So how do we defend individual liberties such as a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body? Hope that the local sheriff is down with that?

My point is that his bill says to hell with the protections for individual negative liberty in the constitution in select cases (based on an attempt to cull the favor of certain religious persuasions) in favor of allowing a narrow group to impose their view of positive liberty.

[Edited on March 21, 2011 at 7:11 PM. Reason : x]

3/21/2011 7:10:38 PM

Quote :

"So how do we defend individual liberties such as a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body? Hope that the local sheriff is down with that?"

That's a sticky situation, since some people think the embryo itself has rights. That's how drug laws work in this country, though. In some states, you've got much more of a "right" to do what you want with your own body. I think liberty is at the heart of human progress - people are naturally attracted to environments where they are given the most freedom while also have access to their material desires. It's really no mystery, to me, that a state like California became a hub for innovation.

Quote :

"My point is that his bill says to hell with the protections for individual negative liberty in the constitution in select cases (based on an attempt to cull the favor of certain religious persuasions) in favor of allowing a narrow group to impose their view of positive liberty."

I'm not a huge fan of the bill, but the point really was to keep the government from making laws for or against same sex marriage. When you've got substantial number of social conservatives that wanted a constitutional ban on same sex marriage, I don't think this bill should have been seen as strictly "anti gay." It's more "anti federal legislation that has anything to do with marriage," which means when somehow the social conservatives take over, they're prohibited from making anti-gay laws.

Overarching point here: progressives should want federalism, because the political "tides" could change at any time on the federal level. The best course of action is to move to an area where there are like-minded people. There's a reason you don't hear anyone talking about wanting to move to Alabama.

3/21/2011 11:14:23 PM

^ I'm down with everything you said in that post.

But what do you say about freedoms that are prohibited by society but could potentially be protected by the Constitution? Should the government have a responsibility to legislate freedom if it is otherwise being denied? Or should that be determined socially/regionally without intervention by the government? This is where I find fault in libertarianism.

3/22/2011 1:21:35 AM

3/23/2011 6:35:54 PM

Quote :

"But what do you say about freedoms that are prohibited by society but could potentially be protected by the Constitution? Should the government have a responsibility to legislate freedom if it is otherwise being denied? Or should that be determined socially/regionally without intervention by the government? This is where I find fault in libertarianism."

If I'm understanding you, you're saying certain freedoms (like the government recognizing same sex marriage) could be protected by the Constitution. Yes, if we had a Congress, President, and Judicial branch that respected individual rights, that's true. The first step would be requiring states to recognize marriage at all. I don't think they should. I'm against the institution of marriage. That's not to say I'm against marriage (though, in some ways, I kind of am). A purely libertarian government (which is, in itself, an oxymoron) would allow any two consenting adults to have whatever relations they wish.

If I could, I'd probably rewrite the Constitution (and include a much bulkier bill of rights). We have to work with what we've got: an extremely corrupt system run by politicians that want to stay in power and bureaucrats that want to secure their positions.

3/23/2011 6:48:42 PM

Quote :

"Show me a picture [of Obama]," he says. "I've seen 14-year-old, I've seen 13-year-old. I haven't seen early pictures."

- Donald Trump, Republican candidate for president

Quote :

"I want him to show his birth certificate. There's something on that birth certificate that he doesn't like."

- Donald Trump, Republican candidate for president

3/24/2011 9:55:18 PM

So their angle is to run the people who say the nuttiest things? They aren't trying to make it hard on Obama so far...

3/25/2011 12:22:43 AM

Obama vs Assclown, decision 2012

3/25/2011 12:28:23 AM

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146792/Huckabee-Slight-Edge-Palin-Down-GOP-Preferences.aspx

Gallup recently released its polling numbers for March, taken in the 18th to 22nd range. Those who beat the margin of error:

Huckabee - 19
Romney - 15
Palin - 12
Gingrich - 10
Paul - 6
Bachmann - 5

They also did the numbers if Palin wasn't involved, and Huckabee's numbers went up the most. And if Huckabee isn't involved then Palin's numbers go up the most. And if they both stay out:

Quote :

"Romney Emerges if Huckabee, Palin Decline to Run If neither Huckabee nor Palin runs, Romney and Gingrich benefit most, with Romney holding a 22% to 16% edge over Gingrich. No other candidate would receive double-digit support under this scenario"

About 5 weeks until the GOP debates start.

3/25/2011 9:42:32 PM

A Republican governor not named Pawlenty is gonna step in and take the GOP nomination in a landslide. That's my prediction.

My last prediction about Trump isn't gonna work. Trump is crazier than I remembered.

[Edited on March 26, 2011 at 12:31 AM. Reason : 2]

3/26/2011 12:30:57 AM

Quote :

"Hours after declaring Sunday that he expects to be running for president within a month, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he's worried the United States could be “a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists,” in the foreseeable future, according to Politico."

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/28/gingrich-fears-atheist-country-dominated-by-radical-islamists/

A secular.

ATHEIST.

Country.

Dominated by radical Islamists.



I just facepalmed so hard I broke my glasses.

3/29/2011 1:28:41 PM

Also:

Quote :

"Trump fails to produce birth certificate Donald Trump made headlines earlier today when he provided what he said was a copy of his birth certificate -- but a quick check reveals it's actually not an official document. The paper that Trump released says "Jamaica Hospital" on top and lists the date and time of what he says was his birth to "Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Trump." The piece of paper has a seal at the bottom. But after several New York City-based readers contacted POLITICO's Maggie Haberman, her call to city officials revealed that an actual birth certificate, which is issued by the Department of Health, would have the agency's seal and also a signature of the city registrar - neither of which the Trump document has. Officials said the city Health Department is the "sole issuing authority" of official birth certificates in New York, and that the document would clearly say so, and "city officials said it's not an official document." It appears instead to be a hospital "certificate of birth," meaning the piece of paper the hospital gave to his family saying he was born. Such a document typically has the signature of the hospital administrator and the attending physician. Trump lawyer and advisor Michael Cohen didn't respond to Haberman's question about the document. Trump's mother, it should be noted, was born in Scotland, which is not part of the United States. His plane is registered in the Bahamas, also a foreign country. This fact pattern -- along with the wave of new questions surrounding what he claims is a birth certificate -- raises serious doubts about his eligibility to serve as President of the United States."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0311/Trump_fails_to_produce_birth_certificate.html

!!!!!

3/29/2011 1:31:43 PM

Quote :

"UPDATE: On a second attempt, Trump produces what appears to be a real one."

still funny tho

also ^^

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 3:23 PM. Reason : .]

3/29/2011 3:23:44 PM

Quote :

"Potential 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum said the "abortion culture" in America is to blame for the failing Social Security system."

oustsanding

3/30/2011 10:47:17 AM

That's like saying the cause of the housing market crash was buyers displaying too much personal responsibility.

3/30/2011 11:02:19 AM

In a gradeschool-level reasoning kind of way, it makes sense. Less babies now = less workers in the short future to pay for the pyramid scheme.

He's a duplicitous bastard though. "Social security is flawed, but if only we had 1/3 more people too pay for it it would work out."

3/30/2011 11:02:39 AM

^Even that fails though. I have to imagine having more teenage moms and the like would only drain the system more, rather than add into it.

3/30/2011 11:12:25 AM

Don't forget crime. I mean, you've read Freakonomics right?

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 11:45 AM. Reason : asdfasfdsa]

3/30/2011 11:25:38 AM

^^Exactly. We don't need more children with parent(s) that have no means to care for them.

3/30/2011 12:11:46 PM

Quote :

"Hours after declaring Sunday that he expects to be running for president within a month, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he's worried the United States could be “a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists,” in the foreseeable future, according to Politico."

holy buzzwords batman

there aren't enough facepalms in the world

3/30/2011 12:38:21 PM

I guess the line of thinking is like, sometimes pugs are so ugly that they're cute, except in this case its going to be we're so secular that we're muslim?

3/30/2011 12:52:33 PM

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2011/03/29

3/30/2011 1:44:08 PM

Quote :

""Potential 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum said the "abortion culture" in America is to blame for the failing Social Security system.""

Helps the crime rate though. (according to Freakonomics)

3/30/2011 1:52:26 PM

Quote :

"^^Exactly. We don't need more children with parent(s) that have no means to care for them."

This and Supplanter: he was referring specifically to Social Security, not welfare in general. Not defending the moron though. It's probably well known that I'm pro-choice.

Quote :

"I guess the line of thinking is like, sometimes pugs are so ugly that they're cute, except in this case its going to be we're so secular that we're muslim?"

He was talking to a church and including as many scary terms in one sentence to keep them nice and scared. Dirty secularlists trying to oppress their right to oppress women.

3/30/2011 2:27:08 PM

funny that there's more demand for the birth information of a non-candidate than the actual president. lol

3/30/2011 2:52:24 PM

WHOOOOSH.

3/30/2011 2:55:04 PM

I'm just saying, I'd like to see politico put the same pressure on Obama. Hey, Obama, why won't you release your college transcripts like everyone else did? Why won't you release your medical records, like everyone else did? Hey, Obama, why can't we see your college theses and projects?

3/30/2011 2:58:07 PM

You cant help but appreciate all the things Trump has been saying these past few days. His interviews on Kudlow and O'Reilly were pretty terrific.

I think he's a little bit too right wing to win the nomination but it's nice to have real discourse on issues and someone speaking their mind instead of using the John Kerry "just don't say or do anything and see how many people vote for you" approach.

It'll be interesting to see how much support he garners, I don't trust the guy for shit I think he'd sell out the American people every chance he gets for his own personal gain. But you gotta love his stance on some of the issues.

A bit too much of a warhawk for me but at least he's not a pussy like Obama.

4/3/2011 3:09:39 AM

^Trump is doing well

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/06/trump-scores-big/

Quote :

"According to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, "the Donald" and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tied for second place with support from 17 percent of likely Republican primary voters, falling behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 21 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin trailed with 11 percent and 10 percent respectively."

The order of support is:
Mitt Romney .......................21
Mike Huckabee ..................17
Donald Trump .....................17
Newt Gingrich .....................11
Sarah Palin ........................10

Pretty impressive to be doing so well against most of the top tier GOPs.

4/6/2011 10:57:09 PM

yeah i just dont see Romney winning this nomination.

He'll definitely be in the mix (top 2 or 3) and will be an initial leader but i feel like as candidates drop out he will have trouble picking up those votes and they will consolidate into someone that emerges to beat him.

I think its Trump honestly. He has a lot of momentum and name recognition. And he's not afraid to speak out which I think will win votes particularly in this primary.

Romney is too conservative of a persona I think to win this thing. He's old school in the "dont say anything controversial" approach but right now is the time to say things with conviction and be a no guff leader.

4/6/2011 11:12:18 PM

I think I speak for all of America when I say what we really need is a straight shooter. You know, a guy you could have a beer with.

4/7/2011 12:04:56 AM

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/09/santorum-takes-presidential-straw-poll-in-south-carolina/

Quote :

"Vote-rich and conservative, Greenville County plays a pivotal role in the South Carolina presidential primary, traditionally one of the first states to cast ballots in the presidential nomination process. Santorum, who arrived early at the convention and donned a Palmetto-patterned pink tie for the day, won the straw poll with 31 percent of the 431 votes cast. Finishing second was Gingrich, who took 14 percent. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and reality television star Donald Trump tied for third at seven percent. They were followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at six percent. Barbour tied for fifth with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who won five percent of the vote. Huckabee won another closely-watched straw poll in populous York County last weekend. Two other key South Carolina counties, Charleston and Lexington, will hold presidential straw polls next weekend."

4/9/2011 2:06:55 PM

None of the current repugnicans can beat Obama in '12.

4/9/2011 4:06:37 PM

^true, when you have Trump as a possiblity and ranked second in polls, the field is weeeeeeeeeeeeaaaak.

[Edited on April 9, 2011 at 4:25 PM. Reason : w]

4/9/2011 4:24:25 PM

Quote :

"Even before Gail Collins was with the New York Times, she has written nasty and derogatory articles about me. Actually, I have great respect for Ms. Collins in that she has survived so long with so little talent. Her storytelling ability and word usage (coming from me, who has written many bestsellers), is not at a very high level. More importantly, her facts are wrong! As far as her comments on the so-called “birther” issue, I don't need Ms. Collins's advice. There is a very large segment of our society who believe that Barack Obama, indeed, was not born in the United States. His grandmother from Kenya stated, on tape, that he was born in Kenya and she was there to watch the birth. His family in Honolulu is fighting over which hospital in Hawaii he was born in-they just don't know. He has not been able to produce a “birth certificate” but merely a totally unsigned “certificate of live birth”-which is totally different and of very little significance. Unlike a birth certificate, a certificate of live birth is very easy to obtain. Equally of importance, there are no records in Hawaii that a Barack Hussein Obama was born there-no bills, no doctors names, no nurses names, no registrations, no payments, etc. As far as the two notices placed in newspapers, many things could have happened, but some feel the grandparents put an ad in order to show that he was a citizen of the U.S. with all of the benefits thereto. Everybody, after all, and especially then, wanted to be a United States citizen. The term used by Ms. Collins-“birther”-is very derogatory and is meant in a derogatory way. Had this been George Bush or almost any other President or Presidential aspirant, they would never have been allowed to attain office, or would have been thrown out of office very quickly. For some reason, the press protects President Obama beyond anything or anyone I have ever seen. What they don't realize is that if he was not born in the United States, they would have uncovered the greatest "scam" in the history of our country. In other words, they would become the hottest writer since Watergate, or beyond. Open your eyes, Gail, there's at least a good chance that Barack Hussein Obama has made mincemeat out of our great and cherished Constitution! DONALD J. TRUMP New York, April 7, 2011 "

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/opinion/lweb08trump.html?_r=1

4/9/2011 8:18:19 PM

Quote :

"TRUMP: The grandparents put that [birth announcement] in [the newspaper] because obviously they want him to be a United States citizen because in those days, people were much more proud than they are today unfortunately for being a United States citizen. So they wanted him to be a citizen of the United States, for that purpose, and also for hospitalization, for welfare, for this, for that, for all the other assets you get from being a United States citizen. So there are a lot of very smart people who say that is routinely done and that was done by his grandparents. [...] CROWLEY: I will tell you we’ve checked with both these papers early on — not to the latest when you brought it back in the headlines — but the fact is that the hospitals reported this information to the papers, and the papers printed it. TRUMP: Who knows? You’re talking fifty years ago."

"This is a fact."
"Who knows? Anything could have happened!"

I don't know what's sadder, the fact that this is the basic Republican party strategy--and has been for some time--or the fact that it WORKS.

4/10/2011 7:58:28 PM

I think its 50/50 that he was born in the US,but I agree I dont like that this is the way politics goes.

Obama has done just about everything he possibly could do wrong over 2.5 miserable years in office, I just wish Americans cared enough about the real issues to focus on them instead.

4/10/2011 8:14:38 PM

"Romney takes first official step towards running for president"
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/11/romney-forms-presidential-exploratory-committee/

"Health care law anniversary puts Romney in spotlight"
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/11/health-care-law-anniversary-puts-romney-in-spotlight/

I'm sort of surprised that Romney picked the anniversary of RomneyCare to announce his formation of an exploratory committee.

4/11/2011 11:47:08 PM

Quote :

"As for foreign policy, Mr. Trump said he is “only interested in Libya if we take the oil,” and that if he were President, “I would not leave Iraq and let Iran take over the oil.” He remains sharply critical of the Chinese, asserting that as President, “I would tell China that you’re either going to shape up, or I’m going to tax you at 25% for all the products you send into this country.”"

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/04/11/trump-will-probably-run-as-independent-if-he-doesnt-win-gop-nomination/?mod=WSJBlog

4/12/2011 2:27:07 PM

lol. A shrewd businessman, perhaps, but not someone that should be in charge of policy.

4/12/2011 3:41:28 PM

The thing is that we both know that there are people out there who will clammer for this type of posturing. They developed this "Amurica, fuck yeah!" mentality from the Bush years and has been fostered by talk radio into believing that the government is and should be run like a business. While I agree that certain business practices should be applied, they are two very different entities and should be operated as such.

4/12/2011 4:00:02 PM

Damn - we are doomed...why can't the republicans come up with someone besides the same old names. Trump is the only thing that makes this election fun so far...& I'm not saying I want him as prez, but he is entertaining. Palin has no business running. God help us all...Obama will win again.

4/12/2011 4:21:39 PM

I'd say that a knowledge of what kind of environment allows and encourages entrepreneurship is pretty important, which is why career professors/bureaucrats/politicians are rarely qualified for office. In this instance, Trump is advocating use of force to secure natural resources (which I'm sure would be supported by many of our resident neo-cons), and protectionist tariffs. The former might be effective in lowering prices in the short-term, even if entirely immoral, while the former is guaranteed to be bad for most or all consumers.

4/12/2011 4:21:52 PM

lol @ Donald Trump

He's a JOKE! The man got is money from his millionaire Daddy and went broke running casinos...TWICE!

Who the fuck would want this aristocrat as president?

4/12/2011 7:39:15 PM

I still think O wins, but I would vote for Trump over O.

Trump has no shot at winning though, imo. Palin wont run, btw.

[Edited on April 12, 2011 at 11:02 PM. Reason : .]

4/12/2011 11:00:51 PM

Fuuuuuuuck. Looks like the GOP still doesn't get it.


Oh well, in that case, I hope they nominate Sarah Palin, and I hope she chooses Donald Trump as her running mate, and I hope they get buried twice as hard as Walter Mondale did. At least then maybe it would be a fucking learning experience for the party. Probably not, though.

4/12/2011 11:34:35 PM

Bachmann 2012!

4/13/2011 7:10:16 PM

Quote :

"2012 GOP Presidential Candidates Raised Taxes Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee, and other top Republican presidential contenders denounce Democrats as immoral tax hikers—but they oversaw dozens of tax hikes as governors facing deficits, writes Andrew Romano. The GOP's most promising 2012 presidential contenders—Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour, Mitch Daniels, and Mike Huckabee—have a lot in common. They are all white. They are all middle-aged. They were all governors at one point. And despite a shared tendency to denounce Democrats as inveterate, immoral tax hikers, they all have the exact same skeleton in their closet: a rather inconvenient history of raising taxes themselves. "

[Edited on April 20, 2011 at 5:46 PM. Reason : http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110419/ts_dailybeast/13589_2012republicanpresidentialcandidates]

4/20/2011 5:46:20 PM

THIS IS GONNA BE SOOOOOO MUCH FUN TO WATCH!!!!!!!!!!!

4/20/2011 11:32:54 PM

Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, threw his name in the hat today. He's libertarian, pro pot-legalization, pro-abortion, non-interventionist on foreign policy, for gay marriage, and practiced what he preached in slashing spending and taxes to leave office with a billion dollar surplus.

I would imagine that he'll be this election cycle's version of Ron Paul, exposing the other clowns in the debates and winning all the internet polls. It won't matter, of course. But it could be fun to watch.

4/21/2011 11:30:34 AM