All posts by Rand Simberg

Political Commentary

New Congressional Moonbat

For those with nostalgic longings for Cynthia McKinney, meet Congressman Keith Ellison:

On comparing Sept. 11 to the burning of the Reichstag building in Nazi Germany: “It’s almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country [Hitler] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted. The fact is that I’m not saying [Sept. 11] was a [U.S.] plan, or anything like that because, you know, that’s how they put you in the nut-ball box — dismiss you.”

As Lileks notes, yup…could happen. In fact, I think he’s too late.

There’s more lunacy at the link.

Science And Society

Overrespected

Virginia Postrel reiterates a point that I’ve made many times–that even if we accept a scientific consensus on climate change doesn’t mean that we should blindly follow their advice on what to do about it:

…even assuming that scientists agree on the facts, science can only tell us something about the state of the world. It cannot tell us what policy is the best to adopt. Scientists’ preferences are not “science.” You cannot go from an “is” (science) to an “ought” (policy).

War Commentary

The Invasion That No One Noticed

Perhaps because they find it too inconvenient:

If Israel sent the IDF three kilometers into Lebanon and started digging trenches and building bunkers it would make news all over the world. But Syria does it and everyone shrugs. Hardly anyone even knows it happened at all.

Syria can, apparently, get away with just about anything. I could hardly blame Assad at this point if he believes, after such an astonishing non-response, that he can reconquer Beirut. So far he can kill and terrorize and invade and destroy with impunity, at least up to a point. What is that point? Has anyone in the U.S., Israel, the Arab League, the European Union, or the United Nations even considered the question?