Month: November 2013

The ‘Mystery’ of Denis McDonough?

There is no ‘mystery’ why WH Chief of Staff Denis McDonough is operating a White House at its current nadir of influence and power, and this passage explains why:

McDonough’s no-profile public approach shouldn’t mask the two most important things about the role he has played this year. First, he is a chief of staff for a self-actualized president. Obama hired seasoned Washington figures — Rahm Emanuel, Jack Lew, and Bill Daley — in his first term. McDonough is the first chief of staff who is younger than the president, the first whose career depends on Obama. He is, beyond that, very close to the president. He is “as close as a staffer can be,” said former National Security spokesman Tommy Vietor. The upside of that relationship is that McDonough speaks for Obama and has access to him in a way that Daley, in particular, never did.

It’s obvious, in fact: Denis McDonough is an extension of Barack Obama’s will, and Barack Obama is incompetent.  Garbage in, garbage out.

Via… I am not sure.

Moe Lane

@BarackObama’s (and the Democrats’) war on the scourge of piano teacher nonprofit associations.

Background: the Federal Trade Commission got a bug up ah, decided that some boilerplate, non-binding, non-enforceable language in the Music Teachers National Association (a small nonprofit out of Ohio) represented an attempt to jack up prices in the high-stakes, ruthlessly competitive world of piano lessons (average lesson, according to the WSJ: $30). Not having any friends in court – and no, I don’t think that I’ll strike that out, given that it’s brutally truthful – the MTNA simply surrendered to the tender mercies of the FTC. The result?

This October, MTNA signed a consent decree—its contents as ludicrous as the investigation. The association did not have to admit or deny guilt. It must, however, read a statement out loud at every future national MTNA event warning members against talking about prices or recruitment. It must send this statement to all 22,000 members and post it on its website. It must contact all of its 500-plus affiliates and get them to sign a compliance statement. Continue reading @BarackObama’s (and the Democrats’) war on the scourge of piano teacher nonprofit associations.

Happy Black Friday! …Stay home. Eat leftovers. Visit. Click my Amazon affiliate links for your shopping.

…Although, thanks to a little-known codicil in my in-law’s traditions manual, it happens that today is the day that we do the turkey and stuffing and the dinner that couldn’t be beat. So, yeah, light posting again today.

In the meantime… for the love of God, don’t go out there and shop. Go to Amazon – you’ll be doing yourself AND me a favor if you click that link and get your bargain hunting done that way.

…Well, TODAY apparently sucked for travel.

My sincere condolences for anybody stuck in this one:

A major storm with heavy rain, snow and high winds was hitting Thanksgiving travelers hard on Wednesday in the Northeast with potential ripple effects for flights elsewhere in the nation.

The timing of the storm could not come at a worst time with AAA projecting 43.4 million travelers during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

“The Wednesday before Thanksgiving will be the busiest single day of travel with 37 percent of travelers departing for trips Nov. 27,” AAA stated in a press release.

…and, judging from social media, about three of those travelers were happy about it.  No, not “three percent.”  Three.

Technocratic success and other oxymorons.

…Well.  Just the one, really.

Megan McArdle pretty much nails it here:

The technocratic idea is that you put a bunch of smart, competent people in government — folks who really want the thing to work — and they’ll make it happen. But “smart, competent people” are not a generic quantity; they’re incredibly domain-specific. Most academics couldn’t run a lemonade stand. Most successful entrepreneurs wouldn’t be able to muster the monomaniacal devotion needed to get a Ph.D. Neither group produces many folks who can consistently generate readable, engaging writing on a deadline. And none of us would be able to win a campaign for Congress.

Yet in my experience, the majority of people in these domains think that they could do everyone else’s job better, if they weren’t so busy with whatever it is they’re doing so well.

Continue reading Technocratic success and other oxymorons.