The Cheesehead Initiative

Liquor connoisseur and noted Wisconsinite Christian Schneider joins The Remnant for the first time to ...

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Liquor connoisseur and noted Wisconsinite Christian Schneider joins The Remnant for the first time to discuss America’s strange plague of misinformation. In an age where politicians are incentivized to embrace ludicrous positions and all facts are negotiable, how can sanity be restored? For that matter, what’s wrong with modern political campaigns? Did God create Listerine? And what does the future hold for college education?

Show Notes:

– Chrisitian’s page at The Dispatch

– Christian’s page at The College Fix

– Christian’s new book, Anti-Knowledge

– Christian: “Our Elected Officials Are a Threat to Civic Knowledge”

– The (ostensible) madness of Ron Johnson

– Critical Path, by Buckminster Fuller

– Institutional comedy

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Comments (30)
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  1. Peter Gessel

    On the discussion of how you couldn't pull off half the things shows did 10 years ago, a great example is Arrested Development. Even in 2003 it was considered edgy and by now it's become outright offensive (especially Lucile Bluth). All of that, of course, makes the show absolutely hilarious and one of the best to ever grace the television (until Netflix butchered it).

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    Ben Connelly

    Good episode. Always down for a discussion of Ron Swanson and Tropic Thunder.

    Welcome to America, Guy!

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    Jason Gibson

    This was a great episode. Too bad it just got buried with three years worth of David French podcasts 😉

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    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    The "Clap-Back Clause of the Constitution"! Ah, yes, I recall studying that in law school, but when I go back to Article II of the Constitution, which is surely where it must be, I can't seem to find it.

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    1. GregS

      Wouldn't it be in Article I, since the clapback clause would be one of the duties and responsibilities of members of Congress?

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        Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

        I looked there too. Even article twelve.

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    Narwhal

    CRS, the Congressional Research Service, publishes a ton of useful information which is available to every member of Congress. The point about Rep. Cawthorn is likely spot on unfortunately. How many CRS reports has he read and understood on topics directly related to his current committee assignments? How many CRS reports has he read and understood on topics directly related to national defense? For example has he read this: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/IF10514.pdf or this: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/RL33446.pdf or this: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/IF10519.pdf or this: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/R46216.pdf

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  6. GregS

    Both sides!
    Ron Johnson says Listerine cures COVID, the vaccine has killed 20k people and nobody should get it, sunspots cause global warming, the election was stolen.
    Mazie Hirono uses the phrase "court packing" incorrectly.
    Totally the same thing.

    Also: I like how the plan is, "I'll just project my hopes onto people who say false and insane things in public, ad support a treasonous fascist, hoping that they don't actually mean it."
    Hey - how about instead, supporting people who don't support fascism and swallowing the policy differences for a minute?

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      Narwhal

      I think that is a bit unfair. Yes, they did bring up what Sen. Hirano said. But, they didn’t say what she said was dangerous or nutty. They said in wasn’t accurate and was misleading. They then discussed Sen. Johnson, and other Republican politicians, and speculated whether whether they are either partly or completely a crazy moron or whether they are partly or completely pretending to be to get re-elected. The guest described Sen. Johnson’s COVID statements as dangerous. He did not describe Sen. Hirano’s statements the same way. They spent more time openly mocking Sen. Johnson than they did on Sen. Hirano.

      In my view, political pundits and commentators are doing their job or at their best when they are completely or mostly impartial umpires. Factual statements are strikes. False or misleading statements are balls. Dangerously misleading or false claims are when the batter is hit. Statements which are largely or entirely subjective are more difficult calls. Umpires make calls against both teams/sides, it is their job to do so.

      I don’t claim Jonah is always at his best but he does not attempt to hide his bias much or at all. I think you are at least somewhat familiar with my willingness to call out Jonah or others when I think the situation demands it. I don’t think this one did. If we disagree about that then we do.

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      1. GregS

        Well the way Hirono came up was that they said "this isn't just a problem on the right" and then gave the examples of Hirono saying court packing, and Harris showing pictures of a young woman with a disease who would lose coverage if the ACA was cancelled.
        Sure they spent more time on Johnson, but when you say "this problem also exists on the left" and these are the examples you have, it seems you are stretching a bit to say "both sides."

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          Narwhal

          And did Justice Barrett rule against the ACA the way then Sen. Harris claimed? Was then Sen. Harris being hyperbolic and did she make a false claim? I’ll concede she couldn’t know with certainty it would be false at the time she made the claim.

          Sen. Hirano was mentioned in part because the guest wrote a previous piece at the Dispatch on misinformation and he had cited her in that piece. Now is that nut-picking? Maybe, I certainly think that is debatable and it is a practice people at the Dispatch often highlight as bad.

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          1. GregS

            This isn't even nut picking.
            My point is that equating "I'm worried you will rule in a way I don't like" to "covid vaccines kill people" is a specious comparison. If that's your example of how the left is as bad as Ron Johnson, I'm going to say the left is apparently nothing like Ron Johnson.

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  7. Thomas Woodbery

    I'm disappointed that Mr. Schneider believes the best he can hope for as a conservative is that Nikki Haley and Tim Scott know they are spouting nonsense and paying lip service to Trump, but you wink and give them a pass because they are basically good people. Why not spend more effort finding conservatives who ARE NOT SPOUTING NONSENSE and show them some love? It is a sad state of affairs if that is the best you can offer among today's elected officials.

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    1. GregS

      Also, how does he know they are good people?
      One of my criteria for "good" is "doesn't publicly support fascism."
      How does he know they won't continue to support fascism once they've got more power?

      I say - believe them when they tell you what they are. People who will happily support fascism if that's what they think they need to do to get power.

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      1. Thomas Woodbery

        I don't know they are good people. Mr. Schneider implies they are. I was putting words into his mouth to make a point.

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        1. GregS

          Sorry, I was making the same point but with poor use of pronouns. Edited to fix the generic you.

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