Thoughts on American exceptionalism (though he doesn’t use that phrase) from Walter Russell Mead.
[Update a few minutes later]
Peripherally related: the new American revolution. This time, it’s against our self-appointed masters in the media. And the people are winning.
Thoughts on the useful idiots in the media and (more importantly and unfortunately) in the voting booths who really believed that electing a socialist law professor with zero business experience would actually result in an improved economy. He needs to get the return key repaired on his keyboard, though.
…isn’t likely to happen any time soon.
Unless, of course, we keep in power people who want to see it happen.
[Update a few minutes later]
The oil-fracking boom in south Texas.
That’s how you grow an economy. You produce stuff that (unlike, say, CFLs or high-speed rail) people actually want to buy.
Good advice from Frank J. Some commenters over at Space Politics should read it.
I’ve commented in the past that I’m much more selective about whom I friend on Facebook than a lot of people seem to be. I will never respond to a friend request from someone who I don’t know, in the sense of having met them either on line or in meatspace, with the exception of those who actually introduce themselves and explain why they want me to friend them. This is just one reason why.
The anti-Obama version.
[Update Sunday morning]
Here’s a new and improved version. This is high-speed memetic evolution.
…is a relic of history. And a dangerous one.
Thoughts from Mark Steyn on the state of the economy:
The Department of Education issues search warrants? Who knew? The Brokest Nation in History is the only country in the developed world whose education secretary has his own Delta Force. And, in a land with over a trillion dollars in college debt, I’ll bet it’s got no plans to downsize.
Nor has the TSA. A 24-year-old woman has been awarded compensation of $2,350 after TSA agents exposed her breasts to all and sundry at the Corpus Christi Airport security line and provided Weineresque play-by-play commentary. “We regret that the passenger had an unpleasant experience,” said a TSA spokesgroper, also very Weinerly. But hey, those are a couple of cute bumps on the road, lady!
The American Dream, 2011: You pay four bucks a gallon to commute between your McJob and your underwater housing to prop up a spendaholic, grabafeelic, paramilitarized bureaucracy-without-end bankrupting your future at the rate of a fifth of a billion dollars every hour.
In a sane world, Americans would be outraged at the government waste that confronts them everywhere you turn: The abolition of the federal Education Department and the TSA is the very least they should be demanding. Instead, our elites worry about sea levels.
The country’s in the very best of hands.
…is about to slaughter a town in Syria. Isn’t this sort of thing what caused the president to decide to get involved with Libya? Strategically, getting rid of Assad is much more important than getting rid of Moammar whathisname, but strategy has never been this gang’s strong suit.
[Sunday morning update]
Israel seems to be all in favor of removing the chinless one:
Allied with Iran, Mr. Assad has helped supply 55,000 rockets to Hezbollah and 10,000 to Hamas, very likely established a clandestine nuclear arms program and profoundly destabilized the region. The violence he has unleashed on his own people demonstrating for freedoms confirms Israel’s fears that the devil we know in Syria is worse than the devil we don’t.
A regime change in favor on one not so favorable to the Mullahs would be a strategic body blow against both Iran and Hezbollah.
And it looks like the White House is finally getting a clue. But only a partial one. It’s a lot more than just a “humanitarian crisis.”
A call to arms from Paul Hsieh. These people don’t realize what totalitarians they’re becoming.
[Update a few minutes later]
A ranking of the fifty states for freedom. As expected, California is among the worst. I was a little surprised to see South Dakota come out so well. I’m also surprised to see that Alaska is so bad.