"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler
by Smitty (via The Corner)
The sanest wonk in Congress, Paul Ryan, attempts to speak sense. DWS replies with “fear Wall Street”.
If anything, Ryan’s plan is too centrist, in my opinion. My opinion is probably not too politically tenable, either.
This blog would like to commend Paul Ryan for extraordinary tact when faced with an utter knob.
Susie Madrak’s conference-call complaint that the Obama White House treats liberal bloggers like “the girl you’ll take under the bleachers but you won’t be seen with in the light of day,” has become the hottest topic on the ‘sphere. The premise of the conflict is itself a conundrum, as Allahpundit says:
Mind you, the purpose of the call was for Axelrod to beg the nutroots to help get rank-and-file Democrats excited to vote in November. . . . Aren’t lefty bloggers already doing everything they can to scare the hell out of their readers about the coming GOP wave? Didn’t Kos, whose site is big enough to have generated an annual conference attended by top Democrats, just publish a book comparing conservatives to the Taliban? What more do you want them to do, Ax, immolate themselves in grief?
Aleister of American Glob compares Madrak’s situation to Flounder in Animal House, and Left Coast Rebel says:
The story here is not that the ‘professional left’ is pissed with Obama. The real story here is that far-left, pseudo Bolshevik smear merchants like those at Crooks and Liars are given access to the White House in any shape, matter or form in the first place.
And the fact that a blogger at Crooks and Liars has her you-know-whats in a bunch? Give me a break, she’s a fringe-kook, that would probably make Ward Churchill look moderate.
She’s obviously got anger issues of the sort that raise the question, “If a tree falls in the forest, and there are no Republicans around to blame, who does Susie Madrak cuss at?” Continue reading Under-the-Bleachers Blogger Externalizes Rage, Demands to See Speedo Picture →
by Smitty (via No Sheeples)
What’s interesting is all of the Tea Party candidates appear briefly. So maybe the blowback is reaching some of those floppy senior elephant ears.
by Smitty
From a 16Sep AP story, emphasis mine:
Paul Magliocchetti pleaded not guilty to an 11-count indictment felony indictment on Aug. 20. He is charged with paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal donations to scores of campaigns dating back to 2003 to enrich himself and increase his firm’s influence with public officials.
The former lobbyist was to have gone on trial Oct. 5.
A person outside the government who is familiar with the criminal investigation said that the once-prominent lobbyist will enter a plea on Sept. 24 in federal court in Alexandria, Va., where a new electronic entry on the courthouse docket specifies that Magliocchetti will have a “change of plea hearing” in his case on that date.
Later on, emphasis still mine:
Magliocchetti was a major player in Washington lobbying for nearly two decades.
Democrats on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, where Magliocchetti once worked as a staffer, became favored recipients of donations by lobbyists in Magliocchetti’s firm, PMA Group Inc.
One of his early successes was lobbying on behalf of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who received a $58 million bailout from Congress for his shipbuilding business
From 1989 to late 2008, Magliocchetti and his employees gave members of Congress $3.4 million in campaign donations, more than most of the larger lobbying firms in town.
If the allegations in the indictment are true, a sizable chunk of that money actually came from Magliocchetti personally or from the firm’s coffers
In 2007 and 2008 alone, three top Democrats on the House defense subcommittee directed $137 million to defense contractors who were paying Magliocchetti’s PMA Group to get them government business.
The three were subcommittee chairman John Murtha of Pennnsylvania, James Moran of Virginia and Visclosky.
Murtha, who died in Feburary, collected $2.37 million in campaign contributions from PMA’s lobbyists and the companies it has represented since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political money. Visclosky has collected $1.36 million; Moran, $997,348.
“Gentleman” Jim Moran made the 2009 most corrupt politicians list, courtesy of Judicial watch.
This blog thinks that Jim should just go hang out with his buddy Matthews on Hardball more or less indefinitely.
Let’s hope that the prosecutor does an effective job. Moran may be innocent. Also, Charlie Rangle has merely been a trifle careless with some paperwork.
by Smitty
The FaceBook Page That Rocked America just celebrated 6 months of the ObamaCare sucking wallet wound with a post: “Lies, Damned Lies – Obamacare 6 Months Later; It’s Time to Take Back the 20!”
No need to quote the litany of government prevarication outlined. This blog, ever concerned with safety, would like to caution everyone to stay well clear of the Executive Spin Machine, as they’re likely to engage battle-override to deal with this, and the machine could fly apart. You are warned.
From TBT20:
Join me in standing against those who stood with Obama and Pelosi in voting for this disastrous bill. The Democrats from 20 districts we carried in 2008 voted for Obamacare. Now we can vote against them.
Not to bag on the Gov. for thinking small, but there are far more than 20 Democrat louts lacking loafer love. Thus, I’m off to phonebank for Col. Patrick Murray, and see if I can get a live post out from the HQ.
Update: Ace of Spades quotes Michael Barone:
I asked Michael Barone about the Democrats’ full year of denial, about when they finally started to grasp that this was genuine outrage, a citizenry aroused.
He didn’t answer that, but he did offer this explanation: The Democrats assumed all the Tea Party rallies and Town Hall confrontations were astroturfed and filled with Republican operatives, because that’s precisely how they gin up their public displays of support.
They almost couldn’t grasp the possibility that our rallies, unlike theirs, might be real.
Instead of Waterloo, I’ll link the even-more-appropriate S.O.S.
ABBA? Let’s move a bit East of Sweden. I think Finland’s Apocalyptica working out on “Enter Sandman” by Metallica far more fitting the Democrat situation
“We’re the girl you’ll take under the bleachers but you won’t be seen with in the light of day.”
— Susan Madrak, Crooks and Liars
Never mind exactly why Madrak went off on David Axelrod during a conference call today. The point is that she’s right.
In order to win elections, Democrats have to pretend to share the values of the American middle class. They can’t afford to associate themselves too publicly with the grungy leftoids who are, in fact, the driving force behind the Democratic policy agenda.
I have no idea what inspired Ms. Madrak’s evocative metaphor.
UPDATE: You know, the difference with conservative bloggers — beyond the demonstrably greater pulchritude of our lady-bloggers — is that we’re not so willing to shovel shit for politicians.
The whole point of calling this blog “The Other McCain,” after all, was to distinguish myself from that two-faced backstabbing weasel who got the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. (David Nolan for U.S. Senate!) And just today, Erick Erickson, Philip Klein and others panned the Republicans’ “Pledge to America.”
The conservative blogosphere staged an uprising when the GOP establishment tried to shove Charlie Crist down our throats, fought tooth and nail to defeat a sitting Republican senator in Alaska, and recently dumped the “safe” Mike Castle in favor of Christine the Teenage Witch. We’re rather lose an election than to get screwed over by people who don’t respect us.
Our liberal moonbat counterparts dismiss us as dangerous extremist wingnuts, but we actually expect the politicians we support to pursue our wingnut extremist agenda — whatever that agenda may actually be, because at this point, all we care about is electing people who will vote “no” to Obama’s agenda.
Frankly, I liked the moonbats better when they were completely out of power, foaming at the mouth, camping out in ditches with Cindy Sheehan, and trying to elect that hopeless loser Ned Lamont.
Don’t worry, Susie Madrak, you’ll get back there yet!
UPDATE II: Susie “Suburban Guerrilla” Madrak tells her version of her exchange with Axelrod:
[H]ow am I supposed to motivate my readers when you treat them like the town ho?
Or words to that effect. I do it all for you, my beloved readers.
And what readers they must be! She gets 14 comments on a post, but averages barely 1,000 visits a day. In recent months, we’re averaging about six times that traffic, and seldom get more than 10 comments on a post.
UPDATE III: Welcome, Instapundit readers! And thank you, Professor. The ‘Lanche arrived while I was toiling away on an answer to that burning question: “What’s wrong with people like Susie Madrak?”
Newsreal contributor Susannah Fleetwood attended BlogCon, where she was kind enough to pose with sidekick Smitty:
Earlier today, Smitty highlighted Mrs. Fleetwood’s latest column and, in an e-mail thanking us for the linkage, she mentioned remembering that someone had taken a photo like this. However, concerned that perhaps Frau Smith might share Mrs. Other McCain’s (unjustified) suspicion that BlogCon was a crazed saturnalia of New Media debauchery, I had previously refrained from publishing this picture.
That is a lanyard around Susannah’s neck, not Mardi Gras beads.
Besides, Smitty and I have our excuse ready: Blame Tabitha Hale.
Or maybe Da Tech Guy.
Is it our fault that the fedoras are irresistible?
Bill Clinton will campaign Sunday for Barney Frank and never have two more famously fervent advocates of oral sex shared a stage at a political event — not even in Boston!
And what is the occasion for this Bill and Barney reunion?
Well, you see, back in January, a guy named Scott Brown got himself elected to the Senate, and suddenly Massachusetts Democrats realized that maybe taxpayers were serious about this “tea party” stuff. And Barney is obviously afraid that his bloated, saggy self might be rejected in favor of a handsome young Marine named Sean Bielat:
Hoping to turn a weekend campaign appearance by Bill Clinton on behalf of Barney Frank to his own advantage, Republican congressional candidate Sean Bielat is pointing to the former president’s arrival as a sign that the race is tightening.
“He wouldn’t be bringing in Bill Clinton if he weren’t in the position he is right now,’’ Bielat said. . . .
Bielat, who is furiously trying to nationalize a race long considered a reach for Republicans, is hoping the visit helps demonstrate to GOP donors around the country that he is mounting a credible campaign against Frank. A 35-year-old ex-Marine from Brookline, Bielat won the Republican primary last week. . . .
Frank’s campaign had more than $1 million on hand through the last week of August. . . .
Lisa J. Barstow, Bielat’s communications director, said he had about 700 to 800 volunteers. He is also running ads on radio and the Internet.
Bielat had raised $232,000 through Aug. 25. The campaign says the pace of its fund-raising has picked up in September, though aides did not have an updated total. . . .
Tory Mazzola, Northeast regional spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said it was too early to make funding decisions, but that the party was keeping its eye on the race.
“Sean Bielat is running a great campaign and I think he’s proving momentum is behind him,’’ Mazzola said.
The Republican challenger has certainly stirred up a storm of interest in his campaign. Too bad the Bielat campaign rejected my idea for a bumper-sticker slogan: “Barney Sucks.”
UPDATE: Of course, my Bielat slogan suggestion wasn’t the only one rejected by the campaign staff:
Sean Bielat For Congress
When he’s not killing terrorists,
he’s building fuckin’ robots.
That was suggested by Ace of Spades, who will probably get so excited about the latest Bielat campaign internal poll, he won’t notice if I borrow another shtick from him.
