- Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara at Principled Perspectives argues against Hillary Clinton’s startling Pledge to Overturn the First Amendment. Makes me feel old, not noticing such an amazingly newsworthy pledge. Turns out she was talking about limits on undeclared and unlimited amounts of money in political ads. So I didn’t need to drop my teeth on the table after all. Mr. LaFerrara’s argument rests partly on the old assertion that money is free speech and partly on a new distinction – wealthy business interests are not buying influence at all. Only access. You know: friendly chats about policy.
- driftglass patiently points out that, no, Donald Trump is not the moral equivalent of North Korea’s weird hair dictator Kim Jong-un. He goes on to explain that Donald’s claims of a new, unprecedented movement are false. Said movement is very old, with clear precedents.
- At The Intersection of Madness and Reality Rippa reports as Van Jones speculates on what the reaction would have been if Donald Trump was black.
- At Crooks and Liars, Francis Langum (Blue Gal) points out the obvious – the efforts by CNN to maintain news balance by hiring Trump surrogates as journalists has backfired spectacularly.
- At The Moderate Voice David Robertson suggests that Donald Trump supporters have embraced political atheism.
- My friend T. Paine, at Saving Common Sense, takes a break from ugly political life and explores the actual beauty of nature. Seems a shame, dragging him back to his criticism of President Obama for working so hard to preserve some of that nature by affecting human generated climate change (“He was going to unite us all and even make the rising sea levels recede, if you will recall”).
- Vincent at A wayfarer’s Notes answers his alma’s questionaire on how his formal education enhanced aspects of his life, then appends a scathing review of the assumptions behind the questions. Two people you never want to tick off: Michelle Obama and Vincent.
- Glenn Geist takes the stage at Mad Mike’s America and compares what we fear with what actually threatens our lives and well being.
- James Wigderson explains that his column of 10 years has been dropped by the local paper. An instance of opinion suppression, perhaps? James is an honest man. He points out that the move was simply part of staff cutting motivated by nothing more than budget cuts. With any luck, we can hope his blogging will continue.
Sum of Fears, Money as Speech,
7 thoughts on “Sum of Fears, Money as Speech,
Donald as Kim, Black Like Trump”
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Anthropogenic climate change is as much a myth as is Hillary’s integrity. The climate does indeed appear to be changing, but the specific causes on a global basis seem to be more attributable to things like… well… the sun.
Indeed, I find it interesting to note that with all of the wiki-leaks of a myriad (more than two for our long missing friend John Myste) of Hillary’s emails, not a one seems to be regarding the topic of climate change. All other manner of domestic and international and political matters are topics of discussion in those leaked emails, but this “critical” issue is nowhere to be found. I suspect that this is because the matter is more politically-based than scientifically-based. Consequently, it is not of an urgent matter other than to scare more people into supporting the Democrat platform.
Regardless, it would appear that contrary to his rhetoric, Lord Obama, did not heal the earth nor make the ocean tides recede. I suspect that a wretch such as Hillary will have no more power over nature and beauty than did her predecessor.
Now, I am off to enjoy this fine autumn day while the country crumbles around us in chaos. Cheers to you, Mr. Deming, my friend!
The idea that we have no power over nature is frankly idiotic. Tearing down forests, releasing chemicals into rivers, and dumping plastic into the ocean can destroy entire ecosystems and cause lasting damage. We engage in weather modification with some success. A nuclear war would not only cause general surface destruction, but affect the average temperature of the planet, precipitation, the ozone layer, etc. Just because we can’t turn a dial to make it rain whenever and wherever we want or press a button to stop a hurricane doesn’t mean that we have no impact on our environment. Despite what people like Rush Limbaugh say, it is not at all absurd to suggest that, over the period of the last century or two, our technological developments and new behaviors have had an unintentional effect on certain elements of our environment that affect the climate. It’s just physics. We can question how much we have affected the climate, what impact the change will have on the planet in which areas and at what times, and what we can and should do about it regardless of the cause, but declaring it a myth just like that is not useful. Whether or not there are other factors behind the changes and whether or not a given politician believes in any of it or cares does not answer these questions.
Or, you know, we could just believe that it’s a big political conspiracy involving many scientists across many countries and blithely dismiss any change because “the climate has always changed!” If that passes for intellectualism among conservatives, then we are in a bad state indeed.
That’s right, TP. You and Trump got it all figured out. The Great Chinese Climate Change Hoax aint a foolin real Americans.
Fake American and ISIS founder “Lord Obama” aint got near as many disciples as “The Only One” Who Can Fix It All, the savior of civilization, the pussy-grabbin, Republican choice for president.
The Orange Savior’s cult awaits you. Just keep believing what he says, and join your fellow angry and self-righteous true believers. You all know who to hate, who to blame, what to believe. And it feels so good to believe you are right, you are enlightened, you have the answers.
And you know enough to not be fooled by that myth of so-called “greenhouse gasses”, and that dirty, deceitful, Global Conspiracy of Evil Climate Scientists.
You and Trump know what’s really going on. Beliefs matter. Beliefs are freedom from introspection. They cut the shackles of critical thinking.
This is what beliefs over facts looks like. This is what beliefs over science looks like. This is what a cult looks like.
They are your fellow travelers. Just close your eyes and believe hard enough. You’re almost there.
Have the courage to believe, and Make America Great Again.
Oh, I do indeed think that we can and have wreaked havoc on the environment in local and regional areas through our misuse and exploitation. I further agree that we need to be good stewards of our planet. And sure, a full out nuclear war would definitely affect the earth’s temperature.
That said, there are many scientists that disagree with the notion of anthropogenic climate change. Instead of discussing facts in a scientific debate; however, they are ridiculed and marginalized by the political class. Indeed there are certain jurisdictions that would like to punish those that deny climate change. So much for science seeking the truth. The fact that often times data is cherry-picked, manipulated, or outright fabricated to support the myth of global warming is denied and/or covered up by the proponents of it should be telling. Look at the leaked East Anglia emails to this matter. Even the founder of Green Peace left the organization he founded because he said it had become political and was run by agenda driven people rather than scientists.
We should and we must take care of our planet. Scaring people by telling them that we are the cause of climate change though simply is unprovable assertions that are largely promulgated by those that have a political agenda and nothing more.
Very often things require a political solution. I agree that we “should and we must take care of our planet.” How do we do that without a political solution and hence an accompanying political agenda?
Fair question, Jerry. In my opinion, we start by actually educating students as to the life and biological sciences. We explain the theory of anthropogenic climate change and the evidence for it, as well as the evidence against it. We empower our state governments to put SERIOUS punitive fines on corporations and individuals that knowingly or neglectfully pollute our water, air, and earth. Right now we simply place fines on them that are just considered a cost of doing business. We make it truly painful for those corporations or individuals that violate our laws. We also hold the EPA accountable when they pollute Colorado waterways etc. We encourage true journalism to expose abuses of this sort. We encourage our kids to put down the video game controllers and actually go outside and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. We will not inconvenience ourselves, let alone put ourselves at risk to protect the environment against ACTUAL abuses if we don’t teach our children to love it. We protect what we love. Further, insisting on man-caused global warming as fact when it is unproven only serves to undermine true conservation in favor of a political agenda.
Good plan, TP. All we need is the political will and the political agenda to accomplish it.