Bob's Political Digest for July 15, 2009

Self-righteous liberals
We were in the People’s Republic of Madison over the weekend, and stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel. In their gift shop, they had a fan-type thing for kids of “Presidents of the US” with a spoke for each president. We noticed some self-righteous liberal had torn out George W. Bush. I wasn’t a big Bush fan, and even less of a fan of Obama or Clinton, but as a conservative, I don’t think my political disagreements give me the right to destroy a business’s property to express my displeasure. Typical of the left—their feelings take precedence over other people’s property rights. Like keying our car when it had a Bush sticker, or stealing Bush lawn signs and burning swastikas in the grass with weed killer—also from Madison in 2004.

ObamaCare is getting scary. The New York Times to the rescue!
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/stephaniegutmann/100002964/obamacare-is-getting-scary-the-new-york-times-to-the-rescue/
Excerpt: One of the worst culprits is America’s “physician culture” in which “meticulousness, not effectiveness, is rewarded” and there is “a unique understanding of professional obligations, specifically, the Hippocratic Oath’s admonition to ‘use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment’.” The problem here is that American doctors understand the oath “as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of cost or effect on others” thereby avoiding the inevitable movement toward “socially sustainable, cost-effective care”.

D.C. Council wants vouchers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124743971109829635.html
So why do Democrats fight the program? Easy. It gets them teacher’s union votes AND keeps poor black kids poor, thus dependent on the government, thus voting Democrat. It’s a win-win for everyone—except the poor black kids, and who cares about them?

Limited ChoicesCan you get what you need in a government-run health-insurance market?
By Regina Herzlinger, PhD.
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=ZDEwYjA4YjY3NDE4OTEyOTA1OWJmNjc2YWNiYTVlMzc
Dr. Herzlinger, from Harvard, is considered one of the leading experts on health care reform. I’m scheduled to be at a conference in November where she is the Keynote Speaker.

LAPD's Public Database Omits Nearly 40% of This Year's Crimes
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18194
If we don’t report it, it didn’t happen.

The Cost of Health Care Reform
http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/tanstaafl/#more-4238
But isn’t government cost-efficient?

CIA Had Program to Kill Al-Qaeda Leaders
Agency Didn't Tell Congress About Bush-Era Plan to Use Assassins
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071302589.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Amazing. They were going to kill the people who are trying to kill us, without even reading them their Miranda rights! And they didn’t tell Congress? Wonder why? Maybe because Congress has a history of putting Americans at risk by blabbing about security issues, if it will get them some press?

Obama Plans Cash Infusion for Community Colleges
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/14/AR2009071400819.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Money! Money! Free Money! Step right up and get some free money! You, Sir, wouldn’t you like some free money? What’s that? You’re a taxpayer with a job? Oh, sorry—you provide the free money we are passing out.

Scapegoats in White Coats: Doctors are not to Blame for the High Cost of Medical Services
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18197
Got to blame someone.

Private Schooling for The Poor
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18199
Parents want what government can’t provide—worldwide.

People with too much time on their hands
Query from a reporter: Looking for New Yorkers playing "The Lying Down Game" -- the quirky internet sensation where people photograph themselves lying facedown in bizarre locations. If you or someone you know is playing this, I would love to talk to you and see some of your best shots. Looking to write a story ASAP so I look forward to chatting at your earliest convenience.

Sotomayor Attempts to Explain Racist "Wise Latina" Remarks
Update: Dems Misstate Sotomayor's Horrid Record
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/07/sotomayor-attempts-to-explain-racist.html
What’s the big deal. She has the essential qualification to be a judge, just as Roland Burris had the essential qualification to be seated in the US Senate, despite vows they wouldn’t seat anyone Blagojevich appointed. They both come from politically correct ethnic groups, and that’s all that matters, really. Qualifications are so last century.

The 'Cap And Tax' Dead End
By Sarah Palin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071302852.html
I’d still vote for her for President over BO.

The Pentagon's Wasting Assets
The Eroding Foundations of American Power
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65150/andrew-f-krepinevich-jr/the-pentagons-wasting-assets
This is long, important and scary—as if there weren’t enough things to scare you in today’s world.

A Personal Inequity
by Thomas Sowell
http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/07/14/a_personal_inequity
Equality of opportunity does not guarantee equality of outcome, as the left wants.

Five Criticisms of George Bush That Could Be Better Applied to Barack Obama
http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnHawkins/2009/07/14/five_criticisms_of_george_bush_that_could_be_better_applied_to_barack_obama
My new slogan: Obama lied and the economy died!

Africa vs. the Arab World
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0709/bayefsky071309.php3
Aren’t double standards…racist?

BOOK REVIEW: Vietnam War's true victory
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/13/vietnam-wars-true-victory/
How Congress lost the Vietnam War.

The Balloon Deflates
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/711jfhea.asp
Excerpt: Gallup reports, "Thus far in 2009, 40 percent of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35 percent as moderate, and 21 percent as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004." This despite two decisive Democratic election victories in the intervening years. Gallup also reported that 39 percent of Americans say their political views have become more conservative in recent years. Only 18 percent say they've grown more liberal. Similarly, a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll had Americans favoring smaller government with fewer services to a larger government with more services by 54 to 41 percent--a slightly more conservative result than in 2004. As Michael Barone summarizes the situation, "Americans seem to be recoiling against big government when it threatens to become a reality rather than a campaign promise."

Sotomayor and ACORN joined at the hip
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/sotomayor_and_acorn_joined_at.html
Surprise, surprise, surprise.