by Smitty (via Anorak)
This blog commends Anna’s foreign policy approach over Neville’s. Bombshell redhead, bombshell artillery; Rule 5 has a peace all its own.
Nearly In Defense Of Thomas Friedman
by Smitty (h/t VodkaPundit)
Goldberg’s demolition is rather thorough, a gold medal fisking, I daresay, but TF can almost be given credit for randomly approaching somewhere:
Friedman is of late very frustrated with America for its failure to do what he says it must. Last September, in one of many columns lamenting that China does things better than we do, he wrote: “Watching both the health care and climate/energy debates in Congress, it is hard not to draw the following conclusion: There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today.” He continues: “One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks, but when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages.”
Friedman has almost stumbled onto the existence of the Ruling Class.
It really takes a great deal of control to come that close to an important observation while remaining. . .just a bit outside. This blog would like to take a moment an applaud Friedman’s fine-grained idiocy management.
The Point at Which It Was Decided That I Should Probably Let Da Tech Guy Drive
Back home today after a nine-day campaign swing to Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania, which ended with a 46-hour road trip with Pete Da Tech Guy. He rented a car for the trip. Given my hillbilly/NASCAR hereditary prowess at high-speed driving, I drove most of the way. And then, traveling through western New York, we saw the sign that warned it was time for Pete to take the wheel. Continue reading The Point at Which It Was Decided That I Should Probably Let Da Tech Guy Drive →
BHO Survived Taping An Episode For Mythbusters
by Smitty (via The Constitution Club)
Yahoo reports on the story:
He also announced his appearance in an episode of “Mythbusters,” a Discovery Channel program that uses science to uncover the truth behind urban legends. Obama has already taped his appearance and the episode is scheduled to air Dec. 8. Discovery said that episode will consider whether Greek scientist Archimedes set fire to an invading Roman fleet using only mirrors and the reflected rays of the sun.
Sissypuss, the Blog Kitty, was in the area and reported that catastrophe was narrowly averted when the non-union extras holding the mirrors got careless and reflected too much sunlight at the President. The Great Disinfectant would have caused injury, but the Keynesian Fog about the Presidential noggin was thick and rich enough (at your expense, reader) to absorb the light.
However, a round of golf was required for recovery.
The extras in question were, let us say, ‘strongly encouraged’ to join the SEIU and go find people to register for the election as penance for their ineptitude.
God Rest Mildred Fay Jefferson
by Smitty
It’s a shame when great Americans violate the Holy Narrative and are therefore underreported. Via The Corner comes word of the passage of Mildred Fay Jefferson, who was truly a lovely lady and whose death is a loss to the world. From a LaShawn Barber post a few years back:
Dr. Mildred Fay Jefferson (in retro black and white), the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School in 1951. . .and she did it under legal segregation and without skin color preferences.
Heroic Marine Assaults Enemy Stronghold
That stronghold being Maryland’s 5th Congressional District, where House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is pinned down under heavy fire from Republican challenger Charles Lollar:
You know the Democrats are in trouble when Steny Hoyer hits the airwaves in his campaign to retain his seat in Congress. Hoyer, whose seat was generously drawn for him by Maryland Senate President Mike Miller, usually uses his campaign largesse to benefit his Democratic Party colleagues with little thought of himself.
That changed due to an aggressive campaign by first-time candidate Charles Lollar, who is making inroads into previous Hoyer strongholds in Charles, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties.
Lollar, who served in the Marine Corps, is taking the same no-nonsense approach to going after the previously unassailable Hoyer that has earned the U.S. Marine Corps worldwide respect and, yes, a little bit of fear.
Steny, who famously bragged in past campaigns that he is a “tax, tax, spend, spend Democrat,” has, through the magic of political advertising, been transformed into a statesman whom the good people of the 5th congressional district of Maryland cannot do without. . . .
Read the whole thing by Rick Manning in The Hill. Three weeks ago, after Smitty and I had lunch with Charles Lollar, I reminded you:
Now, thanks to your help, Maj. Lollar has Steny Hoyer in his sights. How about giving another $20 to help Charles Lollar finish the fight?
This is truly a heroic battle. The Lollar campaign is run entirely by volunteers, with strong Tea Party support, and an upset victory in MD-5 would shock the nation. Every “Dollar for Lollar” makes a difference. Please do all you can to help.
CHARLES LOLLAR for U.S. CONGRESS
UPDATE: Maj. Lollar gets an “oo-rah!” from Dan Riehl.
UPDATE II: In desperation, Rahm Emanuel sends out a fund-raising e-mail to help the DCCC get more money to pay for more misleading ads to smear Republicans.
UPDATE III: Welcome, Instapundit readers! The question is now raised of an “apocalyptic scenario” for Democrats in two weeks, but as Professor Reynolds keeps reminding us, don’t get cocky!
VIDEO: Army Sgt. Robert Delgado Explains How Allen West Saved His Life
Let’s see Ron Klein try to top this:
UPDATE: Another hero, USMCR Maj. Charles Lollar.
A Ronald Reagan Tribute From Daniel Hannan
by Smitty
Reagan and his ranch feature prominently in I Want Your Money, as well as this splendid post by Hannan:
The casual visitor wouldn’t guess that this had been the home of the leader of the free world, this the table where the greatest tax cut in America’s history was signed into law, this the telephone used to call the families of fallen American soldiers. Other than one or two historical works among the cowboy novels, the only political touch is the shower-head, which is in the shape of the Liberty Bell. Here, plainly, lived a man who was bien dans sa peau; a man who, unlike so many politicians, had nothing to prove. Mikhail Gorbachev, visiting the ranch, was distressed by how basic it was; Margaret Thatcher, by contrast, loved it, intuiting that it reflected the character of its inhabitant.
Read the whole superbly written thing. Also hanging ten is Hannan’s new release, The New Road To Surfdom, which would be, like, way tasty dude, were the subject matter less dire.