I Voted
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 4, 2008 by John in Penn Jillette, Politics, Tom Leykis
Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) is fond of saying the only way to waste your vote is to vote for an inferior candidate (in his opinion both Obama and McCain are inferior) or a third party candidate, since there’s no way one of them will win (interesting, since he is a self-proclaimed libertarian like myself). He basically says you shouldn’t vote as a way of demanding better candidates. Interesting, bombastic and deliciously cynical, but not very realistic.
Radio show host Tom Leykis (a libertarian who voted for Obama) is fond of saying that you shouldn’t vote if you don’t know anything about the candidates or issues. That way, he stipulates, his vote counts more because he is intelligent and informed.
John Bedard (of East Helena, MT) is fond of saying if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. So, I did my civic duty.
Penn Shoots Straight
Permalink | Tweet This! | | September 4, 2008 by John in In the News, Penn Jillette, Politics
Last thing we need now is a great leader:
I don’t want anyone as president who promises to take care of me. I may be stupid, but I want a chance to try to be a grown-up and take care of my family. Freedom means the freedom to be stupid, and that’s what I want. I don’t want anyone to feel my pain or tell me to ask what we can do for our country, or give us all money and take care of us.
I think Ron Paul and Bob Barr mean it when they say they want much smaller government. But the government is already big enough, powerful enough and bipartisan enough (and “bi” means exactly two and no more) that Ron and/or Bob won’t even be in the debates. People won’t even hear someone suggesting that our president should do less and individual citizens should do more for themselves.
Agnostic vs. Atheist
Permalink | Tweet This! | | June 26, 2008 by John in Penn Jillette, Religion
From Crackle:
Interesting distinction. I like it.
Libertarian Defined
Permalink | Tweet This! | | April 28, 2007 by John in Adam Carolla, Humor, In the News, Penn Jillette, Tom Leykis
Libertarian (The Devil’s Dictionary X™):
- a political curiosity; a person whose political view consists of knowing what’s right and then closing one’s eyes.
compare with Democrat and Republican.- a Druid; a political kamikaze; a harmlessly unelectable psychopath.
Comments Off
A Moment of Silence, Please
Permalink | Tweet This! | | March 5, 2007 by John in Penn Jillette
Last Friday Penn Jillette hung up his headphones and broadcasted the final episode of the Penn Jillette Radio Show on FreeFM. It lasted approximately 14 months. No real reason was given, and during the final show Penn refused to pimp what he has coming up that may or may not be a replacement for this show. Will it be on satellite radio? Will it be on another radio network? Will it be internet-only? Only time will tell.
One thing’s for sure, my podcast lineup will never be the same.
Comments Off
Favorite Podcast of 2006
Permalink | Tweet This! | | January 2, 2007 by John in Adam Carolla, Entertainment, Penn Jillette, Ramsey, Tom Leykis
Since I became addicted to podcasts (listening - god forbid I should start recording) I tend to get fanatical about listening to one in particular each year. Oh sure, I have dozens I listen to with topics as varied as Photoshop Tips, Superman, Marvel comics, Battlestar Galactica (producer’s commentary), web design and more. But it seems that one captivates me more than the others, and these favs tend to run in annual cycles.
In 2005 it was the Dave Ramsey Show. In a radical departure, 2006 was the year of the Tom Leykis Show (mildly NSFW). The two could not be more different if they tried (and I’m sure if they met they would share an intense mutual disgust).
Interestingly enough, I don’t “believe in” or follow everything that either hosts say or do. But both are certainly entertaining in their own way, and that’s primarily why they do what they do (in that being entertaining is the best way to make money).
Close runner-ups are the Penn Jillette show, the show with Ze Frank and the Adam Carolla show. These pod/vid-casts are staples in my daily podcast routine.
Comments Off
Election Day
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 7, 2006 by John in Humor, Penn Jillette, Politics, Scott Adams
Ever have one of those nightmares that you show up in class for the final exam and suddenly realize that you didn’t attend class all semester and you have no idea what the material is about? Or alternatively you show up in any given class having forgotten to do your homework (and usually you’re wearing only your underwear)?
I’m feeling like that today. I did manage to dress myself, but I didn’t do my homework. Should I go to the polling place and vote for those few issues/candidates that I do know about? Should I vote at all? To paraphrase Penn Jillette, should I vote even if there are no candidates worth voting for? Should I refuse to settle for the lesser of two evils?
Update: Jeff Croft has more to say on the subject. I used to say, “if you don’t vote you can’t complain,” but I’m not so sure anymore. I mean none of the candidates represent my point of view. Even if the candidates did what they said they’d do in office, they don’t reflect my POV.
I forgot to include a mention of Scott Adams who often says he doesn’t vote because he doesn’t know enough about the issues so he’s not qualified (of course he goes on to say that almost nobody knows enough to vote).
Comments Off
Melvin?
Permalink | Tweet This! | | August 8, 2006 by John in Humor, Penn Jillette
Penn Jillette is now suggesting that we all call that anti-semitic, gnostic wackjob Melvin Gibstein. Heh heh heh…
Comments Off