Thanks, I had fun with it.

Hello straightlinelogic,
Great article. It really gave me a visceral reaction. It was as if I woke up next to a stranger and it was my country, but it's visage was so grotesque that I would rather chew off my own arm than pull it from beneath and risk waking the beast... I think your picture at he beginning of the article, apt as it is, will haunt me. %*@:-(
Always entertaining and thought provoking.
Regards,
O.A.

Atlas Puked?

Interesting. Denial is too soft a word. +1

"Establishment"
What is the most over used word of the 2016 campaign for President?

Why would you think they were in denial? Their continued power and influence are based entirely on denying us the same privacies and freedoms you're talking about. That long line of politicians can assure us of whatever they like, but to call it "denial" instead of a blatant lie is to mischaracterize the nature of that particular beast. Just my $0.02.

Jimslag,
Do you still live in NM? I'm in Albuquerque.

The analogy is on the money. Right out of Jekyll and Hyde. That novel remains popular because it reflects what you have updated, and brought into the current understanding of a once noble endeavor. The big difference is that fewer and fewer of us are recognizing how even upchucking isn't enough to cure the problem, as the trips to the sleazy bar continue, blind to even the demonstrable consequences. In the days of yore, when I was a 'teen, the girls being too refined to say "vomit" when hearing something disgusting would giggle and say, "Hasten, Jason, fetch the basin."

I would prefer our Pukedent to be IN that "porcelain pit" Mr. Gore described with me looking down dressed up in an allosaur costume.
I am Dino!
Hear me roar!.

I know who I'd LIKE it to be: the WH Puke-
Producer of all time!

Well said. My feelings are that the US is no longer the land of the free. I mean, if you look closely, the IRS can remove your passport, the State Department can not issue you a passport to travel, the TSA can make your life a living hell with their rules and regulations, the BLM and Forest Service can regulate where you travel on "public" lands. There are many more circumstances where the Federal government intrudes upon out lives. I used to be in the military, stupidly was there for 22 years or so, waving the US Flag all over the globe in the name of goodness and democracy. Democracy is a joke that is not real. We are seeing it in the current election cycle, if Trump wins, they will change the rules to get in who the Establishment wants, not who the people voted for. The elites run the country on how they see fit, people be damned. Hey, I am from New mexico and I saw a news article the other day that said Bill Richardson, the former Governor who went out chastised and indicted in a play for pay scandal, is now a board member at the Import/Export Bank, the failed, corrupt government lender for foreign nations to allow them to but US goods. Seems as if they keep recycling failed former leaders (look at Hilliary) unless they are foreign despots, then they kill them.

I think that the political parties are an anachronism in todays interconnected internet world. Everyone can think for themselves , and in a situation where a popular vote is required, let us just electronically (hopefully) just cast our votes, and thats that. REgister with the government if you want to run for a particular office, and then voters can pick. No parties, no labels, no marketing organizations trying to manipulate us into voting for their candidate.

If the constitution included an amendment forbidding the government taking from one and giving to another, the office of president would lose a lot of its power and influence- and it would be the end of lobbyists and big campaign contributions.

Hildebeast is the poster child for the crony establishment, with the contributions from parties who expect government favors funding the campaigns. People dont trust her for a reason- she is bought and paid for by special interests to the tune of more than $200 million for this election.

What worries me is who is in control of the flush handle

It would seem that we are at that point but many in the establishment are still in denial. This is a great line:
"a long line of politicians assuring us that the protection of privacy and freedom requires the destruction of privacy and freedom."

For Pete's sake, America's 'throw-up' time
has come and gone.

Thanks

Excellent point regarding Will in The Golden Pinnacle. That was the best book I read in 2014.

Good observations, Robert.
I just finished David Weber's Rising Thunder, sci-fi fiction novel. Its one in his Honor series, and its not exemplary sci-fi, but Weber does do a good job of exposing the fraud of a "democratic" empire whose unelected bureaucrats have taken control away from the people. Lots of parallels to the current federal government and how government power becomes an end in itself and loots everyone to retain power.

I liked that article and the Objectivist 12 steps. One of the recurring themes of my writing (Will in TGP) is self-redemption, perhaps because it's been one of the themes of my life.

Yes, as you will see in the link I sent you. The normal 12 steps involve things abhorrent to Objectivists, but the person writing the blog I linked you to did a clever re-take on twelve reasonable steps.

Isn't the first step admitting the problem?

This article deserves a wide audience.

So, if America chooses to turn away from where it is going, what are the twelve steps necessary for America to get on to an Objectivist path?

http://www.objectivistliving.com/foru...

From my misspent youth.

"You stumble into the bathroom, drink copious amounts of water, take multiple Advils, and stare at yourself in the mirror."
In his book Greenspan says the Fed's job is to shut off the drinks just as the party's getting started.

Otherwise it's the monetary/fiscal policy described with your metaphor: You want a hair of the dog that bit you, but it's nauseating, so you turn to Xanax and Pedialyte to chase the shakes away, and maybe an opiate like hydrocodone too if it's a real bad case. One hour after each hangover remedy, you tell your body how much you took of each drug and which remedies your inclined to try in the next hour. Your body eagerly awaits this important news. By the time the other drugs start wears off, your stomach is settled and you start itching for a drink. The cycle repeats.