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progressive tyranny?

Last night’s concern troll, one “moops,” believes that we teabaggers are overstating what we have pointed out are tyrannical lurches from the left, both from progressives generally and Barack Obama specifically — though he refused to define what tyranny was, remaining content to tell us we couldn’t give a single example of Obama’s tyrannical behavior, having first of course bracketed out the standard dictionary definitions of tyranny as insufficient.

Moops, you see, knows what tyranny is. He just doesn’t care to share. And because we have not met his threshold for tyranny as he himself defines it for himself, it follows that Obama can’t be accused of tyranny. QED!

Leaving aside the circular reasoning — and leaving aside the fact that he accused us of not being able to name examples after having dismissed such examples as abuse of the appointments clause, “we can’t wait” as an attack on the separation of powers, the attack on religious liberty by HHS, an attempt to redefine the First Amendment to protect against offensive speech — I’d like you all to use this post as a kind of open thread for discussions and examples of the left’s move toward authoritarianism, no matter how they dress it up.

Just because Obama doesn’t wear a military uniform and speak to the masses from his balcony doesn’t mean he isn’t a wannabe-tyrant.

So lay out the case.

169 Replies to “progressive tyranny?”

  1. Squid says:

    “I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.

    And when Dear Leader decides you’ve made enough, He will take the rest from you, to spend on His programs that He has devised to help those of us among the rabble to live our lives as He envisions. Because while you might be smart enough to earn Too Much Money, you’re certainly not smart enough to know how to spend it.

  2. cranky-d says:

    Moops is going to ruin another keyboard when he sees that you’re giving him some attention again.

  3. Jeff G. says:

    It’s not him I’m meaning to give attention to, cranky-d. He’s just a useful idiot meant to launch a clarifying discussion.

  4. cranky-d says:

    I figured that, J.G., but he will see it differently. Not that it matters.

  5. cranky-d says:

    The GM bailout was an illegal act:

    The accompanying taxpayer bailout and nationalization, however, led to serious abuses, putting taxpayers at undue risk and undermining the rule of law.

    It did not follow normal bankruptcy procedures. Instead, it stole money from those who should have legally been paid first, and gave that money to the unions. This was at the insistence of Obama and his administration.

  6. cranky-d says:

    I forgot to mention that in a normal bankruptcy, all of those fat union contracts would have been voided, and GM could have negotiated new contracts that wouldn’t destroy their ability to make money.

  7. Ernst Schreiber says:

    We’re exactly where Friedrich Hayek thought we were going fifty-six years ago.

  8. Ernst Schreiber says:

    To say nothing about having to build cars nobody wants to buy cranky.

  9. dicentra says:

    And because we have not met his threshold for tyranny as he himself defines it for himself, it follows that Obama can’t be accused of tyranny. QED!

    The hockey-stick team continues to insist that none of their peers has debunked their “settled science” by insisting that anyone who debunks their data or methodologies is not a peer.

    #winning!

    Anyone who uses that type of reasoning should be taken out and horsewhipped forthwith. It’s unconscionable.

  10. Squid says:

    What do you call a leader who instructs his chief law enforcement officer to send rifles to drug lords in a neighboring, friendly country? What do you call a leader who instructs his chief law enforcement officer to break a number of federal laws to make this happen?

    Certainly you’d never call him a tyrant! I mean, breaking the law of the land in order to arm criminals for shits and giggles and political advantage? That’s really more of an authoritarian thing than a tyrannical one, right?

  11. palaeomerus says:

    EPA:

    1.) Carbon dioxide is a dangerous environmental toxin that is bad for life and any production of it must be estimated, regulated, and taxed as it interferes with imposition of an absolute geostasis. FUCK YOU KREB’S CYCLE! FUCK YOU RESPERATION! And FUCK YOU MOST OF ALL PHOTOSYNTHESIS BECAUSE YOU’RE CARBON BINDING INTO ENERGY SOURCES IS JUST A FORM OF ENABLING!

    2.) If you land gets wet, it is a wetland and shall be regulated as a wetland so FUCK YOUR CRACKED SAND, YOUR YUCCA, YOUR DRY BRITTLE BRUSH, AND ALL THOSE WILTED CACTUSES. You are a pristine estuary now. And that means your new garden shed is practically an act of genocide. $70,000 a day and a year in prison for every day it stays up (starting last April).

    Also, FUCK YOU PATRICK HENRY! THE REVOLUTION IS OFF! BURN YOUR GADSDEN FLAGS AND GET BACK TO BOARDING THOSE TROOPS AND BUYING THOSE PAPER STAMPS FOR THE GOOD OF THE COLONY. BECAUSE ALL OF THAT TYRANNY YOU WERE YOWLING ABOUT HAS UTTERLY FAILED THE WORLD FAMOUS MOOPS TEST. BOW YOUR HEAD, GET RID OF THAT STUPID TRICORN HAT, AND SUCK IT!

  12. William says:

    I still can’t get over the Keystone pipeline, but you’d think the dictator-friendly soft news media, or Michelle’s “Let them eat acceptable proportions!” would be enough to at least form the shape of a clue.

    But, yes, a tyranny that’s a marriage of easy promises and lies NEVER exists. It’s only the “I want a throne of skulls!!!” tyrannies from movies that actually exist.

  13. Squid says:

    Your medical decisions will be constrained by Dear Leader’s tax department. Nothing to see here! Move along!

  14. dicentra says:

    Because while you might be smart enough to earn Too Much Money, you’re certainly not smart enough to know how to spend it.

    (a) You didn’t make that money because you’re smart; you amassed it unfairly

    (b) It doesn’t matter whether you’re smart enough to know how to spend it; what matters is that the proggs get to take it from you and do with it what they will. Because they’re proggs and you’re not.

  15. palaeomerus says:

    I typed most of that with my tiny dick.

  16. Squid says:

    Why do I have the feeling that a few years from now, as we’re protesting the administration’s new edicts against political speech and “scary” firearms, that he’ll say none of it can possibly be unconstitutional because it was all upheld by Obama’s Supreme Court?

  17. Dale Price says:

    Choosing which laws he will or will not defend–e.g., DOMA.

  18. cranky-d says:

    The Volt had been in development for years before Obama took office. I won’t pin that on him.

    I will pin that on Congress, though, because they made law that allowed emissions and mileage to be averaged over electric vehicles, thus providing a false incentive (not one driven by a profit motive) to creating them.

  19. OCBill says:

    I wanted to buy a brownie at the school bake sale, but all they had was carob-dipped cauliflower. I tried some, but that led to the reaffirmation of what I already knew, i.e. low flow toilets don’t get the job done. They really don’t. Fortunately, after a 30 minute shower using my restricted flow shower head, I was able to claim victory of the carobized cauliflower induced “mess”. Well, at least I think so because it’s a little hard to be sure when all I have is a 13-watt compact fluorescent light bulb as a light source, and the neighbors complained when I stood by the window to try to take advantage of the natural light.

  20. Squid says:

    But, President Obama cut them off. “My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks,” the president told them.

    Threatening businessmen who don’t want to kowtow to you? Not a tyrant!

  21. OCBill says:

    I blame Michelle.

  22. JD says:

    Which thread was “moops” flouncing and flitting about in?

  23. OCBill says:

    “We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.

    “That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,” he added

  24. Squid says:

    Obama said that he liked being surrounded by people who expressed strong opinions, but he also said, “I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.”

    Okay — not directly tyrannical, but certainly supportive of the required delusions of grandeur.

  25. palaeomerus says:

    the moops invasion landed HERE.

    https://proteinwisdom.com/?p=45359

  26. Squid says:

    It was yesterday’s Petraeus thread, JD. Although honestly, you could just go back and read any thread that’s ever been infected by some NPR-listening soi-disant “expert.”

  27. sdferr says:

    Schmitt and Ceaser — Reading Tocqueville in China:

    A good many 18th-century intellectuals wanted just this model for France. To them, the rational regime was enlightened despotism. The French, they thought, would accept such a system on the grounds that it met the modern test of “democratic” legitimacy: Under the banner of equality, political power would be wielded in the name of the people, if not by the people—a ruse well understood in the People’s Republic. As Tocqueville knew, this type of despotism might seem at first progressive and benevolent. Consider Thomas Friedman, writing about China today: “One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people . . . it can also have great advantages.”

  28. Squid says:

    Oh, how could I have forgotten? What do you call a leader who commits his armed forces to the destruction of a foreign head of state, without ever advising or seeking permission from the Legislative Branch?

    Certainly not a Tyrant!

  29. Blake says:

    The Long Gun Registry, clearly illegal, imposed via Executive Order on certain border gun shops.

  30. palaeomerus says:

    4NR lyrics

    I’m fat fingered!
    Check ’em and see!
    I gotta mean phalangeal radius of 1.3
    C”mon baby! Leave my typos alone.
    I’m fat fingered! Fat fingered!

  31. McGehee says:

    What do you call a leader who instructs his chief law enforcement officer to send rifles to drug lords in a neighboring, friendly country? What do you call a leader who instructs his chief law enforcement officer to break a number of federal laws to make this happen?

    “Mr. President.”

    Not as funny as it used to be.

  32. missfixit says:

    the EPA sending drones over “flyover country” to spy on ranchers’ cattle.

    Every single fucking stupidass website that Obama has put up for the purposes of “reporting your neighbors and family who might be saying wrong things about me”, #ATTACKWATCH

    #Julia – we are to be totally dependent on the government from cradle-to-the-grave

    I can’t really concentrate for the purposes of this thread since I’m making my second run to the store this week for #stockpilingrice

  33. Robb Allen says:

    I caution everyone about trying to point out the devil in red tights

    No, tyranny will not come to us in one, fell swoop. Instead of red tights and a pitchfork, tyranny will come to us in a dull gray suit, a $12 Supercuts hairstyle, and come across with all the banality of a quarterly meeting of dental hygienists.

    A tyrant wants to control everything him (or her) self. What Obama and the progressives are are dyed-in-the-wool collectivists which makes the direct reference to tyranny hard for many people to swallow. Sure, Obama has the cult of personality going, but I believe he would just as happily share the power of controlling others lives with a committee. Thus, you have a diffusion of responsibility, making it harder to think of any one person as the main cog in a giant machine.

    This is where people like moops gladly play along. They can easily point out that no one person nor one event comes close to ‘tyranny’, intentionally ignoring the cumulative effects. No one straw broke the camel’s back therefor no straw can ever do so.

  34. dicentra says:

    I believe he would just as happily share the power of controlling others lives with a committee

    Nope. He’s a malignant narcissist. They can’t bear the spotlight to fall on anyone but them.

  35. Squid says:

    What do you call a leader who refuses to enforce national borders or immigration laws, and then turns around and prosecutes any state that dares enforce those rules itself?

    Certainly not a tyrant!

  36. Kevin says:

    What is tyrannical to me is Obama’s use of executive orders and the EPA. If he can’t get a law passed by democratic means, he just sends in the EPA to accomplish it non-democratically. He’s certainly destroying the coal industry the way a tyrant, not an elected official, would.

    He uses executive orders more than the EPA to tyrannically go after oil producers.

    Obama sucks.

  37. Perhaps like Nixon said, it’s not illegal when the president does it.

    Perhaps Nixon is his role model.

  38. leigh says:

    Nixon is indeed his icon.

    OT: The One is in Staten Island. I await the stoning by the locals.

  39. Squid says:

    This is where people like moops gladly play along. They can easily point out that no one person nor one event comes close to ‘tyranny’, intentionally ignoring the cumulative effects.

    A motivational poster for moops and his ilk.

  40. Squid says:

    What sort of leader would outlaw resource extraction across the country, force it overseas, and then promise to punish any corporation that sends production or investment overseas?

    Definitely not a tyrant!

  41. Squid says:

    What would you call a leader who leaves two dozen of his administration’s officials defenseless in a foreign land, and responds to the deaths of four of them by blaming an innocent filmmaker in California and then jetting off to play golf in the desert?

    Not a tyrant!

  42. Libby says:

    A few more:
    Habit of publicly directing his anger on individual citizens, such as Rush Limbaugh, private jet owners, obscure filmmaker (he later hailed), etc.

    Obama’s creepy 2009 speech to school children piped directly into classrooms(glad that hasn’t been repeated – yet).

    Obama’s wife pressuring/bribing restaurants and food manufacturers to eliminate offerings of which she does not approve (e.g. BK no longer including fries in kids meals, Mars eliminating king size candy bars)

  43. Squid says:

    What kind of ruler would criticize a Supreme Court ruling upholding the people’s right to express their political opinions, calling it “devastating to the public interest” and an obstacle to his domestic agenda?

    Absolutely not a tyrant!

  44. Squid says:

    What sort of leader thwarts voter protection efforts by his rivals, yet condones and encourages actual voter fraud and intimidation by his allies?

    Not a tyrant! Oh, heavens no!

  45. Libby says:

    Replacing the presidential seal with his campaign “O” symbol on WH website and other media.

  46. Squid says:

    What kind of leader avoids the news media, refuses to answer questions about his administration and his policies, and instead spends his time with sympathetic television personalities who flatter him with compliments and easy, feel-good questions?

    Not a tyrant!

  47. geoffb says:

    With moops’ reading comprehension skills shown last night your title will be read without the “y” there. His argument will then move on from that view.

  48. Squid says:

    What do you call a leader who sells creepy Fascist posters on his campaign website? What do you call a leader who demands that you have a real name and address to buy said creepy posters, but will accept donations from any anonymous overseas cardholder?

    Did you say tyrant? Sorry — try again!

  49. Squid says:

    What do you call a leader whose budget proposals cannot garner a single vote in Congress, not even from members of his own party?

  50. Pablo says:

    “Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, ‘No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.’”*

  51. Blake says:

    How about a leader that unilaterally decides the “Welfare to Work” program should no longer be enforced?

  52. Squid says:

    Let’s suppose that you have a leader who campaigned on promises not to intrude on states’ legalization of marijuana, and then turned around and

    …unleashed an interagency cannabis crackdown that goes beyond anything seen under the Bush administration. The Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in 9 medical marijuana states, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments. Federal authorities have also seized property from landlords who rent space to growers, threatening them with prosecution, and authorities have even considered taking action against newspapers selling ad space to dispensaries.

    What would you call such a leader? An arbitrary, capricious authoritarian whose every promise carries an expiration date? A trampler of state and individual rights in the service of a corrupt federal law enforcement apparat? A charlatan, blathering pleasant-sounding tidbits to a shallow, easily-misled voting bloc in order to accrue ultimate power to himself?

    Hmmm… What do you call a leader who shows no respect for the law nor the wishes of the people? It’s on the tip of my tongue…

  53. Squid says:

    Oh, silly me. I forgot to include the link to my source material. I can’t tell you how hard I would cry if moops accused me of making unfounded assertions.

    Speaking of unfounded assertions — where do you suppose our would-be rabbi has gotten to today? I really regret not being glued to my computer last night to witness his brilliance live, and was sort of looking forward to engaging him this afternoon, in the hopes of glimpsing just the smallest sliver of his great wisdom. Unworthy as I am.

  54. Blake says:

    Anyone mention extra judicial killing of American citizens?

  55. William says:

    Squid, have we ever had anybody stay longer than a day? I don’t know if we shock them with knowledge or what, but our trolls are like fireworks. One quick burst and then nothing but smoke.

  56. Squid says:

    Dear Leader is the only judiciary that matters, Blake. Not that there’s anything tyrannical about that.

  57. Squid says:

    William, I tend to think of our trolls as infections, and we’re the immune system. Sometimes a particularly virulent one gives us a good fight, but most of them just fall apart and get excreted out.

  58. cranky-d says:

    Squid is really on a roll today. As Danger might say, “Keep firing!”

  59. William says:

    Haha! Awesome.

  60. cranky-d says:

    Sometimes a particularly virulent one gives us a good fight, but most of them just fall apart and get excreted out.

    Well, moop rhymes with poop, so it chose an appropriate name.

  61. Blake says:

    All Hail King Barack I!!

  62. BigBangHunter says:

    – Actually I would be willing to describe Bumblefuck as a “Rhinestone tyrant”, since its a bit difficult to conduct business as a full-up tyrant in a Democratic Republic, what with all those messy laws and that pain-in-the-ass Constitution thing, not to mention having to share power with two other arms of government.

    – Of course with a little manipulation of the high court, and some maneuvering in the Congress, he can ascend to a full tyranny with a bit of help from his Progressive friends.

    – So, with that in mind there’s hope yet for moops ‘not-a-tyrrany’ to be fully realized. To him I would highly advise he follow the old saw, be careful what you wish for, but the fact it even has to be said shows how totally unawares he seems to be in the potential for his own peril, much less to have enough insight to hear and understand any such advice. Dog whistle alert! QED.

  63. leigh says:

    I think of Jugears as a Dimestore Cowboy. He thinks having the trappings of the presidency entitles him to our respect.

    Think again, Jugears.

  64. RI Red says:

    Like JD, I missed last night’s l’affaire de Moops, so was not witness to its luminescence
    I hesitate to disclose my plebian lack of education, but who the heck is “Alex?” And I kid you not, I’ve always thought that Jeff’s icon was a half-crazed Frodo. But then again, I think Pablo’s is either a Hobbit Hole or a giant eye-ball.

  65. McGehee says:

    Anyone mention extra judicial killing of American citizens?

    As in, more than were ordered, or did you leave out a hyphen somewhere? ;-)

  66. cranky-d says:

    Alex is from “A Clockwork Orange.”

  67. McGehee says:

    But then again, I think Pablo’s is either a Hobbit Hole or a giant eye-ball.

    Look! Up in the sky! It’s Pancake Bunny!

  68. BigBangHunter says:

    – I’ll take British films for 1000 Alex.

  69. leigh says:

    Alex is the main character in “A Clockwork Orange”, Red. Iconic work written in a kind of new-age slang (there is a reference dictionary in the back of the book) that was transformed into a movie by Stanley Kubrick and starred Malcolm MacDowell as ‘Alex’.

    The Alex character and his gang were a bunch of vicious toughs who ran roughshod over the city (London), raping, killing, doing drugs and listening to Classical Music.

    In the movie, they are costumed in sort of a diaper over their clothes and Alex wears a single false eyelash and a Derby hat. His catch phrase is “Welly welly well.”

    It’s creepy and pretty awesome. And Kubrick-y so long and odd.

  70. William says:

    I’m so disappointed in everyone. Not only do we have different opinions on why Obama’s such a disaster, but we might have passed a turing test!

    As blind followers, we can do better.

  71. Matt says:

    *which makes the direct reference to tyranny hard for many people to swallow.*

    Forcing me to enter into a contract (to purchase insurance) against my will is completely tyrannical. One of the most important cornerstones of any free society is the ability to contract freely, as well as being immune from being coerced into signing a contract against one’s will. I thought that basic principle was going to be the death knell of Obamacare but apparently, John Roberts is a massive pussy when it comes to standing up for the Constitution. Seriously, after this election, my simmering contempt for Roberts has become an almost burning hatred, especially when my law firm has meetings where they give us a heads up about all the layoffs.

  72. RI Red says:

    Aha, I am now enlightened. Yep, leigh, read the book, saw the movie, got the t-shit. But it still looks like Frodo on crack. Yes, I suspect my eye-sight is as good as BBH’s.
    Pancake bunny. How long does a guy have to be here to get all the secret hand-shakes?! Geez.

  73. William says:

    I’m still terrified to look up the original William, RI Red.

  74. BigBangHunter says:

    – Actually Leigh, they wore cod pieces, ala the knights of yee olde days, with diaper like white coverings. the symbology apparently meant to convey the modern knights of the British counter-culture.

    In fact, like all such movements or cults, they were just cheap thugs looking to capitalize off weaker fellow citizens. (See: Post-modern Progressivism in the Americas, 1908 – 2012; ibid.)

  75. leigh says:

    Pancake bunny and ceiling cat (bh’s avatar) have been Internet memes for at least 10-15 years.

    You just need to get out more, Red. ; )

  76. leigh says:

    Thanks, BBH. I saw it when it first came out and like most Kubrick films, that was enough.

  77. RI Red says:

    Note to self: stop hanging out with the large cranium crowd.

  78. JHoward says:

    The GM bailout was an illegal act.

    The monetary system is an illegal act. The GM bailout was only its symptom, although it too was illegal.

    Of course, I may not be qualified to define illegal, so…

  79. Blake says:

    McGehee, umm, I’m claiming the “McGehee death to hyphens” rule.

  80. Blake says:

    JHoward, of course you’re not qualified to define what is illegal. All Hail King Barack I!!

  81. bh says:

    It might be worth noting that there were two editions of the book. The US edition doesn’t have the final chapter. I’ve always sorta liked pretending that the reformed Alex from A Clockwork Orange grows up to become Tristram Foxe from The Wanting Seed.

  82. William says:

    No, no. I’ll give you that one, JHoward. People need to understand all the roots of tyranny if they ever want to find ways to truly fight it.

  83. Libby says:

    “When I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf….”
    ——-
    “”I don’t sit around talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick.”

  84. happyfeet says:

    BE progressive!

    B

    E

    PROGRESSIVE!!

    gay marriage fuck yeah

  85. Scott Hinckley says:

    examples of the left’s move toward authoritarianism

    While maybe not outright tyranny, the ones that stick out the most for me:

    Banning 100 watt incandescent bulbs in favor of CFLs,
    Banning the use transfats in restaurants,
    Banning styrofoam cups and plastic bags (this week in Brookline, MA.),
    Making recess appointments when the Senate was not in recess.

    Progressives use to have the slogan about keeping the goverment out of their bedrooms, but they sure seem willing to invite them into every other room in their house.

    I can’t even talk about Fast and Furious – I get sputtering mad.

  86. Squid says:

    To be fair, Scott — some of your examples are local tyranny. I think moops would like us to focus on the Top Tyrant, lest he accuse us of changing the subject.

  87. RI Red says:

    More notes to self:
    Get more ironic icon or atavistic avatar.
    Read more Homer in original Greek.
    Don’t feel bad when you don’t understand what the other kids are saying. After all, you’re special, too.

  88. William says:

    He would accuse us of not defining the subject, than refusing to define it for us because we suck so much.

    You know, to be fair.

  89. Scott Hinckley says:

    That is true, Squid, but I can’t prod a national tyrant with a pitchfork. But there are several targets of opportunity at a local Board of Selectman/City Council meeting.

  90. Squid says:

    Yeah, the assertion that we didn’t understand his terms, coupled with his refusal to define those terms, was what marked him as a bad-faith concern troll from the outset. I will grant him full marks as a progressive troll, though. No matter how many times he was presented with evidence to the contrary, he carried on in the smug satisfaction of one who knows that his baseless assertions are just right. Because they are, is why.

  91. BigBangHunter says:

    – In other (real) news….

    – Hillary to testify sometime in next few weeks, Petraeus on hot seat tomorrow.

    – Hamas rockets hit TEL AVIV suburbs. Israeli’s call up 35,000 IDF reservists, continue ground operations in Gaza.

  92. Squid says:

    I should note that he was mighty quick to call us out on our unsupported assertions. A regular stickler for evidence he was, at least when it wasn’t he being examined.

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”
    “Wait right there! Where do you get off making such wild suppositions?!”

  93. McGehee says:

    I’m claiming the “McGehee death to hyphens” rule.

    Well, when I invoke the rule of dropping the hyphen, I also drop the space where the hyphen would have gone. One rulersmack for you: {{{WHAP!}}}

  94. Blake says:

    Squid, succinctly described as the “Goldilocks” defense by Mr. Patrick Chester.

  95. Jeff G. says:

    He should have taken the Foucault’s Pendulum / Gravity’s Rainbow hint, mentioned I believe before he’d arrived (or at least, before I realized he’d arrived), that the crowd here was likely not going to be fooled by bad literary criticism meant to suggest a breadth of knowledge where it was clear almost immediately only a spec exists.

    All hat, no cattle. And yet somehow still plenty of bullshit (shamelessly stolen from me, sometime earlier in the week on Twitter).

  96. McGehee says:

    the crowd here was likely not going to be fooled by bad literary criticism

    Which is why I don’t generally join in book talk. I read non-fiction to learn, and I read fiction to be entertained. On the latter I care about how the characters are portrayed, and overall storytelling — and beyond that really can’t offer anything worth discussing.

  97. happyfeet says:

    cattle are kinda overrated once a drought gets a good hold on you and don’t wanna let go

  98. RI Red says:

    (Running out of Note paper) – read Foucault’s Pendulum / Gravity’s Rainbow. Or find Clift Notes.

  99. The Cliff notes are probably longer than the novels.

  100. Ernst Schreiber says:

    The Alex avatar is an inside joke about Jeff’s reputed penchant for ultra-violence.

    Although personally I’ve never known him to rape anyone who wasn’t asking for it.

    figuratively speaking of course.

  101. Blake says:

    As an aside, anyone else notice Barack’s current Sandy photo op coincidentally coincides with Israel and Hamas going at it?

    Barack Obama is avoiding responsibility by faking responsibility.

  102. Willatty says:

    Hmm…BO directs DOJ and Their ICE minions to ignore the enforcement of federal immigration laws. When AZ steps up to the plate to try and hold back the hoards, per valid US law, he orders DOJ to sue the state.

    Tyranny much??

  103. RI Red says:

    Ernst, you’ve answered some “d’oh” moments for me. Which seem to be occurring with some frequency.

  104. BuddyPC says:

    Let it burn.

    Outlaw!

  105. leigh says:

    You can’t just bug out on us for months and expect to be up to speed in a few weeks, my feathered friend.

    The great thing about pw is all you have to do is ask and someone knows!

  106. BigBangHunter says:

    Yes, I suspect my eye-sight is as good as BBH’s.

    – Hey now, don’t knock it. Having to use the ‘touch method’ has it’s advamtages in certain circumstances. :)

  107. cranky-d says:

    Shorter Harry Reid: “I’m a huge dumbass.”

  108. Mike LaRoche says:

    As are the Nevadans who keep voting for him. This country is screwed.

  109. BigBangHunter says:

    “Last year, only three-tenths of 1 percent of people who lost their jobs were let go principally because of government regulation or intervention,” Reid said. “On the other hand, a quarter of them were laid off because of lack of business.”

    – Yes you fucking imbicile, because 56 million of them had already been laid off in the 3 previous years of your shit-for brains administration and ‘lack of business’ from your perfecto economic policies, so there’s hardly anyone left to lay off.

    – If someone stuck a straw in Reids ear and blew he would simply disindegrate in a pile of dust and bones. They’d have to get the Senate pages to sweep him up and pour him into a diplomatic pouch for mailing back to Vegas.

  110. RI Red says:

    Leigh, rest assured I lurk and read every day. Just can’t stick my head up out of the foxhole as much.

  111. BigBangHunter says:

    – Watched the State department presser on Cspan this afternoon, put on bu one of Hillary’s assistants, and its obvious they are completely hanging on for dear life. No clue as to what can be done, and zero leadership from Jug ears, who is busy with photo-op stops in NY, where hes getting his ass reamed a lot.

  112. newrouter says:

    i hope hillarity like the wine down under

  113. leigh says:

    Just teasing you, Red.

    Foxhole? That sounds like a risky endeavor for a rooster.

  114. missfixit says:

    so the layoffs were announced by my employer today – and I live to die another day. On the downside, half the salesforce in North America got pink slips.

    I think my favorite part of the last week has been watching all the lefty idiots on Twitter demanding that these businesses be boycotted as punishment for layoffs.

    lolllllll Shit on a cracker the stupid is just hanging out there for everyone to see.

  115. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Did your employer ask the Obama voters to volunteer to be laid off missfixit?

  116. leigh says:

    Congratulations on dodging a bullet, missfixit. It’ll give you more time to get your plans solidified.

  117. missfixit says:

    IF ONLY layoffs could be tied to party affiliation. Then at least the morons would have an actual reason to whine about it.

    Instead the basement warriors are screaming that Papa John’s should have no problem swallowing the losses, there’s no fucking reason for them to be letting go of employees dammit

    Does anyone else feel like they are walking around inside a Salvador Dali painting??

  118. Ernst Schreiber says:

    I for one would think they’d up and quit rather than work for a racist employer just trying to keep the half-brother Man down by driving unemployment up.

  119. newrouter says:

    demanding that these businesses be boycotted as punishment for layoffs.

    proggtards-“let’s boycott amerikkka”

  120. cranky-d says:

    If they boycotted Amerikkka by moving elsewhere that would be awesome.

  121. newrouter says:

    ot the siding peeps finished today 3 “mexicans” led by a “chinese” dude. they did a good job.

  122. Pablo says:

    Does anyone else feel like they are walking around inside a Salvador Dali painting??

    Sort of. But Dali never made me want to stock up on ammo.

  123. @PurpAv says:

    Tyrants scapegoat schmucks and put them in prison for making bad movies.

  124. missfixit says:

    Sort of. But Dali never made me want to stock up on ammo.

    speaking of which, thanks to the ppl on this blog and various gun conversations, I’m finally going to be getting the shotgun I want this weekend. Plus lots of ammo.

    But still. I feel like I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole…it’s hard to believe the stupid shit coming out of people who *appear* to have more than 3 synapses firing. I’m starting to believe in zombies too :(

  125. Blake says:

    missfixit, a Salvador Dali painting makes more sense than progressives.

  126. palaeomerus says:

    All we have to fear is fear itself. And Republicans. And Christians. And Whites. And Bush. And Rush Limbaugh. And Fox News. And Andrew Breitbart. And Israel. And Honduras kicking out their crooked president Zalaya. And bad ‘oil company’ scientists. And corporations and banks. And people who don’t want to pay their fair share. And corporate free speech. And those ungrateful weirdos in fly-over country. And right to work laws. And guns….

  127. newrouter says:

    to bad “fear” of sandra fluke doesn’t sell

  128. missfixit says:

    I had a lefty friend tell me (quite seriously) a couple of months ago that clearly the biggest threat to our nation is the fundamentalist Christians. Apparently they are far more dangerous than any jihadi or economic collapse.

    I assumed he wasn’t speaking about the Amish, but who knows? Those crazy barn-building horse-and-buggy creeps don’t use birth control – so maybe he’s right?

  129. leigh says:

    Your friend is confused. It’s fundamentalist democrats who are the biggest threat to our nation.

  130. newrouter says:

    Apparently they are far more dangerous than any jihadi

    let us just state the truth: baracky and co. are effin low level nazis. the last collaborator with the mb was hitler.
    “forward” “progressive” , “hate the jews” same feces different era.

  131. leigh says:

    Don’t you just love Al Yankovich? He’s a Cal Poly grad, too.

  132. JD says:

    Is anyone compiling a listing of all the greedy racists laying people off since the election?

    I bet we see a huge spike in 1099 employees in the near future.

  133. Blake says:

    JD, that and a lot of people will see their work weeks cut back. The 29 hour work week will become the norm, as will the 49 employee company.

  134. cranky-d says:

    I have no idea what song Al is parodying, but it’s still cool.

  135. leigh says:

    That’s a good one, Blake. I haven’t seen it before.

  136. Jeff G. says:

    My guess, cranky, is that he’s parodying “It’s All About the Benjamins”

  137. Darleen says:

    cranky-d

    it’s a parody of Coolio’s Gangsta Paradise

    which since I don’t follow rap would not have known at all except its the video for the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds

  138. leigh says:

    That’s Amish Paradise, Darleen, not “All About the Pentiums.”

    I think Jeff has that one right.

  139. cranky-d says:

    Thanks Jeff. I don’t know that song.

    I did know “Gangster’s Paradise” but I’m not sure where I heard it.

    I’m kinda out of touch with the kids.

  140. cranky-d says:

    I guess “Amish Paradise” is old enough that I saw it on VH1 or something, so I probably saw “Gangster’s Paradise” there too.

  141. Patrick Chester says:

    Back when VH1 showed music videos?

  142. cranky-d says:

    Yeah, it’s been a while.

  143. Ernst Schreiber says:

    thanks to the ppl on this blog and various gun conversations, I’m finally going to be getting the shotgun I want this weekend. Plus lots of ammo.

    I’d say something mildly ribald about short-stroking, but I wouldn’t want any high-brow lurkers to get the wrong impression about this place.

  144. Jeff G. says:

    Not “Gangster’s Paradise.” “Almost Paradise,” Mike Reno and the chick from Heart.

  145. cranky-d says:

    The skinny one or the fat one?

  146. StrangernFiction says:

    tyrant

  147. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Il Duce!

  148. Jeff G. says:

    At least, that’s what it should have been, had Weird Al not been so freakin’ weird.

  149. SDN says:

    Speaking of guns: looks like there’s another reason to get a good .22:

    Then in the 1990s the Russians noted that Chechen snipers were effectively using .22 LR (long rifle, them little bullets kids use to hunt squirrels and rabbits with) weapons. Inside towns and cities, the .22 LR sniper was very effective, especially since the Chechens would improvise a very workable silencer by putting a plastic bottle on the end of the rifle’s barrel, with a hole in the bottom of the bottle for the bullet to exit. Using a cheap scope, Chechen snipers were very deadly at ranges of less than a hundred meters. Such ranges were pretty common in built up areas. And since you usually did not hear the shot (to the head or face, of course), you had a hard time finding the shooter.

  150. BigBangHunter says:

    – Continuous fighting between Israeli’s and Hamas. Its on. Trading rockets around the clock. Israelis moving tanks and troops to the border. Egyptian PM to visit Gaza.Israelis to halt hostilities during viait.

  151. happyfeet says:

    we can’t really know for sure what’s happening in israel until Susan Rice briefs us Mr. Hunter

    you know that

  152. missfixit says:

    yup saw this coming. Another outright war against Israel – because who’s gonna do anything about it ?

    President Mom Jeans is busy talking tough and defending poor wittle Susan Rice.

  153. Blake says:

    An amusing story about Weird Al and his parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

    Evidently, and I think it’s attributed to Dave Grohl, when Weird Al did his parody, Grohl supposedly said something along the lines of “We knew we (Nirvana) had arrived when Weird Al wanted to do a parody.

  154. serr8d says:

    I missed miss moops. One of those formless halftwits from alicublog, I’m guessing.

    OT, but this new study on four distinct family cultures that shape America’s chillin. This one…

    The Faithful

    The Faithful (20 percent of American parents) adhere to a divine and timeless morality, handed down through Christianity, Judaism or Islam, giving them a strong sense of right and wrong. Understanding human nature as “basically sinful” and seeing moral decline in the larger society, including in the public schools, the Faithful seek to defend and multiply the traditional social and moral order by creating it within their homes and instilling it in their children, with support from their church community. Raising “children whose lives reflect God’s purpose” is a more important parenting goal than their children’s eventual happiness or career success.

    …is likely going away. And it’s difficult to teach virtue without some framework.

    The other three types? “Engaged Progressives”, “The Detached”, “American Dreamers”. Seems the ‘good guys’ are somewhat overwhelmed, as evidenced by the results of the recent re-election of the still-forming tyrant.

  155. missfixit says:

    The faithful will always exist. There is always a remnant.

  156. serr8d says:

    SDN, the .22 LR will feed the pot and protect your close perimeter. The .22 magnum round is better for both, but with a heckuva lot more report. I purchased the Kel-Tec PMR30, the .22WMR that holds 30 rounds in the grip. But, I’m disappointed in the groupings, so hunting with the thing isn’t optimal. That’s for the nice Ruger 10-22.

    But, 30 rounds INNA GRIP! Talk about laying down some suppression fire!

  157. Ernst Schreiber says:

    I’ve heard that the IDF started using Ruger 10/22s for riot control thinking it would be less hazardous (for them) than firing less-than-lethal munitions from close range, while still remaining less-than-lethal.

    It wasn’t.

  158. palaeomerus says:

    .22 is ‘less lethal’ that most other rounds, but not ‘less than lethal’. Especially when fired from a long gun barrel.

  159. Ernst Schreiber says:

    I think the idea was to be able to reach out and touch the guys at the back of the mob controlling things instead of just peppering the dumb yutes in front with bean-bags; get the leaders to call it a day by knocking them up the side of the head.

    Instead of knocking heads, they punched tickets.

  160. ThomasD says:

    I purchased the Kel-Tec PMR30, the .22WMR that holds 30 rounds in the grip. But, I’m disappointed in the groupings, so hunting with the thing isn’t optimal.

    I’m still jealous.

    But accuracy, or reliable lack thereof, is the primary reason the .22 magnum never caught on.

    You can try sorting your ammo by case length (note: not OAL), which can improve groups a touch in bolt rifles, but maybe not much in a semi pistol.

    Still, you got 30 rounds in that dang thing…

  161. geoffb says:

    Instead of knocking heads, they punched tickets.

    Feature, not bug, in my book.

  162. palaeomerus says:

    I wonder if that Keltec .22 pistol can be modified to have a long barrel and an arm stock. It seems like a good basis for a semi-auto carbine.

  163. Merovign says:

    The “I’m using word meanings differently and won’t accurately define the words I’m using” troll is one of the recurring trolls from the old days. Like 2007-08 or maybe even earlier.

    Don’t recall the usernames it used back then, more than one.

    It was very distinctive in that respect.

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