Saturday, October 17, 2009

Hopefully Juan Connects the Dots

by Smitty

Little Miss Attila links Juan Williams with Dr. Hutcherson and Tammy Bruce becoming aware of the bigger evil pattern represented in the NFL attack on Rush Limbaugh.

The will to deny the fascism remains strong, however.

Remember, Juan: It's a cookbook!

Great Twitter Hash Tag

by Smitty

For actual Christians, it's arguably blasphemous.
For Obama voters, it's certainly blasphemous.
It's the #LiberalBible, and it's delicious.

NY23 UPDATE: Why is Sarah MIA?

Sarah Palin could make a huge difference in the NY23 special election, and everybody knows it. I hinted at this earlier today -- "Lipstick, baby!" -- and as I like to remind my readers from time to time, there are no accidents.

Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman is in the fight of his life against the GOP establishment's hand-picked RINO, in a crucial election that Hoffman's media coordinator Rob Ryan says is "a referendum on the future of the Republican Party."

One point to make clear: No official in the Hoffman campaign has said a word to me about Sarah Palin. But some of Hoffman's supporters are heartbroken that Sarah -- whom I dubbed the "Sweetheart of the Heartland" last year -- hasn't joined the fight against Dede Scozzafava, whom Michelle Malkin has described as "ACORN-Friendly, Big Labor-Backing, Tax-and-Spend Radical in GOP Clothing." Allow me to address myself directly to Mrs. Palin:
Doug Hoffman is your kind of candidate, his supporters are your supporters, and the people at the RNC and the NRCC who are siding with Scozzafava . . . well, ask around, ma'am. Your enemies are Doug Hoffman's enemies.
A smart reporter doesn't burn his sources, so I'll exercise some professional discipline here, and let my friend Josh Painter at Texas for Palin speak:
In New York's 23rd District, for example, Sarah can set herself apart from Newt Gingrich by giving her support to Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, as have Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee. Gingrich, rather inexplicably, has joined the RNC and NRCC in endorsing liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava. . . . It is in individual contests like these where Sarah Palin can go against the GOP establishment and still keep those friends she has and needs inside the Beltway.
Sorry, Josh, I'll disagree here: Forget about everybody "inside the Beltway," Mrs. Palin, and think about the people in NY23 -- decent, honest people who are working their hearts out and praying as hard as they can. The battlefield is there, the battle is underway, and every minute counts. (I'll also dare to disagree with my friend Dan Riehl, but it's merely a disagreement. Nobody smart ever picks a fight with Dan.)

Big money is flooding into NY23, and Doug Hoffman needs every penny he can get. Trust me when I say that there are people working overtime for Hoffman who haven't gotten paid yet and don't know when or if they'll get paid. (Mitt Romney won't give Hoffman a dime, so scratch Mitt from your 2012 list.)

Money isn't everything in politics, however. It wouldn't cost Palin a penny to support Hoffman. All she has to do is issue a 200-word press statement -- or record a 30-second video and put it on YouTube -- and she could make all the difference in the world in NY23.

We are 17 days from Nov. 3. Every minute counts, and let me quote one more source:
"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."
-- Ronald Reagan, Oct. 27, 1964
This is a time for choosing, Mrs. Palin. A battle rages in upstate New York. Doug Hoffman needs help. And people are praying.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! Prayers are answered. No blogger could be more grateful than I. But sometimes, when it's been weeks without a 'Lanche, I start worrying . . .

Carol Brings Launch News

by Smitty

No Sheeples Here is touting the Monday launch of the 9/12 Mom’s Network. "Please consider joining a movement sparked by a sisterhood of patriot moms." No guidance is offered for those left un-configured for motherhood by nature, however.

Carol brings a clip entitled "America is Me", which is a fine piece of music. Enjoy it. And then, if you need a bit of a picker-upper, try out the increasingly ironic Right Brothers:

Wait 'til Sharmuta sees this . . .

Just noticed that I'm included on Steve Sailer's Notorious Blogroll O' Hate, along with crypto-fascist Mickey Kaus, ultra-paleo Daniel Larison, neo-Canadian Kathy Shaidle and pseudo-hypocrite Jeremy Lott.

Thanks, Steve. Owe you one, my Flemish comrade.

UPDATE: Warning! Major Coffee-Spew Hazard! Do Not Click The Image Below Unless You Are Prepared For Serious BWAAAHAHAHAHA!

Conservative Doug Hoffman slams Scozzafava in guest-blog at Malkin

The Conservative Party candidate in NY-23 whacks that RINO right between her beady little eyes:
I don’t think conservatives will be fooled. The more they learn about Dede Scozzafava, the worse she does in the polls. And the more they learn about my campaign, the better we do.
We can win this thing, but we're up against limited time and an awful RNC and NRCC decision to support a liberal candidate.
Well, if the Republican Party wants to declare war against conservatives, I'm going to fight on the side of conservatives.
If you want to join my fight, I need you. We need money and we need volunteers – boots on the ground. If you can help, go to my website and sign up. Then show up.
It’s time for conservatives to show the Republican establishment who's in charge.
Not just "yes," sir, but "Hell, yes!"

Trust me: Very Important People might make this The Mother Of All Showdowns with the RINO sellouts in the GOP Establishment. Lipstick, baby.

Full background on this crucial campaign at The American Spectator. I'm planning to travel to upstate New York in the coming week to cover the final push toward the Nov. 3 election. But before you hit my tip jar, be sure you hit Doug Hoffman's tip jar first.

Finally Mustered the Jaded Retro Approach

by Smitty

Paraphrasing the Ancient Commenter Solomon on the sordid and tragic nature of the Technorati situation:
Vanity of vanities, saith the Blogger, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
What profit hath a poster of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
One post passeth away, and another post cometh: but the markup abideth for ever.
The browser also ariseth, and the browser goeth down, particularly when a Microsoft product, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
The URL goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the URL returneth again according to his circuits.
All the links run into the Shineytubes; yet the Shinytubes are not full; unto the place from whence the links come, thither they return again.
All FMJRAs are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the reader is not satisfied with seeing, nor the commenter filled with hearing.
So, we've lost some of our technical muscle for the FMJRA: I'll have to drag my lazy self off the porch and research alternatives.

The NY-23 Special Election:Wait Five Minutes, and Megan McCain will Offer Ammunition:
  • Political Byline picks up on a good Megan riff.
  • Little Miss Attila opines:
    I regret to say that Stacy M’s boobs do not strike me as the least bit impressive. But he’s a nice guy anyway.
  • Carol's Closet offers the cleavage in question a question mark.
  • American Power has a fine 'rack' pun.
  • Pat in Shreveport notes Stacy's boobie-bomb.
  • In Mala Fide notes that Megan makes turgid traffic for blogosphere members.
  • Stogie makes what I think is a Bob Seger reference, sittin' way up high on his horse, or something.
  • Left Coast Rebel noted the cleavage in a roundup.
  • The Classic Liberal didn't do his usual Rule 5 treatment of Megan. I should note that Rule 5 Sunday has never depended upon Techorotten, and Megan McCain pics will be excluded from consideration. We're keeping Megan links in FMJRA where we can focus on her bodacious...intellect and vast tracts of...insight.
  • Piece of Work in Progress had some pink funbags that might not be real on display.
  • Rightofcourse piled on.
  • Another Black Conservative is spot on:
    Quite frankly, I say Meghan knew exactly what she was doing. She is a first class attention whore who has not been in the news for a long time. So it was lights, camera, action and cheesecake! Personally I hope she continues tweeting cheesecake photos, she is far better suited for that then giving advice on how to remake the Republican party.
  • Bob Belvedere got his dig in on the dugs.
  • Honesty in Motion offers a triptych on the...can't think of a word that rhymes.
Michelle Action Figures:
  • WyBlog picked up the 'void in South Carolina' bit.
PETA Your Poultry:
Administration Project: Bus Shield Over Entire Country
To paraphrase Steven Wright: The Obama Administration has a bus-model of the US that is actual size. 1 mile = 1 mile. Once we're all safely under the bus, utopia sets in.
  • A Conservative Lesbian notes Stacy covered the story of the National Equity March "without gloating or rancor".
Wasting Hate on POTUS
On the Flogging of Mark Potok:
  • Stogie liked the AmSpec article.
  • Ed Driscoll hat tipped it in "Hey, That Water Won't Carry Itself".
Stacy Agrees with Andrew Sullivan:
Other FMJRA outings:Rush to Judgement:
Miscellaneous Shouts:
  • Troglopundit adds to the Sarahmotivator cannon.
  • LISNews sent an interesting post on creating or saving jobs in Ohio. It doesn't link us, but we're know for being easy.
  • The Camp of the Saints liked the E. J. Dionne thrashing, and graciously touts Czar d'Oz.
This was not too bad, but not up to our traditional 100+ link-o-rama standard. Please add your goodness onto the pile via email to Smitty. And support Stacy's efforts to bring reality back to journalism.

Update: Carol at No Sheeples was kind enough to hat tip us when it was time for Anita to be Done.
The Daley Gator was after Anita, too, but also Cousin Megan.


Update II: Kn@ppster gave us some linky-love:

  • He picks a nit with Stacy's defense of Malkin's writings on WWII internment. My feedback to His Knappage is that Monday Morning quarterbacks abound.
  • He also points to thee ways to score hits: crowd, anti-crowd, and boobies.
  • His critique of the NY-23 race is quite thoughtful. I take the "shag the GOP" stance, but Knapp says that, from a libertarian perspective, it's not so clear. From a Federalist perspective, anything but the GOP/Democratic neo-aristocracy is an improvement.


Update II:VodkaPundit gave Stacy slot #8 on The Week in Blogs for his AmSpec work. I await my lifetime achievement mention at the end of Czar d'Oz.

Start spreadin' the news . . .

. . . no, I'm not leaving today, but it most definitely is up to you, upstate New York:
"We've just been deluged with stuff," said Rob Ryan, media coordinator for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, whose congressional campaign in upstate New York's 23rd District has "surged" in recent days. . . .
In the past week, the three-way contest in the Nov. 3 special election has suddenly become America's most-watched campaign this fall, generating massive attention from reporters and commentators nationwide. The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Fox News, the Weekly Standard and scores of political blogs are following this campaign as a bellwether that could have major impact on the electoral landscape heading into the 2010 congressional mid-terms.
"This election is going to be a referendum on two things," Ryan said in a telephone interview Friday evening. "First, it's going to be a referendum on the first 10 months of the Obama administration. And second, it's going to be a referendum on the future of the Republican Party."
Read the whole 1,200-word thing, and look for more blog coverage at Memeorandum.

Early this morning I had a phone conversation with the mysterious Aleister of American Glob, who not only speaks fluent Belgian, but also is very excited about my plans to travel to upstate New York this coming week and apply some old-fashioned shoe-leather to campaign coverage of the NY23 showdown.

This is clearly the kind of story where being on the scene counts, and Aleister wants to meet me somewhere around Albany, bring his video camera, and do some serious reporting. So, after you've hit the tip jar for $50 or $100 at the Hoffman campaign site, please try to find an extra $5, $10 or $20 for the Shoe Leather Fund.

Fox News is so raaaaacist!

Crypto-fascist ultra-extremist Rupert Murdoch fired Marc Lamont Hill and, as Charles Johnson warned you, the wingnut crazies are totally OK with that:
Good riddance I say. Hill was nothing more than a straight up Obama shill. No matter what Obama did, this guy would spin it as favorable. Obama could tank the entire economy [a real possibility] and Hill would say something stupid like it needed a good crashing.
Yeah, that Clifton B. is such a white suprema . . .

Uh, wait minute. According to LGF research director Kejda, "Clifton" is a popular name among certain Euronationalist paleo-ultrafascist fringe elements and pseudo/neo-extremists like Pamela Geller. Also, Sharmuta says there may be reason to believe that the "B" in "Clifton B." stands for Belgium. IYKWIMAITYD.

THE FLEMISH MENACE!

(Via Flemeorandum.)

'I Ain't Got Time to Bleed'

Action-movie fans will remember that line spoken by Jesse Ventura's character in Predator, and it characterizes my attitude right now regarding the political situation in general and Doug Hoffman's NY-23 special election campaign specifically.

My friend Eric Dondero of Libertarian Republican has pointed out that, in 2006, my friend Erick Erickson of Red State (like many other conservatives) refused to support Libertarian candidate Bob Smither in Texas.

Like the NY-23 race, that 2006 Texas congressional election was a unique situation -- long story, no time to explain now -- and many people misunderstood it. My good buddy Stephen Gordon was on the Libertarian Party national HQ staff at the time, and he was in that Houston suburban district up to his eyeballs.

Gordo made it clear to me that the GOP's idea of running a hand-picked write-in candidate (lonnngg story) was a guaranteed loser, a harebrained scheme that would surely fail. If conservatives wanted to stop a Democrat from winning that seat, their only viable option was to support the LP candidate, Smither, who was a solid citizen, not any kind of radical wacko, and much preferable to the Democrat Nick Lampson.

However, unless you knew the specific on-the-ground details (which Gordo spent hours explaining to me in phone calls from Texas), any conservative Republican might reasonably think that Tom DeLay and the local GOP bosses knew what they were doing.

But they didn't, and Lampson stomped the crap out of DeLay's handpicked successor (who had a hard-to-spell hyphenated last name, a big reason why the idea of her as a write-in candidate was so ROTFLMAO ridiculous). The Democratic pick-up could have been avoided, if any influential conservative at the national level would have listened to Gordo. Three years ago, I was even less inlfuential than I am now, and no other conservatives of greater influence were listening to Gordo and so . . "For want of a nail," as they say.

Erick Erickson was not alone in making the mistake he made. So I have no problem with Erickson for not having backed Smither. A mistake is not necessarily a sin, and Erickson's willingness now to back the Conservative Party candidate Hoffman in NY-23 might indicate that he's learned from the mistake he and others made three years ago.

Whether there might be future occasions when similar calculations of principled pragmatism lead Erickson to back an LP candidate, who knows? We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Whatever happens in the future, or whatever happened in the past, it is absolutely vital in this time of crisis that all friends of liberty focus laser-like on doing now the things that must be done now. I can't fix what went wrong in 2006 and, if there is still any bad blood between my friends Dondero and Erickson, I don't have time to negotiate an armistice.

Right now there is a battle being waged in upstate New York that may, to some important extent, determine the future of this nation. Meanwhile, in Washington, a tooth-and-nail struggle rages over the ObamaCare abomination. There is too much important work to be done now for anyone who is a genuine friend of liberty to be engaged in intramural score-settling.

There are now 17 days until Nov. 3. Let us lay aside everything incidental and focus all our efforts on doing what must be done now, or our common cause is surely doomed.

Like that squad of commandos in the jungle, faced with a deadly and relentless foe, we are in a fight for survival. And I ain't got time to bleed.

UPDATE: Rhymes With Right, a Texas GOP activist, puts a more detailed account of the 2006 Sekula-Gibbs fiasco in the comments. He makes mention of a meeting where the GOP "leadership" declared that it would be "out of order" to make a floor motion in favor of LP candidate Bob Smither who was already on the ballot. My man Gordo was on the phone telling me all about this, live from the scene, when that dirty little deal went down.

This is how the "Establishment Insider" crowd operates, see? Just like the House GOP "leadership" forced Jeb Hensarling to walk the plank for Scozzafava, the GOP "leadership" in Texas forced the local parties to walk-the-plank for Sekula-Gibbs. And this is just what Cornyn and the NRSC want to do by shoving Crist down the throats of Florida Republicans.

This kind of crass manipulation of the GOP mechanism by the insiders is absolutely deadly, in terms of destroying grassroots enthusiasm, and that's what Not One Red Cent is about: Fighting back against this kind of corrupt, crooked, backroom "kingmaker" crap.

As for the inside-libertarian-baseball criticisms from my friends Mr. Knapp and Mr. Dondero, it is beyond the scope of my influence to convince Erick Erickson or anyone else of what course of action they should take. Nobody in the GOP has ever solicited my advice, and on those rare occasion I've played armchair strategist by volunteering my advice, they always ignore me and do the opposite.

So none of this is my fault. If you're looking for a scapegoat, Blame Erik Telford. (I always do.)

Friday, October 16, 2009

Tim Phillips Rocks!

by Smitty

Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity needs to prep everyone who goes on Rachel Maddow's circusshow. This clip is 8.5 minutes of pure chewing satisfaction. He gently, graciously parries every cheap rhetorical trick employed and says "Back at ya, lady" with a twinkle in his eye.

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall in Rachel's dressing room after that segment.

Update: Tim Phillips' response.

GOP sells out! NRCC gives '6-figure' donation to RINO Scozzafava?
SEND ME TO NEW YORK!

Conservative Party congressional candidate Doug Hoffman is surging in the NY-23 special election -- the Nov. 3 vote is now only 18 days away -- so guess what the worthless national GOP "leadership" has done?
The Republican National Committee also confirmed Friday that it was making a six-figure transfer to the National Republican Campaign Committee to help [wretched RINO Dede Scozzafava] in that race.
The NRCC has already spent nearly half a million dollars on advertising and other independent expenditures. And with the Scozzafava campaign on television only sparingly -- reportedly because of slow fundraising -- it has become the main source of advertising for the Republicans at this point.
The RNC is also giving $85,000 to the state party, the maximum allowed for a coordinated campaign, and has two staffers on the ground in the district.
Noting that Newt Gingrich (!) is also backing the liberal Scozzafava, Michelle Malkin comments:
If you have given to the NRCC, RNC, or Newt Gingrich under the impression that they are using the money to support conservatism, you might want to ask for your money back.
Last night I was on the phone with a source who got me hooked up with the Hoffman campaign. Red State has a fund-raiser to help the Hoffman campaign maintain their momentum. If you care about saving the Reagan legacy from the clueless idiots of the GOP Establishment, the Doug Hoffman campaign is Priority One until Nov. 4.

Once you've done what you can for Hoffman, however, if any readers want to send a New Media journalist with Old School skills to put some shoe leather on this important story, hit the freaking tip jar now!

UPDATE 2:30 p.m.: Just got off the phone with a Republican source in upstate New York who informed me that Jeri Thompson -- whose husband Fred has endorsed Hoffman -- was booked today on the Neal Cavuto show. However, Jeri got bumped because of "Balloon Boy" coverage. I am not making this up.

The three-way NY23 battle is now at the top of Memeorandum, BTW. Thanks to all who have hit the tip jar so far. Every $5 or $10 helps; don't know what the total trip budget will be yet. I'm talking to GOP sources about my plans and will have more soon.

UPDATE 3:05 p.m.: All right! Looks like the Great RINO Hunt is on! Bill Kristol casts his lot with the Tea Party people backing Hoffman:
A new poll in the November 3 special election for the congressional seat, NY-23, vacated by Army Secretary John McHugh, confirms what knowledgeable observers have suspected for a while: The candidacy of the official Republican nominee, liberal Dede Scozzafava, selected by local party officials and supported by the national Republican establishment, is collapsing. . . .
(Had that yesterday, Bill. Thanks for noticing.)
Today, the Wall Street Journal has a story on the race with the headline Tea-Party Activists Complicate Republican Comeback Strategy. The truth is the opposite: The GOP establishment complicates the Republican and conservative comeback strategy.
Better late than never, I guess, and I'm sure the Hoffman campaign is grateful for the support. BTW, if you can follow Hoffman on Twitter and Facebook, and if you live near Plattsville, N.Y., they'll be opening a new local campaign headquarters there tonight.

Tea Party people unite! You have nothing to lose but those clueless idiots in the GOP establishment!

UPDATE: Start spreadin' the news . . .

Czar d'Oz Episode III: TOTO

by Smitty



Start with the Czar d'Oz Announcement

Synopsis: In the year 2112, the characters retreated to a basement shelter to weather a monster tornado. Making an early trip to the local seat of government, they uncovered information pertaining to an experimental time machine located in Seattle.

"He could..."

[Murdoch's office. Murdoch is fat, balding, opulently dressed, and seated facing stage right. Peter Lyon is at mid-stage, with Martin, Julius and Zeda at stage right, standing at ease, facing the desk, too.]

Murdoch: Let me see if I understand this clearly. You four are taking my prize Terrain Obstacle Transformation Observer, whose experimental power plant can make two trips across the US between fuelings, and driving to the capital at the New Chicago Vortex in Michigan to petition President Barack Soros Obama for aid?

Peter: We had thought that the Car Czar might be a better place to start. Might the POTUS be aiming too high?

Murdoch: No, the last year's models were worse than the usual roller-dreck, and the Car Czar is out of favor. Word is that some other Eternals covet his job.

You also realize that makes the Governor of Kansas and the Flyover Czar both look like prize chumps for not fixing Kansas after this killer tornado, don't you? The death toll is at 187 and climbing.

Peter: Of course it does. However, it's not too late to get you on the ballot for Governor this November. And don't you think it's high time that the House of Sebelius was…restructured?

Murdoch: That's a good point. But the way the system works, we'll have to offer some kind of sweetener to Obama to encourage the desired behavior.

Peter: Barack Soros doesn't have any monuments in the area. Proposing something flattering might work.

Murdoch: But where?

Peter: The Sebelius Estate along the Kansas River might offer some possibilities, particularly if the investigation raised doubts about how the land had been acquired, and further ambiguities were raised about spending on tornado preparadness under the Sebelius tenure.

Murdoch: I do like the way you think, Lyons. Clearly you're looking for a Chief of Staff position, or so?

Peter: Well, now, one focuses on the task at hand, which is getting Kansas back in order, and lets the details fall as they may, doesn't one?

"...be luring.."

[In Murdoch's fortress garage. An SUV-sized vehicle with a tandem rear axel and a tear-drop shape emerges. The rear is slightly higher than the front, for that mean look. The vehicle rolls on from stage right and stops at the center, while Martin, Zeda, Julius and Peter await stage left. A sliver-haired man with a dash of black at the bangs gets out.]

Martin: Ah, the legendary TOTO. She was designed by an old buddy of mine from the Army.

Leno: You knew Shelby Carroll?

Martin: Yeah, we had some…fun…you could say, during that whole Zambiniland fiasco. That was a…time. American people used to be dead-set against foreigners commanding our troops. There was a reason. [Martin glances at his prosthetics, flexes a hand, triggering mechanical groans].

Leno: Well, if you know that much, you know that this custom rig doesn't get too far without daddy knowing about it. Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more. [He does kneel and point at a location under the frame.]

Martin: Got it. Thanks.

[The four pile in.]

"…us in."

[A cutout of TOTO without the top and left side dominates the center stage. An elevated flat screen positioned at stage rear serves to move the scenery by. It shows a still scene of Kansas fields, with the words RIGHT VIEW at the bottom. The characters walk around and get into TOTO from the back. Martin is driving, and he carries a puck-like object. Zeda rides shotgun, with Julius and Martin in back.]

Zeda: Well, you already raised their suspicions by going Northeast on US-4, instead of East on I-70 to Kansas City. When do we make our break?

Martin: Oh, now is as good a time as the present. [Makes turning motions to left. The screen still says RIGHT VIEW, and pans.]

Zeda: 247th Road going West? OK, well, Murdoch can only have us ventilated once. Julius, you look back and right, and Peter, you look back and left. We're not safe until we're not in Kansas anymore.

[The stage lights dim to indicate some passage of time, then come back up. The scenery moves past at a good clip on the screen at the back of the stage.]

Martin: [Receiving some comms over his headpiece, nods] Understood. We'll be seeing you in a couple of minutes. Bye.

Julius: I see them coming up behind us!

Zeda: OK, we just passed Haskell Road.

(full size)

Martin: Right. Here's what's happening. Some old friends of mine have an ambush set on the lake at Leisurely Drive. Hold on. [The engine roars, and the scenery blurs and rolls by behind them.] What've we got?

Peter: There are two air cars, one smaller than the other, behind us.

Martin: Stand by. We're going to see what some of these ground-effect controls can do. [The background scenery slows and lurches as the car tilts to its right, away from the audience. Muffled jet turbine whine and tire squeals. The screen says RIGHT VIEW, and pans to the right, showing the two air cars in pursuit, but they quickly fall off the screen.]
I doubt anyone's ever taken a right turn from 274 onto Greely Road at 100 clicks, but this ride can do it.

Peter: [Agitated] They're gaining! They're gaining! Look at them bank on that turn!

Martin: [Muttering into his headset] Almost there. You should be seeing the dust cloud coming up from the South. Zeda, you look green. It might be easier to just close your eyes.

Zeda: Get bent.

Martin: Like this?

[He violently turns the car to the right, and the jets and tires wine and squeal louder still. The background scenery remains on RIGHT VIEW and again shows the two air cars, much closer, before the forward motion of TOTO causes them to fall off the right side of the screen. The image stabilizes for a moment on a lake, and then returns to land and is wildly shaken and distorted by a huge explosion behind TOTO. He jerks the wheel again to the right, to make the turn down Leisurely Drive, and the view on the screen pans to show a huge fireball where a bridge used to be, making a small mushroom cloud. The second alloy air car comes to a fish-tailing stop, then changes direction to go back to Greely Road. Martin stomps on the accelerator, and the view pans left as he straightens, then shows houses screaming past. He gets to the other end of Leisurely Drive and takes another hard right onto Greely Road. The screen now changest to FORWARD VIEW at the bottom, and the alloy air car is limping toward them, shuddering and shimmying, an increasingly big blotch on the screen.]

Martin: Some game of chicken this is. He's either had a fan casualty, his batteries are drained, or he's too big of a coward to go at it like the old days.

Peter: He could be luring us in.

Martin: Fair point.

[The air car moves right on the screen, as Martin veers left, out into the flat wheat field. TOTO goes 4-wheel drive automatically. They go North past the air car, loop around to the South, and come up on the right quarter of the limping air car, now at the left edge of the screen, still set to FORWARD VIEW.]

Martin: They got nothin'.

[Martin stops TOTO, rolls down the window, and picks up the tracker device from the floor. It has one stage of epoxy smeared all over it. On cue, Zeda reaches over with another tube, squirts a black paste on, and stirs it. Martin heaves the sticky tracker at the air car, throwing it off stage left. The FORWARD VIEW screen shows the puck stuck to the quarter panel of the air car. Martin rolls up the window, guns it, and they exit, turning right on 278th Road.]

Julius: So, you just arranged with the locals you know to ambush the authorities? If we weren't committed before, we're committed now.

Martin: Yeah, this is a community of folks that served together in Zambiniland. Still remember the Old Constitution, too. It would be great to stop and thank them. But they kinda understand what's goin' on. Murdoch's too busy with the tornado cleanup to spare more pursuers. Let's get the fizrock out of here.

Next episode: Porch

Copyright 2009, Christopher L. Smith

Her Daily Beastliness

No such thing as bad publicity, they say in show business, and certainly Little Miss Overprivileged shows a flair for exploitating her horrid notoriety:
On Wednesday, I posted a hastily taken self-portrait on Twitter—which I thought was funny and silly—and within a few hours I had caused a minor media scandal. . . .
So why all this Sturm und Drang?
Could it be it's because I have breasts? . . .
Yada, yada, yada. "Everybody feel sorry for me! I'm a woman and I'm a victim!"

Being the first conservative blogger to comment in depth on my idiot cousin's self-inflicted controversy, allow me to reiterate the obvious: It was not Meghan's possession of large breasts, nor her display thereof, which has been the object of criticism. Rather, it was her childish online tantrum -- "getting the f**k off Twitter," she whined -- in reaction to online rudeness that enhanced her laughingstock status. As I wrote at The American Spectator:
Ironically, her egoistic episode began when Miss Meghan posted a photo of herself holding a book about Andy Warhol, the pop artist whose best-known aphorism was, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." Meghan's 15 minutes have long since expired and if she is stupid enough to follow through on last night's impulsive threat to quit Twittering -- 50,000 subscribers is an enviable readership for online promotion -- the world will have another laugh at her expense.
She personifies the phony victimhood of the Oprah Age, where the affluent and comfortable seek fame by boo-hooing about the trivial misfortunes of their spectacularly easy lives. Let's hear from Jenn Q. Public:
No one is forcing Meghan McCain to endure the trials and tribulations of fame. . . .There's no invisible rider on the First Amendment that promises to protect the thin-skinned from vile and demeaning criticism.
Meghan's Twitter feed is full of "motherf**king sh*t," as is her otherwise empty skull. That one hears ugly rumors about her from Young Republican types -- well, "sources say" many things, none of them flattering, but perhaps they have malicious motives.

Certainly, it would be libelous if someone were to state as a fact that Meghan is a pushover after four margaritas (and that she never stops at three). Yet my attorney assures me that for purely humorous purposes, there would be nothing actionable were anyone were to react to Ms. McCain's column title, "Don't Call Me a Slut," by quoting Elizabethan literature.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
-- Hamlet, Act III, Scene 2
One blogger described me as having made "vicious and mean attacks." Heh. I'm just making jokes. Or rather, Meghan McCain is a joke, and I'm just pointing it out.

And remember: NO FAT JOKES!

Technorati Re-grade

by Smitty
"Son, it'll feel better when it quits hurting."
--Dad
It appears that Hopium, Changeeba and the Shovel Ready Project have reached Technorati. This blog's tireless efforts to popularize and enhance their prestige in the blogosphere have been met with a chorus of crickets at Technorati HQ. Their vastly different and seemingly incomplete feature set is going to set back our efforts at composing an FMJRA for tomorrow. Also, in the East, rose the sun.

There will be an FMJRA tomorrow, or my name is not Throckmorton Q. Bugglethwiddy. However, its quality is dependent on a little more audience precipitation than usual. Rain your URLs on me at Smitty for inclusion, bitte.

UPDATE (RSM): Indeed, the "new, improved" Technorati doth suck. As with Windows "upgrades," it appears that Technorati has adopted the philosophy, "If it's not broke, fix it until it breaks."

Life without consequences

"The real difference between the Rich and Others is not just that 'they have more money' . . . The truly rich are born free . . . they will never feel hungry, and their credit will never be questioned. . . .
"Why do the finest flowers of the American Dream so often turn up in asylums, divorce courts, and other gray hallways of the living doomed? What is it about being born free and rich beyond worry that makes people crazy?"

-- Hunter S. Thompson, "Bad Craziness in Palm Beach," from Songs of the Doomed

There is something about unearned privilege that is deeply corrupting. Most people who are condemned by liberals as "rich" are innocent of such vices. These are people with high annual incomes which they have earned by honest labor or, once they've achieved career success, from wisely investing their earlier earnings.

These "rich" were not born rich, and whatever privileges they have, they've earned. And, if they are wise, they'll take care to teach their children not to take for granted the advantages that the child derives from the parent's success. These advantages ought to be blessings, but many times they are not, simply because the child is overindulged or never properly chastised, and thus takes for granted fortune's smile.

Well, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, and it is a fact that some of the third- and fourth-generation descendants of 19th -century "robber barons" -- scions of famous families, born to comfort and privilege -- died bankrupt, unloved and alone.

Old money can corrupt, and new money can, too. Remember the IPO hot shots of the "dot-com" boom? Or recall those stories about lottery winners who wasted vast winnings and ended up broke again? What about those professional athletes -- first-round draft picks and All-Pro stars -- who reached their 40s without retaining a cent of their once-fabulous earnings?

One of my favorite songs of the '60s is Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," about a young upper-class woman who finds herself cast down among the lowlifes she once held in contempt:

Once upon a time
You dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime
In your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll,
You're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.
How does it feel?

Really, what could be sadder than the spectacle of advantages wasted on ingrates who don't appreciate what they've been given until they've squandered it all and have nothing left? Such people are much worse off than someone born poor who, by sweating and scrimping, manages to claw themselves just a couple of rungs up the ladder.

These kinds of tragedies happen all the time, and in the strangest ways. And it is sometimes hard to resist the temptation of schadenfreude when you hear about someone who was once a pompously self-important snob being sentenced to federal prison. But our glee at such spectacular downfalls ought not blind us to the tragic wastefulness of these human disasters.

In every tragedy like that, there was a moment -- somewhere along the way -- when someone might have done or said something to prevent the disaster. But they ignored the problem or felt it was none of their business, and so the inevitable downfall ensued.

"I can't stand when adults demand the 'right' to act a certain way and then want to be shielded from the normal consequences of their actions. . . .
"People never cease to astonish me and Ms. McCain is no exception.
"I guess I'm just tired of people thumbing their noses at the rules and then citing those same rules as evidence they've been ill treated. Two wrongs don't make a right but it's generally unconvincing when you try to hold others to a standard you long since openly rejected."

-- Cassandra at Villainous Company, Oct. 15

Some jobs The Boss does best

"No mention . . .
"No mention . . .
"No mention . . ."

Right. And no mention of a lot of other things that I'd like to mention, but won't or can't, because only liberals are allowed to discuss stuff like that. Liberals endlessly boast about their own tolerance and enlightenment, taking turns giving each other awards, while denouncing the rest of humanity as hateful and benighted.

Liberals never have to worry about anyone questioning their sincerity and bona fides, because if you publicly question the good faith of liberals . . .

Well, don't forget: There are 5 A's in raaaaacism.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Gift ideas offered without comment

by Smitty

I don't know what to make of this, or how to react to the inevitable TV usages:

C'mon, Trog

by Smitty

Here's our favorite Wisconsin amphibian fretting about "giving up football".

How about college football? High school? Consider, if you will, people who "play" a sport, as opposed to "professing" it.

The NFL, like Congress, is mostly a pack of sell-outs who've lost their way, and deserve to be ignored. Which I've more or less done with the NFL since around the Reagan administration.

The big difference is that the NFL, while a sad caricature of its former glory, limits the scope of its damage mostly to itself. It is hard to imagine Harry Reid, as head coach of the Senate, or Nancy Pelosi in the House, as a bigger disaster.

WH Communication Director Anita Dunn admires history's greatest mass murderer

Wow! Mao! Let a thousand YouTubes bloom, because Glenn Beck flows from the barrel of a gun:

Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, and Ace of Spades HQ have more. Meanwhile, America's most important young Republican strategist was asked to comment on this shocking revelation:
"Forget Beck! Look at my f**king t*ts!"
-- Meghan McCain
See Memeorandum for more complete coverage.

Meghan McCain and her f***ing sh*t

Because the lying, biased, liberal MSM is shamelessly trying to steal the Meghan McCain boobs Google-bomb from me, I've been forced to fight back. No MSM punk will beat me on Meghan McCain cleavage or Meghan McCain breast, either. That's just how I roll.

However, lest someone mistakenly think that there is any disrespect involved here -- please, NO FAT JOKES! -- you need to be reminded that this is actually a tribute to Meghan's preferred mode of discourse on Twitter:

My adrenalin is still pumping and I think I left nail marks in Ramins arm!!! What the f*ck paranormal experience?!?
McCainBlogette #4774678638

Babs is my fav character on entourage, I like her all black suits, super blonde hair and take no sh*t attitude - hey wait... :-
McCainBlogette #3660989193

insomnia is such a motherf*cker, 3:45 whose not sleeping? yeah me...where my fellow Lestats at? shout out to those that dont sleep!!!!!
McCainBlogette #3508781165

Love guys who appreciate when I say mother f*cker even if sometimes I have a bow in my hair when saying it
McCainBlogette #3339829829

my life exactly the way I want to. Just because my family is in politics doesn't mean I have to act like it! that s*it is so boring...
McCainBlogette #2926152783

tweet my mom @cindyhm1 and ask her to tell you about the crazy person who sh*t talked me to her! talkin smack about a daughter 2 a mother
McCainBlogette #2833367886
And, finally, just to remind you:
chill people, I don't give a f*ck about @michellemalkin
McCainBlogette #3180554274
When Little Miss Overprivileged Victim started whining because of mean comments, throwing a Twitter fit and saying she was "getting the f**k off Twitter," I doubt she expected her own nasty f**king sh*t to come flying back in her face. But as they say down home, "Payback is a motherf**ker, b*tch."

(Hat-tip: Jim Treacher, whose blog is cleverly called Jim Treacher's Blog That Is On The Internet.)

Some overdue Rule 2 action on this:
Link up, bloggers, and we'll link back. And if you feel the urge to hit the tip jar, don't fight the feeling, b*tches.

UPDATE: Great. I began the smackdown nearly 24 hours ago, but did Memeorandum link me? Oh, no. ABC News and the Christian Science Monitor -- yeah, that's the real blogosphere, man. I feel so . . . excuse me, I get these Glenn Beck moments sometimes . . .

No, don't worry about me. I'll be all right. As long as I have Villainous Company linking me, I'll be fine.

UPDATE II: CNN shows my blog with Pamela Anderson ad (2:15), madcap hijinks ensue:


This is my Navin Johnson moment: "The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!" New blog slogan: "As misrepresented on CNN!"

BTW, there was a discussion on Twitter, in which I had to clarify that I never called Meghan a "slut" for showing her boobs. It was her whiny reaction to the criticism that was the target of my commentary.

And, just for the record: I am pro-boobies -- not matter what Charles Johnson says. (Lies! All lies!)

Quite possibly the funniest AOSHQ thread since the 'Paul Anka Integrity Kick'

What were the very worst songs of the 1970s? Well, Laura W. started with "Sometimes When We Touch" -- a serious contender -- and it descended from there into coffee-spewing hilarity..

How far did it go? Three words: The Banana Splits.

Meghan McCain's boob shot

OK, now the slimy liberal MSM is trying to beat me to the Google bomb, but when it's time to fight for traffic on Megan McCain's breasts, nobody beats the Rule 5 king.

UPDATE 2:53 p.m.: The MSM's digusting attempt to cash in on Megan McCain's rack caught me by surprise today. I should have expected such a move after I got cited in The Week this morning. Let the record show that my Megan McCain boob post went up at 10:25 p.m. ET last night, long before the MSM even noticed Megan McCain cleavage. I beat those CNN losers, and they can't stand it.

Meanwhile, sleazy blog commenters are spreading the rumor that Ron Paul laughs at Meagan McCain fat jokes . . .

UPDATE 5:12 p.m.: Still only No. 2 in the Google-bomb war. Somebody hit the "Digg" button down there. We will fight them on the Google! We shall fight them on the Digg! We shall fight for every Meghan McCain boob reader. We shall never surrender!

UPDATE 7:20 p.m.: Meghan McCain gets a taste of her own f**king sh*t.

URGENT: Tea Party Conservative Doug Hoffman surges in latest NY23 poll

New poll numbers in the Nov. 3 special election:
Bill Owens (Democrat) . . . . . . . . . . 33%
Dede Scozzafava (RINO) . . . . . . . . 29%
Doug Hoffman (Conservative) . . . . 23%
This is a huge gain for Hoffman. The MSM are headlining the lead for Owens, but the more important point is Hoffman's momentum. He's gained 7 points in two weeks, while Scozzafava's lost 6. It shows how Scozzafava's support in this key three-way upstate New York congressional race has collapsed because of Hoffman's exposure of the RINO candidate's liberal voting record. The Hill reports:
Hoffman has surged in Oneida and Oswego, at the western end of the district. Hoffman takes 34 percent of the vote in one of the district's most populous areas, narrowly edging Owens by three points. Scozzafava, whose television advertising campaign has been far weaker than either Owens or Hoffman, trails with just 21 percent in those counties.
Press release from the Hoffman campaign:
"It's clear Dede Scozzafava is way too liberal for the 23rd CD. That's why she's dropping in the polls. Voters are seeing that the conservative Republican candidate, Doug Hoffman, will work to cut spending, cut taxes, and shrink the deficit and that's why he is surging in the poll. This poll was completed on Tuesday, just as our media buy was being ramped up. As more voters get to know Doug Hoffman, more voters will support Doug Hoffman. This is a race between two liberals and a conservative. Doug Hoffman is the conservative and that's why he will win."
As I reported yesterday, Hoffman says he has Scozzafava "on the run," and Red State is trying to raise more money to help push Hoffman over the top.

Hoffman is endorsed by the Club for Growth, the Susan B. Anthony List and other conservative groups. Perhaps more importantly, Hoffman's got the endorsement of the 9/12 Project, which gives him the conservative grassroots Tea Party volunteers to run a strong ground campaign, but he's got to have more campaign cash to keep running his hard-hitting TV campaign.

(Cross-posted at AmSpecBlog.)

UPDATE: Laughable MSM assertion that Republicans are "bitterly divided" over NY23 race:
The House GOP conference is bitterly divided over a centrist New York Republican’s run for the House seat vacated by Army Secretary John McHugh. . . .
Just 17 members — about 10 percent of the GOP conference — have written checks to Scozzafava’s campaign.
That's not "bitterly divided," that's a 90% rejection of Scozzafava, who isn't a "centrist," but an outright liberal, whose voting record is somewhere in the Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter range.

Via Memeorandum. More from Erick Erickson at Red State.

Czar d'Oz Episode II: Wreckage

by Smitty




Start with the Czar d'Oz Announcement

Synopsis: In the year 2112, the characters retreated to a basement shelter to weather a monster tornado.

"...and it explains..."

[A dark stage. Martin's limbs randomly spasm, causing a loud metallic clamor. Zeda turns on a dim light, and the characters begin to stir. Zeda lights the room dimly.]

Zeda: It's time to be up anyway. We're going to need to be early to the Temple of Cyrus to see if the Vortex has any bailouts for us. The line will be long.

Martin: Sorry about the racket. I really need some better parts. Hey, whaddaya know? It sounds like the storm's gone.

Julius: They say that the real thing to do is stay put and wait for the authorities. There will be a lot of downed power lines and weakened structures. Perhaps I should stay here and pore over volume four of The Wit and Wisdom of Patrick Daley Obama.

Peter: [looking at a dead handheld, shaking his head, pocketing the device] Wow, the network is down. Julius, Zeda is right: we've got to get moving to the Temple now, with the sun rising enough to see. You're right about the dangers, but there is precious little to go around. If we're not early, we're simply naught. Martin, do you have any wea-wea-weap-pons? We-we don't want any violence at all, of course, no violence. But the appearance of the ability to deliver violence, without making any explicit threats (of course) is often helpful in negotiations.

Zeda: Well, Julius? Peter sure has you beat for guts. I think Martin and I are with him. Do you want to stay here and babysit the rest of the building like they were a pack of your worst graduate students, or do you want to risk biting into some history?

[Zeda, Martin and Peter exit left. Julius sighs and follows.]

"…what a Murdoch…"

[Peter enters left, followed by Zeda, Martin. Julius is still in the rear. They come up to the ruin of the Temple of Cyrus. The rotunda has collapsed, though the sun is still to show through the new, permanent skylight where there had been a dome. They go up the stairs, and peer in. The front doors and the conference room door are all flat on the ground. A huge chunk of ceiling has smashed a gaping hole in the conference room floor.]

Peter: I was just in a meeting here yesterday…in a different life. [Keeping carefully close to the wall, he works his way around to where the ceiling chunk, like a giant chicken leg, still has the bone of a girder sticking up out of the floor.]

Martin: What's below here? A boiler room?

Peter: No, it was Murdoch's office.

Martin: Would he have weapons?

Peter: Not that I know, or would approve of.

Julius: Are you going to descend?

Peter: Down this girder? Are you mad? There is no way my insurance would cover an injury incurred while climbing over random storm wreckage, unless I was a first responder. How irresponsible!

Julius: You have no sense of academic inquiry. Martin, will you join me?

Martin: You nearly sounded like a man for a moment there, Scare.

Julius: High praise, indeed. Here: let's use this extension cord to lower ourselves down.

[The two rig an electrical cord to a wall stud, and head down the girder, while Zeda holds a floodlight down into the still-dim hole.]

"…was doing…"

Martin: Jackpot! Zeda, a little more to the left…

Julius: Peter, can you throw down that duffel bag? The roof collapse managed to break open an end table that concealed a safe.

[A duffle descends. There is a brief screeching sound of metal hinges being forced.]

Zeda: Hey the sun is fully above the horizon. You guys have about two more minutes down there, and then we need to get out. Even the sleepiest government guard has to wake up for his morning doughnut sooner or later.

Martin: Yeah, yeah. You gripe like a Sergeant Major, Zeda. OK, that looks like most of it. Zeda's right: we gotta beat feat. Julius, you go first with the bag on your shoulders, backpack-wise. I'll be right behind offering support.

Julius: Fair enough.

[Two men and a duffle ascend.]

Peter: There is a park by the river. I've got a secret place there I've gone for years when I need to escape the meetings and the madness.

Julius: Sounds good.

[The four exit stage right.]

"…in a rat-hole…"

[The four enter stage right, crouching, led by Peter.]

Peter: Just bend over and force your way through the bushes and up this little bank, and there is a secluded clearing at the top where we can go over the find.

Zeda: Is this where you brought your admin assistant for trysts?

Peter: David? He wasn't my type, and I doubt I was his. I always saw him with plump redheads, come to think of it.

[Julius, the duffel, and Martin break into the clearing. Dawn is done, and morning is in full swing. Julius sets the bag down, and unzips it to reveal a binder, an opened envelope, a pistol, two clips, and a large wallet.]

Martin: An M1911 and two clips. I may need a private moment, everyone…

Peter: This notebook discusses a fascinating project…

Zeda: This wallet looks like it will solve our financial problems indefinitely…

Julius: This letter is the most interesting bit of all…

"…like this."

Julius: …and it explains what a Murdoch is doing in a rat hole like this:

Dearest Justin Murdoch,
    Your irresponsibility has become too great a burden. Whatever promise you once showed on the Project, you can no longer stay in the Emerald City after this latest outrage. Even a relative of Czar d'Oz himself cannot go whoring amongst the Brutals in so cavalier a manner.
    I've found you a position in Kansas, working for the Flyover Czar in Topeka. You understand that this constitutes a banishment. You also understand that saving your sorry hide even this much has cost me significant political capital. You must go and never return, or you shall have defied me personally, and get to pay for that as well as your other misdeeds.

            Your Father,
            Jasper d'Oz, Northwest Czar

Martin: OK, I think we need to take this stuff back. Not that I want to, mind you, just that one thing you don't do is steal from a Czar. Them bastards don't tolerate competition.

Zeda: I second that idea, though it would be a shame to just let all of this stuff go.

Peter: In political struggles, you always trade up. We secured these goods, and we're going to return them intact. The reason we're going to do that is because Murdoch is hiring us to go on a mission. He's doing that not only because of the dirt we now have on him, and the loyalty and respect we're showing by protecting his property, but because we're going to make him look a genius to the Car Czar in Detroit, where he is sending us on a diplomatic mission.

Only that's a ruse. We're going to take the vehicle he sends us in and head off to Seattle, instead, to see if this experimental time machine project detailed in this notebook, and which appeared nearly operational when he got this copy of the project description, actually works.

Because, if it does, we have a chance to go back to the beginning of this godforsaken Obama administration and warn the people!

[Zeda's eyes widen, Martin nods vigorously, and Julius' jaw drops.]


Next episode: TOTO.

Copyright 2009, Christopher L. Smith

Best. Blog. Headline. Evah?

When Your Neighbor Loses His Job
It's A Recession.
When You Screw A Whore Behind Your Wife's Back, Get Caught, And Lose Your Job, It's A Catastrophic Economic Meltdown.


Via Memeorandum. About Eliot Spitzer.

How fat is Meghan McCain?

She's so fat, we think she's kinda cute.

Because she's dumb, blonde and rich, with big hooters -- just the way we like 'em.

Also, she's my cousin. And you know how we hillbilly Bubbas are about our cousins.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Well, cuz, there's a reason they're called 'TwitPics' you know . . .

Meghan McCain posted this photo:

And, evidently, some people responded by saying rude things about her, to which she replied:

so I took a fun picture not thinking anything about what I was wearing but apparently anything other than a pantsuit I am a slut, this is why I have been considering deleting my twitter account, what once was fun now just seems like a vessel for harassment
-- McCainBlogette

I am going to take some more time to think about it but seriously I was just trying to be funny with the book and that I'm a dork staying in
-- McCainBlogette

when I am alone in my apartment, I wear tank tops and sweat pants, I had no idea this makes me a "slut", I can't even tell you how hurt I am
--McCainBlogette

ok I am getting the f***k off twitter, promise not to delete my account until I sleep on it, thank you for the nice words supporters
--McCainBlogette

Well, I have no idea what anybody said about her that caused her to have a Twitter breakdown. It is an unfortunate fact that some people associate large breasts with promiscuity. The girl in eighth grade with the biggest rack usually somehow gets a reputation, even if she's done nothing to deserve it.

Of course, Meghan's photo involved a rather spectacular display, but you can see equally abundant cleavage on lots of college kids' Facebook pages, so that doesn't really mean anything.

Anyway, at some point -- actually before posting the picture -- she took an out-of-the-blue shot at Allahpundit:

pretty much my image of @allahpundit is I am the chick from silence of the lambs and he is screaming at me in a hole 2 put lotion on my skin
This is a reference to the creepy "Buffalo Bill" character ("It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again") and I've got no idea why she'd take a shot like that. Weird.

Whatever. Meghan McCain not a victim. She the heiress to a fortune and the daughter of a powerful U.S. Senator. She is also spoiled rotten and arrogant, lecturing the world at Tina Brown's Daily Beast without any more qualification than her family name and an Ivy League diploma.

For someone like that to play the victim card -- "Boo hoo hoo! people said mean things about me!" -- is absurd, and reminds me of what I wrote at the Green Room today:
Nothing is quite so annoying as fake victimhood: Overprivileged people trying to elicit sympathy in the Oprah Age by claiming they are victimized by something that doesn’t actually harm them at all.
"Sticks and stones," OK? Grow up.

UPDATE: OK, thanks to MelissaTweets and Dahlhalla for these screen-caps of previous Meghan McCain posts that explain the Allah-hate. Meghan wrote this post:

And then, evidently in reference to Allah (who had made jokes about having a crush on Meghan) she posted this:

Obviously, she's got issues.

UPDATE II: Recall that in June, LOTUS noticed how much Meghan liked to talk about her rack:
Clearly, Meghan McCain is at the forefront of the tit-tering movement. This is because her rack probably is her greatest contribution to the GOP.
Unfortunately for them, everyone knows that I’ve already declared myself to be the titular head of the conservative movement.
Seriously, Megan: You don't want to match racks with LOTUS.

A short lesson in why TV news sucks

Former Reagan administration official Bruce Bartlett tells the tale of how an economist friend of his, Richard Rahn, got bumped from an appearance on the Jim Lehrer PBS show because another economist, Russ Roberts, had written a rap song about economics.

This would be funny, except that Bartlett explains that such show-biz calculations utterly dominate the process of booking talking heads:
Anyone who regularly does TV interviews knows that one is always required to do a pre-interview in which a producer feels you out as to what you will say in response to certain hypothetical questions. It would be simpler if they just came out and said, "We are looking for someone to go on air and say Obama is the anti-Christ (or whatever). Are you willing to do that?"
Such a method, however, is crass and offends the dignity of potential guests, so instead the producer will talk around the issue. She (they are almost always female) will say something like this: "We are thinking about doing a segment on whether Obama is the anti-Christ and looking for guests who will debate this topic. If we had you on what would your take be?"
If you say that the idea is ridiculous you will be thanked and the producer will move on to the next name on her list. Eventually she will find a crazy person like Alan Keyes to say what she wants him to say or someone so desperate to be on TV that he will play Devil's Advocate and pretend to believe that Obama is the anti-Christ for the sake of 5 minutes of air time.
Sometimes, however, the producer hasn't been fully clued in to what it is she is supposed to do and accidentally books a guest unwilling to play the proper role. When this happens, the guest will later get a call canceling his appearance on the grounds that the segment "went in a different direction" or similar BS.
A few weeks ago, I got the "went-in-a-different-direction" explanation from a CNN producer. She'd called one evening to ask me to be on a show the next day -- discussing something I'd written about at The American Spectator --so I'd planned my day with the trip to CNN's DC studio in mind. Showered, shaved, dressed, got in the car and was already en route (it's 70 miles from my house to DC) when the producer called to say they'd changed their plan.

C'est la guerre. You can't really complain. It's just show business. If you want to understand why TV news is show business, you need to read Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death.

And, yeah, the assistant producer who books the guests is almost always female. It's the "assistant" part, you see. The "senior" or "executive" producer, on the other hand, is almost always a guy.

Funny how that works: Sexism creates lots of "assistant producer" opportunities for women who are never going to make it to "senior" or "executive" producer. And yet no network gets sued for discrimination. Why? Because to file a lawsuit would be bad for the assistant producer's career. And thus it is her ambition that makes her vulnerable to exploitation.

So David Letterman shags the office help like he's Mick Jagger on tour in '72 and, if it weren't for a blackmailer, we'd never know about it. If you sensed some unease on the part of TV news shows in discussing the Letterman scandal . . .

Well, it's show business.