Month: May 2009

‘So, was this one of ours, or one of theirs?’

‘Ours/theirs’ referring to which side of the partisan political spectrum this, well, nutjob was on:
052809obamabrendaleeairforceonehmv

Reporter Dragged Kicking and Screaming From Near Air Force One

A reporter for a small newspaper was forcibly removed from a press area near Air Force One shortly before President Barack Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to depart California early Thursday.
Airport security officers carried the woman away by the feet and arms as she protested her removal.

She later identified herself as Brenda Lee, a writer for the Georgia Informer in Macon and said she has White House press credentials. The newspaper’s Web site says it is a monthly publication and Brenda Lee column is posted on it.

Calls to the newspaper and the White House press office were not immediately returned.

It was a tough call: on the one hand, she was trying to apparently hand off a letter to the President asking him to support ‘traditional marriage.’  On the other hand, she was dressed as, and identifying herself as, a Roman Catholic priest.

And now you know why this story’s getting reported. Continue reading ‘So, was this one of ours, or one of theirs?’

“Poker Face.” [UPDATED]

So, I see this American Power link as part of R.S. McCain’s Rule 5 thing, and I ask myself: who the heck is Lady GaGa, and why was she posing almost nude for Rolling Stone?


Poker Face, Lady GaGa

Having watched the video: she’s actually not bad at all, but the woman’s hair stylist should be taken out and beaten with sticks.

[UPDATE] Jules Crittenden weighs in with his endorsement of Rolling Stone‘s endorsement of Small Wars Journal being ‘hot,’ too.  This is starting to be a rather weird year.

Speaking with Nikki Haley (R-CAN, SC-GOV)

“We can’t be scared to say that we want to be conservatives again.”

haleyI had the opportunity to speak with South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley the other day.  Rather than subject you to my stammering and verbal tics, I’ve summarized the call below, with transcribed quotes as appropriate, and three longer ones highlighted. Bottom line: State Representative Haley is a candidate that anyone interested in fiscal reform should take a good look at. The interview did not go overly into social issues, but her views on life and family issues appear solid.   Her donation page is here; Facebook group, here; and official stance on issues, here.

On her background:

Nikki Haley was born and raised in Bamberg, a small (population 2,500) town in South Carolina: “we learned accountability & responsibility early, because the second we thought about doing something wrong, someone was already calling and telling our mom.”  She’s a second-generation Indian-American with a public school education and an accounting degree from Clemson University, which she later used to help improve and expand her parents’ family business.  She is married, with two children: her husband is in the Army National Guard.

“I am the daughter of two immigrant parents who came here with eight dollars in their pocket that never let us forget what a blessing it is to live in this country: I’m the sister of a man who fought in Desert Storm and I remember what it was like to wonder if he would come home; I’m the wife of a husband in the military who loves his job; I’m the mother of two children who attend public schools and I wonder what their lives are going to be like when they grow up; and I’m a legislator who knows what good government can look like, and I want people to know what it feels like.”

Continue reading Speaking with Nikki Haley (R-CAN, SC-GOV)

Perhaps the White House doesn’t *want* Sotomayor confirmed.

Look who they’ve farmed the prep work off on:

Cynthia Hogan, chief counsel to Vice President Biden, will lead the White House team, with assistance from several other Biden aides. Former Obama campaign adviser and transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter will handle message and communications, two administration officials tell CNN.

The vice president, a veteran of Supreme Court nominations from his time on the Judiciary Committee, is also expected to play a key role, an administration official confirmed to CNN.

This helpful graphic may clarify the point:

speaking

That’s from the Alito hearings, which the Democrats rather badly wanted to short-circuit, but couldn’t. I concur in the implicit advice suggested by that graphic and the end of the CNN article: GOP Senators, make Sotomayor talk and talk and talk. Short questions, make her clarify everything, and the Senators going on later, keep track of what she was saying earlier and ask her about that.And here is my radical suggestion for these hearings:

I want every Republican Senator on that committee to set a goal of no more than 1,000 words for questions, and stick to it.

These are days for boldness.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Harry Reid attacked Barbara Bush in his book.

The Online Left have the Senate Majority Leader that they deserve.

(Via AoSHQ): In 1988, I was a Democrat. I came from a long line of Democrats; we were a good union household, the old blue-collar generation pushing the new generation into white collar. When it came to political heroes, it was FDR, Truman, JFK all the way: my parents voted for Carter, and grumbled about Reagan throughout his term. 1988 was my first election, and I went right down to the polling place and proudly voted for Dukakis/Bentsen. In short, I was a Democratic voter in a Democratic family in a Democratic state in a Democratic region who voted for two Democrats.

And if my Democratic parents had ever caught me calling a Republican First Lady crude names, even by implication, I would have gotten whacked on the ear*.

Speaking Bluntly
Mark Hemingway

[snip]

Three pages in, after lamely trying to establish his bipartisan bona fides by talking up George H. W. Bush, Reid shares this charming anecdote about his early days in the Senate: “[Former Texas senator and vice-presidential candidate Lloyd] Bentsen went on and on effusively about what a quality man President-elect [H. W.] Bush was. Then he paused and said, ‘But watch out for his wife; she’s a b[*]tch.’ I have never had anything against Mrs. Bush, but guided by Bentsen’s crude advice, I’ve always said that our forty-third president is more his mother than his dad.”

Which I guess makes me different from Harry Reid.

Thank God.

Moe Lane

*In fact, my mom would probably still do it. And I’d sit there and take it, too. That’s because I was raised to respect women.

Crossposted to RedState.

Frank Castle will not be the best man, alas.

It’s apparently a slow day at CNN. It’s not supposed to be a slow day for me, but I am finding it difficult to buckle down and do what I should be doing. So… this.

Anyway, Hot Air Headlines is already starting in on the mockery, but this could actually be all right – as long as the author goes with the implied suggestion in my title and actually does make Frank Castle the best man. After all, he’s already part of that universe’s continuity.

No. Really.

Hip-hop steadily losing its bling.

Cruelly, the WSJ provides the real names of its interviewees whenever possible.

We must be in a recession: conspicuous consumption in hip-hop / rap / whatever they’re calling it this week is down. Way down. Via Mickey K:

Culture of Bling Clangs to Earth as the Recession Melts Rappers’ Ice

After years of starring in rap-music lyrics and videos, “bling” is losing its ring.

The recession is cramping the style of hip-hop artists and wannabes — many of whom are finding it difficult to afford the diamond-encrusted pendants and heavy gold chains they have long used to project an aura of outsized wealth.

In an attempt to keep up appearances, celebrity jewelers say rappers are asking them to make medallions with less-precious stones and metals. Some even whisper that the artists have begun requesting cubic zirconia, the synthetic diamond stand-in and QVC staple.

Can you hold in your disappointment? Try to hold in your disappointment.
Continue reading Hip-hop steadily losing its bling.

“H.R. 1107: Nation’s Economic Cohabitation Act.”

“In a recession, it just doesn’t make any sense for two people who say that they love each other to pay separate rents.”

The Onion, of course.


Nation’s Girlfriends Unveil New Economic Plan: ‘Let’s Move In Together’

Now, I’m not saying that everybody laughing at this in a relaxed fashion are married, mind you. I’m merely saying that very few if any married people are nervously laughing at this; we may be also laughing in a somewhat cruel fashion, but that’s to be expected. It’s sort of like how most ex-smokers act, only with more malice aforethought and smugness.

Moe Lane

Jack Murtha (D-PA) gets a primary opponent.

I was first tipped off to this by the NRCC’s blog: Jack Murtha is going to have a primary opponent. For those who were wondering: Murtha did not have a primary opponent in 2008. Or 2006.  Or 2004*.  You have to go back to 2002 to see the last time that anybody tried to challenge him, in fact.

From the Post-Gazette’s blog:

Today, former naval officer Ryan Bucchianeri announced he would run against Murtha for the Democratic nomination for the 12th District congressional seat next year. The Monongahela native graduated from Ringgold High School in 1993 and then the U.S. Naval Academy, before receiving a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Bucchianeri won’t win the primary, of course – the netroots will be the only ones who might give him the money that he needs to make a successful challenge, and they’ll never support an unapologetic war veteran over a man who calls Marines murderers, particularly when the latter is also a crony of the Speaker of the House.  But that’s all right.  The fact that he’s getting one in the first place tells us that he’s more vulnerable than he’s been.  So we go after him next year.  If that doesn’t work, 2012.  If that doesn’t work, 2014.

Eventually we’ll get him.

Moe Lane

*He didn’t have an opponent in the general election, either.

Crossposted to RedState.