Civics Should Be the Cause of Our Generation
Posted By: Moritz55, 3/20/2025 6:41:09 PM
Now more than ever, it seems, politics demands our attention. It is difficult to predict what developments await us in the coming week, much less the coming years of the Trump presidency. What will the geopolitical order look like by 2028? What will the federal government look like? What will the Democratic or Republican Parties look like? But, intriguing as these questions may be, it is another set of “pre-political” questions that matter most. By pre-political I mean the ethical and civic principles that shape our engagement in matters of politics and policy. What are the constitutional values we must uphold as a free society? What is the purpose of government,
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Moritz55"
In the matter of Donald Trump v. Leviathan, let me begin by stipulating that Sir Thomas More was right in A Man for All Seasons when he remonstrated with his future son-in-law William Roper. Roper was urging More to arrest the scheming Richard Rich, whose machinations would eventually lead to More’s execution. But, More points out, Rich had broken no law.
William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!
This was the week I became convinced that Don Lemon is an undercover MAGA operative. The former CNN presenter was on Bill Maher’s podcast the other day and was asked about the dire outlook for the Democratic Party. Which way should it go?
“People love AOC,” Lemon ventured. “People love Jasmine Crockett. People love Eric Swalwell and the like. I think the Democratic Party should put people out there who the people want — who they’re asking for.”
Maher begged to differ. People do not want these people, he pointed out. But Lemon continued to insist otherwise.
At his 2005 Senate confirmation hearing to be chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts famously invoked America's national pastime in describing his view of the judicial role in our constitutional order: "Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules, they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire."
If only!
Unfortunately, Roberts' actual career on the high court has been one extensive repudiation of his lofty "umpire" proclamation. In exalting above all other concerns
Trump is fighting a cartel of vile, corrupt
and far-left judges trying to kill his
campaign promises 1 reply
and far-left judges trying to kill his
campaign promises 1 reply
If you ever doubted that Washington’s corrupt cartel of Democratic law firms, judges, NGOs, and deep-state bureaucrats is a machine designed to thwart the Trump administration, just watch as judge after judge blocks the president’s ability to keep his campaign promises.
It may not be brown paper bags changing hands, but this lawfare that defies the people’s will is every bit as corrupt.
It will be up to the Supreme Court to define the limits of presidential authority, but Chief Justice John Roberts’ preemptive scolding of Trump for musing about judicial impeachment doesn’t bode well for the president.
America’s colleges are hoarding billions
— and yet still cry poor as Trump targets
federal funding 6 replies
— and yet still cry poor as Trump targets
federal funding 6 replies
Twenty years ago, maybe even ten, I’d have found stories about the administration cutting grants to universities and detonating thousands of campus-related jobs horrifying.
But the education sob stories now flying off the presses have a gigantic lie of omission. Take Johns Hopkins. NBC News was one of many to highlight the “grave consequences” the new administration’s policies have had on the famed institution, noting “the changes will also have an economic impact in Baltimore because the university is the largest private employer in Maryland.”
NBC pointed out that “about half of Johns Hopkins’ funding last year came from federal research dollars, according to a letter
All normal human beings can agree that if a crackpot doesn't like the car you drive, it's not okay for him to firebomb, shoot, key, or otherwise vandalize that vehicle. This should hold true whether you're one of the Jimmys on late-night TV, Rick Wilson, or Antifa. Sadly for three indicted men who are accused of going after Tesla cars for political reasons, they are learning this the hard way. On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the "severe charges" against the accused "Tesla arsonists."
Bondi said, "The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended.”
Zelensky’s Popularity Plunges
4 replies
Politics is a fickle business, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lost the favor of sensible Americans, who demand that our focus and resources be devoted to the US homeland, not far away, intractable wars. This Zelensky fall from grace stands in stark contrast to the constant adoration he enjoys from the legacy media platforms of Washington and New York. After all, even before the war in Ukraine, he was fawned over by the US corporate media for his indirect role in spurring the first sham impeachment of President Trump.
Now more than ever, it seems, politics demands our attention. It is difficult to predict what developments await us in the coming week, much less the coming years of the Trump presidency. What will the geopolitical order look like by 2028? What will the federal government look like? What will the Democratic or Republican Parties look like?
But, intriguing as these questions may be, it is another set of “pre-political” questions that matter most. By pre-political I mean the ethical and civic principles that shape our engagement in matters of politics and policy. What are the constitutional values we must uphold as a free society? What is the purpose of government,
Another Donald Trump presidential term, another spate of violence going largely ignored — or even smirked at — by Democrats and their media friends.
Tesla dealerships are being firebombed and shot at, while Tesla vehicles are vandalized and their owners assaulted.
Trump-supporting influencers are getting “swatted,” set up for dangerous police encounters by opponents who phone in hoax distress calls. Relatives of Trump-aligned public figures — including the sister of US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Elon Musk’s brother — are receiving bomb threats.
This cannot go on.
My first job in high school was washing dishes at a local restaurant. It wasn’t glamorous, but it paid well. Some of my other friends spent that summer picking tobacco in the Connecticut River Valley. Both jobs were hard work, but at $8 an hour – real money for a teenager in 1985 – we were happy to do either.
Fast-forward to today, and you’ll find American teenagers and adults working at places like In-N-Out Burger, flipping burgers for $25 an hour. Why? Because when wages make sense, Americans show up for the job.
Yet coastal elites, from their high-rise offices and gated communities, scoff, “If we don’t allow illegal immigrants
New FBI Director Kash Patel promised “a complete and total annihilation of the weaponization of justice and the politicization of intelligence” when he spoke at a law-and-order event at the Department of Justice on Friday.
“We have a new FBI, and I’m humbled to be its leader,” he said.
A lot rests on Patel being able to make good on his promise to reform the bureau, and as a former public defender, national security prosecutor and counterterrorism official in the first Trump administration, there is nobody more qualified and clear-eyed about the challenge.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman recently observed the following about the state of his Democratic Party: “A sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained. We’re becoming the metaphorical car alarms that nobody pays attention to − and it may not be the winning message.”
Ouch.
Fetterman posted that message on social media after Democrats’ embarrassing show of “resistance” during President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress this month.
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Democrats overwhelmingly selected former Vice President Kamala Harris as their preferred candidate in a Morning Consult poll released on Friday. Four months after losing the 2024 election to President Donald Trump, Harris led the competition in the survey in a mock 2028 Democratic primary and the results were not close. Harris, who has not announced any intention to seek another presidential nomination, led a pack of 19 candidates with the support of 36%. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came in second with 10% support. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz all
Have you seen Michelle Obama’s new look? Well, if you haven’t, take a seat…because it’s a doozy. She is basically unrecognizable these days.
Michelle has ditched the sleek, polished look of her White House years and embraced something… uh, very different.
This was Michelle thenāasnip)
Her latest transformation includes a massive, boxy suit coat and a wrinkled men’s dress shirt—both oversized to the point of absolute absurdity. She’s paired the rumpled manly look with three towering braided buns stacked on her head like a wacky faux hawk crown. (snip) more like a Nairobi used car salesman
Florida Police: Teen Students Arrested
for Beating Teacher in ‘Synchronized
Physical Attack’ 20 replies
for Beating Teacher in ‘Synchronized
Physical Attack’ 20 replies
Two students in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were arrested this week for allegedly beating a high school teacher in what police described as a “synchronized physical attack.”
The incident allegedly occurred at Dillard High School last Thursday when 19-year-olds Jayvis McClover and Roddrick McQueen approached a teacher and began “verbally threatening to attack him,” according to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
“The two, who are both enrolled at Dillard High School, then ‘intentionally launched a synchronized physical attack’ on the teacher,” per CBS News. “McClover and McQueen ‘repeatedly punched the teacher in the face and head with closed fists,’ causing the educator to fall to the ground, police said.”
Joy Reid argued on Thursday that Canada will never become an American state as President Donald Trump wants because they could beat their southern neighbors in a war.
Reid joined Don Lemon on The Don Lemon Show this week and balked at Trump’s continued push for America to absorb Canada. Canadian officials have pushed back on this being an option, but Trump has remained steadfast in his desire.
According to Reid, Canada would only become a new American state if the two countries went to war. She made clear her money is on Canada in that showdown.
“Grampy Trump, let’s talk. Let’s talk. First of all, you can’t
Trump suggests US could be ‘associate
member’ of British Commonwealth: ‘I
love King Charles’ 15 replies
member’ of British Commonwealth: ‘I
love King Charles’ 15 replies
WASHINGTON — President Trump reacted warmly Friday to a report that the US could be offered “associate membership” in the British Commonwealth.
“I Love King Charles. Sounds good to me!” the president wrote on Truth Social, linking to a report by the Sun that a proposal could be made by the monarch when Trump makes a state visit to the UK later this year.
The Commonwealth of Nations, established in 1926, has 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former colonies of the British Empire. (Photo) Among its members are Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.
It was the tagline for “Poltergeist II.” Adorable Carol Anne sets up the sequel by whispering those chilling two words to her parents. Here’s the clip (sadly, the special effects are as dated as a certain ex-president). [Video]
“They’re Baaaaaack!”
According to NBC News, the same could be said about the Biden family: They’re tanned, rested, and ready. Good news, Democrats: The Bidens are here to save the day!
NBC News, “The Bidens want back in”:
Former President Joe Biden has told some Democratic leaders he’ll raise funds, campaign and do anything else necessary for Democrats to recover lost ground as the Trump administration rolls back programs the party helped design,
A Kennedy Center employee was fired after making a Trump protest video that was mainly about himself – while naked, of course.
Travis Forsyth wasted 35 minutes in a video titled “Trump Declares War on Artists / Do I Quit the Kennedy Center?”
Lucky for him, the Kennedy Center made that decision very easy, and reportedly canned Forsyth who lamented his dilemma while nude with only a rainbow heart emoji covering his nether regions.
Forsyth took issue with Trump-appointed board members for the Kennedy Center with Trump being chairman of the board. Second Lady Usha Vance and Fox News host Laura Ingraham are also among those that triggered Forsyth.
German luxury auto manufacturer Audi said it is considering moving car production to the United States to avoid tariffs from the Trump administration.
Volkswagen’s subsidiary Audi brand said this week that it is examining various long-term strategies, including potentially shifting production to America, to deal with President Donald Trump’s restrictions on foreign imports.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner said that the company is “currently assessing various scenarios for additional localization in North America – among other things, to be closer to the needs of local customers and to make ourselves more resilient to global economic uncertainties.”
Although no firm decision was made this week,
DOGE employees, with the aid of a master key and DC Metropolitan Police Department officers, finally gained control of the massive office building in Foggy Bottom on Monday, ending a standoff by US Institute of Peace bureaucrats barricaded in their offices. On Monday evening, DOGE employees accompanied by MPD officers and high-ranking administration officials stormed the building using a master key provided by the building security service, precipitating a brief scuffle before the building was liberated.
Of course, a man’s aesthetic would absolutely trigger the liberal ladies of The View. The Thursday edition of the ABC News show featured the cast having a collective meltdown over President Trump sprucing up the Oval Office with images and objects he enjoyed; you know, the thing all presidents got to do. The hot air was blowing as they freaked out over Trump’s choice of décor and suggesting he was acting like a “king” and feared for the future. The pearl clutching began with fill-in moderator Joy Behar fretting: “Is there no safe place to go anymore with this guy?”
“All the world’s a stage, and the men and women merely players,” wrote William Shakespeare in “As You Like It.” It’s a simple, straightforward metaphor: In the game of life, everyone has a part to play.
Furthermore, all the parts matter. Like your third-grade teacher told you (after giving you the smallest, lousiest part in the school play), “There are no small roles, only small actors. Go stand in the background and pretend to be a tree, or something.”
The metaphor actually works better with political parties than in the outside world, because political parties are closed ecosystems. In partisan politics, the “players” have clearly defined roles;
Tim Walz Apparently Thinks He Is a Woman
12 replies
Well, not quite. I used that headline for the sake of amusement, but Walz clearly does have a problem with how people perceive his masculinity, and he sure does seem to have an unnatural obsession with alphabet ideology, hanging around with young gay men, and a lot of less-than-masculine traits.
During the campaign, he pranced and danced, used his "jazz hands," kicked in excitement like he were a Rockette, and was, generally speaking, quite weird. Weird enough that after Harris put him out front for much of the campaign, she decided to put him in Witness Protection toward the end. He was as appealing as Herpes to most men.