Archive for October, 2009

MAN OF THE PEOPLE: “New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine (D) has personally furnished $22.6 million of the total of $24.1 existing in his re-election campaign’s coffers — more than 90% of the total — according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger.”

POLITICO: Obama Already Defending His Legacy: “President Barack Obama has been in office just nine months and already he is defending his legacy, pushing back more aggressively against criticism of his record on health care, climate change, closing Guantanamo, reforming immigration laws and financial regulations and managing the war in Afghanistan.” This isn’t a good sign.

Plus this: “Democratic strategist Chris Lehane likened Obama’s recent speeches to testing out a new message with a ‘series of rolling focus groups.’” Because that’s how you build a good legacy. With focus groups.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: All Falling Down. “Integral to public debt are two eternal truths: a public demands of the state ever more subsidies, and those who pay for them shrink in number as they seek to avoid the increased burden. . . . Why the pessimism? I think there are a few truths that transcend politics and remain eternal.”

HEALTH CARE BILL WILL BE WRITTEN ON C-SPAN: A pledge from President Obama. Er, I mean, candidate Obama. Guess it’s past the expiration date now . . . .

THE EVER-EXPANDING University of Phoenix. “In the world of for-profit higher education, and higher education in general, the University of Phoenix has historically been viewed as the 800-pound gorilla. As of Tuesday, it may be more like a 1,000-pound gorilla. As Phoenix’s parent company, the Apollo Group, reported its fourth quarter and annual earnings Tuesday, it announced that the university’s enrollment of degree-seeking students grew to 443,000 as of August 2009, up 22 percent from 362,000 in August 2008. . . . About two-thirds of the university’s new students as of August are female, 27.7 percent are African-American, and about half are 30 or over.”

TAKING “SOUTHERN COMFORT FOOD” ONLINE at Papaw Tom’s. The website’s here.

And speaking of Knoxville-based Internet businesses, Tradingo is still going strong.

MICKEY KAUS: “Does Twitter maybe censor ‘curate’ the search results for its celebrity Twitterers?”

MICHAEL YON: Colors.