They are going to keep doing this kind of thing for as long as they don't pay a price.  At a minimum they get material for a fund-raising letter to their base.  The most deterrant they get is ......  <crickets>.   The modern Democrat party has the temperment of a bully and acts according to that temperment.   The MSM will not call them on it for all the obvious reasons.  There seems to be no legal penaty. 

My experience with bullies is that they primarily respond to negative stimuli (e.g. fear).  Stand up and punch them in the nose (metaphorically speaking). 

Well, there's an age old reason why these are called vices, because the short-term fun is so great that the long-term damage is often obscured.   It's fine for adults to pursue their happiness so long as that pursuit doesn't impinge on others.   I'm sure there are plenty of high functioning addicts of various sorts, and they are not the problem.  The problem is (to adapt a recent phrase) privitizing fun and socializing the costs of the fun.   If you can absorb the cost of your vice yourself, get "happy".  But others should not have to bear the cost of your fun. 

In short there seem to be two moral questions here: one, the libertarian one made above; and two, the social conservative one which doesn't place vice in a moral vacuum, but recognizes the truth that it is damaging to the individual even if the costs are self-contained, and that the barrier for its corrosive effects on broader society is pretty low.  I think both are right.  The first is for the realm of law, the second for the realm of morality. 

I've always been more of a LP/CD listener, not so much singles.  So very few 45s.  I do buy some MP3s, but not many.  The only way I know my first download is by looking in iTunes "Purchased" group and scrolling to the bottom:  it was U2's "Staring At The Sun (Sad Bastard's Remix)". 

My daughter, on the other hand, buys over three-quarters of her music from iTunes. 

We used to say "Stairway to Freebird" when I did college radio in the early 80's.  Yes, we were too precious, because Zep at their peak were/are the Hammer of the Gods.

Having said that, I also love late 70's-early 80's music.  Still do!  From Talking Heads to Duran Duran.  From XTC to Genesis.  From Van Halen to Billy Joel.  From Big Country to Adam Ant.  From ABC to the Sex Pistols.  From Gentle Giant to Blondie.  From Steely Dan to The Cars.  From Be Bop Deluxe to REM.  From UK to Queen.  From Devo to Dire Straits.  From INXS to GnR.  From Michael Jackson to Joe Jackson.  From Prince to The Police.  Etc.

Just naming them brings more to mind....

First name band live concert was Kiss on the "Destroyer" tour.  I was gob-smacked.

I grew up in a musical home, with lots of "classical", opera, and band music.  Also, some jazz, big-band and early folk.  The first album bought for me as a little kid was Walt Disney's "The AristoCats".  The first album I bought myself was The Who's "Tommy".  I was in middle school when the movie came out, my mother finally relented since the protagonist and I shared the same first name (or at least that was her excuse for caving under my incessant nagging).  "Tommy" was quickly followed by Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" andBowie's "Changes One", and then my record-buying exploded.  First 45 was Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz".  I did a lot of home recording on cassettes, but never bought pre-recorded ones.

The LP's that made the biggest impression on me when released were Rush's "All The World's A Stage", The Clash's "London's Burning", and U2's "Boy".  Probably because they spanned my high school years.

I came late to the switch from LP to CD, because the early DACs sounded too brittle.  My first two were Paul Simon's "Graceland" and U2's "Unforgettable Fire".

"Looks like the frenzied, emotional support surrounding Obama in 2008 will be difficult to sustain, even among the normally reliable media and youth."

I hope you're right, but I fear it's just a wait until the summer concert tours start.  As I recall, Obama built a lot of his early buzz with the youth vote, by having cool indy bands playing before/after his rallies.  The kids came for the music and stayed to listen to his sweet nothings.  I suspect they'll try that again and it may work, as the kids have plenty of free time on their hands what with the economy the way it is.

This was before my time, but it reminds me about how the Grateful Dead are purported to have gotten their initial success.  They made sure the best drug dealers were at their early shows and got a reputation as the concerts where the best drugs were to be had.  Fame and fortune followed.  

Brilliant!  But I suspect the Cult of Personality that is the liberal left won't get it.

Yes.  I agree as long as there is no serious physical risk to the kids.  When my kids were younger, if they asked for help in this kind of situation I told them to stand up for themselves.  Also, I encouraged them to stop a kid like this from taking the balls from others kids.  They are now teenagers and pretty good at stopping or at least deflecting bullies.  

Nudie Scanners = Crony Capitalism= unknown radiation risk.  Give the government a lot of power and this is what you get. 

Re. Bush's giving in on the TSA, remember what late 2001/early 2002 was like, we were waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I agree with you that he shouldn't have given in on that, but in context and given the big picture, I don't blame him for doing so.  As much as I hate the TSA and fancy myself to be a stalwart small-government conservative, I can't say for sure I'd have done differently in the same situation.   No, I blame the Democrats for making that their price.   They also short-circuited what was to have been a temporary situation. 

When I was a kid we had a saying that applied to a male who behaved like this, with empty chest-beating.  The Rico-Conduct-Rules prevent from me from writing it exactly, but it rhymed with stencil-click-wussy. 

Yeah, child labor is a big problem in the US, there are too few jobs for teenagers to learn the habits of being a good worker.  Oh wait, that's not what she meant?? 

Since Eva appears to have an open door policy, does that mean she leaves the front door of her home open for any and all to come in and set up camp?  Somehow I suspect not.  She's probably afraid the AZ law will lead to more  expensive hired help for her and her kind. 

I suspect when we have a Republican President, the Occupy crowd will suddenly become concerned and we might get a chance to make changes.  But probably not. 

However, you are mistaken about Bush being the source of the TSA, that's thanks to Tom Daschle, the Democrat Senate Leader at the time.  Bush wanted to keep security executed by the various private security companies in airports.  The TSA was to be a small advisory/support/coordinating entity.  The Democrats saw the opportunity to create a huge new public sector union for themselves and this was the price of their support of the Patriot Act. 

Yes.  I have long felt that the comparison of abortion to slavery is very appripos, as both require the supporter/perpetrator to treat the victim as less than human.  It's all part of the same lefty mind-set that wishes away inconvenient messes: do what we tell you, dammit, and everything will be fine...

I wonder if the current supporters of abortion realize that one day they will share a place in history with those vocal supporters of slavery in the run-up to the Civil War? 

Moral & responsible.

Oh please, please, please let them try.  They'll broadcast their radicalism to all.  Peel away the moderates.