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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Greatest Dance Team Evah! (Update: this helps after the bad news about Andrew Breitbart)


This is some amazing dancing and performing.  The Nicholas Brothers.
Some more information.  Here also.
Update:  I am feeling rather down about Andrew Breitbart.  I was once told that if you feel depressed the best cure for it is tap dancing (it is impossible to be depressed when you tap dance).  After watching this again, I have to agree.  And I believe that is the Cab Calloway Orchestra in the background.  Andrew Breitbart, in his own unique way, danced like this...
Sunshine State Sarah links a lot of others feeling the same today.
Daily Kossacks trying to get Westboro Baptist Church to protest his funeral.  Stay Classy Dems.  Ironically Andrew Breithbart would love this for you guys revealing yourselves.  
The Other McCain has some links too...

As for David Frum and others who spoke badly of Andrew.  What is there to say?  Again, they reveal themselves for what they are.  I will not speak badly of Frum.  Frum is dead to me.
Jeff Goldstein has some of the comments from the left.  Again, Andrew would treat it as a badge of honor.  

All American Blogger has an Andrew Breitbart tribute
Instapundit on readers' emails from Washington State:  Be Breitbart!

And now a preview of GOP Super Duper Tuesday!


Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich have all been described as "Frankenstein" by pundits on the left.  I won't bother with links to send them traffic, but...
Here are the current polls for the GOP Super Duper Tuesday States (Georgia, Ohio, Tennesee, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Virginia)  

And it is also fair to describe the left and their pundits as an angry mob of ignorant villagers with pitch forks and torches who will be coming for which ever GOP candidate prevails...

RIP Davy Jones

Even Maureen Dowd is right once every four years...

Einstein defined Insanity as...



Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Mittens lives to fight another day...

And that is the way the cookie crumbles...

Ann Althouse notes that Ben & Jerry's is apologizing for its raaaaacist Lin-Sanity frozen yogurt ...
Yes things are that politically correct and insane now.  How dare you, Sir, suggest that a Chinese person might actually like Chinese inspired vanilla frozen yogurt with lychee honey and fortune cookie pieces in it!  What next?  Dublin Mudslide with Irish cream liqueur!  Jamaican Me Crazy with pineapple and tapioca!  Do these raaaaacists at Ben & Jerry's have no shame?   

How about a song?

And we continue to spin ourselves into butter over these issues.  

How crazy can it get?  How about this crazy?

Meanwhile back in China (where they do not eat fortune cookies)
 the sesame seeds for an economic meltdown are being sown...
 
Do you think if that happened that might have a negative impact on the global economy?  

Like the Chinese not buying our debt anymore?
But you know what they say about Chinese economics...it is inscrutable.




Update:  Fortune Cookies we would like to see...

Separated at Birth: Andrew Sullivan and...?

Separated at Birth:  Andrew Sullivan and ...
Andrew Sullivan,  
Daily Beast Contributor
Rabid Obama Supporter
Michael Medved,
 Daily Beast Contributor
Rabid Romney Supporter


















Michael?  Is there something you want to tell us?  Do you think there is just a wee bit of hysteria in all of this?  Hmmm, hysteria, conservative politics, destroying the opposition, where have we seen that before? 


Andrew Sullivan endorses Rick Santorum for the GOP nomination:
I am relieved [Santorum] is at least candid. For now we can see in plain view the religious fanaticism that has destroyed one of the major parties in this country, a destruction that is perilous for any workable politics. It must be defeated - and not by electing a plastic liar and panderer like Romney. But by nominating Santorum and defeating him by such a margin that this theo-political Frankenstein, which threatens both genuine faith and civil politics, is dispatched once and for all.
Did Santorum make Excitable Andrew Sullivan feel bad about himself?  Rick Santorum is an observant Catholic (unlike that other Catholic that Andrew Sullivan thinks was such a model of presidential virtue).  But Santorum has said flat out that he would not restrict contraception.  Santorum has said that just because he talks about an issue, doesn't mean he is going to take presidential action on an issue.   The reason that Santorum's moral message has appeal in America of 2012 is there is a demonstrable moral decline occurring.   In terms of success, as shown demographically, the stogie values of 1960 are the ones that successful people adopt.  And yes, success is in many ways due to old fashioned attitudes like hard work, discipline, marriage, and commitment.  I understand that Santorum opposes same sex marriage (and I also disagree with Mr. Santorum on that issue).    But Barack Obama said he thought marriage should be limited to one man and one woman too and that his Christianity was the basis of that belief.  But of course we all know Barack Obama really did not mean that.  And apparently, that sort of moral pandering and subterfuge is the model for a good president?  Sullivan of course ignores that in terms of same sex marriage and instead focused on when Obama has done similar things on health care.  But is Andrew Sullivan calling for repeal of Obamacare?  Nope.  Hey if you are not a true believer of the neo-Gaiaism New Ageism that passes as supposed rational thought, you must hate the earth!  Christianist!  

As far as passing an amendment to ban abortion--the country is still roughly evenly divided over this issue (although the majority now support greater restrictions on late term abortion) and I doubt NARAL and Amanda Marcotte can start a civil war over it (although if a President Santorum gets to pick a replacement for one of the liberal Supreme Court justices, they just may try).  And given how difficult it is to pass a constitutional amendment, Andrew can stop hyperventilating and can safely hit his medical marijuana bong again--a President Santorum is probably not going to be able to pass an amendment restricting marriage to one man and one woman.  What absolute horror would take place if Santorum got elected?  A more balanced budget?  Cuts to entitlements?   Perhaps the possibility the United States will not end up like this in a few years?  Rather than panicking over the possibility of Santorum, why isn't Sullivan (who still have the gaul to call himself conservative) panicking over the damage Barack Obama and the Democrats are doing?  


Michael Medved also panics that Rick Santorum might win the GOP nomination, fearing that a Santorum ticket would have such negative coattails as to not only lose the general presidential election, but to lose the House and Senate to the Democrats:
Democrats promising to spend hundreds of millions in a determined bid to recapture the House, and with Republicans mounting a supreme effort to win the four Democratic seats they need to win control of the Senate, the members of Congress naturally want a candidate at the top of the ticket who will make their own races easier, not harder. Even veteran incumbents with only token opposition still care deeply about the overall outcome: if the GOP loses the House, then Republicans must give up all the committee chairmanships and other prerogatives of power they currently enjoy.
I expect this sort of thing from Sullivan, but the hyperventilating and defeatism over Santorum by supposed conservatives like Ann Coulter, Chris Christie, Karl Rove, and Jennifer Rubin is getting tiresome.  And what is Michael Medved smoking?  If you guys are for Mitt Romney, then support Mitt Romney.  This defeatist talk in Medved's column about how inevitable Barack Obama is pathetic and also untrue!  Glenn Reynolds is no Santorum fan, but he acknowledges that the attacks on him as unelectable have been unfair.  I have been critical of Rick Santorum and warned him not to be a nanny stater or alienate folks who could be potential allies.  And it is possible Rick Santorum could blow it.  But if Santorum does become the nominee, I am going to support him (and also encourage him to win).   Plus Obama's victory is not guaranteed.  These conservative pundits can support whoever they want, but remember the Left will be trying to destroy Romney as the nominee as much as Santorum in the general.  I would rather have a conservative fighting than see another 2008 election.

original hat tip:  Spy Magazine


Why Drudge cracks me up sometimes...

Monday, February 27, 2012

Two candidates from two different places...Fishtown vs. Belmont: A tale of two suburbs

Fishtown vs. Belmont, a tale of two suburbs...
Michael Barone has a very interesting article on the changing dynamics of White America and where these two candidates, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney, are coming from...
In Fishtown, he reports, one-third of men age 30 to 49 are not making a living, one-fifth of women are single mothers raising children, and nearly 40 percent have no involvement in a secular or religious organization.The result is that the children being raised in such settings have the odds heavily stacked against them. Santorum made this point vividly, and Mitt Romney chimed in his agreement.These findings turn some conventional political wisdom on its head. They tend to contradict the liberals who blame increasing income disparity on free-market economics. In fact, it is driven in large part by personal behavior and choices.They also undermine the conservatives who say that a liberation-minded upper class has been undermining traditional values to which more downscale Americans are striving to adhere. Murray's complaint against upscale liberals is not that they are libertines but that they fail to preach what they practice...
This may explain why Rick Santorum is surging with conservative women...   Here are four different theories on why Rick Santorum is surging with women:  Theories 1-3 are generally correct, theory 4 is a warning on not letting the Democrats brand Santorum in this way (no one likes a nanny scold).  Here is Stacy McCain, who is a Rick Santorum supporter, on the fight and the figher.  
Update:  Creative Minority on Rick Santorum and JFK.  Of course what Rick Santorum is right--religious people should have a voice on policy, but:   "The problem Santorum faces is that although he's absolutely right, it's not something that can be explained to folks in ten second sound bytes. So his words are taken out of context and shown in the worst possible light." And yes the left will twist this (so be prepared).  


Update II:  This is just great advice on pivoting a gotcha media or debate question from DaTechGuy (good advice for any GOP candidate in the general, but especially for Rick Santorum now):  
Valley of the Shadow raises a great point concerning election 2012:
Stay on message. Remember the Surber Rule: The economy alone will get a Republican elected president next year. Talk about nothing else.
Surber himself gives this example:
Reporter: Is homosexuality a choice or genetic?
Answer: That’s above my pay grade, as the president likes to say. But unlike the president, the economy is not above my pay grade. I can promise you a lower unemployment rate when I am elected president and the economy is allowed to grow.
Me I’d answer a different way:
Reporter: Is homosexuality a choice or genetic?/Do you believe in evolution/should the church pay for contraception/ etc. etc etc..
Answer: Are you serious? Unemployment is over 8%, Millions have given up on looking for work, Gas prices are skyrocketing and that’s the question you’re asking? Is that really the question your viewers/readers want asked?
Reporter: It’s a topic on people’s minds

Answer:
 No it’s the topic you and the media want to talk about because you understand that a conversation on the economy is a loser for the left.
Reporter: So you are refusing to answer the question?
Answer: Look if a voter in a town hall asks me a question I’ll answer it, my views are not a secret, but if you want to get fodder for your talking points you’ll just have to do the legwork.
Surber is right in the sense of not playing the reporters but if the voter asks, you answer, unabashedly, unashamed and without reservation.


Update III:  Rush:  Don't fear the social issues
Of course both Rick and Mitt will not win over all women.  But that is okay, they were lost a long, long, time ago.

Hypocrisy: Thy name is Islamic Outrage نفاق

A photograph of a Koran burning in Lebanon
Muslims throwing hundreds of Korans in a sewage ditch in Pakistan... no outrage whatsoever over that.  
Afghan Protestor about Koran burning منافق
Muslims murdering and rioting in Afghanistan because the U.S. Army had the temerity to burn some Korans that were already defaced and desecrated by Muslims first.   Two U.S. advisors were shot in the back by a member of the Afghan forces we are working with.    


This is tiresome and intolerable.  Islamists murder in the name of God over cartoons?  Islamists blow up mosques that they disagree with and in the process kill Muslim women and children (beyond burning Korans).   And this outrage is something we are supposed to take seriously?   The only part I take seriously is this:  Violent over-reaction is not tolerable.  Update:  Hundreds of death threats to "Zombie Mohammed" victim.


And we have nothing to apologize for (at least not in the manner that was done in this case).  The President should be explaining that to the world, rather than catering to this sort of behavior.  This sort of weak reaction by the White House encourages this sort of over-reaction, it does not prevent it.  Charles Krauthammer and National Review are absolutely correct in this:  

The reason we’re apologizing is not because of politeness or showing respect. A single apology would have done that. It’s the fear of violence. People don’t object if Mormons are mocked on Broadway, if Christian crucifixes are put in bottles of urine and displayed in a museum, because violence isn’t a factor.
[Regarding Islam, however] people are afraid. You do a cartoon of Muhammad and you get beheaded or shot. It’s a matter of fear. It’s not respect. One apology is correct. It [the administration’s multiple apologies] shouldn’t have been done — all of this stuff is cravenness.

h/t:  Instapundit  


Sunday, February 26, 2012

Okay, you can change the channel from the Oscars to the Walking Dead now...

Well the one funny bit of the night is done, you might as well switch to The Walking Dead
“If someone asks what you are wearing, tell them Kim Jong Il.”

Sacha Baron Cohen comes as "The Dictator" to the Academy Awards red carpet and dumps Kim Jong Il's ashes on Ryan Seacrest.  


Sadly, while Mr. Cohen finally managed to get invited, Uggie, the star of The Artist will not be.  Sadly, blatant speciesism is still rampant in Hollywood: 
Update:  They did the right thing!
How could the Academy say no to a mug like this?  
Thank you to the Academy for doing the right thing!  
We will beat speciesism!  One animal at a time!  
Uggie was allowed to attend and The Artist wins best picture.
At least MoDo is not there either.

Maureen Dowd Speaks: The Ghastly Outdated Op-ed Columnist


MoDo: "I am big. It's the 'newspapers' that got small."
On Oscar night, with a silent film being considered for Best Picture, Ms Maureen "Norma Desmond" Dowd comes out of seclusion and takes pot shots at the GOP.  Here is a hint Ms. Dowd:  You are not in a position to call anyone "creepy." And this statement by you was curious: "How can the warm, nurturing Catholic Church of my youth now be represented in the public arena by uncharitable nasties like Gingrich and Rick Santorum? "  I am pretty sure you abandoned that "warm nurturing Catholic Church" of your youth way way before Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House, let alone in this election cycle.  
Prior EBL Post:  
Maureen Dowd is a big fat liar...
Sarah Palin on Maureen Dowd: Don't get all wee-weed up!
Maureen Dowd on Silence is Golden (it is indeed Ms. Dowd, when it comes to your political opining)


Academy Aware Update:  Well it is over, Sacha Baron Cohen steals the show...

Update:  The Other McCain comments about Marueen Dowd's latest rant:  "Finally, if ”perceived sexuality” is to be so zealously protected, would the Oakland Police press hate-crime charges against protesters if they shouted “bitter old spinster” at Maureen Dowd?"

Judge Martin Responds: On "Zombie Mohammed" Case

Judge Martin:  I did use the word “doofus,” but didn’t call him that directly; 
I said something akin to “ if you’re going to mock another religion or culture, 
you should check your facts, first- otherwise, you’ll look like a doofus.”
Volokh Conspiracy supposedly has the response from Judge Martin on the case.  Professor Volokh does not have the link, but he says he got an email from someone who knows Judge Martin.  It seems to be written in Judge Martin's voice...did Judge Martin send Volokh the e-mail?  Judge Martin claims he did not do what he is being accused of doing.  Judge Martin also outlines his duty in Iraq and Afghanistan (which involved combat and seems very honorable and commendable) and states that he is not a Muslim.   
Original Post:  Pennsylvania Sharia Law?  Free speech vs. Insulting Islam
Granted the tapes were partial, but do they square with what Judge Martin is claiming now?   There must be an official taping or court reporting system for the hearing in question.  Shouldn't that resolve the issue (probably not for official judicial council review, but at least in terms of immediate public interest)?


Update:  Hundreds of death threats to "Zombie Mohammed" victim.
Update II:  Volokh Conspiracy makes a good follow on point:  
More from Judge Mark Martin (of the Zombie Mohammed Incident), on CNN
From a CNN interview (starting at 2:15):
Interviewer: When I spoke to him over the phone, Judge Martin acknowledged it’s his job to protect the rights of people like the atheist, no matter how offensive they might be.
Interviewer to Judge Martin: … There are some who believe you were failing to protect that right.
Judge Martin: No, I don’t think so. Here’s the thing: It’s a right, it’s not a privilege, it’s a right. With rights come responsibilities. The more that people abuse our rights, the more likely that we’re going to lose them.
But I don’t quite see how this is “the thing,” at least in the sense of an explanation of the judge’s actions at the trial. I don’t think that we’re in danger of losing our free speech rights because some people say things that are offensive to Muslims. I do think that free speech rights are in danger when judges berate alleged crime victims for their anti-Islam speech, and thus convey the message that the legal system may be biased against those who engage in such speech and may fail to protect those people because of such speech.

Categories: Blasphemy    

USA Number One! USA Number One! Oh wait...USA is number one in per capita debt?

Saturday, February 25, 2012

It is this sort of thinking that got us in this mess...

I do not want to be too critical of this thought experiment,  
but if you do not pay attention to the details you end up with this mess:

Prior EBL Posts:

These are beautiful works of art...

The Obama poster creator, Shepard Fairey, pleads guilty to criminal contempt

The problem with hate crimes...


The statement by the defense attorney frames the issue exactly right.  Why not just charge people with assault and battery (or whatever crime they are accused of committing) if they deserve it?  Three Massachusetts lesbians charged with hate crimes for beating up a gay man: 
Three women identified by their lawyers as lesbians were arraigned yesterday on a hate crime charge for allegedly beating a gay man at the Forest Hills T station in an unusual case that experts say exposes the law’s flawed logic.
“My guess is that no sane jury would convict them under those circumstances, but what this really demonstrates is the idiocy of the hate-crime legislation,” said civil liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate. “If you beat someone up, you’re guilty of assault and battery of a human being. Period. The idea of trying to break down human beings into categories is doomed to failure.”
Here is a video of some New Zealand ladies taking on a guy who mouthed off to one of them on the sidewalk: 



Here is a different story of some UK women who beat up the wrong man by mistake (they thought he "wolf whistled" them.  


Update:  The problem with hate crimes.  Oh my.  This is a great example.  Thanks to The Other McCain.  

Visiting Brooklyn? Oddities and Fashion

Happy 91st Birthday Abe Vigoda

Friday, February 24, 2012

Glenn Beck and Rick Santorum discuss libertarians and Ron Paul


Glenn Beck is trying to help Rick Santorum here...
I am not a fan of Ron Paul's foreign policy either.  I also lean more George Washington than Thomas Paine.  This is an interesting exchange.  Rick is much better in this setting than in debates


But it goes back to the advice of Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin.  We want to keep Ron Paul from running third party.  We want his supporters to support the GOP nominee.  There are also Ron Paul positions on fiscal matters that the GOP absolutely should adopt.  And while Ron Paul is a libertarian, not all libertarians are Ron Paul supporters.  So when Rick Santorum criticizes Ron Paul by using the term libertarian, he is alienating himself from those other libertarians.
I am not the only one who has noticed this.  


Meanwhile are Ron Paul and Mitt Romney working some sort of deal out?  Or is this the explanation for Ron Paul's assistance to Mitt Romney in the debate the other day?  Hint:  If you are trying to debunk a conspiracy theory involving Mitt Romney, it might be a good idea not to have Hugh Hewitt or Jennifer Rubin make the pitch.


Update:  Mark Levin has a "no gotcha" interview with Rick Santorum.  

Pennsylvania Sharia Law? Free Speech vs. Insulting Muslims


This is a bizarre story I suspect we will hearing more of.  An atheist activist, Ernie Perce, dressed as "Zombie Mohammed" in a Pennsylvania parade was physically assaulted by Talag Elbayomy, an offended Muslim on looker.  Assault and harassment charges were brought against the Mr. Elbayomy.  A Pennsylvania judge, Magistrate Judge Mark Martin, an Iraq war veteran and Muslim convert, threw out the charges against Defendant Elbayomy saying any first amendment rights were trumped by the offense to Islam.  The judge then lectured Mr. Perce about Islam.  The judge accepted the defendant's Sharia defense for the assault.  Now Mr. Perce, the victim, is facing contempt of court charges for releasing video of the hearing.  


This story leaves me speechless.  God, I wish Christopher Hitchens was still here for this one.  Under this judge's theory if you are offended by images of Christ being mocked in art, you can resort to violence too?   Oh wait, no, he said it was different for Islam.  


h/t:  Atlas Shrugged and The Corner

Update:  

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Gasoline prices spike: President Obama offers algae as an alternative fuel? Meanwhile Mahmoud Ahmedinejad asks, "Who run barter town?"


The above video clip is provided as a parody of Mahmoud "Master Blaster" Ahmadinejad making such a demand...  You think that little clown is a trouble maker now, wait till he has some nuclear weapons to hide behind.   The U.S. is pressuring Israel not to act in Iran.  But hey, the Obama administration want to negotiate.  Of course the current Iranian leadership is reasonable...they just sentenced an Iranian Christian convert to death by stoning.  Hey, maybe the left admires the way those Iranians deal with those Christianists!  
If only there were an alternative substance that the Obama Administration had in abundance that produces gas....hmmmm
The White House denied it killed the Keystone Pipeline, even though it absolutely did.  And Obama friends benefited from that.  President Obama then offered that our future is oil made from algae.  Algae fuel costs about $33 a gallon.  Wouldn't it be smarter to use our own native oil and natural gas until the algae fuel is affordable?  It has been the goal of the Obama Administration to have gasoline prices as high as they are in Europe.  And maybe some other "Friends of Obama" will get the algae fuel gig!  There is plenty of money to be made in green energy.  Yet the Obama Administration has made it its goal to restrict domestic energy development.  


Meanwhile, the U.S. Army burns Korans that were desecrated by Muslim detainees.  The Taliban are encouraging rioting and killing U.S. Soliders, and President Obama is apologizing for that?  The Taliban when in power in Afghanistan regularly executed homosexuals, mutilated women, destroyed and desecrated cultural heritage, and murdered children.   Newt Gingrich rightly calls that apology an outrage.  


Update: