The Other McCain

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

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s Left-Wing Iowa Antagonist ID’d as David Goodner

Posted on | August 23, 2011 | 13 Comments

“What’s the big deal about Ahmadinejad anyway? … I’m not saying Ahmadinejad is Mother Teresa reincarnate or anything. But let’s face it: Ahmadinejad, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, even Vladimir Putin, all have less blood on their hands than Bush does. The international public enemy #1 is the president of the United States of America.”
— David Goodner, Sept. 25, 2007

Ambush interviews and “gotcha” questions aren’t my style. One of the most noxious developments of the TV era is reporters stalking politicians in order to get them on camera refusing to answer questions. This is a tactic of “reporting” that was first popularized by 60 Minutes in the 1970s: The shady surgeon who has been hit with 27 malpractice suits, covering his face and shouting “no comment” as he is chased across the parking lot by Mike Wallace and a CBS camera crew.

Should we treat politicians like that? Except in cases where they’re trying to get away with shenanigans (e.g., Anthony Weiner), I say “no.” The ambush interview is too much like trying to make news, rather than report news. I don’t like it when lefties do the “gotcha” trick with Republicans, and don’t think it behooves conservatives to do it to Democrats. However, when lefties go after Democrats . . .

No, I still don’t like it, and “citizen journalists” doing Mike Wallace imitations? That’s bad mojo. Politicians (and their security details) aren’t likely to permit bloggers to have access if such access results in ugly confrontation and outright harassment.

Which brings me to the case of the guy in the “Catholic Worker” T-shirt who interrogated Debbie Wasserman-Schultz after her Aug. 12 Iowa State Fair speech. Watch the video again:

The DNC chairwoman addressed him as “David,” and a tipster informed me that he is David Goodner, a rather notorious left-wing gadfly in Iowa. Goodner is a “community organizer” with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, which Iowa public radio contributor Andrew Duffelmeyer calls “a group known for its confrontational style of grassroots politics.” I just called Iowa CCI, where a staffer confirmed that Goodner was the “David” in the Wasserman-Schultz video. Read more

Category: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Iowa, Liberals

French Plutocrat 1, Hotel Maid 0

Posted on | August 23, 2011 | 7 Comments

That’s the final score of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sex scandal: All charges have been dropped against the former International Monetary Fund boss.

We now look forward to the obligatory Amanda Marcotte auto-beclownment which, as night follows day, completes every major sex scandal.

Category: Crime, France, Scandal, Sex

Mixed Signals from Sarah Palin Produce Pure Frustration for the Political Press

Posted on | August 23, 2011 | 31 Comments

Sarah Palin poses for a photo with supporters at the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 12.

This morning Smitty taunted me via Twitter with a link to Ed Morrissey’s post Monday about the will-she-or-won’t-she question: What’s up with this Sept. 3 Tea Party rally in Indianola, Iowa? Ed makes a good point:

Politicians don’t win the Iowa caucus with showy, one-off events.  They have to conduct the retail politicking that the declared candidates are currently conducting all across the state.  That means going to small events as well as large ones, traveling through all of the small towns and shaking hands, and asking voters now to caucus for them in 2012.

Exactly: Let us stipulate that any event with Sarah Palin would be “large” by comparison with, say, the 50 or so voters who showed up for Rick Santorum’s barn party. Still, the fact remains that Iowa caucus-goers prefer to vote for candidates they’ve met face-to-face, and the winner will likely have shaken 50,000 hands by Feb. 6. As Ed says, “Palin would need to win Iowa to have a path to the nomination,” and if she’s going to win it, she’ll have to get busy pretty soon to catch up with the handshaking that’s already been done by her rivals.

Time’s a-wastin’, in other words. Read more

Category: Ed Morrissey, Election 2012, Iowa, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Tea Party

Stacy McCain Moderating A Debate? Could Our Democracy Withstand Such?

Posted on | August 23, 2011 | 19 Comments

by Smitty

A certain bog dweller certainly seems to think so. He has a few other interesting picks, as well. Conspicuously absent from Trog’s list is Da Tech Guy, whose debate question would involve some sort of dessert pastry.

Category: Uncategorized

LIVE AT FIVE – 08.23.11

Posted on | August 23, 2011 | 4 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Hurricane Irene First Threat To US In Years

A boy in the Dominican Republic waits for sign of the hurricane

Floridians already preparing for storm
Irene May Damage Cotton Crop In Southeast

Fighting Continues In Tripoli
Loyalist holdouts plague rebel occupiers with snipers, hit and run attacks



Strauss-Kahn Accuser’s Lies Torpedo Case
Manhattan prosecutors ask judge to dismiss all charges



POLITICS
Romney Nixes QE3, Cites Inflation Concerns

Governor Mitt Romney

Sticks to Reagan’s 11th Commandment: “I want to focus my time and attention on the failure of the president.”



Gallup: Romney Leads Obama, Perry Tied, Bachmann & Paul Within Margin Of ErrorAmong Registered Voters

Obama Picks Fight With GOP Over Payroll Tax

Rick Perry’s Views On The Constitution Get Closer Scrutiny From MSM

Paul Ryan Shuts Door On Presidential Run

Hunstman Would Be OK With Being Bachmann’s VP
“Wait, wait, that was a hypothetical! Guys! Guys?”



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Goldman Sachs CEO Lawyers Up
Global Markets: German, Chinese Data Lift Stocks, Euro
Bernanke’s Jackson Hole Hamlet Moment: To QE Or Not To QE?
Stock Index Futures Signal Strong Gains
SPDR Gold Trust Now Largest ETF, Topping S&P 500
Stunted Corn Crop Could Lead To Higher Food Prices
What TouchPad’s Fate Says About The Tablet Market
Canon Announces Three New PowerShot Cameras
Judge Rules Cloud Music Lockers Don’t Violate Copyrights
Toyota And Ford To Collaborate On Hybrid SUVs
Microsoft Woos WebOS Developers With Free Phones



SPORTS
Verlander Notches 19th Win Against Rays

Detroit SS Jhonny Peralta turns the double play despite Rays' Evan Longoria

One win away from milestone

Wilson, Rangers Shut Out Red Sox

Cliff Lee Stays Hot As Phillies Rout Mets

Dodgers Launch Rare Comeback In  9th To Top Cardinals 2-1



UFC Boss Calls Boxing’s Arum “Greedy Pig”

NASCAR Reverts To Child’s Play, But Jimmie Johnson Is All Business

Internet Reports On Crosby’s Health Irk Agent

Detwiler, Werth Lead Nats Past Snakes



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Jennifer Garner Pregnant With Third Child

Jennifer Garner and hubby Ben Affleck

Sources say Garner wanted three children all along

Legendary Motown Songwriter Nick Ashford Dies, 69

Kate Winslet Escapes Fire On Branson’s Necker Island

Hilary Duff: Pregnant And Dumped From “Bonnie & Clyde”

Katie Couric’s ABC Talker Gets Stunningly Original Name

“Real Housewives Of NYC” Getting Bumped Yet Again


“The Lion King” Bloopers You’ve Always Wanted

“Ghost” Musical To Materialize On Broadway In The Spring

Cranky Neighbors Shut Down Kardashian Wedding Bash



FOREIGNERS
Assad Broke Word, UN Chief Says
Investors Eye Promise, Pitfalls In Post-Qaddafi Libya
Anti-anna Groups Surface Online
Don’t Count US, Japan Out, Biden Says
Kay Granger (R-TX): Aid To Egypt Depends On Peace With Israel
All Eyes On Maehara Bid As Japan’s PM Kan Steps Down Next Week
Canadian Leftist Jack Layton Dies Of Cancer



BLOGS & STUFF
The Lonely Conservative: Jon Huntsman, Tool Of The Left
NRO Corner: Paul Ryan Playing Role Of Jack Kemp
FiveThirtyEight: Nate Silver Says There’s Room For More Republican Candidates
Weasel Zippers: Obama’s Limited Kinetic Military Action In Libya Cost US $896 Million
Hit & Run: What Next For Libya?
John Yoo: Qaddafi’s Fall Should Embarrass GOP Isolationists
Sister Toldjah: Is The Fairness Doctrine Really Dead And Gone?
NJ Politicker: NJ Congressman Leads Trade Delegation To Candy Land
Firedoglake: Defending Obama With A Failure Of Imagination
Moe Lane: Joe Biden Opens His Mouth Watch – PRC’s One Child Policy
Althouse: The End Of An Era For UW T.A.s
JammieWearingFool: Morgan Freeman Down With Vote Fraud For Obama
Jihad Watch: Draft Libyan Constitution Declares Islam The State Religion And Sharia The State Law


SOTD: Ziggy Stardust

Category: Live at Five

Debbie’s Very Bad Day in Iowa

Posted on | August 22, 2011 | 44 Comments

During my Iowa trip, I got lots of photos and videos I wasn’t able to upload at the time due to connectivity issues and the very hectic schedule. One of the items that never made it to the blog was an incident at the Iowa State Fair where DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz got heckled offstage by an angry liberal. I was able to phone in a report to The American Spectator, but never got around to uploading video of the incident.

The video is about two minutes, and at about the 40-second mark, you see Wasserman-Schultz say, “The difference between Barack Obama and congressional Democrats and all the Republican presidential candidates is that all of them committed to end Medicare as we know it . . . and privatize Social Security.” This elicits a predictable chorus of boos from her Democratic audience, but it also inspired the angry liberal heckler – you’ll see him in a yellow T-shirt — to start yelling that the debt deal “put Medicare on the chopping block!” He also yells: “Stop caving in to Wall Street!” Watch:

As you see, at the 1:15 mark, Democrat loyalists try to shout down the heckler by chanting, “Debbie! Debbie!” But at the 1:30 mark, Yellow Shirt starts heckling again, which prompts Wasserman-Schultz to cut straight to her peroration – something about the great “victory” that awaits in 2012 – and end her speech well before her allotted 15 minutes were up.

Following her offstage in hope that she would hold a brief press conference, I then caught the denouement as other angry liberals – the first one wearing a “Catholic Worker” T-shirt – interrogated her about the same basic issue. Wasserman-Schultz evidently knew this guy, addressing him as “David.”

The exchange was interrupted periodically by the congresswoman’s entourage, but as much as was audible went like this:

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ:  “As someone who represents a district in South Florida, there’s nobody who fights harder to protect Medicare . . .”

FIRST LIBERAL: “You voted for the debt-ceiling bill . . . . Why don’t you have five minutes to sit down and talk?”

ENTOURAGE WOMAN:  “Because, David, it’s not built in. Don’t act like this is — you know how . . .”

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ:  “I’m happy to talk to you . . .”

FIRST LIBERAL: “You talk the talk, but your actions don’t back up the talk.”

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ:  “Oh, you know, with all due respect . . .”

FIRST LIBERAL: “Obama was the one that put cuts to Social Security and Medicare on the table.”

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ:  “That is simply not true and you know it and that is an unacceptable …”

SECOND LIBERAL: “He said everything was on the table.”

FIRST LIBERAL: “And you voted for the debt-ceiling bill, Debbie – you voted for that bill.”

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ:  “Because we needed to come together to address our deficit …”

SECOND LIBERAL: “Why is it always Democrats compromising with other Democrats?”

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: “Call me, David. We’ll talk later.”

It was a very enlightening glimpse at how a powerful Democrat – herself a leader of “progressives” in Congress – cannot satisfy the implacable demands of her own party’s left-wingers. Just something to keep in mind, next time someone tries to tell you that Republicans are the party beholden to fringe extremist wingnuts.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!

And Ed Driscoll readers, too! (I’m sure the Trotsky reference was a just a coincidence, comrade.)

UPDATE II: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s Left-Wing Iowa Antagonist ID’d as David Goodner.


Category: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Democrats, Fear and Loathing in Iowa, Liberals

Rule 5 Monday: Prairie Rose

Posted on | August 22, 2011 | 16 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


Bring The Heat, Bring The Stupid kicks off the week with a selection of Megyn Kelly pix and also Sasha Alexander. The Rio Norte Line has Jessica-Jane Clement up his sleeve, Threedonia offers a fascinating combination of unapologetic rich gals Salma Hayek and Katy Perry, and the POH Diaries follow up on our Live At Five item last week about Kate Winslet and her Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League. Also, Maryeve Dufault! (Troglopundit is not impressed.) Fishersville Mike notes Laura Bell Bundy‘s transition to the consultant ranks, Randy’s Roundtable breaks for Lauren Pope and Carissa Rosario, while Reaganite Republican brings us up to date on the critical Romanian pop music scene with Alexandra Stan.
Eye of Polyphemus keeps confusing me by not posting hot chicks from SF series; this week, it’s Petra Silander.


Zion’s Trumpet makes its Rule 5 debut with Julia Lescova and Denise Milani. A View From The Beach also notes Salma Hayek’s lack of regrets, and has some advice for Nicolas Sarkozy about his supermodel wife. Postaldog offers some Drew Barrymore a la nu, and some Teri Polo cheesecake as well.


Hookers & Booze cleans out the random pics folder, adds a hooker or two1 and celebrates being first in last week’s Rule 5 roundup. Wyblog chips in with some Saturday night sunglasses and some Rule 5 linkagery of his own, and Proof Positive links us to Brooke Hogan, some vintage Angela Lansbury (no, really!), and a shot of Paris Hilton getting off on a Carl’s Jr. Spicy Burger. Mmmm, caliente!


Speaking of caliente, El Opinador Compulsivo fights the cold of a Southern Hemisphere winter with some potpourri, a Brazilian soccer girl, more beach photos, (this one with more thongery), the sadness of a business trip, a photo profile of his loyal Israeli reader Shay, a gal with a katana, and an extract from the TSA procedures manual.


Serr8d also debuts this week, with Candice Swanepoel, while Maggie’s Notebook opts for Girls With Guns this week. (No Tommy Shaw?)
Dustbury this week offers scorching pianist Yuja Wang and auto exec Laura Soave. Speaking of Ms. Swanepoel, American Power brings the video; also featured are videos of Denise Milani video, Julie Henderson, a link to a Julia Lescova slideshow, and some bonus Lescova.


At The Camp of the Saints, it’s Julia Fiore, the Rule Five News, and Barbara Hillary.


Soylent Green starts the week (as he does every week) with the Monday Motivationer, follows with Tuesday night titskis, Raquel Gibson for humpday, some very fine corsetry with even finer filling, a salute to Google and Steamboat McGoo, Georgia Karabinis, and a response to complaints about airbrushing.


This week, the DaleyGator leads off with Silvan Krispin, and Eva Mendes before boarding the Maryeve Dufault train. A celebration of NFL cheerleaders follows, as does Yuja Wang (with bonus video!), Faith Hill, and Nikita Penalosa


Thanks to all for their Rule 5 linkagery! To be included in next week’s roundup, please have your links in to Rule 5 Wombat no later than Saturday, August 27.

Category: Rule 5

How Many Ounces of Gold Does It
Take to Buy a House in Baltimore?

Posted on | August 22, 2011 | 8 Comments

Answer: Fewer today than it did yesterday!

Gold prices have been on a tear lately, topping a fresh record high above $1,900 an ounce late Monday — just two weeks after rising above $1,800. . . .
Gold prices rose 2.4% during the regular trading session to settle at $1,891.90 an ounce. In after hours electronic trading, prices topped $1,900 an ounce for the first time.

That CNN story quotes analysts worried about a “bubble,” but we’ve been hearing “gold bubble” worry-wart chatter for months and yet the price still keeps going up, up, up!

Simple question: Six months from now, will gold be more likely selling at $1,900 an ounce or $2,500 an ounce? If you think the price still has room to rise, then keep buying. Most analysts don’t see an end to the gold rush any time this year, so there’s probably still a chance to profit.

Nevertheless, if you bought gold a while back and are thinking about cashing out some of your profits, last month I told you about one Forbes writer’s idea: Sell gold, buy real estate. Adrian Ash provided this chart:

Saturday I told you that hundreds of houses in Baltimore have sold for less than $10,000 this year. Has the real estate market hit rock bottom? Probably not yet:

An ominous cloud is hanging over the housing market: Millions of distressed properties could be put up for sale at any moment, potentially adding to the glut of unsold homes that are already on the market and depressing home prices even further.

So it’s possible that housing prices will decline further, just like it’s possible that gold prices will keep rising to $2,500. Yet we seem to be approaching that market-fulcrum point when a gold-for-housing exchange will yield maximum value.

Fifteen months ago, when gold was selling for less than $1,200 an ounce, it would have taken about eight ounces of gold to buy one of those under-$10,000 Baltimore bargains. Today the price is closer to five ounces. YSHLTGB.


Category: Economics
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