On Rand Paul, I like what Amanda Marcotte has to say. [link]

I’m sure Matt thinks he’s being pretty hard on Rand Paul by invoking the term “white supremacy” in his post, but he makes the same mistake that Dave Weigel does in rushing to reassure people that Rand Paul isn’t a racist so much as a hard core ideologue, and that surely his support of segregation is offered more in sorrow than in glee. This view ignores some pretty damning evidence about Paul’s history and associations, but it also ignores the fact that “principled” libertarians who woefully say that they unfortunately have to promote racist policies against their own moral compass will abandon that principled libertarianism when it breaks in favor of reproductive rights. “Principled” libertarianism only seems up to making those “hard” choices if oppressed people have to suffer the consequences. Which is why I object to this line of thinking:

The point to make about Paul, however, is that what he suffers from here is an excess of honesty and ideological rigor not an unusual degree of racism.

The abortion question alone makes it clear that Paul doesn’t have an excess of ideological rigor, or even a bounty of it.

Adam Serwer is also compelling on this subject: [link]

Paul would never face the actual "hard part" of his vision of freedom, because it would never interfere with his own life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness. Rand Paul would not have been turned away from a lunch counter, be refused a home, a job, or denied a loan, or told to sit in the black car of a train because of his skin color, or because of the skin color of his spouse. Paul thinks there is something "hard" about defending the kind of discrimination he would have never, ever faced. Paul's free-market fundamentalism is being expressed after decades of social transformation that the Civil Rights Act helped create, and so the hell of segregation is but a mere abstraction, difficult to remember and easy to dismiss as belonging only to its time. It's much easier now to say that "the market would handle it." But it didn't, and it wouldn't.

In short, I think that yes, he is a sexist, racist tool and his "principled beliefs" don't hold up past the most surface level of examination.

Mmmm, Craigie! I swear tasting menus completely changed the way I think about food.

Oddly enough, I've never been to Craigie though. Next time I'm in town, maybe. How much is the tasting menu, Jesse?

I read RuPaul instead of Rand Paul at the start of brenda's post. Now just picture that for a second. Made me grin.

Can it be the end of the day now?

Last night I made the kind of nasty, sweeping generalization about Libertarians that I generally loathe ( edit to clarify that it is GENERALIZATIONS I loathe) . I knew even before I did it that it was a mistake. Why I said it is a matter for my own introspection, and irrelevant here. It has now been deleted, as has my crappy non-apology.

I am aghast at myself, and apologize to the entire board and especially to anyone whose feelings I may have hurt. Buffistas is sometimes the only place I feel I belong, and the fact that I single-handedly created an inhospitable atmosphere for others is unacceptable. I have hurt people I care about and respect, and have likely damaged many peoples' opinions of me, perhaps irrevocably. I have to live with that.

What I should have said, and am saying now, is this: I don't know much about Libertarians, and suspect I may have a distorted view of the party and its platform. Surely we have Libertarians on the board; can anyone point me to some good links so I can get a better understanding?

Again, I am sorry. It was a stupid and assholish thing to say.

I will likely not be around much the rest of the day, due to work and trying to get out of town. I will be checking email. Feedback, cluesticks, and educational links always welcome at my profile addy.

There was farfalle with a wild boar ragu that was to die for.

That sounds kind of awesome.

I definitely want to go back and sit at the bar for the burger.

That's been my plan (except I'd probably find things on the menu to graze on). They also do a brunch, which sounds intriguing.

and see, that is why we get to have a nice board. Everyone has their days.

What msbelle said.

What msbelle said.

Exactly what I was going to say.

Everyone has their days.

Sometimes you just don't notice the guac until you step in it.

How much is the tasting menu, Jesse?

I am kind of embarrassed to say.