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Some Call It A Bonfire/Carnival Of Classiness...

We call it "Classiness, All Around Us."

1.

Leftyism, San Francisco's Achilles Heel-

File It Under blog explains that San Francisco's political leadership is eschewing a prime tourism opportunity in the permanent berthing of the retired USS Iowa:

I hope that each person who used such pathetic and lame excuses to vote against this measure would be honest enough to look in the mirror and admit that you are political whores and that you sold out your souls and everything worth standing for so you could ensure your continued power. I hope you all trip down a flight of stairs patting each other on the back, you pack of godless jackals.

San Francisco politics is post-modern politics at its worst and part of a troubling emerging trend in left-wing politics of marginalizing-- and even villifying-- the sacrifice of World War II veterans.

2.

Australia's John Howard-

Dean's World blog offers a unique take on John Howard's now-famous rhetorical disrobing of the British reporter:

The more I look at the "anti-war" apologists for terrorism, the more I think they look like victims of battered spouse abuse. Every time we get hit, they blame themselves and everyone else--all except for the batterer.

We didn't start the war on terror, but we're definitely going to finish it.

3.

Canadienne Ridiculousness-

Chrenkoff points out that Canadian Miss Universe Natalie Glebova was forced to take off her sash when Toronto authorities invoked an absurd law prohibiting sexual stereotyping:

Any Toronto readers might enlighten the rest of us whether the local city council is providing good municipal services for the ratepayers' money, or whether they're just too busy making sure that no acts of sexism are occurring within the city boundaries.

Powerline follows up, noting this is not the first time Toronto has invoked this tyrannical rule.

4.

The Elite Media Establishment-

Donald Luskin notes that David Brooks, despite his conservative pedigree, is still part of the elitist media:

Listen to this pearl-drop from David Brooks, defending the only principle to which he is truly loyal (the sanctity of his own profession):

When asked why, according to surveys, the public loathes the (liberal) press, David Brooks replied that it was “because people are idiots. The press is more honest and less salacious now than ever before.”

Just another example of a member of the establishment media not getting "it." And another reason why the proliferation of bloggers, not necessarily part of the Washington establishment, is so important for our Republic.

5.

America's Rail System-

Political Calculations blog examines the failure of subsidized rail in the United States:

There comes a time that when a system breaks down, it must be changed or else it will fail entirely. The time for change for Amtrak will come on September 30, when the President's proposed budget for 2006 would discontinue Amtrak's taxpayer subsidy. Far from being a death knell for the railroad, the President's proposed budget marks a wake-up call for Amtrak's management, workers and passengers, who must brace themselves for the changes that will need to be made to make passenger rail service viable in the long term. For the U.S. Congress and the President, no subsidy should be granted to Amtrak without an enforceable guarantee that the railroad will finally undertake the radical restructuring that it has avoided for so long.

Incentives and disincentives matter. Amtrak needs to understand that there are negative consequences for mismanagement and waste.

6.

Sarbanes-Oxley and the American Economy-

The Liberty Belles blog explains how excessive government regulation hurts investors but is a boon to accountants:

If broken windows hurt the economy, then Sarbanes-Oxley (the nasty piece of legislation produced by Congress after Enron went caput) has been a virtual Kristallnacht for American industry, costing companies over $5.5 billion annually to comply with its gargantuan accounting standards.

The law of unintended consequences at play once again.

7.

Karl Rove-

The Political Teen blog offers an interesting take on the Karl Rove non-scandal:

As a child, do you remember playing the game “telephone”? Telephone is essentially someone whispering gossip in a person’s ear and then in turn they twist the words around and pass it along. To me this is what the Valerie Plame leak, Karl Rove scandal, “Plame Game”, Rove-gate, whatever you want to call it, is. This is a case of rumors getting way out of hand and quite possibly causing the loss of people’s jobs. These rumors have caused a liberal drumbeat that will not stop even if Rove resigns. They will not be happy until all Republicans in power are gone. If they can’t win elections, they might as well start fake scandals.

I completely concur. They couldn't take down Bush, so they went after DeLay. They couldn't take down DeLay, so they went after Rove. If the Democrats' strategy for 2006 and beyond is to drum up scandals, via their partisan "mainstream" media, they will continue to fail to gain the trust and respect of the American people.

8.

John Roberts-

Daly Thoughts blog breaks down the potential persuasiveness of Judge Roberts' Supreme Court advocacy:

...in the cases that were brought before the Court where the result was not unanimous and Roberts was involved, it is clear that JusticeStevens was not often swayed by his arguments. However, the percentage of non-unanimous cases where Justice Kennedy sided with Roberts’ arguments is notable. The sample size is small, but there is some indication that a Justice Roberts might have considerable influence on Justice Kennedy– the primary swing vote on the court.

Winning friends and influencing colleagues is something that the other conservatives on the Court have been mostly unable to do.

9.

Catherine Baker Knoll-

The Nose On Your Face blog offers a hilarious take on the favorite activities of weirdo Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania:

9. Visiting elementary schools during the month of December to inform children that there is no Santa Claus. And that all of their fathers are cheating on their moms.

8. Randomly spelling words backwards in memos to dyslexic state employees.

Read them all.

10.

India and China-

By Dawn's Early Light blog examines how a rising India can help temper the geopolitical aspirations of China:

With 2.4 billion people, ensuring and encouraging democracy in China and India is vital to securing our long term freedom and influencing the South Pacific and thereby winning a front on the Global War on Terror.

America's emerging partnership with India is one of the great underreported stories of the year.

11.

No Child Left Behind-

A Constrained Vision notes that the racial achievement gap in America is narrowing, but the Civil Rights Project (CRP) is not excited:

The civil rights outrage is that so many poor and minority school districts aren't teaching their students basic skills, not that NCLB is catching them. CRP has its priorities all out of whack.

It seems like certain liberal groups care less about educating Americans and more about scoring political points.

12.

Kossians-

No Speed Bumps blog examines some recent infamous Daily Kos quotes:

When all you have to do is directly quote someone to make them look really bad – that is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Republicans need to be able to tie Democrats closely linked with Kos to the kinds of comments profiled therein. Kos is more than tacky, more than unclassy. Daily Kos is a gurgling fever swamp of anti-American nonsense. The American public needs to understand that being a Kos candidate ought to be a disqualifying association.

13.

Iraq-

The Fourth Rail blog looks at the facts about Iraq and the failure of the establishment media to report them:

Other than the brief lull after the Iraqi elections, where much of the media engaged in soul searching, the story du jour from Iraq has been failure. As Iraq continues to move forward politically and the Coalition pushes deeper into Western Iraq, the cries of failure will only grow louder. Much has been invested in this meme, and it will not die easily.

After reading 1776, it is clear to me that if our modern hand-wringing press had been around during the American Revolution, world history would have turned out quite differently.

14.

Seinfeld-

The Evangelical Outpost blog examines the syllogisms of Seinfeld:

Comedians aren't often known for their critical thinking skills and Mr. Spock -- the Vulcan embodiment of cool logic -- wasn't known for his jokes. But in a recent article in Philosophy Now, Julia Nefsky argues that logic has a very real and very important role in humor...

Stand-up comedy just might be one of the most difficult jobs in the world; turning a stand-up routine into the most successful show in television is just mind-boggling. I have a new respect for Jerry Seinfeld.

15.

Social Security Reform-

Captain's Quarters blog notes that the Democrats finally have a Social Security non-plan plan:

The Democrats have taken a lot of criticism for talking about the coming crisis in Social Security financing for a decade before Bush came to office, and then suddenly pretending it didn't exist. When Bush presented his plans to reform Social Security, they tried to convince people that reform was unnecessary, which no one believes, and then deliberately decided to offer no alternative, which no one appreciated. Now they attempt to offer "retirement security" by focusing on the money the government doesn't confiscate without addressing the funds that it does.

Maybe this wan attempt will take some political heat off the party for its obstinate refusal to engage on Social Security. It shouldn't. It looks like yet another attempt to change the subject by ignoring the main problem.

Typical nothingness from the party with no positive agenda.

Also, don't forget to check out all the old Trivia Tidbits Of the Day, the Reform Thursday series, the Quotational Therapy sessions, and the Wednesday Caption Contest (entries are due each Tuesday at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time).

Last Week's Classiness Certification from WILLisms.com:

*July 19, 2005.

WILLisms.com offers a weekly classiness roundup as a weekly feature, every Tuesday, with 15 blog posts deemed classy. The criteria for submissions: incisive original analysis, quirky topics nobody else is covering, fantastic graphics, or other posts that took a lot of work. We love to spread the word on upcoming blogs, being that WILLisms.com also fits that description. If you would like to nominate a post on your blog or another blog for inclusion, email us at WILLisms@gmail.com. Write "Classy Nomination" in the subject. You can also utilize this page to make your submissions. The deadline is each Monday at 11:59 PM Central Time.

Classy.

Posted by Will Franklin · 26 July 2005 10:30 AM

Comments

Posted by: Zsa Zsa at July 26, 2005 04:39 PM

Posted by: Zsa Zsa at July 26, 2005 05:00 PM

Posted by: Hoodlumman at July 27, 2005 10:20 AM

Posted by: Zsa Zsa at July 27, 2005 03:59 PM