Goldbergs and Englishmen

A traumatic trip through the Alps.

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Today’s Ruminant finds Jonah across the pond, indulging in greasy fish wrapped in newspaper while trying to forget about some of the less pleasant aspects of his recent trek through the Italian mountains. After recounting a few tales of that arduous expedition, he switches his brain into pundit mode, addressing some of the biggest political questions that have arisen during his absence. What’s going on with the Hunter Biden plea deal? Have the wheels fallen off the DeSantis bus? And what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

Show Notes:

–The Telegraph’s Ukraine podcast, which should really be sponsoring the show at this point 

–The McCarthy Report on Hunter Biden’s plea deal

–Kathryn Jean Lopez: “Jason Aldean Isn’t Helping”

-Watch: Jonah breaks down his harrowing trip through the Alps

-Watch: Jonah’s video from his drive through the Alps

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Comments (55)
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  1. Mark

    I am one of those Dispatch/Remnant fans who actually lives in Europe. I have never been to eastern Austria/Vienna etc., but I have been to Tyrolia many times and so far, I agree. It is perhaps the most beautiful place on earth.

    I live in Tübingen, Germany. If there are any Dispatch fans near here, it'd be fun to hear from you. You can find me easily online with all my contact data. My first name and terms like "Derendingen", "Banjo" and "Riga" will get you to me in short order.

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  2. Randall Briggs

    Jonah:

    Re "small towns"--even medium-city Americans west of the Hudson Highland usually don't know what they are supposed to think when you make the distinction between someone being from Queens vs. Manhattan, and someone who works on 6th Avenue vs. 7th Avenue. Those are codes that mean something to residents of New York City, but not necessarily to the rest of the country.

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  3. Randall Briggs

    Andy McCarthy. Huh! I don't venture into the cesspool of National Review much any more, but every time I read Andy McCarthy he's attacking the evil Democrats and/or explaining away Trump's latest malfeasance.

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    David D Nelson

    Jonah, I love you BUT...you have shown us who you are; a shameless limousine classical liberal. My God man, if you set out to critique a country artist and a #1 Billboard 100 song, at least listen to the song. Jason Aldean's song "Try that In a Small Town" is not about the personal preference of heartland living over the big city life, or necessarily which is superior. It is about if you try that nonsense here in the "wide spot in the road" you won't get very far. From rioting, looting, smash and grabbing, to unconstitutional gun laws, Aldean is just saying it won't fly in fly over country. Imagine for a minute, little old lady, Thelma, is walking on the sidewalk outside the Piggly Wiggly on Main Street in Muscle Shoals Alabama when out of nowhere she is sucker punched by a schizophrenic homeless person. Compare and contrast the community response in small town Bama to New York City. You even go all Gavin Newsom by suggesting better things come out of cities vice small towns. Not sure who is arguing that point, but merely making the distinction is weak sauce. Aldean's lyrics speak an incontrovertible truth. No, you will not be able to do that in a small town, at least not for very long.

    Then, although I appreciate your authenticity as a metropolitan denizen, you relate the harrowing white knuckle cruise up an Austrian mountain pass highway in a climate controlled $100K Mercedes Sprinter Van, all the while your wife, daughter, and brother-in-law ascend a rugged mountain trail on foot in a cold, raining hailstorm facing Donner Party survival. I was fully expecting you to cry that the hairpin turns spilt your scotch on the way up. I am so happy to hear everyone survived, and those on the steep mountain hike too.

    "You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not," she said as she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it."- Aesop

    Peace

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    1. Randall Briggs

      Per Aldean, No, you can't get away with that in a small town. Unless you are a white male member of the First Self-Righteous Church. And if you are, then you can get away with being a vigilante as you beat the crap out of some outsider, or some person of a different color, who steps out of line. Or even just does something that pisses you off.

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        David D Nelson

        Yep, no matter what color you are in a small town, you will likely get your ass kicked if you wrong someone. I love that. Beats having the police told to stand down while buildings are being firebombed, and innocent bystanders are being pushed in front of a subway trains while onlookers have their phones out recording. Portland, NYC, DC, Chicago et al could use some morally justified vigilantism. Whatever happened to the Guardian Angels? Where's Paul Kersey?

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        1. Randall Briggs

          Next step: Hang anyone and everyone who didn't vote for Trump.

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            David D Nelson

            There must be a Trump equivalent to Godwins law. If not, I am creating "Dave's law" of Trump analogies; an Internet adage asserting that as an online discussion grows longer (regardless of topic or scope), the probability of a comparison to Trump approaches.

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  5. Chuskins8

    During a recent trip to Vienna, one of our tour guides discussed in some detail the decision by the Allies to name Austria the first victim of the Nazis. This life long resident of Vienna spoke of how fortunate Austria was given their behavior during the war. If this one citizen is any indication they are doing a lot of soul searching regarding this period of time in their history.

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    Faraday

    So glad everyone is ok! Been in similar circumstances myself and it is not fun. So happy the fair Jessica is back in fighting shape!

    Having driven that same kind of van around Europe myself, München to Amsterdam and I know where from you speak. It’s, errr, interesting at times.

    Love that whole area and agree how beautiful it is.

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    Ben Connelly

    1. Sorry to hear that the hiking trip was so harrowing! Glad the Fair Jessica and the rest of the family are safe now.

    2. You nailed my biggest gripe with the news over Jason Aldean’s song. I don’t listen to country music, haven’t heard the song, and don’t really care. But we’re getting worked up over this? There are gangster rap songs about gang initiations in which young men are forced to murder their own mothers. There are metal songs about rape and cannibalism. This country song is tame by comparison.

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      George.Skinner

      It’s less about the content, and the more that one set of partisans has decided to embrace it and celebrate the content.

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        Ben Connelly

        Yeah I figured that

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          George.Skinner

          I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the Aldean song played at Republican rallies. I’d be surprised if I heard “WAP” or “F*ck the Police” at a Joe Biden rally.

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            Ben Connelly

            That’s probably true

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    2. Bobby D

      I think this goes beyond offensive lyrics. The song seems to legitimize and encourage vigilante justice. And the initial version of the accompanying video showed scenes from BLM protests, and the lyrics refer to flag burning. Peaceful protesting and burning flags are both Constitutionally protected activities. So, it seems like Aldean is suggesting that vigilante Justice is an appropriate means of dealing with Constitutionally protected activities with whose political message you disagree. Set against the Jim Crow South’s past use of vigilante “justice” to keep racial minorities from exercising their Constitutional rights, you’d have to be pretty tone deaf not to see why the song may stir controversy.

      I suspect that Aldean intended to stir the pot of racial controversy, so that he could reap profits from the controversy as his largely white and right-wing fan base embraces him as a victim. In that case, it may be better to ignore the song.

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        Ben Connelly

        But how is that any different from a rapper singing a song encouraging people to murder cops? I’ve never bought the argument that any kind of music “caused” violence. I’m not sure why I shouldn’t similarly shrug my shoulders at this.

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        1. Randall Briggs

          Why should we (classical-liberal conservatives) have to frame our judgement about a song about vigilante justice in the context of gangsta rap? Isn't it enough to call it as we see it, on its own merits or lack thereof? Bringing gangsta rap into the discussion is whataboutism, which Jonah typically despises.

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            Ben Connelly

            Why should I take offense at this song if I don’t at more provocative ones?

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        2. Bobby D

          I think such lyrics are problematic too. But there is an apparent context to such expressions, as many of the artists hail from urban neighborhoods that were plagued by corrupt and ineffective policing. There is no analogous context for Aldean’s lyrics and video images. In fact, the denizens of these mostly-white small towns that Aldean eulogizes are largely unaffected by the various offenses that Aldean suggests merit vigilante solutions. So, the manufactured outrage over such remote events seems a bit contrived. It’s a bit more concerning for me when you consider that we’re only about 50 years removed from an era in which vigilante activities by whites in the small-town South was commonly used as a means of punishing those who objected to the prevailing white evangelical cultural ethos that governed such towns.

          And Aldean’s comments and flimsy defamation suits seem to lack credibility. I’m not one who gives much weight to most allegations of racism. I watched the video of the song on YouTube. The lyrics and original images struck me as fairly laden with racist overtones. Then, again, it could just be a visceral bias that I—as a Northeasterner—have against this genre of music and the faux-farmer subculture to which it generally appeals.

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            Ben Connelly

            “ Then, again, it could just be a visceral bias that I—as a Northeasterner—have against this genre of music and the faux-farmer subculture to which it generally appeals.”

            Yeah I hate country music and it’s definitely for a similar reason to you. Unlike you, I grew up in Virginia, but my father was a New Englander and a proud “Damn Yankee” and my mom also wasn’t from the South. I grew up with people who had nostalgia for the Confederacy and always hated that aspect of the South.

            With that said, the outrage on both sides over this song seems pretty manufactured. I struggle to care. Lots of music contains lyrics I find offensive, but I try not to take offense. It’s usually a waste of my time. I don’t think this song is good or noble, but I also don’t think it’s all that important.

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    Dr. Livesey

    A cousin of mine married a Brit she'd met while studying at Oxford. I went to a dinner the night before the wedding and was amazed when two or three friends of his stood to speak. I can't remember a thing they said, but I'll never forget how perfectly poised they were as speakers, and how well they spoke (something between very articulate and eloquent, I can't remember). The speakers were all in their mid-20s. One was a young surgeon. He was totally at ease when speaking, without notes, and telling a few jokes. For each speaker, every word was enunciated, every sentence grammatically correct, everything about their presentation impressive.

    The speakers were either all from Oxford or perhaps had met the groom-to-be in London, where he got a graduate degree, so they weren't representative of all Brits, but most Brits I've met are far more articulate in speaking than I will ever be. There must be something about British education. Perhaps part of it is at the college level — I've heard there's a tradition of students reading their papers or making verbal reports in class, regularly. But I think they get some kind of education earlier than college. I think their teachers must speak well in class, and their example probably helps, somewhat.

    Whatever it is, I wish we could do that in America. Our country does very well for itself (economically, militarily, even politically in the long run) despite not being nearly as articulate as Brits, but Americans being more articulate, fluent, even eloquent in our language would be, well ... nice.

    I can't put my finger on any particular benefits that would come from this (and I doubt we'll ever change much in this regard). In fact, maybe British articulateness actually hurt the country over the decades, with stupid Laborite policies, polished and gleaming, presented like gilded turds in some speeches in Parliament or on the campaign trails. But I don't know why Conservatives there didn't put up more eloquent arguments to the contrary.

    So, probably, it makes little to no difference. Think of all the U.S. presidents in the 20th century were not eloquent at all — Eisenhower, Ford, the Bushes, for instance. They did well enough. Would they have done better if they were more articulate? Clinton, Obama and Reagan probably were more successful for being articulate (which was sometimes better for the country, sometimes worse). Maybe it's just a good thing for an individual's success, or a political campaign's or a policy's, not a country's.Expand full comment

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  9. Philebus

    So…Another fine Ruminant, but possibly, you may want to consider a small penance (not that you’ve done anything wrong, but there may be things you’ve overlooked, or just couldn’t cover in 55 minutes). If I’m wrong; well, I’m wrong. Hold your ire, and allow me to explain…

    There are many great stories that have been told concerning escapes from the Nazi horde – some fiction, some not, and some, a little of both – all are compelling stories and many of them occurred in the mountains. So, just a thought: how about your staff searching out a historian who may be able to shed some light on the subject. I mean, there must have been a network of people involved; some for monetary reasons, and others out of personal conviction, regardless, they were there: folks willing to risk their lives for whatever reason. I have seen few histories that touch on the actual clandestine networks that were required. Some operated across borders, because the mission was not just about a border crossing (too easy), but about a plausible way to sanctuary (I won’t even make the reference to the modern-day term of “coyote’s”).

    So, there may be a story to be told, if you will. It may be a nice reprieve from the lassitude of politics, as we know it.

    Ha! I won’t dwell on the hypothermia thing. It can happen to anyone. Pleased she was with other people at the time (I was not. One small mistake that occurred in the wrong place, at the wrong time...I knew I was fucked when it it happened, but I found a solution). It can happen to anyone, and the ambient temperature doesn’t have to be all that cold. Keep that in mind for all you adventurers – no shame at all, Sister.

    Edit: Two helicopter rescue units? Pleased you're fine, but "good gawd damn". Sorry, but dang; urbanites venturing into the wild??? I suppose it's fine, but I hope you chose to "pay the band" (so to speak).

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  10. Bobby D

    I wasn’t aware of the Jason Aclean controversy. In fact, I’d never heard of Jason Andean. I’m generally skeptical of claims of racism. But the song does steer a bit too close to racist dog-whistling for my comfort.

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