Todd's Mischief Blog

It's an old debate over whether red states or blue states pay in more than their fair share of taxes verses what they get back. I've had the same discussion enough times that I want to preserve my usual arguments here for quick reference. SALT (state and local tax) deductions are a de facto subsidy paid by low-tax red states to high-tax blue states to make the high state rates feel about one-third lower. Essentially, money that would have gone to the feds from a blue state gets shifted directly to that state rather than make the round-trip. But that doesn't get counted in the transfer. One counterargument to this is that a state that taxes its people more to pay for its own programs is taking care of its own and doesn't need to ask for money from the government. But that sidesteps the fact that, to do it that way, someone else needs to pick up the slack. In effect, Texans pay more in federal taxes so Californians can pay less of what ultimately ends up in West Virgi...

and what to do about it @cobracommandr15 observes:  Notice whenever Joe Biden indignantly opens his eyes wide 👀, he does so to imply something is conspicuously obvious to his audience when in reality, it isn’t even true. [ LINK ] @AndToddsaid: Yep, it's his tell for a non sequitur. Biden's entire persuasive tool kit boils down to saying "duh" over and over. That's his hammer. Unfortunately, it's highly effective on people who think of themselves as "getting it." @Gitabushi : Confirmation bias is a helluva drug. @cobracommandr15: Scott Adams says that CNN assigns political opinions to its audience. @AndToddsaid: Biden is the final form of the Democrat née Communist Party's persuasion model since the hippy sixties. Flatter kids that they're smarter than their parents (easy), teach them political party is central to their ID, pull shit from your ass while saying "Don't you get it, man?" @Gitabushi: This is The Way. ...

The tweet below tacks onto what I've said before about Black lives having little to do with people of Sub-Saharan descent. In our son’s elementary school, let me repeat *elementary school* pic.twitter.com/RwupYmqLCe — Vinny (@itsyaboyvp) September 9, 2020  People are dunking on the typo, but what jumped out at me are the phrases "Black Lives Matter" versus "No Human is Illegal." At first blush, one might react, "Whoa! Isn't 'No Human is Illegal' dangerously close to 'All Lives Matter'?" Not at all, says I. You see, Undocumented Lives are Black Lives.  As are trans lives. As are addict lives. As are felon lives. As are impoverished lives. As are sex worker lives. As are homeless lives. You get the idea. You might think of "Black" as a synonym for "marginalized" in most contexts, but that doesn't quite capture it. (more later) "Black" and "marginalized" are better understood when co...

 by @Gitabushi Check out this conversation. The Leftist is very *externally* focused.  He seems to think that someone else will decide if he is successful or not, and that his happiness depends on that external validation. (tagging in @AndToddsaid for fun) If this were your class, what would your sign say? — Matthew Penn (@MatthewPennMSU) September 10, 2020 Mine would be: Path to Success: Get an education Get a job Get married Have children Stay married Do it in this order Get a house at some point Never blame others for your problems Never give up liberty for security, or lose both Ignore these rules, your life will suck — @Gitabushi The cost of education is well above what most people can pay. Wages have been stagnant for decades, so it is next to impossible to afford educational costs without taking on crushing debt. What does getting married or having children have to do with success...

The rapidity with which the Cathedral ceded a niche for Yarvin will be overlooked. Then again, stage, TV, movie personality George Carlin was an outspoken critic of the establishment. You probably think the Alex Jones clownshow just happened to name his program using the very best term available to describe what we’re living through. I’m not saying everything’s an op. That notion may serve an ideology’s longevity, but it comes at the expense of growth.

Some more good Twitter conversation. I feel like I did a good job of illustrating Magic Words Thinking in this one; it's called out below. @Gitabushi : Can't stop thinking about this thread and what I learned from it. Yay yay yay! Gita has got it. The only way to understand the Left is to get into their headspace, which is a completely foreign place to the average conservative or even centrist thinker. https://t.co/mgpKFR06Uw — Todd of 93% Mischief (@AndToddsaid) September 3, 2020 @TheCynicalVixen : I feel like this is definitely something I instinctively understand, but absolutely suck at putting into words.  I have to think there are others out there who do, too.  I really need to learn how to put it to words, though, so I can make effective statements. @AndToddsaid: The challenge is that Leftism is a visceral ideology. It operates beneath words. Yes, it needs words to spread, but it’s tapping into base feelings of resentment and entitlement. So it doesn’t need to sp...

h/t  @ShawnMCron ~~~ On the bright side, leftist protesters are more likely to lose their own arm in a guillotine than to take off anyone’s head. And the funny thing is, I’m pretty sure the blade is made of cardboard yet the above remains true. ~~~ In #FakeNews Speak, “tied to” translates roughly to “has nothing to do with.” ~~~ Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbosa was a blatant rip-off of Robert Newton’s Long John Silver ~~~ Minnesota is in play. Minnefuckingsota  Is. In. Play. Even if Biden wins MN, he still fcuked up big time to put Minnegoddamnfuckingsota in play. ~~~ @aelfred_D : I don’t care how catchy the jingle is, we shouldn’t be able to trade cars for kids @AndToddsaid: Toys for Tots is a much better deal anyway. ~~~ Democrats accuse Republicans of things they do themselves. Biden is accusing Trump of directing his supporters to cause violence. ~~~ It’s taken as given among Republicans that if Biden wins the presidency, Democrats will somehow end the riots--whether b...

Thanks to @Gitabushi  for  inspiring  this post. [ alt link ]  The only way to understand the Left is to get into their headspace, which is a completely foreign place to the average conservative or even centrist thinker. I'm not so good at leading people down the path, so I drop little nuggets and hope it attracts people who "get" it. "The Left can't discern" "There are problems on both sides: problems on the right and problems in America" "BLM has almost nothing to do with dark skinned people." I know there are others, but those come top of mind. In simplest lay terms, this all means that there is a double-standard, which folks on the right have known, but I don't think really understood. (I certainly didn't until sometime mid-Obama.) The Rightist way of thinking is very formal. Righties get caught up on logical fallacies and whatnot. Pipsqueaks like Ben Shapiro (luv ya, Ben) get airtime. To the Right, a double-standard is ...

 by @Gitabushi Two ways to look at recent Democrat criticisms of violence: 1) hypocrisy: They saw it was hurting them in the polls, so they started criticizing it and trying to hang it on the GOP. 2) Delusional honesty: the riots are not violence, but people defending property or Trump is. They can both be true, I guess. But let's look at the evidence for the latter. Biden denounced violence, said Trump never has. Biden also didn't mention BLM or Anti-FA*.  *Anti-FirstAmendment Well, Trump has never denounced Kyle defending himself or the paintball conservatives going into Portland. Biden has. Cuz that's the only thing he sees as violent. The Left sees what they call as Justified Violence as Expression. They see anyone criticizing their Justified Violence as Expression as violence. Remember "Silence is Violence"? Their violence is expression. Normie expression is violence. They *believe* this. Based on their formulation and view, the only violence that needs to be...

  So, my kid got this dumb rat-Pokémon thingie in his Happy Meal.  I’m not ragging on Pokémon. I’m ragging on the toy. Happy Meal toys are not what they used to be.  This rat has a wheel on its tummy. All it does is slide on the ground and its mouth opens and closes.  When I was a kid, we got animals with four legs that moved. Our Happy Meals had actual LEGO sets and Hot Wheels cars made out of metal.  We got honest-to-god action figures that could join up with G.I. Joe as soon as we got home. Now, I had the little 4" Joes, growing up. The ones with the bendable knees and elbows and the waist that if you twisted it enough times, Joe became a double-amputee. If I knew then what I know now about the VA, I swear, I would’ve taken better care of my Joes.       I’m sorry, Sgt. Slaughter. I had no idea. Anyway, my dad would always poke fun and tell me “That’s not a real G.I. Joe.” According to my dad, a real G.I. Joe stood 12 inches tall and had fa...