All the Kings Men

Granted, I am certain that most honest observers have characterized Sean Hannity as a two-bit party-hack for some time. Notwithstanding his obvious allegiances and delusional blindness, Hannity's new "Enemy of the State" segment exceeds all of my gutter-dwelling expectations. I mean seriously, "Enemy of the State??" Perhaps I'm out of the norm here, but that's a badge I'd wear proudly. Sign me up. David Weigel at Reason summarizes the 'Hannity Code' nicely:

...the Hannity strain of authoritarianism... has as its first principle worship of George W. Bush.... Hannity, like far too many Fox News pundits and radio hosts, is protecting George W. Bush against criticism from, well, everyone, from Pat Buchanan and Justin Raimondo to Cindy Sheehan and Dennis Kucinich. Notice what Sean Penn is maligned for: insulting Hannity and "calling for the impeachment of everyone in the Bush administration and calling them bastards." That might be unpleasant, but the conservatives of yore thought the Republic could survive occasional verbal attacks on the executive branch. Hannity thinks an attack on Bush is an attack on America. This is the reasoning of fascists, or at least of trembling four year olds.

UPDATE: It appears that I am a day late here as Hannity has apparently renamed the segment, "Enemy of the Week."

Drinking the Kool-Aid

Is the Governator beginning to drink from the family well or is he just returning to his Austrian (i.e. "socialist") roots? From the WSJ:

[The governor's health care plan] would require employers with 10 or more workers to provide health insurance or pay a 4% tax on all wages covered by Social Security: Look for employers with 10 to 12 employees to get creative about outsourcing. And look as well, as Harvard economist Jonathan Gruber has documented, for wages to fall in firms that offer health insurance because of the mandate. Gov. Schwarzenegger would throw in a 2% tax on doctors and a 4% tax on hospitals to help fund Medi-Cal, California's name for Medicaid. And he would expand Medi-Cal to adults earning as much as 100% above the poverty line and to children, even those here illegally, in poor and middle-income families.

Yikes.

If You're Not With Us, You're Against Us

It's nice to see that the Republican leadership hasn't allowed their collective ass-whupp'in at the polls to convince them to change their corrupt ways... Keep it up, losers.

Governor Standish

I can't begin to articulate the joyous feeling one gets from living in a state with a Puritan Governor... A Governor committed to guide his people down the path of righteousness, kicking and screaming if necessary, and away from the hedonistic impulses that they would otherwise pursue... Thanks, Gov., for being there... Cheers (oops).