I’m on Instavision with Glenn Reynolds, which is fun because he isn’t scared to talk about cars or sex. Today: cars! … Also discussed: 1) Was Occupy Wall Street on the verge of Dinkinsizing Obama? After all, one social malady Obama hasn’t had to contend with, until now, has been a rising crime rate or, more broadly, a general sense of things spinning out of control in cities–something that is almost invariably toxic for incumbents (ask David Dinkins and Jimmy Carter, or Bill Clinton in 1994**). But now Occupy Wall Street has provided at least a whiff of authentic 1960s semi-anarchy, and the Democrats’ attitude toward the protests has been generally supportive (or “permissive”). I remember the President who got elected in 1968. Not a Democrat. … 2) Will Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker get beat like Ohio Governor John Kasich? … 3) GE bails out the Volt. … P.S.: My big problem with these appearances–as in other, more painful, life situations– is that my “inner smile” often comes off as smug. I think I avoided that today through a rigorous program of gesticulation. But let me know. …
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** — In his stock 1994 campaign speech, aspiring Speaker Newt Gingrich played heavily on fears of social breakdown (caused, he said, by the “liberal welfare state”):
No civilization can survive with 12-year-olds having babies, with 15-year-olds killing each other, with 17-year-olds dying of AIDS, with 18-year-olds getting diplomas they can’t read.