This scene from the late 1990s miniseries Hornblower:
Yep. Well done fellow. You cheat, and then when you miss hitting Horatio, you try to end the duel. Then when you're told Horatio can fire in his turn, you drop to your knees and beg like a baby to be spared. I thought of Midshipmen Simpson acting this way when I heard a snippet about how horrible it is that people keep dragging President Biden through the mud because of his age. Since apparently it's always bad to be snide about someone who is older:
Yep. That was the 80s, when liberals and critics of then President Reagan pulled out all the stops to drag him through the mud because of his age. And that video was among some of the nicer appraisals of Reagan I heard and saw back in the day.
Not that such naked double standards and hypocrisy are unique to the Left. But again, they are almost universal among the Left. Because those who should call out such mendacity - like our educational, media, and journalistic institutions - have vested interests in looking the other way, it only gets worse, never better.
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| The badge of membership for belonging to the modern Left. |
Remember, when your go-to tactic is acting like a spoiled child, it might be time to rethink your alliances.
FWIW, I do not go after Biden because of his age or his cognitive abilities. Despite being a liberal and agnostic in my college days, I came to despise the ugly and hateful things said about Reagan regarding things he couldn't help. Having two parents who ended up with Alzheimer's and Dementia has not softened me on that resolution.
Like so many other things, I'm simply ahead of the liberal curve. I was pledging not to make fun of elderly people because of their age back when it was the hip liberal thing to do. A bit like how I didn't like Donald Trump back when liberals and democrats loved the guy and couldn't wait to party with him. I suppose that's just me. I don't wait for liberals to catch up to their next principle.
We on the more conservative side of things frequently talk about the blatant, omnipresent hypocrisy of the Left. We marvel at how they can hop back and forth from A to Not A without the slightest sign of comprehension of what they are doing. I suppose it comes down to their general rejection of objective Truth, sort of like the execrable Dan Rather’s comment on his lies about Bush 43: “false, but accurate.” Which, of course, is facially absurd in a universe of objective truth; you cannot be both false and accurate at the same time. But their “truth” changes with the winds. I cannot imagine what an internal Hell this must eventually create for even the highly brainwashed, not to mention the actual Hell most of them are probably going to occupy someday, unless they see the light of Christ. If it weren’t in the process of destroying our society and our nation, this plague of subjectivity would just be very sad. Instead, it seems to be an existential crisis. It will take generations to fix, if we have that long.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I've said the 'here today, gone yesterday' approach to truth and principles is the biggest card the Left can play. Yet with each change, they give to the latest truth claim a feeling of absolute, objective, undeniable truth - even if they change it five minutes before, after, or even during. Part of this is the monopoly the left has in those industries that should call it out.
DeleteFirst, I want to say Frank that I absolutely agree with you. So don't take this minor quibble as anything other than an observation about how English be sometimes...
DeleteWhich, of course, is facially absurd in a universe of objective truth; you cannot be both false and accurate at the same time.
There is one "kind" of exception to this with parables. For example: is "the boy who cried wolf" true? But did the boy who cried wolf happen? The fable can be true, even if there was never any actual, literal boy somewhere at some point in time who literally did everything described in the fable.
But yes the Left does love to take this kind of odd corner case which most people can grasp and twist it to further their ends in that stupid "fake but accurate" moniker.
Boomers love to play the hits.
Delete• "Wow. Liberals sure are hypocrites."
• "Imagine if the roles were reversed."
• "The Democratic Party supported slavery."
None of these are "arguments." They're examples of impotence signaling, and they do a beautiful job capturing just how spineless the boomer right is.
I don't know if Frank is a boomer or not. I don't see this as any signaling. More like 'know thine enemy.' To admit what you're dealing with, a movement devoid of principles willing to cheat, lie and do anything to get its way, is simply prudent. Furthermore, it doesn't do harm to admit that, beyond playing a team that cheats, you're up against refs and officials, announcers and networks that are on that team's side and supporting it while it cheats. It's making sure everyone knows what they're up against.
DeleteI wasn't talking about Frank. I was elaborating on Frank's (well-argued) point.
DeleteBy the way, being a boomer has nothing to do with your generational cohort. In today's parlance, a boomer is anybody who's lame or out of touch.
Wow. Poor boomers. They were the generation that would set it right. Save the world and all. And now their generational moniker is a punchline. Years ago Mark Shea said history was not going to be kind to the boomers. Already it appears he was right.
DeleteHe's the king of the boomers, so he knows what he's talking about.
DeleteYep. In this case I feel he is more right than he has been about anything.
Delete(Tom New Poster)
ReplyDeleteDave, it's not elder abuse to suggest that with a longevity unreckoned by the Founding Fathers now enjoyed by a growing segment of the population that a maximum age of public service be considered, taking into account the increased risk for mental impairment. It is elder abuse to pretend an aged President does not suffer from such complaints, and to use him as a puppet for the ends of others. When people wrote of an "imperial Presidency" at the end of the Nixon era, they conjured up fears of a Caesar. We have instead a Mikado, a titled shell to be filled by the commands of DC's permanent shogunate.
You're right, and I am more than willing to have the conversation. I think it's fair to discuss, and it doesn't mean somehow you hate old people. I love my mom, but I wouldn't want her to be president. But the abusive and hateful language aimed at Reagan in the day was not about that. It was very anti-elderly and anti-old, and it was maintained up until about 2000, when both Bush and Gore were roughly the same age. Until then, old was bad, youth was good. And when it involved someone like Reagan, it was said in a way that couldn't be denied as anti-elderly hate. Which is why the left crying about people even respectfully noting the condition of Biden is, again, naked hypocrisy of the highest order.
DeleteThat Hornblower scene looked familiar... then I realized it's very similar to the duel from 1958's "The Big Country".
ReplyDeleteSame motif keeps repeating over the decades doesn't it? It is kind of funny that agnostic James Lindsay keeps saying the Left's ideology is the same as the Serpent's lies all the way back in Genesis.
(And now that you have put the idea in my head, I can't help but see both duel scenes as a metaphor for the crucifixion. The devil cheats, thinks he has won the day, only to realize too late the Savior is not so easily beaten. And now it is His shot...)
Yeah, I've seen variations on that development over the years, and it wouldn't surprise me if one of them influenced how it went down. My sons have read the books, I'll have to ask them if it happens that way in the story.
DeleteAnd yes, that's a good point. I've said such hypocrisy and lies are hardly unique to the left, but they are almost universal among the left. It's as if the modern left can't function without such tricks of the trade. And noting that in connection to the Satanic, versus where we stand in light of the cross, isn't a bad observation.