Penn and Teller (So when did Penn sell out???)

When was it that Penn from Penn and Teller, sold out? Use to like his Bullshit programme, but now hes on faux laughing like a little school girl at everything that Glenn Beck says.

Penn wasnt always like this, was he?

But his fanboys don't care as long as he keeps making fun of religion.

he can't come up with his own act so he pretend that he's cooler than all his peers by exposing their secrets.

Always has been.

And I can respect him for that - even though I don't agree with him

Ironic, because he totally ripped Glen Beck a new one earlier

No doubt he will strike out angrily against any corporation that tries to infringe on his individual liberties

Don't get me wrong - I know Libertarianism is a dead end

But I can at least respect the across the board "don't fuck with me" sentiment

Although in this environment, I can see it appearing such

and yes, it can be rather goofy/extreme.

Small 'L' libertarianism is a philosophy that includes tenets dealing with individual liberty, and is quite flexible in how it can be applied.

Is there such an animal? They're usually spouting the RW talking points - eliminate corporate taxes, reduce union power, allow companies to hire more foreign workers, more free trade deals etc etc etc

Libertarians don't see Corporations as the crooks ( as you and I do )

Take a look at the Libertarian/Anarchist (because Libertarianism is a flavor of Anarchism, not Conservatism as they like to claim) theory pages on Wikipedia.

My acquaintances who voted for Bush all became "libertarians" when they couldn't deal with the discord of realizing they had enabled a murderous POS.

Thing is, if you look at his personal philosophy, it makes sense. He doesn't believe in any organization dictating "reality" or "morality." As a result, he's anti-Religion, Government, Cult, Organization, Corporation....

But he seems to still be under the spell many of us were under with the whole house of cards. As a result, he sees the current policy, which is perfectly in line with Rational Keynesian Policy, as a threat.

He needs to open up - its either Corporatocracy or the "Welfare State" - take your pick.

He doesn't seem to be a big fan of that either with some of the anti-environmental bullshit on Bullshit.

OVERWHELMING Scientific Evidence to the contrary and he ignores it

But for the most part he is dead on

lots of groupthink and blind following.

Anything else?

My main argument against Libertarianism is just that - if you move away from leaders, who leads?

The idea that we don't need someone directing traffic is faulty

But I can understand where the idea comes from - abuse of power is too often a side effect of Homo Sapien in power.

"Libertarians are just Republicans who want to smoke grass."

after doing all the grunt work of eliminating taxes, unions, and consumer safeguards for the corporations.

Just as a professional courtesy, they'll be killed last because they were useful idiots.

And as a former Libertarian myself I know a bit about this subject. Libertarians want to do away with virtually all regulations on corporations, they are even more corporate friendly than the Republican Party. Through my years as a Libertarian I was constantly hearing them defend corporations, but never once did I hear a single one of them criticize any corporate practices. They would speak in vague generalities about how if we didn't like the way a company was doing business we could go somewhere else, but they would NEVER dare go as far as to say that if a corporation broke the law they should be held accountable. Instead they would say that the law itself was the problem and that we should do away with the laws that are getting in the way of industry profits. It is really scary stuff, and that is why I left the party.

Being civil with someone he disagrees with is hardly "selling out." Unlike internet chatterers, he has to do more than just show bottomless scorn to The Other. He's got to keep potential audience members of his Las Vegas act happy to hear him. Having a conversation is a pretty low bar to hold for saying he abandoned his principles.

repugs who want to smoke dope and get laid." Thom Hartmann.

but back-stage as well

This info comes from a former co-worker of mine who spent a great deal of time with him on a project

Said he was the most neurotic, pathetic cry-baby he has ever met...I believe him

Someone alert TMZ!

Met him backstage at a rock show. A bunch of us went out for a bite. Penn picked up the check. We didn't talk politics. He doesn't drink or do drugs.

--imm

after the show, they go to the back, and greet the audience members as they're exiting the theatre...my wife and i were walking past teller, when he commented on how my checkerboard vans matched his checkerboard tie, leading to a short conversation- he definitely seems like the more pleasant of the two by far.

btw- we saw a lot of shows on that trip- O, avenue Q, mystere(for the second time), Zumanity, the amazing jonathon; and penn & teller- who's show was by far the most disappointing...except for the teller after show thing.

have you ever actually paid any attention to the show...? he makes no secret about how he feels.

and it should replace all the other ones. :P

I don't think Penn ever cared if he was a tool or not. He is, but he makes a very fine living feasting on petty intellectual corruption, so what the hell, why should he stop? Less corruption equals less money for Penn. He's done the math. Associating with a moron like Glen Beck pays twice, once directly, and again in all the stupidity Beck spreads.

Penn's fanboys often bother me more than Penn. These fanboys who swarm around Penn like stable flies develop from eggs deposited in Penn's dung by irradiated biting flies, sp. Aynus randus. (Irradiation is a common method of controlling fly populations.) Most of these fan boys are only mildly irritating and entirely harmless, but rare individuals do bite. They have poor reproductive capacity and are thus fairly negligible pests.