Author: Moe_Lane

Marist: Chuckie Schumer (D, NY) dropped seven points since September.

Which is great for a Democratic Senator, these days; but what it is not is the kind of numbers that make an actual electoral challenge a self-evident absurdity, particularly in an election cycle where Republicans can win statewide in New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Don’t get me wrong: he’s got a fearsome reputation as a retail politician.  But I can’t help but notice that Senator Schumer’s a two-term Senator whose last election was against someone who nobody outside the NY GOP leadership actually wanted. Did you know that they didn’t have a Republican primary in 2004?  Or that they went over the head of the guy who actually raising money via the grassroots?  Or that the eventual Republican nominee didn’t get the nod from NY’s Conservative party?  You probably already know that Schumer’s an exceptionally arrogant man who talks as if God Himself signed over the title to his Senate seat, but then, so does everybody else*.

So.  If you’re wondering why Larry Kudlow seems to be at least thinking about this, that would be why.  It’s not actually impossible to take the Senator down… particularly if the President really does try to play the faux-populist card against Wall Street, which by the way absolutely loves Schumer (or at least keeps their protection payments up to date with him).  The American political graveyard is full of people whose careers came to an abrupt end after somebody said “Define ‘unbeatable.'”

Moe Lane

*Remember this?

Still think that the American people really don’t care, Chuckie?

Crossposted to RedState.

“Actually, officer, they’re forty-four lizards…”

“…so I can’t say that I’m particularly happy to see you”:

A German man who stuffed 44 small lizards into his underwear before trying to board a flight has been sentenced to prison in New Zealand for plundering the country’s protected species.

Hans Kurt Kubus, 58, will spend 14 weeks behind bars and must pay a 5,000 New Zealand dollar ($3,540) fine before being deported to Germany as soon as he is released, District Court Judge Colin Doherty ruled onTuesday.

Kubus was caught by wildlife officials at Christchurch International Airport on South Island in December, about to board an overseas flight with 44 geckos and skinks in a hand-sewn package concealed in his underwear.

(via Drudge) I have to ask: if your current career path requires you to illegally transport wild animals in immediate proximity to your genitals… well, don’t you think that maybe you should consider finding alternative forms of employment?

Moe Lane
PS: Heh. The Other McCain went with the same joke.

I declare January 27, 2010 to be a mental health day.

I am going to go out on a limb and assume that nothing particularly urgent is going to happen prior to the SotU this evening (this made me chuckle, even if it was read by somebody on the Other Side).  There are plenty of folks out there capable of covering what does come up today, so they can get along with that with my compliments.  I’m not saying less posting, just posting less… weighty.

Also: I ordered De Bello Lemures, Or The Roman War Against the Zombies of Armorica last night, sight unseen.  Roman legions versus zombies would make for an epic action flick.

Geez, is it Davos time AGAIN?

This is one of those things that I never heard of, pre-blogosphere:

Disputes over how best to reform the global financial system are set to dominate this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to add to the pressure on banks in a keynote speech on Wednesday.

Numerous sessions on banking reform are expected to see clashes between bankers and regulators.

…and I’m wondering whether I’m better off having an awareness of this event. I’d have about as much chance of getting an invite to it as I’d have of getting to the moon by climbing; and the protests are dead boring. You’d think that it’d be impossible to have a dull protest where tear gas and water cannons are involved, but look at the video. They’re all just phoning it in.

Moe Lane