Don't feed the trolls, folks.

That last was to Mirna, not Jeff :)

Anyway, you missed the overall point, which is not that we are so "cool", but that the almighty Government has no right to tell us how to live. Given that, I find your response bizarre.

Wow, Mirna, why all the hate?

I'm with Peter Schiff on this; let's drop off the cliff. And when the pain comes, argue that it should have been all spending cuts instead of tax increases. We are spending in a way which cannot be compared to drunken sailors without insult to the latter. But taxes is at least better than borrowing or inflating and destroying the Dollar - not that I have much hope for the Dollar in the long term anyway with Bernake in charge of the coop. Also, GWB played the Hoover role.. Obama is playing FDR - doubling down on everything his predecessor did wrong while blaming that predecessor the whole time. And that strategy works.. FDR was more popular than Hoover even though he was even MORE instrumental in keeping the Depression going.

I'll never understand that mentality that comes to the conclusion that, when someone is lobbing rockets at your civilian population for years, responding too harshly will just make them mad that we're being mean to them. How is it that such a preposterous, self-parodying notion can ever gain this much traction? Do people ever stop to ask themselves if their position even makes basic sense?

Dr. Sowell most likely gives talks at various confabs and conferences, and these events tend to be at hotels that are "fancy" enough to *have* conference space. Quite often, these events put up their guests in rooms as part of the overall compensation package for coming out and giving the talk or panel or lecture or whatever. In short, Jim, I don't think Dr. Sowell is a rich guy who just goes out to luxury hotels on a whim. As to myself, I can usually figure out the devices easily enough, but I'm a geek that way, and even I recognize that many of them are more complex than necessary, which could be problematic for people who have dedicated their brain power elsewhere.

Flagged for off-topic.

Flagged for off-topic.

The EC *should* have been a feature of Federalism, but Article XIV Section 2 removed that aspect. State Legislatures *may not* appoint Electors without reference to balloting within the state, much to the detriment of Federalism and to us all. Because of this, the EC has essentially lost its purpose.