Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Politics

  • Federalism

    My plea for federalism is contained in Can Federalism Save Us?  And so I am pleased to point my readers to Jonah Goldeberg's The Federalist Solution. Mitt Romney mentioned federalism in a recent speech but he didn't pause to explain what it means.  That was a mistake.  Joe Sixpack has no idea what federalism is.  He…

  • The Voter Photo Identification ‘Issue’

    Some positions are so absurd as to be beneath refutation. To respond reasonably to the unreasonable lends them a veneer of credibility to which they are not entitled.  Mockery, derision, and ridicule are often much more appropriate and effective.  Oftentimes, all it takes is a cartoon to refute a stupid liberal.  By the way, this voter ID…

  • In the Arena

    Say what you want about politicians, they are in the arena taking the heat, under their own names, unlike the wordslingers, too many of them hiding behind pseudonyms, who snipe from the sidelines: It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds…

  • Why are Conservatives Inarticulate?

    From the mail: My two cents on why so many people who hold conservative views come across as inarticulate: most of the values that ordinary, conservative people live by do not require much reflection or explanation. After all, how much justification does a man need for being loyal to his friends, not cheating his customers,…

  • York on Breitbart: Culture is Upstream from Politics

    Here: Breitbart knew instinctively, as people in Washington and most other places did not, that movies, television programs, and popular music send out deeply political messages every hour of every day. They shape the culture, and then the culture shapes politics. Influence those films and TV shows and songs, and you’ll eventually influence politics. The…

  • The Feckless Mr. Obama Did What?

    He apologized for the unintentional burning of some copies of the Koran.  Unbelievable and disgusting.  If we can't dump this incompetent  come November, it may be all over for this great nation.  2012 is indeed a watershed election year. Wise up, conservatives.  Don't hang back because Romney is not a true conservative. He isn't, of course:  he's…

  • On Calling Obama a Socialist

    It is a tactical mistake for libertarians and conservatives to label Obama a socialist. For what will happen, has happened: liberals will revert to a strict definition and point out that Obama is not a socialist by this definition. Robert Heilbroner defines socialism in terms of "a centrally planned economy in which the government controls…

  • The Stupider the Citizen, the More the Justification for Governmental Overreach

    If this Daily Mail  story is to be believed, a 17 year old English girl has subsisted on little more than McDonald's chicken nuggets and fries for the past 15 years. "The factory worker – who says she has never tasted fresh fruit or vegetables – had to be taken to hospital earlier this week…

  • The 2012 Election Circus

    For commentary on the passing scene, Victor Davis Hanson is hard to beat.  Here is his latest. Bill Keezer deserves thanks for keeping me apprised of what flows from Hanson's pen.  Hanson on Ron Paul: For someone so savvy about the nature of the disaffected, why did Dr. Paul believe that in the South he…

  • Ron Paul and Libertarian Extremism

    Ron Paul made a strong showing in Iowa last night despite his coming in third behind Santorum (second) and Romney (first).  But there is no way that Paul will receive the Republican nomination. His irresponsible foreign policy positions alone disqualify him.  You may disagree with that, but most agree with me, and that includes the…

  • Good, Better, Best

    From the mail bag: Is the way you interpret Voltaire's saying the way it was originally intended? I'm probably wrong here, but I always took the saying to mean this: a willingness to settle for what is "better" makes it likely that one won't acquire what is "good".   Good, better, best.  Positive, comparative, superlative. …

  • Le Mieux est L’Ennemi du Bien

    Attributed to Voltaire. "The better is the enemy of the good."  The thought is perhaps better captured by "The best is the enemy of the good."  In an imperfect world it is folly to predicate action upon perfection.  Will you hold out for the perfect spouse?  Then you will remain alone.  And if you yourself…

  • Holder’s Racial Politics

    Here.  

  • Politicians

    Paul Brunton, Notebooks, vol. 9, Human Experience, p. 126, #520, emphasis added: Politicians — more interested in their own careers than in sincere public service, ambitious to gain their personal ends, unwilling to rebuke foolish voters with harsh truth until it is too late to save them, forced to lead double lives of misleading public statements…

  • Gingrich and the Kama Sutra

    "Newt has more positions than the Kama Sutra." I just heard Michael Medved say this on the Dennis Prager show.  Medved intends it in the best possible sense. Medved thinks that both Romney and Gingrich would make good presidents.  I agree.  Indeed, any of the Republican candidates would be better than Obama the Incompetent. And I…