gdp's Comments

Commentary Magazine : Krauthammer On Things That Matter

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 16:50:02 +0000

I hope he writes a second book about the “beautiful, mysterious, profound or just odd.” He seems to write as well about these as politics; judging from his piece: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/279387/gon...

Commentary Magazine : Can the Obama Revival Succeed?

Thu, 17 Oct 2013 17:35:56 +0000

I don't understand all the hate language. I have never read anything Tobin or Wehner have written to imply a hatred of Cruz, Lee or anyone else. They just strongly disagree with their tactics. Can we keep it real here on Contentions!?

Commentary Magazine : Is the Shutdown Caucus Happy Now?

Wed, 16 Oct 2013 22:24:15 +0000

You can complain all you want that the Republican Party is not conservative enough, but that does no good. The proof is in the pudding. Look at how this turned out. Cruz et al took a stand. That is just great. If things were done sensibly, those RINOs, as you "true" conservatives like to call them, would have probably been able to kill the medical device tax, perhaps get a one year delay for individuals, and obtained other accommodations while retaining some of what middle of the roaders want to see in their politicians. A majority is what provides the chance to get you where you want to be. You don't like the current Republicans, bring in some you think more conservative, but don't sabotage a direction just to make a point.

Commentary Magazine : Is the Shutdown Caucus Happy Now?

Wed, 16 Oct 2013 19:21:17 +0000

The focus of ALL Conservative politicians should be to win future elections for themselves and to do what they can to help gain additional seats in the House, Senate and to gain the Presidency while providing as much pushback as possible to retain conservative ideals without defeating that primary purpose. I believe what Cruz et al did harmed that primary purpose and was mostly just a lashing out at a horrible situation. Republicans - ALL of them - must stay focused and not give in to hyperventilation towards a situation that is all too easy to hyperventilate about. Push back on it to the extent you can without hurting oneself. The country, I believe, will shift in the direction of Conservative values if Conservatives do not turn them off. Eventually, they will have to. It will happen sooner than later if Conservatives do not shoot themselves in the foot.

Commentary Magazine : Rand Paul and the War on Christians

Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:30:00 +0000

I have to say just this once that I am getting really tired of caveats such as the one in this post ... "The one Jewish state on the planet may have its faults ...". Sure, they have their faults. Just like every country in the World has its faults. Perhaps they have much less faults than most. Perhaps they have more. But given the tremendous strain under which they must operate due to their particular environment, there is that much more potential for "fault". Perhaps I am over-reacting a bit, but I think that this "caveat" need not be included nearly every time an overall, well-meaning post re Israel is drafted. I think these are added to provide a very mild subconscious appeasement to those that dislike or are on the fence re Israel, and it is wrong and unnecessary to add.

Commentary Magazine : Is Obama Winning the Shutdown?

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 18:20:35 +0000

Does this sound like an administration that would never have the IRS target Conservatives and conservative groups?

Commentary Magazine : The Age of Invective

Thu, 3 Oct 2013 18:18:34 +0000

I don't think it is improper discourse to point out that from what I have seen and read, it is predominantly the Democrats - both the politicians and pundits - that practice in demonization.

Commentary Magazine : Al-Qaeda’s Willing Idiots in the Media

Wed, 4 Sep 2013 17:02:49 +0000

A hearty amen to that. I would add "honor and integrity". Lawyerism It is a type of mental disease whereby it is most important to make a point or establish a narrative that is in tune with your general mindset and argue it against or ignore all other points of view; no matter how weak or illogical your point is and how strong or logical is your opponents. It also makes assertions against others that (I would say obviously) are overly stated, taken out of context or ignore an aspect of what was said. There are a multitude of examples. This behavior is what is destroying us.

Commentary Magazine : Why Tone in American Politics Matters

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 01:02:43 +0000

Sorry about the "Weiner" mispel - major faux paux.

Commentary Magazine : Why Tone in American Politics Matters

Sun, 11 Aug 2013 23:45:37 +0000

Well, sir, I would have to say that I think Mr. Weiner's position is a perfectly reasonable one as, frankly, I think to a lesser degree is yours. So long as it does not get too rancorous where everyone is yelling over each other and the loudest wins, I can see why someone might think being of a more aggressive style might provide better end results. I just think that Mr. Weiner's position of a more moderate decorum with a force of conviction a better prescription for results. I don't hear hate coming out of his post, merely sound criticism of a tone that he thinks the party should take. And notwithstanding the fact that some like to use the term RINO, all of us are trying to head in the same general direction on this side of the great divide. And as for Nixon - Bush, who knows whats what. To say he "lied"; don't you think this is a little extreme for such a thing?

Commentary Magazine : Why Tone in American Politics Matters

Fri, 9 Aug 2013 17:21:59 +0000

It sounds like you are the one with all the "hate".

Commentary Magazine : Don't Make Excuses for A-Rod

Tue, 6 Aug 2013 19:20:20 +0000

Your comment ... "There is really no excuse for a baseball player this gifted breaking the rules to gain an edge he didn’t really need." ... made me think of the bagel story in Freakonomics. When considering why the pay for a bagel honor system was violated most on the top, executive floor (i.e. many took a bagel but did not drop the dollar in the can), one rationale was that they are executives and too busy for such things. The other was that they felt entitled to the bagel due to their stature. But the last was that they are simply inherent cheaters and perhaps that is how many of them made it to the executive levels in the first place. Perhaps A-Rod is not so inherently gifted as you might think.

Commentary Magazine : Would Americans Release Terrorist Killers?

Sun, 28 Jul 2013 16:31:43 +0000

Kerry asked for this because Israel has demeaned itself in the past by doing this. Past actions have caused even the Americans to look down their nose at Israel. Anyone that would debase themselves in such a way - why not ask them to do this; and I might even get my picture in the paper as the great arbiter of the most difficult conflict in history, wieieee!!! If Israelis are wringing their hands at a lack of support from younger non-Israeli Jews, perhaps this is a factor.

Commentary Magazine : Back to Full-Time Racial Incitement

Mon, 15 Jul 2013 18:21:44 +0000

"Even though the evidence made a not-guilty verdict inevitable, his behavior was at best questionable and at worst irresponsible." Even you, Mr. Tobin, in trying to write a thoughtful, unbiased piece, have indeed included your own bias. The above description is certainly plausible, but from another perspective, Zimmerman could just be a guy tired of crime in his neighborhood who with all the right intentions went out to keep an eye on things for his family and his neighbors. He had a gun to protect himself in the event a worst-case situation were to arise. Nobody knows what was in Zimmerman's heart and mind, but certainly there it is a valid perspective that we should not all be a race of marshmallows that allow the bad effects of society to overtake us without pushback. This post is not to imply any good or bad in Zimmerman or Martin, just to try and point out that people's perspectives can take on all sizes and shapes.

Commentary Magazine : Snowden and the Transparency Trap

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:36:57 +0000

The people should be nervous about this type of surveillance even if George Washington or Thomas Jefferson was in Office. The people should be extremely nervous about this type of surveillance with the present administration in Office. But I do not think we have reached the point where we should trust our Fed Government so little that even without evidence that they have crossed the line, we should throw away a legal and necessary operation that helps prevent terrorist attacks when, at this time in history, there are perhaps Millions that would do anything at all to kill as many of us as they possibly could if they could, with the means potentially at their disposal to do so. That said, most definitely there should be extreme oversight on this type of activity.

Commentary Magazine : Holder Should Resign, but Obama Is the Problem

Fri, 31 May 2013 20:31:21 +0000

Obama may be able to sidestep, obfuscate, provide plausible deniability or otherwise make himself look relatively clean or clean enough with regard to all these "scandals", but he will never be able to avoid the fact that he has created an atmosphere and an administration of people that, for lack of a better word, are a bunch of Weiners; who themselves hire more Weiners.

Commentary Magazine : Stephen Hawking Signs Up to the Academic Boycott of Israel

Wed, 8 May 2013 18:43:43 +0000

It just goes to show you ... great intelligence does not translate in to great wisdom or the ability to block out bias formed by listening for too long to the chattering classes.

Commentary Magazine : How Today's Events Explain the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:34:07 +0000

Much of the world looks at the Palestinian's situation and think it must be Israel's fault. They cling to the lesser-reasoned arguments for why it is Israel's fault or point to a one-off incident here or there (without consideration of context), and dismiss, belittle or are unwilling to even consider the greater-reasoned arguments as to why their situation is their own fault. The reasons for this is; yes, at a minimum, a subtle form of anti-Semitism.

Commentary Magazine : Call it Terror? Of Course.

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:41:38 +0000

And my point is, who the hell cares. As you state, the probabilities point to the fact that this was most likely perpetrated by Islamists, although you do not state that as haughtily as I would state it. But regardless, if this event gives special rise to call out these evil, awful people for what they are, so what! Even if they did not happen to be the perpetrators in this one out of 100 of terrorist acts. They made their bed. If my thoughts turns their way any time an evil event occurs in the world, they caused that. Not me. I don't want to have to feel that way, but I don't want to ignore reality, either.

Commentary Magazine : Call it Terror? Of Course.

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:15:53 +0000

So, if you jump to the conclusion that this act stems from Islamist terrorism and it turns out that it was a disgruntled taxpayer, or some other home grown or foreign crazy, then we would owe a huge mea culpa and heartfelt apologies to all those Islamists out there. I for one am fine with jumping to a conclusion. Until the large majority of terrorism and chaos are not caused by Islamists, or until it starts to turn around and, perhaps, until we hear from many, many Muslim leaders full-throated condemnations of terrorists acts, with no "buts", then I will continue jump.