovereign states….

Palestinian Islamic Jihad described the US assault on Venezuela as an escalating campaign, from blockade to direct strikes, aimed at domination, occupation, and plunder, and a flagrant breach of sovereignty and international law. It said Venezuela is targeted for its steadfast support for Palestine and regional resistance forces, describing the struggle as part of a shared anti-imperialist battle.

Hamas, for its part, denounced the military aggression on Caracas and the kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife, calling it a grave violation of international law and the sovereignty of an independent state. The movement cast the assault as an extension of unjust U.S. interventions driven by imperial ambition that have destabilized multiple countries and threatened international peace. Hamas urged the UN, especially the Security Council, to take measures to stop the attack immediately.

I have to say, I find this mordantly funny. Could there be a more villainous, despicable group of critics for Democrats to find common cause with? Any minute now, I’m expecting a statement from the Seven Princes of Hell, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Mammon, Belphegor,, and Satan, joined by demons Astaroth, Belial, and Azazel, declaring the U.S.’s dazzling Venezuelan operation to be a violation of international law.

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U.S. Forces Executed “A Large Scale Strike Against Venezuela” To Remove President Maduro: “Bully!” [Corrected]

/ Jack Marshall / 18 Comments

Teddy Roosevelt would have loved this.

We woke up this morning to learn that the United States had captured the rogue Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and was flying him out of Venezuela to face trial in the United States. President Trump had been increasing pressure on Maduro and his illegal government for months, terming the Venezuelan leader a “narco terrorist” whose illegal activities threatened the welfare of the United States and the safety of its citizens. The President of the United States has the power to do this. Trump did it.

U.S. forces encountered no significant resistance from Venezuelan air defenses or land forces (the government had claimed to have an arsenal capable of repelling such a U.S. operation). It appears that no U.S. military personnel lost their lives, though we should be cautious in this regard, because all of the facts aren’t in yet. However, as with the strike on Iran, the U.S. operation in Venezuela unquestionably benefited the U.S. and its public, as well as the nation of Venezuela, which had been dominated by a ruthless dictator who would not allow fair elections since he has ruled Venezuela by decree since 2015.

The incursion is legitimately termed a law enforcement operation. Your Trump Deranged Facebook Friends will conveniently omit the fact that Maduro has been under Federal indictment since 2020. The indictment reads in part,

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Hey, Here’s An Idea! Let’s Wait To See What’s Going On Before We Criticize A Trump Administration Decision

/ Jack Marshall / 9 Comments

What a concept.

The Trump administration has ended the lease agreement for three public golf courses in Washington. The Interior Department said it was terminating the lease because the nonprofit that runs the courses have failed to meet the terms of the lease. That, at this point, is all we know. The D.C. bureaucrats who operate the courses say they have done a wonderful job. If so, it will be the only case I know of where D.C. bureaucrats have done a good job at anything, but I’ll withhold judgment until I have, you know, some actual facts.

Personally, I don’t see why the District of Columbia, a small area carved out of Maryland (and formerly Virginia) expressly to house the government of the United States should have any golf courses. Parks? Sure I get parks. Museums? Ok. But golf is an elitist sport that is too time consuming and expensive for a lot of people, takes up a ridiculous amount of space, and has been criticized by environmentalists and other critics for centuries. It is not, in other words, an unalloyed benefit to communities, society, and certainly not governments.

Until the public and the news media know, as in the question that should begin any ethics inquiry, “What’s going on here?,” there should be no criticism of the Interior Department’s action at all. None. And yet, just yesterday when the announcement came out, a Trump Deranged friend was certain, certain, that it was nefarious. Why? Because President Trump is evil!!! EVIL!!!

The news media’s coverage of this relatively minor story has been a parody of anti-Trump bias employing innuendo, false framing, speculation and presumption of guilt. Let’s take the Associated Press, shall we?

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Unethical Quote of the Year (2026): New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani [Updated]

/ Jack Marshall / 10 Comments

“We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”

—New New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in his speech yesterday to too many ignorant voters who have no idea what he’s talking about and what they are in for.

Choosing that “Bananas” clip from the Ethics Alarms Hollywood clip archive was too easy; not only is it one of my favorites, but other pundits and social media wags has already made the connection to Woody’s Allen’s fictional South American country of San Marcos. And Mamdani’s open embrace of communism in that sentence was, indeed, bananas. I am sorely tempted to just leave the post at that: it’s res ipsa loguitur. It speaks for itself.

Yet it doesn’t speak for itself: that’s the scary part. That is what our education system’s collapse into incompetence and indoctrination has brought us. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” wrote George Santayana in his 1905 book, “The Life of Reason.” The average American not nearing retirement age is likely to say, upon hearing Mamdani’s seductive threat, “Collectivism! Sounds good to me!” as well as “Who’s Santayana?”

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Signature Significance and Tales of ‘The Great Stupid’: San Francisco Is Officially Bat House Woke Crazy!

/ Jack Marshall / 5 Comments

This story is nearly unbelievable. In fact, my host last night at a modest New Years Eve celebration, a good progressive and reliable Democrat, refused to believe it and insisted what I related was conservative media fake news. It is so embarrassing to the Mad Left, in fact, that the New York Times, among others, has so far refused to report it, and so have many other Axis news sources. The story is this, from the Daily Mail yesterday:

“The mayor of San Francisco discreetly approved a bill to create a fund that may eventually grant each of the city’s eligible black residents $5 million in reparations.  Mayor Daniel Lurie quietly signed the incredibly divisive Reparations Bill just two days before Christmas.  The ordinance establishes a reparations fund, as recommended by the city’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee (AARAC) in its 2023 report.  The legislation merely establishes the fund but does not allocate any money to it – setting up the framework for any future contributions, whether they be through the city or privately donated…San Francisco journalist Erica Sandberg was among the first to highlight what Mayor Lurie had done.  Per the 2023 report, every eligible African-American adult in San Francisco should be handed a $5 million lump sum to ‘compensate the affected population for the decades of harm that they have experienced.’ Approximately 50,000 black people live in San Francisco, and the qualifying requirements remain unclear.”

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