Daylight Savings Time: Why?

William Willett invented daylight savings time in 1905 “during one of his pre-breakfast horseback rides, when he observed with dismay how many Londoners slept through the best part of a summer day.^[18]” Plus, Willett, a golfer, “disliked cutting short his round at dusk.”

Willett is also the great-great-grandfather of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who dedicated his Grammy award to John Kerry.

It gets worse. Courtesy of a federal statute known as the Energy Policy Act of 2005, we’ve been suffering the indignities of less sleep a month earlier than usual. According to Wikipedia, Lobbyists for this provision in the act included the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Convenience Stores, and the National Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation Fighting Blindness.

What’s your take on federal sleep legislation? We’re swilling espresso to cope.

Here’s Monday’s roundup:

McCain’s Daunting Task, New York Times, by William Kristol
“Buried inside Sunday’s papers was a noteworthy election result. In a special election to replace former Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, first-time Democratic candidate Bill Foster emerged victorious. George Bush easily carried the district in 2004, as has every recent G.O.P. presidential candidate.”

Reagan Country Votes Democratic, Wall Street Journal, by John Fund
“Karen Hanretty, the spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, had a terse response to the startling loss of former Speaker Dennis Hastert’s seat in a special election in Illinois on Saturday.”

The Oil Mess We Are Living, Huffington Post, by Raymond Learsy
“Yesterday’s New York Times had a front page article “President Fails to Budge OPEC on Production.” In its inimical manner, the Times reported OPEC’s rebuff to the president’s pleas to OPEC to increase production in the straight-faced uncritical manner, visiting on us with what could have been an OPEC flack handout…”

The War Against the Jews, The Spectator, by Melanie Phillips
“Those who have been following the Mohammed al Dura scandal (see here, here, here, here and here) may be interested to read this report by Richard Landes of the latest court hearing which took place a few days ago…”