Except for prominent dates on the calendar, Christmas and New Year’s Day come to mind, there is an official day–although I am unaware of any sanctioning organization–for every day of the year.
For instance, according to that austere body, February 11 is National Guitar Day and June 26 is National Canoe Day.
Most notoriously, September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Our 365 calendar–or 366, since this is a Leap Year–can digest one more “day.”
Today, I officially declare, December 8, as International Pundit Day. NationalToday.com, please take note.
A pundit, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media.” It is one of the few words in the English language that comes from Hindi.
In the early 2000s, many blogs, most notably Instapundit and Gateway Pundit, appeared on the political radar. And yes, to a lesser extent, my own Marathon Pundit.
Blogging has become mainstream since then, as have podcasts.
Yes, podcasters are pundits too.
Why December 8? Well, why not?
But if you need reasons, December 8 is Ann Coulter’s birthday. As you probably know, she’s a noted opinion columnist, and yes, pundit.
And it’s my birthday too.
Say it loud and say it now, I’m a pundit and I’m proud.
And if you are not a pundit yet, you can begin now.
And if you know a pundit, say “thank you!”
And now is the time in Pundit Land when we dance!
John Ruberry, who is celebrating his birthday and International Pundit Day today, regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.
Stacy McCain still being banned from Twitter reminds me of Molly Norris still in hiding for her life. Both outraged me at the time and I’m still pissed off by the pair.
Seriously? If it wasn't for england the slave trade would still exist. They practically bankrupted themselves to stop ithttps://t.co/Vx4hzXqXVF
The only reason why the slave trade died was the British government put their navy on stopping it and actually paid cash to captains per slave freed. African nations at the time hated that. Rather than needing a civil war they paid compensation to slaveowners to make things work and those loans they took to do so were only recently retired.
I’m old enough when people actually knew history.
yup that's why the Wash Post and LA times didn't endorse, because Kamala is doing so well she didn't need them.
boy it's a long time since the black book of communism isn't it?
I always find it sad with I see Anne Applebaum drinking the koolaid. Her Black book of Communism was an important work and recorded things that history might have lost from the Soviet archives and a service to humanity.
But that’s not a guarantee against Trump derangement syndrome.
This picture give me hope that some people can figure out when something is beyond the pale.
Although in fairness I almost feel sorry for this young girl who has OD's on the cool aid and did something REALLY stupid.
You actually have to watch the video this is clipped from for full context but the good news is the black woman recognized that the white girl has gone over the line and scolds her for it. Given they’re Kamala fans that’s signifies hope. The bad news is that the girl who is apparently an organizer for Kamala is now going to have to carry this stupid act for as long as there is an internet which is forever.
It’s really a bad thing when your politics becomes your religion because fanatics are dangerous.
Also a lot of people seeing this remember being young and stupid and thank God that cell phone camera and the internet weren’t around when they were young.
I’m going to include two tweets in this last section first from the Lincoln Project
If Trump was the Nazi you claim you would actually be broadcasting his speech from the guardian and then saying: "See we told you"
I don’t get all that upset about these guys. You know left PACS are paying their bills and they aren’t going to make a dime from GOP candidates anymore so they’re just earning the bucks for being the paid actors that they are. This is the script or at least the outline and they’re just saying lines.
There are two types of people who don’t see the writing on the wall. The people who have made politics their religion like the niche market who still watch CNN that Jake Tapper was pandering to here:
In fairness to Mr. Tapper when your team is down by two touchdowns in the 4th you have to throw the Hail Mary
and the people who are paid to pretend not to see it. They will be talking about a Democrat wave sweeping the country right until the day that High Brazil sinks under the waves and beyond if the cash keeps coming.
Last month the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago at the United Center.
I did some photography work for a right-of-center publication. There’s no need to mention which one.
Left-wing radicals are trained to spot “infiltrators” among within their protests. To get the best coverage, it’s important to blend in. It’s also wise to do so in terms of personal safety.
During the DNC protests–which were mostly centered around Union Park, which is roughly halfway between the UC and downtown Chicago–I witnessed three fights, but no one seemed to get injured in them.
Here are some tips regarding not only in covering protests. but also, how not to get spotted, to use a favorite put-down of the leftists, as a “counterrevolutionary.”
For starters, when you cover protests, whether the organizers have a rally permit or not, these gatherings often turn into marches. Wear comfortable shoes, dress for the weather, and depending on the conditions outdoors, have bottled water and sunscreen available. If you can’t remain on your feet for several hours, or if you don’t feel confident walking a few miles, then covering rallies is not for you.
And because these events can last several hours, bring light snacks.
Blending in:
The DNC protests were largely Hamas pep rallies—the attendees, politically speaking, for the most part, were to the left of Kamala Harris. Obviously, I left my Donald Trump button at home.
At these rallies—most credible sources said that about 3,500 protesters attended the big ones–often there are people handing out buttons and protest signs. Don’t sell yourself out. I picked out a “thought criminal” button and a “give peace a chance sign.” I support peace under the right conditions and as a Republican living in Illinois, that makes me a thought criminal.
And wear a hat with the logo of a local sports team. Once again, you want to blend it.
Don’t go alone. Okay, a couple of days last month, I broke that rule, but having someone watch your back is sound advice on most occasions in Chicago.
Have a cover story. Often, I’m asked at these protests, “Why are you here and who are you working for?” I always reply, truthfully, that I am a free-lance photographer and an amateur historian. Have a pseudonym already picked out, because someone may ask for your name. This is not the time for a Ralph Kramden “hummina-hummina-hummina” moment.
Ask permission to take someone’s photograph or to videotape them. There are several reasons. The first one is simply because it’s the polite thing to do. Secondly, you’ll capture much better images. Finally, it decreases the odds of you being identified as a provocateur.
What to do if spotted? I’ve only been outed once at a leftist protest, after someone noticed me speaking to a well-known conservative videographer. But because at that time the scene was chaotic–hooligans were throwing water bottles at police officers–the radicals quickly lost interest in me. If that attack on the cops hadn’t broken out, I would have left for home.
Live to document another day.
You don’t want to make the same mistake as two other videographers I know, who years ago not only refused to blend in at a protest, but when identified–which didn’t take long–they suffered the indignity of having their $1,000 video camera snatched from them. The leftists decided to play keep-away and catch with their equipment, which of course was quickly dropped on a sidewalk. Then the radicals stomped on the video camera.
Keep calm and remain strong. Imagine yourself as a glacier–sturdy and slow moving–with such a permanence that people forget you are there.
If you have your own tips on not getting noticed at left-wing protests, drop them in the comments section.
Update (DTG) : Instalanche! Thanks Glenn (Actually Sarah Hoyt) John is on a roll! I always found that my doctor who scarf and hat make people assume I’m a leftist so all I had to do is be quiet and listen and I could cover any event without grief. It doesn’t take long for a leftist to pontificate if you just wait.
With massive layoffs not only at the Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, but also the Los Angeles Times–and with Sports Illustrated being probably as dead as the Detroit Lions’ Super Bowl dreams–the answer may be a loud “Yes.”
Meanwhile, in Democrat-controlled Illinois, the Illinois Local Journalism Task Force, created by legislation in 2021, is betting on the dinosaurs, that is, traditional media. Last week, the task force issued its recommendations for journalism in the Prairie State.
“Its proposals are mostly about getting taxpayers to pony up and putting government in control,” Mark Glennon says in Wirepoints, “[with] no mention of journalism’s own failures.”
Indeed, there are many failures. The glaringly obvious one–unless you work in mainstream media–is that journalists are pushing a narrative to score love from the 20 percent of the population who are far-leftists. Even in Illinois, a blue state, there are not many ultra lefties–they might make up 25 percent of the populace here.
Among the recommendations from the tax force include a whole slew of tax credits for local news sources, including for subscriptions, businesses who advertise with them, as well as for local news providers hiring reporters.
Every one of the recommendations from the task force are wretched ideas that I could eviscerate easily one by one, but to save time, I’ll move on. But not yet. Besides these tax credits, the task force recommends exempting local news sources from Illinois’ corporate income tax.
Some states have no corporate income tax.
News should be a mass market product, not a niche offering, but the liberals in charge have turned it into that. Again, I’ll be brief. Most Americans–and yes, most Illinoisans–believe there are only two genders, and most had doubts about the COVID propaganda of 2020-21. And most of them are fed up with the lamestream media minimizing the ongoing crisis with rampant crime.
Yeah, I get it, the internet has hurt local news providers. But they didn’t adapt. The same with Big News.
Let’s talk about extinction events. Real ones. Extinction is usually portrayed as mass death, yet it’s also a mass life event.
Following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, the lystrosaurus, a runt buck-toothed freak reptile, thrived, along with many other emergent species. Soon, geologically speaking that is, came the dinosaurs. After the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, different small animals, mammals and birds among them–as well as fungus–prospered.
There’s never been more media–or more information–than there is now. Print newspapers are sometimes called dinosaur media. I believe they should always be named as such. Among the new media are of course blogs such as this one, YouTube and Rumble video channels, streaming services, podcasts, and so much more. A consumer of information is now faced with a daunting challenge. Because finding enough time to sift through all of the choices–let alone absorb all of them–is impossible.
Last Thursday, Chicago Tribune reporters held a one-day strike against its owner, Alden Capital, a hedge fund firm. “We often say, ‘Newspapers are not dying, they’re being killed,'” Gregory Pratt, a committed left-wing Trib journalist, told WGN-TV.
Wrong, Pratt. Newspapers are being killed because journalists are emitting an unpopular product and looking down on their customers.
Let’s return to the Illinois Local Journalism Task Force.
In its rancid report there is a map of Illinois. Counties with few media choices are marked in that map in different shades of red. One of those is McHenry, which is northwest of Chicago. I know of two great news sites reporting about McHenry County: Cal Skinner’s McHenry County Blog and the Lake and McHenry County Scanner–a suburban answer to the phenomenally successful CWB Chicago. I’m certain that the task force didn’t include these sites in their elitist media tally.
Another fabulous Illinois news source is the aforementioned Wirepoints.
Big creatures usually don’t survive natural mass extinction events. Small ones, nimble animals, find opportunities in an altered world.
Remember, lystrosaurus made way for larger and grander beasts, such as the Tyrannosaurus rex. Today’s blog may become tomorrow’s News Corp–the parent company of Fox News, Dow Jones, HarperCollins, and so many more.
Humans will always crave information–it’s in our DNA–it is just a matter of how it’s delivered to us. We’ve come a very long away from when the evening news was a caveman squatting in front of a bonfire telling whoever was sitting in front of him how that day’s hunt went. If that prehistoric anchorman delivered fake news–“I killed six mammoths today with my bare hands!”–his audience simply walked away. Kind of like what consumers of Big News are doing now.
The dinosaur media–and the Illinois Journalism Task Force–doesn’t get it.
John Ruberry blogs regularly from the Chicago area atMarathon Pundit.
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