The Other McCain

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

Righteous Indignation Meets The Grand Master

Posted on | March 9, 2012 | 9 Comments

— by Wombat-socho


This post is about two very different people who took the same journey at very different times. One of them grew up in poverty, and one in the middle class. One went to a well-known private school with all expenses paid; other other had to scramble to get an appointment to one of the service academies. One goofed around on the fringes of Hollywood for a few years before finally finding his niche in the Wild West scene of the early internet; the other contracted a serious disease and was medically discharged into one of the worst economic downturns in American history. One of them was an unthinking member of the liberal herd until his father-in-law suggested he listen to a notorious talk-show host; the other dabbled in all manner of esoteric political and social cults before maturing as a “hard” libertarian. One died on the verge of launching a posthumous counterstrike against the Soviets’ memetic weapon; the other would go to his grave despairing that America would ever recover from its egalitarian socialist madness, even as his writings continued to inspire libertarians and conservatives alike.


I am, of course, speaking of Andrew Breitbart and Robert Heinlein. Both of them made the journey from socialism to conservatism, or at least to libertarianism, and while the details in both cases make for interesting reading, the point of this post is to show that both of them left important gifts to the conservative movement. I got the first volume of Heinlein’s biography Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century two years ago as a Christmas gift for my Kindle, and while you should definitely read its account of Heinlein’s part in the internecine struggles of the California Democratic Party during the Depression, what I really want to point you at is his 1946 political tactics manual, Take Back Your Government. There are two versions of this book on the market right now; Baen has an e-book based on the 1992 edition which includes incomplete notes and a forward by Jerry Pournelle* and the 2012 edition of Take Back Your Government, which as Heinlein’s biographer William H. Patterson explains is the original 1946 edition. I personally prefer the 1992 edition because there have been quite a few technological changes since 1946, and Pournelle makes a noble attempt to take note of them. In any event, Heinlein’s book, originally titled How To Be A Politician, has everything you need to know about building a political organization from the ground up, starting at the precinct level and ending with the election of your candidate to Richmond or Washington or wherever it is you’re trying to send Bulldog T. Goodfellow. It is retail, street-level politics; it is all about the going out and knocking on doors and getting to know your neighbors so you know who needs a reminder or a lift to the polls on election day, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. At a time when we are trying to tear the controls of the GOP away from the Establishment, it could not possibly be more useful.


On the other hand, Andrew Breitbart’s Righteous Indignation is an attitude adjuster; it distills much of the territory previously covered in Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism down to a couple of easily-digestible chapters, and carries on from there to sound a call to arms. There is not so much of the nuts and bolts of New Media culture warfare in here, although there are plenty of examples to follow; instead, I think Breitbart is shooting for an adjustment to your headspace that will better enable you to deal with the kind of rhetorical, solipsistic lies and horseshit flung by the Left every day of the week against people who dare to think and act differently from the New Leftist Dispensation. Read both. Use both. Go forth and kick ass. You have a nation to save, one precinct at a time.


*No blame attaches to Dr. Pournelle; they wanted the book out in time for Ross Perot’s 1992 campaign and didn’t give him enough lead time.


UPDATE: Bill Quick links, but misses the point. Part of it is because I stupidly forgot to attach my tagline to the post, so he thinks this is Stacy’s opinion, but the other part is because I’m talking about tools. The comparison of Breitbart and Heinlein is just an introduction.

Category: Andrew Breitbart, Books, History, Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

#OccupyMusicIndustry Lost Logan Lynn

Posted on | March 9, 2012 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

The full feed from the Puffington Host brings in the occasional gem like Logan Lynn: “Guess What? Stealing Is Still Wrong”
I listend to a couple of his acoustic tracks, and think his acoustic stuff compares favorably with Jack Johnson. Which makes this amuzing:

I know this is the part where all the kids and hipsters start to roll their eyes and say things like, “You just don’t get it, grandpa,” and, “It’s freedom of speech,” but I don’t actually believe that stealing my intellectual property is your constitutional right. Sorry, everybody. I get that you are used to consuming music like it’s chewing gum, but those days are numbered. I’m glad that file sharing companies are getting shut down, and I’m happy that the people who have been stealing from me and my fellow record-makers all these years are going to pay for their crimes (or at least stop doing illegal piracy facilitation business as usual). Organizing a $180,000 heist would get you sent to prison in real life, so what’s the difference?
Next time you hear a song you like, I encourage you to purchase it instead of stealing it. Supporting independent musicians just feels better than robbing us of our livelihood. I promise! Hell, you could even go to your favorite local record store, buy a CD, and look at the cover art for hours. You know, for old times’ sake.

I don’t want to kick a guy when he’s down, or blame the victim. How to make this point positively?

Mature adults don’t engage in individual, petty theft. You can argue that the U.S. government, as a whole is the largest group heist in human history, and I won’t turn in a counter-argument. But mature adults grasp that respecting the market, like any other relationship, is what mature adults do.

And yet the federal government has engaged in systemic attacks on faith, the family, and adulthood for so long that we have an entire generation of moochers to show for it. Socialism is the antithesis of private property, mature adulthood, and “old time’s sake”.

I rather hope that the realization that #OccupyAmerica is a form of hell populated by bratty children will shock you into a process of maturation, out of which could potentially emerge a conservative with actual. . .values.

Also, I bought “Feed me to the Wolves” on Amazon. There may be a market for men who natter on about trying “to find a way to ease this pain.” Hopefully Lynn can get past it all someday, look back on this, and grasp the contempt with which grown men regard this sort of thing.

Category: Uncategorized

LIVE AT FIVE – 03.09.12

Posted on | March 9, 2012 | 11 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Keystone Pipeline Amendment Fails In Senate

Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, Patty Murray talk to the press

Amendment fails 56-42 with 11 Democrats supporting it; needed 60 to pass

Outgoing Snowe Endorses Scott Brown
Calls him “an independent voice”; endorsement follows Chris Christie’s


Viral Video Of African Warlord Draws Eyeballs, Concern About Facts

h/t George Takei on Facebook.

Invisible Children video draws hits, but ultimately, what good will their slick little production do?







POLITICS
White House, USDA Coordinated On Sherrod Ouster

Former Ag Department bureaucrat Shirley Sherrod

E-mails show White House in the loop up through Secretary Vilsack’s decision to fire her following release of Breitbart video

Mississippi Supremes Uphold Controversial Barbour Pardons


Alabama Barred From Enforcing Stricken Parts Of Immigration Law During Appeal

Warren’s Support From Hollywood Stars Criticized

Michigan Cuts Off Food Stamps For Lottery Winner

Pat Robertson Calls For Legalization Of Weed

SPLC Running Low On Dough, Bleating About “Hate Groups” Again
If you’re reading this, you should denounce yourself immediately, you RAAAAACIST!



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Gold Rises Above $1700 On Asian Trading
Oil Gains On Optimism Over Greece Deal
Jobless Rate Often Too Rosy; Today’s 8.3% Could Actually Be As High As 15.1%
Investors Agree To Swap Nearly 85% Of Greek Debt
Dollar Shave Club Launches Razor Subscription Service
Economy’s Woes Dampen McDonald’s February Sales
Spanx Inventor Now Youngest Self-Made Billionaire Woman
Justice Department Warns Apple, Publishers It Plans To Sue On E-Book Collusion
PC Sales Expected To Grow Despite iPad
Google Pushing Developers To Use Google Wallet?
Judge Bars Apple From Suing Kodak Over Patents
“Bioshock Infinite” Has That Title For A Reason



SPORTS
Fenway Park Wins Historic Place Registration

Now taking its place among America's most historic locations

Oldest operating major-league park now comes under scrutiny of state historical commission for any changes

FBI Probing Auburn’s Ward For Point Shaving

Lingerie Football League Player Tired Of Skimpy Uniforms

Howard, Magic Snap Bulls’ Eight-Game Win Streak

Big East: Orange Supreme, Will Face Bearcats After Hoyas Fall In OT

Bruins Have No Answers In Pac-12 Flameout

Sharks Fall To Stars In Shootout, 4-3

Four Nats’ Pitchers Combine For 8-0 Shutout Of Astros



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Mad Woman, Bad Girl

Elisabeth Moss from "Mad Men"

Elisabeth Moss opens up to Page Six after her divorce

Eva Longoria, Eduardo Cruz Split

Amanda Bynes Bolts From Cops During Traffic Stop

Goldie Hawn Likes Her Some Open Bar

Britney Spears Nearing Deal To Judge “X Factor”

JWoww’s Landlord Sues Over Unauthorized “Jersey Shore” Filming On His Property, Also, Damage


Elle Fanning To Join Angelina Jolie In “Maleficent”

Denise Richards To Star In “Blue Lagoon” Reboot

Whitney Houston’s Will Approved By Judge

Sammi Sticks Up For “Jersey Shore” Co-Star Snooki: “It’s Not Like She’s 16 And Pregnant!”



FOREIGNERS
Syrian Rebels Reject Annan’s Call For Dialogue
Annan Warns Against Arming Syrian Rebels
British, Italian Hostages Killed In Nigeria During Rescue Attempt
Amid Intrigue, Chongqing Party Boss Speaks Out
Afghans Lampoon Clerics Over Code Of Conduct For Women
ROK Activists Take Up Cause Of Norks Held By PRC
Russian Protester Finds Another Path To Power In Moscow



BLOGS & STUFF
Rush Limbaugh: The WaPo’s Alexandra Petri Is A Liar
John Nolte: Ben Smith On Obama Harvard Tapes – Nothing To See Here
Lonely Conservative: Did Obama Use The Derrick Bell Model For Choosing His Staff?
Gateway Pundit: Stunner – CNN Plays Race Card Against Breitbart Editor For Posting Radical Obama Video
Ed Driscoll: This Is CNN – The Wright-Free Zone Beclowns Itself Yet again
NRO Corner: Alabama State U. Poll Shows Santorum Leading Romney, Gingrich 23-19-14
Weasel Zippers: Gallup Says Unemployment Now At 9.1%, Underemployment 15.1%
Bryan Preston: Obama Broke The XL, Now He Owns It
NRO’s The Agenda: The Point Of The Ron Paul Movement
Just One Minute: I’m Not Even Asking About The Testing Or Quality Control
Pat Dollard: Obama Denies Israeli Request For Weapons Needed To Strike Iran Until After The Election
Richard Epstein: My Response To Levinson’s Jeffersonian Proposal
Atlas Shrugs: UN Panel To Condemn Israel Over Treatment Of Women
Washington Free Beacon: Secretary Sebelius Has No Idea If Obamacare Adds To The Deficit
Sister Toldjah: My Declaration Of #War Against The #WarOnWomen Hysterics

Category: Live at Five

Busted by Twitchy: @Soledad_OBrien Loves Her Some ‘Critical Race Theory’

Posted on | March 9, 2012 | 14 Comments

Hey, remember when CNN’s Soledad O’Brien melted down on TV and tried to depict Joel Pollak as a racist? Wasn’t that awesome?

Well, here’s some more awesomeness: Much like Barack Obama, Soledad O’Brien is a huge fan of Professor Derrick Bell, the “critical race theory” guy the Breitbart.com video was all about.

The Internet doesn’t forget, and the new site Twitchy has aggregated Soledad O’Brien’s Tweets and re-Tweets paying tribute to Professor Bell when he died last October. So:

It’s all about the “narrative,” as somebody used to say.

(Hey, this Twitchy thing is pretty cool, considering it was invented by a “mashed up bag of meat” who doesn’t seem to be in much of a mood for Keith Olbermann’s pathetic self-serving “apologies.” I’m going to say something about this “civility” and “war on women” stuff at some future point, but don’t want to distract any further from the narrative. See, there was this guy who always kept talking about the importance of the narrative, and he wouldn’t want me to distract you from that.)

UPDATE: More for the narrative via Twitter (specifically Jana_1977‘s re-Tweet of CFHeather): Discover the Network’s file on Professor Bell, which explains that critical race theory is “an academic tradition in which race plays the same role as class plays in the Marxist paradigm.”

Exactly so and, I would add, the ideologies of feminism, gay rights and environmentalism are also “boutique Marxism” in this way.

Category: Barack Obama, CNN, Intellectuals, Media Bias, Racism

Great Excuses For Blogus Interruptus

Posted on | March 8, 2012 | 22 Comments

by Smitty

It doesn’t get much better than: “I was being attacked by the World’s Youngest Blogger”.

Category: humor, World's Youngest Blogger

Can’t Understand Why Anyone Of Jewish Extraction Would Vote For BHO

Posted on | March 8, 2012 | 16 Comments

by Smitty

Then again, I can’t understand why anyone espousing Christianity would. Or anyone who knows shred #1 about American History. Or Economics. Or lacks a union membership. Maybe #OccupyResoluteDesk should have paraphrased the Bee Gees at AIPAC: “How deep is your rut? Is your rut? How deep is your rut? I really need to know. . .”

via Atlas Shrugs

Category: Barack Obama

Middle School Teacher Named ‘Stacie’ Caught in Perhaps Predictable Scandal

Posted on | March 8, 2012 | 55 Comments

Let’s face it: If you ever hire somebody with a name like that, you can generally expect trouble to result:

Stacie Halas, a 31-year-old science teacher at Richard B. Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard, was removed from the classroom Monday, three days after pupils reported spotting her in a series of X-rated clips.
“Maybe it’s not a crime as far as the penal code is concerned, but we feel it’s a crime as far as moral turpitude is concerned,” said Jeff Chancer, superintendent of the Oxnard school district. . . .
Halas . . . uses the stage name “Tiffany Six.”

What sort of “science” was Miss Halas teaching those kids? Did her duties include teaching the sex education classes that are now mandatory in California public schools? The question must also be asked why, if there was “moral turpitude” in Miss Halas performing as “Tiffany Six,” there was no criminal complaint against whichever Web site operator exposed her X-rated performances to her middle-school students?

Isn’t it illegal to show that stuff to kids? So why aren’t the proprietors of these sites held legally responsible for ensuring that kids don’t have access to these sites? But these are not the only serious questions raised by this disturbing news story.

How and where did these students see “Tiffany Six” in action? Did they volunteer this information to school officials? How much time elapsed between (a) when the students first figured out that their science teacher was “Tiffany Six” and (b) when students first made school officials aware of their employee’s extracurricular activities?

Am I the only one who suspects that Miss Halas’s video performance career may have been something of an “open secret” among her students for many weeks or months before somebody brought this to the attention of administration officials? How many of her students had seen these videos during whatever period of time it took for officials to become aware of this and take action?

Such questions are very important, because this isn’t the first time there has been a sex scandal at this Oxnard school:

Back in 2010, the very same Richard B. Haydock Intermediate School where Halas worked was in the news for a similar scandal, when two middle school students were caught videotaping themselves having oral sex in a classroom. . . .
According to ABC News, officials were notified that two junior-high school students, a boy and a girl, engaged in oral sex during class time. Even worse, some of the students were said to have started recording the two minors going at it on their cell phone cameras.

The kids got in trouble for producing their own amateur version of exactly what science teacher Stacie Halas allegedly did in her career as the professional performer “Tiffany Six.” Some people might think the following quote is slightly relevant:

“For more than a decade, California’s dedication to teaching comprehensive sex education has made the state a national leader . . .”
— Lauren Shaw-Stryker, Planned Parenthood

A national leader! And “dedication to teaching,” indeed!

Certainly, public schools around the country must be struggling to keep pace with the cutting-edge “comprehensive sex education” offered in California, where middle-school students watch videos of their teachers having sex and make their own sex videos in class.

Of course, this story doesn’t involve a Catholic priest or a radio talk-show host, or else the media might think it was a real scandal.

Possibly related: Is pornography really harmless? And finally: Would it be OK for Rush Limbaugh to call “Tiffany Six” a slut?

UPDATE: Conservative Hideout offers thoughts on moral relativism and Cultural Marxism in “Calipornia.”

Welcome, Instapundit readers! At least one of the commenters didn’t get the humor of the first line about why it’s always trouble to hire someone with a name like “Stacie.” Would it help to explain that this is self-deprecating humor?

But if you have to explain a joke . . .


Category: California, Education, Scandal, Sex

Webfoot Art Robinson For Congress!

Posted on | March 8, 2012 | 3 Comments

by Smitty

While I live in the shadow of Mount Vernon, I actually hail from the left coast. Coos Bay, smack in the heart of Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, in fact. Looking at the Wikipedia page, it looks like they’ve been electing the same leftist tool there for longer than ‘Gentleman’ Jim Moran has besmirched the memory of George Washington. Which is bizarre; my kin in Oregon really aren’t granola heads. I blame California for this sorry situation.
Dr. Art Robinson sounds like what the webfeet need:

Dr. Art Robinson is an internationally respected scientist and educator, successful businessman, skilled public speaker, and expert on energy, medicine and emergency preparedness. He worked on medical and defense issues during the Reagan administration and on energy issues during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Art gathered the signatures of more than 31,000 American scientists on a petition urging the U.S. government not to take action on the scientifically invalid claim that human activities warm the earth.
Art graduated from CalTech and, after receiving his PhD in chemistry from the University of California at San Diego, was immediately appointed to the faculty there.

What is the point of having a blog if you can’t toot the horn for genuine Americans?

Art Robinson For Congress!

Aside: Oregonians know that ‘webfoot’ is an acceptable demonym. The Oregon football team is the ducks, and ducks have webbed feet. Just so that those who’ve been whipped to a hyper-sensitive froth by the Left don’t think there is something strange going on.

Category: Election 2012, Oregon
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