American Crackpots

**Lemur** · 08-17-2007, 05:32

Yuo, I think those two essays are hilarious. I also tried to make painfully clear:

Neither essay represents mainstream thought, be it Republican, Democratic or Indie.
The Right does not have a monopoly on crackpots.

I really didn't post these guys to mock you, Don, but rather because I think they're sterling examples of the Great American Nutball. And interestingly, one of them is from a foundation with some heavy hitters on the board, and the other is being given major air time. So they're not only glorious kooks, they're kooks with an audience.

Sorry I offended you so deeply, and rest assured it wasn't my intent. Please, feel free to contribute some nutballery from the left as well.

P.S.: I ain't no Dem, and I never will be. As I have explained previously, my political ideology is much closer to Goldwater Republicanism than anything on the left. So please refrain from accusing me of (a) political affiliation, and (b) reading Daily Kos, which I must confess I have never even opened. You'll note that I post way more links to the Heritage Foundation and NRO than I do to anyplace else. Only in the post-Rove America can a small-c conservative be accused of being a granola-crunching socialist.

I come down harder on the Republicans because I feel utterly betrayed by them. Liberal democracy, free markets, balanced budgets and a light governmental hand are very, very dear to my heart, and the party that ought to represent those values manifestly does not.

**Divinus Arma** · 08-17-2007, 05:40

That was fun.

**Divinus Arma** · 08-17-2007, 05:45

Originally Posted by Lemur

I come down harder on the Republicans because I feel utterly betrayed by them. Liberal democracy, free markets, balanced budgets and a light governmental hand are very, very dear to my heart, and the party that ought to represent those values manifestly does not.

We work within the party to change the party. Republicans want what you want, but they have failed to deliver and that is why we have Democrats in control of both houses and a very real liklihood of a Democrat in the White house.

To run off to to the Democrats is absolutely NUTS if you actually care about "Liberal democracy, free markets, balanced budgets and a light governmental hand". The Democrats vocally desire European-style socialism, restricted free speech, government regulation, and redistribution of wealth.

If you want your team to win, then you play hard and you get better team members that share your goals. You don't join the other team!

**Lemur** · 08-17-2007, 06:04

Originally Posted by Divinus Arma

If you want your team to win, then you play hard and you get better team members that share your goals. You don't join the other team!

This is going to sound ridiculously corny, but the only team I'm on is the United States. Both the Republican and Democratic party could vanish tomorrow and I wouldn't mind at all.

I am a conservative. I want to conserve what's best about America. Frankly, the Republicans have been much more radical in the last ten years than the Dems. They're ready to pass constitutional amendments at the drop of the hat, and their deliberate pandering to the Christian right is at least as much of a threat to our way of life as the class-warfare demagoguery of John Edwards.

Let's accept the utterly false premise that Dems want Socialism and Repubs want Theocracy. Which end-point is more dangerous? How long does it take a country to recover from Socialism? How long does it take a nation to recover from theocracy?

I want a strong, solvent America to last for at least a couple hundred more years. I want America to remain a great power. I think this is eminently do-able, and not even difficult. Radicals of all stripes are a threat to this, and they turn me off in a big way. I promise you, those who seem like the least radical candidates will get my vote, and I couldn't give a flying Gah over what party they're in. If my ballot says Whig Versus Tory, nothing will change for me.

**Divinus Arma** · 08-17-2007, 06:11

All of which I find amusing, my rat-monkey friend. You have been on the left of every issue I can recall here at our beloved Org so long as I can remember. Never once did I think to myself, as I typed so furiously, "Gee, this Lemur guy really gets it. We think alike in alot of ways".

I see you with the Jags and Tribesmen and Red Whatevers of the Backroom.

I've got my problems with the GOP. But that doesn't make me want to be a jackass.

**Lemur** · 08-17-2007, 06:17

Originally Posted by Divinus Arma

You have been on the left of every issue I can recall here at our beloved Org so long as I can remember.

And does this say more about me or more about you? And does it even matter? Frankly, I think current Republican leadership is far to the right of the founding fathers; if Ben Franklin or George Washington tried to speak up on Fox News, I have no doubt they would be shouted down as traitors and soft-on-terror weenies.

To conserve means you have something precious to lose. Hence you want to "conserve" that precious thing, you have a fear of loss, a desire to preserve what is good. How the label "conservative" got stuck onto a movement of radicals is beyond me.

But then again, this is probably gist for a different thread. I really, truly just wanted to wade in the joy of crackpot loonies spouting insane ideas ...

**Gregoshi** · 08-17-2007, 06:25

This thread has gone badly off course.

Don, the crackpot nature Lemur relishes to in his first example has nothing to do with Bush or his decisions, but rather that the author suggests that Bush seize power and declare himself "president-for-life" thus ending democracy in America much in the same way Caesar put an end to the Roman Republic. That is crackpot in my book regardless of who is president.

How about shining the spotlight on some leftwing crackpots? There's got to more of them than you can shake a tax increase at.

A light-hearted, fun thread has taken a nasty turn into serious waters.

**Divinus Arma** · 08-17-2007, 06:29

Originally Posted by Gregoshi

A light-hearted, fun thread has taken a nasty turn into serious waters.

Nah. Just a bunch of would-be politicians enoying an evening frollick in the field of daffodils and landmines that we call debate.

**Gregoshi** · 08-17-2007, 07:43

Originally Posted by Divinus Arma

Nah. Just a bunch of would-be politicians enoying an evening frollick in the field of daffodils and landmines that we call debate.

So we are just Happy Together...

Imagine me and you, I do
I debate with you day and night, we always fight
To think about the Democrats versus the Right
So Happy Together

If I should call you up, invest some time
And you say I'm completely wrong and lost my mind
Imagine how the world could be, when its all mine
So happy together

I can't see me debatin' nobody but you
For all the strife
When you've dissed me, baby your side will be screwed
On my web site.