The Other McCain

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

Open Letter To Senators Warner & Webb

Posted on | January 5, 2012 | 22 Comments

by Smitty

Gentlemen,

The news of the President appointing Richard Cordray and three NLRB names without hearings should dismay anyone who has sworn an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution. The Cordray appointment opens the door to large scale mortgage re-financing. This sounds far-fetched, but we are in an election year, and look at the disinterest in legality, form, and tradition expressed by these appointments themselves.

In these appointments, as in recent adventurism in Libya, the President has revealed that the separation of powers, a crucial component of the exceptional form of government we have enjoyed in the U.S., is crumbling. Should he win re-election, one might not unreasonably expect the 22nd Amendment to join the 10th in the trash bin. And the reason for the impunity is that the Democrats control the Senate, guarding his rear, and rendering the Republicans in the house toothless to do the correct thing, which would be to impeach President Obama.

Coming to the point, then, one wonders if there are a dozen or so Senators who are Democrats and who retain sufficient conscience and honor to quit the Democrats and caucus with the Republicans. The knowledge that the Worst Majority Leader in History, Senator Reid, is running interference for him allows for the President to run amok. Gather the various independent, retiring, and American Senators, leave the Democrat caucus, and restore a semblance of separation of powers.

Maybe with the Republicans in the majority, we could also get a budget.

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Smith

Alexandria, VA

Update: linked by Fausta and Daily Pundit, for whose demise as a result of my blogging I absolve myself of culpability. It was your browser, man. You may have named the Blogosphere, but I wrote OediPOTUS Wrecks. Mwahahaha.

Category: Barack Obama, Democrats, Virginia

Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Eight Days in a Mustang Later …

Posted on | January 5, 2012 | 22 Comments

“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.”
— Robert Stacy McCain, Aug. 9, 2011

“Stacy’s not smooth and polished and TV plastic. He’s brash and opinionated and homely as a hickory walking stick. But smooth and polished and plastic got it wrong, and hickory got it right.”
— Richard McEnroe, Three Beers Later

DES MOINES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
When I stumbled into the hotel lobby Wednesday morning in search of coffee, I noticed a guy working on a laptop and, figuring him to be another reporter in town to cover the caucuses, struck up a conversation. My opening gambit was to remark how wretchedly merciless it was for Michele Bachmann to call a 10 a.m. press conference the day after the caucuses, when most of the press corps had been up until 2 or 3 a.m. the night before.

“Why couldn’t she have let us sleep in?” I said, and groused about the fact that a 10 a.m. press conference meant that I’d be rushed to check out of the hotel afterwards.

We laughed about being victims of Bachmann’s revenge on the national media and I asked the guy who he worked for. When he said he wrote for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I started ranting about my grudge against my hometown paper (see “Henry Grady Weeps,” Dec. 5) and alluded to my longstanding opinion that the paper’s publisher, Anthony C. Kennedy, should be eviscerated in broad daylight on Marietta Street and his entrails fed to wild dogs.

The conversation continued and it turned out that the guy was Jeremy Redmon. When I checked later, I noticed his story on the Bachmann event contained an error:

Bachmann is the second Republican to quit the race. Businessman Herman Cain of McDonough suspended his campaign last month amid sexual harassment allegations, which he vigorously denied.

Actually, Bachmann is the fourth Republican to quit the 2012 race, preceded not only by Cain, but also by former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. But little details like that tend to slip through the cracks in modern journalism, where there are fewer and fewer editors to fact-check stories and most papers end up publishing whatever the hell the reporters turn in.

Quibbles about errors in articles were not what Jeremy and I were talking about in the hotel lobby Wednesday morning. Instead it was discovered that we had both once worked for the same paper. Jeremy was a reporter for the Metro section of the Washington Times for a couple of years during the decade when I was on the national desk there. Jeremy talked fondly of working with one of our Metro editors, Hank Pearson, a legendarily gruff newsman of the Old School. “He’d tell me, ‘Put some balls on that lead,'” Jeremy recalled.

Yeah, Hank was a classic. Died of cancer a few years ago.

The Old School guys are few and far between in the news business nowadays. The motley collection of staffers in the newsroom of the Washington Times back in the day — including guys like Jerry Seper, who typed his stories by the hunt-and-peck method — could never be assembled by any 21st-century editor, simply because guys like that don’t go into the news business anymore. Journalism has become an elite profession, and attracts basically three kinds of people:

  1. “Save the World” types who think of journalism as a sort of humanitarian charitable endeavor, wherein they’ll “make a difference” on behalf of the oppressed victims of society. Such people should be encouraged to join the Peace Corps instead.
  2. Neurasthenic intellectuals with literary pretensions. These people are essentially dilettantes, slumming it in the news business as a way to pay the bills until they can sell a screenplay or a novel.
  3. Would-be TV stars. The cable-news era has created a niche market for camera-friendly “personalities,” and a lot of these young kids in journalism nowadays are writing news or punditry as a means of auditioning for a TV gig. They wake up in the morning, turn on MSNBC, and imagine the days when they’ll be sitting at the table with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezinski, who will chuckle at their pithy aphorisms and bon mots.

Good luck with that, OK?

When I got into this racket 25 years ago, there was no MSNBC, no Fox News and no Internet. A job as a $4.50-an-hour staff writer at a tiny weekly paper in Austell, Georgia, was a pleasant alternative to driving a forklift in a warehouse on Fulton Industrial Boulevard as a way to pay the bills while playing with a garage-rock band.

My career plan to sell 10 million records, tour the world, marry Brooke Shields and retire by age 30 didn’t work out, and so I stayed with the journalism gig until I won some awards and came to Washington and . . .

Look, we don’t know when we begin something where it will take us. And the last thing I expected when I got into this racket was to be here in the Des Moines International Airport, two days after the Iowa caucuses, waiting for a flight to Boston to begin my coverage of the New Hampshire primary campaign.

What has made this possible, of course, is the “Army of Davids” effect: The Internet allows a writer to reach readers directly, in a personal way, without the intermediaries — publishers, editors, et cetera — who were necessary to the writer’s livelihood before the rise of New Media. And the kids nowadays who take all this for granted don’t have the hard experience of having worked in the pre-Internet era when a writer had to jump through all those hoops, and deal with all the hassles, necessary to get a chance to earn a living in the news business.

Write for the reader. If this plane I’m waiting for in Des Moines should crash on takeoff, let those be my final words of advice to aspiring journalists. Try to picture in your mind the person who is reading your words, and try to write something that person would actually want to read. The tragedy of modern American journalism is that the industry has lost sight of the reader, the paying customer who is the whole point of the enterprise.

Yesterday after the Bachmann press conference, I had to wait my turn for an interview with Bachmann’s press secretary Alice Stewart. And when I got my turn, I introduced myself as Stacy McCain of The American Spectator and The Other McCain, to which Alice replied, “Yeah. I know. You’re famous.”

It’s the kind of “fame” which, with $1.49, will get you a cup of coffee. For what it’s worth, however, Richard McEnroe is correct in observing that I didn’t get here because of my good looks. Nor did what people usually call “talent” have anything to do with it. Writing is a skill, not a talent, and this difference is important because a skill can be improved by practice. And I practiced like hell during all those years when I was covering stuff a lot less important than a presidential election campaign.

In 1987, I was working as a sports editor in Douglas County, Georgia, and the two news reporters for the paper were a couple of 20-somethings of the literary dilettante type. They did the necessary minimum of reporting while one of them worked on his novel and the other worked on his one-act plays. Meanwhile, I was burning the midnight oil trying to put out a sports section and, observing these two other guys, I vowed not to be like them. Maybe journalism wasn’t my first career choice — hello, Brooke Shields, wherever you are — but if I was going to do it, I was going to do it with all my might.

So now it’s 2012, and I’m on the campaign trail. Whatever happened to the two dilettantes, I don’t know. But I shared a cab ride from the Super 8 motel to the airport with a kid named Noah Rothman, who covered the Iowa caucuses for a site called Ology.com. I asked if he was going to New Hampshire and he said, no, the company wouldn’t pay for that trip.

We exchanged business cards and Noah said, “Oh, I know who you are. I follow you on Twitter.” Him and 10,000 other people. But it is you, my readers, who have paid for this trip, and I try to keep writing for you.

They just called boarding for my flight, and it’s time to go, onward toward the final humiliation of “Governor Asterisk.” The ultimate collapse of the Perry campaign will come later.

My intent in this post was to name-check everyone who has contributed to the Shoe Leather Fund to send me out on this crazy journey, but there’s no time for that now. They’ve just called final boarding and I can’t afford miss that flight because, after all, you paid for it. I hope you feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth so far. But there are still many miles to go, and so there’s just enough time now for me to type the Five Most Important Words in the English Language: Hit the freaking tip jar!

— 30 —

PREVIOUSLY:

Category: Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in Iowa, Fear and Loathing in New Hampshire, Iowa, New Hampshire, Shoe Leather Fund

LIVE AT FIVE – 01.05.12

Posted on | January 5, 2012 | 6 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
After Slim Iowa Win, Romney Seeks Big NH Victory

This man may have other ideas

Meanwhile, Newt sharpens his knives as Governor Asterisk smells victory

Obama To Personally Unveil New Defense Plan
Billions in cuts coming along with narrowing of focus to Asia

Explosions Rock Baghdad Neighborhoods
Or, Thursday



POLITICS
Obama Disses Senate With “Recess” Appointment Of Cordray

Acting head of CFPB, ex-Ohio AG Richard Cordray

President makes recess appointment even though Senate is technically in session

Perry Reconsiders, Stays In Race

Wisconsin Recall Effort Races Against Time

NY Governor Cuomo Sets Aggressive Agenda For 2012

Indiana House Democrats Stall Session Over Right-To-Work Bill

NC Republicans Consider Overriding More Of Perdue’s Vetoes

Bachmann’s Next Steps


Super PAC Attacks And Their Effect On Iowa

Tea Party Having Trouble Settling On One Candidate

Santorum, Gingrich Join Perry Challenge To Virginia Primary Ballot Rules



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Kodak Teeters On The Brink
Wichita Era Ends At Boeing
Brent Rises To Near $114 After EU Agrees To Boycott Iranian Crude
U.S. Auto Sales Finish 2011 Strong
U.S. Stocks End Mixed; Fed Urges Action On Housing
Gold Gains On Asian Demand
Yahoo Picks PayPal Exec As Latest CEO
Lenovo Adds New Core Chips, Thunderbolt To ThinkPads
iPhone 4S Goes To China: Siri To Start Speaking Chinese In 2012
Zynga CEO Sees Shift To Free Gaming



SPORTS
Diaw Leads Bobcats Past Knicks, 118-110

Charlotte's Corey Maggette shoots over the Knicks' Toney Douglas as Carmelo Anthony looks on

Center scores 27 with six assists in Bobcats’ victory

Mountaineers Rout Clemson 70-33 In Orange Bowl

Billups Solid In Return As Clippers Run All Over Mavericks, 117-89

Captain’s Triple Century Gives Australia Hope Of Test Win (Audio)

Cubs Swap Zambrano To Fish For Volstad

Alabama Out To Prove It’s #1 In Rematch With LSU

Torre Eyes Dodger Bid



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
“Wild Sexual Urges” And Four Other Reasons Behind The Katy Perry/Russell Brand Split

Russell & Katy

Bad craziness in the bedroom

Zooey’s Available
Worth $3 million with no credit card debt

Justin Timberlake & Jesica Biel Engaged

Paris Hilton Means Business For FHM

Universal Considering “Bridesmaids” Sequel Without Kristen Wiig

“Evil Dead” Reboot’s New Ash? Snow White

Martha Stewart Show Gets Axe


Noel Clarke Joins Paramount’s “Star Trek 2”

Leah Messer From “Teen Mom 2” Pregnant Again And Engaged

Emma Roberts Puts College On Hold



FOREIGNERS
Activists: Syrian Regime Misleading Arab League Observers
Gold Mine Landslide Kills 25 In Philippines
ROK Reaches Out To Norks After Kim Jong Il’s Death
William Hague: Burma To Free More Political Prisoners
Taliban Kill 15 Tribal Police In Pakistan
Rival Militias Clash In Libyan Capital
Bombs Hit Nigerian Towns As Boko Haram Deadline Expires



BLOGS & STUFF
George Will: Suddenly, A Fun Candidate
Rod Dreher: Kamikaze Newt?
Allahpundit: Governor Asterisk On McCain Endorsement – “Nobody Cares”
Jennifer Rubin: Credit Santorum With Sinking Ron Paul
Hit & Run: A Night At The Caucus, And A Ron Paul Victory Party That Wasn’t
Major Garrett: Gingrich Commits Political Malpractice
Rush Limbaugh: This Race Is Far From Over
Michelle Malkin: He’s Baaaaack
Weasel Zippers: I Have An “Obligation” to Act Like A Dictator
Andrew McCarthy: Reid Backs Obama On Recess Appointments
Legal Insurrection: Obama Desperately Seeking A Crisis to Take Advantage Of
Big Hollywood: Rockers Whine About GOP Candidates Playing Their Songs
Ed Driscoll: Olbermanning Your Way Out Of The Business
Blackfive: The Definition Of Insanity


SOTD: Quixote

Category: Live at Five

Iowa Victory Lap

Posted on | January 4, 2012 | 35 Comments

DES MOINES, Iowa
Today I checked out of the hotel near Santorum HQ in Johnston and drove down toward the Des Moines International Airport where I checked into a cheap motel. Then I went to Taco John’s and got four tacos, a burrito, chips and salsa. On the way back to the motel, I stopped into a convenience store and got a 40-ounce Budweiser. Dropped that off at the motel, then drove over to the airport and returned the Mustang.

God, I’m gonna miss that car.

And I’m gonna miss Iowa, too. All the pundits who badmouth the Iowa caucuses have no idea how much fun it is to take a 40-mph curve doing 80 in a Mustang, while running late for a candidate event in some small town out on the prairie. I don’t know what these pundits do for amusement, but they’ve never done anything as fun as making that run from Montezuma to Pella in a sweet black Ford Mustang convertible.

(Aside: Do they have car rental agencies in Vanuatu? And do those agencies have any Mustang convertibles on the lot? What’s the daily rate? Someone should investigate this.)

On my way to the airport, I called Richard McEnroe of Three Beers Later to thank him for the linkage. And after returning the Mustang to the rental agency, I called Jimmie Bise of the Sundries Shack because I needed a shoulder to cry on. Read more

Category: Da Tech Guy, Fear and Loathing in Iowa, Iowa, Jimmie Bise Jr., Shoe Leather Fund, Three Beers Later

At Least The Grand Wizard Isn’t Predicting BHO Gets The Cancer

Posted on | January 4, 2012 | 16 Comments

by Smitty

Tough luck for BHO, whose economic magic has failed to impress Mexican Grand Warlock Antonio Vazquez:

Mexico’s Grand Warlock predicted US President Barack Obama would fail to win re-election and two more Latin American leaders would be diagnosed with cancer, in a traditional New Year’s forecast Tuesday.
The Grand Warlock, or “Brujo Mayor” in Spanish, leads a Mexican tradition of “brujeria” or sorcery centered in the southeastern city of Catemaco.

If he’s lost the Central American quack vote, I daresay BHO is toast. But when BHO can no longer deny the toast-ality of his existence, will he feign some medical excuse for not pressing on. . .?

Or maybe BHO can hire some Cuban Santería priests to denounce Vazquez. Hey, it wouldn’t be any less valid than the rest of the noise he’s spending your grandchildren’s substance upon.

 

Category: Barack Obama

Bachmann Quits 2012 Campaign

Posted on | January 4, 2012 | 35 Comments

UPDATE 10:40 a.m. CT:
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Rep. Michele Bachammn just announced she would quit the 2012 presidential race. She praised God and spoke about the Founders of the American Republic, vowing her continued determination to repeal ObamaCare, calling it a formula for leading America down the road to socialism.

UPDATE 10:55 a.m. CT:  Bachmann’s speech here was, in some ways, typical of her campaign, including the fact that it began 20 minutes past the scheduled time. She was almost constantly behind schedule during her travels here.

Also, an event that a media advisory announced as an “availability” — a term that usually means “press conference” — was in fact just a speech. The candidate took no questions. Afterwards, her press secretary Alice Stewart spoke to a gaggle of reporters for about 10 minutes. Stewart said that Bachmann has no plans to endorse any other candidate at this point.

But of course, plans change. Bachmann had plans last night to continue her campaign, Stewart said, but woke up this morning and decided to quit the race.

I’ll try to update later with some more news, photos, etc.

UPDATE 11:27 a.m. CT: ABC News has the quotes:

“Last night, the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice, so I have decided to stand aside,” Bachmann said at a news conference, flanked by her parents, husband and five children. “I have no regrets, none whatsoever. We never compromised our principles and we can leave this race knowing we ran it with the utmost integrity.”

Just spoke to Alice Stewart again. I told her that when I was complaining about the disastrous communications operation of the Herman Cain campaign, I forwarded Alice’s press releases to J.D. Gordon and Mark Block with notes: “This is what a campaign ‘media advisory’ looks like!”

I’ve always liked Bachmann, and still do, and the role she played in this campaign was at times crucial. It was her remark during the September 12 Tampa debate — “innocent little 12-year-old girls” — that put the first serious wound into Rick Perry. And her phrase “Newt Romney,” lumping Gingrich in with the moderate Massachusetts governor, did a lot to undermine Gingrich’s credibility as a Tea Party candidate.

So why, you may ask, did I jump from the Cain Train to the Santorum Express, rather than shifting my focus to Bachmann? I don’t really know. Sometimes, I think, you just go where God leads you and take whatever you find there. And I hope that Michele Bachmann finds only blessings and joy in wherever God leads her now.

— 30 —

*** PREVIOUSLY (9:35 a.m. CT) ***

JOHNSTON, Iowa
So much for sleeping in on the day after the caucuses, huh? She is expected to announce she’s quitting, but who knows, In a crazy year like this, what she might do? But if this is the last time I get to see her on the campaign trail, I can’t miss it.

Now I’ve got to get ready for a 10 a.m. CT press conference on the other side of Des Moines, which will probably delay my packing up here at the National Affairs Desk until past checkout time.

Dadgum Republicans. No wonder Hitler hates ’em.

UPDATE 10:08 a.m. CT: I’m now at the Marriott in West Des Moines, where Bachmann is late for her own press conference.

Category: Fear and Loathing in Iowa, Iowa, Michele Bachmann

I Guess Curmudgeon Is Not A Wasserman-Schultz Fan

Posted on | January 4, 2012 | 14 Comments

by Smitty

Rather rough, overall: “Debbie Does Des Moines“

Category: Barack Obama, Democrats

News Of Rick Santorum’s Iowa Triumph Reaches A Certain Bunker. . .

Posted on | January 4, 2012 | 16 Comments

by Smitty

The task of managing delivery of the 2012 GOP concession speech is not an easy one. . .

Category: GOP, humor, Iowa, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Video
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