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- Joshua Green interviews Energy Secretary Steven Chu to discuss, among other things, using gamma rays to clean up oil spills, but Green's introductory point is important: The federal government rarely receives attention for the many things it gets right. Only when it blunders do we hear all about the inefficiency and incompetence of the bureaucracy. This is of course the problem with one-size-fits-all theories about the capabilities and motivations of government institutions -- how do you account for success when your theory is premised on the ineptitude of the public sector?
- Reading this short post by Robert Gonzalez at the Frum Forum, it's quite evident that Hispanics don't overwhelmingly vote Democratic because they're liberals but because the bigotry displayed by so much of the GOP essentially leaves them little choice. Gonzalez cites the Republican virtues of "strength of family, the importance of hard work and personal responsibility, and the virtues of limited government" that make him vote for the GOP but the party still rejects "the Mexicans" out of rank xenophobia and reflexive ethnic tribal loyalty. The GOP would have to ditch these people if they actually wanted to be a big-tent party, and frankly I don't think they're prepared to do that quite yet.
- Actually, this tendency of Republican operatives to initially portray Barack Obama as weak and ineffectual and later as an uncompromising bully is part of a larger incoherent argument about Democrats in general. But it's always been easier to attribute success or failure to a single powerful actor, and make everything a function of his or her will. Of course, the public by and large also attributes policy success or failure to the president, so the idea persists, when really there's a lot more institutional interplay going on.
- Remainders: As I've long suspected, the vulnerability of Harry Reid is directly proportionate to the ability of the Nevada state GOP to choose a competent candidate; this whole "party purge" phenomenon is incredibly one-sided, and journalists shouldn't be afraid to call it as it is; Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) employs airtight logic to link the display of lingerie by pageant contestants to the voluntary surrender of liberty; and more evidence that the road from libertarian to anarchist is very short indeed.
--Mori Dinauer
