Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2001 21:19:59 -0700 From: spooner@doitnow.com (Rick Tompkins/Kathy Harrer) Subject: Re: [lpaz-discuss] Disspelling rumors To: lpaz-discuss@yahoogroups.com Cc: ernesthancock@inficad.com Reply-To: lpaz-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Hmmm. Rex, huh? And Iscariot too?
John, you're so kind and forgiving. You didn't even call him on his blatant mischaracterization -- an old tactic of the left. Might that be his provenance?
Well, let's see just how serious this scoff-principle, this disparager of those who refuse to concede the war in order to "win" it, is:
Is he willing to let strangers have sex with his wife, sister, daughter and/or mother? If not, why not? What if they will "compromise" with him and agree to "do it" with his womenfolk only once a week? Once a month? Oh, come now, don't be an extremist, be reasonable! Surely he wouldn't be so hide- bound as to be unwilling to make a small concession on this? After all, he advocates compromise no matter the issue or its parameers, does he not?
And then his paycheck (and anything of value he has) -- suppose I want a share? Surely he can concede some part of it. 10% isn't too much to ask, is it? Well, if he wants to quibble, how about a measly 2%? Surely he won't complain about such a small concession, will he? I _promise_ I won't use his capitulation as a precedent in trying to get more from him later.
And he certainly doesn't expect actual honesty from anyone, does he? I mean, that's so hard to maintain! Surely it's OK for everyone to lie whenever it serves their purposes, and at their own discretion, right?
Oh, and we don't need to get rid of ALL slavery, do we? Isn't that rather extreme? Surely _some_ concession can be made here. There really are no absolutes, nor should there be, right?
What _kind_ of concession, on what _kind_ of issue, what kind of precedent will be set and what the likely consequences will be, are all vital considerations when negotiating anything important. To be willing, without even a serious examination of the ramifications, to concede a principle of human liberty to those who would be so despicable as to ask for such a concession is cowardice, ignorance, or both.
Those who have extensive experience in the circumstances and issues pertinent to this discussion, who have given years of serious thought to, and engaged in numerous and lengthy discussions regarding all these issues can be neither impressed nor enlightened by immature and uninformed sniping from holier-than-thou, self-styled gurus using the time-worn and pusillanimous tactics of the typical liberal academic -- to wit, sneering sarcasm, deliberate distortions and mischaracterizations, and avoidance of facts at all costs.
Of course, some just don't _want_ to "get it." Maybe -- no, probably -- because they are afraid. How sad.
And, of course, the implied criticism of the best, most brilliant and cogent libertarian journalist in the world, along with those who read him, is in itself quite revealing. It is characteristic of such people that they will fire off their snide little remarks, hiding behind their keyboards hoping nobody will notice their abject impotence to coherently refute anything Vin writes.
Rick
At 05:22 PM 4/2/01 -0700, John Wilde wrote:
>It came down to a sense of experience. The same thing happened in the
NRA and the Libertarian Party, the small things, became big things, which became bigger things till it became impossible to sop the compromisers. One of the little things is that several GOA people have indicated that now that we have a Republican House, Senate and Pres. that we cannot go after bad Republicans.>The last conversation I caught and someone can correct me if I am wrong,
Jon Kyle from Arizona got an A+ from GOA. Jon Kyle doesn't deserve an A+ on any subject involving freedom. Some of the earlier posts on the subject indicated that this shift is from "make it hurt no-compromise politics" to "gaining access with all of the benefits (and compromises that would be necessary to keep access)" More importantly, the GOA still has yet to explain the reasons for removing two of its most effective activists from the board. Any explanation at this point will be looked upon with a great deal of skepticism.>If the posts showed the GOA leadership that they are being watched for
even the slightest of shifts in principle, so that the shift is stopped, then objections did their job. However, given things that came out during the exchange, it may be too late.>The GOA has stated that it is now going to be shifting its focus on "national
activism" i.e. Congress. The reason given was that membership and resources are down. That is not a reason, it is a lame excuse. It is a big problem as well. Because at the same time the anti-gunners are now focusing their efforts on the states. This battle is not going to be won by going national, it has got to be dealt with at the state level.>Reasons for concern exist. Those concerns have been expressed and have
substantially gone unanswered. If anyone is going to be disappointed, it is going to be those who are no-compromise that have been let down yet again. Until Larry Pratt comes out and demonstrates no-compromise, then his words are meaningless. Actions truely do speak louder than words.g'day John Wilde
Rex Iscariot wrote:
> At 10:42 PM 3/29/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >To those who believe in absolutely no concessions:
> >
> >There has been a lot of talk lately about Gun Owners of America and whether
> >they are going through a shift in philosophy. I just got off the phone
with > >Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America. We had a nice
> >talk about what is happening and Larry was straightforward in his response
> >to your concerns that GOA is going to go down the path of compromise in
> >order to "gain some ground."
Rex Iscariot responds:
> If this is the full story, it's going to be awfully disappointing to people
> awaiting the rush from ostracizing and exorcising people for straying from
> ideological orthodoxy.
>
> I mean, you do a lot of people a disservice by sending this to the list;
> after all, you're robbing people of their sense of superiority, and most of
> all the camaraderie of sharing a good smug-fest with the already
> converted. I mean, from the posts here you could tell people were already
> jumping to conclusions about GOA and salivating in anticipation of
> exorcising them from from the Arizona Libertarian clique.
>
> Being a libertarian has never been about ending drug wars, fighting tyranny
> and coercion, and shrugging off the corrosive and morally corrupt
> skullduggery of collectivists. If I've learned anything from being a
> Libertarian Party member for 10 years, being a libertarian is *really*
> about the euphoria found buried deep in the strange combination of being
> ideologically pure and tolerating nothing less in anyone else, while on the
> other hand having absolutely no influence in the world at all.
>
> I guess now I'm not going to be able to sit here with 10 other libertarians
> in a darkened room reading Vin Suprynowicz columns and feeling superior
>to GOA.
>
> Shit, life is tough. But that's okay, comrades, we'll find other
> counter-revolutionaries straying from the One True Path to expose. It's
> just a matter of time.
>
> -Rex
>
> ==============================================================
> Rex Iscariot <quag7@frostwarning.com> - Tucson, Arizona - USA
>
> http://www.frostwarning.com
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