The Other McCain

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

LIVE AT FIVE – 03.15.12

Posted on | March 15, 2012 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Syrian Loyalists Retake Idlib

Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad and his wife Asma

Year of protests and rebellion marked by ongoing slaughter

Obama, Cameron Discuss Tapping Oil Reserves
President seeking Euros’ approval to tap SPR as gas prices cripple re-election bid

Terp Goes Jihadi, Tries To Run Over Marines During Panetta Arrival
Stole truck and ignited fuel container; dead today of burns from botched attack



POLITICS
Senate Approves $109 Billion Transportation Bill

Waiting for the House, and Obama

Two-year bill a bipartisan compromise

Federal Appeals Court Allows Wolf Hunts To Continue

VP Biden Hits Campaign Trail In Ohio

NYPD Anti-Terror Surveillance Causes Jersey Heat

Former NY State Senator Espada On Trial For Embezzling From Nonprofits

Four Airports Loosen Security For Seniors



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
US Oil Prices Up Slightly On Economic Optimism
Gold Edges Up In Asia After Falling In U.S. Trading
U.S. May Sanction India On Iranian Oil Imports
Treasuries Extend Losses, 10-Year Bonds Hit 4.5 Year High
Apple Helps NASDAQ Close Over 3000
PayPal Said To Undercut Square With Mobile Swipe Device
S&P 500 Falls After Hitting Highest Mark Since June 2008
Boeing: We Are Not Writing Air India A Check For $500 Million
SAIC Settles CityTime Suit For $500.4 Million
SEC Cracks Down On Pre-IPO Trading
Apple May Climb Above $700 As iPad Sales Begin
Samsung’s Injunction Bid Against Apple Hits Setback
Former Microsoft Employee “Fixing” Windows 8
Congress Has More Questions On iPhone Privacy
Iran Blamed For Cyberattack On BBC
Google Exec Joins Microsoft, Trashes Google



SPORTS
Howard To Stay In Orlando After All?

Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard

Team wants to avoid another Shaq story

Knicks Rout Blazers After d’Antoni’s Resignation

Lions Re-Sign Calvin Johnson For Eight Years, $132 Million

Titans Owner Offers Manning Life Contract

Rose-Less Bulls Top The Heat

Avs Shock Sabres In OT Shootout

Bench Steps Up For Clippers In Defeat Of Hawks

Rockets Rout Bobcats

Royals Catcher Perez To DL With Knee Surgery

New Zealand Hits Back On Second Day Of Test After Middle Order Collapse

Uggla, Heyward Homer Off Strasburg As Braves Rally For 6-5 Win Over Nats



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Charlize Theron Adopts A Baby Boy

Charlize Theron

First child for South African actress; still no husband in picture

Kelly Clarkson Dating Reba McIntyre’s Stepson

J-Lo’s Stunt Double In Video Clip Is Actually A Guy

Jermaine Jones Off “American Idol”

Jon Hamm: K-Dash Slam Not Personal

Darren Criss Offered “X Factor” Hosting Job

Lohan Denies Hit & Run Allegations

Gillian Anderson Admits Hooking Up With Women, But Insists She’s Not Gay

CBS Renews 15 Series, “Two And A Half Men” Not One Of Them

Intrigue Behind Stopping The Clock On The “24” Movie



FOREIGNERS
One Cheer For The Departure Of Bo Xilai
Chongqing Party Boss Purged One Day After Criticism
Swiss Bus Crash Kills 28, Mostly Children
Congo Rebel Leader Convicted Of Using Child Soldiers
Nigeria Security Forces: Hostages Killed Before Raid
Netanyahu: Israel Will Protect Itself, Even If U.S. Objects
Sarkozy, Hollande Even In First-Round Poll
Prince Harry: I Hope I Have Done The Queen Proud
Lee, Obama Celebrate Implementation Of ROK-US Free Trade Agreement
Russian Female Punk Rockers To Remain In Jail For Anti-Putin Prayer: Looking At Seven Years For Hooliganism



BLOGS & STUFF
An Ex-Con’s View: A Disgrace To America
American Power: Possibility Of A Brokered Convention Less Remote After Santorum’s Southern Sweep
Michelle Malkin: What’s The Matter With Soledad O’Brien?
Powerline: If You’re A Republican, No Need To Panic
Cafe Hayek: The Right Way To Make Money
Chicago Boyz: Wall Street And Its Clients
Hit & Run: Romney/Paul Deal In The Making?
Gateway Pundit: UN Human Rights Council To Investigate U.S. Voter ID Laws
JustOneMinute: Poll Dancing And Spinning
American Conservative: Raven Chides Blackness
Legal Insurrection: The Real Threat To Conservative Talk Radio Is Not What You Think
Weasel Zippers: Woman Raped At Occupy New Haven

Category: Live at Five

A Santorum Miracle? ‘So Be It,’ Says Mitt

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | 31 Comments

“Romney campaign says losing nomination would take ‘act of God'”
— MSNBC, March 7

“Senator Santorum is at the desperate end of his campaign . . . He’s far behind in the delegate count, far behind in the popular vote count. If you look at the math, it’s a very difficult road for him.”
— Mitt Romney, March 13

“So far we have two, two and half times as many delegates as he has, millions of more votes than he has. . . . If he is able to pull off a miracle, then so be it.”
— Mitt Romney, March 12

Saw that last quote via It’s Only Words, who offers some excellent advice for Mitt Romney, although I’m not sure that he’s in a mood to listen. Nevertheless, there is evidence that despite all the bold talk of Romney’s “inevitability,” Team Mitt’s starting to sweat:

Romney was not planning to visit Illinois until Monday. Now, he adds a Friday morning campaign stop before flying to Puerto Rico.

Having complained bitterly about some of the Santorum campaign’s bungles, it is an undeniable fact that Santorum’s success is beginning to push the Romney campaign up against Mitt’s inherent limitations. If Santorum can keep up the pressure, it’s possible that Team Mitt could commit the kind of error that might turn the tide against Mr. Inevitable. And, regardless of what you may have heard, Romney is much weaker than the delegate-counters want to admit.

To illustrate why Republicans should be worried about Romney’s “inevitability,” here is the Wall Street Journal‘s delegate count:

Romney ……… 495 (53%)
Santorum ……. 252 (27%)
Gingrich …….. 131 (14%)
Paul ……………. 48 (5%)

 Via Dan McLaughlin at Red State, here are the vote totals to date:

Romney ……… 3,513,994 (38%)
Santorum ……. 2,405,653 (26%)
Gingrich ……… 2,094,267 (23%)
Paul ……………… 974,855 (11%)

So, while Romney currently has 53% of delegates, he has less than 40% of actual votes. Santorum has 27% of delegates and 26% of votes.

Why the extra delegate edge for Romney? Because Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have drastically underperformed in terms of delegate count: Between them, Newt and Paul have 34% of the votes, but only 19% of delegates, so that votes for either of them have had the practical effect of adding delegates for Romney!

More troubling, however, as Dan McLaughlin further demonstrates, is that Romney’s popularity is actually declining among Republican voters as the campaign continues:

Romney’s share of the vote decreased every month, from 40.5% in January to 39.8% in February to 36.3% in March. This is not the kind of performance that you expect from a candidate capable of winning people over to his side. That spells trouble if Mitt wins the GOP nomination.

What happened to Newt? His January numbers were high because of his Jan. 21 win in South Carolina (243,172) and his second-place finish in Florida (533,117) on Jan. 31. February was a wipeout for Gingrich, while his March total was boosted by his win in Georgia, where he got 424,976 votes, 38% of his total for the month to date.

Compared to Gingrich, Santorum has run a far more balanced campaign: He has won in the Midwest, the West and South, and has won in both primaries and caucuses. In terms of viability as a national candidate, Gingrich’s campaign has been largely an illusion. He has never won a caucus, and just three primaries — South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, about 1.2 million votes — account for 57% of his total votes so far.

Newt Gingrich was interviewed tonight by Greta Van Sustern, who acted as if Newt were still viable after losing Mississippi and Alabama. However — excuse me for repeating this, but it is very important — the Gingrich campaign still hasn’t announced its February fundraising totals, and may now be teetering on the brink of financial collapse:

Santorum has run a relatively low-budget campaign throughout the primary season, but the campaign announced recently that it raised $9 million in February, as he rose in the polls.
Gingrich’s financial picture is considerably more murky.
Campaign fund-raising and spending reports for February are not due to the Federal Election Commission until next week, but the Gingrich campaign spent little money on advertising in Mississippi and Alabama, even as Gingrich was saying the states were crucial to his success.
And Winning Our Future, the pro-Gingrich Super PAC that has been propped up by nearly $11 million in donations from the family of Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, has reduced its advertising on TV and invested in less-expensive radio ads, suggesting the PAC could be running low on money.

In that context, here is Santorum strategist John Brabender on CNN:

American Power headlines this, “Pressure Increasing for Newt Gingrich to Step Aside in GOP Race,” but there’s no need to “pressure” Gingrich to do anything. Newt’s losing and his campaign is probably broke, and what’s important now is for Republican primary voters to understand that there is no longer any point in voting for Gingrich.

If you want to stop Romney, vote for Santorum — period.

So, what’s Romney up to? Raising money at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, which should tell you something about his situation.

“Mitt Romney proudly supported the Wall Street Bailout that rewarded the reckless behavior of Wall Street Insiders — at the expense of the American taxpayer. Now that his campaign is looking to get some fast cash — he returned to the very people who benefited from the bailout — that Romney supported.”
— Hogan Gidley, Santorum campaign spokesman

Meanwhile, Santorum is campaigning in Puerto Rico, and leaving the fundraising to his grassroots supporters: His online money bomb has raised nearly $1 million in the past 24 hours.

A “miracle”? No, but it’s got to have Romney worried.

UPDATE: From Shane Vander Hart, who was one of the first bloggers to endorse Rick Santorum:

We were told by Newt Gingrich’s campaign spokesperson, R.C. Hammond, that Mississippi and Alabama were must wins for Gingrich to be considered a credible candidate. Newt Gingrich is no longer a credible candidate after last night’s losses. Now he says the goal is to keep Mitt Romney from securing the 1144 delegates needed to win the nomination since he recognizes he can’t achieve that number himself.

Shane quotes Jamie Weinstein of the Daily Caller:

But if Newt can’t win Mississippi and Alabama, where will he win? . . .
He’s functionally done, not being able to beat a Northerner in his Southern backyard.

“Functionally done” is an apt description. And this result is not Jamie Weinstein’s fault. It’s not my fault. It’s not Rick Santorum’s fault. Unfortunately, some Gingrich supporters want to blame people who explain to them that Newt can’t win, as though he could win, if only we’d be quiet and pretend he could.

Lashing out at scapegoats is not a useful substitute for success.

Category: Election 2012, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum

Did Bain Own Computer Associates?

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

A fuzzy memory of Mitt’s days as a pitchman for Computer Associates came to mind:

Romney is a timeless fellow. Hasn’t changed a bit since he cut that “How much software do you want to buy?” ad. Politics, software: it’s all sales to a businessman, no?  There was one where the sales dude comes up under the door, but I couldn’t find it.

On a more sober note, it appears Mitt could have frozen Santorum out in Illinois:

The decision produced a quiet storm of outrage among Romney’s allies in the state, who were bewildered by the decision to make a slam-dunk race competitive, and to grant an opening in the desperate scramble to reach the 1,144 delegates required for the Republican nomination.
“When there is a challenge filed because a campaign doesn’t file the required number of signatures, it’s pretty much a no brainer,” said a senior Romney supporter in Illinois. “The conservative folks started screaming bloody murder, and Rutherford caved.”

On the one hand, the party rules are a published affair. As with VA, Santorum was not in compliance. So Mitt has the rules clearly on his side.

On the other hand, if you’re truly confident that you’ve got it locked in, and represent the popular choice, being gracious is a sign of strength.

Category: humor

A Dry Shot Of Ott

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | Comments Off on A Dry Shot Of Ott

by Smitty

Category: humor, PJTV

Please: Hurt Karen Finney Some More

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | 11 Comments

Before we get around to explaining how you can hurt MSNBC analyst Karen Finney, we must ask: Why does Michelle Malkin hate women?

That’s right: Michelle Malkin’s Twitchy is advertising on the Hateful Misognystic Rush Limbaugh Show, so obviously, she hates women.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence, therefore, that it was via an item at Twitchy that I learned how you can hurt Karen Finney:

Karen Finney: “This woman vote really hurts me! …”
Lawrence O’Donnell: “Working women went for Rick Santorum in a big way: 49%. …”
Karen Finney: “It’s a little painful because I’m wondering if those women really heard the full message …”
— MSNBC, Tuesday, March 13

Oh, they “heard the full message,” all right: If you want to hurt Karen Finney, vote for Rick Santorum!

Also: Speak English, Puerto Ricans. Because it hurts Karen Finney even worse when you speak English while voting for Rick Santorum.

Category: Election 2012, Feminism, Michelle Malkin, MSNBC, Puerto Rico, Rick Santorum

Right-Winger Provoking ‘Insane’ ‘Racist’ Tea Party Violence … by Chris Rock?

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | 5 Comments

“When Celebrities Attack,” starring Jason Mattera:

Ed Morrissey has a point: Even if you think “ambush” interviews are unfair, shouldn’t it be obvious that attacking the camera is a bad idea? Welcome to the Bob Etheridge School of Media Relations!

 

Category: Books, Celebrities, Hollywood, Jason Mattera, Racism, Tea Party, Video

Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Mathematical Impossibilities Happen

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | 42 Comments

“Rick Santorum charged of out Tuesday’s wins in the South with a fresh claim to being the chosen son of the Republicans’ conservative flank. Mitt Romney limped out with something that could endure longer: an enhanced lead in delegates.
“Under the cruel math of the prolonged GOP primary race, Mr. Santorum’s victories in Alabama and Mississippi were more than negated by late-night Romney wins far to the west in the Pacific Ocean, in caucuses in Hawaii and American Samoa.”
— Neil King Jr., Wall Street Journal

“If Newt Gingrich drops out of the GOP primary after losing in Alabama and Mississippi yesterday, it could enable Rick Santorum to unite conservatives against Mitt Romney.”
— Greg Sargent, Washington Post

“As it turned out, the Lindsay campaign was fatally flawed from the start. It was all tip and no iceberg — the exact opposite of the slow-building McGovern juggernaut — but back in February it was still considered very shrewd and avant-garde to assume that the most important factor in a presidential campaign was a good ‘media candidate.’ If he had Star Quality, the rest would take care of itself.”
— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72

Went to bed last night — actually, about 3 o’clock this morning — happy to know that Rick Santorum had won Alabama and Mississippi and was on his way to a second-place finish in Hawaii.

And I woke up with a feeling of dread: Today is the day that I have to go through my travel records and gather up my expense receipts from 2011, because my wife has made an appointment Thursday for us to get our taxes done. The Beatles wrote a song about this.

Piled atop the tax-time misery, however, was the Fear and Loathing of what I was certain I’d encounter when I logged on this morning: Romneyites gloating about the delegate count.

Damn those Samoans! Damn them all to hell, I say!

Let Charles Johnson denounce me as an anti-Samoan bigot, I don’t care. Those island bastards put a smile on Jennifer Rubin’s smug face:

According to the Associated Press delegate count, Mitt Romney won 42 delegates last night to 38 for Rick Santorum. By winning nine delegates in American Samoa and 45 percent of the vote in Hawaii, Romney wiped out Rick Santorum’s narrow wins in the Deep South. And, just like Saturday, when Santorum won Kansas and lost ground to Romney, today Santorum’s task to get to 1,114 delegates (as he promised last night he would) is that much harder. …
Math, like gravity, can’t be ignored. . . .
There are 1,358 delegates yet to be awarded. Romney has 495. He needs 694 delegates, less than 48 percent of the remaining delegates, to wrap it up.

Evil Blogger Lady pointed out this Rubin-Romney gloatfest, and all the other Romneyites — including Hugh “Guess Who This Helps?” Hewitt — have joined in. Permit me, then, to piss in their cornflakes.

If you subtract nine Samoan delegates from Tuesday’s results, this seemingly inexorable March Toward Mittdom starts sliding back the other way, and we have passed the point in the schedule where Romney can keep padding his lead by scooping up uncontested delegates in farflung territories. Mitt’s got those 36 delegates from Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Marianas Islands and I’m sure they’ll all have a good time in Tampa, but the territorial RINO good times are over, baby.

Rick Santorum left Louisiana last night and flew to Puerto Rico for two days of campaigning. Puerto Rico votes Sunday, they’ve got 23 delegates and, while I’m not a Michael Barrone-type expert on stuff like this, do you think there might some Catholic voters in Puerto Rico?

Do you see what I’m talking about here? Rubin and Hewitt and all Mitt’s “inevitability”-mongers keep making the same mistake: They’re extrapolating the trend forward, as if this trend were a fixed factor in a polynomial equation and the actual campaign — you know, candidates giving speeches, shaking hands with voters and stuff like that — didn’t make any difference at all. Read more

Category: Alabama, Election 2012, Fear. Loathing., Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Puerto Rico, Rick Santorum, Shoe Leather Fund

If BBH Labs Was Employing The Homeless To Register Voters Or As ‘Sex Workers’, Would It Be OK?

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | 13 Comments

by Smitty

I need a little help understanding where BBH went wrong. You’re a company, you see a market, you hire some people (jobs!) and then you get a bunch of blowback? You’re paying a wage to unskilled people to be wireless hotspots. Unless there is some medical objection (and maybe constant exposure to that level of RF radiation is not a swift idea) the basis for attacking BBH escapes me.

I can only figure that (a) somebody else’s business model is jeopardized by this, (b) the Left is looking for distraction from #OccupyResoluteDesk and the economy he’s parked in the toilet, or (c) it’s just sheer anti-capitalistic commie talk from the usual suspects.

Now, if they were ennobling the homeless by having them register voters, or having them advocate Sandra Fluke’s crotch maintenance requirements alongside the WiFi business, would that be OK? Maybe this is all a question of bundling.

Category: American Power
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