Category Archives: Media Criticism

History, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Quantity Versus Quality

12 Comments

This is an old post, but it’s worth a repost with all of the nonsense this week about how Hillary should be president because she won (or is winning — I think they’re still counting) the popular vote:

It would be perfectly constitutional for the electors to be chosen by throwing darts at a phone book, by elimination from a reality show, or a mass tournament of pistols at dawn, as long as the legislature so stipulated. That was the degree to which the Founders thought that the states should have leeway in determining how they determined their electors. This is a very important point to make when arguing with modern democraphiles about ending the Electoral College and electing the president by popular vote.

Not also my broader point:

Many (in fact, many too many) in government imagine that their job is to create more government. As three examples, legislators think they’re supposed to pass legislation, diplomats think that (among other things) they’re supposed to get treaties signed and ratified, and regulators think that they’re supposed to create regulations. They are encouraged in this by many fools in the press who actually consider legislation sponsored and passed into law (particularly when it has a lawmaker’s name on it) to be a figure of merit to be touted as part of his record for reelection, or election to a higher office. Legislators who have passed lots of legislation, or secretaries of state who get lots of treaties ratified are lionized in the media, while those who do neither are denigrated as “do nothings.” All this, of course, despite whether or not the legislation passed, treaty ratified, or regulation created was actually a good idea.

But in fact, those are not their jobs. Their jobs are described in the Preamble. They are: “…to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence [common spelling at the time], promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

Passing legislation, ratifying treaties, promulgating regulations are means to those ends but, despite the title, it is not a legislator’s job to legislate per se. It is not a diplomat’s job to ratify a treaty per se. It is not a regulator’s job to regulate per se. Those are simply tools granted them by the Constitution to carry out their true jobs, as defined above.

I’d also note that, contra the more-recent nonsense about how the Senate wasn’t “doing its job” with regard to Merrick Garland, it has no Constitutional “duty” to advise and consent. It only has the power.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Orion

13 Comments

The slow, inevitable death begins:

Entering into the transition period between presidents, NASA’s administrator, Charles Bolden, has encouraged the next White House administration to continue support for Orion and the Space Launch System rocket, which account for more than $3 billion annually. Congress, too, has expressed a strong interest in continuing work on these vehicles.

However one source told Ars that it may become necessary to choose either the Orion capsule or NASA rocket in the coming years as the space agency looks to pare back its budget, and this might necessitate going to a less expensive, more privately developed vehicle. “Look,” this source said, “if you have to cancel a program, this is a responsible way of lining up a replacement.”

It will be a bloody political battle, but ultimately, SLS won’t be far behind.

Business, Education, History, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Political Ignorance

34 Comments

It’s time to start taking it seriously:

You don’t have to be a libertarian skeptic about government to worry about political ignorance. Indeed, the greater the role you want democratic government to play in society, the more you have reason to worry about the quality of voter decision-making. The more powerful the state is, the greater the harm it can cause if ignorant voters entrust that power to the wrong hands. Here too, the rise of Trump is a warning we should take seriously. He is not the first or (most likely) the last demagogue of his kind.

I have long argued that we can best alleviate the dangers of political ignorance by limiting and decentralizing the power of government, and enabling people to make more decisions by “voting with their feet” rather than at the ballot box. Foot voters deciding where they want to live or making choices in the private sector have much stronger incentives to become well-informed than ballot box voters do. There is much we can do to enhance opportunities for foot voting, particularly among the poor and disadvantaged. Limiting and decentralizing government power could also reduce the enormous scope and complexity of the modern state, which make it virtually impossible for voters to keep track of more than a small fraction of its activities.

But I am open to considering a variety of other possible strategies for addressing the problem, including voter education initiatives, and “sortition,” directly incentivizing citizens to increase their knowledge, among others. Perhaps the best approach to is a combination of different measures, not relying on some one silver bullet.

A large part of the problem is the public-education system (and academia), which is doing a terrible job of explaining civics (and history), because the Left finds an ignorant populace not only convenient, but essential.

Business, Economics, History, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Post-Election Thoughts

153 Comments

In no particular order:

1) Despite his “approval rating,” this was an utter repudiation of the last eight years (and to a lesser degree, the previous eight years under Bush). Trump is Obama’s “legacy.”

2) I hope, and even expect, that Giuliani will be the next AG. He will take the handcuffs off the FBI, and finally get to the bottom of all of the Obama lawlessness as well as hers. In the spirit of reconciliation, Trump should offer her a pardon, on condition they shut down the foundation, and she exit our lives.

3) There will obviously be no post-election confirmation of Garland. Ginsburg and Breyer will probably be rethinking their retirement plans.

4) I assume that House Republicans have a repeal and replace plan to give to Trump in January.

5) Expect a flurry of executive orders undoing much of Obama’s lawlessness in the first week.

More anon.

[Update a few minutes later]

Will “liberals” finally discover the appeal of limited government?

[Update a few minutes later]

Predictably, embittered Democrats engage in racist outbursts. Well, this is nothing new; they have historically been the party of racism.

[Update a couple minutes later]

[Update a couple more minutes later]

Would’t accepting a last-minute pardon from Obama be a tacit admission that someone did something wrong? That’s why Nixon didn’t necessarily want one.

[Update a while later]

It occurs to me that now that the crime family has no favors to offer, the donations to the Clinton Crime Foundation will start to, or immediately dry up.

[Late-morning update]

Yes, a large part of Trump’s appeal is a backlash against the fascism of political correctness.

History, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

The FBI Agents Who Stood Up For The Rule Of Law

98 Comments

You have to admit, it’s a pretty rare attribute in this administration.

[Update a while later]

There are five separate FBI investigations into the Clinton corruption?

I’m sure there are more than five instances of it, but you’d think they could combine them somehow. And of course, that’s just the ones we know about. There could easily be more.

Update a while later]

The Marc Rich pardon returns. As noted, the timing is interesting, but it’s certainly a useful reminder of the long-time corruption of the Clintons (not to mention Eric Holder, who should never have been confirmed as Attorney General). We may finally be seeing the leaks and drips that I expected earlier if Comey refused to recommend prosecution. I think we’re seeing a civil war both within the FBI and between FBI and the Department of Injustice. And it remains unclear which side Comey is on, other than his own.

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary

Occam’s Weiner

25 Comments

Thoughts on the mess from Mark Steyn, who will soon have his own show.

[Update a while later]

“My guess is Weiner’s perversions were to some extent a cry for help. He wanted to be caught. At some point, he desperately wanted out of the Clinton nexus (who wouldn’t?).”

[Update a few minutes later]

Hillary didn’t see Carlos Danger coming:

Carlos Danger (Anthony Weiner) once held high political office. He talked smart trash. He sassed Republicans and snickered. The liberal media loved it. Can’t catch me, I’m Carlos Danger.

Carlos Danger is also a pervert who sends naked pictures of himself to underage females.

Thanks to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s criminal deceit and his wife’s (Huma Abedin) complicity, after Carlos left office in disgrace he still had access to classified national security information.

Let’s review key incidents in The Lowest Cesspool. The pervert digitally exposes himself to 15-year-old girl. How vile. The cops investigate. Good. But oh the irony. The perv’s exposure incidentally exposes the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate as a crook and serial liar. The pervert’s estranged wife may face perjury charges. The pervert is cooperating with the FBI because he’s a coward and a punk and he’ll cop a plea to save his arse.

Unlikely plot twists? Not all that surprising, given the crooked characters. No need for Greek gods to dispense justice. Crooked characters do crooked things. At some point they take a crooked step and fall. Even crooks who think they can design a centralized and cost-effective national healthcare program, the kind of megalomaniacal crook who thinks she can foresee every contingency, a crook who thinks she can control the narrative just because she has ABC and NBC and CNN and The New York Times in her pocket—even a crook with that kind of power eventually trips up.

He certainly chose an appropriate name for himself.

[Update a couple minutes later]

The Democrats asked for this.

Yes. It’s what happens when you ignore all of the klaxons and flashing lights and nominate a corrupt incompetent serial felon.

Business, Culinary, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Technology and Society

Whole-Fat Dairy

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Five reasons you should be eating it. No one should be eating low-fat dairy, or low-fat food in general. It’s all an abomination based completely on junk nutritional science over decades.

I should note that Costco only sells zero-fat Fage yogurt (last I checked). They make a 2%, but not a whole-fat version. But Trader Joe’s has started to make a whole-milk version, and it tastes great, and is only two bucks, compared to $2.67 for lower-fat versions, and more than that for Fage.