What the Heck Does Millenial Mean, Anyway?

I'm more Millenial than TS, but not by much.

I Wish I'd Said That

But then, this is why she's Peggy Noonan -- from her essay in the Wall Street Journal yesterday:

On to the aftermath of the election. On Wednesday, President Obama gave a news conference to share his thoughts. Viewers would have found it disappointing if there had been any viewers. The president is speaking, in effect, to an empty room. From my notes five minutes in: "This wet blanket, this occupier of the least interesting corner of the faculty lounge, this joy-free zone, this inert gas." By the end I was certain he will never produce a successful stimulus because he is a human depression.


Actually I thought the worst thing you can say about a president: He won't even make a good former president.


His detachment is so great, it is even from himself. As he spoke, he seemed to be narrating from a remove. It was like hearing the audiobook of Volume I of his presidential memoirs. "Obama was frustrated. He honestly didn't understand what the country was doing. It was as if they had compulsive hand-washing disorder. In '08 they washed off Bush. Now they're washing off Obama. There he is, swirling down the drain! It's all too dramatic, too polar. The morning after the election it occurred to him: maybe he should take strong action. Maybe he should fire America! They did well in 2008, but since then they've been slipping. They weren't giving him the followership he needed. But that wouldn't work, they'd only complain. He had to keep his cool. His aides kept telling him, 'Show humility.' But they never told him what humility looked like. What was he supposed to do, burst into tears and say hit me? Not knowing how to feel humility or therefore show humility he decided to announce humility: He found the election 'humbling,' he said."

Plain and simple, good writing.

What Happens if You Don't Follow Policy

According to the AP, (P)MSNBC has "suspended" Keith Olberman for making political contributions this year.  A quote from this story goes as follows:

NEW YORK (AP) — MSNBC has suspended prime-time host Keith Olbermann indefinitely without pay for contributing to the campaigns of three Democratic candidates this election season.



Olbermann acknowledged to NBC that he donated $2,400 apiece to the campaigns of Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway and Arizona Reps. Raul Grivalva and Gabrielle Giffords.


NBC News prohibits its employees from working on, or donating to, political campaigns unless a special exception is granted by the news division president — effectively a ban. Olbermann's bosses did not find out about the donations until after they were made. The website Politico first reported the donations.

My first thought was that, in light of the fact that Olberman is an opinion journalist, (I think that's what he is, I've never watched him) it was wrong of the network to, effectively, fire him.  He didn't pretend to be a reporter, as far as I know.  However, the key to the situation is in the last paragraph above: he made those contributions in violation of network policy.

Again, this situation boils down to one similar to PBS' firing of Juan Williams; an employer has a right to fire an employee.  NBC is, in fact, apparently in a much stronger position in this case than was PBS in the earlier incident.  This isn't a matter of free speech as far as I can tell.

We should all calm down and determine the facts.

Founders Friday

To steal a line from Glenn Beck, this is a Founders Friday here at Colorado Musing:

A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

                                                          James Madison, Federalist No. 51, February 8, 1788

Who's the Live Wire Today?

This just in from TPMuckraker:

Four candidates who died while campaigning won their elections on Tuesday. Two deceased candidates lost.


In California, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D) won re-election with 59% of the vote. Oropeza, who was 53, died two weeks ago from complications of cancer. The local Democrats, however, mailed supporters encouraging them to vote for Oropeza anyway.


"The Republicans are trying to take unfair advantage of Jenny's tragedy," said the mailer which, according to CNN, did not mention her death. "I am asking you to vote for Jenny Oropeza. If a Special Election is called in a few months, you'll have the chance to thoughtfully elect your Senator for a new four-year term."

One wonders how the other three got elected.  But then, maybe we should elect more dead candidates, they might not be so destructive.

Election Day, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

As good government is an empire of laws, how shall your laws be made? In a large society, inhabiting an extensive country, it is impossible that the whole should assemble to make laws. The first necessary step, then, is to depute power from the many to a few of the most wise and good.


                                                                 John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776

This is Improvment?

Back in July, a Texas congressman, Rep. Kevin Brady, released a chart put together by the Joint Economic Committee minority staff, and taking over two months to complete, it maps  the beauracy put in place under the health care bill passed early this year.  But not all, only about a third, as it turns out.  There wasn't room on the chart to show it all.   It's worth a revisit, just to show the absolute impossibility of the thing.