In nature there is something called the food chain. It is where the shark eats the little shark, and the little shark eats the littler shark, and so on and so on and so on until you get down to the single-cell shark. But now, replace sharks with paper companies and that is all you need to know about business.

All you need to know about liberals and ideology was revealed in Obama’s recent statement to House Republicans as they were wrangling with him over the stimulus package:

“You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done, …”

It is inconceivable to him that Limbaugh and the Representatives he was speaking to could simply share the same conservative core values. The ideas of consistency in ideology, world view and core values are lost on the liberal mind. To him, you couldn’t have come by your beliefs through study, thought and a reference to deeply-held personal values. No, it must be because someone told you what to believe and communicating “truth” is the government’s job, not Rush Limbaugh’s.

It is this kind of thinking that will probably re-kindle efforts to pass the so-called Fairness Doctrine. The thought is that to halt the non government-sanctioned thinking they need simply squelch the “False Prophets.” The fact that conservative talk thrives while Air America has been a grand failure (it lives through private contributions, not by successfully acquiring a marketable audience) should have tipped them off that there is more to this than a man and his microphone behind the curtain. Guess not.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t people in this world who move about simply parroting their favorite talk personality. If you ever want to test someone, try to shift the conversation to a topic that hasn’t been in the news in the last 48 hours. If their well of “insight” suddenly runs dry … parrot. I sincerely hope that there aren’t any of these among the conservatives in leadership today, for they will be of no use in communicating a vision and re-capturing the imagination of the American people.

By the way, this is the second time in a week that a person or persons failed to simply prostrate themselves at his majesty’s feet. It is something Obama has not experienced before and he’s clearly still getting used to it. Let’s hope he improves before sitting down with his new buddies in the Middle East.

Joey has been sent to his room. Maybe, MAYBE he can come out in four years if he finishes his homework and writes 100 times: “I will not make fun of the Chief Justice on our first full day in office, especially considering that I have little room to talk when it comes to saying the wrong thing.”

Apparently it’s been a slow couple of days at ESPN’s MLB bureau. The big “news”: Jay McGwire alleges that his slugger brother used steroids.

Oops. I’m sorry. Were we still pretending that we weren’t sure about this? Seriously? My bad, I forgot.

I guess I found “I’m not here to talk about the past,” and “My lawyers have advised me,” and the repeated stonewalling were all the confession I needed.

Also shocking “news” is, and you’d better be sitting down for this, Jay McGwire is seeking a book deal.

Our new Messiah’s inaugural address was his last clear chance to play both ends against the middle, and he demonstrated his mastery as the throngs looked on and listened in. Conservatives heard “we will defeat you” (although they apparently missed the “outlast you” that shortly preceeded it) and liberals heard that “our security emanates from … humility and restraint.” So, which is it? I couldn’t wait for the actual decision-making to begin to fnd out.

It hasn’t taken long. After a flurry of executive orders and decisions we see how the game will be played. The magic is still there.

Closing Gitmo. Accelerating the withdrawal from Iraq. Halting enhanced interrogation techniques and throwing out any gains already made through their use in the past. Whack! Whack! Whack! Two days in he’s got his axe out and has taken three full swings at the tree that is our national security. All of the substantial moves that he has rushed to make have been straight out of his far left playbook.

No matter. The media worked so tirelessly for him during the campaign that they are now part of his staff. (more…)

OK, first of all, without any background, this book’s title is misleading. This is especially true if you come at it, as I did, from a source on top quality business books. This is not targeted at the sale professional and It is not a “how to” on persuasion. It is a discussion of how our minds are persuaded and how the mechanisms that produce genuine, desired persuasion can be exploited.

When faced with a decision, it is simply not possible for one to objectively gather and weigh all of the relevant information before acting. Our world has become too fast-paced and complex for that. To cope, whether we are aware of it or not, we lean on a number of shortcuts. Example: Often when faced with a choice between different versions of the same good, rather than research we tend to assume that the more expensive of the options is of higher quality and the cheaper versions are lower grade.

Cialdini outlines six such mechanisms by which we are persuaded. If I were to simply list them here, you would find nothing earth-shaking. Though you’ve probably never set out to assemble a list of ways in which you can be persuaded, given the premise of each you would easily guess the resulting behavior. They make perfect sense, and as you read, many examples of having succumbed to each mechanism will quickly come to mind.

That’s the rub. Though they are intuitive and though, after reading this book, we are aware of them, they still work. (more…)

For me this is the real inauguration day – the day the real word gets ushered back into the discussion. I don’t wish our new President ill. After all, I live in this country and will have to absorb the consequences of the decisions he makes. I’m simply sick of the Fantasyland we’ve been fed for more than a year.

Congrats. It worked. You won. But the downside is … you’re actually the President now. The days when you could smooth things over with lofty but empty rhetoric are gone. You’ll see your report card daily on the front page of every newspaper in America and hear it trumpeted across the land each evening by newsmen who got where they are by running better Presidents than you into the ground.

Really, though, this is not on Obama. You can’t blame a guy for figuring out how to win the game. This is on those who voted for him. No, not just voted for, those who lusted after him, weeping and fainting at simply being in his presence. I laugh today, thinking of them (more…)

What a couple of great games this past weekend! A lot of action. Good offense. Good defense. Both games were close right to the end. And though I’m happy with both winners, now I’m torn as to who to root for in the Super Bowl. The Steelers are one of the classiest organizations in the NFL. The roots of this team haven’t changed over the decades. It’s still all about a competent offense and bone-crushing defense. But the Arizona Cardinals are also a great story. Kurt Warner’s rise from the ashes mirrors the fortunes of a team that has seemingly been down forever and now finds itself on top. This year’s final game will feature a bunch of class acts on both sides. Couldn’t be happier for them.

– B –

So it comes down to Pittsburgh’s “D” trying to stop the high-flying Cardinal attack. On the other side of the ball expect the usual from Pittsburgh. Just enough offensive production to make the game about their defense. In 11 games against opponents with winning records this year, the Steelers offense has scored more than 20 points only twice. So the gauntlet is down Arizona: If you can put the ball in the end zone three times you’ve got a good look at the ring.

And Sunday afternoon Philadelphia helped out their AFC in-state brothers by providing a blueprint for what to do against Arizona and what NOT to do. DO pressure Kurt Warner. And we’re talking real pressure, fast, because … DO NOT, when blitzing, give Kurt Warner a second to think. I don’t care how good your defense is. If your plan is to leave Boldin and Fitzgerald (especially Fitzgerald) in single coverage you might just as well leave them wide open and blitz two more DB’s.

– B –

Pittsburgh is a TD favorite. Do you think Arizona cares? (more…)