Really not sure what to think about this...

On the one hand, several of George Will's points are well-taken. Trying to prop up failing carmakers may well just be prolonging the pain. (Mr Will seems more concerned with the harmful effects of propping up companies that provide working class jobs than the evils of propping up investment banks, but oh well....)

I'm just not sure how seriously I can take an argument that relies on Calvin Coolidge as its model of prudent leadership.

And off we go again...

Summer classes started last night. I've got 24 students, which is big for a summer class. So far, so good, though I've got plenty of assignments to finish up. Which is part of why I haven't gone looking for time-wasters...I don't have a spare weekend just yet. But it's on the list, really. Just as soon as I finish up prepping for the summer class already in progress, finish up the revisions for the engineering programming course that's getting a long-overdue overhaul, follow up on a long-ago pledge to the department chair to get some training in the accreditation process to step up my committee responsibilities....

Yeah, right. I might have a free weekend someday.

Elevating the Debate

Wonkette sums up my feelings about Chuck Grassley's indignant twitters to/about Obama, which have the depth & tone you'd expect from a teenager:

We are all stupider for having read this.

Seriously, go read the twits in question. They read like something an overprivileged teenager would write. This clown is a U.S. Senator? Yes, the 140-character limit of Twitter doesn't lend itself to pensive asides or elaborately-built-up arguments, but this is absurd.

Proof once more of the dictum from the founding fathers (I don't remember if it was Jefferson or Madison, and could be wrong about both of them). Democracy doesn't ensure the people get the leadership they want, but it does ensure they get the leadership they deserve.

[h/t: Andrew Sullivan]