Don't Vote - It Just Encourages the Bastards

( 28 )

Overview

"The free market is a bathroom scale. We may not like what we see when we step on the bathroom scale, but we can't pass a law making ourselves weigh 165. Liberals and leftists think we can."

"Given the complete dominance of politics by Committee Brain, the wonder is that anything gets done, and the horror is that it does. What government accomplishes is what you'd expect from a committee. 'A camel is a horse designed by a committee' is a saying that couldn't be more wrong. A camel is a seeing-eye dog designed by a committee and available free ...

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Don't Vote - It Just Encourages the Bastards

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More About This Book

Overview

"The free market is a bathroom scale. We may not like what we see when we step on the bathroom scale, but we can't pass a law making ourselves weigh 165. Liberals and leftists think we can."

"Given the complete dominance of politics by Committee Brain, the wonder is that anything gets done, and the horror is that it does. What government accomplishes is what you'd expect from a committee. 'A camel is a horse designed by a committee' is a saying that couldn't be more wrong. A camel is a seeing-eye dog designed by a committee and available free with government grants to the halt and the lame."

"The most sensible request we make of government is not 'Do something!' but 'Quit it!'"

"We have the cow of economic freedom. Do we take the cow to market and trade her for the magic beans of bailout and stimulus? When we climb that beanstalk we're going to find a giant government at the top. Are we going to be as lucky as Jack the giant killer was? I'm not sure Jack himself was that lucky with his giant killing. My guess is the Jack spent years being investigated by giant subcommittees and now Jack's paying a giant tax on his beanstalk bonus."

"I caught my six-year-old, Buster, playing 'health care provider' with one of the little girls in his first-grade class. They were filling out toy forms fully clothed."

"We baby boomers are a pathetic bunch. And it didn't start with the Beatles, marijuana, and the pill. Recall the coonskin cap. I wore mine to school. Children of previous eras may have worn coonskin caps, but they had to eat the raccoons first."

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Conservative political humorist P.J. O'Rourke flourishes in adversity. Whether he's making fun of Americans' unwillingness to contemplate the realities of foreign policy (Peace Kills) or flogging the institutions of the U.S. government (Parliament of Whores), this wily satirist thrives most when he can hurl his darts at subjects in power. His Don't Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards exhibits O'Rourke in full throttle, uproarious splendor. In its pages, he presents a skeptical theory of politics that libertarian-leaning readers will especially relish.

Publishers Weekly
O'Rourke (On the Wealth of Nations) continues his libertarian attack of current politics. The author, an early editor at National Lampoon, takes on weighty topics like the Bill of Rights, climate change, health care reform, government bailouts, and foreign policy. When he wants to be serious, he quotes from John Locke and Thomas Hobbes; when he wants to be humorous, he brings up Joe Biden and Harry Reid. Republicans get a free ride mostly; if the subject is accumulation of power, Nancy Pelosi tops Dick Cheney. O'Rourke admits he's not a deep thinker, which is why when it comes to stem-cell research, he simply accepts that the dogma of his Catholicism clashes with scientific claims. But without further investigation, he embraces former president Bush's opposition to the research and lambastes president Obama ("damn wrong") for overturning the ban. When all else fails, use a dictionary definition, and O'Rourke breaks out his Webster's more than once. He works hard to lard his arguments with humor, but like much partisan work, these essays are best appreciated by those who already believe. (Sept.)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780802119605
  • Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
  • Publication date: 9/21/2010
  • Pages: 288
  • Sales rank: 686,731
  • Product dimensions: 6.40 (w) x 9.10 (h) x 1.20 (d)

Meet the Author

P. J. O’Rourke is the author of twelve books, including Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance, both of which were #1 New York Times best sellers. His most recent book is the best seller On the Wealth of Nations.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Apologia Pro !%@& Sua

PART I THE SEX, DEATH, AND BOREDOM THEORY OF POLITICS

1 Kill Fuck Marry 5

2 Politics Makes Us Free---And We're Worth It 9

3 A Digression on Happiness 25

4 The Happy Realization That All Freedoms Are Economic Freedoms (And Failure Is an Option) 35

5 The Murderous Perverted Nuptial Bliss Method of Establishing Political Principles 49

6 The Purgatory of Freedom and the Hell of Politics 63

7 Morality in Politics---And What's It Doing in There? 83

8 Taxes 97

9 More Taxes 103

10 Being Penny-Wise 107

PART II WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

1 The U.S.S. Thresher Bailout and the Washing-Machine-for-Her-Birthday Stimulus Plan 117

2 And While We're at It 125

3 Generation Vex 129

4 Health Care Reform 133

5 Climate Change 149

6 The End of the American Automobile Industry 151

7 The Trade Imbalance 159

8 Gun Control 165

9 Campaign Finance Reform 169

10 Terrorism 177

11 Foreign Policy 185

12 Foreign Policy, Part Two---It Keeps Getting More Foreign 191

PART III PUTTING OUR BIG, FAT POLITICAL ASS ON A DIET

1 Why I'm Right 205

2 Where the Right Went Wrong 219

3 A Digression on Shouting at Each Other 233

4 The Next Big Stink 243

5 The Fix Is In 251

6 All Hands on Deck 269

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 28 )
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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 16, 2012

    Shadow

    "She was not even close to being an original. LEAVE!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 16, 2012

    To shadow

    I am not scarlet so chill. There are two scalets so you could be thinking of the other one

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  • Posted May 2, 2012

    Don't Buy the Book --It Just Encouages the Bastard to Write More

    Don't Buy the Book --It Just Encouages the Bastard to Write More Nonsense.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 5, 2012

    Its got cusswords in the sample.

    Should i get this?

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