Archives for: January 2010
01/29/10
The commercial with Tebow will probably make the case that women should choose life because abortion cuts off an enwombed baby's potential. This is an oblique argument, the type made when no consensus exists on the morality of the act itself due to a disagreement over which if any moral authority has provenance over the action, and the parties, as a result, resort to common, often practical arguments.
Other oblique arguments are that torture is wrong because it recruits terrorists, homosexual adoption because it leads to worse grades; that vivisection isn't effective, cutting carbon emmissions will lead to green jobs, and legalizing marijuana will enable us to make stronger rope. I can cite others of varying degrees of sincerity and/or validity.
Not every child will grow up to be a football star and many parents wouldn't care anyways. It would still be wrong to abort even a sickly baby likely to struggle to a 6-second 40 and with an innacurate arm because unborn babies have souls and are innocent, making their killing unjust.
Saying that aborting a baby is murder probably wouldn't go over well with about 45% of the nation because they don't agree with it and another 45% because the Super Bowl should be a match between the AFC and NFC, not the sides in our culture wars. That's my oblique argument against CBS showing it.
01/27/10
1. McD is more stiff than Obama. It might come off as refreshing after a year of Obama.
2. I hate the anti-partisan lie whether it's from a Republican or a Democrat.
3. He quotes the Bible. Nice contrast.
4. Good move mentioning the Christmas bomber. More contrast.
5. The faux SOTU atmosphere instead of the usual office is weird. Who are those people: friends? The applause is both more vigorous and more staged.
6. Nice conservative rhetoric. Simpler. Not a huge hit, necessarily. Who knows?
7. Another contrast: McDonnell listens and does what the people want. Obama does what's unpopular.
I won't comment on style, since I'm biased.
1. The president said that China and Germany have better economic plans than us. That's because he believes in top-down planning.
2. Green tech does not produce jobs if they only exist because of government subsidies. See Spain, which has 20% unemployment.
3. Obama threw a radioactive bone with nuclear and off-shore oil, "In exchange for ruining the economy with cap and trade, I'll build a plant and allow a study of off-shore drilling."
4. The federal government doesn't improve education. No evidence for that at all. But, he wants to "do something." Students have a world-class education now. That some don't want to learn is another thing.
5. What's up with the 10% student loan cap? If private industry is so important, why do we want to encourage people to enter unionized government jobs? Woops, I answered my own question.
6. "I didn't choose health care because it's good politics [I chose it because I'm a committed leftist.]."
7. Obama raises a huge straw man, "Let me see your idea that covers the uninsured," knowing that only a socialized system would guarantee coverage.
8. Obama hates political posturing.
9. "So, with that deficit, I said, 'What the heck? Let's just spend more money and blame it on Bush.'"
10. How do you "invest in people" (spend money) without increasing the debt (spending too much money)?
11. I can't believe Obama's talking about lobbyists when he gave a no-bid contract to his friends.
12. Has any other president complained about a supreme court decision in a SOTU? To their faces!
13. Transparency!
14. "Every day is election day?" Dude!
15. Let's pass everything!
16. Stop with the sanctimonious better government talk! The nation is wrenching.
17. Let's not have petty partisan attacks and schoolhouse taunts, after taun...aww, forget it.
18. Who wanted to only improve the lives of Afghan men?
19. You will support the Iraqi government without combat troops?
20. We support the freedom of Iranian dissidents? How?
21. Let's all get along by prosecuting people who don't tow the line.
22. Equal pay? That old chestnut.
23. He's going to do immigration reform.
24. Values that banned gays from serving in the military.
25. "We can do what the people want or we can do what's right." Translation: The people don't know what's good for them.
26. I usually don't like when presidents speak about specific small people. "It lives on in this eight-year old..."
27. I liked his ending. The most powerful part is when he said that Haitians were chanting "USA, USA..."
28. Wait, ruined it with his campaign-style hope and change stuff.
29. All in all, all Americans can find something to like...and hate.
01/26/10
Man, did I call it or what? Spending freeze, baby.
I don't mean to brag, but while lefties were urging Obama to lead a socialist Pickett's charge, Obama, who must be a regular reader- probably subscribes to my RSS on his Blackberry's Viigo- goes with my instinct.
01/25/10
Obama wants to subsidize women leaving the home. These are the kinds of policies that chap my hide. Specifically, I hate when the government picks winners and losers. My wife stays at home to take care of our 3 kiddies. What's in this proposal for her? In effect, my wife's subsidizing our neighbor, who works.
It's like the thing I get in the mail for reduced electricity and gas rates. If I fill it in, I'm cheating. If I don't, I pay for cheaters or, at least, my rates go up to pay for somebody else.
01/19/10
Obama:
Don't do anything. You can pass health care reform, but just reform the broken stuff. Don't build a new system from the ground up, in three months, based on a book by a college professor, supported most fervently by graduate students in sociology. Don't do anything on education; I guarantee it will make things worse. Don't fix immigration. Avoid any bill containing the adjective "comprehensive." Don't give speeches. Don't declare war on the culture. If we want the culture changed, we'll do it ourselves. Just go home, host Easter egg hunts, play basketball. Leave us alone.
Republicans:
Don't do anything. Don't gloat. All victories in a democracy are temporary. Don't declare a revolution. Please don't say anything about ethics or "the tone." Roll back the dumb stuff. Say "no." We don't want new stuff. No new wars, taxes, forms, programs. When you get back in power, just go about slowly scaling back government. Start with a freeze perhaps. People like the word "freeze." It makes them think of how they handle their own money, "OK, we'll eat out twice a month, but no more, and we won't order soda."
We live in a great and prosperous country. People want to be left alone to watch 24. Let them. Be like the guy who monitors the water meter. The less we notice you, the happier we are.
Culture battles only cross people's lives in schools and on TV. One's local and the other's market-driven.
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