Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on August 7, 2009

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion... what a cool blog name.

Founder and blogging-workhorse of Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion is William A. Jacobson, who is an Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Cornell Law School, Ithaca, NY. He was a 1981 graduate of Hamilton College and a 1984 graduate of Harvard Law School. At Harvard, he was Senior Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal and Director of Litigation for the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project. Prior to joining the Cornell law faculty. I only bring up this bio stuff because I, again, think it’s cool (and it was easy to copy/paste from his bio page) and I believe his background in law gives his blog a unique voice in the conservative blogosphere.

So, while being all legal-beagle-like in most of his blog entries against the socialist agenda of BHO and Congress, Jacobson has this smart-alecky but cerebral wit that will come out of nowhere. It always catches me off guard and it cracks me up (I can’t drink my favorite java when reading his posts… I’ve learned my lesson about spitting coffee all over my keyboard). He effortlessly, brilliantly examines life and politics and people from a totally fresh perspective. He never talks down, but as I read his blog, I sometimes feel about as bright as an Evel Knievel wanna-be who’s crashed without a helmet one time too many. Yeah. You will, too.

But I love it.

Jacobson broke the amusing story a few months ago about Pres. Barack Obama asking for Dijon mustard when out for lunch with VP Biden at Ray’s Hell Burgers. Jacobson, tongue in cheek, pointed out that MS-NBC deliberately hid that fact (a cover-up!), leaving Obama’s “spicy mustard” dialogue in but taking the “Dijon” request out. Cutting room floor for Dijon? Quizzical, hmmm…

So Jacobson made wry, entertaining observations about Obama and his beloved Dijon mustard, the MSM’s fawning, protective adoration of him, and had some accompanying videos. DijonGate was born.

Hilarious, rascally silliness. Harmless nose-tweaking of the biased MSM and our so-suave POTUS. Good times…

But that wasn’t the way it played on the left side of the street…

You wouldn’t believe the insane uproar that innocuous blog post prompted from left-wing Obama-bots. Jacobson deeply wounded and offended the left with his DijonGate post.

Huh?

I’m still scratching my head over that weirdness. It’s still not clear to me WHY the statists were so enraged (maybe they thought Dijon mustard/DijonGate is a sly code word, a slam, symbolic term for “pantywaist,” what Obama is frequently called by British journalists). The blog’s readership went from a respectable 5,000 visits a day to something astronomical like 100,000 that day. As was noted by The Other McCain on Jacobson’s teasing: “The point was not that Obama likes Dijon mustard — I do, too, as does the man who named it “DijonGate” — but rather that MSNBC and other major media are no longer in the news business. They’re doing public relations for the Obama administration and the Democratic Party.”

Jacobson’s follow-up post, Thou Shall Not Mock Obama’s Mustard, is also fun reading.

All Dijon-mustard-kidding aside, Jacobson has written a more sobering piece on the Obama economy that he posted earlier today; it is succinct, sad, and woefully accurate:

Loss of Hope Is Good News?
Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
By William A. Jacobson
August 7, 2009

The big economic news of the day is that the unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of one percent. The Obama administration is hailing this as the start of a turnaround and a sign that the stimulus spending is working, something of the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end.

But in reality, the slight drop probably reflects the drop in the “participation” rate, meaning that the long-term unemployed are dropping out of the job market because they have given up. As explained by David Indiviglio at The Atlantic:

As a recession drags on for this long, and people are unable to find jobs, they begin leaving the workforce. They become discouraged regarding job prospects. BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] offers an unemployment rate that includes these discouraged workers. In June 2009, that was 10.1%. For July, it was 10.2%.

Given this change in unemployment including discouraged workers, I think it’s pretty clear that the 0.1% decrease in the reported unemployment rate can be misleading. In reality, those who would like a job but don’t have one increased by 0.1% up to 10.2%.

To put it another way, the good news being trumpeted by the Obama administration results from a loss of hope by unemployed workers. You know we are in trouble when the loss of hope is the best economic news the administration can muster.

Additional reading on the still-dismal economy, Chicago thuggery, and spicy Dijon goodness:
The Weekly Standard: Know-Nothing-in-Chief – There’s no evidence Obama has even a sketchy grasp of economics.
Darrell Issa, American Spectator: TARP and the Demands of Democracy
Huffington Post: Obama Ineffective On The Economy: NYT/CBS News Poll
Ben Stein, Yahoo Finance: Here’s What Works in Any Economy
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: Darrell Issa to Rahm Rahmbo deadfish Emanuel and his scare tactics – Back Off!
Michelle Malkin: The pay czar’s power grab and Be careful: DOT inspector general challenges O’s stimulus spending and Issa goes Rahm-bo on Rahm: and This is what mob rule looks like and Obama summons his army: “This is the moment our movement was built for.” and Help out the Internet snitch brigade: Report on fishy health czar office
NObama Blog: Issa to Emanuel: Back Off!
Doug Powers, Michelle Malkin: Town hall time for Obama and ‘the mob’
Ztower: The President’s Model – California – Losing Manufacturing Jobs And Increasing Government Jobs and Taking On The Thugs – Now This Is Change I Can Believe In! and Hooray!!! President Obama, Again Counting On Us Being Dumb As Stumps, Says We Can All Be Just As Successful As California.
Leigh Scott, Big Hollywood: The Remakes, Reboots, Ripoffs, and Re-imaginings of Politics

Let Freedom Ring: Congressman Warns Rahm: This Isn’t Chicago
John Nolte, Big Hollywood: Hollywood to America: Trickle-Down Economics Works Only For Us
Free Republic: Socialism Coming Back To Haunt U.S. and Beware of Obamanomics
Rasmussen Reports: Number Who Says U.S. Heading in Right Direction Slips to Lowest Level Since February
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Damage-Control ‘Obama Food in the News’ Week: ‘Obama Date Time’ & ‘Joey & Barry Go Out for Burgers’ and Majority of Americans Demand ‘Cancel the Porkulus Package Now’ and Like a Wild Little Kid in a Candy Store: Obama Spending $18 Million to Redesign Recovery Website and Soft Tyranny: Mark Levin Interview on Sean Hannity’s Show (video) and VP Biden Says to Expect “Scamming & Waste” of Stimulus Money on His Watch: Billions at Stake, Bring in Wile E. Coyote
News You May Have Missed: Whitehouse Strong Arming Congress
Goodtimepolitics: Most Liberal States Are Least Free Says Study
Gateway Pundit: London Times on Barack and Michelle Obama: Mr&Mrs show irks voters and Dem Leader to GOP: If You Don’t Vote to Bankrupt Country With Libs You’re Unpatriotic
Jim Blazsik: The real reason behind the economic meltdown – government (particularly Democrats)
John Romano, Big Hollywood: The Barack and Joe Variety Show
Legal Insurrection: Kraft Cashes In On DijonGate and MSNBC Hides Obama’s Dijon Mustard (aka Dijongate) and Thou Shall Not Mock Obama’s Mustard
Cynthia Yockey, A newly conservative lesbian: The hot dog vendor must have had Obama’s favorite Dijon mustard
The Edge of the American West: At least it wasn’t hummus.
The TrogloPundit: I hear you, man, and by the way: thanks for all the hits
The Rhetorican: UPDATED: Dijon-Gate Deconstructed
Phelim McAleer & Ann McElhinney, Big Hollywood: Come Fly With Me | Obama’s Broadway date and Eco-Hyprocrisy
The Anchoress: Why “the recession is over.”
The Other McCain: DijonGate: What Have We Learned?

Categories: Conservatism, Economy, Government, Media & Communication, Social and Political Climate
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Biden, blogger, conservative, Dijon, dijon mustard, DijonGate, economic crisis, economy, financial crisis, government waste, Legal Insurrection, loss of hope, Obama, political, politics, POTUS, president, Ray's Hell Burgers, taxpayers, unemployment, William A. Jaconbson