Notes on the Way

Family vacation edition

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Here I am on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, with my wife, my daughter, and her family. The weather has been fine so far, the beach is magnificent, and you can’t beat fresh Georgia shrimp. But I can’t help but notice that the world is still turning. Herewith, then, are some observations on the passing scene…

One, two, many Charlottesvilles: Joe Biden has claimed that a neo-Nazi demonstration in the American city of that name motivated him to save the nation by running for president. In view of his documented record of fabulism and mendacity, this was always a dubious claim. And now we know that it was b.s. Since October 7, 2023, on almost a daily basis, on the streets of our cities and the campuses of our supposedly elite universities, fascist antisemitism and anti-Americanism, branded as “anti-Zionism,” have raved and raged. “Death to America! Death to Israel! Kill all Zionists! Globalize the intifada!” It happened just the other day, right around the White House. And what do we hear about this from our absurd president and his ever-shrinking cabal of hardcore supporters? Nothing. Joe Biden’s worried that’s if he says anything, he’ll lose the jihad vote. And let’s face it, many of those hardcore supporters are antisemitism adjacent…

Another Alito non-scandal: The dauntless defenders of “our democracy” have made it their business to destroy one of the key institutions of America’s constitutional order: the United States Supreme Court. That is to say, they’re doing exactly what they revile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for doing in his country. The comrades are furious that the current Court embodies a conservative majority and they’re determined to fix that. But their methods are comical to the point of absurdity. A recent example was the Alito flag flap, a phony narrative designed to show that the Justice is part of the MAGA Fascist Conspiracy to Enslave America. That fell flat. But never say die! Now some leftie twit posing as a religious conservative has Alito on the record admitting (1) that he’s concerned about the polarization of American politics and (2) that he has religious convictions. This is held to be a tremendous scandal and in a way it is—revealing as it does the moral vacuum at the heart of postmodern progressivism…

And speaking of leftie twits: Poor Rachel Maddow! She fears that if the Ogre Trump returns to the White House, she and people like her might be consigned to some American gulag. And yes, I admit it: Just for a moment, the image of Rachel the Zek, toiling away in a West Virginia coal mine, flitted through my mind. Then I had an even better notion: Miss Rachel in a French maid’s uniform, serving a cheeseburger to Trump in the Oval Office. If she’s really seeking martyrdom, it would be hard to top that scenario…

It’s not all bad for Biden: A recent Pew Research Center poll found that around the world, Joe Biden gets better ratings than Trump. If only Belgian graduate students and German feminists could vote by mail! But even the citizens of the “international community” disapprove of Stumblebum Joe’s policy on the Gaza War. No doubt they think that the US should be supplying munitions to Hamas instead of to Israel…

Free Speech Phonies: Let’s just say that Democrats and progressives are not known for their devotion to freedom of expression. Indeed, they spend much of their time expanding the list of Things You Cannot Say. But then came “anti-Zionist” activism in the form of calls for jihad and genocide, accompanied by the harassment of and assaults on Jews, not to mention hysterical anti-Americanism and general lawlessness—and suddenly the comrades have rediscovered the First Amendment. Turns out you can say whatever ugly thing you want about the Great Satan and those wicked Jews! An article by Joan Vennochi, an ACLU lawyer, makes that case. It deserves to be read, if only for its laughably blatant hypocrisy. The ACLU long ago abandoned its commitment to the First Amendment, and its minions have lost their standing to lecture the rest us us about freedom of speech…