I decided to move some discussion from this post up to the top level here. Specifically, Watoosh wrote: "Well, if violence is defined as initiation of force (which, of course, presupposes certain property rights), then I think Rockwell is correct..." Well, if we define cats as elephants, then many people keep elephants in their house. More seriously, firstly, violence is not usually defined that way. It's defined as, you know, violence, so that, say, someone may respond violently or non-violently to someone who aggresses against them. Otherwise, it would make no sense to say, for instance, "He punched me, but I did not stoop to violence in response." And, secondly, the libertarian usage of "initiation of force" is very offbeat. If I wander onto someone's meadow, most people would not say I had "initiated force" -- I mean, sure, I used "force" against the earth to push off walking, but that's not force directed against...
Whoa whoa whoa there tiger... Are you saying he was exactly right because he correctly called 50 out of 50 states correctly? Or do you mean, because Obama won?
ReplyDeleteIf just the latter, I don't think that works. I mean, even Silver himself kept stressing that he wasn't predicting an Obama win with certainty.
I agree that a lot of the blowhards had stupid articles, but I just want to make sure you don't commit the opposite mistake here.
"Are you saying he was exactly right because he correctly called 50 out of 50 states correctly?"
DeleteYes. That's pretty damned accurate.
OK I didn't know how his state-by-state predictions had fared; that's why I asked. Then your title is fine.
DeleteYou have my permission to continue blogging.
Now that Romney has won the biggest landslide since Dewey defeated Truman, I suspect Dick Morris is headed for the history books. The others' blunders will soon be forgotten.
ReplyDelete