That Corbyn himself seems more than just a little antisemitic is true. Whether he is or not is another matter, he certainly seems it to me. That the anti-zionist shouting matches are really all about Jews and capitalism seems equally obvious to me. There’s a strain of the left that just cannot forgive Israel for not having remained stewed in kibbutznik socialism and poverty. Nor succumbed to that equal poverty of the government controlled economies around it.…
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Spain’s Election Didn’t Solve The 600 Year Long Argument
Not all that much of a surprise to be honest, that a single election, or even four in four years, didn’t solve an argument that’s been running 600 years and more. The point to recall about Spanish politics being that there’s another axis running through it beyond left and right. Beyond the usual conservative/classical liberal divide, the modern normal of the social democratic left and the hippies into woo.
That’s whether there should be a Spain at all.…
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A Toast To Herr Jaeger
Not the most laudable of careers overall but it had its moment, it had its moment:
… See MoreThe Stasi official Harald Jäger, a second-tier passport-control officer overseeing the night shift at Bornholmer Street, became the man who opened the wall. He was an unlikely candidate for this title. Jäger had amassed 25 years of loyal service to the Stasi, mainly as a paper-pusher. Yet on the night of Nov. 9, he was the senior Stasi officer on duty at Bornholmer Street, in charge of all of the men and weapons present.
9 November 1989 – We the people, the free and equal citizens of democracies, we living exemplars of the Rights of Man tore a new asshole in International Communism.
Owen Jones and Grandpa Death can bugger off. And worse.
The greatest single moment in human freedom. Take it away Mr. O’Rourke:
… See MoreThe people in the crowd weren’t yelling or demanding anything. They weren’t waiting for anything to happen. They were present from sheer glee at being alive in this place at this time. They were there to experience the opposite of the existential anguish which has been the twentieth century’s designer mood. And they were happy with the big, important happiness that – the Declaration of Independence reminds us – is everybody’s, even a communist’s, unalienable right to pursue.
A Fascinating Claim, Winning An Election Is Anti-Democratic
Fortunately around here we don’t ingest the same substances that those writing for Salon do:
Don’t get suckered by the polls: Donald Trump will win again — unless we fight for democracy
It’s a fascinating claim, isn’t it? Winning an election is anti-democratic.
Sure, it’s anti-Democratic if the Republican wins but that’s rather the point of the system, isn’t it – that we out here get to do the choosing.
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It’s Amazing How Catholic Robert Reich Is
Yes, I am aware that Robert Reich isn’t genuflecting with those rosary beads as a matter of course.
He is, however, still being remarkably Catholic all the same. For he’s insisting that we proles out here, we common people, just don’t have it. The ability to deal with unfiltered reality. We need, instead, a priestly caste to explain it all to us.
Which is one way of looking at that Catholic and Protestant fight over vernacular versions of the Bible.…
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Lizzie Warren’s Lying – She’ll Need A Middle Class Tax Rise
We really should call out lies when we see them. Yea even when talking about political promises made on the electoral stump. Isn’t this what we’re told Facebook is to be castigated for, allowing people to say untrue things in political advertising?
So, thus, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s tale that she can finance Medicare for All without a middle class tax rise cannot be advertised, can it? For it is untrue.
The intrusion of reality into the claim being that wealth is a stock.…
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Katie Hill Blames Everyone Else And Revenge Porn
There’s a certain element of not being adult here from Katie Hill. She’s resigning from Congress which may or may not be something we should all regret. But the blame is being laid on everyone except Ms. Hill herself. Yet it does indeed seem to be Ms. Hill who was sleeping with three different people.
There are a number of possible responses to such revelations. Our own around here would be that my (our, hers, as you wish) sex life is none of anyone’s damn business other than the people willingly sharing the sex.…
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There’s A Very Definite Amusement To The Katie Hill and #MeToo Story
That someone with political power was less than 100% faithful to their marriage partner should not be all that much of a surprise. Quite a lot of people aren’t faithful in that manner and politics does seem to make it worse. But the who and the who with in the wake of #MeToo does provide some amusement.
… See MoreCalifornia congresswoman Katie Hill, a freshman Democrat and a rising star in the party, announced her resignation on Sunday amid allegations that she had a sexual relationship with a member of her congressional staff.
Of Course They’re Trying To Silence Breitbart
The only surprise here is quite how naked the insistence is.
… See MoreFacebook’s launch of a new section on its flagship app dedicated to “deeply-reported and well-sourced” journalism sparked immediate controversy on Friday over the inclusion of Breitbart News, a publication whose former executive chairman explicitly embraced the “alt-right”.
Facebook News is a separate section of the company’s mobile app that will feature articles from about 200 publishers. Friday’s launch is a test and will only be visible to some users in the US.