The Other McCain

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

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

LIVE AT FIVE: 03.25.13

Posted on | March 25, 2013 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
“No Evidence Of Third-Party Involvement” In Berezovski Death

House given all-clear by cops after NBC weapons search

House given all-clear by cops after NBC weapons search

Suicide, or Kremlin assassination?

Abortionist Gosnell Accused Of Medicating Women Based On Their Ability To Pay
Also facing charges of killing babies born alive with scissors

Few Winners In Cyprus Deal
Nation will stay in eurozone, receive 10 billion-euro bailout – but offshore financial sector destroyed



POLITICS
White House Withdraws Halligan Nomination

Former NY Solicitor General Caitlin Halligan

Former NY Solicitor General Caitlin Halligan

GOP successfully filibusters nominee for second time due to her position on gun rights

Governor Christie To Announce State Takeover Of Camden Schools

Mississippi State Rep Jessica Upshaw Found Dead

Echoes Of TennCare Feed State Medicaid Misgivings

NY State Senators Mark Palm Sunday With Rare Sunday Session

“It’s A Mistake” To Jail People For Pot Possession, Says Rand Paul

Gunman And Victims Identified In Quantico Marine Base Shooting

No Expense Spared When Joe Biden Hits The Road



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Breaks 94 On Cyprus Bailout Deal: NYMEX $94.13, Brent $108.10
Japan’s Household Assets Rise Most In Five Years As Stocks Jump
Ford India Apologizes For Berlusconi Ad With Bondage
Seoul Shares Up On Institutional Buying After Cyprus Deal
Hong Kong Court Denies Domestic Workers Residency
Oklahoma Debates Horse Slaughter
DOT Shuts Down Rimrock Stages, Cites “Imminent Hazard”
Windows 8 Metro Interface Blues
What If The Google Reader Readers Just Don’t Come Back?
Borderlands 2 To Bring New Character And Higher Level Cap
West Virginia Bill To Ban Drivers From Using Google Glass
T-Mobile Testing 4G LTE In More Than Eight Cities
Next Mass Effect To Offer A Fresh Experience
EA, Insomniac Games To Launch “Fuse” On May 28
“The Walking Dead” Shuffling Onto PS Vita



SPORTS
UCLA Sacks Ben Howland

Former UCLA mens' hoops coach

Former UCLA mens’ hoops coach

Coach fired after ten years, four early exits from NCAA tourney

Kyle Busch Victorious In Fierce Finish At Fontana

#2 Ohio State Beats Iowa State 78-75 On Late Bomb

Derek Jeter To Spend Opening Day On DL

Shootout Win Buoys Caps’ Playoff Push

#13 La Salle Beats Ole Miss 76-74

Jets 3, Lightning 2

Sixers’ Offense Comes Alive To Bury Kings, Break 15-Game Road Loss Slump

Harper’s Hand No Problem Against Braves



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Lindsay Lohan Gets Six-Figure Payday Before Rehab

Off to Brazil!

Off to Brazil!

Will be promoting a clothing line after shooting “Anger Management” appearance

Tilda Swinton Sleeps In Public

“Croods” Opens To Solid $44.7 Million Box Office, “Olympus Has Fallen” Nabs $30.5 Million

Jessie James Marries Drag Racer Alexis DeJoria

Pussycat DOSH: Nicole Scherzinger Looks To Double Her Money In New “X Factor” Deal

Hours Late, Rihanna Finally Arrives At High School Charity Gig

Paris Hilton Latest SWATting Victim

Octomom Welfare Fraud Investigation In Full Swing



FOREIGNERS
Syrian Opposition Leader Resigns
John Kerry Urges Iraq To Help Stop Arms Shipments To Syria
Gillard Loads Up Senior Ministers In Sixth Cabinet Reshuffle
Israel Asserts Sovereignty In Light Of Syrian Chaos
Buddhist/Muslim Violence Spreads In Burma
Lebanese President Announces Resignation of His Government
Constitution Party Holds Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood Responsible For Sunday’s Violence
French Riot Police Clash With Anti-Gay Marriage Protesters
Prisoner X Planned To Pass Classified Data To Hezbollah
Chief Of Syrian Rebel Army Injured In Blast



BLOGS & STUFF
Lonely Conservative: #SequesterThis – $500 Million For The Palestinians
Gateway Pundit: Claire McCaskill Comes Out For Gay Marriage
Weekly Standard Blog: House Intel chair Mike Rogers Says “Red Line” Has Been Crossed In Syria
Scared Monkeys: NRA’s LaPierre Blasts Bloomberg On “Meet The Press” – “He Can’t Buy America”
Jazz Shaw: Loathsome Nanny State Mayor Spends $12 Million On Gun Ban Ads…With No Gun Ban
Weasel Zippers: Oscar De La Renta Says Dressing Mooch Not A Priority – She Doesn’t Influence Fashion Today
Viral Read: Is Rand Paul The Republican Future?
Ed Driscoll: The Obama Era, Brought To You By The Iraq War
Protein Wisdom: Assad Shot By Bodyguard, Hospitalized In Damascus? Maybe, Maybe Not


Shop Amazon – Spring Cleaning Event

Category: Live at Five

Rule 5 Sunday: Time After Time

Posted on | March 24, 2013 | 23 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Welcome once again to the weekly obeisance to Rule 5 here at The Other McCain! For those of you new to the site, discretion is advised in following the links below; while many of them are discreet and tasteful, others are most definitely NSFW.

Fishersville Mike leads off this week with a salute to the NCAA hoops tourney now underway, while Animal Magnetism presents Rule Five Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon. Laughing Conservative checks in with Kelli Garner, Randy’s Roundtable has Hilary Rhoda, and Reaganite Republican presents the “pretty impressive” Miss Lithuania, Greta Mikalauskyte. Ninety Miles From Tyranny has Morning Mistress, Late Night Bikini Babes, and Hot Pick of the Late Night. First Street Journal continues to salute military women of the world; this week, it’s Cyprus. Lowering The Boom also notes March Madness, spotlighting spoiler Florida Gulf Coastal U’s Coach Enfield and his supermodel wife.

EBL brings Emmanuelle Chiriqui, Amanda Marcum, and a Tale of Two Amandas to the roundup this week.

A View From The Beach has Almudena Fernandez, Hot Naked Women For Blending Puppies (not a Dr. Helen reference), Take Me Out To The Ball Game, Our Inbred Ancestors (contains cavegirl content), Shocking!, The Wearin’ O’ The Green, and The Girlfriend. Also, Party Leaders Pan Puffy Ex-Porn Star’s Political Plans.

Soylent Green is now Soylent Siberia on Blogspot. Update your bookmarks accordingly, and be patient with regard to the blogroll. In the meantime, there’s Falconsword Fursday Fricassee, Alpha Proxima Day Warmup, Miss Carbon Come 2013, Corsetcare: A New Hope, Afternooner Heather, Evening Awesome Cara Wakelin, and Alpha Proxima Day.

Proof Positive’s Friday Night Babe is Zooey! His vintage babe is Anne Bancroft, Heidi Klum is in for Sex in Advertising, and there’s a blonde for St. Patrick’s Day. Dustbury has Tina Fey with Snow White and Markie Post. At The Camp of the Saints, it’s Kelly Brook, the Rule 5 News, and Tiffany Taylor.

The DaleyGator’s DaleyBabes this week included Mairead Nesbitt, assorted babes, Heidi Klum and a huge burger, Ciara, Carla Ossa, Jessica Sutton, Allie Laforce, Jamie Chung, Jessika Alaura, Marie Kai, Io Asuka, Kat Dennings, Heather Knox, Lisa Marie Scott, Elisha Cuthbert, Ebony Babe Sunday, and Bipasha Basu.

Thanks to everyone for the linkagery! Deadline to submit links to the Rule 5 Wombat mailbox for next week’s Rule 5 roundup is Saturday, March 29.

Category: Uncategorized

Mr. Nobel Peace Prize Works His Magic: Israel Now at War With Syria?

Posted on | March 24, 2013 | 17 Comments

All it took was an Obama trip to the Mideast, and suddenly everything seems to be flying completely sideways:

Reuters is reporting that Israel has fired upon and destroyed a machine gun position in the Golan Heights. It is unclear at this moment whether this is merely spillover from the Syrian civil war or whether this is a new front opening for Israel in the middle east.
Israeli Spokesman Ofir Gendelman stated on his Twitter page, Israeli forces “destroyed a Syrian machine gun nest that fired twice in the last 24 hours on Israeli patrols operating to safeguard the border.”

Meanwhile, there are confused and conflicting reports as to whether Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has been shot by an Iranian bodyguard.

UPDATE: Erik Ortiz of the New York Daily News:

Online reports of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s death appeared greatly exaggerated Sunday.
Arab media said Assad was purportedly shot by one of his Iranian bodyguards Saturday night and was in serious condition.
He was supposedly taken to Al-Shami Hospital in Damascus, where surrounding roads were closed off.
Israel News One’s website even reported that Assad had been “assassinated.”
But online updates said the Syrian leader’s shooting was false and that he  was alive and in high spirits. The conflicting reports highlight the chaos that  continues to engulf the country, which has been mired in a bloody civil war for  two years.

It’s impossible to know exactly what’s going on in this kind of situation unless you can independently confirm the reports, which I can’t.

Meanwhile, it’s hard not to notice that while Obama worked actively to encourage the overthrow of the regimes in Egypt and Libya, he’s been willing to let this situation in Syria — where Assad is essentially an Iranian puppet — linger for two years.

UPDATE II: Daniel Halper at the Weekly Standard:

On Friday, President Barack Obama left Israel, after spending a couple days with the leaders of America’s closest ally in the region.
Now today, two days later, Israel has acknowledged that it fired at a military position in Syria. . . .
The sequence of events leads one to ask, what did the two leaders, Obama and Netanyahu, discuss regarding Syria when they met multiple times this last week in Jerusalem? And what did they agree to do to deal with the Syria issue?

Just another wonderful coincidence for the Lightworker.

UPDATE III: Andrew O’Shea at ViralRead is still updating on whether or not Assad has been shot and is or is not dead.

 

Category: Barack Obama, Israel, Syria

FMJRA 2.0: March Madness

Posted on | March 24, 2013 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Missing Word in RNC Report: ‘Blog’

S.C. Primary: Will Tea Party Rally Behind Curtis Bostic Against Mark Sanford?

In Defense Of BlogBash And CPAC

Sarah Palin, Phillis Schlafly, Mrs. Other Smitty, And #CPAC2013

Some People Like To Go To CPAC, But Other People Like Us We Gotta Work

The Fight Begins Now: Mid-Term 2014

FMJRA 2.0: You Belong To The City

Two Teens Found Guilty in Steubenville Rape Case; Media Malpractice Exposed

The Huffington Post Lies About Steven Crowder’s CPAC Monologue

Rule 5 Monday

In Missouri, ObamaCare Sucks Even Harder Than Military Service

Rainy Day D.C. Getaway: Did Kimberlin Send a Photo-Stalker to CPAC Blog Bash?

LIVE AT FIVESIX: 03.19.13

Like Ferris Bueller’s Sister

LIVE AT FIVE: 03.20.13

The Rush to Judgment: Is Torrington Destined to Be the Next Steubenville?

LIVE AT FIVESIX: 03.21.13

Under the New Pope’s Teaching, Should Pelosi and Biden Be Ex-Communicated?

Would Libertarians Practically Achieve
“A World Without Moral Judgments”?

VIDEO: Dana Loesch on Sequestration

Narcissism and the Self-Esteem Cult

LIVE AT FIVE: 03.22.13

Slouching Toward Cougartown

This Will Not End Well for the Donald

Top linkers this week:

  1. Rick’s Rants (22)
  2. The Lonely Conservative (5)

Links were down this week; some will blame a CPAC hangover, others sequestration…anyway, thanks to everyone for the linkagery! Deadline for next week’s FMJRA is Good Friday, March 29.

Category: FMJRA Award

‘You Better Back It Up’: Security Guard Tasers Aggressive Woman on Video

Posted on | March 24, 2013 | 26 Comments

What led to this dispute at an Atlanta mini-mall in January, I don’t know. This video went viral and already has more than 2 million views. By the time the security guard’s camera starts rolling, two obstreperous women are hurling the “n-word” and various obscene slurs at the guard, who repeatedly warns them to leave. Finally, after one of the women physically assaults the guard, he zaps her with the taser:

Via Donald Douglas at American Power (“Ghetto Mom Tasered“) and Big Fur Hat at I Own the World (“Meanwhile, The Left’s Enemy is Anyone Trying to Keep This Culture From Spreading“). As you watch the video, notice that the guard kept trying to go back inside the mall, but returned to the entrance because these women — and their ill-mannered children — continued causing a ruckus on the sidewalk. The guard was simply trying to keep the peace, and these women wouldn’t let him. From Christian Moore and Mike Morris of the Atlanta Constitution, the shocking sequel:

The security guard who became an internet sensation after posting videos of himself fighting crime at downtown’s Metro Mall was arrested late Thursday afternoon and charged with battery.
Atlanta police officers were called to the mall near the Five Points MARTA station after Darien Long, 45, allegedly tackled a patron to the ground unprovoked. . . .
It’s been a tough week for the vigilante guard, who, before his arrest, learned he was fired, effective at month’s end.
“The party line is that they can’t afford me,” said Long, the onsite manager of the mall who became a hero to many for his no-nonsense approach to dealing with criminals. “But it’s not like I make much money.” . . .
Long will be missed by merchants including Francisca Shokane, who owns a hair salon in the mall.
“Before they hired Darien, they used to rob our customers and snatch pursues,” Shokane told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Now it is much better and safer. They don’t come in here and bother us anymore.”
Metro Mall management could not be reached for comment.

Darien Long ought to be a national hero for his one-man war against the Thug Culture. Where’s Bill Cosby when we need him?

 

Category: Crime, Culture
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