Category: Politics

Bono, one of the idle and bored rich, is looking forward to a campaign of civil disobedience until all national debt in the world is forgiven. Well, all national debt for the selected countries who have trouble paying their bills now.

Bono has not announced his plans for the period when welfare states in Europe and the rest of the Western world bankrupt themselves from coddling the impoverished everywhere, but he is expected to unveil a double standard whereby those nations should be held accountable for their debts.

According to a recent survey (alluded to by Fark), two thirds of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court Justice.

I could, off the top of my head (and without using the Internet) could name 6: Rehnquist, O’Connor, Ginsberg, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas. Smarter-than-thou colleague Adam could name seven, but he missed Stevens and Kennedy. Neener neener neener!

Which reminded me of a set of questions with which I would strike out at coworkers and associates back when I was a young man. The one that particularly flummoxed fellow English majors who attended the same Jesuit university I did was Name six morals.. Crikey, the biblical book of Exodus quite famously contains ten. I wasn’t even asking for moral to which the answerer adhered. Just give me six. Many could not.

The other great fun one was “When was the Civil War fought?” Ikes, the years I received as an answer. 1910 was the best (worse) answer I got. Seven years before World War I. Of course, the respondent wouldn’t have known that, either.

Undoubtedly you, gentle blog reader, are better steeped in civics than printers (those who run printing presses), so I expect you could name at least six Supreme Court Justices (because this very entry names seven). However, feel free to challenge your pub mates, and to name their senators and congressional representative, as well as governor, state assembly rep, state senator, mayor, and alderman.

Perhaps if we can shame them through pub bets it will increase their civics knowledge. Or at least get us free delicious Guinness Draughts when we win the bet.

Congresswoman Mary Bono, who is almost the Jean Carnahan of California, is going to start a congressional caucus on property rights and music piracy even though she’s rumored as under consideration as head of the RIAA.

I often discuss politics with the people with whom I work, when I am not dogmatting religion and gender issues in a thought-provoking mixture to create the proper subtle, yet tranquil Hostile Environment. And when I do, serving up my traditional lemon harangue pie complete with elaborate hand gestures and occasional white board diagrams or full costume reenactments of elections, I often strike the point echoed elsewhere in the blogosphere: the time has come for the rise of a Third Party to become a leading contender in state and national politics and possibly even supplant and existing participant in the Two Party System.

I, too, think that the libertarian impulse, if not the Libertarian Party, will make itself felt in politics in the future as the the younger generations of more tolerant (and let’s face it, morally relativistic) Americans arise.

I disagree with Robin Goodfellow, author of the piece hyperlinked above, in the timing. This shift won’t occur in the next ten years. This country’s, with its aging and greedy Boomer population, is not going to give up their Social Security benefits until their retirement ends (the Wall Street Journal’s Complete Lifetime Guide To Money‘s euphemism for slipping the Barry Bonds of earth). They’ll fight false tooth and press-on nail for continued big government regurgitance of workers’ indentured contributions into their pockets.

I do think it’s coming, though. It will require two things of the Libertarian Party, though, for them to capitalize upon the opportunity. The Libertarian Party needs to stop letting the hedonistic side of the party dictate its terms of debate. Sure, it’s okay to legalize drugs, prostitution, gambling, and all the other human vices, but the mainstream of America has not been convinced, especially as its culture has not emphasized reason, individualism, capitalism, and the other prerequisites for human advancement. Instead, the Libertarians need to identify, most vocally, what separates them from the current dominating parties’ platforms.

As far as government spending goes, Libertarians make the Republicans look like tourists at Disneyland. Laissez-faire capitalism? The Republicans are Keynesians pikers compared to Libertarians. When it comes to defending the neat parts of the Bill of Rights, the Libertarians make the Democrats look like the Catholic Church in Seville circa 1550. Unfortunately, when it comes to advancing their own party line, the Libertarians look like San Franciscoans, circa 1970 and after a fruitive trip to Mexico.

When they grow up, the Libertarians will be a powerful force.

(Pointer from Instapundit)

I don’t remember this game in arcades, but I was never into Video Game Wars.