The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Forgotten Victims of Sharptonism: Remembering Yankel Rosenbaum

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | 14 Comments

“Al Sharpton is a professional bigot. During his long career the Reverend has incited two anti-Semitic pogroms; the Crown Heights riot and the firebombing of the Jewish-owned Freddy’a Fashion Mart in Harlem. Each of the Sharpton-incited pogroms resulted in deaths, but now for some unknown reason Reverend Al believes he is the caretaker of religious tolerance in the country . . .”

Category: Al Sharpton, New York, Progressivism, Racism, Religion

Sarah Palin at Restoring Honor Rally

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | 26 Comments

The world’s biggest Facebook page provides full text of her speech at Glenn Beck’s event in Washington, D.C.:

In cities and towns across our country, you’ll find monuments to brave Americans wearing the uniforms of wars from long ago, and look down at their inscriptions, you’ll see that they were so often dedicated by mothers. In distant lands across the globe, you’ll find silent fields of white markers with the names of Americans who never came home, but who showed their dedication to their country by where they died.
We honor those who served something greater than self and made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as those who served and did come home forever changed by the battlefield. Though this rally is about “restoring honor,” for these men and women honor was never lost! If you look for the virtues that have sustained our country, you will find them in those who wear the uniform, who take the oath, who pay the price for our freedom. . . .

Read the whole thing — a welcome antidote to that SEIU thug who said the thousands of peaceful citizens who turned out for Beck’s rally “represent hate-mongering and angry white people.”

UPDATE: Sissy Willis has some relevant thoughts on Obama’s “Hellenistic hubris” and links Melissa Clouthier:

Lots of people, hundreds of thousands of them showed up for the Restoring Honor rally at the Lincoln Memorial. The bitter clingers keep showing up.

“Bitter clingers of America, unite!”

UPDATE II: Smitty was in attendance at the rally, and I’m sure he’ll have more to report if he ever makes it back home. Meanwhile, Instapundit rounds up the crowd estimates — it seems that 300,000 is the, er, conservative estimate — and quotes a reader’s e-mail:

In other words, Glenn Beck’s rally drew more people than Keith Olbermann has viewers.

Wonder how many would turn out for a Keith Olberman rally? He could call it “Restoring Unpopularity.”

UPDATE III: Looks like Dave C. from Point of a Gun car-pooled with Admiral Smith:

Smitty and I arrived right when the rally started and couldn’t crowd our way up more than halfway up along the Reflecting Pool. Those press credentials I printed out myself could only get so far.

Doggone it, guys, if I could have been there — $678! — we would have been chilling backstage with Glenn and Sarah.

Obviously, I need to start teaching seminars on how to b.s. your way past security: First, always wear a sports coat and a shirt with a collar.

Forget about comfort. If you’ve got an official full-access credential, you can dress like a fat tourist on vacation, but otherwise, it’s important to look like a legitimate member of the working press. And nothing says “legit” like a sports coat and button-down oxford.

Remember: There is no law against impersonating a journalist.

UPDATE IV: “Bummer about that turnout, Al.”

UPDATE V: Jimmie Bise Jr. links reports from Smitty and many other bloggers who attended:

I prefer to get my news from people who were at the rally, instead of those who carp and snark from the sidelines.

Word.

Category: Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin

Watch Out, Smitty: Rev. Al Sharpton and Code Pink Are Heading Your Way!

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | 26 Comments

While Smitty is blogging from the Reflecting Pool, Al Sharpton is leading a march from Dunbar High School that is being live-blogged by The Washington Post‘s Krissah Thompson, a few excerpts of which are illustrative:

Joyce White arrived at a what she called a counter-march to Fox News host Glenn Beck’s rally. She came to remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech but also to show her opposition to Beck.
“If we hadn’t elected a black president, do you think they would be doing this today?” she asked. . . .
The bleachers [at the Dunbar High football field] still weren’t filled 10 minutes before the “Reclaim the Dream” rally organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton was scheduled to start. . . .
Bianca Farmer, a senior at Dunbar High School, received big applause when she told the crowd not to stop at celebrating Obama. “We must be fearful of stopping there,” she said. “The fight is not in the same arena as it was 47 years ago but the fight lives on.” . . .
Representatives are here from various District political campaigns, labor unions and churches . . .
The Rev. Al Sharpton said in an interview before he spoke to thousands at his rally in Northwest Washington that “people are clear in what Dr. King’s dream was about and we will not react to those who try to distort that dream.” . . .

(Uh, if you’re not going to “react,” why the march?)

“Shame on them. We still have a dream. We are here to let those folks on the Mall know that they don’t represent the dream,” said Jaime Contreras, president of SEIU-32BJ. “They sure as hell don’t represent me. They represent hate-mongering and angry white people. . . .”
Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the ralliers gathered at Dunbar High School that education is the civil rights issue of this generation. . . .
Code Pink is also at the rally, along with other anti-war protesters. The crowd showcases a mixture of progressive/liberal causes.

Code Pink? What the heck is that about? Well, anyway, the 5-mile march from Dunbar to the Lincoln Memorial started a little after 2 p.m., and was reported to be moving slowly. So if Smitty heads home before supper, he’ll miss his chance to “represent hate-mongering” to the Rev. Sharpton, Code Pink, SEIU, and their friends.

UPDATE: The husky ponytailed blogger can’t stand it:


Explaining the specific causes of Charles Johnson’s failure as a writer — his inability to compose persuasive rhetoric, etc. — would be a simple task, but why bother with analysis? Just enjoy the laughs.

UPDATE II: The Sharpton march denouement:

When the Sharpton rally reached the mall, most of the crowd from Beck’s rally had begun to disperse. Those remaining, mostly smiled politely. . . .
“Glen Beck, we’re going to show you. We ain’t going to let Glenn Beck turn us around,” one man shouted into a megaphone. . . . “We need to be shouting ‘we are America,'” said one woman in Sharpton’s rally. “See all those tea baggers.”

In other words, Sharpton’s crowd wanted a confrontation, and the Restoring Honor participants just smiled, probably thinking to themselves: “We’ve got Sarah Palin and 300,000 people. Who do you have? Al Sharpton, SEIU and a bunch of freaking Code Pink losers? Nov. 2 is just nine weeks away. Have a nice day.”

Category: Al Sharpton, Progressivism, Racism

Restoring Honor: Thank You, Warriors

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | 36 Comments

by Smitty

REFLECTING POOL, WASHINGTON, DC–It’s an hour into the Restoring Honor event. What a great undertaking. This is a great exercise in American Exceptionalism. Beck’s religiosity is right out front, but mostly ecumenical. While no mention is made of anyone in office, one wonders if the monitors carry the word ‘Faith’ to nearby residences, whether or not their occupants are on holiday.
The focus is on the troops. Sarah Palin offered introductions and anecdotes about several Veteran attendees including one Hanoi Hilton alumnus. If I may use the ‘P’ word, she sounded quite. . .poised, for all the stories were heart-rending.
Beck had started the ceremony by noting that the Media had called and estimated the attendance at 1,000. Here is a quick crowd pan, so that you can judge for your self what an exaggerating fibber that notorious Beck is:

Here was a shot walking toward the event:
Guessing that George Washington would have approved.
Even though the event is deliberately apolitical, let us not be coy: it was apolitical in that parties and names younger than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were left out, but the timing/location/choice of material Speak Volumes.
The event rolled along somewhat awkwardly, going from the military focus to Dr. King’s niece, who gave great speech, in my opinion.
I was shuffling out as Beck came back on to attempt a synthesis of the two strains of thought, using the Gettysburg address as a vehicle. I thought it a fine effort; Beck put MLK’s peaceful legacy alongside the warrior legacy of the monuments all stood among, and both were shown to point to the founding ideas of the country.
Then he made it personal, by refusing to admit a distance between the individuals in the crowd and the names crowding the history books. We must each step up to the plate in our own way to keep those founding ideas alive.
Thank you, Glenn.

Category: Glenn Beck, Uncategorized

Great Moments In Navigation: ‘Restoring Honor’ Edition

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | 15 Comments

Smitty:   Are you sure this is where the Restoring Honor event was supposed to be?
Skippy:   Well, it’s what I read in a comment on a post somewhere on the DailyKos. . .

Guess it’s time to get moving if we’re to make the Mall.

Category: Glenn Beck, humor

Fantastic: Murkowski Judas-ery Roils Alaska

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | 16 Comments

by Smitty

This week’s FMJRA is in awe of Lisa Murkowsk’s commitment to career over service. FMJRA has obtained a slightly technical document from WikiIncontinence describing what looks to be her overall plan for victory in the primary and Alaska Senate race: Murkowski’s Inequality. We don’t fully understand it, either, and will rely upon our erudite readers for guidance.

In other news, props to the Mind Numbed Robot on the one year blogoversary, with a tacit sorry to others we’ve failed to so honor.

And three cheers to Renee Elmers for the Ten Buck Friday victory. What the country needs is more cheery, conservative nurses.

To work.

Really, Senator Murkowski: Really?

Read more

Category: FMJRA Award

Thank You, Desert Renegade

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | 48 Comments

Sitting here near midnight, I was feeling bummed out — lower than a snake’s belly — over this:

Friday afternoon Mrs. Other McCain said, “Oh, Jim just called — you need to go pick up the part for the car.” This required a trip across town to a machine shop, where my 17-year-old son had taken the valve head for our 2004 KIA Optima.

Two weeks ago, the timing belt broke. No problem, it seemed at first. My son and his friend replaced the timing belt but, when they went to start it, it turned out that four of the 16 valves were bent. (This being a side-effect of the broken timing belt, although the mechanics of this side-effect are alien to me.)

OK, so the valve head — the part on top of the engine to which the phrase “double overhead valve” refers — had to go to a machine shop to be repaired. Again, no problem, it seemed. The work would cost “four hundred something,” my son said, and we were prepared to bite the bullet.

Having a teenage son who’s a budding shade-tree mechanic (mentored by his more accomplished buddy) certainly saves labor costs. “Four hundred something” is nothing compared to what this kind of job would cost at a regular auto-repair place. So when my wife dispatched me to fetch the part, I had in mind a certain price that would be paid.

What I didn’t know was that Jim had also ordered gaskets and other parts necessary to doing this repair, and when the man at the machine shop — who may have been the eponymous Denny — told me the bill was nearly $700, my reaction was shocked anguish.

To say that this unexpected additional expense ruined my day is an understatement. I was heartbroken, devastated, emotionally wiped out. Maybe an extra $250 isn’t much to you, but it’s The Mother Of All Bummers when there are already bills past due and I’m rattling the tip jar to hustle up air fare to Anchorage.

After a while, I called Smitty to tell him that it looked like, all things considered, I wouldn’t be joining him in D.C. for Friday evening’s “Smittypalooza” or Saturday’s 8/28 rally. A real kick in the head, you see: Here I am planning a trip to Alaska and now I feel like I can’t even afford a day-trip an hour down the road to D.C.

Smitty commisserated, and mentioned that it had recently been decided by people above his pay grade that his part-time services to Uncle Sam would soon become full-time for a year in a place where all The Smart Guys say there’s no chance of anything resembling “victory.”

Kind of puts that $678 repair bill in perspective, eh?

Smitty further counseled that, back when he was a young enlisted sailor out at sea enduring miserable conditions aboard the USS Something Or Other, he would occasionally read the Book of Job, and reflect that at least he hadn’t lost everthing to raiding Chaldeans, been afflicted with festering sores, etc.

However much your life sucks, cheer up: It could get worse!

And inevitably does, it seems at times. Now I’m just praying that when my son and his buddy reassemble the engine on the KIA that they don’t discover any worse problems requiring further expensive repairs.

Did I mention that we bought the KIA used in 2007? That we still owe at least two more years of payments, and that the finance company calls most every day wondering how soon we’ll make another one?

Tucker Carlson doesn’t have such problems, you know.

So I was sitting here, about midnight, pondering my afflictions — six hundred and seventy-eight freaking dollars! — and also feeling the bitter disappointment that not a single blogger had deemed my big scoop about the Alaska LP newsworthy enough to merit linkage, when I decided to check the SiteMeter. 

There I saw that someone going by the moniker of Desert Renegade had linked an older post of mine at Free Republic.

It may seem a small thing, but for some reason that link cheered me up and gave me hope.

Also, August is now officially the best traffic month at The Other McCain since we switched to WordPress.

Thank you, Desert Renegade. You’re an angel.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
— Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)

And I am still going to Alaska.

UPDATE: Patrick at Political Byline:

You ask, “So, why does he need my help?” Well, Mr. McCain is a full time writer and blogger, like me. In other words, He’s unemployed . . .

LOL! Actually, I am what used to be called a freelance journalist. The decline of print journalism has made this a problematic job description. Getting paid to write is one thing. Getting expense money is something else entirely.

Also note the difference between liberal media and conservative media: Andrew Sullivan gets paid by The Atlantic Monthly to rant about Sarah Palin’s uterus, because liberals want to read that kind of stuff. Ace of Spades is a far better blogger, but you don’t see Ace fending off job offers from, say, National Review or Newsmax, because conservative publishers are generally obsessed with “respectability.” And the New York Times is never going to publish an op-ed under the Ace of Spades byline, so we are in a sense, collectively screwed.

The American Spectator tolerates rogues a bit more — Bob Tyrrell has a mischievous streak — so that’s why I feel more comfortable publishing there.

Category: Alaska, Blogging, Religion, Shoe Leather Fund

Murkowski Is ‘Insanely Un-Libertarian’ UPDATE: ‘99% . . . No Way’ Murkowski Will Get LP Nomination, Official Says

Posted on | August 27, 2010 | 30 Comments

The deal that Palin-hater Andrew Halcro is trying to broker to secure Lisa the Loser’s Senate nomination on the Alaska Libertarian Party ticket strikes many people as odd, simply because Murkowski is the kind of GOP Establishment type that LP activists loathe in their souls. And at least one top national LP official isn’t afraid to say so:

Wes Benedict, executive director of the Libertarian National Committee, told The Daily Caller that Murkowski hardly fits the Libertarian Party mould. “As far as I’m concerned if Murkowski is for bringing our troops home and for ending the war on drugs and if she voted against the TARP bailout and she is for reducing spending then maybe she could earn a spot on the Libertarian ballot,” he said. “But my understanding is that she voted for the TARP bailout and that is just insanely un-Libertarian.”

(Yeah, I was just compelled to link the Daily Caller for that quote. Life sucks sometimes)

There is much cause for conservative supporters of Joe Miller to be discouraged by the current situation, including the fact that I just got hit with an unexpected $678 repair bill for the 2004 KIA — life sucks sometimes — but we’ll leave that aside for a minute.

The far larger problem is that Team Murky is much better-funded and far more devious than the grassroots activists (and hired GOP clonebots) running Team Joe. What I’m hearing from Anchorage suggests that the Miller people don’t seem to grasp how a game like this is played, whereas the Murkowski crew is playing it like the ruthless political mercenaries they are.

Although Andrew Halcro’s obsessive hatred of Palin is such that he may be working as an unpaid freelance operative for Team Murky, he advertises himself as a political consultant. It is therefore likely he’s getting paid (if not by the Murkowski campaign, then by her Big Money supporters) to play matchmaker between Lisa and the LP.

Meanwhile, the LP people say Joe Miller’s campaign staff seem unduly cautious about reaching out. While Miller’s grassroots supporters are friends with the Libertarians — well-acquainted through common activism in the Tea Party movement — the paid staffers at Team Joe are regular Republican operatives, some of them from out-of-state. And not all of them seem to be taking the Libertarian Party seriously.

Which kind of explains the Tweet that one of those staffers sent out on Miller’s Twitter account:

“What’s the difference between selling out your party’s values and the oldest profession?”

Now, if that got spun as a dig at Murkowski, there would have been public-relations hell to pay, so the follow-up Tweet from Miller depicted it as being aimed at the Alaska LP:

“Please accept my apologies. Staffer trying to encourage Libertarians not to sell out.”

Good news: The LP people in Alaska have a sense of humor: “We don’t view prostitution as necessarily being a bad thing,” one Libertarian said. They understand and are not holding that one against Miller.

Bad news: This embarrassing incident is just one example of how the Miller campaign staff is badly misplaying their opportunity with the LP.

If Team Joe wants to “encourage Libertarians not to sell out,” they could try this simple and direct solution: Have either the candidate or his campaign manager make a phone call to Alaska LP chairman Scott Kohlhaas and arrange to meet for a cup of coffee.

It would be that simple, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Remember, first thing Wednesday morning — as soon as it became clear Murkowski had come up 1,668 votes short in the primary — Halcro called Kohlhaas to open negotiations, and Halcro is in direct communication with Murkowski.

All it would take to end this talk of Lisa the Loser becoming America’s Least Plausible Libertarian is for Alaska LP officials to say, “No deal.”

But — you knew there was a “but” coming, didn’t you? — the LP people aren’t going to make that kind of statement if Team Joe doesn’t show them some respect. So we’ve got something of a Mexican standoff that seems to be caused by a belief among key people at Miller HQ that it would be beneath the dignity of a Republican Senate nominee to reach out directly to those wacko Libertarians.

That’s discouraging, but now some good news: I’m informed that Sarah Palin has taken notice of the situation — she’s in Hershey, Pa., for a speech tonight, prior to her appearance Saturday at the Beck rally in D.C. — and is aware that LP Senate nominee is a fan. Don’t underestimate Mama Grizzly’s savvy.

More good news: Despite what Erick Erickson’s sources told him about Team Murky offering a “sizeable chunk” of Lisa the Loser’s million-dollar campaign account in exchange for the Libertarian Senate nomination, the LP people say they haven’t gotten one red cent from her, nor has anyone made a firm offer to the LP. No money has exchanged hands and no deal has been struck.

Meanwhile, Kohlhaas and other LP officials are being indundated by phone calls from Alaska and national media, but on-the-record public statements from Libertarians remain noncommital.

Call the LP whores if you wish, but they certainly aren’t stupid whores.

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with Alaska LP vice chairman Harley Brown who said, “More than likely — 99 percent — there’s no way Murkowski is going to be our nominee. I don’t see that happening, honestly.”

Furthermore, Brown dismissed as “completely ludicrous” any report that the Alaska LP has accepted or agreed to accept money from the Murkowski campaign. “That’s just somebody running their mouth . . . just a rumor,” Brown said.

Brown is an advocate for the legalization of marijuana, and said his original motivation for joining the Libertarian Party was former Gov. Frank Murkowski’s strong anti-drug policy.

Brown says the LP is willing to meet with Murkowski — it would be “rude” to reject such an offer, he said — and he is “flattered” that the Libertarian Party spot on the ballot is suddenly so coveted. He and other LP activists “worked our butts off” to get enough petition signatures to keep from getting “kicked off the ballot,” he said.

The attention national and statewide media are now giving the LP is “great publicity,” Brown said, and the Libertarians hope it will help their party.

Just a crazy idea: If Joe Miller’s supporters were to contribute to the Alaska LP — hit their tip jar, as it were — that might be an effective way to send a “No Murkowski” message.

UPDATE II: I’d promised to say more about that $678 repair bill, and have now kept my promise.

Category: Alaska, Election, Joe Miller, Sarah Palin, Senate
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