Karl's Weekend Reading

We're doing something different this week. Our first three below aren't article recommendations per se, but instead quotes that stand alone as both entertaining and destructive.

On healthcare reform, WSJ's James Taranto provides three gems from his Best of the Web column:

Rules for Republicans, Too:

Our Fearless Independent Media

"Obama Takes On Health Care Critics"--headline, NPR.org, Aug. 11
"Obama Takes On Health Care Reform Critics"--headline, Voice of America Web site, Aug. 11
"Obama Takes On Health Care Critics"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 12
"Obama Takes On Health Care Critics"--headline, USA Today, Aug. 12
"Obama Takes On Critics at Town Hall Forum"--headline, Chicago Tribune, Aug. 12
"Obama Takes On Health Care Critics"--headline, Slate.com, Aug. 12
"Obama to Take On Health-Care Critics"--headline, Washington Post, Aug. 14

Spammer in Chief:

Al Gore might have taken the initiative in creating the Internet, but no one seems to have bothered to teach basic netiquette to Barack Obama and his White House staff. As they have grown more desperate in their attempts to remake America's medical system in the image of the post office, they have resorted to increasingly obnoxious email tactics.

First was flag@whitehouse.gov, the address for reporting "fishy" speech. After being pilloried endlessly for what critics thought was an effort to compile an enemies list, the White House deactivated the address--and blamed its critics.
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We are far from convinced that the White House takes online privacy very seriously, although we will concede that the White House takes the perception that the White House doesn't seem to take online privacy very seriously, seriously.

and Unilateral Invasion, in regards to the go-it-alone attitude of the congressional Democrats

So let's see if we have this straight: Democrats sought to go to war with one-sixth of the U.S. economy. They didn't have a plan, and now they have no allies, so they've decided to go it alone.

Of course, if we really wanted to be cruel, we'd point out that the Republicans are acting like the French.

THAT would lower the political discourse and stifle debate!

Also in the WSJ, Daniel Henninger writes about the core issue coming out of the healthcare 'debate', the tea parties and the general mood of Americans toward their government - trust. In Government We Trust?

I believe Madoff's massive and destructive breach of trust had an effect on the public mind that carried beyond the tragedy of its immediate victims. After Madoff, John Q. Public set the bar really high for anyone seeking a big commitment of trust with money. But that's exactly what the ambitious Obama health plan did.
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...people seem to think that if a popular president can just find the right way to describe this entitlement, the American people will take his word for it. Maybe there was a time when a strong presidential personality could sell big things. Those days are gone. The government frittered them away.