Moe Lane

You know who this helps?  Mitt Romney, that’s who.

Mitt Romney is running for president, and I am proud to endorse him.

The general reaction among the blogosphere*?  Rapid blinking of the eyes.  Lots of people didn’t see this one coming.  Including me.  Personally, speaking as a former Pawlenty guy… no, sorry, Tim.  I’d have followed you to the nomination, but I won’t follow Mitt Romney.  He gets the nod, that’s one thing – I’m a good Republican, and better him as President than Obama by far – but Romney’s not my first, second, or even third choice.

Nothing personal.  And nothing personal for Romney, either: him getting the endorsement is good news for Romney’s campaign.

Moe Lane

*As well as, I’m hearing, from Pawlenty’s own former staffers.

Don raises an interesting point: if supporting the Ground Zero Mosque was such a no-brainer, then why are Democrats getting so bent out of shape about Bob Turner (R) pointing out that Dave Weprin (D) enthusiastically supported it being built?

Don already knows the answer, of course:

If supporting the building of the mosque is the right thing to do, why not stand by those words that were said 13 months ago? Oh wait, that high-moral-ground stand might cost Democrats a seat in Congress. So what liberals are saying is that they are willing to stand up for unpopular causes — unless doing what they say is right may cost them a few votes.

(more…)

I’m a little surprised at myself that I haven’t mentioned this webcomic before: after all, The Watcher of Yathagggu is Cthulhu Mythos/steampunk* (and quite unsettling), and everybody knows how I feel about those two different genres.  This one’s also sorta-kinda post-apocalypse, in that special Mythos way.  All in all, it very favorably compares with Lovecraft is Missing, which is finally updating again, by the way.

Anyway, the current chapter to TWoY starts here, but there’s a decent-sized, tasty backlog to it. Go check it out.

Moe Lane

*Although it may be more electro-punk by now.

:ahem: DOOM.

PPP spells it out, and it’s good news for Republican Bob Turner.

Turner’s winning in a heavily Democratic district for two reasons: a huge lead with independents and a large amount of crossover support.  He’s ahead by 32 points at 58-26 with voters unaffiliated with either major party.  And he’s winning 29% of the Democratic vote, holding Weprin under 60% with voters of his own party, while losing just 10% of Republican partisans.

PPP goes on to blame the President for this one (both candidates have positive favorable ratings, although Bob Turner’s is notably better).  To give you an idea of how bad things are for Obama in NY-09, check this out: “Obama trails Mitt Romney 46-42 in a hypothetical match up in the district and leads Rick Perry only 44-43.”  It would seem that President Obama is highly unpopular with orthodox Jewish voters (Turner leads 56/39) and people who care about Israel (Turner leads there 71/22) right now.  Go figure.

So… I am going to go out on a limb, here:

DOOM.

Moe Lane

PS: Bob Turner for NY-09.  DOOM or not, no time to get cocky.

Damned allergy season.

Republicans: lolwhut?

OK, I understand the need for consistent and drumbeat messaging of one side’s partisan talking points, but this is getting ridiculous.

President Barack Obama:

Pass this jobs bill — pass this jobs bill, and starting tomorrow, small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or if they raise workers’ wages.

The bill has not been written yet.

Valerie Jarrett, senior White House adviser:

Congress should pass this bill right now.

Again, the bill has not been written yet.

Huffington Post:

During a time of national crisis, the president has submitted an urgently-needed jobs bill that is well within the mainstream for Republicans as well as Democrats.

What part of THE BILL HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN YET is so hard to understand?

(more…)

It’s always hard to judge special election prospects from the polls, but if the teaser that Democratic pollster Tom Jensen put out on September 8th plays out tonight at 11 PM, it might be enough for the coveted DOOM tag for Dave Weprin.

Well, possibly not coveted by Weprin.  We’ll see tonight: I should update this post then.  Unless I don’t.

Moe Lane

PS: Bob Turner for NY-09.

It’s always entertaining to watch somebody like Paul Krugman demonstrate that he does not, in fact, know how to regulate his own comments section:

I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.

I believe that the technical term for this is ‘epistemic closure.’

Via Hot Air Headlines.

Moe Lane

PS: I had more – mostly some technical observations on the proper way to regulate one’s comments section, coupled with a fully-justified sneer or two towards Lefty antiwar projector-types like Krugman – but, really, the better thing to do is not dwell on those poor unfortunates and instead offer up a prayer or two for the lost, and their loved ones.

I hadn’t really thought about it at the time, but Ann Althouse / James Taranto / Dana Milbank are all correct: the way that the GOP openly laughed at some of the more absurd things that President Obama said on Thursday was more insulting than Rep. Joe Wilson’s (perfectly-accurate) direct shout of “You lie!” at Obama’s 2009 attempt to justify his party’s disaster of a health care rationing system.  As Milbank put it:

The lawmakers weren’t particularly hostile toward the president — they just regarded the increasingly unpopular Obama as irrelevant. And the inclination not to take the 43-percent president seriously wasn’t entirely limited to the Republicans.

Do tell.  Do tell.  But please remember: it is not the Republicans’ fault that the President is in this mess.  In 2009 Barack Obama was handed a multitude of gifts by the American people: a unquestionable popular vote and an overwhelming Electoral College victory; powerful majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives; and favorable ratings from the American people rarely seen outside of wartime.  All of this translated to a perfect storm of opportunity and power.  And Barack Obama then proceeded to pi… err, throw… it all away on a stimulus that didn’t work, a cap-and-tax bill that didn’t pass, and a health care rationing system that everybody hates, and wants to die in a fire.  And, oh yes, the Lily Ledbetter Act – you know, I still can’t even remember what that one does, and I must have looked it up a dozen times.

Obama’s earned this, is all that I’m saying.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Neither a Photoshop, nor the aftermath of a wacky accident:

It’s just kind of cool.

Via David Thompson, who I should link to more often.

This is the tenth year anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities; and it is also the first year that I cannot in fact engage in my usual habit of taunting the author of said atrocities by reminding him that he failed, because I am alive and free, and he is in hiding.  That is because Osama bin Laden is now dead and almost certainly in Hell*, and there is frankly nothing that I can do or say any longer that would make the slightest bit of difference with regard to his fate.  So – being reminded by a friend online – I have instead prayed for the souls of all those who were lost in that atrocities that day, and for all of those who have been lost since then keeping the rest of us safe from further atrocities, and for those people’s loved ones.

I think that this is a good thing to do.

Moe Lane

*There is always the chance of repentance.  God’s mercy is infinite; you just have to truly want to throw yourself on it.

The Sounds Of Silence, Simon & Garfunkel

Remind me not to look up how old these guys must be by now, OK?