Saturday, September 12, 2009

How do you not re-post this riposte?

by Smitty (h/t HotAir via Gateway Pundit)

CNN deploys a reporter, who tries to do a spot on that terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad Congressman Joe Wilson, who had the temerity to yell truth in a crowded fiction. The Tea Party crowd initially yells "Tell the truth" over the report. After a pause, they chant "Glenn Beck". When the reporter finally asks for the opinion of Wilson, the crowd is wholly enthusiastic in its support.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall at the next White House staff meeting. Maybe Iowahawk can envision that for us.

Is Morgan Freeberg slipping?

by Smitty

I'm not going to try to worm my way out of it. House of Eratosthenes has been a premier blog in the ol' Google Reader. Always there with thorough, geeky analysis, good humor, and added value to what he links.

But I wonder if he's losing his touch.

Here he quotes Josh Olson, a screenwriter:
At this point, you should walk away, firm in your conviction that I'm a dick. But if you're interested in growing as a human being and recognizing that it is, in fact, you who is the dick in this situation, please read on.

Yes. That's right. I called you a dick. Because you created this situation. You put me in this spot where my only option is to acquiesce to your demands or be the bad guy. That, my friend, is the very definition of a dick move.
Says Freeberg of Olson:
I’m looking for the occasion upon which I might shamelessly steal them, and thinking back on some situations in which I could have stolen them had I been aware of them.
Now, Morgan, let me put it to you in geek-speak:
s/dick/racist/g
That's right. You understand that, from the POTUS on down, Olson encapsulates succinctly the proper response to the intellectually dishonest left, and their zombie minions.

"We the People," in an amazing week, have:
  • Rejected Van Jones.
  • Told the POTUS "We don't need no education/thought control".
  • Found a Congressman with the courage to yell fact in a crowded fiction.
  • Blown the lid off rotten ACORN, and perhaps restored the possibility of a valid census.
  • Thumbed the nose at an attempt to distort the meaning of a national tragedy eight years ago.
  • Put a very large number of "just folks" on the Mall to underscore the fact that we are as serious as lung cancer about what the Congress/Administration are doing.
We are not the dicks. That would be Obama/Pelosi/Reid. The tri-dumb-virate.

Support Rubio

by Smitty (Carol's Closet)

Sanest words on the topic yet:

Former ACORN employee economic opportunities

by Smitty (h/t Drudge)

Fox reports ACORN is enjoying another Judas Priest moment:

This was really a sequel to their other JP moment


Now, as the population of ex-ACORN employees rises, will it prove fissionable? That is, how many old hands on the loose will it take until the organization consumes itself? In other words, as they start to need cash, will they:
  • Simply extort loot from their old employer?
  • Set up SAPLING (Severed ACORN Patriots Launching Insurgency Now Good)
  • Try to beat Michelle Malkin's sales numbers with a tell-all
  • Start a reality TV show where they behave like gangsters (though biggovernment.com has kind of already covered that)
Explore other possibilities in the comments.

Couldn't have happend to a more despicable piece of work

by Smitty (h/t Drudge)

(Fixed: Whacky Hermit caught my New Old Math moment.)

A score and six local youths,
Could not at all a difference make.
Judges, wise, acquainted with truths,
Discerned between sirloin and mistake.
Two prominent American pictures were shut out of the festival's official jury awards -- Michael Moore's attack on corporate greed, Capitalism: A Love Story, and The Weinstein Company's The Road, which John Hillcoat adapted from Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel. This will no doubt affect Harvey Weinstein' release plans for it. Moore's pic did receive the Leoncino d'oro Award from 26 local youths selected by the festival, but nothing from the official jury -- even though he personally came to Venice to premiere his documentary (see trailer here).
Previously: Which raging pile of fertilizer will be more fun to ignore?

From Tea Party Central

Otherwise known as the Westin Hotel, where I've come to eat dinner and file a brief report. Thanks to Barbara Espinosa, Rick Moran and VodkaPundit for helping me cover the Tea Party live. More reports at The Sundries Shack, GayPatriot, Nice Deb, Weasel Zippers and Instapundit
Will have full coverage later. Now, dinner. I've left Myers The Blog Intern alone with Barbara, which could be dangerous . . .

UPDATE: Dan Riehl showed up at the Westin hotel bar, and Matthew Vadum is expected soon. Right now, I'm blogging from Barbara Espinosa's room. NTTAWWT. IYKWIMAITYD.

Meanwhile, VodkaPundit did a telephone interview with Barbara -- on my cell phone. And Vodka also responds to a particularly idiotic attack. A week ago, I wrote:

Ace finally lost patience with LGF's Charles Johnson over the Van Jones controversy. In exasperation, Ace's cri de coeur was: "This is like arguing with a woman of the more irrational sort."
If you're too crazy for Ace, you're just too damned crazy. CJ tried to purge both Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer. You can't build a coalition by the process of subtraction.

UPDATE II: BTW, the "particularly idiotic attack" is the same kind of attack that is being made on Joe Wilson, whose left-wing enemies get a rebuttal from Stogie at Saberpoint and also here and here.

Meanwhile, the friends of liberty keep gathering in the Westin Hotel bar. Darlene Thornton of Savannah, Ga. -- who traveled more than 800 miles for the rally -- was wearing a T-shirt with this motto: "I'll keep my guns, freedom and money. . . . You can keep the Change."

Nancy Jo Taylor of Highland Village, Texas, drove 1,500 miles to attend the rally. "I wanted to represent my mother, who is 98 . . . We're upset with this administration, and the lies, and the overspending."

Well, my friends await me downstairs at the bar, so you'll excuse me. I am a social conservative . . .

UPDATE III: Alan Colmes, you suck. "Corporate push," my left butt-cheek. I'm partying with the 9/12 people tonight and they are the heart and soul of grassroots America.

UPDATE IV: Well, I just got home from D.C., and might as well finish what I've started. Demonstrating that the best "conservative" comments are always from anonymous a-holes, let's look at "MPH" in the comment field at Vodka's:
Well, Stacy McCain does write for Taki Magazine and VDare…two absolutely disgusting (and racist) publications. McCain is openly friendly with the editor of Taki Mag, Richard Spencer, an avowed white nationalist (Spencer proudly told me this himself the one time I was disgraced to meet him – the guy is a f-ing lunatic and anyone who calls themselves a friend of this creature has serious issues of their own).
…and never mind that Stacy McCain is a member of the League of the South. What else do you need to know? Come on Stephen…you are one of the great ones. The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend. Don’t close your eyes to this filth.
-- MPH, 3:41 p.m.
Richard Spencer, as I have written before, is a young radical intellectual who has read too much Nietzsche. Should he be shunned therefore? He was a graduate student at Duke during the lacrosse-team "rape" hoax, and I suppose that might radicalize anyone. VDare.com is run by Peter Brimelow, author of the excellent book, Alien Nation, and the site has carried Michelle Malkin's column for years. More "MPH":
But you owe it to yourself to look beyond the interactions you’ve had with McCain at the DNC and CPAC. While Charles is being unfair to the tea-partiers as a whole, he isn’t far off in his assessment of McCain. For the credibility of PJTV and PJM, you owe it to the institution you are helping to build to know which people are leeching off your success for their own desultory means.
League of the South…League of the South! The “reformed” KKK (or maybe they’re just in remission). Taki Magazine. VDare. Sick Sick Sick.
I look up to you as a rational classically liberal commentator (like a Glenn Reynolds with great comedic timing). It is painful to see this defense of what seems so obviously indefensible.
-- MPH 4:15 p.m.
"League of the South! League of the South!" Don't you love these "conservatives" who get their talking-points from the Southern Poverty Law Center?

Notice that anonymous a-hole "MPH" tells Steven not to judge me based on actual acquaintance. Nor should you talk to people who actually know me and know anything about the background of this controversy. You might talk to novelist Tito Perdue, who has known me for about 15 years and is familiar with the background, or you might talk to Pierre-Rene Noth, who was my editor at the Rome News-Tribune from 1991-97.

Is Stacy McCain crazy? Oh, yeah. Is Stacy McCain, dangerous? Well, there's his firework habit, but . . .

Is Stacy McCain racist? Define the term. That's exactly the problem, as I've been saying for years. "Racist" has been re-defined to mean, "Anyone who disagrees with a liberal." And the accusation requires the accused to prove a negative, you see?

These attacks against me are made by people who don't know who my friends are, who don't know who has partaken of my hospitality or benefitted from my assistance, who don't know my children or my children's friends. They are, in other words, completely ignorant, and so arrogantly stupid as to repeat the ignorant accusations of others, based purely on some sort of ideological litmus test which they -- in their imagined superiority -- feel qualified to administer.

Why engage with people who think that way, except to point out that they think that way? Why should I be compelled to defend myself against such "ransom note" smears? And who is "MPH," except an anonymous a-hole trying to recycle old left-wing attacks on me?

Meanwhile, the commenters are telling me that Charles Johnson himself has now attacked me by way of responding the Vodka, so I guess I'll deal with that now. So much for turning in early so I'd be well-rested to write my 800-word news article due tomorrow afternoon . . . sigh.

Remember: There are five A's in "raaaaacist."

It's TEA PARTY Day!

I'm off to Capitol Hill to cover the 9/12 March on D.C. Will be offline for several hours as a result.

Communist Angela Davis will speak in Baltimore tonight for Constitution Day event

Jeff Quinton has the amazing news that a college in Baltimore thought this Marxist revolutionary would be an appropriate speaker.

Remember that Angela Davis supplied the shotgun used to murder Judge Harold Haley in a 1970 jailbreak attempt led by her boyfriend, murderer George Jackson.

Flaming Morons Just Redirect Attention

by Smitty

This week's FMJRA hoists an international gesture at the notion of cheapening the proper remembrance of our dead with some invertebrate substitute.

We still wonder when, prior to the commencement of the 2012 election season, this administration is going to achieve a steady state. From the Van Jones departure, to the student address to the time sharehealthcare sales pitch, to the small business advice from ACORN, the administration cannot tolerate a boring news cycle.

9/11 Linkage
I think that the POTUS may have offered some alternative to what we know we must do, but I haven't cared to pay attention. Here are the sites that participated in Project 2996 and linked us:
New Lenox as a Buildup, and 9/12 as a 9/11 Chaser
Hannah the Courageous
  • Hannah the Courageous, as Bonzai named her, deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her efforts. What a patriot.
  • Roth & Company: "ACORN: Helping underprivileged pimps cheat on their taxes while enabling white slavery."
Glenn Beck Appreciation Society
While losing outright to Hannah in the Rule 5 contest, the cumulative effect of Glenn's work is crucial. Sure, his decorum is frequently lacking. However, if decorum in the face of crap was the rule, we'd all be British subjects. So don't overplay the decorum card.
Yelling Fact in a Crowded Fiction
  • The Sundries Shack rounded up POTUS healthcare speech #whatever nicely. Jimmie tied purely smart-alec use of football plays as misrepresentations of the POTUS plan to the start of the NFL season. If I admitted to being a Seahawks fan, and therefore not heavily invested in the NFL, I'd get laughed off the webby-clouds. So I'll hold that close.
  • "Waiting for O-Dough" co-star Bob Belvedere generously quotes me.
  • UPDATE: South Texian is most certainly not chopped liver. In fact, ST quotes me generously, earning a Follow This Blog, RSS subscription, and a copy of our home game.
The Two-Tier Justice System Extends to Immigration
Andrew Sullivan has additional rights with respect to 'pharmaceuticals' that the Little People do not enjoy.
  • Moe Lane linked a tangentially related BBC clip that has subsequently fallen off the tubey-nets.
  • Outside the Beltway quotes Stacy: "Forget about the Mexican drug cartels — save us from the AIDS-Infected British Dope Menace!"

The Long 'C' Word, or: Let's Get Decimated
I'm referring to the Constitution, and the fact that some will denigrate a legitimate legal concern with a term like 'tenther'. In the Credit Where Due Department, you can't fail to admire the propaganda slingers who'd try to use a term to put people who care about the last word in the Bill of Rights on the same level as Birthers and Truthers.
  • Dave at Ordinary Gentlemen picks us up and offers an overview of the question that I'll have to get back to later.
  • Fish Fear Me picks up the rallying cry.
  • Medary drops the full dime: "Keep talking, "progressives," keep talking. The more you talk, the more you're exposed as small minded, bigoted, hateful, envious people whose greatest wish is to be "led" by some "great leader." Of course, you're being led to the slave plantations, but you're too busy being smug to notice that. "
  • Jules Crittenden gathers us under the bus along with a few other excellent suspects.
  • The Hollywood Liberal seems to think that Senator Coburn is a tenther.
  • Paco is a tenther.
Tidying the Intellectual Pool
What to do, besides chuckle at and educate the fringe in the movement?
The Peter Brimelow Rule
  • V Dare, the Virginia Dare, quotes a TakiMag post of Stacy's extensively. "No conservative white Christian is allowed to discuss ethnicity and culture. Only liberals and members of ethnic minorities can do that."
  • The Moderate Voice: "Here’s one Jewish lady who was shocked to find out how unintelligent she must be and how Republicans are the real philo-semitic party." In an email exchange with a Jewish friend who's libertarian in view, I threw out the idea that Jewish (though not necessarily Israeli) people feel a sense of exceptionalism over the Abrahamic Covenant. As Whittle has explored on PJTV, American exceptionalism is under attack. Is there overlap between the theological exceptionalism and the political exceptionalism? YES!! was the reply. The concept doesn't explain why Jews would cheerfully toss America under the bus, except that maybe the exceptionalism acts as a mirror, and they lack the courage to live up to the Covenant. No, I don't for a second think that there is any conscious thought along these lines in even a single synagogue anywhere. It is a speculation proffered for thought, with an estimated blowback factor of 93.4%
  • We Await Silent Tristero's Army (WASTE). tristero at Hullabaloo engaged in a lengthy exchange with Stacy, across several posts. I must apologize that I lack time to assay a summary.
  • Eric Etheridge at NYT quotes Stacy's "find some way to encourage Jewish families to move to small towns in the Heartland" suggestion.
  • Ron Rosenbaum at Pajamas Media offers a non-observant Jewish explanation. Which blows my above speculation away. It happens.
  • Newshoggers goes for the Godwin straight away.
  • Ballon Juice lives up to its subtitle. In a left-handed way, I support their forthrightness.
  • Right View from the Left Coast weighs in.
  • Dyspepsia Generation gives us a hat tip.
  • Bob Belvedere: "HOOEY LEWIS & THE JEWS"
Mike Duvall as the Antithesis of Cool
  • Moralia refrains from detailing contemplated actions.
  • Dustbury: "Duvall the nerve", which I suppose should mimic "Of all the nerve" when you read it.
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Stacy, a SoCV member, lives in Maryland just West of my father's kin's burial site at Gunpowder Baptist Church. I like here in Dixie. Why don't we all take a history course and appreciate the details, thoughts, and sacrifices on all sides?
Book Party Invitations
  • The Daley Gator was jealous of the M.M. book party invite.
  • The Sundries Shack voices revolutionary thoughts about having political donors fund bloggers. Do you have a slit up the back of your suit for the donor's hand, Jimmie? He also offers this report.
Sowell Food
Obama Arrangement Syndrome and Van Jones Reviews
Most of these entries will simply link blogs that picked us up for the Van Jones departure party, as time is precious.
Economic Gloom
We Don't Need No Thought Control
  • Kickin' and Screamin' nicked the clip.
  • The BlogProf, who has apparently fallen out of favor with the Technorati godz, and may have been shirked his fair share of linky luv due to my fallibility.
Michael Moore
  • Carol's Closet: "Smitty calls Moore a corpulent capitalist. True enough, but I prefer 'lard ass'." Based upon her post, I feel comfortable clarifying that Carol was admitting a preference for the term, and not the object of the term.
  • A Conservative Shemale links us with unflattering words for Mr. Moore.
Naïvel and raaaaacism
Miscellaneous Shouts:
  • Eternity Matters on the Duggars:
    ...why would it be my business to tell them how many children to have? And for those who say that they have “too many,” which ones do you propose that we eliminate?
  • Steynian links us, if the roundup doesn't crash your browser.
  • Conservative Hideout 2.0 linked an Andrew Breitbard post from May.
  • Vox Nova quotes Stacy, without saying where, conflating some hypothetical situation where he's PM of Israel with violent pro-lifers. It's strained. And I wonder if the author has ever been (a) in a leadership position, and (b) had to make decisions regarding the lives of others. The answers often fall short of simple, or pleasant. But the author's argument seems strained.
  • Michelle Malkin hat tips us on the SEIU boss post.
  • The Daley Gator liked the BHO/Madison contrast.
  • Curtis Schwitzer enjoys a lengthy critique of Sarah Palin's WSJ and FaceBook utterances in the process of hammering Geoffry Dunn at the PuffHo.
  • Blogfonte will take delivery of couches rather than attend the Tea Party on the Mall. So I'm not the only non-attendee.
  • Track-a-'Crat hat tips me for a Biden spit-swap pic.
  • The Classic Liberal rounds up blogging advice.
  • Adrienne's Catholic Corner seems to want commas. Make sure she never finds out about Perl, or we're all in trouble.
  • Mean ol' Meany has a roundup including us.
  • Elektratig picked up on George Washington's teeth.
  • Fishersville Mike rounds us up.
  • The Right Guy meditates upon POTUS.
  • Pat in Shreveport picks up an AmSpec update to IG-Gate. So what if it lacks the tax and slavery aspects of the ACORN scandal. IG-Gate is just as rephrensible, and wants to be understood, too.
Special Mention:
If it looks like I shotgunned this Mike Foxtrot in a six-hour session, there is a reason. Blame goes to Smitty. Your attention is drawn to the tip jar. Be at a 12Sep protest for me, and pray for peace. Be at a 9/12 protest for me, and pray for peace.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Fox covers ACORN? Raaaaacism!

The amazing brilliance of liberal arguments:
It is clear and not coincidence that FOX continues to attack and divide our nation along racial lines. We believe our country is beyond this type of attack and call on all Americans to demand that FOX stop its racist coverage.
-- Margaret Williams, Maryland ACORN
I can't think of any snark that would be funnier than just quoting that statement.

Interview with Doug Giles, whose daughter Hannah helped take down ACORN

In wake of the news that the Census Bureau has cut ties withe ACORN, I posted this at The American Spectator:
I just got off the phone with Christian youth leader Doug Giles, whose 20-year-old daughter played the role of the prostitute "Kenya" in the now-famous videos.
"A lot of young activists just caught fire," said Giles. "I'd like to take credit, but it was all Hannah."
Giles said he has received an overwhelming response, entirely positive except for one negative e-mail from a "knucklehead."
As for the "community organizer" group exposed by the video at Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com, Giles said jokingly, "Those ACORN people are sweating in their nut-sacks."
Read the whole thing. Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin has text of the letter from the director of the Census Bureau to ACORN:
"Over the last several months, through ongoing communication with our regional offices, it is clear that ACORN's affiliation with 2010 Census promotion has caused sufficient concern in the general public, has ineed become a distraction from our mission, and may even become a discouragement to public cooperation, negatively impacting 2010 Census efforts. While not decisive factors in this decision, recent events concerning several local offices of ACORN have added to the worsening negative perceptions of ACORN and its affiliation with our partnership efforts. . . . We no longer have confidence that our national partnership agreement is being effectively managed through your offices."
Hasta la vista, dirtbags! BigGovernment.com has an official statement from the executive dirtbags at ACORN, and there's much more reaction at Memeorandum.

UPDATE: Ruh-roh. Jeff Quinton tipped me about this yesterday, and now Jeff follows up with this:
STATEMENT OF STATE’S ATTORNEYS OFFICE FOR BALTIMORE CITY RELATIVE TO THE ALLEGED BALTIMORE ACORN INCIDENT
Baltimore, MD – September 11, 2009 – We have received inquiries from citizens and the media asking whether the Baltimore City State’s Attorneys Office would initiate a criminal investigation for acts allegedly committed at ACORN offices located in Baltimore. The only information received in reference to this alleged criminal behavior was a YouTube video. Upon review by this office, the video appears to be incomplete. In addition, the audio portion could possibly have been obtained in violation of Maryland Law, Annotated Code of Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-402, which requires two party consent.
If it is determined that the audio portion now being heard on YouTube was illegally obtained, it is also illegal under Maryland Law to willfully use or willfully disclose the content of said audio. The penalty for the unlawful interception, disclosure or use of it is a felony punishable up to 5 years.
WBAL is also reporting this angle. Such a prosecution would be a public-relations disaster for the state, for Democrats and for ACORN, but when liberals get a jones for vengeance, they don't usually care about such things. Just ask Linda Tripp.

UPDATE II: Evidently, Hot Air and Ace of Spades were on it first, but I saw it via Jeff Quinton's Inside Charm City, which is why I credited him. Also blogging at Weasel Zippers. Will update if further developments.

BTW, I'm told Hannah Giles will be on Fox News' "Red Eye" tonight, and Ann Coulter will also be a guest.

UPDATE III: Michelle Malkin is on the story, and Ed Morrissey has the lowdown on the state's attorney in Baltimore, Patricia Jessamy, a liberal Democrat hack -- as might be expected. That's why they call them "Baltimorons," after all.

Notice that when Fox News covers ACORN, that's raaaaacist. However, when the Washington Post is compelled to follow up on the news . . . crickets chirping.

Also, as Little Miss Attila points out, I do have Hannah Giles bikini photos. I already own the Google bomb, but haven't decided yet whether to post the actual photos. My dilemma is this: Knowing that the photos exist, what happens if some sleazy leftoid site gets hold of them and posts them first? In such a scenario, by being "too nice," I would inadvertantly allow a liberal dirtbag to get all that lucrative traffic -- and the liberal dirtbag would (a) put the photos in a negative context, and (b) allow a lot of nasty comments.

Many people have observed of the ACORN situation that the stunning thing in all this was how anyone could be so stupid as to believe that someone as nice as Hannah would be a prostitute. Even with the giant green plastic earrings and slinky skirt.

UPDATE IV (Saturday 10:45 a.m): I'm off to Washington today to cover the 9/12 March on DC. Just in case an emergency arises, a post with the Hannah Giles bikini photo is already queued up in draft, and one call to Smitty . . . Well, I hope we don't have to do it, but it would be wrong to let some liberal dirtbag get that traffic.

Swing State Project shows Rep. Joe Wilson embattled

by Smitty

Swing State Project is sort of John Madden for political geeks. Not that I'm of that ilk, mind you.

Purportedly, Rob Miller, the Democratic Party challenger, has pulled in seven figures in the last 48 hours. Wilson claims 700 large.

What I want to know is what Miller has said that fits nicely on a bumper sticker?

As far as Wilson's two word scuttling of President Obama's speech, I'll throw out the opinion that a different style of leadership would have the POTUS saying "Yeah, I engaged in similarly disruptive behavior under my predecessor's administration, and so I'll give him a nod on this one."

ACORN Now Developing Anti-Fraud Program Called 'Know Your Ho'
(UPDATED: BREAKING NEWS)

UPDATE 9/18: Fired ACORN Baltimore workers to sue; PLUS: Hannah Giles Bikini Update.

BUMPED 6:45 PM ET: Census Bureau severs ties with ACORN; more updates below!

* * * * *

PREVIOUSLY (11:54 a.m.): A surge of Google-search hits informs me that lots of people are trying to find photos of Hannah Giles who specializes in exposing fraud at ACORN by posing as a teenage hooker named "Kenya." Because I posted a photo of Hannah at this summer's YAF conference, I'm getting a lot of that traffic.

ACORN staffers are probably trying to find a photo of Hannah and will soon be putting up posters in their offices to make sure Miss Giles does not fool them again. I wanted to do my part for "community organizing," so . . .

UPDATE: The commenters asking me for Hannah Giles bikini photos have, besides giving me cause to grab that Google bomb, reminded me to send a congratulatory note to my Facebook friend Doug Giles, Hannah's father. Hannah and my oldest daughter are the same age, so I know how proud he must be of Hannah's work -- the Census Bureau just severed ties with ACORN -- and also suspect he's just a wee bit uncomfortable about her sudden fame.

As for the bikini pics, I know they exist because I've seen them on Facebook. One of my friends vacationed with the Giles family in Florida, posting photos. I'll look for them, but I warn you: Doug Giles will kill any commenter who says anything untoward about his girl.

UPDATE II: Well, I still haven't found those bikini pics, but I think my conservative friends will appreciate this next photo. First of all, both of Doug's daughters are martial-arts black belts. Yes, I said both daughters, because here is a photo of Doug with Hannah's younger sister, giving you an idea of what the Giles family does for fun:

See that wild hog? Guess who shot it? The girl. Doug informs us that Hannah's little sister killed "a big boar 225lbs, with 3-inch teeth, that she shot on a dead run at 40yds."

And you know what? I'm thinking maybe you guys should just forget about the bikini pictures, eh? Anybody want to argue otherwise? Argue respectfully.

UPDATE III: The requested photos have been located. I'm thinking that posting the photos -- which might incur the righteous wrath of the well-armed Doug Giles -- would require as a minimal condition the following three agreements:
  • This post must be linked by all my blogger buddies;
  • There must be solemn vows of respect and decorum in the comments, as Miss Giles is a devout Christian young lady; and
  • Something else . . . I forgot.
What could it be?

UPDATE IV: Just did a phone interview with Doug Giles.

Unsure of the relationship between Andrew Sullivan...

by Smitty (h/t Israellycool)

...and this clip, but we'll leave it to the reader to 'connect' the dots:



Update:
Thanks, Stogie.

The succinct Mark Steyn

by Smitty

Mark Steyn ... notes that "let's roll" has morphed into "let's roll over."

Media Matters attacks . . . MSNBC?

Why would one crooked left-wing smear operation attack another crooked left-wing smear operation?

Two words: Pat Buchanan. (That's a post at the personal blog of Media Matters employee Oliver Willis, who spent hours Twittering his attacks on Buchanan.)

Notice that the Left was OK with Pat being on MSNBC as an anti-war Republican during the Bush years. But now that Buchanan is criticizing Obama . . . eh, not so much.

Buchanan's views about the subjects for which Media Matters now denounces him haven't changed at all. All that has changed is the tactical objectives of the Left, whose No. 1 goal now is to silence all critics of Obama.

The Left has always been more dangerous to its "friends" than to its enemies. Trotsky was a comrade-in-good-standing until he began to became a threat to Stalin's leadership. Try to make friends with the Left, and next thing you know, somebody puts an ice-ax through your skull.

Of course, I'll defend Buchanan against these leftist vermin, but there is a lesson to be learned here, and that lesson is this:
When you're a Jet,
You're a Jet all the way,
From your first cigarette
'Til your last dyin' day.
No conservative should ever believe that there is anything to be gained by making friends with the Left.

Let the Andrew Sullivan Double-Entendre Sweeptstakes Begin!

Dan Riehl offers the first entry:
Obama's Immigration Department now has Andrew by the proverbial ballz. Okay, he might actually like that. But ....
Yeah, when Sully gets busted for dope and faces deportation, there's a lot of comedic raw material to work with:
I understand the inmates at Leavenworth are drawing straws to determine who will be Sully's cellmate. Condolences to the unfortunate loser who draws the short straw. Doing 20 to life is bad enough without having to listen to Sully go on and on about Sarah Palin's uterus.
Or how about this?
When the policeman busted Sully, his defense was: "It's all a misunderstanding, officer! I thought that guy asked me if I wanted to smoke his joint . . ."
Or . . .

When they booked Sully for drug possession, he didn't complain about the cuffs. He did complain that he didn't get the dog-collar and blindfold, too.
Come on, everybody, give us your most vicious anti-Sully snark! And remember to join the Concerned Patriotic Americans Committee to Deport Andrew Sullivan.

UPDATE: Professor Glenn Reynolds:
It’s probably also fair to point out that Andrew would no doubt make a big deal out of any special treatment afforded to a member of the Palin family under similar circumstances. . . .
True, but not snarky enough. The basic idea here is to laugh Sully all the way to Heathrow, to heighten his laughingstock status to the point that even Levi "Ricky Hollywood" Johnston can take him seriously.

And really, who has ever deserved derision more than Dr. Andrew M. Sullivan, M.D., OB-GYN, Chief Resident of Republican Obstetric Research at the Atlantic Monthly Memorial Hospital?

UPDATE II: Some people don't get it. The idea here is to turn Sully into a running gag on the late-night standup routines, a punchline for Jon Stewart. Instead, we get thoughtful analysis from a serious historian like Ron Radosh:
The question, then is simple: Why did Andrew Sullivan get special treatment from the U.S. Attorney? . . .
Andrew Sullivan has moved from the stance of a fierce conservative to that of a liberal supporter of the Obama administration. . . .
Now, more than ever, it appears that the United States Attorney is repaying a debt to Sullivan for his support to the administration. Why else would he be singled out for exclusive treatment? And doesn’t it also mean that Sullivan now will be more careful than ever to continue giving the administration his approval, at least until after he becomes a citizen? A debt paid leads to a debt owed. . . .
Read the whole thing, but I've got to warn you, it's very thoughtful and serious. And if you wanted thoughtful and serious, why are you hanging out here on a Friday afternoon?

We're bloggers. Being serious and thoughtful is easy. Being funny takes hard work, and our job is to treat Sully as the butt of a joke.

The pale, hairy, middle-aged butt of a joke . . .

Andrew Sullivan: Dopehead foreigner

Deport this outlaw immigrant drug addict!
Political commentator, author and writer for The Atlantic magazine Andrew M. Sullivan won’t have to face charges stemming from a recent pot bust at the Cape Cod National Seashore — but a federal judge isn't happy about it.
U. S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings says in his decision that the case is an example of how sometimes "small cases raise issues of fundamental importance in our system of justice."
While marijuana possession may have been decriminalized, Sullivan, who owns a home in Provincetown, made the mistake of being caught by a park ranger with a controlled substance on National Park Service lands, a federal misdemeanor.
The ranger issued Sullivan a citation, which required him either to appear in U.S. District Court or, in essence, pay a $125 fine.
But the U.S. Attorney’s Office sought to dismiss the case. Both the federal prosecutor and Sullivan’s attorney said it would have resulted in an "adverse effect" on an unspecified "immigration status" that Sullivan, a British citizen, is applying for.
At the hearing, Collings observed that Sullivan would still have to state on his application that he had been charged with a crime, and he asked both the prosecutor and Sullivan’s attorney, Robert Delahunt Jr. (cousin of U. S. Rep. William D. Delahunt), for more information about why paying the $125 would have "any additional adverse effect." . . .
Collings says he expressed his concern that "a dismissal would result in persons in similar situations being treated unequally before the law. … persons charged with the same offense on the Cape Cod National Seashore were routinely given violation notices, and if they did not agree to [pay the fine] were prosecuted by the United States Attorney … there was no apparent reason for treating Mr. Sullivan differently from other persons charged with the same offense." . . .
Forget about the Mexican drug cartels -- save us from the AIDS-Infected British Dope Menace!

UPDATE: Via Memeorandum, I see that my buddy Dan Riehl beat me to it:
Chill out folks, it's only pot. It isn't like he was caught using caffeine.
Notorious martini addict VodkaPundit observes:
Make point about the media feeding frenzy if, say, George Will had been busted for pot
.As a former teenage hoodlum who used to deal dope in felony weights, allow me to offer my Darwinian/draconian case for strict enforcement: Anybody stupid enough to get busted for dope is a danger to himself and others and should be locked up for the good of society. Dude, if you can't outsmart a narc . . .

Also, you put all the stupid stoners in prison, think of the positive impact on American culture. To begin with, nobody would ever again listen to The Grateful Dead . . .

UPDATE II: Thanks to VodkaPundit for the link-back, and to Freeper ABB for the linkage. Also, my libertarian friend Jacob Sullum now has a post at Reason magazine.

Though I consider myself in most senses a libertarian (priding myself on being a "top Hayekian public intellectual"), in the eternal struggle between law enforcement and hoodlums, I side with law enforcement, based on extensive personal experience as teenage hoodlum. And it's not just because I'm more than two decades past the statute of limitations that I feel the need to speak out about this.

Juvenile delinquency can be a valuable learning experience. Most journalists and intellectuals we goody-two-shoes in their youth, and therefore they don't even get my full meaning when I say that I dealt felony weight.

If you're a nickel-and-dime dopehead, occasionally selling a quarter-ounce of weed to your dope buddies in order to support your habit, maybe you can afford to be stupid and sloppy. But when you are selling by the quarter-pound, it's a different story altogether.

Since the '70s, the law has distinguished marijuana possession as misdemeanor (an ounce or less) or felony (more than an ounce). When you are buying dope by the pound, your stash constitutes irrefutable evidence not only of felony possession, but also of possession with intent to distribute, a felony in its own right.

Because you don't want to be caught holding, a smart dealer moves the merchandise fast -- and I was the Sam Walton of Weed: Deep discounts, undersell the competition, make the profit on volume. So if I bought a pound of weed, I'd first get one of my trusted buddies to buy a quarter-pound at 20% above cost. That way, I quickly recouped 30% of my capital investment and only had to sell another 12 ounces (at a higher mark-up, but still slightly below the going rate) to be dope-free, once more an upstanding "legit" citizen with nothing to fear from the law.

Well, if you sell someone a quarter-pound, your customer is also automatically holding evidence of a felony possession, you see? If he gets busted, he's going to be under serious pressure to rat you out, and personal loyalty has its limits. Therefore, don't sell large quantities to stupid people. And you never, ever, sell dope to people you don't know.

While I won't explain the entire rulebook of smart dope-dealing here on the blog -- that might aid law-breakers, who should be locked up immediately -- my experience means that I have zero sympathy for an idiot like Sully.

Sully is no better than those moronic losers you see on the TV show COPS, pulled over for a broken turn signal and busted for a roach in the ashtray, a dime-bag in their pocket, or a crack-pipe the glove compartment. A smart doper doesn't do stuff like that, and however Sully got caught, he is a "victim" of nothing but his own stupidity -- just another dumb hoodlum who ought to be in jail.

Never give a hoodlum an even break, or he will become arrogant and thus more dangerous, both to himself and to society. Read more about my hoodlum past in my blog memoir All Girls Named Tonya (a work in progress).

And somebody hit the tip jar -- this kind of valuable ex-hoodlum insight ought to be worth something, even if no sane book publisher would ever buy it.

UPDATE III: You're invited to join the Concerned Patriotic Americans Committee to Deport Andrew Sullivan. Join now -- it's for the children!

UPDATE IV: Dan Collins:
You know, The Atlantic can’t fire him, because that would have an adverse impact on his immigration status, and besides, he’s gay.
And you knew Ace of Spades would have a field day. It's sort of like the AOSHQ Fitzmas.

Project 2996: LCDR Robert Randolph Elseth

by Smitty (re-posted from 07Sep09)


A privilege none will know again,
But this writer once enjoyed:
Knowing Robert Elseth.

A God-fearing man,
A noble father,
An excellent Naval officer.

The epitome of grace under pressure,
When I knew him, unflappable:
Though we worked for a taskmaster.

The Crown of Life Bob wore,
Invisible yet ever present:
Worthy of Christian striving.

The unfathomable Will of God,
Placing him in the Pentagon
On that day is joyous and bitter.

Calling him home so soon
Immortalizes his memory
Without hugs for the remaining.

Though my wife would object,
At the time, I, a bachelor,
Would have cheerfully traded places.


Meditating on Bob brought up another memory to share. Very early in 2001, while we worked in Crystal City, Virginia, there was a requirement to conduct a classified briefing. We briefed early and often on that project.

Conducting this briefing involved some gymnastics, to acquire an appropriate system and set it up in the desired space. This task fell to me.

I connected all the cables and the projector. One should always ensure that the software is properly installed, so I opened PowerPoint, and wrote a bit of doggerel onscreen:
  • "Life is to brief, to brief is life,"
  • Or so someone once said.
  • But my belief: "Too brief is life,"
  • As PowerPoint bullets my head.
Bob came in the room to verify that the setup was completed for our taskmaster boss. He had a character trait that I completely need to emulate: he could do the silliest, most inane tasks for the pointy-haired boss in a positive, thorough, uncomplaining manner. His body language never let on that he though a task beneath him: he simply carried out the to-do list with an unfeigned cheer that, even today, gently chides my own negative, cynical attitude.

I pointed to my joke poem, and went into an over-done, academic explanation about the humor of the ambiguity of whether 'bullets' in the last line is a third person singular verb, or a plural noun.

"We worry about you, Chris," said Bob. I laughed in reply.

Oh, Bob: life is indeed too brief. I can only guess the depth to which your family misses you, and cherishes every memory. God rest your soul, and have mercy on all that perished that day.
Part of Project 2996
Graphic: Carol at No Sheeples. Thank you.

Update:
The Reganite Republican Resistance rounds up the somber actions to ensure that the memories of the fallen retain their proper place, despite efforts to the redirect matters.

Scooped by Michelle Malkin!

I was drifting off to sleep about 6 a.m. this morning when Michelle Malkin came on "Fox & Friends" to discuss her latest column about how security is being undermined at Amtrak -- a story that relates directly to the IG-Gate story I've been following

"Doggone it! She scooped me!" I said, perhaps a bit more emphatically.

There was an Amtrak IG angle that I'd been meaning to follow up on, fill in a few more details. But now, scooped by Malkin, I figured I needed to go with what I already had:
Remember Fred Wiederhold, the Amtrak inspector general who retired abruptly in June? He was replaced by "interim" IG Lorraine Green, the head of human resources who has spent 12 years in management of the taxpayer-subsidized rail service -- and will return to management when her IG stint concludes.
"What kind of independence is that?" one Capitol Hill source said of Green's anomalous position as temporary head of the IG office.
In her "interim" role, Green has reportedly hired three consultants to prepare a report about the Amtrak IG's office. According to someone familiar with the contract, each of the consultants is paid $140 per hour, and limited to a maximum of $75,000 each for three months of work, due to conclude at the end of this month . . .
There's more, so read the whole thing. This is how competitive reporting works, see? Malkin gets a scoop and, if I don't come back with something quick, I look like a shmuck. So now the onus is on Byron York, Ed O'Keefe and Jake Tapper to play catch-up. They'll get their scoops, and then I'll have to go wear out the shoe-leather on Capitol Hill again.

ACORN's radical morality

James O'Keefe describes ACORN's "thug criminality." However, it is important to consider how the Left's ideology justifies their lawlessness:
If these "community organizers" believe that the status quo constitutes systemic social injustice, isn't indifference to the law ingrained in their ideology? Can tax fraud be a sort of civil disobedience? It may also be that the 11 ACORN workers charged in Florida on charges of fraudulent voter registrations believed that election laws were unjust, and thus could be ignored righteously.
What O'Keefe calls "thug criminality," ACORN calls "social justice" and, in the Age of Obama, guess which definition applies?
You can read the whole thing. And note well Jeff Quinton's warning that Maryland officials might prosecute O'Keefe under the state law that prohibits surreptitious recording.

On the one hand, the Left believes that no laws or rules govern their own effort on behalf of "social justice" -- the end justifies the means. But when the Left gains power, they rigorously enforce laws against their enemies.

Remember Lenin's famous question: "Who, whom?" The Left recognizes no absolute standard of morality. That which the Left does to advance its cause is always moral -- nothing that the radical "who" inflicts on the enemy "whom" can be condemned as immoral.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Smittypalooza II recap: recovering apace

by Smitty

The sprained wrist makes blogging mildly painful.

Attendees
The evening began fine. The blogger to reader ratio seemed about 50/50. Prominent attendees, in no particular order, included:
If you were there and you've got a blog that I need to add, please note it in the comments.
Conspicuous in their absence:
My shoulder is killing me.

After several hours of discussion about life, the universe, blogging, politics, etc, Stacy finally dragged in. I thought something missing from his attire, but then he seemed to meet the grooming standards for the venue, after all. There was much more chatting, and then people with real lives and jobs began to filter out. There was talk of heading out for a bite, but I demurred, stating that my owner would wish to see me at home. Everyone departed, leaving me and the bartender. Then things went Kafka.

The Book
An item was taken from the club. What? You know, I was told. They threw the book at me.

I may have sustained a concussion. The one eye is a bit dodgy. Where is it? demanded my tormentors. I had no idea what was going on.

Picking up the book, they threw it open to a binder-clipped page, and forced me to read aloud:
On my sacred honor as a club member, I will never take or allow a guest to remove any item of club property from the premises.
Conclusion
Having completed the ritual, they threw me out, to land ingloriously on the sidewalk.

Now, I Really Shouldn't Mention the Right Sleazy Moniker of the Royally Shameful Muthah who put me through all this: that's not how I roll.

All that over a necktie.

Update:
Paco reveals some other irregularities that escape my attention while I was...occupied.

Andrew Breitbart's new blog exposes ACORN encouraging tax evasion?

Pimps and Ho's for Hope and Change: Video at the Big Government blog.

(Hat-tip: Wizbang.)

UPDATE: Holy crap! I just found out that the girl who went undercover as a prostitute in this video was Hannah Giles! I know that girl! She was at a July event at Union Pub. and I wrote about her hanging out with Sergio Gor. Hannah's father is Christian youth leader Doug Giles.

Pro-family, pro-spanking?

Not his kids, his mistress:
Mike Duvall stepped down Wednesday after a videotape surfaced in which he was overheard telling a lawmaker about having sex with a lobbyist and another woman, including salacious details about how one mistress wears skimpy underwear and likes to be spanked.
Just a couple of questions:
  • What kind of women's underwear is not "skimpy"? I mean, whoever heard of a politicians having a mistress who wears long johns?
  • What's up with stupid Republicans? Having an affair is stupid enough. Bragging about having an affair is stupid on steroids. Bragging about having an affair, resigning from office, and then claiming you just made it all up -- dude, we need to invent a who new word to describe such extreme stupidity.
Welcome to the Mark Sanford Coalition, Mr. Duvall.

UPDATE: Brigitte Russell classifies Duvall among "Guys who would never get laid if they weren’t politicians." Really. It's as if they go into politics for the same reason teenage boys learn to play guitar.

Michelle Malkin also blogged about Duvall. And . . . uh, spanking a lobbyist? The Democrats ought to think about this. Call it "ethics reform": Oh, senator, I've been a bad, bad lobbyist!

Shocker! South Carolinian is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans!

Crooks and Liars is shocked -- shocked! -- to discover that these people like Joe Wilson haven't been exterminated yet.

When I spoke at the SCV camp in Rome, Ga., in June, they paid my travel and also paid my membership dues . . .

The SCV is a hereditary association, the only requirement of which is that you have an ancestor served honorably in the Confederate military. My great-grandfather, Winston Wood Bolt, was an illiterate farmboy who served as a private in the 13th Alabama Infantry Regiment.

Private Bolt was captured July 1, 1863, in the opening clash of the Battle of Gettysburg -- when the right flank of Brig. Gen. J.J. Archer's brigade was turned by the Union's famous Iron Brigade -- and he spent the next two years in the Fort Delaware prisoner of war camp.

Exactly why Neiwert is employing eliminationist rhetoric against Southerners, I don't know . . .

SEIU boss in a Mercedes-Benz

Christmas Ghost has the story and photos of the Benz-driving union goon who was organizing "grassroots" support for ObamaCare at a recent protest event.

Nothing says blue-collar authenticity like a Benz.

Discovering 'The Peter Brimelow Rule'

Being linked by the New York Times and the New Republic? Kinda cool. Nebulous insinuations of anti-Semitism? Not so much:
You never discover the fine-print rules of American public discourse until you're accused of violating them. Generally speaking, liberals ignore cultural discourse among conservatives. Only when you discuss potentially sensitive topics in such a way as to waive your Miranda-warning right to remain silent -- "Anything you say can and will be used against you by the New York Times" -- will your contributions to the discourse be wrenched out of context as proof of your malevolent intent. At some point, you'd think I might cease to be amazed by this distinctive habit of liberals, but they keep coming up with innovative new variatons on their otherwise predictable idiocy . . .
Read the whole thing, you evil right-wing crypto-fascists! And please, somebody hit the tip jar -- brilliance like this has got to be worth something to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.

Best. Book. Party. Evah!

Hey, where were you Wednesday night? Because if you're one of the cool kids, you were hanging with Michelle Malkin at Morton's Steakhouse in downtown D.C.

It was announced last night that Culture of Corruption will appear for the sixth consecutive week at No. 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list -- the first time in the 62-year history of Regnery Publishing that one of their titles has spent so many weeks at No. 1. The secret? Page 291.

Matthew Vadum of the Capital Research Center and Jimmie Bise of the Sundries Shack were hanging out with the author of The Best. Book. Evah!

Michelle talks with Ron Kessler of NewsMax.com.

Michelle speaks! It took me about five tries to get the photo I wanted, showing the wedding ring on her left hand. She ended her speech by thanking her husband, Jesse, and the rest of her family -- her nieces, nephews and in-laws were in attendance -- for helping to keep her "grounded." Of all that she does (blogs, columns, books, TV, radio, speeches) the most amazing thing to remember is that she does all these things while also being a wife and mom.

Jason Mattera of YAF and Jimmie Bise show their solidarity by exchanging the official Obama Terrorist Fist-Bump.

Elizabeth Meinecke of Human Events, Bay Buchanan, and Mary Katharine Ham of the Weekly Standard were hanging out with The Man On Page 291.

Jesse Malkin: "You da man!" Me: "No, no! You da man!" After debating this topic for half an hour, Jesse and I decided we need to co-author a book, How To Be Da Man: Secrets of Becoming the Kind of Cool Dude That Chicks Dig.

Regnery Publishing's president Marji Ross likes the book idea.

Erick Erickson agrees with Jesse that I am da man.

Jimmie Bise -- who fills in as da man when I'm off-duty -- poses with Mary Matalin, a/k/a Mrs. James Carville. Me to Mary: "Hey, he's better looking than your husband." Mary to me: "Well, that's not saying much."

Da man with Mark Hemingway's wife, shortly after she revealed details of the secret plan by National Review staffers to oust Rich Lowry.