Another (Almost Completely) InstaPundit-Driven Assortment

It's difficult to imagine the blogging world without Professor Glenn Reynolds, a.k.a. InstaPundit. For my part, on those days when I find myself without inspiration, he's a reliable source of things about which to vent my spleen that I might have overlooked in the national news. And on those days when I have an inspiration, the way the rest of the DextroSphere employs him as an aggregator makes him a handy source for material to supplement whatever has already become the focus of my ire.

Unless otherwise mentioned below, the primary source for all the following stories and citations is Professor Reynolds's site.

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At Legal Insurrection, the blog of Professor William Jacobson, we find a most interesting bit of commentary from Washington Post commentator Jonathan Capehart:

By telling potential voters "it's okay to make a change," the RNC is acknowledging all that I mentioned above. It's okay to like the guy personally but not vote for him again. This is not a popularity contest. It's okay to vote against the black guy. You gave him a shot. He gave it his best shot. He failed. And the most effective message is: "it's okay to make a change"--and not be thought of as a racist.

Apparently, Capehart has received a number of emails touching upon this subject. To put it most gently, they have him…concerned:

That's why the " it's okay to make a change" ad is the most dangerous for Obama's reelection efforts. It gives those few, yet crucial, undecided voters the pass they might be looking for two vote against Obama.

This isn't merely a statement that Obama's race was a contributing factor in the 2008 election. It's also a barefaced admission that he could not have won otherwise...and equally much an admission that without racial prejudice operating in his favor, he has little chance of a second term in the White House.

My question: will the race hustlers backing Obama let Capehart's comment slide, or will he be disciplined for it?

*** The Algemeiner, a publication with which I was not previously familiar, brings us an interesting story from the London Olympics:

The Lebanese judo team forced International Olympic Committee officials to erect a barrier between themselves and the Israeli judo squad, Friday afternoon in London, just hours before the Games's opening ceremony reports Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot.... This is not the first time Middle Eastern judo teams have caused a political stir. In February, Egypt's Ramadan Dawris defeated Arik Zeevi of Israel, but afterwards, Dawris refused to shake the hand of his competitor.

But if the Lebanese judokas cannot bear the sight of the Israelis, how, then, will they manage to touch them?

As Drudge would say: DEVELOPING...

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According to David Kopel at The Volokh Conspiracy, Americans' Second Amendment rights have dodged a bullet:

The weeks-long conference at the United Nations to produce an Arms Trade Treaty is ending without the creation of a treaty. None of the draft treaties which have circulated in the past several days came remotely close to finding consensus support.

I shared the widespread fears that an arms trade treaty would be used as a tool by the Obama Administration to cut deeply into Americans' rights to keep and bear arms. It appears that, for the moment, those fears can be put to rest... But for the moment, only.

All governments, no matter how constituted, are implacably hostile to their subjects' possession of the means of resistance. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is words on a page. It is not self-enforcing...no more so than any of the other rights Americans cherish. The one and only way to keep our rights alive is to exercise them vigorously...and to stand ready at all times to punish the arrogance of men in positions of authority who presume to infringe upon them.

In other words, keep your powder dry.

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DaTechGuy notes a relationship many of us would be slow to recognize:

I have heard a lot of people on the left self righteously complain that conservatives are unwilling to agree to "common sense gun control" that we are unreasonable fanatics who would oppose restrictions on the ownership of Sherman tanks.

Most of all, we are totally wrong to believe that the left is after our guns just because of the proposed assault weapon ban.

Why would we have such a belief, how can the folks on the right even think we on the left are after their guns, all their guns?

The answer: Chick-Fil-A.

We in the Right know perfectly well about the Left's tactic of gradualism. DaTechGuy cites a number of interesting examples as reminders, and for the edification of those who might disbelieve in it. Please read the whole thing.

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At Reason's Hit And Run web site, we are reminded of the true purpose of commercial regulation:

This summer, 13-year-old Nathan Duszynski wanted to make some money to help out his disabled parents—his mom has epilepsy and his dad has multiple sclerosis. So he decided to open a hot dog stand. He saved $1,200, mostly money made by mowing lawns and shoveling snow. He checked with the city to make sure he didn't need any licenses or permits, even going to city hall in person with his mom. And then he bought a cart. (Yep, that's hot dogs from Nathan's, for those who are keeping score at home.)

He arrived to set up shop on his first day and 10 minutes later, a zoning official arrived to shut him down. The problem: The cart, which is in the parking lot of a sporting goods store, is on the edge of official downtown commercial district of Holland, Michigan. The city bans food carts in that area in order to minimize competition for the eight tax-paying restaurants a couple of blocks away.

Surely no further comment is necessary.

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Sometimes a brightly colored graphic is all it takes to drive a point home:

The U.S. economy is not doing fine.

Earlier this year, the Obama White House predicted the economy would grow 3% in 2012. Today's GDP of record shows that ain't going to happen....

Some pundits will put a smiley face these numbers, saying a) at least the U.S. economy is growing and b) at least the U.S. economy is doing better than the EU economy. But that’s a case of lowering expectations. America should and can do better.

And indeed, America has done better in the recent past, as the accompanying graphic plainly shows. Nice choice of colors, too.

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Have you ever made the acquaintance of someone who insisted upon slathering you with his opinions about every subject under the sun? Annoying, wasn't he?

Now let's talk about celebrities.

I'm in favor of allowing people in the public eye to have private lives. Astonishing! What a departure from the conventional wisdom! No, really. The alternative involves accepting a disagreeable consequence: their insistence that we give their silly opinions the attention due a counselor of great wisdom and experience.

Of course, we have no assurance that an individual who has been granted celebrity status will permit us to have privacy from him and his silly and obnoxious statements no matter how much privacy we grant him.

Michelle Malkin provides us with a truly arrogant, vicious, and pathetic example today. I shan't attempt to excerpt it; please read the whole thing.

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It's widely believed that the activism of gun rights advocates cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000. At least, it's widely believed on the Left:

Despite President Barack Obama’s Wednesday night speech calling for a national conversation on reducing violence, in which he repeated his preference to sign an assault weapons ban, the president and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are still shying away from a floor fight on the issue.

“With the schedule we have, we’re not going to get into a debate on gun control,” the Nevada Democrat told reporters today.

Does anyone over the age of seven and not under the influence of mind altering drugs really believe that Reid's problem is schedule pressure?

***

Flash! We have received an important clarification of Democrats' opinions about the rights of homosexuals:

1. Let them marry one another;
2. Then execute them.

Given his stance on Chick-fil-A, would Mayor Tom Menino grant permits to a group that has counted among its leaders a man who has repeatedly called homosexuality a “crime that must be punished” by death?

Actually, he has done that  . . . and more! Menino effectively gave away city land valued at $1.8 million to the organization, and he gave a speech at its ribbon-cutting ceremony.

It’s the Islamic Society of Boston’s mosque, and when it comes to anti-gay sentiment, one of its early supporters makes Chick-fil-A look like the Provincetown Men’s Chorus.

Of course, the Left's alliance with world Islam is purely tactical. But should that alliance prevail, discovering which partner is the rider and which is the tiger will prove painful to the rider.

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And speaking (yes, again) of Chick-fil-A, we have an interesting statement on freedom of commerce from Obama's hometown...well, one of his hometowns anyway:

I’ve been in discussions with the company for the past nine months. Every time we met, I brought up my concerns that the company supported a homophobic agenda. My concerns were based on financial contributions made by WinShape Foundation, Chick-fil-A’s charitable endeavor, to anti-gay groups. I was repeatedly told by company officials that “we (Chick-fil-A) are not political” and that the company “had no political agenda.” Just recently, an attorney for the chain tried to convince me of Chick-fil-A’s benevolence. During each meeting, I challenged the company to change its ways. Although I thought we had made some progress, Cathy’s anti-gay comments made it abundantly clear what the company’s true stance is toward equal rights....

I represent a diverse, forward-thinking community, and I’m sure the majority of 1st Warders find Cathy’s comments and attitude repugnant. Even if I did give Chick-fil-A the go-ahead, I suspect many in my community wouldn’t spend their dollars there.

I know my decision may anger or annoy some people. It’s just a chicken place, they will say. But I believe Chick-fil-A should really reconsider its platform on gay issues. Equality for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people is the civil rights issue of our generation. This decision is me taking a stand.

There you have it, Gentle Reader: According to the doctrines of the oh-so-tolerant Left, freedom of speech and opinion ends at the fast-food delivery counter. Thou who darest to sell chicken sandwiches shalt not have un-progressive opinions!

Do you suppose Alderman Moreno would prove hospitable to a mega-mosque? After all, Boston's Thomas Menino has already blazed that trail.

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Apropos of nothing InstaPundit would consider newsworthy, this, too, has largely been dictated using Windows 7 Speech Recognition. Yes, I had to make a few corrections, and manually insert hyperlinks and HTML formatting. But it's a far better piece of work than any low-cost speech recognition system I've used before. Indeed, it's almost got me liking Windows 7.

Yes, the shoulder thing is still with me. About as severe as ever, at that. I see the orthopedist again on Monday, this time with a CD full of MRI images in hand. If he dares to say "Maybe it will go away on its own" just one more time...well, perhaps I shouldn't go there. But as before, your prayers and good wishes are much appreciated. Though, if those prayers are being directed to Wotan or Ba'al, I'd just as soon have you keep that to yourself.

(What's that? How about Ahura Mazda? Well, okay...but didn't they drop the rotary engine a couple of years back?)