Glenn Reynolds ‘Nuke the Norks’ Only 5th Place in Sully’s ‘Malkin Awards’ Finals?

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You might have thought he’d be a runaway winner for Andrew Sullivan’s award recognizing the most “shrill, hyperbolic, divisive and intemperate right-wing rhetoric” with this war-mongering entry:

If [the North Koreans] start anything, I say nuke ‘em. And not with just a few bombs. They’ve caused enough trouble — and it would be a useful lesson for Iran, too. We can’t afford another Korean war, but hey, we’re already dismantling warheads.”
— Instapundit, Nov. 23, 2010

Gen. Buck Turgidson couldn’t have said it any better and yet, according to Sully’s latest update, Professor Reynolds is a mere fifth place in the competition. Go vote for Instapundit and correct this injustice!

Some of my friends have chided me for failing to get nominated for the Malkin Award this year, after I placed second to Glenn Beck in last year’s competition. Am I becoming . . . responsible? Are my over-the-top right-wing rants less over-the-top — or perhaps even less right-wing — than they used to be?

Perhaps. Or perhaps Sully didn’t nominate my instantly infamous reaction to the Julian Assange date-rape accusations because he, too, is a misogynistic rape apologist.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! Despite my “impishness” and link-trolling, I certainly didn’t intend to misrepresent the professor’s quote. I thought he would be flattered by the comparison to that patriotic hero, Gen. Buck Turgidson. (Yeah, I know, some critics of Dr. Strangelove don’t see Gen. Turgidson as a hero. But nuking commies — that’s real patriotism, my friend!)


More Herman Cain Awesomeness

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The term “Herman Cain porn” was coined at Red State to describe videos like this one from Citizens4Cain:

The “next Reagan” label is a heavy burden, but even if Cain is not equal to the Great Communicator — is anyone, really? — he is at least a Doggone Effective Communicator. Like I said, “Steve Forbes with charisma.”

BTW, there were some negative comments on yesterday’s post — “Herman Cain: ‘We Have People on the Ground’ in Early Primary States” — which I’m hesitant to describe as the work of outright trolls. To the one commenter who said my “gushing over Herman Cain is starting to get embarrassing,” I’ll say this:

  • Which candidate do you prefer in the GOP primaries? If you want to make an argument on behalf of one of the other Republican candidates, please do so.
  • You really ought to read this 1994 Newsweek article that highlights Cain’s key role in helping defeat HillaryCare.
  • I became aware of Herman Cain during the 2004 Georgia Senate primary, when my older brother — a truck driver who still lives down home in Douglas County, Ga. — called me to share his support and praise for Cain. That really got my attention and, if you knew my older brother, your reaction would have been like mine: “Wow. This guy must be the real deal.”
  • I first interviewed Herman Cain in May 2007, after he’d returned to WSB radio following his cancer treatment. And in a post from April, Smitty described me as a “Herman Cain Fanatic,” as I spoke to Smitty by phone immediately after hearing Cain’s speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. All of which is to say that my enthusiasm for Cain shouldn’t surprise anyone.
  • My enthusiasm for Cain, however, is not to be confused with hostility to anyone else’s favorite candidate (unless your favorite candidate is Mike Huckabee, in which case you need to get back on your medication.) I like and support both Sarah Palin and Mike Pence, I’ve defended Haley Barbour, I’ve got nothing against Mitch Daniels, and I’ll remind you that I supported Mitt Romney in 2008 (as did Herman Cain, by the way). So it’s not a zero-sum game.
  • Finally, it’s more than a year until the Iowa caucuses and there’s no telling what’s going to transpire between now and then. So if any particular candidate is not your first choice, don’t sweat it — and be careful about going to war against a candidate who might be preferable to your least favorite candidate.

If Doug Hoffman’s NY-23 campaign and the “No One Red Cent” rebellion in support of Marco Rubio convinced you of nothing else, it should have convinced you that I love nothing better than to support a grassroots David against the establishment Goliath.

Look, I remember when Allen West couldn’t get the time of day from the GOP establishment; next month, he’ll be Congressman Allen West. And I also remember arriving in NY-25 on a Sunday when, barely two weeks before Election Day, the front-page news was a poll that had Ann Marie Buerkle trailing by 12 points. Next month, she’ll be Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle.

In a David-vs.-Goliath situation, you don’t start by trying to calculate the odds of success, because the odds are liable to be so daunting as to inspire helpless despair. But let me ask you this: What were Herman Cain’s odds in 2006, when the doctors diagnosed him with Stage 4 cancer? Think about that before you say Cain can’t win.

As my father used to tell me, “Can’t never could.”

Marty Peretz and the Inevitable Obsolescence of Yesterday’s Liberalism

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One of the beauties of conservatism is that, if we define it as William F. Buckley Jr. did — standing athwart history, yelling “stop!” — the conservative never need to change his ideology, which is essentially a stance of opposition to whatever innovations liberals propose on their march toward the Utopia of Social Justice.

The issues that make headlines may change from day to day and year to year, but the wrongness of liberalism is so reliable you can set your watch by it. Today’s latest “innovative” liberal policy idea is inevitably revealed, on closer examination, to be just a re-tread of old liberal ideas that have failed before. And the conservative stands firm in opposition.

Pity, then, the liberal.  He must constantly update his beliefs to keep pace with the relentless advance of Progress.

Once upon a time, Marty Peretz was a liberal in good standing, but has now been effectively purged by what I call the Sirhan Sirhan wing of the Democratic Party. And now a fascinating article in New York magazine shows us 71-year-old Marty Peretz as a lonely and embittered exile, unable to comprehend how liberalism has failed him or, as Peretz’s critics would say, how he has failed liberalism.

Sour Grapes for Mid-Term Losers

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Victory has many fathers, but defeat is an orphan, they say. Another difference is that only defeat requires a scapegoat:

“The Tea Party movement really is quite a bit different than the old Republican conservative movement,” [Delaware loser Mike] Castle said. “They’re more than willing to take out Republicans, call us Republicans in name only, or whatever it may be. It was one thing when you were dealing with Democrats and Republicans. Now you’re dealing with divisions within your own party.”

Since when is the majority — and conservatives are the overwhelming majority of Republican primary voters — responsible for divisions in a coalition? But enough about that useless idiot Mike Castle. Let’s exult in the useless idiocy of defeated Democrats:

Defeated Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.) suggested in a recent interview that Chinese interests contributed to her loss in the November midterm elections. . . .
“I think it’s strangling us,” she told ABC News in a recent interview. “They’re in the halls of Congress everywhere, and it means, for example, that you sit on a committee and you say something about concern about Chinese influence or something, you don’t even know if in the next election, somehow or another, they manage to send some money to some group that now doesn’t even have to say where they got it.”

Democrats for Equality, Tolerance and Irrational Xenophobia.

(Via Memeorandum.)

LIVE AT FIVE – 12.28.10

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TOP NEWS
New York Airports Open After Heaviest Snowfall Since 1948

Snow falls in Richmond, obscuring the statue of Robert E. Lee

Northeast begins to dig out from record “global warming”

Israeli Talks With Turkey Fall Short
Apology not forthcoming for raid on Gaza “peace flotilla”, says Netanyahu

Khodorkovski Conviction Brings International Protests
Widely seen as proof that rule of law no longer exists in Russia

Bad Weather Chills After-Christmas Shopping
Results could be brutal for retailers




Amazon Touts Kindle As Best Selling Product Ever
Not even Harry Potter tops the e-book reader



POLITICS
Joe Miller Continues Election Challenge In Federal Court

Joe Miller consults his attorney before last week's defeat in state court

Won’t block Murcowski’s certification, swearing-in

Justice Sotomayor Whines A Lot About Rejected Appeals

Obama Weighs In On Michael Vick, Other Weighty National Issues

Gavin Newsom To Keep Pushing For Wave Power

Alvin Greene’s Running For The SC House



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asia Stocks, Currencies Rise On Economic News; Copper Hits Record High
Early Reports Show Holiday Spending Up 5.5% Over 2009
Microsoft Windows Tablets Fighting Long Odds Against iPads?
Amazon: iPad LCD Tablets No Threat To Kindle



SPORTS
Winter Classic 2011: Capitals, Penguins Brace For Rain

Heinz Field

The pussification of American professional sports continues

Mavs Top Thunder Despite Losing Nowitzki

Howard’s Double-Double Leads Magic Over Nyets


Air Force Wins Independence Bowl

Bruins Slip Past Panthers In Shootout



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Porn Prez: We’ll Buy And Bury Any Demi Lovato Sex Tape

Steve Hirsch, Vivid Video prez; Demi Lovato

Nobility in the strangest places.

LeAnn Rimes, Eddie Cibrian Engaged

“Teen Mom” Charged With Felony Assault




Alanis Morrisette: It’s A Boy!

No Illegal Drugs Found At Teena Marie’s House



FOREIGNERS
Medvedev Calls For Amendments To Patriotic Curriculum; Aims To Tamp Down Ethnic Friction In Russia
Gbagbo’s Support Weakens As The Money Runs Out
Egypt Seizes SAMs Headed For Gaza
Fourteen Killed In Fresh Clashes After Christmas Eve Bombings In Nigeria



BLOGS & STUFF
Newsbusters: Jon Stewart Gets Ultimate Praise From NYT
Jim Geraghty: Carol Shea-Porter Claims The PRC Did Her In
Cubachi: More Dim Bulbs – California Banning 100-watt Incandescent Bulbs
The Jawa Report: Meet The New Batman, Insha’allah


— compiled by Wombat-socho

Media Headwinds, Media Tailwinds

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Ace of Spades describes a basic truth of American politics:

The liberal media sells liberal candidates as brilliant and even-tempered and “sophisticated” and “nuanced” of thought; all of these are non-ideological attributes which appeal to most, whatever one’s politics. And they need to do this, as only about 25% of the country can be persuaded to come along on the basic liberal message of higher taxes, more spending, more government power to dictate the affairs of men, and less freedom.
Meanwhile, Republican candidates get the opposite treatment from the media. I’ve noted before that every single Republican candidate is claimed by the media to be:

1. Stupid
2. Evil
3. Crazy
4. Out-of-touch

…and pretty much you can categorize every Republican office-seeker since Eisenhower (Out of touch) in this way. Nixon: Evil and Crazy; Reagan: Stupid and Crazy and possibly Evil; Bush I: Out of touch; Bush II: Stupid, Crazy, Out of Touch and Evil.

Brilliant as it is, Ace’s post doesn’t exhaust the endless variety of ways in which the media help elect Democrats. For instance, when Democrats are in office, the media can simply ignore the existence of opposition.

During the recent midterm congressional campaign, many Republican candidates were quite nearly ignored by local media. In fact, if you had been reading local newspapers in some key competitive districts, you’d have scarcely known there was an election coming up — much less that the incumbent Democrat was locked in a fight for his political life.

And this kind of non-coverage continued until the folks picked up their paper the Wednesday morning after Election Day and saw — for the first time in a front-page headline — the name of the previously ignored Republican who’d just gotten elected to Congress.

Those of us who followed the recent election might have thought, for example, that Orlando-area papers would have covered the FL-8 race between Alan Grayson and Daniel Webster the way the Tuscaloosa News covers the University of Alabama football team: Exhaustively, as the only game in town.

But it wasn’t that way at all and, with few exceptions, local newspaper coverage of campaigns in the top 70 or 80 competitive congressional races ranged from sporadic to minimal. So these papers voluntarily forfeited the readership they might have attracted if they had hyped up the mid-terms as The Most Important Election in Our Nation’s History.

Anyway, that wasn’t what Ace was talking about. He was explaining the media’s shameless overselling of Obama, and you ought to read the whole thing.

More Proof Exercise Is Bad for You

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A marathon runner is diagnosed with stress damage to her gluteal tendons, a malady called “dead butt syndrome.”

Exercise is to yuppies what Islam is to suicide bombers. “Fitness” has become a cult among the college-educated and upwardly mobile.

Tom Wolfe noticed this phenomenon nearly 30 years ago when he described the “social X-rays” — those bone-thin yuppie women who worked out constantly. “Fitness” and “health” are related but not entirely coterminous concepts, and the latter is not necessarily the purpose of the former, at least from a sociological perspective.

Fitness — typically running or weight training, but also cycling or any form of exercise requiring a gym membership — is intrinsically competitive, and thereby serves as a marker of superior status. The disciples of Fitness are engaged in a form of what Thorsten Veblen would have described as “invidious display.”

One cannot help but notice that the Cult of Fitness has arisen during the same period that traditional religion in the West has declined. It is as if people have embraced physical righteousness in a society whose standards of moral or spiritual righteousness have become so ambiguous.

Also note that the instability of marriage seems implicated in this trend. Divorce is now commonplace, and the median age at first marriage (which was about 21 in 1960) is now about 27. People are staying single longer and, when they do marry, there’s a greater likelihood that their marriages will end in divorce.

So whereas couples once married while still in full natural vigor of their youthful attractiveness and then grew older together, today’s yuppies must attempt to extend their peak attractiveness much longer — while they finish law school, get an MBA, etc. — and the Cult of Fitness is their safeguard against becoming unattractively flabby before they land a mate. You’ll not be surprised to learn that Jen A. Miller, who describes her marathon-induced muscle damage in the New York Times article linked above, is 30 and single.

My wife and I are happily middle-aged and neither of us is in danger of “Dead Butt Syndrome.” Our cardiovascular health may not be ideal, but at least our butts are still alive.

Of course, Professor Glenn Reynolds — whose link to that article called it to my attention — is all the time linking to health-and-medicine stories, but I think he linked that New York Times article just because “Dead Butt Syndrome” would be such a great name for a punk-rock band.

Rule 5 Sunday Falls On A Monday This Week

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I won’t bore you with excuses as to why this is so; content yourselves with the knowledge that after a crappy day shoveling snow, fighting gale-force winds, or whatever it was you were doing outside today, you have a cornucopia of lush Rule 5 pulchritude to warm yourself with as you sit before your monitor with a warm beverage.

Appropriately enough, we begin with Match Pricks’ commemoration of Boxing Day. Nice gloves!

Next, Yankee Phil reveals that Lady Gaga, for one, is unimpressed by Europe’s cold weather. He also adds this impressive collection of Rule 5 linkagery.

Dave C. sends this verse with his submissions:

For Robert Stacy and his blogging apprentice, Wombat
Who is standing in for Smitty, may he ne’er see combat
I hereby declare these following entries for my Sunday, rule five.
In the hopes that Christmas traffic should not only grow but thrive.

He follows this with a helpful PSA From Team Unicorn, Zooey Deschanel singing us a song, Sarah Chang giving her fiddle a workout, and a double feature of Megan Kelly and Ronald Reagan on the evils of socialized medicine.

Somewhat chastened by last week’s tirade by the Boss, Soylent Green offers a Yuletide Spassfabrik damsel who is definitely at least PG-13. Maybe even M. I’ll have to study this one more closely…

…but in the meantime, let us hearken to WyBlog’s tale of Christmas tipping. If we can tear ourselves away from the illustration, that is.

On a  more serious note, Uncoverage reveals the sordid tale of how the late Anna Nicole Smith apparently brought the government of the Bahamas to its knees. Or something.

The JerseyNut regales us with a magnificent assortment of babes barely clad in Santa costumes, Fishersville Mike submits an interesting photo of Santa and a couple of his helpers at the Brickyard, and Chaz at Dustbury sends us tidings of Jennifer Aniston and The Veronicas.

Finally, Troglopundit wraps up this week’s Rule 5 bounty with a foursome of Troglofavebabes who made the Maxim Hot 30 and a homemade version of the “leg lamp” from some obscure Christmas movie.

Thanks to all for your submissions and patience!
Send next week’s pinup possibilities to Rule5Wombat!