on this earmarks thing: obviously the basic debate is how much to spend on the stimulus package, not how to spend it. that is, the thing is basically indiscriminate. it might as well be random: the idea is to shove cash into the economy every which way. so why not everyone's pet project? it's gonna be everyone's pet project anyway. now the fact that this bold, decisive action is going to devour the economy as a whole from within is just part of the fun. the conception is that the state just invents or conjures wealth from nothing, a perpetual-motion machine producing more energy than it uses (infinitely more). it strikes me as possible that the obama presidency - partly because of what was happening when he ascended, partly due to his response - might be remembered as one of the signal disasters of american history.