English-American Charles C.W. Cooke was the perfect Brit to shoot down this idiotic controversy that arose today over a comment Jeff Sessions made about our “Anglo-American” legal tradition.
Genuinely laughing out loud at people who think this means “white.” https://t.co/oTxQfeAgnH
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 12, 2018
Here’s the tweet he references:
Wow. Jeff put it so simple and concise:
— Jonathan Jayes-Green (@JayesGreenJ) February 12, 2018
"The office of Sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement.”
pic.twitter.com/JkpTsVnJCD
Liberals were freaking out all over just because he said the phrase, “Anglo-American.”
Cooke, as a Brit who is becoming an American citizen, shot that idiocy down right quick.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 12, 2018
You’ve just got to be kidding me with this. I use that term constantly to refer to the structures, institutions, ideals, and cultural tenets that existed in both Britain and then in the United States. e.g. “Anglo-American conceptions of due process.” We’re too dumb to survive.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 12, 2018
I’ve been saying we’re too dumb to survive for a while now, but really, it’s just a small minority that’s too dumb to survive – they’re just very loud liberals.
Of course he was. He was talking about a specific position—sheriff—that exists only within the Anglo-American structure of law enforcement, which differs considerably from structures established elsewhere (as do underlying assumptions). This is absurd. https://t.co/n8It3cfE8Y
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/GaryEBarber/status/963160550141120512You genuinely believe that Jeff Sessions was using the term, what looks like ad libbed, in the historical context? Come on man.
— Scott Carbone (@scarbone1) February 12, 2018
It doesn’t even mean “from” when used like this, so much as it means “in.” https://t.co/SfqmofYWKT
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 12, 2018
He retweeted this:
Okay, in terms of race you are not Anglo-American. The thing is, "Anglo-American" is not only used to refer to a racial concept; its use to refer to our American traditions which derive from English traditions precedes it.
— FlorbFnarb (@FlorbFnarb) February 12, 2018
1/
Our political culture is specifically Anglo-American, meaning derived from English antecedents.
— FlorbFnarb (@FlorbFnarb) February 12, 2018
It's a cultural term, not a racial one in this context, and its use in that context is older than its use in a racial context.
This is the "niggardly" argument all over again.
2/2
Yeah, but he’s talking about law enforcement, where the Anglo-American heritage was starting off as slave catchers. To say that “it must not be eroded” is deeply racist.
— Ben Deetz (@BenjaminDeetz) February 12, 2018
This is nonsense, too. The system of sheriffs within English law enforcement originated in the shires, not as a result of any form of slavery, and predated English involvement with African slavery by centuries. https://t.co/FchNJMRRVK
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 12, 2018
Re: Jeff Sessions “Anglo-American” controversy, here’s a DOJ Obama administration official making a similar reference in 2016. pic.twitter.com/yBb9rWl6G1
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) February 12, 2018
Right. As with Sessions, this usage makes perfect sense. This “controversy” is being ginned up by a toxic combination of the terminally ignorant and the politically cynical. https://t.co/UVfznNpHDx
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 12, 2018
That’s a perfect way of putting it – so many controversies, on both sides, are “ginned up by a toxic combination of the terminally ignorant and the politically cynical.”
As an aside, his podcast is one of my favorites. Aside from my own of course.