Category Archives: Political Commentary

Business, Education, History, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Political Ignorance

34 Comments

It’s time to start taking it seriously:

You don’t have to be a libertarian skeptic about government to worry about political ignorance. Indeed, the greater the role you want democratic government to play in society, the more you have reason to worry about the quality of voter decision-making. The more powerful the state is, the greater the harm it can cause if ignorant voters entrust that power to the wrong hands. Here too, the rise of Trump is a warning we should take seriously. He is not the first or (most likely) the last demagogue of his kind.

I have long argued that we can best alleviate the dangers of political ignorance by limiting and decentralizing the power of government, and enabling people to make more decisions by “voting with their feet” rather than at the ballot box. Foot voters deciding where they want to live or making choices in the private sector have much stronger incentives to become well-informed than ballot box voters do. There is much we can do to enhance opportunities for foot voting, particularly among the poor and disadvantaged. Limiting and decentralizing government power could also reduce the enormous scope and complexity of the modern state, which make it virtually impossible for voters to keep track of more than a small fraction of its activities.

But I am open to considering a variety of other possible strategies for addressing the problem, including voter education initiatives, and “sortition,” directly incentivizing citizens to increase their knowledge, among others. Perhaps the best approach to is a combination of different measures, not relying on some one silver bullet.

A large part of the problem is the public-education system (and academia), which is doing a terrible job of explaining civics (and history), because the Left finds an ignorant populace not only convenient, but essential.

Business, Economics, History, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Post-Election Thoughts

153 Comments

In no particular order:

1) Despite his “approval rating,” this was an utter repudiation of the last eight years (and to a lesser degree, the previous eight years under Bush). Trump is Obama’s “legacy.”

2) I hope, and even expect, that Giuliani will be the next AG. He will take the handcuffs off the FBI, and finally get to the bottom of all of the Obama lawlessness as well as hers. In the spirit of reconciliation, Trump should offer her a pardon, on condition they shut down the foundation, and she exit our lives.

3) There will obviously be no post-election confirmation of Garland. Ginsburg and Breyer will probably be rethinking their retirement plans.

4) I assume that House Republicans have a repeal and replace plan to give to Trump in January.

5) Expect a flurry of executive orders undoing much of Obama’s lawlessness in the first week.

More anon.

[Update a few minutes later]

Will “liberals” finally discover the appeal of limited government?

[Update a few minutes later]

Predictably, embittered Democrats engage in racist outbursts. Well, this is nothing new; they have historically been the party of racism.

[Update a couple minutes later]

[Update a couple more minutes later]

Would’t accepting a last-minute pardon from Obama be a tacit admission that someone did something wrong? That’s why Nixon didn’t necessarily want one.

[Update a while later]

It occurs to me that now that the crime family has no favors to offer, the donations to the Clinton Crime Foundation will start to, or immediately dry up.

[Late-morning update]

Yes, a large part of Trump’s appeal is a backlash against the fascism of political correctness.

Administrative, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Off The Air

64 Comments

For those wondering, I flew from LA to Dallas on Thursday, and drove down to Austin, to attend the New Worlds Conference. Patricia flew in to Austin on Saturday, and we’re spending a couple days in Texas Hill Country. I’m sitting in a little house we rented in Comfort, overlooking a creek and deer in a natural meadow across it. A couple of them came up to the window last night and looked in. Between funerals and family visits, and house renovation, it’s the first real vacation we’ve had in a while.

I should be back in the saddle (so to speak) on Wednesday, surveying the aftermath of the electoral disaster to come (regardless of the outcome).

History, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

The FBI Agents Who Stood Up For The Rule Of Law

98 Comments

You have to admit, it’s a pretty rare attribute in this administration.

[Update a while later]

There are five separate FBI investigations into the Clinton corruption?

I’m sure there are more than five instances of it, but you’d think they could combine them somehow. And of course, that’s just the ones we know about. There could easily be more.

Update a while later]

The Marc Rich pardon returns. As noted, the timing is interesting, but it’s certainly a useful reminder of the long-time corruption of the Clintons (not to mention Eric Holder, who should never have been confirmed as Attorney General). We may finally be seeing the leaks and drips that I expected earlier if Comey refused to recommend prosecution. I think we’re seeing a civil war both within the FBI and between FBI and the Department of Injustice. And it remains unclear which side Comey is on, other than his own.

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary

Occam’s Weiner

25 Comments

Thoughts on the mess from Mark Steyn, who will soon have his own show.

[Update a while later]

“My guess is Weiner’s perversions were to some extent a cry for help. He wanted to be caught. At some point, he desperately wanted out of the Clinton nexus (who wouldn’t?).”

[Update a few minutes later]

Hillary didn’t see Carlos Danger coming:

Carlos Danger (Anthony Weiner) once held high political office. He talked smart trash. He sassed Republicans and snickered. The liberal media loved it. Can’t catch me, I’m Carlos Danger.

Carlos Danger is also a pervert who sends naked pictures of himself to underage females.

Thanks to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s criminal deceit and his wife’s (Huma Abedin) complicity, after Carlos left office in disgrace he still had access to classified national security information.

Let’s review key incidents in The Lowest Cesspool. The pervert digitally exposes himself to 15-year-old girl. How vile. The cops investigate. Good. But oh the irony. The perv’s exposure incidentally exposes the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate as a crook and serial liar. The pervert’s estranged wife may face perjury charges. The pervert is cooperating with the FBI because he’s a coward and a punk and he’ll cop a plea to save his arse.

Unlikely plot twists? Not all that surprising, given the crooked characters. No need for Greek gods to dispense justice. Crooked characters do crooked things. At some point they take a crooked step and fall. Even crooks who think they can design a centralized and cost-effective national healthcare program, the kind of megalomaniacal crook who thinks she can foresee every contingency, a crook who thinks she can control the narrative just because she has ABC and NBC and CNN and The New York Times in her pocket—even a crook with that kind of power eventually trips up.

He certainly chose an appropriate name for himself.

[Update a couple minutes later]

The Democrats asked for this.

Yes. It’s what happens when you ignore all of the klaxons and flashing lights and nominate a corrupt incompetent serial felon.

Business, Culinary, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Technology and Society

Whole-Fat Dairy

5 Comments

Five reasons you should be eating it. No one should be eating low-fat dairy, or low-fat food in general. It’s all an abomination based completely on junk nutritional science over decades.

I should note that Costco only sells zero-fat Fage yogurt (last I checked). They make a 2%, but not a whole-fat version. But Trader Joe’s has started to make a whole-milk version, and it tastes great, and is only two bucks, compared to $2.67 for lower-fat versions, and more than that for Fage.