The Other McCain

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

LIVE AT FIVE – 12.13.11

Posted on | December 13, 2011 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Supremes To Make The Call On Arizona’s Immigration Law

Two illegals cross the border fence in Nogales, Arizona

Court to tackle third contentious issue this term; could affect 2012 elections

U.S., Iraq Find Gaps In Relationship
Many aspects of future diplomatic & military cooperation still unclear

PRC Military Base In Indian Ocean?
PLA Navy acknowledges invite from Seychelles as state media suggest the PRC’s first overseas base may be there



POLITICS
Filthy Hippies Try Again To Shut Down Port Of Oakland, Other West Coast Ports

Vancouver occupods prepare for march to port

Independent truckers, other working people hardest hit – as usual

Gingrich, Governor Asterisk Debate Affably In New Hampshire


Rick Perry’s New Ad Goes Viral, Sparks Parodies

GOP Keystone/Payroll Tax Combo Bill Expected To Pass Today

House, Senate Negotiators Agree On Defense Appropriation Bill

Long-Term Jobless Face Steep Cuts In Benefits



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Stocks Drop in Asia On European Debt Concern
Intel Cuts Q4 Forecast On Drive Shortage
Other MF Global Officers Mystified By Missing Funds
Gold Falls To Seven-Week Low On Europe Anxiety
Amazon Price Check Flap No Strategic Blunder
Microsoft Exec Shuffle To Signal Windows Code Unification?
Kindle Fire Feels The Heat
“Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” Passes $1 Billion In Sales
Docs Have iPad Fever: Is There A Cure?



SPORTS
Clippers End Chris Paul Talks, Say Price Is Too High

Chris Paul

Rumors say Clippers would have been stripped of players and picks

Dolphins Fire Coach Tony Sparano

Irresistable Force Tebow Pushes The NFL Around

Harrison Doesn’t Expect Suspension For McCoy Hit

Crosby Out Indefinitely As Concussion Symptoms Return

Astros Sign C Quintero For One Year As Castro Goes Under The Knife

Mets Get $40 Million Loan From Bank Of America

Nats Cut Ties With Lefty Doug Slaten



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Death Row Records VP Killed In Random Shooting

Lone wacko lies dying in the street

John Atterbury died Monday afternoon after being shot randomly on Friday

Meryl Streep: Force Of Nature





Leann Rimes Flaunts Her Relationship With Eddie Cibrian And His Boys At Soccer Game

Palin Pitching New Reality Series About First Dude’s Snowmobiling Adventures

The $3 Million Baby Gift

American Airlines May Have The Last Laugh: “30 Rock” to Be Pulled From In-flight TV?

Sandra Bullock: Motherhood Is My Top Priority



FOREIGNERS
UN Says Syrian Death Toll Over 95000
Billionaire Prokhorov To Take On Putin, Form New Party
Cameron’s EU Veto Strains Governing Coalition
Canada Bans Burkas At Citizenship Ceremony
Former French PM De Villepin To Run For President
Israeli Officials Mum On Gingrich’s Palestinian Comments



BLOGS & STUFF
Lonely Conservative: Michael Savage Offers Newt Gingrich $1 Million To Drop Out Now
NRO Corner: Romney Says Primary Contest Could Last Through June
AmSpecBlog: Newt Strikes Back
Nice Deb: Glenn Beck Has Jumped The Shark, And So Has Michael Savage
Michelle Malkin: Your Guide To 12 – Occupiers Return To Ports For West Coast Shutdown
Weasel Zippers: Ezra Klein Despondent Over Gallup Poll Showing Dems See Big Government As Biggest Threat


SOTD: Take It Off

Category: Live at Five

Two Weeks From Today …

Posted on | December 12, 2011 | 17 Comments

. . . on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, I’m flying to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to begin my coverage of the campaign leading up to the Jan. 3 caucuses. I’ve already booked my flight ($275) to Cedar Rapids as well as my Jan. 5 flight from Des Moines to Boston ($205) to cover the New Hampshire primary campaign.

It’s been a month since my last road trip — to Spartanburg, S.C., to cover the Nov. 12 CBS debate — and what followed in the next three weeks was the final derailment of the Cain Train, leading up to his Dec. 3 decision to “suspend” his campaign.

So all the resting up I’d planned to do before the Iowa trip kind of went by the wayside for a while there. Now I’m starting to get the “itch” again, and there’s lots happening out on the campaign trail:

I’m trying to figure out who to contact for media credentials for the Trump debate, which should be fun.

Thanks to all the readers who have already contributed for the Iowa trip, and as for the rest of you — hit the freaking tip jar!

 

Category: Shoe Leather Fund

SANTORUM EXPRESS UPDATE: Pulls Even With Bachmann in New Iowa Poll, Gains Endorsement by Influential Pastor

Posted on | December 12, 2011 | 29 Comments

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum moved into a tie for fifth place with Michele Bachmann in the latest survey of Iowa voters, the first poll to indicate an increase in the former Pennsylvania senator’s support with three weeks to go before the Jan. 3 caucuses.

The poll by American Research Group, conducted Dec. 8-11, showed GOP front-runner Newt Gingrich’s support decrease to 22% from 27% a month earlier, while Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are now tied for second at 17% and Rick Perry is fourth with 13%. Santorum and Bachmann were tied for fifth at 7%.

“The ARG poll . . . at least partially reflects Saturday’s Republican presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa,” The Hill newspaper reported. “The Republican candidates went after Gingrich hard at the debate, criticizing him as a lifelong politician and for his multiple marriages.”

Santorum also added an important endorsement Monday from Rev. Terry Amann said, a pastor at Walnut Creek Community Church in the Des Moines suburb of Windsor Heights. Amann is a member of the board of an influential Iowa social conservative group, the Family Leader.

In a statement released by the Santorum campaign (see full text below), Amman said: “By visiting all 99 counties in our state, Rick Santorum has proven that he will do whatever it takes to get the job done. He will be a refreshing change in Washington.”

Amman called Santorum “a powerful advocate for the unborn, and he has been a strong voice and excellent example for traditional marriage,” and praised his foreign-policy experience. “He understands the nuances and complexities of the Middle East, and of the threats posed by Islamic Jihad.”

The endorsement by Amman follows endorsements Santorum has recently received by Sioux City pastor Cary Gordon, conservative philanthropist Foster Friess and by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz.


* * SANTORUM CAMPAIGN PRESS RELEASE * *

INFLUENTIAL DES MOINES-AREA MINISTER
JOINS THE FIGHT WITH SANTORUM

Urbandale, IA – Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum announced that he has received the endorsement of influential Des Moines-area minister, Rev. Terry Amann.
Rev. Terry Amann said: “I am a pastor at Walnut Creek Community Church in Windsor Heights. I also serve as a pastor to the board of directors of the Family Leader. I do not speak on behalf of these two organizations, but as a private and concerned citizen.
I have been involved in politics for several years, having worked with the Mike Huckabee presidential campaign during the 2008 election cycle, and with the Tim Pawlenty campaign earlier this year.
Today, I am enthusiastically endorsing Senator Rick Santorum for President of the United States.
Rick Santorum is a humble person of solid character and integrity. He has been a powerful advocate for the unborn, and he has been a strong voice and excellent example for traditional marriage. On all points, Rick Santorum is a solid conservative — both socially and fiscally — and he has the political record to prove it. He also knows that we need to cut spending, cut taxes, and create jobs in order to stimulate the American economy. Senator Santorum is also well-versed in foreign policy. He understands the nuances and complexities of the Middle East, and of the threats posed by Islamic Jihad.
By visiting all 99 counties in our state, Rick Santorum has proven that he will do whatever it takes to get the job done. He will be a refreshing change in Washington. He is exactly what we need in a president. I urge all Iowans to carefully consider giving your support to Rick Santorum.”
Senator Santorum said: “I am honored to receive the endorsement of Rev. Amann. Terry is a true leader for traditional American family values not just in Des Moines, but throughout Iowa. I am blessed to receive his vote of confidence today and look forward to working with him as we drive toward victory in the Iowa caucuses.”
Rev. Terry Amann came to the Walnut Creek Community Church in 2007 and was recognized as a pastor in 2008. Rev. Amann has served as pastor in three denominational churches prior to Walnut Creek, as well as serving as a jail and prison chaplain for several years. Terry and his wife, Susan, are the proud parents of three daughters: Sarah, Rachel, and Samanthya.

RECENTLY:

Category: Election 2012, Iowa, Rick Santorum

Conflation

Posted on | December 12, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

Daily Pundit keys in on a sentence from Stacy’s post:

He loves to talk about infrastructure — “investments in road and bridges” — as if that was the majority of the what he’s spending money on, when in fact, infrastructure projects were less than 5% of the stimulus bill. It’s like me sprinkling a turd with sugar and asking you to eat it and when you refuse, I accuse you of disliking sugar.

and asks:

How would you characterize this facet of Obama’s tactics?

Really though, #OccupyResoluteDesk is dedicated to conflating ideas.

1 a : to bring together : fuse
b : confuse
2: to combine (as two readings of a text) into a composite whole

I really don’t believe anything about Obama. It seems probably true that he was born Hawaiin, i.e. I reject Birtherism. It is also true that he’s said he’s Christian. I don’t care to call a bluff there, either.

Beyond that, this administration is an abdication of all things American. Referring to Stacy’s transcript, Government neither invests nor creates jobs: it redistributes and creates positions for people. Those government positions do not drive the economy. They are a load, every one of them. Some, like the military, make Constitutional sense. Others, like the czars, treat the Constitution as a urinal cake.

To govern a country is like refereeing a football game. If points are money, how many do the zebras score? None. They merely ensure that the private enterprise of fielding a football team leads to legally scored points. Crony capitalism is the referee suiting up and kicking a field goal for a favored team, or queering the calls to ensure they have better field position.

#OccupyResoluteDesk systematically conflates the public and private sectors. The job is so thorough as to beg the question as to whether he’s sincerely wrong about Economics, or knows fully what he’s about, and to paraphrase Mailman, knows he’s headed for the bottom, but he’s riding us all the way. It’s easier to stay dispassionate by letting History judge that, because it’s immaterial to the task of easing him on down the road next November.

Anybody else planning on hanging at the Northern Virginia Tea Party event on Saturday?

Category: Barack Obama, Democrats

Today’s News of the Weird

Posted on | December 12, 2011 | 15 Comments

From Alabama, with love:

A conservative Christian politician has a secret life as a sperm donor for lesbian couples – even though he has campaigned against gay marriage.
American politician Bill Johnson has spent most of this year in Christchurch [New Zealand] helping run the earthquake recovery, all the while using the online persona “chchbill” to meet women who want help to get pregnant.
Under that persona, he has discussed making donations to at least nine women without the knowledge of his family in the US.
Three of the women are now pregnant, and Johnson has assisted another three with donations in the past month. It is believed he has been in communication with at least another three women to discuss sperm donation.

Wait — it gets weirder:

He moved to Christchurch after the February quake without his wife Kathy, a two-time Mrs America finalist who has three children from a former relationship. . . .
The Herald on Sunday approached Johnson on Thursday at a restaurant in Christchurch where he had just finished dining with one of the women he had successfully impregnated.
He said the urge to become a biological father was “a need that I have”.
“I am married to the most beautiful woman in the world. When I married her I knew we couldn’t have any more children. She had a hysterectomy 10 years ago.
“There is nothing my wife would want to give me more in the world than a child of my own.”

TMI! TMI! TMI!

We can safely predict that the soon-to-be-ex-politician will be hearing shortly from the lawyer for his soon-to-be-ex-wife. And then he’ll be free to donate sperm to whomever he chooses.

Category: Alabama, New Zealand, Scandal

Problem Perry’s Campaign Denied in September, Confirmed in December

Posted on | December 12, 2011 | 12 Comments

Nobody seems to remember who first raised this issue:

Does Pain Explain Perry’s
Poor Debate Performances?

That was Sept. 23, the day after the Orlando debate, and I’d gotten an e-mail tip from blogger Brian Ledbetter that Rick Perry had undergone back surgery in July. The next day, a top Perry adviser denied to Jennifer Rubin that the governor’s back was causing any problem. But now, in an interview with the Des Moines Register, Perry says it was a problem:

I think part of the reason you have seen a somewhat different candidate on the debates is my health, and (I’m) both physically and mentally just back in the game. You have fusion on your back, and it takes you a while to get back on your game. . . . I would suggest to you that I was pretty fatigued.

So today — now that the story is at Memeorandum, Hot Air and PJ Tatler — I’ve got another question:

Why did Perry’s advisers deny the problem in September, if Perry evidently was willing to admit it?

It doesn’t make sense.

UPDATE: Some people on Twitter have decided this as an occasion to renew their ax-grinding against Jennifer Rubin who, as I mentioned Saturday, has been accused of being in the tank for Mitt Romney — and not without reason. But why the ax-grinding on a story that has nothing to do with Romney?

Rubin did due diligence in asking Perry’s people about this story in September, and got a denial that now appears to have been misleading. Rubin’s alleged bias aside, she did valuable work in reporting that story. It would seem that the real disservice to Perry was done by the aides who tried to cover up a problem which — had they been willing to admit it at the time — might have put Perry’s troubles in a more sympathetic light.

Category: Election 2012, Rick Perry

Yeshiva Girls Gone Wild

Posted on | December 12, 2011 | 5 Comments

You know you’re reading bad porn when you get lines like this:

After all of our secret rendezvouses, I’m still not used to seeing him without his yarmulke on, but this time it’s somewhat of a comfort.

Sweetheart: “Rendezvouses“? I’d expel you for bad grammar.

This anonymous article in the Yeshiva University Beacon has caused a huge media controversy:

Jewish University, School Newspaper
Cut Ties Over Controversial Sex Column
— Fox News

Essay Sparks Campus Uproar
— Wall Street Journal

Editor of Yeshiva University
paper The Beacon resigns
amid outrage over sex essay
— NY Daily News

Orthodox Jewish Student’s
Tale of Premarital Sex,
Real or Not, Roils Campus
— New York Times

Yeshiva University paper
sex story creates uproar
— Jerusalem Post

It’s a shanda! Beth Mandel sent out a link on Twitter to an article at the official Yeshiva newspaper, The Commentator:

This wasn’t censorship — at all. The administration did not take the article down, or demand that it be taken down. As more and more informed reports emerged, we learned that the Stern College for Women Student Council (SCWSC), responding to clearly demonstrated student opinion, asked the Beacon editorship to remove the article. By and large, the student body that the Beacon seeks to represent felt that the Beacon actually misrepresented them and so wanted the story gone. Therefore, it probably would have been unreasonable to think that any national coverage would result from the meeting, as removing the story was only acceding to the requests of the online paper’s constituents.

Background: Stern College is the women’s school at Yeshiva, which takes Orthodox Jewish religion seriously, and the Beacon received some funding from Stern College. Furthermore, as Commentator editor Benjamin Abramowitz explains, evidently the editors of the Beacon were the ones who tipped off the national media to the controversy. Abramowitz links a Jewish blogger’s commentary:

[A] lot of students responded [to the Beacon article] by saying, in effect: This is not what we choose to represent us. This is not what we want people to think when they hear the words Yeshiva University. This is not what we want people to think when they hear the words observant Jew. This is not what or who defines us and we don’t want it up there for people to think this is what defines us.
But the editors of the paper said: Your opinions be damned and your reactions be damned. . . . We have free speech and we’re not afraid to use it. And we don’t care if this becomes . . . a scandal dragged across the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and so on; we don’t care if we make Yeshiva University out to be some sort of evil overarching censorship committee. We only care about ourselves and the fact that we should have the right so say what we want.

That is to say, the Beacon editors are selfish, self-aggrandizing and self-indulgent, indifferent to the reputation, opinions and best interests of the community they are supposed to represent.

In a word, they’re brats.

If the student editors wanted to publish that stuff, they could have dropped out of Yeshiva and enrolled in some other school. Instead — brats that they are — they were in effect attempting to subvert the entire meaning and mission of their religious university.

Also: The plural of “rendezvous” is the same as the singular.

Expel the grammar-deficient brats!

UPDATE: The anonymous Yeshiva girl probably doesn’t realize they already wrote a country-and-western song about her:

Talk was small, when they talked at all.
They both knew what they wanted.
There was no need to talk about it.
They were old enough to scope it out and keep it loose.
She said, “You don’t look like my type,
But I guess you’ll do.”
Third-rate romance, low-rent rendezvous.

Category: Education, Religion, Sex

Iowa State University ‘Sexuality’ Professor Heckles Rick Perry at Campaign Event

Posted on | December 12, 2011 | 24 Comments

Warren Blumenfeld, associate professor of “Multicultural & International Curriculum Studies,” academic heckler:

A packed coffee house where Rick Perry spoke this afternoon turned into a bit of a ruckus that left the candidate heading out the back door and straight to his vehicle after several Iowans screamed questions about his views on gays.
“Why do you hate gay people so much,” someone in the audience screamed as Perry wrapped up a campaign stop without taking questions from the audience.
“Go back to Texas” another screamed from the back of Cafe Diem coffee shop in Ames.
Iowa State University associate professor Warren Blumenfeld was one who shouted questions to Perry, asking him why he was marginalizing and demonizing non-Christians.
“The implication is if you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, you’re not a real American,” said Blumenfeld, who teaches studies about sexuality. “He is marginalizing people and dividing this country, and he’s demonizing proud Americans who just don’t have the social identities as he has.”

A quick glance at Blumenfeld’s c.v. indicates he isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed: He got his B.A. in sociology at San Jose State in 1969 and waited some 30 years before getting an Ed.D., which is one of those “junk” degrees that public-school bureaucrats get if they’re an assistant principal who wants to get promoted. Professor Blumenfeld’s “research interests” include:

Multicultural education, queer studies, special education, educational psychology, social identities (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic class, religion, physical and mental abilities) and the ways in which they affect educational outcomes; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues in education; gender fair education; intergroup relations; school bullying; cyberbullying; Christian privilege; African American and Jewish American relations.

Professor Blumenfeld’s academic publications include such prestigious works as Butler Matters: Judith Butler’s Impact on Feminist and Queer Studies and Homophobia: How we all pay the Price.

  • Question One: In tough economic times, how does the state of Iowa justify employing such a professor of useless trivia?
  • Question Two: Doesn’t Professor Blumenfeld read the news? Rick Perry loves gays so much he hired one as his pollster.
  • Question Three: Can’t somebody persuade Professor Blumenfeld to heckle Rick Santorum? He needs the publicity more.

Category: Education, Election 2012, Gays, Iowa, Rick Perry
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