Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Good morning on Cat Sabbath: It’s CaturSaturday, November 9, 2024, and National Scrapple Day. This Pennsylvania Dutch treat, made of “fried pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices,” is usually served fried for breakfast along with eggs. I quite like it so long as the “trimmings” don’t include organs. Here’s a photo of uncooked scrapple (left) and cooked (right):
Israeli soccer fans on Friday recounted their terror when mobs of antisemitic rioters targeted and beat up Israelis Thursday, and said the police failed to protect them, in what was described as a twenty-first century “pogrom.”
Israeli officials said 10 Israelis were injured in the hours of overnight violence, which the victims said was perpetrated largely by local Muslims and Arabs, with hundreds more people reportedly besieged in their hotels and fearing they could be attacked again when trying to reach their flights home. The Israelis were mainly fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv, who came to watch their team play against Ajax in the city.
Amsterdam police said five people were hospitalized and 62 arrested after authorities said antisemitic rioters attacked Israeli supporters following the soccer match.
The police said that they had started a major investigation into multiple violent incidents. Amid rumors that some people had been taken hostage, officials said there was no sign of this, and Israeli authorities said all Israelis were accounted for.
Two Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, Aviv and Harel, told the Kan public broadcaster: “There was a police force standing on the side, not doing too much when there was some kind of protest. Everything was planned down to the last detail. Each of us had been to the Netherlands four times; we had never felt like this before.
“We saw people on the ground in the middle of the road. They arrived by car, by bike, they kicked. Some came in taxis, so we had trouble finding a taxi driver to get out of there. I suggested we hide any signs that could identify us and just pass through them, so they wouldn’t suspect us.”
. . . . “It was a pogrom. We were abandoned by the Amsterdam police. Until other Israelis arrived at Dam Square and drove away the rioters, an hour and a half from the start of the event, the Amsterdam police didn’t lift a finger,” Dan Kopleh, an eyewitness, told Kan.
Footage from the scene screened on Israeli television included a video clip in which an assailant asked an Israeli where he was from and attacked him while shouting “Free Palestine.”
There are a lot more stories like this, all horrifying. What steams me the most is the claim that the Amsterdam police “didn’t lift a finger”. It’s hard to believe that, and of course it’s hearsay here, but I’d like to hear from Dutch people. But this is not limited to the Netherlands. A reader reports that two Jewish students at Chicago’s DePaul University, demonstrating in favor of Israel, were attacked by masked men and slightly injured. The ToI adds:
Violence against Jewish Americans has surged to record levels across the country in the 13 months since the terror group Hamas attacked Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. There have also been several attacks on Palestinian Americans.
*Timothy Shenk, a professor of history at George Washington University, tries to console us by penning a NYT op-ed called “This rout is an opportunity for Democrats“.
What do Democrats stand for? Over the last eight years, the answer has been simple: whatever Donald Trump is against. They have been the party of the so-called Resistance, defending institutions against a dangerous and fundamentally undemocratic movement. Two impeachments, four criminal investigations and 34 felony convictions, along with countless warnings that democracy was in peril: All of it flowed out of the conviction that Mr. Trump was a menace who couldn’t be addressed by politics as usual. It has defined what it means to be a Democrat. And it failed spectacularly this week, helping clear a path for Mr. Trump to return to the White House with a clean victory in the popular vote. This time, there’s no James Comey to scapegoat or Electoral College to blame. It’s a painful defeat — but it could also be a moment of rebirth for the party as it sets out to find a lasting Democratic majority.
. . . No matter how progressive the rhetoric, Resistance politics inevitably feels conservative. It’s reactionary in a literal sense: The other side decides the terms of debate, and it usually ends with finding yet another norm under assault, a new outrage to be tutted over or another institution that needs protecting.
Okay, so what should we do? What is the opportunity? You’re not going to believe this, but Shenk offers NO SOLUTION. Or rather, this:
Awkward coalitions across left and right have their place during emergencies, and there’s no politics without some fearmongering. But the methods Democrats counted on to keep Mr. Trump out of the White House came up short, and the excuses have lost touch with electoral reality. He was impeached, indicted and convicted, and then he won more votes in a fair fight with what could well be the most racially diverse Republican coalition in decades. Trumpism doesn’t have a generational lock on American politics, but it has broad and deep support, with the potential to grow in the years to come.
Democrats brought this battle on themselves, and they lost it. The Resistance has run into a dead end. That doesn’t mean ignoring the ideological overreach, bureaucratic incompetence and flagrant corruption that is guaranteed to pile up in Mr. Trump’s Washington. But it does mean giving up on the hope that laws, norms or one last impeachment will deliver us from Trumpism. It’s going to take a sprawling, messy and sometimes brutal debate inside the Democratic coalition — a debate that ends with a party that can plausibly present itself as a champion of ordinary people trying to make a better life in a broken system.
So the solution is that we can’t play the Resistance games and, in the end, we have to represent “ordinary people” instead of the elites. Well isn’t THAT special?
*As usual, I’m going to steal three items from Nellie Bowles’s incomparable Friday news summary at the Free Press, called this week “TGIF: Our campaign was perfect.”
→ Trump won: Yep. Trumpo won the election thanks to White Supremacy (Latinos) and Disinformation (men). The whole country simply jolted to the right:
He moved every demographic rightward except rich white women (me, your narrator, your debutante, I’m the only one you people can’t blame). I’m also college educated, but you knew that (Columbia College Class of 2010, Comparative Literature and Society major, magna cum laude but it should have been summa, still looking into that).
It was decisive. It was across the board. Trump moved Hispanic voters right by 25 points. Young men have shifted nearly 30 points to the right since 2020. I didn’t even know they could shift that far, what with their gaming headsets plugged into their Xboxes.
Trump did it and he did it cheap: Kamala Harris raised three times as much money as Trump. Yes, all the people who tell us that money can buy elections are really quiet now because money didn’t buy this one. And folks tried! They brought the election to the register and they said, “Wrap it up real nice, please, it’s a gift.” The clerk said, “Ma’am this is a Wendy’s,” and “MAGA.”
You might take all of these shifts and think: Wow, American voters rejected Democrats in this cycle. Or you could have TheNew York Times’ take on it, which is that we have been conquered.
Never before seen in our 248-year history? He was president four years ago.
→ The Dearborn vote: Kamala passed over the favorite—Joshheads, I see you, I am you—and chose a lefty VP to appease her party’s anti-Israel wing. And yet she still lost the heavily Muslim city of Dearborn, Michigan, to Trump. Yes: 42 percent for Trump—36 percent for Harris. The rage candidate, Jill Stein, pulled a healthy 18 percent.
Instead of nice, moderate Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who unfortunately is Jewish (okay, Harvard kids, stop screaming yahood), she chose Tim Walz—the jolly man who let Minneapolis burn in antifa riots and who set up a Covid snitch line. Call in to report on a neighbor seen hosting dinner, that sort of thing. Not enough! I genuinely want to know who would be good enough for the pro–October 7 crowd. Obviously that person would have to be on a no-fly list. Probably they would need to rank highly enough in Hezbollah to have a pager. Lack of pro-Hamas representation and rhetoric is, honest to god, the take that many progressives are going with as to why Kamala lost:
Right. White women in Philadelphia and young men who felt left behind really needed to see Kamala doing an UNRWA fundraiser in her Instagram bio. That would have flipped ’em.
→ Peanut’s revenge: As Election Day loomed, blue cities in blue states were getting a little too confident. They were starting to flex their muscles. And so the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation went to a social media influencer’s house to kill his rescued pet squirrel, Peanut. Crimes don’t need solving, but Peanut needed killing. (They also killed Fred, his pet racoon. It was a massacre.) Peanut briefly became a conservative rallying cry. The influencer had adopted Peanut after his mom was killed by a car–and hadn’t Peanut been through enough? That Peanut’s rescuer was an OnlyFans star didn’t matter. He was America, just trying to get by, often naked, with a tiny rodent on his shoulders, harming no one. The state didn’t need to get involved here; this was between OnlyFans, squirrels, and God. Apparently, when the authorities came to do a check on Peanut, he bit them, but I’m waiting for the full autopsy report to be released before I jump to any conclusions.
On the stage before Kamala conceded, as cameras rolled and the crowd waited, somber, apprehensive. . . a squirrel darted across. Peanut’s revenge.
I loved Peanut and his execution by the authorities was a horrible thing. Those are bad people!
*An op-ed in the Harvard Crimson by the President of the University’s Institute of Politics (IOP) asserts that now that Trump is elected, it’s time to abandon institutional neutrality:
On Tuesday, America made a choice. But nearly 70 million Americans did not vote for election denialism, violence against their compatriots, or the elimination of basic human rights.
Today, Harvard’s Institute of Politics has a choice to make too. Nonpartisanship — a founding principle of the IOP — is no longer a tenable position in today’s political environment. Donald Trump’s imminent return to power underscores the importance of the IOP finally breaking from our long-standing commitment to it.
As this incoming administration charts its course, we must resist platforming anti-democratic voices in the guise of nonpartisanship. In fact, we must strive to defend principles of democracy, due process, and justice precisely to ensure that we can continue carrying out our age-old mission of nonpartisanship.
From the Jan. 6 insurrection to the wave of conservative voter suppression laws, anti-democratic action and rhetoric sits staunchly at the core of MAGA’s platform.
When democracy itself is under attack, nonpartisanship is not the hill to die on. And it certainly should not be used as an excuse to platform election deniers and those who seek to dismantle our democracy. People and rhetoric that enable violent, authoritarian, and oppressive governance have no place at an institute for civil political disagreement like the IOP.
On election night, with his unfounded claims of “massive cheating” in Pennsylvania, Trump once again signaled his interest in the erosion of American democracy. In stark contrast, the very next day Vice President Kamala Harris conceded electoral defeat, demonstrating a commitment to the peaceful transition of power.
The essence of democracy lies not just in constituents casting votes but also in candidates respecting the results of these votes. The IOP cannot ignore the reality that, as it stands, one party’s leadership actively betrays these democratic processes. True bipartisanship — and healthy nonpartisanship — is only possible when both sides of the aisle share a basic commitment to our country’s norms. Trump and his supporters have demonstrated that such a commitment can no longer be assumed.
Yes, it’s nonpartisanship so long as somebody you don’t like gets elected, and then you wave your colors and denounce the other side as antidemocratic. How about this: do what the University of Chicago does: remain institutionally neutral except on those issues that directly affect the workings and mission of the University. If Trump tries to impede those things, then yes, speak out loudly. But until then, keep your gob shut and stop anticipating the worst.
*Finally, in his latest column, “The energizing clarity of democracy,” Andrew Sullivan, who voted for Harris, finds a silver lining in the results (I keep seeing these “silver lining” columns but have yet to see any metal):
But the good news is that we have become less tribal. The president whom Ta-Nehisi Coates derided as whiteness personified just won more non-white votes than any Republican since Nixon. The allegedly xenophobic campaigner against illegal immigration gained massively among various Spanish-speaking constituencies and many legal immigrants, especially men. The champion of rural whites somehow also made his biggest electoral gains in the big, non-white cities, and among Hispanic voters in Texas border counties. A Republican whom the left and the legacy media called a “white supremacist” won about 24 percent of the black male vote and 47 percent of the Latino male vote.
What about the huge impact of enraged women we were told about, especially in the wake of the Selzer poll in Iowa? Again: a nothingburger. Biden won women by 12 points; Harris —a woman candidate after the end of Roe — won by only 7 points. Ruy Teixeira runs through the other demos here. Gen Z? Biden won women under 30 by 32 points, and Harris by a mere 18. Meanwhile, men under 30 went from +15 for Biden to +14 for Trump — a truly staggering swing! Trump gained among Jews and Muslims! Harris was the candidate of the Upper West Side. The Bronx moved massively to Trump.
How could an entire left-liberal worldview be more comprehensibly dismantled by reality? And yet, the primary response among my own liberal friends was rage at the electorate. They texted me to insist that Harris lost because of white people — white women, in particular, their favorite bêtes blanches. The NYT’s resident race-baiter, Nikole Hannah-Jones, made her usual point:
Since this nation’s inception large swaths of white Americans — including white women — have claimed a belief in democracy while actually enforcing a white ethnocracy.
In fact, among the few demos where Harris did better than Biden were white people earning over $100,000 a year, white women, white men, and “LGBT” voters — most of whom are now young, bi, white women in straight relationships. Warming to her racism, NHJ went after “the anti-Blackness … in Latino cultures as well.” Here’s how Joan Walsh put it:
[Biden]’s got a couple things that my girl Kamala didn’t have. A penis, and that nice white skin.
But more whites went for Kamala than Biden! If you want proof that critical race, gender and queer theory is unfalsifiable, you just got it. The Dems and most of the legacy media have literally no frame of reference outside “white-bad/black-and-brown-good” and “men-bad/women-good.”
. . . .On Trump as a potential dictator, Americans keep telling us they don’t really buy it. They may be wrong … and maybe they are. But if you are going to respect democracy, you also need to respect their judgment, and honor their choice. I suspect they think he will throw his weight around, but will be constrained as he was last time around by the ability of the American system to stymie most radical moves. But they want him to end mass illegal immigration, and I suspect they will give him some leeway to get there. The Dems had their chance to enforce the border and instead chose to open the floodgates. What Trump now does is therefore their responsibility too.
The ending:
But Trump is now a world-historical figure, the most significant American politician of this century so far, with a real mandate. That requires, in my view, an attitude adjustment: not a doubling down of “resistance” but a strategy of engagement and discerning opposition. The way to get Trump to do what you want is to flatter and seduce him — the way Putin and Kim Jong Un do. I suspect that finally giving him the establishment respect he so desperately yearns for could be the most effective way of dealing with him. That requires a real shift in worldview among his opponents. And it will not come easy to many of us. But if this election doesn’t occasion that, what would?
Yes, this is democracy in action. It hasn’t died. It has, in fact, surprised us by revealing a much less tribal and less racially polarized country than we imagined, a vibrant electorate open to change and nuance, and two multiracial coalitions vying for power. Trump remains the unknown, of course. And we could be headed for disaster if both he and his opponents revert to form. But there is an opening here, if we want to take it. For the first time in eight years, I feel some small confidence in saying this once again, even as many around me seem sunk in despair.
Know hope.
The silver lining seems to be simply our ability to know that “democracy has worked” and hope that Trump isn’t as bad as people think. (Truth be told, I don’t think he will be because others will restrain him. In my view, although he’s a narcissistic and unhinged man, his bark has always been worse than his bite—unless you’re a woman he likes or it happens to be January 6.)
Oh, and Sullivan gives a good quote:
“I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that,” – Seth Moulton, Dem congressman.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili mourns the passing of summer, which she’s forced to do each year:
Hili:Do you see what’s going on?
A: Leaves are falling.
Hili: It doesn’t bode well.
In Polish:
Hili: Widzisz co się dzieje?
Ja: Liście spadają jak co roku.
Hili: To nie wróży dobrze.
From Masih; there’s been another plot to kill her. Sound up. This is pretty shocking:
I am shocked. I just learned from the @FBI that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk.
These are from my freed. I don’t know why I get them; I follow nobody but when I click on “home” I find stuff like this:
This gentleman, Ibrahim Yucel, a Turkish man who was 42 years old at the time of the events, decided in 2013 to have his head locked in a cage with the intention of quitting smoking; his wife was the only one who had the keys and she only opened it during meals. pic.twitter.com/1LupljbfYp
From JKR. Read the whole thing. Like me, she’s a liberal, but that doesn’t mean we have to approve of every form of gender activism. I could have written this—if I could write as well as Rowling:
I wrote the words below in April, about the UK left, and I’m retweeting them today for the benefit of some of the numbskulls in my mentions.
Women like me, and there are a lot of us, aren’t and never have been far-right. We simply want the left to wake the hell up, because we’re… pic.twitter.com/zGqBxiodGt
From Shermer. I presume he realizes that that massive staff purge would include the editor-in-chief:
Apology reads like a corporate lawyer wrote it, but it’s better than the exploitative filled rants or woke flapdoodle we’ve grown accustomed to hearing. IMO, to save Scientific American a massive staff purge is needed with new people actually committed to objective journalism. https://t.co/nwLLZhbnAw
Yep a joke. My woke wife says the character moving to Hawaii is AI-generated Will Smith meme.
Gotta love Nellie who is still looking into the “magna” designation…
I’ve seen the ‘moving to Hawaii’ video popping up on Youtube usually accompainied by other videos claimed to have been sourced from TickTock that perport to show ‘live reactions’ to the US election results, the other popular one is someone putting their foot through a TV set in their fury at the results.
And what was up with Biden this week? I watched the video of him making a statement on the election outcome. He was a totally different man.
Yes, I noted that, too. He appeared totally sentient.
Me too. His speech was early in the morning when (I have read) that he is most alert and cogent.
It’s as though the overwhelming stress of the office has been pulled from his shoulders and is no longer scrambling his brain.
It’s worth noting that the fans of Dutch football team Ajax call themselves the “super Jews” and often bring Israeli flags to matches. The anti-Semitic violence wasn’t coming from them. https://x.com/visegrad24/status/1854774442531979591
Tottenham Hotspur in the UK similarly have a strong Jewish fan base.
The quote from the Democrat (Seth Moulton) is quite real. It was described as ‘incendiary’ and people wonder why Trump won. I think Michel Shermer is wrong and PCC(E) is correct. The apology from Laura Helmuth was not drafted by a lawyer and was an attempt (by her) to save her job. The police are (in some cases) on the wrong side. The police in the UK actually helped sex traffickers assault young girls (in Rotherham).
The fact (if it is factual) that the police didn’t lift a finger is what makes the incident in Amsterdam a classic pogrom. Attacks while the authorities sit idly by—or in which the authorities participate—is the standard.
I’m not sure about the “not lift a finger” allegation, Mr. Gilinsky.
There’s conflicting evidence about that one.
best,
D.A.
NYC
From Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who used to live in the Netherlands.
I haven’t read anything in the Dutch news that indicates the police didnt lift a finger. The national coordinator for the organization against antisemitism however did indicate that a lot of Maccabi fans felt like the police wasn’t helping them enough. From what I read, there were a lot of police mobilized (about 800 personnel which is a lot), as well specialized teams. But a lot of the attacks were “hit and run” by small groups on scooters, it seems. Which makes it difficult to react. The protests also should’ve been controlled better, but the Netherlands sometimes isn’t very good at that (…). See also the protests earlier this year at the opening of the Holocaust museum. So it may have been an intimidating and threatening situation for Maccabi fans but unless there is an actual assault, the police may (initially) not do much. There is the right to demonstrate (and there is the “rule” that it should be allowed within sight and sound of what they want to protest) but of course also a duty to keep people safe …
From Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who used to live in the Netherlands.
The Harvard Crimson? Really? PPC(E)’s gotta leave Harvard Yard.
At Georgetown I wrote for student newspaper, The Hoya – I wanted to be a writer then. After two careers where I made actual money, in mid-life I am a writer again. I’ve inflicted my column on fellow WEITers before so I’ll leave that for today.
That said – I’m glad my old Hoya articles were on paper so have been forgotten. Sadly for Crimson writers today their sins and dumbassery will live in infamy online. hehe
Here’s something funny though. My fellow cub journalists and I in 1992 were miffed our scribblings were on paper rather than the (then) new cool internet. Now on the rare occasions I’m actually in print, on paper, I frame it! Times change. 🙂
Have a good weekend friends,
”Trump won: Yep. Trumpo won the election thanks to White Supremacy (Latinos) and Disinformation (men). The whole country simply jolted to the right:“
Nope. As someone pointed out here recently, compared to 2016, Trump got 2 million more voters but the Democrats got 13 million less. So the main problem was Democratic voters not voting. Why not? My guess: wokeness. That was probably the main issue. Of course, many people don’t pick up on that because those publicly criticizing it get cancelled. And it’s not just people annoyed at the pronoun madness, it’s serious concerns of “gender-confirming” surgery and hormones on minors, rendering them sterile and incapable of orgasm forever.
Another issue might be abortion. Even many Democratic voters are not as gung-ho on “only the woman should decide, abortion should be legal at least up until birth”. It’s even obvious that the Democrats realize that. How? When they could have codified a right of abortion in law, they didn’t. Why not? They had what they wanted from the Supreme Court and could always say that that is binding and thus not upset their voters who aren’t as gung-ho on abortion. When Roe vs. Wade was overturned, the response was “we’ll put it into law”, which probably put off many voters.
I should also mention the hypocrisy of “my body my choice” but the same people are often opposed to pornography and prostitution. So it’s “only the woman should decide about her body as long as I agree with it, otherwise I’ll legislate morality just like the Bible-thumpin’ rednecks”. Sure, they will say that no woman would voluntarily work in porn or prostitution, but that is exactly the pro-life argument “no woman would kill her own baby; she must have been pressured into it”. One can’t have it both ways. It’s like freedom of speech: the whole point is to allow speech that one doesn’t agree with. Similarly, if morality is not legislated, then women should be free to do what they want, no matter who objects.
In countries where abortion is just not an issue, there is usually a rule saying that it is allowed in the first three months and after that only in exceptional circumstances. But the extreme positions on both sides in the States prevent such a compromise. It would actually be easy to rebut the idea that killing a fetus even just a few days old is murder, but instead of doing so, the “pro-choice” side would rather virtue signal.
i think wokeness was a real problem for Harris. However, she was a dismal candidate. There is even a Bill Maher joke about this “you can count all of the delegates she got back in 2020 on one hand… after that hand has been amputated”. Also take a look at the IFunny cartoon “I need a VP who is dumber than me”.
I would also put wokeness as a root cause for not providing tangible policy positions. If your moral superiority is unquestionable, it is unreasonable to be required to articulate plans for the future. Instead it is expected to win by default – unless of course the electorate is sexist/racist/fascist/etc. In that case the valiant wokies will have to elect a different electorate.
As this incoming administration charts its course, we must resist platforming anti-democratic voices in the guise of nonpartisanship.
The president of Harvard’s Institute of Politics doesn’t seem to be able to read the room. The surprising Trumpward shift of those in unexpected demographics wasn’t because over half of America hated Democracy, but was I believe largely fueled by a not unreasonable concern that Elites were shutting down discussion, debate, and deliberation on topics like race, immigration, DEI, and transgenderism.
Standing up on an high ivory tower and braying “No more Mr Nice Guy — now we’ll have to do an even BETTER job of eliminating those pesky dissenting voices!” just isn’t helpful.
+1
Agree completely.
It’s disturbing to hear about the repeated assassin attempts on Ms Alinejad. She is a brave woman who deserves a Noble Prize. Excellent work by U.S. law enforcement to protect her.
“I don’t think he will be because others will restrain him.”
— who exactly is left to do that?
Yep a joke. My woke wife says the character moving to Hawaii is AI-generated Will Smith meme.
Gotta love Nellie who is still looking into the “magna” designation…
I’ve seen the ‘moving to Hawaii’ video popping up on Youtube usually accompainied by other videos claimed to have been sourced from TickTock that perport to show ‘live reactions’ to the US election results, the other popular one is someone putting their foot through a TV set in their fury at the results.
And what was up with Biden this week? I watched the video of him making a statement on the election outcome. He was a totally different man.
Yes, I noted that, too. He appeared totally sentient.
Me too. His speech was early in the morning when (I have read) that he is most alert and cogent.
It’s as though the overwhelming stress of the office has been pulled from his shoulders and is no longer scrambling his brain.
It’s worth noting that the fans of Dutch football team Ajax call themselves the “super Jews” and often bring Israeli flags to matches. The anti-Semitic violence wasn’t coming from them. https://x.com/visegrad24/status/1854774442531979591
Tottenham Hotspur in the UK similarly have a strong Jewish fan base.
Since mentioning Spurs are n my post, I’ve just come across this: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/nov/09/spurs-fans-to-call-release-emily-damari-last-british-hostage-held-hamas
Heartwarming! https://x.com/HenMazzig/status/1854970612717875587
The quote from the Democrat (Seth Moulton) is quite real. It was described as ‘incendiary’ and people wonder why Trump won. I think Michel Shermer is wrong and PCC(E) is correct. The apology from Laura Helmuth was not drafted by a lawyer and was an attempt (by her) to save her job. The police are (in some cases) on the wrong side. The police in the UK actually helped sex traffickers assault young girls (in Rotherham).
The fact (if it is factual) that the police didn’t lift a finger is what makes the incident in Amsterdam a classic pogrom. Attacks while the authorities sit idly by—or in which the authorities participate—is the standard.
I’m not sure about the “not lift a finger” allegation, Mr. Gilinsky.
There’s conflicting evidence about that one.
best,
D.A.
NYC
From Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who used to live in the Netherlands.
https://courage.media/2024/11/08/the-pogrom-in-amsterdam/
From Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who used to live in the Netherlands.
https://courage.media/2024/11/08/the-pogrom-in-amsterdam/
I haven’t read anything in the Dutch news that indicates the police didnt lift a finger. The national coordinator for the organization against antisemitism however did indicate that a lot of Maccabi fans felt like the police wasn’t helping them enough. From what I read, there were a lot of police mobilized (about 800 personnel which is a lot), as well specialized teams. But a lot of the attacks were “hit and run” by small groups on scooters, it seems. Which makes it difficult to react. The protests also should’ve been controlled better, but the Netherlands sometimes isn’t very good at that (…). See also the protests earlier this year at the opening of the Holocaust museum. So it may have been an intimidating and threatening situation for Maccabi fans but unless there is an actual assault, the police may (initially) not do much. There is the right to demonstrate (and there is the “rule” that it should be allowed within sight and sound of what they want to protest) but of course also a duty to keep people safe …
From Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who used to live in the Netherlands.
https://courage.media/2024/11/08/the-pogrom-in-amsterdam/
The Harvard Crimson? Really? PPC(E)’s gotta leave Harvard Yard.
At Georgetown I wrote for student newspaper, The Hoya – I wanted to be a writer then. After two careers where I made actual money, in mid-life I am a writer again. I’ve inflicted my column on fellow WEITers before so I’ll leave that for today.
That said – I’m glad my old Hoya articles were on paper so have been forgotten. Sadly for Crimson writers today their sins and dumbassery will live in infamy online. hehe
Here’s something funny though. My fellow cub journalists and I in 1992 were miffed our scribblings were on paper rather than the (then) new cool internet. Now on the rare occasions I’m actually in print, on paper, I frame it! Times change. 🙂
Have a good weekend friends,
D.A.
NYC
nah… you get my column anyway:https://themoderatevoice.com/author/david-anderson/
”Trump won: Yep. Trumpo won the election thanks to White Supremacy (Latinos) and Disinformation (men). The whole country simply jolted to the right:“
Nope. As someone pointed out here recently, compared to 2016, Trump got 2 million more voters but the Democrats got 13 million less. So the main problem was Democratic voters not voting. Why not? My guess: wokeness. That was probably the main issue. Of course, many people don’t pick up on that because those publicly criticizing it get cancelled. And it’s not just people annoyed at the pronoun madness, it’s serious concerns of “gender-confirming” surgery and hormones on minors, rendering them sterile and incapable of orgasm forever.
Another issue might be abortion. Even many Democratic voters are not as gung-ho on “only the woman should decide, abortion should be legal at least up until birth”. It’s even obvious that the Democrats realize that. How? When they could have codified a right of abortion in law, they didn’t. Why not? They had what they wanted from the Supreme Court and could always say that that is binding and thus not upset their voters who aren’t as gung-ho on abortion. When Roe vs. Wade was overturned, the response was “we’ll put it into law”, which probably put off many voters.
I should also mention the hypocrisy of “my body my choice” but the same people are often opposed to pornography and prostitution. So it’s “only the woman should decide about her body as long as I agree with it, otherwise I’ll legislate morality just like the Bible-thumpin’ rednecks”. Sure, they will say that no woman would voluntarily work in porn or prostitution, but that is exactly the pro-life argument “no woman would kill her own baby; she must have been pressured into it”. One can’t have it both ways. It’s like freedom of speech: the whole point is to allow speech that one doesn’t agree with. Similarly, if morality is not legislated, then women should be free to do what they want, no matter who objects.
In countries where abortion is just not an issue, there is usually a rule saying that it is allowed in the first three months and after that only in exceptional circumstances. But the extreme positions on both sides in the States prevent such a compromise. It would actually be easy to rebut the idea that killing a fetus even just a few days old is murder, but instead of doing so, the “pro-choice” side would rather virtue signal.
i think wokeness was a real problem for Harris. However, she was a dismal candidate. There is even a Bill Maher joke about this “you can count all of the delegates she got back in 2020 on one hand… after that hand has been amputated”. Also take a look at the IFunny cartoon “I need a VP who is dumber than me”.
I would also put wokeness as a root cause for not providing tangible policy positions. If your moral superiority is unquestionable, it is unreasonable to be required to articulate plans for the future. Instead it is expected to win by default – unless of course the electorate is sexist/racist/fascist/etc. In that case the valiant wokies will have to elect a different electorate.
The president of Harvard’s Institute of Politics doesn’t seem to be able to read the room. The surprising Trumpward shift of those in unexpected demographics wasn’t because over half of America hated Democracy, but was I believe largely fueled by a not unreasonable concern that Elites were shutting down discussion, debate, and deliberation on topics like race, immigration, DEI, and transgenderism.
Standing up on an high ivory tower and braying “No more Mr Nice Guy — now we’ll have to do an even BETTER job of eliminating those pesky dissenting voices!” just isn’t helpful.
+1
Agree completely.
It’s disturbing to hear about the repeated assassin attempts on Ms Alinejad. She is a brave woman who deserves a Noble Prize. Excellent work by U.S. law enforcement to protect her.
“I don’t think he will be because others will restrain him.”
— who exactly is left to do that?
Scrapple. The other gray meat. (R)