Politics

Conservatives Need to Stop Viciously Attacking Each Other

Published

2 years ago

October 4, 2021

I heard about this bizarre occurrence of a very conservative Catholic historian going after a very conservative Catholic journalist, making him out to be something different, and was so jarred by his statements, which have significantly hurt the journalist’s career, that I thought it needed to be exposed. The left is already doing a good job of destroying conservatives, including threatening conservative organizations into canceling their employees, a significant problem in recent years. So why are we going after our own so viciously?

Dexter Duggan writes for The Wanderer, a conservative Catholic publication and the oldest national weekly Catholic paper in the U.S. Previously, he worked with Catholic historian and professor James Hitchcock when they were both contributing editors at the National Catholic Register. Hitchcock referred favorably to some of Duggan’s articles in his own column.

So Duggan was shocked when Hitchcock published a book called Abortion, Religious Freedom, and Catholic Politics in 2016 that misconstrued multiple things Duggan had written. The book purports to be a review of opposing Catholic views on abortion, but Duggan says it is really just an attack on two Catholic news sites, the National Catholic Reporter and Duggan’s conservative The Wanderer. Hitchcock said The Wanderer doesn’t regard abortion as a crucial issue, which isn’t true, it’s a core issue for the publication. Much of the problem with the book is Hitchcock ignores all the pro-life reporting Duggan and others at The Wanderer have done promoting the pro-life cause, pretending it doesn’t exist.

Duggan says, “Despite the broader-sounding title, much of the book is an attack on The Wanderer, including me as one of its writers.” He said Hitchcock has effectively gotten him portrayed as “a traitor to the pro-life cause and a bad-faith ‘Paleoconservative,’ neither which is true.” Of 20 pages that address Duggan, Duggan says only one thing about him is accurate.

Hitchcock said Duggan gave “unqualified support” to a “fanatically pro-abortion” politician. He was referring to Duggan’s writings 40 years ago about Barry Goldwater. But Duggan had a very nuanced, typical conservative pro-life view of Goldwater; he wasn’t an avid supporter of him at first due to his mediocre record on abortion in the Senate, but after Goldwater pledged support for a Human Life Amendment, winning the endorsement of nationally renowned pro-life doctor Carolyn Gerster, Duggan warmed up to him. After Goldwater safely won reelection to his last term in the Senate, and started reverting back to a less pro-life position, Duggan called him out for it in his articles. When Duggan wrote about Goldwater back at that time in 1981, Hitchcock had nothing but praise for his writing.

Duggan says much of Hitchcock’s criticisms of him bizarrely consist of taking quotes from people Duggan was reporting on and attributing them to Duggan instead. Hitchcock attributed a remark critical of John McCain — who Hitchcock apparently really likes, which is strange considering McCain’s mediocre record on pro-life issues as well as other issues — to Duggan that was actually made by Rob Haney, a Phoenix conservative activist who is also Catholic and known for his dislike of McCain. McCain angered Arizona Right to Life over his advocacy of taxpayer-funded fetal stem cell research.

Duggan explains, “Hitchcock reached all the way down to the 30th paragraph in my story in the September 19, 2013, Wanderer, to harvest that harsh comment likening McCain to ‘a mad scientist.’ Hitchcock wasn’t just grabbing for the first words he saw, but read deeply into the story for a nugget that suited his deceptive tactics.” When Duggan quoted a couple of political strategists predicting that conservatives would defeat McCain from getting reelected one year, Hitchcock attributed the quote to Duggan.

One of Duggan’s articles quoted a Washington Times reporter describing Sarah Palin, “she is eager to campaign for Republicans, independents, and even Democrats who share her values on limited government, strong defense, and ‘energy independence.’” Hitchcock twisted it to say, “In 2009 Duggan placed his hopes in either conservative Democrats, a possible third party, or Sarah Palin.” Duggan said this was part of Hitchcock’s effort to make The Wanderer look like it shirks Republicans.

The Global Catholic Network EWTN interviewed Hitchcock twice about his book. EWTN promoted the book and offered to take orders for it from the audience. Hitchcock portrayed himself as an authority on The Wanderer, saying he regularly read it and marked it up. Duggan said this was deceptive, considering Hitchcock ignored so much of The Wanderer’s coverage that contradicted his cherry-picked examples.

Duggan tried in vain to get the publishers and EWTN to correct the errors. He sent eight certified letters to EWTN about the errors, but they blew him off. He’s offered to appear on the network to explain his side, but they ignored his request. The Chips n Salsa show invited him on instead where he told his story. Hitchcock has only responded to him once, in 2019, with four curt sentences accusing him of being a bad Catholic.

Duggan has now been fighting to clear his name for over four years. Hitchcock’s book is widely circulated among Catholic conservatives, used as a textbook at 167 institutions around the world. It’s not clear why Hitchcock launched such a vicious attack on his former colleague. It may be due to the fact Hitchcock was a former Democrat, so he aligned more with McCain and less with Goldwater.

Duggan has such a wonderful, humorous style of writing that reading about his struggles pushing back against this attack is quite amusing. But it’s not funny because it’s destroying his reputation; many within the audience he caters to have heard about the criticism and are inclined to distance themselves from him. EWTN and the current publisher of Hitchcock’s book need to do the right thing and issue corrections. Four years of damage to Duggan’s reputation and thousands of dollars spent by him on attorneys all due to enabling a grudge. Contact Taylor & Francis and tell them they need to correct the wrong.

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Life

Give Thanks and Carry On

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, if you can

Published

1 week ago

November 22, 2023

Jeff Davidson

Thanksgiving: that joyous time of the year when families get together, have a wonderful dinner, catch up on what everyone other is doing, give thanks for all that they have, and perhaps watch some football.

Up for the Challenge?

This Thanksgiving might prove to be a challenge for many people. For one, the cost of the turkey, the bird traditionally served, in some locals cost between 50% to 80% more than last year, and turkey was already expensive.

Among your relatives a few might be vegans or vegetarians. If you have a vegan enforcer in the family, this person will rail on and on against eating meat, and about how turkeys have lives just like we do.

One of your vegan or vegetarian relatives might offer a discourse on how cranberries should be harvested a different way, the dangers of turkey stuffing, and the problem with vegetables that you might be serving, the risk of having too many starches – potatoes or rice – and the evils of wine, beer, and other alcoholic drinks.

Topics Worth Avoiding

The politics to consider abound. Since roughly half of the country votes Democrat and half votes Republican, the odds are overwhelming that you’re going to have somebody with opposing politics at the table. During Trump’s years as president, many families had to navigate around the topic of the presidency, prevailing policies. and so on.

Today, while there’s no question that Joe Biden is completely inane as leader, the same delicate navigation needs to occur. As miraculous as this might seem, some on the left actually approve of what Biden has been doing. Note: don’t be concerned about the Bidens going hungry. With all those under-the-table payment from Ukraine and China, they can EASILY afford a huge, expensive turkey with all of the trimmings.

If you can avoid discussing the eight million invaders illegally crossing our borders, rampant inflation, the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal, the crisis in Israel and potential for World War III, drag time story hour for children, transgenderism, the bogus lawsuits against Donald Trump, the unending crimes of Hunter Biden, the payola to Joe Biden, FBI corruption, the historic unpopularity and ineptness of Kamala Harris, and about 30 or so other topics, your dinner should go smoothly. Enjoy!

A huge current wrinkle on the political scene is that recent surveys reveal at least one-quarter of Democrats actually approve of Hamas, atrocities and all, and side with Palestine on all issues large and small. They believe that Israel is an apartheid state and that Jews are today’s Nazis. Apparently they’ve never visited Israel and have no Jewish friends.

Depending on how many Democrats attend your Thanksgiving gathering, if it’s four or more, mathematically speaking you have a decent chance that one is a pro-Hamas Democrat. Wooo… Now, you really have to stay clear of current issues or your dinner table might be as inflamed verbally as the Middle East is with armaments.

Insufferable Stuffing

After everyone is stuffed with turkey, vegeburgers, or whatever the people who like rabbit food eat, you might sit in the den and turn on a football game. Quickly, you’ll have a stark reminder of how far political correctness has infected society.

If the Washington Commanders are playing, it’s hard to forget that they used to be called the Washington Redskins until the wokesters among us demanded that the name must be changed. Not so ironically, 90% of native Americans actually want the name Washington Redskins reinstalled, and currently are petitioning for it.

In baseball, the Cleveland Indians “had” to be renamed to the Cleveland Guardians. Potentially, there’s no end of this malarkey. Should the Minnesota Vikings change their name? After all, people from Scandinavia might object to the term “Vikings.” While we’re at it, consider college basketball. The Wake Forest University Demon Deacons are due for a name change, if you’re on the Left. So, too, the Duke University Blue Devils, the Arizona University Aztecs, and on and on.

Landmines to Side Step

With all these potential land mines to side step, and all the ways that otherwise pleasant conversations on a pleasant day could occur, you have to be on guard.

Nevertheless, I wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving. May you survive the day, fully intact, and ready to have a decent Black Friday.

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Politics

Guinness World Record for U.S. Presidential Lies

Lies are sometimes necessary, but some are gross manipulations of reality

Published

1 week ago

November 20, 2023

Jeff Davidson

Are you a conservative business person? Then check out the Red Referral Network and partner with Dinesh D’Souza by clicking the banner below:

In its non-stop attempt to portray Donald Trump as the most despicable person ever, the Left slanders him daily in ways unprecedented in American history. If Trump makes an exaggeration, which he is prone to do, he’s called a liar. In office, when Trump achieved anything of note, the Left cherry-picked minor aspects that could be criticized and elevated beyond their stature.

Those on the Right recognize the deeper, universal truths that Trump espouses. Hence, they attend his rallies by the tens of thousands. Hardly anyone is eager to attend a Joe Biden rally. Why?

All Built on Lies

Joe Biden, beyond his word salad bumbling, is an incredible liar, covering for Barack Obama, his master. Virtually everything that Biden and his press secretary say is a lie. Unsurprisingly, public confidence in the presidency and today’s sycophant journalism is at an all-time low.

His agency heads consistently lie: Merrick Garland, Alejandro Mayorkas, Christopher Wray, Pete Buttigieg, and Antony Blinken, among many others. Take your pick.

The precedent for the Biden Administration’s lies is the administration of Barack Obama, for whom Biden served as vice president. Obama taught Biden the best of lying techniques.

To Lie and To Swerve

Lies are sometimes necessary, but some are gross manipulations of reality. A brief look at presidential lies since 1968 puts Obama’s lies in context.

LBJ said that none of our boys would die in foreign soil, and 54,000 Americans died in Vietnam. Nixon made many statements, most memorably, “I’m not a crook,” yet he sought to steal the private records of enemies and was exposed by the Watergate scandal.

George Bush senior said, “Read my lips, no new taxes.” Then in office, he raised taxes which, rolling over in his grave, he likely regrets. Bill Clinton told so many lies, you’d need a book to catalog them all. Among his most famous is “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

George W. Bush, faultily advised, made concerning statements about Iraq. Barack Obama, Joe Biden’s handler, said he’d have the most transparent administration in history. Alas, his was the most secretive: spying on enemies, journalists, political opponents, and everyday American citizens.

The Grand Wizard of Big Lies

Obama touted that he’d restore trust in government. Instead, he opened the doors to the opposite. Obama said the stimulus will fund shovel-ready jobs. It did not. He said, “I am focused like a laser on creating jobs.” The jobs he created were low-wage and low-level. Obama told hardworking entrepreneurs, “You didn’t build that,” which offended business owners everywhere.

Obama weaponized federal agencies to persecute and prosecute Conservatives, so it was hardly a transparent administration. He insisted the IRS was not targeting anyone, but under his henchwoman, Lois Learner, the IRS targeted the Tea Party and Conservatives in general. Lerner’s department harassed, intimidated, and fined them, and diminished their impact on voters in the 2012 election.

Obama proclaimed that a spontaneous riot based on a movie sparked the attack on the Benghazi consulate, which he knew was completely untrue. The attack was well coordinated and planned in advance.

No Stopping Him

Obama announced that the public will have five days to review every bill which lands on his desk. Then, he hustled through some of the most expensive boondoggles in U.S. history. With the introduction of Obamacare, Obama said that you can keep your family doctor and that premiums will be lowered by $2,500. This was utterly false.

Obama stated that whistleblowers would be protected in his administration. Then, he offered no protection. Obama said we’ll get back every dime we use to rescue the banks and auto companies, with interest. This did not happen.

He emphasized that, if elected, he would end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan within nine months. He did not. He claimed he would close Guantanamo within six months. It did not happen. He claimed ignorance about the “fast and furious” gun-running scheme to arm Mexican drug cartels. He knew. Obama proclaimed that he would bridge the gap between black and white Americans. Actually, he increased it in ways that set racial relations back 50 years.

The Biggest Lie of All

The biggest lie that Obama ever uttered occurred on January 20th, 2009, when he said, “I, Barack Hussein Obama, pledge to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.” Twelve years later, Biden did the same.

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