Michael Austin

Christian-Conservative Journo | Managing Editor / Editorial Board @WesternJournalX | Cultural Politics & Pop Culture | Opinions = My Own.

[Michael Austin @mikeswriting]

The truth on any given subject is almost never found directly in the middle between two opinions (for example, let’s say conservative and liberal opinions). Most often, the truth lies more on one side than the other, and those that regularly seek to find a middle-ground truth are overly agreeable and guided more by (often unconscious) self-interest than virtue.

[Michael Austin @mikeswriting]

We disagree some but I LOVE seeing you in the FNT/Film Threat crowd. You have great takes do a good job of offering counterpoints/ revealing some potential blind spots in those communities without coming off as dismissive or antagonistic. Reminds me of better times when we could all still get along.

[Steve Deace @SteveDeaceShow]

A preview of today's show on @theblaze -- Lessons the Right can learn nationally by the massive upset in Iowa's GOP governor primary:

1) Christian conservatives are changing from profile-driven to issue-driven.
2) MAHA & Christian Conservatives are the coalition of the future.
2) Issues still trump everything.
3) This wasn't a "loss" for President Trump, but one of his most impressive show of forces yet.
4) The generational divide is real and here.
5) Reports of the demise of @TPUSA continue to be greatly exaggerated.
6) If you don't come in with your money or already have high name ID you probably can't beat the establishment in a statewide election.
7) Why I took the gamble I did at the end -- and why @ZachLahn was a significantly stronger general election candidate than @RandyFeenstra.

Details coming up on today's show.

[Steve Deace @SteveDeaceShow]

Congrats to @TPAction for another big win. cc @tylerbowyer

[Election Wizard @ElectionWiz]

With about 85% reporting, Lahn is set to narrowly win tonight in Iowa unless there’s a surge in Scott County (Davenport). We’re still waiting for the results there.

[Spencer A. Klavan @SpencerKlavan]

What’s so fitting about the triumph of Backrooms over Mandalorian is that Kane Parsons and Will Soodnik have turned this online legend into a parable about the ugliness of remake culture. It’s funny that the Backrooms trend predates the AI boom, because in many ways it embodies some of the uncanny horror that AI slop can stir in us. But in other ways Backrooms is about deeper trends of which slop is just one symptom. Others include therapy culture, the remake glut, and our obsession with nostalgia. Now a new generation of content creators, who never lived through the periods we all yearn for, are exposing our nostalgia as the Baudrillardian grotesquery it is. So I argue for @TheFP today:

[Steve Deace @SteveDeaceShow]

This gets tried in every era.

1) My generation, Gen X, was gonna force the Right to give up on abortion. Instead, we’re the most hardcore pro-life we have ever been to the point we’re now debating prosecuting women who commit murder.
2) Millennials were gonna force the Right to give up on so-called gay marriage. Now the Right is more opposed to it than as it has been in over a decade.
3) Now we’re being told we have to become nihilistic antisemitic simps for Islam because of Gen Z. No, we don’t. And we won’t. They’ll grow up, too, or we’ll be so used to being bombarded by Islamist bots we’ll learn to ignore them.

[Milton Friedman Quotes @MiltonFriedmanW]

Milton Friedman: “Why should you be able to tell John and Jane that they have to be proficient in a foreign language?”

“Maybe they’d rather be proficient in music, mathematics, or something else. It’s just a demonstration of your willingness to replace their judgement by yours.”

[Chris Freiman @cafreiman]

Capitalism has in fact shrunk the middle class—by making people too rich to remain middle class:

[Bonchie @bonchieredstate]

By better, he means more expensive with less coverage and lower in network options.

[Nerdrotic @Nerdrotics]

RIP Star Wars
1977 - 2012

[The Western Journal @WesternJournalX]

🚨 A Gunman fired shots at the White House multiple times just now - Secret Service is responding swiftly.

Pray for President Trump 🙏

[The Western Journal @WesternJournalX]

BREAKING VIDEO: Several rapid gunshots have been fired near the White House, and the lawn has been evacuated.

Video shows ABC reporter Selina Wang ducking for cover, and now the Secret Service has reportedly shot two gunmen. Developing...

[Megan Basham @megbasham]

They just seems to be such a double standard on this. If you take someone like Stephen Colbert and Nick Fuentes, they both hold some absolutely abhorrent ideas. So why is it socially acceptable in evangelicalism to hold out Colbert as having provided a positive Christian witness when he provided one reasonably Christian sounding comment, but not Fuentes? Both men claim to be Christians. And I would say the evidence suggests both men are not.

[Mat Nuclear @MatNuclear]

I ran into a "Queers for Palestine", AKA, Chickens for KFC.

Palestinians literally get beheaded for being gay; and seek asylum IN ISRAEL.

These people aren't real.

[Joel Berry @JoelWBerry]

Leftism (and increasingly woke Rightism) is nothing but political effeminacy.

“Stop trying to fix everything! I just want you to listen!” 😭

[Joel Berry @JoelWBerry]

A few years ago, I tried to help out a family member who was having trouble, alternating between renting and homelessness. He had a job, and I told him I’d help him with his finances.

When we met up, he was wearing a new pair of Jordans. When I delved into his spending, I found he was renting all his furniture, his TV, and a video game system from Rent-A-Center. He ate fast food every day.

I explained to him why that was such a bad idea. I told him how I get most of my furniture from Goodwill and garage sales. Told him rich people don’t wear new Jordans.

I even showed him how much his money would be worth in 30 years if he invested the money he was giving to Rent-A-Center.

His response? “Sorry, I need nice furniture and I need to look good.”

These are the people blaming the rich for their problems.

[Michael Austin @mikeswriting]

@MatNuclear He seems destined to have the same trajectory as Richard Spencer.

[James Lindsay, anti-Communist @ConceptualJames]

I am once again begging these brats to GO OUTSIDE.

[The Western Journal @WesternJournalX]

President Donald Trump said Monday that planned military action against Iran has been shelved because a deal with Iran could take place.

On Monday, he said this latest extension of the ceasefire came at the behest of America’s Arab allies.

[Joel Berry @JoelWBerry]

Property taxes make home ownership even MORE expensive for young people trying to break into the housing market and these morons want to keep the taxes in place just to spite the boomers they hate so much.

You’ve heard of suicidal empathy

Now, meet suicidal envy