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[Ella Minnow Pea]

(since most other forums has a musings thread)

I really wish I could remember if I knew who Paul Ryan was when we were at Miami together. Could he have been president of the college republicans? Would he have listened to 97X? (Never-mind, according to his Facebook page, his favorite music is Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Metallica, Beethoven, Hank Williams, Jr., and more. He probably stuck to WEBN.)

[luisterpaul]

You know what would be awesome? If there was a way we could separate politics from the business of governing.

[euro60]

You know what would be awesome? If there was a way we could separate politics from the business of governing.

Ha! That's like saying "let's separate hamburgers from McDonald's" 

[luisterpaul]

You know what would be awesome? If there was a way we could separate politics from the business of governing.

Ha! That's like saying "let's separate hamburgers from McDonald's" 

Then McDonald's needs more vegetarian options on the menu.

[Zafer Kaya]

I've decided that libertarianism can be broken down into three axes of belief.  On a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being societal average:

1)  Conservative factor:  How much do I dislike government (in general or as a concept, not just the party/people currently in power)?
2)  Outsider factor:  How generally paranoid/hateful/anti-social/distrustful am I in general?  
3)  Hippie factor: How much do I truly embrace the concept that liberty means everyone does what they want, as opposed to just me and others like me even if I find it repugnant?

If #3 is not greater than #1 and #2, you can't consider yourself libertarian no matter how high you are in all the categories.  

If #1 and #3 are not both greater than 30, you can't consider yourself a libertarian.

I would classify myself as a 10/20/20 guy.  Which makes me too moderate to be a member of any party really, but as far as I can be classified it would be a very small "l" liberal with fairly strong libertarian sympathies.

Most politicians are surprisingly low in #2.  They would almost all be in deep negative numbers.  Even those with outwardly intolerant policies.  You can't get very far without it in politics.  

The amazing thing is that Ron Paul is like 99/99/100.  Which is actually pretty damn impressive.  It's unusual for a guy to be that paranoid/extremist.  Also rare to find someone who is that nutty but also that super-tolerant of people with differing views.  Which just makes him that much more nutty.  It's commendable in a lot of ways, but really rather scary in some others.  

He's a good guy to have around in the political landscape, but under no circumstances should he ever be allowed to lead the country.  That margin is just too close when you are flirting with the extremes the way he is.

[Zafer Kaya]

This explains so much:

Americans willfully ignorant on basic issues, resist any attempt to learn

Hopefully, that link is public.

[Buzzstein]

This explains so much:

Americans willfully ignorant on basic issues, resist any attempt to learn

Hopefully, that link is public.

Yeah, I can't say that's real surprising to me.

[Ella Minnow Pea]

Our governor announced this morning that she isn't running for re-election. This has just made for an interesting primary season. Our primary is May 8 - so not much time for those who decide to run. At least it means we'll only have 3.5 months of ads.

[va-vacious]

What!!! I missed that. Maybe Wicker will run!
She'd have been toast this go round.

[Ella Minnow Pea]

You know it's a bad sign if a democrat is booed at a UNC-CH basketball game.

[Zafer Kaya]

I think Ken Cuccinelli is going to be our next governor. 

Do you want to know how crazy he is?  This is how crazy he is.  I was on the hill today and I heard a bunch of crazy conservatives talking about how much they like Jan Brewer and how Santorum isn't conservative enough.  That's right.  Santorum is not conservative enough.  And then one guy was like "Well, at least we have Ken Cuccinelli."  And then the other three looked at him and shook their heads, and one said "Too crazy."  I swear this happened.

Now THAT is batshit crazy.

[daytime drinking]

I've decided that libertarianism can be broken down into three axes of belief.  On a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being societal average:

1)  Conservative factor:  How much do I dislike government (in general or as a concept, not just the party/people currently in power)?
2)  Outsider factor:  How generally paranoid/hateful/anti-social/distrustful am I in general?  
3)  Hippie factor: How much do I truly embrace the concept that liberty means everyone does what they want, as opposed to just me and others like me even if I find it repugnant?

If #3 is not greater than #1 and #2, you can't consider yourself libertarian no matter how high you are in all the categories.  

If #1 and #3 are not both greater than 30, you can't consider yourself a libertarian.

I would classify myself as a 10/20/20 guy.  Which makes me too moderate to be a member of any party really, but as far as I can be classified it would be a very small "l" liberal with fairly strong libertarian sympathies.

Most politicians are surprisingly low in #2.  They would almost all be in deep negative numbers.  Even those with outwardly intolerant policies.  You can't get very far without it in politics.  

The amazing thing is that Ron Paul is like 99/99/100.  Which is actually pretty damn impressive.  It's unusual for a guy to be that paranoid/extremist.  Also rare to find someone who is that nutty but also that super-tolerant of people with differing views.  Which just makes him that much more nutty.  It's commendable in a lot of ways, but really rather scary in some others.  

He's a good guy to have around in the political landscape, but under no circumstances should he ever be allowed to lead the country.  That margin is just too close when you are flirting with the extremes the way he is.

so, based upon your own criteria, you've decided that ron paul is whacky?  maybe you could clarify #2 for me.  in what terms are you talking?

[Zafer Kaya]

I think when you reach the point that you decide it's worth it to try and start a race war in the hopes of  blowing up society completely you are pretty high on the anti-social scale.  Either that, or you actually are racist in which case you are still pretty anti-social.

He has some pretty whacky conspiracy theories as well.  The guy hangs out with the John Birch Society and talks about the Trilateral Commission and New World Order and all that stuff.
 

[daytime drinking]

I think when you reach the point that you decide it's worth it to try and start a race war in the hopes of  blowing up society completely you are pretty high on the anti-social scale.  Either that, or you actually are racist in which case you are still pretty anti-social.

He has some pretty whacky conspiracy theories as well.  The guy hangs out with the John Birch Society and talks about the Trilateral Commission and New World Order and all that stuff.
 

a few questions.  to hold people accountable means invoking race wars?  what are some of these whacky conspiracy theories? 

[Zafer Kaya]

to hold people accountable means invoking race wars? 

Of course not.  Writing inflammatory racist newsletters and using white supremacy mailing lists to solicit donations as part of a "redneck outreach" strategy means invoking race wars.  And yes, Ron Paul knew all about that.