Some consider the Nation’s Capital as “Fantasyland on the Potomac”. Other outsiders are “Fed Up” with the Federal City. It's better to consider D.C. as “the District of Calamity” (sic).
Democrats have been fulminating for months about Donald Trump's refusal to release his tax returns, as most modern Presidential candidates have done. When these calls for transparency fell up Donald's deliberately deaf ears, Democrats have threatened consequences in governing. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) taunted President Trump to release those tax documents or else he should expect efforts to reform the tax code to go down to defeat. This threat seems disingenuous, as Schumer vowed not to cooperate with the Trump Administration unless it acceded to every Democrat demand.
As Tax Day loomed, Between the Beltway pundits pondered if Mr. Trump would reveal his personal IRS papers. Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer pulled no punches with his prognostication. Krauthammer pithily predicted that the issue was "a dead parrot", a reference which harkened back to Monty Python's Flying Circus. It gladdens the heart that when "The Hammer" goes down, he can be mirthful in making his pessimistic political prediction. I wonder if he would say "Ni". I doubt it (sic).
Presidential candidates spend lots of time doing retail politics in New Hampshire and Iowa to convince first contest voters to support them. Often they repeat the same refrains time after time, which gets to be old hat to journalists on the campaign beat but sounds fresh to new audiences.
So it's refreshing when a candidate breaks from well worn scripts to show some humanity. Senator Ted Cruz let loose with a couple of classic Star Wars impressions during a public availability in Iowa.
The coven on ABC's "The View" was not impressed with Cruz's impressions of Yoda and Darth Vader as they called the exercise embarrassing. Of course the self proclaimed comediennes who are regulars on The View lean so far left that they would never have a kind word for a Republican. But few GOP primary voters would be bewitched enough to watch the televised progressive feminist gab-fest.
Campus Reform made headlines as it reported upon a "Bias Free Language Guide" posted on an official University of New Hampshire website which noted problematic words in American (suggested substitute "Residents of America") lexicon. Such inclusive language sought to encourage "[C]ommunication that does not stereotype or demean people based on personal characteristics.” This suggested UNC PC Newspeak rationale is that: “Each step of inclusion moves us closer to a full democracy”.
To that end, campus skulls full of mush were encouraged to use non-binary pronouns with spivak pronunciations like ze/zie/hir as are "often used by trans, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming people.” So there's nothing like paying thousands of dollars for an university education, only to finish sounding as if one has a speech impediment (another verboten phrase - perhaps unconventional pronunciations) engender conversation on inclusive language use. Would you like fries with that?
Even referring to gender-neutral bathrooms was considered "problematic" to the authors of the "Bias Free Language Guide" as it reflects ciscentrism, which is defined as a " pervasive and institutionalized system that places transgender people
in the ‘other’ category and treats their needs and identities as less
important than those of cisgender people.” Such ciscentrism can also include the lack of gender neutral lockers and residences. Perhaps this will be featured on "Caitliyn" (ne Bruce) Jenner's new E! television reality show "I am Cait". .Bully for zie/zi (sic).
Denonyms are sensitive subjects because of the sense of latent American imperialism. If one were to identify as "American", that precludes other countries in the hemisphere. Hence, the Bias Free Guide Language Guide suggests "Resident of America". But that frankly seems incorrect, as it excludes the other hemispheric inhabitants of the continents. If one were to say "Resident of the United States", it also excludes Mexicans still residing South of the Rio Grande, as they live in "Los estados unidos Mexicanos". So once again, there is the quandary of including an uninclusive identification: "Resident of the United States of America" or "American" for short.
Of course it would be crass to politically correct types to refer to American citizens. But it is problematic to refer to "illegal aliens". It may be acceptable to refer to such persons as "undocumented immigrant" but it is recommended to call them "person seeking asylum" or "refugee" instead. The UNH PC Newspeak makes saying foreigner problematic, as it is deemed better to say "international people".
As concerned as the UNH Bias Free Language Guide is about people, there is little doubt that our PC betters would still refer to abortion victims as "clumps of cells" or perhaps of fetus (of what?) rather than unborn persons so as not to offend progressive womyn (sic).
Examples of Bias Free Language Guide's Problematic Lexicon
Other problematic phrases included: "sexual preference", "speech impediment", overweight (as arbitrary), "freshman", (why not sophomore -- a wise fool?), "chairman" and "dumb". It's a good thing that the latter expression was denounced as there would be no way in UNH PC Newspeak to convey the merit of this Bias Free Language Guide.
After a few days of "problematic" publicity in conservative media circles such as Laura Ingraham, University of New Hampshire President Mark W. Huddleston made an emphatic statement about free speech. This peon to free speech should seem unremarkable in a state with a motto of "Live Free or Die".
Huddleston's denials, however, seem somewhat hollow as the Bias Free Language Guide was part of UNH official website material and it referred to Counseling Center training on" Microagressions: Subtle but Detrimental". The Bias Free Language Guide seems like companion scholarship, if that is politically correct to say.
Universities ought to be citadels of free speech and a Chatauqua of ideas. Alas today it seems to foster the inculcation of anarchistic intellectual indoctrination under a polity governance of raised eyebrows. Sorry to say that ciscentrism sounds like politically correct crap which poses as inclusive language but really redefines rhetoric to an unreality that is antithetical. No wonder George Orwell opined about the risks about truth telling in a delusional society.
As the Christian faithful commemorate the Triduum, when their blameless Lord was persecuted and crucified for their sins, we can contemplate contemporary crucifixions.
Sadly, we live in a world in which ISIS Islamists actually crucify and martyr "Nazarenes" for their faith. Yet we do not have to look abroad to see contemporary civil crucifixions.
Consider how masses have been riled up and incited to violence over lies emanating from the chief priest of liberal secular humanism in social justice circles and the media. Ferguson, Missouri brought forth the meme "Hands Up, Don't Shoot", which inspired rioting both in the Show Me State as well as civil intimidation in Brooklyn. Yet the Ferguson Grand Jury Decision showed that the "Hands Up Don't Shoot" manta was all based on lies.
Lately, the focus has been on Indiana, as the Hoosier State passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Progressives painted a rainbow smear claiming that RFRA would allow businesses to discriminate against homosexual customers. In reality, Indiana's RFRA was modeled after a 1993 Federal Law (which President Bill Clinton signed) and 19 other states (including Illinois which State Senator Barack Obama voted for), with updates to reflect the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling.
Rather than being a weapon for business owners to pursue discrimination, RFRA is a shield which allows those with a strongly held religious belief to simply have their day in court. The masses where whipped up into a frenzy under the rainbow banner to stop bigotry.
One enterprising jo-whore-nalist from ABC 57 in South Bend, sought out a pizzaria in Elkhorn, Indiana supposedly to get a small town perspective on the Hoosier RFRA law. Reporter Alyssa Marino "randomly" chose Memories Pizza, which just so happened to be a Christian establishment. They entertained a hypothetical of catering a same-sex wedding and concluded that participating in that ceremony would be against their religious beliefs.
This naive admission set off a firestorm of protest against the small town pizza parlor. Rush Limbaugh suspects this was a set up for a Christian business and was being magnified by a small group of progressive activists who spin a cyber chimera of being an internet army. How else could a UHF TV station in South Bend generate thousands of social media protests in less than ten minutes?
The hype over Memories Pizza got so severe that a high school teacher tweeted seeking comrades to help burn the place down. Memories Pizza was forced to close with all of the crank calls and calls to violence
After her suspension is lifted, she should stick to instructing girls' golf rather than teaching hatred and inciting violence on the internet.
Fortunately, like the miracle of the resurrection after the public crucifixion, there is a happy ending for Memories Pizza. BlazeTV personal Dana Loesch organized a crowdfunding effort to help the O'Connor family with their Memories Pizza business. In a couple of days, 30,000 people contributed over $850,000. This will allow Memories Pizza to weather the RFRA firestorm and to expand.
Yet progressives still sought to punish Memories Pizza. Some conspiracy minded liberals implied that the O'Connors intentionally created the media frenzy for online donations. These are the same type of people who obsess over Loose Change Another internet activist, who co-incidentally is a social media employee of WTVR-TV CBS6 in Richmond, Virginia, implied that the crowdfunding was fraudulent to discourage contributions.
While during Holy Week it is facile to focus on crowds being whipped into a frenzy to be the cat's paw for leaders. But it is also worth considering why the Romans resorted to crucifixions in their empire. These brutal crucifixions served as examples not to challenge the orthodoxy of the powers that be.
Crucifixion (even the civil kind)? No, I would rather choose religious freedom.
If only the Talking Heads between the beltways would stop carrying water for the Obama Administration and accept that is the same as it ever was for the Chosen One.
Or to quote Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) "He's not the messiah--there's a mess alright, but no messiah."
The counter-insurgency to Obamacare had better be better prepared than Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail with their Trojan Rabbit "strategerie".
