Moe Lane

I was looking for fodder for a couple of light and fluffy posts, but I probably shouldn’t let this pass by without comment.

In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan — Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism — responds to critics of the Obama administration’s counterterrorism policies by saying “Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.”

The title of the op-ed is “We need no lectures” – which, given the fact that this administration rather stupidly read a foreign terrorist his Miranda rights, and has been trying to wiggle out of the consequences of it ever since, is self-evidently not true – is ably enough pushed back on here and here by AoSHQ, so I’ll just repeat something that I’ve written before.  The oddity of the current administration is that it’s as if the Democrats went out and found somebody who was just like what they thought George W Bush was – only, in this case?

It’s all true.

Weird.

Moe Lane

Has this happened to you (NSFW)?

Insidious Worm Makes Unauthorized Purchases When Computer User Is Drunk

Fortunately, my current security settings – one almost three years old, the other hitting the three month period – seem to be protecting me from this particular computer virus.

Dammit.

Moe Lane

There’s a lot of good news in this WMUR Granite State poll (as of this moment, we’re looking at retaining Gregg’s seat, and picking up both House seats), but Shea-Porter’s numbers are the most immediately interesting. 35/40 approval/disapproval (the worst she’s ever had); and she loses to all four hypothetical candidates:

In a race between Shea Porter and her best known challenger, Frank Guinta, 43% of likely 1st CD voters say they would vote for Guinta, 33% would vote for Shea Porter, 2% prefer some other candidate, and 22% are undecided.

In a matchup with Rich Ashooh, 36% of likely 1st CD voters say they would vote for Ashooh, 33% would vote for Shea Porter, 3% prefer some other candidate, and 28% are undecided.

In a matchup with Bob Bestani, 36% of likely 1st CD voters say they would vote for Bestani, 33% would vote for Shea Porter, 2% prefer some other candidate, and 30% are undecided.

And in a matchup with Sean Mahoney, 39% of likely 1st CD voters say they would vote for Mahoney, 32% would vote for Shea Porter, 1% prefer some other candidate, and 28% are undecided.

“Shea Porter does not break 40% against any of her challengers a sign that she faces an extremely difficult challenge to keep her seat,” said [Andrew Smith, Director of the UNH Survey Center].

(more…)

I’m going to sum this entire thing up, because the sooner we move past this the happier everybody’s going to be.

• Republican Party* (in the person of House Republican Leader John Boehner & House Republican Whip Eric Cantor): Mr. President, you claim that you want bipartisan health care talks.  Do you have the moral courage to commit to junking this existing unpopular, hyper-partisan health care bill and start over from scratch, with a further commitment for transparency and against reconciliation?
• White House** (in the person of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs): No.

And I think that should end it right there: Republican Members of the House of Representatives don’t debate press secretaries, either.

Moe Lane

*H/T: FireDogLake (I know, I know, but there was nothing offensive about this specific post).

**H/T: Hot Air Headlines.

Crossposted to RedState.

Iko Iko
, The Dixie Cups

It’s a Mardi Gras song.

It’s the only way to be sure.

OK, let’s walk through this.  Mind you, I’ve already declared this bill dead anyway.

• Back in November of 2009, the House of Representatives passed a health care rationing bill, 220-215.  For the purposes of this discussion, we will note four Congressman ‘yea’ votes: Abercrombie of Hawaii; Cao (R) of Louisiana; Murtha of Pennsylvania; and Wexler of Florida.
• In December of 2009, the Senate passes their version of the bill.  It lacks the ‘Stupak Amendment,’ which is the only reason why Cao voted for the House version.
• In January of 2010, Wexler’s retirement becomes official.  The effective vote is now 219-215.
• Also in January of 2010, Cao declares that he will not vote for the Senate version of the bill.
• In February of 2010, Murtha dies suddenly.  The effective vote is now 218-215.

With me so far?  Well, here are the two problems that the Democrats are now facing:

• If the final version of the bill does not include the Stupak Amendment, Cao will not vote for it (and neither will Stupak), thus making the final vote 217-216 against and the bill not passing.  If the final version of the bill does include the Stupak Amendment, then every Democratic Senator is going to inundated with screaming progressives.  How could they resolve this?  By junking the Stupak amendment and making a vulnerable Democrat flip-flop on his previous vote.  In a year when it’s a bad idea to be a Democratic incumbent anyway.
• The other problem is Abercrombie.  As Philip Klein and Ed Morrissey both noted, he’s supposed to be out the door at the end of the month in order to run for Governor of Hawaii.  He had also promised to stick around to get health care rationing passed.  The conditions of the special election to replace him – not to mention, the problems in delaying his formal gubernatorial run – are sufficiently complicated that breaking his word on the latter will probably cause him less problems in the long term.  So, after February 28th, that puts the regular vote down to 217-215 for, and 217-215 against if Stupak is not passed.  In that case, the Democrats need to flip two vulnerable Democrats (if the vote’s a tie, they lose).

Shorter Moe Lane: eight years of karma just caught up with the Democratic party, and it’s charging interest.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Another foot and a half tomorrow. Two things.

1. Somebody find out where the hell Al Gore is, and if it’s in the Northeast, MOVE HIM SOMEWHERE ELSE.
2. I really, really, really want to cover the HI-01 special election for RedState now.  Please.  Please.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to learn how: never got around to it.

That’s from Tap, and it’s 20 years old, depressingly. I remember seeing Sammy Davis Jr a few years before his death at a video awards show for something or other: they had just seen some younger folks perform, and it was his turn. The camera panned back, he looked down at his feet – and shouted down at them “WE’RE GONNA DANCE NOW!”  And damned if he didn’t.

That’s it.  I needed a break, and this will do.

Moe Lane

Of course they went sexual over the written reminders on THAT WOMAN’S hand.

:rubbing temple with hands:

Of course they did. And they wonder why not even their allies (more accurately, their owners) take them seriously.

Via Instapundit, comes the latest slap in the face to Libertarians-for-Obama by the Obama administration.  Slashdot:

“US government policy is that photos produced by federal employees as part of their job responsibilities are not subject to copyright in the US. But Kathy Gill writes that after originally putting official White House photos in the public domain, since January the Obama White House has been asserting that no one but ‘news organizations’ can use its Flickr photos taken by the official White House photographer, who is a US government employee…”

You mean, like this?

Original here.  Relevant language on the Flickr account:

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

A shame whoever wrote that didn’t read this (linked to by the White House Flickr account itself). (more…)

…they send Joe Biden, according to Andrew Malcolm.  Andrew’s being perhaps the slightest bit unkind to the administration this morning – there may have been a legitimate reason for the President not to have attended the Vancouver Olympics himself, although the fact that Biden is combining the trip with a fundraiser for Patty Murray is diagnostic – but I’m more fascinated with the Vancouver logo than I am whether or not the President’s being more petulant than usual. I mean, look at it:

About the only thing that you can say about it is that at least this one doesn’t look like it’s having sex.

Moe Lane

PS: And shouldn’t the arms be black?

PPS: I’m just going to give up entirely on the lack of capitalization, mind you.

…so people will understand that I’m about as interested as David Freddoso in being overly nice in pointing out his past bloviating. My back isn’t actually killing me, right now, but that’s only because I was being very, very careful about removing all that anemic winter from the car.  I’m going to be forty in a couple of months; I don’t bounce back from straining myself over anemic winters like I used to.

Three observations about our marvelous new technological paradigm:

1. Everything in print gets recorded these days. Everything.
2. Nothing ever goes away. Ever.
3. The only thing that people are patient about when it comes to online matters is in waiting for just the right moment to demonstrate that someone is an idiot.

I would join David in suggesting that RFK Jr get out of the weather prediction/doomsaying business, only I can’t for the life of me think of anything else that he’d be any less incompetent at.  Ditch digging?  He could learn that on the job.

Moe Lane

PS: Just to reinforce the scorn: the plural of anecdote is not data; I am not obligated to accept your religious beliefs as being scientifically valid; and this is why political dynasties are a bad idea.

Enjoy your morning.

Crossposted to RedState.

When The Saints Go Marching In, Louis Armstrong

I haven’t absorbed all that much from my decade-long sojourn in Maryland, but I have this one down pat: THEY STOLE OUR [EXPLETIVE DELETED] TEAM.

PS: “He was born poor, died rich, and never hurt anybody along the way.” Damn, but that’s one hell of a brag.

Come, I will hide nothing from you: Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter got picked because it follows a theme set by last weeks BotW Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I’m just a sucker for this genre, apparently.

Moe Lane

As always, Cohen was going to stick it out to the end, right up to the moment that he decided to spend more time with the members of his family that don’t currently have restraining orders on him.

Illinois Democratic Lieutenant Governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen announced Sunday evening that he is withdrawing from the race amid revelations about his personal history.

Cohen, a millionaire pawnbroker and cleaning supplies company executive who emerged the victor in last week’s primary, had been accused of holding a knife to the neck of his ex-girlfriend, a prostitute, in 2005.

It has also been revealed in recent days that Cohen had once been accused of abusing an ex-wife. Cohen has also acknowledged using steroids for a period of time.

Word is that the Democrats are trying to find a replacement – a bit of a surprise to second-place finisher Arthur Turner, but then ‘democratic Illinois Democrat’ is an oxymoron – and it is my devout hope that the questionnaire gets leaked to the press. Between this, the entire ‘avoid paying taxes’ thing, and the rumors that another major philandering scandal’s going to hit a sitting Democratic governor tomorrow, the party leadership may end up deciding that the best way to get halfway normal candidates is to raise them from birth in a big plastic bubble…

Moe Lane

PS: Jason Plummer for Lt. Governor. He doesn’t cut women.
Shoot, I was looking forward to running on that one, too.

Crossposted to RedState.

Well, everybody’s turning – Congress is at 18/78 approval/disapproval, which makes you wonder about the four percent who can’t make up their minds – but the Democrats have gone from 45% to 30% in a month, which … well, is this not a pretty graph?

Particularly that 15 point drop among Democrats, which is not so much a drop as a ‘dive.’  Unfortunately, the nature of graphs such as these cannot convey a sense of a tumbling, end-over-end, unpowered fall; not that I’m suggesting that anything happened in the last month that might have caused a catastrophic engine failure for the Democratic party.

Moe Lane

PS: For those Democrats wondering why no-one in their party leadership doesn’t seem to want to embrace this as evidence that Congressional Democrats should embrace the President’s agenda… look at the graph of independent support.  It’s been eroding over the last year… and started to steadily erode once the Democrats acquired their super-majority in July 2009.  For many Congressional Democrats, this is the only job that they’ve ever known; they get twitchy when people suggest strategies that might end up forcing them to actually have to work for a living.

Crossposted to RedState.

Get yourself a glass of something nice before you start in on the article: it’ll heighten the enjoyment.

Even as he accepted the resounding backing of the Pennsylvania Democratic state committee here Saturday, party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter’s vulnerability was on vivid display as he botched the name of a key Democratic officeholder in his acceptance speech.

“I’ll be fighting hard for the entire Democratic ticket. Senator Andy. . . Andy . . .” Specter said, before pausing briefly, squinting his eyes.

“From Chester County,” he continued, losing his train of thought after clinching an emphatic 229-72 U.S. Senate endorsement vote from party regulars just minutes earlier.

“Dinniman,” the crowd responded almost in unison, referring to the state senator who represents West Chester. One committeeman seated in the audience dropped his head and shook it.

This should be an entertaining primary: Joe Sestak has 5.1 million dollars to play with, and is inclined to spend it – both because he wants the nomination, and because by now there must be at least a little desire for Blue-on-Blue revenge on Sestak’s part. Personally, I don’t see why either candidate is so eager to win the position of Being The Guy Who Loses To Pat Toomey, but they are, which is… nice of them, I suppose.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

(Via Althouse & Instapundit) Apparently, you don’t sing “My Way” in a Philippine karaoke bar.

You just don’t.

The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”

Especially the karaoke bars that are also brothels. Although they have gay men in those to defuse tensions over the brothel workers and the karaoke machines. Apparently, in the Philippines gay men don’t do karaoke (fairly obviously, they also don’t patronize female brothel workers). I shouldn’t raise an eyebrow at any of this: American customs look just as weird to the outside world, sometimes.

Still.

Ol’ Blue Eyes?

…off of the car.  Well, not currently; but it is not going swiftly, mostly because there is no good place to put all the loose globalwarming to the side that isn’t already being occupied by another car.  This would be an excellent time for me to acquire superpowers centered around either water or fire; unfortunately, there are no radioactive ice weasels handy and I don’t know where to find the Hidden Portal of Flame.

In other words: erratic posting today.

At least, it was for Kleinheider, coupled with a big heaping of sour grapes about how nobody wants to come out and march for left-populism the way that they want to march for right- and libertarian-populism (not quite the same thing).  For that matter, the sexual connotations in Kleinheider’s first paragraph* would provide interesting fodder for a remote psychological viewing, if I inclined that way.  On the other hand, I haven’t actually seen THAT WOMAN’s speech, so I probably shouldn’t even be opining on the subject.  On the gripping hand: it’s Sunday, and since when do people not opine on subjects just because of… any reason, really?

See Instapundit for a round-up of more reactions.

Moe Lane

*The erotic and sexual aspects associated with vampirism in modern Western society are of course well known; I suggest this post for a perusal of some of the literature.  And this one for a more pragmatic take.