The Other McCain

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

LIVE AT FIVE – 06.01.12

Posted on | June 1, 2012 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Mitt Hits Obama On Solyndra

Mitt Romney Counts Coup On Choom-Meister's Crony Capitalism

Meanwhile, in Boston…
Indeed, not your father’s GOP.

Jobless Rate Now Leading Political Indicator
Unemployment numbers Obama’s albatross?




Warren: “I Won’t Deny Who I Am”
Campaign message completely drowned out by ethnicity gaffe



POLITICS
Edwards Unlikely To Be Retried After Jury Deadlocks

"...there is no one else responsible for my sins."

Acquitted on corruption charge; jury deadlocked on remaining five charges

County Attorney Declines To Prosecute “Sister Wives”

Feds Order Halt To Florida Ineligible Voter Purge

House Rejects Ban On Sex-Selective Abortions, But GOP Makes Its Point

Gay Marriage Fight Likely Headed For Supreme Court

Former President Clinton Looks To Fire Up Milwaukee Democrats For Recall Vote

Kaine Has Cash Edge Over Allen In Virginia Senate Race



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Gasoline Ticks Up On Seasonal Blend Change As Oil Continues Slide; NYMEX $86.35, Brent $101.76
Asia Stocks Fall As PRC Manufacturing Weakens
Europe Markets Seen Mixed As Debt Crisis Continues
Liberty Media Steps Up Effort To Control Sirius XM
Student Debt Up 8% To $904 Billion
Free Food Alert: Today Is National Doughnut Day
Microsoft Launches Windows 8 Preview
Judge Torpedoes Oracle’s Android Suit: API Can’t Be Copyrighted
Nokia Dismisses Claims Of Collusion With Microsoft
Ratchet & Clank Returning In “Full Frontal Assault”



SPORTS
Spurs’ Invincibility Vanishes As Thunder Take Command

Oklahoma City's Russel Westbrook

Westbrook leads attack in 102-82 win

Tigers Get Last Laugh, Avoid Sweep In Boston With 7-3 Win

Greinke Goes Six As Brewers Sweep Dodgers 6-2

Lidstrom Retires From Red Wings After 20 Years

Thunder Says Rapper Lil Wayne Welcome – But He Needs To Buy A Ticket Like Everyone Else

SEC Renegotiates TV Deal, Own Network Possible

Norris Struggles As Astros Lose Again

Big 12 Not Shutting Door On Expansion

NASCAR Starts Sprint Cup Summer Grind In Dover

Hines Ward Joins NBC Sports

Nationals In No Rush This Year At MLB Draft



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Kate Walsh Poised To Depart “Private Practice”

Kate Walsh

Will shoot sixth season’s 13 episodes before departure

Bieber Knocks Himself Out In Paris

Bus Driver Drops Her Suit Against Matthew Fox

Martin Short Reacts To Gifford Gaffe: “People Make Mistakes”

“The Devil Wears Prada” Getting A Sequel

Tour Kickoff Shows Madonna’s No Lady (Gaga)

Beyonce, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Steven Tyler Lead Voice Cast For Fox’s “Epic”

Anne Vyalitsina Joins “Die Hard” Sequel

Superhero Impersonator Dies When Bizarre Sex Game Goes Wrong



FOREIGNERS
Britain Prepares For Left-Field Diamond Jubilee
Aung San Suu Kyi Urges “Healthy Skepticism” Over Burma Reforms
Will Ireland Rebel Against EU’s Imposition Of Austerity?
Putin Visits Germany And France Amid Syrian Divide
Mubarak Trial Verdict May Divide Egypt
Chen: CCP Must Obey Its Own Laws
Labour To Force Vote On Jeremy Hunt



BLOGS & STUFF
NRO Corner: President Clinton Says Romney “Had Sterling Business Career”
Weasel Zippers: Heh – Romney Makes Surprise Visit To Solyndra HQ
American Glob: Axelrod Drowned Out By Romney Supporters In Massachusetts
Ed Driscoll: Not Your Father’s Republicans
Power Line: With An Enemy Like This, Who Needs Friends?
NewsBusters: Where’s The Outrage Over NBC/MSNBC Attack Ad On Romney In February?
Weekly Standard Blog: Media Circles The Wagons Amid Accusations Of Anti-Romney Bias
Sister Toldjah: #WarOnWomen – WH, 168 House Memebers Vote Against Sex-Selective Abortion Ban
Mediaite: CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield Says Incest, Pedophilia “Not By Choice” But Being Gay “A Lifestyle Choice”
Moe Lane: I Wonder If David Axelrod’s Found The Mole Yet?
James Pethokoukis: Another Dose Of Sickly Economic News Weakens Obama’s Reelection Odds
GayPatriot: Dan Rather Dubs Notion Of Liberal Media “A Sham”
Donald Sensing: The New York Times And The Boy Scouts
Weasel Zippers: Pelosi Predicts Obamacare Will Be Upheld 6-3 “Because I Know The Constitution”

Category: Live at Five

#BloombergMovieTitles (Last) Straw Wars

Posted on | May 31, 2012 | 19 Comments

by Smitty

Because nothing says ‘the Mayor is a soup nazi‘ quite like having the jackwagon decide the size of your drink. Me, I nearly died from White Castle. I guess that edict will come next week.

Update: get you a 16 oz. shot of Ace’s finest.

Update II: So that’s how you do it!

Category: New York

Court Declares Clinton-Era Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional

Posted on | May 31, 2012 | 20 Comments

“Progress” is happening so fast nowadays, eh? Back in the 1990s, President Clinton implemented “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and DOMA, which stood uncontested through the remainder of Clinton’s term and all through the eight years of Bush, but now — in the Obama era — these measures have been declared dreadfully oppressive.

Hope! Change! And it’s probably only a matter of time before homosexuality is declared compulsory, so that turning down an offer of sodomy is illegal “discrimination.”

Category: Gays

Aaron Walker Court Hearing Confirms Kimberlin-Rauhauser Collaboration

Posted on | May 31, 2012 | 63 Comments

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Democrat campaign consultant Neal Rauhauser accompanied convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin to a Tuesday court hearing in Maryland, confirming their continued collaboration in an apparent effort to harass and intimidate conservative bloggers.

Kimberlin appeared in Montgomery County (Md.) District Court for a final hearing Tuesday on his “peace order” against blogger Aaron Walker, who was arrested at the conclusion of the hearing on charges that he had violated terms of a previous peace order through “incitement.” Judge C.J. Vaughey ruled that Walker’s blog was responsible for encouraging death threats to Kimberlin, who was convicted in 1981 for a series of bombings in Indiana.

Investor’s Business Daily reporter David Hogberg attended the Maryland hearing and reported that he spoke to “Kimberlin and his associate Neal Rauhauser” at the courthouse in Rockville. Kimberlin was spotted earlier this month at a New Jersey courthouse where Rauhauser faced charges of harassing Mike Stack, an Internet activist who played a prominent role in exposing the Anthony Weiner sex scandal.

The partnership of Kimberlin and Rauhauser is one of the elements of a lawsuit Walker filed in January against them and former Raw Story editor Ron Brynaert, which alleges:

“Defendant Kimberlin had on some date prior to November 14 [2011] formed a conspiracy with Defendants Brynaert and Rauhauser to stalk, harass, defame, intentionally inflict emotional distress and commit other illegal and/or immoral acts against any person perceived as an ‘enemy,’ particularly anyone who dared to accurately describe Defendant Kimberlin’s criminal past and any person seen as helping any target of this conspiracy.”

Walker, a Virginia attorney, was apparently targeted for harassment after he provided legal assistance to Seth Allen, a liberal who had blogged about Brett Kimberlin’s criminal history. Like Walker, Allen was also arrested on charges of harassing Kimberlin. Patterico writes of Kimberlin’s “abuse of process” in such proceedings:

Kimberlin learned a technique that he later used against Walker: namely, having your critics arrested in civil court.
Namely, this serial litigant [i.e., Kimberlin] forces his critics into his jurisdiction with a frivolous civil action. If Kimberlin’s critics complain that the action is frivolous, he calls that criticism “harassment,” and through a process of seeking frivolous peace orders and/or filing frivolous criminal complaints, obtains an arrest warrant for the critic. When the critic shows up to court as required, he or she is arrested on the trumped-up charges.
Success! The story becomes about the critic’s arrest. The critics look worse because authorities seem to take Kimberlin’s side; and he gets the satisfaction of putting his critics behind bars, even if for a short time.
Alternatively, Kimberlin and his supporters can use the threat of arrest to try to frighten civil litigants into staying out of court.

Patterico — the blog name of Los Angeles deputy district attorney Patrick Frey — has accused Kimberlin, Rauhauser and Brynaert of engaging in a “campaign of political terrorism.”

Frey was the target of “SWATting,” wherein hoax phone calls are used to deceive police into believing the target has committed a violent crime in his home, resulting in police raiding the location in anticipation of a confrontation with an armed suspect. The late Internet entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart, who was identified as an enemy by Kimberlin, discussed “SWATting” in a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt shortly before Breitbart died in March. Frey and Walker discussed their experiences with Kimberlin in an interview last week on the Glenn Beck radio program.

Rauhauser is a Democrat social-media consultant who has described himself as a “hacker.” Rauhauser is a founder of the consulting firm Progressive PST and was a speaker at the 2010 “NetRoots Nation” conference sponsored by Daily Kos, a popular liberal blog. Using the blog pseudonym “Stranded Wind,” Rauhauser in September 2010 urged DailyKos readers to “put an end to [Glenn] Beck’s career.” (Rauhauser’s Daily Kos blogging privileges were revoked in July 2011.)

In September 2010, blogger Patrick Read described how Rauhauser “organized a squalid group of anonymous twitter-users as a means to attack the tea party and conservatives alike.” Rauhauser’s so-called “beandogs” used Twitter messages with what Read described as “extremely graphic language including masturbation, pedophilia, violent threats, racism, sexism, religious bigotry.” Read observed that Rauhauser’s “beandogs” showed “a penchant for exposing personal information about their targets and misrepresenting factual information.” Rauhauser’s activities, exposed by Read and Tea Party activist Michelle Lessick (@ZapEm on Twitter), became known as “TwitterGate,” which I wrote about in October 2010:

Rauhauser has claimed that the TwitterGate accusations were a “smear” and a “paranoid delusion.” Claiming that Allen’s writings about Kimberlin were a “smear,” Rauhauser falsely asserted that Kimberlin “was cleared of” his criminal convictions “almost 20 years ago.”

The collaboration between Rauhauser and Kimberlin apparently began, sources say, because of Kimberlin’s use of his tax-exempt non-profit group Velvet Revolution (of which liberal blogger Brad Friedman is director) to attack the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the cybersecurity firm HBGary, alleging among other things that “Gary was hired . . . by the Chamber to infiltrate and destroy [Velvet Revolution] and its staff.”

HBGary’s Internet accounts were hacked by members of the “Anonymous” criminal conspiracy last year, and several members of the group (the so-called “LulzSec” hackers) have been indicted on felony charges. As I reported last week, federal officials are continuing to investigate the “Anonymous” conspiracy, and those sympathetic to “Anonymous” say they suspect that the group’s former public spokesman Barrett Brown may be one of the unindicted co-conspirators identified in court documents as providing evidence against the accused hackers. Since publishing my May 24 post about the “Anonymous” probe, I have been told that investigators have been working for “six to nine months” to “build evidence” against additional suspects in the hacking conspiracy.

Rauhauser is suspected of using the “@AnonyOps” Twitter account. On Tuesday, after the Maryland hearing where Walker was arrested — a hearing that Rauhauser reportedly attended — “@AnonyOps” posted a link to an image of Judge Vaughey’s ruling in the Kimberlin-Walker case:

The “@AnonyOps” Tweet was sent at 11:31 a.m. Tuesday, just half an hour after Judge Vaughey’s ruling was issued, and was re-Tweeted 12 minutes later by “@OccupyRebellion,” another Twitter account believed to be associated with Rauhauser and/or Kimberlin.

In February, Rauhauser posted an eight-page PDF document entitled “Andrew Breitbart’s ISR Cell?” The acronym “ISR” apparently refers to the military term “Intelligence, Security and Reconnaisance.” In that document, Rauhauser suggests that Breitbart was doing the bidding of HBGary, with Thomas Ryan of Berrico Technologies acting as a “cut out” between Breitbart and HBGary CEO Aaron Barr. This suspicion on Rauhauser’s part was apparently based on a single e-mail from Barr to Ryan — one of the thousands of e-mails that the “Anonymous” hackers stole from HBGary — in which Barr cited an October 2010 article about Brett Kimberlin by Breitbart.com contributor Mandy Nagy, written under her Internet pseudonym “Liberty Chick.”

In October 2011, Rauhauser described himself as doing “protective service work” for a client who is “the head of a Washington D.C. NGO” — a description that might fit Kimberlin, whose 501(c)3 Justice Through Music Project has collected about $1.8 million in contributions since its founding in 2005.

If indeed Kimberlin is now a “client” of Rauhauser, this would explain their evident collaboration in targeting Aaron Walker, Patrick Frey, Seth Allen, Mandy and other critics of Kimberlin for harassment and intimidation. Whether fees paid to Rauhauser involved the use of tax-exempt funds obtained by Kimberlin’s non-profit organizations, and whether such “protective service work” — which looks very much like an orchestrated effort to stifle First Amendment rights — would be legal under IRS regulations, remains to be determined.

It was Aaron Walker’s 28,000-word account of his ordeal with Kimberlin on May 17 that drew my attention to the case of Brett Kimberlin, the infamous “Speedway Bomber” terrorist who briefly gained notoriety in 1988 by claiming to have sold drugs to Republican Dan Quayle. While I had never heard of Kimberlin before May 17, the mention of Rauhauser in Walker’s account caught my eye because of Rauhauser’s previous involvement in the “TwitterGate” controversy and the fact that Rauhauser has worked for a number of Democrat candidates.

— Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

 


UPDATE: Linked by The Rhetorican, Dan Collins at the Conservatory, Bill Quick at Daily Pundit, Perpetually Aggreived, Damn Dirty RINO and Hogewash — thanks!

UPDATE II (Smitty): welcome, Instapundit readers!

THE KIMBERLIN FILES:

Category: The Kimberlin Files

Pole Position: Phoning It In Insufficient

Posted on | May 31, 2012 | 21 Comments

by Smitty

HotAir reports that our perpetually potted President may have some difficulty getting the Polish feathers unruffled with the standard Choom-Ba-Yah approach to diplomacy.

Everybody seems to think that this is just some minor gaff. However, when you consider

some amount of Polish trepidation about the distant sound of diesel bus engines from the easterly direction is perhaps understandable.

This blog prays for Poland, which seems to have among the more wretched geo-political positions of our day. One can’t hold forth much hope that Barack Obama will change his callous ways. But maybe he will, given sufficient blowback.

Category: Barack Obama, Poland

Asking The ‘Hahrd’ Questions

Posted on | May 31, 2012 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

Julie Borowski at the mighty Freedom Works:

Last week, the audit the Fed movement received good news that House Republican leaders plan to hold a vote on a full audit bill in July. Introduced by none other than Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), the Federal Reserve Transparency Act would require frequent thorough audits of the Fed and has already garnered 227 cosponsors ranging from Justin Amash to Dennis Kucinich.

Of course, Harry “Wait, if that’s my thumb, what have I been sucking for three years–OMG! A budget!” Reid probably will be as obstructive as ever to doing his job. If Reid was any less effective, he’d be the Prime Minister of Greece. Or do I mean more effective? Relative effectiveness measures are tricky down around the limit as effectiveness goes to absolute, total, cretinous zero.

Nevertheless, this vote could be an important marker in the overall effort to reveal the depths of the corruption of our system. So it’s well worth supporting in the face of the lack of immediate result.

Category: End The Fed

LIVE AT FIVE – 05.31.12

Posted on | May 31, 2012 | 8 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Six Dead In Seattle Cafe Murder/Suicide

Investigators remove evidence from Cafe Racer, where the killings started

Disgruntled killer was frequent customer of cafe; killed self when cornered by Seattle PD

UN Observers Report Finding 13 Slaughtered By Assad Forces
Rebels give Assad 48 hours to comply with Annan plan
Related: Syrian diplomats expelled by US, allies

Edwards Trial: Still No Verdict After Eight Days
Judge releases alternate jurors



POLITICS
Former Justice Stevens Gets Crotchety Over Citizens United Decision

Retired Supreme Court Justice Stevens

Hasn’t stopped kvetching since writing dissent

Oops: Fox News Says Obama Video Not Authorized

Obama Ally Artur Davis Will Join GOP


NY MTA Settles Suit With Employees, Won’t Require Agency Logo On Religious Headgear

House To Vote On Sex-Selection Abortion Ban

California Senate Passes Ban On Gay-To-Straight Therapy

Romney Holds “Most Successful California Event Ever”, Gets Endorsements From Former Secretaries Of State Rice, Shultz



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
WTI Sinks Below $90 On Soft Economy, Eurozone Concerns: NYMEX $87.90, Brent $103.47
RIM’s Value Sinks As Blackberries Edged Out
Spain’s Economic Problems Intensify
Market Fears Drive Treasuries To 66-Year Low
Gold Poised For Worst Monthly Run In 13 Years
Short Sales Drive 1Q Jump In Home Sales
Indian Economic Growth Only 5.3%, Lowest Since 2008; Rupee Also Falls To Historic Low vs. Dollar
Moody’s Set To Downgrade Key European Banks
NYC Controller Says HP Fleeced City For $163 Million
Why The Death Of Windows Live May Save Microsoft
Google Fuels Local Search With Zagat Reviews
Microsoft Offers Office 365 Build Tailored For Government
Special Edition Of “Doom 3” Coming This Fall
D10: How Zynga Plays In The Mobile Gaming Market
iPod Of Thermostats Now On Sale At Apple Stores



SPORTS
Rajon Rondo Gives His Best – And It’s Not Enough

Paul Pierce pressures LeBron James

Celtics fall to Heat 115-111 in Game 2 (OT)

Kings Draw First Blood, Beat Devils 2-1 In OT

League-Owned Hornets Get First Pick In NBA Draft – Was The Fix In?

Kershaw, Dodgers Lose Game And Matt Kemp Too

Yankees End Angels’ Win Streak At Eight

Mets’ Bullpen Fails In 10-6 Loss To Phillies

Wang Goes Limp In Return To Rotation, Fish Complete Sweep With 5-3 Win



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Jessica Simpson “So Excited” About $4 Million Weight Watchers Deal

Not Meghan McCain

Planning on regaining pre-pregnancy body within a year

Mary-Kate Olsen Dating Olivier Sarkozy

Matthew Fox: I Never Beat Any Women

Adam Levine Explains His Promiscuity


Ashton & Demi Are Not Reuniting

Justin Bieber Fans Cause Norwegian Cops To Threaten State Of Emergency

Cringeworthy: Kathie Lee Gifford Asks Martin Short About His (Dead) Wife

TV Producers Not Laughing At Unfunny “Family Guy” Emmy Mailer

Tim Daly Not Returning To “Private Practice” For Season 6



FOREIGNERS
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor Gets 50 Years For War Crimes
Voting Underway In Eire On Fiscal Treaty Referendum
Barak, PA Trade Barbs On Unilateral Withdrawal
Assange Given 14 Days To Challenge Extradition Ruling
Canada Launches Manhunt For Porn Actor Who Mailed Body Parts
PRC Detains Hundreds In Tibet Over Self-Immolation Protests
Polish PM Condemns Obama’s “Polish Death Camp” Apology As Insufficient



BLOGS & STUFF
Nice Deb: It Must Be Good Because Media Matters Is Spitting Mad
Wizbang: NYC, Where You Can Drink 23 Hours A Day, But Soon You won’t Be Able To Buy a 24-Ounce Coke
WyBlog: No, THOSE Polish Death Camps
Phil Klein: Poll Gives Walker 7-Point Lead In Recall Election
Conservatory: Accused Of Cooking Milawukee Crime Stats, Barrett Accuses Walker Of Cooking BLS Jobs Numbers
John McCormack: Barrett Can’t Name Any Schools Hurt By Walker’s Collective Bargaining Reforms
AmSpecBlog: About Those Jewish Friends Of Obama’s
The Lid: “Rabbi Obama” And The Shame Brought By Leaders Of Conservative Judaism
William Kristol: Barack Obama – Friend Of Jews, Scholar Of Judaism
Legal Insurrection: Elizabeth Warren’s Biggest Whopper Of Them All
Breitbart.com: Cherokee Group – Warren Statement On Heritage “Virtually Spit In Our Faces”
American Thinker: Rather Scoops Chavez Health Report?
Moe Lane: Please Let It Be Known For The Record…
Weasel Zippers: WaPo/ABC Poll – Obama’s Popularity Edge Over Romney Drops Considerably
Power Line: E.J. Dionne’s Self-Refuting Shot At Mitt Romney
Protein Wisdom: If You Thought Coal Was Dirty…
Ed Driscoll: Team Romney Not Gonna Play Repudiation Game

Category: Live at Five

Choom-ba-yah My Lord, Choom-ba-yah

Posted on | May 30, 2012 | 12 Comments

by Smitty

Delightfully over-the-top:

via Bluegrass Pundit

Category: Barack Obama, humor
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