Articles from American Spectator

Elites sneered when Norman Vincent Peale said similar stuff.

In fact, during his 1956 presidential campaign, Adlai Stevenson, who fancied himself an intellectual and didn’t mind if others did too, snarked that, “Speaking as a Christian, I find the Apostle Paul appealing, and the apostle Peale appalling.” Clever line. Advanced thinkers of the time laughed. (These are always with us.)

Months after the film’s release, we are now enduring Round 2 of the left-elite’s handwringing over Joker, the brilliant origin story of Batman’s arch-nemesis starring Joaquin Phoenix. When the movie came out, there were innumerable columns and tweets lamenting another cinematic glorification of “white male rage,” “toxic masculinity,” and alt-right incel culture. Of course, as more people saw Joker (it grossed over a billion dollars), it quickly became apparent that the film didn’t “glorify” any of those things. Nor was it a defense of Trumpism.

In recent years, the “perpetually offended” movement has infiltrated higher education with the invention of safe spaces, trigger warnings, and cancel culture (events being interrupted and/or cancelled due to students protesting those who share different ideological or political views).

Can a woman get elected president? Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren’s possible disagreement was a cause célèbre at the most recent (and boring) debate among six Democrats vying for their party’s nomination.

Is their question the same as “Can a woman be president?” The question presumably asks if a woman can be a successful president. The two questions are related: if enough people think a woman cannot be a successful president, then that woman won’t be elected president.