None Dare Call It ‘Stagflation’

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Economic growth in the first quarter slowed to an anemic 1.8% annual rate, which isn’t the only bad news, as Larry Kudlow explained on Twitter:

1.8% growth, 8.8% unemployment,3.8% inflation spells stagflation.

It’s as if we have taken a long round-trip back to 1979. We are not surprised that a Marist poll shows approval for Obama’s handling of the economy at an all-time low. Rather, we are surprised that 40% still credit the president for doing a good job on economic policy. (Who are these 40% and what’s wrong with them?) “Unexpectedly” is the new “Heh”:

U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the first quarter as higher food and gasoline prices dampened consumer spending, and sent a broad measure of inflation rising at its fastest pace in 2-1/2 years.

Why is it that these “experts” never see this stuff coming? I suspect the people griping about grocery prices are far better informed than the “experts.”

Oh, yeah: Gold prices hit a new high today. You should have listened to Glenn Beck.

UPDATE: Little Miss Attila explains why inflation is killing the Obama presidency, and welcome, Instapundit readers!


Heh: Trump’s Signature Line From China?

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by Smitty (h/t Fire Jim Moran)

It may not be true, and would be combed over in any case:

The technical term, if corroborated, for this would be 'boo boo'.

Alan Colmes seems to corroborate, throwing in Mexico and Bangladesh for other items. Is it treasonous to ask why the economics don’t favor new clothing jobs in the U.S. anymore, or should we proceed directly to a Federal takeover of textiles?

Obama: ‘Too Smart By Half’?

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by Smitty

Ace of Spades has already run roughshod over this, but I’ve got a point to add. Dana Milbank (“There’s too much going on in the poor guy’s head”) and David Brooks (“Obama’s just too complex a man with multiple identities, each true and real”) have beclowned themselves at length, and I suspect it’s because neither has any leadership experience of which I’ve heard.

As I’ve explained before, the Stockdale Leadership Model notes that a leader is a teacher. Here I define teacher as somebody who has not only amassed knowledge, and not only broadcasts that knowledge, but also has sufficient empathy to tailor that knowledge broadcast to the audience and occasion.

In other words, there is no excuse for the systematic disconnect between the President and the country with respect to, well, every issue.

It really makes no difference whether the man is intellectually vacuous, mentally constipated, or just really bored with the job. He’s not leading. He appears to do the same thing as President that he did as Senator: snipe at the opposing party. While not un-Constitutional, it is a trifle disappointing and it falls to the conservatives to point out that this is unacceptable. The slobbering zombies who elected the fellow are so far gone as to be unable to see the problem. Forget them.

In contrast, we need to demand of conservative hopefuls a substantial vision. The rot has to stop with Obama.

VIDEO: Herman Cain Says, ‘Secure the Border. Not Pretend That We Want to Secure the Border — Secure the Border‘

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Nicholas Ballasy of CNSNews asked Herman Cain whether Mexican drug cartels should be declared foreign terrorist organizations. Cain agreed — “because we cannot become a lawless nation” — and then explained his four-point position on border security:

“Empower the states to do what the federal government won’t do, can’t do — empower the states. Give the power to the states to deal with the problem.”

Cain’s common-sense policy, supporting the right of states like Arizona to defend themselves against what can only be called a foreign invasion, is winning him more and more support among grassroots conservatives.

Just the other day, Rush Limbaugh called Cain “a guy who’s got it all”:

CALLER: You know, I used to work for Herman Cain. I worked for Godfather’s Pizza, that’s, you know, in Omaha, Nebraska.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: And I’ve always loved him, what he supported, you know, I got to work with him directly and still keep in contact with him. What do you think of him as a leader? I have so many questions for you, but I guess, you know, I’ll start with that.
RUSH: I love Herman Cain. He’s obviously a leader. Herman Cain led Godfather’s Pizza, he’s great guy, fine guy, played golf with him. No, I haven’t, I’ve not played golf with him. (laughing)
CALLER: You say that about everyone. (laughing)
RUSH: (laughing) I just love to tweak ‘em out there. This is the point. We have a lot of great potential leaders out there. In a better world Herman Cain would be seen as one of our foremost candidates. He’s a guy who’s got it all.

Isn’t it time you joined the online grassroots army at Citizens for Cain?

What A Morose Outlook

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by Smitty (via Ann Althouse)

Sendak, one wonders as to your eternal hope:

“When I kick the bucket,” he begins – about to describe why he’s glad his stuff has ended up at the Rosenbach, where it will be seen, not archived – then goes parenthetical: “Which can’t be too long from now. I think I’m getting out just in time. Watching the news, everything seems to be in disorder. Everybody seems to be unhappy. We’ve lost the knack of living in the world with the sensation of safety.”

The man who imagined escapes as romps that ended with warm suppers says, “I wonder why people still have children. I mean, why put kids in the world when the world is so insecure? This is how old people rationalize their death. You get a little crotchety with the world.

“That’s the one thing that I think makes the mural worth having. It represents a time on a personal level when I was secure and young and happy. And I didn’t think about dying . . . about my friends dying.”

In the first place, I doubt that the increased sense of disorder and unhappiness is more than a subjective thing. The Tower of Siloam just seems to topple at higher frequency due to things like tornadoes. But is tragedy, scaled for population, increasing as a function of time? Each individual death is a tragedy, and I don’t mean to lessen that, but I really doubt that our current woes exceed, say, bubonic plague:

It is generally held that the most infamous and devastating outbreak of bubonic plague was the Black Death, which killed a third of the population of Europe in the 14th century.

This threat now has been reduced to a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
It really is all about perspective. As someone currently praying for the continued good health of the wife and that of the World’s Youngest Blogger, there is no question that being fruitful is the Right Thing To Do. Admittedly, dying old and bitter might be the Left Thing To Do. However, succumbing to the Overpopulation Myth is about as soul-crushing stupid as succumbing to the Global Warming Myth, the Social Justice Myth, or the Feminist Anti-womanhood Myth (moron that next week). If you notice a pattern of idiocy piling up on one side of the political divide, you may be perceptive.
Sure, there is legitimate concern about the government nationalizing every bit of the meager IRA and 401k wealth that the wife and I have squirreled away. The fog of peace that is an unavoidable side-effect of government has given way to systematic dishonesty. The spirit of Colonel Jessup’s “You can’t handle the truth!” pervades legislation and the avoidance behavior about the fiscal situation.
On the other hand, allowing legitimate concern to become paralysis is tacitly saying the Almighty has given up on Creation. In a word, foolishness. And are we having that? Why no: no, we are not.

Foreskin Fetishists, Again

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Really, are we surprised by the news that San Francisco wants to outlaw circumcision?

Because to develop a distinct preference for either the circumcised or uncircumcised penis, you would probably have to do a good bit of comparison shopping. It would appear that some people — perhaps the sort of people one finds in San Francisco — have pursued this subject quite avidly.

These people have a connoisseur’s interest in the matter, we might say.

As circumcision was long considered the hygienically superior choice — for many decades, 90% of U.S.-born infants were circumcised — the uncircumcised penis was exotic. Its relative rarity made the uncircumcised penis a sort of status item among the comparison-shopping connoisseurs, who have now enlisted arguments of science and “rights” on behalf of what they regard as a cherished delicacy.

This is the entirety of the subject. Yet I guarantee you that this post will draw the attention of fetishists, who will denounce me as a hateful advocate of “male genital mutilation” — do you see my sarcastic eye-roll here? — and cite a bunch of moralitic and/or “scientific” (there’s that eye-roll again) arguments against circumcision.

Because I’m an unenlightened bigot, while they are sophisticated and open-minded, so I need them to lecture me endlessly about “rights” and “science.”

Science? Really, you want to talk science?

There is compelling evidence that male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by approximately 60%.

“Compelling evidence”? That’s only the World Health Organization.

Let’s ignore their advice, OK? And most of all, let’s ignore that advice in San Francisco, because there is certainly no HIV infection risk in San Francisco.

You sick freaks.

Ed Driscoll wonders “what’s the point of passing these laws when there are fewer and fewer kids left in the city?”

Category: Sex