Brian9

Her Larry King interview. I think you can tell from it she is at least smarter than the average bear. I wouldn't know how to quantify it. I guess Kurt Cobain was smarter than average too. He made music people liked, made money, and killed himself. So, my argument is what does it matter if she if is smart and entertaining? Michael Moore may be a smart guy too, I still despise him and he is still overpaid. I don't mean to insult Gaga. Moore is a convenient example. I believe I have heard Clinton scored higher on his IQ test than Reagan. It doesn't really matter to me.

You didn't address the points I made in my last post. Why are you different? Why is the federal government intelligent, but the general public so stupid, that the latter must be treated as sheep. The government must shear its sheep 5% annually so that a foreign government can't eat the sheep entirely? Why are you different? If we are so intelligent, why can't we convince the sheep to willingly part with 5% annually in peacetime to make the necessary defense? Are our arguments not convincing? Is it that even the most convincing arguments do not affect the general public? It is palpably absurd to suggest we need a ruling class in this way. What if the public figures out 5% is being taken against their will? You say you can't convince them why it is necessary, so it follows that you will need to suppress any challenge to your proposed way of doing things. 5% exaction from all the sheep, unless some rebel against our system, in which case we'll need more. No, talking to the sheep is useless. They don't understand what it takes to win a war. 6% exaction from all the sheep who would jeopardize the safety of all the other sheep. It doesn't work, people want to be free. Which, incidentally, should be encouraging.

Well, I agree your original post. She must be doing something right. She must posses intelligence, a good work ethic, and so on. My objection is that I think you may be making too much soup from one omelette (or whatever that expression is!!!). If Michael Moore can make money pedaling his garbage, how hard can it be? H.L. Mencken wrote, "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." My point is look at all the people who overpaid for houses recently. It was a bubble, or a mania. Lady Gaga is a fad. I needn't find a justification for how much money she is making. She is making too much, I predict it won't last. She is overrated. Of course, I think I said the same thing about Madonna, so what do I know?

Yeah and Michael Moore is a success story. Or Kurt Cobain if he hadn't killed himself. It is possible to have to have some talent or business acumen and still make me cringe. Who was it that said, "No one ever went broke underestimating average intelligence?" Something isn't valuable just because people are buying it. This is never more true than when it comes to taste in art.

Why do you think people have to be forced to protect themselves? Of course some people are sheep and will allow themselves to be slaughtered, but you're talking as if we were all that way. You're obviously military-minded. I imagine you will freely give yourself to defend a free country if you think that right. Allow everyone else to share in that. People own guns, build walls, buy security systems etc. We're capable of looking after ourselves and we don't need and we don't want anyone "protecting" us. If you can explain to the general public that the Commander needs 5% of their worth in order to finance our national defense then we don't need to have this conversation about the morality of forcing them to pay. I think it would be easy. Haven't we spent much much much much more than that in the past? Isn't the problem we face today not how to convince people to fund war, but how to get them to, for the love of God, stop?

If you can't convince me to voluntarily fund a war, what makes you think you can convince me you have the right to force me to fund said war?