CIVILITY FROM THEE; but not from me. Victor Davis Hanson on the political Left’s civility scam:

[T]he calls for a general toning down of rhetoric translate far more into a toning down of both an effective media opposition and a rising political obstruction to the Obama agenda. “Can’t we all get along?” in essence means, “Can’t we all just keep quiet and keep going on with the big-government, agreed-on politics of the last fifty years?”

Will that work? No.

The White House introduced the ‘punch back twice as hard’ philosophy. Now it’s time to show the Left that well-aimed return fire at the appropriate targets is effective.

Republicans should not hold back. Reload and return fire. With scorn. Mockery. Ridicule. Challenge. Derision, disdain, rejection, renunciation, repudiation, and finally, refudiation (a wonderful new word introduced by Sarah Palin).

DANA MILBANK: I’m declaring February a Palin-free month.

He won’t last a week.

He’s right on one point though: “my obsession ... cheapens and demeans me.” Every time Milbank opens his mouth or writes a word - especially regarding Mrs. Palin - he polishes his credentials as a world-class loon to an ever-declining audience.

ANOTHER REASON to keep government - at all levels - small: cat is summoned for jury duty in Boston; court rejects owners' appeal to disqualify him.

The cat is smarter than the average Boston juror?

SAYONARA, KEITH: MSNBC says goodbye. I had the good fortune - or misfortune - to catch Olbermann's closing monologue when the cable channel I was really watching lost its signal momentarily.

“I KNOW OBAMA HAS A LIBERAL AGENDA, but more recently he seems to have no agenda, as he flits about, trying this and trying that, in the manner of a forty-something academic who found out his faculty utopianism does not quite work outside the quad.”

For Obama, a lesson unlearned. Read it all.

ROGER KIMBALL: Another stupid idea from the donkey (jackass?) side of the aisle.

Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA) “plans to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress.”

But it wouldn’t be a crime “to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening” against a non-office-holding political opponent ... like, er, Sarah Palin?

CONFIDENCE: ”[B]ased on the past two years I’d vote for a syphilitic camel if he ran against Obama.”

FROM THE COMMENTS: “It must be unconstitutional to have a Congressional representative this stupid.”

And she’s a Yale University and University of Virginia Law School graduate. Sorry, Texas. You deserve better.

HEH. “[T]he next time your elected local or state official holds a press conference about global warming, the Middle East, or the national political climate, expect to experience poor county law enforcement, bad municipal services, or regional insolvency.

GOOD NEWS: Study confirms that college is pretty much a total waste of time.

Except possibly the ‘for profits’ where certification - not graduation - is the goal.

CLUNKER MATH (from my email)

A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year. A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons of gas a year. So, the average “Cash for Clunkers” transaction reduced gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.

The government claims 700,000 clunkers have been replaced so that’s 224 million gallons saved per year. That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil. Five million barrels is about 5 hours worth of US consumption but more importantly, 5 million barrels of oil at $70 per barrel cost about $350 million dollars.

So the government paid $3 billion of our tax dollars to save $350 million. Or in other words, it spent $8.57 for every $1.00 saved.

I’m pretty sure they will do a better job with our health care, though.

THE OBAMA APPROVAL INDEX: two years down; two to go.


It was inevitable, I think, that the President’s approval would “bottom out” at some point, but the timing is curious, beginning sometime before the 2010 elections, and increasing more sharply following the Republican landslide vote. Note that those ‘strongly approving’ have remained relatively constant, while the ‘strong disapprovals’ have begun to trade places with the ‘mixed reaction’ middle.


Could this reflect a more charitable view of the President now that his policies can be blocked by Congress?

GEORGE WILL on government hubris and the inevitable fall.

The hubris that is the occupational hazard and defining trait of the political class continues to cause government to overpromise and underperform. This class blithely considers itself exempt from the tyranny of the bell-shaped curve - the fact that in most occupations a few people are excellent, a few are awful, and most are average.

Our political class are all from Lake Woebegon.

NASA REVEALS three visions for a future airliner.

The design concepts reveal both two-engine and three-engine versions of the Boeing hybrid wing-body, a Northrop Grumman concept modelled closely on the Scaled Composites White Knight and a Lockheed Martin design featuring a box wing and twin, tail-mounted engines.

Here’s the Lockheed Martin design.


The Northrop Grumman and Boeing designs can be found at the link above.

OH, JEEZ: Letting sleeping dogs lie in your bed can kill you.

Why can’t these nanny-state do-gooders do something useful -- like jump off the Empire State Building?

CARD CHECK: “Such blatant help for union political allies certainly makes the [Obama] administration's intentions clear, and tells us who really owns this White House.”

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: sending our tax dollars to NGOs to lobby for more tax dollars.

TICK, TICK, TICK: The cost of Obamacare is a time bomb.

The time-bomb nature of Obamacare was presaged by Mitt Romney's health care bill in Massachusetts, which also expanded health insurance coverage by mandating that all individuals buy insurance, prohibiting insurers from dropping customers, and subsidizing the insurance of those with difficulty affording it.

In Massachusetts, these subsidies, mandates and regulations quickly caused health insurance and health care costs to spike, compelling the governor and state legislature to impose cost controls on insurers and providers while raising taxes on the state's residents and businesses.

Repeal passed the House, 245-189, with three Democrats voting for repeal. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor “triple dog dares” Senate Majority leader Harry Reid to bring it to a vote in the Senate.

Reid won't. Coward.

MORE FROM MY EMAIL ...



[Update] More here.

BEST SNOW BLOWER EVER: I could sure use one of these; 1-3 inches expected tomorrow.