To Quote an Expert

Reporting on the Government's inadvertant release of confidential civilian nuclear programs, the New York Times hilariously interviews an expert in the field of mishandling Government secrets:

“These screw-ups happen,” said John M. Deutch, a former Director of Central Intelligence and deputy secretary of defense who is now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It’s going further than I would have gone but doesn’t look like a serious breach.” (emphasis added)

William Broad's piece, however, failed to mention John Deutch's credentials:

The Defense Department secrets that John M. Deutch, the former Pentagon official and director of central intelligence, kept on his unsecured home computer apparently did not fall into the wrong hands, the government said in a review made public today.

Of course to Mr. Deutch, his willful violation of National Security Laws is only a screw-up (that - 'whew' - doesn't go further than the release of civilian nuclear secrets). Lower ranking people in the Defense Department would have been prosecuted; Deutch got one of Bill Clinton's pre-emptive pardens.

Will the NYT next seek Sandy Berger's opinion on protecting secrets?

Originally posted at Anatreptic

The Message Sells Itself

This effective chart, used repeatedly by Glenn Reynolds, succinctly explains a major driver behind the tea party movement. It also puts the lie to any talk by the President that he is interested in cutting the deficit. With over a quarter of a million tea party attendees, surely we can post this graph or something similar on billboards across the nation.

Heck, if the Republican party was worth two cents, they'd kick in some funding too. Of course they would have to address their "democrat light" deficits of the past seven years.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Another Crisis not to Waste

Keep Rahm Emanuel's words in mind as your government provides "solutions" to this year's Swine Flu crisis.

As a side note, I remember the 1976 swine flu scare, though I was living outside the country at the time. Below is President Gerald Ford setting the example by getting a swine flu innoculation:



Turns out in '76 only one person died from the Swine flu but 30 people died from the vaccinations. 40 million people were innoculated before the program was shut down within three months of its inception.

(While I point out the above, note I'm not against immunizations - I get a flu shot annually - I just have developed a sceptical disposition towards taking any government pronouncement at face value.)

Crossposted in Anatreptic.

Utah Tea Parties

Unlike the President's tax cheating cabinent picks, I pay my taxes without the threat of Senate hearings. This tax day, however, after completing my patriotic duty the Feds will hear from me. I'm heading down to the Tea Party being held at the Salt Lake City Federal Building. Look for me under the banner "Term Limits for Congress" or "Term limits = Sane Spending" (yes Orrin "Tim Geithner's too important" Hatch - you're one of my inspirations).

Are we going to have much of an impact other than to blow off steam? I dunno, but it is amusing to see two Congressmen and Utah's Attorney General are planning to crash the party as well.

If you are in Utah, join us:

April 15, 2009 Noon-2PM
Federal Building, 125 S State St., Salt Lake City

There will be a second protest from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm for those of you still intent on making more taxible income that day.

Other Tax Day Utah Tea Party Protests:

Provo
5-7 pm
US Post Office Provo (East Bay), 210 East 900 South

St George
5-7 pm
Vernon Worthen Park Gazebo (300 S 300 E, St. George)

Cache Valley
4-6 pm
Free Speech Zone
Approximately 241 North Main, directly south of City Hall/Logan Library (Grassy Area to the West of the Sidewalk).

Vernal
5-7 pm
Courthouse lawn at 150 E. Main St

Crossposted at Anatreptic

Beware some who feign to lead

There is not much difference between a lynching mob and those in Congress who worked themselves into a frenzy to vote AIG bonuses into oblivion last week. Congress (and the President) showed they are willing to push us into an ochlocracy.

And now up and coming "conservative" darling Congressman Paul Ryan regrets running with the mob because others have stated the measure may be unconstitutional? Well yes... but if Ryan can't tell the difference between plain wrong and "merely" unconstitutional (and without help at that) then I think conservatives just learned something disturbing about Ryan's character.

Addendum - While Tom Maguire says the jury is still out on constitutional/unconstitutional (remember abrogating political speech was ruled constitutional too) the verdict is in on "gutless".

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Inversion

The Oquirrh Mountains rise above the inversion over Salt Lake Valley.

WWOD

James Taranto links to this testimony where a convert declares "Obama as my Personal Jesus"

Then I began to realize I wasn't the only one trying to buy a WWOD bracelet and spending my weekends scouring CNN.com. The rock star-type love for Obama wasn't just because he was pretty and in the media. Others too, had seen him as a shining light, heard that mythical voice boom out over the mountaintops; people were wearing the t-shirt because they would rather wear something representing a politician than a pop star. People everywhere, young and old, were caring again. So what's the problem here?

Parody? Perhaps. But Obama praise and worship sessions are already breaking out (but for some reason the video has now been "disappeared"...).

But what would an Obama sabbath school lesson be like?:

Class, I'm going to provide you with ethical dilemmas and you will ask "What Would Obama Do" to help you decide your actions:

- You move to a new town and find a new church. Soon you learn the pastor preaches racist hate and wants God to damn America. What Would Obama Do?

- You're introduced to a neighbor who once tried to kill members of the military, bombed the capital, and advocated children kill their parents. To this day, this "neighbor" is proud of what he did and will even say he didn't do enough? What Would Obama Do?

- You state your campaign will participate in the Federal matching fund program and abide by the limits set. You also challenge your opponent to do the same. Then you see you have an opportunity to collect more money? What Would Obama Do?

- You state you would support a "born alive" bill to save infants accidently delivered during botched abortions, only if the legislation provides the same federal language preventing a roll-back. The legislation before you now has been amended to include such language. What Would Obama Do?

- You hear that some people oppose your views and they are going to the airways and publishing houses to make their opinion known. What Would Obama Do?

- You decide to run for State senator. You find you have an opportunity to eliminate opponents - including the incumbent from the ballot. What Would Obam Do?

Oh my!...class your answers...

Maybe the right question should be: What WILL a President Obama do?

Out of touch by the numbers

This week my 10 year old told me the U.S bought Alaska for $700. When I asked if that figure was more like $7 Million she said nope "$700 - a penny an acre". I ascertain the concept of an acre doesn't hold much meaning for 10 year olds.

Likewise, other numbers shed light on how some understand the world:

Cynthia McKinney uses the number 5000 to show she now exists only to provide comic relief:

I had a woman--in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I had a woman--I have never really said this in public, out loud, in front of a lot of cameras, and there's a lot in this room now. But I had a mother to call me because her son had a very gruesome task. Her son's charge by the Department of Defense was to process 5,000 bodies that had received a single bullet wound to the head, and these were mostly males. And her son was afraid to talk because he had signed a silence agreement, so he only complained to his mother. But the data about these individuals was entered into a Pentagon computer, and then reportedly the bodies were dumped in a swamp in Louisiana. This is as a result of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

According to McKinney, New Orleans is so inconsequential 5,000 citizens can disappear off the face of the earth but no one bothered calling the missing persons department.

Last year Obama let the number 10,000 clue us that he has no feel for natural disasters in the U.S.

We smirk because such statements reveal the speaker has no clue what they are talking about. That's why James Taranto teases McKinney about another of her assertions:

There is a huge hole in the story, though: McKinney merely "suspects" that the 5,000 victims of the single bullet were prisoners. It seems to us they could well have been consenting adults, and the story would have made every bit as much sense.

In the case of Obama's 10,000 dead he made a mistake - but by 3 orders of magnitude. I might be off on how much gas my car's fuel tank holds but I wouldn't spout off 20,000 gallons.

Hence I was intrigued by this related Obama observation:

I noticed this in Obama's books as well, especially the second. He'll often discuss an issue, apparently showing a great range of empathy for both sides and state a real objection, and then he'll ignore that and go on to state his position.

That may work for issues such as his position on abortion, but economics is a matter of hard parameters. Obama doesn't seem able or willing to comprehend that, or do the hard work to assemble any reasonable policy position. I don't think he's able to do this.

The next president - any conceivable president - will have a very hard time of it. Pretty much all the wiggle room is gone. After last night, I literally believe that Obama isn't capable of understanding it. Maybe he's not very bright. Maybe he just dislikes quantitative thinking. But for whatever reason, his current stated policies are an exercise in fantasy.

Next year's priorities need to run along the lines of making sure that poor people in the US have enough to eat. To be babbling about expanding early childhood education?

McCain did not impress me, but he appeared to understand that we have our butts in a tight crack and are going to be facing some very rough circumstances.

Anyone who watched last night's debate and can still consider voting for Obama loses my respect. There's a limit to how far one can defy reality and live. That man is currently outside the parameters of the land of the living. It's probably due to inexperience.

h/t

Rainbow over Francis Peak

Rainbow over Francis Peak after a brief shower. The domed structures are FAA radars.

Wall Lake in the Uintas

Reid's Peak and Bald Mountain

The "Wall" at Wall Lake

View of Wall Lake with Notch Mountain in the background.