So he’s making “third-rate classicist” an inflation of his competence, I see…

1. I am descended from peasants in all branches of my family, and I have the mile-thick reverse snobbery to prove it. Fuck the nobility.

2. Since I’m avoiding poison mangoes…who does VD propose to use as slaves when we emulate classical Greece?

The stuff trickling down on the slaves: not wealth.

“Since I’m avoiding poison mangoes…who does VD propose to use as slaves when we emulate classical Greece?”

He didn’t say. Must have slipped his mind.

THIS! IS! SPURTA!

“I am Spurticus.”

“No, I am Spurticus.”

“I AM SPURTICUS!”

I say we put to a vote “should we stomp out VD?”

I say we put to a vote “should we stomp out VD?”

I’d be afraid of catching something through the soles of my stomping boots.

“….what happens when government tries to enforce an equality of result rather than equality of opportunity.”

If you take away his strawmen, VDH is left with a, the, of, and maybe a few Greeks.

“Instead, they hear more often that those who manage to make above $250,000 per year have obligations to the rest of us to give back about 60 percent of what they earn in higher health-care and income taxes ”

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.

For the gad-about naysayers and epicene liberal aesthetes who hurl epitimesis at trickle-down economics, permit me, therefore, to proffer an example of successful trickle-down economics, namely, ancient Greece, where wealthy landowners made everyone rich through their enlightened entrepreneurial activities untrammeled by government taxation and regulation and aided by slave labor. Personally, I think that owning slaves might be the best crucible in which to forge the wealth of the ruling classes that can then rain down on everyone else, and we owe it to ourselves at least to consider the reinstitution of this beneficial practice for the greater good of all, except perhaps the slaves.

It’s all geek to me.

Seriously, how can a portion of this nation’s political thought contain both VD-H, the elitist snob and Glenn “College isn’t for YOU!” Reynolds?

“I AM SPURTICUS!”

According to the cummentaries of Cumitus, I am Spurticus!

Wasn’t there lots of hawt man on man (and man on boy) action in Ancient Greece?

I assume that can be ignored as it’s all about the dead Presidents / philosophers

Wasn’t there lots of hawt man on man (and man on boy) action in Ancient Greece?

Liberal revisionist history. No man ever touched another man in ancient Greece.

The thing that bugs me about these fucktards is that they act like resources are infinite and that wealth can be created by anyone indefinitely, and if you believe otherwise, you’re a communist or something.

His “example of successful trickle-down economics” is ANCIENT Greece?! So basically trickle down economics hasn’t worked in the last 70 years or so; the relevant time-frame in which they keep trying to shove that crap on us.

Sorry Actor. I forget the gay was only invented recently to be pushed down peoples throats.

His “example of successful trickle-down economics” is ANCIENT Greece?!

Yea.

You know, two thousand years before Wealth of Nations.

So basically trickle down economics hasn’t worked in the last 70 years or so; the relevant time-frame in which they keep trying to shove that crap on us.

The Greeks didn’t have to work around dhimmis and RINOs. They were real men, like VD and SpongeJo Loadpants.

I already have a slave. Oh…no wait. You meant a different kind of slave, didn’t you?

Don’t judge me! Just two safe, safe adults playing “trickle down economics.”

Wasn’t there lots of hawt man on man (and man on boy) action in Ancient Greece?

Yes, but Republicans don’t believe in zero-sum situations, so in no way could more filthy homo-sex lead to less of the right and good kind. The fact is there would be more sex for all in a free sexual marketplace, the sex of the people at the top being allowed to trickle down on those below and stimulate them. Plus the government shouldn’t regulate private activity, they should just protect us from women and non-property owners voting, slave revolts, and philosophers.

The more his administration castigates insurers, businesses, and doctors; raises taxes on the upper income brackets; and imposes additional regulations, the more those who create wealth are deciding to sit out, neither hiring nor lending.

How do you separate Victor Davis Hanson from the wealthy and the corporations? With a crowbar.

(FYWP.)

Yeah, but when he focuses on current events and recent history he comes up with some fresh insights. Like today, with Hey, you know who Barack Obama reminds me of? Jimmy Carter.

I already have a slave….Just two safe, safe adults playing “trickle down economics.”

The safe word is “Galt,” right?

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum, I heard the crowds discussing Taxation in Ancient Greece.

So let’s get this straight – Hanson is endorsing the the Ancient Greek method of raising funds – direct taxation of the very rich via eisphorae and liturgies. This accompanied by indirect taxation of property which is only relieved by taxes on business instead. Uh – is this a trap or something?

the sex of the people at the top being allowed to trickle down on those below and stimulate them

That does sound hawt. Where do I sign up? Will olive oil be provided or do I need to bring my own?

The safe word is “Galt,” right?

That was my joke!

Just two safe, safe adults playing “trickle down economics.

Ah, yes, the golden stream of revenues…

Will olive oil be provided

It depends on Popeye’s mood.

Is this guy related to those MmmmBop kids? Because that’s almost worse.

im getting out the boat for this

Eisphora – a progressive taxation structure based on wealth; where the more you owned, the more you paid. And the poor paid nothing.

This guy is described as being associated in some way with Stanford University. I just lost all my former respect for Stanford University. I’ve taken only one post-secondary level history class and I know I could write a better argument than he just did.

Shorter: How dare the government try to enforce the law against corporations? How dare the government try to return marginal tax rates to where they were ten years ago? Imposing slightly higher marginal tax rates on the nation’s Galtian WATB supermen is exactly like the arbitrary despotism of the king of Persia. THIS! IS! SPARTA!

I, for one, would enjoy reviving certain aspects of ancient Greek* culture. Slavery isn’t high on that list.

* For such a knowledgable and didactic classicist one would have expected him to know that referring to those people, time and place as”Greek” is the acme of wrongitude.

fuck me…. the mangoes are rotten….

gives a whole new meaning to turning the clocks back

The Mt. Olympos of NOPE. The oracle of DUH.

Justification for teh Liturgy:

It took its legitimacy from the idea that “personal wealth is possessed only through delegation from the city”.

I guess VDH agrees with Biden that paying higher taxes is patriotic. Because that’s how it worked in Ancient Greece. Although as a scholar and former professor of classics – I’m sure VDH knows this very well.

“The safe word is “Galt,” right?”

It’s kinda like, “Oohhhhh, I’m about to go Galt! Harder! Harder!”

Safe words are theft.

God, I wish he’d just frickin’ stick to blithering about ancient warfare and stop pretending what he knows has any relationship to modern reality.

I guess VDH agrees with Biden that paying higher taxes is patriotic. Because that’s how it worked in Ancient Greece.

That was back when countries still paid for their wars. Schmucks.

I wish Professor Hanson would be inspired by the noble* Spartans and lead from the front. After he’s done cheerleading for wars of imperialist aggression he could strap on 50 or 60 pounds of arms and armor, walk a couple hundred or thousand miles to his conquest du jour and come back with his shield or on it.
*They were totally as noble as a matriarchal society of landowners that thrived on terrorizing and slaughter of enemies, suspected enemies and its own working class both enslaved and free could be.

Hardly got more than a few paragraphs in when my head exploded.

… the recent financial meltdowns in the European Union…

Fortunately, we missed all that here in the USA! USA! because wha?

… the more those who create wealth are deciding to sit out, neither hiring nor lending. The result is that traditional self-interested profit-makers are locking up trillions of dollars in unspent cash rather than using it to take risks, since they will likely either lose money due to new red tape or see much of their profit confiscated through higher taxes.

So…the rich are holding the economy hostage to their profit? What do they do in a hostage situation again? Hm, seems like they try to negotiate, then if that fails, they send in the fucking SWAT team. Sharpening my pitchfork now…

The public is seldom told that 1 percent of taxpayers already pay 40 percent of the income taxes collected…

Ah, this old chestnut. How come the dudes who come up with that never mention that that same 1% controls 95% of the wealth in the US? Oh wait, I think I answered that one myself.

And that’s where I stopped because I’ve got better things to do than wash down tripe with bullshit.

After he’s done cheerleading for wars of imperialist aggression he could strap on 50 or 60 pounds of arms and armor, walk a couple hundred or thousand miles to his conquest du jour and come back with his shield or on it.

You left out shaving and oiling his pectorals.

. Uh – is this a trap or something?

There you go again……spoiling a perfectly good story.

VDH has tax cred, man, so SHUT UP!

Those mangoes are worse than rotten. I think there’s nerve gas involved.

I suppose that no corporation should worry that the government arbitrarily announced — without benefit of a law or court ruling — that it wanted BP to put up $20 billion in cleanup costs for the Gulf spill.

How dare they, like it’s BP’s fault or something!

BP = gets “fair court ruling”
People injured by BP = jackpshitte

At least as I understand it, the law already required BP to pay for the clean-up. But, that would be allowing facts to pollute Hanson’s 100% fact free article.

You know that else the ancient Greeks invented?

SOPHISTRY.

This Victor Davis Hanson putz is a scream. His break with reality is so complete it’s difficult to even critique the piffle he writes as intellectually dishonest propaganda. It’s just fucking crazy horseshit babblings from an obviously delusional crackpot.

Middle Minoan or GTFO!!

he could strap on 50 or 60 pounds of arms and armor, walk a couple hundred or thousand miles to his conquest du jour and come back with his shield or on it.

Needs more Cheetos.

How dare they, like it’s BP’s fault or something!
Yeah it’s not like they poisoned the entire south coast of the US and east coast of Mexico, by consistently ignoring safety regulations and the advice of their own on-site experts in pursuit of a little more profit or anything. It’s not like they gave an entire ecosystem a toxic Cleveland steamer or anything. And poor Victor wonders why BP is loved in Louisiana about as much as Union Carbide is in Bhopal?

Traditional peasant societies believe in only a limited amount of good. The more your neighbor earns, the less someone else gets. Profits are seen as a sort of theft; they must be either hidden or redistributed. Envy, rather than admiration of success, reigns.

What the fuck is he talking about? Which fucking “peasant societies”?

Where did he think god-damned settled agriculture and large scale pastoralism came from?

And for another thing, where does this god-damned lying mother fucker think the actual state originated

Was the Tigris-Euphrates, Chinese, Indus River Valley, Olmec, Andean, Pacific Islander, or a number of early African societies characterized by this shit?

What fucking history is this dumbass supposed to be teaching again?

Is he fucking shitting me? The fucking ziggurat-building state of early Assyria was “redistribution”? The Aztecs built an entire city on Lake Mexico because they hid profits?

What a full of shit fucking charlatan. Maybe he ought to open his damned eyes and read something other than what happened in classical Greek society. Fucking god-damned ignorant asshole.

I suppose that no corporation should worry that the government arbitrarily announced — without benefit of a law or court ruling — that it wanted BP to put up $20 billion in cleanup costs for the Gulf spill.

I was not aware that arbitrary announcements of wants require a law or court ruling. SORRY, SANTA.

What El Cid said.

The public is seldom told that 1 percent of taxpayers already pay 40 percent of the income taxes collected…

Ah, this old chestnut. How come the dudes who come up with that never mention that that same 1% controls 95% of the wealth in the US? Oh wait, I think I answered that one myself.

Yeah, _income_ taxes. What percentage of the payroll taxes are paid by the wealthy 1%? Huh? What’s that? I can’t heeeeaarrrr you.

Maybe he ought to open his damned eyes and read something other than what happened in classical Greek society.

He has a butthole sex fixation.

Anyways, time and time again, it’s been found that rich folks pocket tax cuts. I mean no shit Sherlock – the wealthier you are, the higher your savings rate – wotta big fucken surprise.

You want a rising tide to lift all boats? You need to shovel out tons of free money to the poor. Because that’s how tides work – they come up from the below. Trickle down is bullshit and only helps the wealthy and actor’s urologist.

Fucking god-damned ignorant asshole.

El Cid needs to express his emotions and passions more clearly.

I met up with someone I used to work with who now works for BP for a beer earlier this week. A fair part of the night was spent pointing out that causing ecological disasters in the worlds first global hyperpower is bad for business. When you are cutting corners on safety for profit, Africa is where it’s at.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell

Because that’s how tides work – they come up from the below.

Nonsense! The big Republican moon way above you shining down is what causes tides!

So this is the new right-wing strategy, to dig up Reagan’s rotted corpse and start touting trickle-down economics again?

You begin to see the new class war as this simple premise: why should the “wealth creators” pay any taxes at all?

Fuck me, in less than 10 years this country will be as fucked up as Mexico.

I like the part where he says that “Western Civilization” was based on this mythical Greek ideal of the “autonomous citizen, not an indentured serf or subsistence peasant.”

I guess those multiple centuries of brutal European feudalism played *no* role in establishing the character of this mysterious entity called “Western Civilization.” This kind of nonsense would be egregious coming from an uneducated layman, but from someone who claims to be an academic and historian it’s downright inexcusable.

I like the part where he says that “Western Civilization” was based on this mythical Greek ideal of the “autonomous citizen, not an indentured serf or subsistence peasant.”

I guess those multiple centuries of brutal European feudalism played *no* role in establishing the character of this mysterious entity called “Western Civilization.”

Which of course raises the question: If that’s true, then why are Britain and France and Germany and the REST OF FUCKING WESTERN CIVILIZATION so much more socialist than us?

While we’re at the ridiculousness of pointing to Ancient Greece as some sort of gods-damn utopia, can I just say: the conservative love of “300” still gives me hives.

What isn’t mentioned is all the “helots” or armed retainers of the 300 who *also* died fighting. Probably 3 per Spartan upper-classman, making it another 900 additional people.

Yet another example of the actual support structure for elites being important enough to use, but just not important enough to be acknowledged. Probably because it undermines the rationale for the elites’ positions in the first place.

I really fucking wish he (Colbert) had been serious. This is not an issue to joke about in front of Congress.

Well, its not like there would be a damn thing he could say or do to change a senators mind. they are mostly as aware or ignorant as they want to be.

This method achieved several things:

A) The news actually covered the meeting. No one would have paid any attention otherwise, except to say “millionaire hollywood elite says liberal stuff”

B) he made several republicans look like idiots again, which was covered on national TV. That is always a good thing.

C) Any viewer who did see it and is inclined to learn anything will get a bit of the real statement with the news story

Personally, I consider it brilliant.

This method achieved several things:

C) Any viewer who did see it and is inclined to learn anything will get a bit of the real statement with the news story

Three points in the win column.

A million off, however, for making fun of, and encouraging the audience to take less seriously, an important issue.

I like the part where he says that “Western Civilization” was based on this mythical Greek ideal of the “autonomous citizen, not an indentured serf or subsistence peasant.”

Magna Carta? Sounds a bit commie to me…

The thing that bugs me about these fucktards is that they act like resources are infinite and that wealth can be created by anyone indefinitely, and if you believe otherwise, you’re a communist or something.

It’s even worse than that. It’s like resources are infinite as long as you don’t dare *tax* it to benefit the Peasants. That makes it magically disappear.

I like the part where he says that “Western Civilization” was based on this mythical Greek ideal of the “autonomous citizen, not an indentured serf or subsistence peasant.”

I guess those multiple centuries of brutal European feudalism played *no* role in establishing the character of this mysterious entity called “Western Civilization.”

Or, you know, THE VERY GREEK CIVILIZATION HE’S TALKING ABOUT as if there were no de facto serfs or peasants.

“Since I’m avoiding poison mangoes…who does VD propose to use as slaves when we emulate classical Greece?”

Muslims? After all, life is cheap to them.

“You’re average Commie has no respect for Human Life, Not Even His OWN…” (General Ripper)

Or, you know, THE VERY GREEK CIVILIZATION HE’S TALKING ABOUT as if there were no de facto serfs or peasants.

You mean the little people?

Fuck me, in less than 10 years this country will be as fucked up as Mexico.

For example, here’s a symptom that will become a further cause and the snowball will keep rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger.

Somewhere along the way the USA Peasant Society will realize,”Yes, when the UppaCrustMuthaFukkahs get more, we get less. Zero-sum, that’s the ticket! Where’s that pitchfork and torch at? You get the torch, Imma all about the pitchfork, baby!”

VD-H just puts it out in a different perspective, that’s all.

You mean the little people?

Here in Mass we call them minute men.

Fuck me, in less than 10 years this country will be as fucked up as Mexico.

If we’re lucky.

I met up with someone I used to work with who now works for BP for a beer earlier this week. A fair part of the night was spent pointing out that causing ecological disasters in the worlds first global hyperpower is bad for business. When you are cutting corners on safety for profit, Africa is where it’s at.

or upper siberia, or the tar sands of Alberta

BTW, liberals grousing about how fucked things are because of conservative policies Hate America.

But conservatives screaming that the country is ruined because some vaguely lefty-ish policies have been implemented are True Patriots.

Also, fuck me, I hate waiting for the doc in the exam room. Why couldn’t I stay in the waiting room where it’s comfier and the light is more flattering?

or upper siberia, or the tar sands of Alberta

If there was oil in kids’ heads abortion would be mandatory.

If there was oil in kids’ heads abortion would be mandatory.

website,reading list, etc…..

Christ. Texas votes to fix what ain’t broken.

The Texas State Board of Education on Friday narrowly approved a resolution calling on publishers to correct a “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias” in history textbooks.

The 7-6 vote followed a spirited debate on the nonbinding resolution proposed by the board’s conservative majority aiming to correct what Dave Welch, head of the Texas Pastor Council, testified amounted to “whitewashing” of some negative aspects of Islam in the texts.

If there was oil in kids’ heads abortion would be mandatory.

Holy shit, that’s sick.

And funny.

There aren’t even any fucking magazines in here!

There aren’t even any fucking magazines in here!

well,cause a fucken scene

well,cause a fucken scene

Totally. Go full little-old-lady on your knee scooter and chase nurses up and down the hallways until you get a People.

And yeah, the Tejas school board is welcome to die in a fire. Bunch of dumbasses. And what the fuck is wrong with the people of Texas? Do they not realize that the rest of the country is laughing out loud at them?

Lawdy lawdy lawdy Wilma, the gun-grabbers done be comin’ for mah shootin’ iron:

U.S. law enforcement officials have devised an aggressive and potentially controversial new strategy to crack down on the illegal gun trade to Mexico by targeting cartel networks inside this country and “corrupt” U.S. firearms dealers, according to internal Justice Department documents obtained by NBC News.

The documents also state that the drug traffickers appear to have expanded efforts to acquire firepower in the U.S. by tapping well-developed supply networks beyond the Southwest border region in order to acquire high-powered assault rifles as well as components for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Mexican cartels with IEDs? Musta got the technology from Iran – mere people can’t figure out how to make such arcane devices!

FYWP.

Linky.

“It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats—yet they are still poor…
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative
and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and
should do for themselves.”
~ Abraham Lincoln

You know in ancient Athens you could call a vote of the assembly to exile someone – if the motion passed said person had to leave Athens for 10 years. You could do it once a year I think. For some reason most of the people who came up for exile were rich. Imagine that.

Also – the ones who were most opposed to the democratic goverment of Athens were the Oligarchs – again imagine that.

oded on the cough meds again,Steve

Hey, Steve,

Go take a long vacation in the nearest volcano, please?

Wanker.

I call it bullshit on the Lincoln quote, BTW.

“Steve is a fool” -Abraham Lincoln

What? He didn’t say what Steve claimed either, and my made up quote is actually accurate!

call it bullshit on the Lincoln quote, BTW.

It is a complete fraud, long ago debunked.

Steve – a real lincoln quote comes to mind
“You can fool some of the people all of the time…”
especially when they badly want to fooled by fake quotes.

I hate WordPress. argh

I call it bullshit on the Lincoln quote, BTW.
It’s all over Teh Googles, but with no source for the attribution, and always in the hands of a Wingnut…

“Steve is a fool.” A. Lincoln.

What? Lincoln didn’t say what Steve claimed either, and at least my made-up quote is accurate….

Ah, Snopes…

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/lincoln/prosperity.asp

Damn, you can’t cut’n’paste Snopes.

Anyway, it’s amusing to see there’s a long tradition of wingnuts misattributing quotes and making stuff up.

Go full little-old-lady on your knee scooter and chase nurses up and down the hallways until you get a People.

Where are the damned spycams when you need one?

The Truth:
These words are often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but according to the book They Never Said it: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, & Misleading Attributions, they are not from Lincoln.

The quotes were published in 1942 by William J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian minister. He released a pamphlet titled Lincoln On Limitations, which did include a Lincoln quote, but also added 10 statements written by Boetcker himself.

Or they could try this:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704188104575083621904786264.html

But maybe that’s too recent for the National Review readers?

Oh, and “Steve”? You mean the Reverend William John Henry Boetcker, don’t you? But thanks for misquoting Lincoln yet again. Not like it happens all the frikkin’ time or anything.

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/lincoln/prosperity.asp

And why don’t you read about Lincoln himself? Or anything at all about your country’s history? Like what the difference between Republicans and Democrats was in Lincoln’s time, as compared to now, making the opening ‘quote’ tacked on even more inappropriate? Or, really, reading anything at ll?

Sorry, that should have been in a block quote. It’s from truthorfiction.com.
.

[…]the tar sands of Alberta

But didn’t you hear? Senator Lindsay Graham gave the tar sands a big ol’ thumbs up for how clean they were!

Plus, we haven’t heard a single complaint from any junkies about non-organic poppy fields!

Senator Lindsay Graham gave the tar sands a big ol’ thumbs up for how clean they were!

Lindsay Graham Cracker wouldn’t know tar sands if they took up residence in his overstuffed Southern heinder.

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/what-republicans-islamophobic-gop-ca

Even long dead Leni Riefenstahl can gets a job. Who says the economy is bad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Riefenstahl

What isn’t mentioned is all the “helots” or armed retainers of the 300 who *also* died fighting. Probably 3 per Spartan upper-classman, making it another 900 additional people.

Yet another example of the actual support structure for elites being important enough to use, but just not important enough to be acknowledged.

Any honest account of Thermopylae also mentions the 700 soldiers from Thespia who died as part of the rearguard on the third day of the battle, and the 400 Thebans who fought with the rearguard (though they ultimately surrendered).

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-september-23-2010/postcards-from-the-pledge

This is full of win.

Any honest account of Thermopylae also mentions

…that everybody there would be, by today’s standards, completely bananas?

So let’s get this straight – Hanson is endorsing the the Ancient Greek method of raising funds – direct taxation of the very rich via eisphorae and liturgies. This accompanied by indirect taxation of property which is only relieved by taxes on business instead. Uh – is this a trap or something?

Any honest account of Thermopylae also mentions the 700 soldiers from Thespia who died as part of the rearguard on the third day of the battle, and the 400 Thebans who fought with the rearguard (though they ultimately surrendered).

Funny thing is, VDH is supposed to be an expert on stuff like this. What’s that got to say about his other opinions when he can’t even be accurate on the pshitt he’s supposed to know?

Any honest account of Thermopylae also mentions

going to jail without passing Go and without collecting 200$.

…that everybody there would be, by today’s standards, completely bananas?

That too. But being non-bananas does not seem to have been a career option at the time.

I admit that it is harder to construct a mythic symbol out of the valiant deaths of 700 thespians.

In 300, the Persians were pretty scary lookin’ mooslims so I assume they had it coming.

I admit that it is harder to construct a mythic symbol out of the valiant deaths of 700 thespians.

The good people over at BigHollywood would like to try.

“The Texas State Board of Education on Friday narrowly approved a resolution calling on publishers to correct a “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias” in history textbooks.”

I think there is a silver lining in all this. It means that the rest of the country’s educators will have to pay extra for real history textbooks and that will stimulate the economy!!

Oh wait….

As long as those Thespians didn’t try to get married.

Cristine O’Donnell was a thespian back in high school. Pass it on.

it is harder to construct a mythic symbol out of the valiant deaths of 700 thespians.

As may be but I bet people would line up to watch movies about them.

Funny thing is, VDH is supposed to be an expert on stuff like this. What’s that got to say about his other opinions when he can’t even be accurate on the pshitt he’s supposed to know?

It’s not that he can’t be accurate because of simple ignorance. It’s that he won’t be accurate because of determined, purposeful ignorance.

I believe a leading documentary pointed out that the thong-wearing, tan-chested beefy Spartans were able to achieve such an impressive ability through their ability to leap in slow, homoerotic motion in their attacks against 7 foot tall bejeweled Persians, some of whom had saws instead of hands.

impressive victory

Or maybe impressive erection. Either works.

First they made us use arabic numerals when I was a child, but I was not a numbers guy so I said nothing.

Then they made me take Algebra in high school, but I hated algebra so I said nothing.

Then Mohamed Ali won the heavy weight championship but I was rooting for Joe Frasier so I said nothing.

Then they voted Karim Abdul Jabbar into the basketball Hall of Fame but I was a Dr.J. fan so I said nothing.

Then they gave Tony Shalhoub his own show and I really liked it until I found out that the star of Monk is a dirty stinking Arab and now I am really pissed about Chappaquiddick.

This guy is described as being associated in some way with Stanford University. I just lost all my former respect for Stanford University. I’ve taken only one post-secondary level history class and I know I could write a better argument than he just did.

Hanson’s not on the faculty list of the history department at Stanford, so if he does teach there at all, it’s as an adjunct or visiting scholar. According to his Wikipedia entry, he’s been teaching at Cal State – Fresno since 1984 and created the classics program there.

I suspect, however, that his byline is an(other) example of the Hoover Institution’s exploitation of the Stanford name in order to give it more intellectual prestige. The Hoover Institution is located on Stanford’s campus, but it’s otherwise independent of Stanford University.

You know, right-wing Sparta worship is so hilarious not just ’cause they were objectively one of the gayest societies in human history, but that economically they were freaking Marxists. I mean seriously, they were founded on redistribution of land and near-abolishment of money.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2006768/plutarchs_life_of_lycurgus_pg2.html?cat=37

Any honest account of Thermopylae also mentions

How frigging hot it is there and all the military history tourists in besocked sandals.

You know, right-wing Sparta worship is so hilarious not just ’cause they were objectively one of the gayest societies in human history, but that economically they were freaking Marxists.

but but but they beat up Persians!

wolverines?

Any honest account of Thermopylae also mentions

HEAVY METAL.

The Deadliest Warrior Wiki cries out for contributions:

The battle starts with the Spartan standing in a forest with his Spartan Shield and Spear in hand. Above him, the Ninja watches him while hidden in the treetops. He quietly jumps down and sneaks up behind the Spartan. As he gets close, he draws his Ninjato. When he gets close enough, he yells and swings the sword. The Spartan quickly throws his shield arm back and block the sword with the Shield. He turns around and thrusts his Spear, but the Ninja rolls away and tries to hide within the thick grass. The Spartan pulls out his Javelin and thrusts it into the ground. He hears the Ninja and turns to see him spinning the ball and chain from his Kusarigama. He throws the iron ball at the Spartan, who blocks it with his shield. The Ninja starts to swing his Kusurigama again, but the Spartan charges at him and kicks him. The Ninja swings the iron ball at the Spartan again, but like before, the Spartan blocks with the Shield. He swings it around a third time, but instead swings at the Spartan’s leg. The chain wraps around and trips the Spartan, sending him to the floor. The Spartan sits up and grabs the chain. The Ninja tries to pull the Kusurigama away from the Spartan, but the Spartan keeps a firm grip. In a desperate move, the Ninja breaks the chain with the sickle and rushes at the Spartan with it. The Spartan knocks him away with his Shield and then gets back up with his Spear and Shield. The Spartan tries to stab him with the Spear, but the Ninja kicks the Shield and runs away. The Spartan chases and eventually catches up to him, trying to thrust his Spear again. The Ninja dodges and breaks the Spear in half with his Kusurigama. He tries to stab the Spartan with the broken spear, but the Spartan once again blocks with the Shield. This time, the Spartan swings the Shield and sends the Ninja flying back. The Spartan pulls out his Short Sword and advances towards the Ninja. The Ninja pulls out a Black Egg and waits for the Spartan to get close. He then jumps in front of the Spartan Shield and throws the egg at the Spartan’s face. He kicks the Shield and jumps back. The Spartan blindly swings at the air while the Ninja tries to retreat. When the Spartan regains his senses, he sees the Ninja running away and runs after him. The Spartan runs to a part of the forest where the trees’ branches and roots become thick. He slowly climbs through the trees and makes his way to a darker part of the forest. With his Javelin at hand, he looks for the Ninja while keeping his Shield up. The Ninja pops out from the trees and tries to shoot him with the blowgun. The Spartan blocks the darts with his Shield and throws his Javelin. The javelin goes off target and misses the Ninja, giving him more time to run away. He runs back and pulls out Shuriken. He turns around to throw them, only to find that the Spartan has already caught up. He quickly throws one at the Spartan, but the Shield protects the Spartan as he knocks over the Ninja. The Spartan pulls out his Short Sword again and swings at the Ninja, but the Ninja runs out of the way. The Ninja jumps onto a tree and prepares to lung at the Spartan with his Ninjato. However, he waits too long, so the Spartan holds out his Sword and impales the Ninja when he jumps. The Spartan smashes him away with his Shield and then stabs him one last time with the Short Sword. The Spartan yells out in victory, then looks around for someone else to fight.

I yell out in victory, then look around for another thread to kill.

Is that a Thermopylae in your pocket, or is VDH just glad to see “300”?

Maybe he ought to open his damned eyes and read something other than what happened in classical Greek society

He seems not to have a decent grasp of even that.

The battle starts with the Spartan standing in a forest with his Spartan Shield and Spear in hand. Above him, the Ninja watches him while hidden in the treetops

Worst slash fiction EVER!

Beware of geeks baring GIFs.

More Deadliest Warrior Wiki:

Knockout Stage
Round 1
Darth Bane defeated Voldemort (60 votes – 11)

Round 2
Masterchief won against Marcus Fenix (73 votes – 33)

Round 3
Nathan Hale destroyed Tomas ‘Sev’ Sevchenko (66 votes -15)

Round 4
Legolas treated Ryu like target pratice. (73 votes – 22)

Round 5
Elite Hybrid corrupted Tron (60 votes – 12)

Round 6
Kratos defeated Alber Wesker (83 votes – 34)

Round 7
Predator wrecked Ironman (79 votes – 78)

Round 8
Ezio Auditore da Firenze assassinated Adrian Shepard (48 votes – 23)

CANKLE UPDATE!

If you care.

Stitches out today. (Warning: gross pictures. Also, leg hair).

PT starts next week. One month until we can see if I am weight-bearing. Two months until I shed the hideous boot altogether. Six months before I walk without a limp.

I just went Galt in my pants.

Stitches out today.

This half recycled gore! That’s not enough for the Human Centipede Society.

Liberals won’t get to kill freedom anymore after we take back USA in November. First on the agenda — securing borders, than Obama investigated and impeeched. Then elimination of big goverment regulations and taxes on the Productive Classes, then one nation under God, Support the Troops and back to the consitution unlike liberals who want to rule like Hitler did with lies not facts.

I guess those multiple centuries of brutal European feudalism played *no* role in establishing the character of this mysterious entity called “Western Civilization.”

They put Jesus on a cross, they put a hole in JFK
They put Hitler in the driver’s seat and looked the other way

Also, leg hair

I guess you really are a feminist.

Stitches out today. (Warning: gross pictures. Also, leg hair).

Reminds me of a J.G. Ballard novel…

This half recycled gore! That’s not enough for the Human Centipede Society.

I’ll take closeups once the bandages are off. Slightly better?

If it were a Ballard novel, the entire planet would be suffocated by T&U’s leg hair.

If it were a Ballard novel, the entire planet would be suffocated by T&U’s leg hair.

Hey! I’m not *that* hairy!

Go see Bouffant.

Also read J.G. Ballard.

I have read both Bouffant and Ballard and am a better man for it.

I have read both Bouffant and Ballard and am a better man for it.

Me, too. Well, not a man, despite the FOREST OF LEG HAIR.

If it were a Ballard novel, the entire planet would be suffocated by T&U’s leg hair.

Ah, yes, The Hair from Where?

Whoa, T&U, I missed the whole damn initial carnage story that has resulted in healing cankle pix. No, you do not have to recap for me. I missed the story (shark?) and will have to look for it. But jeepers, girlfriend.

Changing the subject: I cannot bring myself to figure out what VD’s point is. Ancient Greece was cool? (By the way, there can be no such thing as a “conquest du jour“, can there? If “du jour ” didn’t exist yet?)

I do not know very much about ancient Greece. Were I Mr. Jonah Goldberg, I’d suggest y’all do my research for me. But just answer me this, okay? In ancient Greece, non-men weren’t considered fully human, were they? This concept would cheer up certain Coulters and Shlaflys a biggity bunch, but it would not be so good for many others, I suspect.

But baby steps. I can of course set aside my mewling pathetic hopes and dreams for the greater good. I’ve been doing it* since Stokeley Carmichael said the only position for women in the Movement was “prone”. And when the catchy anti-draft phrase was “Girls say yes to boys who say no!”

* “Doing it” in this particular context means that I haven’t conjured up a grrrly Armageddon yet, on account of that alleged greater good. No one should assume that I have assumed any position at all since Carmichael said that, at least not unless I was armed at the time.

Dear Victor

Income inequality between richest and poorest in classical Greece was about 3:1. Greece built its wealth on imperialism, planting colonies that exploited their neighbouring cities and terrain, and by fighting wars across the Med. It had strong sumptuary laws, which forbad displays of wealth and excessive eating of rich foodstuffs, because society as a whole was materially poor (don’t know whether you’ve been to Greece but it’s not easy to grow much there).

Signed
Zen

Re VDH and Stanford: what Linnaeus said at 0:17. He got his BA at Surfer State (UC Santa Cruz) and PhD in classics at Stanford (arrgh) in 1980. Well, it took him five years. Maybe they gave it to him to get rid of him. In 1991 he won the American Philological Association’s Excellence in Teaching award, and spent 1991-2 as a visiting prof at Stanford. So, apparently at that time he knew what he was talking about. And these ‘facts’ are unconfirmed by me – I went to his Wiki.

Today, however, he is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute, separate from but located on the Stanford campus. The list of Senior Fellows includes Condi and Uncle Tom Sowell. The H.I. is where famous Rethug administrators go to die or catch Alzheimer’s. The rest of the work the Hoover does is more useful, but there you are.

This all pales into insignificance beside the ass-whuppin’ Notre Dame is going to receive from Stanford tomorrow. One must keep one’s priorities in order.

This guy is described as being associated in some way with Stanford University. I just lost all my former respect for Stanford University.

This asshole is with the Hoover Institution. The HI is physically located on the Stanford campus but has nothing otherwise to do with the University. As a proud Stanford alum, this makes me crazy on a regular basis.

Stag Party Palin: Damn your quick fingers, and go Cardinal!

(Even though I still think that’s the silliest team name in major college sports.)

Steve’s comments would benefit from more references to a hard rain coming that will wash the scum off the streets.

Mat said,
September 24, 2010 at 21:11

This Victor Davis Hanson putz is a scream. His break with reality is so complete it’s difficult to even critique the piffle he writes as intellectually dishonest propaganda. It’s just fucking crazy horseshit babblings from an obviously delusional crackpot.

Damn, you’re turning me on, Mat. You married, though?

BS – would you be up for a campaign to change to the Robber Barons?

I just went Galt in my pants.

Honest to fuck, almost had a coffee/keyboard/monitor moment.

Mostly because I was about to sip hot kaw-fee just as I read that. A second later could have been real trouble.

YES!!! Robber Barons! You must have been there around the same time I was (late ’70s). I wonder why the administration never moved to adopt that name. It won the student referendum fair and square.

In my day there were still a few hard-core right-wing assholes who bitched and moaned because they changed the name from “Indians.” I wonder if anyone is still keeping that noxious flame alive.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Florentine auditor?

The battle starts with the Spartan standing in a forest with his Spartan Shield and Spear in hand. Above him, the Ninja watches him while hidden in the treetops. He quietly <SNIP> shoots the Spartan in the back with a poisoned dart.

I dunno why these people have such difficulty with the concept of stealthy assassins that are the masters of stealthy assassination. Stealth. Assassin.

++points to Bx4 for bringing the San Joaquin Valley’s own Tonio K. out from under his rock. (Tonio’s rock, not B.’s.)

Whoa, T&U, I missed the whole damn initial carnage story that has resulted in healing cankle pix. No, you do not have to recap for me. I missed the story (shark?) and will have to look for it. But jeepers, girlfriend.

Pretty short:

1) T&U rides bike
2) Bike chain jumps the gear
3) T&U’s foot continues going forward into the pavement with no pedal underneath it
4) OW FUCK OW VOMITING
5) ER
6) OWWWWWWWWWWW
7) Surgery
8) OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

You’re pretty much caught up. I went back to work last week.

Why can’t we go back to the good old fashioned values of the Songhai state?

Can I just mention again that Stephen Colbert is one of our greatest political satirists and orators in the 21st century? And would well stand with any predecessor, as Jonathan Swift.

Fuck, first the dude tells the fucking Emperor to his face that not only does he have no clothes, but he’s covered in shit, and all the courtiers in the audience regularly grovel in his droppings.

And now the dude goes to Congress and fucking lays in to the stupid god-damned racist, anti-worker insane diatribes which make up our current policies with regard to immigrant field workers.

If more of our political leaders had half his ‘nads, they couldn’t even fit in DC.

(Tonio’s rock, not B.’s.)

No, it’s my rock.

I feed him gruel thrice a week.

the silliest team name in major college sports

Whitman College Fighting Missionaries.

Changed it to the Shcokers in the mid-’70s, I think. Then stopped playing football a few yrs. later. OK, hardly major, but extra-silly.

Also: irony of a “Cardinal” whipping the Effing Irish.

You guys are making me laugh.

Wasn’t there a team called the Fighting Quakers?

Can’t be arsed looking it up.

And now the dude goes to Congress and fucking lays in to the stupid god-damned racist, anti-worker insane diatribes which make up our current policies with regard to immigrant field workers.

Yeah, and did you see the Rethugs were getting all sour and pissy about it (along with John Conyers–what’s his problem?). Good for Colbert. I wonder if Richard Cohen is going to write another hand-wringing column about him.

Substance McGravitas said, September 25, 2010 at 2:00
Go see Bouffant. Also read J.G. Ballard.

Moi? Sans blague? Merci!

Though I’d advise you “Go See Cal”.

He seems not to have a decent grasp of even that.

You do know what kind of grasp he has, don’t you?

That is, of course, SHOCKERS!

I think Whittier College, Tricky Dick’s alma mater, were at least The Quakers, if not fightin’ ones, but I can’t be arsed either.

(along with John Conyers–what’s his problem?)

I think he wants to hold onto a shred of dignity, even though Congress has degenerated into a clown show.

@Pere Ubu: Damn, you can’t cut’n’paste Snopes.

You can if you’re clever. From Snopes:

One of author Ralph Keyes’ axioms of misquotations is “Famous quotes need famous mouths,” and the fulfillment of that need has, for the last several decades, put on the lips of Abraham Lincoln words that were not written until more than fifty years after Lincoln’s death, penned by an obscure personage whose name is unknown to most living Americans.

The Rev. William John Henry Boetcker was a Presbyterian minister and notable public speaker who served as director of the pro-employer Citizens’ Industrial Alliance, a position he held when, in 1916, he produced a booklet of “nuggets” from his lectures, which included maxims such as “We cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong” and “We cannot help the poor by kicking the rich.” Boetcker’s collection of maxims eventually crystallized as the list of ten now-familiar entries (variously known as the “Industrial Decalogue,” the “Ten Don’ts,” the “Ten Cannots,” “Ten Things You Cannot Do, “or the “American Charter”) reproduced above.

Sources differ on exactly how Boetcker’s decalogue eventually came to be attributed to Lincoln, but it is generally accepted that someone published a leaflet with Boetcker’s list of “cannots” on one side and authentic Lincoln quotations on the other, leading to an inevitable mix-up that resulted in everything printed on both sides of the paper being attributed to Lincoln. (The pamphlet in question is usually claimed to be a 1942 publication by the Committee for Constitutional Government entitled “Lincoln on Limitation(s),” with the confusion of attribution coming about because one version of the pamphlet omitted Boetcker’s name, because the printed credits mistakenly switched Boetcker’s name with Lincoln’s, or because readers glossed over Boetcker’s unfamiliar name and mistakenly assumed that all the material in the leaflet originated with the more familiar Abraham Lincoln.)

Once the runaway train of misattribution got rolling, there was no stopping it. As William Boetcker faded from public memory and Abraham Lincoln grew ever larger in American historical legend, few people had an interest or desire in setting the matter righ in accordance with another principle set forth by Keyes: “If words we like can’t be credited to someone we’ve heard of, they might as well not have been said at all.” And any chance of genuine history winning out over the faux version in this case was probably set back at least a generation when another U.S. president, Ronald Reagan, stood before a nationwide audience at the 1992 Republican National Convention and delivered a speech in which he also erroneously attributed four of Boetcker’s maxims to Lincoln.

Snopes 1, Steve 0.

Google turns up Sidwell Friends in DC, Wilmington College in Ohio, and the Willard Residential College intramural teams at Northwestern, at least. Apparently the name came from group of Quakers who fought in the Revolutionary War, or were for fighting it, and Betsy Ross was one.

You do know what kind of grasp he has, don’t you?

Hitler!

Oh, wait…

You do know what kind of grasp he has, don’t you?

Think of the creationist banana movie…..

I think Whittier College, Tricky Dick’s alma mater, were at least The Quakers, if not fightin’ ones, but I can’t be arsed either.

The ARRROOOOOOOOO Quakers.

I wonder if Richard Cohen is going to write another hand-wringing column about him.

‘His insulting circus act was all the more shameful for not being funny. And I know funny. I once farted in class in 4th grade and everyone laughed. Thankfully they didn’t know that it left something in my pants. And it was all because Democrats wouldn’t keep meeting the Republicans halfway from where ever the Republicans told them to meet them.’

The Fighting Orthogonals?

1) T&U rides bike
2) Bike chain jumps the gear
3) T&U’s foot continues going forward into the pavement with no pedal underneath it
4) OW FUCK OW VOMITING
5) ER
6) OWWWWWWWWWWW
7) Surgery
8) OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

I have been misled. Neither underpants nor profit are enumerated on the list.

The Fighting Orthogonals?

Speaking as a Rensselaer alumnus, there is no joy quite like yelling “Go Engineers” at a hockey game.

4) OW FUCK OW VOMITING

Vom? Hit your head? Concussed?

Holy schmoley, the local commercial radio station is playing “I Found that Essence Rare”.

Speaking as a Rensselaer alumnus, there is no joy quite like yelling “Go Engineers” at a hockey game.

E to the U D-U D-U
E to the U D-U
Secant, tangent, Cosine, Sine
3.14159!

Neither underpants nor profit are enumerated on the list.

I’m sure someone saw my underpants, and I think my insurance company is making a profit.

Vom? Hit your head? Concussed?

No. It hurt so badly that I passed out, woke up, vomited twice, sorta passed out again, and then got into the car to go to the hospital two blocks away. About 30 minutes transpired between the accident and my ride to the hospital.

Did I mention it hurt?

I’m sure someone saw my underpants, and I think my insurance company is making a profit.

London and France have public health care.

Angle Interrupted

Sharon Angle says that she got into politics because her son flunked kindergarten. Then goes on to demonstrate where he got all the smrts from. A fight breaks out but it isn’t on the video.

All I ever hear any more is “bar bar bar …”

Kindergarten cannot fail, it can only be failed.

A Randian superman doesn’t color within the lines.

A fight breaks out but it isn’t on the video.

Too bad, I’d love to see some ‘bagger take a wild swing at a spry college kid and fall on his doughy face.

A randy Superman may burst his colorful tights.

Is UC-Irvine still the Anteaters? And UC-Santa Cruz the Banana Slugs?

Makes Cardinal positively poetic.

“Too bad, I’d love to see some ‘bagger take a wild swing at a spry college kid and fall on his doughy face.”

Oh he was smarter than that, he hit a woman. Pics of the scuffle there.

All we need now are some brown shirts and we’re good to go!

Makes Cardinal positively poetic.

Wins for Kali all around.

Christine O’Donnell — Well then why aren’t monkeys still evolving into humans?

Well? Can’t answer that can you?

From the linked Las Vegas Sun article, one of the greatest lines in the history of journalism (the Reid segments were taped three weeks earlier):

The video-version of Reid remained unfazed as audience members hissed at him and mocked his claim…

A nation of people who talk to their televisions.

I talk back to my TV. I just don’t expect it to hear me.

Well then why aren’t monkeys still evolving into humans?

Quick guess: Humans forcing our cousins to adapt faster than nature can keep up & get them to figure out weapons, poisons, loss of habitat, yada.

Also: Assumes evolution has a purpose other than survival, i. e., that there’s a natural tendency to complexity, intelligence, self-awareness & all the other problems that curse the world today. Wrong.

Oh he was smarter than that, he hit a woman. Pics of the scuffle there.

Apologies to Carroll O’Connor, but that d00d’s a ringer for Archie Bunker- seems to have the same personality too.

The more his administration castigates insurers, businesses, and doctors; raises taxes on the upper income brackets; and imposes additional regulations, the more those who create wealth are deciding to sit out, neither hiring nor lending.

Castigates now means enact laws forcing every American citizen to be a customer? Or does it mean give them money?

Castigates now means enact laws forcing every American citizen to be a customer? Or does it mean give them money?

Shhh… he’s on a roll.

Can I just say how fucking fed up I am with this fucking “CREATING” wealth bullshit?

You know what CREATES wealth, motherfucker? Producing shit and adding value to it, both of which are functions of LABOR. You can sit on top of a pyramid of goddamn cash, with the pinnacle shoved in your ass and massaging your prostate, and without someone’s WORK, that motherfucker is NOT going to grow any bigger. It doesn’t BREED, you stupid motherfuckers.

So can we just shelve this “rich people CREATE wealth with their MONEY” as if this is the goddamned Middle Ages and these fucking Galtian geniuses finally figured out the secrets of alchemy? Because money is fucking STATIC and INANIMATE; it does NOT in and of itself CREATE anything.

Well then why aren’t monkeys still evolving into humans?

They do, but the branches break and the people fall on their heads and die.

It is sad.

Got straight out of the boat, so rich and fruity was the shorter.

Trousers now in tatters, oar broken, barely escaped piranhas. But those were some good mangoes.

It’s amazing to see these people rewriting recent history with such a broad brush; I guess it should come as no surprise that they regard ancient history as a thing so pliable it can be shaped to resemble a cross between 300 and Life of Brian.

You know what CREATES wealth, motherfucker? Producing shit and adding value to it, both of which are functions of LABOR. You can sit on top of a pyramid of goddamn cash, with the pinnacle shoved in your ass and massaging your prostate, and without someone’s WORK, that motherfucker is NOT going to grow any bigger. It doesn’t BREED, you stupid motherfuckers.
Bearded she-Marxist.

TAG FAIL!!!! I die.

Oh-oh. Somebody broke WordPress.

Just WAIT until Dad gets home!

Bearded she-Marxist.

Hey, that reminds me of, of … yeah, Fig. 6, that’s right.

Oh man. Automate your tags and they will not fail you!

Reminds me of … FIGURE 6.

Fritz in the comment thread is a genius.

Playing catch-up again –

I like the part where he says that “Western Civilization” was based on this mythical Greek ideal of the “autonomous citizen, not an indentured serf or subsistence peasant.”

Not to mention the blatantly obvious fact that the ancient Greeks owned slaves.

Like El Cid points out, plenty of other civilizations existed at that time and there’s nothing in Greek economics that make them special. But our cultural narrative is that the white world is the only civilized world and it started in Greece, while everyone else was just a great big amorphous mass of savages. Watch “300” for more of that stuff.

Bearded Marxist should become a new slang term for vag au natural.

The Communist Plot.

While we’re at the ridiculousness of pointing to Ancient Greece as some sort of gods-damn utopia, can I just say: the conservative love of “300? still gives me hives.

Here’s another ridiculous thing about that movie.

Remember how it begins, with the prophets saying you can’t offend the gods by sending the army out, and the badass king of Sparta defies authority and goes anyway?

Something like that did actually happen, but in the First Persian War, not the Second; the Athenians went to ask Sparta for help, and the Spartans actually refused (for religious reasons, can’t send out the army on their version of Thanksgiving); there was no ruggedly indivdualistic king to defy the laws, unlike in 300. The Athenians were left high and dry, and won at Marathon anyway, ending the war in a single battle.

That’s right! The philosophers and boy-lovers fought off the hordes of Asia single-handed while the greatest warriors in Greece stayed at home and had a frat party. Though that part doesn’t make for good conservative jerking-off fantasies, so it wasn’t made into a movie.

Here’s another ridiculous thing about that movie.

Superhero capes.

Steve said,
September 24, 2010 at 22:22

You realize that Lincoln quote’s a fake, right Steve? It was written in 1916 and was only ever confused with Lincoln because a pamphlet several decades later quoted both men at length.

And that quote from George Washington, “It is impossible to rule this country without God and Bible?” That’s a fake too.

Here’s what Lincoln DID say, though;

Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

The filthy commie swine!

300 would have been much better if the Persian king was Yosemite Sam.

Tags cannot fail, they can only be FAILED!!

Here’s what Lincoln DID say, though;

Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

I believe that was the other mostly sane Republican president, Teddy Roosevelt. Which doesn’t change the point, or the observation that Republicans used to be sane.

I just watched Colbert’s performance and LOL’d.

My great grandfather did not travel over four thousand miles of the Atlantic ocean to see this country overrun by immigrants!

American conservatism in a nutshell.

He did it because he killed a man in Ireland. That’s the rumor, I don’t know. Actually, I’d like that stricken from the record.

OK, back on topic: How imbecilic is VD?

From his idiotically titled dump at PJM, Works and Days:

But the latter would require Obama to be Clinton, and quite simply he is not — either by skill, experience, temperament, or volition. He is petulant and angry at us for not appreciating his genius and divinity. We in the 70% who oppose his sermons are the proverbial Pennsylvania clingers who can’t figure out Ground Zero, Arizona, or the Skip Gates mess. We forgot we killed thousands at Hiroshima, killed off native Americans, and were mean to Muslims. We are a nation of greedy fats cats on the wrong side of the new $250,000 Mason-Dixon income divide.

A savior like Obama comes around once in a century. If we cannot see that we are blessed with a Mandela-like laureate, then let us lose our souls. We shall sink into reactionary irrelevance; he shall trump the Bill Clinton lucrative post-presidency.

Sort of at least. He will also for the next thirty years parrot a Carter on 60 Minutes assuring us how awful were his successors, how brilliant his unappreciated record was, and how illiberal and dense we remain — as he jets from Indonesia to Paris on missions of world peace from a corporate and Middle East funded Obama Peace Center.

The Prognosis. There is only one mystery left. Will the Republicans screw it up? Or do they have the courage and skill to tell the American people that the mega-deficits and entitlements are our road to serfdom? Or, in contrast, will they return to 2004-6 and gorge the beast while talking of how it could be much worse without them?

I have no idea.

Truest thing he’s ever typed.

As much of a vapid intellectual wasteland as PJTV is, this

But the latter would require Obama to be Clinton, and quite simply he is not — either by skill, experience, temperament, or volition.

may quite well be true. I don’t remember most of the Clinton years, but so far, having seen Obama and the Dems cave, cave, cave and cave again so many times, I have to wonder how he’d react to something like a government shutdown – would he actually fight back or would he just curl up into a ball and apologize for existing?

“Superhero capes.”

No capes!!

M. Bouffant, I just want to say that the VD Hanson screed you just quoted is the whiniest shit I have ever read anywhere, ever. It is transcendent in its butthurt, Olympian in its puling. Banshees are united in their repulsion at its keening wail.

I hope you’re not offended that I’m not grateful to you.

But the latter would require Obama to be Clinton, and quite simply he is not — either by skill, experience, temperament, or volition.

So VDH’s admiration for Clinton suddenly expands, as long as it serves to diminish the current president. Why am I not surprised?
Can’t be arsed checking through the archives to see if his view of Clinton’s skill, experience, temperament, and volition were so positive in the past.

I thought Tintin said yesterday, in the last thread, that he fixed this fun tag-fail quirk of WordPress’.

Oh man. Automate your tags and they will not fail you!

I have been a huge fan of that for a while now. I think it’s one of the main reasons I stick with FF at this point.

My one whine with it has been that under htmlXtra, the strike tag is just the “s”, which we know don’t work so good here. I’d been using the xhtmlXtra version, which uses the “del” tag. Works fine, but it’s one more line in the menu.

Long story short, I just realized it’s javascript, and simplicity itself to edit. Opened it up in wordpad, searched <s>, changed it to “strike” and “/strike” and whalla viola youreeka yippee!

Just thought I’d share.

It’s a wonderful program. I’m far too lazy to actually type “blockquote” all the time. Didn’t “bq” used to work for that once upon a time?

I thought Tintin said yesterday, in the last thread, that he fixed this fun tag-fail quirk of WordPress’.

I was actually going to ask if there’s a wordfilter that could be applied to any “tagspaceslash” constructions. Might be the easy way to do it. It would at least confine the tagfail to the comment. I suppose appending tag closes to the end of every post would do that as well.

Just a thought. Oooh. Two in one day. I is a smart.

Aaaaawww…. papa’s lookin’ out for us and cleaning up our messes! It’s all straightened up now.

Truest thing he’s ever typed.

Perhaps. Except for,

We in the 70% who oppose his sermons are the proverbial Pennsylvania clingers who can’t figure out Ground Zero, Arizona, or the Skip Gates mess. We forgot we killed thousands at Hiroshima, killed off native Americans, and were mean to Muslims. We are a nation of greedy fats cats on the wrong side of the new $250,000 Mason-Dixon income divide.

Another fucking clown who thinks finds it convenient to think that 70% of the country is in the top 10% income bracket, and all think like him.

Basic fucking math. How does that work?

twunt

Also, too, I think we know the answer to this one,

Or, in contrast, will they return to 2004-6 and gorge the beast while talking of how it could be much worse without them?

and he knows it too.

So for something you want there but crossed out you use that.

What prompt do you use to do the indented re-quote like the:

I thought Tintin said yesterday, in the last thread, that he fixed this fun tag-fail quirk of WordPress’.

above?

What prompt do you use to do the indented re-quote like the:

<blockquote> and </blockquote>

The awesomeness of the FF plugin mentioned above is that you can copy text and then quote from clipboard, easy-peasy.

THANG.

Holy Fuck!

I got out of the boat. I lost 12 IQ points. Always trust the shorter.

almost too easy…

Like El Cid points out, plenty of other civilizations existed at that time and there’s nothing in Greek economics that make them special. But our cultural narrative is that the white world is the only civilized world and it started in Greece, while everyone else was just a great big amorphous mass of savages. Watch “300? for more of that stuff.

It wasn’t so much that there were other societies than Greece.

The point was that ass-head’s model of how peasant societies work is a bunch of stinking, runny horse-shit

Victor David Hooverfuck throws out some pseudoscientific crap about ‘peasant societies’ and ‘redistribution’ and ‘theft’, and it’s all utter fucking shit.

Our next Senator from Delaware, ladies and gentlemen, we present to you, Coven Highness Christine Don’t Touch You Know What O’Donnell, Super-Genius, expounding on current scientific understanding, by way of country folk biology:

O’Donnell: Evolution is a myth, and even Darwin himself…

Maher: Have you ever looked at a monkey?

O’Donnell: Then why aren’t monkeys… still evolving into humans?

She says she believes that witchcraft is real, but evolution is just a bit too much to believe in.

I had to look up the history of the painting used, I remembered it being Jacque Loius David.There is a pretty good history of it to be found.

Commissioned by the Trudaine de Montigny brothers, leaders in the call for a free market system and more public discussion, this picture depicts the closing moments of the life of Socrates. Condemned to death or exile by the Athenian government for his teaching methods which aroused scepticism and impiety in his students, Socrates heroicly rejected exile and accepted death from hemlock.

I thought Tintin said yesterday, in the last thread, that he fixed this fun tag-fail quirk of WordPress’.

Yes, I turned on a WordPress option that will fix most issues of unclosed tags in comments. However, even that option won’t fix absolutely epic tag fail, rather than simply a missing tag. The culprit was an HTML-salad of tags scattered in the comment which stumped WordPress. Hopefully that won’t happen enough for me to have to explore other options like turning off HTML in the comments. *Stern glare*

The culprit was an HTML-salad of tags scattered in the comment

I blame Sarah Palin.

New website for one stop shoping for all your voter information needs.

Commissioned by the Trudaine de Montigny brothers, leaders in the call for a free market system and more public discussion, this picture depicts the closing moments of the life of Socrates. Condemned to death or exile by the Athenian government for his teaching methods which aroused scepticism and impiety in his students, Socrates heroicly rejected exile and accepted death from hemlock.

That’s the problem — what does such a disciplined thinker willing to accept death rather than renounce truth have to do with VDH?

I really do love Krugman;

There are two books that can change a bookish fourteen year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially cripped adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

Zing!

Didn’t “bq” used to work for that once upon a time?

I dunno, but you can make it work with Autohotkey on Windows, which means you’re not restricted to Firefox.

Put this in your Autohotkey .ahk file:

::bq::<blockquote></blockquote>

Everywhere, across all programs, “bq” will expand into <blockquote></blockquote> if you type it and then the spacebar.

VD Hanson has a uniquely fascinating take on Spartan economics: he seems to think that despite being a primitive micro-state, the Spartans were excellent role-models for a huge modern nation … so, given the overall ethical altitude* of the American right today, I now look forward to VD’s equally astute endorsements of such fundamental Spartan traditions as idolizing those who excelled at theft & institutional infanticide.
_______________

* Whaleshit reference goes here.

Well then why aren’t monkeys still evolving into humans?

Apes are still evolving, as the differences between chimps and bonobos show. Given opportunity and millions of years they may evolve into something human-like. Or maybe not, it’s not like there’s a big finish-line marked “NOW HUMAN — YOU WIN!!!”

He is petulant and angry at us for not appreciating his genius and divinity.

That is such fucking projection I’m craving raisinets.

We in the 70% who oppose his sermons are the proverbial Pennsylvania clingers who can’t figure out Ground Zero, Arizona, or the Skip Gates mess.

Dude, your coterie is no where NEAR 70%, though I concede you might all be that moronic.

“Here’s another ridiculous thing about that movie.”

A long list, that. My favorite was that Persia and Mordor apparently had a military Lend-Lease program going on…

And speaking of Mordor, Christine O’Donnell compared herself to Eowyn the other day. I think Tolkien rose out of his grave and is crossing the Atlantic now to strangle her.

Christine O’Donnell compared herself to Eowyn the other day.

She’s a handmaiden? She gives hand jobs?

The culprit was an HTML-salad of tags scattered in the comment which stumped WordPress.

WordPress is a retard?

Nation of Peasants

As if our home-grown corporatists wouldn’t shave off their left testicles to have a full-fledged peasant society here in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

You know what I really love? Profanity-filled rants by people who know their subjects. Something like ” The fucking ziggurat-building state of early Assyria” totally makes me smile.

“She’s a handmaiden? She gives hand jobs?”

Nah, she wants everyone to know that even though unfeminine feminists whine that Tolkien’s female characters are weak, they actually “possess a very true womanly virtue of femininity.”

“possess a very true womanly virtue of femininity.”

So the meek little princess who marries a commoner, she’s O’Donnell’s role model? Not the elfen witch who marries the king as an equal?

If I am descended from my cousins, then why are there still my cousins, huh?

Put this in your Autohotkey .ahk file:

::bq::

Everywhere, across all programs, “bq” will expand into

if you type it and then the spacebar.

So then when I post my awesome Kansas City B

rib recipe it will be all indented and crap?

You could write, um, barbecue.

After reading all the comments, I just have one question…

Why the hell didn’t the ninja fall over from all the crap he was carrying? Or at least jangle when he walked?

And someone carrying that many “just in case” items really isn’t focusing sufficiently on success.

How ridiculous. The “Ancient Greeks” were pirates and mercenaries and their wealth was necessarily built on that piracy and mercenary work. Why does he think Achilles is referred to as a great lord in the Illiad when his land is a small, barren island? Why does he think the Persians were always trying to wipe them out? Someone needs to tell him it was because the Greeks kept raiding, slaving, and killing for money in Persian lands. What idiocy; and this man considers himself knowledgeable about the Greeks? What does he think paid for all those wonderful buildings, monuments, and statues that the Ancient Greek city-states were filled with? Let me give him a hint; TAXES; IT WAS TAXES, YOU COCK!