Archive for 2010

MEGAN MCARDLE RESPONDS TO talking points on polls and Medicare: “Now, Medicare popularity did improve after it passed. On the other hand, it wasn’t passed despite terrible polling, with a controversial process, by a political party that was tanking in popularity thanks to a grinding recession.”

WANT AN ELECTRIC CAR? Home electrical upgrades for fast recharging can cost thousands. And it’s not just at home: “Many people will want to recharge their car while at work due to longer commutes that use up most of a battery’s capacity in just one direction from home to work. So affordable pluggable hybrid electric vehicles PHEVs and plain EVs will generate workplace demand for parking lot electric chargers too.”

Plus this: “Families with teens will need 4 car recharging capacity. Imagine the future real estate ads.”

ANN ALTHOUSE ON ERIC HOLDER’S POSTURING: “If bin Laden openly surrendered or he was trapped and utterly defenseless, we couldn’t gun him down. And then what would Holder do? Read Miranda rights to bin Laden’s not-yet-a-corpse? Try him like a Manson? Ah, but Holder doesn’t want you to think about that. He suddenly wants to strike the Dick Cheney bring-me-his-head-on-a-platter pose… until we stop calling him weak, his blood cools down, and he can get back to lecturing us about America’s abstract ideals.”

SHOCKER: New Poll Finds Americans Really, Really Do Not Want ObamaCare.

UPDATE: Bryan Preston emails from Texas:

Hey Glenn, here’s my take on how things look on ObamaCare this afternoon. First, the Kucinich gambit this morning shows where Pelosi thinks she can make up votes – on the left. The Dem leadership is undoubtely hoping to pick up some more centrist votes if they can, but with even liberalish Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett being noncommittal as he answers constituent queries today, they probably suspect that they’re losing the center faster by the minute.

Another data point: For the first time ever, liberal trolls are showing up on our state GOP facebook page to argue in favor of Slaughter and even promote the astroturf Coffee Party. Up to now, liberals never bothered with that page. But suddenly they’re active on the page and teaming up against our usual commenters. It’s a safe bet that OfA is involved in this somehow.

Indeed.

A CHINA SUPERBUBBLE GOING TO BURST? “China’s defiance of the global recession is not a miracle – it’s a superbubble. When it deflates, it will spell big trouble for all of us.”

IS IT WRONG TO make speeding-Prius jokes? One of my colleagues thinks the whole Prius thing will actually be good for Toyota — before, Priuses were associated with smug hipsters, but now they’ll be associated with death-defying daredevils!

MICHAEL YON: Man Dogs.

MORE PROBLEMS with the Slaughter Solution? The biggest problem, of course, is that two weeks ago Obama was calling for an up-or-down vote, and now the House is doing its best to avoid just that . . . .

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Obama’s New Partner: Al Sharpton. Kinda like if Bush had brought in David Duke to solidify things in the South . . . .