Sam Harris on Triggernometry

Sam Harris appeared on the Triggernometry podcast and covered several topics.  Of note, his previous appearance (which I have not seen) figured prominently.  I am sure some of the comments went over my head for lack of that context.  The main topics were Trump, the irresponsible right, COVID, and Islam's incompatibility with the West.

To say that Harris is opposed to Trump is to massively understate his position.  Wow, is he opposed to Trump.  With the sole exception of getting hostages released by Hamas - for which Harris thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump is all bad.  However, when challenged on some topics, he could not provide the alternative.  The one that stood out for me was the immigration issue.  Harris is strongly opposed to how ICE is apprehended people from the streets, separating families, and so forth.  Yes, he agreed that the Biden Administration fumbled it badly and that was a large part of why Trump won.  Even so, the border could be handled much better.  The hosts noted that it had not.  One might not agree with precisely how Trump is handling illegal immigration and the border, but at least he is handling illegal immigration and the border.  Harris was still unhappy.  He views Trump as vastly more corrupt than Biden and brushed Hunter's laptop away as an irrelevancy.  Sure, it was handled poorly by social media, but he still views it as a nothingburger compared to Trump.  He stated that Trump is enriching himself with cryptocurrency and using tariff negotiations to enrich his family.  It is odd that this was the first I heard these accusations; why is that?

Harris views the right as more dangerous regarding violence and terrorism.  Yes, he admitted that incidents of mass looting are almost always a leftwing phenomenon, but still views the right as more violent.  In fact, a helpful graphic (from CSIS) was presented that showed rightwing terrorism has vastly outpaced leftwing terrorism since 1994, this year being a rare exception.  Hmm.  That looks like it needs more context.  Charlie Kirk, who was clearly killed by a leftist, figured prominently in this discussion.  He conceded that it was not good to label opponents as fascists and Nazis.

Harris was a COVID apologist.  Everything that was done wrong during COVID was just honest mistakes in addressing a new crisis.  He thinks that Joe Rogan misinformed the populace on this, convincing them the vaccine was bad.  Though he held that it was mostly honest mistakes, the outcome is that we are less prepared for the next pandemic.  The implication is that loss of trust in the institutions is more an issue of misinformation from the likes of Joe Rogan rather than the bad policy decisions of the institutions themselves.

Finally, the discussion found its way to Israel and October 7.  He was dumbfounded that Israel, which was clearly attacked, had lost the PR war.  Of all people for Hamas to kill, they had attacked the peaceniks who were inclined to side with them.  Even so, Israel was quickly the bad guy.  Harris is no fan of religion and particularly not Islam.  Where Christianity and Judaism have nixed some passages over the centuries - slavery, animal sacrifice, etc., Islam has not.  He views it as 14th century Christians who would still proselytize by the sword.  So, it just needs a reformation?  He would rather do away with religion.  As it stands, Islam is incompatible with Western societies.  On that, I agree.

Overall, it was an interesting discussion.  His strongly contrasting views on Trump vs. Biden convinced me that he is a TDS sufferer.  So eager to forgive the corruption of the last administration and strident in his denunciation of the current one.  It was too much.  I would think Trump killed his dog.

Edge of the World (2021)

In 1839, James Brooke (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) arrived in Borneo aboard his schooner, the Royalist.  His cousin, Arthur (Dominic Monaghan), his nephew, Charlie, and his interpreter, Subu, accompany him ashore.  They are soon captured by headhunters who deliver them to Prince Badruddin and Pengiran Makhota.  Brooke claims to be an explorer, but neither Badruddin nor Makhota believe that.  Is he a spy for the British, scouting Borneo as a potential colony?  In short order, Brooke has formed a close relationship with Badruddin and a contentious one with Makhota.  The land is troubled by a rebellion and plagued with pirates.  Makhota suggests that the guns on the Royalist would be useful in fighting them.  Brooke agreed.  In payment, the Sultan named Brooke as the Rajah of Sarawak.  Makhota is furious and becomes Brooke's enemy.

The movie plays at a snail's pace.  Narration of his inner thoughts are used to bridge scenes.  He comes across as a man full of doubts, exactly the type of person who would never have dared to sail to the edge of the world.  Where his thoughts betray doubts, his actions often indicate certainty.  He demands an end to headhunting and slavery.  He has open clashes with Makhota even when he is the weaker party.  Meyers spends an alarming amount of the movie in bed, either entwined with his love interest, tangled in his sheets with a fever, or just sleeping.  The battles are non-existent.  The defeat of the rebels proved to be Kabuki theater.  While his nephew suggested using the guns on the Royalist to blast the pirates, Brooke had a better idea; he painted himself black and approached the pirate camp with a machete.  After the battle, he has yet another mental breakdown.

My first awareness of James Brooke was when I read the Flashman series.  He was quite the man of action and impressed Flashman.  In this version, the cowardly Flashman would find a kindred spirit.

Mediocre.  Skip.

Cross of Iron (1977)

It is 1943 in Russia near the Black Sea.  Corporal Rolf Steiner (James Coburn) leads a platoon of soldiers on a patrol through Russian held territory.  He returns to the lines to find that Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell) is the new commander.  Stransky voluntarily transferred from a cushy assignment in France in order to win an Iron Cross on the front lines.  Stransky has already learned that Steiner is a living legend among the men and highly valued by the regimental commander, Colonel Brandt (James Mason).  Steiner has won the Iron Cross.  During a particularly difficult battle, Steiner is wounded and sent far behind the lines for recovery.  When he returns, he is asked by Brandt about the battle and whether Stransky deserved the Iron Cross for his part in it.  Stransky had never left his bunker.  When the army retreats, Stransky abandoned Steiner and his men to be overrun, hoping they would be killed.  Can Steiner dodge Russian soldiers and find the German Army?  Will he have his revenge?

As often is the case with a Sam Peckinpah film, the blood is plentiful.  The battle scenes dominate, a mixture of explosions, airborne bodies, bullet riddled soldiers, and collapsing buildings.  More time is spent on nameless soldiers being killed and blown up than is spent developing the characters.  When Lt. Meyer was killed, I only vaguely knew who he was, though it becomes noteworthy later.  To help differentiate them, several of his men have some distinctive characteristic: half an ear, severely scared face, impressive mustache, youthful grin.  Don't recall the names.

The conclusion wasn't.  The German lines are falling and the various characters are engaged in battle, but their fates are unknown.  They probably all died, except for Steiner; he returns in a sequel.

Just okay.

Dream West (Part 3)

It is 1847.  General Kearny arrests Lt. Col. John C Fremont with plans of court martialing him for mutiny, among other things.  The trial takes place in Washington, where Senator Thomas Hart Benton sits behind his son-in-law; the long break between Benton and his daughter Jessie is at an end.  Fremont is found guilty and ordered dishonorably discharged.  He counts on a Presidential Pardon, which comes but does not absolve him entirely.  He resigns the army and sets out on his 4th expedition.

Kit Carson was unavailable, so Fremont hired Bill Williams (Anthony Zerbe) as guide.  The expedition is a disaster as the men are stranded in the snows of the Rocky Mountains.  Several die of starvation.  When Fremont finally gets to California and reunites with Jessie, he is a rich man.  There is gold on the ranch he purchased.  With this, he financed yet another expedition, his 5th and final one, mapping a path through the Rockies for a railroad.

In 1856, Fremont is the first Republican nominee for the presidency.  Abraham Lincoln (F Murray Abraham) is among the delegates who nominate him.  He loses by a large margin.

1858.  Thomas Hart Benton is on his death bed.  Jessie visits.  Her father agreed that she was right about Fremont all those years ago.  She chose a very fine man.

In 1861, the Civil War has begun and President Lincoln named Fremont to command the Western Department, with a particular interest in preventing Missouri from joining the Confederacy.  In St. Louis, Fremont immediately confronted the rebel sympathizers in the city.  Time to stop treating them with kid gloves.  He went so far as to post a proclamation freeing slaves from rebels.  Lincoln viewed this as a huge overstep on Fremont's part and sent General Hunter (James Cromwell) to replace him.

It 1887, Fremont and his wife live a modest life on Staten Island.  All their wealth was lost on bad investments in the railroads.  They depend upon Jessie's writing to support them.  In a final train journey back to California, they encounter a man and his son.  The man gushes about Fremont and his book enabling his parents to travel west and thus provide him the prosperous life he now has.

The final chapter is a hodgepodge.  Where the first two episodes had a smooth flow with the rise of Fremont (episode 1 covered 4 years or so) and Fremont at War (episode 2 covers 4 years or so), this one covers the rest of his life (40 years). That's a lot of time to cover and it feels rushed.  The disaster of the 4th expedition is fully explored, even dragging at times.  The 5th expedition, which sees the return of Kit Carson, felt rushed by comparison.  The presidential campaign started with Fremont's nomination at the Republican Convention and ended almost the next scene with his defeat.  Next thing you know, it's the Civil War.  None of Fremont's battles are filmed; it is all camp and HQ.  This chapter feels more like a history lecture than an engaging story.

Though I like F Murray Abraham, he is badly cast as Abraham Lincoln.  He is in so much makeup that he almost looks to be wearing an Abe Lincoln mask.  The look is unconvincing to the extent of being distracting.  He lacks the towering stature of Lincoln.  His conversation with Jessie where she chides him for withdrawing Fremont's emancipation proclamation made Lincoln look small.

Overall, the miniseries is good.  It is too lenient on Fremont, but it is telling the story from his point of view.  My reading of the man shows him to be brash and arrogant.  He had a high opinion of himself and was not prone to humility.  Chamberlain's Fremont does not come across as a man who grew up in South Carolina.

Recommended.

Dream West (Part 2)

John Charles Fremont (Richard Chamberlain) finished his expedition by testing a raft on the river.  Loading all the gear and valuable data into inflatable boat, the explores raft back toward civilization.  Unfortunately, they were not ready for the rapids.  Much of the equipment is lost but the records are recovered. Back home, it is now time to write the report, but Fremont finds he has not talent for it.  Jessie (Alice Krige) gladly takes over.  She has a talent for making the report readable.  When the book is published, it proves to be a great success.  During a celebratory dinner, Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft suggested that Fremont should travel to California on his next expedition and be ready for war between the United States and Mexico.  However, no written orders were provided.

With Kit Carson (Rip Torn) at his side, Fremont set out on his 3rd Expedition.  Once in California, his wanderings drew the ire of General Castro.  Fremont was ordered out of the state.  While in Oregon, a Marine Lieutenant, Archibald Gillespie (Johnathan Frakes), arrived.  Fremont needed to get back to California, but there are still no written orders.  Soon, Fremont is nudging American settlers to overthrow the California Government, infuriating John Sutter (Jerry Orbach).  The Bear Flag Republic is born.  Only weeks later, the US Navy raised the US flag over California.  Eager to report the success to Washington, Fremont sent Kit east with dispatches.  On the way, Kit encountered General Stephen Watts Kearny (G D Spradlin) heading toward California with his column of US Dragoons.  Kearny roped Kit into leading the column back to California.  When Kearny arrived in California, he immediately clashed with Fremont.  Fremont declined to follow Kearny's orders; after all, Commodore Robert Stockton was in charge of California.

In Washington, Jessie sought help for her husband.  Bancroft denied any orders for Fremont to topple California.  When she met with President Polk (Noble Willingham), he was equally adamant that no such orders were conveyed.  Unsurprisingly, Kearny placed Fremont under arrest for mutiny and marched him east for an eventual court martial.

This episode gets several things wrong.  Firstly, Lt. Gillespie is killed during an Indian attack.  This came as a real shock when I watched it, as I thought it was going to be fun to have Commander William Riker of Star Trek play second fiddle again.  Nope, he's barely arrived when he is killed.  In truth, Gillespie was second in command of the California Battalion during the conquest.  He survived the war.  Polk is portrayed more like Andrew Jackson.  Polk was quite mild, letting folks convince themselves that he agreed with them by being pleasant.  Here, he denounced Jessie for implying that he sent Fremont to conquer California.  The initial conquest of California saw almost no fighting whereas this has a montage of battles as Fremont leads his men from town to town, guns blazing and cannon firing.  Senator Benton (Fritz Weaver) is still avoiding his daughter more than 5 years after her marriage.  In fact, the ostracism was quite brief, but it is ongoing throughout this chapter.

As with the previous episode, there are numerous historical figures beyond those already mentioned who get cameos: Tom Fitzpatrick, General Jose Castro, Ezekial Merritt, and Sagundai.  For a TV production, it is quite immersive of the period.

Recommended.

Dream West (Part 1)

It is 1839.  John Charles Fremont (Richard Chamberlain) is exploring the land between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.  He is second in command of the expedition.  While exploring, he comes upon a dead family who got lost in the wilderness; a faulty map is among their belongings.  Fremont commits himself to publishing accurate maps to Oregon.

Back in Washington, Fremont is introduced to Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, a strong proponent for westward exploration and expansion.  However, Fremont is more interested in the senator's daughter, Jessie (Alice Krige).  Romance soon follows but Senator Benton does not approve.  Fremont and Jessie marry behind his back, creating a split between father and daughter.

In 1842, Fremont sets out on his first expedition.  Unable to hire Jim Bridger or another well-known guide, he hires Christopher 'Kit' Carson (Rip Torn).  Carson proves to be an outstanding guide and a lifelong friend.  While mapping the Oregon Trail, they happen upon Jim Bridger (Ben Johnson).  Bridger says to go back or take a different route; the local tribe is up in arms.  Fremont will not be dissuaded and rides directly into the Indian camp.

The first episode of a miniseries from 1986, it is headed by Mr. Miniseries himself.  It does an excellent job of painting the era and showing the life of Fremont.  Many historical figures appear, some with little more than a brief cameo (Senator John Crittenden, Jim Bridger, Provost) and others get bigger roles (Maria Crittenden, Stephen Watts Kearny, Edward 'Ned' Kern, Karl Preuss, Joseph 'Papa Joe' Nicollet).  Where many such adaptations use fictional characters around the core of historic ones, this production followed the history.  David Nevin, who wrote the novel, has good attention to detail in his historical stories.

The series combines the first (1842) and second (1843) expeditions into one.  Likewise, the break between Jessie and her father was mended in short order (before Fremont left for his first expedition) while it lasts until the final episode of the miniseries.

This open episode leaves one eager to see the next chapter.  Recommended.

Hasan Piker, Communist Apologist

Triggernometry hosted Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who does political commentary.  Piker began his career by working for his uncle, Cenk Uigur of the Young Turks, before establishing himself as a political commentator on a gaming platform.  Piker is a self-described leftist.  During his discussion with Konstantin and Francis, he touched on several topics, but his affinity for communism was the standout.  Though Konstantin is from the first communist state, Russia, Piker offered the old refrain: that's not true communism.  Wow.  When asked where socialism/communism has been done right, he pointed to China.  Sure, it isn't perfect but look at the growth rate.  By contrast, the parties that aren't slipping toward socialism and/or communism are defined as nascent fascist parties.  He repeatedly described the Reform Party in the UK as a proto-fascist party, which provoked responses to the contrary from both hosts.

What is fascist?  Piker offered the definition of "palingenetic ultranationalism."  That's a mouthful.  Looking this up, it has five components:

• Palingenesis: Myth upon which national rebirth will rest
• Ultranationalism: Extreme nationalism with xenophobic tendencies
• Rejection of Liberal Modernity: The status quo sucks and has to go
• Totalitarian/Authoritarian: Led by single leader or party that suppresses pluralism
• Goal of the "New Man": Transformation of citizens by purging weakness or decadence

Unsurprisingly, he described the current Republican Party in the same way.  Both hosts confronted him on the use of fascism as a label for opponents.  The rise of another Hitler would demand that citizens take up arms and kill fascists before things get out of hand.  Calling someone Hitler is a permission slip for some crackpot to shoot him.

During the discussion, Piker often dodged questions by switching topics.  He dodged the issues with Islam in the UK; he is a Muslim.  In response to calling Nigel Farage a nascent fascist, he was asked if Keir Starmer could then be described as a nascent communist.  That got only a laugh.  So, right-leaning parties are likely to become fascists (in the long term) but left-leaning parties are just fine and no problem at all.  Of course, Piker has already declared his desire for a move toward Chinese-flavored communism.  Hmm.  The hosts pointed out that political critics in China, Russia, and even the UK are often locked up, while such is not the case in the US.  He argued the point by bringing up Eugene Debbs.  Really?  Debbs was locked up over 100 years ago!  That's the most recent example you have?  And it was Wilson - a Democrat - who jailed him.

It felt like Francis and Konstantin went easy on him.  It is somewhat alarming that this guy has a huge following and is an influencer.