Year: 2010

Will Republicans Let SPLC Run RNC?

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During the Nov. 9 American Spectator gala in Washington, I had a chance to talk briefly to my friend RNC Chairman Michael Steele. There is, of course, a movement afoot to replace Steele, and Michigan’s Saul Anuzis has already declared himself a candidate for the chairmanship. Liberals are doing everything they can to demonize Anuzis:

[T]his week, the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed that Anuzis has defended and endorsed a vocal right-wing extremist named Kyle Bristow, who was the head of the Michigan State University chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (MSU-YAF). “This is exactly the type of young kid we want out there,” Anuzis said on a radio program in May 2007. “I’ve known Kyle for years and I can tell you I have never heard him say a racist or bigoted or sexist thing, ever.” . . .
Thanks to Bristow’s leadership, the SPLC — which tracks extremist groups — designated the MSU-YAF as a hate group in 2006. . . .
It should be noted that Anuzis’ defense of Bristow came almost a full year after MSU-YAF’s exploits were made public, and after the SPLC designated him as the leader of a hate group.

Kyle Bristow is a big, rowdy kid who is now in law school in Ohio. Anuzis’s defense of Bristow in 2007 — more than three years ago, when Bristow was still an MSU undergrad — cannot be plucked out context as evidence that Anuzis endorses everything Bristow has said or done.

Let’s hope that RNC delegates are smart enough to ignore such a cheap guilt-by-association trick.

Whether or not Steele is replaced — by Anuzis or anyone else — Republicans have got to stop letting their enemies exercise a veto. What the RNC needs as chairman is someone who speaks for the party and can raise a lot of money. Without prejudice toward either Steele or Anuzis, I nominate Ann Coulter.

Just to see the SPLC go completely batshit insane.

UPDATE: Dan Collins at Piece of Work in Progress informs us that Steele has reportedly hired his former personal assistant as “liaison” to the 2012 GOP convention in Tampa. For $15,000 a month.

UPDATE II: Brian Bolduc of National Review interviews Anuzis:

“There are literally thousands of major donors who have left the party and haven’t given to us in some time . . . I think we need a nuts-and-bolts person.”

FMJRA 2.0: Not really a new beginning

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Hi. This is my first FMJRA. I’m not as creative as Smitty, so you won’t be seeing creative backronyms any more unless you want to suggest some. You also won’t be seeing links back to sites on Blogger unless you submit them to me; please e-mail those no later than Friday so I can add them to the appropriate FMJRA post, just as you would your Rule 5 links.

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.13.10

‘The Demagogic Bloggers on the Right’

Professor Palin and the Class of ’12

‘President of the Back of the Bus’

Ezra Klein Is a Liberal. Is It Redundant to Say That Ezra Klein Is Also Insane?

Buying Gold? Caveat Emptor

Kill the Rich!

What’s the Very Best Thing About Republicans Winning the Election?

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.15.10

What Causes Islamophobia

Keith Olbermann and Sam Francis

Team Obama: No Moderates Allowed

Sarah Palin and ‘Feminism’

‘As I Am Big-Busted and Like to Have Fun, Guys Are Instantly Interested in Me’

Wait Until Glenn Beck Sees This!

EUROPE IN CRISIS: Sudden Financial Emergency Strikes EU Zone
UPDATE: Götterdämmerung?

Not Just No, But Hell, No! John Cornyn Uncontested in Bid for NRSC Chair?

Europe: ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’

Behind-the-Scenes Video: Fox News Colleagues Mocking Sarah Palin

Charlie Rangel: Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

Great News: Treacherous Bastard Cornyn Unanimously Re-Elected as NRSC Chair

The Wheel Turns

Bolsheviks for Monarchy

Shocker: Sarah Palin’s Teenage Daughters Act Like Teenage Girls on Facebook

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.17.10

Worst. Headline. Evah.

Post-Weigel Journalism? Impossible!

Andrew Sullivan: Does the Phrase ‘And the Horse You Rode In On’ Ring a Bell?

‘By Any Means Necessary’

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.18.10

Emergency! Democrats Trying to Shove DREAM Amnesty Through Lame-Duck

Is Marriage Becoming ‘Obsolete’? Women, Children, Minorities Hardest Hit

Remember When Nancy Pelosi Promised Democrats Were Going to Clean Up the ‘Culture of Corruption’ in Washington?

A Year in Detention

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.19.10

More Lame-Duck Madness

BREAKING: Renee Ellmers Wins Recount; Bob Etheridge to Concede; UPDATE: In Concession Speech, Dem Says He Was Victim of ‘Dirty Politics’

Ann Marie Buerkle Win in NY-25 Would Give GOP Biggest Majority Since 1949

Please Permit Me to Remind You . . .


Compiled by Wombat-socho with a lot of help from Smitty.

Science Proves I’m a Genius

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As if any further proof were needed:

Researchers from the London School of Economics say that human beings used to all be day-oriented, and that eveningness is an “evolutionarily novel preference” made by people with “a higher level of cognitive complexity.” Basically, smart people evolve to stay up later. . . .

On the other hand:

Night owls tend to be less reliable, more emotionally unstable, and more likely to have problems with addictions and eating disorders, according to a 2008 study by psychologist Marina Giamnietro. They are also more likely to drink alcohol and smoke, says Dutch psychiatrist Walter van den Broek.

OK, so the main course of genius — “cognitive complexity” — comes with a side order of crazy. But you didn’t need further proof of that, either, did you?

Washington Times Fires Editor; ‘National Search for a Permanent Replacement’

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Interesting news about my former employer:

Sam Dealey will be stepping down as editor of the Washington Times, following the sale of the paper to a group led by members of the paper’s old guard who were ousted a year ago, sources close to the paper tell POLITICO.
Dealey was informed this afternoon. The change is scheduled to be announced tonight. Sources say that Managing Editor Chris Dolan will step in as acting editor-in-chief while the paper’s new owners conduct a national search for a permanent replacement. . . .

Probably looking for someone with reporting and editing experience who knows how to boost online traffic, stuff like that.

UPDATE: Fishbowl DC: 

[I]t remains unclear what kind of talent the struggling paper can attract.

You’re freaking kidding me, right? Editor of a daily newspaper in the Capital of the Free World?  Lots of people would crawl through glass for a chance like that.

UPDATE II: Romensko has the press release from the newspaper:

A national search for a new editor will take place in the coming weeks to identify and recruit a newsroom leader to carry out future plans for The Washington Times.
These plans call for The Washington Times news coverage to expand with the return of sports, metro and entertainment sections. These will complement the Times’ respected coverage of government, politics, national security, intelligence, economics, geopolitics, culture/religion and opinion that has been its strength over the past 28 years.
The Times also will increase the availability of its content through multiple media channels, including washingtontimes.com, radio and television.

Permit me to offer six simple suggestions:

  • First things first: Hire an editor-in-chief, with authority over the whole paper, like Wesley Pruden had. When they hired John Solomon (which was when I quit), they split the job, so that Solomon was only in charge of the news side of the operation, while the opinion/commentary sections were under separate editorship. This diminished the stature and authority of the top editor, who no longer spoke for the paper as an institution, as had been the case when Pruden was the boss.
  • Second: Run lean and mean. Rather than hiring a bunch of full-time staffers, hire freelancers under contract — and short-term contacts, at that. Offer a 90-day contract at, say, $2,000 a month plus productivity bonuses based on the number of articles published, the number that make the front page, the number that get Drudge-linked, etc. You can get a heckuva lot of reporting a lot cheaper that way — saving money on health insurance, benefits, etc. — and the reporters who make a good showing under those terms could then be considered for full-time openings if and when those become available.
  • Third: Bring back Andrew Breitbart as a weekly columnist. The stupidest thing that John Solomon ever did was to let Breitbart go.
  • Fourth: Hire Shirley & Banister to do your publicity. They’re the best, and the total cost will be less than whatever you were paying your “marketing” department. Exactly what the heck that department was supposed to be doing all those years, I honestly don’t know, but it wasn’t working.
  • Fifth: Give Victor Morton a raise. God knows he deserves it.
  • Sixth and finally: Stop getting scooped on your own beat. Why is it that the best place to learn about personnel decisions at The Washington Times is always Fishbowl DC? If who gets hired and fired at the Times is so doggone newsworthy, why isn’t the Times reporting this stuff first?

Just some suggestions. Not that I know anything about the newspaper business or anything like that . . .

TSA: Teen Sexual Assault?

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What kind of people get government jobs as Airport Junk-Touchers?

WHDH-TV via Gateway Pundit:

A Transportation Security Administration worker at Logan International Airport is accused of assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Sean Shanahan, 45, of Winthrop is being held on $50,000 cash bail following his arraignment in East Boston District Court. He is charged with statutory rape, enticement of a child and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older.

Your tax dollars at work!

UPDATE: “Ron Paul to TSA: Stop Irradiating Our Bodies and Fondling Our Children!“

Dear Cousin: Thanks, But No Thanks

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The senator from Arizona — a distant cousin, our common ancestor having lived in South Carolina circa 1790 — is not my only famous kin. 

My first cousin Pepper Ellis Hagebak is a columnist for the LaGrange (Ga.) News. But her column isn’t about politics, and that’s probably a good thing. Pepper’s still a Democrat, like everybody in our family used to be. Her column is more humor and human interest. So even though she’s a Democrat and writes for a newspaper, she’s not exactly “the liberal media.”

Anyway, I hadn’t heard from Pepper in a while until I got an e-mail from her this morning with the subject line “a1vca g3a7.” And when I opened the e-mail, there were several CCs on it and the complete text of the message was “uem4 nhs kmhc4 hio7pspz,” with a link to a Web site. When I clicked on the link, it was a site advertising “herbal viagra.”

I’m pretty sure that my cousin hasn’t begun writing gibberish e-mails and promoting stuff like that. No, what undoubtedly  happened is that her computer got infected with a stupid virus that hijacked her e-mail program on behalf of the Nigerian herbal viagra cartel. And since the spammers have now got my e-mail address, I have no doubt that other people are probably getting such solicitations in my name.

To my friends and family: No, I haven’t gone into the herbal viagra racket, and I didn’t send you that e-mail. Times are hard all over, but it hasn’t gotten that bad. Not yet, anyway. Continue reading Dear Cousin: Thanks, But No Thanks →

Please Permit Me to Remind You . . .

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. . . that this is Stephen Kruiser’s new sidekick, Kinsey Schofield:

When Miss Schofield made her PJTV debut, I took the occasion to suggest that her function was as “eye candy” — NTTAWWT — and was roundly excoriated for so doing. Oh, I was some horrible sexist, I was accused of being jealous, I was even called a “stalker.”

So today, while I was busy updating the news about Renee Ellmers’ victory in North Carolina, I went over to Hot Air to see if they were blogging about the big win. No, but Continue reading Please Permit Me to Remind You . . . →

Ann Marie Buerkle Win in NY-25 Would Give GOP Biggest Majority Since 1949

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As noted in my last update about Renee Ellmers’ victory in NC-2, Republicans are now at 240 House seats and they haven’t had 241 seats since 1949. And Sam Foster at Left Coast Rebel reports that Ann Marie Buerkle is 411 votes ahead of Dan Maffei in NY-25 after the count of absentee ballots from Onondaga County.

The Buerkle campaign says victory is a “mathematical certainty,” and the Lonely Conservative headlines it: “Buerkle Lead Can’t Be Beat.”

C’mon, Ann Marie. This one’s for the history books, sweetheart.

Did I hear somebody say “mandate”?

UPDATE: Now a Memeorandum thread, more reporting from the Auburn Citizen and blogged by Lucianne.com, This Ain’t Hell, South Capitol Street and Dan Riehl.