I was unfriended and blocked on F*cebook a few years ago by someone who had posted a photo of a sign advertising a 'family friendly drag show' at a local amusement park when I commented: Never too soon to groom?
Every other comment was supportive and applauding, it's like they lost their minds.
If we survive as a civilization, which is not at all a sure thing, people will look back at transmania the way we look back at lobotomy. "What were they thinking?"
At least lobotomy was only used a last resort, to treat the horrible symptoms of a very real and incurable pathology, Schizophrenia. It was used in the same way that amputation is used to treat gangrenous limb.
God what a horrible thought. Have you ever seen a documentary what became of the victims? It should be a lesson for everyone about the need for very rigorous testing before any drug is given to a child or a pregnant women.
My comment on NextDoor was removed after I merely responded “I’ll pass” on a offer posted for tickets to a “family-friendly” drag show. They’re (NextDoor) out of San Francisco, so ‘nuff said.
Sounds like "I'll pass" was just a bit of trolling on your part (not unlike the crank calls made by bored teenagers) and that you were not at all disappointed that there was a reaction. The whole social media ecosystem is fueled by various forms of arrested emotional development.
My friends and I grew up on Drag Queen Story Hour. We called it "The Bugs Bunny Show". The sky did not fall, although we all became Monty Python fans later on.
How many times growing up did I hear stuff like, "it's not the end of the world if....who's it hurting?" We don't figure out until a generation or two later who it's hurting. Example: If the crazy guy is let out of the asylum, and gets by on panhandling, who's it hurting? The do-gooders argued, it's just another lifestyle choice. Who are we to judge? Look at our cities now, blighted by tent camps where someone walking through might be accosted by a deranged, aggressive lunatic, and they have to navigate through human urine, feces, and needles on the ground. Those conditions didn't exist anywhere, even in the most impoverished slums, when I was growing up.
Same exact lessons apply to the plague of uncivilized, unsocialized young men raised in families with no fathers- something else NYT and its like-minded woke media just won't mention. How many more examples do you want?
It took us tens of thousands of years to climb up out of living in trees and caves. Through trial and error, we learned the lessons of the values of family, education, and knowing and following the fundamental rules of right and wrong. It's not a white people thing. Any society that's thrived - Asian, Middle Eastern, African, South American civilizations, learned and followed these lessons.
Yes, there is a slippery slope. Some of us have the arrogance to falsely believe we're smarter, we know better, and we're gooder and better than those who came before us. Sorry Joe C, you're just wrong.
Adding to my own comment above, it's so bad even people claiming to be conservative are cowed into not bringing up these awkward subjects. When was the last time you heard a Republican say a word about it?
Obama brought it up. Once. When he was managing the Jeremiah Wright scandal, he made of brief mention of the importance of fathers in black families. After the Rev Wright thing blew over, he never said anything about it ever again.
One last thing on that- after Obama said those words, civil rights frenemy to black people Jesse Jackson was heard on a hot-mike saying and gesturing he wanted to cut Obama's testicles off, for "talking down to black people. "
Hey, I am a female conservative. I ordered a ball cap from XX XY Athletics. Support women's sports. I have 4 small Israel flags in my front yard. I refuse to be cowed.
Thanks for sharing, but my comment wasn't about drag queen story hour, nice diversion. Also, characterizing the bugs bunny show as such is about as disingenuous as you can get, but maybe you can outdo yourself in your next reply.
I seriously doubt your claim that you "grew up on drag queen story hour," since that misguided trend can't be more than 5 years old, max. What, are you six years old? Or do you have some kind of temporality aphasia?
Comparing "The Bugs Bunny Show" to Drag Queen story hours is as pathetic as it is a great way if saying you never saw the Bugs Bunny Show or a drag Queen story hour.
I will never understand the enthusiasm among the woke for drag. Are they so dense they can't see it for the mockery of women that it is? No woman dresses in get up like that (although some of the outfits at the Met Gala came pretty close). The humor - mostly sexual double entendre - seems unfit for children. Is it just 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦́𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘪𝘴? Maybe it's the cheap thrill of the forbidden, somewhat disreputable entertainment of "slumming"? Maybe it's nothing more complicated than trolling social conservatives. I simply cannot decode it.
Being a Free Press subscriber and having read much of her work over the past year I would describe Nellie Bowles as someone of the left who now see’s the lefts excesses and craziness and highlights it, makes fun of it and in some cases disparages it. She, by no means, has changed her political perspective. She still hates everything Trump/MAGA/Republicans/“far right”. She’s just become the ‘new’ moderate liberal because the radical far left has become dominant within the democrat party and they cancelled her for being slightly to the right of being a lunatic. She’s the intellectual example of the old saying about a democrat becoming a republican when they get mugged. Her TGIF columns are funny and entertaining but they are really her way of making fun of the lefty media complex who cancelled her. Her spots may have faded slightly but they will never completely disappear. Read and enjoy her writing but sleep with the preverbal one eye open.
I don't want to live in a place where everyone thinks & acts the same. We need the left as a check point for values of the right, to keep us on the right track, or we'll drift off on a path too radical like the hard left has done.
Nellie calling out her own is a healthy start to eradicating the country of crazies, all of whom reside in the once dark shadows of the left but of late have emerged because Democrats lack sound, responsible, honest leadership. Really, how many people are in favor of an erect penis in the teenage girl's locker rooms?
We don't need her to vote for Trump. We need her to leave the party that left her and not vote for Biden. That is not the same thing, but will end with the same result.
I won't vote for Biden, and I don't want to vote for Trump. Voting for the lesser of two evils never works out well. Could be true for the lesser of three evils as well, but I would want to know way more about RFK first. Both Biden and Trump are way too old (I'm old too so I can say that)--but let's face it, the election system is already broken. How is that going to work out in the end?
To be honest, very few of us actually even know Trump. So it is irrelevant whether I like him because I don't know the man. But I do know what other people want me to believe. Looking at the lack of crackhead factor in his children does give some insight.
I remain perplexed why those who dislike Trump, dislike him so fervently. I'm guessing none of them ever met him and instead are willing to be lead by the media who detest the man.
I met a lady in the bank lobby one day. She saw I wore a cowboy hat and asked me in a quiet voice if I like Trump. When I said yes she asked me to wait so she could talk to me. She told me she used to work for him in NYC and he was the nicest man she ever met and the caricature portrayed in the media was just that.
I think the left hate him because he thinks like the rest of us rubes; he is a real threat to their view of life.
I strongly suggest watching/listening to RFK Jr.’s myriad podcast interviews. They are everywhere and because they are long-form, respectful conversations you’ll get to hear his views on a wide range of issues and find out what really motivates/drives him. Obviously you can’t rely on MSM or even adjacent neo-con liberal outlets like TFP for that. But he is available throughout the podcast space and very worth a look/listen if you want to grasp the true range of choices come November.
That’s why I think you should vote for trump so they can’t cheat. But I admit he’s not perfect by any stretch but he’s the only chance we have at revolutionizing and draining the swamp. He’s the only one that understands (now) what we are up against since the corrupt agencies are launching a full out attack on him. This is my opinion but your vote so I don’t really get a say! But sharing my brain dump nonetheless!
Everyone talks about having to pick between "The Lesser of Two Evils"
Has anyone considered the EVIL of always having to pick between TWO LESSERS who by rights shouldn't get within sniffing distance of a nomination for any public office?
This applies not only to the presidency but all of the down-ballot offices as well.
RFK Jr is a Democrat. He recently came out for reparations. He's somewhat more sensible than Biden and most of the Democrat Party but that's not saying much. If he were elected, we'd still get 75%+ of the Biden agenda, although no more vaccine mandates.
I agree 234. There needs to be a healthy debate about the direction of the country. I follow many “reporters” who are left to understand where they are coming from. Don’t agree much and easily see the purposeful mis-representing of facts or in many cases omission of facts to skew a narrative but non the less I want to hear what the left hears. Unfortunately the left rarely if ever hears the truth.
It's so interesting to me to hear that the left needs to exist to be a check point for the right when, historically speaking, the right stood up to the left to stop slavery, eugenics, forced sterilization......
I prefer reading archival documents. The University of Minnesota has one of the largest collections of documents on eugenics than any other place in the US.
"Reputable", even in history books is highly dependent on the author(s) and the reader's viewpoint.
Archival research is also subject to selection bias and motivated reasoning.
A deep study of one archive is useful -- but only if the researcher situates that study within the broader historiography of the subject. In history, the method for checking selection bias and motivated reasoning is to engage with the writings of many historians looking at the topic from various angles. That's how historians avoid egregiously false generalizations such as your claim that "the right stood up to the left to stop slavery, eugenics, and forced sterilization." Francis Galton was not a leftist. Alfred Ploetz was not a leftist. Harry Laughlin was not a leftist. Calvin Coolidge, who signed the Johnson-Reed Act establishing eugenicist policies in America, was not a leftist. Josef Mengele was not a leftist.
That is how I feel after two years of subscribing there. She was on Prager's show the other day - God bless her for it - and I still feel like she is 'finding herself' and trying to please some on the Left while 'venturing out for a look' when that should have been done years ago.
"....venturing out for a look' when that should have been done years ago." Exactly. I don't have much sympathy for those who preferred to be blind for so long and suddenly have an epiphany in middle age. (The exception is Sasha because she didn't "venture out for a look." She took a stick of dynamite, stuck it in her former beliefs and lit the fuse as she walked out the door.)
Also, I think TFP is trying to maintain a balance between their centrist liberal audience which is often at odds with its conservative readers. Often, the comment section is way more interesting than the fluffy "popular" posts TFP now does way too often. They are totally avoiding taking on the really serious issues at hand today. Yes they took on the trans issue, but now seem to have totally dropped it. There isn't much research going on at TFP at all--and too many of those in control frequently join in with making fun of the left media's jabs at various (often fake) stories about conservative people. In the end, Bari, Nellie, Wiseman et al will vote for Biden.
TFP is a good start to turning the news bias we're inundated with daily around into something we can trust again. I admire her & Bari's guts to leave the NYT and take a stab at defining the future of news & opinion pages.
TFP is not perfect and will likely morph into something we don't recognize in the future.....I think it's already begun a transition. What they need now are astute business minds to take them to the next level. Bari & Nellie are writers; they're not skilled at running a successful business with staying power.
My guess is a private equity firm will acquire them, the girls will cash in and if smart will retain editorial control and this idea can prosper.
I think many will vote Trump, in the end. There is no alternative that will save the nation state and the economy. Critical theory is bankrupt and full of fake science, fake history, and other anti-western and anti-humanist lies. Most followers are like Nellie; questioning the dogma and discovering the lies and looking for facts. They have enough decency to be repelled by murder, war and other immoral consequences. But they still reject all religion and the hard won wisdom of classical western philosophy. It will take military disaster to bring reality crashing in.
I saw a story a while back that said most of the people who call themselves Baptists (especially the ministers), don't actually believe the dogma. Heaven and hell. But they go to church anyway because the value the distilled wisdom of the ages. Religion is a check on human impulses which historically have been very bad. Sometimes because of religion for sure, but more likely that was an excuse by the powerful to form a team.
I am a Southern Baptist and very much a Christian (hold and value Christian philosophy), but haven't believed in the supernatural aspects since I was about 9.
Few people take the Bible literally when it describes things like the parting of the Red Sea. These are things written by people who knew nothing of science and little of the world beyond a small village or city. One has to realize that the priests and scribes were writing about things they could only describe in the terms of metaphor. The metaphor of God as an unimaginably powerful king or dictator. A being that created all and set down the of law and rules of society and morality. It was a good model, but every tribe and group had similar myths. Yet the myths one tribe survived and they developed writing and gave their decendants the greatest legacy they could. The words that gave meaning to lives that were extremely harsh, brutal and short. Can we simply dismiss this. Have we really learned that much, there is no support for this in history. When one is starving in a fox hole and the artillery shells are landing left and right, you will find strength in the hope of an afterlife. You will return to metaphor.
Your last sentence is the thing that I am ignoring because I enjoy TFP, though I do so regret that dems will be dems: blue no matter who is no way to run a country.
Douglas Murray (Things Worth Remembering), Rob Henderson, Coleman Hughs and David Sedaris also good, IMO. And I’m warming to Eli Lake. For those of you that know though, would like to see less of Oliver Wiseman.
Which is why I have found that married women with children are some of the best bosses I've ever had - if you can manage a marriage and a family you're probably a good person to manage a workplace.
"a democrat becoming a republican when they get mugged"
When that happens, they don't have deep (or even real) convictions about either Left *or* Right. I am a Leftist (a real one, i.e. pre-Marx, aka pre-totalitarian), and currently *vote* (primarily) Republican, but only because the religiously-woke totalitarian lunatics have taken over.
I’m very socially liberal, but I primarily vote Republican because the Democrats have shown over and over that they view social problems as an opportunity to create no-work government jobs for loyal demographics who then sit their (usually fat) asses in those freshly created permanent positions for 30 years and then retire without ever helping anyone.
If I’m not going to get competent government, then I’ll vote for the party of tax breaks and lower business regulations.
I agree (for the most part). The current problem on both sides, but primarily Democrats, is runaway corruption, prompted there by a now completely perverted idea of how government-provided help is supposed to operate.
They are going to continue to ram this new version forward on the basis of (supposedly insoluble) identities combined with (supposedly unstoppable) AI work-obsolescence revolution. Their dream is that the intelligent sociopaths and their well-paid, well-educated, often clueless servants are on top; while all the rest are on the bottom receiving universal basic income and forevermore foolishly fighting with each other.
Perfect description. I cancelled my Free Press subscription because of her TGIF. Not because she clearly distained "the right" in general, but because making fun of the progressive left is not any solution to stopping the damage the new progressives have done to this country.
Exactly. When I read this, “Will they come clean and admit they essentially work for the Biden administration as a slightly more sophisticated version of Joe and Mika? “ I thought they were talking about TFP.
The "gender-affirming" horrors are not comparable to the Holocaust - but they are very comparable to the forced sterilization of the mentally ill, of the use of lobotomies on the mentally ill, and the so-called "Tuskegee Study" in which black men had their syphilis intentionally untreated - all of these done in the name of "science." ....
Here in deep blue Oregon, a boy posing as a girl won the 6A HS 200 meter dash the other day. Event at Hayward Feild. Crossing finish line & @ ceremony after, the crowd cheered the 2nd place actual women and booed the ‘1st place winner’ w/ a cock.
I hope you’re right but I am not optimistic. This time feels different. The radical progressives used to be held in check by moderate liberals, gov’t and a media that was at least not as far left. That is no longer the case. The radical progressives no longer have any shame or conscience. It’s my way or else I’ll destroy you by any means necessary. The country is starting to geographically self segregate into hardened red and blue states. The federal gov’t has taken a hard, radical left turn along with academia, much of the judiciary (Trumps NY trial judge is proof of that), cultural institutions, the media (both traditional and social), many corporations and don’t forget Europe, which now helps our gov’t censor in order to get around the 1st amendment.
I’d love to see a swing back to sanity and reality but the usual bulwarks no longer exist as they were. Will new ones appear, I hope so.
Wow, talk about palpable seething… Between the two “journalists” at the WaComPost and NYWhines, who fail miserably in their anemic effort to conceal their utter contempt for someone else who DARES “impersonate” a REAL journalist like THEY are…
They both remind me of people who claim to “understand” the MAGA movement and then go to considerable effort to reveal they haven’t the slightest clue…
The piece by Becca Rothfeld with her quip that Conservatism, like senility., comes with aging… Yeah, no… With aging comes WISDOM, which tends to make one Conservative and I can’t help but be reminded of the timeless adage that “There’s no fool like an old fool” which FAR MORE ACCURATELY translates into “There’s no Progressive like an OLD Progressive”, which translates further into “God gives you decades of life in order to LEARN something and “wise up” instead of hanging onto the tired retread thoughts of “radicals” whose Social experiment failures have a batting record of 1,000…
When these legacy “journalists” step off their podiums of superiority and learn a little humility, they might then also learn that the lofty and noble “calling” of being a journalist… Honestly? It just isn’t that hard…
Wow great piece, I have listen to Her on Honestly about the book in addition to reading about it on Free Press. Did not know about the hit pieces put out by the MSM on her. Classical response to anyone or anything that questions them.
Nellie is still a lib at heart as she is still on her journey that in the end will have her question very dogma she believed because everyone is based upon a lie. Because the worldview of the left is all built upon lies there is nothing they believe that is rooted in facts or reality. So they have to destroy anyone or anything that questions them including one of their own.
I am a conservative--born and bred. But I have respect for liberalism--especially the old kind. I refuse to throw out all the ideas/leanings of liberalism, especially optimism that we corporately as Americans can better our country. I am very despondent over so many on the Left's hatred of America.
Conservatives need the left like a freight train need tracks to keep us on the right path. Without the left we'll become them, only from a different direction, barreling over and destroying all we've achieved. We need safety in the workplace, laws against child labor, equal rights for all genders, creeds, and race, etc. etc.
I can see your point with one exception: Bret Baier. Reminds me of the pre-Rather network anchors, and CNN, (MS)NBC, et al have no analogy to him. The first 40 minutes of special report, before the “all-star” panel, is the only straight news left on television.
Wait, didn’t you guys tell us that “bothsidesism” was an actual concept and that it was a very bad thing? Funny now it’s thrown out by liberals all the time.
where did you mention "whataboutism"? I know what that is. You said "bothsidesism" which I assume means I'm not supposed to read both sides. I read whatever I want to compare the practices of both sides. While both sides omit things that make them look bad, the right is much more into conspiracy theories.
With NYT you can put the headline and opening statement of each article into ChatGPT, ask it to complete the article from the point of view of Hillary Clinton, and you’ll get a probably 95%+ match to what the author wrote.
In its own little way, the NYT is free to read simply because you know exactly what the content of an article will be because they have a newsroom full of ideological clones.
Her critic writes: "Bowles’s book appeals for the same reason that other conservative memoirs of political “growth” do: because they reassure their readers that progressivism is not a genuine political philosophy but an almost biological byproduct of youth, like acne."
Au contraire. Progressivism IS the acne that started on your face when young, but through poor diet, lack of proper skin care and also being in complete denial of its root cause has now spread and completely covers your posterior by middle age. An inflamed and bulging puss filled boil of stupid has taken over the left - and they are currently sitting right on top of it wondering why their ass hurts.
When I read the reviews of Nellie Bowles' book in The New Yorker, NY Times, WAPO etc. it seemed like they were written by the exact same person. They had the exact same tone and raised the exact same arguments. Obviously this was a coordinated attack by the new totalitarians.
They think 1) that there is no right to say things that are wrong, and 2) that disagreement is "harm" (to them only.) So they have to say the same things, as exactly as possible. There can only be one "One True Faith.
Great article once again Sasha, I very much enjoyed reading this. I know who Nellie Bowles is because I subscribe to The Free Press website. She’s smart, but I don’t always agree with her humor, too much Trump/MAGA bashing IMO. I wasn’t aware of her book, but the excerpts you quoted about the LA spa were good. Perhaps I’ll read it.
Truly appalling the damage the democrats have done to our society. “Crimesha” is the Second City Cop blog name for our States Attorney Kim Foxx in Chicago. She’s the one who dropped all charges against Jussie Smollett for his hate crime hoax blamed on two white MAGA supporters who turned out to be two black Nigerians paid to stage the hoax. She’s a good example of the low IQ fanatics strongly supported by the democrats and their media who’ve ruined cities like Chicago.
• Beginning May 20, NBC 5 Chicago & Telemundo Chicago will deliver a new, unprecedented series – “Dismissed” / “Buscando Justicia” – uncovering the startling details behind a six-month investigation on the minimal number of sexual assault arrests and convictions in the City of Chicago over the past six years. The three-part series will air on NBC 5 News & Noticiero Telemundo Chicago at 10 p.m. on May 20-22. NBC 5 Investigates reporter Bennett Haeberle, along with Telemundo Investiga reporter Jorge DeSantiago, examined the details of every sexual assault case reported to the Chicago Police Department over the last six years
Who has been in charge of criminal prosecutions for the past seven-and-a-half years?
• Crimesha
And who has something like a 7% charging rate for rapists?
• Crimesha
And who has presided over hundreds of dismissals? And of the few dozen actual convictions, who has let 49% go without a single day served behind bars?
• Crimesha
So not only does she luv her some criminals, she actively hates women who get raped. Who, ironically, were among her biggest supporters during both her election victories.
Sounds like the Weimar Republic before ww2. Maybe people just lack the courage to speak the truth. Well, someday this generation will have passed away. This too shall pass.
Good question. The more we make fun of and make jokes about the woke, and refuse to be silent the safer we are in that sense. Also, many see those who are presently canceling and so forth as BEING the NAZIs.
If we had the weapons we have now a hundred years ago it’s highly unlikely we’d be here now. We simply can’t afford another collapse into insanity and war. And WW3 will be a truly global war due to everything now being so connected due to the internet.
"Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name..." Or 'Why America is bat-sh!t crazy'. "Quick, take all the guns!" In a corner of the world, the Cheshire China giant smiles.
Stirring rendition of Bob’s Hard Rain there, very nice. It’s said The Staple Singer’s 1956 ‘Unclouded’ was a big influence on Dylan. And probably why The Staples in turn sang a cover of his song in ‘68. Good stuff.
Shasha, you rock. There will be more people turning on the left for their indefensible positions. The drip will grow to a steady stream then a raging river of those who refuse an ideology requiring pretzel-like contortions of logic and moral bankruptcy. You are a pioneer of free thought. You started a movement.
I was unfriended and blocked on F*cebook a few years ago by someone who had posted a photo of a sign advertising a 'family friendly drag show' at a local amusement park when I commented: Never too soon to groom?
Every other comment was supportive and applauding, it's like they lost their minds.
It’s not “like they lost their minds”. They actually did lose their minds. Someday they will look back and wonder what they were thinking.
If we survive as a civilization, which is not at all a sure thing, people will look back at transmania the way we look back at lobotomy. "What were they thinking?"
At least lobotomy was only used a last resort, to treat the horrible symptoms of a very real and incurable pathology, Schizophrenia. It was used in the same way that amputation is used to treat gangrenous limb.
Except that it was way overused when it was considered a wonderful, progressive treatment. My grandmother was one victim.
the Kennedy family ahead of the game?
They will never admit they made a mistake because they have by now harmed millions of pre-teen children for life.
The new Thalidomide.
Can't agree. Thalidomide got shut down when the deformities began to appear.
God what a horrible thought. Have you ever seen a documentary what became of the victims? It should be a lesson for everyone about the need for very rigorous testing before any drug is given to a child or a pregnant women.
No they won't. They're too self-absorbed to do that.
My comment on NextDoor was removed after I merely responded “I’ll pass” on a offer posted for tickets to a “family-friendly” drag show. They’re (NextDoor) out of San Francisco, so ‘nuff said.
Sounds like "I'll pass" was just a bit of trolling on your part (not unlike the crank calls made by bored teenagers) and that you were not at all disappointed that there was a reaction. The whole social media ecosystem is fueled by various forms of arrested emotional development.
My friends and I grew up on Drag Queen Story Hour. We called it "The Bugs Bunny Show". The sky did not fall, although we all became Monty Python fans later on.
How many times growing up did I hear stuff like, "it's not the end of the world if....who's it hurting?" We don't figure out until a generation or two later who it's hurting. Example: If the crazy guy is let out of the asylum, and gets by on panhandling, who's it hurting? The do-gooders argued, it's just another lifestyle choice. Who are we to judge? Look at our cities now, blighted by tent camps where someone walking through might be accosted by a deranged, aggressive lunatic, and they have to navigate through human urine, feces, and needles on the ground. Those conditions didn't exist anywhere, even in the most impoverished slums, when I was growing up.
Same exact lessons apply to the plague of uncivilized, unsocialized young men raised in families with no fathers- something else NYT and its like-minded woke media just won't mention. How many more examples do you want?
It took us tens of thousands of years to climb up out of living in trees and caves. Through trial and error, we learned the lessons of the values of family, education, and knowing and following the fundamental rules of right and wrong. It's not a white people thing. Any society that's thrived - Asian, Middle Eastern, African, South American civilizations, learned and followed these lessons.
Yes, there is a slippery slope. Some of us have the arrogance to falsely believe we're smarter, we know better, and we're gooder and better than those who came before us. Sorry Joe C, you're just wrong.
Just occurred to me: One can get arrested for not cleaning up after one's dog. But not oneself.
Adding to my own comment above, it's so bad even people claiming to be conservative are cowed into not bringing up these awkward subjects. When was the last time you heard a Republican say a word about it?
Obama brought it up. Once. When he was managing the Jeremiah Wright scandal, he made of brief mention of the importance of fathers in black families. After the Rev Wright thing blew over, he never said anything about it ever again.
One last thing on that- after Obama said those words, civil rights frenemy to black people Jesse Jackson was heard on a hot-mike saying and gesturing he wanted to cut Obama's testicles off, for "talking down to black people. "
Rant off.
Hey, I am a female conservative. I ordered a ball cap from XX XY Athletics. Support women's sports. I have 4 small Israel flags in my front yard. I refuse to be cowed.
Not a fan of Alex Jones but this is on point. Totally ignored by the MSM:
https://x.com/alexjonesmw3/status/1790938565402071381?s=46&t=U7laPY1hHEa798qtlcpDpA
Thanks for sharing, but my comment wasn't about drag queen story hour, nice diversion. Also, characterizing the bugs bunny show as such is about as disingenuous as you can get, but maybe you can outdo yourself in your next reply.
I seriously doubt your claim that you "grew up on drag queen story hour," since that misguided trend can't be more than 5 years old, max. What, are you six years old? Or do you have some kind of temporality aphasia?
“Drag queen story hour is a made-up boogeyman.”
“Drag queen story hour is a good idea that only bigots oppose.”
“We grew up on Drag Queen Story Hour; it’s totally normal.”
Found one. Totally lost his mind.
Comparing "The Bugs Bunny Show" to Drag Queen story hours is as pathetic as it is a great way if saying you never saw the Bugs Bunny Show or a drag Queen story hour.
I will never understand the enthusiasm among the woke for drag. Are they so dense they can't see it for the mockery of women that it is? No woman dresses in get up like that (although some of the outfits at the Met Gala came pretty close). The humor - mostly sexual double entendre - seems unfit for children. Is it just 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦́𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘪𝘴? Maybe it's the cheap thrill of the forbidden, somewhat disreputable entertainment of "slumming"? Maybe it's nothing more complicated than trolling social conservatives. I simply cannot decode it.
I posted ‘trans Taliban’ on Facebook and was put in prison for 48 hours, because, you know, I’m hateful.
Being a Free Press subscriber and having read much of her work over the past year I would describe Nellie Bowles as someone of the left who now see’s the lefts excesses and craziness and highlights it, makes fun of it and in some cases disparages it. She, by no means, has changed her political perspective. She still hates everything Trump/MAGA/Republicans/“far right”. She’s just become the ‘new’ moderate liberal because the radical far left has become dominant within the democrat party and they cancelled her for being slightly to the right of being a lunatic. She’s the intellectual example of the old saying about a democrat becoming a republican when they get mugged. Her TGIF columns are funny and entertaining but they are really her way of making fun of the lefty media complex who cancelled her. Her spots may have faded slightly but they will never completely disappear. Read and enjoy her writing but sleep with the preverbal one eye open.
My take is we don't need the left to disappear.
I don't want to live in a place where everyone thinks & acts the same. We need the left as a check point for values of the right, to keep us on the right track, or we'll drift off on a path too radical like the hard left has done.
Nellie calling out her own is a healthy start to eradicating the country of crazies, all of whom reside in the once dark shadows of the left but of late have emerged because Democrats lack sound, responsible, honest leadership. Really, how many people are in favor of an erect penis in the teenage girl's locker rooms?
We don't need her to vote for Trump. We need her to leave the party that left her and not vote for Biden. That is not the same thing, but will end with the same result.
What keeps getting left out though is RFK--and TFP, like the mainstream media, pretty much ignores/censors him as a candidate.
No question. Ignoring RFK is no accident. I have my reason, but what is yours?
I won't vote for Biden, and I don't want to vote for Trump. Voting for the lesser of two evils never works out well. Could be true for the lesser of three evils as well, but I would want to know way more about RFK first. Both Biden and Trump are way too old (I'm old too so I can say that)--but let's face it, the election system is already broken. How is that going to work out in the end?
Very few people actually like Trump.....we like what he stands for.
The question is, who would you rather win? And would you take even the slightest chance that we could get four more years of this disaster?
To be honest, very few of us actually even know Trump. So it is irrelevant whether I like him because I don't know the man. But I do know what other people want me to believe. Looking at the lack of crackhead factor in his children does give some insight.
I remain perplexed why those who dislike Trump, dislike him so fervently. I'm guessing none of them ever met him and instead are willing to be lead by the media who detest the man.
I met a lady in the bank lobby one day. She saw I wore a cowboy hat and asked me in a quiet voice if I like Trump. When I said yes she asked me to wait so she could talk to me. She told me she used to work for him in NYC and he was the nicest man she ever met and the caricature portrayed in the media was just that.
I think the left hate him because he thinks like the rest of us rubes; he is a real threat to their view of life.
I'm voting for the VP. The P's are both lame ducks and too elderly to long matter. (If Trump picks Tulsi Gabbard I might actually campaign for him).
Agree
I strongly suggest watching/listening to RFK Jr.’s myriad podcast interviews. They are everywhere and because they are long-form, respectful conversations you’ll get to hear his views on a wide range of issues and find out what really motivates/drives him. Obviously you can’t rely on MSM or even adjacent neo-con liberal outlets like TFP for that. But he is available throughout the podcast space and very worth a look/listen if you want to grasp the true range of choices come November.
That’s why I think you should vote for trump so they can’t cheat. But I admit he’s not perfect by any stretch but he’s the only chance we have at revolutionizing and draining the swamp. He’s the only one that understands (now) what we are up against since the corrupt agencies are launching a full out attack on him. This is my opinion but your vote so I don’t really get a say! But sharing my brain dump nonetheless!
I don’t disagree with you when the rubber hits the road in November.
Everyone talks about having to pick between "The Lesser of Two Evils"
Has anyone considered the EVIL of always having to pick between TWO LESSERS who by rights shouldn't get within sniffing distance of a nomination for any public office?
This applies not only to the presidency but all of the down-ballot offices as well.
Until that changes nothing else will
I think about this all the time!!
RFK Jr is a Democrat. He recently came out for reparations. He's somewhat more sensible than Biden and most of the Democrat Party but that's not saying much. If he were elected, we'd still get 75%+ of the Biden agenda, although no more vaccine mandates.
I agree 234. There needs to be a healthy debate about the direction of the country. I follow many “reporters” who are left to understand where they are coming from. Don’t agree much and easily see the purposeful mis-representing of facts or in many cases omission of facts to skew a narrative but non the less I want to hear what the left hears. Unfortunately the left rarely if ever hears the truth.
It's so interesting to me to hear that the left needs to exist to be a check point for the right when, historically speaking, the right stood up to the left to stop slavery, eugenics, forced sterilization......
Try y reading a reputable history book sometime. You'll learn a lot.
I prefer reading archival documents. The University of Minnesota has one of the largest collections of documents on eugenics than any other place in the US.
"Reputable", even in history books is highly dependent on the author(s) and the reader's viewpoint.
Archival research is also subject to selection bias and motivated reasoning.
A deep study of one archive is useful -- but only if the researcher situates that study within the broader historiography of the subject. In history, the method for checking selection bias and motivated reasoning is to engage with the writings of many historians looking at the topic from various angles. That's how historians avoid egregiously false generalizations such as your claim that "the right stood up to the left to stop slavery, eugenics, and forced sterilization." Francis Galton was not a leftist. Alfred Ploetz was not a leftist. Harry Laughlin was not a leftist. Calvin Coolidge, who signed the Johnson-Reed Act establishing eugenicist policies in America, was not a leftist. Josef Mengele was not a leftist.
If those few individuals you named were the only participants I would give you the nod, but they were not, were they?
That is how I feel after two years of subscribing there. She was on Prager's show the other day - God bless her for it - and I still feel like she is 'finding herself' and trying to please some on the Left while 'venturing out for a look' when that should have been done years ago.
"....venturing out for a look' when that should have been done years ago." Exactly. I don't have much sympathy for those who preferred to be blind for so long and suddenly have an epiphany in middle age. (The exception is Sasha because she didn't "venture out for a look." She took a stick of dynamite, stuck it in her former beliefs and lit the fuse as she walked out the door.)
Coffee spit... She did take a stick of dynamite and...
Careful...
Also, I think TFP is trying to maintain a balance between their centrist liberal audience which is often at odds with its conservative readers. Often, the comment section is way more interesting than the fluffy "popular" posts TFP now does way too often. They are totally avoiding taking on the really serious issues at hand today. Yes they took on the trans issue, but now seem to have totally dropped it. There isn't much research going on at TFP at all--and too many of those in control frequently join in with making fun of the left media's jabs at various (often fake) stories about conservative people. In the end, Bari, Nellie, Wiseman et al will vote for Biden.
TFP is a good start to turning the news bias we're inundated with daily around into something we can trust again. I admire her & Bari's guts to leave the NYT and take a stab at defining the future of news & opinion pages.
TFP is not perfect and will likely morph into something we don't recognize in the future.....I think it's already begun a transition. What they need now are astute business minds to take them to the next level. Bari & Nellie are writers; they're not skilled at running a successful business with staying power.
My guess is a private equity firm will acquire them, the girls will cash in and if smart will retain editorial control and this idea can prosper.
I think many will vote Trump, in the end. There is no alternative that will save the nation state and the economy. Critical theory is bankrupt and full of fake science, fake history, and other anti-western and anti-humanist lies. Most followers are like Nellie; questioning the dogma and discovering the lies and looking for facts. They have enough decency to be repelled by murder, war and other immoral consequences. But they still reject all religion and the hard won wisdom of classical western philosophy. It will take military disaster to bring reality crashing in.
I saw a story a while back that said most of the people who call themselves Baptists (especially the ministers), don't actually believe the dogma. Heaven and hell. But they go to church anyway because the value the distilled wisdom of the ages. Religion is a check on human impulses which historically have been very bad. Sometimes because of religion for sure, but more likely that was an excuse by the powerful to form a team.
I am a Southern Baptist and very much a Christian (hold and value Christian philosophy), but haven't believed in the supernatural aspects since I was about 9.
Few people take the Bible literally when it describes things like the parting of the Red Sea. These are things written by people who knew nothing of science and little of the world beyond a small village or city. One has to realize that the priests and scribes were writing about things they could only describe in the terms of metaphor. The metaphor of God as an unimaginably powerful king or dictator. A being that created all and set down the of law and rules of society and morality. It was a good model, but every tribe and group had similar myths. Yet the myths one tribe survived and they developed writing and gave their decendants the greatest legacy they could. The words that gave meaning to lives that were extremely harsh, brutal and short. Can we simply dismiss this. Have we really learned that much, there is no support for this in history. When one is starving in a fox hole and the artillery shells are landing left and right, you will find strength in the hope of an afterlife. You will return to metaphor.
Your last sentence is the thing that I am ignoring because I enjoy TFP, though I do so regret that dems will be dems: blue no matter who is no way to run a country.
I think the best TFP posts nowadays days are by guest writers. Like this gem from professor Parham, University of Virginia last week:
https://www.thefp.com/p/to-the-class-of-2024-you-are-all-diseased
Douglas Murray (Things Worth Remembering), Rob Henderson, Coleman Hughs and David Sedaris also good, IMO. And I’m warming to Eli Lake. For those of you that know though, would like to see less of Oliver Wiseman.
Motherhood teaches a female some lessons that they cannot learn from the critical analysis of texts.
Which is why I have found that married women with children are some of the best bosses I've ever had - if you can manage a marriage and a family you're probably a good person to manage a workplace.
"a democrat becoming a republican when they get mugged"
When that happens, they don't have deep (or even real) convictions about either Left *or* Right. I am a Leftist (a real one, i.e. pre-Marx, aka pre-totalitarian), and currently *vote* (primarily) Republican, but only because the religiously-woke totalitarian lunatics have taken over.
I’m very socially liberal, but I primarily vote Republican because the Democrats have shown over and over that they view social problems as an opportunity to create no-work government jobs for loyal demographics who then sit their (usually fat) asses in those freshly created permanent positions for 30 years and then retire without ever helping anyone.
If I’m not going to get competent government, then I’ll vote for the party of tax breaks and lower business regulations.
I agree (for the most part). The current problem on both sides, but primarily Democrats, is runaway corruption, prompted there by a now completely perverted idea of how government-provided help is supposed to operate.
They are going to continue to ram this new version forward on the basis of (supposedly insoluble) identities combined with (supposedly unstoppable) AI work-obsolescence revolution. Their dream is that the intelligent sociopaths and their well-paid, well-educated, often clueless servants are on top; while all the rest are on the bottom receiving universal basic income and forevermore foolishly fighting with each other.
Agreed. Well said.
Perfect description. I cancelled my Free Press subscription because of her TGIF. Not because she clearly distained "the right" in general, but because making fun of the progressive left is not any solution to stopping the damage the new progressives have done to this country.
Exactly. When I read this, “Will they come clean and admit they essentially work for the Biden administration as a slightly more sophisticated version of Joe and Mika? “ I thought they were talking about TFP.
Being the New York Times means never having to say you're sorry.
If Michelle Goldberg criticizes something, I know I like it
She likes her haircut. Pete Rose FTW.
The "gender-affirming" horrors are not comparable to the Holocaust - but they are very comparable to the forced sterilization of the mentally ill, of the use of lobotomies on the mentally ill, and the so-called "Tuskegee Study" in which black men had their syphilis intentionally untreated - all of these done in the name of "science." ....
Here in deep blue Oregon, a boy posing as a girl won the 6A HS 200 meter dash the other day. Event at Hayward Feild. Crossing finish line & @ ceremony after, the crowd cheered the 2nd place actual women and booed the ‘1st place winner’ w/ a cock.
https://thespun.com/more/top-stories/video-crowd-boos-transgender-winner-at-girls-track-event
Pendulum will swing back ya’ll, albeit slowly.
I hope you’re right but I am not optimistic. This time feels different. The radical progressives used to be held in check by moderate liberals, gov’t and a media that was at least not as far left. That is no longer the case. The radical progressives no longer have any shame or conscience. It’s my way or else I’ll destroy you by any means necessary. The country is starting to geographically self segregate into hardened red and blue states. The federal gov’t has taken a hard, radical left turn along with academia, much of the judiciary (Trumps NY trial judge is proof of that), cultural institutions, the media (both traditional and social), many corporations and don’t forget Europe, which now helps our gov’t censor in order to get around the 1st amendment.
I’d love to see a swing back to sanity and reality but the usual bulwarks no longer exist as they were. Will new ones appear, I hope so.
But it does harken back to the pseudo-research/ pseudo science done by Mengele and company.
True, but why go all the way there when we have homegrown horrors like Tuskegee?
Oh, I don’t disagree. Our gubmint has done evil and atrocious acts, many we’re likely never going to know of.
Loved this piece Sasha
Wow, talk about palpable seething… Between the two “journalists” at the WaComPost and NYWhines, who fail miserably in their anemic effort to conceal their utter contempt for someone else who DARES “impersonate” a REAL journalist like THEY are…
They both remind me of people who claim to “understand” the MAGA movement and then go to considerable effort to reveal they haven’t the slightest clue…
The piece by Becca Rothfeld with her quip that Conservatism, like senility., comes with aging… Yeah, no… With aging comes WISDOM, which tends to make one Conservative and I can’t help but be reminded of the timeless adage that “There’s no fool like an old fool” which FAR MORE ACCURATELY translates into “There’s no Progressive like an OLD Progressive”, which translates further into “God gives you decades of life in order to LEARN something and “wise up” instead of hanging onto the tired retread thoughts of “radicals” whose Social experiment failures have a batting record of 1,000…
When these legacy “journalists” step off their podiums of superiority and learn a little humility, they might then also learn that the lofty and noble “calling” of being a journalist… Honestly? It just isn’t that hard…
Don’t count on them to ever learn humility. It is a character trait that has little value in their world.
Correct.
Arrogance is in their DNA…
Wow great piece, I have listen to Her on Honestly about the book in addition to reading about it on Free Press. Did not know about the hit pieces put out by the MSM on her. Classical response to anyone or anything that questions them.
Nellie is still a lib at heart as she is still on her journey that in the end will have her question very dogma she believed because everyone is based upon a lie. Because the worldview of the left is all built upon lies there is nothing they believe that is rooted in facts or reality. So they have to destroy anyone or anything that questions them including one of their own.
I am a conservative--born and bred. But I have respect for liberalism--especially the old kind. I refuse to throw out all the ideas/leanings of liberalism, especially optimism that we corporately as Americans can better our country. I am very despondent over so many on the Left's hatred of America.
I agree.
Conservatives need the left like a freight train need tracks to keep us on the right path. Without the left we'll become them, only from a different direction, barreling over and destroying all we've achieved. We need safety in the workplace, laws against child labor, equal rights for all genders, creeds, and race, etc. etc.
No Becca, the question isn’t whether there are “Narrative Enforcers” at the New York Times, but why there are so many!
The only people who read the NYT anymore are those who need to have their personal viewpoints reinforced…and those looking for a good laugh!
I read the NYT regularly because it is always good to know what insanity those [censored] are pushing this week.
I think both sides regularly omit things that make their side look bad. Fox is just as insane.
Difference is that I rarely see conservatives under 50 linking to Fox News, but we see millenial and gen z fools linking MSM content all the time.
How do you know how old everybody is? To get a more complete picture, you have to read both sides.
Check out Gutfeld! on Fox .. you might change your opinion.
i read fox but cannot stand to watch it.
I can see your point with one exception: Bret Baier. Reminds me of the pre-Rather network anchors, and CNN, (MS)NBC, et al have no analogy to him. The first 40 minutes of special report, before the “all-star” panel, is the only straight news left on television.
I'll check it out. 6-7 pm on week nights?
Wait, didn’t you guys tell us that “bothsidesism” was an actual concept and that it was a very bad thing? Funny now it’s thrown out by liberals all the time.
It wasn't said by me; don't know what you're talking about. I have been reading the right since trump was elected to find out what they think.
Don’t know what I’m talking about?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whataboutism
where did you mention "whataboutism"? I know what that is. You said "bothsidesism" which I assume means I'm not supposed to read both sides. I read whatever I want to compare the practices of both sides. While both sides omit things that make them look bad, the right is much more into conspiracy theories.
You can get the same thing for free with NPR.
Not free, you still pay for NPR with your taxes, unless you are one of the poor who doesn't pay tax
You pay whether you listen or not. So no marginal cost. Anyway at this point, it's my grandchildren who pay.
With NYT you can put the headline and opening statement of each article into ChatGPT, ask it to complete the article from the point of view of Hillary Clinton, and you’ll get a probably 95%+ match to what the author wrote.
In its own little way, the NYT is free to read simply because you know exactly what the content of an article will be because they have a newsroom full of ideological clones.
Hillary Clinton is well to the right of the NYT newsroom.
Her critic writes: "Bowles’s book appeals for the same reason that other conservative memoirs of political “growth” do: because they reassure their readers that progressivism is not a genuine political philosophy but an almost biological byproduct of youth, like acne."
Au contraire. Progressivism IS the acne that started on your face when young, but through poor diet, lack of proper skin care and also being in complete denial of its root cause has now spread and completely covers your posterior by middle age. An inflamed and bulging puss filled boil of stupid has taken over the left - and they are currently sitting right on top of it wondering why their ass hurts.
Actually it is caused by hormone levels in your body and has nothing to do with "poor skin care."
The metaphor sailed right past you into another dimension.
When I read the reviews of Nellie Bowles' book in The New Yorker, NY Times, WAPO etc. it seemed like they were written by the exact same person. They had the exact same tone and raised the exact same arguments. Obviously this was a coordinated attack by the new totalitarians.
They think 1) that there is no right to say things that are wrong, and 2) that disagreement is "harm" (to them only.) So they have to say the same things, as exactly as possible. There can only be one "One True Faith.
Ideological clones dominate the newsrooms of all those hallowed “I’m a very smart and educated Democrat” publications.
Great article once again Sasha, I very much enjoyed reading this. I know who Nellie Bowles is because I subscribe to The Free Press website. She’s smart, but I don’t always agree with her humor, too much Trump/MAGA bashing IMO. I wasn’t aware of her book, but the excerpts you quoted about the LA spa were good. Perhaps I’ll read it.
Tell everyone that July is MAGA month.
Truly appalling the damage the democrats have done to our society. “Crimesha” is the Second City Cop blog name for our States Attorney Kim Foxx in Chicago. She’s the one who dropped all charges against Jussie Smollett for his hate crime hoax blamed on two white MAGA supporters who turned out to be two black Nigerians paid to stage the hoax. She’s a good example of the low IQ fanatics strongly supported by the democrats and their media who’ve ruined cities like Chicago.
• Beginning May 20, NBC 5 Chicago & Telemundo Chicago will deliver a new, unprecedented series – “Dismissed” / “Buscando Justicia” – uncovering the startling details behind a six-month investigation on the minimal number of sexual assault arrests and convictions in the City of Chicago over the past six years. The three-part series will air on NBC 5 News & Noticiero Telemundo Chicago at 10 p.m. on May 20-22. NBC 5 Investigates reporter Bennett Haeberle, along with Telemundo Investiga reporter Jorge DeSantiago, examined the details of every sexual assault case reported to the Chicago Police Department over the last six years
Who has been in charge of criminal prosecutions for the past seven-and-a-half years?
• Crimesha
And who has something like a 7% charging rate for rapists?
• Crimesha
And who has presided over hundreds of dismissals? And of the few dozen actual convictions, who has let 49% go without a single day served behind bars?
• Crimesha
So not only does she luv her some criminals, she actively hates women who get raped. Who, ironically, were among her biggest supporters during both her election victories.
“Crimesha Luvs Sex Offenders.”
Second City Cop. May 18, 2024
http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com
Sounds like the Weimar Republic before ww2. Maybe people just lack the courage to speak the truth. Well, someday this generation will have passed away. This too shall pass.
Yes, but will we have to go through something like Nazism first?
Good question. The more we make fun of and make jokes about the woke, and refuse to be silent the safer we are in that sense. Also, many see those who are presently canceling and so forth as BEING the NAZIs.
If we had the weapons we have now a hundred years ago it’s highly unlikely we’d be here now. We simply can’t afford another collapse into insanity and war. And WW3 will be a truly global war due to everything now being so connected due to the internet.
Have you seen UCLA and Columbia? The Nazis are here.
We are on that stage now. At the beginning of it.
"Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name..." Or 'Why America is bat-sh!t crazy'. "Quick, take all the guns!" In a corner of the world, the Cheshire China giant smiles.
Stirring rendition of Bob’s Hard Rain there, very nice. It’s said The Staple Singer’s 1956 ‘Unclouded’ was a big influence on Dylan. And probably why The Staples in turn sang a cover of his song in ‘68. Good stuff.
https://youtu.be/vV46KeFRKds?si=AaBbkHnZXSwsQR31
Sasha, I plan to buy & read Nellie’s book. Hope someday to do the same for you, if you ever choose to document your journey this way.
Shasha, you rock. There will be more people turning on the left for their indefensible positions. The drip will grow to a steady stream then a raging river of those who refuse an ideology requiring pretzel-like contortions of logic and moral bankruptcy. You are a pioneer of free thought. You started a movement.