Republicans Don't Really Care About the Deficit

Jonathan Chait does the history:

"It's so clear cut that Democrats care more about reducing deficit than Republicans that the more interesting question is why this is even a matter of debate. We don't, after all, debate which party cares more about regulating greenhouse gasses or keeping low marginal tax rates -- and the evidence on those issues is no more ambiguous than the evidence on the question of who cares more about deficits"

I Don't Usually Agree With Ramesh Ponnuru

But I think he's a pretty honest guy.

Making Street Harassment Illegal?

New York is considering a bill that, essentially, would make it illegal for construction workers (among others) to whistle at women walking down the street. I can't say I'm entirely comfortable with the idea. But I'm a dude, and I don't really ever have to deal with this:

in its less extreme, and probably more common forms, street harassment takes a seemingly innocuous tone -- "smile, beautiful," or "hello, gorgeous," comments I'm willing to bet nearly every city-dwelling woman has heard. That tone, which in a normal situation could be taken as complimentary, might lead some to misunderstand the point, as they do in the video above. Some of those interviewed wondered whether some women enjoy being talked to on the street, and regard it as a pick-me-up on a bad day. But it's less about whether anyone enjoys it, and why; it's that men who shout at women, regardless of what they say, are claiming public territory in a way that asserts control. I've lived in many different neighborhoods in New York and now live in D.C., where I regularly run along city streets, and I've heard the full range of talk from men. The fact of it -- and the fact that being shouted at by men is not a possibility but a certainty -- is inherently hostile and all seems designed, unconsciously or not, to make me feel not as though these men want to talk to me but that they have a right to.

I used the construction worker example, incidentally, because I'd seen the stereotype depicted for years on TV and in movies. It wasn't until I moved to Philadelphia, though, that I actually witnessed construction workers calling out to attractive women passing by on the streets. I confess: I don't get it. Do these guys think that's actually a way to get laid? (I have the same question about Brett Favre sending pictures of his penis to an attractive woman?) Two possibilities exist: They do think it'll help them get laid, in which case they're just stupid. Or they don't think so, and they really are just harassing women in a public space. If that's the case, what's to be done? I'm not inclined to criminalize every uncomfortable interaction in the public sphere, but this is ridiculous.

Can We Stop Talking About Christine O'Donnell?

This is embarrassing:

"Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell didn't get too much national media coverage before upsetting the Republican establishment and winning the Delaware primary in September. But since then, O'Donnell's been all over the news—confirming she's not witch, questioning the separation of church and state, appearing in newly surfaced 'Politically Incorrect' clips from the late '90s, and starring in a salacious Gawker story."

Of course, O'Donnell has never been within striking distance of actually winning the Senate seat -- which means all the bloviating outside of Delaware about her witchiness, weirdness and sex life was just a distracting sideshow. Which we're used to getting from the media, granted, but it's still a shame and waste of limited coverage resources.

The 10 Most Obscure American Wars

An interesting list from Tom Ricks.

Zachary Chesser: One More Problem With Stateless Terrorism

Interesting Washington Post article on the Virginia kid convicted of threatening the "South Park" guys for their portrayal of Mohammed:

"While much about what prompted Chesser's transformation remains a mystery, he illustrates a growing phenomenon in the United States: young converts who embrace the most extreme interpretation of Islam.

Of the nearly 200 U.S. citizens arrested in the past nine years for terrorism-related activity, 20 to 25 percent have been converts, said Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism. More than a quarter have been arrested in the past 20 months."

This is why I find demography worrywarts like Mark Steyn somewhat nonsensical. His idea is that extreme Islam will eventually be ascendant because of the birth rates of Middle Eastern immigrants in the West. But radical fundamentalism isn't embedded in anybody's DNA: It's an idea that people are free to consider, accept or reject. Thanks to the Internet, we can't really quarantine that idea, so we should be spending more time and effort trying to counter it. Sure we need to arrest and, occasionally, kill those who threaten America. But we need to take a look at these converts and figure out the attraction of violent fundamentalism. And then we need to find a compelling counterargument. It won't always work, but it might work enough to save a few lives.

Does a GOP Win Mean Unions Lose?

Probably not. We have to get all the way to the end of this times story about labor fears of a GOP-controlled House to get this paragraph:

"Mr. Samuel predicted that labor could stop any Republican legislative offensive. “When Republicans won control of the House in 1994, they tried to roll back 60 years of labor protections for workers, but we fought them to a stalemate,” he said. “If the Republicans attempt that again, I think this story will repeat itself.”"

Well, of course! Tomorrow, Democrats will still probably control the Senate -- albeit by a narrower, more easily filibustered margin. They'll also still control the White House. What this means is that unions will find it nearly impossible to advance their agenda -- but union-busting Republicans really won't have much room to run, either. It'll be gridlock, for better and for worse.