The Other McCain

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

HookerGate: Miami Herald Confirms Elements of Menendez Prostitute Story

Posted on | February 4, 2013 | 26 Comments

The shadowy (and probably pseudonymous) tipster “Peter Williams” gave specific details about the prostitutes who were allegedly provided to New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez in the Dominican Republic. Two Miami Herald reporters, Kathleen McGrory and Melissa Sanchez, traveled to Santo Domingo to check out the story and, while they were unable to locate the prostitutes, they were able to confirm certain details:

[S]hreds of evidence in Santo Domingo show that, at the very least, the women Williams described exist.
Take an apartment in Santo Domingo’s upscale Gazcue neighborhood that Williams said was used for sexual liaisons. In April emails to  a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Williams alleged that Dr. Salomon Melgen, a friend and major campaign donor to Menendez, rented a unit for a Brazilian prostitute named Maria and a Colombian prostitute named Geraldine.
The apartment exists. When reached by phone, the landlady said that two young women named Geraldine and Maria had indeed lived there last year, and said the nationalities matched.
However, the landlady, who declined to be named, did not believe the women to be prostitutes — she said she thought they were beautiful foreign exchange students — and had never heard of Menendez or Melgen visiting the apartment. But she complained that the women had nearly destroyed the unit, even leaving the wallpaper torn up when they abandoned the apartment last year.
“They behaved very badly,” she said. The apartment has since been rented to others and is now back on the market for $1,000 a month.

You can read the whole thing. The details confirmed by the two Miami Herald reporters are important because — as anyone with experience chasing this kind of story would tell you — if the story were totally bogus, basic facts like names and addresses wouldn’t check out.

A bogus story would have make-believe girls at non-existent addresses, but instead this story has the little details right. The fact that the women have now “disappeared,” as McGrory and Sanchez report, isn’t particularly surprising, nor is it surprising that the landlady (a) thought the hookers were “foreign exchange students” and (b) didn’t know the names of their alleged clients.

Locating the two hookers in the Dominican Republic may prove difficult for the simple reason that the country is crawling with hookers:

“Prostitution is everywhere here; on the beach, in the bars, in the clubs,” said Antonio Guzman, 36, a hustler who has worked the beach for 15 years and regularly connects tourists with prostitutes. “This place runs on it.” . . .
Long before explosive allegations emerged claiming Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and a political contributor flew to the country for wild parties with several prostitutes, the Dominican Republic had cemented its reputation as a hub for sex tourism. . . .
Studies suggest between 60,000 and 100,000 women work in the sex trade in the country, according to the Center for Integral Orientation and Investigation, a health and outreach organization based in the capital, Santo Domingo.

So this Caribbean island nation where Senator Menendez paid frequent visits is a sort of regional hooker-magnet. And exactly how many trips to the Dominican Republic did Senator Menendez make on the private plane of his Palm Beach campaign contributor? There seems to be some dispute about this, Matthew Boyle reports:

Flight records obtained by Breitbart News show Democratic Party donor Dr. Salomon Melgen’s private jet was in New Jersey near Sen. Bob Menendez’s home on April 8, 2012 — Easter Sunday last year. From there, it flew straight to the Dominican Republic.
Menendez and his staff have not answered when asked repeatedly whether the Senator was on that flight. They also have not provided any accounting as to where Menendez was on Easter Sunday, either.

Read the whole thing. This is highly interesting, because on Jan. 4, Menendez paid back Dr. Melgen $58,500 for three flights, but this (alleged) Easter weekend trip wasn’t one of those, and it was during the Easter weekend trip that one of the sex parties (allegedly) took place.

PREVIOUSLY:

 

 

Category: Corruption, Culture, Dominican Republic, New Jersey, Scandal, Sex

LIVE AT FIVE: 02.04.13

Posted on | February 4, 2013 | 9 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Death Toll Reaches 36 In Pemex Building Blast

Rescue workers carry out the 36th victim

AG Murillo promises investigation into cause of deadly explosion

India Welcomes “Mrs. Hollande”
PM’s girlfriend to be treated as spouse to avoid protocol problems in conservative India

Super Bowl Commercials Miss Big Scores
“Maybe Madison Avenue has run out of great ideas.”



POLITICS
“American Sniper” Author Killed By Friend At Gun Range

Chris Kyle, 1974-2013 RIP

No motive apparent in murder by workout buddy

Alabama Hostage Standoff Enters Sixth Day

Reid Supports Expanded Background Checks, Unsure About Assault Weapon Ban

SecState Kerry Begins With Calls To Israeli, Palestinian Leaders

Sequester Cuts Could Make America “A Second-Rate Power”, Panetta Warns

Tax Loopholes May Be Next, Obama Says

University Of Texas To Review “Inappropriate Relationships” Policy

Nebraska’s Lieutenant Governor Resigns After Paper Details His Late-Night Calls To Four Women



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Profit-Taking Drops Oil Prices: NYMEX $97.52, Brent $116.51
U.S. Stocks Rally As Dow Climbs Above 14,000 On Jobs Report
Proposed Agreement Squashes US/Mexico Tomato War
PRC Service Industries Expand As Retailing Improves
Japan Caught In Stimulus Trap?
Panasonic Shares Surge As It Returns To Profitability
Dell Plan To Go Private Could Become Real As Soon As Today
Hackers Hit 250,000 Twitter Accounts
Microsoft Sells 900,000 Surface RT Tablets In Face Of Muted Demand
HP Ships Chromebook, Looks Beyond Windows Laptops
WINE Is Not An Emulator, But It Is Coming To Android
Google, France Settle Tax Dispute
HTC Sees Q1 Revenues Flat, Margins May Slip Further
BlackBerry Faces Double Challenge In India, Indonesia
PlayStation “Orbis” Rumors: Game Recording, Controllers, And Speeds



SPORTS
Joe Flacco’s F-Bomb Caps Off MVP Night

Baltimore QB Joe Flacco, receiver Jacoby Jones after the Ravens run score up to 21-6 at halftime

Ravens defense comes through in 34-31 win, Stacy McCain hardest hit
#BlackoutBowl generates social Media moment for jokesters, advertisers
Lights out, time out in the Blooper Dome

Canadiens Beat Senators Thanks To Questionable Ref Call

Celtics Keep Winning Without Rondo, Beat Clippers 106-104

#13 Louisville Routs #25 Marquette

Metta World Peace Not Living Up To Name


Late Surge Turns Nail-Biter Into Easy 3-0 Win For Devils

Kunitz Hat Trick Leads Pens Past Caps 6-3

Baseball Pioneer Paire-Davis Dies

Nationals Announce Spring Training Broadcast Schedule



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Christina Ricci Confirms She’s Engaged

Christina Ricci and fiance James Heerdegen

Announcement comes at unveiling of Make Up For Ever event


Frank Ocean’s Producer: Chris Brown Tried To Beat The S**t Out Of Frank

Selena Gomez Back With Justin Bieber Again?

Duchess Of Cambridge Reveals Royal Baby Bump


“Warm Bodies” #1 At Box Office With $20 Million; Stallone’s “Bullet To The Head” Bombs

Oprah Slapped With Sex Discrimination Lawsuit

Britney Spears Not Headlining At Caesar’s Palace After All?

Emily Van Camp Lands Leading Role In “Captain America 2”



FOREIGNERS
French Airstrikes Target Jihadi Depots In Northern Mali
Israeli Airstrike Target Was Syria’s Main Biological, Chemical Depot
Munich Conference Breaks US/Iran Ice
ROK Begins Joint Naval Exercises With US Amid Threats From Norks
Cambodia Mourns As “King-Father” Sihanouk Cremated
Britain Hosting Talks With Afghan, Pakistani Presidents
At Least 30 Dead In Suicide Bomb Attack On Iraqi Police HQ
Burma Starts Peace Talks With Kachin Rebels In PRC
Castro Makes First Public Appearance In Three Years
Japan’s PM Abe Vows To Defend Islands From PRC



BLOGS & STUFF
Ruben Navarrette: President Obama Should Just Stop Talking About Immigration
Rick Moran: Reid Predicts Immigration Reform Will Pass Congress
Pat Dollard: Conspiracy? Chris Kyle Third High-Profile Gun Business Owner Killed In Pat Month, 33rd SEAL IN Past Four Years
This Ain’t Hell: Chris Kyle RIP
Babalu: Growing Pains In “The State”
American Thinker: Stealth Program In NYC Supplies Teens With “Morning After” Pill
Lonely Conservative: NYC Schools Handing Out Thousands Of “Morning After” Pills
Gateway Pundit: NRA Chief LaPierre Says You Can’t Trust This White House (Video)
ParaPundit: Late Career Workers Hit Hardest By Declining Industries
Weasel Zippers: Bipartisan Senate Immigration Plan Gives Napolitano Final Say On Whether The Border Is Secure Enough To Legalize 11 Million Illegals
The Lid: Gang Of Eight Plan Lets Napolitano Decide Whether Border Is Secure
Twitchy: Hilarity Ensues As Twitter Users Caption & Photoshop Obama’s Shooting Photo
NYP: Obama Mocked For Releasing Shooting Photo During Gun Control Debate
Scared Monkeys: Panetta Admits Waterboarding Led To Death Of Bin Laden
American Power: Drowned In A Stream of Prescriptions
Power Line: John McCain’s Silly Question
ALIPAC: Rove Declares War On Tea Party
JustOneMinute: Making Stuff Up At The Times
Jawa Report: Saudi Cleric – Babies Should Wear Burkas So They Won’t Be So Tempting
Atlas Shrugs: Burkas For Babies
Jihad Watch: Saudi Cleric Calls For Burkas For Babies
Protein Wisdom: February Fundraiser Begins Today
Happy birthday, Jeff!



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Category: Live at Five

Super Bowl XLVII: Ravens Win 34-31 as Satan Honors Contract With Ray Lewis

Posted on | February 3, 2013 | 43 Comments

The Baltimore Ravens defeated San Francisco 34-31 Sunday in Super Bowl XLVII, offering further proof that the contract under which Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis sold his soul to Satan remains in effect.

Baltimore got three touchdown passes by Joe Flacco, capitalized on key mistakes by the 49ers and leaned heavily on satanic assistance to stave off a strong second-half rally by San Francisco.

With the aid of Mephistopheles, Jacoby Jones ran back the opening kickoff of the second half for a Baltimore touchdown, and demonic powers enabled Justin Tucker to kick two fourth-quarter field goals for the Ravens.

“The Devil really came through for us,” Lewis told reporters in a postgame press conference. “I’ve got to admit, I was worried for a while, after Kaepernick scored that touchdown and cut the lead to 31-29. But my Infernal Lord and Master lived up to his end of the bargain, and now that I’ve got a Super Bowl ring, it’s not like I’ll be spending eternity in ceaseless torment for nothing.”

* * PREVIOUSLY * *

UPDATE 8:45 p.m. ET: Baltimore’s Jacoby Jones returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown, making it Ravens 28, Niners 6.

UPDATE 8:30 p.m. ET: Halftime show review:

UPDATE 7:55 p.m. ET: My prediction of a 49ers victory is currently looking almost as a bad as a Ray Lewis murder victim.

San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick has been stinking up the Superdome worse than a mob of hurricane refugees, and Ravens QB Joe Flacco has thrown for 187 yards and three TDs. Be sure to shop our Amazon links for all your Ray Lewis souvenir needs.

 

 

* * PREVIOUSLY (5:59 p.m. ET) * *

HEADLINE: Forty-Niners Win Super Bowl XLVII

Is that a prediction? No, it is a statement of fact: Baltimore is cursed, a stinking cesspool of a city with an abomination of a football team, the only NFL franchise so wretched that, by somehow making it to the Super Bowl, could possibly make me cheer for San Francisco.

Name any franchise in the league — even the despicable Redskins or the loathsome Saints — and I hate them less than I hate the Ravens.

At least Joe Montana once played for the ‘Niners. And I know you’ll say that Sodom by the Bay is a liberal hellhole crammed full of degenerate commies, but need I remind you that Nancy Pelosi is originally from Baltimore? Cosmic justice requires that the Ravens lose.

“Kickoff is scheduled for 6:29pm Eastern Time,” according to Fox News, but a White House spokesman immediately denounced this as “another right-wing lie.” Meanwhile, National Review has a round-up of Super Bowl predictions, including an admission by Steelers fan Rick Santorum that he’ll be cheering for the arch-rival Ravens.

Rick, you’re wrong. Let hate be your guide: If you hate the Ravens — as every patriotic American should — then you have to cheer for the Niners.

Speaking of difficult decisions, Dana Pico wonders whether we really want Sandra Fluke to forego contraception and thereby risk the possibility that she might reproduce. The answer: Yes.

Occasionally, motherhood cures liberal feminism. It may be that Sandra Fluke is too far gone down the slippery slope of progressive lunacy, but if there is any hope for her at all for her, it would probably involve an acquaintance with the responsibilities of parenthood. Alternatively — and more likely — she’ll end up as an embittered divorcee, focusing her rage (and the punitive force of child-support demands) on whatever unfortunate soul should draw the short straw and become her future ex-husband. So then she will no longer have the time to inflict her idiotic opinions on the nation at large, but will instead obsessively seek retribution against that one pitiful fool.

 


Category: Football

Just Hit Da Tech Guy’s Tip Jar

Posted on | February 3, 2013 | 4 Comments

Gratitude requires generosity and vice-versa. Having fallen drastically behind on my thank-you notes to tip-jar hitters, I am nevertheless grateful for the continued support, and when Pete Da Tech Guy rattled his tip jar, I immediately hit it. Given the circumstances of our friendship and his many acts of generosity toward me, Pete’s explanation of his circumstances is entirely unnecessary. All I needed was to know he was in need. January is usually one of those hard months in Bloglandia. People go overboard on Christmas and, when the New Year arrives, they look at their bank balances and say, “Uh-oh.” So it’s scarcely surprising if there is a need to rattle the tip-jar a bit extra as February arrives.

I can’t stop thinking about the $53 million that Sheldon Adelson pissed away on Republican “super PACs” in the 2012 election cycle. It makes me angry, but I can’t do anything about that.

Pete has done a rather elaborate calculus of how much he would require annually, but (a) I’ve never been one to worry that far in the future, and so (b) let’s just deal with the immediate need. Let’s hope everyone else feels the same: Go hit Pete’s tip jar, please.

 

Category: Da Tech Guy

The 2016 White House Game, Briefly

Posted on | February 3, 2013 | 39 Comments

It is a mistake for Republicans to look past the 2014 mid-terms, yet much of the current discussion among conservatives is distorted by the attempt to identify a consensus presidential pick for 2016. Because everybody’s playing that game, I’ll indulge speculation briefly.

Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal are the three names currently getting the most discussion. Of these three, Ryan is my favorite for very practical reasons: He’s a young, smart Catholic from the Midwest with an Irish surname and a full head of dark hair.

How many times must it be explained to Republicans that Catholics are the pivotal “swing” vote in national elections? All this post-N0vember “demographic” hand-wringing about Hispanics, women and younger voters is ultimately a distraction. If Republicans nominate a candidate who can win over Catholic voters in states like Wisconsin and Ohio, they’re in the game. Otherwise, they’re not.

Ryan is young and smart, ostensibly so. If Republicans nominate Ryan, an honest-to-goodness policy wonk, they automatically delete the “dumb Republican” stereotype from the 2016 narrative.

Of course, Jindal is likewise brainy, and Rubio is certainly no dummy, but Ryan has already been road-tested in a national campaign, held his own and — hey, did I mention this? — he’s a Midwesterner with an Irish surname and a full head of dark hair. It is a proven fact (I could look it up) that in elections where all other factors are equal, an Irish surname is a distinct advantage.

Ronald Reagan was from the Midwest, had a full head of dark hair and an Irish surname. I rest my case.

Would any conservative object to a ticket of Ryan-Rubio or Ryan-Jindal? I think not, although one could see any number of reasons why that kind of Dream Ticket is unlikely to happen: Neither Rubio nor Jindal brings any military or foreign-policy background to the equation. What would be ideal, to complement Ryan as the 2016 GOP vice-presidential candidate is a military veteran from Florida or Ohio.

Fans of Allen West and Josh Mandel are probably smiling at that suggestion, but we’re getting way ahead of the speculation game. While Ryan’s status as prime contender for 2016 is, I think, beyond dispute, there are two obvious caveats:

  1. Ryan is a member of the House of Representatives, which is historically a poor base of operations from which to stage a presidential campaign. If he is really serious about seeking the White House in 2016, Ryan will have to consider whether he should announce, sometime late this year or early next year, that he will not seek re-election to the House in 2014.
  2. Ryan must either “clear the field,” persuading potential heavyweight rivals not to run in 2016, or be prepared to go all-in on Iowa.

The two caveats are related. If Ryan were to announce his retirement from the House — saying good-bye to the Budget Committee chairmanship he’s worked so long to obtain — that would be the kind of “clear the field” gesture that would scare off a lot of people who might otherwise seek the 2016 nomination. And if I were advising Ryan, I’d tell him this: “You need to have a long talk with Rick Santorum, soon.”

Santorum is quite nearly obligated to run again in 2016. Obviously, he’s not going to say so explicitly in early 2013, but after emerging from sixth place to become the top rival to the Establishment choice Romney in 2012, Santorum has every incentive to try again in 2016.

Most importantly, Santorum has a committed infrastructure of diehard supporters in Iowa. Anyone who thinks they’re going to beat Santorum in the 2016 Iowa caucuses is apt to get an unpleasant surprise. However . . .

If Santorum could be persuaded to support Ryan in 2016, it would be the political equivalent of John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River. With Santorum’s support, Ryan would then become such a prohibitive favorite to win Iowa that other potential GOP rivals would begin their primary campaigns by scratching the Hawkeye State off their “roadmap” to the nomination. And if you begin the campaign by conceding Iowa, you’re likely to be following a roadmap to nowhere.

Maybe someone of Rubio’s stature could win New Hampshire, or Jindal could parlay his Southern connections to make a fight for South Carolina, but beating a Santorum-endorsed Ryan for the nomination would be a long-odds proposition, any way you look at it.

OK, now suppose this elaborate hypothetical scenario developed — Ryan leaves the House, secures Santorum’s blessing, and makes the “all-in” move for 2016 — who would then be Ryan’s chief rival for the GOP nomination? Rand Paul.

C’mon, this is obvious, right? The torch has been passed, and an army of fanatical Ron Paul supporters is prepared to mobilize for the son of their libertarian hero. Rand is a bit more mainstream than his father, and thus wouldn’t get the whole kook cavalcade behind him, but he’d get enough of them to be a significant player throughout the early primary campaign. In fact — and I’m going waaayy out on the hypothetical limb here — Rand might do well enough to force himself onto the ticket as the running mate: Ryan-Paul.

At first glance, that’s stark lunacy. And on second glance, it’s still pretty crazy. But look at it a third time, and the chance to bring at least some of the Paulistas inside the GOP tent makes a certain kind of counter-intuitive sense. While I don’t think it’s what you’d call a “likely scenario,” neither is it something we ought to rule out.

Ever since Pat Buchanan blew a hole in Bush 41’s ship during the 1992 primary campaign, the Republican Party has been dogged by the dissatisfaction of its anti-establishment faction, and the presidency of Bush 43 did nothing to resolve that problem. During the 2009-2010 Tea Party uprising, the anti-establishment faction — including Ron Paul’s supporters — found a reason to get involved GOP politics, and the result was a massive mid-term Republican landslide. A strong 2016 primary campaign by Rand Paul, followed by Rand’s inclusion as the GOP vice-presidential candidate, might finally heal a damaging would in the Republican coalition.

The terms of such a deal might prove difficult to broker, and it may be that the Paulistas are ultimately an indigestible lump, but I still say that a 2016 ticket of Paul Ryan and Rand Paul could be one of those crazy ideas that works better than more ostensibly sane ideas.

Republicans have become too predictable. They can’t win if they keep doing things the way they’ve been doing them lately, because Democrats have figured out how to beat the standard-playbook type of Republican presidential campaign. So while this Ryan-Paul idea is probably crazy enough to make GOP consultants run screaming from the room, that might just be the best argument in its favor.

Anyway, as I say, this is at the far end of a long chain of hypotheticals, none of which are certain and most of which are long-shot ideas.

Speaking of 2016 long-shots, however: Martin O’Malley.

This is a tip I got from Dave Weigel during last weekend’s National.Review Summit. Everybody’s talking about Hillary 2016, Cuomo 2016 or even Biden 2016, but Weigel (who obviously has better Democrat sources than I do) says that the governor of Maryland has been quietly assembling a campaign apparatus and is all but certain to be contender for the 2016 Democrat presidential nomination.

Right now, of course, O’Malley’s national name-ID is somewhere in the range between neglible and non-existent, but the same was true of Bill Clinton in 1989 and Barack Obama in 2005. So if you’re a Republican operative looking forward to 2016, write down Martin O’Malley’s name as a potential Democrat nominee you’ll have to deal with. And by “deal with,” of course, I mean, Swiftboat the hell out of him.

Hack his Twitter account, frame him Weiner-style and . . .

No, just kidding. That was a joke to play on the Left’s paranoia.

But enough of this hypothetical speculation about 2016. Put it out of your minds now, and concentrate on the 2014 mid-terms, especially the need to win back a couple dozen House seats and try to get some good conservative Senate candidates who can win.

Category: Election

FMJRA 2.0: Free Bird

Posted on | February 3, 2013 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Apparently, John McCain Doesn’t Think He’s Done Enough Yet to Destroy the GOP

CNN’s ‘Poorly Rated’ @Soledad_OBrien Will Lose Her Show Nobody Watched

If You Don’t Think ‘Jailbait Hookers’ Is Headline News, You Don’t Know News

#NRISummit: Scarborough 2016?

The Chicago Way

Daniel Hannan Is One Of The Reasons We Don’t Lose Hope

Sarah Palin Interview At Breitbart.Com

Hawkins: 15 Lies Of Liberalism

FMJRA 2.0: Halcyon

Neo-Confederate Judges? Who Knew?

Rule 5 Sunday: Neuronengesang

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.28.13

If We Had Wanted an Obama-Hugging Sellout, Charlie Crist Would Be a Senator

BREAKING: Lightworker Astride Unicorn Transcends Space-Time Continuum

Fear & Loathing Among the Conservative Intellectuals: A Stubborn Sense of Panic

‘Arab Spring’ Update: Foreign News the Media Doesn’t Want to Ask Obama About

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.29.13

Steubenville Update: Nodianos Video Will Not Be Used as Evidence at Rape Trial

Republican Auto-Demoralization

Mayor Bloomberg: Ass Man

For A Nobel Peace Prize Winner, That President Sure Sows Some Strife

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.30.13

HookerGate: Is FBI Raid Connected to Menendez’s Dominican Jailbait Scandal?

Obamanomics Fails — Unexpectedly!

Anonymous Spokesman Barrett Brown Is Sane Enough to Stand Trial, Judge Rules

Israeli Jets Hit Convoy in Syria; Also, People Are Mean to Matt Lewis on Twitter

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.31.13

What A Lucid Politician Sounds Like

Zero Hedge Lays It Down, Mead Sort Of Picks It Up

Chuck Hagel’s Very Bad Day

Three Axis Of Fedora Amigos

FORMER NYC MAYOR ED KOCH DIES

Mayor Ass-Man: ‘How Dare You Accuse Me of Sexism, You Lying Media Bitches?’

News Flash: Crazy People Are Dangerous

Typical Democrat Voters™

Top linkers this week:

  1. Rick’s Rants (24 the hard way)
  2. Lonely Conservative (8)
  3. The Camp of the Saints (6)
  4. Hogewash (5)

…and as usual, a ouple of folks who missed it by that much. Thanks to everyone for their linkagery! Deadline to submit links for next week’s FMJRA will be Friday, February 8.


Category: FMJRA Award

Elite Pundit, Belatedly Catching Up With Me, Recognizes the ‘Fox Trap’

Posted on | February 3, 2013 | 20 Comments

How long have I been talking about the “Fox Trap”? Forever, it seems, but for example, here’s a description from February 2009:

Media-wise, the GOP made the mistake of putting all its eggs in one basket. I enjoy Fox News, but it has created a syndrome where Republicans watch Fox all the time and delude themselves into thinking, “Hey, our message is getting out! We’re winning!” Fact: The evening news broadcasts of ABC, NBC and CBS reach a combined audience of about 22 million; the top rated Fox News show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” reaches 4 million viewers. So if the three broadcast networks are viciously biased against Republicans — and they are — then that anti-GOP message is reaching more than 5 times as many TV viewers as Fox.

Fox News becomes an excuse for liberal journalists to engage in partisan cheerleading, as I explained in April 2012 at The American Spectator:

The very existence of a conservative-friendly TV news alternative, however, relieves liberals at other networks of any twinge of conscience about bias in their programming. They may well reckon, “If conservatives don’t like it, let ‘em go watch Fox.” And given how liberals have demonized Fox — portraying it as an all-powerful evil force in media — some reporters may even feel the need to slant their coverage more stridently leftward, so as to counteract the exaggerated right-wing news menace.
Many conservatives, however, do not fully grasp how this phenomenon (which I’ve come to think of as “The Fox Trap”) may actually result in mainstream media coverage that shows a shameless disregard for political fairness. Even if the audience for the major network news broadcasts slowly shrinks, that audience — like the readership of liberal “mainstream” newspapers — is still much larger than the audience reached by conservative alternative media. Yet too many conservatives have been lulled into complacency. Self-selecting their media choices (Fox News, talk-radio, conservative websites, etc.) many conservatives may believe that their viewpoint is adequately represented in the overall media ecology, when in fact the larger news industry is as liberal as it ever was, if not more so.

Having repeatedly discussed this subject over the years, I should probably be pleased that Peter Wehner at Commentary finally got a clue:

To say that the elite media has a liberal bias is similar to declaring that the sun rises in the east. But it’s never been this transparent, the infatuation never this deep, the advocacy this passionate. . . .
What explains this?
A combination of factors, I think. One is the rise of Fox News. For decades progressives had a monopoly on news, which meant they were content to slant the news but not routinely cross the line into advocacy. But now that Fox News has offered not only a different perspective, but a popular one, journalists may feel they must, in order to compensate for their loss of influence, increase their liberal advocacy.

Not even a fucking hat-tip, you useless neurasthenic dweeb?

Like I said, I probably should be pleased, but instead I’m angry, and maybe later I’ll write a rant about why I’m angrty.

Category: Fox News, Intellectuals, Media Bias

How to Make Babies

Posted on | February 3, 2013 | 27 Comments

Do I really need to explain this, people? Apparently so, because Jonathan V. Last has written an entire column at the Wall Street Journal about the fact that people aren’t having babies and — as if that were not enough — has also written a book on the subject, What To Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster.

This is depressing. Why? Because no one’s paying me to write a book about how to fix the problem, despite the fact that I’ve got six children. Whatever the “demographic” problem is, I’m an expert on the solution. Not quite as much an expert as Jim Bob Duggar, I guess . . .

Penis + Vagina = Babies.

It’s not really complicated. What solution does Jonathan V. Last prescribe? I don’t know. Why should I read a book about a problem that I’ve already solved, insofar as it involves my own personal share of the reproductive burden? As far as childless people are concerned, they don’t need to be reading books, they need to be making babies.

There’s your solution in a nutshell: Stop reading books about demographics, and start making babies instead. Which is probably why nobody’s offering to pay me to write a whole book about it, because I’ve just solved the demographic crisis in a little over 200 words.

 

Category: Culture, Family, Sex
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