The Other McCain

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

‘Key Social Conservatives’ in Iowa Plan Last-Ditch Effort to Discredit, Marginalize and Completely Embarrass Themselves

Posted on | November 23, 2011 | 50 Comments

I’ll explain why my headline describes the most likely result, after first giving you highlights of the CNN story:

Key social conservatives secretly
meet to stop Romney in Iowa
Representatives for leading social conservative groups in Iowa held a secret meeting Monday as part of an effort with one main goal: find and support a Republican presidential candidate who can stop Mitt Romney in Iowa. . . .
Multiple sources have described to CNN details of the meeting and the general effort.
The meeting, the group’s first, took place in a private office building in Des Moines on Monday. In attendance were representatives from the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, The Family Leader, the group Iowa Right to Life, and a representative for the Iowa chapter of Concerned Women for America. Some pastors from prominent Iowa churches also attended the meeting. . . .
Sources say there were about 20 to 25 people present at the meeting and that another meeting is planned for Monday of next week.
The effort is said to still be in the discussion phase. Participants were said to have narrowed their focus down to four candidates: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

This is a disaster in the making for social conservatives because (a) it’s likely to fail, and (b) it’s going to breed deep resentments within the “Stop Romney” coalition. The attempt by a secretive cabal of self-appointed leaders to anoint one of the Not Romneys will almost certainly produce a backlash that will end up hurting whichever candidate they end up endorsing, and the appearance of a conspiracy against Romney will create sympathy toward him, causing some Republican caucus voters to rally behind Romney, just to defy the will of these would-be kingmakers.

The “leaders” have reportedly narrowed their list to four names — Gingrich, Perry, Bachmann, Santorum — and if they back anyone else on that list except Rick Santorum, they’ll be accused of either (a) pragmatism, desiring to back a “winner,” or (b) anti-Catholic bigotry, or possibly (c) both. 

While I suppose some will focus on the absence of Cain from the socon cabal’s “final four,” I’ll let that slide for now, because there can be no doubt that if social conservatives in Iowa mean to recognize any candidate as sharing their values and having campaigned tirelessly in Iowa, it’s Rick Santorum.

If the leaders reject Santorum, there will be hell to pay, and that will be especially so if the socon cabal backs Newt Gingrich. For them to reject a faithful cradle Catholic like Santorum in favor of the thrice-married not-exactly-lobbyist-for-Freddie-Mac and oh-by-the-way-now-I’m-Catholic-too like Gingrich . . .

Oh, you’d just never hear the end of it. And I bet you dollars to donuts that, if the socon cabal backs any one candidate, they’ll back Newt. The reasoning: Perry had his chance and blew it, and some would say the same about Bachmann, plus she’s a woman and there’s a built-in fundamentalist bias against women in the executive position. As a legislator, OK, but as Head Honcho? Uh . . . kind of maybe a problem for some few hard-core types, so that’s going to work against her within the socon cabal, and let’s not pretend otherwise.

Yet of the four candidates on the short list, only Bachmann and Santorum have worked Iowa with the kind of early-and-often effort that is supposed to be crucial there. However, Perry’s the Not Romney candidate who’s got the most money and Gingrich is the Not Romney riding high in the polls at the moment. Therefore, one suspects that the internal dynamics of the socon cabal involve trying to talk the stubborn supporters of Bachmann and Santorum to support either Perry or Gingrich — especially the latter — in the name of political pragmatism.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

It’s possible to war-game six or seven bad consequences of this operation, whereas there could be only one good outcome — i.e., backing a candidate who beats Romney in Iowa then goes on to win the nomination. Having scratched Cain from their list, for whatever reason, the “key social conservatives” might plausibly be able to defend an endorsement for Perry, even if he doesn’t win Iowa, but they’ll be in hot water if they pick Gingrich, because the Bachmann/Santorum people would go ballistic. And I still say the Newt Bubble won’t last.

So their two smartest moves would be for them to either (a) just forget the whole thing, rather than risking a divisive backfire, or (b) play the long odds and bet the whole stack on Santorum.

Honestly, I bet they’ll do something stupid instead. The fact they’re having “secret” meeting (that don’t stay secret) is a solid indication this might be a good time to start buying Romney shares on InTrade.

Category: Election 2012, Iowa

Afghanistan/Pakistan Points So Glaringly Obvious, They Got Zero Mention During The GOP Foreign Policy Debate

Posted on | November 23, 2011 | 15 Comments

by Smitty

The GOP foreign policy debate was generally good. While disagreeing with Ron Paul’s non-interventionist approach, even he brings a valid viewpoint to the discussion. I’ll summarize it thusly: “No matter what we do overseas, we do a crappy job of reconciling our policy with our Constitution and purported Founding ideals.”

Yet Paul, as with the rest of the GOP field, seems to miss some specifics about the Asian conflict:

  • The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan are, [drumroll], Islamic Republics. This is a non-trivial point. For all some would say the U.S. is a Christian nation (I disagree), the Christian Republic of America ain’t here. Because we ruthlessly separate religion from politics. Or did until Progressivism. The point is that these are Islamic Republics. The religion precedes their constitutions. This starts to matter quite a bit for any long-term relationship. The leadership of a country may be all cosmopolitan, especially where elected by something more than gun barrels, but if the military and the people are not on board with the policy, conflict ensues. Read this, where “The Trinity of War” is mentioned.
  • The Durand Line means nothing in particular for the local population on either side. It is yet another British cartographic jape from the Age of Imperialism. Our policy and Rules of Engagement need a shot of realpolitik with respect to the ethnic situation, the history, and the geography. Pretending that Afghanistan and Pakistan are fully modern states is silly. Which is not meant as a dig against the populations of either country. They are no more or less evil than anyone else.
  • Nation building in Germany and Japan occurred with declared wars, against relatively industrious populations, involved troop commitments that haven’t ceased in 65+ years, and followed a thorough destruction of both governments. We had Germans and Japanese re-write their constitutions along solid Western lines. Do our Asian adventures, (begun as a SOF campaign by Bush and surged by BHO, who needed to say something muscular and coherent on foreign policy in 2008), even compare?

Here is my take, having spent most of a year variously in Kabul, Bagram, and Mazar-e-Sharif:

  • Nation Building a la Germany and Japan will not work.
  • Ignoring the threat of Islamist extremism only works in service of the threat.
  • The Bush-era policy on Afghanistan, while not exactly driving the problem, may be the least-worst way to get at the rub: this is not our problem to drive.

Above all else, these are Islamic Republics. While steering carefully clear of denigrating Islam as such, there exists a profound philosophical mismatch between Western and Islamic concepts of government. It’s easy to pick on Ron Paul for having foreign policy views that seem to clock in around the 1810. Yet those approaching these Asian conflicts with a purely Western mindset seem to be weighing in around 1910.

The point was made during the debate that insurgents play a waiting game. Time is the big weapon of the little guy in an asymmetric conflict. The clock works against representative governments like ours, where elections regularly try and succeed in breaking the Clausewitzian Triangle of resolve. However, time, education, and economics ought to favor the Western cause. The notions of iPads, social networking, and prosperity, as well as the roads, water, and power that get you to them, ought to be our emphasis points.

There is plenty of mineral wealth in Afghanistan and Pakistan to drive modern economies in both. Yet the culture and security situation do not permit the development of those resources. Not only are those cultural and security barriers completely outside the scope of anything we could externally change, we would be cultural imperialists even to try.

Concluding, consider Papua New Guinea. We’re not engaging in nation building there. Why the ‘Stans? Terrorist training camps in the ‘Stans. Fine: we can consider the minimum necessary investment to minimize legitimate security threats. After that, though, if we’re nation building in the ‘stans, we might as well take on the rest of the planet. No, that is not a serious suggestion.

For a more lyric take on Afghanistan, see this post.

Update: linked at Daily Pundit.

Category: Aghanistan, Pakistan

Obama Flunks History, Mischaracterizes Herbert Hoover’s Economic Policy

Posted on | November 23, 2011 | 16 Comments

Ed Driscoll called this to my attention:

“This competition for new jobs and businesses and middle-class security, that’s the race I know we can win. But you don’t win it by saying every American is on their own. We’re not going to win it if we just hand out more tax cuts to people who don’t need them, let companies play by their own rules without any restriction, and we just hope somehow that the success of the wealthiest few translates in the prosperity for everybody else. We have tried that, by the way. We tried it for 10 years. It’s part of what got into the mess that we’re in. It doesn’t work. It didn’t work for Herbert Hoover, when it was called trickle-down economics during the Depression. It didn’t work between 2000 and 2008, and it won’t work today. And the reason it won’t work is because we are not a country that is built on survival of the fittest. That’s not who we are.”
— Barack Obama, Nov. 14, Kapolei, Hawaii

Hans Bader of Open Market:

Obama is dead wrong. Data from the White House’s own website shows that Hoover increased, rather than cut, spending in the Great Depression, and ran up deficits that were huge by historical standards.

I’ve said it before: They don’t teach economics at Harvard Law.

And apparently they don’t teach history, either.


Category: Barack Obama, Economics, History

Herman Cain: ‘I Believe I Was Able to Clearly Explain My Philosophy’

Posted on | November 23, 2011 | 44 Comments

The Obama administration is “dangerously incompetent” in foreign policy, according to Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said, who accused the president of “coddling dictators” in a fundraising appeal sent to supporters after Tuesday’s debate on CNN.

“I believe I was able to clearly explain my philosophy about America’s international affairs and how I believe the Obama Administration has been so dangerously incompetent with our overseas dealings,” the Atlanta businessman wrote in the e-mail (see full text below). “Unlike President Obama, I believe America should treat our allies better than we do our enemies. That means we should embrace traditional allies like Great Britain instead of coddling dictators like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.”

Some analysts have dismissed Cain’s campaign since he recently slipped to third place in national polls. However, there is evidence the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO may have begun recovering from damage inflicted by allegations of sexual harassment in the 1990s and by his own gaffes. A CNN poll taken Nov. 18-20 shows Cain at 17 percent, up three points from a CNN poll taken a week earlier. And polls in Iowa — where the Jan. 3 caucuses are now less than six weeks away — continue to show Cain competitive in the Hawkeye State.

“I am a consistent conservative who can solve our nation’s problems,” Cain wrote to his supporters. “That is why I am running for President. That is why I can win.”

– – – – –

** FULL TEXT OF CAIN CAMPAIGN E-MAIL **

Dear Patriots
I hope you were able to watch tonight’s Republican foreign policy debate. I believe I was able to clearly explain my philosophy about America’s international affairs and how I believe the Obama Administration has been so dangerously incompetent with our overseas dealings.
Unlike President Obama, I believe America should treat our allies better than we do our enemies. That means we should embrace traditional allies like Great Britain instead of coddling dictators like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.
Unlike President Obama, I believe America needs to stand up to Iran. We should build our missile shield in Eastern Europe to protect our interests from Iranian missiles.
And, unlike President Obama, I don’t believe in spreading America’s wealth all across the globe in the form of “foreign aid.” Our economy is in a shambles and our government is broke. We should only provide aid to foreign countries that are either our allies or who have suffered a great humanitarian disaster.
The differences between Barack Obama and me on nearly every issue are clear. We are politically polar opposites. It doesn’t matter if we are discussing foreign policy or the economic future of America. I am a consistent conservative who can solve our nation’s problems.
That is why I am running for President. That is why I can win.
Ideas and commitment alone aren’t enough to win the Iowa caucuses, however.
I need you.
Please make an urgent contribution to my campaign of $20, $30, $50, $100, $250 or more right away. The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary are only weeks away and our opponents have so much money.
I need the funds the match them dollar for dollar in TV ads and grassroots organizing. I need the money to spread my message of economic opportunity and fiscal discipline. I need the resources to recruit more and more volunteers to publicize the job-building benefits of my revolutionary “9-9-9 Plan” to spur economic growth. 9-9-9 means jobs-jobs-jobs!
Please make a generous donation to my campaign right away.
Thank you in advance for your support and God Bless America!

Sincerely
Herman Cain

 


Category: Debates, Election 2012, Herman Cain

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.23.11

Posted on | November 23, 2011 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
GOP Candidates Call For Extension Of Patriot Act Debate

GOP candidates at last night's debate

Ron Paul lone opponent of extending the Act

Tahrir Square Protesters Remain Defiant
Military not believed by protesters, but do the rioters actually represent the average Egyptian?




Romney Letter Paints Obama As Obstacle To Economic Recovery
A gift for the obvious the man has, which is more than a lot of people do these days



POLITICS
Gingrich At Center Stage, National Security In The Spotlight

Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann before the debate

Gingrich exchanges fire with Ron Paul – civil liberties or anti-terrorist defense?
Related: Candidates blast Pentagon cuts

Obama Challenges GOP To Keep Tax-Cut Promises
Obama Heckled by #OWS Protesters (Video)

Feds Sue To Block Utah Immigration Law

Former Obama Fundraiser Gets More Than Ten Years In Bribery Case

Lawsuit Challenges New Massachusetts Casino Law

UC Davis Chancellor Sucks Up To Students: Didn’t Intend For Campus Police To Use Force



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Will Black Friday Be Diluted?
Fed Plans For Biggest Banks To Undergo Stress Tests To Ensure Soundness
PRC Manufacturing Gauge Shows Contraction
Asia Stocks Down After US Revises Growth Data
US Launches Antitrust Probe Of Banks’ Aborted Debit Card Fees
Bank Profits Rise, But Revenue Soft
Oil Drops As Gasoline Stockpiles Rise, Growth Trails Estimate In US
Pandora Posts Surprise Profit As Sales Exceed Estimates
FCC Deals Serious Blow To AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
Six Degrees Of Separation? Facebook Says Try Five
Turns Out HP Sold Some TouchPads Before Killing It Off
Magid: Kindle Fire’s Small Size And Price Are Big Advantages



SPORTS
Broncos Release QB Kyle Orton

Broncos QB Kyle Orton riding the bench

From Cutler’s replacement to Tebow’s backup to the unemployment line
Related: Elway Still Not Sure Tebow Is The Future For The Broncos



Brewers’ Braun Voted NL MVP
Predictable whining from LA’s Plaschke ensues

This Year’s Thanksgiving NFL Slate Best In Decades

What’s New In Baseball’s New Labor Deal

Hunter Expects Court To Mediate NBA Lawsuit

Former Nats Prospect Martis Signs Minor-League Contract With Pirates



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Is Painfully Thin Angelina Jolie Surviving On Just 600 Calories A Day?

Angelina Jolie

Rumors…sources…but no hard info.

Did Kate Gosselin Get A Facelift?

Disco Star Andrea True Dies, 68

Giulia Rancic “Hanging In There” After Breast Surgery

Groom & Doom After Wedding

Bad Timing Alert: Robert Wagner Plays Murder Suspect On NCIS

Paz Drops Plot Bombshell

Pippa Goes Ice Skating In London

Bronx Cheer For J-Lo’s Phony Fiat Commercial

Courtney Stodden Pours Curves Into Tiny White Top



FOREIGNERS
Egypt Questions Three Detained American Students
UN, Turkey Increase Pressure On Bashar Assad
Avoid Gadhafi’s Fate, Erdogan Tells Assad
Cain Says In Debate He’d Back An Israeli Strike On Iran
Libya’s NTC Unveils New Government Lineup
US-ROK Free Trade Deal Ratified In Seoul Amid Protest
Hezbollah, Iran Uncover CIA Informants
UN Secretary General Presses Israel To Release PA Funds



BLOGS & STUFF
Ed Morrissey: Climategate 2.0?
Legal Insurrection: How Obama Would Attack Romney
Gateway Pundit: UC Davis Students Agreed To Be Pepper Sprayed
Big Hollywood: NBC Goes Vile As Jimmy Fallon’s Band Welcomes Michele Bachmann With “Lyin’ Ass Bitch”
Jammie Wearing Fools: Occupiers Heckle Obama In New Hampsire
Verum Serum: Center For American Progress Reaches Out To #OWS, Says Republicans Are Against The 99%
WSJ: Thank You, Grover Norquist
Jawa Report: Big Sis Warns Of Thanksgiving Terrorist Threats
Big Government: Ex-Dem Congressman Says Voter Fraud Is Endemic And Voter ID Is The Cure
OWS Exposed: DC Occupier Arrested For Rape


SOTD – Wastin’ Time

Category: Live at Five

Santorum Claims Victory in CNN Debate UPDATE: Gingrich Goes Soft?

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 49 Comments

Press release from Rick Santorum’s campaign:

SANTORUM ISN’T POLITICALLY
CORRECT, HE’S JUST CORRECT

Washington, DC — At this evening’s CNN/Heritage Foundation/AEI Republican National Security Debate, Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum (R-PA) showed he is the one candidate ready and able to answer the 3am phone call to ensure our nation’s security and safety.
Hogan Gidley, National Communications Director, said: “Rick Santorum isn’t politically correct, he’s just correct. Should we be profiling grandma? No, we should profile the people who fit the description of radical Islamic terrorists. Senator Santorum is the one candidate with the experience, knowledge, and the willingness to level with the American people about the threats and challenges facing America.”

SANTORUM SAID:
On Profiling:
“We should be looking to find the bomber, not the bomb. To put the enormous responsibility on the Federal government and TSA is too much. I voted to allow privatization of the TSA. But the issue is the PATRIOT Act, we are at war. The last time we had a threat like this at home, Lincoln ran over civil rights because we had a domestic threat. But I disagree with Governor Huntsman. We have had the debate (on the PATRIOT Act and profiling) and it does show the values of our country.”

On Time Lines For Afghan Withdrawal:
“We are not fighting a tactic (terrorism), we are fighting radical Islam. All the radical Islamists are saying just wait America out — they are weak, they will set time limits and we will tell the people in Afghanistan and Iraq that we will be the strong horse in the region.”

On Foreign Aid To Africa:
“I believe it is essential. Africa was on the brink of chaos, where radical Islamists could take hold. While humanitarian in nature, (the aid) was essential for our national security…. We must promote our values. We are the shining city on the Hill.”

On Compromise:
“If the things you have to give up make the things you are trying to do harder, no. By raising taxes, what the Democrats are trying to do is slow down the economy. You don’t undermine the ability of our economy to grow. This president has poisoned the well. He’s divided group from group to position himself to win this election. I have a long record of bipartisan accomplishment. I point to Welfare Reform. We instituted work requirements, time limits on welfare. Yes, I compromised on some child care, transportation, but we 100% changed the welfare system because we stuck to our principles.”

On Highly Skilled Immigrants:
“As a son of a legal immigrant, I strongly believe in legal immigration because we are the shining city a hill unto the world. A huge percentage of legal immigrants come here want to innovate. That’s one of the reasons I put forward my economic plan to take advantage of legal immigration and encourage innovation. We need to make sure things are made in America. We need to make sure we create an environment to help innovation and create income mobility. That is why I have called for a zeroing out of the corporate tax for manufacturers, regulatory reform, repatriation of foreign profits, and increasing energy exploration to improve income mobility. Greatness has come from (legal) immigrants who have worked hard, created businesses, and created jobs.”

On The Most Under Discussed Foreign Policy Threat:
“I have spent a lot of time concerned with the militant socialists and radical Islamists bonding together in Central and South America… We have sent all the wrong signals to Central and South America. We need to build a solid hemisphere and they need to know we are in solidarity.”

UPDATE: By the way: I don’t know if Santorum won or not. It’s just that his campaign was the first one to send me a press release. I didn’t watch the debate. After the Nov. 12 debate in South Carolina, I’m kind of burnt-out on debates. We don’t get CNN at the house, and I’ve been watching Storage Wars on A&E all night. Anyway, Politico found Santorum’s performance worth a headline:

Rick Santorum says profile Muslim travelers

You may disagree. But are you going to be voting in the Iowa GOP caucuses? Because that’s the bottom line here, isn’t it?

UPDATE II: Daily Caller’s Will Rahn reports:

“We should be trying to find the bomber, not the bomb,” Santorum said when asked by moderator Wolf Blitzer whether the U.S. should use profiling. “Other countries have done it — Israel’s probably the best example. But to put this enormous expense on the federal government, to put this enormous expense on the traveling public for pat-downs and other intrusions — I think it’s too much money.”
Santorum then said that like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, he believes the TSA should be privatized and that Abraham Lincoln proved sometimes civil liberties have to take a back seat to national security.
Steering the conversation back to profiling, Blitzer then asked Santorum who, exactly, he believes security professionals should be on the lookout for.
“Well, the folks who are most likely to be committing these crimes,” he replied. “Obviously Muslims would be someone you’d look at, absolutely. Those are the folks — the radical Muslims have been people committing these crimes by and large, as well as younger males. Not exclusively, but these are the things you profile to find your most likely candidate.”

Again, remember: Iowa GOP caucus voters. Not many ACLU types are going to be showing up Jan. 3. You expect Republicans in Des Moines and Davenport to have a lot of sympathy for Abdul and Omar getting hassled at the airport?

UPDATE III: Allahpundit wonders if Newt can get away with being soft on immigration. Watch the video:

Again: How will it play with Iowa GOP caucus voters? I’m guessing they’re no more sympathetic to Juan and Maria than they are to Abdul and Oma.

Category: CNN, Debates, Election 2012, Rick Santorum

Police Brutality Against Women, and Other Stuff I’ve Been Too Busy to Notice

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 19 Comments

Michelle Fields, NYPD and Occupy Wall Street

Trying to keep up with the news is sometimes a challenge even for the most hard-core news junkie, and I hope readers will forgive me for occasionally overlooking stories I should notice. Libertarian blogger Tom Knapp recentlly called my attention to the latest damsel-in-distress drama involving Michelle Fields of the Daily Caller.

When last we encountered Miss Fields, she was trapped with me amid the smelly hippie mob of Occupy DC protesters who were trying to storm the AFP Summit. The same commie scum had been shouting ugly things at Miss Fields, who vowed never again to cover Occupy DC, so . . .

Tucker Carlson evidently got the bright idea to send Miss Fields and her camerawoman, Direna Cousins, to cover the Occupy Wall Street mob’s “Day of Action” in New York, where they got beaten by the NYPD:

“The police officers were beating the protesters with batons, and were also beating the media,” Fields told TheDC. “They hit Direna and me with batons. They hit other members of the press in order to get them to move out of the street.” . . .
Clear indications that Fields and Cousins were members of the press didn’t stop the NYPD beating.
“Direna had a camera in her hand and I had a microphone, and we were being hit,” she said. “When I fell to the ground I said at one point, ‘I’m just covering this! I’m covering this!’ And the officer just said, ‘Come on, get up, get up,’ before pulling me up by my jacket.’”
In the crush of the crowd, Fields and Cousins were unable to get out of the street and comply with the NYPD’s orders.
“The protesters came up to me right away and asked if I needed any medical assistance. They were actually very kind and helpful. It was the police officers who were very aggressive,” Fields added.

Here is the video — blurry and confusing — where you see the incident and hear people shouting, “Help her up!”:

 

Hunter S. Thompson got tear-gassed while covering the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, so Miss Fields is certainly following in excellent journalistic footsteps. However, my chivalrous instincts and paternal sensibilities are a bit ruffled by the thought of her editors sending a 5-foot-5, 115-pound girl into the middle of such a chaotic situation.  But the 21st century cannot distinguish chivalry from chauvinism, and I suppose Tucker Carlson would be sued by the Justice Department or the EEOC if he refused Miss Fields the “opportunity” to get wedged between an angry mob and a squadron of baton-wielding NYPD officers.

Having exposed myself to accusations of “discrimination,” I’ll just go ahead and earn the contempt of feminists everywhere by questioning the wisdom of pregnant women participating in protests:

Jennifer Fox, 19, spoke to The Stranger at the Occupy Seattle encampment at Seattle Central Community College. Fox claimed that she was three months pregnant last Tuesday evening when she joined an Occupy Seattle march that stopped at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pine Street.
“I was standing in the middle of the crowd when the police started moving in,” she says. “I was screaming, ‘I am pregnant, I am pregnant. Let me through. I am trying to get out.’” At that point, Fox continues, a Seattle police officer lifted his foot and it hit her in the stomach, and another officer pushed his bicycle into the crowd, again hitting Fox in the stomach. “Right before I turned, both cops lifted their pepper spray and sprayed me. My eyes puffed up and my eyes swelled shut,” she says.

Wow. The Occupy movement is suddenly pro-life?

OK, that was cruel and unfair, in addition to being sexist, so I apologize. Perhaps you see why it might sometimes be better for me to ignore these stories. Wherever there is the slightest hint of controversy — or an opportunity to create a controversy — you can always depend on me to say something that offends people. Set your watch by it. And in other recent news developments . . .

  • In Russia, It Means ‘Hail to the Chief’ — Russian TV anchor Tatiana Limanova flips the bird at Barack Obama?
  • “Sugar Falling Out of the Sky!” — If you’ve ever listened to University of Georgia football on the radio, you know that Larry Munson was the least objective play-by-play man in the history of sports broadcasting. A native of Minnesota, he became the Bulldogs’ biggest fan and never bothered to hide his emotional reactions. Larry just got called up to that Great Press Box in the Sky, no doubt because God needed somebody to do play-by-play for the Battle of Armageddon with as much drama as Larry brought to the 1980 Georgia-Florida game: “Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott!”
  • 90% of a Million — Daley Gator reaches 900,000 hits. He’d already be there, but hasn’t been linking us enough lately.
  • Speaking of Which — Monday, we had more than 14,000 page-views and exactly one tip-jar hitter. So everybody else was reading on TK’s $20. Just sayin‘ . . .
  • More Proof of What You Already Knew — Global warming is a scam.
  • Bon Jour, Mon Amis! — Not often I find myself linked in French:

“Le mouvement des indignés compte beaucoup moins de femmes que d’hommes. Cela fait contraste avec le TEA PARTY qui compte 55% de femmes. Stacey McCain pense connaitre ce qui explique cette différence. La majorité des filles et des femmes n’ont pas envie de camper dehors avec des pouilleux qui sentent mauvais.”

Which I believe translates to “hippies stink.”

  • The 2011 Originality in Criminality Award — “GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A Grand Junction man has been arrested for sexual assault on a child after using a ruse to dupe the teen’s parents into thinking he was a high school tutor. According to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Adam Clayton Ross, 27, of Grand Junction, was arrested on Thursday and is being charged with sexual assault on a child. The warrant for his arrest says that Ross met the 14 year old girl on MySpace and became aware that she was attending the Grande River Virtual Academy. He then showed up at her door with fake credentials, claiming he was a tutor. Her parents allowed Ross to meet with the girl on three occasions for tutoring sessions.” I blame Al Gore for inventing the Internet.
  • The 2011 Stupidity in Criminality Award — Armed robber encounters armed convenience store clerk, hilarity ensues. Be sure to watch the video: The clerk had the good sense to shoot first, because a masked man who walks in brandishing a revolver has forfeited the presumption of innocence.
  • Lucky Number— Did you realize that tonight’s event co-sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and AEI is the 13th Republican presidential debate of the year? And did you know that there are at least a dozen more scheduled?
  • In Case You Didn’t Know — Amazon’s “Black Friday Deals Week” is totally awesome. And shameless capitalism is cool.
  • The Band Didn’t Know ‘Brick House’? — Apparently, the drummer in Jimmy Fallon’s band is a Newt Gingrich supporter.
  • Great Ideas Deserve to Be Stolen — This post represents a form that Jimmie Bise calls “Clearing the Browser Tabs” and, despite my notorious shamelessness in ripping off great ideas, I’d be a lowdown polecat if I didn’t suggest you go over and hit Jimmie’s tip jar for a few bucks. Ease my conscience. 
  • “Young, Conservative and Spicy”? — One of my Twitter acquaintances scored a new gig at TheCollegeConservative.com, and her staff profile caught me by surprise:

Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) joins TheCollegeConservative as a contributor and assistant editor from the University of California at San Diego in La Jolla, California. A Political Science major and History minor, Hoffman is also the Outreach Director for The California Review. She contributes the “Being Young, Conservative and Spicy” column at The Washington Times Communities, and has also had articles published on FoxNation and The College Fix. Hoffman is a native of Coto de Caza, California. She can be reached at [email protected].

“I’m a married spud! I’m a married spud!”

Anyway, that’s enough brutality for one day. Don’t forget to check out our Amazon “Black Friday Deals Week” specials for all your holiday shopping: Low prices for you, commissions for me, a win-win.

And hitting the tip jar? Hey, it’s not like you’re losing, considering that 13,999 of you were reading for free yesterday.
 

 

Category: Blogging

Next Month: Bernanke Forms Monetary Insolvency Life-support Fund (MILF).
Ron Paul’s Jaw Injured By Floor Impact

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

The actual title of the notional organization, mentioned at The Enterprise Blog is Global Liquidity Facility (GLF).

And with the European Central Bank about to reprise the role of the Fed in the 1930s, economic analyst Ed Yardeni thinks Bernanke may well ride to the rescue of the eurozone and the global economy:

Given the ECB’s reluctance to act, I suspect that the Fed will spearhead the formation of a Global Liquidity Facility (GLF) to avert a global financial meltdown. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke demonstrated that he is a master at putting together such emergency measures back in 2008. In effect, it would act as the world’s central bank. Mr. Bernanke is clearly very worried about the prospect that the European sovereign debt crisis is a contagion that could spread to the US, as evidenced by his bizarre town hall meeting with troops returning from Iraq on November 10. The GLF would receive deposits from the Fed and other participating central banks, including the ECB. The funds would be used to buy the bonds of debt-challenged governments that would be required to accept strict supervision of their fiscal and regulatory policies by the IMF.
You might be thinking that I’ve gone mad. Actually, I’m simply predicting the behavior of our wild and crazy Fed officials. Last Wednesday, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren noted that the Fed and the ECB worked together during the 2008 global market meltdown, and “if there was a (new) crisis I would expect that there would be some coordinated activities (again). We would want to make sure … that people have access to short-term credit markets.” He added, “We’re not at that point right now, but there are clearly stresses in short-term credit markets.” He said, “We’re watching that very closely, and if it becomes appropriate for us to take more actions to try to relieve that, I fully assume that we would do something.” Mr. Rosengren isn’t on the FOMC, but he is one of Mr. Bernanke’s most supportive colleagues.

There would certainly be a firestorm in Congress, but Bernanke is unlikely to seek (or if he did, get) another term anyway.

I am still working hard, trying to envision how any candidate for POTUS can argue that the crap undertaken by the Federal Reserve is even remotely in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution.

Watching the worldwide slouch toward financial ruin just oozes the sense of the #Occupy movement. Except that at least the #Occupiers are not claiming any sort of superiority, or condescendingly making idiotic decisions with Other Peoples’ Money. And when the #Occupiers want to off themselves, they do it expediently with a drug overdose, and not some lingering totentanz.

End the Fed. Before the Fed ends us.

Category: End The Fed
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