Well, I didn’t get up early enough to write (or post links) and slept in a bit. So … links with comments this morning.
- Mr Greenwald asks a question of the left. This might be were one would put a hope/change sort of dig … but I won’t go there (oops). This item will be referred to below, btw.
- The left takes on “corporatism” here and here, and ignores the elephant in the room. That’s right when you compare the power and ability of corporations to do ill with that of government clearly corporations are the greater evil … if of course you are severely brain damaged. How one can escape the 20th century and not realize that Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and the Khmer Rouge were all not leaders of mega-corps unleashing their corporate stooges but … wait for it … government leaders using government forces. The answer to counter corporate malfeasance is not increased government power and oversight (see item #1 above). It takes something more like, well, this. Tea parties (the original more than the latter) come to mind.
- A chart, which in turn demonstrates the gullibility of Democrats (and political junkies) who believe the results of about any damn poll. More seriously instead of reading tea leaves for your opinion of the other side, try getting to know some.
- An interesting painting.
- Two useful criteria when defining religion.
- Mr Obama does something which makes the right applaud. Now we will have to wait for the left to figure out that means that its those evil corporations are pushing into space. Of course the right isn’t universally happy about everything Mr Obama does. But that goes without saying. Here’s something else to applaud (on the right), and it doesn’t hurt that in doing so he breaks a campaign promise.
- TARP and incentives. Oops. And other ways in which the administration sneaks government growth under the radar.
- Mr O’Keefe (consider the Ukraine link above in #2 above).
- On that film Avatar. Heh.
- 1984 and Mr Obama.
- A DADT compromise suggested. Comments?
- An Orthodox hymn.
- Watching economists dicker.
How one can escape the 20th century and not realize that Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and the Khmer Rouge were all not leaders of mega-corps unleashing their corporate stooges but
Is this really the choice we face when asking whether gov’t should counter corporate power? Is, say, the FDA just a Kohmer Rouge in disguise? Hmmm?
Boonton,
False dichotomy. The assumption that corporations are the primary source of evil discounts the reality that government is the primary agent that fills that role, which was the point.
For every example of corporate damage and malfeasance there are, what, likely a hundred or more were government does and did. Put Texaco in Mr Schraub’s example against, Mao’s government for example.
A DADT compromise suggested. Comments?
Ridiculous. Special forces and other tight-knit groups will adjust to having (open) gays just as they adjusted to having blacks. It’s going to seem irrelevant within 3 years, I bet.
JA,
Why ridiculous? It certainly is possible.
I guess I have a little more respect for our special forces guys than you do.
Are you really arguing that they are so bigoted they couldn’t possibly serve well with openly gay people? It’s preposterous and offensive to them!
False dichotomy. The assumption that corporations are the primary source of evil discounts the reality that government is the primary agent that fills that role, which was the point.
OK before I click any of the links you provided do they in fact point to a left winger who is actually arguing that corporations are the primary source of evil in the world?
Ridiculous. Special forces and other tight-knit groups will adjust to having (open) gays just as they adjusted to having blacks. It’s going to seem irrelevant within 3 years, I bet.
I’m not clear why this is necessary. Simply maintain rules against fraternization and that’s it. Is the argument that because someone *may* feel uncomfortable serving in a ‘tight-knit’ group with a gay person we have to ban gays? What about people who feel uncomfortable serving with blacks? Unlike gays there’s no way to keep race on the down-low….
OK so I read the two links, neither assert what Mark implied they do, namely that ‘corporate power’ is the primary source of evil in the world.
The Ordinary Gentleman piece is about a woman who was gang raped and her company tried to force her to stay out of the courts. As a result a law is passed prohibiting any company getting defense contracts from restricting their employees from using the courts to address sexual assalt. Not surprisingly, 30 Republicans fought it tooth and nail, including Louisanna Rep. Vitter. Vitter was befundled when an angry rape victim confronted him at a town hall.
The second is a discussion of Avatar with this pretty good and mild conclusion:
So where does the Kohmar Rouge come from this? Perhaps this is an example of what see as the posing that is typical on a lot of the right. The implication seems to be that people like David Vitter are standing between freedom and an American Komher Rogue or Stalin or Mao. So we should forgive ilk like Vitter if they are sometimes a bit too corporatist because they are by far the lesser evil.
The reality, though, if the Komer Rogue ever took hold in America people like Vitter would be the first to sell us out and line us up against the wall. Thankfully that is highly unlikely but that does eliminate the argument that Vitter should be forgiven because he is holding some type of line on freedom that Obama and Al Franklin can’t do an equally good job holding.
Boonton,
Well, I think this has enough misunderstandings and miscues that I’m going to write a post on it tonight. Give me an hour or so and check back.
OK, was kind of hoping for some more stuff on the book of Job but it seems it didn’t take off as a thread.
Boonton,
Are you making my point for me or what? Vitter? He’s a government official. And yes, when a totalitarian regime takes over the Vitters (and Obama’s and so on (I refer you to Mr Greewald on that point)) are the problem. I don’t want to forgive Vitter, nor do I want to empower Obama or Franken or perhaps I should be more accurate, I would empower them to declaw and dethrone the denizens of the beltway. If they would attempt to “hold the line” … but they are not. The are sweeping more and more power into federal hands … exactly the wrong thing. So, yes … government not corporations are the larger problem, you seem to agree by citing Mr Vitter.
Boonton,
Oh, a request!?!
I’ll get right on it … or as soon as I can.
Actually by this reasoning the bigger problem is rogue comets with earth crossing orbits. Since they have the potential to cause 100% extinction of humanity, more than even the most evil of gov’ts ever accomplished, they clearly are more dangerous and a bigger problem.
Anyway, I’m not exactly sure why empowering corporations to cover up gang rape with Vitter’s help somehow ‘holds the line’ and ‘dethrones’ beltway denizens. Sounds kind of stupid to me. If you looked at the Avatar link you’ll note that the blogger is describing what is essentially a bad gov’t. When a corporation acquires more power than the local gov’t it essentially becomes the local gov’t and in that it is no better than any other gov’t whose power derives from something other than democratic representation of the people. Both the ‘Dutch East India Company’ cliche of sci-fi movies and the Texaco example are illustrations of that.