When I went to the mailbox this afternoon, there was an electric bill and a water bill. Meanwhile, my phone keeps ringing with reminders that the car payment is overdue — although the phone may not keep ringing if I don’t do something about the overdue phone bill.
All of which tends toward the conclusion that it’s time for me to ask readers to hit the freaking tip jar.
And you know the situation is serious when I start reminding you how beautiful my wife is. For some reason, readers are more generous when I point out that I married waaaay out of my league — although I wasn’t entirely shabby myself, back in the day when I had that super-cool Patrick Swayze mullet look happening. Still, as everyone acknowledges, I was extraordinarily fortunate to wed the lovely Mrs. Other McCain.
“For richer or poorer” as they say, but the present circumstances aren’t exactly conducive to “happily ever after” and so, in the interests of domestic tranquility, I’m compelled to ask that you hit the tip jar, as I remind you that Mrs. Other McCain was the original inspiration for Rule 5. Continue reading Want to Make My Wife Happy? →
When Ellmers finally told Geithner that “the point is we need jobs,” he responded that the administration felt it had “no alternative” but to raise taxes on small businesses because otherwise “you have to shrink the overall size of government programs” — including federal education spending.
“We’re not doing it because we want to do it, we’re doing it because we see no alternative to a balanced approach to reduce our fiscal deficits,” said Geithner.
“Balanced approach” has become a talking point for Democrats, obviously having been focus-grouped as a politically acceptable synonym for higher taxes:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi isn’t impressed with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s decision to suddenly bail on the White House deficit talks this morning, citing his disagreement with Democrats’ positions.
“Yes, we do want to remove tax subsidies for big oil, we want to remove tax breaks for corporations that send jobs overseas, that list goes on,” she told reporters in the Capitol on Thursday. “I don’t know that’s a reason to walk away from the table when we’re trying to find a balanced approach.”
On a leafy drive in west Los Angeles, at a newly renovated home with cathedral ceilings and a backyard pool, 4-year-old Kate Eisenpresser-Davis’ friends have been known to pose an intriguing question: “Why does Kate have three mommies?”
Lisa Eisenpresser, 44, and her partner, Angela Courtin, 38, share custody of Kate with Eisenpresser’s ex-partner.
New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday approved a broad rollback of benefits for 750,000 government workers and retirees, the deepest cut in state and local costs in memory, in a major victory for Gov. Chris Christie.
“But the bottom line is, whose side are you on? Are you on Qaddafi’s side or are you on the side of the aspirations of the Libyan people and the international coalition that has been created to support them? For the Obama Administration, the answer to that question is very easy.”
— Hillary Clinton, June 22
Everyone is having fun recalling the Good Old Days — which ended about three years ago — when liberals loved to lecture us that “dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” Dissent against liberalism, however, apparently doesn’t count, even when liberals are doing the exact same things they once denounced Republicans for doing.
Obama’s Illegal War™ cannot be justified under any logic the Left would have accepted during the Bush years, and yet Democrats are cynical enough to realize that the Left has nowhere else to go: Whatever else happens, liberal peaceniks aren’t going to vote Republican next year, so Hillary can impute treason to them at no political cost. And political costs are the only costs that concern her. Continue reading Libya: Who, Whom? →
At least five top advisers to former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty have been working for little or no pay for several months, a campaign source said Wednesday.
The news establishes with more certainty the emerging portrait of Pawlenty as struggling to keep up with the larger and better-funded operation of his main rival for the Republican presidential nomination, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. . . .
While some staffers are temporarily forgoing a larger paycheck, others signed up with the understanding that they would volunteer their time for the long term, said the Pawlenty aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters. . . .
They’re trying to spin this as a good thing:
“Our consultants are either volunteering their time or working for peanuts,” he said. “This may be hard for some in Washington to accept, but they’re on Team Pawlenty for the right reasons — they believe in the candidate and cause.”
There was a strong reaction to yesterday’s post about Courtney Stodden, the 16-year-old aspiring singer who married her 51-year-old manager, actor Doug Hutchison, and so I’m sure readers will find lots to say about this bit of information: Courtney’s new husband is four years older than her father.
“We all needed a good man in our lives,” said Krista, adding the 35-year age gap does not faze her. “After a while you don’t look at the age. You look at the love they started to have towards each other. He became more than a number to us.”
Courtney, an aspiring actress, model and pop singer, met her husband when he began managing her career. Her parents welcomed Hutchinson, who is four years older than his new father-in-law, into their lives when he started dating their daughter.
“He was her manager, and then as we got to know him, we got to see what kind of person he was,” Krista said. “He just became a wonderful person in our eyes, and he’s a great Christian man.” . . .
“She never thought that she would find the right person and when she found Doug, she said ‘I never really wanted to get married but I found someone perfect for me and you never know what age you’re going to find that person at’,” said Krista.
According to Krista, Courtney is used to being in the spotlight. She began modeling at the age of 12 and by 14 she was hosting her own online show called “The Courtney Stodden Show.”
Courtney has also been the victim of cyber bullying, addressing many hurtful comments she has encountered on her YouTube channel.
“Courtney is used to this type of reaction towards her,” said Krista. “She’s a very beautiful girl and she stands out, because she’s shockingly beautiful when you see her in person. She reads some of the negative things people wrote about her but she’s strong.”
And now, to answer a question to which you probably didn’t really want the answer (at least not from her mom):
“Everything is real,” insists Krista. “Usually when girls have little cute bodies, they don’t have large breasts, but she’s had no work done, and she doesn’t need anything done.”
OK, so there’s lots of comment fodder there — read the whole thing — but just for good measure, I’ll stir the pot by semi-defending this mismatched marriage. (It’s been called a “May-December” match, but isn’t it really more like April-October?)
Look, it’s show business. We’ve seen many, many examples of how ex-child stars like Lindsay Lohan crash and burn when they hit their 20s. (Lindsay has apparently averted her jail sentence.) Given how commonly these young women in Hollywood go bonkers, which is the greater risk: Letting your daughter go into show business at 16, or letting her get married at 16?
Go ahead, then. Feel free to predict a disastrous outcome for Doug and Courtney’s marriage. But how many Hollywood marriages end “happily ever after” anyway?
But wait — there’s more! Here is video of Courtney competing two years ago in a beauty pageant. She introduces herself at the 1:22 mark, then appears in the swimsuit competition at the 1:40 mark, and in evening gown competition at 3:15:
And she was only 14 years old, you sick freaks.
UPDATE: But wait — there’s still more! Here’s a video Courtney did last year about “Cyber Bullies & Cyber Victims”:
“I get harassed daily on the Internet,” she says, reading some of the cruel, rude comments people have made about her. You kinda wonder if maybe one reason she was so eager to get married was to have a refuge from all that. Haven in a Heartless World, so to speak.
UPDATE II: Welcome, Instapundit readers! For those kicking this topic around in the comments, let me ask: Is your objection to the age of the bride or the age of the groom? That is to say, would you oppose the marriage of a 16-year-old under any circumstances, or only if her husband was so much older? And is a 35-year age difference between bride and groom always objectionable? Would it be OK if a 25-year-old married a 60-year-old?
