Now Poll On "Is Obama A Liar?"

Gary Langer of ABC News explains the "Obama is a Muslim"poll results, giving the same explanation as the AllahPundit.  From Langer:

...People in fact may voice an attitude not as an affirmed belief – a statement of perceived factual reality – but rather as what my colleagues and I have taken to calling “expressed belief” – a statement intended to send a message, not claim a known fact.
 
It’s human nature. Some people who strongly oppose a person or proposition will take virtually any opportunity to express that antipathy. Offer a negative attribute, they’ll grab it – not to express their “belief,” in its conventional meaning, but rather to throw verbal stones at that which they so thoroughly dislike.

Or from the AP, with more flair:

Essentially, when polling people who dislike candidate X, the specifics of the questions are almost irrelevant. As long as they’re negatively inclined — e.g., “Is Obama a werewolf?” — you’ll get a certain core percentage willing to say yes. The news in this poll is that as much as 18 percent think being a Muslim is inherently negative.

To which I would say, yes, but... Saying Obama is a Muslim amounts to saying he is a liar.  Hence, one might feel utterly neutral about Muslims and still use it as a club to beat Obama. 

Just to belabor the obvious, folks who walk around saying that Tom Maguire is a Red Sox fan either don't know me or don't trust me (and clearly have far too much free time), but I don't suppose they are making much of a statement about Red Sox Nation.

I would also add this - Mr. Langer might want to reflect on why the media loves this "people think Obama's a Muslim" story so.  I don't recall similar hand-wringing about polls showing support for the absurdly anti-Bush Truther theorizing (with which Howard Dean publicly flirted).

The obvious guess is that the media is comfortable bloviating about ignorant, conspiratorial right-wing nut-jobs, with a quick segue to the perils of Beck, Limbaugh and Palin; similar ruminations about the left take them out of their comfort zone.

Comments

[Dave (in MA)]

Soylent, that was supercommiesocialisticbammyayersadocious.

[narciso]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, the return of Meggy Mac, self
awareness is not big with her, I take it

[Janet]

Wow rse, that was a sad video.
"Wearing their hatred like a ball & chain..."

[cathyf]

Totally off-topic, but today's entertainment on my block is a water main break. Our city guys are awesome -- the indy pit crew of water breaks -- and they dig the hole and patch the main without ever turning the water off.

[Threadkiller]

--"The sheer audacity of Obama stating he can't wear his birth certificate on his forehead is breathtaking. What kind of a president makes snotty stupid statements like that?"--

The kind that wants the storyline to follow the "conspiracy" line of thinking.

Birth certificate theories will remain conspiratorial.

Dual citizenship, with Mark Levin's definitions, is already proven.

I wish he would wear the statement of Sen. Lyman Trumbull, framer of the 14th Amendment citizenship clause, on his forehead.

The provision is, that "all persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens." That means "subject to the complete jurisdiction thereof." What do we mean by "complete jurisdiction thereof?" Not owing allegiance to anybody else. That is what it means.

Simple; no conspiracy.

[Rob Crawford]

Instead, Obama has signed into law or proposed increasing the Federal Budget by over 25% (nearly 40% of you count the porkulus bill).

CBO says the "stimulus" cost more than the entire Iraq War. One liberated millions from a bloody dictator, the other pumped billions into the pockets of the politically connected.

Which one do lefties support?

[Captain Hate]

Tammy Bruce will be on Mega Mac-and-Sleaze like an unwanted piercing. You'd think that such an obvious dimwit would keep her CrispyCreme-hole shut but she was obviously brought up very poorly.

[Clarice]

That is amazing, cathy.

[Danube of Thought]

Endearing Mohammedan outreach video.

[Old Lurker]

Clarice, I think we have a girl in the White House already and it does not seem to help.

[Threadkiller]

--"Odummy's brain doesn't work like those of others. He's always giving obtuse responses to questions that aren't asked."--

While I cannot refute that. I argue that he always brings up the certificate issue before anyone else does.

The Holy Grail is just a plain wooden cup sitting before us and Slowbamma, somehow, makes people chase after the shiny jewel encrusted goblet.

We have chosen poorly.

[Sue]

He wasn't even asked about the birth certificate. He just threw it in. Always on his mind? You decide.

[rse]

On the day the US Govt using our tax money or borrowed money we are bound to repay starts giving expedited grants to Muslim organizations, this video (LUN) needs to be watched and sent on.

It's called "Inside the Orlando Mosque" and shows Hamas fundraising with George Galloway from 2009.

There's something about hearing "Takbir", "Allahu Akbar", and "tax deductible contributions as we are a 501(c)3 that makes this travesty really hit home.

LUN

[Chubby]

((blah blah blah ... "Mohammedan" out of ignorance that it is both an inaccurate and offensive way to describe Muslims, or are you so hateful that you know better, but use the term anyway. If you used a similar slur for Jews or Blacks, I suspect you would be banned forthwith.))

says the racist bigot who never fails to ooze the obscenity "teabagger" whenever he refers to tea partiers

[Sue]

Does anyone know how Obama got the umbrella over/under the gate? I would love to see the entire episode to see how he managed it.

[glenda]

jim miller... you should see my bike, straight from 1989..and show tunes are a good thing ;)

would love to listen in on the phone call to W today, but I know George has too much class to tell O to kiss his A_ _! But I would.

[Chubby]

well done Threadkiller! never was there a more perfect word than "oaf" to describe Wormwood.

[narciso]

I had to reread that bit, Cathy, now "I'm no plumber, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once,' and that just doesn't seem right. Don't tell me, they used the same technique of the Deep Water Explorer well

[cathyf]

Our water main woes are actually a part gift of the federal government. After decades of litigation, the EPA was allowed to set water system radiation maximums to 5 pico-curies/liter. This even though there are multiple places in the world in the 100-300 range that have no detectable effects. The aquifer under Illinois/Iowa/Wisconsin is slightly radioactive (the water in the aquifer percolates down through slightly radioactive rock.) Very slight -- a level of 20 pc/l would have left every municipal water system in compliance, and even 10 would have left 95% of the water systems in compliance. But 5 pc/l it is...

Our city spent $6million (aka "$6million we don't have") to build two filtration plants on the north and south sides of town. This means that the water feeds into the mains from two places rather than the previous four, which changed the water pressures, some up, some down, all over town. Right after we brought the new systems online we had a day where we had 13 mains broken simultaneously -- pretty impressive for a town 1.5 miles wide and 2 miles long. And the filter, while it takes the radioactivity of the water from "nuthin" to "nuthin" (to use a technical term), also removes all sorts of minerals and adds salt. So 100-120 years of accumulated crud in the water pipes have been slowly dissolving away, and when that happens the pipes underneath turn out to be more like swiss cheese than tubes.

This break is in front of the driveway on the far side of my next-door neighbor's house. We had a break a couple of years ago that started right in front of the neighbor's house, and every time they'd get a strap around the hole a new hole would open up. It took them 8 hours to get everybody patched up, and they replaced about a 25-foot-long section of main that was all full of holes. This latest break is about 5 feet further east from the edge of the street patch from the earlier adventure.

[Danube of Thought]

What's wrong with these bigots? Don't they understand private property rights? The constitution? And the thing is a mile away!

GETTYSBURG, Pa.- The town where the Civil War's tide-turning battle was waged is fighting dissension in its own ranks, with even hard-core preservationists split over a proposed casino that would rise near the historic battlefield and be named for the line that divided North and South.It's the second time in five years that Gettysburg has fought over a plan to build a casino. This time it's the Mason Dixon Resort & Casino, proposed on a hotel and conference center site within a mile of the southern boundary of Gettysburg National Military Park

[Ignatz]

--Do you use the term "Mohammedan" out of ignorance that it is both an inaccurate and offensive way to describe Muslims, or are you so hateful that you know better, but use the term anyway."--

I think bubu is just touchingly concerned for DoT's health.
He wishes everyone would supplicate themselves to safe and sane dhimmihood like he has, cause you never know when some practitioner of the Religion of Peace® might take offense and saw one's heads off right bubu?

[cathyf]

Ok, I wish I knew how to post a picture...

The water has stopped pouring out of the pumps, and my water pressure is coming back up. There are eight guys out there, four on each side, staring intently into the hole. Two hours from when they dropped the digger -- pretty darn good!

[Threadkiller]

--"He wasn't even asked about the birth certificate. He just threw it in. Always on his mind? You decide."--

Tah Dah! Now it is always on our mind. He controls the narrative.

Dual Citizen. If it helps I will hire the Sham-Wow guy to explain this.

[Extraneus]

And I tell him, "of course you're smaht, Fredo. And I respect you with all my heart." Then he looks at me a little suspiciously.

lol

[Extraneus]

Aide: Texas Gov. Perry Denied Meeting With Obama During Visit to Fort Bliss

Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger says the Republican governor had asked to meet with the president on Tuesday to discuss border security. Cesinger said Monday that White House aides said the president would not be available for such a meeting.

[Jack is Back!]

bubu,

You are a special piece of rock manure aren't you? Ad hominen is the forte of the unintelligent ill-mannered left. Using a derogatory homophobic term for concerned citizens willing to demonstrate peacefully is de riegeur, isn't it?

If you can't argue facts then argue opinion but try to do it without being an insulting little turd, Okay?

[Captain Hate]

Laura Ingraham has on a father of somebody killed in the USS Cole who is blaming Steadman Shabazz Holder for deep-sixing the trial of the mastermind behind it after Odummy assured him personally that justice would be done.

[narciso]

Of those who go beyond clueless to malicious, I put Ghosh and Ware of Time, Yousafsai and
Moreau (Taliban's lifeline at Newsweek,) and
this character at MSNBC

[Ignatz]

According to this Wiki entry mohammaden is hardly considered some hateful slur anyway. At worst it seems it may be somewhat offensive to some mussulmen.
Of course offensive has never stopped the bubu's of the world from calling Christians holy rollers, fundamentalists, bible thumpers, etc for acts considerably less provocative than invading Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.

[narciso]

Well Churchill used it in his "River War" and
I rather doubt he would be using a vulgar term, So at least there's no inconsistency in
whether military tribunals are used, they won't under any conditions

[Thomas Collins]

Bunkerbuster, I think you are not nuanced enough. I know lack of nuance is a characterization made of right wingers, so perhaps you are one of us bitter clinging ignorant Bible thumping right wingers after all!

Calling a member of an Oriental Orthodox church ("Oriental Orthodox" being the term often assigned to those folks who didn't sign on to the Council of Chalcedon) a monophysite is considered an insult, because Oriental Orthodox folks don't hold that Christ only had a divine nature, but had a nature in which the divine and the human operated in dynamism (I know those expert in matters theological may accuse me of vastly oversimplifying this kerfuffle between the Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians, but bear with me). Referring to followers of Islam as Mohammedans has been asserted to be doctrinally inaccurate (the argument being that the followers submit to God, not the prophet), but I really think your personal attack on DOT goes off the rails, especially, as noted above, in light of the fact that nobody mistakes referring to Tea Party activists or their supporters as teabaggers as being anything but an insult.

However, I must say that I am envious of DOT. I have used Mohammedan from time to time, but I never provoked the type of personal bile spewed by bunkerbuster as that spewed against DOT. Obviously, bunkerbuster respects DOT's intellect, and views me as unworthy of attack. Although I agree with bunkerbuster's assessment, I am still envious.

Perhaps, bunkerbuster, when we meet you will pay me the compliment of some bile spilling. Oh no, wait, I must be wrong. You have said you wanted honest debate. It can't be you who is making these personal attacks and calling folks teabaggers!

[narciso]

A bit of unintentional humor, from the party hack up near the poles, in the LUN

[Danube of Thought]

Indeed, Narc, I took my cue from The River War, out of my deep respect for Churchill's exquisite facility with the English language. I was particularly fond of his thrilling description of the cavalry charge at Omdurman, where many an upstart Mohammedan was put to the sword and taught the lesson of Empire.

And Iggy, I think you have put your finger on the hateful tide of virulent Christianophobia that now stalks the land.

[Neo]

ObamaCare has reached the status of "Fight Club" ...
The first rule of Fight Club ObamaCare is that you don't talk about Fight Club ObamaCare.

[Sue]

So every conservative candidate should talk about Fight Club ObamaCare.

[Ignatz]

Here's a well written and researched article from Mark Krikorian's Center for Immigration Studies looking at birthright citizenship issues both domestically and internationally.
States the issues, such as 'chain migration', and numbers pretty well.
Worth a read.

[narciso]

They really have to stop 'dropping the LDS' over there, talk about 'reality based' in the LUN;

[Danube of Thought]

Troubling news about the criminal background of the Mosque of Triumph's developer.

[squaredance]

I typed it the other day and it hasn't been refuted: Odummy's brain doesn't work like those of others.

Not to get mired in psycho-babble, or in anyway diminish or excuse Obama's moral culpability in all of this, but this sort of behavior is symptomatic for various "personality disorders", most particularly "borderline personality disorder".

Granted that a lot of this stuff is dubious and hardly scientific, it still points to that fact that we have an extremely odd person in the WH--it is a very real danger to us and should give us pause.

I think it is enough to say that he is extremely removed from what the rest of us consider objective reality, and removed as well from reasonable responses to that reality. He may or may not be wholly conscious of this fact, but he has created a false reality and a whole set of internal and external response, rationalizations and tactics to evade this broader reality.

One may view this from a psychological POV or a moral one, but in the practical terms of our nation's fate this is a distinction without a difference. This all may be passable enough in the average person, and even may be common in great artists, but it has no place in the WH.

This was obvious from the beginning of his run and did not require much learning or intelligence to see--all it required was experience dealing with other people and their capacity to commit to action and their ability to deliver upon it.

In Obama's case much was masked due to the simple fact that though he never really undertook and serious and productive task, and has never had a real job in his life he was positioned in the Democrat Nomenklatura to appear that he actually had done something meaningful in a meaningful way.

Much of the electorate never directly encounters such wraiths as OIbama in their daily lives and do not understand that much of the Democrat Nomenklatura and their clients are in varying degrees much like Obama.

[Rob Crawford]

From the link DoT gave:

His most recent arrest was in 2005 for assault on a man he met while working as a waiter at Serafina Restaurant, who sublet an apartment from his brother. He reportedly punched the man, breaking his nose and cheekbone and spit on him.

El-Gamal first said he didn’t hit the man, but arrest documents obtained by CBS 2 showed he later conceded “his face could have run into my hand.”

Records showed El-Gamal also had trouble coming up with the $15,000 settlement reached in 2008, and had to pay interest . El-Gamal also has a number of other arrests on his record:

-In 1990, he was arrested in Nassau County and pled guilty to disorderly conduct.

-In 1992, he pled guilty in Nassau to DWI and paid a $350 fine.

-In 1993, he pled guilty in Nassau to attempted petit larceny and paid a $100 fine.

-In 1994, arrested for disorderly conduct in Manhattan.

-In 1998, there was another Manhattan disorderly conduct arrest.

-In 1999, yet another Manhattan disorderly conduct arrest.

Anger management issues -- just the fellow for peaceful outreach!

[Threadkiller]

From Ignatz's link:

If the question of “jurisdiction” boils down to one of allegiance, and under U.S. jurisprudence allegiance is a voluntary association, on what basis can a newborn child be found to have chosen an allegiance to his parent’s country over allegiance to the United States, or vice versa? It was understood by the authors of the 14th Amendment that jurisdiction as to the child would be imputed from the status of the parents. Sen. Reverdy Johnson (D-Md.) explained that parents must be “subject to the authority” of the United States if their children born here are to be classified as having acquired the status of U.S. citizen:

“Now, all that this amendment provides is, that all persons born in the United States and not subject to some foreign Power…shall be considered as citizens of the United States. … [T]he amendment says that citizenship may depend on birth, and I know of no better way to give rise to citizenship than the fact of birth within the territory of the United States, born of parents who at the time were subject to the authority of the United States.”47 (emphasis added)

Parents, plural.

[Rick Ballard]

For those actually interested in economics:

Reinhard on Scientism

Landsburg In Rebuttal

There is a very good exchange between the two in Landsburg's comment section. Bastiat covered this very eloquently 150 years ago but driving a stake through the Romantics' heart is as Sisyphean a task as trying to fill the vacuum in their head.
...................

Related: It is wholly unsurprising that an intellect powerful enough to remove Afghanistan from Asia is fully capable of construing Mohammedan as a term of denigration. Careful folks - if you keep poking Otto, he's gonna start quoting Plato in the original Belgian.

[narciso]

That was my original name for him, Rick, but
having viewed Aliens, "Spunkmeyer" the hapless
dropship pilot who gets 'redshirted' is more
appropriate

[Thomas Collins]

Rick noted:

"It is wholly unsurprising that an intellect powerful enough to remove Afghanistan from Asia is fully capable of construing Mohammedan as a term of denigration."

Perhaps we are TOO sensitive and politically correct, thus causing our b-busters to have to forage in a barren wilderness for complaint food!

[SWarren]

OT, just wanted to let you know I’ll having a HOT time tomorrow night with my local teaparty.

Tea Party Going To Hell

LUN

This event is a real marketing bonanza, getting a lot of notice.

[Clarice]

OLClarice, I think we have a girl in the White House already and it does not seem to help.-I said "woman", not girl.

[Clarice]

DoT--Yesterday at PJM, Claudia Rossett, says Daisy Khan's trip to Dubai has been "postponed". Do you suppose the big brains at DoS caught on that paying a woman to say we are a nation of Moslem haters to be the face of our diplomacy was risible?

[Pofarmer]

"Honesty. Individualism. Freedom. Back in the day, these concepts were the bedrock of the Republican Party. It wasn't that long ago, either," she writes.

Good, Lord. Megan McCain is a fookin moron. Those are AMERICAN values Megan. Get with the times.

[Pofarmer]

Obama: End of Combat Mission, Speech Tonight Won't be a Victory Lap

He, just, can't, say it.

[Sue]

I just watched his speech to the troops at Ft. Bliss. He stumbled and repeated himself without his teleprompter, but overall, it was okay.

[Sue]

I meant to add, I only called him a liar once. I was distracted, though, so he might have lied more than once.

[narciso]

Surprise, surprise, a Gomer Pyleism right, in the LUN

[SWarren]

Dang! s/b I'll BE having a hot time

[Sue]

Fox was reporting that the absentee ballot counting in Alaska might be completed by as early as tonight.

[Janet]

What is with the "Obama is gonna call Bush before the speech" meme?
What is that about? Who cares?...Why would they release that as a press thing or bit of news?

[Janet]

Obama is a nitwit. It is really creepy that he is our President. He had no accomplishments...we know virtually nothing about his background. Just an arrogant nobody. Well,..I don't know where that came from. Just sometimes I get fed up with the whole Obama phenomenon.

[Janet]

Here is the article about the phone call. Think about that...an article about a phone call. And 61 people gave that "article" (press release) a thumbs-up? What is that about? Really, it is like we've all gone stupid.

[Porchlight]

Meghan McCain occasionally makes me glad her dad didn't win. I feel bad about that but there it is.

[Rob Crawford]

What is that about? Who cares?...Why would they release that as a press thing or bit of news?

Probably they're trying to soften the impact of Obama's blaming everything on Bush, then attempting to take credit for success in Iraq.

No, it doesn't make sense to me, either. But remember who we're talking about.

[Captain Hate]

McCain losing may have been a "lose the battle; win the war" moment. In the short run the nation would've been better off but that doesn't mean that McCain would've been anything other than a submediocre President and it would've just deferred somebody like the Indonesian Imbecile getting elected by 4 years. And conservatives would be kicked in the nads in both cases. And we wouldn't be making any progress on purging the Repukes.

Tammy Bruce is hammering MegaMac's use of "sexy" in her book's title and how this book is just another "look at me" moment. Truly her father's daughter.

[Neo]

It proves to me one thing: that if you go far enough to the left or far enough to the right, you meet the same person: a mindless posturing thug. -- Tom Shales

[Clarice]

It is offensive that he hasn't shut her up on her insults about Sarah who saved her {Megan's) dad's campaign and has never said a bad word about him although the way he allowed his staff to treat her, warrants more than one bad word.

[Sue]

McCain was going to lose no matter who his running mate was. It didn't matter who the person at the top, middle or bottom of the ticket was, republicans were going to lose in 2008. It was a matter of degrees. Palin kept McCain from being swept, even in pure red states. And nothing Baby McCain says will ever change that fact.

[narciso]

I've reconciled myself to that thought, Captain, with the likes of Schmidt probably
as chief of staff, and some younf numbskull like Tucker Rounds, it would have been at best
a holding action, Lindsay might have been Atty Gen, or Defense, Wallace might have been
communications director, and they would have tried to marginalize any activist energy coming from the Naval Observatory

[MayBee]

Megan McArdle hits this one out of the park.

Liberals are right in one complaint: we don't have a social security trust fund problem, we have a general fund problem. Whether or not the trust fund is "broke" is irrelevant; the question is, can we afford this program?

The problem is, it's a big, honking expensive program. And so are a bunch of other things liberals want to do, like universal pre-K and more money for schools, health care, green jobs, and so forth. You can probably do any of these things. But you can't do all of them, so the endless comparisons of the cost of a program to the same few sources of revenue are not helpful. Either find a new source of revenue, or pick which things you're going to pay for--including the deficit.

[Ranger]

You can probably do any of these things. But you can't do all of them, so the endless comparisons of the cost of a program to the same few sources of revenue are not helpful. Either find a new source of revenue, or pick which things you're going to pay for--including the deficit.

I hope she understands that teaching basic ecnomics to liberals is thankless job with a low probability of success. I can see the ardent liberal responding by saying:

"assuming a rainbow and some unicorns, you can pay for it all by taxing the rich without impacting ecnomic growth."

In fact, I think I heard Krugman make that very argument not too long ago.

[Ignatz]

--Bastiat covered this very eloquently 150 years ago but driving a stake through the Romantics' heart is as Sisyphean a task as trying to fill the vacuum in their head.--

Economics seems to me to be going backwards in its usefullness.
Name a single argument or principle that was not stated better, clearer and truer by Smith, Say or Bastiat than by all the modern economists of all stripes employing super computers, gigantic equations and the dense, dead and deadening prose of the modern academy.

[Porchlight]

McArdle often makes good points like that and then turns around and votes for Dems. Maddening.

Agree with all points above re: McCains big and little.

[narciso]

What Santayana said about history, goes double
for economics, Hayek and Friedman for the modern upgrade. She was not only a voter, but
an adopter in the parlance,

[MayBee]

It is maddening.

I was just discussing this with other posters at Hot Air last night. Robert Samuelson had written a piece about the recession recovery being so slow because people aren't spending.
I think this recession is a bit different than others in that people aren't only hunkering down during the recession, but because we are scared about how this administration is going to pay for its big plans.

Families making over $250,000 are the obvious targets now, but it's equally obvious they can't pay for everything.
So who will, and how?

[Stephanie]

((Agree with all points above re: McCains big and little.))

LITTLE?????

More like thick and thicker...

[Melinda Romanoff]

MayBee-

It can't be tied to just one or two reasons and I'll have more, if I get the time.

In the meantime, Toomey up by 10 on Sestak, in PA's latest poll.

[Porchlight]

LOL, Stephanie. Although I think Meghan McCain is pleasantly zaftig and cute as a button.

[Stephanie]

1. Tea Partiers and conservatives aren't spending.

2. Business folks aren't spending.

3. Obama's remora are still spending.

The recovery ain't; because, the numbers of 1 and 2 vastly outweigh the numbers of 3.

Tsunami.

[Porchlight]

So who will, and how?

The people in charge don't care if their big plans are not paid for, and neither do the people who vote for such plans. They never have cared.

[Stephanie]

Cute as a button mushroom, maybe. It's grown up in the shadows of rotted wood and may be poisonous to any who partake...

[matt]

how apropos of our Dear Leader. The theme in the newly remodeled Oval Office seems to be Velveeta corporate nothingness......

[Clarice]

Maybe MO's stylist, did this, too..Any gunbelt accessories?

[Stephanie]

Meh. The rug isn't bad. The wallpaper is seems ok.

The sofas, though? Way too casual.

And a custom made 3/4 size desk and chair made just for mini-me!

[Ignatz]

--3. Obama's remora are still spending.--

LOL.

[Porchlight]

I like the sofas but Stephanie is right, they are too casual.

But look! A bowl of apples!

[Stephanie]

BTW LUN for pics of the makeover.

[Stephanie]

Hmm. One article says that the Resolut desk stayed, and one says not. It looks pint sized at the last pic in the LUN.

[daddy]

Guy's,

Can I simply make the point that while a dozen of you spent time responding with precious little effect to the troll, twice that many Ellie Lights e-mailed and posted to the ADN comments section about the "extremist" Joe MIller, which is going to have some effect come general election time.

May I politely request that If you feel a need to respond to trolls could you please consider doing it in ">http://community.adn.com/adn/node/152957"> the comments section of the ADN where it is needed and where it has the potential to really do some good. Just a suggestion.

[Rob Crawford]

Name a single argument or principle that was not stated better, clearer and truer by Smith, Say or Bastiat than by all the modern economists of all stripes employing super computers, gigantic equations and the dense, dead and deadening prose of the modern academy.

Those fellows approached economics as if they were studying physics. They were attempting to understand the processes underlying a system they could not hope to manipulate or to fully understand. Their models were simplified versions of reality, but they understood the real thing was too complex.

Modern economists think they have enough information and enough influence on the system to control it. They use more complex models than the classic economists, and think that complexity makes their models sufficiently accurate to predict reality. Rather than seeing themselves as researchers exploring something larger than themselves, they see themselves as engineers putting together a well-understood mechanism.

Unfortunately, their models are still simplifications, and more often than not the assumptions they make to simplify their models are simply wishful thinking and the preferences of their social class. Believing that economic behavior is not changed by tax increases, for example...

[MayBee]

The wallpaper looks very late-80's Waverly to me. I realize it's classic, but it's not very fresh.

[Sue]

Ace is reporting that Murky netted 343 votes from HDs 17-26 in Anchorage.

[daddy]

And as of an hour ago Lisa has gained 300 votes on MIller.

New count ">http://community.adn.com/adn/node/152974"> Miller by 1,325, down from an earlier lead of 1,668.

[Ignatz]

Looks like a hotel room.
He's still a dope but at least now he'll be staying at a Holiday Inn Express so there may be some hope.

[Danube of Thought]

I've been waiting for this. And bear in mind that PPP is a Dem outfit:

From PPP:

We’ll start rolling out our Ohio poll results tomorrow but there’s one finding on the poll that pretty much sums it up: by a 50-42 margin voters there say they’d rather have George W. Bush in the White House right now than Barack Obama.

Independents hold that view by a 44-37 margin and there are more Democrats who would take Bush back (11%) than there are Republicans who think Obama’s preferable (3%.)

A couple months ago I thought the Pennsylvanias and Missouris and Ohios of the world were the biggest battlegrounds for 2010 but when you see numbers like this it makes you think it’s probably actually the Californias and the Wisconsins and the Washingtons.

[pagar]

Troubling Info about every thing connected with the Victory Mosque.

"It is only when we investigate deeper into the people and groups behind this assault on American sensibilities and “follow the money” do we find the nefarious nexus of “Cap and Trade globalists,” Progressives” and Islamic leaders who are pushing for a “one world” religion."

[RichatUF]

Maybee-

Families making over $250,000 are the obvious targets now, but it's equally obvious they can't pay for everything.
So who will, and how?

You will. Higher taxes. Plenty of other things to tax besides income-air, gas, fatty foods, sugar, salt.

In re: Samuelson. Consumer spending is a part of it (and goosed up numbers from strategic mortgage defaults and higher gas prices isn't going to cut it in the long run), but the problems are far too complex for the pigmys that Obama brought along. The Obama Administration misidentified the problems and listened to everyone who said that since this crisis was so deep the rebound would surely be as extraordinary as the 80's (seeming to forget that the 50's was a double dip, the 70's were awful, and Obama is no Reagan).

[daddy]

Yay,

Miller now back up to 1,460 as of 12:20 local. Off to walk the dog.

[Porchlight]

it makes you think it’s probably actually the Californias and the Wisconsins and the Washingtons.

That's what I think, too. The "traditional" battleground states are looking increasingly sewn up for the GOP in November. Purple is going red and blue is going purple.

[Dave (in MA)]

"Honesty. Individualism. Freedom. Back in the day, these concepts were the bedrock of the Republican Party. It wasn't that long ago, either,"

... sez the chunky RINOette who http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2010/08/meghan_mccain_a.html?p1=News_links>admits she ripped down Romney signs.

[Extraneus]

Great comment, Rob.

[Stephanie]

Waverly to me, too.

But WTF is with that three sided vegetable crate without the sides coffee table - American Walnut and Mica? Very out of place in that room. OH, wait...

American Walnut is a very soft wood.
Mica is a mineral that is extremely flaky.
The shape of a vegetable bin...

So...anthropomorphic!

[MayBee]

Thanks Rich and Mel.

[Danube of Thought]

RobC nailed it. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries economists were scientists. Since the early twentieth they've largely been polemicists.

[MayBee]

I wish they would have let Donald Kaufman Color custom mix a wall paint as well as the trim paint. They really are color geniuses who mix paint to work with light.