http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:54:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Yesterday, in the dead of night, the U.S. House of Representatives took a small step for Nancy Pelosi and a giant step for despotism. Freedom, David Hume famously observed, is seldom lost all at once. More often, it leaks out slowly. The petty tyranny of good intentions colludes with the bureaucratic ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ERA68dXVRXIlXEOrKPNWKwTP9I4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ERA68dXVRXIlXEOrKPNWKwTP9I4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ERA68dXVRXIlXEOrKPNWKwTP9I4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ERA68dXVRXIlXEOrKPNWKwTP9I4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/11/08/what-it-means/ My sunny thoughts about the once-again great states of New Jersey (welcome, Governor Christie!) and Virginia (ditto, Governor McDonnell!) are not displaced by the (to me) disappointing and (to everyone) surprising news that Doug Hoffman lost to Bill Owens in New York's 23rd Congressional District. There has been a great deal ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TInWop1u-x9cIZw2grFmWOXVCyY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TInWop1u-x9cIZw2grFmWOXVCyY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TInWop1u-x9cIZw2grFmWOXVCyY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TInWop1u-x9cIZw2grFmWOXVCyY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/11/05/more-on-ny-23/ Just in case your survey of the world scene has left you with a residue of cheerfulness, below is a video of a talk given by Lord Christopher Monckton at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, last week that should complete your gloom. The ostensible subject was the United Nations Copenhagen ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Wqc6Ba-J-q-D_DbLHZeVm1ERk6Y/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Wqc6Ba-J-q-D_DbLHZeVm1ERk6Y/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Wqc6Ba-J-q-D_DbLHZeVm1ERk6Y/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Wqc6Ba-J-q-D_DbLHZeVm1ERk6Y/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/10/20/national-sovereignty-climate-mysticism-and-you/ Michael Mukasey, the last Attorney General to serve under George W. Bush, has an essential essay in The Wall Street Journal today. It's called "Civilian Courts Are No Place to Try Terrorists," and its caption explains something very important that I hope Eric Holder, the current Attorney General, will take ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kqJH84K3aWDFJo9LT1iCpcZ_ACU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kqJH84K3aWDFJo9LT1iCpcZ_ACU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kqJH84K3aWDFJo9LT1iCpcZ_ACU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kqJH84K3aWDFJo9LT1iCpcZ_ACU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/10/19/an-critical-warning-from-michael-mukasey/ Damage control time! --She didn't mean it. --She was only quoting a Republican operative. --Fox News is mean to Democrats. --Glenn Beck is an extremist. --The President is trying to clean up a big mess left by George Bush. --Can't we just change the subject? When Glenn Beck aired a video of White House Communications Director Anita ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/blP0Bpjx6I1xnOZW3RSamDknm6A/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/blP0Bpjx6I1xnOZW3RSamDknm6A/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/blP0Bpjx6I1xnOZW3RSamDknm6A/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/blP0Bpjx6I1xnOZW3RSamDknm6A/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/10/17/the-maoist-explains-herself-egg-face-at-the-white-house/ Jeremiah Wright. William Ayers. Van Jones. Where does the rogues' gallery of Barack Obama's radical friends end? These people are not liberals. They are not "progressives." They are radicals who hate America and in many cases have advocated or even perpetrated violence in an effort to destroy it. Thanks to ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/b68FjoPzLDTFN6ipPdPzokyBY0k/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/b68FjoPzLDTFN6ipPdPzokyBY0k/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/b68FjoPzLDTFN6ipPdPzokyBY0k/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/b68FjoPzLDTFN6ipPdPzokyBY0k/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/10/16/a-maoist-in-the-white-house/ I have been trying to discover just how many people our duly elected representatives employ on their staffs -- how many people they employ, and how much they spend to employ them. It is data that is not easy to come by, but I am poking around and will reveal ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pIwZKhBWcYtGcMJyrLv9ZYOaOpc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pIwZKhBWcYtGcMJyrLv9ZYOaOpc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pIwZKhBWcYtGcMJyrLv9ZYOaOpc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pIwZKhBWcYtGcMJyrLv9ZYOaOpc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/10/15/annals-of-democracy-dept-of-the-first-lady/ It's coming to crunch time for the centerpiece of Obama's legislative agenda for his first year: nationalizing health care. Will he get away with it? Really, it's up to us. America is still, even now, a sort of democracy, and our rulers in Washington still serve at our pleasure, notwithstanding ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2ToN5UQlV69jOFyXYjawlUVixSI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2ToN5UQlV69jOFyXYjawlUVixSI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2ToN5UQlV69jOFyXYjawlUVixSI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2ToN5UQlV69jOFyXYjawlUVixSI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/10/13/crunch-time-for-health-care-now-its-up-to-us/ See the bottom of this story for a shocking update!! In 2001, Joseph Stiglitz won a Nobel Prize for economics. Don't let that prejudice you, though. Despite the hilarious burlesque with this year's Nobel Peace Prize, some people who win Nobel Prizes actually deserve public acclamation. Did Stiglitz? I really don't know. ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_ptdXswbDBHifHu1qcBs2fWzAZY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_ptdXswbDBHifHu1qcBs2fWzAZY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_ptdXswbDBHifHu1qcBs2fWzAZY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_ptdXswbDBHifHu1qcBs2fWzAZY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/10/12/finally-the-economist-as-grown-up/ Over at The Corner, a fellow calling himself David Kahane (a pen name of a Hollywood writer) posts this splendid exercise in hypothetical prestidigitation. Watch in amazement as obvious counter-factuals turn out to boast the blunt currency of quotidian reality. You scale the heights of subjunctive fantasy only to find ... <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9gfU0IJvesD4U1cGTIAYYeybMGU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9gfU0IJvesD4U1cGTIAYYeybMGU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9gfU0IJvesD4U1cGTIAYYeybMGU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9gfU0IJvesD4U1cGTIAYYeybMGU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/10/10/mr-incredible/