Why would I bother?

On HuffPo today, the day after Thanksgiving I find the following:

1) The lead story is about Dubai's request for a standstill, and fretting another financial "panic". Panic implies a degree of irrationality. I would say that a lack of fear on Wall Street would be the only irationallity. With deficits blossoming, healthcare (snicker) "reform" coming our way, the insolvency of the dollar, why should Wall St. be scared?

2) Arrianna Huffington's opinion piece is entitled "Sharing the Privilege of Abundance". One would assume she is refering to herself: a wealthy heiress. One would be wrong. She is, of course, talking about "sharing" other peoples' money:

The food, fuel, and financial crises have pushed the numbers of those enduring chronic hunger past one billion people for the first time in history. So as we enter the season of colossal Wall Street bonuses and a frenzy of holiday spending, it's time for us to share the privilege of plenty.

By "us" she means Wall St. bonuses (which pale to her inheritences) and yours and my holiday spending. Naturally.

With $3.2 billion a year -- or $1.5 billion less than Americans spend on Halloween annually, and a fraction of America's $300 billion a year in private giving -- we can feed the 66 million children worldwide who go to school hungry. This alone won't end hunger, but it would be a huge step forward.

There are many comparisons should could made. Comparisons that don't involve Americans, or at least not exclusively Americans. But consider; she accidentally gives credit to Americans by stating that 3.2b could be had as a fraction of our private givings of 300b. So what are our private givings going to if not to feed 1/6 the population of the world? Other things, to be sure: medical research, war relief, famine relief ... which I imagine is a part of the global hunger problem.
Two things pop out at me about this: 1) Arianna doesn't question the 1b number at all. 2) She calls American's charitable contributions "private givings". What is the alternative to private givings? Public "givings"? IE, taxes? That's hardly "giving". That's something that is taken by threat of private property confiscation and personal incarseration. Or perhaps we should call it "private" incarceration.
Arriana is not confused though, she chose her words well so as to frame her argument for higher taxes toward the effort of global hunger relief as something altruistic ... e.g. "public giving".

3) And from Marian Wright Edelman:

What kind of nation, blessed to be the wealthiest in the world, lets one in five children be poor? I offer a Thanksgiving prayer for us to commit to end poverty in our time -- beginning with children.

Only an evil greedy selfish nation, of course. We should create a massive program to end poverty and we'll call it something like "The Great Society" and it will be a complete success, just like LBJ's. Does history not matter to these people? If doing X to solve problem Y doesn't work and you KNOW X does nothing, why would you insist on continuing to do X? For one thing, you hurt Y because you redirect resources into X that are supposed to address Y but you know already are wasted. I can only conclude that the author is either an idiot or actually wants Y to continue on forever, while keeping X in place to achieve some other, unknown goal.

4) On Sarah Palin, Keli Goff writes:

Because you just never know what Palin and her clan are going to say or do, those of us constantly looking for stuff to write about owe Palin a humble thank you.

I can't disagree with her, but shouldn't she be more worried about the 1,000,000,000 starving people in the world rather than the strawman and ego massager of the Left, that is Sarah Palin?

5) Another:

Rewriting History To Blame Tim Geithner: An Incomplete Story Of The AIG Bailout

IE, it's not all Obama's fault. No shit dude. This is still more Bush's mess than Obama's. But let me point out that this is a wonderful mess for Obama, one that he relishes. There is no better time than a financial crisis to further increment the implementation of socialism and Pelosi, Obama, et al. have taken full advantage of this fine window of opportunity.

6) Some BS about Lieberman. Who cares.

7) An opninion piece that looks like it might not either try to make you feel bad for being American or try to reach into your wallet. I don't care to find out.

8) Film reviews. Doesn't this guy know he supposed to tell us what our ticket money could better go to? Bad liberal! Bad!

9) RJ Eskow exclaims "Phantom America, Thanks for nothing!".

10) and more blah blah blah. There's a lesson here - one that I've tried to impress upon my liberal friends and one which I would do well to remember myself. I ought not dissect the easily dissectable. Picking on Arianna and her intellectual ilk is too damn easy. They are the strawmen of the Right, as Palin and Bush are for the Left. I need to seek out intelligent and challenging arguments from the Left. I suppose. It's not like it will change anything. We'll still have Palin and we'll still have Huffington.