Another hypothetical question

Imagine you live in an apartment complex with a diverse assortment of tenants. There's a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. A doctor, a lawyer, and an Indian Chief. A truck driver, a dentist, a mortician, a schoolteacher, and a mechanic.

Anything you need, you can get from the residents of your apartment. No one purchases anything from anyone outside the apartment complex. It helps to protect your apartment complex's jobs.

There's a slight problem. The schoolteacher hates kids. The truck driver is an alcoholic. The butcher is a Muslim, and won't handle pork.

Should you be allowed to trade with people who live in other apartment complexes? Even if it endangers the jobs of those in your apartments?

The Infancy Narratives Of Barack Obama

I'm writing something called "The Infancy Narratives Of Barack Obama".

My intent is to compile all of the miracles, parables, and healings performed by the Obamessiah during his formative years of 1961 - 1979.

Whether or not these stories will be seen as "scripture" by later generations is not my concern.

If you were in Hawaii or Kansas during the Barackian childhood and can give witness to his early life and ministry, please let me know. I'm especially interested in the Era Of Indonesian Exile, and need a first-person account of the attempt to feed 5,000 with a $6 Wendy's gift certificate.

I already have the story of when he laid hands on a blind man and made him lame. Don't bother with that one.

A Subtle Suggestion For Senator Charles Grassley

Senator Charles Grassley (Republican - Iowa) is not happy with the AIG executives who got $165,000,000.00 in bailout money bonuses. Here's Chuck:

"I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I'm sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide."

Those money-grubbing Wall Street guys need to commit suicide ! ! ! Charles is ready to grab his torch and pitchfork and exploit some populist outrage. Here are Senator Grassley's comments from a few days later:

Grassley continued to express his displeasure with the company that is distributing $165 million in bonuses over lawmakers' objections. He said executives should not be rewarded for running their corporation into the ground.....
"From my standpoint, it's irresponsible for corporations to give bonuses at this time when they're sucking the tit of the taxpayer...."

The "tit of the taxpayer" ! ! ! You tell 'em, Charles.
There's one problem.
Senator Charles Grassley is a whore for the ethanol industry. He will do things for Iowa corn and ethanol producers that Shanghai harbor prostitutes would politely decline.


If AIG execs are gently "sucking the tit of the taxpayer", then Charles Grassley's state of Iowa is a massive veal calf feedlot, chewing on Lady Liberty's nipples with enough pressure to suck-start an airliner. Hear that incessant slurping sound coming from the midwest? That's Iowa, inhaling the subsidy money.

From 1995 to 2006, Iowa received $16,000,000,000.00 in farm subsidies. (Those are billions, not to be confused with the measley AIG bonus millions.) They can thank Grassley for most of it.
Friends of AIG, like Senator Chris Dodd, wrote loopholes into the stimulus package. These loopholes allowed AIG execs to walk away with millions in taxpayer money.
Friends of ethanol, like Senator Charles Grassley, have been responsible for Iowa farmers and ethanol producers walking away with billions (with a "b") in taxpayer money.

In one instance, a relatively small amount of your money was given to a small group of Dodd/Obama supporters at AIG.
In another, a huge amount of your money was given to a larger group of Charles Grassley supporters.

There is absolutely no difference. Money was taken from taxpayers and given to campaign donors. Both examples are obscene.

So here's a suggestion for Senator Charles Grassley. Be sure that your personal finances are in order, and that your Last Will And Testament is legally binding. Get your rifle out of the gun cabinet, and take it to the middle of a remote Iowa cornfield. You'll figure out what to do.

Here are the Manic Street Preachers performing the theme from M.A.S.H. - "Suicide Is Painless"



Picture of overpriced biofuel came from Moonbattery.

Caption Contest - Extreme Precautions Edition

I need a caption for this picture.



Tarrant Liberty Guy won last week's contest.

Cincinatti Tea Party

Here are a few pics from the Cincinatti Tea Party of March 15th, one of the latest anti-tax protests.

Looks like quite a crowd. The Fort Worth protest, which was held outside a West Side bar, didn't have as much advance publicity.

There was some harsh and savage criticism directed toward the parents who took their kids to the Fort Worth protest. But here's why it's so important for kids to attend:

If you can't read the sign, it says "I'm only 8, and already $36,000.00 in debt".

The parents aren't the ones who will have to pay for this mess.

To the Chinese: Don't trust him ! ! !

Matthew Yglesias quotes President Obama on the subject of whether or not the U.S. will default on its loans:

“There’s a reason why even in the midst of this economic crisis, you’ve seen actual increases in investment flows here into the United States,” Mr. Obama told reporters. “I think it’s a recognition that the stability not only of our economic system but our political system is extraordinary.”
He added, “Not just the Chinese government, but every investor can have absolute confidence in the soundness of investments in the United States.”

Well.....that depends on the situation. Individuals over here have plenty of money. Some corporations and banks do. But our government doesn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.
Ed McMahon is a better investment than the U.S. government.
Bernie Madoff is a better investment than the U.S. government.
Janella Spears, the Oregon woman who lost $400,000.00 to Nigerian email scammers? She's a better investment than the U.S. government.

I've told you people before that if you give us any more money, we're not going to pay it back. We'll default or we'll simply print another batch and give you .25 cent dollars.
So please ignore Mr. Obama's appeals. There are other places to invest with a greater probability of return. North Korea, Cuba, Somalia, Nigeria, Haiti, oh and there's the Sudan and Iraq and Darfur.....

I'm The Strawman

What is a Strawman? What is a Strawman argument?
A "Strawman" argument, according to Freethoughtpedia, is a classic logical fallacy where a person manufactures a caricature (usually a misinterpretation or oversimplification) of his opponent's argument, and then sets out to attack or dismiss the exaggeration. i.e. Building a straw man and then knocking it down.
This is a very dishonest line of argument, since a person puts words into his opponent's mouth then ridicules them.

President Obama has received a lot of criticism in the last two weeks for relying on Strawman arguments.

Here's Jay Cost at the RCP Horserace Blog:

Some of the criticisms really are with the basic idea that government should intervene at all in this moment of crisis. Now, you have some people, very sincere, who philosophically just think the government has no business interfering in the marketplace. And, in fact, there are several who've suggested that FDR was wrong to interfere back in the New Deal. They're fighting battles that I thought were resolved a pretty long time ago.

As I said, the one concern I've got on the stimulus package, in terms of the debate and listening to some of what's been said in Congress, is that there seems to be a set of folks who -- I don't doubt their sincerity -- who just believe that we should do nothing.

Mr. Cost then goes on to claim that no one genuinely advocates that position!

Another example....Here's Karl Rove writing in the Wall Street Journal:

On Tuesday night, Mr. Obama told Congress and the nation, "I reject the view that . . . says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity."

Rove then goes on to state "Who exactly has that view? Certainly not congressional Republicans, who believe that through reasonable tax cuts, fiscal restraint, and prudent monetary policies government contributes to prosperity."

(Can ANYONE tell me what Republicans are supposed to know and believe about "fiscal restraint and prudent monetary policies" ????)

Jay Cost and Karl Rove are badly mistaken when they accuse Obama of rhetorical trickery in these cases.

I hold the view, along with many other libertarians, that most of the government should call in sick for the next six to twelve months. Take some time off. Since they are incapable of doing no harm, the least they could do for us is nothing.

Please. Do nothing.

Not only is President Obama's argument not a rhetorical "Straw Man", but he's basically daring the spineless Republicans to advocate what a few of them know to be right.

And the Republicans are now claiming that nothing of the sort has ever crossed their minds.

Amazing.