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January 23, 2006

Tyranny of the Majority

Interesting editorial in the New York Times today about the dark side of our favorite American export, democracy. Predictably, the writer focuses on rights violations that offend leftist sensibilities: NSA spying, holding "enemy combatants" without formal charges, and even bizarrely suggesting that Bush's wrapping himself in the flag to scare away war critics is the first step towards some ominous Il Duce act he has in store.
Conspicuously absent was any mention of property rights, which seem to be at the top of the list when it comes to voters' appetites. With the recent Eminent Domain decision opening up the way for just about any property taking, confiscatory taxation seems almost quaint. But it still falls under the heading of government initiation of force, justified by the fact that the majority has demanded it. Of course, dishing out the pork is now en vogue with both democrats and republicans, so while quoting Alexis de Tocqueville and the founding fathers may give us a sense of principled analysis, it's clear that in Adam Cohen's opinion, we don't need any overarching pronouncements about "individual rights", to interrupt our self-satisfied musings on historical figures.

Posted by exaltron at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2006

The Art of the Comeback

I feel like I've been in a Palmolive commercial for the past 30 minutes, except instead of dish soap, I've been unwittingly soaking in Mariah Carey's word-is-born-again new joint . I gotta say it ain't half-bad, definitely hard to believe this is the same vocalborg that brought us glitter. Apparently I'm not the only one willing to come out that Mariah-rekignizing closet. Noone less than uber-musicgeek Sasha Frere-Jones put Shocked That You Care at #1 for 2005, no word of a lie*.
Anyway, it's an interesting kind of illustration of the pyramid scheme that is hip-hop in '05- the business model that Jay-Z has taken to the precipice is one of Flyness by Association, as evidenced by his guesting on just about everything on his label. The amazing thing is that this approach still seems to work. On The Emancipation of Mimi, Jermaine Dupri's ghettothentic tracks are sprinkled with the instantly recognizable timbres of hip-hop: Snoop's slimy pimpitude, Twista's gratuitous grit, and Nelly's drawling swagger. Over it all soars Mariah's cartoonishly stratospheric vocal acrobatics, still somewhat of a perfect instrument looking for real work of art to fulfill its promise, but getting warmer.
Gotta say Mimi would be a much better person to write a book about comebacks than this Gail Wynand wannabe. I'm sure I'm not the first person to point out that his book should have been called the Art of the Bailout, not just courtesy of his family, but the American public as well. Mr. Socialist-in-a-Capitalist's-Suit has benefitted from many a Eminent Domain bulldozing of property rights and surely will profit from such thievery even more in the post-Kelo climate.

went a bit far afield, sorry.

*OK, considering that No. 6 is Maroon 5 “I Will Bring Your Daughter Home Before 11 PM EST” (J Records), we might be getting spoofed here. Not sure. Um, yeah, the #1 album is R. Kelly & Jay-Z Let The Healing Begin (Jive), so that's a def spoof.

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Posted by exaltron at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)