A Case Study In Awful Reporting.

I generally appreciate Politico's reporting even if it can be slightly left leaning at times.  But today's headline story is too much.  Last night Democrats won a formerly Republican House seat in a special election in upstate New York that featured two right-of-center candidates (a tea party candidate and a moderate Republican).  Politico is now claiming that Democrats have "cracked the code" for winning in 2012.  Let us review:  special election; upstate New York; two right-of-center candidates in a three way race.  All of this and the Democrat still wins by less than 5 points and does not get a majority of the votes. That's right:  right-wing candidates won a majority of the vote, but Politico claims Democrats have found the golden ticket for 2012. Great reporting Politico. 

No Comment Needed.

A friend forwarded me this today. No comment is really needed:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/17/senator-questions-benefits-to-adult-baby/

He's Not Wrong...

A former French Justice Minister had the following to say about the recent arrest of the French Socialist and IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York.  Regardless of one's feelings about Struass-Kahn and the situation at hand, the sentiment is universally applicable: "Never forget it's not just judges that are elected (in New York), but prosecutors. And the chief of police is elected. And clearly, in public opinion, to exhibit a powerful rich man in the presence of a victim from a very poor background, electorally, it pays off."  http://ca.news.yahoo.com/french-outraged-u-treatment-strauss-kahn-123012695.html

Misguided.

The Nazi regime in Germany has been gone for over 75 years now.  The Nazi regime was a horrible regime and a liberal one (as Jonah Goldberg at National Review has made something of a name for himself pointing out.)  But for some reason a fascination with it continues.  It is such a fascination that lead to the prosecution of John Demjanjuk.  Demjanjuk was a Soviet soldier in World War Two who was captured by the Germans, ended up working at a concentration camp (possibly by force) and then coming to America after the war.  In 2009 he was extradited to Germany and this week found guilty of being a former Nazi and sentenced to five years in prison.  He is 91 years old.  This is a man who was forced into service by the Soviets, became a POW of the Nazis and probably did whatever he had to do to survive before later starting a life in Ohio.  The whole trial was a circus and a joke.