American Republic Online

Greg Mankiw shares a parable on tax policy.

ARO is now a big-time blog. ARO recently posted a bit about a short article at the Scientific American. Here’s the cerfuffle: Mims at Scientific American defends his use of a recent Yale survey (he used the American public as his majority, not scientists): “My intent in posting that story was not to comment on the science of global warming–it was to point out that, whatever your opinion of the subject, an overwhelming majority of Americans are pretty freaked out about it.”

However, if you look closely, at the bottom, Mims refers to our very own ARO. He also throws around nasty words like “plagiarism.” Apparently Mims is not aware of linking as a way of referencing sources, and a convention of italicizing words instead of using quotation marks. And to be fair, in hindsight, we should have probably indented everything one more time to make the citation more apparent.

The story is reproduced below, for your review. We have since added an additional citation for the -uhm- link-handicapped. We meant no harm; We repent of our sins: forgive us our cavalier posts. But thanks for the traffic!

Reality Check (Link to OpinionJournal.com)

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James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal reminds us of what two U.S. Senators said in 2002:

Although no one doubts our forces will prevail over Saddam Hussein’s, key regional leaders confirm what the Foreign Relations Committee emphasized in its Iraq hearings last summer: The most challenging phase will likely be the day after — or, more accurately, the decade after — Saddam Hussein.

Once he is gone, expectations are high that coalition forces will remain in large numbers to stabilize Iraq and support a civilian administration. That presence will be necessary for several years, given the vacuum there, which a divided Iraqi opposition will have trouble filling and which some new Iraqi military strongman must not fill…Americans are largely unprepared for such an undertaking. President Bush must make clear to the American people the scale of the commitment.

Republicans who were sent packing in 2006? Nay, dear reader, it was Senators Biden and Hagel.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The ARO Response to our supposed plagiarism is: HERE.

Reality Check (Link to OpinionJournal.com)

Scientific American is boasting about the result of a new poll:

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Some thoughts on balancing the environment and profits from the Instapundit.  A good read.

An interesting piece on Senator Coburn of Oklahoma:

“If you’re building infrastructure and you’re stealing it from your grandchildren, how’s that moral?” asked Coburn. “The greatest moral issue of our time today isn’t the war in Iraq, it isn’t abortion, it isn’t any of the other issues. It is, is it morally acceptable to steal opportunity and future from the next generation?”

This morning I watched a bit of Good Morning America. This is my choice for morning news (besides CNBC). But usually only the first half-hour, as I am not interested in baking, cats, or the latest trend in shoes. However, this morning I watched a little longer and caught a story on a skateboarder who was shoved by a police officer while his brother was filming him skate. Now, I have nothing against skateboarders (I myself was a punk rawker in my youth), but what caught my attention was a statement they made:

“I don’t think it’s the police’s fault and I don’t blame them at all. It’s the city’s fault for not giving us a place to skate.”

The city is making you break the law by not providing you a place to ply your trade? I’m sure the members of NAMBLA would agree. Look at this attitude: 1. it’s the city’s fault because 2. they didn’t do something for us.

Here’s an idea: take a break from filming yourself for YouTube and organize a skate park for yourself. Here we have big media fawning over some kids, promoting their victimhood of society’s cruelty. Diane Sawyer simply has to ask “And what are you doing about getting a skate park in your community?” and we can see how committed they are to the idea of a skate park, or if it is simply an excuse.

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Howie Carr is looking for politicians who have put their money where there mouth is:

I repeat my challenge: If you are a tax-fattened hyena in favor of higher taxes who is actually paying higher taxes, I want to hear from you…I will pat you on the back for your selfless decision to do your “fair share.”