talking to chairs....

[flip]

Yeah, I'm only interested in the "not absolutely BS" parts and I've been around longer than infomercials . If history repeats itself, I believe inflation is our biggest threat these next 3-4 years. Not solely based on this interview but several I've read and a few at CFR.org. Why do you think Bernanke isn't budging? Our best course right now is to slow down and reduce debt, but what is going to happen is full steam ahead right after this next election cycle. When the banks start widely loaning money again, then the money wil be even more worthless than it already is. That's not good.

[Sergeant Thorne]

There's reason to be afraid of any man who you're looking to push. If you run over enough metrosexuals you might forget that, but if you stumble into a real man's space it'll come back real quick, especially if he has the tools for the job.

That enough cartoonish chest-thumping for one day, or should we expect more later?

Did I step on your toes? It's a real concept. There are people you just don't screw with. I wasn't tooting my horn.

[Top Gun]

You know I used to talk that way too, but then I grew up and realized how silly it was.

[Sergeant Thorne]

You never grasped this, and maturity has nothing to do with it. It's not a "macho" thing. You just don't ★■◆● with people's lives. Some men aren't really men, and they may lay down and take it, but there are still men who won't.

[callmeslick]

and what you don't get, Thorne, is that the true 'tools for the job' are between a man's ears, and few self-described 'real men' possess such tools, in my experience.

[Foil]

<mod> Enough with the inferences about another guy's masculinity or intelligence. </mod>

Back on topic: Without getting into secessionism, would it be possible for a given state (e.g. Texas) to decouple itself somewhat from the rest of the nation policy-wise and/or economically? It's an interesting thought-experiment.

[callmeslick]

isn't that essentially what a Republic provides for, Foil?

[Sergeant Thorne]

and what you don't get, Thorne, is that the true 'tools for the job' are between a man's ears, and few self-described 'real men' possess such tools, in my experience.

What makes you think I don't get that, slick? I've had experience with men who make up for shortcomings by being overly "tough". That's not manly, in my book. It's a character flaw. But it swings the other way too. It isn't manly to be non-confrontational or to scorn a necessary degree of toughness--making up for shortcomings there by dismissing a macho or tough aspect to manliness and replacing it with intellectual superiority is also flawed. Not to put too fine a point on it, it seems to me like that's where Top Gun is coming from--a vendetta against anything portrayed as tough. A real man, in my estimation, above all does what needs to be done to fulfill his responsibility. I real man values wisdom, learning, masculinity, faithfulness, dedication, friendship, love, mercy, humility, truth. All equally (the Bible does say "above all things get wisdom"...).

Without getting into secessionism, would it be possible for a given state (e.g. Texas) to decouple itself somewhat from the rest of the nation policy-wise and/or economically?

I think it's been demonstrated to some degree that it is possible, and particularly as the Federal government follows a course of overreaching its constitutional mandate. I think there's a lot of merit to the idea that it's necessary in order to reverse said trend. If the Federal government gets too big for its britches, the states do have recourse outside of secession, policy-wise. Not sure about the economy, but there had better be some sort of recourse there.