WHITE HOUSE ANKLE-BITERS

The New York Times insults bloggers, comparing the White House Reality Check web site "to the blog of some unemployed guy living in his parents’ basement.”

Via Instapundit.

[Update] Hmm. The White House "Reality Check" site seems to have changed from that described by the Times. Embarrassment?

[Another Update] From the Fox News website. Jeez, it it my imagination, or does the Obama administration really look petty?

THE (NON)TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS

Sometimes I think the desire for coercion comes first, then the theory to justify it. . . .

MUST-READS FROM VICTOR DAVIS HANSEN

Confessions of a Cultural Drop-out.

Have you stopped reading, listening, watching, and paying attention to most of what now passes for establishment public or popular culture?

I don’t particularly like the idea that I want little to do with contemporary culture. But I feel it nonetheless ....

Confusions of the Age.

Sports: "But with the Limbaugh matter, the entire Potemkin edifice is exposed .... Is Ted Turner never allowed to buy another sports team, given his outrageous political statements about Iran, Israel, Bush, global warming, etc?"

Russia: "When we serially cried out “reset” button, blamed Bush for the new Cold War with Russia, and promised to “listen”, we knew the US was walking blindfolded up the steps of Putin’s guillotine."

Sexual hypocricy: "[I]f popular culture has all but suggested that heterosexuals who engage in such an act are depraved when carried out consensually, and especially worthy of odium beyond that accorded to the rapist, when as an act of coercion, why is the subject simply taboo in matters of public discussion of male homosexuality?"

Racism: "[I]n just 9 months there have been more racially charged rhetoric and more charges of “racist!” than we’ve seen in the past decade."

Wealth: "The rich offer bromides for the poor, but are exempt by their capital from the consequences should such social policy prove ill thought-out."

Read them both.

FOOLS OR KNAVES

Tom Blumer on government spending:

We’re surrounded by either fools or knaves.

The support for the “knave” alternative is becoming more compelling. People who are serious about their desire for an economic recovery simply don’t do the things they have done and don’t propose the things they are proposing. What they want are things you would expect from the government of a banana republic, not the supposed leader of the free world.

My suppport for the “fool” theory is wavering. Read the whole thing.

MR. PRESIDENT

It's about time.

[Update] The source for the photo - a protest in San Francisco during President Obama's visit on October 15.