03:12 O beautiful… (That July 4th glow.)
09:33 Britain’s unhappy election. (Muslim success.)
18:38 Presidents and Veeps. (Latest speculations.)
25:10 Joe gives an interview. (No minds changed.)
28:52 Vogue shuns Melania. (Bimbo snobbery.)
30:22 Rudy gets lawfared. (By diverse judges.)
32:27 Supremes on immunity. (With some hysterics.)
35:18 Germans ban nationalism. (It’s Nazi, see?)
37:39 Signoff. (The most rousing.)
01 — Intro. And Radio Derb is on the air! Greetings, listeners, this July 5th, from your luminously genial host John Derbyshire.
As you can tell, the day finds me still flushed with patriotic fervor from the 4th.
That was the United States Air Force Band & Singing Sergeants celebrating our lovely country. Permit me to enlarge on that.
Before I do, though, I'm going to seek help from anyone fluent with X, formerly Twitter.
Why aren't I posting there? people have been asking. Well, I have been. On April 19th, however, something peculiar happened.
I always used to post with the handle @DissidentRight (upper-case "D," upper-case "R," no spaces). With that handle I have more than 13,000 followers.
But now, for some reason, everything I've posted since April 19th went up with the handle @radio_derb (all lower-case letters). With that handle I have only 66 followers.
I can't recall having done anything to make the change, and I can't figure out a way to get back to posting as @DissidentRight and stop posting as @radio_derb. Any help with this would be much appreciated. Thanks!
UPDATE: This has been fixed:
Tech support here (=my son Danny) has got me back into @DissidentRight ! Thanks, Son!
— John Derbyshire (@DissidentRight) July 7, 2024
02 — America the beautiful. Yes, I'm still all aglow from yesterday, July 4th.
For the Derbs it's a very convivial time. We have old friends over for a barbecue in our back yard — old friends with their kids, who are now — like ours — adult Americans, in some cases with children of their own — our generation's grandchildren.
Then, following the afternoon barbecue, as the light begins to fade we all decamp to the house of one of those friends five miles away. That house looks across Centerport Harbor to a golf club on the other side. The evening of the 4th, as soon as it's dark, that golf club puts on a fireworks show, so we hang out at our friends' house and watch the fireworks across the water — and reflected, very beautifully on the water.
So as I said, the 4th was for us wonderfully convivial. Sitting there in my back yard under the Sun, surrounded by family and friends, I was soon in a James Boswell mood, quote from him: "I believe this is as much as can be made of life," end quote.
A warm summer day in a beautiful, peaceful country; a house full of old friends and family; the waters of Long Island Sound glittering with reflected fireworks: truly we are blessed.
But then next day, this Friday morning, after breakfast I did my customary trawl through the media and social media. What did I find? Gloom, doom, panic and hysteria.
Well, it wasn't all bad. It was, though, a sharp contrast with my happy thoughts and feelings yesterday.
So which is the better representation of reality: a downhill slide towards national failure, economic crisis, demographic chaos, war and humiliation; or are the words of our song closer to the truth?
… beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
For once I am going with optimism. I think I can justify it, too. It's not just the afterglow of yesterday's conviviality; it's the contrast between our situation — America's — and the rest of the world.
Open borders; crime; federal incompetence; lawfare; cultural hysterias over race and sex and climate change and far-off wars of no direct concern to us; … Sure, there are issues.
By comparison with most other nations, though, we are still a shining beacon of liberty, prosperity, and stability. Other advanced nations have those downside issues too, and less prospect than we have of being able to deal with them.
And outside the sphere of advanced nations, the Third World is a hell-hole. Nigeria, Venezuela, Pakistan, … Count your blessings, Americans.
Why do you think the huddled masses in those places are chancing their life savings — often their actual lives — to break into our countries? Is there any nation in the world that Americans are risking their all to break into? Of course not.
We're historically blessed, too. There hasn't been a peer-to-peer war between major nations for almost eighty years, thanks to nukes and the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction. Our territory is under no threat of conquest and occupation by any serious power.
Sure: with missiles, EMPs, and attacks on our satellites, a hostile power could hurt us. We can hurt them right back, though, so long as we keep up technologically, which we have the talent and resources to do. Knowing that, they will make no move against us.
We're free, prosperous, and safe. There are things we need to work on; but those things are being freely discussed in the current campaign for the 2024 elections. Even the most contentious of them can still be aired openly, however much our ruling class disapproves, in outlets like VDARE.com.
No, it's not all good; but where it's not good, improvement is possible and I do believe we shall rise to the challenges … from sea to shining sea.
03 — Britain's unhappy election. Concerning other advanced countries: yesterday our mother nation, the U.K., had a general election for its main legislature, the House of Commons.
If one political party wins a majority of seats in the Commons, the leader of that party gets summoned to Buckingham Palace for the monarch to declare him Prime Minister. He then moves into the Prime Minister's residence at number ten Downing Street, selects a cabinet, and commences governing.
Yesterday one political party did win a majority of those seats, a large majority — probably 412 seats in the 650-seat House. The winning party there was the Labour Party, which has not held power since 2010.
There seems not to have been much voter enthusiasm. Turnout was 60 percent of eligible voters. That is the second lowest turnout ever in a U.K. election since 1885. Only the 59 percent in 2001 was lower.
There is a widespread understanding over there that the two big parties, Labour and Conservative, are a Uniparty with few differences on topics people care about.
Outstanding among those topics is immigration. That was a driving issue in the 2016 referendum on Brexit, Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. Voters wanted Britain's sovereignty restored in full, with firm control over the nation's borders and a return to demographic stability.
However, the Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron of the Conservative Party, was anti-Brexit. Following the referendum result, he resigned, although his party stayed in power.
The next four Prime Ministers, all from the same Conservative Party, did nothing to curb immigration. They also made a pig's ear of the Brexit negotiations with Europe, to the country's economic disadvantage.
By July 4th 2024 there was serious, widespread disillusion with the Conservative Party. Nobody much was excited about the opposition Labour Party; but desire to punish the Conservatives for their failures and their empty promises was running high.
In fairness to the Labour Party, there were other things on voters' minds besides revenge. There was, for instance, the National Health Service, which is a sort of sacred totem in British politics.
If you've followed VDARE.com much, you likely know the name of Enoch Powell, who is a favorite with every Brit of National Conservative views, and with a great many Americans, too (including me). Powell was a champion of the Health Service, and actually served as Minister of Health, in charge of the show, for three years in the early 1960s.
That's what I mean by calling the NHS a totem, beloved by Brits of all political inclinations. However, it was born as a project of the post-WW2 Labour government, so traditional Labour voters feel it belongs to them more than to Conservatives.
Well, the National Health Service is in trouble. There are shortages of doctors and nurses, long waiting lists for even quite simple operations, shortfalls in funding, and so on.
Brits aren't happy about their cherished NHS; and with its Labour Party origins in mind, they believe that Labour is more likely than Conservatives to carry out necessary repairs. They may be wrong; but it's inarticulate, atavistic feelings of this sort that drive a lot of politics everywhere.
An interesting feature of this election has been the Muslim breakaway. It's been known to psephologists for years that Brits of Hindu ancestry favored the Conservative Party, while those from Pakistani or Indian Muslim families went for Labour. In yesterday's election, however, there were several independent candidates on an openly Muslim platform.
At least one of them won election, getting himself a seat in Parliament. This was up in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in England's northeast, the parliamentary constituency of Dewsbury and Batley.
Yorkshire … the West Riding … Dewsbury and Batley … It couldn't sound more English, could it? Well, this winning candidate's name is Iqbal Mohamed. He got nearly 16,000 votes, with the Labour Party candidate coming second with less than nine thousand.
The BBC sent a reporter up to Dewsbury this morning, Friday morning, to interview some voters. Here are the names of the sturdy English townsfolk they interviewed.
Rachel Carter, Rehana Ismail, Manzur Ahmed, Liyakatali Muller, Mohammed Rasab.
Reading those names, you can't help but quietly wonder to what degree the Third World immigrants have brought in with them Third World election-rigging habits … But that is of course a disgracefully Islamophobic, white supremacist thought. Begone, evil thought!
The U.K. is not a happy country. Yesterday's result is not likely to make it any happier. In one respect, though, the Brits have held on to their traditional common sense and distaste for fuss and bother. That is in the actual management of elections.
This entire election campaign lasted six weeks. Voting took place yesterday. First thing this morning, with the result not in doubt, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak went to Buck House to hand in his resignation to King Charles. The King accepted it.
Shortly afterwards, Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer arrived at the palace to officially be declared Prime Minister.
By this afternoon local time all results had been counted and recorded. We'll hear the names of Sir Keir's cabinet over the weekend. The new House of Commons will take their seats next Tuesday, July 9th.
As unhappy as the Brits may be, they still know how to conduct an election and change governments fast and fairly. We should watch and learn.
04 — Presidents and Veeps. Elsewhere in the advanced world — and by the way, notice how pleasant and regime-compliant I'm being, saying "advanced world" when I could say "civilized world." See: Yemen, the Congo, Guatemala, and Papua New Guinea are every bit as civilized as we are. We're just a bit more advanced, right? Probably because of white supremacy …
Sorry; what was I saying? Oh, right: Elsewhere in the advanced world politics proceeds differently in different countries.
Here in the U.S.A. the lead topic is of course Joe Biden. Should he continue as President, finish out his term? If so, should he continue to be a candidate in November's election?
As best we can judge, Biden wants to continue and continue, both as President and as candidate. Whether his party has enough authority to change his mind on either thing, is still unclear.
His family seem to be key players in the decision-making. Jill Biden's showing up at all his appearances.
And Wednesday this week Hunter Biden joined his Dad for a Medal of Honor award ceremony at the White House. The honorees were two Civil War soldiers — Union, of course — executed 162 years ago for sabotaging a Confederate railroad line. What, exactly, Hunter did to add luster to the ceremony, I do not know.
Quote from today's Washington Post, quote:
People close to the president's son say he is beginning to reclaim a role he has long played in his father's political career.
End quote.
Fair enough, I guess, considering the role long played by Joe in Hunter's commercial career. Still, I don't see how anyone of any persuasion — other than perhaps a Ukrainian oil mogul or ChiCom import fixer — could read that without a frown of disapproval.
The President himself is doing an event this afternoon, though — Friday afternoon — in fact is likely doing it just as I speak here. The event is the taping of a TV interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, likely to last between 15 and 25 minutes, we are told. The interview will be aired on ABC TV this evening, 8 o'clock East Coast time.
I shall of course watch the interview with keen attention, find things to say about it, record myself saying them, and splice that recording in towards the end of this podcast.
Two other issues have come to the fore this week concerning November's election. Both concern Vice Presidents.
VP Issue One is the matter of Donald Trump's pick to be his Vice-Presidential running mate.
Last week, when we were all getting psyched up about the June 27th Trump-Biden debate, there was much chatter about Trump having decided on Vivek Ramaswamy as his partner on the ticket. The chatter would be confirmed, we were told, by Ramaswamy accompanying Trump to the debate, with a possible announcement.
But no such thing happened. Now, eight days later, we are no nearer to knowing Trump's choice than we were then. Has there been some in-favor / out of favor turnover there, or is Trump just playing tease?
VP Issue Two concerns Kamala Harris, our nation's current VP — you know: the lady who held all those interesting positions under California State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown thirty years ago.
Ms Harris's stock has been rising the past few days. No less an authority than Forbes magazine told us on Wednesday that, headline: Bookmakers Put Their Money On Kamala Harris As Biden's Odds Tank In Betting Markets. Opening quote:
The betting markets believe President Joe Biden's poor performance in last week's presidential debate has not only severely dented his chances of beating former President Donald Trump in November's elections, but also raised the possibility of him being replaced on the ballot by his running mate and Vice President Kamala Harris.
End quote.
I don't know about the betting markets, but donors who contributed to Harris's 2020 Vice Presidential campaign in the belief that she'd be solid insurance against anything happening to Joe, should be clamoring for their money back.
05 — Stephanopoulos interview. As promised back there, I watched the interview granted to George Stephanopoulos by President Biden.
It wasn't any kind of game-changer. The actual game at this point is being played up in the senior ranks of the Democratic Party. There are Keepers and there are Dumpers: senior Democrats who want to keep Biden as their November candidate, and senior Democrats who want to dump him. It's not clear which faction has the upper hand — even after listening to the post-interview TV commentaries, I still don't have a feel for that.
I do, though doubt that any minds were changed in either faction. If you got out of bed this morning a Keeper, you'll go to bed tonight still a Keeper, and similarly for Dumpers.
I did get the quite strong impression that George Stephanopoulos is a Dumper. He's a lefty who wants Trump defeated, and the doesn't think Biden can do it. That was my impression.
So I don't feel any wiser about the probable course of events than I did over breakfast.
It hardly seems worth while commenting on the content of what the President said. Some random samples.
Feeble excuses; empty boasts; unconvincing bravado; idle abuse; and of course lots of little pork pies. He didn't expand NATO: Sweden and Finland joined as insurance against Russia. He didn't beat Big Pharma at anything; Big Pharma's just fine, to judge from their share prices.
What does he have planned for the next four years, if elected? Something health care, something taxes, … No, I didn't really pay attention, and I'm sure no-one else did either. It's beside the point. For the people that matter, the point is: Can he beat Trump, yes or no? Everything else is secondary.
To that point, I'll say again that I doubt anyone's mind was changed.
06 — Miscellany. And now, our closing miscellany of brief items.
Imprimis: There's been somewhat of a fuss over Jill Biden appearing on the cover of Vogue magazine, when Melania Trump — an actual professional fashion model — never did.
I can't get worked up about it. As a writer at Yahoo.com tells me, quote:
Vogue is an aspirational magazine aimed at sophisticated, city-dwelling women who care about high-end fashion and lifestyle but also choose to read longer-form articles about politics and culture.
End quote.
In other words, Vogue is for the right-hand tail of the bimbo bell curve. Why shouldn't the smarter, snootier kind of bimbos have their own magazine? I can't think of any reason.
It's anyway satisfying to see political snobbery on open display, clear and unashamed. "The Trumps? My dear, they are not our kind of people, you know …" Indeed they're not. They're smarter than you, and more patriotic, and have more sense.
Item: Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred from practicing law in New York on account of his repeatedly asserting that the 2020 presidential balloting was rigged against Donald Trump.
The disbarring was ordered, it says here in the July 2nd Daily Mail by the, quote, "Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State located in Manhattan," end quote.
I thought I'd go to Google Images and get a look at these justices who have deprived Rudy of his livelihood. The system's more complicated than I supposed, though.
Is that court the one in this picture from February at nycourts.gov headed "Historic Sitting — First All African-American Bench"? That heading only tells the half of it: all five justices in the picture are women.
Or is it this court in a picture from CBS News last October, this one headed "First ever all-Latino bench takes helm in New York State Appellate Division"? At least there's some sexual diversity here: one of the four justices shown is male!
Whether the lawfare here was the work of black communist judges or Latino communist judges, they are a disgrace to their robes. I've been living on and off in and around New York City for fifty years, which is to say seven mayors. Rudy was the best of the lot. God bless you, Rudy.
Item: I did my best with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity this week, but I just don't have much patience with jurisprudential hair-splitting.
Justice Sotomayor's dissents did, though, figure among the instances of hysteria that I noticed when doing my breakfast trawl through the news and social media. Under the Court's majority ruling, argued the wise Latina, the president could order the Navy's Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival and be immune from prosecution for it.
That might, I agree, be at one extreme end of the spectrum of possible dangers to the nation. At the other extreme end, though, there's this little bit of calm common sense from Charles Murray, tweet:
Suppose SCOTUS said there is no protection from prosecution for official acts. Every president of the US has done hundreds of things in honoring his oath that were said to be criminal by his opponents. Every president. Hundreds.
End tweet.
At one extreme of the spectrum there is a President acting like an oriental potentate, killing of his political enemies at will. At the other extreme is a President spending all his time fighting off criminal prosecutions and the threat thereof from his political opponents.
That second possibility is of course rather appealing to the lawfare warriors of the modern far left — people like Justice Sotomayor. For goodness' sake, though: does anyone think the United States would tolerate either extreme?
We have two other branches of federal government, both well able to watch over and restrain the Executive when necessary. In 248 years, under all kinds of stresses and strains, we have never come anywhere close to either of those extremes.
So, yet another reminder, as if we needed one, of the etymological root of the English word "hysteria."
Item: In my June 21st podcast I mentioned a German lady, Marie-Thérèse Kaiser, who was arrested and fined for quoting official government statistics on gang rape by Muslim immigrants. She appealed, but the conviction was upheld.
Here's a companion story, also from Germany. Monday this week a chap named Björn Höcke was found guilty and fined $18,000 for having openly used a certain three-word slogan. This was after he'd been fined $14,000 in May for using that same slogan on another occasion.
What is this slogan of such terrifying power? It is Alles für Deutschland, which translates as "All for Germany." Herr Höcke, you see, is a nationalist. He is in fact the local leader in his district of the nationalist AfD Party, the Alternative for Germany.
That slogan, you see, was carved on the knives of the SA, the Sturmabteilung or Stormtroopers, also known as Brownshirts — the paramilitary wing of the early Nazi Party.
The word "early" is important there. The most famous Brownshirt was Ernst Röhm, who was assassinated on the orders of his Party rivals Himmler and Heydrich in the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, just 90 years ago last week. The SA lost most of their authority after that.
So, OK, those early Nazis were nationalists. Who knew?
07 — Signoff. That's it for this first week of July, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you as always for your time, patience, encouragement, and support.
I hope you enjoyed the 4th as much as we did. If you have been blessed with the long weekend, I hope you'll keep enjoying it. That's what the Founders would have wanted: the pursuit of happiness.
To keep us in the proper spirit, here again are the U.S. Air Force Band & Singing Sergeants with just a few bars from what is, in my opinion, the most rousing of all our patriotic songs, The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
There will be more from Radio Derb next week.
[Music clip: USAF Band & Singing Sergeants, Battle Hymn of the Republic.]
