"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler
by Smitty
How can RSM be*:
while having sprung from origins this humble?
Discuss.
*It must be said that, while I have remorselessly criticized Stacy’s Luddite non-approach to technology adoption, comparing his methodology to cuniform work on a clay tablet with a reed stylus 5,000 years ago (before that new-fangled papyrus came in), while not inaccurate, had not occurred to me.
Profiting from the sale of dual-use technology to Iran? Rep. Jane Harman (D-Transylvania) might have gotten away with this monstrous scheme, had it not been for Young Mattie Fein:
You knew when Ladd Ehlinger Jr. went to Hollywood, he’d produce something brilliant. Here’s the script:
FRAU HARMAN: Ahmadinejad! Ahmadinejad! We have done it! I’m going to set you free. Would you like that?
MONSTER: (groans)
FRAU HARMAN: They wanted to keep you from Iran! I am going to help you! I’m going to —
MATTIE FEIN: Frau Harman! What are you doing?
FRAU HARMAN: I’m going to set it free!
MATTIE FEIN: Are you insane? That stuff’s deadly!
FRAU HARMAN: We’ll worry about it later in the next war . . . which will make me even richer!
MONSTER: (leaps off the table, screaming.)
MATTIE FEIN: Get back! It has rotten ethics!
FRAU HARMAN: It is not rotten!
MATTIE FEIN: It’s rotten, I tell you! Rotten!
FRAU HARMAN: I’m not afraid! I know what the electorate likes!
(begins playing violin. Monster follows, swatting the air)
MATTIE FEIN: It was you who voted for the bailouts to enrich Wall Street!
FRAU HARMAN: (violin stroke) Yes!
MATTIE FEIN: And it was you that confessed that TARP didn’t create jobs or help small business!
FRAU HARMAN: (violin stroke) Yes!
MATTIE FEIN: It was YOU that said you were for freedom of the press when you tried to block stories instead saying how awful you were!
FRAU HARMAN: (violin stroke) Yes!
MATTIE FEIN: It was YOU who said you were pro-Israel when in reality, you were doing business with companies in Iran!
FRAU HARMAN: (violin stroke) Yes! Yes! Say it! Ahmadinejad was . . . my . . . boyfriend!!!
MONSTER: (goes crazy)
Among the points made in the video:
Harman was one of 140 House Democrats who voted for the TARP bailout in September 2008, when the bill failed, and then voted for it again in October 2008, when it passed. TARP provided $185 billion to insurance giant AIG, $45 billion for Citigroup and $138 for Bank of America. Harman also voted for the $879 stimulus bill in January 2009. In a July 21, 2010, e-mail newsletter, Harman wrote: “The national unemployment rate remains unacceptably high, and LA County’s work force is suffering. I am disappointed that the TARP program has failed to loosen credit for many local businesses and individuals, and that stimulus spending has not created more local jobs.”
In November 2004, Harman contacted New York Times Washington Bureau Chief Phil Taubman urging him to kill a story on the Bush administration’s surveillance program. Salon’s Glenn Greenwald excoriated Harman for her double standards on wiretapping. Harman’s multimillionaire husband recently bought Newsweek, creating questions about the Democrat’s influence in the media.
The Democrat’s stake in Harman International involves “AKG Acoustics of Austria, a wholly owned subsidiary . . . [which] distributes electronic products in Iran under the name of Fowzi Electronics, Ltd in Tehran, Iran. . . . AKG is materially assisting Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism,” Fein says. The U.S. military employs AKG communications equipment, which therefore qualifies as “dual-use technology,” Fein says.
How timely that this video should be released while Iran is making headlines:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be very grateful for Jane Harman’s assistance. And Frau Harman’s Republican challenger in California’s 36th District will be grateful for your assistance.
UPDATE (Smitty): Welcome, Instapundit readers!
UPDATE II (RSM): In addition to the coveted “Heh” from Professor Reynolds, Mattie Fein’s cinematic debut also gets rave reviews from Sissy Willis (cross-posted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits), Bob Belvedere, The Lonely Conservative, Daley Gator, Ruby Slippers and California TCOT, and is praised by Ed Driscoll as “Great Moments in Political Advertising.”
Ben Smith at Politico gives me no linky-love, but that’s OK. I was on the set when Ladd shot the ad:
Mona Lee Goss as Frau Harman.
Mattie Fein with Steel Chambers as the Monster and Jack Marino as Igor.
Frank Rich’s latest idiotic idea is that Fox News coverage of the Ground Zero Mosque controversy has thwarted U.S. anti-insurgency efforts in Afghanistan.
No, seriously. He actually devoted 1,572 words to making that absurd argument.
This inspired Rob Long to script a scenario:
I can see it now: the flickering firelight in a dark cave somewhere on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan; the hum of a gas-powered generator; a static-filled, snowy image on the tiny television. On the rickety table, a letter of surrender addressed to General Petraeus. A Taliban terrorist leader is about to sign the letter. His pen is poised over the paper.
And another Taliban terrorist stops him and points to the TV. “Did you see what they called us on Hannity?”
Yeah, that’s a comment on my latest Ricochet contribution, so please read the whole thing.
Throngs of lovestruck blog groupies will thank you for it.
by Smitty
Thad McCotter on Dennis Miller’s radio show. Six minutes on GZM. Thoughtful, dispassionate, sprinkled with good humor. Five minutes on offense against Pelosi & crew, with a swipe against Jimmy Carter. Nothing earth shattering, but I’m a T-Mac fan, so there.
They take a question in the end, and McCotter exits by asking Miller if he’ll have a membership in Gutfeld’s new club next to the GZM.
And I’m now “Guest Contributor” of the week over at Ricochet — one of those guest-blogging gigs that doesn’t actually involved getting paid, but . . . Well, at least I tried. Their editor, James Poulos, is a friend of mine and when Scott Immergut invited me to contribute, I replied by e-mail:
While our sideburned friend Mr. Poulos advises me to accept the invitation, two questions occur immediately to my capitalist mind:1. Does this involve large sums of cash?2. Does it require any real work?Generally speaking, Item 2 depends on Item 1, but if there are other considerations involved — fawning adoration by lovesick blog groupies, possible future payment of bar tabs, etc. — please be specific.While I’ll probably accept the invitation anyway, a bit of haggling at least helps me maintain the illusion that I’m doing something worthwhile.
by Smitty
The week in gorgeousness was dominated by Rima, who, with full political incorrectness, prefers bikinis to burkhas and non-confrontational locations for cultural reconciliation. Also politically incorrect: Jennifer Aniston, who was hoisted on her own ‘retard’. While Rule 5 does not support breaches of decorum, a consultation with Janet Jackson, a private piercing revelation, and a ridiculous euphemism like “wardrobe malfunction” or “hope and change” might buy more notoriety. Continue reading Rule 5 Sunday →
by Smitty
Pat Condell, who is a stand-up comic when not ranting on YouTube, offers some safe ethnic humor:
One should view others soberly, and seek to walk humbly amongst fellow humans. Taking oneself less seriously has been quite a boon to me, particularly online, where plain text obscures as much as it communicates.
by Smitty
iOwnTheWorld echoes a Jeffrey Kuhner editorial in the Washington Times about the need to impeach BHO:
If Republicans win back Congress in November, they should – and likely will – launch formal investigations into this criminal, scandal-ridden administration. Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has promised as much. Mr. Obama has betrayed the American people. Impeachment is the only answer. This usurper must fall.
No, really, impeachment isn’t the only answer. For example, there is a Presidential election in 2012. Unless you’re going to argue that it’s all a farce, the fix is in, and the event will be a dog’n’pony, impeachment is not ‘the only’ answer.
More to the point, as I’ve argued elsewhere, BHO is more symptom than disease. Impeaching him might bring pleasure to some. That pleasure, along with $5, will still get you a beverage at Starbucks.
I’ll double down.
The whole impeachment meme is a variation on Alinsky Rule 12. The entry level course would use personalize the opposition, and make them an example.
An advanced usage of Rule 12, call it 12.5, could be having a polarizing figure like BHO suck the oxygen out of the room. Long before Alinsky, there was chess. In chess, controlling tempo is crucial. Controlling the news cycle is the goal here. Accepting some damage on one flank might limit damage in a more vulnerable location. Say:
There might be some temptation to think that an Alinsky Rule #9 threat of impeachment is helpful. Yuck. Real adults don’t play cheezy games. If the members of the Congress won’t support Impeachment, either for reasons of partisanship or a squishy case, then just forget it. Impeachment is not the sort of thing to try: it’s a ‘not-do’ until such a hypothetical time when a ‘do’ should arrive. Consider Blago before taking the eye off the ball. Consider that Ryan’s Roadmap is the closest thing to a recovery strategy around, and where is the buy-in?
The last decade has seen both the consolidation of power in the Executive, and a continuous assault on whoever is in the Oval Office. In a whacky retro way, restoring Federalism and separation of powers is the answer, not impeachment. Focus on the disease, not the symptoms, people.
Impeachment should join Birtherism and Is-he-Islamic-ism in the ‘blah, blah, blah’ bin.