A TELL-ALL EXPOSE with nothing to tell.
Archive for 2011
May 24, 2011
CORRECTION: 112 YEARS LATE.
That’s a new record. Heck, mine only took 8 years, and even Robert Goddard got his correction in less than half a century.
MICKEY KAUS: “The idea that President Obama is playing Latinos on the immigration amnesty issue has now become near CW. . . . It’s a good thing if Latino commentators and voters now feel Obama played them, because it’s true. . . . But the ‘we were played’ meme has also become an excuse that absolves Latino immigration activists of any culpability, avoiding the annoying need for introspection or self-criticism. To read Navarrette’s piece you’d think Latino pols and lobbyists were at worst innocent rubes (at best noble civil rights leaders) waiting for Obama to deliver long-sought justice–when they were cruelly and cynically betrayed.”
May 23, 2011
GLORIOUS RESULTS of a misspent youth. Or not.
PHIL BOWERMASTER: What’s the world coming to?
AT AMAZON, up to 50% off on bestselling toys and games. Including more of those radio-controlled helicopters.
IT’S A GROWTH AREA: New Position At The White House: Unfavorable Online Media Czar.
WAIT, ARE YOU SURE IT WASN’T JOHN KERRY? EXCLUSIVE: Strauss-Kahn Told Maid ‘Don’t You Know Who I Am?’ During Alleged Sex Attack. Kerry is even said by some to look French. . . .
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Cost of attending law school in 1960, adjusted for inflation:
Median annual tuition and fees at private law schools was $475 (range $50-$1050); adjusted for inflation, that’s $3,419 in 2011 dollars. The median for public law schools was $204 (range $50 – $692), or $1,550 in 2011 dollars. [For comparison, in 2009 the private law school median was $36,000; the public (resident) median was $16,546.]
I knew tuition inflation had wildly outrun general inflation, but this really brings it home.
THE HILL: Tort Reform Bill Takes Fire From The Right:
Opponents of a House medical malpractice bill are trumpeting an attack on the legislation from a prominent conservative lawyer.
Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett accused the GOP of practicing “fair-weather federalism” on the malpractice bill, which would preempt state laws that conflict with its cap on some jury awards.
Barnett represents the National Federation of Independent Business in its lawsuit challenging the healthcare law’s requirement that most people buy insurance. Opponents of the malpractice bill say those conservative bona fides lend credibility to his criticism.
Read the whole thing.
UGH: Flood Evacuation 101—and What to Expect When You Return. “The worst thing that can happen to a structure is that it’s flooded with the electricity still flowing and utilities turned on. So the last thing you need to do before you head out the door is kill the power and shut off the gas.”
MITT ROMNEY: The Last Man Standing? “The Republican Party has a history of nominating the fellow whose turn it is, and the reforms instituted in 2010 are apt to reinforce this propensity. They reward the candidate who finds it easiest to raise money and who is the best organized. Generally, that means the fellow who lost last time. . . . Enter Mitt Romney. Last time, he was the initial front-runner – until Mike Huckabee beat him in Iowa and exploited the tensions between evangelical Christians and Mormons in such a way as to damage his candidacy. Governor Romney knows how to run a national campaign, he has the remnants of his old organization, and he can easily raise money. Moreover, he has an advantage not unlike the one possessed by Michael Dukakis in 1988.” Okay, that part is just mean, but there’s also this: “The reason why I oppose Mitt Romney is simple, He was born to destroy everything that we have accomplished since the Tea-Party Movement emerged in the Spring of 2009. Romney is the very model of a managerial progressive. He has one great virtue. He knows how to run things; he knows how to organize things. He would make a good Secretary of Commerce. He has no understanding of the principles that underpin our government.”
I’m not crazy about Romney. The Insta-Wife kind of likes him, but the Smith women have a well-known weakness for Romney men — at least, her mother, growing up in Salt Lake City, had a crush on one of the Romney boys in high school. But if he’s the nominee, I think a lot of Tea Party folks will be less motivated.
I’m thinking that the response might be for Tea Party folks to focus more on House and Senate races. Even a squishy Republican President will be less squishy if the House and Senate are Tea Party friendly. And if the GOP loses the presidential election in 2012, a more Tea Party friendly Congress would limit Obama’s options. What do you think?
Related: Bill Quick: “The Palin/Cain ticket’s chances keep looking better and better.”
UPDATE: Little Miss Attila writes:
Romney is evil; we need T-Paw!
I’m going all in, especially on the Polish angle.
And reader Dave Martin writes:
If a shifty, professional politician is nominated, it will not only focus indy’s like myself on House/Senate races but also on backing a third party candidate. Prior to the 2008 election, I had never given money to any politician. Since the begining of that race, I have given to Thompson, Hoffman, Rubio, Brown and last week, Cain. If Romney or Newt get the Republican nomination, I will not play ball.
It is not a threat, it is a promise. If independents are needed to beat Obama, then give us a straight shooter for a GOP nominee and Obama will lose. Am anticipating the line “a third party vote is not a vote against Romney, it is a vote for Obama” and would like someone to frame it the other way- nominating a professional politician for the presidential race will ensure Obama gets a second term- I trust that sentiment will be understood after the McCain fail and further hope that the Tea Party movement provides all the proof any RNC types may need to support a reformer. I am probably wrong but this time I have hope for a change.
Well, the third-party threat is a credible one, this time. But, of course, if people back the right guy in the primaries, it won’t come to that.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Well, by hitting Limbaugh upon launch (“The American spirit is being crushed and discouraged by this president and the direction he’s taking this country.”), Pawlenty’s obviously taking a shot at the stop-Mitt slot. I’ve had issues with Pawlenty before, but going straight to Limbaugh suggests he’s ready to talk to the base.
MORE: The Utah Tea Party’s David Kirkham writes:
“Even a squishy Republican President will be less squishy if the House and Senate are Tea Party friendly.”
The last thing we need is squishy.
We need to draw a line in the sand between the hogs and the trough.
We need someone to stand up for everyone’s freedom, not someone who blows with the global warming wind (Pawlenty), or defends Romney care (Romney).
I emailed back to ask who he likes.
MORE STILL: He responds: “Sadly…no one. None of the above.” Well, back to the House and Senate races, I guess. . . . Or maybe Bill Kristol’s right that the next president isn’t running yet.
Also, Herman Cain says the GOP gives him no respect.
AND EVEN MORE: Reader Daniel Tenney writes:
While I am enjoying the lively debate you’ve started, I feel like I have to say a word or two in defense of Romney. I am a stalwart Tea Party supporter here in Arizona, and all of the flak that Romney gets from Tea Party types frankly troubles me. I thought the one, single overriding issue in the minds of Tea Partiers was fiscal restraint–a candidate could have any other kind of record, but if he or she promised fiscal sanity, Tea Party backing was almost a guarantee (see Brown, Scott). Isn’t his managerial, CEO-type “turnaround” leadership Romney’s biggest selling point? You can nitpick Romney’s record on social issues (which I know aren’t important to you, Glenn), disagree with him on foreign policy (where he seems just fine to me) or take RomneyCare to be heresy. But his fiscal record is more or less impeccable. He took a liberal state, with a hard-left legislature and a massive defecit, and somehow balanced the books without sending taxes through the roof. If fiscal restraint is the Tea Party’s number one issue, how is this guy not the Tea Party favorite?
Well, keep the debate going.
And Professor Stephen Clark writes: “Rove and Krauthammer amuse me with their response to Herman Cain. Since when has it become self-evident that a man with the professional accomplishments of Herman Cain is unfit to hold the office of President for not having spent the better part of his life as an elected politician and has, unforgivably, remained unknown to the likes of Rove and Krauthammer? Paging Professor Codevilla.”
CLOSING the rabbit show loophole.
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER: Tim Pawlenty Goes To Iowa, Demands An End To Farm Subsidies.
ADVICE TO LAW STUDENTS WHO WILL BE interning for judges this summer. It’s all good advice, especially the part about being nice to the secretaries.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: TUITION DISCOUNTING. “Private colleges and universities discounted tuition at unprecedented levels during the recession in a way that slowed down or reversed the growth in net revenue from tuition, according to a new report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers. The discount that surveyed colleges and universities offered for full-time, first-year students through grants and other forms of need-based and merit aid hit an all-time high of 42.4 percent in 2010, a jump from about 39 percent in 2007. The report estimates that 88 percent of students at the institutions surveyed received some institutional aid, and those students paid about half of the college or university’s sticker price.” So if you’re paying full tuition, you’re basically a sucker.
ON THE SCENE IN TORNADO-DEVASTATED JOPLIN: A first-hand report, with photos. “Thousands of homes are simply gone. As of this writing cellular and land line phone service are both spotty, the Internet is down over most of the town, and electricity is still out for almost all of the city.”
DON SURBER ON GAS PRICES: They don’t want you to travel.
On the other hand, they’re stuck themselves. “While the motorcade was making its exit, Obama’s limousine, nicknamed ‘The Beast’ for its thick armor, got stuck on a ramp. Obama and the first lady were reportedly made to get out of the car as a result.” Metaphor alert!
UPDATE: For Memorial Day, locals cut back while tourists find deals. “While gas prices fell to an average of $3.92 per gallon yesterday, down 6 cents from a week ago, automobile travel from New England is projected to fall by about 1 percent over Memorial Day compared to 2010, according to AAA. Gas prices are $1.07 higher than a year ago.”
MAURICE STUCKE: Antitrust Review of the AT&T/T-Mobile Transaction. “We find, under a rule of law approach, that the proposed acquisition is presumptively anticompetitive, and the merging parties in their public disclosures have failed to overcome this presumption. Next we find that under the Merger Guidelines, there is reason to believe that the transaction may result in higher prices to consumers under several different plausible theories. Finally, we turn to the question of possible remedies. We conclude that there is a high likelihood that divestitures will not solve the competitive problems, and make the case for enjoining the acquisition.”
WHEN THE INTERNET thinks it knows you.
ANTI-ISRAEL FAIL: “A move to get DePaul University students to call for the institution to stop selling the Sabra brand of hummus, which is owned in part by an Israeli company, failed to get enough votes.”
ERIC CANTOR AT AIPAC: Ron Radosh reports. “The House Majority Leader, a Republican member of Congress from Virginia, received a huge ovation and cheers and applause that far exceeded anything received by President Barack Obama, although a large part of AIPAC’s delegates are undoubtedly registered Democrats.”
More here.