Archive for January 2006
Absolute Power
Well, reading this will pretty much tell you why Samuel Alito will be confirmed as the next justice of the Supreme Court. In short, he's really the ideal candidate, whether you're a Republican or Democrat politician in DC. Why's that? 'Cause he's going to rubber stamp your every grab at government power. If the analysis and reportage I'm seeing is anywhere close to accurate, this is the worst-possible sort of justice. I'd rather take my chances with a lefty that's skeptical of government and its motives. (Link: Balko, who excerpts all the important parts)
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The “New” Navy
Unfortunately for Black, among the midshipmen was at least one sensitive female. He also made some other equally spicy comments about his ex-wife, of whom he apparently is no longer fond, that were overheard by, but not spoken in front of, female midshipmen. Now he faces a special court-martial and three criminal charges. Oh, you bet. Glad I got out in 1992, when it was still predominately a man's Navy. Not any more, apparently. Well, at least it made me think of Kim's infamous essay, The Pussification of the Western Male. (link: Cruse)
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Billy’s Notes
Billy Beck has up a pretty lengthy post, wherein he takes note of a lot--to include the Alito hearings, national security in the face of terrorism, and the role of the church in history and present. And that institution is never going to "hold together" people who -- for good reasons -- just about instinctively reject the claim over the authority of their own minds, and this the important part to bear in mind in this: I'm talking about people like me, who know what the Right Thing is, without the Church. Again: we're talking about a body of ethics that I maintain is both correct (if we're talking about success of human life on the scale that America has illustrated as possible) and identifiable independently of religion. If we can talk about that ethics as something distinct from religion -- which I say we can, and should -- then your "together" starts coming into view. Indeed. Like Billy, I can acknowledge the role of the church as an ethical force in history, just as--really--I can acknowledge the role of government institutions, democracy, etc., in establishing peaceful and organized means of handling most disputes. But I do so in the...
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Naming Names
The WWW is the closest thing we've got to a Public Ostracism Database. This is why I believe in boldly naming names whenever really warranted. So, how about when a guy sits on death row, waiting to be executed, because a bunch of G.I. Joe Wannabes broke down his door one night and he shot and killed on of them in self-defense? How about when city officials fire his public defender legal counsel (one government service my tax money goes toward that I don't begrudge) because he has the nerve to represent the accused? Yea, those are names that should be named. Next time, Radley, do it in bold; woudja? My first call was to the mayor, Charles Dumas. One thing to keep in mind about Dumas -- he's very close to the family of the late Officer Ron Jones. In fact, in one December 28, 2001 article from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Dumas is described as spokesperson "on behalf of the Jones family." [...] So I called the board. Aldermen Terry Brinson and Robert G. Miller didn't answer their phones, and had no answering machine or voicemail. I left messages on the answering machines of Aldermen Danny L. Daniels and...
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Hah!
George Will just won't let up on those utter and contemptible frauds who call themselves conservative and Republicans. Liberals practice "K Street liberalism" with an easy conscience because they believe government should do as much as possible for as many interests as possible. But "K Street conservatism" compounds unseemliness with hypocrisy. Until the Bush administration, with its incontinent spending, unleashed an especially conscienceless Republican control of both political branches, conservatives pretended to believe in limited government. The past five years, during which the number of registered lobbyists more than doubled, have proved that, for some Republicans, conservative virtue was merely the absence of opportunity for vice. You just go right ahead and keep at it, Mr. Will. (via Balko)
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Observations
I always like to have my print copy of Reason Magazine in the car so that when I stop at a cafe to have breakfast on the way to the office, which I frequently do, I can read an article or two. The other day, I read this piece, which has to do with radical human enhancement and such. You know, humans improving upon God's rather insipid creation, as they've always done and will continue to do--manipulative promoters of irrational fear, and parasitic prophesier's of doom and judgment notwithstanding. In principle, I often have a lot of problems with Reason Mag because they usually stand against effects rather than causes, which is what everyone does. Everyone is against this or that effect. Nobody, however, is against the common cause: government, i.e., the legitimized initiation of force. Nonetheless, their articles are often interesting, and after all, it's not as though it's a bad thing to know why certain things are "impractical" as well as being morally wrong. In reading that article cited above, I was struck by the banality of it, particularly in the predictable cautions and admonishments from those who believe it their place to dictate my values in life...
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Fundamental Distinctions
I find that I tend to draw my distinctions a lot deeper than most folks. This is why--for instance--I have a difficult time finding important differences between the federal government and an organized mob controlling an area or neighborhood. I could list dozens of important parallels, but it's not the point of this post. It's true that in government, I tend to prefer conservatives to liberals and those religious to those secular, even though I'm personally more liberal than conservative (in the classical sense), as well as an atheist who loves to ridicule beliefs in "Santa for Adults" (see, I just can't let go an opportunity). My reasons for this are wholly pragmatic: we can count on conservatives, out of blind faith, to believe in the evils of communism and hedonism (they are, but require no faith to come to such conclusions) and thus strive to enact public policy accordingly, which, at worst, sends us down the river at a slower pace than the commie dems, or, at best, creates utter gridlock (something sorely missing in the last 5 years or so). Along these lines, Radley Balko demonstrates how Supreme Court nominee Alito is fundamentally no different from Justice Ginsburg,...
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Looking Back
Via Hit & Run, I get a link over to this WSJ Editorial that minimally has the virtue of telling a decent bit of the truth about who republican politicians really are. More broadly, however, the Abramoff scandal wouldn't resonate nearly as much with the public if it didn't fit a GOP pattern of becoming cozy with Beltway mores. The party that swept to power on term limits, spending restraint and reform has become the party of incumbency, 6,371 highway-bill "earmarks," and K Street. And it's no defense to say that Democrats would do the same. Of course Democrats would, but then they've always claimed to be the party of government. If that's what voters want, they'll choose the real thing. After admittedly being seduced by the whole '1994 thing,' it didn't really take long to understand that nothing was materially going to change. It was perhaps a year, at most. Two years ago, I blogged an entry that I think is pretty apropos today, really going to the fundamental reasons why the Republicans did not and will not change anything. (Reading it now also makes me think that my writing is getting worse.) That entry concludes as follows, but...
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G.I. Joe Report
Radley Balko reports on more limp-dick, G.I. Joe wannabes who like to dress up in assault gear, break down doors, point automatic assault rifles, and generally terrorize people in possession of a little weed. And, sometimes (often), they even get the wrong house. You know, I just have a difficult time understanding how a person--a so-called man--can live a life like that; terrorizing people who aren't harming anyone. It's an objective fact that nobody of genuine self-esteem could do that for a single day. I can only imagine what sorts of ego-crushing experiences these guys must have had at the hands of parents, or perhaps women at some point in their lives. No excuse, of course, but I'm forever astonished at how so many people seem to be so concerned about what other people think of them. Why is that? Update: Well, Christ, I might as well add this link here too, about SWAT teams preventing people from committing suicide: by shooting and killing them first. Can anyone fathom the depth of my hatred, here?
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Far, FAR Fetched
Radley Balko has some very far-fetched predictions for 2006 in his latest Fox column.
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Post Hoc, Ergo, Propter Hoc
Which completely sums up what sort of idiot Pat Robertson is. Those who require exorcism of their similar idiocies can begin right here. And make sure to "see also," and follow "external links." Such begins your path to redemption as a human being with a mind.
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Parliament of Whores
First things first: the title is ripped off from P.J. O'Roarke, who wrote a book by the same title. Jim Bovard has a rather humorous post up about the Abramoff "lobbying" scandal. Here's one, quoting the NYT quoting some former republican aide: “There’s a lot of talk coming out of various quarters that the Justice Department is going to pursue a different definition of bribery, meaning that if somebody were to give a gift or a campaign contribution in the same time period as a member took an official action, that in and of itself would constitute bribery. That scares the bejesus out of people.” Oh, you mean they're going to use a definition of bribery close to the actual meaning of the word? It astounds me. I hear virtually nothing but lies on both sides of the political debate virtually all of the time. Yea, they call it "spin." Euphemism for outright, boldface lying. Look: the only reason that the truth needs to be spun into a lie is that the truth is uncomfortable. Why is it uncomfortable? Well, in this case, because virtually every last one of them, on both sides--top to bottom and wall to wall--are whores...
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It’s the Power, Stupid
Do you have any idea how hysterically I laugh at most of you all; and in particular, currently, at Republicans bending over backwards to defend "abuses of power" they would not have tolerated for an instant in the previous administration of the office of the chief executive? They wouldn't tolerate lying about a blow-job (and they shouldn't), but they will tolerate just about whatever from the guy who heads the other team (and they shouldn't). Let me clue you in on something: when the government does something you don't like, it uses the exact same power it used to do something you do like. Another clue: government is the abuse of power. What's my point? Simply this: I know very well and good how things are done around here. I understand that there are imperatives, such as killing primitives who have vowed and continue to vow to kill us. I understand that the power of the State is the only way that's going to happen, now, and whether it is or is not the power of the State that got us into this and all of the many murderous predicaments of the past is immaterial. Things have to get done--today....
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Back to Work
I think that right up there with the wonder and enjoyment of all the festivities surrounding the general Holiday Season, that begins really with Thanksgiving, continues to Christmas, and ended yesterday, is the enjoyment of getting back to work with a renewed and fresh sense of purpose. Man I'm glad to be back.
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