Comment

Comment by doone on June 29, 2012 at 1:04pm

Whacko's Who Pretend they Know Something

National Review: supreme court "pretended" mandate was constitutional

By Rob Beschizza at 11:06 pm Thursday, Jun 28

As a Brit in the US, I landed on a left-leaning limb of the tree. This is not unusual—our conservatives are often more liberal than your liberals, after all. That said, I often found myself enjoying conservative writing on this side of the pond. Especially The National Review.

NR offered a pleasing critical distance, a political culture suffused with observational subtleties and literary aspirations. Reactionary waves broke often over the sandcastles of reason, but this only enhanced its charm, at least for this foreigner.

By the time of Obama's election, however, the charm had worn off. As political failure sank in, sententious contempt oozed out. When Christopher Buckley endorsed the Democrat and was canned for apostasy, an editor there called him "cretinous". (Added Buckley: "I retain the fondest feelings for the magazine that my father founded, but I will admit to a certain sadness that an act of publishing a reasoned argument for the opposition should result in acrimony and disavowal.")

It only got worse. At one point, editor Rich Lowry wrote a shamelessly infantile mash note for Sarah Palin, a posting whose power to amuse will only grow as the seasons pass. By the time one contributor's racist screeds forced it to fire him, the Review's post announcing his departure was notable mostly for its regretful tone, clouded further by his colleagues'unendurable handwringing over it.

Still, I'd often find myself back there for one reason or another (i.e. Jonah Goldberg). Every time, I'd putter around only to chance across something hot, and want to leap on it and write this very post: "This is why I had to stop reading these scoundrels!" But the urge would always pass, because it hardly matters.

Today, however, a single word finally gets it out of me. In the wake of today's Supreme Court ruling upholding The Affordable Care Act's insurance mandates, The Review offereda collective editorial that began like so:

The Court, by a 5–4 margin, refused to join all the august legal experts who insisted that of course it granted that authorization, that only yahoos and Republican partisans could possibly doubt it. It then pretended that this requirement is constitutional anyway, because it is merely an application of the taxing authority. Rarely has the maxim that the power to tax is the power to destroy been so apt, a portion of liberty being the direct object in this case.

Now, leave aside the magical thinking here, as if it were enough to stock a sentence with certain words for it to attain salience. Instead, let me just repeat the key phrase in it, to make it clear.

The supreme court pretended that the requirement is constitutional.

They pretended.

This is American conservatism's immune system going into anaphylactic shock. Fun to watch, while it lasts!

Comment by doone on June 28, 2012 at 10:46pm

Some people should be ashamed to be Alive

"Let's talk about [US Supreme Court Chief Justice John] Roberts. I'm going to tell you something that you're not going to hear anywhere else, that you must pay attention to. It's well known that Roberts, unfortunately for him, has suffered from epileptic seizures. Therefore he has been on medication. Therefore neurologists will tell you that medication used for seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, can introduce mental slowing, forgetfulness and other cognitive problems. And if you look at Roberts' writings you can see the cognitive disassociation in what he is saying," - radio host, Michael Savage.

Comment by Susan Stanko on June 27, 2012 at 4:47pm

How can anyone take this airbag seriously?  It was good for a laugh, though.

Comment by doone on June 27, 2012 at 4:35pm

Say What Now of the Day

Jun. 27, 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent comments about newly elected Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi were fairly innocuous. She merely encouraged President Morsi to include women, Christians and young people in his new government, which would be a break from tradition in the African nation. But apparently something far more sinister is afoot. Thankfully Rush Limbaugh is on the case:

“Huma Abedin, Mrs. Anthony Weiner, Mrs. Huma Weiner, she is Hillary Clinton’s number one aide. And Huma’s mother is best friends with the new First Lady of Egypt, the wife of the new Muslim Brotherhood guy, Morsi. That’s really all you need to know. But there’s much more to know. That’s why Hillary is out celebrating the brotherhood. That’s why Hillary is joining Obama in telling the military to give it up for the Brotherhood guy. Because Huma’s mom, there’s actually a group, the Muslim Sisterhood, essentially, that is an offshoot of the Brotherhood. And Huma’s mom is best friends with the new so-called First Lady of Egypt, who is also a member of the Sisterhood.”

Full audio here.

Comment by Michel on June 23, 2012 at 7:32pm

Comment by Davy on June 23, 2012 at 5:59am

That is a good, very good.

Comment by Marianne on June 22, 2012 at 11:34pm

Michel, this is really a good one !!!!!!

Comment by Michel on June 22, 2012 at 11:32pm

Comment by doone on June 21, 2012 at 3:47pm

Brave sir Romney, he bravely ran away

By Tim F. June 21st, 2012

Surprise.

We’ve got the first nuggets out of Mitt Romney big immigration speech coming later today. And the gist seems to be that he’s going to duck the question of whether he’s for or against, would keep or change President Obama’s new mini-Dream Act.

While some candidates give lip service to the idea of transparency, Mitt Romney is the first guy to run for office while being completely, totally transparent. Light passes right through the guy without bouncing, bending or refracting in any way. It is a wonder that TV cameras pick him up at all.

Comment by doone on June 21, 2012 at 3:46pm

From the Dish, especially worrisome is the fact that the unhinged party is the one most tied to fundamental religion, I wonder if the two are connected

One Party Is Unhinged

Or, rather, it is living in an alternative reality. 63 percent of Republicans in a new poll believe that Saddam Hussein had WMDs when we invaded in 2003, despite even George W. Bush's acknowledgment that he didn't. 64 percent also believe that Barack Obama was born in a foreign country, even though we have the long-form birth certificate from Hawaii. This alternate reality is sustained by a 24 hour propaganda network, and hermetically sealed off from any external intervention.

We are reaching a democratic crisis of some sorts. One major political party refuses to accept empirical truths. It has become a hall of ideological mirrors.

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