Month: September 2010

If you disagree with me, it’s not so much that you’re wrong, it’s that you’re in denial! As we all know, denial consists of disagreeing with someone after the debate is “settled.” Or “over.” Denial is a treatable disease. What you think is a disagreement is actually a symptom.

H/T Legal Insurrection Also watch this: Biggest Trust Deficit Since 1776 Cross Posted at Power and Control

Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer features an editorial about the Tea Party movement which made me feel oddly optimistic. Asks the Inky, what would the Tea Party movement do? The unanswered question is what the tea party movement would do if its candidates arrive in Congress in January. Since they perceive cooperating with Democrats as treasonous, would…

I am still the same small-l libertarian I was when I started writing this blog. I think it’s fair to say that there have been many major issues, and many more “latest outrages” over the years. Yet I haven’t changed my mind about a single major issue I can think of. To some of the…

Cross Posted at Power and Control

At Hot Air there is quite a discussion going on about what the O’Donnell victory in the Republican Primary means. As a Navy man I liked this comment: Murkowski: Hit to bridge. Bennett: Hit to aft, rudder destroyed, propulsion damaged. Castle: Direct hit to the magazine. You sunk my Battleship Yacht! WHAAAAAAAA! Tea party/Conservative base:…

Speaking of constitutional rights that can’t be taken for granted, via an email I learned that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has made an analogy between burning the Koran in protest, and shouting fire in a crowded theater: We… saw Democrats and Republicans alike assume that Pastor Jones had a Constitutional right to burn those…

The lyrics are most apropos. Cross Posted at Power and Control

Yesterday, Glenn Reynolds linked a very thoughtful discussion of the Fourth Amendment by Julian Sanchez, which I think everyone who cares about the topic should read. It’s an eloquent reminder that the Fourth Amendment is not merely a remedy for accused criminal suspects seeking to get the results of illegal searches suppressed and their charges…

Another commenter decries the rush to purity of the Republican Party/Tea Party Movement. The focus is on the recent Delaware Primary Where O’Donnell (the Tea Party insurgent) beat Castle – a noted Republican squish. (I have another take on this race at No Quarter) Many conservatives feel empowered in the current environment. This empowerment hurt…

Instapundit is taking a lot of looks at the just concluded Delaware Republican Primary. He has after action reports (O’Donnell won). I also like this before action report he linked. The question addressed is: can O’Donnell win the general election. You couldn’t ask for a more vexing political conundrum than the Delaware Senate primary. It’s…

This used to be the theme music for WFMT in Chicago. It may still be. I was an engineer there when I went to UChicago. Cross Posted at Power and Control

To show you how behind I am on some of the more earthshaking news events in today’s world, I just got an email from a friend expressing surprise that I hadn’t said anything about an incident I’d never heard of until the email: Eric: I am surprised that you haven’t said anything about PETA’s condemnation…

The SEIU has come out in favor of pot legalization. A ballot measure to make California the first state to legalize the sale and use of marijuana has won the support of one of the state’s most powerful union, officials said Monday, offering the proposition a shot of mainstream legitimacy as well as a potential…

According to the highly influential best selling author Jared Diamond, the development of agriculture was “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” As population densities of hunter-gatherers slowly rose at the end of the ice ages, bands had to choose between feeding more mouths by taking the first steps toward agriculture, or…

That’s a meme that I guess is supposed to be conservative, even if it is liberal. I saw it earlier on a T-shirt opposing gay marriage. OK, I have written countless posts taking issue with the idea of gay marriage. There are many arguments which can be made against it, but the above is not…

In my humble opinion, Mike Castle sucks. As a pro-gun control East Coast Republican, he epitomizes the word “RINO.” And it is my considered opinion that his opponent, Christine O’Donnell, also sucks. But maybe it’s not PC to say that about a woman, so I need to stress that I don’t mean that literally. From…

…to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical… – Thomas Jefferson Jefferson would be rolling in his grave over the crooked, Third-World-style scheme that has been cooked up in Michigan. Day care providers who work out of their own homes and run…

So where do Conservatives go wrong in pattern recognition: There is no problem so complex that it can’t be solved by putting a gun to people’s heads. 1. Not true – excesses in that direction lead to revolutions. 2. If there is not excess you merely get black markets. It is an anti-liberty stance to…