312 Comments
founding

Guo Wengui would no doubt love to have is hug-mate Rudi as his attorney. He just needs to arrange to be charged in a state where Rudi can get permission of the court to act as counsel.

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I don't know who Ben Shapiro is but he sounds like an idiot.

If it doesn't cost a lot to feed a child, then why worry about free lunches for school children?

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Mar 17, 2023·edited Mar 17, 2023

I read Matthew Dallek's recent column in the Atlantic as well as Jennifer Szalai's NYT review of his new book ("Birchers") before I read your column. After the first two, I was left with the sense that Dallek seriously misreads the current situation if he thinks that the current MAGA phenomenon will go the way of the John Birch Society (or even the KKK) as a result of some quasi-natural institutional adjustment. The media environment alone is enough to distinguish the conditions.

After reading your (and JVL's) column, however, I think there might just be hope of a sufficient cleavage to meet the case for splitting the MAGA pseudo coalition. It is...wait for it...civil liberties. It would something like this: "I may disagree with you, and I may call you out, argue, attempt to persuade you, and even call you evil. That's all fine, and we can walk away from each other or maybe even share a beer. But what you can never let me do is get the government to make you act like you agree with me when you don't. That would be government enforcement of political correctness. I should not be allowed to do that, and neither should you."

Not a panacea, of course, but a beginning. Anyone disagreeing will be forced to dehumanize their opponent in order to resolve inconsistency. Some MAGA apparatchiks will be capable of this, but I think many will not be.

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It's misogyny, straight-up. In both forms of conservatism, either the hornier or Church Lady kind, women are subservient to men, women exist only to serve the men and men are supposed to control them. Women's power absolutely terrifies them, which is why they are particularly vicious when attacking (in their eyes) uppity liberal women like Speaker Pelosi, Secretary Clinton, and Congresswoman AOC.

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Ben Shapiro speaks for what has become the bottom line mentality of republicans. Every fetus is sacred if it is inside a woman, every actual living breathing child, not so much.

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It would seem to me the only people with a problem on woke are the ones who absolutely refuse to see the systematic wrongs that have woven their way trough our history. I wish this concept could be completely separated from what passes for PC today. Because now what could be an important concept has become meaningless because it means anything you don't agree with.

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Someone please explain the difference between woke an PC. I read a lot about philosophical explanations of woke, but I want it to be clear.

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Horny bros = subset of libertarians, no?

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I don't see any conflict between the horny bros and the church lady types. The GOP has always been this way, they want their women to be sexually available while keeping "the gays" and other non-traditional types from getting too uppity.

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Did you not have women friends who hated Hillary when she was politically active? I had a group of women frinds who were all Rs, they served on the Board of Aldermen when I was mayor of my little town, they just ate up all of the right wing smears of her.

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The Trump campaign filing an ethics complaint…I almost peed my pants…

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“people who, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, accept pornography, homosexuality, drug use, legalized gambling...”

I also accept those, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. What's the message here? "The GOP shouldn't be the party of grievance, it should also be the party of scolds and tight asses."

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I'm surprised that Jane Coaston sees Horny Bro Conservatism as a new or emerging phenomenon. Since when has "Boys will be boys" not been an essential element of traditional, gender role fulfillment? It is also reflected in anti-choice policy, with legislation forcing women to bear full and literal responsibility for male ejaculation, including with their health and lives.

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founding

Charlie -- you and Mona discussed your 'evolution' on academic tenure. Might be worth writing an article on this topic soon given prevailing winds in State legislatures:

Texas Senate Bill 18 seeks to terminate the tenure system in public universities in Texas, effective September 1, 2023. A significant concern is that if it passes, Universities would not be able to hire any new faculty members on the tenure track after that, which will negatively impact recruitment. This bill was co-authored by 11 senators, filed on the last day of this legislative session (March 10), and quickly assigned to a committee on the next business day (March 13), which means public hearing can happen any time soon (and they are only required to post notice of a public hearing meeting 24 hours in advance).

As you and Mona both stated, there are many unintended consequences of "popular" action.

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Watching only one channel defeats the agency you have over your own ability to discern fact from fiction. But the people who need to hear that won't hear it on Fox Channel.

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