Paultards, TeaBaggers, Birthers, Birchers, Truthers, FairTaxers, etc.
What’s funny is that all these groups are despised and mocked by the likes of Rachel Maddow. But yet within these groups, some of the others are despised and mocked.
For example, I am a big Ron Paul fan, and I was a speaker at the Cincinnati Tea Party. Even so, when a guy approached me and wanted to argue about the Fair Tax, I just shut down. I couldn’t refute his arguments, but the point was, I didn’t want to. I have tried arguing with Fair Tax people before, and I have found it physically exhausting.
So I think that’s how a standard conservative Republican feels when he encounters a “Paultard.” He can’t beat the guy’s arguments, but he doesn’t care. He knows that no matter what he says, the “Paultard” will still think it was a mistake to invade Iraq.
Rich Dad, Austrian Dad
Damien Forsythe emails to tell me that Robert Kiyosaki plugs the Austrian School and the Mises Institute at the 4:00 mark of this video:
An Un-Christian Argument for Anti-Semitism
When I was in grammar school we saw a video on intolerance. One of the guys being interviewed was a skinhead who said he hated Jews “because they killed Jesus.”
Of course any form of hatred based on collectivism is ridiculous. Yet this particular example has always struck me as an absurd justification for an actual Christian to hold, for many reasons:
(1) Jesus commands us to love everyone.
(2) Jesus Himself forgave those who killed Him.
(3) Technically it was the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus, and yet I don’t hear too many Christians saying they accordingly hate Italians.
(4) The whole point of Christianity is that Jesus died for all of our sins. Think about this famous painting, or the fact that Mel Gibson apparently raised the hammer in The Passion (which drove the first spike). The point is, Christian doctrine says that it was ultimately your sin (and my sin) that killed Jesus. So to blame a particular group for doing it–unless the group is “human beings”–is ridiculous.
SPECIAL REQUEST: I do not want to spend a lot of time cleaning up the comments. If you want to argue with my theology or Biblical understanding, that’s fine, but I am asking you guys to be mature with this one. I don’t want to hear about “schools forcing PC propaganda down kids’ throats,” and I especially don’t want to hear about other reasons people are anti-Semitic. My point is to address the profoundly un-Christian nature of this standard justification given by anti-Semites.
Jason Rink Gave the Boldest Tea Party Speech yesterday
Wow. I really hope somebody caught it on video and this ends up on YouTube. The guy before me yesterday (at the Cincinnati Tea Party at Fifth Third Arena) was Jason Rink. I don’t want to spoil it. You won’t believe what he said to those people. And keep in mind, during the pre-game show with the slide show on the scoreboards, the crowd boohed Obama and Pelosi, went nuts for George W. Bush, and didn’t react to the few slides of Ron Paul.
I don’t want to comment on my talk until I know if video will be available. But here’s me (photo credit Tony Garcia; Jason Osborne and his dad Mike were also in the group):
BTW I was the second last speaker; Jonah Goldberg was the keynote. The stands had a lot more people in them at peak.
Murphy Transparency, Part 1
You know, a lot of times I feel hesitant to act on my personal views, because I am so afraid that I’m doing the very behavior of my enemies. For example, if I meet with some libertarian guys to talk “strategy,” I feel like we are no different from Marxists. After all, aren’t we plotting in the same way that Robert Wenzel uses the verb to plot (infinitive there, for ya). And yet I don’t feel like what we’re doing is comparable. (I’m sure they understand the feeling.)
Anyway, I decided that one sure way to alleviate my guilt is to announce to the world my plan. So here goes:
(1) I link to Wenzel whenever appropriate, to highlight the reasons I read his site daily. I only check about 7 blogs regularly, because I am rushed for time. Wenzel should be humbled knowing that 1/7 of my information from the entire Internet comes from him. He is the filter for 1/7 of my internet knowledge, which works out to 1/8 of my total knowledge. Wenzel, can you bear that load, my friend? Are you cracking under the responsibility?
(BTW I am not merely helping a friend. I know Wenzel has all the skills to be the most notorious financial blogger in the world. Oh my gosh, please don’t tell me you know of Matt Taibbi but you have never heard of Robert Wenzel? Well, that’s because you get your opinion of financial experts from Rolling Stone, instead of from me. I am telling you that Matt Taibbi should realize that I respect Robert Wenzel so much more, that I am not even googling to make sure I am spelling your name right. You should thank me for at least checking for internal spelling consistency in this post itself; I will not force myself to misspell your name. You did a lot for getting the word out about Goldman, good work my friend. I’m just saying, Wenzel should be point guard, not you. I’m not kicking you off the team, Matt, I’m just benching you. We are getting BLOWN OUT and you hit a 3-pointer without first passing the ball 5 times like I think we should. (I’m not googling to see how many passes Gene Hackman in Hoosiers required. I just know he said, “My men are on the floor,” or something when the refs told him he only had 4 players on the court. Awesome.)
UPDATE: As many of you probably guessed when you read this, after the fact it occurred to me that many people would not see the humor in my self-identified publicity stunt. So I have taken it down, while leaving the compliments to Robert Wenzel intact.
See You in Cincinnati
I probably won’t be blogging more until Friday evening (if then). I have to hit the road pretty early today for the Cincinnati Tea Party appearance tonight. (Sean Hannity is doing his TV show on location, but I don’t think I am going to be on it.)
“A Night of Clarity” — Come to Music City in July!
Carlos Lara and I are pleased to officially announce “A Night of Clarity” to be held in Nashville, TN on Friday, July 16. The confirmed speakers are Paul Cleveland, Nelson Nash, Tom Woods, and me. We originally had asked Robert Wenzel to be the fifth speaker, but he had another business commitment. Instead we are proud to have Richard Ebeling join us to round out the panel.
The full details are here. Note that there are three different events–the Friday night lectures on the business cycle and the “Infinite Banking Concept,” the Friday night dinner with Q&A from the panel, and then the workshop the following Saturday. You can pick and choose which events you’d like to attend; each has its own price.
The event will also feature the release of the book Carlos and I are writing on How Privatized Banking Really Works: Integrating Austrian Economics With the Infinite Banking Concept. If I know Tom Woods, he will be hawking his own books too, including what will then still be fairly new book on nullification.
The Friday night karaoke bar is free (except for any drinks you buy). I am personally paying to reserve a VIP section at Lonnie’s for about 40 of us. (We aren’t isolated; we still see the main stage. But we have our own roped off area to ensure seats etc.) It is my special gift to you.
Finally, if you are going to come I encourage you to sign up soon. We have a 10% discount on the Friday presentation (for regular tickets, not the student version) and the Saturday workshop, up through May 1st.
So come join us in July! If you’ve never been to Nashville, I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.
Why Would You Trust Politicians to Save the Planet?
This is a pretty funny NPR story about the “Energy Star” certification (which makes you eligible for “green” tax credits). If you’re rushed for time, just start listening at the 2:00 mark.
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