Flagged by Brad DeLong — George Will criticizes Americans for worrying about “nominal rather than real gasoline prices” and then claims in the next sentence that the Dow has reached “record highs,” which is only true in nominal (ie non-inflation-adjusted) terms:

Economic hypochondria, a derangement associated with affluence, is a byproduct of the welfare state: An entitlement mentality gives Americans a low pain threshold — witness their recurring hysteria about nominal rather than real gasoline prices — and a sense of being entitled to economic dynamism without the frictions and “creative destruction” that must accompany dynamism. Economic hypochondria is also bred by news media that consider the phrase “good news” an oxymoron, even as the U.S. economy, which has performed better than any other major industrial economy since 2001, drives the Dow to record highs.

Flagged by Andrew Sullivan — Will concocts one of the best mixed metaphors in recent memory:

And now, by banning a particular behavior — the entertainment some people choose, using their own money — government has advanced its mother-hen agenda of putting a saddle and bridle on the Internet.

As Sullivan says, cluck, cluck, neiiighhh!