Quotes of the day

U.S. government spending as a percentage of GDP is now equal to Canada's and rising, leading one Canadian op-ed writer to crow about Canada's low tax, free market economy. Damn that hurts.--Alex Tabarrok

When bus passengers yell at driver, it improves safety. Is this an argument for free speech in general?--Glenn Reynolds

Does Arlen Specter's defection from R to D strengthen the President's hand in Congress? Perhaps overall but not on judicial appointments because breaking (the equivalent of) a filibuster in the Senate Judiciary Committee requires the consent of at least one member of the minority. Before today, Specter was likely to be that one Republican.--Michael Dorf

Note that [Jon] Stewart is applying the same sort of revisionism to our war with Imperial Japan that both Pat Buchanan and PBS (via historian Niall Ferguson) each did last year to America’s fight against Nazi Germany.--Ed Driscoll

Joseph Biden is frankly a comic character and we are lucky to have him. Things are just too grim these days - what with the putative swine flu catastrophe, the economic decline and Islamopsychos on the rise in Iraq again. We need a little Biden in our life.--Roger Simon

You don’t need Obama here. I bought the cow.--Marine corporal Sean Conroy, to his Afghan comrades

I own a Mini. Cap and trade could push my resale value into the stratosphere. Not that I would support a policy for personal, mercenary reasons ...--Megan McArdle

Yeah, shut up, listen to the veterans, work hard, and knock someone in the mouth.--Rodney Harrison, to rookie Patrick Chung