Liberal Vision

Men lie to get laid shock…

So what’s new about that?! You may ask… Well, what we didn’t know until now is that it is allegedly the official policy of the Metropolitan Police. Undercover police have permission to bed activists upon whom they are spying!!.

Or so say some of their ‘victims‘, who now appear to be demanding officers should require warrants to enter their premises…

“Undercover police officers routinely adopted a tactic of “promiscuity” with the blessing of senior commanders, according to a former agent who worked in a secretive unit of the Metropolitan police for four years… with women in very, very, very promiscuous groups such as the eco-wing, environmental movement, leftwing, or the Animal Liberation Front…

Sex was a tool to help officers blend in, the officer claimed, and was widely used as a technique to glean intelligence. His comments contradict claims last week from the Association of Chief Police Officers that operatives were absolutely forbidden to sleep with activists…

He said undercover officers, particularly those infiltrating environmental and leftwing groups, viewed having sex with a large number of partners “as part of the job”….

You cannot not be promiscuous in those groups. Otherwise you’ll stand out straightaway…

Female activists converge on Scotland Yard tomorrow to demand that the Met disclose the true extent of undercover policing. The demonstration is also, according to organisers, designed to express “solidarity with all the women who have been exploited by men they thought they could trust”…

The part of me that would normally be impressed in these circumstances is cancelled out by the part of me that projectile vomits at the thought of fornication involving two of my least favourite sub-groups. All those un-washed, hemp-wearing, deeply misinformed hippie activists and people who work for the state.

*shudders*

The long term consequence of this expose is likely to be a large number of desperate men attempting to join left-wing groups, and not just Guardian journalists. For now, a second protest outside MI6 was cancelled when it was explained that James Bond is a fictional character and tends to aim a little more upmarket.

Officer Mark Kennedy – aka what passes for *hot* in your average ‘left-wing activist’ group…

Scrumptious…

Anti-war what it is good for?

Sadly, only for making partisan political points it seems. A theme of foreign policy debates recently has been: ‘where did the anti-war movement go?’. The protests and venom aimed at George W. Bush’s foreign policy have all but nearly disappeared. The anti-war movement was political motivated, however, just because an action is politically motivated doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong. ReasonTV makes an interesting point:

Obama “has told us conscious lies” about Iraq…

If you have a spare 10-20 minutes – then I strongly recommend the thoughts from the man behind the last big leak:

What interesting to note is that Daniel Ellsberg’s behaviour can hardly be said to have brought the American hegemon to her knees. Ultimately he didn’t put US civilians at risk and he didn’t put US troops at risk. In fact, what he did contributed to the end of the Vietnam war. I’d say that’s a win on the side of the people.

All that liberals have to look out for now is whether the authorities treat Assange any differently than any other alleged rapist.

Military Keynesianism: Part II – Ezra Klein Edition

A little while ago I mentioned the growing trend among Democrats to suddenly be in favour of military spending in hope that it will provide a stimulus to the economy.

Well, Ezra Klein has written a special, special little article which continues in the same vein:

I’m pretty skeptical that a war with Iran would do much for the economy. It’s not just that the inevitable spike in energy prices would grind everything to a halt (and what if Russia or Venezuela or OPEC decide to stand with Iran?), but the war itself wouldn’t be large enough.

Wow.

Just wow…

The article continues in the same vein then ends:

That seems like the right way to use the military for economic ends: Since it’s unpalatable to simply subsidize certain industries or marshal hundreds of billions for certain investments, but it’s indisputable that you need to give the military anything it asks for, you have the military decide every tank needs to run off solar panels, or, to use an even more unlikely example, that we need a national highway system “to allow for mass evacuation of cities in the event of a nuclear attack.” You could imagine both infrastructure investments and energy independence fitting the bill today. Then you get your stimulus but you don’t need to have your war.

All of it is just so awful. An American ‘Liberal’ writing the sentence: “to use the military for economic ends” – it’s quite possibly the worse sentence I’ve ever read in my entire time in politics. I don’t think anyone has been quite so blatant about wanting to invade somewhere to bolster their economy since the British Empire.

Then there is the simple economic truth that government spending does not stimulate the economy. Ever. Under any circumstances. No. Not even WWII: read this if you think that.

You may believe that government spending for the sake of providing services is good and proper but you have to admit that government spending for the sake stimulating the economy is something different. Don’t take my word for it, read Bastiat – available here.

“there never was a good war or a bad peace…” -Benjamin Franklin

(Ezra’s article may be satire. I honestly think it might be… I just don’t know. So, I’m just writing this to cover my arse in case it does turn out to be satire. Which it honestly might. Seriously…)

Flat Tax & Administration Costs

If you’ve got a minute, take the time to read this number by Cicero: making the progressive case for a flat tax.

Well, it’s about time someone did. As Mark Littlewood and Phillip Booth noted earlier this year, Britain’s tax code is ludicrously complex and costly:

Early this year, an IEA research paper showed that with over 8,000 pages of primary legislation – in very rough terms about six times the length of War and Peace – Britain has the longest tax code in the world. For those inclined to believe that other Western European countries are always more bureaucratic than Britain, it was worth noting that the German and French tax codes weigh at a comparatively modest 1,700 and 1,300 pages respectively.

Despite the governments propaganda – tax is still taxing.