Congress Has Lowest Approval Rating EVER

Lost in all of the (justified) dumping on 'W' is the fact that Congress has been alternatively inept, ineffective and incompetent for....well, since about 1998.

It seems the public has noticed, as this recent Gallup poll reports - only 12% of all respondents are confident in Congress. This is the story that's getting the most attention, but take a look at some of the other lower scorers:

Public schools - 33% (maybe the Dems should be a little careful before defending education status quo).

Mass media news - 24% (tv news & newspapers - even the masses realize that mass media is choosing ratings over veritas.)

Unions - 20% - considering that only 12% of all Americans belong to a union, it looks like the only people who care are those with a financial relationship with the unions (members, plus retirees and extended family.)

Finally, it is interesting to note 2 disconnects:

Small businesses are well-received (60%) while big business scores poorly (20%). Relatively speaking, the same dynamic exists between the the medical system (35%) and HMOs (13%.)




Hat tip: Club for Growth blog

Bizarre image of the day......

Apparently the Chinese anti-terrorist squad will be deploying during the Olympics on Segways. Better hope no bad guys can run faster than 12 mph!

China is widely publicizing it's anti-terror precautions during the Olypmics as much inside the country as externally, as I noticed on a TV segment featuring such a team (riding SUVs, not Segways) on TV during my last trip to China last fall. Though China is often perceived to be passive internally, and therefore more concerned about external terror threats, IMHO, internal terror group pose as big of a threat, as China is anything but a homogeneous country.

Hat tip: Deadspin.

video from Jefferson's draft of Declaration of Independence

Happy 4th of July, and happy birthday America!

In honor of this auspicious day, here's an illustration of one of the key moments in the birth of our nation.



This clip comes from the HBO John Adams series which, from the parts I saw, was excellent. One of the highlights was Jefferson, played extremely well by Stephen Dillane. I'd really like to see him in a Jefferson-centric feature.

Hat tip: the Club for Growth Blog