Thomas Sowell on Emotions and Facts

The Attention Hogg (sic) Laments that "Politics Is All Spectacle and I Hate It"

In the wake of the February 14th mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglass High School, senior David Hogg has become a prominent progressive tool for push for Gun Control. Hogg was a leading figure in the so called March for Our Lives in Washington DC. 

Hogg then parlayed his tragic celebrity into bullying media personalities like Laura Ingraham on social media who questioned his credentials and  chaffed at his simplistic solutions towards the Second Amendment.  The mainstream media then sought to turn it into a feeding frenzy to try to take down a popular conservative voice and further denigrate Fox News.

Of late, Hogg has been involved in organizing die ins at Publix grocery stores because of a supposed linkage between political contributions and Second Amendment advocates.

Hogg opted to take a year off from his education in order to pursue partisan politics.  Hence,  the Attention Hogg (sic) tweet which rails against politics as all spectacle was puzzling. But consider the timing of the tweet. 

Hogg sent this as the group of students was trotted out on stage during the Tony Awards virtue signaling.  Melody Herzfeld, the drama teacher from Parkland High School Drama Teacher who was given an education award and some of her students  performed a (relatively) non-political song from Rent. 

But Hogg was not front and center nor were enough of them wearing March for Our Lives paraphernalia. Hogg may have been miffed that he was not given "equal time" to rally against the NRA.  Moreover, this moment dedicated to the tragedy was upstaged by Robert De Niro  rallying the crowds' rage in the Two Minute Hate. 


Perhaps Hogg was still stinging about being proverbially spanked about the intersection of his rabble rousing. Hogg made an appearance at the Boston Gay Pride parade, in which he pushed for raising the minimum wage.  When questioned about the matter, Hogg revealed the product of his education.

In lieu of a gap year toiling in the trenches of partisan politics, Hogg ought to have opted to learn English.  Res ipsa loquitur. But considering the content of Hogg's apologia for #Fightfor15, he might want to brush up on logic, political science and learn to better disguise his white privilege. That sort of causality is not going to rally minority voters to the polls for the midterms.

Honestly, Hogg made a bad choice as he should have brushed off campaigning and schooling and immediately jumped into his career of choice: mass communications.   When you are broadcast and hold politically correct beliefs that prevail, you are not held accountable for saying something stupid.

The Strange Case of Tommy Robinson

Last week, British new media journalist Tommy Robinson (ne Stephen Lennon) was taken into custody and summarily sentenced to 13 months in prison while he was live streaming outside of the Leeds Crown Court.





There is considerable confusion about the matter.  Robinson has a history of being a soccer hooligan who became active in nationalist politics, with an animus against radical Islam. Robinson's arrest was while he covered a Muslim rape gang which groomed its child victims.

Because Tommy Robinson was weary of Islamic influence in the UK, it is easy to leap to the conclusion that a police state is trying to shut down a dissenting voice from elite internationalists.  It may well be that Robinson was taken in on suspended sentence for contempt of court regarding coverage of a gang rape case in 2017 that was escalated by being in a scuffle with police.  Robinson fears that his 13 month sentence will effectively be a death sentence due to Muslim gangs in prison.

Robinson's arrest seems kind of reminiscent of what happened to the LA videographer in the wake of the Benghazi attack in 2012.  Use trumped up charges on a small fry to politically placate.

What should be truly disturbing to all freedom lovers is the injunction that the judge, Geoffrey Mason QC, ordered an Orwellian media blackout, enjoining the British press from reporting on it until after the conclusion of the child grooming case.

[C] Judge Geoffrey Mason watching Tommy Robinson arrest, Leeds Crown Court

Several European Parliament Members have called Robinson a political prisoner and demanded his release. It is puzzling that the public can not be informed of someone who has been convicted of a crime. Are Star Chambers back in style in England again? In the past, the Star Chamber supposedly took on prominent people.  Is it now to enforce political correctness or PC dhimmitude?

Dennis Miller on Socialism

Ben Shapiro on Political Correctness

Peoplekind, eh?

During a townhall meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau interrupted a constituent pleading for religious liberty to serve underprivileged Canadians to ensure that politically correct language was used. 





Helping mankind was considered to be a micro-aggression, so Prime Minister Trudeau offered that "Peoplekind" was preferred politically correct speak. Really? Not even humankind?  Does that include canines, as dogs are people too (sic).  How about corporations?  Well, our neighbors in the Great White North have determined that the free speech in the Charter of Rights can overridden, especially for corporations, where the need can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

Then again, Canadians have a reputation for priggishly protecting minority rights, as was humorously parodied in Michael Moore's  romp Canadian Bacon (1995).




Post Scriptus 02/07/2018 -  Several days after the "Peoplekind" comment went viral on social media, The UK Daily Mail reports Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was just kidding about the comment.  Sure, he did...check the videotape--NOT! It seems that he'll use the excuse of allegedly making a dumb joke than being considered dumb during a tour in the United States.

The problem with Trudeau's apologia is that his humor relies on a  is a reductio ad absurdum.  If we are to respect minority rights, should an over-exaggeration be a laughing matter? 

On Ivy League Ideological Intolerance

Thomas Sowell on College Leaders

Sebastian Gorka on Donald Trump

Rush Limbaugh on the NFL Taking the Knee for the National Anthem

Ben Shapiro on Free Speech

GAB Faces Big Fat Dilemma Balancing Free Speech and Censorship

Of late, there has been a growing realization that our internet overlords are controlling the public square.  In 2016, Facebook faced some consternation when the social media giant's curation of news in the sidebar consistently slighted conservative news stories.  Twitter took to banning some who defied the politically correct weltenanschauung that our cyber elites favor in their posts.  Milo Yiannopoulos was permanently banned from Twitter for posting  alt-right opinions while similar sort of liberal content continued unabated.  It is not uncommon for conservative sites to experience shadow-blocking, which covertly thwarts wider dissemination of posts through censoring algorithms. Platforms can summarily block access based on anonymous, spurious complaints, and due to the Star Chamber handling of such charges, it is almost impossible to protest much less redress any alleged issues.

To counter efforts of cyber-censorship, Andrew Torba et ali. created GAB during the summer of 2016.  As a social media platform, GAB exhorted users to #SpeakFreely and vowed not to censor posts unless it advocated violence or child pornography which was against laws.

As a start up, GAB not only faced typical challenges of funding and creating a market, but faced difficulties from a politically correct driven cyber community. GAB encountered tremendous difficulties from Apple to have a i-phone mobile app approved because of the Speak Freely philosophy.  Even after GAB successfully developed and started distributing an Android mobile app, there are concerns that the GAB appl will be removed from the Play Store because users might post objectionable contention on GAB's platform.

Alas, it is not only technology giants who are exerting their power as internet overlords.  The latest controversy involves a fat meme posted from a neo nazi (who has been banned from other sites and platforms).  Torba politely responded to the post that it was a violation of the Terms of Service and asked that it be taken down.  This uncharacteristic action roiled users who wrapped themselves around the mantra of #SpeakFreely.



Torba later clarified that Asia Registry, demanded that the post be banned or else GAB's registry would be revoked. The GAB leadership is currently scrambling to address the issue.

It is ironic that a fat joke would be used as the linchpin to destroy GAB, however that is the cause celebre which is being exploited by small time internet player Asia Registry, but they have the power.  Yet is mirrors the other tech giants efforts to obstruct alternatives to their virtual monopolies by using politically correct Trojan Horses.

In an age in which alleged micro-agressions, such as a Hobby Lobby customer is triggered by the "racist" notion of using cotton flowers in a vase, that the left countenances bilious blurtations when it tracks the progressive agenda of the moment. Such in loco parentis progressive sensibilities prompted a Zerohedge pundit to wonder if Internet behemoths are acting as colonial powers.

UPDATE: September 19, 2017

GAB was successful in finding other registrar for the domain which would not play games with them.

Sally Kohn on Political Correctness

Justifying Georgemas

British Great War Recruiting Poster 

According to the Gregorian calendar, April 23rd is the Feast of St. George (or Georgemas).  The Orthodox also admire the attributes of St. George but follow the Julian calendar which marks the feast on May 6th.  St. George born in Syria Palestrinia in the late Third Century who served as an officer in the Roman army that guarded the Emporer Diocletian, but who was martyred for not renouncing his Christian faith.  The emperor tried to bribe George to renounce his faith and tortured him, but to no avail. Before he was decapitated, St. George gave all of his wealth to the poor.

St. George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic Church, among Anglicans, Orthodox, East Syrian churches. Even Muslims revere this honorable military man. In the Twelfth Century a legend was attached to St. George about slaying a dragon.  The standard Orthodox icon of St. George depicts him slaying a dragon with a woman in the background.

The dragon is generally understood as being both Satan and the monster from his own life (Diocletian). The woman in the background is Alexandra, the wife of Emperor Diocletian. Crusaders credit an appearance of St. George. This was probably legend which traveled back with the Crusaders from the Holy Land and was embellished in courtly Romance retellings.


Legend has it that a plague bearing dragon came down from the mountains and terrorized the countryside.  The dragon could not be appeased with ransom of livestock.  This  dragon would not stop his rampage unless the King tied a young maiden to an oak tree in the center of the village.

The King's nobles used a pigeon to decide what to do.  If the bird flew to the east then, they must take the King's own daughter Sabra and tie her to a tree, as the dragon demanded.  The pigeon flew off to the east. 

But as fate would have it, the pigeon managed  to attract the attention of a knight called  George and guided him back to the princess. Just as the dragon was about to devour the princess, the good knight clad in armor fortified himself with a sign of the cross and then brought the fight to the dragon.  George cunningly slowed down the dragon by driving a ball of pitch down his throat, and then speared the dragon with a grievous wound with his lance.

The Wedding of St. George and Princess Sabra by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1857)

According to Eastern versions, the knight rode back to the city along with the princess and the dragon in tow.  As George approached the city, he promised to slay the dragon if the town would become baptized Christians.  Fifteen thousand men took to the baptismal waters and George slayed the dragon with his trusty sword Ascalon (recalling the city Ashkelon in Israel).  The king was so grateful that he bestowed nobility (some say Sainthood) to George and gave his daughter Sabra's hand in marriage and promised to build a church were the dragon was slain.

St. George is the patron saint of England yet it is not a public holiday in England. The reasons why celebration of Georgemas is muted are cultural, historical and now tinged with political correctness.



St. George was neither English nor roundly associated with England, even though King Edward III formed the Order of the Garder under the patronage of St. George in 1348.  The Reformation played a part as Protestants did not care much for saints' days. In addition, celebration of St. George's day has been in decline since the Act of Union between England in Scotland completed in 1707.  In today's world,  the Daily Telegraph reports that many English people are concerned that national symbols like St. George can be considered racists,


Aside from the fact that many pubs in England are named after George and the dragon, it makes one wonder why this legend matters. Modern man is quick to dismiss myths (unless it is anthropogenic global warming), but this is short sighted. Myths convey essential truths although the romantic story elements may not be exact.  For instance, the story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree may have been apocryphal but it does "I can not tell a lie" does illustrate some of the virtues of Washington's transcription of "The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior", which molded the first President's life and were put into practice at the founding of the American Republic.

The reason that St. George matters so much to the English is that the legend reinforces characteristics which the English admire and seek to emulate.  St. George is a knight who exemplified chivalry. St. George and the dragon also champions the little guy as well as the triumph of good over evil.  The versions which depict him making the sign of the cross depict deep dedication to principles (if we dare not declare faith).  These romanticized virtues along with the more verifiable versions of his hagiography make St. George a man worthy (bank holiday or not) for Englishmen to emulate.

[This piece originally ran on DC-LausDeo.US]

Milo Yiannopoulos on Policing Humor

Perhaps, but such a hermaneutic is not true for utterances which CPAC organizers  exclaimed: "You must be joking."

On the Buckeye Jihadi and Political Correctness

When there were early reports of a mass casualty incident at The Ohio State University, progressive politicians instinctively inveighed against gun violence.

The reality was that the perpetrator  ran his car into a crowd of people, then exited the vehicle randomly attacking the stunned students with a butcher knife until being shot dead by a law enforcement officer.  The campus was put on lockdown until the incident ended. About a dozen innocent people were injured, one critically.

As details emerged from the act of terrorism, it became clear that the attacker was a Somalia transfer student to Ohio State. At the beginning of the year, the attacker had been interviewed by the student newspaper about practicing his Muslim beliefs on campus. His social media posts praised jihad. ISIS exulted the Buckeye jihad.  Yet an Ohio State Residents Life official tried to squelch any bad news about their fellow Buckeye in social media, while simultaneously promoting Black Lives Matter. 


One wonders if the university experience is now education a costly political correct indoctrination with supposed safe space for licentiousness. 

Hal Holbrook on Political Correctness

On Skittles and Syrian Refugees

Donald Trump Jr. posted a meme which stirred up considerable controversy on Twitter.  The Republican Presidential nominee's eldest son shared a graphic which compared the Syrian refugee conundrum to a bowl of Skittles with a few poisoned candies mixed in.

Some chaffed at analogizing the immigration issue with a tampered bowl of candy.  Progressives impugned perceived strands of racism.  

Trump fans thought that the metaphor mirrored the difficulty of accepting groups of refugees without proper vetting.  This Twitter controversy comes on the heels of news that the US Immigration and Naturalization service conferred citizenship upon over 800 individual who were actually slated for deportation, but they were finally processed without matching up their digital fingerprints. 

Donald Trump on Political Correctness

Clarence Thomas on Political Correctness

In his nearly quarter century serving on the Supreme Court, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas has developed a reputation of rarely speaking in public.

However, Justice Thomas recently gave the commencement address at Hillsdale College in which he offered encouragement to graduates of a true Liberal Arts program.