Vladimir Putin has marked the New Year by firing more than 500 missiles “of all types” against Ukraine‚ hitting Kyiv‚ Odessa‚ and most other major cities in recurrent strikes over last weekend in an unprecedented blitz to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses as the war goes into its third year. He threatened to “intensify strikes” following Ukraine’s retaliation with home-produced kamikaze drones against the Belgorod army base inside Russia. Days prior‚ Putin appeared to toss an olive branch to the Ukrainians upon his return from Saudi Arabia‚ whose rulers have long expressed interest in brokering a peace deal. “If they want to negotiate‚ let them negotiate‚” he said begrudgingly at a press conference‚ emphasizing that any negotiations would be based on “safeguarding Russian interests.” He indicated no willingness to concede occupied territory‚ which is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s precondition for talks. There have been some minor advances by Russian forces in their critical battle of Avdiivka for control of the central Donbas region‚ but at a huge cost: Some estimates put Russia’s daily casualty rate at 1‚000‚ exceeding that of last winter’s fight for Bakhmut. The mounting death toll could prove an embarrassment for Putin as Russia goes into an election year when angry mothers and wives of the more than 350‚000 soldiers killed or crippled may stage protests during the vote‚ in which war opponents are banned from the ballot. Putin takes extreme security measures‚ moving unpredictably between the Kremlin and safehouses at palaces‚ estates‚ and military installations across Russia fitted with exact replicas of his Kremlin office so that he can give televised speeches‚ hold teleconferences‚ and issue orders without giving away his location. He is closely protected by 3‚000 bodyguards‚ the largest presidential protection force in the world. They are carefully selected and lavished with titles‚ land grants‚ business concessions‚ and other state privileges to ensure their loyalty‚ much as Saddam Hussein protected himself from assassination plots and internal palace intrigues in Iraq. He may have strengthened his position recently by taking the advice of FSB spymaster Nikolai Patrushev on assassinating rogue Wagner mercenary leader and one-time close confidante Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine of his closest aides‚ according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Putin authorized an undercover team to plant a small explosive device under the wing of Prigozhin’s jet‚ which exploded shortly after takeoff to make it appear an accident. CIA sources consulted by The American Spectator say the bomb could have been activated with an altimeter fuse similar to the way Muammar Gaddafi engineered the Lockerbie air disaster. Putin’s relations with the FSB had suffered during his disastrous failure to take Kyiv at the start of the invasion in 2022‚ which he blamed on poor intelligence reporting. He sacked or jailed some 150 of its agents. But the agency in which Putin formed himself as an officer in its Soviet forerunner KGB regained his confidence by quelling support for Prigozhin’s coup attempt last June and heading a subsequent purge of the military‚ even at the cost of removing some of Russia’s most competent generals who had agreed with Prigozhin’s criticisms of the defense bureaucracy. Putin may have unleashed his latest blitz by expending some of Russia’s most lethal hypersonic missiles‚ like the X22‚ with speeds of 4‚000 mph‚ which can only be intercepted by American Patriot missiles and of which there are few in stock‚ over fury at the loss of yet another Russian warship at harbor in Crimea. The LST Novocherkassk was destroyed with about 100 crewmen on board by a highly precise cruise missile strike while unloading a cargo of Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones‚ igniting their high explosive components that caused the massive blast in the ship‚ according to analysts. It’s the 20th Russian navy vessel to go down around Crimea‚ frustrating Putin’s key objective of controlling the Black Sea. With the war largely stalemated despite Russia’s staggering losses‚ Putin may have also coldly calculated that his best hope for forcing Ukraine’s capitulation was unleashing a long-planned onslaught to accomplish from the air what his demoralized troops seem unable to do on the ground. Blockages of NATO aid for Ukraine due to internal political divisions in the U.S. and other Western nations‚ whose attention is further diverted by the escalating war in Gaza and the Red Sea‚ may have also contributed to his timing. According to professor Michael Clarke‚ former director of London’s Royal United Services Institute‚ semi-official think tank of the British Ministry of Defense‚ Russia plans to wear down Ukraine’s air defenses with drones and subsonic missiles to create “gaps” in its shield before ramping up strikes with hypersonic missiles that have been held in reserve for when Patriot SAMs are depleted. Ukraine has only three Patriot batteries supplied by the U.S. and Germany concentrated around Kyiv. The Ukrainians are learning not to waste Patriots on subsonic threats while directing other AA systems against drones and conventional Russian cruise missiles like the Kinzhals most commonly used by Russia‚ according to Clarke. But he warns that depletion of lower grade air defenses can also leave Ukraine dangerously exposed. “So far the Ukrainians are managing to shoot down 80 to 90 percent of the Shaheds but if that were to drop down to sixty percent‚ the country’s power grid could be taken out‚” he said in a recent Times radio interview. The U.K. has rushed 100 SAMs to replenish Ukrainian stocks‚ and Japan is sending a Patriot battery to protect Odessa despite Russian threats to join Chinese naval exercises around its waters. Each Patriot battery equipped with 60 PAC SAM missiles costs $1 billion. Their steady provision can only be guaranteed through the $62 billion in U.S. military aid that remains stuck in negotiations between Congress and the Biden administration‚ which continues resisting Republican demands to stop the dangerously high migrant flow from Mexico. A European Union package of over $50 billion is similarly blocked by the veto of Hungarian President Viktor Orban‚ who is pressuring the European Commission to release $25 billion in subsidies being withheld from his government over his authoritarian domestic policies. Orban also favors a negotiated settlement with Russia involving the partition of Ukraine‚ and he recently invited Ukrainian opposition leader Petro Poroshenko to Budapest. Ukraine’s more vulnerable neighbors strongly fear Russian encroachments if western aid falters. A high-level presidential aide in Moldova told The American Spectator that Russia spent $50 million to finance pro-Moscow parties in recent elections in which the pro-Western government barely managed to hold on with 30 percent of the vote. Russian troops stationed in Moldova’s breakaway province of Transnistria have recently staged exercises that are highly unsettling to the government in ChiÈ™inău‚ which has no NATO membership and a very small army. President Zelensky wants to turn Ukraine into an armaments hub through joint industrial projects planned with Germany’s Rheinmetal and other Western defense contractors for domestic production of sophisticated drones‚ infantry fighting vehicles‚ artillery pieces‚ ammunition‚ air defense systems‚ and cruise missiles. He is seeking to organize Ukraine’s defense enterprises as private sector ventures to lock in finance through long-term contracts instead of mainly relying on U.S. and European government aid. “We must strengthen our state to the point where Russia feels that every one of their strikes will face our retaliation. This task can only be accomplished through sufficient domestic arms manufacturing…. this year alone it was possible to produce three times more weapons and equipment than last year‚” he said at a late December meeting with executives of state and private defense companies employing 300‚000 Ukrainians. Ukraine’s main arms producer‚ Ukroboronprom‚ recently announced “mass production” of an enhanced version of Iran’s Shahed — 136 loitering munitions expanding the range to 1‚000 kilometers‚ adding stealth features and increasing the explosive payload of its UJ-26 Beaver “analogue” undoubtedly used in last weekend’s strike on Belgorod. Seventy drones were launched‚ of which almost two-thirds penetrated Russian air defenses. The European Expert Association on Ukraine says that 40 American F-16s that are in the pipeline to Ukraine will be a “game changer.” Their radar capacity to reach targets over the horizon could neutralize threats from Russia’s fourth generation Su-34 and Su-35 fighter bombers‚ which are increasingly deployed in front-line bombing raids and stand-off missile attacks. Russia’s air force may up the ante‚ introducing new fifth-generation Su-57 fighters‚ according to defense spokesmen. They have only been incorporated in small numbers and are still at the testing stage‚ say NATO analysts‚ but Russian military expenditures are set to rise by 68 percent in 2024‚ according to defense minister Shoigu‚ absorbing 30 percent of GDP in an economy many times larger than Ukraine’s. Zelensky remains resolute. “Who brings hell on our land will soon see it outside their window‚” he said as missiles fell on Kyiv this past weekend. It may be bombastic rhetoric to pump up support for his increasingly embattled government whose visions of victory are called “delusional” by a former adviser‚ but he may have a wild card up his sleeve. Ukraine has vastly outperformed the Russians in special operations. Marines and a highly secretive army unit called Center 73 continue infiltrating into Russian-held sectors of the southern Dnipro river‚ persistently frustrating Russian attempts to root them out. They may link up with partisan groups expanding guerrilla activity around the southern city of Melitopol and Crimea. Sabotage of railway lines‚ bombings of state installations‚ and assassinations of Russian officials are growing in frequency in the southern region as Moscow finds increasing difficulties recruiting locals to fill administrative posts for fear of partisan hit squads. The growing guerrilla network may extend into Russia‚ where assassinations of pro-Putin politicians and locally staged drone strikes‚ which have even reached the Kremlin‚ occur sporadically. A founder of U.S. special forces‚ Lt. Gen. Sam Wilson‚ once talked to me about a highly classified operation during the starting days of the Cold War that involved parachuting secret agents into the Soviet Union “to do to Stalin what the Bolsheviks did to the Czar.” They were mostly captured or killed‚ but Ukraine’s special forces with built-in capacities to act in the region are proving creative and adept at high-risk undertakings and could yet pull some surprises. RELATED: Why Are Republicans Ready to Abandon Freedom and Ukraine? Russia Bleeds‚ Putin Shrugs Russia Mounts Its Comeback The post Zelensky Responds to Putin’s Missile War appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

So she’s out. That would be Claudine Gay‚ the now-resigned president of Harvard University. (READ MORE: The Fake Martyrdom of Claudine Gay) Then there’s the misfortunes of Anheuser-Busch’s famous Bud Light beer. As the inimitable Jonathan Turley headlines at his website:  Going Flat? Bud Light Sales Still Down 28 Percent as Consumers Continue Boycott Turley writes: Beer analysts are saying that Bud Light is still struggling with the boycott that has reduced its sale by a whopping 28% over the four weeks leading up to Dec. 9 — and heading to the all-important New Year’s sale period. The tragic irony for the company is that Alissa Heinerscheid‚ vice president of marketing for Bud Light‚ sought to dismantle Bud Light’s “fratty reputation.” She succeeded. It is now the symbol of woke companies for many and consumers seem to be treating the company as a vehicle to express their opposition to the social and political campaigns of companies from Disney to Nike. Then there was recently this from James Bennet‚ the former — and resigned — editorial-page editor of the New York Times. Bennet was writing in the Economist about his forced departure from the Times for having the audacity to publish an op-ed from Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton. Cotton had called for ordering the National Guard to restore public order in American cities that were being subjected to riots — violence‚ murder‚ looting‚ and burning — in cities across the nation in the summer of 2020. Said Bennet‚ with bold print for emphasis supplied: The old liberal embrace of inclusive debate that reflected the country’s breadth of views had given way to a new intolerance for the opinions of roughly half of American voters…. Conservative arguments in the Opinion pages reliably started uproars within the Times. Sometimes I would hear directly from colleagues who had the grace to confront me with their concerns; more often they would take to the company’s Slack channels or Twitter to advertise their distress in front of each other…. The bias had become so pervasive‚ even in the senior editing ranks of the newsroom‚ as to be unconscious…. One day when I relayed a conservative’s concern about double standards to [Times publisher A.G.] Sulzberger‚ he lost his patience. He told me to inform the complaining conservative that that’s just how it was: there was a double standard and he should get used to it. In short? Whether it is Harvard‚ Anheuser-Busch‚ the New York Times‚ or multiples of multiples of other educational‚ corporate‚ media‚ and more institutions‚ the cancer of totalitarian-minded wokeness has infected American institutions. And no dissent is allowed because‚ as the Times publisher acknowledged‚ “that’s just how it was.” Make no mistake. The American people get it — and millions have rebelled not just by no longer drinking Bud Light or spurning Harvard or the Times but … by supporting former President Donald Trump. To which the reaction from the wokesters is unbridled contempt. Which‚ in turn‚ makes Trump supporters even more resolute. That the woke crowd looks down on Trump supporters is self-evident. Take Harvard’s resigned-president Gay. Taking to the pages of — where else? — the New York Times‚ Gay writes this‚ bold print for emphasis supplied: I will deny demagogues the opportunity to further weaponize my presidency in their campaign to undermine the ideals animating Harvard since its founding: excellence‚ openness‚ independence‚ truth. And right there is a blatant untruth. In fact‚ it was Gay herself who demonstrated in both her plagiarized academic writings and in her congressional testimony that she herself refused to live up to “excellence‚ openness‚ independence‚ truth.” She is instead‚ by virtue of her own actions‚ the epitome of demanding to be judged by the progressive standards that are not about “excellence‚ openness‚ independence‚ truth” but‚ rather‚ race‚ gender‚ and progressive politics. Gay also says in her Times piece: As I depart‚ I must offer a few words of warning. The campaign against me was about more than one university and one leader. This was merely a single skirmish in a broader war to unravel public faith in pillars of American society. Campaigns of this kind often start with attacks on education and expertise‚ because these are the tools that best equip communities to see through propaganda. But such campaigns don’t end there. Trusted institutions of all types — from public health agencies to news organizations — will continue to fall victim to coordinated attempts to undermine their legitimacy and ruin their leaders’ credibility. For the opportunists driving cynicism about our institutions‚ no single victory or toppled leader exhausts their zeal. Translation? The woke war declared on America and Americans by woke American institutions is under attack by the peasants of the non-woke. Whether it is Harvard‚ Bud Light‚ or the Times and more‚ non-woke Americans are refusing to sit silently and accept this nonsense. And the unmentioned leader of the woke rebellion in this Gay op-ed is‚ of course‚ Donald Trump. Which is exactly why the woke hate Trump. It is exactly why the Trump base is so passionate in their support. It is exactly why — for every lawfare‚ woke‚ weaponized indictment of the former president — his polls go up and his support intensifies. The Trump supporters understand vividly that Trump is exactly right when he says: They’re not after me. They’re after you … I’m just standing in their way! Bingo. Indeed‚ Newsweek headlines this: Exclusive: Donald Trump Followers Targeted by FBI as 2024 Election Nears The story reports: The federal government believes that the threat of violence and major civil disturbances around the 2024 U.S. presidential election is so great that it has quietly created a new category of extremists that it seeks to track and counter: Donald Trump‘s army of MAGA followers. Which in turn explains this headline from a New York Post piece by the aforementioned Jonathan Turley‚ attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School. Headlines Turley: It’s not just Trump: Democrats are moving to bar Republicans from ballots nationwide Yes‚ they are. And‚ as Turley points out‚ one of their targets is my own Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry‚ whom I have discussed in this space earlier. (READ THE PIECE: ‘Republicans Against Perry’: The Republicans Who Aren’t Republicans) In short? Make no mistake. At bottom what the “woke” movement is all about is the bluntest fascism. They are determined to wipe the ballot of not just Trump but Republicans in general. In other words‚ they are determined to destroy democracy. And the American people get it. Which is exactly why they are rallying to former President Donald Trump. The post Harvard‚ Bud Light‚ and the <;i>;Times<;/i>;: The Reason for Donald Trump appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

We’re going to focus on the “quick” part of the Five Quick Things label for today’s entry‚ for a number of reasons. Mostly‚ because your author is both slammed and pooped at the same time. It’s perfect that it’s Friday‚ because if this is what a week in 2024 looks like‚ I might have to take up amphetamines. Hey‚ look what they’ve done for Biden. Other than those satanic dark pupils of his‚ he’s nearly able to make himself understood when they hop him up on uppers. Too mean‚ you say? I’m just getting started. 1. Disney’s Just Begging for It‚ Aren’t They? Hey‚ Star Wars fans! Aren’t you excited about Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy as the new director for the $67 billion movie franchise? Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Come on‚ you know her‚ right? No? Well… Obaid-Chinoy is the “first woman of color” to direct a Star Wars movie‚ as though you’re supposed to care. She’s Pakistani‚ though what she really is can be defined by the fact she went to Smith and Stanford. Obaid-Chinoy made a bunch of documentary films about how terribly women were treated back home in Pakistan‚ which led to an animated feature film‚ and that got her a gig at Disney as the creator of the six-episode Ms. Marvel miniseries for Disney+. Ms. Marvel‚ as you might know‚ turns out to be a 16-year-old Pakistani Muslim immigrant girl who beats the hell out of all the men (because that’s definitely new‚ and fresh‚ and a sure-fire hot seller). You aren’t impressed yet? Well‚ this might not move your needle: Disney hands over the $67 billion Star Wars franchise to a Pakistani feminist activist Obaid-Chinoy on the new film she will be directing for the franchise: "We're in 2024. It's about time we have a woman shape a story in a galaxy far‚ far away." pic.twitter.com/inhZHZrpHV — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 3‚ 2024 George Lucas’ wife was the editor of the first Star Wars movie. Women have shaped the franchise from its very beginning. It’s certain that Obaid-Chinoy had no idea about that fact at all. Oh‚ and then there was this: Here’s the feminist director of the next Star Wars film saying that her goal is to “make men uncomfortable.” This movie is destined to be Disney’s biggest flop yet. pic.twitter.com/KaihbiA7Oj — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 3‚ 2024 Say goodbye to half the audience‚ Sharmeen! Or more than half‚ because Star Wars was never all that popular a franchise with women. Anybody think that whatever this latest sequel Obaid-Chinoy presents us with — space Muslims‚ or feminists in orbit (nobody needs to go to the movies to see that!) — will make for a compelling story the non-woke will find interesting? Me neither. This idiocy can’t continue. Disney‚ as currently constituted‚ can’t continue. The institutional capital mob has kept that stock propped up so far‚ but that’s only going to last so long as the losses mount. At some point‚ the hostile takeover will come — and when it does‚ it’ll be glorious to see the firings. 2. Who Did This? Y’all are sooooo mean. Come on‚ people. Everybody knows that Claudine Gay has never written a book. 3. They Keep Going There is a whole lot of this on Xwitter this week: So black students can’t learn stuff that makes white people uncomfortable but they also gotta make sure we correctly cite our sources? Got it. — Michael Harriot (@michaelharriot) January 2‚ 2024 I said in yesterday’s column that the DEI mob and the Obama Left weren’t going to back down on the Claudine Gay debacle. And they aren’t. White people that say‚ “My family did not own slaves‚ and you were not a slave either; stop complaining‚ you have it good.” Have missed the entire “Impact” of slavery‚ along with segregation and how it's taken/ing an effect on Black Americans today. — Kenny Akers (@KeneAkers) January 3‚ 2024 It’s hard to say this excuse-making is going to be very attractive‚ or that it’ll persuade anybody. But these people don’t try to persuade. They’re trying to whip up their supporters and create that hyper-racial cloud atmosphere they created in 2020. As I’ve written in Racism‚ Revenge and Ruin: It’s All Obama‚ this is the game plan and the key to everything. The thing is‚ though‚ people are tired of all that. I don’t think it’ll work all that well. They need some new tricks‚ because Claudine Gay As Rosa Parks is not an A-list entry. 4. Thank You‚ Konstantin Don’t you just love this guy? Konstantin Kisin is the Russian-born liberty advocate who made such waves with that amazing speech at Oxford a year or so ago (if you haven’t seen it‚ it’s here). Now he brings us this‚ which is fantastic: Let me say it again for the slow ones at the back: There is no such thing as "positive" discrimination. There is only discrimination and it's always harmful‚ including to the people who are its supposed beneficiaries.https://t.co/FV2A7wRr0n — Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) January 4‚ 2024 We need more Kisins. Let’s go make some this year. 5. The Announcement If you saw this week’s episode of The Spectacle‚ you know that we’re going to try something fun in the coming weeks in this space. Namely‚ The American Spectator is going to serialize a novel. The working title is King of the Jungle‚ and it’s about a reclusive red-pilled billionaire who runs afoul of a detestably left-wing presidential administration and its weaponized bureaucrats and law enforcement personnel‚ and that billionaire decides he’s had enough and decamps for a sanctuary in the wilderness along the Essequibo River in Guyana… …just in time for the Venezuelans to invade. The story will examine what happens if our man decides he’d rather slug it out with the Chavistas in the jungle than take a powder‚ and‚ as you can imagine‚ it’ll be the platform for a great deal of social commentary. If it works out‚ this will fulfill all of the requirements Jim Valvano laid out for us in his famous Espys speech — it’ll make you laugh‚ it’ll give rise to thought‚ and it’ll move you to tears. Well‚ at least you’ll get slightly pissed off. Or greatly pissed off. When Melissa and I were committing to this project and I sent her the chapter outline‚ she said it made her mad‚ in a good way. Because this story will be fiction‚ but it’ll also contain a great deal of truth — truth that we would rather not have to accept. Which I think is a‚ if not the‚ mark of good fiction. Anyway‚ the first installment will make its way here toward the end of the month. READ MORE by Scott McKay: The Fake Martyrdom of Claudine Gay Beware the Wounded Animal in 2024 The post Five Quick Things From 2024’s Theater of the Absurd appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Last week in New Hampshire‚ former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley got ambushed with a question on‚ of all things‚ the Civil War. Here we go again. When asked what caused the Civil War‚ Haley explained: I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run‚ the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do…. It always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are. And we — I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. Her questioner took the opportunity to express his “astonish[ment]” that “in the year 2023 … [Haley] answered that question without mentioning the word ‘slavery.’”  Liberals pounced on her refusal to simply say that “slavery was the cause.” Joe Biden‚ who practically has his own room in the Foot-in-Mouth Museum‚ and who once bragged to an Alabama audience that his part of Delaware was for the South during the Civil War‚ was exultant at the prospect of not one but two race scandals in a single week — the other being Claudine Gay’s resignation from Harvard. With the help of a handler‚ the former Confederate-turned-Race-Baiter-in-Chief was able to pull up X and post‚ “It was about slavery‚” before falling back asleep. (READ MORE: The Fake Martyrdom of Claudine Gay) In the days since Haley’s so-called gaffe‚ the former governor has attempted to revise her comments‚ resulting in the inevitable charge of backpedaling. Her revision: Of course‚ the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That’s unquestioned‚ always the case. We know the Civil War was about slavery. But it was also more than that. It was about the freedoms of every individual. It was about the role of government. For 80 years‚ America had the decision and the moral question of whether slavery was a good thing. And whether government economically‚ culturally‚ any other reasons‚ had a role to play in that. By the grace of God‚ we did the right thing and slavery is no more. But Bidenworld is not satisfied. Leftist outfits like the New York Times and the Washington Post‚ the very embodiments of White Privilege and Supremacy‚ have kept the Haley story on the front page. Two days ago‚ the ill-named Joy Reid replayed the original clip of Haley’s howler before her panel of “expert guests‚” adding‚ “Keep in mind‚ as she’s speaking‚ she was the governor of South Caro-li-na!” Indeed she was. Ms. Haley is from South Carolina‚ as am I. Just as Miss Reid is from New York City‚ where I used to live‚ a place so positively awash in racial strife and general dysfunction that it makes my home state seem like Nirvana.  Naturally‚ the historians on The View held a screaming match on the matter‚ with the charmless Sunny Hostin leading the charge‚ saying: This is not the first time that [Haley] has been a hypocrite. She said‚ “I‚ as the South Carolina governor‚ took down the Confederate flag.” Nikki Haley‚ you took down that flag because you were forced to. Because I was there covering that shooting in South Carolina when all those people were murdered by Dylann Roof…. So you can kiss my grits when you try to say some nonsense about you don’t—You should have said slavery. Everybody knows slavery. She didn’t say it intentionally because 85 percent of Republicans are White. Honestly‚ you would think the women of The View have never misspoken‚ gotten any facts wrong‚ or denied the Holocaust. Anyhow‚ this is all just election-year politics. Those on the left depend on racial controversy to get their voters out. It worked for them in 2020‚ and they’re really going to have to depend on it in 2024‚ as they’re set to renominate a man whose numbers are tanking‚ who has wrecked the country‚ who is possibly a foreign asset‚ and whose amnesiac aura and verbal train wrecks make Nikki Haley seem like Clarence Darrow. They have reason to worry. But why do Republican candidates always get asked the really hard test questions‚ about geopolitics‚ foreign policy‚ and other specialized topics while Democrats‚ supposedly the Smart People‚ get asked about ice cream and vacation plans? Nikki Haley was asked a test question about American history that most people today cannot answer with any reasonable degree of effectiveness‚ much less dispassion. Politicians are no exception. They know about as much history as the women on The View‚ which is to say none‚ or next to none. Such word salads are what happen when a country forgets its history and even stops teaching it in schools. And we know what George Santayana said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That’s where we’re headed if something doesn’t change. Civil War II? One hopes not. There’s also the matter that while Haley’s response might seem artless given the extreme sensitivity and political correctness now about regarding anything race related‚ thanks mainly to a Marxist media‚ she may not have been incorrect to omit slavery as an official cause of the War between the States. It turns out that some very august historical voices agree with her view. Consider this little gem: The sooner the national authority can be restored the nearer the Union will be “the Union as it was.” If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery‚ I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery‚ I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union‚ and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone‚ I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race‚ I do because I believe it helps to save this Union; and what I forbear‚ I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. That’s from a letter to one Horace Greeley‚ dated Aug. 22‚ 1862‚ penned as the Civil War raged by none other than President Abraham Lincoln. It creates enough doubt about Lincoln’s intentions regarding the role of slavery in the war to give Haley and her much-lampooned comment the benefit of it. That’s not revisionist history. It’s just — as liberals have often said here lately regarding the 14th Amendment’s being used to target Trump — “a plain reading” of things. For now‚ Nikki Haley passes the history test while the fifth-rate Joe Biden and the left media fail it. Ms. Haley now moves‚ if not to the front of the class‚ at least into second place.  The post Nikki Haley Passes the History Test appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

In this episode of The Spectacle podcast — the very first episode of 2024 — hosts Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay put on their wizard-y hats and forecast what’s coming in the new year. Horrors? Victories? Interesting times? You’ll have to watch to find out — and then you can hold these two wannabe Kreskins to their predictions as they happen … or don’t! Order Scott’s new book‚ Racism‚ Revenge and Ruin: It’s All Obama‚ here. Read Scott’s New Year’s warning: Beware the Wounded Animal in 2024  Read other American Spectator predictions: Year 2024: Everyone Except Paul Krugman Is Wrong and Expect the Worst in 2024 Read Scott’s and Melissa’s writing here and here. Listen to The Spectacle with Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay on Spotify. Watch The Spectacle with Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay on Rumble.  The post <;i>;The Spectacle<;/i>; Ep. 55: Predictions for 2024 appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The trials and tribulations of Claudine Gay‚ the former president of Harvard University who resigned this week after being exposed as both a Jew-hatred apologist and a serial plagiarist‚ perfectly expose America’s cultural divide. READ MORE: The Fake Martyrdom of Claudine Gay To the Right‚ she is the embodiment of the woke ideology and the DEI (“diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion”) regime: a ruthless careerist who knifed fellow black scholars in the back during her institutional ladder-climbing‚ a middling intellectual who has never advanced meaningful scholarship and has never even published a book under her name‚ and someone who — à la Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — was transparently picked solely due to checking some identity boxes. To the Left‚ she is a martyr par excellence: a black woman in a position of high prominence who came under withering assault from hidebound racists‚ and whose defenestration should — à la George Floyd’s death in May 2020 — bring about a broader “racial reckoning” about America’s continued shortcomings and injustices. The latter narrative‚ dutifully peddled by Gay herself in both her shameful resignation letter and a New York Times op-ed a day later‚ is wrong. That narrative is woefully out of touch with the commonsense sentiments of the American people‚ who correctly value merit and excellence — now dismissed by our decadent elites as “anachronistic” at best or vestiges of “white supremacy” at worst — over the zero-sum identitarian scraps offered by the DEI regime. Claudine Gay is no martyr. In fact‚ Gay managed to maintain her sinecure for over three weeks longer than did Liz Magill‚ who resigned her perch as president of the University of Pennsylvania within days of the leaders’ disgraceful‚ morally bankrupt congressional testimony on Dec. 5 — the most-viewed in the history of the U.S. Congress — in which the ladies smirked their way through rigorous bipartisan questioning and refused to unequivocally denounce on-campus calls for Jewish genocide. If anything‚ it is dispiriting that it took a massive additional plagiarism scandal — exposed by intrepid investigative journalists such as Chris Rufo and Aaron Sibarium — to attain the justice that should have resulted from Gay’s “mere” refusal to adequately protect Harvard’s Jews at a time of skyrocketing global anti-Semitism. (RELATED: Goodbye Liz Magill‚ and Good Riddance‚ You Bastard) As Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) tweeted‚ the “most important point” about the Claudine Gay saga isn’t that she resigned after facing intense (if proper) scrutiny‚ but “that she had the job — the most prestigious job in higher education — after an extremely thin record of accomplishment” in the first place. That is indeed the real scandal. The fact that a comically underqualified serial plagiarist who cannot condemn calls for Jewish genocide and cannot accept any criticism without immediately attributing it to “racism” attained the presidency of Harvard University should indeed lead to a national conversation and soul-searching — albeit not the kind of “racial reckoning” conversation the Left now desires. That necessary conversation about the absurdities of the DEI catechism‚ however‚ would require honesty‚ good faith‚ and informed patriotism from all participants. Alas. Gay’s is undoubtedly a nice scalp for the forces of civilizational sanity in our roiling culture war against the aggressor forces of civilizational arson. But unless broader changes are made‚ beginning but by no means ending with the Harvard Corporation that exercises board oversight duties‚ Gay’s departure will end up more symbolic than meaningful. Gay demonstrated neither contrition nor self-awareness in her resignation letter and Times op-ed‚ and there is no reason for thinking the university has engaged in self-reflection about its role in pushing the DEI cancer. Unless and until Harvard indicates that it has learned any of the proper lessons from the saga of its shortest-tenured president in its nearly 400-year-old institutional history‚ aspiring matriculants should withhold their applications‚ donors should withhold their checkbooks‚ and taxpayers should not contribute a penny. Ultimately‚ the civilizational struggle against the DEI regime‚ and the broader effort to restore commonsense values such as merit‚ industry‚ and excellence to their proper place‚ necessitates a sprawling‚ grassroots national effort. Salutary one-off developments such as the resignation of a high-ranking Jew-hatred apologist and serial plagiarist are helpful for energizing the masses. But that energy must be properly channeled. In the political arena‚ that means freezing the hiring of DEI bureaucrats on public university campuses‚ as Wisconsin has done‚ or (better yet) fully eliminating the bureaucracies‚ as states like Florida and Texas have. Similar pressure should be applied on corporations‚ some of which seem to be heading in the right direction; Google‚ for instance‚ has slashed DEI-related job postings from 20–30 percent year over year‚ according to data from the job listing site. Indeed. There can be no resting on our laurels. We must not rest until this cancer is fully eradicated. DEI delenda est. To find out more about Josh Hammer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists‚ visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The post Claudine Gay Is Not a Martyr appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The American Spectator’s founder and editor in chief‚ R. Emmett Tyrrell‚ Jr.‚ joined C-SPAN on its Booknotes+ podcast to discuss his memoir‚ How Do We Get Out of Here?: Half a Century of Laughter and Mayhem at The American Spectator―From Bobby Kennedy to Donald J. Trump. In the interview‚ Tyrrell discusses his close relationship with Ronald Reagan and why he chose to focus on his work at The American Spectator instead of working in government. “It’s been a very successful experience‚” explains Tyrrell‚ “and I wouldn’t trade it for another.” We learn also of Tyrrell’s interactions with Bill Clinton‚ his rivalry with Malcolm Muggeridge‚ and his insight into the impact of Reagan’s presidency. In addition‚ Tyrrell reflects on the state of conservatism today and the Left’s Kultursmog. All of these stories and Tyrrell’s inside account of the early days of The American Spectator and its influence on American politics can be found in Tyrrell’s intimate and irreverent memoir. Listen to the interview here‚ and purchase the book here. The post R. Emmett Tyrrell‚ Jr. Discusses His Memoir in New Interview appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

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