Did I Miss Something?

Tonight Mark Steyn is pointing out the joys of "snotty-Brit house-style" as displayed in the editorials of the Economist.

The best part of the Economist's socialism-denial editorial is this head-scratcher:

For all Europe’s Obamamania Mr Obama is, in fact, one of the least European-minded of American presidents. JFK studied at the London School of Economics with Harold Laski, a leading British socialist. Bill Clinton went to Oxford University and surrounded himself with Rhodes scholars who liked to discuss the German educational model. John Kerry was famously not just French-speaking but also “French-looking”.

Uhhh....what? Did I miss something? John Kerry...President?

I guess that Economist writer didn't study under the esteemed German educational model...

FBI FOIA Fun!

Instapundit is running links to a piece that states:

“The FBI’s reports to Congress show that the Bureau is unable to find any records in response to two-thirds of its incoming FOIA requests on average over the past four years, when the other major government agencies averaged only a 13% ‘no records’ response to public requests.”

Although I have admittedly not read the piece, two thoughts immediately jump to mind:

1 - Paranoid fears about that all-knowing, all-seeing police state many left/right wing nutters peddle are considerably overblown....

2 - Is the FBI's 'no records' response rate so high because many of those nutters put in FOIA requests for the "FBI Records" of the surveillance performed against them, when none in fact actually exist?

Just thoughts for a Friday night....

Today's Miracle, Tomorrow's Tragedy

There is a lot being made today over the high-risk, yet successful surgery performed on a 7 year old girl, where she had 6 organs removed, and 3 re-implanted.

The media (MSNBC, USA Today) is billing it as a "miracle". What the media doesn't mention is the fact that this tremendous, and again high-risk, procedure is a fantastic reflection of the great health care we have, it is also an example of medical miracles that *won't* be available should we choose to go down the proposed road of a nationalized health-care program. In the video at the MSNBC link, the mother implores parents of sick children not to stop with a second-opinion, in other words 'don't take no for an answer'.

Unfortunately, in the future, another child seeking this procedure very well may hear "NO" from a government mandated health-care system that seeks to reduce costs, and avoid "high-risk".

However I wouldn't put it past future health commissars to actually perform a few of these procedures, in order to have "miracles" in order to display the efficacy and benevolence of government health care. I guess you can call me cynical.....

Grinding to a Halt

When the grand Obama "Stimulus" and "Recovery" come to a grinding halt....we will know why.



They couldn't even design a logo where the gears of progress mesh together properly....

Next time use the same gear ratio geniuses...

Who is coming up with these half-baked ideas anyway?

Thoroughly Confused

OK. I am thoroughly confused....

A liberal group backed by unions release a TV ad that attempts to portray Rush Limbaugh as the leader of the GOP....



And what do they want Americans to do about this alleged outrage?? They want you to "Call the Republican Leadership, and 'Just Say No' to the politics of Rush Limbaugh"

Uhhhh...what? Wait, didn't you just spend the first half of your ad convincing me that Rush *was* the Republican leadership??

Hmmm...perhaps it is they who are thoroughly confused....

How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

Another good speech worth watching from CPAC 2009 is that by Newt Gingrich.

Label this one as "How Stupid Do They Think We Are?"



Favorite line:
"We are not going to raise taxes on anyone under $250,000 a year....unless you use electricity. We are not going to raise taxes on anyone under $250,000 a year....unless you buy gasoline. We are not going to raise taxes on anyone under $250,000 a year....unless you use heating oil. We are not going to raise taxes on anyone under $250,000 a year....unless you use natural gas.......I actually believe that the group that will be the least taxed under the new plan will be the Amish of central Pennsylvania..."

Investors - The New Special Interest Group

Apparently the official Obama spokes-lackey ex-communicated the latest heretical deserter to leave the church of The One.

Jim Cramer, an over-the-top, entertaining, self-aggrandizing blowhard, but a good capitalist all the same...dared to recant his previously stated belief that a President Obama would be the lesser of two evils when it came to the economy...

THEN:
Oct '08: "And while any president will be an improvement over the current one, there is a growing belief on Wall Street that Barack Obama has the capacity to lead us out of this wilderness while John McCain does not. I’ll go a step further: Obama is a recession. McCain is a depression."

NOW:
Mar '09: "‘Hey, it’s amateur hour at our darkest moment.’ It’s the feeling of capitalism vanishing, businesses capsizing under their own weight - thanks to an administration that doesn’t seem to know or maybe doesn’t care." and "This is the most, greatest wealth destruction I've seen by a president."

The Administration called Cramer out and said, "If you turn on a certain program it's geared to a very small audience..."

Well, whether you like his bombastic style or not, Cramer's intended and actual 'audience' is the American investor class. By latest estimates, this demographic lies somewhere north of 100 million people. That's about 45% of the voting age population.

That's not a very small audience if you ask me....

I did like how Cramer turned a phrase from some old hippy songwriter to his cause...."We all want to change the world. I know I'd like to change the world, but when you talk about wealth destruction, don't you know that you can count me out?"

Groovy....

An Army of John Galts?

ABC News has a story about those "rich" who are considering scaling back their entrepreneurial efforts in order to avoid the oncoming tax hikes... (Hat Tip: The Foundry)

Upper-Income Taxpayers Look for Ways to Sidestep Obama Tax-Hike Plan
President Would Slap More Taxes on Those Who Make Over $250K to Fund Health Care

A 63-year-old attorney based in Lafayette, La., who asked not to be named, told ABCNews.com that she plans to cut back on her business to get her annual income under the quarter million mark should the Obama tax plan be passed by Congress and become law.

"We are going to try to figure out how to make our income $249,999.00," she said. "We have to find a way out where we can make just what we need to just under the line so we can benefit from Obama's tax plan," she added. "Why kill yourself working if you're going to give it all away to people who aren't working as hard?"

Why is it every new proposal that comes out of this administration reads like a chapter out of Atlas Shrugged? Is it possible that many of this nation's entrepreneurial talent will withdraw, rather than continue to prop up those they see as "looters"? Will they become the "strikers" of Ayn Rand's vision? Will they slow the "motor of the world"?

Today Instapundit pointed to the Insta-wife's contributions at CPAC, where she discussed the psychological aspects of "Going John Galt", and its growing attraction. Surprisingly, he did not include a link to her original work on the subject at Pajama's Media.

Ask Dr. Helen: Is It Time to ‘Go John Galt’?
Do you ever wonder after dealing with all that is going on with the economy and the upcoming election if it’s getting to be time to “go John Galt”? For those of you who have never read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, the basic theme is that John Galt and his allies take actions that include withdrawing their talents, “stopping the motor of the world,” and leading the “strikers” (those who refuse to be exploited) against the “looters” (the exploiters, backed by the government).

Of course the natural knee-jerk reaction from the left is..."That isn't fair!" In fact, ABC News includes this in their piece, running a poll:

VOTE: IS IT FAIR TO REDUCE YOUR SALARY TO AVOID TAXES?

As of this writing, the answer "Yes. I also would find ways to decrease my salary to avoid taxes." is winning with 39%, and both 'Yes' answers are garnering 71% total...

But the left will always see anything the "rich" do for an advantage as 'Not Fair'. Which of course introduces the irony that at the same time it will be 'unfair' to make 'obscene' amounts of money, and 'unfair' to make just enough not to be 'rich'.

So in order to make everything 'fair' the next logical step of course will be to freeze everyone's salary where they are right now in perpetuity. Thus we can continue to squeeze the 'rich', and not allow them to shirk their responsibilities to 'social justice'. Now where have I heard that before....

Directive 10-289
Point Seven. All wages, prices, salaries, dividends, profits, interest rates and forms of income of any nature whatsoever, shall be frozen at their present figures, as of the date of this directive.

It is all so eerie....

Now *that* is Climate Justice

Back in mid-December, some lefty green group called for a massive rally in DC:

Make Climate Justice History - Mass civil disobedience March 2nd, 2009 in DC

At that time Greg Pollowitz at NRO's Planet Gore went out on a limb and said:

Anyone want to bet on a snowstorm hitting D.C. on March 2, 2009?

Today's Washington Post:

Snow Blankets Washington Area
Region Braces for What Could Be Largest Winter Storm in Three Years

Guess all you global warming protestors had better bundle up!

(Hat Tip: Mark Hemingway)

UPDATE: Powerline had this great photo, so I will steal it...


Thanks to commenter Keyboard Jockey for links as well....who has a great update of his own...

Rush's CPAC Speech

For those of you who may not have seen it, Rush limbaugh's speech to CPAC on Saturday night can be seen in its entirety (though segmented) over at Hot Air:

Video: Limbaugh brings down the house at CPAC

First segment:


Beyond his speech, one of the best items comes at the very beginning of segment 1, where anonymous CNN announcer-babe says "We go to Washington right now, to listen to this guy, radio host, conservative, Rush Limbaugh. Apparently he is now kind-of commandeering, leading the Republican Party..."

This only shows how insulated the MSM is within the liberal spin bubble, which is trying to make Limbaugh a major target,and poster boy of the GOP. First, if Rush had wanted to use his great public appeal and 'commandeer' the GOP, he would have done it by now. Second....what else would we expect a major outspoken, conservative figure to be doing? How is a speech, or even his outspokeness on the new administration an indication of him allegedly taking over the GOP?

Just another indicator at how shallow today's 'news' organizations are that weak hyperbole can pass as analysis....