Notes on the Way

RFK update, toxic Tucker, Secret Service follies, NHS blues, progressives hating Jews

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has capitalized on Joe Biden’s increasingly obvious decrepitude to pose as a viable alternative 2024 Democratic candidate for the presidency. That it’s no more than a pose is made plain by the New York Post’s revelation of a video in which RFK, Jr. opined that “There is an argument that it [COVID-19] is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately. COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” Uh-huh. I’ve been on the receiving end of intemperate tirades from this guy’s fans over my criticisms of his crack-brained conspiracy mongering, of which the above lunacy is a prize example. Let’s just say that I’m unrepentant…

Since leaving Fox News, Tucker Carlson taken a deep dive into the natcon snake pit—for example, flirting with antisemitism by describing the (Jewish) President of Ukraine as “sweaty and rat-like, a comedian turned oligarch, a persecutor of Christians.” Carlson, of course, has a long and slimy record of parroting V. Putin’s line on Ukraine. This was well on display during the recent GOP presidential forum in Iowa. Carlson used the opportunity to showcase Putin’s phony grievances over “Ukrainian Nazis,” “NATO aggression,” etc., etc. Kudos, incidentally, go to Mike Pence, who pushed back hard against this pro-Russian propaganda. Tucker Carlson isn’t stupid, and I doubt that he believes what he says. No, he’s just servicing his audience, as the saying goes. Prostitution doesn’t necessarily involve sex…

The Secret Service has thrown up the sponge, shame-facedly admitting that the White House, White Powder Mystery is just too tough a nut to, ahem, crack. Democrats, progressives and most journalists are fine with that, given that the prime suspect is Joe Biden’s problematical son Hunter. But shouldn’t even they be a bit concerned? The White House is, or ought to be, the most secure residence in America. But somehow, somebody just waltzed in and dropped off a bag of nose candy. We’re left with a choice between two conclusions: Either the Secret Service is utterly incompetent, or the Secret Service is covering up yet another Biden Administration scandal. Take your pick…

The National Health Service (NHS) has long been celebrated as the crown jewel of the British welfare state—the envy of the world, no less. Well, I doubt there are many American medical professionals and patients who nowadays would envy their British counterparts. To put it bluntly: The NHS is circling the drain. Its problems are Legion, for they are many, due mostly to lack of money. Because the NHS is funded by the British government, it places enormous pressure on government finances. Healthcare policy in the UK has thus devolved into a frantic quest for revenues (new taxation) and economies (rationing). There are, to be sure, potential remedies, e.g. introducing fees for various services. But here the glitzy narrative of the NHS intrudes. The British people have long been assured that medical care will remain forever free “at the point of delivery,” so that what is financially sensible is also politically impossible. Would the United States be so stupid as to adopt a similar system? I’d like to think not, but Bernie Sanders has other ideas…

Bashing the Jews under cover of “anti-Zionism” has become a favorite pastime on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. There’s the repulsive JFK, Jr., of course, progressivism’s very own Trump. And there’s the House Progressive Caucus, which is stuffed with antisemites, including its leader, Rep. Pramila Jayapal. She recently assured the comrades that “We have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state.” And of course, various members of the so-called Squad—Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman—have a long and disreputable record of antisemitic activism. “It’s all about the Benjamans, baby!” In the past their Democratic colleagues have given these monsters of evil a pass, but not this time. A large cohort of House and Senate Democrats have pushed back against their progressive colleagues’ hate speech. That’s a good thing. But as with the British Labour Party, there’s an antisemitic cancer gnawing the liver of the Democratic Party, and it needs to be cut out, not covered up.