Plenty of good stuff to chew on my friend. You hit plenty of bullseyes though, whether by accident or design, you tend to avoid some of the stickiest areas of conservative governing overreach:
Bush Jr. and Cheney by any measure fit into the buckets of Stupid and Evil. They unleashed a completely unnecessary "pre-emptive" war with Iraq that caused untold misery and destruction for everyone involved, and we got NOTHING for it. To wit: "Between 280,771 - 315,190 have died from direct war related violence caused by the U.S., its allies, the Iraqi military and police, and opposition forces from the time of the invasion through March 2023." [Brown U.] This is a "conservative" death toll BTW, and other sources go far higher. And then there's the $1.9 trillion price tag...
But beyond those guys, for sure, there are plenty of areas that a reasonable Left of Center citizen (such as myself) would not categorize as stupid or evil, and merely strongly disagree with. How we tax, where we spend money, the best way to foster educated citizens, clean energy vs oil... Sure, those differences are that, and not evil. In the past I really respected the kind of Center-Right politicians we used to have in this country (sorry, Ron Paul need not apply). People like Mit Romney, John McCain, George Bush Sr. and plenty of others. We also used to have a lot more Center Left politicians that worked together with those guys too.
Too bad we don't have many of either left around, but at least in congress it doesn't seem like any of GOP can even be call "conservative" anymore. They aren't "conserving" much of anything, and almost every one of them signed on to validate a petty, stupid AND evil man who knowing sparked an insurrection. That fact just can't be danced around like it's "nothing."
And on the state level: we keep running into yet more government intrusion once any state finds itself in a GOP majority. Areas like banning abortions, despite every poll in American clearly indicating that a strong majority favor access at least out to 3 months if not more. This brand of the GOP would happily create a Christian theocracy, and many with say so. And I promise you, any Christian Conservative who says they "stand by Israel? They are NOT your friend. Surely you understand they just want to keep that ground open for (what they hope) are the imminent "End Days" of Jesus' Second Coming. They also like having Israel open for Christian tourism too...
So for sure- there are plenty classical Liberals still out here; it's just been harder and harder to find any classical conservatives lately.
Bush is the reason I became a libertarian, so you'll have little argument from me on the above. That said, Bush too is another Harvard/Yale product, with degrees earned from those institutions back when they meant something. The administration's goals in Iraq were not to kill people and burn treasure, they were at least expressly to establish a peaceful order in the midst of Arabia. What I'm trying to point to is the difference between the narrative of Bush being stupid and Cheney being evil, in contrast to the judgment about whether they actually were. My contention is that the former is being pushed by those with the power to do so because a serious contemplation of the latter would be more complicated than they would wish.
What Public just broke about the CTIL Files looks like an effort to sinoform the Anglosphere for no purpose except to create a permanent regime of progressive power that can destroy its enemies at will. I am struggling to see it as anything but diabolical. But even in that case apparently some of the lower-level actors really were just concerned about medical misinformation. https://public.substack.com/p/ctil-files-1-us-and-uk-military-contractors
We in fact only have one problem in this country, which is excess federal spending, and neither mainstream party has the slightest inclination to do anything about it. But that's beyond the scope of this blog probably.
Nice to see that Gérôme, by the way, sort of like a more masculine Bouguereau. If nothing else, they had eminently respectable technical skills, meaning they had something substantial to offer, as opposed to no such skills to speak of and little if anything else of substance.
As for Milei, he will get the Trump treatment, same as Bolsonaro did in Brazil, no matter what he does. He can hardly be worse than politicians still fixated on a demagogue and dictator from the mid 20th century, not to mention his flashy wife, dripping in haute couture, furs and jewels but "proletarian." Alas, Milei strikes me as potentially a male Evita, and what Argentina needs is a male Thatcher.
He has the advantages of embracing a true economics and knowing what he's up against. Also he's a Judeophile and recently announced his plans to convert. I'm rooting for him.
So am I, Franklin, but I'm afraid he will be subjected to impossibly high expectations for practically miraculous results, and he's got many decades of lousy government to undo. And I can tell you who won't be rooting for him: a certain Bergoglio who lives in Rome.
Franklin, senescent is a lovely word as such, but I would only use it for a once great or at least fine mind which has sadly deteriorated. That clearly does not apply to the person to whom you apply it, who was no better than a cheap political hack even in his "prime." Try senile, if not worse.
As for hebetudinous, that's a bit recherché, in my opinion. I'd have said dull-witted.
Shrub was stupid, but he felt good about it, and apparently he's felt increasingly better about it since leaving office. As for his father, Reagan was stupid to pick him as VP, or should have picked better. I don't care how patrician you supposedly are, let alone how entitled that makes you feel; I care about what you actually deliver--same as with artists who talk and pose but can't deliver the goods.
Present
Plenty of good stuff to chew on my friend. You hit plenty of bullseyes though, whether by accident or design, you tend to avoid some of the stickiest areas of conservative governing overreach:
Bush Jr. and Cheney by any measure fit into the buckets of Stupid and Evil. They unleashed a completely unnecessary "pre-emptive" war with Iraq that caused untold misery and destruction for everyone involved, and we got NOTHING for it. To wit: "Between 280,771 - 315,190 have died from direct war related violence caused by the U.S., its allies, the Iraqi military and police, and opposition forces from the time of the invasion through March 2023." [Brown U.] This is a "conservative" death toll BTW, and other sources go far higher. And then there's the $1.9 trillion price tag...
But beyond those guys, for sure, there are plenty of areas that a reasonable Left of Center citizen (such as myself) would not categorize as stupid or evil, and merely strongly disagree with. How we tax, where we spend money, the best way to foster educated citizens, clean energy vs oil... Sure, those differences are that, and not evil. In the past I really respected the kind of Center-Right politicians we used to have in this country (sorry, Ron Paul need not apply). People like Mit Romney, John McCain, George Bush Sr. and plenty of others. We also used to have a lot more Center Left politicians that worked together with those guys too.
Too bad we don't have many of either left around, but at least in congress it doesn't seem like any of GOP can even be call "conservative" anymore. They aren't "conserving" much of anything, and almost every one of them signed on to validate a petty, stupid AND evil man who knowing sparked an insurrection. That fact just can't be danced around like it's "nothing."
And on the state level: we keep running into yet more government intrusion once any state finds itself in a GOP majority. Areas like banning abortions, despite every poll in American clearly indicating that a strong majority favor access at least out to 3 months if not more. This brand of the GOP would happily create a Christian theocracy, and many with say so. And I promise you, any Christian Conservative who says they "stand by Israel? They are NOT your friend. Surely you understand they just want to keep that ground open for (what they hope) are the imminent "End Days" of Jesus' Second Coming. They also like having Israel open for Christian tourism too...
So for sure- there are plenty classical Liberals still out here; it's just been harder and harder to find any classical conservatives lately.
Bush is the reason I became a libertarian, so you'll have little argument from me on the above. That said, Bush too is another Harvard/Yale product, with degrees earned from those institutions back when they meant something. The administration's goals in Iraq were not to kill people and burn treasure, they were at least expressly to establish a peaceful order in the midst of Arabia. What I'm trying to point to is the difference between the narrative of Bush being stupid and Cheney being evil, in contrast to the judgment about whether they actually were. My contention is that the former is being pushed by those with the power to do so because a serious contemplation of the latter would be more complicated than they would wish.
What Public just broke about the CTIL Files looks like an effort to sinoform the Anglosphere for no purpose except to create a permanent regime of progressive power that can destroy its enemies at will. I am struggling to see it as anything but diabolical. But even in that case apparently some of the lower-level actors really were just concerned about medical misinformation. https://public.substack.com/p/ctil-files-1-us-and-uk-military-contractors
We in fact only have one problem in this country, which is excess federal spending, and neither mainstream party has the slightest inclination to do anything about it. But that's beyond the scope of this blog probably.
Nice to see that Gérôme, by the way, sort of like a more masculine Bouguereau. If nothing else, they had eminently respectable technical skills, meaning they had something substantial to offer, as opposed to no such skills to speak of and little if anything else of substance.
As for Milei, he will get the Trump treatment, same as Bolsonaro did in Brazil, no matter what he does. He can hardly be worse than politicians still fixated on a demagogue and dictator from the mid 20th century, not to mention his flashy wife, dripping in haute couture, furs and jewels but "proletarian." Alas, Milei strikes me as potentially a male Evita, and what Argentina needs is a male Thatcher.
He has the advantages of embracing a true economics and knowing what he's up against. Also he's a Judeophile and recently announced his plans to convert. I'm rooting for him.
So am I, Franklin, but I'm afraid he will be subjected to impossibly high expectations for practically miraculous results, and he's got many decades of lousy government to undo. And I can tell you who won't be rooting for him: a certain Bergoglio who lives in Rome.
Franklin, senescent is a lovely word as such, but I would only use it for a once great or at least fine mind which has sadly deteriorated. That clearly does not apply to the person to whom you apply it, who was no better than a cheap political hack even in his "prime." Try senile, if not worse.
As for hebetudinous, that's a bit recherché, in my opinion. I'd have said dull-witted.
Shrub was stupid, but he felt good about it, and apparently he's felt increasingly better about it since leaving office. As for his father, Reagan was stupid to pick him as VP, or should have picked better. I don't care how patrician you supposedly are, let alone how entitled that makes you feel; I care about what you actually deliver--same as with artists who talk and pose but can't deliver the goods.