Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
A little while ago I noted that a lot of states in Europe provide for a fuse to be tripped whereas America does not, and maybe Europe’s got the right idea. I’m referring to the tradition of the “no confidence vote”; you saw it in Phantom Menace, with the plot events rushed along in a futile attempt to help tease out some coherent story. They don’t wait around for elections, if the consensus arises that a change has to be made. They get it done. Maybe, I opined, we should look at this.
My wise and patriotic readers really spoke up, and put me in my place. I’m left thinking that’s probably right, as a general rule when the states and Europe do things differently, we here have our reasons and we should be proud of not borrowing ideas that are bad ones. Perhaps I should correct my course, and in the spirit of avoiding the horrors that are attendant to pure democracy, we should stick with our regular election system.
At least, that’s what I thought right up until this latest blow-up about New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the soda ban.
I dunno. Europe’s solution still seems heavy-handed; it’s the kind of thing you put in place — as is the case with a lot of what Europe does — when you invest enthused but unwarranted trust in the prevailing consensus.
But Bloomberg seems to have an actual mental disorder here. Somewhere I saw a YouTube comment about this, someone made the point that if you just repeat this a few times…we’re simply forcing you, we’re simply forcing you, we’re simply forcing you. It becomes clear what is going on. At the very, very least, it is cockeyed screwed up priorities. Got everything else solved over there Mike?
Also, I had said something about a test to be applied to these public officials — when you see their face on the teevee with the sound turned off, do you lunge for the remote with this sickly feeling in your gut, of “What’s s/he up to NOW??” I’m a good distance away from New York City, in fact I’ve never been there, but based on what I’m seeing & hearing it seems to me that Bloomey is just about at that point. I’m certainly ready to find alternatives to doing things the European way…I’m ready to look good & hard before going that route…but I’m not ready to let go of this part of my comments, because there’s something wrong about living in fear of your so-called “leaders” day to day. In fact, that part of my earlier commentary is about as American as apple pie.
And I’m sad to say, this is what’s happening. It’s going on in quite a few places. It isn’t just Mike Bloomberg. Senators, mayors, governors, the President, His Holy Executive Branch, all of ’em really…they’ve become freakin’ Swords of Damoclese, hanging by fragile hairs over our necks, and we have little idea what they’re going to be doing next, or when.
The only thing of which we have any real confidence is, the next idea they have that will actually affect us in some way, will be stupid and bad. I guess it’s really all coming down to: My proposed solution is anti-American, true, but the nature of the problem is just as anti-American…so…my question then becomes, where & when do we realize the benefits of not doing it? There he is, the European-style jackass, smugly telling his subjects, er, constituency what they can & can’t eat. He is referred to, with not just a little bit of justification, as a “Napoleon.” And he fails the teevee-no-sound-test. You don’t have much idea what he’s going to do next. But you know the idea will be stupid, and bad…and he’s just one of many.
With no external force acting upon the object, it will continue on its present course. He does not see himself as a mere ordinary citizen serving a limited length of time in an office of humble public service. He’s just addicted to the adrenaline rush of ordering things, and getting them, and the novelty/rush has worn off so now he wants to do it for everybody else. It makes just as much sense to tell everyone how to tie their shoes, where their car radios should be set, and what their favorite color is supposed to be for this week. It’s not supposed to be like this.
So what do we do? My original solution was far from ideal, and may be unworkable. By its very nature, yes, it is un-American. But so is leaving the problem unattended. These narcissistic pricks are completely out of control.
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- House of Eratosthenes | 06/01/2012 @ 00:26I’m a heck of a lot closer to the NYC – still have family and good friends in New York – and yes, this is completely ridiculous. (And in fact, His Imperialness has been taking a ton of ridicule on Twitter and elsewhere.) You raise a strong case… in fact, since Bloomberg ramrodded a change in the term limits of his office to rule for a third term (and is now hilariously trying to change the rule back so nobody else can have the same honor after he’s gone), it might actually apply here.
I still worry, though, that a world in which a duly-elected official can be forced to stop everything for a recall vote or a no-confidence is a world that has stopped using partisan tendencies helpfully, and simply given them too free a hand. Case in point – Tom Barrett whining that Scott Walker’s gotten money from out-of-state to run his recall campaign. As was instantly pointed out by several people, he wouldn’t have needed dime one in the first place if Dems didn’t foist this nonsense on him. (Also, the recall effort has been largely funded by the DNC, not just Wisconsinites, but shut up, Barrett explained.) How much time and effort and money is he wasting just trying to serve the term his voters already gave him?
Bloomberg doesn’t have the authority to do this. I would far prefer that the City Council – whom he is conveniently bypassing to do this, no longer even pretending to need even a blind rubber-stamp of approval – gather their collective pelotas and block the rule procedurally. Or go for widespread, open defiance. Make him arrest and fine everyone all at once… clog the courts with this crap and force local prosecutors to drop these cases in favor of pursuing real crimes. Or just impeach Bloomberg’s saggy, sorry ass.
- nightfly | 06/01/2012 @ 09:23I like your last scenario, but I like your second-to-last even more.
Probably because I’m an out-of-towner and am ranking these according to the entertainment value of the news that makes it out of the buroughs…yeah…a massive lawbreaker-strike, court-clogging, conscientious-objecting, I think I’d give up real money to see that. ESPECIALLY the inevitable speech about how there can be no waivers or exceptions, and the DA will just have to hire more help to keep up with it all.
I think I’d burn that puppy, and play it every now and then, for a quick chuckle.
- mkfreeberg | 06/01/2012 @ 10:12“My wise and patriotic readers really spoke up, and put me in my place.”. Alas, we have not. You still don’t seem to understand how a “No Confidence” vote works. It would not help here, because it would have to be called by the union controlled city council, which is quite happy with how things are working out. To a large degree, what is going on is that Mr. Mayor is pushing the soft drink thing because he is so powerless. He has tried to do real government work, such as vetoing the “Living Wage” stupidity, which everyone expects to get overruled by the council. Much like our poor friend in California, Arnie, may be “in charge”, but he’s not steering. He’s just a funny puppet to look at while the other hand, controlled by the hard core leftists, gets their unholy plans put in place. Stage magic. A “No Confidence” vote would only help the out of control council, providing another empty distraction…..
- Robert Mitchell Jr. | 06/01/2012 @ 11:01No, I’m completely hip to the idea that the solution stated would likely not address the real problem. But, the point that is being so nimbly avoided is: The problem remains…
I remember when the commoner’s regret had to do with being governed by fools and showmen. Being governed by the insane — and likely sex-crazed and sex-addicted — is a definite step down.
- mkfreeberg | 06/01/2012 @ 11:08That’s just it. I don’t think Bloomberg is insane. He’s powerless against the unions, and this is all they will let him play with. The problem is the city council, completely controlled by the unions, to the point they have a veto proof majority. It’s not a matter of insane, everyone involved is sane. It’s hard to fight against a faceless, leaderless committee. But that’s the problem here, and fighting against the sock-puppet of the day is not the solution. The problem is the unions. They destroy their environment. They were designed to do so, by the Communists, to bring about the next level of social evolution(Still waiting for that omelet!). The laws that make unions legal must be repealed. Unions are evil. Bring back Trade Guilds.
- Robert Mitchell Jr. | 06/01/2012 @ 12:01[…] of play on the blogosphere and Twitter on this subject: the Swillers, Morgan Freeberg, and IMAO for starters. Good. I hope Bloomberg is driven from the field in shame. It’s […]
- Doubling down on petty tyranny « Blog of the Nightfly | 06/01/2012 @ 12:18Captain obvious sez:
- CaptDMO | 06/01/2012 @ 12:29Prohibition, “for the good of the people of NYC”, unexpectedly resulted in WHAT with-
Opium
Cocaine
Alcohol
Scab labor
Helicopters
Tobacco
Checker cabs
Runny eggs
Laws for foreign DPs
Profiling