As I was reading all the righteous smackdown aimed his way, something was tickling my memory cells. Hadn't I posted about Nichols, Back In The Day? Why yes, I had:The “experts” do not have expertise based on an analysis of the empirical evidence. They have their prejudices reinforced from inside their elite echo chambers.The public has come to realize that and doesn’t want to listen to these idiots and assholes anymore.Case in point, his opinion on CCW:Even when I was a Republican, I never understood people who measure freedom by how many of us walk around with guns. This is a cultural change, the spreading of the gun culture from a corner of the GOP to the entire conservative moment. /1The spread of gun worship is conservative virtue-signaling. Never liked it when I was among my old tribe, and it’s gotten worse as “conservatives” try to figure out new markers for what makes them “patriots” now that they’ve had to sell out so much actual patriotism to Trump.
I could go on, but by now you've noticed the Learned Expert's habit of setting up straw men. No, anger at the NSA's spying program isn't founded in a feeling that it's unconstitutional and damaging to America's economy and security, it's because we disrespect Mr. Schindler's advanced education. No, we do not question Expert Foreign Policy opinions on Russia because of spectacular failures of past Russian Policy Experts (c.f. the CIA's assessment that the USSR was the world's 3rd largest economy in 1988), it's because we don't appreciate his PhD. No, we don't question the research from the current Academic Establishment because it has produced oddball policy recommendations regarding Global Warming and Keynesian Economics - it's because we don't even understand what a PhD means.I guess we can add "paying gigs moonlighting for The Atlantic" to that list. Oh, and the post title? "Elitist bemoans declining popularity of elitism". That was six years ago.
Oooooh kaaaaaay.
My take is that Tom Nichols is a very smart guy who needs to get out more often. In particular, he needs to hear more people voicing (legitimate) complaints about the Elite's lack of transparency, accountability, and propensity to game the system in pursuit of tenure and grant funding.
So pay no attention to this guy. He's an elitist prick writing for other elitist pricks whose days are passing away. He's perpetually butt hurt that people are judging the value of his credentials and expertise by the results produced by people with the same credentials and expertise, and taking a hard pass on his advice.
It sounded familiar, so I searched his name and I wrote about him, too.
ReplyDeleteHe's not just a fascist prick, he's an irredeemable fascist prick.
So he's 'certified' smart... Big F'ing deal. I could care less about his blather.
ReplyDeleteWell, he's somewhat correct, as we conservatives tend to use firearms as canaries in the coal mine of politics.
ReplyDeleteBut he derives the wrong inference from said canary use of guns, which to us is when someone questions the gun's existence (well, except for Lorcins and Bobcats and some Llamas and that Zip22 thingy) we correctly interpret the questioning as an attack on the Bill of Rights.
Especially as we've seen that in order to try to deny the 2nd Amendment, they will willingly attack the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.
The gun-grabbers have yet to figure out how to violate the 3rd, unless you look at a full SWAT raid by at least 12 agencies (fed, state and local, including the EPA, BATFE, USPS, CBP, IRS, IOU, PDQ, RSVP, SPQR...) as 'quartering' though I am sure they're trying to find a way...
Graybeard, I had to search for that post. It was a good one. I recommend anyone reading this post read that one, too: https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2013/12/and-word-of-day-is.html
ReplyDeleteOld NFO, yep.
Beans, I think that the most damaging (to him) part of his essay was when he said that carrying guns was "virtue signaling" by the right. It brought to mind what is perhaps the most famous quote from Orwell:
ReplyDeletePacifism is objectively pro-Fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, ‘he that is not with me is against me’. The idea that you can somehow remain aloof from and superior to the struggle, while living on food which British sailors have to risk their lives to bring you, is a bourgeois illusion bred of money and security.
You can apply this to Nichols and his view of firearms. He is attempting to remain aloof from the icky guns while relying on well armed police (not to mention living and working in well policed, safe neighborhoods). The lack of self-awareness on display by him is very damaging to his reputation. You might call it a bourgeois illusion bread of money and security.
How is possible to virtue signal with a weapon which is no one is supposed to know is there?
ReplyDeleteThe guy is a professor at the Naval War College. In case anyone was wondering why military bases are defenseless against terrorists or even random criminals.
ReplyDeletemy oldest brother(a curmudgeonly old fart who used to wrench Lambos, Ferraris and german trash) has a saying I am coming to endorse-fuck the doomed.
ReplyDelete