Making Baby Jesus Cry

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Daniel Gross again, from last November:

• In decades past, increasing Republican dominance of the House and Senate would have meant more fiscal discipline. But Republicans increasingly dominate the states that are net drains on Federal taxes—the Southern and Great Plains states—while fading in the coastal states that produce a disproportionate share of federal revenue. (It's Republicans, not Democrats, who are sucking on the federal teat.) What Amity Shlaes quaintly identified in today's Financial Times as the "southern culture of tax cutting" has been married to the southern culture of failing to generate wealth and the southern culture of depending on federal largesse. The offspring is an unsightly deficit monster.

[Anne Elk]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Anyone else see what the FEMA director's background was when Bush appointed him to the job?

Yeah, a Greedy Partner.

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Perhaps a Venn Diagram would help you out here. Maybe Coltrane will whip one up for you.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Spanky
I said I have giving speeches around the country and found that people in rural areas have much stronger instincts against big government. This was going to lead to another point but people actually tried to say that this statement is not true. I say A=B and people say no A does not equal B.

I say judge them by their actions, not by their words -- or the words that you gave in a speech.

When I was in college, Betty Friedan spoke and mocked women of my generation for the attitude of "I'm not a feminist, but I want to be an astronaut." In other words, women who said that they hated feminism, based on a distorted idea of what feminism was, but whose actions showed that they were right at the heart of feminism and, in fact, that they were enormous beneficiaries of it.

People in rural red states demonstrate the same hypocrisy. "I'm anti-government, now where is my fucking farm subsidy, and how dare you close my national park."


P.S. If you can't see that this discussion has moved beyond what you originally said and whether what people are saying now is really directly responding to what you said then..... and if you can't see that having a discussion that is actually dynamic is a good thing.... then perhaps you should go back to talking about the deer.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
The facts that these folks are also voting to increase the size of the federal government, however, is hard to square with the alleged libertarian principles.

Article.

Original version has links. I believe that I posted or linked this article back in the day, and that I've previously posted updated information of the sort that he cites. (Primary source info, too.)

Why don't more people post articles like this? I hate the links. If you put the article on the page it is so much easier to understand the relation with what the person is posting and there is no flipping back and forth. Is there some sort of space issue I don't know about?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Spanky
1. Cite?

2. You lost me on this one.

3. It has garnered enough respect among the people to placed in charge of two branches of the Federal Government.

4. I can imagine. For an emotional, irrational, self-delusional, cretin like you, logic has got to be very disconcerting.

5. That is just a fringe benefit.

[/QUOTE]

1. Every single thing you've written.

2. I can imagine. For an delusional, egomaniacally self-assured drip like you, any joke other than one spoon fed into that literal little head of yours has got to be very confusing.

3. No. Its formed a voting bloc of self interested people like you (and me in 2000), rubes who don't know any better and regressive Jesus Cretins to back it. The self interested don't respect it - they're just riding along, laughing at all the money the rubes, Jesus Freaks and chickenhawks are giving them. Respect for the GOP? Who are you fucking kidding? No one's truly respected a politician of any stripe since Nixon. Maybe Reagan, but he was an anomaly.

4. See 2 above.

5. Leave her out of it.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Ty--we're going around and around in circles here.

But circles are fun.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Spanky
Why don't more people post articles like this? I hate the links. If you put the article on the page it is so much easier to understand the relation with what the person is posting and there is no flipping back and forth. Is there some sort of space issue I don't know about?

Copyright and netiquette, more than space.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
then perhaps you should go back to talking about the deer.

I thought people liked the deer.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Spanky
I thought people liked the deer.

Ty is anti-Deer. Discuss.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Spanky
I thought people liked the deer.

We did. Unfortunately, its allure inevitably fades, and it's harder to come up with a sequel (hi, Coltrane!) that captures the imagination in the same way.

But I have faith on your ability to put a new spin on it. I can see it now: Deer II: Goodbye, apricots, hello Department of Land Management -- this time, its for real. Please include lots of chase scenes and references to spent ammo and fleeing county officials.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Ty--we're going around and around in circles here. You say it's hard to square. I say, sure, if you're trying to square the circle. Looking for a bigger piece of a pie doesn't mean you think the pie should be made bigger. And of course they're going to vote for stuff when it means they get some money, even more so when it's their own money. Unless you eat at the same places on expense account and when it's your treat, you're just as consistent.

No, I said they're also voting to increase the size of the pie.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
Ty is anti-Deer. Discuss.

I just want to know whats going on with that 9 year old twist he's been oggling...

[Nut Case, Sensitive]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
Ty is anti-Deer. Discuss.

But Ty likes squirrels. Squirrels store nuts, and share them in lean times. Squirrels don't engage in wars. Squirrels like single acre zoning. And squirrels like to run all over Bushes and rip them apart.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield


1. Every single thing you've written.

Even the stuff about the apples?

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield 2. I can imagine. For an delusional, egomaniacally self-assured drip like you, any joke other than one spoon fed into that literal little head of yours has got to be very confusing.

How do you know my head is little?

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield 3. No. Its formed a voting bloc of self interested people like you (and me in 2000), rubes who don't know any better and regressive Jesus Cretins to back it. The self interested don't respect it - they're just riding along, laughing at all the money the rubes, Jesus Freaks and chickenhawks are giving them. Respect for the GOP? Who are you fucking kidding? No one's truly respected a politician of any stripe since Nixon. Maybe Reagan, but he was an anomaly.

I respect W. instincts on most issues, I respected Clinton's intellect and his judgement on many issues, I respected Bush I conduct of the Gulf war, I respect Carter as a person, I just think he made a bad president. I respect Ford. I guess that just makes me naive.

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield 4. See 2 above.

5. Leave her out of it.

why?