So, the socialist scumbag spent time in jail because he thought he was too high and mighty to have to pay a hooker.
While I think the perp walk should be abolished, going as it does against the notion of the presumption of innocence, it’s hard for me to feel sorry for him. I just hope he doesn’t yet become president of France. I fear, though, that this incident may make it more likely, appealing as it does to some aspects of the aristocratic French culture.
The almost overnight transformation of D.S.K. — as Dominique Strauss-Kahn is widely known in France — from alleged sexual predator to seeming victim of an unscrupulous accuser has riveted and divided the country. The news that the Sofitel maid who had accused D.S.K. of rape had repeatedly lied to prosecutors has also spurred talk of a political comeback for the one-time French presidential contender that only weeks ago was deemed impossible.
More thoughts on the overvaluation of a college degree:
Wolf’s position is firm. An increase in the quantity of graduates will neither create a dynamic, wealth-producing economy nor will it create the conditions for the emergence of lots of dynamic, wealth-producing individuals. Universities are not what they are currently being cracked up to be. But that leads to another problem. So deeply entrenched is the belief that, to use the words of the 1998 Dearing report, ‘Higher education has become central to the economic wellbeing of nations and individuals’, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to recall what the purpose of institutions of higher education might be. Their autonomy as academic bodies, in which one ought to be free to pursue an interest in a subject area to a higher level, has been effaced by their thoroughgoing instrumentalisation as drivers of economic growth and social mobility.
One of the biggest myths is that the subject matter doesn’t matter — that a degree in medieval French literature is just as good, and worth just as much money as one in chemical engineering. It’s not.
The conviction of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich coincided with the release of a new study that finds that, since the 1970s, a current or former Illinois governor is more likely to be in the criminal justice system than out. This is a shocking state of affairs that deserves more public attention and more dedication from the governor community. If only someone had reached out to these Illinois governors earlier. If only they had more positive role models. Perhaps if video games and TV weren’t full of images of politicians ripping off their states. Who knows what causes this epidemic? What we do know is that something must be done to stop this crisis in the heartland, to halt this inter-generational pattern of gubernatorial criminal pathology.
It’s only a matter of time until the pathology extends to other Chicago-based politicians, all the way to Washington, DC.
Some useful thoughts on the gay marriage issue, from Kevin Williamson. I haven’t had time to think about it a lot, but I suspect I will agree (and that, like my opinion on Roe v Wade, is entirely independent of my opinion on the underlying issue), because I don’t think this will be solved until we separate church and state in the matter.
A long but important essay, that explains much about the mess we’re in, when one considers that these people are running the country, and our lives, particularly the one currently in the White House. For what it’s worth, I’ve never had a problem talking to either plumbers or auto mechanics. Perhaps because I’ve spent a good part of my life doing both.
Bad people come to us as sweetness and light, charming, intelligent, confident, and often successful. But, they are chameleons who will say whatever is necessary in order to get what they want and do what they may. No truth. No empathy. No soul. Shape-shifting through life they reinvent themselves to suit their audience so as to be everything to everyone. Inside, they are soulless. Alone. Scared. Afraid of being found out and exposed as a fraud. Their fragile self-image hides behind a facade of confidence, humor, and “I’m above it all.” Hence, they appear arrogant, haughty, and cannot bear scorn or reproach.
Barack Obama is one of these bad people. He’s dishonest, narcissistic, and pinning him down can be like nailing jello to the wall. He’s all things to all people, but he is no one — an empty vessel. He uses people and then disposes of them when it’s expedient. His grandmother, his spiritual mentor, anyone who becomes an inconvenience is thrown under the now infamous bus. He is adept at mockery and ridicule. His arrogance is legendary. His skin is decidedly thin and he cannot bear to be contradicted or challenged. He works, not for the American People but, for himself.
He’s a lot like Bill Clinton in that regard, though people tell me the latter is very charismatic in person. It certainly doesn’t come across to me on television.