Moe Lane

…probably mostly because last-minute stuff means that I’m missing the first day of CPAC.  Still, there should still be plenty of raw material for interviews and videos and whatnot available for the rest of the conference.  I’m always happy to talk to a candidate and/or legislator: whether they’re happy to talk to me… nah, I’m a creampuff when it comes to interview questions.  Or at least not too much in love with the sound of my own voice.

Roar!,  Cloverfield

Really smart of them not to put this at the beginning of the film.

I personally blame Elizabeth Moon: I’ve been steadily chewing through the Vatta’s War series – which is darn good, by the way – and so have not been keeping my ear to the weird for the daily non-political stuff.

And I’ve already gone with a giraffe video this week.

And I thought that this Machination game call for funding thingy would be worthwhile, only the snobs only want to have it work on platforms that start with an i.

Such is life, I guess.

Just couldn’t handle the thought of running again for VA-SEN, apparently – although I’m sure that the lack of money didn’t help much there, either.  Or the fact that Webb was practically guaranteed a messy primary, thanks to his race-related thoughtcrime last year.  What ever it was, this isn’t a surprise, of course: it was obvious last week that Webb didn’t have the right stuff to run again in a year where things weren’t guaranteed to go his way.  I wonder whether enabling the extremist agenda of the exact same people who spit on his troops was worth it to the man?

…Actually, no, I really could care less whether it did or not.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Please run Tim Kaine for VA-SEN, Democrats. Please, please, please, please, please, please run Tim Kaine.

Due to the intersection of Craiglist and shirtless photos; Chris Lee resigned so quickly he left vapor trails.  Misrepresenting himself as a lobbyist in order to meet women, of all (bizarre) things.

It’s a pretty Republican district, so the special election – who’s willing to bet that Governor Cuomo* won’t delay the election the way that Paterson delayed Massa’s? – should prove to be interesting mostly for its potential to demonstrate which group has more congenital screwups: the DCCC, or the NY GOP.  Normally I’d unkindly and reflexively say the latter, but the DCCC was $19 million in the hole as of the end of last year*.

So let’s try this ‘cautious optimism’ thing: I hear it’s all the rage.

Moe Lane

*The NRCC’s in the hole for $10.5 million, but that’s easier to work around when you’re on the sweet side of a sixty-three seat House shift.

(H/T Instapundit) The Connecticut Mirror went with the wrong title with this article by choosing “Once again, Blumenthal appears to misstate his history.” Admittedly, the story itself – that Senator Dick Blumenthal is reprising his unfortunately-successful electoral strategy of lying about his Vietnam service by inflating his role in Roe vs. Wade - is newsworthy.  Not surprising in the slightest, and certainly not a new low for the freshman Senator from Connecticut – but newsworthy.  But it still shouldn’t have been the title.

The title should have been “Blumenthal Chief of Staff threatens website.”

Laurie Rubiner, Blumenthal’s chief of staff, echoed that argument[*] and warned against writing such an “incendiary” story.

“This is a very unfair route you are going down,” she said. “We’ll remember this.”

(more…)

If my pet theory is correct, then very possibly: Ohio legislators will be unveiling today the Heartbeat Bill, which would ban abortions where a fetal heartbeat can be detected (H/T: Weasel Zippers).  This would effectively put the cap on abortions in Ohio at being absolutely no later than six weeks, and quite possibly earlier: pro-choice agitators are already simultaneously claiming that the proposed law is intolerably restrictive and that almost nobody in Ohio needs later term abortions anyway.  That these claims are at least potentially contradictory to each other is… pretty much standard for pro-choicers, actually.

At any rate, this bill has a decent chance of passing.  Ohio abruptly flipped over to full Republican control of the state government last November, with the GOP taking control of the General Assembly and the governorship (we already had the state Senate): the sponsor of the Heartbeat Bill (state representative Lynn Wachtmann) has 40 (out of 99) of her fellow-representatives already signed on.  And, of course, Governor Kasich is pro-life.  But it’s a very serious and meaningful piece of pro-life legislation; which means that there’s going to be significant push-back on it.  The question is, does Live Action have something to push back on the push-back?

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very careful when you throw an online contest to pick Something’s New Name, or the Best Whatever, or… anything, really.  Especially when there’s a possibility that an inappropriate, yet legal-by-the-rules choice will seriously embarrass the contest throwers.

This is a lesson that the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has now learned with regard to the proposed name of its new government center.  No… no, you’re going to have to click through for this one.  I run a respectable website, here.

Via Political Wire, via Hot Air Headlines.

Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie

It’s really best if you just don’t think too hard about the backstory on this one.  Or seek said backstory out, if you don’t already know it.

LLAMAS!!!!!

Fear their wrath.

I thought so at the time, and I still think so now: the Onion might have thought that they were having fun with this:

Raaaah! Gronk hate H.R. 3712, the Income And Property Tax Reassessment Act! Senator Gronk crush middle-class tax hike!

Me hate 3712! Bill punish hardworking Americans trying to earn fair wage and maintain decent standard of living. Bill discourage spending at time spending needed. Bill bad!

Hrrrrngh! Me crush regressive, short-sighted bill!

If House pass 3712 and send to Senate floor, Gronk destroy bill. Gronk pound bill with fists. Gronk stomp. Proponents in Senate sooner kill Gronk than pass bill. That kind of dedication constituents come to expect from Gronk.

…but, dammit, Gronk’s instincts are sound (although the minimum wage increase thing is problematical).  Also, this was quite right:

That America fight terrorism is clear. How hard America fight up to all of us. Up to Congress with votes Congress cast, but, most important, up to citizen with vote citizen cast.

I have no argument with any of that.

Moe Lane

And don’t me any guff about grammar.  Have you heard some of our Senators?  We’ve got people in office now who make Gronk sound like freaking Demosthenes.

Over at RedState, my colleague Neil Stevens reminds the world that Known and Unknown: A Memoir comes out today: I should be picking up a copy later this week.  Check out the video over there, and note the background: I am told that there are items of particular interest and significance back there.

Also, check out The Rumsfeld Papers, which is a site that will host the documents referenced in Rumsfeld’s book. There’s a buzz about that kind of access that’s completely separate from the book’s (as of this date) #1 status on Amazon.