Age 13. More background here.
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February 28, 2009
Obama's budgetary sleight of hand
Lies, lies, all lies.
Rich Lowry on Obama the Rhetorical Magician
Lowry deconstructs Obama's "bold" (now means outrageously excessive) budget proposal and exposes the fraud of the under-$250K taxcut, the budget "savings" that includes phantom dollars not spent on Iraq in the future, and his condemnation of earmarks, in spite of "a $410 billion spending bill [which] is currently speeding through Congress with 8,500 earmarks Obama stands ready to swallow."
More fact-checking from USA Today via Gateway Pundit.
Byron York writes on Obama's 'dizzying' spending. I couldn't find the text of York's comments to Laura Ingraham on Friday on how Obama must and does project absurd economic growth to prop up his deficit projections. But the numbers are here in this NYT article. Yes, even the NYT isn't buying Obama's phoney budget numbers.
Obama practiced presidential prestidigitation with the facts in his not-State-of-the-Union-speech, too.
I'm beginning to think he doesn't respect our intelligence.
photo credit
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Steyn on the government takeover of everything
The latest from Mark Steyn.*
Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? No, it's Big Government
(or, at NR, The Six-Trillion-Dollar Man)
Excerpts:
If you find it hard to keep track of all these evolutions, the president in his address to Congress finally spilled the beans and unveiled our new hero in his final form: the Incredible Bulk, Statezilla, Governmentuan, a colossus bestriding the land like a, er, colossus. What superpowers does he have? All of them! He can save the economy, he can reform health care, he can prevent foreclosures, he can federalize day care, he can cap the salary of his archenemies the sinister Fat Cats who "pad their paychecks and buy fancy drapes." No longer will the citizenry cower in fear of fancy drapes: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! With one solar panel on the roof of his underground headquarters, Governmentuan can transform the American energy sector and power his amazing Governmentmobile, the new environmentally friendly supercar that soon we'll all be driving because we'll be given government car loans to buy the government cars! He'll have hundreds of thousands of boy sidekicks, none of whom will ever be allowed to drop out of high school because (in the words of his famous catchphrase) "that's no longer an option!" "Gee, thanks, Governmentuan!" says Diplomaboy the Boy Wonder, as he goes off to college to study Gender As A Social Construct until he's 34.I know he's not a superhero, but I'm reminded of The Amazing Colossal Man, wreaking havoc in his amazingly colossal diaper, but ultimately dropping dead of his own colossal-ness.
* * * * *
Noting the president's assurance that the 250-grand-and-under crowd won't pay "a single dime" more in taxes, The Wall Street Journal calculated that if you took every single dime – that's 100 percent – of the over-250K crowd, it barely begins to pay for this program, even before half of them flee the country. The $4 trillion Congress is planning on spending next year (2010) could just about be covered if you took every single dime of the taxable income of every American earning over $75,000.
*Readers, please stipulate the usual: that Mark is the most brilliant (and hilarious) analyst on the planet, that this column is no exception, and that you must read all of it because it's chock-full of brilliance (and hilarity).
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February 27, 2009
DC (and other) Tea Party updates
Updated to add link to some great tea party pic's from the Patriot Room. More DC pic's from TAH. Chicago pic's here.
Updated again to add link to Michelle Malkin's Tea Party photo album and RS McCain's CPAC report featuring a very angry John Ziegler.
Another update to add Gateway Pundit covering the St. Louis Tea Party which attracted 1500 Americans in cold weather. Read the signs. These citizens are informed, angry, and creative. Another great sign, invoking Reagan, here. And more salient signage here.
Mark Hemingway stopped by the Washington Tea Party and found a crowd of about 300 'hearty souls.' Unfortunately, the scheduling of the protest conflicted with Newt Gingrich's CPAC speech.
Not that I would be fair to call the Tea Party event a failure. To say the crowd was energized would be an understatement and a half, and there was an astonishing array of creative signs. (Whoever had the huge sign with a photoshopped Chuck Schumer as Marie Antoinette that read "Let Them Eat Pork" — I salute you.) Sometimes intensity can be as important as numbers, and the tea party crowd had that in spades. I suspect those who gathered in front of the White House today are going to come home and begin recruiting.You'll find the scary Schumer image here.
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Two accelerators, no brake, cliff dead ahead
Pundit (what a memory!) unearthed this Corner post from last October (10/06/08, to be precise). Interesting to look back from our current perch on the precipice, eh? This was all predictable and predicted.
One Car, Two Accelerators, No Brake, and an Approaching Precipice Byron York
How exactly this describes the current position. Except for the part about avoiding buyer's remorse.With all this talk of gloves being taken off and Bill Ayers and all that, I decided to ask an expert what kind of ad he would make to attack Barack Obama, if he were given that assignment today. Alex Castellanos is the widely-acknowledged master of the genre, but he's not taking part in this presidential campaign. This is the ad he said he'd make:
When this country and this economy are so near the precipice, do we really want to be driving a car with two accelerators and no brake? A Democratic Congress and a Democratic president like Barack Obama? A complete, unrestricted blank check for inexperienced radical leadership in Washington?
In short, let voters suffer buyer's remorse now, before the purchase.
In fact, a great deal of what Barack Obama is doing now is merely a fulfillment of his campaign promises. The size of the mega-huge 'stimulus' was a surprise. But the rest of it was either promised by him or easy enough to predict. The majority of people voted for the Obama-nanny state.
As for buyer's remorse, some of us are wondering how bad things will have to get before some people openly regret their vote.
One thing Charles Krauthammer wrote in his column today (well worth reading) made sense of an apparent contradiction in Americans' attitudes toward Obama. They're alarmed by the economy and uneasy about the extreme measures he's taking to 'fix' it, but they still like him. Krauthammer calls it Obama's 'personal mandate.' They like him personally, but this liking isn't necessarily contingent on approval of his actions.
Meanwhile, supporters of Israel are voicing their disappointment.
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Christopher Nolan, RIP
From Raymond Arroyo, an account of a boy (and later a man) who chose not to be a victim.
That, in a nutshell, is the power of unconditional love."Nolan was born with cerebral palsy, could not speak, nor control his extremities. Confined to a wheelchair, he was the type of person our society looks at with pity or largely ignores. Thankfully, his family never saw him that way. They loved him unconditionally, interacted with him and taught him as one would any child. He would go on to school, though no one fully appreciated his mental acuity.
A drug was discovered that allowed Nolan to move one muscle in his neck. (Bono of U2, who attended school with Nolan wrote the song “Miracle Drug” about the boy). At the age of 11 he was equipped with a “unicorn stick” which was fastened to his head. With it Nolan would peck at a typewriter. His mother had to apply pressure to his chin to stabilize the boy’s head, allowing him to work his art. It was a torturous process, taking him more than 15 minutes to produce one word on the page. And what words they were.
He published his first book at 15, a collection of poems appropriately titled “Dam-burst of Dreams.” His second book won Britain’s prestigious “Whitbread Book of the Year:” in 1988. It was called “Under the Eye of the Clock,” a biographical work in which he refers to himself as Joseph Meehan. At one point in the book Nolan writes of crying upon the realization that he is not like other children:
"Looking through his tears he saw [his mother] bent low in order to look into his eyes. `... Listen here Joseph, you can see, you can hear, you can think, you can understand everything you hear. You like your food, you like nice clothes, you are loved by me and Dad. We love you just as you are.' Pussing still, sniveling still, he was listening to his mother's voice. She spoke sort of matter-of-factly but he blubbered moaning sounds. His mother said her say and that was that. She got on with her work while he got on with his crying.
"The decision arrived at that day, was burnt forever in his mind. He was only three years in age but he was now fanning the only spark he saw, his being alive and more immediate, his being wanted just as he was...."
That day looked out through his eyes for the rest of his life. Comfort came in child-like notions, his clumsy body was his, but molested by mother-love he looked lollying looks at his limbs, and liked Joseph Meehan."
Read the rest.
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Let them eat cake department
Obama on sacrifice:
And we'll save billions of dollars by rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while giving a middle-class tax cut to 95 percent of hardworking families. But we'll also have to do something more -- we will, each and every one of us, have to compromise on certain things we care about, but which we simply cannot afford right now. That's a sacrifice we're going to have to make.
Byron York: Desiree's fashion junket on taxpayers' dime
The Anchoress: What to do with our $13 - buy a pair of earrings?At first, it wasn't clear whether Rogers was hanging with the fashionistas as part of her official White House duties or not. Then New York magazine quoted a White House aide saying, "Desiree was in New York on a fact-finding mission. She's acting as a cultural liaison for the White House; she's researching fashion and music."
I called the White House to check if that quote was accurate. It was. An aide explained that first lady Michelle Obama "has taken a particular interest in showcasing the work of young up-and-coming designers who have chosen fashion as their path and who are artists in their own right and who are introduced at places like Fashion Week."
Sweetness & Light: The cost of Obama's weekend tripsAs I recall, when there was a $600.00 stimulus check rolling down the pike a while back, Mrs. Obama rather sneered at it:
“You’re getting $600. What can you do with that? Not to be ungrateful or anything. But maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn’t pay down every bill every month..
Barack’s approach is that the short-term quick fix kinda stuff sounds good. And it may even feel good that first month when you get that check. And then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings.”
Using these very conservative figures, Air Force One cost $214,768 and the cargo plane cost $32,140. For a grand total of $246,908 for Mr. Obama’s two round trips.But of course that is just for Mr. Obama’s air transportation. And it doesn’t even cover all of that.
For, as is the custom, Mr. Obama took the helicopter, Marine One, back and forth to Andrews AFB. (And he is usually accompanying by two other helicopters on the short trip.)
Members of Congress enjoy their trips, too.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and her husband with 7 other Democrats have left Washington D.C after voting in that great spending bill and have taken off to Italy in a Military Chartered Jet at a cost of $10,000 per hour, with a total fly time of 20 hours. While in Italy the speaker has visited sites like museums and has gone to several receptions.
While all of this is going on President Obama is working hard traveling from city to city to tell the American people to buckle down and prepare for tough times as the economy goes further into decline. This comes at a time when Americans are struggling to pay their bills and are cutting back their own personal expenses.
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DC Tea Party
Live blogging on the DC Tea Party at the Patriot Room.
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Pernicious nonsense in the diocese of Rochester
From the American Papist (including photos) a priest uses a supersoaker to bless the faithful at Mass. Notice he's an older priest, a throwback from the sixties, I suppose, at a college Mass. Trying to be hip'n'cool to appeal to the youth. Father, no one thinks this is cool or hip, least of all 'the youth.'
That calls for an antidote: reverence lives at St. John Cantius in Chicago.
h/t: Abe T.
While you're here, please vote in poll on your right.
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Poll: Does Obama believe his own rhetoric?
Updated with results, 3/7/09:
Yes. | 11 (20%) |
No. | 20 (37%) |
Who knows? The man is an enigma. | 14 (25%) |
It's more complicated than that. | 9 (16%) |
The results tell me that I'm not the only one who wonders about this man and his motives.
===============================================================
Please share your opinion. See sidebar for poll.
Thanks for playing our game.
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February 26, 2009
Even David Broder is nervous
Perhaps this is a sign that President Obama is starting to alarm the average American.
In Obama Rolls the Dice, David Broder, master of conventional wisdom, refers to Obama's 'gambles' in today's Washington Post (emphasis added):
The size of the gambles that President Obama is taking every day is simply staggering. What came through in his speech to a joint session of Congress and a national television audience Tuesday night was a dramatic reminder of the unbelievable stakes he has placed on the table in his first month in office, putting at risk the future well-being of the country and the Democratic Party's control of Washington. Instead, no sooner had he finished describing his plans for spurring an economic recovery and shoring up the crippled automotive and banking industries than he was off to the races, outlining his ambitions for overhauling energy, health care and education policy.Broder goes on to enlarge more upon Obama's political risks than the risks to our country, but Broder's apprehension and even disbelief are there. He underlines his discomfort with Obama's hubris by finishing with this:
When we elected Obama, we didn't know what a gambler we were getting.
Maybe not, but many of us saw him as a gamble.
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Making your own coffee and other grim realities
I heard the following on this morning's news radio 'talk back' line: Consumers share tips on saving money in This Economy and prove that American ingenuity is not dead:
- I brought in a coffee maker, buy coffee on sale, and now save $2 - $3 per cup!
- I wash clothes in cold water, and after getting wet in the shower, I turn off the water while I wash myself!
- I bring lunch to work and save $6 or $7 dollars a day!
This Economy is also making a dent on the
It's unlikely then that either she or Huddleston would date Paul Almeter, 25. Since business at the Annandale construction company he owns has fallen 50 percent, he has come up with innovative ways to cut down on the $600 to $700 he used to spend each month on dates.Dude.
Then this, from the Boston Globe:
Despite the grim task of making ends meet (firing the nanny, bailing on Whole Foods, applying for unemployment), there is a newly forming society of people who are making the best of being laid off.More grim-ness:
Don't get Dwyer wrong - times aren't exactly easy. He has applied for unemployment and now takes the subway instead of taxis.Updated to add more horror stories from today's Washington Post. These unfortunates have resorted to changing the headlight bulb on their Mercedes themselves, painting their own walls, coloring their own hair, cutting their own grass, making their own birthday cakes, and giving up pedicures (but not manicures) entirely. Still outsourcing the dog-poop-picker-uppers, though.
Winner's epiphany has come at a price. The 46-year-old has cut back on the nanny, slashed last year's Christmas budget in half to $400, and started shopping for less expensive groceries at Market Basket. The usual February ski vacation is being replaced by a stay-at-home vacation with the kids.
Sigh.
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'There's something wrong with your reasoning'
Call it pug dog economics©
or:
How the Obama admin is planning on 'finding' two trillion dollars over the next ten years.
David Freddoso: Funny Money
Here's the pug dog scene from Life with Father. This is how we now run our economy.
(Part 1 video here.)
Pundit, take note: I'm going to take all that money we save on cigarettes and put it toward a fabulous beach vacation. What, you say? We don't smoke? Well, we still save all that $, don't we? And just think of the money we save by not going to Vegas and playing the slots.
Very like "jobs created or saved."
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Anti-people people
I was too busy yesterday to do justice to Mark Steyn's Maclean's column. If you haven't read it yet, here are a few tidbits to entice you.
In the old New Deal, FDR warned that “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” For the new New Deal, President Hopeychangey says we have nothing but fear itself. Get used to it.At which point the reader may feel a bit like Bertie Wooster struggling to account for the brilliance of Jeeves; does Steyn, as is rumored of Jeeves, wear a size 14 hat and subsist entirely on fish?
The only thing booming is declinism.
[According to environmentalists] It’s necessary to throw out the babies to save the bathwater.
Now to some compelling facts:
The Muslim population of the United Kingdom is growing 10 times faster than the rest of the population. No matter how frantically the ecochondriacs tie their tubes, their country grows ever more crowded. This is a story not of “overpopulation,” but of population transformation.Keep reading.
As the old joke has it, if you owe the bank a thousand dollars, you have a problem; if you owe the bank a million dollars, the bank has a problem. But what happens if thousands of banks are owed bazillions of dollars and there’s no one to shovel the problem on to? Banking is really a kind of demographic shorthand—a means by which old people with capital can lend to young people with energy and ideas.
More on "environmentally irresponsible breeding" from noted Steynette, the Hyacinth Girl.
And please permit me to throw this in from left field, since technically at least it's now baseball season (thank you, God). Cubs fans will catch the reference. A few seasons ago their then manager, appearing to miss the whole point of the game, complained about base runners "clogging up the bases." People cluttering up the planet is a similar concept, and the anti-people people are similarly missing the point. As Mark says, life is messy but rewarding, or something like that. Play ball.
Related posts here and here.
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February 25, 2009
Video: John Ziegler on love and marriage
John, I'm disappointed. Maybe you're doing a Joaquin Phoenix on us here, pretending to be someone you're not?
Newsflash for John: Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.
John may not believe in love, but at least he believes in Sarah Palin.
h/t: RSM
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A heartbeat away
Brainless Joe can't remember the website number. Laugh or cry, your choice.
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Weak
I was going to post a link to Gov. Jindal's response last night, but there's no point. It doesn't matter what he says if no one is listening, and with his weak delivery, no one will.
We need someone to tap into the outrage a la Rick Santelli. Where is that person?
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Steyn: "The problem with not having kids"
Subtitle: "You call this a happy family? Why do we have to have all these kids?" George Bailey, IAWL
Or: "How many head of children do we have now, Lillie, would you say off hand?" "
Don't miss Mark Steyn's MacLean's article:
The Problem with Not Having Kids
First I'd like to take credit for sending the Psychology Today article to Mark on Feb. 14 as my Valentine to him. (Yes, I know I was probably one of a thousand who did so.) I found it here, to give credit to my source.
This fertility thing is a touchy issue with me because Pundit and I are parents of a large family. "Yes, they're all mine" was something I uttered fairly often when our children were younger and accompanied me en masse on errands and outings.
Anyway, this insane person at PT thinks the world's problems would be solved by a 5-year moratorium on birth.
Take it away, Mark.
Follow-up post here.
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The nuts and bolts of media bias
A writing lesson from RS McCain:
The dependent clause is where the supposedly neutral and unbiased reporter tells the reader what to think.Case in point, the AP story lede on last night's speech:
Standing before a nation on an economic precipice, President Barack Obama aimed to balance candor with can-do Tuesday night in his first address to a joint session of Congress. Millions more anxious Americans were tuning in on TV.Quiz: In addition to the dependent clause, find other elements in the sentences above that preclude objective reporting of facts and open wide the door for spin and persuasion.
Answer: "Aimed" and "anxious." The former, Mr. McCain points out, imputes Obama's intent. The latter tells us how we feel. It's bad enough when someone we know does that, like a spouse. But dontcha just hate it when the liberal media does it? Next Jennifer will be telling us not to overreact, or that we're "too sensitive." (And by the way, yeah, I am anxious, but not for the reasons you think, Jennifer. It's not so much This Economy that has me worried than it is the hemorrhagic government spending and expansion that's supposed to 'fix' it.)
But back to the science of spin. From Mr. McCain:
In this case, Loven wants to impress in the reader's mind the notion that America is teeting [sic] on the brink of disaster, so as to present the president as the saviour whose "can-do and candor" will rescue us from catastrophe.Note to self: review dependent clauses with children today. Design exercise in which children creatively shade an objective account with dependent clauses. Give them some unembellished independent clauses and let them go nuts.
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February 24, 2009
Video: Geert Wilders on O'Reilly and Beck
If only Bill would let him finish more of his sentences.
h/t: American Power, with commentary and links.
This interview with Glenn Beck is a little better, I think:
h/t: IFPS
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Jake Tapper's excellent question
Re tonight's speech, Jake Tapper writes that, among other things, the President must clear up this inconsistency:
He will also need to explain why his short term prescription -- tax cuts and spending increases -- are the exact opposite [o]f his long term proposals: tax increases and spending cuts.
It's all a tall order
It certainly is.
h/t: Pundit
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Bishop tells priest to stop publicly criticizing Obama administration
San Diego bishop asks outspoken priest to exercise restraint in Obama criticism
San Diego Bishop Robert Brom has asked an outspoken Escondido priest to tone down his fierce criticism of the Obama Administration, prompting supporters of the priest to launch a letter-writing campaign to the bishop on his behalf.
Sources at St. Mary’s told California Catholic Daily that a family from the parish-administered St. Mary’s School had complained to the chancery about the article. An intermediary, acting on behalf of Bishop Brom, then contacted Fr. Perozich by telephone, sources said, and told him to “cool it.” Aside from that single complaint, sources said, “the overwhelming opinion of parishioners has been favorable.”
H/T: Abe T.
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Zorn makes fun of Lent
Eric Zorn asks:
What's the smallest/most amusing Lenten sacrifice you know of?
This might be funny coming from a Catholic (he's not). Or interesting, if he also asked about larger sacrifices (he didn't).
I know people who make some pretty serious Lenten sacrifices, including some children. But being humble, they don't talk about it much.
When we lived in Chicagoland Zorn's columns often gave me a case of trichotillomania. I see he hasn't lost his touch.
H/T: With both hands
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As Rome burns, the White House is a Boogie Wonderland
Barry and Michelle sweat to the oldies in the East Room, along with the nation's governors. (I thought the Obamas were supposed to be hip - another Obama urban legend bites the dust.)
At Sunday's black-tie dinner honoring the nation's governors, the White House broke with decades of stiff tradition and invited people to dance along to the evening's entertainment: '70s rhythm and blues group Earth Wind & Fire. Instead of neat rows of chairs to watch the performance, there was a dance floor in front of the stage and six small tables scattered throughout the room, forcing guests to mingle, talk ... and boogie down.I apologize for any images which might be burning your retinas right now.
"The whole dance floor was full," Social Secretary Desirée Rogers told us yesterday. "There was a conga line, but I missed that."
Is this a model for future fancy soirees? Said Rogers: "We'll continue to look for ways for people to say, 'Wow!' and to have a good time."Well, that's what it's all about, right?
More accounts of Barry and the govs gettin' their groove on here and here.
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Obama's failed 'summit'
I'm no fan of Dana Milbank but I really enjoyed his column in today's Post. It seems that Obama has once again failed as a community organizer. His Silly Summit was even more of a joke than we supposed.
What if They Held Breakout Sessions and Everyone Broke Out?
Excerpts:
Holding a "fiscal responsibility summit" at the White House in the middle of a government spending spree is a bit like having an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at a frat house on homecoming weekend.This could explain the sparse attendance at yesterday's session. Economic Recovery Advisory Board Chairman Paul Volcker, penciled in to lead the session on taxes, didn't come. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, listed as a moderator of the health-care panel, was also missing, as was Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, who had been tapped as a leader of the procurement session. Another mysterious absence: CIA Director Leon Panetta, the Clinton budget director, who was expected to lead the budget panel.
"It is wonderful to see the speaker here," President Obama said at the start of his remarks. True: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was in the first row, having walked in 10 minutes after the program began.
"And," the president continued, "we've got, uh, our representative -- I don't see Harry here." Also true: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had another engagement, across town at the Newseum.
The attendance list distributed by the White House came with excuses helpfully printed after the names. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): "Will not join breakout sessions." Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.): "Arriving at 2:30," 90 minutes late. Pelosi: "Will not join breakout sessions."
Related post here.
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Obama: Evil or incompetent?
Over at the Corner they're discussing something that we've been debating in our home since last summer. Is Obama merely an inexperienced bungler/opportunist, or an evil genius set on destroying American liberty?
It's a complicated question, but in the end you can almost have it both ways.
On the side of the evil argument, you've got the Alinsky influence, the hidden background, the ego, the fear-mongering, the socialist policies, and everything Karl Rove says, quoted by Derbyshire, below.
On the incompetent side, you've got the rocky, botched transition, including failed cabinet appointments, and the general impossibility of actually carrying out a complex evil scheme in American government (see Levin and McCarthy).
Here's the discussion:
John Derbyshire Fascinating, with quotes from Karl Rove, who makes a compelling argument for evil genius.
Yuval Levin A compelling case for incompetence.
Andy McCarthy "Flying by the seat of their pants."
Jonah Goldberg Hope and fear.
Mark Steyn On the wingin' it side. Love his take on yesterday's Silly Summit. My college-student son and I were doubled over when we heard about Obama's "breakout groups." Son: "Mr. Obama, are we assigned to groups or should we form our own? How will this be graded?" What a joke. This stunt is a potent argument for the "he has no idea what he's doing" theory. Just another sham scholar who kills class time by having students "break into groups" and get nothing done.
Also, Scott Martin at The Patriot Room on Obama's use of fear to push through his economic programs. It's pretty hard to make an argument that Obama doesn't see how destructive it is to talk down the economy.
And one more post by Mark Steyn on the sinking stock market, with pertinent quotes from Rush. Not strictly relevant to the question at issue, but he who is tired of Steyn is tired of life.
I'm going with Obama as willing tool. I see him as an intellectual lightweight but sincere lefty. I've never seen real evidence that he's a genius. Sure, he could hold up his end in a tingly 20 minute conversation with David Brooks about Reinhold Niebuhr (which I haven't read but I'm told on good authority is a bunch of crap), but any clever undergraduate who pays attention and learns how to play the game can do that. His head is full of slogans. He may believe his own rhetoric. He's weak on his knowledge of history and inexperienced in leading. But his leftist cred is real. So he's open to those with perhaps a more ambitious agenda than his own. Throw in his ego and ambition and it's a bad mix. So yeah, he's likely a mix of evil and incompetent, for there is nothing unmixed in this world.
Related post here.
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February 23, 2009
Hardly working
From Pundit, a couple of articles on the entitlement culture in our colleges:
NYT: Student expectations seen as causing grade disputes
Read on for theories on where this mindset comes from.“I tell my classes that if they just do what they are supposed to do and meet the standard requirements, that they will earn a C,” he said. “That is the default grade. They see the default grade as an A.”
A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that a third of students surveyed said that they expected B’s just for attending lectures, and 40 percent said they deserved a B for completing the required reading.
More from American Scene: Working hard, or Hardly Working?
And from TNR, An A for Effort? Talk About a Lousy Idea, responds to the student who wants to be graded on effort:
What would be wrong is if a university trained its students to believe that they were excellent simply for getting up off their futons and doing what was expected of them. Did the reading? Attended class? Stayed up late working on a paper? Good for you, puppy! Sure, you did a craptastic job on that paper--not to mention the final--suggesting that you have no more than a fourth-grader's grasp of the material. But what the hell!? You worked hard. You showed up--even when you had that reallllly bad hangover. You may not have learned much, but you sure did try. Have a nice fat A. And here's hoping it comes in handy when your first employer fires you for not being able to tell your ass from your elbow when it comes to doing your job.Ouch.
I know anecdotal evidence is not scientific, but the stories some of our older kids tell us about their co-workers at the coffee shop support the notion that the work ethic is not exactly thriving among today's youth. We get the impression that an employee who shows up more or less on time and makes an effort to perform the tasks he was hired for is not the norm. This doesn't contribute to high job satisfaction. Even eager workers aren't thrilled about doing their job and everyone else's.
This all brings to mind the book Generation Me by Jean M. Twenge. She dissects the self-esteem mania that is still firmly in place in our homes and schools. If you have young children, try counting how many times you say "good job" in one day. Then try ditching that empty phrase and see how hard it is.
A couple of blurbs from Amazon:
Twenge argues that those born after 1970 are more self-centered, more disrespectful of authority and more depressed than ever before. When the United States started the war in Iraq, she points out, military enlistments went down, not up. (Born in 1971, Twenge herself is at the edge of the Me Generation.) Her book is livened with analysis of films, magazines and TV shows, and with anecdotal stories from her life and others'. The real basis of her argument, however, lies in her 14 years of research comparing the results of personality tests given to boomers when they were under 30 and those given to GenMe-ers today. Though Twenge's opinionated asides may occasionally set Gen-X and -Yers' teeth on edge, many of her findings are fascinating. And her call to "ditch the self-esteem movement" in favor of education programs that encourage empathy and real accomplishment could spare some Me-ers from the depression that often occurs when they hit the realities of today's increasingly competitive workplace. (Publishers Weekly, Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
A new book tackles the 18-to-35-year-old generation's problems--those they face and those they create. Twenge's book is comprehensive and scholarly, filled with statistics and thoughtful observations about the group she's dubbed Generation Me. These young people were raised with the idea of self-esteem being more important than achievement, which has caused them to place the self above all else. Such beliefs also have created a generation of young people who believe every dream is attainable but who aren't prepared to deal with discovering it isn't so. Twenge notes that today's young parents are especially lenient with their children and reluctant to discipline them, suggesting that perhaps the next generation will be even worse off. Twenge believes Generation Me would benefit from a heavy dose of realism. Accessible and a must-read for the generation they address. (Book List, Kristine Huntley, Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.)
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Biden is the 'stimulus' czar
We thought the President was going to keep Joe out of his hair by giving him his very own middle-class task-force. But when Joe heard that there was going to be a new czar position opening up, he pestered and pestered - please, please, can I, can I, huh, huh? - until Obama finally gave in.
Obama Taps Biden to Oversee Stimulus Package Implementation
Don't let them tell you that Obama has no sense of humor.President Obama has turned to his own vice president to oversee implementation of the $787 billion economic stimulus package, part of which will be available this week for state Medicaid programs.
Obama announced his decision before the National Governors Association in Washington on Monday, saying Vice President Joe Biden will help ensure the distribution of the money is not just swift, "but also efficient and effective."
"The fact that I'm asking my vice president to personally lead this effort shows how important it is for our country and future to get this right," he said.
Cue laugh track.
(AP photo)
(cross-posted here)
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Practicing terrorism equals practicing religion?
The world is upside down.
Mark Steyn, in answer to the question posed by an admitted Canadian terrorist's lawyer, "Where do you draw the line?"
In fact, the line seems to be pretty clear: If a jihadist says he wants to kill Canadian troops, he's just exercising his right to freedom of religion. If I quote what he said in Canada's biggest-selling news weekly, we'll be charged with "flagrant Islamophobia" and hauled up in court.Details and insightful analysis from the IFPS. Bottom line:
The cat’s out of the bag. The hitherto unstated premise — that Islam assigns irresistibly violent imperatives to its adherents — has now been stated openly.
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February 22, 2009
Sunday's WaPo on Bush, Gitmo, childcare, and texting teens
Annoying stories in today's Washington Post:
Death and Texas
Dumping on Texans, Bush, and, for good measure, Cheney. Proof that Dubya is sorely missed.
The Bush administration's bonfire of the inanities has made being a Texan something you don't brag about. None of the East Coast Texans I know want to talk too much about their heritage these days -- surely a first.No, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna shoot his mouth off.
I'll miss all those Texans around Washington. The big boots, the big belt buckles, the big talk, the vaguely horrified look on the faces of network correspondents forced to do standups amid the cow pies and convenience stores ringing the Crawford White House. You think Joe Biden is gonna wake up one morning and shoot a load of buckshot into a Texan's face anytime soon? Ah, good times.
From Captive to Suicide Bomber
Gitmo made him do it! (Even though his status as a fighter for the Taliban is what landed him there originally.)
Who Should Care for This Child?
Review of a new day care book by Penelope Leach: Child Care Today: Getting It Right for Everyone. (How I loved Ms. Leach's Your Baby and Child when I was expecting my first! I spent hours gazing at those gorgeous baby photos which are burned into my memory.) This review tells me that Ms. Leach is no advocate of stay-at-home mothering. It's a great option but only if you really, really want to do it.
Ms. Leach does draw the line, however, at having your wee one eat all three meals at day care (which we now euphemistically call school). The review virtually ignores the stay-at-home-mother option and bemoans all the parental problems and complications that ensue when both parents work outside the home. (One wonders why some people became parents.)
Not much discussion is given to the needs of the child. Yes, mention is made that daycares with low staff turnover are better for the children. Why? Because children will naturally attach to the 'teachers' and feel bereft when they leave. A center with low turnover will minimize this grief. But low turnover is not zero turnover. A child in a stable daycare environment will attach to someone who is being paid to care for him and will someday no longer be in his life.
The fact is that children have a deep need to attach to someone who loves them permanently and unconditionally. Mothers, could you at least be there for your kids until the state babysitting service kicks in at age five? [Insert usual caveats about some mothers working out of true financial necessity, etc.]
Natural segue to the next article:
6,473 Texts a Month, But at What Cost?
The article is correct about the many obvious negatives of constant texting. But it's annoying because it misses the fundamental point that this behavior is a symptom rather than a disease. The real disease is lack of connection to family. This girl and much of her generation are missing out on being a genuine part of their families. They're hooked on shallow peer interactions that by their nature can never satisfy the need they're meant to fill (hence the constant attempts at connection).
In this scenario, peers take the place of parents, a role they're ill-equipped to play, and the results are less than optimal. The best thing I've read on the personal and cultural void created by excessive peer attachment is Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers by Gordon Neufeld, PhD, and Gabor Mate, MD.
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Santelli talks to Kudlow
Keywords: lack of respect, attack on free speech, populist revolt, bullying.
Santelli on the 92% of Americans who are current on their mortgages:
"Do you think there's no pain there?"
And on the message of the bailout culture:
"Do we want to teach our children . . . that there are do-overs? I just don't think that's American."
On Gibbs:
"He is protesting too much."
h/t: Gateway Pundit, Copious Dissent
Click on Santelli tag at bottom for related posts and videos.
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February 21, 2009
John Deutch will advise on spy satellites
I imagine that Mr. Deutch is another indispensable super-genius whose shocking lapses in security procedures (see below) should be overlooked by mere mortals. If a regular government employee with security clearance did anything like what Mr. Deutch did he would likely do jail time, and certainly lose his clearance forever and ever.
From Newsmax:
Obama Appointee in Classified Info Scandal
Ronald Kessler
Read on.The appointment of John Deutch to an advisory panel on spy satellites violates President Obama’s pledge to hold everyone in his administration to the highest ethical standards.
Deutch, who headed the CIA from May 1995 to December 1996, agreed in writing in January 2001 to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. Just after that, President Clinton pardoned him and 175 others as Clinton was leaving office. Deutch’s infraction was thus more serious than Tim Geithner’s or Tom Daschle’s failure to pay income taxes.
“Deutch essentially walked away from what is one of the most egregious cases of mishandling of classified information that I have ever seen, short of espionage,” Sen. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said after the pardon was announced.
Deutch placed 17,000 CIA files, including files classified TOP SECRET/CODEWORD and those referring to highly sensitive covert operations, on his unclassified home computers. One such file was a memo to Clinton and then-Vice President Al Gore. It noted that the information was so sensitive that Deutch was sending it to only a few other people, including FBI Director Louis Freeh and Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
Because the computers connected to the Internet, and because Deutch often gave out his e-mail address, foreign intelligence services could easily have downloaded classified material from his computer.
* * * * *
“It was apparent from our investigation,” Snider told me for my book “The CIA at War: Inside the Secret Campaign Against Terror,” that Deutch “felt he could do pretty much as he pleased. What’s more, nobody really wanted to challenge him.”
(cross-posted here)
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Spinning barbarism
Third Islam-related post of the day -- recommended reading from Donald Douglas at American Power: Islamic Radicalization and the West
Others here and here.
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Steyn owns Klein
Don't mess with Mark on the Islamic world. He knows whereof he speaks. And don't call him "lazy" or "offensive," either, because those words will surely come back to bite you. His brain is bigger than yours and his pen is more lethal.
Mark Steyn: Lazy man yawns
A snippet:
The "Muslim" world is not politically developed, economically developed, intellectually developed, scientifically developed - objectively speaking. Nor is it "free". I mention in America Alone the 2005 Freedom House rankings of personal liberty and democracy: Five of the eight countries with the lowest "freedom" score were Muslim. Of the 46 Muslim majority nations in the world, only three were free.Of the 16 nations in which Muslims form between 20 and 50 per cent of the population, only another three were ranked as free: Benin, Suriname, and Serbia & Montenegro (which has now split into its constituent parts). As I add, "It will interesting to follow France's fortunes as a fourth member of that group."
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Washington Post working overtime to prop up Obama
Today's Washington Post reads like the Onion:
Less than a week after signing the largest economic stimulus package in U.S. history, President Obama is turning his attention to the nation's long-term financial condition with an unprecedented effort to rein in government spending.On the front page, under a gigantic portrait of our fearless leader in a thoughtful pose, reads the headline:
To kick off the effort, the new president has invited about 130 people to the White House State Dining Room on Monday for a "fiscal responsibility" summit, a marathon session on long-term budget-busters such as Social Security, Medicare, federal purchasing and tax policy.
Obama to Watch Cities' Stimulus Spending: President Tells a Gathering of Mayors That He Will Hold Them Accountable for Money Being Wasted
We couldn't make this stuff up. Ken over at NFR also had a laugh about this remarkable story.
These are news stories, not analysis or opinion. How long will they be able to sustain this effort?
It's got to be exhausting.
Also on page 1: White House Has Shunned Nationalization [of banks], but Falling Prices Could Force Issue
Sen. Dodd makes the following ominous statement:
"I don't welcome that at all, but I could see how it's possible it may happen," Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said on Bloomberg Television yesterday. "I'm concerned that we may end up having to do that, at least for a short time."But to give them credit, here's one story that they don't present at Obama-admin face value. Transportation Sec'y LaHood's mention of the possibility of a per-mile tax was apparently a no-no. He was forced to pretend that he never said what he said:
And let's be clear, Obama-style: Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood suggested yesterday that the Obama administration might embrace a new and controversial way to pay for highway and transit projects: charging motorists a tax for every mile they drive.
But no sooner was the idea being batted around by cable commentators and commuters than spokesmen for the White House and LaHood's own department shot it down -- hard.
"It is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said when asked at his daily briefing about LaHood's remarks, which were made in an interview with the Associated Press.
* * * * *
White House and Transportation Department officials said later that there was never any difference between their views and the position of LaHood, a Republican and former Illinois congressman who does not have much background in transportation. Officials said that his comments were part of a long interview about a range of transportation issues and that he never specifically advocated taxing drivers by the mile.
According to the AP, LaHood said: "We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled."
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Rick Santelli Video Omnibus
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
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Tea Party USA, February 27
Michelle Malkin: Tea Party USA: The movement grows - Tons of info and links here.
Also:
Michael Patrick Leahy: Join the Chicago Tea Party
Official Chicago Tea Party
I'll update with more links if this grows legs.
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The demographics behind the rise in European anti-semitism
I don't want this important point to slip by as our nation prepares for the upcoming Chicago Tea Party--
When our kids complain about doing their math, point to Mark Steyn. Simple arithmetic allows him to predict the future. Want to know which populations will dominate in the next generation? That's easy, because they're already here. Look at the size of various cultural groups and their respective birth rates. It's all about demography.
Why is anti-semitism on the rise in Europe? Here's one answer from the brilliant Mr. Steyn (who can do more than his sums): VOTES. Or should we say, pandering for votes.
Why then are the Euroleft prostrate before Islam? Simple arithmetic:
They are now increasingly dependent on the Muslim vote, which they hope will guarantee them a perpetual foothold at least in the major population centers.
With Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, and many other Continental cities from Malmo to Marseilles approaching majority Muslim status in the next decade, the demographic reality of a re-religionized Europe is too hard to buck. For the soft-left establishment, to be unsolicitous of Islam is to condemn yourself to a few fast shrinking redoubts. (It's strange, for example, to hear American Jews still professing bewilderment at the ever more naked hostility in Europe toward Israel. Look at the electoral math: For your average squishy Europol, there is nothing to gain and an awful lot to lose by being perceived as insufficiently hostile to "Zionism".)
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February 20, 2009
Vote for Ken
Ken Leonard, a true American hero, needs your vote. He's in the running for a first-responders hero award. Read his story and be impressed. Read his blog, too.
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Abortion regrets, racist cowards, dirty rats
Busy today, so I'll toss these all into one post:
Abortion regrets from Maggie Malone writing at Big Hollywood. Read An Inconvenient Truth, and its companion piece here.
An Oakland pastor is sentenced for sidewalk counseling. Walter Hoye gets 30 days in jail, 3 years probation, and $1000 fine.
Our AJ thinks we're a "nation of cowards." Ouch.
Reactions: Cowardly Conversation Starter by Jonah Goldberg
Rush Limbaugh
American Thinker
Byron York on a dirty RAT hidden in the 'stimulus.' This will help you locate your outrage.
We can't wait to spend our awesome stimulus taxcuts: $13 a week! It's coming in May or June, which gives us plenty of time to decide what to splurge on.
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We need a new Sam Adams
Kathryn Lopez on Rick Santelli:
Watch for the Palin-Santelli 2012 signs
I'm noticing the tone. I'm seeing the enthusiasm. And I'm digging out from the sheer volume of e-mails I've been getting today about that CNBC dude. The reaction to Rick Santelli's Chicago-trading-floor incident this morning echoes the emotional reaction my inbox had to Sarah Palin's convention speech this summer.Click on title to read the rest.
I felt exactly what Miss Lopez is describing. Santelli and those traders in Chicago have their eyes wide open, and Mr. Santelli (video here) is able to convey the fundamental injustice and ineffectiveness of the mortgage bailout very clearly. Just day-dreaming here, but we sure could use a new Sam Adams to rouse our somnambulistic citizenry. Love the Chicago Tea Party idea.
Here's the list of questions about the outrageous mortgage bailout, sent to Pres. Obama from the GOP leadership:
Excellent questions, but don't hold your breath for any answers.1. What will your plan do for the over 90 percent of homeowners who are playing and paying by the rules?
2. Does your plan compensate banks for bad mortgages they should have never made in the first place?
3. Will individuals who misrepresented their income or assets on their original mortgage application be eligible to get the taxpayer funded assistance under your plan?
4. Similarly, will you require mortgage servicers to verify income and other eligibility standards before modifying mortgages?
5. What will you do to prevent the same mortgages that receive assistance and are modified from going into default three, six, or eight months later?
6. How do you intend to move forward in the drafting of the legislation and who will author it?
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February 19, 2009
I'm sorry but I just can't help myself - more on Travis the chimp
Curiouser and curiouser. "What she had with that monkey was not normal." They bathed and slept together.
He worshipped her, friends said. Travis would make crayon drawings and proudly hand them to Herold.
"I put them on the refrigerator for him," the shaken woman said on NBC yesterday.
Herold said she has nothing left now that her daughter, her husband and the animal she raised from the age of 3 weeks are gone.
"I'm, like, hollow now," she told CBS. "He slept with me every night. He combed my hair. Everything in the house is for him."
Herold would frequently tell those who questioned her devotion to Travis that they simply did not understand.
"Until you've . . . eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp," she said.
This sick thing with the chimp resulted in an incalculable loss for her friend (if she survives). Her injuries are so extreme and nightmarish that I can hardly contemplate them. So lady, stop talking about the chimp, how bad you feel about killing him and how empty you feel without him. What about your friend?
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The insanity that is CPSIA
This will make everything you buy more expensive, especially if you have kids that you put in clothing or give toys to.
Great analysis below on the outrageous law 'protecting' us from lead in products that couldn't possibly contain lead, and protecting businesses, children's books, and products into oblivion:
Why everyone should care about CPSIA
Excerpts:
Even products that won't or CAN'T contain lead need to be tested - organic cotton fabrics, unfinished wood and aluminum are a few examples.
Even one of a kind objects need to be made twice so that one can be tested (meaning that if you want a one of a kind garment for your child you'll have to expect it to cost more than $4000.)
The sample that is tested is destroyed. Not that big of a deal for one item, but if you manufacturer dozens or hundreds of items this along will add up fast.
There are very few testing facilities in the US so most of the testing will be done in China. In addition to at least a billion dollars a year flooding out of the US and into China, the law exists primarily because goods imported from China contained lead. That's $1,000,000,000 if you're counting zeros.
Would you like to take a guess at how many children would have been saved in the last year if this law had been in place? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Nope. NONE. NOT ONE CHILD'S LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED BY THIS LAW. One child would have been prevented from injury. Doubt me? You can read the breakdown here.Additional Links
Jim DeMint is doing his best to rewrite this law. Help him by calling your officials and reposting info about this. Congress is affected by popular opinion. Affect the popular opinion.
Etsy's Info on the topic
Etsy's forum on the topic
CPSIA references on Twitter
The CPSC's Info
Change.org's Info
CPSIA Discussion (a Ning group)
More from Overlawyered.
Related post here.
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Video: Rick Santelli speaks: "President Obama, are you listening?"
Do we want to "subsidize the losers' mortgages?"
Santelli calls to capitalists: will you join him in July for a Chicago tea party?
Watch it. You'll have a little hope for America. Santelli is dynamite.
Longer version here.
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Sebelius: Bad to worse for HHS post
From Pundit:
I'm surprised I'm not seeing more (any, actually) complaints about the supposed front-runner (Kansas Governor seen as top choice in health post) to replace unofficial lobbyist/tax-dodger Tom Daschle at HHS, Kathleen Sebelius.
You might remember her as the Vice President for Abortion.
See also Kathleen Sebelius by Kathryn Lopez, as well as Kathleen Sebelius onAbortion.
I see the pro-life people are on this, but it hasn't made it to the Corner yet:
Sebelius' role in KS abortion scandal makes her unfit for HHS post
President Obama may name Pro-Abortion Kathleen Sebelius as Health Secretary
and more...
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Ronald Reagan on 'What's My Line?'
Don't ask what rabbit trails I followed to arrive at this video.
From 1953-54:
There are many more where this came from, including Jimmy Stewart, Fred Astaire, Nat King Cole, Jack Benny, Ted Williams (my hero!), Joe DiMaggio, Bob Hope, Bobby Darin, The Supremes, Alfred Hitchcock, Ava Gardner (but no Sinatra). Had I but world enough and time I'd watch a dozen of them today.
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John Kass: Sen. Burris and the 'stimulus' bill
Hat tip to Pundit for this delightful John Kass quote:
I know it is heresy to mention Obama's name here. Obama's legion of gentle Hopium eaters will become enraged, like flesh-eating zombies in a video game, and trade in their cakes of Hopium for the chance to gnaw on my rather large and meaty head.But excerpting that is like serving dessert first. It's delicious, but the main dish of Mr. Kass's column has more substance. He guides us through the morass of Chicago politics to show us who benefits from Mr. Burris's (likely brief) ascension to the US Senate. His perjury is ignored long enough for him to vote for Obama's spending-orgy. Now he can be tossed to the wolves.
And, after Burris tried to fix the lie he told to Durkin in the impeachment hearing—that he had no contact about fundraising with Blagojevich people other than one aide named Lon Monk—Burris sent an affidavit to a Madigan flunky, state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Madigan), dated Feb. 4.Read the complete column. It makes more sense and you won't miss any of Kass's flights of fancy. May I nominate him for a Pulitzer? This is great stuff:
Currie held that affidavit in her desk, conveniently, until after Burris voted last week for the near trillion-dollar Obama pork/stimulus package. Now Madigan is demanding an investigation of possible perjury and has sent the documents to a Springfield prosecutor.
Yet the deed has been done. Obama's porkulus was passed. Obama got Burris' vote, and Madigan has an excuse to attack Burris because he doesn't want Burris leading the 2010 Illinois Democratic ticket when Madigan's daughter runs for governor.
See how it works? They get what they want. And we get Tombstone Burris.
Sen. Roland "Tombstone" Burris (D-Lying Weasel) hatches his lies by the minute; they bubble out of his mouth like insect larvae from the mud.Or this description of Mayor Daley:
Once their wings are dry, they launch from our senator's lips and buzz. Yet with all the buzzing, let's consider a few things.
Even Mayor Richard Daley lies better than Burris. Years ago, when confronted by Tribune reporters about how he'd given $100 million in affirmative action contracts to white guys with Outfit connections whom he'd drink with every Christmas Eve, Daley developed his strategy.
He turned purple, the hair on his temples flying up like the wings of dark angels, and he released his terrifying Mayor Chucky persona. This so frightened timid TV political reporters that they wouldn't follow up on Tribune stories.
I hope John Kass writes a novel someday.
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