On Reliable Sources, Bruce Bartlett Explains How Conservatives Are "Brainwashing" Themselves With Fox News And Other Right-Wing Media. Bringing back feudalism—is libertarianism an unwitting tool? R.J. Eskow - on Salon - offers "11 Questions to see if Libertarians are Hypocrites. " And yes, most of Eskow's posers certainly do set up some stark and thought-provoking contradictions - even hypocrisies - in the oft-touted positions held by many who today use the "L-word" to describe themselves.
The article is well-worth reading and it does skewer especially those who bow in obeisance to Ayn Rand, the patron saint of resentful ingrates who want desperately to blame society for being under-achievers. And yet… …and yet Eskow wound up inciting the contrarian in me, with his blatant straw-manning -- setting up the reader to assume that all "libertarians" are lapel-grabbing, solipsistic randians. Moreover, indeed, he tells flagrant untruths even about randians. Elsewhere I have dissected the Cult of Ayn far more carefully, actually looking carefully at her messages on many levels. In fact, Eskow ignores other strands to libertarianism that include the erudite versions of William F. ‘We the People’ Loses Appeal With People Around the World.
Let’s Give Up on the Constitution. AS the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions. Consider, for example, the assertion by the Senate minority leader last week that the House could not take up a plan by Senate Democrats to extend tax cuts on households making $250,000 or less because the Constitution requires that revenue measures originate in the lower chamber.
Why should anyone care? Why should a lame-duck House, 27 members of which were defeated for re-election, have a stranglehold on our economy? Our obsession with the Constitution has saddled us with a dysfunctional political system, kept us from debating the merits of divisive issues and inflamed our public discourse. Constitutional disobedience may seem radical, but it is as old as the Republic. 5 Reasons Humanity Is Terrible at Democracy. Ask the average person what's wrong with government and you'll hear all about corrupt politicians, corporate lobbyists and shady backroom deals. But, of course, we elected those corrupt politicians, and the more you look at the situation, the more it appears that as people, we are just really bad at democracy.
After all, science proves that ... Our Opinion on an Issue Is Based on How It's Worded In the middle of the heated health care debate in 2010, the anchors at Fox News got a memo from the bosses telling them to start referring to the Democrats' plan as "government-run health insurance" rather than use the term "public option," which everyone else was using. Why? "Rape was a good word before you humans fucked it up. " Likewise, only 34 percent of Americans say they strongly support "homosexuals" in the military.
You can do this with virtually any issue. "We demand lower pay and less respect, and we won't stop working double shifts until we get it! " Probably not. "Yes, fine. Why? Why? Taegan Goddard's Political Wire. OWS's Beef: Wall Street Isn't Winning It's Cheating | Matt Taibbi. Common Cause. FactCheck.org | A Project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Sorting out the truth in politics. National Review Online. The Progressive | Peace and social justice since 1909. Media Matters for America. The New Republic. The Nation. Mother Jones | Smart, Fearless Journalism.
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