Baffling

Catching upon some of James Delingpole's work for The Telegraph in which he notes the industrial blight that is about to be unnecessarily perpetrated upon the people of Wales in the form of wind turbines. Beautiful countryside will become disfigured, for the purpose of gaining an unreliable energy source. When you think of how many people live on an island as small as the U.K, it's remarkable such tracts of virtually unmolested land exist at all. But they do, and we'll mar them in the name of being green.

Of course, the irony of this is that we can't drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because if it's "pristine-ness." That the actual area where oil will be extracted is possibly the ugliest natural place on planet earth, that no human being would ever willingly venture there were it not for oil, that the entire industrial footprint would be the size of a medium-sized airport seem not to matter to these zealots who seem to think that  all the trouble in the world stems from American oil companies.

The idea of "American Exceptionalism" has been discussed a bit recently, and rests on a belief that we are, at the core of who we are and how we govern ourselves... different. It used to mean different in terms of being more free. Unfortunately, today we are losing many of our personal and economic freedoms, and find that the only area where we are truly different from everyone else is our unwillingness to use our natural energy resources. A tragedy is unfolding before us, and future historians, though they will have the entire record available to them, will shake their heads in wonder as they strap on their skates to get their exercise on the frozen Thames.

The Man with the Mustache

Well it's 2011. That means it's time to start seriously talking about 2012, no? Jay Nordlinger at National Review makes a good case for John Bolton. I can't say I can disagree with anything about the man; I do question his electability. Still, why not latch onto this guy during primary season instead of anybody else? When Palin and Huckabee are mentioned as possible strong candidates, I shudder. Probably because I believe it. I read something interesting the other day about the two strains of candidates emerging in the Republican primary season: ideological and managerial. Palin heads up the ideological wing and thus has huge Tea Party support. Romney heads the managerial wing and gets more traditional (and RINO) support. The managerial type is going to be more apt to get crossover milquetoast votes... those same voters that switch back and forth depending upon which way the wind is blowing.

However, I think the ideological side can attract votes too, if it's positioned strongly enough. Very few people really want huge, bloated government and higher taxes. But we have no Reagan in our midst for people to rally to. Palin is not gonna do it. Huckabee is a joke and the worst kind of candidate in that he is primarily a social conservative, and a fiscal conservative in name only. Meaning he can't win, and if somehow he did, he'd give us the same tax-and-spend BS we've had previously.

I would sleep pretty well knowing John Bolton is in charge. And I would pay pretty decent money to watch that October 2012 foreign policy debate between him and Obama. Of course, given that the debates are put on by the networks, I would guess that should Bolton miraculously get the nomination, the debate formats will miraculously change to put less emphasis on foreign policy. Still, one can dream.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/256081/man-mustache-jay-nordlinger

So...

Disappointed in some of the races. We got the ones we were supposed to get, but not many of the true toss-ups. Toomey and Kirk being the exceptions. The Tea Party certainly inspired a lot of the change, but Miller, Angle, and O'Donnell going down in flames does not bode well for 2012. On the other hand, I'm excited about Rubio, excited about Kasich, and excited about Col. Allen West winning a House seat in Florida. Disappointed McClung (the rocket scientist in Arizona) couldn't beat the incumbent, but she was badly outspent. Amazed Barney Frank beat Bielat by such a huge margin given what a scumbag Frank is and what a smart, stand-up guy Bielat is. But it's on par with Rangel winning with 85% of the vote. He's a criminal and a gangster, but he's our criminal. That must be the thought process. If you don't believe government should be about laws being applied to people equally, and think it should be about changing outcomes and getting more for your group, then why not vote for the gangster? Similarly, Mark Dayton winning in Minnesota is yet another statewide electoral disgrace from the Land of a Thousand Flakes. And then there's Jerry Brown. Jerry Brown?? Seriously? Jerry f-ing Brown? Also disappointed Joe DioGuardi got trounced in NY, but looking at the cash, he got outspent 6-1.

It stands to reason

I sit puzzling over why it seems that Republicans are the only ones who are serious about tossing out the unethical in their ranks. Charlie Rangel, Mark Dayton, Barney Frank spring to mind as I watch the returns. But it occurred to me that if you subscribe to the concept of a "gangster government" as Michael Barone termed the Obama administration, it doesn't make any sense to vote for anyone but your own gangsters.

Doc Zero strikes again

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For your reading enjoyment (this has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day), please see the latest Doctor Zero piece. The entire thing is just too damn good to pull a quote from, so go read it all. Right now. I guarantee satisfaction or your money back. Concluding paragraph is fantastic. It definitely makes me long for a politician who can think on his feet with this kind of command of language, and this level of clarity of principle. He (or she) would make an utter fool of anyone in the next chair on Meet the Press.

With friends like these...

How many times did Obama say he's a "stalwart ally of Israel" on the campaign trail? He sure has a funny way of showing it:

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has told the country's diplomats there that U.S.-Israeli relations face their worst crisis in 35 years, despite attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to project a sense of "business as usual."

Apparently, the crisis is due to the Obama administration taking grave offense over a "diplomatic gaffe" that occurred while Slow Joe Biden was visiting Israel (they announced construction plans for new settlements while he was in the country). Really? Do we need to start listing all of the diplomatic offenses that "The One" has committed toward our allies in a scant year in office? You know what they say about people in glass houses. How about the Falklands and throwing the Poles under the bus for starters?

But Barack has been offended, so now Hillary has made the following demands of Israel:

1. Investigate the process that led to the announcement of the Ramat Shlomo construction plans in the middle of Biden's visit. The Americans seek an official response from Israel on whether this was a bureaucratic mistake or a deliberate act carried out for political reasons. Already on Saturday night, Netanyahu announced the convening of a committee to look into the issue.

2. Reverse the decision by the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee to approve construction of 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo.

3. Make a substantial gesture toward the Palestinians enabling the renewal of peace talks. The Americans suggested that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners be released, that the Israel Defense Forces withdraw from additional areas of the West Bank and transfer them to Palestinian control, that the siege of the Gaza Strip be eased and further roadblocks in the West Bank be removed.

4. Issue an official declaration that the talks with the Palestinians, even indirect talks, will deal with all the conflict's core issues - borders, refugees, Jerusalem, security arrangements, water and settlements.

This is simply incredible. We have had no greater allies in the post-WWII era than Great Britain and Israel. Unfortunately, we have treated them with an incredible amount of disrespect, and even disdain over the past year. Barack Obama is the worst kind of friend possible. One who not only takes his old friends for granted, but constantly derides and undermines them in an attempt to become more popular with schoolyard bullies. Selling out Poles and Czechs, Georgians and Ukrainians to Russia; Israelis to Palestinians (and everyone else buying); Columbians to thuggish Venezuela; residents of the Falklands to Argentina; and the entire Middle East and half of Europe to Iran.

I had very low expectations for this presidency. However the Obama administration seems to have taken it as a challenge to do even worse, and in that one respect, they have been brutally successful. It is simply hard to imagine how one could enact a more damaging set of foreign and domestic policies if one tried. Emboldening enemies, antagonizing friends, creating massive, bloated cost-spiraling entitlements and running up trillion dollar annual budget deficits, all while nakedly alienating the businesses who are responsible for generating the wealth and capital necessary to keep America from becoming Greece. Bravo. Whether intentional or not, whether anyone realizes it or not... we have our Manchurian Candidate. Make that... Manchurian President.

Cutting out all the middlemen

Great post from "Captain Capitalism" about his $38 visit to the doctor. No, that wasn't the co-pay. That was the cost of the visit. As he points out, it was less than an oil change. It's funny how cutting out layers of paper-processors can save money. Everyone who touches your insurance claim needs to take a slice. And so does their boss, and their boss' boss, and every executive. Oh, and the government expects to get their portion of each of  those portions, plus a nice chunk of the overall profits. And not one of those people in the long line of people getting paid actually provides a service to you the patient. Well, except for the doctor, who is increasingly becoming an afterthought. After all, the government is ready to slash "reimbursements" to doctors as a way of controlling the costs of this monstrous new bureaucracy, designed, without irony, to make health care affordable. What would car insurance premiums be if oil changes and other routine maintenance were covered by your auto policy? Your insurance agent's staff would have to increase tenfold at least just to process all the new claims.

We are really about to go off the deep-end here, to the point of no return. No matter what happens in the 2010 elections, this thing will not get taken away. It has to be stopped now, before it's too late.

No shame

The Democrats are pretty amazing. Now that they've got this "reconciliation" bill on health care that could pass without going back to the Senate and getting 60 votes, they're seeing what else they can stuff in there. Like taking over the student loan industry (a natural extension of health care, obviously). Really.

http://www.nas.org/polArticles.cfm?Doc_Id=1201