Saturday, February 20, 2010

Thank You, and Goodnight....

Andrew C. McCarthy:
"“A war is not a crime, and you don’t bring your enemies to a courthouse.”"

Quite the bunch of Schmucks we are....

Keeping You Safe - Mark Steyn:
"This is a perfect snapshot of the West at twilight. On the one hand, governments of developed nations micro-regulate every aspect of your life in the interests of “keeping you safe.” If you’re minded to flip a pancake at speeds of more than four miles per hour, the state will step in and act decisively: It’s for your own good. If you’re a tourist from Moose Jaw, Washington will take preemptive action to shield you from the potential dangers of your patio in Arizona.

On the other hand, when it comes to “keeping you safe” from real threats, such as a millenarian theocracy that claims universal jurisdiction, America and its allies do nothing. There aren’t going to be any sanctions, because China and Russia don’t want them. That means military action, which would have to be done without U.N. backing — which, as Greg Sheridan of the Australian puts it, “would be foreign to every instinct of the Obama administration.” Indeed. Nonetheless, Washington is (all together now) “losing patience” with the mullahs. The New York Daily News reports the latest get-tough move: “Secretary of State Clinton dared Iran on Monday to let her hold a town-hall meeting in Tehran.”"

Time to celebrate....

How Al Gore Wrecked Planet Earth:
"the mainstream media is now coming to terms with the death. Environmentalists are still trying to avoid pulling the plug, but the corpse is already cool to the touch and soon it will begin to smell. As the global greens move from the denial stage of the grief process, brace yourself for some eloquent, petulant and arrogant rage. Tears will be shed and hands will be wrung. The world is stupid, uncaring, unworthy to be saved. Horrible Republicans, evil Chinese, demented know-nothing climate skeptics have ruined the world and condemned our grandchildren to lives of sorrow and pain. Messengers will be shot; skeptics will be blamed for asking questions and the media (and the internet) will be blamed for reporting the answers."

Ain't it fun to watch....

Richmond Times-Dispatch:
"The progressive elite, he wrote, 'do not simply happen to have a disdain for the public. Such disdain is an integral part of their vision, for the central feature of that vision is preemption of the decisions of others.'"

Friday, February 19, 2010

Gee, who wouldda thunk?

Elites Are Letting Us Down:
"...“very smart” people lack real-world experience in leading other people. Or they lack core qualities like resoluteness and decisiveness. Or they delegate too much responsibility and blame others for their failings. You see where I’m heading, right?

We elected a president who was indisputably a member of the educated elite in America. It matters not at all that he wasn’t rich growing up. He spent his adult life at Ivy League institutions, chalked up the résumé entries (Harvard Law Review), and thoroughly adopted the intellectual bent and attributes of the academic Left in America.

What did all this have to do with being president? It turns out not all that much. But other elites — New York Times columnists, for example – swooned and vouched for him. They confused literary finesse with presidential timber. They mistook fluency in philosophy with grounding in common sense, moderation, and wisdom."

Heh...

Althouse:
"If I were writing a fictionalized version of his story, I'd have him believe that he is the greatest golfer of all time, and that grand stature authorizes him to do what fits his fabulous mind and body. People get to see the manifestation of that mind and body on the golf course and in those idealized advertisements, but outside of that he must do what has worked, and that means having the anchor of a beautiful family and the whole range of intense sexuality that belongs to him — because he is what he is. Now, he's been called to account by conventional minds and all those people who make money through him — the PGA, the sports networks, advertisers — and they are dragging him down to their mundane morality with no concern for what it took to build the superior mind and body that is Tiger Woods. He is cornered and contemptuous, but he must abase himself for these little people and act as though he agrees. The outrage!"

Duke Lacrosse False Accuser Crystal Gail Magum Arrested For Arson and Attempted Murder...

Popehat:

Magum will almost certainly receive something that comes far closer to resembling immediate due process for this alleged bathroom incident than did the three college students she falsely accused of raping her in a bathroom. The media’s narrative in this case — nutty girlfriend acts nutty — is far less powerful than the narrative in the Duke Lacrosse case — racist privileged white boys victimize poor black woman. Therefore, even though she is a black woman, and even though there will be some media interest in her case, the presumption of innocence will likely be applied somewhat more seriously.

I will be waiting eagerly for Amanda Marcotte’s take. It will be up any minute now.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

For nuthin', My Dear, you get....

Popehat:
"When the state — and its politicians — give you something, they generally want something in return. They want your vote. They want your obedience. They want your dependence, preferably dependence that will stretch out to multiple generations. And, occasionally, they want to know things they have no damned business knowing."

HEH...

Commentary:
"Zachery Kouwe resigns from the New York Times in a plagiarism scandal. Maureen Dowd keeps chugging along."

Monday, February 15, 2010

The Jews vs. Joe Lieberman: How succinct...

The New Ledger:
"While one must assume that the author in question is both too stupid to be aware of his historical forebears and too self-satisfied to care one way or the other, it is nonetheless noteworthy that liberalism has now achieved the remarkable distinction of becoming the only mainstream political movement in American history to accuse a Jew of murdering children for essentially cannibalistic purposes."

I cannot imagine the pain....

Brian Burke:
"“I cry less every day. It’s been tough. I just think about him.”"

Right on the nose!

Matt Welch:
"What I do care about, regardless of who's president, is human freedom and prosperity. And I strongly and consistently suspect that when the government accumulates more power, I and everyone else (except those wielding it) have less of which I seek. Republicans diss libertarians when they're in power, and Democrats diss libertarians when they're in power. Their changing attitudes toward our little (albeit growing) tribe is mildly interesting, but it's about as newsworthy (and painful) as a dog biting a chew toy."

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Botox and plastic surgery really do diminish capacity....

What Will They Run On?:
"It seems impossible that Pelosi would still imagine that the stimulus bill is a winning issue. After all the polling showing the overwhelming majority of voters dubious about the merits of the bill and the unemployment rate well in excess of 8 percent, which the Obami promised would be the ceiling for unemployment if we only spent another $787B we didn’t have to begin with, how can she send her troops out to tout this much derided non-accomplishment?

Well, let’s face it: the Democrats haven’t done anything else. It’s not as if the Lilly Ledbetter law is going to get the crowds on their feet. It’s not as if House Democrats can brag of having walked the plank on cap-and-trade only to have it stall in the Senate. The stimulus bill is all they have, you see."