Shot in the Dark

The Awesome Power Of Logic, Reason And Rhetoric

Is there nothing in the worlds of negotiation, of convincing people to think and do things they aren’t entitled to, with the elegance, the power, the pure majesty of simply capping off one’s argument with a jaunty “full stop”?

If Abraham Lincoln had told Jefferson Davis “abolish slavery and rejoin the union, full stop!” there would’ve been no Civil War.

Had RIchard Nixon said “I am not a crook – full stop“, there’d have been no Watergate, no impeachment, no resignation.

If WInston Churchill had punctuated the Dunkirk speech – “…we shall fight on the beaches and the landing grounds, we shall never surrender, full stop!”, Hitler would have pulled back from France, abdicated, and fled to Mongolia.

Had the Pope responded to Martin Luther with a decisive “Iustificamur ex operibus, plenus finis” (“We are justified by works. Full stop“), there’d have been no Reformation, no 100 years war. \

If the guys in Milli Vanilli had simply said, “We are the real singers! Full stop!”, they would be bigger than Madonna, Elvis, the Beatles, Taylor Swift and Slim Whitman today.

So pity the poor Minnesota GOP. Who can stand in the face of such remorseless logic and deft rhetoric?

For example – I, personally, started out believing that “Rights” are inalienable, non-material things with which one is born, and from which one can not be legitimately separated except by very solemn due process.

But then I read this:

https://twitter.com/LiishKozlowski/status/1659011555663527938

And voila! I’m convinced! A “right” is a bit of material swag bestowed on the deserving by the political process!

Even “Lieutenant” Governor Flanagan, who punctuated one of her (very, very few non-risible) arguments with this…

Is there nothing that phrase can’t do?

…

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34 responses to “The Awesome Power Of Logic, Reason And Rhetoric”

  1. Sailorcurt Avatar
    Sailorcurt

    I’m a little curious about something:

    To me, invoking the declaration “full stop” implies that there’s nothing further to be said on the subject, every conceivable point has been addressed.

    So why, after invoking “full stop”, do they keep talking?

  2. Ian in Iowa Avatar
    Ian in Iowa

    “Full stop” = “I’m tired of debating with you plebs. Further debate is unwanted. Should you continue, you will be blocked.”

    Or the shorter form: “Don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up.”

  3. SmithStCrx Avatar
    SmithStCrx

    Re lead water lines.
    Flint Michigan is the city that everyone points to about lead water lines resulting in increased lead levels in children. The irony that is conveniently forgotten is that the water system was completely safe until the Democrats in the Flint city government took over the water distribution from the regional water authority. The old lead pipes had been completely lined and the lead wasn’t leaching into the drinking water. When Flint became the water producer, the new system produced a slightly different chemical composition to the municipal water supply. The new supply stripped the protective lining that had accumulated, exposing the lead to direct contact with the water. The lead then began to leach into the water.
    And to top off all of the hysteria, while the children in Flint did show elevated levels of lead in their bodies, I don’t believe they showed in physiological or cognitive impairment caused by those increased levels.

    And I almost forgot,
    Full Stop.

  4. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    Is there a limit to just how many human rights there are? Is there a mine somewhere where human rights can be extracted? I mean, DemoCommies seem to be able to constantly discover new rights.

    That image with Walz looks like some guy explaining something very simple to him. Guy w/ helmet – Water. You know? We have to run pipes to every house with water so people can drink and wash and take a shower.

  5. Blade Nzimande Avatar
    Blade Nzimande

    Smith, Detroit cut Flint off, because the citizens didn’t pay their bills. So Flint started taking water out of the Flint river, which requires a higher dose of Chlorine to disinfect.

    That’s why the pipes started to leach.

    If the citizens didn’t treat their utilities like they were gibs, the disaster would not have happened.

    Which is just another way of saying it was White Supremacists keeping the blek man down.

  6. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    A right is something which requires no expense or effort to provide.

    I have a right to life. No one needs to work hard to get it for me. No one needs to pay for it.

    I have a right to liberty. No one needs to work hard to provide me with liberty, or to pay for it. I already own that right, it’s fully paid for.

    Clean water, healthy food, adequate health care, Cell phones with data plans, electronic benefits transfer cards, public defenders . . . these are not rights. These are commodities. They cost money, somebody has to pay for all of them, society must decide which ones we will provide and which we will not.

    Unless you’re a Liberal. Then it doesn’t matter how much they cost. Because you simply pay for them using Other People’s Money. And there’s no limit to how much you can draw on that account.

  7. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    https://www.ft.com/content/bf182b8d-8f0b-4f73-b49a-ab79fa59bdb6

    Five more months before the money dries up. Make the best deal you can. Full stop.

  8. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    I have a right to liberty. No one needs to work hard to provide me with liberty, or to pay for it. I already own that right, it’s fully paid for.

    Alas, you DO have to work for it and either pay for it with your own blood or someone else’s willing to sacrifice. Else, that right will be taken from you immediately and irrevocably, until enough blood is spilled to reclaim it. FULL STOP.

  9. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    No one has to work hard to provide me with liberty, or life. I already have those rights. They didn’t come from government, they came from God, and they’re free.

    That’s not to say I can keep my rights. I may have to work hard to defend them, particularly from my own government. But defending the rights I already own is not the same as acquiring the rights.

    The right to medical care is not a right, it does not come from God, it comes from taxpayers. It’s a commodity.

  10. Blade Nzimande Avatar
    Blade Nzimande

    Time to buy silver was 2020, Bigman…pretty sure someone was saying that at the time.

    Was $17.60 at the time, as I recall.

  11. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Yeah I was just looking at Kitco and kicking myself. But I see it’s eased off a little lately. Think now is the time to buy for another rise? How long can they keep inflating the balloon before the entire system collapses in ruin? Maybe we’d be better off investing in brass and lead?

    Got room for a couple more in your Fortress of Solitude?

  12. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    Healthcare is a human right. Full stop.

    Every Minnesotan deserves safe, clean drinking water – full stop.

    Leftism is a cult that worships death. Full stop.

  13. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    “Full Stop” is another way of saying about the same thing that President Obama was saying when he’s say “the time for debate is over”. More or less, it means “since I’m incapable of convincing people of my position, I’ll declare the debate over and hope the media give me enough cover to make it happen.”

  14. Blade Nzimande Avatar
    Blade Nzimande

    Your legislative session is just about done.

    Let’s tally it up, shall we?

    Minnesota is now:

    A sanctuary for child genital mutilation, and abortion .

    In line to be the first state to decriminalize fucking children.

    Home to muzzy call to prayer, 5 times a day.

    Paradise for ganj smokers.

    50 of 50 states for computer science classes in public schools.

    4th highest taxes in Weimerica

    Getting a gas tax increase

    In line with California for firearm restrictions.

    Adding funds for grooming in public schools.

    The car jacking capital of Weimerica.

    Have I missed anything, Patriots?

    So much #winning. Are you tired of winning, yet?

  15. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Sure, you’re crowing now Vlad, but you just wait. I’m going to vote harder next time, I vote so much harder you won’t believe it. And then things will change.

  16. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    The GOP’s Ukraine feint
    “House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) rebuked a Russian reporter who questioned his support for Ukraine, delivering his most full-throated defense of Kyiv’s war effort since Republicans won the House majority.”
    https://www.axios.com/2023/05/01/mccarthy-ukraine-aid-republicans-support

    US signals support for allies to send their F-16 jets to Ukraine. ~ WSJ

    They have probably already started or even finished training the Ukrainian pilots. Only now making the announcement. If Ukraine’s counter-offensive leads to the liberation of all of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts then the presence of F16s will make a big contribution to making Russia’s continued occupation of Crimea impossible.

  17. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    You know, it kind of annoys me that Lesko Brandon is willing to give fully-automatic M-4 rifles to the Taliban no questions asked, but I have to jump through endless hoops to purchase an ordinary sporting rifle.

    And now he’s giving away $15 million fighter jets? Plus throwing in free training? To people who aren’t even our allies, no obligation to us at all? I can’t afford to buy a used Cessna much less pay $275 an hour for lessons to get a license to fly it.

    It’s almost as if the people in Washington don’t like Americans very much.

  18. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    The media are rejoicing at the end of gun violence in Minnesota. Governor Walz signed a DFL bill to require background checks before all firearms transfers. No bad guys will ever be able to obtain firearms again. Crime as we have known it, is ended.

    I can’t find the text of the bill to find out how it will affect my family. We have a tradition of meeting at a farm over July 4th holiday for friendly shooting competition. A big part of that is trying out the sibling’s newest purchase. But if we now must run background checks for each loan, I’m not sure how that will be possible in the field.

    Still, it’s worth it to know the gangbangers shooting up Minneapolis will be out of business soon. No more buying stolen guns out of the trunk of a car. No more illegally altered machine pistols. Nobody will be charged as an ineligible person in possession of a firearm because they won’t be able to obtain one in the first place. So that’s a big step forward.

  19. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Hoo boy. A stern letter from a Supreme Court Justice. That ought to solve the problem.

    https://nypost.com/2023/05/20/neil-gorsuch-rips-covid-19-policies-as-intrusion-on-civil-liberties/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_source=twitter

    Wonder when Walz will resign in shame?

  20. Blade Nzimande Avatar
    Blade Nzimande

    Your wretched newspaper of record:

    “Man dies after being struck by LRT train after fight in downtown Mpls.
    Two men were fighting on a light rail platform when one fell onto the tracks, police said; they are searching for the other.”

    Truth:

    White man killed on LRT platform after being attacked by black savage in downtown Mogadishu Minneapolis.

    A 75 IQ black savage attacked a White man without provocation yesterday. The White man was killed when a brutal strike to his face felled him into the path of an oncoming LRT, horrifically crushing him between the train and the platform.

    The savage ran off, and the police have not caught him. He’s described as a man wearing a hoodie.

    ————————————-
    Don’t get upset, Patriots. Light up a blunt and mellow the fuck out. Your life is out of your control.

  21. Blade Nzimande Avatar
    Blade Nzimande

    Here’s what happened.
    https://gab.com/Firebird2000jc/posts/110403445928869074

    The good news is, the only White people that ride the LRT are drug addicts and 32 year old leftist metrosexuals out to own the Suburbanites by proving Minneapolis and the LRT are fun.

    Fuck ’em….should have known better…and without a pistol, too.

  22. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    First comment to that tweet above.
    Somebody was fatally pushed onto train tracks and you expect me to believe the culprit was a black male? No way. Sounds like the kind of thing a pregnant White woman would have done.

  23. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    More lies, more disinformation, more Russian propaganda

    https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-52023-bakhmut-falls-artemovsk

    What we need is someone to prevent us from giving bad news. Or some thing. Douglas Adams was a genius:

    “The Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses have been designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. They follow the principle “what you don’t know can’t hurt you” and turn completely dark and opaque at the first sign of danger. This prevents you from seeing anything that might alarm you.”

    I need them, right now. Failing that, censorship, please, the sooner the better.

  24. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Election map of Minnesota, by county.

    https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/elections/2020/

    Violent crime map of Minnesota, by county

    https://crimegrade.org/violent-crime-minnesota/

    “Elections matter,” he said [Senate Judiciary Chair Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park], explaining why the DFL was able to pass gun control laws now, even with significant bi-partisan opposition.

    https://www.startribune.com/walz-signs-two-gun-control-measures-into-law/600276326/

    Yes, elections matter, but the only place Democrats won elections are Democrat dominated counties, which are also the most violent places in the state. Why should Republican counties be subject to crime control measures they don’t want and don’t need?

    I propose a pilot project: residents of Hennepin, Ramsey, Olmsted, Stearns and Saint Louis counties, turn in all your firearms. Everybody else, hang onto them. After a couple of years, we’ll review violent crme statistics to see how well disarming the public works.

    In other words – you go first.

  25. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Governor Walz signed a DFL supported bill to require background checks for all firearms transfers including gun shows. In attendance was Rachel Joseph, whose aunt, Shelley Joseph-Kordell, was shot and killed years ago.

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/minnesota-governor-signs-gun-safety-measures-red-flag-99468190

    Rachel Joseph has been advocating gun control for years, blaming her aunt’s death on the killer being able to purchase a firearm at a gun show without a background check.

    https://minnesotareformer.com/2021/12/14/fight-gun-violence-on-many-fronts/

    The shooting occurred because the children of Hyman Berkovitz were fighting over his money and the Conservator appointed for Hyman was one of the fighting siblings. This was a case of one sister shooting another over their father’s money.

    https://mn.gov/law-library-stat/archive/supct/0511/opa041722-1103.htm

    Would a background check have stopped her? There is nothing in her court records to suggest it.

    https://publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch

    She had never been committed as mentally ill. She had never been convicted of a felony. There is no indication she was a habitual drug user (and nobody would admit to that on a background check anyway). As far as I can tell, she was not a prohibited person. She would have passed the background check.

    Would the new law have saved the aunt’s life?

    No.

    Full stop.

  26. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Two comments awaiting moderation. Are the links the problem?

  27. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    And here’s even more propaganda! You know what we need to do while we default? Why, send more billions to Ukes of course!

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-admits-murdering-quite-few-russian-civilians-who-back-putin-and-his-invasion

  28. Blade Nzimande Avatar
    Blade Nzimande

    More billions won’t save buttsex, child trafficking and money laundering in Ukraine

    NBC is calling it

    “Zelenskyy says ‘Bakhmut is only in our hearts’ after Russia claims control of Ukrainian city
    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that he believes that Russia has taken control of the eastern city of Bakhmut”

  29. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Hey Blade, get a load of this:

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/inaacp-warns-african-americans-avoid-florida-due-perceived/

    Looking better every day. Maybe the Carolinas should take notes, get themselves some good publicity, too.

  30. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    ^ After the way those gifts of diversity behaved during spring break this year, I’d say Florida might respond that it finds the NAACP’s position acceptable.

  31. Blade Nzimande Avatar
    Blade Nzimande

    Bigman, there is no reason South Carolina shouldn’t be teaching Florida tricks, rather than the other way around.

    The problem is, when presented with an overwhelming majority in the legislature here, the GOP tends to hunker down and gather cash for themselves rather than use the power to support their people. They are the epitome of too comfortable for their own good.

    The best we can hope for is sleeping at night knowing scumbag leftists have zero chance of implementing any of the fuckery seen in Minnesota, Oregon, New York or Amy other leftist shithole.

    Florida, Tennessee and Missouri are leading the way.

  32. Blade Nzimande Avatar
    Blade Nzimande

    I wonder if the NAACP’s travel warning will result in less chimpouts at airport gates this Summer.

    The black scholars and high achievers enjoying Spring break this year were not inhibited in the least. Assaults, looting, shooting and raping went on unabated.

  33. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Is still in moderation jail.

    Darn it, those were good posts, too. OK, yes, I added a lot of links to document the facts I was claiming. But That shouldn’t prevent me from making the claim, should it?

    Maybe if I just make claims without any backing, then I can get them posted?Hey Emery, what’s your email… I’ll send them to you and you can post them.

  34. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    I find it darkly ironic that the one blog I read with the best commenters also has the worst commenting moderation policies, most of which are unknown.

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