Traffic Cam Sham

Say Uncle asks if red light cameras are about revenue or safety.
Given that the research on safety is mixed, I think it must be about revenue, since it seems the main people pushing these devices are those who stand to financially profit from them.

America’s Price Detector

I wonder if he knows how much a gallon of milk costs:

On the November 4 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed that the price of gasoline was $1.29 per gallon in April 2005. During a segment in which he lamented the current popular discontent over high gasoline prices, Limbaugh stated, “Gasoline price goes up, it comes down. … It was $1.29. When was it $1.29? Seven months ago.” But according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the national average price of regular conventional-formulation gasoline was $2.20 per gallon on April 4. The last time the national average gasoline price was $1.29 or below was March 18, 2002.

I don’t suspect Mr. Limbaugh does a lot of shopping and comparing at gas stations. Which means he has about as much expertise on that as most of the other subjects he spouts off on.

SCOTUS Qualifications

Interesting:

Judge Alito has served with distinction on that court for 15 years and now has more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years.

Just one month ago we learned that prior judicial experience on a nominee’s resume was irrelevant:

And one of the most interesting ideas I heard was, why don’t you pick somebody who hasn’t been a judge? Why don’t you reach outside the — I think one senator said, the “judicial monastery.”
I thought it was an interesting idea. And I thought long and hard about it. I obviously looked at whether or not other Presidents had done — made that decision; they had. And so, recognizing that Harriet will bring not only expertise, but a fresh approach, I nominated her.

So much for the “fresh approach.”

A Sign Of Weakness

The Miers withdrawal illustrates what Ann Althouse said: “Once people have decided you’re dumb, pretty much everything you say sounds dumb.” Or probably more accurately in this case, once the right wing thinks you’re too liberal for them, everything you say sounds too liberal.
Think Progress reminds us what the media said this withdrawal says about President Bush’s so-called political capital.
Unfortunately, the pressure will really be on Bush to pick a judicial crusader. And as we’ve seen he doesn’t even have the backbone to stand up to his own party.