Another Daily Libyan Rebels Update: If This Is Wednesday, They’re Advancing

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When last we left the Half-Assed Uprising, the ragtag rebels had retreated from Brega yesterday — some reportedly fleeing all the way to Ajdabiya, 50 miles up the coast — after Qaddafi’s forces laid down an artillery barrage.

Today, the Mighty, Mighty Libyan Rebels have resumed the offensive, according to a recap and update from Reuters:

Libyan rebels regained ground in a new advance on an oil port Wednesday but accused NATO of inaction hindering their quest to oust Muammar Gaddafi. . . .
In their eastern heartland, ill-trained insurgents thrust back westwards towards the contested oil port of Brega, recovering mostly desert terrain lost in a pell-mell retreat from Gaddafi’s superior firepower the day before.
Rebels returning to the tiny outpost of al-Arbaeen, midway between Brega and their frontline town of Ajdabiyah, spoke of rocket duels close to Brega’s port as both sides strived to end a ragged stalemate in the oil-producing state’s civil war.
There was little doubt the rebels had made ground after falling back at least 40 km (25 miles) Tuesday but it was impossible to verify accounts that they were closing in on Brega once again.
There were reports of mortar and rocket battles near the town on Libya’s desolate Mediterranean highway 80 km (50 miles) west of Ajdabiyah. Fighting had resumed at daybreak after government forces were resupplied with ammunition and swung east from Brega, rebel officer Mohamed el-Masrafy told Reuters.
“God willing, we are going to try to enter Brega today,” said rebel Idriss Abdel Karim, but he and various comrades complained of a lack of support from NATO bombers.
“(Government forces) are scared of NATO air strikes but NATO doesn’t bomb anything in the first place,” he said.

So it’s “impossible to verify” whether the rebels are actually making headway against “Gaddafi’s superior firepower” at Brega and, I suppose, a few hours from now we’ll have further confusing and inconclusive reports about the situation.

What we can say for sure is that (a) the Libyan rebels have a low opinion of our NATO allies’ military effectiveness, and (b) Moammar Qaddafi is no closer to being overthrown today than he was yesterday.

Oh, and also (c) Brent crude hit a 25-year high of $123 a barrel.

Trog Summarizes Ryan, And Had Me Until The Last Sentence

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by Smitty

TrogloPundit does a fine job of summarizing thoughts of Ace and Hot Air on the Ryan budget. He wonders what Ryan has to do to get past some of the underwhelmed response in the conservative blogs. I understand you’ve got to cheer for the Representative from your own state, but really, Trog: this is far more of a going-in position than anything else. It still concedes too much of the federal over-reach to Washington DC as legitimate.
I applaud Ryan. In its way, like ObamaCare’s individual mandate was a stepping stone to single payer, Ryan’s budge merely points out that the status quo is unacceptable. The real machete and meat cleaver action on the budget has to come another day. “Y’all cain’t get there from here”, but a start with a plan like Ryan’s begins to move you in that direction.
Where Trog loses me is his last sentence:

One more thing: you know what the real flaw in this plan is? It requires future Congresses to stick with it.

No, Trog, Congress has a century of “relief in the round” that has got us here. Who has to stick with it? We The People, as driven by the Tea Parties. The beltway goobers are only going to be as faithful as their gnawing anxiety about the pitchforks back home.

REPORT: Beck to End Daily Fox Show

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Apparently, Glenn Beck has issued a press release announcing he “intends to transition off of his daily program” on Fox News Channel.

Exactly what that means, we don’t know yet.

UPDATE: The press release describes discussions about “a variety of television projects” in a vague enough way that media tea-leaf readers at both the Washington Post and NPR interpret this as a polite let-’em-down-easy way of Fox saying, “See ya later, Glenn.”

UPDATE II: HuffPo notes: “Joel Cheatwood, a senior Fox News executive who Beck hired away to his own company, will serve as the main liaison between the two networks.” The New York Times observes, “The joint statement did not specify an end date for Mr. Beck’s show.”

UPDATE III: Behold, the idiotic glee in Lizardlandia:


So, in August 2009, Charles Johnson labeled Beck a “raving freakazoid nut sandwich” and now in April 2011 — which is to say, 19 months later — claims vindication, “laughing last.”

Except that every weekday for the past 19 months, Beck has reached a national television audience of more than a million viewers, continues to draw millions of radio listeners, and has sold umpteen thousand books, earning himself many millions of dollars.

Not bad for a “raving freakazoid nut sandwich.”

So, Monica Potts: When’s the Wedding?

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In the American Prospect, Monica Potts gets all sarcastic about Kay Hymowitz’s new book, Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men Into Boys., describing Hymowitz’s thesis:

Hymowitz argues that a generation of parents who spent their time empowering girls has left men adrift and unable to understand their proper place in society. . . . Feminism, she says, has created a perpetual child-man unable to grow up, leaving scores of women partner-less. Apparently, Hymowitz believes, positive stereotypically male traits — courage, fortitude, stoicism — can only be enforced through traditional family structures. Left to their own devices, men fall into their natural irresponsible state, unable to commit because society has sent the message that they are unnecessary.
For this, she blames women!

Whether or not Miss Potts has accurately described Hymowitz’s argument, I’ll leave to others to decide. (I haven’t read the book, so I’m unprepared to defend it.) But I will note that Miss Potts provocatively headlines her article, “Why Aren’t You Married Yet?” — and never answers her own question. Continue reading So, Monica Potts: When’s the Wedding? →

Why Not Perpetuate A Fraud On The American Public?

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by Smitty

Ace’s post “Boehner: I Will Not Perpetrate A Fraud On The American Public” prompts a reply in the form of a paraphrase of the good Representative Jessup (D-mented):

Son, we live in a country that has social safety nets, and those nets have to be guarded by politicians with legislation. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Mr. Blogger? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom.
You weep for the budget deficit, and you curse the national debt. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That the budget deficit, while tragic, probably saves lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me to perpetuate that fraud, you need me to perpetuate that fraud!
We use words like Constitution, responsibility, accountability. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending Progress. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom from fear that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way.
Otherwise, I suggest you pick light off a word processor, and start adding to the bureaucracy. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

Prosser Wins in Wisconsin
UPDATE: Kloppenburg Steals It?

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Yeah, I know that’s not the headline this morning. “Too Close to Call,” they say, but with 99% of precincts reporting and conservative Justice David Prosser leading by 585 votes in the state Supreme Court race, I’m calling it: Prosser wins.

Even if the unions finagle the recount and manage to steal this thing for JoAnne Kloppenburg, the fact is the high-profile election was not — repeat not — a repudiation of Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP majority in the state legislature.

The unions lost. Their claim that their rage-filed protests represented an overwhelming majority of Wisconsin voters? Repudiated.

UPDATE: Two hours later, Kleptoburg’s attempt to steal the election is proceeding as expected: Now she’s “ahead” by 224 votes.

UPDATE II: As of 3 p.m. ET, it appears Kleptoburg has stolen the election by 204 votes. We await the media’s declaration of a landslide triumph for the AFL-CIO.

UPDATE III: It should be noted that the reported totals are unofficial returns, and that communities have until April 15 to submit the official certified results. Then there will be a deadline of April 20 to request a recount.

UPDATE IV: Congratulations, liberals — you just killed Wisconsin.