Do Emotions Trump Facts?

Town hall.com ^ | Thomas Sowell

[Oklahoma]

Bipartisan deals -- so beloved by media pundits -- have produced some of the great disasters in American history.

Contrary to the widespread view that the Great Depression of the 1930s was caused by the stock market crash of 1929, unemployment never reached double digits in any of the 12 months that followed the stock market crash in October, 1929.

Unemployment was 6.3 percent in June 1930 when a Democratic Congress and a Republican president made a bipartisan deal that produced the Smoot-Hawley tariffs. Within 6 months, unemployment hit double digits -- and stayed in double digits throughout the entire decade of the 1930s.

You want deals? There was never a more politically successful deal than that which Neville Chamberlain made in Munich in 1938. He was hailed as a hero, not only by his own party but even by opposition parties, when he returned with a deal that Chamberlain said meant "peace for our time." But, just one year later, the biggest, bloodiest and most ghastly war in history began.

[cornfedcowboy]

Of course emotions trump facts. We are human beings for crying out loud.

[Yosemitest]

Thomas Sowell is calling it CORRECTLY !

...Trump boasts that he can make deals, among his many other boasts.
But is a deal-maker what this country needs at this crucial time?
b>Is not one of the biggest criticisms of today's Congressional Republicans
that they have made all too many deals with Democrats,
betraying the principles on which they ran for office?

Bipartisan deals -- so beloved by media pundits -- have produced some of the great disasters in American history.

Contrary to the widespread view
that the Great Depression of the 1930s was caused by the stock market crash of 1929,
unemployment never reached double digits in any of the 12 months that followed the stock market crash in October, 1929.

Unemployment was 6.3 percent in June 1930 when a Democratic Congress and a Republican president made a bipartisan deal that produced the Smoot-Hawley tariffs.
Within 6 months, unemployment hit double digits --
and stayed in double digits throughout the entire decade of the 1930s.

You want deals?
There was never a more politically successful deall than that which Neville Chamberlain made in Munich in 1938.
He was hailed as a hero, not only by his own party but even by opposition parties, when he returned with a deal that Chamberlain said meant "peace for our time."
But, just one year later, the biggest, bloodiest and most ghastly war in history began.

If deal-making is your standard,
didn't Barack Obama just make a deal with Iran --
one that may have bigger and worse consequences than Chamberlain's deal?

What kind of deals would Donald Trump make?
He has already praised the Supreme Court's decision in "Kelo v. City of New London" which said
that the government can seize private property to turn it over to another private party.

That kind of decision is good for an operator like Donald Trump.
Doubtless other decisions that he would make as president would also be good for Donald Trump,
even if for nobody else.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

‘4. I think he smacked ol’ Tribe upside the head pretty good at the debate.’

After his ‘glossing over’ dismissal of Tribe, the professor doubled down.

Does anyone honestly think that this will be ignored after the primary if Cruz wins?

Ted Cruz’s fmr. professor says Cruz is a hypocrite on the Constitution VIDEO
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3384690/posts

Thursday following FBN’s broadcast of the Republican presidential debate, Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe attacked Sen. Ted Cruz ... for his stated on reasoning for his eligibility to run for president of the United States.

According to Tribe, Cruz applies a double standard to his interpretation of the Constitution, to which he deemed Cruz to be a ‘constitutional opportunist’ and a ‘hypocrite.’

‘I’ve done a lot of historical research on it, and so have a lot of other people, and the best evidence seems to be that what they meant... ‘

[snip]

“The funny thing is, that the kind of guy Cruz is, he’s always been this way. When he was my student he was this way. He’s always said the Constitution always means the same thing that it meant when it was adopted. That’s why he made this funny joke to Trump, you know, saying, the Constitution didn’t change since last September. Well, he thinks it didn’t change since 1788 when it comes to gays and, you know, women and other things. But when it comes to his own ambition, he’s suddenly becomes what he accuses me of being, and it’s a pretty true accusation, a judicial activist. That’s not the guy he is normally.”

[Axeslinger]

Once upon a time in the VERY recent past, electing someone who would “make deals” or negotiate with the Dems was the source of great ridicule here...it was cause enough to completely ignore them.

Did not Marco Rubio “negotiate” and “make a deal” with the democrats on immigration? So why is Rubio cast out into the hinterland but Trump is to be lauded for his ability to “negotiate” and “make deals”? (Cannot wait to hear this rationalization!!!)

[Kaslin]

Tip O’Neil was the democratic Speaker off the House. Dr Sowell was never a politician

[jazusamo]

Thanks much for the ping, Kaslin!

*PING*
Thomas Sowell

[Kaslin]

My pleasure

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Thank you for the large quote. Very helpful.

There are two kinds of deals — good and bad.

‘one of the biggest criticisms of today’s Congressional Republicans’

— BAD deals. That is the very point of the Trump campaign. They are horrible deal makers. Fifth-columnist-bad. So that’s actually a trick on Sowell’s part.

[Thought I’d never accuse Sowell of that.]

“politically successful deall than that which Neville Chamberlain ...”

Also a trick. Chamberlain was an appeaser. How can ANYONE say that Trump is appeasing muslims?

Goofy trick. He jumped the shark twice.

“Barack Obama just make a deal with Iran ...”

Doubling down on Jump the Shark 2.

“Kelo v. City of New London”

Finally, he scores!

Did Sowell hire someone else to write this? Very beneath him.

I admire Thomas Sowell and can forgive him for this in an instant, but he’s getting silly. Kelo was the only effective argument he made, and he buried it.

[CSM]

“Did Reagan not negotiate with Tip O’Neil.”

Actually, no. Reagan forced the legislature to bend towards conservatism and towards his direction. When the legislature failed to heed his leadership, Reagan took his case OVER Tip O’neil’s head and went directly to the people.

Whether we like Trump or we like Cruz, we should at least acknowledge that the President will be the LEADER of Conservatism and the McConnels and Mccains will need to be forced to bend towards Conservatism. Unless of course the whole point is to just “make deals to get stuff done.”

[CSM]

“Of course emotions trump facts. We are human beings for crying out loud.”

What separates human beings from the animal kingdom? It is our ability to use intellect and reason. It is our conscious mind. If we allow emotions to trump fact (reason) then we are no better than animals.

In fact, the Democrats prove that they hope we are no better than animals to be herded into their preferences, while they distract us with sex and drugs!

I prefer to remain human, rather than a pig who has learned to walk on 2 legs!

[CSM]

“If we allow emotions to trump fact..”

OK, this pun WAS completely unintended...I swear!

[gibsosa]

+1!!!

[Canedawg]

“LOL! The rowdy coalition. I like it.”

+!

[dsc]

“Trump is leading a fanatical mass movement. Think 1930s...Trumpaholics...fanatical mass movements...embrace an illusion...The True Believer...They really have no clue...blindly...The solution they have chosen will prove to be no less lethal than the problems they seek to address.”

You know, it’s funny. I see notes of two types on these threads: Notes accusing Trump supporters of behaving badly, and notes like the one to which this responds.

What I don’t see is Trump supporters behaving as badly as they are accused of doing. I think most Trump partisans here have Cruz as their second choice. Why would they be hostile to Cruz partisans?

[Amntn]

Like Sarah Palin?

[Jim Robinson]

It’s important to win the war. The uniparty is in total denial and they are destroying our nation.

The people are fed-up with the establishment and are now rebelling.

Not a thing you or I can do about it.

[jpsb]

[dsc]

“BAD deals. That is the very point of the Trump campaign. They are horrible deal makers. Fifth-columnist-bad. So that’s actually a trick on Sowell’s part.”

No, Sowell’s point is that a bad deal is worse than no deal, and that it is not always possible to get a good deal. Sometimes you really don’t want a deal.

“Goofy trick. He jumped the shark twice.”

He was saying something I was thinking about just this morning.

Bipartisanship is when the Stupid Party and the Evil Party get together and do something that is both stupid and evil.

Should better deals be the goal? I say no. Any deal gives the Evil Party something they want, and, as everything they want is evil (whether in the goal or the execution), no deal is acceptable. Our goal should be to give them nothing, ever. More than this, we must strive to undo all the evil things they have done in the last century or so.

Some demonrat years ago accused us of being the party of no, no, no. no, no, no, no. He was lying, but that’s really all they ought to hear from the rest of us, until we are able to drive them completely out of public life.

All that said, we have had nothing but humiliating surrender since Ronaldus Magnus, and the better deals that Trump promises would have to be an improvement on that. Not good enough to be called a solution, but better.

What I think will happen is that Trump will try to make a couple of deals, the demonrats will stab him in the back, and from that point forward he will see them for what they are and act accordingly.

[lentulusgracchus]

Interesting, but collides with a stat I ran across years ago, that pre-Crash mfg exports in the late 1920’s were 30% of GNP, which is why the US got nailed while Empire protective tariffs held Britain’s contraction to about (5%). This from PBS, in a show about the interwar years and runup to the Big Show.

The point was made along the way, perhaps somewhere else (a business show?) that China’s export economy looks rather like ours did in the 1920’s and ‘30’s.

[lentulusgracchus]

Addendum to my last, that 30% figure might have been the degree of economic contraction in the States during the Depression, although the number seems high in retrospect. Perhaps it was just the contraction in exports.