Category: Uncategorized

First, (((Ben Shapiro))) is lying about Western civilization. This is no surprise, since completely redefining “Western civilization” as a Jewish-Greek collaboration is the objective of his latest book.

Ironically, reduction of Western civilization to racial supremacy isn’t just a strategy of the intersectional left; it’s a strategy of the despicable alt-right, which champions Western civilization as white civilization and then seeks to rip away the universalism of its principles from nonwhite people. Thus, the very term “Western civilization” is under assault by a variety of political forces seeking to tear out eternal truths and natural rights in the name of tribalism.

But that’s not what Western civilization is about at all. Western civilization was built on Judeo-Christian values and Greek reason, culminating in a perspective on natural rights that is preserved by institutions like English jurisprudence. It is thanks to those philosophical principles that free markets, free speech and free association have grown and flourished. Only if we re-enshrine those principles, rather than undermine them, will our prosperity and freedoms be preserved.

Ben Shapiro’s case doesn’t even rise to the level of Wikipedia. Western civilization is synonymous with both “European civilization” and “Occidental civilization”. And, as I have repeatedly pointed out, there is no such thing as “Judeo-Christian values”. Judaism’s values are intrinsically opposed to Christian values; one might as reasonably declare that “Satano-Christian values” and Confucian philosophy provided the foundation of the West.

Second, (((Michael Ledeen))) inadvertently makes a strong case on behalf of anti-semitism thanks to his near-complete ignorance of Spanish history.

March 31 marks the anniversary of the date on which, in 1492, Spanish Jews were faced with the choice of converting to Catholicism or leaving.  The edict was driven by the queen, “Isabella the Catholic,” and was issued despite widespread opposition throughout the kingdom, including Sicily, where most of the Italian Jews lived and which was ruled by a Spanish viceroy.  Some converted, some pretended to convert and maintained Jewish practices in secrecy for centuries, but the bulk shipped out, many to the Ottoman Empire, some to Amsterdam (which became known as the “second Jerusalem”), a much smaller number to Palestine.  Henceforth the Spanish Kingdom was firmly under the brutal hand of the Inquisition, whose chief was the infamous Torquemada.

It was a colossal blunder.  Spain never recovered from the loss of one of the most productive and creative elements of its population.  As for the Jews of the realm, 1492 started the saga of the wandering diaspora very shortly thereafter. The Spanish and Portuguese Jews spread all over the continent, and the new world as well.  It initiated a melodrama that is one of history’s most fascinating tales.

Jews were important to the Spanish economy, and to Spanish culture.  Spain steadily weakened without its Jews, who made major contributions to Ottoman lands and to Muslim countries across North Africa, especially Tunisia.  Their commercial skills included trade in spices, at the time very important for the continent…. Queen Isabella’s brutal oppression of the Jews totally backfired.  She purged her country of the descendants of the great Maimonides, only to have Spain sink into irrelevancy on the world stage. 

100 years after the Spaniards kicked out the Jews, they ruled over the wealthiest, most powerful empire on Earth. Irrelevancy on the world stage? The Spanish empire didn’t even reach its apogee for another 300 years! To the contrary, barely 100 years after the USA first permitted mass Jewish immigration, it has lost its global power, it is deeply in debt, it is demoralized in literally every sense of the term, it has been invaded by tens of millions of foreigners, and is now on the verge of complete political collapse.

Ledeen is not merely lying. Being a servant of the Father of Lies in good standing he presents an entirely backwards picture, one that is completely antithetical to the easily verified historical facts. Were the Jews good for the Egyptians or the Canaanites? Did the Romans and Greeks consider them to be beneficial to their empires? Have they been a boon to the inhabitants of Palestine? And has the post-Holocaust German economy suffered for its lack of Jews?

Modern Jew-haters come from two failed traditions, radical Islam and radical leftism. Like the Iberians of the 14th century, their tyrannical regimes have all failed, and they have driven out their Jews. Meanwhile, the countries that built their futures on religious toleration, countries with substantial Jewish populations, countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, are, we can hope, the future of mankind.

The USA, Canada, and Australia are all likely to collapse or be conquered within 20 years. And when those things happen, remember that Michael Ledeen credited their fate to having built their futures “on religious toleration” and “substantial Jewish populations.”

What Shapiro and Ledeen are doing is consciously responding to so-called “replacement theology” with “replacement history”. They’re attempting to redefine Europeans and Christianity out of Western civilization in order to claim it for themselves.

It’s informative how the Neo-Palestinians all babble about “Judeo-Christian values” and “melting pot” whenever they’re trying to win support for themselves from Christians, but they switch to “racism”, “white Christian identity”, and “anti-semitism” the moment that any conservative actually indicates a preference for white Christians to liberals in sheep’s clothing from foreign identity groups. Unsurprisingly, David Bernstein overtly practices identity politics while he decries the perceived possibility of Republicans practicing identity politics.

Unfortunately, in both situations it’s all-too-easy to come up with bad reasons. Rao is the daughter of Indian Parsi immigrants, and Liu is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. It seems as though their minority background may at least subconsciously raise suspicions that they aren’t on “the team.” I suspect that such suspicions might have been quelled if they belonged to “appropriate” churches–the Mormon church, a conservative Protestant congregation, a Catholic parish known for being actively pro-life. As it happens, while I can’t speak to either woman’s personal religious beliefs, I understand that their families are members of Jewish congregations.

Please note that I’m not accusing the Senators in question of antisemitism. Nor am I accusing them of conscious racism. But I do suspect that in certain conservative circles, people have an image in their head of what a “trustworthy” conservative looks like, and that person is white, likely male, and a religious Christian. Those who don’t fit that mold are more likely to have their conservative credentials questioned.

This is both unfair and a disaster for the Republican Party. Imagine you are a conservative-leaning Indian-American Hindu, or Thai-American Buddhist, or Iranian-American Muslim, or African American agnostic. You are attending Yale (Liu’s alma mater) or Chicago (Rao’s) law school and you have nascent but indeterminate political ambitions. You are trying to decide whether to “come out” as a Federalist-type, or keep your head down and avoid politics. You know if you do the former, you will be the subject of special derision and social sanction from your liberal classmates, who will openly question how a person of color can hang out in Fed Soc circles.

Given that dynamic, Republicans should be especially welcoming to such individuals. Instead, the Rao and Liu situations suggest the opposite. It comes awfully close to looking like implicit white Christian identity politics, and it’s a bad look for the GOP.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST WATCH: Liu’s husband and Rao are friends and former colleagues of mine.

Notice that the Neo-Palestinian is advocating for two individuals to whom he is personally connected by identity politics while simultaneously decrying “implicit white Christian identity politics” as “a bad look” for Republicans.

Just as the great battle of the Democratic Party is the struggle between rival identity groups for the helm of the Not-American Party, the great battle of the Republican Party is going to be between Neo-Palestinians desperately trying to convince the American Party to ignore the political realities imposed by the post-1965 demographic changes and Americans who would like to have their party actually advocate for their national interests.

Republicans have nearly destroyed both their party and their country due to their support for immigration and neocon foreign policy. It’s astonishing that any Republican or conservative still pays any attention whatsoever to these utterly shameless deceivers.

The always-treacherous John Bolton is working to undermine President Trump:

White House National Security Adviser John Bolton is expanding his influence in increasingly visible ways, pursuing his own longstanding foreign policy priorities at the risk of tensions with top administration officials — and even Donald Trump himself.

An example spilled into the public eye a week ago, when an irked Trump cryptically announced on Twitter he’d undo some North Korea-related sanctions blessed by Bolton. The president’s decision was quietly walked back and the sanctions remain in place.

Since joining Trump’s White House, Bolton has pursued an agenda that includes trying to break Iran financially, oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, shield Americans from the reach of the International Criminal Court and toughen the U.S. posture toward Russia. He coordinated with key lawmakers, U.S. diplomatic and defense officials and the Israelis to compel Trump to slow an abrupt withdrawal of American forces from Syria.

Bolton, 70, has meanwhile adopted an increasingly public profile on Twitter, Trump’s social media platform of choice. Through a spokesman, he declined to be interviewed for this article.

This story is based on interviews with lawmakers and several current and former White House and diplomatic officials, most of whom asked not to be identified in order to candidly discuss Trump’s third national security adviser.

Bolton’s blunt, unapologetic divide-and-conquer methods don’t surprise anyone who’s watched him in government roles since the Reagan administration or as a pundit on Fox News. He’s always been a deeply ideological thinker who believes the U.S. plays by a unique set of rules and doesn’t mind — or even sometimes relishes — clashing with others to accomplish his goals.

He’s beloved by a loyal cadre of aides while chafing many others inside the administration. Trump is aware that Bolton’s relationships with powerful Republican figures who influence the president, particularly billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam, give him an added degree of political cover, according to two people familiar with the matter.

My prediction: Trump will tolerate Bolton as long as he can, then fire him once Bolton goes too far and tries to start a war with Iran.