Thursday, May 05, 2011

bin Laden continued

That does it, I am sleeping in the nude from now on. I have enemies.

Ford wins
the race to bring a hybrid to market that costs the same as the regular model. Amazingly they were the company that didn't take the government's money. Funny, that.

Annoying Obama explanation
for not releasing the photographs: we don't want to spike the ball, that is not who we are. Why so annoying? It is tendentious. It assumes that the only reason we would want to have the photographs out would be to gloat or "spike the ball." This is an Obama trope. He tries to be reasonable and mild but ends up being condescending. He makes arguments premised on those who disagree with him having childish motives. From bitter clingers to gloating yobs, he sees his opponents as mentally and morally deficient.

And it is an entirely avoidable error. He could easily say there are lots of good reasons that people would want the photos released. He could acknowledge that and say that he was worried that some people might see it as spiking the ball and avoid the problem. He doesn't because he doesn't see the problem. The way he says, "We are better than that," another Obama trope. He frames his thought as a compliment to America but it is really a boast about the people that agree with him. Those who think like me are better than the people that disagree with me. And he has no idea he is doing it.

Chile's economy roars along by pursuing free market policies. Why do we always follow European statist models when we look abroad?

The obligation to offer a chance to surrender will lead to more airstrikes: another example of the counter-productive nature of international law.

By the way, Obama is given so much credit for not using a missile, but
since we seem to have lost some secrets with the entirely predictable loss of a new model stealth helicopter, why didn't we send in a cruise missile after the raiders left?

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