The Other McCain

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

Applies Far Beyond California

Posted on | October 27, 2010 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

Hope and Change has proven a recipe for Dopes in Chains. Via Kruiser, a smart ad targeting the ladies by pointing out what an agent of decline Boxer has been:

Prayers for a swift recovery to Carly and a recovery of the senses for all Californians supporting Brown and Boxer.

Category: California, Uncoverage

Belvedere Ups The Ante On The Axis Of Fedora

Posted on | October 27, 2010 | 26 Comments

by Smitty

The Axis of Fedora is continuing its relentless program of blogospheric expansion, this time sliding Bob Belvedere under the brim.

Of course, this puts pressure on fellow fashion Fernando Paco to step up to the haberdashery and show us the lid.

This post should also take a moment to not some deplorable developments in flyover country. ‘Axis of Cheddora’. Really? Is that all you’ve got? Don’t you know who won World’s Best Medium Cheddar this year? Let me know when you think your sad little state knows thing #1 about cheese, Steve Burri, or hats.

And no noise out of Lance, either, unless he’s willing to meet over on Yahoo Games for a desperately needed cribbage clinic.

Category: Blogging

Six Days Left in Stomping Season

Posted on | October 27, 2010 | 9 Comments

Manhattan and Georgetown are both a long way from Kentucky, but folks at MSNBC evidently hear hobnailed boots goose-stepping through the streets of Lexington, as the Dark Night of Fascism descends.

If recent polls have any predictive utility, by midnight Nov. 2, I expect Chris Matthews to be weeping hysterically over the defeat of Alan Grayson. Keith Olbermann “Special Comment” on the evening Nov. 3 will invoke Martin Niemoller (“First, they came for Mary Jo Kilroy . . .”) while Ed Schultz will congratulate Glenn Beck on retaining his eyesight long enough to witness the destruction he has brought about.

Excuse my dismissive tone toward the these professional paranoiacs, who have been trying to convice us that the now-infamous stomping of a MoveOn.org activist was a portent of a totalitarian future if Republicans win next Tuesday. Coincidentally enough, that’s exactly what the MoveOn.org “RepubliCorp” campaign is all about. Allahpundit posted this video yesterday:

You see? A ready-made dystopia for Democrats who don’t vote. This was the project that was being promoted Monday in Kentucky. My latest American Spectator column:

Lauren Valle wanted to create bad publicity for Rand Paul’s Senate campaign by having herself photographed next to the candidate while displaying a sign that mocked him as a tool of corporate interests.
Miss Valle’s stunt didn’t go off as planned, but the 23-year-old MoveOn.org activist certainly succeeded in her larger goal of creating bad publicity for the Kentucky Republican’s campaign. After she shoved her way through a crowd awaiting the candidate’s arrival for a debate at a TV studio Monday in Lexington, some of Paul’s supporters grabbed Miss Valle, pulled off the blonde wig she was wearing as a disguise and wrestled her to the ground. At least two TV news cameras recorded the most outrageous moment of the melee, when a man wearing a “Rand Paul for U.S. Senate” T-shirt stomped his foot on Miss Valle’s shoulder as she lay helpless on the pavement.
The trademark rapidity of news in the Internet Age took it from there. At 11:03 p.m., Atlantic Monthly senior editor Joshua Green posted an article headlined: “MoveOn Supporter Brutally Attacked by Rand Paul Supporter,” complete with a YouTube video from a Kentucky TV station. The video clip was, as Green said, “truly awful.”
Awful as it was, however, that footage didn’t tell the whole story. Yet no one online nowadays waits for the whole story before reaching their conclusions. “Rand Paul Supporter Stomps Head of Female,” said one “progressive” blogger. By midnight, a liberal blogger in Kentucky (who also happens to be a state employee) had pronounced the incident the work of GOP “Brownshirts.” . . .

Please read the whole thing — before those eeeeeevil Republicans make it illegal to read!

Category: Election, Kentucky

LIVE AT FIVE – 10.27.10

Posted on | October 27, 2010 | 2 Comments

TOP NEWS

White House All Wee-Weed Up Over McConnell 2012 Comments

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Call the Wahhhhmbulance!

Alaska Senate Candidates Spar On Resource Development
Miller wants Feds to open lands for exploitation, others nitpick

Massive Windstorm Spreads Damage Through Midwest
Air pressure readings lower than blizzard of ’78, storm that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald in ’75

Supremes Give Go-Ahead For Arizona Execution
Imported lethal injection anesthetic OK’d



POLITICS

Dems Retain Spending Edge Even With Outside Spending

President Obama takes time off from busy golf schedule to vote absentee

However, most of that money’s being spent on defense, while GOP attacks across the board

9th Circuit Rules Arizona Can’t Demand Proof Of Citizenship For Voter Registration
On the other hand, proof of ID at polls upheld

With Healthy Lead And Bulging War Chest, Rick Perry Asks Supporters To Spread Pro-GOP Message In Other States

Michael Steele Takes It To The Streets In Harlem



THE ECONOMY, STUPID

Dollar Rises As Investors Bet On Fed Buying More Treasuries

GlaxoSmithKline Pays $750 Million To Settle Civil, Criminal Charges

Berkshire Hathaway Drops Amid Buffett Succession Questions

B&N Rolls Out New Nook With Color Screen, Web Browser, Wifi and Music Player

PayPal, Facebook Launch New Micropayment Service



SPORTS

Nolan Ryan Provides Model For Rangers Pitchers

Rangers team president Nolan Ryan

Ryan’s methods lead to best ERA since 1990 when he was pitching for the Rangers; also a team-record 1181 Ks

Kroichick: Rangers Overcome Legacy Of Crazy As Big As Texas

Romo Out Of Action, Cowboys Taking It One Week At A Time

Vikings’ Coach Childress Fined $35K For Ripping Refs

“The Big One” At Talladega Could Wreck Leaders



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS

Charlie Sheen Found Drunk & Naked In Trashed Hotel Room

Charlie (not Martin) Sheen

Rep blames allergic reaction to meds, hooker says Sheen was doing coke

Coppola Quietly Shooting Next Pic With Val Kilmer

Galifianakis: Todd Phillips Is “Worst Jew In Hollywood”

“Glee” Christmas Album Due Out November 16

Cover Girl Justin Bieber Looks Beautiful For Toda Teen Star Magazine

Gene Simmons Hospitalized Briefly For Dehydration



Gangsta Rap Riffs On The President: Head Of The State (Video)



FOREIGNERS

Hundreds Missing In Wake Of Tsunami Strike Off Sumatra

Tariq Aziz Sentenced To Hang By Iraqi Court

Iran Begins Fueling Bushehr Reactor

Politicians Keep Going, But Canadian Businessmen Through With Ukraine



BLOGS & STUFF

NRO: Angle Attorney Alleges Democrat Vote-Buying, AG Apathy

Liberty Pundits: For Once, Brooks Gets It Right

Human Events: ACORN’s October Surprise

Jammie Wearing Fool: Know What Fascinates Katie Couric?

Yid With Lid: Daniel Webster Continues To Beat The Devil

The People’s Cube: The (Oval) Office – Hot Sitcom Spinoff Coming Soon!

The management would like to apologize for the lack of dick jokes, homoerotic references – oh, wait, we did a Cowboys link, never mind- and links to the current work of the Untamed She-Beast Of The Right. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.


— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

New Meme: Gimme A Breather

Posted on | October 26, 2010 | 2 Comments

by Smitty

Here is mine:

Show me your apolitical goods, people.

Update: Props to Cubachi on Twitter, who points to Static Cycle, with Bristol Palin in their video.

Category: Music

Why Vote Republican?

Posted on | October 26, 2010 | 7 Comments

If Marco Rubio doesn’t close the deal for you here, I don’t know what more anyone could possibly say:

Category: Election, Florida, Marco Rubio, Video

UPDATE: New Rand Paul Statement Condemns Kentucky Head-Stomping UPDATE: Stomper Tim Profitt Identified, Apologizes, Banned by Paul Campaign

Posted on | October 26, 2010 | 18 Comments

Official statement:

“The Paul for Senate campaign is extremely disappointed in, and condemns the actions of a supporter last night outside the KET debate. Whatever the perceived provocation, any level of aggression or violence is deplorable, and will not be tolerated by our campaign. The Paul campaign has disassociated itself from the volunteer who took part in this incident, and once again urges all activists — on both sides — to remember that their political passions should never manifest themselves in physical altercations of any kind.”

We’re still awaiting law enforcement reports of (rumored) arrests in the incident, but note this New York Times account:

Lexington police are searching for the suspects. Sherelle Roberts, a public information officer with the Lexington police, said they were looking for “at least two men, one who grabbed her and threw her to the ground, and one who stepped on her head.” She said they would be charged with assault. . . .
[B]y the time the police got to the site of the incident, Ms. Roberts said, the suspects had slipped away and disappeared into the crowd.
“Our search is focused locally, but if someone in Nebraska or New York knows who these men are, give us a call,” Ms. Roberts said. The number to call, she said, is (859) 425-2006.
The protestor, Lauren Valle, 23, from New York City, is a volunteer for MoveOn.org and was trying to give Mr. Paul a satiric antibusiness “award” and have her picture taken with him when he emerged from his car to go into the debate.
Ms. Valle was described as having pushed her way forward when the two men grabbed her, yanked a blonde wig off her head and then shoved her to the ground. An unidentified man is heard yelling, “Get the police out here! Get the cops.”

In other words, police weren’t in the immediate vicinity where this altercation took place — Valle may have been trying to avoid police scrutiny — but once the melee began, somebody had the good sense to call the cops.

I’m half tempted to drive to Kentucky myself. Wouldn’t be the first time. What do the readers say?

UPDATE: Via Memeorandum, we find that at least one left-wing blogger has used the term “Brownshirts.”

Wait: Libertarian fascists?

Never mind that nonsense. My plan for the final week before Nov. 2 had been to drive to Florida to cover the triumphs of Allen West and Marco Rubio. But I suppose a detour through Kentucky is feasible, if readers wish to contribute to the Shoe Leather Fund.

UPDATE II: A liberal blog says the man who did the stomp on Valle was Tim Profitt, a Bourbon County coordinator for the Rand Paul campaign, who signed a full-page ad endorsing Paul.

If true, that’s gonna leave a mark.

UPDATE III: Tim Profitt has admitted his role and apologized in a statement to the Associated Press:

Paul supporter Tim Profitt said video of the scuffle made it appear worse than it was and he chided police for not stepping in. Lauren Valle, the 23-year-old activist with the group MoveOn.org, said her face was swollen and her neck and shoulder were sore after she was wrestled to the ground by Paul supporters Monday night when she tried to give the candidate an “employee of the month” award.
Valle was roughed up before the debate between Paul and Democrat Jack Conway. The race is one of the most closely watched and hotly contested in the midterm elections.
“I’m sorry that it came to that, and I apologize if it appeared overly forceful, but I was concerned about Rand’s safety,” Profitt told The Associated Press.
Paul’s campaign dropped Profitt as campaign coordinator in Bourbon County in central Kentucky and banned him from future events.
Profitt said he was interviewed by a Lexington police detective Tuesday, but that he had not been charged.
“A friend of mine went up to three policeman before Rand got there, and told them about the girl who was standing there with that wig on and that she was getting ready to do something,” Profitt said. “The policemen looked at him and said that’s not our job.”

Great: Preventing a potentially violent incident is “not our job,” say the police, thus permitting a situation where the Left now gets to hurl “Brownshirt” slurs at libertarians.

Heinrich Schliemann would need years to excavate the layers of irony.

UPDATE IV: Explaining my very first reactions to this incident:

  • Make a joke.  Relieve the tension with humor. Many people find this habit of mine obnoxious. Neverthless, Shakespeare always included at least one comic scene in his tragedies.
  • Find a source. I linked Lisa Graas, who is (a) in Kentucky, and (b) fought her own battles with the Paulistas during the GOP primary campaign.
  • Acknowledge ambiguity. “I’m hesitant to jump to conclusions about what actually happened in this kind of made-for-TV publicity stunt.” When such an event is first reported, it can be very tempting to make an instantaneous judgment based on partial information. But I was not even sure that the Rand Paul supporters were legit. Still less did I presume to know what led up to the incident.

And once the story was updated to report that police were investigating, I said: “OK, so a police report has been filed, and the people involved in the incident are now suspects in an assault case. . . . Louisville police are now investigating the incident. The man who stomped Valle will be identified, and we’ll see how the story develops in coming days.”

It is not my habit to explain why I do what I do or why I write what I write. But Eric Boehlert of Media Matters and certain other left-wing nuisances have tried to portray me as somehow inciting or endorsing the actions of The Kentucky Stomper.

Once you get past my sarcastic humor, however, you see that my treatment of the incident was responsible, especially in urging that we wait to “see how the story develops.” Perhaps I should try harder to resist my instinctive sarcasm.

Send the Punchline to Glenn Beck!

Or maybe not.

UPDATE V: Of course, no moonbat ever accepts responsibility:  “I wasn’t running at the candidate, I was simply trying to escape those evil Nazi teabaggers!”

Look: I accept complete responsibility for my jokes. Nobody forced me to write obnoxious sarcasm, and I sincerely apologize for anyone injured by my tasteless humor. So if you can offer evidence that you suffered injury due to my joke, please let me know.

Reader contributions to the Sarcasm Defense Fund are sincerely appreciated, and I wish to express gratitude to Angela T. in Mississippi, Michael B. in Pennsylvania, Robert M. in Texas, Michael M. in New York and Jeff in Walla Walla for their recent contributions. Also, thanks to the “secret foreign donor” — in Canada! — who mailed a check while I was in Massachusetts.

UPDATE VI: Donald Douglas likes the Squeaky Fromme analogy. Allow me to point out that such is the Left’s tolerance of free speech that, when Ann Coulter gave a speech in Las Vegas in March, security was so tight that I nearly got thrown out by two cops who frisked me for weapons.

Category: Crime, Election, Kentucky, Senate

The Left’s Pre-Emptive Excuse-Making

Posted on | October 26, 2010 | 6 Comments

Apparently resigned to the fact that they’re heading for a memorable defeat, Democrats are trying to get a head start on explaining what went wrong:

Mr. President, how did you lose control of the economic message? Only months earlier, the administration had announced a push to remind the public of the positive impact of the stimulus. But the “Recovery Summer” campaign — press releases, big road signs, presidential and vice-presidential events — barely registered, and the “ground zero mosque” controversy dominated the summer’s silly season instead. . . .
The “original sin of the Obama administration,” says former labor secretary Robert Reich, “was to make the stimulus too small while giving out too much of it as tax breaks to businesses.” By most estimates, the stimulus saved or created about 3 million jobs, but it did not keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent, as the White House had projected . . .

So this, from David Corn of Mother Jones, gives us a clear idea of how the Left will interpret the expected drubbing on Nov. 2. The one thing that is ruled out in advance is the possibility that neo-Keynesian “stimulus” simply doesn’t work. 

Liberals simply refuse to accept that their economic theory is wrong, or to examine evidence that interventionism produces more harm than good.

The free-market critique of the New Deal’s failures? Ignored. The lessons of 1970s-era “stagflation”? Ignored.

Burt Folsom? Amity Schlaes? Never heard of ’em.

Ergo, if $787 billion in “stimulus” did not stimulate, then the Left concocts a “what-if” scenario of a $1.5 trillion stimulus that would have worked. The imagined benefits of this hypothetical super-stimulus have the advantage of being non-falsifiable, permitting them to believe that their theory is still viable.

Even the most phenomenal omens — negative yields on Treasury bonds? — are explained away as irrelevant or, if necessary, the liberals whip out their all-purpose response: Blame Bush!

No matter how much misery and failure their policies produce, liberals will never admit that their ideas are wrong.

Category: Uncategorized
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