Jul
17
2018

URLs du Jour

2018-07-17

[Amazon Link]
(paid link)

  • Proverbs 11:30 is one of those where the Proverbialist doesn't seem to be trying that hard:

    30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
        and the one who is wise saves lives.

    A fruit is a tree? C'mon.

  • Jeezum Crow. Did you know that the Secret Service codename for the President is "Loose Cannon"?

    Well, it's probably not.

    But by nearly all accounts… for example, Ben Shapiro at NRO: Trump’s Disgraceful Press Conference in Helsinki.

    On Monday, President Trump gave a deeply disgraceful press conference with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The presser began with Trump announcing that although the Russia–U.S. relationship has “never been worse than it is now,” all of that “changed as of about four hours ago.” It was downhill from there. Trump proceeded to state that he held “both countries responsible” for the deterioration of the relationship, then supported Putin’s argument that Russia hadn’t interfered in the American election in any way: “I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be. . . . I have confidence in both parties.”

    Both parties. One party being a murderous dictator, and the other the intelligence community that works for him.

    Many rabid anti-Trumpers think that Trump's performance means that "Putin has something on Trump". Probably pee-related. But Ben has an alternate (and more credible) explanation: "Far more likely, it means that Trump’s ego is one giant gaping wound, constantly draining rage over the suggestion that his 2016 election victory was somehow ill-won."

  • And Reason's Nick Gillespie is also credible when he points out: Trump's Putin Summit Is Another Reminder He Prefers Dictators to Democratic Leaders.

    Among the most consistent characteristics of Donald Trump's worldview is his admiration for dictators, authoritarians, and political strongmen—not in spite of their most thuggish tactics, but because of them.

    Trump often appears more comfortable in their company, and with their style of politics, than with the leaders of liberal democracies. This aspect of his personality was on display again today in his joint press conference with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

    We've been seeing recently a spate of triumphalism by the Trump cheerleaders. This might make them go silent for a while.

  • But I did find one positive comment for Trump, from Roger L. Simon: Putin Summit May Prove to Be Trump's Finest Hour. Wha? That's contrarian, but see if you're convinced:

    Okay, time for that familiar cliche -- the thought experiment. Suppose Trump had done the opposite, exactly what these people demanded -- verbally and viciously assaulted Putin for all his totalitarian tropes from annexing the Crimea to humiliating John Podesta for being so dumb as to fall for a phishing attack (all right -- I'll be fair. For invading the computers of Democratic Party operatives, allegedly to elect Trump) and so forth?

    What would that have accomplished? The obvious answer is zilch. Again the opposite would most likely have occurred. Things, already bad, would have been set back further. It's human nature. You don't have to be a personal acquaintance of Vladimir Putin to know that. You only have to be breathing.

    I'll just point out this looks an awful lot like a False Dilemma fallacy.

  • And it is in these days of troubled times that we turn to Iowahawk for insightful wisdom. Alas, as shown in his Tweet du Jour,…

    … he's as mystified as the rest of us.


Last Modified 2024-01-25 9:20 AM EDT