Friday, June 18, 2010

More Tea Baggery

RedState's Pompadour has Part II of his Ron Johnson/Rock River Patriots grilling analysis up. If you'd like some more nuttery, help yourself. A third helping is promised for Monday.

I think it's important to point out that Pompadour and the rest of his band of merry men at RS are pretty obviously David Westlake supporters and that this fact clouds any method to their madness.

Still, one has to wonder what universe Pompadour is living in. Take for example the utterly preposterous idea that the Fourth Amendment somehow shields citizens from income taxes. Here's the relevant part of the post:

Do you think the 4th Amendment provides some challenges to the income tax system?

Johnson had to be nudged by someone in the audience as to the basic content of the 4th Amendment before he could come up with an answer. His excuse? (you’ll hear it peppering the entire 45-minute session) “I’m not a constitutional scholar.” No one was asking him to be. But it seems reasonable that he should know the content of the document he’ll be sworn to uphold if elected.

Once reminded, Johnson gets quite excited about personal property rights and how wonderful they are—though he never quite ties his thoughts back to the question he was asked. He also says, “Freedom is really economic freedom—to a great extent.”

Well, there’s an interesting quandary… How, exactly, does RoJo’s exuberant embrace of personal property rights and economic freedom square with his previous assertion that government should have the power to limit business? Or doesn’t he view a business—or any of the various forms of ownership in one—as personal property and economic freedom? Perhaps he ought to think these connections through to a logical conclusion as others of us have done.

Now, I have to sympathize with Johnson's answer. When I first read the question the very first thought in my head was "Wait, isn't the Fourth Amendment the one about unreasonable searches and seizures?" I was so unsure with myself that I went and looked it up before I continued reading.

Turns out I was right, but the reason I doubted myself was because the Fourth Amendment has nothing to do with income taxes! Pompadour's argument is so ridiculous it isn't even a fringe argument. It's just patently wrong.

I bring this up because Pompadour is a bit of a dick when it comes to talking about how awesome his interpretation of the Constitution is. He claims that Johnson "lacks a solid familiarity with the Constitution" and chides him for saying that the document is "not an easy document to read. Unless you study it in detail, it’s hard to study." Also, see the last line of the first paragraph above.

But Pompadour's treatment of the Fourth Amendment as a guarantee against income taxes is a perfect example of someone who is cherry-picking from the Constitution. Federal income taxes are specifically allowed courtesy of the 16th Amendment. No wonder Johnson was tripped up by the question: it made no sense whatsoever.

And this is all emblematic of the ultimate problem with the Tea Party: you just can't win with these guys. They hate taxes so much that they develop an alternate reality in which vast swathes of the government are unconstitutional despite clear evidence to the contrary. It's not enough for Johnson -- or anyone, really -- to say "I want to significantly reduce taxes." Tea baggers demand that their candidates subscribe to the same crank legal theories that they do.

This is no way to get elected.

3 comments:

CJ said...

I thought that Feingold might hold off a while longer, but he's in with this from Politico:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38610.html

Anonymous said...

Good. I think it was time for Russ to show he has some sack and is not afraid of the Teas. Really excellent IMO would be an actual Debate. Even a side-by-side thing where they don't address each other IF they weren't totally tipped off what the questions would be - Feingold's greater intelligence and experience would have to leave RoJo babbling like an idiot.

Considering that RoJo's handler's are probably going to keep him protected hot-house flower then at least it would be good for Russ to parade his intelligence as many ways as possible (dunno how, but...)
and that he has sack too. and he can get pissed. He said Fuck this shit or similar and left the room back in Bush days, stuff like that. Quiet doesn't equate to wimpy.

I'd say similar (just based on instinct cuz I haven't looked at him much) with that Oshkosh RadioHead (fugly dude, whoa)

Just a quick look makes me think he's not that smart and all about the "bottle courage". Like a guy who can kick it if he's safe behind his mic in his little radio cubbyhole and he's got his can of Red Bull there and his porn mags for comfort. Maybe then he can spit out some pseudo-intelligence.(and I highly doubt even that since he was all about the retarded Global Warming jokes from the quick look I took at his blog )
But put him in front of people, and up against an experienced guy like Hintz (he seems to handle himself really well public speaking from what I've seen) Holy crap - it ought to be night and day. So maybe Ideologues will grab Old Homer in a love embrace, but they would have anyway.
My fave thing is giving a guy enough rope and they hang themselves. You can even say that right out and people still do it. Lol
so yeah, if both these guys put their Stupids on Parade that would be good. Or, if they just wanna look like their cowering in fear, and can't play with the Big Boys - that works too.
*Heavy sigh*
but on the other hand, putting your Stupids on parade WORKS! and gets VOTES!!!!
omg look at Palin. and a bunch of others.
Why the hell doesn't that work for me? Life... so unfair.

Final Question:
Is a female RoJo supporter a RoJoHo?

CJ said...

Is a female RoJo supporter a RoJoHo?

Naughty. *S*