A good subtitle might be "Tribal Custom as a Standard of Abstract Right and Wrong: The Oxymoronic Quality of 'Contemporary Moral Principles.'"

The following is an excerpt from his great essay "On American Morals." Chesterton does a masterful job of illustrating the difference between tribal custom and moral principle. more...

Posted by: rdbrewer at 10:56 AM | Comments (97)
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In this post yesterday, Merovign expressed a desire to have a book thread dedicated to countering leftist propaganda. It struck me as a good idea, though perhaps not for the reasons Merovign intended.

I've always thought that the most effective tool against propagandization is simply being clear-headed. If you know what your own opinions are, and reached them through thought and consideration, then propaganda probably won't have much effect on you anyway, regardless of your political bent. Propaganda works best on people who come to their worldview by osmosis: they soak up their thoughts and feelings as a sponge soaks up water, and with about as much consideration.

I blame our school system for the lack of critical-thinking skills in our population. If you teach children to think critically, to weigh evidence, to value experiment and empirical outcomes, then you build citizens who are not only not prone to hysteria and delusions, but are naturally resistant to propaganda. To be skeptical is a vital survival skill that all too many people (on both the political right and left) lack.
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Posted by: Monty at 04:14 AM | Comments (281)
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“Somejoe” dropped this little brown nugget in last night’s thread. He’s a sharing kind of person:

In a surprising coincidence, the theme for tonight’s ONT is “kick somejoe’s ass in the comments.” Funny how these things work out. So be sure to thank him in your own special ways. more...

Posted by: Genghis at 06:22 PM | Comments (762)
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Hell yes it was a fumble.

Steelers still win.

Green Bay and Atlanta in a fight too. Good one too.

Crap, I forgot. For Kratos. more...

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:34 PM | Comments (74)
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Via Allah on Twitter...Absolute Immoral Authority?

Toward the end of the town hall meeting Saturday morning, one of the shooting victims, J. Eric Fuller, took exception to comments by two of the speakers: Ariz. state Rep. Terri Proud, a Dist. 26 Republican, and Tucson Tea Party spokesman Trent Humphries.

According to sheriff's deputies at the scene, Fuller took a photo of Humphries and said, "You're Dead."

Deputies immediately escorted Fuller from the room.

Pima County Sheriff's spokesman Jason Ogan said later Saturday that Fuller has been charged with threats and intimidation and he also will be charged with disorderly conduct.

Among the dignitaries at the town hall taping were Mayor Bob Walkup, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva and former Congressman Jim Kolbe.

I'm really looking forward to the Democrats explaining how this guy shouldn't be held responsible for his threats but that Sarah Palin should be.

Added: Here's what Fuller had to say about the shooting.

“It looks like Palin, Beck, Sharron Angle and the rest got their first target,” Eric Fuller, a former campaigner for Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, told Democracy Now. “Their wish for Second Amendment activism has been fulfilled.”

Yeah.

Amusing: Yesterday Chas of Little Green Footballs highlighted Fulller's baseless attacks on Palin et al and then finished with this (safe link to a screen grab at my facebook account).

Now watch as Andrew Breitbart, Jim Hoft, and the rest of the right wing blogosphere go into overdrive to smear Mr. Fuller.

Behold the power of the right wing!

Posted by: DrewM at 01:32 PM | Comments (734)
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Never has such a playoff thread been so anticipated. I'm a big fan of anticipation myself, it helps the ladies manage their disappointment later.

I think.

First up, Ravens and Steelers. Next up, Packers and the Falcons.

Also, if Adrian Peterson shows up at your McDonalds at 3 in the morning and wants to use the restroom, you should check with your district manager before letting him in.

Rules are rules.

CDR M sent me a Seahawks cheerleader pic but they don't play until Sunday so you have to wait.

ALSO! Playoff thingy standings after last weekend:

1 Physics Geek's Entry 120
2 MoronPunditRules 110
3 Mrs.M 95
4 CharlieBrown'sDildo 94
5 Quarreyman 91

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 11:58 AM | Comments (450)
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This appeared last night and the reaction from folks on Twitter and email was that it's a tough watch.

The guy is genuinely disturbed. We knew that but to hear and see it so clearly is pretty shocking.

I would love to sit with Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Paul Krugman and the like to watch this. Then when it's over, I'd like them to explain to me how they think this broken and damaged man was in any way influenced by the 'tone' of our political discourse. Yes, his ramblings involve phrases like "unconstitutional" and "gold" that often turn up in political discussions but they are clearly unrelated to any political theory known to normal human beings. Loughner could just have easily fixated on "mashed potatoes" and "green rabbits" and it would have made as much sense.

It's contemptible how so many Democrats and liberals have latched onto this guy's mental derangement to further their political goals.

If you don't believe me, read Charles Blow in today's New York Times.

Now weÂ’ve settled into the by-any-means-necessary argument: anything that gets us to focus on the rhetoric and tamp it down is a good thing. But a wrong in the service of righteousness is no less wrong, no less corrosive, no less a menace to the very righteousness itÂ’s meant to support.

You canÂ’t claim the higher ground in a pit of quicksand.

Concocting connections to advance an argument actually weakens it. The argument for tonal moderation has been done a tremendous disservice by those who sought to score political points in the absence of proof.

Blow is no moderate, hell, he's usually not even very interesting but even he sees how dishonest the Democrats have behaved this week. Seems if the left has lost a guy like Blow, they might want to take a step back and consider what they've done.

Or not.

Posted by: DrewM at 11:52 AM | Comments (140)
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This has been a shocking, trying, saddening, and infuriating week.

One more shot at the leftist media swine who tried to frame specific individuals on the Right, along with an entirely legitimate, mainstream political movement, with mass-murder-by-deranged-proxy.

Because of a rhetoric of violence.

And words like 'target.' Ooooh. Okay.

The left always conducts its activities with the assumption that their political opponents are honorable human beings with whom they simply disagree on matters of policy.

So genteel, so sweetly and intellectually persuasive. Unlike you racist hillbilly scum and your vile crosshairs on maps.

I gotta tell you. Shoving this stuff right back up their asses** is never going to get old.

**This is a metaphor and is not intended to allude to actual sodomy. This cob and the blog itself disavow any such literal interpretation and by reading this you agree that same cannot be held responsible for injuries resulting from a failure to use metaphors correctly.

Posted by: LauraW at 10:53 AM | Comments (124)
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A report by NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel was released on Thursday. It concluded that "lack of clarity and constancy of purpose among NASA, Congress and the White House" may endanger astronauts in the future. It includes a thinly-veiled plea for more funding.

The latest concerns about NASA's drift come amid heightened uncertainty over its budget and policy priorities, as the new House Republican leadership begins to spell out a vision for the agency. Veteran GOP lawmakers on committees overseeing NASA generally have strongly opposed White House efforts to turn over core agency functions—including transporting astronauts to and from the international space station—to commercial rocket and spacecraft suppliers and operators.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama's ambitious goal of launching a manned expedition to an asteroid by 2025 hasn't gained much traction inside NASA or among lawmakers.

On Thursday, Rep. Ralph Hall (R., Texas), the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, criticized the Obama administration for seeking to kill long-established manned projects. Instead of providing NASA with a larger budget advocated by outside experts, according to Mr. Hall, the White House "simply said it was unaffordable" and has denied NASA the resources "necessary to have a program worthy of a great nation."
. . . .
Further complicating the safety debate, earlier this week NASA officials delivered a separate report to Capitol Hill arguing that they can't build a new rocket and Apollo-like capsule on the budget and deadline established by lawmakers. None of the options analyzed so far, according to NASA, will be able to fly by 2016 unless lawmakers significantly increase the agency's appropriations.

I've shared my skepticism about taxpayer-funded, government-run space exploration several times, including on the Muslim outreach incident and NASA's covered wagon to the moon.

The argument used to be that government had to take the lead on space exploration because it was a competition that the private sector couldn't afford. Private industry (and private investment) just didn't operate on the timeframe involved; there was no company that could delay return on investment for twenty (really forty) years.

But it's not the Sixties anymore. The government can't afford it anyway and government regulatory dominance in the space industry is deterring private investment. I seriously doubt that NASA could put a man on the moon in the next five years even if our lives depended on it.

That's part of the conclusion in this report. NASA has no clear purpose. You're as likely to hear about NASA's global warming studies as you are a shuttle launch, salt evaporation projects as interplanetary probes. Congressfolk mostly want money for their districts. President Obama wants an asteroid mission, even as most of the NASA folks talk about skipping the moon and going straight to Mars. As a result, NASA loses talent and experience which is needed to "effectively reduce risk going into the future."

Exit question: I was born in 1981. Tell me about some worthy NASA projects in my lifetime. I'm thinking Hubble was worth the effort, given how much we've learned about the universe from it. GPS is a DOD project, so that doesn't count. What am I forgetting?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:21 AM | Comments (172)
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This is part of a debate I had with a friend named "Tad" a while back. He was arguing the Laurence Tribe side of Constitutional law.

[W]hen the judge is required to make such a moral decision, the judge should make a constitutional decision which best fits with contemporary understandings of the moral principles . . . .

This is very loose. You could even replace the second occurrence of "moral" with "cultural" or "accepted." There is no room for an absolute truth or right or wrong. "Contemporary understanding" leaves too much to the anointed, the self-regarded elite—the gatekeepers of "contemporary understanding." Just because Tribe and his cocktail party familiars may think something is "moral" does not necessarily make it so. Slavery was morally acceptable 200 years ago, but it was never moral in an absolute sense. Maybe Tribe's future twin will find slavery again fits our understanding of contemporary moral principles 50 years from now, requiring repeal of the Thirteenth Amendment—perfectly acceptable to Tad and Tribe. Thus, the moral-equals-contemporary-understanding position is equivocal and unreliable, more of an article of faith than a rationale. Its real purpose is rhetorical, to sprinkle the word "moral" like sugar over the turd "politics." more...

Posted by: rdbrewer at 07:55 AM | Comments (102)
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