A Year of Liberal Double Standards | National Review Online

A Year of Liberal Double Standards | National Review Online: "Despite controlling the commanding heights of the culture — journalism, Hollywood, the arts, academia, and vast swaths of the corporate America they denounce — liberals have convinced themselves they are pitted against deeply entrenched powerful forces and that being a liberal is somehow brave. Obama, the twice-elected president of the United States, to this day speaks as if he’s some kind of underdog.

Frank Rich, the former New York Times columnist and theater critic, recently interviewed Chris Rock for New York magazine. He wanted to know why right-leaning comedian Dennis Miller isn’t as funny (at least according to Rich) as Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. He asked Rock, “Do you think that identifying with those in power is an impediment to laughter?”

It was a hilarious and revealing moment. Stewart — who recently had to turn down a pleading request from NBC to take over Meet the Press — has long identified with liberals in power. Moreover, he’s easily one of America’s most powerful liberals, routinely creating and enforcing liberal conventional wisdom (much as Rich had done from his perch at the Times). Miller, meanwhile, has nowhere near the same cultural clout precisely because he doesn’t affirm the single standard at the heart of liberalism: “We’re the good guys.”"



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Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans - The Daily Beast

Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans - The Daily Beast: "Law is essential to freedom because it safeguards citizens against misconduct and abuse. By drawing boundaries against wrongful conduct, law provides a protective zone of freedom within those boundaries. Companies can’t pollute; businesses can’t cheat; people must honor contracts. On this open field of freedom, people can act spontaneously without undue defensiveness

Modern law goes a giant step backwards—it often bars people from doing what’s right. Law’s proper role is now seen as instructing people how to make daily choices. Instead of providing the framework for freedom, law has replaced it, creating a legal minefield rather than an open field for free choice."



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Free Speech Now! | The year of the cultural colonialist | Arts & Culture | Free speech | spiked

The year of the cultural colonialist | spiked: "This trend was best summed up by Brianna Wu, a games developer and one of the leading anti-#GamerGate missionaries. When asked by the BBC what ‘something’ she was insisting must be done, she said: ‘It’s not like I’m advocating that we ban Call of Duty or anything silly like that. [What] I’m asking is for companies to… make sure they portray women in their games in a socially responsible way.’ It’s a seemingly well-meaning but actually quite chilling sentiment. And it feeds into an unedifying process by which artists are being elevated and trashed purely on the basis of how ‘responsible’ their work is."



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Americans back normalizing relations with Cuba, but has anyone examined the costs? « Hot Air

Americans back normalizing relations with Cuba, but has anyone examined the costs? « Hot Air: "Outside of local media in Florida, how often has it been reported that Cuba harbors approximately 80 fugitives from American justice; murderers, anti-American revolutionaries, and even a member of the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. Havana is not about to give all of these criminals up, many of whom have been living in this communist nation for decades and have firm ties to the local community. In fact, the Cuban government has already signaled that the extradition of American fugitives is off the table. So, will Washington seek controversial extradition treaty with Cuba or will the president offer these violent criminals a blanket pardon? The latter course is fraught with domestic political peril and could jeopardize the popularity of the normalization project – if the press deigns to report on this narrative-disrupting condition at all – while the former is equally problematic."



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Vox: Oops, no, this Winter Solstice was not the longest night ever « Hot Air

Vox: Oops, no, this Winter Solstice was not the longest night ever « Hot Air: "Look, people get stuff wrong. It’s going to happen and it’s honorable to correct oneself. But there’s something galling about the site positioned as the one that will explain the world to all the rest of us, the site so high on its own intellectualism, getting so very much obvious stuff completely, totally wrong. Good luck in the new year. I hear 2015 is going to be the longest year on record. Ever. On Earth.

Thanks for the explanation, guys."



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North Korea and the Speech Police - NYTimes.com

North Korea and the Speech Police - NYTimes.com: "But it would be far easier to live with this predictable liberalism if these institutions, so pious about their commitment to free expression, weren’t so quick to knuckle under to illiberalism in all its varied forms.

“We cannot have a society,” President Obama said on Friday, when asked about the Sony hack, “where some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States.”

In theory, that’s absolutely right. But in practice, Kim Jong-un has our culture’s number: Letting angry people impose a little censorship is just the way we live right now."



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Not working for the working class: Column

Not working for the working class: Column: "Given the availability of government benefits, most working-class people of any race could be on welfare if they chose. That they're not drawing government checks means that they value work. As Slate's Jamelle Bouie notes, government programs like Social Security and Medicare are differently received, because they aren't seen as rewarding people for not working. When your neighbor gets welfare, it makes you feel like a sucker for going to work. Medicare, not so much."



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