The Other McCain

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

Did Herman Cain Harass Ace of Spades?

Posted on | November 9, 2011 | 61 Comments

Ace hasn’t made that accusation, but why else is he hating Herman Cain with the heat of a thousand suns?

I’ve made no bones — I think Cain is a godawful candidate, woefully uninformed, and, when confused, showing a tendency to offer up liberal, not conservative, guestimates as to the right answer. . . .
For some reason, some people are determined that this is the godawful candidate we have to go the mattresses for.
Why? We have ten other godawful candidates. What’s so special about this godawful candidate?

You can see the depths of the hate Ace has for Cain in that he’s doing the “second look at Gingrich” thing that all the Cain-haters have been doing ever since Cain zoomed to the top of the polls five weeks ago.

Ace deserves credit for being absolutely up-front about his Herman-hating, and having explained it in exhaustive detail, which is more than some other anti-Cain pundits have bothered to do. Charles Krauthammer and Karl Rove, among others, are being gutless weasels about their anti-Cain attitudes.

So . . . second look at Gingrich? Not just no, but hell, no.

Newt won’t do, and everybody knows it deep in their hearts. The recent Newt boomlet won’t last, because there is a definite ceiling on Newt’s support, and that ceiling will prove lower than the 25% that Romney’s been stuck with for months.

There is something distinctly pathetic in the attempt to inflate the Newt boomlet into an actual boom, to pretend that we’ll see Gingrich on the stage in Tampa next August accepting the GOP presidential nomination. “Ain’t gonna happen,” to borrow a phrase from He Whom Ace Hateth.

What the Newt boomlet represents is the frantic desperation of those Anybody But Romney conservatives who jumped aboard the Rick Perry bandwagon in August, when it looked like the Smilin’ Texan Express was a one-way ticket to glory. After the Perry bandwagon ran into the ditch, and Cain zoomed skyward as the unexpected beneficiary of the Smilin’ Texan’s collapse, the Perrybots spent five weeks making elaborate arguments about Why Cain Can’t Win.

And they can’t back down from that contention, because backing down would compel them to admit they misjudged the political landscape, which would undermine their prestige as pundits, an irretrievable disaster for the Know-It-All Brigade.

Here we are now, Nov. 9. It has been 46 days since Cain won the Sept. 24 Florida Straw Poll, and it is 55 days until the Iowa caucuses. It has been 10 days since the first sexual harassment story ran in Politico on Oct. 30 and . . .

Cain is still winning — 25.2% in the RCP average to Romney’s 23.3%, with Gingrich at 12.2% and Perry at 10.2%. The most recent poll (Gallup/USA Today) shows a dead heat, Cain and Romney with 21% each. And as I said a couple of weeks ago, sooner or later victory becomes its own argument.

“Cain can’t win.” He’s winning.

“Cain can’t survive this scandal.” He’s still standing.

Bloodied but unbowed, this “godawful candidate, woefully uninformed” has one great advantage: He never read the Official Political Campaign Rule Book that explains why he’s supposed to lose, and why this scandal is supposed to destroy him.

Meanwhile, here’s your Karen Kraushaar headline round-up:

A Second Accuser Goes Public Against Cain
— New York Times

Karen Kraushaar calls
Herman Cain ‘a serial denier’
— CNN

Karen Kraushaar, second Cain accuser
wants ‘joint press conference’
— Reuters

Karen Kraushaar ‘had to leave
her job because of Herman Cain’
as new sex harass accuser comes forward
— NY Daily News

Karen Kraushaar now wants to go
public with other women with
allegations against Herman Cain
— Washington Post

Assuming that the parade of accusers is finite, assuming that we will not be disccusing Accuser #11 and Accuser #12 this time next week, Tuesday’s press conference may prove to be the turning point, the high-tide of the “scandal” tsunami which gradually begins to recede. If so, it will fade away in the rearview mirror after Thanksgiving and by Dec. 3 — with one month to go until the Iowa caucuses — the campaign narrative shifts. If Cain reaches early December still at or near the top of the polls, his survival will be the story: Here is the guy who stood up to the Politics of Personal Destruction and lived to tell the tale.

“If” is a very tricky word, of course. But I haven’t yet abandoned plans to become the Ambassador to Vanuatu. And if Ace of Spades says he was sexually harassed by Herman Cain — well, Ace was askin’ for it.

You know what they say: Once you go ewok, you never go back.

BTW, Herman Cain’s “Iowa Fund” money-bomb — with the goal of raising $999,000 in online contributions by Nov. 9 — hit its goal 26 hours ahead of schedule and has already exceeded $1 million.


Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.09.11

Posted on | November 9, 2011 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Ohio Voters Reject Public Union Curbs

Voters cast ballots at the Wakeman Township fire station outside Wakeman, Ohio

Voting so far running 60-40 against Issue #2 with 35% of precincts in

Herman Cain: I’d Take Lie Detector Test To Rebut Bialek Claims
Campaign fighting back hard

Long Career Coming To Inglorious End?
Will this weekend’s game be the last for Joe Paterno?



POLITICS
Rival Groups Watching Mississippi’s Personhood Vote Closely

Pro-life activists demonstrate in favor of Proposition 26

Amendment would define fertilized egg or a clone as a person

Senior Mortuary Officials At Dover AFB Disciplined For Mishandling Remains


Judge Silberman’s Strange Opinion

Democrat Governor Steve Beshear Wins Re-Election In Kentucky

Maine Voters Restore Election Day Registration

Republican Phil Bryant Wins Governor’s Race In Mississippi

New Charges Filed In Fort Hood Bomb Plot

Republicans Offer Tax Deal To Break Debt Impasse, Democrats Reject It



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
European Debt Crisis: Berlusconi’s Last Stand?
Republic Makes Plans To Sell Off Frontier Airlines
Fannie Mae Asks For $7.8 Billion As Losses Widen
Fed’s Plosser Says Additional Stimulus Unnecessary
Rate This: Yelp IPO Targets $2 Billion
B&N Urges Federal Probe Of Microsoft’s Patents
“Modern Warfare 3” Takes It To The Streets
How Barnes & Noble’s Stores Help The Nook Take On Amazon’s Fire
Windows Phone: It’s Make Or Break Time



SPORTS
Acceptable Deal Possible Soon Despite Latest Rejection

NBAPA head Derek Fisher

Has Stern played the union or have they played him?

Ryder Score Two As Stars Beat Capitals

Avs Lose 5-2 At Detroit

Thanks For Nothing: Patriots Cut Haynesworth (Video)

Fox Has Chance To Object If Dodgers Sell TV Rights



Panthers Hold Lead (For Once), Rout Maple Leafs 5-1

Blues Blank Blackhawks In Hitchcock’s Debut

Vanek Lifts Sabres To 6-5 Win Over Jets With OT Goal

Phillies, Madson Close To Four-Year Deal

Relentless Oilers Earn Hard-Fought Win In Montreal



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Rapper Heavy D Dead At 44

Heavy D with Erykah Badu

Dwight Arrington Myers, 1967-2011, RIP

Brett Ratner Explains Oscar Resignation

Lohan Does It Hef’s Way

Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar Expecting Again

Kelly Ripa Signs New 5-Year Deal For “Live!”

Dr. Conrad Murphy On Suicide Watch

“Glee” Teen Sex Slammed

Jennifer Saunders To Write “Absolutely Fabulous” Movie



FOREIGNERS
PRC’s People’s Daily Warns Of Iran Conflict After UN Report
Italian PM Berlusconi Says He’ll Resign
Greek Government Talks Drag Into Third Day
Liberian Presidential Runoff Marred By Boycott
Aussie Opposition Responds To Carbon Tax: “A Day Of Betrayal”
Kenya Develops Plan For Satellite State Of Jubaland On Somali Border



BLOGS & STUFF
Gateway Pundit: Second Cain Accuser…Just Happens To Work For Obama Administration
NRO Corner: Cain Camp Questions Bialek’s Background
Lonely Conservative: Who Is Sharon Bialek?
Ed Driscoll: Speaking Of The Cold Civil War…
Verum Serum: Assault In Zuccotti Park (Video)
The Jawa Report: GRINCH!
AmSpecBlog: Writing Off The GOP Field
Yuval Levin: Daley’s Demotion
Hit & Run: The Occupy Movement’s Penchant For Collateral Damage Isn’t Winning It any Friends


SOTD: Just What The Doctor Ordered

Category: Live at Five

‘The New School of Journalism’

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 40 Comments

“While I was at Newsweek (1950-1980), the mainstream media began recruiting talented leftist writers from the so-called underground press in the 60s, in the somewhat naïve belief that they could be co-opted. Instead, they went on doing their thing, which was to twist the news to cast the U.S. in the role of villain on the world stage. Many of these writers climbed the ladder of journalistic success and moved into key positions at home and abroad. There was never a media conspiracy. It was worse — a mind-set, a consensus that at times bordered on thought control. Contrary views became harmful to one’s career.
“This was the new school of journalism spawned by the Vietnam War and Watergate that bred reporters who believed they were armed with a mandate from the people and were accountable to no one save themselves. It was for many of these reasons that I decided to return to the rigors of round-the-clock journalism.”
— Arnaud de Borchgrave, former editor, The Washington Times

De Borchgrave’s essay (the date of publication I do not know) is quoted in the manuscript of a memoir my friend Ken Hanner, former national editor of The Washington Times, is currently finishing. It’s a fascinating story, told by a guy who was a member of the newsroom staff at the Times on its first day of publication in 1982, and continued there for more than quarter-century.

Publishers are currently considering the manuscript, and I can’t wait for the book to be published. Ken sent me some draft chapters of the book, and I’m sure many readers will be intrigued by the backstory of how The Washington Times became one of the world’s most important newspapers. If you want to know how a news organization is built from the ground up, and want to understand what it takes to fight the good fight against liberal media bias, this is going to be a must-read.

The rise of the “new school of journalism” described by Arnaud de Borchgrave, is a phenomenon that has never been adequately examined in any depth, as the the same people who took over the news media also took over the journalism schools. So there is no graduate student at Columbia University who can be expected to write a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation taking a critical look at the built-in biases of the “new school.”

Liberal bias is rooted in a worldview, a conception of history in which there are both evolutionary and revolutionary influences that chart a clear path known as Progress. The forces that represent opposition to Progress — traditional religion, the military, the wealthy, etc. — are automatically classified as evil and reactionary.

Above all, those who internalize the liberal worldview believe, Progress is an unquestionable goal. The possibility that Progress might lead us astray —  that society might actually be experiencing a process of degeneration, declining toward decadence — is categorically impossible. One must have a dogmatic certainty about the truth of the liberal worldview and the need for Progress, because doubt and skepticism will lead to questions, and once an intelligent person starts questioning liberalism, he probably won’t be a liberal much longer.

Many of us have gone through some sort of experience like the one described by De Borchgrave, in which we awakened to the reality of what liberalism is, and why liberalism is wrong and harmful. Each of us has a story to tell, and experiences to relate, about how it was we woke up to the danger and decided to start fighting back.

A scattered collection of individuals acting alone can do little to combat the powerful, organized, well-funded and prestigious insitutions of liberalism. The opponents of liberalism must have their own organizations and institutions, and must collaborate in opposing liberalism in the same way that liberals collaborate to advance their own cause.

The Washington Times was conceived as an institution devoted to that kind of mission, and the story of how that mission was pursued is worth telling. I’m glad Ken Hanner is telling it, and I hope he’ll have the opportunity to share that story with the world soon.

Category: Journalism

Radiance Foundation On ‘Zo Nation: NAACP And ACLU Hardest Hit

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 3 Comments

by Smitty

Meet the man Planned Parenthood fears. Ryan Bomberger wants more black parents to choose life over abortion, and believes that abortion is hitting epidemic levels in black communities. Is Planned Parenthood racist? Find out.

Click the image to view:

Abortion is possibly the oldest Lefty evil. Thank St. Albert of Gore for the internet, where we can spread the positive news of men like Bomberger. Two cases of abortion of which I have some passing familiarity were not without effect. God have mercy on the abortion industry and lead all those involved to repentance.

As Americans like Bomberger and Rachel stray from the Progressive reservation, tools like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton appear increasingly cheesy.

Category: Abortion, PJTV

HERMAN CAIN PRESS CONFERENCE UPDATE: Video, Headlines, Reaction

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 105 Comments

UPDATE 6:05 p.m. ET: The Lonely Conservative has video:

UPDATE 6:51 p.m.: A quick sample of major media headlines:

Herman Cain: I’d take lie detector test
to rebut Sharon Bialek claims
— CBS News

Cain on dropping out of presidential
race: ‘Ain’t going to happen’
— Daily Caller

Cain denies harassment claims
— USA Today

Cain Says Alleged Groping
‘Simply Did Not Happen’
— Wall Street Journal

It is too early to analyze or evaluate the long-term impact. The immediate reaction toward Cain’s press conference has been generally positive. If he didn’t “hit a home run,” as they say, he at least got a solid stand-up double. And his vow that he will continue the campaign, without regard to his accusers or their accusations, is perhaps the most important thing he said during the press conference.


UPDATE 5:58 p.m. ET: Bob Belvedere at The Camp of the Saints is profoundly skeptical of Sharon Bialek. Allahpundit is poll-watching:

Finally, here’s the latest from Gallup showing some movement in Cain’s “positive intensity” score since the allegations first started flying.

What counts, really, is the results of the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, now just eight weeks away. All the polling in the world at this point is just a wild shot at a moving target. It’s been nine days since these accusations first surfaced, and we have many more news cycles to go through before we’ll know how the voters in Iowa view this.

UPDATE 5:40 p.m. ET: The press conference is over, and I think anyone who watched it will agree that it went well for Herman Cain. His lawyer’s opening statement might have helped put the press on notice to treat the candidate respectfully. The post-press conference panel discussion now on Fox News seems favorable toward Cain. I’ll be aggregating reaction and adding commentary in a moment.

UPDATE 5:27 p.m. ET: ABC News asks about former employee Karen Kraushaar, now a spokeswoman for the IRS, and Cain says her accusations were determined to be “baseless.”

UPDATE 5:23 p.m. ET: “In no way am I trying to minimize sexual harassment in the workplace. . . . It’s very serious.”

UPDATE 5:20 p.m. ET: The floor is opened to question, CBS reporter asks him if he would take a lie-detector test. He says yes.

UPDATE 5:16 p.m. ET: “We will get through this.” Makes frequent references to “the American people,” talks about his wife, Gloria.

UPDATE 5:14 p.m. ET: Any suggestion that he will withdraw from the campaign “ain’t gonna happen. . . . I will not be deterred.”

UPDATE 5:12 p.m. ET: Herman Cain says he wants to “take my message directly to the people. . . . I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period.” He says, in essence, he doesn’t know Sharon Bialek from Adam’s housecat.

UPDATE 5:08 p.m. ET: We’re live! Cain’s lawyer talks about his own experience in representing victims of harassment and sexual assault. They didn’t act like Sharon Bialek, he says. Herman Cain is now being tried “in the court of public opinion.” Lawyer, he seems pretty pissed.

* * * PREVIOUSLY 4:49 p.m. ET * * *

Scheduled to begin in Phoenix at 3 p.m. local time, 5 p.m. ET. It will be liveblogged, summarized, aggregated, et cetera. A sample of headlines:

Cain accuser has history of
financial troubles, legal squabbles
— Chicago Tribune

Jobless & shameless gal going for gold
— NY Post

Cain Camp Questions Bialek’s Background
— National Review

GOP senator says Cain should
quit if allegations are true
— CNN

The GOP Senator? Lisa Murkowski. Yeah, right.

Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain, Scandal

He Used to Be Somebody

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 28 Comments

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH …
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH …
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH …

It was a little less than two years ago that he “parted ways.” Can anyone remember the last time he wrote anything important? While I was writing this, Ali Akbar called to talk about his success with NotMittRomney.com. Ali is now vastly more influential than Mr. Ponytail Bikeshorts, which is kind of ironic.

Or maybe miraculous. Like I said: Pray real hard.

Addendum: “Mommy says everytime somebody hits my tip jar for $10, an angel gets his wings.” Are you calling Mommy a liar?

P.S.: I never called Cain’s accusers “rent seekers,” of course.

Category: Charles Johnson, Herman Cain

Occupy ‘Frisco Is Quite The Movement

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

via Vodka Pundit, we have this NSFW bit:

Related, there is this bit of scatalogical Heh:

Category: #Occupy, humor, Progressivism

‘Unwanted Advances’

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 70 Comments

On Fox News this morning, Martha MacCallum interviewed The Accuser, who characterized Herman Cain’s behavior toward her as “unwanted advances,” rather than “sexual harassment.”

Professor Jacobson has said that Cain is accused of “attempted adultery” and, without regard for whether we believe The Accuser or not, it is important to stipulate that we are talking about an accusation which has not been proved in any legal sense. Rather than discuss the specifics of Herman Cain’s situation, let us seize this teachable moment to consider “unwanted advances” as a phenomenon.

Any sexual “advance” a man makes toward anyone other than his wife is a moral wrong — a sin, to use an old-fashioned word that doesn’t get used often enough these days.

In common parlance, to “hit on” a woman is wrong, without regard to whether the hitter succeeds or fails in his sinful effort. We are judging by a corrupt standard if we think a man, whether single or married, has committed no wrong when his “advance” toward a woman can be summarized in the hockey announcer’s phrase: “He shoots — he scores!”

The corrupt standard which finds no wrong in that score-keeping attitude toward sexual sin is often termed “consenting adults,” a legalism dating back a half-century, particularly the controversies surrounding Britain’s Sexual Offences Act of 1967, which legalized homosexual acts historically condemned under common law.

Law influences culture, and vice-versa, and the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s brought about a legal revolution that has in turn embedded itself in popular notions of right and wrong. Many people nowadays proclaim that we cannot pass moral judgment on sexual acts other than those that violate the law — except, of course, that the moral sense is intrinsic to human nature and people make judgments anyway, although folks in political life (including journalists) are generally careful not to express their moral sense in ways disapproved by the Arbiters of Acceptable Discourse.

The “consenting adults” standard having ensconced itself both in law and culture, the manner by which people obtain consent for sex (other than by standing in front of a minister and pledging “I do”) has become a cottage industry of sorts. There are many Web sites — including one that recently began advertising here — that specialize in arranging hook-ups. But I also consider the modern fitness industry an epiphenomenon of the Hook-Up Culture, as many people spend hours in the gym each week primarily to optimize their sexual attractiveness.

So, as The Accuser said on Fox News today, she wishes Herman Cain to admit that at times he has been “inappropriate with women.” The Accuser has described a particular incident and Cain has denied that any such incident occurred.

But what are we to make of that judgmental word “inappropriate”? We can all agree that if Cain did what The Accuser alleges he did, it was not merely inappropriate, but profoundly wrong and the Christians among us would say that such behavior would fall under the heading of sin.

That old-fashioned moral judgment, however, is very different than sayng that it is “inappropriate” for a married businessman to make an “unwanted advance” toward a woman seeking career assistance. And how does The Accuser describe her response to an unwanted advance?

“What are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend. This isn’t what I came here for.” She was offended, we might say, by Cain’s (alleged) advance because he (allegedly) assumed that her interest in him was of a sexual nature. The Accuser wants it to be known that she had no such interest. What was “inappropriate,” in this view, was Cain’s (alleged) misreading of her intentions.

The Accuser is an attractive woman and we may assume that she has been the object of many “unwanted advances” over the years, all but one of which she considered unworthy of a Manhattan press conference.

A New York Times headline characterizes the accusation against Cain as “lewd behavior,” but such behavior goes on all the time — yea, verily, even in New York! — without meriting a headline in the Times.

Saturday evening in the lobby bar of the Rennaisance Hotel after the “OccupyDC” riot, several of us were having refreshments when the subject of “sexual harassment” was discussed in jocular manner. Was one of the females at our table making “unwanted advances” with her “inappropriate” jokes? No, it certainly never crossed that line, because none of the men at the table were offended, and sexual harassment is an accusation that requires an accuser. Headline in the Chicago Sun Times:

Witness: Cain accuser hugged him
during Tea Party meeting a month ago

Lord, we are all doomed, if eyewitness testimony about a hug during a meeting is sufficient to condemn us. At least Judas gave Jesus a kiss.


Category: Culture, Election 2012, Herman Cain, Scandal, Sex
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