Tuesday Must Reads

Obamabus via RedState

David Swindle of The PJ Tatler: The Visceral Terror of a Tea Party Presidency: 10 Thoughts on the Coming Political Warfare of 2012

A few thoughts of reflection after considering PJM‘s coverage of Rick Perry’s announcement of his candidacy:

1. Conservatives fear leftist government because they know the policies do not work and the country will suffer as a result.

2. Leftists fear conservative government because deep down they are afraid the policies will work and the country will prosper as a result and more people will abandon the progressive faith and they will no longer be able to live with the comforting delusion that they are superior to everyone around them.

3. The Left is permanently incapable of self-reflection. It cannot reverse its centuries-long cosmic quest for the Open Society based on Social Justice; but rather only shift its tactics when necessary.

4. Hence the only considered option when confronted with failure is to double down like an obsessive gambler, laying his family’s and our nation’s prosperity on the blackjack table. “The programs didn’t work to revive the economy/make health care cheaper because we didn’t ‘invest’ enough money!”

5. Because of this an equally forceful stance is the proper response. Andrew Klavan highlights the line that electrified conservatives from Perry’s speech: “I’ll work every day to make Washington, D.C. as inconsequential in your life as I can.”

Finish reading this excellent piece at PJ Tatler.

European Leaders,  Merkel, Sarkozy Propose Extreme, Hobbit-like Fiscal Policies – Want Balanced Budgets!

The AP Reports: Merkel, Sarkozy propose eurozone government:

All countries that use the euro should have mandatory balanced budgets and better coordination of economic policy, the leaders of France and Germany said Tuesday, pushing for long-term political solutions instead of immediate financial measures like a single European bond.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also pledged to harmonize their countries’ corporate taxes in a move aimed at showing the eurozone’s largest members are “marching in lockstep” to protect the euro.

Both leaders stressed their commitment to defending the common currency, a cornerstone of integration on this long-fractured continent. They presented their proposals after meeting Tuesday in Paris amid signs of economic slowdown, and after an exceptionally turbulent week on financial markets prompted by concern about Europe’s financial health.

Steve Eggleston, The Greenroom: WI Recall Mania, Last Call – What to look for:

Take note:  Republican internal polls have Simac up by at least 4 percentage points:

There are a pair of dueling polls, one from Public Policy Polling for their biggest partisan client, Daily Kos, and one from We Are America for the right-advocating Red Racing Horses (crosstabs of the latter courtesy WisPolitics). Even though both polled roughly the same number of people over the weekend and have an effectively-identical 2.6% margin of error, the top line can’t possibly be more different. While PPP/DKos has Holperin up 55%-41% overall, and 51%-43% among “independents”, WAA/RRH has Holperin up 51%-49% (actually a few tenths less) overall, and Simac up 52%-48% among “independents”.

The big difference is, as is often the case, the partisan weighting. PPP/DKos has the Democrat/Republican/”independent” ratio at 35%/26%/39%, while WAA/RRH has it at 28%/28%/43% (with 1% refused, and the Dems with a statistically-insignificant advantage). As followers of Wisconsin politics know, there is no such thing as partisan registration in Wisconsin, so one has to dig into the results to figure out which is right and which is BS. My “generic R-v-D” calculation, averaging out the 2008 Presidential and 2010 gubernatorial results, gives the generic Republican a 5.0 percentage point advantage. The high-water mark for the Democrats in competitive races this past decade was, ignoring minor-party and write-in candidates, a 7.0 percentage-point margin, gained by long-time incumbent state Senator Roger Breske in 2004 (who departed for a state job in 2008, opening the door for Holperin), US Senator Russ Feingold in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008. Holperin, against the same opponent as Breske, managed only a 2.4 percentage point margin in 2008.

I could almost argue that both polls overweight Democrats, especially since Red Racing Horses cited Republican internal polls that have Simac up by at least 4 percentage points, and last week, incumbency was worth an average of roughly 3 percentage points over “generic”. However, the race is all about turnout, and despite both campaigns pouring everything into it (story via WisPolitics), nobody really knows what the turnout is going to be.

Gateway Pundit: Obama Scolds Car Makers in Iowa Speech: “You Can’t Just Make Money on SUV’s and Trucks”

The country’s automakers should ditch their focus on SUVs and trucks in favor of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, President Obama said Monday.

“You can’t just make money on SUVs and trucks,” Obama said during a town hall forum in Cannon Falls, Minn. “There is a place for SUVs and trucks, but as gas prices keep on going up, you have got to understand the market. People are going to try to save money.”

Obama’s  policies are, of course, designed to get us into smaller calls. Insufferable!

BTW, Commodore Snoogie Woogums at The People cube is experiencing “strong emotions and feelings” about Obama’s bus tour: Obama’s Bus Tour Inspires Emotions:

I have had some strong emotions of late watching how our Dear Leader has been held hostage by those Teabagging Neanderthals in Washington D.C. That very rabble who just refuse to get with our program and has been making live difficult for our beloved President.
It was with a gladden heart to hear that our mentor and inspiring leader would be able to forget his travails in Washington D.C and get on a bus for a little respite and mingle with the masses again.

This makes ND feel strong tingly emotions:

JammieWearingFool: Obama Plunges to 36% Approval in NY: ‘His Job Performance Has Not Fallen, It Has Tanked’:

Perry instantly shoots to the top in the Republican horse race, via Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin: Rasmussen: Perry 29%, Romney 18%, Bachmann 13%

Doug Ross reported this amazing curiosity: Media Unearths Rick Perry’s College Transcripts In Nothing Flat, But Still Unable to Find Any Trace of Barack Obama’s Existence:

You may have missed the Left’s preemptive attack on Rick Perry. The GOP candidate’s transcripts were “mysteriously released” a few days ago, which smacks of another odd disclosure.

In 2004, Barack Obama’s GOP opponent for Senate — Jack Ryan — “mysteriously” had his sealed divorce records un-sealed.But I’m sure that’s just coincidental.

You know, I find the media quite honest and diligent. It mocks and vilifies Rick Perry’s college transcripts, yet somehow forgot about checking Barack Obama’s: (see lengthy list at the link).

I’m going to assume that Obama barely squeaked by and wrote his papers on topics like “how to achieve a Communist revolution  capitalistic America” until I see some transcripts.

Steven Hayes at The Weekly Standard: Ryan for President? Paul Ryan is in the final stages of deciding on a presidential run.

Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is strongly considering a run for president. Ryan, who has been quietly meeting with political strategists to discuss a bid over the past three months, is on vacation in Colorado discussing a prospective run with his family. Ryan’s concerns about the effects of a presidential campaign – and perhaps a presidency – on his family have been his primary focus as he thinks through his political future.

“He’s coming around,” says a Republican source close to Ryan, who has been urging the 41-year-old to run.

“With Paul, it’s more about obligation than opportunity,” says another Wisconsin Republican. “He is determined to have the 2012 election be about the big things. If that means he has to run, he’s open to it.”

Ryan hinted at his thinking during a candid interview Friday with Charlie Sykes, an influential talk radio host in Milwaukee, telling Sykes that he was unsatisfied with the current crop of Republican candidates.

The Ryan camp is throwing cold water on the story:

The House Budget Committee Chairman’s Press Secretary Kevin Seifert tells Fox News: “While grateful for the continued support and encouragement, Congressman Ryan has not changed his mind.”

The Anchoress just finished Mark Steyn’s new book, After America, and shares her thoughts: Moments After America:

It is rare for a book release, no matter how timely, to coincide with breaking news. In the case of Mark Steyn’s After America the alignment was downright spooky. As louts, brats and the non-thinkers who wish merely to be part of a “moment” terrorized the citizenry and burned down London neighborhoods, across the pond one could enter a bookstore, lift Steyn’s latest from a shelf and read:

The United Kingdom seems to be evolving from a nanny state into a kind of giant remedial institution for elderly juvenile delinquents. At bus stops in London, there are posters warning, “DON’T TAKE IT OUT ON US.” At the Underground station, you see the slogan, “IF YOU ABUSE OUR STAFF, LONDON SUFFERS” . . . I found this one of the bleakest comments on modern Britain: all the award-winning wit and style of the London advertising world deployed in service of a devastating acknowledgment of civic decay.

Pondering the fact that in Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of Northern England the state accounts for up to 78 percent of the economy, Steyn wonders, “why wouldn’t you take it out on the state?”

The chapter may be specific to the United Kingdom, but Steyn is very clear: what is a daily reality in Britain will soon be America’s reality, too, unless the country reverses its embrace of the social and economic policies that are bankrupting Europe and bringing its society to its collective knees.

RS McCain goes where most bloggers dare not go: Marcus Bachmann and the Dangerous Modern Myth of ‘Sexual Orientation’:

My friend Da Tech Guy got into an argument with Cynthia Yockey about Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus. Everyone is jumping up and down yelling that he sets off their “gaydar,” pointing especially to his (alleged) involvement with the NARTH “reparative therapy” movement. Between that and his (alleged) gay mannerisms, these armchair sexuality sleuths have concluded that Marcus Bachmann is a closet case, another Ted Haggard scandal waiting to happen.

What is at the heart of such speculation is a myth that arose in the 20th century, based largely on the theories of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Kinsey, which holds that all human beings have an inborn sexual essence which must be fulfilled in order for them to be psychologically healthy. This myth of “sexual orientation” (sometimes known as “sexual identity,” as it pertains to transgenderism) has so pervaded our culture that most people are no longer capable of understanding it as myth.

Thanks to Charles B for the tips.