What If 2020 Was Just a Rehearsal?

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by Stanislav, Oct 7, 2021.

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  1. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I read several of his books. I didn't agree with much, but I was both entertained and educated by it all. He made conservatism make sense.
     
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    He's libertarian, not conservative. But yes, I enjoyed that of his writing that I've read, like Holidays in Hell. Weirdly, though, I find him to be just about the least funny and engaging occasional panelist on NPR's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me". I guess no one's good at everything.
     
  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    The only people who have any idea what a libertarian is are libertarians. The rest of us just see a moving target too difficult to discern.
     
  4. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    If someone opposes border walls, the drug war, military imperialism, arresting prostitutes, police brutality, prayer in schools, flag burning amendments, voter suppression, mass incarceration, and marriage inequality, being able to tell them apart from conservatives strikes me less as a moving target and more like hitting the broad side of a very big barn.
     
    Maniac Craniac likes this.
  5. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    You just described a liberal and, thus, supported my point.
     
  6. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    And liberals, as you define them, support free markets, deregulation, lowering taxes, and decreasing spending?

    Come on, we've been talking about this stuff here for over fifteen years. That progressivism, conservatism, and libertarianism are three different movement isn't news.
     
  7. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    You're moving the goalposts by creating a new list. This list sounds more like a libertarian (occasionally).

    I haven't. Other than a couple of posts with you, I can't imagine ever discussing the concept. Mostly because, in practice, libertarians are illusionary.
     
  8. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    https://www.chron.com/politics/article/Dan-Patrick-voter-fraud-bounty-backfires-16551132.php

     
  9. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Nah, my back acts up if I move goalposts. It was a continuation of the same list, demonstrating that libertarianism has points of agreement and disagreement with both progressivism and conservatism.

    Yeah, it's frustrating how that darn mirror just keeps lying to me. But since I've pressed you into an unimaginable discussion, you're welcome to the last word.
     
  10. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I agree.
    This is that.
     
  11. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    All true. In fairness to Lerner, he's a Russophone - and Russian state propaganda is weapons-grade. If Fox is Bulls#t Mountain, Vremya and Vesti and RT are Bulls#t Multiple Launch Rocket System. I've seen what it does to people's brains, man.

    What angers me is he should have had a perspective to avoid this. Take Manafort, for example. The guy was Ukraine's President Yanukovych' primary political consultant; helped install and prop up his criminal regime, and championed the divisive rhetoric that was exploited by Russia, causing the loss of Crimea and the ongoing shooting war in the east. Here is evidence even his own daughters blamed him for that:
    https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/manaforts-ukrainian-blood-money-caused-qualms-hack-suggests-235473

    So, yeah, seeing a guy from my neck o'woods falling for Paul's newer client grates me. The massacre of protesters in February 2014, by Manafort's old boss, was steps from my first real job, in a safe, pedestrian-only shopping district (Independence Square/Khreschatyk St./Instituts'ka St.). I went there for lunch with regularity; imagine seeing images of blood on that pavement. Lerner just brushes this right aside. But my emotions may make me too harsh. I've seen a respected Ukrainian/Canadian volunteer going pro-Trump; in a Manafort story, what concerned her is an alleged plot by the then-Ukrainian President to help Clinton by exposing it. If this can happen, what can you expect from a random semi-vatnik?
     
  12. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I trust your opinion on these matters.

    Truth is I don't think Lerner really has any discussions with anyone in the Political Discussions forum. The closest thing to a discussion he's had on this forum is probably with you. It makes it harder to tell what he is really like. I captured this little exchange as an example. I think it proves the fact that he doesn't care in the least what others are saying. His only purpose here is to just spread the "Republican word". He doesn't read the posts of others, he only very quickly skims the posts.

    I copied the earlier post because Lerner asked about it and so I copied it here again.
    Then Lerner asked.
    As you can see, I made it clear in my post that it was not my analysis but was the analysis of MediaBiasFactCheck.com.

    Note that if you want to look at the original post one can just click on the little up arrow.
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2021

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