Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Nov 01 2024
Flaws
You’ve got ‘em; I’ve got ‘em. Everyone either of us knows has ‘em. But when a man ascends to public attention, those determined to bring him down will focus on his flaws – real or imagined, minimized or exaggerated – to the extent of everything else about him. So it is and has …
Nov 01 2024
Some Music For The Lonely And Cynical
One of the best of the previous century’s songwriters was the late Stan Rogers. Like the great Al Stewart, Rogers could take any subject and weave it into a song. His lyrics are poetry of an increasingly rare sort, though if called a poet, he probably would have demurred. This one is for …
Nov 01 2024
Capable Of Dispute
Today’s “artificial intelligence “ (AI) fad has commanded a lot of attention for several reasons, not all of them pleasant. AI programs, which like all software must incorporate unalterable premises, have attracted some attention for exhibiting inherent biases. Some such biases are embedded in the program’s source code; others are “trained in” by whoever …
Oct 31 2024
A Terrifying Scenario
With all due respect for the American military, there’s been a lot going on in that institution that’s more than a little upsetting. At one time it could be relied upon to act in defense of the Constitution and the rights it enshrines. Today, the matter admits of some doubt. Here’s Lee Smith’s …
Oct 31 2024
Looking Ahead
Just five days to go. The campaign that’s seemed interminable is coming to an end… or is it? Do political campaigns ever end these days, or do they just take a different shape? There are a lot of ugly possibilities ahead of us. It’s unclear which ones are the ugliest. It’s equally unclear …
Oct 31 2024
Coming To You Direct From The Landfill
Voters are incensed about Biden’s “garbage” remark. It was a classic “Kinsley gaffe:” an occasion on which a politician fails to censor himself and lets slip the truth about what he thinks or feels. But it wasn’t Biden’s first. Remember this exchange with a Detroit auto worker? Biden has always regarded himself as above …
Oct 30 2024
Self-Cornered?
At the end of an observant article, Tristan Justice poses the key question: After Democrats have gone all in to declare that their political opponents are synonymous with German Nazis, it remains to be seen whether a Vice President Harris will actually accept the election results and certify a so-called modern-day Hitler as …
Oct 30 2024
Favorite Son?
It strains credulity, but if Elon Musk says it, I’m inclined to believe it: It was full to the rafters – every seat in the house – and there were over 70,000 people just standing in support in the streets around MSG. The movement is MASSIVE!! https://t.co/sNUJexEFx7 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2024 …
Oct 30 2024
Quote Of The Day
Saying and doing are antonyms in politics. — Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. I like it! Not only is it true, it’s a more concise version of a saying I’ve bandied around for decades: “When all is said and done, more will be said than done.” (Originator unknown) (And no, I did not …
Oct 29 2024
The Insistence On “Culture” As The Explanation
The statistics are devastating: Moreover, the trend is worse: Every year the FBI has collected statistics on violent crimes and crimes against property, the percentage of such crimes committed by young Negroes has increased. But the typical American who confronts those statistics will insist that “it’s not about race.” When pressed for an …
Oct 29 2024
Who’s Silent?
I’m likely to be away from the computer for most of the day, so I’ll post one more quick thought before I toddle off to my chores. The 1968 Presidential campaign, in which Richard Nixon won a narrow victory over Hubert Humphrey, was the first such to feature statements from conservative-leaning activists about …
Oct 29 2024
If You Need More Reasons To Detest the Mainstream Media
…you needn’t look far: Thousands of Trump supporters packed the “World’s Most Famous Arena” to hear remarks by high-profile speakers, including an address from former first lady Melania Trump, before the former president took the stage. But instead of observing a Republican nominee drawing a massive crowd in the middle of a blue …
Oct 28 2024
To Serve The Public Interest
“Who is the public? What does it hold as its good?” — From an obscure novel of the Fifties. All the way back to the Federal Radio Act at the beginning of the last century, licenses to use a part of the electromagnetic spectrum for broadcasting have been granted under a stipulation: that …
Oct 27 2024
“Water Through The Locks”
Time was, the sentiment of the American people was firmly against allowing government – at any level – to engage in “public works.” That’s not the same as “public property,” of course. Public works, while they may result in the acquisition or creation of public property, are nominally intended for the improvement of some …
Oct 27 2024
A Questionable Closing
I often find that I agree with a commentator’s main point but am puzzled by one of his assertions. This is most often the case when the assertion at issue is about “us:” the American people. We’re a variegated bunch. Generalizations about us tend to be rather weak and fraught with important exceptions. Part …
Oct 26 2024
Quote Of The Day
This, from Victory Girl Deanna Fisher, sums up the media’s problems vividly: Apparently, those who pay the bills in the media ecosystem have realized that their approval ratings are just slightly above pond scum. Both true and piercing. Congratulations, Deanna!
Oct 26 2024
The Left Will Not Be Balked By Godwin’s Law
Mike Godwin’s contribution to the analysis of political rhetoric states that: Godwin’s law (or Godwin’s rule of Nazi analogies) is an Internet adage asserting that “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1″—that is, if an online discussion (regardless of topic or scope) goes …
Oct 26 2024
The King Of The Establishmentarians
…is none other than Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a scathing assessment of the modern Republican Party in an upcoming biography, saying the “MAGA movement is completely wrong” and that Ronald Reagan “wouldn’t recognize” the party today. “I think Trump was the biggest factor in changing the …
Oct 26 2024
Free Exercise?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. [Amendment I to the Constitution of the United States] …
Oct 25 2024
Pathways
First and foremost, Happy Saint Crispin’s Day! It’s not a bad idea to reread Henry V, if you have the time. Henry’s Saint Crispin’s Day speech to his troops at Agincourt is the second most famous of all Shakespeare’s soliloquies. The rest of the play ain’t bad either. If you’d rather watch than read, …
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