A Chicago Tribune columnist responds to my op-ed with a defense of the Nanny State.
Slate looks at profane band names.
JP Morgan mistakenly breaks in to a foreclosed home after the new owners had moved in; takes everything they own.
Note to the right: Being a prisoner of war in Vietnam and a war hero are not by themselves qualifications to be president. Note to the left: Attacking John McCain’s war record is not only politically stupid, it’s also wrong on the facts. Story here.
Shorter E.J. Dionne: When the Constitution gets in the way of good, liberal policies I like, it ought to be cast aside. When the Constitution gets in way of policies I don’t like, well, shame on conservatives for subverting the Constitution!
Unexpected follow-up to this story: The feds have raided Blackwater.
Robert Samuelson talks sense on “speculators” and oil prices.
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TheAgitator.com
So apparently not wanting to be treated like a 10 year old is equivalent to acting like a 10 year old? Or “my parents were tyrants so its OK for the government to act that way”.
As a Trib subscriber, I’ve never been a Schmich fan. That being said, I sort of got the impression that she started to write a serious response to your article, realized how stupid it sounded, and then tried to cover herself by make it seem like a joke without really going all the way. Between that column, John McCarron’s weak attempt to refute Friedman (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0701mccarronjul01,0,4622290.story) and a toothless editorial about underage drinking http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0702edit2jul02,0,5434855.story the Tribune has been on a roll since publishing your op/ed, and not the good kind of roll.
Oops… Here’s that first link for those who don’t want to copy and paste:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0702edit2jul02,0,5434855.story
Note to the liberal running this sight, I don’t see that Republicans ever said being a POW was what quailifies McC to run the military. Stop trying to play both sides.
Being a POW isn’t really put forward as a qualifications to be president, but his military experience certainly is. I don’t think that military experience should be a qualification at all for being commander in chief. There is a reason (or should be anyway) why the military is run by civilians at the highest levels.
If Blackwater had resisted, I would have paid a lot on Pay-Per-View to watch them smack those clowns at the ATF.
Wow, Radley, I think Schmich might have made your point better than you did. Maybe you can get her to contribute to the Agitator!
CDH,
If they want an example of someone who is clueless, all they need to do is direct people to her column(the internet is neat like that).
Why waist money paying her when the Chicago Tribune does that already.
Wow. Went and read the article and responses to the Chicago Nanny State. I think most of those folks would just be happier if we went ahead and got our monitoring chips implanted now. Some people just can’t get enough of being told what to do in every aspect of their lives. Maybe they should all go join the USMC….they would LOVE it! When did we all start becoming such sheep? A mere 20-30 years ago you would have seen a serious uproar and possibly revolt over some things that are done without so much as batting an eye these days. I’m beginning to think that our government has secretly been removing from newborn American’s, most of their spine and the part of their brain that realizes that when someone pisses on your back and tells you its raining…its really piss. I shudder to think what this country is going to resemble in another 20-30 years.
JP Morgan didn’t break in, Field Asset Services Inc. did. It sounds like they’re guilty of grand larceny. This F-up should lose them their business. They didn’t even check the validity of the order or even who was living there. They should have at least checked to see the current status of the deed.
Well… technically you are right, but then again JP Morgan is the one that contracted with Field Asset Service Inc. to do the job. So they aren’t fully innocent. Field Asset Service didn’t just decide to go and break into the house hoping it was one that was foreclosed on and deserved the treatment. They were told by the JP Morgan Company that “this house is one of ours, and it needs your expertise”. They were both at fault.
Plus I’d be interested to know what Texas Title law is. I know in my state you have to have a clean title search before ownership changes which should have kept this from happening.
It seems like this was a complete failure of the system all around.
Oh… there was “no intent” and “whatever legal term belief they were in the right place (even though the necessary court order is missing right now) — Prosecutor so Field Asset Services is in the clear.
I’m enjoying the right get all in a fluster about those that are attacking McSame’s war record.
The ones that I have run into here at work I just ask if they are ready to retract all their comments about Kerry.
Regarding Mary and her upbringing, did she have to goose-step to school too? Jesus, what a busy body. Her nose must be constantly stuck in the blinds checking out what her neighbors are up too. Are they using to many napkins, is that lighter-fluid they are using on their charcoal? Does she monitor her neighbors electricity meter to make sure their AC unit is up to par? Oh wait…she doesn’t want to do it, she wants to hire a small army of government pests to do it. I’m tempted to conclude her article is an attempt at parody…but I just can’t quite get there.
If I was her neighbor I’d do everything that annoys here. Hell I’d go out and buy heavy equipment just to turn it on and annoy her. I’d go over to her house/apartment and wave a fistful of napkins in her face then burn them with copious amounts of lighter fluid.
Its just plain amazes me how “educated people” like E. J. Dionne Jr. do not understand the purpose of the Supreme Court. I shouldn’t be surprised though it appears that even some of the Justices don’t fully understand their purpose.
I guess civics isn’t really taught in school anymore, at least not the significance of a constitutional republic as apposed to a democracy. The ignorance of the masses in this country will our downfall.
JP Morgan just did a no-knock raid! Don’t check the info, break in, steal things, etc. Only thing they missed was to shoot (and possibly kill) someone!
Edmund,
I didn’t mean to imply JP Morgan had no liability and I agree with you about criminal liability, that was just a little hyperbole. There should be very severe civil liability for both parties and punitive damages should be imposed so this kind of “mix-up” doesn’t happen again.
It sounds like they lost everything, pictures, family heirlooms, things that can’t be replaced. These companies should be required to hold these assets in storage for some minimal period so the owners have the opportunity to reclaim their property.
#16 – They are required to hold it in storage, for at least 24 hours. They’re also required to get a court order and inform that owners that they’ve taken their crap. None of that happened in this case.
How does Slate not mention Anal Cunt?
Here is my response on the Tribune website to the “nanny state response piece”:
Mary (sorry, Ma’am),
You are too modest! Clearly you have some (well, I bet it is more than “some”) great ideas about how other people should live their lives. I think it is just great that you wish to force your preferences on others via legislative fiat–democracy (or fascism?) in action!
Keep it up mein fuhrer!
That article in the trib is just mind-blowing. I agree with other commenters that its substance indicates it’s a parody, but the tone is just not quite there. What’s really creepy is that she justifies the law against running one’s A/C because people should enjoy fresh air and sweating a little. Got that? Not because it helps anyone ELSE around you in any even insignificant, indirect way, and not even because it is good for your health according to some sort of questionable medical study, but because you should just enjoy certain things, and if you don’t, the law should force you to.
In the end, I think she’s using a little parody but still to make her ostenisble general point. These are things she really wouldn’t like to see as actual laws but she uses them to illustrate how rude and obnoxious some people can be in a big city, and so maybe it would be worse without a nice amount of structure. So while perhaps not an actual fascist, she is still a raging moron.
A note to the libertarian running this site: thanks so much for having a karma voting system – I can just vote down stupid comments, and am thus spared the temptation of feeding the trolls. Also, thanks for giving a level playing field to both sides. Simple public condemnation is more effective than censorship.
Re: Field Asset “services”.
Bear in mind that the lawsuits you suggest would be one of those “nuisance suits” (anyone suing a corporation for anything) that Texas Republicans have tried for years to destroy. In light of the recent move by the Supreme’s re: Exxon, I would not be surprised to find that the family has the burden of proof to described every article and effectively gets used good prices and a good riddance from the bank’s lawyers. Otherwise they get tied up in court for a decade or so. Their chances in Williamson Co. are not good.
Re: Schmic column – the things that she wants to ban are mainly things that affect other people. There’s a major difference between that and banning things “for your own good”.
Oh… there was “no intent” and “whatever legal term belief they were in the right place (even though the necessary court order is missing right now) — Prosecutor so Field Asset Services is in the clear.
If the prosecutor went after FAS, it might be harder to avoid going after cops who break into people’s homes without having what they can reasonably believe to be valid warrants.
JP Morgan and FAS conspired to break into the family’s home and take property from it. If a judge’s order was required to conduct such a break-in legally, any participant who cannot demonstrate having seen such order cannot have have had a reasonable belief that their action was legal.
Two notes on the profane band names:
1) Sirius Satellite Radio plays Holy F&*k all the time and their name pops up on my screen unedited. And the song they play on there is pretty good.
2) They left out the most offensive of all: Anal C***
#22 – What does the Exxon decision have to do with it? Half a billion in damages and half a billion punitive ain’t exactly chump change, either.
#23 – Don’t be ridiculous. Of the real laws she mentions 5 are entirely about control of private actions (foie gras, trans fats, taxes on bottled water, alcohol, and cigarettes), one (police cameras) is simply a revenue generator, and the other 3 (public smoking, handguns, and cell phone driving) are only (possibly) tangentially related to actually preventing harm to others.
I won’t even get into her fantasy laws…
Michael,
Everything affects people to one degree or another. If I go to bed late at night, then over sleep a little bit, then get up and speed on my way to work I’ve decreased your safety on the road. Hence a national bed time is a must.
And to use one of her own examples,
We should also ban hypermiling since if you coast the person behind you might fail to notice your reduction in speed thus resulting in an accident, increasing traffic congestion, needless waste of resources, and possible injury and lost productivity too.
See, we can do this with just about everything and anything. Your dividing line is so blurry as to be non-existent, at least without much more work.
We are free to do as they tell us! We are free to do as they tell us! Please, always tell us what to do Big Brother!
I’m not trying to be funny or mean, but is Mary Schmich a guy?
That picture on the site looks like a drag queen. It almost led me to believe that this is a satirical humor column at the paper and I shouldn’t take it seriously.
| Paddy | July 2nd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
“Note to the liberal running this sight, I don’t see that Republicans ever said being a POW was what quailifies McC to run the military. Stop trying to play both sides.”
LOL Did this fucking tool just call Radley a liberal??
Surprised the article didn’t mention that great South African punk rock band Fokofpolisiekar. Just “Polisiekar” to those with virgin ears.
As for Mary Schmich, I’ve got a great rule that should be enforced ruthlessly: MYOB.