The Other McCain

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

Dems Have LAMS-Sized Sack To Be On About Our ‘Broken’ System

Posted on | January 8, 2013 | 14 Comments

by Smitty

Large Area Maintenance Shelters are for when you’re packin’ it military style. And who in Congress really has that kinda gear besides Dingy Hairy?

Tuesday marks the 1,350th day since the Senate passed a budget. The law requires Congress to pass a budget every year, on the grounds that Americans deserve to know how the government plans to spend the trillions of taxpayer dollars it collects, along with dollars it borrows at the taxpayers’ expense. But Majority Leader Harry Reid, who last allowed a budget through the Senate in April 2009, has ignored the law since then.

Who does Reid think he is? David Gregory? For all there is no halting those broken records, I really don’t want to hear about how ‘broken’ our system is from these little fascist wannabees. And don’t drop a quarter in me about the filibuster, either, which The Dingy One has another fortnight to try to ram through.

‘Balance approach’, ‘flexibility’, and ‘negotiation’ are about exchanges in position. Finding middle ground. Not simply crushing the opposition into dirt, as if half the country somehow didn’t exist. I know, I’m speaking of what a statesman would do, not a cheap thug.

Category: Democrats

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.08.13

Posted on | January 8, 2013 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Graham: Delay Brennan Confirmation Until Benghazi Questions Answered

John Brennan, nominee for CIA director

Banks’ Mortgage Settlement Draws Skepticism
Consumer advocates question effectiveness of $8.5 billion settlement

Jack Lew For Treasury?
Obama’s chief of staff proposed as Geithner’s successor



POLITICS
Immigration Enforcement Spending Tops FBI, ATF

ICE agents lead an illegal off to custody

Report shows spending on ICE outstrips all other Federal law enforcement agencies combined

Former DHS Boss Tom Ridge Says Hagel A Good Choice

Nanny Bloomberg Working With Biden’s Gun Control Task Force

Supremes To Hear Gay Marriage Cases In March

Eleven States Get Failing Grades From School Reform Group

Gun-Free Zones: A Dangerous Place To Be

Hillary Clinton Back At Work

Piers Morgan, Alex Jones Face Off



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Crude Oil Retreats Amid Weak US Demand: NYMEX $92.98, Brent $111.01
Sears CEO Stepping Down
PRC Commodity Imports Seen Rising As Economy Revs Up
Euro Rises Against Dollar After Japanese Finance Minister Comments
PRC’s Chicken Provider Probe Presents Problems For KFC
Massachusetts AG Coakley Fines National Grid For Payroll Woes
Samsung Estimates Record-Breaking $8.3 Billion Profit
Panel Proposes Dissolving/Privatizing LI Power Authority
Qualcomm CEO Details A “Born Mobile” World At CES
Intel At CES: More Performance, Less Power, And X86 Everywhere
Sony Uses Studio To Press Ultra-HD Advantage
Tegra 4, Gaming Dominate Nvidia’s 2013 Plans
AT&T Expands To Home Security
Huawei Jumps Into Phablet Race With Ascend Mate



SPORTS
Crimson Tide Routs Fighting Irish For Third National Championship

Coach Saban hoists third BCS trophy in four years

Alabama crushes Notre Dame 42-14, and it wasn’t even that close

Knicks Getting Rep For Thin Skin After 102-96 Loss To Celtics

RGIII May Have Torn Ligaments

Lakers Lose Howard, Gasol Indefinitely To Injuries

Lance Berkman Signs One-Year, $11 Million Deal To DH For Rangers

Bucks, Skiles Part Ways

Wizards Pull Off Shocking Upset Of Thunder, 101-99

Adam LaRoche Non-Update #8: Mandatory Weekly Update



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Taylor Swift & Harry Styles Split?

Taylor Swift sails off to the airport

Couple calls it quits in Virgin Islands

Lindsay Lohan Dodges Legal Bullet Again

Baby On The Way For Jensen Ackles

Dina Lohan’s Shocking Abuse Allegations

Al Roker Admits Pooping Himself At The White House

Bethenny Frankel Demands Child Support

Heidi Klum: The Heidi Chronicles

Ryan Lochte Gets E! Reality Series

Guillermo Del Toro Turned Down Shot At Directing “Star Wars VII”



FOREIGNERS
Google’s Schmidt Kicks Off Tour Of North Korea
Chicoms Challenge Censorship With Strike, Protest
Delhi Gang Rape Case: Court Met In Secret, But All Of India Was Watching
Ghana Inauguration Proceeds While Opposition Pursues Legal Appeals
Pope Asks World To Intervene In Syrian Conflict
Japan Summons PRC Ambassador Over Senkaku Dispute
Karzai To Visit Obama On Friday
PRC Hints At Ending Gulags
Constitutional Fight Over Chavez Status Intensifies
Berlusconi Joins Center-Right Coalition For Italy’s Next Election
Coptic Christmas In America Marred By Concerns Over Those Left Behind In Egypt



BLOGS & STUFF
Allahpundit: Chuck Hagel – America’s New Drone Czar?
Weasel Zippers: Hagel Claims “Not One Shred Of Evidence I’m Anti-Israel”
Bill Kristol: Panic Among The Hagelians
Israel Matzav: Reactions To Hagel Nomination Fast & Furious
AEIdeas: Eight Questions For Chuck Hagel
JustOneMinute: The Trillion Dollar Question
Power Line: Krugman’s Trillion-Dollar Fantasy
Marginal Revolution: Should We Mint The Platinum Coin?
Ed Driscoll: Like A Hurricane
Sense Of Events: Football Hillary Caption Contest
IBD: Hugo Chavez Hit By Cuba’s Surgical Strike
Gateway Pundit: Crowd Laughs As Chicago Teachers Union President Rants About Killing The Rich
Legal Insurrection: There’s A Psychological Term For What The Journal-News Is Doing

Category: Live at Five

Alabama Wins Second Consecutive BCS Title, Humiliates Notre Dame 42-14

Posted on | January 7, 2013 | 37 Comments

The University of Alabama defended its national football championship in an impressive style Monday, blowing out previously top-ranked Notre Dame 42-14 in the BCS title game in Miami.

It was the third BCS title in four years for Coach Nick Saban’s team, as Alabama dominated the Irish to claim the 15th national championship in the school’s famed football history.

The Crimson Tide offense came out firing on all cylinders, opening the game with an 81-yard drive that ended with Eddie Lacy running 20 yards for the touchdown. Lacy finished with 140 yards rushing and also scored a TD on an 11-yard pass from quarterback A.J. McCarron right before the half. McCarron threw for a total of four touchdowns, including two second-half TDs to Amari Cooper. McCarron completed 20 of 28 passes for 264 yards passing. Alabama’s freshman running back T.J. Yeldon added 108 yards rushing, including a second-quarter TD run.

Scoring three touchdowns on its first three possessions, Alabama’s highly-rated offensive line — led by senior center Barrett Jones — proved more than Notre Dame could handle. The Crimson Tide offense racked up a total of 529 yards, while their defense held the previously undefeated Irish to 302 yards. It was not until Alabama had built a 35-0 lead that Notre Dame finally scored its first touchdown, on a run by quarterback Everett Golson.

UPDATE: Linked by Becca Lower and Daley Gator — thanks! — and by Donald Douglas at American Power, who previously pointed out this unfortunate prediction by a Los Angeles Times sports columnist:

Yeah: They don’t know nothing about football out there in L.A. The Southeastern Conference has now won seven consecutive BCS titles.

 

 

* PREVIOUSLY (10:10 p.m. ET) *

Eddie Lacy ran for nearly 100 yards and scored two touchdowns, while Alabama’s defense manhandled top-ranked Notre Dame as the Crimson Tide took a 28-0 halftime lead over the top-ranked Irish in the BCS college football championship game Monday in Miami.

Alabama dominated from the outset, driving 82 yards in six plays for a 20-yard touchdown run for Lacy. The Crimson Tide capitalized on mistakes by a Notre Dame defense that seemed unnerved and unsteady. Lacy continued pounding away on the second ‘Bama TD drive, alternatiing with passes by Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron who capped it with a 3-yard TD pass to Michael Williams.

Notre Dame’s QB Everett Golson and his offense were luckless. Golson completed only 8 of 16 passes for 93 yards in the first half, while the Irish running game amounted to only 31 yards. Alabama dominated time of possession by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, and the Crimson Tide defense limited Notre Dame to just five first downs in the first half.

Alabama drove 80 yards for its third TD of the night on a 1-yard run by freshman T.J. Yeldon, and scored again just before halftime on an 11-yard pass from McCarron to Lacy. McCarron ended the first half 12-for-18 for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

UPDATE: Three minutes before kickoff, I made this prediction:

UPDATE: With 11 minutes still to play, Alabama is leading 42-7 and has amassed 502 yards total offense. McCarron threw two more TD passes to Amari Cooper. Eddie Lacy’s now got 142 yards rushing, and the freshman running back Yeldon has 89 yards. For some reason, this Tweet has been kinda popular:

* PREVIOUSLY (8:10 p.m. ET) *

Tonight, the Glorious and Eternal Triumph of the Mighty Alabama Crimson Tide in the BCS (Bama Championship Show). Kickoff is 8:30 p.m. ET and the game will be televised by ESPN from Sun Life Stadium in Miami. But for some folks, every day is like game day:

Hat-tip: Kyle Jane Kremer on Twitter. And speaking of Twitter, I’ve changed my profile for Game Day:

 

UPDATE: Alabama took the opening kickoff and went on an 81-yard yard drive capped by an Eddie Lacy TD run. A.J. McCarron completed a 29-yard pass early in the drive, and Notre Dame’s defense — clearly shaken up and nervous — had two costly penalties.

UPDATE II: Yet another Alabama touchdown drive, this one ending with a McCarron pass. it’s 14-0 already, and still more than 6 minutes left in the first quarter.

UPDATE III: It’s now 21-0.

Alabama just punted for the first time tonight, with 11 minutes to go until the half. All their previous possessions ended in touchdowns.

 


Category: Alabama, Football

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Has A Point: Having Aborted Common Sense, Babies Should Be Easy For Charlie Crist

Posted on | January 7, 2013 | 12 Comments

by Smitty

Will the altars of Moloch be smiling in the Sunshine State?

Wasserman Schultz added that Crist was “going to have to prove himself with some of our Democratic leaders before that’s a sure thing.”
The only thing “sure” about Charlie is that he’s looking out for #1.
When DeFede asked the congresswoman about Crist’s past and his current position on abortion, Wasserman Schultz said that “we are the big tent party. We elect on the issue of a woman’s right to choose.” She added that Crist was going to have “a lot of ground work to do” to convince Democrat leaders and constituents that he would best represent their next Governor.

This is all in the context of Charlie Crist mounting a challenge to Rick Scott for Florida Governor in 2014. Ol’ Rudderless Charlie seems quite flexible in terms of what courses he steers.

via The Shark Tank

Category: Abortion, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Florida

ATRA: Not The Shave You Wanted

Posted on | January 7, 2013 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

The American Taxpayer Relief Act, per the modern usage, offers the precise opposite of its title.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the fiscal deal adds $332 billion in new direct spending over ten years. The deal also contributes $620 billion in additional revenue, as reported by the White House and members of Congress. As a result, the cumulative deficit over ten years is $6.9 trillion.
In addition to inflating the deficit, the fiscal cliff deal does nothing to address our unsustainable spending problem. While the deal may have relieved a short-term political impasse, it fails to deal with the country’s long-term debt driven by the excessive spending on programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Thus, while the middle column is taller than the left one, the rest of the spending disaster renders ATRA a dull blade, indeed.

Those Congressional weasels will continue ripping flesh until removed. Your attention is drawn to the mighty Scott Ott, who leads off with a related Princess Pelosi item:

Category: Congress, Corruption

The Nick Saban Approach to the Problem of Chuck Hagel: ‘Make His Ass Quit’

Posted on | January 7, 2013 | 24 Comments

Superficial sarcasm is arguably unfair: Accusing Chuck Hagel of “hating” homosexuals or Jews because of policy disagreements? However . . .

Since when did the Left give a damn about fairness in politics?

“By Any Means Necessary” has long been the amoral nihilistic slogan of the radical Left, just like “they bring a knife, you bring a gun” has always been the ruthless ethos of The Chicago Way.

Democrats are willing to accept Hagel’s alleged homophobia in order to gain a weapon with which to clobber the hated “neoconservatives,” by which they really mean, the Israel Lobby.

Let us pause to point out that there is no real reason to believe that the Bush administration’s ill-fated decision to invade Iraq — and the subsequent “nation-building” folly of a misguided scheme to impose democracy on Mesopotamia at the point of a bayonet — was a Zionist plot. Nevertheless, the exclusion of Old Right types from the high counsels of the Republican Party was an Idea that had Consequences.

Maybe you hate the Ron Paul/Chuck Hagel/Pat Buchanan strand of anti-interventionist America First conservatism, but in hindsight, wouldn’t it have been helpful if there had been at least one person in Dubya’s inner circle who could have said, “Hey, wait a minute here, Chief. Is this really a wise choice? Shouldn’t we be skeptical about this project? Aren’t we obliged to consider the downside risk?”

It’s obviously hard to include such people in the Inner Circle if their doubts about the policy merits of foreign adventurism are automatically condemned as evidence of Jew-hating. So . . .

With those serious caveats in mind, conservatives should not hesitate to roast liberals for the hypocrisy and cynicism inherent in the “Democrats for Hagel” bandwagon. If that vicious bastard Andrew Sullivan supports Hagel, this is reason enough for any patriotic American to oppose the Hagel nomination. And the obverse of this brutal logic is that we must welcome every ally to our cause of defeating Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, in order to inflict maximum embarrassment on the Democrats. They might “win” — Hagel’s nomination may be approved by the Senate — but the conservative strategy must be aimed at making that “win” as damaging as possible to the reputation of the Democratic Party.

If we can’t beat them, at least make sure we hurt them.

There is perhaps no friend of Israel who is more hated by the Left than is Elliott Abrams, who writes at The Weekly Standard:

During the hearings on Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be secretary of defense, it’s clear that the views of gay rights organizations will be heard. There the issue seems to be whether Hagel’s apology for previous remarks and beliefs was sincere, or motivated solely by self-interest. He had years to apologize publicly, but did so only when opposition from gay rights groups threatened his nomination.
But in the case of allegations of anti-Semitism, Hagel has not even apologized. He has remained silent, though one can expect the usual “perhaps I didn’t word that sentence as best I might have” excuse to emerge at his hearings. The question is, what might he have to apologize for? Why would anyone think he was an anti-Semite? . . .

Read the whole thing. But the blunt force of the argument can be made simpler and more effective. Quin Hillyer at The American Spectator:

Obama the Anti-Semite?

Ah, this is the knife under the fifth rib, you see!

This is how to win in politics,, or in anything else: You begin with the determined willpower to win. Everything else is just a matter of tactics. And I ain’t never heard of a “fair fight.” Where I come from, we believe like Coach Saban believes:

“You play fast! You play strong! You go out there and dominate the man you’re up against and you make his ass quit!“

 

ROLL TIDE!

 

Category: Alabama, Israel

#RMFT: You WILL Click This Link

Posted on | January 7, 2013 | 11 Comments

The hashtag need not be translated, for there is but one Tide and it shall forever Roll. There is but one Tuscaloosa on the planet, and there is but one team that wears the fabled Crimson, and by whom all others must be conquered. (OK, shut up, Aggies. I’m doing epic poetry here.)

And lo, there was a name,
Heard as an echo awakened,
As if of a Lady possessed by many.
Terrible was that song, that sound that sang
Upon every touchdown they scored.

Then the vision came upon me, as I saw
A tide of crimson that rolled
So that the singers sang of their Lady no more.

Silent were the voices of those
Who came from the North
In the land of the Indians
At a river whose bend was South.

Silent they were, for the glory
Of which they would sing
Had ceased to Be
In the Cee Ess.

Two numbers I saw, a one and a zero;
The former the rank of the Tide, and
The latter the number of points
Scored by those who followed the Lady.

Down were they shut and
Silent was their band.
All the joy in Miami
Was for old Alabam.

The yardage amassed by the One,
Into silence it stunned
The Irish who had defied
The mighty, the awesome,
Triumphant Crimson Tide.

They sang, Rammer Jammer!
And a toast did they drink
To the women you’ll see,
If you’ll just click this link.

 


Category: Alabama, Football

Mandates, Regulation and ‘Rights’

Posted on | January 7, 2013 | 20 Comments

What was causing the problem to which ObamaCare was supposed to be the solution? If it was not clear before, it is becoming more so, now that the alleged solution is making the problem worse:

Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. Particularly vulnerable to the high rates are small businesses and people who do not have employer-provided insurance and must buy it on their own.

Government policies were causing the artificial scarcity of “affordable health care” (a glittering generality) and the new policies known as ObamaCare are aggravating the problem because they are, in effect, just more of the same. We had a lot more “affordable health care” before government decided that health care should be “free” (i.e., subsidized by taxpayers) for some patients, and then states began to mandate and regulate how employers and health-insurance companies should provide coverage to those paying their own premiums.

At about the same time Medicare and Medicaid were enacted, egalitarianism took its Great Leap Forward as a matter of law and policy. The language of “rights” and “discrimination” gained currency, so that employer-provided health-insurance coverage became an entitlement which could not be denied without incurring legal jeopardy.

If health-care is a human right — as the Left proclaims — then certain logical consequences flow from that premise. Those who provide health care (doctors and hospitals) as well as those who are required to act as third-party payers (insurance companies or taxpayers) essentially become hostages in such a situation, with lawyers as the thugs sent to deliver the ransom demand on behalf of the kidnappers, the plaintiffs who are willing to sue to enforce their “rights.”

The free-market system is distorted and artificial scarcity is caused by what amount to government efforts to control prices. Dressed up in the language of “rights” and “fairness,” and promising to rid us of our woes, liberalism’s solutions inevitably create new problems.

Have you noticed that good intentions are becoming increasingly scarce? It’s a supply-and-demand problem, because liberals have lately been so incredibly busy paving the road to hell.

Hat-tip — unexpectedly! — to Instapundit, who has his own interesting news from the front lines of the War of Ideas: He was disinvited from speaking at a local Republican Party function in Utah because his opinions are too “controversial.” Evidently, it was the professor’s (dreadfully wrong) opinion in favor of same-sex marriage that offended the GOP officials. But they weren’t going to pay him for the speech anyway, so it’s no real loss to the professor, nor is there any incentive for me to offer myself as a substitute speaker, despite my outspoken opposition to same-sex marriage.

No one’s ever accused me of holding “controversial” opinions . . .

Category: Health Care, Instapundit
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