Moe Lane

And bacon, obviously.

Microsoft Windows 7? (shrug) I’ll wait until the reviews come in.

Yup, it’s real.  And yes: a Whopper with Cheese (and bacon) sounds like an excellent lunch choice, doesn’t it?

(H/T: Instapundit) The following two paragraphs from this piece (“White House attacks worry moderate Democrats,” and the title will be brought up again later) highlight not only the problem that quote-unquote ‘moderate’ Democrats are having with the administration’s War On The Chamber Of Commerce: they highlight the general problem with ‘moderate’ Democrats.

While Limbaugh and Fox commentators like Beck make no secret of their dislike for Democrats, the Chamber’s Republican lean is partially counteracted by nominal and financial support for pro-business Democrats who need to win votes from pro-business Republicans. The campaign websites of moderate Democrats from across the country are filled with endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce.

[snip]

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), another recipient of a Chamber contribution, said Thursday that he had no intention of stepping into the middle of a fight between the White House and the Chamber, but he did note that he had won an award for his voting record from the national Chamber of Commerce.

How brave of him.  Bishop is from a D+1 district, by the way; and he’s got a challenger.  State Rep. Mike Keown, and his comment about Bishop pretty much sums it up:

Unfortunately, we are stuck with a professional politician who listens to liberal California House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left wing environmentalists, big labor, and Washington lobbyists while ignoring you.

(more…)

It’s kind of tragic when people try to be hip, and can’t quite bring it off. As witnessed by this homage to the movie A Clockwork Orange:

What? No, I checked the weather report before I wrote that. There isn’t a lightning storm scheduled anywhere near where I liv]a[3ip5]-QWE805TQ[WELPAGJI{P3 4D;KLFA;SDLFA'FKL'SDKL;F [CARRIER LOST]

I’ve been chewing on this Richard Cohen article on the upcoming film “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” and I’ve finally figured out what was nagging me about it. It’s because of this passage:

What’s striking about this inside look at Obama is how being inside gets you nowhere. It is virtually the same as being outside. What’s also striking about this movie is its lack of arc. Obama is always golden, always going to win and always does. His issue, if it can be called that, is himself. He is something new, something young, something biracial and something black, but he is not something from a political or ideological constituency. He is adored by his fans — the directors, Amy Rice and Alicia Sams, included — not for something he’s done, but rather for something he is.

Richard Cohen thought that he was watching a documentary. Still does. So his confusion over the lack of tension, internal conflict, and ‘arc’ makes sense, in this context: you need all of these for the documentary genre, which is of course supposed to be a type of film where the director attempts to show the essential truth of a situation or person on camera.

But you need none of them for propaganda.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Yellow Submarine, Yellow Submarine

It’s a miracle that anybody got out of that decade without permanent brain damage from the contact highs.

First thought that I had when I saw the article; swear to God.

Officials seize cocaine submarine

Guatemalan and US authorities have seized a makeshift submarine loaded with cocaine with a US street value of $200m (£120m).

The submarine, which had 10 tonnes of cocaine on board, was arrested by the coast guard some 280km (175 miles) off Guatemala’s Pacific coast.

My second thought was that if I was smuggling 200 million dollars worth of anything I’d probably want to avoid using a transport device that could be described as ‘makeshift;’ but then, I’m not a smuggler.

I mean, I know that the Governor’s rich, thanks to Goldman-Sachs – so donating a mere $440,000 or so to former Bergen County chair Joe Ferriero (and yet another convicted Democratic politician) over the years may have been a mere lark.  A minor duty.  He just did what they told him to.  Still, you’d have thought that Corzine might have noticed all the dirty dealing going on.  Or cared.

Because the legal system did b0th: (more…)

Tell me again how smart these people are.

So this administration had what passes for a brainstorm among that group: now that they’ve made it clear that they disapprove of one particular news network, why, there would be nothing stopping them from stepping up their attempts to marginalize said network. So the White House announced today that a specific White House Press Pool access – Ken Feinberg, who is one of the myriad ‘czars’ so beloved of this administration – would explicitly exclude Fox News. Despite the fact that the Press Pool is supported in part by Fox News.

And the media refused to play along. (more…)

Klavan was right: celebrities live in another strange, sad world. Which would be not entirely intolerable, except that then they feel the need to go and drag normal people into it:

Comedian David Cross brought his stand-up routine to Washington’s Warner Theatre Wednesday night and made a shocking confession (assuming he wasn’t joking…) at the end of his routine: That he snorted cocaine while seated just yards away from President Barack Obama at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Liberal readers will be relieved to know that Cross is not an Obama contributor, although they may want to consider for a moment the implications of them having that automatic thought. His contribution list is very impressive, though: zero for four, and all four were frankly dolts when it came to running for office. I may check on him in 2012 to see who he supports.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Via the Blogometer comes this amusing footage of Creigh Deeds deciding, as Not Larry Sabato put it, “take out as many Democrats on the ballot as he can.” Check out the Blogometer link for some of the more entertaining meltdowns from the Left about this, not to mention a good deal of wishful thinking from them about… well, everything.

Moe Lane

PS: Bob McDonnell for Governor.

PPS: I should note that the problem for Deeds is not that he’s wrong to be ready to consider opting out of the public option: it’s in his failure to understand the specialized theological leanings of the Democratic base. He might as well had offered to sacrifice a baby harp seal to Ronald Reagan, or something.

(Via POWIP) That’s pretty freaking fast for ships that size:

Independence, a 418-foot warship built in Alabama, boasts a top speed in excess of 45 knots, or about 52 mph, and sustained 44 knots for four hours during builder trials that wrapped up this month off the Gulf Coast. The 378-foot Freedom, a ship built in Wisconsin by a competing defense contractor, has put up similar numbers.

Both versions of the Littoral Combat Ship use powerful diesel engines, as well as gas turbines for extra speed. They use steerable waterjets instead of propellers and rudders and have shallower drafts than conventional warships, letting them zoom close to shore.

The ships, better able to chase down pirates, have been fast-tracked because the Navy wants vessels that can operate in coastal, or littoral, waters. Freedom is due to be deployed next year, two years ahead of schedule.

Picture at the links: all in all, very interesting. Although it still seems slightly weird to contemplate that the need for anti-piracy operations have only increased in the last few decades…

It’s going to be a busy few days, up in NY-23. Some of the stuff that’s of interest:

• PJTV discusses Tea Parties, third parties, and the NY-23 race. Glenn Reynolds, Bill Whittle and Dana Loesch are actually all in agreement that the first creating the second would not be the optimal response right now; what’s better would be that making sure that politicians stop getting to run unopposed in primaries and general elections. (I agree.)
• Dan Riehl (via Instapundit) wants to point out that the national GOP organizations didn’t pick Scozzafava; the local one did, and the long-term answer is to get actual conservatives in those positions of authority. (I agree: we always need more precinct committeemen.)
• Jim Geraghty notices one of those odd coincidences, in the process of noting that Scozzafava happened to probably violate state law in filing a false police report.
• R.S. McCain’s gone to New York. So has Dick Armey.
• And… there are rumors.

That last one I don’t know if I buy. Yet.

Moe Lane

PS: Doug Hoffman for Congress.

Crossposted to RedState.