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Politics

Thomas Szasz To Run Department of Health and Human Services

Jesse Walker | 11.19.2008 4:10 PM

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Ha! No, it's gonna be Tom Daschle. Or so say "two Democratic sources close to Daschle and with intimate knowledge of the decision." So you see, Obama isn't just drawing on Clinton retreads; he's reaching out to retreads from the legislative branch, too.

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NEXT: Change He Can Believe In

Jesse Walker is books editor at Reason and the author of Rebels on the Air and The United States of Paranoia.

PoliticsThomas Szasz
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  1. sage   17 years ago

    I saw "retread" and thought I saw something else. Guess what it was? Then I saw Daschle's name, and I saw it again.

  2. Lefiti   17 years ago

    Maybe Obama will reach out to Bob Barr. After all, libertarians are such an important part of the American political scene that he can hardly ignore them.

  3. Lefiti   17 years ago

    Maybe Obama will give me a reacharound. Donate now!

  4. Lefiti   17 years ago

    Bob Barr Views:
    Pretty much the same as Ron Paul's, but without the avuncular charm or vicious racist past

    Issues:
    (1995-2007) Trying to control the faith, sexuality, reproduction, drug use, and national allegiance of every single American. (2007-) Aw, Fuck it.

    Looks Like:
    Effeminate ma?tre d'

    Role In Clinton Impeachment:
    Finger-pointer

    Average Time To Summarize Libertarian Philosophy To Stranger:
    4 hours, 16 minutes

    As President, He Pledges To:
    Use his platform to apologize for things he supported as a Republican

  5. junior   17 years ago

    Daschle supported the hitler youth.

  6. Lefiti   17 years ago

    [pointless, irrelevant drivel]. Donate now!

  7. Lefiti   17 years ago

    The upside of being a libertarian: you will never have to face the embarrassment of seeing a single libertarian policy implemented.

  8. PWA   17 years ago

    Lefiti,
    You should try some ritalin.

  9. Lefiti   17 years ago

    Nah. Gives me the runs. Like right now. Maybe I'll change clothes tomorrow. But probably not.

  10. Lefiti   17 years ago

    The upside of being Lefiti: Mom says i'm special. And and she's gonna get me a puppy for Christmas!

  11. Lefiti   17 years ago

    I didn't make those posts you hot-plating bastards!

  12. Pro Libertate   17 years ago

    Answering the real Lefiti who probably hasn't even posted yet, if what's simple and popular governs what our politics should be, why not tear up the Constitution and declare Oprah Winfrey the God Empress of America and let her guide and nurture us into the future?

  13. Lefiti   17 years ago

    As I've stated earlier, laissez faire policies led to this current meltdown; that is why your views have always been irrelevant.

    Something like that.

  14. Lefiti   17 years ago

    I am SUCH a piece of meat.

  15. Lefti   17 years ago

    Has anyone seen my broom?

  16. Jesse Walker   17 years ago

    The fake Lefitis are now officially as annoying as the real Lefiti.

  17. Citizen Nothing   17 years ago

    Finally it's official.
    Thank god.
    And I'll preempt joe by defying anyone to provide a link to any statement made by Obama or his supporters during the campaign to the effect that Daschle would be a crappy head of HHS.

  18. peachy   17 years ago

    Agreed, old chap - and that was a high bar to clear.

  19. Episiarch   17 years ago

    The fake Lefitis are now officially as annoying as the real Lefiti.

    Aww, Jesse, they're funny. This cracked me up:

    "Pretty much the same as Ron Paul's, but without the avuncular charm or vicious racist past"

  20. John   17 years ago

    I think the fake Lefiti s funny to. I loved the one the other day about the Governor of South Carolina.

    "Free market lunatic. Yesterday's man". That is funny shit.

  21. Citizen Nothing   17 years ago

    I'm beginning to suspect that the "real" Lefiti hasn't posted for weeks.

  22. Xeones   17 years ago

    If Lefiti didn't exist, we'd have to invent... actually, no. We wouldn't.

  23. J sub D   17 years ago

    Nothing, absolutely nothing, says Change!? like Tom Daschle.

  24. SugarFree   17 years ago

    The spoofs are as content-free as as the original. If the objection is content-free insults, just ban the annoying little momma's boy and be done with it. If not, I say this is libertarian social ostracism at its finest.

  25. J sub D   17 years ago

    Re: Lefiti | November 19, 2008, 4:30pm | #

    Love that E-mail address. Kudos to whoever did it.

  26. Lefiti   17 years ago

    I'm not annoying.

  27. robc   17 years ago

    So, if you had been in a coma the last 12 months and woke up and saw the admin picks, wouldnt your first reponse be "Huh, I wonder who Hillary beat in the general?"

  28. Pro Libertate   17 years ago

    My only problem is that the spoofs happen more than the real postings. It's a Lefiti-a-thon. If I want to read one guy posting more than everyone else combined in a thread, I'll read one where joe's getting all defensive about being called a partisan.

  29. Gilbert Martin   17 years ago

    There should never have been a department of health and human services to begin with.

  30. robc   17 years ago

    Pro Lib,

    I'll read one where joe's getting all defensive about being called a partisan.

    There is a fresh one, made earlier today.

  31. John   17 years ago

    "If I want to read one guy posting more than everyone else combined in a thread, I'll read one where joe's getting all defensive about being called a partisan."

    You made me spit coffee out of my nose on that one. Joe is not a partisian. It is not his fault Democrats don't ever do anything wrong and are right about everything.

  32. Warfiti   17 years ago

    May I have your attention please?
    May I have your attention please?
    Will the real Lefiti please stand up?
    I repeat, will the real Lefiti please stand up?
    We're gonna have a problem here..

    Y'all act like you never seen a troll blogger before
    Jaws all on the floor like Pam, like Tommy just burst in the door
    and started whoopin her ass worse than before
    they first were divorce, throwin her over furniture (Ahh!)
    It's the return of the... "Ah, wait, no way, you're kidding,
    he didn't just say what I think he did, did he?"
    And Dr. Dre said... nothing you idiots!
    Dr. Dre's dead, he's locked in my basement! (Ha-ha!)
    Feminist women love Eminem
    [*vocal turntable: chigga chigga chigga*]
    "Lefiti, I'm sick of him
    Look at him, walkin around grabbin his you-know-what
    Flippin the you-know-who," "Yeah, but he's so cute though!"
    Yeah, I probably got a couple of screws up in my head loose
    But no worse, than what's goin on in your parents' bedrooms
    Sometimes, I wanna get on TV and just let loose, but can't
    but it's cool for Tom Green to hump a dead moose
    "My bum is on your lips, my bum is on your lips"
    And if I'm lucky, you might just give it a little kiss
    And that's the message that we deliver to little kids
    And expect them not to know what a woman's clitoris is
    Of course they gonna know what intercourse is
    By the time they hit fourth grade
    They got the Discovery Channel don't they?
    "We ain't nothing but mammals.." Well, some of us cannibals
    who cut other people open like cantaloupes [SLURP]
    But if we can hump dead animals and antelopes
    then there's no reason that a man and another man can't elope
    [*EWWW!*] But if you feel like I feel, I got the antidote
    Women wave your pantyhose, sing the chorus and it goes

    [Chorus: Eminem (repeat 2X)]

    'Cause I'm Lefiti, yes I'm the real fiti
    All you other Lefitis are just imitating
    So won't the real Lefiti please stand up,
    please stand up, please stand up?

    [Eminem]
    Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell his records;
    well I do, so fuck him and fuck you too!
    You think I give a damn about a Grammy?
    Half of you critics can't even stomach me, let alone stand me
    "But Slim, what if you win, wouldn't it be weird?"
    Why? So you guys could just lie to get me here?
    So you can, sit me here next to Britney Spears?
    Shit, Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs
    so I can sit next to Carson Daly and Fred Durst
    and hear 'em argue over who she gave head to first
    You little bitch, put me on blast on MTV
    "Yeah, he's cute, but I think he's married to Kim, hee-hee!"
    I should download her audio on MP3
    and show the whole world how you gave Eminem VD [AHHH!]
    I'm sick of you little girl and boy groups, all you do is annoy me
    so I have been sent here to destroy you [bzzzt]
    And there's a million of us just like me
    who cuss like me; who just don't give a fuck like me
    who dress like me; walk, talk and act like me
    and just might be the next best thing but not quite me!

    [Chorus]

    [Eminem]
    I'm like a head trip to listen to, cause I'm only givin you
    things you joke about with your friends inside your living room
    The only difference is I got the balls to say it
    in front of y'all and I don't gotta be false or sugarcoated at all
    I just get on the mic and spit it
    and whether you like to admit it [*ERR*] I just shit it
    better than ninety percent of you rappers out can
    Then you wonder how can kids eat up these albums like valiums
    It's funny; cause at the rate I'm goin when I'm thirty
    I'll be the only person in the nursin home flirting
    Pinchin nurses asses when I'm jackin off with Jergens
    And I'm jerkin but this whole bag of Viagra isn't working
    And every single person is a Lefiti lurkin
    He could be workin at Burger King, spittin on your onion rings
    [*HACH*] Or in the parkin lot, circling
    Screaming "I don't give a fuck!"
    with his windows down and his system up
    So, will the real Fiti please stand up?
    And put one of those fingers on each hand up?
    And be proud to be outta your mind and outta control
    and one more time, loud as you can, how does it go?

    [Chorus 4X]

    [Eminem]
    Ha ha
    Guess there's a Lefiti in all of us
    Fuck it, let's all stand up

  33. Episiarch   17 years ago

    I'll read one where joe's getting all defensive about being called a partisan.

    There is a fresh one, made earlier today.

    And the best part is that no one called him a partisan (at least I didn't). He went right there automatically.

  34. robc   17 years ago

    Epi,

    I thought about it, maybe thats what set him off.

  35. John   17 years ago

    No. It was me that set him off. I said that the only reason the people at the weekly standard think appointing Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State is a good idea is because they will have so much fun watching people like Joe try and defend it. Shortly after he went bizerk and accused me of being a hack.

  36. T   17 years ago

    And the best part is that no one called him a partisan (at least I didn't).

    You were using a code word, I bet. So you called him a partisan and didn't even know it.

  37. Episiarch   17 years ago

    I thought about it, maybe thats what set him off.

    I don't think your Jedi mind tricks work on joe. John is probably right and can take credit for it.

    You were using a code word, I bet. So you called him a partisan and didn't even know it.

    Is that code word "joe"?

  38. BDB   17 years ago

    Daschle is such a pussy. This is the guy Obama wants to get through his health care plan? He better be careful about pushing Republicans out of their "comfort zones" as he once said as the minority leader. Howard Dean would have been much scarier to Republicans than Daschle.

  39. John   17 years ago

    BDB,

    It is not about convincing Republicans. It is aobut dealing with all the Democrats who are from republican leaning districts to buy onto socialized medicine. That and giving out of work loser politicians somewhere to work.

  40. BDB   17 years ago

    "It is aobut dealing with all the Democrats who are from republican leaning districts to buy onto socialized medicine."

    By nominating a guy who lost his Senate seat in a Republican-leaning state? That's not entirely convincing, lol. Anyway I bet the nutroots goes crazy over the fact it wasn't Dean.

  41. voxpo   17 years ago

    Lefiti | November 19, 2008, 4:26pm | #

    The upside of being a libertarian: you will never have to face the embarrassment of seeing a single libertarian policy implemented.

    We still have the draft?

  42. BDB   17 years ago

    " you will never have to face the embarrassment of seeing a single libertarian policy implemented."

    Welfare reform. And nobody seriously believes in things like wage and price controls anymore.

  43. Pro Libertate   17 years ago

    And nobody seriously believes in things like wage and price controls anymore.

    BDB,

    Don't bet too much on that. Especially if the recession gets very deep and/or prolonged.

  44. BDB   17 years ago

    Jesus, Pro L, have a little optimism. Don't people remember who those things really fucked us over in the 70s?

  45. MAX HATS   17 years ago

    I don't get it. Who is Obama supposed to hire? "Change," to me, didn't mean staffing inexperienced people to do odd things. That sounds more like disaster, and if I ever really believed that would happen I would have voted differently. No, to me "change" means "not being completely bugfuck crazy." Asking the dangerous questions that had fallen out of fashion in our eight years of complete insanity. Questions like:

    "What if we don't invade Iran?"

    "What if we treat our allies with basic respect?"

    "What if we staff based on competence, rather than personal loyalty?"

    "What if we don't seek to make permanent deficits structural?"

    I'm definitely not saying I like every appointment. Far from. I just don't see the problem with this one. He's a retread? Oh no! Come on.

  46. BDB   17 years ago

    MAX HATS--

    Here are still liberal yet more Change-y appointments:

    Sec. of State: Bill Richardson

    Attorney General: Tim Kaine

    HHS: Howard Dean

    Notice the only Clintonite in there endorsed Obama early on.

  47. SIV   17 years ago


    Don't bet too much on that.

    I'd say betting on wage and price controls is a sure thing.

  48. Wonks Anonymous   17 years ago

    More libertarian policies that were implemented:

    The decision not to regulate Credit Default Swaps.

    The repeal of Glass Steagal a.k.a. depression era banking regulation.

    Take credit when credit is due people!

  49. Pro Libertate   17 years ago

    BDB,

    Mit der Dummheit k?mpfen die G?tter selbst vergebens.

    Actually, I am optimistic. I'm optimistic that whatever stupidity occurs in the next few years, we'll have enough common sense to overcome it and remain, generally, successful. Probably with some crazy technological innovation that will subdue the world into awe. Or not.

    MAX HATS,

    Clinton didn't appoint a bunch of Carter-era officials.

  50. SIV   17 years ago

    Thanks for the gratuitous Szasz reference.
    I'm sure it pissed somebody off again.
    That is almost as good as a substantive Szasz reference.

  51. stubby   17 years ago

    Daschle's voice scares me.

  52. Nemo   17 years ago

    What's with the Szasz obsession lately?

    Reason be a strange creature.

  53. Pro Libertate   17 years ago

    Come now, Szasz is a fun name to type and say. Szasz right, it is.

  54. SIV   17 years ago

    Szasz is still on the masthead of the print edition I believe. I think it was his content that lead me to buy my first REASON issue off the newsstand. I'd rank him up there with the Austrian economists in the libertarian Pantheon.

  55. Jerry   17 years ago

    Hillary Clinton must have some real dirt on Obama looking at those cronies getting cabinet positions. And poor Bill ain't gonna get his divorce.

  56. Pac   17 years ago

    DO they mean the szasz villain from Batman

  57. cunnivore   17 years ago

    It could be worse. He could be considering Robert Reich for Secy of Labor.

  58. Neu Mejican   17 years ago

    John | November 19, 2008, 5:07pm | #
    No. It was me that set him off....Shortly after he went bizerk and accused me of being a hack.

    But John, you are a hack...perhaps the most partisan poster on h&r. No?

    SIV | November 19, 2008, 5:40pm | #
    Thanks for the gratuitous Szasz reference.
    I'm sure it pissed somebody off again.
    That is almost as good as a substantive Szasz reference.

    This is the first appropriate Szasz reference they have used given that they used him as a punchline.

    ;^)

    Szasz is still on the masthead of the print edition I believe. I think it was his content that lead me to buy my first REASON issue off the newsstand. I'd rank him up there with the Austrian economists in the libertarian Pantheon.

    Says a lot.
    Dripping with irony.

  59. On a tangent   17 years ago

    Schizophrenia is a divergence of idios kosmos from koinos kosmos within the perception system of an individual. This divergence, induced by dehumanizing institutions and isolation, causes a feedback loop in which the schizophrenic is further isolated due to his inability to communicate the radically different idios kosmos that he percieves, thus exacerbates his schizophrenia, ad infinitum.

    The extremely idiosyncratic idios kosmos of the schizophrenic might be closer to reality than the idios kosmos of the well-adjusted individual. The reality being a universe without the mediation of time and without percieved causality. The schizophrenic "gets it all at once". This experience is difficult to cope with and even understand.

    This "overperception" and the consequential breakdown of the naming process that is key to uderstanding is what makes it difficult if not impossible to communicate the schizophrenic's idios kosmos to others.

  60. Bill Norton   17 years ago

    "Thomas Szasz To Run Department of Health and Human Services -- Libertarians to be discredited for the Next Century"

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