Uncommon Commentary #326

Years from now (though perhaps not very many), when historians discuss the failure of a polity that seemed to hold so much promise as did the USA, the most astute of them will be able to summarize the reasons for its downfall with this brief statement: Her citizens put their faith in their form of government, not in God.

Uncommon Commentary #325: Don't Be So Odd, Todd! (Alternate Title: Chuck Must Take After His Ancestor, Sweeney)

Chuck Todd of NBC "News" is either so thoroughly self-deluded, or so unabashedly dishonest, that he actually denies the presence of left-wing bias in the US media.  “Chuck Todd” is what NBC ought to do.

Uncommon Commentary #324: The Poor Estate of the Fourth Estate

It's widely recognized in "conservative" circles that the pervasiveness of left-wing bias in the mainstream US media, including what passes for a free press, is a serious liability for our country; it probably gave Obama the presidency in 2008, and almost unquestionably did so in 2012.  I have never, however, heard anyone suggest a remedy for this ill, and so here's my proposal.  Let the news corps continue independently, but require journalists to have licensing from an equally independent, respected third party (i.e., "watchdog", a word that is much overused in this sense); the government would authorize this third party to examine and correct the news media for bias and inaccuracy.  One needs a license to practice law or medicine, or to be a public-school teacher or a private investigator (or even to marry someone or to drive a car), and so why not apply the same standard to journalism? (Under my system, however, newsmen would be held to a much higher standard than, for example, the public-school teachers generally are.)  In fact, this system of licensing could be applied to much more than journalism, even becoming the USA's new way of doing things: a middle ground between the statism demanded by leftists and the so-called-conservatives' endurance in perpetual exasperation over such grave problems as the one that I've discussed in this uncommon commentary.  Many would indubitably regard this as "government overreach", but who has a better idea?

Uncommon Commentary #323: In Fact, I've Never Used a Knife Either

I’ve never used a firearm to bump anyone off, but, if I had, I would view one of these no-questions-asked gun-buyback programs as a godsend; not only could I avail myself of it to dispose of the murder weapon in such a way that it could not be traced, but I'd actually get paid to do so!

Uncommon Commentary #322: Does He Mean that He, Also, Wears High Heels?

John Kerry says that, in taking over as Secretary of State, he has Hillary[sic]'s "big heels to fill".  He's just the big heel to fill them.

Uncommon Commentary #321: To Be Fair to Obombast, He Said not "Worse" but "Different"

In his audience with Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes, Emperor Nerobama said of the revolution in Egypt: “… had it not been for the leadership we showed, you might have seen a different outcome there.”  Did he mean that we might have seen a good outcome?

Uncommon Commentary #320: There Is Still the Sort of Growth that Occurs on One's Skin

Dumbocrats told us that the US economy wouldn't grow sluggishly forever, and they were right; during the last three months of 2012, it didn't grow at all!