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Sen. Tim Scott and American exceptionalism
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott
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Republican Sen. Tim Scott of The American people twice South Carolina has announced chose Mr. Obama as their the formation of an exploratory president, and today, perhaps committee for his candidacy for more than ever, racial awareness president. and politics permeate our day-toYou may have noticed that day realities. Sen. Scott is black. We may ask, They permeate practically all in this woke age of ours, political institutions, Star the extent to which this corporate boardrooms, Parker matters in his candidacy. athletics, universities, I think it does matter, K-12 schools and our dayThe author is to-day marketplace. which requires some with the Center explanation given that I And it’s why Sen. Scott’s for Urban am adamantly opposed to candidacy is so important Renewal and and why his race matters. identity politics in all its Education shapes and forms. Early in President Should Sen. Scott run Obama’s first term, and win, he will not be America’s he traveled to Europe for a first black president. When NATO meeting, and in the press America’s first black president, conference after, he was asked Barack Obama, did run and win, by a reporter from the Financial it was widely viewed as a turning Times if he believes in “American point in American history. exceptionalism.” Many thought that, at last, the For President Obama to say era of racial politics had come to “yes” would have been for him to an end. Now, the thinking went, state in this international forum that Americans showed that a that there is something unique black man could run for and win and special about his country the presidency, we would move that sets it apart from and above on from our national obsession others. with race and move on to dealing By standards of political with issues confronting the nation correctness, a “yes” answer as they impact every citizen, would have been most incorrect. regardless of race. President Obama’s finely tuned But it didn’t happen. political skills immediately kicked
in, and he answered in a most politically correct way. “I believe in American exceptionalism,” he said, “just as the Brits believe in British exceptionalism, and the Greeks in Greek exceptionalism.” America’s first black president is a very politically correct man. And it’s why his presidency changed nothing regarding racial realities in America. Tim Scott is not a politically correct man, and it is why his potential presidency can change everything. He does believe America is exceptional, and he is not afraid to say it. His recent book, “America, A Redemption Story: Choosing Hope, Creating Unity,” recounts what he has learned growing up poor, becoming a successful businessman and making his way to the U.S. Senate — and now, maybe, the presidency. His personal success story is not about government programs, but about “perseverance and grit,” only possible with faith and freedom. Sen. Scott is pro-freedom, proprivate property, pro-personal Please see PARKER on C4
Preserving fragile peace in Northern Ireland
resident Joe Biden’s four-day visit to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which began on April 11, has provided an overall opportunity to highlight our important — and complex — relationships with both Ireland and Britain. These ties span significant economic, Arthur I, Cyr military security and above all historical dimensions. Northern Ireland is geographically part of the island of Ireland, but under the sovereignty of Britain. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom. The majority of Northern Ireland’s population is Protestant, while Ireland is overwhelmingly Catholic. Ireland overall was under British rule until 1921. Independence relieved considerable political pressure, but Northern Ireland has
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n 2017, my friend Rod Dreher published his popular book, “The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation.” Mr. Dreher’s basic prescription, already intimately familiar to Orthodox Jews, is a localist focus on the cohesive formation of tight-knit, virtuous, religious communities as the best way of enduring the cultural onslaught of progressivism and secularism. There is nothing at all wrong with Tocquevillian localism, and surely it is part of the survival Josh Hammer strategy for America’s more traditionally inclined. But further extrapolated to its logical conclusion (something Mr. Dreher doesn’t do in his book, to be very clear), the strongestpossible version of this argument — a singular emphasis on retreat to communal redoubts at the expense of the public contestation of core issues — is self-defeating, a surefire losing strategy. It amounts to one big “LARP,” to use the common online abbreviation for “live-action role-playing” — an attempt to escape from reality and instead live in a different world than that which we actually inhabit. To “LARP” in this manner, and to retreat from our decadent civilizational morass more generally in the hope that all can be cured by wishing it to be so, is not merely naive. It also belies an underselling of modern progressivism-secularism’s fundamentally hegemonic impulse. Much like Pac-Man, the modern Left has an insatiable appetite, attempting to gobble up ever-more cultural, political
remained a source of tension and — periodically — violence. U.S. leaders have been influential in efforts to broker and maintain peace, over many years. Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, D-Maine, was central to the successful peace negotiations. On St. Patrick’s Day in 1977, U.S. Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Pat Moynihan, D-New York, joined with fellow Democrats Gov. Hugh Carey of New York and U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill from Massachusetts in urging IrishAmericans and others to stop sending money to violent groups. President Biden’s successful trip has reflected both these political and more personal dimensions. The president addressed an enormous audience at a cathedral in County Mayo, where his family has strong roots. “Over the years,” he said, “stories of this place have become part of my soul, part of my family lore.” During a visit to Knock Shrine, President Biden had the opportunity to talk with former U.S. Army Chaplain Fr. Frank O’Grady, who gave last rites to his late son Beau Biden. Former President Bill
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President Joe Biden
Clinton arrived on April 14 for celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, which ended the sectarian violence that had plagued Northern Ireland — and both Ireland and Britain — from the late 1960s. The understanding, actually
two agreements, signed on April 10, 1998, involved the details of power-sharing among Northern Ireland’s political parties and also the governments of Britain and Ireland. Despite challenges and occasional crises, this historic peace accord overall has held. President Biden made a point of visiting with five leaders from the main political parties of Northern Ireland. Events related to Northern Ireland reach well beyond the province. Britain after a long ordeal implemented Brexit, departing the European Union. Ireland remains a staunch EU member. Britain is a military power within NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), while Ireland is a neutral nation. Wider relationships may prove crucial. The G8 (Group of Eight) nations held a summit in Northern Ireland in June 2013. Members emphasized economic cooperation. The venue selected also underscored progress toward peace. The Northern Ireland summit also reconfirmed commitment to wider strategic cooperation. The participants agreed to work to ensure negotiations to end the
Syrian civil war became an urgent priority. Britain and the U.S. are historically close military partners. Such alliance began in World War I, and became close, vital and lasting during World War II. Intelligence operations were important in both wars and were the initial source of cooperation in World War II, which evolved into our continuing special relationship. Current developments in Europe provide sound reasons to re-emphasize this cooperation. Both Britain and Ireland are closely tied to the U.S. in the most human dimension of international relations, immigration. President Biden and former President Clinton have done a fine job of reinforcing these relationships. Arthur I. Cyr is author of “After the Cold War - American Foreign Policy, Europe and Asia” (NYU Press and Palgrave/Macmillan). He is also the director of the Clausen Center at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisc., and a Clausen Distinguished Professor. He welcomes questions and comments at acyr@carthage.edu.
The only way out is through
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Alexis de Tocqueville
and geographical terrain and permanently vanquish the forces of traditionalism and Americanism. Amidst this ineluctable backdrop, it is incumbent upon the American Right to recognize, as this column admonished last week in response to the New York County, New York district attorney’s unprecedented and utterly meritless criminal indictment of former President Donald Trump, that the only way out is through. Some recent examples help clarify what that entails.
Consider first the dramatic pushback to Anheuser-Busch’s gobsmacking decision to present a special-edition can of Bud Light, America’s best-selling beer, to biological male Dylan Mulvaney to commemorate the nowtransgender Mulvaney’s “365 Days of Girlhood.” Anheuser-Busch’s market capitalization has plummeted after the boneheaded decision, to the tune of billions of dollars. Kid Rock filmed a video of himself shooting Bud Light cans with a rifle and cursing off Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch, and country
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star John Rich announced he was pulling all Bud Light from his bar in downtown Nashville. Fox Business aptly summarized the carnage with a headline earlier this week: “Bud Light suffers bloodbath as longtime and loyal consumers revolt against transgender campaign.” The full damage will likely take weeks, perhaps months, to assess, and there have been off-record grumblings from Bud Light executives who felt “blindsided” by the stunt. A decade ago, around the time liberals were boycotting Chick-
fil-A en masse due to the devout Christian beliefs and strongly held views on marriage of the company’s founder and managers, many on the Right refused to countenance reciprocating with such “nasty” tactics, preferring instead to seize an illusory moral high ground. But concerted economic boycotts, it turns out, work: They are effectual punishments of one’s cultural enemies using the undoubtedly legitimate means of market pressure. The Right, it turns out, can mass-organize just like the Left can. Perhaps AnheuserBusch will see the folly of its ham-fisted attempt to foist the transgender agenda down the throats of its disapproving — “fratty,” to use the Bud Light vice president of marketing’s now-infamous description — customer base. Or perhaps it won’t. Regardless, the dramatic and successful pushback, which continues almost two weeks later, underscores that the only way out is through. Consider also the recent drama in Tennessee, where the Republican-dominated state House of Representatives recently voted to expel two Democrats for their role in fomenting what the hyperpartisan corporate press, if the parties were reversed, people would not hesitate to describe as an “insurrection.” Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson are both clearly seen on video ginning up a frothing pro-gun control mob that descended upon the legislative chamber to demand more Second Amendment restrictions after a transgender lunatic decided to shoot up a local Christian school. In the video, Reps. Jones and Pearson can be clearly seen shouting into a bullhorn, flying protest signs and leading vapid chants for protesters in the gallery Please see HAMMER on C4
John Stossel
Save the planet, invest in fossil fuels
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arth Day is today! Hooray? ‘Saving humanity from the climate crisis,” says EarthDay.org, requires us to “push away from the dirty fossil fuel economy.” Sounds logical. But my latest video explains why doing that is cruel to poor people. “Three billion people in the world still use less electricity than a typical refrigerator,” explains Alex Epstein, author of “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.” If they’re going to have “their first well-paying jobs ... their first consistent supply of clean water ... a modern life ... that’s going to depend on fossil fuels.” But the greens say we have a better replacement: wind and solar power. So I push back at Mr. Epstein: “Solar is getting cheaper all the time. It’s already cheaper than fossil fuels.” “When we look at solar and wind around the world,” he answers, “it always correlates to rising prices and declining reliability. Why? Because solar and wind are intermittent. At any time, they can go near zero.” That means wind turbines and solar farms don’t replace fossil fuel plants. You have to build them in addition to fossil fuel plants. “We spent trillions of dollars in subsidies and mandates putting solar panels and wind turbines everywhere,” Mr. Epstein points out, “Yet we’re still having shortages of fossil fuels.” Germany invested heavily in solar and wind power. Elites around the world praised German politicians for creating record renewable power. But that didn’t work so well when the winds slowed and clouds appeared. Germans now pay much more for electricity, triple what Americans pay. Germany has even turned to coal for energy. Coal! Coal is the filthiest fuel. Yet Germany now imports coal from Russia and America. OK, say the activists, even if renewables have problems, soon we’ll have better batteries Please see STOSSEL on C4
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