Return to Sanity? or Craven Sellout?

Most conservatives and Republicans are outraged by the moderate compromise that
was brokered in the Senate Monday night. But Dick Morris reminds us that
the average voter hates all the partisan posturing and vitriol, and that a return
to sanity was desperately needed.
He points out that the Democrat signatories were overwhelmingly from Southern states
that could easily elect a Republican to the Senate at the next election. They need a way to
escape from the discipline of their left-wing caucus.
Meanwhile conservative talk-show host Michael Reagan offers the “sellout” meme.

Who is right? The answer will come down the road. Let us not forget that the moderate Democrats
are just as much a problem to partisan Democrats as the squishy Snows, Chafees, and McCains are to partisan
Republicans. And they need a cover when they need to break with their caucus to save their seats.

Suppose Blacks Deserted the Democrats?

Democrats cannot afford to lose the black vote. “If the share of the black vote that goes
to the Democrats ever falls to 70 percent, it may be virtually impossible
for the Democrats to win the White House or Congress,” writes
Thomas Sowell.
That makes it “possible to understand [the Democrats’]
desperate efforts to keep blacks paranoid, not only about Republicans
but about American society in general.”

You can understand the desperation. It takes real work to get 70 percent of any group
to agree about anything. The only way to do it is with fear and loathing.

Another Tipping Point

The day that 8 million Iraqis voted for freedom was the day that
Keith Thompson left the left. He wanted a world in which we could

focus on creating healthy, self-actualizing individuals
committed to taking responsibility for their lives, developing their talents,
honing their skills and intellects, fostering emotional and moral intelligence,
all in all contributing to the advancement of the human condition.

And he could no longer find that world on the left.

Real People Get Hurt When MSM Misfires

Our beloved media enjoy a special privilege. They don’t get to pay damages for
journalistic negligence as a physician or an engineer has to. They are special.
Unfortunately, as many elites have mistakenly imagined over the centuries, that doesn’t
mean that they are specially blessed by God (or history, or the people, or the wretched of the earth)
to minister to the great unwashed.
It means that they have special responsibilities. As Spidey learned, with great power comes
great responsibility.
Michelle Malkin reminds her media colleagues just how much damage they do when their
negligence wounds the men and women of America’s armed forces. And they do need reminding.

Experts Shocked by Public's Optimism

Americans are astonishingly optimistic, according to a new
poll reported by Jennifer Harper.

82 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 feel optimistic about their futures; 82 percent of those ages 25 to 44 do so as well; and 75 percent of those ages 45 to 64 and 64 percent of those 65 or older agree.

The experts are worried. What would happen if Americans stopped being optimistic? “`We believe this personal optimism is sort of a last barricade,’ [the expert] said, and could prove `shaky.’”
You can find a summary of the report (here).

Warning: Egalitarians are At It Again

The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. It’s the center
of the left’s argument. In Marx, it surfaced as the “immiseration” theory, that
the workers would get poorer and poorer over time—because of capitalism.

Now Bruce Bartlett detects a new line from the left
as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (news division) report, in the same week, on
class mobility stalling out. Yes, everyone is
getting richer, yes there is social mobility. But look, the social mobility
is not as great as it used to be. Oh no!

It’s a glorious thing to be a liberal and to know that all the evils in the
world are the other guy’s fault. But liberals, have you never stopped to
think that it is your favorite cultural change and government policies that hinder social mobility,
from the sexual revolution to
monopoly government education, to occupational licensing, to widespread
tenure in the public sector? Social mobility is a two-way street, and for over
a century, liberals have done everything they can to jam the up escalator with their
attack on middle-class values, and jam the down escalator with their income support programs and
market interventions.

Don’t push this one too far, old chum. You won’t like where it leads.

Solar Tower of Power

The Aussies are going to build a 3,000 ft high solar power generator.
according to Dr. Roy W. Spencer.
No doubt you liberal environmentalist chappies are ecstatic. Why, think
of the potential for arresting global warming! But somehow, I don’t see,
say, Senator Reid (D, NV) rushing up to propose a Tower of Power in the
Nevada desert flanked by representatives of the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and
the Wilderness Society.

Anyway, here’s the officical Tower of Power
web site.