Politics and other nightmares

The "Mayor's office may be too lavish" story keeps making the rounds. We had something on it a couple of weeks ago in which Councilman Tom Smith said he thought "the posh executive suite of the former Lincoln Nationl Corp.

Lots of disagreement out there with my idea that, in voting to affirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, Sen. Richard Lugar is playing by the old rules of civility, all but conceding the game to the people playing by the new, tougher rules. The Richmond Palladium-Item, for example, says those who would label Lugar a turncoat or a traitor "offer demonstrable proof of an electorate so rigidly partisan that they have helped to make governing an untenable task."

Those of us hoping to see a "wave election" in November that will start to rein in Washington's wretched excesses have to count on Republicans having specific plans and the will to work for them. Watching some of the GOP leaders stumble and fumble on TV in recent days, unable to detail a single thing they would cut despite repeated inquiries, was not comforting.

Time magazine is asking the wrong question in its headline:

Cap and Trade is Dead (Really, Truly, I'm Not Kidding). Who's to blame?

It should be: Whom do we thank?

This sounds like an admission of incompetence to me:

Indiana's human services agency says it found problems with IBM Corp.'s takeover of welfare intake services early in the project and suggested delays, but yielded to the company's wishes to expand the project.

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Now that evil, selfish conservatives are being beaten back by the benevolent, kind-hearted liberals so the downtrodden unemployed can start getting checks again, I have a question: Where is that line between compassion and heartlessness?

A bill advancing in Congress that would restore unemployment benefits for millions of Americans could help about 80,000 Indiana residents who have been out of work more than six months.

[. . .]

Unilateral disarmament might bring peace, but it might not be the peace desired:

Sen. Richard Lugar on Wednesday became one of the first Republicans to back Elena Kagan's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

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He believes that in most cases, Congress should defer to a president's preference in nominations to appointed positions.

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Well, thank God for presidential parsimony. And here I thought government spending was out of control:

So, a leftist group posted some video maliciously edited to make the mostly white Tea Party appear racist. That was followed quickly by a righty blogger posting some video maliciously edited to make a black Agricultrue Department employee appear racist. All the race-baiters are represented now, and the expected camps are saying the predictable things about the usual suspects.

The City Council voted 6-2, with one abstaining, against rezoning that would allow a Lassus Brothers gas station and convenience store at the corner of Bass and Hillegas roads. I'm more in agreement with the position of Councilwoman Karen Goldner than I am with that of Councilman Tom Smith: