'The way I think about it," Barack Obama told a TV station in Orlando, "is, you know, this is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft."
He has a point. This is a great, great country that got so soft that 53 percent of electors voted for a ludicrously unqualified chief executive who would be regarded as a joke candidate in any serious nation. One should not begrudge a man who seizes his opportunity. But one should certainly hold in contempt those who allow him to seize it on the basis of such flaccid generalities as "hope" and "change": That's more than "a little" soft. "He's probably the smartest guy ever to become president," declared presidential historian Michael Beschloss the day after the 2008 election. But you don't have to be that smart to put one over on all the smart guys. "I'm a sap, a specific kind of sap. I'm an Obama Sap," admits David Brooks, the softest touch at the New York Times. Tina Brown, editor of Newsweek, now says of the president: "He wasn't ready, it turns out, really."
Mr. Steyn is always worth it. Mr. Steyn with such a bit between his teeth as this is a special treat.
#1
WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE THAT THIS A$$H0!# IS SO F***ING SMART!!!!!!!! Yes that does mean you Mr. Beschloss but you are hardly alone.
#2
Let me get this right. The Plantation owner is upset because the field workers aren't doing any more than is necessary in order to avoid punishment because anything they make is simply redistributed to the people in the Plantation house who enjoys the owners favor. Who'd thought that.
#3
Here in the UK we were also told that Brown (the former sub-prime minister) was the smartest guy evar...
This was against the facts that he was a weirdo narcissist with a credential in essentially fuck all (history of the Labour party), and when he got into power he found it not to his tastes and much harder than he thought, he could never make decisions and spent most of his time attacking others who questioned any perceived slight on him.
#5
The way I think about it, Barack Obama told a TV station in Orlando, is, you know, this is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft.
Half of the country has gotten soft; the other half is supporting them.
#4
President Cain will have a big challenge cleaning up Obama's mess, but he'll get the job done.
Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili ||
10/01/2011 12:29 Comments ||
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#5
Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon I, grew up in exile. Holds the distinction of being both the first titular president and last monarch of France. Elected president of the Second Republic (18501852), then made emperor in a coup d'état. Reigned as emperor from 1852 to 1870.
Known for an assertive foreign policy. Domestic politics were liberal: promoted public works; supported rebuilding of Paris, establishment of institutions of credit. Established numerous social-welfare programs and institutions, such as boards of arbitration and "societies of mutual assistance" (promoting worker-owner 'mutual understanding'). Result was nearly two decades of prosperity, but under a very authoritarian government.
Deposed and exiled to England after a disastrous war with Prussia (Franco-German War 187071). Died in 1873.
#7
Jacobian operator, Jim? I've never heard of any part of the Jacobian change of variables formula called an operator. Technically, it is, of course, being a linear mapping from the space of functions from R^n to R^n to the space of n by n matrices of functions, but I've never heard of it referred to that way.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
10/01/2011 19:49 Comments ||
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#8
Am I a dumbass?
Not any more than Mr. Lira is a "qualified Conservative" - which he tells us more than a few times*.
*If he has to keep saying "I'm a qualified Conservative", then he's not one - at least in this reality.
[Dawn] I attended a convent school for a few years during my childhood. The only time I remember being split up from my classmates was during Islamiyat class. The Islamiyat teacher would come in and ask us girls to pull out our white duppattas while the Christian girls would form a line and exit the classroom for their own lessons in the bigger hall. None of us ever really questioned the practice -- we would study our religion and they would study theirs -- it made perfect sense. Never did we think that the school or this country weren't big and bold enough to host both together. Now, however, times have changed. Tolerance and respect are two virtues that were kidnapped a long, long time ago -- they remain missing even today.
A 13-year-old girl was recently expelled from her school due to alleged blasphemy. She misspelled the word 'naat' and that was reason enough for the school to expel her. Not for a minute did anyone pay attention to the fact that she was a student -- a learner. She should have been taught what the right word was, what the right spelling was and what the mistake she made was. But instead, she was expelled, while her mother, who was a nurse, was transferred out of her hometown near Abbotabad. All that for a spelling mistake made by someone who until that day, was probably oblivious to what blasphemy even meant.
But before we get into the debate of whether she should have been coached or punished, we should ask, as pointed out in other blogs, why was a Christian girl being made to learn a 'naat' anyway? And if she actually was aware of what blasphemy meant and what the consequences of going against that law in Pakistain are, would she have actually done this just to stir some mischief?
To cause a bit of a commotion in class, we would often hide teacher's books, pretend to be sick, pick on the nerds and pass secret notes -- never did we think of initiating a rebellion against religion -- especially not if we knew that the worst form of punishment to such an act would be death! Not detention, not suspension, not a letter to the parents, but death. Lucky for the 13-year-old girl, the not-so-harsh-hearted Mohammedanholy mans decided that expulsion out of the school and the town would be enough to teach a lesson. Sadly, what these holy mans and teachers don't realise is, you teach a lesson through books, anecdotes, lectures and nurturing -- not through condemnation, alienation and humiliation.
But who is going to point these things out? The government's too busy fighting international threats to focus on the internal ones breeding throughout the country. The few who do take a stand are shot down and although they might not be forgotten, their sacrifices often are. We cause a hue and cry about educating our children and spreading awareness but who needs this education if all it does is create hatred and differences? Who needs this awareness if all it does is build fear and prejudices?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
I attended a convent school for a few years during my childhood. The only time I remember being split up from my classmates was during Islamiyat class. The Islamiyat teacher would come in and ask us girls to pull out our white duppattas while the Christian girls would form a line and exit the classroom for their own lessons in the bigger hall. None of us ever really questioned the practice -- we would study our religion and they would study theirs -- it made perfect sense. Never did we think that the school or this country weren't big and bold enough to host both together. Now, however, times have changed. Tolerance and respect are two virtues that were kidnapped a long, long time ago -- they remain missing even today.
