A responce to CoolbruceLong

Axil · Post by **Axil** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:35 pm

Coolbrucelong wrote:Here is how the tea baggers do business...pay to play

Axil

Are you able to discuss topics such as the magnitude of the federal budget without recourse to name calling and sexual slurs?

Thank you for raising my awareness to the slang term Tea bagger; I am new to political debate having been lately enraged to comment by the recent actions of the first term members of the house of representatives who are affiliated with the tea movement.

Thinking back, I may have first heard the term on Fox news and took it as a generally accepted monicker in political circles for a member of the Tea Party.

To my embarrassment, I must admit that I do not travel is circles where the slang term Tea bagger is used in general conversation.

But as a result of your post however, I researched the term's slang usage and now in an effort to further conversation not impeded by unintended recrimination and embarrassment resolve to remove that phrase from the dialog.

I apologize for any slight implied in the term and assure you no slight was intended.

I do admit to having a good laugh as an embarrassed reaction when the meaning of the slang term became know to me.

MSimon · Post by **MSimon** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:53 pm

Koch? You have no fricken idea. None. That dog whistle don't work well in these parts.

"Concentration of wealth is a natural result of concentration of ability, and recurs in history. The rate of concentration varies (other factors being equal) with the economic freedom permitted by morals and the law... democracy, allowing the most liberty, accelerates it. -- Will and Ariel Durant

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as “bad luck.” Robert A. Heinlein

MSimon · Post by **MSimon** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:10 pm

BTW Axil,

Be ready to take a beating. Lots of engineers here. Some very smart cookies. And as a group they tend libertarian and have given it a lot of thought.

Many make million dollar decisions. They are grounded in the real world. They have to be. Lives depend on it.

I in fact used to see the world as you do. Forty years of engineering taught me that it is abject nonsense.

The ideal socialist system is much better than any existing capitalist system. What socialists have yet to learn is: incentives matter. And the incentives have to be congruent with human nature or you get abominations like the Drug War. In fact the Drug War is one of the big mistakes of "conservatives". The alternative being the socialists who are totally mistaken. Tough choice, huh?

MSimon · Post by **MSimon** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:15 pm

And of course the conservative mistake is in the direction of

The Drug War as a Socialist Enterprise by Milton Friedman

tada - socialism.

ladajo · Post by **ladajo** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:59 pm

MSimon wrote:BTW Axil,

Be ready to take a beating. Lots of engineers here. Some very smart cookies. And as a group they tend libertarian and have given it a lot of thought.

That is the biggest reason I like it here. It is a free-fire zone with mostly well trained, well equipped operators. If you put something out there, be prepared to defend it in a rigorous environment.

krenshala · Post by **krenshala** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:21 am

ladajo wrote:
MSimon wrote:BTW Axil,

Be ready to take a beating. Lots of engineers here. Some very smart cookies. And as a group they tend libertarian and have given it a lot of thought.

That is the biggest reason I like it here. It is a free-fire zone with mostly well trained, well equipped operators. If you put something out there, be prepared to defend it in a rigorous environment.

It is the best way to find any flaws in your idea/theory, thats for sure.

Axil · Post by **Axil** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:57 am

MSimon wrote:BTW Axil,

Be ready to take a beating. Lots of engineers here. Some very smart cookies. And as a group they tend libertarian and have given it a lot of thought.

Mr. Simon be the blacksmith that hones the keen edge on my steel. Bring ye on the fire and the anvil. The hardest steel is born in the fires of hell and the finest edge is tempered by infernal heat.

Blacksmith, I set ye a task. Take these harpoons and lances. Melt them down. Forge me new weapons that will strike deep and hold fast. But do not douse them in water; they must have a proper baptism. What say ye, all ye men? Will you give as much blood as shall be needed to temper the steel?

Giorgio · Post by **Giorgio** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:02 am

I prefer you when you quote Moby Dick than when you try to make up theories to justify Rossi claims.

MSimon · Post by **MSimon** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:23 am

ladjo,

Continuous design reviews. With the same applied viciousness. Heh.

WizWom · Post by **WizWom** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:51 am

Jccarlton wrote:
Diogenes wrote:You are an idiot. I have funded myself, as have all the other people I know in the Tea party. I read so far as "Koch brothers" and didn't bother to read the rest.
Interesting piece fantasy ranting isn't it. I find it amazing that lefties always have to try to find the bogeyman leaders even when they are fantasies. They cannot seem to understand, that yes there are whole bunches of people who understand the inevitable consequences of what they advocate and want no part of it.

All anyone has to do is dredge into the CFR conspiracy theory, or the Soros nonsense Glen Beck rants about. Its always easier to blame a vast conspiracy rather than accept that there is a sound - or misguided - reasoning behind anything.

Ivy Matt · Post by **Ivy Matt** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:25 am

I'm not sure what there is to say about George Soros: he's just a wealthy philanthropist and financier. But Axil has a point about the Koch brothers' influence. For instance, it's well known that they financed Adam Smith's European tour.

ladajo · Post by **ladajo** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:44 pm

MSimon wrote:ladjo,

Continuous design reviews. With the same applied viciousness. Heh.

Axil · Post by **Axil** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 6:01 am

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-rev ... party.html

Study reveals cultural characteristics of the Tea Party movement

American voters sympathetic to the Tea Party movement reflect four primary cultural and political beliefs more than other voters do: authoritarianism, libertarianism, fear of change, and negative attitudes toward immigrants and immigration, according to new research to be presented at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

I wonder where the funding came from to do this study?

rjaypeters · Post by **rjaypeters** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 8:04 am

"...authoritarianism, libertarianism..."

That is an interesting combination.

JLawson · Post by **JLawson** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:59 am

Axil wrote:http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-rev ... party.html

Study reveals cultural characteristics of the Tea Party movement

Snip

I wonder where the funding came from to do this study?

ThinkProgress.Org, Daily Kos, Huffington Post, the NY Times, and the DNC, most likely.

The Tea Party stands for smaller government - not NO government. Enforcement of the laws regarding immigration, NOT no immigration. Playing by the rules - you stood in line to get here? Welcome! You jumped the line and snuck in? Well, congrats on your dedication - but you've got to go back and go through the process.

Fear of change? Slight difference between fear and caution - I'd say that a lot of the 'change' we've 'hoped' for in the last three years has been change that could have been done without. Just embracing 'change' without analyzing how that change could bite you in the results makes as much sense as beating on the casing of a 500 lb bomb with a fuse installed because you like the sound it makes. Not ALL change is for the better, not all change should be dove into without looking. (And a massive health care bill should NOT be passed with the tag line "You've got to pass it to find out what's in it!" That was just plain stupid - and shows great contempt for the public at large and the political process in general.)

Authoritarianism? That's kind of not in congruence with Libertarianism, is it? Neither does it fit with the concept of smaller, less intrusive government.

It sounds like this is a whole grab-bag of stuff they're desperately throwing at their political opponents, hoping something - ANYTHING - sticks. (And to be honest, most of it sounds like projection, except the Libertarianism. I've seen fewer folks more inclined to embrace authoritarianism than liberals, or dedicated to embracing a status quo that means THEY get to stay in charge.)

Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't include racism and corporatism. Maybe they've got those in an appendix.

We've really got enough problems facing this country. Maybe it's time to start thinking about working together to solve them instead of slapping up more walls designed to keep communication and cooperation to a minimum.