Mark Steyn declares independence from bloviators like Trenthorn Lotthorn and his goats.

I agree too:

By all appearances, we need more remedies for illegal conduct by officials. And if damages are inappropriate, Congress can always legislate an appropriate scheme.

I’ve always found it absurd that the only penalty for illegally procured evidence or prosecutorial misconduct was to throw out the evidence. Of course, it’s not always practical to get damages, but perhaps if North Carolina had to pay damages for what Nifong did, they’d be a little more careful about how they hire prosecutors. And the notion of electing them seems (again, from the same case) problematic…

Hillary’s campaign doing push polling? Surely it can’t be true!

Hillary’s campaign doing push polling? Surely it can’t be true!

Hillary’s campaign doing push polling? Surely it can’t be true!

You know, speaking of unjustified self esteem and overpraised Senators, like royalty, I suspect that members of “the world’s greatest deliberative body” (OK, I’ll wait a few minutes for you to stop laughing)…often cocoon themselves with such simpering sycophants as staff that they have no concept of how idiotic they can come off when performing unscripted. George Voinovich being a case in point. When a dim bulb like Sean Hannity can make you sound like a fool, you’re a blithering idiot.

Well, at least he didn’t cry, as he did during the Bolton nomination.

That creatures like this get elected to such high positions is a shameful commentary on the state of the nation’s electorate.

[Update a few minutes later]

Speaking of overpraised Senators, Jonah Goldberg makes a good point about fluffy, meaningless political rhetoric (in this case, from the Great White Whale of Massachusetts):

Sen Kennedy just shouted that the choice before the Senate on the immigration bill is between “voting for our hopes, or voting for our fears!”

I don’t quite understand why voting your fear is obviously wrong or why voting for your hopes is necessarily right. Fear is often quite reasonable. I have a reasonable fear of alligators. Hopes, meanwhile, are often irrational and goofy. I hope eating lots of cashews will give me laser-vision and super-strength.

Yes, phrases that seem to sound good in an impassioned speech often break down under even a trivial analysis. My pet peeve on this score is Kennedy’s “not because they are easy, but because they are hard…” in explaining why go to the moon. I’ve discussed this in the past.

[Update a couple minutes later]

By the way, just in case no one noticed, for the clueless, I’ve been bashing Republicans today. Not that that’s in any way unusual for me, but some myopic people seem to only notice it when I go after Democrats.

You know, speaking of unjustified self esteem and overpraised Senators, like royalty, I suspect that members of “the world’s greatest deliberative body” (OK, I’ll wait a few minutes for you to stop laughing)…often cocoon themselves with such simpering sycophants as staff that they have no concept of how idiotic they can come off when performing unscripted. George Voinovich being a case in point. When a dim bulb like Sean Hannity can make you sound like a fool, you’re a blithering idiot.

Well, at least he didn’t cry, as he did during the Bolton nomination.

That creatures like this get elected to such high positions is a shameful commentary on the state of the nation’s electorate.

[Update a few minutes later]

Speaking of overpraised Senators, Jonah Goldberg makes a good point about fluffy, meaningless political rhetoric (in this case, from the Great White Whale of Massachusetts):

Sen Kennedy just shouted that the choice before the Senate on the immigration bill is between “voting for our hopes, or voting for our fears!”

I don’t quite understand why voting your fear is obviously wrong or why voting for your hopes is necessarily right. Fear is often quite reasonable. I have a reasonable fear of alligators. Hopes, meanwhile, are often irrational and goofy. I hope eating lots of cashews will give me laser-vision and super-strength.

Yes, phrases that seem to sound good in an impassioned speech often break down under even a trivial analysis. My pet peeve on this score is Kennedy’s “not because they are easy, but because they are hard…” in explaining why go to the moon. I’ve discussed this in the past.

[Update a couple minutes later]

By the way, just in case no one noticed, for the clueless, I’ve been bashing Republicans today. Not that that’s in any way unusual for me, but some myopic people seem to only notice it when I go after Democrats.

You know, speaking of unjustified self esteem and overpraised Senators, like royalty, I suspect that members of “the world’s greatest deliberative body” (OK, I’ll wait a few minutes for you to stop laughing)…often cocoon themselves with such simpering sycophants as staff that they have no concept of how idiotic they can come off when performing unscripted. George Voinovich being a case in point. When a dim bulb like Sean Hannity can make you sound like a fool, you’re a blithering idiot.

Well, at least he didn’t cry, as he did during the Bolton nomination.

That creatures like this get elected to such high positions is a shameful commentary on the state of the nation’s electorate.

[Update a few minutes later]

Speaking of overpraised Senators, Jonah Goldberg makes a good point about fluffy, meaningless political rhetoric (in this case, from the Great White Whale of Massachusetts):

Sen Kennedy just shouted that the choice before the Senate on the immigration bill is between “voting for our hopes, or voting for our fears!”

I don’t quite understand why voting your fear is obviously wrong or why voting for your hopes is necessarily right. Fear is often quite reasonable. I have a reasonable fear of alligators. Hopes, meanwhile, are often irrational and goofy. I hope eating lots of cashews will give me laser-vision and super-strength.

Yes, phrases that seem to sound good in an impassioned speech often break down under even a trivial analysis. My pet peeve on this score is Kennedy’s “not because they are easy, but because they are hard…” in explaining why go to the moon. I’ve discussed this in the past.

[Update a couple minutes later]

By the way, just in case no one noticed, for the clueless, I’ve been bashing Republicans today. Not that that’s in any way unusual for me, but some myopic people seem to only notice it when I go after Democrats.

Instapundit:

Socialism is inherently boring, which is why its main enthusiasts are bores themselves people with high boredom thresholds, like professors and politicians.

Heh, indeed.

…for “energy independence.”

“Famine,” observes Dennis Avery, the director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Food Issues, “is a human society’s ultimate failure. Tightening the world’s food supply by diverting major quantities of its grain stocks into fuels will drive up the prices of all food. This will inevitably hit hardest at the poorest people in the world’s food-shortage regions. This would not be ethical even if there were no other sources of energy.”

But then, the world’s poor do not participate in Iowa’s presidential caucuses.

Hey, morons! Just in case you didn’t notice (which seems likely, based on the history of my being accused of going only after Democrats), this is a criticism of Republicans.