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George Will Called Me An Idiot - Case for a Larger Congress
National Review ^ | January 15, 2001 | Jonah Goldberg

Posted on 01/15/2017 7:48:45 AM PST by Mean Daddy

George Will is largely responsible for my career as a pundit, largely because he called me an idiot.

The year was 1990. A man named Mappelthorpe became famous because some people thought we needed a pictures-of-a-bullwhip-in-the-tushy subsidy. A man named Noriega surrendered to American forces when told by priests he’d have to fold nun underwear for the rest of his life if he wanted sanctuary, and a fellow named Marion Barry was convicted of cocaine possession, which might have permanently hampered his political career if he didn’t have such a strong following in the “ex-offender community.”

Meanwhile a lad named Jonah Goldberg was attending Goucher College in Baltimore. World famous Tory columnist George Will visited Goucher for a lecture and a dinner at the president’s house. Goldberg, invited as a token conservative, struck up a conversation with Mr. Will. All was going swimmingly as they discussed mutual family friends and the like. Then, as the conversation moved to New York City, Goldberg mentioned that he had walked in Central Park at night from time to time with friends. Mr. Will responded, “well, that makes you an idiot” and walked away (he might have said “fool” it all happened so fast).

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/204822/george-will-called-me-idiot-jonah-goldberg

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


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Really good article from Jonah Goldberg from 2001. I agree with his premise that congress should be larger to be more representative of the will of the people. When the country was born, the population ratio was 1 to 30,000. Today, it's 1 to 600,000!!

I personally believe if states want their votes to count, they should adopt a model like Nebraska and Maine, but THEY won't. If Kalifornia had such a model, Trump would have picked up significantly more votes.

1 posted on 01/15/2017 7:48:45 AM PST by Mean Daddy
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To: Mean Daddy

Um, no, Jonah. You have a career as a pundit because your mom is Lucianne Goldberg. You suck as a writer even after 25 years of doing it.


2 posted on 01/15/2017 7:50:57 AM PST by thoughtomator (Purple: the color of sedition)
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To: Mean Daddy

Jonah is an idiot, but he shouldn’t feel bad, so is George Will.

Congress is already too expensive and useless.


3 posted on 01/15/2017 7:51:31 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents)
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To: Mean Daddy

I agree with you about Maine Nebraska and about more in the US House.


4 posted on 01/15/2017 7:53:28 AM PST by xzins (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: Mean Daddy

We already have too many politicians. Adding more is like throwing gas on a wildfire.


5 posted on 01/15/2017 7:54:04 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: thoughtomator

Why does this idiot never give credit to nonconformist Lucianne for his career? He’d still be selling Dove Bars on the streets of Manhattan if not for her.

And he and Will are idiots.


6 posted on 01/15/2017 7:56:58 AM PST by miss marmelstein
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To: Georgia Girl 2; Lurkinanloomin

The argument is that with more representatives you take the money out of elections as companies and individuals cannot influence that many people.


7 posted on 01/15/2017 7:57:22 AM PST by Mean Daddy (Every time Hillary lies, a demon gets its wings. - Windflier)
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To: Mean Daddy

If Congress gets larger, the electoral college gets larger...and not in a manner that helps Republican candidates.


8 posted on 01/15/2017 7:59:21 AM PST by lacrew
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To: Mean Daddy

I think I remember reading this at the time and thinking, “Eh, it’s a little clever, but I don’t buy it,” or something to that effect. “Maybe if they were spherical congressmen in a vacuum, it could work ...”

(That’s a “Big Bang Theory” reference, so I wouldn’t have thought it in 2001, but I know what I mean.)

I wonder what Jonah - whom I’ve liked since we were both in college, so long ago - would say about this now.


9 posted on 01/15/2017 7:59:55 AM PST by Tax-chick ("The less free you are, the more you are obliged to applaud.")
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To: Mean Daddy

>>Really good article from Jonah Goldberg from 2001. I agree with his premise that congress should be larger to be more representative of the will of the people. When the country was born, the population ratio was 1 to 30,000. Today, it’s 1 to 600,000!!<<

Do you really want the House to be 2,000-5,000 representatives?

That would be unwieldy to say the least. I am all for gridlock, but since the House controls the purse strings nothing would ever get financed, even the good stuff.


10 posted on 01/15/2017 8:00:38 AM PST by freedumb2003 (obozo: not just the worst president in American history - worst *American* in American history (turf)
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To: Mean Daddy

If anyone wonders why Goldberg mentioned Jessica Gavora at the end of the article, it’s because she’s his wife.


11 posted on 01/15/2017 8:01:13 AM PST by vladimir998 (Apparently I'm still living in your head rent free. At least now it isn't empty.)
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To: thoughtomator

Yet his abilities notwithstanding, there is still no Real American defense of George Will whatsoever. Will has no clue what it means, actually. A pompous asshat.


12 posted on 01/15/2017 8:01:23 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: Mean Daddy; All
As a side note to this thread, please consider the following.

If patriots support Trump to politically “force” corrupt Congress to not only surrender state powers that the feds have stolen from the states back to the states, but also put a stop to unconstitutional taxes, taxes that Congress cannot justify under its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers and other express constitutional expenses, then Trump and Congress will probably be able to start spending as much time on the golf course as Obama has.

In fact, noting that I gladly voted for Trump, I hope that a 2nd term Trump becomes known as a golf course president.

13 posted on 01/15/2017 8:03:02 AM PST by Amendment10
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To: Mean Daddy

Larger Congress? Not enough hookers.


14 posted on 01/15/2017 8:04:00 AM PST by fungoking (Tis a pleasure to live in the 0zarks)
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To: Mean Daddy

Its not obvious how a larger congress would solve the problem and not creating others. Lots of problems could be solved by greatly reducing the power of govt, such as money in politics and the need for lobbyists. Both of which are used as influence or protection against govt power.


15 posted on 01/15/2017 8:09:24 AM PST by Brooklyn Attitude (The first step in ending the War on White People, is to recognize it exists.)
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To: Mean Daddy

Yes, this is one of Jonah’s thoughts that is timely. But rather than expand Congress and in so doing expand federal government, he should look at expanding representation and powers at the state level. This expansion and reform can only occur via the Article V movement.

Along with expanding the representational powers of all Americans that hold sway over the House of Representatives, the Senate needs major structural reform and further, powers to state legislatures must be established to provide a strong check on all forms and manifestations of federal government.

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3496700/posts?page=23#23

Illustrations associated with an advent of a new historical era ‘THE AMERICAN REFORMATION’:

************************************************
AMENDMENT XXVIII (’State Suffrage’)

To restore effective suffrage of State Legislatures to Congress, the following amendment is proposed:

************************************************
Section 1.
A Senator in Congress shall be subject to recall by their respective state legislature or by voter referendum in their respective state.

Section 2.
Term limits for Senators in Congress shall be set by vote in their respective state legislatures but in no case shall be set less than twelve years nor more than eighteen years.

Section 3:
The seventeenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

************************************************

************************************************
AMENDMENT XXIX (‘Thirty-State Quash Authority’)

To redress the balance of powers between the federal government and the States, the following amendment is proposed:

************************************************
Section 1.
Upon a majority vote in three-fifths of state legislatures, specific federal statutes, federal court decisions and executive directives of any form shall be repealed and made void in any state, territory, or possession of the United States.

Section 2.
State legislatures in agreement with results derived from Section 1 of this amendment shall sign a state quash authority directive delineating the specific federal statutes, federal court decisions or federal executive directives affected, said directive addressed and delivered to the Congress of the United States becoming immediately effective as of the date of delivery.
************************************************

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3423235/posts?page=949#949

IMPORTANT NOTE: These illustrations are written in a manner that THE STATES ARE GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY. Amendments should be written so that it is clear that the federal government has no mandate regarding the interpretation or selective enforcement or non-enforcement of these types of amendments.

For example, the flawed 10th Amendment leaves all powers not enumerated in the US Constitution to the States or to the People. However, there is no mechanism left to the states to check the federal government with the 10th Amendment save for the appointment of US Senators by state legislatures which was abolished under the 17th Amendment. As it is, the 10th Amendment jurisdiction is left to the federal judiciary without any voice or role for the States. The result of these compounded errors has yielded a highly centralized federal government whereby power is attained by an enormous federal government and funded by the Federal Reserve.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3461988/posts?page=18#18

________________________________________________

An illustration addressing the 16th Amendment:

************************************************
AMENDMENT XXX (‘Sunset and Repeal of the 16th Amendment’)

To facilitate Age-Of-Awareness Connectivity In Funding The Federal Government Of The United States:

************************************************
Section 1.
All forms of federal taxation in the United States, and unto the territories of its jurisdiction, that are derived under the authority of the sixteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall be abolished and repealed by April 16, 2022.

Section 2.
As of April 16, 2022, the sixteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 3:
Enforcement of federal tax liabilities shall cease as of January 1, 2025 with exceptions granted to active judicial proceedings initiated before January 1, 2025.
************************************************

By ‘Age Of Awareness’ means technologies of connectivity. These technologies did not exist in the 19th century nor at the time of the 1913 installation of the 16th Amendment. Had such suitable technology existed, the 16th Amendment would never have been installed. The 16th Amendment is in fact, a poorly designed instrument proffered by persons of poor judgment, lacking requisite information or awareness of purposes behind the original federal design. It is completely unsuitable in our Age of Awareness.

The 16th, 17th and 18th Amendments are all of the year 1913 and were all done in the era of Woodrow Wilson who either advocated for such amendments or failed to thwart their passage. The 18th was repealed but the 16th and 17th evolved slowly.

The 16th was particularly insidious as its original code was only 14 pages long and imposed a ‘Flat Tax’ rate of 7% on the wealthiest 2% of Americans and a rate of only 1% on the rest of Americans.

The ‘1%’ rate is still used to this day in attempts to impose a state income tax in states where no state income tax exists. The ‘1%’ rate appears innocent, non-threatening, innocuous. It is a backdoor quiet entry to grab power and control. Once inside the system it grows and creeps until it resembles what exists today. Therefore note, any INCOME TAX is a cancer because it is impossible to contain over time. It gives legislators a tool by which they can grab and solidify their own power (legislative angiogenesis).

There is a vastly superior alternative to the income tax. A consumption tax with impact floor is embodied in H.R. 25. Its superiority to any income tax scheme cannot be overstated.


16 posted on 01/15/2017 8:14:00 AM PST by Hostage (Article V)
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To: Mean Daddy

Interestingly, that was one of the arguments the Progressives used to forward the 17th Amendment—bribing/buying the votes of the entire electorate would be impossibly expensive as opposed to bribing dozens of state legislators. We can all see now how big money plays no part in Senatorial elections.


17 posted on 01/15/2017 8:14:03 AM PST by hanamizu
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To: All

The ignorance and hate is thick on this thread. Rather than 1 rep for 700,000+ people (as it is now), 1:50,000 or 1:30,000 is worse? So you dismiss the idea because you despise the messenger? Why not, it’s the same thing we accuse the left of.


18 posted on 01/15/2017 8:17:34 AM PST by tenger (Abortion is not stopped because politicians don't want it stopped.)
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To: Mean Daddy
He is now a policy gnome at the American Enterprise Institute, whose purpose is akin to that of Christian monasteries in the Dark Ages — to keep the flame of civilization alive — until the universities are hospitable to reason again.

Bookleggers?

Love, Blessed St Leibowitz

19 posted on 01/15/2017 8:24:16 AM PST by NonValueAdded (#DeplorableMe #BitterClinger #HillNO! #MyPresident #MAGA)
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To: Brooklyn Attitude

Rather than enlarge Congress DC should be shut down. Send all the reps to their offices back home and let them televote, etc. That would bring them closer to the people. Turn DC into a museum.


20 posted on 01/15/2017 8:26:34 AM PST by sheana
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