Liberal Fascism is the new black
[Posted by Karl]
Over the weekend Rep. Paul Ryan reviewed The Price of Civilization, the new book from Jeffrey Sachs, which apparently argues that America needs to adopt Euro-socialist policies, rather than learn from the misery inflicted by the worst of democratic socialism there. Rather than rehash that debate, I want to focus on the totalitarian and liberal fascist aspects of the book Ryan mentions.
According to Ryan: “The Constitution imposes too many restrictions on government interference for Mr. Sachs, and we’d be better served if we moved toward a ‘French-style’ constitution that consolidated the executive and legislative branches and empowered experts to help us manage the ‘complexity of our economy.’ ” Ryan also notes that Sachs echoes the arguments of French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham. Ryan does not mention that Rousseau’s theory of the general will is the forerunner of modern totalitarianism and Bentham’s idea of Utopia was a prison under his total control.
It is worth noting that Sachs is not considered a fringe character. He has been named one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” twice and Vanity Fair magazine put him on its list of 100 members of the New Establishment. Moreover, Sachs is hardly alone in indulging these sorts of thoughts on the left.
Ed Driscoll collects a few examples. Gov. Bev Purdue (D-NC) recently suggested “we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover.” Former Obama budget director Peter Orszag wrote a piece for TNR arguing “we need to jettison the Civics 101 fairy tale about pure representative democracy and instead begin to build a new set of rules and institutions that would make legislative inertia less detrimental to our nation’s long-term health.” (Ezra Klein’s defense of Orszag shows the disdain for bicameralism or checks and balances you would expect from someone who finds the Constitution too old and confusing to be anything more than a political football.) Lastly, Driscoll recalls NYT columnist Thomas Friedman’s desire that we be China for a day (a proposal that would likely ensure that we were China for a very long time). Although Driscoll also found a tantalizing video of Pres. Obama finding tempting the idea of acting on his own, you have to read the NYT to find Obama complaining that it would be so much easier to be the president of China.
But wait… there’s more. US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) delivers a harangue that could have been titled, “All Your Wealth Are Belong To Us,” and the video goes viral. The left lapped up a relatively unvarnished argument that the people are slaves to the state. When Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) was asked “Of every dollar that I earn, how much do you think I deserve to keep?”, there is a reason she did not have an answer. When Fareed Zakaria pines for the US to adopt a parliamentary system, he is in tune not only with Sachs, but also Woodrow Wilson, who was not a big fan of separated powers or checks and balances. When a legion of lefty pundits argue that Republican “obstruction” of Obama’s agenda shows that “the system is broken,” they reveal an Orwellian contempt for the system of separated powers our Founders envisioned (and argued for in no less than five of the Federalist Papers) for the protection of our liberties.
This Fall, it seems that liberal fascism is the new black — and it likely will remain in style for the foreseeable future. After all, progressives think they are losing and black is the color for mourning clothes.
–Karl
Karl – Perdue is Gov of NC. http://www.governor.state.nc.us/
phunctor (29abd1) — 10/3/2011 @ 2:52 amDont’Dare mess with our vote.
Armed insurrection is NEVER off the table.
The Second Amendment; Keeping American politicians honest(almost) for 235 years.
firefirefire (8b1aa3) — 10/3/2011 @ 3:55 amThe then Cocktail Country Republicans wonder why the rest of us frankly want these lunatics to disappear from the public square.
It is like an argument between a scientist and a 20 year old on LSD with a 19 year old coke-head as the moderator.
My Bowels Hurt (8d652e) — 10/3/2011 @ 4:36 amthis reminders me how this summer National Soros Radio found a school shooting anthem what warmed its dark fascist heart – cause of it was about class envy, you see
whatever it’s still an awesome song
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 4:44 amoh here’s the link for the National Soros Radio commentary
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 4:45 amOf course, when the next Columbine comes, they will deny any such implications,
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/3/2011 @ 5:30 amI doubt there are many people – on either side – who haven’t sung the Beach Boys song, “wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to deal with the likes of _____”.
We wouldn’t have had to suffer through Obama if all the stupid people who voted for him weren’t allowed to do so. We wouldn’t have Obamacare if Reid and Pelosi had been forcibly removed from office and sent to wherever they send people who have lost their minds. We wouldn’t be facing tax hikes if the vote was limited to those who actually pay income taxes. And if only we could have retired one or two of the liberal justices, terrorists wouldn’t have access to the courts, states would be more free to regulate behavior within their borders and so on.
But we don’t get to do that. And that’s okay, since the other side doesn’t get to do what they’d like to do. Both sides are stuck with each other, operating under the rules that keep each side from being written out of the equation. And that’s okay by me.
The liberals you cite aren’t doing anything out of the ordinary or wrong, other than committing the gaffe of saying out loud what a whole lot of people think.
steve (369bc6) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:07 amMy pretzel requires refreshing, from time to time, with the salty salty tears of frustrated Proggs. Tears and the twisted law is all they have. They cannot stand.
zombie patriot (06b97e) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:10 amwell, except for the fascism
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:10 amoh sorry Mr. patriot my #9 was for #7
pretzels are high maintenance but they’re very tasty all the same
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:12 amgood source of carbs too
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:12 amRead Ann Coulter’s book “Demonic.”
Concerned Citizen (9820f4) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:28 amit’s in my baffroom where it already cost me one friend which is stupid cause I had like 2 packs of zyrtec for her I got when I had to spend my health whatever flex account monies at the end of last year and you know she could use some free zyrtec cause it’s expensive and she been unemployed for two years in Obama’s America
so now she’s starting to lash out
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:34 amThanks, phunctor!
Karl (37b303) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:40 amKarl, it’s Paul Ryan. Not Raul, unless he’s got an evil twin with eye-patch and goatee.
EC (dda60e) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:42 amhttp://biggovernment.com/abreitbart/2011/10/03/shock-photos-barack-obama-with-new-black-panther-party-on-campaign-trail-in-2007/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BigGovernment+%28Big+Government%29
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:43 amObama is a racist.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:58 amApparently French comparisons are all the rage these days. Roseanne Barr would bring back the guillotine to behead her enemies.
rochf (f3fbb0) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:59 amTo be referred to by name in a happyfeet comment is the high point of my week. Thanks, hap!1!!1!1
zombie patriot (06b97e) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:00 amWhile we’re at it, is it just me or does it seem like the left-wing pundits are more obsessed with Chris Christie’s weight than his policies? Could they be more shallow? Could it be any more obvious that the left is incapable of intelligent policy discussions and can only debate politics at a middle school level.
Conservative: “Obama’s misguided policies have exploded the deficit and created an environment hostile to hiring new employees.”
Liberal: “Yeah, well, Chris Christie is fat.”
And they wonder why we don’t buy their claims of intellectual superiority.
Gregory of Yardale (07425b) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:09 amWhats more important to these idiots is to arrest people for defending themselves against a rabid bear because they stole their food……..ain’t liberalism great.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:18 amLet me see if I got this straight…
Democracy is dysfunctional, so we need instead to be led by a dictatorial band of expert intellectuals. And this view is expounded by messrs Sachs, Orszag, Klein, and Freidman.
Wow, what a disparate group. If only somebody could discover a connection linking Sachs to Friedman, or Klein to Orszag, then maybe we could somehow get to the bottom of this wholly-apple-pie-American push for dictatorship by a tiny intellectual technocratic elite…
But nope, it’s beyond me, I just can’t figure it out.
Milhouse, you got any ideas?
d. in c. (85b089) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:42 amWhile we-re at it can we bring back starvation as a capital punishment this beluga whale can afford to starve.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:50 amThanks for posting that link, feets. My favorite part was where the NPR guy, almost as an aside, refers to Britney Spears as an “avatar of our confusion.” Indeed.
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:00 amdon’t be dissing britney she has supernatural microphone powers
ouch!
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:03 amExcellent post.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:06 amGod, I hate autotune.
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:11 amshe heard that
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:12 amKarl: next to last paragraph:
m (706415) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:39 am“he is tune not only with Sachs”
–>
“he is in tune not only with Sachs”
Thanks, EC, m
Karl (f07e38) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:41 amYet another graduate of Harvard (or Yale or the Kennedy School of Government) lectures us on how if only his kith and kin had unfettered rule then they could control everything. Yeah, I’ll bet they could.
Won’t do any good, I suppose, to recommend they read Kevin Kelly’s Out of Control, since a world in which order occurs spontaneously (that is, this world) lies not within their imaginations.
Is it too early for the pitchforks and torches?
ErisGuy (7ba3f6) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:09 amNoam Chumpsky claims to be a libertarian but he isn’t.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:11 amHaving lived in Massachusetts, New York and Illinois during my adult life, although some would question whether I have had an adult life, I have always had the feeling of an outsider looking in with respect the majority political sentiment. As Mr. Feets observed in #13, for many liberals, politics is personal or their identity. I still can’t figure out what’s wrong with these people, why such otherwise intelligent people can be so misguided in one area and fly into fits of incoherent rage at the merest hint that they are wrong or that an alternative path should be considered.
Very intolerant bunch.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:53 amPolitics is like a religion to some conservatives and some liberals, but mostly liberals.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:14 amMr. daley @ 9:53 am–
That’s why it seems so important and so necessary for ones sanity to have a few close friends of similar political persuasion (doesn’t have to be identical, only similar) that you can just relax and be yourself with from time to time. When we hosted our 100th birthday party for Ronald Reagan in Feb. there were just ten carefully selected guests–and not all of them knew each other beforehand. Some otherwise very close friends were excluded from being invited to that particular event. The thank you notes afterward complemented the food and decorations, yada yada. But almost uniformly what they most noted was the evening’s conversation and camaraderie among a bunch of intelligent people who “get it” and the sense of having felt free and safe to express themselves without having to be guarded and defensive. It made me feel good, but also very sad at the same time that it’s come to this.
elissa (7de84f) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:23 amComment by Gregory of Yardale — 10/3/2011 @ 7:09 am
For the Leftist Elite, one can never be too thin, or too rich!
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (0775dc) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:28 amUnless one is not of the Elite.
Comment by DRJ — 10/3/2011 @ 8:06 am
Second!
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (0775dc) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:29 amComment by ErisGuy — 10/3/2011 @ 9:09 am
That’s if we’re feeling kindly.
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (0775dc) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:31 amOtherwise, I suggest Garands and 1911’s!
Don’t call them liberals call them Anti-democracy activists.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:33 amFirst, sorry guys, but i might not be able to post this week. my internet’s down. i am trying to work on a work around, but…
but i am glad karl posted that bit from purdue because it is risible. its amazing that the same people who claimed that bush was suspending the constitution because of the war on terror want to do so because of a financial slump–like we have never had one before.
of course my joke is that if i was a democrat I might not want to face an election, either. 🙂
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:36 amAaron,
Get your Internet together, man!
Karl (f07e38) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:37 amYes, under immense pressure, the fascistic tendencies of the modern left are coming to the fore, and I for one am glad to see it. Let them demonstrate what they are at heart – vindictive, intolerant control freaks and worse.
mojo (8096f2) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:37 amKarl
Yeah, dude, its been one thing after another. First my wife and i were sick. then things got too busy in my day job and my blackberry died. Now this. Sigh.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:38 am“Yeah, dude, its been one thing after another. First my wife and i were sick. then things got too busy in my day job and my blackberry died. Now this. Sigh.”
Aaron – You sound like Obama!
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:46 amSay, Aaron, hasn’t all this happened since Perry got into the Race?
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (0775dc) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:54 amThose Texans have strong Mojo.
Daley
i would sound like obama if i blamed my predecessor for everything. 🙂
Another
I am kinda texan…
And I am not anti-Perry, fyi. I actually like him best of all the people not named Mitt. Or i should say of all the candidates that didn’t impose a health insurance mandate. or…
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 10/3/2011 @ 11:51 amMitt’s a brick and I’m drowning slowly
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 10/3/2011 @ 11:54 amanother
and i should hasten to add that if it is mitt v. Obama, mitt has my vote. Really, the only person on the republican side I would hesitate to vote for is Ron Paul, who recently demonstrated his idiocy by claiming that there was something wrong with killing terrorists.
Which reminds me of my point before. Republicans, forget about attacking Obama on the war on terror. i am not saying there isn’t logical room to attack him, but he will now rattle off a list of terrorists he has killed and think that is everything, and you might end up looking like dan quayle after lloyd benson smacked him down. I mean quayle’s point was logical, too, but it opened him up to an easy swipe.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 10/3/2011 @ 11:55 amAaron – Nor Luap has the stoner vote locked up!
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/3/2011 @ 11:58 amHow do any Romney supporters here feel about Christie?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/3/2011 @ 12:55 pmPerry is far from perfect but I will vote for him.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 12:57 pm“off the coast and Mitt’s headed nowhere…”
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/3/2011 @ 1:20 pm“and Mitt broke down…and I broke down…”
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/3/2011 @ 1:22 pmand a deep sense of melancholy settled over the little blog
*sigh*
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 10/3/2011 @ 1:48 pmObama: Americans are not better off today than they were four years ago.
These poor fascists just couldn’t rally around a lamer guy.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 1:54 pmI like Ben Folds.
JD (318f81) — 10/3/2011 @ 1:54 pmI have no idea how the mind of the Romney fan works, other than those who simply see him as electable and are not confident Obama can be beaten by any others.
But as a Perry fan, I find Christie very appealing.
He is wrong on more issues than Perry is (from my views), and he lacks Perry’s long resume, but Christie accomplished a lot in a very blue state.
Romney was in a blue state too, but proceeded to radically reduce the number of registered gun owners by ramping up fees, intrude into whether someone has to buy health insurance, raise taxes (calling them something else sometimes) and raise spending. In other words, Romney gets no credit for leading a blue state, because he actually moved the state to the left. Did democrats fundamentally change course on spending and taxing after Romney’s term? Of course not. They were on the same page, and simply used different rhetoric.
Christie appeals to me as a conservative because controlling spending and facing other hard fights unapologetically is job #1, and I think Christie is ready for that hard fight.
This is also why I am so hard on Romney and his fans. Romney flip flops for a reason. He can’t take the heat. He only wants popularity and electoral success. Is that person going to accomplish hard fought reform in DC?
Anyway, I am sincerely curious if the multitude of Romney fans will switch to Christie if he runs.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 2:14 pmWell what is his stance on Obamacare or Dodd/Frank,for that matter. He’s ambivalent to be charitable on the climate change question, on the matter of Salafism in the Sohail Mohammed case and about the GZ Mosque, calling both supporters and opponents extreme.
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/3/2011 @ 2:23 pmI like Christie too. I hope he always wears his seatbelt.
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/3/2011 @ 2:32 pm“liberal fascism”
Given the history of “liberals” in this country, isn’t that term a tad bit redundant?
Dave Surls (28f866) — 10/3/2011 @ 2:37 pm“Noam Chumpsky claims to be a libertarian but he isn’t.”
Yeah, it’s kinda hard to be a ratbag communist and a libertarian all at the same time.
Sorta like being a pro-Jewish Nazi.
Dave Surls (28f866) — 10/3/2011 @ 2:39 pmIan, you’re right, Christie is wrong on many issues.
I probably wouldn’t vote for him, but he’s better than most of the others because where Christie is right is more important to me than being PC about Islamists or wishy washy on global warming nonsense.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 2:40 pm#33 It’s because politics is part (or most) of their identity, challenge their political views and you are challenging their self-esteem, their very identity. Some of these people are very fragile psychologically. They’ve had to engage in self-delusion and psychological denial for a long time.
LarryD (feb78b) — 10/3/2011 @ 3:36 pmChristie is what he is, a Guiliani with no ( not yet) personal baggage. He is def not a Neo-Puritan.
dr kill (06b97e) — 10/3/2011 @ 4:22 pmIt’s interesting to see these comments on Christie. I like Palin, Perry and Christie because I think they want to be President to accomplish their political goals, not just to win the election (although I’m sure they and all the candidates have big egos and want to win). I think Romney’s primary goal is to win the election and, as a result, he would be more flexible in his political goals. Basically, Romney seems more willing to compromise than candidates like Palin, Perry, and Christie. That’s not a bad quality. There was a time when compromise was a good thing, but this isn’t that time.
Of course, I would vote for any GOP nominee but if I’m right about Christie, it would be easier for me to support a moderate Christie than a moderate Romney. The fact they are both moderate on the issues isn’t the point. The point to me is that Christie seems to have more backbone than Romney. Put another way, Romney is like the executive who treats issues as problems to be solved (like Carter) instead of problems we need to prevail on and win (like Reagan).
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:18 pmExcellent point, DRJ!
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (0775dc) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:36 pmHey I voted for Bob Dole, so that’s not in doubt, but I’d rather be for a candidate, than voting against another.
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:43 pmChristie has spurs that jingle jangle jingle
but oh god that poor horsey
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 6:45 pmI’d like too see Christie as the VP and actually run the senate per the constitution
I suspect after driving aall day from West Point litening to fo new that much of Christie is hype nd not substance. I am impressed that he submitted declining budgets, only perry and I think Inhof of Oklahoma ever did that
EricPWJohnson (4bec10) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:08 pmHappy
the horse didnt make eye contact…
Christies not running
EricPWJohnson (4bec10) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:09 pm#64 DRJ: “if I’m right about Christie…”
I realize this isn’t a problem of your making, but we shouldn’t have to “guess” about the intentions of candidates for the bloody _presidency_. Every candidate should be utterly straightforward. In an alleged republic of allegedly free people, we should demand clarity from our public figures as a pledge of respect for both their freedom and ours.
Opacity on public matters should be viewed as a token of mistrust: a desire to cloak one’s views in order to gain public office n’importe quoi. In a word, unacceptable.
I don’t want to have to be “right” or “wrong” about Christie, nor about any other person standing for public office. It’s not my charge, as a free citizen of a free republic, to play guessing games. Nor is it yours.
Let the candidates state plainly what they mean, and let them mean what they state.
Accept no substitutes.
d. in c. (85b089) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:34 pmwe don’t know for sure until wednesday is what the internet said
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:34 pmChristie seems confused about what constitutes “American Exceptionalism”.
He is a YouTube moment and a few dozen extra large pizzas away from a massive coronary.
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:47 pmRomney was in a blue state too, but proceeded to radically reduce the number of registered gun owners by ramping up fees, intrude into whether someone has to buy health insurance, raise taxes (calling them something else sometimes) and raise spending. In other words, Romney gets no credit for leading a blue state, because he actually moved the state to the left. Did democrats fundamentally change course on spending and taxing after Romney’s term? Of course not. They were on the same page, and simply used different rhetoric.
This country needs someone with the smarts to put America back to work. Perry isn’t that man and neither is Chris Christie.
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:49 pmI can hear Perry now… “Gubner Chrisite was a fan of Dunkin Donuts before he was before it was Krispy Kreme or before after or before…”
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:52 pmmake that Christie.
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:52 pmI can hear Slut Romney………………vote for me os i can change mah positions.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:54 pmso*
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:54 pmWow you mock Christie for his weight and then go on to project that onto Perry.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:55 pmDon’t you have some sweet lady to go and pick a fight with, dook biden?
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:56 pmya pencil neck geek, ya!
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:56 pmthe misogynist
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/3/2011 @ 7:59 pmlurks under a mossy rock
like reptile he is
Calling a man a slut is misogynist now?
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:06 pmDon’t you mean misandrist?
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:06 pmwe hosted our 100th birthday party for Ronald Reagan in Feb
I don’t remember getting invited…
I also agree with DRJ at 64
I’m waiting for Secretariat- someone who is lagging behind the pack and catch fire 3 primaries into the campaign.. the problem is I’ll probably still be waiting come general election.
Stashiu3/DRJ is still looking tough to beat…
on the other hand, a Walker (Wisc. gov)/Palin ticket would make the left downright apoplectic
I say the primary field results are so split that Rubio/Jindahl get pushed into service at the convention. You heard it here first. (Yeah, I’m dreamin’, but as long as I’m dreamin’ I might as well make it good).
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:09 pmWhy not occupy Washington libturds?
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:09 pmRomney is not lacking for smarts, I will grant.
I don’t think Perry is stupid. I can see why you might if you’re relying only on his debate performance, but part of that may even just be the way the man talks. Dubya wasn’t stupid, and Perry isn’t stupid. Speaking a certain way doesn’t make one stupid.
Ultimately, Perry needs to make that case himself.
I also doubt Christie is lacking for smarts either.
It’s not about finding the genius to run our lives with his brilliance, though, and I think you know that. It’s about the leader who is willing to cut spending and regulation, year after year, because getting government out of the way is the key to getting Americans back to work, in my opinion.
Government is not the solution. And where Perry has gone wrong (or at least away from how I want things) is where he’s tried occasionally to use government to solve a problem. Where he’s done right (and usually he has) is where he’s tried to pull government back, restrain it, cut its funding a few percent many times, and mostly: have the spine to resist cries to fix everything.
Romney, at least in practice, would try hard to run things. A lot of things.
I admit Romney running this monster government would be a big improvement over Obama doing that. I aim for more.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:10 pmMD, Walker also has that essential ability to stand his ground, and I think he’s got a bright future. Like Christie, I think he’s not quite experienced enough at this time. But beggars can’t be choosy.
Mitch Daniels was my favorite running into this. I just want an experienced, reelected governor, who favors real leadership over stagecraft and slick politics. Someone whose argument is based on his results in office, rather than his prime time tendencies. Perry is not quite what I wanted, but he’s close.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:13 pma Walker (Wisc. gov)/Palin ticket would make the left downright apoplectic
Now there’s a fun thought! The Madisonites are still in denial that the people have spoken – they elected Walker.
Andrew Malcolm, formerly of the LAT, informs me that while Palin takes all the time in the world to make her decision (or announce it, anyway), her audience is going for popcorn and checking their cells. At this point in time, her entering the race would be so incredibly distracting and messy, it would seem exactly what the left hopes to have happen. If Christie and Palin both threw in, then it would really be quite a bit of ensuing chaos. We would no doubt see the candidates start to eat their own in order to break out from the pack…
This could get very interesting…
Dana (4eca6e) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:38 pmWhat if Obama implemented martial law and threw his supporters into jail?
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:50 pmRomney flips and he flops.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:50 pmI’ll say it again. Lock me in a room for two months with Rick Perry and a stack of books of my choosing, and when he comes out he will be the next president.
But I don’t think anything less will really do to push the guy over the line. He’s in over his head, big time.
Can we get Paul Ryan on the phone? Puh-leeze?
d. in c. (b98cae) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:51 pmd. in c.:
I agree in theory but I don’t think this is possible, even if we had completely honest and transparent candidates and campaigns. Picking a President is a little like picking a spouse. Imagine picking a spouse without meeting them first — we’d surely be in for a few surprises. I don’t think we can really know someone unless we know them personally.
Of course, even if we know someone, that doesn’t mean we know how they will react to some future events. As I recall, George W. Bush promised in his first Presidential campaign that he wanted a humble foreign policy with no nation building, in contrast to the Clinton-Gore foreign policy that Bush claimed was too interventionist. 9/11 changed that, just as events change every President no matter what their intentions. That’s why I think it’s more important to elect candidates who can be strong in tough times than it is to elect candidates who perfectly match my litmus test on issues.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/3/2011 @ 8:54 pmDustin:
I agree.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:01 pmDustin-
I don’t think Walker is ready for a presidential run by any means, the only idea behind putting his name out there is just as I said, can you imagine what the left would do with a Walker/Palin ticket? They would go absolutely bonkers, they’d work themselves up into such a frenzy it would almost be sad to watch them.
Mitch Daniels is example #1 of the politics of character assassination keeping good people out of national elections. You don’t have to have anything to hide, they will make something up if they see an opportunity.
OT- For all of the problems of the American legal system, it sure beats Italy, which at least got it right today in releasing Amanda Knox. I’ve read where they have a “Napoleonic” legal system, where once the prosecutor has charged you the burden of proof is more on the defendant to prove they are innocent. A summary post over at Powerline.
Also, just saw where Breibart has pictures of Obama marching with the New Black Panthers back in ’07. Post racial president, that one.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:10 pmMy bad, i see where the Colonel linked the Breitbart piece on the other thread. But it needs to be seen by all, so not too sorry for mentioning it here. Off to bed, getting late here in the east where it is already tomorrow for many of you folks.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:17 pmI watched the middle installment of Ken Burns’ film, Prohibition, this evening. In case anyone hasn’t seen it, the chaotic 1924 Democrat convention is featured. And it does help put the current minor skirmish among Republicans for the nomination into perspective. RINOs? Conservatives? They’d laugh at us. In 1924 with the Dems it was a fight to the death between the Southern and Western rural and small town Protestant “drys” and the Eastern and Midwestern big city Catholic and Jewish “wets”.
From Wikipedia:
elissa (7de84f) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:17 pmThe 1924 Democratic National Convention, also called the Klanbake, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, took a record 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. It was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history. It was the first major party national convention that saw the name of a woman, Lena Springs, placed in nomination for the office of Vice President. It was also known for the strong influence of the Ku Klux Klan. The tension between pro- and anti-Klan delegates produced an intense and sometimes violent showdown between convention attendees. John W. Davis, initially an outsider, eventually won the presidential nomination as a compromise candidate following a virtual war of attrition between front-runners William Gibbs McAdoo (dry) and Al Smith (wet).
Davis went on to be defeated by incumbent President Calvin Coolidge in the United States presidential election of 1924
“The 1924 Democratic National Convention, also called the Klanbake”
How appropriate.
Dave Surls (28f866) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:21 pmI compared Romney to Carter in comment 64 and I want to retract that. While I believe Carter and Romney are alike in that they both want to use government to solve problems, comparing someone to Carter is anathema to most conservatives and it made my point sound more critical than I intended it. Thus, please amend my comparison to substitute for Carter another problem-solver President, George H. W. Bush.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:22 pm“Ultimately, Perry needs to make that case himself.”
Dustin – Exactly. Try to control your frustration with people who don’t yet believe he’s made it.
Also I note the very thing you have criticized Romney for, raising “taxes” under the guise of calling them something else, Perry is guilty of himself. A “surcharge” on diesel fuel deliveries and the sale lease or rental of certain construction equipment enacted in 2003, modifying the franchise tax to “eliminate loopholes”, raising cigarette taxes, among others are in similar revenue raisers for which you were just slamming Romney. Again, that’s why I have to take your hyperpartisanship with a grain of salt.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:23 pmVery interesting, elissa.
Goodnight, MD.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:24 pmI’m not having any problems controlling myself, daleyrocks. Your conduct has been embarrassing, asking me if I’m having sex with EPWJ and screaming about wine drinking Catholics oppressing people.
You are projecting your weird attitude onto me. You’ve repeatedly stated false memes, both here and in email to me, and I’ve merely corrected you with facts, repeatedly showing proof of my points and asking you for evidence of your claims… usually you reply to a request for evidence by screaming that I’m ignorant and should have done my research, such as when I note I’m confused by your claims about Romney visiting france as proof of his character.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:35 pmI want to apologize for responding to Daley. There’s no point in having an ugly argument with someone who also wants Obama gone, but is very passionate about his Romney defenses.
I do not recall ever demanding anyone support Perry, and in fact have noted I understand the criticisms of him.
I prefer a respectful discussion. I don’t always do my part.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:41 pmI think Chris Christie’s gonna run. And I think Marco Rubio will be VP. And I think they’ll beat the crap out of Obama.
The fact is that he probably isn’t quite ready but he’s more ready than Barry was in 2008, and Barry still ain’t ready.
Face it, Ryan, Christie, Rubio, Perry, were probably all thinking and planning toward 2016, believing they had time to prepare and never dreaming Obama would be so utterly vulnerable in 2012. But Obama is beatable.
I feel good about this. I hope I’m right.
elissa (7de84f) — 10/3/2011 @ 9:55 pm“Your conduct has been embarrassing, asking me if I’m having sex with EPWJ and screaming about wine drinking Catholics oppressing people.”
Dustin – I’m not embarrassed by my conduct, but I apologize to anyone who was offended. Your comments at times sounded exactly like EPWJ, which is exactly why I made the reference.
A Mormon Mission to a Catholic wine drinking country is a perfect example of a character building experience, a fact you still cannot seem to grasp. Even Rick Perry references his summer jobs working for Southwestern Company, which I believe sells books door to door, the experience of having doors closed in his face, “as one of the most important formative experiences of my life.” Consider knocking on doors as a Mormon Missionary for 30 months in a foreign country instead.
I don’t know what facts you believe you have corrected me with, most of what you have expressed is opinion or addressing points I did not make. Anything I sent you via email related to a third party.
I suggest decafe.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:09 pmElissa, I also think he’s going to run. I’m quite surprised, but that appears to be the way he’s headed.
Christie/Rubio would be a formidable ticket at the polls. I share your point that they aren’t quite ready and yet are more qualified than the current officeholder.
We’ve got quite a lot of up and comers. I’m glad MD mentioned Walker (And he’s right… the left can’t help but look crazy when they talk about him). Just two to four election cycles from now, and I think the GOP will have a much stronger bench.
Who are the democrat up and comers? Rahm Emmanuel? Elizabeth Warren? Heh.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:10 pm#92: DRJ — but your own example and your own argument rather prove my point.
Unless you think Bush’s/neo-cons’/Israel First!ers’ absurd sink-hole adventures in Iraq and Afghan proved anything except how quickly the bought-and-paid-for Washington dog will sit up and beg for its Zionist master. Personally I throw up in my mouth a little every time I read the latest MSM/Israel First! dispatch. Dunno ’bout your own good self.
Long-term (and let’s just dismiss at the outset the very thought of a serious candidate for POTUS who’d genuinely be taken by _surprise_ by a sudden attack on the US, n’importe qui — what are we,in like 1823? — which is to say that Bush gets no pass on that score and no one else would neither), Bush’s initial non-nation-building position actually did make more sense as structural policy, had he only stuck to it: after 9/11 his formal obligation was not to embark on zany global nation-building crusades for pathetic worthless Afghans, rather his obligation to the American people was to firmly seal our borders, aggressively remove illegal invaders and visa-overstayers, cut down on student-visa invader bullsh!t, and abroad give the Taliban, AQ, Saudi enablers and the Afghan people/enablers a kick in the teeth they’d never ever ever forget, followed by a second kick in their now-toothless mouths so g-d-damned hard they’d never ever again contemplate the sort of 9-11-type policies that would earn them not a third kick, but four thousand of such. And that was it, really. You could wrap it up in like six months.
Instead over ten years and counting over a formless, pointless mission we got a lot of dead Iowa farm boys (hey, dead goyim, whaddaya know, they’re expendable, right?) and a lot of BS about winning the “hearts and minds” of a people who have been religiously and racially at implacable war with the West for 1400 BLOODY YEARS. G’ahead, you could look it up.
Whose idea of sanity is this? Hey, well, on the plus side it keeps US armies committed to the region long term, just in case Somebody might happen to need their help. Funny how when the check comes to the table, in both dollars and lives, Tel Aviv and the Upper West Side are always able to wave it over to Washington.
Hey, wow, where’s that great big scary Iraqi Army threatening some curiously not-named patch of real estate in the Levant? Oh, nowhere, now, right. Now that the million-man Iraqi Army is gone it’s suddenly and mysteriously safe to curse George W. in the pages of the NYT, and the sayanim can suddenly quote Henry Bolingbroke (act five, if memory serves) to their hearts’ content. But what were they busy doing before that particular army was smashed? Oh well. The Times regrets the error.
After all, now that the real problem is solved, it’s only the odd redneck shegetz here and there having his legs blown off, right?
Right?
d. in c. (6e25b4) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:30 pmDustin– with all their district gerrymandering and “safe seats” the Dems have perpetuated their aging career politicians– many of whom are now in their 70s and 80s. This has not allowed room for many newcomers. Their farm team is negligible. Terrible. Worse than terrible when you count Debbie Wasserman Schultz as one of their “rising stars”.
For Republicans it is quite different. In addition to the ones mentioned above, we can also add Cantor, Haley, Jindal, Bob McDonnell, Allen West and a host of other smart and attractive young congresspeople.
elissa (7de84f) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:38 pmThis brought such a smile to my face. Hilarious.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:43 pmd.in c.
You’ve stated with great passion your views on a lot of history there in #106. But it’s not clear what it is specifically that you want to happen now–how to achieve it, and who you expect to do it. Or were you just venting?
elissa (7de84f) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:52 pmOooooooooh testy,
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/3/2011 @ 10:58 pm____________________________________________
It was also known for the strong influence of the Ku Klux Klan.
I originally assumed that the peculiar facet of the Democrat Party you mention was somehow due to the era of the Civil War, in which the party of Lincoln (ie, the Republicans) had so estranged Southerners, that those who’d otherwise not be affiliated with a generally left-leaning organization ended up going along for the ride.
Then I read not too long ago about a survey taken by a branch of the University of Chicago dating back to the 1970s that reveals Democrats or people who apparently lean left in general (or who don’t mind the idea of bigger, graspy government) actually do go against the stereotype—of being “progressive” and therefore so lovin’, tolerant, compassionate and sophisticated. That a political party and/or those somewhat close to it on the ideological spectrum strangely enough do harbor a larger cross section of individuals who are flat-out racist/bigoted. Or a larger percentage of people who agree with the idea that blacks are intellectually deficient and that it’s AOK to segregate certain races from various neighborhoods.
Mark (411533) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:16 amCalling a man a slut is misogynist now?
Comment by DohBiden
How soon you forget your pin-headed attack on DRJ, ya geek.
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/4/2011 @ 5:16 amA perfectly Paulist rant, ‘full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. First of all, Bush wasn’t elected on an immigration restrictionist wave,
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/4/2011 @ 6:00 amneither was Reagan, or Bush Sr.Now we couldn’t invade Saudi Arabia, like Edward Luttwak suggested a generation or two ago, so invading the next door neighbor was the next best thing. Of course, there was the problem that a large corps of State tied more directly to the Saud’s (like Powell and Armitage, as well Wilson, clients of the querulous Alamoudi clan,)along with the intelligence establishment would declare war, against us, leak battleplans, follow the Levick group public relations whitewash of every Gitmo terrorist, and/or insurgent anywhere.
Yes, in the South, the Klan operated not unlike the Iraqi insurgents, intimidating enough persons away from the polls, to provoke the crisis of 1876, with
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/4/2011 @ 6:08 amwhich they were able to force out the occupying army, and impose their Redeemers, In the North, however they really couldn’t compete except for
the occasional appearance of Grover Cleveland, a real Hard Money Democrat, who fell afoul of the crisis of 1893, somewhat analogous to current circumstances,
sometimes Mr. Paul just needs attention he’s not self-soothing
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 10/4/2011 @ 7:04 amhttp://www.nationalreview.com/corner/279090/sources-christies-out-robert-costa
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/4/2011 @ 7:42 amhttp://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/10/bloomberg-whiffs-part-1.php
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/4/2011 @ 8:13 amShort explanation, ian:
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (685ad4) — 10/4/2011 @ 10:45 amThe Klan was the ParaMilitary Wing of the Southern Democrat Party, as the unions are in the North.
#113 — swing and a miss.
d. in c. (b98cae) — 10/4/2011 @ 11:02 amWhere am I wrong,?
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/4/2011 @ 11:15 amd. in c. – What is an Israel Firster? Can you explain the term please? I recall it being used mostly as a pejorative by white supremacists. Do you fall in that category?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/4/2011 @ 11:37 am.d. In c.:
We disagree about so much that neither one of us has the time to figure out how much.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/4/2011 @ 11:59 amYou seem to be suggesting that the USA does not need protection from the middle east.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:01 pmI don’t know about white supremacists, but this is tough to read:
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:26 pmYes Carlitos, that’s repellant.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:35 pmRecycled name?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:38 pmI’m beginning to think Paultards are evil far-lefty saboteurs.
And no Palin will not run for 3rd party.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:40 pm#120: “Where am I wrong?”
Well I believe there is a Beatles song called “Here, There, and Everywhere” which covers your case, but I will get back to you in detail in a moment. First I wanted to respond to elissa #109:
“But it’s not clear what it is specifically that you want to happen now–how to achieve it, and who you expect to do it.”
You know, my earlier comment is not sufficiently complex (that is to say, it is far too simple) to completely describe the case of where we stand. If you would like to go hunting for people with irrational prejudices, you might well find them but you won’t find me among them. I know perfectly well that there isn’t a grand unifying simple-minded ethno-theory (or conspiracy, since that is the word that makes everyone feel better) which unites history; nevertheless what I said does indeed describe an _aspect_ of where we stand, an aspect which is under-reported, and the absence of which therefore distorts our understanding.
Wittgenstein famously said, “The World is everything which is the case,” and that is true, so if we leave out selectively chosen parts of what _is_ the case, we don’t have a clear understanding.
It’s sort of like the well-known statement of Sherlock Holmes about the dog that didn’t bark. I didn’t make up out of my nutty own head words like “shegetz” and “shiksa” (you may know what that word denotes, but do you know what it literally means?) and “goyische kopf”; these words exist in the world, independently of my personal opinion — they have a life of their own, they are part of the world; they are part of what is the case.
d. in c. (6e03f8) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:42 pm^ LOL
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:49 pm#121 — oh, stop with the “white supremacists.” Take a deep breath, and take three steps back, and then let’s have an intelligent, non-hysterical discussion. For pete’s sake, I have a Harvard degree, in case you care: not looking to brag, it’s just that whenever this stuff percolates, one has to establish one’s non-caveman bona fides, which is something I find perfectly ridiculous.
If you want to talk, we can talk, like grown-ups. If you want to fling poo, do it on your own time.
d. in c. (6e03f8) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:52 pmBecause the gentiles have suffered oh so much persecution at the hands of the Jews.
I shudder every night when I think of the existence of slang like “goyische kopf”. It’s totally not like every group of people over history has developed derogatory words… it’s just the Jews, and we should smear every Jew’s heritage for it.
Or maybe not. Maybe the Israelis are actually the good guys, just trying to have one place on earth where they know Jews can’t be eradicated, and hoping for little more than a democratic and productive society, while surrounded by monsters who hate anything but submission.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/4/2011 @ 12:56 pmSee, you’re being silly.
I actually hate internet flame wars so I’m not going to call you a bunch of dopey names, it’s ridiculous. But think about the depth of what you’re saying (or lack thereof). Do you have an accurate grasp of Western history, for instance?
d. in c. (6e03f8) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:04 pm“For pete’s sake, I have a Harvard degree, in case you care”
d. in c. – I don’t care about your supposed degree. Why dodge my question?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:07 pmI’m not dodging your question, it’s just the traffic got a little crowded here, dinnit?
“What is an Israel Firster?” Well I think that would be a person, and specifically an American voter, who puts the welfare of the State of Israel at the forefront of their political concerns (voting plus donating plus activism), when they are purporting to vote based on their sense of the American (viz., specifically not Israeli) polity.
You can observe the phenomenon in any American presidential election, when a serious candidate is more or less obliged to swear a form of fealty to Israel, which is in fact a foreign country, in public.
Do you mean to tell me that you have never observed this ritual?
Why does it happen, do you suppose?
And now I have answered your question. Got any others?
ps I will thank you to take your hostile tone down a peg or two. We’re trying to have a conversation here, nobody’s appointed you special prosecutor. Grow up, for heaven’s sake.
d. in c. (6e03f8) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:20 pmThere’s no reason to take irrational kooks seriously.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:24 pmI think the Wahhabi/Salafi lobby, has been much more influential at least since 1973, Steven Emerson
ian cormac (ed5f69) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:29 pmeven wrote a book about it, back in the early 80s,
the House of Saud,
“There’s no reason to take irrational kooks seriously.”
I agree. What’s your point again?
d. in c. (6e03f8) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:30 pmThe amnesty shills are trying to paint us as hating all mexicans these idiots deserve to be hung.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:37 pmUgh. Trying to talk to people. Oh well. Whatevs.
You know, I don’t actually have some sort of zany animus, and I am sufficiently self-aware to keep mania and prejudice fully in check. But one sees what one sees. And one gets to see what one gets to see, if you understand me, which you probably don’t. What’s the name of that Chistopher Isherwood book again? Eh, buncha ninnies, I forget on purpose.
Well, like I say. The dog barks, and the caravan moves on.
d. in c. (6e03f8) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:41 pm“Unless you think Bush’s/neo-cons’/Israel First!ers’ absurd sink-hole adventures in Iraq and Afghan proved anything…”
If you think our government’s policy is now, or ever has been “Israel First”, you’re a complete nitwit.
We (meaning the United States government) have the same primary goal now, that we’ve had for decades, and that’s to protect our oil pipeline to the Arabian peninsula, and to make sure that no potential enemy can threaten it.
That’s been our main goal, as far as the middle east goes, since FDR was the boss, and it isn’t likely to change any time soon, and any other consideration, including the lives of individual Americans, is secondary.
Dave Surls (28f866) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:51 pmYou know, I don’t actually have some sort of zany animus, and I am sufficiently self-aware to keep mania and prejudice fully in check. . . .
Comment by d. in c. — 10/4/2011 @ 1:41 pm
That is pretty funny. The exact opposite is actually true.
Monkeytoe (5234ab) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:55 pm#140 — swing, and a miss. Next.
d. in c. (2f57f8) — 10/4/2011 @ 1:55 pmComment by d. in c. — 10/4/2011 @ 12:52 pm
So does Barack Obama, what does that prove?
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (685ad4) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:01 pmHe knows he’s said irrational and ignorant stuff, hence his need to compensate with his ‘don’t you know how smart I am despite how stupid I sound?’ comments about his education, or his need to explain that the effective rebuttals of his kookery missed. Apparently D in C doesn’t feel the counter-arguments fail on their own… or he wouldn’t need such a lame announcement that they fail.
Again, there is no reason to worry about it. There are a lot of stupid people out there, full of paranoia. They always act as though they have rare precious understanding. It’s pathetic, and shouldn’t be alarming because these people mean nothing.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:02 pmComment by Dave Surls — 10/4/2011 @ 1:51 pm
Just another example of “credentialed, but not educated”.
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (685ad4) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:03 pmGotta love the anti-semetic asshole d in c giving a pass to the libyan war.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:04 pm“#140 — swing, and a miss. Next.”
On the contrary. My anaylsis is correct, and you’re spewing fatuous nonsense.
We didn’t go to war in 1973 when several Arab Muslim states attacked Israel, because Israel doesn’t come first.
We did, OTOH, send a large military force to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait in 1991 (while ORDERING the Israelis to keep out of it, in order not to offend our Arab Muslim allies), because making sure that no potential enemy can threaten our access to Arabian oil is priority one.
There is no “Israel First” when it comes to the policies of the United States government. The fate of Israel is a secondary consideration. Always.
And we aren’t controlled by them, despite your blather about Zionist masters. What they do is (largely) controlled by us. So much so, that if we demand that they pull their troops out of Egypt and not destroy their enemies when they have them on the ropes (which we did in 1973), or if we tell them not to make a military response when the Iraqis are firing missiles at them (which happened in 1991), they do as we ask.
Dave Surls (28f866) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:16 pm#145 — defend your case.
I’m here. I reply.
Have at ’em, Dilton Doily!
d. in c. (d48c3b) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:16 pm#147 — swing, and a miss.
That’s about the most un-subtle analysis I’ve seen in a dog’s age.
Srsly, more of you people should go to Harvard.
Who am I talking to here anyway, the mighty fruit of Santa Monica Community College?
Raise your game, this isn’t even entry level. Jacks or better to open.
d. in c. (85b089) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:24 pmYou know, I don’t actually have some sort of zany animus, and I am sufficiently self-aware to keep mania and prejudice fully in check. . . .
Reliably excremental…
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:25 pmd. in c.–I asked you a fairly basic question, and that was one hum dinger of a non-response you offered me up at @ 128.
But everything all began to make much more sense after you regaled us with the always persuasive “don’t you know who I am?” retort @130. LOL
elissa (889d86) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:25 pmbuf·foon:\(ˌ)bə-ˈfün\
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:30 pm1: a ludicrous figure : clown
2: a gross and usually ill-educated or stupid person: see d.in c.
d.in c., most here have obvious philosophical disagreements with you. Just who do you think you are… Kant?
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:34 pm“…more of you people should go to Harvard.”
No thanks, I’d rather be a high school dropout who knows what he’s talking about, than be you.
Dave Surls (28f866) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:35 pmmore of “you people”.
hahahahahahaha
D in C was condemning Jews for slang that amounts to ‘we’re smarter than they are’.
But D in C adds rank hypocrisy on top of irrational stereotyping by living the conceit himself.
Why are you guys taking him seriously? He has no interest in persuading any of us. He is just trying to make himself feel less awful.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:43 pmelissa — you know you’re right, I did sort of throw you a curveball, so you’re right to complain. I’m not really sure I have a fully good answer to your question because, as I tried to explain, I don’t think my understanding of these matters is in any way complete or decisive. I offer it only as a further (and somewhat necessary) data point to a landscape which I believe is incompletely described. See my remark about Wittgenstein.
Which is one of the reasons why I find the chorus of irrational hoots and whistles from the peanut gallery so hilarious. You at least posed a serious question; I’m not confident I can give you a serious (that is to say, a complete and decisive) reply, either in this juvenile context or even in my own secluded thought. Life is tumultuous and complicated. I find it hilarious that so many people here are so, well, sure of themselves.
As to the “don’t you know who I am” complaint, I think upon reflection you’ll find it is unjustified. People here have been calling me crazy and retarded, and even if they sincerely disagree, I think a re-read of the thread will show that this is unjustified. What am I supposed to do, when faced with these accusations, when I know the pedigree of my own thought? You know in practice it’s actually socially much easier to conceal a Harvard pedigree than to proclaim one. My point was not “don’t you know who I am?” but rather, “don’t you know who I am NOT” — i.e. crazy or stupid or obsessed. Remember, on the internet nobody knows you’re a dog, let along a Crimson dog.
Have a sense of humor, for heaven’s sake.
d. in c. (470f6b) — 10/4/2011 @ 2:45 pmLotta silence all of a sudden from you asswipes.
d. in c. (470f6b) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:13 pmRemember, on the internet nobody knows you’re a dog, let along a Crimson dog.
hahahaha HA!
ColonelHaiku (a4b693) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:16 pmthe peeps are busy wiping
you right off their shoes
“Why are you guys taking him seriously?”
I don’t take his comments on U.S. foreign policy or that babble about Zionist masters seriously, because it’s patent nonsense on it’s face, and his (unsupported) assertions are directly contradicted by historical facts.
The idea that we fought or are fighting campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan because that’s what Israel wants us to do, is complete and obvious baloney. If we were their obedient servants, we’d be beating the crap out of Hamas, Fatah and Hezbollah, not the Taliban (though I’m sure most Israelis are pleased as punch that we dusted off their long time enemy, Iraq).
We went into Afghanistan because there was a massive terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland resulting in the deaths of thousands of people, perpetrated by a terrorist group operating out of Afghanistan. We went to war against the Iraqis because they made a move in the direction of Saudi Arabia and the smaller emirates on the Arabian peninsula.
We’ve never gone to war just because someone is attacking Israel (and they’ve been under constrant attack ever since 1948), and we aren’t likely to.
All that is because Israel does NOT come first, and in no way, shape or form is U.S. foreign policy set by some non-existent Zionist masters.
Dave Surls (28f866) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:21 pm“You know, I don’t actually have some sort of zany animus, and I am sufficiently self-aware to keep mania and prejudice fully in check.”
d. in c. – Apparently they teach that at Harvard, which is why you suggested more of the commenters here should attend there for some reason.
“As to the “don’t you know who I am” complaint, I think upon reflection you’ll find it is unjustified.”
Actually, it was more of a “Don’t you know who I think I am” complaint.
People choose words for a reason. Looking back at this thread and others, you will see that yours were chosen in a deliberate attempt to provoke. Pointing the finger at others as a diversion is a coward’s game.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:24 pmd. in c.,
Since you brought it up, did you get an undergraduate or graduate degree at Harvard?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:27 pm“Have a sense of humor, for heaven’s sake.”
“Lotta silence all of a sudden from you asswipes.”
That was funny from the Harvard snot.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:28 pm“Lotta silence all of a sudden from you asswipes.”
Keepin’ that mania and prejudice fully in check.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:31 pmso hitler comparisons are illegal….except when your far-left?
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:32 pmComment by DRJ — 10/4/2011 @ 3:27 pm
GED?
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (685ad4) — 10/4/2011 @ 3:47 pmd. in c.–
Many of the people who comment here are lawyers, current and former business execs, medical doctors, engineers, and military officers (just to mention a few). This is relevant to the discussion only because the good people here are used to seeking answers, analyzing situations, evaluating potential solutions, and solving/fixing real problems in real life.
The world is full of philosophers, observers, armchair psychologists, critics, theorists, bloviators and ranters. But the world runs because of hands-on doers and inventors and problem solvers.
If you don’t have anything tangible to bring–if you cannot articulate any active ideas for solving the problems you apparently see– if you have no concrete thoughts or plans to offer about fixing those world situations which you seem to find so intolerable– then really what is the point of posting your rants at all? Why do you assume people should care? Why do you feel entitled to get so upset and to insult them?
elissa (889d86) — 10/4/2011 @ 4:08 pmSpeechless. Hey, I’m not looking to brag 🙄 , but my business school was rated several places of Harvard on the US News list when I attended. More of you Harvard types should maybe attend over there. Jerk.
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/4/2011 @ 4:08 pmelissa, thanks. That was a little more eloquent than my bluster.
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/4/2011 @ 4:14 pmElissa, d in c isn’t here to solve. He’s here to blame.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 10/4/2011 @ 4:18 pmNot saying I believe d in c went there, but a lot of Harvard asswipes act that way.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/4/2011 @ 4:23 pmDustn @169–I know. But I want to be sure d. in c. does not misinterpret the true reason he is receiving so little “respect” from the “peanut gallery”.
elissa (889d86) — 10/4/2011 @ 4:29 pmTheir MBAs are the worst – they go make partner at McKinsey or wherever and they think they know everything. A colleague and I were discussing this, and he said “the secret is to have them work for you, not to work for them.” Interesting thought.
carlitos (49ef9f) — 10/4/2011 @ 4:30 pm“Lotta silence all of a sudden from you asswipes”
Since you’re obviously unable to support the absurd assertions you made, and unable to address the points I made, I see no point in making any further noise…on this subject.
Dave Surls (28f866) — 10/4/2011 @ 5:43 pmYou can always tell a Harvard man, but you can’t tell him much.
kaf (a63ed2) — 10/4/2011 @ 6:06 pmHeh.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/4/2011 @ 6:09 pmD in C you pathetic c*nt……..you use the jews and feign sympathy to their plight……….so you can support the islamonazis in libya. So please blow it our of your ass you cocksucker.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/4/2011 @ 6:10 pmHey asswipe….I’m busy invading Iraq and Afghanistan.
DohBiden (d54602) — 10/4/2011 @ 6:16 pm