The Other McCain

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

VIDEO: Bill Murray Asks, ‘Who Thinks Up All This High-Tech Stuff Anyway?’

Posted on | January 4, 2011 | 1 Comment

This footage from a 1982 TV promo was recommended by Alyssa Milano, so you know it’s got to be good:

Category: Celebrities, humor, Video

Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus Will Marry Former Staffer Melodee Hanes

Posted on | January 4, 2011 | 7 Comments

If you’re a regular dude looking for a date, you go to a bar or use an online dating service. If you’re a United States Senator, you just get the taxpayers to hire you a girlfriend:

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus says he plans to marry his girlfriend and former director of his state offices.
Baucus said Monday he and Melodee Hanes were engaged over the Christmas holiday in Helena. The 69-year-old veteran Democrat says they intend to marry in Montana this summer.
Baucus and his second wife, Wanda, divorced in early 2009 after 25 years of marriage.
The senator recommended Hanes for Montana’s U.S. attorney post in 2009, a move that later came under scrutiny due to their relationship.
By then, Hanes had withdrawn her name from consideration and instead took a job with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.

Entirely leaving aside the divorce issue, no politician should ever — ever — date a member of his official staff, whose salaries are paid with tax dollars, and who are not on the public payroll to provide romantic companionship to elected officials.

At least Eliot Spitzer hired his whores with his own money.

Category: Democrats, Montana, Scandal, Senate

Captain of USS Enterprise Relieved From Duty in Politically Correct Witch Hunt

Posted on | January 4, 2011 | 18 Comments

First, the news:

The U.S. Navy will temporarily relieve Capt. Owen Honors of his post pending investigation of the series of explicit videos he is said to have produced when he was second in command of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, sources tell ABC News.
Capt. Honors is under investigation for a series of raunchy videos in which he appeared from 2006 to 2007. . . .
A leaked version of one video . . . contained derogatory references to homosexuals and was filled with profanity.

And the Wall Street Journal:

The Navy will likely remove the commander of the USS Enterprise from his post after bawdy videos in which he denigrated gays and made other vulgar references became public, a defense official said. . . .
The quick action also demonstrates that the military is under pressure to show that will not tolerate slurs against the sexual orientation [of] service members after last month’s congressional repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that barred gays from serving openly in the military.

While I haven’t seen all the videos, the “highlights” shown on TV news and referenced online lead me to conclude that they were Not A Good Idea, and that Capt. Honors (or someone else aboard the Enterprise) should have thought twice about the project. But it is nonetheless clear that Capt. Honors isn’t being relieved of command because of the semi-pornographic content and R-rated language.

It’s the political correctness, stupid.

UPDATE: Tammy Bruce says her “head exploded” over the hypocrisy of some military opponents of DADT: “So here you’ve got brass concerned about the behavior of the gays . . . There are the heteros making videos of heterosexual troops, sailors, engaging in faux gayness for humor.”

That’s from the audio of Tammy’s show posted on her blog. She links a Baltimore Sun editorial which compares the videos to the 1991 Tailhook scandal and excoriates Capt. Honors for “misogyny, sexual harassment and gay-bashing.”

What would Gunnery Sergeant Hartman say?

UPDATE II: In his “Quote of the Day,” Allahpundit includes a quote from a sailor:

“‘In [Capt. Honors’s] defense, I’ll say that sometimes, when you’ve been out to sea for a while, cut off from everything, you start to think things that you would never normally do are actually a good idea,’ [the former ship videographer] said. ‘You do stupid stuff to stay sane.’”

Yeah. It’s kind of that way in the blogosphere: You’ve been online for a while, cut off from everything . . .

UPDATE III: In the comments, Linda informs us that her husband will soon deploy aboard the Enterprise. She writes at her own blog:

My point is, those rank and file who are flirting, naughty dancing, putting boxes over their groins, and making “broke back carrier” jokes in those videos are typical of Captain Honors’ audience.
Do you really think they are offended easily? Do you think they have never seen American Pie? Family Guy? South Park? Holy bleep, most of them are probably too young to have even heard of Porky’s.

Read the whole thing. I have fond memories of Porky’s. Also Blazing Saddles, Animal House and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Whether the cultural attitudes embodied by those comedy classics should be used in Navy training videos is a good question. However, I’ll note that I get a fair amount of blowback for my own irreverent comic sensibilities here.

This is a blog, not an aircraft carrier, but sometimes people get themselves into high dudgeon as though, if I write anything unseemly or offensive, this somehow does damage to The Official Conservative Movement™ — and in the minds of the censorious busybodies, the Movement is only for those who never say anything remotely controversial.

And then they wonder why people think conservatives are a bunch of boring, uptight prudes.

UPDATE IV: Serious ramifications.

Category: Gays, Military, Scandal

LIVE AT FIVE – 1.4.10

Posted on | January 4, 2011 | 2 Comments

TOP NEWS
Schwartzenegger Catches Flak For Nunez Commutation

Ex-Governor Schwartzenegger handwaves, flames

Young Nunez allegedly bragged connections would get him off.

Enterprise Captain To Be Relieved Over Raunchy Videos
Many sailors come to his defense on Facebook

U.S. Stocks Up In First Day Of 2011 Trading
Dow, S&P hit two-year highs



POLITICS
Jerry Brown Sworn in As 39th Governor Of California

Jerry Brown takes the oath of office as his wife looks on

Draconian budget cuts, tax extensions loom

Steele Defends Record At RNC Forum: “We Won”

Democrats Already Hunting For Vulnerable Republicans in 2012

Obama Considers J.P. Morgan’s Daley For Senior Aide Post

Cuomo Leads By Example, Cuts Own Salary 5%



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Goldman Sachs, Digital Sky Friend Facebook With $500 Million Investment
Bank Of America Settles Loan Dispute With Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac
Airfare Website Disputes Spread
Can Google’s Android Market Undercut Apple’s ITunes For News?
Court Okays Search Of Cell Phones Without Warrant
Playstation 3’s Root Key Found?



SPORTS
Leslie Frazier: Interim No More

New Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier

Former defensive coordinator has the players behind him

Jets, Favre Face Lawsuit From Therapists

Like It Or Not, 7-9 Seahawks Are In The Playoffs


Mangini Out In Cleveland; Del Rio, Kubiak Stick Around In Jacksonville, Houston



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Lindsay Lohan Finishes Rehab

Lindsay Lohan

Next court appearance February 25

Selena Gomez Getting Death Threats Over Bieber Smooch Pix?

Sandra Bullock Spends Some Quality Time With Ryan Reynolds





Mila Kunis, Macaulay Culkin End Eight-Year Relationship

Christina Milian Is LATINA’s February Cover Girl!

Jodie Foster, Matt Damon On Board For “District 9” Sequel



FOREIGNERS
U.S. Willing To Help Gbagbo Make “Dignified Exit”
Pakistani Government Lingers On As Opposition Delays Calling For No-Confidence Vote
Observers Keep Eyes Peeled For “Potential Spoilers” As Secession Vote Gets Underway
Netanyahu Slams Palestinians’ “Three Nos”



BLOGS & STUFF
Sister Toldjah: House GOP To Move Promptly On Obamacare Repeal Even As Senate Dems Say “Don’t Bother”
Michelle Malkin: Snort – Now The Democrats Are Worried About “Wasteful” Witch Hunts?
Moe Lane: QotD, Buy This Guy A Nice Fruit Basket Edition
Gateway Pundit: Coptic Churches In Europe Report Islamist Threats


— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

Paris Vogue Goes Creepy

Posted on | January 3, 2011 | 8 Comments


Those photos are from the December issue of Paris Vogue, which had a multi-page fashion spread featuring 6- and 7-year-old girls. Jennifer Grant at Christianity Today calls this “Another Assault on Little Girls,” although she says some readers are defending it:

Are fans of the December issue correct when they say that those of us who find some of these images disturbing are just dirty-minded ourselves? . . . Could I be — how you say? — prudish or naïf to find the pictures unsettling? . . .
Fashion designer Tom Ford was the guest editor and designed the controversial issue . . . Is it relevant that Ford is a close friend to photographer Terry Richardson (whose work is featured elsewhere in the December/January issue), and that Richardson has been accused of preying on child models and has written and gleefully performed a song called “Child Molester’s Coming For You”?
I think so.

Read the rest.

UPDATE: In May, Charles Hill wrote about Vogue photographer Terry Richardson:

He takes girls who are young, manipulates them to take their clothes off and takes pictures of them they will be ashamed of. They are too afraid to say no because their agency booked them on the job and are too young to stand up for themselves.

Read the whole thing. What we call creepy, the artistic types call “edgy.”

Category: Culture

Iran TV Blames Jihadist Bombing of Egyptian Church on ‘Zionists’

Posted on | January 3, 2011 | 9 Comments

Because, of course, we know how those Zionists are:

The fresh plot by terrorists to target churches is an organized Zionist scenario aimed at creating a rift between Muslims and Christians.

A top Shi’ite cleric Hezbollah stooge in Lebanon parrots the propaganda of his masters in Tehran:

“This terrorist act bears the fingerprints of Zionists who keep on targeting religious sights and are working to . . .  sow discord between Muslims and Christians,” Kabalan said in a statement.

Carl in Jerusalem has much more, including a group of Egyptian lawyers who blame the Mossad:

“The Mossad carried out the the operation in a natural reaction to the latest uncovering of an Israeli espionage network,” the lawyers accused at a rally in memory of the victims, organized by the Egyptian Bar Association, according to the report.

Via Memeorandum.

UPDATE: Video from inside the church at the time of the blast:

Thanks to the commenter who point out that Sully, who manages to denouce “disgusting anti-Semitism,” nevertheless points the finger at “neo-cons” for anti-Christian violence in Iraq:

Who among the neocons would have thought that one of George W. Bush’s final legacies would be bringing pogroms, bombings and genocide to Christians in his new zone of freedom?

This complete non sequitur is the kind of delusion typical of terminal-stage Bush Derangement Syndrome.

PREVIOUSLY:


Category: Egypt, Iran, Terrorism

Tina Brown/Sidney Harman Strangulation of Newsweek Now Nearly Complete

Posted on | January 3, 2011 | 4 Comments

Let’s call it a media “mercy killing”:

While the Newsweek/Daily Beast merger was expected to be wrapped up by late November or early December, it has been delayed and is not closing until later this month. . . .
That means Tina Brown, the Daily Beast editor-in-chief and former editor of The New Yorker and the much-hyped failure Talk Magazine, will have longer to wait before she can put her stamp on the newsweekly when she takes over the combined operations. . . .
One insider said the longer it takes for the NewsBeast deal to close, the greater the attrition among demoralized Newsweek staffers, who increasingly regard the deal not so much as a merger of equals but as a takeover.
“Morale at Newsweek? There is no morale because there is no one left,” said one source. “The purge is complete.”

Tina Brown wants staffers whose only loyalty is to her. Embittered veterans of Newsweek don’t fit that category.

Category: Journalism

Sodomy Is Not Pro-Life

Posted on | January 3, 2011 | 14 Comments

Just pointing that out for the benefit of Andrew Sullivan who claims to be Catholic — e.g., his post about Epiphany — and seizes upon Ross Douthat’s pro-life column today to make a plea for “expanding adoption opportunities.”

Nudge. Nudge. While it’s tragic, I suppose, that Sully isn’t a zillionaire rock star who can afford a rent-a-womb boutique baby, is there any Catholic conservative pro-lifer who takes Sully seriously as either Catholic, or conservative, or pro-life?

Of course, I’m a Protestant and have no stake in defending Catholicism against Andrew Sullivan’s efforts to discredit that faith, but couldn’t some influential Catholic say a word to the Pope and get Sully officially ex-communicated?

Being pro-life is different than merely saying you’re pro-life. Pundette has an excellent post pointing out the Baby Boom generation’s failure to reproduce. The embrace of the Contraceptive Culture is more seriously implicated in that failure — a sinful disobedience to the commandment, “Be fruitful and multiply” — than such alternative lifestyles as practiced by Sully. Neverthless, pills and condoms sometimes fail to prevent conception, resulting in “happy accidents,” whereas no child has ever been conceived by sodomy.

Breeding: It’s a Beautiful Thing!

UPDATE: The Anchoress on the illogic that leads young women to prefer abortion over adoption:

The “I can’t carry to term then allow someone else to raise the baby” notion is a fundamentally flawed bit of moral reasoning–one that flourishes because, in this age of moral relativism we are discouraged from teaching sound moral reasoning. The dictatorship of relativism must be defeated.

It is not merely relativism, but also narcissism that’s involved: What young woman wants to get fat, sustain stretch-marks, possibly a C-section scar, etc., and then not have something to show for all that damage to her physique?

Possibly related: The Department of Health and Human Services has an online calculator to help single mothers determine whether they’ll lose welfare benefits by marrying their baby-daddy.

Because that’s what life is really all about: Maximizing your benefits.

UPDATE II: Maura Butler at Life News shares a reader’s e-mail:

I was 14 years old when I conceived my son. I was in a relationship with a 16 year old guy who had already had one son who he didn’t see much. I figured since he already had a child, he was mature.

(Hello? 16-year-old baby daddies are presumed “mature”?)

It turned out he was very controlling and abusive, so I decided to leave him. Two days after my 15th birthday, I found out I was pregnant. I was so scared and confused but he said he’d be there and take care of everything.
Just three weeks later, he told me he wanted nothing to do with me and I haven’t seen him since. . . .

(How do boys like this expect to get away with such behavior? Why isn’t this boy locked up in juvenile hall? Never mind: The girl’s sister drove her to the abortion clinic, but the girl decided against it.)

On November 3rd, I had my beautiful baby boy via c-section and am living with my dad with his support, and returning to school next year. I am so in love with my baby. I cry at the thought of ever even thinking about ending his life. I thank God everyday for helping me see the light through the darkness.

Well, OK. That’s good. But don’t we see in this story how disastrously far astray our culture has gone? Here’s a boy, 16 years old, having already fathered and abandoned one child, now getting a 14-year-old girl pregnant — and he’s not behind bars? He’s “abusive,” and yet seemingly has no fear that the girl’s male relatives will seek to avenge her?

Just as being pro-life is more than being anti-abortion, traditional values is more than being anti-fornication. Here is an excellent example of a traditional values response when somebody is “abusive” to your sister:

Category: Abortion, Andrew Sullivan, Catholics, Gays, Pundit & Pundette
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