The Other McCain

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

In The Mailbox: 11.02.20 (Election Eve Doomed Beyond All Hope Of Redemption Edition)

Posted on | November 3, 2020 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 11.02.20 (Election Eve Doomed Beyond All Hope Of Redemption Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Pagan Vigil: Memo To All Future Political Telemarketers
357 Magnum: I’m Old Enough To Remember When Elections Were Peaceful
Bleach Cocktail: Suicide Bombing Of Peace In Vienna
EBL: Clay Travis On Why He Supports Donald Trump
Twitchy: San Marcos Police Say Biden Staffer’s Car May Have Been At Fault In Trump Caravan Incident
Louder With Crowder: Crazy Maxine Waters Promises To Never Forgive Blacks Who Vote For Trump
Vox Popoli: Endgame Approaches, also, Walk It Back, Walk It Back
Surak Blog: We The People Are Not Stupid Or Evil (h/t Red Pilled Jew)
Stoic Observations: The Stoic Vote

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Friday Hawt Chicks & Links – The Fate Of The World Edition, also, Election Predictions
American Conservative: Trump At Last Targets The Google Whale
American Greatness: Donald Trump, Counterrevolutionary, also, PA Democrat AG Declares “Trump Is Going To Lose”
American Power: Expect Election Day To Be A Repeat Of 2016
American Thinker: Trump, The American Lion, & The Republican Cowards, also, October Surprise – This Race Is Over
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Another Massive Anti-Communism/Trump Rally In Miami On Sunday
BattleSwarm: Glenn Greenwald & The Democratic Media Complex, also, BidenWatch For November 2
Cafe Hayek: More Ivor Cummins On COVID
CDR Salamander: Intentionally Choosing To Be Deaf & Blind In Africa
Da Tech Guy: Raise Taxes, Kill Businesses – Must Be California, also, Biden & Harris Never Gave Voters An Answer On Court Packing
Don Surber: How Trump Threw Obama Off His Game, also, It Feels Like A Revolution
First Street Journal: Korean Businesses Matter Too, also, Authoritarians Gotta Authoritarian!
The Geller Report: George Soros’ Plan B If Biden Loses, also, Maxine Waters – “Black Trump Voters Are Shameful”
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, Coming Attractions
Hollywood In Toto: Woke IndieWire Shredded By Its Own Liberal Readers (Again), also, Here’s What Makes Faith-Based Miracle On Christmas Different
JustOneMinute: One Day More
The Lid: Florida Busts Attempt To Register Over Fifty Dead Democrats
Legal Insurrection: Antifa Rioter Tells NYPD “I Hope All Your Children Get Raped & Killed”, also, Can Trump Pull Off An Historic Win In Blue Minnesota?
Power Line: Biden’s Destructive Education Program, also, Red Mirage?
Shark Tank: Guillermo Smith Stokes More Racial Division In Florida
Shot In The Dark: 101 Reasons
STUMP: Reading The News With Meep
The Political Hat: Happy Halloween! (2020)
This Ain’t Hell: American Hostage Rescued In Nigeria By SEAL Team Six In Daring Raid, also, ShutDown DC Advises Federal Employees On Aiding Their Movement
Victory Girls: Karl Marx Lives Loudly Through Kamala Harris
Volokh Conspiracy: Why This Religious Freedom Case Is Different From The Others
Weasel Zippers: Documentary About Antifa & The Coming Elections, also, Harris – “Joe Biden & I Are About To Get Rid Of The Trump Tax Cuts”
The Federalist: Psychiatrist & CNN Guest Praises Hitler In Attempted Dunk On Trump, also, Under Trump, Americans Have Seen Their Best Wage Growth In 40 Years
Mark Steyn: The Thing From Another World, also, Election Day Minus One

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Category: Doomed Beyond All Hope of Redemption, Election, Linkagery

Election Eve Prediction Time

Posted on | November 2, 2020 | Comments Off on Election Eve Prediction Time

 

Don’t know who created that meme, I just saw it on Twitter. Election Day is tomorrow, and the time for making predictions is running out. Also, I’m running past deadline on a 2,500-word piece for the print edition of The American Spectator, in which I evaluate the prospects of a post-election civil war. (Spoiler: I’m against it.)

The RCP average of national polls today has Biden by nearly 7 points, with The Hill (Biden +4) and Rasmussen (Biden +3) on the low end and NBC (Biden +10) and The Economist (Biden +11) on the high end. Obviously these are not encouraging numbers for Trump supporters.

Strangely enough, Trump supporters are undaunted by the poll numbers. Yesterday, the President held five — count ’em, five — gigantic rallies, including one in my old stomping grounds of Rome, Georgia. Actually, while the address of Richard B. Russell Airport is technically in Rome, it’s much closer to Armuchee, but that’s a detail I don’t expect journalists to notice. And never mind how you pronounce “Armuchee.”

Trump campaigned last night in my old stomping grounds of Rome, Georgia. What I can't figure out is how they landed Air Force One at that airport. It's a 747. Did they expand the runway?

Posted by Robert Stacy McCain on Monday, November 2, 2020

 

Here’s the question: Does it really matter? No, I’m not talking about how you pronounce “Armuchee,” I’m talking about the campaign rallies. We are told that Joe Biden, who scarcely leaves his basement and can’t draw any kind of crowd, is nonetheless leading by a landslide margin. If that is true, then all the ordinary business of on-the-ground campaigning — from yard signs to rallies to door-to-door canvassing — is obsolete. All that matters in politics now is media and the Internet.

Or so we are supposed to believe. There is a wide gap of cognitive dissonance surrounding this campaign, and I don’t profess to know what explains this gap. Nor do I consider myself qualified to make any predictions about how it’s going to turn out. Have at it yourself.

UPDATE: One of the the shabby hustles that the media engage in is what can be called Contingent Prediction, which is not an actual prediction, but rather involves an “if . . . then” sort of rhetoric. Here is a classic example of the phenomenon:

These counties “could” prove decisive in the election, the New York Times informs us, before proceeding on that basis to engage in a lot of blather enhanced by authoritative-looking graphics. This is an illusion of expertise, because if Biden is really heading to a landslide — as all the polls tell us — then these allegedly crucial counties won’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things. Go back to 2016 and watch all the TV pundits pointing at their “interactive” maps in the first couple of hours of coverage, before it became evident that something was drastically wrong with all the pre-election poll numbers.

It is only in hindsight that anyone can understand what happens in elections, and most people still don’t really understand even then.




 

Category: Donald Trump, Election, Joe Biden, Polls

Rule 5 Sunday: Honor Blackman

Posted on | November 2, 2020 | 4 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

It was very tempting to do a reprise of Diana Rigg, since she’s clearly the best Bond Girl, but unfortunately her James Bond was the soft & floppy George Lazenby instead of Sean Connery (RIP) so there went that connection. Instead, I went with another actress who like Dame Rigg starred in both The Avengers and the Bond movies, Honor Blackman, who also looked pretty sweet in leather.

Ms. Blackman playing Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.

Ninety Miles From Tyranny: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1154, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns.

Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Understanding The Left Friday, also, the Saturday Gingermageddon

EBL, Don Carlo, Agrippina, Simon Boccanegra, Nixon In China, Vintage Halloween, Boris Godunov, Scary Halloween, Cimorelli, Halloween, Ghosts Of Versailles, and Vintage Pumpkins

A View From The Beach: Li Bingbing, Fish Pic Friday – Lacey Loo, New Maryland Oyster Regulations Controversial, Tanlines Thursday, Your Wednesday Wetness, Seeing the Forest Through the Trees, Tattoo Tuesday, Your Monday Morning Stimulant and Palm Sunday.

Bleach Cocktail: Monday Motivator, Tuesday Titillation, Wednesday Whoopee, Thursday Thunder, and Friday Fire.

Proof Positive’s Vintage Babe this week is Theda Bara.

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious linkagery!

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Category: Rule 5

FMJRA 2.0: Albedo 0.39

Posted on | November 1, 2020 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Albedo 0.39

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Thanks to everyone who bought stuff through my Amazon links in October!
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Media Promotes BLM Lies in Philadelphia, as Rioting Continues for the Second Night
The Pirate’s Cove
First Street Journal
Pushing Rubber Downhill
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

Rule 5 Sunday: Jessica Alba
Animal Magnetism
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

Jake Tapper: Still Not Over Macho Grande
Bacon Time
BattleSwarm
357 Magnum
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: Spiral
A View From The Beach
EBL

Joe Biden Is Not Barack Obama (and Other Truths the Media Elite Can’t See)
357 Magnum
EBL

Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Pushing Rubber Downhill
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

PHILADELPHIA RIOT
Dark Brightness
357 Magnum
EBL

Whatever Your Problem Is, Electing Democrats Will Never Be the Solution
EBL

In The Mailbox: 10.27.20 (Morning Edition)
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Store Security Guard Stabbed by Sisters After Asking Them to Wear Masks
Bacon Time
EBL

In The Mailbox: 10.27.20 (Evening Edition)
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Keep Calm and Vote Trump
Dark Brightness
EBL

In The Mailbox: 10.28.20
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

‘Anonymous’ Miles Taylor Represents Everything Americans Hate About the GOP
Dark Brightness
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

Good News: Democrats Are Worried
Dark Brightness
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 10.30.20 (Morning Edition)
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

After 16 Days of Censorship, Twitter Unlocks the New York Post’s Account
Pushing Rubber Downhill
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 10.30.20 (Evening Edition)
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending October 30:

  1.  EBL (18)
  2.  357 Magnum (12)
  3.  A View From The Beach (11)
  4.  Proof Positive (6)

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Category: FMJRA Award

Damn It, Iowa — No Hope Allowed!

Posted on | November 1, 2020 | Comments Off on Damn It, Iowa — No Hope Allowed!

As I have explained, maintaining my mental health during the final weeks of the campaign requires me to avoid anything that might give me hope that Donald Trump could be elected. This is actually easy, given how most polls show Joe Biden cruising to a landslide victory. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Biden winning by 10 points — TEN FREAKING POINTS! — which would have to be catastrophically wrong for Trump to have a chance. In terms of my Zen of hopelessness, this is just what I need, but some of y’all refuse to cooperate:

Republican President Donald Trump has taken over the lead in Iowa as Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden has faded, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows just days before Election Day.
The president now leads by 7 percentage points over Biden, 48% to 41%. Three percent say they will vote for someone else, 2% aren’t sure and 5% don’t want to say for whom they will vote.
In September’s Iowa Poll, the candidates were tied at 47% to 47%.

In the span of one month, according to this poll, Biden has lost 6 points, while Trump has gained one. Recall that in February, Biden placed third in the Iowa caucus, so we can’t expect Democrats there to be too enthusiastic about “Landslide Joe.” Furthermore, in 2016, Trump won Iowa by more than 9 points, so if he wins by 7 points this time, it would actually show an erosion of his support. And when you recall how slender Trump’s margins were in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the loss of 2 points would spell defeat. So may hopelessness remains intact, but then there’s this little data point from the Iowa poll:

Both candidates largely hold onto voters within their own parties. Ninety-three percent of Democrats support Biden, along with 4% of self-described Republicans. And 89% of Republicans support Trump, along with 2% of Democrats.
But Trump has regained an edge with those who identify as independents — a bloc key to his 2016 win in Iowa. According to National Election Pool exit polling published by CNN, independent voters favored Trump 51% to 38% over Democrat Hillary Clinton that year.
In the Register’s September Iowa Poll, Biden led with independents 50% to 38%. But today, Trump wins them back and leads 49% to 35%.

Whoa! Biden has lost 15 points with independents? This cannot be true. Nate Silver tells me there is an 89% chance Biden is winning, and yet independents have turned against Biden? How can I protect my precious sense of hopelessness against this contradictory evidence?

Well, I’ve been watching CNN all day. That should do the trick.




 

Category: Iowa, Polls

‘Bond. James Bond.’

Posted on | November 1, 2020 | 2 Comments

The news Saturday of actor Sean Connery’s death marked the end of an era. For a generation of men, Connery’s portrayal of James Bond — Agent 007 in Her Majesty’s Secret Service — was the ultimate expression of cool. The espionage was just a plot device, really. What counted was the extraordinary character at the center of the adventure.

Nothing could be cooler than the man whom movie audiences first met in a 1962 scene from Dr. No. An MI6 man is sent to find 007 who, of course, is playing baccarat at an exclusive London club, Le Cercle. We see him win two hands before a beautiful brunette asks his name. Pausing before lighting his cigarette, he answers: “Bond. James Bond.”

 

Connery was a Scotsman of working-class background, and his famous role as a symbol of British sophistication is thus rather ironic, sort of like the way Marion Robert Morrison, a USC frat boy born in Iowa, became famous as a Wild West frontier symbol known as John Wayne.

Connery had a long and distinguished career, playing many roles. He was the paratroop commander Maj. Gen. Roy Urquhart in A Bridge Too Far (1977), and a younger generation of moviegoers met Connery in the role of Indiana Jones’s father in The Last Crusade (1989).

When I was a young bachelor working as a sports editor in Calhoun, Georgia, I had a couple of James Bond movie posters on the wall of my apartment. One day I had a young lady over to dinner and the topic of conversation turned to soap operas. How could women watch those silly shows, I asked, with their unbelievable plot twists? The lady pointed to my James Bond posters and asked if that was more believable.

“James Bond?” I answered. “Oh that stuff is real! The cars? The gadgets? All those sexy ladies? Of course it’s real. He’s a super spy!”

Well, a few months later, for Valentine’s Day, our newspaper ran little personal ads — for some small fee you could send greetings to your sweetheart. My message was addressed to “Sexy Lady,” asking simply “Will You Marry Me?” And it was signed, “Super Spy.”

That was 31 years ago, and I’ve been cool ever since.

Thanks for showing how it’s done, 007. R.I.P.




 

Category: Celebrities, Movies

In The Mailbox: 10.30.20 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | October 31, 2020 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Usual deadlines for the usual weekend linkfests are in effect.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Bacon Time: Voices Of Verity
Red Pilled Jew: Rabbi In Israel Prays For Trump
357 Magnum: The Breakdown Of Order In NYC
Ammo.com: Cultural Superiority Isn’t Racism
EBL: Biden Family Now Under FBI Investigation
Twitchy: USA Fact-Checked The Babylon Bee’s Article About Trump Wanting A Space Navy For The Moon, But Then The Real U.S. Navy Got Involved And ROFL
Louder With Crowder: Forensic Expert Concludes “Smoking Gun” Hunter Biden E-mail Is 100% Real
Vox Popoli: To Ask The Question is To Answer It, also, The Trumpslide Cometh
According To Hoyt: Go Be Americans

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Shakespeare Would Be Jailed Under Yousaf
American Conservative: Sowing, Reaping, & Locking
American Greatness: Occasional Cortex Wears $14,000 Outfit In Vanity Fair To Curse Trump, also, Black Americans For Trump
American Power: Mark Levin Absolutely Explodes
American Thinker: Win Or Lose, Democrats Have Big Plans For America
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Understanding The Left Friday
Babalu Blog: Jar Jar Biden Pushes For Loving Embrace Of Communist Cuba, Blames Cuban Repression On Darth Trump
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm For October 30
Cafe Hayek: Dan Klein Makes A Prediction
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Da Tech Guy: A Political Horror Story, also, Bobby Orr Scores, Boston Sports Media Hardest Hit
Don Surber: Rural Americans Will Save The USA On Tuesday, also, The State Of The Election Tonight
First Street Journal: Newspapers Need More Than More Digital Subscribers, They Need An Audience Their Editorial Antics Have Alienated
The Geller Report: NYC Voters Receiving Ballots Pre-filled With Straight Democrat Votes, also, Trump Rallies In Rochester, MN – Thousands Defy AG Ellison And Show Up Anyway
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, also, The House That @jack Built
Hollywood In Toto: How Dead & Buried Got Overshadowed By Its Own Marketing Campaign, also, Come Play Recycles Too Many Horror Tropes To Scare Us
JustOneMinute: Last Gasp
The Lid: Disgusting Biden/Harris Campaign Uses Hitler Footage In Campaign Ad
Legal Insurrection: DOJ Confirms FBI Opened Criminal Investigation Into Hunter Biden In 2019 – And It’s Still Active, also, Furman U Prof Who Identified As Chicana Resigns After Being Outed As Anglo
Power Line: Democrats Prefer Cuba To Israel, also, Thoughts From The Ammo Line
Shark Tank: Mucarsel Powell Highlights “Environmental Racism” In Florida
Shot In The Dark: Hear That Garment-Rending-y Sound?
The Political Hat: Big Brother Comes To Real Estate
This Ain’t Hell: Valor Friday, also, Curiouser & Curiouser
Victory Girls: Hypocrites Among Us Here In The Evergreen State
Volokh Conspiracy: Why Biden Is A Lesser Evil Than Trump
Weasel Zippers: Biden On His New Obamacare – “You Can Keep Your Private Insurance If You Like It”, also, Florida Dem Organizer Issues Warning To Biden Camp, CNN Freaks Out
The Federalist: Yes, Media Are Rigging The Election Against Half The Country, also, Theologian John Piper’s Case Against Trump Is Intellectually & Morally Bankrupt
Mark Steyn: Election Day Minus Four – Live Around The Planet, also, Shock & Orr

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Category: Linkagery

After 16 Days of Censorship, Twitter Unlocks the New York Post’s Account

Posted on | October 30, 2020 | 4 Comments

Twitter’s excuse was always dishonest:

Twitter backed down Friday in its battle with The Post and unlocked its main account after a two-week stalemate over the Hunter Biden exposé.
The move came after The Post refused Twitter’s demand that it delete six tweets that linked to stories that the company claimed — without any evidence — were based on hacked information.
The Post never budged, and kept the tweets on the account during the standoff.
In a series of tweets, the social-media giant said it was revising its “Hacked Materials Policy” and “updating our practice of not retroactively overturning prior enforcement.”
“Our policies are living documents,” said one of the tweets from @TwitterSafety.
“We’re willing to update and adjust them when we encounter new scenarios or receive important feedback from the public.”
Twitter arbitrarily cracked down on The Post and locked its account on Oct. 14.
The company claimed The Post violated its policy on sharing “hacked materials” by tweeting links to bombshell exclusives on Biden’s emails — without ever saying how it came to that conclusion.

Not that this means Twitter is now an honest company — they’re not — but this is a tacit admission of their dishonesty, and I suppose that after the election we’ll learn that Twitter’s censorship was ordered by the executives at behest of the Biden campaign. Meanwhile . . .

Look, I don’t want to give anyone hope that Trump will actually win. My belief is that bleak pessimism is the only rational stance toward this election. However, Democrats are worried sick:

Senior officials on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign are increasingly worried about insufficient Black and Latino voter turnout in key states like Florida and Pennsylvania with only four days until the election, according to people familiar with the matter.
Despite record early-vote turnout around the country, there are warning signs for Biden. In Arizona, two-thirds of Latino registered voters have not yet cast a ballot. In Florida, half of Latino and Black registered voters have not yet voted but more than half of White voters have cast ballots, according to data from Catalist, a Democratic data firm. In Pennsylvania, nearly 75% of registered Black voters have not yet voted, the data shows.
The firm’s analysis of early vote numbers also show a surge of non-college educated White voters, who largely back President Donald Trump, compared to voters of color, who overwhelmingly support Biden.

My goal is not to make you think Trump can win — I have reached a Zen of despair — but rather to share the joy of watching Democrats suffer psychiatric trauma because of their fears Biden will lose.

Pure cruelty, you see. Nothing brings out my inner sadist quite as much as the thought of SJWs in the throes of a panic attack, haunted by visions of redneck Trump voters rampaging nationwide in big trucks.

Margaret Carlson says she’s suffering PTSD from Hillary’s loss in 2016.

We can enjoy the spectacle of liberal agony for four more days and then — dare we even hope? — four more years.




 

Category: Election
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