The Other McCain

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

Political Clown Parade: Please Don’t Jack Up The Unemployment Figures

Posted on | April 17, 2012 | 18 Comments

by Smitty

And so Bob ‘beckled’ himself on Hannity. ‘It happens when you party, Democrat-style. I liked Political Clown Parade‘s reaction:

I despise the guy and make no bones about it, but firing him would deprive us of witnessing his hoof-and-mouth disease as his regularly makes fools out of the current regime.

Don’t worry, Curmudgeon: idiocy, like weeds in the lawn, doth spring eternal.

Sissypuss the Blog Kitty reports hearing rumors that this means Beckel is definitely out for the as the new Fred Rogers for the Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood revival this fall. Apparently their backup plan is Ed Shultz. What could possibly go right?

Category: Democrats

Liz Benjamin: ‘Generally Snarky’

Posted on | April 17, 2012 | 9 Comments

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo evidently assigned his communication director Richard Bamberger to compile a 35-page dossier on the work of YNN reporter/blogger Liz Benjamin:

The file, composed of highlighted and annotated blog items by Elizabeth Benjamin, one of Albany’s dominant political reporters, paints a picture of an executive branch that’s particularly averse to hints that Cuomo could be, as is widely assumed, conidering running for president in 2016. The document focuses particularly on seven items it describes as “GENERALLY SNARKY,” including one in which this passage is highlighted:
“The governor has already been speculated to harbor White House aspirations himself — an effort that would enable him to surpass the record of his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who contemplated, but never went for, a presidential run.”
Other sections of the document highlight any language that could possibly be interpreted as critical of Cuomo, much of it innocuous by most standards: The highlighted passages include Benjamin characterizing the Governor’s phrase “celebration on 9/11” as “an interesting choice of words” and her writing that he “declined to put even a ballpark figure on the coast of storm clean-up.”
Seven of the items are labeled “GENERALLY SNARKY”; an eighth, about parking placards, is given as an “Example of poor reporting/Inadequate fact-checking before distribution.”

A politician obsessed with his image? No big deal. What’s weird is that the governor’s communication director — employed at taxpayer expense — should be doing this kind of clearly political work, which would seem more appropriate to a campaign operative or consultant.

By the way, if anyone for the Mitt Romney campaign has been assigned to evaluate his coverage in the blogosphere, my entry should read: “GENERALLY SNARKY. Prone to expressions of hopeless gloom. Has expressed willingness to stop blogging about Mitt in exchange for six-figure ‘consulting fee.'”

Category: New York

Head ‘Sploding Idiocy

Posted on | April 17, 2012 | 5 Comments

by Smitty

Wait, the oldest, least functional entitlement is now the arbiter for what counts as work?
Flog me senseless and call me Jethro, that’s stupid!
If Social Security is the measure of ‘work’. . .

  • the Chevy Volt is the measure of vehicles!
  • Wisconsin’s civil servants are the measure of civility and service!
  • French military victories are the measure of success!
  • Paul Krugman is the measure of economists!
  • #OccupyResoluteDesk is the measure of Presidents!

In short, we’re all tubed. Social Security is a sacred cow we need to butcher and serve as a round of hamburgers. The sooner, the better.
Another angle on this story, of course, is Hilary Rosen.

Category: Social Security

‘International Solidarity Movement’ Protester Is Welcomed in Israel

Posted on | April 17, 2012 | 57 Comments

And by “welcomed,” I mean busted in his punk face with a rifle butt.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the International Solidarity Movement, an alliance of Western leftists supporting Palestinian “armed resistance” against Israel. And my opinion of ISM is evidently shared by at least one member of the Israel military:

Denmark has demanded an explanation from the Israeli government for video footage showing a senior Israeli army officer striking a Danish activist in the face with an M16 rifle, an act which has been sharply criticised by the Israeli prime minister, president and chief of staff.
In the video, Lt Col Shalom Eisner, deputy commander of the Jordan Valley territorial brigade, is clearly seen slamming his rifle into the face of Andreas Ias.

Here’s the video:

Gator Doug headlines this:

Am I wrong for cheering when an anti-Semitic,
pro-terrorist hippie gets busted in the mouth?

“Wrong” is such a judgmental word, isn’t it? We mustn’t be judgmental about smelly hippie scum supporting “armed resistance” against Israel. So we are obligated to resist the temptation to do a fist-pump and yell, “Hit him again, Colonel Eisner!”

Created during the Second Intifada, ISM was the group that brought Rachel Corrie to Gaza for her memorable martyrdom:

“Rachel Corrie never seems to have had any concern for dead Israelis, instead writing indignantly to justify the Intifada by ‘international law and the right of people to legitimate armed struggle in defense of their land and their families.’ Dead Jews were utterly invisible to her, as she wrote home accusing Israel of ‘genocide,’ and arguing that U.S. support to Israel implicated all Americans in genocide.”

This Danish protester, a member of the same pro-terrorist ISM, was part of an attempt to stage another anti-Israel agitprop stunt:

Israel has branded the activists “provocateurs” who posed a security threat to the country. . . .
Over the weekend, Israel prevented hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists from entering the country to participate in a solidarity mission drawing attention to Israeli travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Oh, boo hoo — “travel restrictions”! Have we forgotten Bus No. 32A? Have we forgotten Shiri Negari? Have we forgotten Simona Rudina and the other victims of the Dolphinarium bombing?

You know who probably hasn’t forgotten? Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner.

The hundreds of Israelis who perished as a result of attacks sponsored by Hamas, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and other Palestinian terrorist groups — the ISM peaceniks want us to forget all that.

They want us to strip current events of any historical context, so that the “travel resistrictions” in the West Bank and an Israelis officer’s reaction to a Danish provocateur can be portrayed as human-rights atrocities, forgetting all the genuine atrocities committed by the bloodthirsty goons with whom ISM wishes to show “solidarity.”

It is encouraging to see some solidarity among Israelis:

Dozens of reserve officers and soldiers who served with Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner, who struck an anarchist provocateur in the face Saturday, on Monday sent a letter in support of Eisner to IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, the Head of Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
“We, the officers and soldiers of the reserve battalion, served under Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner between the years 2008 and 2011,” says the letter. “During these years we carried out together different operations and training. In light of the media reports of the incident in the Jordan Valley on Saturday, April 14, 2012, we wish to express our support and appreciation for him as a person, as a friend and a commander with values and morals.”

Hit him again, Colonel Eisner!

Category: Israel

Right On, Michael Zak

Posted on | April 16, 2012 | 16 Comments

by Smitty

Zak continues to fight the good fight:

Yesterday, I attended a 150th anniversary ceremony in honor of the DC Emancipation Act. The event was held at Abraham Lincoln’s summer cottage.

The quartet Just Righteous inspired with A Change Is Gonna Come and other classic songs. Frank Williams discussed President Lincoln’s views on the DC Emancipation Act. Harold Holzer spoke about media reaction. Edna Greene Medford recounted the city’s response to the law.

While the speakers were informative, all three over-emphasized Lincoln’s role and managed to avoid mentioning an important political context. So, in the Q&A, I informed the audience of these crucial facts:

  • The DC Emancipation Act was written by a Republican Senator, Henry Wilson.
  • Republicans voted unanimously for the DC Emancipation Act
  • Democrats voted unanimously against the DC Emancipation Act
  • One of the 3,100 slaves liberated by the GOP made the statue “Freedom” which stands atop the U.S. Capitol dome

In his closing remarks, Mayor Vincent Gray said that just as slaves back then were held in bondage, city residents today are also “held in bondage” because DC is not a state. Yes, that’s what he said — trivializing the horrors of slavery in order to make a political point.

I’m more of a fan of History than I am of the Republican Party as such; parties are a necessary evil, and sometimes, perhaps, more evil than necessary.

But, if we can somehow recover the GOP from Progressivism, it could return to its former level of utility for the United States.

Follow Zak on Twitter.

Category: GOP, Republicans

At Least Daily Pundit Gets It

Posted on | April 16, 2012 | 9 Comments

by Smitty

Quick shaves my point on racism a little more finely. I’m OK with that:

Nobody actually cares about racism in America. As compared to much of the world, racism simply isn’t a major factor here. Cultural problems based on race and ethnicity do exist, but racism itself is not a real problem in America.

It’s not a major factor, but it would be a bit hasty to say that there are no people engaging in racist activities; that would imply some human perfection that we’re just short on.

I do feel with some confidence that the U.S. is about the least racist, most meritocratic place you’re going to find, though. Meanwhile in an update, Stooksbury continues to badger:

Smitty replies and denies seeing Zimmerman as one of “Us” but he can’t discuss the case without reference to a series of “Them.”

The scare quotes invite the question of whether Stooksbury buys into Postmodernism and notions of The ‘Other’.

Not to be coy, I do think that we’re living through the aftershocks of the Cold War. The dirty Commie vermin who knew they were losing in the last century have engaged in a long march through our institutions, playing good-natured American Exceptionalism against itself. #OccupyResoluteDesk is the crowning dung beetle of the Marxist midden heap.

Anybody who thinks that the Sandra Fluke/political aspects of the Trayvon Martin tragedy/Ann Romney business lack substantial overlap centered on the Obama campaign, directed by Them is either coy or daft. I’ll admit some value in the concern trolling. We should be both (a) clear, and (b) committed to combating the Orwellian onslaught of the Left without contamination from it. Keeping it American and Exceptional takes continuous self-examination.

Category: Bill Quick, Uncategorized

Further Omens of Impending Doom

Posted on | April 16, 2012 | 31 Comments

It’s Romney 47%, Obama 45% in the first Gallup Daily Tracking Poll of the 2012 general election campaign, and I’m sure everybody’s happy at this apparent falsification of the claim that a bitterly contested fight for the nomination was bad for GOP prospects.

Having foresworn any actual optimism, however, I regard this as a false hope: We’re still as doomed as ever, but the pollsters and media are trying to trick us into thinking Mitt can really beat Obama. They want to get everybody’s hopes up, so that Republicans are utterly demoralized and disillusioned by the inevitable defeat on Nov. 6.

One of these days, I’ll have to start covering this campaign as if the outcome were not a foregone conclusion, but that day has not yet arrived, and so here are the latest headlines via Memeorandum:

Romney offers policy details
at closed-door fundraiser
— MSNBC

Romney Specifies Deductions He’d Cut
— Wall Street Journal

Spilled Details Reveal Romney’s
Tax Promises As A Mirage
— Talking Points Memo

Even Behind Closed Doors,
Mitt Romney’s Tax Reform Ideas Are Timid
— Slate

Exclusive: Romney Sells Inauguration
Access, Nine Months Early
— Buzz Feed

That last headline bespeaks such deadly hubris, I think it safe to say that anyone who pays for access to the “Romney inauguration” is proving the truth of an old saying: A fool and his money are soon parted.

Another earthquake in Vanuatu? Existential dread overwhelms me.

UPDATE: Optimism from . . . Allahpundit? Say it ain’t so!

 

Category: Doomed Beyond All Hope of Redemption, Election 2012, Mitt Romney

Ain’t I Done Told Ya So? (Part III)

Posted on | April 16, 2012 | 66 Comments

We are shocked — shocked! — to discover liberals in the media hinting at future coverage about Mitt’s Mormonism:

Panelist Jon Meacham asked whether any of the focus on Romney’s “secrecy” may have something to do with his faith, Mormonism, a religion shrouded in mystery for many non-Mormons. “Is this code for the secrecy of the Mormon Church?” he asked Allen. . . .
“As the Obama campaign makes the case that Romney is somehow weird, different,” Allen replied, “some supporters of Romney will say that that is a dog whistle, that is a way to come near the religion issue. The Obama campaign will tell you they’re not going to touch it, they don’t poll on it, they don’t talk about it in focus groups because they know that it would blow up if they did and that got public.”
Host Joe Scarborough, meanwhile, was upset that he’s not allowed to enter a Mormon temple. “You can’t go into the temple, right? … Not even on the West Side? You go to Salt Lake, and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty, I want to go in.’ And they are like, ‘No, you’re Southern Baptist.’”

Let’s be clear: No one expects the Obama campaign to do anything overt to raise the Mormonism issue. But liberals in the media are already researching articles about the history, beliefs and practices of LDS, interviewing critics and ex-Mormons, and those Serious Journalism stories will start cropping up in due time. You can bet on it.

Meanwhile, this kind of major-media chatter about Mitt’s Mormonism — “Oh, wouldn’t it be terrible if anyone exploited religious bigotry against Romney?” — is a way of legitimizing the trump-card issue that liberals will certainly find some way to exploit if they can.

 

 

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Category: Election 2012, Mitt Romney, MSNBC, Religion
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