tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11646250.post111653477689300088..comments2023-11-05T02:34:38.816-08:00Comments on The Ape Man: Josh Micah Marshall at his bestAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13829102073305209917noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11646250.post-1116868740090640112005-05-23T10:19:00.000-07:002005-05-23T10:19:00.000-07:00Very well. The floor is yours, Mr. Short. Please...Very well. The floor is yours, Mr. Short. Please explain.<BR/><BR/>EthridgeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11646250.post-1116863805625674682005-05-23T08:56:00.000-07:002005-05-23T08:56:00.000-07:00"The corporation thing is pretty fun, since no cor..."The corporation thing is pretty fun, since no corporation really has any power over people unless they give it to them by, at the very least, purchasing things from those corporations."<BR/><BR/>Wildly, wildly false. But this is the idea that underlies all "Big-L" Libertarianism.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13829102073305209917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11646250.post-1116859372021728422005-05-23T07:42:00.000-07:002005-05-23T07:42:00.000-07:00Well, a couple of things. First off, I do find th...Well, a couple of things. First off, I do find this whole filibuster removal effort to be <I>extremely</I> short-sighted. It feels very much like the people in power are angry that they won't get exactly everything they want, and are willing to throw away their ability to stop Democrats from doing the same thing in the future. Pretty damn stupid, although my feeling is that even if it doesn't happen now, it probably will in the future, by one side or the other. The nature of power suggests as much.<BR/><BR/>The corporation thing is pretty fun, since no corporation really has any power over people unless they give it to them by, at the very least, purchasing things from those corporations. Though I will freely admit, the US Congress (both parties guilty as hell when it suits their purposes) often passes laws to help coroporations perform certain business activities that they would not be able to do without special interest legislation. But again, both sides love special interest legislation when it fills the campaign coffers.<BR/><BR/>And although I'm not really the type of individual Adam is talking about, I would like to point out for the record that I've never voted Republican for President since I've been eligible to vote. Or Democrat. I tend to side with "fiscally conservative" Republicans on most things because they are the closest large political base that I remotely agree with. But I generally don't vote for major parties. For the very reason Adam mentions at the end of his comment. Doesn't get you anywhere.<BR/><BR/>EthridgeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11646250.post-1116594108592733132005-05-20T06:01:00.000-07:002005-05-20T06:01:00.000-07:00That would fit the Republican MO, so you may be ri...That would fit the Republican MO, so you may be right. It's funny, if you look at history over the last 20 years since the charismatic right wing has become an important force in GOP politics, the religious right never actually gets anything it wants. Gay rights continue to advance, interracial marriage has become completely commonplace, movies and television have more violent and sexual content than ever, etc. etc. The only thing that the Republicans have accomplished is to give multinational corporations more power over ordinary people's lives. But boy howdy, have they done a bang-up job of that.<BR/><BR/>Yet every election more and more of these folks show up at the polls and vote Republican. It's really quite a trick.<BR/><BR/>To be fair, you could say the same thing about the antiwar left, I guess. We vote for Democrats over and over, and all we get is war, war, war.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13829102073305209917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11646250.post-1116553125027903602005-05-19T18:38:00.000-07:002005-05-19T18:38:00.000-07:00I just heard that Frist has announced next Tuesday...I just heard that Frist has announced next Tuesday as zero hour. My gut instinct tells me tells me the filibuster is safe. I don't believe there are enough senators who will go along with the majority leader. Senators won't allow the senate to stop being the senate. <BR/><BR/>I think Frist has to walk that balance beam for the White House, who just wants to save face, so that he can preserve his own viability in '08. Lip service to the far right, but ultimately siding with the moderates. (At least I hope.)RBPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07339226158455827311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11646250.post-1116536519321937672005-05-19T14:01:00.000-07:002005-05-19T14:01:00.000-07:00Well, I actually don't think this will mean much o...Well, I actually don't think this will mean much one way or the other with the general electorate. But I think in terms of serious conservatives who pay attention to politics, this is going to alienate them. They're being played for chumps so transparently that it's going to be hard to swallow.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13829102073305209917noreply@blogger.com