Moe Lane

Which would at least have the advantage of you’d know which side to join from the start. Plus, there’s something to be said about shooting a demon with the main gun from a M1 Abrams battle tank.

Or so I gather.

Moe Lane

This is so shockingly a good idea on the Washington Post’s part that I’m wondering whether they’re feeling well.  I’ve met Jen a few times: she’s a devastatingly good reporter, and good people generally.  Putting her in on the online editorial side makes a heck of a lot of sense for the WaPo.  Too much sense, given that print news in general seems kind of determined to commit slow-motion suicide these days.  Ach, well, they can’t always do precisely the worst possible thing, right?

See also Dave Weigel, who is praising this from the other end of the spectrum.

Moe Lane

Republican campaign manager Matt Mackowiak, on the nature of the 2010 elections:

Despite the protestations of Democrats, this election was not a mandate for bipartisanship. (Isn’t it funny how the losers always want bipartisanship?) The electorate chose divided government not to increase cooperation between the parties, but to increase gridlock. It’s not “What is the government doing for me?”; it’s “What is the government doing to me?”

Unfortunately for the Democrats, their leadership hasn’t caught up with 2010 yet.  Heck, judging from the average age of the Democratic leadership, they haven’t really caught up with 1994, either.  Which is something I like to see in my political opponents.

It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion.

It is from the Juice of Java that the thoughts acquire speed.

The thoughts acquire speed.

The hands develop shaking.

The shaking becomes a warning.

It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion.

Adapted from here – and, obviously, originally, here.

Moe Lane

Yoda, Weird Al Yankovic

It’s been that kind of day.

Nice to know I’m not the only one who noticed the religious nature of these people:

Stephen explained in hushed tones that this was a group of social vegans; they practiced a strict regimen of avoiding animal products at all gatherings. He insisted that if I were to try it, after awhile I wouldn’t even like the taste of meat or dairy anymore in the presence of others.

It made sense. At last I understood the self-flagellation part of this faith. We were to inconvenience ourselves with no discernible end, save the faith that the practice alone would make us feel better about our impact on this planet. All our self-loathing could be expunged by a constant regiment of minimal corporal punishment, eating tree bark. Just like in other religions, I gathered, suffering was beautiful to them. I looked around and it was working; they were all so beautiful in their conviction. I threw my arms around Stephen in a supportive hug and the Grape-Nuts fell.

:pause:

Dag.  It’s like I’ve got no mockery left in me right now.  Has the last month critically depleted my snark pile to below a self-sustaining level?

Kind of ironic, but supposedly not targeted; Velma Hart’s company (AmVets) just couldn’t afford to keep her any longer, that’s all. At least, I hope that this administration wasn’t so stupid as to get the CFO for Amvets – and a military veteran herself – fired.  Even if Ms. Hart had made the critical mistake of being critical to the President’s face on national television.

But, just in case Ms. Hart was targeted: I’d like to remind her that the representative for her district is Donna Edwards, and that Rep. Edwards is a liberal antiwar moonbat who bragged about voting to defund the war in Afghanistan.  Not to be ghoulish or anything, but since Ms. Hart is out of work anyway what’s the harm in her giving these people a call?  Believe me: voting reflexively Democratic is one of those habits that people can unlearn, and we’re always looking for folks with a good, solid, American background.

Hey.  Just throwing it out, there.  It seems wasteful to have such a great personal narrative there and not use it; and I can think of at least three good reasons why Velma Hart would never be allowed to be a successful Democratic legislator, at any level.  So why not explore other options?

Moe Lane (crosspost)

While going through Ben Smith’s law blogger roundup of THAT WOMAN vs. Gawker (short version: Gawker is kind of hosed*) I came across this bit of misdirected exasperation on William McGeveran’s part:

…if you are sick of hearing Sarah Palin decry the arrogance of the media that covers her, then you’d rather deny her the satisfaction of being right.

I think that it’s just the tiniest bit uncouth to be blaming the victim for this, Mr. McGeveran?  Blame Gawker, blame the abusers of fair use, heck, blame the media/liberal/Democratic crusade if you like.   But I don’t see exactly what THAT WOMAN did wrong here.

Besides exist, of course.

Moe Lane

*They probably didn’t help matters much by taunting THAT WOMAN with links to… sites that proved her point, actually.

(Via AoSHQ) Hey, you know that 7.7 billion dollars we’re spending every year on ethanol subsidies?  You know, the pseudo-environmental boondoggle that doesn’t actually do anything except pay off politically important American constituencies and push up food costs worldwide?  The policy that has created yet another set of worthless parasites battening off of your tax money?  Yeah, that program’s up for renewal, so we should kill it.

Isn’t that right, Al Gore?

“It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for (U.S.) first generation ethanol,” said Gore, speaking at a green energy business conference in Athens sponsored by Marfin Popular Bank.

The whole thing is fascinating reading: so much so that you have to wonder whether Gore has either been replaced with his Evil Twin, or (more likely) he’s simply heavily invested in second-generation biofuels, which are not made from corn.  If the latter, well, it’d make a certain amount of sense for him to publicly and explicitly no longer care about farmers in Tennessee and Iowa, given that Al Gore is never, ever going to be able to become President ever again…

Moe Lane (more…)

There was an interesting development in the Rep. Maxine Waters ethics trial last Friday: the charges were abruptly sent back to Ethics’ investigative subcommittee for review… and ‘mum’ was, as they say, the word as to why.  Oh, Rep. Waters immediately claimed vindication – which she would probably do if they were loading her onto a tumbrel – but there hasn’t been much chatter about this.  There may not be for a while, assuming that more details of the story don’t break today.

However, there is one aforementioned detail, courtesy of the NYT, courtesy of Contentions: apparently the charges are being reviewed because of a new set of emails, which purportedly “show that [Rep. Waters' chief of staff Mikael] Moore[*] was actively engaged in discussing with committee members details of a bank bailout bill apparently after Ms. Waters agreed to refrain from advocating on the bank’s behalf.”  Again, Rep. Waters’ staff is claiming that said emails actually will vindicate her; again, that’s pretty much what they’d say any which way.  Right now, about the only consensus is that it’s unlikely that the Waters trial will actually take place during the 111th Congress. (more…)

Good line on the entire Obama-is-Job thing: “So This Would Make the 2010 Midterms a Landslide of Biblical Proportions, No?”

Also, check out (ahem) RedState’s analysis of the theology involved in the (absurd) original comparison. We were fortunate to have access to an actual theologian; it’s not something that we would normally consider necessary, and I’m just a little annoyed that The New York Times felt it acceptable to drag laughingly bad religious arguments into what should be a straightforward policy debate…

Moe Lane

Gabriel Latner makes the case.

Via Jen Rubin. (more…)