June 25, 2022 — Steven Hayward
The cunning and contingency of history played out in magnificent style this week. If the left hadn’t lionized “Notorious RGB” and let her celebrity get to her head, maybe she would have stepped down when President Obama wanted her to retire back in 2014. If Harry Reid hadn’t been so desperate to protect the administrative state at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that he decided to end the Senate
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June 24, 2022 — Steven Hayward
I’ve been traveling the second half of this week, and am still digesting the Dobbs and Bruen cases in preparation for a much later than normal Three Whisky (Very) Happy Hour podcast taping tonight with special guest John Yoo, but I at least have time to look at some of the rank hypocrisy on the left. Start with our doddering president, Slow Joe. The New York Times reminds us: Mr.
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June 23, 2022 — Steven Hayward
When it comes to energy, is the Biden administration simply stupid, or blindly ideological? Yes—we should embrace the power of “and,” because these possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Indeed the Bidenistas appear to be both dumb and ideological. Yesterday I ran into energy expert extraordinaire Robert Bryce—we’re at a murky gathering behind enemy lines at an undisclosed location—and we sat down for a hearty rant about the derangements of the
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June 23, 2022 — Steven Hayward
I’ve come across Elsa Kurt, who is one of those self-starting YouTube/social media stars, and she has the best Kamala Harris impression that I’ve seen to date—far better than we’ve been offered on Saturday Night Live. Here is her take on Kamala making coffee that nails the Veep’s grating laugh (45 seconds): Meanwhile, we haven’t checked in with the great J.P. Sears. He’s had a steady string of terrific videos
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June 22, 2022 — Steven Hayward
As the COVID pandemic unfolded in 2020, I predicted that before it was over, we’d surely hear calls for a cabinet level “Department of Pandemic Planning” or some other equivalent of the Department of Homeland Security that we set up in the aftermath of 9/11 to “coordinate” government agency activity at all levels of government. That prediction has moved a step closer to fulfillment. From the New York Times today:
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June 21, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Recalling C.S. Lewis’s remark that people should only read the sports pages in newspapers because at least half of the news in the sports page would be true, let’s look at the latest in news fakery. No sooner does Biden fall off his bike than some wisenheimer creates this fake headline: Fortunately, as RedState reports, we had the all-self-important “fact checkers” on the job to make sure no one was
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June 21, 2022 — Steven Hayward
• Let’s start with inflation and consumer confidence: Housing construction never has fully recovered from the financial crisis of 2008-09, though much of this failure to return to trend is likely attributable to regulation. Even though this headline says “increase sharply,” it is nowhere near enough. No wonder prices and rents are soaring: Here’s one way people are coping with blue state blues—voting with their feet: • Energy: Boy, “green”
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June 21, 2022 — Steven Hayward
With all the attention directed at the elite leftist bigotry behind trying to force “Latinx” upon an unwilling minority group, I had almost forgotten about the much older term popularized by feminists a while ago now: “womxn.” I don’t know how to say this any better than “Latinx,” but fortunately we have the University of California at Irvine’s Womxn Center for Success on the job helping us out. Though they
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June 20, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Did you know, Joy, that I had great joy, Joy, over the joy of watching Ketanji Brown-Jackson joyfully show how smart she is? Behold, our madam Vice President in action as she turns up her cringe capacity past 11. (This video is only 1:30 long, but it seems so much longer): Never mind how then-Senator Harris behaved in Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, insinuating that she had some scandalous “secret” internal
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June 20, 2022 — Steven Hayward
There’s a whole lot of crazy going on this week, and it’s only Monday. • The latest issue of the New York Review of Books, which I read so that you don’t have to (it’s opposition research) always offer a fill of amusement. There’s a James Mann review of yet another new book on Robert Welch and the John Birch Society, and you can just guess the theme of the
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June 19, 2022 — Steven Hayward
It is very likely the case that the next major war has started. No—I don’t mean the Russia-Ukraine War, which could yet spread to the rest of Europe if we’re unlucky. I mean the Israel-Iran War. It has been said that Israel and Iran have been at open war for some time now. (Actually, Iran and the U.S. have likewise been at war since 1979, though don’t tell John Kerry.)
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June 19, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Listeners to the 3WHH podcast will know that “Lucretia” and I have long divided on the question of Edmund Burke. To paraphrase something William F. Buckley once said about Harry Jaffa, if you think it is difficult to argue with Lucretia, just try agreeing with her—it’s nearly impossible. Back in our grad school days we liked to make fun of the leftist pop psychology popular at the time that everything
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June 19, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Let us pause on this holiday weekend (Father’s Day today, Juneteenth tomorrow) to bask in the glory that is our supremely eloquent president: How can anyone think this can go on much longer? If you look around very closely, you can find a few perceptive Democrats who are worried that Democrats aren’t just looking at a bad election this year, but also in 2024, when the Senate map is much
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June 19, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Headline from January: Headline today: In a U-turn for a leader of the environmentalist Green Party, which has campaigned to reduce fossil-fuel use, Mr. Habeck said the government would empower utility companies to extend the use of coal-fired power plants. This would ensure that Germany has an alternative source of energy but would further delay the country’s efforts to slash carbon emissions. “This is bitter,” Mr. Habeck said of the
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June 18, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Bill Maher nails it again this weekend, with this complete humiliation of the Washington Post and the wokerati that have brought it low: Memo to Maher: Look, dude, we appreciate that beating up on wokism has become one of your most prominent themes these days, but if you really want it to end, you know what you have to do: vote Republican. It’s the only way the left will learn
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June 18, 2022 — Steven Hayward
The old saying that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes” looks applicable today to Joe Biden’s bicycle mishap. It is said that Biden is very sensitive to comparisons with Jimmy Carter, but we now have these visuals to pair: I wonder how the New York Times will cover it. Keep this story filed away for reference and comparison: President Trump faced new questions [from whom?-ed] about his health on
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June 18, 2022 — Steven Hayward
With Lucretia and me still locked in mortal combat over how best to understand equality, equity, prudence and related issues, and divided as bitterly over Edmund Burke as we are over whisky styles (and with me recklessly wading in with a new piece on the Burke question just this week), this week’s episode brings on a neutral party to serve as a tie-breaker: Jean Yarbrough, the Gary M. Pendy Sr.
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