By Selwyn Duke

One thing you can say about leftists is, they sure are adaptable. They turned from “equality” to “equity” (officially sanctioned discrimination) and from freedom of speech to “hate speech” standards on a dime. They were anti-war in the ’60s and ’70s but by the 2000s had embraced Barack Obama, who once reportedly said he was “really good at killing people.” Then there was the NYC liberal who, reacting to an integration plan for his kid’s school, explained, “It’s more complicated when it’s about your own children.” And, now, lo and behold, notoriously anti-gun leftists have even embraced firearm ownership.

That is, for the “right” people.

Read the rest here.

By Selwyn Duke

Does “diversity” really now mean conformity of thought? This question arises with a Supreme Court case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, involving racial affirmative-action policies.

The defendants, Harvard and the University of North Carolina, have argued that diversity is a benefit. The former asserted in its court brief that “decades of experience and study prove ‘that diversity “lead[s] to greater knowledge” for everyone,’ and promotes ‘the tolerance and mutual respect that are so essential to the maintenance of our civil society,’” relates Newsweek’s James Piereson. Yet this argument might have just been blown up, the writer states, by a headline-grabbing little incident recently occurring at Stanford Law School.

On March 9, Stanford law students shouted down Fifth Circuit Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan at a Federalist Society event at their school. What’s more, not only did five administrators present allow the blatant disruption — in violation of Stanford’s policies — but diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) dean Tirien Steinbach actually fanned the flames. Taking the microphone and delivering prepared remarks, she claimed that Duncan “literally denies the humanity of people” and told him, “Your work has caused harm.”

Read the rest here.

By Selwyn Duke

Ever since Scottish reformer Robert Owen’s early 19th-century utopian “socialist” community dissolved after only a few years, people have been trying to make the “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” model work. They’re still trying and, of course, we’re told that past failures occurred only because “true socialism” was never implemented. Interestingly, this explanation may amount to the “no true Scotsman” fallacy (an “appeal to purity” to dismiss evidence against an ideal). Whether or not Owen was a true socialist or a true Scotsman, however, we also hear the recurring assurance that we simply need to have the “right people” effecting socialism. But then, to sell the idea, you need in addition the right people marketing it. The solution?

Recruit Jesus.

Yes, even many secularists believe the Christ can be the Savior — of socialism. Thus do we hear the claim “Jesus was a socialist!” with the implication, “Do you wanna be a heathen, you capitalist pig!”

Of course, this isn’t the first time a movement has recruited He who, were He in your corner, could be the ultimate salesman. 

Read the rest here.

By Selwyn Duke

Secession goes periodically in and out of pseudo-elite fashion. When a Republican is elected president, as in 2016 with Donald Trump, liberals in blue (mood) areas sometimes talk about leaving the Union to form their own republics. The media may call this understandable frustration. When leftists control the executive branch and start trampling the Constitution, as in now with the Biden administration, conservatives opine likewise. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has done this, warning that civil war is inevitable unless there’s a national divorce. Of course, when rightists do it, the media may call secession appeals “dangerous radicalism.”

But there’s another way we can label secession: as something already happening.

Read the rest here.

By Selwyn Duke

Recently, actor-cum-commentator Ben Stein was condemned in media for touting the “progress” the U.S. has made and saying that black Americans “never had it so good.” One website called his remarks a “racist rant” even though he was, in keeping with his personality, just calmly expressing his opinion. The worst thing about this story, though, isn’t that Stein may become a cancel-culture casualty.

In fact, the matter reminds me of philosopher G.K. Chesterton’s observation that the worst aspect of duels wasn’t that someone might die, but that they settled nothing about who was right or wrong. For as is always the case with these matters, Stein is criticized only for making a politically incorrect assertion involving race — and could suffer reputational and career death because of it — when the real issue is this:

Was he correct or not?

(more…)

By Selwyn Duke

Making totalitarianism truly total, China’s government is becoming the world’s first all-seeing state. But at issue aren’t just Beijing’s 200 million surveillance cameras — one for every seven citizens — which it uses to watch its people. Now the Chinese autocrats want to monitor another realm, one we’d always considered safe from intrusion: your mind.

What’s more, with so-called “brain wearables” currently being sold in our nation, China’s thought police may already be at work in the U.S.

Beijing has long been trying to control Americans’ thinking through what it calls the projection of “soft power.” It has bribed our schools and colleges into accepting its “Confucius Institutes,” which pump Chinese propaganda into young American minds. It has succeeded in censoring our movies — to ensure China is portrayed as its autocrats would prefer — by threatening to deny noncompliant filmmakers access to its huge market. Beijing has also bullied our businesses into doing its bidding (for example, into not portraying Taiwan as a country).

Furthermore, China has been improving its abilities to engage in cyberspying without detection

Read the rest here.

By Selwyn Duke

Along with “Follow the science!” a common demand today is “Listen to the experts!” Of course, one doesn’t actually follow “science” but scientists, who ostensibly are experts to whom one should listen.

In reality, though, the above demands are only issued when the “science” and “experts” happen to agree with the powers-that-be. Yet, for the last few years especially, many “experts” haven’t displayed much expertise.

Read the rest here.

By Selwyn Duke

My appearance begins at 52:20. 

Note: If you want to fast-forward to my segment, you must right-click on the in-line MP3 player below and then click "Open link in new tab."

Talkback-03-17-2023

By Selwyn Duke

It could be said that if you don’t let God make your agenda, you just may make your agenda God. And it has been said that everyone has a religion, even if it’s just an ideology deified by zealots. There’s a good recent example of this phenomenon, too: a Democrat Oklahoma state representative who literally referred to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as “God.”

What’s more, said Representative Regina Goodwin at a March 2 meeting, those opposing DEI should be silenced.

Read the rest here.

By Selwyn Duke

My appearance begins at 5:56. We solved all the problems of the Universe.

Well, not exactly. But it was a good discussion.

Note: If you want to fast-forward to my segment, you must right-click on the in-line MP3 player below and then click "Open link in new tab."

BML-Mar16-2023