The Other McCain

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

You Might Be a Terrible Mother If …

Posted on | April 19, 2011 | 4 Comments

. . . there’s even the slightest chance you could ever lose custody of your kids to Charlie Sheen:

Charlie Sheen is declaring legal war on Brooke Mueller and will not only ask a judge for full custody of their twins, he wants to cut off the child support he’s paying her. . . .
Charlie’s lawyer, Mark Gross, just gave Brooke Mueller’s attorneys notice — he’s going to court tomorrow in an attempt to change the custody arrangement.
Gross will ask the judge to strip Brooke of both legal and physical custody, on grounds she has relapsed and went back into rehab. . . .

Yeah, buddy, and you think your ex-wife is a stupid loser?

Mueller, 33, reportedly entered rehab over the weekend after a crack cocaine bender — a story first reported by RadarOnline last week. The first signs that something was wrong with Mueller was when she started making calls to friends to ask for drug-free urine. Then came her trip to a pawnshop in crime-riddled Inglewood, Calif., and her visit with a street drug dealer who said she bought $150 worth of coke from him last Thursday.
Then late Friday, Mueller refused to take a court mandated drug test at home.

The judge ought to order Charlie and Brooke to get back together. These two obviously deserve each other.

Category: Celebrities

Matthew Yglesias, Neo-Confederate?

Posted on | April 19, 2011 | 3 Comments

Reporting the findings of a recent academic analysis, our “progressive” (nudge, nudge) friend concludes:

The basic story here would be something like northern manufacturing interests wanted to keep the southern client base behind the US tariff wall in order to maintain privileged access to the market rather than compete on a level playing field with British goods.

Denunciation by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 3, 2, 1 . . .

Category: Economics, History

LIVE AT FIVE – 04.19.11

Posted on | April 19, 2011 | Comments Off on LIVE AT FIVE – 04.19.11

TOP NEWS
“Negative” Rating For US Debt Sends Jolt Through Debt Limit Debate

S&P turns thumbs down on the political class

Obama Administration flacks downplay announcement – unexpectedly!
Japanese cabinet ministers apparently still believe we’ll pull this out

 

Arizona Governor Vetoes Campus Carry Bill
Criticizes bill as poorly written and unlikely to survive legal challenges

BP: Oil containment firms may join forces
MWCC, Helix to combine different control systems, work together



POLITICS
Obamas Earned $1.7 Million In 2010, Paid $454K To IRS

Just your everyday average married couple filing joint

For those scoring at home, that’s an effective tax rate of 26%, down from the top marginal rate of 35%.

L.A. Birdcage Liner Wins Two Pulitzers

Inquiry Clears McChrystal Of Wrongdoing In “Rolling Stone” Flap

Interior Secretary Salazar To Make Cape Wind Announcement In Boston

Former Maryland Governor William Schaefer Dies, 89



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Stocks Fall As US Credit Outlook Cut
Citigroup 1Q Profit Sags As Revenue Shrinks And Expenses Balloon
US Hurries To Sell GM Stake
Yen Strengthens Against Dollar, Euro On Sovereign Debt Concerns
Oil Falls, But Gas Prices Still Rising
Microsoft Takes Patent Fight To Supreme Court
ITC Staff Recommends Siding With HTC, Nokia Against Apple In Phone Patents Suit
Jesse Jackson Jr. Blames the IPad For All America’s Problems



SPORTS
Adelman Out As Rockets Coach

Former Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman

Coach and team agree to part ways after four seasons

Bright Lights Of Playoffs Vexing To Migraine-Prone Wade

Zdeno Chara Returns, Leads Bruins To Win In Montreal

Boucher, Flyers Stop Sabres

Dodgers Desperate For Offense, Call Up Jerry Sands

Penguins Beat Lightning, Take Lead In Playoffs

Pirates Smother Reds 9-3, Win Third Straight Road Series



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
A Guided Tour Of Evan Rachel Wood

Evan Rachel Wood. Wipe drool off keyboard. Repeat.

Esquire spends an afternoon with the enigmatic actress and her tattoos.

Your Obligatory Charlie Sheen Link For Tuesday

Kate Hudson’s Pregnancy Brain – Like Being Stoned

Nick Cassavetes Out As “Gotti” Director

Lindsay Lohan: Good Friday? Good Excuse!

James Franco/Winona Ryder Pic “The Stare” Launches Waterstone

Once More, With Feeling: Joss Whedon Revisits “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”

Stallone: I’m Not Directing “Expendables” Sequel

Ali Fedotowsky Gets Head Stapled After Kayak Accident



FOREIGNERS
Nigerian President Re-Elected, Violence Continues In Northern Provinces
Thousands March In Syria In Protest Of Eight Slain
With US In Support Role, NATO’s Libya Mission Going In Circles
TEPCO Considers Air Cooling For Fukushima Reactors
Taliban Sympathizer Kills Two At Afghan Defense Ministry
Kiev Summit To Seek Funds For New Chernobyl Containment
Ivory Coast Confronts Issues Of Immigrant Identity


BLOGS & STUFF
Kevin Williamson: Enron Writ Large
Cubachi: DeMint Threatens Filibuster On Debt Ceiling Vote
Weasel Zippers: Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago) Says He May Not Back Obama In 2012; Disappointed Over Lack Of Progress On Immigration AmnestyReform
American Power: What Trump Wants
Moe Lane: Answering Two Questions With One Answer
Arutz Sheva: Obama, The Interpreter Of The Passover Message
AmSpecBlog: More InJustice
Jihad Watch: King Demands Answers From Holder On Decision Not To Prosecute CAIR, Other Co-Conspirators In Terror Funding Case
The Blaze: Why Are Bloggers Accusing Glenn Beck Of “Taking Content” Without Attribution?
theblogprof: Michigan AFSCME President Threatens To “Weaponize” Government Jobs (Video)
John Fund: Wisconsin’s Election Snafu Is A National Wake-Up Call
Legal Insurrection: It’s Now Patriotic To Call Paul Krugman A !@%$#%! Hypocrite

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

SCOTUS ObamaCare Update: Expect Update

Posted on | April 18, 2011 | Comments Off on SCOTUS ObamaCare Update: Expect Update

by Smitty

After an exciting day watching the paint dry, awaiting word of the whether the SCOTUS would allow a bypass of the 4th Circuit on Virginia’s ObamaCare suit. . .nothing happened. Via email from my rock star State AG Cuccinelli:

The Supreme Court did not make an announcement today on whether or not it was going to expedite the case. Instead, they relisted the case on their docket for this Friday, April 22nd.

What does that mean?

It means that they haven’t rejected our request – yet. Remember, requests to expedite are infrequently granted. However, it also probably means that one or more of the Justices want more time to consider the question.

It also means that there appears at least to be interest in the petition at the court, which is itself encouraging. If my numbers are right, over 90% of petitions addressed in these conferences are summarily rejected because no Justice has any interest in them. So, the fact that the Justices didn’t summarily dismiss our petition is itself interesting and at least modestly encouraging (hopefully not in the vein of what your mother told you growing up: “the worst thing they can do is ignore you”… of course, my mother has never filed a petition with the Supreme Court).

Generally speaking, we would expect an opinion issued Monday the 25th; however, it is Easter weekend, so I don’t know if that will have an impact on timing, but I’ll let you know as soon as we find out!

Category: Health Care

‘This Is Why We Do What We Do’

Posted on | April 18, 2011 | 4 Comments

Join the online grassroots army at Citizens for Cain.

Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain, New Hampshire

An Elbert Hubbard Moment

Posted on | April 18, 2011 | 8 Comments

If you work for a man, in heaven’s name work for him!
If he pays you wages that supply you your bread and butter, work for him—speak well of him, think well of him, stand by him and stand by the institution he represents.
I think if I worked for a man I would work for him. I would not work for him a part of the time, and the rest of the time work against him. I would give an undivided service or none.
If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.
— Elbert Hubbard, 1902

If I were going to work for Roger Ailes, I’d work for Roger Ailes. And the first thing I’d advise Mr. Ailes would be not to hire a 20-something kid to run his newspaper.

A job like that calls for a man of immense experience in the newspaper business, and I’ve got ties older than Joe Lindsley.

UPDATE: Linked by Dan Collins at Piece of Work in Progress. Thanks! As for the main topic addressed in Dan’s post, I have many thoughts, none of which I feel particularly compelled to share in this context.

UPDATE II: Changed my mind, because of Jimmie Bise Jr.’s recounting how one his best blog posts ever — which got linked by Instapundit, National Review and the Anchoress — became fodder for a Glenn Beck monologue, without Beck bothering to mention Jimmie’s name or the name of his blog on the air. Jimmie’s post was linked at GlennBeck.com, but that’s not the same, is it?

Let’s say this: It’s about a star system. If your name is well-known — say, you’re Jonah Goldberg or P.J. O’Rourke — people are not going to use your work without giving you credit. In fact, if you’re already someone thought of as important, they’ll make a point of using your name, because the Famous Name lends authority to what is said. (There are some people who think they can settle an argument merely by invoking the words of a Famous Name.)

How to get from being nobody to being a Famous Name? That’s the tricky part, isn’t it? Being “blog famous” doesn’t mean much to people who are accustomed to dealing with the much larger audiences of nationally syndicated radio programs or TV shows.

Was Beck “stealing” or merely being thoughtless? Or, as I suppose quite possible, does the blame attach more properly to the young producers who work for Beck? Did someone just hand him this stuff (“Hey, look what I found …”) without bothering to note the authorship?

UPDATE III: Jeff Dunetz at Yid With Lid defends Glenn Beck: “The truth is most of the time when a site or a radio host forgets to give credit it is an error of omission.” And says he’s been ripped off by Bill O’Reilly.

Category: Journalism

John McCain’s Idiotic Advice on Libya

Posted on | April 18, 2011 | 11 Comments

Obama never saw a problem that couldn’t be solved by tax increases. By the same token, John McCain never saw a problem that couldn’t be solved by more bombing:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Monday he feared a “stalemate” has developed in Libya that would lead to a more radical government in that country.
McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. should revive its air attacks to incapacitate forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi’s regime.
“All we need to do is get sufficient air power in there to really nail Gadhafi’s forces, and we can succeed,” McCain said on KFYI radio. “A stalemate is a terrible outcome, because if you have a stalemate you open the door for radical Islamists to come in and hijack this revolution.”

OK, maybe some of my more hawkish friends will have no problem with Crazy Cousin John’s dubious use of the first-person plural (“we can succeed”), but exactly how much bombing does he suppose will be necessary to allow the half-assed Libyan rebels to defeat Qaddafi?

Tuesday will be the one-month anniversary of the start of “Operation Odyssey Dawn,” and in the past four weeks the rebels have demonstrated their absolute dearth of military ability. You could assemble any random group of 2,000 JROTC cadets, issue them the same weapons possessed by the Libyan rebels and expect a better results.

I’ll defer to the good advice of Geraldo Rivera (“I swear to god, if you give these people weapons more powerful than they have right now, they will be a grave danger to themselves and others”) because at least Geraldo has seen the rebels first-hand. John McCain just sits around stateside and yells, “Bombs away!”

While I am not prepared to rule out the possibility that Qaddafi will soon be overthrown (perhaps by a military coup), it should be bloody obvious by now what’s gone wrong in Libya:

  1. After the relatively quick and easy ouster of Mubarak in Egypt, Obama got the idea that Qaddafi could be overthrown just as easily.
  2. The French were, for some unknown reason (perhaps related to Sarkozy’s domestic political situation), very eager to see Qaddafi overthrown, and started militating for a NATO-led intervention.
  3. Like some other American presidents of recent memory, Obama listened to advisers who told him this foreign adventure was going to be a cakewalk — a chance to “look presidential.”
  4. With little or no accurate intelligence about the Libyan rebels, and with a U.N. Security Council mandate for “humanitarian” intervention, Obama then approved a limited short-term U.S. military action, thinking that would be sufficient to tip the balance against Qaddafi.

Well, guess what? It was a bad idea.

Either we go to war or we don’t. You can’t halfway fight a war. Either we should have resolved to do whatever was needed to overthrow Qaddafi, or we never should have gotten involved in what is, after all, somebody else’s civil war.

And another thing: Odyssey Dawn? What the hell kind of name is that for a military operation? Sounds like a disco cover band in lime-green leisure suits playing the Holiday Inn circuit in 1975.

At this point, then, I’d say Obama’s got two choices:

  1. Either resolve to win this thing at all costs; or
  2. Leave it to the Europeans and blame it all on Hillary Clinton.

Whatever you do, Mr. President, don’t listen to John McCain. He’s crazy, you know. Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Bob Barr!

UPDATE: Peter Heck at American Thinker:

I’m hoping someone can help me. I left on vacation last week, and when I got back, an entire war was missing. . . . Although I’ve found hints that it still exists somewhere, President Obama’s Libyan War is officially missing in action.

Exactly. If Obama’s Excellent Libyan Adventure had led to the quick toppling of Qaddafi and the liberation of Libya, the MSM stood ready to pronounce this a stunning triumph for the Commander-in-Chief. Now that it’s beginning to look like a complete botch, they can scarcely be bothered to notice.

Meanwhile, here’s the latest video report from Misrata:

Category: Barack Obama, John McCain, Libya, Military

Well, Of Course: 14-Year-Old Wisconsin Tea Party Speaker Is Home-Schooler

Posted on | April 18, 2011 | 14 Comments

When I saw this video at Ann Althouse’s blog (hat-tip, Instapundit), I did some quick searching and learned that Tricia Willoughby is a home-schooler and debate champion, one of three daughters of Wisconsin pro-life leaders Bret and Nancy Willoughby:

As the father of six home-schooled kids myself, I’m very proud to see Miss Willoughby’s poise as a public speaker. However, she twice uses “enormity” in an incorrect sense. The word has a negative connotation: “an outrageous, improper, vicious, or immoral act . . . the quality or state of being immoderate, monstrous, or outrageous; especially: great wickedness.” While authorities differ on whether “enormity” can be used to signify large size (“enormousness” is preferred), using the word “enormity” to signify the momentous nature or historical import of an event one wishes to portray as positive (as Miss Willoughby does in reference to the Boston Tea Party) is always wrong.

Let’s hope that Miss Willoughby doesn’t mind this brief vocabulary lesson. Certainly, it is more well-intentioned than the vocabulary lesson offered by a certain Wisconsin union thug:

You can tell he’s a public-school alumnus: His vocabulary seems to be comprised chiefly of monosyllabic words with four letters.

Category: Education, Tea Party, Unions, Video, Wisconsin
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