Definition Lead to Clarity, and Both Are Sorely Lacking!

By Rich Kozlovich 

One of my 200 rules is:  Definition leads to clarity.  Clarity leads to understanding.  Understanding leads to wisdom.  Wisdom leads to good decision making.  And now you know why there are so many stupid decisions being made, a failure to define things properly.

Let's start with the idea "character counts"!  Recently Paul Ryan just had to tell the world he wasn't voting for Donald Trump because "character" matters.  Okay, so, since he doesn't like Trump's character, the implication he does like Biden's character, the corrupt head of a crime family.

It's really interesting since that's exactly what Cindy McCain said, "character counts", so she's supporting Joe Biden! Imagine that. The implication is that Biden, and the McCain's, were exemplars of good character, while Trump is the prime example of bad character, thus disqualifying him for the Presidency. 

Okay, he's certainly had his character issues, no one can dispute that, but Cindy McCain calling anyone's character into issue is really rich.  Her husband had a lifetime of character issues that were questionable, and using the world questionable is being kind.  It was her husband who was caught in the Keating Five scandal, one of the biggest financial scandals in the country, and the New Phoenix Times reported at the time - McCain was the "guiltiest, most culpable, most reprehensible of the Keating Five", and nothing changed throughout his life, including being real buddies with Joe Biden, the head of the Biden Crime Family.   An empty Senate seat would have done a much better job at representing the people of Arizona, and the nation, than John McCain.  An empty seat can't vote! 

Remember it was Paul Ryan who said Ketanji Brown Jackson was a wonderful pick for the Supreme Court. Well, I followed that story from front to back, and that story was an ugly confirmation of the quality of her intelligence, her understanding of law, and her character.  

And Ryan is a judge of what constitutes character? Remarkable!

Since these people really have a unique perspective on what constitutes "character", perhaps it tells a lot more about their character than those they condemn.  Here's the reality.  These nitwits don't come out and say “I’m in it for me; get used to it, peasant”, and they don't have to.  Their actions show it. 

There's just no end to the lunacy of the left.  We have these misfit students out protesting instead of gong to class, studying, and preparing to productively taking their place in the world, so now they're demanding they get a free pass on their finals, and I approve.  Why?   It was Napoleon who said never interfere with an enemy when he's making a mistake, so, I encourage these "students" to continue down this path.  Guess what?  Their legal careers are already down the toilet.  Now they can become what they're best qualified for.  Career protestors.  Schadenfreude!

I also applaud the academics who encourage and enable them because their mistakes are compounding, and hopefully the end result will be a total destruction of America's academic culture as it's currently configured, full of anti America DEI dimwits and plagiarists who've turned academia into an abscessed canker sore on America's butt.

The end result?  There's going to be a demand to end their funding, absolutely the end of this idiot student loan forgiveness nonsense, and in the long run I hope to see a lot fewer universities in existence, and each and every one of them made into for profit institutions with no government funding of any kind, and the end of the Department of Education. After all, isn't 45 years of failure enough already?

It turns out illegal aliens think they have rights, ergo, they have demands.  "Demands" mind you, and they've given the City of Denver  a list of 13 'demands' for services .  Services for criminals, imagine that.  Remember, they're here illegally, ergo, they're criminals, they're not citizens of the United States and they have no rights.

 

And do you doubt this has been orchestrated by leftist lunatic lawyers, just like the Columbia Law School protestors?  Well, as P.T. Barnum said: "Never give a sucker an even break", and they know they're dealing with suckers. So.... I don't blame them, I blame these suckers falling for all this leftist claptrap. The people of Denver wanted to be a sanctuary city, so they chose this, and they deserve this! Schadenfreude!

However, I hope they keep it up demanding more, and more, and more because it won't be long before the rest of the nation says.....ENOUGH! And kicks the whole bunch out and forces them over the border into Mexico with the help of the American military declaring this is an invasion of the United States with Mexico being collaborators to the invasion.

When the klaxon sounds on an military instillation that means battle stations, and there's no excuse for not hearing it, or responding to it.   Yet, one of the things that's amazed me for years is how Jews, the smartest people in the world, can be so stupid, especially American Jews.  

Antisemitism is part of the philosophical core of leftism, and has been since the French Revolution. And that's been obvious to the most casual observer, and yet America's Jews refuse to see that and have been part of the backbone of the Democrat party.

Well, stupid has it's consequences, and we're seeing those consequences playing out on America's university campuses, and in the Biden administration.  They're so blatantly antisemitic every Jew in the world should be afraid!  Because if there is no America, there will be no one who will defend Jews or Israel.

And this next election may determine America's continued existence. America's Jews are at that proverbial fork in the road. Which way will they go?

I offer up Ackman the Barbarian as an example. After their attack on his wife he had a DEI epiphany, and you would think he had become enlightened, but nooooo, he still remains a Democrat giving a million dollars to Dem. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, to run against Biden. A politician from a state that's a hot bed of leftist contamination. 

If Ackman the Barbarian is an example, I'm not optimistic.

You know that little voice in your head that keeps you from saying the things you shouldn't say?  Yeah, I don't have that.

Ackman the Barbarian

Definition leads to clarity and clarity leads to understanding

By Rich Kozlovich

On January 7, 2024 Monica Showalter published this article, Bill Ackman goes after MIT like a bat out of hell saying:

 

Is Bill Ackman the financial world's answer to tech's Elon Musk?  Sure seems like it. After declaring war on MIT and Business Insider for exposing his wife's less-than-plagiarism-free doctoral thesis, which came as payback for his calls to end antisemitism on elite campuses, he hasn't wasted a minute of time, working to expose MIT, its professoriat or its leadership.  Yesterday, he announced this:

My wife, @NeriOxman, was just contacted by Business Insider claiming that they have identified other plagiarism in her work including 15 examples in her dissertation where she did not cite Wikipedia as a source. Business Insider told us that they are publishing their story…

Today, he dashed off a 2,500-word piece on what he thinks he's doing, focusing on the power of artificial intelligence to keep wokester academic research honest....

The article goes on saying attacking this guy is a huge error in judgement and explains why, and truthfully, after reading about this guy, and comments by readers who either know him or about him, I'm inclined to agree, however I felt some clairty was needed, and I will explain that more fully later on, saying:

Okay, he's Conan the Barbarian when he gets ticked off, I get it. But why is he ticked off?  Let's make sure this is clear as a mountain stream. He didn't give two squats about all the corruption and plagiarism going on in academia until his wife was attacked for her plagiarism, of which from all indications, she is apparently guilty.   Now, if he channels his considerable skills and wealth, all fueled by his outrage, to expose the corruption in academia, which I think is blatant and rampant, then he's to be commended.

But let's not lose sight that this is some righteous crusade for truth, justice, and the American way. It's revenge for exposing his wife's perfidy. So, I think it's appropriate to ask this. If his wife hadn't been attacked, would he be launching this crusade? And if wouldn't why not, since it seems clear to me he must have already known this corruption was pandemic in academic and scientific circles.

There are a lot of regular commenters at AT.  Almost an AT family of commenters, and overall most the commenters at AT are much brighter than those who comment elsewhere, and as expected, in families there's disagreement, and agreement. Let's take a look.

Hitchhiker: He stated this in his last piece. It is about the support for the murder of Jews that got his interest. He even explained in his first so called screed that he did the research. He used to think DEI was about promoting diversity and being nice to people. But, he dug deeper and discovered the ugly truth and that is why he is now on the warpath. Go Bill Go.

 

ron mlerin: So, he was extremely naive?

 

Hitchhiker:  In many areas, yes.

 

Elizabeth Yezzi:  Gotta be honest with you Hitch. If a guy as rich and as smart as Ackman didn't know Harvard was a bastion of anti-Semitism for the past umpteen years he really shot his smart wad. He used to think DEI was about being nice to people? Seriously? Not buying it. I think he wanted to call out the anti - Semitism at first because he is Jewish and employs Jewish people AND Gay was inexcusable in her Congressional testimony and kudos to him for that. But if all these donors are doing their homework since they graduated 35 years ago, I suggest they look into the policy before they write the checks. Ignorance of the policies is no excuse.

 

Hitchhiker: I certainly won't argue about his judgment overall. I think he honestly was surprised when he began researching. Up till now, he has been too busy making money and building things. He is not stupid but, he was willfully blind. Now, he sees and that is a very good thing. He shoulda coulda seen it far earlier but, consider how many others still can't.

 

Paraphrasing Old Gyrene's comments: "I think the jury is still out on the charges against his wife. As noted above, there is nothing in the various Wiki's you can list as a 'source', since the entries are subject to constant revision/erasure." and "I think you have it exactly wrong and using the expression "his wife's perfidy" expresses your motivation quite clearly." 

 

t. c. white:  don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

Well, I didn't quote Wikipedia, and as of right now absolutely no one appears to be challenging the validity of her "perfidy", including her husband.  

 

As for not looking a gift horse in the mouth, I'm not, I applaud his actions, but I also think it's important to qualify his actions. First, he attacked Harvard for their antisemitic leanings over the vile attack on Israel by Hamas, and that was certainly justified, and he’s to be applauded and commended for that.

But where was he and all the other prominent, wealthy, Harvard graduated American Jews, and conservatives in general, before this? They were giving money to Harvard, all playing the game, and yet this attitude and mentality didn't exist in a vacuum! It was well known.

That attack against Harvard triggered an attack against his wife for plagiarism, which he basically defended and justified with what seemed to me to be a sort of “everyone does it” response. 

What we need is clarity. If he goes Conan the Barbarian, I will applaud him. If he’s successful in exposing a massive level of corrupt plagiarism I believe is rampant throughout academia’s ranks, I will laud him.

But clarity is crucial, and must be stated, because it won’t be long before they all drop right back into the same level of complacency and cultural acceptance that fostered this vile mentality in academia going back over 150 years, because “culture is king”.

 

The question that needs answering is this:  Will he use his wealth, intelligence, and influence to create a movement among the wealthy conservatives and Jews in America to purge academia of this vile leftist infection that's contaminating education in America, from Kindergarten through to advanced graduate work, all of which is destroying American cultural stability?   Will he take a stand for truth, justice, and the American way, or merely vent his spleen because he was personally offended and then fall right back into the cultural rot that's impacting academia and the wealthy elite? 

As the reporter in Charlie Wilson's War said:  We'll see!