As many of you know, my dear friend and fearless comrade in so many battles, Kathy Shaidle, died just before dawn on Saturday. Among the many hats she wore, Kathy was our dazzling movie columnist every week, and over the weekend I rounded up a few favorite moments from her film essays.
But Kathy had plenty more to say on many other subjects, so here are a few excerpts from recent appearances on camera on The Mark Steyn Show. I was particularly struck by an insight prompted partly by being on the receiving end for years of an extraordinary number of repulsive misogynist emails and tweets from pajama boys of the "Kathy Shaidle really needs a good f***" variety: As Kathy saw it, many of the footsoldiers of the activist left are profoundly damaged people. It is perhaps a chicken-and-egg conundrum: Are they attracted to leftism because they are damaged? And does being on the left then damage them further?
At any rate, Miss Shaidle has interesting things to say on all kinds of questions. Click above to watch.
~It was a very busy weekend at SteynOnline, aside from my tribute to the irreplaceable Kathy. In our first Clubland Q&A of the New Year, I took questions from Mark Steyn Club members live around the planet: You can hear the full show here. On Saturday I presented a new edition of The Mark Steyn Show, which I opened by firing my lawyers and closed by talking to Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits. Our Sunday song selection was "Try a Little Tenderness", and our marquee presentation was the launch of our new Tale for Our Time - George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which (as Steyn Clubber Ian Chandler puts it) we are now all living as unpaid extras. Part Two will air in a few hours' time. If you were too busy invoking the 25th Amendment all weekend long, I hope you'll want to check out one or three of the foregoing as a new week gets going.
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Censorship is the cancer we did not recognize in time, sort of like Pancreatic cancer, until it was far advanced.
It was censorship that dragged Mark Steyn into the courts of DC over simple commentary about onw of the most controversial opinion leaders in the climate cult.
Climate was not the first point of the metases, but it was close.
Now censorship controls our elections and political discourse.
It will, like Pancreatic cancer, not end well.
Thanks for the great video of a fearless supporter of freedom.
May she rest in peace, uncensored.
"The Views Expressed"
Funny how we used to see this disclaimer scroll by before certain programs aired (really: they were broadcast through the air): "The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the station owners."
How quaint. They were warning us that what we were about to see and hear would include a lot of opinion and was not to be construed as actual news. It was a disclaimer crafted by lawyers of the station owners, to protect them against lawsuits. Why? Because broadcasting companies (and newspapers, who used to banish opinion articles to the Op-Ed section) had a solemn duty to report the news straight down the middle: the Who, What, When and Where, with a dash of Why thrown in for historical perspective. As in, "Why might this event/occurrence be happening now?" In the profession formerly known as Journalism, the precepts of Fair and Balanced were not just a 'cable news' channel's slogan, they were the guiding principles of every newsroom in the country, broadcast or print. People lived by those creeds; journalism was an honorable profession; journalism was the Fourth Estate*.
I miss those days.
In 2020 USA, journalism IS the State.
*From Wikipedia: "The term Fourth Estate or fourth power refers to the press and news media both in explicit capacity of advocacy and implicit ability to frame political issues. Though it is not formally recognized as a part of a political system, it wields significant indirect social influence."
It was good to revisit the Steyn Cruise panel discussion. Kathy's comments about the mental instability of leftists were certainly illuminating. This helps explain why leftism has burned through our culture like a California wildfire. I think most Americans are obsessed with being "nice". It's certainly the culture of the churches. Being "nice" means you must take grievance politics seriously. These things are all assumed to be real and we can't risk hurting people's feelings. There are still all kinds of people who don't understand the culture of grievance as the most cynical of political strategies; the endless fabrication of political wedges. This is the main reason why Obama got elected twice in my opinion and weaponized grievance like never before. We feel we must endlessly take every ramped up, doubled down, or new grievance seriously. We can never seem to say "get a life" or "grow up", or "pound sand", or as Rush might say, "you need to move to Realville". Being nice is not so nice though because it usually means subverting the truth on some level. The thing leftists need more than anything else is the truth if they are willing accept it. Being nice and being civil are not the same thing. Civility does not need to subvert the truth. Leftists need a lot of help which most will vehemently refuse, but continuing to validate their grievances is the road to hell.
Sorry to hear of Ms Shaidle's passing. May she rest in peace.
One of the things I really like about this website is finding out that one is not alone in his thinking on a particular issue. I have always agreed with Ms. Shaidle. Rush, Mark, and others that leftists are often deeply bitter, unhappy, dissatisfied people. Those leftists I have known as close friends and family members confirm this. They have nearly to the person convinced themselves that the world has never recognized their true worth, and has not given them the respect and reward they deserve.
On this point I was struck by Ms, Shaidles's advice she gave in, I believe, a panel discussion I watched on this website and which occurred on one of Mr. Steyn's cruises. She said that when confronted with someone from the left who wanted to provoke an argument, a public figure, or really just anyone, should not engage that person but merely quietly and persistently ask them, "What happened to you?" She further said that in addition to not wasting your time debating a person who cannot logically debate, it was not unheard of in her experience that the leftist might just answer your question and tell you why they were so unhappy and angry. Listening to Ms. Shaidle;s comments on this point I got the feeling that she was not advocating asking "what happened to you" to provoke or irritate the leftist, but to offer him a chance to explain his deeper feelings to another and ultimately to himself, in the hope that the leftist could experience a measure of self-revelation about his true feelings and self.
While I personally am probably too combative to take Ms. Shaidle's gentle approach, I do see the merit. There really is no point in debating most leftists, and her compassionate method of dealing with them is truly much better,
It came to my mind today, wasn't it Kathy's quip about Ted Kennedy that he "had a confirmed kill in the War on Women"?
That is a classic!
Yes indeed!
Classic Shaidle!
You asked, "Are they attracted to leftism because they are damaged?"
The answer is yes. As I have grown older, I've realized that most of the leftist foot soldiers I am personally acquainted with are heavily damaged in some form, mostly drugs. Their mental capacity is limited, and they will do anything for their next fix.
So I have a new set of laws I would like to push for in all 50 states. Everyone must demonstrate that they have been drug free for a year before they can vote. Call them "Paisley Doors" laws, or somesuch, but lets get it done. The country would become sane once again... or, at least, its laws and judges would become sane.
I've thought about this a lot. In my family, work and acquaintances, there are an awful lot of wannabes; namedropping, desire to rub elbows. The name dropping is almost always some lefty I've never heard of. So yes, they feel like the fat kid in grade school.
Thanks Mark & Melissa
After seeing her up on stage , had to fight the bleary eyes , but cleared vision and so enjoyed her wonderful remarks , her pithy adroit way of communicating
We should have a annual replay in remembrance
Saw it all live of course but we will so miss her next cruise
Such very sad news. Sympathies to her family and friends.
Oh, Kathy, we miss you even more now....you're not here to comment on a condition discussed in this video that has tripled its evil intent.
No, she's not and I'm going to really miss her sensible input. I do have a small publication she put together on free speech here that I'm going to try to locate today. I'm sure there are parts that will be helpful to revisit.
Such a bright spark, such a great loss. As we grind through the eviceration of Trump and the anointment of the next gang of Soros funded criminals i can't help but think in some regard at least Kathy is spared seeing another nail in the conservative coffin.
Many of those 'damaged' Lefties are a form of useful idiot, who are being exploited as well as being dangerous.
Kathy Shaidle's remarks about 'paranoia' also struck a chord. On those occasions when someone called me paranoid, it would always make me feel ill-at-ease and I would carefully re-examine my views. It would take me aback especially because I generally thought I had said something innocuous, and the attack seemed disproportionate. But ultimately, every time, I eventually found out that I was simply correct and that I was, in fact, being 'gaslighted.' If I ever hear someone being labeled as paranoid, I have tried my best to learn to carefully reserve judgment, unless it is truly patently false what they are saying, and even then I would rather take it easy on them.
"just 'cos you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you!"
Note that "conspiracy theorist" is the new "shut up!" - from lockdowns to election irregularities.
Around this time last year, people were being called kooks for even mentioning the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
These are beautiful pieces, and make me sadder than ever that I never got to meet Kathy.
I take solace in the fact that she was embraced by many people who believed in her and loved her dearly. It may not have been her biological family, but it became her true family.
So many people have become disconnected from their biological families because of the toxic atmosphere created by the people who want to move us all along into their post constitutional world. So, I find myself in complete agreement with your observations, George. This last episode between Election Day and today, no it probably began last spring with all the virus shutdown/lifting cycles with very little warnings when things would begin or end; then the violence and the politicians rooting them on or turning a blind eye, the chaos in other words, made for such an oppressive time. The relentlessness of restrictions all underscore an increased sense of lack of control over our own lives and increased the psychological distance from family more than I want to contemplate. It's grief as much as disappointment now. Maybe that's why Kathy's death seems harder for me to face at the moment. This was the year of extraordinary levels of death and things falling to pieces.
It's going to be tough to put those pieces back into place. I still have some to talk to in the family about things that matter but the old reliable people just seem now to want to block out all the unpleasantness. Maybe that's why I feel here I can return when I think I've said enough already and still find simpatico people.
George,
Agree fully.
Fran,
I see the deep truth in your comment.
The events of 2020 has raised this question in my mind over and over: Why did US politicians so quickly adopt and indefinitely continue the obviously ineffective, destructive of the Bill of Rights, and just inappropriate-to-a-free-society Chinese Communist "lockdown" approach? Was it because the Pols panicked and are so deeply ignorant about respiratory viral disease spread and public health? Or did they try to impose "lockdown" of the peasants (while excepting the best and the brightest and their fellow travelers) because they are demonic and incredibly evil b**stards who crave power and wealth regardless of the death, suicide, misery, depression and unhappiness their acts inflict on millions of others? I believe the answer is clear. I am not a religious person, and I am sure that many have had similar feelings over the centuries, but I do sometimes wonder if the absolute evil and gross hypocrisy we have seen from so many of our so called leaders in 2020 might not be a harbinger of end times.
In light of the way the CCP has turned its wrath upon Donald J. Trump and free people around the world by unleashing a deadly virus, and in light of the way the mega corporations and big tech giants and other multi-billionaires are cooperating with the CCP, not to mention the globalist view that we're going to be one humongous political community depending on all of the above for all of our needs and forced to subordinate our free wills to procreate and have families and live full lives that our parents and grandparents lived, I think we know the answer.
The fake news, the fake science, the fake narratives, the fake politicians, the fake identity groups, the fake celebrities, the fake political correctness, the fake geniuses and the fake public health information all have congealed to push one powerful lie that is next to impossible to destroy. Take away all those phony entities, we're just as powerful and smart as anyone in some corporate elite headquarters or behind some impenetrable electronically protected unscalable wall. We just needed someone like Donald J. Trump to come along and bust them all up for us. It's not that I ever worshiped him, it's just that nobody like him had come along in our lifetimes who had the power to accomplish anything necessary to get the ball rolling.
The evil that needs to be destroyed so we can get back to enjoying or God given rights is going to take more than one powerful and courageous man. I really thought when it became apparent that Fauci had no idea what the hell was going on with the Wuhan virus that our president was going to fire him and declare some kind of national emergency and open the economy back up and turn the ship around. There's a piece at The Federalist about Fauci failing up his entire career. I'm going to check it out and see if there's something to learn about him not already known. He really became the fake lord of this Wuhan virus along with the overseers at the WHO and the most severe of all the governors and leaders seemed to worship his every word, even the times he flipped his opinions. They didn't follow the science, as they don't with climate matters as they didn't with claims that blacks were being killed by white police in unprecedented numbers. The facts don't lie, only those in power able to push the lies. They've consolidated their power and have conceived an evil plan for us. It just took evil minds to construct the strategies.
Thx - I liked the reference to Chaplins "Great Dictator". Reminded me of the Peter Cook quip: he said his Establishment Club was modelled on "those wonderful Berlin cabarets which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the outbreak of the Second World War".
Kathy's great humanity was revealed in both her writings and these panel discussions. Unlike most with great intellect hers did not exist in an ivory tower guarded with conceit and arrogance. Kathy's great intellect was made accessible by her great humanity.
Thanks for these excerpts from your show. All my condolences to Kathy's husband and friends.
On a lighter note, let me just notice that it's kind of ironic to play the music 'Nine lives' for an obituary show!
-An hour ago, I got my first 12 hours suspension from Twitter for making a joke about diversity, so Kathy's remarks on free speech were really prescient of what we are living this week.-
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Today, 12 hours. Tomorrow, eternity.
Three thoughts:
One, this just makes me sadder than I was before; now, because I never met Kathy, and so would have enjoyed her company.
Two, I own most or all of your clothing line and crockery, but those Mark Steyn Show mugs, so prominent on the set, are a no-show in the store. Do I have to go to the Dark Web to find one, or are any available?
Three, I commented the other day that we conservatives should follow Andrew Breitbart's advice, and swim upstream from politics to culture. As that point also came up in these discussions, I thought I'd repeat myself (my specialty). While trying to get back to sleep a night or so ago, I tried crafting a few jokes for a stand-up act--barbs that were neither personally offensive nor overtly political, but still laid bare the absurdity of the liberal mindset. If I could remember a good one, I'd share it, but I bombed; and I was the only audience member. But then I had a dream. I almost never remember my dreams, and would never bore others if I did--but this one was made to order. It was a modern take on the 1970s sitcom, The Jeffersons, a spin-off from All in the Family (itself a rip-off of Till Death Us Do Part), in which a black family does well enough to find itself "movin' on up...to a deluxe apartment in the sky" on Manhattan's Upper East Side. In my dream, an African American family moves into a predominantly white neighborhood, only to find themselves not unwelcome, but rather smothered with kindness. The patriarch of the family believes in hard work and self-reliance--the traits that paid off with a nice house in a nice neighborhood--but finds himself at sea among the squishy liberals who think they have been delivered from their bourgeois lives by these "Magic Negros" (not my coinage, look it up). The best writing, I believe, is animated by character, not premise, so I won't say more. But I found myself loving one or two of the characters revealed to me. If I can express that love in return, who knows, I may have something. Anyone have Norman Lear's number?
PS: I've seen The Hunt. It was AWESOME!!!!
Josh,
I liked the Jefferson's, but the far better 70's social commentary sitcom in my opinion was "Sanford & Son." Red Fox as Fred Sanford taking care of himself and his son running a South Central LA junkyard. I don't remember either Fred or Lamont, his son, often discussing welfare, food stamps, Obama phones, or anything but life running the junkyard (and of course Fred's deceased wife Elizabeth and Aunt Esther). Lamont was the straight man in the duo, working hard and also working hard to keep Red Fox on the straight and narrow. The show was very funny, and in my opinion at its roots exhibited family values, loyalty, and hard work as the way to happiness.
All true! And ow many times have I faked a Fred Sanford heart attack! ("It's the big one! I'm comin' to join you, Elizabeth!") His estate should be massive on my royalty payments alone.
An absolutely wonderful remembrance.
Super show. Apropos Kathy Shaidle, as Dr Terrell says in Blade Runner:
"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy. Look at you: you're the Prodigal Son; you're quite a prize! "
Charlton "From my cold, dead hands" Heston I love The Omega Man.
Bob Hope. Clint Eastwood. Ronald Reagan. Ted Nugent. Kid Rock. Johnny Rotten. Roger Daltrey. Basil Brush.
That's a great idea.
Along the same lines, I've pictured one of those cliched dramas where an ordinary person suddenly finds themselves being chased by sinister, shadowy forces. Title is "Cancelled". Left can't touch it but those movies usually seem to make money unless they are REALLY bad.
Lol - "cancelled" is a conspiracy theory according to the left, but notice all the conservatives who are desperately reversing their long-held positions on national TV etc in an effort to save themselves?
Brit Hume on Tucker Carlson was just jaw-dropping.
Thank you for editing this all together and posting. I had planned on going to bed early Saturday night until I saw the post about Kathy, so long story short I was up until midnight re-reading fantastic reviews of films that premiered decades before I was born. These interviews, however, go to show that she was more than just a film buff. I wish I had been exposed to her writing earlier, but I'm thankful that she had a featured spot here in our corner of the internet
This merges with something I was thinking about today regarding Mark once observing adults looking like overgrown children: They dress that way because that's what they are. I was thinking about adults with almost religious obsession with video games, comic books, crappy Marvel Comics movies, toys and other stuff once the almost exclusive domain of children. And of course the overwhelming number of these people are hardcore leftists. The breaking and destroying of our nation's human capital was a far greater crime committed against both our country and civilization than a few hundred people storming the capital building, and no one will ever have to answer for it.
I recall that article, or one of them: "Back in 1963, when adults last dressed as adults" or similar.
"The breaking and destroying of our nation's human capital was a far greater crime committed against both our country and civilization than a few hundred people storming the capital building, and no one will ever have to answer for it."
This is so true - and painfully sad.
SabreMike, I used to be in Santa Barbara frequently on business. I worked with building trades contractors in nearly all of SoCal's communities including the most strident well-known Leftist strongholds, but Santa Barbara stood out to me with particular starkness for the exact reason you stated - those of middle age and older seemed to have never escaped their youth. I would see residents, not vacationers, from all levels of society - the highly affluent to old hippies living at the poverty level - riding around town on beach bikes, skateboards, and scooters dressed like teenagers seemingly without any responsibilities in life. Perhaps emblematic of the societal rot on display was an old church that had been converted into a skate shop named "Church of Skatan".
For a long time I have been convinced that a vampiric craving for youth is driving a lot of our decline. Society now sexualizes children and encourages them to be precocious adults, while insisting upon a childish irresponsibility as they mature. Call it what you will, a Faustian bargain or Boomers in NeverNeverLand, but everyone gets short-changed.
Super insights by a Canadian original well worth a second viewing. It is chilling to see how prescient everyone on the panel was. And I can't get enough of the opening and closing graphics and music. Thank you Mark Steyn. BTW, I hope you have alternate servers for when Amazon decides to shut you down.
Kathy's predictions about internet infrastructure - which preceded the advent of social media - couldn't have been more accurate. Why didn't we take notice?
With history being erased and rewritten on our descent into "Lights Out", the Shaidle free speech highlights will make for interesting viewing if they're recovered from the rubble, circa 2050... or for use in a 2121 "Hundred Years Ago Show".
I agree with Kathy Shaidle, and you, but I would anyway like to see some more 'acorns' as she referred to them, even if it does seem like it's too much of an uphill battle.
With you, Joseph - and who knows, Big Tech may have over-stepped the mark.
The Trump twitter cancellation has not gone unnoticed in Australia, where federal parliamentarians and the nation competition regulator have already raised serious concerns.
Amen, K.
Thanks Mark for an excellent Part 2 of Kathy Shaidle Tributes. I know Kathy wasn't the sentimental type but she would probably be pleased and honored to rate a 2nd tribute on Steynonline.
I was hoping there would be a follow up of some kind involving Kathy. She deserves the recognition due to her courageous leadership role in fighting against (or just ignoring) the increasing demands of the left. She won't be forgotten soon because of her many memorable opinions. It's unfortunate that many of her interviews on the former Sun TV etc. are on You Tube as we should be rejecting Big Tech ASAP for better alternatives if you haven't already been banned or deplatformed. (Rumble?)
My first reaction to the Hunt movie was anger due to the timing of it but when I learned the hunters lost in the end, then I realized it wasn't a movie made exclusively for lefties that love seeing Conservatives mercilessly hunted and slaughtered. I also didn't realize the movie fit into the "satire" category until I heard Kathy label it as one in the video.
Hey, Dennis, I was an example of a dimwit Kathy was referring to, although never would've banned any film, I didn't know fully about, and after hearing her sum it up I got up, dusted off my wits and got on with it. If you can't recognize speech that's trying to educate you, then it's okay to hang it all up.
Bravo Kathy! Rest in Peace. And bravo Mark for sharing. I too remember the fun, early days of the internet when I enjoyed blogging before a wrong word, or even silence on the wrong topic, could get you vaporized from the web (and perhaps soon to be vaporized period).
Kathy's comments on the film The Hunt were right on. I saw it a few months back and, the politics aside, found it to be quite enjoyable with a few unexpected twists and turns. The fact that the conservatives were the good guys in the film was a welcome bonus. As you've said many times Mark politics is downstream from the culture and we need more entertainment that portays the shoe on the right foot, if you know what I mean.
Re: The Hunt
No doubt Kathy is right again in her assessment. I have not seen it, though was curious and would like to. When it came back 6 months after the original cancellation, the outrage was gone. When I saw the trailer, it looked to me like it was a bit of a rip off of Hostel, and of course draws on The Most Dangerous Game. It looked like the prey were figuring things out and were going to come out on top, so how was it a stab against the "deplorables?"
So after Kathy's and your recommendation, I will have to keep my eyes open for an opportunity to watch it sometime.
This is very sad news indeed. I shall miss her insightful writings as I expect many others will too. She was a valuable member of the Mark Steyn club.
I think Mark Steyn is conflating two very different issues when discussing the law suit against him. The law suit is definitely an issue of government enforcement, in this case of libel/slander laws. As long as we have such laws, there will be such law suits. The issue of social/big-tech suppression of speech is something very different. Except for the funding of universities, the government isn't involved. In fact, many people feel that the solution to this problem is for the government to get involved, via anti-trust or something else, to effectively censor big-tech's political program. (I don't support this, by the way.)
In the wake of the POTUS cancellation, what do you see as the appropriate solution, Charles - given that the government *is* involved, having joined forces with the Big Tech cartel to eliminate opposition to the "presidential transition"? I think it was Dan Bongino who noted that Twitter is a political organisation (first) - in addition to being a company (second).
The fierce criticism of Silicon Valley CEOs by other nations' elected leaders - across the political spectrum - is telling: "A world media power with a censorship court to shape public opinion. This is an attack on freedom." - Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Yes. This is to my mind the nature of election stealing which should concern us. Poorly-handled postal votes can for the moment be dismissed as just another bureaucratic performance glitch occasioned by the 'flu panic.
Of course, in all matters, we await further developments - mostly with despair and trepidation.
"Coalition MPs, regulators call for new social media rules after Trump turn-off: The competition regulator wants new rules to determine when social media behemoths can close accounts after Donald Trump was suspended from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, sparking warnings by some Coalition MPs that unclear self-regulation by the technology giants could limit freedom of speech." - Jennifer Duke, The Sydney Morning Herald, January 10th.
By the way, S - I never thought much of our Deputy PM, until yesterday...
"'All lives matter' for Acting PM: Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack has stepped up his comparisons between last week's pro-Trump insurrection at the US Capitol and the Black Lives Matter protests of last year, using a controversial catchcry often favoured by hard-right activists in Australia and the US. After only two days acting in Scott Morrison's role, Mr McCormack has become the centre of Labor's attacks on the government for his refusal to criticise US President Donald Trump's incitement of the US Capitol riots, and for his comments about the Black Lives Matter movement." - Richard Ferguson, The Australian, January 12th.
And one my favourite comment today - re impeachment - with nearly 300 likes so far (by David): "Australians must find this very familiar. Our own Tony Abbott suffered the same sort of treatment. Straight out of the left playbook."
All good stuff, K.: thanks for sharing it. I greatly appreciate the trouble to which you go. Yes, Deputy prime minister McCormack's star has brightened in my galaxy too, even as Mr Morrison's has paled. It might be that I clutch at straws, it might be that hope springs eternal, and it might be that something good may grow from revulsion against events in America. Still, you've cheered me up no end.
"As Kathy saw it, many of the footsoldiers of the activist left are profoundly damaged people. It is perhaps a chicken-and-egg conundrum: Are they attracted to leftism because they are damaged? And does being on the left then damage them further?"
May I submit the idea that the answer is both?
The behavior of the left never ceases to amaze me, considering they believe themselves our betters. Not in my 53 years of observations...
I agree completely, George.
George Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier was almost rejected by Victor Gollancz because of the second part in which he argued among other things that the reason socialism has such a bad name among large swathes of the population is because how ridiculous the socialists themselves look (he mentioned sandals which would have been considered distinctly girlie back then). Despite his brilliant descriptions of coal miners and coal mining in the depressed British north full of self tons of empathy, something one would think that all socialists would embrace, the Left was furious that he had held such a mirror up to them and he wasn't mocking them one bit just trying to explain their lack of appeal to much of the population. So if you're wondering how a Leftist will respond if you ask him or her "are you alright?" be prepared to be furiously attacked rather than have your concern appreciated.
On the chicken-and-egg analogy, I come down on the egg side. After all, if you look at it literally, animals were laying eggs for millions of years before chickens came along. And in this case, I think the egg is that aspect of human nature and culture that some people have an especially strong urge to dominate their fellow humans and will band together to create societies in which they enjoy privilege and power. Today's Leftists are merely the latest chickens laying that egg.
Well said, G.
"The behavior of the left never ceases to amaze me, considering they believe themselves our betters." Likewise, but with this proviso: that I am repelled by the idiotic behaviour of idiots of every stripe. I can say that. I are one. You isn't, so you can't.
Segnes, I have to disagree with you, you ain't a idiot.
You's too kind, L. Anyway, these days you had better not call a spade a spade, but it would be better if one were one. I'll leave it to university lecturers and pop singers to pretend that they're members of oppressed racial groups: I've found the ultimate oppressed group with which to identify. You watch: today, they're hell-bent on turning the country over to ostensibly-oppressed racial minorities. Tomorrow, they'll be wanting to hand it over to us idiots.
Oh. Already done that. Bummer. Slow on the uptake, I guess. Well, that's us idiots for you.
L., I apologise. I had replied, picking up on your joke, but it got lost in the ether somewhere and even I know enough about jocular exchanges not to return to cold jokes. Keep firing, though: I never pass over a word you post!
Apologised too soon, L.: my response materialised. I don't often apologise too soon. And now, with all that fanfare, my rejoinder looks pretty lame, so apologies again. Let me get out of here: folk have adult conversations to have.
A wonderful tribute.
It was a joy to revisit these conversations with Kathy.
Thank you.
Kathy is truly and sorely missed: bright, witty, literate, spirited . . . none of a kind.
It was great to see and hear from Kathy again. Her insights into the left are very valuable. She will be missed. On another note, I felt sorry for Tal Bachman because of the way it was edited he got cut off almost every time he was about to make a point.
Mark replies:
That's only because we were excerpting Kathy's bits, John. On the original shows, Tal got all the time he wanted.
Of course, sorry to have even mentioned it. Feel free to cut that part out of my post.
I really enjoy hearing this great lady speak about free speech. My favorite photo of all was the one she posted before the Alaska Cruise (that I missed) with "Free Mark Steyn" across the front. I think she was standing inside a shower door frame. I'm very tempted to start asking my former friends who tell me Donald Trump is demented, "what happened to you?" next time I see them. It will be a sincere question.
You're a far better person than ever I was, F. "Sincere question" means you'd be interested in the answer (supposing that you might elicit an honest one).
Oh, I was half mimicking Tucker, S. That's one of his favorite lines and I probably wouldn't care really either. I already know the answer because I've honed my intuitive skills over the centuries.
I re-watched this video earlier during the lockdown because I had remembered the part about Kathy saying "putting sugar in the gas tanks" and I wanted to refresh my memory about what I thought she said re using our opponents' tactics ourselves. And then later I thought more about the "How to talk to a leftie" part because it seems our current ways aren't persuasive. Kathy is right that we need to learn and use their language and then be patient listening to them speak. It's a tall order, but we must try. When your leftie friends tell you the Orange Man is bad, ask them what pain causes them to say that instead of listing out the many good things Trump has done as president. Save the list for your conservative friends, the Norwegian Parliament, and the Nobel Committee.
I've been studying this some since I re-watched the video. Kathy's "what happened to you?" is great and pretty versatile. And I have a couple other variations now: If they say they're afraid of X, don't tell them they shouldn't be afraid, ask them to explain their fear; if one of them actually agrees with you on a topic but won't speak up to help you, ask, "Why don't you use your voice to help? Would that not give you back your power?" I am not particularly good at this yet, and I can't practice much during lockdown, but I do think Kathy was on to something here. Kathy will be missed, but she won't forgotten. May she rest in peace.
That's the same thought I had. When someone's words keep repeating over and over in your head, you know they'll be with you for the rest of your life. Yes, Kathy will be one of my heroes until I die.
The large percentage of people who commiserated with me over the onslaught of bad man orange talk have now decided to turn off the news for four years and get on with their life. But the other percentage of people who would say Trump ruined their life, I think are just brainwashed by the oppressive media slant. The few who still want to say what a horrible human being he is, despite what good things he did for the country, don't even know all that he has accomplished in four years.
He destroyed the way things operated in the Swamp and they despise him for that. They're jealous of him because he has such an incredible following and they're afraid of him because he understands now more than even before how corrupt they all are, and he certainly gets how they're not for making sure America stays the leader of the free world. Now a growing percentage of We the People get it, too. Man, do we ever get it now.
Brilliant reply, F. Yes: troubled is troubled, and (addressing our hypothetical troubled lefty interlocutor) there are only two kinds of troubles: mine - and yours. As it happens, I have my hands full with mine.
Ditto on your reply to E., 'though I'm not entirely sure that President Trump changed much about the operations of the "Swamp". You always see the silver lining: something I can really appreciate.
Everything is so exciting with President Trump. You get the sense he's one step ahead of everyone else. This time, it's hard to say. I'm a fool probably for admiring the man but I guess the bottom line is he seems to have their number. And as Rush says, "I know these people"! Mayer Bowser just called for the national reserve to be called up for the inauguration in DC. I suspect there will be so much of a military element present there either there won't be many attending and/or there'll be clashes with all law enforcement (there, that should cover the range) anyway, the Antifa has been suspected to have hijacked the Trump rally/Capitol Building bust in on 1/6 so now we're pretty sure this was staged. Something about time lines don't add up. Ah, the conspiracy theories are all coming into the focus of reality. This is what is so exciting about being alive today. Nothing happens then, all of a sudden you get whiplash trying to follow the bouncing ball.
There's that silver lining again, F. It would certainly be nice to be able to disassociate the Republicans from the "Trump rally/Capitol Building bust" and pin it on scum who vote for the other shower. Let's hope that more evidence to that effect can be supplied than could be produced in fifty or so discrete trials intended to demonstrate that the election was stolen.
The videos are being scrubbed as we comment, S. The only other silver lining I see is that polls show a large percent of Americans think this is a waste of taxpayer money, time and it's all politically motivated to destroy Trumpism. Mark said it best: This is about teaching the American people a lesson that this will never happen again.
Also, polls show any republicans who votes for Trump's impeachment will be voted out of office. Biden will be crippled as he begins his demented term. They are on a death to America train these politicians and the train has left the station. Raise the Stars and Stripes high as the train rolls by, I say, so they can enjoy their last terms in office. This will be the last self-inflicted nail in their political coffins if they vote to impeach and convict our beloved President Trump. They are all betrayers of the Constitution and of the American people. Shame on them. We will not let this go for as long as we live.
Improvidus, apto quod victum.
I'll dust off my Latin books:)
"Let's hope that more evidence to that effect can be supplied than could be produced in fifty or so discrete trials intended to demonstrate that the election was stolen."
No Standing - as opposed to No Evidence. In any case, the election itself was unconstitutional based on the intentional violations of election laws in multiple states (enabling the electoral fraud in those states).
That I can readily go with. So are many of the 'flu panic measures, as I understand the American constitution. So were many of Mr Obama's presidential actions. The happened anyway, and not a peep from the peanut gallery. O tempora o mores. Which reminds me: I'd understood you to number Latin among your languages. Am I being pompous instead of sharing a joke - again?
So I'll be pompous, and remind you that the evidence of which we've spoken needed not only to demonstrate skullduggery (I typed "skulbuggery" and was tempted to let it stand) but that the demonstrated skulbuggery was sufficient to change the election result. Whatever my personal intuitions, not one of those cases supplied the requisite evidence, or, as far as I can tell, even got close. I hear opinions to the effect that the American legal system is rotten through and through, but to believe that I'd need more evidence than my intuitions - or even those of people whose opinions I'm inclined to respect. Governments have fallen over corrupt judiciaries, and I don't over-estimate the acquiescence of the American public. I could be mistaken again, of course. I'm not sure in this instance that I want to be.
Anyway, onward and upward. I urge staunch warriors like yourself to stay cheerful and not to sacrifice yourselves needlessly.