Coming in hot
When it comes to noteworthy, memorable hot takes, few can rival the so-called "Squad" of sophomore (and often sophomoric) Democrat congresswomen. This one from Representative Ilhan Omar though, was just perfection:
The responses to her remark on Twitter from across the fruited plain reminded me of two important things. First, social media isn't all bad. And second, there is still sanity in our world. A piece yesterday on Not the Bee offered plenty of examples of rational Americans pillorying Omar's climate hot take.
My concern is how that kind of common sense - the kind that realizes Cro-Magnon man wasn't jotting down climate readings 120 millennia ago; the kind that realizes if the globe was once this hot 120,000 years before modern man, then modern man couldn't be responsible for heating the globe this hot; the kind that realizes "national emergencies" are always the vehicle statists use to confiscate more power and control over the masses - never seems to get elected to Congress.
Is that because those with such common sense are no longer numerous enough to carry elections? Is it because those with such common sense aren't participating by voting? Is it because D.C. effectively sucks the common sense right out of the people who spend any time there whatsoever? I don't know what it is, but the fact that such brazen ignorance proudly displays itself in the halls of Congress is beyond concerning.
RINOs on the march
The term RINO (Republican in Name Only) has become ubiquitous now. It's omnipresent to the point that it is almost meaningless. Whenever a fellow Republican exhibits ideas that conflict with your preferred ideological specificities, you simply label them a RINO and walk away. Very helpful. This phenomenon has always existed, but it intensified in the early 2000s with the activist vs. establishment divide, and then reached its zenith during the MAGA movement.
From Asa Hutchinson to Mike Pence to Nikki Haley to Tim Scott to Ron DeSantis, virtually any Trump competitor, especially those receiving money from traditional Republican donors, is routinely smacked with the RINO label. It's just bizarre when you think about it. Donald Trump was a lifelong Democrat before becoming a Republican president. Does Trumpism now define the Republican Party to the point that disagreement with Trump strips you of your Republican bona fides?
That just doesn't make sense to me. Besides, in the last couple months the former president himself has declared:
- Zelenskyy is "honorable" and we might arm him more than ever during a second Trump administration.
- That he "got along great" with left-wing radical Governor Gavin Newsom of California.
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo "did better" handling Covid than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
- Democrat Stacey Abrams would be a better governor for Georgia than Republican Brian Kemp.
- His relentless support for the Covid vaccine saved 100 million lives.
- "We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard."
There was a time that saying any of those things, no less all of those things, would have earned a RINO label. I admit I'm confused as to why that's changed.
The Kennedys were bad
A fun little online exercise started making the rounds a few days ago.
My list is pretty easy to come up with. In chronological order: Adams, Polk, Coolidge, Reagan. But what really had me shaking my head about this exercise was how many responded by suggesting JFK belongs on Rushmore II.
If you need to know why I was shaking my head at that, I can't recommend enough this excellent (but blunt) article from Josh Barro. Responding to the embarrassing candidacy of RFK Jr., Barro did more than just demonstrate why the current Democratic presidential candidate is a train wreck. He explained in detail why the whole family is, and has always been, "bad."
You owe it to yourself - and to a proper understanding of real history - to give it a quick read.
