Moe Lane

My wife told me about this one.

I just got sent a link to this Salon article about how Keith Olbermann threw a fit – and please note that while I am not claiming that foaming at the mouth and loss of motor skills/bowel control was involved, neither would I be surprised if it occurred – over the way that people reacted to his reaction to the entire Julian Assange rape allegations thing.  Apparently he quit Twitter in a huff – which is a weird thing to write about a supposedly adult man, but what the heck.

Moving away from the Assange issue itself, what strikes me about this article is the way that the author presents her conclusion that Keith Olbermann is inherently childish, elitist, and untrustworthy almost as if this was not already known about the man.  I assume that this is because said conclusion was a genuine revelation to said author; which suggests to me that the Left really needs to get out more.

Moe Lane

PS: Oh, Keith?

Moo.

Which is fine by me – but before the Left starts screaming, maybe they should talk to their own side. The final cloture vote was 55 to 41, with the following Democratic Senators voting against the DREAM Act:

Mark Pryor
Jon Tester
Max Baucus
Kay Hagan
Ben Nelson

Where I come from, 55 + 5 = 60, or enough to pass a cloture vote.  Three Republicans voted for cloture, so there was enough of a margin for Democrats.  Guess Harry Reid didn’t want this bill badly enough…

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Hot Air says add Joe Manchin to the list.

I had to pull the post that was here originally: it turns out that it was based on an article that relied on the illegal dissemination of material declared classified by the US government (the article was from a foreign paper, which gives them some cover).  That’s the annoying thing about Wikileaks and other anti-American organizations; they taint everything that they touch.

Moe Lane

PS: Shoot, I don’t even feel comfortable offering hints.

[Update]: On the other hand, if the person involved is claiming that Wikileaks is publishing faked classified material, well…

Words cannot describe how much you have lost that argument. Correction: one word can.

DOOM.

God, I love Schlock Mercenary.

Nobody Home, Pink Floyd

Maybe the truest song on this album.

That’s what the Washington Post reports, at least (H/T: The Daily Caller).  To refresh people’s memories: Rep. Waters used her position on the House Financial Services Committee to intervene on behalf of OneUnited Bank, which happens to be a bank with a personal connection with Waters.  The case was set to go in September, only to be delayed at the last second.  It will be looked at in the next Congress, much to the displeasure of Democrats.

Highlights from the WaPo article:

• The ostensible reason for the delay of the Waters case is that new information in the investigation was suddenly deemed necessary for a proper prosecution.  Current Ethics chair Zoe Lofgren (D) took this event as an opportunity to try to get two investigators fired; this was blocked by Rep. Jo Bonner (R), who is the current Ranking Member*.
• Lofgren allegedly mucked up the investigation from the start by not being aggressive on subpoenaing either Rep Waters and/or Rep. Barney Frank (chairman of Finance) and his staff.
• Lofgren also allegedly encouraged an unseemly haste to the proceedings, from trying to lock in a pre-election trial date to cutting investigators’ allotted time to present their case by four-fifths.
• By all accounts, Lofgren had also not prepared herself or her committee for a scenario where Rep. Waters was prepared to fight the charges; thus creating a leadership crisis when Waters did not make a deal.

(more…)

These are all subjective examinations of the current gestalt, which is a pretentious way of saying ‘They’re all WAGs.’  Caveat emptor, and all that.

• DADT Repeal: will pass.  I think that we’ve* got the votes; Northeast Republicans are just generally more comfortable with the idea; and this is one area where libertarians are going to be not in sync with social conservatives.
• DREAM Act: will not pass.  Immigration issues are very touchy right now, thanks to the Democrats’ incredibly ham-handed attempt to demonize over half of the population for daring to think that existing  federal immigration law should be, you know, taken seriously.  Supporting this will mean the difference between a credible primary challenge and a token one for at least two Republican Senators – and could easily be the last nail in the coffin for at least four Democratic ones.
• START: will pass, but the odds are almost even.  If Reid only needed sixty votes it’d pass.  It’s a treaty, so he needs sixty-seven; it’ll be a close-run thing.  I think.

Guess we’ll see tomorrow, huh?

Moe Lane

*Note pronoun.

(Via Glenn Reynolds) The Foundry’s Conn Connell notes an interesting coincidence: yesterday’s abandonment of the Democrats’ last-gasp omnibus bill was also the anniversary of the original Boston Tea Party*.  Which has no real deeper meaning, in the greater scheme of things: except that it’s giving me an excuse to put up the video below.

Especially since I know that a certain category of my political opponents absolutely hates that video, usually with a certain amount of baffled bewilderment mixed in.

Moe Lane

*Which, by the way, took place in 1773.  I mention this because, well, we’ve had occasions where some folks on the Other Side had a little trouble with getting the date right.

Cthulhu Mythos short fan film; it’s a couple of years old, but interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI0M4xRwbs8&feature=player_embedded

More here; first referenced here. I’m afraid that I have to agree with the implicit message found in the second link, though: adapting Lovecraft to the cinema is hard.

I mean, I don’t think that Iowahawk has recordings or anything – but there’s nothing that rings false in this decidedly NSFW post on the ongoing Democratic civil war between the President and Congress.  Somebody, somewhere, is saying all of those things.  Profanity, insensitive language, stereotyping, and all.

Moe Lane

PS: Who am I rooting for, in said civil war?  Why: injuries, of course.

As Glenn Reynolds indirectly notes, our elected officials like to know when they’ve done something properly.  Without question, making Harry Reid back down on that appalling omnibus bill was a righteous act; so give your Senator a call and say thanks.  If both of them are Democrats, then give Senator McConnell a call and say thanks.

Note: “give a call and say thanks.”  Not “send them money,” “offer an oath of fealty,” “tattoo their names on your arm,” “pledge unto them your firstborn,” or even “promise never to say bad things about them ever again.” Especially don’t do that last one; you never know when somebody’s going to backslide.  But the other half of behavior modification is rewarding desired behaviors; and an attaboy costs you nothing.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Let me be preemptive: whatever.  Do it anyway.