On Teddy Roosevelt and Mount Rushmore

I would personally sandblast him off of it if they let me (racist and statist imperialists having no place on anybody's pantheon).

On the Fact that Teddy Roosevelt's First Big Antitrust Case Was Against the Two Guys (James J. Hill and Edward H. Harriman) Who (Along with Financiers Such as J.P. Morgan and Jacob Schiff) Pretty Much Rescued the Railroad Industry and Reduced Rates Significantly

I guess that Teddy liked capitalism better when it was run by corrupt and incompetent buffoons and when the consumer was consistently getting butt-fucked.

On the Fact that (According to Robert Moser's Book, "Principles Without Program") The Nation Magazine Once Condemned Senator Taft for His Noninterventionism, Referring to Him as a "Super Appeaser" and Asserting that His Policies "Should Set Bells Ringing in the Kremlin"

If you need any more evidence (than this) that the progressives were the war mongering faction in American politics (from the 1890s to the 1960s), then I really don't know what to tell you at this point, folks. I really, really don't.

On the Fact that Ron Paul Has Been Slimed by Quite Literally Every Fucking Piece of Shit Rag from Salon.com to The American Spectator (Their Latest Hit-Piece Being an Absolute Joke and Laced with Historical Inaccuracies) - Quick Addendum

The person who wrote that American Spectator piece is a moron by the name of Jeffrey Long. To say that this fellow is ignorant of history is an understatement in that he (in his quest to smear Paul) actually tries to convince his readers that the conservative side in American politics has always been the interventionist side and that it has only been the left that has opposed wars. I mean, this is absurd. Robert Taft, Grover Cleveland (the last of the Jeffersonian Democrats), Herbert Hoover, Hamilton Fish the third, General Robert Wood, George Holden Tinkham, Russell Kirk, Richard Weaver, Murray Rothbard, Felix Morely, James McClellan, Robert Nisbet, Frank Kellogg - all of these guys and many more (conservatives in government, the military, academia, the press, etc.) were opposed to American involvement in foreign wars and they weren't even remotely the exception (this while the left was blowing shit up and intervening everywhere; Europe, Asia, Central America, etc.). My suggestion to Mr. Long is that he open up a few history books and stop listening to Charles Krauthammer and reading (if in fact he does read) the Wall Street Journal. 

On the Fact that Ron Paul Has Been Slimed by Quite Literally Every Fucking Piece of Shit Rag from Salon.com to The American Spectator (Their Latest Hit-Piece Being an Absolute Joke and Laced with Historical Inaccuracies)

I would wear that as a badge of honor if I was him.

Robespierre's Jumping of the Shark?

Probably when the dude removed all defense for people on "trial" for their life; the fact that these folks were not just considered guilty until proven innocent they were provided no capacity to even attempt to do so....Of course, the fact that he himself was eventually snuffed out.......

Note to Planned Parenthood

I need about a dozen spleens and eight small intestines. Can you hook me up here? Volume discount maybe?

On the Fact that that Lady (Some Joyce Mitchell) Who Helped those Two New York State Convicts Escape Has Now Given Testimony that She Had Performed Oral Sex on One of Them

Yeah, I would definitely omit that from any future resumes.

On the Fact that Walmart is One of the Key Corporate Sponsors for Tavis Smiley's PBS Program

So, does this mean that Tavis Smiley and his PBS buddies are pro plutocrat and pro big business?

On the Claim that Liberty is Far More Dangerous than Unbridled State Power

People who make these claims are totally naive and ignorant of history; the fact that it was government which started every fucking piece of shit war that this nation has ever fought, the fact that it was government which originated and enforced segregation in the South, the fact that it was (and is) government which has continuously hosed the middle class with high taxation and idiotic regulations (some of which have actually killed folks; CAFE standards on cars, FDA inertia, etc.), etc........And that's just our damned government (a global perspective obviously having to also include the numerous genocides of the Irish by the British, the wholesale slaughter of the Algerians by the French, the Russian induced famine in Ukraine, etc.)!!

On Giving the Government X Power

How stupid and naive to think that they'll be satisfied with that, and only that (this institution which has slaughtered over 260 MILLION of it's own people, not including warfare).

Fair Share?

Under my most recent tax proposal (a top rate of 25% and no deductions), a person making $10 million a year residing in a $5 million home in Carmel California (throw in a couple of expensive cars as well) and who also has a $1 million dollar second home in Winston-Salem North Carolina would ultimately pay close to 42% of his income back to the government (federal, state, local) in the form of taxes (and this doesn't even include gas taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, etc.). That sounds incredibly fair (as in "fair share") to me and if anything it might be a bit too draconian. But at least it's a decent start............................................................................................P.S. My calculations are based on a 25% federal income tax (with zero deductions) plus a 13.3% state income tax plus (at least) $300,000 in local property taxes.

On the Idiotic Claim that Libertarianism Has "Infected" the Republican Party

The jackass who made this claim has said a myriad of stupid things in the past but this one takes the cake. a) Libertarians are opposed to war and foreign entanglements - the Republicans, not so much. b) Libertarians are strongly in favor of civil liberties (mostly pro-choice on abortion, mostly pro immigrant, mostly in favor of marriage equality, mostly opposed to warrantless wiretaps, mostly opposed to the drug war, etc.) and  rail against the police state - the Republicans, not so much. c) Libertarians are opposed to the Military Industrial Complex and only want a military robust enough to defend the homeland - the Republicans, not so much. d) Libertarians are opposed to fiat currency and the existence of a strong central bank (based on a fear that these two things will make the funding of warfare all too easy) - the Republicans, not so much. And e) libertarians are opposed to ALL Washington lobbying, ALL crony capitalism, and ALL bailouts (the fact that bailouts remove the moral hazard of investing) - the Republicans (and possibly the Democrats even more so), not so much.................................................................................................Granted, the libertarians DO agree with the Republicans (not that the Republicans are always trust-worthy on this one; Hoover jacked up the top rates by a whopping 152% and an economy that was actually getting better in 1930 fully shit the bed) that the top tax-rates need to be kept modest, but that's because you actually get more money from the rich when the rates are somewhere between 25 and 50% than you do when they're somewhere between 70 and 94% (http://paranoiacstoogetalk.blogspot.com/2014/01/its-revenue-to-federal-government-stupid.html ) and, besides, it's through the initiation of force that income taxes are raised and we're all opposed to that (at least to some degree), right?.................................................................................................P.S. And another thing that this moron doesn't seem to understand is that libertarianism is a) a continuum (from Johann Norberg all the way to Robert Higgs) and b) an umbrella category that covers a dozen or so subsets (classical liberals, paleolibertarians, civil libertarians, anarchocapitalists, etc.), and so the very fact that he's attempting (as astutely as his microscopic mind is capable of) to corral us all together is itself full-bore idiocy.

Straight from the Zhukov Plan (the Russian Plan - Tabled Once the Germans Invaded Them - to Attack Not Just Germany but All of Europe Late in 1941)

"In order to prevent a surprise German attack and to destroy the German Army, I consider it essential that under no circumstances should the initiative for freedom of action be given to the German High Command. I consider it essential to preempt enemy deployment, to attack the German Army when it is still in the stage of deployment and has not yet had time to organize his front and the interaction between his service arms (the word, "preempt", having been underlined twice in the original document)." Signed by the People's Defense Minister, S.K. Timoshenko, and General Zhukov himself............Needless to say, the court historians are ignoring/burying this evidence because it destroys their narrative (i.e., that Stalin was far too trusting of Hitler and wasn't in any way considering an attack of his own - never mind the fact that he had already attacked Poland, Finland, Romania, the Baltic states, starved the lights out in Ukraine, etc.). But that's OK in that we now have a myriad of other, braver, historians such as Viktor Suvorov, Joachim Hoffman, Klaus Hildebrand, Martin Van Creveld, Wolfgang Strauss, and others, and a bigger picture can be ascertained if in fact you desire it. 

On TR's Trust-Busting

What a bunch of bullshit. As Gabriel Kolko, Jim Powell, George Bittlingmayer, and numerous other historians have consistently pointed out, a) yes, there were a lot of mergers in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries but for the most part THEY FAILED, (or at the very least their profits took a hit), b) this was an era of DEFLATION in which the vast majority of consumers benefited, and c) competition was actually INCREASING in virtually every sector of the economy (including oil) and this was verified in the Census ("Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970", Part 2) ; the number of commercial and industrial firms having progressed from 1,110,000 in 1890 to 1,510,000 in 1910, a 36% increase! If you're asking me here, this had everything to do with Roosevelt's hatred of the wealthy ("malefactors of great wealth", he called them) and his undying faith in the ability of government to stick it to them and little to do with helping folks (though, as always, I could be wrong).

On the Fact that (According to Esteemed Historian, Frank W. Taussig) the Republicans in Congress Raised the Tariff on Wool to Over 100% in 1889 (Not Because the Country Needed the Tax Revenues but Because They Had to Pay Back Their Cronies)

And who got hurt by this? Try (as is almost always the case when the government intervenes), poor people (in the form of higher clothing prices)....Nice, huh?

On the Affirmative Action Policies of Malaysia, South Africa, and Fiji

What ultimately transpired in all three of these countries was a massive exodus of people (not to mention, their capital) from the nonpreferred groups (the whites from South Africa, Indians from Fiju, and Chinese from Malaysia), a loss of skills that the countries sorely needed, and major reductions of GDP. No, there hasn't been major violence as there has been in India, Sri Lanka, and other places that have also instituted these policies but if a lack of violence is seen as success that is hugely pathetic, I say.......Way to help society as a whole, you dumb central-planners.

On the Failure to Understand Economics

The end result; every decision becomes a political decision. Can you say, Barack Obama?

On Republican Militarism

Well, it's certainly had a strange trajectory; the fact that it started off like a mansion on fire with Lincoln, Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt, largely went dormant from Harding to Ike, started percolating again under Nixon, and ultimately reemerged full-bore under the Bushes. Of course, the fact that the Democrats have always been willing to step in whenever there's a lull and get us involved in their own stupid wars (World War 1, World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, etc.) has made the situation even more intolerable and so, yes, a pox on both their houses, I guess.

On the Tens of Thousands of German Refugees Who Were Made to Flee Danzig and the Polish Corridor (After the Bromberg Massacre, etc.) in the Months Just Prior to World War 2

Poland's role in WW2 has been totally whitewashed and this is just one example (the others of course being their lack of willingness to negotiate, the fact that they had colluded with England, the U.S., and France, had had territorial ambitions of their own and attacked many of their neighbors, etc.).

On Marco Rubio Saying (in One of the Dude's Ads) that "if Evil Isn't Confronted and Defeated it Will Grow"

So, kind of like what the Mexicans, Plains Indians, Hawaiians, and Filipinos were saying about us from 1846 to 1902, in other words.

On the Fact that the Government Doesn't Allow Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Guardsmen, Marines, etc. IN UNIFORM to Carry Guns at Recruiting Stations and Even Goes as Far as to Advertise the Fact that these Are Gun-Free Zones with Ginormous Signs Attached to the Windows

No soft targets there, huh?

On the Fact that Stalin Broke Nonaggression Pacts with Virtually All of His Neighbors (the Baltic States, Poland, Romania, Finland, etc.) and not So Much as a Peep Ever Came Out of England, France, or America

This war had absolutely NOTHING to do with morality and everything to do with the fact that Churchill had as one of his main goals the destruction of the German economy. In his own words, "What we want is for the German economy to be completely smashed." Pretty crystal clear, no?...............................................................................................P.S. I would also instruct you to listen to the speeches of Britain's perennial war-mongering "diplomat", Sir Robert Vansittart, and note that this man made NO distinction between the Nazis under Hitler and the resistance movement - not one!

On the Fact that al Qaeda In Iraq Didn't Even Exist Until the Tail-End of 2004

Robert Higgs makes a wonderful point about the statists (neocons, progressives, etc.); the fact that these folks always, ALWAYS (in their analysis) tend to truncate the antecedents. Take, for example, the neocons and Iraq. They bend over backwards trying to blame Obama (who, yes, has made his own mistakes in foreign policy; in Libya, for example) for the crappy situation there by saying that he took the soldiers out prematurely, but they never once acknowledge the fact that it was George Bush who not only signed the status of forces agreement which mandated our withdrawal but whose invasion it was that quite literally laid the groundwork for this craziness....Of course, even if they did acknowledge some of this stuff, "ancient history" is probably what they'd call it and damned if that wouldn't be frustrating as well.

On President Obama and the Iran Deal

I'm not a fan of Obama. I'm not a supporter of Obama. But on this particular issue, yes, he's Obama the great. The real fact of the matter here is that Iran's nuclear program NEVER was a weapons program. a) The vast, Vast, VAST, VAST percentage of the uranium that Iran has been enriching is in the 3 to 4% range. b) The tiny amount of uranium that they've been enriching at 20% has always been earmarked for medical technology. c) The nuclear waste that they've been producing is very polluted and therefore useless in terms of weapons production. And d) (and most importantly) our own intelligence agencies have unanimously concluded over and over and over again that Iran is NOT building a nuclear weapon. I mean, I know that we tend to take our marching orders from the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Tel Aviv, etc. but what Obama has essentially done here is take a nonthreatening program and made it even more transparent. Give the dude some credit, for Christ.

Would Somebody Please "Capture" (Torture is Optional) THIS Asshole

The sooner the better.

On Evocations of Helplessness

I strongly persuade folks away from them. a) They usually get you nowhere. b) They tend to create a self-fulfilling prophesy. And c) They're actually counterproductive in that for every minute that you reside in that mindset the other people are busy improving themselves and you end up even further behind the eight-ball.......Of course, just like with bringing a horse to water.... 

On the Fact that (According to Antiwar Radio's Scott Horton and NBC News's Jim Miklaszewski) George Bush Jr. Had Numerous Opportunities to Decapitate Zarquwi When the Dude Was Hanging Out in Kurdistan and for Some Reason Refused to Do It

Sometimes a talking-point (AKA, a rallying-cry for war) is more important that justice, I guess.

On the "America's Bridges Are Crumbling" Talking-Point

Yeah, this is just one more excuse to spend money. That's all. a) 40% of the Highway Trust Fund revenues don't go to infrastructure but instead go to mass-transit, bicycle paths, and other pork-barrel BS. b) Nearly a third of the so-called bridges in disrepair are located in six rural states (Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and South Dakota) and a huge chunk of them are rarely if ever travelled upon (by human beings, I'm saying). c) Of the more heavily traveled bridges in America that currently need repair, 80% of them are in one state- CALIFORNIA..........................................................................................Look, I'm not saying that we don't have infrastructure problems in this country (the electrical grid is a big one) but the hard reality here is that a) the problem has clearly been overblown by spendthrift politicians (and their cronies in the building sector) and b) infrastructure has historically been a local responsibility and so why in the hell should the taxpayers in Florida (or any other state) have to foot the bill for the fact that California is neglecting its infrastructure (probably not a lot of cash left over after the continuous reaming by state employee pension programs)? I sure as shit don't want to pay for it...................................................................................................P.S. According to David Stockman's analysis (my source for the lion's share of these facts - his source being the DOT and industry lobbies - http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-29/david-stockman-destroys-perennial-myth-crumbling-infrastructure), Iowa has a grand-total of 25,000 bridges, one bridge for every 125 people (men, women, and children). Yeah, we definitely have an infrastructure problem; too fucking much of it!

On the Concept of Orchestrating the U.S. Economy from a Bureaucratic and Economically Illiterate Perch (i.e., the Elizabeth Warrens and Paul Krugmans of the World)

We have a 4,000 year recorded history of this type of nonsense not working, of entire nation states crumbling as the result of it, and STILL we think that we can pull it off. Unreal.

On Ocean Spray Craisins

I adore the ones that have been infused with pomegranate juice.

On the State of Nature

It's not so wonderful. Just ask your great great great great great great great grandparents who died at age 40 or the one billion people today who don't have electricity and who die prematurely from malnutrition, indoor pollution, malaria, etc.. I mean, why in the hell do you think that James Cameron after he helps to destroy the prospect of a dam being built in the Amazon that would supply electricity and jobs to thousands always goes back to the comfort of his mansions and expensive cars? Just for the hell of it?

Tracking the Shit

According to Economist and Former Reagan Budget Director, David Stockman, the average airline fare in the U.S. is approximately 15 cents per passenger mile and the average bus fare is approximately 11 cents. He then goes on to compares this to Amtrak where the cost is 25 cents per passenger mile and where the employee cost is also significantly higher and concludes that the total operating budget of Amtrak is three to four times higher than that of air and bus travel.......And these people wonder why they're still in the red.

On the Fact that When Amtrak Was Started, the Government Said that it Would Probably Be in the Black in Several Years

It probably came from the same asshole who predicted that the Medicare budget would only be $12 billion by 1990 (the actual outlay being closer to $100 billion).

On the Fact that a Lot of Northern Abolitionists (William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Lysander Spooner, to Name a Few) Had Actually Been Lobbying for NORTHERN Secession for Decades

And their reasoning was solid. If the North had seceded first, the Fugitive Slave Act would have no longer been seen as applicable and more slaves might have successfully escaped to the North. Granted, being that the North was a profoundly racist region in its own right, we're not entirely sure what would happened to these runaway slaves once they got here but at least some of them would have had a much better chance of reaching Canada prior to secession and that would have been a huge improvement.

On the Fact that (According to Philosopher and Historian, Donald Livingston) as Late as the 1830s, Many of the Main Abolitionist Societies Were in the South

Not that all of these organizations were coming from a moral perspective, mind you (many of them being poor whites - the Hinton Helper types - who didn't want to compete with slave labor and who also agreed with Lincoln on colonization), but this is yet another interesting aspect of the North versus South narrative that tends to get buried (not politically correct enough, I would assert) and it's a shame.

On the Number of Countries that Have Achieved Full Equality in Regards to All of its Ethnic Groups (Income and Education-Wise)

I still haven't found one, people. Can you think of any?

The Northern Plan Just Prior to the Civil War

Let me break it down for you here. a) To maintain and further their empire (they were already drooling over Hawaii and the Caribbean, the prospect of exterminating the Plains Indians, etc. - some even wanting to confiscate the balance of Mexico). b) To figure out a way to send black folks (in lieu of a possible emancipation) back to Africa (with Plan B simply being to keep them out of the North). And c) to raise the tariff by over 150% (to protect the rich northern industrialists, railroad hucksters, etc.) and continue to plunder the southern states.......Banning the Confederate flag? Sure, go ahead. Knock yourselves out.

A Rare Moment of Northern Honesty

When asked by one of his British acquaintances why the North was willing to fight to keep the South from seceding, General Winfield Scott (the man who shelled civilians during the Battle of Vera Cruz) responded by asking him, "The British empire was worth fighting for, wasn't it?"...Gotta love the frankness at least.

On the Fact that (According to David Howard Bain's, "Sitting in Darkness") Teddy Roosevelt Routinely Referred to Filipinos as "Tagal Bandits", "Malay Bandits", "Chinese Halfbreeds", "Savages", "Barbarians", and a "Wild and Ignorant People"

Look, I get it. He was a product of his time. But we're starting to get into the 20th Century here and a lot of folks DIDN'T talk that way back then.......That, and the dude was fucking President, for Christ.

On the Fact that a Lot of the Same People Who Were So Sensitive About Not Offending Muslims By Stereotyping Them for Terrorist Acts Are the Same Damned Fools Who Are Shamelessly and Moronically Extrapolating from that One Racist Pig Down in South Carolina that America Is Still a Racist Country and that Racism Is Still the Number One Reason Why Certain Segments of the Black Population Don't Succeed

They have no idea just how inconsistent that that ethical compass of theirs (never mind their logic or reasoning) truly is. Not a damned clue.

On the Fact that the Left Can Never Seem to Grasp the Importance of Economic Freedom, Enforceable Contracts, and Property Rights

It's almost as if they think that wealth is something that simply exists (entrepreneurs - who in the hell are they?) and that the only real task for a society is to divvy it up (failing all along to understand just what life was like - short and brutish, for the most part - prior to these principles existing), with them doing the divvying, of course!!

On New York's Penn Station

Not enough alcoholics, drug addicts, pan-handlers, and folks who stink of urine.

On the Fact that the Hard Left Goes Bonkers Even When the Dreaded Koch Brothers Spend Their Money on Good (AKA, Nonpolitical) Things; $100 Million to New York's Presbyterian Hospital, $15 Million to Weill Cornell Medical Center, $30 Million to Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, $25 Million to the Hospital for Special Surgery, $100 Million to Lincoln Center, etc.

How small and spiteful that the new left has become.......Now, if only they, the Kochs, had spent that money toward ginning up racial animosity, pushing a discredited narrative, etc.......

On Bozos with a Greasy Charm

I am so glad that I never had a daughter.

On the Fact that George Soros Has Purportedly Spent $33 Billion Financing Protest Groups in Ferguson (Where We All Know Now that "Hands-Up, Don't Shoot" Was a Damned Lie), Baltimore, and Other Racially Charged Hotspots

That's not exactly my idea of philanthropy (fighting malaria, helping to provide electricity, getting golden rice to people, etc. being a little more like it in my estimation). Sorry.

On the United Mines Workers Union Versus the the Sierra Club and Other Such Radical Environmental Groups

What to do if you're a leftist? My suspicion is that they'll probably sit this one out (or possibly change the subject; you know, to racism, sexism, income inequality, etc.).

On the Fact that (According to Roosevelt Historian, Warren Zimmerman) Teddy Roosevelt Aggressively Petitioned to Have Himself Be Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor

He failed and he should have. a) He only served for two weeks. b) His rank of Colonel was awarded purely out of political payback. And c) his exploits (such that they were; his Rough Riders possessing a 15 to 1 superiority in troops) were reckless and confined to one day. And, besides, since when does a real hero need to self aggrandize himself like that? It's unseemly............................................................................................P.S. And, yes, the fact that President Clinton posthumously awarded the medal to Roosevelt I also find quite unseemly.

On the Fact that the Only Patients in Canada Who Don't Have to Wait for Care Are Animals

How sad and utterly embarrassing (albeit typical; the drug war, the Iraq War, Amtrak, the post office, cash for clunkers, etc.) is that?...Hey, maybe some of these vets can start accepting people.  

On What to Do When You Fight in a War in Which 60 Million People Perish, in Which Your Side Engages in Some of the Most Noxious War Crimes in Human History (Torture, the Targeting of Civilians, Ethnic Cleansing, the Wholesale Raping of German Women, the Katyn Forest Massacre, Operation Keelhaul, etc.) and in Which the Aim of the War (in this Instance, Liberating Poland) Not Only Wasn't Met but One in Which the World Was Actually Worse Off Afterwards

In the words of Super Snooper, "Ah, it's elementary, Blab." a) You lie through your teeth and b) you demonize the other side to an almost absurd level. General Montgomery was one of the few who saw through the BS early on and perhaps he stated it best when he said that Nuremberg essentially made it a crime to lose a war, and a high crime at that.

On the Fact that the Average Worker in the Top Quintile Works 140% More Hours Per Week than the Average Worker in the Bottom Quintile Works

So, do the progressives have some sort of magic industriousness pill that they haven't shared with us yet?...I'm guessing that they don't.

On the Five Quintiles of Wealth and Income

What the left has to understand here is that to a large extent these are the same people at different stages of life; the fact that the lowest incomes/net-worths tend to be amongst families in their 20s whereas the highest tend to be amongst families in their 40s, 50s (relative to income), and 60s (relative to net worth). And the reason that the gap is widening is because the reward for success has gotten bigger over time (which isn't necessarily an awful thing, I would submit).............................................................................................P.S. And, no, I'm not saying here that every family progresses over time. Treasury Department data shows that approximately four out of every ten families who start in the bottom quintile will still be there a decade later. But I would argue that a large chunk of these people are either retired (i.e., people who went from 65 to 75 during those ten years), on disability (and whose transfer checks don't show up in the calculations), by-products of generational welfare/"the system" (which, yes, I understand ISN'T the prototype), or absolute fucking screw ups (and you know who you are) and NOT the victims of some corporate conspiracy....All of which is good news, correct?

On Unpublished Comments

They aren't read, either. Don't waste your time....Or mine.

On Donald Trump Using that Tragedy in San Francisco as an Example of Why He's Right on the Immigration Issue - P.S.

And just to be clear here, I am in no way defending/supporting San Francisco or any of these other "sanctuary cities". The guy who committed this treacherous act was a POS who had already committed seven felonies and been deported five times. He should have either been in jail or back in Mexico and to the degree that San Francisco was a stumbling block to that occurring, piss upon them....But that is another issue.

On Donald Trump Using that Tragedy in San Francisco as an Example of Why He's Right on the Immigration Issue

I would tell Mr. Trump the same thing that I told those morons who tried to exploit the South Carolina tragedy to bolster their narrative (i.e., that the U.S. is a racist nation and that discrimination is the main reason for the decline of black America); namely, that it's a fucking anecdote and that only an imbecile would use an anecdote to extrapolate from.......Not that he would necessarily listen, either, mind you.

On the Fact the Underground Railroad Ended Up in Nova Scotia and Not in Massachusetts, New York, or Connecticut

Yeah, there was northern enlightenment for certain. It just wasn't in the U.S., that's all.

On the Fact that Greenpeace Financed its First Rainbow Warrior Ship with Funds from the World Wildlife Fund, an NGO that Has Routinely Taken Cash from Mega-Corporations Such as Shell Oil and Coca Cola - http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2013/12/02/independent-greenpeace-never-mind/

So, does this mean that Greenpeace and the WWF are pro plutocrat and pro big business?

On the Fact that (According to Opensecrets.org) Chris Dodd Received $134,000 in Campaign Contributions from Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac and Then Crafted a Piece of Legislation that Largely Left these Two Taxpayer Cash-Cows (the Largest Bailout of Them All) and Behemoths Untouched

So, does this mean that Mr. Dodd is pro plutocrat and pro big business?

On the Fact that the Sierra Club Took $26,000,000 from the Natural Gas Industry to Help Fund its Long Running Anti-Coal Campaign - http://www.umwa.org/?q=news/gas-industry-funding-highlights-sierra-club-hypocrisy

So, does this mean that the Sierra Club is pro plutocrat and pro big business?

On the Fact that Walmart Donated $500,000 to the Clinton Global Initiative - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/clinton-foundation-receiv_n_92141.html

So, does this mean that the Clintons are pro plutocrat and pro big business?

The Paper Dead-End Trail

After the Nazis fell, the British, Americans, and Russians literally got a hold of thousands of tons of documents. And even with all of this paper trail, they couldn't find so much as one sentence which indicated that the "Final Solution" was one of extermination. Not one................................................................................................So, if the Final Solution wasn't an extermination plan, what was it, you ask? Again, I instruct you to go to the documents and note that the Final Solution was always one of emigration and deportation (with Uganda, Madagascar, and Palestine being amongst the possible destinations) and that the Jews were apparently in on it (the Haavara/Transfer Agreement - Google it). I mean, I know that this is hard to take when a huge part of your existence has been based on a hatred of all things Hitler (who was essentially a Mussolini/Franco type - certainly bad enough) and all BUT you have to be critical, skeptical, suspicious, etc. of what your government tells you. You have to be.......'cause if you're not, you and your children will be the fodder next time.

On the Fact that the Iraqi Troops when Confronted by ISIS Not Only Skedaddled from Them, They Dropped Their Fucking Weapons, Too

And the neocon solution to this shit is what exactly? Another surge? Ten thousand more sorties? Installing another puppet? Seriously.

On the Fact that (According to Thomas Sowell's, "Affirmative Action Around the World") in India, the "Other Backward Classes" Category Has Received Far More Benefits from Affirmative Action than All of the "Untouchables" Combined

This has rapidly become an almost universal characteristic of these preferential policies; the fact that those who least need the assistance tend to get the bulk of it while the truly needy continue to get zilch, and a major reason why we either need to overhaul them or scrap them completely (with the latter being my suggestion).

On the Fact that Nut-Jobs Like Lindsay Graham Still Seem to Think that We Can Somehow Thread the Needle in Syria/Iraq and Get Rid of Both ISIS AND the Iranian-Backed Assad Regime

More proof-positive that military intelligence (at least amongst the higher-ups) is an oxymoron.

The First World Ruler Who Tried to Subdue Afghanistan?

You might have heard of him. He went by the name of Alexander the Great (and in this instance he was great because he looked at those mountains and the fact that the tribesman were essentially coming out of nowhere and quickly concluded, "Yeah, we're getting out of here, guys").

Some Minimum-Wage Perspective

One of my friends at work posted this on her Facebook page and I really think that it hits the mark. The fact of the matter here is that if people want to earn more money, they have to get better skills first....And, yes, the jobs are there, hundreds of thousands of good jobs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTLcM4iZSTo

On the Brain-Diseased Notion that One Person Getting Wealthier Means that Another Person Has to Get Poorer (that the Economy is Some Sort of Fixed Pie that We All Have to Scramble to to Get Our Scraps)

Nobody got poorer from Cornelius Vanderbilt, or from Bill Gates. These people created massive numbers of jobs, much needed goods and services, and actually increased the standard of living for most citizens (Vanderbilt reduced the cost of steam travel by nearly 90%, for example). I mean, yeah, they did great as well but I gotta tell you here. If it ever gets to the point in this country where doing great turns you into a pariah, then we are fucked...........................................................................................P.S. And I also have to point out here the staggering level of philanthropy that many of these men have engaged in; Andrew Melon with the National Gallery of Art, Carnegie Melon University, etc., the Rockefellers and their foundation,Walter Annenberg and the numerous projects that he started, and and of course Gates....Hell, even Vanderbilt who was considered somewhat of a tight-wad with his own money gave us Vanderbilt University. What have Sanders, Warren, Obama, etc. given us?

On the Auschwitz Poison-Gas Narrative - Part One

a) "Not one case of poison gas was found." Dr. Charles Larson, pathologist from the Judge Advocate General's Office (this, after thousands of autopsies were performed).............b) "Most deaths in the concentration camps were caused not by starvation or maltreatment but by typhus." Dr. John E. Gordon, Harvard University.............c) The International Red Cross was given complete and unfettered access to all of the German concentration camps (the Russian gulags - not so much), often delivering food to the prisoners, and never once reported on a single war crime.............d) The quantity of coke that would have been necessary to cremate 1.2 MILLION bodies (the alleged statistic for Auschwitz) would have been in the tens of thousands of tons.............e) The actual amount of coke that was delivered to Auschwitz/Birkenau (from the official camp records that have been uncovered by researcher, Carlo Mattogno, and verified through aerial photos) was less than 700 tons. You do the math.............f) According to the actual Auschwitz records (uncovered by Carlo Mottogno while at the Russian archives), 1) the total number of Jews in Auschwitz from 1941 to 1944 was 173,000, 2) the total Jewish deaths from typhus was 58,240, 3) the  total Jewish deaths from other natural causes - 2,064, 4) total number of Jews transferred out of Auschwitz was 100,743, 5) the total number of Jews executed was 117 (the Poles fared significantly worse in that 1,485 of those folks were killed), and 6) the total number of Jewish inmates remaining at Auschwitz at the end of 1944 was 11,836 (yes, many of which were old and/or sick and may have died in the ensuing months).............g) The British were eventually able to crack the German code and listen to all camp communications (including a daily inmate report) and according to British historian, Frank Hinsley, the vast, Vast, VAST, percentage of deaths (at Auschwitz and the other camps) were caused by typhus and other natural causes (can you say incessant Allied bombing?). Yes, there were shootings and hangings that were also conveyed (and, yes, these acts are most assuredly war crimes) but nowhere in any of these top-secret communications was there a single, solitary, mention of gassings (never mind, flaming pits, air hammers, electric conveyor belts, etc.). Zero. Nada.............h) And nowhere in his volume, "Night", does Elie Wiesel ever mention the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz, either (mentioning instead flaming pits).............i) It is now generally acknowledged that the confession of Rudolf Hoess (the Auschwirz commandant) was arrived at through torture....What, we suddenly condone torture now?............j) At the end of the war when the Auschwitz survivors were given a choice between heading west with the Nazis or staying behind to get "liberated" by the Red army, most of them opted to travel with their captors. Wise choice, I say.............k) Chemical analysis of the alleged gas-chamber walls has shown no significant cyanide residue and there is no Prussian blue staining anywhere (as opposed to the delousing chambers which had a tremendous amount of both).............l) There was no heating system in the alleged gas chambers which would have made activating the cyanide pellets very difficult.............m) There was no ventilation system and so the process would have probably killed off Germans as well.............n) Hundreds of aerial photos of Auschwitz exist and in none of them is any suspicious activity (lines of folks waiting to get gassed, huge piles of coke, etc.) seen.............o) The initial narrative was that gas chambers existed in all of the camps but now that we know that they didn't exist in Germany the only part of the story remaining resides in Poland (which just happened to be liberated by the Russians who never lie of course - the Katyn Forest massacre aside). How convenient.

On the Concept of Taking a Sorrowful Situation and Using it as a Pretext to Torch Your Own Shit, Steal Booze, Video Games, and Air Jordans, Act Buffoonish, etc.

Alright, let's see if I've gotten this straight. This ISN'T cooning but some black dude having a different opinion from Al Sharpton, Cornel West, etc. IS? Wow, WOW.

On the Fact that We've Been Waging a War on Pot for Over 40 Years Now and it's Still Just as Easy to Buy the Stuff in Your Average High School as it is Liquor and Cigarettes

Yet another huge government success story. Thank you, Mr. Nixon.

The Progressive Scorecard

1) The income tax; the fact that until as late as 1939 only 3% of Americans paid it and now pretty much everybody (who isn't destitute) does.......2) Medicare/Medicaid; the fact that healthcare historically only represented about 5% of GDP and now with government constantly subsidizing it it's fast approaching 20%.......3) Higher Education; the fact that you could have gotten a Harvard, Penn, Cornell, Duke, Amherst, or Stanford education for under a thousand dollars a year in the 1950s and now because of government constantly subsidizing college tuition even a state school can put you into debt forever (never mind the problem of degree inflation).......4) The minimum wage law; the fact that as recently as 1948 the black teen unemployment rate was actually lower than that of white teens and now due to an increased minimum wage the black teen unemployment rate for males is approaching 90% in some cities.......5) Warfare; the fact that the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine War, World War 1, World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War (or at least our involvement in these wars) were ALL initiated by progressives (or their progenitors) and in each and every one of these wars this involvement WASN'T necessary and if anything it set the groundwork for future conflicts.......6) Segregation; the fact that it Woodrow Wilson who initially segregated the army and federal workforce and it was only then that the southern states followed.......7) Welfare; the fact that the poverty rate was steadily declining in this country and only stopped when the welfare state kicked in (that and illegitimacy went through the roof).......8) Affirmative action; the fact that thousands of young black people have been mismatched with numerous universities and flunked out (kids who would have graduated elsewhere)......9) The regulatory burden; the fact that regulations and the high cost of licensing disproportionately harm small businesses (the SBA claims that the cost is 40% higher for small firms) and reinforce market-share for the big fellows.......10) The eugenics movement; yep, that started with the progressives, too.......11) The Federal Reserve System; the fact that this entity has debased the currency, created numerous bubbles, and financed one shitty war after another.......Yeah, that's quite a legacy.

On My Version of a Mixed-Drink

It's called, vodka and whatever I have in the fridge at the time. Tonight it was lemon-lime Powerade and pear nectar.

On the Fact that (According to the 1995 Barriner, Gardner, and Levin Book, "Asian and Pacific Islanders in the United States") by the Late 1970s, Japanese-American Males Had a Higher Wage Level than White-American Males (this Despite the Fact that Japanese Immigrants Started Off the 20th Century Mostly as Farm Workers and Domestic Servants and Were Thoroughly Despised in this Country Prior to, During, and After World War 2)

So much for that idiotic notion that groups cannot achieve parity in American society when they have a history of poverty, low job status, and have faced discrimination, racism, hatred, etc..

On the Deaths of Korean Merchants in Inner-City Riots Over the Years

Yeah, they've been virtually ignored by the media (not a trendy enough minority would be my guess).

On the Fact that Ethnic Violence Tends to Occur Not so Much as the Result of Group Differences (Pertaining to Income, Status, etc.) but by a Politicizing of these Differences; Racial Riots in the U.S. During Johnson's Presidency, the Targeting of Volga Germans by the Bolsheviks, the Civil War in Sri Lanka, the Violent and Intolerant Shiv Sena Movement in India, America Today During the Obama Presidency, etc.

This is only perplexing to those who seem to think that government can somehow steer the course of human history by meddling in it (this despite the massive evidence to the contrary).

On the Fact that Shaka Zulu Slaughtered Far More Black People than the Afrikaners and Ethnically Cleansed Even More and Yet it is Only the Afrikaner Who Get Vilified

Black lives matter? Really?............................................................................................................P.S. This kind of reminds me of when King Hussein slaughtered thousands of Palestinians (during Black September) and nobody really gave a shit because it wasn't Israelis doing the mowing down. More selective outrage, in other words.

Baseball's Best All-Around Player?

While I don't follow the sport close enough to make a definitive choice, I'd have to say that Pirate outfielder, Andrew McCutcheon, is at least in the conversation. The fellow can hit for average, hit for power, steal bases, and field, and from 2012 to 2014 this is what he did on the field; 293 runs scored, 551 hits, 105 doubles, 17 triples, 77 homers, 263 RBI, 65 steals, 232 walks, a .319 batting average, a .405 on-base percentage, a .534 slugging percentage, one Gold Glove, and one MVP award. That is an amazing three-year run (DiMaggioesque, one might say) and the fact that he's hitting over .300 again this year and going to yet another All-Star game leads me to think that this dude's just getting started.......................................................................................P.S. He's also an excellent role-model, not a small thing these days.

On the Fact that a Large Chunk of Inner-City Black Pastors Live in the Suburbs and Drive Audis

The church used to be the hub of the black community and look at it now, folks. Look at it now (the fact that's becoming a cash-cow, a storefront for pimping, a tool of the Democratic party, etc.).

On Eva Marie Saint's Seduction of Cary Grant in "North by Northwest"

Note to Eva (Eve in the film). He's gay.............Not that there's anything wrong with that!!!!

On the Fact that (According to Sean O'Callaghan's Book, "To Hell or Barbados") Oliver Cromwell Not Only Sent Thousands of Vanquished Irish to Barbados (as Slaves) and Certain Death, He Actually Went to Barbados Himself to Start the Whole Operation

The fact that this man is not considered one of the greatest mass-murderers in history shows just how Anglophiled that the U.S. was and continues to be.

On the Fact that (According to Economist and Former Interior Department Official, Robert H. Nelson) the Federal Government Would Only Reclaim Approximately 20 Cents of Every Dollar of Capital Construction Costs for the Agricultural Part of Bureau of Reclamation Projects During the 20th Century

Why didn't they just burn the damned money (you know, instead of attempting to irrigate the desert and prompt inexperienced farmers to settle there - the real goal of course being to increase the population of western states to give them more power in Congress)?

On Hunters and Hunting

As a long-standing vegetarian, I can't say that I'm a fan of hunting. But as long as the hunter eats the game, I'm good with it (the fact that hunting is so much more humane than the way that these animals are treated by the commercial meat industry). My problem has ALWAYS been much more with people like Buffalo Bill Cody, Teddy Roosevelt, and Sarah Palin who just go out there and slaughter for the "sport" of it (if in fact you can call killing wolves from a helicopter, sport). Those folks completely creep me out and never in a million years would I ever associate with them.

On the Fact that Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, John F. Kennedy, and Hubert H. Humphrey All Disagreed with the Concept of Preferential Treatment in the Form of Numerical Quotas, Goals, and Timetables

Yeah, I'm in pretty damned good company, I guess (my opposition being based on the fact that affirmative action as it ultimately became probably did a lot more harm than good).

On the Fact that You Can Question the French Revolution, the American Civil War, Apartheid and the ANC (Australian Labor Party Politician, Kim Beazley, Being One of the Earliest Critics), FDR's Policies and the Great Depression, Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, and Pretty Much Every Other Episode from History but if You so Much as Question Even One Aspect of the Holocaust (and What's with this Whole Trademarking the Word Bullshit?) You End Up Getting Thrown in Jail in Over a Dozen Countries

Wow, you'd think that the whole post-war political system would collapse or something.......What's that?...It would?

The Wars that Make Me the Sickest?

As bad as the Mexican-American War, the Vietnam War, and World War 1 were, the two most disgusting in my opinion were the Civil War (AKA, the War for Southern Independence) and World War 2, in that it was in response to these two wars that we MOST (in collaboration with the Brits and Russians in World War 2) a) glorified ourselves (whitewashing that fact that we murdered civilians, set up concentration camps of our own, refused to let the Red Cross inspect our prisoner of war camps, participated in Operation Keelhaul, extracted confessions via torture, shut down newspapers, deported a Congressman, jailed dissenters, etc.) and b) vilified the vanquished. I mean, I know that the truth is always the first victim in any war but it also appears that the greater the damage the greater the lies. 

On the Fact that Some People Now Claim that Only 18 to 25,000 People Died During the Fire-Bombing of Dresden (a City that Was Busting at the Seams, Not Just with Citizens but Refugees as Well)

Watch, within a decade they'll be saying that nobody died there and that the bombs were actually filled with laughing-gas, toys for tots, and Bibles. Whitewashing, anyone? 

On the "Evolution" of Abe Lincoln

Sorry but I just don't see it. a) His 1861 inaugural was essentially a slavery forever speech. b) He voiced well into the war that he would be willing to accept slavery if it meant saving the union. c) The Emancipation Proclamation was little more than a military strategy/document (the goal of it being a slave insurrection) in that it only freed slaves in the rebel territories (as opposed to those in the free and border states or occupied territories) and even there he promised that slavery could return if the South did likewise. And d) Lincoln continued (right up til his last breath) to plot ways that the U.S. could colonize Africans (Panama, Haiti, and Liberia being amongst the possible destinations) to the tune of getting them the hell out of America. Evolution smevolution, I say.

The Most Important Book of the Past 30 Years?

I'm probably going to have to go with Robert Higgs's 1987 magnum opus, "Crisis and Leviathan". More than any other book of its kind, this volume underscores and chronicles how governments (ours, in particular) manipulate (and in some instances, manufacture) crisis situations; wars, natural disasters, bank panics, etc. to enhance their power and limit individual freedom. And the fact that it was so predictive of our current situation with power-hungry Presidents like Bush and Obama makes it even more relevant, I think. Please, read this book.

As if Lord Cromwell Wasn't Sufficient/I Will Never View a Victorian House the Same Way Again

According to a great many researchers, authors, and historians (Tim Pat Coogan, John Kelly, Chris Fogarty, Harolyn Enis - just to name a few), the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s in Ireland had little to do with a bad potato harvest (they grew more than potatoes in Ireland) and everything to do with the fact that the British government confiscated food at gunpoint in what was part of parcel of their overall goal of depopulating the country (genocide and ethnic cleansing, in other words). And if you think that I'm exaggerating here, try this bit of verbiage on for size; "Only 1,000,000 Irish are likely to die, and that would be enough to do much good." Nassau Senior, a chief economist for Queen Victoria.

On the Fact that Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" Has a Minuscule Percentage of the Customer Reviews (on Amazon) that Bill O'Reilly's and Rush Limbaugh's Books Have

Boy, does that say a lot, huh, folks?

Obama and Gay Marriage

This is one issue where Obama has shown no integrity and even less courage. As you can clearly see from this (blow it up and look at the sixth item), Obama strongly and unequivocally supported same-sex marriage when he was running for the Illinois State Senate. He then abandoned it completely when he opted to run for state-wide office and ultimately the Presidency AND he only flipped back (sort of - asserting that it should be left up to the states, a position that was to the RIGHT of Dick Cheney!!) when Biden opened his yapper and said that he, Biden, was in favor of same-sex marriage. Of course, now that the Supreme Court has ruled on it, he's totally out of the closet (no, not a reference to the Joan Rivers joke) YET AGAIN. It kind of reminds me of that old Marshall Crenshaw song, "Whatever Way the Wind......".

On Political 180s

Never been a big fan of them and tend to view those who engage in such actions (David Horowitz, Arianna Huffington, Jon Voight, David Brock, Jerry Rubin, Charlie Crist, Eldridge Cleaver, etc.) suspiciously.  I mean, yes, it's fine to change one's views over time but to do a complete overhaul is quite weird, I think.

On Resentment, Jealousy, and Righteous Indignation

Amongst the emotions that never let you down and hence they remain, front and center.

On Eva Marie Saint and Susan Hayward, 1954

Yeah, that would have been an amazing lesbian tag-team.

On Queen Elizabeth the First, King James the Second, King Charles the First, and Finally Oliver Cromwell

I'll take "16th and 17th Century Sociopathic English Rulers Who Perpetrated Some of the Worst Acts of Ethnic-Cleansing, Enslavement, and Genocide (of the Scotch and Irish) in All of Human History", for a Thousand, Alex.

On the Fact that (According to Historian, John Hope Franklin) 28% of the Freed Blacks in New Orleans (3,000 of the Nearly 12,000) Owned Slaves (Approximately 12,000 of Them)

Why are we not taught these things in school?............And it wasn't just in New Orleans, either. Freed blacks (Anthony Johnson and William Ellison being two of the more famous ones) also owned slaves in Virginia, South Carolina, and several other states. Couple that with the fact that it was black Africans who sold these slaves TO the slave traders (Arabs, Europeans, and finally Americans) and it really does get kind of murky now doesn't it?

On Roger Daltrey's Recent Cameo Appearance on "Pawn Stars"

My God, what's next, Jeff Beck visiting the Kardashians? Carlos Santana guest-hosting "American Pickers"/that show with the midget housewives?

Conspiracy Champion of the World?

Yeah, I'm gonna go with this fellow, James Fetzer. Not only does he speculate that 9/11 was an inside-job, he's also pretty much down the line on all of the rest of these theories; that the moon-landing was a hoax, that the Sandy Hook tragedy never took place, that Paul McCartney died in 1966 and had to be replaced, that JFK wasn't killed by Oswald, that Osama bin Laden was actually killed in 2001, that Saddam Hussein had a body-double and the real one's still alive, etc., etc.. I mean, I know that you have to jump some to beat out people like Jesse "the body" Ventura, Kevin Barrett and Alex Jones but I really think that this guy gets the job done.

On the Fact that (According to Historian, William Zimmerman) Secretary of State (Under Presidents Lincoln and Johnson), William Seward, Wanted to Push (Via Might and Diplomacy) the U.S.A. North into Canada, South into Mexico and the Caribbean, West in Asia and the Pacific Islands, and East into Danish-Held Iceland and Greenland

Nah, the U.S. wasn't imperialistic back then, Polk on steroids with only circumstances tempering its lust (though, yes, they did nab Alaska for about 2 cents an acre).

On Naval Historian/Officer, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Referring to the "Barbaric Yellow Tide Flowing Toward the the Sandwich Islands (AKA, Hawaii)" and Advocating that We Annex Them Before this Can Happen

I'll take, "Typical Racist, Reckless, and Irresponsible Rhetoric of the 19th Century Republican Party and an Elixir for Subsequent Imperialists Such as Teddy Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge", for a thousand, Alex.............Oh, and if you're looking for an historical antecedent to the modern-day neocons, try here first, folks.

On Los Ninos Heroes

Whatever your thoughts on the Mexican-American War are (I personally find it repugnant), you have to be moved by the story of those six young Mexican cadets who fought to the bitter-end at the Battle of Chapultepec near Mexico City (the last one supposedly wrapping himself in the Mexican flag and jumping off the mountain). Yes, it was the end of the war and, yes, the Americans won but valor is valor and if this doesn't represent it nothing does.

How I Remember Her

Happy 99th birthday to 2-time Academy Award Winner (her performance in "The Heiress" is one of the greatest ever - top 5, I think) and beautiful screen goddess, Olivia de Havilland.

On People Who Refer to Themselves as "Ancient Astronaut Theorists"

I believe that there's medication for that now.

On Mike Huckabee Purportedly Wishing that it Him Who Had Come Up with this Whole Transgender Thing so He Could Have Showered with Chicks Back in High School

I'm sure that there are dumber comments by Presidential candidates in the past (James Buchanan maybe, Benjamin Harrison perhaps)....I just can't think of one right now....Seriously, though, what a dick.

On "Crowdfunding"

They should just call it what it truly is; begging.

On the European Union (i.e., Germany and the Umteen Dwarfs)

I don't know, folks. Being that a tiny country like Belgium with only two significant populations (the Dutch and Flemish-speaking folks from Flanders and the French-speaking folks from Wallonia) can't seem to get along due to various ethnic, political (the French-speaking citizens seem to be more liberal and dependent upon transfer payments), and linguistic divides, it is kind of hard to imagine that dozens of countries and ethnicities could do any better under one umbrella (though, yes, it's undoubtedly a statist's wet-dream), try though they will.....................................................................................................P.S. And, yes, I understand that Dutch and Flemish are basically the same language. I only separated them due to the dialects.

On the Fact that Some People See Themselves Not as Agents but as Passive Victims of Circumstance

It had better not become an epidemic or the end WILL be near.

Jimmy's Running!

Hopefully he won't disappoint me by morphing into some sort of leftist. Keep a good thought.

On the Fact that James K. Polk Literally Thought (According to Historian, Brian DeLay) that Americans Were the Chosen Ones, that Manifest Destiny Was God's Plan, and that We Could Never Get Along with the Mexicans Until We Gave Them "a Drubbing"

How so many historians could consider this man a top ten President is beyond me; the fact that he knew that literally every Mexican citizen considered the Rio Grande to be the border and he still tried to move it (the Treaty of Velasco was never ratified by the Mexican authorities and they still considered the Rio Nueces to be the border), the fact that he maneuvered the Mexicans into firing the first shot, the fact that he tried to bully Mexico into selling what was then nearly 50% of their country, the fact that he demoted Zachary Taylor (probably because he wasn't ruthless enough; the fact that he didn't target noncombatants, etc.) in what was clearly a petty and political move, the fact that he demoted Nicholas Trist when it was Trist who ultimately secured the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and saved Polk more international embarrassment (Polk was already seen in a negative light by many for his bombardment of Vera Cruz; an act that killed many civilians, foreign-nationals, etc.), etc.. Yes, he did greatly expand the size of America and for that I suppose that some kudos are inevitable but the way that he did it and the fact that the American imperium really started to percolate under him certainly gives me some pause. 

On Leftists Like The Young Turks Charging that Conservatives Are Attempting to Deny that that Piece of Shit Murderer Down in South Carolina Was Motivated by Racial Hatred

Where do they come up with this shit? Of course the guy was a racist monster and I haven't heard anybody try to assert otherwise. Sure, there are some conspiracy crazies out there who think that the entire thing was a hoax but nobody takes them seriously and so who in the fuck are Unger and his schmoes talking about (in between foaming at the mouth and nostrils, I'm saying)? Please, enlighten me here.........................................................................................P.S. Yes, perhaps it's possible that Mr. Unger is referring to the fact that some of us have been critical of partisan schmucks who've taken this one isolated incident (i.e., an anecdote) and attempted to extrapolate from it the conclusion that America is still a racist country in which there are there these  vast armies of white people going around slaughtering black folks (interracial crime to the extent that it does exist in America is 25 times more likely to be black on white and not vice versa). Of course if that's the case, then he's an even bigger idiot and more scientifically inept than we initially conceived. 

On Folks Who Continue to Frequent Blogs that They Don't Like

Yeah, this one's a huge head-scratcher for me. a) It's a waste of time in that nothing gets accomplished, b) you're basically being a dick, and c) you're probably harming your health (mentally AND physically). I mean, what pray tell is the upside here? I can't see it!

On the Idiotic Claim that the Clinton Tax Hikes of 1993 Were the Primary Reason for the Economic Progress and Shrinking Deficits During Clinton's Two Terms

It's ludicrous. a) Federal expenditures (according to the CBO) decreased from nearly 23% of the country's GDP in 1992 all the way down to 18% by 2000 (the end result of Newt Gingrich and Erskine Bowles sitting down and rolling their collective sleeves up). b) The economy was poised for a recovery in 1993 and if anything the tax hikes retarded it (compare it to other recoveries; 1921, for instance); less money in the hands of the middle-class to spend and invest, etc.. c) The dot com bubble (fueled in large part by Greenspan's inflationary FED policy) was largely fueling the economy. And d) the economy didn't really start to explode until the President and Congress passed the capital gains tax cut in 1996. I mean, I know that simple minds have a tendency to seek out simple explanations (those that buttress their narrative, for the most part) and all but this particular argument is even more absurd than usual, folks.

On Ted Cruz Being Asked by a News Reporter, "Do You Have Personal Animosity Against Gay Americans?"

I don't have a problem with it (the fact that I'm pro-gay-rights and hate all politicians). I just wish that the liberal candidates were equally grilled. So, for instance, a reporter might ask, "So, Mrs. Clinton, do you think that a woman should be able to abort her 8 1/2 month fetus because she's depressed?"......Or this, "So, Mrs. Clinton, you do realize, don't you, that even if we were to pass the Kyoto protocols, Cap and Trade, etc., it would only change the earth's temperature by a tiny fraction of a degree and being that it would probably cost the world trillions, do you still think that it's a good idea?...................................................................................................P.S. And for some perspective here let me yet again reference energy expert, Roger Pielke and his groundbreaking book, "The Climate Fix". In order for the world to achieve a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050 (factoring in both population growth and increased power needs), we would have to a) completely eliminate coal consumption, b) completely eliminate natural gas consumption, and c) reduce our petroleum consumption by 40%, and in order to achieve these targets, we would either have to build 12,000 nuclear power plants (close to one a day for the next 36 years), 2,000,000 solar thermal plants (close to 150 a day for the next 36 years), or 8,000,000 wind turbines (close to 600 a day for the next 36 years). Again, I ask the sane and reasonable folks out there, does this seem even remotely possible....And, yes, that would be a good question for Hillary, too.

On the Fact that Al Gore Jr., John Stennis, Sam Ervin, James Eastland, Everett Jordan, William Fulbright, George Wallace, and Lester Maddox All Got Buried with Their Democratic Boots on

So much for the Democratic racists changed parties narrative.