The Other McCain

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

Neutral Objective Journalism

Posted on | March 24, 2012 | 6 Comments

CENTRAL, Louisiana
You remember the Harris sisters, who sing the Rick Santorum campaign song “Game On”? Tonight I’m staying at the home of David, the guy who hosted the Harris sisters for three days during their tour of Louisiana. David is a pro-life Catholic and Marine veteran who says he “got roped into” the Santorum campaign by Lisa Graas.

So we have that in common. And David is also something of a raconteur and a bon vivant. We have hit it off splendidly, and I’ll tell you the tale of our adventures later, but right now — full of good-hearted cheer, thanks to David’s excellent hospitality — I want to commend to your attention the front page of the March 13 edition of the Central City News:

(Click the image to enlarge.)

Alert the Pulitzer Prize Committee to accept no more nominations because, ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner:

Fresh off Presidential Primary victories in Alabama and Mississippi, former Sen. Rick Santorum will bring his campaign to Central this Sunday.
Santorum will speak at 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 18 at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, 19421 Greenwell Springs Rd. Former Rep. Tony Perkins said the general public is invited to attend and participate in the event.
Santorum will be here to promote his candidacy for the Republican Presidential nomination in the Louisiana Presidential Primary on Saturday, March 24. Registered Republicans will go to their regular voting precincts that day and choose from among Santorum and three other candidates — former Gov. Mitt Romney, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Congressman Ron Paul. Republicans will also vote on candidates for the Republican State Central Committee and Republican Parish Executive Committee, which govern the state and local parties.
Democratic voters will choose between President Obama and several lesser known candidates.
At 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Santorum will hold a fundraising event in Baton Rouge. For information on that event, call Lori Cherry at 225-328-1910. . . .

You can read the whole thing and marvel at this splendid specimen of Neutral Objective Journalism. Connoisseurs will appreciate the complete lack of implicit criticism with which journalists have been taught to report about conservative Republican politicians. Instead, in a masterful example of the “Just the Facts, Ma’am” Joe Friday style, this hometown Louisiana newspaper reports about Santorum as if he were an actual human being, whose accomplishments — including his victories in the Mississippi and Alabama primaries — are entirely praiseworthy. Liberal Democrats get this treatment all the time, but conservative Republicans, never.

Three cheers for the Central City News!

Category: Election 2012, Louisiana, Neutral Objective Journalism, Rick Santorum

#ILikeObamaCare

Posted on | March 23, 2012 | 6 Comments

by Smitty

A fairly raucous hash tag game broke out on Twitter. It really brings out my snarky side. If you’ve a Twitter account, give me a re-Tweet.

IowaHawk also notes that the farce has infected FaceBook.

I don’t think the traditional propaganda means are translating so well into the Information Age.

Category: Health Care, humor

Tip O’ The Fedora: The Franklin Center

Posted on | March 23, 2012 | 5 Comments

by Smitty

Stacy writes to say that The Franklin Center was so gracious as to buy a BlogAd on this humble site. The esteemed Franklin Center does massive amounts of state-level conservative outreach. The also sponsor events such as BlogCon, in a successful (with the glaring, occasionally caustic exception of Stacy McCain ;)) effort to get bloggers to look good in something other than pajamas.

The next installment is in Charlotte, North Carolina next month. Barring the unforeseen, I’ll be making a road trip down there. The agenda looks enticing:

FRIDAY, April 20:
8:00am Registration
9:00am Opening
9:15am Matt Kibbe, President, FreedomWorks: Public Choice Theory
9:30am Jason Stverak, President, The Franklin Center
9:45am Erik Telford: Information Activism
10:15am Data Visualization: Telling the Story / Matthias Shapiro, Political Math and Alex Lundry, TargetPoint Consulting
11:00am Using YouTube Effectively / Lee Doren, Craft DC
11:45pm Speaker: TBA
12:00pm Lunch! Podcasting workshop with Ed Morrissey and Fingers Malloy in Radio Row.
1:15pm In Memoriam: Andrew Breitbart
1:45pm Pitching and promoting your work / Liz Mair, Dana Loesch, Big Journalism, and Guy Benson, TownHall, moderated by Tony Katz, All Patriots Media
2:30pm Investigative Reporting: Finding the Story / Lachlan Markay, The Heritage Foundation, Steven Greenhut, The Franklin Center, Trent Seibert, Texas Watchdog
5:15pm Close
5:30pm Reception

SATURDAY, April 21:
10:00am Opening: Tony Katz
10:15am Policy Update: Crony Capitalism and Health Care / Dean Clancy, FreedomWorks, and Tom Borelli, Free Enterprise Project
11:00am Opposition Research: Digging up the Dirt / Mandy Nagy, Big Government, Brandon Darby
11:45am Speaker: Jason Mattera, Human Events
12:00pm Lunch! Video Editing Workshop with Ben Howe
1:00pm Speaker: Steven Crowder
1:15pm TBA
2:00pm How To Stay Out Of Trouble: What’s Legal / Kurt Schlichter, James Skyles, TBA moderated by Emily Zanotti
2:45pm David vs. Goliath: Slaying the Legacy Media / Pamela Geller, TBA
3:30pm Close: Stephen Kruiser, PJTV

Stacy McCain’s effort, “HTTP Thompson: Fear and Loathing of TweetDeck in the Era of the Netty-Tube Campaign”, alas, did not make the agenda this go-around. Those who think this oversight worthy of correcting are encouraged to drop a note to Tabitha.

The Axis of Fedora will be open for enrollment. I hope to see you there.

Category: Blogging

Rick Santorum in Cavuto Interview: ‘This Is the Hatchet-Job of All Time’ (Video Added)

Posted on | March 23, 2012 | 114 Comments

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana
Rick Santorum says it is “absurd” for anyone to suggest he would not support the Republican Party’s nominee against President Obama.

“This is the hatchet-job of all time,” the former Pennsylvania senator told Neil Cavuto during an often-contentious Friday afternoon interview on Fox News about Santorum’s comments at a Thursday event in Texas. “I’ve said repeatedly the number-one priority is beating Barack Obama. I’d support anybody. They said, ‘Would you support Ron Paul?’ Of course, I’d support anybody on the Republican ticket and I’ve said it throughout the course of this campaign.”

Santorum blasted the controversy over his remarks during an appearance Thursday in San Antonio as “a made-up story.” During that Texas speech, Santorum reiterated his argument for offering a conservative alternative to Obama by saying that if Republicans nominate Mitt Romney, “we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future.” (Click here to see full quote and video of Santorum’s San Antonio comments.)

In his Friday interview with Cavuto, Santorum clarified that remark, saying said he has been “traveling around this country saying that the highest priority is to defeat Barack Obama, and what I was saying there is that, if we don’t have a choice, then the American public, y’know, may decide to keep Barack Obama. That’s all I said. I’ve said it in every speech.”

The latest polls show Santorum with a double-digit lead among Louisiana Republicans on the eve of Saturday’s primary here.

I will have more quotes from Santorum’s interview with Cavuto, and will add reaction to his interview and video as they become available.

UPDATE: Alex Alvarez at the liberal Mediaite blog headlines this, “Neil Cavuto Hammers Rick Santorum Over Obama/Romney Comparison,” and calls the interview “a shouting match.” Cavuto was (a) at the very least playing devil’s advocate or (b) possibly even pushing Romney talking points. But I repeat myself.

Anyway, here’s the video:

UPDATE II: Fox News calls this a “fiery interview” and, indeed, Cavuto’s viewers saw the fiery side of Rick Santorum. Clearly, he has gotten sick and tired of what’s been happening the past few weeks: Reporters playing journalistic “gotcha” games, knowing that if they can be the first to find two “controversial” sentences in an hour-long Santorum speech and turn it into a catchy headline, they’re guaranteed a Drudge link.

Let those of you who are not Santorum fans ask yourself this important question: What if you were in Rick Santorum’s shoes?

What if you had spent all those months criss-crossing Iowa in a pickup truck, speaking to small groups of Republican voters. Sometimes less than a half-dozen would show up, but Rick would give them the full treatment, as if they were the most powerful and influential Republicans in Iowa — and, as it turned out, they were: When push came to shove, after the Perry bandwagon ran into the ditch, after the Cain Train ran off the rails, after Newt imploded, all those voters Santorum had been shaking hands with said to themselves, “You know something? We ought to vote for Rick. He’s earned it.”

And he earned it when nobody believed he could do it, when all he had was determination in the face of relentless discouragement.

Santorum didn’t have big money. He didn’t have praise from big-name pundits. He didn’t have the GOP Establishment on his side, and the major media gave him quite nearly zero coverage. But he kept plugging away — “Steady Eddie,” as he said — until he finally broke through.

So he did all that, campaigning for nearly a year, and now that he’s the leading rival to Mr. Inevitable, what kind of coverage does he get? “Gotcha”!

And too many conservatives, who should be defending Santorum against these attacks, are instead playing along with the media “gotcha” game, ready to throw Santorum under the Romney bus.

Let me tell you something: I remember when Charles Johnson tried to throw Pamela Geller under the wheels of his Little Green Bus, and I stood up and said not just no, but hell, no.

Maybe Rick Santorum’s not your favorite candidate. Maybe Pamela Geller’s not your favorite blogger. Maybe Rush Limbaugh’s not your favorite talk-radio host, but conservatives can’t let liberals tell us who our friends are.

Don’t let liberals tell you what to think. Don’t play along with the “gotcha” game. Don’t help them defame people’s reputations.

By God, REMEMBER BREITBART!

Update III (Smitty): thank you, Instapundit! I think Stacy may be in need of encouragement down in the Big Easy.

Update IV (Smitty): linked by CrackMC in a long meditation with quite a few interesting images and thoughts. Have to re-read that one.

Category: Election 2012, Fox News, Louisiana, Rick Santorum

Your Steven Crowder Fix

Posted on | March 23, 2012 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

Category: Uncategorized

BULLETIN: 5.0 Earthquake Hits Vanuatu; New Poll Shows Rick Santorum Headed for ‘Commanding Win’ in Louisiana Primary

Posted on | March 23, 2012 | 21 Comments

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana
News that the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu was shaken today by a 5.0-magnitude earthquake reached me at just the same time as news that the latest poll shows Rick Santorum way ahead here:

Rick Santorum is headed for a commanding win in Louisiana on Saturday. We find him with 42% to 28% for Mitt Romney, 18% for Newt Gingrich, 8% for Ron Paul, and 2% for Buddy Roemer.
It’s interesting to look at these numbers in the context of last week’s results in Alabama and Mississippi. Mitt Romney averaged 30% in those two contests, and that’s about where he is here. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich combined for 64% in those two contests, and they combine for a relatively similar 60% here. The big difference though is that conservative voters appears to be abandoning Gingrich for Santorum now, and that’s why Louisiana is likely to be much more lopsided than either of last week’s contests were. If Gingrich was completely out of the race Santorum would have a 22 point lead, 53-31, over Romney here with Paul at 11%
Santorum’s entire lead in Louisiana is coming with the furthest right factions of the Republican Party. He leads Romney 50-23 with ‘very conservative’ voters, 44-22 with Tea Partiers, and 51-23 with Evangelicals. Santorum also appears to have the late momentum on his side. Among those who’ve decided who to vote for in the last few days he’s at 47% to just 25% for Romney. That suggests he could end up winning by an ever wider margin than he has in this poll.

Ever since Dec. 1 — when an earthquake in Vanuate coincided with Santorum’s prediction that he would “surprise a lot of people” in Iowa — there has been a weird correlation between seismic events in the former French colony and surprising developments in the 2012 presidential campaign. The tale of my interest in this tiny island republic is perhaps too complex to relate in detail, but here are the key posts:

Basically, my wild mood swings, mirroring the gyrations in the GOP presidential race, have become inextricably linked to my ambitions for a diplomatic career as the first U.S. Ambassador to Vanuatu, a gig Rick Santorum promised me in early December when he was still in single digits in all the polls. (Don’t even think about reneging on that promise, Rick: I’ve got it on audio.)

That earthquake in Vanuatu on Dec. 1 became, to me, the cosmic portent — In Hoc Signo Vinces — that Santorum was 2012’s Man of Destiny and now, despite all the gaffes and disappointments and pundit talk about Romney’s “inevitability,” what do we see? Voters “abandoning Gingrich for Santorum,” so that the primary in Louisiana (once counted solidly in Newt’s column) is now looking like a double-digit blowout victory for Santorum.

You think Romney is “inevitable”? OK. Just don’t say it too loudly. God might hear you, and if The Big One hits Vanuatu . . .

Well, strange things keep happening. Probably just a coincidence.

UPDATE: Didn’t I just say strange things keep happening?

Newt: Why does Obama ‘behave the way
that people would think’ he’s Muslim?

Is that a “gaffe”? Is it just Newt’s desperate bid for for fringe votes? Or has Newt made a legitimate point that he might not bother to bring up in public if he weren’t so far down in the polls?

I’m just askin’ questions . . . Also, for reasons too complex to explain briefly, you should go hit Lisa Graas’s tip jar immediately.

Just do it, please.

UPDATE II: Almost forgot to hat-tip CO2Hog and Tah Deetz for the Twitter tip about the Vanuatu earthquake.


Category: Election 2012, Louisiana, Polls, Rick Santorum, Vanuatu

What Santorum Said, What He Meant, and What Romneybots Want You to Think

Posted on | March 23, 2012 | 51 Comments

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana
I posted the video last night, but considering the reaction, let’s once more let everybody see for themselves what Rick Santorum said:

“Republicans and conservatives who are so worried about, you know, getting control back — ‘We have to win and so we have to nominate someone who can appeal to more’ — no, you win by giving people a choice. You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there. If you’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future.”

Santorum was making the same argument Phyllis Schlafly made in her 1964 classic, A Choice Not an Echo. He is saying something he has said many times — and something Newt Gingrich has also said — that Romney fails to offer a clear contrast to Obama. In this context, when Santorum said “we might as well stay with what we have,” he clearly meant to express what the reaction of regular voters would be, if presented with someone who is just “a little different” than the incumbent.

Santorum did not express himself clearly, but awkwardness of expression is not the same as endorsing Barack Obama’s re-election.

The “Etch-a-Sketch” crew is claiming that Santorum actually said he would vote for Obama, thus prompting Santorum to issue a statement:

Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum made the following comment in reaction to the claim he would vote for President Obama.
Rick Santorum said: “I would never vote for Barack Obama over any Republican and to suggest otherwise is preposterous. This is just another attempt by the Romney Campaign to distort and distract the media and voters from the unshakeable fact that many of Romney’s policies mirror Barack Obama’s. I was simply making the point that there is a huge enthusiasm gap around Mitt Romney and it’s easy to see why — Romney has sided with Obama on healthcare mandates, cap-and-trade, and the Wall Street bailouts. Voters have to be excited enough to actually go vote, and my campaign’s movement to restore freedom is exciting this nation. If this election is about Obama versus the Obama-Lite candidate, we have a tough time rallying this nation. It’s time for bold vision, bold reforms and bold contrasts. This election is about more than Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, or Rick Santorum — this campaign is about freedom and I will fight to restore your freedoms.”

UPDATE: Other conservatives are coming to Santorum’s defense, including Matt Lewis at The Daily Caller:

His argument is (and you can disagree with it) is that voters just might make the calculus that, if you’re going to have to settle for Obama Lite any way, you might as well stick with Obama.
… If you’re going to have to settle for RomneyCare, why not stick with ObamaCare?
(Note: I know Santorum said “we,” but I’ve heard the shtick enough times to know what he meant. And what he meant was that “we” — the voters — want a clearer contrast.)
Santorum has been making this argument for months. This is a regular line of attack.

(Hat-tip: Pundette via Smitty on Twitter.) Lewis notes that, when a candidate has been saying the same thing over and over for months — as presidential candidates must do in their stump speeches — they sometimes gaffes by attempting to improvise a fresh iteration of what is (to them) a familiar point.

Santorum probably didn’t realize what he had said (as opposed to what he meant to say) and didn’t recognize how it might be misinterpreted until after it blew up into a huge “controversy.” And, frankly, I believe, many voters wouldn’t disagree even with what he actually said: Why take a chance on Romney — a guy who has been on both sides of every major issue — rather than just muddle along with the status quo?

A lot of voters indeed think that way, and the “Roll Over for Romney” crowd — who want conservatives to stop resisting Mr. Inevitable — are likely to re-learn an unfortunately familiar lesson if Mitt is the nominee.

RECENTLY:

Category: Election 2012, Rick Santorum

Could Individuals Eventually Sue To Escape Social Security?

Posted on | March 23, 2012 | 3 Comments

by Smitty

Making clear that the courts remain open for citizens who believe they are being “strong-armed” by the government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday gave property owners a right to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make an immediate challenge to an EPA order to stop a development that the agency says threatens the nation’s waters.

It is almost as though some theoretical notion of liberty remains in the U.S., despite the best efforts of the Progressive Universal Knowledge Enterprise. My hope is that we may eventually build upon this case to take on the bankrupt illusion of a safety net that grows, cancerously, within the federal government. I really don’t care about the return of what has been taken from me under those false promises: the more important thing is to protect the World’s Youngest Blogger from further damage to his future from them. As with any bad relationship, the answer is to cut ties, walk away, and club any emotional attachment like a baby seal.

Like the Heller case, it seems that it takes far too long for common sense to work its way through the Byzantine wreck that our courts have become. But, as I’ve been trying to tell Stacy, despair is not a strategy: we are going to have to work to recover some notion of America in an incremental way, over time. Victory belongs to those who show up, those who demonstrate stamina, and those that pass the ideas to a new generation.

Don’t give up the ship!

via SCOTUSblog via FedSoc Blog

Category: Supreme Court
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