2011 archive
The Galt and the Lamers 0
Ron Paul considers that property rights trump civil rights.
Bob Cesca transcribed the exchange. Here’s a little bit:
PAUL: Because — because of the property rights element, not because it got rid of the Jim Crow law.
MATTHEWS: Right. The guy who owns a bar says, no blacks allowed, you say that’s fine. … This was a local shop saying no blacks allowed. You say that should be legal?
That property rights trumped civil rights is exactly what Edmund Ruffin, Jefferson Davis, Chief Justice Roger Tanney, and others of their ilk, also thought.
Afterthought:
What I find most striking about Libertarianism is this:
Its adherents are either
- strikingly devious, building their frothy meringues of baseless logic with knowing intent to deceive or, what I consider more likely,
- blindingly naive in a touching faith that somehow, in Libertarian world, there would be neither sin nor iniquity.
Well, I guess there is a third option:
-
that they are strikingly, blindingly, stupidly, naively self-centered.
Now that would be the Libertarian Randian Way.
Driving While Brown 0
Lexington’s percentage of such deportations is well above the national average of 60 percent, according to a Herald-Leader analysis of a report on the program released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 4.
There has been mounting national criticism in recent weeks of ICE’s Secure Communities program, leading Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to abandon the initiative earlier this month.
They forget that, in wingnut world, being brown is ipso facto evidence of criminality.
Fox News Pulls the Plug on Mitt the Flip 0
The charge is the heresy of thinking that citizens should have access to affordable health care.
Macho Men 0
Amanda Marcotte, in the Guardian, muses on the macho posturing so popular in wingnut world. A nugget:
For all the posturing about toughness, the most salient aspect of this rightwing, over-the-top masculinity is how fragile it really is. The list of subversive threats that will topple redblooded American masculinity is mind-bogglingly long – and grows longer every day. A small sample: gay rights, women’s rights, reedy college professors teaching your kids non-propagandistic history, religious diversity, Democrats (especially of the non-white male variety) holding high office, responding to international tension with any tool other than invading a Muslim country, a social safety net that’s perceived as making it easier for women to avoid dependence on men … the list goes on.
Some days, you get the feeling that the American masculinity worshipped by those on the right could disappear if you blow on it too hard.
Hmmmm. Maybe this can help explain the gunnuttery, also. In the case of the symbolism of firearms, Freud was most likely correct.
Why Copy Editors Matter 0
This is a hair-raising subhead.
So much for trial before punishment.
The judge has given her a big heads-up. He said this kind of behavior had to be cut off immediately.
In case of a “not guilty” plea, the prosecutorial team was to be headed by Gil O’Teene.
(I missed this in Thursday’s local rag, but my friend the editor got me headed in the right direction.)
Republican Family Values 0
Raise high the ensign to salute those who loudly trumpet the sanctity of their values and wish to impose them on others, except the values they trumpet have nothing to do with their own values. From TPM:
The probe focused on the great lengths — and potentially illegal steps — Ensign took to keep the affair quiet, including having his parents (wealthy Las Vegas casino owners) pay the Hamptons $96,000 in hush money.
The Senate Ethics Committee has referred the case to the Justice Department for prosecution.
This is most extraordinary.
Congressional Ethics Committees tend to bury ethics complaints amongst partisan maneuvering.
I watched the Young and the Restless for a couple of years when I was dating someone who liked that show (Victor is my hero). Y&R has nothing on this. Rachel Maddow summarizes the results of the Committee’s investigation:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Video via Bob Cesca.
QOTD 0
Isaac Asimov, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what’s right.
Wingnut Racist Three-Card Monty 0
Field takes my analogy for bankster hucksters and finds its application for racism hucksters. (No, I’m sure he doesn’t know it’s “my analogy”–I certainly don’t own it and I doubt he’s heard of me.)
Jon Stewart also comments. Watch both if you can. If you can’t, watch the last two minutes of the second one:
Word of the Day 1
Libertarian, n:
A Republican unwilling to admit to polite company (or to himself) that he is a Republican. Frequently seen with a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution of the United States of America, which he will volunteer to misinterpret at the drop of an opinion.
Bob Cesca observes one in the wild.
What Brendan Said 0
This has been another edition of What Brendan Said.
The Next Reality Hit: Presidential Apprentice 0
How can Republicans narrow their field?
XCurmudgeon spins the concept:
Facebook Frolics 0
It has been revealed that Facebook embarked on a smear campaign against rival Google.
The social network has admitted that it hired a PR firm to plant anti-Google stories related to user privacy.
It has already been well established that privacy is a concept that Facebook does not comprehend. Guess it felt lonely and wanted some company.
Facebook, of course, denies that this was a smear campaign.
Details at the link.
