Radical Romantic Rebellions

Why are politicians so reluctant to take responsibility for the history of their own ideas? ...

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Why are politicians so reluctant to take responsibility for the history of their own ideas? Everything from the minimum wage to community policing has a sordid past if you just look back far enough, and Jonah thinks that putting on your partisan blinders only for the specific policies you happen to dislike leads to bad outcomes. In this particularly chaotic era of American politics, Jonah points out evidence of this sort of thing happening everywhere.


Show Notes:

–The Problem With Claiming That Policing Evolved From Slave Patrols

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  1. Avatar photo
    Not Jonah Goldberg

    The major question for me is whether “Neo-con” is a description of one’s journey to conservative, or if it describes a certain set of beliefs. When Jonah describes the movement, he seems to group them simply by the similar journeys they had from radical leftism to conservatism and, because of this, they ended up with similar views. Does this mean that someone who did not take that journey can not be described as a neo-con? Are there a certain set of beliefs that qualify you for this description? I’m still partially confused.

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    CynthiaW

    I liked this a lot.

    People who used to be in prison are politely called "ex-inmates" or "former inmates," or super-duper politely called "former prison residents."

    I'm about to order some Scout and Zoe treats for my cats - Shannon killed a rabbit this morning - and my daughter's dog.

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      CynthiaW

      It was cheaper without the promo code DINGO because the discount went below the free-shipping limit. Just saying.

      Maybe I'll use the code another time if all the pets are crazy about the stuff.

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    Victor Clairmont

    Good Podcast!

    Release the Daily Show Cut on Liberal Fascism!

    More Fafoon.

    That is all.

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    Kevin Durant?

    “Cops started as slave patrols”
    is an ‘argument’ specifically designed BY evil stupid people FOR emotional stupid people

    Velcro started at NASA. Your Hush Puppies are not part of the space program

    Decades and decades of this maddeningly stupid and despicable anti-American leftist horse bleep IS the reason we have widespread civil unrest. It will be incredibly difficult to reel this back in

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    1. Bradley Potts

      Except there is a lot of truth to it.

      Slave patrols evolved to match the general modern conception of a police force in the early 18th century, and that predates any other similar police force by nearly a century. Furthermore, it is often difficult to delineate between the slave patrols prior to the Civil War and organized police forces during reconstruction and between reconstruction and Jim Crow.

      Even if Jim Clyburn was hyperbolic and purposefully overstating things, I don't think this level of deception qualifies one as evil. He is more advocate than literal devil's advocate.

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        Kevin Durant?

        I really wish you guys wouldn’t do this

        A lot of truth to it?

        There’s a lot of truth to the fact that a woman died suspiciously in Joe Scarborough’s office

        Should we be talking about it?

        NO

        Please stop

        Out here telling black people that they are being chased like slaves in 2020 so you can win elections

        Absolutely sickening

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          Angie

          Yikes...

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            Kevin Durant?

            I may have worded that wrong but a woman did die suspiciously in Scarborough’s office

            It WAS an accident, so bringing up the past like that is simply a disgusting smear

            That’s what I meant

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          Kevin Durant?

          (And no, I don’t think Clyburn is evil, and neither are you, but this type of sickening anti-American demagoguery IS evil)

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    Belt

    I'd also like to comment on the Ruminant in general. If all you're doing is re-hashing the G-File or your other columns, I don't need that because I read those. It gets repetitive. If you want to go into a deep dive on some point you didn't have space for, or take an interesting tangent, or pre-process some future column idea, that's fine. I'd even be okay with addressing some specific criticism that's come up, as long as it's substantive and not just reacting some dumb pushback. (But keep it to the point.)

    Or maybe just use this to chew on some completely off-the-wall topic, something that you wouldn't put into a political column, like, say, stupid Star Trek ideas, or what would happen if one percent of the world's population went blind but were given Daredevil-like echolocation abilities. Just give yourself some freedom to try something different.

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      Pastorfbt

      I'd second this observation/suggestion

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        Kevin Durant?

        If Jonah is reading this I must respectfully vote opposite Brad and Belt

        Please don’t change format/content

        (also love new Jazzy intro 😃)

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        1. Jake Oliger

          On the intro, though, the mixing could use some work. Jonah comes in a bit quiet and early compared to the music. But I dig it!

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    Belt

    I'm still iffy on the new intro music. I appreciate Zoe's contribution, and it's not unheard of for me to, on rare occasions, 'dig it.'

    Anyway, I think Jonah is, weirdly, giving Trump too much credit. I don't think Trump genuinely wants to become dictator, or lock up journalists, or approves of Chinese concentration camps. I just think that Trump is so incredibly ignorant and incurious that he hasn't given any thought to these things in the first place. He will just say whatever can be somehow burnishing his own ego. He could make two flatly contradictory statements, but the essential point is always 'Trump.'

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      Cornelius O’Brien

      In case anyone doesn't get the "can you dig it?" sample in the intro, google that phrase and Warriors for a great bit from a dystopian fantasy movie about street gangs taking over NYC in the 70s.

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        Belt

        I haven't watched that movie myself, but I did read the book that it was (loosely) based on, Zenephon's Anabasis. Also, the Red Letter Media guys did a 'Re:View' of that movie recently. Both are worth checking out.

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  7. Richard Fulmer

    Your discussion of Progressive history lends support to the belief that there is systemic racism in this country, but that, to a large extent, it's a legacy of Progressive Era, New Deal, and Great Society policies. Jason L. Riley's book, "Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make it Harder for Blacks to Succeed," is a must read.

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  8. Jordan Henderson

    The 1619 project used the literary device of 400 years of history, not 500. If there's going to be no math just leave numbers out entirely.

    Yes, I am that guy.

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    The Bell Tower

    Haven’t listened yet but I did (sadly) click on the New Republic’s nauseating article. Interesting that only “conservatives” publish junk books. Certainly no progressives would author any valueless, self serving crap.

    One wonders where their “values” would leave brilliant works like Ian Kershaw’s biography of Adolf Hitler. Or Mein Kampf itself for that matter. Everyone should read that screed. Clearly, if they think the words of a potential future president should be censored, the point of education and knowledge is lost on them.

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  10. ROBERT

    I also highly enjoyed the prison gang podcast. Would love to read more of your thoughts about the guest's insight (I don't want to risk misspelling his name).
    Two dogs sleeping at your feet? Sounds like a great way to end any podcast. How's the dog book coming?
    Enjoyed this podcast!

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