Sadly, No!

Richard Brookhiser is one of the few — well, okay — the only smart polyp in the Cornhole. Yeah, I know: Sharing a forum with Jonah Goldberg can make even John Podhoretz look smart, but you know what I mean. Brookhiser isn’t a troglodyte. While he is certainly a wingnut (witness, if you ever saw the History Channel’s The Presidents series, Brookhiser’s enthusiatic, fawning endorsement of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Kill Em All” foriegn policy as juxtaposed to his coolly deprecating assessment of TR’s relatively decent domestic quasi-progressivism), his wingnuttery often has a placidity to it.

But that doesn’t mean it’s subtle. Once again overcome with the urge to laud a dead wingnut saint, Brookhiser once again lets hagiographical enthusiasm override judgment:

Hamilton, Right Again [Rick Brookhiser]
Alexander Hamilton’s northern Manhattan summer house, the Grange, built in 1802 two years before he was killed, is about to be moved to a new location at W. 141st St. and Hamilton Terrace[…]

But this was the detail that caught my eye from this morning’s NYTimes (p. B5): “Insights have also been gleaned from what the architects did not find, like evidence of a dumbwaiter that was once supposed to have existed. Mr. Waite [the architect] interpreted this as a sign that much of the Hamiltons’ family life took place downstairs, close to the kitchen. “This house was built to be operated without slaves,” he said.

C’mon, Rick. Fine, so Hamilton was maybe against slavery in the abstract. But the absence (or presence) of a dumbwaiter in Hamilton’s home is the silliest thing one could present as evidence of such a position.

Quick: Who is credited with inventing the dumbwaiter, and installed them everywhere he could? I’ll provide three hints: He was a redhead from Virginia, and owned slaves (even going so far as to sleep with one slave who happened to be his dead wife’s half-sister), who yet excoriated slavery as an institution.
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Just wondering here. Help me out if you would. I’m not making fun of you or anything.

In a market totally free of government intrusion and quaint, irrational social customs, Buyer X has only a few thousand dollars, while Buyer Y has several million dollars, a mansion, and a portfolio of high-dividend life-extension and nanotech stocks. Both want to buy a Robert Heinlein anthology, a Fleshlight, and a case of Mountain Dew Code Red (i.e. a ‘standard basket of goods’ harmonious with the culture of Libertarianism).

Above: A notable exception to that caricature

Okay, sorry about that. Serious now.

Why wouldn’t the prices be higher for Buyer Y than for Buyer X?

I don’t mean like, “Because that wouldn’t be fair.” I mean seriously, according to principle.

 
Update (re: comments): Well, that’s not exactly what I mean. Imagine for instance that the companies that currently track consumer purchases were also to have an index that set certain prices at the cash register according to how much you spend. Because the more money you have, the less each dollar is worth, you see — and the more you’ll pay for necessities.

Gary Ruppert:

The news about the Democrats exploiting the deaths of our soldiers in Iraq for their own gain is going to cause a lot of pain for Democrats.

You see, the Republican party is on the offensive to prove that we are still the best choice for America.

A FOX News Poll, of all things:

Less than four months before Election Day, the latest FOX News Poll finds that voters strongly favor the Democrats on key issues such as the economy and gas prices, and give the minority party a double-digit lead for control of Congress this fall. For most of President Bush’s second term in office, more Americans have said they disapprove than approve of his job performance and that is again the case in this new poll.

The president’s approval rating dropped to 36 percent, down from 41 percent approval two weeks ago and 40 percent in mid-June. Bush lost ground this week among some key constituent groups, such as Republicans, whites and men. Overall, 53 percent of Americans say they disapprove.

Forget being on the offensive, Ruppster — the GOP is just offensive, period.

Pssst. Secret time. I’m a lot more libertarian than I let on in this blog. I’m generally against gun control, and I don’t believe in nanny-stating people with things like mandatory seatbelt laws. Where I split with libertarians is usually on things like supporting organized labor (I’m unquestioningly pro-labor in the vast majority of cases*), but I’m very sympathetic to their point of view in a lot of ways. Real libertarians — i.e., not the Glenn Reynolds variety — have been very good about opposing things like torture and warrantless spying on American citizens, and for that I tip my hat.

That said, some libertarians can be pretty damn wacky. And as The Editors and Sifu Tweety know full well, hell hath no hilarity like a libertarian scorned. I mention this because I found the following comment posted in one of my “Ha-ha-Glenn-Reynolds-wants-to-have-his-brain-downloaded-into-a-robot-and-fly-into-space” threads. It reads as follows:

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We have noted your three-pronged Mary Poppins/Kate Bush/Osmonds assault,* and must advise you once again that you are playing with forces you do not understand.

Such as…

 
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Two minor players in the VideoWars, Roxanne and Tim F., are trying to weaken our resolve by firing some quick hit-and-run attacks. Needless to say, we are prepared to put down this pathetic rebellion with swift and ruthless brutality:

I’m sorry I had to do that, guys. But you left me with no options.
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Rebus (see clue below):

But what’s so very confounding is that of all the countless right-wing bloggers who spent the weekend so very horrified about the comments of that influential political leader of liberalism, Deb Frisch, or who lamented that she wasn’t condemned aggressively enough for her idiotic comments to Jeff Goldstein, none of them has condemned these calls by their fellow prominent right-wing blogger for American journalists and Supreme Court justices to be hung by trees until their necks snap (indeed, one of the right-wing bloggers joining in the weekend sermons against this mean Deb Frisch rhetoric was that Beacon of Right-wing propriety, Misha himself).

Rebus (see clue below):

“Well, for starters: I don’t read [Misha of the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler]. His over-the-top rhetoric has never appealed to me. To understand why, you need look no further than the outrageous, ridiculous post cited by Greenwald.â€?

Word scramble! (see clue below):

BLOG ON MISHA COMMENTING PATTERICO’S IS THIS

What’s wrong with summarily executing [judges]? It’s quick and it saves a lot of money in the long run.

Not to mention how aesthetically pleasing those long black robes flapping in the wind would be.

Comment by Emperor Misha I — 1/26/2004 @ 2:32 pm

Quo-teaser: Who wrote the following?

Also gratifying was receiving comments from folks who run great blogs, like the comment from Spoons, and another comment from the always controversial Emperor Misha I. And it’s always great to hear from luminaries like Smash, Xrlq, and others. You know who you are.

Rebus:

[Thanks: M. Croche! Sev! Max Renn!]

Watching buttercups cup the light, sleeping on a dandelion. Too much, I won’t touch you – but then, I might.

Shorter Michael Medved: I say we deal with this whole Palestinian problem, once and for all.

Shorter Rich Tucker: Let’s whip terrorism now, while we’re winning.

Shorter Rich Lowry: A Lieberman loss is a loss for us all, because it would signal that anti-war radicals, who are also white, well-off, highly educated and in the majority, have finally wrested control of the Democratic Party from a small minority of liberal hawks.

Shorter Paul Greenberg: Believe it or not, scapegoating illegal immigrants could limit the long-term appeal of the Republican Party.

Shorter Terence Jeffrey: You know who would make a great stem-cell researcher? Dr. Mengele.

Shorter Ben Shapiro: Since the police aren’t allowed to round up likely criminals due to quaint notions about due process and such, everyone should just carry a firearm.

Shorter Brent Bozell III: The New York Times is bigoted against the non-gay majority, because they don’t invite an anti-gay perspective when they sponsor panel discussions on homosexuality.

Shorter Walter Williams: In a cynical ploy to win voter approval, politicians enact policies that take away your money, cost thousands of lives and ship good-paying jobs overseas.

Shorter Michelle Malkin: If we don’t deal with the Mexicans quietly massing in madrassas within our borders, one day very soon you’ll be forced to learn a new language and ancient math.*

Shorter Jacob Sullum: As a libertarian, I believe you’ve got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run. That’s not the government’s job.

Shorter Linda Chavez: If anything, we need more Mexican workers in this country.

Shorter John Stossel: Thanks to Al Gore, you’ll never know what your kidneys are worth on the open market.

Shorter Tony Blankley: It would be (urp) imprudent indeed to assume that Russia and China do not have foreign policies apart from ours.

Shorter Thomas Sowell: The media tell us endlessly all sorts of bad things about our troops, but that’s not how I choose to see things.

Shorter Rich Galen: Did you happen to watch any World Cup matches?

Shorter Kathleen Parker: Lois Lane should marry her boyfriend to provide a stable male presence for her young son, although, in reality, he is actually Superman’s child.

Shorter Roger Schlesinger: I did a search for “be debt free” and I found this site. I just wanted to say you have a great site and have enjoyed reading it! Thanks again!

Shorter William F. Buckley: It’s hard to know exactly what a Lieberman primary loss might portend, but the guess here is that it would signal the death of the Democratic Party and the end of our customary two-party system.

Shorter Maggie Gallagher: Whew. It wasn’t terrorists that blew up a New York City townhouse. It was just a crazy old doctor.

Via Squiggler, who has the best opening line of any post on the entire Internet today…

How do you spell hypocrite?

C-i-n-d-y S-h-e-e-n-a-n.

…We learn that all is not as it seems in the deadly hall of mirrors that some call ‘the left-blogosphere’:

But what if something wierd is going on? After contemplating all of the above, and recent news on the blogs, etc., one must consider all of the rumors going around that The Daily Kos blog is a Bush-CIA-RNC Nixonian construct designed to discredit the Democratic Party [emphasis theirs]. Since all of the Rovian hallmarks are there, I suspect that it is likely, but I can’t prove it.

Just think about it: you set up a couple of websites to get a million angry amateurs and mentally unstable kooks (many of them probably CIA junior staff guys and RNC junior staff folks having great fun posting and cheerleading, plus thousands of Christian right-wing extremist volunteers) to dig into the core of your opposition, and weaken it from within. What could be more Rovian? More devilishly ingenious and convoluted? And to hire a haute-nurdy ex-Army guy for cover… too clever to be an accident. Don’t ya think?

We hasten to add that no one on the left has summoned the courage to challenge this accusation in fair and rational debate, therefore the left is guilty of hypocrisy at best. Why are they so afraid of this charge? Many would like to know.

PS: Bwa-ha-ha. Infinity, no backsies.

It’s debatable. For the better part of this decade, Renew America has provided us with a remarkable cast of right-wing rogues who employ their third-grade writing skills to lambaste the evils of feminism, the liberal press, the entire religion of Islam, abortion, and the price of milk. And not only do Renew America’s writers sound crazy, but they look the part as well:

However, Renew America’s status as The Craziest of All Crazy Right-Wing Crazy Sites on the Internets is in severe jeopardy. An upstart nutter site calling itself The Christian Worldview Netowrk has burst onto the scene with the biggest stable of high-quality wingnuts seen since wingnuttery was invented by Sir Swithen Wingnut in 1643. To give you a taste of just how gobshite cuckoo the CWN is, I present you with this column called “UFOs and the Gospel of Christ” by Ralph C. Barker:

UFOs and the Gospel of Christ (Part 1 of 2)

I saw my first UFO in the mid-1950s when I was about ten years old.

We’re literally one sentence in, and he’s already talking about seeing UFOs. This is gonna be comedy gold.

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