PUNCHING BACK twice as hard.
Archive for 2009
August 25, 2009
THE OBAMACARE DEFICIT BLOWOUT: “The press corps has noticed the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that the House health bill increases the deficit by $239 billion over the next decade. But government-run health care won’t turn into a pumpkin after a decade. The underreported news is the new spending that will continue to increase well beyond the 10-year period that CBO examines, and that this blowout will overwhelm even the House Democrats’ huge tax increases, Medicare spending cuts and other ‘pay fors.'” What’s more, judging by the experience with Medicare and other programs, actual spending will be much higher than even these projections.
IN BRITAIN, EACH 1,000 CCTV CAMERAS only solve one crime. “Only one crime was solved by each 1,000 CCTV cameras in London last year, a report into the city’s surveillance network has claimed. The internal police report found the million-plus cameras in London rarely help catch criminals.” It’s all about making the powerful feel moreso — and the citizenry less so.
I THINK THAT MAY BE RACIST: Maxine Waters calls health care opponents “Neanderthals.”
TRANSPARENCY CHIC: Someday your government may have as little privacy as you do. Not if they can help it.
MEGAN MCARDLE: “Fears of ‘death panels’ are way overblown. Fears of ‘Are second knee replacements worth it?’ panels are not.”
HEY, WAIT, I THOUGHT POLITICAL VIOLENCE CAME FROM WHITE REPUBLICAN MALES. Woman accused of threatening bomb-plot informant. “A Texas woman faces trial this month in Austin on charges she threatened to kill a government informant who infiltrated an Austin-based group that planned to bomb the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., last fall. Katyanne Marie Kibby, 25, was indicted in June by a federal grand jury in Austin. She is accused of retaliating against Brandon Darby, the community activist-turned-informant who helped federal prosecutors win convictions against Bradley Neal Crowder, 24, and David Guy McKay, 23. . . . Crowder and McKay built eight of the gasoline firebombs but didn’t use them, a fact law enforcement officials credited to Darby. Members of the Austin protest community heaped scorn on Darby, saying he had betrayed longtime friends and colleagues. ”
Say, wanna bet that if it had been “Tea Party” protesters building the firebombs instead of lefty Austinites this would be getting a lot more press? It’s all about the narrative . . . .
THE GENEROSITY OF THE MISTRESS: “I see my affair with her husband as a sort of service. She is no longer responsible for his sexual pleasure. As a result of having found a suitable outlet, he is better able to focus on his duties and responsibilities as her mate.”
LIKE BATTERED WIVES: The thrill is gone for Obama and the media. “Reporters who traveled with the Obama campaign tell horror stories about the organization — dishonesty, rudeness and abysmal access. But those reporters still served up the glowing coverage.” But now they’re beginning to fall out of love.
August 24, 2009
CAUGHT ON TAPE: Mario Cuomo criticizes Obama. “A lot has changed this summer, hasn’t it?”
Plus, Summer of Discontent: “Mr. Obama’s charismatic moment has passed. . . . The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long.”
OBAMA VS. CHENEY: Round Two.
A RECESS RALLY REPORT FROM KNOXVILLE.
SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM from the gang at Little Green Footballs.
ANDREW BREITBART: BOYCOTTING THE BOYCOTTERS. “Mr. Mackey missed the key ingredient of modern liberalism: intolerance to the ideas of nonliberals. And this miscalculation may prove to be devastating to his multibillion-dollar business. Everywhere one looks these days, the intolerance of self-avowed liberals is on display. Especially since Mr. Obama came to power.” On the other hand, the share price of Whole Foods suggests that the publicity isn’t doing any harm . . . .
UPDATE: Reader Matt Volk writes: “I was in the new, huge Whole Foods in Lincoln Park in Chicago on Sunday afternoon. I am a Whole Foods convert thanks to the CEO’s column. The multistory parking garage for the store was at least 80% full. This boycott seems to be not taking here in the heart of Obama country.”
A.C. KLEINHEIDER: Karl Rove and Jim Cooper to Discuss Health Reform in Nashville?
HOPE AND CHANGE SAME: Obama to nominate Bernanke to a second term as chairman of Federal Reserve.
KATIE GRANJU on Evil Close To Home.
ON PJTV: Stephen Green’s Hair Of The Dog. Highly amusing, as always.
POWER LINE: The CIA Report: What Does It Say? “Having read the CIA report in its entirety, I am struck once again by how humane our treatment of captured terrorists was intended to be, and generally was. The handful of incidents highlighted by press accounts of the report came to light precisely because they were reported as deviations from the treatment of detainees that had been authorized by DOJ lawyers. As a threshold matter, it is important to note that the allegations that have been reported in the press are just that–allegations, sometimes based on hearsay. The CIA’s Inspector General singled out two incidents for special investigation, both of which involved the same debriefer–not a trained interrogator. . . . One aspect of the IG’s report that has been absent from most press accounts is its account of the effectiveness of these early interrogations by the CIA. . . . The report also notes that six years ago, the incidents it describes were referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution, and DOJ determined that there was nothing there that merited prosecution. For Barack Obama and Eric Holder to reverse that decision six years later, in hopes of political gain, is deeply contemptible.”
UPDATE: ABC News: CIA Releases Documents Fmr. Vice President Cheney Requested Be Made Public. “The documents back up the Bush administration’s claims that intelligence gleaned from captured terror suspects had thwarted terrorist attacks, but the visible portions of the heavily redacted reports do not indicate whether such information was obtained as a result of controversial interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding. “
TALIBAN COLLAPSING IN PAKISTAN? Let’s hope.
SNOW LEOPARD ships on Friday. I’ll probably wait a little while to upgrade.
HOPE AND CHANGE: Extraordinary Rendition to Continue Under Obama.
WITCH-HUNTING THE CIA: You know, I should feel bad about this, but given the CIA’s extensive efforts to undercut Bush, well, I hope they’re enjoying the new administration.