National Review Online has a treasure trove of pieces today.

Marc Thiessen quotes the Washington Post. It's good to know the Obama administration is using the time-honored strategy of "holding out hope" to protect us.

Abdulmutallab remains in a Detroit area prison and, after initial debriefings by the FBI, has restricted his cooperation since securing a defense attorney, according to federal officials. Authorities are holding out hope that he will change his mind and cooperate with the probe, the officials said.

Victor Davis Hanson:

When we do know for a fact that Mutallab tried to blow up a plane, we get a presidential "allegedly" ("a passenger allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device on his body, setting off a fire"), and yet when we don't know all the facts, as in the Professor Gates mess, we get instantaneous certainty ("the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.")

Thomas Sowell thinks the changes in boxing over the years mirror the changes in society as a whole:

The first thing I noticed about the boxers back in the era of Joe Louis, from the 1930s into the 1950s, is that they all wore regulation boxing trunks and they didn’t have tattoos. There was no trying to outdo each other with garish trunks or wild tattoos. They didn’t try to stare each other down when the referee was giving them instructions before the fight.

Seldom did any of these boxers go in for showboating during the fight, and there was no denigrating the other fighter, before or after the fight.

Some predictions for 2010:

We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism will, after three months as a “sleeper,” shoot to the top of the bestseller charts. There it will meet Sarah Palin’s cheery memoir. The two books will thereupon mutually annihilate in a burst of gamma rays.

Chris Dodd loses his election. Capital police need to use a crowbar to loosen his grip on his office desk.

Victor Davis Hanson again:

Freedom of the individual explained not only why America became wealthy and the world’s dispossessed flocked to our shores, but also why it had a moral sense about the world in its willingness to confront, rather than appease and apologize to, thugs and totalitarians. Everything that the United Nations Human Rights Council is now for, we used to be against.

And Victor Davis Hanson yet a third time:

When a Nigerian national, with a history of radical Islamic sympathies, previously reported to U.S. authorities by his father as a threat to America, buys a one-way ticket with cash, has no check-in luggage, previously was denied a British visa, boards a plane easily, and is prevented only by a courageous tourist from murdering over 300 innocents — and when all that is characterized as the system working like “clockwork” — well, something is terribly wrong.

Harry Reid has unilaterally decided that the rest of America will pay the Medicaid costs for Nebraska. He bribed Ben Nelson to get his vote:

We’ll be blunt. The ‘health care reform’ legislation under consideration in the Senate is the most corrupt piece of legislation in our nation’s history. Yes, we understand that is a strong statement and there have been other abominations throughout our nation’s life. But never before did corrupt legislation threaten to radically and forever change the live’s of every American.

Exhibit A is the outright bribe extracted by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Corn Huckster State) from Sen. Harry Reid. As a result of Nelson’s performance in his role of Hamlet in the health care deliberations, we will have two health care systems in this country; one for Nebraska and one for the other 49 states.

In its quixotic attempt to ensure everyone has health insurance, the Reid legislation greatly expands Medicaid eligibility. Because Medicaid is a program whose costs are split between the federal and state governments, this expansion in eligibility raise costs dramatically for states. States will be forced to either raise taxes or cut other services to accommodate the forced increase in Medicaid spending.

Unless that state is Nebraska.

What an absolute disgrace. The Democrat from Nevada meets the Democrat from Nebraska behind closed doors and swing a deal in which the rest of the nation is taxed to provide benefits specifically to Nebraska. I am calling both my Senators tomorrow and let them know what I think of this.

Great Moments in Public Education

This sort of thing is why Laurel and I are seriously considering home schooling:

TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) - An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday.

Silly, silly, silly. This is my favorite part, though:

An educational consultant working with the Johnson family said the teacher was also alarmed when the boy drew Xs for Jesus' eyes.

Now if I was that teacher, I would have assumed the boy drew Xs for eyes because that his how death (or grave injury) is portrayed on Saturday morning cartoons. In this case we are informed that the teacher was alarmed, but no explanation is forthcoming regarding why this is alarming or why a psychological evaluation might be required as a result.

The Nobel Peace Prize

Funny, I didn't think President Obama deserved this award until James Taranto posted the acceptance speech he should have given:

When I heard about this prize, I didn't think I deserved it. I mean, what have I done? But then I looked at the list of past recipients. Yasser Arafat? A peace prize for a terrorist? What's the deal with that, guys? Al Gore? For what, making a movie with charts? And Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter! He endorsed me, and even I can't stand that sanctimonious little twit!

Clearly, Mister Obama is more deserving of this than many of his recent predecessors.

Nothing bothers me more about the left than its willingness to justify any behavior, no matter how reprehensible. It is revealed that Tiger Woods is a multiple adulterer, and Joy Behar says its all good, he's not a hyprocrite:

Let me say this on his behalf. He has never held himself as one of these pro-marriage, right-wing, kind of guys who is anti-gay. In other words, the guy is not a hypocrite in his personal life.

Never mind the personal oath he made to his wife and the children they are raising. He never told Joy Behar or the rest of us that his wife and children matter, so that's a mark in his favor.

To Joy Behar, saying one thing and doing another makes you a hypocrite (and that's bad), but breaking your vows to your wife and children is not hypocritical (and that's good). What a twisted world view.

Time For Tasteless Tiger Jokes

Q: What's the difference between an Escalade and Titleist?
A: Tiger Woods can drive a Titleist more than 300 yards.

Q: Why did Tiger hit a fire hydrant and a tree?
A: He couldn't decide between an iron and a wood.

Q: What do Tiger Woods and a baby seal have in common?
A: They both got clubbed by a Scandinavian.

Q: What's Elin's new name for Tiger?
A: Lyon Cheetah

The media asked Elin how many times she hit Tiger, and she said, "Just put me down for five."

Remember the 2002 anniversary edition of E.T. in which the guns carried by the federal agents were digitally replaced with walkie-talkies?



Well, tonight, we are watching Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer, and I am thrilled to report that Yukon Cornelius still has his six shooter!

Alison meets Santa

So Much for Checks and Balances

Nancy Pelosi believes her power is unlimited:

In a recent press release, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., argues that constitutional objections to the individual mandate are "nonsensical," because "the power of Congress to regulate health care is essentially unlimited."

That's enough to send a chill down your spine.

From Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: rab·ble
Pronunciation: \ˈra-bəl\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English rabel pack of animals
Date: 14th century
1 : a disorganized or confused collection of things
2 a : a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people : mob
2 b : the lowest class of people

With that definition in mind, check out Chris Matthews' analysis of President Obama's speech at West Point.

He calls the United States Military Academy the "enemy camp" and says Paul Wolfowitz went there to "rabble rouse," thereby calling the USMA Corps of Cadets "rabble."

But don't question his patriotism.