Ah well, I guess we're all just a bunch of backwoods retards who can't comprehend the highbrow sophistication of British sensibilities and culture... which produced many great artists like Benny Hill for example.
Many many years ago I was in London on 4/July and went to The Canadian Bar at Covent Garden to have a new world beer (there is no American Bar, Americans go to The Canadian Bar to do American stuff.)
I bumped into some Brit friends and told them I was going for a celebratory beer and then apologized. They were entirely puzzled and even when the bulb went off they didn't see why I thought I might have been rude.
Just not part of their history. Sorta like the North has to be reminded about the Civil War.
the revolution erupted Because the murderous British sent Soldiers to confiscate the gunpowder from the colonial militias' arsenals. Gun control is the King's agenda. He planned to shoot and hang the rebels aka as the Presbyterians
Piers Morgan is free to depart on the plane for London, to get away from us savages you know. "Piers"...WTF names their child "Piers?" He can always get his old job back at News of the World ...oh, wait...
Point: the British never apologised for their murderous assaults on our forefathers. They still see. North America. as stolen property. That is why piers is so snotty.
Ah well, I guess we're all just a bunch of backwoods retards who can't comprehend the highbrow sophistication of British sensibilities and culture... which produced many great artists like Benny Hill for example.
Benny Hill is probably pretty tame and highbrow compared to a lot of what passes for comedy and “reality television” these days.
hmm, why are "yanks" always goo-goo/ga-ga re: the British royal family?
Are we? Personally I could give a shit, as I'll wager most of flyover country. Likely its the progressive coastal yanks who wish we could be more like them.
The thing about America is that our forebears came here to get away from the continent that today's leftists want to emulate. Here is an idea, how about we keep our American way of life and the rest can move to Belgium or where ever its supposedly better.
Morgan is part of the same Lefty culture that's in DC. Being British has less to do with it than most would think.
Nonapod said...
They liked 'em fine during WWI and WWII.
That was the Britain of Winnie Churchill, Garnet Wolseley, and Cecil Rhodes.
Expat(ish) said...
Many many years ago I was in London on 4/July and went to The Canadian Bar at Covent Garden to have a new world beer (there is no American Bar, Americans go to The Canadian Bar to do American stuff.)
I bumped into some Brit friends and told them I was going for a celebratory beer and then apologized. They were entirely puzzled and even when the bulb went off they didn't see why I thought I might have been rude.
Just not part of their history.
Oh, but it is. The loss of America so haunted George III, that he was obsessed by it for several years.
The movie "The Madness Of King George" deals with it.
traditionalguy said...
Point: the British never apologised for their murderous assaults on our forefathers. They still see. North America. as stolen property. That is why piers is so snotty.
The American Revolution could also be called The British and Indian War. The Limeys and their Iroquois allies made the Frawgs and the Hurons look tame.
PS Rhodes left provisions in his will for a secret society, the aim of which was to place "the entire Continent of Africa, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia, the whole of South America, the Islands of the Pacific not heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the Malay Archipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of the British Empire".
President Cornball Brother has appointed Slow Joe Biden ("I guarantee ya, Barack Obama ain’t takin’ my shotgun, so don’t buy that malarky. . . I got two, and if he [Obama] tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem to solve the gun violence problem."
They're still licking their wounds from the 18th century
Not really. But losing to the US soccer team in the 1950 World Cup? That we're still pissed about.
P.S. I do hope Piers TV show is a roaring success and he decides to emigrate. He's like the smuggest person in Britain and it's just great to turn on the TV in the UK in the sure knowledge that he ain't gonna be on it ;)
Maybe we should be more compliant, and worship the Queen a bit more and not be so independent-minded, perhaps just a little but more like Canada, or Australia.
Nah.
It seems the anglosphere has real incentives to work together and have cross-cultural pollination, but also,maybe not.
Though Canada's working hard to get that oil-shale out and beat us to the punch, and Australia's making deals with China, partly out of necessity.
Meanwhile, Barry's proposing a huge tax increase and community organizing on the national level.
tradionalguy has it. The British intended to take away the militia guns and gunpowder; that's why they went to Lexington and Concord. They wanted to do that because they wanted to tax the Americans without allowing them any representation in the taxing body - the House of Commons in London. That worked out really well in Ireland - they were able to totally impoverish the Irish using laws against religious beliefs and practices as well land confiscation and onerous taxation. In America, not so much. But if at first you don't succeed - try, try again.
Have you ever read the poem they wrote about the fight at Concord and about the memorial raised on the scene of the fight? which contains these lines: "By the rude bridge that arched the flood Their flag to April's breeze unfurled Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot hear round the world ... Spirit that made those heroes dare To die and live their children free Bid time and nature gently spare This shaft we raise to them and thee."
It is a funny juxtaposition now that you point it out. Which makes me ask- when will printed newspapers change their staid formats? They are jealous of Drudge's success and mock him yet they have not changed their format in 200 years and Drudge is eating their lunch!
I've long suspected part of the reason the British press can be so smarmy is the release of all those class resentments through the press.
Not the best model for our own, despite sharing a lot of similarities.
In France, perhaps the equivalent French man on the street is too busy becoming an arrogant waiter or joining the cheese union, while the rich French are trying to get a job at the Ministry of Cheese because of old family connections.
Or else, perhaps we can observe the average Frenchman pissing on the side of French highways on the way down to that full month of August leisure on the coast.
Barry's main job may be to promise all those people that voted for him government jobs.
If they can't get government jobs, he can promise them government benefits.
If they can't get government benefits, he can still rabble-rouse and promise them the future, and demonize the opposition and appeal to the suburbs with telling white people what they want to hear about being a moderate.
That's community organizing in a nutshell, with some Solyndra, crony capitalism, drone strikes, and a client-state in Libya thrown in.
Piers Morgan's always nattering on about "the 2nd Amendment envisioned muskets" this and "the 2nd Amendment envisioned muskets" that. Like hell. We had rifles, the Brits and their Hessian stooges had muskets. That's right; our civilians had more advanced firearms than their professional military.
The Brit's crime rate with guns is up over 100 percent this year. No, it's no where near what ours is but for a island that is kind of interesting.
And add to the fact murders are up over there, muggings, robberies, etc... and that's for a place with over a MILLION CCTV cameras, no right to a lawyer, no right to silence, no right to refuse a search, basically no rights...
Well you can see that no matter what kind of police state you have you will have crime.
The guns are not the cause of the mass murders here, it's the freedom of the insane to go about that is the problem.
When guns are out of their hands they will still have fire bombs, cars, knives, clubs, poison.. you know the OTHER things that kill to.
As a Canadian I genuinely think I 'get' American culture and there are heaps of things I respect, even though, like the more left leaning policies of my country, they are imperfect in both idea and execution. However, the gun culture and the fetishizing of 'freedom', including that of freedom of speech just hurts the place I think.
Well, in Eric Loomis' defence, he was calling for the murder of gun owners, and although that's incitement to murder, per Sheila Jackson Lee, gun owners are not "part of America." So, everything's cool! Right Garage?
You must have missed the online jihad against Erik Loomis from the right wing.
On a slightly less snarky note, meeting Loomis' speech with, you know, MORE SPEECH (ooh - the scary online jihad kind!) is not exactly somehow abusive of the First Amendment.
I'm not trying to say anything hurtful or gratuitously disparaging Rocketeer. Just an observation from the vantage point of a similar but not-the-same culture with tremendous opportunity to observe the causes and effects in both nations. Take it as worth a thought, or not.
garage, is this a weak attempt to score a point for Team Left, or do you really fail to understand?
On the assumption that you're sincere, I'll simply point out that all involved in the dispute you refer to invoke the rhetoric of freedom: Amendment 1 vs. Amendment 2. I believe that's strong evidence in support of my comment @3:41. It just happens that the left doesn't seem to comprehend that both amendments are restrictions on the federal government rather than individual expressions of disapproval.
One more related thing: You really do seem not to understand Insty's recurring tactic of holding the left to the same standards it applies to the right. I don't see anything anti-freedom about that; in fact, it's deployed in order to make the left walk back its own anti-freedom statements.
You Canucks forget 1 thing - if we weren't the kind of people we are, weren't part of the Anglosphere, Canada would have ceased to exist a couple of hundred years ago.
5000 mile border, 35 million vs. 300 million?
You don't have to really pay for defense so you can spend that money elsewhere.
Snark, I'm glad I don't (yet) live in a country that has Orwellian "Human Rights Tribunals" dedicated to the task of prosecuting people for what they write or say in public.
Canadians fetishize "tolerance" to the point of intolerance. They are a foolish people.
My great, great, great, great grandfather, William died at the battle of Maystick, MA in 1776, trying to get these British off our shores. Thanks, William.
Chip S. said... "Fetishing" freedom is the entire point of this place.
================ No, fetishing freedom while maintaining that no one has responsibilities, obligations, or duties. Or obedience to societal norms. That is why our once great nation is in decline.
Freedoms demanded without any contribution to the common good of all. Freedoms that then become entitlements not paid for or freedoms that decay the culture and discourse. Then in a declining, decaying nation - Freedom for Freedom lovers!! - becomes the only driving force despite the acceleration of decay and decline the excess freedom causes. We have even worsened our lot by bizarre readings of Freedom! that our existence must also include spending undending amounts of blood and treasure to save "ever-grateful" Noble Freedom Lovers!! in other countries.
Edmund Burke of course saw it happening over 200 years ago...
garage, is this a weak attempt to score a point for Team Left, or do you really fail to understand?
Just pointing that a lot of people that talk about freedom really don't practice what they preach. The science is in, as they say, on that. As for Instapundit's "recurring tactic", it's lame, juvenile, and not even factually true in this case. Who is calling the state police on Reynolds, or his employer, or threatening his life?
Obedience to which societal norms are those, cedarford? The "societal norm" of being ashamed of taking charity? Perhaps you mean the "societal norm" of public decency? Or maybe the "societal norm" of being ashamed if you've failed to support parents or children so that they have to take charity? The "societal norm" of being truthful and taking your lumps? Maybe the "societal norm" of not being a ho? Or are you talking about the "societal norm" of watching out for neighbors and distrusting government?
Which "societal norm"... The getting divorced one? The feeling entitled to government charity one? The not having to pay your bills one? The one where you feel like your voluntary identity issues and sexual choices entitle you to draw more on medical insurance than you (or your parents) will ever pay in?
a lot of people that talk about freedom really don't practice what they preach
If you mean "a lot of people use appeals to freedom solely as a means to advance an agenda that has nothing to do w/ freedom," then I agree completely.
Conservatives and libertarians w/in the general Repub ranks argue about this all the time (cf. Cedarford's comment @ me). But I rarely encounter Dems having similar arguments.
Larry J said... Point: the British never apologised for their murderous assaults on our forefathers.
Well, the British did burn our capital in the War of 1812 and we never had the decency to thank them.
================== They would do us a tremendous favor if they could invade again. This time sucessfully. Blow up Congress with all members and staffers inside, bayonet the lobbyists of both Parties, repudiate the whole 16 trillion debt to US creditors since they conquered us and are not responsible for past debts, put Obama in a display cage to tow around London. And under military occupation, as media people, lawyers and US judges and law profs would be superfluous - put all the Esquires to honest work rebuilding bridges, lending an extra hand clearing sewer pipes or guarding elementary schools.
Of course, we would rise up and eventually throw them out...but the whole debt would be gone and if they did us an additional favor and burned the Sacred Parchment - we could truly start fresh with a limited vote at the start to avoid the huge democratic process fuck-ups of the last 50 years.
My great, great, great, great grandfather, William died at the battle of Maystick, MA in 1776, trying to get these British off our shores. Thanks, William.
And my Great-great-grandfather died in the War of 1812 (a Regular, no less) making sure they stayed in Canada.
So what do you think of the reaction from conservatives/libertarians to a tweet "head on a stick", which no clear minded person would think of as a death threat?
The Loomis thing, reading garage's link, baffles me.
Firstly... Lets have equal standards, right? If we have to listen to never-ending wailing about Palin "targeting" politicians, it's 100% legitimate to call out Loomis on his, absolutely, eliminationist rhetoric. And no reason at all to give him a pass because he was tweeting while emotional. (Should that be capitalized... Tweeting While Emotional... TWE. Just use the acronym?)
So Loomis was guilty of TWE and no one should call him on wanting someone dead?
Okay then.
But what baffles me is how *reporting* his TWE to his employer or to the FBI... yes, rude and stupid, I don't approve of EVER calling bosses or employers, that's what tolerant progressives do, so just say no, huh... What baffles me is how informing his employer or complaining to his employer is a threat. How is this a threat? Did he do something wrong or not?
Is throwing people under the bus so assumed by everyone on the left that they figure that complaints about an instance of TWE are going to hurt someone?
Granted, TWE shows a lack of judgement, and that may well be an important thing for an employer to consider but if it really was so very clearly a figure of speech (target your political opponents?) why is it a problem?
I had heard of it in passing, but figured it was some fleeting nonsense. What exactly is the Crooked Timber gang worried about? Odds of anyone being denied tenure for being anti-NRA are about the same as a flipped coin ending up on its edge.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A University of Rhode Island history professor who wrote on Twitter that he wanted to see the National Rifle Association president’s head ‘‘on a stick’’ says he has received death threats and been interviewed by state police.
WTF? Garage, is this what you were talking about? A Professor wants to see the NRA president's head on a stick. That's kinda violent from your side, isn't it?
I just went to Wal-Mart to buy ammunition and they were out of several calibers. The clerk said the military and the government were ordering heavily and several manufacturers were not delivering to Wal-Mart until they caught up with the orders. Not too long ago, there were reports of civilian agencies, e.g., the Social Security Administration, ordering "hundreds of millions" of 9 mm, hollow point rounds - man killers.
Morgan ought to be tickled by that. Maybe we will be governed by a king after all. King Barack the First. Has a nice ring to it, eh, Piers.
Lets have equal standards, right? If we have to listen to never-ending wailing about Palin "targeting" politicians, it's 100% legitimate to call out Loomis on his, absolutely, eliminationist rhetoric
This tit for tat is so painfully dumb is should hurt an sane person's head. Little kids think like this. And yes, liberals calling out Palin for "targeting" politicians is equally stupid and childish.
Synova - You go on a meandering what if? course of what norms and responsibilities - when it is pretty obvious watching our decline that the core problem is we have become a people obsessed with getting maximum freedom and entitlement goodies without chipping in. A nation of people that wants to be takers and avoid being contributors.
So... I read the transcript at the link (I couldn't bring myself to just watch it) and I think that Piers undoubtedly came across as an idiot. Name calling from the get-go.
The initial bit about the AR-15 was interesting... "The AR-15, as we've now seen from the last three mass shootings in America, Aurora, the shopping mall in Oregon, and now at Sandy Hook school, is the preferred choice of weapon for disturbed young men who want to commit mass atrocity, can fire hundreds of bullets at rapid speed, if you have the right magazines."
The guy at Sandy Hook had an AR-15? These aren't something you can shove down your pants or conceal easily at all. No doubt they do appeal to young men because they're all super-military bad-*ss in appearance but they've got to be the worst possible choice for going on a killing spree. And the Aurora guy walked into a movie theater with one?
Okay, so maybe they did have them. But they are a stupid choice, big magazines or not. And "hundreds of bullets at a rapid speed" excuse me? One bullet per trigger pull, just like a pistol. And I very much doubt that any "disturbed young man" is given the idea to mass murder because they look at the weapon and are compelled by it's military appearance to do something they wouldn't have otherwise done.
The notion that outlawing AR-15s will prevent mass murderous thoughts is worse than moronic. It does nothing but make people imagine that they've "done something" when they've done nothing at all.
we have become a people obsessed with getting maximum freedom and entitlement goodies without chipping in.
US history is full of examples of people arguing over the burden of taxes or looking for help from the government. Before the income tax, the tariff was a staple political issue. So we have always fallen short of pure idealism in the realm of practical politics. This isn't new, and it's common to all democratic societies.
It's still true that the claims of freedom hold greater sway in the US than in Canada or any other country I'm familiar with.
Also, while gun crimes might be down since Britain outlawed guns after the school massacre in Scotland, the reduction didn't follow the bans. Gun violence actually went up after the law changes after that massacre. That they're down NOW (if they are) can't be attributed to the changes in the laws there. In 2001 the BBC was reporting an increase in gun violence after the bans. (I linked the BBC article a day or so ago.)
I'm not trying to say anything hurtful or gratuitously disparaging Rocketeer.
I didn't think you were, Snark. I most certainly was, though. Clearly, you missed that. Apologies. I'll be more directly disparaging of your inferior culture next time.
The notion that outlawing AR-15s will prevent mass murderous thoughts is worse than moronic. It does nothing but make people imagine that they've "done something" when they've done nothing at all.
Thread winner.
Got no guns? Try "ANFO" the fertilizer explosive used at the University of Wisconsin in 1970. It is made from commonly available ingredients, is well known after the Murrah Bldg disaster, and the basic formula is even provided in Wikipedia among other even more detailed cites. Hell the fuel oil part can be distilled (fractionation) from crude oil by a 15 year old.
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105 comments:
They liked 'em fine during WWI and WWII.
Ah well, I guess we're all just a bunch of backwoods retards who can't comprehend the highbrow sophistication of British sensibilities and culture... which produced many great artists like Benny Hill for example.
Many many years ago I was in London on 4/July and went to The Canadian Bar at Covent Garden to have a new world beer (there is no American Bar, Americans go to The Canadian Bar to do American stuff.)
I bumped into some Brit friends and told them I was going for a celebratory beer and then apologized. They were entirely puzzled and even when the bulb went off they didn't see why I thought I might have been rude.
Just not part of their history. Sorta like the North has to be reminded about the Civil War.
Or, frankly, the US about The War of 1812.
-XC
the revolution erupted Because the murderous British sent Soldiers to confiscate the gunpowder from the colonial militias' arsenals. Gun control is the King's agenda. He planned to shoot and hang the rebels aka as the Presbyterians
They created very strict gun controls and gun crimes are only going up. The Brits are becoming a rather emotional lot.
The poor Brits. Their best men got killed in the wars or came to the U.S.
Piers Morgan is free to depart on the plane for London, to get away from us savages you know. "Piers"...WTF names their child "Piers?" He can always get his old job back at News of the World ...oh, wait...
Point: the British never apologised for their murderous assaults on our forefathers. They still see. North America. as stolen property. That is why piers is so snotty.
hmm, why are "yanks" always goo-goo/ga-ga re: the British royal family?
ok, ok, Americans can't get enough of LCD reality tv ...
btw, the British "revolution" in the mid-60s is still evident in America.
Happiness is a Warm Gun!
Ah well, I guess we're all just a bunch of backwoods retards who can't comprehend the highbrow sophistication of British sensibilities and culture... which produced many great artists like Benny Hill for example.
Benny Hill is probably pretty tame and highbrow compared to a lot of what passes for comedy and “reality television” these days.
Being judged by Piers is English Common Law Tradition.
Remind me why I should care what some pretentious foreigner has to say about the US?
Europe, particularly the Brits have always looked down their nose at us. If not for guns, fast food, music or pick your issue.
Piers can take a good long walk off one.
Shiloh
"hmm, why are SOME "yanks" always goo-goo/ga-ga re: the British royal family?"
fixed.
To Piers: PPRS (Please pound rock salt)
Foreigners are so cute when they complain about American customs.
The obvious, PM is trying really, really hard to be noticed and Drudge noticed him lol. So PM and Trump have a lot in common.
hmm, why are "yanks" always goo-goo/ga-ga re: the British royal family?
Are we? Personally I could give a shit, as I'll wager most of flyover country. Likely its the progressive coastal yanks who wish we could be more like them.
The thing about America is that our forebears came here to get away from the continent that today's leftists want to emulate. Here is an idea, how about we keep our American way of life and the rest can move to Belgium or where ever its supposedly better.
The British enjoy subservience to the government and ruling class.
The fertility rate in Great Britain (and other Western European countries) is below replacement levels.
If it's so great over there, why aren't they having kids?
Morgan is part of the same Lefty culture that's in DC. Being British has less to do with it than most would think.
Nonapod said...
They liked 'em fine during WWI and WWII.
That was the Britain of Winnie Churchill, Garnet Wolseley, and Cecil Rhodes.
Expat(ish) said...
Many many years ago I was in London on 4/July and went to The Canadian Bar at Covent Garden to have a new world beer (there is no American Bar, Americans go to The Canadian Bar to do American stuff.)
I bumped into some Brit friends and told them I was going for a celebratory beer and then apologized. They were entirely puzzled and even when the bulb went off they didn't see why I thought I might have been rude.
Just not part of their history.
Oh, but it is. The loss of America so haunted George III, that he was obsessed by it for several years.
The movie "The Madness Of King George" deals with it.
traditionalguy said...
Point: the British never apologised for their murderous assaults on our forefathers. They still see. North America. as stolen property. That is why piers is so snotty.
The American Revolution could also be called The British and Indian War. The Limeys and their Iroquois allies made the Frawgs and the Hurons look tame.
PS Rhodes left provisions in his will for a secret society, the aim of which was to place "the entire Continent of Africa, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia, the whole of South America, the Islands of the Pacific not heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the Malay Archipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of the British Empire".
Give him credit, he thought big.
I'm not sure what Piers is worried about?
President Cornball Brother has appointed Slow Joe Biden ("I guarantee ya, Barack Obama ain’t takin’ my shotgun, so don’t buy that malarky. . . I got two, and if he [Obama] tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem to solve the gun violence problem."
It will all be dealth with soon.
They're still licking their wounds from the 18th century
Not really. But losing to the US soccer team in the 1950 World Cup? That we're still pissed about.
P.S. I do hope Piers TV show is a roaring success and he decides to emigrate. He's like the smuggest person in Britain and it's just great to turn on the TV in the UK in the sure knowledge that he ain't gonna be on it ;)
Nah England is feeling much better these days since Scot Andy Murray won the Olympic gold medal.
Point: the British never apologised for their murderous assaults on our forefathers.
Well, the British did burn our capital in the War of 1812 and we never had the decency to thank them.
Arse-hurt.
Maybe we should be more compliant, and worship the Queen a bit more and not be so independent-minded, perhaps just a little but more like Canada, or Australia.
Nah.
It seems the anglosphere has real incentives to work together and have cross-cultural pollination, but also,maybe not.
Though Canada's working hard to get that oil-shale out and beat us to the punch, and Australia's making deals with China, partly out of necessity.
Meanwhile, Barry's proposing a huge tax increase and community organizing on the national level.
So it is.
tradionalguy has it. The British intended to take away the militia guns and gunpowder; that's why they went to Lexington and Concord. They wanted to do that because they wanted to tax the Americans without allowing them any representation in the taxing body - the House of Commons in London. That worked out really well in Ireland - they were able to totally impoverish the Irish using laws against religious beliefs and practices as well land confiscation and onerous taxation. In America, not so much. But if at first you don't succeed - try, try again.
Have you ever read the poem they wrote about the fight at Concord and about the memorial raised on the scene of the fight? which contains these lines:
"By the rude bridge that arched the flood
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot hear round the world
...
Spirit that made those heroes dare
To die and live their children free Bid time and nature gently spare
This shaft we raise to them and thee."
Larry J said...
Well, the British did burn our capital in the War of 1812 and we never had the decency to thank them.
Hell, man, we may have to ask them back. Might be the only way we get the Obamas and their "get" out of the White House. :-))
Pssst: did Althouse ever put up that promised post about "Get" as a noun?
It is a funny juxtaposition now that you point it out. Which makes me ask- when will printed newspapers change their staid formats? They are jealous of Drudge's success and mock him yet they have not changed their format in 200 years and Drudge is eating their lunch!
I've long suspected part of the reason the British press can be so smarmy is the release of all those class resentments through the press.
Not the best model for our own, despite sharing a lot of similarities.
In France, perhaps the equivalent French man on the street is too busy becoming an arrogant waiter or joining the cheese union, while the rich French are trying to get a job at the Ministry of Cheese because of old family connections.
Or else, perhaps we can observe the average Frenchman pissing on the side of French highways on the way down to that full month of August leisure on the coast.
Vive Le France!
The Britisish are subjects, not citizens, and so are entirely willing to surrender their rights to authority.
I'd boycott Daily Mail Online over this, but there's no American equivalent with such bizarre stories and bad editing.
chrisnavin.com said...
Meanwhile, Barry's proposing a huge tax increase and community organizing on the national level.
Not just proposing...he's under way with it. "FEMA Corps" just graduated its first class this year.
When you think the peasants are revolting, you naturally want to take away their guns.
Still licking their wounds over
Dardenelles
Dunkirk
India
Burma
Singapore
Hong Kong
Edward the 8th
Kim Philby
John Lennon (killed before becoming a US citizen, but still)
Barry's main job may be to promise all those people that voted for him government jobs.
If they can't get government jobs, he can promise them government benefits.
If they can't get government benefits, he can still rabble-rouse and promise them the future, and demonize the opposition and appeal to the suburbs with telling white people what they want to hear about being a moderate.
That's community organizing in a nutshell, with some Solyndra, crony capitalism, drone strikes, and a client-state in Libya thrown in.
We must suffer for our sins.
And if you disagree, you're a racist.
Piers Morgan's always nattering on about "the 2nd Amendment envisioned muskets" this and "the 2nd Amendment envisioned muskets" that. Like hell. We had rifles, the Brits and their Hessian stooges had muskets. That's right; our civilians had more advanced firearms than their professional military.
May it ever be thus.
Obama just said that gun owners need to show courage and do something about gun violence.
WTF????
And if you are loyal, like Susan Rice, you just might get thrown under the bus.
Even if you're Reverend Wright, Barry might need to throw you under the bus, too, at least for a while.
It's a big bus, and he needs you to get in it and you can sit wherever you want.
Just don't get thrown under it.
Community organizing 101. Be for the people and work for yourself. Hustle like you mean it.
And if you are loyal, like Susan Rice, you just might get thrown under the bus.
Even if you're Reverend Wright, Barry might need to throw you under the bus, too, at least for a while.
It's a big bus, and he needs you to get in it and you can sit wherever you want.
Just don't get thrown under it.
Community organizing 101. Be for the people and work for yourself. Hustle like you mean it.
Well, after the last few days, I guess this is the new thing around here. Ann Althouse becomes an anti gun control blogger. Just what everyone wanted.
What part of "Better than nothing is a high standard" do you not understand?
I'm turning into Ritmo, crapping all over the thread. Apologies.
Alex said...
Obama just said that gun owners need to show courage and do something about gun violence.
Did he mention Penn State too?
"...Ann Althouse becomes an anti gun control blogger."
And ZPS becomes a mind reader.
Did he mention Penn State too?
I think he said he'd have liked their chances against TCU in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl if they'd been eligible.
The Brit's crime rate with guns is up over 100 percent this year. No, it's no where near what ours is but for a island that is kind of interesting.
And add to the fact murders are up over there, muggings, robberies, etc...
and that's for a place with over a MILLION CCTV cameras, no right to a lawyer, no right to silence, no right to refuse a search, basically no rights...
Well you can see that no matter what kind of police state you have you will have crime.
The guns are not the cause of the mass murders here, it's the freedom of the insane to go about that is the problem.
When guns are out of their hands they will still have fire bombs, cars, knives, clubs, poison.. you know the OTHER things that kill to.
As a Canadian I genuinely think I 'get' American culture and there are heaps of things I respect, even though, like the more left leaning policies of my country, they are imperfect in both idea and execution. However, the gun culture and the fetishizing of 'freedom', including that of freedom of speech just hurts the place I think.
"Fetishing" freedom is the entire point of this place.
"Fetishing" freedom is the entire point of this place.
Erik Loomis couldn't be reached for comment.
I'd be delighted if you had a point to make.
However, the gun culture and the fetishizing of 'freedom', including that of freedom of speech just hurts the place I think.
That hurts to have to read, but not for the reasons you may think.
Erik Loomis called for the murder of a citizen, that is not covered under 1A.
Notice in the last few days how many lefties have called for the MURDER of NRA members?
I'd be delighted if you had a point to make.
You must have missed the online jihad against Erik Loomis from the right wing. A primer here
Well, in Eric Loomis' defence, he was calling for the murder of gun owners, and although that's incitement to murder, per Sheila Jackson Lee, gun owners are not "part of America." So, everything's cool! Right Garage?
You must have missed the online jihad against Erik Loomis from the right wing.
On a slightly less snarky note, meeting Loomis' speech with, you know, MORE SPEECH (ooh - the scary online jihad kind!) is not exactly somehow abusive of the First Amendment.
The right's cry for freedom is as phony as a three dollar bill.
Isn't it just deee-licious when lefties complain when their own tactics are turned around and used on them?
I'm not trying to say anything hurtful or gratuitously disparaging Rocketeer. Just an observation from the vantage point of a similar but not-the-same culture with tremendous opportunity to observe the causes and effects in both nations. Take it as worth a thought, or not.
The left complains when we call them out on their murder incitement.
They call it jihad, we call it truth-telling.
Unions should be paid in three dollar bills.
garage, is this a weak attempt to score a point for Team Left, or do you really fail to understand?
On the assumption that you're sincere, I'll simply point out that all involved in the dispute you refer to invoke the rhetoric of freedom: Amendment 1 vs. Amendment 2. I believe that's strong evidence in support of my comment @3:41. It just happens that the left doesn't seem to comprehend that both amendments are restrictions on the federal government rather than individual expressions of disapproval.
One more related thing: You really do seem not to understand Insty's recurring tactic of holding the left to the same standards it applies to the right. I don't see anything anti-freedom about that; in fact, it's deployed in order to make the left walk back its own anti-freedom statements.
"Foreigners are so cute when they complain about American customs."
Another thing we "fetishize" is how UN-cosmopolitan we are, how little we bother to understand other cultures.
I might have been 12 when I realized that this call for cultural understanding all went one direction.
You Canucks forget 1 thing - if we weren't the kind of people we are, weren't part of the Anglosphere, Canada would have ceased to exist a couple of hundred years ago.
5000 mile border, 35 million vs. 300 million?
You don't have to really pay for defense so you can spend that money elsewhere.
Yeah that Mark Steyn, so annoying when he trashes our American government, who the hell does he think he is?
Snark, I'm glad I don't (yet) live in a country that has Orwellian "Human Rights Tribunals" dedicated to the task of prosecuting people for what they write or say in public.
Canadians fetishize "tolerance" to the point of intolerance. They are a foolish people.
And that Stuart Varney, grrrr, go back home you redcoat!
Inga - you're welcome to follow them to Englandistan.
My great, great, great, great grandfather, William died at the battle of Maystick, MA in 1776, trying to get these British off our shores. Thanks, William.
Inga hates hard-working immigrants.
And the English get all huffy when an American dares criticize their Olympic preparations, no matter how mildly.
You know, in 1940 we sent boatloads of Thompson submachineguns and even sporting rifles to the British so they wouldn't have to learn German.
Ingrates!!
Chip S. said...
"Fetishing" freedom is the entire point of this place.
================
No, fetishing freedom while maintaining that no one has responsibilities, obligations, or duties. Or obedience to societal norms. That is why our once great nation is in decline.
Freedoms demanded without any contribution to the common good of all. Freedoms that then become entitlements not paid for or freedoms that decay the culture and discourse. Then in a declining, decaying nation - Freedom for Freedom lovers!! - becomes the only driving force despite the acceleration of decay and decline the excess freedom causes.
We have even worsened our lot by bizarre readings of Freedom! that our existence must also include spending undending amounts of blood and treasure to save "ever-grateful" Noble Freedom Lovers!! in other countries.
Edmund Burke of course saw it happening over 200 years ago...
garage, is this a weak attempt to score a point for Team Left, or do you really fail to understand?
Just pointing that a lot of people that talk about freedom really don't practice what they preach. The science is in, as they say, on that. As for Instapundit's "recurring tactic", it's lame, juvenile, and not even factually true in this case. Who is calling the state police on Reynolds, or his employer, or threatening his life?
Obedience to which societal norms are those, cedarford? The "societal norm" of being ashamed of taking charity? Perhaps you mean the "societal norm" of public decency? Or maybe the "societal norm" of being ashamed if you've failed to support parents or children so that they have to take charity? The "societal norm" of being truthful and taking your lumps? Maybe the "societal norm" of not being a ho? Or are you talking about the "societal norm" of watching out for neighbors and distrusting government?
Which "societal norm"... The getting divorced one? The feeling entitled to government charity one? The not having to pay your bills one? The one where you feel like your voluntary identity issues and sexual choices entitle you to draw more on medical insurance than you (or your parents) will ever pay in?
a lot of people that talk about freedom really don't practice what they preach
If you mean "a lot of people use appeals to freedom solely as a means to advance an agenda that has nothing to do w/ freedom," then I agree completely.
Conservatives and libertarians w/in the general Repub ranks argue about this all the time (cf. Cedarford's comment @ me). But I rarely encounter Dems having similar arguments.
Larry J said...
Point: the British never apologised for their murderous assaults on our forefathers.
Well, the British did burn our capital in the War of 1812 and we never had the decency to thank them.
==================
They would do us a tremendous favor if they could invade again. This time sucessfully. Blow up Congress with all members and staffers inside, bayonet the lobbyists of both Parties, repudiate the whole 16 trillion debt to US creditors since they conquered us and are not responsible for past debts, put Obama in a display cage to tow around London.
And under military occupation, as media people, lawyers and US judges and law profs would be superfluous - put all the Esquires to honest work rebuilding bridges, lending an extra hand clearing sewer pipes or guarding elementary schools.
Of course, we would rise up and eventually throw them out...but the whole debt would be gone and if they did us an additional favor and burned the Sacred Parchment - we could truly start fresh with a limited vote at the start to avoid the huge democratic process fuck-ups of the last 50 years.
AllenS said...
My great, great, great, great grandfather, William died at the battle of Maystick, MA in 1776, trying to get these British off our shores. Thanks, William.
And my Great-great-grandfather died in the War of 1812 (a Regular, no less) making sure they stayed in Canada.
So what do you think of the reaction from conservatives/libertarians to a tweet "head on a stick", which no clear minded person would think of as a death threat?
@garage, I think it's stupid.
@Chip: garage thinks it's representative.
The Loomis thing, reading garage's link, baffles me.
Firstly... Lets have equal standards, right? If we have to listen to never-ending wailing about Palin "targeting" politicians, it's 100% legitimate to call out Loomis on his, absolutely, eliminationist rhetoric. And no reason at all to give him a pass because he was tweeting while emotional. (Should that be capitalized... Tweeting While Emotional... TWE. Just use the acronym?)
So Loomis was guilty of TWE and no one should call him on wanting someone dead?
Okay then.
But what baffles me is how *reporting* his TWE to his employer or to the FBI... yes, rude and stupid, I don't approve of EVER calling bosses or employers, that's what tolerant progressives do, so just say no, huh... What baffles me is how informing his employer or complaining to his employer is a threat. How is this a threat? Did he do something wrong or not?
Is throwing people under the bus so assumed by everyone on the left that they figure that complaints about an instance of TWE are going to hurt someone?
Granted, TWE shows a lack of judgement, and that may well be an important thing for an employer to consider but if it really was so very clearly a figure of speech (target your political opponents?) why is it a problem?
I had heard of it in passing, but figured it was some fleeting nonsense. What exactly is the Crooked Timber gang worried about? Odds of anyone being denied tenure for being anti-NRA are about the same as a flipped coin ending up on its edge.
I Googled "head on a stick" and got this:
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A University of Rhode Island history professor who wrote on Twitter that he wanted to see the National Rifle Association president’s head ‘‘on a stick’’ says he has received death threats and been interviewed by state police.
WTF? Garage, is this what you were talking about? A Professor wants to see the NRA president's head on a stick. That's kinda violent from your side, isn't it?
FTR, this seems much less stupid than the shrieking about Palin "targeting" Giffords.
Get back to me when the MSM start claiming that Loomis was contributing to a climate of violence.
I just went to Wal-Mart to buy ammunition and they were out of several calibers. The clerk said the military and the government were ordering heavily and several manufacturers were not delivering to Wal-Mart until they caught up with the orders. Not too long ago, there were reports of civilian agencies, e.g., the Social Security Administration, ordering "hundreds of millions" of 9 mm, hollow point rounds - man killers.
Morgan ought to be tickled by that. Maybe we will be governed by a king after all. King Barack the First. Has a nice ring to it, eh, Piers.
Lets have equal standards, right? If we have to listen to never-ending wailing about Palin "targeting" politicians, it's 100% legitimate to call out Loomis on his, absolutely, eliminationist rhetoric
This tit for tat is so painfully dumb is should hurt an sane person's head. Little kids think like this. And yes, liberals calling out Palin for "targeting" politicians is equally stupid and childish.
Synova - You go on a meandering what if? course of what norms and responsibilities - when it is pretty obvious watching our decline that the core problem is we have become a people obsessed with getting maximum freedom and entitlement goodies without chipping in.
A nation of people that wants to be takers and avoid being contributors.
Piers' support relies on polls and piles of shit.
His first TWE? "First fucker to say the solution is for elementary school teachers to carry guns needs to get beaten to death."
That's pretty explicit, even if it's not naming a particular individual.
"And yes, liberals calling out Palin for "targeting" politicians is equally stupid and childish."
Yes, it was.
Cedarford wrote: A nation of people that wants to be takers and avoid being contributors.
Are talking the bottom or the top?
"A nation of people that wants to be takers and avoid being contributors."
Of course, however the "freedom" fetishists aren't the ones who want to be takers without contributing.
That's pretty explicit, even if it's not naming a particular individual.
And, not tweeted by Loomis.
So... I read the transcript at the link (I couldn't bring myself to just watch it) and I think that Piers undoubtedly came across as an idiot. Name calling from the get-go.
The initial bit about the AR-15 was interesting... "The AR-15, as we've now seen from the last three mass shootings in America, Aurora, the shopping mall in Oregon, and now at Sandy Hook school, is the preferred choice of weapon for disturbed young men who want to commit mass atrocity, can fire hundreds of bullets at rapid speed, if you have the right magazines."
The guy at Sandy Hook had an AR-15? These aren't something you can shove down your pants or conceal easily at all. No doubt they do appeal to young men because they're all super-military bad-*ss in appearance but they've got to be the worst possible choice for going on a killing spree. And the Aurora guy walked into a movie theater with one?
Okay, so maybe they did have them. But they are a stupid choice, big magazines or not. And "hundreds of bullets at a rapid speed" excuse me? One bullet per trigger pull, just like a pistol. And I very much doubt that any "disturbed young man" is given the idea to mass murder because they look at the weapon and are compelled by it's military appearance to do something they wouldn't have otherwise done.
The notion that outlawing AR-15s will prevent mass murderous thoughts is worse than moronic. It does nothing but make people imagine that they've "done something" when they've done nothing at all.
we have become a people obsessed with getting maximum freedom and entitlement goodies without chipping in.
US history is full of examples of people arguing over the burden of taxes or looking for help from the government. Before the income tax, the tariff was a staple political issue. So we have always fallen short of pure idealism in the realm of practical politics. This isn't new, and it's common to all democratic societies.
It's still true that the claims of freedom hold greater sway in the US than in Canada or any other country I'm familiar with.
Also, while gun crimes might be down since Britain outlawed guns after the school massacre in Scotland, the reduction didn't follow the bans. Gun violence actually went up after the law changes after that massacre. That they're down NOW (if they are) can't be attributed to the changes in the laws there. In 2001 the BBC was reporting an increase in gun violence after the bans. (I linked the BBC article a day or so ago.)
I'm not trying to say anything hurtful or gratuitously disparaging Rocketeer.
I didn't think you were, Snark. I most certainly was, though. Clearly, you missed that. Apologies. I'll be more directly disparaging of your inferior culture next time.
Hey why don't we worry about what Joan Rivers or the "Every Rose had it's Thorn" guy thinks about the shootings.
Because they both won Celebrity Apprentice which is the only thing this douchenozzle ever did in his life.
Who gives a rat ass what some limey pantywaiste has to say about anything?
I mean I bet Graham Norton has an opinion but who gives a flying fuck?
Let him stay in England and rot his teeth and have the princess throw up on him every morning.
Britain outlawed guns and then they outlawed free speech.
There's nothing to reccomend the Empire anymore. It's rotten to the core.
Synova said ...
The notion that outlawing AR-15s will prevent mass murderous thoughts is worse than moronic. It does nothing but make people imagine that they've "done something" when they've done nothing at all.
Thread winner.
Got no guns? Try "ANFO" the fertilizer explosive used at the University of Wisconsin in 1970. It is made from commonly available ingredients, is well known after the Murrah Bldg disaster, and the basic formula is even provided in Wikipedia among other even more detailed cites. Hell the fuel oil part can be distilled (fractionation) from crude oil by a 15 year old.
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