Ben Stein: Michael Brown Was Hopped Up On Marijuana and ‘Armed With His Incredibly Strong, Scary Self’

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I remember when I used to enjoy “Win Ben Stein’s Money,” but wow, are those days ever gone. Ben Stein has shown himself for quite a while to be a nutty reactionary, but this statement on Michael Brown, in an interview on NewsmaxTV, really takes him another step into bad racist craziness — as Stein opines that Michael Brown wasn’t unarmed at all, he was “armed with his incredibly strong, scary self.”

This bizarre, irrational talking point seems to be spreading through the right like wildfire. It’s a truly disgusting way for conservatives to deny the simple fact that an unarmed black teenager was gunned down in the street.

Related
Fox News: Referring to Michael Brown as an “Unarmed Teenager” Is Misleading

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273 comments
1 Charles Johnson  Aug 27, 2014 10:11:22am
2 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 10:11:56am

So being a big guy is grounds for being gun downed in the streets?

3 Mike Lamb  Aug 27, 2014 10:13:47am

re: #2 Kragar

So being a big guy is grounds for being gun downed in the streets?

Well, being a black guy is anyways…

4 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 10:14:08am

This bullshit is being brought up all over the nutosphere.

5 Charles Johnson  Aug 27, 2014 10:14:25am

It’s disturbing how right wingers just seize on these bizarre, irrational talking points and spread them relentlessly.

6 Charles Johnson  Aug 27, 2014 10:15:36am
7 lawhawk  Aug 27, 2014 10:17:39am

re: #6 Charles Johnson

8 allegro  Aug 27, 2014 10:18:03am

Not just idiotic but really insulting to police officers, I think. As I said in the previous thread, I’m a small “mature” woman and I could have taken even a charging Mike Brown down with little effort because I’m trained in martial arts. I would hope that police officers have similar training for their protection and everyone else’s. It isn’t rocket surgery.

9 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:18:09am

re: #6 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

It’s like these people live in a different universe.

10 Schadenboner  Aug 27, 2014 10:18:42am

re: #7 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

Ergo, no racism!

11 b.d.  Aug 27, 2014 10:18:59am

Can we go ahead now and set some wingnut parameters for how big an African American male can grow up to be before he is considered a threat?

12 Charles Johnson  Aug 27, 2014 10:19:26am
13 Aunty Entity Dragon  Aug 27, 2014 10:22:23am

re: #3 Mike Lamb

Well, being a black guy is anyways…

Ding ding ding!

Being a black male constitutes being a weapon for these folks. Also see the page Randall Gross put up on the guy who was shot on sight at Wal Mart for holding a BB gun he was going to purchass in the store.

14 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:22:28am

So let me get this straight. A bunch of white guys open carrying rifles in a diner or something like that is NOT threatening but a black kid walking the street is? Really wingnuts stay fucking classy and please tell me again how you can’t be racist because your party were abolitionists 150 years ago.

15 b.d.  Aug 27, 2014 10:22:31am

6’4”, 300#, 18 year white kid = Loveable Lumpy Rutherford
6’4”, 300#, 18 year old African American kid = Lethal Weapon!! Kill him!!

16 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:23:04am

re: #15 b.d.

6’4”, 300#, 18 year white kid = Loveable Lumpy Rutherford
6’4”, 300#, 18 year old African American kid = Lethal Weapon!! Kill him!!

That’s conservatism in a nut shell.

17 lawhawk  Aug 27, 2014 10:23:47am

re: #14 HappyWarrior

So let me get this straight. A bunch of white guys open carrying rifles in a diner or something like that is NOT threatening but a black kid walking the street is? Really wingnuts stay fucking classy and please tell me again how you can’t be racist because your party were abolitionists 150 years ago.

A bunch of white guys openly aiming their rifles at law enforcement (aka the Bundy Ranch) is NOT threatening, but a black kid walking in a street is.

18 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Aug 27, 2014 10:23:56am

re: #11 b.d.

Can we go ahead now and set some wingnut parameters for how big an African American male can grow up to be before he is considered a threat?

Threat

19 klys  Aug 27, 2014 10:24:18am

re: #11 b.d.

Can we go ahead now and set some wingnut parameters for how big an African American male can grow up to be before he is considered a threat?

Is he in the womb? Then he’s safe. Otherwise, all bets are off.

/////

20 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:25:01am

re: #17 lawhawk

A bunch of white guys openly aiming their rifles at law enforcement (aka the Bundy Ranch) is NOT threatening, but a black kid walking in a street is.

Yep that’s pretty much what Stein is saying.

21 OhNoZombies!  Aug 27, 2014 10:25:07am

re: #18 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi

[Embedded image]Threat

No, no.
He’s one of the good ones.

22 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:26:39am

re: #11 b.d.

Can we go ahead now and set some wingnut parameters for how big an African American male can grow up to be before he is considered a threat?

He can become POTUS & then wingnuts will call him “gay” for wearing a bike helmet.

23 BeachDem  Aug 27, 2014 10:26:53am

re: #15 b.d.

The guy on the left in this photo does not seem to have suffered any ill effects (other than being the guy on the left in this photo)

24 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Aug 27, 2014 10:27:18am

BTW, that stupid prayfordarren account has been suspended.

25 Aunty Entity Dragon  Aug 27, 2014 10:27:29am

re: #11 b.d.

Can we go ahead now and set some wingnut parameters for how big an African American male can grow up to be before he is considered a threat?

According to stories I see, black children as young as seven are routinely handcuffed and treated as adult felons at primary schools.

26 Timothy Watson  Aug 27, 2014 10:28:05am

I recall reading something awhile either on here or another site about the racist roots of Marijuana crimilization. One of the claims at the time was that it had a special effect on Hispanics which would turn them into psychotic killers.

There just really isn’t anything new in the universe, is there?

27 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:29:29am

re: #26 Timothy Watson

I recall reading something awhile either on here or another site about the racist roots of Marijuana crimilization. One of the claims at the time was that it had a special effect on Hispanics which would turn them into psychotic killers.

There just really isn’t anything new in the universe, is there?

I recall seeing something similar on the history channel’s documentaries about drugs. A lot of drug laws are rooted in racism. Cocaine too.

28 Aunty Entity Dragon  Aug 27, 2014 10:29:39am

re: #26 Timothy Watson

I recall reading something awhile either on here or another site about the racist roots of Marijuana crimilization. One of the claims at the time was that it had a special effect on Hispanics which would turn them into psychotic killers.

There just really isn’t anything new in the universe, is there?

The first anti gun laws in California (under Governor Reagan) were aimed squarely at Black Panthers who carried rifles and shotguns in public.

29 Franklin  Aug 27, 2014 10:30:47am

WTFITS?

30 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 10:31:46am

So can conservatives provide us with a height/weight scale or Body Mass Index chart on what constitutes a justified shooting of an unarmed person?

31 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 10:32:11am

re: #9 HappyWarrior

It’s like these people live in a different universe.

Because they do. Remember all the 2012 election meltdowns? There were significant numbers of RWNJs who’d spent months watching a completely different election from the rest of us.

32 wrenchwench  Aug 27, 2014 10:32:13am

The unarmed teenaged Mike Brown wasn’t even used to being that big. He didn’t start out that way. He may have been still growing.

33 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:32:31am

re: #29 Franklin

WTFITS?

[Embedded content]

He seems to think Burger King fled to avoid prison, maybe even the fate of King Louis.

34 Schadenboner  Aug 27, 2014 10:32:43am

re: #29 Franklin

What an impeccable logical chain.

If you define yourself as your money.

Which he does, apparently?

I on the other hand, can separate “myself” from “my stuff” because I am not literally at the developmental level of an infant.

35 Charles Johnson  Aug 27, 2014 10:32:53am

re: #26 Timothy Watson

Hey Timothy — does your Galaxy S4 show you the mobile version of LGF now? I added some code that supposedly fixes that problem, but I have no way of testing it myself.

36 BeachDem  Aug 27, 2014 10:32:58am

re: #29 Franklin

In addition to not understanding humor, they really don’t grasp similes or metaphors, do they?

37 GlutenFreeJesus  Aug 27, 2014 10:33:20am

re: #30 Kragar

So can conservatives provide us with a height/weight scale or Body Mass Index chart on what constitutes a justified shooting of an unarmed person?

No need. Black is the only requirement.

38 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:33:33am

This is the response to the refrain that, no matter how bad a person Michael Brown might have been in his youth, he was still unarmed when gunned down. The wingnut response is “He was big! He was a lethal weapon!” Because we all know that the fists of a big guy always exist on the same level of danger as a handgun in the hands of a guy a few inches shorter.

39 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:33:36am

re: #29 Franklin

WTFITS?

[Embedded content]

Every society has taxes asshole. BK’s free to move to Canada if they like to but equating taxes to slavery is all sorts of wrong and stupid but then again these are wingnuts who think taxation is slavery but don’t seem to mind the idea of an ultra regressive “fair tax.”

40 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 10:34:17am

re: #29 Franklin

WTFITS?

[Embedded content]

“Anarcho-Atheist” aka libertarian douchenozzle

41 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:34:21am

re: #29 Franklin

WTFITS?

[Embedded content]

Never mind, he’s a total idiot

42 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:34:31am

re: #33 Pie-onist Overlord

He seems to think Burger King fled to avoid prison, maybe even the fate of King Louis.

To be fair, I’m all in favor of giving the Louis treatment to the actual Burger King king. That dude is plain creepy.

43 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:34:53am

re: #39 HappyWarrior

Every society has taxes asshole. BK’s free to move to Canada if they like to but equating taxes to slavery is all sorts of wrong and stupid but then again these are wingnuts who think taxation is slavery but don’t seem to mind the idea of an ultra regressive “fair tax.”

44 Franklin  Aug 27, 2014 10:34:57am

Forget it Jake, it’s AaronTheWizard.

45 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:34:58am

re: #41 Pie-onist Overlord

Never mind, he’s a total idiot

[Embedded content]

No doubt because he’s fried his brain using every single one.

46 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:35:09am

So it’s a libertarian anarchist type who wants to live in the 21st century but doesn’t want to have to pay for it.

47 wrenchwench  Aug 27, 2014 10:35:26am

re: #30 Kragar

So can conservatives provide us with a height/weight scale or Body Mass Index chart on what constitutes a justified shooting of an unarmed person?

They’d combine it with a color saturation chart.

48 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Aug 27, 2014 10:35:39am

re: #41 Pie-onist Overlord

Never mind, he’s a total idiot

[Embedded content]

Wizard? Hopefully not Grand…///

49 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 10:35:41am

re: #26 Timothy Watson

I recall reading something awhile either on here or another site about the racist roots of Marijuana crimilization. One of the claims at the time was that it had a special effect on Hispanics which would turn them into psychotic killers.

There just really isn’t anything new in the universe, is there?

Full disclosure: I have never tried marijuana-I tend to have a lousy reaction to drugs.
However. I was in college in the ’70s and I do not remember anyone being “hopped up” on it. There was a lot of giggling and eating but very little violent erratic behavior. What is with this rehash (so to speak) of Reefer Madness?

50 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:35:41am

re: #46 HappyWarrior

So it’s a libertarian anarchist greedy type who wants to live in the 21st century but doesn’t want to have to pay for it.

51 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:35:54am

Funny though because usually those libertarian types that compare taxation to slavery are the first to tell you that the CSA got wronged.

52 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:36:09am

re: #50 Targetpractice

Word.

53 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 10:36:13am
54 Schadenboner  Aug 27, 2014 10:37:27am

re: #41 Pie-onist Overlord

Never mind, he’s a total idiot

[Embedded content]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, “ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE”?

THE BACILLUS WILL BOW TO THE MIGHT OF THE FREE MARKET!

55 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:37:56am

STATISM=another buzzword of the anarcho-libertarians. STATISM means any form of government or society.

56 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:37:59am

I’ve gotten to the point where “libertarian” in my mind automatically translates as “greedy bastard.” Perhaps because every one I’ve met uses libertarianism to justify their own greed and/or their desire to be free of consequences for doing stupid shit.

57 Franklin  Aug 27, 2014 10:38:08am

LOLOLOLLLLLLL

58 BeachDem  Aug 27, 2014 10:38:18am

re: #30 Kragar

So can conservatives provide us with a height/weight scale or Body Mass Index chart on what constitutes a justified shooting of an unarmed person?

No, but they have prepared a detailed color wheel.

59 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:39:04am

re: #57 Franklin

LOLOLOLLLLLLL

[Embedded content]

Seriously? That’s why the Internet was devised by the same people who thought there would never be a market for home computers.

60 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:39:07am

Private entities=making useless little apps on the backbone of a government-developed Internet.

61 Timothy Watson  Aug 27, 2014 10:39:13am

re: #35 Charles Johnson

Hey Timothy — does your Galaxy S4 show you the mobile version of LGF now? I added some code that supposedly fixes that problem, but I have no way of testing it myself.

I’m on the S5 and it’s currently a little weird: If I visit the site in portrait view the mobile site is displayed but if I rotate to landscape the full site layout comes up after a second, is that intended?

62 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:39:28am

re: #57 Franklin

LOLOLOLLLLLLL

[Embedded content]

Uh no. Please roll again though.

63 BeachDem  Aug 27, 2014 10:40:18am

re: #38 Targetpractice

This is the response to the refrain that, no matter how bad a person Michael Brown might have been in his youth, he was still unarmed when gunned down. The wingnut response is “He was big! He was a lethal weapon!” Because we all know that the fists of a big guy always exist on the same level of danger as a handgun in the hands of a guy a few inches shorter.

Youtube Video

64 lawhawk  Aug 27, 2014 10:40:19am

re: #57 Franklin

You mean like potable water? Sewage systems? Interstate highway system? Air traffic control systems? GPS?

Internet?

65 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:40:25am

I mean private enterprise is no doubt important but it takes a special delusion to think that technology is all due to private enterprise. These people are as delusional as diehard Communists who think everything would be just peachy if the government controlled everything.

66 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:40:45am

re: #64 lawhawk

You mean like potable water? Sewage systems? Interstate highway system? Air traffic control systems? GPS?

Internet?

Computers?

67 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 10:41:09am

Its why downtown Mogadishu is known for being such a high tech enterprise hub

68 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:41:21am

It really bears repeating again that libertarians and conservatives are people who want all the trappings of modernity but refuse to pay for it.

69 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:41:23am

re: #64 lawhawk

You mean like potable water? Sewage systems? Interstate highway system? Air traffic control systems? GPS?

Internet?

All things the “free market” would have gotten around to…eventually. You know, if people wanted it bad enough that they were willing to pay for it.

////

70 Schadenboner  Aug 27, 2014 10:42:19am

re: #65 HappyWarrior

I mean private enterprise is no doubt important but it takes a special delusion to think that technology is all due to private enterprise. These people are as delusional as diehard Communists who think everything would be just peachy if the government controlled everything.

Even communists are better. There were (shitty, repressive) states that had full public ownership of economic factors of production. They profoundly sucked, but they existed.

Unlike libertopia.

71 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:42:42am

re: #68 HappyWarrior

It really bears repeating again that libertarians and conservatives are people who want all the trappings of modernity but refuse to pay for it.

In other words, MOOCHERS & PARASITES.

72 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 10:43:03am

re: #57 Franklin

And he posts this on what amounts to a US government project. Amazing.

73 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:43:19am

re: #71 Pie-onist Overlord

In other words, MOOCHERS & PARASITES.

Yes or as you and I know it lalalaland.

74 blueraven  Aug 27, 2014 10:43:41am

On a side note: Who still refers to Muhammad Ali as Cassius Clay?

Racists, who refuse to give him his earned respect, that’s who.

75 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:43:57am

re: #74 blueraven

On a side note: Who still refers to Muhammad Ali as Cassius Clay?

Racists, who refuse to give him his earned respect, that’s who.

I noticed that too.

76 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:44:50am

re: #73 HappyWarrior

Yes or as you and I know it lalalaland.

“Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?!”

77 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 10:45:23am

re: #76 Targetpractice

“Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?!”

Sure. Sweat all you want. Then pay your taxes.

78 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:45:23am

di kele, the butthurt County Captain 4Romney, wants to go all-out genocide on ISIS

79 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 10:45:44am
80 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 10:46:14am

re: #78 Pie-onist Overlord

di kele, the butthurt County Captain 4Romney, wants to go all-out genocide on ISIS

[Embedded content]

Using magic, apparently.

81 Timothy Watson  Aug 27, 2014 10:46:45am

re: #49 calochortus

Full disclosure: I have never tried marijuana-I tend to have a lousy reaction to drugs.
However. I was in college in the ’70s and I do not remember anyone being “hopped up” on it. There was a lot of giggling and eating but very little violent erratic behavior. What is with this rehash (so to speak) of Reefer Madness?

I never used Marijuana either and I’m 26. I never saw the point, didn’t have the money to buy it, and if I had had the money there were more important stuff to me I would have spend it on (like DVDs at the time when I was younger).

I also have a thing about wanting to be control. The few times I’ve been on prescription painkillers I absolutely hated it.

82 S'latch  Aug 27, 2014 10:46:45am

For the crime of being large, the death penalty, without a trial.

For the crime of using marijuana, the death penalty, without a trial.

Makes sense if you are filled with hate, I guess.

83 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 10:46:53am
84 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:47:00am

re: #79 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Uh the technology you’re using to whine about this or maybe the next time you go on a road trip cross country and don’t encounter shitty roads. Or how about the time you’re able to land safely in an airplane. Yeah damn government’s done nothin’.

85 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:47:03am

re: #79 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Every major advance? Yeah, because who’s bothered by acid rain, flammable rivers, or hospital waste on the beach when you’ve got 400 cable channels?!

////

86 ausador  Aug 27, 2014 10:47:09am

re: #21 OhNoZombies!

No, no.
He’s one of the good ones.

I think he likes mayonnaise…

87 Charles Johnson  Aug 27, 2014 10:47:14am

re: #61 Timothy Watson

I’m on the S5 and it’s currently a little weird: If I visit the site in portrait view the mobile site is displayed but if I rotate to landscape the full site layout comes up after a second, is that intended?

OK, try reloading and let me know if it works in both portrait and landscape now.

88 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:47:29am

We used to have the debate about government being efficient or not. Now the nutcases want to make the debate about whether the government is needed at all.

89 Franklin  Aug 27, 2014 10:47:36am

Here is a great read:

Federally Supported Innovations

90 Franklin  Aug 27, 2014 10:48:03am
91 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:48:17am
92 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 10:48:56am

re: #81 Timothy Watson

I’m always jealous when I hear how people feel all lovely, warm and floaty on narcotics. They make me seriously nauseated and feeling like my head is stuffed with cotton. Of course, I’ll probably never be addicted to prescription drugs, which is a good thing.

93 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:49:04am

re: #88 HappyWarrior

We used to have the debate about government being efficient or not. Now the nutcases want to make the debate about whether the government is needed at all.

94 Mike Lamb  Aug 27, 2014 10:49:12am

See, here’s the problem, at 6’4”, 300 lbs., Michael Brown was 6/5ths of a man, as opposed to the 3/5ths of a black man that young conservative children were taught was the appropriate size. He was twice the black man that the Constitution allows and is therefore dangerous. And also uppity, since he grew beyond the Constitution’s original size limitations.

95 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:49:19am

re: #91 Pie-onist Overlord

[Embedded content]

That always makes me laugh because it’s true. Anyone who gets their idea how the world ought to be from Atlas Shrugged is a moron.

96 Decatur Deb  Aug 27, 2014 10:49:19am

re: #29 Franklin

WTFITS?

[Embedded content]

Libertarian who thinks Dred Scott is a hairstyle.

97 Franklin  Aug 27, 2014 10:49:56am
98 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:49:56am

Did Paul Krugman say that quote about LOTR & Atlas Shrugged? I thought it was some anonymous Usenet poster.

99 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 10:50:31am

re: #76 Targetpractice

“Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?!”

No,” says the man in Washington, “it belongs to the poor.” “No,” says the man in the Vatican, “it belongs to God.” “No,” says the man in Moscow, “it belongs to everyone.” I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture.

100 gwangung  Aug 27, 2014 10:51:20am

re: #98 Pie-onist Overlord

Did Paul Krugman say that quote about LOTR & Atlas Shrugged? I thought it was some anonymous Usenet poster.

John Rogers. Creator of LEVERAGE. The popularizer of the 27% Crazification Factor as well.

kfmonkey.blogspot.com

101 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:51:39am

re: #93 Targetpractice

[Embedded image]

Being a GMU alumni, I’ve met many of those.

102 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:52:26am

re: #100 gwangung

John Rogers. The popularizer of the 27% Crazification Factor as well.

Smart man.

103 Mike Lamb  Aug 27, 2014 10:52:58am

re: #79 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Ya, that Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, OSHA, child labor laws, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and social security have done nothing to improve quality of life.

104 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 10:53:02am

re: #95 HappyWarrior

That always makes me laugh because it’s true. Anyone who gets their idea how the world ought to be from Atlas Shrugged is a moron.

Which reminds me. My favorite nephew (who is old enough to know better) thinks I need to read Ayn Rand. I might indulge him. Is there a least painful Rand tome, or should I just select by shortest length?

105 Timothy Watson  Aug 27, 2014 10:53:21am

re: #87 Charles Johnson

OK, try reloading and let me know if it works in both portrait and landscape now.

Working now.

106 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:53:52am

re: #104 calochortus

Which reminds me. My favorite nephew (who is old enough to know better) thinks I need to read Ayn Rand. I might indulge him. Is there a least painful Rand tome, or should I just select by shortest length?

Fountainhead? I did have to read that in philosophy and sit through the movie with Gary Cooper.

107 Charles Johnson  Aug 27, 2014 10:53:54am

re: #105 Timothy Watson

Working now.

Great!

108 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 10:54:02am

re: #103 Mike Lamb

Ya, that Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, OSHA, child labor laws, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and social security have done nothing to improve quality of life.

But Social Security will be broke by the time anyone retires!

109 Decatur Deb  Aug 27, 2014 10:54:23am

re: #104 calochortus

Which reminds me. My favorite nephew (who is old enough to know better) thinks I need to read Ayn Rand. I might indulge him. Is there a least painful Rand tome, or should I just select by shortest length?

Cliff Notes version:

“Fuck you, Jack, I’ve got mine.”

110 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 10:55:15am

re: #106 HappyWarrior

Fountainhead? I did have to read that in philosophy and sit through the movie with Gary Cooper.

OK, maybe I can manage it on those long dull winter evenings. We shall see.

111 wrenchwench  Aug 27, 2014 10:55:22am

Medium-large black man gets pseudo apology for detention.

112 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Aug 27, 2014 10:55:52am

re: #35 Charles Johnson

Hey Timothy — does your Galaxy S4 show you the mobile version of LGF now? I added some code that supposedly fixes that problem, but I have no way of testing it myself.

I have a galaxy S4 and see the mobile version now. Thanks for fixing that Charles, the site could be a PIA if it was in desktop mode on a small screen.

113 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:56:13am

re: #110 calochortus

OK, maybe I can manage it on those long dull winter evenings. We shall see.

As I recall, it’s not that long but reading Rand is a chore in itself since she’s A) just not a good writer and B) her philosophy is philosophy’s closet thing to a toddler justifying why he doesn’t need to share with the other kids at kinder-care.

114 lawhawk  Aug 27, 2014 10:57:08am
115 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 10:57:25am

re: #100 gwangung

John Rogers. Creator of LEVERAGE. The popularizer of the 27% Crazification Factor as well.

kfmonkey.blogspot.com

I just Googled Atlas-LOTR. Well, my bad for picking the first Google image that came up.

116 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:58:14am

re: #114 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

Boehner has swept the Emmys the past few years with “Best Waste of Time” with the numerous ACA repeals he knows will fail.

117 Timothy Watson  Aug 27, 2014 10:58:20am

re: #97 Franklin

[Embedded content]

The industrial revolution? Something that wouldn’t have happened in the United States without the governments (both federal and states) creating canals, roadways, waterways, and railroads?

118 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 10:58:36am

re: #117 Timothy Watson

The industrial revolution? Something that wouldn’t have happened in the United States without the governments (both federal and states) creating canals, roadways, waterways, and railroads?

*cough* tariffs.

119 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 10:58:57am

re: #104 calochortus

Which reminds me. My favorite nephew (who is old enough to know better) thinks I need to read Ayn Rand. I might indulge him. Is there a least painful Rand tome, or should I just select by shortest length?

Just watch the Gary Cooper film of The Fountainhead. That’s more than enough.

120 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 10:59:32am

re: #114 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

Oh yeah, I can see he’s coming back to Washington with an eye towards bipartisanship.

////

121 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 10:59:36am

re: #109 Decatur Deb

Cliff Notes version:

“Fuck you, Jack, I’ve got mine.”

Well, yes, but the nephew thinks that the world is divided into Good and Evil, with himself being a hard working, honest producer and most others being lazy moochers living off the government teat. Apparently almost everyone he knows falls into the latter category, which seems odd to me. Most people I know are good people who contribute to society, although they may have some faults since the world is full of shades of gray and human imperfections.

122 ObserverArt  Aug 27, 2014 10:59:54am

re: #30 Kragar

So can conservatives provide us with a height/weight scale or Body Mass Index chart on what constitutes a justified shooting of an unarmed person?

Don’t forget the pigment scale!

123 Charles Johnson  Aug 27, 2014 11:00:29am

re: #112 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

The change I just made should include basically all smartphones.

124 Higgs Boson's Mate  Aug 27, 2014 11:01:50am

re: #114 lawhawk

Which cover up? According to the Republicans there have so many of them that I can’t keep up.

125 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 11:02:00am

re: #121 calochortus

Poor kid. He’d be better off reading Hunter S. Thompson and smoking some weed.

126 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Aug 27, 2014 11:02:12am

re: #123 Charles Johnson

The change I just made should include basically all smartphones.

seems to be working fine now. Of course I haven’t been playing around with it much since I am here, currently, on my desktop. Used to have this weird habit of switching between desktop and mobile when I’d click on links and there were times I’d hit a link and nothing would happen. So far so good.

127 ausador  Aug 27, 2014 11:02:45am

A little humor break, someone is going to need to hire a crane…
(or do an awful lot of shoveling)

128 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 11:02:55am
129 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:03:09am

re: #121 calochortus

Well, yes, but the nephew thinks that the world is divided into Good and Evil, with himself being a hard working, honest producer and most others being lazy moochers living off the government teat. Apparently almost everyone he knows falls into the latter category, which seems odd to me. Most people I know are good people who contribute to society, although they may have some faults since the world is full of shades of gray and human imperfections.

Have you told him that Rand considered a murderer to be the ideal man? In this way and as I’ve gotten at, I’ve known more than a few libertarian types over the years. I agree with the belief that there’s a lot of greed there but there’s also a lot of naivete too. It’s not surprising at all that the popular economist in those circles is Ludwig von Mises whose whole big thing is focusing only on theory at the expense of real world data. Keynes OTOH was big on data. So not only does Keynes frankly make more sense than von Mises, he actually wasn’t an ostrich with his head in the sand for details either.

130 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:03:46am

re: #128 Kragar

[Embedded content]

LOL then he would pay MUCH MUCH MOAR. What a freaking idjut.

131 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:04:06am

re: #128 Kragar

[Embedded content]

He’s a moron. He probably thinks that fire departments shouldn’t have to put out fires for people who don’t pay for it.

132 Higgs Boson's Mate  Aug 27, 2014 11:04:27am

re: #30 Kragar

So can conservatives provide us with a height/weight scale or Body Mass Index chart on what constitutes a justified shooting of an unarmed person?

That’s way to complicated and it involves Heathen Mathematics. They’ll just stick with:

______________ while Black.

133 Decatur Deb  Aug 27, 2014 11:04:38am

re: #128 Kragar

Delusional. Save the pixels.

134 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 11:05:12am

re: #129 HappyWarrior

It’s not surprising at all that the popular economist in those circles is Ludwig von Mises whose whole big thing is focusing only on theory at the expense of real world data. Keynes OTOH was big on data. So not only does Keynes frankly make more sense than von Mises, he actually wasn’t an ostrich with his head in the sand for details either.

There’s a reason why we’ve never seen any country base their economy on von Mises, but plenty who look to Keynes.

135 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:06:34am

re: #134 Lidane

There’s a reason why we’ve never seen any country base their economy on von Mises, but plenty who look to Keynes.

Von Mises worshipers have the special ability of making me feel like a huge pragmatist. I’m at heart an idealistic person but when I heard people who learned only the Von Mises economic worldview, I suddenly become the biggest pragmatist out there.

136 Rightwingconspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:06:36am

re: #111 wrenchwench

Medium-large black man gets pseudo apology for detention.

I can totally agree with stopping a guy that actually looks right for the suspect.

So many questions-Is that previous crime report even real? If so did law enforcers think they had their guy and stopped looking for the actual suspect? For six hours? Why so long to sort it out?

137 ObserverArt  Aug 27, 2014 11:07:07am

re: #32 wrenchwench

The unarmed teenaged Mike Brown wasn’t even used to being that big. He didn’t start out that way. He may have been still growing.

My oldest brother was about 200 lbs and 6’3” when he graduated high school (‘58). He then went into the Air Force where they must have put him on growth hormones because when he came out in 1963 he was 6’7” and 280lbs. And none of it was fat.

Dude has the same body structure as me, but scaled up. I’m 6’0 and 185 lbs.

I didn’t grow taller at all after high school. Grew a little bigger, but dropped that about 10 or more years ago,

By the way, my brother was scary strong and with a temper. I have stories! The local police knew of him, but he never got gunned down. And there might have been just a few times he scared the crap outta someone while in a rage that could have been troublesome in today’s world.

I remember the family doctor going “whoa” when he saw him.

138 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:07:21am

re: #128 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Part of the dogma of modern libertarianism is that, since everything’s already there, giving it to the “free market” to keep running would allow the same or even better levels of service. In other words, the very essence of laziness: Somebody else did all the work, and now I’ll reap the rewards.

139 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:07:49am

re: #131 HappyWarrior

He’s a moron. He probably thinks that fire departments shouldn’t have to put out fires for people who don’t pay for it.

LOL there was this Ayn Rand fire department…

140 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:07:50am

theonion.com
Don’t ever change Onion.

141 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:08:13am

re: #139 Pie-onist Overlord

LOL there was this Ayn Rand fire department…

Yeah I heard about that. So stupid on so many levels.

142 piratedan  Aug 27, 2014 11:08:15am

re: #128 Kragar

I’m sure that he has a newsletter that you can subscribe to…. just sayin’ /////

143 nines09  Aug 27, 2014 11:08:52am

Apparently somewhere during the tapings of “Win Ben Steins Money” someone or something took a part of Ben Steins brain.

144 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 11:09:00am

re: #138 Targetpractice

Isn’t it amazing how Ayn Rand never advocated for tearing up all the paved roads or dismantling all the public utilities in favor of private enterprise going back in to set them all up again?

145 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:09:30am

re: #137 ObserverArt

My oldest brother was about 200 lbs and 6’3” when he graduated high school (‘58). He then went into the Air Force where they must have put him on growth hormones because when he came out in 1963 he was 6’7” and 280lbs. And none of it was fat.

Dude has the same body structure as me, but scaled up. I’m 6’0 and 185 lbs.

I didn’t grow taller at all after high school. Grew a little bigger, but dropped that about 10 or more years ago,

By the way, my brother was scary strong and with a temper. I have stories! The local police knew of him, but he never got gunned down. And there might have been just a few times he scared the crap outta someone while in a rage that could have been troublesome in today’s world.

I remember the family doctor going “whoa” when he saw him.

My son-in-law is 6’6” but he’s very skinny, weighs like 200 lbs. He never get stopped by police because he’s all blond and blue eyed.

146 Bubblehead II  Aug 27, 2014 11:09:31am

re: #131 HappyWarrior

He’s a moron. He probably thinks that fire departments shouldn’t have to put out fires for people who don’t pay for it.

Sadly, that has happened.

Firefighters let home burn over $75 fee — again

SOUTH FULTON, Tenn. — Firefighters stood by and watched a Tennessee house burn to the ground earlier this week because the homeowners didn’t pay the annual subscription fee for fire service.

147 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:09:58am

re: #144 Lidane

Isn’t it amazing how Ayn Rand never advocated for tearing up all the paved roads or dismantling all the public utilities in favor of private enterprise going back in to set them all up again?

She didn’t refuse to take social security & medicare.

148 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:09:59am

Libertarians wonder why they’re never taken seriously as a political force. Well, the thinking in absolutes is a problem for starters.

149 Mike Lamb  Aug 27, 2014 11:10:07am

re: #128 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Hol-ee Fuck.

150 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 11:10:09am

re: #125 Lidane

Poor kid. He’d be better off reading Hunter S. Thompson and smoking some weed.

He’s not a kid-really, he’s old enough to know better. It’s sort of a romantic fantasy for him. (Ironically.)

151 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:10:57am

re: #146 Bubblehead II

Sadly, that has happened.

Firefighters let home burn over $75 fee — again

SOUTH FULTON, Tenn. — Firefighters stood by and watched a Tennessee house burn to the ground earlier this week because the homeowners didn’t pay the annual subscription fee for fire service.

You know aside from the moral implications there, what about the fact that the fire could have spread elsewhere?

152 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:11:12am

re: #144 Lidane

Isn’t it amazing how Ayn Rand never advocated for tearing up all the paved roads or dismantling all the public utilities in favor of private enterprise going back in to set them all up again?

Of course not. And don’t dare suggest that the “free market” should have to pay to take possession of those utilities, roads, etc. No sir, government should just give them to the “free market,” no charge, to run as they see fit. If the “free market” starts setting up toll roads every 5 minutes of highway, well, that’s the cost of using “private property.”

153 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 11:11:22am

Tony Perkins: It’s Obama’s Fault People Think He’s A Muslim

In response to a caller who insisted that Obama is “a Muslim and every time he does something he’s scoring brownie points for his side, that’s why he can go golfing and not have no problems,” Perkins said that it is reasonable to believe that the president is in fact a Muslim or at least “sympathetic to Muslims.”

Perkins said Obama’s actions as president “only give credence to those that say” that he’s a Muslim, arguing that he did nothing to help Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian and wife of a U.S. citizen who was imprisoned for apostasy until she was ultimately released.

154 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:11:24am

As I recall, we had some defenders of that fire department’s actions here. People who I think are long since gone but still.

155 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 11:11:40am

re: #129 HappyWarrior

I haven’t really gone into details with him. He just keeps saying I have to read Rand to understand. So, I think I’ll read some and then tell him…

156 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:12:15am

re: #151 HappyWarrior

You know aside from the moral implications there, what about the fact that the fire could have spread elsewhere?

Oh, not to worry. They stood by to watch the house burn just in case any paying customers were imperiled by the flames. After all, any good protection racket knows to take care that the people they’re shaking down for money can continue to pay.

157 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:12:19am

re: #153 Lidane

Tony Perkins: It’s Obama’s Fault People Think He’s A Muslim

[Embedded image]

Really Tony, it’s Obama who openly enjoys a beer and pork sandwich’s fault that morons like you think he’s a Muslim. Tell me Tony, how is David Duke’s mailer list treating you? I bet you’re making some great friends there asshole.

158 Stanley Sea  Aug 27, 2014 11:12:32am

re: #111 wrenchwench

Medium-large black man gets pseudo apology for detention.

Good, but very weak

But police added that officers “properly detained” Belk given the “totality of the circumstances.”

Bullshit.

159 Decatur Deb  Aug 27, 2014 11:12:54am

re: #144 Lidane

Isn’t it amazing how Ayn Rand never advocated for tearing up all the paved roads or dismantling all the public utilities in favor of private enterprise going back in to set them all up again?

A bit of time and weather will tear things up quite nicely. Maintenance costs for the public patrimony are totally unmanageable for the private model. Doesn’t help that we’ve been avoiding much of the upkeep for decades.

160 Bubblehead II  Aug 27, 2014 11:13:23am

re: #151 HappyWarrior

You know aside from the moral implications there, what about the fact that the fire could have spread elsewhere?

Well I am sure that wouldn’t have been a problem to those who paid the $75.00 fee ///

161 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 11:13:43am

re: #147 Pie-onist Overlord

That was the only way she could get back some of the tax money she had extorted from her so it was OK
I’ve actually seen that defense. Never mind that she did it under her married name so no one would notice.

162 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:13:55am

re: #155 calochortus

I haven’t really gone into details with him. He just keeps saying I have to read Rand to understand. So, I think I’ll read some and then tell him…

Read the Fountainhead I guess then. It will be painful no doubt but he won’t be able to go “But you haven’t read any of it.” It’s akin to CSA apologists who are expecting everyone they encounter who disagrees with them on the CSA not to be knowledgeable on the history and then when you hit them with actual knowledge, they fold apart like chairs.

163 jayjaybear  Aug 27, 2014 11:14:14am

re: #114 lawhawk

They’re still on that?! Geez…not only are they stupid and fearful, they’re really, really stubborn.

164 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 11:14:15am

Moron: “I don’t work for the government. I get a lunch break because my employer and I agreed to it.”

Me: “That would be a burdensome government regulation.”

Moron: “Nuh-uh!”

Me: “Can you get paid for overtime?”

Moron: “Yeah.”

Me: “That would be a burdensome government regulation.”

Moron: “Nuh-uh!”

165 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:14:19am

re: #159 Decatur Deb

A bit of time and weather will tear things up quite nicely. Maintenance costs for the public patrimony are totally unmanageable for the private model. Doesn’t help that we’ve been avoiding much of the upkeep for decades.

WHO NEEDS ROADS? I AM IRONMAN!

166 thecommodore  Aug 27, 2014 11:15:06am

re: #35 Charles Johnson

Hey Timothy — does your Galaxy S4 show you the mobile version of LGF now? I added some code that supposedly fixes that problem, but I have no way of testing it myself.

I have an S4 and can see the mobile version.

167 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 11:15:08am

re: #165 Pie-onist Overlord

Heh. Even Tony Stark likes a nice paved road to drive all his fast cars on.

Libertarians are just morons.

168 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:15:36am

re: #164 Kragar

Moron: “I don’t work for the government. I get a lunch break because my employer and I agreed to it.”

Me: “That would be a burdensome government regulation.”

Moron: “Nuh-uh!”

Me: “Can you get paid for overtime?”

Moron: “Yeah.”

Me: “That would be a burdensome government regulation.”

Moron: “Nuh-uh!”

Too many of them think that Adam Smith was an advocate of an unregulated “free market,” when in reality he was anything but. He was actually a supporter of government regulation on the market, as he understood that left to its own devices the “free market” would cannibalize its customers in the pursuit of profit.

169 De Kolta Chair  Aug 27, 2014 11:16:00am

re: #66 HappyWarrior

re: #128 Kragar

[Embedded content]

AaronTheWizard is talking about important private sector initiatives, like rice crackers and kites.

Btw, he’s a wizard!!!!!

170 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:16:33am

re: #169 De Kolta Chair

AaronTheWizard is talking about important private sector initiatives, like rice crackers and kites.

Btw, he’s a wizard!!!!!

Weren’t kites a military weapon?

171 leftynyc  Aug 27, 2014 11:16:58am

I’m not sure this has been posted yet:

nytimes.com

LONDON — Islamist opposition fighters in Syria, including members of an Al Qaeda affiliate, took control of the Quneitra crossing point on the demarcation line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, activists said on Wednesday.

The move could bring Islamist forces within 200 yards of territory controlled by Israel. An activist in the area, contacted by Skype, said a coalition of Islamists, including members of the Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, opened an assault on the government-held crossing early Wednesday. The status of a United Nations force that is supposed to monitor the crossing point was unclear.

172 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Aug 27, 2014 11:19:22am

I can see how some people might see a large black man threatening, especially in a confrontation. But we are talking about a policeman who is armed and supposedly trained to deal with such situations using minimal force.

173 wrenchwench  Aug 27, 2014 11:19:23am

re: #136 Rightwingconspirator

I can totally agree with stopping a guy that actually looks right for the suspect.

So many questions-Is that previous crime report even real? If so did law enforcers think they had their guy and stopped looking for the actual suspect? For six hours? Why so long to sort it out?

re: #158 Stanley Sea

Good, but very weak

Bullshit.

A similar thing happened to a friend of mine about 10 years ago in Dana Point. He’s white, but scruffy-looking, and the New Mexico plates are what got him suspected of a bank robbery. Like Charles Belk, he didn’t really resemble the suspect, but for some reason it is considered proper to hold a person in cuffs for 6 hours (in my friend’s case) while you find the bank tellers and have them look, or in Belk’s case, get someone too look at some video.

Police processes need to be more humane. And quicker. The suspect is also supposed to be served and protected.

174 Rightwingconspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:19:46am

re: #123 Charles Johnson

The change I just made should include basically all smartphones.

Site looks great on my older T-Mobile served Galaxy. Either orientation.

175 De Kolta Chair  Aug 27, 2014 11:20:17am

re: #170 HappyWarrior

Weren’t kites a military weapon?

Good point. In the past, large battles have been fought with kites.

176 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 11:20:28am

re: #152 Targetpractice

Of course not. And don’t dare suggest that the “free market” should have to pay to take possession of those utilities, roads, etc. No sir, government should just give them to the “free market,” no charge, to run as they see fit. If the “free market” starts setting up toll roads every 5 minutes of highway, well, that’s the cost of using “private property.”

Didn’t the Russians use that model after the fall of the USSR? Just give stuff to the well-connected who could then make billions on it? How’s that working out for the population at-large?

177 Decatur Deb  Aug 27, 2014 11:20:59am

re: #170 HappyWarrior

Weren’t kites a military weapon?

Do Google Image on ‘“Alexander Graham Bell” kites’. Looks like a time warp.

178 b.d.  Aug 27, 2014 11:21:47am

re: #169 De Kolta Chair

AaronTheWizard is talking about important private sector initiatives, like rice crackers and kites.

Btw, he’s a wizard!!!!!

The guy claims to be from Marshalltown Iowa, which would cease to exist in his Randian Utopian world. It might exist but it would be hell to get to and a plenty rough place.

179 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:22:03am

re: #176 calochortus

Didn’t the Russians use that model after the fall of the USSR? Just give stuff to the well-connected who could then make billions on it? How’s that working out for the population at-large?

So well that people are looking back 30+ years later and thinking life was better under communism.

180 Ace-o-aces  Aug 27, 2014 11:22:12am
181 jaunte  Aug 27, 2014 11:22:45am

re: #164 Kragar

It’s all fun and games until a government next door decides to take over his libertarian fantasy land.

182 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Aug 27, 2014 11:22:55am

re: #168 Targetpractice

Too many of them think that Adam Smith was an advocate of an unregulated “free market,” when in reality he was anything but. He was actually a supporter of government regulation on the market, as he understood that left to its own devices the “free market” would cannibalize its customers in the pursuit of profit.

The one AS quote they ignore is that “Markets exist to serve the people, people do not exist to serve the markets.”

Markets are a means to balance supply and demand, and direct capital to where it is most beneficial. Profits are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

183 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:22:55am

re: #178 b.d.

The guy claims to be from Marshalltown Iowa, which would cease to exist in his Randian Utopian world. It might exist but it would be hell to get to and a plenty rough place.

Hmmm would that be the same Iowa that heavily benefited from the Homestead Act. Yes, yes it would be.

184 ObserverArt  Aug 27, 2014 11:23:16am

re: #114 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

Don’t forget Johnny likes his little monkey!

What? Does he spank him? I don’t know, but he says every fifteen minutes to a half-hour he gets wound up…

Youtube Video

185 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Aug 27, 2014 11:23:45am

Fucking. Assholes:

Police let their dog urinate on Michael Brown Memorial, drove over it with police vehicles

186 De Kolta Chair  Aug 27, 2014 11:23:52am

re: #158 Stanley Sea

Good, but very weak

Bullshit.

Maybe they mean another definition of totality: “the moment or duration of total obscuration of the sun or moon during an eclipse.”

Or “we fuck up once in a blue moon,” or sumpin’.

187 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 11:23:58am

re: #182 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

The one AS quote they ignore is that “Markets exist to serve the people, people do not exist to serve the markets.”

Markets are a means to balance supply and demand, and direct capital to where it is most beneficial. Profits are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

You’re assuming they’ve read anything related to Adam Smith aside from his Wikipedia entry.

188 Decatur Deb  Aug 27, 2014 11:24:22am

re: #178 b.d.

The guy claims to be from Marshalltown Iowa, which would cease to exist in his Randian Utopian world. It might exist but it would be hell to get to and a plenty rough place.

Marshalltown is sacred to archaeologists.

Image: rona%20digging%20with%20marshalltown.JPG

189 ObserverArt  Aug 27, 2014 11:25:02am

re: #119 Lidane

Just watch the Gary Cooper film of The Fountainhead. That’s more than enough.

And that is almost too much.

190 b.d.  Aug 27, 2014 11:25:44am

re: #183 HappyWarrior

Hmmm would that be the same Iowa that heavily benefited from the Homestead Act. Yes, yes it would be.

Same Marshalltown as this one too:

USDA Farm Bill’s Impact on Iowa in Focus In Marshalltown

Posted 5:46 pm, August 22, 2014

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa- Eight years ago Iowa Choice Harvest was an idea, but Friday the idea was recognized as a success. USDA Secretary, and former Iowa Governor, Tom Vilsack along with Congressman Bruce Braley (D) of Waterloo came to Marshalltown to recognize the co-op.

In order to get off the ground Iowa Choice Harvest got a planning grant and a marketing grant and loan monies totaled over $650,000. The coop and it’s 28 members hope to fill the demand for locally produced foods in Iowa schools, restaurants and grocery stores. The firm processes apples and corn.

whotv.com

191 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:26:17am

re: #185 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Fucking. Assholes:

Police let their dog urinate on Michael Brown Memorial, drove over it with police vehicles

Fucking dicks.

192 Franklin  Aug 27, 2014 11:26:22am

re: #187 Lidane

You’re assuming they’ve read anything related to Adam Smith aside from his Wikipedia entry some meme gifs..

FTFY

193 Stanley Sea  Aug 27, 2014 11:27:21am

Welp.

TV Cameraman on the show COPS shot while filming shootout.

latimes.com

194 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 11:27:34am
195 De Kolta Chair  Aug 27, 2014 11:27:38am

re: #189 ObserverArt

And that is almost too much.

But Patricia Neal … grrrrr, or should I say grrrrrl?

Youtube Video

196 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:28:27am

re: #185 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Fucking. Assholes:

Police let their dog urinate on Michael Brown Memorial, drove over it with police vehicles

Swine.

197 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:29:05am

re: #194 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Apparently I missed the GOP announcing the ransom they were charging for taking the economy hostage this time.

198 calochortus  Aug 27, 2014 11:29:28am

Well, it’s time to go become a Producer. Or more accurately, a cleaner-upper which probably doesn’t count in Ayn Rand’s world (exactly who cleaned the bathrooms in Galt’s Gulch? Inquiring minds want to know.)
BBL

199 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 11:29:53am

re: #194 Kragar

The GOP are chomping at the bit for more government shutdowns. In fact, McConnell is running on them:

AUDIO: McConnell Explains How He’d Force A Shutdown War With Obama

200 Timothy Watson  Aug 27, 2014 11:29:59am

re: #198 calochortus

Well, it’s time to go become a Producer. Or more accurately, a cleaner-upper which probably doesn’t count in Ayn Rand’s world (exactly who cleaned the bathrooms in Galt’s Gulch? Inquiring minds want to know.)
BBL

Robots.

/

201 Stanley Sea  Aug 27, 2014 11:30:00am

re: #191 HappyWarrior

Fucking dicks.

I read a blog post this morning (a link from twitter that I cannot find again - sad) about a woman who went to Ferguson and interviewed people etc.

There was a young black guy with a poster of his injuries from being attacked by a police dog after a traffic stop.

Ferguson is poison and what makes me so sad is it is certainly not the only place like this.

Gonna call it Blue Racism or something.

202 jaunte  Aug 27, 2014 11:30:11am

re: #198 calochortus

Libertarians never poop.

203 klys  Aug 27, 2014 11:30:56am

re: #202 jaunte

Libertarians never poop.

But then how do they justify their status as producers?

//

204 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 11:31:09am

re: #202 jaunte

Libertarians never poop.

It does explain why they’re so consistently full of shit

205 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Aug 27, 2014 11:31:17am

re: #176 calochortus

Didn’t the Russians use that model after the fall of the USSR? Just give stuff to the well-connected who could then make billions on it? How’s that working out for the population at-large?

They knew that if they offered public companies on the competitive international market that everything would be bought up by foreigners. So they sold them to Russian oligarchs. And we see how it has benefitted the oligarchs.

206 Aunty Entity Dragon  Aug 27, 2014 11:31:19am
207 lawhawk  Aug 27, 2014 11:31:23am

re: #202 jaunte

Libertarians never poop.

That would explain why they’re so full of it.

208 ObserverArt  Aug 27, 2014 11:31:35am

re: #148 HappyWarrior

Libertarians wonder why they’re never taken seriously as a political force. Well, the thinking in absolutes is a problem for starters.

And the thinking only of themselves is the ending problem.

In about 10 more years this country is really going to be screwed up politically as more and more of these freethinking liberty crusaders get some control of things.

Or they hit the wall of reality…which will have it’s own impact on society.

Someone is going to have to clean up.

209 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:31:40am

re: #198 calochortus

Well, it’s time to go become a Producer. Or more accurately, a cleaner-upper which probably doesn’t count in Ayn Rand’s world (exactly who cleaned the bathrooms in Galt’s Gulch? Inquiring minds want to know.)
BBL

210 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:31:47am

re: #206 Aunty Entity Dragon

[Embedded content]

What a charmer.

211 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:32:10am

re: #202 jaunte

Libertarians never poop.

They do, with stupid texts.

212 Ace-o-aces  Aug 27, 2014 11:32:35am

re: #209 Pie-onist Overlord

I was gonna post that cartoon. You beat me to it.

213 Aunty Entity Dragon  Aug 27, 2014 11:33:02am
214 lawhawk  Aug 27, 2014 11:33:22am
215 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Aug 27, 2014 11:33:47am

re: #187 Lidane

You’re assuming they’ve read anything related to Adam Smith aside from THE INVISIBLE HANDJOB

216 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:34:47am
217 Aunty Entity Dragon  Aug 27, 2014 11:35:00am

WTF???

218 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:35:12am

Kragar has already concluded the smackdown.

219 leftynyc  Aug 27, 2014 11:35:29am

re: #185 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Fucking. Assholes:

Police let their dog urinate on Michael Brown Memorial, drove over it with police vehicles

Must be more of that community outreach I read about. That’s freeking nauseating.

220 jaunte  Aug 27, 2014 11:36:00am

re: #216 Pie-onist Overlord

What a bozo.

221 Aunty Entity Dragon  Aug 27, 2014 11:36:32am
222 Timothy Watson  Aug 27, 2014 11:36:53am

I’m assuming this is a relative of his?

FREE MARKETS!!1!

223 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:37:00am

I’m wondering if it is a bot or a parody.

224 Decatur Deb  Aug 27, 2014 11:37:22am

re: #198 calochortus

Well, it’s time to go become a Producer. Or more accurately, a cleaner-upper which probably doesn’t count in Ayn Rand’s world (exactly who cleaned the bathrooms in Galt’s Gulch? Inquiring minds want to know.)
BBL

More pertinently, who shouldered the rucks and weapons?

225 Schadenboner  Aug 27, 2014 11:37:54am

re: #220 jaunte

What a bozo.

[Embedded image]

Curious captain, the self-awareness meter is reading zero.

226 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 11:38:02am

re: #214 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

And now the reflexive dudebros attacks using specific incidents to attack all cops

227 Timothy Watson  Aug 27, 2014 11:39:16am

MOOCHERS!11!!

228 Shazam  Aug 27, 2014 11:39:42am

Don’t engage the libertarian college kid. He knows not what he says. One day, he’ll grow up. I’ve seen it happen many a time.

229 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:40:02am

WTF

230 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 11:40:13am

re: #227 Timothy Watson

[Embedded content]

[wingnut]MOOCHERS!11!![/wingnut[

231 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:40:31am

re: #227 Timothy Watson

[Embedded content]

MOOCHERS!11!!

That is actual theft, not moochery.

232 Shazam  Aug 27, 2014 11:40:53am

re: #230 Kragar

He loves the free market. He hates the I-have-to-pay-for-things market.

233 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:42:49am

re: #232 Shazam

He loves the free market. He hates the I-have-to-pay-for-things market.

“The free market is the best way to ensure that supply only go to those with the money to afford it. By the way, if you need something for free, just give me a call and I’ll get it to you.”

234 Eventual Carrion  Aug 27, 2014 11:43:22am

re: #57 Franklin

LOLOLOLLLLLLL

[Embedded content]

He says across the internet.

235 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:44:43am

re: #229 Pie-onist Overlord

WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST THE WASPS YOU RACIST?

236 jaunte  Aug 27, 2014 11:47:10am

re: #229 Pie-onist Overlord

Gregor Samsa sequel.

237 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 11:47:13am

You would think that libertarians would know that there’s no such thing as “free” when you speak of the “free market.” Somebody somewhere is paying the cost. Providing a friend with $300 worth of “free” books is coming out of somebody’s pocket.

238 ObserverArt  Aug 27, 2014 11:47:32am

Can you imagine Aaron Livingston when he was in his terrible 2 period?

I think that was at least a year ago or so.

239 dog philosopher  Aug 27, 2014 11:49:18am

job creators labor consumers

240 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 11:49:39am

Damn Onion

241 Schadenboner  Aug 27, 2014 11:50:13am

re: #229 Pie-onist Overlord

WTF

[Embedded content]

GAAAH. Trigger warning that. Seriously. High octane nightmare fuel. Ugh.

242 jayjaybear  Aug 27, 2014 11:50:31am

re: #237 Targetpractice

Right-wingers always seem to have problems with intellectual property. Look at all the Republican campaigns that use songs without permission. The important principle seems to be “as long as it doesn’t come out of MY pocket!”

243 Higgs Boson's Mate  Aug 27, 2014 11:51:19am

re: #155 calochortus

Reading the novels of Ayn Rand will make you understand all right. You will understand that the highest purpose of them is to serve as doorstops in an outhouse.

244 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:51:21am

re: #236 jaunte

Gregor Samsa sequel.

Acc. to a Russian cult rock band, Lenin has decayed into “mold and linden honey”. I suppose that nest was what remained of Ayn Rand.

245 1Peter G1  Aug 27, 2014 11:51:50am

There’s a bit of a problem with the case you lay out. If we accept the premise that no police officer may use his weapon against an unarmed man then the police officer is effectively also an unarmed man. And the person he seeks to arrest has every incentive to try and overcome the officer in order to get away or to get the conveniently handy gun the police officer can’t use. Frankly I doubt this case would get past a jury even if an indictment is secured. The convenience story video will provide all the doubt necessary to make conviction next to impossible. But not to worry, a civil suit is bound to generate a generous award for Mr. Brown’s surviving family. Which will be paid for by the largely black population of Ferguson because that is how it is done in the US.

246 Kid A  Aug 27, 2014 11:52:27am

BREAKING! Lead story at Gateway Douche:
Allen West goes there…
“I’m thinking of writing an opera called “Why Michael Brown Deserved to Die.”

247 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:53:26am

re: #245 1Peter G1

Why bother reading Gateway Pundit when the Derp comes right to your door?

248 Backwoods_Sleuth  Aug 27, 2014 11:54:04am

gee, Aaron, why would they do that?

249 Fairly Sure I'm Still Obdicut  Aug 27, 2014 11:54:32am

re: #245 1Peter G1

If we accept the premise that no police officer may use his weapon against an unarmed man

That’s not the premise, though.

250 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:55:04am

re: #245 1Peter G1

What bullshit. Nobody said a cop can’t shoot an unarmed person under any circumstances. Why do you raise such dumb strawmen?

251 jaunte  Aug 27, 2014 11:55:11am

Unarmed straw man, tho.

252 HappyWarrior  Aug 27, 2014 11:55:49am

re: #248 Backwoods_Sleuth

gee, Aaron, why would they do that?

[Embedded content]

Well if you act the part………

253 Pie-onist Overlord  Aug 27, 2014 11:55:59am

re: #250 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator

What bullshit. Nobody said a cop can’t shoot an unarmed person under any circumstances. Why do you raise such dumb strawmen?

Because he is a dumbshit.

254 Rightwingconspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:56:37am

Whow, did you guys see this? Not too sure how solid the web site is but do check this out…

BREAKING: Sons of Guns Star Arrested AGAIN, This Time on Child Rape Charges

It looks like the star of Discovery Channel’s “Sons of Guns” show and owner of Red Jacket Firearms, William Hayden, has been arrested for a second time on charges related to the sexual assault of a minor.

According to WAFB,

The founder and owner of Red Jacket Firearms in Baton Rouge, LA was arrested again, but this time his charge is aggravated rape of a 12-year-old. The U.S. Marshal in East Baton Rouge Parish arrested William Hayden around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Read more: controversialtimes.com

And now Red Jacket Firearms has severed all ties with William.

255 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Aug 27, 2014 11:56:40am

re: #248 Backwoods_Sleuth

I’m starting to think he may not be real. Then again, Elliot Rodger wrote in the same whiny style.

256 wrenchwench  Aug 27, 2014 11:57:30am

re: #245 1Peter G1

This account is annoying.

257 Kragar  Aug 27, 2014 11:57:54am

re: #245 1Peter G1

I don’t accept your premise

258 ObserverArt  Aug 27, 2014 11:57:55am

re: #245 1Peter G1

There’s a bit of a problem with the case you lay out. If we accept the premise that no police officer may use his weapon against an unarmed man then the police officer is effectively also an unarmed man. And the person he seeks to arrest has every incentive to try and overcome the officer in order to get away or to get the conveniently handy gun the police officer can’t use. Frankly I doubt this case would get past a jury even if an indictment is secured. The convenience story video will provide all the doubt necessary to make conviction next to impossible. But not to worry, a civil suit is bound to generate a generous award for Mr. Brown’s surviving family. Which will be paid for by the largely black population of Ferguson because that is how it is done in the US.

You make my head hurt.

259 Backwoods_Sleuth  Aug 27, 2014 11:59:50am
260 jaunte  Aug 27, 2014 12:00:34pm

re: #254 Rightwingconspirator

Somehow they managed to take him alive.

The U.S. Marshal in East Baton Rouge Parish arrested William Hayden around 3 p.m. Tuesday. Hayden had a warrant out for his arrest and was apprehended in Livingston Parish as a fugitive from East Baton Rouge Parish.
nola.com

261 Targetpractice  Aug 27, 2014 12:01:17pm

re: #245 1Peter G1

What in the video would create doubt in the jury pool? You’re suggesting that a short clip of Michael Brown shoving a clerk is going to be enough to convince them that he’d batter a cop and then charge him after being shot at?

262 wrenchwench  Aug 27, 2014 12:02:36pm

Boring article (you do know how to lock your bicycle properly, right?) with great illustration.

263 Bubblehead II  Aug 27, 2014 12:02:40pm

re: #245 1Peter G1

264 Aunty Entity Dragon  Aug 27, 2014 12:03:09pm

re: #245 1Peter G1

There’s a bit of a problem with the case you lay out. If we accept the premise that no police officer may use his weapon against an unarmed man then the police officer is effectively also an unarmed man.

Except for the tazer, pepper spray, baton and the fists that get used against black women and handcuffed suspects so often on Youtube, but do continue by all means…

And the person he seeks to arrest has every incentive to try and overcome the officer in order to get away or to get the conveniently handy gun the police officer can’t use.

How do those Germans manage to only fire 87 shots a year on average? I guess they let a lot of incentivized people do all kinds of thuggish things. I suppose you never heard of de-escalating conflict? No?

Frankly I doubt this case would get past a jury even if an indictment is secured.

Well, I will agree with you there, if Rodney King, the homeless guy beat to death in Fullerton and Tryavon Martin are any guide to history, no local jury will indict. We do love to see police officers beat and shoot other people who are not in our tribe.

The convenience story video will provide all the doubt necessary to make conviction next to impossible.

Scary black blackity black black! He listens to rap music! He is black and big and black!

But not to worry, a civil suit is bound to generate a generous award for Mr. Brown’s surviving family.

Ah, yes…you dig out the “ghetto lottery” concern troll meme.

Have a nice hot cup of shut the fuck up.

265 Franklin  Aug 27, 2014 12:03:10pm

re: #254 Rightwingconspirator

In the NY Daily News:

nydailynews.com

266 wrenchwench  Aug 27, 2014 12:05:27pm

re: #264 Aunty Entity Dragon

the homeless guy beat to death in Fullerton

Kelly Thomas.

267 Iwouldprefernotto  Aug 27, 2014 12:06:21pm

re: #245 1Peter G1

There’s a bit of a problem with the case you lay out. If we accept the premise that no police officer may use his weapon against an unarmed man then the police officer is effectively also an unarmed man. And the person he seeks to arrest has every incentive to try and overcome the officer in order to get away or to get the conveniently handy gun the police officer can’t use. Frankly I doubt this case would get past a jury even if an indictment is secured. The convenience story video will provide all the doubt necessary to make conviction next to impossible. But not to worry, a civil suit is bound to generate a generous award for Mr. Brown’s surviving family. Which will be paid for by the largely black population of Ferguson because that is how it is done in the US.

Thanks for that. NOT.

268 Lidane  Aug 27, 2014 12:07:05pm

re: #245 1Peter G1

269 lawhawk  Aug 27, 2014 12:10:16pm

re: #254 Rightwingconspirator

Show is now cancelled.

Hayden is accused of raping a minor “almost daily” since March 2013 and taking her virginity when she was 11 years old. TMZ reports the girl is Hayden’s daughter.

During an interview with detectives, the alleged victim said she did not report the sexual abuse because she was afraid Hayden would hurt her. The most recent abuse of the now-12-year-old girl occurred during July 2014, according to the documents.

Yeah, show cancellation is the least of his worries now. He’s going to need solitary/protective custody in prison.

270 dog philosopher  Aug 27, 2014 12:11:34pm

Hopped Up On Marijuana and ‘Armed With His

if had only been an eight year old girl he could have taken his uzi with him too

271 dog philosopher  Aug 27, 2014 12:12:48pm

re: #245 1Peter G1

If we accept the premise that no police officer may use his weapon against an unarmed man

ya well nobody’s making that case so moot

272 BeachDem  Aug 27, 2014 12:18:16pm

re: #254 Rightwingconspirator

rawstory.com

Another source, and they cite Fox News etc.

273 hamptonroads  Aug 27, 2014 3:49:34pm

So by Ben Stein’s logic, if I see a heavyset, strong-looking, Gadsden-wearing dude in the street, I can shoot him because that man is armed and dangerous just by being a big, strong man?

What say you, Lord Stein?


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