Important participant in democracy Jeb Bush took to some Chamber of Commerce summit on Wednesday and asked: What awful thing has capitalism ever done to anyone that Barack Obama wants to criminalize it so badly?  “‘I think President Obama has used the bully pulpit as a way to attack capitalism,’ he said, according to LegalNewsOnline.com. Bush paused a moment, then acknowledged: ‘That’ll make the news.’” The Bush progeny has become self-aware. Run.  [CNN Political Ticker]

The whole “Sonia Sotomayor is the reanimated corpse of Michael Jackson come to kill all yr babies” approach does not seem to be working so well for opponents of the Supreme Court candidate, so they’ve basically got two options: they can cite that Ricci case and talk about how she’s a racist (although not a judicial activist!), or they can talk about how much money she spends and how that makes her a bad capitalist. MORE »

Huzzah, Wonktards! We have won over some significant percentage of our fellow citizens to the side of the hedonist left, where stoners get paid welfare checks to wank it over Thomas Pynchon books all day. A new Rassmussen survey shows that a mere 53 percent of Americans believe capitalism is better than socialism. MORE »

“The King is setting hearts ablaze for the holidays with his new scent of choice. FLAME™, a new men’s body spray by Burger King Corp., features the scent of seduction with the hint of flame-broiled meat.” We get the products we deserve. [Burger King FLAME via Gothamist]

CANNED GOODS STOCKS SOAR: See, it went like this: Wonkette told people to buy canned goods, and the markets immediately reacted. Wonkette stock lady operative “Nicole” writes, “Just noticed that Campbell Soup Co. is currently the # 2 ‘Top Mover’ stock.” Capitalism!

* Phil Gailey, Marueen Dowd, Mark Shields, David Broder and Brian McGrory talk about The Best of Mary McGrory at Politics & Prose. Free at 7PM, followed by tequila shots and oil wrestling. [P&P]
* Working Assets co-founder Peter Barnes has a way with metaphor: “It’s time to ‘upgrade’ capitalism by reclaiming the commons. Barnes shows that the market, like a computer, is run by an operating system, one that inherently gives the ‘right of way’ to profit-maximizing corporations who redistribute their profits to only a sliver of the population.” Learn more at Busboys & Poets, where he’ll discuss his book Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons. Free at 6:30PM. [DC Independent Media Center]

* P.J. O’Rourke discusses On the Wealth of Nations, promises to explain “why Adam Smith’s seminal work is still relevant,” why P.J. O’Rourke isn’t funny anymore. Politics & Prose. Free at 7PM. [P&P]
* DC Restaurant Week starts today! [Open Table]
* Judy Garland and Fred Astaire star in the Irving Berlin musical Easter Parade at AFI. “Astaire is shaken when his long-time dance partner Ann Miller goes solo. After drunkenly boasting that he can turn any plain Jane into a first-class dancer, he sets his sights on transforming Garland.” Spoiler: Lots and lots of diet pills. $6.75 at 4:20PM. [AFI]

La Coulter on being backstage with what’s left of the Grateful Dead: MORE »