The Other McCain

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

‘Two Nationally Known GOP Insiders’

Posted on | October 25, 2011 | 12 Comments

Thus does Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post describe Nelson Warfield and Curt Anderson, who have been brought aboard Team Perry in a campaign overhaul. Another money quote:

Perry’s original staff seemed not to appreciate that running for president was a fundamentally different task than running for reelection in a deep red state.

No duh. I noticed Rubin’s item because she cited my mockery of Anderson’s faux-populist rhetoric in August. Monday’s headlines about the attempt to restart the Perry bandwagon:

Perry shuffles campaign team
— Texas Monthly

Rick Perry ads start Tuesday in Iowa
— Politico

You could read those articles, or you could look at the latest polls:

Iowa …………………. Perry 6% (6th Place)
New Hampshire … Perry 2% (7th Place)
South Carolina ….. Perry 12% (3rd Place)
Florida ……………… Perry 3% (4th Place)
Nevada ……………… Perry 5% (5th Place)

Keep in mind that on Sept. 13, Perry led the Real Clear Politics national poll average with 31.8% — a 12-point lead over Mitt Romney. Can the Perry bubble be re-inflated? I dunno. You can buy a lot with $15 million, and even the MSM are finally noticing that Herman Cain’s campaign lacks anything remotely resembling an effective “ground game” in the early states. (But don’t get me started on that.)

So let’s suppose a mini-revival for Perry. Can he recover from single-digit poll numbers in so many early states? I don’t say that’s impossible, but I remind you of my Aug. 9 warning:

What I fear will happen is that Perry will spend several months sucking up media oxygen and burning through GOP donor cash, only to collapse early next year. This will have the effect of suffocating other conservative candidates, and thereby lead to … Romney 2012.

“Howdy. Thank you, Erick.”

Category: Election 2012, Rick Perry

LIVE AT FIVE – 10.25.11

Posted on | October 25, 2011 | 10 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
NTC: Gaddafi Buried In Secret Desert Grave

The former dictator's body (L) is viewed by a Libyan woman

Latest reports indicate the corpse was buried at dawn


Obama Mingles With Celebrities As He Steps Up Fundraising
Tapping star donors and pressing the flesh with the stars


Rescue Workers Work Against Time To Find Quake Survivors
Thousands still missing under rubble as winter moves in



POLITICS
The Fix Is In At The Boston Herald

Mitt Romney files for the NH primary

Feckless hack takes one fundraiser and Perry’s party loyalty to represent GOP electorate

Judge Blocks Florida’s Welfare Drug Test Law

Voters With Housing Woes Giving Up On Politicians



Perry’s Plan Calls For Flat Tax With Some Popular Deductions For Those Under $500K

Cain Says Willingness To Admit Mistakes Is Presidential

Senate Terminates Farm Subsidies For Millionaires

Bachmann Fires Back At Accusations By Former Staffers



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
A Guide To Administration’s New Mortgage Relief Plan
Investors Jittery As Euro Debt Summit Approaches
Banks Clash With Lawmakers On Greek Aid As Bond Losses Loom
Netflix Subscriber Loss Worse Than Forecast, Shares Plunge
US Stock Futures Edge Up As Europe, Caterpillar Lift Sentiment
FedEx Plans To Hire 20,000 Seasonal Workers
Wall Street Merchants Say Protests Throttle Sales, Threaten Jobs
Steve Jobs Told Cook: Don’t Ask “WWSD?”
Assange Says Cash-Starved Wikileaks May Close
iPod Creator’s Next Quest: Making Thermostats Sexy
Happy Birthday! Windows XP Is Ten Years Old
Amazon Profit May Fall By Half As Kindle Fire Squeezes Margins
More Than Half Of Tablet Users Check The News On Their Devices, But Few Want To Pay



SPORTS
Rangers Power Through Game Five Slop To Take Lead In Series

Napoli’s double gives Rangers 4-2 win in game full of errors, misplays, goofs and miscommunications

NBA Set To Cancel Two More Weeks Of Season

Jagr Busts Out With Two-Goal Game For Flyers

Jaguars Hold The Line, Beat Ravens 12-7

NCAA Backs Plan To Pay Athletes $2000

India’s Inaugural F1 Race: Speeding Past The Poor

Missouri Not Quite Ready To Bid Big 12 Goodbye



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Robin Williams Gets Married

Susan Schneider & Robin Williams

Third time a charm for comedian?

Lohan To Appear In Playboy?

Demi Visits Ashton On “Two And A Half Men” Set

Teen Bride Courtney & Hubby Kicked Out Of Pumpkin Patch

Ben Affleck To Direct Matt Damon, Casey Affleck In Whitey Bulger Mob Saga

Giuliana Rancic Returns To E! After Double Lumpectomy



SNL Star Darrell Hammond Admits Crack Addiction, Alcoholism In New Book

Rihanna Spends $1500 In Sex Shop

Madge’s Hobo Bro Wants No Help

Gary Oldman, Helena Bonham Carter Offer “Akira”



FOREIGNERS
Hurricane Rina Grows Near Central America
US Withdraws Ambassador To Syria; Southern Strike Spreads
Thai Floodwaters Threaten To Overwhelm Bangkok As Levee Work Slows
Moderate Islamist Party Headed For Victory In Tunisia
EU Referendum: PM Cameron Loses Control Of Backbenchers In Biggest Tory Rebellion Over Union
Somalia’s President Says Kenyan Offensive Not Welcome
Kirchner’s “Eternal” Issue



BLOGS & STUFF
Rick Perry: My Tax And Spending Reform Plan
Jawa Report: Gadhafi Sodomized Before Execution
Weasel Zippers: #OES sympathizer Creates “I’m Getting Arrested” App To Help Protesters Avoid Police
NRO Corner: Romney. Perry Camps Spar Over Medical Benefits Given To Illegals
Gateway Pundit: 14-Year-Old Raped At OccupyDallas Encampment
Pat Dollard: Administration Approves Of Strict Sharia Law For Libya
Hot Air: In SC, Desperate Wasserman-Schultz Turns To “Little Democrats”
Jihad Watch: Libya’s NTC Lifts Ban On Polygamy, Bans Collecting Interest
American Thinker: Love, Or Something Like It, Blooms At The #OWS Barricades


SOTD: Hiroshima Mon Amour

Category: Live at Five

The Other Smoker Chosen For Cain Ad: Small Animal Near Stacy Hardest Hit

Posted on | October 24, 2011 | 30 Comments

by Smitty

Great ad, but the smoking at the end makes little sense, except to floutaunt the rules. And if you’re going to do that, why not play the Ladd Ehlinger card?

via HotAir.

Update: Sissy ‘Lanche!

Update II: Linked at The Camp of the Saints and Herman Cain PAC.

Update III: My genius recognized by Troglopundit!

Category: Herman Cain, Ladd Ehlinger

The Non-Barking Dog Of Federalism

Posted on | October 24, 2011 | 45 Comments

by Smitty

Why I can’t help but admire large swaths of Ron Paul’s ideas:

Ron Paul told host David Gregory that he would abolish federal student loans. . .

All of those students must claim a state for residency. Why. The. [Ahem]. are states not taking care of their own citizens? Well, clearly the federal government can cause money to appear much more readily. Given the moral hazards an unintended consequences of decades of this, it is high time that We The People call ‘nonsense’ on this.

Many miles away something crawls to the surface of a dark Scottish lake. . .

Mitt Romney defended his conservative bona fides today, insinuating that some mistook his lack of “outlandish … rhetoric” for a lack of conservative beliefs.

“I don’t know on which issue I’m not conservative,” he told Sean Hannity in a radio interview. Romney cited what he had done as governor of Massachusetts — balancing the state budget annually, increasing school accountability and education choice, and increasing the state’s rainy day fund — as proof he was conservative. “I think my record is as conservative as you’ll find,” he said. Alluding to the health-care program he signed into law, Romney noted that Newt Gingrich had conceded during the last debate that he had supported an individual mandate at one point.

And he pointed out that he had been elected in a very Democratic state: “I think people recognize that when you’re elected in a dark-blue state like Massachusetts … a conservative like me is playing an away game,” Romney remarked, noting also his efforts on abortion and traditional marriage.

Romney did identify one way in which he differs from some of his GOP rivals: “I may not be as incendiary or outlandish in rhetoric.”

Shag your rhetoric, mister: it’s your results that have people wondering if you’re packing the gear, or Yet. Another. Ruling. Class. Knob.

Instead of a 59 point plan to vulcanize a dead cat so that it bounces more, just tell us what federal agencies you plan to snuff. Because really, if you’re not whacking some bureaucracy with a Big Fancy Hammer, then you’re just shining us on.

Category: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul

Computer Scientist John McCarthy, RIP

Posted on | October 24, 2011 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

Via Tech Crunch:

The creator of Lisp and arguably the father of modern artificial intelligence, John McCarthy, died today. He studied mathematics with the famous John Nash at Princeton and, notably, held the first “computer-chess” match between scientists in the US and the USSR. He transmitted the moves by telegraph.

McCarthy believed AI should be interactive, allowing for a give and take similar to AI simulators like Eliza and, more recently, Siri. His own labs were run in an open, free-wheeling fashion, encouraging exploration and argument. He won the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in 1972 and the National Medal of Science in 1991.

Lisp (List Processing) is one of those initial revolutionary ideas. Whoever does not understand LISP, is doomed to reinvent it, as they say. In my opinion, McCarthy was more important than Steve Jobs.

One anticipates a coffin consisting of a pair of giant parenthesis.

Heaven rest him.

Category: Uncategorized

Christine O’Donnell Has A Good Attitude

Posted on | October 24, 2011 | 40 Comments

by Smitty

Dondero reports:

“We should learn a lesson from what happened in my race last year. I was consistently beating my democratic opponent in the pre-primary head to head match up and then the Republican Establishment launched their shameless attack and changed all that,” said O’Donnell. “As the saying goes, a lie runs around the world while the truth is still lacing up its shoes.”
“Right now, I’m 70 percent behind Romney,” she said. “I will absolutely max out if he’s the nominee.”

The blog applauds O’Donnell’s decision to learn from the past, without being imprisoned therein. Would that I had had such wisdom in my younger years. We can bicker and argue over ‘oo is shinier than ‘oo during through the primaries, but, after that, it’s time to retire BHO.
More at Sussex County Angel.

Category: Barack Obama, Christine O'Donnell

Cueball-a-Cueball

Posted on | October 24, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

I hoisted the three-month-old World’s Youngest Blogger on my shoulders for a pose the other night. What an awesome thing is fatherhood. Niklas is already precocious, though I am committed not to being one of those Dead Poet Society dads with the kid’s whole life scripted for him.

This business of taking care of little ones ain’t beanbag: anyone who looks down upon parents who are raising their children in the traditional fashion is completely, thoroughly wrong.

Category: World's Youngest Blogger

Karl Rove Decides Popular Guy Leading All the Polls Can’t Possibly Win Election

Posted on | October 24, 2011 | 81 Comments

Just about the time Herman Cain pulls ahead in the Real Clear Politics average — and is leading by double digits in Iowa  — the Architect goes on Fox News to denounce Cain as “not up to the task“:

Remember that Karl is the guy who engineered George Bush’s landslide victory, by a margin of hundreds of votes, over the formidable Al Gore.

Let’s face it: Rove is a spokesman for the Romney campaign. And right now, I’m watching Chris Stirewalt on Megyn Kelly’s show declare that Cain’s alleged downfall “creates an opening for Rick Perry.”

Fox News: “Fair. Balanced. Don’t Think the Black Guy Can Win.” IYKWIMAITYD.

We’ll be laughing at this when I become Ambassador to Vanuatu.

Category: Election 2012, Fox News, Herman Cain, Karl Rove
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