Podcast #86: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail

32 February 28, 2016 by

86This episode of DXP begins with our bitching and moaning about our various tax- and credit card-related hassles, after which Jason insists on addressing the controversy surrounding Kesha and her allegations of sexual assault by her producer (a discussion that Christian wants absolutely no part of), leading us into the broader issues surrounding these kinds of he said / she said situations. We take a voicemail from a couple fellow podcasters about Lent, and then we move into the topic of taxes (precipitated by a Facebook experiment that Christian conducted), wondering aloud why those who object to taxes being used for education rarely seem to have a problem with them being used for endless warfare. We then turn our attention to Donald Trump, spending most of our remaining time wringing our hands and fretting. Our “Feeding Friendsy” segment addresses the scary and imminent prospect of Obama personally administering the Mark of the Beast, and we conclude with disclosing the real reason why we’re all about to die.

Also, Obama killed Osama? Psssh! Which president hasn’t?

32 Comments (click here to leave a comment)

  1. I am less inclined to believe Kesha because she is pushing so hard to get out of her contract. Its a weird stipulation. But, then again, if it did happen I suppose it plausible that she would be so upset that she might want to get as far away from the record label as possible…. Just seems weird.

    I don’t think Trump is running on fear or xenophobia, although those things grab and manipulate headlines. His campaign is the mirror of Obamas “change you can believe in” only its “make america great again”. Trump supporters are optimistic. They are ” angry” but most of their anger is aimed at establishment Republicans in my experience. Its a nightmare. It would be like if Kanye West randomly was leading the DNC. Shame on the RNC for waiting until now to even vet the man. Trump U, the Polish workers, flaky tax returns, etc were all readily known. They saved their attack until too late. The bandwagon effect is strong and we may have run out of time….

    Finally, if you two guys seriously think that liberal economics are better intentioned than conservative economics, I can only conclude that you have a very poor understanding of conservative principles. You went out from us because you were never one of us. Bwahahaha

    No, but seriously. Watch some Milton Friedman videos and get a better grip on free market arguments. They usually come in pocket sized four to six minute clips.

  2. The pillars of Friedman’s brand of economics that I object to are (1) deregulation, (2) privatization of public programs, (3) tax cuts, and (4) free trade agreements. I’m sure there’s more, but that’s what comes to mind.

  3. Its fine to disagree. The Keynes V Hayek argument has been rolling for around 100 years now. Its completely reasonable and mainstream to disagree. I just resent the tone of voice that communicates/insinuates that liberal politics are for helping the poor. Conservative politics are aimed at hurting the poor. Liberal economics are compassionate. Conservative economics are selfish and greedy. This narrative is not only uncharitable, it is simply untrue. That narrative is a lie. We can have a difference of opinion without painting the other side as morally inferior. I’m sure you agree 🙂

  6. I agree that liberal economics makes people feel good. But we think conservative open market societies DO more good. That’s not greedy or selfish. Its a difference of opinion. Anyone who has read or listen to Friedman can see that he desires to help the poor just as much as the next man. But the left can’t admit this without taking away its entire platform. Conservatives can admit that many liberals are decent and well intentioned people. But the left can not do the same. They must believe they mean better than conservatives. Republicans are either stupid or evil. Otherwise the platform is destroyed and the entire ideology is far less attractive.

    Liberals have great self esteem due primarily to this ridiculous narrative

  7. I’d like to believe that, but so much of the rhetoric from the “vocal right” simply is hateful, greedy, and selfish (including that which comes from the politicians themselves). I’d like to think that it’s just a vocal minority, but this really is 90% of people in my world whom I interact with.
    To be fair, I’m sure there are analogs on the left who aren’t actually concerned with the issues, but are just dogmatically liberal, they’re just way less annoying 😉

  8. Liberals have great self esteem due primarily to this ridiculous narrative. A case study in liberals feeling good but doing harm is in the African american community

    Not so much.

    I realize it’s conservative wisdom to assume that poor people and minorities just aren’t trying hard enough, but there is a history involved in the creation of the ghettos that involves white supremacy, private discrimination by banks, and public housing policies that discriminated against blacks.

    We can also throw in the war on some people who use drugs, a rather horrific prison system (both public and private), and continued disparities in funding between inner city schools and their suburban counterparts for adding to the mess.

    And there was that study that saw that of two identical resumes, the one with the “black” name would get far fewer callbacks than the one with the “white” name.

    So things are a bit more complicated than minorities would rather be sitting around popping out babies and picking up those ‘lucrative’ government checks.

  10. Without any examples I don’t really know how to respond. What are you speaking too specifically?

  11. Everything about this comment illustrates perfectly the ridiculous narrative that most of you have bought into.

    “it’s conservative wisdom to assume that poor people and minorities just aren’t trying hard enough”

    “So things are a bit more complicated than minorities would rather be sitting around popping out babies and picking up those ‘lucrative’ government checks.”

    This is the stuff I’m talking about. If Jason and Christian need Friedman, you need to read Thomas Sowell. The black community has demonstrably regressed in culture since the welfare state and affirmative action. Crime, murder rates, single mothers, broken families, drugs, low percentage of high school graduates, etc. etc. America is not more racist today than it was 50 years ago…. But black communities are far worse off. It isn’t conservative principles that pushed them down. It was liberal white people who wanted to feel good but in fact only did harm.

  12. • If it’s a matter of $1900, it might be worthwhile to get a lawyer to handle it.

    • Eh, if you really want to end your relationship, play Monopoly.

    • “I get to be the racecar.”

    “Okay, sure.”

    “Seriously, if I see your hand moving towards the racecar, I will cut you.”

    • Kesha: the situation sucks. That’s all I’m saying on the topic. Moving on…

    • Confused Boner would be a good band name.

    • When I was dating, I always carried a blank permission slip and had it notarized before anything happened.

    • I’m just kidding, I was raised Baptist, sex didn’t happen until after marriage.

    • It was awesome to wait 29 years for something and then realize that you’re really bad at it, have no idea what the hell you’re doing, and still feel guilty for doing it afterwards. Thanks, God.

    • That was a tangent. I’m just trying to still add comments while you’re talking about Kesha.

    • My view of Lent is that it’s archaic in that most people use the verb form “Loaned”. “I loaned you $200” rather than “I lent you $200.” But either form is technically correct.

    • Oh, the Catholic Lent. Okay, then, Lent is the time of year when you can buy a Fish 0’Filet sandwich at McDonalds for $1.50 on Fridays.

    • It’s also the premise behind a movie I caught one time on cable where Josh Hartnett meets his manic pixie dream girl after deciding to give up on sex for Lent.

    • Christian, it’s Catholicism. If you add something to your life for Lent, it has to make you less happy.

    • We are such a consumer culture that any field of study that does not promise to make oodles of money is deemed as unworthy of pursuit. Thus, the conservative fears that those dumb kids who need to git off his lawn are just gonna be lazy and poke about college studying Women’s studies or underwater basket weaving, wasting his money without contributing anything back to society.

    • There’s also the jealousy factor. I didn’t get the benefit, so I don’t know why they get to have it.

    • As I said on Facebook, there is a personal response and a corporate response to the problems of society. The personal response is to address the problem in front of you as you see it. The corporate response is to decide what needs to be done to solve all of the same problems everywhere you can’t see. If I feed a homeless person lunch because he was sitting outside of McDonalds, that’s nice. But it doesn’t help the poor family living in Cincinnati.

    • It’s the prosperity gospel mixed with the Calvinist work ethic. If you’re rich, you’re industrious, virtuous, and blessed by God. If you’re poor, it’s obvious that you’re lazy, have bad habits, and are a filthy sinner who isn’t trying hard enough.

    • I suspect most of the evangelicals supporting him know that he’s a fraud, but they desire a win for ‘their’ team so badly and long for a ‘strong’ man to lead them back into the White House that they’re willing to sell their conscience and their birthright for a bowl of pottage and the promises that the right people will be trodden upon by the boot of power.

    • “Trump appeals to people’s base fear” – like Evangelical Christianity?

    • I don’t think Donald Trump is a fascist, but I do think he’s empowering fascism and making it more mainstream. That’s the more insidious danger, even if Trump loses, that anger and hatred will remain and will fester.

    • I could live with a Kasich presidency. I wouldn’t like it, but he doesn’t seem like he’d order a first strike against California.

    • I think Ted Cruz might be one of the lizard people from V.

    • I also think Mexico might build a wall if Trump wins just to keep Americans from fleeing into their country. Canada too.

    • Those people are the “America! Fuck, yeah!” demographic.

    • No matter how bad Clinton is, she’s still better than Cruz, Rubio, and Trump. But yes, we should be running strongly and proudly on economic populism and bringing jobs home to America.

    • But America has been told so often that diplomacy and non-intervention are signs of weakness that I suspect foreign policy would be a negative for Sanders.

    • Speaking of ratings, I did see that the American Conservative magazine gave Sanders the highest rating of any candidate on foreign policy.

    • Jesus Christ… microchips? Really?

    • Okay, look, if there is a ‘mark of the beast’, it’s not going to be so obvious. And it won’t be a single dramatic choice one makes. The mark of the beast, if it exists, is more insidious. It’s a mark of belonging to a group, to a culture that sees humanity as disposable resources and objects to be exploited. It’s a culture that believes that might makes right. It’s a culture that values profits and possessions over people. And the choice to take that mark is made one moment at a time. One decision at a time. One interaction at a time. Every cruelty, every errant hurtful word, every selfish moment, every act of violence or pettiness, every act of hatred or spite, every bitter thought towards others, every time we see suffering and walk past it, every time we ignore injustice, we inch closer to the system of the beast. I’m sure that if he exists, Satan is happy that people are so obsessed with the idea of a literal mark, because it means they don’t pay attention to the little choices they make every day.

    • Hey, guys, did you hear about the Russian oil workers who drilled so deep that they actually heard the screams of people in hell? It must be true since a pastor said it from the pulpit.

    • I do remember that every year Chuck Smith would say that this is probably going to be the year we all get raptured.

    • He’s dead now. We will be dead too one day.

    • On that chipper note, I’ll say good day.

  13. You assume I haven’t. Sowell was one of my favorites as a conservative. Then I read other writers, learned more of the history of blacks in America, read up on the war on some people who use drugs. Ta-nehisi Coates is more my speed these days on racial issues.

    And don’t assume that I pulled that narrative out of my ass. I was a conservative once too, mate. I know people who have said those things. I visit conservative blogs and see similar shit written in the comments.

  14. If you have read more than even one of his books the myth that conservatives are somehow bigoted or don’t care about blacks should be forever abolished from your mind. We have different ideas about what “does good” for black people (rather than what feels good) nothing more and nothing less. And I’m not referring to “the ear on some people who do drugs”. I’m referring to 13% of the population accounting for half the homicides. I’m referring to a 71% single mother rate. I’m talking about 40% not graduating highschool and only 20% getting through college. Compare these numbers to the 1960s and let me know what you find.

    No one with a speck of intellectual honesty can attribute this to conservative policies. Liberals FEEL GREAT about supporting blacks. But they have done nothing to merit this emotion.

  15. Also,

    Friedman was only against regulations not having to do with liquid. He thought the banking industry, wallstreet, etc needed a heavy hand and active fed

  16. I thought about throwing together some screenshots from my FB feed, but after 2 minutes of reading I had to go bathe myself in bleach. 😉
    But it’s everything from “pullin’ y’erself up by y’er bootstraps!” to the “evil muslims” who just want to murder everybody to “poor people are just lazy and jealous of hard-working wealthy people” to “burger flippers are just greedy to want a living wage” and don’t get me started on all the conspiracy theories and the “gay agenda” 😛

    Maybe you only know reasonable conservatives if you really don’t know what I’m talking about; just read the comments on The Blaze or such sites.

  17. Oh, you mean on a pop level. Sure, there are tons of people who think and say crazy stuff on both sides. Just think of all the videos of civilians after Obama got elected crowing over Obama phones , free electric bills, etc etc The PC police is largely a leftist thing. The manufacturing of divisions and civic evils that don’t exist is also a super annoying thing. Consider the fact that not ONE SINGLE high profile black lives matter case has come with a guilty verdict on police. Doesn’t matter. Police are still racist somehow. All the stats showing the rarity of police killing black people in the streets? Doesn’t matter. Still racist some how. Hands up don’t shoot based off of a total fabrication? Doesn’t matter. Still racists somewhere so let’s riot.

    I find all of this just as annoying as Donald Trumps ghoulishness. Its ironic how the left is comfortable calling him a bully….. But then turn around and label everyone who disagrees with their PC, socialist, big government ideals a xenophobic, racist, sexist, religious moron. Pot meet kettle

  19. I do appreciate Jason and Christian’s sarcastic rebel rousing comments to mess with all of us however we should be able to have differing pinions on what makes people wealthier or more well off without the judgement that the different opinion just hates the poor. I propose that the majority of conservatives, liberals, socialists and libertarians all care about our fellow citizens. I propose that even though it is fun to get people all riled up we change the conversation to a level playing ground of mutual respect that we all care equally. If libertarians believe that a free market system with voluntary exchange creates the most wealth and socialists believe a central planner is needed to create the most wealth that does not equal one side has to hate the poor. That being said….I am rich BIATCH! hehehehehe

  21. The right response to any alleged case of abuse, including sexual abuse, or any other offense against the moral law (assuming for the sake of argument that such a thing exists) is of course going to depend upon the objective facts (assuming for the sake of argument that such things exist) of a particular case. If there are unchanging standards of right and wrong that pertain to every human being qua human being, then it is both possible and prudent to formulate hypothetical arguments to the effect that, for example, *if* someone has committed an act of sexual assault followed by, for example, defamatory comments against his or her accuser, *then* it is incumbent upon that person to repent (assuming for the sake of argument that that is possible and salutary), apologize (publicly, if circumstances warrant), and accept the consequences (assuming for the sake of argument that such ought to pertain to offenses against the moral law, assuming that such a thing exists) of his or her actions. Anyways, the assumptions requisite for these arguments to hold are all conservative (though not political) in nature, which perhaps helps illustrate how challenged is the conversation that might take place between conservatives and liberals, even before reaching emotionally charged but relatively unimportant differences in political ideology.

  22. Without fail, if I meet someone who says things like “They should get to fucking work to pay for their own shit” or some other ignorant comment that is completely dismissive of the fact that there are many other factors at play that are keeping poor people poor and uneducated other than just laziness, they’re a Republican. I’m not saying all Republicans fit that bill, but I am saying that almost all people without compassion for the plight of the poor that I meet are Republicans. So yeah, I’m sure there are plenty of Republicans who believe that Conservative policies are the best for our country and just help the poor in different ways (i.e. “trickle down”), but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that those policies attract people who don’t want to help the poor at all.

  23. Piggybacking on this, while I would admit that many who prefer the GOP’s economic principles are sincere, those who actually craft them know exactly what they are doing (and no, it’s not about helping the poor).

    Speaking of, the connection and communication between Nixon, Friedman, and Pinoche are pretty telling.

  24. I agree that there are terrible comments made by conservatives about our citizens. The next time someone says that to you, reply “Oh yeah, well you should be shot with a bottle of your own shit!” The first time I heard that saying I doubled over laughing…..when used at the right time it is awesome. Also doesn’t it make sense that if you do not have compassion for the poor you join the conservative/libertarian ideology as much as it makes sense that if you want something for nothing you join the democrat/socialist ideology? That being said I think both of those groups of people are in the minority. The majority of citizens that get help from their communities and government are awesome hard working individuals. They give back ten fold once they are able.

  25. The policies crafted by our bureaucrats are terrible. I do not think that is an ideology issue either. The federal government tries to do things that only the local governments can efficiently do. Local governments should have the authority to help the poor with general federal guidelines. By general I mean 10 pages of regulation or less. The Northwest Ordinance gave away half the land in the U.S., prohibited slavery in the new territories and was about ten pages long (or so). I trust the local elected officials to know what is best for their community. It does not matter if you are socialist or libertarian if your process cannot function then not a single citizen can benefit.

    BTW in episode 86 when you told your personal story of your resignation and said you realized God did not give any fucks about me….i was out shoveling and I starting laughing like a mad man. My neighbors must have thought I was having a meltdown. I came inside and my girlfriend had texted me…”God doesn’t give any fucks about me.” We still laugh over that one. It isn’t God does not give a fuck or a couple fucks…he does not give any fucks……nicely done!

  27. I’ve never had such a hard time listening to any of the podcasts. This Kesha business is awful and hearing all of this is making me sick. One thing I will give you guys is that I know you both are growing and continually seeking knowledge and compassion. I’m fastforwarding from here and will pick up in a different segment.

  28. We asked for feedback and received no feedback from any females. This is the first we’ve received if I remember correctly, and it’s not really feedback. I have zero idea what you’re having a hard time with, and since you won’t even listen to the whole thing, how could you really give us input anyway?

  29. I’ll go back and re-listen this tonight on the way home or tomorrow am and come back to it. For someone who was sexually abused, not believed and there was no persecution it was really hard to hear. I can’t speak for all women.

  30. We didn’t say we didn’t believe her. I said I know someone fairly well, who would be considered a feminist, who knows one of the parties involved intimately, and they don’t believe he did it. Then we discussed if it’s ever OK to wait and see in situations that seem to have extenuating circumstances.

    I’m sure it’s very difficult to not be believed in that scenario, and I’m sure that happens many, many more times than the person accused being innocent and not being believed, but does that mean that it’s never the case? If we can’t even have a conversation about whether or not someone accused of sexual assault really did it, then we’ve only swung too far the other way in my opinion.

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