The Other McCain

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

FMJRA 2.0: Push The Button

Posted on | November 17, 2012 | 6 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Apparently, Everybody Involved in the Petraeus Scandal Is a Swinging Sex Freak

The Stalinist at Montclair State

2013: A Century Of Progress

Bizarre Statistical Improbabilities

The Slut Paula Broadwell

Rule 5 Sun- er, Tuesday

Please Don’t Tickle Me, Elmo — Or: What’s the Muppet Age of Consent?

If You Were Saying to Yourself, ‘This Petraeus Scandal Isn’t Crazy Enough …’

BREAKING NEWS: The Economy Sucks

Less ‘Representative’, More ‘Democracy’

FMJRA 2.0: Luxury Cage

Could InstaVision Invite Reince Priebus On For A Chat?

O’Neill: “All Politics Is Local”

The Other Woman’s Jealousy of the Central Command Liaison Brought About the Downfall of CIA Director Petraeus

The Republican Clown Car Campaign

The Triumph of Androgyny

When You’re Down to Your Last $4 Million, Hallucinogens May Seem Fun

LIVE AT FIVE: 11.13.12

Capitalization and Heteronormativity?

LIVE AT FIVE: 11.14.12

Awesome: Hamas Leader Destroyed by Twitter Message, Israeli Air Strike

Heckuva Job, Susan Rice!

Paranoid Theory: ‘Karl Rove Was Out Raising Money to Keep Santorum Alive’

Obama Administration’s Benghazi Gambit: Protect Rice, Scapegoat CIA

If The GOP Can’t Win On Mature Government In 2014. . .

Women’s Basketball Star Revealed as Lesbian, Also Violently Crazy

Israel Continues Kicking Ass in Gaza (With Another Awesome War Porn Video)

LIVE AT FIVE: 11.16.12

Great: Voters Legalize Marijuana, Unions Put Munchies-Maker Out of Business

Top linkers this week:

  1. Lonely Conservative (8)
  2. Daley Gator (6)

;_;

I’m going to be off the Internet much of next week , so the deadline for the FMJRA is extended to Saturday, November 24. Thanks to everyone for their linkagery.

 

 

 

Category: FMJRA Award

Jonah Goldberg Is Wrong

Posted on | November 17, 2012 | 36 Comments

He has made his peace with “compassionate conservatism” with an argument that bespeaks intellectual fatigue:

The evolving demographics of the country, combined with the profound changes to both the culture and the economy, demanded that the GOP change both its sales pitch and its governing philosophy.
Compassionate conservatism increasingly faded from view after 9/11. Bush ran as a war president first and a compassionate conservative second (at best) in 2004. Still, it’s worth remembering that Bush won a staggering (for a Republican) 40 percent of the Hispanic vote. Romney got 27 percent.
Moreover, according to exit polls, Romney decisively beat Obama on the questions of leadership, values, and economic expertise, but he was crushed by more than 60 points on the question of which candidate “cares about people like me.”
I still don’t like compassionate conservatism or its conception of the role of government. But given the election results, I have to acknowledge that Bush was more prescient than I appreciated at the time.

Exit polls, Jonah? You’re going to surrender to the Entitlement Culture on the basis of exit polls? If we have to start making arguments for limited government en Espanol, so be it, but first things first: Why did Romney lose the election?

Did Romney lose because of his policy positions? Or did Romney lose because the Obama campaign, with the eager assistance of what Andrew Breitbart called the Democrat-Media Complex, succeeded in portraying Romney as a stereotypical Clueless Republican?

That the Clueless Republican does not “care about people like me” is not really a matter of policy, but of perception, and a big part of that perception is about narrative arc.

People want many things in a presidential candidate, but one thing they pretty much require is that the candidate be able to tell a story about his life and career — who he is — in the context of how he intends to govern. The up-by-the-bootstraps biography of Ronald Reagan stood him in good stead throughout his political career which, in case you’ve forgotten, didn’t really begin until 1964 when Reagan was past 50.

Romney’s narrative arc didn’t work so well. Among the candidates for GOP nomination this year, only Herman Cain had the up-by-the-bootstraps Reaganesque biography. Of course, Rick Perry also came from humble origins, and Rick Santorum’s tales of his Italian immigrant father were inspirational, but both Perry and Santorum entered politics early in life which, generally, is a liability for a presidential candidate.

The “cares about me” question is a matter of perception, not policy, and is in large measure a proxy for “likeability,” which is a very superficial, instinctive reaction. George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” barely enabled him to defeat the unlikeable Al Gore and the equally unlikeable John Kerry. In 2012, in addition to having the Allstate Insurance man as their candidate, Democrats also trotted out the unctuously faux-empathetic Bill Clinton. The Republicans, by contrast, gave primetime convention spots to egotistical blubberbutt Chris Christie and the disgruntled ramblings of Clint Eastwood.

Given the manifold advantages of the Democrats in the past campaign — and incumbency is an advantage not to be underestimated — and the various specific shortcomings and failures of the Republicans, the GOP defeat is not really difficult to explain.

Furthermore, and quite importantly, the election was actually quite close: A margin of 3 percentage points (about 3 million out of 110 million cast) in the popular vote, with Romney competitive in all the key swing states. Romney lost Florida by only 70,000 votes out of 8.3 million and lost Ohio by about 100,000 out of 5.1 million. These are not landslide margins. This was not a “mandate” election for Obama, no matter what anybody tells you, and for Republicans to let themselves be spooked by exit polls or to propose a wholesale reorganization of their party because of a panic about “demographics” is absurd.

Like I said, Jonah, I blame your endorsement of “compassionate conservatism” on intellectual fatigue. You wrote that when you were tired and discouraged. So are we all tired and discouraged. So let’s rest up, recover our morale, and try to think calmly about the future.

Also, Jonah, you should adopt my rule: Never talk strategy in public.

It has become entirely too common, in the “Smartest Guy in the Room” competition among pundits (and would-be pundits) to proclaim strategic insights to the public, and it’s just stupid. This  is comparable to an NFL coach putting up a message on the Jumbotron screen: “We’re going to run a play-action pass.” Democrats can read the Internet, you know. Hell, they invented the Internet.

Finally, Jonah, I think Rush Limbaugh is closer to the mark in analyzing the root causes of the GOP’s problem:

The things that [younger people] just assume are true, like there is no doubt whatsoever that we are destroying the planet with global warming, no doubt. They can’t even conceive of what you and I both know to be the truth, and that is, the whole global warming thing is a hoax. They do not even think it’s a political issue. They do not realize that everything they believe in has been totally corrupted by politics. What they think is science is nothing more than corruption by the left, but they don’t know any better.

Global warming? Democrats invented that, too. Like “homophobia” and the “War on Women,” Republicans are losing young “skulls full of mush” because of phony issues manufactured by the Democrats, issues skillfully marketed by the Democrats’ leftist allies in academia, the news media and the entertainment industry.

Category: Election 2012, Jonah Goldberg

Sun Rises In East, And President Obama Knew About Benghazi

Posted on | November 17, 2012 | 19 Comments

by Smitty

We explore realms of the obvious:

In a blockbuster report, John Solomon, the former Associated Press and Post reporter, has ferreted out the president’s daily brief that informed him within 72 hours of the Sept. 11 attack that the Benghazi attack was a jihadist operation.

Citing officials directly familiar with the information, Solomon writes in the Washington Guardian that Obama and other administration officials were told that “that the attack was likely carried out by local militia and other armed extremists sympathetic to al-Qaida in the region.”

. . .

How could the president and his senior staff then have allowed (or rather, sent) Rice to go out to tell an entirely different tale to the American people on Sept. 16 on five TV shows?

One explanation might be that the President figures we “can’t handle the truth”. And by “can’t handle” I mean “do not deserve” or “lack the power to hold him to anything like doing the job of President”.

Chris Cassone has recorded the Benghazi anthem. Spread it virally. May the deaths of Stevens, Smith, Woods and Doherty, arguably the most blatant combat snuffing since Uriah the Hittite, be a millstone about Obama’s neck.

Aside: just to let you know how far America has fallen, the Russian government has passed a budget, while a buried Ronald Reagan spins with sufficient angular velocity for use as a stable element.

via Insty

Category: Barack Obama, Libya

Democrat Forced to Confess That, Indeed, He Is Well-Hung ’70s Porn Star

Posted on | November 16, 2012 | 7 Comments

Mark Suben was recently re-elected District Attorney of Cortland County, N.Y. Today he admitted that in the 1970s, he performed in porn films under the name “Gus Thomas.”

And by “admitted,” of course I mean, bragging.

Category: Scandal

A Victim of Racism, Sexism, Homophobia and Her Violent Lesbian Ex-Girlfriend

Posted on | November 16, 2012 | 11 Comments

WNBA star Jennifer Lacy, who was the victim of a frightening attack by her former teammate and ex-girlfriend Chamique Holdsclaw, today issued a statement via Twitter:

Last night when I blogged about Holdsclaw’s violent outburst, some readers wondered what the point was, so I explained:

What we are supposed to believe, according to political correctness, is that all problems experienced by homosexuals can be attributed to the hateful bigotry of homophobes. In much the same way, all problems experienced by black people are the result of racism, and all the problems of women are blamed on the oppressive sexist patriarchy. So when we encounter a black lesbian terrorizing her black lesbian ex-girlfriend, this is somewhat difficult for the politically correct to explain. However, if you dare to point out the seeming contradiction — the victims victimizing their fellow victims, without any prompting from straight white male oppressors — the politically correct will say that the mere fact that you noticed this makes you a sexist, racist homophobe.
Heads, they win the argument. Tails, you lose.
Never argue with a liberal. You’re only wasting your breath.

Here you have two eminently successful black lesbians in a tragic situation and — gosh darn it! — there’s no way a patriarchal white male racist homophobe can be blamed. This contradicts the Left’s politically correct victimhood narrative, which tells us that there must be a right-wing bogeyman to blame for everything. Meanwhile, Holdsclaw has been released on $100,000 bond:

judge in Atlanta on Friday set bond at $100,000 for ex-WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist Chamique Holdsclaw, who was in jail on assault and weapons charges.
She is accused of firing a shot into a car belonging to 29-year-old Jennifer Lacy, who plays for the Tulsa Shock. Police say the 35-year-old Holdsclaw also used a bat to smash the car’s windows. Holdsclaw had been in custody at the Fulton County Jail.
No one was injured in the assault. Lacy told police that Holdsclaw was an ex-girlfriend and they were Atlanta Dream teammates in 2009. Holdsclaw was ordered to wear a monitoring device and have no contact with Lacy.

Just a few months ago, Holdsclaw was set to co-produce a lesbian-themed TV show, part of the “Gee, How Refreshingly Normal and Wholesome Gay People Are” cultural narrative — which we aren’t supposed to describe as part of a deliberate propaganda “agenda” — and this unfortunate incident has probably messed that up, too. In fact, her bizarre attack on Lacy messed up the whole narrative of Holdsclaw as a Heroic Survivor, as ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel writes:

Last weekend, [Holdsclaw] attended a conference in Orlando, Fla., for Active Minds, Inc., an organization that seeks to educate and encourage college students, in particular, about confronting mental health issues. Holdsclaw spoke on a panel there on Nov. 10, discussing athletes and mental health, and she tweeted about her experiences at the conference. The next day back home in Atlanta, Holdsclaw attended the Tennessee women’s basketball game at Georgia Tech. She cheered on her alma mater and posed for pictures, including with former Lady Vol teammate and current assistant coach Kyra Elzy.
Just two days later, according to Atlanta police, Holdsclaw attacked Lacy, who described herself as a former girlfriend. Many followers of the WNBA had been aware of the relationship.

Oh, really? Who were these “followers” who had been “aware of the relationship” that nobody in the press corps actually ever wrote about? Prior to the attack by her ex-girlfriend Holdsclaw, it wasn’t exactly public knowledge that Lacy and Holdsclaw had been lovers, was it?

That lesbianism is overwhelmingly common in the WNBA — well, I suppose “many followers” are “aware” of that, too. Rather than advertise this fact, however, the league’s marketing strategists keep it on the down-low in an effort to attract a “mainstream” fan base.

I mean, how many suburban parents are going to let their daughters go on a field trip to see the Professional Lesbian Role Models League?

Someone might call attention to the shoddy hypocrisy of this charade, were it not for the fact that (a) it could be construed as “homophobic” to call attention to the nearly ubiquitous lesbianism of WNBA players, and (b) only Republicans can ever be accused of hypocrisy.

Category: Crime

Great: Voters Legalize Marijuana, Unions Put Munchies-Maker Out of Business

Posted on | November 16, 2012 | 17 Comments

Some stoner in Colorado just put down the bong, looked at the TV and said, “Dude. No more Twinkies or Ho-Ho’s? Bummer.”

Hostess, the makers of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread, is going out of business after striking workers failed to heed a Thursday deadline to return to work, the company said.
“We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike,” Hostess CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said in announcing that the firm had filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to shutter its business. “Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.” . . .
In announcing its decision, Hostess said its wind down would mean the closure of 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, approximately 5,500 delivery routes and 570 bakery outlet stores in the United States.
Hostess suspended bakery operations at all its factories and said its stores will remain open for several days to sell already-baked products. In the Chicago area, there were reports of Hostess products flying off the shelves.

On the bright side, the weeders can still enjoy Papa John’s pizza.

Category: Economics, Unions

If The GOP Can’t Win On Mature Government In 2014. . .

Posted on | November 16, 2012 | 22 Comments

by Smitty

Head ‘splodes:

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) confirmed Thursday that she will seek the chairmanship of the Senate Budget Committee next year but told The Hill that she cannot commit to doing a budget.
This opens up the possibility that Senate Democrats will avoiding passing a budget resolution for the fourth year in a row.
The last time the Senate passed a standalone budget resolution was in 2009.

via Insty

Also, Ron Paul’s farewell speech is great. Yet I think I can state my problem with Ron Paul now. Paul makes a purely intellectual pitch. Foreign policy is not as clean as a chess game. Paul arrives at an idealism as ungrounded as that of the Socialists. Which is not to endorse the foreign policy adventurism, either. I’m after some (perhaps equally nebulous) mid-point between the two.

Category: Uncategorized

Israel Continues Kicking Ass in Gaza (With Another Awesome War Porn Video)

Posted on | November 16, 2012 | 9 Comments

It is important to keep in mind that Hamas, which rules Gaza, is sworn to the utter annihilation of Israel. So any claim that Israel is “overreacting” to the Hamas missile attacks — the implication that Israel’s actions are some kind of unwarranted aggression — must be viewed skeptically, especially when you consider that Hamas gets its missiles from Iran, which is similarly sworn to the annihilation of Israel. With these caveats, here is the “balanced” New York Times article:

Israel and Hamas brushed aside international calls for restraint on Thursday and escalated their lethal conflict over Gaza, where Palestinian militants launched hundreds of rockets into Israeli territory, targeting Tel Aviv for the first time, and Israel intensified its aerial assaults and sent armored vehicles rumbling toward the Gaza border for a possible invasion. . . .
[Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak] authorized the call-up of 30,000 army reservists if needed, another sign that Israel was preparing to invade Gaza for the second time in four years to crush what it considers an unacceptable security threat from smuggled rockets amassed by Hamas, the militant Islamist group that governs the isolated coastal enclave and does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. . . .
Health officials in Gaza said at least 19 people, including five children and a pregnant teenager, had been killed over two days of nearly nonstop aerial attacks by Israel, and dozens had been wounded. Three Israelis were killed on Thursday in Kiryat Malachi, this small southern Israeli town, when a rocket fired from Gaza struck their apartment house. . . .
Denunciations of Israel for what critics called a renewal of its aggressive and disproportionate attacks spread quickly on the second day of the aerial assaults. The biggest criticism came from the 120-nation Nonaligned Movement, the largest bloc at the United Nations. In a statement released by Iran, which holds the group’s rotating presidency and is one of Israel’s most ardent foes, the group said: “Israel, the occupying power, is, once more, escalating its military campaign against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip.” The group made no mention of the Palestinian rocket fire aimed at Israel but condemned “this act of aggression by the Israelis and their resort to force against the defenseless people” and demanded “decisive action by the U.N. Security Council.”

Remember: This started last week when Hamas fired more than 100 missiles into Israel. To call Israel’s response an “act of aggression by the Israelis” is simply a lie, the exact opposite of truth. Why does the New York Times feel obligated to publish Iran’s lies? I dunno.

The Iran-backed Jew-haters in Hamas are supported by freelance Jew-haters on Twitter — with warm approval from “Anonymous,” of course — and you have to ask yourself why Twitter permits this:

 

However, the hottest account on Twitter this week is @IDFSpokesperson, which provides 100% pure awesomeness:

Here is an IDF video showing a strike against a Hamas rocket warehouse. Keep an eye out for the secondary explosions:

 

Gosh, I love secondary explosions. That’s good war-porn, man.

 

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Category: Israel, Terrorism
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