THOUGHTS AND IDIOCY
1. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on trade from his book, The Dignity of Difference:
In an age of resurgent tribalism, the global market offers—as trade has always done—an alternative script to difference as a source of conflict, and therefore tragedy. It turns difference into a form of blessing from which not only I, but others also, benefit. Adam Smith was not wrong when he invested the market with a quasi-religious significance in speaking of the ‘invisible hand’ by which our individual contributions combine to enhance the general wealth of nations. Economic virtues—hard work, inventiveness, the profit motive—have always seemed tame when set against the heroic virtues of military societies. But military societies kill. Wars destroy. Valour, courage, dying in a noble cause seem heroic from the point of view of victors, but not from their victims.
If the price of war has become too high, which it has, we will have to value the habits of trade—the only thing that—throughout history, has brought tribes and nations together, benefiting from one another and from their several and different skills. The interlinking of nations in a network of trade causes many problems to which I now turn. But it is also our last best hope for peace. Unlike the battlefield, the market is an arena in which both sides can win.
2. Or to quote Lord Acton, “Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is the highest political end.”
3. E.J. Dionne correctly notes that much of today’s opposition to President Obama’s agenda (and to the expansion of government under Pres. Bush) “is a matter of principle” What fuels the grass-roots rage,” Feb. 11) – a principle that, to Mr. Dionne’s bewilderment
This principle, however, is no bizarre obsession of semi-literate Bubbas and Bobbi-Joes who poisoned their brains by inhaling too many NASCAR fumes but, rather, is the foundation of Anglo-American freedom.
4. Charles J. Ogletree Jr., another Harvard law professor and a mentor of Mr. Obama, said, “He can enter your space and organize your thoughts without necessarily revealing his own concerns and conflicts.” The "Obama is all things to all people" meme comes through loud and clear.
5. I said Scott Brown would be a sellout even before he was elected but better than Coakley. “It will be interesting to see how Scott Brown gets re-elected in Massachusetts if he fails to work with the President. He has already thrown the tea party under the bus by correctly pointing out that they were not instrumental in his election.” And he won’t be reelected when he sells out.
6. Victor Davis Hanson: “The strange thing is that these wild swings in civilization are at their bases psychological: decline is one of choice rather than necessity. Plague or lead poisoning or famine did not destroy Rome. We could balance our budget tomorrow without a great deal of sacrifice; we could eliminate 10% worth of government spending that is not essential; we could create our own energy with massive nuclear power investment, and more extraction of gas, oil, and coal. We could instill a tragic rather than therapeutic world view that would mean more responsibilities rather than endlessly more rights. We could do this all right—but too many feel such medicine is worse than the malady, and so we probably won’t and can’t. An enjoyable slow decline is apparently preferable to a short, but painful rethinking and rebirth.”
6. I constantly come across those who profess amazement in essentially these terms: “But Barack Obama is soooo smart! He’s so eloquent, such a brilliant speaker! All of his advisors come from the best schools! They’re all the right people! Why aren’t things going right? Why are they doing things that are…so stupid?” Why indeed. Lead in the pipes and drinking vessels is almost certainly not the answer this time. Drinking the Kool-Aid? Perhaps.
7. “Read His Lips: Middle-Class Taxes!” Or as Michelle Malkin writes, “Don’t believe anything that passes his lips.”
8. Update: Related thoughts from Victor Davis Hanson, who writes, “The Truth Is a Precious Commodity:”
At some point — I think it was around mid-January — the public collectively shrugged and concluded of Obama, “I don’t trust anything that this guy says.” And when that happens in American politics, it is almost impossible to restore any modicum of credibility. All we are left with now is three more years of the president’s “Bush did it” mantra and a buffoonish Robert Gibbs, like some strutting carnival barker, showing off ink on his palm to a bored press corps.
9. Jim Geraghty posits, “Maybe Reporters Should Bring YouTube Clips to Obama Interviews”, given the number of The Won’s promises that have reached, as Jim would say, their expiration dates.
10. It is hardly surprising, however, that many of Palin’s detractors jumped at the chance to blast her for the bracelet without even bothering to confirm the basic facts. It was a case of assuming the worst, seeing what they expected to see. They considered the incident to be only one more piece of evidence confirming what they believed they already knew, and what they feel should be self-evident to any thinking person: Sarah Palin is a stupid, lying, child-exploiting, shameless, opportunistic right-wing nut. That there might be a more benign explanation for any of her behavior does not even occur to them, and therefore no further fact-checking would be needed.
This rush to judgment is not the exception but rather the rule when criticizing Sarah. Palin-hatred is as old — and as persistent — as her presence on the national scene (that’s “hatred,” as distinguished from mere disagreement on issues). There have been countless explanations for it. If anything, the phenomenon is over-determined, representing a toxic brew of class warfare, misogyny, envy (much of this coming from women), and elitism.
11. “no, you do not want someone who’s smarter than you; you want someone who’s smart enough to acknowledge that you’re smarter at what you do than they are. I think Sarah Palin is such a person. The most prominent liberals are vastly, conspicuously not.”
12. "There are kids who are obese in this state who are going to school hungry."--Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado, quoted in the Denver Post, Feb. 12
1. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on trade from his book, The Dignity of Difference:
In an age of resurgent tribalism, the global market offers—as trade has always done—an alternative script to difference as a source of conflict, and therefore tragedy. It turns difference into a form of blessing from which not only I, but others also, benefit. Adam Smith was not wrong when he invested the market with a quasi-religious significance in speaking of the ‘invisible hand’ by which our individual contributions combine to enhance the general wealth of nations. Economic virtues—hard work, inventiveness, the profit motive—have always seemed tame when set against the heroic virtues of military societies. But military societies kill. Wars destroy. Valour, courage, dying in a noble cause seem heroic from the point of view of victors, but not from their victims.
If the price of war has become too high, which it has, we will have to value the habits of trade—the only thing that—throughout history, has brought tribes and nations together, benefiting from one another and from their several and different skills. The interlinking of nations in a network of trade causes many problems to which I now turn. But it is also our last best hope for peace. Unlike the battlefield, the market is an arena in which both sides can win.
2. Or to quote Lord Acton, “Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is the highest political end.”
3. E.J. Dionne correctly notes that much of today’s opposition to President Obama’s agenda (and to the expansion of government under Pres. Bush) “is a matter of principle” What fuels the grass-roots rage,” Feb. 11) – a principle that, to Mr. Dionne’s bewilderment
This principle, however, is no bizarre obsession of semi-literate Bubbas and Bobbi-Joes who poisoned their brains by inhaling too many NASCAR fumes but, rather, is the foundation of Anglo-American freedom.
4. Charles J. Ogletree Jr., another Harvard law professor and a mentor of Mr. Obama, said, “He can enter your space and organize your thoughts without necessarily revealing his own concerns and conflicts.” The "Obama is all things to all people" meme comes through loud and clear.
5. I said Scott Brown would be a sellout even before he was elected but better than Coakley. “It will be interesting to see how Scott Brown gets re-elected in Massachusetts if he fails to work with the President. He has already thrown the tea party under the bus by correctly pointing out that they were not instrumental in his election.” And he won’t be reelected when he sells out.
6. Victor Davis Hanson: “The strange thing is that these wild swings in civilization are at their bases psychological: decline is one of choice rather than necessity. Plague or lead poisoning or famine did not destroy Rome. We could balance our budget tomorrow without a great deal of sacrifice; we could eliminate 10% worth of government spending that is not essential; we could create our own energy with massive nuclear power investment, and more extraction of gas, oil, and coal. We could instill a tragic rather than therapeutic world view that would mean more responsibilities rather than endlessly more rights. We could do this all right—but too many feel such medicine is worse than the malady, and so we probably won’t and can’t. An enjoyable slow decline is apparently preferable to a short, but painful rethinking and rebirth.”
6. I constantly come across those who profess amazement in essentially these terms: “But Barack Obama is soooo smart! He’s so eloquent, such a brilliant speaker! All of his advisors come from the best schools! They’re all the right people! Why aren’t things going right? Why are they doing things that are…so stupid?” Why indeed. Lead in the pipes and drinking vessels is almost certainly not the answer this time. Drinking the Kool-Aid? Perhaps.
7. “Read His Lips: Middle-Class Taxes!” Or as Michelle Malkin writes, “Don’t believe anything that passes his lips.”
8. Update: Related thoughts from Victor Davis Hanson, who writes, “The Truth Is a Precious Commodity:”
At some point — I think it was around mid-January — the public collectively shrugged and concluded of Obama, “I don’t trust anything that this guy says.” And when that happens in American politics, it is almost impossible to restore any modicum of credibility. All we are left with now is three more years of the president’s “Bush did it” mantra and a buffoonish Robert Gibbs, like some strutting carnival barker, showing off ink on his palm to a bored press corps.
9. Jim Geraghty posits, “Maybe Reporters Should Bring YouTube Clips to Obama Interviews”, given the number of The Won’s promises that have reached, as Jim would say, their expiration dates.
10. It is hardly surprising, however, that many of Palin’s detractors jumped at the chance to blast her for the bracelet without even bothering to confirm the basic facts. It was a case of assuming the worst, seeing what they expected to see. They considered the incident to be only one more piece of evidence confirming what they believed they already knew, and what they feel should be self-evident to any thinking person: Sarah Palin is a stupid, lying, child-exploiting, shameless, opportunistic right-wing nut. That there might be a more benign explanation for any of her behavior does not even occur to them, and therefore no further fact-checking would be needed.
This rush to judgment is not the exception but rather the rule when criticizing Sarah. Palin-hatred is as old — and as persistent — as her presence on the national scene (that’s “hatred,” as distinguished from mere disagreement on issues). There have been countless explanations for it. If anything, the phenomenon is over-determined, representing a toxic brew of class warfare, misogyny, envy (much of this coming from women), and elitism.
11. “no, you do not want someone who’s smarter than you; you want someone who’s smart enough to acknowledge that you’re smarter at what you do than they are. I think Sarah Palin is such a person. The most prominent liberals are vastly, conspicuously not.”
12. "There are kids who are obese in this state who are going to school hungry."--Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado, quoted in the Denver Post, Feb. 12
posted by CAROLYN at 4:24 PM
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