The Other McCain

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

Could Dionne’s 21 July Column Be The Worst Dreck Ever?

Posted on | July 21, 2011 | 17 Comments

by Smitty (via Memeorandum)

It may not actually compete too heavily with some of Brooks’ or Krugman’s bowel ejections, but, nevertheless, stand by while I pump a few metaphorical rounds into the zombie known as “GOP leaders must free themselves from the Tea Party’s grip”

Dionne Smitty
Media reports are touting the Senate’s Gang of Six and its new budget outline. But the news that explains why the nation is caught in this debt-ceiling fiasco is the gang warfare inside the Republican Party. We are witnessing the disintegration of Tea Party Republicanism. Probably a paradox, Dionne. The GOP leadership is substantially Ruling Class; their populist squawks have frequently sounded as sincere as a John McCain speech. ‘Tea Party Republicanism’ is substantially an oxymoron.
The Tea Party’s followers have endangered the nation’s credit rating and the GOP by pushing both House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor away from their own best instincts. The Tea Party’s followers. Really. You’re sure that the clueless morons who spent beyond the nation’s means for decades had nothing to do with it, Dionne? You’re really so craven as to project all the blame upon those trying to argue for responsibility?
Cantor worked amicably with the negotiating group organized by Vice President Joe Biden and won praise for his focus even from liberal staffers who have no use for his politics.
Yet when the Biden group seemed close to a deal, it was shot down by the Tea Party’s champions. Boehner left Cantor exposed as the frontman in the Biden talks and did little to rescue him.		 That probably constitutes one way to characterize the events. Someone else might call the negotiations an abject farce. The Bowles-Simpson Debt Commission last year, for all it tried too hard to polish the Progressive, nanny state turd, was the last semi-mature effort seen from this administration.
Then it was Boehner’s turn on the firing line. He came near a bigger budget deal with President Obama, but the same right-wing rejectionists blew this up, too. Cantor evened the score by serving as a spokesman for Republicans opposed to any tax increase of any kind. Well, yes. The government continues to steal too much. Our federal government is so fundamentally dishonest as to trim spending growth and then label the trimmings a spending cut. It is almost as though the people inside the beltway are no longer speaking an understandable form of English.
Think about the underlying dynamic here. The evidence suggests that both Boehner and Cantor understand the peril of the game their Republican colleagues are playing. They know we are closer than we think to having the credit rating of the United States downgraded. This may happen before Aug. 2, the date everyone is using as the deadline for action. Ah, the dynamic. Past the political game of fretting who gets blamed when the ship of state stacks up on the seamount, there is the reality that the Welfare State is toast. Clowns such as yourself, Dionne, continue to argue in some abstract realm, bickering and arguing over who has the deck when the moment of grounding occurs. You’re simply not relevant, and these arguments aren’t meaningful, Dionne. Does that reality do harm an overblown sense of self-importance, Dionne?
Unfortunately, neither of the two House leaders seems in a position to tell the obstreperous right that it is flatly and dangerously wrong when it claims that default is of little consequence. Rarely has a congressional leadership seemed so powerless.
Compare the impasse Boehner and Cantor are in with the aggressive maneuvering of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. He knows how damaging default would be and is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to concoct a way out.		 See, the joke’s on you, Dionne. Despite the last century of harm, the fundamental pattern of having the House turn over in half the time of the Executive is having the desired effect; a reckless Executive is being reminded that the government at least nominally works for the people, not the reverse.
McConnell can do this because he doesn’t confront the Tea Party problem that so bedevils Boehner and Cantor. Many of the Tea Party’s Senate candidates — Sharron Angle in Nevada, Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Joe Miller in Alaska — lost in 2010. Boehner and Cantor, by contrast, owe their majority in part to Tea Party supporters. McConnell has a certain freedom to govern that his House leadership colleagues do not. Wow, you really know how to draw the wrong lesson, don’t you, Dionne? It’s true that the unbridled will of the people was less that totally effective against the Ruling Class Overlords. They were able to circle the wagons, and squeeze a couple more years of graft out of the system. But, again, the Progressive Era is hard aground, going nowhere, and taking on water. “McConnell has a certain freedom to govern”. Look at what you wrote. The NRSC has got to know, and I think the fundraising numbers bear me out, that the only way the Ruling Class Overlords could have less respect in the eyes of the Tea Parties would be to, say, legally change their names to Dionne.
And this is why Republicans are going to have to shake themselves loose from the Tea Party. Quite simply, the Tea Party’s legions are not interested in governing, at least as governing is normally understood in a democracy with separated powers. They believe that because the Republicans won one house of Congress in one election, they have a mandate to do whatever the right wing wants. A Democratic president and Senate are dismissed as irrelevant nuisances, although they were elected, too. It is nearly funny how you raise the ‘separated powers’ point, Dionne. Have you looked at the rot in the Executive? The DoJ? The EPA deciding to implement Cap & Trade? The FCC going after Net Neutrality? So, are you really that ignorant, or blowing sunshine up your readers’ bottoms? I tend to think the latter, and am thankful for an Internet which I can use to record the disgust and contempt that Americans of conscience feel for creepy little propaganda organs of your ilk.
The Tea Party lives in an intellectual bubble where the answers to every problem lie in books by F.A. Hayek, Glenn Beck or Ayn Rand. Rand’s anti-government writings, regarded by her followers as modern-day scripture — Rand, an atheist, would have bridled at that comparison — are particularly instructive. Really? Instructive? If I thought you actually were grasping anything of Austrian economics, I might be cheered.
When the hero of Rand’s breakthrough novel, “The Fountainhead,” doesn’t get what he wants, he blows up a building. Rand’s followers see that as gallant. So perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us that blowing up our government doesn’t seem to be a big deal to some of the new radical individualists in our House of Representatives. Your one-sentence summary of Rand’s novel is so brief as to be useless. And our government has been blown up by the thieving swine whose shoes you shine, not Americans demanding fiscal responsibility. And the Ruling Class Overlords in the House hardly qualify as ‘radical individualists’.
Our country is on the edge. Our capital looks like a lunatic asylum to many of our own citizens and much of the world. We need to act now to restore certainty by extending the debt ceiling through the end of this Congress. And the guilt is owned by the Ruling Class, Progressive idiots who’ve run the country into the dirt. Take a bow, servant of losers.
Boehner and Cantor don’t have time to stretch things out to appease their unappeasable members, and they should settle their issues with each other later. Nor do we have time to work through the ideas from the Gang of Six. The Gang has come forward too late with too little detail. Their suggestions should be debated seriously, not rushed through. Let’s just agree it’s a wash, and start to talk about how we run the government when outlays equal receipts. That would be, you know, useful. Reasonable.
Republicans need to decide whether they want to be responsible conservatives or whether they will let the Tea Party destroy the House That Lincoln Built in a glorious explosion. Such pyrotechnics may look great to some people on the pages of a novel or in a movie, but they’re rather unpleasant when experienced in real life. We need the reckoning, so that dead wood of your sort can be swept aside in favor of something responsible and honest, Dionne.
Category: Uncategorized

When Havidol Is Not Enough: Spenditol

Posted on | July 21, 2011 | 5 Comments

by Smitty

Havidol used to be my non-medication of choice. Via House of Eratosthenes we have Spenditol, the new wee pill that’s turning everyone into beggars:
Just drop another handful, to keep us on the road to serfdom.

Category: Uncategorized

Q: Contessa Brewer, Do You Have A Degree In Bimbology?
A: Yes, I Do, Highest Honors

Posted on | July 21, 2011 | 21 Comments

by Smitty (h/t Scott’s Slant)

Alternate title: ‘Hey, Contessa, if you’re going to play the Appeal to Authority card, you may want to ensure your authority is credible’.

As a younger chap, I had some misapprehension that wisdom and intellect grew in a linear way as one assumed higher office. That is to say, by default, the further up the organization chart you go, the smarter folks must be. Yeah, I outgrew that daft notion somewhere in the Clinton Administration.
Contessa, there is no Easter Bunny. Also, the list of Purportedly Smart Folks you enumerate in this clip may, in fact, in fact be brighter than you, but not by much.

Category: Uncategorized

Mitt Romney Lines Up Post-2012 Campaign Work

Posted on | July 21, 2011 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

And who can fault him? I thought B-movie actor was a way better gig for him, for all I really don’t have the attention span for horror flicks.

Category: Uncategorized

Ho Ho, It Is To Laugh: The James O’Keefe ‘IRA’ Medicaid Exploit

Posted on | July 21, 2011 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

If you’ve ever seen Inglorious Basterds, one scene in a bar hinges on how a German would order three shots o’ hooch. Hint: if you’re Basterd posing as a Kraut, you’d better remember that the thumb is one, the index finger the second, and the middle finger is the third. Sometimes, it’s the small stuff.
Which brings us to the latest O’Keefe exposé, targeting Medicaid. Who would have thunk it, after ACORN &c: a government official so intent on avoiding due diligence that the official comes off as just a bit shady?

The Medicaid case worker tells the reporter, who is identified as “Sean Murphy” that “his business is his business. She does not probe into the nature of his work. One of the Medicaid workers helps Murphy fill out a form and lists an injury as “shot offshore.”

Why was I laughing when I saw the still image within the video box over at Gateway Pundit?

Well, even without hearing the outlandish accent, those who know their Celtic wear will tell you that O’Keefe is sporting a Scottish kilt, not an Irish one. Can I get a Gaelic three count from you here, Mr. O’Keefe? Wikipedia has a nice shot of some Irishmen in saffron kilts, and I’ll quote Irish Thunder, emphasis mine:

The evidence is now conclusive that every Irish clan family had its own distinctive kilt colour. Unlike the Scots with their different coloured family tartans, Irish families had a preference for one-colour kilts, and I have collected the authentic colours of 200 Irish clan family kilts and coats of arms. And still the search goes on for the remainder, though I doubt if there are many more.

Anyway, props to the O’Keefe for his continued service to the Country against its statist, domestic enemies. Medicaid is just another sad, unaffordable, Progressive substitute for liberty. The sooner we amputate this stinking federal bureaucratic rot, the sooner we can be about recovery.

Category: James O'Keefe

Jim Moran: Clownish Buffoon, Or Buffoonish Clown?

Posted on | July 21, 2011 | 8 Comments

by Smitty (hat tip: BlogProf)

Ol’ “Gentleman” Jim Moran just does Northern Virginia Proud:

I suppose that, if you hold a condescending, equestrian viewpoint, and taxpayers are a flock of sheep to be shorn in support of your Vision of Progress, then Moran’s viewpoint may seem sensible. Moran’s point seems to be that if you’ve drawn breath as a U.S. citizen, then you should assume the position and pay your taxes with Biden-esque enthusiasm. Notions of liberty, private property within the lumpen proletariat, and politics as an area where all vantage points count just don’t seem to matter as much as the State and Ruling Class, to Moran.
I’d like to feel that I’m reading way too much into this short segment; that “Gentleman” Jim was just having an off day, and would offer a reasonable response given another try; that Moran is something other than a sad meat puppet in service of the Federal Cthulhu; however, I’ve shared a Congressional District and voted against him this last decade.
If this blog achieves anything, it is my sincere hope that enough Americans are rallied to punt this fellow off of Capitol Hill. He is emblematic of the problem, and ideologically incapable of leadership in general, and leadership toward solutions in particular.
Knob.
Previously:

Category: Jim Moran, Uncategorized, Virginia

LIVE AT FIVE – 07.21.11

Posted on | July 21, 2011 | 4 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Debt Limit Impasse Continues

White House press secretary Jay Carney

Cap, cut & balance seemingly doomed in Senate; McConnell plan likely to die in House with 70 on record opposing it. President now says he’s open to a short-term deal


Atlantis’ Final Landing Scheduled For Today
Mission Control plays Kate Smith’s “God Bless America” as wake-up music for Shuttle crew

Texas Executes Mark Stroman For “9/11 Revenge” Shooting Spree
State & federal supreme courts refused final appeals



POLITICS
As Bachmann’s Poll Numbers Rise, So Does Scrutiny

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Questions raised about legislative experience, migraines

Romney, Obama Show Rare Interest In California

House Ethics Panel Brings In Outside Counsel For Waters Case

Elizabeth Warren Fuels Speculation That She’ll Challenge Scott Brown

Minnesota Shutdown Ends With Signing Of $35.7 Billion Budget

GOP Presidential Candidates Hold First Twitter Debate

Spat Between Wasserman-Schultz & West Isn’t Just Political, It’s Personal



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Euro Moves Higher On Greece Deal, Eyes On Eurozone Summit
Wells Fargo To Pay $85 Million Over Mortgage Abuses
American Airlines Adds Airbus
Study Says US Shale May Weaken Iran, Russia
Asian Shares Mostly Lower On PRC PMI
Wall Street Drops On Global Debt Woes; Banks Drag
iPad Could Cannibalize Macintosh Lines
Lenovo Unveils Three Tablets
Senator Kohl Calls For AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Block
Tablets Using Windows Outsell RIM’s Touted Playbook



SPORTS
NFL Players Fail To Vote; Season Still On Hold

NFLPA President Kevin Mawae and rep George Atillah talk to reporters

Season can start on time if deal done this week

Angels Rally For 9-8 Win, Stop Rangers’ Winning Streak

Yao’s Playing Days Over, But Time With Basketball, Not So Much




Angel Pagan Hits Sayonara Homer To Lift Mets Past Cardinals, 6-5

Lincecum Loses Duel Of Aces, Dodgers Win 1-0

Dodgers, MLB Spar Over Loan Proposals

Texas’ Longhorn Network Raising Hackles Around Big 12

Werth Breaks Slump, But Nationals Fall To Astros 3-2



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Ben Will always Be In Jen’s Corner

Marc, J-Lo, Lupe and Ben

How Ben Affleck helped Jennifer Lopez with her crumbling marriage

Jennifer Aniston Rocks A Little Black Leather Dress

Zach Braff: I’m Not Gay

Kim Kardashian Sues Old Navy Over Look-alike

“Grey’s Anatomy” Star Eric Dane Checks Into Rehab

Britney: Ex-Bodyguard Is Lying About Drugs, Farts And Showers


Gwyneth Paltrow, Who Doesn’t Believe In Religion, Is Raising Her Kids Jewish

Leonardo DiCaprio Dumps Blake Lively – Because His Mum Doesn’t Approve

Kelsey & Camille Grammer Settle Custody  – For Now

Snooki, Rob Kardashian, Christina Milian In Talks For “Dancing With The Stars”



FOREIGNERS
Wendi Deng’s Charlie’s Angel Moment Boosts Husband’s Image
The “inevitable” Taiwanese animooted version
Lindsay Hawker’s Japanese Killer Gets Life In Prison
PM Cameron Drags Labour Opponents Into Hacking Scandal In Raucous Commons Session
“Death Squads” In Streets Of Homs (Video)
Spratly Islands Row: Philippine Trip Irks PRC
British “Taliban Fighters” Arrested In Afghanistan
Commonwealth Prosecutors Seek Seizure Of David Hicks’ Book Profits



BLOGS & STUFF
National Review: Gang Of Six Disaster – Worst Plan So Far
PJ Tatler: Allen West stands By Remarks On Wasserman-Schultz
Lonely Conservative: Obama Says Debt Crisis “Self Created” But Still Fails To Identify Problem
Ed Morrissey: Obama To Accept Short-Term Deal?
Confederate Yankee: Unfunny Former Comedian Distorts Study For “Gotcha” Moment In Senate
Michelle Malkin: The Migraine Maelstrom
Don Surber: President Perry?
Boston Herald: Experts Agree Palin & Bachmann Being Held To Higher Standard
Big Hollywood: Numbers Don’t Lie – “The Undefeated” Had A Remarkable Box Office Debut
Weasel Zippers: Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Horrified That Balanced Budget Amendment Would Make It Virtually Impossible To Raise Taxes
Watts Up With That?: This Looks Like A Job For Green Helmet Guy
Gateway Pundit: Dems Wrong Again – Obamacare Didn’t Stimulate Job Creation, It Killed It
France 24: Lebanese Belly Dancer Performs With Israeli Heavy Metal Band; What Could Go Wrong?
Zilla Of The Resistance: Take Your “Death Of Right-Wing Blogs” Proclamation And Shove It!


Aaaand that’s it for Thursday. Stay cool out there, y’all.

Category: Live at Five

EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood Teen Bride’s Mom Blames Jealousy, ‘Insecurities’ for Criticism of Courtney and Doug Hutchison

Posted on | July 20, 2011 | 101 Comments

Courtney Stodden and her husband Doug Hutchison are being criticized because of jealousy, the mother of the teenage singer/actress said Wednesday in an exclusive interview.

“I mean, a girl that every man would love to have, and she’s a woman that every woman would like to be, and women know this, and they try to discredit her,” Krista Stodden told me in a phone interview, describing the negative reaction to her 16-year-old daughter marrying 51-year-old Hutchison. “And so what is out there in the media is just their insecurities, just flying all over the place.”

What Mrs. Stodden called a “media circus” has enveloped the couple since they disclosed their June wedding in Nevada, where 16-year-olds can marry legally with parental permission. The bride’s mother — who at 51, is the same age as her new son-in-law — said the couple are “so wonderful together,” and defended the marriage as “biblical” and “a blessing.”

Doug Hutchison, an actor best known for his performance in the Oscar-winning movie “The Green Mile” and in the TV series “Lost,” wasn’t the first older man ever to take an interest in Courtney, her mother said.

“She had a bunch of men all over the world trying to contact her through the computer. We’re talking rich, rich men. Even police officers were really wanting to get together with her,” Mrs. Stodden said of Courtney, the youngest of her three daughters. Read more

Category: Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Marriage, Religion, Rule 5
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