The Other McCain

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

If We Had an Actual Press Corps, They Would Be Asking …

Posted on | May 10, 2012 | 6 Comments

by Smitty

Driscoll links Harsanyi, “Obama supports same-sex marriage, cites states’ rights”:

Which begs an obvious question: If Obama has endorsed federalism and believes that states have the right to define marriage, then why doesn’t he support the ability of states to extricate themselves from Obamacare? Why don’t states have the right to dictate their immigration laws? And does he “personally” believe that states should be able decide the issue of abortion? Roe v. Wade exists, but so does the Defense of Marriage Act.

More generally, what are the meaningful political objects in our system, and by what rational, consistent, generally agreed upon rules are responsibilities assigned to them?

I anticipate #OccupyResoluteDesk would answer somewhere between a brief “Shut up,” or the even more elemental “Racist!” Now, if you’re a bundler dropping some cash, you might get told “I’ll do something beyond spewing words into the air after the election,” which is just long for “Hard questions are hahrd.”

Aside: Andrew McCarthy points to what an overweening, self-aggrandizing narcissist afflicts us. Let me stop there, before I get too upset.

Update: linked by Da Tech Guy

Category: Ed Driscoll, Instapundit

LIVE AT FIVE – 05.10.12

Posted on | May 10, 2012 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Wreckage Of Russian Airplane Found In Java

Wreckage spotted on Mt. Salak near Jakarta; could be blow to Russian aircraft industry



Bombs Rip Damascus, Dozens Killed
Military intelligence building heavily damaged

Americans Divided As Obama Endorses Gay Marriage
Black preachers among those reconsidering support



POLITICS
Rick Santorum Explains Romney Endorsement To Jay Leno

Dismisses claims that endorsement is tepid

Former Deputy AG Nicholas Katzenbach Dies, 90

Parents Of Captured Soldier Want Prisoner Swap

Clooney’s Fundraiser For Obama Could Net $15 Million

Department Of Justice To Sue Sheriff Joe Arpaio

House Armed Services Committee Bans Gay Marriage On Military Bases, Authorizes East Coast Missile Defense Base

House Ethics Panel Won’t Launch Full Probe Of Vern Buchanan



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Prices Continue Slide As US Stockpile Reaches Heights Not Seen In 22 Years; NYMEX $96.81
Spanish Stocks Strong As Government Commits To Nationalizing Troubled Bank
Wall Street Retreats Amid Greek Post-Election Gridlock
Cisco Shares Plunge On Weak Outlook
Bed, Bath & Beyond Buys Cost Plus
Rural Post Offices Granted Reprieve
Fed Allows Three PRC State-Run Banks To Expand In US
Facebook Opens New App Center
Google Seeks New Trial In Oracle Fight
“Bioshock Infinite” Release Delayed Until 2013
Sprint Bullish On WinPhone 8
T-Mobile Customer Growth Back Thanks To Prepaid & Wholesale
Al Franken Questions Comcast’s Commitment To Net Neutrality
Orangutans In Zoo Using iPads To Communicate



SPORTS
Heat Knock Out Knicks, Advance To Face Pacers

LeBron James leaves the court

Miami beats short-handed Knicks 106-94

Ovechkin Leads The Charge As Capitals Force Game 7

Grizzlies Hold Off Clippers, 92-80



Mets Pound Phillies 10-6 For Fifth Straight Win

Joyce Homers Off New Yankees Closer As Rays Win 4-1

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Has Advice For Struggling Danica

Mariano Rivera Has Blood Clot In Leg, May Not Pitch Again This Year

Lack Of Production Dooms Nationals As Pirates Win Again, 4-2



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
It’s Official: Britney Signs With “X Factor”

Britney Spears

Joins Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid as judge for $15 million

More Accusers Coming Forward In Travolta Groping Suit

Rihanna Hospitalized For Exhaustion After Met Gala

Iconic Hair Stylist Vidal Sassoon Dead At 84

“Grey’s Anatomy” Stars Close Deals To Return

Sofia Vergara Single Again

Cameron Diaz Joining All-Star Cast For “The Counselor”

Jennifer Love Hewitt On “Fifty Shades Of Grey”: I Want To Be Anastasia So Badly

Rebecca Hall In Talks To Join “Iron Man 3”



FOREIGNERS
In Putin’s Third Term, US-Russian Reset Revisited
Trade, Public Anger sharpening Beijing-Manila Spat
PRC’s Chen Accuses Officials Of “Crazed” Reprisals Against His Family
Tymoshenko Ends Hunger Strike After Move To Hospital
Queen’s Speech: Cameron Says Coalition Plans Will Rebuild Britain
Radical Imam Abu Qatada’s European Court Appeal Rejected
Military Spokesman Says Uganda Not Meddling In Sudan War



BLOGS & STUFF
Power Line: Obama Evolves To New fake Position On Gay Marriage
Dennis Prager: Conservatives And Gays – Where Do We Stand?
David Harsanyi: Does Obama Support Federalism On The Issue Of Abortion Too? If Not, Why?
Elliot Abrams: “On My Behalf”
Washington Free Beacon: Gay For Pay
James Taranto: Sore Lugar
Gateway Pundit: Former Senator Danforth Says GOP Becoming More Inconsequential, Intolerant
Weasel Zippers: FBI Director Claims PC Played No Part In Scrubbing Counterterror Manuals Of Material Offensive To Islam
Via Meadia: Israel And Egypt Gearing Up For War?
Heritage Foundation: WSJ – Conservatives Oppose National Education Standards
Just One Minute: Brain Lock In The House
Legal Insurrection: Rush Babes Intended Consequence

Category: Live at Five

Midweek Rule 5 Catch-up

Posted on | May 9, 2012 | 6 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


I should have known it went too quickly. Apparently while doing Monday’s Rule 5 roundup, I inadvertently omitted about half a dozen folks who sent in links. Let us begin with…


Valley of the Shadow, who shakes the tip jar with this homage to Bettie Page. Go drop some shekels in the pot.


Elsewhere, Proof Positive brought us Brooke Burke, Barbara Steele. and Shapewear. The Rio Norte Line had links to Tulisa Contostavlos and Roxanne Pallett. The NeoSexist wishes Christina Hendricks a happy birthday, while Randy’s Roundtable rolls with Danielle Knudson and Jorgie Porter.


American Power had Toni Garrn, Bar Rafaeli, The Unmentionable Armenian, Kate Upton, Kelly Brook, and extra Kelly Brook on Tumblr.


Thanks to everyone for their patience!

Category: Rule 5

Fox News Closet Case (Who’s Not Fooling Anybody) Declares GOP Opponents of Gay Marriage ‘On the Wrong Side of History’

Posted on | May 9, 2012 | 43 Comments

How many “blind” items in the tabloids have we seen and knew they were talking about precious (formerly) pretty boy Shep, huh?

Fox News anchor Shep Smith made his own news today when he said President Obama was “now in the 21st century” after his support for same-sex marriage. Minutes later, in a conversation with colleague Bret Baier, he added:
“What I’m most curious about is whether it’s your belief that — in this time of rising debts, and medical issues, and all the rest — if Republicans would go out on a limb and try to make this a campaign issue while sitting very firmly, without much issue, on the wrong side of history on it.”

Spare us your sermons, you ridiculous phony. Shep once tried to run over a woman who was blocking a parking space he wanted.

Eight million dollars a year they pay that drama queen. As for his “wrong side of history” claim, let’s quote Professor Jeffrey Bell:

Regardless of what the consultants think, the gulf between the American people and what the Democratic party is likely to write into its platform this September in Charlotte is rendering the issue of gay marriage unavoidable this November. . . . partisan polarization of the marriage issue should be far from a source of comfort for Team Obama and its strategists.

Good-bye, Hope. Hello, old-fashioned All-American Hate.

Category: Fox News, Gays, Marriage

Go Help the Valley of the Shadow

Posted on | May 9, 2012 | 5 Comments

Joe Fein at the Valley of the Shadow blog is having an emergency fundraiser. Remember that Joe let me crash on his sofa when I went to L.A. in January 2010. Please go hit his tip jar — I did.

Category: Valley of the Shadow

Hope and Change Go Gay

Posted on | May 9, 2012 | 56 Comments

Predictable:

President Obama today announced that he now supports same-sex marriage, reversing his longstanding opposition amid growing pressure from the Democratic base and even his own vice president.

Of course, as Ace of Spades pointed out earlier, Obama had stated his support for gay marriage as early as 1996:

Answering a questionnaire in 1996, he wrote: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages,and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.”

With the slavish assistance of the media, Obama has been conveniently permitted to pretend to be “moderate” on an issue where his actual position has always been radical.

UPDATE: Again, Ace of Spades:

Meanwhile, George Stephanopolous and Dianne Sawyer are greeting this news with giddy joy, as if they’re drunk.
In Dianne’s case, of course, that’s not an “as if” thing at all.

What is pathetic, as I say, is that everybody knows Obama could not have won even the Iowa caucus in 2008 if he had been campaigning as openly pro-gay-marriage — that is to say, clearly to the left of Hillary Clinton on this issue.

In order to enhance his “viability,” the media bit their tongues and looked the other way while Obama engaged in a flimflam charade of moderation. He would have carried on that dishonest scam as long as necessary to win the general election, except that his big-money gay donors threatened to cut him off. And what his media idolators now will celebrate as another “gutsy call” never would have happened otherwise!

UPDATE II: Video:

Bonus upside? Mitt Romney will now have to campaign against gay marriage. Not that he wants to, but now he must. The Newtonian principle of two-party politics requires it.

UPDATE III: Headline at Hot Air:

Breaking: Noted gay-marriage supporter
finally drops cynical charade

UPDATE IV: Donald Douglas at American Power:

If Mitt Romney really wants to show he’s conservative, the president couldn’t have handed him a better opportunity.

RNC chairman Reince Priebus says the GOP position is clear.

Category: Barack Obama, Gays, Marriage

Some Guy You Never Heard Of Wants to Be Some Woman You Never Heard Of

Posted on | May 9, 2012 | 30 Comments

We must preface this with the observation that any pop music group with an exclamation point in their name is almost certainly gay:

Against Me! singer Tom Gabel reveals plans to begin living as a woman in the new issue of Rolling Stone. Gabel, who has dealt privately with gender dysphoria for years, will soon begin the process of transition, by taking hormones and undergoing electrolysis treatments.
Gabel will eventually take the name Laura Jane Grace, and will remain married to her wife Heather. “For me, the most terrifying thing about this was how she would accept the news,” says Gabel. “But she’s been super-amazing and understanding.”

Ladies: When your husband gets a sex change, that’s what we call, “Becoming a lesbian the hard way.”

Also notice the “Fun With Pronouns” factor in that article: Tom Gabel “will remain married to her wife Heather.” Except that her marriage won’t be legal in North Carolina, I suppose. Is this “gender dysphoria” or just semantic confusion? Has pro-gay-marriage Obama denounced anti-gay-marriage Obama yet?

(Via Memeorandum, as if this were about politics.)

Category: Gays, Sex

This Might Be What You’d Call ‘Relevant’

Posted on | May 9, 2012 | 35 Comments

Remember how Liz McMillen threw Naomi Schaefer Riley to the wolves over accusations of racism? Headline at American Power:

Naomi Schaefer Riley Is Married to the
Wall Street Journal‘s Jason Riley, Who is Black

Routine conversation at the Riley household, as imagined by typical readers of the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Naomi: Honey, will you take out the garbage?
Jason: Stop oppressing me, cracker!
Naomi: You left your dirty laundry on the bathroom floor again.
Jason: Orval Faubus! Bull Connor! Selma!
Naomi: Could you run to the store and get a gallon of milk?
Jason: “We shall overcome . . .”

Once you start seeing the world through the lens of oppression and victimization, you see it everywhere. When the only tool you’ve got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Naomi Riley offers a few highlights of the absurdity:

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry spewed a four-minute rant about my post, invoking the memory of Trayvon Martin and accusing me of “small-mindedness.” . . .
If you want to know why almost all of the responses to my original post consist of personal attacks on me, along with irrelevant mentions of Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and George Zimmerman, it is because black studies is a cause, not a course of study. By doubting the academic worthiness of black studies, my critics conclude, I am opposed to racial justice — and therefore a racist.

There is also a separate Wall Street Journal editorial, plus a Memeorandum thread, with commentary by Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom, Benjamin Plotinsky at National Review and Ann Althouse.

Category: American Power, Education, Intellectuals, Racism
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