Barack Obama, however, has pulled off the ultimate switcheroo: He's diminishing America from within — so far, successfully.

He may soon bankrupt us and replace our big merit-based capitalist economy with a small government-directed one of his own design.

He is undermining our constitutional traditions: The rule of law and our Anglo-Saxon concepts of private property hang in the balance. Obama may be the most "consequential" president ever.

The Wall Street Journal's steadfast Dorothy Rabinowitz wrote that Barack Obama is "an alien in the White House."

His bullying and offenses against the economy and job creation are so outrageous that CEOs in the Business Roundtable finally mustered the courage to call him "anti-business." Veteran Democrat Sen. Max Baucus blurted out that Obama is engineering the biggest government-forced "redistribution of income" in history.

Fear and uncertainty stalk the land. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says America's financial future is "unusually uncertain."

Viewed this way, Journolist was an antidote to the old journalistic ecology in which young Democratic writers got noticed by saying something unorthodox. No more Kinsleyesque contrarianism (it being an essential whippersnapper conceit that much if not all neolib criticism of Democratic orthodoxy is simply reflexive contrarianism). Certainly Journolist wasn't an institution where you got career points for being contrarian. Quite the opposite, at least according to my emailer.

P.S.: Here's a crude test: In this group of 400 "center to left" writers, did even one agree with George McGovern about keeping the secret ballot in union elections? If they agreed, did they dare say they agreed
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Love that Mickey Kaus…….

The Medical Board of California has expanded its list of accusations against an Anaheim Hills doctor to include homicide in the death of an abortion patient last summer.

The board is seeking to revoke the medical license of Dr. Andrew Rutland for the death of Ying Chen, 30. She died Aug. 3, 2009, after suffering a toxic reaction to anesthetic at Rutland's office in San Gabriel.

After an autopsy, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office listed the death as accidental. But on June 21, 2010, the chief medical examiner reclassified the death as a homicide. Rutland responded by sending a letter to a long list of people, including the U.S. Attorney General, California's two senators, various U.S. House members and even Oprah Winfrey, claiming that he's being persecuted because he's an abortion provider.
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Don't think the POLS or Oprah will be able to help here

An Anaheim doctor who lost his medical license in 2002 after the death of a newborn, only to have it reinstated, is facing state allegations of negligence in the case of a woman who died during an abortion.

Dr. Andrew Rutland, an obstetrician-gynecologist, could be temporarily suspended from practicing after a California Medical Board hearing Thursday in San Diego, said board spokeswoman Candis Cohen.

According to state legal documents, a 30-year-old patient died last year after Rutland is alleged to have given her anesthesia without knowing the safe dosage. He is also accused of practicing in an unlicensed office and performing surgery outside a hospital without malpractice insurance, the board documents say.

Rutland's attorney, Peter Osinoff, declined to comment until after the hearing. Rutland did not respond to a message left at his Anaheim office.

In 2002, Rutland agreed to give up his medical license after a two-year medical board investigation into the deaths of two babies

When the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed a UC Hastings College of the Law decision to bar a Christian student group from receiving university funds last month, some free-speech advocates winced, saying the court's opinion would be used by colleges and universities to squelch offensive or unpopular speech.

It looks like they might be right.

The Los Angeles Community College District is trying to use the Hastings ruling to bolster its defense in a speech code case, in which a college professor mocked a student who was speaking about his Christian faith in class.
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And, I thought universities were supposed to foster free speech and the discussion of ideas?

Guess not in California – shameful….

Rasmussen
7/28/10; 750 likely voters, 4% margin of error
Mode: Automated phone
(Rasmussen release)

Washington

2010 Senate
49% Murray (D), 47% Rossi (R) (chart)
48% Murray (D), 45% Didier (R) (chart)
48% Murray (D), 42% Akers (R) (chart)

Favorable / Unfavorable
Dino Rossi: 52 / 44
Patty Murray: 51 / 46
Clint Didier: 44 / 32
Paul Akers: 38 / 33

Job Approval / Disapproval
Pres. Obama: 50 / 49
Gov. Gregoire: 46 54
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A tight race only because of the Democrats abysmal handling of the economy.

Wonder if Obama will dare show his face in the state?

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Friday that he expects former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to be among the crowd of GOP presidential candidates in 2012.

Gingrich, himself a potential candidate for president, sized up the field of would-be competitors, detailing which GOP politicians he expects to jump into the race.

The field Gingrich listed included: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Palin, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Sen. John Thune (S.D.), and Rep. Ron Paul (Texas).
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I think more likely than not that Sarah Palin will run in 2012 but it really depends upon Obama poll numbers

Despite its name, membership in the liberal online community Journolist wasn’t limited to journalists. Present among the bloggers, reporters and editors were a number of professional political operatives, including top White House economic advisors, key Obama political appointees, and Democratic campaign veterans. Some left government to join Journolist. Others took the opposite route. A few contributed to Journolist from their perches in politics. At times, it became difficult to tell who was supposed to be covering policy and who was trying to make it.
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Not a surprise

Could an anti-illegal immigration initiative along the lines of the Arizona law, now partially blocked from going into effect, ever become law in California?

A recent Field Poll suggests that were such an initiative to make it onto the ballot, it would get strong support from California's electorate, just as Proposition 187, the initiative stripping illegal immigrants of a range of benefits, did in 1994. An earlier Field Poll found that Californians were more likely to vote for candidates who supported the Arizona law.
According to the most recent Field Poll (conducted between June 22 and July 5), there is clear-cut support for the Arizona law among likely voters in California. Forty-one percent are strongly in favor and 13 percent are somewhat in favor of the law. That's compared to 32 percent who are strongly opposed and 11 percent somewhat opposed.
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An initiative would pass and then the court challenges.