A Stitch in Haste

(Part 1 here. Format shamelessly borrowed from The McLaughlin Group.)

Destined for Political Stardom in 2009:
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. He offers radical conservatives everything Sarah Palin does, but with a three-digit IQ.

Destined for Political Oblivion:
Mitt Romney. See above. (See also, “Detroit bailout.”)

Best Political Theater:
The McCain campaign faux-suspension. As I mentioned in Part 1, McCain was not part of the leadership, was not on any relevant committee, and boasted about his economic illiteracy, yet still felt a spasmodic urge to be part of the action — and wound up disrupting the entire process. Laugh or cry — but in the end it was mere theater.

Worst Political Theater:
The “debates” (which are nothing of the kind), both at the primary and general election stages. These obfuscating joint press conferences are worse than worthless.

Worst Political Scandal:
Too many to pick from — Spitzer, Blagojevich, Edward, Rangle, Bloomberg. Perhaps the worst political scandal is that people tolerate so many political scandals.

Most Underreported Story:
The role of speculation in the housing/mortgage meltdown. The pesky fact that so many foreclosures came from only four states, and from buyers who each owned multiple properties (and who were therefore responsible for multiple foreclosures) simply didn’t fit the “blue-collar catastrophe, Wall Street greed, government must do something” talking points, so it was rarely if ever publicly acknowledged.

Most Overreported Story:
The faux “transition” in Cuba from Fidel to Raul. Murderous jackboot Communists are still in absolute power in Cuba. There was, therefore, no real story to report.

Biggest Government Waste:
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (a/k/a the “Farm Bill“). Latest estimate, always subject to change, is $488 billion over five years. Poor people’s taxes going to rich farmer’s corporations to make food more expensive. All in the name of “enlightened” policy (or Senate factionalism — same difference).

Best Government Money Spent:
Same entry every year: the combined salaries of the entire federal judiciary — increasingly the last line of defense of liberty against megalomaniacal politicians, zombie bureaucracies and the majoritarian mob. Federal judges are a true public good, and they deserve to be paid appropriately.

Boldest Political Tactic:
Barack Obama’s selection of radical theocrat, anti-gay bigot and anti-Semite Rick Warren to deliver the Inauguration invocation. Of course, such picks are not really supposed to be political, and the choice backfired catastrophically for Obama. But it was certainly “bold.”

Best Idea of 2008:
Airline baggage fees. Despite the whinings of economically illiterate malcontents, both efficiency and ethics suggest that only those who use a service should pay for it. Extra credit for highlighting how labor unions (here, the baggage handlers) artificially inflate costs, and therefore prices.

Worst Idea of 2008:
The absurd and harmful ban on short-selling. Besides the pesky fact that, in a free society, competent consenting adults should be free to enter any securities transaction they wish, the ban actually made matters far worse — by creating the exact same sort of “what will the politicians do next” financial and planning paralysis by which the New Deal prolonged the Great Depression.

Sorry to See You Go:
Lawrence King, the 14-year old gay student in Los Angeles who overcame parental abandonment and relentless teasing and taunting, only to be killed in cold blood by another student in a fit of so-called “gay panic” over King’s supposed “flamboyance.” Honorable mention to Heath Ledger, Paul Newman and Stan Winston.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame:
Not-Joe the Not-Plumber (a.k.a. Not-Joe the Not-Reporter, a.k.a. Not-Joe the Yes-Censor).

Best Spin:
The suggestion by the Palin campaign that having a teenage daughter get knocked up out of wedlock and while still in high school is, somehow, a “traditional family value.”

New Years Resolution:
To use the term “soulless cretin” less — and opt instead for “soulless simpleton.” (For background, see here.)

Leave your picks in the comments.

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