There’s no “anarchist state” – or even a potential “anarchist state” – any more than there’s an “atheist church.” Atheism is the belief that there is no god or gods. You can be an atheist without bombing churches or murdering priests, even if you believe the world would be a better place without either. Atheism does not advance its own theories about ethics. Atheism simply says, “All this stuff about gods? It doesn’t make any sense, does it?”

Similarly, anarchism is the belief that there is no State. By “State,” I mean “some independent body of law that limits the unjust use of power.” There is no such animal. I can’t sum up my entire argument in a blawg’s comment box, but, in brief: (A) what we call the State is not a singular entity but a network of agencies with different agendas; (B) the State is no more immune to human folly than the humans it governs; (C) the State is a concentration of power, not a bulwark against it.

My ultimate point: we are already living in anarchy. We are already living in the world that you predict anarchy would turn into – a world where the biggest gang has grabbed all the guns and cowed everyone they can’t shoot. That’s the state of affairs right now. Anarchism, as a philosophy, simply exposes that. Anarchism states that the idea of Power Subservient to Justice – a/k/a, a benevolent State – is a myth.

- John Perich AKA Professor Coldheart,
via the comments section @ Who is IOZ?

Rodent scurries by as Obama lauds Wall Street vote

The . . . most crucial difference: back then, when it was Medicare, the center-left much more firmly understood the concept of the reactionary — that this small and predictable minority of obdurate Americans would automatically fight any serious social reform as harbinger of the apocalypse.

Politicians had the moral confidence to push it through nonetheless, past the shrieks of the scared extremists and their corporate ideological partners. Meanwhile, they rhetorically stigmatized the shriekers — confident that wise and enlightened legislation would before long establish cherished social rights (keep the government out of my Medicare!).

With Obama care, however, too many Democrats proceeded from the suspicion that the shriekers might just have something important and useful to say about the broader judgment of of the electorate. And so ultimately, too much political energy and capital was expended trying to achieve an impossible bipartisan consensus on too little reform. Luckily — with financial reform and energy policy — Democrats will have two more bites at the apple.

There will be shrieking. It will be the shrieking of a small minority. Democrats stand nothing to gain by paying overmuch attention.

There was a time, not long ago, when the tagline of this blog was “I’m not Liberal, just paying attention.” But there is no denying my Liberal background/upbringing. Or Progressive. Or whatever. But these Democrats wont get it no matter how many wacks you give them, and I’m done ponder the fruitless question of are they just stupid or are they in collusion with the enemy. It is what it is, right?

Thoreau:

Despite my disdain for much of the punditocracy and my insistence that I am not a liberal, I am at the end of the day a latte-sipping academic on a good trajectory in an elite profession, and I am definitely NOT a conservative or Republican. I am an outsider, and perhaps I am simply too removed (and uninterested) to get what is really going on. Well, the same was true of the elites who didn’t get Nixon and didn’t get how he got as far as he did. I don’t think Palin will get nearly as far as Nixon did, but I do think she will remain on the scene and a factor on the right for some time, even as the rest of us scratch our heads in bafflement.

I could get caught up and become invested in the strategy of it all… WHY ARE THEY NOT LETTING THESE TEA BAGGER FOLK SHOUT THEIR IDIOCIES FROM EVERY ROOFTOP! Then again I’m probably making the typical assumptions about the capacity for people to recognize things for what they are… myself included. And here I’m stuck. Going around in circles, repulsed by the Right, weary of the Left and politics in general.

Reads:

“The spectacle of liberal agonizing is disgusting; every bit as foul as conservative moral panic.”

Stop Me Before I Vote Again

“i think it would be excellent to have a party of ‘no’; a nihilist organization. rather than merely being entirely empty while continuing to simulate life and intellection, we embrace the emptiness at the heart of american politics explicitly.”

Via Professor Crispy

“Now when it comes to stopping cars standing in front of it is not the smartest way to go.”

Mike Sylvia

Report: Shelby Blocks All Obama Nominations In The Senate Over AL Earmarks

Bonus: Gays With Guns Send Bigots Into Derangement

I’m reliably told that very very few Republicans running in competitive seats want her anywhere near them. In some ways, it appears Scott Brown’s success really did hurt Palin’s luster. At some point, as Palin mania subsides, even the MSM may begin to investigate who exactly she really is. – Andrew Sullivan

BTW: That’s retarded.

In contrast to the seventy some minutes you may or may not have wasted watching the State of the Union address the other night, the Presidential Remarks at House Republican Conference yesterday are must see.

A word of advise to Mr. Obama, you do remember what happened to the last President who tried to out Republican the Republicans, don’t you?

See also: The Ratchet Effect

Is there an actual difference between the spawn of a Republican and a corporate shoe shiner from the DLC?

…I don’t. I don’t blame Massachusetts voters for staying home, not in the least. It’s exactly what I plan on doing.

A recap of recent worthy reads after the jump…

Scott Brown Day, a Continuing Celebration, Part I
Scott Brown Day, a Continuing Celebration, Part II
Scott Brown Day, a Continuing Celebration, Part III
Scott Brown Day, a Continuing Celebration, Part IV

Chuck Dupree:

One cannot even imagine anything more horrible than the end of the Democratic majority. Therefore, passing a terrible bill that everyone knows is only being enacted as a political ploy to keep the Democrats in power is the best, in fact only, move, because it keeps the Democrats in power.

Witness Massachusetts.

And I just have to point out one more time, there is no health care in this bill. It mandates the purchase of insurance, but does not mandate that insurance companies pay for whatever care you need. Who’s gonna come out ahead in such a transaction?

Deftones – Cherry Waves (acoustic version)

Farewell to arms:

The past couple years of blogging have really turned me off to politics — especially the election of Barack Obama. I think most of my revulsion is personally, because looking at the way same liberals defend Obama is a mirror reflection of how people like me, when I happily blogged from the left and attacked Bush with vitriol and vile on a daily basis.

Not that I’ve turned some sort of corner and come to believe that there’s any redeeming values to the Duyba Administration. Hardly. If the latter quarter of this decade has brought any change to my political stances, it lies in how I’ve grown to hate the process of politics. If you say you’re “progressive” then you have to blindly defend Obama, and visa versa for my counterparts on the right. And if you say something that strays away from the preassigned talking points, suddenly you’re an asshole.

Formatting for this posted was borrowed (and inexpertly applied) from one BDR, who’s recent post And I Myself Have Whitened in the Weathers Of Heaped-Up Januaries is one of those posts I could only wish to have created. Go, read.