Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Contact
Ace:aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com Recent Entries
Lowly District Court Judge Championed by Elizabeth Warren Now "Defies the Supreme Court," Decides That His Own Authority Is Greater Than Both the President's and Supreme Court's
Trump Shows Frustration at Israel, Iran, and the Leftwing Gaslight Media The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition Mid-Morning Art Thread The Morning Report — 6/ 24 /25 Daily Tech News 24 June 2025 Monday Overnight Open Thread - June 23, 2025 [Doof] A Case of the Mondays Cafe Trump Announces "Total Agreement" to a Ceasefire and End to "12 Day War" Trump Thanks Iran for Giving Him Advanced Warning About Their "Very Weak" Missile Attack Update: Trump Announces Agreement to Ceasefire and End of the "12 Day War" Absent Friends
Jim Sunk New Dawn 2025
Jewells45 2025 Bandersnatch 2024 GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Montana Newspaper The Billings Gazette Apologizes to Readers for Endorsing Obama in 2008 |
Main
| Chris Christie on Hobby Lobby: "Who Knows?" »
July 01, 2014
Jonah Goldberg on the Epistemic Closure of the LeftCharles Murray had written a piece distinguishing between "liberals" and "progressives," noting that while the former are in favor of state control over the economy, only the latter are outright in favor of state control over the citizen's mind. (One notes, however, that the former has always -- and will always -- necessarily lead to the latter.) [P]hilosophically, the progressive movement at the turn of the 20th century had roots in German philosophy ( Hegel and Nietzsche were big favorites) and German public administration ( Woodrow Wilson's open reverence for Bismarck was typical among progressives). To simplify, progressive intellectuals were passionate advocates of rule by disinterested experts led by a strong unifying leader. They were in favor of using the state to mold social institutions in the interests of the collective. They thought that individualism and the Constitution were both outmoded. Jonah Goldberg, who literally wrote the book on this (as Murray notes), disagrees. First, leftists refuse to raise their hands when called upon as such. Over the last ten years or so it has become very difficult for those of us on the right to tell the players apart in the opposing league. Let me amplify that: Not only do the "leftists" (progressives, communists, socialists, other totalitarians of the mind) refuse to self-identify, but less totalitarian liberals lie on their behalves, absolutely rejecting the notion that any such persons exist as part of the liberal/Democratic coalition at all. They do this for several reasons, including ideological loyalty and political strategy (leftists never admit that there are actual leftists among them, as their entire political strategy is based on covertly burrowing into non-leftist institutions). So there is less of a split that Murray postulates -- yes, there are plenty of true liberals who are repelled by the hard left's totalitarian bent, but few so repelled as to call them out for it. Goldberg goes no to note second major infirmity of this distinction: There is practically no disagreement on the left at all, except for minor bitchy catfight quibbles among self-important bloggers over tactics. ... That's quite right -- while there are the usual bite-and-scratch fights over whether it is more important to stay united in pursuit of The Cause or to punish those who have strayed from The Cause, you'll rarely hear any disagreement at all over what, precisely, The Cause should be. Indeed, due to their determination to hide the particulars of The Cause from the public, they rarely announce what The Cause is at all. The fact that they largely refuse to discuss the actual mission of The Cause publicly (for fear their opponents will attack The Cause) aides the mission of keeping united by never actually having a fight over policy. If one of your highest missions is to keep The Cause relatively secret, after all, this helps tamp down on any internal infighting about The Cause. You can't fight about something you're barely even permitted to acknowledge. | Recent Comments
TheJamesMadison, reflecting on change and permanence with Ozu:
"503 It is the more positive version of Fight Club. ..."
Warai-otoko: "I’ve enjoyed powerline blog, but they’ ..." WitchDoktor: "Tough place to be. Do what works for you and what ..." People's Hippo Voice: "The lace wigs and hammer spam are about to show up ..." Eromero: "475 Probably also a bad day to work in a steel mil ..." L - No nic, another fine day: "447 Bad day to be a roofer or part of an asphalt c ..." TheJamesMadison, reflecting on change and permanence with Ozu: "499 You wanna know the secret of life? Tell me. ..." [/i][/i][/b][/b]Christopher R Taylor[/i][/i][/b][/b]: "[i]It is the more positive version of Fight Club.[ ..." RedMindBlueState[/i][/b][/s]: "[i]What, cutting ice out of lakes and packing it i ..." polynikes: "Bad day to be a roofer or part of an asphalt crew. ..." ChristyBlinkyTheGreat: "I can't spell worth a tinker's damn today in my mo ..." Aetius451AD work phone: "You wanna know the secret of life? Tell me. ..." Recent Entries
Lowly District Court Judge Championed by Elizabeth Warren Now "Defies the Supreme Court," Decides That His Own Authority Is Greater Than Both the President's and Supreme Court's
Trump Shows Frustration at Israel, Iran, and the Leftwing Gaslight Media The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition Mid-Morning Art Thread The Morning Report — 6/ 24 /25 Daily Tech News 24 June 2025 Monday Overnight Open Thread - June 23, 2025 [Doof] A Case of the Mondays Cafe Trump Announces "Total Agreement" to a Ceasefire and End to "12 Day War" Trump Thanks Iran for Giving Him Advanced Warning About Their "Very Weak" Missile Attack Update: Trump Announces Agreement to Ceasefire and End of the "12 Day War" Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |