Leftism

Tit for Tat

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[Update (2008.11.1.18:49): It appears that “the Stranger” took down the offending page and redirected the link to “The Drudge Report”. I can’t find a cached version of the page. This is a blog entry at the paper apparently written by the guy who wrote the original offending article.]

 

“the Stranger” a leftist rag in Seattle, Wa. decided it would be funny to [update: the original page has been removed]    write a supposed review of local haunted houses in which the scariest houses where those that had Republican campaign posters in their yards. [h/t Instapundit]  Presumably  trying to be  thorough, they displayed the addresses of the houses  prominently in the article.

I figure that turnabout is fair play, so I did some Internet research and found the address of the paper’s editorial director.  

Daniel K. Savage

1146 16TH AVE E
SEATTLE, WA 98112

Here’s a map.

His Wikipedia entry is a hoot, especially the part about licking doorknobs.

The paper’s business number:
(206) 323-7101

is registered to:

Catherine Darkenwald
121 WOOD AVE SW
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WA 98110

The paper itself is at:

1535 11th Ave. 3rd Floor
Seattle, WA 98122

If a reader in the Seattle area would like to swing by and take pictures, we could post those, you know, just to be thorough.

[Update (2008.11.1.19:07): Just to be clear, the problem here arose from the ability of a media outlet to focus the attention of an entire community (tens of thousands of individuals in the case of this paper in Seattle) onto one or two people and then to single those people out as evil. They neglected to take into account that some unstable person might decide to act out the hatred in the article. The media demands special  privileges  but with those  privileges  come responsibilities.]

[Update (2008.11.1.19:07): Hey look scary photos:

Here’s the building at  1535 11th Ave. 3rd Floor  Seattle, WA 98122 where “the Stranger” offices are located.

Here’s close up of their door (it looks kind of seedy).

 

Here’s the house at  Daniel K. Savage  1146 16TH AVE E  SEATTLE, WA 98112 where Dan Savage, the paper’s editorial director lives:

Lastly let me just reprint these thoughts about the morality of putting up these addresses and photos of the houses of people you disagree with politically:

And for anyone who thinks we secretly want somebody to go vandalize those houses—seriously, don’t. It was just a joke.

I could not have put it better myself.

Why the Really Rich Love Socialists

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This article [h/t Instapundit] shows that the U.S. has a more progressive tax code than the democratic-socialist states of Europe.  

Such a state of affairs should not come as a surprise. Our own history shows that the very wealthy benefit from leftist policies of high tax rates, “targeted” taxation and industrial policy.

Read more

Demonopoly

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From a comment  for this post [h/t Instapundit]:

This is also fun and educational for your kids:

Play Monopoly. Wait until some of the kids start to amass a nice pile of money. As they collect rent, take 36% and distribute it to the kids that aren’t doing as well.

If you’re a parent, you know that screams of “That’s not fair!!” are guaranteed.

Use this opportunity to explain the Democratic (mis)definition of the word “fair.”

I think I’ve just found my next computer game to program. I wonder how such rules would affect how many hotels get built on Baltic Avenue?

You Should Be Ashamed!

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Mickey Kaus is a Liberal who will actually try to find out the facts. Kudos to him for that.

But he does occasionally descend into Left wing incoherence. A prime example is a short post entitled Ride My See-Saw. (Click on this link, and scroll down to the post at the 1:21 PM mark.)

Mr. Kaus is taken with the concept of “vertical ticket splitters”, people who don’t automatically cast all of their votes for one party. He attributes their motivation for doing this to guilt. People might vote for Obama in this election, but then carefully cast their remaining votes for Republicans because they feel guilty about…

Well, I’m not really sure why anyone feels guilt. Mr. Kaus seems to think that the bad feelings all flow from racism.

“M suggested that voters (especially white, swing voters) who don’t vote for Obama may feel guilty about it and compensate by voting for Democrats in downballot races (Senate and Congress). But the converse of this theory is equally interesting–voters who do pick Obama, may compensate or hedge for what they feel is a bold, guilt-expiating risk by picking Republicans downballot.”

(snip)

“…more people will be vertical ticket splitters because of the presence of Obama, who is not only an African American candidate–whom you might feel guilty about not picking–but a relatively unknown candidate whom you might want to hedge against, especially if you voted for him to avoid feeling guilty about not picking him (and then felt guilty about that).”

(An attempt was made to keep the original emphasis intact. The above is how Mr. Kaus wants you to see his work.)

This seems extremely odd to me. If someone is a racist, then by definition they genuinely believe that a person’s race disqualifies them in some way. Makes the minority candidate unable to do a decent job simply because of their heritage, so to speak.

Seen in this light, it becomes obvious that racists are not going to be effected in any way by guilty feelings. Why would anyone, racist or otherwise, feel guilty about voting for what they see as the more capable choice? If anything, racists would feel pride in voting for their prejudices because they would think that they are acting for the greater good. So why go on and on about how racists would feel guilt?

The constant harping on racism from the Left during this election appears to me to have two root causes.

It seems to me that one cause is pure projection from Liberals. They are going to vote for Obama not because they genuinely believe him to be the best qualified for the job, but due to some bizarre self loathing. White guilt, if you will. Since guilt is the most powerful motivator when they make their political choices, it seems obvious to them that everyone else must also have simmering pools of white hot shame bubbling just beneath the surface. If people just listened to the voice in their heads that said they must make up for being a piece of crap, then everyone would make the same choice. The correct choice!

The other is a cynical attempt to manipulate swing voters, a propaganda effort to make the Bradley Effect work for the Democrats. If swing voters can be convinced that they will be perceived as racists by voting for anyone other than Obama, maybe a significant percentage will vote for the candidate that they would otherwise feel is too inexperienced to handle the job. Pretty much force people to vote for the least qualified candidate.

I must confess, dear reader, that it makes me feel distinctly uncomfortable to climb up on my analyst’s couch and try to plumb the mental depths of complete strangers. Not only am I obviously unqualified, it also strikes me as the height of arrogance to even try. But I feel justified since the Left in general, and Mr. Kaus specifically, are not constrained to keep to their area of expertise.

To close, I would have to say that the only people who should be feeling guilty are the Liberals who scream “Racism!” at the drop of a hat. Have they no shame?

(Hat tip to Glenn.)