A Liberal Faces Up to The Wal-Mart Phenomenon. Almost

What do we liberals do about Wal-Mart, worries liberal Robert Reich? Let’s admit it, we liberals all
buy books from Amazon, even if we say we like the community bookstore round the corner. So how can we get
low prices while helping the little guy?
Cartels and regulation: that’s
his highly advanced and sophisticated answer. Come on, Reich. You liberals can do better than that.
I thought that conservatives were supposed to be the standpatters. The bottom
line is that if we Americans want to earn princely salaries, then we have to earn it, by being better trained, better
capitalized, better managed, and better educated.
You liberals are uniquely qualified to do something about that.
You yourselves can go down the street to the education cartel—you know, the one called the National Education
Assocation—and tell them to get with the program. When you’ve done that, and the education system becomes flexible and responsive to the needs
of its customers, then let us start talking about cartels and social regulation.

Steyn Creates Threatening Learning Environment for Euros

It’s lucky that pundit Mark Steyn doesn’t teach in a university. He’d be up before the faculty senate
for creating a threatening environment for his Euro students. He tells us that the admininstration
is divided
between those who think that: “a) Europe is a smugly irritating but irrelevant backwater; or
b) Europe is a smugly irritating but irrelevant backwater where the whole powder keg’s about to go up.”
Then he chuckles over EU constitution drafter Gisgard d’Estaing’s claim to be the Euro Jefferson.
Sorry pal. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was Madison that wrote the Constitution.

Iraq War All But Won

A little bit of gloating is starting to surface among the US brass in Iraq, as the remaining
“insurgents” seem to be increasingly ineffective.
“It will be some months before the news media recognize it,
and a few months more before they acknowledge it, but the war in Iraq is all but won,”
writes
columnist Jack Kelly. The proof of this is that Senator Clinton has joined
the coalition of the willing. Welcome aboard, Senator. The bigger issue
is how the MSM is going to play being wrong about everything. Bring out the memory hole, fellahs.

School Vouchers. In Arizona

We won’t see school vouchers
here in the Soviet of Washington for a millennium or so, but it’s
good to see that Arizonians are getting an honest debate about it. Vouchers raise student performance
by 5 to 10 percentage points. And they raise parental satisfaction.

Bush's East Asia Game

On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Senator Hillary Clinton accused the Bush Administration of dropping the ball on North Korea. But
this observer detects a deep game
in progress: playing the Japan card against China. Card by card, step
by step, it will go on until the Chinese put the brakes on North Korea. This week’s card is an announcement that
“Japan agrees in principle to defend Taiwan from mainland Chinese invasion.” It was announced
by the foreign ministers and defense ministers of Japan and the United States. What dropped ball was
that, Senator?

"Quite a Racket"

The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) heads to Britain and becomes
embedded in the
welfare state. You can get grants and disability allowances if your child is diagnosed with ADHD. Now
there’s a concept! “It’s quite a racket,” according to a postmaster dispensing weekly benefits
to the parents of ADHD victims.

Take Me Back!

Time reports that the Iraqi rebels are
negotiating
with the US about ending the insurgency (now why would they want to do that?. I’d
say that the US position should be the same as Salome’s: Bring me the head of Zarqawi! Then we’ll
talk about reconciliation.

That Mark Steyn. He's Such a Card!

No giggling, writes schoolmarm Mark Steyn. That’s the word in the briefing books as President Bush wings to Europe.
Just make nice
to the quaint Europeans. And that goes
for all the “Administration’s hardline Zionist Christian fundamentalist neocon unilateralist warmongers” as well.
Well. Never mind briefing books. How about one briefing book? Ok. How about talking points? How about 3x5 flash cards?
One 3x5 flash card?

Brit Hopes for Blogger Revolution in UK

Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith in Britain hopes that the
blogger revolution will soon
ignite conservative politics in Britain the way it does in the US. He retells the Rathergate and Easongate stories
and imagines how bloggers could humble Britain’s own mainstream media.

The Templeton Curve and Social Security

Want to know the difference between President Bush’s vision for Social Security and the Democrat’s
vision? The Templeton Curve
tells the difference. Bush leads to surplus; Democrats lead to deficit.
The big question is: why do Democrats fight the privatization of Social Security. If we removed it from
the Federal budget it might release resources for new programs. Wouldn’t that be fun!

Peggy's Seal of Approval for Blogs

She’s the den mother of America’s conservatives, and she’s just written the definitive word on blogs.
My, oh my, Peggy Noonan observes. Isn’t the invective flowing a little freely over at the MSM?

“Those MSMers have gone wild, I tell you! The tendentious language, the low insults.
It’s the Wild Wild West out there. We may have to consider legislation.” 

Get used to it.

Capitalism Ended Slavery

So you think that capitalism was founded on slavery do you?
Here are some arguments
for you to think about.

Capitalism rejects slavery because it does not pay.

And what if you are wrong? Suppose that lefty ideas about capitalism and oppression are wrong and
promote slavery (viz. Soviet Union, Mao’s China, Castro’s Cuba). What then?

Dems Want Government Control of Nation's Elderly

They don’t put it quite like that, of course. “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good,”
says Hillary Clinton. “Putting people in charge of their own assets breaks down the solidarity that comes from doing something together,”
says Noam Chomsky. So that is why Democrats oppose the privatization of Social Security, is it? The
noble public interest, social solidarity, and all that?
Not exactly, according to
Pete du Pont.
It’s odd that the opponents of Social Security privatization are
all in favor of private solutions for themselves, even public employee unions and AARP. Why don’t
they want the American people to have the same benefits?
Writes du Pont: “The government’s Social Security system is socialism’s last redoubt, and must be preserved at all costs.”

Steyn: Just Shrug, It's a UN Atrocity

Suppose it was the 3rd Infantry Division
abusing little children
in Falluja instead of UN soldiers
raping underage girls in the Congo, writes Mark Steyn. Then we’d see some outrage from the world’s
professional journalists. The trouble with the UN, he muses, is that the world’s democracies
are corrupted by propinquity with the world’s thugocracies, and that can’t be good.

New Labour Sharpens Knife For Sacred Cow

If you are a Brit leftie, you must believe
that “selection” or streaming in the
government school system is evil. Now the Blair government is starting to think of returning
to some sort of streaming and selection in the government schools. Of course, the whole process
will be properly controlled by government experts and elaborate procedures and safeguards. And it must
all be done without raising the hackles of the Labour Party faithful.

A Tale about a Tax: Social Security

Sooner or later, someone had to write an article that told the story of
Social Security in 800 words
in simple, clear English that anyone can understand. Here it is: “A Eighth of a Paycheck”
by Jeff Jacoby.

Want Single Payer Health? Read This

A Briton compares
the US health system with the British NHS. The US system is a hodge-podge, and
the British one organized into a single, managed, free-at-the-point-of-delivery government system.
But the results are much better in the US. A woman with breast cancer? Chance of dying is 46 percent in Britain, but
only 25 percent in the US. And so on.

Ward Churchill: The Hamlet Moment

To fire or not to fire Ward Churchill, the academic fraud held lovingly to the breast of the University
of Colorado. Academic Bill of Rights activist David Horowitz says
no. He argues that
the problem is not that leftie whack jobs like Churchill get academic tenure, but that ordinary
conservatives can’t. (Imagine if a right-wing nut job ever got close to academic tenure! Oh the wailings!
Oh the chilling effect! Oh the hate speech!) Ann Coulter
just picks him up and plays
with him. (What a nasty piece of goods he is!)

Democrats: Get With The Program

That’s Tom Friedman from The New York Times saying that, not me. It’s good to see the noble Tom
finally grasping the essence
of the Bush strategy. If you get democracy off the ground in Iraq, then
you can do it anywhere. After 9/11, the Bush administration decided that the way to drain the Mid-East
swamp was by neutralizing the dictators that funded and protected them. Iraq was the obvious second
choice after Afghanistan, because the real target, Iran, is not a country that
anyone want want to have to invade. This is not rocket science, Democrats, this is Practical Wisdom 101.

Tops Dems Hate SoSoc Reform Yet Love Stocks and Bonds

Top Democrats like Senator Harry Reid are busy talking about the
dangers of personal accounts
for Social Security, yet lots of them own big chunks of stock. What gives here? Do Democrats
really believe that investment in index funds and bonds is risky? Or do they just prefer
to keep Americans barefoot and pregnant down on the liberal plantation, paying that 15 percent
of their wages in FICA tax year in, year out, and staying dependent on government for their daily bread?

Remember the Raccoon Lodge

Back in the Fifties, lots of Americans belonged to self-governing membership organizations like Ralph Kramden’s
Raccoon Lodge. But now the dominant organizational model is the memberless liberal activist group: no members, just send
money. Isn’t
that the problem with the Democrats as they elect Howard Dean as head of the Democratic National Committee?
That’s what David Brooks thinks, anyway.

Moyer Quote on Watt a Crock

The bloggers at PowerLine
blog are onto Bill Moyers. He quoted a quote on Reagan era Secretary
of the Interior James Watt published in the environmental magazine Grist, and now it turns out that the
quote is, er, inaccurate. James Watt never advocated, as Moyers writes, that
“protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent
return of Jesus Christ.” Or that “In public testimony he said, `after the last tree is felled,
Christ will come back.’”
Here’s what Watt actually said:

“That is the delicate balance the Secretary of the Interior must have, to be steward for the natural resources for this generation as well as future generations.

“I do not know how many future generations we can count on before the Lord returns, whatever it is we have to manage with a skill to leave the resources needed for future generations.”

Steyn: Dems All Exit and No Strategy

Post Captain Mark Steyn returns to top form and
rakes the decks
of the Axis of Ennui from
its Euro forecastle to its Democratic poop. He expresses grave concern over the depth of the graves
of Darfur. But here’s the kicker. Did you notice that President Bush did not mention Europe once last
week in the State of the Union speech? Couldn’t be bothered, darling.

Girls That Kill Girls

From age 8 to 12 British girl gets raped by brother. At age 12 she complains to her mother and gets
chucked out in the street. At age 16 she gets her own apartment from social services. At age 18
she kills her younger lesbian lover in a drunken rage. But then? You need to
read it.
And then wonder what would have happened if an evil corporation had been responsible for this instead
of a sensitive, caring welfare state?

Spengler: What Iraq Democracy?

Democracy, writes Spengler,
is about brave Dutch merchants rising up against their Spanish overlords, or
brave Americans sacrificing their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. None of which applies
in Iraq.

New Establishment Line on Iraq

The center left gets the call from Thomas Friedman. Better take the Iraq election
seriously, and get with the program, is what he writes. Better say we are delighted. Read it to
keep
yourself aligned with the conventional wisdom.

Peggy Noonan on SOTU

Peggy takes in the sweep of the president’s State of the Union speech, and focuses on the key question
in the Social Security debate.

Do we,the American people, want a more hands-on retirement plan where we get to make the decisions about our savings or the simplicity of the government plan where we do nothing, paying tax while we work and getting a pension when we retire. The answer of course is both, and the president’s plan gives both. You can do nothing and get your Social Security pension, or you can opt out and take responsibility for yourself. It’s the American way.

First You Need A Majority

Paul Starr in The American Prospect reads Democrats the Riot Act. You can’t become a governing
majority unless you compromise
your sacred principles. It would help, of course, to have principles that the majority of the
American people could agree with.

An Invitation to Suicide

The advantage of liberalism was that it could never quite define itself, writes William Voegeli. “We’re
in favor of a lot of things and we’re against mighty few,” Lyndon Johnson assured us.
Yet, to develop a new narrative, Democrats must get off their current reflexive support
of the mothering welfare state.
Tell us where it will all end,
hectors Voegeli. Tell us when you’ll be finished nannying us and lecturing us, as if Democrats could ever do that. Don’t drink from the
cup Hamlet, just don’t do it!

Notice that conservatives have the opposite problem. Once they have
put the ownership society in place and restored a modicum of respect for the rule of law, who needs them?

Britland: New Labour Reality

RMC Chappie David Green exposes Britain’s New Labour Party
hypocrisy.
Beneath all the sweet talk
of modernizing is a crude power play to create more government employees and more recipients of “benefits.”
A great deal for the Labour Party, but it makes Britain into a nation of supplicants to the state.

Britland: School Chaos

And you thought American public schools were bad. Read how
rowdy
the kids are in British schools.
The thing to remember is we had 90 percent literacy in the US before Horace Mann and the common school movement
in the 1830s. And Britland had pretty well everyone going to school before the government started
nationalizing the schools in 1870.

Steyn: Let's Worry About the Euro Quagmire

Now that the Iraqis have decided to give the terrorists the finger, sensitive Mark
Steyn is starting to worry about the
quagmire in Europe.
These days, Iraq looks like
the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. But Eurabia? Steyn’s not so sure about them.

A Bold Tax Reform Plan

Stephen Moore proposes a startlingly
simple tax reform plan.
Enact a flat tax with maximum rate
of 20 percent (“there would be no deductions whatsoever,
except for a generous personal deduction and child deduction”)
and let people decide whether to pay according to the new tax or the old tax. That way
people with e.g. mammoth mortgage interest deducations could stay with the old system and the rest of
us could switch.