The Lief Reservoir of Simple Truths and Smart One-Liners

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oh, and I've had a clarifying realization: Either you accept that the sexual revolution happened and make abortion available to women at least within the first trimester, or you embark on a futile and destructive program to roll it back.

It's the people who want have it both ways who most confuse and upset me. I don't understand how someone can believe that casual sex is fine, but abortion is not. At least not if you support full equality for women.

We also have plenty of men who want a world in which the sexual revolution has happened for men but not for women. These people are, needless to say, deplorable. (Madonna–whore complex, anyone?)

[Antonio the Sixth]

god if only we were governed the way corporate america works! Corporate America - where over 70% of executives would risk the entire company just to meet financial projections for the quarter!

Great ideas! The Best Ideas! Tremendous Ideas!

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'd dispute the implication that the socialization one receives in a middle school or high school environment is always positive.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Most mainline Protestant churches are nothing more than social clubs where people throw around vaguely Christian language now and then to feel good about themselves and virtue signal. Some are even borderline agnostic are just places where normal people who are freaked out by hand waving and "fire and brimstone" preaching go to share their more private, reserved faiths in God and Jesus with each other ... they also occasionally use common sense to see some Biblical stories as allegory and don't care if the psychos down the street at the evangelical "church" think they're less Christian for this basic level of intelligence and non-cultish attitudes.

Always rich when these much newer evangelical religions trash Christian faiths that have been around for so much longer because they're not weird enough.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Fuck it. Labour.

that's probably the best motto Labour could put together.

[Antonio the Sixth]

cc: Burn Center.

Macron was and is a candidate of the Centre and has never pretended to be anything else. It is as Alain once said; when someone says that the difference between Right and Left is not so very important your first thought should be that that person is not on the Left.

I suppose that if the "left" in France splits into a quasi-PCF Melanchon-led Front de gauche as well as a more Third Way style social democratic En Marche party led by Macron...

What, is Macron advocating using market policies to achieve socialist goals now? No, I didn't think he was either...

[Antonio the Sixth]

Truer words have seldom been spoken.

I'll give you one last tip spark. Stop being yourself. Being yourself is not a good thing in life, always try to be a better version of yourself, this includes taking into account societal norms. Taking into account norms means you consider how your actions make others feel. It's not conformity, it's being a polite person.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The only people bashing Bernie today are diehard Hillary loyalists who want to blame literally everyone and everything for her loss to Trump except Hillary Clinton.  They're a very small minority, because Bernie is the most popular politician in the country right now and the DNC even realizes that.

Let's stop relitigating the damn primary.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I genuinely can't believe that I'm finding myself agreeing with this (I love Star Trek, for crying out loud!) and the fact that I do is itself disturbing to me, but:

"The future" is terrifying and needs to stop. That's why.

[Antonio the Sixth]

We are living in a time in which it seems shockingly easy for just about anyone to get caught up in ideology that tells them that it is OK to be cruel.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Any forum-related question "Does Dave need to...?" should be answered no.  He doesn't need to do anything.  And the default assumption should be that he won't do anything.  To believe otherwise is to invite disappointment.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Imgur doesn't work on this site cause Leip can't be arsed to send an email.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Absolutely not. For goodness' sake. Atlas's old-fashioned setup and the use of emptyquoting are quirks that give us a unique character, not bugs to be dispensed with in favor of Web 2.0 generica.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Offhandedly, what intrigues me is that for all of FN's gains, they not only couldn't win anything in Panzergirl's strongest department, Aisne, but the strongest presidential FN constituency in Aisne actually went for the Socialists!

That constituency has somehow been held consistently by SFIO/PS since 1967 despite increasingly appalling Presidential results there. Think it may be their longest continually held seat now. It's a bunch of spectacularly bleak manufacturing towns, the sort of places you don't ever have to go through unless you actually live in them. But what it does show is the extent to which a lot of FN gains were basically gifted them by the Left going mad and running a thousand candidates per seat; Left candidates can beat the Fash in the properly grim parts of postindustrial Northern France, Macarons can't...

Amazing, it's almost like working class people in Western Europe are still inclined to vote for left-wingers or something

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's not a particularly useful way of distinguishing foreign policies.

Rather like defining oneself primarily as in support of "big"/"small" government.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I think she would loathe Trump

Proof that loathing trump doesn't require being a good person.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Nicotine is one of the most addictive and evilest substances on the planet.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Trump does not care for Christianity, and his heirs do not need it for their power. Trumpism, as a phenomena separate from earlier populist right movements, is a very post-Christian movement.

Also it is pretty blatantly obvious that "white" will be redefined to include white Hispanics in the next few decade. Anyone who thinks there will be some sort of magic ethnic solidarity that holds two decades down the line is seriously naive.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Really like his foreign policy. His economic policy is not great but better than a socialist policy I guess.

^ Anyone still considering voting "FF" on Schröder should read this stunning indictment of him first.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Hate to agree with Grumps but...

If the tell the Clintons to STFU, that would be a good start.

[Antonio the Sixth]

As I have explained over and over again, the mere existence of entitlements creates the need for them.  If we got rid of every last entitlement, people would have to adapt and the free market would do its magic.  I would actually perhaps consider banning all health insurance other than catastrophic coverage to actually set up a normal supply/demand system for health care.

Torn between putting this here and in the deluge, but the delusional belief here that markets have "magic" properties allowing them to do more than simply allocate capital is fundamental to a lot of contemporary US 'conservative' thought and this is a great example of that.

...that doesn't make it true.

[Antonio the Sixth]

This'll add another five points to his victory margin.

These sort of comments only make the commentor look dumb and its amazing they don't realize.

"Moore's still going to win despite this", sure. Probably true.

But its absurd and offensive to indicate there are actually people who aren't planning on voting for Moore now are swayable to,vote FOR him BECAUSE of this.

(IceSpear's "bar had if the Republicans ran a Klansman they'd probably break 75% in West Virginia LOLZ" junk is similar, the implication is that a notable number of West Virginians are not voting Republican now and supporting the Democrats simply because they believe Trump isn't racist enough.)

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is how I'd like to see the President dressed...

[Antonio the Sixth]

There are no wings, only appendages, to the monstrosity of the GOP.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Hillary Hacks will use a deplorable man as an excuse to be deplorable and attack Sanders and attack the progressive movement. Their self-righteousness is toxic, when they've defended sexual assaulters in the past (cough*Bill*).