Last week I returned to The Glenn Show, but this week I’m back. And who better to talk to for the first episode after my hiatus than John McWhorter? This is a big week for me for other reasons. As a paying subscriber, you’re receiving this on Monday, May 13, which means
18:47 I'm not sure what John's premise is. Is he asking whether it would be appropriate for Israelis to enter Gaza and kill 1200 people regardless of age, occupation and political affiliation, then stop? Does the purpose of deadly force matter, or is it all tit for tat?
12:42 A much better example would be the war in Yemen, where US-supported Saudi Arabia fought Iran-supported Houthis. How many protests have been concerned with the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who have died and millions who have lacked sufficient food and medical care since the war started in 2014? https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-yemen
Always good to hear the conversations by John and Glenn. I do wish that John would not use the word "slaughter" to describe the tragic deaths of Palestinian civilians by the the IDF. That word ascribes an intentionality to the actions of Israel that is not supported by any of the unbiased evidence out there. On the contrary, the IDF is being more humane and cautious than any other military in history. See John Spencer (expert on urban warfare) on the Sam Harris podcast. Finally, we need to be wary of accepting the Gaza Health Ministry (run by Hamas) stats. Note the revising downward last week of these casualties almost by half. Also noted that these casualties (tragic indeed) could end tomorrow if Hamas gave back the hostages and accepted a cease fire.
*Finally* got a chance to indulge (cinnamon & green tea included).
Glad to see you back, gentlemen. I wish Glenn a very rapid recovery. (Man, I hate he's going through what he's going through.)
In any case, a solid restart episode indeed. Several nice quotables:
- "We're managing a problem."
Tell me about it. In other words, *solving* this problem seems hopeless at this point. So they gotta manage it--whatever that means--from one day to the next...until...when exactly? Who knows?
- "Degrees and grey zones," "it's almost never one thing or the other."
Why is it that John's daughters are relevant to what Israel does in Gaza but apparently not to Hamas's rapes and killings in Israel, and taking of hostages who are still in their custody? What if that happened to John's daughter? I guess he would urge the Israelis not to attempt to free her because their power is so disproportionate.
I’m hoping for another discussion on the Israel Palestinian war. I was surprised of the simplicity of this conversation. The students who are protesting are no more than “oppression whores” looking for the next group who they “protect” for their “cause.” Many who have no idea what their chants actually mean or what they are in fact “protesting.” The only fault lies with Hamas for any one killed in this war. The same “people” who stand on American soil and chant “Death to America” the same “people” who are being allowed in our country every day by the Democrat admin. And DEI does need to die.
Your discussions about BLM, woke and more recently campus protests have made me think this is a good place to reference this incredible Hoover Institution presentation from this week: What China Remembers About The Cultural Revolution, And What It Wants To Forget.
It is an excellent summary of the Maoist Cultural Revolution and its participants from first-hand accounts. Enjoy.
Great to have you back, Glenn. My copy of Late Admissions arrived yesterday and looking forward to reading it very soon. Also, happy to know John was spared any violence from being in the eye of the storm of protest at Columbia. It is amazing to me that I didn't hear of any students advocating for the release of the hostages. It is tragic that so many lives were lost in Gaza but Jewish lives matter, too.
“Power without the sanction of violence barely ranked as power at all”
“In the Shadow of the Sword”, Tom Holland, Anchor Books, paperback edition February 2013, chapter New Rome, pg. 149. Notes #36-37 cite Procopius, {bibliography Procopius, “the Secret History”, translated by G. A. Williamson (London 2007)] (not sure if a quote as no quote marks in text)
Holland was discussing the mass rioting in Constantinople 532 CE & Justinian’s response through 533 CE. He states Roman history’s long and bloody course proved truth of the moral. At first read I thought this was a good description of terrorism, but on further reflection I decided it described much of historical episodes. Not just western, but world history, all cultures.
My question is do you believe this true? Does it relate to the power dynamics of today? Not just among nations, but also between the various identity groups.
I invite anyone to weigh in as so many are far smarter & articulate than me.
[Time 20:00]; Discussion of civilian harm and warfare. I have a special interest in the Israeli hostages who were abducted from their homes in Israel and taken to Gaza. At age 9-10; I was almost abducted by a bad guy, two days in a row. I still remember the look of intent in his eyes as he looked at me from a distance of 20 feet. Luckily, he failed on both days. The on-going threat that any Israeli citizen can suddenly without warning be abducted is unacceptable. The pro-Palestinian protesters who ignore that this threat exists have allowed themselves to be morally demoted to a lower level of human ugliness. They can and should do better. I suggest that Glenn and John interview someone who has survived being kidnapped/abducted.
[Time 12:00]; Glenn and John discuss, “Why do politicized students/activists focus so much on Israel?” Bari Weiss might respond by repeating what she wrote in The Free Press; Middle East Studies programs at top universities are funded by anti-Israel sources in The Middle East.
I believe that antisemitism is the reason people focus on Israel without knowing whether other nations do much more harm. I am disappointed at Columbia and the other Ivies because I expect those students to be more rigorous at scrutinizing information. A double-standard is applied to Israel. Oct 7 Hamas attack was clearly directed at civilians age 0-100. Yet, any Gaza civilian accidentally killed by Israeli military is framed by Hamas information source as a human rights violation. Israeli military kills members of Gaza who are not doing anything wrong at the time of encounter, because Gaza members are expected to pose a threat to Israelis next week or tomorrow or later on today.
After Israeli military evacuated Gaza civilians so as to destroy tunnels below civilians’ buildings, Hamas repopulated the evacuated area with more civilians. Urban warfare is messy and especially when Hamas goes out of its way to ensure that civilians are present during time of Israeli attack.
Good luck to you with your recovery Glenn. Back surgery is tough, and it seems that your surgery was very intensive.
About 8 years ago, I was in the hospital for about 6 days after someone ran into my car. I was surprised because the food was reasonably good, and I had several entrees to choose from.
John seems to have a double standard on Israel. He is offended if Palestinians say "from the river to the sea...", but he never seems to object to Likud saying "from Jordan to the sea...". These statements seem similar from my perspective.
AFAICT, they were discussing protests at US universities and John was specifically concerned with protests at Columbia University where he teaches. Have there been any protests there in which people call for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank?
I don't think the ratio of military success to how many people get killed has anything to do with the protests. The protestors are not saying they want Israel to win but we want them to do it in a way that minimizes civilian casualties. The protestors want Israel to lose and all of their slogans and chants root for Hamas to win and further violence against Israelis in the process. This has been the problem since day 1 when the protestors aligned themselves with those who committed such heinous crimes against civilians. You can't condone that behavior and then complain that people on your side are dying unnecessarily when the victim responds. You either adopt the position that all deaths are unjust or you're using claims for a cease fire to to stop the stronger side from killing people while preserving that right for the weaker side in the future.
"If I have to spend a night in the hospital I'd rather be killed." John you're killing me! It's not THAT bad. Okay, the food is. :)
Glad you're feeling better, Glenn.
18:47 I'm not sure what John's premise is. Is he asking whether it would be appropriate for Israelis to enter Gaza and kill 1200 people regardless of age, occupation and political affiliation, then stop? Does the purpose of deadly force matter, or is it all tit for tat?
12:42 A much better example would be the war in Yemen, where US-supported Saudi Arabia fought Iran-supported Houthis. How many protests have been concerned with the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who have died and millions who have lacked sufficient food and medical care since the war started in 2014? https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-yemen
Or Syria, or Libya for that matter.
Yeah, those are also wars that got less attention.
We devastated the only two secular Arab countries in the world where women had rights. Odd that.
Always good to hear the conversations by John and Glenn. I do wish that John would not use the word "slaughter" to describe the tragic deaths of Palestinian civilians by the the IDF. That word ascribes an intentionality to the actions of Israel that is not supported by any of the unbiased evidence out there. On the contrary, the IDF is being more humane and cautious than any other military in history. See John Spencer (expert on urban warfare) on the Sam Harris podcast. Finally, we need to be wary of accepting the Gaza Health Ministry (run by Hamas) stats. Note the revising downward last week of these casualties almost by half. Also noted that these casualties (tragic indeed) could end tomorrow if Hamas gave back the hostages and accepted a cease fire.
Spot on.
*Finally* got a chance to indulge (cinnamon & green tea included).
Glad to see you back, gentlemen. I wish Glenn a very rapid recovery. (Man, I hate he's going through what he's going through.)
In any case, a solid restart episode indeed. Several nice quotables:
- "We're managing a problem."
Tell me about it. In other words, *solving* this problem seems hopeless at this point. So they gotta manage it--whatever that means--from one day to the next...until...when exactly? Who knows?
- "Degrees and grey zones," "it's almost never one thing or the other."
Welcome to politics.
- "The constant struggle to live in good faith."
Arguably, THE question for us all.
Why is it that John's daughters are relevant to what Israel does in Gaza but apparently not to Hamas's rapes and killings in Israel, and taking of hostages who are still in their custody? What if that happened to John's daughter? I guess he would urge the Israelis not to attempt to free her because their power is so disproportionate.
Darth Whorter, haha
I’m hoping for another discussion on the Israel Palestinian war. I was surprised of the simplicity of this conversation. The students who are protesting are no more than “oppression whores” looking for the next group who they “protect” for their “cause.” Many who have no idea what their chants actually mean or what they are in fact “protesting.” The only fault lies with Hamas for any one killed in this war. The same “people” who stand on American soil and chant “Death to America” the same “people” who are being allowed in our country every day by the Democrat admin. And DEI does need to die.
Your discussions about BLM, woke and more recently campus protests have made me think this is a good place to reference this incredible Hoover Institution presentation from this week: What China Remembers About The Cultural Revolution, And What It Wants To Forget.
It is an excellent summary of the Maoist Cultural Revolution and its participants from first-hand accounts. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-E_kTRBpA
Great to have you back, Glenn. My copy of Late Admissions arrived yesterday and looking forward to reading it very soon. Also, happy to know John was spared any violence from being in the eye of the storm of protest at Columbia. It is amazing to me that I didn't hear of any students advocating for the release of the hostages. It is tragic that so many lives were lost in Gaza but Jewish lives matter, too.
“Power without the sanction of violence barely ranked as power at all”
“In the Shadow of the Sword”, Tom Holland, Anchor Books, paperback edition February 2013, chapter New Rome, pg. 149. Notes #36-37 cite Procopius, {bibliography Procopius, “the Secret History”, translated by G. A. Williamson (London 2007)] (not sure if a quote as no quote marks in text)
Holland was discussing the mass rioting in Constantinople 532 CE & Justinian’s response through 533 CE. He states Roman history’s long and bloody course proved truth of the moral. At first read I thought this was a good description of terrorism, but on further reflection I decided it described much of historical episodes. Not just western, but world history, all cultures.
My question is do you believe this true? Does it relate to the power dynamics of today? Not just among nations, but also between the various identity groups.
I invite anyone to weigh in as so many are far smarter & articulate than me.
[Time 20:00]; Discussion of civilian harm and warfare. I have a special interest in the Israeli hostages who were abducted from their homes in Israel and taken to Gaza. At age 9-10; I was almost abducted by a bad guy, two days in a row. I still remember the look of intent in his eyes as he looked at me from a distance of 20 feet. Luckily, he failed on both days. The on-going threat that any Israeli citizen can suddenly without warning be abducted is unacceptable. The pro-Palestinian protesters who ignore that this threat exists have allowed themselves to be morally demoted to a lower level of human ugliness. They can and should do better. I suggest that Glenn and John interview someone who has survived being kidnapped/abducted.
Or at the least, Douglas Murray who has seen the aftermath firsthand.
[Time 12:00]; Glenn and John discuss, “Why do politicized students/activists focus so much on Israel?” Bari Weiss might respond by repeating what she wrote in The Free Press; Middle East Studies programs at top universities are funded by anti-Israel sources in The Middle East.
I believe that antisemitism is the reason people focus on Israel without knowing whether other nations do much more harm. I am disappointed at Columbia and the other Ivies because I expect those students to be more rigorous at scrutinizing information. A double-standard is applied to Israel. Oct 7 Hamas attack was clearly directed at civilians age 0-100. Yet, any Gaza civilian accidentally killed by Israeli military is framed by Hamas information source as a human rights violation. Israeli military kills members of Gaza who are not doing anything wrong at the time of encounter, because Gaza members are expected to pose a threat to Israelis next week or tomorrow or later on today.
After Israeli military evacuated Gaza civilians so as to destroy tunnels below civilians’ buildings, Hamas repopulated the evacuated area with more civilians. Urban warfare is messy and especially when Hamas goes out of its way to ensure that civilians are present during time of Israeli attack.
Good luck to you with your recovery Glenn. Back surgery is tough, and it seems that your surgery was very intensive.
About 8 years ago, I was in the hospital for about 6 days after someone ran into my car. I was surprised because the food was reasonably good, and I had several entrees to choose from.
John seems to have a double standard on Israel. He is offended if Palestinians say "from the river to the sea...", but he never seems to object to Likud saying "from Jordan to the sea...". These statements seem similar from my perspective.
AFAICT, they were discussing protests at US universities and John was specifically concerned with protests at Columbia University where he teaches. Have there been any protests there in which people call for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank?
I don't think the ratio of military success to how many people get killed has anything to do with the protests. The protestors are not saying they want Israel to win but we want them to do it in a way that minimizes civilian casualties. The protestors want Israel to lose and all of their slogans and chants root for Hamas to win and further violence against Israelis in the process. This has been the problem since day 1 when the protestors aligned themselves with those who committed such heinous crimes against civilians. You can't condone that behavior and then complain that people on your side are dying unnecessarily when the victim responds. You either adopt the position that all deaths are unjust or you're using claims for a cease fire to to stop the stronger side from killing people while preserving that right for the weaker side in the future.