Author: Brian J. Noggle

Medicare’s going to run out of money by 2019, its trustees report. And as the sun sets, the whooperwill start shrieking out for the soul of the departing entitlement; only they’re understandably chirping at Bush:

In a conference call with reporters arranged by the campaign of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois blamed the Bush administration and its Medicare prescription drug bill for Medicare’s shortened solvency.

‘The Clinton administration and Democrats believed save Medicare first,’ Durbin said. ‘The Bush approach is save the special interests first. … This is not just about Medicare. It’s about the credibility of the Bush administration.’

So you see, Bush and our revered leaders have voted to add a drug benefit which redistributes wealth from workers to retirees, thus accelerating the decline of the entitlement. And Durbin cheeps about special interests.

You win, Senator. The elderly who receive more something for nothing are now a special interest. Those of us funding the free ride are a special interest. We, the citizens and electorate, are nothing but special interests fighting each other for your privileged dispensation or disbursement.

Jeff Jarvis spends a lot of time championing Howard Stern as some sort of Libertarian hero, I’d like to provide my own Stern Update Rebuke from something he said this morning.

Stern held up recent legislation from Charles Schumer as an example of proper legislation as opposed to bills cracking down on indeceny on the radio. Proper legislation, I guess, is overreaching legislation that does not particularly target Howard Stern.

This new bill makes gang murder a Federal crime and apparently adds a number of related offenses. Schumer’s out to Federalize crimes already covered by state statutes (I assume it’s still illegal to kill someone in New York) and adds another redundant layer of offenses that short-circuit double jeopardy protections of the Constitution.

This is good legislation because it’s specifically not bad for Howard Stern.

Behold your leader, minions, and worship.

With his relatively orthodox libertarianism, I am surprised the blogosphere doesn’t hang on the Chicago Tribune‘s Steve Chapman’s every column (Mondays and Thursdays, kids). Here he is today on New York’s newly-unconstitutional vehicle confiscation law (registration required):

This is a small but important victory for the proposition that Americans should not be punished without a demonstration of guilt. It’s also a blow to the government’s habit of using law enforcement to snatch property for its own enrichment.

Word to power. Or power to word. Whichever one won’t flip the circuit breaker and make me tromp into the litter-cluttered dark of the basement in my bare feet.

Actually, equivalence makes two things equal. This story about the death of the Hamas leader does not actually equivocate:

Sharon’s government has gone after militant leaders using Israeli helicopter gunships in a controversial policy that has resulted in a number of civilian casualties in addition to the deaths of senior figures in Hamas and other groups.

It’s controversial because of accidental civilian casualties. Attacks that target innocent bus riders or train riders or just people eating in a cafe or dancing in a nightclub–that’s an accepted, noncontroversial expression from an aggrieved people. They’re acceptable, but the Israeli policy is not. Thanks for dishing up the unwritten commentary with the facts, AP.

Yassin was viewed as an inspirational figure by his followers in the Gaza Strip (news – web sites) and West Bank. His death could spur violent protests not only in the Palestinian areas but in the wider Arab and Islamic world, where he was well-regarded as a symbol of the Palestinian battle for independence.

His death could spur violence. Why should it differ from his life?

From Lileks today, expressing his fascist nature to the protestors:

These people want “freedom,” but only for themselves. Freedom to preen. Freedom to flatter themselves that they are somehow committing an act of bravery by Speaking Truth to Power. But they’re speaking Nonsense to Indifference.

Speaking Nonsense to Indifference. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. But print it out first.

Today, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a story on the front page of its Travel and Leisure section entitled Angola sheds its image as nation’s bloodiest prison.

What does it say about the state of Louisiana, or the author’s view thereof, that the only attractions associated with Louisiana are plantation houses remade into bed-and-breakfasts and prison?

Please, don’t e-mail your responses. I’d rather not know what it means.