Friday, August 10. 2007
 Professor Bainbridge quotes Russell Kirk's ten conservative principles (below) in a piece attempting to determine the political orientation of Andrew Sullivan's readers. (Exactly why the good Prof wants to do that is beyond me.)
- The conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. That order is made for man, and man is made for it: human nature is a constant, and moral truths are permanent. ... A society in which men and women are governed by belief in an enduring moral order, by a strong sense of right and wrong, by personal convictions about justice and honor, will be a good society—whatever political machinery it may utilize; while a society in which men and women are morally adrift, ignorant of norms, and intent chiefly upon gratification of appetites, will be a bad society—no matter how many people vote and no matter how liberal its formal constitution may be. ...
- The conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity. ... Conservatives are champions of custom, convention, and continuity because they prefer the devil they know to the devil they don’t know. ...
- Conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription. Conservatives sense that modern people are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, able to see farther than their ancestors only because of the great stature of those who have preceded us in time. Therefore conservatives very often emphasize the importance of prescription—that is, of things established by immemorial usage, so that the mind of man runneth not to the contrary. There exist rights of which the chief sanction is their antiquity—including rights to property, often. ... The individual is foolish, but the species is wise, Burke declared. In politics we do well to abide by precedent and precept and even prejudice, for the great mysterious incorporation of the human race has acquired a prescriptive wisdom far greater than any man’s petty private rationality.
Read the rest on continuation page below.
Continue reading "What is a Conservative?"
Thursday, August 9. 2007
Call the authorities to bring the cops to arrest those who promote the Bushitler police state. Dr. Sanity, via the piece at Never Yet Melted. Ya can't make this stuff up.
 Kling on the "universal distraction" of "healthcare," at TCS. It begins:
"Nobody is talking about a free-market approach in health care. The spectrum today is between fascism and Communism."
--John Graham The Pacific Research Institute's John Graham offered this glum assessment during a brief chat recently when he came to Washington, DC for a meeting. He points out that the focus of health care policy is on how to get to "universal coverage." In this context, the conservative approach involves mandatory health insurance. The liberal approach involves expanding government coverage. Hence, it is either fascism or Communism. The main proponents of "universal coverage" want to throw more money at the current health care system, which strikes me as unwise. I believe that the "universal coverage" mantra is dysfunctional for the same reason that "more money for public schools" is a dysfunctional mantra for education. When your current approach is digging you into a hole, the sensible thing to do is not to dig faster. It is to stop digging. Later in this essay, I will offer my thoughts about the uninsured. First, I want to present free-market approaches to reform our health care system. I mention the assumptions that I make in offering these proposals.
Read the whole thing.
Michael Yon. Great photos of Americans at work. A quote: As the attack unfolded, about a thousand Iraqis fled their homes, and it was the job of C-52 to screen for al Qaeda. Some al Qaeda—who cross-dressed and tried to slip out as women—were caught when their disguises failed. Some Iraqis reported that homes in their areas had been destroyed, and I recall one saying that people were trapped in the rubble, though civilian deaths from our attacks were so low they were difficult to count. (I had free range and was specifically watching for civilian fatalities, yet did not see any civilians killed by us during the attack.) The deliberate pace of the attack, the systematic and thorough process of clearing the city house by house, street by street, and block by block, were factors in this; but the civilian and military casualties were also kept low by the unexpected and overwhelming cooperation of ordinary Iraqi citizens, who pointed out the enemy and many of the bombs set to ambush troops. There were interesting dynamics unfolding. For instance, our soldiers were much more reluctant to use force when civilians were helping. I saw numerous occasions where soldiers cleared out all the civilians in areas before attacking known targets that civilians had pointed out. For instance, in the more than two dozen houses and buildings rigged as giant bombs, civilians pointed out many of those bombs. Our soldiers and Iraqi soldiers simply stopped, cleared out the people, and then destroyed the buildings, but each time they worked harder to mitigate damage to surrounding houses, and paid people for the unavoidable damages when they occurred.
The quote is from Part 1. Here's Part ll.
Wednesday, August 8. 2007
 We posted this well-known presentation by Michael Crichton a year ago, but I was recently reminded of it by the Assistant Village Idiot who cops to finding complexity to be complicated.
If you haven't read it, please do. It's an excellent discussion of how complicated nature is, and how readily our human good intentions can produce serious unintended consequences. Good graphics, too.
 Yes, their numbers are rising, BUT THAT'S BECAUSE WE CAN COUNT THEM BETTER NOW. How many Atlantic hurricanes that never touched land did we count in 1920?
It's as stupid as saying the number of Lyme Disease cases has gone up 10 gazillion percent since 1975. True - because it was not defined as a disease until 1975. But this isn't stupidity - it's deliberate data-abuse to fool the statistically-ignorant and scientifically-unsophisticated. Or am I still paranoid and giving the Al Gores too much credit? By the way, we love hurricanes. We don't like to see people's lives damaged, and would not be so foolish as to live in a place where such damage could be expected. But we do stand in awe of the power of nature.
Tuesday, August 7. 2007
I noticed the similarity between Gen. Pacepa's examples of KGB psy-ops and John Kerry's testimony in Congress. So did Sissy Willis, but Gateway shows the real deal. Gateway calls it "useful idiocy," but I think otherwise. "Useful," but not an idiot: I am not saying he was a spy, but perhaps a willing ally of the Soviets, and one who had clearly been handed a KGB script designed to undermine support for the war. I agree with Sen. Kerry about almost nothing political, but he isn't an idiot. Kerry was reading from the KGB propaganda script, word for word. So am I insane when I sometimes wonder what Bill Clinton was doing on that trip to Moscow (also here) while be was at Oxford? Yes, probably paranoid, but if I had told you a week ago that Kerry was reading a KGB script when he testified to Congress, you would have (rightly) called me crazy too. There are Americans out there who truly hate America enough to ally themselves with America's enemies. That sad and unsettling fact opens the door to all sorts of suspicious thoughts which are unpleasant to entertain. That is what happens when one's reality is shaken. I thought Kerry was disloyal, but not a man who would read a KGB script in Congress.
Coulter on poverty. It's a simple fact that poverty in America correlates with terrible decisions in life about having babies (h/t, Vanderleun): "Democrats resolutely refuse to tell the poor the secret to not being poor: Keep your knees together until marriage. "That's it. Not class size, not preschool, not even vouchers, though vouchers would obviously improve the education of all students. You could have lunatics running the schools -- and often do -- and if the kids live with married parents, they will end up at good colleges and will lead happy, productive lives 99 percent of the time. "But Democrats don't care about the poor. They don't care about the children. They care about government teachers and other government bureaucrats -- grimy, dowdy women who "woo" at political debates. Or as CNN calls them, the "young," "hip" crowd."
John Stuart Mill's ideas of liberty are obsolete, says Mr. Hattersley in The Guardian. He claims that times have changed, and people need more statism and less personal freedom. He says people are more interdependent that they were in 1856. I see no reason at all to believe that but, if they are, it is because Western governments have made people more dependent, stifled their instincts for self-reliance, and crippled their spirits by training them to look to government for their wants and needs. And does Mr. Hattersley include himself as one of those needing a liberty-depriving state? I doubt it. Rather, I suspect he sees himself as one of that superior sort who should be telling me how to run my life. Frankly, I find this variety of condescension frightening, and the desire to control others contemptible. Tim Worstall discusses. The reason I post this is because it sounds so much like the American Left - and as an excuse to link to Mill's essay.
Are we seeing the KGB playbook being re-used by Western Leftists? Gen. Pacepa in the Opinion Journal, via Libertarian Leanings. More on the subject at SISU.
h/t, Dust My Broom. In America, grandiose suicidal psychotics like her shoot up schools and post offices. Her cheerfulness isn't creepy - it's just plain stupid. What a waste.
Monday, August 6. 2007
Definitely Fred country, says Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, who posted the above relevant Lynyrd. Much as we are open to Fred, we don't really know where he is coming from yet, or what sort of candidate he can really be.
We have avoided saying much about this pathetic story, and TNR's pathetic way of handling the con job they wanted so much to believe. Yes indeed, more "fake but accurate" from the Left. Today, however, Democracy Project has posted a piece on the subject by the Rev. Paul W. McNellis, S.J. which is the essay I wished I could have written and which I think is the final word on the subject. It is here. It concludes: Pvt. Beauchamp has two choices. He can await his discharge and then return to testify before Congress as the victim veteran in the “proud of being ashamed” mode. He might even run for Congress himself. He wouldn’t be the first. Or, he can use his remaining time in the military to earn an honorable discharge. He could try to leave the military as a better man than when he entered. There are hints from his blog that he was already moving in that direction. I would urge Pvt. Beauchamp to look at those in his unit, some of whom he surely respects and admires. Imitate them, and in the process you will become a better soldier, a better friend, a better husband, one day a better father, and...in the end, a better writer. That will also leave you with something far better than the anemic sense of shame you describe; it will leave you with a sense of honor. And though TNR may no longer be interested in what you write, you will surely have become a better man.
Friday, August 3. 2007
Like him or not, he is an impressive and accomplished fellow. h/t, RCP. I like Fred, but I suspect Giuliani wants the job more. The nation might be ready for a black president, but is it ready for an Italian? Not many Italians outside of the Northeast, and even I cannot spell his name. OK, OK - we're all Americans, I know.
Thursday, August 2. 2007
 Put this sticker on your car, and no eco-nazi will key your new Esplanade. Good protection.
I am going to buy one for the Barrister to put on his new Ford F-250.
Two bridge collapse videos in 24 hours. Here's the Minneapolis video. Cartoon of the Day, at Dr. Sanity. Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome. Driscoll
 They were really missionaries, not aid workers, and thus technically illegal by Afghanistan law, although they were allowed in anyway. Taliban-types are likely to view them, as to treat them, as sub-human. I admire these young people, but now is not the time to try to convert Afghanistan to Christianity.
If they are killed, they will be martyrs for Christ. Does God love the foolish? Yes, indeed, when they are fools for Him. Image: Saint Sebastian
Wednesday, August 1. 2007
Hillary's college thesis. I thought that Wellesley had it under lock and key. Count me a skeptic: I see nothing in the paper giving an historical context or a political science context for the subject matter, which one would expect from a Wellesley girl. Well, unless she was one of those 60s types for whom history and political philosophy were "irrelevant" to the brave new world.
So says Brownstein in the LA Times. Excuse me, but isn't providing medical care a basic parental responsibility? Some adults have such an infantile view of life that it makes me gag. Brownstein should be all over the parents, not Bush. Did the world turn upside down while I was busy?
Tuesday, July 31. 2007
 Via Free Republic. He is going to grab the Reagan mantle before Fred ambles up to the starting gate.
I think Rudy learned a thing or two during his post-Mayor years in the real world.
 Pulling the army out of Northern Ireland, that is.
After 38 years of counterinsurgency operations, they are turning it over to the local cops.
That's a paraphrase of what Dem leader James Clyburn said the other day, about Iraq. Does he realize what he said? He told the truth. As Surber asks, "Who is the enemy to Clyburn?" See Jules on the latest optimistic view from the NYT, of all places.
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