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Roy Moore: Gladiator (RINO Alert)
National Review ^ | 9/29/2017 | Jonah Goldberg

Posted on 10/01/2017 7:40:19 AM PDT by Mafe

Dear Reader (and everyone else I have failed),

I would respect Roy Moore a lot more if he began his victory speech last week by taking his gavel and hurling it at the CNN cameras in the back of the room, shouting “Are you not entertained!”

But, unlike Russell Crowe’s Maximus, Moore can’t, or won’t, let the mask slip to show his disdain for the spectacle he has become. Whether that’s because he’s extremely disciplined in his cynicism or because he’s extremely sincere in his jackassery, I have no idea. Nor do I really care.

What’s going on with his voters, on the other hand, matters to me. Which brings me back to this gladiator thing. Gladiatorial games served a number of purposes in Ancient Rome. First of all, what else are you going to use all those Carthaginians for? Blood sport was also entertainment, of course, but with a political purpose. By extolling violent victory in battle as the highest aesthetic value, the Romans kept the populace committed to imperial expansion (many of the most popular games were “reenactments” of glorious Roman victories). By legitimizing and glorifying cruelty, emperors had a convenient tool for terrorizing their enemies, keeping the people in line, and satisfying their own sadism, as when Commodus tied prisoners together and clubbed them to death, pretending that he was Hercules slaughtering “giants.” Or when a heckler in the stands jeered at one of Domitian’s favorite gladiators and the emperor responded by having him pulled from his seat and thrown to wild dogs in the arena.

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


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: congress; moore; rino; senate
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I respect Jonah Goldberg but I for one think he's wrong to condemn Moore.
1 posted on 10/01/2017 7:40:19 AM PDT by Mafe
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To: Mafe

I have zero respect for Jonah Goldbrick and the RINO donors he shills for.


2 posted on 10/01/2017 7:42:43 AM PDT by TTFlyer
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To: Mafe
Yeah, we should all go back to the idyllic times of when Republicans apologized profusely for their uncouth behavior and then graciously conceded defeat to the Dem.

Loved how John Nolte of Breitbart completely dismantled this clown last year.

3 posted on 10/01/2017 7:43:10 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (We're right, you're wrong - that's the end of the argument.)
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To: Mafe

Jonah nevertrumper speaks out yet again in his losing arguments against Trumpism


4 posted on 10/01/2017 7:43:28 AM PDT by silverleaf (A man who kneels for the national anthem doesn't stand for much of anything)
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To: Mafe
Jonah Goldberg is an establishment wuss, at a time we need fighters. Just like everyone else at the NR, and most other so-called "conservative" media.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

5 posted on 10/01/2017 7:44:04 AM PDT by wku man
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To: Mafe

Jonah has been more wrong than right ever since the Tea Party days. He is a true establishment globalist, period.


6 posted on 10/01/2017 7:45:21 AM PDT by mazda77
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To: Mafe

The piece is rambling and mostly incoherent.
I suspect LSD.


7 posted on 10/01/2017 7:46:21 AM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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To: Mafe

It is people like Goldberg that help the ‘Republicans are divided’ narrative from Big Media and the Dems (but I am being redundant). If the Right could ever come together, we would be unbeatable!


8 posted on 10/01/2017 7:48:05 AM PDT by originalbuckeye ('In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act'- George Orwell)
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: Mafe

He lost me at using Moore and “jackassery” in the same sentence. Goldbrick sounds like a typical nevertrumper schmuck.


10 posted on 10/01/2017 7:53:01 AM PDT by farming pharmer
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To: Mafe

Goldberg is worried about the Republican brand and sees Moore as offensive to it.


11 posted on 10/01/2017 7:54:39 AM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: Mafe

Jonah Douchberg has his historical parallels reversed.

Roy Moore’s not a gladiator. He’s a Christian. The ones who were massacred in the Colisseum. And Roy Moore’s been attacked for his Christian beliefs. As Douchberg is doing now.

But then, to RINOs like Douchberg, the people have always been revolting.


12 posted on 10/01/2017 7:57:18 AM PDT by MUDDOG
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To: Mafe

Jonah is manning the ramparts of Conservatism, Inc.


13 posted on 10/01/2017 7:58:21 AM PDT by oblomov
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To: Mafe

I’m so tired of modern day politicians being linked, or compared, to past politicians (I.e. “Obama is the next Lincoln”), and to “movie characters”.

Obama is/was Obama; Trump is Trump; Roy Moore is Roy Moore, and the “Gladiator” was a fictional character in a movie.

All these people plow their own furrow in life. Let them stand on their own merits/failures, and stop trying to either, prop them up, or tear them down, by stupid sayings like “[insert name] is ‘channeling’ [insert historical or fictional reference]”.

It’s completely irrelevant and has no bearing on the subject at the moment.


14 posted on 10/01/2017 7:59:24 AM PDT by FrankR (On the knees is not a good place to be...a man on the knees is only half a man.....)
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To: Mafe

We can’t all be as “high class” as you, Jonah.


15 posted on 10/01/2017 7:59:38 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Mafe

Do you post articles from the Daily Beast or other left wing web sites? If not, why do post from NR? They don’t deserve to have anyone from this website help them generate advertising dollars via web hits.


16 posted on 10/01/2017 8:00:09 AM PDT by vmivol00 (I won't be reconstructed.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

You’ve hit the nail on the head.


17 posted on 10/01/2017 8:01:07 AM PDT by Mr. Lucky
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To: TTFlyer

Apparently Ben Sasse likes Jonah’s piece, too, saying:

“@BenSasse

you likely won’t agree with all of this from @JonahNRO — but well worth the read:”

So Ben, do you agree with Jonah’s comments that Moore is a “ bigoted, theocratic, and ignorant buffoon?”

I’m waiting.


18 posted on 10/01/2017 8:05:41 AM PDT by Galactic Overlord-In-Chief (Domo Arigato, Mr. Rubio. Domo Arigato, Mr. Rubio.)
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To: Mafe

I have no respect for Jonah, he’s another paid propagandist for the Cheap Labor Express.


19 posted on 10/01/2017 8:07:46 AM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: vmivol00
Do you post articles from the Daily Beast or other left wing web sites? If not, why do post from NR? They don’t deserve to have anyone from this website help them generate advertising dollars via web hits.

I agree. But it's also good to know who your enemies are, and NR is one of them.
20 posted on 10/01/2017 8:11:01 AM PDT by farming pharmer
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