Saturday, July 08, 2006

In the hot seat with Russet Shadows

Russet is a familiar name to those of us from Moonbat Central days. Like myself he is more to the left then comonly assumed. His blog is interesting with a unique style
and often untitled posts.

1 You have summed up some of our more incoherent left types. I have known many radicals but most are not all there. Is there more mental illness then politics behind someone like John Brown? There seems to be a deranged idiocy behind talk of Muslim Goblins and idiocies like calling Native Americans Sambos.

2 Is there such a variant as patriotic liberalism? There seems to be a deranged obsession with Iraq and Israel as a reference point for the far left. Thus much of the hysteria about Lieberman is over a single issue. Has the left invested to much of its energy in Iraq? Has the far left Commie types at Code Pink redefined where the left is?

3 Is there something inherently wrong about marching in protests organized by Communists. I wouldn't be anywhere near a protest organized by the KKK.

4 I have been to several Peace Protests and concluded that these protests are anything but peaceful. What does Mumia Jamal have to do with a Peace protest? There were Palestinian flags all over the place. Commie Rabbi Lerner was banned from speaking at one event because he was too pro Israel. Obviously the organizers are among the multitudes of people who do not read Tikkun. Why is it so hard for anti war protesters to stay on message? Or is this exactly what happens when Commie Front groups such as UPJ, Answer and Code Pink run the show.

Immigration Madness

5 There is a guest worker program currently being run as H class visas. The vast preponderance of these visas go to Indian and Chinese IT Professionals. Beneficiaries are limited to two three year increments and their spouses may not work. Children must return home on their twenty first birthday. Interestingly if one has a child here it becomes a " anchor baby" and sets off another mess. Should we model a new guest worker progam on the H1B?
6 Should the enire basis of immigration be vocational? Is family reinification consistent with a modern economy?
7 Should we deny services to illegal aliens other then life saving emergency care?
8 Are you prepared to throw the book at companies who cotinue to violate our labor laws.

The future of the US economy

9 Should the USA pursue a more pro India foreign policy? India is far more relevant to our economic future and a more reliable ally then France.
10 Is China friend or foe?
11 Should we be concerned about Chavez? The assumption is that gas prices always go up. However comodity prices do go down and Chavez is tied to the price of oil.
12 Should we pursue more domestic oil production in places like ANWAR?
13 Do Unions have a place in the modern economy?

Moonbat memories

14 What are your favorite Moonbat Central memories? I miss the wit and wisdom of Richard Poe. Rocco has done an excellent job with Antiprotestor but Poe's shoes are pretty big.
15 Who was your favorite Moonbat Central columnist?

Personal section

16 Do you watch professional sports? Do you have a favorite team or athlette?
17 Has the quality of film and TV improved over the last thirty years. Would classic TV shows like All in the Family and Sanford and Son survive in todays market?

Taxes

18 Has the Tobacco and Alcohol Tax craze gone too far? I do not like nanny state and regressive taxation.
19 Are increases in user fees hidden taxes?
20 What are your thoughts on replacing the income tax with a flat tax rate or National sales tax?

Health Care and Insurance

21 Should the laws governing the sale of Insurance be nationalized. This would simplify the maze of state regulations and loopholes.
22 What are your views on National health care? I see plenty of Canadians at local doctors where I live.
23 Why do health care costs always seem to outpace inflation?

Random

24 Are bikers hip or retro?
25 Who is the most annoying celebrity?

8 comments:

nanc said...

16 Do you watch professional sports? Do you have a favorite team or athlette?

subliminal message - say "golf"...

Dan Zaremba said...

Ok.
Waiting for the interview.
Sounds exciting.

elmers brother said...

I have just become familiar with inrussetshadows and I am looking forward to this interview

In Russet Shadows said...

Well alrighty then, here we go!

1) I do believe that mental instability is a factor in modern liberalism. You could argue from Freud that the Left is obsessed with the death instinct (as opposed to the life instinct) and thus (to quote Zao) "desires the end"; that this is not healthy is obvious. John Brown is on the lam from the local asylum. He can't stay at any one library for very long, thus his posts are a bit hasty.

2) I would like to believe that there exists a patriotic liberalism, somewhere. I wish I could find some evidence of adherants. Code Pink and other voices have fractured the Left into an incoherent harpy song; by constant media exposure, they have succeeded in moving the goalposts not only left, but off the field.

3) Communists have always been under-watched after J.E. Hoover. Can people march in a parade for commies? Sure, but I'll be there with a megaphone and the Black Book of Communism. :)

4) Peace groups have never had a message that made sense, so it's natural for them to veer off topic. I mean, really. Peace for whom? The original protestors certainly didn't want peace for the South Vietnamese. After Saigon fell and millions of people ended up dead or in gulags, the peace activists merely moved on to the next shiny cause.

5) There are too many immigration laws and classifications. I'd like to see three kinds of people: citizens, short-term visitors (<2 months, say), and temporary workers (seasonal, college, business employees).

6) Vocational and educational, though educational should be ramped way down. The whole family model is outdated.

7) As far as government goes, absolutely yes. If a private organization, church, or so forth wanted to serve all comers, that'd be fine.

8) Heck yes!

9) Yes. There's a lot of worldview synchrony between the U.S. and India.

10) That's a tough one. I think China is more of a foe than a friend, but only slightly so.

11) We should fund the opposition groups in Venuzuela. Chavez is scum, but the change must come from the Venezuelans, not us.

12) We should drill ANWAR. We should drill the Gulf Coast. We should open up the floodgates and buy oil from the thousands of independent wells across the U.S.

13) A lot of the changes that unions orginally advocated for now have the force of law, rendering the union's bargaining power weakened, if not entirely moot. I don't see a purpose for them, myself, but if you want to join one, go right ahead.

14 and 15) Man, I'd hate to play favorites by picking anyone over someone else. Moonbat Central was a very kewl community and it was like getting slapped when it closed down. I remember warmly the give-and-take and the cutting humor.

16) I don't have a favorite team or athelete, except for the 1980 U.S. hockey team, oh, and of course the L.A. Clippers! They'll make it someday! :) I don't watch sports (sorry, no TV), but going to see a baseball game has a special charm.

17) The quality of film and TV has pretty much hit low tide in the past 30 years. Family-oriented fare can survive, although now it's more of a novelty than the mainstream. That's the true tragedy -- the coarsening of the American mind.

18) I don't have a problem with "sin taxes" as a concept; after all, every tax is a measure of societal disapproval and a reduction in economic freedom anyhow. Are tobacco and alcohol being overtaxed? My gut instinct would be to say "yes" but I haven't looked at the numbers lately.

19) Absolutely yes. The VAR is truly demonic.

20) I'm all for a flat tax. To quote a bumper sticker, "If 10% is good enough for God, it's good enough for the IRS." :)

21) Hmm. I'm very hesitant to do anything to help out the insurance companies, so I'd say leave the laws the way they are.

22) National health care would be a huge surrender of basic freedom and would create a massive bureaucracy that cares about no-one. Would you want the IRS to determine whether you should have a heart operation or not? I can see national health care being used to deprive or favor population groups based on the interests of the bureaucracy, too.

23) The more fingers in the pot, the more the cost goes up. Insurance is a huge middleman in the healthcare business, so they drive up the costs. The extravagant jury awards drive up the costs. The failure of the medical organizations to self-police (thus keeping bad apples practicing medicine) drive up the costs. In short, it's the old spectres of greed and incompetence and a rather inelastic demand curve -- they can get away with it because people need it.

24) Bikers are alright. I've known a few and I respect that scene, even though it's not my scene.

25) Most annoying celebrity -- geesh, another tough one! There's just too many to choose from. Ordinarily I'd go for Cindy Sheehan, but to call her a celebrity is probably giving her too much credit, so I'll stick with Barbara Streisand. (Come to think of it, they do have a lot in common.)

Wow, now that's what I'd call an interview!

beakerkin said...

Russet you picked the one annoying celebrity that gets under my skin. Barbara Striesand is a distant blood relative and she is an embarassment. If it were not a famiy matter Sean Penn would top my list.

Thanks for the interview but be prepared for some questions.

elmers brother said...

So do you think more tort reform would solve some of the health care/insurance issues that we have?

The Clippers..now I know you're off your rocker. LOL!

Dan Zaremba said...

That's the true tragedy -- the coarsening of the American mind.
Not only American, it happens everywhere and it's labelled as progress.
PUHleaaase!

Thanks for the interview guys.
Very good.

You're right about the most annoyinf celeb - too many to chose from.
Michael Moore would be my choice - only because he sells as 'documentary".

nanc said...

the new testament states emphatically that everything belongs to G-d! yikes! ten percent was old testament - dang, the jews get all the breaks...