The Other McCain

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

BREAKING: AL-QAEDA LEADER ANWAR AL-AWLAKI KILLED IN YEMEN ‘FACEBOOK FRIEND FROM HELL’

Posted on | September 30, 2011 | 72 Comments

Apparently a U.S. Predator drone strike:

The U.S.-born terror mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed, Fox News confirms.
Awlaki was killed with several other suspected al Qaeda operatives, the Yemeni defense ministry said. The statement did not elaborate on the circumstances of Awlaki’s death.
However, tribal sources told AFP that Awlaki was killed in an air strike which hit two vehicles in Marib province, an al Qaeda stronghold in eastern Yemen early Friday.

UPDATE: Notice the legalistic mumbo-jumbo (“terror suspect,” “believed,” “reportedly”) in the CBS News story, as if they are afraid Al-Awlaki might sue for libel:

Yemen: Terror suspect Anwar al-Awlaki killed
Yemen’s Defense Ministry claimed Friday that Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Islamic preacher believed to be a high-ranking member of al Qaeda’s franchise in the region, has been killed.
Al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen born in New Mexico, has been linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) attempted bombing of a U.S. passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas day, 2009, and is thought to be a leader of the group.
U.S. officials consider him a most-wanted terror suspect, and added his name last year to the kill or capture list – making him a rare American addition to what is effectively a U.S. government hit-list. . . .
Al-Awlaki is believed to be a prominent member in the group, taking a role in the planning of actual terror plots, in addition to his role as a religious adviser and counselor to other members.
He reportedly met directly with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 19-year-old Nigerian who attempted to blow up the flight to Detroit in 2009, when the young man traveled for training to Yemen.
Al-Awlaki’s voluminous online preaching, in both video and print form, is also thought to have inspired Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, who made email contact with the preacher before carrying out his attack

Look, I understand that a news organization isn’t supposed to be uncritically publishing government press releases, but there is such a thing as being “notorious,” and Al-Awlaki’s role in al-Qaeda was notorious.

UPDATE II: In July, K-Lo at NRO interviewed Fox News national security correspondent Catherine Herridge, who had this to say:

Anwar al-Awlaki is the leader of al-Qaeda 2.0. The New Mexico–born cleric is a digital jihadist who uses our technology against us to spread his message of hate. He is the Facebook friend from hell.
Most Americans don’t realize that al-Awlaki, the first American on the CIA’s kill-or-capture list, was held in federal custody in October 2002 until an FBI agent ordered his release even though there was an active warrant for his arrest.
Awlaki developed an online e-mail relationship with the accused shooter at Fort Hood, Maj. Nidal Hasan, and many others. Think how history would be different for the Fort Hood families if Awlaki had been prosecuted in 2002?
Despite calls from Capitol Hill, the FBI has refused to explain how the cleric slipped through the bureau’s grasp. I believe it could be the biggest law-enforcement failure since 9/11.

UPDATE III: “Religion of peace“:

When he was imam of a San Diego mosque in the 1990s, his sermons were attended by two future 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.
He also lived in the UK from 2002-04, where he spent several months giving lectures to Muslim youth.
In a video posted in November last year he called for the killing of Americans, saying they were from the “party of devils”.

And this guy was born in New Mexico, a U.S. citizen.

UPDATE IV: A brief Associated Press video report:

UPDATE V: No fewer than four reporters — in Yemen, London and Washington — contributed to this story in The New York Times:

SANA, Yemen — In a significant and dramatic strike in the campaign against Al Qaeda, the Defense Ministry here said American-born preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, a leading figure in the group’s outpost in Yemen, was killed on Friday morning. In Washington a senior official said Mr. Awlaki had been killed in an American attack by an unpiloted drone firing a Hellfire missile.
Mr. Awlaki’s Internet lectures and sermons have been linked to more than a dozen terrorist investigations in the United States, Britain and Canada. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had exchanged e-mails with Mr. Awlaki before the deadly shooting rampage on Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square in May, 2010, cited Mr. Awlaki as an inspiration.

Notice that Awlaki is described as a “preacher,” not an “imam” or “cleric.” As of 8 a.m., the online version of this NYT story is 1,265 words and it is not until the 24th paragraph that we discover what religion Awlaki preached:

Mr. Awlaki has been linked to numerous plots against the United States, including the botched underwear bombing. He has taken to the Internet with stirring battle cries directed at young American Muslims. “Many of your scholars,” Mr. Awlaki warned last year, are “standing between you and your duty of jihad.”

As an amusing side-note, the Internet now enables the Times to get stories wrong in real-time:

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: September 30, 2011
An earlier version of this article said that Yemeni forces had carried out the attack. The circumstances of the operation remain unclear.

All the (wrong) news that’s fit to print!

UPDATE VI: “They Told Glenn Reynolds …”

Category: Terrorism, Yemen

LIVE AT FIVE – 09.30.11

Posted on | September 30, 2011 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Bank Of America To Begin Charging $5 Debit Card Fee

Fork out, peasants. BoA's got some contributions to make.

Monthly charge will apply if card used in stores, at gas pumps, or anywhere that isn’t an ATM

Can “Occupy Wall Street” Ever Occupy Main Street?
In Cityville, maybe




UN Security Council Still Divided Over Syria Sanctions
Moscow totally opposed to even mentioning sanctions



POLITICS
Onion Story On Capitol Hill Hostages Sparks Probe

Shooped photo of "hostage crisis" from The Onion, which used to be funny

Satirical story accompanied by Twitter “updates” gets Capitol Police riled

Drug Bust At Boeing Plant Near Philly

Tea Party Moves To Challenge Lugar

9th Circuit Strikes Down DADT Ruling By Lower Court

Federal Challenges To State Immigration Laws Increase

House Passes Continuing Resolution To Fund Government Through November 18

Fox Poll: 52% Say If Obama Were A CEO, He’d Be Fired By Now



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Stocks Finish Mixed As NASDAQ Slumps
Nokia To Cut 3500 Jobs By 2012
Deal Would Unite S&P And DJIA
September Auto Sales Seen Up 9 Percent
Amazon Has Palm In Its Shopping Cart – Will It Click Buy?
RIM Debates Target Market For Playbook
Spotify Implements “Private Listening” After Complaints From Facebook Users
Foxconn’s Brazilian iPad Plans In Jeopardy?
Microsoft Planning XBox Live Expansion On Comcast Pay Service



SPORTS
With Eye On Calendar, NBA Owners And Players Seek Deal

NBA Commissioner David Stern

Deal pretty much has to be done this weekend if season isn’t to be cut short or cancelled

Red Sox Win Dubious Distinction Of Worst Collapse

Kings’ Doughty Agrees To Eight-Year, $56 Million Deal

Tigers And Verlander Ready To Face Yankees Tonight

Rays Turn To Rookie Moore For Opener Against Rangers

Detroit Lions Rediscovering Their Roar

Nationals’ Strong Finish Leads To High Expectations For 2012



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
CBS Not Taking Action After Ashton Kutcher’s Plugs On “Two And A Half Men”

Judy Greer and Ashton Kutcher


Network not going to bill companies who got plugs

Holly Madison Insures Her Boobs For $1 Million




Ashton Kutcher Addresses Marriage Rumors On Twitter

Berenice Marlohe Is The New Bond Girl

At Least Cheryl Ladd Likes The New Angels

New Line Reboots “Mortal Kombat”



FOREIGNERS
Rocket’s Red Glaring Error – PRC Space Station Goes Aloft To Strains Of “America The Beautiful” On State TV
Typhoon Moves On To Vietnam After Hitting PRC
Pakistan Rebuffs US Demands To Increase Cooperation In War On Terror
Bahrain Jails 20 Doctors After Democracy Protests
Strauss-Kahn, French Accuser Meet Face To Face
Putin’s Second Coming No Gift To Russia Or Investors
Castro Calls Obama “Stupid”, Slams Cuba Policy
It’s Official: Cuban Citizens Can Now Buy & Sell Cars
Afghans Drop Three-Way Talks, Take Harder Line With Pakis
Egyptians Threaten Ballot Boycott
Hugo Chavez In Hospital For “Kidney Failure”



BLOGS & STUFF
Gateway Pundit: NY Transit Workers Union, Teamsters Agree To Join “Occupy Wall Street” Protesters
Jonah Goldberg: Wait, Is Malaise French for Soft?
Lonely Conservative: Here’s The Understatement Of The Year
PJ Tatler: Biden – Barry And I Own The Economy Now
Michelle Malkin: Adventures In Liberal Tolerance, Part 999,901
Daniel Henninger: Taking Cain Seriously
Moe Lane: Drug-related/Vigilante/(Both) Violence Escalates In Mexico
Power Line: The Trouble With Crony Capitalism
Joanne Jacobs: Warning, Idiocy At UW-Stout!
Michael Lewis: California And Bust


SOTD: Aces High

Category: Live at Five

Stacy McCain Will Get Nothing Out Of Steven Crowder’s Latest

Posted on | September 29, 2011 | 7 Comments

by Smitty

Steven is on about nutrition, diet, and healthy lifestyle.

Fortunately for Stacy McCain, his copy of Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 is a special combination book/mojo that both wards off the effects of Stacy’s otherwise deleterious lifestyle, and blesses him with Special Gonzo Phrasing, to invigorate his writing.

Category: humor, Video

Garofalo: My New Raaaaacedar Can Tell That The Herman Cain Enthusiasm Is Like, Totally KKKamouflage

Posted on | September 29, 2011 | 16 Comments

by Smitty (via The Blaze)

There really isn’t a lot to add to the the flogging of this journey into freestyle idiocy. However I should like to introduce the concept of a ‘raaaaacedar’, which is a device that attempts to locate a raaaaacist and point a finger, and manages to have three pointing back. For example:

If I point a finger at you, three point back at me.

The other concept is the notion of the KKKamouflage Fallacy (remember, there are three ‘K’ characters), which says that you can be raaaaacist and just sprinkle a few of the hated out-group in prominent positions as a distractor.

Actual racism simply doesn’t support that level of sophistication. Can I step out of snark mode to admit one time where I, personally, had a racist reaction? Albany, Australia, 1999. I was in a bar, and an Aborigine woman was there. Short, sloping forehead, major super-orbital ridges like a rock shelf, covering wolf-grey eyes that look a few notches shy of human. I experienced a negative, physical reaction, a gnawing angst. This person I was looking at was just. . .wrong. It was a reaction similar to one you might have to open the pantry and have a big rat staring at you at eye level.

Anyway, I got better, and managed both to contain the primitive feedback, and treat the person with a reasonable politeness. I’m sure that I would have overcome that visceral reaction if I spent any time around the Aborigines.

In total contrast to that creeped out feeling, you have Herman Cain, a common-sense American. The kind of man I wouldn’t mind working for, in fact. The kind for whom I could cheerfully vote. Not because of his ethnic heritage. Not despite his ethnic heritage. Because of his purely American heritage. He is the sort of speaker who has both charisma and workable ideas for where the country should go. He really deserves more than this sad toss-off from Garofalo. Could she perhaps take the Akbar Challenge, and show up at a Tea Party, one wonders? Maybe she could bring Morgan Freeman.

Category: Racism

Be Careful What You Wish For

Posted on | September 29, 2011 | 70 Comments

Q: “People think you are very hostile to men.”
Andrea Dworkin: “I am.”


This quote from, and picture of, a pioneering feminist leader comes from an excellent essay called “Women on the Left,” by Alex Kurtagic at Alternative Right.

And the reason I’m imposing Ms. Dworkin’s image and ideas on you is because “Guy,” a commenter on an earlier post, accused us of having contributed to “the debasing of western civilization” through our Rule 5 Sunday cheesecake round-ups. As explained in “How to Get a Million Hits on Your Blog,” there are four principles of Rule 5:

  • A. Everybody loves a pretty girl
  • B. Mind the MEGO factor
  • C. Sex sells
  • D. Feminism sucks

As I wrote on that February day in 2009: “All politics all the time gets boring after a while. . . . Even a stone political junkie cannot subsist on a 24/7 diet of politics. The occasional joke, the occasional hot babe, the occasional joke about a hot babe — it’s a safety valve to make sure we don’t become humorless right-wing clones of those Democratic Underground moonbats.”

If anyone is “debased” by occasionally seeing a starlet in a bikini — just to break the relentless tedium of 24/7 politics — I apologize.

But I hope readers, including Guy, understand that the alternative to Rule 5 is Andrea Dworkin photos. For all we know, there might be Andrea Dworkin bikini photos or even Andrew Dworkin nude photos out there somewhere on the Internet.

And you wouldn’t want to see that, would you?

So no more cluttering up the comments with anti-Rule 5 complaints, or I might be tempted to post so many pictures of ugly feminists that all the Brain Bleach in the world won’t eradicate the mind-stain.

Feminism has done far more toward “debasing western civilization” than cheesecake ever could, and if you’re offended by beauty, you’d better avert your eyes now. Read more

Category: Feminism, Rule 5

Fund-Raising E-Mail: Obama Campaign ‘Refused to Take Money From D.C. Lobbyists and Corporate Special Interests’

Posted on | September 29, 2011 | 5 Comments

In the wake of the Solyndra scandal, it might seem bizarre that President Obama’s re-election campaign would claim to be free from “special interests,” but that’s exactly what the campaign’s finance director said in a message sent today to the Organizing for America (OFA) e-mail list:

Robert —
I’m the national finance director here at OFA.
I know we’ve been sending you a lot of email lately. That’s because we’re staring down a critical fundraising deadline tomorrow at midnight.
You know what that means for your inbox, but let me give you a sense of what that looks like around here.
The staff and I are working around the clock, powered by too much coffee. It’s been way too long since we called our moms. And we’ve all had more pizza and bad takeout in the past few weeks than anyone should have in a year.
No one’s complaining; that’s what we signed up for. And we’re not doing this just because it’s our job to make sure the campaign has the resources it needs. We’re doing this because it’s part of what defines this movement.
From the beginning, we’ve refused to take money from D.C. lobbyists and corporate special interests. Our operation is fueled by people inspiring each other to take ownership of this campaign.
That’s why we’ve been emailing this week, and that’s why I’m obligated to remind you once more that the deadline is coming up in a matter of hours.
If you’re able to, will you chip in just $3 today?
For all of us here at HQ, and all of the staff and volunteers across the country counting on these resources, I really appreciate your help.

Rufus

Rufus Gifford
National Finance Director
Obama for America

Let’s stipulate that the reason Gifford and other top OFA staffer are “doing this” has a lot less to do with “defining the movement” than it does with justifying their six-figure salaries. And let’s further stipulate that the reason they’re having such a hard time — bombarding their list with a series of increasingly desperate pleas for cash — is that the Democratic Party base is hopelessly demoralized. And this demoralization has a direct effect on Obama’s fundraising:

They were once among President Obama’s most loyal supporters and a potent symbol of his political brand: voters of moderate means who dug deep for the candidate and his message of hope and change, sending him $10 or $25 or $50 every few weeks or months.
But in recent months, the frustration and disillusionment that have dragged down Mr. Obama’s approval ratings have crept into the ranks of his vaunted small-donor army, underscoring the challenges he faces as he seeks to rekindle grass-roots enthusiasm for his re-election bid. . . .
“When I was pro-Obama in 2008, I was thinking of him as a leader who could face the challenges that we were tackling,” said Adnan Alasadi . . . Mr. Alasadi contributed repeatedly to Mr. Obama during his first campaign but says he will not give the president — or anyone else — any more money.
“Now I am seeing him as just an opportunistic politician,” Mr. Alasadi said.

Some of us never saw him as anything else. But what about that claim that Obama doesn’t take money from “special interests”? Let’s consult the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics:

President Barack Obama has relied more on well-connected Wall Street figures to fund his re-election than he did four years ago when he campaigned as an outsider and an underdog.
One-third of the money Obama’s elite fund-raising corps has raised on behalf of his re-election has come from the financial sector, according to a new Center for Responsive Politics analysis.
Individuals who work in the finance, insurance and real estate sector are responsible for raising at least $11.8 million for Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, according to the Center’s research. All of Obama’s bundlers have raised a minimum of $34.95 million, as OpenSecrets Blog previously reported.

Read the whole thing. It’s gotta be hard to fire up the liberal base with class-warfare rhetoric demonizing the “rich” when you’re collecting tens of millions from Wall Street special interests.

And small wonder the people who signed up for Hope and Change in 2008 won’t give you a dime now, no matter how often you e-mail them, or what outrageous lies you tell them.

UPDATE: A couple of related headlines:

More solar companies led by Democratic
donors received federal loan guarantees

— — —

Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law is given
$737m of taxpayers’ money to build giant
solar power plant in middle of the desert

See, there’s Rufus Gifford’s problem in a nutshell: The small fry on the OFA e-mail list — who gave $20 or $50 or $100 to Obama four years ago — didn’t get any $737-million federal loans.

Even Democrats aren’t so stupid that they can’t understand what “green jobs” means:  They get the green, you lose your jobs.

Category: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election 2012

Defending the American Dream

Posted on | September 29, 2011 | 11 Comments

by Smitty

I just signed up:

AFP Foundation’s 5th annual Defending the American Dream Summit will be held November 4-5, 2011 at the DC Convention Center in Washington, DC. Radio host Mark Levin has just been confirmed as a keynote speaker.

This is a consolation trip, since I have to be in Philly doing daddy duty instead of Denver for BlogCon on the following weekend.

At any rate, they have some good bus connectivity for folks, and it’s not a huge undertaking. Request readers of this blog advise if you’re attending; we should plan to extend the power of the Axis of Fedora as much as possible.

Category: Blogging

BREAKING: WH Names ObamaCare Litigator For SCOTUS Challenge

Posted on | September 29, 2011 | 20 Comments

by Smitty

U.S. News reports that the White House is flexing its muscle to bring ObamaCare to the Supreme Court sooner rather than later:

The government could have dragged its feet in appealing to the Supreme Court—the final deadline to file was actually November, and it also could have asked for a full court review from the 11th Circuit since the case was decided by a three-judge panel (though the conservative court was unlikely to return a better verdict)—but experts say filing now displays the administration’s assurance, and any delay tactics might have been exploited by Republicans as cowardly. “If you don’t think you have a winning hand, then sometimes it makes sense to see if the landscape changes,” says Ian Millhiser, a constitutional and judiciary analyst with the left-leaning Center for American Progress. “They clearly think, if they are going to pull the trigger now, that they stand to gain from pulling the trigger.”

This blog, through non-existent sources, has obtained the identity of the lead lawyer on the White House team:

Category: Health Care, humor
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