I'm Just a Bill.

Taranto weighs in with a number of good points regarding Clinton's epic performance with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" (transcript). Taranto's analysis focuses on whether a number of Clinton's key assertions were truthful, and showed that not much has changed since the Clinton presidency - truth is not relevant in a world where "is" has not been clearly defined.

Senator Clinton's husband surprised me in his loss of composure. While Clinton's term in office was marked by his scandalous personal behavior, a gathering terrorist threat, and brazen corporate fraud and deceit, he always came across as warm and collegial. Much of the country was, and remains, entranced by his positive nature. I always figured that he would be fun to spend time with at a party - while the girls hanging around might not be the prettiest, there would be plenty of them, and most of them would be drinking.

At this time, though, I think he is getting a bit cranky, maybe even nuts. He is not having as much fun as he ages, and is showing frustration as he sees that his enduring legacy is focusing on his adultery, failing to sufficiently address terrorism, and gutting the military. To compound matters, more and more rational Americans are realizing that the years of budget surplus were illusory, fueled by taxes paid on gains in the booming stock market, which in turn was the product of wild speculation and the aforementioned corporate fraud. The bills would be paid later, as stock prices reverted to the norm, terrorism became a front burner issue, and the military rebuilding process erased those surpluses and some.

I hope he can regain control of his composure, and become the "fun" Bill Clinton, again. If Hillary is in the Oval Office, maybe he can show her a few of his favorite office tricks, there, for old times sake. At the rate he is going, he appears headed for a fate worse than being Hillary's First Man - being the second coming of Jimmy Carter.

"I'm a baaaad boy!"

So it seems the Pope has provoked those peace loving Islamic folk. He claims to have not meant to cause such a stir, but he is the Pope, and, if I recall my churching correctly, Popes are pretty much all knowing, so he should have known:

"Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence," (Pakistani) Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

The more I think about the Islamic spin on this story, I am reminded of an old Merrie Melodies cartoon, with the the Pope as the "bad boy" provoking the lion. He better be careful - it does not end well for him!

Weighty matters.

Childhood obesity is in the headlines quite a bit lately. Like global warming, terrorism, and attention deficit disorder, it's one of those issues that did not merit much attention, arguably did not exist, when I was a kid; now it must be dealt with. And, like all of those other seemingly unrelated issues, the government has a solution: public policy - excuse me while I grab my wallet.

These public administrators are priceless:

"The very health of the country hangs in the balance until we reverse the childhood obesity epidemic," Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Princeton, N.J.-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the report, said at a press conference.

"Leaders in Washington, in our home states and towns need to accept this cold hard fact: That if we do not reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity, millions of kids and our society will be robbed of a healthy and hopeful future," Lavizzo-Mourey said.

Figures, the good doc is from NJ, home of so many historic central planning schemes. How generous, to offer that it is the responsibility of every level of government to solve this "problem". Overweight and unfit kids are not the parents fault, not the kids fault, but their Mayors, Senators, Governors, etc. Ummmm....ok.

Since I'm sure they will be getting right on this, I have a few suggestions. Start with gym class every day, with 20 minutes of vigorous calisthenics. If there is a need for a health/hygiene type course, that does not replace gym. Cut back on the bussing for kids under a mile to school - good for the environment, too! I'm sure I can come up with more, just give me a minute - oh, and the ADD kids? A slap upside the head will get their attention I bet...

Milton Friedman: Rutgers Man

Milton Friedman, the 94 year old economist, is profiled and interviewed by Rutgers Magazine. His stories of living and working as a student in New Brunswick are relevant today. In particular, his tale of how he and his roommate purchased white socks and green ties in bulk, to sell to freshman, reminds me of the endeavors of one of my roommates, who dealt in cigarettes and Cabbage Patch Kids (no kidding, bought them in bulk, sold at 200% markup and better). My roomie has since moved on to bigger schemes .

So has Milton Friedman.

RU, RAH, RAH,
RU, RAH, RAH,
HOO, RAH, HOO, RAH, RUTGERS, RAH,
UPSTREAM, RED TEAM, RED TEAM, UPSTREAM,
RAH, RAH, RUTGERS, RAH.

Eat The Rich!

This weekend's Journal has this great article, essentially saying that income has become more spread out among classes, as opposed to concentrated within the wealthy few, since 2000. Furthermore, this fact is not widely reported, as it would be incongruous with the general notion that Republican administrations favor the rich. Which, they probably do, by the way. But as any decent monetarist can tell you (cue Friedman, Sowell, and Co.), the rising tide raises all ships - perhaps the Federal tax cuts are having the desired effect...

One of my favorite books about economics is "Eat the Rich" by P.J. O'Rourke. An easy and entertaining read, as most O'Rourke work is, one key takeaway is that things are not always what they appear, especially when observing people in an economic system.