TLP Week in Review, 11/19-11/25
Your weekly summary of what we've been up to here at The Liberal Patriot.
What We’re Reading (and Watching and Listening To…)
“The Return of the Progressive Atrocity”: In Quillette, NYU professor Susie Linfield blasts left-wing apologias for the October 7 pogrom, noting: “The deadliest single day in the post-Holocaust history of the Jewish people has been greeted in some quarters with joy and—to be blunt—an entirely undisguised hatred of Jews.” Likewise, the refusal to believe that Hamas actually means what it clearly says over and over again amounts to “intellectual Orientalism: Palestinians are viewed only as helpless, reactive victims rather than people who generate ideas and actions for which they can be held accountable.”
“It's Time to Bury the Suicidal Notion of a Binational State for Israel-Palestine”: Haaretz columnist and Hebrew University professor Dimitry Shumsky argues that the October 7 massacre ought to put an end to any “one-state” fantasies; “it can certainly be said today that the one-state paradigm has been tested in reality, and the horrific results of this test speak for themselves… We must return to the paradigm, the one whose rumored death was premature and unfounded, the paradigm of two states for the two peoples.”
Party of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP: Ruy blurbed this book and says it totally deserved it: “Patrick Ruffini is one of America’s smartest political analysts. In Party of the People, he explains how and why Republicans are building a multiracial populist coalition based in America’s working class. He builds his case with careful empirical documentation and illuminates both the challenges and opportunities the GOP faces as they attempt to bring this trend to fruition. The phrase ‘must-read’ is tossed about too easily but this really is a book both Republicans and Democrats need to read to understand where their country is going—and what they must do if they hope to succeed.”
Proclamation 2373—Thanksgiving Day: In his 1939 Thanksgiving Day proclamation, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave thanks for American progress: “Our Nation has gone steadily forward in the application of democratic processes to economic and social problems. We have faced the specters of business depression, of unemployment, and of widespread agricultural distress, and our positive efforts to alleviate these conditions have met with heartening results. We have also been permitted to see the fruition of measures which we have undertaken in the realms of health, social welfare, and the conservation of resources. As a Nation we are deeply grateful that in a world of turmoil we are at peace with all countries, and we especially rejoice in the strengthened bonds of our friendship with the other peoples of the Western Hemisphere.”
“Little Birdie”: Long-time Peanuts composer Vince Guaradi’s funk-tinged jazz ode to Woodstock, Snoopy’s put-upon little yellow avian companion, from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. An under-appreciated holiday classic!
What We’ve Posted
“The Crisis of Police and Public Safety” by John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Peter Moskos.
“A Mississippi Walloping” by TLP contributor and Mississippi native Jeff Bloodworth.
“Why the American Right is Wrong on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” by former diplomat and travel writer David Seminara.
“The Fragility of Israeli Deterrence” by Atlantic Council Middle East Security Initiative director Jonathan Panikoff.
“7 Themes Shaping U.S. Infrastructure Policy” by American Reformer founder and senior fellow Aaron Renn.
Ruy’s Science-Fiction Pulp Cover of the Week
Just one more thing…
In a now decades-old Thanksgiving tradition, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune sports columnist Patrick Reusse bestows the decidedly dubious honor of his annual “Turkey of the Year” award on “20 Years of [Minnesota] Wild hockey.” Previous “winners” include former Vikings running back and defeated Senate candidate Herschel Walker, former professional wrestler and Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, and the Turkey Chairman himself.
