Comments on: Straw man goes up in flames

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 19:21:58 +0000

Like Herb Caen, I’m a writer, not a talker, though I don’t profess by that to be as good a writer as Caen. But if you and Levin are buds, sure, bring him over;-). Chapter 6, “On the Free Market,” is pretty long. It’s going to take me a while to slog through it. We get a hint that Levin’s straw man “Statist” is actually a Marxist, so that rules out most Amerincans and most liberal Americans too. Like I said before, we’re ALL Conservitives compared to Levin’s straw man. It will be interesting if he becomes less abstract and names another real-life Statist. Marx was one, but he’s dead. Oh, and I guess Franklin Roosevelt too.

By: Tom Chalk

Tom Chalk — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:38:58 +0000

RLW: You are having WAY too much fun with this, and I do not have enough in-depth knowledge in this area to debate it with you (unfortunately), so maybe I will contact Levin and tell him he has a problem right here in Fairfield. If he agrees to come to town for the duel, you guys could debate each other, and I will buy the coffee. Deal?

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 06:59:50 +0000

But I’m only through Chapter 5! I’ve only gone through the first two chapters here so far. Here’s a nutshell criticism of Chapters 3-5. Chapter 3: “On Faith and the Founding.” It’s not too bad until Levin gets to “For the Statist…the Declaration is an impediment to his schemes” (Page 29). The fact is the Declaration was an impediment to governing generally, hence the Constitution. Levin has to include the Framers of the Constitution as “Statists” to make his argument stand up. He doesn’t and they weren’t, so his argument falls. Chapter 4: “On the Constitution.” Apparently Levin has written a whole book (“Men in Black”) disrespecting the Supreme Court. This chapter must by a summary. On the other hand, if you are willing to give the Court the authority to interpret the Constitution, you have to accept the finality of its decisions. I conclude, if Levin doesn’t trust our system of law-making, what does he propose? A court appointed by Levin? That’s basically where he ends up. Round file it. Chapter 5: “On Federalism.” Levin goes off the rails early when he states one of the main purposes of our federal system is to “help ensure that the Revolution’s principles, as set for in the Declaration of Independence…would be safeguarded.” That’s just plain ahistorical. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 is sometimes referred to as the “Second Revolution” because it took the nation AWAY from the principles of the Declaration. The other major flaw is Levin ignores the effect of the Civil War and the 14th Amendment had on federalism as originally conceived. He strains his historical interpretations to set up his straw man “Statist” as a depriver of state’s rights. I have pages of detailed margin notes, but those are the high points.

By: Tom Chalk

Tom Chalk — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:40:22 +0000

RLW: The creationism thing did not enter my mind. You can find stuff on Google that supports what I have read and heard about for years re: conservative students on college campuses being discriminated against. As to the Lincoln quote, I have not followed up on it, yet. I need to go back and review what Levin said first. But I am willing to acknowledge that you might be right about it. We should probably grab a cup at Starbucks some morning and return the books. What say you?

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:49:27 +0000

Tom: About the Lincoln quote…are you going to check it out? Or have you already?

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:37:24 +0000

Tome: Tell me more. This is not about teachers being “denied the right” to teach creationism in science classes, is it?

By: Tom Chalk

Tom Chalk — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:58:48 +0000

RLW: As for liberal professors exercising thought control in the classrooms designed to accomodate freedom of ideas and their exchange, I was not using Levin as my only source if information. That is old news.

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:02:52 +0000

Tom: Sorry about all the repetitive posts, but you know the problem. OK, I’ll take “overstates.” If you want to limit the observation to some higher education teachers, OK, I’ll take that too (if you exclude the conservative colleges that probably go the other way). It’s well known that more education tends to make a person more liberal, so one would expect to find liberal professors, as a general rule. But as for them intimidating conservatives and grading them down for expressing themselves, I don’t think that’s common. Grading them down for not expressing themselves well or persuasively, now that I can believe. If those students rely on writers/thinkers like Levin, they deserve to be graded down. You shouldn’t cite as authority a writer who “overstates,” or if you do, you should find corroborating sources of a nonpartisan bent, say Gordon Wood for 18th and early 19th century American history.

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:49:41 +0000

Tom: The only thing you said about motives in that post was that Obama wanted “social justice.” That can mean different things, but I presume you mean Obama is a socialist, despite all evidence to the contrary. There are programs in the U.S. that have socialist elements, but we are not a socialist nation and people who support those programs are not socialists. But that depends on how you define socialist. If someone likes our Social Security system, you might call him a socialist, but then most Americans would be socialists, and the definition fails to have any significant meaning.

By: Tom Chalk

Tom Chalk — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:52:44 +0000

RLW: You did a great job of analyzing Levin’s writing, but we see it differently. I think what I see is his tendency to somewhat overstate in order to make his case. In the matter of higher education, I still agree with him. The “halls of ivy” have, for the most part, become a refuge for liberal professors who insist upon indoctrinating students to their point of view. Students often find it necessary to hide any conservative notions they might wish to express just to receive a passing grade. These “professors” may be the true malcontents. Perhaps Levin missed the mark in assigning that label. And, no, it’s not a conspiracy–it’s a disease which cripples our nation to a degree.

By: StR

StR — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 07:59:27 +0000

NEW YORK — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is dipping into the ketchup business as part of $23.3 billion deal to buy the Heinz ketchup company…………

H.J. Heinz Co. says it’s the largest deal ever in the food industry. The company, based in Pittsburgh, also makes Classico spaghetti sauces, Ore-Ida potatoes and Smart Ones frozen meals……..

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and its partner on the deal – 3G Capital, the investment firm that bought Burger King in 2010 – say Heinz will remain headquartered in Pittsburgh. Heinz CEO William Johnson said in a statement that the company “will have an opportunity to drive further growth” as a private enterprise……….

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:28:39 +0000

Tom: Part 6 (and final!): If we are to believe Levin, most if not all of our education system, public, private, El-Hi, college, graduate, post-graduate, is part of some conspiracy orchestrated by “Statists” to train “malcontents” to take on the “civil state” (Levin’s ideal). Or maybe it’s the Statist government using education to preserve itself. I really can’t tell. I guess it depends on who is in power at the time: Academics switch back and forth from training foot-soldiers when the Statists are in power and “malcontents” when they are not. Sheash, this is a conspiracy theory on steroids! When I see that, I always ask, is there a more probable explanation? I think there is: Teachers simply teach what they think is true, or at least try to. Some, not all, are protected by tenure so they can have academic freedom and NOT feel compelled to teach what higher-ups demand. The result is a hodgepodge of liberal, conservative, politically neutral teaching. In other words, teaching that promotes free thinking and freedom. It’s what we WANT. It’s not credible for Levin to generalize about “academics” as some sort of monolith. Not in this country. You of all people must know that working with teachers is like herding cats. Academic freedom is one of our greatest gifts to the world, and one of what Thomas Friedman calls our “weapons of mass attraction” that have helped us to dominate the world culturally. Levin would take that away from us. I’ve already said why. Nothing is sacred to him in reaching his goal.

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:25:17 +0000

Tom: Part 5: What the heck is Levin talking about? The USSR? Maoist China? The Third Reich? I’m sure they all felt the same about educational institutions, which is why they controlled them, not to produce “malcontents,” but to indoctrinate FOR the status quo. I’ve had a lot of education in the USA, and what Levin is writing about I don’t recognize.

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:20:12 +0000

Tom: Part 5: What the heck is Levin talking about? The USSR? Maoist China? Nazi Germany? I’m sure they all felt the same about educational institutions, which is why they controlled them, not to produce “malcontents,” but to indoctrinate FOR the status quo. I’ve had a lot of education in the USA, and what Levin is writing about I don’t recognize.

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:12:54 +0000

Tom: Part 4: Here’s what Levin says on Page 19: “The Statist must also rely on legions of academics to serve as his missionaries. After a short period of training and observation, academics receive a sinecure—a personal stake in the state via lifetime employment through a system of tenure. The classroom is turned into a propaganda mill, rather than a place for education, to shape the beliefs and attitudes of successive generations of malcontents and incubate the quiet revolution against the civil society. Academics help identify the enemies of the state, whom their students learn to distrust or even detest through distortion and repetition—corporations as polluters, the Founding Fathers as slave owners, the military as imperialist, etc.” It goes on, but that’s enough.

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:04:11 +0000

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:54:52 +0000

Tom: Part 3: But I give Levin credit for at least trying to explain why these classes of people (Hollywood, et al.) are wrong. None of it holds up, but the explanation about “academics” is particularly interesting. Note Levin is not complaining about “liberal” academics. That’s a circular argument: Who are liberal academics? People you don’t agree with. Why don’t you agree with them? Because they are liberal. Levin breaks out of that circle, and here’s what he says on Page 19: “The Statist must also rely on legions of academics to serve as his missionaries. After a short period of training and observation, academics receive a sinecure—a personal stake in the state via lifetime employment through a system of tenure. The classroom is turned into a propaganda mill, rather than a place for education, to shape the beliefs and attitudes of successive generations of malcontents and incubate the quiet revolution against the civil society. Academics help identify the enemies of the state, whom their students learn to distrust or even detest through distortion and repetition—corporations as polluters, the Founding Fathers as slave owners, the military as imperialist, etc.” It goes on, but that’s enough. What the heck is he talking about? The USSR? Maoist China? Nazi Germany? I’m sure they all felt the same about educational institutions, which is why they controlled them, not to produce “malcontents,” but to indoctrinate FOR the status quo.

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:48:02 +0000

Tom: Part 2: You still have not checked out the out-of-context quotes I noted? I sort of expected you to skip ahead to my point about Levin and Hollywood, the media, and academics. The Hollywood and media complaints are rote for Republicans and Conservatives now. They routinely disparage people for who they are, not for what they are saying or doing. Obama is a prime example; go back and read some of your own comments. You have very little specific; it’s “Obama is bad and a lot of people agree with me.”

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:44:08 +0000

Tom: Part i: What it comes down to is for a republic to survive, it has to have enough virtuous people to counter those who are not, or at least who come up short. It’s always like that, more or less. And yes, it seems to be touch and go for us right now. Just because we’ve survived in the past doesn’t mean we will in the future. People take our government for granted. Some think it’s a basic necessity, some think it’s evil. But people all over the spectrum take it for granted. That’s not virtuous.

By: StR

StR — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:41:18 +0000

But yes for example the Babylonians eventually spoke Arabic, then qualifying as Arabs, who eventually became Muslim. But like I said there are some high up of all nationalies, supposed religions or communist atheists that really know who they are serving and it is the Luciferian New World Order. Just like the Bushes pretended to be Christians and Bill Clinton carrying around a Bible for awhile and supposedly running to a Church for forgiveness.

By: StR

StR — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:16:15 +0000

The point is that whatever they call themselves, whatever genetics they have or religion they claim to be they really serve the Luciferian/Satanic purpose. So the Illuminati is not just white, Jewish, or Opus Dei/P2/Catholic. The people in China doing the forced abortions and profiting from the new Capitalism there are part of it too. It is international in scope, setting the entire world up to fight each other. Part of the purpose is to kill as many Christians and true Jewish people as possible along with deceiving the rest of the population from being saved by a belief in Jesus.

By: Tom Chalk

Tom Chalk — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 03:46:00 +0000

RLW: C’mon–It’s about the administration’s refusal to answer the questions posed by McCain and others. They are FRUSTRATED by the stonewalling of the Obama administration and are taking it out on the Hagel nomination. But you already knew that didn’t you? By the way–Hagel is a loose cannon and everybody knows it. Why would the GOP support him in any event?

By: Mike kirchubel

Mike kirchubel — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 01:50:16 +0000

StR, you do realize that the Jews predate the Moslems by a couple thousand years, dont you?

By: StR

StR — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 01:17:25 +0000

And money is the root of all evil…so follow the money.

By: StR

StR — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 01:11:01 +0000

You see the interconnectedness of Qabalah Jewish magic and Sihr Arabic magic, in that some of the original Jewish people were chasing after the Arabic Demon/gods in the Bible. When the Jewish people were carried off to Babylon, those that did not return to Jerusalem adopted some of the Arab magic practices. So you see at the evil top the intent is just evil, to have people kill each other in the mideast. The evil Arab forces combine with some evil Jewish forces. But remember this is only the people at the evil top…not your ordinary citizen that creates all the turmoil, death and destruction. All I am saying is that evil combines with evil irregardless of nationality or supposed religion.

By: rlw895

rlw895 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 01:08:37 +0000

Tom: No, I said before it was a lie or a coverup or whatever you want to call it. So Obama et al. won’t play the opposition’s game and own up to it. So what? The Republicans have a hissy fit and take their ball home, meanwhile trying to gain maximum political points at Hagel’s expense. The guy had nothing to do with Benghazi. There’s some “reasoning together” for you! Are there any adults in that room?? Maybe a few, but the children are running the show. Tell them to grow up and stop doing stupid stuff like holding up a nomination they admit they will pass anyway. Or filibustering every bill. Or refusing to raise the debt limit. We’re the laughingstock of the world, and trust me, it’s not because of Obama. Or don’t trust me and do your own research. Do you know anyone who has travelled overseas and heard from the natives who follow such things that they think Republicans are the adults and Obama is the kid?

By: StR

StR — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:49:31 +0000

Google…Qabalah, Freemasonry, the Tijaniyah Order, the Muslim Brotherhood (but remember 911 was an inside job). or google sihr muslim brotherhood

By: StR An Interesting Study

StR An Interesting Study — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:45:50 +0000

Sihr Islamic Black Magic relative to the Muslim Brotherhood, Sufi black magic practices, and Masonic practices. See bascially they are calling on demon spirits and they all serve Lucifer.

By: StR

StR — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:28:25 +0000

Check out how many hedge fund managers are on the Forbes 400.

By: White Wedding

White Wedding — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:12:20 +0000