Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

Thomas Sowell    "After North Korea torpedoed a South Korean ship, killing 46 sailors, was there even one-tenth the outrage that is ringing out loudly around the world because of nine deaths that resulted from Israeli commandos intercepting a ship headed for the Gaza strip?"

Self-identified liberals and Democrats do badly on questions of basic economics.

WSJ    "Adam Smith described political economy as "a branch of the science of a statesman or legislator." Governmental power joined with wrongheadedness is something terrible, but all too common. Realizing that many of our leaders and their constituents are economically unenlightened sheds light on the troubles that surround us." DANIEL B. KLEIN. Mr. Klein is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

Does Studying Economics Make You More Republican?   " “In sum,” the study said, “those taking more economics classes favored less regulation or government intervention affecting prices for specific goods and services, including wages and salaries.” "

Andy Stern, A Member of Obama’s Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Says ‘Worshipping the Market’ Has Failed America  "The organization’s board includes President Eli Pariser of Moveon.org and Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington Bureau. Sponsors and partners for this year’s “America’s Future Now” conference include the National Education Foundation (NEA) and the AFL-CIO. [Nancy Pelosi] is scheduled to speak at the conference on Tuesday and Rep. Alan Grayson [D-Wack-job] on Wednesday.  See how this relates to the above articles?

THE COUNTRY'S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS   Lyrics. Johnny Mercer; from "Li'l Abner", 1956
Watch it here.

Super Tuesday Post Mortem

Jamie Dupree  "But Lincoln's victory makes me hold off on any major anti-incumbent pronouncements. Maybe she was simply the better candidate, and not a piece of low-hanging election year fruit. Your primary election fact is this - of the 92 U.S. House Incumbents on the ballot in 12 states on Tuesday - 91 of them won - and one was forced into a runoff.   via Boortz

President Obama advises high school graduates not to blame others for their mistakes

Weekly Standard "Obama has relentlessly blamed Republicans, as well as his predecessor, for his and the nation’s problems. He has made all sorts of accusations on TV, at major press conferences and even the State of the Union address. A small sampling from the past several months:"...
Peyton R. Miller is the editor of the Harvard Salient and a Student Free Press Association intern at THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
The man who blames Bush for everything urges grads...not to blame others  " Monday, speaking to high school graduates, The Finger Pointer-in-Chief dropped jaws across the nation, claiming the high road with regard to excuse-making."

Let's see how Turkey welcomes a 'reverse freedom flotilla' for the Kurds

Ethel C. Fenig in AT: "Hey there all you starry eyed humanitarians, do gooders, peace activists, liberal religious, anti Israel, anti Jewish haters and other useful idiots! Do you want to help a small beleaguered minority group of Muslims in the Mideast fighting for a state of its own against a larger, more well equipped army that is occupying their land? You do? Well, have I got a flotilla for you! Several actually!"

Obama’s Latest White House Radical

Human Events  "Here are three quick things about Berwick that you need to know. And wait until you get to the part about his preferred word choice when describing an "ultrasound." It’s truly shocking."  Jason Mattera ;the editor of HUMAN EVENTS and the author of Obama Zombies: How the Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation (Simon & Schuster).

A Warning Label — on the U.S. Constitution

CATO   "...this $4.95 paperback copy of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Articles of Confederation, which contains the following advisory ..."

© Wilder Publications 2008  This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work."

H/t to Weasel Zippers

The Art of Seaborne Humiliation (updated)

Victor Davis Hanson   "As a general rule, nothing much good comes to a Western power when a rogue nation or anti-Western organization seeks confrontation on the seas. In such incidents, Iranians, Palestinians, North Koreans, and generic pirates are judged on an entirely different set of moral rules that tend to offer exemption for the weaker power (i.e., the victims of “disproportionate” force) or the crazier party (i.e., we expect provocation from them, but not retaliation from you)."
Heroic, Wounded Israeli Soldiers Honored in New York City  "This time, Israel is not just up against five Arab armies. This time, Israel is up against 56 Muslim states, the Palestinian terrorists, the United Nations, state-funded and shadow-funded terrorist groups, the world's professoriate and the world's media."

ObamaCare nails its first “villain”

Hot Air "The firm, nHealth, appears to be the first to claim that the new law has driven it out of business. “We don’t know what the rules are going to be, and, as a start-up, our investors need certainty,” nHealth CEO and President Paul Kitchen told POLITICO. “The law created so much uncertainty that is beyond our control.” "
Read the letter:

Introducing…the Coveted Helen Thomas Award! Updated

Verum Serum "Each year starting on May 11th, the date of modern Israel’s founding, my co-bloggers and I will nominate those bloggers, journalists, or news organizations who have displayed the most egregious anti-Israel bias over the previous year. We will also accept nominations by link submission in the comments."

In 2002, Helen Thomas Exclaimed 'Thank God for Hezbollah' 
"... for driving Israel out of Lebanon, adding that "Israel is the cause for 99 percent of all this terrorism."

Gary Varvel cartoon

An open letter to Helen Thomas

Jerusalem Post "Are you aware, Ms. Thomas, that many children from Sderot and the area around Gaza wet their beds until a late age out of fear of the Hamas missiles? And it is us that you wish to exile? Why? Because you think that we are weak or because it annoys you that we are not defeated?" Yoram Dori, adviser to President Shimon Peres.Hat tip to Mark Davis WBAP, DFW