dagblog - Comments for "This Blog Post makes absolutely no difference so who the hell cares anyway?"

Douthat's statement,No matter

moat — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:27:05 +0000

In reply to This Blog Post makes absolutely no difference so who the hell cares anyway?

Douthat's statement,

No matter how many lives may be saved or lost because of health care policy, no lives will be saved forever, and every gain will be an infinitely modest hedge against the wasting power of disease and death.

is more hallucinogenic than nihilistic. I remember gatherings where someone might say: "the primary motivation for wanting more people to benefit from health care is the advantage it might give us in the titanic battle with the inevitability of Death itself."

That last one almost seems

Atheist — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:24:59 +0000

In reply to Speaking of nihilism, I rode

That last one almost seems self-deprecating, as if they're knowingly making fun of themselves (as opposed to the first two, where they're obviously inadvently making themselves look like idiots).

Speaking of nihilism, I rode

CVille Dem — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:19:44 +0000

In reply to This Blog Post makes absolutely no difference so who the hell cares anyway?

Speaking of nihilism, I rode home last night behind these three bumper stickers:

SOCIALSIM ISN'T COOL

STOP THE OBAMA TRAUMA

and last but not least....

ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU, ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOURSELF!

Yeah maybe. I'm out of touch

Obey — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:10:27 +0000

In reply to I think the high-falutin'

Yeah maybe. I'm out of touch over here.

My main contact with conservatives is with my family and ex-colleagues, where the 'dumb blind rage' meme doesn't really work for me.

I think the high-falutin'

quinn esq — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:52:12 +0000

In reply to I don't think that is quite

I think the high-falutin' philosophical ideas being put forward by the Right don't give us all that much traction in explaining what motivates their followers. They have some quasi-moral/religious talk, and economic/free-market/material talk, but more and more, what I see is.... resentment.

Sometimes it goes so far as hating on other groups in particular, but basically, they just don't like the idea of others getting something, or going somewhere, or becoming someone.

It's a pretty deep pool of disdain and resentment, and almost completely flexible in what it can be diverted toward.

We North Americans aren't

quinn esq — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:42:36 +0000

In reply to Thanks for the link. The

We North Americans aren't interested in either U-topia or EU-topia.

Now, ME-topia - that rings some bells.

At my neighborhood bar, we

acanuck — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:41:59 +0000

In reply to Conservatives remind of

At my neighborhood bar, we ply conservatives with drink, then roll them for their dough (they always seem to have lots, whatever the marginal tax rate). After the first few muggings, they wise up and take their custom elsewhere.

But do you still stand up to

quinn esq — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:40:48 +0000

In reply to Welcome to enlightenment.

But do you still stand up to pee?

Sure, it takes effort, concentration, life-force... but... you know. A man's pride, and all.

Then again, I get so tired.

*splish splash*

They are indifferent to the

Dan Kervick — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:19:24 +0000

In reply to I don't think that is quite

They are indifferent to the MATERIAL outcomes of any policy.

I don't think you're right at all. You're only thinking about the religious wing of the Republican party, and it doesn't even apply fully to them. America's wealthiest people are mostly Republicans, and they have armies of lobbyists prowling Washington, all dedicated to the job of making their employers even richer.

I just talked today to a very well-off individual who was bitching at us because he had to "write a tax check to Obama." Almost every minute of this guy's waking life is devoted to thinking about his money.

These are the cats who determine the economic agenda of the Republican Party and the conservative movement. If they pray at all, the prayer goes something like, "Dear God, please keep that goddam ni**** Barack Obama from taking my money and giving it to his goddam ni**** friends. Amen."

Don't be taken in by the religious window dressing.

Conservatives remind of

Beetlejuice — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:47:37 +0000

In reply to This Blog Post makes absolutely no difference so who the hell cares anyway?

Conservatives remind of drunks looking for that bar they were at a few hours ago where they were really having a good time. They just can't remember where the hell it is. They keep saying it's just around the corner, but they end up here in this bar every time they go out and look for it. So they sit next to you talking about their good times there and how this bar isn't up to that bar and if they could find their way back to it they would be the most happiest person in the world. In the meantime, they start belittling this bar and its patrons in favor of that bar and start to demand changes be made to satisy their wants, needs and desires they received at that bar they can't find anymore. And when they can't get their way they begin to get agitated which causes some patrons to quietly get up and move to the door while others start to size up the insitgator to see if he's ready to fight or maybe willing to have a few more stiff drinks, get really snockered, then wanders outside looking for that bar again and walks in front of a moving truck.