*PJ O’Rourke on the two parties entering the 2006 elections. Via QandO.
*A manifesto for Republicans facing the 2006 elections. Though I’m not sure an anaology to the Spartans at Thermopylae will raise a lot of spirits.
*A maybe not-so-different kind of border fence. Of course, the Chinese have tried the wall-building thing before without notable success.
*There’s a difference between historians and lawyers, on the one hand, and journalists, on the other; only the latter think that you can prove your point through sloppy paraphrasing, playing fast and loose with primary sources, and citing the testimony of the anonymous. Bob Woodward’s new book is a classic example of this. Be sure to read the whole thing, long as it is, and reflect on Woodward’s motive.
*Now, Hugo Chavez has gone too far!
5 thoughts on “Quick Links 10/16/06”
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Hugo Chavez, brought to you by Red Stripe.
PJ ORourke has it right. We have two parties that are dysfunctional. The last time a real third party was established was when the national need was great, and a crisis was brewing. One we kept really putting off.
So Lincoln left the Whigs, and joined those new Republicans.
I agree Daryl, both parties are broke and need to be fixed. A third party is not the answer though. The last time a third party was tries we got Bill Clinton. The answer is to fix our parties. Conservatives need to take back control of the Rupublican party and the Moderates need to take back the Democrat party. Liberals need to be left twisting in the wind where they belong. It is time for both parties to recognize that they are not serving the interests of the country.
As for that Lizardian Manifesto…. It’s stuff like that which has always kept me from fully embracing the party, and the democrats do the same thing, of course, and I bet there are plenty of dems out there who have the same dilema as me.
I’ve never been a joiner, and all of that rah-rah crap always has struck me as being just a tad creepy and off-putting. More importantly than that, though, I think the whole thing is more than a bit sophomoric and problematic, as people who spout, buy in to, and embrace that kind of thing always seem like they’re putting party before country, as if the election is some kind of big game. Urgh.
The first election I was able to vote in was…well, 1989, for the REALLY local stuff, but anyway, nationally, the 1990 off-years. This is the worst shape I’ve ever seen the Republican Party in, and the country as a whole, in terms of how partisan and unproductive politics is at the moment. I’m going to vote, but I think I’m gonna go straight home afterwards and take a shower. The one saving grace (and I can’t believe I’m saying this about a Democrat, but anyway) is that I get to vote for Lieberman. That will be one of my most satisfying votes ever.
Just for the record…I feel like I’m posting a disclaimer here, but anyway, I voted for him in 2000 for the Senate as well, and not the Republican child molester du jour.