Apt. 11D

Presidents and The Economy

A few weeks ago, I wrote:

The Democrats have been amazingly on message during this convention. Are you better off than you were four years ago? Yes, they said over and over. I almost believe it. I'm not sure how much blame or credit for the economy should go to presidents. Forces beyond their control shape the economy, though they can tinker around the edges to make things better or worse. They can lay the groundwork for long term changes and can support groups that are the big losers in a bad economy. But politics doesn't work in these subtleties. 

Megan McArdle has an op-ed and a super pretty video that illustrates, literally, this point.

I am enjoying the role that art is playing in modern opinion writing. That's the second blog post today that include illustratrators. (Here's the first.) I'm sensing a theme for the day! 

 

Framing Romney: Another Rush or a Rich Stiff

In the Caucas blog at the New York Times, Matt Bai argues that Bill Clinton may have given the Obama campaign some bad advice. He convinced them to stop painting Romney as a "flip-flopper" and instead label him an "extreme conservative." This label isn't sticking, Bai argues, because Romney isn't an extreme conservative. 

The bottom line here is that one can over-think this whole notion of framing your opponent. Ninety-nine times out of 100, the line of attack that works best is the one that really rings true. In the case of Mr. Romney, whatever his stated positions may be, the idea that he’s a far-right ideologue, a kind of Rush Limbaugh with better suits and frosty hair, just doesn’t feel especially persuasive.

I'm not sure that Bai gets it right. Obama, at least during the debates, has been trying to frame Romney as a boardroom stiff, who is out of touch with regular Americans. Maybe they need to do a better job pushing that message, because I think that the Rich Stiff frame is very powerful. 

The Yin and the Yang of Introverts and Extroverts

Stolen from Andrew Sullivan.

 

The Market for Stolen Art

If I could do it all over again, I would like to work for the FBI tracking stolen artwork. 

Last week, artwork by Monet, Picasso, and Matisse museum in Rottendam was stolen. 

Robert Wittman reports that it's impossible to sell these extremely well-known masterpieces. 

The stark reality for the thieves who pull off these headline-grabbing capers is there is no market, black or otherwise, to sell a stolen masterpiece. Even in the criminal world, someone who traffics in guns or drugs would have no interest in a stolen painting that cannot be resold when they have cash-convertible goods on hand. These stolen masterpieces will languish in closets and warehouses until they are discovered and returned to their rightful owners by law enforcement operations or simply the passage of time.

Stealing art work from a major museum is not liking knocking off the 7/11. You really have to know what you're doing to get past all that security. The criminals who are smart enough to steal that work, also have to be smart enough to know that they can't fence those objects later on. So, why do they do it? It might be better to steal artwork by artists who aren't as well known as Picasso. There's always a Russian mobster or a Dubaii Kingpin who will buy that stuff. 

So, why do they do it? It's the glory. 

O is For Ovulating AND Obama

CNN profiles amazing study on women's voting patterns. 

The researchers found that during the fertile time of the month, when levels of the hormone estrogen are high, single women appeared more likely to vote for Obama and committed women appeared more likely to vote for Romney, by a margin of at least 20%, Durante said. This seems to be the driver behind the researchers' overall observation that single women were inclined toward Obama and committed women leaned toward Romney.

The Military Doesn't Take Rape Seriously

Amy Sullivan writes a great column in The New Republic about military rape.

Ever since the Navy’s Tailhook scandal in 1991, the Pentagon has declared a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual assault and rape by troops. But as “The Invisible War,” a powerful new documentary out on DVD this week makes clear, the U.S. military’s actual measures to prevent rape and punish rapists range from insulting to laughable to virtually non-existent. Meanwhile, women (and men) who sign up to risk their lives for our country are being driven out of the armed forces after having their bodies assaulted and their careers ruined.

Tom Hanks Does a Slam Poem About "Full House"

The "R" Word

During the last president debate, Ann Coulter tweeted, "I highly approve of Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard."

Because I follow quite a number of people in the autism politics world, backlash to this comment showed up in my Twitterfeed almost immediately. I didn't weigh in, because responding to Coulter's stupidity could be a full time job. 

But this story is picking up steam, so here's a few links:

Here's a response from a man with Downs' Syndrome. 

Higher Education Stress

We've had a fair share of stress in the past ten days, so I completely related to this article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, which discusses the results of a new survey of university faculty. 

Faculty, particularly younger faculty and temporary employees, were under a great deal of stress. Full time professors had less time to teach, because of research demands. "Self-imposed high expectations, lack of personal time, and working with underprepared students were the leading sources of stress for faculty." 

Those who weren't lucky enough to have a tenure-track position were in a worse position as they realized that they were on a dead-end to employment. 

Autumn in the Burbs