Meet your new thread, same as the old thread.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
I think the guy has tapped into a real wellspring of strong support, but that some of those strong supporters are loons, and that there just aren't enough of them to have a political impact. Since libertarians have been taken for granted by the GOP for a long time, it's nice to see them wake up and smell the coffee, but there aren't enough of them for it to matter that much. I'm not unsympathetic to some of what Paul says.

Some?

Besides - Paul isn't really a libertarian. He spouts a few mantras here and there, but at heart, he's really a populist xenophobe.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I think the guy has tapped into a real wellspring of strong support, but that some of those strong supporters are loons, and that there just aren't enough of them to have a political impact. Since libertarians have been taken for granted by the GOP for a long time, it's nice to see them wake up and smell the coffee, but there aren't enough of them for it to matter that much. I'm not unsympathetic to some of what Paul says.

I don't doubt that there are people who feel the way you do, but they are too few, poorly organized, or easily distracted by talk of terrorism and torture for it to lead to much of anything.

Agreed. I like him in theory. But I won't be voting in theory, whereas a lot of his supporters might be, along with others voting for him in dreamworlds, hallucinations or virtual realities...

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop

Ahem - please note that these are "our children" for whom we are supposed to care about "conserving the environment" and "not leaving trillions of debt"

Fuck 'em.

PS - I am reminded of the conversation from Lebowski ("Big") to Lebowski ("Dude") - "I suggest you do as your parents did. Get a job, sir!"

[Tyrone Slothrop]

• Few of Huckabee’s critics have actually come out and said what many of them think. The language is coded, as it usually is with class and race in this country. The Wall Street Journal, the anti-tax jihadists at the Club For Growth, the National Review – these pillars of Old School Republicanism have signaled that Huckabee is Not One of Ours. But they’re careful to say it’s not about class, because, of course – it is!
  
  Class war is forbidden in the Republican playbook. But Huckabee, despite an inept last week of campaigning, has forced the Republican party to face the Wal-Mart shoppers that they have long taken advantage of. He’s here. He’s Gomer. And he’s not going away.
  
  ...
  
  It’s okay to have faux rubes, a la Bush senior and his pork rinds, or George W. and his Midland malapropisms. But when something that looks like the real thing comes along, the Republican royalists get apoplectic. They were appalled at the recent YouTube debate because it looked like a parody of one faction of their party – complete with Bible-waving wackos, trigger-happy gun nuts and Confederate-flag enthusiasts.

link

[SlaveNoMore]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop

• Few of Huckabee’s critics have actually come out and said what many of them think. The language is coded, as it usually is with class and race in this country. The Wall Street Journal, the anti-tax jihadists at the Club For Growth, the National Review – these pillars of Old School Republicanism have signaled that Huckabee is Not One of Ours. But they’re careful to say it’s not about class, because, of course – it is!
  
  Class war is forbidden in the Republican playbook. But Huckabee, despite an inept last week of campaigning, has forced the Republican party to face the Wal-Mart shoppers that they have long taken advantage of. He’s here. He’s Gomer. And he’s not going away.
  
  ...
  
  It’s okay to have faux rubes, a la Bush senior and his pork rinds, or George W. and his Midland malapropisms. But when something that looks like the real thing comes along, the Republican royalists get apoplectic. They were appalled at the recent YouTube debate because it looked like a parody of one faction of their party – complete with Bible-waving wackos, trigger-happy gun nuts and Confederate-flag enthusiasts.

link

More proof that the NYT op-ed page has become a sloppier rag than even the SF Guardian (yes, you read that right).

Let's ignore the fact that both NR and WSJ have been hounding Huckabee day after day after day over his stupid statements re foreign policy. And domestic policy.

No, no. It's because he's a rube.

Perhaps the NYT should be a bit more critical of its own prejudices regarding Romney's religion. Or the Dems sly attacks on Obama because of his race. Nah. Why be honest.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Ahem - please note that these are "our children" for whom we are supposed to care about "conserving the environment" and "not leaving trillions of debt"

Fuck 'em.

PS - I am reminded of the conversation from Lebowski ("Big") to Lebowski ("Dude") - "I suggest you do as your parents did. Get a job, sir!"

You're on the Big Lebowski's side?

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I think the guy has tapped into a real wellspring of strong support, but that some of those strong supporters are loons, and that there just aren't enough of them to have a political impact. Since libertarians have been taken for granted by the GOP for a long time, it's nice to see them wake up and smell the coffee, but there aren't enough of them for it to matter that much. I'm not unsympathetic to some of what Paul says.



I don't doubt that there are people who feel the way you do, but they are too few, poorly organized, or easily distracted by talk of terrorism and torture for it to lead to much of anything.

Personally, I tend to find that if you poke them, most libertarians are just greedy motherfuckers whose sole political philosophy is "I got mine, I'm keeping it."

The real root of the problem is the damned communist Supreme Court back in the New Deal days. If they'd just upheld the right of children to work, we wouldn't have all this folderol about taxes to pay for so-called "education" today.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Ahem - please note that these are "our children" for whom we are supposed to care about "conserving the environment" and "not leaving trillions of debt"

Fuck 'em.

PS - I am reminded of the conversation from Lebowski ("Big") to Lebowski ("Dude") - "I suggest you do as your parents did. Get a job, sir!"

By kids, don't you mean unemployed stoners in their 20s and 30s living in Mom's basement?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Personally, I tend to find that if you poke them, most libertarians are just greedy motherfuckers whose sole political philosophy is "I got mine, I'm keeping it."

The real root of the problem is the damned communist Supreme Court back in the New Deal days. If they'd just upheld the right of children to work, we wouldn't have all this folderol about taxes to pay for so-called "education" today.

I think this primary season is really a test of just how crazy the Republican's base really is. If we have a Huckabee-Romney-Paul finish, I'd say the answer is that they're all kinds of crazy. Total Batshit Looney-Tunes Wackadoo crazy.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Personally, I tend to find that if you poke them, most libertarians are just greedy motherfuckers whose sole political philosophy is "I got mine, I'm keeping it."

The real root of the problem is the damned communist Supreme Court back in the New Deal days. If they'd just upheld the right of children to work, we wouldn't have all this folderol about taxes to pay for so-called "education" today.

Personally, your experience is obviously pretty fucking limited. I'm more than willing to allow certain minimal safety nets for people.

And by the way, what exactly is wrong with wanting to keep what you have? Do you think we live in a world where the aim is wealth parity? Do you think that's anything but absurd given what we know from thousands of years of exeperience with human nature? From the reality that we live in a Darwinian world?

What I do have I intend to keep, and that's not greedy in the least. It's fucking rational. My first allegiance is to the people closest to me. Do you offer the govt more money than you're taxed every year? Do you eschew aggressive tax strategies that preserve your family' wealth? Of course you don't. You'd be an idiot to do that.

You have a lot of stones to make a comment like that, and what's really amazing is you live in one of the biggest glass houses. If people didn't want to keep their money you'd be sweeping floors.

[SlaveNoMore]

Did you just call me Coltrane?
You're on the Big Lebowski's side?

You told Brant. He told me. Yes, yes?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Tax Wonk
Personally, I tend to find that if you poke them, most libertarians are just greedy motherfuckers whose sole political philosophy is "I got mine, I'm keeping it."

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Personally, your experience is obviously pretty fucking limited. I'm more than willing to allow certain minimal safety nets for people.

I'm with Sebby on this one.

Take Ron Paul, for instance. It's not just "I got mine"; it's also "We whites got ours". It's not just about greed.

[SlaveNoMore]

taxwonk
Personally, I tend to find that if you poke them, most libertarians are just greedy motherfuckers whose sole political philosophy is "I got mine, I'm keeping it."

Is there something inherently wrong with wanting to keep what one has?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
I'm with Sebby on this one.

Take Ron Paul, for instance. It's not just "I got mine"; it's also "We whites got ours". It's not just about greed.

Is there any piece of low hanging fruit you won't grab? I mean, really, do you honestly think Paul's a racist? No, you don't. But you're happy to try to confuse the fact that he has some loathsome folowers with the man's message. Do you think you can pull off that cheap confusion, even in jest, on a board full of fucking lawyers?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Is there something inherently wrong with wanting to keep what one has?

Hell no. Ain't much use for tax planning and lawyering in a Socialist system.