More From the Tinfoil-Hat Crowd

And we are left to consider a few things:

1. Has anyone, ever, been so enamored of possessives?
2. Is there any decent-sized group of people where most of them aren’t at least some of these things?
3. Environmentalists love the devil?
4. We’re pretty much toast in my house, since I’m a Mormon, a Democrat, an environmentalist, a sports nut, and several others.  My wife is a feminist and a loud-mouth woman.  She might also be a P.K., but it’s hard to say since I have no idea what that is.  We’ve got about a quarter of these covered just between the two of us.
5. Did anyone else think that the third-from-the-last one was somehow related to flatulence?  Just for a second?

Defining Terms

A thought occurred to me recently, listening to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin talk about this administration being variously socialist, fascist, nazi, and/or communist:

“These people don’t even know what those words mean.”

I’m serious.  I don’t think that they do.  They use them interchangeably, presumably to elicit an effect rather than to enlighten or give meaning to a debate.  So, just so we’re all on the same page:

Socialism refers to various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources.   It also refers to a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with an egalitarian method of compensation.  Note that the act of a government taking control of some industry does not make that government inherently socialist (governments the world over, for example, essentially control the education industry and are not necessarily socialist as a result); to be socialist, that government would have to have the view that widespread government ownership of the means of production was both advisable and necessary, and they would have to be committed to an egalitarian pay structure.  (The government does not hold the view that widespread government ownership of industries is advisable, and even in the microscopic percentage of industry that has been effectively nationalized, nobody’s talking about socialist compensation plans.)  It’s a nonsense charge.

Nazism was a form of National Socialism that added some abhorrent features — totalitarianism (meaning: the state recognizes no limits to its authority), anti-parliamentarianism, racism, eugenics, anti-communism, and (notably) anti-liberalism (both economic and political).  This is probably where the current charges against this administration really go through the looking glass: how can you refer to someone as both communist and Nazi?  How on earth is this administration less inclined to recognize limits to its authority than was the last (which, I think even its supporters will admit, was trying pretty hard to consolidate power in the Administrative Branch, and often succeeded in doing so?)  This is puzzling beyond belief.

Fascism refers to a “strong defeat the weak” philosophy that ultimately proposes the creation of a single-party state.  Again, this is an odd charge: not one proposal from anywhere in this administration has suggested that we’re better off without a Republican party, and it seems clear that while Democrats are not succeeding very well in getting on the same page with Republicans, they are actively making the attempt.  (Some would argue, in fact, that they’re trying too hard.)  Whenever a party (either one in the U.S.) has held a clear majority, the charge of fascism is nearly always leveled.  This is, of course, nonsense: unless the party is advocating the abolishment of competing parties, they are not fascist.  Put another way: winning doesn’t make you fascist.

Communism really just introduces (or refines) the idea of collectivism in the family of economic and political ideas that comprise socialism.  While the original ideas of communism were as democratic as you could imagine, communism as implemented in the Soviet Union and elsewhere came to represent totalitarianism.  Again, this is a really, really hard charge to level against this administration, if you have the slightest idea what the word means.  The tiny percentage of the means of production that is even glancingly owned by the government, even if the public option becomes available (remember: a public option doesn’t mean that the government controls one-sixth of the economy — it means that it has access to some nominal percentage of one-sixth of the economy), simply puts the lie to that charge.  The totalitarian element of communism is addressed above — also ridiculous.

And if you’re going to argue the “slippery slope” theory — that an increase in government control indicates a desire for even more government control, I’ll remind you that America’s all-time slippery slope (or domino, if you prefer) was Vietnam.  Remember how if it went to the Communists, they’d soon be knocking at your back door?  Then it went to the Communists.  And then… pretty much nothing.  You and I are still safe from the communist boogeyman.  And so is southeast Asia.  Incredibly often, supposed slippery slopes turn out to be remarkably adhesive.

The point is: if you actually understand the words, you also understand that no matter what your (reasonable) thoughts are on this administration, they do not apply.  Period.

I Don’t Know, Maybe This is Just Interesting to Me…

…but I have more college education than Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michelle Malkin combined.

I don’t point that out to suggest that I’m awesome or something, but rather to ask: why do y’all listen to these people like they’re prophets?  (Particularly with respect to Beck: I know lots of people I’ll listen to who didn’t graduate from college, but I don’t know anyone I’ll listen to who didn’t even attend college.)

Just sayin’.

And Yet You Wonder Why We’re Slipping

On Racism in the Current Debate

Look, I think that conservatives are mostly right: talking about racism being at the root of all the hubbub right now diverts our attention from the real matter at hand.  We shouldn’t be talking about whether or not this is racist sentiment when we should be talking about healthcare.

BUT…

Let me just say this, and I’ll only say it once, and then I’ll put it away: If any of the signs below were anywhere within fifty yards of me, and I were a conservative at a rally, the person holding it would get an earful.  This is not helping the cause, I’d say.  And a lot more.  I am less troubled by the stuff I’ll show below, than I am that people who claim to be normal people are letting it happen without absolutely going bats*** crazy at these folks, who are presumably outliers.  Note to conservatives:  If they’re outliers, then show me that you think they’re outliers by shouting them down the way you shout down regular folks at town hall meetings:

Write Your Own Headline

Back in the late 1990s Ira Katznelson, an eminent political scientist at Columbia, came to Harvard to deliver a guest lecture. Prof. Katznelson described a lunch he had with Irving Kristol during the first Bush administration.

The talk turned to William Kristol, then Dan Quayle’s chief of staff, and how he got his start in politics.

Irving recalled how he talked to his friend Harvey Mansfield at Harvard, who secured William a place there as both an undergrad and graduate student; how he talked to Pat Moynihan, then Nixon’s domestic policy adviser, and got William an internship at the White House; how he talked to friends at the RNC [Republican National Committee] and secured a job for William after he got his Harvard Ph.D.; and how he arranged with still more friends for William to teach at Penn and the Kennedy School of Government.

“With that, Prof. Katznelson recalled, he then asked Irving what he thought of affirmative action. ‘I oppose it,’ Irving replied. ‘It subverts meritocracy.’ “

Saw This Online and Loved it

With apologies: I don’t know the source:

The Teabagger Socialist-Free Purity Pledge

I, ________________________________, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of a socialism-free society and heretofore pledge my word that I shall strictly adhere to the following:

I will complain about the destruction of 1st Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights.

I will complain about the destruction of my 2ndAmendment Rights in this country, while I am duly  being allowed to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights by legally but brazenly brandishing unconcealed firearms in public.

I will foreswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls.

Also:

I pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:

• Social Security
• Medicare/Medicaid
• State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)
• Police, Fire, and Emergency Services
• US Postal Service
• Roads and Highways
• Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)
• The US Railway System
• Public Subways and Metro Systems
• Public Bus and Lightrail Systems
• Rest Areas on Highways
• Sidewalks
• All Government-Funded Local/State Projects (e.g., see Iowa 2009 federal senate appropriations–http://grassley.senate.gov/issues/upload/Master-Approps-73109.pdf)
• Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)
• Public and State Universities and Colleges
• Public Primary and Secondary Schools
• Sesame Street
• Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children
• Public Museums
• Libraries
• Public Parks and Beaches
• State and National Parks
• Public Zoos
• Unemployment Insurance
• Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services
• Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, State or Federal Government (pretty much all of them)
• Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)
• Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)
• Use of the internet, email, and networked computers, as the DoD’s ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking
• Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies
• Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies
• If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forego my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care

I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist locations, including but not limited to:

• Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History
• The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments
• The government-operated Statue of Liberty
• The Grand Canyon
• The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials
• The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery
• All other public-funded socialist sites, whether it be in my state or in Washington, DC

I will urge my Member of Congress and Senators to forego their government salary and government-provided healthcare.

I will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America.

I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.

I will protest socialist security departments such as the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Justice and their socialist employees.

Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.

Upon reaching age 65, I will forego Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.

SWORN ON A BIBLE AND SIGNED THIS DAY OF ____________ IN THE YEAR ______________.

___________________________ ___________________________

Signed Printed Name/Town and State

An Open Letter to Mitt Romney

An open letter

Governor Romney:

I am a citizen as concerned as any Tea Bagger, anywhere, but on a different topic: the potential for this political climate to produce violence.

I don’t know you, but I know that you’re a decent man, and I know that you aspire to leadership of the Republican party.  I’d like to invite you now to lead.

Lead your party away from the precipice.  The rhetoric is too vile, it is too much, and it’s mostly coming from your side.  People are showing up at presidential events carrying guns.  People are wearing shirts emblazoned with “Civil Liberty or Civil War.”  People are carrying signs that say, “The Second Amendment is in Place in Case the Politicians Ignore Us.”  I’m not kidding.  You can Google this stuff.

Look: you’re older than I am.  You can remember the sixties and early seventies.  Heck, you lived in Michigan during that time; you can remember.  You can’t possibly want us to revisit that.

Moreover, and I’m afraid to even say the names; I’m knocking on wood as I write this: John and Bobby Kennedy.  Martin Luther King.  Kent State students, George Moscone and Harvey Milk, and there are more.  When political rhetoric (on both sides) got too heated, people died.  You can’t want that.  I know that you don’t.

These horrible crimes typically happen because the perpetrator somehow believes he is doing a favor for the community.  That is why the rhetoric matters: if Barack Obama is de-humanized, he is fair game.  If he is a socialist, then he is the enemy.  If a Hitler mustache is drawn on his picture, then he isn’t worth protecting.  Words and images matter, and they must be civil or we are heading for a mess.

Our fellow Mormon, Glenn Beck, is not helping.  He’s fanning flames that will certainly burn someone.  Nobody who matters in the conservative media is helping, in fact.  And no conservative politician has stepped forward with any strength to tell people to calm down.

Let that be you.  Maybe it will help you grab the leadership of the party, but that shouldn’t be what concerns you.  You should do it because it’s right.  You should do it because… well, because that’s what leadership is.  It isn’t finding out where people want to go, and then running to the front of the pack — it’s guiding them to know where to go in the first place.

So, start talking.  Lead.  Explain to people that while you may not agree with President Obama, he is not a Nazi, he is not a socialist, he is not the anti-Christ (were you aware that a poll shows that 21% of Republicans either think he is, or indicate that they’re “not sure”?), he has no designs on concentration camps for anybody… and the list goes on.  Tell them he’s not that.  Go ahead and explain the ways that you disagree, but tell people that you disagree in a gentlemanly way.  Tell them that when you’re right, you don’t have to yell.  You explain your position, you listen to the other guy’s position, and the truth tends (over stretches of time) to win out.  There is nothing to fear.  Trust the truth.

Do it, Governor.  If not you, who?  And if nobody says it, what happens?  I think we both know, and I think neither one of us wants it.

Regards,

MFM

ACORN: What the…???

There are now four videos out there that show ACORN workers in various field offices offering advice to folks posing as a pimp and a prostitute as to how to run their (illegal) business.  FOUR VIDEOS.

And the give awesome advice: Take the money and bury it in tin cans in your backyard to hide it from the IRS.  Make sure you don’t give your 16-year-old Salvadoran prostitutes a W-2, or you’ll get nabbed.  By the way, I killed somebody once.  Great advice like that.

Now, I’m all for ACORN’s aims.  I am.  (ACORN stands for “Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now.”)  They’re all about voter registration, education for disadvantaged folks about how to work in our system, etc.  But this is just…too…much.

I realize that they have 400,000 employees, that they’re a rather loosely formed organization, etc.  But, one has to presume: these guys (and whether they did it legally or illegally just doesn’t matter, for this discussion) didn’t walk into thousands of field offices and find the four bad apples in the whole organization.  No, they randomly chose a few.  No doubt they were run out of a number of offices, but let’s say that they went four-for-two-hundred: isn’t that just NUTS?

ACORN, meanwhile, offers the worst defense ever: “this is a setup.”

Umm…sssssure…

This should be enough to crater the entire organization.  FOUR VIDEOS!!

Update: it appears that perhaps the fourth video is one in which the ACORN staffer is simply joking — playing with the players, if you will.  Doesn’t change my point: the other three are pretty darn bad all by themselves.