Despite Bachmann’s Success, the Real GOP Race Is Now Perry vs. Romney … Until now, the biggest question looming over the 2012 Republican primary was who would emerge as the leading alternative to the nominal front-runner, Mitt Romney. We now know the answer… Rick Perry. … Yes, Michele Bachmann is the one who boxed Tim Pawlenty out of the race with her triumph in the Iowa Straw Poll… But… Bachmann’s victory in a mock, Midwestern election dominated by the fringes of the Republican Party only served to highlight her narrow appeal. – National Journal

Iowa Straw Poll Damages Republican Prospects: Margaret Carlson … After this past weekend, perhaps Republicans will finally end the disastrous Iowa Straw Poll. In five tries, the circus in Ames has picked a future president once. … You wonder why Republicans allow this mix of carnival and county fair to have such an outsize impact. Its standards of bribery would make a traffic cop in Lagos blush. … Bachmann was tailor-made to appeal to the select group of activists who dominate the event. A vibrant bundle of energy, she giddily pitched red meat to the extremist wing of her party. – Bloomberg

Addiction Now Defined As Brain Disorder, Not Behavior Issue … Addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavior problem involving alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex, experts contend in a new definition of addiction… “At its core, addiction isn’t just a social problem or a moral problem or a criminal problem. It’s a brain problem whose behaviors manifest in all these other areas…” … it must be treated, managed and monitored over a person’s lifetime… we have to stop moralizing, blaming, controlling or smirking at the person with the disease of addiction, and start creating opportunities for individuals and families to get help and providing assistance in choosing proper treatment. – MSNBC

Despite Bachmann’s Success, the Real GOP Race Is Now Perry vs. Romney

Until now, the biggest question looming over the 2012 Republican primary was who would emerge as the leading alternative to the nominal front-runner, Mitt Romney. We now know the answer… Rick Perry. … Yes, Michele Bachmann is the one who boxed Tim Pawlenty out of the race with her triumph in the Iowa Straw Poll… But… Bachmann’s victory in a mock, Midwestern election dominated by the fringes of the Republican Party only served to highlight her narrow appeal. – National Journal

Dominant Social Theme: The proper function of elections is to ratify what the mainstream media have determined.

Free-Market Analysis: For the mainstream media, facts aren’t matters to be reported, they are objects to be framed. The fact that Michele Bachmann came out on top in the Iowa straw poll doesn’t matter because she is (1) a woman (2) who is educated and (3) is not a booster of big government. The fact that Ron Paul came second by a narrow margin matters even less for the mainstream media pundits. Such people do not exist, or if they do, shouldn’t. Therefore in Bachmann’s case, she is the candidate of fringe-dwellers. And since she got the fringe-dweller vote, the narrowness of her appeal is unquestionable. Case closed.

Michelle Bachmann’s success in Iowa is a further demonstration that straw polls, which are comparatively difficult for the mainstream media to influence, are to be disregarded. (But don’t expect that logic to carry any weight if anyone conducts a Presidential straw poll among the faculty of Columbia University.)

Iowa Straw Poll Damages Republican Prospects: Margaret Carlson

After this past weekend, perhaps Republicans will finally end the disastrous Iowa Straw Poll. In five tries, the circus in Ames has picked a future president once. … You wonder why Republicans allow this mix of carnival and county fair to have such an outsize impact. Its standards of bribery would make a traffic cop in Lagos blush. … Bachmann was tailor-made to appeal to the select group of activists who dominate the event. A vibrant bundle of energy, she giddily pitched red meat to the extremist wing of her party. – Bloomberg

Dominant Social Theme: The proper function of elections is to ratify what the mainstream media have determined.

Free-Market Analysis: Yes, you’ve heard that one before – just above, in fact. But it is so important, the mainstream media won’t pass up a chance to tell you again. If too many people forgot it, an election, just by accident, might matter. The Iowa Straw Poll is a loose cannon. The number of participants is small enough that any outsider, whether he is a non-compliant candidate or a carrier of subversive ideas, can have a big enough impact that the New York-Washington megaphone will have trouble drowning him out.

Addiction Now Defined As Brain Disorder, Not Behavior Issue

Addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavior problem involving alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex, experts contend in a new definition of addiction… “At its core, addiction isn’t just a social problem or a moral problem or a criminal problem. It’s a brain problem whose behaviors manifest in all these other areas…” … it must be treated, managed and monitored over a person’s lifetime… we have to stop moralizing, blaming, controlling or smirking at the person with the disease of addiction, and start creating opportunities for individuals and families to get help and providing assistance in choosing proper treatment. – MSNBC

Dominant Social Theme: People can’t control themselves, so professionals must take over.

Free-Market Analysis: There’s not much left that an individual is responsible for. Paying taxes and showing up for therapy are about it. And even if you fail on both those accounts, you may be able to reduce the matter to a single failing: you failed to pay your taxes because you have a bad attitude because you didn’t show up for therapy. Worth trying, since the penalty is still lighter for therapy evasion than for tax evasion.

The establishment likes the addiction concept and wants to stretch it to cover all human activity because shrinking the range of personal responsibility shrinks the range of freedom. How can individuals be left to make their own spending and investing decisions if they are prone to addiction? They need to be taxed and regulated. How can parents, most of whom are addicted to something, be left to choose schools for their children? They need public schools. How can legislators elected by the addicted masses be left with the last word on anything? They need courts to decide what the law really means.