Flakes Mandate Journalist Repair to Alabama

Posted on | February 7, 2010 | 13 Comments

by Smitty

Update: the links internal to The Other McCain have quit working.  I blame a recent server upgrade.  I’ll change the PostID values to Permalinks when I get a chance.  Thanks to Political Byline for keeping me straight.

This week’s misleading FMJRA title is a fun poke at RSM, who, if I may, serendoofusly* managed to be out of town when the storm hit. Not a recipe for domestic tranquility, that.
I’m way behind on getting this posted. The shiny new thing this week is that, for each post, we’re also spotlighting the commenters whom we adore, in addition to full-on blogs.
*Sort of a mild antonym for serendipitously. I doubt I need elaborate.

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Adam Andrzejewski:Lech Walesa Rallies Tea Party Crowd for Adam Andrzejewski in Chicago

• Reaganite Republican:
  

  God Bless Lech Walesa… a true hero, and a brave man of faith:
  Linked at the Reaganite Republican

• Old Rebel:
  

  Sounds like Lech Walesa still has a soft spot for those who stand up to a corrupt central government.

• Ubervu thread
• Mr. Tweet thread

Andrzejewski Campaign Mailer Features Walesa Endorsement; ALSO: TV Ad Video

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Go with the winner, Illinois folks! Adam is going to put the state budget online and that is going to make the corruptocrats’s heads explode:)
  Surely, a campaign contribution is worth the sight of Obama rambling incoherently ala Ohio the day after Brown’s victory! Do it! VOTE.

• The Lonely Conservative spotted us some linkage.
• Stacy’s AmSpec coverage.
• Da Tech Guy connects the dots.
• Ubervu thread

Andrzejewski’s Army

• Mr.K:
  

  I support McKenna.

• Sheriff of Nottingham:
  

  The poll was not a campaign internal poll. My understanding is the campaign does not know who did the poll, it was leaked to the campaign and others from some group in DC who did the poll.

• Pharmd342:
  

  Hello! beekfab interesting beekfab site!

• Ruby Slippers Blog gave us good coverage. Alas, history zagged.
• Ubervu thread

Katie O’Malley: Can the Scott Brown Factor Elect Adam Andrzejewski?

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Rush just ran a Lech Walesa soundbite from his visit to Chicago and touted Adam A. for IL. That’s a good thing:)

• Da Tech Guy links us, still needs CPAC help.
• The Ruby Slippers Blog linked us here, too.

AUDIO: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck on Lech Walesa and Adam Andrzejewski

• Miss Sharon:
  

  I have heard this several times. Still get goosebumps…

Shock and Awe Day for the GOP

• Red:
  

  “Finally, there was the Rush Limbaugh endorsement of Glenn Beck.” Glenn Beck??

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Endorsement of Adam Andrezewski for GOP candidate of IL.

• Miss Sharon:
  

  AL primary is June 1st.
  Here is the national schedule in pdf

• Richard McEnroe:
  

  Walesa makes more sense than Beck when he’s talking Polish…

• Joe:
  

  I am glad Rubio is pulling ahead. Crist is talking going dem, but that is a risk worth taking.

• Ubervu thread

Hey, Who’s This Andrzejewski Guy Everybody Is Talking About Today?

• Michael Berry:
  

  Yeah, about the no respect thing… I was really surprised that Allahpundit didn’t ask you to sub for him yesterday. He really does hate you.

• Bob Belvedere:
  

  Oh, Acey, you won’t see him no more.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  *is laughing in office*
  This blog is fast-becoming a daily morning read.
  I’m getting that sense Andrzejewski is going to win.

• Red:
  

  Are you kidding me? I know I’m a small corndog in a big dorkfish pond but you’re always totally promoted.

• Lazarus Long:
  

  If it weren’t for pickpockets I’d have no sex life at all.
  – Rodney Dangerfield

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Stacey you were on top of AnnJeeFFSki before being on top of him was cool. Heh.
  I wonder why you do not time your blog posts?

• Natedawg:
  

  Me and the Mrs. just voted here in Huntley, IL.
  You can count 2 more votes for Adam!

• m00tpoint:
  

  Another one for Angie Lewski. 🙂

• The Camp of the Saints rounds it up.
• Cold Fury took a few prisoners.
• The Lonely Cosnervative embeds Eye (Don’t) Witness News. Heh.
• Ubervu thread

Illinois Update: Brady Leads in GOP Gov. Race; Kirk Wins Senate Primary

• John:
  

  Tea party candidate success, again.

• Bryan McRoberts:
  

  I voted for him today.

• Omnibus Driver:
  

  I really like his message about opening up the books online. I voted for him!

• Andrew:
  

  Make sure to give a big shout out to the news stations that covered Lach Walesa’s visit this week.

• mpw280:
  

  Got my vote, along with Mark Kirk and Sandy Cole.
  mpw

• jim m:
  

  Andrzejewski is losing Cook Co by 20,000 votes. I don’t see him making that up anywhere. The media black out in Chicago on his campaign is killing him.

• ahem:
  

  yes, it certainly is a media blackout.

• Robert:
  

  Thanks for the updates. I have been working so I haven’t had time to watch this as closely as I would have liked.

• Natedawg:
  

  It just goes to show us that the entrenched politicians are still running the show. Expect more of the same, Illinois. Apparently we deserve it…

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Thanks, Stacey. A long night when our guy does not finish first. Small solace in Brady winning and Obama buddy Kirk Dillard losing.
  Alternative media needs to grow even stronger IMO.The lack of coverage for Walesa was despicable even more then ignoring a newcomer like Adam ANGEEFFFSKI. Tough name recognition.
  The early date changed for the presidential primary to give Obama an advantage over Hillary was another hurdle. Damn leftists.
  MM says lame and lamer. I say Leftist and More Leftist.
  Appreciate the coverage.
  Someday I will figure out how to put my avi on this blog…

• JG:
  

  It seems to me, actually, it should be apparent to anyone with a high school diploma that this country needs to indulge less in the likes of US Weekly and invest the amount of money they most likely spend on Starbuck’s lattes and McDonald’s drive-thru; on perhaps, I don’t know–a history book?
  I am appalled at the sheer lack of what should be common knowledge in this country. It is sadly however, not the blind leading the blind, but the manipulative leading the lazy… those too lazy to educate themselves.
  It goes without saying that the majority of us in 7th and 8th grade weren’t paying attention in social studies, due largely in part to the lack of an attention span longer than the lunch line; however, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone over the age of 18 to not have a basic understanding of what ‘government’ is and what it was created to do ‘of, by, and for the people’. How on Earth can it be of or by the people if they don’t understand or care to inquire about what is going on and how it affects them? Why does it seem that the general understanding of the public (the uneducated know-it-all’s who follow blindly) is as if it is the governments money and they want to elect someone who will cater to their current wants and needs?
  It seems as though people, certainly not all but so many, forget that it is THEIR money, not the governments. It is our money, and they were to be en-trusted to use it wisely, for the betterment of the environment in which we live. Instead the government has turned into some greedy, untrustworthy boss who gathered office donations (in specified amounts based upon his opinion of whether or not he thought the company paid the individual too much) and decided to first, take some for himself, then give some to his friends, treat that lazy receptionist who’s on her phone all day to a fancy free lunch and then buy used, jenky computers for the whole office in place of the brand new ones (he promised) that the fund was originally put in place to provide. Dirty politicians with insincere motives bank on the lazy individuals who don’t know any better than to vote for them… if they didn’t they wouldn’t spend so much time on fancy ad campaigns and faux-‘inspiring’ speeches, because those wouldn’t be necessary if it were really about the facts and really about the people. I am equally as disgusted by those too lazy to educate themselves, register to vote, and drag their lazy asses off the couch and away from their favorite illiterate reality-TV stars to vote.
  Although, I am even more disgusted by those who think that if they watch an MTV news alert and follow P. Diddy’s candidate endorsement that they know what they’re talking about and actually DO go vote, completely ill-informed. When did it become intrusive to expect someone to be self-informed on the issues before opening their mouth… those are the very individuals who can’t seem to keep their mouths shut; I suppose in fear that if they quiet for a moment it will allow someone with an informed opinion to dispel their nonsense, IE: Obama. I find it funny how he was so adamant to retreat from the war but trudges forward with the assault that is ‘Obamacare’ on this country. Disaster.

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Tweet @ At 2:24 am –
  David Orr, Cook County Clerk, suspended tallying in the GOP Gov primary race. Recount here we come! ILSCOTUS here we go!

• Chuck Cross:
  

  @ JG – Nice vent. We are witnessing history. It has only been about the last 200 years in civilization (spare a few small spaces in time) where republican-democracy has reigned, and with it, universal suffrage (really a 20th century phenomenon).
  But in the PC-world, such things may not be discussed politely.

• Michael Bates:
  

  A result like the Illinois GOP governor’s primary — five candidates within six points of each other — is why we need instant runoff voting. If Proft or Andrzejewski hadn’t run, who would have finished first? Instant runoff voting eliminates spoilers and allows voters to vote their conscience, rather than having to make tactical decisions based on fallible polls.

• Comment Poster:
  

  Post comments on websites automatically using automated comments posting software. Get thousands of backlinks per day, increase your sales and earnings. Automated comments poster is the best way to build backlinks and promote websites automatically!

• Pharmd721:
  

  Hello! fdfface interesting fdfface site!

• Insatlanched!
• Cold Fury had a roundup, and the bummer conclusion.
• Gateway Pundit was initially hopeful.
• RSM’s American Spectator reporting.
• The Classic Liberal is spot-on: “Today’s political environment is gamed to favor the party favorites and keep everyone else out. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible, it just means it’s a lot more difficult than it may appear.”
• Ruby Slippers Blog caught us on the recap.
• The Camp of the Saints had a fine summary.
• Ubervu thread

Post-Mortem: CSI Illinois

• Phineas:
  

  The CA GOP is largely clueless, but we do have a candidate for the nomination who “gets” social networking and the tea-party movement, and has from the start: Chuck DeVore. Carpetbagging Tom Campbell may lead the race right now, but I wouldn’t count out DeVore’s online presence, nor his own shoe-leather work in traveling all over the state.

• Da Tech Guy rounded up the national news.
• The Camp of the Saints had some parting thoughts.

Alabama:
Politico Names an NRCC Dud; UPDATE: Roby Says FEC Numbers Show Otherwise; Time for Some Shoe Leather Reporting?

• Victoria_29:
  

  Same thing is going on in AL5, RNC is trying to shove RINO Parker Griffith of the flip-flop party down our throats when we have our own CONSERVATIVE teaparty activist candidate in Les Phillip.

• USRanger:
  

  Im so broke people throw rocks at me. But I think a quick trip to see how that race is going will be worth it.
  I’m from that district and I think this race is going to get national attention soon.
  Hi Victoria 😀 keep on twitting!

• Lea:
  

  The news of Obama’s latest “brilliant” idea of shutting down the space program will directly cost 7k jobs in North Alabama. 100’s of thousands across the U.S. We. Must send responsible conservatives to DC AND NOW! He is crippling this nation, we aren’t seeing an economic upturn, who does he think he’s fooling?
  Les Phillip is the very best candidate for Congress in N. AL He has a life story that is the American model of success. He came from dirt poverty and he loves this country. He will fight for us all.
  The “good ‘ole boy” network here in Alabama, with the help of the GOP, is trying to steal the people’s seat. Parker Griffith or Mo Brooks? Wow, what a choice! A RINO and a local-yokel who has run for office 7 times. I’ll bet he owes lots of favors, done dirty deals and has skeletons in the closet.
  Democrats can’t find a candidate to even run. Someone in national press should jump on this story.
  Help support Les Phillip. We are working on losing MANY JOBS, I only trust my life and future to God, then Phillips in DC.
  May God help us all.

• RickS:
  

  Martha Roby was the GOP favorite for months, but her performance in public was so lackluster that people here really started to get nervous about her ability to pull it off. Heck, I think Rick Barber even endorsed her last year. I met her once. Interestingly, it was at Rick’s Deja Vu pool hall for a tea-party event (the only one, to my knowledge, that she ever attended). She’s nice enough, well spoken, and intelligent, but I just don’t think she has the chops to go mano-a-mano with Bobby Bright. Rick’s a tough, no-nonsense businessman and former Marine who will represent AL-2 well.

Alabama: ‘Things Going On’

• Obi’s Sister:
  

  Swinging through D’ville on the way? Give me a call and we’ll take you out for your belated BIG 5-0 birthday dinner.

• harry case:
  

  If you are looking to upgrade from your Kia
  I am interested in donating my boytoy for your trips I have kept it very well and it was not worth trading in when we upgraded- you have my email from Paypal if you bring someone with you to Alabama that can drive a standard shift on the way home it is yours. BTW it loves to driven hard and rewards the assertive driver
  Harry Case

• RickS:
  

  I think the big reason King is on the outs with the GOP here is his support for gambling. Gambling is illegal here and yet, strangely, casinos keep popping up around the state. Now, supposedly these establishments are there merely to provide a venue for charity bingo, which is legal, but when you go inside one of them it is just row after row of slot machines. King issued a legal opinion clearing the way for this type of thing putting him at odds with the state GOP and the governor. In fact the state anti-gambling task force, which has been traveling around the state raiding casinos, is run entirely by the governor’s office and the state police. No AG involvement whatsoever. Now, I’m sure AG King’s support for gambling in Alabama has nothing at all to do with his tight relationship with Milton MacGregor, owner of Victoryland casino, as well as other members of the alabama gambling mob. (/sarc)
  Spot News

• RickS:
  

  BTW, the two people you need to talk to to get the lowdown on the King situation and pretty much everything else concerning the current state of AL politics are Dan Morris and Mark Montiel from Newstalk 107.9FM.
  Morris-and-Montiel-Viewpoint-Show

• Political Byline made a Skynyrd offering.

LIVE from Birmingham, Alabama

• MrMaryk:
  

  It’s Marine Corps, not corp. Don’t get sucked into the vortex with the President. You have a guy who can keep you from making those mistakes. Smitty, where are you?

• keyboard jockey:
  

  Be on the lookout for a black 2004 KIA Optima.
  Be happy your not driving a Toyota. Do they make Toyota’s in Alabama?

• Stephen Gordon:
  

  We make Mercedes and drive non-bailout Fords in Alabama. I thought everyone knew that. 🙂

• theCL:
  

  Bristol, Tenn … Hmmmmm … sounds like another Sullivan conspiracy to me …

• Stephen Gordon:
  

  Uhm, dude, it’s now 13 national championships. Here’s the newer and better HD YouTube
  BTW, guys, hit the tip jar. Stacy just fell asleep on the sofa as soon as his head hit the pillow. For all of the years I’ve known him, he works until he drops.

• Thomas L. Knapp:
  

  Sounds like Barber needs to get back in touch with his Inner Marine and consult the Corps’ Core Values so that he can get his head and his ass wired together.
  There’s just no way that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is compatible with those values.
  For example: “Individual effort in support of other team members in accomplishing the team’s mission. Marines take care of their own.”
  I just double-checked. There’s no “unless one of our own happens to be gay” there.
  “Marines take care of their subordinates, their families, their fellow Marines before themselves.”
  No “unless their subordinates’ families don’t look the same as mine” clause.
  So, Stacy, when are you going to quit messing around with the second string and interview Bill Johnson?

• Political Byline tracked the arrival.
• Da Tech Guy picked it up.
• Obi’s Sister hat tipped and encouraged.
• The Camp of the Saints geared up for coverage.
• Dustbury works some math. But we don’t roll like that here.
• Ubervu thread.

‘In Birmingham, They Love . . .’

• Jack Okie:
  

  Stacy, I’m glad you came to Alabama rather than go to the national tea party convention. I haven’t spent a lot of time in Alabama (RON’ed in Birmingham and Dothan a few times), but it feels just like home. In fact, from Spartanburg to Johnson City to Jackson, GA to Jackson, AL to Jackson, MI to Jackson, LA to Jackson, TN to Jacksonville, AR, Southern culture (much more than just hospitality) is a delight to experience.
  Are you getting a feel for how local races, like for the legislature, are shaping up?
  (BTW, having seen several pictures of you now, I have to say you fit to a T Shelby Foote’s portrait of the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia.)

• RickS:
  

  Homebrewing not legal in AL? Had no idea. Funny, the state’s biggest homebrew supplier, Alabrew, is right there in Bham.

• Political Byline linked it.
• Da Tech Guy as well.

On the Radio This Morning

• Stogie:
  

  I missed it. Was it recorded anywhere so we can listen?

Troy King and the Scandal That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Way Down (Low) in Dixie

• Chuck Cross:
  

  Funny — Uneasy Rider ’88 by Charlie Daniels just came on my pandora.com radio haha

• Jeff:
  

  He’s the Alabama AG right ? He’s not running for or holding Federal office in 2010 right ?
  Who cares outside of Alabama ?
  The Shelby extortion nomination holds are a much more damaging story for the GOP.

• Bob Belvedere:
  

  We have to care because the Leftists will take the scandal and make it national news.

• Kevin J Jones:
  

  How much blackmail goes on because of vices like those alleged here? The WashTimes’ expose of the Craig Spence prostitution/blackmail ring and its links to the GHWB White House suggests this is a major factor in our political life. Everybody has allies vulnerable to this, so a crackdown would cause Mutually Assured Destruction.

• Joe:
  

  You do not want to pass on a false rumor. As you well know Stacy, they are nasty work. Patterico likes to ask those questions, until it turns on him.
  But at the same time, a rumor does reach the point it is a legitimate story to pursue. If it is done with a goal of being honest, letting the facts prove or disprove it, fair enough. If the goal is to find or make up “facts” to reach some set idea, I have a problem with that.

• Joe:
  

  Now this is a story.
  Don’t you guys protect your own?

• Gordon Winslow:
  

  There was a similar rumor about Texas governor Rick Perry–that he was caught in the sack with a male aide or something along those lines. It was all over the place six years ago. The mainstream press ignored it, and it faded (although I still hear it once in awhile). Perry won re-election handily.
  This sounds like the exact same rumor, imported a couple of states over. So it’s probably BS.

• confused and interested:
  

  What were they doing with an inflatable pig? Do they (china) actually make inflatable sex pigs?
  I sure hope Mr. King isn’t part of that Sons of the Confederacy group. Talk about embarrassing.

• The Camp of the Saints brings the linkage.
• The Lonely Conservative does as well.
• Ubervue Thread

The Rest of the Story:
You Betcha: Palin Endorses Rand Paul in Bitter Kentucky GOP Senate Primary

• The Classic Liberal rounded it up.
• Political Byline showed the usual indicisiveness in forming an opinion. 😉
• The Daley Gator is up on the choice.
• RightCal is unsupportive. Hey, you know, it’s not about the personalities, Sarah’s or Rands, but rather the policies.
• The Medary links us, and has a crucial clip on the budget freeze.
• Ubervu thread
• Chuck Cross:
  

  At least she’s on the winning side of the feud.
  OH!

• CrustyB:
  

  I can see Sarah aligning with Rand’s views on taxes and the Federal Reserve but not his opposition to the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act. Maybe the ophthalmologist thing got to her.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  Most of the anti-Rand commentary I have seen stems from distortions of his positions by his opponents. They make him out to be some sort of Dove, but he would have went into Afghanistan, and would have forced our leaders to a Declaration of War with Iraq (you know, that pesky U.S. Constitution we often side-step).
  To me, there is a big difference between disliking a candidate because his positions suck (frankly I’m pro-Constitutional Conservative which is Rand), and distorting/attacking because you like the other guy.
  For that matter, I agree with Bill Johnson on most of his positions, but his his double-barrel double-0 buckshot smear campaign painting Rand Paul as some dope-smoker/pro-choice advocate turned me off to him completely.
  I think Buckley was right (in the linked blog post from 1/26), but the blood feud is going to keep a lot of people home unless the partisans take a sober look at the positions, and not what the pontificators want you to believe. Sarah Palin clearly gets it.

• Patrick:
  

  AllahPudit, Ed and Michelle are having a 2 day company-wide meeting.
  See here:
  http://hotair.com/archives/2010/02/01/welcome-our-guest-bloggers-to-hot-air/

• anginak:
  

  This may come across as not serious enough or glib or whatever, but…. you can’t make everyone happy all the time.
  Shit, I’ve been unhappy since early November 2008.

• Wondering Jew:
  

  Agree entirely with Chuck’s comments. Rand Paul is a great candidate. Bill Johnson seems fairly solid on many issues, but his smearing of Rand (plus the fact he has no tractions in the polls) disqualifies him. Trey Grayson is a hackish Mitch McConnell puppet.
  It is very encouraging to see an alliance between the Palin and Paul supporters. I don’t agree with either of them on everything, but both represent a welcome challenge to the worthless Republican establishment.

• Angela Thorn:
  

  Lisa Graas has apparently jumped off the Palin bandwagon as a result. http://texas4palin.blogspot.com/2010/02/rand-paul-camp-claims-confirmation-of.html?showComment=1265050230567#c122144894205598269
  Her “Palin” Twibe (which I subscribed to and was HUGE by Twibe standards) has been deleted as well.

• John:
  

  It’s likely more of an “ignore it and it didn’t happen” type of treatment for Allahpundit and co.

• Old Rebel:
  

  Over at LGF, poor Charles Johnson is hissyfying over this endorsement, slamming Rand Paul as a “paleo-nutjob” because of his opposition to the illegal USA PATRIOT Act, torture, and Neocon “nation-building.”

• Lisa Graas:
  

  Sarah Palin has sold out to the money machine in defiance of Reagan conservatives in Kentucky. Johnson is supported by Sue Jaycox who organized the first Louisville Tea Party and also Debra Tennison, who heads up the Central Ky Tea Party. I know a lot of things I can’t report publicly. Just watch what happens. Her credibility has just been destroyed in Kentucky. Her base will abandon her and the Paulites, who hate her anyway, won’t be supporting her for president either. Too bad. I guess it’s a good thing for her that Kentucky isn’t that important in presidential elections. She can afford to stab us all in the back and it won’t hurt her chances too much. She can now rake in money from Campaign for Liberty people. It’s all going to be a lucrative investment for her, I’m sure.
  I *can* report that the Palin Twibe has been deleted along with all feeds and Facebook group. The blog is open to authors only and will be deleted in one week to give authors time to copy any content they may want to keep. The Palin Twibe account will be deleted in one week, as well.

• The Javelineer:
  

  Two words: aw yeah!
  Three more: audit the Fed!
  I’m a proud paleo-conservative. I know. I know. Who really thinks the Founders were basically right? Who still thinks people can govern themselves without “experts”? Who could possibly think that most big business activity isn’t capitalist but mercantilist? Me, that’s who. And lots of other people, like Rand Paul.
  There’s a very revealing aspect to all of this, beyond the election. The paleo-conservative’s vision is substantially different from the neo-conservative’s. Where does Palin really stand, then? Interesting.
  Palin is getting more, and more attractive to me. I didn’t think it possible.

• Bob Belvedere:
  

  Stacy: What’s this about Smitty: Playing For The Other Team???

• Old Rebel:
  

  Javelineer,
  Obama’s turning even more folks into paleoconservatives than the Neocons.

• K~Bob:
  

  They’re doing backflips over this at freeper-land. Not.
  Boy does she get under the skin of people that want her to do things the way they want ’em done. My guess is she’s met with the man and finds his positions more in line with conservatism.
  So far the only people who are leaving her bandwagon seem to be people who prefer leading their own. No great loss there.

• theCL:
  

  Lisa,
  I understand that your heart is in the right place, but your description of Rand Paul’s anti-abortion stance comes straight out of a left-wing play book!
  Please disagree, but don’t misrepresent. If the right continues to fall into this cheap tactic nonsense, the country is gone for good.
  God help us all!

• Eric:
  

  Lisa spent the last week claiming that Rand Paul’s people were liars for insinuating this endorsement was coming.
  An apology would be the conservative thing to do. You know, personal responsibility and all that.

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Commonsense pragmatism? Shrewd coalescing of the populist anger?

• I.B. Wright:
  

  lisa g’s post makes her sound like a whiner.
  don’t like whiners.
  hey lisa. just represent your candidate and stop whining.

• Tim:
  

  Lisa has been caught lying before on blogs.She claimed she didn’t spam for Bill Johnson will mutliple Google Accounts (a violation of Google TOS) then later admitted to it.
  Plus she says she supports amnesty, bailouts, etc.. which are anti-tea party anti-conservative positions.

• NKYguy:
  

  Lisa (aka Whiner),
  Love the “take your ball and go home” mentality…Pub/tea blood feud in KY means the dem wins by the skin of a Johnson whiner’s teeth.

• ol_dirty_/b+/tard:
  

  Can we please lay off Lisa? We can disagree without trashing her. She’s been a staunch supporter for a long time. I like Palin’s endorsement but I also still like Lisa.

• Dave C:
  

  http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/1/832853/-Palin-Twibe-has-been-DeletedLOL
  Getting ugly out there.

• Lisa Graas:
  

  Tim writes: Lisa has been caught lying before on blogs.She claimed she didn’t spam for Bill Johnson will mutliple Google Accounts (a violation of Google TOS) then later admitted to it.
  Tim, you are a LIAR. I comment under my own name everywhere with the exception of HotAir where I comment as ‘gocatholic’ and I NEVER EVER hide my identity. You are a liar.

• Lisa Graas:
  

  For the record, I was going to support Rand Paul until I interviewed his campaign manager and campaign coordinator and was appalled by what they told me.
  I just love the “whiner” comments. If they only knew. Sigh.

  Request a link to the interview. It’s one this to throw out such a remark, and quite another to back it up.

• forgodsake:
  

  Lisa, Rand is going to win anyway whether you like it or not and whether you cry about it. no one cares.

• ml:
  

  What is Palin thinking? Why she endorsed Rand Paul? Palin must be another Rino’s just like Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney.

• The Javelineer:
  

  Lisa, I’ve read your blog posts on Rand Paul and Ron Paul. Most of them overreach.
  Ron Paul calls for the disestablishment of the CIA. You infer that this means Ron Paul wants to eliminate all foreign intelligence gathering. That’s false. He wants to eliminate a hopelessly corrupt, unaccountable, and ineffective agency – and then replace it with something that works and is accountable. You’re just wrong on the facts. You say the idea is kooky. I watched the CIA wage an undeclared war on GW Bush. You must have been distracted, at the time.
  But just think about this one thing: the CIA can’t keep secrets! I advocate putting all intelligence gathering into DIA. Under the UCMJ, leakers can be shot for treason and the entire system is under a unified, accountable command structure.
  Rand Paul thinks we should consider moving Gitmo detainees back to their home countries. You think this “basically denies that we are at war” and entails releasing the inmates back onto the battlefield. This is false. In fact, your beloved CIA conducts rendition which is nothing more than sending inmates back to their home countries to face much more harsh interrogations than allowed by US detention facilities. Sending people to prisons back in their home country is hardly putting them “back into the battlefield.”
  You also state that the Gitmo detainees are POWs. This is false. They are unlawful combatants who are not eligible for POW protections. The US, being a benevolent nation, has granted most detainees treatment as though they are POWs. You have the same mistaken reading of Geneva as the most radical European leftists.
  Lisa, apparently some people here have lied about you. That’s unwarranted. Kindly give others the same treatment in your analysis.

• Lisa Graas:
  

  Video of Bill Johnson at the Reagan RallyHe’s going to win this race because he has a strong conservative spine and the people LOVE him.

• Mike Wallace:
  

  Rands rise in the polls guaranteed this race would receive a national focus. The Pauls are a very well known enigma. They exist and raise political funding outside of the normal process of favors and connections. Politicians want to be them & at the same time are unsure of supporters who cannot be transferred or mollified. Palins endorsement is of course controversial, because she is. In 2008 She was on record of favorable opinions of older Paul.
  Both Pauls have spent a lifetime advancing the philosophy of liberty laid out in the Declaration of Indep. They know that the Const. is a framework for protecting those liberties by restraining Gov & that every act of expanding gov undermines that. Anyone that promotes liberty like that understands two points. To respect liberty you MUST respect life, & to have rights you MUST have the ability to assert those rights by force (military) otherwise you have no rights. To the chagrin of some, rights also come with the responsibility to be justified in using force to defend them.
  Rand gets the intent of the Const and the need to be strictly limited on legislation he would like to advocate vs what on the surface looks good but ultimately undermines the intent of the Const.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  Sad.
  All of us probably agree on 95% of issues (5% disagreement on Pro-America vs. Pro-Global foreign policy view), yet conservatives will fight over word-smithing by inter-party foes as a reason to hate a candidate.

  ‘word-smithing’ why the anti-Smith bias? ‘)

• William R:
  

  Time for conservatives to return to their roots. There’s nothing conservative about preemptive war and nation building. The GOP has lost its way with this bellicose foreign policy. On Jan 17 1961 President Eisenhower used his farewell address to the nation to warn the American people about the military industrial complex. Today we’ve got so called conservatives wanting to start another war with Iran. Never mind we are stuck in two wars right now. Why not make it three. As Ed Crane founder of the CATO institute recently wrote, “it is time for the GOP to dump these faux conservatives”
  http://www.amconmag.com/article/2010/mar/01/00040/

• The Javelineer:
  

  Lisa Graas wrote, “He’s going to win this race because he has a strong conservative spine and the people LOVE him.”
  Well that’s a good reason to be happy. A people’s representative should represent them. If he’s a strong conservative, even better!
  Still, none of that goodness will justify Lisa’s factual errors.
  Chuck Gross wrote, “conservatives will fight over word-smithing by inter-party foes as a reason to hate a candidate.”
  This dispute is not over word-smithing, but over factual errors. There is a crease in the Republican Party. It’s a crease, not a rift, because as you point out there is substantial agreement among the caucuses. These creases divide paleo-conservatives, neo-conservatives.
  The disputes between the two camps is not trivial, as Chuck seems to think. While there is 95% agreement, the issues at dispute are quite substantial.
  Neo-conservatives like big government; paleo-conservatives want a strictly limited government. Neo-conservatives are comfortable with government interference in society; paleo-conservatives want society to develop free of a “tyranny of experts.”. Neo-conservatives are supply-siders; paleo-conservatives advocate consumer sovereignty. Neo-conservatives accept the radical changes of the New Deal; paleo-conservatives want to roll back the entire edifice of the administrative state.
  Chuck, if we can’t achieve agreement let us achieve clarity. Let us know each other’s position. Only clarity is a basis for cooperation on the 95% area of agreement.
  Because Lisa Graas overreaches and distorts rather than clarifies, her approach will yield only discord.
  We’re conservatives. We tell the truth and deal with facts as best we can. We don’t make stuff up.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  @ Javelineer – I appreciate the thoughtful feedback. A point of clarification. I do not think most conservatives are neo-conservatives — most certainly not a 50/50 split. In my view, there are facets of their ideology that leak into conservative philosophy that contribute to your “crease,” and that is predominantly their views on foreign policy. If you had a distribution of conservatives, with paleo-conservatives as the right-tail, neo-conservatives the left-tail and most conservatives in the middle, the gravity, until recently, has been stronger in the neo-conservative direction.
  Neo-conservatives are recognizing this in their increasingly loud shoutdowns of the other end of the spectrum, using their 1960’s tactics to paint the paleo-conservatives as Isolationists. The paleo-conservatives, having been bested in the 80’s and 90’s, are already grumpy, but find their message at least being listened to and mentioned in the press. I believe that is so partially due to it being in-line with the founding fathers original intent .
  Facts and musings aside, it really comes down to who delivers their message better. I give the advantage to the neo-conservatives, as they are masters of manipulation when it comes to painting their opposition as anti-troops/anti-america (when in reality the polar-opposite is true).

Well, This Would Explain a Lot

• Joe:
  

  I am not buying the drunken parties. Everything is so press ridden at the White House that you could not get away with it. Although behind closed airplane doors Nancy Pelosi likes to tip back the drinks when she is flying those government jets she likes to demand ($100,000 bar tab is impressive for anyone). The press is not on those flight, or if they are they are tipping them back too.
  The White House Wagyu Kobe beef, however, is true (Michelle Malkin was all over that when it occurred), but to Obama’s limited credit I think it was domestic $150 a pound beef.
  Which president was it who served hot dogs to visiting royalty at the White House, and it was a huge hit? I am all for guests at the White House eating well. I recognize brats and potato salad will not work at every WH function. But the truth is American chefs make amazing food out of relatively inexpensive ingredients. I think it is prudent to stay away from outrageously decadent ingredients like Wagyu beef and caviar in a recession. Call me crazy like that.
  But of course, had George Bush done something like this, whoaaaaaa Nelly. The press would have gone hog wild. My guess George dug stuff like hamburgers and PB&Js.

• ClericalGal:
  

  I remember seeing headlines in tabloids saying George W. Bush had fallen off the wagon and Laura was leaving him. If that was even remotely true, Daily Kos and MSNBC would have a field day. So I think this story is BS.

• Reaganite Republican:
  

  People finally starting to see the hypocrisy… like that $450 snack at the Waldorf- these two behave like some trash that just won the Lotto- which they ARE, in a way-
  Linked at the Reaganite Republican

• Barbara Espinosa:
  

  This is believable.You can make some lulu decisions after drinking. The song “They all look better at closing time” could certainly apply to some of his decisions .Boy, That sounds really good; let’s do it. Have another round and we will put it together now. Have you ever woke up, and thought Oh! My God! How did that person get in my room? I’m stealing to post on American Freedom if I can figure out how to do it.

• Indentured Servant Girl:
  

  I think this is big news…for a different reason.
  It signals a shift in what is permissible.
  Magazines with the Obamas on the cover or notoriously bad sellers…when covers like this start doing well…look out.

• MissTammy:
  

  Damn it all, now I’ll have to go buy the rag to find out what secret Johnny took to his grave….

• Obi’s Sister had a nice roundup.

The Center Can Be No-Man’s Land

• keyboard jockey:
  

  The Center Can Be No-Man’s Land
  Yep, that’s true and it’s where I live 😉
  keyboard jockey on blogger

• keyboard jockey:
  

  Check out my fellow blogger, hunts with club is way out there in no mans land too.
  Seal Hunter on blogger

• Adobe Walls:
  

  Can it be mined also?

• Americaneocon:
  

  In preparation for tomorrow, American Power tracked-back with, ‘Alessandra Ambrosio’s St. Bart’s Photo-Shoot’.

• OhioCoastie:
  

  I like the idea of the periodic cutoff. Hell, I’m a medically retired veteran, with a service-connected 100% disability. I’m willing to put my pension up for review every 4 to 8 years as long as EVERY entitlement is included. No exceptions. None.

• The Lonely Cosnservative thinks it’s the right idea, but I mean regularly

VIDEO: ‘Brown Revolution’ Nationwide

• TBinSTL:
  

  Note to Fund and for future style books: Except in very rare circumstances, a Marine, no longer on active duty or reserve is not to be refered to as “ex”. “Former Marine” is the acceptable term.
  To my knowledge, in consultation with Marines, both active and former, the only well known Marines to be refered to as “ex-Marines” at this time are Lee Harvey Oswald and John Murtha…. the defining characteristic they share is having broken faith with the Corps.

• M. Simon:
  

  Arrived here via Instapundit thru the American Spectator.
  I blogged Walesa and Adam (the Polish guy) and I have a really nice T-Party generic sign put out by the Quincy, Illinois T- Party at:
  T-Party Candidates for Illinois

• M. Simon:
  

  TBisSTL is correct about Marines. From a friend in a closely allied service.
  Simon – US Naval Nuke – the geekiest you can get and still be in the fight.

• Uberview thread

‘Sam Dealey Has What It Takes to
Make That Paper Great Again’

• Chuck Cross:
  

  Mr. McCain — not sure if you fall into the “I-Hate-Ron-Paul-and-everything-associated-with-him” camp, but his son Rand is running an amazing campaign down in Kentucky. They had a major snowstorm today, and he still managed to pull 800+ people to a convention center for a rally. Not to mention the guy is up 19pts in the polls, I think he’s going to make a great Check in the Senate when it comes to un-American legislation.
  Bluegrass Bulletin

• Jim Lakely:
  

  Stacy,
  Great post, and great insight. As a fellow former TWT staffer, your comments are right on. (And I think I know who uttered that salty quote you shared … but we’ll just leave that anonymous).
  I wish The Washington Times well, as I’m sure you do. We’ll never see the glory days of Pruden’s tenure again, but the capital city needs a healthy Washington Times. I pray Dealey can help provide it.

• RSM’s American Spectator post

An Impromptu Interview With LCR

• Chris W:
  

  LCR is one of my favorite blogs and Tim is a great guy.

• left coast rebel:
  

  Sometimes the output and discussion is at it’s best when not thought over – from the heart. Thanks for the link.

Sarah Palin’s PAC Raised More Than $2 Million in Its First 11 Months

• FUZZY THEISBICH, Ph.D.:
  

  Which is my cue to ask, have you hit the tip jar lately?
  Which is mt turn to ask, have you worn heels in front of the GOP Convention lately…?

  Buried deep in either TARP or the stimulus bill of last year was a proviso that RSM never, EVER appear in public in heels. Best wishes disproving that. 😉

Frankly, I’ve Begun to Worry That Carol at No Sheeples Here Has Caught BMD

• No Sheeples Here:
  

  Hey, I can’t help it if there are gremlins in my Photoshop software.
  Thank goodness they’re conservative gremlins at least.

Bagman is a Hoot

• Reaganite Republican:
  

  That would be me
  The Reaganite Republican Resistance

  Thanks, mate.

• BigFurHat:
  

  Prescient AND funny???? How can a compliment get any more… um… complimenty???
  Wait, make that complimentree.
  Thanks, Smitty
  -bigfurhat

• Proof:
  

  That is pretty funny! Guess you gotta laugh so you won’t start crying!

BREAKING URGENT!

• Paco:
  

  Who’s that guy with her, Donnie Osmond?

• Richard McEnroe:
  

  What guy where?

• Jim Rose:
  

  Daaaaaaaaaammmmn!

• David Smith:
  

  Holy cannoli! What a rack!

• BruceC:
  

  Paco
  January 30th, 2010 @ 11 50
  Who’s that guy with her, Donnie Osmond?
  Nah, that’s Harry Potter and the Goblets of Fire.

• Miss Sharon:
  

  A bit over the top, don’t you think?

• BruceC:
  

  Miss Sharon
  January 31st, 2010 @ 12 34
  A bit over the top, don’t you think?
  Well, yeah, but far be it from us to tell Ms Hendricks what to wear.

• Kirk Hall:
  

  Just lovely.

• Dave C:
  

  The guy she’s with is her husband..
  He played one of the terrorists in the movie, An American Carol.
  Mohammed: It is getting harder to recruit suicide bombers, and all the really good ones are gone.

• TBinSTL:
  

  Its Yo-saff-bridge!!

• DMB:
  

  Mmmm… Good Bible…

• Patrick:
  

  You Turkey, I thought it was something important. 😉

  Importance is such a…subjective thing.

• Glenn Mark Cassel AMH1(AW) USN Ret.:
  

  A man could get lost in there.

• Oxbay:
  

  Are they real or are they memorex?

• RRmike:
  

  My Word!

• Milo:
  

  They’re real, and they’re *magnificent*!

• snaggletoothie:
  

  Oh, to be a white flower of the mountains.
  And I said, ‘Can I?’
  And she said, ‘Yes.’
  And I said, ‘Can . . . ‘
  And she said, ‘Yes.’
  And I said, ‘. . I?’
  And she said, ‘Yes . . Yes’
  And I said, ‘Can I?’
  And she said, ‘Yes . . . Yes . . Yes’
  And again she said, ‘Yes . . . Yes, yes, YES.’

• Chuck Cross:
  

  definitely no handbridge required for those.

• Proof:
  

  Nice, healthy looking young lady!
  Must be a pleasure just to watch her breathe!

• Americaneocon:
  

  She’s lovely!

• CW4, US Army:
  

  AMH1,
  A man could always hope. Unfortunately, we are reminded of the old adage from the Chief: Hope in one hand, poop in the other and which one do you think will fill up first?
  But yummy, nonetheless!!!

• BuddyOne:
  

  Some husband that guy is, he can only afford a little tiny dress like that…

• culpering355:
  

  BOOOOOOOOMMM *collective jaw hitting floor*

• Piece of Work in Progress offers a hat tip.
• The Daley Gator makes a scurrilous accusation.

Tip-Jar Hitters Don’t Do Davos

• Theodore Fritz:
  

  Aluminum baseball bat? Nah, you know those would set off their metal detectors.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  Alumnium baseball bat, for the win.

• Red:
  

  Sorry Stacey;-(
  You’re better at the shoe-leather beat than some of these other “arm-chair quarter backs” if that’s any consolation though it probably isn’t.

• Bill A:
  

  Hey RSM, some of us TJ Hitters are from Switzerland, and Falls Church too.
  Canton de Vaud, Leysin, let’s see if we cain’t cook something up.

‘Down in Alabama, You Can Run, But You Sure Can’t Hide’

• Mr.K:
  

  Sweet home Alabama…..I am considering a small donation Mr.McCain, but I remain hesitant….because even though your trips are full of awesomeness…it makes the laziest of bloggers look bad, and I must lookout for the laziest of bloggers…being one.

  Rationalize the rational lies! Commenting and linking are also welcome, sir.

Oh, Boy! Dead Terrorists!

• Dave C:
  

  What? No headline like ‘Terrorist Leader Dead due to shocking news of no ‘g’ spot and military air strike. Bust mostly military air strike’?

  That’s an Ace-ism.

• Doug Hagin:
  

  Dead Jihadi? Happy Dance time!

French Scientists Held a Symposium . . .

• Joe:
  

  That is just mean about the French. Give them credit where credit is due, they generally love women (or at least sex with women), can cook, and make decent wine. As warriors, well they tend to not do so well in that regard.
  Also, remember the English Vice is buggery–apparently stemming from their gender segregated public (which really means private in the UK) bording school days. So when it comes to Brit men describing genocological functions, you should always be suspect. Need I remind you of one Brit in particular who loves to discuss a certain woman’s parts?

• proof:
  

  I blame Bush.
  (Feel free to double any entendres as needed.)

• raelynn:
  

  It exists…as sure as death and taxes

Why Aren’t You Home-Schooling Yet?

• Political Junkie Mom followed up.
• Picked up Pamela’s and a few other choice links.
• The Classic Liberal has a shools-as-prisons roundup. I just figured out I was going to have to teach myself. I was occasionally disproven.
• Forgotten Liberty:
  

  I was homeschooled and would recommend it to anyone. I never had a shortage of friends or social activities either. Actually it was quite the opposite! And by homeschooling me, my parents were able to teach me the principles this country was founded on without being undermined by progressive indoctrination in the public schools.

• Mark:
  

  I dissent. When people of faith abandon the institutions of culture they create a situation in which the people formed by those institutions are incapable of responding to the message of faith. In other words, the time will come when pagans no longer reject the gospel because they prefer paganism; the gospel will cease to be a viable option to reject.

• Mark:
  

  With all due respect to the Rev. Moore, his approach seems designed to cocoon his own children from the influence of the world at the cost of condemning the world to being without salt and light in one of the places where it would have the most influence. And when his grown children encounter that saltless, lightless world for the first time, when they are no longer breathing the atmosphere of the environment he controls, the crisis of confidence will be a challenge he’d better have them well prepared to meet.
  You will say to me, “Better to prepare them in the controlled atmosphere of home-school than to risk their exposure to the godless system of public education.” But I say to you, inoculation by exposure to the live virus when it is weak is preferable to the first exposure being the virulent version in its natural habitat. In the same way, examining worldviews and presuppositions behind the curriculum is far easier if one starts in early elementary and continues through high school than addressing the sophisticated challenges at the university level. If my daughter should encounter Zinn’s text in her high school history course (and her mother and I will know), she’s already equipped to recognize the worldview behind it and challenge it.
  I’m not arguing against home-schooling. The home-schooled kids whom I’ve had the pleasure of teaching in my first year classes are generally first rate. What I am arguing against is the asinine assumption that parents whose kids are in the public schools are too stupid to understand the danger and thus are part of the problem of public education. It’s the arrogant position of an ideologue that presumes to know the single legitimate response to the fiasco that is government run public education.

• Neil:
  

  We live in a conservative Texas school district but even it had problems. We started home schooling this year for our youngest, a junior. Wish we would have done this a long time ago!

• Mark30339:
  

  A rather short and sudden post for a revolution. How long have the Other McCain children been out of public school?

• Michael:
  

  Tomorrow may be too late? It is already too late. Since 1997 another generation of children have been indoctrinated to hate Christianity and capitalism. That generation includes most of the Christian children who were blindly sent into public schools during that time. Christians will be but a remnant in America twenty years from now.

• Mr.K:
  

  I’m homeschooled as well…………hardest thing – I cannot join Interscholastic sports, I have written to a local Senator he supports homeschool efforts, but we’ve got idiots in charge of NY….leaving us homeschool younglins with little hope.

• Dave R.:
  

  The Jesuits said, “Give us a child until he is seven and we will give you the man.” The liberal-progressives behind public education have taken that to heart, but they were smart enough not to come out and say it.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  I was educated at a public high school, and private college. While I believe education is what you make of it, I was an economics major and upon graduating, had never studied Friedman, Schumpeter, Mises or Hayek. It was all Marx, Engels, Walra and the whole cadre of heterdoxical economists. I still have my copy of Open Veins of Latin America (Chavez gave a copy of this to Obama).
  I’ll be homeschooling my kids someday, and reviewing any curriculum when they go to post-grad school. The level of indoctrination is astounding — Howard Zinn????? God help us all.

• Proof:
  

  My ex and I home schooled our five kids through the sixth grade. At least when they entered the public schools, they had already learned to think.

• Philip Primeau:
  

  I went to public school in a liberal northeastern community. There I received a fine education, made swell friends, and encountered next to no propaganda.
  Sure, there were a few left-leaning teachers who couldn’t keep their yaps shut, but there were also a few vocal right-leaning ones, too. Most teachers were apolitical, rather apathetic in general. They said their piece and that was it.
  My English courses were dominated by ‘Dead White Male’ canon works. I recall a not-insignificant portion of one semester during junior year was dedicated to studying the Bible. The humanities program was comprised of standard fair, nothing controversial, mostly mainstream interpretations of Big American Events. All points of view given fair hearing and debate was encouraged.
  I’ve heard some public school horror stories, but Stacy’s dismissal of the system as thoroughly rotten is nonsense. Hey, I even recall the principle of my high school greatly curtailing antiwar students’ freedom of protest (only after classes, only in specific areas, only pre-approved literature could be distributed, etc.). Right up your alley, eh, Stacy?
  And, as I noted, this is a liberal district of a liberal state in the north-freakin’-east!
  Stacy, you write: “Get your kids out of public schools, now.” And send them where, exactly? Most Americans — you know, the “ordinary” folks you pretend to champion — haven’t the time or money to home school. Don’t you realize both spouses are employed full-time in 51% of American households?
  Not to say that many folks don’t have the temperament — or, speaking frankly, the brains — to given their kids a proper learning’.
  Free public education is crucial to the health of a democracy. It acts as a leveler and facilitates understanding across racial, ethnic, and religious lines. It helps foster a broad cultural consensus. That’s more necessary now than ever before. What we need now is MORE, not LESS, public schooling.

• pivey:
  

  The majority of the founding fathers were “home-schooled” as was most of our population for the first half of the 1800’s. Compare the functional literacy rates from that time until now. Our democracy was founded by homeschoolers who believed that fear of God was the beginning of knowledge. Check out the book “America’s Providential Heritage” for a mind-blowing history of our country and how home-schooling or classical education played a huge part in it. My 5th grader and I are reading it together and it explains so much of what’s wrong!
  Google Yuri Bezmenov lectures and he will explain that the first step to taking over a country with psychological warfare is to co opt the education system. We are now well into over 40 years of what he calls “demoralization”, which results it people with views such as Philip’s.
  While I have a chemical engineering degree, I believe anyone who loves their kids and is literate can teach their child, even Forest Gump. The average public school teacher scores low on standardized tests themselves, you really couldn’t do worse. As far as temperment goes, that’s really something you need to work on as a family anyway. My homeschool umbrella school coordinator says that one of the best things about homeschooling is that it allows you to sin against your child and they see you a fallible and gives you an opportunity to ask forgiveness from your child. It’s a Christian thing, you might not understand.
  Discipleship is something that is an ongoing process whether the child or family is aware of it or not. When a Christian sends a child to public school, their child is being taught that they can ignore God for a large part of their day. This violates Deut. 6 which tells us that we are to teach them all day long.
  Also, if you think your school is just Norman Rockwell hunky dory, know that all the textbooks are written by leftists and the novels they are required to read are often crap and often vulgar.
  Public education is what elected Barak Obama. Homeschooling families are much more engaged in the political arena and watch their freedoms carefully

• Philip Primeau:
  

  We read Beowulf, Shakespeare, Camus, O’Connor, Steinbeck, Austen, etc. Hardly vulgar crap. I can’t say I remember the textbooks too well, but I’m sensitive to p.c. wackiness, and it certainly didn’t rear its ugly head often enogh to make a mark on my memory.
  As is typical with cultural extremists who detest mainstream civil society, your hatred is based on distortion bred from ignorance. Parents aren’t entitled to dominate every aspect of the lives of their children. They have enough power to derange the minds of their children without depriving them of crucial socializing and trained, knowledgeable educational professionals.
  “I believe anyone who loves their kids and is literate can teach their child, even Forest Gump.”
  Literate? That discounts most Americans, I guess. Unless you count the ability to parse the dollar menu and TV Guide “literate.”
  No thanks. I’m not so deluded as to think I can give my children a decent education. I had enough trouble with trig and physics and Latin myself. In this competitive world, a proper education requires specialization — and, thus, specialists.
  “The majority of the founding fathers were ¡§home-schooled¡¨ as was most of our population for the first half of the 1800’s”
  No, most of the founding fathers were educated by learned private masters, sometimes one-on-one but more commonly in small groups, and then shipped off to elite colleges at early ages. (Some, like Franklin, attended their equivalent of public schools — i.e. Boston Latin.)
  But step back and expand your view. Isn’t the rural, clapboard, one room “country schoolhouse” a potent symbol of American equality and frontier democracy? This clannishness, this desire to isolate the family against the supposedly infecting influence of society, it is deeply corrosive to the values of a liberal society. No surprise the home school movement is driven by religious zealots with medieval worldviews.

• pivey:
  

  Philip,
  I feel sorry for you that you received that great education at your liberal northeastern university and still feel unable to relay that information to others. I’m so happy for you that you studied the classics at school, just be aware that your experience is not necessarily normative.
  Your attitude toward most Americans is typical of liberal elitism, especially those graduated from liberal northeastern universities. You may not be as sensitive to indoctrination as you believe.
  As I said educators as a group score very low on standardized tests and could not cut it in any other field requiring a college education. They are not anything special.
  My daughter is on track to begin Algebra 1 in seventh grade and we read Beowulf back in second grade. I love trig and Physics, we’ve just gotten to the 3rd conjugation in latin. Oh, and we’re just in 5th grade!
  More and more liberals, pagans, and other groups are jumping on the homeschooling wagon. Partly because homeschooling yields serious success. On national standardized tests homeschoolers score an average of 30 points higher than public school peers.
  I’m not isolated at all. I belong to a wonderful, diverse group of families that homeschool. When I have a problem with something out of my expertise, such as dyslexia, I can ask one of my friends who used to be a reading specialist for advice. Some of my friends are uncomfortable teaching science and ask for my help.
  My kids have more friends now than when they were in public school and are more involved in community activities and don’t have to sit inside during recess for talking in the halls or during lunch.
  As far as the founding fathers are concerned, please see John Taylor Gatto’s comprehensive “The Underground History of American Education” to see the problematic roots of our system.
  I’m a religious zealot with a medieval worldview – Love It!

• chad:
  

  I don’t have kids so I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I am going to weigh in anyway.
  Pivey remarks that the majority of the founding fathers were home-schooled. I have seen no evidence of that. In that era entry into universities occurred at a much younger age, high school age, so you could make the case that they were products of private schools or in some cases private tutors. Of the seven that Richard Morris identified as key founding fathers (Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Jay, Madison, Hamilton) only Washington was wholly homeschooled as the term is being used here.
  Also in regards to the founders. I would argue that the intellectual movement that most influenced the founders was the Scottish Enlightenment. That movement was made possible in large part because Scotland at the time had the highest literacy rate in Europe, because of (dunh dunh duh) Mandatory Public Education. Because the populace was literate ideas could be developed and distributed to the populace at large.
  That tradition carried forth in the US. I think if you look at settlement in the United States one of the first things to be established in new areas was a school.
  A factor that public schools served that homeschooling destroys was assimilation. ethnic enclaves and “strange” customs are a constant source of wailing from some. Well by destroying public schools you destroy one of the main methods in which assimilation occurs.
  Like Philip I attended a public school. My education wasn’t up to the standards of an Exeter Academy but it wasn’t substandard. I graduated able to read and write (kind of) do math, because of required shop classes I have enough mechanical skills to get by and I learned enough history to be impressed by America. Basically a solid education. From what I have seen of my nieces and nephews education in the Seattle public schools they are getting basically the same sort of education.
  I am not going to go as far as Philip and say that “the home school movement is driven by religious zealots with medieval worldviews.”
  but I do believe there is something profoundly unhealthy in it. I wouldn’t ban homeschooling, it’s a parents right to educate their kids as they see fit, but I don’t support it. What I do support is parents regaining control of school boards and insisting on higher standards.
  I believe what drove Stacy’s post was the reports of Organizing for America offering internships and Howard Zinn’s book being used in AP History classes. As to the first, So What? Conservatives could do the same thing if we were a little more on the ball. As far as the second, My understanding is that the AP curriculum is essentially set by the College Board, a private organization. If people have a problem with it that’s how it should be addressed. Taking your kids out of AP History would be one way. Having schools drop[ the course would be another.

• Joe:
  

  Home schooling is an option. So are private and parochial schools.

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  I avoided the indoctrination at my ultra-liberal undergraduate university by majoring in engineering. Our fluid dynamics and thermo books never had anything about political correctness. I did not so much avoid the indoctrination in law school as get another side – three cheers for the Federalist Society!
  That aside, twelve years of public school, even with a freshman year “Decisions” course taught by a pro-abstinence teacher, was enough. The biggest problem, IMHO, is not the liberal voices, but the lack of conservative values. It’s rather difficult to explain your intuitions – or not feel like a sex-a-phobic freak for not engaging in premarital sex – in an environment entirely devoid of morality.

• pivey:
  

  Majoring in engineering was my way around indoctrination in college as well.
  There is no such thing as an a-moral education. If you refuse to discuss morals and the natural laws upon which they are based, you are still promoting a code of values whether you like it or not. This results in our kids growing up not having a basis for what is right and wrong.
  My point in my earlier posts for invoking the founding fathers was that based on their own writings, NOT what was written ABOUT them by some pinhead, they would not tolerate for 30 seconds what passes for public school in this country. Yes, some of them had private tutors and went to small schools run by a local minister, but this in in effect what homeschooling is becoming today. We are networking and forming our own cooperative schools. Some mothers get together in groups of 3-5 and take turns teaching kids different subjects or on different days. Homeschooled high-schoolers frequently take advantage of dual-enrollment for college credit. I was not trying to say that the founding father’s mothers taught them the Greek and Latin they needed to get into college. But they did start studying at a more organized school or with a tutor until they were around 9-10 years old, meaning they had already been taught to read at home.
  BTW, Benjamin Franklin did indeed go to Boston Latin school for TWO whole years between the ages of 8 and 10. Then he went to apprentice with his older brother where he learned the printer trade.
  Scotland did not have mandatory schools as we have them now. Each parish was required to fund a school- why? So that the children of Scotland could read their Bibles for themselves. Literacy in early America went hand in hand with wanting all to have access to Biblical truth – the bedrock of morality and American ideals. You will notice that almost every school in early America was begun by a church. Isn’t amazing that Harvard’s first motto was: Truth for Christ and the Church.

• Philip P:
  

  “Literacy in early America went hand in hand with wanting all to have access to Biblical truth, the bedrock of morality and American ideals.”
  American ideals are products of the Enlightenment, a movement which held ‘Biblical truth’ in pretty low esteem, or holdovers from our Anglo heritage, the British (then) being probably the least religious of all Europeans. If the bedrock of our society were indeed ‘Biblical truth,’ we’d probably be living in a squalid, materially and technologically deprived theocracy right now.

• chad:
  

  Whether the schools were run by churches or not is immaterial. The point is the education was mandatory.
  You are conflating you’re moral judgment on a particular issue (or more likely issues since judging by the tone of your writing I’m sure you find some form of Christ hating in every class including wood shop) with whether or not public education has a societal value, which it certainly does.
  I think your withdraw my kids from the world approach is wrong but they are your kids so have at it.

• Nahanni:
  

  If the bedrock of our society were indeed ‘Biblical truth’, we’d probably be living in a squalid, materially and technologically deprived theocracy right now.
  We do.
  The “theocracy” we live under is the “theocracy” of nihilistic narcissistic liberalism. This “theocracy” has much in common with another form of “theocracy” in our world today-Islamofascism. It is a “theocracy” that has it’s own “devils” and “angels”, it’s own “saints” and “sinners” and now it’s very own “messiah”. It has its own gospels that they bitterly cling to despite the fact that they have been proven wrong.
  It is a “theocracy” that brands scientists who dispute the gospel of AGW as “heretics” (Pope Urban VIII was a pussy compared to the Gaia worshipers). A “theocracy” that wants to kill all non believers (read the comments from places like Kos/DU and the utterances of the overly pale MSDNC anchors for fine examples of that). It is a very misogynist “theocracy” too, just like Islamofascism-all one has to do is observe their continued behaviour concerning Sarah Palin to see that one in action. On a personal note the few true “sexist pigs” I have run into in my life just happen to have been ultra liberals of both sexes.
  The list could go on and on…
  Now that the “theocracy” of nihilistic narcissistic liberalism has gained control of the government they are acting swiftly to bankrupt the country and turn the population of the country into little more then serfs.
  But take heart! History teaches that the “theocracy” of nihilistic narcissistic liberalism (in all of its various forms) never lasts very long in any country. Every single one of them has fallen and when they do they, their agendas, their institutions and all their followers are utterly destroyed. Sure, they always do great damage before they fall but the “upside” is that when they do fall they are totally destroyed and tossed on the ash heap of history never to rise again.

• Philip P:
  

  “It’s rather difficult to explain your intuitions or not feel like a sex-a-phobic freak for not engaging in premarital sex in an environment entirely devoid of morality.”
  Seems like an exaggeration.

Three in a Row

• Bill A:
  

  Satriani is old hat.
  It’s all Brendon Small these days.

• B-Daddy:
  

  Was there a point to this? It seems like a Seinfeld plot to me. Kevin is never going to grow up until its almost too late. Those women are unlikely to learn self respect on their own. They need to read this story, or at least understand its meaning, or they will continue to lack meaningful relationship in their lives.

• OhioCoastie:
  

  Kevin’s on track to die single, jaded, & alone.

• liamascorcaigh:
  

  If the story made an explicit, final point, then it would be a sermon.
  For a story that’s explicitly not a sermon Steve sure does a lot of sermonizing to Kevin. He is a sanctimonious prig. And yes, the three women are sluts and Kevin’s a horn dog. They deserve each other. Why Kevin alone should apologize to women who abase themselves willingly, nay eagerly, is quite a mystery. Should they not equally be obliged to apologize to him for using him sexually to work off their frustrations, anxieties and sense of inadequacy? Apparently not.
  The subtext here is that in any exchange of bodily fluids the male is ipso facto the predator while any and all females are the haplessly beguiled victims of his ruthless phallus. What utter tosh!
  BTW, while this piece is well written, if not very coherently conceived, it is not a short story. It’s short and it’s a story but this story consists merely of an anecdote containing three other anecdotes topped off with some facile selective social moralizing which, because of its selectivity, renders the whole exercise absurd.

• smitty:
  

  @liamascorcaigh,
  I thank you for the feedback, and would be genuinely interested in seeing a link to your positive definition of “short story”.

• B-Daddy:
  

  Smitty, your point is taken. I like the story I linked better, but that is because it is part of a larger and greater tale. I sense that you agree.

• I R A Darth Aggie:
  

  Kevin’s on track to die single, jaded, & alone.
  We all die alone.

Douchebag Links Feministe

• Red:
  

  Either that’s Ross Douthat’s true pic or Susan Etheridge has undergone some changes. Or someone at the Times online has some ‘splaining to do.

• Red:
  

  Looks a little like eugenist Ricky Gervaise.

• nuke:
  

  who is this ross douthat of whom you speak?

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  It’s a very reasonable point of view; however, as you note, it’s not like conservatives (and libertarians) haven’t made those same points ad infinitum. In reality, had Douthart linked to conservative blogs, he wouldn’t have a column; it would just be a less principled regurgitation of what is found there.

The Camp of the Saints Shows a Sad Non-Grasp of Nuance

• Steve Burri:
  

  Not an alpaca, but a guanaco. And you ain’t been in real doo-doo until you find yourself in deep guanaco guano.

• Bob Belvedere:
  

  Announcement from the VRWC: Because of his actions against Agent 1E, Bob Belvedere has been declared UNMUTUAL and has been transferred to Camp Goldwater where he will remain until he has be re-educated and declares of his own free will that he loves Richard Mellon Scaife.

• Red:
  

  Remember in high school when the cool kids would stand around and have their inside joke and the pledges would hang out and grin but have no idea what was really going on? Yeah…good times.

How to Distort the News: Jailbait Hooker Victimhood Edition

• snaggletoothie:
  

  I would much rather see law enforcement resources used to catch and punish the adults that put these girls into this ‘business’ and who hire them. Any decriminalization of the girls’ behavior should matched by a drastic increase in the penalties for their pimps and customers.
  Arguing that it has not been tried before by any state is the fallacy of appeal to tradition. Why take Georgia seriously is poisoning the well.

• AJBeck:
  

  Well, among other things, it reminds me of why certain laws about violent crimes had to be changed. Gang members in the 19880’s or 1990’s used get younger kids to some of the killing because younger killers would not be prosecuted as adults if caught. In that environment, states lowered the age of prosecution to where they are now so they wouldn’t have a population of feral teenagers.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  Where are the parents????

• Huey:
  

  The continuing effort by some to treat biological adults as infants has the predictable result of raising infantile adults.

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  From a pragmatic standpoint, I doubt that very many girls are really prosecuted for prostitution. Any sensible prosecutor would waive the charges or try her as a minor, provided she were to cooperate with the investigation. So this tends to be the sort of thing that is more for form than anything else. (It’s a lot like the rape kit issue in Alaska; they couldn’t find a single instance of a victim who was charged for the costs of collecting physical evidence, but made a bit fuss over it anyway.)
  Even if you could get a prosecutor dumb enough to bring the case against a 12-year-old girl for prostitution, no jury would convict her.
  Also, as a legal matter, this will lead to the fundamentally stupid situation in which a 15-year-old girl can sell her body for sex, but cannot do so a few month’s hence. Obviously, this will erode the ability to prosecute adults (like legal, biological adults who are clearly making their own decisions to do this) for prostitution and will also erode any chances that these girls have of fighting off people who want to force them into this. The Georgia legislature may have unwittingly provided a perfect excuse to those who would engage in child sex trafficking: “Don’t worry, sweetie, the police won’t do a thing to you.”

• Philip P:
  

  This land will not be free until I can snort coke off the knockers of a 16-year-old hooker at the after-party of a gay wedding.

• Philip P:
  

  The gay wedding of two military dudes!

• LS:
  

  If Unterman’s law passes, who should be appointed as Georgia’s Teenage Hooker Czar? (I nominate Charlie Sheen).
  How about Rob Lowe? Wasn’t his sex scandal in Atlanta during the DNC?

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Passing this law will only increase the incidence of underage prostitution due to the lack of penalty. Some of these girls are making a choice for themselves. Others enticed into it for money by perverted “adults” who will abuse the loophole even more. It seems that the pimps would use even younger girls for more shelf life. This is a bad proposition.

• Ubervue thread

Well, At Least I Never Called Justice Souter a ‘Goat-F***ing Child Molester’

• Mark L Harvey (aka Snooper):
  

  Little Charlie sure turned out to the fool I said he was in 2005!

• Red:
  

  What a whiny dick.

• CrustyB:
  

  Yes, Charles, the convention is a massive assembly of people in camoflage carrying assault rifles and endlessly deconstructing Adam & Eve. Real stranglehold on reality you’ve got there, Slick.

• Charles Johnson:
  

  I will sue if you ever accuse me of having sex with goats, just like I said I would sue over being accused of promoting Kevin “Fistgate” Jennings and child pornography in the classroom. Of course I never did sue Jim Hoft and Gateway Pundit/First Things over that. But that because I made a choice not to.
  What I do in the privacy of my own walled gated lizard compound is my business–okay? You are not invited. You, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, you racists are all on my list and I will get you just like I got Spencer and Geller.

• Moe Lane:
  

  lgf’s still around? Huh.

• William Teach:
  

  Charles Johnson? Who dat?
  He doesn’t blank goats. Considering what he has done to his blog the past few years, he is blanking himself. Both the right and left hate him, now. He got his 2 minutes of fame on the left side, then they discarded him like a tissue on a Ginger Lynn shoot.

• Andrew Sullivan:
  

  Quiet down Johnson or you can forget about the Anal lovin’ this weekend.

• USCitizen:
  

  Chuckles is still around?
  I hear he hates to be called Chuckles.
  (So that’s why I call him Chuckles).
  What an idiot.

• Rhymes With Right:
  

  I never said that about Souter — but have certainly thought it about Charles Johnson over at LGF.

First ‘ClimateGate,’ Now This: Punxsutawney Phil Sees His Shadow

• Lazarus Long:
  

  Rise and shine, campers!

• Charles Johnson:
  

  The science is settled! I do not have sex with Punxsutawney Phil either! If you accuse me of that I will sue you and Punxsutawney Phil for punitive damages!

• Red:
  

  Every day is Groundhog Day for me (sigh)…

• Ran / Si Vis pacem:
  

  Heh… Linked with piling-on. :-]

• Robert:
  

  All that proves is that the groundhog is in on the conspiracy. Just another denier.

• Hellrider:
  

  Now is the winter of Al Gore’s discontent.

• LS:
  

  How is a robot groundhog supposed to predict the weather? Satellite uplink? SkyNet?

• Mikey NTH:
  

  A groundhog sanctuary? That’s a hole in the ditch along the county road.

• Andrew Sullivan:
  

  What’s a groundhog? We do not have them in P-Town or Washington D.C.

Video Proves That Bill Kristol Has Been Watching Glenn Beck

• Ran / Si Vis pacem:
  

  Pardon me: Kristol’s recent discovery of the tender mercies of the growing State doesn’t recover him a whole pile of credibility in my books. Billie, Brooksie, Frummie, coNor & Co. are kinda late to the Liberty Bell, if they ever get here. It has been ringing -luodly – for quite a while.Thanks for the larf…

• Richard McEnroe:
  

  Obama’s not doing ‘crazy stuff that risks destroying America.’ He’s doing crazy stuff that’s meant to destroy America.

• Robert:
  

  I think Richard McEnroe has it right. This rises to the level of malfeasance. Scary though, Glenn has been out there saying this for a while.

• Philip P:
  

  Obama’s not doing “crazy stuff that risks destroying America.’ He’s doing crazy stuff that’s meant to destroy America.”
  What a sad little world you inhabit, to think a fine — if misguided and wrongheaded — patriot like President Obama wants to destroy his own country.
  That’s as crazy as the Kossacks who thought Dubya wanted to sell America to the Saudis.

  One wishes for assurance on this point.

• Richard McEnroe:
  

  I’ll try to master my dismay at your disapproval, until my nieces and nephews get their financial futures back.

• McGehee:
  

  Philip, assuming for the sake of argument Obama isn’t trying deliberately to destroy America: What would he have to do differently if he were?

• Bob Belvedere:
  

  Good comeback, McEnroe! But is Phillip P. really ‘worth the fighting’?

Sarah Palin Is Like Oprah Now

• Red:
  

  She would do well to heed the old adage: “Muchness brings discredit”.

• Andrew Sullivan:
  

  I argue that Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget is great. He is one of the good Republicans. There are only about two or three last time I checked. Ryan’s budget has draconian changes and cuts to Medicare/Medicade and privatization of Social Security.
  Then I argue that becuase Bush was such a spendthrift and imposed on us that terrible Medicare perscription drug entitlement expansion–that the only thing we can do is pass the current health care reform bill and expand health care entitlements well beyond anything Bush ever did. Of course no cuts will happen to Medicare/Medicare or Social Security under that plan.
  How do you reconcile those polar opposites? If you even ask that question you must be a Right Wing Christianist bigot.
  Oh, and of course we need war crimes against Cheney, Bush, Rove, and Rumsfeld. And probably Hugh Hewitt, Charles Krauthammer, and Bill Kristol too.

• Andrew Sullivan:
  

  I was disappointed by the many odd lies in Sarah Palin’s magazine. I have not tried the moose recipe, as I cannot find moose meat here in D.C.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  Moose is a little gamey. Venison, in my opinion, is better but it’s very easy to overcook.
  I hope the Wardman Marriott has good food.

• Corrindium:
  

  The linked article specifies that this magazine “…was produced, according to its publisher, without her knowledge or participation.”

• Philip P:
  

  “a medical-advice column by Andrew Sullivan”
  Unsurprisingly, he was fired after answering every query with, “More lube!”

• Philip P:
  

  “Sarah Palin Is Like Oprah Now”
  Absurdly self-absorbed and helplessly lowbrow?

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Wow, people profiting off of her without her permission. Just does not seem right. I recall people in line for her book signing carrying a magazine but that was back in November so there must be more than one published out there.

• Miss Sharon:
  

  As a former watcher of Oprah from years ago, Sarah Palin is the antithesis of Oprah.

• Kentucky Colonel:
  

  Why is it that the same people continue to post on something they obviously know nothing about? The article clearly says that she had no hand in the publication of this mag. It’s a simple matter that the publisher thought money could be made on it. Oprah publishes her mag. Palin did not publish this. BFD.

• taylor branch:
  

  Unlike Oprah, however, Palin is retarded.
  Oops!

The Difference One Life Can Make

• The Camp of the Saintsawards a spot-on quote of the day.
• That’s Right: “Let’s play who wants to be a baby killer.”
• My two cents offered support and a link.
• Nadia Chyme offers some thoughtful dissent.
• Ubervu thread
• The Javelineer:
  

  People are not just coincidental statistics. People are neither coincidental, the error of existentialism and nihilism, nor are people statistics, the error of false aggregation inherent in socialism and eugenics.
  This is a first-class, A1 post. It locates the problem and the solution with utter precision and accuracy.

• Miss Sharon:
  

  Could that piece of scripture be any more beautiful? I think not.
  Sally Jenkins(WAPO) hits hard for Tebow yet her heart remains unchanged. What does it take to change the hearts and minds of these pro aborters?
  I did enjoy , however, her total skewering of NOW.
  I do not believe in coincidences. As I am sure, Sarah Palin agrees.

• CC Bravo:
  

  My daddy taught me as a young man to NEVER abuse a lady, because as he put it so elequintly, “Because she is aways someone’s little girl”. I’m betting that Stacy understands this sentiment all to well, because it’s a South thing. And for those who don’t, I pity you.

• Amanda Read:
  

  Ah, that is so neat! No coincidences there.
  ~Amanda~

• Philip P:
  

  “Is that merely a hypothetical question? Because of Roe v. Wade, it’s not.”
  Right. Because no abortions were performed prior to Roe v. Wade.
  “Does anyone really think, then, that Trig Palin’s birth was just a statistical fluke? Do you believe that Sarah Palin’s selection as John McCain’s running mate was entirely random?”
  Yes and yes.
  Although, on second thought, perhaps divine intervention *is* the only way to explain an otherwise unexplainable selection.
  Of course, if Sarah, that simpering unsophisticated rube, was God’s doing, I question His goodness — certainly His all-knowingness.
  Unless she was intended as some kind of latter day curse, or a sign of the end times. Hmm.
  Quite a thought provoking post, Stacy.

• Philip P:
  

  Note to the sanctimonious hair-pullers and teeth-gnashers: If fetuses are people in full, and if this is indeed a holocaust, a destruction of tens of millions of innocent lives, then you are all damn cowards and hypocrites for not taking up arms against the blood-drenched monsters who command this regime of murder. You’re witnessing slaughter on a daily basis, and all you can muster are a few woeful blog posts.
  But, see, this is the thing: None of you, not a one, actually believe what you say. You don’t think fetuses are like you or me, with the same rights and privileges, not deep down. You are victims of your own delusions.
  Oh, I honestly believe that YOU honestly believe the things you say, but your deeds betray your deceit.

• JSF:
  

  Great Post.
  While the Left treats the lives of people as expendable, time and again we on the Right (props to RS here) show that we care about flesh and blood human beings.
  Be they under a dictators thumb in some far off country or in America, we on the Right actually give a damn.
  Again, this is great writing and should circulate the world ’round.

• Michelle R:
  

  To Philip P:
  Cowards and Hypocrites?
  What good would come if we took a gun in our hand and marched into abortion clinics threatening people to keep their child alive?
  PRO-LIFE means we DON’T want to hurt or kill. We would only be cowards and hypocrites if we DID take up arms and battle these people.
  There are more than just blog posts going on. A LOT more. And we are fighting peacefully for the rights of our future generations.
  We KNOW that as soon as conception occurs, there is a unique set of genes created which creates a one of a kind human being with a one of a kind life.
  Who are we to say when a fetus is considered a human? I know it’s right from the beginning. How far along in life do we have to wait for a life to get basic rights?
  2 months?
  At birth?
  Once they open their eyes?
  When they learn to speak?
  Puberty?
  From the very beginning that life is growing and even learning. How come it has to make it to a certain point in order to be considered alive?
  To me, it’s not religion that makes me pro-life. It’s biology. Scientists know that life begins at conception. Yes, it’s dependent on a mother, but it’s still it’s own life. If science tells me that life doesn’t truly start until another point, then I will change my view.

• Cindy Allen:
  

  Poor Philip P. Are you really that unaware that many pro-lifers picket abortion clinics? Is that not doing something about this holocaust? It is far more than the generation before us ever did about Hitler’s holocaust. What about families,like mine, who have adopted children so that they wouldn’t be aborted? What about groups of pro-lifers who have paid, in full, for the pre-natal care and ceasarean birth of an unborn child, whose mother was at an abortion clinic to kill her child because she had no insurance and no way to pay for the baby’s birth. Mind you, the abortion clinic took her wedding and engagement ring as payment for the abortion, the very symbols of her marriage to her husband who had unfortunately, been laid off his job. The baby was born healthy and happy and the “damn cowards and hypocrites” threw a baby shower for the family and found them adequate housing to boot.Yes…pro-lifers do care and are active. Unfortunately, some have even gone so far (WRONGLY) to take the lives of Doctors who have performed abortions. Murder is murder and this act is not condoned by pro-lifers as a whole. Every movement has a fringe element…even yours. So Philip P., before you make such damning rationalizations and accuse pro-lifers of not putting actions to our words, maybe you should educate yourself a little more. And, by the way, what is it exactly that you do for your cause besides posting a “few woeful blogs”? Our cause stands for the rights of ALL people, born and unborn. Yours is very selective. We are working hard to undo the narrow minded thinking your cause has perpetrated and passed as the law of the land.

• Mary BE:
  

  Excellent points,Michelle. In 1995, 33% considered themselves prolife. In 2009, 51%. Why the increase? Not guns, violence, or unlawful behavior, but growing knowledge allowed by the advancing technology and personal stories. The scientific reality is that a human being comes into existence at conception. Capable of surviving on its own? No. Mature and fully developed? No. But a living, existing human being that IS the person that will be born unless brutalized by the abortion procedure. The prolifers, religious or not, are completely consistent on that scientific fact. You won’t identify another beginning of life because there is no other beginning. Add to that the number of women who are speaking out about after-abortion regret, youth seeing the development and accomplishments of an unborn child on Youtube, etc, kids knowing that they lost a brother or sister or cousin to abortion, and people like Tebow, Nick Cannon, and others opening up about how they might have been aborted ~ you can only deny the truth for so long.

• thatsright:
  

  Well done Stacey. I’ll let Michelle take down Philip P this time.
  “Who are we to say when a fetus is considered a human? I know it’s right from the beginning. How far along in life do we have to wait for a life to get basic rights?
  2 months?
  At birth?
  Once they open their eyes?
  When they learn to speak?
  Puberty?”
  That’s goddamn right. The ONLY objective point on the whole pregnancy timeline where life CAN begin is at conception. Every single other point in time is subjective, arbitrary and capricious. We don’t write laws that way in this Country…or at least we’re not supposed to.

• Philip P:
  

  Picketing? Adoption? Letter writing? Wow, welcome to Useless, Population You.
  You might as well brag about picketing Dachau.
  You’re all cowards. You see millions being eviscerated, brutally, savagely murdered. You claim annihilation at a massive scale.
  And how do you respond? Political theater. Christ.

• Bill C:
  

  Re: Phiip P
  Why are leftists so incredibly angry? It doesn’t seem to matter what the subject is.
  All those capital letters which seem to be required when leftists want to scream their point of view. Then the name calling.
  This is standard when debating nearly anyone on the left. My old leftist friends do the same thing. They haven’t changed since 1970.
  Guess what, Philip P. We are going to take back our wonderful country. That includes stopping the murder of millions of innocent little unborn children.

• Philip P:
  

  “Add to that the number of women who are speaking out about after-abortion regret,”
  I’m sure that has nothing to do with the endless hounding and hand-wringing of bluenoses like yourself.

• Philip P:
  

  I’m not a leftist. Not at all.

• Philip P:
  

  “That includes stopping the murder of millions of innocent little unborn children.”
  Not going to happen.

• DEM:
  

  To Philip P.
  There is a war going on in Afghanistan, and I’m opposed to it. By your logic I should buy a gun and end the war. Will the war in Afghanistan end by me buying a gun and going there to end it? No.
  In the history of the pro-life movement there have been a few fanatics who have murdered abortion doctors. This is abhorrent and not to be condoned but condemned. The media made the whole pro-life movement out to be hypocritical, which it would be if the majority of us bought guns and killed doctors, but that was a few isolated instances, which should not be followed.
  The pro-life movement is based on truth, biology, peace, and prayer. Yes, we truly believe that a fetus (latin for “little one”) is a human life. It has brain waves and a heart beat. If an adult was pulled out of the freezing water, and he had brain activity and a heart beat, he would be considered “alive” and put on life support if needed.
  Your argument can be reduced down to name calling, which is illogical. You are motivated by the emotion of anger. You are not thinking clearly nor rationally.
  Yes, we do believe that a fetus is a human being in the early stages of development with the same rights and privileges.
  Why is it in court, they defend abortion as a woman’s choice, and in the very same courts they try a man for DOUBLE homicide if he kills a pregnant woman? Shouldn’t it count as only one life? Our court system is flawed and has a double standard. It is not just. We are praying for justice. We are praying for the lives of the unborn. We are praying for the women who have been traumatized by abortion because they have to live with it for the rest of their lives. We pray that the lies will be revealed and the truth will be known.
  We are doing more than posting blogs. 350,000 of us marched on Washington D.C. last month, but the media said there was only a few thousand. We marched on San Francisco. We marched in Texas. We are growing. Peace, justice, and truth, at the end of the day will win.

• DEM:
  

  Wow. Cindy Allen, great post. Good for you and God bless your efforts especially in your witness by adopting children. That is how the war for the unborn will be won…not with guns and bloodshed, but with truth, love, and self-sacrifice.

• barbara boatner:
  

  Go Tebow, We support you 100 %

• Michelle R:
  

  Oh Philip,
  you just don’t understand how politics work. Nothing is a fast change. This is how people change their country… by doing one thing at a time. Like Mary said before
  “In 1995, 33% considered themselves prolife. In 2009, 51%.”
  it’s slow but it’s working. And that’s all the proof we need.
  This blog isn’t about HOW Pro-life americans are trying to change the laws. It’s about WHY we want to change them.

• Julie S:
  

  Hey Phillip..As a sonographer, I can tell you that I see life in the womb everyday. Women are lied to by abortion doctors that it is not life. They don’t want to show an ultrasound because they could lose money…it’s ALL about the money. I educate women about the life inside and hopefully they will counsel someone else or their own daughters..someone who may actually get Roe v Wade overturned. We do what we can..one step at a time and never give up. Beleive me…God will have the last word on this…

• Philip P:
  

  I understand this nation and its politics very well. Which is why I am confident that abortion is here to stay. Accessibility may be curtailed, but its fundamental integrity will be protected by the courts. Sorry, Bible-beating rubes: Long live the judicial tyranny!

• Steph:
  

  Philip,
  You’re such a rambling idiot. Too bad your mom was a pro-lifer…

• Mary D:
  

  “Confident abortion is here to stay. Accessibility may be curtailed, but its fundamental integrity will be protected by the courts…”
  In my opinion, that’s a sick thing to be confident about. Accessibility to being able to kill an innocent life is just wrong. People need to think about the consequences of their actions…they get into a situation and want a ‘quick fix’ solution when they did wrong. They need to grow up and get a conscience!

• Bill C:
  

  #19–Philip–“I’m not a leftist, not at all”
  If you say so.

• Bill C:
  

  What always amazes me is that leftists lie about who they are. Philip says he isn’t a leftist.
  Then he talks about “Bible-beating rubes”.
  There’s a real anger on the left side. There always has been.
  These are simply people who are fundamentally unpleasant and want to control other people. It is why they ended up on the left. All one need do is read the Huffington Post to see what kind of people they are. Obscene, angry, and vile. What ever happened to “peace and love”?
  What these liberals who congregate in big cities fail to grasp is that they are only 20% of Americans. The rest of the country consists of independents and conservatives.
  We should thank Obama for showing the country what the post 1960’s left really believes.

• Rachelle Friberg:
  

  Robert, thank you for mentioning my post, and thank you for sharing such excellent point for us all. Your daughter is beautiful!!! Thank God for everyone who chooses life!!!

• Philip P:
  

  I’m an anti-federalist who supports limited government, fiscal responsibility, free markets, non-interventionism, and individual liberty.
  I strongly believe that the republican constitution crafted by our founders must be preserved and protected.
  My ideal politician: Calvin Coolidge.
  I tend to vote Republican, though in 2008 I tossed my ballot to the Libertarian candidate.
  Nope, not a leftist, and controlling other people definitely ain’t my thang. Which is why, despite deep personal misgivings about abortion, I do not think the practice should be roundly banned.
  Sorry, try again.

• Philip P:
  

  All that being so, I’m still a Yankee snob at heart. Education, science, reason, civility: These I prize. Controlling other people “ain’t my thang,” but neither is grossly populist, overtly religious red meat conservatism.

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  Nope, not a leftist, and controlling other people definitely ain’t my thang. Which is why, despite deep personal misgivings about abortion, I do not think the practice should be roundly banned.

  The latter does not flow from the former, unless you are an anarchist.
  Is it “controlling” men to prevent them from abusing their wives? Is it “controlling” fathers and stepfathers to stop them from raping their daughters? Is it “controlling” people’s sexuality to outlaw rape? “Controlling” people’s choices of income to outlaw theft? “Controlling” how people make money to outlaw slavery?
  Give me a break. The very purpose of our laws, which any conservative would know (ahem), is to prevent acts of aggression – whether physical, financial, or from the our government or other governments. Our laws are there so that we do not act by the greatest strength – so that the strongest do not get to beat up on those who are too weak to fight back.
  Abortion is an act of aggression by one stronger and more politically popular human being against another, more vulnerable and less politically protected humans. If this were a matter of big, strong men torturing women or children, you would have a problem with it; however, since the victim is an unborn child, you think it’s acceptable.
  Your shortsightedness is fucking pathetic.
  The other fucking pathetic thing about you is that you fail to see the huge pro-life effort in this country. As an active member of the pro-life attorney groups in my state, I know how hard people work – often with no compensation – to fight for life. Many of my friends donate their time and money to crisis pregnancy organisations – crisis centres that are routinely trashed by you and your pro-death ilk, who despise the fact that they do not provide abortion referrals. I know pro-lifers who adopt children that no one else would want. (A fantastic example of a woman with nationwide name recognition who does this is Michelle Bachmann; between her biological, adopted, and foster kids, she’s had 23 children.)
  I’ve done my time praying outside clinics.
  I’ve given money and raised money for crisis pregnancy shelters.
  I worked to change my alma mater’s academic leave policies, which make it virtually impossible for pregnant women to choose life and get an education. (I teamed up with a pro-choice student for that one, in fact – finding common ground and all.)
  I give my time and my legal (and scientific) education to the pro-life movement.
  My friends run crisis pregnancy centres, donate absurd amounts of money to them, and help give women real options.
  But you think that all we have are blog posts? F*****g pathetic.

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  “Add to that the number of women who are speaking out about after-abortion regret”,
  I’m sure that has nothing to do with the endless hounding and hand-wringing of bluenoses like yourself.

  Philip, your chauvinism is showing. Do you really think that women are so weak that, every 22 January, they would travel thousands of miles to hold up signs saying “I regret my abortion”, simply because a few of us express our love and passion for people at all stages of development? That we are that easily lead?
  Do you really think that women are so incapable of logic that we’ll develop psychological problems because people disagree with us?
  Or is it that once an abortion has happened, a woman realises that she killed her baby?

• Philip P:
  

  Chauvinist, got me.
  Well, well. I don’t know where to start, you having spewed so thick a muck of nonsense, distortion, and half-truth.
  First, let’s make something clear: My point about female guilt over abortion has nothing to do with chauvinism, nothing to do with “disagreeing.”
  From many voices, and from all corners of society, heavy charges, stinging charges — “murderer,” “baby-killer” — are leveled at women who choose abortion.
  This is not mere disagreement or hectoring. It’s beyond that. This is prolonged, unyielding harassment.
  It is abuse: Abuse issued in decrees from figures of authority; abuse whispered ear to ear at parties; abuse cried in the streets from angry sign-wielders.
  Even when the abuse is rejected, the charge (rightfully!) denied, it packs an awful psychic wallop.
  “I’ve done my time praying outside clinics.”
  Hah. Please, let me encourage you to keep utilizing this highly effective tactic. It has worked wonders feeding those starving kids in Africa my mother always told me about.
  Let me also remind you, Roxy, that praying is not all you pious loudmouths do outside abortion clinics.
  Anyway, your litany of self-sacrifice is less than impressive. Also, it’s pretty much as I said: Typical penny-ante activism, low-level politicking, street theater, empty gestures, blah blah blah.
  Not exactly the response I expect from folks who claim to be witnessing OH MY LAWD THE WORST HOLOCAUST IN HISTORY! I mean, would you pray outside the gates of Auschwitz, or would you grab some f-ing heat and pour hell on those murdering m-f-ers, may your brave and good soul find God?
  You see? Your very hidden insincerity betrayed by your very obvious inaction.
  This bit I loved, really cracked me up: “A fantastic example of a woman with nationwide name recognition who does this is Michelle Bachmann; between her biological, adopted, and foster kids, she’s had 23 children”
  23? 23?! “Fantastic,” you say; “fantastically neglectful,” I say.
  Yikes, I thought Bachmann had serious psychological issues before. Now . . . wow, the woman truly is fit for the asylum. Worse than Palin!
  Okay, to the heart of the matter: “If this were a matter of big, strong men torturing women or children, you would have a problem with it; however, since the victim is an unborn child, you think it’s acceptable.”
  That’s an absurd comparison, the abortion of, say, a six-week-old fetus and the torture of a six-year-old child. It takes real blindness to nuance to think otherwise.
  Its absurdity has been recognized for ages, which is why even the Catholic Church held a permissive view of the practice until fairly recently, distinguishing pre-quickening ‘terminations’ from post-quickening ‘homicides’ as late as the High Middle Ages.
  Hysteria over abortion is a relatively new phenomenon in civilization, even in western Christendom. The practice, so long as it occurred pre-quickening, was largely excused until just two or three hundred years ago.
  People got sort of bent during the 18th century, and by the 19th things reached fever pitch. Thankfully, with the 20th we came to our senses.
  I imagine — I, ahem, pray — we remain sane for a while longer, though you Bible folk breed like so many rabbits . . . 23!

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  ROFLMAO.
  Shorter Phillip P:
  1. pro-life lawyers don’t do anything to help the pro-life movement;
  2. stating a biological fact is harassment and abuse; and
  3. people who actually do a tremendous amount of concrete good are the objects of your scorn.
  I shouldn’t be mean to you; you’re worthy of my pity, not my scorn.

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  Hysteria over abortion is a relatively new phenomenon in civilization, even in western Christendom.

The Hippocratic Oath, which pre-dates Christianity by several hundred years, condemned abortion:

I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion.

Actual facts are a bitch… particularly to pro-aborts.

• TR Sterling:
  

  RSM,
  A dad who can write a totally postive article about his daughter, with no reservations…is a loving dad. Congrats to you and the family. -TR

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  That’s an absurd comparison, the abortion of, say, a six-week-old fetus and the torture of a six-year-old child. It takes real blindness to nuance to think otherwise.First of all, it requires more than your say-so to make it reality. (See, Actual facts are a bitch, supra.)
  Second, and more importantly: this country permits abortion up through the end of the second trimester. What is the difference between a partial-birth abortion and the torture and killing of an infant?
  Of course, if you want to walk headlong into the issue of the fact that we:
  1) allow partial-birth abortion but spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to save wanted babies at the exact same stage of development; and
  2) we make abortion a constitutional right but foetal (or embryonic, as in California) homicide a, well, homicide,
  you are more than welcome to. 🙂
  Yes, an embryo whose heart has begun to beat a mere week ago is different from a six-year-old child, as I am different from my six-year-old self; nevertheless, that does not lead inexorably to the justified killing of all the embryos, nor all the adults, nor some six-year-olds in comparison to adults but not in comparison to embryos.
  Need I remind you, Philip, of the biological fact (See, Actual facts are a bitch, supra) that you were once an embryo, then a foetus, then an infant? Abortion does not affect a different species; it affects humans at a different stage of development.

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  I know it’s a bit of piling-on, but I have to go back to this ridiculousness about how the pro-life movement is somehow illegitimate because it is relatively new:
  The reality of the longevity of the movement aside (See, Hippocratic Oath), there are several other social justice phenomena that are of recent vintage:
  *abolitionist movements: slavery has a several-thousand year history of being morally acceptable;
  *treating women as their own legal entity and not as property; the latter goes back to at least ancient Roman times;
  *allowing all adults to vote (even in the vaunted Athenian democracy, only about 15% of adult males were allowed to vote, given the restrictions upon the franchise);
  *religious pluralism (at the time of the Founding, many states had explicitly religious laws… despite the fact that many people fled their native countries to avoid religious persecution);
  *racial integration;
  *prohibitions against marital rape (IIRC, those have only come about in the last few decades);
  *etc.
  So which of those, Philip P., are you happy with seeing go the way of the dodo bird, being of relatively recent vintage and all?
  When is it “enlightened” to throw off the prejudices of one’s forefathers and when does tradition mandate that we take up those prejudices?
  As I said, it’s a purely theoretical exercise, since prohibitions on abortion pre-date Christianity. (FYI: most “quickening” requirements were evidentiary, not normative, in nature: as women didn’t have access to sonograms and at-home pregnancy test kits, quickening was the best way to tell if she was with child and therefore, if she had an abortion or if her child had been killed.)

• Morgan L:
  

  Such a heated debate over a blog? I mean, I guess I understand why, but honestly no one can change anyone else’s opinion. That’s one of the things that makes humans beautiful, no one is the exact same, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. In which case, I’m going to just throw this out there. Have “pro-lifers” ever thought about WHY the girl is getting the abortion? Y ou might argue that no matter what “murder is murder,” but what if the girl was raped? Some may choose to keep their baby, but don’t you think that’s a legitimate reason to not keep it? Again, some may argue about adoption, but do you really know how many children are still without families to love and nurture them? Also, some girls get an abortion because they have no financial support, no proper living conditions, and/or no family support. If you wanted to bring a baby into this world, wouldn’t you want the best of the best for that child? Don’t get me wrong either, if the girl does choose life then all blessings for her. However, this kind of dispute is most of the time better left up to the girl making her decision. And that’s my two cents.

• Cindy Allen:
  

  Picketing? Adoption? Letter writing? Wow, welcome to Useless, Population You.
  You might as well brag about picketing Dachau.
  You’re all cowards. You see millions being eviscerated, brutally, savagely murdered. You claim annihilation at a massive scale.
  And how do you respond? Political theater. Christ.
  Your words, Philip P. You are doing exactly what you are accusing prolifers of doing…”letter writing,… political theater”. “Useless population”…What a hypocrite! What exactly is your anger accomplishing, anyway?

• Mommahiggy:
  

  Natural Law, and the fierce propensity of growth and life in the natural world, even if one believes in “natural selection” and “survival of the fittest”, demonstrates and supports what great thinkers throughout the ages noted and what the Founders included in the U.S. Constitution as the first… Right to Life. Without that Right to Life, there is no way to uphold Right to Liberty, nor one’s Right to the Pursuit of Happiness (or to personal property). Why do you think we are increasingly struggling over Liberty and Property rights in this country? It is because we have not firmly and consistently held up the Right to Life
  The Creator gave us the Right to Life, not a constitution nor a court of law; they merely recognize it or fail to as the case may be. So where is the injustice, in affirming and protecting the God-given, natural right or in fighting to make it arbitrary under the guise of another person’s “right to the pursuit of happiness”. If one finds happiness in the taking of another’s rights, then they are a criminal by definition, and it is against such that laws and governments were formed in the first place. Our government was not intended to act beyond what we ourselves could rightfully do or condone, not by popular demand, but based upon solid principle.

• Tim:
  

  God created each life….what right do we have to take it away??? To take God’s beautiful creation, LIFE, and think we could dare destroy it is a slap in the face of the Holy Omnipotant God of the Universe. You absolutely can’t argue back on that. End of discussion!! Amen

• K Alongi:
  

  one last note to “Phil: not a leftist, and controlling other people definitely ain’t my thang. Which is why, despite deep personal misgivings about abortion, I do not think the practice should be roundly banned.” -But it can & should be CURTAILED, Limited, and RARE ..

• Cindy Allen:
  

  Good blog, Carmen. Every man and every woman has a choice. A choice to engage in sex using birth control or not. That’s where the right of choice should begin and end. Not after a life has been created should any human being have the choice to end that life. We all have choices…many people just make them on the wrong end of the question!

What Would William F. Buckley Jr.
Say About Eric Boehlert?

• William F. Buckley, Jr.:
  

  I would dismiss Rahm Emanuel as you suggest.
  And while young Mr. O’Keefe might have made a tactical mistake in his zeal, I admire his determination in pursuing the hypocrisy of the left.

• Philip P:
  

  O’Keefe is a stuntman at best, a theater nerd at worst. Throw him under the bus? Why risk a hernia on that gotcha! huckster?
  14:59, 14:58, 14:57 . . .

• theCL:
  

  Free O’Keefe! Free the Landrieu Four!

• Philip P:
  

  I thought conservatives support law and order? Or does that only apply when the criminals are poor and colored?

• William F. Buckley, Jr.:
  

  Phillip P, you are not ready to sit at the grown up table.

• Philip P:
  

  Not if it’s reserved for people who’re suckered by some scraggly huckster who confuses playing dress-up for journalism. If O’Keefe represents the best and brightest of young conservatism, we’re in serious you-know-what.
  At 25, your namesake, the late great WFB, was founding National Review, a brilliant and challenging publication that offered a vibrant array of writer-thinkers (Evelyn frigging Waugh!).
  At the same age, James O’Keefe — having tricked some idiot paper-pusher in a corrupt organization into saying exactly what you’d expect from an idiot paper-pusher in a corrupt organization — sits in prison for tampering with the phone of a U.S. senator.
  Great. Wonderful. Grand. Shit.
  Sorry if I have standards.

• JC:
  

  I remember seeing that WFB exchange (I was a small lad, sitting on my father’s knee) and I remember that it brought the whole exchange back to rationality.
  Vidal realized ad hominum arguements would no longer work, and that WFB was willing to take the gloves off.
  After that exchange, the debate went on swimmingly.

• Miss Sharon:
  

  I await the tell of the tape. I believe in O’Keefe. Listened to him today speak about what he could of the incident. He seems like a decent fellow who is cooperating with the feds. Landreui may not like what is on that tape…

• Philip P:
  

  That one is in a situation to “cooperate with the feds” normally precludes one’s being a “decent fellow.” Sort of the territory of, you know, turncoat mobsters and busted mid-level heroin distributors and other scared-shitless felons!

• MrPaulRevere:
  

  Google eric boehlert+sami al-arian and discover a treasure trove of links documenting the fact the esteemed Mr. Boehlert was in fact a shill for a convicted Islamist terror organizer and financier. Eric Boehlert is a pig.Just one mans opinion.

• Obi’s Sister:
  

  I miss ol’ Bill…
  I wonder if he’d even talk to the foul-mouthed Rahm. Maybe he’d just punch him, dust his hands and walk away. Why waste the energy of Bill’s favorite five dollar words on a wanker who would have trouble looking them up in a dictionary?

• Rich Fader:
  

  I suspect the Mahster would aver that fiber brings out the best in young Eric.

Among the Reasons For Discomfort When Some Call the US a Christian Nation II

• Indentured Servant Girl:
  

  Do your conservative Republican friends know you’re a Paulista? 😉
  If you’re not, you certainly sound like one.
  RON PAUL 2012!

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  Um… won’t Ron Paul be like 80 years old in 2012? While I’m sure that he’s in good shape, some of the criticism against McCain was that he was too old to be President.
  Now, I threw my vote to Ron Paul in 2008, mostly because I’m not a Huckster and Romney had suspended his campaign the day before the Potomac Primaries, but he’s just not going to be President.

• Rich Fader:
  

  If there’s to be a bloodbath, let’s get it over with now.

Bride of Rove Needs Support

• Red:
  

  **prayers**

• Agnes B. Bullock:
  

  I wish I had known of this blog before last year. My mother went through this with my father for over three years before he succumbed to kidney failure last September. His kidney problems were brought about by a surgeon who nicked his kidney while dealing with a renal aneuyrism almost ten years ago. (No, there was no malpractice suit- Dad had too much class and character for that)

What’s the Matter with Kansas Massachusetts?

• dicentra:
  

  “It evidently does not occur to Dr. Runciman that people ‘even very poor people’ might have moral objections to redistributionist policies”
  You filthy redneck. If it’s going to directly benefit you financially, who are you to object to how it’s done?
  If I mug some rich guy in the street and give you his Rolex, what’s the beef?
  Ingrate. Filthy, filthy ingrate.

  Understood, sarcasm. But the wheel of theft in the sky keeps on turnin’, and you’ll be looking rich tomorrow.

• Chuck Cross:
  

  Pointing out the gun (or bayonet) in the room.
  It needs to happen more often.

• WestWright:
  

  ficentra….Filthy, filthy ingrate. Wow, Stacy you have attracted an admirer.

• dicentra:
  

  WestWright:
  It’s the speedo photo. Can’t get it out of my head.

• Roxeanne de Luca:
  

  It evidently does not occur to Dr. Runciman that people ¡X even very poor people ¡X might have moral objections to redistributionist policies,

  We also might have principled objections to those policies: although poor (or struggling) now, we want to get to the point at which we can be wealthy, or at least comfortable. We’re willing to sacrifice government hand-outs now so that we don’t have to pay for them later – in the form of fewer job opportunities, and, if we happen to do well in our careers, higher taxes on our earnings.
  Taking from one and giving to another is, at best, a zero-sum game (although I would posit that there is a fair amount of entropy, if you will, in the system: a dollar taken from one person results in less than a dollar given to others); however, a capitalist society increases the wealth and standard of living of all of its citizens.

• S. Wolf:
  

  It’s better to teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish caught by someone else… poor folk understand that and most refuse handouts from government.

• Obi’s Sister gave us the linkage, also at RedState
• Scotch Pundit: “But all we’re going to get is an imitation, a fake. A free piece of shit is still a POS. What is the saying?…The caring of the IRS, efficiency of the Post Office and the accountability of the State? Lovely combo.”

‘Heh’

• Red:
  

  I too feel bad for retarded people being compared to democrats. It’s just wrong.

• mollysmom:
  

  Stacy, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. Thanks!

• young4eyes:
  

  Nice try. I wonder if Palin will ask Rush Limp-baugh to resign?

• Live Free Or Die:
  

  Rush L. is a ‘private’ citizen. Sarah Palin could ask, but I suspect that Rush L. would be disinclined to acquiesce to her request.

• Rich Fader:
  

  Rich calls y4e a retard, apologizes to our fine upstanding developmentally-disabled community for demeaning their mental capacity by comparing them to y4e.

• The Camp of the Saints linked us.
• The 4Simpsons brought us in.
  • Miss Sharon:
    

    <3 Judd Gregg. This money by law is to repay taxpayers and pay down the deficit, not to be used as a piggy bank for a political play.

  • Moe Lane recalls the Census frakas.
  • Nice Deb had the coda:
    

    That was VT Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, who snidely chimed in at the end, “That is how laws are made usually, Congress passes them.”
    Not on the tape:
    Gregg fired back, “Did the senator from Vermont make a statement? Well the senator is wrong. This is the law as it stands today. There is no law on the books.”
    The exchange was about to escalate when the committee chairman, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-ND, banged his gavel to restore order.
    Nine more months….

  • Robert:
    

    Sounds like Justice Thomas has got it right. I don’t blame him one bit. Who wants to voluntarily attend their own public flogging.

  • Stephen Gordon:
    

    Thomas had some unlikely company at the no-show party.
    “In a sign of Rep. Artur Davis’ shifting priorities, the Birmingham Democrat will be back in Alabama — not at the U.S. Capitol — for tonight’s State of the Union speech by his former law school classmate, President Barack Obama.”
    Source

  • Miss Sharon:
    

    I hope they all stay home next year. Screw Obama’s political pageantry.

  • Roxeanne de Luca:
    

    While the Justices should be free to attend, if they wish, I wouldn’t blame them at all for staying away.
    It is cowardly and pathetic that Obama would publicly criticise those who are sitting in front of him but have no opportunity to respond. It is sad that he, as one who touts his legal scholar credentials, would inject politics into a Supreme Court decision. It’s what we’ve learned to expect from the man.

  • AC Chickadee:
    

    I didn’t realize that they could skip it. That was very smart indeed.

  • Red:
    

    Invite Rush to the WH? Yeah that’ll happen. Obama and wife were too busy laughing along with Wanda Sykes over the many ways Rush should die (Long may he live!).

  • Mark Harvey:
    

    Why Did ‘Hope and Change’ Fail?
    Because Obama is an idiot. Libtards are idiots. Terrorists are idiots and they all speak the same language: Dumb, dumber and dumbest.

  • AC Chickadee:
    

    Obama has an agenda, and it has nothing to do with Republicans or Conservatives. He knows what they think. He disagrees with them wholeheartedly. He’s a socialist. People who voted for him knowing his background are fools.

  • SDN:
    

    Sorry, guys, but O! is the textbook poster boy for Affirmative Action: every position he’s ever held has been no competition, no standards. Now he can’t escape it and can’t deal with it.

  • Live Free Or Die:
    

    Besides being schooled as a Revolutionary of the Left, O-bah-muhh is not willing to put in the time, and hard work, and skin, that even a Leftist Revolution takes. Ted Kennedy was in it for life, literally. O-bah-muhh is a spoiled brat that wants what he wants, NOW!He’s definitely schooled in Dr. King’s ‘urgency of the now’.
    Barack the Magic Negro he ain’t.

  • Roxeanne de Luca:
    

    Very well put. Obama’s blindness to the Right is about more than Chicago, however; it’s about his entire history.
    Start with Hawaii (usually about 60-70% Democrat) and his overseas travels to countries that hate the American right.
    Continue with Occidental College in California.
    Move on to Columbia University in New York.
    Continue onto being a “community organiser” in Chicago (whatever the heck that is… three years after this joker came onto the scene, no one has explained what a “community organiser” does).
    Move on to Harvard and Cambridge. Just for numbers, Cambridge went over 75% for Coakley in the election a few weeks ago.
    At least Bill Clinton spent time in Arkansas. Reagan was a Democrat in his youth. Not surprising that those two men were effective leaders of this country – a country that does not cease to have an opposition at the termination of a Presidential election.

  • thatsright:
    

    Stacey, I heard on Rush today that they were starting to lean on Katie to cough up some of her $14 million to help ease the pain.
    Not sure if that was a Rush insider special, but let’s see if the pot doesn’t fight back if a contract “renegotiation” is in the works.
    CBS denies
    Yeh…we’ll see.

  • filbert:
    

    I think you missed the obvious joke/post title:
    Bad Day At Black Rock.

  • dicentra:
    

    Ace wins for best comment on the topic:
    “I have no f*****g idea what it will take to dislodge the tumor of expert ignorance from Sullivan’s pot-pocked brain.”
    Sorry, but there it is.

  • Roxeanne de Luca:
    

    Not that one should seriously entertain Sullivan’s ideas, but I did find this to be comical:

    While I’m at it, does anyone actually believe that Palin’s name for the child of miraculous provenance was found by her deep knowledge of ancient Norse as she claims in her magical-realism novel, “Going Rogue”?…
    The medical term for Down Syndrome is Trisomy-21 or Trisomy-g. It is often shortened in medical slang to Tri-g.

    A google search for “Trisomy-g” gives 9,520 results, most of which are from medical journals.
    So Sullivan posits that Sarah is too dumb to know that her son’s name has its origin in Norse (even though a quick internet search of Trygg and Trig in babynames gives the origin), but is so medically knowledgeable as to use an obscure medical term as an abbreviation for her son?

  • Red:
    

    Do they all meet up and titter over new insults they can conjur for this woman? What a bunch of misogynists.

  • Andrew Sullivan:
    

    Haters and bigots are you and that, that Ace person! I will prove that Trig is not her baby and that she mocks that child all the time. I will do so. It is my mission to do so. I will never give up. Never.
    They call it testi-fying for a reason. You need testis. Levi Johnson has them. I have not seen them, but I want to see them so very much. Oooooh how I want to do so. Levi, you are always welcomed to stay with me. Just call. I am waiting. My husband wants to see you too.
    Sarah Palin does not have testis. She has parts I do not like. She is a liar. She lies all the time. And she is a Christianist. And a fascist. Like you and Ace.

  • Red:
    

    “Haters and bigots are you…” Hello POT!

  • thatsright:
    

    I’m pretty sure that was a joke. Although, then again, maybe yours was too. Double snarktastic!

  • Harry:
    

    Trigg English: from the Old Norse byname Triggr meaning ‘trustworthy’, ‘faithful’, a cognate of Trow 1.

  • Harry:
    

    There are two ‘g’s in the Norse name Trigg

  • Harry:
    

    Sarah’s child’s name is Trigg

  • Rhymes With Right:
    

    Sullivan has certainly gone further beyond the line of decency than ever before. (with link back to you)

  • William F. Buckley, Jr.:
    

    Why do you think I did not offer him a job? Sullivan makes Frum look like Dick Cheney.

  • Andrew Sullivan:
    

    You are making me so sad, I cried, and cried, then smoked a lot of…medicine. Then ate about 350 cookies. You are making me fat! I hate fatties and I hate you!

  • Andrew Sullivan:
    

    I especially hate that my book, The Conservative Soul, sold less copies than cookies I consumed this afternoon. Yet that Jonah Goldberg had a best sellier with Liberal Fascism (because of all those willing wingnuts). I hate him! I am now eating sticks of butter out of the fridge I am so upset.

  • emrysa:
    

    “but is so medically knowledgeable as to use an obscure medical term as an abbreviation for her son?”
    and you don’t think that the term Tri-G was in any of the medical paperwork that palin received, that she had to be “medically knowledgeable” to know of that term? please.
    one would have to be incredibly dense to think that it’s purely a coincidence that she named that kid trig.
    and it’s trig with ONE g, despite what commenters say.

  • Roxeanne de Luca:
    

    and you don’t think that the term Tri-G was in any of the medical paperwork that palin received, that she had to be ¡§medically knowledgeable¡¨ to know of that term? please.No, I don’t, actually. First, take a look: there were a mere 9,520 google hits for “tri-g”. Should that have been a common term, not an obscure element of medical jargon, there would be more than ten thousand google hits on it.
    Second, what “paperwork?” When a baby with Down’s Syndrome (yes, dear, Down’s Syndrome, not “tri-g”) is born in a hospital, do hospitals routinely give out medical journals to the patients?
    Oh, wait, even if they did… the supermajority of medical journals refer to the condition as Down’s Syndrome or Trisomy 21!
    So your hypothesis is that Palin had to sign off on something saying “I know that my baby has what is commonly known as Down’s Syndrome, but is technically called Trisomy 21, since it is caused by having an extra copy of the 21st chromosome, but a few obscure medical publications will refer to this, once in a blue moon, as Trisomy-g… and if you don’t sign this and read this, you won’t get your baby”? ROFLMAO.
    Finally, in 2007, a bipartisan act (the Prenatally and Postnatally Conditions Awareness Act, IIRC) was passed and signed. A mere few months before Trig Palin was born, the federal government agreed to make grants available to hospitals to educate patients about genetic disorders. Clearly, there wasn’t a lot of paperwork going around in 2007, and in 2008, the first grants went out. Want to see if Wasilla, Alaska, received a federal grant for Down’s Syndrome education?
    Idiot.

  • That’s Right goes directly for the senile dementia.
  • Da Tech Guy rounded up the national news.
  • Political Byline finds defending Sarah uncomfortable. Is she really that bad?
  • Conservative Times links us as a tangent while wondering aloud if Obama will play the war card. Already got two, WTF?
  • Ubervu thread
  • nicholas:
    

    This is RSM at his best…too funny.

  • Mark L Harvey (aka Snooper):
    

    The Olbermann Rule…sounds like he is trying to utilize Quinn’s First Law: “Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent.”.

    Yeah, that’s frameable.

  • dad29:
    

    Dodd has been the Uber-Friend-of-Banks forever and a day–and not just Countrywide.
    He’s not a whore. He’s a possession.

  • young4eyes:
    

    “Olbermann decides to take a dig at Hot Air en route to suggesting that it’s somehow sinister and unethical ‘perhaps even felonious’ for Sarah Palin to buy discounted copies of her own book and then resell them.”
    Ahh, the ever popular lying-through-omission post.
    I’ve said before that Obie can be dramatic sometimes, but the crux of his ass-whoopin’ on Palin is that she used PAC money–that is money donated to her– to buy her own books wich of course adds some bling to her personal coffers. But not that you TeaBaggers find that un-ethical or anything…

  • Live Free Or Die:
    

    Olberdork, less popular than syphilis. True story.
    @young4eyes, if those donating to SarahPAC think Ms.Palin is doing them wrong, they will let her know by ceasing to donate, and not voting for her, whenever. Free Men/Women are still free to give their ‘bling’ where they will.
    Proposed new term for moonbats that use the term ‘teabagger’: Divacuppers
    Of course, Douchebaggers still works, but I like to reserve that for Olberdork, etc….

  • James Board doesn’t set up the death watch, but should.
  • BitsBlog links.
  • Ubervu thread
  • Steve Burri:
    

    Thanks… there’s 45 seconds I’ll never get back.

  • Chuck Cross:
    

    Stopped at “D.C.” 😉

  • Ran / Si Vis pacem:
    

    D.C. refers to “direct current”… i.e. Gay. Just sayin’.

    That’s silly.

  • Joe:
    

    Congressperson Marcy Kaptur, for a more mature democrat lady, is mighty mighty sexy in this video clip. I love women who hunt. Enjoy!
    H/T: PW/Sanity Inspector

  • Beamer:
    

    Unless I miss my guess, that was written by a dude.

  • Joe:
    

    This one is bizzare, but strangely entertaining. I have no idea if it will be effective, but I bet it is especially good with some California medicinal herb.

  • The blog writer:
    

    @Beamer — I assure you, I have a vagina.

  • Joe:
    

    H/T on the Kaptur one to JHoward. My bad.
    And to the blog writer, I like your blog.

  • Live Free Or Die:
    

    Not quite up to the Arthur Koestler Standard,
    but I guess Rule 5 must be obeyed.

  • Roxeanne de Luca:
    

    DC’s beta male population is lower than you would find in a law school* – the ultimate mecca of beta males (and females). In comparison, DC is a hotbed of alpha males, at least if one hangs out with the right group of men.
    *Apparently, Stacy’s future son-in-law is the exception to that rule.

  • The blog writer:
    

    Stacy, I finally realized what Rule 5 is (and updated my entry linking to you accordingly)!
    THANK YOU! I always like hearing that I’m a pretty girl 🙂
    p.s. for anyone wondering, the lips at the top of my blog are mine!

  • Nuke Gingrich has been out to sea too long in that ‘Great White Fleet’, methinks. OK, it’s not. The bows slant the wrong way, for starters.
  • George “I bought Obama” Soros:
    

    I would be happy to support Rep Edwards Amendment if she would add in a Section 1A also denying free speech to any Leftist Billionaires who use their *private* fortunes to buy votes, rig Presidential and Congressional Elections, register dead and imaginary voters, fund ACORN, etc. and generally corrupt the electoral process in this country. I suspect she doesn’t see that as nearly as much of a threat.

  • Robert:
    

    I agree with the guy above.

  • Scratcher:
    

    @ George-
    Those groups are specificaly NOT included. It would be odd if they were, considering the organizations behinds Edwards are staffed by union officials, ACORN’s legal representatives, MoveOn emplyoyees and more. Please check my post. Names, links, more.

  • Red:
    

    Spaghetti westerns…that’s my Dad’s department as I could never get into them much. Here’s hoping Stacy collects enough to enjoy the electrifying effects of the gourmet coffee ala Jack-n-the-Box as opposed to the midnight-at-Circle K kind.Woot!

  • George “I bought Obama” Soros:
    

    @ Scratch-
    Actually, I thought that’s exactly what I was implying (that she would never offend those corrupt groups that are backing her).
    Maybe my sarcasm needs work?

  • Ubervu thread.
  • Live Free Or Die:
    

    It seems that not having to run for re-election has freed Judd Gregg to use his spine again. About time. Better late than never, I guess.

  • Barbara Espinosa:
    

    Don’t steal the Government doesn’t like competition

  • Joe:
    

    My new hero Marcy Kaptur, Ohio Democrat, should have had the Capitol Hill Police show up after she beat up Timmy Geitner.
    I mean seriously: Faith in Timmy Geitner?
    How long will even Obama supporters believe?

  • Philip P:
    

    Live Free beat me to it. And to think Gregg was almost sucked into the Obama monstrosity.

  • Joe:
    

    Apparently Kaptur is some socialist nutjob from Ohio. Still I enjoyed her mauling of Timmy.
    But hey, I wish they still had terriers killing rats for sport.

  • Joe:
    

    Yeah, Gregg almost got sucked in. He almost believed the Obama bullshit until he realized it really was bullshit.

  • nicholas:
    

    When confronted with the facts of the law defining how the repaid TARP funds are to be used, Orzag barely bats an eye, responding that the Obama administration intends to change the law(?!).
    Clearly changing the game as you go along is the motus operandi of these power to the state government types, but usually they are a tad more circumspect in declaring it.
    What are we coming to?

  • Philip Primeau:
    

    “What are we coming to?”
    Wrong tense, right sentiment.
    It’s: “What have we come to.” Unfortch.

  • keyboard jockey:
    

    The Toyota boondoggle and consequences to the US Market Auto and Otherwise?
    Toyota Silver Lining.
    Dear Taliban we have the repair fix for your Toyota V shim this.

  • Steve Burri:
    

    No wonder Lance is upset. He spent all his money to fly to Copenhagen to lobby for Baraboo, WI, to host the Republican National Convention.

  • Mark Reardon:
    

    All four sites may have their charms, but the Republican party should declare TODAY that they are going to Las Vegas for their convention to help repair the economic damage done by Obama’s loose talk.

  • Chris Wysocki:
    

    Troglovision & myopic? Is that a blind guy joke??? 🙂

  • Lance:
    

    No way, man. The hat’s coming with.

  • The Camp of the Saints piled on.
  • Troglopundit whined.
  • Bob Belvedere:
    

    I saw the interview, Smitty, and it was obvious that Stewart’s knowledge of the Right has all come from reading the Leftist fantasy version of our story.
    Also, the boy, like Conan, is JUST NOT FUNNY.

  • mpw280:
    

    Damn, I was hoping you would say hold these weenies to the fire, which is where they need to be held. If they can’t stand the heat of the conservative fire maybe they should get out of the political crucible. mpw

  • Joe:
    

    That is because Stewart is like a “C” student when it comes to cutting through the political bs and for having street smarts. But give him time and keep encouraging him to do so. The party in power should be the party getting the butt of the jokes.

  • Joe:
    

    I know this has nothing to do with Geert Wilders, but then in a way it does, funny but a strange insight into what Arabs think about all the time… Uncle Milty was famous for this (at least according to his fellow Friar Club members who saw him in the locker room), but this guy may be the greatest…

  • The Lonely Conservative picked it up.
  • Medary also, here
  • Noisy Room
  • Haemet
  • Caffeinated Thoughts
  • The Lonely Conservative
  • The Daley Gator
  • Latest News From India

Peter Orzag Gets Schooled

The Same Reason I Didn’t Attend Obama’s State of the Union Speech

Why Did ‘Hope and Change’ Fail?

We Feel Your Pain. Really. We Do.

Oh. My. God.

The Olbermann Rule

SWF, Natural Blonde, D.C.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Theft is Theft is Theft

Troglopundit Talking Out Of An Absurd Hat

‘I Don’t Know What Their Motivation Is’

Topics That Deserve Attention

Other FMJRA linkarounds:

It is done with me for now. I have some more from our friends on Blogger to add, but I’m kinda wiped out for some reason.

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