by Smitty
This blog doubles down on its firm commitment to help the President figure out the basics of his job in the remaining 417 days of his error-riddled tenure.
The ‘Sarah Palin Reconsider’ Clip
by Smitty
Via Michelle Malkin, here is the mighty Sarah Palin ad, which appears to have been uploaded on 22 November. I am sure that Ladd Ehlinger could have done something with a bit more zip to it. This appears to be a straight up the middle play. On the one hand, this egalitarian statement is what America in general, and Sarah Palin in particular, are all about: get the substance right, and understand that the anti-elitism is a style of its own.
That said, my newfound irritation with Romney’s diction helps me understand where some people are coming from about Sarah’s tone and accent. The fact that my mother (who lives in Idaho) could do passable voiceovers for Sarah (who is from Idaho) does mitigate a lot of the distraction for me, but this clip puts Sarah’s folksy cadences right out front.
I’d still love to see her on the ticket. Unsure with whom, though. Oh to be the fly on the wall when the GOP delegates look at the primary returns and realize that, no matter her conditions, they should have coaxed her into running.
What Other Alternatives Exist For Getting Off Of Fiat Money?
by Smitty
Ron Paul on money sounds so lucid:
You know your current course is financially suicidal. Those who say otherwise are the ones who are culpable for the current mess.
So, if not Ron Paul’s ideas, and not the status quo, then what?
via Tyler Durden
Exploring ‘Explaining Postmodernism’ By Stephen Hicks 4: Poisoned Enlightenment
by Smitty
Poisoning the Enlightenment for fun and excitement
Our last post was about the first half of the 20th century. Things were nearly interesting with the Postmodernists when, at last, even they realized that Karl Marx was a false prophet. Fortunately for the human race, they PoMo weenies repented of their ways, sought enlightenment, and–wait: which history is this? The PoMo weenies doubled down on dumb, and resurrected an idiot older than Marx.
Postmodernists are not individuals who have reached relativistic conclusions about epistemology and then found comfort in a wide variety of political persuasions. Postmodernists are monolithically Left-wing in their politics. (Hicks, 84)
In other words, shouldn’t we see at least some libertarians? And why couldn’t you be a Postmodern conservative?
The initial Marxist symptoms:
- Capitalism is exploitative: The rich enslave the poor; it is brutally competitive domestically and imperialistic internationally.
- Socialism, in contrast, is humane and peaceful: People share, are equal, and cooperative.
- Captialism is ultmately less productive than socialism: The rich get richer, the poor get poorer; and the ensuing class conflict will cause capitalism’s collapse in the end.
- Socialist economics, by contrast, will be more productive and usher in a new era of prosperity. (Hicks, 86-87)
Continue reading Exploring ‘Explaining Postmodernism’ By Stephen Hicks 4: Poisoned Enlightenment →
Did I Ever Mention …
. . . that I live about a mile from the Appalachian Trail? And that my teenage sons have a pretty serious gun collection?
The reason I mention this is because Professor Glenn Reynolds linked to an article on a survivalist site about the “Redoubt of the East,” which the author describes as the mountains of East Tennessee. That’s about a six-hour drive south of here, so I suppose if there were sufficient warning of “a severe crisis where food and public infrastructure fails,” I could zip down I-81 and beat the stampede out of D.C. and Baltimore. But I’d probably just stay put.
While I do not wish to derogate the merchants of freeze-dried food, generators, et cetera, I’m not really worried about surviving whatever apocalyptic scenario prompts the hunker-in-the-bunker preparedness industry. There’s enough venison on the hoof hereabouts that we’d survive all right, I reckon.
But there’s one problem: If post-apocalyptic America doesn’t have WiFi, how the heck are people supposed to hit my tip jar? On the other hand, the tip-jar action has been slow enough the last few days, maybe the apocalypse already happened and nobody told me.
Naked Scarlett Johansson: ‘It Would Be Irresponsible’ Not to Support Obama
A story I missed: Somebody hacked her cell phone and got hold of naked photos Johansson had taken of herself and sent to her (now ex-)husband Ryan Reynolds. I only learned about this yesterday because I glanced at a headline linked on the sidebar of an article and (the mind plays funny tricks) got the idea she’d sent nude photos to Burt Reynolds.
That would be what we call “news,” so I had to click that link and immediately realized my error. Never heard of this Ryan Reynolds guy and, frankly, never much noticed Scarlett Johansson — she’s an actress who does, like, movies and stuff — and would have ignored the feature article in Vanity Fair if not for this:
Johansson, who has been active in campaigning for various Democratic political leaders, including Barack Obama, tells Biskind that nearly one term later “we’re all guilty of being idealistic, I and everyone who voted for him.” But in response to being asked if she would work for him again, she says, “It would be irresponsible not to.”
This shouldn’t be surprising, given the notorious liberalism of Hollywood, but it doesn’t make sense to those of us out here in the rest of America, where pretty girls generally tend to be conservative. To cite one example, the annual Reaganpalooza, the post-CPAC party sponsored by the Young Conservatives Coalition, is a total babefest.
Perhaps it’s something intrinsic to the entertainment industry, where the relationship between hard work and success is less obvious, that causes people in show business to be so peculiarly liberal.
Or maybe conservatives just need to do more education and outreach to Hollywood. Somebody else will have to do “outreach” to Scarlett Johansson. I don’t want to make Alyssa Milano jealous.
UPDATE: Linked by Pirate’s Cove and Weasel Zippers — thanks! — and now a Memeorandum thread. By the way, Alyssa Milano has 1.8 million Twitter followers. Scarlett Johansson? Doesn’t get it.
Herman Cain ‘Re-Assessing’ Campaign
Suggestion for Mr. Cain: Fire whoever it was on your staff who left me off the conference call to which Robert Costa was invited:
“Over the next several days, we are going to continue with the schedule as usual,” he said. “I’ve got a major speech tonight at Hillsdale College on national security and foreign policy and I will deliver it with vim, vigor, and enthusiasm. And then tomorrow we’ve got some media appearances scheduled. So we’re going to continue until we complete our assessment over the next several days.”
“But if a decision is made, different than to plow ahead, you all will be the first to know,” he said. “So until that time, I want to continue to thank you all for your support, thank you for your prayers. It’s taken an emotional toll, but the people in the audience tonight will never know it.”
Accusations by hyper-litigious bankrupt divorceés? No biggie.
Leaving me off a key conference call? That could be serious trouble.
I’ve got to go get a pack of smokes and cool my temper.
Maybe some updates after that.
UPDATE: OK, got my smokes, plus cheeseburgers, fries and a Hershey almond bar — comfort food, which I needed badly, as well as a cup of decaf coffee. Thanks to Don Surber for the link, as well as to Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom, who says:
Time to wake up, people. Bachmann is still out there. So is Santorum. And both of them would whip Obama in any debate.
Made a few phone calls while I was out. Thanks to all the friends whose ears I blistered with my rants. I needed to vent.
Maybe I need a nap now.
UPDATE II: “When the going gets weird, the weird get pissed.” Yeah. Then the weird say, “Hit the freaking tip jar.” And take a nap.
Another Under-Bus-Toss For The DOD?
by Smitty
Apparently the ACLU is feeling stretched by the Defense Authorization Bill, emphasis original:
The Defense Authorization bill is now on the Senate floor with troubling provisions that would give the President — and all future presidents — the authority to indefinitely imprison people, without charge or trial, both abroad and inside the United States and would mandate military detention of some civilians who would otherwise be outside of military control. The indefinite detention without charge or trial provisions are so harmful that the Obama White House has threatened to veto the bill if they are not removed from it.
#OccupyWallStreet, that fount of reliability, says:
The Udall amendment, eliminates these unconstitutional elements. Supporters of the National Defense Authorization Act: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) explained that the bill will “basically say in law for the first time that the homeland is part of the battlefield” and people can be imprisoned without charge or trial “American citizen or not.” Another supporter, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) also declared that the bill is needed because “America is part of the battlefield.”
Past the heavy breathing, Udall’s site offers a link to the amendment in question, which looks straightforward, for a quick glance.
National defense is a no-kidding Constitutional job of the POTUS. We can and do argue that #OccupyResoluteDesk is shanking that job into fail bunker more or less daily.
And yet, the POTUS is given that power to protect and enhance liberty. We have a Bill of Rights intended to prevent overachievement. To prevent allergic reactions to healthy citizens from our Executive immune system, if you will.
After the Stupor Committee fiasco, the politics get flakier still. The President appears to sound like he’ll reject additional power. Yet power seems to be what BHO understands. The Stupor Committee gambit raised the debt ceiling early this year, pointed a spear at the heart of military funding, and provided finger pointing opportunities, so that #OccupyResoluteDesk can claim to run against a broken Congress.
Is there something like that afoot here? We really do not want the federal government doing any more policing inside the country than is already going on. Expanding federal power means admitting that state and local government are impotent. Also impotent: our Ruling Class, for demagoguing their way down the Greecy slope.
The Underpants Gnome theory of this Administration seems to be:
- Trigger crisis.
- Demagogue crisis to advantage.
- ???
- Profit (albeit not yours).
I really can’t tell what the preferred answer is here. What I do know is that whatever pleases BHO least is likely to be most in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution.
via Troglopundit