Many probably share the exhaustion with a political campaign that constantly strays from relevance.  I do not know how much of this is just the reality of a modern campaign, incompetence of the candidates,  loss of control  of the process, or just the dominance of a media that sees any controversy as broadcast fodder.  I feel the need for political detox.

I heard Greg Gutfeld on the Fox show The Five use the phrase “Starbucks Socialist” to describe energy secretary Chu as he contradicted a previous wish for higher gas prices.  It is a great phrase.  It refers to those academics who ponder great thoughts about the way things ought to be that never have to face the reality of government .  Unfortunately, Obama’s administration is filled with Starbucks Socialists who are forcing a theory of government  on us that is obstructed by reality.  Ideologues try to change reality rather than their theories: that is how good intentions descend into tyranny.

Greg Gutfeld

The Sandra Fluke controversy is just noise to me.  It is interesting to me, however, that it has backfired to some degree and drawn attention to the misogynistic statements from those on the left.  There seems to be a lot of people in glass houses throwing stones.

I believe the ‘thinking public’ (there’s a phrase I feel good about using) will react more strongly to blatant  hypocrisy than to big mistakes.  Those such as Chuck Schumer who even attempt to rationalize this hypocrisy only make it worse.

Another example of this hypocrisy is the refusal to take any responsibility for higher gas prices when the previous president was consistently blamed when prices rose.  Then the galleries fell silent when prices fell  back to a more normal price.

Presidents do not control global industrial commodity prices. It is foolish to blame speculators: they can drive the price up and they can also drive the price down but only for a very short time;  market prices always re-emerge.  There are several reasons for higher gas prices and one of them is a weak dollar.   When somebody takes responsibility for that,  many of our problems will melt away.

Given enough time and money any fool can get the job done.  It is foolish to talk about the success of the GM bailout or the stimulus without consideration of what it cost, both in the real dollars laid out in the short run or the structural cost to our economic system in the longer run.

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