Who lives in a house like this?

[Juana]

Why do you hate the American Dream™ of exploting the ignorance of the masses while demonizing The Other?

Anyone ever explain to your mom that the bible specifically says something along the lines of "you won't know the day or the hour", and that Jesus will return like a thief in the night, some kind of undead ninja messiah?

Bristol running would be interesting, assuming the Tea Party hasn't exploded by then. I don't think the run itself will be all that interesting, because I don't anticipate her having a real opponent, but watching it will be bile mirth.

edited for quote fail

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Why do you hate the American Dream™ of exploting the ignorance of the masses while demonizing The Other?

So she's putting words in God's mouth, which is what we Holy Men™ refer to as "taking the Lord's name in vain", and that she is DOOMING herself to PERDITION?

Bristol running would be interesting, assuming the Tea Party hasn't exploded by then. I don't think the run itself will be all that interesting, because I don't anticipate her having a real opponent, but watching it will be bile mirth.

The teabaggers are here to stay, for at least another 10 years.

[Juana]

I was reading a Mother Jones article, which talked about cracks already appearing in the facade (arguably, that's wishful thinking on their part). I haven't finished it yet because I'm distractable, but the coalition, is, from what I've heard, kind of held together with scotts tape.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I was reading a Mother Jones article, which talked about cracks already appearing in the facade (arguably, that's wishful thinking on their part). I haven't finished it yet because I'm distractable, but the coalition, is, from what I've heard, kind of held together with scotts tape.

So what?  They actually got people elected.  The Libertarian Party has been around for decades, and they don't even have a fucking dogcatcher to their name.

Trust me on this one.  The teabaggers will be around no less than 10 years as a real - if ridiculous - political force.

[Juana]

*scotch tape

I was reading a Mother Jones article, which talked about cracks already appearing in the facade (arguably, that's wishful thinking on their part). I haven't finished it yet because I'm distractable, but the coalition, is, from what I've heard, kind of held together with scotts tape.

So what?  They actually got people elected.  The Libertarian Party has been around for decades, and they don't even have a fucking dogcatcher to their name.

Trust me on this one.  The teabaggers will be around no less than 10 years as a real - if ridiculous - political force.

Point. And the Tea Party has sort of lifted the Libertarian name anyway. My step dad, who, six years ago, said he'd never be a Libertarian, now says he is. Now that it's fashionable on the right.

[Adios]

"Bristol Palin was elected to Congress today to represent Arizona. Her first act was to rename the Cardinals the Tea-Baggers.

After a brief meeting the NFL proclaimed the Tea-Baggers the Superbowl Champions without a down being played.

All the players were invited to the White House.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

*scotch tape

I was reading a Mother Jones article, which talked about cracks already appearing in the facade (arguably, that's wishful thinking on their part). I haven't finished it yet because I'm distractable, but the coalition, is, from what I've heard, kind of held together with scotts tape.

So what?  They actually got people elected.  The Libertarian Party has been around for decades, and they don't even have a fucking dogcatcher to their name.

Trust me on this one.  The teabaggers will be around no less than 10 years as a real - if ridiculous - political force.

Point. And the Tea Party has sort of lifted the Libertarian name anyway. My step dad, who, six years ago, said he'd never be a Libertarian, now says he is. Now that it's fashionable on the right.

Well, if the tea party had any sort of actual platform... it would be pretty libertarian leaning. Sadly, there's no consistency, philosophy or ... well actual thought behind most of what passes as the Tea Party.

Which is probably why its doing so well... actually thinking about things like political philosophy is far too difficult for Americans. Much easier to stand around posing for Jebus and Country.

[Juana]

You don't really need to know the actual philosophy to steal the name. A vague idea is all you need to do it.

[Cain]

Political philosophy is overrated.  "Don't act like a dick" is a perfectly acceptable replacement, given socially recognized and agreed upon definitions of being a dick.

[Fujikoma]

Sometimes one MUST act like a dick. Machiavelli was really big on this notion, and I'm sure he wasn't the first. If one must act like a dick to someone, they must be such a dick that the person to whom they are being a dick to may never seek retribution.

[Cain]

Except

a) you're not the ruler of a country, and
b) Machiavelli wasn't writing political philosophy, he was writing an empirical argument based on observation and history, two fields which 99% of philosophy is only slightly acquainted with at the best of times.

[the last yatto]

that's so a Team America reference

[Fujikoma]

a) While I think it most likely it did appear in "the Prince", I also have this strange memory of it being in "the Discourses", if this is true, then the advice was not meant merely for the "ruler" of a country, but for a republic as well. Great, now I wish i still had the book so i could double check that before making myself sound like more of a tard... I always thought it to mean "Only be a dick when absolutely necessary", by conveying just how much work one would have to put into being a huge dick and how heavy a blow might be landed upon one's conscience, but I'm likely reading too much into that.

b) True, true... Though I recall reading something somewhere about that Titus Livy guy having embellished his account of history, this very account being the source of much of Machiavelli's material (In fact, I think the full title of "the Discourses" is "Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livy, if this wikipedia article has any truth to it). IMO that doesn't make it invalid, Machiavelli also had a lot of life experiences to back those thoughts up, he wasn't just some nerdy bookworm...

Back to point A, yeah, I'm not completely sure whether it was meant to apply to a republic, a "prince", or both. I always took it, again, as a damn good reason not to be a dick, because if you're going to go that route, you have to go all the way, passing a law is essentially telling a bunch of thugs to go use their guns (or spears, swords) on people who don't think like you do, which makes it pretty serious business...

[The Good Reverend Roger]

a) While I think it most likely it did appear in "the Prince", (30 lines of blah blah blah omitted)

Engrish, prease.

[Fujikoma]

a) While I think it most likely it did appear in "the Prince", (30 lines of blah blah blah omitted)

Engrish, prease.

Is there an English to Engrish translation program somewhere? If not, there needs to be, sounds like it could be fun.