by Smitty (via Insty)
My reply to the Stanford Daily is halfway down the page. Do a search for ‘Smith’. This was in response to SD’s ludicrous attack on Victor Davis Hanson, documented here.
Hopefully SD’s whiplash isn’t too severe from all this.
NY-25: Ann Marie Buerkle
Several friends have been urging me to support the Republican challenger in New York’s 25th District. She’s awesome:
The 25th District around Syracuse has sent Republicans to Congress since the 1970s. In 2008, eight-term Republican Rep. Jim Walsh retired and, in that year’s Obama-led surge, Democrat Dan Maffei got elected. Now the latest poll shows the district is swinging back to the GOP, and Ann Marie Buerkle is a fine candidate. Go give her $20.
Democrats are pretending to be worried that there won’t be as many women in the next Congress. Yeah, ask some of those Hillary supporters how much Democrats care about electing women. When it suits their purpose, Democrats are atrociously sexist. How about some of you PUMAs go give Ann Marie Buerkle $50?
Pete Da Tech Guy and I are planning a r0ad trip together and hope to visit the 25th District next week. The Cook Political Report just downgraded Maffei’s seat from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat,” and if you’ll go support Ann Marie Buerkle, it might be rated a “toss-up” by the time we get there.
A Public Sector Union Is A Mutiny Awaiting Its Moment
by Smitty (h/t BlueGrass Pundit)
Private sector unions would seem a simple application of the First Amendment. Fine. The government needs unions about like the US Navy, in my opinion. Particularly in the light of tripe like this:
Can’t Score With The VFW? If You’re Jim Moran, There’s MOAA. Or Not.
by Smitty
Do we need to call in Mr. Wolf, The Cleaner, from over at BlackFive? Hardly. We’re only talking about “Gentleman” Jim Moran here. As, according to Wikipedia, Moran was beavering away in school during Vietnam, we couldn’t expect him to shoot for a VFW endorsement. The Military Officers Association of America, MOAA, on the other hand? I’ve just seen an email to MOAA members objecting to this campaign literature (click image for full size .pdf), along with what could be called a rather curt memo. Oops:
The reason for the objection? MOAA has a strict no-endorsement policy, for tax reasons. Probably just an administrative oversight. Let’s envision the staff meeting, shall we?:
| Moran: | I’m looking at this pamphlet, Kleinewimper, and I don’t see any military endorsements. We need something to paper over my pasty beaurocratic flesh and make me appear patriotic. I’m beginning to get just a little worried about Patrick Murray. |
| Kleinewimper: | Heh. Heh. Yes, boss. Should we go through PMA? |
| M: | Too much scrutiny. We have to make sure that the usual people do the standard thing and rebury that zombie scandal. Who at the VFW owes us a solid? |
| K: | Uh. . . uh. . .Boss, there is some blowback building over the VFW endorsing cretins over veterans. . . |
| M: | Are you saying I’m a cretin? *whack* |
| K: | Owwwww! No, please don’t hit me, boss! I meant that some of the other VFW edorsements went to cretins. |
| M: | Well! See that you remain respectful. Who should we get? Find some reservist association, I don’t care. All I want is this pamphlet to have a bit of military flavor. What’s so hard about that? |
| K: | My neighbor is in MOAA. I’ll talk to him. |
| M: | Yeah, sure, NOAA. I don’t care. Just get my stupid pamphlet filled in. If NOAA squawks, I’ll have Gore tell them to lay by their dish. |
Thanks for doing the right thing, MOAA. This blog is fairly sure which way the organization would break between a tool like Moran and a veteran like Murray, were it to offer endorsements. Moran and his ilk represent the worst of a century of Progressivism. VA-8 does not need someone committed to Murtha-ism (i.e. dying in office), who thinks that the country exists to serve a few like him and his cronies. Rather, someone with a proven track record of serving the country.
VIDEO: Barney Frank ‘Debates’ Bielat
BOSTON — Here are two segments from last night’s 4th District debate on New England Cable News. First, on Social Security:
Now, there are a couple of things we need to point out here: First, the host Jim Braude is about as neutral and objective as John Kerry. You’ll notice that Barney is allowed to ramble on and on without any apparent limit. Second, Barney has an awful habit of describing his opponent’s position in tendentious ways: “What he wants to do is so-and-so” — a complete distortion, but when Bielat tries to point out the distortion, Barney gets all offended, as if Bielat has no right to speak for himself.
As I noted of Monday morning’s radio debate, Barney kept filibustering and complaining about Bielat interrupting him. Jonathan Strong of the Daily Caller counted eight different occasions where Barney did his “don’t interrupt me” act. Ed Morrissey has video of the WRKO radio debate.
Barney comes off as bossy, thin-skinned and arrogant. Partisan Democrats, of course, perceive this as Barney being tough — He’s not going to let that stupid Republican push him around! — as if a hectoring self-righteous manner of argument were synonymous with “toughness.”
In any other year, Barney would be cruising to re-election, but when unemployment in some 4th District towns is at 14 percent, all that talk, talk, talk starts getting on people’s nerves.
SEAN BIELAT for U.S. CONGRESS
It’s the Only Way to Make Barney Frank Shut Up
LIVE AT FIVE10.12.10
TOP NEWS
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Will be upgraded to hurricane later today
Unrepentant Paladino Calls Pride Parades “Disgusting”
Asks reporters, “Would you take your children? Would you?”
MIT Econ Prof Good Enough For A Nobel Prize
But apparently not good enough for a job with the Fed
POLITICS
Clinton Stumps For Manchin In Morgantown
Urges West Virginians to get beyond anger and frustration over economy, send governor to DC
Desperate Dems Grab At Social Issues Straws
Blanche Lincoln May Compromise On Bush Tax Cuts
Some Democrats Unhappy With Obama’s Attacks on Chamber of Commerce
THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Foreclosure Flap: White House To Save Banks From Angry Public?
Microsoft Debuts Smartphones With Windows Phone 7 OS
Crude Oil Futures Down As Dollar Rises
PRC To Post Largest Trade Surplus In Two Years
SPORTS
Favre Apologizes To Teammates For Distraction
NYT calls for Vikes QB to retire
Beavers’ WR Rodgers Out For Season With Bad Knee
Browns Could Start Rookie Against Steelers Next Sunday
Mets Interview Former Royals GM Baird To Replace Minaya
FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Cox & Arquette: It’s On The Rocks
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FOREIGNERS
Hungarian Metals Plant Director Faces Charges Over Toxic Sludge Spill
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BLOGS & STUFF
American Spectator: The President’s Nun
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Hit & Run: Citizens United Not The Big Deal Some People Think It Is
— compiled by Wombat-socho
Where He’s Building Ace a Robot: Inside Sean Bielat’s Campaign Headquarters
BOSTON — As everyone knows, this unprecedented effort to defeat Barney Frank really caught fire Sept. 22 when Ace of Spades coined the Official Campaign Slogan:
Sean Bielat For Congress
When he’s not killing terrorists,
he’s building fuckin’ robots
Although this slogan hasn’t yet appeared on billboards in Massachusetts’ 4th District, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. Meanwhile, while the candidate has been busy killing terrorists, building robots and debating Barney Frank, his campaign staff and volunteers keep working hard. Here’s a brief video tour of the Newton office that is main HQ for the Bielat campaign:
The encounter with the fired-up Bielat supporter coming to pick up his yard sign was completely unplanned, by the way, but it certainly is solid proof that there are hard-core conservative voters even in a liberal district like this.
Here you see volunteers manning the phone banks. This photo was taken about noon Sunday, and I’m told that the phone-canvassing operation doesn’t really start cranking up until after 2 p.m. in the afternoon.
Campaign signs adorn the partition inside the office.
This whiteboard shows the phone call totals from Friday. Notice that they called more than 14,000 voters last week from the Newton office, which is one of three Bielat campaign offices in the district. By Election Day, the campaign will probably have made more than 100,000 calls. If you’re in the area and would like to volunteer to help, here are the addresses:
Freetown Office
1 Chace Plaza
Freetown, MA 02717
1 Chace Plaza
Freetown, MA 02717
Norton Office
250 E Main Street
Norton, MA 02070
250 E Main Street
Norton, MA 02070
Newton Office
381 Elliot Street
Newton, MA 02464
381 Elliot Street
Newton, MA 02464
Some Bielat campaign swag, with Sunday’s Boston Globe.
No, the campaign isn’t hiring winos to wave signs. This is New Media consultant John LaRosa, who does cool things like running the “Bye Bye Barney” money-bomb.
And this is Terri, the volunteer receptionist who was featured in my American Spectator article Monday. Terri remembers meeting me in Boston’s North End back in January when I was covering the Scott Brown campaign.
Hey, it’s Sean Bielat! He was at WRKO studios for his Monday morning radio debate with Barney Frank, which was pretty cool. But not as cool as killing terrorists or building robots.
UPDATE: Moe Lane reports that Charlie Cook just upgraded MA-4 from “safe” to “likely Democrat,” along with four other previously “safe” Democrat seats, including the AZ-7 seat where Ruth McClung just got endorsed by Sarah Palin. Also upgraded: MN-8, where the Republican challenger is Ace-endorsed Chip Cravaack.
UPDATE II: Welcome, Instapundit readers! Our Massachusetts friend Pete Da Tech Guy says that in three weeks, Charlie Cook will be upgrading MA-4 to “Holy S#$%!”
Axis Of Fedora’s Relentless Blogoversal Onslaught
by Smitty
UPDATE: Not sure how to read Belvedere’s cluebats, except to say that I understood the photo he sent was not for publication. Instead, let me link Pat, who is doubtless more attractive in any case.
Da Tech Guy’s infectious headwear calling could not be resisted, and Pat in Shreveport has fallen prey thereto.
Celebrating this, it seemed useful to separate out this cadre of doughty bloggers from the regular blogroll, into the ‘Axis of Fedorables’ section. This is the penultimate stop in the middle column of the page.
If you’re a member, and my lousy memory has omitted you, please drop a URL/cluebat in the comments.