The Mark of a good (liberal) exit

I don't even know where to start on this. I guess the first thing to say is that there's nothing better than a liberal leaving a prominent political position, except maybe a liberal who has never had any power at all.

Good ol' Gerry is great - first he whines and tears up, and then he blasts Britain and (shocker here) the U.S. for basically everything under the sun. Then he makes sure that everyone knows how chummy he thinks Germany should be with Chirac to thwart the:

"Anglo-Saxon" economic policies favoured in Britain and the United States, which...[have] "no chance" in Europe.

There are two primary things to notice about this bilge:

1. Albeit by a small margin, he was voted out of power by the people of Germany. One can only hope now that the people of Germany will allow the more conservative party of Angela Merkel to gain a majority of seats at the next opportunity.
2. The French people themselves voted down the EU Constitution. Although it should be noted that the French thought the EU Constitution was too conservative, which is absolutely hilarious. And also because the elitist French thought the EU let in countries from the wrong side of the tracks - i.e. Central and Eastern Europe. (I thought it was "progressive" and beautiful liberal open-mindedness to work with the "lower classes").

So Gerry's conecpt of what will "work for Europe" as a "social model" doesn't seem to be held by anyone in Germany or the rest of Europe either (well, except Chirac). But alas, he's a liberal, so he knows better than everyone else. So he's going to take his toys and go home. Good riddance Gerry ol' boy.

W.E.W.

Walter E. Williams is great. In these two articles he concisely and accurately explains two very important topics:

Is it Permissable?
Blaming Bush

Why we should rebuild in New Orleans

As in the last several posts, I must take umbrage with the oft displayed sentiment of other conservatives that we should not rebuild in New Orleans. "Why should we rebuild in an area that is below sea level when the next hurricane will do the same, etc., etc." Because we're Americans, that's why.

New Orleans is an historic city that represents a part of America that no other city can.

Now, I'd be the first to say that if we put government - any level - in charge, then it's most likely a doomed enterprise, at least in the current incarnations of said governments. If the government is in charge then it becomes about making "voters" happy, as opposed to getting the damn job done.

However, if we were to let American ingenuity ("ingenuity" unfortunately seems to be that which is apart from any type of government oversight, i.e. "private enterprise") take over, I have zero doubt that the awesome prowess of the people of this country would be able to rebuild, and build anew in such a way that if another Katrina happened by, the residents of New Orleans would watch it pass through with minimal damage.

Would it cost? Sure it would - that's the price - literally - of a market-based economy. But it's what that price buys you that is the true beauty of such an economy. I can hear the engineers now, "So, you say this category 3 [it was thought to be a category 5, but has since thought to be downgraded] hurricane wreaked this havoc? Give us enough time an money, and we can lick it." That's what the American spirit is all about - overcome that which has defeated us (or others) before.

We can, and more importantly should rebuild New Orleans, but with the full force of the American individual will and might as the force behind the effort - because we can.