I’ve set up a page.
[Update a while later]
Here’s a friendlier URL for it.
Category Archives: Political Commentary
Dear Paul Krugman
…”I’ll see you in Hell.”
The Ümlaut
I just discovered an interesting blog on economics, innovation, society and public policy. The current top two posts are thoughts on whether “liberals” or conservatives are more anti-science, and whether or not Paul Krugman is meta-rational.
A Black Conservative
I’m always amused by people who are absolutely convinced that Rush Limbaugh is a racist hatemonger, despite the fact that they have never actually listened to him.
Obama’s Second-Term Troubles
…have already begun:
According to the Washington Post-ABC News poll, half of independents express a negative opinion of the president’s performance; just 44 percent approve. A majority of Americans give Obama negative marks on handling the economy. And the president has only a four-percentage-point lead over Republicans when it comes to whom the public trusts more to deal with the economy.
This is clearly not where a president who is less than two months into his second term wants to be. But in some respects, it’s not all that surprising. Mr. Obama, while he won his contest with Governor Romney fairly handily, was not a particularly popular president for most of his first term–and the key elements of his agenda are decidedly unpopular.
He didn’t win in November because people voted for him — he managed to scare them into voting against Romney, or not bothering to vote.
The Mistake Of The Iraq Withdrawal
As demonstrated by the CIA plan.
I’m pretty sure that some people pointed this out at the time.
The Public State Of Ignorance
Sarah Hoyt says we should hope that more people don’t feel the need to become politically aware.
Paul Ryan’s “Unusual Ideology”
Charles Cooke dismantles Ezra Klein’s latest pretense at pragmatism:
Tellingly, Klein refers to “Ryan’s unusual ideology.” Unusual? Does Klein mean to suggest that not spending trillions that we don’t have is “unusual”? Does he mean that how America has worked for most of its history — and pretty well, thank you — is “unusual” now that it’s 2013? That notions of community doing things that government should not are “unusual”? I wonder. And what should we make of that “ideology” word? This dismissal is particularly telling, not because Ryan isn’t ideological — he is — but because so is Ezra Klein. So is everyone. Anyone who privileges one value over another (liberty over security, or growth over redistribution, for example) is an ideologue. Anybody who believes in any individual right whatsoever is an ideologue. Anyone who believes in any form of equality is an ideologue. Klein’s reaction betrays an arrogant, rotten worldview — widely shared among his ilk. Are we really expected to buy that doing the opposite of Ryan’s plan isn’t “ideological”? That there’s no ideology behind the status quo? That there’s nothing but reason behind what Klein and his acolytes wish would happen? That Klein’s desired path for America is based on pure analysis?
This conceit of the Left should be based at every opportunity. If there was a non-ideological pragmatic candidate in the last election, it sure wasn’t Barack Obama. Mitt Romney filled that bill much more, which was one of his problems, in fact.
The Green Facts Of Life
Matt Ridley explains why the use of fossil fuels is making the planet greener. It’s eighteen minutes, but worth it.
Intellectual Apostasy
…and its perils.
My respect for Steven Pinker has declined as a result of this episode.