America — Compared to What?

Victor Davis Hanson "Self-loathing.  1) It starts at home. The so-called cultural elite — professors, those in the arts, the foundations, the establishment media, the Kerry-Edwards-Gore-Kennedy type, multimillionaire liberal politicos, the inherited Big Money, the doyens of the race industry — are now disconnected from material reality. Most have not a clue how hard it is to pump oil out of the ground, grow food, or build a bridge; all such largess is taken as givens, and produced by a money-grubbing distant “they” who like this sort of icky, retrograde work."

The Obsolescence of Barack Obama / The magic of 2008 can't be recreated, and good riddance to it.

FOUAD AJAMI "It is in the nature of charisma that it rises out of thin air, out of need and distress, and then dissipates when the magic fails. The country has had its fill with a scapegoating that knows no end from a president who had vowed to break with recriminations and partisanship. The magic of 2008 can't be recreated, and good riddance to it. Slowly, the nation has recovered its poise. There is a widespread sense of unstated embarrassment that a political majority, if only for a moment, fell for the promise of an untested redeemer—a belief alien to the temperament of this so practical and sober a nation."

Explaining ObamaCare To Stupid

Forbes "ObamaCare is so unpopular not because the public is too stupid to understand it, but because millions of Americans understand the law better than many members of Congress."....
 "And then there were four Democratic senators who sent a letter to the head of the IRS in July complaining, "Not only will a 1099 form be necessary for millions of new transactions, the stricter requirements force business owners to collect taxpayer identification information from vendors, contractors, and other companies." Yes, senators, and you voted for it, so it's a little late to complain."

Gen. James Conway: U.S. Withdrawal Deadline Boosts Taliban in Afghan War

WSJ "Gen. James Conway told reporters on Tuesday. “In some ways, we think right now it’s probably giving our enemy sustenance….In fact, we’ve intercepted communications that say, ‘Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for so long.’”"

Al Sharpton Hypocrisy: Build the Ground Zero Mosque, But Glenn Beck Can’t Pray at Lincoln Memorial

Big Peace "Circumventing and distorting Dr. King’s imagery? This coming from a man who incited two violent riots resulting in the deaths of nine people?"

Sharpton can’t really care about Dr. King’s legacy; he has made a career of using bigotry and divisiveness, all to promote… Al Sharpton. While someone who truly cared about Dr. King’s teachings would build bridges across ethnic divides, Sharpton burns them. Although to his credit, Sharpton is a master at it.

Medical Care Facts and Fables

Thomas Sowell "We hear a lot about how wonderful it is that the Canadians or the British or the Swedes get free medical treatment because the government runs the system. But we don't hear much about the quality of that medical care.
"We don't hear about more than 4,000 expectant mothers who gave birth inside a hospital, but not in the maternity ward, in Britain in just one year. They had their babies in hallways, bathrooms and even elevators."

3 primaries pose key test for 'tea party'

Washington Times "Tuesday marks the final major test of "tea party" power in the primaries, as challengers try to capitalize on anti-incumbent sentiment in Alaska, Arizona and Florida, and incumbents hope to avoid becoming the latest victims in what's been a rough year for officeholders."

FANNING THE FLAMES

Neal Boortz "This story about the mosque at Ground Zero isn't going away anytime soon .. much to the dismay of Barack Obama and the Democrats. Every day that we talk about the Ground Zero mosque is a day that Democrats don't get to tell you how the Republicans are going to take away your Social Security. There's the added difficulty that the Mosque controversy can't be blamed on George Bush ... though I'm sure Obama's folks are looking for a story line that might make that fit. In the meantime stories like this will continue to keep the mosque front(sic) of mind."

CNN Compares Ground Zero Protestors to Nazi Sympathizers "Take a peek at this picture on CNN.com as of 2:30pm eastern time."