Moe Lane

(H/T: @jaketapper) Tim Pawlenty’s got a new campaign ad out (“A New Direction“) in response to the President’s formal announcement that he’s running again; and it features… Paul Krugman.  Paul Krugman, criticizing Washington for giving up on jobs.

I don’t care who you are: that’s just funny, right there.  If you’ve lost Paul Krugman…

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Tim Pawlenty’s site is here.

PPS: Also: “How can America win the future if we’re losing the present?”  I may not know who the nominee is going to be – but that’s going to be the question of the campaign, right there.

I’m repeating myself, but the Left keeps trying to push back on this ad highlighting Wisconsin Democrat (and candidate for Supreme Court Justice) Joanne Kloppenburg’s utter lack of compassion for abuse survivors:

…so pass it along.  Make sure that the Wisconsin voter in your life watches it.  The vote is tomorrow; the incumbent is David Prosser; and his site is here.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Lemme get a bad taste out of my mouth.

This is the studio version, I think:

The Crow, Steve Martin

I dunno why, but Steve Martin playing the banjo always cheers me up.  Maybe because the first time I heard him do that shtick I kept expecting him to pull a gag or something, and was delighted to see that he [did] not.

It’s quite fun, for given values of “fun:”

• The US Government subsidizes the production of corn-based ethanol, as a substitute/supplement for gasoline.
• To maintain a demand, the US Government pushes for standard gasoline mixtures containing 10% ethanol.  This will supposedly decrease pollution and increase efficiency.
• Corn is then turned into ethanol wholesale.
• Corn-based food prices rise.  That includes critters that eat corn, by the way.
• This results in higher food prices domestically.  This decreases efficiency.
• This also results in more food insecurity globally.
• Corn-based ethanol, being subsidized, crowds out other ethanol fuels.  If this is confusing: please, reference Gresham’s Law, and generalize from its specific example.
• Ethanol, being less energy efficient than gasoline – which is why we weren’t using it to begin with – ends up causing effective inflation, as it costs more to go the same distance in your car.  This also increases pollution.
• In short, 10% ethanol gasoline results in more pollution and less efficiency.
• Therefore, the only solution… is to raise the amount of ethanol in gasoline to 15%.

You have to realize, of course, that darn few DC bureaucrats actually drive anywhere.  And the ones that do rarely pump their own gas.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

…don’t get me wrong: I’m all about the zombies.  All about the zombies.  But when you start doing zombie political marches; well, let me put it this way.  That soft, choking whimper that you just heard?  Yeah, that’s what credibility sounds like when it dies.

Of course, note the really important noun there: “hundreds.”  And note who ends up going through considerable amounts of verbal gyrations to avoid having to deal with said noun…

Via POWIP.

Just because.

Blame this.

The President will not raise a billion dollars for the 2012 election.  At least, not without half of his campaign staff being indicted for various fraud-related practices in 2013.

Yes, I know that the man raised almost $750 million in 2008.  The economy wasn’t in the tank back then, either.  And the base hadn’t had their guy break his promises to them on a daily basis for three years.  And the populace in general hadn’t had three years’ worth of Change That You Can Believe In, or whatever the phrase was back then…

If you compare Kevin Drum to Brittney Spears, they get incredibly defensive about it.  Again: fascinating.

Absolutely fascinating.

(H/T: Instapundit)

Moe Lane

PS: What?  Oh, I don’t feel qualified to assess that comparison for fairness, sorry.  Mostly because I don’t currently feel the need to keep current about either of the two people involved.

Because why have a nice, sunny morning?  We probably can’t afford those anymore, anyhow.

H/T AoSHQ Headlines:

Primed by the financial meltdown; took off like a rocket in January 2009, and is now reaching for the stars.  Over 44 million on the rolls (somewhere around 14.3% of the population), which is about 14 million or so more than when this administration took office.  The graph is sufficiently grim and depressing on its own to make further commentary largely unnecessary, but I will add one sardonic comment.  If current conditions are what the White House considers to be “our economic recovery,” then let me be clear: You’re Doing It Wrong.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Benefits are down, too. A little counter-intuitive, given that the time frame is the Democratic party’s control of the government… no, wait, in that case it’s not counter-intuitive at all.

Sloop John B, Kingston Trio

This song has a certain fascination for Caucasian folk and quasi-folk bands, for some reason.

…by Cynthia Yockey: this shall be my fate, at some point.  Fortunately, I understand that the Apple video game situation is such that I will have some small protection against what Charlie Stross calls a class five glamour*.

Hopefully.

Moe Lane

*That’s a good series, by the way.

If you’re wondering why I haven’t reported ordering one yet, three words: potential government shutdown.  Which has absolutely no effect on the money that was raised, but unfortunately has an impact on the personal/household funds that I had earmarked to make up the difference.  So the cash stays where it is until the situation gets resolved*; worst-case scenario, I’ll give refunds.  Best case scenario, the Democrats wise up next week and stop trying to play chicken with the economy, and I can finally buy the blessed thing.

By the way… if a government shutdown is the only way that we can make the Democrats understand that we have to stop spending money that we don’t actually have, then that’s what has to happen and me and mine will just have to deal with the consequences.  And, yeah, it kind of sucks to have to take a fiscal/ethical position that promises to personally make my life more difficult, but it’d suck more to go the other way on this one.

Moe Lane

*Translation: no, I’m not hitting people up for more money.