raisin’ ‘em up… waxin’ ‘em down

President Obama declared that “the days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over.”

uh huh.

Like in the case of Cass Sunstein, [Proposed] Regulatory Czar. 

Hey!  Don’t blame me—Cass chose this pic for his blog

Cass’ job description completes the major pieces of the set of Shadow Gubbmint.  He will oversee removing the authority from the myriad of regulatory agencies which were actually created—but not overseen—by an elected Congress.  Yanno, still somewhat related to the consent of the governed.

That authority will then be placed in the Executive Branch—specifically the White House—removed from the citizens, the Congress, the Cabinet, and anyone else who will be effected by his work.

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs—to review and shape all major federal regulations

So what’s his approach to this Big Job?

Libertarian Paternalism Is Not An Oxymoron
...Often people’s preferences are ill-formed ...In these circumstances, a form of paternalism cannot be avoided.

... libertarian paternalists should attempt to steer people’s choices in welfare-promoting directions without eliminating freedom of choice. It is also possible to show how a libertarian paternalist might select among the possible options and to assess how much choice to offer.

You have freedom! You can choose the red one or the blue one.

“If getting rid of the idea that animals are property is helpful in reducing suffering, then we should get rid of the idea that animals are property.”

“The cruel and abusive practices generally involved in contemporary farming are largely unregulated at the state level,”

..representatives of animals should be able to bring private suits to ensure that anticruelty and related laws are actually enforced,” (emphasis his). “Of course, any animals would be represented by human beings, just like any other litigant who lacks ordinary (human) competence;

Yer gonna need a Bowlingual device fer that… And we’re gonna need a photo of a steak wrapped in bacon, cuz we’ll never see one again.

And what about Plant Rights, huh?  Can’t you hear that carrot scream as you yank it brutally from the ground?!?  Barbarian.

And, finally, your Iron Dose for the day:  Not only is Cass the Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School,

Cass Sunstein’s article, “To Become An Extremist, Hang Around With People You Agree With.”

[which says] ...if we allow ourselves to interact only with our like-minded peers, these interactions can and do lead to viewpoints that are fixed, sometimes to the dismissal of all other alternative perspectives.

As your dog is suing you for providing too few jerky treats while the cow whence the jerky came is posthumously having you jailed for cruelty, you can take comfort in the diveeerse company ∏eh iW∅n© keeps.

Ohdearhevins—it’s worse than that:

In [his new book, On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done], Sunstein reviews how views get cemented in one camp even when people are presented with persuasive evidence to the contrary. He worries that we are headed for a future in which “people’s beliefs are a product of social networksworking as echo chambers in which false rumors spread like wildfire.” That future, though, is already here, according to Sunstein. “We hardly need to imagine a world, however, in which people and institutions are being harmed by the rapid spread of damaging falsehoods via the Internet,” he writes. “We live in that world. What might be done to reduce the harm?”

...he wants to hold blogs and web hosting services accountable for the remarks of commenters on websites while altering libel laws to make it easier to sue for spreading “rumors.”

Smith notes that bloggers and others would be forced to remove such criticism unless they could be “proven”.

Wait… that could put David Axelrod out of business.  Hey, Cass—just don’t go for any strolls in Ft. Marcy Park, ‘k?