Thursday, June 09, 2016

Presumptuous Blogging: Things You Should Read (06/09/2016)

In the battle of Trump vs. Clinton, we all are losers.




Journalism has been dead for a while now.  All we're really doing is kicking the corpse when we notice things that are obviously wrong/biased.  Think about this: If you read a news story about a subject you know and see all of the errors they are making, why do you believe their stories on things about which you have less/no knowledge?


Journalism is just one source of information.  And it's as likely as anything else to be wrong. (or right)


David French is not running for President. Nor should he. By all accounts he's a decent man and politics is no longer an arena for decent people.


I don't think the Brexit will actually happen.  But if it does, it's going to be funny watching the hand-wringing that occurs. In the end though, much like Scottish independence, I think cooler heads should prevail.


Of course, all of that is independent of whether it SHOULD occur or not, and whether this is the last, best chance to drive a heart through the economic vampire that is the EU.


Why is it the OTHER side that is always mad? While petty political opinion-shares on the left, such as Blow, and on the right, such as Coulter, demonize the other side while happily ignoring the transgressions of their own?


This type of ends justifies the means thinking has given us The Bronzed Ego v. The Anointed One. In short, this is the election we deserve.  But not the one America needs.


Election season PSA: The worse the politician, the more 'fight' they think they have in them. Hillary Clinton is a serial fighter.  In her own mind at least.  To the rest of us she's a career opportunist who has never shied away from using her positions of power to make a fast buck.


That's not fighting, it's graft and payola.  Were she in the private sector she would be arrested.




The current state of comedy is dire. Comedy should, at times, offend. When it loses the ability to do that then it loses it's purpose in life.  Increasingly, comedians are becoming nothing more than boorish scolds (Amy Schumer) or just incredible pricks (Seth Rogan).


Were Carlin still around he'd slap the taste out of their mouths and then curse about it.


The FDA declares "war" on salt. Because the "war on fat" turned out to be oh so accurate in it's assumptions.  Also, 'fighting'.


Bad Political Ideas Never (EVER) Die. And while it might seem that the concept of "a basic income" was soundly defeated in Switzerland I guarantee you that some politician with an ego will eventually get it implemented somewhere.  Because people always want things they think are 'free' as long as their not immediately faced with the cost.


What passes for political leadership in Texas these days. From the Democrats anyway (Texas Republican aren't much better, just different). The sad thing is that the know-nothings of the 'netroots' will hold this idiot up as some kind of folk hero, just as they did with Wendy(?!?) Davis and the morons who fled to Ardmore for some light gambling and massages.


Yay political idiocy!


Political line, that happens to be true, of the week: Courtesy of Kevin D. Williamson:  "We are ruled by power mad buffoons."


Yup.




#ExGOP: The Shock of Disaffiliation. Jay Nordlinger, National Review - Honestly, severing ties with the party of Donald has not been all that much of a shock for me. The Republicans dug their own grave, it's time to lie in it for a while.  My only hope is that the Nation realizes the folly of progressive rule fairly quickly and the damage is limited to four years rather than eight.


Either way the country is going to survive. The American Experiment might not however. (or, it could already be dead)




The outrage of the enablers. It's funny when the enlightened set (this one was gifted a Pulitzer) discover things that other have been beating the drums on for years. It's even funnier when they used to characterize the opposition as the 'party of no' in attempts to be witty.


Houston is f____d. There's no other way to say it.


Demographics is Destiny! (Dammit!)  The hope being that the Republicans have finally nominated someone so foul that the stay-at-home Hispanic vote will finally get off its ass and back the people that financially well-off Caucasians want them to back.


This is just sad. Why get fired up like this about the ravings of lunatics?  Find a hobby, plant a tree, take up golf, do SOMETHING other than watch people with little idea about what they are talking about wax poetic. (No wait, I just asked you to stop reading this blog.  Don't do that)


Also, Gray Matters is officially Houston's Fainting Couch. That's not a good thing.


Think before you post. If you're not willing to accept the consequences for what you say online, then don't say it.  This young lady just got a lesson in that and I hope it sticks.


Too many Republicans train their guns on themselves. I planned to give this a full-on blog post, but I don't think I'll have the time. Let me just say this:


One of the biggest problems that Republicans have is that a large portion of their voters are ignorant about just how the political system works. The right media figured this out and pandered to them. The result is that workable, moderately conservative, legislation gets pilloried as being crafted by "RINO's" (a stupid, silly label that has no real meaning) and nothing gets done.  You do see the same thing on the left, to a lesser extent, but their dysfunction is often that they are just running out of other people's money to give away.


And finally.....




The so-called "sprawl tax" is not a tax. It's telling that the people who are running to the fainting couch over this are the same people who loudly advocate for raising actual taxes.


What this implies is that they are against choices, not taxation. Their sole-concern is control and they want to wrest it from you and force you to live a lifestyle that they prefer, for you, so that they can continue living the lifestyles that they have chosen for themselves.


This is progressive politics in a nutshell. It's insidious, dishonest, and they're starting to have trouble covering that messy fact up.