Mailvox: the voice of optimism

RC contends that the Tea Party is here to stay:

You are reading this the situation incorrectly.

The TEA Party will (in 2 more years) oust more elected officials (even TEA Partiers) who have not supported the core conservative principles! We are in it for the long run. If you believe true TEA Partiers will be co-opted once in power, you are wrong. They know they will get the boot!

Good governance will not occur in one election cycle. It will take 3 cycles to fully purge the deadwood.

As you can see, powerful, lifetime politicians are struggling as never before to retain their seats. Do you REALLY believe they want that battle very often? No way! Do you REALLY believe the GOP believes it is in a position superior to the TEA Party? No way. No Money! Partiers give direct to candidates–no longer only RNC. Sure, they raise money. But, we can raise more. Say our numbers grow to a mere 40 million (from the about 20 million today). If each contributes $100 for targeted campaign contributions, that gives $4 billion to support 1/2 the Congress and the presidential race. Works out to about $15 million per candidate (if averaged). If more is needed, we kick in an extra $100.

My guess is that the GOP is happy that the TEA Party came along. Also, they realize that the Partiers are not stupid. There are TEA Party strategy sessions all the time. Even though from ground up, we all want the same core principles defended. Woe be to those that stray! Voting nationwide with our checkbooks or credit cards (and in massive numbers) is nothing to sneeze at.

Also, look at the increase in numbers of precinct delegates, poll watchers, candidates, etc. Training sessions, bill reviews, rallies, marches, e-mails, phone calls, etc.
Cannot agree with you. The synergy is great. We will prevail in restoring the republic.

Our greatest advantage? Passion for what is right. We have it.

It sounds good. It’s not impossible. But it is nevertheless highly improbable. I don’t hear any powerful Republicans showing much concern of the Tea Party turning on them, and more to the point, I see a lot of signs that the Tea Party has already been co-opted. When establishment Republicans are talking about gradual change and bipartisan consolidation while neocons like Sarah Palin and Dana Loesch are hailed as Tea Party “leaders”, it doesn’t take a genius to see that what has happened time and time again to rebellious conservative grass roots organizations is already happening to the Tea Party.

That being said, there is one X factor that could lead to the Tea Party growing up to become a viable third party and that is the next wave of the depression now taking shape. Historically, American parties have formed around the issue of the banks; the Democratic party was originally the anti-banking party of Andrew Jackson and William Jennings Bryan while the Whigs and Republicans were pro-bank. But both modern parties have been wholly owned by the banking interests since Democrat Woodrow Wilson and a Democratic Congress pushed through the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. (The Ilk will note the counterpush at work.)

So, there is a clear political vaccuum which the Tea Party could profitably fill. And indeed, it was the reaction to the bank bailouts that originally inspired the first Tea Party reactions although that has rapidly been transformed into an incoherent, anti-spending-except-for-the greater-part-of-the-spending movement. If, and only if, the Tea Party gravitates towards a genuine anti-banking, anti-immigration, anti-Republican party and forces the two factions of the ruling party to merge de jure as well as de facto, it can reasonably hope to succeed and effect change. But as yet, I see few, if any, signs of that.

Whom the gods would destroy

Medea had nothing on the Minnesota Vikings. After that ludicrous collapse yesterday, they went and waived Randy Moss! Right, because he was the problem. Interestingly enough, Favre wasn’t the problem last night, the one underthrown ball to Percy Harvin that led to a fantastic interception by the Patriot rookie cornerback notwithstanding.

1. Childress blew another challenge. A week late doesn’t count, Chilly.
2. Going for it on fourth-and-goal was a reasonable call. Trying to run behind Loadholt instead of Hutchinson wasn’t.
3. Apparently we have never heard of “play-action” passes. Especially not when everyone in the stadium knows the ball is going to AD.
4. Asher Allen.
5. And again, Asher Allen. Is there any way Antoine Winfield doesn’t make that tackle on Wes Welker?
6. The Tarvaris Jackson Experiment still cannot play quarterback in the National Football League. I remember that signature, “lift up the ball high as the pocket collapses around you, then somehow manage to hold onto it as you get sacked” play. Nice to see he’s still got it.

Naturally, the solution to all of this was getting rid of the Hall of Fame wide receiver who commanded double and triple-teams all game. Childress has to go and he has to go now. He’s the only coach in the league capable of being outcoached by Mike Singletary. There’s no need for an interim coach, just let Brett Favre do it. It’s not like he could do any worse.

I kind of hope New England signs Moss. It would be a fitting conclusion to the madness.

Republican irrelevance

In which it is proved by the Republican House Majority Leader-to-be, Rep. John Boehner:

Why You Should Vote For Republicans

Americans are speaking out and demanding a new way forward in Washington. Republicans have listened and outlined a new governing agenda in the form of a Pledge to America focused on creating jobs, cutting spending and changing the way Washington does business.

A smaller government

At the core of the Pledge is an idea Washington just hasn’t tried before — that the path to recovery lies in making government smaller instead of making it bigger. To jump-start job creation, the economic uncertainty gripping small businesses has to be eliminated, and the spending binge in Washington has to be stopped.

The Pledge puts forth a clear plan to end the current uncertainty, starting with stopping all looming tax hikes so that small businesses can get back to creating jobs. This is followed by a blueprint for fiscal sanity that begins with cutting spending to pre-“stimulus,” pre-bailout levels, a move that will save taxpayers $100 billion in the first year alone.

Very well. Smaller government sounds good. Saving $100 billion in the first year alone sounds like a lot. Now, what was the federal budget in 2010? According to “A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America’s Promise” which is the Orwellian title for The United States Federal Budget for Fiscal Year 2010, the 2010 budget is $3.552 trillion. And according to the most recent estimate in July, the deficit alone is going to be $1.47 trillion instead of the $1.171 trillion originally forecast.

So, Republicans are going to cut 2.8% of the federal budget, or if you prefer, 6.8% of the federal budget deficit. In other words, if the nation were a car speeding towards a canyon at 70 miles per hour, the Republicans master plan for saving the passengers would be to slow the car down to 65.2 MPH! And let’s see if what Boehner’s plans are for addressing the four pressing issues I mentioned in today’s column:

1) The economy. He mentioned it. But repealing “the job-killing health care law and” replacing “it with common-sense reforms focused on lowering costs and protecting American jobs” is isn’t even going to begin solving the debt-deflation problem of $52 trillion in public and private debt.

2) The massive mortgage fraud. Nothing. I suspect the Republicans will come out on the side of the banks and sacrifice the rule of law for nothing. But who knows? Boehner didn’t mention it.

3) Immigration. Nothing, although there is just a hint of anti-Ricardian rhetoric detectable in the phrase “protecting American jobs”. Again, Republicans are more likely to be part of the problem than the solution here; Ronald Reagan was signed Ted Kennedy’s 1986 law.

4) The endless wars. Nothing. And they’re for it.

In conclusion, I see no reason not to vote Republican if it amuses you. They’re certainly not going to make things any worse than the Obama-Reid-Pelosi Democrats. So vote how thou wilt, because it will make no substantive difference in the material outcome of the nation’s fate.

IP is book burning

Jeffrey Tucker explains how IP reduces the store of human knowledge:

Last week, I had to haggle with an authors’ consortium in Britain concerning a 1946 text. The author had no children and he died before the copyright on the book expired. Someone swept in a renewed the thing, thereby taking it off the market. It hasn’t been in print for some 40 years. A paralegal helped me discover the owner, which turns out to be some scam operation that preys on people who want to reprint books. I asked to distribute the thing online. The consortium never seem to have heard of the internet. They wanted a fee for $1 per book with a contract that lasted 2 years and a limit on our sales. None of this works for us. So we said no. As a result, the book, which is not that mission critical, goes back to its eternal resting place, all because of “intellectual property” which is just so obviously a hoax and a violation of human rights.

This is only one of dozens of cases I’ve dealt with. And there are actually millions of books in this condition, effectively burned and destroyed by IP law.

The amount of human knowledge that is being lost to future generations thanks to IP law is really disturbing. Since scientage, or “the body of scientific knowledge” is one of the tripartite aspects of science, science fetishists who habitually fulminate about an incipient “new Dark Ages” should really spend a lot less time worrying that illiterate and innumerate children run the risk of not having TE(p)NS talked over their ignorant heads and a lot more about the disappearance of information that was published in the past. Lest you think there is nothing valuable to be learned from keeping the words of dead authors alive, consider the cost of this temporary loss of this insignificant tidbit of scientage.

WND column

No Change after Nov. 2

There is nothing surprising about the Republican tsunami that will rock Congress on Election Day. It was obvious given the parody of governance demonstrated by the Obama-Pelosi-Reid triumvirate of incompetence. I first predicted that the Republicans would reclaim the House, and quite possibly the Senate as well, back on July 14, long before the conventional wisdom otherwise known as Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight began suggesting that they might have a shot.

Now here is another prediction: The tea party is about to learn that its efforts to transform the Republican Party by working through it are doomed to failure. In fact, there is a reasonable chance that as soon as 2012, the tea party will go from the Republican Party’s most visible ally to its most vicious and implacable enemy.

I laughed, I did

It looks like the little mommmyblogger media whore got what she always wanted – TV!

Providing analysis and historical context will be ABC News contributors George Will, Cokie Roberts, Donna Brazile and Matthew Dowd. They will be joined by Ron Brownstein, Editorial Director for the National Journal Group and conservative commentator Dana Loesch.

Good for her, if that’s what she wants. But no wonder conservatives are so hapless. Look at their “opinion leaders”. I’d almost be tempted to watch, just to see the expression on George Will’s face when the mommyblogger makes one of her nonsensical attempts at a point.

VPFL Week 7

94 Greenfield Grizzlies(2-5)
74 Moundsview Meerkats (1-6)

84 RR Redbeards (3-4)
66 Winston Reverends (4-3)

92 Blackmouth Banksters (5-2)
78 Judean Rhyneauxs (4-3)

48 Valders Quixotes
44 Meigs Marauders

46 Bane Sidhe
39 MS Swamp Spartans

The Piranha of the Serengeti are looking simply woeful this year. Even when I finally managed to score some points, I got lit up by the nearly-as-woeful Grizzlies; who would have thought the worst two teams in the league would shoot it out. But while I can blame myself for trusting those who said Shonn Greene and Ryan Mathews were going to have big years – my first two draft picks in lieu of keepers – it’s just bad luck that has seen opposing teams score 520 points against me, 170 more than the Bane Sidhe so far. But these things should balance out over the course of the season, so even if I’m already out of the playoff hunt, I can still achieve respectability.

On the NFL front, why does Chilly insist on trying to talk smack with Belichick? Does he not have enough problems on his hands?

90% Democrat

That’s what Nate Silver says about the odds for Senate on October 29th. I suggested it would go Republican back on July 14th. Regardless, we’ll see what happens soon enough.

Senate: Republican chances of taking over the Senate are up a tick to 11 percent Saturday from 10 percent Friday.

Needless to say, with regards to the most important issues facing the nation, it doesn’t matter which of the ruling party’s two factions holds the legislative branch. Republicans are even more loyal to the banks than the bought-and-paid-for Democrats thanks to their ideological confusion of corporatism for capitalism. But speaking of my far-fetched predictions, here’s another very interesting poll.

“Half of Democrats Think Obama Should Face Primary. An AP-Knowledge Networks poll finds that 47% of Democrats think Presidential Obama should be challenged for the 2012 Democratic presidential nomination”

Time travel!

My own feeling is that time travel is rather less likely than a secret elite making use of advanced technology. Although apparently less advanced phone-wise than we are now; that mobile phone looks bigger than my Android device. Of course, this raises the question: if they had phones in 1928, what do they have now?

Mailvox: Jesus and war

LJ has his doubts:

Read your bit on Jesus and war. It is hard to believe Jesus would support all the death that War brings to innocent children. What would he say about our inability to put money into education for the poor. You are fooling yourself.

I’m always a little taken aback when people begin with a reasonable, if mistaken, point, and then go on to make asses of themselves by making baseless declarative statements about me. How am I fooling myself? And with regards to what? While everyone is certainly welcome to disagree with me, you have to either know nothing about me or be almost completely unfamiliar with this blog to believe that my opinions are formed on the same basis of that amorphous collection of vaguely remembered elementary school classes, parental biases, college lectures, personal insecurities, peer pressures, and emotional reactions that go into forming most people’s opinions.

Now, as to the subject in question, Jesus doesn’t speak much on war, but it is clear that he doesn’t regard it as the be-all and end-all of evil that most people today seem to consider it, except when the media and the White House have whipped them up into a frenzy of support for another round of long-distance bombing.

First, God Himself wages war against men. “You fear the sword, and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign LORD.” – Ezekiel 11:8.

Second, Jesus did not come to bring peace. “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” – Matthew 10:33

Third, Jesus intends to make serious war upon mankind in the future. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” – Revelation 19:11

Fourth, I’ve never seen any evidence that Jesus cares particularly about education, either for the poor or anyone else, to say nothing of any moral duty to pay for the education of poor children.

In conclusion, it would appear that LJ doesn’t know the Bible nor the first thing about what Jesus would say about anything. The efforts of the New Atheists notwithstanding, spouting an opinion in complete ignorance is unlikely to convince anyone of anything.