The Other McCain

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

It Will Be Interesting To See If Mead Has Read Golberg, Or Listened To Whittle

Posted on | January 31, 2012 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

Via Insty, this new series by Walter Russell Mead is either going to get meatier, or stay out in geosynchronous orbit and suck:

It is, of course, a very similar situation today. The forces ripping up our old social model are too powerful to beat. That is not because the rich bankers or global multinationals are engaged in a conscious conspiracy of rip-offs and oppression (though, frankly speaking, big business does sometimes engage in exactly that). It is because the forces ripping up the social model are deeply implanted in the nature of the economic system — and that system is a reflection of the propensities in human nature which we cannot and perhaps should not overcome.

I realize I’m supposed to bow to the fact that Mead has a whole shelf of books under his name.

But, as a glance at Liberal Fascism or a gander at Bill Whittle reveal, the pendulum did not merely swing from Locke to Rousseau according to some Newtonian fancy: there has been a deliberate, sometimes benign, more often malevolent attack on Rationalism and American Exceptionalism underway for a few score years now.

It will thus be interesting if Mead just offers a bunch of ‘as with the weather, things changed‘ navel gazing, or has the courage to step up, admit we’ve been rooked, and raise a call to serious consideration. Panic isn’t helpful, but neither is the 22,236 mile view.

Category: Blogging, Instapundit

Madness On The Conservative Front

Posted on | January 31, 2012 | 51 Comments

by Smitty

Breitbart.tv has said “NEWT DENIED ADVOCATING INDIVIDUAL MANDATE DURING THURSDAY’S DEBATE, 2009 AUDIO PROVES HE DID”
At Legal Insurrection:

This is wrong. I have listened to the entire audio recording, and Newt does not endorse the Obamacare mandate, in part because the speech took place before even the earliest draft of Obamacare had been proposed.
The actual discussion in the recording is nothing new, listen for yourself, it shows Newt saying what he has said before about not allowing free riders at hospitals including either having insurance or showing that you have the ability to pay. You can like it or not, but it’s not new or news, as Verum Serum acknowledges in its post.
The recording does not support the conclusion that Newt supported Obama’s federal mandate, which uses the police powers of the state to force people to buy insurance or face penalties.
At the time of Newt’s presentation, in May 2009, the earliest versions of Obamacare had not yet been released. Newt specifically notes that the details of what would be proposed were unknown and (at 27:00) the process was still in the “wish list press conference stage.”
The initial version of Obamacare was not released until early June 2009. My first blog post about the early draft (the Senate HELP Committee version) of Obamacare was on June 16 regarding the CBO assessment. Various iterations of Obamacare were proposed throughout June -August. The Obamacare legislation and mandate eventually focused on using the IRS as the enforcer.

I’d have listened to the audio myself, but the page requires SilverLight, and I’m booted on a Mac at the moment.

Irrespective of the audio content, I (a) favor Prof. Jacobson’s opinion by default, and (b) can’t figure out what the devil is going wrong with the conservative blogosphere. The candidates all suck: get over it. There is no reasonable way this audio proves two contradictory conclusions. There are a lot of unreasonable ways that people could be spreading hasty propaganda in an effort to skew results.

Don’t be hasty! Even if the intent is not evil, crapflooding has evil results. We expect that from the Left. Have your preferred candidates, but understand that, post-convention, we still have to coalesce as a team.

Hopefully the facts will shake out, and we can have a jolly round of kum-bah-yah at CPAC.

Later. . .

Via Althouse, Politico (my elbiB) has “Newt expressed support for Obama health care plan in ’09”

He also discussed the concept of a mandate:
We believe that there should be must carry – that is, everybody should either have health insurance or if you’re an absolute libertarian, we would allow you to post a bond, but we would not allow people to be free riders failing to insure themselves and then showing up at the emergency room with no means of payment.

So, in defense of Newt, as Jacobson notes: “At the time of Newt’s presentation, in May 2009, the earliest versions of Obamacare had not yet been released. Newt specifically notes that the details of what would be proposed were unknown and (at 27:00) the process was still in the “wish list press conference stage.””

Has Newt Gingrich sinned against the Holy Spirit? Will conservatives eschew Newt at the ballot box, only to fall into the warm embrace of CthulhuRomBamaCare?

If we’re that dumb, we deserve #OccupyResoluteDesk. Go, Rick Santorum!

In other can-we-please-think-about-what-we-are-saying news, Maggie’s Notebook has a detailed look at the Allen West redistricting saga. Districts are some of the most sausage-y things going, as parties gerrymander for fun and lock-in to maximize political power. To contend that a former governor and POTUS candidate from another state is having any direct affect on the Florida redistricting is just a little far out there.
I have no facts, but a couple of points to ponder are that West may have the best chance to raise funds to go for some of that blue territory, or West may secretly not be interested in swimming in the political septic tank any longer; or this was seen as the most likely means of maximizing GOP seats; or West lost a golf bet.
Political parties suck. Given the opportunity to be radical, I would have a mapping algorithm contest to see who can publish the shortest and most elegant algorithm for calculating the most even districts in each state. Let there be as many useful inputs for the calculation as desired, but let it be Open Source and the data freely available.
The more we do to make politics transparent and freely accessible to all, the more participation we are likely to enjoy, and the less of a godforsaken, graft-driven racket we’ll endure.
More at Legal Insurrection, mostly blowing away my speculation.

And, just when you thought the suction had hit hard vacuum, via Daily Pundit, none less than The World’s Most Tired Warhorse drops a few more road apples:

“We’ve got to stop the debates. Enough with the debates because they are driving up our candidates, all of them, unfavorabilities.”

Buzz off and go park in the jacuzzi, man (a completely watered-down version of my actual sentiment). We don’t need less debates, we need more! We need actual moderators (say, conservative bloggers) and substantive debate on the issues like the Federal Reserve.

Not needed: the Ruling Class Overlords who kinda created this mess telling us to sit down and shut up. The “we may be incompetent, but we’re all you’ve got” argument belongs in Brussells, Senator McCain. Why don’t you consider going there. Permanently. With the rest of your ilk.

Category: Allen West, Newt Gingrich

Congratulations, Perry Supporters!

Posted on | January 31, 2012 | 56 Comments

His doomed campaign pissed away $20 million and never finished better than fifth place anywhere.

Let’s see: Perry got 12,557 votes in Iowa and 1,766 votes in New Hampshire, for a total of 14,323 votes, and then quit two days before South Carolina, which was supposed to have been his “firewall” state. By comparison, the pointless campaign of Jon Huntsman got 739 votes in Iowa and 41,945 in New Hampshire, a total of 42,684 votes — nearly three times Perry’s total, and I rather doubt Huntsman spent three times as much money.

Just ask yourselves, Perrybots, what might have been possible if some other candidate — any other candidate, perhaps one who could remember how to count to three — had an extra $20 million to spend here in Florida. But no, you spent months telling the rest of us that Rick Perry was The Only Conservative Who Could Beat Romney, an argument you didn’t hesitate to repeat as late as December, long after it was apparent that he wasn’t ready for prime time. And you still refuse to admit that you were misled, and helped mislead others, into jumping aboard that hopeless Bandwagon to Loserville. And who warned you, huh?

“What I fear will happen is that Perry will spend several months sucking up media oxygen and burning through GOP donor cash, only to collapse early next year. This will have the effect of suffocating other conservative candidates, and thereby lead to … Romney 2012.”

Wrote that August 9. Perry’s failure was entirely predictable. But you knew everything and wouldn’t listen to me.

“Howdy. Thank you, Erick.”

Category: Election 2012, Rick Perry

LIVE AT FIVE – 01.31.12

Posted on | January 31, 2012 | 7 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Buoyant Romney Speaks Of Victory In Florida

Mitt Romney greets supporters on the campaign trail in Florida

Aiming to crush the opposition with decisive win

Syrian Rebels Block Assad Family’s Escape
Convoy to Damascus airport blocked, forced to return to capitol by Free Syrian Forces


STOCK Act Advances In Senate
Bill would prohibit insider trading by Congressmen



POLITICS
DC Occupods Remain Peaceful As No-Camping Deadline Passes

Filthy hippies in McPherson Square

Noon deadline passes with no enforcement action by Park Service

Oakland Trying New Tactics Against Occupods

Congressional Democrats Step Up Soak-The-Rich Efforts

Air Force Disciplines Airmen Over Coffin Photo

Marine Admits Hazing Squaddie Who Suicided In Afghanistan

Gingrich Sued Over Use Of “Rocky III” Theme Song

Catholics Vow To Resist HHS Contraception Mandate



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Falls As Eurozone Woes Spur Demand Concerns
Asian Stocks Rise As Investors Watch Europe
Facebook Readies IPO Filing
China Loses Trade Appeal Over Export Curbs
Treasury Investigates Freddie Mac Investments
Starbucks, Tata Venture To Open First Stores In India
FTC Fines Debt Collector $2.5 Million
Intuit: Small Businesses Add 50K Jobs In January But Wages, Hours Fall
Gold Edges Higher As Dollar Slips
Panasonic Releases New Superzoom And Tough Compact Cameras
Ten Reasons The Enterprise Is Backing Away From Blackberry
Apple’s iOS Dethrones Android – For Now
Kindle Fire Sales Hit 6 Million In Q4
E-Mail Giants Team Up To Phight Phishing



SPORTS
Sixers Stifle Magic With Defense

Andre Iguodala, en route to 14 points and a double double

Magic loses fourth game in a row

Hornets Feel The Burn In 105-95 Loss To Miami

Beasley Scores 34 As Timbermutts Take Down Rockets



#4 Missouri Edges Texas 67-66

Where Bad Shooting And Bad Defense And Bad Rebounding All Come Together: Spurs 83, Grizzlies 73

Lady Huskies Show Up Duke In Durham Again

Imran Goes To Bat For Test Cricket, Urges India To Get Its Structure Right

The Atlanta Braves’ Winter Hibernation



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Steve Jones, Nicole Scherzinger Not Returning To “X Factor”

Last season's "X Factor" judges

Oh, and Paula Abdul’s not coming back either

Cynthia Nixon Clarifies Her Remarks On Being Gay

Demi Moore Undergoes “Spiritual Counseling” While Kids Remain With Bruce Willis




Shirley MacLaine To Join “Downton Abbey” Cast

Jennifer Lopez: Not Time To Think About Marriage Yet

Brad Pitt On “Moneyball”, Kids, And Marriage

Flavor Flav’s Daughter – The Mug Shot

Hand Trying To Win Job



FOREIGNERS
Fighting Escalates In Syria As Opposition Rejects Russian Plan
Group Of Americans Takes Refuge At U.S. Embassy In Egypt After Being Prevented From Leaving Country
UK, Czechs Refuse To Sign EU Fiscal Discipline Treaty
African Union Extends Mandate Of Current Head, Exposing Divisions
Russian Futures Climb As Putin Vows To Reduce State Role In Economy
No Agreement From Kiir, Bashir On Oil Talks
Hamid Karzai Plans Talks With Taliban
Winter Cold Snap Kills 32 In Eastern Europe



BLOGS & STUFF
WyBlog: Listen, Numbnuts, Don’t Mess With Chris Christie
Powerline: Are Federal Employees Overpaid?
PJ Tatler: Thank You, DHS, For Saving Us From The Deadly Threat Of Tweeting Gay Brit Twits
Hot Air: Voters Increasingly Dissatisfied With GOP Field
Professor Bainbridge: A Remarkably Narrow Definition Of Religion
Don Surber: Juan Williams Plays Dumb
Weasel Zippers: Incredibly Ugly DNC Chief Won’t Apologize For Blaming Giffords Shooting On The Tea Party
Verum Serum: Costa Concordia Metaphor Has Appeared In 25+ Political Cartoons So Far
Althouse: Jonathan Franzen Whines About E-Books
NRO Corner: Palin Says “Vote For Newt. Annoy A Liberal”
Legal Insurrection: Florida Redistricting Looking Even Worse
Babalu: Why I’m Voting For Newt Gingrich


SOTD: Where U At Rock

Category: Live at Five

Aw, C’mon, Dan: How About A Little Real World View? UPDATE: Meet. . .
Willard Fabio

Posted on | January 30, 2012 | 12 Comments

by Smitty

It may be the case that Stacy made an accidental left turn on Kübler-Ross Drive while in Florida. However, noticing the fact that Bruce CampbellMitt Romney looks nearly Clooney-esque in his chiseled, masculine perfection, in contrast to the former Speaker-as-big-as-the-House, is just blatantly obvious.

Should the election be solely about ideas and policy? Sure. Do the appearances matter. You bet your frickin’ bippy they do. Thus we see, about 5 seconds in:Stacy McCain, future U.S. Ambassador to Vanuatu, dispensing fashion wisdom to Rick Santorum. Look for the loud print sweater vest and clashing fedora any day now.

In response to you conclusion about Mitt:

Because he can not win the argument on principle, he is destroying his opponent’s image, name and reputation. Let’s not pretend it’s a new tactic, or that he’s suddenly become something he is not, a charismatic conservative leader.

Look: either the American people are an idiotic pack of sheep, in which case we might as well just post LOLCats and start loving RomBamaCare, or we rally the troops around NotMittRomney and keep our Republic.

Should candidates care about their physical appearance? Sure. Newt should have a personal trainer and trim down. Discipline starts with the self.

Should we fear barrages of attack ads? We should fear un-educated voters far more.

Update: from the seed of an idea, the Curmudgeon at Political Clown Parade gives us Willard Fabio:

Category: Dan Riehl

UPDATE: Newt’s Populist Turn

Posted on | January 30, 2012 | 24 Comments

FORT MYERS, Fla.
6:51 p.m. ET: During his speech today at Page Field, Newt Gingrich spun a conspiratorial view of the opposition to him, saying that Mitt Romney’s campaign is using “recycled” bailout money to attack him.

Saying that Goldman Sachs chose Barack Obama in 2008, Gingrich said the giant Wall Street bank — using taxpayer funds from bailouts — had “recycled” that money into support for Mitt Romney’s campaign. Gingrich said that, if elected president, he would request “a thorough audit” to find out “where the money went.”

Gingrich also referenced remarks by international financier George Soros critical of his campaign. Soros, Gingrich said, was “in Europe, and he’s explaining to Europeans the American campaign … And so Soros says, you know, we think either Obama or Romney’s fine, but Gingrich, he would change things.” Gingrich said, “They are uncomfortable with me and they should be.”

I’m sitting here comparing notes with Jeff Briscoe from Port Charlotte, whose site is Report Bucket. Neither of us seems to have the Goldman Sachs conspiracy remarks on video — I switched between photo and video mode during the speech — but during the speech, I provided an open phone link for Pete Da Tech Guy who transcribed much of it live, and he provides these direct quotes: “Goldman Sacks is very uncomfortable with me. . . . Those ads are your money recycled to attack me.”

Gingrich described his campaign as one of “grassroots populist conservatism” versus “The Establishment.” He cited the fact that Herman Cain appeared with him today here and elsehwere on the campaign trail, and also that Todd Palin has agreed to record a message of support for automated get-out-the-vote phone calls.

* * * PREVIOUSLY (2:40 p.m. ET) * * *

Sitting here at a McDonald’s on Colonial Boulevard a half-mile from Page Field, where Newt Gingrich and Michael Reagan will hold a “grassroots rally” at 3 p.m. I’m not expecting much of a crowd for a mid-afternoon event on a Monday, but maybe I’ll be surprised. There were already three TV satellite trucks at the site when I cruised by about 1:3o p.m., and there were lots of cops preparing for a heavy security presence.

Listening to Rush Limbaugh on the way up here from Naples, the commercial breaks were pretty much wall-to-wall attack ads, Mitt vs. Newt and Newt vs. Mitt. It seemed as if the anti-Newt ads were the majority. Ed Morrissey has audio of Limbaugh telling Newt to stop complaining about Mitt’s attacks.

It’s been a bad week for Newt and I frankly don’t believe the Insider Advantage poll showing Newt within five. If you look at the Real Clear Politics average, there are five other Florida polls in the past five days showing Mitt winning by anywhere from 11 to 20 points. The latest Quinnipiac poll, with Romney up by 14 points, is about average. So if Romney wins by less than 10, it would be surprising.

Somebody in the Newt camp tossed an “internal memo” over the fence to Matt Lewis. Long story short, they’re lowering expectations in Florida. And as I pointed out in my American Spectator column, second place in Florida is worthless — it’s winner-take-all. Team Gingrich just blew through about $2 million for nothing.

Well, it’s past 2:30 now, so I’d better get over to the airport. Let’s hope the Gingrich people don’t sic the cops on me.

UPDATE: It’s nearly 4 p.m. and no Newt yet. There are about 250-300 people here and four network satellite trucks. I talked to one network reporter who told me about the war between the press corps and the Gingrich campaign over charter travel:

The Gingrich campaign isn’t taking reporters on their charter flight on Monday to travel from Pensacola to Miami with stops along the way, destinations that are physically impossible to get to by car in a day.
The reason?
Campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond says he’s ticked off after several media outlets opted not to get on a charter Saturday night.
“I have better things to do than complain with you guys about the cost of flights,” Hammond said when asked why the Monday charter was canceled.
The campaign is also not taking press with them to Nevada on Tuesday night after the Florida primary after initially saying they would be included.

Read the whole thing. It seems that the networks thought the charter rates they were being charged by the Gingrich campaign were too high. So there’s a little inside-baseball camapign stuff for you.

Category: Ed Morrissey, Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in the Sunshine State, Florida, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh

Tea Party Patriots Bringing It March 24th

Posted on | January 30, 2012 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

Via email from the Alexandria Tea Party:

Tea Party Patriots has obtained permits for the rally on the East Lawn of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. for Saturday, March 24th and for the Supreme Court steps the following Monday through Wednesday when the case will be heard.

Can I get a heck, yeah?

This blog will totally be in attendance for the Saturday piece. The whole ‘job’ thing may conflict with the Monday to Wednesday endeavor. Who is in with me? Freeeeedom! Wolverines!

Category: Health Care, Tea Party

Heritage And Those Pesky Facts

Posted on | January 30, 2012 | 2 Comments

by Smitty

via Granite Grok

Category: Budget
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