Going Loco

Broadcasting live from Fargo (the movie is still better than the TV series), Jonah can’t ...

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Broadcasting live from Fargo (the movie is still better than the TV series), Jonah can’t help but spend most of today’s Ruminant gloating about how he’s been correct on recent issues ranging from the silliness of “Latinx” to the craziness of Tucker Carlson. Political demographics, the Omicron variant, and the future of conservatism are also discussed, but at the end of it all, one question remains: Is “I informed you thusly” a more satisfying phrase than “I told you so?”

Show Notes:

– The Wednesday G-File

– No one uses “Latinx”

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  1. Derek Drizin

    I am a fan of downtown Fargo and the Hotel Donaldson also!

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    The Bell Tower

    And glad to hear Nat Hentoff’s name. A great writer and civil rights champion. I always think of him when reminded of the liberal left. Neither faction offer many liberals anymore.

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    The Bell Tower

    Demography as destiny is a serious argument with a long pedigree. Montesquieu, in Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline, makes such a point in part.

    Race as destiny is a despicable argument made by both the Nazis and the Confederates in the American south.

    Whatever noble intentions some progressives have when they make these proclamations about a demography, the latter ground is where they often end up.

    Race as destiny deprives a man of his faculties, his wit and his liberty. In addition to its repugnance, it also has the misfortune of being bad politics and lazy analysis.

    Men will come to their own conclusions regardless of the box some pundits want to put them. Thank goodness for that.

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  4. Scott Mc

    Jonah - I am one of your big fans. I know you are perpetually being attacked and I am sure it sucks and wears on you, you are smart, err a brilliant thinker, writer and talker. No need to defend yourself so often. Most honest people remember your comments and positions. We are all at our best when we don't use our energy in the defend mode or too much time repeating your good/strong thoughts or ideas. We need your energy and oxygen as a leading light...

    Also, case in point no need to keep talking about Lx, you have made this point long ago...many, many times (now everyone else is too-sigh)...when other groups help define another for themselves... well there is a lot of historical context here.. The definers are so clueless of their actions, especially in the midst of what should be self reflection not promotion.

    thanks for your great work....sorry had to post this since I keep saying it out loud when I am listening to you...

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    Ben Connelly

    Have David Shor on the podcast!

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  6. GregS

    Once again:
    Democrats shouldn't be driving their voters away with silliness like Latinx.
    But what does it say about the voting public that the GOP openly embracing fascism *hasn't driven away very many Republican voters*?

    Why is do we take it as assumed - and unsurprising or unconcerning - that Republican voters won't abandon the GOP in any significant numbers even when the GOP is led by a man who tried to steal an election with an actual violent coup?
    Is Latinx really the issue here, or is it that there seem to be a plurality of Americans that would rather have fascism than put up with silly words like Latinx?
    Jonah - given Sophie's choice between these two things, what would you choose? Would you choose fascism, and blame Democrats for pushing you away because they insisted on saying Latinx?

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  7. GregS

    At 10:18, "if Hispanics start looking just like normal voters..."
    What is this, Freudian slip week?

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    BWG

    I just heard the news about Chris Wallace. Please invite him to join The Dispatch in some capacity as a regular commentator!

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    Liz Linton

    Jonah, cleverly correct on recent issues ... Trump's Axios interview with journalist Barak Ravid, did you see those quoted responses coming?
    His condemnation of Netanyahu and praise for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas?

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    Kevin Johnson

    Great podcast, Jonah. You soundly refute the broad cultural and other factors supporting the idea that there is a single “Latino” worldview, let alone that it would be easily predicted as relentlessly progressive. As I’ve informed thusly in this space before, there are additional, specific reasons which have come to a head in recent years. I say this as someone who speaks Spanish at home and who lives much of his social life in that language, writing from my vacation home in Medellin, Colombia.

    -The violent riots in 2020, sanctioned and even cheered by some radicals, badly upset small business owners and workers in these businesses, which are important in many Latino communities. “Burn it down” disgusts people who think they have a chance at the American dream.
    -The relentless “black vs. white” emphasis of the riots and the broader cultural revolution accentuates natural inter-group rivalries.
    -The “America is evil” exaggerations of the cultural revolution offend and seem absurd to many Latinos who came (or have family and friends who came) here explicitly to better their lives.
    -The “black and brown people” canard fails to convince that these groups share history and when BLM took over the narrative, Latinos saw clearly where progressive priorities really are.

    In summary, the relentless craziness of the cultural revolution in the past 18 months is seen as just that…and crazy looks bad to many Latinos who feel they have a stake in our imperfect republic. They and their families and friends didn’t come to the US (I know some were here before the USA) to burn it down.
    Thanks much.

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      Adicesa14

      Crazy looks bad to everyone who can think.

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