We Are In Agreement

Does anyone from planet earth get directly involved in politics?

Look at these people.

Note the Ron Paul mosh-pit flyer.

TPM

Barry Rubin, Pouting

"As NATO jets bombed the military positions of Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi, the watching rebels cheered, “Allah Akhbar!” Now that is a common Muslim expression, not just used by Islamists, and yet there is something symbolic about it. Allah did not bring the rebels victory, the United States and Europe did. Nevertheless, Allah will get the credit."

Pajamas Media via Sullivan

Hilary Duff Pregnant

Mike Comrie to set-up high-five booth for visiting fans.

The President should appear benign. And nice.

[The Presidential Candidates] have their political life, their policies, their philosophies, what they believe in. But it's also very important in politics to have a persona of moderation, to seem like a benign person, a smart person, a kindly person."

Former Reagan speechwriter, Peggy Noonan on MTP. This coming in response to a question regarding Rick Perry's veiled threat directed at Ben Bernanke.

I understand that she's saying, "look, everyone has some crazy shit in their head, look at me, sometimes I think snakes live in the toilet for crying out loud, but you just don't need to share all of it." It's telling word-choice though.

She didn't say that Perry's line was stupid, or mean, or coarsened an already vulgar political discourse. She said it was a bad idea because despite judging Bernanke treasonous, Perry should still try to appear benign and smart.

Fitting response from Reagan's speechwriter.

Chinatown and Planet of the Apes

M and I watched Chinatown (1974) Friday evening, last weekend we saw Planet of the Apes (1968). 

It is...startling...(?) ("Startling" isn't the right word, I guess it's more "striking") to view the (vast) difference in acting styles showcased in the two films. 

To me (a non-actor), Chuck Heston's scenery-eating wasn't stylistically different from earlier American greats (Stewart, Gable, Bogart, etc).  It's campy and loud. And Planet isn't some bullshit movie, it's hokey at times (maybe a lot of times) but it's an ambitious script with real actors (English ones, even!) .

Planet can out in 1968

Then there's Chinatown, a movie that came out just 6 years later, all subtle and muted and adult and what-not.

Both had big-name actors, smiliar budgets, etc. and Planet veers into so-bad-it's-good terrain while Chinatown is just plain good. 

Movies made in 2005 are indistinguishable from those made now, as are movies made in 1999 for that matter. 

Crazy. 

I should note that both movies feature man-butt. You so rarely see man-butt in films. Or at least I don't.

And the Ottoman Empire. And the Saracens.

BACHMANN: What people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward. And especially with this very bad debt ceiling bill, what we have done is given a favor to President Obama and the first thing he’ll whack is five hundred billion out of the military defense at a time when we’re fighting three wars. People recognize that.

ThinkProgress

President Ron Paul

Of the existing crop of GOP candidates, my vote would go with Ron Paul.  While I disagree with Paul on pretty much every domestic issue (abortion, the role of the federal government -  which is to say I think there should be a federal government, etc.) I support his foreign policy. 

The Politico item I posted yesterday (regarding the farmer who feared the government interfering with his soy bean crops; crops that exist due to multi-billion-dollar federal price supports) reminded me that President Paul would have zero luck in dismantling the Fed, or Social Security, or the DOA - there is too much support for the programs those (latter two, among others) departments provide.

Congress just wouldn't allow it.

The power to invade is one area in which the president's authority is relatively unchecked. That authority has a post-invasion counter-weight insofar as Congress can cut-off funding, but under the Paul Presidency that would be moot as no such invasion would occur. There would be a significant draw-down in overseas ops, and, barring an existential foreign threat, we would never invade anyone.

And anyone who knows me will tell you that doing nothing is something I strongly support.

Americans: Conservative in Theory, Liberal in Practice

At Wednesday’s town hall in Atkinson, Ill., a local farmer who said he grows corn and soybeans expressed his concerns to President Barack Obama about “more rules and regulations” — including those concerning dust, noise and water runoff — that he heard would negatively affect his business. Politco

Soy and corn receive about $8B in annual subsidies [cite].

Wtf does this even mean? Jonah Goldberg writes with all the nuance of Penthouse forum

NRO