Commenter Archive

Comments by Will*

On “Barry Goldwater, Paul Ryan, and… Me

Somebody tell The Atlantic that we're "The League of Ordinary Gentlemen," not a comedy series on FX. Other than that, nice article!

On “Presidential Debate LeagueCast

Guys, this was fucking awesome.

On “American Ambassador To Libya Killed

MICHELLE WAS RIGHT:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/1011/Bachmann_Libya_still_a_mistake.html

Just sayin'

On “Bullygate

Portrait of a sadist:

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/romney-mr-nice-guy/537521

On “Romney the prankster, Obama the politician

Here's another one:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jan/30/chain-email/viral-internet-story-says-mitt-romney-helped-locat/

"

Thanks, Pat. I'm sure you could selectively highlight other biographical tidbits to make Romney look like Nelson Mandela. For example:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-heroic-romney-rescue-that-for-some-reason-th

"

Burt, is this supposed to be tongue-in-cheek? If a complete stranger evaluated my character based on high school assholery and behavior during road trips, it's a fair bet I'd come off as a total psychopath, too.

On “Portlandia in Portland, The Enders Game in South Carolina, and Why I Prefer Living In A Nation Over a Confederacy

Tod, did you catch the Weekly Standard's cover story on Portland? I'd be curious to read your take:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/insufferable-portland_631919.html

On a mostly unrelated note, got any tips for visiting Portland on a budget?

On ““The Space Traders”

Exit question: If the current electorate was actually presented with Bell's bargain, what would the results look like? Would the Wilder Effect be enhanced or diminished? And would we survive the aftermath of the election, even if a majority voted against the bargain?

"

Thanks, Tod. I don't think I have the energy to start posting on a regular basis again, but I like hanging around in the comments section.

 

On “Random Musings: Songs About Texas Edition

COSIGN THE MOTHERFUCKING GASLIGHT ANTHEM LOVE. Gawd I <3 that band. Like the Bouncing Souls and Springsteen had a baby.

On “At My Real Job: DNA and the Death Penalty

Although my response to Will Truman was inapt: I didn't mean to say that criminal defendants aren't constitutionally entitled to jury trials. I just think professional juries would satisfy that constitutional requirement.

"

I don't understand why the text of the Sixth Amendment was preclude professional juries.

"

Sounds about right to me, James.

Will, I think every defendant has a right to due process, but that doesn't necessarily entail trial by jury. If professional jurors are fairer and more effective, I don't see why your rights would be violated by having them adjudicate your trial.

"

I'm surprised no one has ever seriously proposed the professionalization of jury service.The idea of being judged by one's peers has a certain romantic appeal, but I'd rather be judged by people familiar with criminal law and basic forensic science. I suppose there's a possibility that professional jurors would be influenced by the same institutional mindset that creates overzealous prosecutors, but I think you could create a separate organization that instills an adversarial, truth-seeking ethos.

Alternatively, we could require high schools students to take jury duty seminars or institute some sort of national service program for basic jury training.

"

This is a sweet topic, but I'm really fiending for a Coming Apart symposium. Think you guys will get to that in the near future?

On “Koch v. Cato – Some Further Thoughts

John Hinderaker? Dear Lord.

I can't speak for everyone involved, but I've always thought Cato Unbound was an important inspiration for the League's model: Get a bunch of smart folks who disagree about an important issue in a room together and watch them go at it (civilly, of course). We're not exactly a buttoned-up policy journal, but the underlying principles are close enough. Anyway, Cato Unbound's lively existence is a credit to the mothership, and I'd hate to see you all lose that freewheeling intellectual environment.

Besides, is DC really starving for another conservative attack dog? As it stands, Cato seems to fill a pretty unique (and valuable) niche.

On “Friday Jukebox

Add another 10 points to your result on Murray's quiz.

On “No Points for Thinking of Richard Branson

I think folks may be misunderstanding the reasoning behind Murray's approach. I read his decision to exclude other ethnic groups as a way to reduce the number of external variables that could complicate his analysis. The white middle class he refers to doesn't have the historical/cultural baggage of other groups, so its social pathologies can't be attributed to outside factors like the legacy of discrimination/segregation etc

"

Could you persuade Murray to do a Cato Unbound symposium? Here's the question I'm interested in: Did these changes occur because of the welfare state, consumer capitalism, the decline of high-paying blue collar jobs, or some other factor(s)?

"

To be fair, this site attracts the sort of weirdos who would skew the results. And I mean that in the best way possible.

 

"

Right, because WASP connotes a specific ethno-religious background (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. The new elites aren't tied to a particular geographic or ethnic group - they're defined by shared cultural norms.

*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.

The commenter archive features may be temporarily disabled at times.