The Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show 2/14/13

“Sir, I protest! I am not a merry man!” Makes me laugh every single time. (At the same time, I do feel sorry for Michael Dorn, a good actor who’s forever going to be remembered for lines like that one.)

Bob, the Left is so accustomed to being in the opposition that it seems Lefties can’t bring themselves to comment positively on any officeholder. No one’s motives can possibly be pure enough, no actions can possibly be virtuous enough, no words can possibly be passionate enough. It has to be tiring to be that outraged all the time.

The Rs claim they’re blocking Chuck Hagel as leverage to get information out of the administration. They’re not. They’re throwing tantrums, like Lindsey Graham, or they need a nap, like John McCain.

Bob, nothing happened before January 20, 2009. On that day, at noon EST, history began. That’s why everything Barack Obama does is unprecedented and scandalous.

If the expression
empiricism ≫ ideology
makes sense to you, you’re sane.

I had a different reaction to Obama’s push for votes on gun control. Maybe I’m wrong, but I heard an implicit—I don’t want to call it a threat, because that’s terribly misleading—call for action by gun control advocates against those who vote no. Perhaps every measure will fail, but forcing politicians to take positions opposed by the overwhelming majority of their constituents can be a useful exercise, especially for the next election campaign.

Marco Rubio’s speech was boilerplate Republicanism, right down to the “I benefitted from government programs, but you can’t because government evil” hypocrisy (a word I don’t use lightly) and the “Medicare is important” nonsense (Paul Ryan wants to turn it into a coupon—not even a voucher—program and he also says Medicare is important). Rubio’s speech wasn’t original, wasn’t thoughtful and wasn’t provocative; it was yet another audition tape for a would-be presidential candidate.

The Rs look at voting patterns, especially among Democratic constituencies, and see what they believe is bloc voting. So, since women tend to vote D, the R candidate should be a woman. Latinos tend to vote D, therefore the R candidate should be Latino. Ditto blacks and younger voters and Asians. Of course, the Rs have also convinced themselves there’s nothing wrong with their policies, only with the articulation of those policies, so the delusion of dealing with monolithic blocs of voters must be appealing.

I win the prize, Chez (that is one weird—and weirdly amusing—movie).

“Google is actually a tool of the Obama Adminstration.” Remember Conservapedia? The Conservative Bible Project? Righties don’t trust anything they don’t control, which helps explain their antipathy toward science and its stubborn insistence on accepting reality.

Hope the move went/is going well, Bob.

–alopecia