The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Is Fabius Maximus a Congressman?

Posted on | February 16, 2010 | 14 Comments

by Smitty

Fabius Maximus has always been a blog to trigger thought. I suspect it’s a gang blog, with a group of academics driving the posting. The blog has been an equal opportunity offender, handing out well-researched drubbings in every direction. This post raises a speculation about the author, emphasis mine:

So the recovery must appear by March or April, the last opportunity for Congress to enact another round of stimulus programs. If no strong recovery, it will be a depression for Congressmen (in a recession you lose your job; in a depression I lose my job).

But conservatives have convinced a substantial fraction of the American people that stimulus programs do not work. That’s like a stroke victim demanding that his respirator be turned off (or parents refusing to have their children vaccinated).

First question: is Fabius a sitting member of Congress? Meh. I think the I/you are figurative here.
Second question: is Fabius in a lefty mood, with the bit about the respirator? Wouldn’t an improved variant be “…stroke victim demanding that the quack doctor quit giving him the medicine from the bottle marked X-X-X that is causing the strokes?”
Third question: is Fabius really Billy Squire?

Category: Blogging

Comments

14 Responses to “Is Fabius Maximus a Congressman?”

  1. ThomasD
    February 17th, 2010 @ 4:35 am

    Fabius’ postings are thought provoking, of the first blush kind. But just a little thought and some of the key points often lose their rhetorical gloss.

    And yes, given that Fabius seems to think porkulus was somehow effective, it is safe to say he/they trend left.

    Rather than a ‘stroke victim demanding that his respirator be turned off’ perhaps a better analogy is a stroke victim demanding that the leeches be removed.

  2. ThomasD
    February 16th, 2010 @ 11:35 pm

    Fabius’ postings are thought provoking, of the first blush kind. But just a little thought and some of the key points often lose their rhetorical gloss.

    And yes, given that Fabius seems to think porkulus was somehow effective, it is safe to say he/they trend left.

    Rather than a ‘stroke victim demanding that his respirator be turned off’ perhaps a better analogy is a stroke victim demanding that the leeches be removed.

  3. theCL
    February 17th, 2010 @ 4:46 am

    I’d still like to see one of them answer this simple question: If printing money increases productivity and wealth, why don’t we all just get nice printers, quit our jobs, and print our way to prosperity?

  4. theCL
    February 16th, 2010 @ 11:46 pm

    I’d still like to see one of them answer this simple question: If printing money increases productivity and wealth, why don’t we all just get nice printers, quit our jobs, and print our way to prosperity?

  5. richard mcenroe
    February 17th, 2010 @ 5:09 am

    If he thinks porkulus worked, he’s either a lobbyist or trader…

  6. richard mcenroe
    February 17th, 2010 @ 12:09 am

    If he thinks porkulus worked, he’s either a lobbyist or trader…

  7. proof
    February 17th, 2010 @ 6:17 am

    In regards to the first question, I agree! “in a depression I lose my job” is figurative.
    The rest, to quote Obama, I’m agnostic on!

  8. proof
    February 17th, 2010 @ 1:17 am

    In regards to the first question, I agree! “in a depression I lose my job” is figurative.
    The rest, to quote Obama, I’m agnostic on!

  9. boqueronman
    February 17th, 2010 @ 9:44 pm

    Fabius Maximus was a pompous, arrogant [collective or not] blowhard. Any contrarian comment to one of their pretensious postings, no matter how innocuous or convincing, was hooted down and insulted almost immediately by the FM authorship mob. I actually had the temerity to point out an error in a comment thread one year or so ago and received an e-mail and an online response telling me to sit down, shut up and listen to my betters. Neither response dealt with substantive points. Haven’t visited there since. The site is all yours if that’s your thing.

  10. boqueronman
    February 17th, 2010 @ 9:44 pm

    Fabius Maximus was a pompous, arrogant [collective or not] blowhard. Any contrarian comment to one of their pretensious postings, no matter how innocuous or convincing, was hooted down and insulted almost immediately by the FM authorship mob. I actually had the temerity to point out an error in a comment thread one year or so ago and received an e-mail and an online response telling me to sit down, shut up and listen to my betters. Neither response dealt with substantive points. Haven’t visited there since. The site is all yours if that’s your thing.

  11. boqueronman
    February 17th, 2010 @ 4:44 pm

    Fabius Maximus was a pompous, arrogant [collective or not] blowhard. Any contrarian comment to one of their pretensious postings, no matter how innocuous or convincing, was hooted down and insulted almost immediately by the FM authorship mob. I actually had the temerity to point out an error in a comment thread one year or so ago and received an e-mail and an online response telling me to sit down, shut up and listen to my betters. Neither response dealt with substantive points. Haven’t visited there since. The site is all yours if that’s your thing.

  12. atheist
    February 18th, 2010 @ 1:43 pm

    I really don’t know who Fabius Maximus is or what their means of support might be. I do know that I’ve been a commenter over there for a while, and IMO it’s unlikely that it is a secret group blog as you suggest. Most comments are replied to, and there is a tonal and topical similarity to everything Fabius Maximus says. In other words, if it is a group blog they have done a damn good job of sounding like the same person at all times.

  13. atheist
    February 18th, 2010 @ 1:43 pm

    I really don’t know who Fabius Maximus is or what their means of support might be. I do know that I’ve been a commenter over there for a while, and IMO it’s unlikely that it is a secret group blog as you suggest. Most comments are replied to, and there is a tonal and topical similarity to everything Fabius Maximus says. In other words, if it is a group blog they have done a damn good job of sounding like the same person at all times.

  14. atheist
    February 18th, 2010 @ 8:43 am

    I really don’t know who Fabius Maximus is or what their means of support might be. I do know that I’ve been a commenter over there for a while, and IMO it’s unlikely that it is a secret group blog as you suggest. Most comments are replied to, and there is a tonal and topical similarity to everything Fabius Maximus says. In other words, if it is a group blog they have done a damn good job of sounding like the same person at all times.