en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/6249095 Comments by adam6214 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/31/obamas-lies-will-continue-to-haunt-him-obamacare/#IDComment743117551 Obama is the scourge of America, the conduit of the desire for revenge of every group or individual that feels they have been marginalized or excluded in any way throughout our history. That's why even his health care plan, which for most leftists just involves giving some people other people's money, is primarily destructive. That a majority of Americans seem to desire this lashing (albeit, perhaps, more in the abstract than the concrete they are receiving now) indicates a far deeper sickness than the declining popularity of ay politician can cure. Fri, 1 Nov 2013 13:23:37 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/31/obamas-lies-will-continue-to-haunt-him-obamacare/#IDComment743117551 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/31/ted-cruz-and-rand-paul-father-problem-birther-racism/#IDComment743115844 An important function of this blog now seems to be R & D for smears to use against conservatives the Republican Party leaders, consultants and donors find inconvenient. Fri, 1 Nov 2013 13:17:35 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/31/ted-cruz-and-rand-paul-father-problem-birther-racism/#IDComment743115844 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736438658 That something has been done before with unsatisfactory results is no reason not to try it, among other options, under different conditions. Many states don't allow cross-endorsements; if enough people want it and push for it, more states will. Part of my program is to destroy the current duopoly, so it would be good to make such arguments against laws reinforcing the racket. Maybe there will even be opportunities for some left-right alliances along the way. Fri, 18 Oct 2013 01:34:36 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736438658 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736395056 Wreckers! Pravda couldn't have said it better. Thu, 17 Oct 2013 23:13:51 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736395056 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736394870 Such a party would have to persuade evangelicals that this is the best way of them to achieve their goals--I don't think it would be such a hard sell--whatever they have gotten from the feds has been chimerical. But the Republicans can't really be a federalist party, even if Reagan made some gestures in that direction--the are the original nationalist party and in many ways still are. It's hard to imagine them, for example, arguing for a less comprehensive reading of the 14th amendment, or for a genuine diversity of institutions across the states (perhaps even different policies towards immigrants, for example). Thu, 17 Oct 2013 23:13:11 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736394870 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736294057 I'll learn a lot more from a party that starts on the local and state levels and builds a case for federalism and explores the possibilities for subversion and defiance of federal dictates from the bottom up. It will be a good opportunity to learn from the left, who put a lot of effort into making it possible to run on separate lines. Begin small, with redder states, let Republicans compete for endorsements from the new party, and try to gradually displace them. Much better than trying to make a splash with a celebrity candidate for President. Make use of initiatives, promote some of Levin's proposed amendments. Learn from the left and create events--in our case, individual property owners expropriated by the EPA and other abuses. Canonize martyrs, create a outsider, rebellious image. People will figure it out. It's better than wrangling over whether the debt will go up 500 billion or a trillion. Thu, 17 Oct 2013 18:32:01 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736294057 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736251690 I think that by now those resisting same sex marriage and abortion would be very happy with reforms that remove these issues from the national stage, where a single Supreme Court decision can make them untouchable, to the states. And the libertarians and evangelicals can fight these issues out state by state--the evangelicals might get their way in South Carolina and the libertarians in Colorado. I think for both groups this would be far preferable to the status quo of nationalism and statism. And that addresses your point about coalitions, which are actually much less important for the Republicans than for the Democrats, where very specifically defined groups want very specific things from the government. Evangelicals and libertarians share the desire to be left alone, especially by the feds. Thu, 17 Oct 2013 16:35:53 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment736251690 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/cruzs-lack-of-surprise-is-surprising-shutdown/#IDComment735888291 Yes, it would have to be minimalist on foreign policy--you attack us we wipe out the governing class of your country, something along those lines. We are incapable of complexity right now Wed, 16 Oct 2013 23:38:15 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/cruzs-lack-of-surprise-is-surprising-shutdown/#IDComment735888291 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment735861149 The Republicans have never been a conservative party--they have just been tilted somewhat in that direction on occasion. And they never will be. Maybe people will start thinking along the lines of a new party: perhaps a radical federalism will unite Tea Partiers, Christians and evangelicals against the statists of both parties. And then consultant-pundit-incumbant complex can have their own party, with no one stopping them from dealing with the Democrats as much as they like. Wed, 16 Oct 2013 22:48:36 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/the-rights-epistemic-closure/#IDComment735861149 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/cruzs-lack-of-surprise-is-surprising-shutdown/#IDComment735858038 New party--conservative, constitutionalist, radical federalist. We'll see who can draw up a minimal platform that can bring in libertarians, Tea Partiers and evangelicals. Wed, 16 Oct 2013 22:43:25 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/cruzs-lack-of-surprise-is-surprising-shutdown/#IDComment735858038 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/is-the-shutdown-caucus-happy-now-boehner-cruz-lee/#IDComment735738473 Beck is right (he is taking this from the new book This Town by Mark Leibovich)--there are 3 parties--leftist, now dominant in the Democrat party; centrist, including establishment Republicans and the remaining "Blue Dogs" among the Dems; and conservative. Given the structure of American politics, it's likely that only two will survive--hopefully it will be conservative and left, so things can finally get settled; but, either way, let's clarify and find out. If there is no space in this country for conservatives, it's better to know that as soon as possible. Wed, 16 Oct 2013 18:26:58 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/16/is-the-shutdown-caucus-happy-now-boehner-cruz-lee/#IDComment735738473 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/playing-the-racism-card-in-the-shutdown-confederate-flag/#IDComment735275671 "As for Joe the plumber, I think he was trying to make a different point, that being that if we had a white republican president, (and he could have left out the "white"), the media would be doing their job, not cheerleading and covering for the president. Further, any criticism of a white republican president could not simply be dismissed as racist and thereby ignored." If this is true, Tobin is every bit as guilty of playing the race card as Simon or any liberal. That's exactly how the race card works--to send you into a panic so as to dump your allies and make sure that your speech and behavior conforms to the norms enforced by the leftmedia, without thinking about what you are doing. Tue, 15 Oct 2013 20:38:21 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/playing-the-racism-card-in-the-shutdown-confederate-flag/#IDComment735275671 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/playing-the-racism-card-in-the-shutdown-confederate-flag/#IDComment735255604 White guilt is the scourge of this country. Maybe Lincoln was right, and it will sink every last bit of wealth accrued through slavery and thereafter. Unless enough people have the courage to start turning it around and pointing out, consistently, even obsessively, how destructive white guilt is to its supposed beneficiaries, trapping the more vulnerable blacks in the nihilism that passes for moral innocence and making them prey to race hustlers and gangsters. Tue, 15 Oct 2013 19:45:45 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/playing-the-racism-card-in-the-shutdown-confederate-flag/#IDComment735255604 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment734673643 I can understand someone who believes that Medicare and Social Security are unlike other programs because they have been paid into by their future beneficiaries--after all, they are just believing the lies they have been told by the government for decades. Lies told repeatedly, by both political parties and the media, are readily believed. But if the government seems to be ready to continue to lie, and most people seem ready to believe those lies, and any politician who tries to tell the truth will be accused by all sides of wanting to slaughter old people and babies, it's hard to conclude that a reasonable solution is on the way. Once we all stop pontificating, in other words, we have some very deep contradictions built into liberal democracy and it's a fantasy to think a few well intentioned Rs and Ds will work it out. Do we spend 100$ for every 60$ (give or take a few) that the government takes in in taxes, or not? If yes, what difference does measuring the slightly greater or lesser increases over this or that 2 or 3 year period? The trajectory is clear. I see from one of your other comments that you think Obama would like to see a Republican Senate so they can finally get down to some bi-partisan, moderate deal making. You believe what you want, in other words; well, maybe we all do. But it is certainly not true that every party out of power claimed that the other was aiming at one party rule. With Adams and Jefferson the system was still very uncertain and unsettled, and revolutionary rhetoric still very much in the air. But since then, other than the Civil War period? I don't think so. But I'm happy to pare down my claim a little: Obama and today's Democrats are interested in nothing other than constant political warfare--they are bland, formulaic and distant when talking about policies or foreign affairs; they are white hot and totally engaged when selling some crazy smear against Republicans and conservatives. They may not see far enough ahead to have a plan for destroying their opposition once and for all, but it is true that injuring and humiliating that enemy (the one true enemy they recognize) is all they thirst for. Mon, 14 Oct 2013 14:41:13 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment734673643 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment734645232 I admired Christie when he was barking at public sector union leaders and leftist journalists; less so when he excoriated the Republicans in congress for balking at pork-laden "emergency" spending bills; even less so when he went out of his way to help Obama win re-election. That seems reasonable to me. I suppose you imagine Christie running as an independent candidate, or that the path to the nomination so brilliantly forged, first by Rudolph Guiliani (run on tough guy celebrity status outside of party opinion) and/or Jon Huntsman (run against the rubes, i.e., the vast majority of your own party, with media approval) will pan out this time. Maybe he'll get McCain's endorsement. Maybe his daughter, if he has one, will get a job with CNN Mon, 14 Oct 2013 13:26:57 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment734645232 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment734642726 So, there is a huge structural deficit since the 1960s. Because of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, for starters, right? And you don't think those programs are metastasizing because... there hasn't been much spending since the 2009 recession induced a rise (there hasn't been much spending since there was much spending. And no new recessions inducing rises on the horizon, right)? So, the recession induced rise was from 2009 until when--2011? So, your argument is that there hasn't been much rise for the last, what, year and a half? Really? And it is your contention that Obamacare will not lead to a vast new spending spree and expansion of regulation and bureaucracy? Why? Because that also hasn't happened so much since 2011? And I'm the one b.s.ing? Under normal conditions, Ryan would be exactly what we need. But conditions are not normal--we have a major political party, the Democrats, that sees a chance to bury its enemies once and for all and institute one party rule, even if the Republicans are kept around as a nominal, Washington Generals style opposition. This one party rule would be gangster rule, of which we are getting some taste with the administration"s behavior during the "shut down." You can wave bi-partisan plans in front of the bull all you want, it's still going to charge. Then what? Mon, 14 Oct 2013 13:20:14 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment734642726 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment733932145 "But at some point politicians are going to have to deliver on this, and I am pretty sure they will." It's amazing, and fascinating, that someone actually believes this. Compared to burack, the most radical tea partier is sober and ultra-cautious. It's a beautiful dream, though. Sun, 13 Oct 2013 00:49:47 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment733932145 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment733881862 When has the Tea Party ever argued for rolling back the welfare state? They have really been standing athwart history shouting "STOP" rather than "REVERSE COURSE." The conflict so far is between those who really want to stop the metastasization of the welfare state and those who just want to fund raise off of claiming to want that. And the reality is that it can't be stopped--its own inner logic requires growth--more clients, more bureaucrats, more regulation, more demonization of those who don't realize that the latest entitlement is a basic human right recognized from the Biblical period on. Entitlement reform is the equivalent of a video game for wonks like Paul Ryan--maybe devising increasingly complicated and baroque plans for a "Grand Bargain" will become a kind of art form, receiving NEA grants. So, a Republican party devoted to sticking its finger in the dike, as jbkburack would like, is doomed; but the Tea Party is itself only an alarm, and once (if) enough people wake up, there may be a politics that gets to work on the real task: building institutions that can survive the coming collapse of the welfare state. Sat, 12 Oct 2013 22:12:58 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment733881862 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment733397382 The Republican establishment would have liked to co-opt the Tea Party; having failed in that, they are set on destroying them. Time to start thinking about a third party, a constitutionalist/federalist one, that holds secession in reserve as a last resort. Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:27:42 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/11/why-ted-cruz-is-now-discredited/#IDComment733397382 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/08/obama-stumbles-despite-friendly-press/#IDComment731576903 It's good to see a Commentary writer recognizing the good sense, legitimacy and political potential of the approach the Republicans have taken to the "shut-down"/debt ceiling standoff. Tue, 8 Oct 2013 23:27:36 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/08/obama-stumbles-despite-friendly-press/#IDComment731576903