A Wild Stab

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not
the beam that is in thine own eye?"
                                     Matthew 7:3

"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty
when the government's purposes are beneficial. The greatest dangers
to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning
but without understanding."
	                      Justice Louis Brandeis
					       
"Go ahead, make my day."
                          Inspector Harry Callahan

Things Al-Qeada can do to help Kerry:

1. Declare Fatwa on pre-packaged condiments.

2. Purchase “Lone Star” Chain and make menu vegan.

3. Launch major spam operation to get American men to reduce size of their penises.

4. Flood Botox market to drive down price.

5. Tell European leaders to stop talking to him...or else.

Or is it things Kerry can do to help Al-Qeada? I get so confused.

The More Things Change...

On October 8, 1903 Samuel Langley's first attempt at manned, powered, heavier than air flight failed. The New York Times stated in an editorial:

"The ridiculous fiasco which attended the attempt at aerial navigation in the Langley flying machine was not unexpected. The flying machine which will really fly might be evolved by the combined and continuous efforts of mathematicians and mechanicians in from one to ten million years . . ."

Two months later the Wright Brothers made their historic first flight.

Krugman can't be that old, can he?

Cal-ee-for-nee-ah, hier Ich komme...

I don't think Republicans should be so sanguine about the Schwarzenegger victory. It seems to me that his election indicates more a popular disgust with both parties and their entrenched bureaucracy than support for conservative values. In his stated positions he's as much like a Democrat as a Republican. And in certain expressed beliefs, he's almost a libertarian. You might call him a Republicratarian.

During the last decade Ross Perot, Jesse Ventura, and now Arnold Schwarzenegger have ridden the wave of popular frustration with establishment politicians and bureaucrats, and many people see the two parties converging in action if not in word. The passage of laws that benefit the general populace are often viewed not as intentional but coincidental. They feel the only avenue left to counter the career politicrats is to challenge their power with candidates from outside the political/legal/bureaucratic fraternity. This is not good news for either party and they know it.

Thus, as with Perot and Ventura, the parties and the bureaucrats, along with their useful idiots in the media, will squash Arnold like a bug. After the legislature gets through with him his back will look like a knife convention, the bureaucrats will go from park to reverse, and the best headlines he'll see are "True Lies" and "Kindergarten Gov".

So congratulations, Governor Schwarzenegger, and good luck!. You'll soon realize that with victories like this, who needs defeats.

I truly hope I'm wrong, but I'm not optimistic.

OK, how about a joke?

What's the French word for victory?

There is none.

Actually, there is one. It's "victoire". They just haven't had to use it for a while.

A few days ago I read an article by Jonathan Chait titled "The Case for Bush Hatred". It was so juvenile I must respond childishly.

The Case for Chait Hatred
You About Mad
by G. H.

I hate Jonathan Chait. There I said it. I think his article ranks him among the worst columnists in U.S. history. He reminds me of a kid in grade school who screamed at anyone who disagreed with him. If I knew how he walked and talked, I'm sure I'd hate that as well.

I abhor the way he justifies hating Bush because all his pompous pals hate Bush. And since some people hate Bush more than he does, his hatred is reasonable.

I loathe his portrayal of Bush as a dope and Clinton as a genius. So Bush doesn't know who Pollard is, if you'd asked Clinton what a hummer was his first response wouldn't have been "General Purpose Military Vehicle". And if he thinks a mediocre Yale graduate is stupid, what would he think of my Community College degree. If it takes the likes of Chait to lead us dolts into the light, I'll stick with darkness.

I foam at the mouth when he relies, not on facts, but on other media sources to bolster his arguments. You know: "According to the Times, a senior Church official has confirmed that President Bush did indeed spring from the loins of Satan". Columnist Chait goes further, citing other columnists such as Joe Klein, James Traub, Byron York, Bob Novak, and even cartoonist Tom Toles. Novak and Toles? Why not Ren and Stimpy?

But why I really hate columnist Chait, what makes my eyeballs bleed from fury, is that in order to write this I had to read his entire IRS-Code sized screed, six pages single-spaced, nineteen paragraphs, and four sections. Four freaking sections! I've got seven words for Columnist Chait: Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style". He should read it. It's not much longer than his article.

There, that feels better. Well, not really.

Of course, I don't actually hate Jonathan Chait. I don't even know the guy. What bothers me about Mr. Chait's article is that this sort of factless attack is almost becoming the norm in the media. It seems that reasoned debate is being abandoned for SmackDown journalism. It's crude, insulting, and fake. It serves no one, and, in the end, discourse lies crumpled on the floor.

Now I feel better.