This wasn't self congratulatory. This was made by a Canadian. Do you even know who Sinclair is or what you're talking about at all? Are you criticizing this piece and this moment in history? .. or is this your current world view which has NOTHING to do with this video?

On the contrary; it's a bit of neccessary counter-point to the crass self-congratulatory tone of USA! USA! USA! that the ROTW is always being subjected to.

Even Sinclair himself was embarrassed by this piece. He couldn't bare to listen to it for all the inaccuracies it contained.

I will give it another listen, though; just to see if i can stomach the treacle. I doubt it--even though it's been many years.

eta: I don't hate "Americans". In my travels I've met hundreds of 'em. Almost invariably I've found Americans to be warm and friendly people. I'd say the same thing about the considerable number of Syrians I've met too, btw. Or Israelis, or...

^ I dare you to read anything written by the liberals you're tilting against, rather than thinking that the sun rises and sets with mises.org.

Try this FAQ written by real, honest to God liberals, rather than a book by one of their most extreme critics (which, by my eye is talking about real socialists, not a 21st Century American liberal).

While you're at it, go read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, and anything at all about modern Keynesian theories, or for that matter, anything by Paul Krugman or Brad DeLong.

Just try to read some goddamn thing that doesn't reinforce your prejudices. Realize that not only have the people at the Mises Institute not won the popularity contest, they haven't even come close to winning the intellectual argument, either.

In the meantime, try and put a comment appropriate to the video. This is humor about the personality of the President, and has little if anything to do with ideology. I invoked the word socialism in several other videos I posted today, challenge me on that there.

You want a high-minded discussion of economics to rant about, this video would be a better place to comment, though it's socialist-free already.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'dinosaurs, baby, sinclair, frying pan in the face, classic scene, 90s' to 'dinosaurs, baby, sinclair, frying pan in the face, classic scene, simpsons copy, 90s' - edited by rasch187

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

-Sinclair Lewis It can't happen here (1935)

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301001h.html

People who decry a 'liberal media' miss one critical fact--while many members of the media seem to have liberal sensibilities, many have very large paychecks, and will report in whatever way that will guarantee that paycheck does not decrease. More often than not, it's to pump up the drama. They NEED this to be a horse race. 2004, with the eminently qualified but uncharismatic Kerry, was a non-starter for them. They indulged the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth just because it made Kerry a little more interesting, to the detriment of the truth itself. Whenever you're watching the news, and you hear the response to a question that should then elicit a, "What did you just say?" moment, know that whoever asked the question knows that clarification is not the friend of good drama.

It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it - Upton Sinclair

I disagree. I know exactly how he as a person will vote. He was raised a in a poor family by a very strong, very liberal mother, never even knowing his father. He was also raised by Christian grandparents, who instilled in him a love for country and a burning idealism for how Americans can get things accomplished. He is a liberal, and votes his liberal conscious.

However whats great about Obama is that he is brilliant at a few key things which make people who recognize them very excited about his presidency. Lets see, I'll throw out three of them real fast... 1)selecting, managing and inspiring other brilliant people, 2)understanding and engaging both sides of an argument to fairly guide towards compromises that work, and 3)valuing American history, the Constitution and the founding spirit of 'anything is possible'. Towards the last point, I mean, he honestly believe he can get a huge squad of people who disagree together to form a plan to pull us safely from Iraq in 18 months, and another squad of people who disagree to form the beginnings of universal health care over the next 4 years. And, personally I think if anyone is smart enough to direct us out of this ditch, its this guy.

I loved McCain in 2000. The last 3 years have seen him doing everything he can to win votes from the people who brought us GWBushJR, which makes for exceedingly awkward choices like not signing the new GI Bill and dumbing down his opposition to secret military prisons, both for no particularly convincing reason other than thats what he's supposed to do. Its honestly hard for me to watch McCain's speeches and interviews today, because half the time he's not comfortable on the side of the argument he's putting him self, and anyone with a memory stretching back to 2000 or even 2006 will notice he's a changed man; http://www.videosift.com/video/McCain-Debates-Self-on-Bush , http://www.videosift.com/video/Washington-Bureaucrat-Predicts-USA-Politics-For-2009



In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
That's the problem, unless we get republicans back in congress, they are going to run Obama too. He voted with his party 93% of the time. I'll admit that McCain isn't much better since he mistakes stubbornness for principal. But Peloci pushed Obama around when he was a senator and I can see her doing the same if he's elected president.

I feel like I'm trying to choose the lesser of two evils this election season. But my biggest issue with Obama is his double talk, I have no idea what he's going to do because he talks out of both sides of his mouth. He needs to find his issues and stick to them.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
Confession; my car has one bumper sticker on it, and its Obama'08.

He's a smart man. There's a small possibility he could become a Nixon, but a much greater chance he'll work to get congress to bullshit around just a little less.

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
Thanks for the article, it was a good read. I really hope the American public can see how unstable he is before November.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/opinion/20brooks.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=98dbf7f8bae1fe38&ei=5087%0A

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:


He advocates energy independence but pretends this can occur without more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

Of course maybe that's the defining mark of a true politician, being able to speak to one side while the other hears a different message.

That's the problem, unless we get republicans back in congress, they are going to run Obama too. He voted with his party 93% of the time. I'll admit that McCain isn't much better since he mistakes stubbornness for principal. But Peloci pushed Obama around when he was a senator and I can see her doing the same if he's elected president.

I feel like I'm trying to choose the lesser of two evils this election season. But my biggest issue with Obama is his double talk, I have no idea what he's going to do because he talks out of both sides of his mouth. He needs to find his issues and stick to them.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
Confession; my car has one bumper sticker on it, and its Obama'08.

He's a smart man. There's a small possibility he could become a Nixon, but a much greater chance he'll work to get congress to bullshit around just a little less.

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
Thanks for the article, it was a good read. I really hope the American public can see how unstable he is before November.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/opinion/20brooks.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=98dbf7f8bae1fe38&ei=5087%0A

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:


He advocates energy independence but pretends this can occur without more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

Of course maybe that's the defining mark of a true politician, being able to speak to one side while the other hears a different message.

Confession; my car has one bumper sticker on it, and its Obama'08.

He's a smart man. There's a small possibility he could become a Nixon, but a much greater chance he'll work to get congress to bullshit around just a little less.

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
Thanks for the article, it was a good read. I really hope the American public can see how unstable he is before November.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/opinion/20brooks.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=98dbf7f8bae1fe38&ei=5087%0A

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:


He advocates energy independence but pretends this can occur without more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

Of course maybe that's the defining mark of a true politician, being able to speak to one side while the other hears a different message.

Thanks for the article, it was a good read. I really hope the American public can see how unstable he is before November.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/opinion/20brooks.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=98dbf7f8bae1fe38&ei=5087%0A

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:


He advocates energy independence but pretends this can occur without more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

Of course maybe that's the defining mark of a true politician, being able to speak to one side while the other hears a different message.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/opinion/20brooks.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=98dbf7f8bae1fe38&ei=5087%0A

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:


He advocates energy independence but pretends this can occur without more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

Of course maybe that's the defining mark of a true politician, being able to speak to one side while the other hears a different message.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'video game, television, bbc, micro, sinclair' to 'video game, television, bbc, micro, sinclair, thickcicle' - edited by calvados

HA! That was great. I wonder where they got one of those vintage Sinclair buggies?

There Will Be Blood was such a wonderful film. I'm inspired to read the Sinclair novel on which it was based. Such an interesting story and metaphor for our times.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Your comment, grahamslam- shows that you didn't watch the video- or at least weren't paying attention.

The kids that receive these laptops are doing all kinds of legitimate things with them. Not only that, but localized versions of Wikipedia will be pre-installed on many of them: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/One_Laptop_Per_Child_Includes_Wikipedia_on_$100_Laptops.

I'd say the wealth of knowledge availabe just from that would make the laptops worth it.

The reason why sending your old desktop or laptop will not work for these people is because the electricity supply for many of the target countries is unreliable. (hence the handcrank on the OLPC).

Your crappy, jaded hipster attitude does yourself - nor the world, any service grahamslam.

If you think an underpowered system like this can't make real changes for kids growing up - you should read this article about another underpowered system - the ZX Sinclair. A crappy little box that boostrapped many of the great British programmers of today.