Daily Show Talks with Wayne Allyn Root re: IRS, Racial Profiling. Hilarity Ensues.

UPDATED: Wayne Allyn Root accuses Daily Show of deception and fraud. Read all about it here.

Former Libertarian Party stalwart Wayne Allyn Root was recently on The Daily Show discussing the IRS scandal and other forms of profiling. Hilarity ensues.

Click above to watch.

Hat tip to Mediaite's Andrew Kirell, who notes, "Last night's Daily Show took a hammer to what the show deemed a hypocrisy in the conservative cries of 'profiling' during the IRS scandal while vigorously supporting the police profiling of Muslims, Latinos, and black people."

More on Root.

Comments

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Wait, so is the Daily Show saying profiling is OK, or that it's not?

Oh, right, this is what happens when your main "argument" is "yeah but Bush"

[niobiumstudio]

The whole point of the bit is that NO profiling is okay. This had zero to do with bush.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

The Daily Show is a powerful platform, whether I like it or not. How they choose to use that power tells me about their priorities. Here, they attacked a nobody over something totally irrelevant to the IRS issue. Why? Well, you can say it's to "highlight hypocrisy", but the problem is that there are plenty of people in this world both opposed to racial profiling and to the IRS. Why did they choose Root? Why did they choose this subject?

To distract. To throw blood into the feeding frenzy of partisans who always and without fail say, "SEE? Hypocrisy!"

Hypocrisy is irrelevant. it really is.

[VG Zaytsev]

But it's one of the progressives' seven deadly sins.

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

"Hypocrisy is irrelevant. it really is."

Tangentially, the same hold true for union love. I read a comment today at another site that said that we should support the unions because they gave us the 40-hour week. Now first of all, that's not even true, but even if it were, how long then must we support them? Fifty years? Two hundred? A thousand?

[Juice]

The Republican Party ended slavery. We must support the Republican Party!

[KPres]

Of course they did it to distract, but that doesn't make hypocrisy irrelevant. Root got what he deserved. You can be principled and play politics at the same time, just choose your words carefully. But if you're unprincipled and play politics, and get caught in the act, well, fuck you, be principled.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yep profiling your political opponents is exactly the same as profiling criminal activity.

Then again, in Obama's America opposing the president is a crime.

[Dweebston]

in Obama's America opposing the president is a the crime.

[Warty]

I wish the Daily Show would have gotten someone less embarrassing, like Dondero. Fucking WAR. Shut up already.

[Irish]

Dondero would have at least given us some entertainment when he went off on a tangent about all the totally sexy whores he slept with when he was in the Navy.

[Warty]

HERE IS MY PHONE NUMBER!!!! CALL ME OR YOU'RE A PUSSY!!!!!!!!!

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Wait, is Billy Beck back?

[Almanian!]

So Dondero is dunphy?

[LTC(ret) John]

+1 chest full of medals for lifesaving

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

I don't know about the rest of you all, but get quite a gay vibe from Dunphy.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

"I was in a fraternity!"

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

So The Daily Show, every proggies' favorite Truth to Power "news" program, decided that in the midst of rampant Executive abuses of power it would be really crackerjack to tu quoque Wayne Allen Root?

Wowsers. That's some hard-hitting journalistic accountability there, Lou.

[Bee Tagger]

To the extent that the Daily Show is intent on skewering what they see as media hypocrisy or media failings, I think this segment (which I don't think I can bring myself to watch) probably fits appropriately. A good example of this may be attempting to crush Cramer during the financialocalypse a few years ago, which was more "how could you miss this?" than "how could this happen?"

I don't watch the show enough to say whether or not they point out media hypocrisies when Democrats abuse power and point out abuse of power when Republicans abuse power. Surely, they're better than MSNBC, though, right? Daily Show has, at least, gone after Obama for drone usage and a few other things that slip my mind.

[Killazontherun]

I'll give him credit for being a legitimately funny guy. Predictable, but that is what schtick is, the funny builds up because you know what is coming.

[Brandybuck]

Who, WAR? Because Stewart is only funny on alternate Thursdays.

[Killazontherun]

Maybe just me, but I think the guy is hilarious even if his opinions tend on the unsophisticated side. Besides sit back and enjoy it if you are a Stewart hater, there is something brewing scandilicously wise there. You know how he is razing Hell about veterans not getting adequate help from the Obama administration? There is a Reason for that. I recently met the Reason in person. That is all I'm going to say about that for now. Bookmark.

[Killazontherun]

BTW, I'm alluding to someone giving him an inside scoop that's pissing him off, not to anything scandal worthy in his own life. I knew this person knew JS and I asked that person about him.

[Dweebston]

Stewart skewered the administration over the IRS kerfuffle, and for a moment you might think he wanted to hold Obama's feet to the fire (excepting of course that it's a comedy show), but this skit suggests a new tact: Okay, sure, you caught our guy doing a pretty bad thing, but come on, it's not like you faced any real oppression, right? The government's been doing it for years!

[Almanian!]

BOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

[niobiumstudio]

If you watched the show itself, and not what the people on Fox say about the show - you would realize they DID actually criticize the hell out of the administration for everything that has been going on - especially the IRS scandal. I watch the show and grimmace every time they take a weak shot at the liberals when they screw up - but they didn't do that this time.

But according to you - the show should ONLY criticize the administration and that to criticize the other side for OBVIOUS hypocracy isn't okay? This guy is flat out saying it's okay to racially profile and profile for peoples religious beliefs, but that profiling for political beliefs is the worst thing in the world. This guy is saying getting arrested for walking while black is just a minor inconvenience, but being audited is a travesty of massive proportions.

Yes, the IRS profiling people is terrible and a clear violation of the constitution and deserves criticism (which Stewart did). However, saying this guy doesn't deserve criticism as well is stupid.

I disagree with Stewart on a majority of things and I hate when he talks about guns or takes weak shots at liberals (he SHOULD be criticized for that), but criticizing him for this piece is just stupid.

[Jeff]

No. Pretending that Wayne Allyn Root is in any way worth criticizing is just stupid.

[Dweebston]

The argument for LEO profiling isn't about targeting religious or ethnic groups per se, it's about targeting by statistical likelihood.

I don't agree with it, I think it's ineffective in the short run and myopic in the long run, but I also disagree that it's ideological in nature. The IRS targeting political groups is ideological in nature.

[Irish]

Calm down.

If you watched the show itself, and not what the people on Fox say about the show

This is some bizarre guilt by association shit since the OP didn't even mention Fox News.

But according to you - the show should ONLY criticize the administration and that to criticize the other side for OBVIOUS hypocracy isn't okay?

He never said this. Strawman.

Yes, the IRS profiling people is terrible and a clear violation of the constitution and deserves criticism (which Stewart did). However, saying this guy doesn't deserve criticism as well is stupid.

Yes, except that 'this guy' is Wayne Allyn Root, a random ass former LP member that virtually no one has ever heard of. Why is Jon Stewart trotting out an idiot like WAR for his attack on the opposition? He's comparing the political opinions of a nobody to rampant corruption within the United States' executive branch.

You sure read an awful lot into Neoliberal Kochtopus' post, given that it was only like three sentences long and didn't say any of the things you're attacking him for.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Thank you.

To extend on my point (and yours): Was it really critical to trot out Wayne Allyn Root, an essential nobody, to make a vapid point about profiling?

This should be recognized for what it is - an attempt at a tu quoque and a red herring.

But according to you - the show should ONLY criticize the administration and that to criticize the other side for OBVIOUS hypocracy isn't okay?

Here's the thing: there is not just one "other side". Libertarians, for example, are opposed to profiling of both kinds. Why didn't Jon Stewart have one of those guys on? Oh right, because to do so would rob him of the opportunity to enshrine the false dichotomy of TEAM RED / TEAM BLUE only.

He's comparing the political opinions of a nobody to rampant corruption within the United States' executive branch.

Yes, exactly.

[Lyle]

Taxpayers are like gang members and violent Islamists? What?

[Rich]

Totally OT: The toughest bridge in the world

What part of 11'8" don't you understand?

[Francisco d Anconia]

Just goes to show you can only put up so many flashing yellow lights, before people begin to ignore them.

Like laws.

[General Butt Naked]

That was awesome.

We have one like that near where I live and trucks are always getting stuck under it.

They ended up taking it out and making it a bit higher. Took millions of dollars and a shitload of time, and all because people can't read a damn sign.

[Jimbo]

"The camper is too tall, says teh bridge. Never mind, it fits now."
LOL!

[Ryan60657]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[sulphurbottom]

Thanks. That made my day.

[Killazontherun]

Where does the profiling actually take place? Where does 'stop and frisk' occur? What other city has recently been in the news as an enthusiastic backer of the fusion centers? What Team runs both of these cities? Here, Daily Show, I'll dislodge that plank jammed up your skull.

[John]

Yeah. And the state that has gotten in the most trouble for racial profiling has been New Jersey. Did conservatives take over New Jersey while we were not looking?

[T]

Yes! Chris Christie is a Republican, so he must be conservative!

Despite the fact that if he runs nationally, he'll get beat like a rented mule because the South looks at him and thinks RINO.

[General Butt Naked]

Sounds like he'll definitely be the next nominee then.

To the republicans: "Electable" doesn't mean what you think it does.

[Some call me Tim?]

the South looks at him and thinks RINO RHINO.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

boom.

[John]

Next up, the Daily Show deals with the problems of wife beating by interviewing OJ Simpson.

And what exactly does Reason hope to accomplish by cackling over the alleged "hypocrisy" of conservatives over this other than enabling the liberal head fake on what should be the worst government scandal in 30 years?

Is what the IRS analogous to "racial profiling" by police? I don't think so. But more importantly, I don't care. Who the fuck cares if some people are hypocrites or politically motivated? I think finding out exactly what happened and punishing the people involved is a bit more important than determining whether everyone who is pissed about this is a clean as the driven snow.

But we wouldn't want to do that. Obama is cool. And many of Reason's writers always wanted to vote for a black President.

[Hugh Akston]

COSMOTARRRIUNNNNSZZZZZZ!

Did I do that right?

[John]

When they print stupid shit like this, they are asking for it. You tell me why they seem to be more concerned about the moral purity of conservatives than the fact that the President used the IRS to go after his opponents.

[Hugh Akston]

You're right of course. It's pretty clear from their total lack of coverage of the IRS scandal that reason is a Team Blue shill.

[VG Zaytsev]

Thy gotta maintain career viability, John.

[Another David]

And here I thought the government kidnapping and murdering people should be the worst scandal in 30 years. But as we know, tax audits happening to you are way worse than death happening to people who aren't you.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Kidnapping and murdering people are one of the main jobs of the state. Kind of hard to call it a "scandal."

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Not to go off on a tangent here, but when you use words like "kidnap" and "murder", that's kind of assuming the argument.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Come on, dude, he gave me a huge opening!

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I'll give you a huge opening!

Wait...that didn't come out right.

Neither did that.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

I'll give you a huge opening!

So we have more than one secret pegging enthusiast on the board...

And Hugh, we all know you only thought that because...well, I'm too much of a lady to say it in public.

[Hugh Akston]

I thought you already had a huge opening.

[Almanian!]

THIS IS WHY THERE ARE NO FEMALE LIBERTARIANS!!!

Except maybe Nikki, if "she's" not a 58 year old male with...issues....

[Joe M]

We're only allowed one of those per board, Al, and you're it.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

This exactly. There's no sense in which this comparison is valid; it's purely there for misdirection and so that leftists can scream about a "conservative" that they and no one else had ever heard of in lieu of thinking honestly about the issue.

[Zeb]

I don't think they mean to accomplish anything. They just linked to a video they thought was amusing. And you take from that that Reason loves Obama? You seem to be ascribing what the Daily Show did to Reason.
There are a lot of people in the world, and plenty of time for some of them to worry about punishing the people who do bad things in a specific case and some of them to worry about the flaws in the system and general hypocrisy. I really don't understand your insistence that everyone always pay attention to only what you think is most important.

[John]

And lastly admitting that terrorism is mostly a problem with Islamic extremists is not "profiling". It is admitting the truth. When Jews or Masons or whoever start blowing shit up, we can take a closer look at them too.

Would Reason object to the FBI investigating anti-abortion groups after a string of abortion clinic bombings? Or investigating environmental groups after someone blew up a logging operation?

I doubt it. But those are not groovy brown people. And we all know, brown people never do anything wrong.

[Clich? Bandit]

You know John, here is the thing. It may very well be true that "terrists" are predominantly Muslim, middle-eastern, young, men. I get that. But when you design a GOVERNMENT reaction and policies around specifics like that then you eliminate the possibility to adequately address the true problem. The race/religion/age/gender are symptomatic. The problem is much more fundamental in nature.

If I design anti-terror policy around one group (let's leave out the slippery slope and today me, you tomorrow arguments for now) then I am INTENTIONALLY hindering my ability to guard against the threat.

My proposed solution would be quite simple. Stop invading other countries (even ones where some bad people live who have attacked us in the past) and use the focused power of things like letters of Marque to deal with threats. Then get off the backs of immigrants and citizens so that they gain a desire to see the US do well. And finally TRADE WITH EVERYONE. You don't see the Japanese blowing up our buildings or even the Chinese. We represent their largest markets.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

"If you owe the bank $1,000,000, the bank owns you. But if you owe the bank $1,000,000,000, you own the bank."

[Clich? Bandit]

a more cynical view but the end result is the same.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I do, however, agree with peace through trade.

[Clich? Bandit]

If you need other examples then Chile, Canukistan, India, you pick it.

(I am not saying that I have a tiger repellent rock. I am merely pointing out that an attack from those countries is less likely as a result of mutually beneficial trade. People don't shit where they eat.)

[LTC(ret) John]

*squints, Clint Eastwood-like*

Great, let your guard down and suddenly the frozen hordes are pouring down from the North. And next thing you know its mandatory maple syrup injections and 33 words for snow. No thanks, I'll keep my watch on guard for thee, O Canada!

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

"People don't shit where they eat."

Many do in my neighborhood.

[Juice]

People don't shit where they eat.

Except in India.

[Juice]

Oh, and Salem, MA.

http://www.salemnews.com/local.....s-restroom

[Cytotoxic]

Stop invading other countries (even ones where some bad people live who have attacked us in the past)

That's insane. Letting people kill your citizens and chanting 'letters of marque' is insane. Also, trade is not a panacea.

[Clich? Bandit]

Insanity would be mischaracterizing a point repeatedly to no effect.

[JW]

Insanity would be taking seriously anything Cyto writes.

[Clich? Bandit]

touche (with and accent aigu you damn squirrels)

[XM]

America was hated with a passion in many places around the world in which we had little involvement, even before 9/11.

Here's a thing about anti-Americanism - people will hate us FIRST, and then find all the thin skinned reasons and past sins to justify that later. That's why you see signs referring to slavery, slaughter of the natives, the atomic bombings in anti American protests around the world.

If we bombed a group of terrorist who did nothing but kill innocent people, the radical elements in the middle east will despise us for that, and make random connections to Isreal and the Iraq War.

Besides, even if the world just became a turtle in a shell tomorrow, there's no way to erase past sins that MIGHT inflame radicalism.

[sarcasmic]

Red Tony is off his meds again.

[Clich? Bandit]

O'm telling...It is MNG withdrawal Syndrome (MWS). It can be serious. We should monitor him.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I cannot figure out why that guy didn't survive registration. Was he really just a sock?

[Clich? Bandit]

If it was SugarFree I will forever applaud his ability and skill. I "seem" to remember him posting a couple of times after registration but I am not sure. Perhaps the series of "outing" scandals scared him away.

[tarran]

MNG was his own person; Sugarfree would never waste his time in developing such an exquisitely earnest persona.

MNG started out as someone who genuinely wanted to interact with libertarians. I suspect that he'd been told that he was one, and was looking for friends.

The problem was that he wasn't 100%. And he was losing arguments with people who were 100%, and his emotions rebelled at the prospect of changing his politics at the behest of his reason. I think his dissonance impelled his mendacity and decline into a state of peevish contrarianism.

In the end he was a broken man - hated or mocked nearly universally, his posts filtered out on reasonable - and he left for greener pastures.

Hit and Run is not a place for people who seek approval.

[Warty]

Hit and Run is not a place for people who seek approval.

But...I...

*drops tray of brownies baked for tarran, runs away sobbing*

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

*drops tray of brownies baked for tarran, runs away sobbing*

Why would you drop it?!? I DISAPPROVE.

[Warty]

A man with broken heart does foolish things, Nikki.

[tarran]

Warty, I'm sorry, it was a poor choice of words. What I meant was that it wasn't the place for people who needed approval.

Everyone seeks approval; it's what they do when they don't get it that matters.

[AuH20]

Aw, don't apologize to Warty. Otherwise, he'll think he's people.

[Clich? Bandit]

was this supposed to make me giggle...cause it did. Still, in my dream world MNG is SF's alter.

[Clich? Bandit]

and Warty eats the ones we throw back.

[General Butt Naked]

MNG slowly went off the rails for the last couple of years he was here. I'd say he was real. Why the axis-of-glib likes to push forth the sock hypothesis for every liberal troll is beyond my ken, unless they're in on it.

I mean, if someone is willing to spend hours (many HOURS and 100's of post) everyday arguing as a sock is there really any difference between them and a true believer?

Not to mention, if someone had taken the time to maintain the sock and post as a regular, then they'd have some serious mental issues. You don't dedicate your life like that to something that dumb on a lark, or for giggles.

[Clich? Bandit]

How do I get membership into this axis-of-glib?

I just bought a new monocle, does that help?

[Warty]

monocle

APPLICATION DENIED

[Clich? Bandit]

DAMNIT

Wait...do I have to be named in a lawsuit against Reason? Like some people I know?????????????

[Warty]

All right, if the applicant is young, tell him he's too young. Old, too old. Fat, too fat. If the applicant then waits for three days without food, shelter, or encouragement he may then enter and begin his training.

[tarran]

I believe it's Tulva (the commenter who was formerly known as Tulpa) who inducts people into the axis of glib; the bar is simultaneously both low and very high: you must craft some number of one or two line rebuttals to his pearl-clutching that are so hard to dismiss based on their content that he decrees them to be glib.

[Warty]

That, or you just insult him until he cries. Either way.

[Clich? Bandit]

@tarran 12:51

That is outstanding.

*slow clap*

[JW]

Once you go glib, yo'll never go broccoli.

[General Butt Naked]

Yup, everybody knows that real glibsters wear a quizzing glass.

[tarran]

The working hypothesis on the Tony as a sock-puppet theory is that multiple people work the character, taking it in shifts.

I don't know any group that would engage in such high end trolling.

[General Butt Naked]

I think the sock hypothesis is a psychological defense mechanism against the knowledge that people like Tony exist, there are many of them, and they run things.

Hell, let's go all the way to the top...

Obama is really just one of Pro Libertate's alter egos trolling us into disaster. We'll all have a big laugh about it when this thing is over.

[SugarFree]

I call Tony a sockpuppet because it is clearly not the same "Tony" that was first posting here in the Chad era. Go back and read some of the posts. Clearly not the same person.

[General Butt Naked]

I've often thought that the new tony sounds like the old chad. Weird.

I think the question is not whether the handle represents the same person, but does the owner of said handle sincerely believe in what they spew?

[Clich? Bandit]

Urkobold or Grylliade

(Or Viking Moose...where IS he BTW)

[General Butt Naked]

Viking Moose is trapped in the salty ham tear thread.

It's kinda like the containment unit in ghostbusters, housing the tortured souls of dead handles. Until some dickless EPA guy shuts the block on the thread down, that is where he'll remain.

[Joe M]

The salty ham tear thread is no more. Vaporized, along with VM apparently.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

wha wha WHAT?

[Clich? Bandit]

you mean they nuked the GREATEST THREAD OF ALL TIME time time time time...

[Irish]

Wait, who is viking moose? I feel like I'm missing a story.

[JW]

VM is an H&R commentater of old, and a damn good fellow to boot.

He has moved beyond the veil to other fora. We, the lowly emissaries of His Name, await here patiently for his return.

[SugarFree]

They nuked it back when Santorum was a leading candidate in the primaries.

[Clich? Bandit]

holy cow...i been slackin'

[jesse.in.mb]

Please summarize the salty ham tear thread. I missed it and feel left out. It's like middle school all over again, but with less being clotheslined by the two shortest kids in the class sprinting while holding hands.

[Irish]

Yeah. They keep bringing up things and people who existed long before we arrived.

I feel so left out...

[JW]

One cannot simply summarize the thread. This is one of those things in life where anything less than the experience of truly living it would offend the gods and tempt their wrath.

Basically, it was ripping The Santorum and his spawn to shreds, in his greatest moment of need, in the most inhumane way possible. It went on for hundreds and hundreds of posts.

IOW, Tuesday at H&R.

[jesse.in.mb]

Wait, why would anyone go after Rick Santorum? He seems like such a likable mensch.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Speaking of explaining memes...

What the hell is the meaning behind the !!!1111!1 bullshit everyone uses?

I was here when it sprang up, but I must have been out of town during it's origin.

[Clich? Bandit]

That is simply people who get angry type poorly and instead of one exclamation point they put many and often typo them as actual 1s. This leads to and works with the "turn it to eleven" type meme and combines to "elevnty"

so:

GLIBERZTARIANZ ARE DUMB!!11!11!!!ELEVENTY

see...funny...i guess

[Francisco d Anconia]

Thanks.

I thought it would be funnier. Guess you had to be there.

[General Butt Naked]

It was a picture of santorum when he lost in '08 and his kids were on stage crying. The title was something about enjoying their salty tears (Reason was much meaner to kids back then).

The thread lasted for years and years. You could go there anytime and there were still conversations going on. Viking Moose only made posts there and seemed trapped in the thread. People would go and talk to him because he was sick and lonely. Reason locked the thread and hid it away, never to be seen again. I don't believe that the thread has been "nuked", I propose that it still lives on in a dimension mirroring our own, but where Emperor Santorum has enshrined it among the heads of his enemies as a warning to the populace.

One day physics will catch up to the strange, reality bending magic of the Jacket and we will free Viking Moose.

[SugarFree]

IT LIVES! THE THREAD LIVES!

[JW]

IT LIVES! THE THREAD LIVES!

All activity on H&R comes to a grinding halt for the next 7 hours.

[General Butt Naked]

That is so freakin' awesome.

What the hell was the COMMANDER?

I made some posts about it, but don't remember the meme.

[Clich? Bandit]

damn last post 11/28/11

I basically took 2012 off to start my own business so I wasn't as diligent as I once was having to actually work for a living.

[General Butt Naked]

Here's the original post, minus the pic and ensuing thread.

Notice the boy. He is staring into the abyss where the thread lies; he's got the shinnin'.

[SugarFree]

To clarify... I never argued that MNG was a sock. He was gadfly, then troll, then griefer. My hypothesis is that he left after registration because the primary kick he was getting out of being here was handle-hopping in order to sock-puppet. Registration made it too difficult, so he left.

[Clich? Bandit]

A nice theory SF, BUT you can't fool ME!

I have the keen sense of a trial lawyer and the buttocks of a professional video poker player.

[Warty]

Go on...

[Clich? Bandit]

ummm....no.

[Clich? Bandit]

Warty, I picture you as a 5'6" muscle bound barrel chested, Sam Elliot in Tombstone 'stash sporting, George Clooney in Dusk till Dawn neck tatoo brandishing, pink MLP t-shirt (too tight) wearing guy who looks like he is about to say "What is wrong with Rainbow Dash".

rate accuracy on a scale of 1-10 10 being spot on.

[SugarFree]

1 Dead wrong.

Warty is a giant, muscle-bound, bearded, bald beast that exudes raw sexual charisma. He also builds robots that can rend human flesh.

[Clich? Bandit]

what about the t-shirt?

[SugarFree]

No shirt can contain his massive frame. He wears an army tent made of rip-stop nylon.

[jesse.in.mb]

Nicole, we're going to need this in ballad form, stat.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Not my best, but with all love.

Oh Warty, did we ever know him true?
Of stature short, or tall? And what of hair?
The facial kind, I mean. Stache or beard too?
And why need robots--cannot he flesh tear?

In pink, both hot and baby, looks he fair?
And what of body mods, pierced or tattooed?
Sure these are trials reserved for his lair
And those held there, new members of the brood.

One thing we can say, we know well his food.
Meat, and more meat, and above all NO CARBS!
Contempt for cake by him is ne'er subdued
But frequent subject of his jeers and barbs.

The most important question need never be brought.
We all do know for certain, Warty sure does squat.

[SugarFree]

Squat! (The Wartyword for universal approval.)

[Clich? Bandit]

dude has a lawsuit AND a ballad...jealous am I.

[Warty]

By "baby pink", you mean vag, right?

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Of course.

[jesse.in.mb]

And this is why you're the dirty poet laureate

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

I hope you're right about the mustache.

[Warty]

Close, but the stache is more like this.

[Clich? Bandit]

holy shit that is fukin awesome.

[Clich? Bandit]

holy shit that is fukin awesome.

[Clich? Bandit]

AAAnnnnndd double for effect

[Killazontherun]

As a stalwart of the misdiscribed tribe, we are not glib, we are terse, laconic, and expect adults to get the point; I assume trolls are fucked in the head mental patients not worth wasting time on. Sincerity and trolling are not mutually exclusive activities. Sincerity is the surest path to bitterness in this life, and our trolls are DIPA level bitter.

[Clich? Bandit]

I always give new handles a proper response regardless of the "axis's" ruling. Until the new handle behaves like a petulant child and then I move on. The worst case is THE SUPER COP WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED...I cut him off for two years...until the bastard drove me to reply to some of his dumb shit. I feel so weak.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I think it must be associated with a certain phase of the moon or something. Yesterday Ken was arguing in favor of initiating force against a store owner for using plastic bags.

Libertarian principles are suspended during the Waxing Gibbous?

[sarcasmic]

John is no libertarian.

[Francisco d Anconia]

He's a republican with libertarian leanings. He can still come to the meetings, UNLESS it's that time of the month.

[sarcasmic]

By "that time of the month" you mean "someone insulted a Republican so I'm going say Reason and all libertarians are closet liberals! Waaaaaaaa!"?

[Francisco d Anconia]

We'll use yours until my Waxing Gibbous theory proves out.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Wait, what? I have to go find that thread.

Ken is such a gem sometimes.

[Clich? Bandit]

please post Ken thread for all to enjoy...and next time bring enough for the whole class.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Starts here: http://reason.com/blog/2013/05.....nt_3765599

[Clich? Bandit]

oooooookkkkayyyyyy...

*backs away slowly*

[General Butt Naked]

Gawd, that was terrible and the fact that Ken can spill so much ink on a logically tortured proposition just makes it worse.

I don't know about out there, but here, every grocery store had a huge bin where you can take your bags to be recycled. They even put up a big sign to encourage you to do so.

Besides, hasn't he read one of the many stories on the unintended consequences of plastic bag bans (like more pollution from regular garage bags)?

[JW]

The unintended consequences involves me dumping my cat litter box in his front yard, since I no longer have plastic bags to put it in.

[General Butt Naked]

Yeah, it seems that people don't just throw those bags away, they use them for stuff.

Around here, all recycling must be in blue bags. You can either buy the expensive Glad ones or use the ones that the grocery store gives you. Guess what most people do. That's why grocery bags in pittsburgh are all blue.

If there were a bag ban, people would either quit recycling or buy more bags. Either way pollution increases.

[Killazontherun]

Let me follow that logic, surfers slightly inconvenienced by man made materials floating around in the ocean, a system that tends to attract materials, never mind that you are constantly tasting fish and bird shit, so that causes the Earth to lurch leading to the Apocalypse?

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

That's a good one, thanks.

[LTC(ret) John]

Woah, that was something...

*splash*

Principles overboard!

[Cytotoxic]

Step 1) John makes a point.

Step 2) HUR HUR RED TONY

God sarcasmic is one tiresome bore.

[Adam330]

"Would Reason object to the FBI investigating anti-abortion groups after a string of abortion clinic bombings? Or investigating environmental groups after someone blew up a logging operation?"

I'd certainly object. What reason would they have to investigation some random anti-abortion group just because there was an abortion clinic bombing. They should only investigate them if they have evidence they were actually involved.

[Fatty Bolger]

Funny! But here's the thing - the IRS targeting was not actually about profiling, it was about political suppression. Not. The. Same. Thing. Not that I expect many in the Daily Show audience to understand the difference.

[Caleb Turberville]

Yeah, I think the desire to get Big Dumb White Conservative joke incorrectly led to a racial-profiling segment, when the IRS scandal is more about political suppression, on topic on which the Left are the true hypocrites.

[Caleb Turberville]

Well, I guess hypocrisy runs both ways, but when the segment mentions being "unable to see the irony" for some reason Julian Bond pops into my head.

[sarcasmic]

Not that I expect many in the Daily Show audience to understand the difference.

If they're anything like Tony they aren't good with things like distinctions. Or logic. Or reason. But they sure know how to emote!

[Almanian!]

this

SLD, but...

Not a big fan of the "profiling" (which means many things to many people),but the "keep a more watchful eye on some people" makes sense to me. The danger is in how far it goes, of course - "the right people" issue. I understand.

It's a bit like setting insurance rates. Demographics help you know where to look for things. The facts of any individual case should then determine actions.

However - there's approaching 100% of cases of terrorist shit in this country recently that was committed by young, Muslim males from certain countries. Seems like a good idea to listen when Russia and Yemen warn us about those people - at least give these SPECIFIC PEOPLE FOR WHOM WE HAVE SPECIFIC INTELL a closer look when they're flying into our country. Experience says it ain't grandma from Scotland flying the plane into buildings or wearing underwear bombs or blowing up perfectly good pressure cookers.

Whereas there's zero evidence 501C3 or 4 groups with "Tea" or "912" etc. in their title tried more often to "cheat" on applications, or were fronts for sham groups, etc. etc. If there WERE evidence - well, as much as I hate the IRS, I'm not gonna argue with them giving more scrutiny to such groups, given actual experience.

And racial profiling by local police? No, never. Not ever. No.

Anyway, fuck John Stewart.

[Cytotoxic]

This.

[VG Zaytsev]

the IRS targeting was not actually about profiling, it was about political suppression. Not. The. Same.

Not when you realize that opposing Obama is form of terrorism, and the irs was just profiling a criminal community.

A view apparently endorsed by reason.

[Warty]

Hey, you remember how you're colossally stupid?

[Zeb]

So is there some secret version of Reason that you guys read? because I never see these articles about how great Obama is and how it was OK for the IRS to do political favors.

[tarran]

No...

They just don't know how to read.

[SugarFree]

They looked at the world through dipshit-colored glasses.

[JW]

Oh yeah? That's better than living in your piss-colored pants.

[darius404]

I that why they're brown?

[MJGreen]

It almost certainly was about political suppression, but one argument they seem to be using is that, why, anti-tax groups are obviously more likely to game the system, so you have a better chance of finding frauds by targeting them.

[JWatts]

And how do you rationalize the IRS profiling groups that used words or phrases like: "patriot", "to make America a better place to live," or "constitution" in their description?

[Zeb]

Well, don't you need to do some profiling to decide which groups to target? It's not exactly the same as police profiling people based on race, but that doesn't make it not profiling.

[l0b0t]

Totally OT

Thank you to the beloved commenter (I'm far too lazy to look up their actual handle) who recommended The Long Good Friday the other day. I just watched it last night and it is wonderful. A rather young 'Hatchet' Harry was a delightful surprise.

[JW]

That's been in my queue since forever. I may have to get around to watching that this weekend.

[Mike M.]

"Last night's Daily Show took a hammer to what the show deemed a hypocrisy in the conservative cries of 'profiling' during the IRS scandal while vigorously supporting the police profiling of Muslims, Latinos, and black people."

So basically, Liebowitz took a hammer to a giant strawman.

If he really wants to impress me, let him walk the streets of London for a few hours where that British soldier got his head cut off. I hear they love Jews around there.

[Almanian!]

What freaked me out about the soldier was people just FUCKING STANDING AROUND afterwards.

Of course, New York had Kitty Genovese back in the 60's, so I guess the US has also experienced this...

Still - disturbing to me. I'd have fucking RUN or called the cops or SOMETHING...but mill around while dude-with-bloody-hands-and-meat-cleaver rambles on? Weird...

[Jordan]

They were watching their phones for the real menace - racist twitter users.

[Almanian!]

We call that "OJ-ing"...looking for the "real" whatever...

[Francisco d Anconia]

What I don't get, is why didn't somebody shoot him?

Oh, wait.

[Jordan]

The funny thing is, one of the murderers had a gun. Yep, that gun ban is working exactly as intended.

[Gray Ghost]

Another thing that's darkly humorous about the whole sad thing is that Britain's supposed to be this island where guns are impossible to get, the Olympic shooting team has to go to France to train with their .22s, etc... and yet one of these two dipshit jihadis was able to get a handgun.

Still doesn't explain why people were standing around watching these shitbags. I get not wanting to get involved, but why didn't they get the fuck out?

If I had the power of re-animation, I'd use it on Churchill, just to see what he thought of what's become of his country.

[Gray Ghost]

I type too slow. And yeah, where's our preview button already?

[tarran]

If I had the power of re-animation, I'd use it on Churchill, just to see what he thought of what's become of his country.

That would be awesome, because Churchill was one of the main authors of the crown's war on english freedom and independence. He deserves to have his nose rubbed in the mess he made.

[G-dub]

Has Wayne Allyn Root ever seen the Daily Show? Honestly, with shows that are this high-profile, it amazes me that people agree to these interviews without realizing they are being set up. Or does the Daily Show lie to them about who they are? Anyway, root is an idiot, but I agree with others on this thread that the "look who's talking" approach adopted by many liberals after this scandal is a cop out. Why not address the issue on its own merit rather than finding the cookiest of its champions and calling him out on his hypocrisy?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Well said.

[Caleb Turberville]

I have my suspicions about the interviewees being in on the joke. If not that, then it's got to be editing tricks.

[tarran]

Wayne Allen Root is an attention whore; Whether the attention is positive or negative is irrelevant to his appetites.

[AuH20]

Attention whore?

THIS IS WHY THERE AREN'T ANY FEMALE LIBERTARIANS!

[Almanian!]

I wondered this much more wih Da Ali G show...."do you REALLY think this is a legit interview?"

[Marshall Gill]

Surely many hadn't heard of Ali G. The one with Andy Rooney was fucking hilarious and looked to real to for Rooney to be in on it.

[ant1sthenes]

How is what the IRS doing "profiling"? Are there any stats suggesting that Tea Party members or conservatives are more likely to cheat on their taxes (being opposed to tax law is a different question, and not the legitimate business of the IRS). If the IRS was engaging in profiling based on tax-evasion stats, it would be high-level Obama administration officials being audited.

[Zeb]

Political profiling. They used words like "tea party" and "patriot" in group names to decide who to fuck with. I'd call that profiling of a worse sort than giving extra security screens to Muslims is since it's based purely on politics and not on any actual criminal profile.

[ant1sthenes]

I think there has to be some sort of distinction between profiling and simple discrimination for the word to have some meaning.

[Suthenboy]

"And many of Reason's writers always wanted to vote for a black President."

Nah. They always wanted to vote for a progressive candidate. For all of the things wrong with Cain, none of them approached the depth of Obama's flaws. Where is the support for Allen West?

It isnt hard to criticize those guys, but I dont any evidence of rampant cronyism, corruption, or disregard for the rule of law or any of the other shit that goes hand in hand with progressivism. They are not banana republic, tin-pot dictator wannabes.

Anyone who voted Obama wants progressivism, even the ones who say they voted for him because he is black, which he aint.

[Stormy Dragon]

Where is the support for Allen West?

I support Allen West being in jail.

[Dweebston]

I admit he's pretty obnoxious in Family Guy, and I've never understood the nostolgia people have for the televised Batman series, but it's grossly inappropriate to suggest he deserve jail time.

[Stormy Dragon]

Entirely separate from the political aspects, I love comedy based on awkward silences, and I loved this segment because it was of the most excruciatingly awkward things I've ever seen.

In fact, I think the extra pain of having to watch as my viewpoint gets ineffectually argued by WAR made it even more funny to me. Maybe I'm just a masochist.

If nothing else, I guess this counts as penance for voting for Bob Barr in 2008.

[Whahappan?]

No need for penance. Bob Barr is a shitheel, but still worlds better than Obama or McCain.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

To recap: We have one of the most awful and politically motivated uses of the IRS since Nixon, but let's go ask the political equivalent of the homeless guy on the street what he thinks and get him to trip up in his answers.

Wonderful.

[Stormy Dragon]

That's the problem. Government harassment is always wrong. WAR could easily have reached out to them "See, we have the same problem. There's entrenched interests who want to use the government to punish people they don't like. Whether that's because one of us is a political opponent, or one of us is an unpopular religion, or one of is a powerless minority, it's also the same problem."

Instead he (and you apparently) don't care unless it's happening to them specifically. Who cares if it "the political equivalent of a homeless guy"? He still doesn't deserve getting harassed by the police, and standing up for him doesn't weaken your ability to stand up to the IRS as well.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

WAR is an idiot. Who the hell cares what he thinks?

There is no sense in which it is relevant to base a news story around his opinion on this topic, when he has no power to exercise over the matter. Yet apparently I'm supposed to ooh and tsk, tsk at the revelation that there exists a very foolish (but ultimately harmless) man who says very foolish things when confronted with an example of malfeasance.

So why is a show like the Daily Show (which you'll agree is quite influential in how the left frames various political issues) wasting its time on this guy? What do you think, and should we take this seriously or self-flagellate as if we have anything to do with this moron, or call this out as the pathetic tu quoque that it is?

[JW]

WAR is an idiot. Who the hell cares what he thinks?

We found this sleazy real-estate agent who used to be a libertarian, to use him ss a witless tool for our bit. We then asked him loaded and leading questions that would provide us with the answers we sought.

Our confirmation bias GOTCHA is now complete and the proles can rest easy.

[G-dub]

Stewart chose Root for the same reason Piers Morgan chose to bring on Alex Jones: finding a fringe crackpot no one has ever heard of and treating him as if he is the duly appointed spokesman for all who share that particular view is much easier than winning a fair debate.

[Juice]

WAR could easily have reached out to them "See, we have the same problem.

But Root, the vice presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party mind you, had said previous to the interview that profiling for terrorism or other crimes was A-OK. What was he going to do during the interview? Say that he was wrong?

[Stormy Dragon]

What was he going to do during the interview? Say that he was wrong?

Yes?

[Juice]

And what are the chances he would do that? Either way Jason Jones gets to sneer smugly at Root.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I hypothesize that Stewart may have come under some pressure after criticizing Obama's tax follies. "Why are you criticizing the President and giving aid and comfort to the Republican?" So Stewart was probably like, "OK, I'll find a hypocritical conservative who denounces IRS profiling while supporting other kinds of profiling, and you can have a good laugh." And then he found that the only right-winger willing to come on his show to be humiliated was Bob Barr's former VP candidate, but by this time Stewart was too committed to back off just because his target guy wasn't exactly representative of the Right Wing Noise Machine. The important thing is to get a scalp to satisfy the Obamabots.

[Skip]

Good theory but its not like Jon Stewart needs any Obamabots to scare him into sucking up to the Black Jesus Administration. He does it very willingly.

[Ryan60657]

WAR is foolish.

[SugarFree]

What is it good for?

[JW]

Absolutely nuthin'. Huh.

[Stormy Dragon]

Say it again, JW!

[Lyle]

Taxpayers are exactly like gangbangers and violent Islamists! Man, they hit the nail square on the head.

[Stormy Dragon]

Oh yeah, and that lady looked REAL violent. I'm gonna have nightmares tonight at the idea of running into her in a dark alley.