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.

Euro-logic

Protesting the suggestion that they are closed minded and unwilling to listen to other points of view they walked out in protest.  Makes sense to me--Euro sense!

The Limit

This situation in Mexico is sobering and ought to be borne in mind when we talk about letting 100 guilty go free....