Media, Democrats question intelligence of Americans who are voting Republican: 'Aren't very bright'

My girlfriend often tells me I am being illogical when I disagree with her so I think the same sort of thing is going on here. Democrat devotees think that disagreeing with them indicates lower intelligfence.

In case anyone is interested in the facts, the usual finding is that Leftists do have a very slight advantage over conservatives in average IQ. But which way does the causal arrow point?

It's likely that more intelligent people are more attuned to what is currently "correct" and so are better able to follow the mob in their beliefs. Conservatives, by contrast, may be more independent minded and hence less likely to follow the intellectual fashions. Being intelligent may simply help make you a better conformist in today's Left-dominated society

Liberal media figures and Democratic politicians are questioning the intelligence of Americans who are voting Republican, befuddled by the idea that some could put economic issues over concerns about the state of U.S. democracy.

While voting rights and threats to democracy are key voting issues, especially among Democratic voters, polling has repeatedly shown that issues such as the economy, inflation, crime, and abortion often outperform the former. However, this has not stopped media figures and Democrats from blasting their warnings about Republican lawmakers across the airwaves.

Over the weekend, left-wing documentary filmmaker Michael Moore gave his final push to vote Democrat ahead of the midterms, but in doing so, claimed that 80 to 90 million Americans "aren’t very bright."

"No offense to any of you watching that aren’t bright, but that’s—you’re watching MSNBC, so I’m making an assumption that you know what’s going on," he said.

He also expressed confusion at the idea of women "giving up their rights" because of their alarm over the price of gas or the price of food.

On November 3, "The View’ co-host Sunny Hostin was widely condemned for comparing White suburban women voting Republican to cockroaches voting for insecticide. Some critics even called for the host’s firing.

"What’s also surprising to me is the abortion issue. I read a poll just yesterday that White Republican suburban women are now going to vote Republican," Hostin said, appearing to refer to surveys showing White women backing Republicans in 2022. "It’s almost like roaches voting for Raid [roach spray], right?"

The condescending attitude towards voters leaning Republican in the midterm elections continued on ABC, with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel appearing to mock voters whose troubles have pushed them to vote red.

"The midterm elections are on Tuesday, and we have a tough decision ahead. On the one hand our democracy is being threatened by extremists who want power over at all costs even if it means burning us to the ground. On the other hand, gas is four dollars a gallon now, so," Kimmel sardonically quipped.

Similar conversations could also be found on social media, with liberal journalists appearing to mock Americans concerned about inflation and the price of gasoline.

"I don’t get the obsession with ‘high’ gas prices," Reuters reporter Patricia Zengerie tweeted, alongside a picture of gas at a Shell station being sold at $3.49 a gallon.

Another Twitter conversation saw BBC reporter Shayan Sardarizadeh promote an article she wrote detailing a coalition of Republican candidates who falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen. The tweet also claimed that the group’s founders had connections to the far-right QAnonconspiracy theory.

"But cereal is kinda pricey, so I dunno," The Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols replied to the post.

The contemptuous tone of media personalities toward Republican voters also revealed itself on MSNBC during two separate installments of "The ReidOut."

During an interview with Hillary Clinton, host Joy Reid asked if she was concerned that voters are not "putting the pieces together," regarding how Republican control of the House could embolden fringe theories and an election denier mentality.

"I don’t think people are really able to grasp that—but more importantly I’m not sure they really understand the threats to their way of life," Clinton replied.

A week earlier, MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd joined Reid’s show, where he likened Americans voting Republican to German citizens helping to bolster the rise of Nazi Germany.

Reid prompted Dowd by stating that people who sit back and think that a Republican-led Congress won’t be that bad might be as dangerous as the "radicals" vying for public office.

"It certainly sounds very familiar to what happened in Germany—which is a bunch of citizens, Adolf Hitler gets a third of the vote," Dowd said. "Nobody thought it could happen there. They kind of went along because they said he was going to solve the economy and fix inflation, those sorts of things. And then lo and behold a few years later they lost their democracy, and they’re all like ‘how’d that happen here?’"

A New York Times/Sienna poll released in mid-October showed that a whopping 71% of the 792 registered voters questioned say "American democracy is currently under threat."

Among those who fear for democracy, 84% of them, or roughly 60% of all registered voters, view "mainstream media" as some sort of threat. A majority, 59%, call the media a "major threat to democracy" while an additional 25% call it a "minor threat to democracy."

President Biden urged Democrats last Wednesday to show up at the polls during next week's midterm elections or "allow the dark forces that thirst for power" to chip away at American democracy.

One day later, Biden gave a final address ahead of the midterms, pleading with Americans to vote against Republicans, and accusing the party of suppressing access to vote, denying elections, and encouraging political violence.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/media-democrats-question-intelligence-americans-voting-republican-arent-bright

*********************************************

Leftugees: Democrats escape blue states

Remember the chorus of Hollywood bien-pensants who publicly avowed that they would leave the country if Trump won the election in 2016? To the surprise of virtually no one, none of the stars abandoned their mansions and fled to the ‘beacons of freedom’ like Canada.

But now, curiously, with their man Joe Biden in power, and their party controlling both the House and the Senate, many of the almost exclusively Democratic partisan Hollywood elites are fleeing the most progressive of blue states, California.

The latest to announce such a move is actor Rob Schneider, who publicised his relocation to Arizona this month, saying that he doesn’t want the Democratic Party to run his life. Hot on his heels is Mark Wahlberg, who is abandoning his $90m LA mansion, is moving to Nevada to give his family a ‘better life’.

Perhaps Wahlberg, who has young children, is talking about the bizarre schooling offered in his state? Halloween has come and gone with angry parents lambasting the Encinitas Union School District school board in San Diego for advertising a ‘family friendly’ drag show as part of a children’s Halloween party. This was sponsored by a San Francisco gender reassignment surgery center. Hypersexualized elements, for reasons I dare not contemplate, have been something that the ultra-progressives are keen to cram into young children’s education.

This exodus is not only of individuals. Netflix and NBC Universal have moved to New Mexico. Other major corporations like Apple, Chevron, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle, Tesla, and American Airlines have abandoned California, many of which moving their headquarters to Texas, Arizona, and Florida.

This is not surprising. California has some of the highest tax rates in the US, including the highest state sales tax, highest gasoline tax, highest personal income tax, and highest corporate income tax in Western US. It also has the most draconian lockdown measures, soaring crime rates, and possibly the most hypocritical governor in Gavin Newsom. As a result, California has been experiencing negative population growth for the first time in its history.

This phenomenon is by no means limited to California. Other blue states with the most progressive policies are seeing ‘leftugees’ who have moved to red states, despite the best efforts of the Census Bureau.

Entire counties are also trying to escape the clutches of progressive policies. Two counties in east Oregon are preparing to vote in November on possibly seceding the state and joining Republican-run Idaho.

Even Tulsi Gabbard, who, only two years ago, was running to be the Democratic candidate for the presidency, quit the party. On the surface, she is the perfect progressive politician – an ethnic and religious minority, a woman, a veteran, and a charismatic person. But she committed the one irremissible sin – she dared to think for herself.

And, as Gabbard has realised, here is the crux – the Democratic Party is completely recalcitrant. Its chief and only interest seems to be clinging to power. In this pursuit, it has committed all manner of hypocrisies. And this criticism is not confined to the US left, but leftist parties across the Western world, who have imbibed a similar tactic of ignoring reality in their pig-headed pursuit of radical, dangerous, and provably unworkable ideas, not to enrich the lives of those they govern, but to ensure that they will stay in power. While doing so, they are inclined to use all manners of authoritarian tactics to avoid confrontations with criticisms and responsibility.

What is desperately needed is for more people to judge those in the political sphere by their actions rather than by their reputations. And when more people do this, they will realise the true nature of progressivism, which is aptly described by the words of the US abolitionist Frederick Douglass: ‘Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other – devils dressed in angels’ robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise.’

https://www.spectator.com.au/2022/11/leftugees-democrats-escape-blue-states/

***********************************************

Meloni Derangement Syndrome



She's brilliant

Before her election as Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni faced accusations day in and day out that she was a ‘fascist’ because some members of her Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) party once belonged to the old Movimento Sociale Italiano, which was formed after the second world war by previous adherents of dictator Benito Mussolini. As Greg Sheridan and this correspondent have pointed out, such accusations were totally baseless. Thus, the initial diagnosis of Meloni Derangement Syndrome.

Just as was (and still is) the case with Trump Derangement Syndrome (and, in this country, Abbott Derangement Syndrome), its symptoms range from pettiness to irrationality and hatred.

The Left, of course, could not bring itself to celebrate Meloni’s election as Italy’s first female Prime Minister. Meloni is not their kind of woman. Instead, we see Italian women marching in the streets with their ‘No Meloni Day’ demonstrations, just like the ‘Not My President’ nonsense in America after Trump’s election. They prefer the Patroness of Woke also known as Jacinda of the Shaky Isles (sorry, Aotearoa). As we know, Jacinda, on a huge carbon-emitting trip to Antarctica, had to be rescued by the Italian Air Force when her ageing RNZAF plane broke down and couldn’t leave. Gee, those so-called ‘fascists’ are nasty.

The Italian daily il Giornale has been reporting – with a mix of sarcasm and reality checks – on the effects of Meloni Derangement Syndrome. In a recent report it noted that Italian women of the left stiamo rosicando, ma è molto difficile (it’s hard, we’re fuming!) after Meloni’s election. They were particularly upset that Meloni has declared that she will be referred to with the masculine definite article, as in ‘il Presidente del Consiglio’, rather than the feminine ‘la Presidente’, or worse ‘la Prima Ministra’. This polemic arises since women ministers (of the left) had previously decided to virtue signal and call themselves ‘la Ministra’ rather than ‘il Ministro’. Former Speaker of the Italian lower house (the Chamber of Deputies), Laura Boldrini, has been seething with rage, accusing Meloni of, among other things, ‘betraying feminism’. However, as Meloni said in riposte:

‘Leggo che il principale tema di discussione di oggi sarebbe su circolari burocratiche interne, più o meno sbagliate, attorno al grande tema di come definire la prima donna Presidente del Consiglio. Fate pure. Io mi sto occupando di bollette, tasse, lavoro, certezza della pena, manovra di bilancio. Per come la vedo io, potete chiamarmi come credete, anche Giorgia.’

‘I read that the main topic of discussion today would be on internal bureaucratic memos, more or less wrong, on the hugely important topic of how the first female Presidente del Consiglio should be referred to. Go right ahead. My focus is on energy bills, taxes, jobs, law and order, and the budget. As I see it, you can call me what you like, even Giorgia.’

Ouch!

As il Giornale also pointed out, Meloni has the guardian of the Italian language since the Renaissance, l’Accademia dell Crusca, on her side. The Accademia noted that a preference for the masculine or feminine gender in such circumstances rests entirely with the individual. If one prefers the more traditional masculine gender, that person has every right to do so. What is more, grammatically, in such circumstances the definite article actually refers to the office itself, not the person, and so has a neutral function.

Common sense analysis on this issue is coming from everyday Italians, as reported in il Giornale. ‘Who cares about a definite article? As long as she gets the job done!’

A further manifestation of Meloni Derangement Syndrome centres on frothing at the mouth over the newly announced crackdown on illegal raves, which attract thousands from all over Europe and go on for days. Such events, as one can imagine, are havens for drunkenness, drug use, and criminality – hence the crackdown. The recent rave party at Modena saw ubiquitous drug dealing and attacks on the police for days on end. The crackdown has seen Meloni Derangement Syndrome sufferers scream that Meloni wants to ban protests and that this proposed law was a ‘freedom-killing monster’. This claim comes from, among others, Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister during the 2020 Covid lockdowns, when protests were banned and people could not go 200 metres from their homes.

Meloni dealt with this bile, as she always does, with the cold hard facts:

‘Ho sentito dire di tutto, che vogliamo vietare le manifestazioni. Non c’è nulla di più distante dalla mia storia, sono cose che non stanno nè in cielo nè in terra. L’obiettivo del governo è impedire che il rave si faccia illegamente, bisogna rispettare chi lavora regolarmente: Lo Stato che fa finta di non vedere chi se ne infischia delle regole è finito. La storia di chi non vuole rispettare le norme dello Stato è finite. Qualsiasi cosa tu voglia fare, tu devi rispettare le leggi.’

‘I’ve heard everything, That we want to ban protests. Nothing could be further from my plan. This is complete nonsense. The government’s aim is to stop illegal raves. Those who go about their jobs lawfully must be respected. The days of the State turning a blind eye to those who don’t give a damn about the law are over. The days of people having no respect for the laws of this country are over. Whatever you want to do, you have to abide by the law.’

Meloni added that if anyone had any sensible proposals to amend the law to make it work better, they could bring them before the Parliament, since that is what it is there for. So much for being a fascist and a reactionary!

Notwithstanding the increasing shrieking that sufferers of Meloni Derangement Syndrome exhibit, Meloni’s poll standing keeps getting better. According to the latest data, Meloni has a 66 per cent approval rating, and her party’s poll position has actually improved since the election.

Meloni Derangement Syndrome may not be such a bad thing after all.

https://spectator.com.au/2022/11/meloni-derangement-syndrome

**************************************************

We are paying a hefty price for the free lunches of the recent past

Rotting money

In 2008, the plunging of central bank rates to nearly zero was super-weird. (EU rates eventually going negative, meaning you paid banks to keep your money, was even weirder.) Flatlined interest rates were a response to an emergency. Yet when emergency measures continue long enough, they start to seem totally normal, in this case inducing the bizarre expectation that borrowing money will be basically free, for ever.

Sorry, virtually free borrowing is intrinsically dysfunctional. It (surprise!) encourages more borrowing, so that central banks essentially solved a debt crisis with more debt. Combined with rampant money-printing, zero interest rates were a short-term expedient that made the big picture still worse. The longer zero and even negative interest rates persisted, the more deeply public and private parties sank into a debt trap – in hock for so much money that now even tiny rises in the cost of servicing that debt are disastrous for homeowners and governments both.

After all, with inflation raging towards or into double digits, why do you think central bank rates in the US (3.1 per cent) and the UK (2.25 per cent) are still so pathetic? Jerome Powell, the chair of the US Federal Reserve, and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey are up against the wall, damned if they raise rates and damned if they don’t. But these gentlemen helped create the quandary in which they’re mired. Negligible interest rates, which reward debtors and rob savers, thus transferring enormous wealth from the prudent to the profligate, should never have been sustained for an entire generation.

The Fed rate’s vertiginous plunge to .09 per cent by December 2008 was a panic move. The desperation appeared to bear fruit. At least the international financial system did not implode, though we came closer to fiscal apocalypse than most of us care to contemplate. Briefly doing something ‘unprecedented’ (it’s telling how tired we’ve all become of that word) to steady the ship was fair enough. Yet panic mode carried on for so long that it slid to business as usual.

You needn’t be a professional economist to solve this calculus equation. Over time, as money continues to be free and central banks keep magicking up trillions from thin air, money becomes disconnected from value – real products and services. This process soon approaches a limit. The limit is currency collapse. Steadily high inflation, few of you need to be told, is slow-motion currency collapse. (With a piddling average 2 per cent inflation rate, the pound has lost 99.6 per cent of its value since 1751 – but nearly all of that loss occurred since 1970.)

Right now, money throughout the world is rotting. We only have a ‘strong dollar’ because, given slightly-higher-than-farcical US interest rates, investors in greenbacks can slow the rot a tad. With American inflation stubbornly over 8 per cent, the dollar is still rotting, even if you can stick it in a whopping 3.5 per cent interest certificate of deposit – something like storing your meat in a beer cooler, but not in a proper fridge.

Yes, dire unanticipated events can sometimes force authorities to announce that all bets are off, the old rules don’t apply, and necessity trumps principle. But accession to states of emergency risks their installation in perpetuity. Strong men often declare martial law during a crisis, but the crisis never officially ends, and martial law morphs conveniently into a bog-standard police state.

We’re seeing the same process play out with Covid. The US has robotically renewed its ‘public health emergency’ every three months since January 2020, most recently just over a week ago – despite Biden’s declaration last month that the pandemic is over. Although (astonishingly) the UK’s 2020 Coronavirus Act was finally allowed to expire in September, No. 10 can always fall back on the 1984 Public Health Act, which justified all our beloved ‘nonpharmaceutical interventions’.

The WHO aims to codify these same diabolical ‘interventions’ and get member states to sign up to a universal protocol for disease control that’s legally binding. The EU Commission released a document in September that extends the bloc’s commitment to the use of lockdowns and inane vaccine passports (Covid vaccines have no effect on transmission), while recommending that masks (also ineffective in preventing transmission), preferably of the most uncomfortable, suffocating sort, be brought back as a first line of defence this very winter. As coronavirus anxiety wanes, newly self-important public health officials remind me of Gerry Adams’s notorious whisper about the IRA: We haven’t gone away, you know.

Besides, a state of emergency isn’t merely the supposedly temporary imposition of draconian laws, but a state of mind – one to which we’ve grown altogether too accustomed. Note how seamlessly the hysteria over Covid has segued to hysteria over climate change. This never-ending sensation of peril grants government the implicit right to do anything to save the world.

As we’ve seen demonstrated vividly since March 2020, laws that protect civil liberties are fragile and readily overridden. Rescinding the laws of economics is proving more difficult. Lo, the fusty classicists were right all along. 1) Give people the opportunity to borrow vast amounts of money for practically nothing, and lots of folks will take you up on your kindly offer – not least have-cake-and-eat-it politicians who want to spread manna on their constituents’ waters without taxing them to death first. 2) Concocting enormous sums from the ether, even via fancy legerdemain called ‘quantitative easing’, inevitably debases a currency down the line.

It’s well established, too, that inflation, once entrenched, has a life of its own. Escalating prices and wages have already gathered sufficient momentum that tardy rate rises, which can take years to make an impact, may produce the worst of all worlds: ruinous, undeterred inflation; cripplingly high servicing costs for sovereign debt; and widespread personal and small-business bankruptcies. Whoops! Sounds like another emergency to me.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2022/10/when-money-rots/

****************************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

*****************************************