Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Snarkiness

Aaron is joined once again by the podcast’s “Costco-brand Neuhaus,” David Keating, to discuss the president’s behavior at the prayer breakfast. David talks about how Dr. Brooks’ remarks at the breakfast are totally in-line with Christian teaching, and why President Trump’s disagreement with the idea of loving your enemies should trouble his Christian supporters. Aaron and David speculate as to why Trump can know how to behave at an event like the March for Life, but seems unable to behave himself at something superficially similar like the prayer breakfast. Finally, Aaron brings up the idea of Collective Narcissism, and why he thinks President Trump’s behavior reflects this psychological phenomenon in himself and his followers.

Dr. Arthur Brooks’ remarks at the prayer breakfast: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/07/arthur-brooks-national-prayer-breakfast-speech/?arc404=true

President Trump’s Remarks after Dr. Brooks: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-68th-annual-national-prayer-breakfast/

Dr. Agnieszka Golec de Zavala on Collective Narcissism: https://aeon.co/ideas/why-collective-narcissists-are-so-politically-volatile

In light of the “Big Game” (now the NFL can’t sue us) victory by the KC Chiefs (actually recorded Sunday Afternoon before the game), Aaron and Jason tackle the topic of cultural appropriation, specifically the appropriation of Native American imagery, costumes, and traditions by teams like the Chiefs or the Washington Redskins. Aaron goes through why, based on psychological research, he does believe these teams should change their names, their mascots, and their practices, while Jason thinks that cultural appropriation is political correctness gone too far.

Native American Advocates’ take on why the Chiefs should change their name and their fan practices: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-02-02/native-american-advocates-say-change-to-chiefs-name-traditions-overdue

A CNN piece on the history of the chiefs, including Vincent Schilling’s (a Mohawk journalist) take on the situation: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/01/us/kansas-city-chiefs-name-race-trnd/index.html

A piece on the Psychology of Cultural Appropriation and how it has been demonstrated to be harmful: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-in-the-intersection/201706/cultural-identity-theft

The difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/201910/cultural-appropriation-appreciation-and-denigration

The Salon Article Jason makes reference to later in the episode: https://www.salon.com/2020/02/02/both-super-bowl-liv-team-names-are-pretty-racist--kansas-city-chiefs-and-san-francisco-49ers/

A link to one of our earlier episodes (Season 1, Ep. 46) on transitional justice, where we discussed the importance of concessions by oppressors, especially on a community level, to healing past wounds: https://anchor.fm/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-snarkiness/episodes/Slavery-Reparations--the-Contact-Hypothesis--and-Transitional-Justice-e4eeej

Aaron is joined by a still-recovering-from-a-cold Austin to discuss gun culture in the wake of last week’s protests at the Virginia State Capitol. First Austin talks about the legislation forbidding criticism of the government that the Virginia Legislature TOTALLY isn’t using as a form of retaliation against the protestors. The two then go on to discuss the aftermath of the gun rally and the stereotypes around “gun people,” which ones they view as accurate and which they don’t, as well as highlighting some facets of the gun community that don’t get a lot of press, but should be a bigger part of the discussion around them.

In the midst of Bernie Sander’s alleged sexism, a surely disappointing (to the media) peaceful and respectful pro-gun protest in Virginia, and whatever your thoughts about Star Wars are a month later, the President’s conduct surrounding the Apple Corporation, as well as Attorney General Barr’s comments on the same topic, are flying under the news radar.

Austin talks about why President Trump’s insistence that Apple grant the government a back door into their technology is a constitutional non-starter, as well as an inherently dangerous idea. Aaron talks about how, psychologically speaking, such a backdoor would be inviting unethical decision-making to wreak even more havoc on the justice system than it has already wreaked. Finally, both of them point out that for someone being impeached for an alleged quid pro quo, the president sure seems to be pretty free with demanding quid pro quo on his twitter feed.

The Daily Beast’s take on the situation, including a statement given to them by Apple: https://www.thedailybeast.com/feds-accuse-apple-of-refusing-to-unlock-pensacola-navy-base-shooters-iphones

Forbes’s account of the situation, including some background on the President’s dealings with Apple: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/01/15/trump-calls-on-apple-to-open-iphones-for-fbi/#14460a9a1d5c

With the recent release (and critical acclaim given to) the movie 1917, Jason and Aaron decide to tackle America’s current foreign policy, including what’s going on in Iran as well as the recently-released Afghanistan papers, and compare it to the circumstances of World War I. Jason compares the U.S.’s incompetence and outright duplicity revealed in the Afghanistan Papers to the historical tactics and practices of British Field Marshall Hague, the “butcher” behind such military catastrophes as the Somme and the battle of Passchendaele. Aaron compares the misleading actions revealed by the Afghanistan papers to Groupthink, and emphasizes how, in the wake of these documents’ declassification, trusting the government’s official statements and narratives on Iran is naïveté of the highest order.

The Washington Post’s breaking of the Afghanistan papers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/

The Guardian’s summary of the Afghanistan Papers: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/09/afghanistan-papers-military-washington-post-analysis

Business Insider’s summary of the Afghanistan Papers: https://www.businessinsider.com/us-officials-lied-about-afghan-war-failures-documents-reveal-2019-12

While Vice is often a questionable news source, they do a good job here summarizing the declassified report revealing that we went into Iraq on bad information: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kve3z/the-cia-just-declassified-the-document-that-supposedly-justified-the-iraq-invasion

Lindsey Graham’s “Interesting” (bless his heart) take on those in Congress who’d seek to limit the President’s war powers: https://reason.com/2020/01/08/rand-paul-mike-lee-are-empowering-the-enemy-by-wanting-to-debate-war-with-iran-says-lindsey-graham/?fbclid=IwAR22tEH7UQT2MUm54kH222EhRb-PDZlosmDLjgGlUrHkAczL6XnHEvAkoT0

You’re not supposed to talk about sex, politics, or religion in polite conversation, but since we already talk about politics, why not bring religion into the mix? Aaron is joined by David Keating, an Mdiv student at Concordia Theological Seminary, to discuss the recent article in Christianity Today calling for Evangelical Christians to end their support of President Trump.

The Original Christianity Today Article that sparked this entire affair: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html

Interview with Mark Galli, the editor of Christianity Today, on the response to the article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/us/christianity-today-mark-galli-evangelicals.html

President Trump’s initial response to the article:https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/20/trumps-rage-christianity-today-gives-away-his-scam/?fbclid=IwAR3BVbOdmQ1qQimnk9IgzonP_FKEqlKw3LZ7BdgLIXAeobEyZaF1u2BkbAs

Jim Daly on why Evanglicals should support Trump: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jim-daly-christianity-today-is-wrong-to-want-trump-removed-heres-the-evangelical-argument-for-him

The Washington Post’s take on the entire affair: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/20/christianity-today-took-aim-trump-it-only-hurt-itself/

In the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, Aaron discusses what he perceives as some of the biggest psychological flaws in political decision making on both sides of the aisle, and talks about how, as we move into a new year and a new decade, we should all, regardless of political party, resolve to be better political thinkers and decision-makers.

Theme by Nathan Keightley

Rather than talking about impeachment, we decided to talk about one of the even more fundamental issues dividing the American people: Is the new Star Wars movie good or not? Did you really think we weren’t going to talk about this? Also, SPOILER. WARNING. We will be discussing the plot of “The Rise of Skywalker,” including some pretty major reveals, so if you haven’t seen it yet and have somehow managed to avoid spoilers, this is your warning to turn back now.

Aaron is joined once again by Hollywood screenwriter Faith Liu to discuss how the series has gone so far, how it’s been politicized, and whether or not the newest movie is worth your time. Aaron and faith discuss the oft-used but rarely-defined term “Mary Sue,” the sharp critic/audience divides over both “The Last Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker,” and the importance of myth and narrative in a culture.

Note: we apologize for some slight audio issues at the beginning of the episode, audio normalizes within the first five minutes.

Theme by Nathan Keightley

After an in-depth discussion of Scotch Whiskey, Aaron and Austin talk about Attorney General Barr’s recent comments to the effect of “communities that protest the police may not get police protection.” Aaron talks about the dangers of such rhetoric, and how it threatens the very nature of free speech and equal protection of rights. Austin discusses the specific constitutional problems that Attorney General Barr’s comments raise, as well as further elaborating the difference between the “thin blue line” crowd and a more constructive support of police officers. Both Aaron and Austin then conclude the episode by talking about how we can effect change, despite the attitudes of people like Barr, and how we can spread the message that we need to demand more of our police.

USA Today on Attorney General Barr’s Comments: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/12/04/william-barr-communities-without-respect-may-lose-police-protection/2606237001/

The "water gun protests" that Austin referred to: https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/why-are-crowds-of-people-attacking-police-officers-with-water-guns-/954870930/

An article on the Second Amendment Sanctuary Cities in Virginia: https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/it-begins-virginia-forms-active-militia-to-protect-sheriffs-citizens-from-unconstitutional-laws/

Theme by Nathan Keightley

The unintentionally-long saga of ranking the presidents come to a close! Aaron and Jason finish off their ranking of the U.S. Presidents by giving their top two picks. Aaron justifies ranking his choices higher than Jason did, while Jason picks a very controversial (at least for the liberty movement) figure for his number 2 spot, which Aaron pushes back against. Finally, both Aaron and Jason give their picks for the greatest American President of all time, saying why they’ve made each pick, what we can learn from these great men’s example, and why we need to return to that example rather than continue down the road that the presidency has drunkenly staggered down for the last century.

Dr. Richard M. Gamble’s review of DiLorenzo’s “The Real Lincoln”: https://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?id=79

George Smith on Abraham Lincoln: https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/abraham-lincoln-abolitionists

A piece on Lincoln’s attacks on the press: https://www.historynet.com/stop-the-presses-lincoln-suppresses-journalism.htm

A libertarian defense of Abraham Lincoln: https://reason.com/1994/03/01/a-libertarian-lincoln/

Amity Shlaes’ “Coolidge”: https://www.amazon.com/Coolidge-Amity-Shlaes/dp/0061967599

Shlaes’ “The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression.” The highest praise we can give this book is that Paul Krugman hates it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060936428/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

Theme by Nathan Keightley