You Can’t Change Anything
Participating in democracy is futile. Your vote, by itself, doesn’t matter. No, what you need is seven friends. Then, the eight of you can determine the outcome of an all-eyes-on-you election like the 2012 Iowa...
Monthly Archive: January 2012
Conflict at the Heart of Scientology
Conflict at the heart of Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard. Sea Org. Debbie Cook. David Miscavige. Enough said.
Happy – Hic! – New Year
Boegiboe has another of his original drink recipes over at the increasingly alcoholic Slow Tuesday Night.
Required Reading
Yeah, sure, it’s yet another post about Ron Paul. (Perhaps you’ve heard of him?) But today’s post by Ta-Nehisi Coates is so much more than that. It’s about the complex emotions that surround his...
What’s In A Label
Andrew Sullivan calls out Jonathan Chait for arguing that libertarianism is inextricably linked to racism. Chait’s view, in a nutshell, is that in practice, libertarianism is a gateway doctrine to racism: “I am sure...
Leaguefest 2012!
At the sub-blogs, we’ve had some discussion of the idea of a meetup for the League. The current idea being floated around is to arrange a meet-up in Las Vegas some time in May....
QUACK!!!
If you like offensive shoot outs and you’re not watching the Rose Bowl now, you really should. At this rate someone’s going to win 102-101.
Libertarianism and Liberalism and Labels
I’ve spilled far too much ink trying to map out my politics on to the available political labels, and I fear I will keep spilling it. Over at Bleeding-Heart Libertarians, Will Wilkinson disavows the...
Ron Paul vs. Civil Liberties, Ctd.
One thing that’s overlooked by those who defend Ron Paul on civil liberties grounds is Paul’s staunch opposition to what I would argue is the greatest boon to liberty in American history: the 14th...
Reproductive Rights and Libertarianism
~by Sam Wilkinson For reasons that I cannot understand, the threat posed by various conservative candidates to women’s reproductive rights rarely seem to warrant mention or concern amongst those who profess themselves to be most concerned with...
Some Socially Conservative thoughts from a Liberaltarian
I like to think of myself as a liberaltarian. I think I would qualify for the label because I’m big on the Rawls-Hayek fusion thing (Or more accurately, the Rawls + public choice + economic...
Backpeddlers to the Left of Me, Hypocrites to the Right, Here I am, Stuck in the Middle with Ron Paul
Greginak comments on why the Ron Paul discussions are stupid: For one there is only so much one can say about any subject before there are few returns. To many attempts to analyze what...
The Stupid Party Strikes Again: The GOP and the VA primary’s “loyalty oath”
The Republican Party doesn’t need its opponents to call it stupid. They call themselves that—there’s no point in denying an open secret. It was proper and legal to invoke Virginia’s already-existing election code and...
The Influence of Influence
Marilynne Robinson, doing what she does [NYT], talks about books, writing, and the Bible — as well as writing one of the politest harsh critiques of contemporary literature possible:
Mirror, Mirror
Every once in a while I read a post that is so, so, so completely right that I struggle not to quote the entire thing. This Glenn Greenwald post is one of them: America’s...
Affirmations and Aspirations
Quoting from James Fallows’ Dick Cheney’s Heart: “We all know the cliche about people who switch from youthful idealism to mid-life flinty-mindedness. One version goes, If you’re not a socialist in your twenties, you have...
In a Democratic Society, Legally Cast Votes are Not Unethical – Even When You Disagree With the Reasons Behind Them
Surprisingly (to me, anyway), I got a fair amount of pushback from my post on the signed Loyalty Oath that the Virginia GOP now requires in order to vote in its primary. This pushback...
Let’s All Go Insane at the Movies!
Over at the League sub-blog “Forbes”, E.D. shares Roger Ebert’s suggestions as to why movie theatregoing is declining. As avid cinephiles, one might expect me and the missus to go to the movies more...
