Politics and other nightmares

Oh, if only:

Wow. The NRA convention in Indianapolis is expected to draw 70,000 people this weekend. My first though was that it would be pretty cool to have the convention here sometime, but I doubt the city could even handle that many visitors over a couple of days. And it probably wouldn't thrill Mayor Henry since he's an enthusiastic member of Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against People Killing People With Guns or whatever the hell it's called.

Question asked:

Is America's Jeffersonian decentralist tradition alive, comatose, or irretrievably dead? With Politics on a Human Scale, the Dordt College political scientist Jeff Taylor offers a well-informed, near-encyclopedic examination of when and how America's once-dominant political tradition receded.

And, alas, answered:

Want a glimpse of our future under Obamacare? Just take a look at the medical system the government already operates:

CNN) -- At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list.

How about a little bipartisan unethical-politician bashing? First up, Harry Reid. The man has been a public servant all his life. So how did he get so rich?

The Cato Insitute is a libertarian think tank that frequently infuritates conserrvatives and liberals in equal doses. Now it is using a conservative constitutional approach (stressing the actual text and original intent of the Constitution) to argue for a liberal cause -- gay marriage. It has to do with the 14th Amendment and the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case that tossed bans on interracial marriage:

It appears that big city newspaper columnists can be idiots on subjects other than politics as well. Here's the Washington Post's Catherine Rampell on why dumb Americans just don't get it that home ownership is a lousy investment:

Two Supreme Court decisions of note, one that seems reasonable and one that is worrisome.

The good:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Michigan's ban on using race as a factor in college admissions despite one justice's impassioned dissent that accused the court of wanting to wish away racial inequality.

This makes Michelle Obama seem more like a regular person and less like an eat-your-vegetables-now scold:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama said "splurging is the key to life" if you regularly eat right and stay active. Her biggest guilty pleasure: French fries.

Happy Earth Day! You remember those stories about Earth Day celebrations that left mounds of trash behind for somebody else to pick up? And the stories about global warmist Al Gore's mansion that uses roughly the same amount of electricity Fort Wayne does? This is in that same delightful vein: