From the WSJ’s Joe Morgenstern. Plus his impressions of a new French film.
Updates from March, 2009 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Jehuda
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Ace says: don’t believe it: “Spain tried the same destructive plan Obama is pushing. Indeed, Obama specifically cites Spain as his northstar.”
My sister lives in Spain. She says it’s really hard to get a job right now. But don’t take her word for it. The Financial Times will tell you the same thing (video).
So why is Obama pushing for green jobs to “rebuild” our economy? Because he wants to rebuild it all right: into something unrecognizable, not into the powerhouse that we know it can be. It’s not about fixing the crisis. It’s about change we can do without.
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Daily Beast: Obama’s Paris Hilton Problem: an interactive chart helps you track how Obama’s press blitz affects his agenda. You think he’s overexposed now, wait for his European tour.
Plus, whatever would Obama have to say to attendees of the Univision Music Awards (video)?
H/T: BigHollywood.
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Variety: 24
‘s Joel Surnow takes on the Kennedy clan.
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Big expectations for DreamWorks’ new 3-D animated release. The industry has a lot riding on this one…
Incidentally, some people will end up seeing this movie via our tax money.
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Anne Thompson has been keeping tabs on Rogen’s goings-on…
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At Wired‘s Autopia blog.
Nice car…
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RCP: Obama’s budget is costing him support in the middle.
Well, no surprise there. Obama keeps pushing his misguided, gargantuan budget, and it’s starting to look too risky to more and more people. In fact, the WSJ is now calling this the “All-in Presidency”.
RELATED: Spend and Blame. Ha! It’s going to be Tax, Spend, Bankrupt and Blame before too long.
MORE: Via The Corner: New York Magazine goes Inside Obama’s Economic Brain Trust and warns it’s not pretty in there. I didn’t think so…
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WSJ: Obama to woo Euro public during overseas trip. “He will hold a town hall-style meeting at a sports arena in Strasbourg, France…And the White House is looking for a site in Prague for the first public foreign-policy speech of Mr. Obama’s presidency”.
Isn’t it time he shook off that whole world savior thing? Especially during these critical times (especially after pissing off so many heads of state)? Who’ll stay in charge while he’s gone? Biden and Geithner?
Speaking of world government: UN’s Climate Change Plan Aims to Shift Trillions to Form New World Economy. Great…
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Washington Times: Hezbollah’s Mexican connection.
That’s why some of us in certain circles often call for border security: because along our borders, security is a concern…or at least it should be…
Really, given that Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad have been palling around for months now, none of this should come as a surprise.
(via The Corner)
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Michael Burwick: The Marginalization of Israelis by the Left. “Joseph Goebbels Returns as a Latte-Drinking Upper West Side Liberal”.
Hmm. Reminds of that book about Liberalism and Fascism…
Speaking of which, what’s with all those anti-semitic comments on Journolist? (via Instapundit) I really was expecting more enlightened thought from that bunch.
UPDATE: NY Daily News: Israel’s Hypocritical Critics.
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Have you been to Zo Nation today? Gotta check out I Wanna Spend Yo’ Money!
If you are a conservative, you know what he’s talking about, but he’s always worth a listen. If you are a liberal, you should hear what he has to say. At least you’ll know where conservatives are coming from…
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Mickey Kaus takes you inside the exclusive, secret liberal listserve.
I guess non-members and conservative journalists have nothing to worry about. Seems like any other forum thread, but with a certain air of pomposity that you can only expect from this crowd.
Via Instapundit.
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(via Drudge)
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Didn’t Obama diss the Iraq surge while campaigning? I guess it was another one of his positions with an expiration date.
WSJ: White House Plans Extensive Afghan Escalation.
More from the AP, here.
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Thoughts on Obama’s on-line townhall, from Dan Riehl.
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It’s one gaffe after another with the Obama White House, but 2 months in you’re more likely to hear Bush jokes on late night shows.
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Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega wants a U.S. bailout for his neck of the woods.
Well, assuming that Central American countries are as mismanaged as our newspapers, Detroit auto makers, and our banking system, what are the odds that the White House and Congressional Democrats start writing a check?
Isn’t it enough that we allow so many folks from that region to stay in our country illegally?
Via The Corner.
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Judith Dobrzynski: Obama Stiffs the Arts.
Funny how even nominees for something as non-crucial as promoting the arts are inadequate. Speaks volumes, but if they can’t get DVD Region codes right…
And please, no e-mails about how crucial the arts are. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I just don’t think the federal government should be that involved in them.
Via BigHollywood.
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THR: “Blockbuster and TiVo unveiled a cooperation Wednesday that covers the delivery of Blockbuster’s library of digital movies via TiVo DVRs, which in turn will be sold by Blockbuster in its stores and on its Web site.”
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WSJ: Time for the Supremes to overturn McCain-Feingold.
Amen to that. I remember when MF became law. No one thought it would go unchallenged for long. It’s been less than a decade since then. I hope it finds its end here.
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Never happened? Hmm.
Well, people with Truther tendencies will never let go of it. Just like the Bush years…
Via Instapundit.
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Hmm. Does Forbes‘s Dan Gerstein read The Rhetorican?
I doubt it, but he’s obviously caught the same vibe I caught the other day:
Obama has more than a Geithner problem. He has what I would call a Rumsfeld problem... [T]he president made the mistake of going to economic war with the army he had–which was built for political speed and presidential comfort–instead of the army he needs to beat back the crisis of confidence that is crippling our markets…
I’m not sure Obama has gone to economic war with the right weapons either. How will socialized medicine, cap and trade, and universal college ward off the ravages of the crisis? Is there – dare I ask - an exit strategy? When do we stop the bailouts and gargantuan deficits?
Or to put it in terms Obama can understand: when do we bring our finances back home to reasonableness?
UPDATE: Related content from Jennifer Rubin and Mark Steyn.
MORE: US economy becoming more like Argentina’s or Russia’s???? Nooooooooo!!!!
ANOTHER ONE: Mort Kondracke: Will Obama match Bush for fiscal irresponsibility? Match him and exceed him, I fear.
AND ANOTHER ONE: San Diego Union-Tribune: Obama not forthright on vast debt he seeks.
LAST ONE: Instalanche! Thanks for the link, Prof. Reynolds!
OK, ONE MORE STILL: Ed Driscoll links and has related thoughts. Thanks, Mr. Driscoll!
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New Scientist: “[P]lasma balls spewed from the surface of the sun could wipe out our power grids, with catastrophic consequences.”
Sounds almost lihe the EMP weapon scenario. And here we are spending millions on protecting against global warming, which no one is certain whether it is ocurring or not.
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And does it well with a new :40 second spot. I think it was released yesterday, but I just caught it a few minutes ago while watching O’Reilly. Good job! It hits all the important points.
more about “American Issues Project“, posted with vodpod -
Jehuda
NYT: Geithner sends dollar sinking with careless remarks. Attempts to save it soon after.
Much more at Instapundit: “This kind of thing just adds to the sense of a team that’s not ready for prime time.”
Not ready for prime time? Not even ready for amateur hour is more like it.
I’ll never forget how a liberal friend told me – days before the election – that Republicans had no business being in government because they tend to believe that government is a problem; that we just can’t possibly have a government that works with people like that in power; and that with Obama in the White House we just couldn’t go wrong, because he would bring with him competent people committed to making government work.
I wonder how he feels now. Let’s just say I have been reluctant to laugh in his face…
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Pay no mind to the 52-inch screen: “This is the best way to look at it: my LCD component is to Big Boy, what the sleeveless dress is to Michelle.”
Ha!
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Peter Glover: Islamic States Push UN to criminalize criticism of Islam.
The UN resolution in question “deems offending Islamic sensitivities a ‘serious affront to human dignity’” among other things. Absurd. Now hurting someone’s feelings is a criminal act?
Not that this would become law everywhere, UN resolutions being what they are. But it could become law somewhere. We all remember what happened to Mark Steyn in Canada (of all places!). A little bit of Sharia by proxy.
But what is most alarming here is how the UN is being used to give an air of respectability to the intolerance of divergent points of view. Alarming, but not surprising. The UN is the biggest anti-semitic club in the world, after all.
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I just heard on the radio that during a State visit in Mexico City Hillary Clinton said the U.S. shares the blame for Mexico’s drug cartel violence.
I can’t say I’m surprised by Hillary’s attitude and words. This is a cheap way of ingratiating herself to the Mexican government; and in the measure that demand for drugs in the U.S. fuels drug traffic from south of the border, I guess she’s partially right.
But I lived in Mexico for many years; and I know that if only Mexican society – as expressed through its laws, government and culture – was less classist, statist, and more for upward social mobility, maybe the number of Mexicans choosing to pursue a career in the drug trade would be much smaller. Of course, Hillary won’t say that during a state visit. But I wonder if she at least considered it before opening her mouth.
Hillary also attributed the Mexican Cartel Wars to America’s “inability to stop weapons smuggling into Mexico”. Now she didn’t have to say that: there is clear evidence showing that the weapons the drug cartels are acquiring are coming from elsewhere. I chalk it up to an innate drive to push for drug control.
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Politico: What Obama said and what he meant.
I missed the press conference, so I can’t comment directly. I was at work. But apparently I didn’t miss anything big:
Obama fluently answered the questions, sometimes at considerable length. But his responses were typically variations on a single-word theme: Whatever.
Ouch! From the Punch-drunk President to the “Whatever” President in less than a week? The honeymoon is definitely over.
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I guess it’s possible Watchmen has been discussed here and elsewhere ad nauseam, but I thought it would be useful to hear what someone who has read the graphic novel for the first time – and liked it – has to say about it.
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Most TV shows start strong in the ratings, then decline as their novelty wears off. Apparently that trend also holds true for the president’s primetime telecasts.
Well, it had to happen sooner or later…
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If Paul Krugman is shooting down the administration’s latest plan to stabilize banks, then we’re really in trouble.
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Supremes seem prepared to rule for producers of Hillary: The Movie.
I hope so. McCain-Feingold’s restrictions on political speech are simply unacceptable.
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AP: Spreading the wealth around? Not so much. Carbon Tax? Maybe later.
Via The Corner.
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(via Instapundit).
Looks like Liberty and Tyranny
is already #1 in sales at Amazon.
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Times of London: On-demand videogame service has backing of major game publishers.
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Chris Yogerst: The Vigilante.
