Deep State

[One Bad Pig]

I've finished it now. Very interesting. Kinda emphasizes how little a lot of Americans know about what the federal government does, and what the departments actually do. It doesn't help at all that the departments are badly named, and that they are banned from advertising their successes to the public. Really the federal departments are in need of a decent PR campaign to educate the masses and help people understand what they actually do.

Rick Perry, of course, infamously wanted to abolish the Department of Energy (but couldn't remember its name) until he was appointed by Trump as secretary of the department and discovered it was actually the department of managing nuclear weapons and nuclear contamination. People think the Department of Commerce is about business and economics and don't realize it's actually mostly Weather Forecasting, Patents, and Census administration. And people think the Department of Agriculture is something about farms, and don't realize it's primarily about food assistance programs such as SNAP, and secondarily about helping rural people with housing. And that's only the 3 federal departments covered by the book... 15 exist in total.

I think the existence of libertarianism as a political philosophy in the US (to an extent it doesn't exist in other Western countries) is a product of the profound ignorance of most Americans as to what things their government actually does. If you don't know what the government is doing / assume it isn't doing much, then the question of "why even bother to have a government at all?" seems sensible. So they like "small government". But if you actually were to take the same person down a long check-list of things the government is currently doing, and ask for each individual item whether they thought it should happen or not, you'd get a very different answer, starting with "should the government manage its arsenal of nuclear weapons?" At the end of the checklist, people might still have different ideas about the total size they want government to be, but they'd be fewer morons saying "why don't we just not have a government?"

There's a huge difference between "we want a smaller federal government" and "why don't we just not have a government." There's also a significant difference between "should be done" and "should be done by the federal government." You won't find many people arguing, e.g., that the federal government should not oversee nuclear weapons (though one might question why the DoE is overseeing nuclear weapons).

[JimL]

A brief mind blank that happens to everyone, it was just unfortunate for him it happened while everyone was watching.

Except he already did know that. The whole claim he somehow didn't came from a random New York Times writer who simply claimed he didn't know on no apparent basis other than the journalist's magical mind-reading abilities and then people started reporting that uncritically. The only source offered was something Michael McKenna said, which (1) didn't actually support the claim, and (2) is something McKenna said was taken out of context anyway.

Sure, Perry changed his mind on getting rid of it, and perhaps there's room for criticism in that about-face, but it wasn't because he somehow wasn't aware of what it did.

You seem to be confusing anarchism with libertarianism. Granted, some anarchists do identify as ilbertarians, but in my experience outright anarchists are a small minority among libertarians.

Also, while there might be some who are unaware that the Department of Energy handles nuclear material in addition to more general energy stuff, most people I've seen actually advocate the abolition of the Department of Energy are aware of it handling nuclear-related matters, they just want that part of it put under a different part of the government's purview (unless we're talking about anarchists, who I assume would want the government to get rid of the nuclear weapons on its way out, but I'll admit I haven't really looked much at the anarchists think, mostly because I don't really care what anarchists think).

A mind blank indeed. The guy was running for president, if he had a mind blank it's only because he had no clue in the first place. If Perry, as a candidate for presidedent, knew what the Dept. of Energy did and still wanted to get rid of it, then he is a bigger idiot than if he didn't know. In either case, he's a bit of an irresponsible idiot who is now in charge of that very important position which was last held by a nuclear physicist.

[Sparko]

After that word salad we are still left with the fact that it is the gay community itself that is turning the acronym into an alphabet soup jumble and to pretend that is somehow 's fault are asinine.

But the inclusives don't include H for Heterosexual

[JimL]

But the inclusives don't include H for Heterosexual

Aw, poor baby, are you feeling ostracised and discriminated against too, Sparko?

[Zymologist]

Aw, poor baby, are you feeling ostracised and discriminated against too, Sparko?

Maybe we should get our own acronym...something like CGPHS (Cis-Gender, Patriarchal, Heteronormative, Straight, obviously)

[One Bad Pig]

Aw, poor baby, are you feeling ostracised and discriminated against too, Sparko?

Wow. What in the world made you think Sparko is seriously distressed by that?

[JimL]

Wow. What in the world made you think Sparko is seriously distressed by that?

He's obviously feeling left out, poor boy.

[rogue06]

Wow. What in the world made you think Sparko is seriously distressed by that?

Because if little jimmy was in his shoes he would have left a poop trail all the way to his safe space?

[Cow Poke]

He's obviously feeling left out, poor boy.

There are many things for which I am grateful I am left out.

[Sparko]

Aw, poor baby, are you feeling ostracised and discriminated against too, Sparko?

not very inclusive huh?

[Sparko]

He's obviously feeling left out, poor boy.

assuming gender again, I see.

[Terraceth]

A mind blank indeed. The guy was running for president, if he had a mind blank it's only because he had no clue in the first place.

Blanking on a word or phrase, even ones you've used plenty of times, happens to pretty much everyone, though most are fortunate enough to not have it occur while in a television debate watched by millions. It was embarrassing, sure, but it was nothing more than an "okay, that was kind of funny, let's move on" gaffe, and to make anything more of it is trying to disingenuously score points. Incidentally, what often goes unreported is the fact he did remember it soon afterwards in the debate and mentioned it.

If Perry, as a candidate for presidedent, knew what the Dept. of Energy did and still wanted to get rid of it, then he is a bigger idiot than if he didn't know. In either case, he's a bit of an irresponsible idiot who is now in charge of that very important position which was last held by a nuclear physicist.

I don't particularly care about defending Rick Perry's policies and in fact don't really care for him in general. But to make light several years later of a momentary gaffe of the sort that happens to pretty much everyone is silly, and making claims about him not knowing what the Department of Energy does based on the magical mind-reading abilities of a reporter (and flies in the face of other evidence, such as past statements he made about the Department of Energy and its nuclear management), is just spreading false information.

[JimL]

Blanking on a word or phrase, even ones you've used plenty of times, happens to pretty much everyone, though most are fortunate enough to not have it occur while in a television debate watched by millions. It was embarrassing, sure, but it was nothing more than an "okay, that was kind of funny, let's move on" gaffe, and to make anything more of it is trying to disingenuously score points. Incidentally, what often goes unreported is the fact he did remember it soon afterwards in the debate and mentioned it.

No, he didn't remember it, he had to be told by Sen. Paul. He didn't remember it because he obviously knew nothing about the Dept. of Energy or what it did going in.

I don't particularly care about defending Rick Perry's policies and in fact don't really care for him in general. But to make light several years later of a momentary gaffe of the sort that happens to pretty much everyone is silly, and making claims about him not knowing what the Department of Energy does based on the magical mind-reading abilities of a reporter (and flies in the face of other evidence, such as past statements he made about the Department of Energy and its nuclear management), is just spreading false information.

Bologna. He was simply trying to memorize what he thought that his conservative constituency, to whom he was speaking, wanted to hear and he forgot because he had no clear idea about the Dept. or what it was responsible for in the first place.

[Cerebrum123]

He's obviously feeling left out, poor boy.

So have you finally figured out what a boy is?

[Cow Poke]

So have you finally figured out what a boy is?

Jim is feeling rather "boyish", hence the current round of anger, lashing out, and name calling.