The Random is at Work

Gates Of Delirium
Then came an exchange that is seared into my memory. Biden said he was ready to move forward, but the military "should consider the president's decision as an order."

"I am giving an order," Obama quickly said.

I was shocked. I had never heard a president explicitly frame a decision as a direct order. With the U.S. military, it is completely unnecessary. As secretary of defense, I had never issued an "order" to get something done; nor had I heard any commander do so. Obama's "order," at Biden's urging, demonstrated the complete unfamiliarity of both men with the American military culture. (Robert M. Gates, Wall Street Journal, 1/12/2014)

The Legitimate Media, providing 24 hour coverage of Conegate in New Jersey, missed this gem from Robert Gates's new book. Actually, they did not miss it, they just ignored it. To our ear, it should go down as one of the all-time most memorable Obama quotes along with "They cling to guns and religion", "You can keep your plan", and "I did not set a red line." 

Speaking of Conegate or Bridgegate, here's a good one on the difference between Christie and Obama:

Accountability update: More heads have rolled over ‘Bridgegate’ than the IRS scandal, Benghazi and botched Obamacare rollout combined (Doug Powers, MichelleMalkin.com, 1/9/2014)


Victim Alert!
To spend time alone with the man she married four months ago, Ebony Fisher, 25, drives nearly three hours through the flat cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta until she pulls into a gravel lot next to the state’s rural penitentiary.

She joins her husband, who in 2008 began serving a 60-year sentence for rape, aggravated assault and arson, in a small room with a metal bunk and a bathroom. (New York Times, 1/13/2014)

The Times bemoans the end of conjugal visits for prisoners in Mississippi. What exactly did Fisher's hubby do? Well the article explains: 

"He is serving time for molesting his former wife’s daughter..."

OK, got it.


Tendencies
People signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s federal and state marketplaces tend to be older and potentially less healthy, officials said Monday, a demographic mix that could cause premiums to rise in the future if the pattern persists. But officials expressed optimism that more young people will sign up in the months ahead, calling it “solid, solid news” for the health care law. (New York Times, 1/13/2014)

We are confused. Less younger, healthier people sign up, but it is "solid news." Reading on we learn: 

So far, 24 percent of private plan enrollees are ages 18 to 34, a percentage that is lower than what officials had hoped for this group. 

Where is the "solid news?" Perhaps it is this:

Nearly 80 percent of those who selected a plan qualified for federal subsidies to reduce their premiums, officials said.

That MUST be it! Eighty percent of enrollees getting government goodies certainly qualifies as "solid news" for Liberal redistributionists.


Declare Victory
Despite the treasured right-wing talking points, it’s increasingly clear that Obamacare is a success. (Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 1/8/2014)

There is delusion. And then there are Liberals. And finally there is Meyerson.


Minimalism
The next item on Gesture Liberalism’s agenda is to raise the minimum wage for the 23rd time. Less than 3 percent of the workforce earns the minimum; more than 60 percent of those who do earn it get a raise within a year; more than half of minimum-wage earners are students or other part-time workers from households with average incomes of $53,000. Never mind. Raising the minimum is a gesture of devotion to “equality.” (George Will, Washington Post, 1/8/2014)

Will reveals more facts about the minimum wage. Which Liberals will ignore. So they can paint opponents as uncaring. This is getting old. 


Strictly Speaking
With the United States and Iran about to embark on a critical phase of nuclear talks, President Obama is waging an intense rear-guard action to prevent Senate Democrats from supporting strict new sanctions that could upend his diplomatic efforts.

Sponsors of the bill, which would aim to drive Iran’s oil exports down to zero, have secured the backing of 59 senators, putting them within striking distance of a two-thirds majority that could override Mr. Obama’s threatened veto. Republicans overwhelmingly support the bill. So far 16 Democrats have broken with the president, and the bill’s sponsors hope to get more. (New York Times, 1/14/2014)

Obstructionist Democrats! 

Designs on a Moving Violation

Funny Headline!
New York Times sells Boston Globe at 93 percent loss, returns to advising America how economy should be run (Doug Powers, MichelleMalkin.com, 8/3/2013)


Signal Fire
In a speech on Tuesday, President Obama signaled that Washington may finally be returning to the place where the financial crisis started. With the housing market on the mend, Mr. Obama said it was time to “wind down” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (NYT, 8/6/2013)

Which, of course, reminds us to, in turn, remind readers once again of the role of Democrats in the housing market collapse and the financial crisis. Famously it was Barney Frank who browbeat Fannie/Freddie officials to "roll the dice" on increasing sub-prime lending. His words and the YouTube video are out there for EVERYONE to see. Liberals thought it would be just a wonderful thing for humanity if everyone owned their home, whether or not they could really afford it. 


Confrontation
The challenge that confronts us is how we will live with that threat. We have created an economy of fear, an industry of fear, a national psychology of fear. Al Qaeda could never have achieved that on its own. We have inflicted it on ourselves.

Over the coming years many more Americans will die in car crashes, of gunshot wounds inflicted by family members and by falling off ladders than from any attack by al Qaeda.

There is always the nightmare of terrorists acquiring and using a weapon of mass destruction. But nothing would give our terrorist enemies greater satisfaction than that we focus obsessively on that remote possibility, and restrict our lives and liberties accordingly. (Ted Koppel, WSJ, 8/6/2013)

In a bizarre and almost incomprehensible Op-ed, Liberal journalist Koppel gives us this screed. It is is close to the Obama worldview which holds that we should just basically ignore the threat of Islamofacism. Yeah, that is a smart idea.


Tip Top
The U.S. economy has not stagnated over the past four decades, but so much of its wealth has been claimed by the very top that most Americans have experienced it as a zero-sum game in which they’ve lost ground. As tax rules favored the wealthy, as employees lost the power to bargain for their wages, as globalization reduced the incomes of millions of workers, the rich grew richer at everyone else’s expense. That’s the reality that today’s air travel illustrates, as the comfortable standard seat that once was the norm goes the way of the dwindling middle class. (Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 8/6/2013)

But wealth is NOT a zero sum game! Do Liberals think that Steve Jobs got wealthy because he took wealth from others? It's preposterous, but - as a wealthy Vermonter once told us - Liberals believe that if you are wealthy, then you must have cheated someone. By the way, Meyerson's beef is that airlines offer first class seats. You cannot make this stuff up!

Public Struggle

Lynch Pin
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) scheduled a showdown vote for Wednesday, putting the linchpin of Democrats' gun-control efforts on the line even while Democrats appeared short of the votes needed to pass it. The bipartisan proposal, from Sens. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), would broaden background checks to all online and gun-show sales. Currently, only federally licensed dealers are required to conduct checks, which aim to screen for people with criminal and mental-health histories that make them ineligible to buy guns. (WSJ, 4/16/2013)

With respect to proposed gun legislation, the question that must be asked is this: Would this legislation have prevented the Newtown massacre? Given that the answer is no, what is the point? It is just politicians chasing their tails while pretending to be useful.

Here are some questions which might get to the heart of Newtown:

• Why did a mother use guns in an attempt to bond with her mentally ill son?
• Why were the guns not locked up?
• Why was the killer not institutionalized?
• What was the role of the violent video games found in the killer's basement on his mental health?
• Would an armed guard at the school have prevented or lessened the tragedy?

Now we are talking. 


Spiraling
Problem is, the Wal-Mart model of employment and service not only reflects but also reinforces the declining economic prospects of the majority of Americans. The nation’s largest private-sector employer has used its market power to impose its low-wage model all along its supply chain, leaving millions of Americans with no shopping option other than the kind of discount, and frustrating, experience that Wal-Mart provides. The U.S. economy that Wal-Mart has built — with plenty of help from Wall Street and the government — is in the shape of a downward spiral, and it will take all our ingenuity, and a mass movement for worker power, to free ourselves from that path. (Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 4/16/2013)

Read an article - any article - about the ouster of J.C. Penney's CEO and the story is the same: Ron Johnson's ill-fated attempt to move the company away from the cycle of high nominal prices offset by discounts and couponing. Now along comes Liberal Op-ed writer Meyerson to set us straight. The real problem with J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart and other retailers? Not enough workers and low wages to boot! With analytical skills like this, the Washington Post had better make sure that the credit desk at Goldman Sachs doesn't recruit Meyerson away. 

We might have suggested that whatever problems retailers might be having could be tied to the sluggish economy and continuing concerns about the costs to companies of Obamacare. Who knew the answer was simply to hire more workers and pay them more? 


Bury Thee
At Ludgate Circus, close to St. Paul’s, a small group of protesters gathered, some with banners reading: “Now bury Thatcherism.” Some jeered and shouted, “good riddance.” (NYT, 4/17/2013)

Some day former President Jimmy Carter will pass. Whatever our differences with the former president, we will NOT dance on his grave. 


No Show
The official American delegation named by the White House is led by two more former secretaries of state, George P. Shultz and James A. Baker 3d. But some British Conservatives have complained that President Obama did not send a senior serving member of his administration. (NYT, 4/17/2013)

First, he returned the Churchill bust and then he snubs Thatcher. This is how Obama treats our stalwart ally.


Rank and File
Anthony D. Weiner has not yet said whether he will run for mayor of New York. But he already ranks among the leading Democratic candidates in the race, trailing only one other contender, Christine C. Quinn, in a poll of voters released on Tuesday. (NYT, 4/17/2013)

Run Weiner, Run!

On The Fence

Sensible
Having first proposed and demanded the sequester, it would make sense that the president lead the effort to replace it. Unfortunately, he has put forth no detailed plan that can pass Congress, and the Senate—controlled by his Democratic allies—hasn't even voted on a solution, let alone passed one. By contrast, House Republicans have twice passed plans to replace the sequester with common-sense cuts and reforms that protect national security. (John Boehner, WSJ, 2/19/2013)

There is a part of us that wonders if sensible Democrats feel the same way about Nancy Pelosi that sensible Republicans feel about John Boehner. Namely, both might prefer a different spokesperson. Boehner is at times awkward and inarticulate and has let Obama get the best of him. Nonetheless, we were thrilled to read his Wall Street Journal piece. No doubt pushed by RedStateVT which has been insistently recycling Charles Krauthammer's reminder that the sequester was Obama's creation, Boehner finally makes this very point. It cannot be said enough as sequester nears.


Scofflaw
Voters should scoff at the idea that a $3.6 trillion government can't save one nickel of every dollar that agencies spend. The $85 billion in savings is a mere 2.3% of total spending. The agencies that the White House says can't save 5% received an average increase in their budgets of 17% in the previous five years—not counting their $276 billion stimulus bonus. (WSJ, 2/19/2013)

Truth in numbers.


Prison Time
The shift to tougher penal policies three decades ago was originally credited with helping people in poor neighborhoods by reducing crime. But now that America’s incarceration rate has risen to be the world’s highest, many social scientists find the social benefits to be far outweighed by the costs to those communities.

“Prison has become the new poverty trap,” said Bruce Western, a Harvard sociologist. “It has become a routine event for poor African-American men and their families, creating an enduring disadvantage at the very bottom of American society.” (NYT, 2/18/2013)

Loved this one from the Times. Long prison sentences are a major contributor to poverty. We don't even know where to begin. 


Argumentative
Indeed, the same logic that argues for setting a minimum wage also argues for the government setting wage standards more generally. The government could require businesses above a certain size to increase employees’ wages in line with the economy’s productivity increases, for example, exempting those companies that experienced losses the previous year.

That will never happen, of course (and might be a bureaucratic nightmare if it did). But what are more plausible scenarios for jump-starting Americans’ earnings? A better-educated workforce might command more income, but incomes in most professions have been stagnating as well.

If wages are to rise, the only alternative to giving the government wage-setting authority is giving employees the power to bargain. Today, that power has just about vanished. With union membership down to just 6.6 percent of the private-sector workforce, the overwhelming majority of U.S. workers have no power to bargain for their share of company revenue, and those few who do have a weak hand. Reforming labor laws so that workers could join unions or workers’ associations without fear of firing might ultimately compel chief executives to invest some of that $1.7 trillion on hand to training and rewarding their workers, even if it means they can’t buy back as many of their own shares. (Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 2/19/2013)

Meyerson hops around the Liberal playbook in this column from which we quote extensively. See if you can follow:

--We really need to raise the minimum wage.

--Actually that is such a great idea that the government should be able to force businesses to raise non-minimum wage workers' pay.

--OK, that probably couldn't happen. (But it would be great if it could.)

--Well then workers should at least be able to join unions. (Apparently that is not possible currently.)

Where to begin?