Tim Scott as “national leader” in the Multicultacracy (2012) — Revisited, 2023

I wrote a post here at Hail To You titled “Tim Scott, a ‘national leader’ in the Multicultacracy,” ten years ago, back when he (the Black politician Tim Scott of South Carolina) was given his political debut. He was then appointed to the U.S. Senate by “Nikki” Haley-nee-Kaur-Randhawa. The latter had somehow been elected South Carolina governor two years earlier.

It’s interesting now to revisit this late-2012 commentary — as both these people, Tim Scott and Nikki Haley-Kaur-Randhawa, are second-tier presidential candidates for the Republicans, as shown and discussed in my recent post: “The 2024 Republican nomination — betting market update, May 2023 — Trump 50%, DeSantis 28%, Other 22%.”

Both of these individuals are positioned as important second-tier presidential candidates for 2024, after their entry into politics in the early 2010s as minor “bush-league” figures (just after the capital-B Bush era ended). Both may be products of the “Tea Party movement” of the time. It’s as if they were, have been, groomed for their positions and for national leadership. That was the main theme of my 2012 post on the meaning of Tim Scott. The man was being spoken of immediately as a “national leader”, in late 2012, upon his appointment to the U.S. Senate, by Haley. Out of nowhere…

This would seem to say something about Regime politics.

Hail To You

TIM SCOTT, “national Leader,” 2013-?

NPR: “The choice is full of firsts — Scott will be the only African-American in the Senate, the first black Republican in the Senate in decades, and only the second since Reconstruction. The one-term congressman immediately becomes a national figure”.

David Woodward, a Clemson University professor: “I think he [Tim Scott] represents an opportunity for conservatives to rally behind somebody who could be a national leader.”

A national leader!

An obscure, one-term Congressman. A graduate of a third-rate university (his alma-mater, Charleston Southern, ranks 15th of the 20 colleges in South Carolina in terms of enrolled-student SAT scores; the average attendee did not even manage 500 per section on the SAT).

NIKKI HALEY (nee Nimrata Kaur Randhawa), champion of ‘minority’ advancement

Why did Governor Haley appoint this man?

Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina:

“It is very…

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The 2024 Republican nomination — betting market update, May 2023 — Trump 50%, DeSantis 28%, Other 22%

Using PredictIt better-market data, here is a look at the state of the Republican nomination race for 2024. I made a previous version of this kind of report in August 2022, and will here compare the May 2023 with the August 2022 data (derive from the PredictIt betting market), along with other relevant commentary and developments.

(1250 words)

(from cartoon by Ben Garrison, Nov. 9, 2022.)

–The first-tier candidates are: Trump and DeSantis.

— The second-tier candidates are: Tim Scott, ‘Nikki’ Haley, Mike Pence, and perhaps Glenn Youngkin and/or Kristi Noem.

— A small group of long-shot bettors put real money on the nominee being Tucker Carlson after his firing, an effect which still remained in mid-May 2023.

On ‘Immigrationism’ ideology, its future, and elite-dissent: Economists Tyler Cowen and John Cochrane on the impact of foreigners upon the U.S. elite

Hail To You

(4200 words)

They say the future for Western Man is “oblivion.” The Regime does have us on the track to oblivion. Our elite rides in the first-class train-car, at the head of the train-to-oblivion. They spend their time congratulating each other on how good they are, how good everything is. Consensus prevails. But sometimes, whispered conversations of dissent are heard, even in the first-class car of this train-to-oblivion. These men have the influence and power to redirect the train, or stop it. We should be interested in what they say, even in whispered-conversations. The future is not yet written. How and when we take control of the train is the great question of our time.

The U.S. elite’s received-wisdom on “immigration” is central to the USA’s problems. It is a key plank in our road to oblivion. Elite dissent on immigration is, therefore, a matter of interest.

I want to…

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On the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), its turn towards Wokeness, the OSF Board, and the role of Asians in the USA

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“Our motto, almost from the beginning, has been: ‘What’s past is prologue’.” — Jerry Turner, artistic director, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 1991

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The role of Asians in the USA: the “diasporic ethics”; the instinct towards monopoly; the low social-trust and lack of magnanimous civic-mindedness, despite being (as is often said) “nice people”; the striving over-competitiveness; the “passport shopping” phenomenon by which they change citizenships without changing identity in any meaningful way and even retain primary ties to the mother-country or mother-group, just with a new (U.S.) passport; the social-cultural quirks, traits, and distortions that come from these people’s interactions with the Regime, and the Regime’s ideology; and the effects on these people of interactions with other groups within the 21st-centuy prison-house-of-nations called the USA; the way the Asian applies his or her cultural-political instinct to conditions as-encountered, both as an individual seeking personal gain and as a member of a group seeking collective gain; the auxiliary role embraced by many Asians, particularly the ambitious young ones, within Wokeness-ideology. Such are some facets of the of the role of Asians in the USA.

Some interesting data on this question of the role that Asians play in the USA in the 21st-centuy USA comes to us recently from a frankly unexpected place: the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), an organization dedicated to the performing arts. Its leadership — the Board of Directors and artistic-directorial staff — has six Asians. A look at these people yields some interesting insights and lessons into one “role” of Asians in the USA.

(Oregon Shakespeare Festival [OSF] promotional material, 2010s.)

On ‘Immigrationism’ ideology, its future, and elite-dissent: Economists Tyler Cowen and John Cochrane on the impact of foreigners upon the U.S. elite

(4200 words)

They say the future for Western Man is “oblivion.” The Regime does have us on the track to oblivion. Our elite rides in the first-class train-car, at the head of the train-to-oblivion. They spend their time congratulating each other on how good they are, how good everything is. Consensus prevails. But sometimes, whispered conversations of dissent are heard, even in the first-class car of this train-to-oblivion. These men have the influence and power to redirect the train, or stop it. We should be interested in what they say, even in whispered-conversations. The future is not yet written. How and when we take control of the train is the great question of our time.

The U.S. elite’s received-wisdom on “immigration” is central to the USA’s problems. It is a key plank in our road to oblivion. Elite dissent on immigration is, therefore, a matter of interest.

I want to spotlight the views of two influential economics professors, Tyler Cowen and John Cochrane. Cowen interviewed Cochrane in a discussion that was, in part and in effect, the equivalent of one of those “whispered conversations” on that train-to-oblivion in my opening metaphor. To my surprise, they were both (uncharacteristically) critical of immigration.

The USA’s “Guiding Maxim on Immigration”: analysis of and commentary on a discussion between Nicolas Eberstadt, John Cochrane, H. R. McMaster, and Niall Ferguson

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A Hoover Institution talk of March 13th, 2023 (link), about demographic decline, contains an exchange about immigration to the USA that is such a good encapsulation of Regime ideology (and mantras) that it is worth reproducing here in text form. This I do here.

After reproducing the commentary of greatest interest, I contextualize who was saying these things, why, and what it means for us.

We all wonder what the solution to the demographic problem is. Embedded in this discussion we see some outlines of the true nature of the problem itself, and perhaps the hazy outlines of path towards our revival and future.

The part of the March 13th “Hoover” talk of greatest interest comes when Nicolas Eberstadt, the eminent scholar and demographer, says that he is puzzled or worried or bemused about the USA’s lack of “any immigration policy.” The Regime’s embarrassingly feckless border policy looks so bad, so insulting to Middle America, he says, that it “may poison popular attitudes towards immigration.”

A tale of two Garlands: A study of U.S. political development through the contrast of two U.S. attorneys general, 1880s vs. 2020s

The editor-in-chief of the political blog Peak Stupidity issued a missive in late March 2023 against one of the USA’s top government officials, Attorney General Merrick Garland (“The Potomac Regime’s Lavrentiy Beria,” March 25, 2023).

This man, Merrick Garland, is in the process of using his powers to raid, arrest, prosecute, and jail up to 2,500 political opponents (political prisoners) including some former government officials for what seem frivolous reasons but which really amount to l’ese majeste offenses (insulting the Regime). For that, and for his role in promoting the Ukraine War and many other things, Peak Stupidity concludes that “Merrick Garland is an evil individual.”

Not many know that Merrick Garland is the second man named “Garland” to hold the position of U.S. attorney general. He is the second “Attorney General Garland.” The first was President Grover Cleveland’s attorney general from 1885 to 1889. That 19th-century Garland’s name was Augustus Garland.

it is one of those instructive studies-in-contrasts to take a look at the two side-by-side: The 19th-century Garland and the 21st-century Garland. This “Garland vs. Garland” comparison hold lessons for the USA and its political development.

The emergence of the Regime, as we now recognize it, is symbolized by the 21st-century Garland. The traditional America and the core of the nation over which the Regime rules, is symbolized by the 19th-centuy Garland. What follows is a look at these two men and just how the works.

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“A TALE OF TWO GARLANDS”: A STUDY OF U.S. REGIME DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE CONTRAST OF TWO ATTORNEYS GENRAL, 1880s vs. 2020s

(10,000 words)

Sections:

Keith Preston on Woke-Capitalism, the Corona-Panic, and “totalitarian humanist revolution”

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I present the following essay, by Keith Preston, on the Corona-Panic’s place in history, the Panic’s ties to Wokeness and “Woke Capitalism,” and to geopolitical developments playing out in the 2010s and 2020s. It is a unique perspective on the meaning of the Panic of 2020.

This essay is based on an overlooked “Tweet thread” by Keith Preston. It has been adapted and edited by me (E. H. Hail) to suit this format; it has been “de-Twittzerized.” Nothing substantive within his arguments has been changed. (See original raw tweet-thread here.)

Following the essay are some words about Keith Preston and his politics. Comments invited.

Understanding the Totalitarian Humanist Revolution: Wokeness, the Corona-Panic, the New Ruling Class, and Geopolitics

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(by Keith Preston;
edited and adapted by E. H. Hail.)

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THE beginning of the pandemic, three years ago this month [i.e., in March 2020], sparked a revolution. First, the global capitalist classes used conditions as a pretext for massive economic consolidation and upward wealth distribution. Next, the economic and social effects triggered an insurrection by the Lumpenproletariat that subsequently turned into a general popular rebellion. Third, the ascendant sectors of the capitalist class used the rebellion as a pretext and rode the wave of popular revolt to vastly increased power. The “Woke revolution,” which has occurred in various institutional sectors over the past three years, was a product of this process.

The Cinephobe, on immunity from the Corona-Panic of 2020

The following 800-word essay, by The Cinephobe of Canada, engages with the question of “immunity” from the Corona-Panic in 2020. It is, at core, a personal essay on why one man feels he himself was “immune.” It is not necessarily meant to propose universalizable standards. I believe The Cinephobe’s reflections are of value in the ongoing question of the Panic’s origins. This essay is a little light is generalizable to some portion of the Anti-Panic side, though I don’t know how large a portion.

The Cinephobe (cinephobia-radio.com) originally published this as a cumbersome series of Tweets (a “Tweet thread”) in January 2023. The contents were (necessarily) somewhat distorted by that medium, as with use of abbreviations and other distortions.

I discovered this last week, and have decided to adapt it for this venue, a more coherent, traditional essay form. This version includes a degree of editing for clarity and flow, and formatting, by me. The title is also mine. Despite these adaptations, the contents are still entirely The Cinephobe’s and not my own. (Note, The Cinephobe also uses the word “Corona-Panic,” as I usually do.)

Following the essay is commentary from me again on the general lessons from The Cinephobe’s essay.

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On immunity from the Corona-Panic

by The Cinephobe of Canada,
January 2023
(edited and adapted by E. H. Hail,
March 2023)

Scenes from the anti-war rally in Washington (Feb. 19, 2023)

“A motley, disparate collection of political-forces which, at a glance, share very little in common.”

That is the gist of one of the notes I jotted down while observing the scene during the recent anti-war rally in Washington, held Sunday, February 18th, 2023.

(caption: Ron Paul calls for ending the war in Ukraine at anti-war rally, Washington, Feb. 19, 2023.)

A realization about the rally came to me some time later: the attendees did share something in common, something big in common. I do not refer to opposition to the Ukraine war (alone). The big thing they shared in common was: non-Wokeness.

Few if any of the attendees were Woke or pro-Wokeness. Some were pre-Woke. Some were anti-Woke. Some were just non-Woke of miscellaneous sort. This is one of the big lessons of the day, and there are many others, such as seeing what I suspect to be a Ukrainian influence-ops operation in progress aiming to sabotage the rally.

The World Cup caused the Chinese anti-Lockdown protests

• Fact 1: China’s Lockdown regime between early 2020 and late 2022 was more brutal than that of almost anywhere on Earth, up there with Australia and New Zealand in degree of severity and reality-detachedness. Even as Corona-Mania ebbed elsewhere, even as the Corona-juntas that had taken control of most rich-country governments began to stand down and mostly allow civilian rule again, China clamped down. A moderate-severe flu virus is too risky. Forever-lockdowns are the only answer. So it went.

• Fact 2: To all accounts, the Chinese citizenry was remarkably passive through near three years of this, with very few if any real reports of meaningful organized resistance to the regime’s Lockdownism and associated power-expansion. Pundits have said it fits with these people’s lack of protest in general despite (or “because of”) living under one of the world’s worst governments. (Neither do North Koreans protest.)

• Fact 3: The World Cup opened on November 20, 2022. There were multiple games per day thereafter until December 5, when the pace slowed down considerably as many teams had by then been eliminated. The feed for these games was shown freely in China showing jubilant maskless crowds.

• Fact 4: A series of small protests appeared in China in the last week of November 2022. These protests were generally tame. But any organized, multi-location, sustained protests are unprecedented in that system.

The cause and effect in visuals, for those many of you out there who prefer pictures to words:

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(originally written, December 2, 2022; revised and published, Dec. 7)

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The question: What galvanized some Chinese to — finally — protest their Corona-regime?