lucius septimius 6/7/2020 6:59:20 AM

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Occasional Reader 6/7/2020 7:11:26 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 1:

Partly.  What he hits, he hits dead-on.  But in his constant need to mock Trump, he misses that Trump is one of the very few national political figures speaking the very truths Kev is pointing out.  

And speaking of “comforting abstractions”, there’s this:

” It surely is the case that the African-American children who attend public schools in Philadelphia or Atlanta are subjected to the same racism experienced by other black Americans.”

Is “racism” really the problem facing black kids in those schools?

And with his “... experienced by other black Americans”, didn’t just engage in the same “America is guilty in general, and no one in particular” abstraction he was decrying?

Occasional Reader 6/7/2020 7:36:04 AM

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doppelganglander 6/7/2020 7:44:09 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 2:

I used to be a huge fan of Kevin Williamson, and I still think he's a brilliant writer. I just can't read him because of all the gratuitous swipes at Trump. In this case, he makes a solid argument for Democrats' culpability, then undermines it with snarky jibes at OrangeManBad. Nevertrumpers are nearly as deranged as Democrats. 

doppelganglander 6/7/2020 7:47:11 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 3:

Sometimes I can't get the cut of meat that I want, but there's been plenty of meat aside from the first couple of weeks when people were stocking their freezers. 

lucius septimius 6/7/2020 8:03:31 AM

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In #2 Occasional Reader said: Is “racism” really the problem facing black kids in those schools? And with his “... experienced by other black Americans”, didn’t just engage in the same “America is guilty in general, and no one in particular” abstraction he was decrying?

I read the first problem differently -- if "racism" is really the problem, then why isn't it better in these school systems that are completely run by blacks?  If racism is the issue, then it would appear that systems run by blacks are more "systemically" racist than white-run districts.

As for the second, again, there is some retreat into abstraction, but I saw it more as a case of "even if we concede this part of the argument, ..." 

I guess I gave it a more charitable reading.

buzzsawmonkey 6/7/2020 8:24:14 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 1:

Reply to Occasional Reader in 2:

Just as I read Williamson's reflexive disparagements of Trump as a rigid etiquette formality which must necessarily be uttered if his audience/readership in that venue is to be persuaded to listen to him at all (having uttered the requisite formal disparagement, he proceeds to thoroughly exonerate Trump), I read his pious declaration of the problem(s) of "racism in the schools" in the same vein, as he then thoroughly eviscerates the notion that "racism" is the problem.

Occasional Reader 6/7/2020 8:39:44 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 6: Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 7:

Perhaps, but I’m just getting tired of the growing body of lies that have to be ritualistically repeated. 

See, also, Trump himself, invoking “honoring the legacy of George Floyd“, as if the guy had been Martin Luther King instead of a convicted violent felon who had fentanyl and other fun substances in his blood at the time of his death.

Occasional Reader 6/7/2020 8:54:37 AM

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So here is something that I’ve ordered for my little chemistry boy’s fifth birthday:

https://www.cafepress.com/mf/80312646/element-5--b-boron--full_tshirt?productId=897297448

buzzsawmonkey 6/7/2020 8:55:47 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 8:

I agree with you, but I also realize that without the Ritual Disclaimers there is little to no chance that someone not already singing in the choir will even give a look to a countervailing opinion.  The Ritual Disclaimers increase---albeit slightly---the chance that one can actually persuade someone else to consider alternative views.

Let me remind you that hypocrisy is essentially the coin of civilization; "Pleased to meet you," "So glad you could come," and a thousand---ten thousand---other hypocritical lies are what permit us to get through the day without bashing each other over the head like our cave-dwelling antecedents Ogg and Bogg, or even calling someone out for coffee and pistols at dawn, as people did not that long ago.  It's easy to tamp down the mild retching induced by the Ritual Disclaimers either with an OTC specific from the corner drugstore, or an infusion of strong waters from the neighborhood purveyor of spirits.

buzzsawmonkey 6/7/2020 8:57:35 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

Nice indeed.

...and now I'm wondering why the one they sent me has an "M" instead of a "B."

lucius septimius 6/7/2020 9:04:43 AM

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In #10 buzzsawmonkey said: Let me remind you that hypocrisy is essentially the coin of civilization

Whence the central argument of Leo Strauss's most influential work, Persecution and the Art of Writing.

lucius septimius 6/7/2020 9:08:01 AM

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De Blasio defunds the NYPD.

Actually he's just shifting money around to social services (which is completely controlled by card-carrying Communists) and making it even harder for the police to do their jobs.

Syrah 6/7/2020 9:09:00 AM

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In #3 Occasional Reader said: Random comment as I prepare to head to the supermarket: is it just me, or is the feared “great meat shortage of 2020” no longer a thing?

On the far left coast, the meat "shortage" is measured in the prices. four months ago, a premium Tri-Tip Roast was selling for $7 to $8 / pound at costco, with the shelves stacked deep with meets with no empty shelving showing.

Yesterday. the same cut was selling for $12 / pound. the shelving was half empty, with lots of bare shelf showing. I sign was posted over the chicken cuts saying that there was a two unit limit on purchases due to shortages.

lucius septimius 6/7/2020 9:11:16 AM

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Reply to Syrah in 14:

I saw limits and inflated prices in Illinois.  Here there was a good supply within about a week of the initial panic and I haven't noticed much change in prices.

Occasional Reader 6/7/2020 9:25:56 AM

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Reply to Syrah in 14: Reply to lucius septimius in 15:

And of course, with a number of supermarkets that have been burned down, that will limit competition to push down those prices. Another “progressive” victory!

lucius septimius 6/7/2020 9:40:15 AM

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In #16 Occasional Reader said: that will limit competition to push down those prices.

Right -- because lack of competition always results in lower prices.

Kosh's Shadow 6/7/2020 9:52:58 AM

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In #13 lucius septimius said: De Blasio defunds the NYPD. Actually he's just shifting money around to social services (which is completely controlled by card-carrying Communists) and making it even harder for the police to do their jobs.

Time to remake those 70's movies that depicted NYC as crime-infested.

I do have to say who can be so stupid to think de-funding the police will make life better for poor blacks? At least the law-abiding poor blacks, as opposed to the gangbangers.

The poor areas will start to be run by the gangs, and everyone will have to pay their local gang for protection.

Middle class will suffer, bad.

Rich will hire private security.

Syrah 6/7/2020 9:53:36 AM

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Webster Massachusetts needs a new Police Chief.  Theirs is broken.

https://www.rt.com/usa/491094-webster-police-lies-blm-protest/

lucius septimius 6/7/2020 9:56:57 AM

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In #18 Kosh's Shadow said: I do have to say who can be so stupid to think de-funding the police will make life better for poor blacks? At least the law-abiding poor blacks, as opposed to the gangbangers.

They don't care.  Actually, Dems want blacks to live in crime-ridden war zones.  Less likelihood of them getting uppity that way.  And more kick-backs from the drug gangs.  The blacks will still vote for the same Democrats anyway.  It's all a matter of cynical calculation.

lucius septimius 6/7/2020 9:59:45 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 18:

With respect to the middle class, I suspect that the Democrat elites are banking on the emerging Millenial middle class to be sufficiently work and ignorant that they'll put up with it so long as the government makes pious noises and allows them to feel morally superior.  Liberals can be extraordinarily good at justifying crap living conditions so long as their moral vanity remains secure.

JCM 6/7/2020 10:49:45 AM

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In #18 Kosh's Shadow said: I do have to say who can be so stupid to think de-funding the police will make life better for poor blacks? At least the law-abiding poor blacks, as opposed to the gangbangers.

Defunding IMAO is the next step beyond Consent Decrees.

The left has less control when LE agencies are locally controlled, locally accountable, and draw officers from the local population.

The Consent Decrees a tool Obama / Holder / Lynch effectively Federalized local Agencies with Federal rules, policies and oversight.

Defunding and "reimagining" law enforcement is another tactic to remove the local control.

What then is the goal?

We need to look no farther than the model of Socialist Perfection the Soviet Union and the ChiComs.

The Police Force is nationalized, with accountability not locally. The also shuffled officers, bringing in officers from other areas, increasing the we vs. them mentality making it easier for the outside officers to commit draconian crack downs.

Obama made mention of a National Security Force, as well equiped and funding as the military. That speech was dissappeared during the campaign, I intentional tracked it.

The use of unrest will increase the demand for security, and the left will more than oblige, putting in place their new tool of repression, 

Kosh's Shadow 6/7/2020 10:59:20 AM

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In #22 JCM said: The Police Force is nationalized, with accountability not locally. The also shuffled officers, bringing in officers from other areas, increasing the we vs. them mentality making it easier for the outside officers to commit draconian crack downs.

And when police officers are local, the residents look at them as neighbors. Take Boston right now- some rioting, but not as bad as many other cities. Police commissioner grew up here, after iirc his father left and his mother moved to Boston. He's black. But his mother took him to church regularly, and he was the one to tell his friends not to commit crimes. He gets along with the local leadership (mostly - obviously doesn't like the Suffolk County DA (also black) releasing "minor" criminals.

lucius septimius 6/7/2020 11:32:33 AM

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doppelganglander 6/7/2020 11:42:19 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

He'll love it. Is boron his favorite element? I know kids have favorite dinosaurs,  so I guess that's not too weird.

doppelganglander 6/7/2020 11:47:45 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 15:

As far as chicken goes, that may be due to Georgia's large poultry industry. I don't even know where our beef and pork come from.

buzzsawmonkey 6/7/2020 11:49:30 AM

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In #25 doppelganglander said: Is boron his favorite element?

If he's in his element, discussing the periodic table, and senses a lapse of attention on the part of his listeners, he can ask them, "Am I boron you?"

doppelganglander 6/7/2020 12:01:26 PM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 21:

That might work until their children reach school age. Unless they can afford private school, they'll move to the suburbs like generations before them. The depopulation of the cities will be worse than the white flight of the 60s because people of all races can live anywhere they can afford to now. 

Occasional Reader 6/7/2020 12:02:26 PM

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In #25 doppelganglander said: Is boron his favorite element? 

No, but its atomic number is five, the age he is turning.

doppelganglander 6/7/2020 12:09:45 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 29:

A-ha! Where does the time go? 

Kosh's Shadow 6/7/2020 12:14:33 PM

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In #30 doppelganglander said: Where does the time go? 

Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older
When did they?

Jukebox

buzzsawmonkey 6/7/2020 12:59:12 PM

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In #30 doppelganglander said: Where does the time go? 

Who knows where the time goes?