White, Evangelical Christian teens make their sexual debut at an average age of 16, the youngest of all religious and ethnic groups save Evangelical African Americans.  But they are preached and “teached” up in abstenince education.  Shocking how that fails, really.

While I’ve been predicting this sort of thing for ages, you don’t have to take my word on it any longer: belive the New Yorker.

They nicely surmise:

“Social liberals in the country’s “blue states” tend to support sex education and are not particularly troubled by the idea that many teen-agers have sex before marriage, but would regard a teen-age daughter’s pregnancy as devastating news. And the social conservatives in “red states” generally advocate abstinence-only education and denounce sex before marriage, but are relatively unruffled if a teen-ager becomes pregnant, as long as she doesn’t choose to have an abortion.”

This world view shows that abstenince education is really just an intersection of the “moral” and the disastrous.  Encouraging teenagers to have their children (after telling them that the means to have those children is evil) is hardly likely to promote a home environment where children are cared for by financially stable, emotionally stable and – dare I say? – qualified parental figures.

Too bad McCain’s smear ad against Obama’s alleged support for comprehensive sex ed in kindgergarten is all untrue.  It might be nice to have children who can deal with their bodies and other people’s futures in a responsible manner.

Obama has all the answers. No longer will people have to fill up their gas tanks or pay their mortgages. Their cars will automatically run on empty if Obama is elected.

That’s what some of his supporters think, anyway.

Peggy Joseph, who took her kids out of school to attend an Obama rally, said, “I never thought this day would happen. I won’t have to worry about putting gas in my car. I won’t have to worry about paying my mortgage.” (Story)

The same article also mentions an Obama supporter who committed suicide and left a note that said, “Obama take care of my family.” Obama is hoping that man’s suicide doesn’t cost him in a close race.

This reminds me of the people in Katrina and in floods earlier this spring, who thought, “I won’t have to worry about moving to higher ground.”

Of course, for all the giveaways for people who are too lazy to do anything themselves, the government has to tax the people who actually do work hard and provide jobs to the others. For those who want the government to do everything for them, they might not be willing to find a job and work in the first place, so maybe that’s not such a big deal for them.

However, even Obama knows that not all of his big government dreams will come true. The economy is hurting so bad that it is getting even him to acknowledge that he might not be able to get everything done that he wants done.

But, it’s not only the economy. Anyone who runs the kind of campaign he has, trying to put themselves above politics, speaking in such grandiose hyperbole is naturally going to have excessively high expectations.

That is what happened to Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, who ran the same campaign as Barack, with the same political advisers like David Alexrod. Patrick’s expectations were high, but he didn’t have the political skill to run the state as he hoped, so his approval ratings fell quickly until he had to capitulate to the established order. (For more, read this WSJ article on the Axelrod Method.) Will the same thing happen with Barack? We may never know…

I was going to call this post, “My [one-time] defense of the liberal media” and talk about my defense of the IDS and our Fall 2008 opinion editor, Nathan Dixon on a conservative Indiana blog. You can read the blog post and my comment here. I was going to talk about the old saying, “I disapprove of what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it,” and give an explanation for defending the IDS and the opinions expressed therein. But today I saw one more piece of evidence that Senator Hopenchange does not seem to agree with this sentiment, so I’d rather talk about that, instead.

Drudge scooped a story this morning, which alone might not be all that big of a deal, but it’s another piece in a growing pile of evidence that a free and open press will not thrive under the Messiah:

NY POST, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, WASHINGTON TIMES TOLD TO GET OUT... ALL 3 ENDORSED MCCAIN

**Exclusive**

The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states -- and all three endorsed Sen. John McCain for president!

The NY POST, WASHINGTON TIMES and DALLAS MORNING NEWS have all been told to move out by Sunday to make room for network bigwigs -- and possibly for the inclusion of reporters from two black magazines, ESSENCE and JET, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Despite pleas from top editors of the three newspapers that have covered the campaign for months at extraordinary cost, the Obama campaign says their reporters -- and possibly others -- will have to vacate their coveted seats so more power players can document the final days of Sen. Barack Obama's historic campaign to become the first black American president.

Don’t defy me.

The Obama campaign confirmed the story to Politico, and Ed Morrisey has a pretty good commentary here. And you should defintely check out the Times’ take on the story.

See more evidence of the coming blow to the free exchange of ideas that an Obama administration would bring after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the most refreshing thing I’ve seen the entire election. Kids pushing not for a candidate, but for voting itself.

Not a huge surprise, really. After all, In 2004, the magazine endorsed John Kerry, albeit with less enthusiasm. An excerpt-

The Economist does not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr Obama. We do so wholeheartedly: the Democratic candidate has clearly shown that he offers the better chance of restoring America’s self-confidence. But we acknowledge it is a gamble. Given Mr Obama’s inexperience, the lack of clarity about some of his beliefs and the prospect of a stridently Democratic Congress, voting for him is a risk. Yet it is one America should take, given the steep road ahead.

I think that about sums up the attitude among some voters right now. It’s not that we’re suddenly entering a new liberal age or even that voters believe Democrats will be able to fix the screw ups of the last 8 years. It’s that the other side is infinitely worse. One issue I have with the endorsement, though, is the magazine’s summation of Obama’s economic record-

Our main doubts about Mr Obama have to do with the damage a muddle-headed Democratic Congress might try to do to the economy…Worryingly, he has a poor record of defying his party’s baronies, especially the unions. His advisers insist that Mr Obama is too clever to usher in a new age of over-regulation, that he will stop such nonsense getting out of Congress, that he is a political chameleon who would move to the centre in Washington. But the risk remains that on economic matters the centre that Mr Obama moves to would be that of his party, not that of the country as a whole.

Ha! I am genuinely amused by this notion that Obama is too liberal on the economic front. Are we talking about the same guy? Make no mistake, Obama supports free trade and his economic stance isn’t all that different from many Republicans (and Democrats). That’s not to say that his policies won’t be more beneficial to a majority of Americans but to depict the Democrats as a group of runaway leftists isn’t accurate. As long as we’re led by the Democrats and Republicans, sadly, the debate around globalization and free trade will remain stagnant.

First, there was this ridiculously racist column about Powell’s support for Obama being motivated by race, aptly titled “Tribal Politics.” Then, came this whinefest about poor Sarah Palin and her harsh treatment at the hands of the media. Coz you know, she is totally undeserving of national ridicule. Buchanan also managed to slip in a reference about how if Michelle Obama was depicted on SNL, the show would be facing “hate crime charges.” So, I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised that his latest media appearance devolved into accusations that Obama’s popularity stemmed from “white guilt.” BTW, kudos to you if you can actually get through the posted video without gouging your eyes out…I know that this is the McLaughlin Report but can they at least let people finish a sentence?!

But, watching Buchanan’s rants really hit home the point that our political landscape is changing. I don’t remember a time when right wing punditry has become so marginalized and irrelevant to our political discourse. To be sure, we still see these people appear on TV or other media source and talk about Obama’s evil socialist plot to enslave the white race or whatever but notice how much more derisive the reaction to them is. Think about it- every recent right wing attack advanced by Buchanan-types has been sufficiently mocked, whether it be the claim that Obama is a Socialist or a Secret Muslim Terrorist. Reason and intellectual fervor have all but abandoned the party and we’re seeing prominent right wing columnists like David Brooks, Kathleen Parker and Chris Buckley criticize the movement from within.

With the likelihood of an Obama victory come November 4th, I really wonder what kind of status Faux News and Rush Limbaugh will be reduced to. Say what you will about Obama but his campaign’s penchant for message control will make it that much harder for Buchanan and his friends to spew garbage. I know we hear this every election cycle but are we witnessing the demise of right wing commentary as we know it?

No, nothing risqué here… I’m just running out of words that rhyme with “link.”

• Point of No Return – fantastic column from one of the finest communicators in the conservative movement right now, Mark Steyn.
• Media’s Presidential Bias and Decline – Michael S. Malone

Republicans are justifiably foaming at the mouth over the sheer one-sidedness of the press coverage of the two candidates and their running mates. But in the last few days, even Democrats, who have been gloating over the pass — no, make that shameless support — they’ve gotten from the press, are starting to get uncomfortable as they realize that no one wins in the long run when we don’t have a free and fair press.

• Yet another reason to vote for McCain: The French hate him.
• Although Sarkozy calls Obama’s stance on Iran “utterly immature.” Mon Dieu!
• A speechwriter for Obama, Edwards, and Clinton on why she’s voting McCain.
• Obama sought out Marxist professors in college. Is anyone else as shocked as I am?
• Gas down to $1.99 $1.83? in Brownsburg! Jacob Levin would be crushed. I say: Not low enough. Drill, baby, drill!
• Another must-read column by Thomas Sowell on taxes. “The two months between the time of a presidential election and the time when the new president takes office is an eternity in terms of how much money can be transferred out of the country electronically before any new high-tax laws can be enacted.”
• Speaking of which: Miami Dolphins owner rushing sale of team before Obama increases the capital gains tax. “I’d rather give it to charity than to him.”
• Typo on Michigan Dem’s flier is for phone sex line. El Rushbo had this to say about the mix-up: “You call a phone-sex hotline or you call the Democrat Party, you get screwed either way.
• My column today was about Obama’s Most Dangerous Association. You can find out more about some of what I was talking about here, here, here, and here.
• Congress grew 13% richer in 2007. Huh.
• Experience: Obama gets internship with Socialist leader of Spanish government to prove he’s ready for the job.

Words of wisdom from Sir Winston Churchill:

• “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”
• “The worst argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

Actually, just four minutes is sufficient:

H/T: Hot Air

One disclaimer I would make regarding the video: I don’t think we should discourage or inhibit anyone from legally voting. But I also think it’s important to make sure we have an educated electorate, and I think it’s important to be aware of some of the less-informed elements of society who help shape the direction of our country (especially if they overwhelmingly lean toward one political party – Hollywood celebrities, for example).

You won’t find many more avid supporters of a free [small-r-republican-style] democratic system than me, but take a look at these links… yikes.

• “Well, I don’t know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I’m sick of paying for health insurance at work and that’s why I’m supporting Barack.”
• Get out the [homeless] vote!
• “More than 30,000 Florida felons who by law should have been stripped of their right to vote remain registered to cast ballots in this presidential battleground state… Of the felons who registered with a party, Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one.”
• And then there’s this story about an Obama activist in Michigan trying to register inmates! Would that fall under the “hope” or “change” category?
• 24,000 felons receive ballots in Washington state. Anyone care to take a wild guess which party this helps? “Surveys have shown that about 70 percent of former convicts lean Democratic,” reports FOX News Human Events The National Review The New York Times.
• Is voter ignorance killing our democracy? Christopher Shea (from 1999)
• Art imitates reality.
• Again
• Man on the street: What if Obama ran under McCain’s platform? We should try this here at IU…
• “Obama leading McCain among Xbox voters. But will they stop playing long enough to actually vote?” Like, let’s hope not, bro.
• One of our IDS columnists wrote something along these lines last week.
• Here’s an insightful but dark quote by Robert A. Heinlein (Hat Tip: commenter Grumpy Old Fart, from the above column) -

“‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader-the barbarians enter Rome.”

“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” Anyone have any brighter ideas?

Joe Biden today announced his tax plan in an effort to draw distinctions between himself and Obama.

Obama has long said that he would raise taxes on anybody making over $250,000. Biden’s plan would tax people making over $150,000.

Biden told a crowd in PA, “It should go to middle class people. People making under 150,000 dollars a year,” on who would receive tax cuts.

Biden has previously drawn distinctions between himself and Obama on clean coal, with Biden coming out against clean coal.

As for Obama’s healthcare plan? Well, he doesn’t even have a healthcare plan.

In yesterday’s NY Times, David Cutler, an economist with the Obama campaign had this to say when asked what businesses would be penalized and what their penalty would be for not giving government mandated healthcare to their workers:

“We have made a decision not to decide. It’s not that we’re not telling. Literally, we decided not to decide.”

That same healthcare plan is supposed to result in over 200,000 job losses.

Everyone rants about athletics officials being paid more than professors.  Today the point was illustrated nicely when we found out that new althletic director Fred Glass will recieve a salary of $410,000 annually – $10,000 more than even university President Michael McRobbie makes.

If IU ever aspires to be a top-notch research institution, reducing frivolous expenditures on athletics programs and directing more funds toward attracting competitive administrators and researchers must be made a priority.