Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal:
Amid his Reaganite sunshine and new admiration for the wonders of private enterprise, President Obama’s political message in Tuesday’s State of the Union address boils down to this: Republicans, it’s your budget problem now.
The deficit is awful and must be cut, entitlements are unsustainable and must be addressed, the tax code hurts growth and must be reformed, and government should be smaller and more efficient, but don’t look to Mr. Obama for ideas on how to fix any of this. Go ahead and cut spending and Medicare if you want, Republicans. The President will get back to you with his reply as time and politics allow.
After you, Congressman Ryan.
As political strategy, perhaps this will turn out to be shrewd. Republicans will advance their budget and spending cuts, Democrats will attack them, the voters will sour, and Mr. Obama will ride to re-election. It happened in 1996.
As leadership, however, this is an abdication that contradicts Mr. Obama’s rhetorical flourishes about a new bipartisanship and the need “to merge, consolidate and reorganize the federal government.” Beyond his welcome if vague support for reducing corporate tax rates in return for closing loopholes, Mr. Obama offered not a single new idea or spending cut. The bulk of his address was devoted to his familiar priorities that he said Republicans should spend more on. Green energy subsidies. High-speed rail!
This is the weakness of the American political system. An elected leader may have no plans at all and be gifted only in the talent of talking impressively. Such a deficit in talent is never really detected because it’s never really tested.
You just say “I’m going to make that deficit go away” — in majestic, sonorous tones. Then you make deals with Congress to spend money like it’s going out of style…at the end of the road every single budget has had a massive deficit and the public debt has ballooned, so you just say “aw, it’s those other guys who were fighting me. Their fault.” Again, sounding super-duper-sophisticated, and you get away with it.
There is no actual mechanism in the system to deal with this. It’s all up to the vigilance — or lack thereof — of the electorate. Blame the voter.
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It’s the triumph of Antonio Gramsci. That’s why the voters are so stupid.
Gramsci, you’ll recall, had the brilliant insight that socialism must be built from within, by occupying and co-opting the power structures of “capitalist” society. The entire American educational establishment has been in the hands of idiot Marxoids (redundant, I know) for 50 years. How’s that working out? Little Johnny respects Native American culture and has “self-esteem” out the blowhole, but reading comprehension? Basic arithmetic? The fundamentals of logic? Ehhhh, notsomuch.
The saddest thing is that Gramsci’s most loyal foot soldiers couldn’t even spell his name right, much less recognize any of his ideas. They are, if anything, dumber than the kids they purport to educate (Thomas Sowell looks to have a good book on just what goes on in “colleges” of “education”). If we ever want to dig ourselves out of this societal hole, before we shoot all the lawyers (note to Maddow etc.: speaking metaphorically here), we need to shoot every single member of every single teachers’ union (again: metaphorically. I don’t want them dead; I just want them sent somewhere they can never do any more harm. They’re all so hot on “social justice,” teaching that instead of, say, math…. why not send ’em all to the Peace Corps? I hear Outer Mongolia’s nice this time of year).
- Severian | 01/27/2011 @ 08:18