tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post1161890713354349532..comments2024-03-18T22:30:41.730-05:00Comments on Althouse: President Obama posts at SCOTUSblog... to say that appointing a Supreme Court Justice is a "responsibility" he takes "seriously."Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-22462648948345254352016-02-25T19:17:03.507-06:002016-02-25T19:17:03.507-06:00"And, he says, he wants someone who 'reco..."And, he says, he wants someone who 'recognizes the limits of the judiciary’s role; who understands that a judge’s job is to interpret the law, not make the law'"<br /><br />If Pres. Obama said this then he's a lying sack of $h!t.RonFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346484258194484053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-72359305087975791732016-02-25T14:31:37.543-06:002016-02-25T14:31:37.543-06:00""If the Nazi's were left wing, coul...<i>""If the Nazi's were left wing, could someone explain what a right-wing totalitarian system looks like?"</i> <br /><br /><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/25/loyal-to-their-class-unhinged-from-democracy/" rel="nofollow"> It looks like...the Nazis.</a><br /><br /><i>"Or by definition such a thing cannot exist?"</i><br /><br />Hahahahaha! Oh, such a thing can exist!Robert Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06951286299515983901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3978963788254627582016-02-25T13:51:44.991-06:002016-02-25T13:51:44.991-06:00Brando,
Yes it does get too muddled. After all, ...Brando,<br /><br />Yes it does get too muddled. After all, I was not making a liberal vs. conservative comparison. If left-right simply boils down to whatever political binary you choose, then the distinction is meaningless.<br /><br />I happen to believe that the original sovereignty based distinction has lessons to teach us even today. I was responding to Amanda's original challenge phrased in terms of totalitarianism. That itself is problematic definitionally, but I think we can agree that it is a subset of autocracy. Now a traditionally right wing regime has no problem with autocracy. In geico terms, it's what you do. So the question for me is why government based upon popular sovereignty becomes autocratic.<br /><br />There is no doubt that both the national socialists and Soviets formally derived their legitimacy in the name of the volk and norodny respectively. Left wing. And yet became effectively autocratic. Our own government I would argue is left wing in the historic sense. But has not yet descended into autocracy. The lesson that should have been learned is that for popular sovereignty to succeed, it requires effective institutional mediation between the people and the executive unless he/she becomes an autocrat, plus effective constraints, not merely restraint, upon upon the exercise of legitimate power. Our founders understood that, which is why we have so far been a successful example of popular sovereignty<br /><br />The National Socialists and Soviets, other than exhortation, had neither of these and therefore predictabily slid naturally into autocracy.CWJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03598487232861475833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-13769978036068101622016-02-25T11:14:10.535-06:002016-02-25T11:14:10.535-06:00I think I saw an article that Brian Sandoval said ...I think I saw an article that Brian Sandoval said that if the White House was vetting him for SCOTUS, it was news to him.<br />This soap bubble apparently derives from a stunt of Harry Reid's in sending a fake list of his proposed nominees to the White House and leaking it.Hagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05011701168912339784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-61084992510693631592016-02-25T10:24:59.912-06:002016-02-25T10:24:59.912-06:00"On the other hand, I believe that the histor..."On the other hand, I believe that the historic left right distinction was one of sovereignty. Was it derived ultimately from the people as a whole, or from some external source, usually God, acting through an individual sovereign or aristocracy. The distinction is summed up between whether an ordinary person is meaningfully styled a citizen or a subject."<br /><br />I think there's also an element of "back to something in the past/preserving something from the past" vs. "change towards the future" in the liberal/conservative comparison. But that too gets muddled--when the social welfare programs of the late 1800s and the New Deal were new, they could be called "liberal" in that sense, but were they really liberal by the 1990s when Republicans wanted to roll back some of that? Were the Republicans the liberals and the FDR-Democrats the conservatives at that point? Or for that matter was what the GOP proposed to do about welfare a move towards the "new" or reaching back to the "old"?Brandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219319435229314554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-81604368318002504982016-02-25T10:12:14.210-06:002016-02-25T10:12:14.210-06:00Rusty: If that is true, Rusty, then you must think...Rusty: If that is true, Rusty, then you must think Trump is stupid.Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01048255624944551506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-24054230792633009842016-02-25T09:13:18.417-06:002016-02-25T09:13:18.417-06:00Brando @ 6:18,
That's a fine thoughtful comme...Brando @ 6:18,<br /><br />That's a fine thoughtful comment. Amanda's snark probably doesn't deserve such a serious response. Nonetheless, her challenge got me to thinking what would constitute a right wing totalitarian system. Today, in the US in particular, your totalitarian-anarchy spectrum does a good job of anchoring the extreme left and right endpoints. Viewed in that way, Amanda's dismissive characterization is true.<br /><br />On the other hand, I believe that the historic left right distinction was one of sovereignty. Was it derived ultimately from the people as a whole, or from some external source, usually God, acting through an individual sovereign or aristocracy. The distinction is summed up between whether an ordinary person is meaningfully styled a citizen or a subject.<br /><br /> Is that still useful today in a world where monarchy has been eliminated, or subjugated to popular government? Yes, I think so. There are still a few right wing regimes of which I think Saudi Arabia is the best example.CWJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03598487232861475833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-66707948200418767572016-02-25T09:09:50.598-06:002016-02-25T09:09:50.598-06:00Clever move by Obama if he picks Brian Sandoval--b...Clever move by Obama if he picks Brian Sandoval--but only if Sandoval agrees. Maybe the remaining GOP candidates can all agree to pick Sandoval for the VP slot to prevent this.Brandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219319435229314554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-59002635287842138032016-02-25T09:00:06.579-06:002016-02-25T09:00:06.579-06:00"The proper taxonomy is collectivist versus i..."The proper taxonomy is collectivist versus individualist."<br /><br />Yeah, I'd go with that too. I still often use "liberal" and "conservative" as they are common usage, but they often don't fit. Was Gorbachev a "liberal" compared to his more old-line communist Politburo? Is the Taliban more "conservative" than the anti-Taliban forces the U.S. is supporting?<br /><br />Brandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219319435229314554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-38881490308375317532016-02-25T08:48:49.664-06:002016-02-25T08:48:49.664-06:00Centralized versus decentralized also works.Centralized versus decentralized also works.Birkelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14205292523499913507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-50527142296887267092016-02-25T08:47:40.327-06:002016-02-25T08:47:40.327-06:00The proper taxonomy is collectivist versus individ...The proper taxonomy is collectivist versus individualist.<br /><br />That avoids all the Leftist dissembling between one form of collectivist nightmare and the next collectivist nightmare. Cuba, Soviet Union, North Korea, Venezuela... distinctions with too little difference to matter.Birkelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14205292523499913507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3527202684001423932016-02-25T08:34:27.330-06:002016-02-25T08:34:27.330-06:00Howard said...
Obozo is soooo up inside you 'w...Howard said...<br />Obozo is soooo up inside you 'wingers heads. 11-more months of being his punk-assed bitch. You are gonna miss it when there ain't a Black Man around to put you in your place.<br /><br />Stupid people tend to do that to the more intelligent.Rustyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00938263272237104128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-82025743939442128802016-02-25T08:09:06.751-06:002016-02-25T08:09:06.751-06:00Professor Althouse has the same problem that our m...<br />Professor Althouse has the same problem that our media do -- you insist on analyzing Obama's words as if he ever actually means a d*mn thing he says. Rubes.amielalunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156982237510601954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1130062648796014032016-02-25T06:53:28.546-06:002016-02-25T06:53:28.546-06:00I would say that if you are looking for an example...I would say that if you are looking for an example of a brutal libertarian government, one need look no further than the 19th century United States. It's all there. Genocide, massive deprivation of property rights of the aborigines. I guess you would call the US govt at that time "National Libertarian."tim in vermonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06547980465313241972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-64102037336903573522016-02-25T06:18:24.447-06:002016-02-25T06:18:24.447-06:00"If the Nazi's were left wing, could some..."If the Nazi's were left wing, could someone explain what a right-wing totalitarian system looks like? Or by definition such a thing cannot exist?"<br /><br />Calling a totalitarian system "left wing" or "right wing" misses the mark--there is totalitarianism on one extreme and anarchy on the other. Libertarians prefer to be closer to the anarchy side of things (though not necessarily near the extreme) and collectivists prefer to be closer to the totalitarian side of things (though not necessarily near the extreme).<br /><br />"Left wing" and "right wing" have changing meanings depending on time and place. Today in America, "left wing" means more collectivist and more concerned with economic justice (i.e., economic results) than freedom, while "right wing" means more concerned with rule of law, limits on central power and more individual rights. But this wasn't always true everywhere--just look at what was a "tory" in 19th Century Britain, and who was a "liberal". Those meanings are very different even in Britain today.<br /><br />No one wants to claim the most vile of dictatorships like Hitler or Stalin, but the worlds they created have more in common with an extreme form of modern American leftism (restrictions on individual rights for the sake of the mass) than with the right (emphasis on individual freedoms and private property). That's not to say every leftist is so extreme they have to own Hitler and Stalin, but it'd ludicrous to compare libertarian/rightists in today's America with those dictators.Brandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219319435229314554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-88927211228749380502016-02-25T06:02:47.477-06:002016-02-25T06:02:47.477-06:00We need more Amanda-types here. That's how you...We need more Amanda-types here. That's how you figure stuff out - by testing it on worthy opponents. True, it's a bit of bar-room brawl mentality here, but those are the rules. Althouse meets Roadhouse (mildly entertaining movie with Patrick Swayze as a bouncer in Southern Honky-Tonk bar)Bay Area Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08342949066248487677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-52949851546651738122016-02-25T05:43:08.712-06:002016-02-25T05:43:08.712-06:00I have to admit, Amanda really livens this place u...I have to admit, Amanda really livens this place up.tim in vermonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06547980465313241972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-11679549501597777962016-02-25T02:54:26.198-06:002016-02-25T02:54:26.198-06:00"In reality the taxonomy of ideology consists..."In reality the taxonomy of ideology consists of Communism, standing alone, and everything else, in infinite and uncategorizable variety."<br />I mostly agree, buwaya puti. Was Tito a fascist or a communist? Was Franco a fascist or a strongman? When you read American lit written from around the turn of the 20th century until WW2, it is hard to make a distinction between communist socialism and national socialism. What category does Jack London belong in?<br />If the 20th century was a book titled <i>Alternatives to Empire</i>, there would be two chapters, one on international communism and one on nationalism. Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-85388175461637417062016-02-25T02:02:13.993-06:002016-02-25T02:02:13.993-06:00Anyone interested or worried about Fascism just be...Anyone interested or worried about Fascism just because the US Senate exercises its Constitutional Power to block President Obama's Constitutional Power to Nominate a SCOTUS member to fill Justice Scalia's spot? Get a grip and pay attention.<br /><br />Today news: It is SO funny Reid/Obama think Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (fake R) is a tempting SCOTUS candidate as Recommend by the Truly Creepy Boss Harry Reid, This is not a joke but a n Obama FU to us all. BTW - Obama does this a lot in his Presidency. Someone should write a book. <br /><br />Anyway...<br /><br />Harry Reid's hold over Nevada makes Al Capone's neighborhood look like Sesame Street.<br /><br />I pray often that someone will capture Reid and his family corruption fully in a respected (has to be unauthorized LOL) biography that includes all we know in this age of citizen driven social media that the MSM NEVER touches. Predict it will sell well,<br /><br />My social media sources are exploding tonight with notion that Obama/Reid have offered GOP Senate someone too delicious to not consider. Everyone sees through the scheme - not well executed which suggests a bit of panic on Obama team? Who knows - who cares?<br /><br />What a joke. Nevada is such a FUBAR state because of Harry Reid - can they be annexed to CA when we decide to just make them their own little nation of Get Off OUR LAWN.<br /><br />GOP finally gets act together and says "We'll meet in nine months with our newly elected President"<br />PianoLessonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17501310618624381801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-10171191920265369142016-02-25T01:52:29.057-06:002016-02-25T01:52:29.057-06:00
I hope Zero spends most of the rest of his time i...<br />I hope Zero spends most of the rest of his time in office worrying about making this appointment. And that he keeps writing (or having written for him) these persuasive articles, which he has no intention of following but will make him look good to the stupid enemedia.<br /><br />The more time he spends on this issue, the less he has to devote to the downfall of this country. I believe the GOP will stand firm on this, no matter what he does. So I hope he worries excessively about it.amielalunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156982237510601954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-40459500346896919382016-02-25T01:26:40.068-06:002016-02-25T01:26:40.068-06:00An attempt at sorting political ideologies out - c...An attempt at sorting political ideologies out - clearest was "Today's Isms" - Ebenstein.<br />This is however, upon closer examination, very misleading. All of these are arbitrary categories that shade away in every direction, and what seem to be defining characteristics almost always turn out to be pre-existing ideas adopted automatically, sometimes by default. Paul Johnsons "Modern Times" is a start as to the antecedents of Fascism, which is a fascinating treatment. <br />Fascism in particular is very much an "eye of the beholder" condition. Much of Italian Fascism for instance turns out to be just the wholesale adoption of the fanatical strain of Italian nationalism inherited from the previous century's "liberal" intellectual milieu, or what passed for it in Italy.<br />Everything that was some part of Fascism was present in a host of societies which would be difficult to give that name. The French Third Republic for instance. Everything turns out to be a mass of local idiosyncracies. The urge to categorize in this is absurd.<br />The hardest, most easily defined ideological system, is in fact probably the only one that CAN be categorized, because uniquely it required the complete abolition of private property and the State owning and operating all production. In reality the taxonomy of ideology consists of Communism, standing alone, and everything else, in infinite and uncategorizable variety. <br />Anyone who says anything else is a dim bulb. buwayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369134902650235470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-18515169904794288772016-02-24T23:50:52.497-06:002016-02-24T23:50:52.497-06:00"Dusty"
Now, there's an apt word re..."Dusty"<br /><br />Now, there's an apt word regarding so much of what is going on right now, to which I say: "Time to dust off 'dusty' and understand why the time is apt to dust it off, in so many ways."rcommalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00301180339680504471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-59484271368402679282016-02-24T23:48:20.436-06:002016-02-24T23:48:20.436-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.rcommalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00301180339680504471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-22740592969112445752016-02-24T22:55:27.665-06:002016-02-24T22:55:27.665-06:00It is illuminating watch the first of Capra's ...It is illuminating watch the first of Capra's WW2 propaganda films, "Why We fight." (Prelude to War, 1942). It can be found on archive.org here: https://archive.org/details/PreludeToWar<br />This was filmed when we were nominally allied with the Soviet Union, and while we knew about Hitler's racial obsession, it was before we knew about the his genocide (it was just getting underway in '42).<br />The three American values that are stressed, again and again, as reasons 'why we fight', are preserving peace and prosperity, preserving freedom of religion, and preserving trade unionism.Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-7940068179893989352016-02-24T22:34:48.131-06:002016-02-24T22:34:48.131-06:00"Blogger Steve Uhr said...
Okay, Cruz is a 6...."Blogger Steve Uhr said...<br />Okay, Cruz is a 6.25. Happy?"<br />Actually, I asked you what fascist traits you saw in Cruz. The only fascist trait I see is a tendency to refer centralized state solutions to political problems rather than state-based solutions to political problems. That is one reason I would have a problem voting for him.<br />It is important to make the distinction between nazi-style socialism and Italian-style socialism. The nazis believed a strong state was necessary to fight a race war, the Italian fascists believed that a government with a strong, all-encompassing state was necessary to create a stable society. Mussolini had been an international socialist. He developed fascism as an alternative to marxist communism because he believed that attachment to social class and national identity were so powerful that a marxist classless, nationless society was an impossibility.Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.com