Schadenfreude At TNR
Posted on | September 25, 2011 | 14 Comments
by Smitty
Galston at TNR delivers an article moping that the Democrats are losing Independents.
Granted, ideology isn’t everything. Political scientists have long observed that Americans are more liberal on particulars than they are in general—ideologically conservative but operationally liberal. (Surveys have shown majority support for most individual elements of the president’s jobs and budget packages.) And the Republicans could undermine their chances by nominating a presidential candidate who is simply too hard-edged conservative for moderates and Independents to stomach.
In the face of widespread skepticism and disillusion, it will be an uphill battle for Democrats to persuade key voting blocks that government can really make their lives better.
Maybe the Democrat party can just quantify how much liberty I merit keeping. Nobody minds actual help in those acute moments when really needed–I’m thinking natural disaster here. But do you really need the chronic acts of interference, like deciding you cannot have your asthma inhaler?
The comments on the article are fun.
Robert Powell: “The ever-shrinking leftist minority still imagines that if they only get the message right, average voters (who by dint of more actual experience of government in military service, employment in regulation-sensitive businesses, etc than the average left-winger, are more skeptical), will adopt their benign view of The State.”
That’s like looking for that tiny minority of meth addicts who, despite the teeth literally falling out of their head, know that, deep down, the dope is the Right Thing To Do.
Here is another gem, but first, the Tea Party message is even simpler: L I B E R T Y:
roidubouloi: The Republicans have a simple message — government is the problem, government is waste, government spending is destroying the economy, taxes are too high, taxes are too progressive, “entitlements” are killing us — all of which is flat-out wrong. Democrats, soiling themselves with the Republican-libertarian-supply side message, stand for nothing discernible. No coherent message.
Want one? Listen to Elizabeth Warren. She is saying what all Democrats should be saying, and should have been saying, every day 24 hours a day. Think that communications, message discipline, rather than policy, is not the essence of politics? Then you are a moron. And if you are such a moron, what do you observe if that is you bother to look at the actual world at all? Do you observe the Republicans gaining all this political ground with policy or with words? What do you see? Does the way in which the world actually works have any bearing on your ideas about politics and policy? Not if you are William Galston and company.
All the message discipline in the world is irrelevant if your message is not liberty. But the Left is about pushing a cheap substitute for liberty, is it not?
Update: linked at Daily Pundit.
This is why [the Left’s] grand fantasies always, always, always collapse into slaughter when fully implemented, because in the end, there are two classes, and two classes only: masters, and slaves. That never ends well.
Cain Rebuts Freeman’s Raaaaacism
Posted on | September 25, 2011 | 27 Comments
by Smitty (via Lucianne)
The New York Daily News has the story:
The Republican presidential candidate called the Oscar-winning actor’s eyebrow-raising remarks “short-sighted” on Friday. “Most of the people that are criticizing the Tea Partiers about having a racist element, they have never been to a Tea Party,” Cain told Fox News.
Freeman, who endorsed Obama in 2007, created a firestorm when he told CNN’s Piers Morgan earlier this week that conservative opposition to the President has enflamed racism in America. He added the Tea Partiers have the mentality of “Screw the country, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man out of here…It is a racist thing.”
Despite the criticism, Cain said he wasn’t offended by Freeman’s comments. “Name calling is something that is going to continue in this because they don’t know how to stop this movement and this movement is making a big difference in politics,” said Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.
One applauds Cain’s de-escalatory approach. It seems that since the Left hasn’t got leg #1 to stand on in terms of logically consistent arguments, the Left instead defaults to trying to push the hormones off the cliff.
Wasn’t there a candidate once who was supposed to have fixed all this? United the country? Applied balm to the wounds?
In other Raaaaacism Industrial Complex news, Salon offers some William J. Stuntz:
. . .the last half of the twentieth century saw America’s criminal justice system unravel. Signs of the unraveling are everywhere. The nation’s record- shattering prison population has grown out of control. Still more so the African American portion of that prison population: for black males, a term in the nearest penitentiary has become an ordinary life experience, a horrifying truth that wasn’t true a mere generation ago.
and (formatting mine):
There are three keys to the system’s dysfunction, each of which has deep historical roots but all of which took hold in the last sixty years.
First, the rule of law collapsed. To a degree that had not been true in America’s past, official discretion rather than legal doctrine or juries’ judgments came to define criminal justice outcomes.
Second, discrimination against both black suspects and black crime victims grew steadily worse — oddly, in an age of rising legal protection for civil rights. Today, black drug offenders are punished in great numbers, even as white drug offenders are usually ignored. (As is usually the case with respect to American crime statistics, Latinos fall in between, but generally closer to the white population than to the black one.) At the same time, blacks victimized by violent felonies regularly see violence go unpunished; the story is different in most white neighborhoods.
The third trend is the least familiar: a kind of pendulum justice took hold in the twentieth century’s second half, as America’s justice system first saw a sharp decline in the prison population — in the midst of a record-setting crime wave — then saw that population rise steeply. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the United States had one of the most lenient justice systems in the world. By century’s end, that justice system was the harshest in the history of democratic government.
Yeah, I don’t remember this rising wave of anarchy, either. I just wish that there was a ‘propaganda’ section to contain this sort of tripe, or that it at least be positioned near the Danielle Steele where it belongs.
For a brief counterargument, consider that the economic destruction of America has led to an over-Federalization of crime. And I’m not just throwing Holder under the bus here. As Federal over-reach has sucked the economic vitality out of the country, State and local law enforcement has been made less meaningful.
However, one suspects that Stuntz’s task may be to exacerbate problems, instead of working to minimize them.
Thanks to AiPolitics on Twitter:
It would be very interesting to know who got to Morgan Freeman with the 30 pieces of silver.
Update: to Ann Althouse, on Herman Cain, regarding the straw poll performance:
Is this just a message to Perry and Romney or are we supposed to believe that a man who has never held political office could serve as the President of the United States?
Dude, given the miserable performance of this Administration, never having held office is very arguably a feature.
Update II: Cain also rocking Legal Insurrection straw poll.
FMJRA 2.0: Electric Crown
Posted on | September 25, 2011 | 7 Comments
— compiled by Wombat-socho
- Da Tech Guy
- Nice Deb
- The Crawdad Hole
- All-American Blogger
- The Camp Of The Saints
- Legal Insurrection
- Truth Before Dishonor
- Da Tech Guy
- The Camp Of The Saints
- Daily Pundit
- Huckabee4President
- The POH Diaries
- Truth Before Dishonor
#AttackWatch! Hey, @AttackWatch: This ‘Downfall’ Video Looks Like #tcot Hate
STOP THE HATE: Danish Sperm Bank Turns Down Redheaded Donors
What’s Luck Got To Do With It?
Will The Next Smitty Chariot Be A Ford?
Rule 5 Sunday: Talk Dirty To Me
Generosity, Gratitude and Gonzo
Breitbart: ‘Fire the First Shot. Bring It On. Because I Know Who’s on Our Side.’
Tucker Carlson, Who Wouldn’t Reply to Greta’s E-Mail, Gives a Quote to Politico
Obama Explains That When He Says ‘Creating Jobs’ He Means ‘Raising Taxes’
‘Outing’ Ellen Page: The Politicization of Sex and the Sexualization of Politics
NYT Editor: ‘We Wanted to Believe’
‘How Can the Right Defend Greed?”
Creepy Joe: ‘Sarah Incites Hatred’
The Irony of Tucker Carlson, Sarah Palin, Mike Tyson, Greta Van Susteren and … Me
We Already Know They Don’t Teach Economics at Harvard Law School
The Avoidance of Responsibility: Liberals Exculpate Themselves for Obama’s Failure
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Don’t Care
Salon Trashes Zooey Deschanel; Dustbury Hardest Hit
Senator Frist Thinks ObamaCare Will Remain Undead
Solyndra’s ‘Green Jobs’ Included Employment for D.C. Lobbyists — Including Former Democrat Aides
Obligatory: Doug and Courtney Stodden Get a Reality Show Development Deal
Starting With Bogus Principles Leads To Contradictory Beliefs
Keep Plunging the Stake Into the Heart of the Social Security Vampire, McCarthy
Unlike ‘Tawdry Gossip’ About Sarah Palin
ORLANDO DEBATE: Open Thread UPDATE: ‘You Don’t Have a Heart’
Can You Feel The Love In This ‘Toon?
Show Me This ‘Social Contract’, Krugman
Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Republican Nightmare Campaign Tour
Topless Supermodel Lindsay Ellingson Really Wants You to Hit My Tip Jar
Can We Get ‘Zo To Do An Interview With Morgan Freeman?
Varying Alinsky: Sexualize Everything
Top linkers this week:
- The Pro From Poca (13)
- The Camp Of The Saints (10)
- Daily Pundit (9)
- Da Tech Guy (6)
- The POH Diaries (5)
Thanks to everyone for the linkagery! To be included in next week’s FMJRA (especially if you’re using Blogger or something else WordPress hates) send me an e-mail by Friday, September 30 with your links and either “FMJRA” or “Shameless Blogwhoring” in the subject line.
Dear Bill Kristol …
Posted on | September 24, 2011 | 75 Comments
PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT CHRIS CHRISTIE!
Seriously, you’re starting to piss me off here, with your . . . idiotic assertion that the 37 percent of Florida straw-poll delegates who voted for Herman Cain were voting for “none of the above.”
Did you notice that little . . . pause, Bill?
Kind of a hint, buddy. Because any liberal would have said “racist assertion” instead of “idiotic assertion,” and I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, knowing that your college roommate was Alan Keyes.
Trust me when I say that I understand perfectly well why the Beltway commentariat has a problem taking Herman seriously. To start with the obvious: His campaign is unprecedented. The man has never been elected to anything, and the last guy we elected president with no previous political experience was Ike.
Being Supreme Allied Commander is probably better preparation for the presidency than being CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. I get that.
I’ve called Herman Cain “Steve Forbes with charisma,” and I think maybe part of the problem you pundit types have with Herman is that you don’t trust charisma. This is why you were willing to say polite things about that hopeless dud Pawlenty and have such warm praise for the charisma-deficient Mitch Daniels yet constantly low-rate Cain.
Also, as a successful businessman, Herman Cain has an instinctive distrust of know-it-all advisers — he wants to do things his way — so his staff is noticeably lacking in well-known campaign operatives, speechwriters, etc.
I get that, too. And trust me when I say that, as someone who has followed the Cain campaign closely for nine months now, I’ve heard lots of complaints about opportunities missed because of subpar staff work by Team Herman. The phrase “amateur hour” has become sadly familiar, and has been often heard from people who enthusiastically support Cain, but grind their teeth at the unreturned phone calls, the haphazard advance work, etc., etc.
All of these caveats aside, however, Herman Cain has three things: A compelling rags-to-riches narrative, an optimistic pro-business message and more charisma than anyone else in the GOP field.
So how about, instead of pining for Chris Christie or some other “acceptable” candidate, you start trying to figure out what you can do to help Herman Cain win this thing? Because you are underestimating the risk of your own embarrassment if Christie is foolish enough to listen to your pleadings, gets in the race, and then Herman beats him, too.
Don’t laugh, Bill. All those guys who jumped on the Perry bandwagon last month probably would have laughed if I had told them Cain would stomp their guy to smithereens in the Florida straw poll.
They’re not laughing now, are they?
HERMAN CAIN FOR PRESIDENT
Because He Keeps Making Fools of
All the ‘Experts’ Who Say He Can’t Win
UPDATE: Et tu, Insty?
Buzzard Bait: Rick Perry’s Immigration Blunder Took Him From Hero to Zero
Posted on | September 24, 2011 | 41 Comments
Donald Douglas at American Power links an important story from the Los Angeles Times:
Perry has “a surprisingly tin ear” on the immigration issue, said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican strategist who is unaligned in the presidential contest.
To most Republicans, denying tuition subsidies to illegal immigrants “is a question of fairness,” said Fabrizio. He added that Perry, in portraying his critics as heartless, is making Republican voters wonder whether he shares their values. . . .
Charlie Gerow, a Republican consultant from Harrisburg, Pa., said initial excitement over Perry’s entry into the 2012 race had entered a new phase.
“People were looking for something different,” he said. “Now it’s a question of what [Perry’s candidacy] is going to look like when it’s examined under the microscope.”
Yes, we have “entered a new phase,” the phase where talking heads on the Sunday morning shows will be discussing the first draft of Rick Perry’s political obituary. Didn’t I try to warn everybody about the “Phantom Menace”?
Don’t doubt my Jedi senses on this one, folks. I’m getting spooky vibes. . . .
Yeah, I know political journalists aren’t supposed to believe in “omens.” Still, there’s something vaguely . . . hinky about the way Perry’s stealth campaign has been operating here in Iowa.
Call me crazy. Attribute my forebodings of doom to irrational prejudice. Say what you will, and I don’t care, but I felt a need to put on the record my instinctive sense that there’s something fundamentally wrong about the Perry campaign.
That was on Aug. 9, four days before Perry officially announced.
Now here we are, six weeks later, and the Perry bandwagon is inarguably in the ditch — thanks to Perry’s own “tin ear” blundering and the triumph of my man Herman Cain:
The Georgia businessman won more votes than the Republican primary’s frontrunners — Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — combined.
Where is my vindication? Where are those who scoffed at my prophetic foresight? And why haven’t you hit my freaking tip jar?
UPDATE: Straw-poll delegate tells Politico: “We can get that liberal guilt trip stuff from someone else.” They also interview state Rep. Scott Plakon, whose Friday night endorsement of Herman Cain was described as “crucial” by Cain spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael.
ORLANDO GOP STRAW POLL RESULTS UPDATE: Herman Cain Beats Rick Perry
Posted on | September 24, 2011 | 102 Comments
We will have results of the
important crucial life-or-death world-historical cosmos-shifting Florida Republican P5 Straw Poll within mere moments.
UPDATE: HERMAN CAIN WINS WITH 37.1%
UPDATE II: The St. Petersburg Times calls the results a “stunning upset,” as Rick Perry finished a distant second with less than 16%!
UPDATE III: Dave Weigel:
By failing so convincingly, Perry’s ensured that the weekend’s “trouble for frontrunner narrative” will be plated in gold and frozen in amber.
Or as he put it earlier: “shadows of vultures” are all over the Perry campaign.
UPDATE IV: The results, with nearly 2,700 delegates voting:
CAIN . . . . . . . . . . . 37.1%
PERRY . . . . . . . . . 15.4%
ROMNEY . . . . . . . 14.7%
SANTORUM . . . . 10.9%
PAUL . . . . . . . . . . 10.4%
GINGRICH . . . . . . 8.4%
HUNTSMAN . . . . 2.3%
BACHMANN . . . . 1.5%
“A total embarrassment for Perry,” says Allapundit.
UPDATE V: Just got off the phone with Cain campaign spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael, who informs me that the candidate is flying back to Atlanta to prepare for a trip to New York, where he will appear Monday on Fox & Friends to promote his new book, This Is Herman Cain!
A quick survey of headlines:
Cain upsets Perry at Florida straw poll
— USA Today
Cain wins GOP straw poll; result could
carry weight in presidential race
— Tampa Tribune
Hermain Cain wins Florida
straw poll in stunning victory
— Miami Herald
He’s definitely come a long way since the days of “Herman Who?”
UPDATE VI: Here’s one to save for your scrapbook, kids:
The link is to Seth McLaughlin’s Washington Times story:
ORLANDO — Former Godfather Pizza CEO Herman Cain won the Presidency 5 straw poll here Saturday, delivering a blow to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s frontrunner status and a victory for a candidate who has struggled to transform his grassroots popularity into strong showings in national polls. . . .
UPDATE VII: Don Surber of the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail:
Reeling from poor performances by Rick Perry in the CNN and Fox News debates, conservatives flocked to the Godfather — Herman Cain — as he swept today’s Florida Straw Poll with 37% of the vote. Trailing badly were Rick Perry 15%, Mitt Romney 14%, Rick Santorum 11%, Ron Paul 10%, Newt Gingrich 9%, Jon Huntsman 2%, and Michele Bachmann 2%.
Permit me humbly to suggest that this puts a decisive end to all that Chris Christie talk. I mean, how bad would it look if Republicans brought in a new candidate because they were afraid a black man might win the nomination?
UPDATE VIII: Press release from the Cain campaign:
Cain Sweeps Presidency 5 Poll,
Garners Florida Endorsement
(Orlando, FL)- Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain swept the Republican Party of Florida’s “Presidency 5” straw poll today in Orlando, capping off his strongest fundraising and grassroots week since the establishment of his campaign in May 2011. . . .
This week, Governor Rick Scott pointed out that the winner of the Presidency 5 straw poll would go on to win the nomination. He explained that former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, plus 1995 GOP nominee Bob Dole all won Florida straw polls.
“Thank you to the Republican voters for this incredible honor of being named the winner of the Presidency 5 straw poll in Florida today,” Cain said. “This is a sign of our growing momentum and my candidacy that cannot be ignored. I will continue to share my message of ‘common sense solutions’ across this country and look forward to spending more time in Florida, a critical state for both the nomination and the general election.”
On Friday evening, Scott Plakon, the Americans for Prosperity- Florida Legislator of the Year who represents the state’s 37th district, endorsed Herman Cain in front of more than 1,000 cheering supporters at the Rosen Center in Orlando, Fla. Scott is best known as the sponsor of the Florida Health Care Freedom Act, slated to be Amendment 1 on Florida’s 2012 general election ballot.
“I’m proud to support Herman Cain. Our country is suffering right now from bad ideas, bad policies and bad leadership. Herman Cain has the right ideas, the right policies and is a proven business and conservative leader,” Scott explained. “Over the last few days at the Orange County Convention Center, I’ve seen him connect with Florida voters like few candidates I’ve ever seen. I look forward to working with Herman Cain to see him win Florida and to become the next President of the United States.”
In addition to being named the victor of Thursday night’s FOX News/ Google/ RPOF Republican presidential candidate debate and the straw poll, Cain spent the entire week in Florida, touring the Sunshine State on his nationwide “Common Sense Solutions Bus Tour,” addressing CPAC Florida and speaking at the Presidency 5 festivities.
I’m told that people trying to make online donations at Herman Cain’s Web site have reported difficulty getting through because the traffic is so heavy. So while you’re waiting, how about hitting my tip jar instead?
PREVIOUSLY:
- Sept. 24: CAIN-MANIA IN ORLANDO? UPDATE: 7 Standing Ovations for Cain; Vultures Circle Perry’s ‘Sunshine Special’?
- Sept. 23: Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Republican Nightmare Campaign Tour
- Sept. 23: RICK PERRY IN FREEFALL?
- Sept. 22: ORLANDO DEBATE: Open Thread UPDATE: ‘You Don’t Have a Heart’
- Sept. 18: Generosity, Gratitude and Gonzo
- Sept. 13: The Prisoner on Flight 1884
- Sept. 12: Fear and Loathing in Tampa
CAIN-MANIA IN ORLANDO?
UPDATE: 7 Standing Ovations for Cain; Vultures Circle Perry’s ‘Sunshine Special’?
Posted on | September 24, 2011 | 20 Comments
Supporters greet Herman Cain’s bus in Orlando.(Photo: Katrina Trinko)
Last night I talked to Sarah Rumpf, the “Sunshine State Sarah” blogger who is a delegate to the Florida GOP gathering in Orlando that will announce the results of a crucial straw-poll vote this afternoon.
Sarah was eager to tell me about how state Rep. Scott Plakon, chosen as Florida “Legislator of the Year” by Americans for Prosperity, had decided to endorse Herman Cain after Thursday’s debate. I re-Tweeted her news, but didn’t jump right on doing a blog about it, because it didn’t seem like any kind of gigantic shocking exclusive.
Well, stupid me! Here’s Byron York’s scoop from Orlando:
There’s no scientific polling, but talks with dozens of delegates who will vote in today’s Florida straw poll suggest that many are making last-minute decisions to vote for Herman Cain.
What seems to be happening is this: A lot of delegates came to Orlando planning to vote for Rick Perry. But Perry’s poor performance at Thursday night’s Fox News-Google debate gave them pause and re-opened the question of whom they will support. And many of the conservatives who were attracted to Perry will, when asked for a second choice, naturally gravitate to Cain, who, it just happens, had a particularly good debate on Thursday. So with Perry not commanding the loyalty he did just 48 hours ago, Cain appears to be picking up support.
Wow, did I completely miss an exclusive or what? York’s account closely matches what Sarah told me last night: Perry’s supporters at the GOP event seemed demoralized Friday, while Cain’s supporters were fired up.
We don’t yet know how this will translate to straw-poll votes — the result will be announced about 5 p.m. ET today — but I’m kicking myself for not going with Sarah’s report when she first told me about it.
UPDATE: My friend Ruth Malhotra also reports from Orlando:
This is significant in that Malhotra is a longtime Romney supporter, so if she’s seeing a shift toward Cain, that’s basically objective.
UPDATE II: Katrina Trinko of National Review reports from Orlando:
Allahpundit notes an ironic point:
If [Rick Perry] done well at the debate, this straw poll wouldn’t even be worth blogging: Romney’s not actively competing (although he’ll be on the ballot) whereas Perry’s spent a bunch of money to make a splash in a crucial primary state.
And speaking at a breakfast meeting this morning, Perry actually raised the stakes: “I have all my hopes on Florida.”
Why am I reminded of Ed Muskie and the “Sunshine Special”?
UPDATE III: Press release from the Cain campaign:
For Immediate Release:
Saturday, September 24, 2011For More Information:
Ellen Carmichael, (678) 601-2772
[email protected]Plakon Endorses Cain
(Orlando, FL)- Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain received the endorsement of Florida state representative and noted conservative leader Scott Plakon today in a room of more than 1,000 supporters at the Rosen Center in Orlando, Fla.
Plakon, who represents Florida’s 27th district, was named the Americans for Prosperity- Florida Legislator of Year in 2011 and is known for his sponsorship of Florida’s Healthcare and Freedom Act.
Cain has been widely touted as the winner of last night’s Fox News/ Google/ RPOF debate in Orlando. He addressed CPAC Florida today and continued on his nationwide bus tour throughout the Sunshine State.
Dave Weigel: “The shadows of vultures have been all over the Perry campaign since the debate.”
There Exist Things That Make The PuffingtonHost Look Sane
Posted on | September 24, 2011 | 14 Comments
by Smitty
Insty is off doing the Founders proud, and he links some ‘Political Eclownomist’ named Raymond Lotta who has apparently smoked a. . .no, too obvious.
Under the rubric of dialogue and debate between the “Left” and Right about amending the U.S. constitution, this conference will further legitimate the reactionary Tea Party movement.
The U.S. is waging unjust imperial wars. The ecosystems of the planet are endangered. The know-how and technology exist to produce enough food for everyone on the planet; meanwhile some one billion go hungry. Capitalism is a horror and a failure.
I put this challenge to progressive people seeking change and attending this conference. Rather than reaching out to the proto-fascists and Tea Party-ers with their anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, and racist-encoded “states rights” agenda, rather than looking to repair a system that has only meant misery and more misery for humanity—why not reach forward to a viable and emancipatory alternative? This is what the Constitution of the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) From the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S. is about.
Raymond, may the Almighty arrange for you to see the depth of your falsehood, and have mercy upon your slander of innocent Tea Partiers.
I could fisk this risible article at length, but it’s really more interesting from a pathological angle. How do people become this insulated from reality? Is there hope for them under the sun?
Apparently this guy has been Mugged By Mythology.
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