The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Stupor Committee A Study In Farce.
Yet Mitt’s Ad ‘A Deceitful And Dishonest Attack’? Maybe Santorum Can Help

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 11 Comments

by Smitty

Hensarling:

Ultimately, the committee did not succeed because we could not bridge the gap between two dramatically competing visions of the role government should play in a free society, the proper purpose and design of the social safety net, and the fundamentals of job creation and economic growth.

Well, that is about as dispassionate, and un-finger-pointy as you can get. Socialism, misery codified as policy, is dying, and demands company. The good news is that the enumerated powers are as straight as a plumb line, showing which federal tasks should be retained, and which should properly be returned to the states. The bad news is that the federal graft has been too tempting on both sides of the aisle to permit proper carrying out of what must be done.

And yet, for all the billions and trillions of illegitimate acts by this Congress, to say nothing of the Administration, we’re supposed to get excited if Mitt Romney, arguably, packs an ad more tightly with information than necessary, and leaves some significant contextual details for the text of the post.

See, the snippet used in the Romney ad referencing talking about the economy being a losing plan was actually from a campaign stop where Obama was quoting a John McCain staffer in 2008.

Oh, that #RebelRomney.
One is tempted to think that the kerfuffle over the quotation sourcing was a test on the part of the Romney campaign which the Obama campaign is failing. More attention is drawn to the ad, and the catastrophic absurdity of this administration by pointing out the dodgy choice of quotation. Anyone who has read the Obamateurism posts at Hot Air knows that, if we had $100 for every time that #OccupyResoluteDesk had said the kind of thing for which we’ve seen Herman Cain pilloried, neither the deficit nor the debt would be of particular concern.

Unfortunately for Mitt, the air of inevitability, the slick soundbites, the centrist posturing, and the media echoes coming from their location in the tank trigger associations with none other than BHO’s 2008 campaign. “Repeal ObamaCare” looks good on a bumper sticker, but if the motive for doing so isn’t founded in a sincere desire to go after federal entitlements hammer and tongs, then we can expect the bad ideas informing both RomneyCare and ObamaCare to return like a communicable disease in an ObamaVille.

What is needed perhaps, is someone who has some experience, yet runs with more of and outsider feel. Someone with character as impeccable as Romney, but who manages not to exude the Ruling Class smarminess. Who doesn’t sound like a condescending Tom Brokaw acolyte when he speaks. Who is not running a ball-control offense campaign, as if winning means avoiding mistakes. I mean, of course, Rick Santorum.

Having the last burst of attention right before the caucuses could give him the momentum he needs to win Iowa — so, why is his boomlet next?
“Some would say because I’m the only one left to get a boomlet,” Santorum says while laughing. “I would say because if you look at the attention that’s been paid to the other candidates, and the knowledge that people have of other candidates, I think we are probably the least known candidate in the race here in Iowa and so as people are looking around … my strong sense is that people are going to start examining the only candidate they don’t know much about, and I think when they do, obviously I feel confident that we will do well.”
He says he also hears quite often, “We love you Rick. We think you are great, but we are not sure you can win.” He asks those voters to keep him on their list, and as candidate after candidate has their moment in the sun and then plummets, he believes they will come back to him.
“I see a momentum and it won’t be a momentum moved by the press, it will be a momentum by folks that are actually taking the time to analyze the candidates,” Santorum says. “From the very beginning of this campaign I’ve described this as being on an episode of ‘Survivor’ and you just want to stay on the island and be able to be there and hopefully be the last person standing when it comes down to caucus day. That’s been our game plan, that’s what we have been working on, working under the radar.

Barack Obama represents the culmination of a century of Progressivism. It’s all been crap. Does Mitt Romney represent a sufficient break from the Progressive tradition to recover America? The bets seem rather hedged in Mitt’s case. Hence the search for alternatives. Newt? Who would argue he’s less of an insider than Mitt? Does the scholarly delivery indicate Newt has done enough soul-searching to repent of his wayward ways? Maybe.

Santorum offers a solid, conservative candidate, in contrast.

Update: hopefully the left will spring to the defense of this personally insulting introduction of Michele Bachmann. Or is this old tune the new tone? Via Riehl.

Update II: linked at The POH Diaries.

Update III: linked at The Rio Norte Line.

Category: Barack Obama, Budget, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum

President Obama Sends Me E-Mail

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 16 Comments

Maybe it’s because I’m so influential in the blogosphere (no matter what Tabitha Hale says). Or maybe it’s because I signed up for an e-mail news alert while I was covering the 2008 campaign. Either way, I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty nice of President Obama to take time from his busy schedule to send me this e-mail personally inviting me to dinner:

Robert —
A few Thursdays ago, I had dinner with four Americans named Ken, Casey, Juanita, and Wendi — the winners of the campaign’s first Dinner with Barack contest.
I loved getting to know each of them.
We’re taking names for the next dinner starting now, and this time I want to add a new feature: If you win, you can bring a guest.
Chip in $3 or more today to be automatically entered to win a spot for you and a guest at the next dinner.
The folks who this election is all about tend to fall under the radar of the D.C. pundits and traditional news media.
They’re people like Juanita, who helped put her three sons through college on a teacher’s salary while saving what she could for retirement.
Like Ken, a single dad who stood by his mother as she fought insurance companies while battling two forms of cancer.
They’re like Casey, whose three young kids may not yet appreciate what courage it took for their dad to take a chance and start his own business.
And Wendi, an artist and third-generation teacher who canvassed, marched, and phone banked in Indiana in 2008, the year her home state defied the traditional electoral map.
These people weren’t just there for themselves — they were representing you, this movement, and the folks I go to work for every day as president.
These dinners are important to me because I want to spend time whenever I can with the people who sent me here. They’re proving wrong the conventional wisdom that says campaigns should cater to Washington lobbyists and powerful interests. And they’re an important reminder that this movement — and my presidency — have never just been about me.
I’m proud that we’re choosing to run the kind of campaign where a dinner like this isn’t just possible, it’s a regular thing. And next time, I don’t just want to meet you — I want to meet someone else in your life.
Donate $3 or more, and start thinking about who you’ll invite to dinner:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Dinner

Thanks for being part of this,

Barack

Isn’t that special? Unfortunately, I don’t have $3 to spare today, but if readers will hit my tip jar, I promise not to donate it to Obama. Because I wouldn’t want to end up like some other Obama donors:

Former Obama fundraiser sentenced

Yeah  Bad things happen in proximity to political disaster. As opposed to the good things that happen to people who hit my tip jar or shop our special Amazon “Black Friday Deals Week” sale: You get amazing bargains, I get a commission on each sale, and none of us gives a dime to Obama. What a deal!




 

UPDATE: A genuinely troubling thought:

In honor of today’s date and his new novel “11/22/63”, we turn our attention herein to a particularly disturbing case in point — Stephen King. Disturbing because in recent years, King has regressed from being a respectful liberal — to the extent that’s not an oxymoron — to a leading purveyor of the tin foil hat brigade.
His latest spate of books features an army of right-wing caricatures so over the top, they could have been penned by Howard Dean. YEARRGH!! In interviews for 11/22/63, King draws parallels between conservative “real hate and obstructionism” of President Obama and the assassination of JFK. Which sounds almost plausible … well, until you consider that Lee Harvey Oswald was a communist sympathizing leftist. But putting that aside, it’s like the same thing, right?

I’m thinking about publishing an open letter to the National Association of Rifle-Wielding Psychotic Extremists, urging them to save their ammo. The last thing we need is Chris Matthews tearfully re-living his leg tingles as he gushes with “Camelot” comparisons. Please, kooks and crackpots, I beg you to spare us such a calamity.

Category: Barack Obama, Election 2012

Who Believes The Numbers Anymore?

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 11 Comments

by Smitty

The L.A. Times:

The U.S. economy grew more slowly than previously thought in the three months ending Oct. 31, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said, revising the nation’s third-quarter gross domestic product downward to growth of 2% from its previous estimate of 2.5%.

Has there been a quarter in recent memory where the GDP numbers haven’t gone down, and the unemployment numbers gone up in recent memory?

It seems that there is an automatic .5-1% bias in whichever direction helps the Administration. It’s as though the margin for error is always favorable for the Ruling Class Overlords, even though the revisions should have some normal distribution. Haven’t got sufficiently irritated yet to see if the the figures and revisions are all available publicly somewhere.

We need to communicate to our elected officials that we are going to support and reward an honest, clear depiction of exactly how screwed we are. Conversely, they need to know that (a) we’re on to the shenanigans, (b) the jig is up, and (c) they shall be thumped in the court of public opinion for this nonsense.

Any candidate who seems like they will Merely Institutionalize The Tendency toward the silliness Might Instead Try Telling the truth in a more blunt, less polished and focus-group-tested way.

Update: linked by Don Surber, who adds more, and Katy Pundit’s roundup.

Update II: linked by Daily Pundit, answering my URL question.

Category: Economics

LIVE AT FIVESEVEN – 11.22.11

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 10 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Defense Hawks Seek To Spare Defense From Deficit Cuts; Obama Says He’ll Veto Any Such Attempt

This pretty much says it all

No escape from Supercommittee fail as Obama brandishes the Veto Pen

Tahrir Square Protests Enter Day 4
Military not siding with the protesters now; Army units standing shoulder-to-shoulder with security forces

Italy Backs Iran Sanctions, Russia Not So Much
Russia calls sanctions “contrary to international law”, Iran laughs derisively



POLITICS
FBI Passed Twice On Bagging Pimentel Before NYPD Arrest

Wannabe terror bomber Jose Pimentel

Second time this year the NYPD has moved when the Bureau wouldn’t

Obama In NH To Push For Payroll Cut Extension

UC Davis Protesters Erect New Camp, Continue Protesting Use Of Pepper Spray

Deval Patrick Signs Casinos Into Law In Massachusetts

Alabama Immigration Crackdown Nails Mercedes Executive

Journalist Protest Police Conduct During #OWS Clearing

Bradley Manning To Have First Hearing Next Month On Wikileaks Charges



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
US Stock Index Futures Signal Mixed Open
Gold Rebounds From Four-Week Low As Debt Concerns Spur Demand
France’s AAA Rating In Tatters As Yields Surge
HP Ptofit Down 91%, But It Beats Expectations
China Herd Follows The Shorts
Treasuries Fall Before Economic Growth, Consumer Spending Data
Facebook Picks HTC To Make Its Smartphone
Bigger Kindle Fires In The Works?
Business Software Alliance Ditches SOPA: “must try harder”
Gates Testifies In Novell WordPerfect Suit Against Microsoft



SPORTS
Chiefs Can’t Hold Down Brady, Lose Big

Pats DB Arrington runs for it after intercepting a Chiefs pass

Brady throws 2 TDs as Patriots rout Kansas City 34-3

Happy To Hear: Sidney Crosby’s All Right

Rich Rodriguez Hired As U. Arizona Football Coach


Greg Halman, 1987-2011

Justin Verlander Wins AL MVP, First Starting Pitcher In 25 Years

NBA Players Merge Lawsuits, No Hearing Date Set Yet

twins Lose Nathan To Rangers

Nationals Pay A Call On Mark Buehrle



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Ashton & Demi Reunite For Weekend Counseling

Kutcher & Moore

Not done talking yet?

Bieber Takes DNA Test

Christina Aguilera Loves Her Curves

Mia Farrow’s Prodigy Son Wins Rhodes Scholarship – Will Woody Congratulate Him?

Katy Perry On Pregnancy Rumors: “Hell, No!”

Another “Bachelorette” Couple Bites The Dust

Jessica Simpson’s Star-Studded Baby Shower

News On “The Dark Knight Rises”

J-Lo, Mark Anthony Have Hookup In Borinquen

Kristin Cavallari Engagement Back On?

Christopher Walken Impersonator Who Fooled The AP Speaks Out



FOREIGNERS
Nuon Chea Defends Actions In Khmer Rouge Genocide Trial
Falling Markets Welcome New Spanish Leader
Turkey’s Erdogan Urges Bashar Assad To Step Down
Aussie Mining Magnate Blasts Obama’s Marine Plan For NT
Kissinger’s Favorite Commie Paves Way For Monti In Italy



BLOGS & STUFF
James Taranto: Pepper…and Assault
NRO Corner: A Romney Supporter Takes On The Newt Surge
Sister Toldjah: CLT Observer – Maybe City Needs A Camping Ban For #OWS, #DNC2012 Groups
Weasel Zippers: Obama’s Labor Department Approves Deal Giving Ex-Solyndra Staff $13K In Federal Aid
Allahpundit: Supercommittee Declares Defeat
Left Coast Rebel: Judd Gregg Nails It On What Ails Our Nation
Atlas Shrugs: Over A Dozen CIA Spies Caught In Iran
Don Surber: The Power To Declare Pizza Sauce A Vegetable
Big Government: Soros Helped Craft Stimulus, Then Invested In Companies Benefiting
OWS Exposed: Occupiers Pledge To Refuse Payment On Student Loans
Newsbusters: Frank Rich Blasts Chris Matthews For Man-Crush JFK Biography


SOTD: No Surrender

Category: Live at Five

The War on Excellence: Charter School Threatened in Fulton County, Georgia UPDATE: Boortz Notices; More News UPDATE: Ruh-Roh — Islamophobia?

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 60 Comments

Last night I got an e-mail from a friend down home:

Fulton Science Academy Middle School won a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School Award. That’s no mean feat. (Even Arne Duncan “congratulated the school”.) And, if I do say so myself, it’s no surprise. My sons attend the school and my wife and I are very proud of their progress and accomplishments there.
Currently, the school charter is up for renewal and the Fulton County Superintendent of Schools is on track to recommend against renewal! They give some lame excuses to justify this, but scuttlebutt from the department suggests that it’s because “all the good students go to FSA and that makes the test scores go down at the regular schools.”
The school website has a running status page of the renewal process (fsamiddle.org) and there’s an independent website that’s tracking things, too (savefsa.com)
I’ve written to and asked Congressman Tom Price to get involved. I also suggested that he could come to the FC Board of Education meeting when they vote on the charter.Who knows? Stranger things have happened.
Hopefully this will turn out well for us, but — keep your fingers crossed!

Keep my fingers crossed? Sir, I intend to raise holy unshirted hell!

This kind of bureaucratic attempt to shut down a quality school cannot be tolerated. There ought to be a nationwide crusade on behalf of Fulton Science Academy. This is from the parents organization web site:

At the moment, the charter renewal staff of the Fulton County School System are offering non-negotiable terms regarding the charter that would hurt FSA’s ability to improve its physical facilities and manage the standards and operations of the school.
As parents of happy, well-educated FSA students, we feel it would be a shame if the Fulton County School System shuts down one of Georgia’s 4 National Blue Ribbon Middle Schools.
We ask for your support to try to prevent this from happening.

Has anybody told Neal Boortz about this? Somebody call him or send him an e-mail. I’d imagine Neal could put some mighty intense heat on the Fulton County School Board.

And while I’m thinking about it: Herman Cain is from Georgia. I’m going to do my best to bring this story to Herman’s attention: “School board bureaucrats trying to shut down award-winning charter school” sounds like the kind of issue a Republican presidential candidate ought to be talking about, don’t you agree?

UPDATE: Linked by Neal Boortz — thanks!

UPDATE II: FSA’s situation was mentioned last week in an article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Parents of Fulton Science Academy Middle say their school is being denied the “blanket waiver” of full flexibility from state education mandates they have enjoyed for 10 years because of a board practice withdrawing the option for district charter schools. . . .
Fulton Science Academy, a school of 508, is Georgia’s first charter school to be named a national Blue Ribbon School for its success on state exams.
“Our school has always met or exceeded its [state exam] and charter goals,” said parent board member Angela Lasseter. “The intention for a charter school anywhere in the nation is to grant full flexibility and autonomy in return for better than average results.”

Wait a minute: 508 students? That’s got to be at least 500 parents. And I think 500 parents raising holy unshirted hell — writing letters to the newspaper, attending school board meetings, calling their state legislators, calling the governor’s office — would make life very uncomfortable for these school system bureaucrats.

Occupy Fulton County School Board!

UPDATE III: Click here to donate to Fulton Science Academy — it’s tax deductible.

UPDATE IV: Just spent 30 minutes on the phone with FSA spokeswoman Katy Dion and 15 minutes on the phone with John Trainor of the Save FSA parents group.

There’s still more reporting to be done, but certainly there seems good reason to suspect that the Fulton County Board of Education (FCBOE) isn’t doing right by FSA. This is a school that, since its founding 10 years ago, has already seen its alumni go on to such schools as Harvard, Princeton and West Point. More than 400 applicants are on the “wait list” to get into FSA, indicating that there is a high level of public demand for the kind and quality of education this school provides. Therefore, why the FCBOE would be trying to yank the school around on its charter-renewal process is somewhat mysterious.

At least one commenter has called attention to an issue that has not been raised directly by the FCBOE: Allegations that FSA is part of a “stealth Islam” sort of operation known as the Gulen (or Gulenist) movement. Longtime readers know I sure as hell am not going to ignore an angle like that, but Trainor assures me that there’s never been any hint of a pro-Islam influence at FSA, and Trainor is a conservative Catholic who is sensitive to such issues.

Nevertheless, I wonder if this angle doesn’t cut the other way, also. That is to say, perhaps FCBOE isn’t being entirely upfront about its own agenda in this matter. Can you say . . . “Islamophobia”?

Stay tuned. This story could get pretty interesting.

Category: Education, Georgia

Rule 5 Monday

Posted on | November 21, 2011 | 7 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


Trying to get this done before the campus cops give me the bum’s rush…


The Rio Norte Line gets us rolling with some Leeann Tweeden, follows it up with some kind of Twilight reference and some hot Mormon chicks; Randy’d Roundtable is next out of the inbox with Jennifer and Jessica Barton. The eye of Polyphemus settles on Summer Glau, while Reaganite Republican exhorts us to know our enemy – Miss China 2011 Luo Zilin??


A View From The Beach starts wit Kirsten Dunst, some cave girls with their kitties, mud wrestling for better womens’ health, and a blonde on an escalator. Dustbury gets musical this week with Ashleigh Ball and Lady Gaga. Fishersville Mike brings back an oldie but goodie: Tea Party Barbie! Three Beers Later has Mitzi Gaynor and Annie Lennox


El Opinador Compulsivo checks in this week, despite apparently getting behind in his work. Next, Mila Kunis and/or Emma Stone, Dioni Tabbers, Candice Bergen, and some random pics here, here, here, here and here.


Soylent Green begins with Sunday service, follows with the Monday motivationer, Titillation Tuesday, Humpday Hawtness, a parade, contingency planning, Corset Friday, something about Go(oglers), and a tasty midnight snack. In a late addition: the Equestrian Snooch Calendar!


Proof Positive has Alex Kingston, a dirty girl, Vintage Babe Zulma Falad, and the obligatory 49ers cheerleaders.


At The Camp of the Saints, there’s Giulia Olivetti , the Rule 5 News, equestrian gals and Jana Defi.


The DaleyGator returns (so, so close to 1 million hits!) with his DaleyBabes: Leona Lewis, Reese Witherspoon, the cute but stupid Alex Wagner, Asian Babe Wednesday, Victoria Pratt, Rose Byrne, Chanelle Hayes, Poppy Montgomery, Ida Ljungqvist, Mariska Hargitay, Angela Bassett, Asian Babe Tuesday, Luisana Lopilato, crushable women, and why Japanese baseball rocks.


Thanks to everyone for their links! Deadline for next week’s roundup – which may actually be on time thanks to the Thanksgiving weekend – is Saturday, November 26; PLEASE send all links to
Rule 5 Wombat, not my e-mail address from the top of the post!

Category: Rule 5

Shocker: Chicks Don’t Dig Camping Out With a Bunch of Smelly Losers

Posted on | November 21, 2011 | 47 Comments

“I’m not the only one to notice the Occupy gender gap. . . . Nearly every night at Occupy LA, the question comes up: ‘What can we do to get more women out here?'”
— Tina Dupuy, “The Occupy Movement’s Woman Problem,” The Atlantic

There are probably women who aren’t bothered much by poor hygiene, and there may be women who aren’t bothered by a lack of toilet and bathing facilities. But I think you’ll have a hard time finding women who aren’t bothered by the kind of bad stuff that happens to women when they’re constantly surrounded by a bunch of scummy, predatory cop-haters: Rape, sexual assault, sexual assault, rape, sexual assault, indecent exposure, sexual assault, gang rape . . . You get the picture.

The Occupy movement’s seething hostility toward law enforcement is not coincidental to their seething hostility toward capitalism.

The rationale of these protests is fundamentally anti-social, so the protests attract deviant personalities — including drug addicts, psychotics and sexual predators — who aren’t really keen on the whole “obeying the law” trip. And while the simple-minded lefty punks who are leading the protests might not be violent rapists, neither are they the kind of guys that chicks usually like to hang out with.

“Girls just want to have fun,” as Cyndi Lauper famously sang. Camping out in a park with a bunch of unemployed dropout dudes whining about their student loan debt? Not fun.

Throw in the threat of contagious disease, rape and other violence, and it’s kind of a bummer. You can imagine the conversation:

Heather: “Wanna go to the Occupy protest?”
Nicole: “You mean where all those smelly unemployed losers are camping out in the park and chanting about bankers?”
Heather: “Yeah.”
Nicole: “Let’s go shopping at the mall instead.”
Heather: “Cool.”

The guys at the mall are cuter. And probably have jobs and cars and money. Chicks dig that stuff. Also, hygiene.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! You probably don’t need to be told that this is a totally capitalist blog. But you may not realize that this is “Black Friday Deals Week” at Amazon: You save money with great bargains, I get a commission on every sale, and we’re all richer as a result. Chicks dig capitalism. Because it’s fun.

UPDATE II: John at Verum Serum believes women in the Occupy movement are purposefully covering up incidents of sexual assault:

First hand reports (by women) indicate that reporting of assaults is discouraged. One woman at Occupy Wall Street told the New York Post “We don’t tell anyone…We handle it internally. I said too much already.” My own original reporting on the situation at Occupy Baltimore indicated that sexual harassment was a common complaint, but organizers didn’t want word of it leaking to the media. . . .
There’s a reason women aren’t flocking to these tent cities. They aren’t safe. It would be nice if people claiming to be feminists could acknowledge the serious problems rather than glossing over it.


Category: Crime, Feminism, Progressivism

Mika’s Not the Scariest Brzezinski

Posted on | November 21, 2011 | 18 Comments

When I previously explained that Mika Brzezinski is smarter than you, a commenter called to my attention a video clip from Oct. 17. It’s of Mika’s father, Zbiginew Brzezinski, former national security adviser to Jimmy Carter, in an appearance on Morning Joe:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

“You know, how many Americans are really fully aware of how many other good people, that’s like Warren Buffett and others, who really donate a lot of their earnings to charities, to philanthropy? But how many more are there in the hedge funds, in the banks, in a variety of other places who, on the basis of speculation literally make millions of dollars that it would take a century or two for the average person ever to make? I would like to see those lists. And they shouldn’t be that difficult to produce. And I think public pressure might have also some effect, not only in terms of moving towards more systematic international coordination and regulation. But also to pressure some of those people to give some of it back, back to society.”
— Zbiginew Brzezinski, Oct. 17, 2011

Does he sound like Dr. Evil or what? Let’s talk about “speculation.” What does Brzezinski mean by that word?

“Speculation” involves risk, which is the same thing expressed by the words “enterprise” or “entrepreneur.”

To launch any business endeavor is to take a chance. When I quit my job at The Washington Times in January 2008, it was with the belief that I might be able to make more as a journalistic free agent than I was then being paid in salary. While this speculative effort has not yet met revenue expectations, as the business guys might say, 400,000 page-views per month is nothing to sneeze at, and we’re working tirelessly to increase traffic and enhance the monetization. IYKWIMAITYD.

What the managers of banks and hedge funds do is a more lucrative field of endeavor than “blog proprietor” (or “New Media savant” or whatever you want to call it) because the work they do is more valuable. If I screw up or miss a day at work, what do you lose? Some political news, some snarky commentary and maybe hot chicks in lingerie. But if a hedge fund manager screws up, there goes your 401(k), there goes your retirement dreams, there goes your kids’ inheritance. Kinda more important than a blog, even a blog with 400,000 page-views per month.

Who am I — or who is Zbiginew Brzezinski — to say whether a financial manager makes “too much” money? Isn’t it true that everyone is, to some extent, dependent on the financial sector for their livelihood? Consider that I earn income from Amazon Associates sales (I remind you that this is “Black Friday Deals Week“). Isn’t Amazon a corporation that was launched by enterpreneurs funded with investments provided by financial managers? Wasn’t it “speculation” that led people to invest in Amazon in the belief that their online sales model would work, whereas many other such projects have failed?

If we want investment in the private sector — and we do — then what we want is what Zbiginew Brzezinski calls “speculation,” a word he uses as a derisive epithet, evidently assuming that others share his ignorant (or envious) contempt for people who make their living through “speculation.”

News flash for Zbiginew Brzezinski: People also lose money through “speculation.” For example, if you bought a house in Orlando in 2006, supposing that the market value would increase . . .

Well, that was “speculation,” and you got screwed, whereas the guy who sold that house, cashing out his equity while the market was hot, walked away a winner. And if he then invested his equity in gold — another sort of “speculation” — he’s sitting pretty right now.

Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. It’s speculation either way.

Nearly all of us engage in economic speculation of one kind or another, but because some ultra-successful speculators on Wall Street make millions of dollars, Zbiginew Brzezinski throws in the phrase “on the basis of speculation” as if it’s legitimate to hate bankers or hedge fund managers in a way we don’t hate professional athletes, pop singers or TV stars — like Zbiginew Brzezinski’s daughter Mika. She reportedly gets $4 million a year, but Zbiginew believes his daughter earns that money, whereas the investment banker is engaged in evil “speculation.” So he takes pride in his daughter’s success, but wants us to think that bankers are a bunch of crafty swindlers up to no good, robbing us blind and exploiting us.

This evil which Zbiginew Brzezinski imputes to greedy bankers is evidently the inspiration for his desire to have their names on a list, in order to subject them to “more systematic international coordination and regulation.”

That should scare the hell out of everybody, because who’s going to do all that “coordination and regulation”? Government-appointed bureaucrats, that’s who. And as bad as private-sector “speculation” may be, government regulators have the authority to send you to prison if you disobey them. For the guy who ran Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy to be demanding “systematic international coordination” of the private sector is highly ironic, and also scary.

By the way, did you ever notice that greedy Wall Street millionaires always have a fancy smart phone? Because that’s what it takes to make the big bucks nowadays. And it just so happens that Amazon’s having a limited-time special sale on smart phones — great bargains for you, a small commission for me.

So buy a smart phone and become a Wall Street millionaire. Don’t let Zbiginew Brzezinski stop you. Because capitalism is beautiful.


Category: Economics, MSNBC
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