Holman Jenkins Jr. -he whose bellowing twaddle dwarfs his actual mental capacity- again can't help himself WSJ, ('The Socialism We Already Have', Aug. 26, p. A13). Therein, he not only conflates socialism with 'property tax breaks' (for homeowners over 65) but also "redistributing resources from young to old"- a tired trope I already demolished in two previous posts, e.g.
NY Times' Douthat (& Yale's Moyn) Wrong As Ever About "Older Americans Hoarding The Future"
And:
Yale Econ Prof Claims "Older People" in U.S. Are A "Gerontocracy Stealing From the Young" - Where and How He's Off Base
But what would you expect from an op-ed writer so Trumpian he lies like he breathes, and gets away with a lot because he's confident few will check his howlers and detritus. Like when he claimed in a Mar. 22-23 WSJ column ( 'CBS Kicks The UFO Habit', p. A13) the Nimitz F-18 pilots were actually chasing "a 46' Chinese drone", not a genuine UFO -reported by Ret. Lt. Cmdr. David Frav0r as an incredibly high velocity craft reaching the cap point in seconds- e.g. his House testimony.
Or, when he denied in one nutso column from 2020 ('Disinfecting Journalistic Ethics',. WSJ, May 6, p. A13) that Dotard ever stated people ought to consider 'disinfectant'. Not prepared for the actual video that circulated contradicting his lie, i.e.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9kWsUwTcj8
But look, this is how Holman rolls, and he hasn't let up since actively pushing his 'Russia Hoax' baloney for the last x years. Despite the fact that former AF officer Reality Winner ended
up in a federal slammer for 5 years (under the Espionage Act) for leaking docs
pertaining to Russian
interference in the 2016 United States elections. Which, of course, Jenkins has termed "a hoax".
In his latest column, Jenkins continues his deformations of the truth often mixing them with half-truths to try to gain more traction among the weaker minded. He is totally convinced that if he offers enough 'loaded' malarkey combined with codswallop he can get enough WSJ readers to bite. For example, quoting Richard Posner's book, 'Aging and Old Age' from which he unloads this chestnut: "Posner gives a frank discussion of the relationship between the short time horizon in the elderly and unchecked selfishness."
So Jenkins Jr. like Parsons commits the same logical fraud: conflating two groups of elders - one in the elite or upper 1 percent (like Steve Forbes and Warren Buffet). The others in the lower 30 or 40 percent just scraping by with Social Security and some benefit from reduced property taxes- because of the Homestead Exemption in their states. (Btw, the reduced property taxes for those over 65 do have a rationale - because they no longer have children who need to attend schools in their districts - which property taxes pay for).
But the biggest outrage is when Holman stretches his definition of socialism to give a twisted bit of advice to the "young socialists seeking relief from having to be self supporting". Offering this:
"For them, there's always the Army. They'll know when their next meal is coming from and what to wear. And accommodations will be provided."
Adding: "Of course, the U..S. military prizes initiative. A lesson for the young socialists: You can't have everything."
Does this fulsome twit merit a rap on his shroom-gobbling noggin or what?
See Also:
by Dean Baker | August 28, 2026 - 5:01am | permalink
— from Beat the Press
An extreme position does not become less extreme just because someone can put forward one that’s even more extreme. Massacring 100 children doesn’t become a moderate position just because someone is advocating killing 200 children.
This is how we should view the line being pushed by “moderate” voices that we have to deal with the $40 trillion debt with both spending cuts and tax hikes. The reality is that, apart from the military and Homeland Security, there is little fat in spending to be cut, as even Elon Musk inadvertently acknowledged. Insofar as we have a deficit problem, the issue is on the tax side, as can be easily shown. The rich have been taking an ever-larger share of national income over the last half-century, and they don’t feel like paying taxes on their winnings.
» article continues...
And:
by Chuck Collins | August 27, 2026 - 4:57am | permalink
— from OtherWords
The debate over capitalism vs. socialism often looks like a battle of cartoon caricatures: Monopoly Man versus the Marx Monster.
Across the planet there are countless flavors of capitalism and socialism, unique mashups of free markets and government policies. Into this muddle wade the right-wing ideologues who fear the red “socialist” demon hiding in every corner.
If Fox News existed in the 1950s, they would’ve labeled Republican President Dwight Eisenhower a socialist for taxing the wealthy and making broad public investments to expand homeownership, enable debt-free higher education, and build infrastructure and technology that expanded the modern middle class.
Yet, what do these labelers call modern-day China, a country that mints hundreds of billionaires a year and dominates global markets with private production? Are they socialist or capitalist?
» article continues...
And:
by Robert Reich | May 1, 2026 - 5:03am | permalink— from Robert Reich's Substack
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, has reason to smile
Friends,
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted last Thursday on the Ellison family’s purchase of the company. Some 1.743 billion shares were cast in favor of the sale; 16.3 million were cast against it, a ratio of roughly 99 to 1.
1. Great for a Handful of Super-Wealthy, but Bad for Workers and Bad for America
This vote came soon after more than 4,000 workers in the media industry — directors, screenwriters, producers, actors, editors, cinematographers, musicians, and composers — signed a letter predicting an industry disaster if the sale went through.
And:
Youtube videos:
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