Sep 6, 2010
Sep 5, 2010
The Sunday Funnies
AP has a weekend feature on John Boehner who would probably become speaker of the house if Republicans win big enough in November.The profile concentrates on what he'll try to do as speaker, and the writer tosses in a phrase about the trouble he would face trying to reconcile neocon Republicans and the "Increasingly libertarian-leaning (GOP) caucus."
It's pleasant to see the phrase in print, but whatever libertarian leaning is going on isn't enough to capsize the USS Business-As-Usual.
Show me 75 GOP congress critters who will risk their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honors (t' hee) -- not to mention the Dantesque horror of losing an election -- to dismantle the Departments of Education, HUD, HHS, and Energy. Then, if they will also vow to risk their all to end the War on Drugs (which has been lost since, roughly, the day Bill Clinton didn't inhale), why, then I'll agree the GOP caucus might be trending toward libertarianism.
But let me repeat my pleasure in seeing even the word "libertarian" so high in a national story. Are we approaching the end of the era requiring us to explain that, no, it is not a misspelling of "liberal?"
---
Down a little lower we run into one of those sneaky, perhaps unconscious, one-word editorials in a "news" story.
"Boehner already has a somewhat wary alliance with several younger and more dogmatic GOP members. "
Dogmatic? Would the writer have used that word to describe some hard-core leftist congress critters? Of course not. The required adjective in those cases is "principled."
Show me 75 GOP congress critters who will risk their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honors (t' hee) -- not to mention the Dantesque horror of losing an election -- to dismantle the Departments of Education, HUD, HHS, and Energy. Then, if they will also vow to risk their all to end the War on Drugs (which has been lost since, roughly, the day Bill Clinton didn't inhale), why, then I'll agree the GOP caucus might be trending toward libertarianism.
But let me repeat my pleasure in seeing even the word "libertarian" so high in a national story. Are we approaching the end of the era requiring us to explain that, no, it is not a misspelling of "liberal?"
---
Down a little lower we run into one of those sneaky, perhaps unconscious, one-word editorials in a "news" story.
"Boehner already has a somewhat wary alliance with several younger and more dogmatic GOP members. "
Dogmatic? Would the writer have used that word to describe some hard-core leftist congress critters? Of course not. The required adjective in those cases is "principled."
Sep 4, 2010
Generous Iowa
As I mentioned recently, my pride is unbounded in the self-sacrificing spirit of the Hawkeye State. We give you corn, soy beans, presidents, and a culture of Grant Woodism for your sophisticated amusement. But I was especially taken with a morning headline reporting that Indianapolis is a special beneficiary of our sharing spirit.
It reads "Apes Leave Des Moines, Become Hoosiers," because our "Great Ape Trust"* is sending four Orangutans to the Indianapolis zoo.
I speculated the gift might well be two legislators, a governor, and our DNR director.
Reading the whole story sort of spoils the fun. What you're really getting is something like that, only hairier.
---
*Yes, we have one. Don't ask.
It reads "Apes Leave Des Moines, Become Hoosiers," because our "Great Ape Trust"* is sending four Orangutans to the Indianapolis zoo.
I speculated the gift might well be two legislators, a governor, and our DNR director.
Reading the whole story sort of spoils the fun. What you're really getting is something like that, only hairier.
---
*Yes, we have one. Don't ask.
Apt
Once in a while I offer news and comment on the enablers of Big Brother. I note this morning a new development in the saga of Cogent (COGT, NYSE, $11.01).
The company makes and manages automated digital fingerprinting devices and databases to dissuade you from annoying your elected masters.
Cogent has recently sold itself to 3M. Some shareholders think the acquisition price was too low. Enter the lawyers to sue Cogent management.
Okay, nothing unusual here except what I at first thought was a small joke in reporting the name of the legal firm.
Bull and Lifschitz.
.
The company makes and manages automated digital fingerprinting devices and databases to dissuade you from annoying your elected masters.
Cogent has recently sold itself to 3M. Some shareholders think the acquisition price was too low. Enter the lawyers to sue Cogent management.
Okay, nothing unusual here except what I at first thought was a small joke in reporting the name of the legal firm.
Bull and Lifschitz.
.
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