I found a perfect Heinlein quote for the coming month, to mark the momentous Iraqi elections yesterday:

Democracy is a poor system; the only thing that can be said for it is that it's eight times as good as any other method. Its worst fault is that its leaders reflect their constituents--a low level, but what can you expect?

From Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I didn't really doubt that the Iraqis would vote in high numbers today, but it's nice to see the people of Iraq put the lie to the "vote and die" meme spread by the MSM and their hack political cartoonists.

Tim Blair seems to have the best roundup of links to positive and negative coverage. I like Scrappleface's take on the event, too.

Some faces of freedom in the extended entry:
more...

Posted by: JohnL at 09:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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When I saw President Clinton hold up a mock "Health Security" card during his 1995 State of the Union address, I had what I thought was a brilliant flash for a science fiction story of some kind. I imagined a future in which the Health Security card became a regular part of commercial life in the same way that our Social Security numbers have become a part of our everyday credit approval process. Since it was described as a "smart card" with medical records embedded on it, I imagined a world in which people weren't allowed to buy ice cream, butter, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. because their card indicated they were a health risk to the cash register.

Well, it looks like someone else has had a similar idea, even though a different political party is now in power.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Rob the Llamabutcher tries to figure out whether Tolkien is the property of liberals or conservatives. Certainly a lot of hippies and counterculture types usually thought of as "liberals" loved Tolkien's fantasies. Conservatives love the struggle (and triumph) of good over evil.

I posted a lengthy comment there, and reproduce it below the fold: more...

Posted by: JohnL at 10:48 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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