In which I am more of a bitch than usual

I must say, I find it rather freaking hilarious to hear the woe and lamentation about Westboro (may the meteors smite them) being awarded costs after winning the appeal by many of the same people who support a loser pays system of civil litigation.  Welcome to the consequences of your position.

MASSIVE DISCLAIMER:  I work in the legal field, plaintiff side personal injury.  Of course I have a financial incentive to be against loser pays.  I think the three people who read this know that but still.  FURTHER MASSIVE DISCLAIMER:  These opinions are my own and in no possible way reflect those of my employer or, hell, anyone else who posts here. 

When people discuss loser pays, I am always struck by the naivete that presumes that justice always wins out.  Sure, juries sometimes award huge verdicts for stupid cases.  But juries also do incredibly insane things like finding a driver who ran a stop light to be not liable for the accident.  Do people really and truly want the loser in that situation to pay?  Really?  People need to understand the consequences of their positions.  If loser pays gets put into place, every single solitary case will go to trial.  Every.  Damn.  One.  If you're the defendant, why not?  If it's an obvious case you're stuck with the costs anyway.  You might as well roll the dice and see if you can't get the jury to do something crazy.  Then you stick the plaintiff with the appellate costs and another 2 years of waiting for recovery.  If you're the plaintiff, you might as well bring that insane case.  If you win, it's not going to cost you a dime.  If you lose, well, then you'll tie it up in appeals for years.  So you have to pay the attorney fees.  Bankruptcy will take care of that.

See, I keep hearing that loser pays will somehow magically reduce the number of lawsuits filed.  Take it from someone who actually works in that field, it won't work out like that.  Most people who sue want a pound of flesh.  They'll take money but what they really want is for someone to pay.  That emotional drive isn't susceptible to economic rationality. 

I'm actually not terribly against loser pays.  I do respect those who understand and accept the reality of what that means.  I reserve the right to point and laugh at those who are all shocked and horrified when it results in costs being taxed against someone the person likes.  Either accept the consequences or don't hold the position.  To paraphrase Dorothy Sayers, a principle is only a principle once it kills someone. 

Westboro won the appeal.  Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, those ratbastards are entitled to be taxed certain costs.  If that's so horrifying, think about the consequences if loser pays was in play and the entire attorney fees were being paid.  If you don't like that?  I suggest you reconsider your position.

Posted by: alexthechick at 10:48 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 504 words, total size 3 kb.

An Open Letter To Despair

The last few weeks, some unpleasant developments have hit my real world life, my family, and my country. And while I am worried and wish for the best, I have come to realize that while these developments may try to make me curl up, despair, and become a sniveling puss bag of pussiness and pansy, I have made my decision. I have made my choice. And I wish to tell the forces of darkness, despair, hopelessness, and the tyranny of the self-inflicted weakness the following. But first...
*lights Opus X Cigar*
*Downs bottle of Makers Mark*
*Vomits*
*Adjusts tie*:
more...

Posted by: eddiebear at 11:10 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 418 words, total size 2 kb.

David Brooks, Obama Sycophant Extraordinaire

David Brooks' latest love letter to Obama was filled with such sloppy wet kisses that at least two commentators think he's trying to apply for an administration gig.  So if you see the position of "Czar of Servile Flattery" open up, you'll know who's got the inside track.

Brooks' main thrust is that Obama isn't the pinko that the righties think he is, nor is he the sell-out that the hard Left thinks he is.  The Gospel according to David says that Obama's a left-center President.  Of course, Brooks is wrong.  Obama has always been a Leftist.  He grew up a Leftist, he campaigned mostly as a Leftist, and he's doing his damnedest to govern as Left as he possibly can.

Before the election, I argued that Obama was a neo-Fabian socialist.  Fabian socialism is defined at least in part by its tactics of incrementalism, attrition, and misdirection.  Using the working thesis that Obama is an incrementalist (a "progressive" even), the lack of complete sovietization of our economy shouldn't count against me. Nothing that has occurred during Obama's time in office has dissuaded me from this assessment. 
more...

Posted by: JoeCollins at 03:55 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 914 words, total size 8 kb.

Dear Andrew Sullivan: You're a Fucking Douchebag

Dear Andrew Sullivan,

You quoted (your way of agreeing, generally) , March 8th, 2010:

In the wake of last week's shooting, James Joyner begs:

"Can we please stop with the political name-calling whenever one of these nuts goes off?

Look, we’re a big country. There are over 300 million of us. Almost everyone holds a position or two that’s way off the charts and a whole lot of people believe in 9/11 Trutherism, black helicopters, and all the rest. Less than a handful of those people are out trying to kill people. However stupid or loathesome a political view may be, the fact that some nut also holds it adds nothing to the counter-argument.

Ohhhhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuuuck you, you hypocritical son of a bitch.

September 24th, 2009 in regards to the "Fed" hanging:

From this profile of the cancer survivor and volunteer, it appears suicide is unlikely. We'll find out. But at some point, unhinged hostility to the federal government, whipped up by the Becks, can become violence.

Yeah, you said that you motherfucker. 

In fact, you were frothing at the mouth about Teabaggers and murder for quite some time, as I recall.  Now that the last few murderers are avowed communist cocksuckers, you're all "let's not rush to group nutcases in with others who share their beliefs.' 

Ergo hoc ipse delenda hoc, you're a fucking douchebag. 

That or you just like to quote sentences containing the words, "hold some nut."

Eat My Shit,
Moron Pundit

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 03:38 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 252 words, total size 2 kb.

I Hate Rude Behavior In A Man. I Won't Tolerate It

Last week, a commenter came over here and in the course of one of the discussions, decided to cross the line and demean, insult, and otherwise cast malice upon people who are members of the GLBT community, not for their views, but for their lifestyle. The comments this fellow made went beyond legitimate policy arguments and went to the pointless, cruel, and stupid route, and hurt and offended several people who come here to participate in our slice of Moronia.

I was so angry, I actually wrote down in MS-Word (fuck you, MS-Word!) a response that I was itching to give to this person, should he choose to reappear. Sadly, the guy did not, and I now can't find the response (fuck you, My Mad Computer Haxxor Skillz!), but it was passionate. I was and continue to be angry that people with whom I share a common bond (opposing leftism) and a Fake Internet Friendship were told they were not worthy of consideration based not on their political views, but on the fact their sexuality is different than his.

Fuck that. Fuck it with a Roast Beef Combo with rocket AIDS in place of au jus. While this is not my site, I do not look kindly upon somebody coming along and demeaning my friends and cohorts. I will not tolerate those who wish to go beyond legitimate political debate and into bigotry directed at or about my friends. I fucking look at people based on whether or not they are decent people, share my views, and just want to be left the fuck alone by the Nannyarchy, and not other things. Maybe I am wrong and naive, but fuck it. I just don't like seeing any of my friends hurt.

And since I can't duplicate what I wrote, please allow me to present an audio visual portrayal of how to handle people who are assholes.

Posted by: eddiebear at 09:37 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
Post contains 327 words, total size 2 kb.

An Open Letter To Jenny McCarthy

Dearest Jenny,

In light of recent developments, I have a few thoughts I'd like to share with you, after the bump.
more...

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 08:37 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 81 words, total size 1 kb.