The Other McCain

by Smitty

There seems to be some dismay at good ol’ Maxine over her hyper-pragmatic, realpolitik view of the #Occupy movement:

When asked to comment Wednesday about the deaths and crimes that have occurred around Occupy protests being held across the country, Rep. Maxine Waters said “that’s life and it happens.”

Now, I call that a refreshing burst of pure honesty.

We have truly soulless politicians by the bushel on Capitol Hill; ones who swap masks like thespians in some ancient Greek play that is tragedy one moment, comedy the next. Is it not refreshing to have a politician drop the mask, and say it like it is? To paraphrase, “You could stuff me full of chittum bark, and I still wouldn’t give a chit.” You call that soullessness, I call it telling it like it is.

Now, kn@ppster may calibrate me on the point, but I daresay that Maxine has a proper, Constitutional outlook on display here. The federal government is in no way chartered to care fig #1 about individuals as such. By this I mean that the “general welfare” is not the “Smitty welfare”. My heart will one day beat its last. “That’s life and it happens,” to quote Maxine of Headroom. As inevitable as taxes, this demise.

And yet, our government has made a mostly failing business this last century out of mis-interpreting this “general welfare” clause into an occasion for chronic wealth distribution. Note the word chronic. I am by no means arguing against equipping an outfit like a FEMA to handle acute issues that happen at low frequency to non-specific clumps of folks.

You go, Maxine. This #Occupy comment marks what I sincerely hope is a Road to Damascus moment. I’m Syria-s. Say hello to Bashar al-Assad when you arrive. It’s OK if you stay.

Update: linked at WyBlog.

by Smitty

Via the Puffington Host

He suggested Norquist’s lobbying on the issue is at least one reason why the 12-member super committee hasn’t been able to achieve its goal: trillions of dollars in debt reduction stemming from some combination of spending cuts and new revenues. Several Republicans are wrestling with the fact that they signed Norquist’s no-tax-hike pledge amid debt talks.
“It’s obvious that Grover Norquist has a lot of pull in the Republican caucus and I think that’s an understatement,” Reid said. “So far, I haven’t seen any indication that Republicans are willing to agree to this balanced approach.”
Asked what the public should take away from the state of talks, Reid said, “maybe they should impeach Grover Norquist.”
Norquist later tweeted a response to Reid: “Dear Harry Reid: have a nice day. Think nice thoughts. Calm. Breath slowly. Keep hand in own pocket.”

Just when you thought the Senate Majority Leader had reached beclownment saturation, here he is blaming a lobbyist, albeit a notable one, for Harry Reid’s own non-command of budgeting. The Super Committee is symptomatic of what a failure Harry Reid is as politician. Own it, Harry. It’s not Grover: it’s you.

via Memeorandum

Update: Jimmie at the Sundries Shack gives the point a more thoughtful treatment.