Saturday, May 29, 2010

Can you imagine the gall....

New Jersey, Little Greece:
At a New Jersey town meeting, Gov. Chris Christie, the newest YouTube star for the limited-government set, was reproached by an unhappy teacher. The governor, facing a budget shortfall of $11 billion, has proposed, among other economies, a one-year salary freeze for New Jersey teachers. Her voice raised in anger (that’s a normal speaking voice in my home state), Rita Wilson protested that she should be paid $83,000, the only reasonable compensation in light of her “education and experience.” Christie’s reply got an ovation: “Well, you know what? Then you don’t have to do it.”

Couldn't have said it better myself....

Mark Steyn:
As for many great “thinkers,” for Barack Obama and his coterie words seem to exist mostly in the realm of metaphor rather than as descriptors of actual action actually occurring in anything so humdrum as reality. And so it is that, even as his bungling administration flounders in the turbulent waters of the Gulf, on the speaker’s podium the president still confidently sails forth deftly steering the ship through the narrow ribbon of sludge between the Scylla of sonorous banality and the Charybdis of gaseous uplift.

Life outside the classroom is so.....

“He Was Supposed To Be Competent”
The big surprise with the current president is not so much that he is incompetent, inexperienced and divisive, but the extent to which he is all of those things, and the extent to which anyone is surprised. It’s not like there weren’t enough warning signs on the way in, all of which were summarily dismissed.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Joe Biden’s Brussels Spout....

Jonah Goldberg:
‘Joe Biden.” With the exception of “broken teleprompter,” these are the scariest two words in the White House communications shop.

One advantage Biden has over Obama is he can always claim he was “just being Joe” whenever he says something controversial. In this way, Biden reminds me a bit of the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat, who would say “nice” things in English and evil things in Arabic. The press would largely ignore the Arabic and take him at his word in English.

How many times have I said that the left would abandon Israel?

Power Line:
Beinart claims that "for several decades, the Jewish establishment has asked American Jews to check their liberalism at Zionism's door." I think it's more accurate to say that the left-liberal establishment asks Jews to check their Zionism at liberalism's door. Beinart's piece reinforces my fear that these days, the left-liberal establishment doesn't even need to ask.

Channeling BB King? Hopefully....

Hot Air:
I heard about this earlier and dismissed it. But now that I’ve watched and seen the hurt in his eyes when he says “idiotic cerebral meritocracy,” I fear something’s died here that can never be rekindled. We’ve been tracking this romance practically since day one of Hot Air: The early flirtations in 2007 after The One declared his candidacy; the leg palpitations in 2008 when the campaign kicked into gear and love bloomed; the joyful consummation when he took office and began to govern; and now, as it must to all relationships, comes the disillusion. Or maybe the romantic analogy is inapt. Maybe … this would be better.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Ed Koch touches a nerve

Obama speaks softly and carries no stick at all:
Speak softly and carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelt said. President Obama speaks apologetically and carries no stick at all. No wonder North Korea torpedoed that South Korean warship, something they would not have done in all probability if China had not quietly approved. No wonder Brazil and Turkey thumb their noses at us. We have become a laughingstock.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Tom has turned into such a fool....

Althouse:
A love of autocracy often lurks beneath the liberal veneer. There's this idea that the right answers are known and the people are just too deluded and distorted to see what they are and to vote for them. And Friedman openly deplores the internet, which decimates moderation because there are people like me who who persecute elite truthbearers like him. Ooh! It's a lynch mob. Ha. Sorry. I don't want the rope. I just want to laugh at you.