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July 15, 2008

Quick Roundup 343

By Gus Van Horn from Gus Van Horn,cross-posted by MetaBlog

Bull Moose? Bull Something, Anyway.

I agree with Andrew Dalton that putting the animated corpse of Theodore Roosevelt into office isn't such a great idea. But this news is really just gilding the lily.

Senator John McCain in a wide-ranging interview called for a government that is frugal but more active than many conservatives might prefer. He said government should play an important "those in America who cannot take care of themselves."

...

He also expressed a willingness to deploy government power and influence where free-market purists might hesitate to do so and to consider unleashing military force for moral reasons.


...

"I believe less governance is the best governance, and that government should not do what the free enterprise and private enterprise and individual entrepreneurship and the states can do, but I also believe there is a role for government." [minor edits]

Hah! Given what McCain -- who admits to knowing diddly squat about economics -- considers "free enterprise" (Page search "Cap and Trade".), I find his last sentence morbidly amusing.

Blizzard of Hatred

Myrhaf discusses the spewing forth of venom from the left following Tony Snow's death due to cancer.

If you ever heard Tony Snow do a radio talk show, you know he was one of the most sweet-natured hosts ever. He never mocked or insulted anyone. You might disagree with him, but any fair person would have to judge him as a genuinely nice guy.

I agree with that, and the appalling things that are being said about him say much more about the people saying them than about Tony Snow.

I wonder how many of these same people drive around with bumper stickers like the one pictured?

Emotions such as hatred reflect how one subconsciously evaluates the facts of reality based on his implicitly-held philosophical premises. Hatred, being merely the opposite of love, can be a psychologically healthy emotion. For example, if something or someone (e.g., a vandal) threatens or harms a passionately-held rational value (e.g., a favorite painting), it would be bizarre not to feel hatred. On the other hand, wishing someone sick with cancer had suffered simply because one disagrees with him is to open a window to a very dark soul indeed. I agree with Myrhaf on this:

The people capable of writing this stuff are totalitarians in waiting. Like the Bolsheviks and the Nazis, all judgment, all morality must report to their collectivist politics. If someone can wish more suffering on a political enemy who died of cancer, do you think he would bat an eye at consigning his enemies to concentration camps?

Such slogans as "Hate is not a family value," may appeal to some with legitimate worries about religious fundamentalism or bigotry, but they also serve to smear people who do not accept left-wing orthodoxy, a fact which, as Myrhaf indicates, excuses the worst nihilistic behavior. Disagreeing with the left is not the same thing as irrationally hating everyone different from oneself.

Can we say, "Projection"? I knew you could!

The Lighter Side

Dismuke discusses the work of a favorite cartoonist and has embedded an example of his work as a YouTube video at his blog. Not only is it worth watching, it's an advertisement! Brilliant! (Pun intended.)

Hmmm. They're finally noticing?

This is news?

Democrat Obama and Republican McCain agree on a range of issues that have divided the parties under Bush.

On immigration, faith-based social services, expanded government wiretapping, global warming and more, Obama and McCain have arrived at similar stances -- even as they have spent weeks trying to amplify the differences between them on other issues, such as healthcare and taxes.

Even on Iraq, a signature issue for both candidates, McCain and Obama have edged toward each other.

The result is that in many areas of policy, the general direction of the next White House seems already set, even if the details are not.

And that direction is away from freedom, as Kyle Haight once pointed out very well. I have already lost in this election.

I was about to make a flippant remark about how the only thing up for a vote this year is what color socialist we'd get, but I remain undecided for now on whether I'll vote for Obama or abstain. (Just to be completely clear: One can vote for a candidate without supporting him. If I vote for President this year, that is definitely what I'd be doing.)

-- CAV

Updates

Today: Several corrections in second section.

Originally posted by Gus Van Horn from Gus Van Horn, ReBlogged for Meta Blog

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