June 07, 2008
I can think of no better reason to vote against Obama than the prospect of an administration where any criticism of the President is treated as racism.
Yes, indeed.
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03:26 PM
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"Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less." Sign the petition at American Solutions.
(This is not, BTW, a movement that is against alternative energies—it is about buying us time to develop them properly, and about taking money out of the pockets of America's enemies.)
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12:32 PM
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If she gets her wish, and we do manage to eliminate the "disabled Gulag," we will probably get more like her, and the world will be richer for it.
Thanks for the thoughtful tribute, Ed.
(X-posted at Right Wing News.)
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12:14 PM
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Melissa Clouthier, over at my new weekend gig, discusses right-wing participation in those "strange bedfellows" ads regarding global warming.
This is a delicate issue, because no one I know (um, that is, among my political homies) wants to (1) join the stampede toward the "majority vote" approach to science; (2) concede that global warming is anthropogenic, without just a bit more evidence; (3) specify that an increase in the earth's temperature would necessarily be A Bad Thing.
And yet, like Ms. Clouthier, a lot of us are saddened by the idea of ceding all environmental issues to the left. Remember in the 1970s, when there were two approaches to what we now call environmentalism? There were ecologists on the left, and conservationists on the right.
Now we have the magic of ever-evolving language (no word means anything from decade to decade any more: that would be like sticking with one tie width for 20 years; don't be silly). And the term "environmentalism" means left-wing resource management. And there is no term for right-wing stewardship of Planet Earth. Mostly because many of us suspect that the Third Rock from the Sun is hardier than we've been led to believe. But also because we tend to recoil from the puritanism we see in the modern "environmental" movement.
And yet most of us recycle, and most of us try not to waste resources. Most of us support alternative fuels (if only for foreign policy reasons).
It is not, in short, that we disagree with the goal of keeping the ecosystems running: it is more that we have different ideas of what the tactics should be, and that we still think humans aren't an unmitigated scourge upon the Earth—nor is science and technology any particular enemy.
Like that.
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11:36 AM
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10:55 AM
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Much as I despise a "bean counting" approach to ethnic/gender diversity, I do believe that—all things being equal—the McCain campaign would be better off placing an ethnic minority and/or a woman on the ticket. (Also, the person should be bright, vibrant, and apparently ready to be involved in the administration in a Cheney-esque fashion [that is, to be a sort of uber-Chief-of-Staff, as Cheney has been to President Bush]. That would answer the unspoken (and spoken) fears about McCain's age.
Novak also addresses some of the job being discussed for Senator Clinton in an Obama Presidency. I'm a good deal less horrified by the idea of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State than I feel I ought to be, but the idea of making her a Supreme Court Justice makes me want to throw up—all day, every day. I'd almost rather have Harriet Miers.
Of course, for Clinton to get either of those jobs would imply that Obama has won the Presidency; his qualifications for same are every bit as lightweight as Miers's were for the Court. Obama is terribly liberal, and terribly young, and terribly naive on foreign policy, the trickiest (and most critical) issue of our day.
(X-posted at Right Wing News.)
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10:35 AM
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June 06, 2008
BTW, tomorrow is my first on-duty stint as part of Hawkins' Saturday crew. So send me lots of tips tonight and tomorrow morning. Thanks!
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07:46 PM
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12:17 AM
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June 05, 2008
h/t: Insty.
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"Because my wife keeps borrowing them and losing them. I have to have extras, or I wouldn't have any at all."
"Perhaps your wife is simply doing her bit for the ecosystem: it's bad for nail clippers when there are too many of them in the bathroom drawers. Someone has to cull the herd."
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01:48 PM
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Whaaaaaatt?
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(I'm going to have to throw in a reminder here that I don't want to see any attacks on Ted Kennedy in the cancer context.
I do realize that some people can't help but think of deep water, alcohol abuse, lack of enunciation, and lace-curtain Irish when the man's name comes up; knock yourself out. Any excessively vitriolic or "let him die" kinds of remarks, however, will be subject to deletion, or to whimsical editing for my personal, childish amusement.)
But one cannot help but be struck by the irony: in the quixotic attempt to make sure that every healthy 25-year old is covered by health insurance, we might not pay attention to those "unintended consequences" the Canadians and Britons both endure, and we could end up killing some of the people we were hoping to save.
As with most of these misguided projects, the risks are lower with McCain in the White House, vs. Obama.
. . . [T]he dangers of the liberal health-care agenda are being made clear by the care that a liberal icon, Sen. Ted Kennedy, has received since his brain seizure last month.One day after an MRI detected a tumor, Kennedy was quickly diagnosed with a malignant glioma—a rare and often-fatal form of brain cancer. Less than two weeks later, his tumor was being removed by one of the world's experts in brain cancer at Duke Univeristy Medical Center. He'll follow up with chemo and radiation therapy tailored to the genetic makeup of his cancer to keep the cancer from spreading.
He'll likely take Avastin, a drug that in experiments with brain cancer has extended survival by months. A new cancer vaccine being developed in partnership with Pfizer could extend his life by six years.
Of course, with his wealth and power, Kennedy would get good treatment anywhere. But the same care is available to every American. Not so - if we make the health "reforms" called for by Kennedy and other liberals.
Filmmaker Michael Moore gives their standard line when he says: "There are problems in all health-care systems, but at least Europeans and Canadians have a health-care system that covers everyone." Problem is, governments that promise to "cover everyone" always wind up cutting corners simply to save money. People with Kennedy's condition are dying or dead as a result.
Consider Jennifer Bell of Norwich, England. In 2006, the 22-year-old complained of headaches for months—but Britain's National Health Service made her wait a year to see a neurologist. Then she had to wait more than three months before should could get what the NHS decided was only a "relatively urgent" MRI scan. Three days before the MRI appointment, she died.
Well, it could be worse: she could have been Cuban, and dealing with the roach-infested facilities that most of those on the island are relegated to. ("But at least everyone's at the same level, there." Um, no. Not the well-connected. Under socialism, one has to kiss up to dictators to get one's needs met. Here, all one has to do is scrape up some cash. That is, of course, an easier project.)
More from Goldberg:
Consider, too, the chemo drug Kennedy is receiving: Temodar, the first oral medicine for brain tumors in 25 years. Temodar has been widely used in this country since the FDA approved it in 2000. But a British health-care rationing agency, the National Institute for Comparative Effectiveness, ruled that, while the drug helps people live longer, it wasn't worth the money—and denied coverage for it.Barack Obama—and other Democrats—have been pushing a Senate bill to set up a similar US "review board" for Medicare and any future government health-care plan.
After denying this treatment completely for seven years, the NICE [. . .] relented—partly. Even today, only a handful of Brits with brain tumors can get Temodar. And if you want to pay for Temodar out of your own pocket, the British system forces you to pay for all of your cancer care—about $30,000 a month.
That's one of the evils of some Medicare rules, even here and now: there should never be a rule against buying something extra "a la carte." And yet most of these bureaucrat-driven systems won't let you get anything "on the side" that your insurance won't pay for. That's just evil.
Goldberg continues:
Things are no different in Canada, where the wait for an MRI (once you finally get a referral) has grown to 10 weeks. For Canadians relying on their government health care, the average wait time from diagnosis of cancer to surgery is beyond the guideline set by both the US and European societies for surgical oncology.And HealthCanada, the government system, similar[ly] refuses to pay for treatments that are often covered in America. Chad Curley, a 37-year-old auto worker from Windsor, Ontario, had a brain tumor like Kennedy's but can't have surgery because his is too large to be operable.
His tumor didn't respond to Temodar, and the same doctors now treating Sen. Kennedy told him and his wife that the Avastin combination could stop his tumor from growing and add months to his life. But HealthCanada wouldn't pay to use Avastin to treat his tumor.
I want our health-care "system" in which patients have the power to affect their care. I don't want someone else deciding what I do and don't need. Under socialized medicine, these calls are being made by people who haven't even met the patients. That's not okay.
h/t: Flopping Aces.
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11:02 AM
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h/t to Eric Classic.
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June 04, 2008
"Which Jane?" He asks.
"Armies of Liberation Jane, of course. The one who's trying to pressure the Yemenis into allowing freedom of speech, and get them to stop killing/imprisoning journalists. That Jane."
"I'll bet the State Department hates her," he muses.
"I wouldn't be surprised," I tell him. "But we love her. She's saving lives. We are unanimous that she must get a terrific tube of lipstick for this appearance."
In retrospect it feels like rather a small contribution to the cause.
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, 
)), 
, You're pretty much the go-to guy for political insights, foreign-policy recommendations . . . nearly any subject having to do with American governance and statesmanship. We seek your opinion because of your track rec . . . oops. I meant to say that we actively solicit your input because we know that you mean well, and that's all that's really important.
Truly. You're a wonderful guy. There, there. Think good thoughts. And thanks for all your hel . . . thanks for trying. Look at it this way: every President is special.
h/t: Memeorandum.
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The Coco Chanel comparison was perfect. Perhaps neither one of them was of the world—but they were both in the world.
Thank you, Yves Saint Laurent.
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Is it like baking, wherein the proportion of ingredients is key?
Or is it more like a soup, in which one has to tend to the balance of flavors, one against another?
Perhaps history is like a pie: the filling is easy, but the crust will fuck you up.
If history is like a stir-fry, then it's all in remembering which vegetables cook most quickly, and adding them in inverse proportion.
Come on, people: history occurs when time passes. History makes itself, without any special help from us.
Okay, okay: there was a time when I had plenty of team spirit. I was even happy when William Jefferson Clinton appointed the first female attorney general.
You see where this is going, right? Down to Texas, to the small town where Janet Reno made her mark.
These days I don't give anyone points for having ovaries. Nor for having a good suntan from birth.
And history will bury its dead.
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Also, to the teachers thereof.
But what about everyone else? Where are they getting extra time to read? Is it the effects of the "longer" days, with more sunshine? Is there an illusion that one has more time?
As the daughter of a schoolteacher, I definitely associate longer days and more sunshine with housework and household organization (though of course I've learned to resist the temptation to create cleanliness and order over the years). But I don't associate long days with reading.
Winter is for reading, curled up on the couch or in a window seat. Drinking hot chocolate or Earl Grey tea with a bit of whole milk in it. And for just grabbing something off the bookshelf: Wuthering Heights, or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, or anything by James Thurber.
Summer is for walking, or driving. Or for soaking up the sun somehow. Certainly not for placing a white sheet of paper in front of one's eyes and letting it reflect the sunlight into one's eyeballs.
The only thing I really want to read in the summer are cookbooks (with a focus on grilling and creating bitchin' salsa, natch) and Shakespeare.
Because I'll burn my retinas out for Billy the Shake any day of the week. But for no one else.
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02:46 AM
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With all three candidates giving major speeches, I threw my hands up in the air and boycotted television this evening.
(Some of you will ask how this differs from an ordinary night. It's simple: I didn't watch TV, but I didn't feel guilty about it. So there.)
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02:11 AM
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