(no title)

Better Than Drudge

about

November 14, 2012

In Defense of Price Gouging

By Selwyn Duke

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, there has been much talk
about price gouging. New Jersey is prosecuting some who engaged in it, and
pundit Bill O’Reilly has threatened to put offending gas stations in his fearsome
Factor pillory. But is this prudent?

To be clear, I personally wouldn’t want to raise prices amidst
a disaster were I a provider of products or services. And I’m not alone: After
devastating floods struck the Margaretville, NY, area last year and destroyed
the local supermarket and drug store, the only remaining mass supplier of food,
Dollar General, refused to increase its prices (its nobility earns it a plug).
Yet is it beneficial to use government to compel all businesses in
disaster-stricken areas to follow suit?

Obviously, there is no action without motivation. If someone
provides products or services, he does it for some reason, such as profit, a
feeling of gratification, the idea that it’s God’s will, or out of some
conception of what’s right. And that there are so many more businesses than
charities in the world indicates that profit is a far more common motivator
than all the other reasons combined. This is why business owners who would,
left to their own devices, hold the line on prices during disasters are
probably in the minority.

Read the rest here.
November 13, 2012

Was the 2012 Election Stolen?

By Selwyn Duke

As the 2012 election approached, conservative enthusiasm
grew. Mitt Romney was drawing huge crowds while Barack Obama spoke in
half-filled stadiums. All the passion lay on the right while the left was
discouraged with a promised messiah who proved merely a politician. And the
prediction was that, in contrast to 2008, Republican turnout would dwarf the
tuned-out and carry the day. Hence the shock November 6 eve. How could Romney
lose, especially by such a wide electoral margin?

Maybe he didn’t

At least not legitimately.

(more…)
November 12, 2012

Reader Email: Possible Duke Contradiction?

JM writes:

Dear Sir,

In your latest article “Where do we go from here”, you
state:

And will we, as all civilizations eventually do, soon go the
way of ancient Rome? It’s possible. Remember, however, that when Rome fell
there were still people living in her lost lands. They still had to forge
societies. And some did a better job than others.

As a fellow Christian, I viewed the entire article as an
appropriate view of our current society and likely future.

I read your article about Justice Roberts’ decision
regarding Obamacare (a low point in history for the court) where you made the
statement:

(If you’re unusually astute [this does not include Roberts],
you understand that civilizations move through phases, and our current leftist
one won’t last forever.)

In less than three weeks you went from “phases, and our
current leftist one won’t last forever” to basically advising to stockpile and
form local groups for common defense and needs. That’s a bit of a change
of perspective in such a short period of time. This change of attitude is
what I would like to see explained a bit further.

Sincerely,

JM

Dear JM,

(more…)
November 12, 2012

Losing the Future: The Fiscal-conservative Fantasy

By Selwyn Duke

With the loss of the 2012 election, there is much talk of
how the Republican Party must do some soul searching. How will the GOP wage
successful campaigns when demographic and cultural changes favor the
opposition? Increasingly, the answer is that the party’s party is over, that it
must move into the future or be relegated to the past. “Dispense with the
social issues!” we’re counseled. “Don’t trouble over abortion or faux marriage
and instead just focus on fiscal matters.”

(more…)
November 10, 2012

Death by Woman

By Selwyn Duke

Liberalism, thy name is woman.

During the latter part of the 2012 campaign, we heard a lot
of talk about how Mitt Romney was closing the sex gap and capturing women’s
support. “Mitt is on the move — a poll shows he’s pulled even with women!” My
attitude about this was that if Barack Obama didn’t carry the female vote, I’d accept
a demotion to PVT in political prognostication and change my name to Dick
Morris. And, man, do I ever get tired of being right.

(more…)
November 9, 2012

Ebony vs. Ivory: When Obama is 99 44/100% Pure

By Selwyn Duke

Perhaps we’ve discovered the real cherished “99 percent.”
Writing that “[s]ome Philadelphia neighborhoods outdid themselves in Tuesday’s presidential
election,” Philly.com reports
that 13 of the city’s wards recorded a victory margin for Barack Obama of 99
percent or more. In other words, in some precincts, Mitt Romney was perhaps
worth only three fifths of a percent.

(more…)
November 9, 2012

Where Obama Was 99-Percent Pure

By Selwyn Duke

In a 1936 referendum on his policies, Adolf Hitler “won” 99 percent of the German vote.
A popular fellow he was. Yet he had nothing on Barack Obama’s
performance in 13 Philadelphia (mental?) wards, where the president
received upwards of 99 percent of the tally.

Philly.com reports on the story, opining
that these “neighborhoods outdid themselves in Tuesday's presidential
election.” Well, that is one way to put it. Also making euphemizing an
art was St. Joseph’s University history professor Randall Miller, who
said, writes Philly.com,

politicians almost never get 99 percent of the votes anywhere except, perhaps, the towns where they were born.

He said the Democratic voter turnout effort deserved credit for the president's success.

"Ninety-nine percent is extraordinary, and it shows discipline as much as anything else," he said.

Except it’s the “anything else” that’s the rub. Remember that on Election Day there were reports
of court-appointed Republican poll watchers being thrown out of voting
locations in 14 Philadelphia wards, almost precisely the same number
(13) that were 99-percent pure.

Read the rest here.
November 9, 2012

Obama Calling: America’s Life after Death

By Selwyn Duke

I have never been so unhappy to be right. I’ve long said
that Barack Obama would win re-election, and two weeks ago I stated
as much in print. In making this prediction, I was almost alone among
traditionalist pundits, with some, such as Dick Morris (Mr. Batting Zero),
actually forecasting a Mitt Romney landslide. And, no, I’m not pointing this
out to numb despair with some perverse kind of gloating, like a man consumed in
flames looking to suck on an ice cube. It’s because of why I knew that Romney
would lose: America is lost. And there is something to be found, but not unless
good people understand what truly lies ahead.

(more…)
November 7, 2012

On Angels and Demons

By Selwyn Duke

When actor and director Mel Gibson was asked some years ago
about certain difficulties he had when making his film The Passion of the Christ, he registered a countenance of unease
and said (I’m paraphrasing), “Something doesn’t want this to happen.”

Being just a couple of seconds of his interview, it was
perhaps hardly noticed by many. But it might have made the ears of people of
faith, particularly Christians, perk up. And they would have known precisely to
what he was alluding.

Of course, any talk of spirits not confined to the local
liquor store is now often considered the stuff of children and crackpots. Yet
is such scoffing logical?

(more…)
November 6, 2012

My Prediction for the Election

By Selwyn Duke

It doesn’t make me happy to say it, but I believe that
Barack Obama will win re-election. In fact, I predicted this more than two
weeks ago here.
Now I’ll provide more detail and give you my prediction for how the Electoral College
will break down.

(more…)