Comments on: In Which I Shamelessly Suppress Voting

By: bayesian

bayesian — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:23:29 +0000

OT, but I made the taco offer because I was quite aware that you were going to be running a severe taco deficit to e.g. General Moebius (whom we haven’t heard from in a while), and I didn’t want any structural problems associated with taco imbalance to impede your writing and blogging.

Perhaps one of your fans or family back in NM can get into the taco carrying trade, but I think we should avoid collateralized taco obligations, don’t you think?

By: dj spellchecka

dj spellchecka — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:00:55 +0000

that red state article is just a big bowl of fail..

“2) the â€predictor statesâ€ of Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee .”

check the electoral map…as long as obama flips some 04 red states he can still win without ohio…. and if he wins ohio, than mac is toast…he has no way to 270 without it..

5) Unstable economic situation means voters will turn away from the young, inexperienced candidate ……

surely THAT explains why all the polls on who can better deal with the economy favor mac overwhelmingly….oh wait!.

By: bakum

bakum — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:47:34 +0000

“I canâ€™t offer a lot of direct evidence from this blog that I was railing against these things at the start of the decade as well, but I assure you that I was.”

Then you must be about as welcome at Republican parties as a love child with a crack habit. Nice.

I’ll check out the TAC archives and see what there is to see. I like to think of myself as a one man Truth-and-Reconciliation commission.

By: Daniel Larison

Daniel Larison — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:32:17 +0000

“And I have to ask, where was all this debate about the future of the Republican party while GWB was driving the bus into Iraq with rhetoric and fear mongering?”

For the most part, the debate was at this and other “heterodox” conservative magazines. Inside the party and mainstream magazines/institutions/think tanks, there was not much debate, which was half the problem. I recommend looking at TAC’s early archives to see what independent conservative arguments at the height of GOP power looked like. I have been blogging for just the last four years, so I can’t offer a lot of direct evidence from this blog that I was railing against these things at the start of the decade as well, but I assure you that I was.

By: bakum

bakum — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:19:04 +0000

I’ve only recently found this blog, along with Culture11, so intelligent conservatism on the net seems like a very phenomenon to me (which might be entirely my fault, I don’t know). Non-Republican conservatism seems like the Yeti, 9/11 conspiracy theories, or female orgasm; something I’ve heard about but never seen convincing proof of. In any case, I acknowledge I am late to the party here on this blog, so my apologies to any dolphins caught with the tuna, so to speak.

That said…the old stalwarts of conservative media have only recently seen the light, if at all. NRO, Weekly Standard, NYT, etc…while the ideological fight is fun to watch, and while it casts the differences between honest commentary and propaganda in razor sharp relief, I wonder if someone like George Will really understands the error of his ways lo these past twelve years, or if really he’s just pissed about the Palin choice and if it weren’t for that there wouldn’t be a problem?

And I have to ask, where was all this debate about the future of the Republican party while GWB was driving the bus into Iraq with rhetoric and fear mongering? Where was all the hand-ringing while he was stuffing the Justice Department with crony idiots? I ask because it sounds to me like all the BS propaganda and air-headed ideological purity is only a problem when Republicans are losing.

By: peorgietirebiter

peorgietirebiter — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:58:55 +0000

I arrived at this site unawares by way of a link that took me to RedState and then here. As a lifelong Democrat I can’t imagine ever returning to RS but Mr. Larison seems sane enough so while I’m here and for what it’s worth… As I’m sure you might guess, I’m excited by the prospects of the election and what it may mean for the next few years- but I harbor no desire for a long term Democratic Majority. Just long enough to undue the damage done by he who should not ever again be named. It’s my sincere hope that the Republican Party can find a way to forget about tactics long enough to rebuild on a foundation of conservative principles and win their share based on ideas and performance.

By: Daniel Larison

Daniel Larison — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:23:01 +0000

“people who should know better, such as yourselves, have stood in line for seconds.”

In fact, I have never been swallowing the propaganda, since I am not a Republican, much less a Republican intellectual.

“what took you so long to get here?”

I have been “here” longer than most.

And, no, I don’t think the post I linked to was a kind of dark humor. It all seemed to be very much in earnest.

By: robertsharp

robertsharp — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:18:41 +0000

What is so sad is that all the reasons cited are based on fear, backlash and vendetta. Nothing on any policies to deal with the actual economic reality (although of course its possible that the economic crisis is part of the “conspiracy” too).

But what is most depressing is the comment section. Any dissent is dismissed as trolling, or with the ad hominem “Obama supporter”. There are some literally unreasonable people out there.

By: bakum

bakum — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:08:03 +0000

For me, a Bush despiser and Obama supporter, the very best part of the whole affair is watching the Republican intellectuals, such as yourselves, being chased out of the party by the crazies who have dominated our politics since Gingrich. People like me have stood by, mouths agape, for going on 12 years as the very worst propaganda was spoon fed to us as if it were strained, mashed peas, and people who should know better, such as yourselves, have stood in line for seconds.

Well, welcome to my world!

THEY’RE CRAZY! They have always been crazy. This is not some momentary lapse of reason, this is how these people think. If you really want to be serious about yoru navel gazing introspection you might ask yourself, what took you so long to get here?

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:44:04 +0000

Perhaps I am too generous but I read the original post and assumed it must be a form of gallows humor. The Gallop poll point could hardly be a real argument. Perhaps you’ve taken it too seriously?

By: Grumpy Old Man

Grumpy Old Man — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:11:38 +0000

There's a chorus of graveyard hikers, whistling "Valderee, valderah-ha-ha" at contentions, too. The power of self-delusion is, alas, limitless.

By: Daniel Larison

Daniel Larison — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:46:54 +0000

I would be glad to accept your taco offer, since I have quite a few tacos to pay out next week after Obama takes Michigan and Ohio, but I’m afraid I just found the post on RCP’s best of the blogs list. Someone there deserves the tacos more than I do.

By: Indya

Indya — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:30:20 +0000

That darn media bias. *eyeroll*

Granted, there is some, but because there is no false equivalence here, they must be in the tank.

By: John Schwenkler

John Schwenkler — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:00:10 +0000

OK, I owe you at least two tacos just for finding this.

Make that three tacos. That was simply incredible stuff.

By: midge

midge — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:48:44 +0000

oh, i WISH these bubbleheads would learn a lesson from an obama win. but you know they’ll just blame ACORN, and the cartoon characters, dead people, and battlestar galactica characters who showed up to vote with valid ID.

kinda funny, considering what happened in 2000.