Jjeorge

I'm ashamed to say that I have no idea what that means.

It's astounding to me how listening to Trump speak, as opposed to simply reading a transcript of what he said, seems to short-circuit my usual emotional response of "God this guy is a pompous ass." He does very much seem like a guy who is not into big, weighty political philosophy discussions. (I think this is why a lot of the more purist libertarians may hate him -- this philosophizing is basically all of politics to them, and he won't indulge them with praise for Hazlitt or whoever they have an intellectual infatuation with at the time.) Perhaps this is why I have trouble articulating my fascination with him to nay-sayers, because those idle ideas are what I'm used to working with, and that emotional "ew" is something I can't seem to stop even in myself.

Peter, That's easy. Marco Rubio (about Trump's McCain comment): Its not just absurd. Its offensive. Its ridiculous, and I do think it is a disqualifier as commander-in-chief. Some other unprovoked gems from other Republican politicians: Racist Blowhard Cancer Jackass DumbDumb He fired up the crazies Rise in polls due to the public's "temporary sort of loss of sanity" I don't want to be associated with the kind of vitriol that he's spewing out these days Not reflective of the Republican party He doesn't represent me, and he doesn't represent my party And so on. So it's OK to say those things about Trump when a politician disagrees with something he said. And why would that be? Obviously, because the insults are about Donald Trump. But it's not OK for Trump to counterpunch. And why would that be, I wonder? Maybe because he goes for the knockout counterpunch? Sorry. No sanction of the victim coming from Donald Trump. Hit him. He hits back. Hard. Immediately. Without apology. And he wins. Ask Sarah Palin how McCain's handler-enforced sanction of the victim worked out for her. Not going to happen this go around. Take a look at that string of insults about Trump from politicians who thought they were getting a free ride on the wave of public sentiment, thus getting a free bump in the polls. Moral crusaders? Or puppets? Looks like the second option to me. Michael This reminds me of something in the Ender Quintet. The main character responds exactly in this way to threats against him and his loved ines. He killed an older child because he knew that the kid would never stop bullying him, and simply winning the one fight would only atagonize the bully further. His reasoning was that he had to "win this fight and all those that follow." Trump seems like the kind of guy who thinks this way.

Sex as self-fulfillment is rape-y? I had always thought it was non-fulfilling sex that is rape-y. I picture some man telling a woman she should thank him for so brutally ravishing her. "It was for your own good!"

Nearly the same as Pastafarians. Of course that makes them evil secularists, right Greg? ;)

Oh my god. I was sold as soon as he said that in the private sector he has to deal with everybody. Gee, isn't that minda what you were saying Michael?

Don't get interested. It took me a lifetime to find out it's all crap. Even Donald Trump is playing at it for his own angle. The others want to be President, I don't think he does. He's having all the fun his money and brashness can buy. Greg, here, has it mostly right about his own relationship to politics, although he's mostly wrong about many other things. Learn how to be an American but become a man of the world. If you're interested in business learn a foreign language for trade. Spanish takes 600 hours, Mandarin 2600. That's optional because English is the most important for starters. The only way to make a difference in politics, unless you have a hell of a lot of money--if you don't someone with money will put you in his pocket if he thinks your exploitable--is local, depending on what your local is like to begin with. The basic trap in politics is top-downism orientation. For instance, you or your man gets elected President and now you can make the world right. You or your man, however, might start World War III. And, after 30 years of devoting your life to achieving that achievement, you'll find that you've changed so much through growth and circumstances your young, today self, would hardly recognize you. He may admire what he sees or maybe not. Depends. Regardless, so far you seem to have your head screwed on right about this subject. It's okay to be a political animal if that's your passion, but not--primarily--for freedom, justice and the American way (unless it's purely local and part-time). --Brant Lol, I'm mostly not. Seems like too much effort I could be expending elsewhere.

Just to be clear -- is this asking for a prediction of what will happen? The other poll seems to be asking what the people want. I don't want to weigh in if it does, because I don't feel I've even been alive long enough to have enough knowledge of practical politics -- to say nothing of being actually interested and paying attention.

Didn't you predict in the Trump thread that he would splinter off and fuck the Republicans over by doing so and splitting the vote? Which is it?

How on earth does she think it's even mediocre reporting to claim he said McCain isn't a war hero not ten seconds after reading a *direct* quote from him saying the exact opposite? That's insane.

Ha!! This thread is beautiful... A friend of mine on Facebook (an actual fan of Jeb -- I finally found one) seems to be ranting about this exact thing, saying this alone is a reason to, as he said, #FireTrump. I tried telling in that even if this is insulting, it doesn't matter unless it translates into policy -- that mudslinging politics is just as foolish as the droves of people in our generation (he's two years my senior) who would vote for Obama just because they think he is a cool guy. But maybe I'm going about this wrong. -David P.S. Can you tell you're swaying me away from Rand/Walker?

Perhaps this anecdotal, but I have seen and heard a number of people say that Trump either pushes their buttons or males them smile "just like that Palin woman." It seems he is speaking to the same crowd then, and that's good news for his candidacy -- a ton of people on the right think McCain lost the election for Palin rather than the other way around.

Here's a report on prison food. Enjoy some schadenfreude.https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/07/07/what-s-in-a-prison-meal?ref=hp-1-111 Still looks a lot better than Michele "Dominatrix" O'bama's school lunches. Also, it would be interesting to find out what is available in their commissary to supplement the meals. A... They look to be about the same quality as the food I had in high school, to me. I can think of a few of the regulars they gave us that Id have killed to have replaced with some of these.

Wait, did I miss something? You want a Trump presidency?

Hilarious. Don't these people writing these articles understand that even that kind of article gives him media coverage? I must say I'm surprised by the stir Trump is causing. Didn't he "run for President" once in the recent past? Why is it different now? (Or is it?)

Motherless children and fatherless children already exist. This will in no way "create" these "classes"of children. The same argument could be made for nearly anything: Children with loving parents as a class seperate from children of detached and aloof parents, for example. (I have seen people arguing for some form of affirmative action against the former group already.) Should we change our society because of alleged "class" differences? Sounds vaguely Marxist to my ears.

Greg is giving me flashbacks to my own parents' rhetoric. Not a pretty sight on such a rational place as this. Incest and polyamory are disgusting to most people personally, but to outlaw them, Greg, would be to worship government as the safeguard over our culture -- which does not sound like you. It's up to individuals to refrain from these things, not the government to outlaw them.

That is bad. Fish fuck in it....Yuck. That means there's fish sperm in it. We had better keep our women away from it. Wouldn't want them growing little fish baby monstrosities in their wombs, would we?

Push the "Think" button. --Brant Brant's suggestion is actually the moral thing to do. But I suppose that's an evasive platitude worthy of any politician,so I'll answer ever so slightly lesa cryptically: It's worth noting that many of the people who frequent this site have expressed displeasure at the penchant that orthodox Oists seems to have for ridiculing Libertarianism. Also, Nathaniel Branden looked favorably upon the movement, and Branden is viewed favorably by many here. This is all assuming you're asking because of a possible qualm with Libertarianism itself, and not this a specific organization. (About which I know very little).

That list includes water... WATER

To announce book boycott, even if it's your own personal one, just encourages people to buy the book in the same way college profs in the 1960s (and likely since) call for implicit Ayn Rand boycott using less honest means such as sneers which only encouraged many to go read her anyway. --Brant This is exactly what pushed me to read Atlas Shrugged. My AP US History teacher in high school used to go on tirades against her, and I figured that since I disagreed with everything else the woman said, this Ayn Rand person was probably pretty smart. I considered telling her that it was her own words that metaphorically pushed me into the arms of her most hated enemy, as payback for the crazy things she did when I dared argue with her. (She kicked me out of class several times -- which of course also backfired, as my peers only rallied to my defense.) Decided it was better to just leave it alone.

Funny how people often say it's not worth arguing with someone right after they have done exactly that. ;)

For me it would depend on how lonely death row is. Barring anything fatal, that's the worst punishment I can think of, but perhaps I am biased from recent experience. The knowledge that there is no one to talk to about any of your troubles, not even a mere acquaintance, and that you will never have that again, is soul-crushing.

I was thinking about this earlier, actually. If it had been my little brother (4 years old) I'd pine for something like Adam's mode of torture for awhile, so I guess I do understand. I think I've been looking at this wrong. Surely it isn't the suffering itself that people want. Few people are actual sadists like that.

My apologies if I insinuated that it wouldn't. I didn't mean to insult you if I have. The capping of "me" is a habit I formed instead of italics, because I communicate with out-of-country friends through Facebook messenger quite a bit -- and for some reason it doesn't allow them. I simply forgot OL is more sophisticated than that. Or I'm typing on my phone and CTRL + I isn't a possible key combination.