Left and right are equally vulnerable to bullshit, but in contrasting ways. And it pays to know the difference. Far-right has a susceptibility to nonsensical “sleuthing.” Byzantine “theories of everything.” That’s why QAnon hit so hard; rightists love going to the whiteboard to ...
Did I ever tell you about the time my doctor almost killed me? From childhood I’ve been troubled by acid reflux. And before you write that email offering your amazing cure (“drink five cups of vinegar, spin around ten times, then eat one basil-covered radish”), spare me; I’ve heard ’em ...
Throughout my life, I’ve often been accused of lacking empathy. It’s a critique that goes back to high school, when I was a compassionless bully. And I’ll admit, I do have an empathy problem, but only when it comes to imbeciles. I just can’t muster sympathy for the stupid. I don’t hate ...
Why do some attempts at social engineering and racial apartheid work, while others don’t? It often comes down to whether the machinators choose to acknowledge human nature or ignore it. So let’s take a look at the first industry-wide attempt to make Hollywood less white, and we’ll reason out ...
Meet Chicago Democrat Party official (and amateur musician) Mary Lemanski. On the evening of Nov. 21, following the mass murders at the Waukesha Christmas parade, as the bodies of Darrell Brooks’ victims were still warm, and while victim No. 6, an 8-year-old child, was still barely clinging to ...
Deadlines are an unforgiving mistress. Every now and then I’ll see something right after my column posts that makes me regret not having been able to include it. For example, last month, in my piece about the manufactured controversy in Texas regarding “teaching both sides of the Holocaust,” ...
Over the years I’ve devoted a lot of text in this column to the “perpetrators” of America’s decline. The “intellectuals,” the billionaire donors, the think-tankers. But it’s important to remember that there’s just so much the perpetrators can do without the ground-level true ...
Last week was a good one, so it’s kind of dickish to make fun, but it’s really amusing how quickly some of you went from, in 2016, “We’re gonna get tired of winning,” to nervously awaiting the Youngkin/McAuliffe results sweating bullets, fingers nervously crossed, “Oh please please ...
Every time I write about my positive experiences attending black L.A. public schools in the early 1980s, I get pushback. Sometimes gentle pushback from friends, sometimes angry pushback from furious, red-faced men. To stitch together two themes I’ve touched upon recently—the use of ...
I’m growing increasingly annoyed at the “demographics is destiny” trope. Not because it’s incorrect (it isn’t), but because more and more it’s being used as a crutch. “Death’s coming to us all.” That’s a 100% true statement. But if you invoke it as a reason to smoke ten packs a ...
