Moe Lane

Yes, there were some protesters seeking greater exposure for their positions on our current fiscal situation.

Nude protesters, rallying against budget cuts, in front of Speaker Boehner’s office in Longworth

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) November 27, 2012

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How do we know this?  Because he announced yesterday that jobs and growth were now his administration’s top priority.

On Tuesday, America went to the polls. And the message you sent was clear: you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours.

[snip]

At a time when our economy is still recovering from the Great Recession, our top priority has to be jobs and growth.

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Jim Geraghty’s got a point in his latest Morning Jolt…

How often do any of us actually persuade other people on any major controversy of the day? Have any Obamacare critics encountered an argument that made them stop and think and reconsider their opposition? Has any Obamacare fan changed their mind? Do people even change their minds anymore?

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That’s what Fox News is saying… ah.  Caucuses.  Much is now explained. Rick Santorum won that particular contest, although the way that the caucus system distributes delegates is – say it with me, folks – “complicated.”

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney won Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands.  Don’t laugh: that netted him eighteen more delegates.  In fact, given that 215 people in Guam gave Romney nine more delegates, the real question is why the other candidates didn’t even bother to try…

Moe Lane

PS: This reminds me of the 2008 nomination process, all over again.  The good news is, it reminds me of the Democratic nomination process; the bad news is, I don’t think that the 2008 Democratic nomination process necessarily produced the best candidate (I wonder what the battlespace would have looked like, absent the financial meltdown).

Well, this is the Work Week of Political Hell on Earth, after all: a mind-bogglingly, soul-destroying debate on Monday; an incredibly mendacious State of the Union address on Tuesday by a President who visibly isn’t even trying to pretend that he cares about the 2008 agitprop that he shelled out; and another debate tomorrow, which will probably kill fleas at five hundred yards and will leave the earth barren and grey at its epicenter for unto the next ten generations.

So, yeah, time for some catching up on the e-reading.  Himmler’s War, assuming that you care (although I bought is via Baen’s e-book service).

On the bright side, this was a startlingly good set of comments from Mitt Romney.  Then again, someone once pointed out that you’re always most conservative about the things that are most important to you, and Romney always has been a businessman.

A recent comment here has reminded me of a post that can be found here, which was easily the best roundtable discussion that I’ve ever participated in online.  Note the date: in retrospect it’s fairly clear that we were all dreading the election results, and needed a distraction that day.

Worked, too.  IIRC, we got a certain amount of indignation elsewhere for not only being more chipper than expected in the face of looming defeat; but for being truly more chipper than expected.  It’s amazing how many people out there will find the enjoyment of their victories blighted if they can’t also tack on the despair of their enemies.  Me, personally, I just want the win; the despair’s the garnish.  If I don’t get it, I still have the win.

Well, Ed Morrissey has always been the reasonable one.

Whenever people ask me whether I will run for public office, I always respond half-jokingly that if I wanted a career in electoral politics, I wouldn’t have spent the last eight-plus years writing down my every thought on politics and policy.

The things that I have written, on the other hand, would cause me to crater so heavily in any political run that it’d probably cause a slight wobble in Earth’s orbit. But I have learned to accept this: as the philosopher said, A man’s got to know his limitations.

Moe Lane

Just on the off chance that Alec Baldwin ever runs for political office in the near future… whoever is researching this, be sure to have your boss ask Alec how that residential status tax audit turned out.  Or why he fought it in the first place, seeing as Baldwin was for raising taxes on… well, people as rich as him… back in 2006.

Deceiver.com.  Doesn’t always have stuff that you can use – but when they do, it’s usually tasty.  And they have the saving grace of bipartisan finger-pointing.

The RNC has decided to get in a kick or two:

…presumably on the principle that you never let a good dip in the polls go to waste. Based on the length, this looks like a web ad, which means… actually, the jury is still out on how effective web ads are. They’re certainly more cost-effective, but the dispute is on what their real reach is – and the dispute is rarely between people who don’t have a vested interest in the answer.

Full points on the big lettering, by the way. Subtle, this wasn’t. Nor was it particularly meant to be.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

It’s turning out to be quite the day for fiscal revelations. The latest is Pete Visclosky (D-IN), who is celebrating his recent drop in campaign contributions with a request to use what he has remaining for his upcoming legal… expenses:

Visclosky wants to dip into fundraising to pay legal fees

Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) is seeking to confirm that he can reach into his $900,000 campaign war chest to pay his legal fees arising from an FBI investigation of his campaign fundraising.

In a March letter to the Federal Election Commission released Monday, the treasurer of Visclosky’s campaign is seeking an advisory opinion allowing the use of campaign funds to pay expenses relating to the FBI’s investigation of contributions from the PMA Group and its clients.

See also here (via Instapundit).  It’s turning out to be a month for this sort of thing. Visclosky, Thompson, Feinstein, Dodd, Moran, Durbin, Pelosi (with a nod to Harman), Summers, Rattner, Murtha… get the point?  Because we can keep going: that list barely touches the House, not to mention the executive branch. (more…)