Quote: Original post by Zahlman
...

...

... See, I'm reading that, and I'm having extreme difficulty figuring out exactly how it is that you define "hypocrisy" here.

Dunno. Try again.

Hint: note the difference between the terms 'implicit social contract' and 'explicit social contract'. The one, i take seriously, the other, i wipe my ass with.

I'd just like to remind everyone that the current US government may or may not be fascist, depending on who you talk to, but moderation in the Lounge sure as hell is. If you want to stay in the discussion, please make it less tempting to delete your posts.

Quote: Original post by Promit
I'd just like to remind everyone that the current US government may or may not be fascist, depending on who you talk to, but moderation in the Lounge sure as hell is. If you want to stay in the discussion, please make it less tempting to delete your posts.

It goes without saying that i have No Idea What You Are Talking About, but i like you style: that goes a long way.

Quote: Original post by Eelco

Quote: Original post by Mithrandir

Quote: Original post by Eelco
You have to wonder why people get their panties in such a knot over this. Since when do liberals have any love for texas? Then why cant you be genuinely happy (no mith, your angered tone does not agree with your approval) if texas were to secceed?

I'm angry that I've been called a traitor for 8 years now simply because I disagreed with what the last president did, and now these same retards are openly talking about secession, a clearly traitorous act. The hypocrisy astounds me.

I will never doubt my convictions again. When the assholes of the world claim I'm a traitor simply for questioning why we're invading a non-hostile 3rd world country (BTW found any WMD's yet? We know where they are...), I will dismiss their idiocy outright.

We know who the real traitors are now.

Uhm, sorry, but you are the hippocrite. You agreed to your subjugation to the tyranny of the majority, hoping that one day, you would call the shots. You didnt like it, and you tried to eat your cake and have it. You merely made a fool out of yourself, but then again, at least you managed to amuse me: dance for me monkey, yeah!

Now that you are on top, your partners in this frankenstein-marriage opt for the principled decision: divorce.

If perhaps for largely utterly retarded reasons: they are right.

Your opinion, however, is wrong. Cant put it any more subtle.

Do you ever say anything that isn't 40 IQ points below average?


What the hell are you even talking about?

Quote: Original post by Zahlman

Quote: Original post by Eelco

Quote: Original post by Mithrandir

Quote: Original post by Eelco
You have to wonder why people get their panties in such a knot over this. Since when do liberals have any love for texas? Then why cant you be genuinely happy (no mith, your angered tone does not agree with your approval) if texas were to secceed?

I'm angry that I've been called a traitor for 8 years now simply because I disagreed with what the last president did, and now these same retards are openly talking about secession, a clearly traitorous act. The hypocrisy astounds me.

I will never doubt my convictions again. When the assholes of the world claim I'm a traitor simply for questioning why we're invading a non-hostile 3rd world country (BTW found any WMD's yet? We know where they are...), I will dismiss their idiocy outright.

We know who the real traitors are now.

Uhm, sorry, but you are the hippocrite. You agreed to your subjugation to the tyranny of the majority, hoping that one day, you would call the shots. You didnt like it, and you tried to eat your cake and have it. You merely made a fool out of yourself, but then again, at least you managed to amuse me: dance for me monkey, yeah!

Now that you are on top, your partners in this frankenstein-marriage opt for the principled decision: divorce.

If perhaps for largely utterly retarded reasons: they are right. You are wrong. Cant put it any more subtle.

...

...

... See, I'm reading that, and I'm having extreme difficulty figuring out exactly how it is that you define "hypocrisy" here.

Don't worry, this is the retard who is 100% against any government spending at all, but gladly accepts government aid. He has zero credibility to anyone with a brain.

Quote: Original post by Eelco
Your officer is not a divine source of moral authority. Doesnt matter a whole lot if he wears a whig or a baret.

Yes, the Supreme Court is not a divine source of moral authority, but so what, the point is completely irrelevant to the matter at hand. But if you want to go there, Rick Perry and the idiots who cheer on his secessionist talk aren't divine sources of moral authority either. They're just a bunch of old cranks with a hankering for the imagined glories of the Confederacy.



While we're saying goodbye to Texas, we can also say goodbye to Oklahoma: Resolution Passes Claiming Oklahoma's Sovereignty.



And then there is the uproar over the DHS memo warning against Right Wing Extremists ala Timothy McVeigh. Limbaugh and his acolytes are up in arms over it. Nevermind that their outrage associates them with Neo-Nazis and the Klan. Nevermind that the DHS has been doing worse to leftists and pacifists since it's exception. Nevermind the history of COINTEL Pro and it's targeting of leftists, including targeting for assassination.

Quote: Original post by Mithrandir

Quote: Original post by trzy

Quote: Original post by Trapper Zoid

Quote: Original post by trzy
Or it could become a successful small capitalist nation selling value-added goods and services, high-tech products, and attracting foreign investment, like Singapore, South Korea, or Taiwan.

Well, you can't really sign big trade deals without playing the world politics game [wink].

It doesn't take much to play this game. Simply make investment in your country an attractive proposition, like Singapore and Taiwan have done. The former is a tiny city state and the latter is not even recognized as an independent nation by much (most?) of the world.

Hey that sounds like what Iceland did...

I don't recall ever buying anything made in Iceland. Do you?

Texas is not going to secede, but if it did, Obama sending in the military would be equally ridiculous. I can't see a faster way to spark multiple revolts against the federal government in other places around the country. Military response in the US would be a complete disaster.

That's assuming you could even get many of the people in the military to abide by your orders. A large number of people in the military are from Texas or would be sympathetic to their cause. It's not like you could just cut out those people from the military easily.

It'd be a huge mess really.

Although if they did secede, I doubt an embargo would be imposed. I mean, what would be the point? Not really anything would be different than now except they wouldn't abide by federal laws. If the prediction that Texas would become a 'Narco-state' is true, it'd only be because of an embargo. Not a good move tbh.

Even if that were so, it'd be easy to just make drugs legal. Oops, guess what? No more criminals smuggling drugs and fighting in the streets. What would be the point?

I think it's really telling how quickly the talk turns to war. There's little discussion of any actual grievance. What we've got here are a bunch of sore losers, crying because they lost last year's election and saying they want to take the ball and go home.

Here's the text of the resolution: H.C.R. No. 50. And here's the nut:

Quote:
WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous administrations
and some now pending from the present administration and from
congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States;
now, therefore, be it

It's perfectly vague as expected. That the folks in Texas and other states haven't enumerated specific complaints indicates that they're full of it, or in the local vernacular, "all hat and no cattle".

Quote: Original post by LessBread
And then there is the uproar over the DHS memo warning against Right Wing Extremists ala Timothy McVeigh. Limbaugh and his acolytes are up in arms over it. Nevermind that their outrage associates them with Neo-Nazis and the Klan. Nevermind that the DHS has been doing worse to leftists and pacifists since it's exception. Nevermind the history of COINTEL Pro and it's targeting of leftists, including targeting for assassination.

If you acknowledge this is okay, then you must acknowledge that the scrutiny of Muslims and anti-war group during the Bush administration was perfectly legitimate.

This leads me to some observations of our democracy: it's run by a system of elites with overlapping interests whose primary concern is their own welfare, hence bailouts for Wall Street movers and shakers who have their tendrils firmly rooted in the highest levels of government. That in and of itself is not surprising.

What is interesting is that democracy is always only an illusion. Government is always necessarily beholden to those who have the greatest stake in society, and it bestows upon them the power to make law. If not them directly, then through "elected" representatives, which is actually a more clever system, because ordinary people are made to believe their voices are being heard. The elites don't even have to prevent anyone from running, they just outspend them and ensure that the media does not cover them. The few that might slip through the cracks are unable to effect any change.

What we're left with is a system whereby the people are made to think they have a choice and which plays on our irrationality by pulling on our emotional strings. When one administration becomes unpopular, the elites replace it with an equally incompetent know-nothing (in this case, Obama) who continues with business as usual, but this time with the outright assistance of former government opponents. You want desperately to believe that Obama is on your side and will therefore rationalize a lot of what he does. Your desire to see your former opponents humiliated by subjecting them to the same treatment that angered you before also furthers the elite agenda.