Author: Dave

Via HotAir, this howler from Nicholas Kristof: But when many Republicans insist on “starving the beast” of government, cutting taxes, regulations and social services — slashing everything but the military — well, those are steps toward Pakistan. … The long trajectory of history has been for governments to take on more responsibilities, and for citizens…

Stacy McCain has a pretty big roundup, and this brutally concise summary: Yeah, never mind that there seem to be exactly two alternatives: Weiner, a member of Congress with a high security clearance, was the victim of a federal crime involving a breach of his online communications accounts; or Weiner sent a picture of his penis to…

Or maybe more accurately, in his boxers. So, what seems to have happened is that Representative Weiner accidentally tweeted a very salacious, Brett Favre-esque picture of his appellatory appendage to the whole world instead of one pretty 22-year-old, then spent the next few hours frantically shrieking “Undo! Undo!” and claiming he’d been hacked. Keep an eye on…

Megan notes Kevin Drum’s amazing ignorance on tax matters: [Drum]During the 50s, top marginal rates were around 90%, and if high tax rates on the rich harm the economy then the tax rates of the 50s should have literally brought the United States to its knees. But even with heroic efforts, you can’t make the…

Three things I love about a Herman Cain candidacy: 1)  Most importantly, he’s someone who could lead blacks away from the welfare state policies that have been so devastating to black communities, and demonstrate that entrepeneurship and personal responsibility are the universal paths to success, not identity politics, statism, and “community organizing.” 2) He instantly…

Paul Wolfowitz suggests giving Gaddafi the UBL treatment:  One of the most extraordinary features of the protests that have swept the Muslim world has been the courage of the demonstrators. The great bravery of Tunisians and Egyptians has been exceeded by that of the Libyans and Syrians, while Bashar al-Assad and Muammar Gaddafi have joined…

When Bush was President, it just felt more like the country was being run by people who really took the job seriously, as something bigger than themselves.  Maybe this explains why. UPDATE: Or maybe it’s this. UPDATE: Or possibly this.

Simon already covered this in his usual concise fashion, but I’d just like to add a few more verbose and wandering thoughts. The more I think about this sparse, even cryptic update, the better I feel about it.  the WB-8 device operates as designed and it is generating positive results Assuming “positive results” doesn’t just mean…

President Barack Obama’s appearance Wednesday in the White House briefing room to present a documented rebuttal of suspicions that he was not born on U.S. soil was more than just a surprise. It was a decisive new turn in the centuries-long American history of political accusation and innuendo. By directly and coolly engaging a debate…

Behold the New Iraq, exporting oil AND democracy, and set to become one of the richest countries in the world — at five times current levels they would be looking at about $25B per month in windfall wealth, in a country of ~25 million.  (Worth noting: no democracy has ever failed at that level of…

Just saw the movie, loved it, exceeded my expectations. Theatre was about half-full on a Sunday afternoon, there was applause at the end. It looks like they’re still #3 in per-screen average. The production values weren’t 100% — you can tell this is a small-budget film. And if you haven’t read the book, it’s probably…

In these confusing, topsy-turvy days of interconnected tubes, miscegenation, Twitters, and furries, it can often be hard to tell whether a party you belong to is racist, especially with the modern proliferation of partisans: the Democrat Party, the Republican Party, the Tea Party, the Coffee Party (“yes, we’re still around, thanks for asking!“), the Green…

I’m really curious about this point made by commenter jmo3 at Megan’s place. Many countries do provide more generous benefits but they do it through substantially higher taxes on almost everyone. As just one example Denmark provides quite generous benefits – they also have a 200% on cars such that a stripped Corolla starts at…

Via the itinerant Bill Ardolino, who spent time in both Iraq and Afghanistan (and whose book will hopefully be out soon), Bill Kristol says give war a chance:  We’re at war. We need to succeed in that war. By all means, be generous with the constructive criticism. (For example, it seems ridiculous for the United States…

Glenn Reynolds muses: Somebody has to be the first intelligent species. If you believe in randomness, why can’t it randomly be us? The odds may be low, but low-probability events happen all the time, and it’s consistent with the available evidence and doesn’t require the invocation of fudge-factors — “cosmic roadblocks” — for which there’s no…

They are dancing in the streets of Benghazi. Shortly before midnight, the streets of Libya’s de facto rebel capital, Benghazi, were quiet, nearly deserted. A few minutes after midnight, tracer bullets and celebratory machine-gun fire were racing into the air from every direction and residents piled into their cars for a massive street party. In…

  A very nice find by Megan: It is a commonplace [notion] that since the 1970s, inequality in America has been growing rapidly–far more rapidly than our peers abroad.  Naturally, this has invited a lot of attempts to explain that growth, usually in terms of America’s tax policy, its culture, or some sort of capture of…

A must-read piece from Nick Gillespie, linked over at Instapundit and other fine establishments: Until we face up to the three large truths about the current moment outlined above, it’s hard to see how our country, our states, and our cities can move into better positions regarding their balance sheets. More importantly, it’s hard to…

Megan takes note of Mark Kleiman’s weak defense of a weak President in the context of Bradley Manning’s treatment, and quotes an interesting vignette about Kissinger, which is worth reading. The moral? Not only does the president hear about threats we don’t, but he’s the guy who gets in trouble if any of these threats come off. Well, we’re…

I get around half my calories from olive oil — much like this lady — so when I started reading that a lot of olive oil is not actually olive oil I was naturally quite concerned. More than two of every three bottles labeled imported extra virgin olive oil are either a cheaper grade of olive oil or…