Category Archives: Political Commentary

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

I Have Just Two Questions

33 Comments

…about Dave Weigel.

First, how in the world did someone so enthusiastic about (e.g.) the Democrats’ health care legislation ever work for Reason magazine? Was he always a statist, and just passing, or did his views change (or as the lamestream media would put it, he “grew”)? Matt? Nick?

Second, when he calls “right wingers” ratcopulators, and their political activities ratcopulating, is he implying that Democrats are rats? (“Rats” is a popular shorthand for them at Free Republic, FWIW).

[Update a while later, after an Instalanche]

Matt doesn’t exactly answer my question, but he does have a link roundup. A lot of the commenters are scratching their heads, as I am.

Esoteric|6.25.10 @ 4:05PM|#

He was rooting for health-care reform to pass. That’s sort of a QED moment right there.

Mike G|6.25.10 @ 4:18PM|#

But it was libertarian-leaning total state control of your body, health and nutrition

As a commenter here said, a lot of Reason readers have always been kind of suspicious.

Business, Economics, Political Commentary

Just A Coincidence, I’m Sure

4 Comments

Stimulating:

Since the beginning of the recession (roughly January 2008), some 7.9 million jobs were lost in the private sector while 590,000 jobs were gained in the public one. And since the passage of the stimulus bill (February 2009), over 2.6 million private jobs were lost, but the government workforce grew by 400,000.

I think it’s exactly what they wanted to happen. Have to keep those public union people employed so they can keep providing the campaign cash. Especially when they can pass laws to shut down the opposition.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

The Pretzel Logic

27 Comments

…of the new anti-semites on the left:

The deployment of “decoy Jews”…is being criticized by leftist parties such as the Dutch Greens. Evelien van Roemburg, an Amsterdam counselor of the Green Left Party, says that using a decoy by the police amounts to provoking a crime, which is itself a criminal offence under Dutch law.

Got that? If you go out looking like a Jew, and a Muslim physically assaults you, it’s your fault — kind of like it’s your fault if you’re a girl and your skirt is too short. To be on the safe side: Don’t look Jewish. And if you do look Jewish, you had better be Jewish, or the Dutch Greens won’t like it. Or something.

The new anti-Semitism is sometimes hard to keep up with.

Or, if you’re a Muslim, and you assault a Jew who is actually a Jew, that’s kind of bad, but if you assault a Jew who turns out to be a decoy — even though you thought he was a Jew — that’s not so bad, because you were tricked . . . or something.

The new anti-Semitism can give you a headache.

Maybe it would be simpler if they’d just return to the old days, and make the real Jews wear yellow magen Davids.