Comments from finance/tech guy turned novelist. Author of best seller Campusland. Follow on Twitter: @SJohnston60.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Today's Idiocy
A friend of mine took this photo in his hotel room in California. So, let me see...they ship water from Iceland to LA so you can drink something that comes out of your bathroom spout for free, and somehow it's carbon neutral? As my friend says, it's more important to feel good about yourself than to actually know what you're talking about...
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Hide Your Children, It's the Kochs!
It's a Ko-ko-ko-ko-koch!
One wonders if the left ever suffers from a moment of self-reflection. Likely not, as the resulting cognitive migraines would make life unbearable. Much easier to surround yourself with people who agree with you, and try to silence those who don't.
Take the latest meme from the left, the "Koch brothers." Just keep repeating it, even if you don't know why. The left is angry because the Kochs have a lot of money, and they use it to fund things with which liberals don't agree. Harry Reid took to the Senate floor to label the Kochs "un-American." What at appalling precedent, that a sitting Senate leader would call out two citizens who have broken no laws and have done nothing worse than fund things in which they believe.
So, why no rebuke for George Soros? He spends billions on lovely things like drug legalization. Or how about Tom Steyer, who has spent $100 million fighting the Keystone pipeline? I could argue anyone into the ground about why the Keystone pipeline is a good thing, but that's not the point, is it? It's Steyer's money, and he can do what he wants with it. Alas, this right only seems to belong to billionaires on the left.
I happen to know David Koch. Not well, but well enough to
know he is soft-spoken and incredibly generous with his money, funding
many charities in education and health. But the fact that he's a nice
person who gives billions to charity is hardly the point. He could be
nasty and cheeseparing, and he'd still have the right to fund things he
believes in. Right? Nod your head now.
The left has grown bolder when it comes to silencing
speech it doesn't like, the latest example being the CEO of Mozilla,
hounded out of office for once giving to a pro-traditional marriage
group (at the same time Mr. Obama held the same view, no less). Students
and faculty at Rutgers are trying to shut down a speech by Condoleeza
Rice. Likely, they will resort to shouting if they don't get their way.
When was the last time you heard about a liberal speaker shouted down by
campus conservatives? Right, it's never happened.
I am reminded of the old joke, what's the definition of a
Nazi? Answer: a conservative winning an argument. My friends on the
left: the First Amendment isn't there to simply protect speech you like.
Argue with us until you're blue in the face, but suppression of speech
is a bad habit you need to break.