Raw Deals and Higher Standards
The media, left and right, would have you believe that this presidential race is a battle for least-worst between the Democratic and Republican candidates. While, barring a SMOD-like event, it is true that one of those two will be America's next President, the...
Lies… And Bamboozling
There was a day, before on-demand, before Netflix, before Blockbuster Video, before even HBO, when missing a movie in it theatrical release meant you had to wait for the television networks to broadcast it. Since the networks were subject to FCC regulations and...
Excuses and Conspiracies
The attached graphic popped up in one of my political pages today. It posits a suggestion I've seen repeatedly - that Trump's campaign has been, all along, a grand conspiracy to ensure Clinton gets elected President. And, in some versions, to destroy the GOP. It's...
Nixon Didn’t Stain
Richard Nixon is synonymous with Presidential crookedness in the USA. But this is more indicative of the political culture of the day than of Nixon's offenses. In retrospect, Nixon's political dirty tricks seem quaint compared to what goes on now. And minor compared...
The Downward Spiral
Many conservatives, increasingly accepting of the probability that Donald Trump is going to lose on Election day, are asking the question "how do we move past this debacle of an election season? How do we restore conservative principles to the Republican Party?" I...
Dirty, Dirty, Dirty!
Corruption in politics is widely and correctly considered one of the great societal evils. Since politics is about gaining governmental power, and since governmental power is the epitome of irresistible force, the self-serving "buying" of that power is incredibly...
Playing The World’s Smallest Violin
In the wake of grumblings from the Far-Left about how President-apparent Hillary Clinton better not stray from the positions she co-opted from Bernie Sanders comes this article "warning" NYTimes readers that a Clinton presidency comes with its own perils. The Left is...
Forcing Harmony
One of my disappointments in Gary Johnson's version of libertarianism lies in what many (erroneously in my opinion) call the question of religious liberty. Or, more colloquially, the gay wedding cake issue. His position, elaborated in a Reason article from earlier...
Congratulations, Republicans
Your obsession with Mexican immigrants has put a cheat and a liar on the path to the White House. Last night, Donald Trump had his third and final opportunity to debate Hillary Clinton and to show the nation that he's more worthy of the White House than she is. By...
Gun Rights Lesson #132 – Founders Couldn’t Imagine The Modern World
"The Founding Fathers didn't and couldn't envision the modern world!" Indeed. They couldn't have imagined that the nation they created would have devolved to one that took half of many people's income. The Boston Tea Party was over a 3 pence per pound tax on tea. Tea...
Killing Pride
I caught a recent interview between magician Penn Jillette and libertarian journalist Nick Gillespie (and broke my no-listening rule because I wanted to hear Penn's thoughts on Trump, given his extensive first-hand contact with him). The interview ranges far and wide,...
The Racist Roots of Progressivism’s Wish List
Pop quiz. What do gun control, Planned Parenthood, and the minimum wage have in common? Got an answer? Now, add pot prohibition to the list. Does that change your answer? The essay title, of course, gave the answers away. The first three are high priority issues for...
Gun Rights Lesson #168 – I Feel Unsafe
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of a series of articles on gun rights. Each addresses a common anti-gun trope. "Your gun makes me feel unsafe! I have a right to feel safe!" If you are reading this essay, you are very likely familiar with the first sentence of the second...
Tu Quoque Or Not Tu Quoque
Donald Trump said some vulgar things a decade ago. In the grand traditions of "three can keep a secret if two are dead" and "always assume a microphone is live," his words have come back to haunt his campaign. Everyone is outraged, the GOP leadership is calling for...
Arrogance, Ignorance, Deception, and Trump’s Taxes
Someone sent a copy of Donald Trump's 1995 tax return to the New York Times. The Times then shared it with the world. This particular year's return included a nearly one billion dollar write-off, and the write-off and the embarrassment/outrage it might generate is, I...
State of Pain
EDITOR'S NOTE: This post is a follow-up to The Drug War Claims Another Victim America's prohibition regime of certain sorts of drugs has never been called for by a medical consensus. It has never been based on application of the principles of addiction medicine. It...
Argumentum Ad Quackulum
Humans often pride themselves on their individuality, on their standing "apart from the crowd, and on their self-professed superiority to the unwashed masses of humanity. Humans are, however, quite common and predictable in their behaviors, especially when it comes to...
Tolerating Intolerance
A chess tournament may seem an odd place to find a cautionary tale about political correctness and appeasement, yet the World Chess Federation's upcoming tournament in Iran offers just that. Since Iran requires all women, including foreigners and non-Muslims, to wear...
Simple Thinking In A Complex World
There's been a long-running battle between the Left and the Right over "science." More specifically, the Left has long been asserting that the Right is anti-science, and the Right has recently taken enough notice to start firing back. The Left's "anti-science"...
Presidential Debates 2016 – Round 1
The first of three presidential debates took place last night. Sticking to my norm, I didn't watch them. Their policy ideas are known and available in far greater detail from other sources, and I've already decided I'm not voting for either of them. So, my personal...
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