Links for January 23, 2012: Ron Paul on Drug War Racism; SOPA; others….

1. YouTube | Ron Paul Booed by Insane Debate Audience for Endorsing the Golden Rule 

   Oh, boo yourselves.

2. NPR: Fresh Air | Legal Scholar: Jim Crow Still Exists In America

   Listen to this, and then listen to ron Paul speak on the issue of the War on Drugs and its effect on minorities. Come back and tell me more about Ron Paul’s alleged racism.

3. Opposing Views | Video: Ron Paul Says Drug War is Racist

   Ron Paul, speaking around the time of the publication of his infamous newsletters, condemns what he perceives to be the racism inherent in America’s War of Drugs.

4. Huffington Post | How to Write a Clichéd, Unpersuasive Argument Against Drug Legalization

   I’m relieved to witness these recurring fallacies finally put to rest. We’ll never hear of them again, I trust, and thank goodness. I so look forward to actual thoughtful, constructive drug policy discussions from here on out. 

Links for January 16, 2012: Ron Paul’s Libertarian Principles vs. Racism; Romney on employer-based health care; scads of great satire; others….

1. The Daily Show | Jon Stewart Defends Ron Paul’s NH Finish

   
   Rigodddamndiculous.

2. Daily Intel | How Ron Paul’s Libertarian Principles Support Racism

   This is an analysis that makes sense only within the airtight confines of libertarian doctrine. It dissipates with even the slightest whiff of exposure to external reality. The entire premise rests upon ignoring the social power that dominant social groups are able to wield outside of the channels of the state. Yet in the absence of government protection, white males, acting solely through their exercise of freedom of contract and association, have historically proven quite capable of erecting what any sane observer would recognize as actual impediments to the freedom of minorities and women.

   Here is the libertarian response: Yes, there is a grain of truth to this. Yes, there are social powers that dominant social groups are able to wield outside of the channels of the state. But this is not a free process. This comes at a cost to the racist and the harasser.

Links for January 9, 2011: Classic Schiff; Great Greenwald; Comments on the progression of progressive arguments; others….

1. DSBac | SCHIFFOGRAPHY

   One of my favorite parts of one of my favorite lectures.

2. Salon.com | Progressives and the Ron Paul fallacies – Glenn Greenwald

   I can only imagine what the “horrible aspects of his belief system” are, but that aside, this is one hell of a great article.

3. Mother Jones | All Work and No Pay: The Great Speedup

   I’m noticing a pattern. It goes like this: Step 1): Progressives make some empty, bogus, polemic accusations against businesses and markets. Step 2) Libertarians and free-marketers see right through the accusations and expose their fallacies. Step 3) Progressives return from the drawing board after some time with slightly better developed versions of their accusations. Step 4) These new versions are a little trickier to unravel, but libertarians and free-marketers unravel them just the same. Lather, rinse, repeat. This link and the next link are examples of this pattern in action: