Based on nothing more solid than a 101 level understanding of Austrian economics and gut instinct.

I don't think it's too late to buy gold. My prediction? $2250 by year end, minimum...

@starvethebeast. A man after my own heart! I'm WAY more pessimistic about the US than I let on in my piece..

@lastoutpost I think it will go c) then b) then a)

@hangon I like both

@caseytaylor @johnwalker @ultravires

Thanks chaps. You have restored my faith in, well, in at least one part of America...

@grendel [CoC violating ad hominem attack redacted by editor]

Ah yes. The cheap ad hom, deployed with such grace by a truly beautiful and no doubt immaculately pure, principled and 'nice' human being.

Funny, Grendel: one of the things I used to like about Ricochet was that members here could be relied on to be more civilized than the trolls you find on lesser sites. Ah well...

Gosh, all the libertarians seem to be partying at Paul's place. And all the angry  social conservatives are choosing to drag their straw men over to my blog post. I think I prefer it here. Looking forward to our podcast: should be a good one.

Nope. I used the word "terrifying" in the sense of "terrifying about what it tells us about the self-defeating cognitive dissonance which pervades US conservatism." You want Big Government to butt out of your lives, except in those special areas where you think it is government's job to intrude because it accords with your ill-thought-through prejudices.

What I should have titled this post is: "Why US conservatives are doomed to lose many more elections than they win."

@fakejohngalt Thank you! It was beginning to feel a tad lonely here. (And also, frankly, ever so slightly terrifying.....)

I sense a joint Delingpole/Rahe podcast coming on. You up for it, Prof?

@ChrisDeleon "I'm not saying we should use the same approach here..." No. Heaven forfend...

@raycon. That is a straw man argument and you know you're better than that. You're essentially saying "socialists smoke dope. We hate socialists. Therefore we shouldn't legalize dope till socialism has been destroyed."

@thekingprawn. Yeah, and of course, people who drink alcohol don't use it as a form of blissful escapism. They use it to improve their translations of Homer into Sanskrit.

@Chris Deleon This isn't even an argument. It's an assertion from prejudice. As for this "little to no positive purpose": says who? Says you? Who made you king of rules, king of morality.

@keithpreston. Straw man.

Guys, guys, I know I chose this topic to provoke. But you are SERIOUSLY going to have to do better than this.

@lesliewatkins. Thank you, Leslie! I was beginning to feel a little lonely.  Of course I totally understand the passion with which conservatives loathe Obama and want to get rid of him. We felt the same way about Prime Minister Gordon Brown. But that visceral hatred can cloud judgement. Those who argue that Mitt Romney presents any kind of solution clearly don't understand how big the problem is.

Btw - I too share you massive disappointment with the way Andrew Sullivan has gone. My suspicion is that he was never a real conservative in the first place. He was at best a RINO.

I totally agree with those of you for whom the deal-breaker is "People who define themselves by their sexuality." This is classic leftist identity politics. And it's no coincidence that of all the gay friends I mentioned, not one of them plays this game. Political, in-your-face homosexuality is, you might say, one massive pain in the bum. I have similar problems with black people who define themselves by their skin color. One of THE main reasons I'm a conservative is precisely because we don't judge people by their color, race, creed, sexuality, etc. We judge them by their actions: and we really DO believe in equality of opportunity. (But not of outcome...)

It's true Diane and Troy, that there's a strain in English humor where we'd rather be misunderstood than ever have to explain that we're joking.

Mind you, that was the genius of Spinal Tap. Not for a second did it ever try to flag up that it was anything other than a serious Rockumentary.

Anyway, glad you guys found it as funny as I did.

Thanks Diane. Neat translation.