tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post8236422986957972295..comments2023-12-20T04:18:41.617-06:00Comments on The Hunting of the Snark: In Which Megan McArdle Shares Her WisdomSusan of Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-20200560409163281942016-02-06T08:58:30.517-06:002016-02-06T08:58:30.517-06:00I have to laugh at all her "we insiders"...I have to laugh at all her "we insiders" claims. I imagine DC is like any other city, where people at dinner parties talk about art, sports, their families, etc. Another instance where Megan thinks she looks like the cool kids but just comes off dull and arrogant. Most people in Washington have lives and jobs that are not related to politics, so when Megan says "we" she really means "me and my cronies," which I suppose is all that matters to Megan.Clever Pseudonymnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-81516000402074625092016-02-05T07:59:15.139-06:002016-02-05T07:59:15.139-06:00Now I have the Spin Doctors in my head.Now I have the Spin Doctors in my head.fishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01522672049371678717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-46416638618870126502016-02-04T10:07:41.666-06:002016-02-04T10:07:41.666-06:00McArdle certainly did get a lot of practice. She s...McArdle certainly did get a lot of practice. She seems to love flinging bullshit for its own sake as well.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-68566856313046685142016-02-04T09:53:53.786-06:002016-02-04T09:53:53.786-06:00https://victoriacorby.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/...https://victoriacorby.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/tumblr_loi6jl1o291qi749so1_500.gif<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-50125482736272143822016-02-04T06:48:15.383-06:002016-02-04T06:48:15.383-06:00I will get used to it in time. It takes me a while...I will get used to it in time. It takes me a while to adjust. I grew up with all the usual propaganda about Americans' greatness and my father died "defending" the country so I tend to expect Americans to fight for what is right, whatever that may be. It is childish to expect people to be better than they are.<br /><br />Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-50370447281022695802016-02-04T05:48:40.385-06:002016-02-04T05:48:40.385-06:00Wholesale revolutionary change is possible. Our g...<i>Wholesale revolutionary change is possible. Our government started out that way. We threw out the monarchy, built a military, established a different form of government. </i><br />And by 'we', you mean a bunch of rich businessmen, right?<br /><br /><i>The problem with picking the lesser of two evils</i><br />I don't understand this framing, I really don't.<br />I am not surprised that people around me think that way, because I still remember the wave of incredible optimism that swept my native country when the Iron Curtain came down - hell, one of the mottos of the 1989 revolution was 'Now the lost control over our own affairs has returned to us' - and the romantic ideas they had about democracy and politics under a non-totalitarian political regime. It took about 5 years (or one election cycle) for most people to wake up from that dream and realize that the us the lost control has returned are a bunch of rich businessmen (most of them with ties to previous regime's secret police). But they still remember the dream and so every election they proclaim they are tired of voting for the lesser evil and demand a leader who would *really* represent them, someone honest, someone who shares their beliefs, someone who understands their plight. Each election cycle they get one and each time it takes about two days (i.e. until the start of the inevitable coalition government formation talks) for said leader to reveal themselves as a money-grubbing idiot, racist and hypocrite, i.e. a politician. So I understand my compatriots' naitive, but I don't understand when complaints about the lesser evil come from Americans, especially those - not to put a too fine point on it - old enough to remember Nixon and Reagan. I thought you'd have understood by now that you end up voting for the lesser evil because that is the nature of the process and has always been, in your case, since the very beginning. If you prefer to frame it that way, fine - the whole democracy thing is a lesser evil, it sucks, but it's - for the most part - better than the alternative. I prefer to see it as better than the alternative and apply the same process to voting.bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.com