HEH: “Featured below, from the Dallas tea party, yet another example of the ferocious white-power structure that consumed the protests. Little-known fact, per James Carville: She was the only attendee, among hundreds of thousands, who was less than 72 years old.”
Archive for 2009
April 21, 2009
HMM: NH Dem Boss: Tax Protesters “Have Lost Their Minds”. Well, then, judging by this Rasmussen poll there must be a lot of crazy people out there — including a majority of “mainstream Democrats.”
CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Senator’s husband cashes in on crisis: Feinstein sought $25 billion for agency that awarded contract to spouse. “On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms. Mrs. Feinstein’s intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn’t a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; and the agency is supposed to operate from money it raises from bank-paid insurance payments – not direct federal dollars.”
ANNOUNCING THIS YEAR’S Pulitzer Prize winners.
GALLUP: Big Gov’t. Still Viewed as Greater Threat Than Big Business.
Plus, from Rasmussen: “Most Americans trust the judgment of the public more than political leaders, view the federal government as a special interest group and believe that big business and big government work together against the interests of investors and consumers.”
And, also from Rasmussen, 52% Worry Government Will Do Too Much to Fix Economy. “On many issues, there is a bigger gap between the Political Class and Mainstream Americans than between Mainstream Republicans and Mainstream Democrats.”
DANIEL DREZNER: Explaining the Obama Doctrine.
NEXT-GENERATION NUCLEAR PLANT breaks ground in China.
JIM LINDGREN: None dare call it fascism.
April 20, 2009
NOSTALGIA: The Obama Administration: That 70s Show.
TURNING THE TRUTH into an urban legend? Or something.
100 MILLION DOLLARS! The obligatory Obama/Dr. Evil mashup.
MAX BOOT: Sometimes a handshake is just a handshake.
My reaction to the sight of President Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez was a little different from that of many on the Right. Newt Gingrich, for one, compared Obama to Jimmy Carter and suggested that he was bolstering “the enemies of America.”
That’s a harsh and — I think — slightly premature judgment. All Obama did was shake the guy’s hand, and offer him a smile. Far from being a disaster, this could actually be a smart strategic move. Chavez, after all, derives much of his demagogic appeal from his claim to be an inveterate enemy of Uncle Sam. He thrives off provoking us and using the resulting reaction to “prove” that we are as bad as he claims.
Obama is a lot harder to demonize than George W. Bush, however, and by shaking hands with Chavez the president may be undercutting his appeal more effectively than anything Bush did. If Obama starts making substantive concessions to Chavez or other dictators, I will start to get worried. But I don’t think anyone should have a meltdown over a handshake.
That seems right to me.
IT’S THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY of Jimmy Carter’s killer-rabbit encounter.
EXPLORING OUTER SPACE using telepresence.
HOW TO deflect asteroids and save the earth. “You may want to thank David French in advance. Because, in the event that a comet or asteroid comes hurtling toward Earth, he may be the guy responsible for saving the entire planet.”
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Veterinarians: Don’t Own Pets That Can Eat You.
SPENGLER unveiled.
THE CARNIVAL OF THE CAPITALISTS is up!
USING THE IPHONE as a car key?
A REPORT ON THE PUEBLO, COLORADO “TEA PARTY.”
INDIA launches a spy satellite built by Israelis.
PJTV: Walking out on Ahmadinejad: Roger Simon and Claudia Rosett report from the Durban II conference in Geneva.