The woes of Africa
Yesterday in a thread on the unrest and violence in South Africa, the perennial question of what’s wrong with Africa came up. It occurs to me that it might be time to recycle a post from seven years ago that … Continue reading →
Category Archives: History
CNN still characterizing the January 6th Capitol incursion as a “deadly riot”
And I suppose it was deadly to Ashli Babbitt – although it was neither the riot nor the rioters that killed her. Other people died that day, but not because the riot was “deadly” – they died of natural causes. … Continue reading →
The story of California so far
Here’s a summary by Michael Barone. The concluding paragraph: California’s divergence from the rest of the nation politically, on top of its continued domestic out-migration and, over the last decade, slower than average population growth, make it clear that it … Continue reading →
General Milley and the ongoing war on the “terrorists” of the right
Glenn Greenwald writes: In other words, to justify the current domestic War on Terror that has already provoked billions more in military spending and intensified domestic surveillance, the Pentagon must ratify the narrative that those they are fighting in order … Continue reading →
The recurring question of why the Jews didn’t leave Germany and Europe in time
[NOTE: This is a reposting of an old piece of mine that I think could use another go-round. The reason is that I often see people reference the idea that the Jews of Germany ignored or rationalized or denied or … Continue reading →
“She was the ‘wrong’ kind of victim, and therefore didn’t exist”
[Hat tip: commenter “AesopFan”] Harry V. Jaffa, a professor of political philosophy at Claremont College, gave a farewell address to the school in 1989 that appears here in its entirety. The speech has some commonalities with the work of Allan … Continue reading →
Using the word “kapo” as an insult
[NOTE: I noticed this word appearing again lately, so I think it’s time to repost this. I originally wrote it in December of 2015.] I’ve noticed the word “kapo” cropping up now and then in the comments section of this … Continue reading →
More from Sebastian Haffner on the Nazi transition
Here’s another excerpt (you can find an earlier one here) from Sebastian Haffner’s Defying Hitler, his 1930s description of what it was like to watch the Nazi takeover of Germany: Many journals and newspapers disappeared from the kiosks – but … Continue reading →
The legislature has become obsolete
Hitler got the Reichstag to effectively dissolve itself and turn its powers over to him when it passed the Enabling Act. Nowadays in the US that’s not even necessary – just go around Congress through executive orders, and if no … Continue reading →
Sebastian Haffner on how it felt when the Nazis first came to power
This post is about a book called Defying Hitler that I’ve recommended before. Even though it was written in the late 1930s, it wasn’t published in the author’s lifetime and he died in 1999. But it’s a unique document of … Continue reading →
“Defounding America”
I recommend reading this article by Myron Magnet, which is a summary of how we got where we are today in terms of the loss of autonomy and the growth of federal control, as well as the extreme change in … Continue reading →
Court-packing (Part I): speculating on the Democrats’ current strategy
There is virtually no question in my mind that the Democrats want to control SCOTUS. The only unknown is if and how they will accomplish it. Today, as promised, Democrats introduced legislation to pack the Court and increase the number … Continue reading →