The Other McCain : Page 2232 : "One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up."

Holy guacamole. Maybe to somebody more experienced in the ways of blog-fu, it would have seemed inevitable that a week devoted to Weiner would inevitably be full of links – but that somebody isn’t me. Anyhow, top linkers for this week, filled as it was with things you didn’t want to see stuffed into casings and then shoved into buns:

Da Tech Guy (12)
The Camp Of The Saints (11)
(tied) Ironic Surrealism, POWIP, Republican Redefined (7)
(tied) Conservative Hideout, Nice Deb (6)
(tied) Si Vis Pacem, Lonely Conservative, That Mr. G Guy (5)

Thanks to all for the linky-love! Have a Blogspot blog? You too can be included among the worthy! Send an e-mail with your links and either “FMJRA” or “Shameless Blogwhoring” in the subject line to Wombat-socho by June 10!

Facebook Disrespects the Unborn

Posted on June 5, 2011June 5, 2011Comments

by Unborn Son of Smitty, via (Drudge)

Yeah, FaceBook is private property. Understood, pages for the unborn could have unforseen legal consequences with minors. Sure, if we want to criticize, we should get our own blog.
Oh, wait: I have that enlightened opportunity! FaceBook, you suck the grand wazoo! People who want to celebrate life will have to do it elsewhere. If the girl could have leveraged some state-approved racist language, would that have helped? What if she denounced Sarah Palin?
You might say I should focus on, you know, getting born and enjoying life, rather than fretting politics and FaceBook.
If only the decisions of the politicians and web weenies had a similar disinterest in my life.

Herman Cain Hits the Big Time

Posted on June 5, 2011June 5, 2011Comments

Kate Zernike features Cain in the New York Times:

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Michele Bachmann was campaigning just north of here, the Sarah Palin tour was rumored to be arriving soon, and Mitt Romney was on his way to announce his entry into the presidential race.
Yet here was another voter swooning for Herman Cain.
“I watched you at the Republican debate, and I have to be honest, I’d never heard of you, but ever since that. …” said Nathan Lyons, 29, his voice trailing off wistfully. “You say it like it is.”
Joan Silvernail, 68, pumped Mr. Cain’s hand, then turned to her husband. “It’s his enthusiasm,” she said. “Wasn’t that what we felt with Ronald Reagan, his enthusiasm?”
Those not frequenting Tea Party rallies or the living rooms and coffee shops of New Hampshire and Iowa might dismiss Mr. Cain, a talk radio host and former chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza, as a frivolous candidate — “the pizza guy” as some call him.
But there are signs of what Mr. Cain, in his booming baritone, calls “Old Man Mo — Momentum!”
A Gallup poll released last week showed Mr. Cain with the highest voter intensity score of any Republican presidential contender — far higher than Ms. Palin, a former governor of Alaska, or Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts. While Mr. Cain’s name recognition was at 37 percent, it had risen 16 points since March. . . .

Read the whole thing — it’s 1,400 words, which is a lot of words for the New York Times to devote to a candidate that all the pundits keep telling us can’t win.

Isn’t it time you joined the online grassroots army at Citizens for Cain?

‘Is He the New Tiger Woods?’

Posted on June 4, 2011June 5, 2011Comments

The title quote is from Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition in a story by Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller:

Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin told The Daily Caller Weiner’s “long history” of “skirt-chasing” raises more questions about the New York Democrat’s Capitol Hill sexual secrets and expects more women with similar stories to come forward.
“Stories about his hot pursuits of young Capitol Hill interns date back to 2001,” Malkin said in an email. “At least one young woman told liberal Vanity Fair magazine that Weiner hunted down her e-mail address, bragged about riding on Air Force One, and extended an invitation to visit his office in person. The photo gallery of his select group of young female followers/followees on Twitter suggests a continued hunt.”
Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition expects this emerging pattern to get bigger and clearer soon. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” she told TheDC on Wednesday. “How many other women are going to come forward? Is he the new Tiger Woods?”
Malkin worries about the young female staffers and interns in Weiner’s office and in nearby offices. It’s a possibility they could feel threatened or pressured by Weiner’s advances.

Read the whole thing. While a good reporter never burns his sources, trust me when I say that these kinds of questions are now the subject of intensive scrutiny by journalists, who are checking off names on lists as possible objects of Weiner’s amorous interest. Laffety’s hunch — “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” — is shared by a lot of people, both in the Beltway press and the New Media.

There may be other high-heeled shoes dropping, if any ladies on Capitol Hill have tales to tell. The press-corps piranhas smell blood in the water and Weiner deeply offended Washington journalists by trying to stonewall his way out of this mess, and called a CNN producer a “jackass,” to boot. I wonder if Emily Miller of The Washington Times thinks Weiner might be the kind of guy who would sexually harass attractive young female staffers.

UPDATE: The Lonely Conservative: “In all fairness to Tiger, I don’t recall him appearing before the media to tell crotch jokes.”

Linked by The Mr. G Guy and Uncoverage — thanks!

UPDATE II: Linked by Lisa Graas, Da Tech Guy and Piece of Work in Progress — thanks!

UPDATE III: A new story today by Daniel Libit at TheDaily.com says circumstantial evidence is consistent with Weiner sending the photo in question.

PREVIOUSLY:

June 4: ‘You Can’t Lawyer the Media’
June 4: ‘UR SO HOT! C MY WANG?’ (Or, #WeinerGate Explained)
June 4: GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!
June 3: Because I Know What’s News
June 3: Wow! Strange Plot Twists in #WeinerGate’s Third Act
June 3: Brutal. Simply Brutal.
June 2: Finally, Weiner Calls the Police!
June 2: #WeinerGate: Who Is @PatriotUSA76? @AndrewBreitbart Wants to Know
June 2: VIDEO: @DaTechGuyBlog Talks #Weinergate in Boston TV Interview
June 2: Who’s Winning #WeinerGate? (Video)
June 1: All the Weiner You Can Handle: Why MSM Can’t Ignore This Scandal Now
June 1: Oh, My: In NBC Interview, Weiner Won’t Deny Authenticity of Lewd Photo
June 1: #WeinerGate: Where the Story Goes Next
June 1: Official #WeinerGate Theme Song
May 31: #WeinerGate OMFG! @RepWeiner Gives Worst Press Conference EVAH! (Video)
May 31: The Power of Simple Sentences
May 31: Da Tech Guy, Da Columnist
May 31: The AOSHQ Legal Department: Now Offering Advice to Victims of ‘Pranks’
May 31: BREAKING: Weiner Lawyers Up! UPDATE: In CNN Interview, Weiner Dismisses Hacking as ‘Prank’
May 30: Ace Is Suffering Weiner Overload
May 30: The Curious Case of the Weiner-Following (And Weiner-Followed) Teenage Girl
May 30: @JoanWalsh Blames @AndrewBreitbart and #tcot Bloggers for #WeinerGate Story
May 29: #WeinerGate Victim Gennette Cordova Issues Statement: ‘I Cannot Answer the Questions That I Do Not Have the Answers To’; Describes Her Reaction
May 29: MSM Starting to Cover ‘WeinerGate’
May 28: Weiner’s Wiener? UPDATE: Who Is ‘Gennette Nicole’? UPDATE: Questions Piling Up

‘You Can’t Lawyer the Media’

Posted on June 4, 2011Comments

So said Andrea Tantaros during a panel discussion of WeinerGate today on “Fox News Watch”:

Colby Hall of Mediaite.com was interviewed on MSNBC today about the continuing scandal:

“When it broke, all there was left we could do was to speculate reasonably, until his statement that he could not say with certitude whether or not that image was his. You could almost feel like the nation raised their eyebrows and said, ‘Wait, what?'”

(Hat-tip: Pat Dollard.) Some more recent WeinerGate headlines you might have missed:

Anthony Weiner’s bulging controversy
a classic example of abysmal damage control
— Thomas M. Defrank, New York Daily News

Here’s the lowdown on ‘Weinergate’
— Carl Hiaasen, Miami Herald

Weiner’s Seat Could Go Republican
— John Gizzi, Human Events

NPR’s Totenberg: ‘We Shouldn’t Care About
Weinergate – It’s a Great Lark of a Diversion’
— Noel Sheppard, NewsBusters.com

Anthony Weiner’s odd reality
— Richard Cohen, Washington Post

The Ick-arus of Capitol Hill
— Michelle Malkin

Dan Wolfe Steps Up
— VerumSerum.com

I Hate to Have to Say It But I Very Firmly Feel…
— Lisa Graas

Rather than tell you what I think about all this stuff, I figure I’d just link the headlines. You can click the links you want, quote whatever strikes you as most relevant, and express your own opinion in the comments.

‘UR SO HOT! C MY WANG?’
(Or, #WeinerGate Explained)

Posted on June 4, 2011June 4, 2011Comments

Mark Steyn quotes Little Miss Attila in regard to The Story That Won’t Go Away. (“If you experience an erection lasting more than four news cycles, call a spin doctor.”) Attila said:

Everyone lies about Twitter-flirting, and everyone knows that everyone lies about Twitter-flirting.

Kellie Jane said that it is actually not so unusual for guys to do what Weiner is accused of doing. I was skeptical: “What’s up with guys getting drunk and tweeting their junk? Is it really that common?”

This seems to be a generational phenomenon explained to me in an e-mail from a university professor, who says he read it on another blog:

Sending the tumescent wiener pic is, apparently, what one does in response to an explicit text/direct message from your sexting buddy. To show your appreciation.
Until I read this I was confused too, because it seemed odd that someone would think the pic in question so arousing or attractive. But as a “look at what you just said did to me” gesture, it makes a lot more sense, no?

It makes about as much sense as anything else nowadays. The sexual customs of the younger generation mystify me. Back in the day . . .

No, no. Never mind my old stories. I’m just grateful I hung up the spurs and got married before the advent of digital photography and the Internet. Of course, there is that old Speedo pic . . .

Draft Reynolds 2012?

Posted on June 4, 2011June 4, 2011Comments

“The people who think they’re smart enough, and morally superior enough, to run everyone else’s lives are risible. They’re not smart enough to run their own lives competently, and they’re actually, overall, morally inferior … They pursue power, and they exercise power, as much for deference as anything else.”
— Professor Glenn Reynolds

He’s got a good point. People who conspicuously crave power over others do not usually exercise power for good ends.

Outside of politics, we recognize that a desire to run other peoples’ lives — to boss them around — is the manifestation of a sadistic personality. Nobody likes a bully in real life and yet, in politics, we see how people acquire power by proclaiming that the rest of us are not competent to run our own lives and therefore need government to tell us what to do for our own good.

The Big Lie of liberalism is that liberals are morally superior to the rest of us merely because they’re liberals. Vote for them, and you can be morally superior, too! And then they’ll be bossing everyone around with your approval and permission.

To which I answer not just no, but hell no.

We should not give power to people who crave it so desperately. We should find someone who doesn’t want power and put them in charge.

GLENN REYNOLDS for PRESIDENT
Because It’s Saturday, and I Need the Traffic

UPDATE: The predictable Shermanesque response.

Normal blog etiquette, when linked by Instapundit, is to say, “Welcome, Instapundit readers!” But that seems rather redundant at this point, doesn’t it? So instead I’ll invite you to hit my tip jar, because it is, after all, Saturday. And my wife is sick.

GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!

Posted on June 4, 2011June 4, 2011Comments

Luke Broadwater of the Baltimore Sun really wanted to believe Anthony Weiner was innocent . . .

But then I heard Weiner start to explain himself and everything changed. The more he talked, the more it became obvious that not only is the photo of him, but he sent it. . . .
“I think this is one of the worst public relations strategies regarding an embarrassing event for a public figure that I have witnessed,” writes Towson University communications professor Richard Vatz in an email about Weiner’s press interactions. “It is obviously a picture of him, taken for a possible variety of reasons, but his inelegant warding off of the inquiries should have instead been a refusal to engage the issue. That would not have solved the problem, but it would have lessened the humiliating spectacle which exacerbates his problems.” . . .
Weiner says he doesn’t want the police to investigate and tries to make the case that it would be a waste of federal dollars. (Let’s not forget that police are already paid salaries to investigate crimes.) The only reason that makes any sense why he doesn’t want the police to investigate is because he’s afraid they would find out that he sent the tweet and that his hacker claim is a lie. If he was truly hacked and publicly humiliated by a political opponent, he would want that person brought to justice.

Via AOSHQ Headlines. To explain the headline, for kids too young to remember when Doonesbury was funny:

And today’s Washington Post headline:

Who had the worst week in Washington?
With certitude, Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Don’t you feel sorry for the guy’s wife? The New York Post:

Rep. Anthony Weiner’s humiliated wife sheepishly showed her face at a Washington event yesterday, keeping a stiff upper lip amid the swirling scandal surrounding her husband’s tawdry Twitter photo.
Huma Abedin, 34, briefly hesitated at the State Department ballroom door before working up the courage to go in — but she left after just five minutes and steered clear of her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“Seriously, an investigation? Your penis didn’t rob the Bellagio.”

UPDATE: Lisa Graas has a theory, but doesn’t link my blog. Dan Collins has no theories, but does link my blog and, even though Dan’s name isn’t “Ace,” the name of the game here is Link My Blog.

So Dan wins that round, if you’re keeping score at home.

UPDATE II: Lisa Graas has now updated to link me, so she is now even with Dan “I’m Not Ace” Collins. Meanwhile, I’m also linked at King Shamus and POH Diaries — thanks!

UPDATE III: Now that we’re caught up on the Link My Blog game, let’s take a look at some other blogs, shall we?

Ladd Ehlinger Jr. scored an online interview with Dan Wolfe (a/k/a “PatriotUSA76”) whose anti-Weiner obsession explains why he was the first to re-Tweet the now-infamous crotch-shot.

The Smoking Gun has the goods on “GoatsRed,” who was ping-ponging anti-Weiner items on Twitter with PatriotUSA76. Let’s see: Foul-mouthed porn-forum moderator, twice bankrupt, IRS liens, domestic-violence rap sheet . . . .

Well, OK. And this is relevant how?

You gotta be careful who you trust on the Internet; and
People are wrong to think they can maintain multiple identities online, while engaging in atrocious online behavior, and that none of this can ever be connected to their real-life selves.

But this says nothing about the facts of the case in regard to whether Anthony Weiner’s been sending photos of his junk online, except perhaps that Weiner’s supporters are obsessed with the two Twitter users who busted Weiner.

UPDATE IV: It’s kind of weird that the three Weiner threads today on Memeorandum — here, here and here — are scattered up and down the page, rather than aggregated together. Memeorandum is basically run by an algorithmic formula, and I’m not sure what this odd pattern shows about how bloggers are aggregating the story. But I thought I’d point it out.

UPDATE V: Associated Press:

“Weiner Exposed.” “Weiner’s Pickle.” “Battle of the Bulge.”
Those were some of the tabloid headlines lampooning Rep. Anthony Weiner as he struggled to explain how a photo of a man’s crotch had been posted to his Twitter account. The normally media-savvy New York Democrat squandered his chance to make it right with a cringe-inducing TV blitz that raised more questions than it answered.
It’s a surprising turn for the pugnacious 46-year old Brooklyn native, who until this mess was widely seen as one of the smartest members of Congress.

“Surprising”? Maybe “ironic” would be a better word, but when you think about it, how often do smart guys turn out to be a lot less smart than they seem to be? Being smart, they become arrogant, then they start thinking the rules don’t apply to them and then — bingo! — it all falls apart.

Isn’t that what happened to John Edwards, for example?

UPDATE VI: Linked by Dave C. and Republican Redefined — thanks!