I'm thinking of adding a soundtrack (Beethoven's Eroica symphony? Copland's Billy the Kid?) to this part-scary/part-hilarious YouTube video:
But how could I do it even...rough justice?
I mean, when the good guys start throwing large pieces of cabinetry at the bad guys (0:53 & 1:03) - it's hard, even for me, to come up with any musical accompaniment that wouldn't just distract due attention from the epic pay-back in progress.
Hat-tip to Dennis Mangan, (who's always right about everything.)
Comments (25)
And an hour later he was hungry
Posted by Francis Beckwith | June 6, 2010 9:03 PM
I'd settle for Wal-Mart's rescinding its policy of firing innocent employees who stop people from stealing computers.
Posted by Lydia | June 6, 2010 10:22 PM
1: Did the lady get her purse back?
2: In light of the beating the guy got, does it matter? : )
Posted by DmL | June 6, 2010 11:38 PM
I read Mangan frequently but he will often write stuff like this and I'm reminded that there are conservatives out there who stand in the way of Western survival:
http://mangans.blogspot.com/2010/05/marx-of-anti-semites.html
Posted by Andrew E. | June 7, 2010 10:04 AM
You're right Andrew. With posts like that I wonder why he keeps talking.
Posted by Suburban Yahoo | June 7, 2010 10:59 AM
Steve,
I hate to pile on, but Larry Auster rightly calls out Mangan in this post:
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/016636.html
making him seem like a distasteful character at the very least.
But, I generally favor a big tent approach to my conservatism, so your strong endorsement gives me pause w/r/t totally ignoring him.
Posted by Jeff Singer | June 7, 2010 11:19 AM
I have _got_ to get a philosophy post up around here...
Posted by Lydia | June 7, 2010 11:31 AM
"making him seem like a distasteful character at the very least."
Yes, I agree, Auster is very good at making himself seem a distasteful character.
He takes a post where the two core points are "I [Mangan] agree with Auster" and "Auster and I have different views of what is acceptable" (which is something Auster himself has remarked on, along essentially the same lines Mangan stated) and characterizes it as slippery and untrustworthy. Then of course, because it's always about him, goes haring off three years into the past to complain about how somebody said something mean about him somewhere once.
The guy isn't an adult man. He's a caricature of the whiny nerdy [anti-semitic slur deleted--LM] tattletale from elementary school, and has absolutely no idea.
Posted by Rollory | June 7, 2010 3:32 PM
Getting back to the subject of the purse-snatcher. I must say it seems to me that maybe the beating he got appears a tad excessive for purse snatching. But one wishes that when people try to do far more serious things than purse-snatching they were at least vigorously pursued and stopped by passersby.
Posted by Lydia | June 7, 2010 4:30 PM
OK, this thread is NOT going to devolve into another discussion of Lawrence Auster. He is who he is, he's not going to change, his weaknesses should not detract from his strengths, and that's all I have to say about him for now.
Jeff Singer: I read Mangan every day, and I simply can't see how any reasonably fair-minded person could find him a "distasteful character" without thinking the same thing about me. On every issue that we both care about, there's barely an inch of space between us.
Andrew E.: the passage you quote simply expresses the conventional Darwinian wisdom on the mind &/or brain.
Posted by steve burton | June 7, 2010 4:50 PM
Lydia, note that there are *two* guys involved in the purse-snatching: the driver, and the snatcher. When the driver reappears and crashes his motorbike, the snatcher is close behind, swinging around some sort of club, in an attempt to fend off the crowd. And they remain defiant throughout the video, for as long as I can see them.
I think they got what they asked for.
Posted by steve burton | June 7, 2010 5:08 PM
Hey, that's interesting. I couldn't figure out what the motorcycle guy was doing in all this, so I hadn't really understood it.
If you're familiar with the Wal-Mart policy I mentioned, you'll know that even totally non-violent confrontations with people stealing very expensive items is now verboten (at the cost of a job) to most employees, who will receive the "thank you" of losing a job if they stop (even just by speaking and laying a hand on an arm) a person walking out of the store with a computer. This is just _wrong_. There's an enormous injustice there somewhere. And interestingly, I don't actually care if their lawyers have told them that somehow this policy will increase profits. I suppose that's where my capitalism hits a ceiling.
Posted by Lydia | June 7, 2010 5:45 PM
I agree; Mangan is one of the fairest and most sensible bloggers on the marginal right...but I think his position on the BNP differs from yours (last I recall, you didn't like them all whereas he's sympathetic).
Posted by Matt Weber | June 7, 2010 6:13 PM
Lydia - Totally agreed on that Walmart policy. And totally flummoxed about what to do about it.
Posted by steve burton | June 7, 2010 7:27 PM
Shame 'em. (Walmart, I mean.) If that's possible. Dunno if it is.
Posted by Lydia | June 7, 2010 8:13 PM
I never miss Mangan, but he never lets me comment that Larry Auster is suffering from delusions of whiteness.
Cheers
Posted by Robert Reis | June 7, 2010 8:50 PM
"anti-semitic slur deleted"?
What the christ?
Watch the South Park episodes with Kyle's cousin. That's what I'm talking about. It's anti-semitic the same way saying "blacks are tall" is anti-black.
And stop being so paranoid stupid.
Posted by Rollory | June 7, 2010 9:10 PM
Rollory,
Not only are you fond of ethnic slurs, you also enjoy taking the Lord's name in vain. Classy.
Steve,
Somewhat related to the subject of "rough justice", you'll be happy to read about this story of a veteran dispatching an armed intruder in his home:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2323846,CST-NWS-invader27.article
The picture of the intruder is worth a thousand words.
I look forward to the Supreme Court striking down Chicago's ridiculous hand-gun ban -- so guys like the veteran in the story can own their guns legally (although to the Chicago Police's credit, they did not charge him with unlawful possession of a weapon).
Posted by Jeff Singer | June 7, 2010 10:14 PM
I lost IQ points reading Auster's confused point that criticizing actions by the Israeli government makes you an untouchable anti-Semite. I'm not sure how there could be a more hypocritical argument than that one. By that standard, everyone who isn't a complete bootlicker for every policy that has come out of Washington wants to destroy America. Israel is eternally infallible yet our own government receives constant criticism? Right.
Posted by Step2 | June 7, 2010 11:30 PM
I am certain the Wal-mart thing is about liability. If they give any ground at all they could be sued for enormous amounts of money by employees who get hurt while trying to stop a thief, which is not theoretical but is something that happens from time to time.
So in a kind of odd twist, on this particular one I dissent from Lydia inasmuch as I blame the tort system not Wal Mart. Wal Mart simply must have the kind of policy they do.
Posted by Zippy | June 8, 2010 7:23 AM
"Totally agreed on that Walmart policy. And totally flummoxed about what to do about it."
Uh, how about not shopping there? There are numerous reasons to avoid shopping at Wal*Trash, despite the neo-con myth that the outfit is some paradigmatic American free-market success story. This dumbass policy is just one more reason.
Posted by Rob G | June 8, 2010 7:23 AM
Shame 'em. (Walmart, I mean.) If that's possible. Dunno if it is.
Dream Scenario: boys and girls do not try this at home:
Step 1: Back up a truck to the front door
Step 2: Walk out of store with EVERY computer and tv
Step 3: Walk back into store with every computer and tv
Step 4: Leave a bill at the service counter for services rendered for proving the obvious flaw in their plan
Really, the problem is not that they don't let people touch people stealing merchandise, its that they don't allow enough people. Imagine a line of fifteen angry Wal-mart grandmother-workers standing in front of the front door with umbrella in hand, ready to take down the shoplifter. Truly, this would be a deterrent to crime :)
The Chicken
Posted by The Masked Chicken | June 8, 2010 9:12 AM
The correct music for this video: slow it down and play a waltz.
The Chicken
Posted by The Masked Chicken | June 8, 2010 9:14 AM
Nah. Speed it up and play the Benny Hill theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpc5_3B5xdk&
Posted by Scott W. | June 8, 2010 11:47 AM
Thanks, LM - I'll take it for granted that whatever you deleted needed deleting. Please behave yourself, Rollory. And you too, Mr. Reis.
Jeff - that story you link to is inspiring and depressing at the same time.
Zippy - no doubt you're right. But at a certain point the symbiosis between our government and our giant corporations makes it all but impossible to assign responsibility.
Chicken, Scott W.: both excellent suggestions!
Posted by steve burton | June 8, 2010 9:13 PM