JEFF JACOBY: Shut up, they explained. I’m somewhat sympathetic to the concept, but until someone can clearly define what constitutes a ‘negative ad’ I’ll continue to support free speech.

PRESUMPTIOUS IGNORANCE:

This may be the golden age of presumptuous ignorance. The most recent demonstrations of that are the Occupy Wall Street mobs. It is doubtful how many of these semi-literate sloganizers could tell the difference between a stock and a bond.

Yet there they are, mouthing off about Wall Street on television, cheered on by politicians and the media. If this is not a golden age of presumptuous ignorance, perhaps it should be called a brass age.

[snip...]

One of the reasons for so much presumptuous ignorance flourishing in our time may be the emphasis on "self-esteem" in our schools and colleges. Children not yet a decade old have been encouraged, or even required, to write letters to public figures, sounding off on issues ranging from taxes to nuclear missiles.

Our schools begin promoting presumptuous ignorance early on. It is apparently one of the few things they teach well. The end result is people without much knowledge, but with a lot of brass.

Read it all.

PENTAGON TO CUT Air Force Global Hawk drone program; Navy version will continue. A Global Hawk is a Global Hawk is a Global Hawk; this simply punts the acquisition cost down the road a bit.

THE STATE OF THE ELECTION speech by the Redistributor-in-Chief was not well received. In my view Obama’s SOTU speech can easily be summarized in eight words: “obey me or I’ll tax you to death.”