Thursday, February 7, 2008

I Think it's Thursday?

The following is from EllisWeiner writing about a Bill Kristol Op-Ed. The complete post is at the Huffington Post:

It's not easy to encourage self-reliance in the era of the welfare state.

Here, in a mere 13 words (assuming "self-reliance" counts as one), is a book's worth of "conservative" hypocrisy and self-serving. First, the lofty moral intent, so beloved of missionaries and imperialists. Kristol has manfully taken it upon himself to encourage right behavior in others. No, don't bother thanking him. Virtue is its own reward.
But, as is always the case when reading neo-con prescriptions of how others should live, some vocab clarification proves helpful. Clip and save for future reference:

When billionaires get tax breaks, they receive "incentives." When working class families get food stamps, they're the perpetrators (and the victims, really) of "the welfare state." When government serves corporations, it's "a partnership." When government serves individuals, it's "socialism." When William Kristol rides his father's contacts and reputation to a sinecure insulated from any commercial or marketplace consequences -- and suffers not an ounce of setback for having been wrong about everything -- he's showing "self-reliance." When you ask that the FTC at least protect your children from poison in Chinese toys, you're encouraging "the nanny state." Clear?

From 23/6, a photo collection (with great captions) of Super Tuesday.

A bad editorial from the Ottawa Herald, Ottawa, Kansas.

Here is a snippet:

To elect Barack Obama to the highest office in the land would be nothing less than spitting on the graves of the victims of 9/11, as well as the memory of the countless thousands of American loyalists who have pledged and given their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in defense of the greatest nation on earth. In many cases, these things are all that is left to families of American heroes who heard the call and stepped forward and defended not only their heritage, but the legacies of millions in foreign lands.

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