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March 2014
S M T W T F S
     
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Syndication

How the Republican Party Plans to Survive and Prevail

Republicans are more resistant to self-correction because the internet and television cable offers a cocoon of reinforcement. No need to change direction if you can surround yourself with a thousand voices all chanting that you and those like you are awesome. Republicans are becoming more extreme and losing members as a result.

One disturbing part of the accompanying collateral damage is that Republicans are now going where fair minded people have not gone for a generation. They are trying very hard to deprive legitimate voters of the right to participate in elections.

It started as what Republicans said was an attempt to address a serious issue that could strike at the core of a democratic society. Voter fraud was the danger. Democrats have protested that voter fraud pretty much does not exist.

Elections are not stolen by ineligible voters or people voting multiple times. They are stolen in the backrooms of election halls, where tallies are changed, and boxes are stuffed.

- More -

Direct download: How_the_Republican_Party_Plans_to_Su.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 9:13pm EDT

My Defense of Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly's comparison has to be taken in context.

The O’Reilly haters are pretty much the people that have no idea what I do. And I like that — I mean, I don’t have any problem with people disliking me, and I’ll tell you why. I’m not comparing myself, but who was the most hated person in Judea 2,000 years ago?

Many, many loved him, but just as many despised him. They’re always going to do that. If you speak your mind, you’re going to have some who like you and some who hate you.

Bill O'Reilly, March 21, 2014

I happen to disagree with O'Reilly about the cause of the crucifixion. His opinion has been shared by antisemitic bigots for centuries. It has caused much suffering among persecuted Jews. I don't think Jesus was killed because he was widely hated. He was targeted, at least in part, because he was way too popular in the nation of Israel.

That does not detract from the point Bill O'Reilly was attempting to make. 

- More -

Direct download: My_Defense_of_Bill_OReilly.mp3
Category:Political News -- posted at: 10:12pm EDT

Private Association For Private Benefit Without Interference

It is the central argument of traditional economic conservatism. It has been for centuries. The ability of individuals to form voluntary associations for their mutual benefit without outside interference remains the core.

It tells us a bit about the future of economic policy as envisioned by Republicans, should they return to governmental power in Washington.

The idea is a simple one. Establishing a moral balance in public life is a slippery principle. Conservative economist N. Gregory Mankiw of Harvard illustrates that, in an article he was invited to write by the New York Times. He defines the interference by government in the market as "utilitarianism":

The job of policy makers, they argued, is to do their best to maximize the total utility of everyone in society. According to utilitarians, taking a dollar from Peter and giving it to Paul is justified if Peter’s decrease in utility is smaller than Paul’s increase, as would plausibly be the case if Peter is richer than Paul.

N. Gregory Mankiw, in the New York Times, March 23, 2014

He provides a couple of classical hypothetical case studies, thought experiments, to illustrate the problem of deciding benefits based on the greatest good for the greatest number. One involves killing a healthy individual in order to harvest organs to save multiple patients.

Other philosophers have contrived more stark, metaphysical examples. In the late 1800s, Fyodo Dostoyevsky suggested a fictional community blessed with universal health, prosperity, and happiness purchased by torturing to death a small infant.

Wow.

That makes N. Gregory Mankiw a bit of a philosophical piker, don't you think? Perhaps the next step might be to imagine a world in which adult women become wards of the state in order to protect the possible existence suspected microscopic fertilized eggs.

Conflating liberalism with utilitarianism provides any number of false examples. Everyone is a utilitarian in some circumstance. No one is a utilitarian in others.

Conservatives could come up with better arguments, with some effort. Pretty much anyone could.

- More -

Direct download: Private_Association_For_Private_Bene.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 10:48pm EDT

What Richard Nixon Teaches Me

I realized the Secret Service was becoming more and more concerned as we saw the crowd begin to mount.

President Richard Nixon, via Dictabelt (mp3),   May 13, 1970

The dictabelt recording is filled with clicks and a consistent background hiss, but the voice of Richard Nixon is audible.

I was a college student, a participant in anti-war activities, when I heard about the incident.

The turmoil of those days is painful to recall, even four decades later. The expansion of the Vietnam war into Cambodia had been announced a week earlier. Then four protesting students were killed at Kent State by National Guard troops. We didn't know then that more students would be killed soon after at Jackson State University in Mississippi.

A restless President had been roaming through the White House as late Friday became early Saturday. At 1 AM, he telephoned Nancy Dickerson of NBC, waking her at her home. At 4 AM, he put on loud music in a sitting room. A sleepy employee wandered out to see what was going on. President Nixon invited him on a late night excursion.

A few months ago, news outlets ran retrospective stories as a Nixon private recording was made public. Richard Nixon had dictated his account of that restless night. Students against the war were camped nearby at the Lincoln Memorial. The President seemed to think of himself as bold, even a bit heroic, as he traveled that short distance to convince the young protesters of the error of their position.

Direct download: What_Richard_Nixon_Teaches_Me.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:23pm EDT

Ukraine: Beware the Lessons of History

The problem with foreign policy that depends entirely on analogy with the past is that it ignores current reality. We fight the war just ended.

The lesson of World War I was that events can spiral out of control. Treaties made at the drop of a hat are sometimes paid for so many times over, the original tripwire becomes meaningless in comparison.

And so Neville Chamberlain learned the lesson and declared Peace in our Time as he left Munich.

The lesson of Munich was that appeasement never works. Lines must be drawn and never compromised.

And President Johnson drew that line in Vietnam against the monolithic Communist conspiracy to rule the world.

The lesson of Vietnam was that war and peace were not simply in the hands of two superpowers. There were other players in a world of client nations.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney applied the lesson of national sponsors of terrorism after the al Qaeda attacks in New York and Washington. They searched for the culprit among smaller nations and found Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Direct download: Ukraine_Beware_the_Lessons_of_Histor.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 10:26pm EDT

Bringing Back Freedom To Throw Black People Out

State Senator Phil Jensen (R-SD) is one such Republican. He has introduced legislation that would allow discrimination against gay people. He's adamant about the right to throw gay people out of a place of business.

They have that right, as a business, to do that. And yet thy're getting bullied and harassed by the gay-lesbian community for something that is a personal, deeply held, religious belief of theirs.

- Phil Jensen (R-SD), recorded by KOTA Radio News of Rapid City,   February 1, 2014

But, like a growing number of Republicans, Senator Jensen goes a little farther. He not only acknowledges the similarity to discrimination against black people, he embraces it. The free market would do a good enough job of eliminating racist practices.

In an interview with the Rapid City Journal, he explained:

If someone was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and they were running a little bakery for instance, the majority of us would find it detestable that they refuse to serve blacks, and guess what? In a matter of weeks or so that business would shut down because no one is going to patronize them.

State Senator Phil Jensen (R-SD), March 16, 2014

 

Direct download: Bringing_Back_Freedom_To_Throw_Black.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 10:01pm EDT

Words to Actions in Contemporary Conservatism

Practically all educated black Americans, for example, are communists. And white conservatives are the only people in the U.S.A. trying to transcend contentious racial issues.

- John Derbyshire, interviewed by Communities Digital News, February 28, 2014

When John Derbyshire was separated from the post-Buckley National Review a couple of years ago, the projected image of the move was one of a hostile divorce between American political conservatism and overt racism.

That Derbyshire is a racist comes from a source that can leave little doubt. That authority is Mr. Derbyshire himself. That was his self-description in 2003. He later modified his definition of racism to race consciousness. He offered a parallel to an antisemitic who says "Oh, there’s another one."

 

What got him in trouble was his reaction to the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Direct download: Words_to_Actions_in_Contemporary_Con.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 2:33pm EDT

The Obamacare Injustice That Never Was

The cost per month would be a little more than half. Her astounded reaction:"I personally do not believe that."

And who can blame her? She had been told by anti-Obamacare activists that the most expensive of her prescriptions would not be covered. She would have to pay for it in addition to the new insurance coverage. So there goes the savings.

Direct download: The_Obamacare_Injustice_That_Never_W.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:47pm EDT

Blood In Ukraine, a Big Putin Expense

Pearl Harbor pretty much wiped away deficit hawks for a time. America needed planes. America needed ships. America needed munitions and transport and supplies for an instantly expanded armed force. The common wisdom during World War II was that we needed those expenditures more than we needed fiscal caution.

When the war was gone, the Depression was vanquished as well. Surprise!

But war that does not involve massive, long term, continuous infusions of government spending that stops a recession has another effect. That effect is increasing as the world becomes more globally interdependent.

 

Vladimir Putin's current adventure into Ukraine has provoked conservatives into a sort of toughness envy. The Putin autocratic style, combines with a muscular anti-gay bigotry, producing an image that those on the right have always fantasized about themselves. A bare chested Putin on horseback adds to the swoon.

Since President Bush stood helpless while Russia invaded georgia in 2008, the world has changed. Unlike Bush, Obama has not looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin and caught a glimpse of his soul. And there are new pressures, only some of which are coming from Obama.

One claim Republicans can truthfully make is currently overshadowed by mouth foamed Obama-hatred.

Direct download: Blood_In_Ukraine_a_Big_Putin_Expens.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 10:06pm EDT

Conservatives Losing on the Definition of Marriage Equality

Actually, the argument that anti-gay legislation is not really anti-gay legislation has been a staple of cultural conservatism for as long as gay marriage has been part of public discussion.

Gay people are free to marry, as long as they don't marry each other. Those who are attracted to the same gender as themselves may, like anyone else, marry someone of the opposite gender. Similar logic has been debated on our site.

Michael Medved is no stranger to this reasoning. Years ago, he wrote in vigorous defense of Proposition 8, the California referendum that, for a time, prohibited same sex marriage.

Direct download: Conservatives_Losing_on_the_Definiti.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 10:23pm EDT

Phyllis Schlafly and Demon Rum

I have a modest suggestion for an ad campaign.

The issue is the manufacture of a specialty beer in St. Louis. Phyllis Schlafly is opposed. The beer is produced by a partnership that includes a nephew by marriage, Tom Schlafly.

Phyllis Schlafly has a point. She has made the name Schlafly famous through her conservative activism. She has written on many topics, most notably against any arms treaties with hostile nations. But she is most famous for her opposition to feminism.

She seems to practice what she preaches. She once told an interviewer that she cancels speeches whenever her husband instructs her to spend more time at home.

 

Direct download: Phyllis_Schlafly_and_Demon_Rum.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:34pm EDT

Putin's Superbus Foreign Policy

One soldier kept Rome from being conquered by a surrounding army.

He didn't threaten the army, or the enemy city that sent the army.

He confronted the King who led the army with one dramatic act.

Direct download: Putins_Superbus_Foreign_Policy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:58pm EDT

Cruz, Nugent, Walker and Republican Values

What may affect, and should affect, the electoral future of Governor Walker is the relegation of human tragedy, criminality, and official callousness to nothing more than legalities and politics.

Direct download: Cruz_Nugent_Walker_and_Republican.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 11:14pm EDT

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