COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Strange company for an American President.















The stern upward gaze of imperiously tilted heads. Narcissism. The cult of personality. A galleria of propaganda. No photoshop this time.

This is from THE PRESIDENT's own personal web site. This is how an American President sees himself.

He chose the company, the context of historic propaganda technique, the vision of how he sees himself. It is his pose. I simply noticed.



163 comments:

  1. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

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  2. He really is an asshole posing as Spock waiting for a mind meld.

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  3. All that is missing ...

    The horse!

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  4. And, of course, those funky hats!

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  5. Yeah, it is the hat that completes the image.

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  6. Never look up, that's when they'll see you sweat

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  7. Maintain eye contact, and never wear a hat!

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  8. Rubbish!

    It is that hat that makes the man appear manly!
    Along with a fine horse.

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  9. Nothing wrong with a hat, or a good Missouri mule, for that matter.

    Should keep your chin tucked in, presents less of a target that way.

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  10. No hats, take it from a Texan.

    But props, always good to have a prop in your hand.

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  12. Don't look up and no matter what, you want the flag in the background, like LBJ says, nothing beats a prop, the more patriotic the better.

    Horses, keep them away from the picture, the proper perspective is hard to get, with a horse in the picture

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  14. National elections are rarely unanimous, allen.

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  15. Photography was so different, back in the days of glass plates.

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  16. A little bit o' happy morning music to go with your nutty:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tz2V3CIYA0

    A favorite from those days at SHAPE and the 650th.

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  17. DR,

    I am NOT one who insists that the Jewish people are politically monolithic - seen one, seen them all.

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  18. I was turned off when Nixon used the slogan "Re-elect The President." I thought it arrogant, fundamentally anti-democratic and dishonest, as we always elect a president and a president fills the elected office.

    He is a tenant, not an anointed monarch.

    Hopefully, he will get an early reminder that he is TDY and not permanent party.

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  19. I never discuss the politics of the Jewish people, allen, though I do discuss Isreal, from time to time.

    I realize the Jews are not monolithic, why I even deny they are a "people".

    It is a religion, not a race.

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  20. That March is going to take a few days to get into perspective.

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  21. A Million Middle-Aged, White People on the Mall with Signs in their Hands.

    It's going to take a few days to get that to compute.

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  22. Even "Fox" was discombobulated.

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  23. Jackie's got some kind of good genes, Jewish, or not.
    72 years young.

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  24. Damn Red, you really are shore leave material.

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  25. Senate Conservatives - Beware of RINObamaCare

    Conservatives are winning the debate over ObamaCare but a few Republicans could blow it by cutting a deal with President Obama that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

    We've seen this happen before where a self-appointed group of Republicans negotiates a backroom deal that undermines our freedoms and gives political cover to Democrats.

    Conservatives are poised to defeat ObamaCare but if we don't act now and tell Republican Senators to "HOLD FIRM," we could lose this battle to RINObamaCare.

    Intense pressure is being put on Republicans to cave, and that is why the Senate Conservatives Fund, chaired by U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), is working hard to make sure Republican Senators don't go wobbly.

    If you don't trust the President and this Congress to reform your health care and you don't want Republicans to cut a deal that is a Trojan Horse for ObamaCare, join SCF and add your name to the list of Americans who are saying "No!" to RINObamaCare.

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  26. Meet the ACORN-7: Durbin, Burris, Casey, Gillibrand, Leahy, Sanders, and Whitehouse.

    The Senate voted 83-7 to prohibit funds in the FY2010 Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill from going to ACORN.

    Even after some really bad ACORN publicity, there are still 7 liberals in the Senate who want to shovel taxpayer funds to this criminal organization.

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  27. Casey is no surprise to me. I saw what vote corruption took place in Pa. They own him. He will regret that vote.

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  28. I know "My" mind went totally Blank.

    I was seeing something very large that I had never seen before, and I had never thought I'd see.

    It was a type of "dissonance." Like seeing a roomfull of cows sitting down to a "Steak" Dinner.

    Not excitement, not even great "curiosity;" just strange.

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  29. Chin up, eyes bright, with the thumbs up, that's the image a real Senator!

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  30. I'm gunning for Musical Director at the Annex.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DShhHqRpHgQ&feature=related

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  31. Our son's friend has a four year old girl.
    She told son she'd had a bad day:
    Her Bunny raped her chicken to death.
    Still likes the Bunny.
    Stockholm by Proxy?

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  32. Obama gets Everything but the most egregious of the "Public Options."

    The Republicans want to pass something and get it out of their hair. Remember, they got their asses handed to them in the last election.

    Grassley has cut a deal. He'll bring (most) all of the farm state Republicans with him.

    It could have been one whole hell of a lot Better, but the party of stupid missed their opportunity when they were in power.

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  33. Nothing wrong with an agressive forward looking pose, chin up, hat on.

    That's how to project your charisma, life will never be better than when you are looking forward and moving upward, Sam Walton told me so.

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  34. (As we unroll the concertina, baby.)

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  35. Socialized Medicare and Medicaid are fiscally bankrupt.
    We need more socialized Medicine!

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  36. No, doug, they just need to cut expenses and raise revenues.

    Take your pick, one or the other or maybe both at once.
    But "something" is going to pass. Change is in the air, the status que is dead.

    We must "do something"!

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  37. Buncha defeatists!
    Support the UnRINOS!

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  38. "All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone."
    ___Pascal

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  39. The bottom line is, "everyone in America will, for the first time in a long time, have access to good medical care."

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  40. And, it will be "Barack Obama," and not the Republican Party, that "gave it to them."

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  41. I have Kyl, McCain and Shadegg, doug.

    Whether I support them, or not.
    That is Team AZ, District 4.

    How is your Team HI voting?

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  42. I'll see your Mussolini and raise you a Pol Pot.

    (Cards are a favorite at the Annex, though Activities Director is not really my bag.)

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  43. The Republicans babble on about "Tort Reform."

    They haven't passed it in any but two states, Texas, and California (with amazing results, I might add.)

    The Republicans control many states. Why haven't they pushed "Tort Reform" in any of the States they "control?"

    Mostly because they're a bunch of "Phony Balonies."

    Why haven't they gone after "Illegal Immigrants" in the States they control? Money from Tyson, Smithfield, and Hormel I would say. How say you?

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  44. And, I didn't mean to imply the Republicans passed Tort Reform in California. Obviously, it was the DEMOCRATS that passed Tort Reform in California. The Republicans can't "pass gas" in California.

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  45. All true, Rufus.
    Socialism still stinks, tho.
    Wherever it's tried.
    Even RomneyMass

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  46. ...more people going to ER in Mass. now due to GP shortage.
    100% losing record for socialism.

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  47. Yet the argument was ER Misuse would decrease, saving money.

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  48. ...and you can't produce Docs out of thin air.
    Bobal had that right.

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  49. My Pakistani Doc forgot and left his IED in my gut.
    Planned on leaving it at the local 7-11.

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  50. We'll just have to train (import from India) more Doctors, won't we.

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  51. They'll be makin more in India than here after our trade war with the Chi-Coms.

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  52. Man, this bar is getting nuttier by the day. A Presidential photo with and uplifted gaze and the masters of equivalency equate the POTUS with Hitler and Mussolini, and Castro and Chevez.

    Well, gee with intelligent arguments like that we can learn a whole lot about everyone's most greatest American hero Ronald Regean

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  53. except hitler

    i really like them ..

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  54. The man is "Allying" (sp?) himself with Hugo Chavez against a "Democrat" in Honduras. What else can one say?

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  55. A democrat who came to power through a military coup???

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  56. Sharm is a self-loathing Joo!

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  57. Dhaves is a democrat, too, rufus.
    Elected a couple of times, already.

    Kinda like FDR in that respect.

    The real test comes after the Hondo elections.

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  58. Dumb fuck Ash:
    The man is from the same party as Z-Fuck.
    Replaced per the constitution.
    Military still under civilian rule.
    ...the Constitution, the Court, and the Congress.

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  59. Constitution specifically forbids what Z-fuck planned to do.

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  60. Yeah, a Constitution delivered by the Military that can't be changed by the citizens.

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  61. "Man, this bar is getting nuttier by the day."

    Shhhhhhhh. Don't spoil the fun.

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  62. Socialism still stinks. Also, too.

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  63. Re: Importation of docs from India

    That is soooo, '06.

    While there may be a shortage of docs, there is no shortage of monopoly money. But what if no one wants it?

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  64. Open the borders between India, and the U.S. as regards Doctors.

    We'll place bets on the net immigration/migration between the two.

    Let the Docs vote with their feet. Rupees vs. Dollars.

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  65. Saw an interesting statistic on Carpe Diem.

    If France, and Germany were U.S. States they would rank 51st, and 52 among states with respect to GDP per Capita.

    That's right. Right behind Mississippi.

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  66. Honduras: US revokes visas of 16 interim officials

    Posted: Sep 12, 2009 04:09 PM EDT by KSPY.com

    Updated: Sep 14, 2009 02:50 PM EDT


    "TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - A Honduran official says the United States hastaken away the diplomatic and tourist visas of 16 interim government officials.

    Presidential spokeswoman Marcia de Villeda says Washington revoked the visas of 14 Supreme Court judges, the foreign relations secretary and the country's attorney general.

    De Villeda told reporters Saturday the visas were revoked Friday..."


    Again the Big O has been finessed by his leftist friends. But hey, when you have major supporters of democracy such as Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela pushing you to do more what choice to you have.

    Honduras should revoke the visas of the 600 US troops stationed in the country.

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  67. In the typical fashion of the modern US, it is assumed that everything can be had with enough dollars, including Indian docs. A catastrophe has changed the landscape. For the first time in a very long time, America may have to produce something other than legislation and tokens.

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  68. Still the No 1 Economy in the world, and

    the No 1 Manufacturer in the world.

    No 1 Agricultural Nation in the world.

    With the finest health care in the world (for those that can get it. - soon to be "everyone.")

    I imagine our "quota" of Indian Doctors is filled by about 08:35 ET, Jan 1st, every year.

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  69. Rufus, as I distinctly recall, you had the same misplaced confidence in unfettered American economic resiliance just about the same time the bottom was falling out of most sectors of the US economy.

    The US is a different country than that in which we came of age. Are we going to enter a "Dark Age"? That very much depends on how far we are willing to go in abandoning our founding principles. Socialism, whether in the guise of Marxism or Fascism, is such an abandonment, proving once more that for every problem there is a solution that is quick, easy, and wrong.

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  70. Isn't that an oxymoron - "A solution that is wrong"? Either it solves the problem or it doesn't. I guess you could argue that a solution could be morally wrong such as 'my neighbor was noisy so I killed him' thus solving the noise problem but I'm having trouble understanding where you are coming from economically. If printing money solves the problem, well, it's a quick easy solution. Now, I'm not convinced printing money will solve the problems long term but it certainly seems to be a better option than the policy choices of the 1930's.

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  71. Apparently there's a Mike's Place in Casablanca. Owned and run by a former DOS (commercial affairs) gal. Diana, I think it is.

    If you find yourself in town, stop by.

    And, yes, the piano player does play that song.

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  72. I used to run outside to an outdoor toilet. It was cold at 5:00 on a February morning.

    We didn't have "air-conditioning." It was hot on an August night.

    My first trip "to town" was in a little trailor behind a ford tractor. (that was kind of fun, I admit.)

    At least, we had good schools. The little Black kids went to a run-down, ramshackle mess called "Lincoln" school. They, also, couldn't shop at "our" stores, or sit near "us" in the movies, or at football/basketball games.

    My father died of a heart attack when he was 62, as did my grandfather (They didn't have Statin Drugs in those days.)

    Fried Chicken was a "Treat." A car was good for about 50,000 miles, maybe. Tires? 5,000 miles, I guess.

    Got our first TV (black and white) when I was in grade school. 3 stations, barely.

    Yep, it's a "different" country, Today.

    Thank God.

    I don't want to Go Back.

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  73. Something tells me Ghana won't be quite as much fun, if perhaps as interesting.

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  74. Disregarding that they let us get into this mess; the reactions of the powers that be to the crisis have been Brilliant.

    Yes, they did, absolutely, Everything, possible, wrong in the 30's, and, so far, they have done everything "right" this time around.

    We still have problems, most specifically, another potential energy spike, and that could take us into a double-dip, or even worse, a prolonged super-recession; but, it could have been "So much worse."

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  75. I agree with you Rufus.

    Of course, that may be because I've made back all but a couple percentage points of what I initially lost in the meltdown.

    However, I suspect the millions of people who have lost their jobs and have little chance of getting another one anytime soon are a little less sanguine than we are.

    Glad to hear you now have inside plumbing though. Progress. :)

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  76. Ash said...
    Man, this bar is getting nuttier by the day. A Presidential photo with and uplifted gaze and the masters of equivalency equate the POTUS with Hitler and Mussolini, and Castro and Chevez.

    Gee I would think from reading ash that obama never did anything SYMBOLIC...

    But the truth?

    obama is nothing more than a radical socialist hiding BEHIND a SYMBOL..

    Kool aid drinkers beware... your already gone, and you dont have a clue...

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  77. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  78. desert rat said...
    I never discuss the politics of the Jewish people, allen, though I do discuss Isreal, from time to time.

    I realize the Jews are not monolithic, why I even deny they are a "people".


    Yes rat denies Israel is an actual country,

    Yes rat cant spell "israel"

    Yes rat CONSTANtLY points the finger at "jews"

    Yes rat talks about israel "time to time" those times would be "day after day"

    that is "time to time"

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  79. BTW, Allen, Quirk, or Deuce might remember that back in 2007 I stated, unequivocally, on Kudlow's blog that we were heading into recession. I based it on Unemployment going from 4.4% to 4.9%. There has NEVER been a 0.5% move in the unemployment rate without a recession ensuing.

    I, also, warned on the "Skeptical Optimist" blog in July (I think it was) 07' that Tax Receipts were Cratering, and a recession was coming.

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  80. Ash said...
    Man, this bar is getting nuttier by the day. A Presidential photo with and uplifted gaze and the masters of equivalency equate the POTUS with Hitler and Mussolini, and Castro and Chevez.

    Ash, you need some remedial reading and comprehension exercises. Allow me to assist:

    First we read-

    The stern upward gaze of imperiously tilted heads. Narcissism. The cult of personality. A galleria of propaganda. No photoshop this time.

    This is from THE PRESIDENT's own personal web site. This is how an American President sees himself.
    He chose the company, the context of historic propaganda technique, the vision of how he sees himself. It is his pose.

    The subject is propaganda techniques and posters.

    The objects are historical poses. Did you notive a similarity in the poses? Would you want to be associated with such propaganda techniques?

    Obama has his own website. It is all about him. He uses strong visual techniques that to my eye has a certain look of familiarity to them. A man who uses visual props needs to be cautious that they convey something positive, especially if you are POTUS.

    You would not wear jackboots and fallschirmjager trousers to a synagogue, it may give the wrong impression.

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  81. All the Presidents do it 2164th, all of them and even more so in this age of the image.

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  82. Corn just "Popped" (pardon the pun) LIMIT UP. Ethanol UP a Nickel.

    And, a rumor of a "Deal" in the Senate "Gang of Six."

    EPA will approve E15.

    A kind of Dangerous extrapolation, and slightly against consensus, but I'm going with it.

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  83. Nah, he's Benito, made over.

    Watch those hands when he gets excited. Up to the forehead. He fights to keep them from going over his head.

    He's a "totalitarian" at heart. Plain and simple.

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  84. *Pained Noise*




    Today is one of those days, Ash, that we just kind of regard the proprietors as we do my Aunt Mary: You are nuttier than a fruitcake, but we adore you for some reason anyway.

    We don't even stop to think why. We just do.

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  85. ash,

    The point of an oxymoron is oxymoronic, otherwise it wouldn't be an oxymoron.

    "For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, straightforward, and wrong."
    ___H. L. Mencken (just for you, Trish)

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  86. Yes, rufus, I have noticed from time to time that things have improved in some respects. If you consider the 30% STD rate on most college campuses an improvement, we have that too. What any of this has to do with socialized medicine escapes me.

    Well, if all else fails, we will have mountains of paper to burn.

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  87. rufus, given the fact that this administration (like the last) cooks the books (consider the real level of un and under employment), your faith on the matter of public health care administration is amazing. Is it possible that you are less than objective on this particular issue.

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  88. Well it seems ole Mencken was being facetious. Not only is a solution posited it is elegant (simple, straightforward). Elegance, the hallmark of a good scientific theory.

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  89. ash,

    A good scientific hypothesis must be falsifiable, by definition and explication. That always leaves the hypothesis with its rearend exposed to careful scrutiny.

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  90. Of course Mencken was being a jerk. When dealing with people who cannot conceive of a G-d except in the most primitive light possible, while glomming onto every government panacea offered, it is hard not to be.

    “You hard-shelled materialists were all balanced on the very edge of belief - of belief in almost anything.”
    ___G. K. Chesterton

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  91. Well. Now I'm going to have to bring in my Ayn Rand action figure.

    Which I got in a box of Small Government Sugar Smacks.

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  92. Sure, I'm biased. I'm an American.

    I was very much in favor of Dubya's Med Part D, even though I'll never use it.

    I'm in favor of all Americans having access to first-class health care, even though I'll never use it.

    It will be Good for MY Country.

    I'm very much Against any "Government Option." That would be Horrible for My Country.

    It's going to cost me some money; but, fuck, they're wasting my money right, and left as it is. At least, This Money will do some good for a neighbor, or a friend.

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  93. You've got to understand; "small" government is good, "to a point."

    Mexico's Top tax rate is 9%. Do you want to live in Mexico? Of course not. You can't provide the needed goods, and services for 9%.

    Sweden, at one point, got to 103% (yeah, look it up if you don't believe it) on the last dollar for what we would consider upper-middle income (two teachers, for example.)

    Would you want that? Of course not. It was looney-tunes. You've got to find the optimum middle (perhaps, right in the middle of Clinton's 39%, and GW's 35%?)

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  94. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  95. This is the "Yin" that goes with the "Yang," guys. Trust me, you don't want either party in power too long.

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  96. You've got to understand; "small" government is good, "to a point."

    - rufus

    We long, long, long ago passed that point. It's beyond living memory.

    "Small government" is a trope. Those who use the phrase genuinely, as a prospective agenda or point of protest, truly have no idea what they're looking at. Not a clue.

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  97. Was it Kipling who said:

    "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs
    Then maybe you don't know what the hell is going on."

    Curious as to the answer, I asked a lovely lass who frequents this site if she liked Kipling?

    "I don't know", she answered, "I've never kippled."

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  98. "Small government" is a trope. Those who use the phrase genuinely, as a prospective agenda or point of protest, truly have no idea what they're looking at. Not a clue..."


    Have to disagree. (Admittedly, I first had to look up "trope" to see what it meant.)

    I'll also admit "small" or "large" are insufficient adjectives when describing the current size of the government. However, they are useful terms when describing a political philosophy.

    I have to laugh when I hear the Bush administration described as conservative. GWB and his neocon enablers were merely liberals with delusions of grandeur. Good heavens, in 8 years the man increased the size of government by 50% with no plan to pay for it. And that was without the costs of the wars which were off the books.

    Now we have the Big O making GWB look like a piker and promising Nirvana on the cheap. As a matter of fact, using the “everything will be "paid for" through cost savings meme”, he insists we will save money. The guy is a moron or just plain dishonest.

    No, I'd argue that the people that argue for "small government" as a political philosophy do have a clue. Further, I'd argue that those that accept the trope that through “large government” you can get everything for nothing will be proven wrong. It's inevitable.

    (Of course, that assumes we make it past December 21, 2012)

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  99. "that assumes we make it past December 21, 2012"



    Santa have a court date or sumtin?

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  100. To our current and hopefully brief president:


    IF.....

    IF you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
    Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
    And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
    If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
    If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;
    If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
    Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

    If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
    And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
    If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
    And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

    If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    ' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
    if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
    If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
    Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
    And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

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  101. ""Small government" is a trope. Those who use the phrase genuinely, as a prospective agenda or point of protest, truly have no idea what they're looking at. Not a clue."
    ---
    (Drumroll)
    So let it be written,
    Let it be done.
    ---
    What I like best is all the displays in the heavens that invariably occur in accompaniment with these Celestial Verities.

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  102. "No, I'd argue that the people that argue for 'small government' as a political philosophy do have a clue."

    And I'd just argue that, somewhat paradoxically, they don't. The Federal apparatus is massive - M-A-S-S-I-V-E - and our intense passion for order and organization, not to mention our magnificent crusading spirit, ensure its galactic girth. (State and local governments, which have expanded by leaps and bounds over the past half century, follow suit.)



    "Further, I'd argue..."

    Come see me in eight or twelve years and we'll have this discussion again. The hyperpower's not going anywhere. Trust me.

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  103. "It's going to cost me some money; but, fuck, they're wasting my money right, and left as it is. At least, This Money will do some good for a neighbor, or a friend."
    ---
    Point to ONE large country with socialized medicine that meets the quality of care provided in this country.

    Large numbers of neighbors and friends will no longer have anywhere to go.

    Including Canadian neighbors and other eager patients that come here from around the World.

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  104. "The Federal apparatus is massive - M-A-S-S-I-V-E - "
    ---
    I'm printing out posters as we write, to inform the local populace.

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  105. (I got it to the printer before I was stunned into immobility by it's brilliance)

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  106. That may have sounded obnoxiously dismissive and I didn't mean it to.

    Come see me in eight or twelve years and...

    ...I'll buy. ; )

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  107. When it comes to America, man of "misdirection" claims he types lazily.

    But ISREAL is how I spell that Club Med for Eastern Europeon expats in the Levant.

    I spell it that way, now and forever, on purpose. In a show of disrespect for the people that have immigrated there from Europe, Russia in particular.

    Russians suck, where ever they reside.

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  108. Very nice, Allen. I like her.

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  109. Leave the straw men in the field, Doug. I've never advocated "Socialism," or Govt. run health care.

    I have advocated for something similar to Switzerland. After allowing for preemie births, and violent accidents/homicides they get about the same life expectancy as us, at about half the cost, I'd guess.

    They have Mandated health insurance, subsidies for the poor, and no refusals for "pre-existing conditions."

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  110. If you're referring to my statement that it will raise our taxes: Well, yes it will do that.

    However, if we had done something on our own, before the Democrats got a filibuster-proof majority, we could have achieved better results, for much less cost.

    Sometimes, Dougie, ya gotta spend a buck to "save" a buck.

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  111. Sweden is a large country?
    You advocated Romneycare also, sounds similar.
    Already showing why it is doomed to failure.

    ReplyDelete
  112. dr: But ISREAL is how I spell that Club Med for Eastern Europeon expats in the Levant.
    I spell it that way, now and forever, on purpose. In a show of disrespect for the people that have immigrated there from Europe, Russia in particular.
    Russians suck, where ever they reside.



    Interesting, so you condemn 40% of the israeli population that arrived after being driven out of their homes..... in the arab world?

    dont like the european jews, huh? who do you sound like?

    Champion of the Arabs huh?

    and Israel is a Club Med?

    lol

    funny...

    ReplyDelete
  113. desert rat said...
    When it comes to America, man of "misdirection" claims he types lazily.


    hey RAT BASTARD, since I offered MY explanation, I taken the time to CAP the A's in America that I type, but you couldnt notice that could you?

    whereas your just a jackass..

    still & forever

    ReplyDelete
  114. They were not driven out of the Arab lands, until the British organized their last colonization of the Levant, with the refugees from Eastern Europe. Like that terrorist, Mr Menahem Begin, arriving from Russia, in 1942.

    That's when the trouble began for the other Jews in the region, as I read the history.

    Perhaps you have a different time line.

    ReplyDelete
  115. I've heard a few anecdotes from anti-healthcare lobbyists, but no numbers that tell me that Romneycare isn't doing what it was supposed to do.

    Massachusetts still has one of the highest GDP/Capita ratios in the country, and everyone there has health insurance (except for those few that try really, really hard to avoid it.)

    They will probably get a more responsible Governor in there one of these days, and cut some costs out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  116. Doug, what's with the "Sweden" reference?

    ReplyDelete
  117. "That may have sounded obnoxiously dismissive and I didn't mean it to."

    Easy to say, but I suspect you may have set me back a couple weeks in analysis.

    Well, perhaps I exaggerate a little. It's a beautiful night and I just got back from walking the dog. Being "dismissed" really doesn't register on my radar at the moment.

    However, when it comes to...

    "And I'd just argue that, somewhat paradoxically, they don't. The Federal apparatus is massive - M-A-S-S-I-V-E - and our intense passion for order and organization, not to mention our magnificent crusading spirit, ensure its galactic girth."

    Very poetic prose, but I guess I just don't get your point.

    The federal apparatus is massive. Sorry M-A-S-S-I-V-E. I don't think anyone could argue with that. But that's the point isn't it?

    Our passion for order and organization? Good heavens, this is the government we're talking about. Now admittedly about half the country these days seems to believe larger government will result in increased "order and organization"; however, I, like the "small government" people, am not in that half of the population.

    "...magnificent crusading spirit..." Well, the only thing that comes to mind is "You go girl". And I mean that in a good way :)

    From your response, I have to assume your main point is that the size of government will continue to grow. But that's a given in any growing economy. The real issue raised by the Tea Party activists is not that the size of government is growing but that it is growing exponentially and at an unsustainable rate. Yet you describe that position as clueless. Again, and nothing paradoxical about it, in my opinion it is the people who willingly say we should go along fat, dumb, and happy without protesting that exponential growth in government spending that are the clueless ones.

    "Come see me in eight or twelve years and we'll have this discussion again. The hyperpower's not going anywhere."

    Given the current administration, you could very well be right. But remember, eight years ago we had a budget surplus and the government was half the size it is today.

    "...I'll buy. ; )"

    Only the first one.

    ReplyDelete
  118. dr: That's when the trouble began for the other Jews in the region, as I read the history.


    ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

    yes, living under the yoke of arab oppression was a club med lifestyle...

    try reading real history, one that doesnt start with in the year you choose as easy..

    Jews LIVED for thousands of YEARS across the middle east BEFORE the arabs invaded and stole the lands in 640 ce....

    there was no problem with arabs or islam, outside of arabia (even there slaughter of the jews by arab hand was not unknown) until the arabs invaded and conquered the lands...

    thieves...

    and then under a dhimmi lifestyle the arabs invented the yellow starts for jews to wear, for jews to be prohibited from trades, from building the building taller than islamic ones, from jewish men prohibited from marrying islamic women...

    in 1948 the jews were expelled by the ARABS, not briton...

    and the slaughter of the jews in the area never ceased thru-out the centuries...

    dont want to go back that far, might hurt your brain?

    late 1800's arabs were butchering and thieving against the jews OF THE MIDDLE EAST, long before ONE eastern european jew (that you hate so much to advocate their ethnic cleansing) ever built a home..

    no rat, your "read" of the middle east seems to come directly from the PLO or Jimmy Carter...

    that says it all

    ReplyDelete
  119. That does not say any thing, man of "misdirection"

    Per your usual.

    ReplyDelete
  120. "It's a beautiful night and I just got back from walking the dog."

    Same here, except it's not a beautiful night. Far from it.

    Fat, dumb, and happy? Fat and dumb are deplorable. Happy I can always go for.

    But it got me to thinking: My perspective has changed. Probably irretrievably.

    Living in a Third World country (at war) and looking homeward, every brouhaha seems comparatively insignificant. The US is a fucking Atlantis on steroids whose problems, quarrels, challenges, whatever they are, other nations would kill to have. Neck deep in shit we are a hundred times better off than the world's hairy asscracks on their finest day. We are the most fortunate, gifted lot on the planet - and for the most part completely oblivious to it.

    Protest away, Quirk. From where I sit, it's much ado about nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Rufus:
    What about the fiscal and Demographic Brick walls SS and Medibroke programs are headed for in the (not too distant) future.
    Have some laws the natural World been suspended?

    ---
    I meant "Switzerland:"
    Tiny country, homogenous populace, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Very good points, Trish.

    I can't disagree. As for protesting, mine is usually restricted to writing to my congressman and senators and telling them what dickheads they are.

    However, when my chums in the "small government" movement were labelled clueless I felt soemeone should come to their defense.

    (Besides I was looking for someone to argue with tonight and there you were. Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  123. I aim to please.







    I think every American ought to spend at least six months living somewhere that they line up by the thousands every weekday outside the embassy gate (for the fourth, fifth, tenth time, at more than a hundred bucks a pop) in hopes, often enough desperate, of being granted the privilege of a single visit.

    I'd fund that program happily.

    ReplyDelete
  124. "From where I sit, it's much ado about nothing."
    ---
    Yeah, Freedom ain't no big thing.
    ...til you don't have it.

    ReplyDelete
  125. And you, Doug, have been screwed into the ceiling every day for the past six years.

    Not that there's anything wrong with that.

    I'm just not gonna join you.

    ReplyDelete
  126. Have you signed up with ACORN yet?

    ReplyDelete
  127. I have the forms right here.

    It's a PR position. I reckon I can probably swing that. Whaddya think?

    ReplyDelete
  128. "I've heard a few anecdotes from anti-healthcare lobbyists, but no numbers that tell me that Romneycare isn't doing what it was supposed to do."

    Mass.Healthcare

    Ask and it shall be given unto you.

    ReplyDelete
  129. "Has resided where any overturned rock is likely to reveal a rotting corpse and any opened closet is likely to regurgitate about a dozen skeletons. And still maintains very warm feelings for it."

    It's on the resume.

    ReplyDelete
  130. Should fit right in the Chicago Machine.

    ReplyDelete
  131. But the Feds will be much more efficient than Mass. Quirk.
    Trust me.

    ReplyDelete
  132. Remember: I defended the Agency before the Agency was cool.

    ReplyDelete
  133. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  134. Who knows what I can do for ACORN?

    ReplyDelete
  135. Some ideas laid out in the next thread.

    ReplyDelete
  136. Don't let the Bed Bugs Bite!
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    ReplyDelete
  137. Q, all I got from your link was that Mass has insured a bunch of poor, and hard to insure people, and that it hasn't been free. Surprise.

    I've never claimed that it wouldn't cost money; just that I'd rather spend my money that way than on propping up some African Dictator, or on fighting a myriad "Wars for Oil."

    BTW, a lot of those "less expensive" plans that people have been "forced out of" are $3,000.00 Yearly Max plans like your low-paid waitresses, and bartenders are forced to carry.

    Those plans are, basically, worthless if you really get sick, and shouldn't even be classified as "insurance."

    ReplyDelete
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