How sweet. Now call the IRS.

The NYTimes reports that Barack Obama's mother-in-law is quite enjoying herself at the expense of American taxpayers.

The following, though, are absolute bullshit:

Mrs. Robinson still spends much of her time tending to the Obama girls, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7. She shuttles them to and from school most days and accompanies them to some play dates, the first lady said.

Where are the Secret Service? When I watched the movie First Kid, Sinbad took the president's kid to school. Mrs. Robinson may indeed ride in the government limousine while it takes the kids to school; but unless you're the one doing the driving, you can't rightly be said to be the one doing the shuttling.

For the first time in her adult life, she no longer has to cook or clean, unless she wants to.

Why is it exactly that she no longer has to cook or clean? Has she hired help? Or are American taxpayers paying for servants for her?

It seemed to me that she’s perfectly comfortable in her new life . . .

Of course she's comfortable. She's an old black woman from Chicago who has suddenly found herself in the enviable position of living in the most famous address in America being waited on by servants paid for by someone else.

Am I the only one that finds this a gross misappropriation of government funds? Didn't we once impale a general for letting his wife use his government cell phone?

Specter Joins Democrats

Bastard.

New Volume[s]

• Silent in the Sanctuary, Deanna Raybourn (Mira 2009).  B&N.  A cheap throwaway paperback edition.  I like the first in this series (Silent in the Grave) and thought I'd pick up this second installment.  I couldn't find it in hardback; this cheap paperback was all I could lay hands on.  I probably won't read it because the cover makes it look like a Harlequin romance. 
  

New Volume[s]

• The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (Broadway 1998).  B&N.  I've been meaning to buy this one for a while, but it kept getting pushed further down the list.  I came across it in the bookshop the other day while looking for something else. 
  

In which I meaure my manhood by the linear foot.

A quick assessment tells me that my library runs to about 11 books per
linear foot. At current levels I am running about 20 feet short. With
new editions being added at a rate of approx. 25 per month, I'll be
snowed under by this time next year. I've been drawing plans for a new
bookcase and hope to start construction next weekend. Not sure where
I'll put it, though. My good lady has suggested the roof!

"No one is above the law."

What a silly thing to say.  Of course there are people who are above the law.  To suggest otherwise is to be naive or a liar. 

Now Nancy Pelosi wants to investigate Bush administration officials for the illegal firing of federal prosecutors.  Her motivation: "No one is above the law."

Now you and I both know that Nancy Pelosi doesn't want to investigate Bush administration officials because of so deep concern for law and order; she wants to investigate because she is a vindictive b***h.

I should also note that Barack Obama does not want to proceed with such investigations, saying we need to look to the future, not the past.  He's just as political as she is, of course, and, were it to suit him politically, would pursue investigations forthwith. 

The most interesting thing to draw from this article, though, is that Pelosi is already disgreeing with Obama.  Could she be setting herself up for a challenge in 2012?

People Behaving Rationally

It's always a pleasure to see people behaving rationally. The American military are meeting their recruitment goals once again. The NYTimes reports that this is a result of both a relative lull in violence in Iraq and a poor jobs market. People are reconsidering the military because it offers a steady paycheck and excellent benefits, two things not on offer many other places. Now both parties are better off: the military gets much-needed manpower and workers get good jobs.

As rational actors, people generally act in their own self-interests, and in turn they help others. As Adam Smith said in The Wealth of Nations:

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.