David McElroy

Politicians don’t make mistakes. If you don’t believe me, just ask them. They’ll have serious trouble coming up with examples of anything they’ve done wrong.

In 2004, Democrats howled with laughter and amazement when George W. Bush couldn’t come up with any examples of mistakes he had made since the terrorist attacks in 2001. “Dumb ol’ Bush is making mistakes all over the place, but he won’t admit it,” was the prevailing attitude among Democrats then.

Well, the tables have turned and Republicans are able to howl with laughter at Barack Obama’s blindness about the same issue. After three years in office — and with the economy continuing to fall apart instead of performing as he told us it would based on his “stimulus” spending — Obama is still convinced that he’s made all the right economic choices.

In an interview with ABC News’ Jake Tapper, Obama concedes that the election next year is going to be close because of the economy, but he’s not willing to take any responsibility for having made things worse:

“I guarantee it’s going to be a close election because the economy is not where it wants to be and even though I believe all the choices we’ve made have been the right ones, we’re still going through difficult circumstances. That means people who may be sympathetic to my point of view still kind of feel like, yeah, but it still hasn’t gotten done yet.”

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We see plenty of unemployed people with advanced educational degrees today. Want to meet someone with a master’s in English or art? Check behind the counter at Starbuck’s. Those people are pretty angry.

On the other hand, we have companies begging for highly skilled workers who are nowhere to be found. Why is there such a disconnect between what people are trained for and what the market needs?

Some would say it’s a market failure and that we need some kind of system to co-ordinate job training and education. Instead, it’s what happens when you let government rig the incentive structure, even with the best of intentions.

For something like 60 years, government has made it easy to go to college and has taught people that a college degree is the ticket to a good life. Going to college to get an undergraduate degree (or more) has been subsidized and propagandized, so that’s what people do — far out of proportion to its necessity.

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If you happen to be in the Australian state of Victoria, be sure you don’t insult the politician in charge of gambling. (Or his staff, either.) It might just cost you $12,000 under a new law set to pass.

Politicians are some of the most thin-skinned people I’ve ever known. It’s not true of all of them, but many of them believe there’s one set of rules for you, but another set for themselves. They’re free to say whatever they want about you, but heaven help you if you speak ill of them.

The latest example of this double standard comes from Victoria, where the state government is making it a crime to insult the state gambling officials. According to an Australian newspaper, a spokeswoman for the government explains the move this way:

“This provision protects officers of the gambling regulator from bullying or intimidation when exercising powers at the direction of the Minister for Gaming. The minister can look after himself, but does not believe that those working on his behalf should have to put up with harassment.”

Let’s be honest. If you believe in free speech, you believe people have the right to say what they want, even if others find it insulting. If you believe in legal limits to free speech, you don’t believe in real free speech. I want to hold people responsible for fraud or libel their words might be used for, but stopping people from simply insulting others is wrong. That isn’t what free societies do.

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