Political Digest November 24, 2009

I post article because I believe they will be of interest, not because I agree with every—or even any—opinion in them.

Bribed
If we’d all chipped in, say, $350M and bribed Mary Landrieu (D-La) to vote “no,” we’d have saved a lot of money and the best healthcare system in the world, in the long run. But Reid bribing her with $300M to vote yes was legal. It would have been illegal for us. The Government hates competition in things like bribery.

Anti-Palin hatred, and the coming backlash http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20091122/ASPENWEEKLY/911209975/0/FRONTPAGE
Excerpt: After all, Palin did leave her state with its books in the black; she led the Alaska National Guard, a unit operating in very difficult conditions less than 100 miles from Siberia; she authored a strong energy policy emphasizing domestic energy production and independence from oil- and terrorist-producing countries; and she demonstrated a commitment to family values and personal morality while holding down a very demanding job. To top it all off, she's good-looking. Now THAT cannot be tolerated by your average liberal! Look, I'm not suggesting that Palin is an intellectual heavyweight. I'm not saying her speech patterns and mannerisms are endearing to me. I'm also not wowed by her good looks. I'll also agree that Sarah Palin is a polarizing figure who may not be the best choice to lead our country — just as Hillary Clinton wasn't in 2008. But now that we know a great deal more about Barack Obama, turnabout is going to be fair play. If you think your reaction to Sarah Palin is visceral and vitriolic on the basis of her hockey mom looks and accent, just wait until the American electorate reacts to the Obama administration. They will react on the basis of facts, deeds and actions. The angry response will not be emotional and irrational. It will be carefully planned and ruthlessly delivered. After enduring this terrorism of liberalism, the American people will rise up and deliver a world-class ass-kicking to the Democrats in 2010 and 2012.

Why Hasan's superiors didn't flunk him out of Army medical school http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/014836.html
Excerpt: One of Hasan's commanding officers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Guerrero, told investigators she had considered failing him as an intern but "decided to allow him to pass since he was going into psychiatry and would not be doing any real patient care."

San Diego ACORN Document Dump Scandal
http://biggovernment.com/2009/11/23/breaking-san-diego-acorn-document-dump-scandal/#more-35430
Excerpt: Shockingly, we now learn that the ACORN office in National City (San Diego County) engaged in a massive document dump on the evening of October 9th, containing thousands upon thousands of sensitive documents, just days prior to the Attorney General’s visit.

A Special Form of Disrespect
http://www.spectator.co.uk/spectator/thisweek/5549783/a-special-form-of-disrespect.thtml
Well, President Wobbly did promise to change our relationship with other countries. Excerpt: It says much about Britain’s rapidly disappearing ‘special relationship’ with America that when I happened to mention to some of our senior military officers that I was visiting Washington, they begged me to find out what the Obama administration was thinking about Afghanistan. It is not just that the transatlantic lines of communication, so strong just a few years ago, have fallen into disuse. There is now a feeling that, even if we reached the Oval Office, there would be no one willing to take Britain’s call. For weeks now, President Obama has been deliberating over what the Afghan strategy should be — and how many troops to send. If there is confusion in Washington, then Britain’s strategy is not much clearer. Gordon Brown has staged a recent flurry of activity on the subject, from writing misspelt letters to grieving mothers to demanding that an exit strategy be established for the withdrawal of British forces. Yet among our top brass, the general perception is that the Prime Minister has little interest in the war.

9/11 Suspects to Use U.S. Foreign Policy as Defense for Killing Americans http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/23/obama-gives-terrorists-a-stage/
Excerpt: The Associated Press offered a superficial glance at a complex and alarming update in the upcoming trial of the five 9/11 defendants, leaving me to wonder where is their thoughtful, penetrating examination of this judicial travesty about to take place in New York City. There is certainly no shortage of critical questions in want of answers. The AP reported Sunday that the five 9/11 defendants to be tried in New York City will not deny their role in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but will nonetheless be pleading “not guilty.” This, to me, initially seemed a sure sign that the defense attorney feels compelled to observe no ethical responsibilities to the American judicial system as his clients attempt to put U.S. foreign policy on trial. The attorney assigned to defend the five terrorists on trial, Scott Fenstermaker, reported Sunday that all five of his clients are also planning to use the “stage” they are given to deliver their radical Jihadist message and explain why they believe more Americans must die. The Obama Administration can’t say they weren’t warned – again, and again, and again.

Meet Burka Barbie
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/22/barbie-gets-a-makeover/
I guess now, having had a clitorectomy on the kitchen table at age five, she became Ken’s third wife when she was nine. This will keep her in her place.

Obama adminstration appoints Muslims to key Homeland Security posts -- but... they're "moderates," aren't they?
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/11/obama-adminstration-appoints-muslims-to-key-homeland-security-posts----but-theyre-moderates-arent-th.html
Excerpt: The track record of the two appointees, taken together with the administration's own ability to distinguish "moderates" from "extremists" inspires anything but confidence. After all, the Fort Hood jihadist was himself a member of a panel advising the incoming Obama administration. At the heart of this issue are the politically correct articles of faith that few dare blaspheme, which insist that there is nothing problematic about Islam's core texts and teachings regarding warfare and the rights of women and unbelievers, and that there exists a well-defined "moderate" Islam that the West can work with. The problem is, no one ever stops to define "moderate," for fear that articulating actual standards may cause offense.

Medical Highways
http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/medical-highways/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HA#more-7027
Excerpt: Overconsumption: Economics teaches us that people tend to consume goods and services until their value at the margin is equal to the price they must pay. If the price is zero, we will consume a service until its marginal value to us approaches zero. A joyride in an automobile is viewed the same as a romp through the woods. But unlike the woods, the road really isn’t free. Rationing by Waiting: In urban areas, there is no way we can supply all the road space or all the doctor services people want when their out-of-pocket cost is zero. So demand persistently exceeds supply in both cases and the service is rationed by waiting. Many Americans like to think that our health care system is very different from Canada’s. In fact, it isn’t. In Canada, when you see a doctor it’s free. In America it’s almost free. In both countries we primarily pay with time, not money. The major difference is that Canada’s rationing problems are much worse than ours because of severe restrictions on supply — especially the supply of expensive technology. The Cost of Rationing by Waiting: Rationing by waiting is expensive. In general, it doubles the cost of the service. Imagine a market in which doctors are selling their services for $200 an hour. Now suppose the government nationalizes the industry and makes their services available to patients for free. Since people cannot pay with money, they will pay with time; and the rationing price of an hour with a doctor will now be about $200 worth of patients’ time.

Centrist Senators Say They Oppose Health Care Bill
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6566 But they voted yes on the best chance to stop it.

Where Has the Thrill Gone? The Harder They Fall?
http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/where-has-the-thrill-gone/
Excerpt: Who appointed over 40 ambassadors on the sole basis of campaign contributions, or has as many lobbyists in government as did any President in memory? And who releases touchy news—whether increased unemployment or trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in civil courts—on Friday nights, or wants his Democratically-controlled Congress to debate unpopular legislation on Saturday nights? You see where this is going. Prophets fall harder than normal politicians. When you claim that seas recede and planets cool before your presence, and that Latin mottos, new presidential candidate seals, neo-classical victory trophies, and faux-Greek temple sets are the appropriate backdrops for Your speeches, then you raise the bar a bit high. Obama is not necessarily any more partisan than a Nixon or Reagan or Bush, only just as partisan—but when he claimed something quite different. Add in the hope/change mantra, and a cadre of lackeys talking about tingling legs, his majesty Caesar, and apotheosis into a “god”, and our young Icarus was simply soaring too near the sun for his own fragile wax-feather wings. The problem is not just that Obama is proving Clinton-like in his Chicago hardball partisanship (cf. the trash-talk of Rahm Emanuel, Mao-admirer Anita Dunn, or the Truther Van Jones), but that his entire persona was fabricated on a touchy-feely “there is no red state, no blue state America.” Despite Obama’s vows to restore science to its rightful place in government (I think that was his dig at George Bush’s opposition to human embryo, stem-cell research), we get superstition. Instead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ non-partisan, depressing unemployment figures, we are instead to rely on a new unproven notion of jobs “saved” and “created”, and in nonexistent, made-up congressional districts, listed, no less, on a government recovery.gov official website. War against reason? Remember the “reset” button promises abroad? Do we have a safer, saner relationship with Putin? Is Iran closer to disarmament? North Korea quieter? Did George Mitchell transform the Middle East? Is the “good” war still good, the “bad” one still bad? Do the Brits feel the special relationship is stronger? Maybe Sarkozy is more impressed now with America, or are the Poles and Czechs? And do Chavez, Castro, Ortega, Morales, Zelaya, and others in Latin America feel more pressure to be democratic or less? Is one third of the planet in India and China more comfortable with the messiah Obama or with the hated Bush?