The Other McCain

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

News Flash: Democrats Lie (and Have Conniptions When They Get Caught)

Posted on | December 20, 2011 | 5 Comments

Four days after House Republicans voted to approve Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan, “the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a Web ad that said seniors will have to pay $12,500 more for health care ‘because Republicans voted to end Medicare,’ ” the non-partisan Web site PolitiFact says, declaring this the 2011 “Lie of the Year.”

You can go to Memeorandum and see the hysterical reaction this has gotten from liberals: Steve Benen of Washington Monthly, Paul Krugman and Matthew Yglesias are among those denouncing PolitiFact.

Why the vehemence?

Because without lies, Democrats could never get elected. And they’ve become accustomed to getting a pass from the media on their lies, so that anyone who calls them on their constant, routine and habitual lying must be destroyed as an existential threat to the Democratic Party.

UPDATE: Dana Loesch points out another liberal lie:

The deep racism at the heart of conservative food stamp critiques offers at least one clue as to why the Obama administration has been unable or unwilling to champion SNAP as a valuable recession antidote: as the nation’s first African-American president, Obama is vulnerable to racist innuendo, which his opponents are only too happy to exploit.

If you don’t vote Democrat, you’re a racist.

Category: Democrats, Liberals

BREAKING: Rick Santorum Gets Endorsement by Key Iowa Social Conservative Leader Bob Vander Plaats UPDATE: In Interview, Santorum Says Endorsement ‘Sends a Strong Signal’

Posted on | December 20, 2011 | 14 Comments

Two words? FREAKING HUGE!

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Two weeks before the Republican nominating contest opens at the Iowa caucuses, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has won a highly-coveted endorsement from one of the state’s social conservative leaders.
Bob Vander Plaats, who has sought to put his imprint on the Republican presidential race for months, announced Tuesday that he would support Mr. Santorum. He and other evangelical Christians have talked openly about their struggle to unite behind one candidate, but he urged others to follow his lead. . . .
The Family Leader said Tuesday that it would remain neutral in the race, a decision that was reached after several lengthy meetings with members of the board, according to Republicans familiar with the discussions. But in the end, participants said, Mr. Vander Plaats decided to make a personal endorsement.

UPDATE: Another social conservative leader, Chuck Hurley, joined Vander Plaats in endorsing Santorum, Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register reports:

Santorum was munching on a cinnamon roll after a campaign stop in Pella when he found out about Vander Plaats’ endorsement.
“There’s a lot of good people out here running, and I’m sure it was a tough decision, I think it shows that we’re the candidate right now that has the momentum that has the message that’s resonating to the people of Iowa,” Santorum said.Vander Plaats and Hurley are “probably catching that. And they see this as the campaign that’s going to be the conservative alternative.”
Santorum had heard rumors that the Family Leader was going to endorse Rick Perry. Then he’d heard this morning that the group wasn’t endorsing anybody.
“Nothing was better than Perry,” he said of the non-endorsement by the group. “Now this is better than nothing — a lot better than nothing,” he said of Vander Plaats’ and Hurley’s endorsement.

Still waiting for a Santorum campaign press release, and hope to speak to either the candidate or his staff soon.

UPDATE II: Rick Santorum was near Ottumwa, driving from Pella to Mount Pleasant, when I reached him just now for a brief telephone interview.

“It’s important,” Santorum said of the endorsements by Vander Plaats and Hurley. “It sends a strong signal to social conservatives . . . who are coalescing behind our campaign.”

Santorum noted that his campaign has also recently picked up endorsements by other Iowa conservatives, including evangelical ministers like Pastor Cary Gordon and Rev. Terry Amman. Many social conservatives had “waited and waited” before making official endorsements, Santorum said, because they wanted to see how the Republican contest would shape up.

The recent flurry of Iowa endorsements for his candidacy, Santorum said, was evidence that “we’re picking up momentum” in the final two weeks before the Jan. 3 caucuses.

Santorum started today with a 7:45 a.m. appearance on “Fox and Friends,” followed by a 9 a.m. event in Pella that drew about “60 to 70 people” and he was en route to Mount Pleasant for a 12:30 p.m. “Faith, Family and Freedom” town hall event. He has held nearly 350 town halls in Iowa this year and visited all 99 counties.

After a 4 p.m. appearance at a health-care forum in Davenport, Santorum will end today at a 6 p.m. fundraiser in Bettendorf for 2nd District Republican congressional candidate John Archer. It is rumored that Santorum’s GOP rival Michele Bachmann will also attend the Archer fundraiser.

UPDATE III: Now a Memeorandum thread, and Ed Morrissey concludes his Iowa war-gaming with a mention that Santorum will be his podcast guest today at 3 p.m. ET.

UPDATE IV: Politico‘s Reid Epstein reports:

Vander Plaats provides the former Pennsylvania senator with one of the most sought after imprimaturs for these voters.
“I believe Rick Santorum comes from us,” Vander Plaats told reporters at a press conference in a hotel lobby here. “Not to us. He comes from us. He is one of us.” . . .
Santorum also won the endorsement of Chuck Hurley, the president of the Iowa Family Policy Center. . . .
Santorum, Hurley said, “meets and exceeds the biblical qualifications” for Iowa evangelicals.

UPDATE V: Press release from the Santorum campaign:

IOWA FAMiLY LEADER PRESIDENT AND CEO
BOB VANDER PLAATS AND PRESIDENT OF
IOWA FAMILY POLICY CENTER CHUCK HURLEY
ENDORSE SANTORUM FOR PRESIDENT

Influential Iowa Conservatives Join The Fight

Urbandale, IA – Today, two major endorsements were awarded to the Santorum for President campaign. Bob Vander Plaats is the President and CEO of the Iowa FAMiLY Leader and Chuck Hurley is the President of the Iowa Family Policy Center – and both are influential pro-traditional values leaders in Iowa.
Rick Santorum said: “I am truly honored to receive the Bob and Chuck’s endorsement today. I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know them over the past several years. In fact, we campaigned together throughout 2010 as they successfully worked tothrow out activist judges who redefined marriage in the Hawkeye State. Their reach and influence covers all corners of Iowa, and I know they did not take this endorsement lightly. This means so much more to our campaign. If their work on behalf of Governor Huckabee four years ago is any indication, I have no doubt they will be a terrific catalyst for our campaign as we continue building momentum in Iowa. Now is the time for conservatives to unite so we can defeat Barack Obama.”
Hogan Gidley, National Communications Director said, “Conservatives are starting to recognize that Rick is the viable consistent conservative alternative to moderates like Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Rick offers a clear contrast to Barack Obama on important issues like healthcare, individual mandates and TARP. This endorsement like previous endorsements are clear indicators that Rick’s record of conservative victories are attracting those who want to beat this President and his radical liberal agenda.
The FAMiLY Leader has emerged as one of the nation’s most influential pro-family organizations. In 2010, Rick Santorum was the only Republican Presidential contender to join the FAMilY Leader in their statewide campaign to oust Iowa Supreme Court justices who redefined marriage in Iowa. The FAMiLY Leader has also been active in the 2012 presidentialcampaign, hosting a presidential forum in November 2011 where six of the leading Republican presidential candidates attended.
Rick Santorum has been a stalwart defender of the traditional family for two decades. Santorum is the author of the law that bannedpartial birth abortions, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act to defend the unborn. Santorum was the principal proponent of the Federal Marriage Amendment, forcing the only vote ever cast on the Amendment. Rick Santorum was also the author of the Combating Autism Act to assist special-needs children afflicted with autism, the National Fatherhood Initiative, and the landmark 1996 Welfare Reform legislation that has helped millions of American families rise out of poverty. In 2005, Santorum authored the New York Times Best-Selling book, “It Takes A Family.” Rick and his wife Karen are the proud homeschool parents of 7 children.


Category: Election 2012, Iowa, Rick Santorum

‘So Critical’

Posted on | December 20, 2011 | 6 Comments

by Smitty

Mitt Romney has a blog post up that sounds real swell. I wouldn’t damn this notion with anything but faint praise:

The first step in returning to an Opportunity Society is scaling back our vast federal government. I will put every single government program to a simple test: Is this program so critical to our nation’s future that we should borrow money from China to pay for it?

Read Romney’s entire focus-group approved message.

Mitt sounds like he’s unwilling to admit that the Progressive penetration, however slight, has sodomized the Constitutional order. What is required is a straightforward Enumerated Powers check against the Federal government, and then a transition plan to unwind the substantial over-reach that has accumulated.

Governor Romeny, this ‘so critical’ test is piffle. Where DC has over-reached in the last century, the correct remedy would be to amend the Constitution to legitimize the over-reach. Am I making this up? Check out the million-plus hits on emergency extension of unemployment benefits. How many acute, critical extensions of unemployment benefits do we need before we have the integrity to admit that this is a chronic, status quo, business-as-usual situation?

May I double down, please? ‘So Critical’ is precisely the sort of code phrase that targets two audiences. It sounds reassuring to the proles, delivered in those practiced tones, and gives them something to vote for. It also re-assures that bureaucrats that, within those deep down devilish details, there Will Be No substantial reform. Business as flipping usual, boys. The subtext of the campaign is that if bureaucrats want to keep their gravy train going, they had better subvert the GOP primaries and make sure Mitt wins. Or Newt, who is also likely to be ‘reliable’, IYKWIMAITYD.

Is anybody curious why Ron Paul has such traction? Is it really a phalanx of over-caffeinated supporters running about? Or maybe, just maybe, does the notion of going after the Federal over-reach with hammer and tongs actually have some appeal?

Jonah Golberg wants to, but seems closer to Romney:

Paul routinely says that he’s the only candidate who promises real change. For instance, he proposes cutting $1 trillion from the budget in the first year of his presidency. Now, show of hands: Who thinks Ron Paul could get those kinds of cuts through Congress?

It’s like all of the debates and discussion are just “Whacky stuff candidates say to get elected.” I mean, we’re not here to reform anything; we’re here to talk about reform as though it was something we genuinely meant, right? I would argue that cutting $1 trillion would require three things:

  • President Paul does not get ventilated for trying.
  • President Paul goes all Thermopylae, fighting off the Bureaucratic Hordes of Xerxes with his +5 Vorpal Pen of Veto.
  • Most importantly, the people would have to back him up. The transition would not be pleasant. Neither is getting sober. But we really can’t all be Vodka Pundit. Some of us have to work at it.

Thus, I’d contend that Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are the bookends of the GOP field. Notwithstanding the foreign policy, I think Ron Paul is spot on with the bulk of what he says. The unworkable foreign policy is almost a feature: it allows him to advocate domestic policy sense and drive the GOP in a necessary way, while ensuring that nobody with a realistic view of foreign policy is going to vote for him.

Finishing off with the faintest possible praise, Mitt’s ‘so critical’ test is slightly better than nothing. Which is about where I am on the United Nations, as well. See if you can borrow some sack, Mitt, and offer a substantial way forward, eh?

Of the rest of the field, Bachmann, Perry, and Santorum seem like the candidates who pick up the most of Paul’s sense, while keeping the foreign policy sensible.

via Orit Sklar on Twitter

Category: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul

Vice President Condi Rice?

Posted on | December 20, 2011 | 30 Comments

by Smitty

The Washington Times:

America’s first black female secretary of state is quietly positioning herself to be the top choice of the eventual Republican presidential nominee, ready to deliver bona fide foreign-policy credentials lacking among the candidates. The 56-year-old has recently raised her profile, releasing her memoir in November and embarking on a monthlong book tour.
After 2 1/2 years as a professor at Stanford, Miss Rice is reportedly getting “antsy” to get back into the political game. “She’s ready to go,” said one top source.

The really big challenge for Condi is connecting to America. She’s been so wonky and either circling the globe or locked in an ivory tower that there may not be much connection for her to Joe Six Pack, the way, say, a Sarah Palin does.

I’ll admit to being a Condi fan. Like Sarah Palin, just the threat of a brainy conservative lady getting on the ticket is enough to make heads ‘splode.

Update: Less enthusiastic: Daily Pundit

Just putting a neocon looser like Rice into a position of power again, after this sterling record, is enough to make my head explode. But I have to admit – she’d make a nice bookend for Bush III – I mean, Romney.

via Drudge

Category: Election 2012, Republicans

Faced With Maxed-Out Race Card, Can Eric Holder Get A Rep. Allen West Bailout? Why, No; No, He Cannot!

Posted on | December 20, 2011 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

The blogs have been on about Eric “The Bolder” Holder’s NYT interview, where he few a Hail Jerry* and said that:

“This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him,” he said, “both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we’re both African-American.”

The Daily Caller quotes Allen West, who:

. . .said Holder’s use of race as a way to attack his critics is “the most insidious thing I ever heard.”
“I grew up in the United States military and it’s not about your color, it’s about your competence, it’s about your abilities to execute a mission,” West said. “If your commanding officer turns heat on you, it’s because you have failed to achieve the mission and I think what we’re doing is we’re looking at something that was a very horrible program — this Operation Fast and Furious.”

Extensive research by this blog’s layers of fact checkers shows that neither the gross incompetence, nor the starkly ideological mindset, nor the generally peevish demeanor of the Attorney General or #OccupyResoluteDesk has any genetic component. They must have been nurtured to suck; nature is having none of it.

via Hot Air

*California Governor Jerry Brown, the Patron ‘Aint of used-up Lefties, who managed to run for office in a place sufficiently effed to elect him.

Category: Allen West, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Hot Air, Uncategorized

LIVE AT FIVE7:30 – 12.20.11

Posted on | December 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
ALLEN WEST, HOUSE GOP DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND

Eric Cantor, John Boehner, and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy

House GOP holds out for full-year extension of payroll tax cut

ROK Gov’t Expresses Sympathy To Norks
NY consul states ROK priority “to avoid anything troublesome”

Deadly Blizzard Pushes Into Great Plains
Storm stretches from northern New Mexico through Texas and Oklahoma to Kansas



POLITICS
Newt Rips Opponents For Using Negative Ads

Newt talks to an eight-year-old in Iowa

Doesn’t name and shame, unfortunately

Brothers In NC Terror Ring To Be Sentenced Today

Power Plant Closures To Strip Small Towns Of Jobs

Wikileaker’s Defense Throwing Stuff At Wall, Hoping Something Will Stick

Perry Criscrossed Iowa In Search Of Road To Revival

Walsh Accuses Holder Of Playing Race Card At White House’s Order



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Deutsche Telekom Silent On Plan B For T-Mobile
US Stock Futures Advance Before Housing Report
European Stocks Advance On German Confidence
Euro Climbs After Spanish Auction, German lfo
Winn-Dixie Stores Sold To Bi-Lo For $560 Million
Lockheed Wins Japan F-35 Contract Over Boeing, Eurofighter
EU Short On IMF Loans Target As Britain Refuses Aid
Gold Rises As Euro Rebounds
Apple Ruling Hits Android
IBM: Five Predictions For The Next Five Years
Siri Helps Santa In Apple’s Christmas Ad
US Gasoline Prices Continue To Fall



SPORTS
49ers Turn Out The Lights On Steelers, Win 20-3

Can beat Browns on one leg, but not the 49ers

Roethlisberger throws three interceptions as Steelers get crushed

Rangers Win Yu Darvish Sweepstakes



Bruins Beat Habs 3-2 For Fifth Win In A Row

Davidson Shocks #11 Kansas, 80-74

Arron Afflalo Returns To Denver?

Twins Lose Jason Kubel To Snakes: Two Years, $15 Million

Nats Add 38-Year-Old Mike Cameron



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Chaz Bono, Jennifer Elia Call Off Engagement

Chaz Bono, Jennifer Elia

Breaking up after six years together

Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard Split; Press Takes Two Years To Notice

Professor Claims He Was Canned By NYU After Giving James Franco A D



Teen Mom Amber Portwood Back In Prison For Second Straight Christmas

Amy Childs Opts For Garish Gown Alongside Royals At Millies

Patton, Pending

Hefner Says Lohan’s Playboy Issue Breaking Records



FOREIGNERS
Will Kim Jong Un’s Aunt & Uncle Be The Real Powers In North Korea?
Violence Continues In Egypt
Arab League Chief: Syria Conflict Too complex For Western Involvement
Iraqi President Criticizes Treatment Of Sunni VP
EU Presses Ukraine To Release Jailed Tymoshenko
Scores Missing After Sakhalin Rig Capsizes; Hopes Fading
South Sudan Seeks $763 Million From Donors In Humanitarian Aid
Guangdong Protests Spread To Haimen
Egypt’s Salafist Party Vows To Respect Treaty With Israel
Ukrainian Femen Activists Disappear After Topless Protest Near Belarus KGB Building
Saudi King Abdullah Calls For Gulf Council To Move From Cooperation To Unity



BLOGS & STUFF
Don Surber: FICA Deal FUBAR
Weasel Zippers: House Dems Unleash Gollum On Republicans Up For Reelection
Allahpundit: Ron Paul Now InTrade Favorite To Win Iowa
Michael Totten: Totalitarian Grief
Donald Sensing: What Do You Do When Your god Dies?
Peter Suderman: It’s So Ronery In The Dark, With Negative GDP Growth
Big Journalism: Progressive Media Meeting With Obama
American Spectator: Jeb Ex Machina?
Hit & Run: Why Would Consumers Object To A Policy That Forces Them To Buy Expensive Products They Don’t Want?
Power Line: Hayek Vindicated Again
Media Decoder: NYT Negotiating To Sell Regional Papers
Mark Krikorian: Enforcement Works – Unexpectedly!
Volokh Conspiracy: Is The Mandate Necessary?
The Ticker: Appeals Court Rejects Christian Student’s Bid To Reverse Expulsion
Jihad Watch: Biden – “Look, The Taliban Is Not Our Enemy”
Gateway Pundit: EPA Wants More Power In The Name Of Sustainable Development


SOTD: What’s Your Pleasure

Category: Live at Five

Perry Iowa TV Ad Attacks Newt Gingrich as ‘K Street,’ Mitt Romney as ‘Wall Street’

Posted on | December 20, 2011 | 17 Comments

Now that the debates are over and Rick Perry can’t be forced to defend his attacks, he goes negative on both Republican front-runners:

“He’ll overhaul Washington and toss out the corrupt insiders.”

Yeah, Rick Perry’s going to clean up the corruption:

Since 2001, more than a fifth of the $83 million that Mr. Perry has raised for his gubernatorial campaigns has come from people he appointed to state boards and commissions, according to a study by Texans for Public Justice, a watchdog group. Just 150 individuals and couples gave him $37 million of that total, and nearly half received substantial tax breaks, business contracts or appointments from Mr. Perry, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The governor set up two state funds, intended to promote business growth, that have given tens of millions to companies that returned the favor with political contributions. An analysis by The New York Times found that more than a quarter of the companies that have received grants from the Texas Enterprise Fund in the last year, or their executives, had made contributions to Mr. Perry’s campaigns dating back to 2001 or to the Republican Governors Association since 2008, when Mr. Perry became its chairman.
The Texas Emerging Technology Fund . . . has provided $200 million in seed money to high-tech start-ups since 2005 . . .
[Perry’s] office makes the decision on which companies should receive the money, according to The Dallas Morning News, which found that more than $16 million had gone to campaign donors.

You know, I remember attending a speech Labor Day weekend where somebody talked about the problem with “crony capitalism.” Looks like there’s a sort of Solyndra thing going on in the Lone Star State.

But never mind me: I’m just a “low-information” guy, not part of the AOSHQ/Red State Rick Perry Blog Bandwagon, and here’s the punishing kick-in-the-head Brutal Headline O’ Th’ Day:

Big Bloggers Fall in Line for Rick Perry

So this leaves us minor, inconsequential bloggers out in the cold. Further confirmation — as if more confirmation were needed — that everybody hates me, which is why I’m “Not Good Enough for BlogCon.”

Category: Election 2012, Iowa, Rick Perry, Video

Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Strange Rumblings in the Heartland

Posted on | December 19, 2011 | 15 Comments

By this time a week from today — Dec. 26, the day after Christmas — I’ll be in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, covering the final campaign leading up to the Jan. 3 caucuses, and I’m already getting advance vibes of serious Fear and Loathing in the Hawkeye State.

There is so much to do between now and my departure date that I’m beginning to worry that I’ll never get it all done in time. The chief task now is to say some long-overdue thanks for all the readers who have already contributed to the Shoe Leather Fund to help make this trip possible: Doug in Cincinnati, Mr. E in Alabama, Mike in Ardmore, Barry in Missouri, Maggie in Broken Arrow, Chris in Patterson, Mike in El Segundo, Philip in Lakeland, Jeff in Elizabethtown, Nathan in Illinois, Susan in Concord, Howard in Texas, Ross in Lakeland, Daniel in New Port Richey, Michael in New Hampshire, Joan in Georgia, Lisa in Clarkson, Bonnie in Utah, Stacy in Colonial Heights, John in Cambridge, Ronald in Oakland, Mike W. in Falls Church, Jeff in Walla Walla, and Charlie in Oregon.

It is not merely gratitude, of course, that causes me to recite this list of generous readers who’ve hit the tip jar since Thanksgiving, but also the hope that those of you who haven’t yet contributed will be inspired to emulate these excellent examples. Read more

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