No Party of No
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
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About James Joyner
James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. Follow James on Twitter.
No to more government. No to infringements on rights, No to taxes to pay someone elses way. No to abortion. No to socialism, No to Iran’s Nukes, No to Cap and Trade. No to trillion dollar budgets. No to communism. No to Obama.
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Heck, I’d settle for a “Standing Athwart History Yelling Stop!” party.
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One of the flaws of our modern democracy is the idea politicians have to do something, anything. Legislation is often unneeded and unwise yet the pols feel they have to show they are working. Stop it. We don’t need new laws every year, we don’t need to always be adding to the already bulging books of codes, ordinances, statutes, laws, rules, and regulations. In fact let’s repeal a good portion of what we have.
No is the missing word in legislation. We all know the bureaucrats have mastered the word no but now our elected representatives need to learn it. Just leave things alone and quit monkey fingering what makes the country run.
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In a democracy leaders have one primary responsibility: to create a functioning government. From my vantage in the broken state of California, where Dems and Repubs say “No!” to different things, I feel this keenly.
Sometimes “No!” is not enough.
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Odograph,
I would have been enough in California if “No.” was the answer to new spending, or even spending above the rate of inflation plus the rate of population growth.
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Should have known better when at the bottom of this post was the dreaded via Glenn Reynolds notation. But then, I for one trust Dr. Joyner to either tickle the fun bone with a bit of absurdity, or raise an occasional hackle as he explores the wonders of the conservative/libertarian mind.
Apparently this health care business is really grating our hosts soul. The link takes us to Pajamas Media TV, where Mr. Green, aka Vodkapundit, a fine looking fella in a pepper and salt turtle neck sweater, and a tight fitting 2 button gray jacket, has kindly put together a seven minute collage of TV snips for us to partake with our morning tomato juice.
If you have ever wondered about the intellectual capacity of the Hard Right’s foot soldiers, this video collage should increase your sense of wonderment. The kindest critic is that it is unintelligible. But, the best chuckle comes from the money pitch, a bit further on down the web page. To wit:
Ah yes, the Black Beast of the Main Street Media ready to devour the innocent minds of the unwary. No wonder Mr. Green wishes to join the Party of No.
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In another forum I wrote:
(lark and Evan were opposing UC fee hikes.)
Now let’s look at Steve V’s comment to me:
Sure. If this were a different world then things would be different.
But in this real world, is “be like me!” really the rational answer?
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In R. Paul’s world there is apparently no Right, only the Hard Right. That’s really about all you need to know about his perspective.
I know Steven Green. If you think he’s Hard Right you need to recalibrate your political compass.
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oops. “Some critter” was a personality I was trying on for a few days. I didn’t like it. I think I may in fact abandon Odograph, but no disrespect to you all. I’m just looking, as I said in that insurance/facebook thread, for an honest pseudonym.
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Bear with me charles austin (November 24, 2009 | 03:46 pm), for I do believe I have confused you…
In my world, there is the Center Left, and the Center Right. We would both agree that the Center is a very narrow band of thinking. The Center Right thinking can be viewed as a sombrero of the Gaussian (Normal Distribution) Curve. Under the sombrero one can visualize narrow vertical bands, some depending on their rigidity of thinking, or ability to enter into productive discussion, I classify has “Hard Rightâ€.
For example, the fundamental Christian segment of the Center Right is easily classified as “Hard Rightâ€. Once an individual becomes convinced they are doing God’s work, a reasonable policy discussion cannot be held.
In a similar fashion, there is a segment of the Center Right whose primary form of political engagement is personal attack, what once got your ire up when I pointed out that woven into the DNA of the GOP was the politics of personal destruction.
I think that we would both agree that the scribes at Pajama Media are not known for exploring the nuances of policy, but are quite good at ridiculing those that do not agree with the world according to the Center Right.
If you can point me to one or two links were Steven Green discusses the GOP Health Care proposal pointing to its strength, weaknesses and how it addresses the rapacious nature of Insurance “providers†I will be ready to recalibrate my political compass. Until then his rant which so intrigued Dr. Joyner speaks for itself.
Psst 1#: I happen to believe that the primary function of government is to ensure the well being of its citizens. Does that make me a liberal, a populist, a socialist, or a communist? One thing for sure, it does not make a conservative, or (gasp) a libertarian!!!
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Clubed with own poop by troll?:)
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No, I do not need to bear with you, your pretentiousness or condescension. Have a nice life.
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Oh, the maturity!
I mean, not even trying to hide the bad faith anymore? Just coming out and admitting it, nay, celebrating it. Oh yeah, real mature.
PS. Thanks for the Glenn Reynolds update. I keep waiting for him to go Galt, but I never have the stomach to check. Glad to see he STILL has all the integrity of a popsicle on a hot day.
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It’s more like, with a keyboard and a cup of coffee in front of me, I’m too-tempted to type what I think. Me and six billion other monkeys.
I’ve been playing with the combination of a Google email, a iGoogle start page, Google Docs, and Blogger (google) account for posting what interests me. It’s nice because it’s all free and single sign-in.
I think it’s important to keep that public account separate, both for privacy and so that the serious account, the one used with banks and brokers, is never seen.
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“”I happen to believe that the primary function of government is to ensure the well being of its citizens.”"
“”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"
The only label that applies here is “wrong”.
In this noble experiment , it is the primary responsibility of the individual to ensure his own well being, and that of his family.It is the primary function of government to provide a safe and level playing field for citizens to do just that.
BTW; Can a reasonable policy discussion be held with a “Hard Left” adherent who sees himself as doing the devil’s work?;)
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What a droll fellow you are, charles austin (November 25, 2009 | 01:39 am). I would never have guessed that after skewering me between pretentiousness and condescension you would wish me a nice life.
I do not know what precisely has upset you to the point that you wish to share your psychoanalysis of my writing with the blogosphere. Please accept my apologies for any transgressions on my part. Lord knows there are enough angry folks out there without my provoking you to join them…
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“I happen to believe that the primary function of government is to ensure the well being of its citizens.”
There was a funny scene in P.J. O’Rourke’s Eat the Rich where he visits (IIRC) Sweden’s Minister of Happiness.
I guess the interesting thing in that book is that despite O’Rourke’s position as Right-Humorist, Sweden comes off pretty well.
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lol,it’s all good bro,Just messing. If you want I’ll make you up a cool name, let me know.
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