They haven’t really changed that much since the Civil War. The only difference is that they want to enslave all of those of us who won’t bend to their will, instead of just blacks. And as Clayton says, all this kind of rhetoric does is reinforce our desire to defend ourselves and our freedom.
Category Archives: Media Criticism
Ten Myths About Columbia
From Jim Oberg.
Piers Morgan Is Whiffing, Too
Nominating Hagel
Whose terrible idea was it, anyway? Jonathan Chait is starting the circular firing squad. I have to agree with this:
As it turned out, the Hagel nomination has been a fiasco. (Clemons’s chins-up take that Hagel “met expectations” is the most optimism any Hagel backers can muster.)
He certainly met my expectations. I fully expected him to be the hapless fool and tool he always is. And I love this understatement: “Hagel himself does not appear to be especially brilliant.”
You don’t say.
[Update a few minutes later]
Obama advisor: Hagel’s conduct was “somewhere between baffling and incomprehensible.”
It’s only baffling to people so stupid that they thought he was smart.
More On The Unaffordable Care Act
The IRS estimates that the cheapest plan will cost $20K a year.
But remember, if you like your plan, you can keep it.
Ten (And Three) Years Later
Jeff Foust remembers two February-first space-related anniversaries, related to each other.
We Must Move On
Libertarianism
The top ten ways to talk about it:
5. At Tom Palmer’s urging, I created a speech, or at least a speech opening, around the theme that “Libertarianism is the application of science and reason to the study of politics and public policy.” That is, libertarians deal in reality, not magic. We know that government doesn’t have magical powers to ignore the laws of economics and human nature.
4. Inspired by Robert Fulghum’s bestseller All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, I like to tell people that you learn the essence of libertarianism — which is also the essence of civilization — in kindergarten:
Don’t hit other people.
Don’t take their stuff.
Keep your promises.
I never fail to be amused by the pretension of the Left that they’re the “reality-based community.”
Poisonous Greenery
More unintended consequences:
Recently, many jurisdictions have implemented bans or imposed taxes upon plastic grocery bags on environmental grounds. San Francisco County was the first major US jurisdiction to enact such a regulation, implementing a ban in 2007. There is evidence, however, that reusable grocery bags, a common substitute for plastic bags, contain potentially harmful bacteria. We examine emergency room admissions related to these bacteria in the wake of the San Francisco ban. We find that ER visits spiked when the ban went into effect. Relative to other counties, ER admissions increase by at least one fourth, and deaths exhibit a similar increase.
I’m never surprised when environmentalist policies kill people, because many of them hate people, but in this case, it probably is an unintended consequence. Because they never think these things through. Manhattan Beach passed one of these idiot bans recently, but at least they can still use paper bags. Of course, it didn’t affect Trader Joe’s at all. And I usually shop in Redondo, where Albertson’s still offers plastic.
And yes, I know that the problem is mitigated by washing the canvas bags each time. How many people want to do that (plus having to remember to take them)?
More On Hagel’s Bad Day
From Allahpundit:
Ted Cruz is destroying him over America supposedly being the “world’s bully.” This isn’t a confirmation hearing, it’s target practice.
The beauty of this clip isn’t just the spectacle of Graham making Hagel eat his own shinola. It’s the fact that 90 percent of the reason the left has gone along with this nomination is to see Hagel push back on questions exactly like this one. He was the guy who was going to speak truth to power by standing up to the neocon warmongers and their “Zionist” puppet-masters — and here he is, rolling over. You could almost hear liberals screaming at their TV sets when Graham asked him to name a dumb move taken by the U.S. at the behest of the Israel lobby, “Say ‘Iraq’, Chuck! Say ‘Iraq!’” But Hagel can’t make that move. The Democrats will happily confirm a lightweight who’s unprepared for this hearing and unqualified to lead the Pentagon because he’s useful as a Republican fig leaf for Obama’s upcoming defense cuts. They won’t confirm a guy whose unapologetic conspiratorial mumbling about Israel’s hidden hand or whatever might alienate Jewish voters, and Hagel knows it. So he’s lying here, and not just about this either, purely in the interest of getting confirmed.
A bad day for Chuck Hagel (and Barack Obama) is a good day for the Republic. And Cruz is certainly a rapidly rising star.