Category: MAGA
Japan’s beautiful love affair with America
For a brief moment, X stopped reading like a machine built to aggravate, divide, and degrade the people using it. Instead of the usual sludge of foreign bots and demoralizing propaganda, American users found themselves, thanks to a new auto-translation feature, staring at something unexpected: a flood of posts from Japan celebrating the United States. Monster trucks, backyard barbecue, Old West revolvers, bluegrass music, country songs, and all the rowdy symbols of American life that our own elites often treat as embarrassing were suddenly being admired from abroad.
It reminded Americans that our culture is not only real, but vivid enough that another people can see its beauty even when we have been taught to sneer at it ourselves. If Americans and Japanese are to continue to enjoy our distinct cultures, we must fight to maintain the true diversity that makes a civilization worth preserving.
Status in the U.S. and many other Western nations is acquired by looking down on the folkways of the average American.
Most Americans know that there is a strong current of appreciation for Japanese culture in the U.S. Americans eat Japanese food, watch anime, read manga, practice karate, and revere samurai movies. While we were once in a brutal war, Americans have come to respect the noble and beautiful traditions of the Japanese. What many Americans did not know is that the Japanese also have a robust subculture of appreciation for American culture.
Americans are constantly told that they have no culture, or that what they do have is shallow, vulgar, and unworthy of defense. In much of elite life, status comes from mocking the tastes and traditions of ordinary Americans. Status in the U.S. and many other Western nations is acquired by looking down on the folkways of the average American.
It is not just that the Japanese love American culture, but that they seem to focus specifically on rural Southern and Western archetypes. Banjos playing “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” barbeques grilling comically large steaks, monster trucks crushing everything below them. The Japanese love and celebrate everything that American elites have trained the population at large to sneer at.
Recently, many people have been asking the question “What is an American?” But the Japanese seem to know right away. There is no confusion, no debate. The answer is obvious and plays itself out in the memes, re-enactments, and celebrations the Japanese enjoy while honoring American culture. Sometimes another people can identify your defining traits more clearly than you can, especially after your own institutions have spent years trying to dissolve them.
In a period when many people in the United States feel estranged from their own inheritance, it was oddly heartening to see ourselves reflected in a nation we admire. If the Japanese know who Americans are, then the least we can do is be proud to act like the Americans the Japanese love.
This sudden outburst of cultural appreciation also puts to bed the idea that Americans are xenophobes who hate other countries. Japan’s love for the U.S. is reciprocated with great fervor by Americans. But why are Americans so willing to appreciate and embrace the Japanese while being dismissive of so many other countries? The answer is simple: The Japanese are worthy of admiration. Not all cultures are equal, and the Japanese have emerged from the devastation of war to rebuild a high-trust society on a foundation of rich history and honorable conduct. It turns out that Americans don’t hate other cultures; they simply save their appreciation for those that deserve it.
The social media cultural exchange also highlighted the importance of real diversity and the need to protect distinct cultures. Both the Americans and Japanese hold reciprocal appreciation for each other’s civilizations and want to see them continue into the future. Americans want our grandchildren to be able to visit Japan in 100 years and experience what we celebrate now, and the Japanese feel the same about the U.S. An island called Japan that had the same borders and topography but was filled with Indians, Palestinians, and Somalians would not be the same. If the island chain of Japan were full of Haitians, it would not be Japan; it would be Haiti with some cherry blossoms.
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Blaze Media Illustration
That is the point that modern ideology cannot admit. A nation is not just a market, a legal zone, or a patch of land inside a set of borders. It is the Japanese people, their way of life, and the culture they create that define the nation. Japan has been better than most modern nations in protecting its identity, but the country is under immense pressure to open its borders. Like much of the modern world, Japan is experiencing a massive decline in birth rates and is struggling to care for its elderly population while replacing its workforce. After dabbling in increased immigration to bolster its workforce, the nation has elected a right-wing government to reimpose restrictions. A civilization can survive low birth rates for a time; it cannot survive replacement.
Americans are beginning to understand the same truth about themselves. If Japan would cease to be Japan after demographic replacement, then the United States would cease to be the United States under the same conditions. America is a real, distinct culture with traditions, folkways, and history that are worthy of pride. America is not just an economy or an administrative zone attached to a flag. We need to stop being shamed into rejecting our culture or treating it as the banal background for a global empire. Japan is beautiful because the Japanese have built a civilization worth preserving. America is beautiful because Americans built a distinct culture worth preserving. That culture deserves more than ironic detachment or ritual embarrassment. It deserves loyalty. The Japanese, in their odd and affectionate way, reminded Americans of something many had forgotten: This country is real, its inheritance is beautiful, and it is worth preserving.
Sydney Sweeney spurns Cosmo girl’s desperate ‘MAGA Barbie’ bait
Feminist glossy “Cosmopolitian” could use a reminder: No means no.
When it comes to the media’s attempts to use Sydney Sweeney as a political pawn, the star has made it clear that she does not consent.
‘I’ve never been here to talk about politics.’
From claims that a jeans ad is a product of white supremacy to outrage over her use of a firearm, the 28-year-old is asked by reporters to reveal her politics nearly every time she is put in front of a camera.
And every time, she refuses.
Private parts
That didn’t stop a pushy writer from Cosmopolitan — single gal lifestyle mag turned leftist propaganda organ — from doing her best to wear Sweeney down.
After discussing body image and Sweeney’s new lingerie line, writer Alexandra Whittaker took an abrupt turn toward politics by bringing up what she called the star’s “charged nickname”: MAGA Barbie.
“I see it in Instagram comments constantly. How do you understand this label, given that you’ve been private about your politics?” Whittaker asked.
“I’ve never been here to talk about politics,” Sweeney plainly replied. “I’ve always been here to make art, so this is just not a conversation I want to be at the forefront of. And I think because of that, people want to take it even further and use me as their own pawn. But it’s somebody else assigning something to me, and I can’t control that.”
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Party lines
The reporter then asked why Sweeney would not want to correct any untrue labels.
“Where is the line for you?”
“I haven’t figured it out. I’m not a hateful person. If I say, ‘That’s not true,’ they’ll come at me like, ‘You’re just saying that to look better.’ There’s no winning. There’s never any winning. I just have to continue being who I am, because I know who I am. I can’t make everyone love me. I know what I stand for.”
Trying a different angle, Whittaker — executive director of Cosmopolitan’s website — asked Sweeney to define some of her values, “not party affiliations,” that she wants people to understand.
Sweeney simply described leading with “love” and being “kind to whoever you meet.”
American ogle
Despite Sweeney’s clear lack of interest, the reporter kept on pressing, asking Sweeney about not talking about politics and if she ever will.
“You don’t speak to your fans directly about your political beliefs. … Is there a future in which people will get to see what you believe, politically?”
The Spokane, Washington, native completely shut the idea down.
“No. I’m not a political person. I’m in the arts. I’m not here to speak on politics. That’s not an area I’ve ever even imagined getting into. It’s not why I became who I am.”
Readers will have to check out the full interview to see other attempts to discuss the “culture war” and separate online narratives that Sweeney is asked to answer to.
The actress was consistent in saying she does not have any control over what others print, say, or claim about her for their own gain.
“It’s been a weird thing having to navigate and digest, because it’s not me. None of it is me. And I’m having to watch it happen. I’m online and I see things, but I’m slowly pulling myself away,” she explained.
Vance refuses to throw Tucker Carlson under the bus, emphasizes America is a ‘Christian nation’
Several speakers at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest offered competing and ostensibly irreconcilable views of the way forward for the MAGA coalition, in some cases identifying one another as cowards, saboteurs, or worse.
In his speech closing out the conference in Phoenix, Vice President JD Vance emphasized that “President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests.”
‘Do I have disagreements with Tucker Carlson? Sure. I have disagreements with most of my friends.’
Vance, the Republican front-runner going into 2028 whom TPUSA CEO Erika Kirk endorsed last week for president, faces mounting public pressure to throw Tucker Carlson under the bus over his criticism of Israel and perceived bigotry as well as to censure Nicholas Fuentes, the head of the so-called Groypers who has been particularly critical of the vice president.
Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” told the Washington Post, “The reasonable actors can see that JD is being a reasonable arbiter of this debate, and that’s a really important signal to send out — that Israel is our ally. They’re an important ally. They’re not our only concern, though.”
“I think JD understands the needs, wants, and concerns of young Americans as well, if not better than, any other leading politician in the country,” added Kolvet.
“I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to deplatform,” Vance told the crowd of thousands gathered on Sunday.
“We have far more important work to do than canceling each other.”
The vice president underscored that the “America First movement” constitutes a big tent welcoming those who seek to make America “richer, stronger, safer, and prouder.”
In a recent interview with Sohrab Ahmari, the U.S. editor of UnHerd, Vance provided some insights into why he refused to denounce Carlson or waste any time discussing Fuentes.
“Tucker’s a friend of mine,” he told Ahmari. “And do I have disagreements with Tucker Carlson? Sure. I have disagreements with most of my friends, especially those who work in politics. You know this. Most people who know me know this. I’m [also] a very loyal person, and I am not going to get into the business of throwing friends under the bus.”
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Photo by Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images
Vance noted further that “the idea that Tucker Carlson — who has one of the largest podcasts in the world, who has millions of listeners, who supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election, who supported me in the 2024 election — the idea that his views are somehow completely anathema to conservatism, that he has no place in the conservative movement, is frankly absurd.”
As for Fuentes, Vance intimated that a condemnation of the 27-year-old host of “America First” podcast wasn’t worthwhile.
“[Fuentes’] influence within Donald Trump’s administration, and within a whole host of institutions on the right, is vastly overstated, and frankly, it’s overstated by people who want to avoid having a foreign-policy conversation about America’s relationship with Israel,” Vance said in the interview.
‘Anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat s**t.’
While the vice president maintains that Israel is an “important ally,” he indicated that he welcomes substantive disagreements with the Middle Eastern nation as well as debates at home about American foreign policy.
Vance told Ahmari that anti-Semitism and all forms of ethnic hatred “have no place in the conservative movement” but noted that “if you believe racism is bad, Fuentes should occupy one second of your focus, and the people with actual political power who worked so hard to discriminate against white men should occupy many hours of it.”
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Photo by Caylo Seals/Getty Images
Although recognizing Fuentes as an apparent sideshow to an important conversation, Vance did make a point of telling Ahmari, “Anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is [former Biden press secretary] Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat s**t.”
On the theme of America First’s genuine spirit of inclusion, the vice president made clear in his AmericaFest speech that the Trump administration and the broader movement supporting it has “relegated DEI to the dustbin of history, which is exactly where it belongs.”
“In the United States of America, you don’t have to apologize for being white any more. And if you’re an Asian, you don’t have to talk around your skin color when you’re applying for college, because we judge people based on who they are, not on ethnicity and things they can’t control,” said Vance. “We don’t persecute you for being male, for being straight, for being gay, for being anything. The only thing that we demand is that you be a great American patriot.”
‘It is better to die a patriot than live a coward.’
In addition to risking offense with his acknowledgement that white Americans needn’t apologize for their pigmentation and with his refusal to betray a friend, Vance realized the fears articulated in recent years by liberals and anti-Christian activists by noting in his speech that “the only thing that has truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation.”
For the benefit of those who might strategically misconstrue his meaning, Vance clarified that Americans don’t have to be Christian but that “Christianity is America’s creed,” despite the decades-long campaign by the left to remove Christianity from public life.
“That creed motivated our understanding of natural law and rights, our sense of duty to one’s neighbor, the conviction that the strong must protect the weak, and the belief in individual conscience,” continued the vice president. “Even our famously American idea of religious liberty is a Christian concept.”
The vice president noted further that the “fruits of true Christianity” are good men like his murdered friend, Charlie Kirk.
“The fruits of true Christianity are good husbands, patient fathers, builders of great things, and slayers of dragons,” said Vance. “And yes, men who are willing to die for a principle if that’s what God asks them to do. Because so many of us recognize that it is better to die a patriot than live a coward.”
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‘100% MAGA’ county executive joins governor’s race in New York
While Republicans may have suffered some defeats in the elections last month, one Republican with a proven track record is tossing his hat into the ring in New York.
On Tuesday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced that he will be running for New York governor in 2026, challenging Democrat incumbent Kathy Hochul.
‘I am ready to take on Kathy Hochul and fight for our families.’
“It is official. I am running for Governor of New York. Our state is struggling with high taxes, rising utility bills, and rising crime. New Yorkers deserve a proven leader who will Put New York First,” Blakeman announced in a Tuesday morning post.
“New York needs leadership that works. I am ready to take on Kathy Hochul and fight for our families,” Blakeman added.
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Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Blakeman’s announcement video touted his ties to President Trump as well as his successful track record as Nassau County executive. Blakeman’s wins include Nassau County being named the safest county in America and the successful ban of males in girls’ sports.
Kathy Hochul and her team offered a variety of responses to Blakeman’s announcement.
“Bruce Blakeman is another MAGA cheerleader running to do Donald Trump’s bidding in New York — and raise your costs. Not on my watch,” Hochul said on her personal X account.
“Meet Bootlicker Blakeman, #1 fan of Trump’s expensive tariffs. 100% MAGA, 0% committed to fighting for New York,” Hochul’s team said above an attack video on X.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) previously announced her candidacy as well.
According to Fox News, Stefanik’s campaign said of Blakeman’s announcement: “Public polling has repeatedly shown Elise Stefanik leads Blakeman by 70% in a primary, including beating him soundly on Long Island. Elise is the strongest candidate against Kathy Hochul by a long shot.”
Trump has previously praised both Stefanik and Blakeman for their work in New York, so it is unclear who will ultimately gain his endorsement.
“I don’t think the president has to make a decision now. Let’s see how it plays out,” Blakeman said in an interview on “Fox & Friends.”
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Jay Jones Claimed $500,000 Fundraising Haul Showed Grassroots ‘Momentum and Enthusiasm.’ It Actually Came From a Single Dem PAC.
Jay Jones boasted that the $500,000 he raked in just 24 hours after his Oct. 16 debate was “a clear sign of momentum and enthusiasm”—but that funding can be attributed entirely to a single political action committee centered on electing Democratic attorney general candidates like himself.
The post Jay Jones Claimed $500,000 Fundraising Haul Showed Grassroots ‘Momentum and Enthusiasm.’ It Actually Came From a Single Dem PAC. appeared first on .
