Author Archena Posted on Categories 2023, Current, FridayTags , , ,

Defeatism is Self Defeating

That title, boys and girls, is what we call a tautology. Basically, it is self evident and doesn’t progress an argument. You can safely forget ever hearing that definition unless you plan to do formal argumentation or are philosophy geek already commenting on how bad that definition of tautology is. Yeppers, that title is a tautology. It’s of course a true statement. But unlike a formal argument, sometimes folks just need to hear the obvious spoken aloud. I am in … Continue reading “Defeatism is Self Defeating”

Author Archena Posted on Categories Current, FridayTags , ,

Morality is the Foundation of Freedom

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. John Adams I blame the leftists. But it really doesn’t matter who started it, way too many of us went along with this nonsense that freedom means no limits whatsoever. Think it through: if you have no limits then neither does the other guy. You might think killing people for their lollipops is a bad plan but he might … Continue reading “Morality is the Foundation of Freedom”

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Trump V. DeSantis: A Media Love Story

The weird thing is that the Lamestream doesn’t seem to realize its fascination with trying to hype up the alleged conflict between Trump and DeSantis is actually benefitting both. Yes, I know it’s February 24th and the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia can continue ruining itself without my help today. It matters, but the most significant thing about how today went is how much of a whimper it was. Russia be big on anniversaries so many observers … Continue reading “Trump V. DeSantis: A Media Love Story”

Author Archena Posted on Categories Current, FridayTags , , , , , ,

Knowing When is Tough

When to stop. When to go. When to speak. When to stay silent. When to fight like heck. When to just give in. Circumstance is a cruel dictator. We know this instinctively and want nice, hard and fast, simple rules so we don’t have to adjust to circumstance. Problem being that the universe doesn’t work like that. Telling the idiot that cut you off and nearly killed you both what an idiot he is a perfectly appropriate unless said idiot … Continue reading “Knowing When is Tough”

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Basic Reasoning 101

No, it’s not the beginning of a logic course. Nor am I going to explain the intricacies of drafting an argument – virtually no one actually needs to know how to argue formally so why bother? There are things we can learn from formal argument like who has the right of way. Seriously, fancy term is the burden of proof. Basically, you state it as fact or conclusion, you own the burden of proving it really is a fact or … Continue reading “Basic Reasoning 101”

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The World Can’t be America

Which works out just fine – they don’t want to be nor should they. We have this goofy idea that nationalism is inherently a bad thing. Like all isms, it can be taken way too far. Any ideology can be made into a bad thing by taking it to extremes. But BOTH extremes are bad. Do you fix a broken cup? Most of the time the answer is no but what if it belonged to your grandmother and was special … Continue reading “The World Can’t be America”

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Ism Spectrum

We political scientists like to classify things. Put nice labels on it and shove it on the shelf where those things go – very scientific. Makes ’em easier to categorize so we can do statistics! Yeah, it annoys the heck out of the statisticians but what do they know? They were the ones that came up with the whole ‘stick everything in a category’ thing. Add science to politics and sausage making – things no one really wants to know … Continue reading “Ism Spectrum”

Author Archena Posted on Categories Current, FridayTags , , ,

Healthy Skepticism and Government

I’m a cranky old lady. I think we’ve covered that before but let’s just get it out in the open. As a cranky old lady, I come with a large dose of cynicism and a cat. The cat doesn’t care about politics but she also doesn’t care about her litterbox so maybe she’s not a great role model, especially not for other cats. I’m not a role model; I’m way too cranky for that. Crankiness tends to breed both cynicism … Continue reading “Healthy Skepticism and Government”

Author Archena Posted on Categories Current, FridayTags , , , , , ,

Politics are About People

Politics is just groups of people making decisions. We stink at it which makes the political world hilarious and tragic. It’d be a great sitcom. The problem is that the political world affects real people all the time. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. So the answer to the question of why you should care about those idiots in Washington or on Goat Hill or down at the county courthouse or in city hall or on the school board is … Continue reading “Politics are About People”

Author Archena Posted on Categories FridayTags , ,

Enlightened Self Interest – It’s About US, Isn’t It?

The US doesn’t get to sit out much. If you ask the Ukrainians defending their homeland the war is most definitely NOT about the United States. They’re absolutely right, except for the part where it kinda is. Not because we’re sending them support – who isn’t? Not because we are providing intelligence – ours is cooler because satellites but intelligence is a big tent. Not because we’re the US of A and rah, rah, rah – even we have some … Continue reading “Enlightened Self Interest – It’s About US, Isn’t It?”