The Other McCain

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

LIVE AT FIVE – 03.24.11

Posted on | March 24, 2011 | 5 Comments

TOP NEWS
Fears Grow Of Humanitarian Crisis In Misurata

A Canadian CF-18 returns to base in Italy after bombing loyalist forces in Libya

Aid organizations scramble to prevent massive disaster
Allied Strikes Target Loyalist Forces Near Misurata

New Problems At Fukushima Reactors Subdue Optimism
Salt buildup concerns nuclear engineers even as progress is made on restoring power to the Fukushima plant

Boehner Presses Administration For Clarity On Libya Goals
Accuses Obama of coordinating more closely with UN, Arab League than with Congress



POLITICS
California Gay Marriage Ban Stands During Appeal

A lesbian couple waits for a marriage license at San Francisco City Hall

9th Circuit Court leaves ban in place pending appeal

LA City Council Approves Police Hiring Freeze

Obama Romney Aides Wage Twitter Battle Over Health Care




VP Biden Slams Florida Governor Scott Over High-Speed Rail Decision

Supporters Of Maine Governor LePage’s Budget Cuts Rally In Augusta

Records Contradict Haley Barbour On Lobbying For Mexico



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Toyota: Production Delays Likely In North American Plants
Starbucks Annual Meeting: Sweet Songs, But Little News
Oil Falls From 30-Month High As US Inventory Surplus Outweighs Libya Fears
Ten Reasons Firefox 4 Is Better Than IE9
How Amazon Will Lead The Way To Cheaper Tablets
Steve Jobs Ordered To Answer ITunes Questions



SPORTS
Coach K Looks Golden In Chase For Fifth Title

Coach K closes in on Bobby Knight's 902 wins


Still learning at 64

Anderson Refuses To Testify Against Bonds Again, Goes To Jail Again

Coach Anderson Leaving Mizzou For Arkansas




Oswalt OK After Taking Ramirez Liner To The Neck

Giants’ Wilson, Ross, Cain Dinged On Wednesday

Jerry West To Knicks Fans: Calm Down

Panthers Hit With Back-to-Back Shutouts



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Superstar Actress Elizabeth Taylor Dies, 79

Elizabeth Taylor, 1932-2011, RIP

Felled by congestive heart failure

Chris Brown’s “Dancing With The Stars” Appearance To Go Forward; Cast Ordered Not To Comment

Lindsay Lohan Rejects Plea Deal, Faces Trial

“Boardwalk Empire” Star Paz de la Huerta Punches Out Former Reality Star In NY Nightclub

Hef’s Fiancee Caught With Dr. Phil’s Son

Lady Gaga: Rebecca Black “A Genius”

Britney Spears: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me

Inside Brad & Angelina’s Family Life

Billy Ray Recants



FOREIGNERS
Radiation Scare Sparks Run On Bottled Water In Tokyo
IDF Strikes Gaza Targets In Retaliation For Rocket Attacks
What’s Next For Portugal After PM’s Resignation?
US Lacks Plan For Dealing With Chaos In Yemen
Harper Defends Conservatives’ Budget



BLOGS & STUFF
Ron Johnson: ObamaCare And Carey’s Heart
Flopping Aces: ObamaCare Cheerleader Wants Waiver For His District
Tony Katz: Understanding Obama’s One-World View And Foreign Policy
Jeffrey Goldberg: Dear Reuters, You Must Be Kidding
Atlas Shrugs: Egypt Air Removes Israel From Map
Fausta: Islamic Terrorists Crossing The Border
Allahpundit: Dem Senators Say There May Be Vote On Libya As Early As Next Week
Jawa Report: Stand And Rock With Israel


— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

Helping Ace With His Joe Lieberman Blogging

Posted on | March 23, 2011 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

For Heaven’s sake, Ace: you can’t have a title like Joe Lieberman: “You Can’t Stay Out of These Things [Foreign Wars Like Libya]… You Have To Take Chances” without reaching for the ABBA:
Sung from Momar’s vantage, the lyrics take on grotesque irony.

Category: Ace of Spades

‘Derp’ Must Be The New
‘Shut Up, He Explained’

Posted on | March 23, 2011 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

There was a fun exchange on a recent post, Troubleshooting ‘Beyond the Welfare State’, with a certain Mork.

Mork: People say they hate “welfare” until they are beneficiaries of it. Plenty of Tea Partiers show up to rallies riding their state-subsidized electric scooters.

smitty: The fact that state welfare distorts behavior in anti-liberty ways justifies welfare how, exactly?

Mork: Seems to me that providing mobility for people who lack it is “pro-liberty” in the essential sense.

smitty: Liberty is liberty is liberty.
“Providing mobility” is one of those delightfully ambiguous terms that might not be completely evil (light rail) but which may just as easily prove an albatross about the neck (entitlements).
Why can’t I have liberty? Why is some helpy-helperperson perennially attempting to obfuscate simple liberty with some term like “providing mobility for people who lack it”?

Mork: Right. So if you can’t afford to pay for your own scooter, just stay at home. God wants it that way.

smitty: Let’s break that down:
“if you can’t afford”
Why can you not afford something? Is there a legitimate lack of equal opportunity? Have you chosen to invest your treasure elsewhere? Has the government decided you should be taxed until blind in order to keep a retirement fund solvent? We have a mix of subjective and objective possibilities here.

“to pay for your own scooter”
Is the foot an illegitimate means of transportation? Are bicycles OK? Why does it have to be some high-carbon scooter? Why do you hate Gaia?

“just stay at home. God wants it that way.”
Has the subject of this thought experiment prayerfully considered the will of God, and determined to be a hermit? If so, then this result should be a source of joy. But is transportation really a theological concern?

This ‘last word’ comment has disappeared from Disqus. The nice thing is that, for all we off-load comment management to a third party, we still retain a local copy in the WP back end. Since it was the driver for this post, I produce it here with an explanatory URL added.

Mork: Derp

Stacy McCain be lovin’ him some Disqus.

Category: Blogging, Uncategorized

U.S. Policy On Libya Explained: It Was All An Esoteric Steven Wright Reference

Posted on | March 23, 2011 | 3 Comments

by Smitty

Looking at Gateway Pundit’s latest post on Libya, enlightenment struck: the whole apparent disaster is merely a reference to I Have A Pony.
Hoft: “Obama Yesterday: Gaddafi Must Go… Obama Today: Gaddafi Can Stay (Video)”
Now, quoting Wright from memory:

I have a dog named Stay. When he was a puppy, I’d say “Come here, Stay. Come here, Stay. And he’d look at me like (?). Now he just ignores me. . .and keeps typing. He’s an East German Shepherd. Very, very disciplined.”

You may all thank me for clearing that up by linking.

Da Tech Guy, as he so frequently does, captures the take from The Morning Joke. Or whatever that MSNBC thing is called.
Maybe the President is a student of Teddy Wayne’s Unpopular Proverbs.
The Lonely Conservative recalls a 2007 Bidenism on Iran that is amusing in the Libya context.
SWAC Girl:

Americans are confused. Why go into Libya as opposed to, say, Egypt or any of the other hot spots around the world? They are waiting for answers as this president continues his silence and American war planes go where they’re directed by this commander-in-chief.

FilmLadd goes full-on noir in his analysis:

No matter what mindless jingoists would have you believe, there is no such thing as a country so great and powerful that it can not be destroyed by incompetently waged war. Not even the United States. It may not be this one or the next, but like an infinite monkey with an infinite typewriter, eventually it will happen.

Category: Barack Obama, Da Tech Guy, Ladd Ehlinger

This Is Probably Not the Onset of an Incurable Terminal Illness, But …

Posted on | March 23, 2011 | 18 Comments

. . . you never know. By the time you read this, I might be pushing up the daisies, shuffling off this mortal coil, pining for the fjords. My plan, however, is to be deep into the merciful bliss of a Nyquil-induced sleep.

So let’s hope it is only a late-winter head cold that has put me in such desperate need of the sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so-I-can rest medicine.

While I am probably not yet dead, then, I’m still not likely to be doing much blogging for the next several hours.

But for all you know, my wife and six kids are even now mourning my recent passing, so you should probably hit the tip jar just in case.

Cough cough. Sniff sniff.

Good-night . . .

Category: Health Care

‘Not Only Wrong, But Dangerous’

Posted on | March 23, 2011 | 208 Comments

Now I see where it started. In the process today of updating readers on his long-running feud with Patterico, Jeff Goldstein linked back to the Nov. 5, 2008, post that started it all. Goldstein linked and quoted Patterico’s post-election assertion that Barack Obama “is fundamentally a good man and a patriot who wants to make this country a better place.” And then Jeff wrote:

Precisely the kind of self-righteous civility that fried McCain. Want to be clapped on the back for your decorum? Fine. Just say so.
But let’s not pretend you are being honest or principled. Graciousness is one thing; praise is another.

You can read the whole thing, including Jeff’s assertion that “Patterico’s position is not only wrong but dangerous.” Leave aside for a moment which side you may take in this feud — my recent post about it drew 115 comments, so obviously it’s hotly contested by both factions — and concentrate on what was originally at dispute. Read more

Category: Protein Wisdom

Akbar And Quest: Separated At Birth?

Posted on | March 23, 2011 | 3 Comments

by Smitty

Just sayin’:

not_richard_quest not_ali_akbar
Category: Uncategorized

Dale Peterson’s PAC

Posted on | March 23, 2011 | 2 Comments

by Smitty

This blog’s admiration of Ladd Ehlinger can only be described as shameless. Ladd came to national attention by elevating a minor Alabama race to viral YouTube stardom:
Now Dale Peterson has a PAC, translating his serious-as-lung-cancer earnest into yet another voice for American recovery:

America is at a crossroads. Criminals and thugs have run our country into the ground with massive debt, high taxes, over-regulation, and suppression of our constitutional rights. So I ask you, can America get up? I believe so. I know so. Join me and thousands of other Americans waking up to the cold fact that our country is calling us to civic service. We will be great again!

Go, Dale!

Category: Ladd Ehlinger
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