Nicomachean Ethics

 https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/books/review/book-review-aristotles-nicomachean-ethics.html

The link is to a review of the translation that I read by Harry Jaffa, a thinker I admire. 

Why read Nicomachean ethics? 

In my case it was because it is referenced so often in many of the books that I read, I became embarrassed that I had never read it. Now having done so,  I'd recommend reading something like "The Interpretive Essay" at the back of the translation I read instead. 

The book was written about 330 BC, which gives great creedence to Solomon's observation in Ecclesiastes 1:9

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."

What is the good life? How can I be happy? What is the best society? What is virtue? How can I be virtuous?  What is the meaning of life given that we did? Is this it, or is there an afterlife? 

While Aristotle could have known of the Hebrew Bible, chronologically, there is no evidence that he did, 

One the first page of the interpretive essay, we have this quote from Micah 6:8"He has told you O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"

While Aristotle would reject that statement because he sees there as being many "gods", and therefore many views of "the good", this work is a valiant, but ultimately confusing and questionable attempt to define "the good" or "how to be happy". 

As Jaffa says in the linked: 

The debunking both of Socratic skepticism (“the unexamined life is not worth living”) and of biblical faith (“Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”) has led to the crisis of the West, a chaos of moral relativism and philosophic nihilism in which every lifestyle, no matter how corrupt or degenerate, can be said to be as good as any other.

The Ethics at least makes a valiant attempt to escape pagan muli"god" relativism and that attempt is worthy of being oft referenced. For this of us that believe that history DOES matter, this is at least close to THE foundational work of our secular history.

For a Christian, the biggest realization is that Christ answers the "difficult questions" that Aristotle struggled and largely failed to answer. 

One of the many wonderful freedoms of Christianity is that our search for "happiness" and "virtue" are answered in Christ.

A Good Test For Voter Fraud

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/11/this-years-most-stunning-poll-finding.php

So Republicans have huge leads across the board in voter preference polling a year after the "election". Interesting. 

Obama got 69 million votes in 2008, the old record popular vote total (he got less in 2012). 

Trump received 10.1 million more votes in 2020 than in 2016. for a total of 74 million votes, a new record!

But, that dynamic, intelligent, compelling candidate Joe Biden got 81 million votes in 2020! Another new record! 

I don't think anyone would question that Joe Biden is a far more dynamic and compelling candidate than Obama was in 2008, so what could possibly account for this strange happening?

As we know, the only reason that Trump was elected in 2016 was Russian interference! 

As Hillary courageously said in 2019:

Clinton was asked whether it angers her that none of the current Democratic candidates invoke her on the campaign trail while Trump’s rally crowds still break out into “lock her up” chants.

“No, it doesn’t kill me because he knows he’s an illegitimate president,” she said. “I believe he understands that the many varying tactics they used, from voter suppression and voter purging to hacking to the false stories — he knows that — there were just a bunch of different reasons why the election turned out like it did.”

It has to be true, because it was published in the Washington Post! BTW Jimmy Carter, was quoted in the same article also saying that Trump was not a "legitimate president. . Carter should be eternally grateful that "legitimacy" doesn't depend on any standard of performance. 

Post 2020, we know that questioning the results of an election borders on treason, and must be suppressed on social media!

So if Republicans fail to win both houses in 2022, questioning that will be treasonous as well! 

The future of avoiding one party rule in the US depends on Senate defeat of HR1, which likely means it depends on Joe Manchin. 

If HR1 passes Democrat control of government will be "mailed in" perpetually.

As One Computer Said

 I rest my case.

"Rigged", Mollie Hemingway

https://thefederalist.com/2021/10/22/how-texas-protected-its-vote-from-getting-rigged-in-2020/ 

I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Ms Hemingway at this wonderful event ... a thoughtful belated birthday present from my wife. As a bonus, the guy sitting next to us grew up in Bode IA, a town about 15 miles away from our current home, even closer to my wife's home of her youth. 

As an LCMS Lutheran, it is good to know that Mollie is a sister in Christ!

I was struck by the number of attractive young women at the event -- maybe "15%", average age 25-35? Similarly, young couples ... 25-40. Perhaps moderate / intelligent conservatism is stronger than it is characterized to be by MSM. 60% of the attendees were "50-70", pretty much all couples. There was a lot of evidence of "upper middle" wealth, and unfortunately only a handful of blacks. Conservatives need to get more "Winsome"!

I've been interested in voter fraud since at least 2005 when I read "Stealing Elections". 

It is pretty much an open secret that Nixon beat Kennedy in '60. The "Daley Machine" came through as did a couple of counties in Texas. Nixon was encouraged to challenge, and would likely have won, BUT, he refused since he felt that Americans having faith in the integrity of their elections was more important than winning! (that really changed in 2000!).

"Rigged" covers a lot of well documented information on how the media, Deep State and Democrats had the election rigged from the day after Trump won in 2016. 

On page 138, she even mentions "The Cloward Piven Strategy" ... if you have to destabilize the country to win, go for it!  ... BLM, Riots, Defund the Police, "CHAZ" ....

She pulls a number of quotes from a Time magazine article from Feb 2021 that pretty much covers what Mollie does. Of course the Time perspective is THANKFULLY by expert coordination between the Democrats, Corporations, the Deep State, the media, etc, the country was SAVED from Trump!!! (praise be to Satan)

 She discussed the Hunter Biden memory hole. As always with that kind of discussion, my mind goes to Mary Jo Kopechne. Perhaps what happened to her is not America's "Original Sin", but it is one that changed us forever. She ought to have a memorial in Washington, right next to Ashli Babbit's. 

It is a worthy and heavily footnoted book that is easy to read. Yes, it could have been a little shorter, but then I'm really not one to cast aspersions here. Writers tend to write.

It gives a "medium distance" view of 2020, and really makes the case that it is America that is now "Rigged", not just the 2020 election. 

As always, the linked review at the top is more "traditional". 

One of the key takeaways of the book is that complaining about election fraud AFTER the election is useless, The evidence has been destroyed by those that committed it by then! If we want fair elections we have to act NOW. If we let bills like HR1 pass, the cause is lost, and short of civil war, separating the nation to red and blue, our goose is cooked -- the steep descent into Fascism/Oligarchy will be complete.

Let's go Brandon!

The Soul Of Politics, Elmers

This work seems to be an excellent synopsis of the work and thinking of Harry Jaffa, a giant of "real conservatism" vs "paleo conservatism, "Bloomian Conservatism",  the conservatism of Robert Bork, and others. 

It gives an excellent idea of what it is that is critically worthy of being conserved, rather than just "standing athwart history and yelling STOP!" as Buckley once claimed as the mission of the National Review, 

As Buckley said, "If you think arguing with Jaffa is difficult, you should just try to agree with him"! 

Why is this so? Because Jaffa attempts to get at the roots and the mistakes made by those who fail to understand the strengths and weaknesses of those roots. Lincoln and Churchill are strongly praised and illuminated, but many noted conservatives are roundly criticised. The book is a mini primer on Aristotle and especially "Manichean Ethics". 

It is however a SYNOPSIS, and generally easily readable. 

I loved "The Closing Of The American Mind", Jaffa has a lot of negative things to say about Bloom and that book. 

How he connects critical thoughts about the tensions between freedom and liberty down through the ages is extraordinary. The differences between "Athens and Jerusalem" are fascinating. He ties the thinking of Aristotle, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Churchill into a (mosty) understandable thread even for one as woefully uneducated as I. 

I was introduced to Jaffa via "The Three Whiskey Happy Hour" (which I highly recommend).

That led me to "The Reichstag Is Still Burning" ... also excellent, and then somehow to here.

"Soul" is a gateway drug to another list of excellent books. I'd recommend reading "Soul", but if you feel that is to great a task, this synopsis of Jaffa is another worthy gateway. 

Let's go Brandon! 

Crime And Punishment

Here is a link to a summary of the book, it seems quite good, but it does not include what I see as the key line, printed on the back cover of my copy. 

"One death in exchange for thousands of lives, it's simple arithmetic". 

What we miss by reading and discussing the classics is how they bear on timeless principles in understanding human nature. 

If you are certain that all "intelligent people" need to "believe the science", the "simple math", rather than the complexities of immutable human nature and the sages, poets, theologians and philosophers that have wrestled with these questions for thousands of years will drive your decisions.

Is it not at least taking a few hours of your time to read a classic work before supporting the sacrifice of millions of lives on the altar of convenience through abortion? 

Part 3, Chapter 5 ."..All men are divided into "ordinary" and "extraordinary." (3) Ordinary men have to live in submission and have no right to transgress the law because they are ordinary. (4) On the contrary, the extraordinary man has the right to commit any crime and to transgress the law in any way because he is extraordinary. That is not an official legal right but an inner right to decide in his own conscience whether to overstep the law or any obstacle that stands in the way of the practical fulfillment of his idea. (5) All great men would (or should) have the right to eliminate a few men in order to make their discoveries known to the benefit of all humanity."

Take away God where all men are equally sinners, and nothing else other than their acceptance or rejection of Grace really matters, and you discover it is all about "categories" ... wealth, education, gender, family lineage, etc

If  video works better for you, here is a bit of a plug for reading it. 

Biden Unifies, Let's Go Branden!

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-lets-go-brandon-chants-pro-biden-unity

The past 4 years have made us all aware of the division caused by Russian Disinformation. 

Biden promised to unify this nation, and he has! Spontaneous cheers in support of this great unifier have been breaking out around the country. Reagan was the "Great Communicator", it seems a foregone conclusion that Biden will go down in history as the "Great Unifier".

The linked Tucker satire is pretty good and pretty sad. 

Thiel, Bitcoin $60K

 https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/peter-thiel-bitcoin-60000-report-us-political-system-unsustainable-cryptocurrencies-2021-10

I really like Peter Thiel. He is an iconoclast like Elon Musk -- not a guy that follows crowds. My review on his book "Zero To One" here.

I hope this statement proves to be true. 

Now is the time where the "one-world state" stops, and with the help of crypto, "we're going to succeed," he said, according to The Information.

Is Wokeistan Worth Protecting?

 https://www.npr.org/2021/10/20/1047384050/behind-murky-claim-of-a-new-hypersonic-missile-test-there-lies-a-very-real-arms-

So China has built and is testing hypersonic weapons that could easily take out all our carriers and almost certainly our power grid in one stroke, and we have no defence against it. 

 Do we care? 

What might we defend? Our "right" to be consumers? 

A people's myths, or in this shallow age, superhero comics, give a good clue to what they really believe.
Superman used to fight for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way". 

Today, a bisexual Superman fights for "Truth, Justice, and a Better Future". 

What "truth"? Critical Race Theory? What "justice"? John Rawls? What might a "better" future look like? 

If if the Chinese can provide us with a lot of nearly free entertainment and consumables without the need for work, competition, and the costs of  being a fading world power much like the USSR in the 1980's, why fight? 

 I would guess a majority of Wokeistanis would be fine with that .... and in a pure "democracy" rather than a Republic for which one might stand, or even die for, why not? Perhaps the majority of those who used to sheepishly call themselves "Americans" would not even notice that Biden's puppeteers were Chinese.

Are we so racist as to think that being ruled by Chinese is any worse than being ruled by the Davos Elite? 

Our current "leadership" has a remarkable resemblance to the old Politburo?

I highly recommend reading the last link ... the others if you don't believe me..

Let's go Brandon! 

NY Governor Kathy Hochul Sends "Apostles"

Governor Hochul: "I need you to be my apostles. I need you to go out and talk about it and say, we owe this to each other. We love each other. Jesus taught us to love one another and how do you show that love but to care about each other enough to say, please get the vaccine because I love you and I want you to live, I want our kids to be safe when they're in schools, I want to be safe when you go to a doctor's office or to a hospital and are treated by somebody, you don't want to get the virus from them. You're already sick or you wouldn't be there. We have to solve this, my friends. I need every one of you. I need you to let them know that this is how we can fight this pandemic."https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/rush-transcript-governor-hochul-attends-service-christian-cultural-center

Talk about separation of church and state!

Since we had it and recovered, we are living in sin, and apparently a lot of healthcare workers in Pennsylvania are as well, due to the heresy of a hospital chain.  

A hospital chain in Pennsylvania announced a revised policy that seems like a reasonable recognition that certain employees who caught and fought off COVID-19 might not want to get vaccinated, and prefer to stick with natural immunity. 

"Liberals" have always had "ideas so good they must be mandatory", since they are the "smart ones", and the "deplorable, bitter clingers" are just not not smart, moral, etc enough  to follow "the word" from their betters. 

So far, no problem seen here by "Americans United For Separation of church and state",  but they did have this helpful  quote: 

Right now, religious extremists and their lawmaker allies are trying to force everyone else to live by their beliefs and to use religion as a license to harm others. They threaten our freedom to live as each of us chooses, which widens inequality in our communities and country. Our nation promises everyone the freedom to believe as they want, but our laws cannot allow anyone to use their religious beliefs to harm others. That’s why Americans United for Separation of Church and State brings together people of all religions and none to fight in the courts, legislatures, and the public square for freedom without favor and equality without exception. "AU will never stop doing all we can to protect your right to live and believe as you choose,"--Rachel Laser, CEO

Got that? Being the sort of "extremist" who defends peoples right to choose what goes into their bodies are seeking a "licence to harm others". 

 As we ought to have learned from the National Socialists in Germany, National Socialists  are all about "the freedom to choose" -- between following their mandates or death. 

As we can see from the Hochul speech, the religion of the state is National Socialism, and you have received "The Great Commission" to get out there and save the sinners!