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Rand Paul says he’s against “institutional racism.” By “institutional” he means “public-sector.” Someone needs to tell libertarians that the private sector and civil society are also “institutions,” and that those institutions can be just as oppressive as public ones. Once you understand that private as well as public power can threaten freedom, you’re ready to [...]
Archive for May, 2010
May 19th, 2010
Category: Watching Conservatives
Rand Paul thinks that forbidding private racial discrimination is contrary to free-market principles.
May 19th, 2010
Category: Uncategorized
The Republican Party is increasingly dominated by an increasingly insane right wing. It would be nice if just occasionally a journalist asked a national Republican to either avow or disown particular pieces of madness, such as the Texas school textbook standards.
May 19th, 2010
Category: Uncategorized
I’m glad Sestak beat Specter in Pennsylvania. I have a great deal of respect for people who have left the Republican Party because it’s been taken over by lunatics, but Specter’s Shawkshank Redemption wasn’t very impressive. On the other hand, I certainly appreciated having that sixtieth vote for the Access to Care act, and if [...]
May 17th, 2010
Category: Crime Control
Giving a juvenile life without parole may or may not be unconstitutional, but it’s certainly stupid. Keeping a sex offender who has served his term in prison indefinitely because of the crimes he might commit may not be stupid, but it certainly ought to be unconstitutional.
May 16th, 2010
Category: Iraq, Spirituality and Religion
Christianity is being eradicated from Iraq.
May 16th, 2010
Category: Science and its methods
Republicans use a dirty trick to block a science-funding bill. The Democrats should use this to help mobilize the scientific part of the party’s base.
May 15th, 2010
Category: Uncategorized
Walter Russell Mead, who in real life has a higher-than-room-temperature IQ, has decided to check his intelligence at the door of the political process. Disliking the political consequences entailed in acknowledging the risk of massive climate change, http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/05/14/global-green-meltdown-gains-momentum/: “Experts armed with computer models are just guessing.” Yes, imagining that any model captures all of reality [...]