A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Obviously, this seriously damages any and all incentives to work hard and to be successful. Under an Obama economic plan, one could work less and then wait for wealth redistribution to make the difference between a lower and an augmented standard of living. There is no way to overemphasize just how radical a transformation this would be in our national political and economic structure.

The unfairness of this arrangement would be staggering. Equally staggering is the fact that Obama discusses it in so dispassionate a fashion in the YouTube clip above. For him, the debate isn't over whether we should rob Peter to pay Paul, but how best to go about doing it. Comme d'habitude, Andrew Sullivan misses the point of the interview entirely. To be sure, Obama was stating that courts are not able to bring about redistributive change, but Obama also said that "one of the, I think, the tragedies of the civil rights movement, was because the civil rights movement became so court focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change, and in some ways we still stuffer from that." Thus, Obama laments that the "political and community organizing activities" were neglected and that as a result, "redistributive change" was not brought about--a fact that "we still suffer from." The quote is plain as day, clear in its endorsement for wealth redistribution, articulates using "political and community organizing activities" to bring about "redistributive change" instead of using the courts and is quoted on Sullivan's site. He ignores the quote completely to claim that Obama is being a conservative. One is not sure whether Sullivan is being dishonest or whether he just cannot read properly, but either way, it is appalling.

How any of this is different from "From each according to his ability to each according to his need" is beyond me. And of course, if anyone raises that comparison with anybody from the Obama campaign, they get utterly shut out:

WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it's some of the best entertainment he's seen recently. What do you think?

West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment.

"Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said.

West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America's days as the world's leading power were over.

"I don't know who's writing your questions," Biden shot back.

Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.

"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

Charming.

Any chance that we could have a serious discussion about a planned, fundamental change to the American economic system? Or are we just going to march to the coronation straightaway?