How Pathetic is Liberal Politics? Progressivism as defined by Josh Marshall is the philosophy of the sincere interest of the strong in the welfare of the weak. A realist would say it should by defined as the defense of workers by themselves. Marshall's progressivism in domestic matters, unlike his nationalism in international ones, is a philosophy of good intentions. I'm amazed again and again by the inability of American liberals to perceive the weakness of their position. The working class in this country, as evinced in its popular culture, is apolitical or anti-political. I have no solution to this problem, especially since I'm a fan, but at least I admit the conflict between my ideas and my tastes. 

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 "...and economists are at the "market fundamentalist" end of the spectrum of people." 

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This is both pathetic and hilarious:

It is a mystery why fans spend almost all of their music money on product of very recent vintage. Until we untangle this puzzle, and we have not yet, we will not understand how Internet music is likely to affect consumer welfare....

Right now we do not even know whether music is being oversupplied or undersupplied, relative to an optimum. Beware of any analysis of this case which does not consider these deeper underlying issues.

 The complete dumbing down of intellectual life. 

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And this courtesy of Laura Rozen [The author is Phil Carter]

On Thursday, I received orders from the Army mobilizing me for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These orders followed an earlier set, cut on Tuesday, which transferred me from the Army's individual ready reserve into the 101st Airborne Division. It's an honor and privilege to deploy with such a storied unit -- a band of warriors who have nearly all deployed at least once since 9/11. I'm scheduled to report for active duty in a little under 3 weeks to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. After some period of pre-deployment training and preparation, I will deploy with my unit to Iraq. It's difficult to describe the swirl of emotions I have now. I'm excited about this opportunity to serve, but also apprehensive about what lies ahead. I'm worried for my family and friends (this will be harder on them than me), and I will miss them terribly; but I'm also comforted by the strength they have displayed over the past few days.

A 'warrior' is a killer, and being 'excited' about an 'opportunity to serve,' is being excited about the opportunity to be a passive agent of abstract authority, in this context to kill, while being absolved of moral responsibility for the act of killing.