The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Amanda Marcotte: So Dangerously Crazy, Even Conor Friedersdorf Fears Her Now

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 18 Comments

Amanda Marcotte: So humorless, it’s hilarious

No public controversy involving sex is complete until feminist scold Amanda Marcotte makes a fool of herself, and she’s continually striving for ever-lower nadirs of stupidity.

So, a high-school boy in Los Angeles recorded a YouTube video asking famous model/actress Kate Upton to be his prom date. Upton at first indicated on the Today show that she might accept the invitation, but then politely declined. End of story? No, because Amanda Marcotte had not yet made a fool of herself.

Just in case you’ve forgotten, Marcotte was one of two feminist bloggers (along with the hate-filled Melissa McEwan) who was hired by the John Edward presidential campaign in 2007, inspiring the memorable headline, “Vote for Edwards, Godbag Christofascists!”

As PJMedia’s Bryan Preston points out, “Marcotte is so entertainingly nuts that we once made a movie about her.”

How did Marcotte react to the Kate Upton prom-date story? By interpreting it through a prism of sexual violence:

The lesson learned: You may be a rich and famous model, but any random man can, just by making a video, force you to do a little song and dance about how delightful his attentions are.
Instead of applauding Davidson for this, adults should be appalled. All that’s been taught here to young men is that they are entitled to women’s attention simply because they ask for it. . . . This entitlement we teach men crops up all the time for women, and it’s rarely as cute as a silly comedy video: When a man demands that you stop on the street to entertain his proposal of going back to his place and then follows you for blocks because you pretended not to hear him. When a rape victim is told that if she didn’t want to have sex, she shouldn’t have gone to the rapist’s hotel room. When a woman files for a restraining order because she’s afraid her abusive husband means it when he says that if he can’t have her, no one can. . . .
[M]en who are violent feel justified because they believe that women owe them their attention, their bodies, and their love. By joining in the collective pressure on Upton to give her attention . . . to a young man just because he wants it, we’re contributing to the overall culture of male entitlement.

Could we unpack the bizarre and tendentious assumptions packed so tightly into Marcotte’s pointy head? Yes, we could.

Do we really need to bother doing so? No, we don’t.

Because Ace of Spades notices that Marcotte’s argument is so preposterous even Conor Friedersdorf objects to it.

Friedersdorf’s usual gig is denouncing any successful or influential conservative spokesman — Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, et al. — but he took time out from his assigned duties at The Atlantic to expose Marcotte’s crypto-Marxist idiocy:

Her ideology causes her to write as if she doesn’t understand what is plain to most observers: Kate Upton is far more privileged, powerful, culturally savvy, and capable of fully exercising her autonomy than the vast majority of straight white males in America, and certainly more than a dateless, non-celebrity 18-year-old high school student on YouTube.

Now that Marcotte has jumped the Friedersdorf shark, so to speak, it’s probably safe to objectify Kate Upton again:

She’s obviously a helpless victim of the patriarchy, isn’t she?

 


Category: Celebrities, Feminism, Rule 5

Lady Gaga-Gate Continues

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 7 Comments

Yesterday, I noted the RNC’s emphatic denial that they knew anything about this. Well, that denial was apparently wrong:

Following up on reports that Lady Gaga was offered — and turned down — $1 million to perform at last year’s Republican National Convention, Jeff Quinton has obtained documents and e-mails showing that an RNC official was privy to the negotiations.

Jeff Quinton has a full report at Naked DC.

Category: Scandal

LIVE AT FIVESIX: 04.04.13

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Connecticut Lawmakers Pass Sweeping Gun Control Measure

Connecticut lawmakers embrace after passing gun control law

Connecticut lawmakers embrace after passing gun control law

Governor ready to sign bill

Civilian Employee Shot Dead At Fort Knox
Authorities say it wasn’t a random act

Norks Warn Military Cleared To Launch Nuke Attack Against U.S.
ROK Defense Minister says missile moved to east coast doesn’t have the range





POLITICS
Obama Raises California Cash For Dems While Trying Not To Derail His Second-Term Agenda

"There is hope...send money."

“There is hope…send money.”

Raising money to help Democrats retake the House in 2014

Governor Perry To Speak At Memorial For Slain DA

White Supremacist Gang Members Sought In Murder Of Colorado Prison Chief


West Virginia Sheriff Murdered, Suspect Wounded

Alabama Legislature Passes Tighter Rules For Abortion Clinics

Obama’s Chump Change

Colorado Sheriffs Push Back Against Calls For More Gun Control

Hagel Unveils $1 Billion Plan To Beef Up Missile Defense

Bloomberg Made Big Donations To Republican County Committees

$700 Million In Katrina Relief Funds Missing



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Sinks As U.S. Inventories Surge: NYMEX $94.41, Brent $107.37
ADP: U.S. Hiring In March Slowest In Five Months
Draghi Considers Plan B After Cyprus Fumble
Monsanto Beats Profit Expectations, Raises Full-Year View
March Auto Sales May Be Highest Since 2007
Clearwire Investor Offers $240 Million In Financing To Avert Sprint
Zynga Shares Still Cheap Despite Boost
The Mouse Cleans House: Disney Shuts Down LucasArts Game Studio
Samsung Gets Own Stores Inside Best Buy
Can You Hear Me Now? Cell Phones Turn 40
Google Expands QuickOffice To Android, iPhone
Baidu Reportedly Developing Wearable Eye Web Device Similar To Google Glass
Samsung And Mozilla Announce New Browser Engine “Servo”
FTC Awards $50K In Robocall Challenge
Apple iPad Is Three Years Old Today
Google Sells Frommer’s Travel Guides Back To Founder
California Bill Would Make Google, Facebook Disclose User Data Collected
Mozilla Firefox 20 Brings Enhanced Private Browsing, New Download Manager



SPORTS
Talk Of Brittney Griner In NBA Sparks Debate

Baylor's Brittney Griner

Baylor’s Brittney Griner

Controversy rages after Mavs owner Mark Cuban suggested he’d draft her


Anthony Scores 40 As Knicks Roll To 10th Straight Win

Lincecum Wild, But Giants Top Dodgers 5-3


Kings Lose To Rockets As Franchise Fate Debated In New York

Oilers Extend Streak To Five With 8-2 Rout Of Flames

Andy Enfield And His Model Wife Welcomed To USC By Song Girls

Timbermutts Bomb The Bucks 107-98

Newcomers Fuel Rangers Victory Over Pens

Rays Beat O’s With Ninth-Inning Homer

Gio Homers, Pitches Six Scoreless Innings As Nats Blank Fish 3-0



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Zoe Saldana Joining “Guardians Of The Galaxy”?

Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana

“Avatar” actress to join Marvel movie as female lead

Brad Pitt To Star In David Ayers’ WW2 Pic “Fury”

Leno Blesses “Tonight Show” Succession Plan


Liam Hemsworth Is So “The Raven”

Richie Sambora Skipping Tour Dates With Bon Jovi Due To Personal Issues

USA Network Eyes “Happy Endings” Pickup If Cult Comedy Series Not Renewed By ABC

TLC Orders “Breaking Amish” Spinoff With Original Cast

Wynonna Fears She Disappointed Tony Dovolani With Early DWTS Exit



FOREIGNERS
Cameron Defends Trident As LibDems Mull Replacement
Torrential Rains, Flooding Kill 31 In Argentina
Gillard Off To PRC To Promote Trade
WW2 Russian Bomb Defused In Berlin
U.S. Offers Up To $5 Million For Leads On Ugandan Warlord Kony
Pakistani Youth Cool To Democracy
Four Sisters Injured In Uttar Pradesh Acid Attack, One Serious
Canadian Border Shooting Suspect In Custody
Attacks On Goths And Punks Now Classified As Hate Crimes



BLOGS & STUFF
First Street Journal: What Could Go Wrong?
Sondrakistan: There’s a Word For This
Ed Morrissey: Q-Poll Shows 2016 GOP Field Wide Open
Reince Priebus: Media Covers Up Democrat-Backed Planned Parenthood’s Support For Infanticide
Jammie Wearing Fools: Obama Pretends He’ll Sacrifice 5% Of His Salary
Hit & Run: Congresswoman Doesn’t Realize “Assault Magazines” She Wishes To Ban Are Reusable
NRO Corner: Dem Rep Tells Constituent “You’d Probably Be Dead” If Confronted By Armed Intruder
JustOneMinute: Gun Magic, Or, More Fun With Numbers At The NYT
Via Meadia: Illegal Imimgration Debate Is So 1990s
Breitbart: ICE Union Chief Says “Disproportionate Numbers Of Criminals” Entering US
American Thinker: It Looks Like The Best Way To Repeal Obamacare Is To Implement It
Rush Limbaugh: I Don’t Think Obamacare Can Work, And Obama Doesn’t Care If It Does Or Not
Weasel Zippers: NYT Feminist Crank Maureen Dowd Compares Justice Scalia To George Wallace
Lonely Conservative: Abuse, Addiction, Racism And Desperation On The Reservation


Category: Live at Five

My Thing, Your Thing, Our Thing UPDATE: Apparently, It’s #WAR

Posted on | April 3, 2013 | 37 Comments

Dana Loesch has a piece at Red State about the controversy that ensued when Ben Howe wrote a piece at BuzzFeed criticizing a video from Tea Party Patriots. I never saw the video and didn’t read Howe’s BuzzFeed piece, although friends made me aware that there was some kind of kerfuffle about it.

What. Ever.

Part of the argument was about the fact that Howe used BuzzFeed — perceived as a liberal site — to attack conservatives, to which Loesch responds: “What does it matter where it was published? . . . Buckley published in Playboy. Other conservatives have published in Huffington Post.”

Politics is a team sport played by individuals, and there is no scientific formula for reconciling team success with individual ambition. The teams are so large, in fact, that it is difficult to determine who is responsible for success or failure.

Ronald Reagan said, “You can accomplish much, if you don’t care who gets the credit,” but it seems there are some people who spend all their time claiming credit for success — or blaming others for failure. If I paid attention to half the behind-the-scenes drama I’m aware of, I wouldn’t have time to pay attention to anything else, and there is lots of drama I never find out about simply because it is behind the scenes. So I ignore as much of it as possible, until it hurts my friends or becomes such a distraction that it can’t be safely ignored any longer.

I could write a thousand words about this, but there’s no time. The “roving new media guru Ali Akbar” is anxious to leave South Carolina today and it’s a long drive home.

Headline at Politico: “GOP frets Mark Sanford could blow it”

Yeah. No more time to worry about that now . . .

UPDATE: OK, we stopped on the way home to eat and I hopped online to see what was happening. John Nolte was leading the Breitbart crew on Twitter in #WAR mode:

Donald Douglas at American Power has the necessary links for understanding this Montagues-and-Capulets feud.

Remember that it all started with an article about a video that showed at CPAC three weeks ago.

Category: South Carolina

Correction of the Day

Posted on | April 3, 2013 | 13 Comments

What they’re worried about at GOP-HQ:

“To be clear, the RNC neither asked, offered, thought of or ever considered the idea of Lady Gaga performing at our convention. And clearly, we didn’t offer a million dollars. The story is actually referencing an event by American Action Network, an independent group that is no way affiliated or connected to the Republican National Committee or Republican Convention.”

Nice of them to clear up that important issue.

Category: Republicans

Illinois Family Institute ‘Hate Group’; Racist Murder Gang, Not So Much

Posted on | April 3, 2013 | 20 Comments

Dr. Ben Carson has agreed to speak to a pro-family organization which a liberal blogger condemns as a “notorious anti-gay hate group.”

In other words, they think sodomy is a bad idea, an opinion that the Left wishes to forbid. By contrast, the Black Liberation Army — a racial terrorist organization that murdered people — is perfectly OK with liberals, who have provided a Columbia University professorship to 1981 Brinks robbery accomplice Kathy Boudin.

Notorious hatemonger Ace of Spades examines the Left’s logic:

Convicted felony murderer Kathy Boudin is an adjunct professor at Columbia.
But Ben Carson is, according to the left, a “monster.”
He saved lives while Kathy Boudin was ending them. Obviously he’s a monster and she’s a Distinguished Intellectual. Nice leftwing people on Twitter said so.

So . . . disapproving of sodomy is bad, wrong and evil; helping terrorists murder Police Officer Waverly Brown, that’s OK.

If you don’t understand the progressive principle involved here, I’m sure Brett Kimberlin could explain it for you.

UPDATE: Not directly related, but James Taranto remembers a conveniently forgotten racist mass murderer: “Every problem he was involved in he attached some racial motivation to the person and institution he was dealing with.”

UPDATE II: How to get appointed to the Columbia faculty:

“Boudin was personally involved in at least a dozen bombings across the country — including at the Pentagon, the US Capitol and NYPD headquarters — before the Brinks job. She also rented cars both for bank robberies and for the prison escape of cop-killer Joanne Chesimard.”

 

 


Category: Crime, Terrorism

LIVE AT FIVE: 04.03.13

Posted on | April 3, 2013 | 4 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Alabama Lawmakers Tighten Abortion Clinic Regulations

"Crowds" gather to protest tighter abortion clinic regs

“Crowds” gather to protest tighter abortion clinic regs

Apparently requiring local doctors with hospital privileges is a crime against women now

Malaysian PM Dissolves Parliament Before Election
Will the ruling Barisan Nasional party hang on for a 57th year in power?

NY Politicians Arrested In Alleged Mayoral Race Bribe Scheme
Democrat NY state senator accused of trying to buy Republican nomination



POLITICS
SecDef Hagel Calls Norks’ Nuke Ambitions A “Growing Threat”

Great Successor and his posse

Great Successor and his posse

Hagel talks with Chicom Defense Minister as Norks crank up the tension

Intruder Killed Outside Colorado DA’s Home

Indicted Atlanta Educators Surrender In Cheating Scandal

Suspended Priest Pleads Guilty To Meth Charges

AP Stylebook Drops “Illegal Immigrant”

Customers Rush To Connecticut Gun Stores Before Vote On Ban

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) Pushes Bill Requiring Liability Insurance For Gun Owners

Budget Cuts, Immigration Debates Lead To Surge Of Illegals Across Mexican Border

At West Point, A Nearly Full Cemetery (Video)



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Crude Oil Drops In Asian Trade: NYMEX $96.62, Brent $110.24
Fed Officials Cautiously Optimistic On Economic Growth
Survey: Frugality Reigns Five Years Into Crisis
J.C. Penney’s CEO Gets No Stock Award Or Bonus After Dismal Year
US Stocks Fall As American Manufacturing Index Slips
SEC Approves Using Facebook, Twitter For Company Disclosures
Eurozone Hits Record High 12% Unemployment
Sierra Club Sues Over Coal Spills From Trains
Verizon, AT&T EXplore $245 Billion Takeover Of Vodafone
Zynga Says Former OMGPOP CEO Porter Leaving One Year After Deal
Former SEC Head Joins Consulting Firm
Apple Had Designed iPhone 5 And Successor Before Steve Jobs’ Death
Yahoo Teams Up With Dropbox
Nebula Launches Its OpenStack “System”
Twitter Cards Adds More Mobile App Deep-Linking, New Cards
Playboy Calls Your Bluff, Releases iPhone App With “Just The Articles”



SPORTS
Yu Darvish Flirts With Perfect Game

Yu mad, astros?

Yu mad, Astros?

Houston breaks up bid with two outs in ninth, lose anyway 7-0

CNN Video Shows Rutgers Coach Shoving, Hitting, Cursing Players

Kobe’s Triple-Double Pushes Lakers Past Mavericks

Pens’ Win Streak Snapped At 15 By Sabres

Jay-Z Will Keep Cano In Pinstripes

Skylar Diggins Leads Irish Women Past Duke

Caps Beat Hurricanes, Creep Closer To First

Tribe Beats Dickey, Jays 4-1

Bruins Don’t Wait For Jagr, Hold Off Senators 3-2

Rafael Soriano, Untucked



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Emma Watson Covers GQ

She used to be Hermione Granger.

She used to be Hermione Granger.

Talks about stardom, sex, stalkers and The Bling Ring

Tom Hanks To Be Grandpa Again

Amy Poehler’s New Man

Angelina Jolie Opens All-Girl School In Afghanistan

John Mayer Talks Split With Katy Perry On Ellen DeGeneres Show

Jimmy Fallon Closes “Tonight Show” Deal, Seth Meyers Eyed For “Late Night”

Angelina Jolie & Lady Gaga Finances Exposed By Celebrity Hackers


Audrey Hepburn’s Son: My Mother Never Thought She Was Beautiful

HBO Renews “Game Of Thrones” For 4th Season

Hilary Duff Set To Play Ashton Kutcher’s Love Interest On “Two And A Half Men” Season Finale

Lindsay Lohan Decides At Last Minute To Stay In Brazil “Against Everyone’s Advice”

Beyonce Covers Amy Winehouse For “The Great Gatsby”



FOREIGNERS
PM Singh: India’s Economic Downturn Temporary
Israel Launches Airstrikes On Gaza After Rockets Fired Into Southern Israel
Seven Killed, City Darkened In Attack On Peshawar Grid Station
Putin Gives Officials Two Months To Get Rid Of Foreign Assets
Double Standard Emerges In Brazil’s Tourist Gang Rape Investigation
UK Considers Cutting Minimum Wage To Boost Jobs
Canadians’ Alleged Role In Algeria Plot Stokes Fears Of Homegrown Terrorism
Paki Youth Prefer Sharia To Democracy
US Warns Egypt’s Transition May Be Backsliding



BLOGS & STUFF
First Street Journal: The UN Small Arms Treaty
Sense of Events: Guns Will Be Banned By Hook Or By Crook
American Power: It’s Only Racist When White People Say It
Michelle Malkin: Academia Hearts The Weather Underground
Questions And Observations: Regulation Tends To Cost Poor People More
Former DNC Spokeswoman Karen “Crazy Crackers On The Right” Finney Gets Own MSNBC Show
Weasel Zippers: AP Drops “Illegal Immigrant” From Stylebook
Erika Johnsen: Poll – Two Thirds Of Americans Ready For The Keystone Pipeline
Bryan Preston: Obama Underling Promotes President To “Scientist In Chief”
Protein Wisdom: Dr. Ben Carson Says White Liberals “The Most Racist People There Are”
Twitchy: Vicious Liberals Prove Dr. Carson Right
Allahpundit: Senate Gay Marriage Pool Update – Democrat Tom Carper, Republican Mark Kirk Evolve
Gateway Pundit: Bill O’Reilly Blows Up At Laura Ingraham In “Thump The Bible” Gay Marriage Sacrament
Lonely Conservative: New FDA Regulations Could Hike Food Prices


Pimp your blog. Send me a link to your best post of the day.


Category: Live at Five

Fear and Loathing in the Lowcountry UPDATE: Trail Hiker Wins GOP Runoff

Posted on | April 2, 2013 | 71 Comments

UPDATE 11:15 p.m. ET: Welcome, Instapundit readers! As you surely know by now, 1st District GOP voters chose Mark Sanford by a 57-43 margin over Curtis Bostic. A few quick reactions from my Twitter account:

There be plenty of time to re-hash everything tomorrow, but for now: Please hit the tip jar to help pay for this trip.

UPDATE 7:20 p.m. ET: Liveblogging the special election results.

“I had come up to New Hampshire to write a long thing on the McGovern campaign — but after twelve hours in Manchester I hadn’t seen much to indicate that it actually existed, and I was beginning to wonder what the fuck I was going to write about for that issue. . . .
“[I]n mid-February of 1972 there were no visible signs, in New Hampshire, that the citizenry was about to rise up and drive the swine from the temple. Beyond that, it was absolutely clear — according to the Wizards, Gurus, and Gentlemen Journalists in Washington — that Big Ed Muskie, the Man from Maine, had the Democratic nomination so deep in the bag that it was hardly worth arguing about.
“Nobody argued with the things McGovern said. He was right, of course — but nobody took him very seriously, either . . .”
— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72

CHARLESTON, S.C.
Curtis Bostic’s congressional campaign is not exactly an uprising by the citizenry determined to “drive the swine from the temple.” No sane person thinks of South Carolina politics as a temple, and these folks prefer their swine hickory-smoked, slow-cooked, and slathered in vinegar-based sauce.

All the Wizards, Gurus and Gentlemen Journalists expect GOP voters in the 1st District to choose Mark Sanford as their nominee in today’s runoff election because, apparently, adultery is more popular than Jesus in South Carolina.

Speaking of Gentleman Journalists, National Review‘s Jim Geraghty recently paid a visit to Hilton Head:

As one Beaufort County resident put it to me, “I’m hearing folks say, ‘My pastor says I should vote for [Bostic]'”

If the counsel of clergy is heeded, the headline on a Bostic victory will be Miracle Upset, but polls indicate that Christianity itself is now viewed as a liability by South Carolina Republicans, unless it is the cheap-grace gospel wherein Mark Sanford’s 2009 embarrassment is shrugged off as something inconsequential that only the Liberal Media Elite care about. There may still be Republicans who take “family values” seriously, but they are neither fashionable nor influential, and none of the Wizards and Gurus think that the anti-adultery vote will amount to a majority in today’s GOP runoff.

The big news today is that Stephen Colbert will host fundraisers for his sister, the Democrat who already enjoys a vast advantage in campaign cash and who can rely on the united efforts of the Democrat Party to win the May 7 special election.

Meanwhile, for the past week or so, various True Conservatives have been trying to convince people that it is a terrible scandal that Ali Akbar was hired to help promote the candidacy of a Marine Corps veteran and homeschooling father of five. It’s even being treated as semi-scandalous that I’m down here providing my customary Neutral Objective Journalism about the campaign. Of course, Hunter S. Thompson committed more felonies before breakfast every day than have ever been alleged against Ali, and I’ve been up-front about my opinion ever since my first March 20 post about this race, “S.C. Primary: Will Tea Party Rally Behind Curtis Bostic Against Mark Sanford?”

Last night, I found myself in a deep discussion with our hostess here — a Christian homeschooling mother of seven — who was mystified by the hatred against Ali. My best explanation is that Ali’s enemies are like Ferris Bueller’s sister:

“Why should he get to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants? Why should everything work out for him? What makes him so goddamn special?”

It is not Ali’s admitted failures, but his successes, that make him the object of so much wrathful resentment. At a time when the GOP is in a condition of demoralized disarray, there is no shortage of idle and disgruntled Republicans who have nothing better to do than to recycle the same old stories, embellished with new allegations, and I’d be happy to ignore it all, if it didn’t have such a harmfully distracting effect.

Some of my blogger friends seem to have forgotten that it was Ali who, as a consultant to the campaign that elected Scott Brown to the Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, ensured that bloggers like myself, Da Tech Guy, Ace of Spades and Pamela Geller had prime seating at the victory party that January 2010 night in Boston. Pudding, anyone?

Is there a strain of Charles Johnson-ism in all this? Are there people trying to set themselves up as Supreme Arbiters of who is and is not acceptable inside the Big Tent? And, if so, why are they simultaneously indignant about having Ali Akbar work as a digital strategist, but blithely indifferent to having Mark Sanford become the “face” of the Republican Party?

Some would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

Having done all in my power to make peace among friends, I find myself in a familiar place: No one asks for my advice, and when I volunteer advice, I’m ignored. People who claim to like and trust me refuse to listen to me, and instead heed the counsel of those who notoriously hate me.

There is no point trying to blame anyone for this state of affairs. It is what it is, and merely explaining it won’t fix it, but the search for scapegoats — the effort to externalize blame by pointing the finger at our enemies as the cause of woe — is not usually a portent of future success. Certainly, my own personal shortcomings explain my failures better than do any injustices I’ve suffered, and I just wish some of my friends could see their situations in the same light, rather than encouraging vindictive dogpile attacks on their chosen enemies — who also just so happen to be my friends.

No point in blame, no hope for redemption, and no rest for the weary this side of the grave. Please hit the tip jar to pay for this bizarre exercise in Fear and Loathing.

 

 

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Category: Fear. Loathing., South Carolina
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