Borepatch has a nice post on progressivism (hat tip to Newbie Shooter). Here’s my current summary of progressive agenda:
1. Guarantee an expansive and virtually unfettered right of individuals to pursue all the meaningless distractions that modern life has to offer.
2. Restrict and regulate the areas of life that actually have real significance (freedom of expression, [...]
New Jersey is a shining example of this. And there is finally some recognition of the fact that NJ is losing many of its wealthiest residents for blindingly obvious reasons: the taxes are too high and the business climate too hostile.
The left, of course, continues to be in denial about a basic fact of the [...]
Scott Brown has scored a stunning upset victory in the Massachusetts senate race. We’ve all seen the elements of the shock factor: Massachusetts until now had an all Democrat congressional delegation, the Senate seat had been held by Ted Kennedy, John Kennedy or a hired temp since the 1950s, Scott Brown was down in the [...]
I have seen repeatedly in the healthcare debate an argument from the left along the lines of “someone who is sick and uninsured isn’t really free”. I always thought that was a bizarre assertion. Well I recently read an article on the Progressive giant, John Dewey and that very formulation played a big role in [...]
It seems to me that one of the big mistakes that supporters of gay marriage make is that they begin with the assumption that gay marriage and traditional marriage are equivalent and interchangeable. In other words, they simply begin with a civil rights argument without ever establishing its applicability. And I actually agree, if gay [...]
Mrs. Manifesto and I had the opportunity to see Invictus over the weekend. I was not entirely sure what to expect but I have to say this is a great movie. I’m not interested in doing a movie review but I wanted to briefly note that there is a very conservative theme to it.
The movie’s [...]
To the multitude of differences between Pres. Bush and Pres. Obama we can add: their preferred vacations. Pres. Bush would famously go to his Texas ranch and do manual labor around the homestead. Pres. Obama, on the other hand, has gone off to a vacation home in ritzy Waikiki Beach, where his manual labor consists [...]
Not really, of course. This is a case of correlation not causation but there is a very clear pattern to state-by-state happiness data published recently in Science. The Wall Street Journal published a summary (here is their chart). The happiest states overwhelmingly voted for McCain in the 2008 election and the least happy states unanimously [...]
Every now and then I wonder if I over think things a bit. For example, I was working on the post below and started to wonder if it was a little too speculative. Then I came across this. It turns out, I’m not so crazy.
It’s tough sometimes to write about these things without sounding like [...]
A letter to the editor in today’s Inquirer complained about a previous article that referred to hunting as a sport. The author wrote that “a sport involves two equally matched teams on a level playing field”. Oh yeah? Clearly she’s never watched a 76ers game. They’re 5 and 14 as of today. I’ll bet the [...]
I read a NY Times article titled Fathers Gain Respect From Experts (And Mothers). The basic idea is that research is making two things clear:
1. Fathers matter
2. When parents have good relationships, children benefit
I was preparing to make some derisive comments about how many PhDs it takes to figure out something this blindingly obvious when something jumped [...]
Pres. Obama has signed into law the Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Act. This is a big step in a very dangerous direction. The left apparently believes that prosecuting ideas is a good idea. If someone is murdered it is a crime regardless of who they are or why it happened. Are they somehow more dead [...]
Today’s WSJ correctly identified the motivations behind Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, there’s an element of hope, change, peace and all that unattainable nonsense. The real story is an end to American Exceptionalism.
What ideals are those [promoted by Obama]? Well, the Nobel citation declares that Mr. Obama’s “diplomacy is founded in the concept that those [...]
I, Mr. Manifesto, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers [...]
Is it me or is the Obamaphilic left more willing to trust in the benevolent intentions of the likes of Iran, Russia and Venezuela than in American businesses.
When William Beveridge laid out his blueprint for the modern British welfare state in 1942, his goal was the “abolition of want,” to be accomplished by “cooperation between the State and the individual.”
In attempting to insulate the citizenry from the vicissitudes of fate, Sir William has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams: Want has been all [...]
The left is taking up the argument that opposing Obama is self-evidently racist. If it weren’t so serious it would be silly. They offer no evidence of racism but they can just feel it in their bones that all those protesters are racists. Hey, they don’t need evidence…they’re leftists and they are smarter than the [...]
“If you were to ask a believer in multiculturalism for the tangible…benefits brought [by large numbers of immigrants], not as individuals but as bearers of…culture, he would almost certainly be reduced to silence; for the truth is that believers in multiculturalism are not really very interested in other cultures (for such interest is very hard [...]
In today’s Wall Street Journal is a devastating piece on the deadly ideas pushed by Obama’s healthcare advisor, Dr. Zeke Emanuel (Rahm Emanuel’s brother). Zeke is not a fan of the idea that physicians should do everything they can for their patients. He argues that society’s needs have to be factored in. In practical terms [...]
One of the most dangerous delusions of the Left is the idea that we might be able to create a civilization that has no enemies. Civilization always has its enemies. -Unknown Author
The left just never seems to grasp the idea that we have enemies not because of George Bush or because of alleged past wrongs [...]