Day 37 of Georgia Governor Kemp’s reckless disregard of the health, safety and well-being of his constituents, and his long-term sabotage of Georgia’s economy.
~
Jbm: The difference between libertarianism and socialism is the way each looks at the individual. The libertarian believes men will act honorably in self-interest;
So then…
Then “the overlords imposing home confinement must be acting honorably in self-interest!”
Talk to me about philosophy, morality, and the meaning of life, and you’re likely to conclude that I’m a conservative.
Yet I’ve voted exclusively for Democrats since 2004 — and I’m convinced my conservative assumptions entail voting that way.
✁
Why am I “situated on the center left” despite holding “assumptions about politics and life [that] are more often held by philosophical conservatives than modern liberals”?
The answer is complicated in its details but clear in its conclusions: There is nothing remotely conservative about the present-day Republican Party.
It injects moral nihilism into the body politic on a daily basis as a means of acquiring and deploying power primarily for the sake of enriching a class of plutocratic donors — mainly wealthy businessmen and defense contractors.
Democrats may have their problems, ✁
But at least the economic policies Democrats support don’t actively shred the social fabric of the country, leaving workers and their communities in tatters while right-wing media rabblerousers get rich directing the resulting anger and blame at liberals.
From Harvard Law School comes the latest conservative flirtation with authoritarianism.
Professor Adrian Vermeule, a 2016 Catholic convert, is an “integralist” who regrets his academic specialty, the Constitution, and rejects the separation of church and state.
His much-discussed recent Atlantic essay advocating a government that judges “the quality and moral worth of public speech” is unimportant as a practical political manifesto, but it is symptomatic of some conservatives’ fevers, despairs and temptations.
“Common-good capitalism,” a recent proposal by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), is capitalism minus the essence of capitalism — limited government respectful of society’s cumulative intelligence and preferences collaboratively revealed through market transactions.
Vermeule’s “common-good constitutionalism” is Christian authoritarianism — muscular paternalism, with government enforcing social solidarity for religious reasons.
This is the Constitution minus the Framers’ purpose: a regime respectful of individuals’ diverse notions of the life worth living.
Such respect is, he says, “abominable.”
✁
The moral of this story is not that there is theocracy in our future.
Rather, it is that American conservatism, when severed from the Enlightenment and its finest result, the American Founding, becomes spectacularly unreasonable and literally un-American.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday turned away a request from a church in California to block enforcement of state restrictions on attendance at religious services.
The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court’s four-member liberal wing to form a majority.
“Although California’s guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in an opinion concurring in the unsigned ruling.
The car in the US culture is as much a symbol of freedom as The Decleration Of Independence or the flag. The open road has replaced the open range or the open sea.
I’m going out to rake the forest before forest fire season. Trump’s advise will help keep the air clean as he tells the race car drives to start their engines.
The leftist vision is to end carbon based fuel use permanently and ASAP. This will result in tens of millions dead and shortened lifespans around the world. But they really care about lives. Really.
Cheapskate0 almost 4 years ago
Well, Scott’s spot on today.
And now that we have a dread fear of public transportation, that will mean all that many more cars.
And my pet peeve: Drive through windows, where countless gallons of gas are wasted, and greenhouse gasses added to the atmosphere.
I’m almost more scared of coming out of quarantine than being in it!
kaffekup almost 4 years ago
I have no doubt there will be a bounce back, where we’ll drive more, travel more, and pollute more just because we can.
RobinHood almost 4 years ago
On the road again, I just can’t wait to get on the road again.
fuzzbucket Premium Member almost 4 years ago
How can I ‘like’ that?
jbmlaw01 almost 4 years ago
Day 37 of the Georgia Economic Recovery. Perhaps the comic suggests most of our brothers have been freed of home confinement imposed by the overlords?
jbmlaw01 almost 4 years ago
The good news is that we have found a much cheaper cure for global warming. Just shut down for a month once every century.
Silly Season almost 4 years ago
Day 37 of Georgia Governor Kemp’s reckless disregard of the health, safety and well-being of his constituents, and his long-term sabotage of Georgia’s economy.
~
Jbm: The difference between libertarianism and socialism is the way each looks at the individual. The libertarian believes men will act honorably in self-interest;
So then…
Then “the overlords imposing home confinement must be acting honorably in self-interest!”
Silly Season almost 4 years ago
Talk to me about philosophy, morality, and the meaning of life, and you’re likely to conclude that I’m a conservative.
Yet I’ve voted exclusively for Democrats since 2004 — and I’m convinced my conservative assumptions entail voting that way.
✁
Why am I “situated on the center left” despite holding “assumptions about politics and life [that] are more often held by philosophical conservatives than modern liberals”?
The answer is complicated in its details but clear in its conclusions: There is nothing remotely conservative about the present-day Republican Party.
It injects moral nihilism into the body politic on a daily basis as a means of acquiring and deploying power primarily for the sake of enriching a class of plutocratic donors — mainly wealthy businessmen and defense contractors.
Democrats may have their problems, ✁
But at least the economic policies Democrats support don’t actively shred the social fabric of the country, leaving workers and their communities in tatters while right-wing media rabblerousers get rich directing the resulting anger and blame at liberals.
https://theweek.com/articles/916842/conservative-case-democratic-party
Silly Season almost 4 years ago
By George F. Will
From Harvard Law School comes the latest conservative flirtation with authoritarianism.
Professor Adrian Vermeule, a 2016 Catholic convert, is an “integralist” who regrets his academic specialty, the Constitution, and rejects the separation of church and state.
His much-discussed recent Atlantic essay advocating a government that judges “the quality and moral worth of public speech” is unimportant as a practical political manifesto, but it is symptomatic of some conservatives’ fevers, despairs and temptations.
“Common-good capitalism,” a recent proposal by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), is capitalism minus the essence of capitalism — limited government respectful of society’s cumulative intelligence and preferences collaboratively revealed through market transactions.
Vermeule’s “common-good constitutionalism” is Christian authoritarianism — muscular paternalism, with government enforcing social solidarity for religious reasons.
This is the Constitution minus the Framers’ purpose: a regime respectful of individuals’ diverse notions of the life worth living.
Such respect is, he says, “abominable.”
✁
The moral of this story is not that there is theocracy in our future.
Rather, it is that American conservatism, when severed from the Enlightenment and its finest result, the American Founding, becomes spectacularly unreasonable and literally un-American.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-american-conservatism-becomes-un-american/2020/05/28/336a953a-a0f6-11ea-b5c9-570a91917d8d_story.html
William Robbins Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Post-recovery, effects remain, even for elite athletes. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/sports/coronavirus-survivors-athletes.html
Silly Season almost 4 years ago
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday turned away a request from a church in California to block enforcement of state restrictions on attendance at religious services.
The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court’s four-member liberal wing to form a majority.
“Although California’s guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in an opinion concurring in the unsigned ruling.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/us/supreme-court-churches-coronavirus.html?smid=tw-share
streetbeater almost 4 years ago
It’s gonna be worse than it was before. Trump has all but disbanded the EPA. Nixon’s EPA.
rAtkinson almost 4 years ago
No.
RobinHood almost 4 years ago
The car in the US culture is as much a symbol of freedom as The Decleration Of Independence or the flag. The open road has replaced the open range or the open sea.
The Love of Money is . . . almost 4 years ago
I’m going out to rake the forest before forest fire season. Trump’s advise will help keep the air clean as he tells the race car drives to start their engines.
Brain Pudding almost 4 years ago
The leftist vision is to end carbon based fuel use permanently and ASAP. This will result in tens of millions dead and shortened lifespans around the world. But they really care about lives. Really.