|
||
Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! ![]() ![]() ![]() Recent Entries
California's AG Has a Theory About Who's to Blame For the Skyrocketing Rates of Car Theft That Have Occurred On His Watch
"The Science (TM)" Is Now In the Government Propaganda Business Allegation: Hunter Biden Has a Mole in the FBI Codenamed "One-Eye" Who Keeps Him and His Communist Chinese Business Partners Informed of Possible FBI Action Against Them Proud Boys Defense Lawyer Accuses the FBI of Infiltrating a Informant Not Into the Proud Boys, But Into The Defense Team Defending the Proud Boys The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition Mid-Morning Art Thread The Morning Report — 3/23/23 Daily Tech News 23 March 2023 Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (3/22/23) Circus Prison Break Cafe Absent Friends
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 Cutting The Cord And Email Security
NoVaMoMe 2023:
06/10/2023
Details to follow |
« Jake Tapper: the Public Has the Right to Know Who in the State Department is Lying to Them |
Main
| A Conversation That Sort of Took Place Today »
June 03, 2016
When Violence Roams the Streets, Intellectuals Quaver in the Shadows
But some sort of excused this, or contextualized it. I think we're seeing something similar that happened with the Left after 9/11. The Left became enraged after 9/11 because it's worldview was repudiated and its influence was diminished. "You're all stupid and racists" because their wooby -- their way of assuaging themselves after a diminishment of influence and power. They began throwing venom at the rest of the country for not having the wisdom to appreciate their wisdom. The online conservative commentariat is going down the same dark road. "What the hell is wrong with people? Why don't they understand?" is a perfectly fine question to ask. I know I ask it all the time. But another question to ask -- maybe more frequently than that one -- is "What am I not getting? What am I not seeing?" If you just keep telling yourself that your opponents are Evil and Stupid, well, that's a self-satisfying indulgence, but an unproductive one. The online conservative (?) commentariat is ghettoizing itself further and further from mainstream opinion, and convincing itself more and more as it self-selects down to tiny numbers that it is a Vital Remnant of Goodness and Good Sense in an increasingly ugly and stupid world. They are not, by any means, the only people guilty of this, certainly. But they are doing it now. I really think that when you're at the point of saying "Everyone around me is stupid, wicked, racist, and evil," you should begin to examine the possibility that perhaps they're not all these things, and perhaps the defect resides more in your own egotistical mental barriers erected to keep any of those barbaric ideas out. I really don't know what some of these organizations' game-plan is for the future. They seem to desire to become fringe political exotica; well, I won't stand before anyone's dream. Let me say something about intellectuals. I have long contended that intellectuals had an unfair reputation as being cowards and creatures of decadence, rather than as being vital, important things. But I have to say, I am reconsidering. The day after another bout of leftist rioting and personal violence in service of suppressing a political rally -- this one apparently undertaken with the connivance and permission of the police, the agents of the state itself, and the support of the mayor -- I see many of the dessicated, decayed, and decadent intellectual class continuing to obsess about their Pet Concerns and Wooby Preoccupations instead of dealing with the frightening reality that is the actual news of the day. At NRO, I saw earlier only Jim Geraghty talking about the violence of the left. Update: A commenter points out that Jonah Goldberg also wrote on the left's double standard on violence. Everyone else seemed to decide that reality was too ugly and indecorous to be mentioned in polite company, and retreated to their nicely-manicured gardens. Nietsche mentioned that in a decadent society, the decayed cultivate "luxurious concerns" -- concerns as luxury goods and badges of rank. Many of us think that on a day of open challenge to the rule of law and civil politics generally, perhaps these luxurious concerns could be put aside for one day -- or at least a few hours -- to talk about actual reality its ugly, brutish, but inescapable configurations. And so it is I am re-examining my belief that intellectuals are vital and strong creatures, and falling back into my old bias against them as being decadent, weak, timorous, and frightened by reality. Something ugly, dangerous, and thoroughly anti-American happened last night. If you can't summon the courage to your fingertips to comment upon it from a safe distance, then who the fuck needs you? To Clarify: I don't consider intellectuality a sign of weakness at all. These two things should not be associated with each other. Ideally, the intellectual is in fact brave -- or, at least, brave in the psychological, social, and mental ways of being brave. (Few intellectuals are physically brave; but then, few men are physically brave, period. You can't hold it against an intellectual that he shies away from physical danger and even discomfort just like 98% of the male population.) But if the intellectuals themselves choose this path, no one can shy from noticing. I mean, at least show the bravery of denouncing something easily denounced. Or would that help Trump too much...? Are we now gaming out which principles we should speak a word in favor of according to which candidate might indirectly benefit from our utterances...? | Recent Comments
Soothsayer, the HQ's Most Respected Commenter:
"
[i]Lauren Southern - never heard of her
Posted ..."
Lithiated gp For Healthful Glow: ""ALL the places where massive environmental damage ..." wth: ""Trans flight attendent dead from suicide after be ..." Alberta Oil Peon: "I guess constantly having to change his Depends ge ..." Sarcasm: "From Josh Yoder: Southwest Airlines 6013 LAS-CMH d ..." Joe Mannix (Not a cop!): "... The bill, which Rep. Matsui co-sponsored with ..." DC Ministry of Disinformation: "Like football? Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at Mar ..." Formerly Virginian: "Is that the one where the EPA won't allow the envi ..." Kindltot: "[i]Understand. That's why grocery stores used to h ..." artisanal ette: "[i]Lauren Chen? Posted by: Soothsayer, the HQ's ..." SMOD: "“And that’s why I introduced the Algor ..." Adrienne: "Regarding mandatory meningitis, they're pushing th ..." Recent Entries
California's AG Has a Theory About Who's to Blame For the Skyrocketing Rates of Car Theft That Have Occurred On His Watch
"The Science (TM)" Is Now In the Government Propaganda Business Allegation: Hunter Biden Has a Mole in the FBI Codenamed "One-Eye" Who Keeps Him and His Communist Chinese Business Partners Informed of Possible FBI Action Against Them Proud Boys Defense Lawyer Accuses the FBI of Infiltrating a Informant Not Into the Proud Boys, But Into The Defense Team Defending the Proud Boys The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition Mid-Morning Art Thread The Morning Report — 3/23/23 Daily Tech News 23 March 2023 Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (3/22/23) Circus Prison Break Cafe 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) |