CA-36: Anti-Hahn Video Draws More Than 75,000 Viewers in First 18 Hours

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Janice Hahn, Los Angeles City Council member and
Democrat candidate in CA-36 special election

An online attack ad highlighting a Democratic congressional candidate’s support for a controversial “gang intervention” program has generated more than 75,000 views at YouTube.com since its release Tuesday afternoon. 

“It will probably hit 100,000 [views] by the end of today,” video director Ladd Ehlinger Jr. said in a brief interview Wednesday morning. Ehlinger noted that the video now requires an 18-and-older age verification after it was repeatedly flagged as offensive by liberal blog readers. “I don’t see them going and flagging any other rap videos,” the director said.

Funded by a conservative political action committee, the rap-themed video focuses on the record of Los Angeles city council member Janice Hahn, a Democrat who faces Republican Craig Huey in a July 12 special election for California’s 36th District congressional seat, vacated by the retirement of Democrat Jane Harman.

The video has drawn almost universal condemnation, not only from Democrats, but also from California GOP officials and the Huey campaign. Ehlinger has refused to apologize for the online ad, which one leading liberal blog called “Willie Horton on steroids.”

As David Weigel of Slate reports, Ehlinger’s objective was to “create something so shocking that it would get people talking about a spot on the Hahn record that no one had paid attention to.”

Justin Elliott of Salon claimed that the ad relies on a “debunked” 2008 TV news report. However, the Torrance (Calif.) Daily Breeze article cited by Elliott did not address other evidence that the controversial “gang intervention” program aided criminals. 

Criticizing media he accused of being “too lazy to do research,” Ehlinger posted three further items about the scandal:

The indictment of Sanchez was also reported by the New York Times. In May 2008, Hahn urged a tax increase to expand funding for L.A.’s gang intervention program to $40 million. Here is the 2009 report by KTTV in Los Angeles about Crips gangster Steve Myrick, a career criminal who received a certificate of appreciation from Janice Hahn, and other gangsters who collected checks from the program:

And here is Ehlinger’s ad for the conservative Turn Right USA PAC:

As of 11 a.m. ET Wednesday, both the PAC’s main Web site and its “Hahn’s Homeboyz” site were non-operational due to unusually heavy Internet traffic.

Insty Breaks Out The ZZ Top Reference

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by Smitty

Showdown, you bet! And I haven’t even saddled my pony yet!

Deguello is my personal favorite ZZ Top release.
Oh yeah, Insty is on about an article on The Hill where Speaker Boehner is turning up the heat on the POTUS over Libya:

Boehner wrote: “Given the mission you have ordered to the U.S. Armed Forces with respect to Libya and the text of the War Powers Resolution, the House is left to conclude that you have made one of two determinations: either you have concluded the War Powers Resolution does not apply to the mission in Libya, or you have determined the War Powers Resolution is contrary to the Constitution.

“The House, and the American people whom we represent, deserve to know the determination you have made.”

Citing Obama’s oath of office and the Constitution, Boehner asks the president to provide the administration’s legal analysis regarding the War Powers Resolution and demands an answer by Friday. That is also the date by which the House-passed measure demands a response from the White House.

Boehner intensified his criticism of Obama’s handling of Libya and noted “the ongoing, deeply divisive debate originated with a lack of genuine consultation prior to commencement of operations and has been further exacerbated by the lack of visibility and leadership from you and your administration.”

The Speaker has suggested that if the White House does not respond adequately to the House-passed resolution, which is non-binding, the House could take further action, such as withholding funds for the mission.

Does Sprinklerman have the stones to go to the mat with BHO?
Wouldn’t touch it with a Ten Foot Pole.

Health Care or Aircraft Carriers?

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One of the problems with ObamaCare is that this massive new entitlement program will steadily drain away tax money from the federal budget — including the defense budget, so that the United States can no longer afford to defend its interests abroad. In fact, something similar is already happening to our allies:

The British military intervention in Libya is unsustainable, the head of the Navy has said.
Adml Sir Mark Stanhope said the campaign would have been more effective without the Government’s defence cuts.
The aircraft carrier and the Harrier jump-jets scrapped under last year’s strategic defence review would have made the mission more effective, faster and cheaper, he said.
Sir Mark warned that the Navy would not be able to sustain its operations in Libya for another three months without making cuts elsewhere.
The First Sea Lord’s comments will stir the debate over defence cuts that have left Britain without a working aircraft carrier and forced the Royal Navy’s Harrier jump jets to be mothballed.

William Katz comments: “Britain is a symbol of what’s happened all over Europe — defense cuts made to fuel the welfare state.” (Hat-tip: William Jacobson.)

Pointing Out the Obvious: They Don’t Teach Economics at Harvard Law School

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Conveniences you’ve enjoyed for decades have suddenly become a cause of long-term unemployment:

“There are some structural issues with our economy where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM, you don’t go to a bank teller, or you go to the airport and you’re using a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate.”
— Barack Obama

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The president is attempting here to offer a simplistic explanation of the difference between cyclical unemployment and structural unemployment. As important as that distinction is, however, it fails to explain many obvious things about this recession.

Unemployment isn’t at 9% because of out-of-work bank clerks and airline ticket agents. Unemployment is most severe in construction trades and other housing-related sectors. Whatever else Obama’s policies have done, they have not led to a meaningful recovery of the housing market and, one might easily argue, have made things much worse. Why? Because for two years, the administration and Democrats in Congress did everything possible to impede the foreclosure process, to keep deadbeats in homes they can’t afford. This has slowed re-sales, prevented mortgage lenders from cutting their losses on bad loans and, in general, hindered the kind of price “re-set” necessary to making the housing market efficient again.

Something else: The recession is not equally bad everywhere. Why is unemployment nearly 12% in California but less than 6% in Oklahoma? Don’t people in Oklahoma use ATMs and automated airline ticket kiosks?

Finally: ObamaCare places mandates on employers to provide health insurance to their employees. And by so doing, it increases the cost of hiring people. Whenever government policy makes something more expensive to do, people will do less of whatever that something is, and ObamaCare is a classic example of that. It’s like a good news/bad news joke: The good news is, your employer is now required to provide you health insurance. The bad news is, you ain’t got a job.

You don’t have to be a genius to figure out why Obamanomics doesn’t work. It’s one of those things that is so obvious that it takes a special kind of stupid not to see it.

And I guess they teach that special kind of stupid at Harvard.

UPDATE: Professor William Jacobson (who teaches at Cornell, not Harvard) explains that the President’s perspective “is a perfectly static view, which would have protected jobs in the buggy whip industry by preventing the creation and expansion of the auto industry; would have protected jobs at glass tube manufacturers against the advent of flat screen televisions; would have barred the creation of the cell phone industry because of all the jobs lost in the land line business, and so on and so on.”

LIVE AT FIVE – 06.15.11

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TOP NEWS
Pakistan’s ISI Arrests CIA Informants Who Led US To Bin Laden

Bin Laden's compund in Abbottabad

More evidence that Uncle Sam’s relationship with the Land of the Pure is broken

Ethanol Tax Credit Survives In Senate
Tom Coburn & Diane Feinstein v. Grover Norquist

Wisconsin Supremes Uphold Union Reform Law
4-3 vote includes smackdown of Dane County judge Sumi



POLITICS
Rep. King Turns Attention To Radical Islam In America’s Prisons

Rep. Peter King (R-NY)

Usual suspects butthurt

Ruling By Gay Judge On Gay Marriage Sticks

Rick Perry Flirts With Run For President



Army Dumps Beret, Goes Back To Patrol Cap With Camies

Palin Not Snubbed By Thatcher After All

Biden Claims Budget Talks Will Yield Spending Cuts



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Euro Down Against Dollar, Yen On Greek Debt Concerns
Bernanke Has Tantrum Over GOP Stance On Debt Limit
J.C. Penney Taps Apple Store Head As Its New CEO
Pandora Looks To Boost Size Of IPO
Apple’s Unlocked iPhone Not As Magical As It Seems
Among Shuttle’s Legacies, A Half-Billion Dollar Pension Bill
Solar Forecast Hints At Big Chill



SPORTS
Verlander Flirts With No-Hitter As Tigers Blank Tribe

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander

4-0 win puts Tigers atop AL Central

Canucks, Bruins Ready To Finish Epic Cup Series

No Jeter, No Problem; Yankees Rout Rangers 12-4

Dodgers Waste Fine Start By Kershaw, Fall To Reds 3-2

Waltrip, Yarborough Named To NASCAR Hall Of Fame

Pitching Lifts Pirates To Road Win Over Astros

Hot Jose Key To Another Mets W

Bullpen Fails, Brewers Beaten By Cubs In Extra Innings

Shaq Pal Beaten By Bangers Over Sex Tape

Phillies Flay Fish 9-1



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Natalie Portman: It’s A Boy!

Natalie Portman and husband Benjamin Millepied

An engagement, an Oscar, and now a baby!

Jen Aniston, Homewrecker?

L.A. Mansion For U.K. Heiress

Justin Timberlake, Pothead

Sean Bean Tough Offscreen As Well As On

J-Lo Undecided About Return to “American Idol”

Hugh Hefner/Crystal Harris Wedding is Off

Police Confirm Amber Portwood Suicide Attempt


Denise Richards Dishes On Marriage To Charlie Sheen

Matthew Fox, Ed Harris In “World War Z” Talks

Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore: “Leave Sarah Palin Alone”



FOREIGNERS
NATO Resumes Air Strikes On Tripoli With Late-Night Attacks
Militants Seize Parts Of Yemeni Provincial Capital
Syria Calls On Refugees To Return
Young Blood Pumps Up Red Cross Campaign
Obama Calls For Immediate Ceasefire In Sudan
Thai Army Warns Voters Over Elections, Won’t Tolerate Insults To Monarchy



BLOGS & STUFF
Althouse: “[Wisconsin] Supreme Court Just Ruled In Favor Of Republicans On Budget Repair”
Weasel Zippers: Boehner Gives Obama Ultimatum On Libya
Tammy Bruce: Why Sarah Palin Must Run In 2012
NRO Corner: GOP Turns On Norquist
Ed Morrissey: Boehner Calls On Weiner To Resign
Conservatives4Palin: Romney, The Rockefeller Republican
Sister Toldjah: Stupid Liberal Gotcha Games – OMG Allen West Flew A Flag Underwater!
Michelle Malkin: Obamanomics – Damn Those ATMs And Airport Kiosks!
K-Lo: A Push For Gay Marriage In The Empire State
Iowahawk: Welcome To Springfield And The 1858 Debate
Contentions: Obama Courts Hispanic Vote With Puerto Rico Trip
Joanne Jacobs: Don’t Know Much About History


— compiled by Wombat-socho

Wisconsin State Supreme Court Angers Big Labor by Upholding Walker’s Law

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This is big news:

Acting with unusual speed, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to all but end collective bargaining for tens of thousands of public workers.

The unions, Democrats and their liberal allies are, as you might expect, apoplectic with rage. For example, Ed Schultz on MSNBC was even more obnoxious than usual today.

Allahpundit notes that David Prosser was in the majority on the 4-3 vote.

UPDATE: Excellent suggestion from Jeff in Walla Walla:

BREAKING: Democrats Call on GOP Candidate to Denounce PAC Video

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A new viral video ad criticizing Democrat Janice Hahn’s support for a “gang intervention” program has drawn a swift response from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Within hours of the debut of the online ad — sponsored by the Turn Right USA political action committee — the DCCC posted an online petition “calling on Republican candidate Craig Huey to condemn this offensive and sexist ad, and demand that the ad makers immediately take it down immediately.”

The duplication of the word “immediately” in the DCCC’s message may indicate Democrats’ concern that the ad, directed by independent filmmaker Ladd Ehlinger Jr., will focus media attention on Hahn’s controversial record as a Los Angeles City Council member.

Hahn is the Democrat candidate in the July 12 special election for the California 36th District seat vacated by the retirement of Rep. Jane Harman. Republican candidate Huey’s second-place finish in the multi-candidate, multi-party primary was called a “major upset” by the Los Angeles Times.

UPDATE: The liberal blog Talking Points Memo calls the ad “Willie Horton on steroids” and reports reaction:

“This ad is incredibly offensive and sexist to all women,” Hahn campaign manager Dave Jacobson told TPM. “The producer of this ad should be ashamed of himself and Craig Huey should be ashamed to have this kind of thing produced on his behalf.” . . .
EMILY’s List, which has endorsed Hahn, called the ad “the most vile, racist, sexist ad we have ever seen” and also called on Huey to condemn it. . . .
California Republican Party spokesperson Mark Standriff distanced the party and Huey from the web ad.
“The video in question is highly offensive and totally inappropriate,” he said “and has no connection whatsoever to the Huey campaign or the California Republican Party.”

No word if DCCC, Jacobson or Standriff were asked whether it was “offensive” for the Democrat Hahn to turn hardened criminals loose on the street with taxpayer money to pay them as “gang intervention specialists.”

UPDATE II: Dave Weigel explains the special election background:

Democrats sort of bungled a low-turnout jungle primary for Jane Harman’s open seat. They expected it to produce an all-Democrat race between Janice Hahn and Debra Bowen, but Bowen fell short, and Republican Craig Huey got the other runoff spot.

There is a Memeorandum thread.

UPDATE III: Yet another Memeorandum thread, including this rather predictable reaction from Charles Johnson:

Are people really so dense that I need to explain what Ladd’s video was intended to accomplish? Or, if they are that dense, should I be content to leave it unexplained? I’m torn.

UPDATE V: “Ladd Ehlinger Jr. Goes Gangsta,” says Andy at AOSHQ.

MacAoidh at the Hayride doesn’t know if he would have “gone there.” Yeah, but you’re watching it, ain’t you?

UPDATE VI: Jean Merl of the Los Angeles Times:

Democratic leaders and others on Tuesday reacted angrily to what they characterized as an offensive and sexist YouTube video that tries to portray Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a Democrat, as friendly to gang members.

Hey, Jean, just a suggestion here: You work at a newspaper, right? You’ve got access to Lexis-Nexis, right? So that means you could try a couple of quick searches and find out if how the video portrays Janice Hahn “as friendly to gang members” actually has any basis in fact.

If a candidate for Congress was, indeed, demonstrably “friendly to gang members,” I think that’s what they used to call “news.” Just sayin’ . . .

UPDATE VII: Southern California blogger Richard McEnroe reminds us of the sorry failed history of liberal “anti-gang” efforts.

UPDATE VIII: The controverial ad inspires a reporter for the “alternative” tabloid L.A. Weekly to tout Hahn as “likely to waltz to victory.” Yet the reporter is apparently willing to ignore his own newspaper’s reporting on the disastrous, expensive failure of L.A.’s “gang intervention” programs.

Questions: Is Janice Hahn’s record as a city council member a legitimate issue in her congressional campaign? And shouldn’t she have to face tough questions about her record of support for this very bad policy? Are journalists in California just underpaid P.R. shills for the Democratic Party, or are they just too lazy to be bothered doing any actual reporting?

UPDATE IX: The Rhetorican is impressed: “Now That’s an Attack Ad!”

UPDATE X: Feminist blogger Margaret Hartmann: “Hunt For The World’s Most Offensive Campaign Ad Is Over.”

Da Tech Guy thinks the video should, at least, get people talking about CA-36.