For NY Times, everything is evidence of the need for Big Government

October 30, 2012 by 1 Comment

A fake photo on Hurricane Sandy taking on Lady LibertThis morning, I read a very misinformed and misleading editorial from the New York Times titled ‘A Big Storm Requires Big Government,’ The column begins thus:

Most Americans have never heard of the National Response Coordination Center, but they’re lucky it exists on days of lethal winds and flood tides. The center is the war room of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where officials gather to decide where rescuers should go, where drinking water should be shipped, and how to assist hospitals that have to evacuate.

Before I read this column, I’m glad that I had spent hours watching coverage of Hurricane Sandy as it rushed ashore and shot straight over my home. I watched as the governors of NY, NJ, DE, and PA stood at podiums, as did many of their county and city officials, and presented an aura of command and leadership as they recited the logistical numbers regarding first responders, the locations of shelters (along with detailed contingency plans), and further warnings and advisories regarding anticipated weather conditions, road closures, and power disruptions. I saw these men on TV discussing mandatory evacuations and thought about all the hard lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina regarding the importance of readiness by local and state authorities. I saw each of these men do this without FEMA.

I also watched an interview with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (Commander Sunita Williams’ hair flailed around her like a peacock in all its gravity-free glory) and thought about the aging satellite fleet that will have gaps in its ability to monitor these storms starting in 2017 due to gross neglect.

Which leads to several themes:  Read more of this post

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Weekly Breakdown: Republicans Convene

August 31, 2012 by Leave a comment

• In a subtly brilliant dig at climate change hysterics who cite models predicting what the global temperatures will be 100 years from now, Republicans cancelled the first day of their convention based on flawed weather reports that couldn’t predict the local conditions 3 days in advance.

• Regarding the convention occurring while a hurricane was closing in on Louisiana, Yahoo’s news chief was caught on an open mic saying that Mitt Romney “was happy to have a party while black people drown.” He was quickly fired for endorsing the stereotype the black people can’t swim.

• Republican convention speakers included New Mexico governor Susanna Martinez, Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, as well as Utah congressional candidate Mia Love, former Democrat Arthur Davis, and Condoleeza Rice, whose speech was hailed as the best of the convention. Democrats scoffed at the notion that this shows Republican ideas appeal to a wide range of racial groups, with Joe Biden arguing that none of the speakers were “articulate and bright and clean“, and Harry Reid asking, “Can any of them even speak in a Negro dialect if necessary?” Read more of this post

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The devastating impact of the Christie/Ryan speeches

August 30, 2012 by 2 Comments

Paul Ryan delivering in the VP Slot at the 2012 RNCPaul Ryan smiled. Again. The boyish grin, the inside joke, all on Obama. Do I look like the guy who would chuck my own mother off a cliff? I get choked up just talking about her. Would I chuck away any grandmother for that matter?

The Obama campaign’s steady barrage of ad hominem attack ads prove that the 2012 election is going to hinge upon the premise that Obama has failed. However, the sitting president will only be ousted if voters find Mitt Romney to be an acceptable alternative.

Understanding this reality, Democrats have themselves gone to rhetorical extremes to paint the Republicans as extremist. A Romney administration would kill old people, crush young people, diminish women, and chain minorities, all to preserve the affluent lifestyle of rich, middle-age, Christian white men.

In light of this, the Republicans are using the convention as an opportunity to show their true brand: young, diverse, idea-driven innovators who have successfully implemented at the state level the same reforms that Romney would implement nationally. That is why Paul Ryan is the VP candidate and not Tim Pawlenty or Rob Portman.

These young, reform-driven Republicans implore voters: Give us a chance.

However, voters fear the unknown, and they don’t know these Republican reformers.

Movies sometimes build suspense using shadows. When a group of terrified teenagers dashes down an alley and finds a growing shadow with razor teeth looming in front of them, they tuck tail and run or stand paralyzed awaiting certain doom. When the shadow’s source emerges, and they see it’s just a friend, the group sighs in collective relief as they realize that the specter was nothing but a trick of the light passing over his umbrella. Read more of this post

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We’re all technocrats now

August 29, 2012 by Leave a comment

“The Constitution is very clear that the president is commander in chief of the military, but the president is not the commander in chief of the economy or of the people… The president is not supposed to manage and run the economy. The people are supposed to do this. The government is supposed to give them sound money, low taxes, less regulation. The people are supposed to run it.” – Ron Paul, January 30, 2008

No matter how obviously discredited by real world examples, the lure of centralized economic planning persists. That fatal conceit, the idea that if only the right people are put in charge, they can finally organize society in a perfectly equitable manner, refuses to fade into history. Somehow, the tragic failure of the Soviet Union’s centrally organized five-year plans isn’t used to mock those who espouse an economic worldview with the same failed premise. Case in point, a recent entry from Yahoo’s Power Players:  Read more of this post

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Weekly Breakdown: Presidential Vices

August 17, 2012 by Leave a comment

• The biggest news from the past week was Mitt Romney’s selection of Congressman Paul Ryan as the Republican vice presidential candidate. Both campaigns rushed to define him, with Republicans arguing that he is a bold proposer of entitlement reforms that would save Medicare, and Democrats countering that his budget plan cuts programs for the middle class in order to pay for tax breaks for the rich. Meanwhile, old southern women have defined him as “a tall drink a’ water with handsome eyes, who I’d be smitten to go tumblin’ ova’ a high cliff for, if ya’ll are catchin’ my drift.”

• Seeking to regain the spotlight, current Vice President Joe Biden said he was in Virginia when he was actually in North Carolina, then took on a southern accent and told a largely black audience that Republicans would “put ya’ll back in chains”. When advised that “any publicity is good publicity” was actually not the first rule of politics, Biden responded, “Well then where did I get that from? Ten Commandments? Fight Club? Or is that the one where you don’t ever talk about it? I hope that’s not politics because I wouldn’t be good at that one.”

• The next day, actually in Virginia, Biden rhetorically asked, “’Folks, where’s it written we cannot lead the world in the 20th Century in making automobiles?” When asked for comment on the gaffe, Biden’s new counterpart Paul Ryan responded, “It’s actually a riddle, and the answer is old USSR history textbooks.” Because Paul Ryan is brilliant.

• On Thursday, Biden attended a meeting with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Many speculated that the meeting could be about Clinton moving into the VP slot. The White House announced later in the day that they’d be sticking with Biden, who personally added, “I was the one who called this meeting. I wanted to assure Secretary Clinton that I will not let Republicans put her back in the kitchen.”

• On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, First Lady Michelle Obama scolded multiple Olympic gold medal winner Gabby Douglas for eating an Egg McMuffin to celebrate her gymnastics victory. In response, Douglas queried Obama, “I’m sorry, how many straight backflips can you do? Or did you win your Olympic medals in the wet blanket competition?”

• A man stranded on his jet-ski swam 3 miles to shore, climbed an 8 foot fence, and walked undetected across the JFK runway right into the terminal. The incident was viewed as a huge indictment of the airport’s new, supposedly state-of-the-art security system, and a sign of vulnerability to terrorists. But let’s be honest, if the terrorists become capable of creating an Aquaman/Spiderman hybrid with invisibility powers, then we’ve got much bigger problems.

• Following similarly unusual purchases by the Department of Homeland Security and even more oddly, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Social Security Administration released a solicitation for 174 thousand rounds of bullets. When reached for comment, an SSA spokesman stated grimly, “We heard about Paul Ryan’s plans for Medicare. The Social Security Administration will not go down so easy.”
 
• On Wall Street, stocks went up on rumors that they might be unchained, and on a heavy US investment in gold.

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