She’s More Catholic Than the Pope

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Lisa Graas wants to update the “about” page on her blog, and is looking for commendations from other bloggers, so there’s mine.

Lisa always kids me about the fact that among the top referrers to her blog, it’s a bunch of hardcore Catholics and me. Being a pro-life Protestant (and father of six) probably explains that. Anyway . . .

Lisa is not afraid to stand up for her beliefs, whatever the cost. She was leading the PalinTwibe — the Twitter posse for Sarah Palin — and advocating for Bill Johnson in the Kentucky GOP Senate primary. With Rand Paul also in the primary, her advocacy made Graas an especial target of the Paulistas, and if you’ve ever seen those guys go to work on somebody . . . well, they never heard of a “fair fight.” It got rough.

But then it got rougher: When Sarah Palin endorsed Rand Paul, Lisa had to make a choice and she decided to resign from the PalinTwibe rather than to back down from her opposition to Paul.

However much you may disagree with Lisa’s stance (and personally, I’m OK with the Paulistas, even if their online fanatics are cruel and obnoxious), you have to admire Lisa’s commitment to principle. In a political environment where “go-along-to-get-along” is the prevailing ethos, Lisa Graas stands firmly for her principles.

You don’t have to agree with her. But you’ve got to respect her.

PREVIOUSLY: “Lisa Graas Takes on the Paulistas”

UPDATE: Also, she gives good FMRJA. Speaking of which, we’re way overdue for a few inspirational words from Gunnery Sergeant Hartman:

Welcome to the Parris Island of the blogosphere.

Vaguely Weird Celebrity News

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At age 63, Elton John and his, er, husband are now, er, fathers:

Levon has two daddies via a rent-a-womb deal:

Elton John is a dad!
The legendary hit maker and partner David Furnish announced they’re first-time fathers, following the Christmas-Day birth of their adopted son.
Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John was born to an unnamed surrogate in California and weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces, John’s rep said. . . . .
In a joint statement released by John’s publicist, the happy parents said, “We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment.”

British columnist Judith Woods:

Please don’t let the scurrilous rumours be true that Sir Elton John’s new son was induced on December 25, in order to be The Ultimate Christmas Present, I just couldn’t bear it. I’d rather bury my head in a luxury lambskin footmuff until little Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John arrives in Britain to live happily ever after in his £35,000 nursery.

Like I said, vaguely weird. I’m 51 years old and (not to put any pressure on my recently married eldest daughter) just about ready to be called “Grandpa.” So what’s up with Elton John going to such expense and trouble to become “Daddy” at age 63?

What’s that going to be like for Baby Levon? Imagine being the only kid in high school with an 80-year-old gay dad.

Herman Cain Invited to Iowa Forum

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Note the way the reporter phrases it:

Likely 2012 presidential candidates have been sniffing around Iowa for months on book tours and under-the-radar speaking engagements. But now the entire field — all dozen or so possible GOP challengers — are being invited to a megachurch on the outskirts of Des Moines for a March 7th candidates’ forum–the first of its kind for 2011.
And the question is: Who will be so bold as to come?
Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, says the group plans to send invitations out this week to anyone who has expressed the slightest interest in the 2012 Republican nomination. That means everyone from Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich to Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum. Even Atlanta radio host Herman Cain will get an invitation.
“I’d think that these potential candidates would like the chance to come have a dialogue with evangelical Christians,” said Mr. Scheffler, one of the state’s most prominent GOP organizers and a member of the Republican National Committee. . . .
Attending a prominent candidate forum in Iowa in early March could be the first overt step some of the challengers take toward a 2012 bid.

“Even Herman Cain”? What’s that “even” all about? Meanwhile, The Hill has an interview with Cain:

By his count, Cain has visited Iowa six times in the past year and has supporters making calls to key activists in the state. He’s also made three trips to New Hampshire, one to South Carolina, four to Texas and two to Florida.
In an interview, the one-time Senate candidate and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza told The Ballot Box that he’s serious about running and thinks he can shake up the race for the 2012 GOP nomination.
“I would represent that unconventional, non-establishment candidate that a lot of people are looking for,” said Cain, a conservative black Republican who described the current field of GOP hopefuls as “the usual suspects.”
“I respect them,” he said of the Republican names in the mix. “God bless them. But the more people running, the better.”
Cain will form an exploratory committee early in 2011, but doesn’t expect to make an official decision on a run until “several months into the new year.” . . .

Read the whole thing.

Dennis Kucinich Worried About Losing Ohio District, Sexy Redhead Wife

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But mainly his congressional district:

The state of Ohio will lose two congressional seats thanks to the latest U.S. Census figures, and liberal stalwart Dennis Kucinich is worried his seat is on the chopping block.
In an e-mail to supporters Wednesday, the seven-term Democratic congressman and two-time presidential candidate says the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature is likely to eliminate his heavily Democratic Cleveland-area district.
But Kucinich says he’s not just going to stand by while that happens.
“I will not wait until a new Ohio map is produced to begin this crucial discussion of the consequences of congressional redistricting,” writes Kucinich. “I will not wait until the Ohio Legislature produces a new map to start thinking of the options. The question will not be: Who is my opponent? The question will be: Where is my district? Seriously.”

Hey, remember when right-wingers were worried about the Census?


Tea Party Group Now Planning
‘Siege of DC’ for January 21, 2011

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Colorado’s T.L. Davis and other activists want citizens to come to Washington (or visit the offices of congressmen and Senators in their home districts) to pressure them to act on a constitutionalist agenda:

These peaceful sieges will remain in effect until:
Obamacare is Repealed
The Federal Reserve is Audited and Ended
Our rights are recognized by every government agency
No Compromises!
We Stop When IT Stops!

You can learn more at Guardians of Liberty.

New Year’s 2011 Resolution

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I gotta get my crazy wingnut mojo back. Not only did I fail to get a Malkin Award nomination this year, but I failed to make it onto the Village Voice‘s list of “10 Best Rightblogger Rants of 2010.”

Professor Glenn Reynolds made both lists. When I’m getting out-wingnutted by a Yale Law graduate, obviously my mojo is MIA.

You should subscribe to the RSS feed, so you won’t miss any of the excitement in 2011: Year of the Wingnut!

Foreclosures Rising, Home Prices Slumping: Can You Say ‘Double-Dip’?

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The stimulus that didn’t stimulate has now been exhausted, and all the gimmicks by which the Obama administration attempted to hide the economic catastrophe — remember “Recovery Summer“? — have failed to change the somber reality:

U.S. home foreclosures jumped in the third quarter and banks’ efforts to keep borrowers in their homes dropped as the housing market continues to struggle, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday.
The regulators said one reason for the increase in foreclosures is that banks have “exhausted” options for keeping many delinquent borrowers in their homes through programs such as loan modifications.
Newly initiated foreclosures increased to 382,000 in the third quarter, a 31.2 percent jump over the previous quarter and a 3.7 percent rise from a year ago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision said in their quarterly mortgage report.

Meanwhile, even if you can still afford your mortgage, the value of your home is going down:

In October, Gary Shilling of A. Gary Shilling & Co., predicted that house prices would fall another 20%.
In the two months since, house prices have resumed their decline. . . .
[Shilling said:] “Who ventures into homeownership if he doesn’t know the size of his next paycheck or even if he’ll have one?
“Also, with almost a quarter of all homeowners with mortgages under water with their mortgage principals exceeding the value of their houses, many can’t sell their existing abodes even if they wanted to buy other houses.”

And 2010 was the worst year for bank failures since 1992:

So far this year, the 157 banks that failed had total assets of $92.1 billion compared to 140 bank failures with total assets of $169.7 billion in 2009. . . .
As of Sept. 30, when the FDIC released its last quarterly report, there were 860 banks on the agency’s “problem list.”
Since 2008, 322 banks have failed with combined assets of $633.7 billion and total cost to the FDIC of $79.5 billion.

If the housing market doesn’t recover, the construction business can’t recover and the only reason the financial industry is still holding up is because the Fed is pumping currency like there’s no tomorrow.

Alas, tomorrow eventually arrives. Consumer confidence is declining, and when the Daily Kos headline is “Economic experts see better year ahead,” am I the only one who sees this as a portent of doom? Wasn’t it the “economic experts” who got us into this mess?

Double-dip recession, here we come!

UPDATE: Linked by Donald Douglas at American Power.

Christine O’Donnell’s Not a Witch, But They’re Gonna Burn Her Anyway

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What to make of reports that former Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is under federal investigation for campaign finance violations? Her campaign manager Matt Moran is quoted by ABC News:

“The anonymous source seems politically-motivated and may well be tied to the ultra-liberal, George Soros-financed, former Sen. Biden staffer-run CREW [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington] complaint,” Moran said.
The left-leaning watchdog group filed complaints with the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s office and Federal Election Commission in September alleging the Republican candidate misused campaign funds.
“These charges are already being addressed with the FEC,” he said. “We are confident that they will be resolved in the New Year, and put an end to the frivolous sensationalism regarding this matter.”

Moran’s got a point. The FEC usually handles campaign-finance investigations in a quiet manner and it is seldom much of a headline when the FEC imposes a fine. More importantly, nine times out of 10, violations are only really newsworthy when they involve the winner of an election. The American Spectator‘s Aaron Goldstein asks: “If O’Donnell is under federal investigation shouldn’t the FBI apprise O’Donnell before they tell the AP?”

The attempt to inflate this investigation into a big story — top of Memeorandum — via leaks prominently featuring anonymous Delaware Republicans most likely represents the state GOP’s desire to drive a stake through O’Donnell’s political heart. It’s spiteful and pathetic.

The Delaware Republican Party is a ridiculous joke, and state GOP chairman Tom Ross is the punchline. But O’Donnell does herself no good by responding with conspiracy-theory accusations.

UPDATE: Dan Riehl chews the Weekly Standard‘s John McCormack a new one and points out that Melanie Sloan of CREW has clear ties to Democrats.

As to Dan’s accusation that I was “link-whoring” with my disparagement of conspiracy-theory explanations: O’Donnell’s worst enemies have always been Tom Ross and the state GOP insiders. So for her to say that Democrats were the ones pushing the FEC investigation — and to make it sound like “Joe Biden’s out to get me” — sounds nutty.

That Democrats may be wanting to clear a path for Beau Biden to take over for Chris Coons in 2012, OK. That both Republicans and Democrats may therefore have motives to bury O’Donnell, OK. But for the candidate herself to be saying this stuff . . . well, it’s just too Nixonian.