Statism Is Failing in Venezuela, North Korea, and New Jersey [Reason Podcast]

Chris Christie rules the Garden State's beaches with an iron fist.

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Statism Is Failing in Venezuela, North Korea, and New Jersey [Reason Podcast]

"Donald Trump has been a vulgar shithead for as long as he has been in American public life," says Reason's Matt Welch. "He's a guy who calls up newspapers pretending to be someone else in order to brag about his sexual exploits, including cheating on his own wives."

On today's podcast, Welch joins Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Andrew Heaton to discuss the president's Twitter outbursts (including his retweet of an anti-CNN wrestling video and his tirade against Mika Brzezinski), and the hijacking of a helicopter by a former action-movie star in Venezuela, who then dropped a grenade on the country's Supreme Court—attempted coup or a false flag operation? Other topics: Trump escalating rhetoric on North Korea, whether Chris Christie is abusing his power (to lounge on a beach), and favorite July 4th memories (most of which involve explosives).

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

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Comments

[Jerryskids]

"Donald Trump has been a vulgar shithead for as long as he has been in American public life,"

That's pretty goddamn disrespectful to the President of the US, isn't it? I think I might have gone with something a little less inflammatory like "fat-headed, loud-mouthed carnival barker".

[Bra Ket]

Certainly an odd way to lead off a post about the failure of statism in Venezuela, North Korea, and New Jersey.

This absence of a relevant context also had me confused by the subsequent line:

"He's a guy who calls up newspapers pretending to be someone else in order to brag about his sexual exploits, including cheating on his own wives."

I guess I'm not familiar enough with the story. When masquerading a fictitious person, was he also bragging about cheating on a fictitious wife, or was he talking about himself in the 3rd person? Also is it really possible to cheat on others' wives?

[Rebel Scum]

Statism Is Failing in Venezuela, North Korea, and New Jersey

Statism is the beast that will never die.

[Rebel Scum]

favorite July 4th memories (most of which involve explosives).

But even sparklers are deemed too dangerous for kids these days. What kinda commie horseshit is that?

http://dailycaller.com/2017/07.....s-instead/

[Square = Circle]

Well it's true! Once even I got a first-degree burn on my finger from a sparkler. It hurt for, like, a day!

*shudders at memory*

[notJoe]

Teachable moment for my young son; specifically, there are people who believe *all* risk must be prevented by the government, and that it's moral to use his own discretion in ignoring those people and the rules and laws they promulgate.

It'll be a nice talk to have just before handing him an illegal sparkler and a freaking blowtorch to light it with.

[Domestic Dissident]

Statism Is Failing in Venezuela, North Korea, and New Jersey

Also in the Banana Republic of Illinois. Yesterday the house finally passed a budget, but it contains massive tax increases that are sure to push even more businesses and taxpayers out of a state that is already seeing them flee in droves, and it contains absolutely no serious structural reforms whatsoever.

[DenverJ]

If i were in New Jersey, if be pretty pissed off. And then not being able to use the beaches would really make me mad (ba dum).
But seriously, this is just like the Obama administration shutting down national monuments during the government "shutdown".
It's a bullshit tactic that hurts people who didn't cause the problem. It's extortion, is what it is.
The State government of NJ doesn't own the beaches, the people of New Jersey do.

[Griffin3]

Shall we fight them on the beaches?

[Eman]

Wow, way to get even WASPier, Welch.