Dems Take Hard Left Turn After Losses

Very hard.

From Chris Stirewalt, at Fox News:

It would have cost Senate Democrats little to have given Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a win on the Keystone Pipeline. After all, the president could have blown off the vote with an insurmountable veto, citing the need to protect executive prerogatives. So it seemed odd when the White House got coy ahead of the vote about the president’s veto threat. When the time came, though, we saw why: Team Obama had successfully whipped against the Landrieu bill. There was little chance that Landrieu was going to win her Dec. 6 runoff whatever the outcome, but with the Hail Mary turning into a Fail Mary, the seat is signed, sealed and delivered for the GOP. Democrats, led by the White House, ate one of their own rather than defy the orthodoxy of the party’s liberal base. That’s strong evidence that Democrats currently care more about ideological purity than electoral expediency. And that is always a dangerous thing.

*****

An audacious, confrontational approach to the midterm defeat is very much in vogue among Democrats, especially liberal firebrands who believe that a more concentrated version of the party’s ideology would have given more reason for inert coalition members to get to the polls. What the president heard from the two thirds of adults who did not vote was that they wanted more, more, more of his agenda. He started with global warming last week, but in the coming days will turn to immigration. As recent polling has shown, that won’t go over very well. Democrats may blame their inability to motivate their base for a painful midterm cycle, but anything seen as “big” could be very dangerous for a party that is approaching the vanishing point with the blue-collar white voters that once formed its core.

More.

Adriana Lima Screencaps for Pirelli Calendar 2015

At Egotastic!, "Adriana Lima for Pirelli, Start Your Engines, Gentlemen Oglers."

Barack Broke That — Democrats Now in Worse Shape Than Before Obama Took Office!

The f-ker's drunk on executive power and he couldn't give a whack about what happens to the Democrat Party. He's gonna have his way or the highway.

So just watch: Top Democrats --- starting with Hillary Clinton --- are going to abandon Obama with a vicious alacrity. He's destroying the party and the Republicans just need to keep playing it on the straight and narrow, not overreaching, keeping their eyes on the prize of 2016.

Man, life is beautiful.

At Politico, "Democrats to Obama: You broke the party, now fix it":

Enough, Donna Brazile told White House political director David Simas the day after the midterms.

Democrats are in worse shape than when President Barack Obama came into office — the number of seats they have in Congress, the number of governors, a party approval rating that’s fallen behind Republicans for the first time in recent history, enthusiasm, energy. The White House, Brazile said when she came to meet with Simas, has got to focus for the next two years on getting the party into better shape, and Obama’s the best and most effective person to get out the message.

As much Hillary Clinton anticipation as there is, two weeks later, Democrats are still reeling and anxious. Obama may have built his political career without the party — and created anti-establishment alternatives — but he’s a lame duck with a new Congress that’s been elected to oppose him. He needs Democrats. And they need him.

“The base craves his leadership,” Brazile said in an interview later that week, following a meeting of the DNC committee that’s beginning to set the rules for the next presidential nomination. “They want him in the mix, talking about what Democrats accomplished, what Democrats are fighting for, and what the president has done to make lives better.”

Nancy Pelosi was reelected minority leader. So was Harry Reid. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s term at the DNC isn’t up until 2017.

Obama said repeatedly before and after the votes were counted that he wasn’t going to fire anyone because of election results. But if no one’s going to take the blame for 2014, Democrats are hoping he’ll take responsibility for getting things better for 2016.

“He may or may not be the best messenger,” said Vic Fazio, the former California congressman who was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair for the 1994 rout. “But at this point, he is still our messenger. And the first year is very important.”
At least until the next presidential campaign begins in earnest, Democrats say, it’ll be up to Obama to centralize the Democratic message around something other than simply trying to paint the Republicans as extreme.

Interviews with leading party strategists turn to three main suggestions: Obama should be a much more frequent and strong voice on Democratic priorities, he should transform his West Wing political office from a midterm clearinghouse to an instrument for true party outreach, and he should reinvest his energy in the Democratic National Committee — including seeking a full-time chair who can begin the major clean-up and overhaul they need ahead of 2016.

And if doing it for the party isn’t enough for Obama, Democrats say, do it out of self-interest.

“A strong party is the key to a lasting legacy,” said a senior Democratic strategist. “Whether it’s for our ideals as Democrats or it’s for his personal legacy — if we lose the White House and continue to get gutted down ballot, they will repeal the ACA and everything else we’ve fought so hard for, and all of this will be for naught.”

That should be a short-term worry for Obama too, Brazile said.

“The Republicans have not retreated from the battlefield, so why should President Obama surrender?” she said. “He can’t give up, he can’t waver. All of that looks to Democrats like he doesn’t stand for much, and it’s not the truth.”

Keep reading.

Forty-Eight Percent Oppose Obama's Executive Amnesty for Illegal Aliens

From the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, at WSJ, "Obama Faces Skeptical Public on Immigration Action — WSJ/NBC Poll."

More from Noah Rothman, at Hot Air, "NBC poll: Executive amnesty is… pretty unpopular with just about everybody."

And ICYMI, "Obama's Agenda Threatens to Divide the Democratic Party."

Immigration's gonna be a anchor on a lot of Democrat Party election prospects in 2016. But hey, it's all about the legacy!

Senate Democrats Throw Mary Landrieu Under the Anti-Keystone Bus

From Susan Davis, at USA Today, "Senate defeats Keystone XL pipeline."



More at Memeorandum.

Obama's Agenda Threatens to Divide the Democratic Party

And The One couldn't care less. It's all about legacy at this point. The way things are going, he's not going to have much of one come 2017.

From Josh Kraushaar, at Nation Journal, "Obama's Agenda Threatens to Divide the Democratic Party."

NFL Concussion Settlement

What a story, at the Los Angeles Times, "For some, NFL concussion settlement proposal is yet another injury."

And check Mike Webster's entry at Wikipedia.

'Come on people now, smile on your brother...'

Hey, folks, try to love one another while I'm slaving away today.

Sending out the love to Mastic, New York.

Peace brother. Eat all you want. This one's for you babe!

Via the Sound L.A.

At the video, Jesse Colin Young, Stephen Stills, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash et al. --- at the "No Nukes" concert, Battery Park, New York, 1979. According to this archive report (via the Tribeca Trib):

On Sept. 23, 1979, two years before construction of Gateway Plaza began, a crowd of 200,000 converged on the landfill for an "anti-nuke" rally. Prompted by the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the gathering was the biggest demonstration since the Vietnam War.

And at People, "From Bruce to Bonnie, the Hottest Acts in Rock Warm Up the No-Nuke Crusade."

Take Me to the River
Talking Heads
8:50 AM

Happy
The Rolling Stones
8:48 AM

Twist and Shout
The Beatles
8:43 AM

FAME
DAVID BOWIE
8:39 AM

Don't Stop
Fleetwood Mac
8:36 AM

No One Like You
Scorpions
8:32 AM

Get Together
The Youngbloods
8:18 AM

Surrender
Cheap Trick
8:14 AM

Caught Up in You
38 Special
8:09 AM

Love Is a Battlefield
Pat Benatar
8:04 AM

Free Ride
The Edgar Winter Group
8:01 AM

Special Deals in Sports and Outdoors

At Amazon, Shop Amazon Outdoors - 25% Off Select Coleman Campaign & Hiking Gear.

The Best Photos of the USS George H.W. Bush's Homecoming

Sweet.

At the Daily Signal.

Obama 'Has Destroyed the Credibility' of His Administration

Ron Fournier lets loose, on yesterday's Special Report:

Pushing Back Against Feminist Bullies

From Mollie Hemingway, at the Federalist, "It’s Time to Push Back Against Feminist Bullies":

It’s not just women who are hurt by feminist bullies. Everyone is. That’s because human relationships are harmed in the toxic outrage culture. The very perpetuation of humanity relies on men and women getting along well. People who stoke resentment and anger between the sexes, or create false claims about women’s oppression, are making it more difficult for happy, healthy, human relationships to flourish.

Well, leftists pretty much destroy everything they touch, but read the whole thing. She's mad about this, for good reason.

Violent Far-Left Extremists Likely to Exploit Race Riots After Ferguson Decision, FBI Warns

This is wild.

Usually, the federal government's warning us about violent "right wing tea party extremists." So this is a change of pace.

At Gateway Pundit, "FBI: #Ferguson Decision ‘Will Likely’ Lead to Violence – Electrical & Water Treatment Plants Targeted."



Also at ABC News (via Memeorandum), "FBI Warns Ferguson Decision ‘Will Likely’ Lead to Violence By Extremists Protesters":

The FBI bulletin expresses concern only over those who would exploit peaceful protests, not the masses of demonstrators who will want to legitimately, lawfully and collectively express their views on the grand jury’s decision.

The bulletin “stresses the importance of remaining aware of the protections afforded to all U.S. persons exercising their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.”

Within hours of the FBI issuing its bulletin, some police departments across the country issued their own internal memos urging officers to review procedures and protocols for responding to mass demonstrations.

Still, the bulletin’s conclusions were blunt: “The FBI assesses those infiltrating and exploiting otherwise legitimate public demonstrations with the intent to incite and engage in violence could be armed with bladed weapons or firearms, equipped with tactical gear/gas masks, or bulletproof vests to mitigate law enforcement measures.”

The bulletin cites a series of recent messages threatening law enforcement, including a message posted online last week by a black separatist group that offered “a $5,000 bounty for the location” of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who fired the shots that killed Brown on Aug. 9.

In interviews with ABC News, police officials said their departments have identified a number of agitators who routinely appear at mass demonstrations.

“How many of those sympathizers are actually sympathizers?” Rick Hite, the chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan police department, wondered. Many of them see the protests as a way to “chime in with their own personal agenda,” he said.

In its new intelligence bulletin, obtained by ABC News, the FBI says “exploitation” of mass demonstrations “could occur both in the Ferguson area and nationwide.”

More.

Assassinating the Leader of Islamic State Is a Meaningful Step Toward Destroying the Group, Insiders Say

At National Journal.

Actually, there's some evidence in the scholarly literature that leadership targeting doesn't work. See, Jenna Jordan, "Attacking the Leader, Missing the Mark: Why Terrorist Groups Survive Decapitation Strikes." A great piece of research.

Shop for Thanksgiving Dinner

At Amazon, Shop Amazon - Thanksgiving Dinner and Desserts - Prepare the Perfect Feast.

Fumiko Hayashida, Among First Japanese American Internees, Dies at 103

A tragic, yet fascinating, story, at LAT, "Fumiko Hayashida dies at 103; among first Japanese American internees."

Interesting obit: Fumiko Hayashida, 103, one of the 1st Japanese Americans in internment camps http://t.co/LGdtXRFOlx pic.twitter.com/TpuzUauGjM

— Lauren Raab (@raablauren) November 16, 2014

Dead Democrat Walking

Heh, that has a nice ring to it, especially the "dead Democrat" part.

 VIDEO: "The Atlantic's Molly Ball: Mary Landrieu Is a 'Dead Democrat Walking'."

4 killed, 15 Hurt in Chicago Shootings from Saturday Afternoon Into Early Sunday Morning

Chicago, the model of leftist gun control effectiveness (not).

At the Chicago Tribune, "4 killed, 15 hurt in city shootings":

Three men and a woman died and at least 15 people, including seven teenagers, were wounded in shootings across the city from Saturday afternoon into early Sunday morning.

In the latest fatal shooting, a 27-year-old man died after being shot around 3:15 a.m. Sunday in the Old Town neighborhood on the Near North Side, said Chicago Police Department spokesman News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.

The man was found inside a vehicle in the 400 block of West Evergreen Avenue with multiple gunshot wounds, Alfaro said. The car he was in crashed into several parked cars before coming to a stop.

He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Alfaro said...

RELATED: At Town Hall, "Despite Gun Sales Being Banned in Chicago, Police Superintendent Still Blaming Lack of Gun Control For Violence."

Islamic State's Most Barbaric Video

Not more barbaric, actually.

They just showed more of the barbarity than they usually do.



PREVIOUSLY: "Peter Kassig: Poor Bastard."

'I've never given them money, in case you're wondering why they send me email...

That's Ann Althouse, in a disclaimer on the idiotic email she received from NARAL Pro-Choice America: "'We just learned that TIME magazine apologized for including 'feminist' on their poll of words to ban. What a victory!'"

Seriously.