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Camille Paglia: On Trump, Democrats, Transgenderism, and Islamist Terror
The Weekly Standard ^ | Jun 15, 2017 | Jonathan V. Last

Posted on 06/15/2017 8:17:20 AM PDT by Cheerio

In a wide-ranging interview Paglia talks about Donald Trump's successes, how Chuck Schumer emboldened the "resistance," why the left can't condemn Islamist terrorism, and "the cold biological truth that sex changes are impossible."

Camille Paglia is one America's smartest and most fearless writers. Like Elvis, she's the kind of superstar who really needs no introduction—though it is worth pointing out that Pantheon has just published a collection of her essays on sex, gender, and feminism, titled Free Women, Free Men. It's fantastic and if you love her work, it's must-reading. (And there's another collection due out in the Fall of 2018, which is more good news.)

Last week I sat down with Paglia over email to talk about Donald Trump, Islamist terrorism, and the transgender crusade. Here's a transcript of our conversation:

VL: Donald Trump has recently feuded with Jim Comey, Bob Mueller, Sadiq Kahn, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, NATO—we'll stop the list there. You were one of a very small number of people who understood Trump's populist appeal early on. Looking at his presidency so far, do think he's continuing to deliver on that appeal? What is he doing right? What is he doing wrong?

(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: camillepaglia; dems; paglia; terror; trump
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Comment #1 Removed by Moderator

To: Cheerio

Great read.

Odd how she can sound like a conservative sane person yet support the bern.


2 posted on 06/15/2017 8:24:48 AM PDT by bicyclerepair (MAGA - DRAIN THE SWAMP ! - I love my online family of FReepers.)
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To: Cheerio

How can anyone as smart and insightful as Camille Paglia be a Democrat?


3 posted on 06/15/2017 8:25:49 AM PDT by Hardastarboard (Three most annoying words on the internet - "Watch the Video")
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To: Cheerio
Camille, Camille, Camille. You say so many things that are well thought out and then you have to throw out this gem:

Since last Fall, I've had my eye on Kamala Harris, the new senator from California, and I hope to vote for her in the next presidential primary.

4 posted on 06/15/2017 8:26:45 AM PDT by CaptainK (No collusion.No obstruction.He's a leaker.)
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To: CaptainK

Paglia is a strange combination of logical and insane. Ultimately, though, insanity always gets the better of logic.


5 posted on 06/15/2017 8:27:51 AM PDT by samtheman (Trump++)
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To: bicyclerepair

A discussion regarding the unlikely Presidency of Donald Trump that does not contain the word WALL is missing the point.


6 posted on 06/15/2017 8:30:23 AM PDT by The Toll
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To: samtheman

The real reason that Paglia is intelligent, or rather cunning, is that she manages to get otherwise intelligent conservatives to take their eyes off the ball. The “Resist” types are easy to spot. Paglia’s type is the one which is ratcheting the “center” ever leftward. (”Ratcheting” as in Norman Tibbet’s “ratchet effect”.)


7 posted on 06/15/2017 8:31:15 AM PDT by mrsmel (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: bicyclerepair

How far we’ve come from the conservatism of our fathers & mothers when Paglia exhibits more common sense - and speaks it more forcefully - than most of our Republican leadership.


8 posted on 06/15/2017 8:33:46 AM PDT by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: Cheerio; All
Even when she misses a target, the argument is well thought out. This piece DID NOT miss the target.

One of the few thinkers left in modern academia.

9 posted on 06/15/2017 8:39:05 AM PDT by j.argese (/s tags: If you have a mind unnecessary. If you're a cretin it really doesn't matter, does it?)
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To: Hardastarboard
How can anyone as smart and insightful as Camille Paglia be a Democrat?

Paglia says she plans to vote for Kamala Harris in the next Dem primary. My question is, how can someone so purportedly bright like Paglia vote for a cryto-commie, Angela Davis wannabe like Harris?
10 posted on 06/15/2017 8:53:22 AM PDT by Signalman
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To: jonno
...Paglia exhibits more common sense - and speaks it more forcefully - than most of our Republican leadership.

Faint praise, unfortunately.

11 posted on 06/15/2017 8:53:53 AM PDT by Gil4 (And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, ax and saw)
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To: bicyclerepair

She accepts incorrect premises but is intellectually honest in her subsequent analyses. She is in that very, very tiny camp of honest leftists - George Orwell, Alan Dershowitz, and herself. I am sure there are others, but I can’t think of them. Perhaps Tulsi Gabbard. Still watching her.


12 posted on 06/15/2017 8:56:17 AM PDT by Psalm 144 (Why defend the EU?)
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To: bicyclerepair

I’ve never understood how someone so brilliant can belong to today’s Democratic party.


13 posted on 06/15/2017 8:59:43 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: bicyclerepair
Great read.

I disagree. She makes some interesting points, but a lot of it is lost in the confusion of her rhetoric. It reads like someone who just read the dictionary and wants to show how sophisticated they are by using high-brow words and phrases when simple wording would be both sufficient and understandable.

Reminds me of when Sonny Bono was in Congress and he complained that most of the bills were written in legalese English, instead of something the average American could understand.

14 posted on 06/15/2017 9:06:59 AM PDT by ssaftler ("Keep your hands to yourself, leave other people's things alone, and be kind to one another.")
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To: bicyclerepair
Odd how she can sound like a conservative sane person yet support the bern.

She comes across as a nut who hasn't found a way to square her nuttiness with reality.

15 posted on 06/15/2017 9:10:59 AM PDT by Mr Ramsbotham (Gee it feels great to be a gangster.)
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To: bicyclerepair

“I am a registered Democrat who voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary and for Jill Stein in the general election. Since last Fall, I’ve had my eye on Kamala Harris, the new senator from California, and I hope to vote for her in the next presidential primary.”

I couldn’t move my mental furniture around enough to let myself get THAT razzle-dazzled by anyone, let alone by THOSE guys!

She sure is a rare bird... but that doesn’t mean she should be SHOT! :)


16 posted on 06/15/2017 9:14:29 AM PDT by SMARTY ("Nearly all men can stand adversity...to test a man's character, give him power." A. Lincoln)
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To: bicyclerepair
In summary: to have any hope of retaking the White House, Democrats must get off their high horse, lose the rabid rhetoric, and reorient themselves toward practical reality and the free country they are damned lucky to live in.

And she wants to see Kamala Harris get elected president? How can someone so articulate and intelligent not see Harris as a female Obama who sees the world through the racial prism of everyone a victim or oppressor and who would try to swing the country hard left with the attitude that everyone against her is the enemy that needs to be defeated?

17 posted on 06/15/2017 9:15:34 AM PDT by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: bicyclerepair

Yes, it’s hard to explain, but I think I know her. She’s brilliant and honest, but at her base, leftism is her religion.


18 posted on 06/15/2017 9:42:32 AM PDT by Behind the Blue Wall
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To: bicyclerepair

And yet, this is an excellent article to send around to feminist friends...yes, I have some.


19 posted on 06/15/2017 10:59:04 AM PDT by Veto! (Political Correctness Offends Me)
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To: bicyclerepair
The always insightful and brutally honest Camille serves
as an excellent reference when discussing matters with a Progressive.
20 posted on 06/15/2017 11:00:20 AM PDT by jobim
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