Michael Ramirez cartoon posted at Jewish World Review for Oct. 29, 2008.
Voters don’t know what socialism means, anymore. Hop to it, McCain. In the 21st part of an on-going series entitled “The Audacity of Socialism,” Investor’s Business Daily argues that the post-Cold War generation doesn’t really understand what socialism’s about, so when Republican candidate John McCain decries Democratic rival Barack Obama’s policies as socialist, he better explain what he means. IBD takes a minute to educate us while maintaining that, yes, Obama does appear to be a socialist.
Too many pundits and politicians practice wackonomics. That’s the tendency to explain the complex beast of economics in the simplest terms of greed, according to economist Walter E. Williams. When the price of oil goes up, these wackoeconomists blame greedy executives, so as the price of crude oil dropped gradually from $147 to $64 a barrel after July, the natural conclusion should have been that the same executives were feeling less greedy. Of course, that’s not what happens, and wackonomics doesn’t really add to anyone’s understanding of the economy.
Sarah Palin takes a lot of heat—Obama and Biden deserve as much or more, writes Victor Davis Hanson. After all, recalling FDR on TV in 1929 or referring to Hezbollah as out of Lebanon doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Hanson lays out more reasons to ridicule the Obama-Biden ticket and wonders why the two aren’t getting more heat in the mainstream media.
Conservatives who bash Sarah Palin are in it for themselves. Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan writes that after seven weeks on the campaign trail, Palin doesn’t seem to have what it takes to be vice president and that “she doesn’t think aloud. She just . . . says things.” Pam Meister, editor of Family Security Matters expressed confusion over why “beautiful, accomplished women” like Noonan would want to attack another beautiful, accomplished woman like Sarah Palin for no other apparent reason than that she drops her G’s and says “moms and dads” instead of “mothers and fathers.” Meister implied Noonan’s major motivation for criticizing Palin is that she may be under consideration for press secretary in an Obama administration (according to Meister’s unnamed source, of course). The blog RedState takes an even harder line toward such conservative turncoats: they should never be listened to or employed by any Republicans or conservatives ever again.
More Republicans call for Senator Ted Stevens to resign after he was convicted on seven felony counts including corruption. However, many seem to think it would be better if he waits until after winning his re-election so that the Republican Party can appoint his successor. That’s classy, people.
