The Other McCain

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

Ayn Rand On The Liberal And Liberal-Lite Parties In The U.S.

Posted on | November 14, 2011 | 37 Comments

by Smitty

The Tea Partiers are the moderates; everyone to the Left is suicidal.

NPR quotes Ayn Rand:

“Both [GOP and Democrats] today are for socialism, in effect — for controls. And there is no party, there are no voices, to offer an actual pro-capitalist, laissez-faire, economic freedom and individualism,” she said. “That is what this country needs today.”

The Tea Parties are a de facto second party, infiltrating the Liberal-Lite party.  Hence the tepid response to Mitt Romney at the Defending the American Dream Summit, until he mentioned repealing ObamaCare. Lots of applause. “Should have started with that,” he observed.

The Rand quotation comes from a 1959 interview. Since then, we’ve entered an Information Age. The Nanny State was as brutally stupid toward individuals then as it is now. Subsequently, the demographics have worsened, and the people who used to scream at home, clutching their newspapers, are now blogging, commenting, networking, and comparing notes. The Nanny State delenda est. The likelihood of success for the GOP nominee is proportional to the degree (s)he gets it.

via The Future of Capitalism

Category: Politics, Progressivism

ObamaCare Granted Certiorari

Posted on | November 14, 2011 | 26 Comments

by Smitty

SCOTUSblog reports:

Setting the stage for a historic constitutional confrontation over federal power, the Supreme Court on Monday granted three separate cases on the constitutionality of the new federal health care law, and set aside 5 1/2 hours for oral argument, to be held in March. The Court, however, did not grant all of the issues raised and it chose issues to review only from three of the five separate appeals before it. It is unclear, at this point, whether all of the cases will be heard on a single day.

My man Cuccinelli has sounded quite firm and confident about the arguments in Virginia’s case, which is being pulled into the multi-state fracas. 27 states, in fact, desire to tell #OccupyResoluteDesk where to go with his legislative brainchild and what to do with it upon arrival.

Jimmie Bise on Twitter seems to think that a majority of the states could get crushed in a case where constitutionally, economically, financially, historically (to look at Europe) the states totally have the right of it*. Coming as it does during an election year, the SCOTUS will be under extreme pressure not to make the president look worse than usual. A follow-up post at SCOTUSblog summarizes the issues. The intense scrutiny on this issue is going to hurt the Left significantly. So much of ObamaCare in particular and Progressivism in general is predicated upon you shutting up and grazing quietly in your pasture, you ungrateful little sheep.

Yet Progressivism is the dead parrot of our day. I cannot fathom the Roberts court failing to scuttle ObamaCare, at least in a de facto way. There may be enough desire to offer a fig leaf that an attempt is made to leave BHO’s centerpiece ‘achievement’ intact. Certainly, the wording will try to minimize collateral damage to the Progressive project, lest the Roberts court be charged with Judicial Activism, which is only acceptable to Progressives in the service of tearing down what is good about the country.

In a way, it does not matter. Irrespective of the ObamaCare decision, conservatives must double down on efforts to emancipate future generations from the failed promise of the New Deal. Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.

via Ace of Spades

Update: Linked at The Lonely Conservative

Update II: More at Hot Air, and now a Memorandum thread. Legal Insurrection notes:

And, it does not look like Elena Kagan recused herself from consideration of the cert petitions, so expect her to be part of the decision, notwithstanding very strong evidence that she had some level of prior involvement when Solicitor General.

I, for one, can assert with total confidence that Kagan was not selected specifically to tilt the discussion in favor of ObamaCare. No, wait: it’s blatantly obvious that she was.

Update III: At Power Line, a note on the fact that the SCOTUS will hear 5.5 hours of testimony across four questions:

It is impossible to overstate how remarkable this is. Usually the Supreme Court allows only an hour for a whole case to be argued. They didn’t even extend the time limit for the two Bush v. Gore cases in 2000. Prediction: If the Court strikes down Obamacare, and especially if its opinion goes beyond just the individual mandate, as these issues suggest is possible, look for the Left to start calling it “the Extreme Court.”

Since we’re in an all politics, all the time era, we see how Obama tries to leverage the abject failure of his policies into a “blame conservatives” game. ObamaCare was sabotaged by the GOP and Buuuuush appointees. In order to usher in the Progressive Human Unicorn Cornucopia (PHUC), we must re-elect #OccupyResoluteDesk, so he can appoint more drool bucketwise softball player Justices, and break through this conservative roadblock.

Update IV: The Federalist Society Blog:

the Fourth Annual Rosenkranz Debate and Luncheon at The Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention, former solicitor general Paul Clement and Professor Laurence Tribe debated the very question. It was truly a preview of coming attractions since Clement will be arguing the case before the Supreme Court.

A very interesting post, showing just how far off a straightforward interpretation of our Constitution, and into the realms of sophistry we have journeyed.
Video here.

*That tweet is so Eeyore-ish as to invite the question: Is Jimmie Bise actually the international man of mystery known as Allahpundit?

Category: Health Care

‘The People Who Peddle This Stuff Deserve Neither Respect, Nor Credit for Good Intentions, Which in Fact They Lack.’

Posted on | November 14, 2011 | 46 Comments

So says Professor Glenn Reynolds about those vicious feminist ax-grinders whose hatefulness is at least partly inspired by their self-interest as brokers at the redemption window where ordinary molehills of hurt feelings can be exchanged for Himalyayas of entitled victimhood:

The words used in workshops — “uncomfortable,” “inappropriate,” “hostile” — are vague, subjective, slippery. Feminists and liberal pundits say, with some indignation, that they are not talking about dirty jokes or misguided compliments when they talk about sexual harassment, but, in fact, they are: sexual harassment, as they’ve defined it, encompasses a wide and colorful spectrum of behaviors. . . . [W]hen I was at Princeton in the ’90s, the guidelines distributed to students about sexual harassment stated, “sexual harassment may result from a conscious or unconscious action, and can be subtle or blatant.”

To explain what’s wrong with the criminalization of “misguided compliments” might require a book, although we could summarize what’s wrong with it in a single word: Everything.

People respond to incentives. The Feminist Victimhood Narrative inspires a culture of grievance, which incentivizes self-pity, scapegoating and vindictiveness. Where grievance multiplies and the list of prohibited behaviors expands, the vendors of feminist ideology are able to enlist their clients as saleswomen to help them generate demand for their product.

It’s the Amway approach to ideological hegemony.

Everyone encounters unfairness and hostility at some point in their lives. Everyone suffers wrongs that make them angry. However, feminism encourages women to think of themselves as members of a permanent victim class encompassing half of humanity, engaged in a daily zero-sum struggle against a demonized enemy, The Patriarchy. And if ever any woman believes herself to have encountered injustice at the hands of a member of The Patriarchy, feminism stands ready to aid her in her heroic struggle against the perpetrator.

Collective empowerment by such means can only be accomplished by the diminution of the individual, persuading people that they lack autonomy and agency, and stigmatizing those who refuse to join in the collectivist enterprise.

When you call feminists out for their totalitarian evil, you will predictably be accused of defending everything ever done wrong by any man anywhere throughout the course of history. Thus do feminists protect their perverse worldview against critical scrutiny, by arrogating to themselves the authority to declare any critic a “sexist” or worse.

Did I mention there will be a Gloria Allred press conference today?

Category: Feminism

Greta Scooped Me, But That’s OK

Posted on | November 14, 2011 | 19 Comments

Greta Van Sustern’s exclusive interview with Gloria Cain is, on the one hand, great news for the Cain campaign, but on the other hand, an indication that Cain’s campaign team views TheOtherMcCain.com as less influential than Greta.

Months of Cain coverage did not earn me that scoop? I’m hurt.

But I understand: If I’m not good enough for BlogCon . . .

Never mind that now, though. The damage is done, and I have a duty to my readers, so I must overcome the humiliation of being scooped, suck it up and report the second-hand news:

Mrs. Cain strongly defends her husband against the allegations of sexual harassment.
“You hear the graphic allegations and we know that would have been something that’s totally disrespectful of her as a woman. And I know the type of person he is. He totally respects women.”
“I’m thinking he would have to have a split personality to do the things that were said,” according to Mrs. Cain.

I’d like to provide you with an advanced transcript of tonight’s interview, or photos or something, but Team Cain is probably busy supplying that kind of exclusive stuff to really important blogs.  But here’s something — a poll at Greta Wire asks, “Who in the list below is most likely to get endorsed by Governor Sarah Palin?” The results as of 10 a.m. today:

You should go vote right now.

Remember: Sarah Palin endorsed Doug Hoffman; Newt endorsed Dede. So the idea that Palin would endorse Newt — who went on Fox News again and again in October 2009 trying to counteract Palin’s influence — seems wildly improbable to me. Newt was an Active Agent of Evil in NY-23. It was not until after Dede quit and endorsed the Democrat that Newt expressed even the mildest regret for his constant shilling for that vicious backstabbing RINO crapweasel.

Category: Doug Hoffman, Election 2012, Fox News, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Tea Party

That’s What I’m Talking About

Posted on | November 14, 2011 | 14 Comments

by Smitty

San Diego is an island of American sanity in a sea of blue state idiocy:

I’m sure that you don’t get anywhere near the airspace when the POTUS himself is present, but broadcasting just how fed up the American people are with #OccupyResoluteDesk is pure chewing satisfaction.

No, there isn’t any way an impeachment would get through Chokepoint Reid in the Senate. And no, there isn’t much value to add by having the House waste time on a symbolic impeachment vote. The value here is in getting more people to ponder just what an epic fail this administration has been. Beat that drum after the fashion of an #Occupy hippie, say I. It’s just solid Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace.

via Gateway Pundit

Category: Barack Obama

Myra: Don’t Thug My Gov, Love

Posted on | November 14, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

Myra Adams seems to be leaning just a little far forward with this post:

“A Romney/McDonnell 2012 Presidential Ticket Is (Practically) a Done Deal”

Governor McDonnell took a well-deserved victory lap this past week after helping the Republican Party of Virginia win control of both the Virginia General Assembly and Virginia Senate. This huge legislative victory, won with tea party support, catapults McDonnell right into Romney’s number two slot.

Yeah, that control is not by a wide margin. There is still a ton of work to do to keep Virginia liberated from the zombie Commie infestation here nearby the Potomac.

Moving ahead to the 2012 election cycle, Kaine has left the DNC to run for the US Senate in Virginia against former US Senator and former Virginia Governor George Allen, who was defeated in 2006 by Jim Webb.
On Friday, November 11th a few days after his state legislative victories, Governor McDonnell endorsed George Allen, who has primary tea party opposition.
There are high hopes that George Allen will win that highly contested Virginia Senate seat, especially if the VP candidate is Governor Bob McDonnell.
President Obama, of course, will be supporting Kaine one thousand percent for two reasons. First, Obama is counting on Kaine to keep the Virginia Senate seat in the Democrat column. Second, Obama is expecting Kaine to have coat-tails going up the ballot, helping him to win Virginia again.
This all sets up an Obama/Kaine vs. McDonnell/Allen WWF style “death match.”

Now, you may be cutting closer to the bone than is comfortable here, comparing a crucial election to a bunch of goofballs in a sports arena wearing vaguely homo-erotic spandex.

Nevertheless, here are a few points in rebuttal:

  • Not Mitt Romney
  • Bob McDonnell has great name recognition in VA, but where else, really?
  • Why not opt for one of the other strong debate performers? Didn’t the Cain/Gingrich Debate feature a dynamic, handsome brace of gents?
  • Would McDonnell’s talent be better spent taking Senator Mark Warner to the woodshed in 2014?

In any case, trying to call the GOP ticket this early doesn’t seem much more than fodder for blog posts.

via Instapundit

Category: Virginia

It Ain’t ‘Whining’ If the Bias Is Real

Posted on | November 14, 2011 | 29 Comments

No, I’m not talking about the bias of Tabitha Hale in excluding me from the BlogCon agenda for the second consecutive year. The final word on that has not only been said, but also set to music. Rather, I’m talking about the evidence of bias by John Dickerson of CBS:

In a slip of the finger that quickly ignited a furor among Mrs. Bachmann’s supporters, Mr. Dickerson e-mailed his colleagues that he would prefer to “get someone else” other than the Minnesota congresswoman for an online show after the CBS News/National Journal debate on Saturday night. The e-mail said that Mrs. Bachmann was “not going to get many questions” in the debate and that “she’s nearly off the charts” — an apparent reference to her low standing in many polls.
The problem was that Mrs. Bachmann’s communications director was copied in on the e-mail, and Mr. Dickerson hit “reply to all.” Oops.

Smitty has said that it is “whining” to call attention to such vicious backstabbing dishonesty, as though no one — least of all Michele Bachmann herself — should call attention to Dickerson’s contemptuous disparagement of her candidacy, lest they be accused of irrational and unseemly self-pity. Bachmann’s campaign manager Keith Nahigan, by contrast, complained of the insult with the obvious goal of exacting retribution.

Now, imagine yourself in Dickerson’s place, while your bosses at CBS News are being deluged with e-mails demanding your immediate termination. Imagine the next 24 hours, as Dickerson is denounced on the radio airwaves by Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Michael Savage, et cetera.

Even if Dickerson doesn’t get fired by CBS, he is now marked for life — his name a despicable epithet, so that no Republican will ever trust him again — thanks to the success of Nahigan in calling attention to that 29-word e-mail.

But there are many more scoundrels like Dickerson in high places amongst the soi-disant elite of the media establishment, and the way they’ve stage-managed the GOP presidential debates this year is the subject of my American Spectator column today:

Whether they’re accused of trying to gin up rating-friendly “fireworks” or limiting questions to a candidate they deem to have dropped out of contention, suspicions toward debate moderators are part of an ongoing erosion of the media’s credibility. Perfect fairness and complete objectivity are perhaps an impossible ideal, but when a candidate claims to have discovered “concrete evidence” of bias, it is a serious charge that merits serious consideration. Republican voters will ultimately decide their party’s nominee, despite efforts by the media elite to decide for them. And Bachmann’s poll numbers are still higher than Huntsman’s.

Please read the whole thing, because among the many unintended consequences of Dickerson’s insult to Bachmann was the fact that I was compelled to spend three hours writing that column in a McDonald’s in Spartanburg, S.C.  The necessary delay in my departure meant that I was on the road driving 452 miles to arrive home at 3:15 a.m., utterly exhausted at the end of a grueling 19-hour day.

Journalism as an act of personal vengeance — seeking vindication against bullies, backstabbers and other such miscreants — is a topic worth at least an essay, if not an entire book, but I’m too tired to write it now.

And why write that story at all, when I’m living it every day of my life?

Category: American Spectator, CBS, Debates, Fear and Loathing in Spartanburg, Media Bias, Michele Bachmann

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.14.11

Posted on | November 14, 2011 | 4 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


(Note: this edition of Live At Five is text-only and lacking in the usual snark for reasons of time and technology.)


TOP NEWS
CBS Dings Congress For (Legal) Insider Trading
Obama Caps Summit Diplomacy In Home State Of Hawaii
Economist Monti Will Try To Form New Italian Government



POLITICS
Portland Police Arrest Over 50 As Protest Camps Cleared
Deficit Panel Seeks To Defer Details On Raising Taxes
Bachmann Campaign Manager Blasts “Manipulation” Of Debates
Chapel Hill NC Police Arrest Eight #OWS Sympathizers
Retired Army Captain Receives Medals 66 Years Late



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asia Stocks Rise As Europe Stabilizes, Japan Grows
Banks Quietly Ramping Up Costs To Consumers
Southwest Adds Flights To Take Advantage Of AirTran Purchase
Gold Futures Rise, Cap Third Weekly Gain As Dollar Declines
Tablets Reshaping How We Watch Online Video?
Kobo Annouces $99 E-Reader With Ads, Taking On Kindle Fire, Nook Color
Google For Veterans?



SPORTS
Could LSU, Oregon Get Rematch In Bowl Game?
NBA Union To Meet Monday To Consider Offer (Video)
49ers Win Seventh Straight In Exciting 27-20 Defeat Of Giants
Bears Maul Stafford, Lions 37-13
Cards Hire Former Catcher Matheny To Replace La Russa
Nationals’ Ramos Freed By Venezuelan Commandos



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Justin Timberlake Keeps His Promise, Attends Marine Ball
Victoria Beckham: She’s Got Her Love To Keep Her Warm
Demi Lovato Catches Bouquet At Tiffany Thornton’s Wedding
“Immortals” Rules At Weekend Box Office
Jay-Z: Occupy T-Shirts Disappear After Criticism


FOREIGNERS
Syria Calls For Arab League Meet To Avoid Suspension
Brazilian Police Invade Rio’s Biggest Slum To Put Down Drug Gangs
At Least Six Dead As Libyan Militias Clash Near Tripoli
Germany Reels From Exposure Of Neo-Nazi Terror Group



BLOGS & STUFF
American Power: Michelle Bachmann Dominates SC Debate
Weasel Zippers: Democrats In Droves Refusing To Back Obama’s Reelection Bid
Gateway Pundit: NYT Bashes Reagan, Praises Obama-Endorsed #OWS “New Progressive Movement”
Jammie Wearing Fools: So, Jon Corzine, Where’s That $633 Million?
Jawa Report: “Mostly Peaceful” Occupy San Francisco Protesters Slash Police With Razors
Lonely Conservative: Labor Unions To Team Up With #OWS For “Day Of Action”

Category: Uncategorized
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