This Is Exactly The Kind Of Sophomoric Stuff We Don’t Need

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by Smitty (h/t Tabitha on Twitter)

Just because conservatives did well Tuesday, there is no need for foolish triumphalism. We shouldn’t just go on an on about the trophies.
And, really, isn’t all the taunting laughter beneath the dignity of our political process? How are we going to find common ground; moderate; achieve consensus; restore dignity; feel classically liberal; carry on proud traditions, and engage in mellifluous pettifoggery amidst these antics, I ask. Click to view:

This blog officially decrys these three hooligans and their immature acts, issues a stern ‘tut tut’ and a three second wave of the extended index finger in their general direction.

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.04.10

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TOP NEWS

Fed Lowers Short-Term Interest Rates Nearly To Zero

Ben Bernanke Explains It All

What’s next, paying people to take out loans?

Iowa Sacks State Supreme Court Justices
Judges unanimously declared gay marriage legal





Israel Bags Top Terrorist In Gaza Strike
Shin  Bet announces kill on Mohammed Namnam, assist by Air Force

L.A. Times: Pelosi’s Effectiveness Not Rewarded
I dunno, guys, seems to me she got exactly what America’s voters thought she deserved



POLITICS

For Speaker Boehner: More Confrontation, Or Compromise?

John Boehner (R-Ohio), likely to be the new Speaker of the House

Rush has some relevant advice

Obama Says He’ll Negotiate With GOP On Renewing Bush Tax Cuts
Or will he?

Murray’s Lead Over Rossi Widens

The fix was in.


Hispanic Candidates Win Big Tuesday
Mostly in the GOP.



THE ECONOMY, STUPID

T-Notes Gain, Long Bonds Fall As Fed Targets Mid-Term Debt

Stocks Up After Fed Announces T-Note Purchases (Video)

Panasonic Invests $30 Million In Tesla Motors

Facebook Adds Deals To Facebook Mobile

Lawsuit: Apple Made Upgrade Break Old iPhones

Microsoft Raises 4Q Estimates On Kinect Device Sales



SPORTS

Titans Claim Randy Moss Off Waivers

Randy Moss in Vikings gear

Passed in the ’98 draft, didn’t want him the first time he hit the waiver wire, but now…

Sparky Anderson Enters Hospice As Dementia Worsens


Hawks Stay Unbeaten As Pistons Drop To 0-5

Sixers Pick Up First Win, Collins Out Again With Vertigo

Tens Of Thousands Gather In SanFran For Giants’ Victory Parade



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS

Ashlee Simpson Channels Edie Sedgwick

Ashlee, left; Edie, right

Because all the other celebritard stories are just too depressing to lead off with

Miley Cyrus Not Taking Sides In Parents’ Divorce

Surf Legend Irons’ Death Possible OD?

Gwyneth Paltrow To Sing Radio Edit of Cee-Lo Green’s “F*ck You” On “Glee”
Another fine piece of soul music ruined by white people >:(



FOREIGNERS

Greece Halts Overseas Air Shipments After More Bombs Found

Tropical Storm Tomas Threatens Tottering Haiti

Former PM, Gazprom Creator Chernomyrdin To Be Buried In Novodevichy

After $2 Billion In Aid, Pakis Continue To Stall On North Waziristan Offensive



BLOGS & STUFF

Atlas Shrugs: Bachmann Humiliates Matthews On MSNBC

Jay Cost: They Weren’t Voting For Republicans, They Were Voting Against Democrats

WSJ: Democratic Coalition Crumbles

Michelle Malkin: Take Your Olive Branch And Shove It, Democrats

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Welcome to the Gloat Zone

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Got a few more hours sleep and now I’m beginning to emerge from the mind-fogged condition of extreme exhaustion that was the inevitable result of this long final road trip of the 2010 campaign.

Now it’s time to get our gloat on. What about the idiots at MSNBC? For my money, it’s hard to top Lawrence O’Donnell’s fear-mongering claim that Rand Paul might single-handedly destroy the global economy:

Then there was Barney Frank’s spiteful little tantrum. As Ed Morrissey observes, this has to be the least gracious victory speech in the history of victory speeches:

Feel free to gloat it up in the comments.

My Bagpipe Teacher Would Not Approve

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by Smitty (h/t Kottke)

As someone who occasionally gets some time on the instrument, I can appreciate the playing here, to a degree:
The fingering is articulate at ludicrous speed, and the peel-offs are way beyond my own meager skill. However, one is officially required to assume a reactionary stance about any non-traditional pieces on the instrument.
But would SFU tell him to STFU (silence the foolish unpleasantness)?

Me: These Federal Entitlements Are As Realistic As A Unicycle With A Kickstand

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by Smitty

Lefty: Easily done.

 

Me: Well, scratch that analogy. Wait. It’s got no pedals.
Lefty: Bush.
Me: I thought you had a reality-based argument there, momentarily.

Update: And what’s in my reader? A link that gets us to “Scary Wage Data II — Social Security Changes Its Numbers“:

Removing the phony W-2s reduced total compensation by $32.3 billion or 0.55 percent of all the wages, salaries and bonuses earned by Americans. The total number of people with any work was reduced by two to 150,917,733.

As a result of the revisions, the data show that the average wage in 2009 dollars declined by $457 (not $243), a 1.2 percent decline from 2008. The revision shows that since 2000 the average wage, in 2009 dollars, barely changed in real terms, increasing only $347 or 0.9 percent after nine years.

The median wage – half make more, half less — was unchanged at $26,261. The median is $37 lower than in 2000 and $253 lower than in 2008.

It is my fervent hope that the Roberts Court has the courage to revisit prior decisions and note that they have proven pure hooey over time, and simply club them to death with the appropriate legalese flourishes.
Update II:American Enterprise Blog’s Andrew Biggs is a sane conservative, which I guess makes me a raging rabid reactionary, for suggesting raising the early retirement age from 62 to 65.
Retirement is only a Federal problem because it was made one in the name of Holy Progress. The remedy to our current crisis will be found in reviewing soberly just what levels of government own which problems. Systematically and reasonably returning State level concerns to the States, where they belong, will probably become popular after the economic cataclysm coming Real Soon Now, or my name isn’t Half-Cocked Jack.
But forget the common sense solutions, Biggs: let’s discuss shades of lipstick for the pig.

Miracle Comeback: Ann Marie Buerkle Now Has Slim Lead in NY-25

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Oh, my goodness. This was a Republican candidate I covered during my road trip with Da Tech Guy, but I’d written off this district as lost last night. Incumbent Democrat Rep. Dan Maffei had already declared victory.

But today Left Coast Rebel proclaimed the good news: Ann Marie Buerkle has come back to a 659-vote lead, thanks to late returns from Wayne County.

Absentee ballots remain to be counted, so say a prayer.

I’m a “Road Man for the Lords of Karma,” and the karmic wheel may be turning against Dan Maffei.

Dear Ace: ‘A Choice, Not an Echo’

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — OK, after the last post, I promised I was going to go back to sleep, but somebody in the comments said that Ace of Spades was “bitching and moaning . . . that the tea party cost us DE et al.”

Because I didn’t see the aforesaid bitching and moaning, I can’t address any specific complaint by Ace. Let me say, however, that it is wrong to blame “the Tea Party” for the Senate defeats in Delaware and Nevada and the apparent Murky comeback in Alaska.

Nor, I think, can “the Tea Party” be blamed for the double-wipeout in California. I always felt that Whitman and Fiorina would either both win or both lose. If either of them melted down, the other would go down with her. And it was Whitman who melted down over that illegal maid thing — an unfair liberal media hit, but it took her off-message during a crucial phase of the campaign and she never recovered her balance.

Note to future Republican candidates: Do you own damned laundry and wash your own damned dishes. If you have ever employed a domestic servant named “Maria,” please don’t run for office as a Republican.

Mike Murphy, $90,000 a month. Meg Whitman, 41%.

Attaboy, Mike!

Let me continue with California for a minute: Continue reading Dear Ace: ‘A Choice, Not an Echo’ →

On Supporting Long-Shot Candidates

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by Smitty

I’ve not the slightest misgiving about supporting my local candidate, Col. Patrick Murray (USA-Ret), against Jim Moran, who enjoyed one of the more comfortable margins yesterday evening.

  1. Murray is an exemplary American.
  2. One might say otherwise of Jim Moran.
  3. If you’re not in the game, your loss is self-fulfilling.
  4. It was genuinely fun.
  5. Absolutely no incumbent of any party is so immaculate that they deserve to run unopposed. Allowing VA-8 to be referred to as “Moran’s seat” (NBC-4) is offensive.
  6. Moran’s margin was decreased over 2008, albeit not by as much as I’d like to have seen.
  7. Victory in 2012 may be predicated upon a 2008 foundation. Given a heuristic problem, saying “It’s too hard” and chickening out marks you a liberal. I’ve not the slightest clue whether Destiny will have Murray run again in 2012, but I hope that the redistricting and lessons learned from this outing, plus the recovery time, will support another outing.
  8. From a leadership-by-example standpoint, it’s hypocritical to encourage others to be engaged and expend time and treasure supporting candidates, and then fail to support my locals.
  9. Tying down opposition resources locally prevents the opposition from spreading those resources around. They need to be disabused of the notion of “safe seats”.

Double down, conservatives. The internet promises to decrease the likelihood of the Tea Party enthusiasm being rolled back into the GOP a la the Perot enthusiasm of ’92. If you’re going to get back on the GOP reservation, and accept another Dole or J.S. McCain in 2012, then forget everything earlier in this post and welcome to Venezuela. But I don’t think that threat credible. The Tea Party toothpaste will refuse re-toobing.

Update: Mattie Fein has approved this message. Fortune smile upon you, lady, and the groovy 1/3 of your district.

Mattie Fein, a firm believer in denying the opposition respite.