The Other McCain

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

The Power of Prejudice

Posted on | March 26, 2013 | 20 Comments

Rule One of “How to Get a Million Hits on Your Blog” is shameless blogwhoring. Think of it as an existential philosophy: In the New Media environment, that which is not promoted does not exist.

“I blogwhore, therefore I am.”

So, after I was the first to report Rick Santorum’s endorsement of Curtis Bostic in South Carolina, I sent out an e-mail promoting the exclusive to several friends and was quite taken aback when one friend replied with a rant informing me that “gay marriage is going to happen,” that opponents “are on the wrong side of history”and that Republicans will “never win again until they move the f–k on.”

It was like the Monty Python “Argument Clinic” sketch. It was shocking because the article I sent hadn’t said a word about same-sex marriage. I was reporting the news, not pushing an opinion. From the standpoint of pure blogwhoring, my friend could hate Rick Santorum’s guts and be voting for Elizabeth Colbert Busch. Just link me, damn it.

The opinion-driven way of thinking is another existential reality of the New Media age. Because we all have the “means of production” at our fingertips, there is a tendency to make our engagement with the online world a function of our own personal preferences: We consume only what interests us or what we find agreeable, and our production of online content is geared toward obtaining hegemony for our worldview.

In fact — and if you haven’t noticed this, you’re not paying close enough attention — we increasingly treat sources of information as if we were choosing them as our personal companions. The question that determines our choices is not whether someone reports useful facts or provides pleasurable reading, but whether we like them, whether we view them as “good” people, as being “on our side.”

The correct word for this is prejudice.

Why did my friend react instantaneously to my e-mail about Santorum’s endorsement with a rant about gay marriage? Why did my friend think I was in need of a lecture about this? I don’t know, but it struck me as evidence of a prejudiced attitude.

My own prejudice has always been in favor of underdogs. There is nothing like an upset — David slays Goliath, FGCU makes the “Sweet 16” — to make for a great story. So on the morning after the March 19 South Carolina primary, I took a look at the result and said, “Hey, maybe this Bostic guy could pull off a surprise.” It’s a long-odds proposition, but the thing about a situation like this is that if you thought about the odds against it, you would never bother paying attention at all. And I try to keep in mind that when Whittaker Chambers quit the Communist Party and became a conservative, he thought he was joining the losing side.

Oh, yeah — almost forgot — the latest poll out of South Carolina shows Curtis Bostic doing better than Sanford against the Democrat.

But I’m prejudiced, remember?

UPDATE: This moring, I found myself compelled by circumstance to link the infamous Will Folks. Now? I find myself linked by Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post, whose cheerleading for Mitt Romney in the 2012 primary campaign didn’t endear her to many conservatives. This shows the impermanence of political alliances and also human sacrifice! dogs and cats living together! mass hysteria!

 

Excepting only Mardi Gras in New Orleans, there is nothing in this world wilder than a South Carolina Republican primary.

 

Category: Blogging

‘We Record What Is to All Known’

Posted on | March 26, 2013 | 36 Comments

The Fall of Man (or, Adam and Eve), Hendrick Goltzius, 1616 (detail)

“The true origin of marriage, venerable brothers, is well known to all. Though revilers of the Christian faith refuse to acknowledge the never-interrupted doctrine of the Church on this subject, and have long striven to destroy the testimony of all nations and of all times, they have nevertheless failed not only to quench the powerful light of truth, but even to lessen it. We record what is to all known, and cannot be doubted by any, that God, on the sixth day of creation, having made man from the slime of the earth, and having breathed into his face the breath of life, gave him a companion, whom He miraculously took from the side of Adam when he was locked in sleep. God thus, in His most far-reaching foresight, decreed that this husband and wife should be the natural beginning of the human race, from whom it might be propagated and preserved by an unfailing fruitfulness throughout all futurity of time. And this union of man and woman, that it might answer more fittingly to the infinite wise counsels of God, even from the beginning manifested chiefly two most excellent properties — deeply sealed, as it were, and signed upon it — namely, unity and perpetuity. From the Gospel we see clearly that this doctrine was declared and openly confirmed by the divine authority of Jesus Christ. He bore witness to the Jews and to His Apostles that marriage, from its institution, should exist between two only, that is, between one man and one woman; that of two they are made, so to say, one flesh; and that the marriage bond is by the will of God so closely and strongly made fast that no man may dissolve it or render it asunder. ‘For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.'”
— Pope Leo XIII, “On Christian Marriage,” 1880

 

Category: Family, Marriage, Religion

South Carolina ‘Cash Money’ Loyalty

Posted on | March 26, 2013 | 22 Comments

OK, we all remember Will Folks, right? The guy who claimed he had an affair with Nikki Haley? The guy is a lowdown polecat, which is another way of saying he’s a South Carolina GOP consultant — or, at least, he used to be one, although his anti-Haley smear may have made him too radioactive even by South Carolina standards.

Payback is hell, as they say, and apparently “Sic Willie” decided to get himself some payback against the Mark Sanford campaign last month:

Former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford has retained longtime “Republican in Name Only” Wesley Donehue to advise him in the crowded GOP primary for the Palmetto State’s first congressional district. . . .
Last September (a mere five months ago) Donehue offered a graphic description of Sanford at college GOP forum.
“Mark Sanford is a piece of human shit,” the strategist told roughly a hundred college Republicans on the campus of the University of South Carolina. . . .
Loyalty in South Carolina politics is based on one thing: Cash money. That means Donehue will call anybody anything if you pay him enough money.

So if you’re for Mark Bostic in the South Carolina runoff — and certainly, I believe you should be for Bostic — then you can understand why I felt obliged to do what I swore I’d never do, namely link that lowdown polecat Will Folks. It’s a tough world down there in South Carolina politics, as my old buddy Jeff Quinton could explain at length.

Speaking of explaining at length, Dana Loesch was able to express her mystification at the Mark Sanford revival in 140 characters or less, but it took me more than 800 words:

Democrats were exultant when former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford finished atop last week’s Republican primary in a special election to fill the 1st District congressional seat vacated by Tim Scott’s appointment to the Senate. In a 16-candidate GOP field, Sanford got 37 percent, nearly three times the vote of his nearest rival, former Charleston County council member Curtis Bostic. Sanford’s advantages are even larger than the vote totals would suggest: He reportedly has a 15-to-1 campaign cash edge over Bostic and the former two-term governor is almost infinitely ahead in terms of what political strategists call “name recognition.”
Alas, name recognition is a two-edged sword for Sanford, who is perhaps best known for an embarrassment that made the phrase “hiking the Appalachian Trail” a smutty double-entendre in 2009. One late-June weekend that year — the weekend of Father’s Day, to be exact — the governor’s whereabouts became a national mystery. Neither his family nor his staff nor South Carolina law enforcement could find Sanford, whose name had been bandied about as a possible 2012 Republican presidential contender. Before search parties could be sent to find the allegedly missing hiker, however, Sanford flew back from Argentina to South Carolina and held one of the most surreal press conferences in political history. He told how a “remarkable friendship” with a woman he met in Argentina a year earlier had “sparked into something more than that.” He spoke of “trying to get my heart right” and said he had “spent the past five days of my life crying in Argentina.” Sanford’s description of Maria Belen Chapur as his “soul mate” was, as Daily Caller columnist Yates Walker said, “possibly the most sociopathic moment ever captured on live television.”
Sanford was censured by the state legislature, his wife divorced him, and last year he announced his engagement to his Argentine soul mate. His supporters use the word “redemption” to describe the former governor’s potential comeback, but the reaction of other Republicans could best be described as Fear and Loathing. . . .

Read the rest at The American Spectator. Did I mention Joe Biden will be campaigning for the Democrat? The going has gotten weird again, and I’ve got a feeling it’s about time for the weird to go pro.




 

 


Category: Election, Fear. Loathing., South Carolina

LIVE AT FIVE: 03.26.13

Posted on | March 26, 2013 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Obama Pushes Immigration Law

Smugness personified

Smugness personified

Expects debate next month on “comprehensive, sensible” reform


Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Michigan Affirmative Action Case
Michigan’s constitutional amendment banning affirmative action in college admissions previously struck down by 6th Circuit


Central African Republic’s President Flees To Cameroon
Capital overrun by rebels; thirteen South African soldiers killed



POLITICS
Red State Democrat Tim Johnson Joins Senate Exodus, Won’t Run Again In 2014

Senate Banking Committee head Tim Johnson (D-SD)

Senate Banking Committee head Tim Johnson (D-SD)

Never fully recovered from 2006 cerebral hemorrhage; seat expected to fall to GOP

Michele Bachmann Faces Congressional Ethics Probe


Captured Jihadi Reveals Al Qaeda Plans

Rahm Emanuel Defends Decision To Close 54 Chicago Schools

Facebook’s Zuckerberg Reportedly Considering Formation Of Political Group

U.S. Jails Chicom Engineer For Six Years; Passed Military Secrets To PRC

Police: Suicide Seen In Mississippi Lawmaker’s Death (Video)

Pennsylvania Sheriff Charged Over Alleged Threats

Biden’s Weekend Flights To Delaware Costing Taxpayers Plenty

Craft Brewers Have Good Day In Texas Senate



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Continues To Rise Following Cyprus Bailout Deal: NYMEX $94.80, Brent $108.13
Asian Shares, Euro Spooked By Cyprus Bailout Details
Soda Sales Lose Their Fizz In 2012; Dr. Pepper Least Affected
Investors Ask To Withdraw From Chesapeake Bond Litigation
SEC Approves NASDAQ’s $62 Million Facebook Payout
Boeing Hails Successful Dreamliner Test Flight
Atlantic City’s Revel Casino Files For Bankruptcy
Worries Over Wegman’s In Boston
Raytheon To Lay Off 200
Google Taps “White Spaces” For Broadband In South Africa
T-Mobile’s New Contractless Data Plans Debunked
Apple Buys Indoor GPS Specialist
Sony Announces More Indie Partnerships, “Blacklight: Retribution” and “Primal Carnage” For PS4
The Promise And Limits Of Google’s “Data Liberation Front”
LinkedIn’s Search Updates Bring It Closer To Facebook, Google+
Facebook Rolls Out Replies And Threaded Comments On Page Posts And Popular Profiles
PRC State Media Bashes Apple
Steve Jobs’ Life Gets The Manga Treatment



SPORTS
Denny Hamlin Has Compression Fracture In Lower Back After Last-Lap Crash

Logano, Busch and Hamlin shortly before the crash

Logano, Busch and Hamlin shortly before the crash

Auto Club 400 ends with Hamlin in an ambulance

Devils Lose To Senators In Shootout

Hot Hornets Halt Denver’s 15-Game Run

Brewers Sign Kyle Lohse To Three-Year/$33 Million Deal

Jazz Tunes Up Against The Sixers

Alyssa Thomas Leads Terps Past Spartans

Surging Wild Topple Stars 7-4

Wall Scores 47 To Lead Depleted Wizards To Win

Rodriguez, Romero, And The Nationals’ Bullpen Shuffle



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
No Doubt, They’re Dating!

Not all the heat on the court

Not all the heat on the court

Hayden Panettiere smooches ex-BF Wladimir Klitschko at the Heat-Bobcats game

Lindsay Lohan Parties Before Court-Ordered Rehab

Matt Lauer/Ann Curry “Today Show” Fallout Was Personal

Deadline Lifts The Shell Off The Ninja Turtles

Candace Bushnell Hits Back After Sarah Jessica Parker Slams “Carrie Diaries”

Eva Mendes Wants Paparazzi Protection For Dogs – Hers And Ryan Gosling’s, Anyway

James Franco’s Neighbors Pissed – He’s A Trashy Nuisance

Ashley Greene Condo Fire Ruled Accidental

Liam Hemsworth Spotted At Miley Cyrus’ House After Four-Week Separation

MTV Music Awards Move To Brooklyn

Kate Upton: I’d Love To Go To The Prom, But…



FOREIGNERS
Five Afghan Police, Eight Jihadis Killed In Suicide Bomb Attack
Peng Liyuan: New First Lady Of Fashion?
Police Say Berezovsky Died By Hanging, No Sign Of Struggle
FedEx Delivers Giant Pandas To Toronto
Egyptian Prosecutor Orders Arrest Of Activists For Inciting Friday Riot At Muslim Brotherhood HQ
Vietnam Accuses PRC Over Paracel Islands Trawler Attack
Earthquake Hits Guatemala City; No Reports Of Damage Or Death After 6.2 Quake
Aussies To Withdraw Most Of Their Troops From Afghanistan
Egypt To Extradite Qaddafi-Era Officials To Libya
Britain’s Top Spy Steps Down After Just Six Years Atop MI5
Oman Grants Asylum To Gaddafi Family



BLOGS & STUFF
AmSpecBlog: Anthony Lewis, RIP
NewsBusters: Rachel Maddow Thinks Obama Avoids MSNBC Because He’ll Get Asked Tough Questions
Allahpundit: Mark Warner Suddenly Discovers He’s Pro-Gay Marriage Too
WSJ: Marriage And The Supreme Court
Weasel Zippers: Rand Paul, Mike Lee, And Ted Cruz Tell Reid They’ll Filibuster Any New Gun Control Legislation
Power Line: Why Has Obama Turned His Back On Iraq?
Michael Walsh: The Obama Era
Erika Johnsen: Oh, Joy – Obama Creates Five New National Monuments
Robert Costa: Scott Walker Writing Book With Former Bush Adviser
Emily Miller: Mayor Bloomberg’s Irresponsible Gun Attack Ads
Gateway Pundit: The “Responsible” Man In Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Ad Has Finger On Trigger, Never Shot A Gun In His Life
Lonely Conservative: nanny Bloomberg Insists Government Has The Right To Infringe On Your Freedoms
Jawa Report: Americans Should Surrender Freedoms When Government Infringes
The Blaze: MSNBC President Mocked Keith Olbermann And His Pants
Maggie’s Farm: Three Cheers For The Nanny State
Legal Insurrection: Nanny Statist Of Mind
Extrano’s Alley: Gropers Buying Another 360,000 Rounds
Breitbart: Obama Kids Vacationing At Bahamas Atlantis Resort
Scared Monkeys: Mississippi State Rep. Jessica Upshaw Believed To Have Committed Suicide


Got a link you think I’d like? E-mail me.


Category: Live at Five

Headline Contrast

Posted on | March 25, 2013 | 18 Comments

DHS To Buy 360,000 More Rounds
of Hollow Point Ammunition

 

NYC Mayor Bloomberg: Government has
right to ‘infringe on your freedom’

They told me if I voted for Mitt Romney, etc.

 

Category: Uncategorized

Syria: It’s Complicated. Also, It Sucks.

Posted on | March 25, 2013 | 22 Comments

The Lightworker’s Mideast visit was surely an ill omen, and now it appears that the opposition to Syria’s Iranian-backed dictator Bashar al-Assad is in disarray — which may not necessarily be bad news, given the now-obvious post-“Arab Spring” complications:

Syria’s opposition coalition was on the verge of collapse Sunday after its president resigned and rebel fighters rejected its choice to head an interim government, leaving a U.S.-backed effort to forge a united front against President Bashar al-Assad in tatters.
The resignation of Moaz al-Khatib, a moderate Sunni preacher who heads the Syrian Opposition Coalition, climaxed a bitter internal fight over a range of issues, from the appointment of an interim government to a proposal by Khatib to launch negotiations with the Syrian regime.
His departure plunged the opposition into disarray at a time when the United States and its Western allies are stepping up their support for moderates opposed to Assad’s regime. Khatib’s coalition was expected to play a key role in identifying the recipients and channeling the assistance.

The enemy of our enemy in Syria is still our enemy:

Building on the reputation they have earned in recent months as the rebellion’s most accomplished fighters, Islamist units are seeking to assert their authority over civilian life, imposing Islamic codes and punishments and administering day-to-day matters such as divorce, marriage and vehicle licensing.
Numerous Islamist groups are involved, representing a wide spectrum of views. But, increasingly, the dominant role is falling to Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the al-Nusra Front. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States for suspected ties to al-Qaeda but is widely respected by many ordinary Syrians for its battlefield prowess and the assistance it has provided to needy civilians.

So, we have an Iranian-backed dictator fighting against a domestic insurgency that includes dangerous radical Islamist elements. The CIA is reportedly all up in this mess, and it’s hard to see any real possibility of a “good” outcome.

How’s that Hope and Change workin’ out for ya?

 

Category: Democrats, Foreigners

#TrustCurtis @Bostic4Congress Campaign Has Eight Days to Stop Sanford in S.C.

Posted on | March 25, 2013 | 28 Comments

The South Carolina runoff is a week from Tuesday and time is of the essence:

If South Carolina Republicans nominate disgraced former Gov. Mark Sanford in the First District special election, it would be “an off-year election gift” to “the late-night comedians and political press,” Scott Conroy of Real Clear Politics wrote Friday. And given that the Democrats have nominated Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert, the campaign to fill the congressional seat vacated by the appointment of Tim Scott to the Senate is sure to attract national attention.
The only hope for the GOP to keep the scandal-stained Sanford from becoming the “face” of the party leading up to the May 7 election lies with Curtis Bostic, the former Charleston city councilman who placed second in the March 19 primary and will meet Sanford in the April 2 runoff. . . .

Read the whole thing at ViralRead. You should also read Matt Vespa’s Red State article comparing Curtis Bostic to Ted Cruz and Jennifer Rubin’s Washington Post item explaining that Republicans “are absolutely in danger of losing the seat” if they nominate Sanford.

To show your support on Twitter, use the #Trust Curtis hashtag and please help promote the campaign’s emergency appeal at TrustCurtis.com. This might be a good time for a road trip . . .

 

Category: Congress, Election, South Carolina

Monday Open Thread: The Tax Man Cometh

Posted on | March 25, 2013 | 42 Comments

— by Wombat-socho


Stacy and Smitty both have new jobs that are sucking up most of the time they used to spend on blogging. Unfortunately. Me, I work a weird schedule in the tax mines, so it leaves me free to contribute linkagery and occasional posts like this. Question for today: if you could eliminate ONE THING in the tax code, what would you get rid of? Answers like “the income tax” or “the Sixteenth Amendment” will be mocked as hopelessly Utopian. We’re looking for small changes that might actually get through Congress. Talk among yourselves, and keep it civil.


Category: Blogging, Taxes
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