“Quinn is proof of the observation attributed to G.K. Chesterton: When a person ceases to believe in God, the danger isn’t that he will believe in nothing, but that he’ll believe in anything. In addition to her hexes and ghosts, her Tarot and telepathy, Sally believes in Ouija boards, palm reading, astrology, fortune telling, Hindu gods, telekinesis, witchcraft, and pretty much anything else that crosses her line of sight. Anything, that is, but God, biblically understood. “In the end I have my own religion,” she writes. “I made it up.” So this is where we are, 50 years after the elites dropped conventional religion in pursuit of…something they could make up.
“Self-invented religions will always be more appealing than God. They make no particular demands on the believer, moral ones most importantly. It’s a handy omission. “I am,” she assures us, “a good and compassionate person, ethical and moral, embedded in core values, someone who cares about others.” Meanwhile, her memoir produces plenty of hard evidence to the contrary. There’s that dead fortune teller, for one thing. For another: Her account, utterly remorseless, of how she systematically set about seducing Bradlee away from his wife and children is as harrowing as the hexes.
I was just perusing google news. It’s interesting that with the dozens of reporters that Washington Post hired to just focus on Trump, all they can come up with is a (perfectly fine) condolence call. Bezos is dragging the WaPo brand to the bottom. If they’re not careful, soon their credibility will be right down there with the Nat’l Enquirer and other checkout counter gossip rags. ;–/
Tychicus, with all of the resources they devote to it, you would think they could write and research much better than they do. I did have a subscription to the NYT, briefly. Their editorials, which represented the thinking and viewpoint of the publisher, were little better than school-yard name calling. I might read something like that every once in awhile, but I will not pay for it. I cancelled.
I suspect WaPo is getting even worse. When the owner has dozens of people hired specifically to investigate a politically opposing president, you can be sure that serious journalism has been left in the dust.
Ricky, I started that Williamson article earlier today and half way through decided it wasn’t worth the read. I know you like him, but I don’t know that I’ve ever read any of his material that I found at all edifying. I went back to it after you linked, but I still thought it full of stereotypes and poor analysis. Sorry. :–/
The editorial page and the op-ed articles of The Washington Post and The New York Times are liberal though the Times has added several conservatives. The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is still fairly conservative. The political reporting in the Times, the Post and the Wall Street Journal is more detailed than any other publication. The news departments of all three papers slant left. This shows up most clearly on issues like healthcare, entitlements, taxes, etc. When they are just reporting on someone lying or setting themselves on fire on a daily basis, it is pretty easy to be unbiased.
…I guess I don’t really read newspapers for analysis. I find individuals that are good thinkers and well informed and read those more than I read newspapers in general anyway. My local paper gives me a heads up on what’s happening here. And I periodically read the Hartford Courant to keep up with what’s happening there. I guess if I lived closer to NYC I might reconsider the subscription—just for the local detailed garbage. But even if I lived right the beltway I don’t think I’d bother with WaPo.
Debra, A couple of days ago you wrote that the country needed to maintain good public education, churches and stable employment for the benefit of lower class Trumpkins.
For the last several years virtually all conservative thinkers and writers have wrestled with how to help the lower class Trumpkins. They are wise enough to know that the solutions demanded by the Trumpkins themselves would be destructive.
Vance and Williamson come from a white underclass background. Better than anyone they understand that the Trumpkins may be to blame for their own situations and the weakening of those institutions you want society to maintain for their benefit.
Williamson’s distinction of the old white working class vs the new white underclass is spot on. The old white working class would have considered Trump to be nothing but “trash” and a foul Northern con man and blowhard.
Wandering Views 
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-winnowing-of-the-churches/
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Now for the important stuff:
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from the commentary on the Quinn memoir:
“Quinn is proof of the observation attributed to G.K. Chesterton: When a person ceases to believe in God, the danger isn’t that he will believe in nothing, but that he’ll believe in anything. In addition to her hexes and ghosts, her Tarot and telepathy, Sally believes in Ouija boards, palm reading, astrology, fortune telling, Hindu gods, telekinesis, witchcraft, and pretty much anything else that crosses her line of sight. Anything, that is, but God, biblically understood. “In the end I have my own religion,” she writes. “I made it up.” So this is where we are, 50 years after the elites dropped conventional religion in pursuit of…something they could make up.
“Self-invented religions will always be more appealing than God. They make no particular demands on the believer, moral ones most importantly. It’s a handy omission. “I am,” she assures us, “a good and compassionate person, ethical and moral, embedded in core values, someone who cares about others.” Meanwhile, her memoir produces plenty of hard evidence to the contrary. There’s that dead fortune teller, for one thing. For another: Her account, utterly remorseless, of how she systematically set about seducing Bradlee away from his wife and children is as harrowing as the hexes.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that …”
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I was just perusing google news. It’s interesting that with the dozens of reporters that Washington Post hired to just focus on Trump, all they can come up with is a (perfectly fine) condolence call. Bezos is dragging the WaPo brand to the bottom. If they’re not careful, soon their credibility will be right down there with the Nat’l Enquirer and other checkout counter gossip rags. ;–/
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Debra, Trump said The National Enquirer is a reliable source. The editor is a friend of his. That is where he got the Cruz/Lee Harvey Oswald story.
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Debra: The WasPost and NY Times deeply support the progressive march to socialism.
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This is the best article I have read in months. Trust someone from Lubbock to distinguish between the white working class and the white underclass.
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.nationalreview.com/article/452910/white-working-class-populism-underclass-anti-elitism-acting-white-incompatible-conservativism
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Tychicus, with all of the resources they devote to it, you would think they could write and research much better than they do. I did have a subscription to the NYT, briefly. Their editorials, which represented the thinking and viewpoint of the publisher, were little better than school-yard name calling. I might read something like that every once in awhile, but I will not pay for it. I cancelled.
I suspect WaPo is getting even worse. When the owner has dozens of people hired specifically to investigate a politically opposing president, you can be sure that serious journalism has been left in the dust.
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Ricky, I started that Williamson article earlier today and half way through decided it wasn’t worth the read. I know you like him, but I don’t know that I’ve ever read any of his material that I found at all edifying. I went back to it after you linked, but I still thought it full of stereotypes and poor analysis. Sorry. :–/
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The editorial page and the op-ed articles of The Washington Post and The New York Times are liberal though the Times has added several conservatives. The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is still fairly conservative. The political reporting in the Times, the Post and the Wall Street Journal is more detailed than any other publication. The news departments of all three papers slant left. This shows up most clearly on issues like healthcare, entitlements, taxes, etc. When they are just reporting on someone lying or setting themselves on fire on a daily basis, it is pretty easy to be unbiased.
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When you share their biases, it’s easy to think they’re unbiased. They may contain details, but so does my trash can ; it’s still just garbage. ;–)
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…I guess I don’t really read newspapers for analysis. I find individuals that are good thinkers and well informed and read those more than I read newspapers in general anyway. My local paper gives me a heads up on what’s happening here. And I periodically read the Hartford Courant to keep up with what’s happening there. I guess if I lived closer to NYC I might reconsider the subscription—just for the local detailed garbage. But even if I lived right the beltway I don’t think I’d bother with WaPo.
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Debra, A couple of days ago you wrote that the country needed to maintain good public education, churches and stable employment for the benefit of lower class Trumpkins.
For the last several years virtually all conservative thinkers and writers have wrestled with how to help the lower class Trumpkins. They are wise enough to know that the solutions demanded by the Trumpkins themselves would be destructive.
Vance and Williamson come from a white underclass background. Better than anyone they understand that the Trumpkins may be to blame for their own situations and the weakening of those institutions you want society to maintain for their benefit.
Williamson’s distinction of the old white working class vs the new white underclass is spot on. The old white working class would have considered Trump to be nothing but “trash” and a foul Northern con man and blowhard.
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Conservatives still have a sense of humor:
https://twitter.com/charlescwcooke/status/921486157845880838
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