op ed review 3/4
President Trump’s 50-percent approval rating
shows that at least half of “Likely U.S. Voters” in a recognized national poll
are happy with his job performance – 5 percentage points higher than former
President Barack Obama’s approval rating of 45 percent registered on the same
date during his term.
Heritage Foundation: 64% of Trump's agenda already done,
faster than Reagan
But to the hopeful left wing media, the Trump administration
is falling apart.
The Weaponization of the EPA Is Over: An Exclusive Interview
With Scott Pruitt
2018 Poll: Immigration/Gun Control Top Issues for Voters; less
than 1% are worried about Russia election meddling.
On the other hand, this is worrisome (but consider the
source).
An academic study is
reporting that U.S. schools overall are safer today than they were in the early
1990s, and there is not an epidemic of such shootings.
"Over time the policy [in Miami-Dade] began to create
outcomes where illegal behavior by students was essentially unchecked by law
enforcement."
An Obama era initiative, “the Promise Program was the
collaborative policy between all county officials: the school superintendent, school board and
law enforcement that instructs officers to not arrest high school students.
This policy sits at the center of understanding why Nikolas Cruz was not
intercepted by law enforcement.”
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said ordinary Americans would
only get “crumbs” from the Trump cuts. The federal agency that does the math
says those crumbs amounted to as much as $30 billion in January.
Where is this going to end:
Left-wing politicians say putting a citizenship question in
the U.S. Census Would “Violate the Constitution”
The Southern Poverty Law Center is assisting YouTube in
policing content on their platform.
Nancy
Pelosi has 3 primary opponents in her reelection campaign; her opponents
complain that she’s not liberal enough for her San Francisco district.
California Democrats Decline To Endorse Another Term For
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
A California university is offering a class focused solely
on the topic of removing President Trump from office.
Delaware may let students ‘choose’ their race, gender
without parental consent
Three Muslim women forced to remove hijabs for mug shots are
awarded $180,000 payout from New York City.
NeverTrumper Mona Charen poisons the punchbowl at CPAC,
denouncing President Trump.
___________________________________________________________________
COLUMN OF THE WEEK
The
Power and Prevalence of Virtue Signaling
One key to understanding much of the bewildering behavior we
see around us is to recognize the power and popularity of “virtue signaling.”
Keeping virtue signaling in mind will help you understand a lot of behavior
that otherwise makes no sense.
What, for example, is the point of removing Confederate
statues or attempting to disown the country’s Founding Fathers because some
were slave owners? It makes sense if your objective is to be sanctimonious. You
make yourself feel better by looking down your nose at Thomas Jefferson.
Virtue signaling is the modern version of what St. Augustine
in the 5th century referred to as “outward signs of inward
grace.” A major difference, however, is the kind of grace he referred to
actually meant something.
A precondition to needing to virtue signal is guilt. Virtue
signaling is one of the left’s package deals that typically involve two steps.
Firstly, make people who have done nothing wrong feel guilty. Then, offer them
ways to assuage that guilt. It’s little more than a con game but it has worked
amazingly well for liberals. It always helps to keep in mind that everything is
relative. In order to feel superior, you need something to feel superior to.
Virtuous relative to what? In order to feel holier than thou you need a thou…..
Any activity as widespread and long-lasting as virtue
signaling has to have payoffs. The payoffs for virtue signaling are inner, not
outer, directed. An irony is that the need to virtue signal is an insecurity
about your own virtue. An observation a psychologist friend likes to make is,
“The bigger the front, the bigger the back.” Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson
observed, “The louder he spoke of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.”
Virtue signaling is motivated more by insecurities than virtue. The “signaling”
part of virtue signaling means you want others to become aware of your virtue.
Why is that important to you? Where does your need to signal come from? Are you
so overwhelmingly virtuous that you can’t resist letting others know about it? Virtue
signaling is, of course, closely related to political correctness. Being sensitive
to PC and being quick to take offense demonstrates your virtue for all to see.
Recycling is one of the left’s favorite sacraments. It helps
overcome the guilt of consuming. There is an opportunity cost to virtue
signaling. Spending time on useless activities, e.g. recycling, marching,
allows avoidance of useful, meaningful activities, e.g. being thoughtful and
considerate of those around you, e.g. family, friends, and people you work
with. Those behaviors can actually make a difference.
Maybe you’ve wondered why actors and other celebrities feel
the need to publicly express their political opinions. What is their
motivation? Maybe they feel guilty about how amazingly wealthy they are (they
shouldn’t).
Donald Trump is the context for much of the virtue signaling
we observe. It’s another two-step process. The first step is to decide that
Donald Trump is a reprehensible human being. He is crude, unsophisticated, and
his personality makes you cringe. The second step is making it crystal clear
that you and he are polar opposites. You have absolutely nothing in common with
him. You don’t need to provide details about what makes you virtuous, just the
fact that you despise him is sufficient to prove you’re virtuous. He is crude,
you are refined. Trump provides a backdrop for your identity. It’s ironic that
hate is seen as a path to virtue.
Virtue signaling is a substitute for thinking, it is
thinking avoidance. It is the latest variation of group think. When you latch
on to group opinions you have no need to think for yourself. Driving a Prius
automobile is a popular form of virtue signaling. Driving a hybrid lets others
see that you care about the planet and that you’re doing your part to prevent
it from being destroyed by CO2. Driving a Prius allows to you drive rudely and
carelessly. Cutting someone off or running a stop sign or two are trivial
matters compared to saving the planet. Everything’s relative. It’s probably no
accident that Priuses have an unusual profile. That helps assure that your
virtue signal will noticed……
Showing your disapproval of the names or mascots of sports
teams demonstrates your sensitivity for the supposed feelings of various
minority groups. How many of those demanding that the Washington Redskins
change their name are Indians? My guess is that it’s a very small fraction.
Wearing ribbons is a popular form of virtue signaling. The
ostensible purpose is to “raise awareness” for such things as breast cancer
(pink ribbons). Is there anyone who isn’t already” aware” of breast cancer? And
once your awareness has been raised, what are you supposed to do with it? As is
the case with every variation of virtue signaling, the mission statement is
nowhere to be found……
There is a large element of virtue signaling in
environmentalism. Devout environmentalists like to think they’re the only ones
who care about the environment. Relative to how much they care about the
environment you don’t care much at all…..
Uselessness and remoteness are two of the ingredients for
virtue signaling choices. Driving a hybrid automobile will make not an iota’s
difference to “climate change” (whatever that is). In any case, the “climate
disruption catastrophe,” as it’s sometimes called, is not predicted to occur
for another fifty years. It was more than two hundred years ago when some of
our founding fathers owned slaves. The past is unchangeable and irretrievable.
Problems that you can’t do a damned thing about are virtue signaling favorites.
A recent Dennis Prager column, “Three Reasons the Left Wants
Evermore Immigrants,” had as reason number three, “the power of feeling good
about oneself. It would be difficult to overstate the significance of feeling
good about oneself as a primary factor in why people adopt left-wing policies.…
In their eyes, they are moral heroes protecting the stranger, the oppressed,
the marginalized, the destitute.”
Finally, this just in: The Arcata, California city council
voted Wednesday night to remove the statue of President William McKinley from
the town square. The statue has been in place for over a hundred years. As per
usual, McKinley’s sins have not been clearly elucidated. He was assassinated in
1901…..One of the groups demanding the statue’s removal is the Humboldt State
University student group, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanco de Aztlan, whatever
that means. I’m embarrassed to admit I’m a resident of Arcata. Our neighboring
town to the north is McKinleyville. The town’s name is probably not long for
this world.
These are just a sampling of the ways virtue signaling is
dictating behavior far and wide. Being aware of its many manifestations will
reduce your confusion and increase your amusement. It’s a shame it’s doing so
much damage.
____________________________________________________________________
FROM OTHER COLUMNS
“How does a public-sector union work? Easy. First, the state
creates a monopoly. The monopoly forces taxpayers to fund those workers,
whether they do a good job or not. The union then coerces workers to pay dues
regardless of whether or not they want to. Then the union uses those dues to
help fund political advocacy that perpetuates their monopoly and the union’s
influence. So, in other words: racketeering.
-David
Harsanyi
“Planned Parenthood to spend $20 million in 2018 to oppose
Trump. We, the taxpayers, give Planned
parenthood $500 million every year. You
do the math. Our tax money is being spent to attack Trump.”
-Liz
Wheeler
___________________________________________________________________
GLOBALONEY
Delingpole: NOAA Caught Lying About Arctic Sea Ice
____________________________________________________________________
LEFTIST WATCH
For the Democrats, America did not begin in 1776 but more
like 1966. From that mentality has come a perpetual purge in which no American
tradition is safe from censure. The Democrats can’t rest until post-1960s
liberalism becomes the only acceptable political philosophy in America.
The Left's Objective in Its War on the NRA: The major tenets of their long-term strategy
of ultimately controlling a potentially all-powerful central government in
perpetuity are: 1. The
subtle but persistent annexation of the education establishment. 2.The stealth placement of true believers
throughout the entertainment complex, transforming it into an instrument of
socialist and anti-American propaganda. 3.The reshaping of the so-called
mainstream media into another subsidiary of the left's propaganda leviathan.
4.The takeover of one
of the two major political parties. 5.Undermining the religious foundation of the country and its
cultural institutions by proclaiming a new panoply of rights as granted by the
government. Any opposition is to be ridiculed, intimidated, and if
necessary threatened. 6.The measured elimination, utilizing coercion and harassment,
of all political opposition, particularly grassroots organizations representing
a vast number of citizens that potentially stand in the way of the ultimate
objective.
You thought the student movement after the Parkland shooting
was spontaneous? Here’s how the left organized it: Rep. Debbie Wassermann
Schultz aided in the lobbying in Tallahassee, a teacher’s union organized the
buses that got the kids there, Michael Bloomberg’s groups and the Women’s March
worked on the march, MoveOn.org did social media promotion and march logistics,
and training for student activists was provided by federally funded Planned
Parenthood. George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey donated $500,000. Journalists had
previously assured the public this was all the sole work of the students….In
other words, the response was professionalized. If you start reading books
about organizing, it’s clear how it all works. But no journalist covering the
story wrote about this stuff for two weeks. Instead, every story
was about the Parkland kids being magically effective.
_____________________________________________________________________
ARTICLES
Trump battles globalists like no president before him.
Laughably Stupid Media Mistakes In Gun Reporting: How Much
Do They Matter?
5 Easy Ways to Ruin Your Life. 1. Become Addicted to something 2.
Marry the Wrong Person
3. Forget Your Health 4.
Adopt A Victimhood Mentality 5. Embrace
Trauma
Parkland Shooting: Questions the Left Can't Answer
________________________________________________________________________
INTERESTING STUFF
Did you know there was a GOP mutual fund? “The Republican Policies Fund’s investment objective is to seek
capital appreciation by investing in market segments that the Advisor believes
will be impacted by the enactment of Republican Policies. Ticker GOP
____________________________________________________________________
WISE
WORDS
“Our country’s in great need of a spiritual awakening. There
have been times that I’ve wept as I’ve gone from city to city, and I’ve seen
how far people have wandered from God. … God loves you, and He’s willing to forgive
you of all your sins. The cross is offensive because it confronts people. Even
so, it is a confrontation that all of us must face.”
-Billy
Graham (1918-2018)
posted by gary at
8:27 AM
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