More thoughts on American history, politics and culture.
Category Archives: History
The Problem With Ebola
It isn’t the virus, it’s the incompetence. Not to mention the venality.
[Update late morning]
Amazingly, left-blogger Atrios (aka Duncan Black) agrees:
Ultimately the point is that as of now, Ebola is a small problem in the United States overall, if a very serious problem for the people infected by it, and we have failed to deal with this small problem. The lack of clearly established systematic responses to potential deadly disease outbreaks is extremely worrying. If a genuine epidemic occurs, there’s no reason to think the response will be any better.
At least as of now, there’s no reason to be frightened of Ebola. Turn off cable news and go about your day. A small number of infected people is not an epidemic. But there is reason to be frightened of the apparent inability of our institutions to deal with an actual epidemic, or true national emergencies of any kind.
Yes. As has been pointed out ad infinitum. when the government (and particularly the federal government) tries to do too many things, it ends of doing none of them well.
Did A B-24 Shoot Down A V-2?
Probably not. Also (as noted there), a bomber probably never shot down a V-1.
The Party Of Lynching
…warns (ignorant) Democrat voters in North Carolina of lynchings if Republicans win.
If they want to play that game, put together a few thirty-second ads with history lessons about the (Democrat) Klan, and the (Democrat) Bull Connor, and the (Democrat) Lester Maddox, and the (Democrat) George Wallace. And a reminder that Lincoln was a Republican, and that the voting-rights act would not have been passed without Republicans.
[Late-morning update]
Oopsie. Senator Pryor’s college thesis, called desegregation “an unwilling invasion” (as opposed, I suppose, to a willing one?).
Democrats, once the party of racism, always the party of racism.
Slippery Rock Versus Mercyhurst
The big game, in the Big House.
The crowd always cheered in the stadium when the Slippery Rock score was announced. It’s a long-standing Michigan tradition.
Looking For Anarchy
…in all the wrong places.
As he says, with Occupy, or what’s happening in Ferguson, the so-called “anarchists” are just the muscle for the Left.
Obama’s Great Ebola Error
The last time a president tried to make a health crisis about national security, fifty million people died.
It’s not surprising, really. Wilson was our first truly fascist president (complete with racism). Obama is simply following in his (and Roosevelt’s) footsteps.
And meanwhile, we don’t really have anything resembling a national response. So I guess ebola is just another thing that the president has no strategy on.
[Update a while later]
Well, this was inevitable. Ebola is the GOP’s fault. Because they’ve been in charge of the CDC, with its emphasis on junk nutrition science and gun control, while its budget rose.
[Update a couple minutes later]
The problem with the argument that it’s Republicans’ fault.
As Glenn says, if Congress was smart, it would force the CDC to shift funding from all the junk science it’s been doing, and start focusing on actual infectious diseases. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a world in which Congress is smart.
[Update a couple minutes later]
The CDC is losing its grip. The country’s in the very best of hands.
Happy Italian Discovery Day
For the record, I think it’s absurd to call it “Indigenous Americans Day.”
But since Jim Bennett’s original column from nine years ago seems to have died from link rot, I’m going to repost it here:
Continue reading Happy Italian Discovery Day
Of Tyrants And Dangerous Old Men
Bob Owens has some history, and thoughts on aspiring tyrants like Jerrold Nadler.
The Disintegrating Obama Presidency
Steve Hayes has a long piece (necessarily, because it’s such a target rich environment) on how it is chock full of fail.
[Update a couple minutes later]
This isn’t from the essay, but rather from Jonah Goldberg’s latest “newsletter” (so no link), but it seems apt:
Islamic State took Fallujah and Mosul months ago and he kept calling it the “jayvee team.” As recently as August, he was telling Tom Friedman that it was ridiculous to arm the Syrian rebels. In September, he was wistfully complaining that the Islamic State made a mistake in beheading those Americans because it aroused U.S. public opinion for war. In other words, doing nothing about the Islamic State was Obama’s foreign policy until the domestic political situation made his foreign policy untenable. Chess Masters think many moves ahead, novices respond to whatever their opponent’s latest move is. Total amateurs just move pieces based on shouts from the crowd watching the game. Obama’s like a kid looking for approval every time he touches a piece.
It’s sad because it’s true.