I wasn’t very happy with Christopher Hitchens’ treatment of Bob Hope’s humorousness, or Ronald Reagan’s intelligence. But, he seems to be at the top of his game today when focusing on Michael Moore and his new Fahrenheit 9/11 film.

It’s possible that the difference is in my own prejudices for Hope and Reagan and against Moore. But, I really think that the difference is in the quality and correctness of Hitchens’ analysis.

In other words, go read this.

UPDATE: If anybody is still confused about whether this film is an honest criticism of the Bush administration’s handling of 9/11 and the War on Terror, or a one-sided attempt to deceive people, they should please read this article by Dave Kopel.

Congratulations to Scaled Composites for the first successful private-sector manned mission to space!

This was a huge achievement that will probably open the door to lots more private investment in space.

Now, if someone could convince Paul Allen and some of his friends to finance a Space Elevator, things could really get moving!

Orrin Hatch is a bad man.

Read this and weep.

Basically, he’s introducing a bill in the Senate that will punish those who “induce” the violation of copyrighted material. The bill seems to be aimed at peer-to-peer networks. It could, however, be interpreted to cover lots of other things (like VCRs, TiVo, who knows what else???).

This might be constitutional, but it doesn’t pass the “ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE???” test.

There’s nothing like stifling creativity by threatening people who might introduce innovative technology but are afraid that they might be punished by bad, vague, law.

And, doing all this under the pretense of protecting children just rubs salt in the wound.

Sheesh!

A funny thing happened to me as I watched Groundhog Day last night.

I noticed something new.

I think that I may have seen the movie ten times by now. I really like it, and I highly recommend it to anybody who hasn’t seen it (or who hasn’t seen it in a while).

Last night I decided that a moment in the movie, that I had dismissed as irrelevant before, is probably significant. The point is when Bill Murray’s character gets hit in the head with a shovel. I now think that this triggered the events that make up most of the movie (perhaps his exposure to the cold on the highway had an effect as well).

This is interesting to me because it points out how even though we seem to be watching the same movie over again, we really aren’t. Each time we are more familiar with the movie and are able to focus on different aspects; like anticipating great lines/scenes, looking for continuity issues, thinking more deeply about how certain aspects relate to other things that come up later.

I’ve heard many parents complaining about how annoying it is to them that their small children like to watch videos over and over again. The thing that they should realize is that it’s a different experience every time, because their knowledge of it (and other things) is different every time.

Great News!

Even though John Kerry is probably upset by the strong signs of economic recovery, his campaign is (unwittingly) doing its share to help.

It seems to me that its success in separating lots of stupid people from $100 million within three months is bound to improve the economy.

I suspect that those who get the money from advertising revenue will invest it much more wisely than people who contributed it to the Kerry campaign would have.

Since we’re nearing the end of the official day to remember Ronald Reagan, I thought I’d add one more point that lots of people still seem to have missed.

Many people think that Reagan was successful because he used his acting skills to ingratiate himself with the American people, but he was really just a stupid man (an “amiable dunce”) mouthing other people’s words and ideas.

Those people are wrong.

If you doubt me, please read this Reason Magazine interview of Reagan from 1975. I still recall reading it at the library in 1980, and being surprised myself at how thoughtful Reagan was.

You should also read the Reagan speeches from here (scroll down), articularly this famous speech from 1964 which he wrote and delivered for Barry Goldwater’s failed campaign.

And, if this isn’t enough, you could check out the book described and reviewed here.

Ronald Reagan was a genuine intellectual. Most of the people who don’t know that by now are the people who don’t want to.

I’ve missed his messages for a while now. I’m glad we still have his words from the past, and the improvements in the world he left behind.

Tim Lee has a great post about the new puritanism of “public health” advocates.

Here’s an excerpt:

Here’s the problem: Some of us like triple fudge ice cream, cigarettes, and watching TV. Some of us like to play sports that pose risks of serious injury. A few of us even like to have sex despite the very real risks of STDs and unplanned pregnancies. I don’t know a single person whose sole goal in life is to maximize his life expectancy. This is social science run amok.

Read the whole thing.

I don’t have anything profound to say about this, but all of this talk about exactly where President Reagan’s corpse will be and how many people are going to visit and pay their respects to him has begun to strike me as somewhat primitive, and downright creepy.

It’s a dead body! It’s not him!

I realize that mourning the dead can be difficult, and rituals can help ease the trauma, and most people see this as important symbolism, but…

It’s a dead body! It’s not him!

Thank you very much.

On my drive home from work today I noticed a message printed on the back of the vehicle that was stopped in front of me at a red light which read:

Blind Person Driving

I had a good “What the hell?” moment before I realized that other printing on the vehicle was advertising the sale and installation of window blinds.

Heh.

Wow!

I just got an MSN pop-up saying that Ronald Reagan has died.

I’m quite confident that Reagan was the best president during my lifetime. He wasn’t as libertarian as I am, but he had a genuine commitment to individual and economic liberty and an opposition to big-government collectivism. I think that it’s fair to say that his resolve against the Soviet Union hastened its downfall.

He also had an optimistic outlook and a great sense of humor which, for some reason, means a lot to me.

UPDATE: Read David Boaz’s fine tribute to Reagan at Cato.

Also read this article by Natan Sharansky, whose judgment on this matter I value more than that of Christopher Hitchens any day.