Category: Leftism and Political Correctness
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Toleration and its Limits
Henry V. e-mails: I have a question. Is there a technical philosophical term for the case when a principle, applied consistently, leads to its own negation? I have in mind the example of the principle of civic tolerance, that when consistently applied to groups such as Muslims who wish to see Sharia law instituted in the…
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The Danger of Appeasing the Intolerant
Should we tolerate the intolerant? Should we, in the words of Leszek Kolakowski, . . . tolerate political or religious movements which are hostile to tolerance and seek to destroy all the mechanisms which protect it, totalitarian movements which aim to impose their own despotic regime? Such movements may not be dangerous as long as…
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Can a Black Man Vote Against Obamacare?
If a black congressman were to vote against a Democrat health care reform proposal, could he call himself a black man? According to this source: The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill. “We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill from…
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Travesty in New York
Will there be no end to the idiocies perpetrated by the Obama Administration? The latest is the absurd decision to give Islamic terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed a civilian trial in New York City. As usual, Charles Krauthammer cuts to the nerve of the matter: So why is Attorney General Eric Holder doing this? Ostensibly, to…
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Good Old Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer, The True Believer, p. 161: "In the eyes of the true believer, people who have no holy cause are without backbone and character — a pushover for men of faith." The True Believer was published in 1951. I read chunks of it in the '60s and returned to it in December of 2003.…
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Proof that I am a Native American
A while back, a front page story in the local rag of record, The Arizona Republic, implied that one is either a native American, a Black, or an Anglo. Now with my kind of surname, I am certainly no Anglo. And even though I am a 'person of color,' my color inclining toward a sort of tanned…
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Political Correctness Can Be Deadly: The Case of Nidal Malik Hasan
A militant Muslim lets out with the jihadist battle cry Allahu Akbar! (God is great!), mows down 43 unarmed fellow soldiers, and liberals and leftists refuse to call him what he is, an Islamist terrorist. The Left stands revealed in its moral cowardice and political correctness for all to see. Charles Krauthammer's Explaining Away Mass Murder…
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Liberal Dreckmeisters and Their Decadent Drivel
How is that for a polemical title? The first decades of televison were comparatively wholesome compared to what came later. An example of outstanding TV was Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, which ran from 1959-1964. Comparing a series like TZ with trash like The Sopranos, one sees the extent of the decline. Serling knew how to entertain…
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Malcolm Pollack at the Gates of Vienna
Or rather, at the gates of Gotham. Malcolm writes, Upon reading your post The Left's Death Wish, I thought you might find this interesting: A Genealogy of Radical Islam. I've been contending with the liberal mindset regarding Islam over at my own place, where, for suggesting that the massacre at Ft. Hood was most likely…
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Liberty-Conscious Investing
It is not clear to me why liberals have proprietary rights in the phrase 'socially-conscious investing.' Someone whose investment choices reflect a concern for individual liberty is of course also interested in the nature of the society in which he lives, and is therefore also 'socially conscious.' A champion of individual liberty wants a society…
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Postscript to The Real Culture War: The Schizoid Left in Cahoots with Islamists
A reader thinks I was "too charitable" in The Real Culture War. I wrote: But this minor culture war, as heated as it has become recently, is, despite its importance, as nothing compared to the major war between the West, with its Enlightenment values, and militant Islam. The reader responds: Since the Enlightenment side of this culture war…
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The Real Culture War
Please study the following photographs. They depict adherents of the 'religion of peace' making such statements as: Behead those who insult Islam; Freedom go to hell; Be prepared for the real holocaust. There is a sort of 'culture war' going on between liberals and conservatives in the West. But this minor culture…
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The Left’s Death Wish
Something that has long puzzled me also puzzles Michael Liccione. Mike puts it like this: Shouldn't liberals be the most concerned about Islamic fundamentalism, given that the things they profess to value are the first things they would lose under Islamist pressure? It's hard to avoid the conclusion that this sort of liberal hates political…
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Political Discourse as Unavoidably Polemical: the Converse Clausewitz Principle
A regular reader writes: I would urge some caution withyour recent political cartoon. This is only because you may unjustly be treated with less seriousness than your blog deserves if someone wants to peg you in a certain way. I'm certainly not being PC or suggesting that political satire is problematic — it's primarily a…