URLs du Jour

2019-10-17

[Amazon Link]
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Early-AM power failure has screwed up my schedule today, sorry. Just a couple things, both about the same general topic :

  • David Harsanyi at the Federalist points out that LeBron Jame$ Is A Coward.

    NBA superstar LeBron James says Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey was “misinformed” and “wasn’t educated on the situation at hand” when he tweeted in support of Hong Kong’s freedom demonstrations. Morey’s sin was sharing an image of a slogan that read, “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” Even though the GM, regrettably, deleted his tweet, one strongly suspects his grasp of China— where the state is running “re-education” camps filled with Uyghurs—is considerably stronger than any of the NBA’s leading apologists.

    Only last year, James, a purported champion of social justice, came out in support of former quarterback Colin Kaepernick with the vacuous platitude, “I stand with anyone who believes in change.” Anyone? Of course, LeBron’s stand, as with most acts of pretend celebrity bravery, resulted in hosannas being thrown at him by the press, and, more importantly, never costing him a penny.

    I'm old enough to remember when decent folk united in showering apartheid-era South Africa with opprobrium, and boycotts. And eventually, … well, at least it's different nowadays.

    Why no equivalent outrage at China? Is it all because of the Benjamins, LeBron?


  • At National Review, Jim Geraghty piles on: The President and the NBA Have Turned Their Backs on Hong Kong.

    And no, our president is no better and is in fact even more shameful, considering the traditional role of the President of the United States in standing up for American values. No one’s asking the president to nuke Beijing or deploy troops to Hong Kong. Just stand up for what’s right and denounce the abuse of innocent people, instead of insisting that a new trade deal will resolve the situation.

    In case you missed it, our president shrugged and declared, “I think great progress has been made by China in Hong Kong. I’ve been watching, and I actually told the vice premier, it really has toned down a lot from the initial days of a couple of months ago, when I saw a lot of people and I see far fewer now.” [Note: Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in central Hong Kong Monday night.] “We were discussing it, and I think that’s going to take care of itself. I think this [U.S.-China trade] deal is a great deal for the people of Hong Kong to see what happened. I think this is a very positive thing for Hong Kong. But it really has — the escalation, it really has de-escalated a lot, and we were discussing it.”

    I try not to be disgusted, but these days, on this topic, it's impossible.


Last Modified 2024-01-23 3:23 PM EDT

The Conservative Sensibility

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This is George F. Will's career-capping magnum opus, aka "brain dump." As near as I can tell, it's everything he has to say about government, politics, and philosophy. Even excluding the bibliography and index, still clocking in at just slightly under 600 pages.

Fortunately, the big idea is right up front, and clearly stated: if you're wondering what 21st century American conservatives are supposed to be conserving, GFW says: easy: it's the vision of the Founding Fathers, as expressed in the Declaration and Constitution. It's the notion that government does not provide you with rights, but is meant to secure the natural rights you have, by dint of you being an adult human being. Including, but not limited to, the big three: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I'm in total agreement with GFW here.

But there's more. Much more. GFW explores every nook and cranny of political thought: the proper role and function of the courts, for example. He's in favor of an "engaged" judiciary, one that (see above) is dedicated to curbing the rights-eroding follies of the other two branches. (He's a little down on my preferred theory of Constitutional interpretation, "original public meaning." I still slightly disagree there, but no longer think it's the slam dunk I used to.)

Also: foreign policy, education, religion, science. Everything except baseball. Each chapter is a pinball ride through history, philosophy, literature, … ; each topic could have been a book in itself. Unfortunately, I only had the book for 14-day loan period; it probably deserves closer study.

Bad guys: Woodrow Wilson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Fun fact: this is a new book, copyright 2019. Guess who's entirely missing from the book?

Donald J. Trump, that's who. Conspicuous by his absence. I have my theories about why, but unless someone asks GFW, they are only guesses.

As I've mentioned before, I don't do "reviews" here. It's basically just "I read this, I liked (or didn't like) it, here's what it's about, here's some things I noticed."

I feel a little guilty about that in GFW's case. If you want to read a real review, check out Richard M. Reinsch II at Law & Liberty: Progress of a Conservative.


Last Modified 2024-01-23 3:23 PM EDT