"Everything's all aces now.We've just got to keep it that way."

A guest-post by Jimmie Bise of The Sundries Shack.

The post title is a quote from a source inside the Doug Hoffman campaign, which has managed in the space of one week to turn a barely-noticed special election in upstate New York into a national media event. All the savvy media outlets are converging on New York's 23rd Congressional District, including this blog's very own Stacy McCain.

And what, you may ask, has turned the tide?

The grassroots. A week ago, Hoffman held a conference call during which he practically begged for national traction. According to Stacy, Hoffman had two messages: "We have her on the run" and "We need to raise money to get the message out." Since then, Hoffman's star has been steadily rising, the endorsements have come rolling in, the media outlets have been spinning like they're reporting from a Tilt-A-Whirl, and his Republican opponent Dede Scozzafava has committed gaffe after asinine gaffe. It's gotten so bad that National Review's Jim Geraghty has called for the GOP to demand its money back and pull back completely from Scozzafava (via memeorandum). Indeed, the conservative flagship magazine has gone "all Hoffman, all the time", according to a campaign source.

This morning, the Wall Street Journal published the hardest-hitting editorial against the establishment's hand-picked candidate I've seen yet. Here is the editors' bill of particulars against Ms. Scozzafava:

Democrats want to portray this race as a familiar moderate-conservative GOP split, but the real issue is why Ms. Scozzafava is a Republican at all. She has voted for so many tax increases that the Democrat is attacking her as a tax raiser. She supported the Obama stimulus, and she favors "card check" to make union organizing easier, or at least she did until a recent flip-flop.She has run more than once on the line of the Working Families Party, which is aligned with Acorn. Her voting record in Albany puts her to the left of nearly half of the Democrats in the assembly. She also favors gay marriage, which is to the left of Mr. Obama.

A mark? Oh yes, that'll leave one.

Let us not forget that it was the Working Families Party that attempted to assail employees of AIG in their own homes for the scurrilous crime of accepting bonus payments. After the protest fizzled worse than a sparkler at the bottom of Lake Placid, we learned that the bonuses has been granted with the full knowledge and approval of the very same Obama administration that had demonized the workers so vociferously and that the President himself was a recipient of AIG money. Oops.

There is a chance that the WFP or ACORN will try to get into the game on the side of Scozzofava or the Democratic candidate Bill Owens. Hoffman is concerned about the potential for fraud and has asked the Obama administration to send election observers to make sure things remain on the up-and-up. That's not a vain concern as authorities in nearby Troy, NY have launched a voter fraud investigation involving both the Democratic Party and the Working Families Party. If they worked the election in Troy, they can just as easily work it in NY23.

Hoffman has a series of events planned for tomorrow and Stacy will be there to report on them. In the meantime, Left Coast Rebel has the latest from Stacy as he careens his way north and Da Tech Guy is terribly unimpressed with how the GOP had dug in its heels for Dede.

Me, I say Dump Dede!

There is a lot more coming on this story so, stay tuned and buy the man some new shoe leather, please.

UPDATE: Not even an endorsement from Newt Gingrich has been enough to sway the grassroots toward Scozzafava. Michelle Malkin and Da Tech Guy has rounded their blunderbusses of snark on Newt and given him a snoot full.

Meanwhile, those poll numbers? Oh, they look better by the day.

UPDATE 2: If you want to get the measure of Doug Hoffman for yourself, you'll have a couple chances. He was on Glenn Beck's radio show today and garnered some good words from Rush Limbaugh as well. He'll be on Mark Levin's show tonight at about 8:30 and on Glenn Beck's television show tomorrow night.

I'd say the big grassroots push is working, but there's no time for cheering. We have a conservative to get into Congress.

NY23: Conservatives, RINOS and the Antonym of 'Leadership'

This article is focused on social issues -- abortion and gay marriage -- but the basic point is important:

The Hill reports that 17 House Republicans have written checks to Dede Scozzafava's campaign. They include House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio), Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Virginia), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas), and Representative Kevin McCarthy (California), who is in charge of recruiting GOP candidates to run next year.
Connie Mackey, president of the Family Research Council Action Political Action Committee, believes those 17 House Republicans are abandoning conservative values.
"The very idea that someone of that liberal stripe would have the backing of the leadership frankly I think fires a shot across the bow for the future," she states, "and we felt it was very important to send a message right back."
Mackey takes particular offense to comments in The Hill attributed to an "unnamed GOP congressman" who suggested that Republicans who don't back Scozzafava, including House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence, are "anti-women." She is calling on that unnamed congressman to identify himself and apologize to his colleagues for "maligning" them. . . . (Emphasis added.)

Read the whole thing. It is always the representatives of the RINO/Rockefeller wing of the party, and not conservatives, who habitually violate the 11th Commandment with those kinds of comments. Statements like that tend to reinforce and echo the liberal attack on the GOP.

The Olympia Snowe/John McCain/Dede Scozzafava types are always badmouthing their party to reporters, and they hire liberal staffers who do the same thing. By derogating their party's own base, which has always been traditionalist, they imply that "values voters" are benighted bigots.

This is why I felt that my conservative friends who supported John McCain in 2008 were so sadly mistaken. You have got no idea what kind of foul and insulting things "Maverick" would utter to his buddies in the press corps regarding the GOP grassroots during his 2000 presidential campaign. In those off-the-record remarks, he routinely depicted the average Republican voter as a dimwit, a rube, a hick.

Here's what the so-called "leaders" have got to get through their heads: The people are the party. Their votes, their volunteer efforts, and their small contributions of campaign cash are the very lifeblood of the party.

Now, my friend Cynthia Yockey disagrees with me on gay-rights issues, and we disagree forthrightly. There may be others who disagree just as forthrightly on abortion. OK, it's an honest disagreement among people who are united in their support of basic common principles -- and especially by our opposition to the voracious power-appetite of the Democratic Part8y's modern progressivism.

Though I am a social conservative, I don't like it when my family-values criticize those gays who agree with us on basic principles of limited government. If there was a coalition called Flaming Queers for the 10th Amendment, I'd be OK with that. Drag Queens for Concealed Carry, Leather Lesbians for School Choice -- the more the merrier, OK?

You cannot build a winning coalition by a processs of subtraction, and you don't win elections by campaign against your own party's strongest supporters. If the GOP is to build a solid majority, it must find ways to appeal beyond its hard-core base, but you can't do that by trumpeting to the press that your hard-core base is a bunch of hateful ignoramuses.

Among my staunchest social-conservative friends are people with advanced degrees and high-status professional careers. They share the same traditionalist values with a lot of beer-and-a-shot blue-collar types. They are part of conservative coalition is large and diverse. And they need leaders who understand and respect them, who will not badmouth them behind their backs.

The kind of "leadership" that supports a Scozzafava -- in a district that can and, I believe, will elect a solid Reagan Republican like Doug Hoffman -- is not leadership at all.

The national GOP has in recent years mistakenly elevated to positions of prestige people who are in fact the antonym of leadership. And how shall we reply?

NOT ONE RED CENT!

Video: My sons, the paintballers

"America, you know you want to shoot Jeff with a paintball, because he's got red hair."

NY-23: I'm leavin' today . . .

Right to the very heart of it, upstate New York, where Doug Hoffman campaign media coordinator Rob Ryan says:

"We need money and we need it now," he said. Fundraising has been "picking up every day," Ryan said, and the Hoffman campaign is "getting donations from across the country."
However, Hoffman is battling against major party candidates, with the national GOP spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for Scozzafava -- angering conservatives like Michelle Malkin -- while the Democratic Party pours cash into the campaign coffers of its candidate, Bill Owens. . . .
The question that has puzzled conservatives for weeks is how someone as far left as Scozzafava -- who has in the past been supported by ACORN -- managed to get picked by the state GOP in this conservative district. Hoffman has said Republican "party bosses, the lords of the backroom, made this selection."
Online activist Michael Patrick Leahy similarly summarizes the process. "The nomination of Scozzafava was orchestrated by two powerful liberal members of the local Republican Party organization," Leahey wrote at TCOT Report, "and was aided and abetted by several politically inexperienced local county leaders who failed to grasp the tactical significance of shunning the Conservative Party and did not fully understand the details of their nominee's record, or her potential vulnerabilities."
Some observers consider it possible that Scozzafava will finish third in the Nov. 3 vote, which would be a sharp rebuke to the GOP leadership in Washington that twisted arms in a failed effort to get more Republican support for the party's liberal nominee. . . .

That's from my latest article at The American Spectator, so read the whole thing. Ever since March 2008, when I decided to head to Pennsylvania and cover Hillary Clinton's campaign, it's been a pleasure working with the great folks at the Spectator.

What's great about being a freelancer is that, if I've got an idea for a story, I basically assign myself to it. So last March, I called up my editor at the Spectator, told him that Hillary would be appearing within a few hours' drive of my house, he said, "OK," and off I went.

Kind of cool, especially after so many years of being stuck in the office most days as an assistant editor on the national desk at The Washington Times. Going out on the road to cover a story reminds me of my glorious younger days as a small-town sports editor, rolling down the highway en route to a big track meet or basketball tournament.

That's just more fun than sitting around an office all day, and I do better work when I'm having fun. While covering Hillary in West Virginia, I got a chance to meet Chelsea Clinton, who is nice (and quite pretty in person, with lovely eyes). My Spectator reporting on the Libertarian Party convention was praised as the "best national coverage" by Rocky Mountain News columnist Dave Kopel.

When I went back to Denver for the Democratic National Convention, I got to hang out with Michelle Malkin, Jim Hoft, Andrew Marcus, Stephen Green, Charlie Martin and Jason "Big Sexy" Mattera. Then I went on the road to cover Sarah Palin -- "Sweetheart of the Heartland" and "Stickin' With the Hockey Mom."

Great fun, but kind of expensive for a freelancer. Despite the growth in online media, it doesn't pay as much as the print variety. The occasional shweeet check for contributions to the print edition of the Spectator -- like my 3,000-word feature about IG-Gate in the September issue -- is helpful. Still, I've got to find other sources of revenue, so I also write for Pajamas Media and Taki's Magazine.

Obviously, this spans a wide ideological spectrum. The Spectator is what's called "Movement Conservative," while PJM leans more toward the neo-conservative side and Taki's . . .

OK, some of my neocon friends recoil in horror and won't even click the links to my Taki's articles. However, their brilliant (though radically Nietzschean) editor, Richard Spencer, really enjoys good writing. They let me do fun things like my Gonzo slam on Culture 11, and despite the guilt-by-association factor -- some of Spencer's hard-core paleo friends are aghast at his linkage to me -- it's an opportunity I appreciate.

It's the fun factor of journalism that keeps me from going completely Johnsonoid in this blogospheric madhouse of fierce partisanship. Even in the grimmest of blog-wars, I try to have fun, because if you're not having fun, why bother?

All this is a long way of saying how much I appreciate reader contributions to the Shoe Leather Fund, which help defray expenses of my occasional road-trips to cover the news. Sean in New Orleans kicks in for gas and says, "God Bless." Mike in El Segundo hit the tip jar for a whole carton of smokes. One of these days, I'm going to get smart and start a "Buy Me a Jaguar XJ" tip jar. But a carton of smokes and a 2004 KIA, that's still pretty cool.

By hitting the tip jar to subsidize my reporting, you're enabling me to provide exclusive coverage at a deep discount rate. Undercut the competition, like Sam Walton, see? Chip in California, Barbara in Kentucky, Nathan in Missouri, Jeff in Walla Walla, Washington -- you're the patrons of a new style of journalism, where the readers are essentially the assignment editors.

By deciding whether to pay for the trip, you decide whether I cover the story. Maybe next spring, you can send me to Daytona Beach for Spring Break. Just sayin' . . .

For now, I'm on the road to upstate New York, where I'll be covering Doug Hoffman -- my travel itinerary and budget needs are here -- and you can expect regular updates here.

Czar d'Oz Episode VI: Sandog

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. Making good their escape in the experimental TOTO vehicle, they have made it to the territory of the Southwest Czar. They've survived an encounter with two surreal characters en route Las Vegas. In Vegas they form an alliance with Jefe, the Southwest Czar, to take a short cut to the Emerald City.

"General quarters, general quarters…"

[A pier. The screen shows a warship in profile. An unseen crane is lowering TOTO to the tiny flight deck of the ship. Captain Horatio Frothinghampton, Julius, Peter, Martin, and Zeda are on the pier. Frothy holds a document with thick fold lines in front of himself, and addresses the four.]

Frothy: What kind of a fool's errand is this? "Spec Ops Team", my Neon. White. Ass. You two [nodding at Julius and Peter] have obviously never fired anything heavier than a PowerPoint bullet. Ms. Zeda here could easily beat either one of you. What's that hint of a smile, Julius? Martin is the only one of you worth a fart in a firefight. Sorry Dorothy.

Can I talk you out of bringing the chariot? That car on USS Alinsky has the appeal of a brickload on a greyhound. Orders are orders, but loyalty to country and crew requires I at least ask.

And what's this "Infiltrate Seattle?" You realize that there is a vessel traffic safety system in Puget Sound? They'll have mustered a full-on pipe band to greet the four of you geniuses at the pier.

Forget I said any of that. Czars are Czars. Eternals are Eternals. Other than informing you that this trip is as transparent as a lie on a politician, I've no need or desire to know any of the details.

Ms. Zeda, you'll sleep in the sick bay. Julius, Peter, and Martin, I believe the Executive Officer has you in the Chief's Mess. High tide's in six hours. I request you be aboard, with your last bit of toiletry shopping done, in four, so we can set the Sea and Anchor Detail smoothly. I like it smooth.

"All hands man…"

[A bridge scene in red light, with darken ship set. Martin talks to Frothy, who is seated in his Captain's chair. They have coffee.]

Frothy: How are your compatriots doing?

Martin: Zeda's wishing she'd gone into the Navy instead of hotel management. Julius is winning the quantitative end of the barfing contest. I think Peter still has the edge in distance. Those guys are laid out in the stateroom. Trying to keep them hydrated.

What's it like in the modern Navy, Captain?

Frothy: It's all the same. We swear the same oath we always have. The President has the regional Czars. The Northwest Czar owns the 7th Fleet, since they were retracted from Japan in 2059. I work for the Southwest Czar, of course. 3rd Fleet has been out of San Diego since Noah was a bosun. Each fleet still keeps one aircraft carrier in commission, though parts and funding are hard to come by, and deployments are irregular. Why deploy when the two West Coast carriers have to share an air wing?

The bulk of the Navy is small sea control units like Alinsky. This is about the 4th generation of the Littoral Combat Ship concept. Alinsky, of course, is the best damn ship in the Navy. We've just been in the yards for hull cleaning and refit--she was looking a bit rough when I took command, I'll admit, but she's clean and ready for action.

Martin: How do you call a ship named for a man a 'she'?

Frothy: Why are all German rabbits der hase? One could say it hearkens back to a pre-Obama gender consciousness. One could also say that Saul Alinsky was a bitch. Or, one could just accept that we have these traditions older than the US Constitution, and no amount of political wind-shifting shall alter this cultural glue that holds us together.

Martin: Fair enough. Where are you from?

Frothy: I'm from just outside of Portland, Oregon. I've been sailing these waters all me bloomin' life, and will probably retire to be a ship's pilot around here.

And what of you? You're a veteran of that expedition into Zambiniland at the end of Patrick Daley Obama III's administration 20 years back, no? I presume that's how you got so shot up. That is, if you're inclined to speak of it.

Martin: What's to say? Zambiniland didn't pay their vig. Or their leaders got uppity. Or some Eternal wanted to clear out the territory for a new golf course. Or the arms merchants needed to clear inventory. Or the Pentagon wanted live fire training. Or the Indo-Russian alliance needed taming. Or all of the above. Davos gave the signal. We packed up and deployed. We got there and were mostly bored, with occasional firefights. And severe injuries. Also, lots of civilian casualties.

Frothy: I was an Ensign. We spent the whole conflict anchored at Fernando Poo. This was due to low fuel, and the Zambini Navy, of which exactly no units in their Order of Battle ever got underway. Your analysis is as good as any I've heard, by the way.

Martin: Well, I'm getting some sleep. We're two days out of Seattle?

Frothy: Yes. Around tomorrow midnight we'll be near the mouth of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, or Straits of Wanna Shagya, as they say. We'll take the low-traffic entry at night and aim to be in Seattle in the early morning.

Martin: Great. Thanks.

"…your battle stations."

[Morning. General quarters. The bridge. Frothy, wearing binoculars, bridge-to-bridge handset at the ready, stands at center stage by a pelorus. The helm and lee helm are manned. There is a flashing light both at stage left and right. A quartermaster is at the light at stage right. Everyone is in battle dress. Zeda, Martin, Julius, and Peter are at stage rear, out of the way. Martin and Julius are both hanging from a cable running from left to right across the bridge in the overhead. Their heads hang down in exhaustion.]

Frothy: Belvedere, what is the status?

Commander Belevedere, the Executive Officer (XO): Sir, the USS Ayers, one of our 7th Fleet sister ships, under command of CAPT Jeremy Murdoch, has signaled intent to stop and search us.

Frothy: Screw me gently with a chainsaw. [Keys the bridge-to-bridge radio] Ayers, this is Alinsky: Murdoch, lay by your dish.

[The quartermaster codes furiously on the light. The words scroll up the right half of the screen at stage rear like a chat room transcript.]

Alinsky QM: (WTF?)

Ayers QM: (Murdoch pissed, screams you're smuggling. Frothy won't get by him.)

Frothy: Ahead flank 3.

Helmsman: All ahead flank 3, aye. Port and starboard engines ahead flank 3.

Murdoch B2B: Alinsky, Ayers: Heave to. Steer course 190 at 5 knots. Let's have a cup of coffee.

Frothy: This Murdoch has been an upward-failing loser his entire life, like that degenerate brother of his, Justin. [Keys the B2B, snarling] Ayers, Alinsky: Why don't you tell me what you read in the news today, Plebe? [Puts down the radio] What I'm about to do simply couldn't happen to a bigger jackass.

[The screen at stage rear shows the tracks of the two ships. Ayers comes down from the North, Alinsky up from the South. They pass several hundred yards apart, Alinsky East, closer to shore.]

Frothy: Left full rudder.

Helmsman: Left full rudder, aye. My rudder is left full.

[The stage tilts towards stage left, and Julius and Peter sag and moan. The quartermaster on the flashing light moves laboriously across the stage using the wire to man the other flashing light.]

Ayers QM: (Murd yells, flank 3, we chase. Our XO warns CO to calm down.)

Alinsky QM: (Frothy in yr CO's head.)

Murdoch B2B: Alinsky, Ayers: You're in my waters. I'm within my rights. Don't make this worse than necessary.

Frothy: [Eyeing pelorus] Rudder amidships. Steady course 090.

Helmsman: Rudder amidships, aye. My rudder is amidships. [The stage returns to level.] Steady course 090.

Frothy: [Keys the B2B] Ayers, Alinsky. Plebe, you have neither any idea what you're talking about nor business standing on the bridge of a warship endangering good sailors. Break off pursuit now, and I'll forget the ass you've already made of yourself.

Ayers QM: (Murdoch threw XO off the bridge.)

Alinsky QM: (No f'ing way.)

Ayers QM: (Way)

[The left side of the screen shows the two ships driving at the Oregon shore at high speed.]

Frothy: [Bending over pelorus intently, shooting an angle out in the right side of the audience] Quiet! In about 40 seconds, I will be giving an order for left full rudder, and we'll shoot a narrow gap in a submerged ridge that only a local would know about. Murdoch's crew should be telling him to do a crash back right now and avoid the shoal waters, or not. Stand by…LEFT FULL RUDDER! [The stage again tilts towards stage left, and the quartermaster works his way back to his original position.]

Helmsman: Left full rudder, aye. My rudder is left--.

Frothy: RUDDER AMIDSHIPS! ALL AHEAD ONE THIRD!

Helmsman: Rudderamidshipsaye, myrudderisamidships. Allaheadonethirdaye, allaheadonethird.

Ayers QM: (Aground!)

Frothy: Left standard rudder.

Helmsman: Left standard rudder, aye. My rudder is left 15 degrees, no new course given.

Frothy: Steady as she goes.

Helmsman: Steady as she goes, aye. Steady course 080.

Frothy: Very well. [Keys the B2B] Ayers, Alinsky. Standing by to render assistance. What is your status?

Ayers XO: Sir, Ayers XO here. I have assumed command. Captain Murdoch is down. We are in radio contact with 7th Fleet, they're dispatching a wrecker to assist us getting off of this rock. Respectfully recommend that you lock up your logs and put in to Everett, Washington to await the admiralty hearing, sir. Ayers out.

Ayers QM: (CO struck a lookout. Bosun got up. Laid CO out. CO very still.)

[Another officer, the Chief Engineer, enters from stage rear.]

CHENG: Captain. I'm not sure if a propeller knicked the seamount during the gymnastics, but I've got a hot starboard line shaft bearing, and I recommend we don't go above all ahead one third until I've had time to stop things and inspect it.

Frothy: Very well. XO, you have the deck. Get us moving towards Vancouver, Washington at one third. I have to draft a message to 3rd Fleet explaining what I understand to be the situation, that a 7th Fleet ship is aground, and I have an engineering casualty requiring immediate attention. I also have to call some people in Vancouver to make arrangements.

Next Episode: Vancouver.

Copyright 2009, Christopher L. Smith

I Blame Troglopundit

by Smitty (h/t Grandpa John)

That Automotivator is just too much fun:

Props to LMA for putting up that photo. I could have a go myself, but

1. I don't want to make Dan Riehl sick again, and
2. hairy man-cleavage only works if your name is Jamie Farr

NY23: Don't believe the MSM

The Washington Post must get dizzy from the spin:

In the latest Siena College poll released on Oct. 15, Owens led the field with 33 percent followed by Scozzafava at 29 percent and Hoffman at 23 percent. But, it was Hoffman who had gained the most since an Oct. 1 Siena survey; Hoffman moved up seven points in that time while Owens gained five points and Scozzafava lost five points. (Sources on both sides of the partisan aisle suggest that internal polling shows Scozzafava in third place now.)
Opinions vary on whether Hoffman can rise higher or whether he has reached the limit (or close to it) of his support.
Conventional wisdom suggests that while the North Country seat leans to Republicans in terms of registration -- as of April 2009 there were roughly 46,000 more GOPers than Democrats in the district -- there are simply not enough Republicans to split the base vote between Hoffman and Scozzafava and have either one win. (The district has long been represented by a Republican but President Obama carried it with 52 percent in 2008.)

OK, Chris Cillizza has nearly got it right here, including the belief that Scozzafava could be headed for a third-place finish, which I included in my American Spectator article today. However, the suggestion that Hoffman "has reached the limit" is nuts, as is any assertion that there are "not enough Republicans" in the the district. McHugh, with a 74% ACU rating, got 2-to-1 majorities even in the bad-for-Republican years of 2006-08.

It's a special election! Turnout will be low and a grassroots conservative pro-life candidate like Hoffman has all the advantages in such a contest. Obama's 52 percent in 2008 is irrelevant, because (a) that was before the economy sunk out of sight, (b) Obama's not a candidate in this election, so Owen won't have the magic coattails of Hope, and (b) Obama was running against John McCain, who was a lot more like Scozzafava than Hoffman.

If the voters of NY23 are in a mad-as-hell, pox-on-both-your-houses mood, Hoffman's their guy. Take McHugh's 65% vote in 2008 as a barometer of the basic partisan alignment of the electorate in NY23.

If that vote splits fairly strongly for Hoffman, then the likely outcome will be something on the order of Hoffman 40%, Owen 35% and Scozzafava 25%. But I'm guessing the conservative advantage over the RINOs in terms of "ground game" -- elitist pro-choice Republicans can't match the pro-life Catholic grandmas in terms of walking precincts and manning phone banks -- will make the margin even wider.

Should Scozzafava finish under 20% (and she easily could), then you could see Hoffman get 45% or more -- a solid plurality. Were I a gambling man, I'd definitely bet this one Hoffman to win, Owens to place and Scozzafava to show.

NY23: 'Dump Dede' PLUS: UPDATE on my New York trip

That's the name of Dana Loesch's new blog in the crucial Nov. 3 New York special congressional election:

Republicans in New York’s 23rd District have chosen to nominate and support an ACORN-backed, Working Families Party-endorsed liberal over conservative candidate Doug Hoffman. Newt Gingrich called this shift to the left the "new revolution." It's not the new revolution: it's political death. . . .

Read more at Dump Dede. You can e-mail tips to Dana Loesch, who's pretty sharp -- already linking my exclusive about the Hoffman campaign's concern about ACORN-connected vote fraud.

BTW, I want to thank my good friend Nathan for the big hit on the tip jar, and there are many more of you who are deserving of thanks. Once I find a reliable blog intern to help me, I promise to catch up on all my thank-you notes. In the meantime consider this little shout-out my acknowledgement for your support. When you pray for an angel, sometimes God gives you "angels unawares."

Right now, I'm on deadline for a Wednesday column about the NY-23 special election. Dick Armey's going to be campaigning for Hoffman on Thursday. So I plan to leave either late Wednesday or early Thursday to cover it in person. Your continued generosity to the Shoe Leather Fund is necessary to this effort.

It's 400 miles -- about a 6-hour drive -- from my house to Watertown, N.Y., near the western end of NY23. Figuring cost at 20 cents per mile:

• A donation of $10 will take me 50 miles.
• A donation of $40 will take me 200 miles.
• $80 will take me all the way to Watertown.

It's another 160 miles from Watertown to Plattsburgh, N.Y., near the Vermont border at the eastern end of the district. At 20 cents per mile:

• A donation of $16 will get me halfway there.
• $32 will take me all the way to Plattsburgh.
• For an extra $4.60, I can add a 23-mile detour to Ogdensburg, N.Y., walk to the Canadian border and urinate on the other side. Just sayin' . . .

So, if I also stop to relieve myself on Canadian soil on the return trip -- and doesn't Neil Young deserve it? -- that's a round trip of 1,166 miles x .20 = $233.20 all the way. If you figure I'll probably get lost a couple of times during the trip and meander around the countryside a bit, add another 84 miles x .20 = $16.80 -- $250 total for travel.

For reasons that I'm not at liberty to discuss -- protecting my sources and making sure I'm not scooped by rivals -- my plan is to depart at 11 a.m. Wednesday and make a trip to an undisclosed location near D.C. for an important meeting. That's a 70-mile detour, so give me $14 for that.

If you'll include your phone number on the tip-jar Pay Pal form, I'll try to give you a phone call and might let you talk to "one highly placed source" when I stop north of Syracuse, N.Y. -- near Exit 29 off I-81 -- for an important meeting Wednesday evening.

You see, dear readers, I've eliminated the middleman. It's me and you. I've made a phone call or two to those of y'all who gave me money for the Kentucky trip, And, as always, there are expenses in addition to travel:

• $145 gets me Wednesday night at a Hampton Inn near Syracuse, N.Y.
• $155 gets me Thursday night at a Hampton Inn near Plattsburgh, N.Y. (I always prefer Hampton Inn, but if you want me to stay in a sleazy cheapo motel, look up the rate, hit the tip jar for that amount, and add another $15 for lice shampoo.)
• Two packs of cigarettes ($5 each x 2 = $10) per day for three days = $30
• Six cups of coffee per day at $2 per cup for three days = $36
• Two fast-food cheesburger combos per day at $5 each for three days = $30
• $20 "accidentally" handed with my license to state trooper who clocks me at 92 mph on U.S. 11 east of Pottsdam, N.Y.
• $10 tip for waitress to seat me next to Scozzafava campaign staff in restaurant.
• $8 per vodka-and-cranberry cocktail (x 3 =$24) for naive Scozzafava press aide amused by drawling charm of funny guy at next table, inadvertantly revealing scandalous inside information . . .

You get the idea. A reporter must be prepared to take advantage of every opportunity and a ready supply of cash -- $5, $10, $20 -- is necessary to the job.

Memo to the Grassroots: Stop Asking What You Can Do and Start Doing What You Can

Tucker Carlson's had six months to launch a news Web site -- still MIA -- and I've had scoop after scoop after scoop doing it low-budget from the Shoe Leather Fund. Plus delightful fun with Meghan McCain and other ridiculous boobs. The daily entertainment value alone ought to be worth a buck or two, so hit the freaking tip jar. (What Would Jimmie Bise Do?)

Deadline looms, and I'm waiting on calls, so come back and stay tuned for more exclusive gonzo coverage of the NY23 special election. When the going gets weird, the weird . . . go to Cicero, N.Y.?

VIDEO: Jeri Thompson talks about NY23 and Hoffman on Neal Cavuto show

(Via DOUG HOFFMAN CAMPAIGN SITE.)

NY23 EXCLUSIVE: Hoffman asks Obama for Justice monitors to prevent vote fraud

2:45 p.m. ET BREAKING: The campaign of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman is preparing to request that President Obama send monitors from the Justice Department to prevent vote-fraud efforts in the crucial Nov. 3 special election in upstate New York's 23rd district.

UPDATE 2:55 p.m. ET: Concerns about the potential for vote fraud in NY23 were sparked by revelations of forged ballots in Troy, N.Y. A press statement from the Hoffman campaign is expected within minutes.

UPDATE 3:10 p.m. ET: Meanwhile, reacting to news that police were called when a reporter tried to ask questions of a liberal candidate backed by the national GOP, Hoffman campaign spokesman Rob Ryan said in a telephone interview:

"The only thing the police need to investigate in this race is if Dede Scozzafava is impersonating a Republican."

UPDATE 3:25 p.m. ET: Press release from Hoffman campaign HQ:

HOFFMAN:DO THE RIGHT THING
President should defund ACORN and send DOJ monitors to 23rd CD

Doug Hoffman, the conservative Republican for Congress (NY-23), today called on his Democratic opponent, Bill Owens, to request that President Obama "take immediate action to defund ACORN" and place Justice Department monitors in the district to prevent the Working Families Party from stealing this election. Owens is in New York City today to attend a fundraiser thrown on his behalf and featuring President Obama.
Doug Hoffman said: "Today, I am calling on Bill Owens to do the right thing and, when he is with President Obama tonight; ask him to take immediate action to defund ACORN and block the flow of any and all federal funds to the scandal ridden organization and its numerous subsidiaries. In addition, Bill Owens should request that Justice Department monitors be put in place to insure that ACORN's political arm in New York State, the Working Families Party, does not steal this election. In Troy, New York, just South of the 23rd Congressional District, a special prosecutor is currently investigating the forgery of absentee ballots in September's Primary elections and the Working Families Party is the focus of that investigation. Its common knowledge that ACORN and the Working Families Party have absolutely no respect for the law and I know I am the one candidate they want to defeat."
Both Bill Owens and Dede Scozzafava have strong connections with the Working Families Party. Assemblywoman Scozzafava was on their line last November, sharing the ballot with then candidate Barak Obama, and Bill Owens is leading their ticket this November. Since 2002, Scozzafava’s husband Ron McDougall has made over 60 donations to the Working Families Party.

UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: Obama will not speak, but will appear at NYC fundraiser for NY23 Democrat Owens:

President Obama is attending a fundraiser for Democrat Bill Owens this afternoon in New York City, but he will not be speaking, the White House press office clarified today.

UPDATE 4:25 p.m.: Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs, Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit and Moe Lane of Red State have commentary on N.Y. vote-fraud case involving ACORN-connected Working Families Party. More at Memeorandum.

VIDEO: Jeri Thompson promotes Hoffman campaign on Fox News Neal Cavuto show.

MORE COVERAGE OF NY23 HERE

Czar d'Oz Episode V: Vegas

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. Making good their escape in the experimental TOTO vehicle, they have made it to the territory of the Southwest Czar. They've survived an encounter with two surreal characters en route Las Vegas.


"Look, they're lying."

[In the office of the Assistant Dean for Advanced Progressive Liberal Diversity Studies at UNLV. A desk, a bored secretary at stage center right, with Julius, Zeda, Martin and Peter at stage right. A wall divides the stage in two, with Assistant Dean Wentworth in a chair, picking his nose.]

Julius: Hello, I'm Julius Crowe, from Patrick Daley Obama University in Topeka. I'm wondering if Dean Wentworth has a moment to spare?

Secretary: [Nasal voice] I'm afraid he's occupied.

Julius: I should mention that I'm an article referee for the Journal of Hope and Change, and I have some questions for Dean Wentworth regarding a special issue we're preparing to support the election this Fall.

Secretary: [Nasal voice] I'm afraid he's digging in deep on his current task.

Julius: [Sighing] Oh, and another topic at hand is a research grant proposal from the Flyover Czar to inquire about the "Effects of the Crash of 2047 on the Racial Fairness of Gaming Rights in Southern Nevada," emphasizing of course the terrible plight of the several hundred Uighur poker dealers who migrated to Topeka.

Secretary: [Nasal voice] Oh, well, let me see if he has a moment, then. [Addressing an intercom] Dean Wentworth, sorry to bother you, but a Julius Crowe is here to see you.

"How, exactly…"

[Julius enters the office at stage left, leaving the other three with the secretary.]

Julius: Zoggie, old boy: your secretary is new and rather difficult to get 'round.

Wentworth: Oh, well, you know how it has gone. Working diligently to expand the field. The problematic nature of the cultivation of understanding amongst these Eternals, and worse still, the Czars. The academy is so little respected! Would you care for some tea, old chap?

Julius: I'm afraid I left some fellow-travelers to the mercy of your secretary. There has been a bit of a road trip, as a result of the recent weather in flyover country, you see.

Wentworth: Oh, dear. I'm afraid I haven't got any convenient visiting professorships to offer, though, come to think of it, the Inter-species Mating Rights and Habits Studies may have a…heh…opening. Sorry.

Julius: Well, I wasn't really out for a job so much as a bit of parking and some directions to where the Southwest Czar might be found.

Wentworth: Is that all? How am I to place you eternally in my debt if you don't take any liberties? I still owe you deeply for saving my skin back during the--

Julius: I'll hear no more of that talk. Though, if there is a visiting professor bungalow I could mooch for a day or two, as a base of operations.

Wentworth: Sure. Here are the keys. The address is…

"…I'm not sure."

[In the Great Hall of Czar's Palace, the casino floor has been emptied and replaced with a vast garden of plants that grow tall from halogen lighting. A dais is at stage left, with a few craps tables in front of it. Then the garden begins. Peter, Zeda, Martin, and Julius enter at stage right and advance, looking around, toward the dais. Czar Carlos ("Jefe") Schwarzenegger IV sits on a throne in a Miami Vice suit.]

Peter: Greetings, Czar Schwarzenegger!

Jefe: Please, call me Jefe. Formality is crap.

Peter: Fair enough. We're come from the territory of the Flyover Czar, as a result of the wreckage of that tornado, as you know. When it became obvious that other players in Topeka were going to have the upper hand on us, we thought we could add the most value to the country and our own well-being if we found somebody who could appreciate something possibly helpful.

Jefe: Go on.

Peter: As it turns out, there was a son of Czar d'Oz exiled to Topeka. The damage to his office uncovered certain information that, played properly at the New Chicago Vortex, cold hurt both the Flyover Czar and Czar d'Oz, conveniently in time for the election in November.
We request your aid in travelling to Seattle, were we might link up with the Environmental Czar, Phelandria Garofalo-Maddow, the infamous "Phlegm", to start a disinformation campaign that will weaken both of them, thereby strengthening you.

Jefe: No, I will not ally with any Eternals 'reproducing' by unspeakable means. But some aspects of your idea do not suck completely. The story that will accidentally leak is that you're travelling up I-5 to sneak into Seattle and discredit old d'Oz. You're disguised, albeit ineptly as union muscle sent to Southern Oregon to help with the election.

Meanwhile, you and your fellows get down to San Diego, where one of my 3rd Fleet ships will take you and your gear for a ride up the coast. That will save you time and hassle. Who would be good for this job? Oh, Captain Horatio Frothinghampton on USS Alinsky will likely be just the man and ship for the job. When you get to Seattle, I'll need to have you track down a certain Barry Cuda at a bar called the Mohican in Pioneer Square, who will help you get in touch with the Pacific Rim Czar. PRC is far more sympathetic to my cause than Phlegm.

Come back here tomorrow at nine o'clock for the orders to take with you. None of this is handled electronically, you understand? The wires cause fires.

Peter: We are in your debt, Jefe.

"This entire plan…"

[The four leave. An aide comes to the dais.]

Jefe: Look, they're lying. How, exactly, I'm not sure. This entire plan is bollocks. But it's low-risk, high-gain bollocks. If they survive the journey, i.e. if Frothinghampton doesn't find them out and give them a swimming lesson, then we'll see if "Barry Cuda" Kleindrubble can use them. Or PRC.

Aide: Very good, Jefe.

Next Episode: Sandog.

Copyright 2009, Christopher L. Smith

Reply to Barrett Brown

The communication director of the Godless Coaltion sent an e-mail last night, taunting me about the allegatiions made against me by himself, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs and others. I replied:

A rare occasion, Mr. Brown, when any of those who've chosen to attack me even bother attempting to contact me. Of course, no one ever contacts me in advance: "Hey, did you actually write X, Y, Z? If so, why? What did you mean? What are your opinions about these things?" Instead, they leap to assumptions (if it's on the Internet, it must be true) and the fact that certain things have been endlessly repeated online leads to the assumption that these things are true.
How often, since Charles Johnson began attacking me, have I emphasized that, during the years I was at the Washington Times, I was not permitted to address these allegations? And how often have I remarked that "white supremacy" is quite contrary to my observed conduct among those who actually know me?
You are, I gather, a young man, and quite arrogant. Not an unusual combination, really, but neither should you mistake your own arrogance for knowledge. Try Googling my name in combination with the phrase "Hayekian insight." There are in the near-infinite number of things you don't know certain facts that may, I suspect, be far more important than those tacts you know. And it may be that you are mistaken about some things you accept as facts.
Well, I've had more time to study all this sort of thing than you could imagine. You desire to make me look like a villain, for whatever selfish motive, and therefore assemble a prosecutor's case -- the Ransom Note Method. This you present with a lot of noise and clamour: "A-ha! I have exposed the dangerous villain, whose stealthy evil had never been fully known until now!"
Now, what is *expected* of me in response is that I will address your "evidence" point-by-point or, failing that, that I will Deny, Denounce and Repudiate: "Oh, I'm not actually friends with Person A, and I abhor the thought of being associated with Person B."
Ah, but there is never an end to it, you see? Were I to answer charges A, B, C, you would then proceed to interrogate me about D, E, F, etc. To address your accusations in such a manner would ultimately avail me nothing, while tacitly acknowledging your authority to act the part of the interrogator. Further, such a response would ssuggest that there is some legitimate cause to suspect my good faith, to cause others to believe that perhaps I harbor a hidden hatred which must be rooted out and renounced. You invite me to a Maoist re-education camp, with yourself playing the role of commissar. The cloud of suspicion is thrown upoin me, and I must prove myself innocent!
Except that I don't. We live in a free society and I am not even a candidate for public office. I am not paid for having the correct opinion about anything. Opinions might be profitable to Bill Kristol or George Will, but I am not one of those big-shot pundits. It is my skill and hard work, and not my opinions, which are my stock in trade.
What you and Johnson and others apparently wish to do is to cast upon me a stigma, which you may then use as part of a campaign of guilt-by-association smear against various of my friends. You seem to assume that my friends are fools and cowards, and will automatically disassociate themselves from me, lest you then say, "A-ha! So-and-so associates with Robert Stacy McCain, who is a hateful racist!"
Except that I'm not a hateful racist. And this, sir, is the big point that you seem to have missed entirely. People know me, and the people who know me know that I have no hate in my heart, and if they felt it necessary to speak up on my behalf, you might be surprised at who would sing my praises. Their silence you mistake for fear, is rather an expression of their contempt for your malicious behavior.
Whatever you say about me, I am certain you will fail to convict me of hate, Barrett. I don't even hate you.

Best regards,
--Robert Stacy McCain
Co-author (with Lynn Vincent) of DONKEY CONS: Sex, Crime & Corruption in the Democratic Party

Strange to say, writing that e-mail cheered me up. I had been feeling kind of down in the dumps, but there is nothing like teaching a seminar to cheer me up. Pay attention, class. This might be on your final exam.

John McCormack: Hunting the RINO

They called the cops on the Weekly Standard reporter when he got too aggressive with Dede Scozzafava.

Sigh. Wish somebody would pay me to go to upstate New York to cover the 23rd District contest. But they won't. They gave all their money to Tucker Carlson.

Government-funded expert warns of 'resurgence in right-wing extremism'

"We are in the middle of a resurgence in right-wing extremist criminal activity that really started following Ruby Ridge and Waco," said Mark Pitcavage, director of the Ohio-based SLATT (State/Local Anti-Terrorism Training) Program. The program, for law enforcement agencies, is conducted in conjunction with the U.S. Justice Department and the non-profit Institute for Intergovernmental Relations.
"It shows no sign of letting up at this point," said Pitcavage, who earned a doctorate from Ohio State University as one of the few expert scholars in right-wing extremism.
-- Seattle Post Intelligencer, Aug. 12, 1999

Oh, the dangerous right-wing menace, about which the federally-funded Dr. Pitcavage warned us 10 years ago -- which happened to be two years before Mohamed Atta and friends struck on Sept. 11, 2001.

Janet Reno's "anti-terrorism" effort was misdirected at the wrong threat. Thought about that lately?

Neither had I, until last night. It's a long story, as I've said many times before.

Oh, the joys of Internet anonymity!

Kind of weird how I finish dealing with one troll, turn around and encounter even more. It's very difficult to "consider the source" when you've got no idea who the source is.

Whatever. Some fanatically diligent character has decided to do the Ransom Note Method on me, using the familiar recycled chaff-cloud hodgepodge of This, That and the Other.

Suggestion: Stop the obsessive Googling, and try Nexis-Lexis. Every byline I ever contributed to The Washington Times -- and there were hundreds over the course of a decade -- is available via Nexis-Lexis. There may be stuff you like or don't like, but at least you'll be dealing with authentic materials.

At least the pseudonymous Ransom Noter was using his own bandwidth, rather than trying to smear me in the comments of my own site. That crap gets old, especially when its done at the behest of LGF's totalitarian dictator, who bans anybody who downdings Sharmuta.

ObamaCare Efficiency Studies

Smitty (h/t Moonbattery)

And if all y'all bi-zatches don't quit yer bitchin', we'll put a wrecker on the front of this train. In the name of streamlining the system, of course.

To the Anonymous Palin-Hater

Listen, pal: The comments here are moderated.

When I see three consecutive anti-Palin comments, written in the same dumbed-down cornball style, all of them by "anonymous," and two of them praising Mitt Romney . . .

Well, why is Romney hiring brain-damaged trolls?

Is this some kind of equal-opportunity thing? "Governor Romney believes in fairness! Look, he hires the mentally impaired . . . to work in our New Media department!"

Anyway, you get an "E" for effort. Now get on the short bus and go back to whatever Republican Campaign Operative Training School sent you here to annoy me.

Rule 5 Special: ZZ Tops Oba Mao

by Smitty

Michelle Malkin has a clip of some Beijing shop hawking Oba Mao t-shirts.

The concept of a girl in a t-shirt is nothing new. It has been thoroughly explored by noted Rule 5 experts, facial hair cultivators, and old-school American badasses ZZ Top. Here is a brace of "Girl in a T-Shirt" clips for your consideration:

Because you just can't get too much overkill:

Sorry, Michelle. It's my duty.

Update: Rule 5 Sunday would like to extend a mea boob-boo to The Daley Gator, whose Rule 5 Sunday submission, while not exactly a girl in a t-shirt, still merits your attention.

NY23: Another Hoffman Miracle!

First, he got $40 out of the World's Cheapest Conservative, and now Conservative Party candidate achieves the impossible again. Hot Air world exclusive:

Not surprisingly, the CFG ad invokes the specter of Madam Speaker as a chief reason not to vote for Scozzafava. King’s not blowing smoke, though: As noted in Saturday’s post, Scozzafava led until Hoffman started surging, and now the Democrat’s up by a few points as GOP voters split between the two of them. Exit question via Stacy McCain: Why hasn’t Sarahcuda endorsed Hoffman yet? Doing so would irritate and potentially alienate the national leadership, but if she’s serious about fashioning herself as the “true conservative” outsider, here’s a golden opportunity. Maybe she figures it’s too much of a gamble for too little gain? If she shows up to stump for Hoffman and he loses, it’s a blow to her prestige. She’s probably just playing it safe.

That's right: ALLAHPUNDIT LINKED ME! Brothers and sisters, this is a sign!

Long months of uninterrupted non-linkage (Allah Hates Me, Because I Suck) have been ended in one fell swoop by the miraculous power of Hoffmania.

Clearly, this man is destined for victory, and I'm going to New York to cover this historic election! Hit my tip jar, people, and start spreading the news . . .

Yeah, I know, it's upstate New York, but it's the thought that counts. Hit the freaking tip jar!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE NY23 COVERAGE!

VIDEO: Club for Growth Ad Calls Hoffman 'Common Sense Choice' in NY23

New TV ad airing in the three-way Nov. 3 special election:

(Via Memeorandum.) Dude, this is brutal!

"Tired of choosing between two liberals for Congress? There is a better choice. . . . Hoffman opposes government-run health care. He knows jobs are created by lower taxes and less spending, not bigger government. Doug Hoffman: The common sense choice to stand up to the Pelosi Congress."

Oh, that's gonna leave a mark on that worthless RINO, Dede Scozzafava. Remember, this is Club for Growth PAC, not the Hoffman campaign. Doug Hoffman still needs your help!

UPDATE: More news on the crucial special election in upstate New York from The Hill:

[T]he NRCC has spent $567,000 on Scozzafava's behalf, and the DCCC has spent $387,000 on Owens's behalf.
Also in recent days, SEIU has gone up with a $100,000 radio ad buy for Owens -- its first investment in the race.

NRCC spending Republican money on RINO Dede, the DCCC and SEIU spending money on Democrat Owens, what are you spending your money on?

Memo to the Grassroots:
Stop Asking What You Can Do,
and Start Doing What You Can

UPDATE II: My old buddy Brian Faughnan calls attention to a story about how RINO Dede is trying to hide her record from voters. The Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times:

one of her biggest campaign contributors during her decade in the state Assembly -- the organization of gay and lesbian Republicans called the Log Cabin Republicans -- is notably absent from her press releases, despite the group's enthusiastic support for her to fill the congressional seat vacated by former Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor.
That Ms. Scozzafava would not highlight her alliance with gay rights advocates is no surprise, given the conservative backlash she has faced in the three-way race and the campaign cash she needs from national Republican sources. Her spokesman, Matthew A. Burns, replied with just five words when asked to elaborate on her views about gay marriage: "Her position is well documented."
Translation: she voted twice in the Assembly to allow gay marriage, in 2007 and this year.

Classic RINO move: Dede Scozzafava is ashamed of being in favor of gay marriage! Wonder what proud conservative lesbian Cynthia Yockey will have to say about that?

Thanks Brian for this news tip, and I hope everybody who's following me on Twitter will also follow Brian Faughnan -- he's my kind of conservative!

UPDATE III: Dick Armey confirms to Red State that he will campaign this week for Hoffman in NY23.

I had reported this news from the Hoffman campaign Friday, but when Dick Armey wants to confirm this, he doesn't call me, he calls Red State, and I don't even get credit for being first to report it. Why? Blame Erik Telford! (One of these days, I'm going to have to explain that joke. But no time now. Why don't I have time to explain? Blame Erik Telford -- everything is his fault!)