Taxes

“Those who declare taxes to be theft either forget or fail to grasp that it is taxes that pay for the maintenance of those institutions on which legitimate claims of ownership or theft depend for their intelligibility and force in the first place." Dispatches from Libertopia: An Anthology of Wingnut Chestnuts and Democratizing Remedies

Reagen Staff Members that support Obama

"Among the Obamacons were Ken Duberstein, Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff; Charles Fried, Reagan’s solicitor general; Ken Adelman, director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency for Reagan; Jeffrey Hart, longtime senior editor of National Review; Colin Powell, Reagan’s national security adviser and secretary of state for George W. Bush; and Scott McClellan, Bush’s press secretary. There were many others as well."


via President Obama is a Republican via The American Conservative and azspot.net

When Christians get defensive...

"When Christians get defensive and indignant about being reminded of the sins of our ancestors like slavery and the crusades, it indicates that we don’t really believe that Jesus died for those sins. There is nothing morally superior about Christians. We simply have a powerful resource in Jesus’ cross for being humble and truthful about our past and present shortcomings. The response of many Christians to President Obama’s prayer breakfast remarks suggests that they haven’t yet put their faith in Jesus’ cross." Morgan Guyton via azspot.net

Ben Franklin on Smallpox

"In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a child died under it; my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen." Ben Franklin via azspot.net

Super Bowl Thoughts...

Downtown Abbey > Superbowl XLIX." Via friend Tyler M. On Facebook

Gun Logic

"Someone on FB posted that their house was invaded yesterday while they were home. The animals alerted that something was wrong. The occupant found the invader coming in through the recently jimmied sliding glass door. The occupant pretended to take a photo of the invader (though the camera had not yet loaded. GOOD THINKING!).


The invader said something threatening. The occupant retreated to the bedroom, locked the door, and called the police. The invader fled.


Now, the occupant insists that the only smart thing to do is buy a gun for home protection.
 Does anyone besides me see a flaw in this logic?" Via friend William H.
on Facebook

Donald Trump is a Pompous Jackass

“Donald Trump got a standing ovation today at the Iowa Freedom Summit when he promised that if he won the presidency he would defeat the Islamic State, build a fence along the nation’s southern border to stop illegal immigration, repeal Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and stand up to Democrats. He said Republican politicians had let Obama “get away with absolute murder,” that Mitt Romney “choked” in the 2012 campaign and shouldn’t be nominated again, and Jeb Bush is unsuitable because he’s “very, very weak” on immigration and supports Common Core educational standards. The news here isn’t that Trump is a pompous ignorant right-wing megalomaniac.


That’s well established. The news is that the Republican Party hasn’t learned a thing since the last presidential election when a Star Wars barroom of neo-isolationists, fundamentalists, and racists split the GOP into warring factions that, financed by a handful of wealthy reactionaries, flamed on for a year or more and fueled the fanaticism that’s become the lifeblood of the party. (Sarah Palin is signaling this weekend she may be in the running, too.) That one of the two major parties of America is incapable of seriously governing poses a clear and present danger to the Republic." Robert Reich ☀