Spence Furby

Politics in Canada and Manitoba, philosophy, theology, culture, law.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

While more substantial than Coyne's tautological patriotism, it may be that something like what Douthat argues about America is also true of Canada. If that's so, you won't read about it in the Globe and Mail.

Free link to Douthat column —

https://t.co/DojD43BrBx

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

A good illustration of the shallowness of Canadian punditry is the contrast between this piece in the Globe promoting Canadian patriotism and a New York Times column by Ross Douthat on American national identity from earlier this month [gift link in replies].

[Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦🇮🇱🇬🇪🇲🇩 @acoyne]

My latest, on Canadian conservatives’ patriotism problem https://t.co/MgS9JSzFUx

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

Douthat has a more substantial defence of American national identity:

“What needs to be recognized is that creedal Americanism is itself a culture, in which the formal commitment to a principle is intertwined with other habits and practices that make the commitment meaningful.”

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@acoyne To the extent Canadians have lost the feeling that Canada belongs to them, and they to Canada, feeding them tautologies won't get it back.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@acoyne I'm sure there are a number of accounts on this website—some of them run by humans—that prefer Trump over Canada; very few notable conservatives are among them. But I doubt stamping your feet while declaiming: "We're Canadian, dammit" is going to rally many Canadians to the flag.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@simongerman600 @fxxfy John Updike was fascinated by, and chronicled urban decline in mid-century America, and specifically in Reading, PA, which appears in fictionalized versions in several of his novels and short stories.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

As a West Broadway resident, I appreciate this column by Rebecca Chambers. I learned my city councillor
@SherriLRollins responds to concerns about safety by referring to my neighbourhood as “harm-reduction headquarters.” Did Rollins campaign on that?

https://t.co/6ba6PtiTLM

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@JoshDehaas Exclusive federal jurisdiction over the pipeline per se — if the feds ever get behind the Smith-Ford proposal. But a combination of environmental review under provincial jurisdiction, legal challenges and political opposition could make for meaningful obstacles and delays.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@polanskydj To be fair, there is some info about the Toronto man in the press release, including his name, age and the allegation of his connection to Hamas; the withholding of further info at this time is grounded in a court-imposed publication ban.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@howardanglin Education faculties may produce poor research that amplifies activist dogmas but they wield great power, e.g., Judith Butler's Foucauldian ideas were further dumbed down into power points presented to students as factual, thereby playing a key role disseminating trans ideology.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@WhitStillman Lovely German orchard posting, and bonus orchard-themed laundry in the background

https://t.co/XQqtWlxqjY

[The Awful Rowing Toward God @Moonlit_Devious]

By the apple tree.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

Nick Drake

[Melodies & Masterpieces @SVG__Collection]

Name the band or musician

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@fxxfy Whereas his rival, Schelling, completed the evolution: from dandy to wizard.

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@Paul_Heron_ Don’t try to wake me in the morning

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@ghostofchristo1 Voegelin is the man

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

@ScottNewmanWpg @acoyne And they’ll only charge $500/hour to do it

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

Free link to Douthat's interview with Sunkara...

https://t.co/FNxGS2LQ9b

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

Ross Douthat has interviewed 3 leftist pundits over the last year: Hasan Piker, Chris Hayes and now, Bhaskar Sunkara [gift link in replies]. Sunkara was by far the most thoughtful. Although Douthat didn't press Piker too much, he came off as a posturing, sloganeering midwit. 1/x

[Spence Furby @SpenceFurby]

Socialism seems to supply a quasi-theological horizon of meaning for leftists like Sunkara: they feel there *must* be more than social-democratic tinkering. Love, peace and harmony mustn't be pushed off to the next life; instead, redemption is a distant, hazy future in this one.