Moe Lane

Is it cruel to point out that when Paul Krugman says that an alien invasion would save Keynesianism…

…he’s pretty much cribbing off of Reagan’s observation that an alien invasion would unite humanity and war among us?

Or is it just sad that Krugman comes across as profoundly intellectually stunted, in comparison?  I mean, if we’re going to have an alien invasion serve a higher purpose then I’d personally prefer a more meaningful one than salvaging a somewhat dunderheaded liberal economic theory.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Elections have consequences.

Or at least scream: it turns out that the redistricting map for Michigan signed off on by Republican governor Rick Snyder last week seriously discombobulates long-time Democrat and House Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers. The new map (which, incidentally, handles Michigan’s loss of a Congressional seat by effectively eliminating Democrat Gary Peters’ seat and making the rest more party-friendly) pretty much took Conyer’s MI-14 seat and redrew it until he had roughly 20% of the same constituents that he started off with.

If you’re wondering why the Republicans think that they can get away with that – particularly since Conyers is an African-American with a majority-minority district – it’s because the Michigan GOP was very careful in drawing this district (and, apparently, MI-13). As I understand it, the new district is in point of fact drawn to reflect the racial gerrymandering requirements of the Voting Rights Act: which is to say, it’s still majority-minority. It’s just no longer friendly to Conyers specifically… which is not the Republican party’s problem. Or the courts’. Or Michigan’s, really. Or possibly even the Democratic party’s: Conyers may have run unopposed in the 2010 primary, but that’s apparently not going to happen now… (more…)

Sorry, but it was a traveling kind of weekend.

The word is that the Minnesota Republican party is going to approach Tim Pawlenty to challenge freshman Democrat Amy Klobuchar; which is something that Ed Morrissey of Hot Air and Erick Erickson of RedState would likely get behind.  And myself, for that matter; like Erick, I respect that Pawlenty knew when to make a clean break of things.  And I think that I am correct in thinking that Ed & Erick would agree with me that replacing Klobuchar – who, after all, supported the ‘stimulus,’ cap-and-trade*, & Obamacare – with Pawlenty would be a definite step up for both Minnesota and the nation.  I mean, I hear that Klobuchar is supposed to be personable and everything, but since when did that become an adequate substitute for voting not-stupidly?

I also note with some interest that Tim Pawlenty’s site is not yet reflecting the change in his campaign’s status; for that matter, there’s been no rumors on what’s happening to Pawlenty’s staff.  Neither is precisely predictive of everything, but there are some heavy hitters in the political world working for Pawlenty.  You’d expect to hear more about what they were planning to do, even this early.

Moe Lane

*And unlike Pawlenty, Klobuchar declines to learn better.

Mind you, I think that Bozo the Clown should primary Obama.

(pause)

Also mind you: I consider that previous sentence to be redundant.  I’ll be nice, and not say on how many levels.

Via Hot Air.

…the internet here is fading in and out – mostly because, I don’t know, we had a presidential candidate declare here today* – so I’m running off of two separate platforms and a tangle of cords to keep up.  In other words: crossposting is at the bottom of my list of priorities, sorry.

Also, people keep giving me tequila to drink.  I am ahead of that curve for the moment, but it could snap at any second.

Moe Lane

*Yes.  yes, it does indeed feel strange.

To quote one of my colleagues/buddies: “Well, that happened.”

They’re selling these at Reagan International, now.

[Gonna have to wait until I can get to my other computer, sorry.]

Sorry if the picture is too big, by the way: had to take it using the iPad.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

At least, the networks’ do. How do people get useful information out of this junk?

Yes, yes, I am being mean and slightly unfair… Wait a second. Twitter trending topics is considered news? Sheesh.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I’m traveling today for the RS Gathering, so this is going to be a limited reaction. Short version: there were three people at Ames last night who are running for President, and last night didn’t really do much to change the situation. Bachmann showed last night that she doesn’t take a punch well, but she got hit with a doozy of a question from the moderator which made up for it. Pawlenty threw better punches, but he ticked some people off by going after Bachmann. And Romney kept his head down – which was not the smart thing to do, on the eve of a major shakeup of the campaign.

Put a gun to my head and I say that Pawlenty did best, but then I am unimpressed with Bachmann’s record myself and I wish that Romney had a different one. Take it as you will.

In honor of the debate tonight (you’ll figure it out, once you see what Guess Who said about Iran):

Who’s Next?, Tom Lehrer

It’s like a knife fight in an alley.

Fox News feed here.