May
1
2023

"Don't Get Mad, Get Even."

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Today's headline is often attributed to Robert F. Kennedy (Sr.); that's apparently bogus. But Junior has apparently taken that guidance halfway: he does Get Mad, and he really has a hankering for the power that will allow him to Get Even. As discussed by Matt Welch: The Strange New Respect for Authoritarian Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr..

Ever since the 69-year-old conspiratorial activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination last week, a curious new category has appeared among the commentariat—libertarians and/or right-of-center journalists expressing strange new respect for a Hugo Chavez–admiring scion of the Establishment who has serially fantasized about throwing his political opponents in jail.

"I'm quite certain that I've never heard a more erudite speech in any political context," enthused Brownstone Institute President Jeffrey Tucker after attending Kennedy's announcement rally. "As [a] Democrat he must be bad on all sorts of things," tweeted Antiwar.com's Scott Horton, "But not the ones that matter the most." The Libertarian Party of Colorado tweeted (and then deleted) "Bravo and godspeed hero." Tablet, a publication not usually known for boosting overheated analogies to murderous 20th-century totalitarians, gave RFK Jr. an 18,000-word valentine with such soft-toss "questions" about his previous controversial statements (like terming the impact from childhood vaccines "a holocaust") as: "You activated an automated outrage machine that was looking for a gotcha."

Speaking of fantasizing, it's nice to fantasize that his candidacy could pull a Gene McCarthy-style ambush of Biden in the New Hampshire Primary. It's not that far-fetched; Democrats only have a problem with authoritarianism when it's Republican authoritarianism. And, being human, they are as susceptible to conspiracy ravings as Republicans.

Briefly noted:

  • I pledge to do my part. Which is negligible. Jeff Jacoby urges us: Republicans can spare the country a rematch it doesn't want.

    So here we are: The election rematch America doesn't want is shaping up to be the one it gets. In 2016, Trump and Hillary Clinton were repeatedly described as the two most disliked presidential nominees in living memory. Eight years later, the same scenario is unfolding again. Only 38 percent of Americans view Biden in a positive light. Only 34 percent have a positive view of Trump.

    Is there no way out?

    At this point, only death or disability will keep Biden off the 2024 ballot, so Americans can avoid another Biden vs. Trump contest only if Republicans say no to the former president.

    There are excellent reasons for them to do so, beginning with the fact that nominating Trump is the best way to ensure Biden's reelection.

    You'll note that Jacoby is not fantasizing a stunning NH upset forcing Biden to emulate LBJ in 1968.

  • Gee, that's too bad. The Independent (UK) reports the feel-good story of the day: Russian forces suffer radiation sickness after digging trenches and fishing in Chernobyl.

    Russian troops who dug trenches in Chernobyl forest during their occupation of the area have been struck down with radiation sickness, authorities have confirmed.

    Ukrainians living near the nuclear power station that exploded 37 years ago, and choked the surrounding area in radioactive contaminants, warned the Russians when they arrived against setting up camp in the forest.

    They'll be easier to shoot if they glow in the dark.

  • I'm simple. Or so people have told me. Ann Althouse notes another example of sex discrimination at the New York Times: their coverage of The complicated woman and the complicated man.. Spurred by their observation that actress Lizzy Caplan "is known for playing complicated women."

    She's playing the role made famous by Glenn Close in a new version of Fatal Attraction.

    In other words "complicated" means "slutty, batshit insane, eventually homicidal".

    Ann:

    This is a variation on a point I've made a few times: The mainstream media present whatever is true of the woman as good. If the same quality were found to be true of a man, it would be presented as bad.

    In this case — complicatedness — is something that — in a woman — feels intriguing and sophisticated. But what the hell is a "complicated man"? We're not wasting our time exploring his psyche. Screw him. He's an asshole.

    Stones video at the link, too.


Last Modified 2024-01-13 10:55 AM EDT