Obama the Great

The inauguration coronation of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States is done. While I can appreciate the significance and history of this moment, it seems that people need to be reminded that Obama is still mortal. Heck! Obama probably needs to be reminded that he is mortal.

Is it just me or has everyone come to believe that this man is omniscient, omnipotent, and every other omni-* you can think of? Every ill in the country world long history of human existence seems to have an Obama solution. I mean, how could you not get behind a man who will be able to definitively determine the champion of Division I College Football?

I think the history of his presidency is already in rough draft form and he will be considered one of the top four. He will be considered a great president because of his rhetoric, his ability to inspire people, and his “courage” to propose bold initiatives. If need be, the actual effects of his policies can be rationalized later by the court intellectuals.

It could be said that there is no way for Obama to rise to these high expectations, and that he is being set up for a big let down. I don't think, however, that the kind of mass orgasm we have seen over the past several months will be tempered by anything that will occur over the next few years. Like the gods of religion who continue to exist even in the face of the science that makes them irrelevant, the cult of Obama will outweigh any rational argument.

For how could any problem be the fault of Obama when he has staffed his administration with the brightest among us? Wise technocrats will be creating policy and the “right” people will now be in charge. Any difficulties we may face will inevitably be the result of some deficiency in ourselves.

Maybe I'm just too cynical. If so, Obama should be able to fix that as well.

Some other musings:

• Is dissent still patriotic?
• Party pooper
• Just plain yuck!
  

Alternate titles for this post: Omni-bama, The Great and Powerful Oz-bama, Oh, bama!

Whatever

• So, why should I believe him now?
• Radley Balko has some good incites into the recent McCain/Obama debate
• The Dark Knight/Toy Story 2 Mashup
• Earth from above
• Markets in everything
• Old school Star Wars
• Credit crunch? What credit crunch? Maybe it is only the big, "well-connected" banks that need help. The sky is not falling.
  

Whatever

• As the state grows we all become criminals. I can't believe you have to have a license to own a TV! Oh, and check out number seven on the list.
• Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to pay taxes
• Bailout spam
• Wow! China is crowded
• A good history of laissez-faire (or the lack thereof) in America
• Obama promises to stop America's shitty jobs from going overseas (NB: bad language)
• Property rights save the environment
• Never ask a question to a live audience if you don't want to know the answer
• Just pile it on

Whatever

• The inhumanity of some people
• Robert Samuelson reports on contrary evidence regarding American living standards. I think there is a lesson to be learned here about drawing conclusions from aggregate numbers in a diverse and dynamic society. (HT: CafeHayek)
• More bureaucracy, more spending, and more crony capitalism all in the name of science. I am still trying to figure out what Obama means by "change."
• When you devalue the currency, people go primitive
• Art by paint ball
• Here's an investment tip for you...stay away from renewable energy companies (Investment tips are for sarcastic purposes only. Blogger is not responsible for your money problems)
• Don't laugh, they think they are dying
• The Libertarian Party - where ex-Republicans go to get mocked
  

Un-Conventional

I didn't watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech last week and I have no intention to watch John McCain's this week. How people can get all giddy about such things is beyond me. What scares me the most is the hagiographic praise that is thrust upon these men (especially Obama). Why does it scare me? I think H.L. Mencken said it best:

"It is the popular theory, at least in America, that monarchism is a curse fastened upon the common people from above - that the monarch saddles it upon them without their consent and against their will. The theory is without support in the facts. Kings are created, not by kings, but by the people. They visualize one of the ineradicable needs of all third-rate men... and that is the need of something to venerate, to bow down to, to follow and obey."

As I said in a previous blog post, "creating myths around men who wield the power of government only distorts history and turns us into what John Adams feard - a nation of men, not of laws."

HT: Don Boudreaux for the Mencken quote.

Whatever

• The impedance mismatch between the wishes of planners and the reality on the ground. "The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not."
• Government bailouts work both ways it seems. One of the big problems with this trend is that it won't be true privatization, and in a few years unfettered capitalism will take the blame.
• On Biden
• What's that old line about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
• Andy, Fannie, and Freddie
  

Whatever

• Yes, let's give a stupid movie that will literaly have 15 minutes of fame more attention that it deserves
• Science is making Science Fiction boring
• Ah, rent seeking at its finest (pun intended, of course). So, is the problem here that businesses are lobbying those who will attain power or the power itself?
• This is why Obama was marginally appealing to me
• Man! If you can't rely on the "Republicans are in the pocket of Big Oil" shibboleth what can you rely on
  

Whatever

• Obama wants to tax (i.e., reduce) the production of and subsidise (i.e., increase) the demand for oil. People, this is not hard: reducing the supply of or increasing the demand for a good, ceteris paribus, means the price will increase. Encouraging both as a plan to ease higher prices should be a sign of insanity (or political prowess).
• What's the big deal? We weren't using the Fourth Amendment anyway.
• Oooh! LHC is sexy (in a sciency sort of way)
• An interesting video explaining why, even if you are 100% innocent, you should never talk to the police (HT: Bruce Schneier)
• I agree with Perry's comment at the end of this blog post, but it won't be long before it is considered anti-social
• More significant than the iPhone?? How dare you say such things!
• The food industry, in an effort to avoid dealing with a problem itself, calls for more regulation. "More important than the financial loss is the loss of consumer confidence," says an industry representative. Well, getting consumers confident in your product is a cost you should have to bear. Calling for government to regulate makes you sound noble, but it has the added "benefit," I'm sure, of pushing out marginal competitors.
• Don't think that raising the minimum wage had no part is bringing this and this about
  

Whatever

• This is all we as libertarians ask. Instead we get this mess. And have I mentioned that markets work?
  
• Radley Balko asks some good questions of McCain and Obama
• A "political air show" (HT: The Agitator)
  
• Cue the conspiracy nuts. First we had the "Face on Mars" now the "Footprint on Titan."
• Sanity in Singapore
• Take a deep breath -- and thank Mt. Everest?
• We need more cow bell

Whatever

• Check out the new use for the Segway (scroll down about halfway)
• Some good quotes from P.J. O'Rourke
• Ahh! So it ain't so!
• Reverse Graffiti
• And you thought a night at the opera seemed to last forever
• I knew playing Dig Dug would benefit humanity
• So, does this mean that if you vote for McCain you hate people?
• "The stimulus check was a way for some people to entertain themselves."

Obama on Iraq...for now

I guess I should have seen this coming. Oh wait, I did. So, for those of you who were worried that I might vote for Obama (if I was really, really forced to), don't worry.

Whatever

• All new technologies should have a Star Wars demo
• If this is a joke it sure the hell ain't funny (HT: Dispatches)
• Some sanity on 'cap-and-trade' schemes
• #51. They don't sit around reading lists about how to be successful
• Obama panders and panders and panders
  
• What can onions teach us about oil prices?

Whatever

• I love this idea of "competing" tax plans. It's like competition between McDonald's and Burger King - the differences are marginal and they both suck.
• Oooh, save me from Google, I'm so oppressed
• Jason Kuznicki does a great job at debunking the idea that the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Habeas rights will lead to a "flood" of lawsuits. And here is some good stuff from George Will, as well.
  
• The Web Time Forgot (annoying, free registration may be required - try BugMeNot)
• Is labeling menus with nutritional content a good idea? Maybe not.

Oh Obama!

I know I've blogged in the past that if forced to I would vote for Obama. But now it is becoming harder for me to even make that concession.

Obama has given his support to a bill that will, in Glenn Greenwald's words, legalize "many of the warrantless eavesdropping activities George Bush secretly and illegally ordered in 2001." Here is the way he justifies his decision:

Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. . . .

After months of negotiation, the House today passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year's Protect America Act. . . It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses.

It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives -– and the liberty –- of the American people.

First of all, what if you are not elected President? You just supported a bill that you basically admit has problems that could affect the liberty of the American people. How will you feel in January if John McCain gets that power? You shouldn't support legislation that has as a contingency the need for the "right" people enforcing said legislation.

Secondly, I thought I had a Constitution to protect my liberties, not your work ethic.

My very limited support for Obama was largely based on his rhetoric that he would get us out of Iraq. Now I'm thinking that if he is elected President we will get a statement from him next January which begins thusly,

Given the grave threats that we face, our military must continue to be deployed ... blah blah blah.

Whatever!

No Win

We are now going to have the courts flooded with so-called...habeas corpus suits against the government, whether it be about the diet, whether it be about the reading material. And we are going to be bollixed up in a way that is terribly unfortunate because we need to go ahead and adjudicate these cases."

Those were the words of John McCain in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling on Guantanamo Bay detainees. It is also a big reason why I can't vote for him this year.

Habeas Corpus is not about filing suits to complain about diet or reading material; the term literally means 'you have the body'. It is a basic right, not of Americans, but of all human beings to challenge their imprisonment in front of a neutral party. For McCain, a Senator and Presidential candidate, to make such a silly statement is disturbing.

I shouldn't be surprised, though. I've always disliked McCain because of his stance on civil liberties. His support for anti-First Amendment campaign finance regulation really told me all I needed to know about him.

Oh, BTW, here is one of many reasons why I can't vote for Obama this year either. Surprise, surprise, he'll raise taxes.

Whatever

• An interesting way to use a courier service
• Three small dots were never so impressive
• And I thought those people with Bluetooth phone headsets were annoying!
• Another reason why voting this year will be pointless. Neither candidate understands the the concept of individual liberty.

Oh Hillary!

So I see that Hillary Clinton doesn't care too much for economists:

"I'm not going to put my lot in with economists," Clinton said when asked to name an economist who backed her proposal.

"We've got to get out of this mind-set where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans."

I'm confused. Is she part of the "faith-based" or "reality-based" community?

Thanks to Arnold Kling at EconLog for the link. Also, his cohort Bryan Caplan has this intriguing view on why Hillary would be harmless as president. In summary, she wouldn't get much done because people hate her so much. Hillary, Divisiveness we can believe in!

Whatever

• Paying taxes is patriotic? Boy, have we come a long way!
• Yeah, I know I said that if I had to vote then I would probably vote for Obama, but his pandering and economic ignorance is really why I can't vote for him (HT: Q&O)
• "You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?"
• An Obama-gasm
  
• If you can't laugh at Manifest Destiny what can you laugh at?
• The Twenty-First Century's Nineteenth Century problem
• More socialized health care problems in the UK. And one of our own.
  

More on Obama

I listened to Barack Obama's recent speech on race and was impressed - it was philosophical and nuanced. As much as I don't like politicians I do like listening to people who have a gift for speech and who speak with depth on serious issues.

I'm not going to say much more about it because I think Jason Kuznicki at Positive Liberty nails it. Here's how he sums it up:

I'm thrilled, because after nearly eight years of bumbling belligerence, and of government by catchy phrases badly delivered, finally someone seems to understand that the American people don’t enjoy being talked down to. This is — finally — nuance without fuzziness.

I'm wary, because Obama's program really is just more of the same frank, old-fashioned big-government liberalism. It still makes me cringe, even after nearly eight years of hypocritical, new-fashioned big-government conservatism. The Bush administration has proven the importance of labels: Call something conservative, and it becomes acceptable to a wide swath of the population, no questions asked. Even if it can't at all be distinguished from LBJ-style war-and-welfare liberalism. I hope that once they are out of power, the Republicans will finally abandon their recent change of direction.

Read the whole thing.

Like Jason, if I had to vote then I would probably vote for Obama - the two alternatives are that bad. But I still plan on sitting this one out.

Whatever

• Umm...What!?
• George Bush then and now
• Some people have waaaay too much time on their hands!
• Gee, a government subsidized industry not living up to expectations. How surprising!
• Only if!
• No, I'm sorry, it just wouldn't be the same.
• Those damn Washingtonians, "they took our jobs!"
• Apparently, 2% of the people in England say they are "put off" by the price of prescription drugs (roughly $14...$14!!!). So, the solution is to have "free" drugs for everyone. There is so much to say, but....whatever!