actual apology

Now I can go back to liking David Letterman again.

Truly Risable article by tina Brown

Really vile and snide take on the Palin-Letterman controversy by Tina Brown. 

Exhibit A:

"Does anyone believe that Palin really, truly thought Letterman’s sexual joke was about her 14-year-old daughter, Willow, not her 18-year-old, Bristol—who, after all, actually did get knocked up? My reading is she didn't believe it, but she was happy to have you believe it. Happy to have people—too many of them, unfortunately, who only pay attention with one ear—be her target audience."

Well, she went to the baseball game with her 14 year old daughter and the same evening there is a joke about her daughter having sex with a baseball player during the game. What is she supposed to think?  What would her daughter think? 

Oh yeah, she should know because Letterman is a gentleman and would never make a joke like that?  But are we to give him that benefit of a doubt?  We can take his words for their plain meaning, and their plain meaning was the daughter that was at the event he was referring to.  

And it is ok if in Mr. Letterman's head was the older daughter? Like she is now fair game because she did, after all, get "knocked up?"  Note how this has become the liberals' new favorite expression since it could be used against the family member of a conservative.  If you said that about an inner city youth on welfare you would be denounced as racist but aim it at a family member of a conservative politician and they find fifteen ways to work it into every five sentences.   Class.

Then this:

"The governor of Alaska doesn’t object to every wisecrack that relies for its punchline on a mental picture of a Palin daughter having sexual intercourse with an older man, even when the daughter is the one who’s still a minor. Here’s the statement Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton issued after Dave invited the governor and her husband to come on the air with him: “The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show. Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman.”"

For Mrs. Brown's information, the joke does not rely on a mental picture of an older man having intercourse, it relies on an older man being crude and ill-mannered and unfit to be around young women--a rather obvious point in Mr. Letterman's case.

She finally adds: "Letterman’s joke may not have been his finest hour, but at least he swiftly apologized."  Mr. Letterman said he apologised if anything he said offended her, as if being offended by a crude joke at her daughter's expense (either of them) is something that would not necessarily be offensive in itself and then had the nerve to inviter her on his show.  That isn't an apology, it is an insult.

Strangest of all is the three or four paragraphs of fawning about Secretary Clinton's pants suits and briefing papers which is somehow meant to draw a telling contrast with Governor Palin.  The contrast between Clinton's "cheerfullness" is somehow supposed to show in a bad light Palin's "resentment."  This is quite bizzare.  We shoudl be impressed at Clinton for having gotten over not winning the Presidency (and getting the consolation prize of Secretary of State) in just a little over a year.  Wow!  This is the same Clinton who got herself back in the race by shedding tears at the great tragedy and loss the failure of her candidacy represented for the country.  The same Hilary who played the victim card (at the hands of the vast right wing conspiracy and later at the hands of her own phillandering husband) into the Senate?  This woman has made a career of feeling sorry for herself.  It has defined her public presentation of herself since the days of the "wodda coudda shodda" pink sweater news conference defense of charges that she made 100k trading pork bellies executing trades from a hospital bed. 

And Sarah Palin not cheerful?  I can't stand how cheerful she is!  I thought that was what made her so embarrassing to all of our elites, her relentless cheerfulness?  Sarah Palin told to be more perky and act more like St. Hillary, patron saint of the vast whinning conspiracy?  

Ann Althouse has a good take on Andrew Sullivan's screed on the same subject.

The cunning of history

It may be that Bush and Obama turn out to be a good team without intending to be.  Bush has set in motion democratic forces that would never have gotten uderway without military force to break the stalemate and Obama has diffused some of the tension caused by the conflict.  Thomas Friedman ends up making a similar agument.

Flynt Leverett argues that Ahmadinejad won the election. He points out that some of the criticisms that Mousavi is citing--running out of ballot paper, closing some polls too early--are not the kind of thing that could swing an election with such a large margin. 

It turns out that His Oneness has not even deigned to have so much as a conference call on the subject of Iran.  Can you imagine John McCain exhibiting such neglect?

"This is a debate among Iranians about Iran's future," the official says.

Iranian students murdered in the streets on camera and all his oneness can say is its a "debate" among the Iranians themselves.  Pathetic. 

The case for Fear

Leon Wieseltier makes the case for being afraid, a little afraid. He intriguingly draws on Cass Sunstien's psychologically well informed arguments about people's innate tendency to discount the highly unlikely to zero after a period of calm to argue that the President is not sufficiently alarmist.  He argues that calm may itself be a form of demagoguery.  The arguement is all the more interesting for being from an Obama supporter.

Chicago Style

Obama appears to have fired Inspector General of the Americorps for investigating a politically connected friend. If this is true it is really shocking.  It is far beyond what I would expect from Obama.  I don't mean the corruption, but the ham-handedness of the corruption.

An update from Byron York.  It makes me proud to be an American.  Notice that the hero of the story is not the lawyer but the bureaucrat. Note also the deafening silence of the MSM.

Update:  The WSJ Opinion page has a piece detailing the legal issues involved. What is odd is that the paper concludes that this may seem like "small beer."  This seems like rather straightforward corruption.  800k that is supposed to go to educating kids goes to washing a FOM (Friend of Michelle's) car and the only result is that more money is put in the pipeline and the guy who objects, the guy who is doing his job, gets fired?  How is that a small thing?

I thought that everyone would like us once Obama apologised to everyone?

US muscled out of Kyrgyzstan.  Russia apparently doesn't seem to have a problem with killing people.

The rise or Fascism?

Tony Blankley discusses the implications of the European Parliamentary election results. It seems that the peasants are not going gently into that dark Cosmopolitan night.

Is this a great country of what?

Pastor holds a bring-your-weapons-to-church day.

So maybe this democracy thing isn't such a bad idea?

Hezbollah loses Lebanon's elections. We may have to give Obama some credit (he surely will), but even then it is good news.

And check out the pictures on the AP story: "Democracy, whiskey, sexy"!

Targeted Killings

Scroll down for Kenneth Anderson's post on his law review article on the subject of targeted killings.

Obama's foreign policy applied to auto marketing

Kaus takes apart an Obama administration schill's (Lutz) analysis of why green cars will save GM: the example of how the "Halo effect" of the Prius was the "primary reason" for Toyota's success.  

several reasons for Toyota's ascendancy, none more important than becoming the darling of media analysts
and environmentalists in the wake of its seminal hybrid, the Prius ...

This is really too much.  But there is a sort of logic to it.  They people that believe having the approval of people like themselves will motivate dictators in North Korea and Iran to give up their ambitions apparently believe that the same cause will motivate American consumers to give up their money.  The belief in the efficacy of the Mandarinate's approval is the common thread to all they do.

France and America

In Normandy, gratitude toward the US has not faded - The Boston Globe

"Christian, do not forget the American soldiers who risked and sacrificed their lives for you along this coast on June 6, 1944," reads a marble plaque fixed to the wall of the nave. "The bell of this church guided them. You owe them to pray faithfully that God welcomes them."

---

Maybe we will pass each other on the way?

In Europe political parties of the left are moving right while we lurch left because we have to get with the rest of the world. Strange, isn't it? And all because of the economic crisis which we are doing much better in than they are.

Video Fisking of Obama's speech

Tigerhawk posts a video fisking of President Obama's speech.  All of the things that the West is accused of doing were done by the Muslim world on a greater scale, but only we are the only ones that ever have to apologise.  By the way, is it just me or is Obama's robotic swivel between his teleprompter screens going past annoying? 

Separation of Powers?

Don't worry, that is only an issue when Bush issues signing statements.  When it is the anointed one it is ok.

Liberalism at work

San Francisco, the center of the liberal universe, punishes man for shining shoes instead of doing was a good ward of the state is supposed to: stay dependent. You really can't make this stuff up. 

We hope he has learned his lesson and in future will spend his time wandering around drunk and begging.

If only we could get lawyers to run the world

Only one company worse than Chrysler in customer satisfaction with quality.  Want to guess which one?  Why Fiat of course!  It is a good thing the country is being run by geniuses.

New concern for national security

Dems are shocked that someone would discuss contents of a closed door briefing in public.  Of course, it is alright when you want to accuse the CIA of lying behind closed doors, but if you try to defend them it is suddenly aid and comfort to the enemy.  Then again, for the Democrats, the CIA may well be the enemy as far as they are concerned.

Well, so much for federalism

Here is a rather shocking item at the end of a story about South Carolina governor Sanford,

"Clyburn, D-S.C., inserted an amendment in the federal law with
Sanford's anti-bailout stance in mind, saying legislators could go
around a governor's refusal. While the legality of that was questioned,
U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson on Monday cited it in saying it was
clear Congress intended to allow legislators to get around governors
who didn't want the money."

So now Congress can re-write state constitutions? 

There is no free lunch

The Obama administration is learning the hard way.  Now that there is good evidence that the recession is ending (no thanks to the as yet un-dispersed stimulus spending) the already issued debt and opened-ended spending commitments of the first 100 days are driving up long-term interest rates. How long can the housing market rebound with interest rates going up 26 basis points a week?  Not long I suspect. Like Bill Clinton before him, he is going to learn that the bond market is the 5th branch of government.

UN

A cynical take on the U.N., "U.N. Me"--get it?

King Lear

The Ian McKellen version online.

Muslim world and Israel

Here is an article that goes out of its way to point out that Arabs are only one in six of the world's Muslims but then goes on to cite polling data only from the Arab world.

Round-up or Reactions to Obama's speech

Reactions from throughout the Muslim world to Obama's speech, focusing on Central Asia.  Mostly what you would expect but an interesting set of reactions from Iran, where a group of text-messagers who did not want to be named were positive in their reactions. 

The Muslim World's real problem

They don't know who their friends are--or their enemies.  Some memories of when Gaza was Egyptian.

Notice how all this stuff is like a thousand years ago?

Text - Obama’s Speech in Cairo - Text - NYTimes.com

As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam. It was Islam – at places like Al-Azhar University – that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.

comparisons between Islamic radicals and Christians

Kirchick, an editor of the New Republic writing an oped for the WSJ, argues that comparisons between the Christian Right and the Islamic fundamentalists are overblown. 

Euphemism

Guess which religion gets the benefit of the silence?

Pakistan stands up to the Taliban

It seems that the Pakistani government has finally stood up to the Taliban.  Though the pressure from the Obama administration was useful, the main impetus came from the people of Pakistan themselves.  It seems that seeing what the Jihadis do when they are actually in power is what finally mobilizes people to fight them.

Turnabout is fairplay--and good for us

Mona Charen has a nice piece on how unfair the charge of racism against Judge Sotomayor is and yet that it is only what the Democrats have done time and again to Republicans.  She focuses on the case of Judge Pickering from Mississippi.  The argument she makes and which I think has some merit is that this kind of turnabout, though it is unfair to the individuals involved, may be necessary to bring the practice to an end.  Unless the side that is victimized by an unfair standard returns the favor when the opportunity presents itself the advantage may lie with the least scruppulous side.  In a sense there is a duty to retaliate in kind.  This appears to be what happened with the special prosecutor law, the inequity of which suddenly became clear to Democrats after one was sicked on one of thier own--Bill Clinton. This may be a feature of systems that are inherently "political" in the sense that there is no neutral arbiter between the parties that has the power to enfoce rules.  The parties must enforce the rules themselves.  Enforcing them means being willing to subject them to the same injustices that the other side subjects you to.

Arthur Herman

Arthur Herman (the historian who wrote the recent book on Gandhi and Churchill as well as the history of the Scots-Irish in America and a biography of Queen Elizabeth's spymaster Walsingham (c. 1530-1590)) has a nice piece in commentary about the controversy surrounding torture and Guantanamo. It should serve as a reference for conservatives in this debate for years to come.

Pro-choice apologist for terrorists?

Megan McArdle on the problematic pro-choice movement and slavery analogies.

31 year old in charge of dismantling GM

But don't worry, he is a lawyer!

The Scandal is What is Acceptable

The Sotomeyor mini-dust-up over the "Wise Latina" remark has been dismissed by many on the grounds that it is perfectly normal and acceptable to talk in this way in modern legal academic spaces.  But isn't that the scandal? The fact that her racialized thinking is acceptable, even laudable, among "mainstream" legal scholars is precisely the thing that should be siezed upon by opponents of her nomination.  The point is not to defeat the candidate but the philosophy.  The American people do not believe that elites are really all that different from themselves--that is how elites maintain legitimacy.  The legal profession is far outside the mainstream of traditional american values.  That is the problem, not the particular representative of that philosophy that Obama has served up. Saying that "Well, all law professors talk like that," is not a defense of Sotomeyor but an indictment of the creeping crytocracy we live under. Those are the grounds on which her nomination should be opposed. Frankly, viewing this philosophy as a personal failing is to excuse the legal profession and trivialize the real problem.

Advice for College Grads

Apply for a government job. Neatness counts.  Pay is not bad and you can never be fired.

Tiananmen Square

Here is the real lesson of Tiananmen Square massacre: terror works!

Support for Gay Marriage slipping

Nick Gillespie argues that part of the reason that support for gay marriage has declined is the behavior of some of the supporters of gay marriage.  Exhibit A is Rosie O'Donnell. 

I don't know if he is right but it certainly hasn't helped.

No good options in North Korea

Now that North Korea has a nuclear weapon there seem to be no good options.  War gaming the removal of NK's nuclear weapons has been tried with a range of assumptions all leading to the same bad outcomes.

National Health Care: Labatts or Amstel

Jonathan Cohn argues that Obama care will look more like Netherlands or France than Canada or Great Britain's.  And, he says that anyone who suggests otherwise is a liar.  This seems intemperate. It may certainly be that Obama is aiming for France but he still is more likely to hit Canada, whatever the specifics of his proposal.  The culture and political institutions of a country are going to determine what a national health care system look like in the long run more than the details of the current proposal--not that those aren't bad enough.

Torture and unintended consequences

As this article notes, our high-minded stance on "enhanced interrogation" is leading to more reliance on interrogations of prisoners in their own, usually Middle Eastern, countries.  Now do you think that will lead to more torture or less?

Another reason to lament Pelosi--she is pretty good

Pelosi is doing very well so far at getting health care reform passed--a great contrast to her performance on the CIA briefing controversy.

Churchill in Command

Is it just me, or are we all having Churchill withdraw symptoms?  Ok, maybe it is just me.  But in any case here is a really cool book I just started reading. 

Reynolds, David. 2007. In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War. Basic Books. Available at: http://www.amazon.com/Command-History-Churchill-Fighting-Writing/dp/0679457437 [Accessed May 26, 2009].

It is about how Churchill went about writing his history of the Second World War. I've just gotten through the first hundred pages. I thought it would be pretty dry stuff, as the first two chapters are about the legal wrangling Churchill went through and have access to his official papers and to avoid paying taxes on sales of things which he wrote during the war and which would, consequently, have been subject to the extraordinarily high wartime tax rates. But even these chapters have revealed something of substance in regard to the text itself.

One thing that is often noted is how much of the book seems to revolve around Churchill quoting himself and his own memos. It sometimes reminds one of Roosevelt's (TR, not FDR) account of the Spanish-American war which one critic said should be called "Alone in Cuba," it has so many references to his own writing. It turns out there is a reason for that, or at least another reason for that.

Normally cabinet ministers were not allowed to quote from confidential Memos they read while in office. Churchill had in the writing of The First World War had an exception made for the memos a minister had written himself. There was one other exception: a cabinet minister whose reputation had been impugned would have the right to access and partially publish confidential memos to clear his name.

If Churchill had quoted a non-Churchhill memo or cabinet document then any other Cabinet member or possibly even members of Parliament or bureaucrats would have the right to access" documents that he thought might clear his name. Therefore, to the extent Churchill referred to memos that were not written by his own hand he opened the door to having more government documents released. This was something the church will want to avoid out of his respect for government confidentiality, but, also because the current prime minister would also have grounds for vetoing publication. So, it turns out that the reason Churchill quotes himself so much owes as much to his desire to avoid legal and political complications as it does to his own ego.

The greater substantive point of the book though is about how Churchill's memoir shaped our understanding of World War II, and particularly of the causes leading up to it. So far, there are no grand lies exposed as much as a subtle shading and direction of attention. His account of the interwar period focuses attention on mistakes made in the 1930s by conservative leaders and draws attention away from the "contributions" of Ramsay McDonald (socialist leader from 31 to 35) and leaders in the 1920s (when Churchill himself was still in office).

The book also highlights how the history was shaped by Churchill's present. He begins work on the gathering storm soon after he has given his famous "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton Missouri. The book is written intentionally to invite comparison to the contemporary confrontation with the Russians (or, to avoid anachronism, the Soviet Union).

Finally, the book also sheds light on Churchill's career after the war. In particular, it takes a new look at the famous Iron Curtain speech mentioned above. While it is remembered as a clarion call to the cold war, Churchill's main intention was to bolster a transatlantic alliance. Reynolds argues, "rather than prolonging an Anglo-American axis to wage the cold war, Churchill was invoking the threat of World War III to justify a special relationship."

I think this highlights an important theme in his thinking, the importance of friendships and long-term alliances among like-minded nations as the foundation for peace. This can be contrasted with the institutional -- internationalist view which views such particular and exclusive relationships as undermining international institutions. As close, personal friendships and make us violate our abstract ethical principles -- as Gandhi would argue -- favoritism and friendships among nations can make us violate international legal rules and principles. It is interesting that this emphasis on friendship between the English-speaking peoples (as Churchill referred to them) drew as much fire as his Cold War alarmism. "Churchill's thesis about Anglo-American relations was the most contentious part of his speech. In the first few days, it provoked strenuous criticism from liberal such as Eleanor Roosevelt on the grounds that Churchill was calling for a transatlantic military alliance that would break up the United Nations." (Page 44).

Sotomayor

Great round-up of Sotomayor reactions and commentary (actually, just commentary).

Proposition 8 Upheld

The voters' opposition to Gay Marriage upheld by California Supreme Court. Well, what else could they do?  Overturning the proposition would be tantamount to ruling the constitution unconstitutional or some parts of the text more of the constitution than others.  What I found puzzling is the threat to commit acts of civil disobedience on the part of gay activists.  What could that mean?  They are going to go on being gay and living together?  Continue to introduce themselves as spouses?  Can you disobey a law that doesn't prevent you from doing anything in the first place?

Someone to the Right of Me!

Ralph Peters argues that the guys at Gitmo should have been killed before they got there.  A bit harsh even for me, though I agree with his reciprocal conception of rights.  Still, I think there is something to be said for that policy when it comes to the subset of terrorists called pirates about whom, given that they are captured on a ship that doesn't belong to them in the middle of the ocean, there is little question that they are guilty.  Though even then the Royal Navy brought most back for trial ashore.

Differences between Bush and Obama on Gitmo Explained

More guns, less crime?

D.C. post Heller. 

Isn't this cute?

Whoops! there are cameras here.  Can't say that sort of thing in front of the help.  Our newest Supreme Court nominee (did you know that she is the first Hispanic woman to be nominated?) on the policy making role of the appeals court.  Note how she says we shouldn't say that sort of thing because it is wrong but because there are cameras here.  How much of our elite education is now just a rehearsal of euphemisms?  We are just learning a new language to not offend the gun-clinging rubs out there that still think the voters are in charge? Who still think this is a democracy instead of a crytocracy?

Krugman's forgotten man

The great Krugman manages to analyze the fiscal crisis in California without ever mentioning the increases in spending.  Applying this logic to the US as a whole he says that there is nothing irresponsible about Obama's spending increases as long as we increase our tax rate to take care of the interest payments like a responsible country--say Sweeden--would do.  If only the great paralysis could be transfered to spending rather than taxes.

Toobin on the Rhetoric of the two speeches

Obama vs. Cheney, the great alliterator again praised for his subtlety.

Expanding definitions of torture

I guess it is not really lying if it is in a good cause.

Fareed has figured it out!

Fareed Zachariah has wonderful news for all of us: the Iranians aren't looking for a nuclear weapon! The evidence? They say they aren't!

Now, Fareed is no misty eyed fool. He recognizes that "…of course, they could all be lying." The "them" being the last two grand ayatollahs who pronounced nuclear weapons as "un-Islamic." But then, since the regime relies on its fidelity to the Islamic principles for its legitimacy, reminding people of the illegitimacy of nuclear weapons would not be in their interest. It would be far more “shrewd” to

Fareed goes on to adduce other reasons that the Iranian would not want nuclear weapons. Pursuing a civilian nuclear program would have great benefits, such as making them more popular among the Europeans and international lawyers. They can get all of the benefits of having a nuclear program by simply maintaining a "breakout capability."  And it would make international sanctions almost impossible to enact.

Finally, the oracle of Armani tells us, intones, that the Iranians are rational.  They respond to costs and benefits. They are not suicidal. 

Where to begin?

What they say. There are several interpretations of what they say.  Denying that they want a nuclear weapon is consistent with not wanting a nuclear weapon.  It is also consistent with not wanting to have your nuclear weapons program bombed to smithereens. 

It is “unIslamic” and they wouldn’t say it was unIslamic if they didn’t mean it because otherwise they would undermine their own legitimacy. 

There are plenty of things they do that are “un-Islamic” but they do them anyway. Ask the 241 Marines killed by Hezbollah in Lebanon 1983.  It might be un-Islamic to have nuclear weapons but does that seem like a statement that would really box them in?  “Sure it is un-Islamic, but when the infidels leave us no choice…?” 

Moreover, aren’t there plenty of incidents in the Koran where the Prophet deceives the infidels for a higher cause?  And don’t the fans of the regime seem like they care more about being able to dictate terms to the infidels than to be in line with the Koran’s principles on nuclear weapons? 

Maybe they want to win?  Maybe they want to dominate?   Remember in the Spielberg movie about the dinosaurs?  The guy says that T-Rex doesn’t want to be fed, he wants to hunt.  They don’t want to be given, they want to take.  They want to dictate.  They want to wipe away a couple centuries of inferiority and humiliation by standing strong and showing that they will not parle with their enemies but dominate with their will and power.  They don’t want be the objects of beneficence, they want to be masters.  They don’t want their enemies to be cut a deal, they want them to cower. 

Hitler was not irrational, he just took big risks and valued deaths in battle of his own country men at a very low price.  Once you understand his utility function he is very easy to understand.  Chamberlain’s mistake was not in assuming that Hitler was rational, it was in misjudging his utility function.  Being told someone is rational is practically useless, if by “rational” we mean utility maximizing.  It matters the world what gives them utility.  The assumption that they are as rational as we are is not a warrant for taking a walk in the other guy’s shoes.  That procedure is only informative if the other guy is walking in the same direction as we would. 

Missing the point

One in a long line of stories making the point that water boarding is highly unpleasant. Isn't this missing the point?  The whole advantage of water boarding is that it has all the pain of torture but none of the damage AND is over as soon as it stops.  Unlike actually causing physical trauma it is unpleasant without having long term (or even medium term) effects.  Demonstrations that people "can't stand it" are besides the point, or rather, are making the point.

Solution to Judicial mess? More judges!

It is not enough that we have problems with the Gitmo detainees, now we have to have the courts weigh in at Bagram! One nice thing about this editorial from the Washington post is that it agrees with Cheney's argument that the changes to the Bush policies in dealing with enemy combatants are mainly cosmetic, or, more precisely, rhetorical. 

And this:

"The president's suggested reforms are useful. But voluntary, nonbinding
reform by the executive branch isn't enough. The administration should
actively support legislation, originally backed by Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy (D-Mass.) and recently reintroduced by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy
(D-Vt.), that would give judges more discretion in weighing executive
secrecy claims and more leeway to exclude some evidence without tossing
out entire cases."

It isn't enough to do the right thing, the right thing has to be done by domestic judges!  That way, whatever decisions made by judges now will be binding on future governments and--oh, what are those things called again? Oh yeah!--voters.  You know, after the Obamasiah is gone we might change our minds. That is, no changing our minds because the facts might change.   It is perhaps a step forward, though.  Instead of the usual route to the expansion of judicial power the people's representatives are being asked to request being neutered. It is an improvement over the normal procedure for the judiciary to simply usurp and dare the legislature to do anything about it. 

Obamatudes

If his predecessor's policies were driven by "fear rather than foresight,"  could his speeches be characterized by "alliteration rather than logic?"

Obamism of the Day

If his predecessor's policies were driven by "fear rather than foresight,"  could his speeches be characterized by "alliteration rather than logic?"

Resource Dependency Theory of Power

The rd-power theory predicts that those with discretion over a vital resource stream will have power.  Public pension funds buying newspapers' bonds--forget about separation of church and state: the thing to watch out for is state sponsored press.

I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin

Grand Ayatollah in Qom backs hymen repair.  Doesn't anyone have any standards anymore?

Rationing by any other name

The government has chosen the most "efficient" procedure for you.  A small preview of Obama care in the government's decision to deny medicare funding for the newly developed technique of "virtual" colonoscopy.  They are no better than the good old-fashioned stick a camera up your ass variety.  That is unless you value avoidance of pain and preservation of dignity.  But, Obama knows best. All the people that complain about trying to negotiate with your insurance company have fun talking to the government.

That Hopey Changey Feeling

So Congress has increased Obama's spending request by 12 billion (that 17 billion in "savings" didn't last long, did it?) but will not give him the money he asked for to close Gitmo.  I love responsible (in the political scientist's sense of knowing who to blame) party government!

Ignore your friends; suck up to your enemies

Tunku Varadarajan wonders why Obama has neglected India, particularly in light of his otherwise "deft" handling of foreign policy. It is simple, ignoring our friends and kissing up to our enemies is Obama's policy. 
Mr. Varadarajan happens to like the second half of the equation and doesn't realize its connection to the first: our enemies are bad, they have merely been mistreated.  Our "friends" are the countries that have stood by us in confrontations--that makes them in Obama's eyes accomplicies in our misdeeds. Dissing them and showing them that we are not going to reward thier enabling behavior is merely a part of the larger policy of appeasing our enemies.   As Neville Chamberlain discovered, appeasing your enemies at some point requires you to sell out not only your own interests but those of your friends as well.

Fake moderation

Listen closely to what Obama says, especially when he is trying to be "moderate." At the Notre Dame commencement ceremony he says he is looking for common ground, but all of the common ground will serve only as justifications for liberal policies when it comes time to put them into action.  He says that we will make adoptions easier--read, open the way for gay adoptions; he says that we should all agree to offer more support for those women that chose to bring their children to term--read increase welfare payments; he says that we can all agree to help prevent unwanted pregnancies--read more sex end and increased availibility of contraception in schools.

Torture memos

The actual torture memos make a compelling case for waterboarding the three hard cases even without the memos Chaney is trying to have released.

The "You can't make this up" department:

Pediatric hospital wing in Yemen opened named after Palestinian bomber who murdered two little girls. Here is an account of the attack.  In an especially nice touch, the terrorists entered in an ambulance.

I blame bush

This is going to be the challenge for conservatives: to avoid the blame for the consequences of Obama's policies.  I doubt that it will be as bad as the Yuan becoming the world's reserve currency, but a bad round of stagflation is surely in the works.  We have to be ready with our answer because the other side is surely going to have the media mouthing its party line--that it was all made necessary by the Bush financial crisis--as incontrovertible fact.  Obama did have to stimulate the economy to deal with a once in a century liquidity crisis, but he did not have to put that spending in the form of unsustainable and "unpaidfor" (I think this should be a new word going forward into the Obama era) set of social programs that attempt to transform us into Sweden in a sort of political bait and switch play. 

It appears that the thuggery at Treasury pre-dates the Obama administration

Documents show Treasury and the Fed bullied people into taking the TARP money and into "liking it."

More evidence against anti-oxidants

My advice: stick to bacon.

It makes me feel all hopey changey inside...

So closing down Gitmo isn't as simple a proposition as was thought.  Now, instead of indefinite detention in Cuba they get indefinite detention in Kansas.  You know where this is all heading.  Someday, a few years from now, they will go on a hunger strike to be sent back to Gitmo.  Public relations disaster for whatever state they are sent to.  Who knows, it could be so embarassing that it could even reflect poorly on his oneness?

Rasmussen note a trend toward Republicans on the issues

While the MSM are all swoon all the time over Obama's approval ratings the numbers on issues are going the Republicans' way. Pretty impressive given Republican ineptitude.  This has to be seen as a vote of no confidence in the Democrats themselves.

Insider Outsider

The real distinction is between insider and outsider, not debtor and creditor (thanks to Megan McArdle for bringing this article to my attention).  It is like the private sector is being taken over by the mandarinate.  The more government moves in the more who you know trumps what contracts your contract--or that law, for that matter--says.

Man defends home with gun

Fannie and Freddie: the dog that didn't bark

Fannie and Freddie still not a story.  Apparently 400 billion lost to the taxpayers is not longer news in the age of Obamanable deficits.  Proof, as if any was needed, that the press is in the tank for the democrats and they know that the democrats are culpable.

Business tracking government

Here is a free website that tracks how the stimulus is being spent.  Unfortunate, isn't it, that the government can't do this itself. Oh, wasn't there something about having transparency once Obama was in office? Oh, never mind.

International Law: America's calling Harry Truman! Better get a lawyer

Our allies in Europe are trying to have CIA agents involved in extraordinary rendition extradited.  That is only the first step toward having the Administration officials on up to the former President charged.  We supply the army that defends them, they supply the lawyers that imprison our people for doing so. In a related story (at least I see it as related) the Germans have given up on plans to liberate the hostages held by Somalian pirates. Taking on the US is easy but the Somalian warlords are too tough for Germany's sorta-kinda army. I wonder if the people being held by the Somalian pirate will be able to sue anyone?

Disappointed Germans

It seems the Germans are disappointed at the Obama administration's decision to try some of the prisoners at Gitmo in military courts.  The curious thing is that some of the commentators talk as if they understand these characters are guilty but don't care: the important thing is to have a trial in a civilian court even if that is sure to let the guilty go free.  We must go through the "purification process" regardless.  Let justice be dammed as long as there is a civilian court trial.

It is also interesting to see the honeymoon ending with the Europeans, who seemed to have noticed that on the war on terror many of the differences between the Obama administration and its predecessor are only sound-bite deep.  Will the same dissolution someday spread to our press corps?  Or will they be a little less ready to piont out these discrepancies betwen Obama's rhetoric and actions since they had some hand in hiding them?  After actively painting the Bush administration as some sort of mad cabal for thier conduct of the war on terror they may not be able to so easily admit that much of what they denounced as monstrous is actually necessary.

William of Orange, What would you advise?

It seems that Obama has forgotten the lesson of the Glorious Revolution: a king that can break contracts has trouble getting people to lend him money.  Michael Barone's book on the Revolution of 1688 explains that one of the consequences of the weakened position of the king was that the king paradoxically became more powerful.  Why?  He was not able to walk away from deals with creditors and confiscate the assets of anyone that went into business wiht him.  Result?  A lot more people were willing to give him credit and go into business with him.  Royal borrowing went from under 5% of GDP to almost half while interest rates went from around 17% to under 7.  Of course such debt could have weakened the kingdom but for the fact that the King made productive investments-He invaded France.

Obama is ignoring this lesson on the profitability of governmental good faith. His "offer" to Chrysler's bond holders amounts to breaking a contract and confiscating their assets. Like the kings of old, he is taking the property of the group that backed the wrong side in the succession battle and using it to reward royal favorites. This is probably isn't even penny wise (there is little chance the UAW will do anything so productive as invading France) but it is certainly pound foolish. Someday Chrysler will need to borrow again. It will be a brave creditor or fund manager who will put his clients assets at such risk. What retiree would again think of corporate bonds from an auto maker as a safe investment?

The thing I can't understand is why are Republicans so dumb about this?  Why aren't we seeing commercials of the little old ladies going to thier mailboxes only to find them empty like we do when anyone talks about the slightest change in Social Security?  I know lots of relatives back in Dayton that had corporate bonds as part of thier retirement portfolios. They don't look much like corporate fat cats and they were all Democrats. Why aren't they being put in commercials and juxtaposed with Obama declaring them "greedy speculators" and enemies of the people?  It makes you wonder: maybe the Republicans are a bunch of country club types?

Principle Agent Problem

Here is Warren Buffet explaining the principle agent problem in the context of executive salaries. But, as Megan McArdle explains, there does not seem to be a lot of support for the "agent capture" theory of excessive executive compensation.  We do not observe the predicted effects for recruiting outside CEOs or privately held companies. It may just be that CEO's are that (or close to that) valuable.  Especially if they are a proven commodity.  Here is a link to the Economist's report on the topic.

Disturbing

Here is Jake Tapper's story on the Obama administration threatening Chrysler bond holders that don't accept the administration brokered deal with ruining retaliation. The administration's denial seems to ring rather hollow given the President's attack on those bond-holders and the fact that the bond-holders that did go along were all politically connected and big recipients of bailout money. It is not just bad for our budget to have the government having discretionary control over such a large stream of resources, it is bad for our freedom.  This is positively creepy:

"While many stakeholders made sacrifices and worked constructively, I have to tell you some did not," the president said. "In particular, a group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout. They were hoping that everybody else would make sacrifices, and they would have to make none."

It is like the great leader designating someone as enemies of the people or something.  You are for us or you are against us kind of language--not appropriate for use with foreign states that support and harbor terrorists but fine to use against the feduciaries of pension funds who want thier contracts honored even if it goes against the interests of politically connected unions. 

Goodwill Ambassador

Olbermann and some sort of gay spokesman congratulating themselves on their public relations "victory" in the Miss America/Gay marriage affair.  Somehow, I don't think she lost or that this episode made the gay community look good.

Revenge of the Political Class

There seems to be a new willingness to denigrate citizen demonstrators on the part of the mandarinate.  The "tea-bagging" jokes and the dismissive condescension of the President seems to have breached a certain un-spoken floor on the respect that citizens are entitled to.  The poor little scared "gun-clingers" are getting a bit uppity for his oneness. It is one thing for them to vote down gay-marriage in a episode of atavistic religoiocity, quite another to show ingratitude to the policies of the messaih himself.

With Victories Like These

Al-Marri has plead guilty.  I have seen this touted as a success for the criminal justice system and an argument for treating the war with terrorists as a law enforcement problem to be dealt with through the criminal justice system.  My opinion is that he should have been hanged as an enemy spy long ago, but this view does not seem to find much support in the legal community.  The thing is, if he pleads to 15 years and gets credit for all the time he has been in custody--almost 7 years--won't he be out soon on parole?  Is his student visa still good? Maybe he can finish his degree before Obama leaves office? 

Going gentle into that dark night

Koh confirmation hearings go off quietly.  Republicans conclude that issue of sovereignty is not a vote getter.

Thank Heaven he is an idiot

If Biden weren't known to be a complete fool this helpful advice from the Vice President might be cause for concern. You can't fix stupid. No reason to panic and avoid going to Mexico--that might hurt the economy--just stay away from any mass transport. 

The more you see of Biden the more you have to appreciate Palin.  Her crime was not saying anything when she didn't know anything. That is so not the worst thing to have in a politician.

What Has Obama Done for Mississippi?

A reporter came by from the local NPR station and asked me how I thought the first 100 days of the Obama presidency had affected Mississippi. 

The questions is a difficult one because on the face of it the administration has brought a lot of money into Mississippi.  How can you argue with more money? But that is a deceptive way of looking at it.

The worst thing he has done to Mississippi doesn't have anything to do with Mississippi on the face of it. The worst thing he has done to Mississippi is what he has done for Michigan.  By propping up the remains of the Chrysler and GM he has choked off Mississippi's main source of future growth.  In the act of "saving" the US car industry he has robbed it of its future. The US has some great car companies.  Two of them, Nissan and Toyota, have major operations right here. They employ American workers at high wages, export to other countries and pay their managers reasonable salaries--unlike the Big Three.  Precious capital has been wasted on rent-seeking unions and managers and the expansion of the thriving American companies has been choked off.

That is the danger of creeping socialism--it seems to be helping when actually it is hurting you. The people helped (and the UAW members are certainly being made better off by Obama) remember you but the people being hurt don't even see the wound.  

More Hypocrisy, Please!

If hypocrisy is the tribute virtue pays to vice vice must be running pretty low on funds at this point in the Obama administration.  When asked why his position on travel restrictions to Cuba had changed since 2004 Obama joked, "2004, that seems just eons ago," Obama said. "What was I doing in 2004? Oh, I was running for Senate, there you go."

So, he said what was politically convenient when running for office and now thinks it is funny?  This isn't even hypocrisy, this is insouciant contempt for voters.  It is some sort of giant practical joke being played on us by the mandarinate.
 

Media Bias

Here are some nice websites on the topic of media bias and the Tea Parties:

A look at turn out nationwide

More crowd estimates

A video report on media bias

Theories and proof

Lavoisier had a theory of heat, that it was a substance called "caloric" that was an actual element on his periodic table, that displaced the real theory for decades.  It is an interesting case in that the theory was durable not only because of Lavoisier's great accomplishments in science but also because the theory explained so much. It was a great theory except that it was completely wrong.  Link to the Nova documentary. An interesting parallel might be drawn in politics. Theories and world views can survive in politics even longer because they are attached to something even more powerful than a scientist's reputation and can make "explain" an even broader range of phenomena.

Detroit turns around

Thought Detroit was going down hill?  No worries!  They have solved the problem of their declining population: they now have more registered voters than they have residents!  Don't you see? The problem is solved. Now that they have managed to decouple their voter rolls from their actual people their declining population is no longer a problem. 

How much attention do you think this would be getting if it were a matter of people being denied the vote?  But of course it is a matter of people being denied the vote. Every time Acorn votes a fictitious voter a legitimate voter is denied the franchise as surely as if he had been turned away by a literacy test or a grandfather clause.

Theives given rewards for returning stolen property: part gazillion

The pitchfork crowd capitalizes on its own idiocy. First they force the banks to make the loans, then they get them to cut their own pay, lest Community activist in chief withdraws his protection.  The road to serfdom.

It is the price that kills me

It is not that so many public officials are willing to sell the public out that bothers me.  It is that the price seems to be so low. $100G?  Is that all it takes to buy the government?  I sure hope the Chinese don't find out about this.

Michael Yon on the difficulties faced in Afghanistan

This report from the always in-the-know Michael Yon seems to suggest that we are relying too much on combat troops rather than special forces in Afghanistan.  This seems right to me.  The Afghans don't like the Taliban and God knows they can fight.  Putting more emphasis on training the AFA seems an obvious move, especially after it seems to have worked in the much less promising situation presented by Iraq.

Academically Relevant Observations

You should scroll down to the Emperor Tamarin monkeys which were named for their resemblance to the German Emperor Wilhelm II (sources conflict on whether he took it as a compliment) if you are in the Churchill and Gandhi class who was a key figure in the conflict which led eventually to Churchill's elevation the Prime Ministership after the operation to regain control of Norway....ah, alright, I admit it.  I just like pictures of baby monkeys.

Witch Hunts and Ward

Misguided sympathy for Ward Churchill form Littwin, who says, "even if a witch hunt turns up an actual witch, it's still a witch hunt."  Ok, this is true as far as it goes, but doesn't what defines a "witch hunt" the fact that witches don't exist?  I mean, if there were such a thing as witches then hunting for them would be good.  If there were malevolent beings with supernatural powers running around I would like know about. It seems to me that actually finding a witch is an airtight defense for a witch hunt.

Our Fearless Media

The US press ignores Obama's snub of the British Prime Minister.

It is like the reverse of the old days when the US press would report on the affairs of the British King wanting to marry an American divorce and the British people being in the dark because their papers were not allowed to report on it.  Of course, in this case, the censorship is entirely self-imposed. 

I think that it is part of a larger tendency in American foreign policy of ignoring friends and concentrating on fidelity to lofty principles and appeasing enemies.  The idea of maintaining friendships in international relations is at once somehow naive and disreputable to the American intellegentsia. It is a grave misjudgment in my opinion. 

The Power of the Press: Covering for the President

Interesting item on the troop deployments to Afghanistan from Iraq.  It seems that the administration is engaged in a shell game to appear to be keeping its campaign promises all with the help of a compliant and, dare I say, complicit press.

In Front of Your Nose

It turns out that Obama is a lefty. Who knew?

Good news from the Middle East

This is an article about some Arabs in the occupied territories paying tribute to victims of the Holocaust.

Alchohol and polticians

Again, Churchill sets the standard.

Honesty

here is a liberal columnist arguing that Limbaugh is right to want Obama to fail in the same way he himself wanted Bush to fail in Iraq.  An interesting and surprisingly persuasive take on patriotism.