print“My lack of experience is my greatest attribute. I have no experience in ruining the country,” said a witty Peter Schiff, who announced (on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”) a run for the US Senate in his home state of Connecticut. After whipping the Republicans, we hope, Schiff will challenge Democrat Chris Dodd, the poster boy for the “experience” that has ruined this country.
Update (Sept. 19): Van Wijk is correct: As a financial analyst with a considerable clientele, Schiff has wisely steered clear from being excessively political. To me, this means that he is a careful man, who thinks hard before mouthing off. The more issues one expatiates upon as a commentator, the more people one risks angering and alienating. I should know. Why do you think that so-called “courageous” columnists such as Ann Coulter stick to a limited range of issues—“liberal this; liberal that, the wonders of war, and the horrors of abortion, etc.”—while avoiding the hard ones (immigration, the “national question,” the economy)? Because by being completely uncontroversial she never risks alienating the base.
I always come back to Kevin Michael Grace’s aphorism: “The secret to becoming a successful right-wing columnist,” quipped the Canadian conservative, “is to echo the mob while complimenting yourself on your daring.”
Schiff has been fearless on matters economical—fearless and correct. He is also a libertarian and a former adviser to Ron Paul. His positions—and he’ll come out with them in the fullness of time—would correspond with Paul’s.
Another thing: everything does boil down to an understanding that one cannot spend funds one doesn’t have. Think about the Republicans who ran in the primaries. Did you ever hear any of them say, “folks, I’d love to indulge your phony rah-rah-for-the-troops patriotism and keep the army in Iraq, but we’re out of money”?
The genius about freedom and free enterprise is that, under such a system, you have over 100 million Americans “running the country”. And while free enterprise makes mistakes, it adjusts, adapts, learns, and corrects itself.
The whole cult of “leadership” where a small group of wise “experts” tell us how to live our lives is odious and, in the long term, unworkable.
I don’t think that we have the money to fund the troops that we have all over the world.
Meaning, if we did have the money, he would support leaving these troops in place or sending more?
I admire Mr. Schiff, but he will have to articulate his non-economic positions before he is ready to run for Senator.
Get em Peter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If we can get peeps like Schiff, Rand Paul elected , we got a chance to right this ship
“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”
Thomas Paine
“The genius about freedom and free enterprise is that, under such a system, you have over 100 million Americans “running the country”. And while free enterprise makes mistakes, it adjusts, adapts, learns, and corrects itself.” Myron Pauli
Maximum Bingo! Wolfgang should be proud.
Van Wijk has a good point but from a political point of view, one does not have to go out on an anti-war limb and just tick people off. I have become convinced that we need to just get OUT of Afghanistan [whatever justification we had in “getting Bin Laden” evaporated years ago] but we don’t have to heap praise on the Taliban (or Vietcong in previous idiotic wars) like the Anti-War movements tend to do.
There is a fine art in politics and it is to maintain one’s principles as a direction in which to go to while massing a broad coalition with strategic compromises to get towards ones eventual goals.
Ironically, Teddy Kennedy is a good example of what to do – but in the wrong direction. We need a few people who will bring us in the direction of freedom rather than merely pissing off those with a “conservative” or “leftist” slant. Admittedly a fine delicate art.
It’s a bit off topic but here is a real expert on the mess in Iraq:
(its by the guy who flung the show at our previous Great Leader.)
[Listen all: please use the spell check offered in the Comments Section. I’ve just tried it; it works. I don’t have time to edit each and every letter. You meant “IT’S …. FLUNG THE SHOE…”]
Uh, Ilana: It’s “proof read.” The message is spelled correctly, just not correctly worded. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the temptation to correct the teacher- bad student, bad.)