Politics

Response

Chill Clowns, Politics

At the time, I thought shooting all the people who invaded the Capitol Building on January 6 was the correct response1. In prior times, it’s what would’ve been done to a hostile force attempting to violently take over the most important government building in the country. That level of fierce response would’ve been justified and unquestionably correct2.

But I was wrong about that. Allowing the mob to beclown themselves as they did was far better. There wasn’t a martyrdom event, therefore. They just looked like fools and dimwits, dressed in doofy clothes, stealing laptops and putting their feet up on desks. My way, though the “correct” response, would’ve been hugely counterproductive to the republic as a whole. The Jan. 6 rioters lost vastly more support with how stupid they looked and that was probably worth allowing them all not to get peppered with rounds from MP5s.

So I was wrong. It does happen, though not often. And I admit it when I am.

  1. Yes, I know that one of them was shot and killed.
  2. Shooting them till they surrendered or were repulsed, obviously. I am not advocating for summary executions.

Hopeless

Chill Politics

I’m still angry about the $50 I donated to the Obama campaign in 2008. What a waste of money. It would’ve been better to set that money on fire. Yes, I know it was only $501. But the symbolism matters given how terrible a president Obama ended up being.

  1. It might have been $100; I can’t remember for sure. Either way, the point stands.

One Two

Chill Clowns, Politics

My hope is that Harris will trump Trump by enough of a margin that the highly-likely coup attempt will fizzle. We have more important shit to do than defend the republic against the divorced dads/incel brigade. We must get ready for probable war with China and likely war with Russia while dealing with climate change.

And that is quite enough, thank you.

Coupcoup People

Chill Politics, Prediction

Democracy Needs the Loser. The observance of defeat, especially in an election, is often all that keeps a state from tipping into violence.

I say 75% chance of a coup attempt in 2024/2025, and 30% chance of a successful coup by the fascist Republicans1 (not all the Republicans are fascist, but nearly all the fascists are Republicans).

It’ll be better-organized and run than the pitiful January 6 effort. I hope there are some back-end preparations brewing. I don’t expect civil war or anything like that, but perhaps some scattered violence.

  1. Assuming Kamala wins.

Remove Bozo Urges

Chill Politics

While it is indeed very fun to make fun of how badly both of them are fucking up their entire societies, alas I must begrudgingly agree with this tweet.

Canada, Europe, get with the damn program here. We need you to not be clowns, mmmkay?

Khanvincing

Chill Political Economy, Politics

Billionaire Donors Have It Out for This Legal Prodigy, but President Harris Will Need Her.

If Harris wins and fires Khan, that will be a huge unforced error. I’m glad that seems to be off the table now. Obviously, it’s great that billionaires hate Lina; it means she is doing her job correctly. She’s the best thing that has happened to the FTC in ages.

I’m biased as I’m a Khan OG; I’ve been reading her papers and work since she was still in law school. And she’s a good example that wisdom has little do to do with age. She’s only 35 now, but became FTC chair when she was 32. And she was incredibly smart and wise already when I started reading her when she was 23.

Just shows how busted that whole discourse is, really (to veer completely off-topic).

Left Behind

Chill Culture, Politics

This is from a conservative perspective I do not share, but I still agree with the overall take. Secularism is dominant now. Religion has been largely vanquished. The left as much as the right has reacted poorly to this, attempting to replace old-fashioned Protestantism with its even-more-inferior substitute, wokism. Except it’s not been done with any sort of awareness or forethought, as the vast majority of the left doesn’t understand that there is a religion-shaped hole in their lives they are attempting to fill.

Religious urges seem to be nearly universal in the human soul1. Attempting to eliminate them only makes those compulsions emerge in a more dangerous, less controlled form elsewhere. This is also true on the right, where we see worship of a two-bit fraud like Donald Trump and other pathologies.

  1. Part of that human nature the left claims we do not have.

Non-friends With Low Standards

Chill Politics

Trump is held to a much lower standard than Harris1. That has been true of every election Trump has participated in. We have a terrible press corps, really. It’s not wholly their fault, but a lot of this divergence is in fact on them.

  1. However, I think that focusing on grocery prices — especially in the context of anti-trust enforcement — is a great idea.

NIMBY Blowback

Chill Political Economy, Politics

From what I can tell, most of the hate directed toward Kamala Harris over “price controls1” is actually because she wants to streamline permitting and smack down NIMBYs, thus making housing easier to build.

The NIMBYs are doing all they can to fabricate whatever petty calumnies they can to make sure this doesn’t happen. For many, their entire politics is based on the price of their house and nothing else. That’s a lot of what we’re seeing now.

  1. Not really price controls.