Catching up *UPDATED*

I’ve spent the morning putting out fires.  They are all extinguished now, so I can get down to the fun stuff.  I read a ton of articles I think you might find interesting.  In no particular order:

The Washington Post looks at myths regarding the current flu season.  There were a couple of surprises for me.  I’ve long known that Bill Maher is an idiot, but I didn’t know that his idiocy includes advising people against flu vaccinations.  I guess I really shouldn’t be that surprised.  After all, stupid is as stupid does.  The other surprise was the praise the articles heaps on George Bush’s administration for flu preparedness, and the implicit criticism against the Obama administration for a lack of same.  Hmmm.

Bjørn Lomborg, who believes in climate change, but doesn’t believe in hysteria, takes the media to task for ignorance, falsehoods, and fear-mongering. I love it.

Charles Krauthammer says to conservatives:  Stop panicking.  You’re not falling apart at the ideological seams.  The problem facing conservatives now isn’t core issues, it’s how to deal with a president whose full-time job seems to be to try to sow disarray against the minority party in this year’s election cycle.  With magisterial calm, Krauthhammer proposes some practical solutions, which basically boil down to this:  “The general rule is: From a single house of Congress you can resist but you cannot impose.”

Matthew Cooper offers another “don’t panic” article, this one focusing on current and developing situations that play in favor of conservatives.

Of course, conservatives shouldn’t fool themselves.  Obama is a transformative president, just as surely as Reagan was.  He is the un-Reagan Revolution.  Despite his lack of actual administrative experience before taking office, Obama has had no problem leading America down the Big Government path.

Speaking of Obama, Mona Charen is appropriately disgusted with Obama’s charge that Benjamin Netanyahu, who daily deals with the existential threats facing his country, is a “coward.”  I’m not surprised at this flagrant nastiness.  One of the hallmarks of Obama’s reelection is that he’s really letting the mask slip.  Now that he’s secured a second term, he doesn’t have to pretend to be nice any more — and he really isn’t nice. (WSJ article is behind a pay wall.)  You and I always knew this, but he’s becoming so blatant now that others may start figuring it out.  He manages to share Richard Nixon’s temperament and ethics, without having his intelligence about political ideology.

Regarding guns, John Lott again reminds us that past gun control laws have been useless; and Daniel Foster tries to educate liberals about the AR-15’s utility.

In his latest column, Jonah Goldberg describes — and scolds — the “socially liberal fiscal conservatives,” who were “compelled” to vote for Obama because Republicans are “so extreme.”  I’ve heard that line from a lot of people in Marin.  Jonah’s column is a good reminder that, in this day and age, you can no longer straddle that line.  It’s kind of like being a Jew for Jesus — neither fish nor fowl, and not very appealing to anyone other than your fellow true-believers.

And lastly, Ed Driscoll looks at the Lance Armstrong confession and says everything that needs to be said about both Armstrong and about the media that lies about star athletes in order to keep access.

If there’s something you’d like to throw into the pot, feel free to use the comments section.

UPDATE: A few more points about the President and the media: the hagiography begins with even greater fervor than last time.