Delaware Senate Primary Update: NRA, DeMint Endorse Christine O’Donnell

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Once Sarah Palin endorsed, the avalanche was on:

The National Rifle Association endorsed conservative commentator Christine O’Donnell Friday in Delaware’s Republican Senate primary.  The Tea Party-backed O’Donnell is looking to upset Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) on Tuesday.

Via Memeorandum and also CNN:

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint announced Friday night his endorsement of the Tea Party-endorsed candidate.  . . .”I’m proud to endorse Christine O’Donnell for U.S. Senate in Delaware,” DeMint wrote Friday on his Twitter page. “She will stand strong for the principles of freedom.”

Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post:

What is clear now is that if O’Donnell wins — and that remains a long shot — Palin will receive the lion’s share of credit and grow even stronger among grassroots activists as 2012 gets ever closer.

Well, certainly Palin’s influence would be enhanced, but it must be pointed out again that co-blogger Smitty first called our attention to Christine O’Donnell back in March. It was obviously the Smittylanche that made the crucial difference here.

By the way, if anybody has any news of Friday’s Sussex County rally for Christine, please share it in the comments, with links.

A Post That Is Not About Net Neutrality

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At BlogCon Friday, we went to the Newseum in D.C. for a panel discussion that was supposed to be about politics. During the Q&A period, however, it got hijacked into a discussion of The World’s Most Boring Policy Issue. After ten minutes of this narcolepsy-inducing blather, I gestured frantically at Tabitha Hale and got the microphone for the next question, the beginning of which was Tweeted by Glen Asbury:

Seriously. That was ten minutes of our lives we will never get back.

Erick Erickson of Red State with National Review‘s Jim Geraghty, who loves Mike Castle in pretty much the same way an 11-year-old girl loves Justin Bieber.

Bill Whittle and Stephen Green now have perfect spinal alignment, after hanging out for a few minutes with Dr. Melissa Clouthier. She’s billing it to PJTV’s health insurance plan.

Tabitha Hale liked that caption so much, she said she’d hit the tip jar — when hell freezes over.

DaTechGuy Double Dose

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by Smitty

This blog and DaTechGuy form something of a mutual admiration society. Besides being a thoroughgoing gentleman, he also was also kind enough to opine on Erik Erickson and Matt Kibbe, who opened the BlogCon thoughtful remarks.
Erickson had offered an anecdote about a decent neighbor who had been neighborly until discovering that Erik is conservative, at which point the neighbor could only sputter about Dick Cheney connections:

Reacting to the need for post-03 November continuity of the Tea Parties. DTG touches on the historical ‘antidote’ of LBJ, and then delves into the fact that sports teams succeed or fail in practices, and win on gameday. Then he free associates to BHO as an unaffordably expensive free agent pick for the left, and the country.

Prelude To Remembrance

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by Smitty

The 10th of September is a suitable day to take the readers on a heavy journey.

It’s not a cemetery, but, every time one goes into Memorial Hall at the US Naval Academy, one makes no effort whatsoever to hold back the tears. As you ascend the stairs, the words of Captain Lawrence,
emblazoned on a replica of the battle flag of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (original down Stribling Walk in the Museum) afford a standing contradiction to modern cheese-eating surrender monkeys of all stripes.
Zooming in a bit on the plaque below the flag, one reads:

One tears up even while writing this. Below the plaque, like a sort of miniature of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, is a list of fallen Alumni, arranged chronologically and grouped by conflict. Thus, in the lower right corner, one arrives at a tragically heavy end:

Three of the fourteen listed are classmates. LCDR Erik Kristensen, in particular, is of note, as he was the son of the commanding officer of my first ship.
As we remember the victims of the 9/11, let us recall that the struggle unfolds over time.
Positive statements of firmness, resolve, and commitment to principle are worth making.
The negative inputs of a Terry Jones or a Fred Phelps, not so much.
People join the military, I can say from experience, setting aside a portion of their individual liberty for a time so that the country’s liberty remain protected. The reason there is such a disproportionate (I say with no research to back me up) military Tea Party presence is that those who have served are having none of this nonsense espoused by the Left.

Blog Con: Born to Be Wild

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Tabitha Hale likes to ride the big hogs. And also enjoys motorcycles.

Ace of Spades, Lori “Snark and Boobs” Ziganto, Dave “Iowahawk” Burge and Caleb “Don’t Have a Nickname” Howe on the afternoon “Humor in Blogging” panel discussion, which was a lot funnier than this photo might suggest.

Matt Kibbe explains Friedrich Hayek’s Austrian theory of sideburns.

Smitty likes pudding. And also enjoys a tasty snack.

Ah, The Narrative Shifts

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by Smitty

After Sarah Palin’s “Biggest Gamble“, endorsing Christine O’Donnell, frequent commenter Kn@ppster posits:

Strange race … Two big-government Republicans, one running as the GOP establishment candidate even though he frequently bucks the party line, the other one running as the anti-GOP-establishment candidate by emphasizing how much more GOP-establishment-friendly her positions are than his.

Interesting analysis.
What this brings to mind, though, is that after Utah and Alaska, nobody is accusing the Tea Parties of being simple GOP sock puppets.
Alinskyism needs to attack an opposing center of gravity. Lacking an identifiable HQ and opting for maneuver warfare, the old Alinsky leviathan remains highly dangerous, but may be surmountable.
As Matt Kibbe discussed last night, and echoes with Armey and Gillespie in this clip, 03 November is crucial. Keeping the attention focused on Washington is the sunlight about which the good POTUS emoted during the campaign, and during this administration only long enough to reach over and shut off the lights. ‘Unexpectedly’, of course.  The hot new swear word of 2010.
The mainstream media only wishes the Tea Parties were GOP puppets, as it would make them easier to control. Commitment to solid principles means that spokespersons are interchangeable. If leader pro tempore A wanders off the straight and narrow, they get laughed off stage. If A gains enough stature that the media can swing into Alinsky mode, two more rise in the place of A.
Keep all this in mind after the election, when the real extent of the Progressive damage starts to become apparent. I, for one, am girding the loins for a revelation that the crap sandwich we perceive today ain’t the half of it.
At that point, the Tea Parties will have to double down, and all of the 2010 campaign rah-rah shall have been mere warm-up.

Unlike Stacy, Smitty Needs His Beauty Sleep

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by Smitty

Thanks, Tabitha!

a couple members of the axis of fedora
Tom White of VA Right and Tabitha Hale

Tom blogs at VA Right, and Tabitha is mostly too busy for such.

Last night’s reception at the Crystal City Sheraton answered the question: if bloggers were Trekkies, would Scott Ott be Spock, Stephen Green be McCoy, and Bill Whittle be Kirk?

No: nobody was weird enough to ask that question.

BlogCon what it must be like to show up at the MTV Music awards if you’re a musician; getting to meet people whom you admire and discovering that, wow, folks like your stuff.

While he declined to have a picture taken, meeting the Iowahawk was a treat. I’d say it’s fair to characterize him as of the Charles Martin Smith mold. Unabashedly gushing, I allowed that The Idiossey had inspired me to write OediPOTUS Wrecks. Not to tout my own trash, mind you, but reality seems to be tending toward the deus ex machina at the climax.

The other rock star blogger that I’m pleased to have met was Ace of Spades, who is as non-descript Iowahawk, but writes some hilarious, if a trifle edgy, headlines, of which here are two related examples:

Ace: This New Rasmussen Poll Makes Me Want to Dress Up Like Jame Gumb And Put Marco Rubio In My Victim-Hole
Marco Rubio: I’m Calling The Police
Ace: There You Go With Those Mixed Signals Again		 Ace: This New Poll Makes Me Want To Devour Marco Rubio’s Life Essence So That I Can Transform Into Him
Marco Rubio: Please Stop Being Creepy
Ace: Then Please Stop Sending Me Psychic Phone Calls Through My Grandmother’s Skull

Today’s agenda seems full of useful stuff, so check back during the day, as the little netbook gets put through its paces.

Apropos nothing, check out tokarski21 on YouTube, who serves up interesting historical tidbits in a brief, entertaining fashion.