The MSM Taking Us Through a Circular Frenzy

TW: I do not post these TPM re-caps often, not because they are not generally very good but because if I posted them every day it would get tedious. But this one captures so concisely the craziness of media and something like swine flu. Anchor after anchor gravely opines "lets not fan hysteria" then almost immediately...fans the hysteria. Are these things serious, absolutely, should they warrant sensational gavel to gavel coverage which only perpetuates the potentially worse impact from paranoia...NO!!!

Enhancing Our National Security By Slowing Defense Spending Growth

TW: We were blissfully residing in the one state most vulnerable at the time of the launch that Korean missile. I can state unequivocally that concern was minimal or rather non-existent. Fox is shamelessly not only biased but egregiously stupid.


TW: One of little issues that popped during our brief sabbatical was the new Obama/Gates defense budget. The progressive media did a good job albeit slightly delayed rebutting the ridiculous meme that Obama was in any way "cutting" the defense budget. It is of course yet again increasing despite the slow drawdown of forces in Iraq (which are still funded largely through supplemental budgeting but the drawdown will reduce overall pressure on equipment etc.).

I am highly skeptical that all of the programs reduced or cut to keep the overall spending from increasing even more will actually remain reduced or cut but thankfully Gates et al. are moving to stop a freight train that will only accelerate if not controlled aggressively. If we are to have ANY hope of managing on national spending, defense must be integrated into the equation. Simplistic bloviation about "leaving our nation vulnerable" whenever any steps are taken to reign in defense programming are not only foolish but in fact harm our national defense by creating unsustainable weapons systems and programs. Kudos to Gates (and Obama)!!

Profiles In Hypocrisy: Earmarks

TW: If one spends even a little time reading American history and the Congress, the neverending flow of hypocrisy is obvious. The latest incarnation of demogoguery and populist hypocrisy relates to earmarks. Putting aside their relative size compared to the rest of the budget. 90% plus of those that bloviate upon the issue use earmarks. TPM does a nice slideshow of some of the prime pomposity.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/photofeatures/2009/03/just-say-no-yes-to-earmarks.php?img=1

More Year End Highlights: Conservative Insights

TW: Talking Point Memo grabbed their top conservative insights for the year. There were several good ones below I show my favorites:

From TPM:
"Now it's just a circular firing squad with everybody attacking each other and no coherent belief system, no leaders. You got half the party waiting for Sarah Palin to come rescue them. The other half waiting for Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana governor, to come rescue them. But no set of beliefs, really a decayed conservative infrastructure. It's just a world of pain."
--David Brooks NYT

"...Unfortunately, when Republicans have tried to be in touch, they've been tempted to be irresponsible. In September, more than a few were ready to risk the global banking system's collapse in the hopes that they could ride anti-Wall Street populism to victory."
--Matt Continetti Weekly Standard

"I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms."
--Alan Greenspan (no longer so revered) former Fed Chairman

"The movement created by that superelite, but never elitist, William F. Buckley Jr. was handed over to Joe Six-Pack. Know-nothingness was no longer a stigma, but a badge of honor. The Republican Party's Baghdad Bobism with regard to Palin, a denial so pernicious that party operatives were willing to let her sit a heartbeat away from the presidency in a time of war and financial collapse, revealed what really ails the party..."
--Kathleen Parker WaPo
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/19/the_top_dozen_insights_of_cons/

The Campaign In a Couple of Minutes

TW: Talking Points is good at putting video compilations together. This one pulls those memorable moments from the endless campaign together into two or three minutes. Good stuff.

ps the weird white haired guy that periodically appears is Mike Gravel the iconoclastic Dem that kind of ran in the Dem primaries but not really