There was almost too much news these last 24 hours:
~As listeners to yesterday's Q&A well know, my view is that mass transformative immigration is an existential threat to western civilization. That's why Trump caught my eye two-and-a-half years ago, and that's why I re-emphasized the point a week-and-a-half ago: his presidency will stand or fall on immigration. There's no market for a Trump who suddenly decides, whaddayaknow, Mexico is sending us its best.
Was yesterday the Humpty-Trumpty Falls Off The Wall moment? The soi-disant immigration hardliners at VDare are oddly relaxed about it; Ann Coulter (the "lowest day" of Trump's presidency) and Tucker Carlson ("What was the point of running for president?") are not. As an unassimilated foreigner, I'm not sure I'm 100 per cent on top of Tucker's Chicago Cubs/World Series analogy, but, if I get the gist of it, I think it's a sportier version of my immigration-is-all point. That said, I spent much of yesterday talking about the subject in a European context, so I'll save my extended thoughts for later in the week.
Nonetheless, in the scheme of things, President Trump's ability to crush Steve Bannon like a bug and piss all over a three-day teacup-storm like Michael Wolff is less important than whether or not he still has the determination or inclination to crush like a bug the open-borders loons in both parties and extinguish apparently indestructible bipartisan euphemisms like "comprehensive immigration reform". That last evasion leads to the Californication of the entire electoral map. In 2016, a Republican year, the supposed GOP bastion of Orange County voted for the Democrat presidential candidate for the first time since 1936. Why do you think such healthy middle-aged Republican congressmen as Darrell Issa are deciding to "retire"?
~No man is a superhero to his valet: The latest sex-fiend swept up in the ongoing Pervnado is Marvel Comics supremo Stan Lee, who, unlike his creations, likes to get out of the long underwear. I met the great man when I was covering the Democrat Convention in 2000, so yes, put another one in the Dem column. For those of us a-wearying of Spider-Man reboots every fortnight (see my closing paragraph here), the question is:
a) Will they simply do as they've done to Garrison Keillor on NPR, Charlie Rose on PBS and Jonathan Schwartz on WNYC and vaporize the guy's entire oeuvre, including all those godawful Reboot-Man vs the Fantastic Franchisers post-origin pre-sequels? In which case, there'll be nothing at the multiplex except The Emoji Movie, The Lego Movie, The Lego Emoji Movie and The Lego Darkest Hour in 3D.
b) Or will they, as with Kevin Spacey, simply edit out all Stan Lee's cameos in those Marvel movies and replace him with Christopher Plummer?
PS What if Christopher Plummer gets similarly swept up in the Pervnado? Maybe they should just edit in that CGI Peter Cushing they stuck in the last-but-one Star Wars movie. Then again the real Peter Cushing died in 1994, so that may be too recent. Maybe we should just use film stars sufficiently deceased not to have hit on anyone still in a position to take it to HR - a CGI Rudolph Valentino for Wolverine and a CGI John Gilbert for the Mighty Thor perhaps...
~Last call for Sir John A Macdonald: The establishment at top right is a small trivial example of a profound sickness. Sir John's Public House is a Scottish pub in Kingston, Ontario located in the building where Canada's first Prime Minister once had his law office. On Tuesday, the publican changed the name and replaced the signs. It is no longer "Sir John's Public House", merely "The Public House":
"Some of our customers and some of the native organizations in the Kingston area said that they could no longer do business with us. They said that it was no longer a safe place for them, and that the name 'Sir John's' just brought back too many unhappy memories for their communities," Fortier said.
What sort of ninny goes to a Scots pub looking for "a safe place"? I had an agreeable lunch there a couple of years back when passing through Kingston, but can't say I'd be minded to return now it's joined the ranks of the culturally craven. Instead of "The Public House", why not something catchier like "Omar Khadr's Public House"?
Pub names, unlike those of most other retail outlets, are explicitly internded to be a) distinctive and b) rooted in history. I don't just mean all the familiar English ones like the George & Dragon and the Saracen's Head, which are assuredly on the way out as Islamophobia-hate-crimes-in-waiting, but I'm also thinking of rarer coinages like the Hielan Jessie on the Gallowgate in Glasgow, named for Jessie Brown, wife of a corporal in the 17th Highland Regiment, who in the Indian Mutiny, after her husband was killed, rallied his surviving comrades to fight on by claiming to hear the approaching bagpipes of the 78th Highlanders. As a predecessor of mine at The Spectator reported in 1857:
Suddenly I was aroused by a wild unearthly scream close to my ear; my companion stood upright beside me, her arms raised and her head bent forward in the attitude of listening. A look of intense delight broke over her coun- tenance, she grasped my hand, drew me towards her and exclaimed 'Dinna ye hear 'it? Ay, I'm no dreamin', it's the slogan o' the Highlanders! We're saved!' Then flinging herself on her knees she thanked God with passionate fervour.
Isn't that a bit triggering for all those descendants of mutinous sepoys now running Glasgow corner shops?
The owner of Sir John's Public House is like a lot of Canadians. He thinks it's easy and painless to surrender the past. He doesn't realize that, when you surrender the past, you're also surrendering the future.
~See you on the telly tomorrow evening with the aforementioned Tucker Carlson, live across America at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific - with a rerun at midnight Eastern. We hope you'll tune in. If you prefer me in non-visual form, on Friday we'll be airing some frosty fiction in my monthly series of audio adventures Tales for Our Time - one of our bonus features for Mark Steyn Club members. So, if you've a chum who's into classic fiction, you might like to sign him or her up for a Steyn Club Gift Membership (and choose a personally autographed welcome gift - either one of two handsome hardback books or a couple of CDs).
Speaking of our audio entertainments, thank you for the kind words about our Twelfth Night special, in which I rounded up some of the best live music from various iterations of our show over the years. The performers included Loudon Wainwright III, Liza Minnelli, Paul Simon and various other bestselling recording artists, but, even so, Steyn Club member Emily was kind enough to put in a word for my own modest contribution:
"The Very Thought of You" has always been one of my favorite songs and now even more so. Great performance!
Thank you for that, Emily. A lot of the credit goes to Eric Harding on piano and Jon Gearey on guitar. If you've yet to hear our special, it's fun to curl up with on a chilly night, and you can find it here.
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What is all the fuss about. According to the late American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science S.J. Gould, the human brain hasn't measurably evolved in 44,000 years so what did we expect. Just because inventions and fancy toys were created over time doesn't mean we are inherently smarter or more capable of surviving together than those in the past. It's probable that over 1/2 of America in the Progressive Age either rejects the so called "archaic" Constitution which has preserved the nation, or they never heard of it. They've been too busy learning new pronouns, the dangers of having a "Best Friend" and other crucial social lessons in life.
If Western civilization becomes a distant memory after being over run and dominated by hordes of illegal immigrants that despise rather than assimilate, it will just prove that "we were too stupid to survive" (Steyn) and no smarter or more capable of collectively preventing elimination than all of the people of previous "civilizations" that disappeared over millennia. What is surprising is that America lasted this long when it didn't have a violent stranglehold on its masses like ancient Rome etc. It has been a U.S. Constitutional Miracle.
Another downer that is splitting the nation or encouraging madness, is the never ending political elections. Every day of every year between voting days is spent trying to impeach, imprison or impugn the other evil 1/2 of the country. This vicious never ending political war between American citizens will likely tear the country apart long before the illegal immigrants do.
Or all will be fine.
I love to retell the story of my trip to Chile, with a friend and investor in ski town development. We flew over the new ski area to be developed, and the government guide "reassured" us that Chile killed all it's indigenous indians - so they "don't have the problems of Peru or Bolivia."
That was his ASSURANCE that Chilean success would continue.
WE are children in the worldwide fight for Civilization.
"...the government guide "reassured" us that Chile killed all it's indigenous Indians - so they "don't have the problems of Peru or Bolivia."
IMO as an average nitwit, in early human history when one group of dominant humans killed another group of human beings for riches, slaves or territory, they just did it and enjoyed their spoils. But after humanity "advanced" they needed to concoct "civilized" justifications like proclaiming a divine right to do so and/or by labeling the people they were about to massacre as sub human savages, infidels, Jews, revisionists, heretics or in the mind of James Hodgkinson in 2017, Republicans.
The gov't guide's insouciant comment about the massacre of the indigenous inhabitants of the territory called Chile today, indicates he shares in part, the views of his ancestors.
The lack of a motive for Stephen Paddock's slaughter of innocents in Las Vegas is confounding the experts that are accustomed in the modern age of always explaining a reason for such brutality.
I had to dust off my password after rolling on the floor laughing, it was dusty, but the Las Vegas investigation was shut down at the federal level, allegedly. Experts should file that one with the Twin Towers, hypothetically, and move on.
"If you want to take it that further step, I'll take the heat," Trump told Graham. "You are not that far away from comprehensive immigration reform."
"I will say when this group comes back hopefully with an agreement, this group and others come back with an agreement, I'm signing it. I will be signing it," Trump added.
This doesn't engender my confidence in Trump's strategy, especially given that it is not the democrats we have to worry about in any legislation related to immigration, but rather GOPe "Republicans" like Lindsay Gramnesty who are now emboldened by Trump's spontaneous bipartisan West Wing love-in soiree.
Trump held this dog and pony show to prove he wasn't crazy to the baying mob, but to invite this bunch of amnesty supporters to offer himself up as a bipartisan compassionate conservative? Talk about throwing yourself to the Woolff, er wolves...
After I retched my way back to consciousness after watching that spectacle, I have to think, maybe Trump is crazy.
Is Trump that ready to dump the people who elected him based on his immigration stance to snuggle up with Gramnesty for a back rub and a tee time at Mar-a-lago? Just because Trump and the GOP passed the tax bill doesn't give them a license to deal a deck of amnesty cards.
Many of us are with Tucker and Ann Coulter, and are not buying into Rush Limbaugh's Trump-is-playing-3D-Intergalactic-No-Worries-Mon chess and playing the democrats for idiots. We've had enough experience to know that when Republicans start talking things like get-er-done bipartisanship, we're generally screwed.
Very much looking forward to your extended take on this.
Not a fan of leading from behind?
Jesse- while I hope and pray that Rush's take on this fiasco is correct, I cannot help but feeling very upset after listening to Coulter, Levin and even Michael Savage who all excoriated Trump for that press conference and what it portends. No matter what his strategy was in kind of sickened me to see Trump sucking up to those loathsome creeps who are all pretty much his sworn enemies. I don't know if I'd go as far as Ann Coulter in my condemnation, but even if it was staged, it was pretty disgusting even to me, a very strong Trump supporter.
On the other hand, Rush is probably the smartest guy of the bunch (except of course for Mark Steyn) and I haven't found most of his pronouncements to end up wrong.
Like many of us who write in this forum, immigration is for me the make or break issue and the biggest reason I voted for Donald. During the campaign his message was clear and unambiguous - build the wall and Mexico will pay for it. End illegal immigration once and for all and DACA, etc.
I don't really expect Mexico to pay for the wall, but I sure as hell expect it to be built and for something to be done about the illegals who are destroying our beloved country.
the wall is a visual.... E verify keeps them from working,buying, renting or sending their broods to our schools.
There is a 600% increase in border crashers as I type. They know the system is broken, with more than half a million cases waiting to be adjudicated in Immigration Courts. All they have to do is cross, get caught, squat, dump another welfare brat into the system who is a citizen automatically.
We are being played for chumps. The increase at the border tells us all we need to know... NO MORE COURT... catch em and dump em back in the river.... or watch Western Civilization die on the vine
Carol, the wall is for the Democrats. We have E-verify. They don't enforce it. We have courts, with leftist judges. The wall is to replace the lost will to enforce laws. It's a lot harder to get away with undermanning a physical wall than undermining the legal code. Wall=will
I'm vary wary of the whole "Trump is a super genius who is playing 4D chess" argument. Does that mean I should pay no attention to what the man says? So, in other words, just another politician?
The idea that yesterday's meeting really had nothing to do with immigration, but was an exercise in improving Trump's image? I don't find that praiseworthy at all, quite the opposite. I don't think it worked, either. A strong leader does not say, "I'm fine with whatever you guys come up with." But then again, I guess you're supposed to pay no attention to the words?
Of course we will see what happens and I will base my judgement on that. Still, a "bill of love"? The commenting rules here don't allow me to say what I think of that.
I don't mind, if he's practicing bait-and-switch with Chuck, Nancy, Mitch, and Paul. Now let us pray.
I think he's playing Crazy Eights or Old Maid, or Go Fish.
I'd dub the pub Craven House.
"The Craven Canadian", perhaps? But I repeat myself. Apparently the prime minister's socks still inform Canadian values.
Better watch it -- you could be target of a drive-by Tim-Bitsing.
As a kid I never 'got' Spiderman, nor Stan Lee, nor Marvel. At the time I didn't exactly know why, until finally Lee himself was revealed as the evil genius.
As a triple citizen, Can/USA and the one country whose future and demographics are right on (if Iran is properly dealt with), let me say, as a student of all three, that one should do not look to Canada to stand up for anything. Riding on the back of the USA, while feeling smug and s superior for the dubious (and only) cultural distinction of having the second crappiest public health system (after the UK), Canada will let you down where the rubber meets the road.
After a year and half, I still can;t get my head around the fact that Justin Trudeau, dissolute nebbish son of a man 10x the narcissist and psychopath Trump (though, to be fair, with better hair than most) is Prime Minister. Anything is possible in Canada. As Mark well knows . . . .
Last time I hear the word 'sepoy', was when reading one of G M Frasier's Flashman episodes. Fond, fun memories. I have zero doubt or our hero is a fan.
> his presidency will stand or fall on immigration.
I agree.
As an analogy, I became enamored of the effortless way Sarah Sanders handles the press, much like an ice skater that makes it look easy. I mentioned to a friend "I wish I had an advocate on my side who could do that."
Trump has done amazing things. Consider, he has an opposition press, half the country wants him impeached no matter the reason, #neverTrump, the swamp, etc.
I am sold on the truth of the damage of illegal immigration if only I have to pay for it (half of CA K-12 are Hispanic, the median Hispanic household income in CA is $45K/year, which is to say Hispanics pay little to educate their progeny, and the CA primary education budget is about $60 Billion). Sorry, I'm tired of subsidizing rich farmers while Ag makes up a paltry 3% of CA GDP. It's wrong to import huge numbers of low skilled workers when they will be replaced any day now because of the army of robots the Dems warn us about. Let's forget about Hispanics not assimilating into the 21st century work-force with only 12% of Hispanics getting bachelor degrees as opposed to 53% for Asians. Not that I'm opposed to the hard work ethic of Hispanics, only it doesn't meet CA's 21st century work force requirements.
And that's only the economic argument. Let's forget about the murdered woman who was set afire a couple of miles down the road, or my kid's friend killed by a drunk Hispanic. And how do leftists feel they can fail at integrating one demographic into the mainstream, and double down with another, potentially much larger one?
I think Trump understands all of this. I think he is unusual in that he has been trying to deliver on his campaign promises (though perhaps he underestimated the swamp, sadly). I also think he has proven himself to be able to overcome what look like impossible odds. Given this, and provided Trump intends to make good on his signature campaign promise, I suspect we will get the best we can get with regards to a physical wall and border security given the swamp and all the alligators trying to stop the man.
I'm willing to give the man a chance on this. I suspect he is using DACA to maneuver (though the 9th circuit court of appeals would love to take that negotiating chip away: just how deep is that swamp?).
Now he is setting it up to "Yeah, I'm pro DACA." Who is going to be to blame if the small matter of $18 billion for a wall doesn't get paid, a wall that won't do anything to prevent illegal immigration anyway? The optics given a bit of leaking from the press are no Trump favorable (they just did some leaking from the Trump immigration meeting), Democrats could look like the big meanies getting in the way of DACA.
I suspect Trump is doing a fine job of negotiating the difficult subject, and he is doing it for America.
CA has become the butt of jokes regarding open borders and illegal immigration, but many do not want it. 20 years ago, Californians overwhelmingly passed proposition 187 (59% of the voters in heavy turnout) said they would disallow state funds to be used for illegals even for emergency medical service! Let them die on the street, is how strong anti illegal-immigrant CA was 20 years ago. Now, it's true some federal judge found that proposition 187 was not constitutional, and that has changed the very character of CA.
In any event, I would say Trump has done the near impossible. He is on our side on this, and is not selling us out. He is going to get the best he can on this AND on the Kennedy style immigration reform. Until something changes, I'm going to believe that. I'm not going to feel sold out, because he is trying and using his prodigious skills to solve a problem for "we, the people."
P.S. Note, do not get me wrong, I would like the Dreamers expelled. Many illegals come to this country at advanced ages, so why can't we export some of our good culture back to Mexico. But, that seems even more impossible than getting Democrats to agree to build a wall.
President Trump is a negotiator. Seditious dems want dreamers and no wall and chain migration and amnesty. He'll resist that. Give them nothing and we get gridlock and he loses Congress and gets impeached, and repub hardliners will wonder how they lost for a generation or two. Give the dems enough to support some of his other objectives and he racks up more wins, keeps control of Congress and serves out two productive terms. He got the tax bill through with zero support from seditious dems, even lost some seditious repubs, but mastered the tactics for a win. That was a special case and can't happen again without dem support. Splitting the dems from their seditious wing is essential for more wins, and more wins are essential for recovery.
Mark,
Any thoughts on the passing of Milt Rosenberg? I always enjoyed hearing you two together.
Re: immigration, I think Trump mostly did an (extended) photo op to show himself as presidential, middle of the road, willing to listen to both sides. The key to DACA will be will it just be the 700 thousand or whatever dreamers, or will it also be 10x that in "relatives" via chain migration? Just the dreamers allowed to stay with no chain migration, in return for some funding for the wall, would be a yuge win, but I'd be surprised if Trump pulls it off. If and when he doesn't then let the pundits say he sold us out. For now I don't think this means too much.
As regards pub names with historical connotations, I recently translated a 1970s French TV serial called "L'homme sans visage" ('The Man Without A Face'). The mysterious super-criminal of the title runs his criminal empire from an underground lair located beneath a bistro with the glorious name of "Au Clairon de Sidi Brahim" ("At The Trumpet Call of Sidi-Brahim"). I had to look this up. It refers to a battle in 1845 between the French and Muslim rebels, commanded by Abdelkader El Djezairi in Algeria. The French were hopelessly outnumbered, but fought bravely. One of their commanders was captured and taken to the front to give his chasseurs the order to surrender. Instead, he exhorted them to fight on, for which defiance he was beheaded. Abdelkader El Djezairi also ordered the French bugler to sound the retreat, but instead he sounded the charge. Of 450 French soldiers, only 16 survived. We used to have such little bits of history following us around through everyday life, but today we're smothered by a thick, ugly blanket of oblivion.
" Instead of "The Public House", why not something catchier like "Omar Khadr's Public House"?"
Since it's Kingston, I propose "4 Shafias In The Drink".
O! M! G! This was my reaction reading your comment. It shocked me, as it should. I had forgotten about those poor women/girls. I bet most of the rest of Canada has also. We need to remember.
Recently the National Post ran a column with the sub-headline: The National Council of Canadian Muslims wants Trudeau to endorse Jan. 29 as a national day of remembrance and action on Islamophobia. This is in relation to the attack on a mosque that left 6 people dead. How about we first have a national day of remembrance for the 4 Shafias, also from Quebec or the 14 women, also from Quebec, killed by Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi (who the media calls Marc Lepine to disguise that he's muslim)? Or what about remembrance for the two members of the Canadian Armed Forces who will murdered by Islamist extremists? One of whom was also from Quebec, I'm just saying, there's a trend. Perhaps we should add up the columns like the Pervnado total and present it to the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
While Mao was able to instigate a more violent cultural revolution in China - the absurdity of our own ongoing cultural revolution seems marked not by extreme violence but by extreme absurdity (so far). You really do have to wonder how it is that a society can with po faced seriousness dismantle its cultural inheritance in service of an ideology as ridiculous as the one Canada has foisted on its public. It's getting to the point where I would not be shocked if an otherkin transgender Canadian Savonarola emerged who spent his (chick's) time traveling around the GTA area burning citizens who didn't cluck like a chicken in affirmation of his (chick's) chickentude. I must admit It's not really funny anymore. There is something seriously wrong with this place and I don't think it can be fixed.
What's wrong is the education system. For several generations we've allowed socialists to control education, so we have a growing cohort of indoctrinated young people. It will take several generations of traditional education to reverse that, which will probably end up somewhere in the middle. The "deep state" is entrenched in the education system, and supports it elsewhere.
Education has been taken over by authoritarian control not socialist. It started with Bush administration with No Child Left Behind - driven to drop out instead, and Obama administration made things worse with Race to the Top for a few if everyone agrees to controlled curriculum and teaching to the test became even more ingrained. Teachers are leaving the profession. It is not socialist at all. Poorer schools are being penalized even more stringently and richer schools are more likely to be at the Top. Something is more entrenched in the education system, that I agree with but it isn't socialism. It also denies reality and biology. Children vary and building on whatever (little or great) strengths they each have is what a true teacher does best. Teaching to the test is a travesty of the education profession and is more likely to make students less competitive in the modern creative and quickly changing global market.
When doing some research on the Hielan Jessie, I found this somewhat different account of the origins of the pub's name.. "...the hielan jessie on the gallowgate next to the barra's has got to be one of the oldest pubs in glasgow,built in the late 1700's and named after a young lady of ill repute who used to sell her "wares" to the soldiers in the near by barracks,now known as barrack st..."
If they decide to resurrect long deceased Hollywood stars for contemporary movies, I recommend they take a pass on Francis X. Bushman. The name alone is a little dicey.
I love Ann (anybody remember her theme song, "I'm in love with Ann Coulter"? Nomination for song of the week), but her preference tends to absolutes. The president, on the other hand, is mainly focused on maintaining control of Congress, which requires a lot of negotiation. Negotiation means you won't have it your way. If the seditious dems take the House, he'll probably be impeached. He could roam the streets beating unassimilated foreigners and probably make Ann happy, but would probably lose Congress.
Baloney. Ann has the pulse of his voters dialed in. The only way he loses is if he abandons the one issue that made all those votes appear out of thin air. Any Congressman who climbs on his bandwagon will win. There is no Dem wave coming despite what CNN wants you to believe. Grow a spine, please. You're bound to need it before this battle is over.
On the issue of immigration, Ann definitely has my pulse dialed in. On this issue, anything less than absolute always ends up the same way -- increased immigration. As Ann says: "Lucy's gonna move the football." She then repeats that five times leading to "Lucy moved the football."
You can read the whole thing here:
http://www.vdare.com/articles/ann-coulter-it-turns-out-bannon-was-trumps-brain
Don't forget Hiliary got more votes last time, just in the wrong places. Ann and Skip and Steve are not the majority, and President Trump knows that. If the seditious dems hold out (they will), they'll win Congress based on repub managed gridlock, and impeachment proceedings will begin next January. Losers with a spine are still losers. This president prefers to win. Most Americans do, too. Winning requires compromise, something President Trump is better at than Ann.
There is no negotiation with people want to displace us. This is an invasion. I just read that hundreds and thousands are crossing every week... they know the system will catch them release them, and then they produce a child.. .and it's a citizen ... as they wait YEARS for their case to be adjudicated.
THIS IS WAR ... and NOBODY is taking it seriously enough.
Talk to a Hungarian or Pole... Romanian or Bulgarian.. they will tell you what's going on over there.
Like George Orwell made plain in 1984, "who controls the past, controls the future." Can't imagine why such a simple concept is so difficult to spot. Those who govern us realize the importance of controlling the past, as it will assure that their vision of the future comes to fruition. Only problem is that those who govern us do not have the intellectual wherewithal to realize their ideas will result in cultural suicide.
The true elites understand exactly what they are doing. Those in thrall to them may not. Don't you think cultural suicide is the point? The existing traditions and institutions are in the way.
The VDare relaxed attitude would make sense if Trump were a dictator. During the campaign, Trump spoke as if Congress needn't figure in his plans. That made zero sense at the time. A year in, he doesn't appear to have advanced in his studies about how to get his agenda through Congress. Instead, he's asking them to work out their own agenda. He might have declared the room a federal disaster.