In What Was That ‘Stupidly’ All About? Victor Davis Hanson quite rightly points out that the President risks permanently losing some of his rapidly decreasing credibility by speaking out prematurely on the Gates incident.
And if the public comes away with any lasting impression, it will be that an impromptu Obama, for all the post-racial rhetoric, still sees controversies in prisms that reflect stereotyped us/them racialism rather than looking at each incident empirically.
It’s been a tough week for him – plummeting poll numbers, delays in his health care reform package, his buddies in ACORN have been revealed as possible crooks, and he has been roundly criticized for his remarks on the Gates incident. Time for a weekend at Camp David.
So Michael Moore’s new film will be titled “Capitalism: A Love Story”. In Michael Moore Gets It Wrong, John Stossel is quite right about Moore’s moonbat misinterpretation of the financial crisis. While Moore states that it’s unmitigated greed, Stossel reminds us that markets have a way of transforming self-interest into a common good:
The wealthy, and everyone else, almost always decide that they don’t have enough wealth. People ask their bosses for raises. We invest in stocks hoping for bigger returns than Treasury Bonds bring. “Greed” is a constant. The beauty of free markets, when government doesn’t meddle in them, is that they turn this greed into a phenomenal force for good. The way to win big money is to serve your customers well. Profit-seeking entrepreneurs have given us better products, shorter work days, extended lives, and more opportunities to write the script of our own life.
Overture Films will distribute the picture. Somehow I think their investment partners – foreigners, wealthy individuals and hedge funds – are interested in getting the maximum return possible on their investment. Certainly they expect bigger returns than treasury bonds. Sounds like good old fashioned capitalism to me, Michael.
In many ways the President is a regular guy. Do you think he turned to Sarkozy and said “nice ass”?
Update: What can we call this little episode? Ass-gate? Leer-gate? Ogle-gate? The young woman is of the age of consent in most countries, so Pedo-gate and Lolita-gate aren’t appropriate. And just one more question:
How long will he hear “Not tonight, Barry”?
In Let’s mourn the real American heroes, Michelle Malkin summarizes the smoldering disgust of many Americans with the over-the-top, the-hell-with-morality media circus surrounding Michael Jackson’s funeral.
Here’s some questions – Putting his family aside for obvious reasons, how many of the worldwide mourners are really Michael Jackson fans? How many purchased any of his work or can name a favorite song? How many just followed someone else’s lead and mourned because it seemed like the thing to do? How many celebrity has-beens and mediocre talents will add their statements and participate in other memorial events (just wait – you know there will have to be at least one “Concert for Michael.”) How many politicians will continue to shamelessly garner media attention? How long before the rest of the Jackson family uses this to promote their own flagging careers?
And when will the real heroes get their display of public respect? Where are their concerts?
Like the lowest-cost technology, vice usually wins. Japan’s on the leading edge:
Pornography will eventually open a debate about how carriers should modify their business model as data traffic swells
That’s not all. And what’s with a Japanese Porn distributor named “Soft on Demand”?
Porn Downloads Strain Japan Phone Network, Prompt DoCoMo Curbs – Bloomberg.com.