The Other McCain

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

Iranian Space Monkey Jokes

Posted on | January 28, 2013 | 13 Comments

Of course, the news that Iran has launched a monkey into space is no laughing matter. It’s like the North Korean “space program,” a purportedly peaceful (nudge, nudge) way of flight-testing an ICBM. So once they get a nuclear weapon, the fanatical Jew-hating mullahs now have the means of delivering that warhead to Tel Aviv — or perhaps on some suitable infidel target right here in the Great Satan.

Look on the bright side: If Ahmadinejad were to nuke Manhattan, we’d no longer have to put up with the New York Times. And if there were a slight malfunction with the guidance system in the Iranian ICBM, it might go off-course and annihilate the cast of Jersey Shore.

 

Category: Iran

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

Posted on | January 28, 2013 | 9 Comments

Mark Steyn and fans at the National Review Institute Summit

“Growing up in the USSR, where the only permitted sources of information were textbooks and the official media, I believed that the Soviet Union was the most advanced society in the world. All other countries lived in poverty and oppression, devoid of the sun of Marxism-Leninism. I wanted them to become more like the USSR for their own good, and couldn’t wait to grow up and live in the communist future, not worrying about money.”
— Oleg Atbashian, Shakedown Socialism, 2010

“So it is that those who wish to force us into acquiescence with a world increasingly secularized and dehumanized, must either confess themselves absolute determinists . . . or they must admit that they intend to shape the future themselves, which is not argument at all, but an announcement of intention.”
— Richard M. Weaver, “On Setting the Clock Right,” National Review, 1957

In 1949, Friedrich Hayek published an essay entitled “The Intellectuals and Socialism” that is still worth reading today. Conservatives are so accustomed to being accused of “anti-intellectualism” that I think at times we almost believe it. The important question is — as it was in 1949 — what do we mean by “intellectual”? And if the terms are not contradictory, what is the duty of a conservative intellectual?

What is an “intellectual”? They are “professional secondhand dealers in ideas,” as Hayek described them:

[An intellectual] need not possess special knowledge of anything in particular, nor need he even be particularly intelligent, to perform his role as intermediary in the spreading of ideas. What qualifies him for his job is the wide range of subjects on which he can readily talk and write, and a position or habits through which he becomes acquainted with new ideas sooner than those to whom he addresses himself.

The intellectual is an “intermediary,” then, and not necessarily an originator of ideas, but rather someone who promotes and popularizes ideas through his position. What distinguishes the intellectual from others is not his superior intelligence, but rather that his occupational speciality involves speaking and writing, giving him the opportunity to influence the beliefs and opinions of others:

The class does not consist of only journalists, teachers, ministers, lecturers, publicists, radio commentators, writers of fiction, cartoonists, and artists all of whom may be masters of the technique of conveying ideas but are usually amateurs so far as the substance of what they convey is concerned. The class also includes many professional men and technicians, such as scientists and doctors, who through their habitual intercourse with the printed word become carriers of new ideas outside their own fields and who, because of their expert knowledge of their own subjects, are listened with respect on most others. There is little that the ordinary man of today learns about events or ideas except through the medium of this class; and outside our special fields of work we are in this respect almost all ordinary men, dependent for our information and instruction on those who make it their job to keep abreast of opinion. It is the intellectuals in this sense who decide what views and opinions are to reach us, which facts are important enough to be told to us, and in what form and from what angle they are to be presented.

To put it another way, intellectuals are the articulate class whose communication skills — and greater access to the institutions through which ideas are disseminated — give them a greater influence in shaping public opinion. In this sense, Jon Stewart is as much an intellectual as Charles Krauthammer. The director of a TV commercial may, in this sense, be an intellectual as influential as an Oscar-winning film director.

Having been recognized a few years ago as a “top Hayekian public intellectual,” I have thought a lot about this: What is my job? What are my duties? What counts as failure or success?

Others must supply their own answers to these questions, and the greater their influence, the greater their responsibility. Certainly the editors of and contributors to National Review, being inheritors of the legacy of William F. Buckley Jr., must conceive how great a burden they bear to prove themselves worthy of that great patrimony. Truly, they stand on the shoulders of giants, not only of Buckley himself, but also such memorable conservative thinkers as Willmoore Kendall, James Burnham, Frank Meyer, Richard Weaver, Russell Kirk and Eric Voegelin.

Here is a question: Does the conservative intellectual owe greater loyalty toward conservatism or toward intellectualism? That is to say, does he pursue his personal interest in maintaining his credentials as an intellectual in good standing, or does he risk disfavor by defending and advancing the conservative cause?

Certainly it was neither easy nor popular for an intellectual in 1957 to argue, as Richard Weaver did, against the proposition that “you can’t turn back the clock.” All the world then was enamored with the idea of Scientific Progress which, it was widely believed, had rendered obsolete certain “horse and buggy” notions about human liberty:

If one remarks that both theory and observation prove that collectivism is fatal to individual liberty, one is blamed for being out of step with the times. If one hazards an opinion that the amount of noise and confusion prevailing today is perhaps not the best thing for the human psyche, one is branded an enemy of progress. In fact, I can’t think of any objection to the present physical and moral order which will not likely be answered with some variety of the charge that the critic wants to turn the clock back.

Weaver was arguing against a certain trick by which self-declared apostles of modernity smuggle their own preferences into the future, disguised as the inevitable consequences of “historical forces.” Pointing out the trick did not endear Weaver to an intelligentsia profoundly enamored of such deterministic thinking, and one imagines the liberal thinkers of that era scorning Weaver as a nostalgic reactionary.

Richard Weaver could only advance the conservative cause by estranging himself from his own class interests as an intellectual, allying himself with a movement which (then as now) was viewed with tremendous disdain by the vast majority of intellectuals.

Weaver had one advantage that today’s National Review writers may not appreciate: He wasn’t constantly hustling to get himself booked on cable TV news or talk radio, trying to clamber up the ziggurat of ambition that today defines the career path of conservative intellectuals.

Nor, for that matter, did conservatives in 1957 consider themselves to be de facto partisan apologists for the Republican Party. Nowadays, the political interests of the GOP are foremost among the problems that conservative intellectuals are expected to address, so that it is difficult to distinguish the party from the intellectuals.

Please don’t accuse me of wishing to “turn back the clock,” but I’m not exactly confident that “historical forces” have amounted to Scientific Progress for the conservative movement, and my weekend in Washington did little to bolster my confidence:

No fistfights broke out during the National Review Institute’s “Future of Conservatism” Summit in D.C., disappointing my hopes for the weekend. Some sort of bloodletting — at the very least, a venting of grievances — might do everybody good after the Republican defeat in November. Alas, decorum prevailed and none of the panelists even raised their voices in anger.
The most depressing moment of the conference came, perhaps not coincidentally, during a panel on immigration when radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt, representing the pro-amnesty side of the argument, announced that he really didn’t want to be debating immigration because it was bad for Republicans to talk about the issue — especially when those talking about it were middle-aged white guys like himself and his antagonist, Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Undeterred by Hewitt’s disavowal, Krikorian recounted facts that ought to give pause to conservatives who, since November, have begun jabbering desperately about winning over Hispanic voters by adopting a pro-amnesty line. Krikorian noted a Pew Research poll from 2011 that found Hispanics have the lowest opinion of capitalism of any group surveyed. Only 32 percent of Hispanics hold a favorable view of capitalism, while 55 percent have a negative view. Even supporters of the left-wing Occupy Wall Street movement expressed a more favorable view of capitalism than did Hispanics. Insofar as the Republican Party promotes policies favorable to capitalism, then, it is at odds with the sentiments of the one group whom the pro-amnesty Republicans insist their policy ideas will win over to the GOP.
Facts are stubborn things, John Adams once observed, but perhaps even more stubborn is the sense of panic that has gripped Republicans since Obama’s re-election. . . .

Read the whole thing at The American Spectator.

 

Category: Fear. Loathing., Intellectuals

BREAKING: Lightworker Astride Unicorn Transcends Space-Time Continuum

Posted on | January 28, 2013 | 11 Comments

“Obama: Anatomy of a World Leader,” by Alex Gray (detail)

“Difficult as it may now be to recall, there were once ‘spiritually advanced people’ who looked at this Chicago machine politician and saw ‘a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being . . . who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet.’”
— Robert Stacy McCain, Oct. 25, 2012

Ever since that historic moment in June 2008 when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal, spiritually advanced Americans have waited for the Lightworker™ to be transfigured into his cosmic essence, in which exalted form he merely speaks the Word, and the Word is made manifest:

One of the biggest factors is going to be how the media shapes debates. If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then you’ll see more of them doing it. . . .
The same dynamic happens on the Democratic side. I think the difference is just that the more left-leaning media outlets recognize that compromise is not a dirty word. And I think at least leaders like myself — and I include Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in this — are willing to buck the more absolutist-wing elements in our party to try to get stuff done.

The laws of physics have been repealed by the Lightworker’s cosmic essence. Obama has transformed Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi into unifying centrist bipartisan moderates whose only desire is to resist “absolutist-wing elements” and bring together all Americans in the tolerant spirit of inclusive cooperation to Get Stuff Done.

What’s that wonderful smell? Ah, unicorn farts!

 

 


Category: Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi

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

Posted on | January 28, 2013 | 38 Comments

Marco Rubio leading the RINO Squish Amnesty Parade? After so many conservatives personally vouched for Marco’s bona fides as The Real Deal? Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss:

Hey, did someone set the clock back six years in Washington? Because today looks a hell of a lot like the dawn of the Bush-Kennedy-McCain 2007 illegal alien amnesty. Deja vu all over again.
Starring in the role of John McCain this time around? Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio. . . .

Marco, you think you’re gonna double-cross Michelle Malkin and get away with it? Damn, I thought you were smarter than that . . .

 

Category: Immigration, Marco Rubio, Michelle Malkin

Let’s Give Hillary A LeBon

Posted on | January 28, 2013 | 21 Comments

by Smitty

The Washington Examiner has some head ‘sploding details:

A new petition on Change.org calls on the [Nobel] committee to present the prize to Hillary for her work around the world for President Obama and Bill Clinton for his post-presidential international involvement.
“President and Mrs. Clinton have had a lasting impact upon promoting peace in this world. Both have reached out to the poor and economically deprived nations of this world and emphasized the need for tolerance for women’s and minority rights,” reads the new petition.

Well, shag it. Giver her the Nobel for her non-accomplishments as Secretary of State, and a Best Actress Oscar for her performance at the hearings.

This blog, noting that that Nobel backward spells LeBon, hereby presents some Duran Duran to Hillary.

Because, like a 1980s British hair band, “What difference at this point does it make!?”

Category: Hillary Clinton

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.28.13

Posted on | January 28, 2013 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Over 200 Dead In Brazilian Dance Club Fire

Firemen put out the flames at the Kiss Club

Fire started when the band set off fireworks

With Economic Problems Solved, Focus Turns To Immigration
[/sarc] Also, Obama’s cabinet picks

Press Already Drooling Over Prospect Of Biden, Clinton In 2016
Jay Carney got this right: “For the sake and sanity of all involved, it’s worth taking a bit of a break from presidential election year politics.”



POLITICS
Another Day Illuminating The Success Of Chicago’s Gun Control Laws

Kevin’s Hamburger Heaven, site of a double homicide on Sunday

Seven dead, six wounded

“Bipartisan” Group Of Senators Agreeing On Immigration Reform Includes McCain, Graham And Schumer

Bob Casey Calls For Expanded Social Security Screening

Paul Ryan Says Deep Budget Cuts Likely Unavoidable

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio Throws Hat In Democratic Ring For NYC Mayor

DiFi Whines About “Venal” NRA

Illinois Approves Driver’s Licenses For Illegals

Tom Harkin’s Retirement Makes 2014 Harder For Democrats



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Continues Creeping Upward Ahead Of Fed Meeting On Egypt’s Instability, Economic Data: NYMEX $95.95, Brent $113.19
Asia Stocks Up Slightly On Strong US Earnings
Oil Barge Hits Vicksburg Bridge, Springs Leak
Retailers Can Start Charging Credit Card Checkout Fees Today
Japan Forecasts Real GDP Growth Of 2.5% This Year
First-Class Stamps Now $0.46
Why Lawsuits Over Subway’s Short Foot-Long Sandwiches Are Baloney
Reed Exhibitions Cancels Eastern Sporting & Outdoor Show After Gun Ban Backfires Badly
Jobless Claims Fall To Five-Year Low
Pr0n Already Showing Up On Twitter’s Vine
Nokia Launching “Music+” Subscription Service On Its Lumia Smartphones
Facebook Blocks Vine, Wonder Apps
Don’t Like Your Cell Network? Tough. Phone Unlocking Now Illegal In The US
Skyrim Dragonborn DLC Now Available For Pre-Purchase On Steam
RIM Being Eyed By Cash-Rich Lenovo
@Pontifex Blesses Twitter, Facebook To Spread Church Teachings



SPORTS
NFC Explodes For 62 Points In Pro Bowl Blowout

Vikings’ Kyle Rudolph: 122 yards, TD, and an MVP trophy

League ponders future of the Pro Bowl

Celtics Win Without Rondo – Then Find He’s Out For The Season

Sharks Off To First 5-0 Start After Beating Canucks 4-1

Anthony Drops Nine Bombs, Scores 42 To Lead Knicks Over Hawks, 106-104

Canadiens Recover To Beat Devils In OT


Cold Shooting Dooms Hoosiers In 74-60 Loss To Wolverines

Red Wings Stumble, Fall To Blackhawks In OT

Caps Beat Sabres For First Win Of Season

Former Nationals CF Nyjer Morgan Signs With Yokohama BayStars



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Liberty Ross, Rupert Sanders To Divorce

Rupert Sanders and Liberty Ross

She’s not forgiving him for his affair with Kristen Stewart

Miley Cyrus Wears A Suit Jacket For Cosmo – And Not Much Else

Lisa Hochstein Of “Real Housewives of Miami” Sues Internet Commenter For Calling Her A Call Girl

“American Idol” Finalists: The Show Is NOT Racist

Taylor Swift And Harry Styles Avoid Each Other At The NRJ Awards In Cannes

Burt Reynolds Leaving The ICU After Surviving The Flu

Sarah Chalke Scrubs Up For “Grey’s Anatomy”, But Who’s She Playing?

Miley: Liam Hemsworth Still “The Hottest Guy”



FOREIGNERS
Morsi Declares Emergency In Egypt’s Restive Cities
Queensland Hit By Flooding: Three Dead, Hundreds Of Homes Inundated
African Leaders Meet In Addis Ababa Amid Mali Crisis
Pro-Gay Rally In Paris Easily Dwarfed By Last Month’s Anti-Gay Marriage Rally
Medvedev Says Assad’s Grip On Power “Slipping Away”
Berlusconi Defends Some Of Mussolini’s Policies
Chavez Begins New Round Of Treatment In Cuba
IDF Deploys Iron Dome Systems In North As Syrian Chaos Continues
Another Factory Fire In Bangladesh Kills More Garment Workers



BLOGS & STUFF
Jazz Shaw: President Worried Media Isn’t Liberal Enough
Power Line: Barack Obama, Ammo Salesman
JustOneMinute: Obama, Secret Skeet Shooter
Israel Matzav: Sunday Times Defends Anti-Semitic Cartoon As “Typically Robust”
Bill Kristol: No Better Critics
Gateway Pundit: ABC’s “This Week” Has Senator Menendez On For Entire Segment, Doesn’t Ask About Underage Hookers
Doug Powers: Transparency Update
Protein Wisdom: Since When Do Joint Military/Police Exercises Over Urban Areas Include Machine-Gun Fire?
Lonely Conservative: Sean Hannity’s “Boomtown” (Full Video)


Category: Live at Five

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

Posted on | January 27, 2013 | 124 Comments

During Saturday’s panel on immigration at the National Review Summit, Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies made the point that a Republican-backed “comprehensiive” bill would not only fail to win Hispanic support for the GOP, but would actually hurt the party. If any such bill becomes law, Obama and the Democrats would take credit for its passage, while the people who oppose amnesty — especially blue-collar white voters — would blame Republicans.

Of course, the living antithesis of political wisdom, John McCain, insists Republicans must pass amnesty:

MARTHA RADDATZ: So how do you convince Republicans about the path to citizenship?
SENATOR MCCAIN: Well, look, I’ll give you a little straight talk. Look at the last election. Look at the last election. We are losing dramatically the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours for a variety of reasons, and we’ve got to understand that. Second of all, we can’t go on forever with 11 million people living in this country in the shadows in an illegal status. We cannot forever have children who were brought here by their parents when they were small children to live in the shadows, as well. So I think the time is right.

 

Category: Immigration, John McCain

Rule 5 Sunday: Neuronengesang

Posted on | January 27, 2013 | 12 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


Some of the following links may be NSFW. If clicking on them would get you in trouble with the wife/boss/SO/fellow workers/kids, maybe you shouldn’t oughta.


Subject to Change debuts with a nice assortment of pics, Bring The Heat Bring The Stupid returns with Jessica Chastain, Eye of Polyphemus does likewise with Maggie Grace, and Laughing Conservative presents Irina Shayk. Fishersville Mike has a Pro Bowl cheerleader from the Patriots, Animal Magnetism has Rule 5 Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon, and Lowering The Boom brings the – controversial!- Kate Upton. Reaganite Republican continues his series on Miss Universe contestants this week with Miss Ecuador, Blessed Blasphemy offers Karen Gillan for Robert Burns Day, Randy’s Roundtable tarts it up with Jessica Cediel, and the First Street Journal, as is their wont, posts (military) Women With Weapons.


EBL milked Rule 5 for all it was worth this week, with posts on playoff cheerleaders, the legendary Julie London, Jennifer Connelly, Sharon Tate (RIP), Gemma Arterton, and a gearhead gal in a bikini.


A View From The Beach leads off with Stana Kacik, then it’s Dogs, Wolves and Cave Girls; You Can’t Ban Evil; (Fantasy) Women In Combat; Ginger Explains Debt; Dresses From 3D Printers; Carla Bruni, Tax Refugee; Needed: Volunteer Womb (has cave girl content), Morons Find Comics Unrealistic, and Martian Rivers, Joan’s younger sister.


El Opinador Compulsivo begins with Valerie Baber (h/t Soylent Green’s Corsetcare), Halle Berry, Melissa Rauch (a/k/a Dr…no, it’s too much typing. Go see for yourself.), Sofia Vergara (yep, two links), something from the Today In Quebec files, It’s Tight Like That, and in Israel, “The State Is Stripping Us!” Now there’s a campaign slogan!


Speaking of Soylent Green, the week began with Spidergirl, Overnighty Mia, and Monday Motivationer Britney before continuing with Happy Hour Hawt Heather, Tuesday Titillation Candice, Humpday Hawt Jasmine, When Eye Bleach Isn’t Enough, Falconsword Fursday Homage, Fursday Evening Awesome, Corsetcare Appreciation Day, AM Arianna, and Just Jessica.


Proof Positive’s Friday Night Babe was Gan Lulu, his vintage babe was Sally Field, and Sex in Advertising says It’s For You! Also, the obligatory 49ers cheerleaders. Dustbury offers Tiffani Thiessen and Jacqueline DuPre, and The Camp of the Saints presents Hayley Marie and the Rule 5 News 2013 Spring Bikinis Edition.


The DaleyGator’s DaleyBabes this week included AJ Lee, Yoko Kumada, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Lacey Banghard, Lynda Carter, India Reynolds, a random post with Emmanuelle Chiriqui content, and Adella Pasos.


Thanks to everyone for all the linkagery! Deadline for submitting links to next week’s Rule 5 Sunday through the Rule 5 Wombat mailbox is Saturday, February 2.



Category: Rule 5
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