The Other McCain

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

Wal-Mart Becomes Obama-Mart

Posted on | January 25, 2011 | 12 Comments

Orit Sklar at the Daily Caller:

Michelle Obama and nutrition czar Sam Kass have taken the Food Police nationwide. Last week Wal-Mart announced that it is joining the first lady’s anti-obesity campaign by reducing the salt and sugar content of the food it sells.
As perfectly staged as Thursday’s White House-Wal-Mart press conference was, it is clear that this is not Wal-Mart’s doing. Wal-Mart has been coerced into complying. I kept looking for the Wal-Mart spokesman to flash a silent “distress” signal during the press conference.
Now, one of the largest companies in the world is the vehicle through which all American food and health policy will flow. As Wal-Mart begins to institute the five-year plan, aimed at reducing products that do not meet the first lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign’s “healthy” standards, the rest of the food industry will be forced to follow. Wal-Mart’s standards — read: the first lady’s standards — will now be the law of the land. Skip over that pesky Congress and the FDA and go for a new model: coerced corporate control. . . .

Read the whole thing.

Category: Barack Obama

Glenn Beck Wants You to Threaten Violence Against Harmless Academics

Posted on | January 25, 2011 | 15 Comments

That’s what liberals have been claiming. The Nation published several nasty e-mails professor Frances Fox Piven received because she has become “the target of a relentless campaign to demonize her.” This accusation got repeated in a New York Times story with a scary headline:

Spotlight From Glenn Beck Brings
a CUNY Professor Threats

And that leads to Beck getting write-ups by Stanley Kurtz and James Taranto and links, links, links from Instapundit.

But why should Beck get all the blame? Blame me, please. In 2006, on page 149 of Donkey Cons, I wrote:

The welfare explosion of the 1960s was the brainchild of a group of Columbia University professors, including Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward and crusading  New York anti-poverty lawyer Edward Sparer. They saw welfare as a means to shatter “patterns of servile conformity” among the poor, transforming them into a force for revolution.

See? I was demonizing Professor Piven before Glenn Beck ever heard of her. But do I get any credit when she gets hateful e-mail? No. Why? Because I don’t have a Fox News show and Beck does.

Henceforth, whenever somebody sends France Fox Piven an e-mail calling her “big doody-head,” I’m claiming credit. I need the publicity.

Category: Fox News, Glenn Beck

LIVE AT FIVE – 1.25.11

Posted on | January 25, 2011 | 5 Comments

TOP NEWS
Deadly Blast At Domededovo Airport “Well-Planned Terrorist Attack”: Medvedev
Obama Under Scrutiny for Clues To Deficit In SOTU Speech
Illinois Appellate Court Tosses Rahm Emanuel Off Ballot



POLITICS
Loughner Pleads Not Guilty To Arizona Shootings
Cantor Nixes Bankruptcy For States
Obama Climate Advisor Latest To Depart Staff
Texas Sanctuary City Bills Vague On Policing
It’s Official: George Allen To Run Against James Webb In 2012


THE ECONOMY, STUPID
McDonald’s Profit Up 2.1%, Price Increases Expected
American Express Profit Increases As Cardmember Spending Approaches Record
Browser Makers Developing New Privacy Tools
Twitter Ad Revenue May Triple To $150 Million



SPORTS
Blues Continue Run Of Futility Against Avs
Spurs Easily Beat Warriors For 11th Straight Time
#15 Notre Dame Upsets #2 Pitt
Chandler Regains Touch, Knicks End Skid, Wizards Lose 21st Straight Road Game


FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
“Golden Voice” Ted Williams Bails On Rehab
Sundance: Watching Kevin Smith Implode
Why Jamie Pressly’s Splitting Up With Hubby Simran Singh
Subway Fourth Advertiser To Pull Ads From MTV’s “Skins”


FOREIGNERS
Hariri’s Backers Protest, Accuse Hezbollah Of Trying To Seize Control In Lebanon
U.S. Backs Call For Ivorian Cocoa Export Ban
Indonesian People Smugglers In Australian Custody; Face Charges For Christmas Island Deaths
Pope Warns Of Alienation Risk In Social Networks



BLOGS & STUFF
Allahpundit: Obama Abandons Plan To Bring Up Social Security Reform In SOTU
Gateway Pundit: Chinese Netizens Praise Pianist For Playing Anti-American Song At White House State Dinner
American Power: On Kermit Gosnell And Roe v. Wade (Video)
Weasel Zippers: Good News – Taxpayers On Hook For $160 Million In Legal Bills For Former Fannie Mae Execs

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

Blogger Reaches 1 Million Hits; Celebrates by Linking Entire Freaking Blogosphere

Posted on | January 24, 2011 | 10 Comments

Sam Foster at Left Coast Rebel did a crapload of linking here, and points out that it was Keith Olbermann’s split with MSNBC that put them across the million-hit threshold.

So when Keith Olbermann gets elected to the Senate, he should remember to thank Left Coast Rebel.

I was talking to my buddy Chris Cassone today and when he mentioned the “Draft Olbermann” campaign, I said, “Yeah. That’ll never happen.”

Chris said, “That’s what they said about Al Franken.”

Oops.

Category: Left Coast Rebel

Nebraska Nullification?

Posted on | January 24, 2011 | 12 Comments

Our friends at the Red State Eclectic blog get quoted in a story in The Hill about an educational effort:

Last fall, the Nebraska Campaign for Liberty distributed copies of Tom Woods’s book Nullification to 44 of the 49 members of the Legislature. They followed up with discussion with some other senators about the kind of things they’d like to see done and provided some “model legislation” — courtesy of the Tenth Amendment Center.
“We didn’t have great expectations,” said Laura Ebke of Red State Eclectic. “We thought that perhaps we’d get a little bit of notice, establish ourselves as some sort of states’-rights/limited-government presence, and maybe scope out which senators we might be able to work with on some issues.”

Thomas Woods is also author of Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse (2009) and the Politically Incorrect Guide to American History (2004).

Category: Nebraska

Media Shocked — Shocked! — To Discover That Ann Marie Buerkle Is Pro-Life

Posted on | January 24, 2011 | 2 Comments

Da Tech Guy and The Lonely Conservative call attention to the latest “news” from those pillars of journalistic objectivity at the Syracuse Post-Standard:

After steering clear of abortion politics during her campaign last year, U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle is now seizing chances in her first month in office to change federal laws as “an advocate for the unborn.”
Buerkle led abortion protests in front of Syracuse doctors’ offices more than 20 years ago. When she launched her run for Congress in 2010, Buerkle said abortion was not the issue that would define her, nor would it be a priority of her campaign.
In the past week, her opposition to abortion has regained its status as a high priority as she joined House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans in launching quick actions . . .

Among these shocking measures was her giving a speech in Congress, giving a speech at the March for Life, and signing on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which affirms the Hyde Amendment policy that has been federal law for more than 30 years, but which the Obama administration and the Pelosi Congress sought to evade. This gives the Syracuse Post-Standard an excuse to quote “The Only Good Baby Is a Dead Baby” crowd:

Abortion rights supporters say Republican efforts would radically limit access to legal abortions.
“The bill goes far beyond any other proposal ever introduced in Congress to take health care coverage away from women,” said Betty DeFazio, director of community affairs and public policy for Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse Region.
She said the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” proposed by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and co-sponsored by Buerkle and 160 other Republicans, would effectively end insurance coverage for almost all abortions – including people who have private insurance coverage.
“Rep. Buerkle was elected to Congress because she promised to create jobs, but instead, one of her first acts is to co-sponsor and champion a bill that takes away health insurance benefits that the majority of women currently have,” DeFazio said.
Buerkle’s actions on the issue also alarm Karen DeCrow, of Jamesville, the former national president of the National Organization for Women.
“This district does not share her views on birth control, sex education, family planning and abortion,” DeCrow said of Buerkle. “She has a different view.”

Remember that it was the Post-Standard which devoted its Oct. 17 Sunday front page to a poll that predicted Buerkle would lose by 12 points. And as The Lonely Conservative points out, an ad by her Democratic opponent calling attention to Buerkle’s pro-life record may have made the difference in her victory.

It’s not too soon to start giving to Ann Marie Buerkle’s 2012 re-election campaign. Every $20 or $50 helps.


Category: Abortion, Ann Marie Buerkle, New York

Court to Rahm Emanuel: ‘F*** You!’

Posted on | January 24, 2011 | 14 Comments

It’s the Chicago Way!

Rahm Emanuel was thrown off the ballot for mayor of Chicago today by an appellate court panel, a stunning blow to the fund-raising leader in the race.
An appellate panel ruled 2-1 that Emanuel did not meet the residency standard to run for mayor.
Appellate justices Thomas Hoffman and Shelvin Louise Marie Hall ruled against Emanuel. Justice Bertina Lampkin voted in favor of keeping President Obama’s former chief of staff on the Feb. 22 ballot. . . .
Opponents have argued Emanuel is not a resident of Chicago because he rented out his North Side home while serving as chief of staff to Obama. The renter — Rob Halpin — refused to allow Emanuel to move back in after Mayor Daley’s announcement last year that he would not seek re-election. Halpin briefly ran for mayor himself.

Before you start cheering this decision, my friends, remember that the likely alternative to Rahm Emanuel is Carol Moseley Braun.

UPDATE: Warner Todd Huston:

Emanuel will certainly take this case to the Illinois Supreme Court with the hopes that they can get an expedited case.
Rahm had won two other cases in lower courts. The Chicago Board of Elections and a Cook County court sided with Emanuel in previous decisions.

More reaction at Memeorandum.

UPDATE II: Ed Morrissey discusses the arguments made on Emanuel’s behalf:

Emanuel moved to Washington DC and stayed there for 21 months, only returning when Richard Daley announced he wouldn’t seek another term. Under that definition, the statute becomes essentially meaningless; anyone who lived in Chicago for any period of time could return and run for office on the shortest of notice and dare anyone to prove that returning wasn’t the intent all along.

As if the rule of law had any relevance in Chicago . . .

UPDATE III: “Ballot? Oh, I thought you meant ballet!”

Category: Chicago, Democrats, Illinois

They Got the Gold Mine …

Posted on | January 24, 2011 | Comments Off on They Got the Gold Mine …

. . . and taxpayers get the shaft:

Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud. . . .
Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud. . . .
Documents reviewed by The New York Times indicate that taxpayers have paid $24.2 million to law firms defending three of Fannie’s former top executives: Franklin D. Raines, its former chief executive; Timothy Howard, its former chief financial officer; and Leanne Spencer, the former controller.
Mr. Raines retired in December 2004 and Mr. Howard resigned at the same time. Ms. Spencer left her position as controller in early 2005. The following year, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, then the company’s regulator, published an in-depth report on the company’s accounting practices, accusing Fannie’s top executives of taking actions to manipulate profits and generate $115 million in improper bonuses. . . .

Raines was a Clinton crony who was an economic advisor to Obama’s campaign and, during the height of the 2008 economic meltdown, bought a $4.9 million penthouse in D.C.

Category: Barack Obama, Corruption
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