Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Politics

  • The Central Dividing Line in American Politics

    The central dividing line, according to Samuel Huntington, is between cosmopolitanism and nationalism.  The former comes in two unpalatable flavors, neo-conservatism and cultural Marxism. The neocon mistake was to imagine that our superior system of government could be imposed by force on  peoples riven by tribal hatreds who do not share our values and are…

  • Victor Davis Hanson on Quiet America’s Resilience

    Conservatives such as Victor Davis Hanson have a sense of history and are respectful of its lessons. Leftists are a species of retromingent who piss on the past and seek its erasure. That is why they tear down historical monuments. Leftists confuse the world with their utopian fantasy of what they would like it to…

  • The Democrat Party in Meltdown

    Here: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the unofficial leader of the Democrat Party. AOC is the perfect standard bearer for how the Party is evolving. She has zero real-world experience (beyond making martinis and margaritas). She hasn’t the slightest idea what’s she’s talking about. Her Green New Deal is little more than a utopian hallucination. Nevertheless, she…

  • Democrat Swamp Targets Miss Occasional Cortex

    I would have thrown this onto my Facebook page except that I've already loaded it up with eight entries today. Don Surber: She is the inevitable result of years of pushing communist indoctrination on middle class progeny. She believes all the goop about climate change, income inequality, open borders, and the superiority of woman and…

  • Charles R. Kesler on Trump 2020

    Includes a perspicacious analysis of President Trump's Second Inaugural (emphases added): Perhaps the most striking moment, sending a kind of premonitory shudder through the Democrats and offering a clear preview of the 2020 contest, was Trump’s warning against socialism. “America was founded on liberty and independence, and not government coercion, domination, and control. We are…

  • Conflict Resolution, Troubling Trends, and ‘Liberal’ Bias

    This from a New York Times article: “People are making up stories about ‘the other’ — Muslims, Trump voters, whoever ‘the other’ is,” she said. “‘They don’t have the values that we have. They don’t behave like we do. They are not nice. They are evil.’” She added: “That’s dehumanization. And when it spreads, it…

  • The State of the Union

    President Trump gave a great speech last night. I agree with Malcolm Pollack's commentary. Obviously you can’t please everyone, and there will be many of us who will take issue with some of what Mr. Trump put forward last night. (In particular, I think he is far too enthusiastic about increasing legal immigration, for reasons…

  • The Political Malpractice of the Democrats

    (Cross-posted at my FB page where comments are allowed.) Leading Democrats have reversed themselves on the need for a border wall to help secure the U. S. Mexico border. Notice, I said 'help secure.' No one thinks that a physical barrier suffices to insure border security. It should be noted, though, that many of those…

  • Three Lockean Reasons to Oppose the Democrats

    The main purpose of government is to protect life, liberty, and property. Subsidiary purposes are subordinate to the Lockean triad.  The Democrats, however, are anti-life, anti-liberty, and anti-property.  So if you value life, liberty, and property, then you must not vote for any Democrat. The Republicans in their timid way do stand for life, liberty,…

  • Is it politically sane to want both to crush and to tolerate opposing tribes?

    George Packer in The New Yorker on tribalism: I hear myself say this and think, A solid analysis. At the same time, I hear a Republican reply, Pure tribalism. You’re just proving your own point. I want part of my brain, even a small part, to be always attuned to the frequency of other tribes, ready to pose the essential…

  • It’s All Over for the Never Trumpers

    One part of them acknowledges President Trump's manifold accomplishments, in particular his two SCOTUS victories, and will vote for him in 2020. The rest have or will let their mindless hatred of Trump the man drive them out of the Republican Party or out of conservatism altogether.  Victor Davis Hanson: The character assassination of Brett…

  • Not a Job Interview, but a Neo-Bolshevik Show Trial

    Pat Buchanan: Yet, in tossing out the “Catechism of Political Correctness” and treating the character assassination of Kavanaugh as what it was, a rotten conspiracy to destroy and defeat his nominee, Trump’s instincts were correct, even if they were politically incorrect. This was not a “job interview” for Kavanaugh. In a job interview, half the…

  • Tribalism

    The incontinent Grey Lady becomes worse with each passing day.  Thomas Friedman whines about tribalism, but then lets loose with this tribalist outburst: Brett Kavanaugh defended himself the other day with the kind of nasty partisan attacks and ugly conspiracy theories that you’d expect only from a talk radio host — never from a would-be…

  • The Great Revolt: Understanding Real Trump Voters

    An excellent article  at Public Discourse, a very good website. I am tempted to excerpt passages, but if I start quoting, it will not be easy to stop.  Read it!

  • Dennis Prager: The Charges Against Kavanaugh Should be Ignored

    This piece by Dennis Prager is sure to outrage the Left.  Prager takes a step back and uncovers an assumption that almost everyone else is making. The assumption is that IF the young Kavanaugh had groped Dr. Ford in the manner she describes, THEN that would be good grounds for non-confirmation. But is the assumption…