A new historical revelation, which should surprise anyone who’s been paying attention:
Mr. Weber has discovered that, briefly at the turn of 1918-19, and unmentioned in “Mein Kampf,” Hitler wore a red brassard and supported the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic.
But remember, National Socialists are “right wing.”
We have to be careful to analyze our enemies in terms of their circumstances, not ours. An analogous mistake is made by those who claim Guantanamo Bay “causes” terrorism or materially contributes to terrorist recruitment; the jihadists themselves care only about the fact that we are detaining Muslims — they don’t care where, and they don’t have a clue or a care about the differences between military and civilian processes under U.S. law. Good intelligence requires taking the enemy on his own terms, not as we would think or act under the enemy’s circumstances.
This, in the context of whether or not the latest attempt had anything to do with the elections.
…and change! Almost half of Democrat voters think that Obama should have someone face him in a primary. I have mixed feelings about this. I think I want him on the ballot in 2012. But it would be nice to see him get beaten up, as happened to Jimmy Carter. Of course, people forget that there was a third candidate in that race. Whether or not that happens this time partially depends on whether the Republicans learned from their mistakes.
We have way too many people in prison. Particularly federal prison. Because we are all criminals, given the insanity of the current federal code. I can’t imagine that the Founders ever envisioned this. But that’s what happens when the Tenth Amendment becomes a dead letter.
Did the expenditure of Nancy’s cannon fodder represent the high-water mark for “progressivism”? I’d like to hope so, but I fear not.
The Rally To Restore Smugness is apparently stuff white people like. Plus, multiculturalism and sharia.
…but is Charlie Crist the most unprincipled politician in the land?
I’ll be happy to see a lot of people lose on Tuesday, but he’ll be in the top ten.
At long last, a Kennedy-free federal government.
Of course, there never really was a Camelot. And despite all the instant-mythology from two years ago, the current administration was the furthest thing imaginable from a return to it.
…who favor the Tea Party:
Rasmussen tracking polls show that 64 percent of Americans believe that “the country is headed in the wrong direction.” A CNN poll found that 56 percent of adults surveyed believe that “the government has become so powerful that it represents an immediate threat to the freedom and rights of citizens.” The size and scope of government, which currently amounts to 43 percent of GDP, will continue to exert downward pressure on economic growth as our generation matures.
Stewart, Colbert, McCain, and others may deride the Tea Parties as stupid, uninformed, and fearful masses, but these insults do not change reality. Unless we alter our current path, America’s reality is a grim one. The soaring national debt will fall squarely on the shoulders of today’s youth.
They’re at least as entitled to claim the mantle of the voice of their generation as Meghan McCain.
Joe Carroll is giving a talk on some long-shot “wild cards” that could have a high payoff. One of them is aerosnatch of first stages, which could simplify launch system design by eliminating the need for flyback, and has such a high payoff in performance, that he suggests we understand it better before making any decisions on heavy-lift design, because it may set an upper limit on economical launch vehicle size.
Another is recycling aluminum on orbit, as a first step toward processing true extraterrestrial materials. He points out the bizarre (and typical of a government) situation in which everyone agrees that orbital debris is a problem, but there is no budget for it anywhere in the federal government. Also discussing slings and elevators, propounding the advantages of the former over the latter. For people to an from LEO, elevators, but for a lot of payload beyond, slings are the way to go. Makes an analogy of going from ships to railroads. Rockets are the ships, slings are the railroads (the latter requires an up-front infrastructure, and is limited in destination, but very efficient once in place). Thinks that the first sling will be at 51.6 inclination, second at zero.