The Other McCain

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

World’s Youngest Blogger On Obama Presser: ‘Hahmlaaa?’

Posted on | October 9, 2011 | 13 Comments

by The World’s Youngest Blogger

The Worlds Youngest Blogger’s emotions ran the gamut from amused, to shocked, to prayerful, to concerned as the POTUS droned on.
Category: Barack Obama, World's Youngest Blogger

‘Veering Into Incoherence’?

Posted on | October 9, 2011 | 4 Comments

Zilla of the Resistance begins by saying, “Please forgive me if this post veers into incoherence . . .” and at first I thought, “Hey, no fair stealing my style!” But then I realized she was talking about the horrible pain of undergoing oral surgery and the side-effects of anesthetics, which are excuses I don’t have.

Anyway, Zilla’s dental bleg has already been linked by The Lonely Conservative, Blazing Cat Fur, The Blog of Walker and Legal Insurrection. So what are you waiting for? Go hit Zilla’s tip jar.

I just gave her $20 myself.

Category: Zilla of the Resistance

‘This Was Supposed To Be Our Chance To Disarm The American People’

Posted on | October 8, 2011 | 12 Comments

by Smitty

Adolf, Adolf, Adolf: Dilberted again.

via Gerard

Category: Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Scandal

#VVS11: Campaign Spin Wars Follow Values Voters Summit Straw Poll

Posted on | October 8, 2011 | 38 Comments

Following up on the earlier post about the Values Voters Summit presidential straw-poll results, we continue to the spin phase of the event, where people tell us what it means. Most interesting to me was a story in the liberal New Republic by Simon van Zuylen-Wood:

The story from Day One of the Christian conservative powwow was not merely that Cain killed it and Perry underwhelmed. That was a foregone conclusion before either of them spoke — when Texas megapastor Robert Jeffress introduced Perry onstage, he tried to exhort the crowd with the unfortunate question, “Do we want a candidate who is skilled in rhetoric or one who is skilled in leadership?” (Confused applause.)
The bigger takeaway was this: Perry, the GOP frontrunner most attuned to the persuasions of the Christian right, completely blew his opportunity to win them over. . . . Instead it was Cain, not known for his religious views, and in fact targeted at the event by the National Organization for Marriage for not having signed a couple of their pledges (the other frontrunners have), who galvanized a ballroom full of Evangelicals and born-again Christians with rousing promises to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act and protect unborn children.

Just to give you an idea of why, when it comes to public speaking, Herman Cain stomps the competition like Godzilla stomped Tokyo, here’s a brief clip from his Friday speech. He had just criticized the “Occupy Wall Street” protests and the crowd leapt to its feet cheering:

With impeccable timing, Cain followed up by reiterating and expanding the point, drawing another round of applause. Nobody else in the 2012 presidential field can fire up a Republican crowd the way Herman Cain can. And you’ll excuse me for thinking that getting Republicans fired up is a big part of what will be needed to beat Obama in 2012.

Cain’s critics like to talk about his gaffes — the Muslim thing, the “brainwashing” comment, etc. — but grassroots Republicans seem to understand that such politically incorrect moments are to be expected from a guy who makes a point of being “Not a Politician.” There is less forgiveness for Perry’s gaffes, including such unforced errors as this:

A Texas pastor introduced Rick Perry at a major conference of Christian conservatives here on Friday as “a genuine follower of Jesus Christ” and then walked outside and attacked Mitt Romney’s religion, calling the Mormon Church a cult and stating that Mr. Romney “is not a Christian.”
The comments by the pastor, Robert Jeffress of Dallas, injected a potentially explosive issue into the presidential campaign: the belief held by many evangelicals that Mormons are not Christians.
And it raised immediate suspicions that the attack might have been a way for surrogates or supporters of Mr. Perry, the Texas governor, who has stumbled in recent weeks, to gain ground by raising religious concerns about Mr. Romney. Mr. Jeffress similarly attacked Mr. Romney and his faith during the 2008 campaign.

For the sake of decorum, let’s not consider whether Pastor Jeffress was theologically accurate in his description of Mormonism as a “cult.” Rather, let’s ask the less esoteric question of whether Rick Perry benefits from having one of his proxies raise the issue of Romney’s heterodoxy. Perry’s trying to win an election, not leading a seminary discussion. Playing the Mormon card against Romney is, at the very least, going to cost Perry points for poor sportsmanship.

Keep in mind that evangelical Protestants aren’t generally big fans of popery, either, but that didn’t stop the Catholic candidate, Rick Santorum, from placing third in the Values Voter Straw Poll.  The Santorum campaign was celebrating in their press release:

October 8, 2011
For Immediate Release
Contact: Matt Beynon – 703.307.8633

SANTORUM DOUBLES
PERRY & BACHMANN
Values voter straw poll results once
again show Santorum on the rise

Verona, PA — Continuing a trend that started at the Ames Straw Poll, and continued in both Pennsylvania and Florida, Rick Santorum proves once again that the combination of the right message, right candidate, and hard work is the clear path to winning the Republican nomination. Senator Santorum’s total — 16% — was double that of media anointed frontrunners Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) and Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and quadruple that of 2007 Values Voter Summit Presidential Straw Poll winner Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA).
Senator Santorum said: “Values voters know me very well. We fought together and we won together on important issues like ending partial birth abortions, welfare entitlement reform, and protecting traditional marriage between one man and one woman. The legislation we fought for changed this country for the better, but we blinked and this President has changed this country for the worse; however, the values voters know we can restore the foundation of America and do great things because we’ve done them before. I thank them for their support in the past, their support today, and their support in the future.”
Hogan Gidley, National Communications Director, said: “Values voters got to see every candidate side-by-side, including the media anointed frontrunners, and the differences were clear. It’s no wonder Senator Santorum’s vote totals doubled-up Governor Perry’s and Representative Bachmann’s, and quadrupled Governor Romney’s. Rick Santorum is the only one who has led and recorded victories on the issues across the spectrum — social, economic, and defense — and the voters know it.
Senator Santorum’s strong third place finish at the Values Voter Summit Presidential Straw Poll — ahead of Governor Rick Perry, Governor Mitt Romney, and Representative Michele Bachmann — is another in a string of momentum building and expectations defying finishes. In May, Senator Santorum won the only statewide straw poll in the First-in-the-South state of South Carolina. In August, Senator Santorum, though outspent 10:1 by his opponents, finished a surprising 4th at the Ames Straw Poll. And then in September, Senator Santorum again surprised prognosticators by finishing 4th at the Presidency 5 Straw Poll in Florida and winning the only statewide straw poll in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania.

Santorum keeps out-performing expectations, chugging along as he says like “The Little Engine That Could” and — with Perry weakened and Bachmann now obviously fading — he’s in better shape than ever. ABC News makes a point in this article:

Santorum is not running in place like Jon Huntsman, but it’s unclear when his moment will come? His national poll numbers remain low, although the candidate says he does not pay any attention to the dismal numbers.
“I don’t want to be depressed by watching national polls,” Santorum said. “I just tend to focus on what we’re doing on the ground and know, just like in the Ames Straw Poll where no one gave us any chance, every poll said we were way, way back in the back and we finished a pretty strong fourth.”
Santorum’s campaign has held more than twice as many events in the Hawkeye state as any other 2012 candidate.

Iowa has become practically a second home for Santorum. For now, he and the other GOP candidates are heading to New Hampshire, where they’ll debate Tuesday at Dartmouth College.

Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum

Dennis The Constitutional Peasant Lives! UPDATE: Ali Akbar Says ‘Rep. Lewis, Come On Down!’

Posted on | October 8, 2011 | 38 Comments

by Smitty

Via email from Warner Todd Huston, who introduces this video:

A bunch of child-like protesters in Atlanta, Georgia refused left-wing Congressman John Lewis — a civil rights icon to many — to be allowed to address the crowd this weekend. The whole scene is reminiscent of the worst, hackneyed, new agie-styled preschool program devised for 5-year-olds by one of the most idiotic leftist imaginable. But it makes for hilarious video entertainment.


This whole scene recalls:

Dennis: We’re an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as sort-of-executive officer for the week–
Arthur: Yes.
Dennis: But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting–
Arthur: Yes, I see.
Dennis: By a simple majority, in the case of purely internal affairs–
Arthur: [getting bored] Be quiet.
Dennis: But by a two thirds majority, in the case of more major–
Arthur: Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!
Dennis’ Mother: Order, eh? Who does he think he is?
Arthur: I am your king!
Dennis’ Mother: Well I didn’t vote for you.

One of my favorite points is that people do not scale. Athenian democracy works in the case of, say, my local Baptist church, because it’s kinda small, we don’t disagree terribly much, and the heavy lifting typically occurs before the vote for all but the tiniest matters.

Hence the nasty existential truth, which plays nicely with Rational Ignorance, that we are a representative democracy.

Update: Ali Akbar offers Lewis a platform!

Update II: Dan Collins plays the Life of Brian card, inviting the question: are we dignifying #OrderingWindowShades excessively with all these Monty Python references?

Update III: Da Tech Guy is also following the story, and has requested comment from Lewis’ office.

Update IV: More at The Rio Norte Line.

Category: #Occupy, Progressivism, Racism

Virginia Is For Election Lovers

Posted on | October 8, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

This morning I attended a Fairfax County GOP Veterans breakfast. The state’s rock star Attorney General was there, as a featured speaker. He kept the chat local, and election-focused, not addressing ObamaCare at all. Mingling later, it sounded as though VA’s case may get mixed in with the rest, argued early next year before the SCOTUS, with a possible decision in the June time frame. I gathered that was all speculative, and readers of this blog will know that my prediction-fu is weak.

Virginia elections matter, coming as they do on off years, and with VA being a designated ‘battleground’ state, according to the MSM. I can safely predict that, in the case of a Lefty triumph, VA’s battleground status will suddenly be huge; if the GOP reclaims the VA Senate: crickets. A handful of VA Senate candidates were present, for example, the fabulous Gerarda Culipher for the 34sth District: My district, 30, features Tim McGhee, an admirable chap whom I’ll happily support. Turning the VA Senate red will be helpful in building momentum for next year’s elections.

Also speaking at this morning’s breakfast was Congressman Frank Wolf, who sounded the alarm concerning China, and the question of whether the 21st Century would be an American century or no, and then tied his remarks back to the humble local elections, where ‘just folks’ do the grunt work of making an election happen, serving in local and state offices and such. Things at which Tea Party conservatives, e.g. me, have kind of sucked. At the DC level, it was good to see Patrick Murray again, and while I didn’t explicitly hear Murray say that he’d be giving “Gentleman” Jim Moran more bad dreams in 2012, another run for VA-8 hung in the air like two dots awaiting connection. Curiously absent was Keith Fimian, who lost to Gerry Connolly in VA-11 by the slenderest of margins in 2010. Connolly will join Moran in having a retired Army O6 breathing down his neck, as Chris Perkins brings the heat. Good times.

So, yes, we like us some elections in Virginia. This state provided a hefty chunk of the brain trust that founded the country all those years ago, as we crawled out from under the British thumb. It’s only logical that Virginia show leadership as we crawl out from under the Progressive thumb.

Finally, let this post encourage you to keep doing whatever it is you do to improve the political landscape in the country. Progressivism is a kidney stone which we are going to pass, not without some pain, but after which our future will improve. Or my name isn’t Phineas J. Whoopie.

Update: linked at StrictlyVA.

Category: Patrick Murray, Virginia

PAULBOT-MANIA: Ron Paul Supporters Buy Victory in ‘Value Voters’ Straw Poll

Posted on | October 8, 2011 | 88 Comments

The question to be asked is not whether it is unfair for the Paul campaign to keep doing this, but why the rest of the GOP field can’t spend a few bucks to do it themselves. Dave Weigel at Slate reports:

He beat out seven other candidates and “undecided.” The full results, with 1,983 ballots cast:

Ron Paul – 36.9% (732)
Herman Cain – 22.5% (447)
Rick Santorum – 16.3% (323)
Rick Perry – 8.4% (167)
Michele Bachmann – 7.9% (157)
Mitt Romney – 4.4% (88)
Newt Gingrich – 2.7% (54)
Undecided – 0.7% (13)
Jon Huntsman – 0.1% (2)

In a post-vote press conference, FRC President Tony Perkins made sure to note that 600 people had bought tickets for Saturday only — a none-too-subtle hint that Paul’s supporters had over-represented themselves.
“Do the math,” said Perkins. “Ron Paul and his campaign are very well organized.”

What did 600 tickets cost the Paul campaign? And what would have been the publicity value if, for example, the Rick Perry campaign had paid for 1,000 of their supporters to attend the summit? Perry raised $17 million and he can’t afford to buy a straw poll? Your stupidity is not someone else’s fault. Beyond that, the story is:

A. Herman Cain continues his momentum; and
B. Santorum got twice as many votes as Bachmann.

This pretty much puts a fork into the Bachmann campaign. If she can’t beat Santorum in a straw poll at a national conference of social conservatives, Bachmann probably can’t beat Santorum in Iowa, either.

UPDATE: Jazz Shaw at Hot Air: “Ron Paul brings home the bouquet for best organizational skills at a conservative event .”

And by “organizational skills,” he means, the willingness to spend money on grassroots activism, i.e., offering free tickets for any Paul supporter who wanted to come vote for their guy.

UPDATE II: My buddy Joe Fein has shown how the Paulistas won — “stole” might be too strong a word — the California GOP straw poll.

Stipulate that the Paul campaign operates according to the “By Any Means Necessary” radical principle. Nevertheless, the point to which I wish to call the reader’s attention is this: The Paul campaign is smart to spend money on getting their supporters to events, and other campaigns are stupid in spending money to hire a bunch of staffers and consultants who don’t necessarily provide value-added to their efforts.

Suppose you are a college kid who might be willing to support a Republican presidential candidate. Now, suppose that you could actually get to meet that candidate, and get free travel to events where that candidate appears. OK, furthermore suppose that the campaign had a sort of Amway incentive deal where, if you were campus activist who could sign up a dozen of your college buddies to accept the same free-travel deal, you’d get a small commission for every warm body you delivered on the Republican candidate’s behalf.

Shouldn’t Republicans be able to understand how the Ron Paul campaign is using market incentives to build their movement?

Why, then, are most GOP presidential campaigns top-heavy affairs that spend ridiculous sums on “media consultants,” etc., rather than to use their money the way Ron Paul’s campaign uses their money?

Like I said: Your stupidity is not someone else’s fault.

Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul

#OccupyIowahawk

Posted on | October 8, 2011 | 28 Comments

During a long phone conversation with Dan Collins today, we talked about “Occupy Wall Street.” I mentioned that the only thing I’d written on the topic was a post praising the restraint of the NYPD in not opening fire on those useless motherf–king protesters.

They’re the kind of commie scum who give commie scum a bad name and my trademark “hypothetical atrocity” rhetoric was intended to signify nothing other than my bottomless well of contempt for such people. Therefore if I were the commander of the NYPD riot squad, my orders would be to open fire and shoot to kill. We’d make Kent State look like a Sunday school picnic. The brutality would be something more on the scale of Guernica, complete with Predator drone airstrikes.

However, a career in law-enforcement never appealed to me, so Andrew Sullivan is free to denounce the hypothetical massacre committed under the imaginary command of “what-if” NYPD Capt. Stacy McCain. Sully’s hysterical outrage over my jocular celebrations of satirical bloodshed would only serve to make us wonder if he ever had any sense of irony, or whether it was drummed out of him by his professors at Harvard.

So while the anarchist maggots infesting Lower Manhattan continue to fascinate bloggers like Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fool, I’ve been too busy trying to cover the 2012 GOP presidential race to pay much attention to the uproar, hubbub and brouhaha.

That’s when Dan told me about a real social injustice: After years of providing quality satire for a global readership of millions, Dave Burge’s total earnings from his world-famous Iowahawk blog have not yet reached $500. The 1% of wealthy corporate bloggers have hoarded all the PayPal contributions, while the 99% of proletarian satirists like Comrade Dave have been deprived of their fair share of bloggola.

When Dan told me this, I was astonished. “You’re kidding me — $500? Tucker Carlson spends more than that for lunch most weekdays. Hell, even Ace of Spades wouldn’t bother to do more than a snarky headline and a “meh” for less than $100 a day. Surely it can’t be true that Iowahawk’s total earnings for his ‘Beer Fund’ haven’t yet reached $500.”

But Dan insisted that, indeed, the oppressive forces of Corporate Blogging had conspired to deprive Burge of the Means of Satirical Production, and that high officials of the Obama administration were “all in on it,” conspiring with Halliburton, Goldman Sachs and Tabitha Hale to prevent readers from making “Beer Fund” donations.

So I went and gave Comrade Dave $20 for the revolutionary cause, and wondered what more I could do to call attention to the plight of downtrodden online humorists. And then it hit me: #OccupyIowahawk!

All we needed was a Twitter hashtag, some protest signs and maybe a gigantic papier-mâché puppet or two, and the world could no longer ignore the oppression of Dave Burge, the Rachel Corrie of the Blogsophere.

Click the image and contribute to the “Beer Fund” Iowahawk Legal Defense Fund. An Army of Photoshoppers™ will emerge in virtual civil disobedience to the System. We await adulatory coverage from Dylan Ratigan, Ed Schultz, Lawrence O’Donnell and the New York Times.

Category: #Occupy, Iowahawk
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