E.D. Kain's Alinsky Rules in Action!

Michael van der Galien, at David Horowitz's Newsreal blog has picked up on E.D. Kain's intimidation campaign, "The Alinsky Rules in Action":

That's a kicker, actually. I hadn't looked at it that way. But, makes sense. The "rules" are here, "Alinsky's Rules for Radicals." But for a perfect comparison to E.D. Kain, see James Lewis, "Barack Obama and Alinsky's Rules for Psychopaths."

Normal people slow down in School Zones where kids might run across the street -- not because they're afraid of getting a speeding ticket but because they can't stand the thought of hurting kids. They don't need to cheat compulsively on wives and husbands to prove how irresistible they are. Normal people have internalized some modesty and humility, and are capable of respect and love for others. A common feature of psychopaths is the inability to feel authentic love and respect for others.

Yep, normal people. Sounds about right. I wrote on E.D. Kain's Alinsky tactics earlier. See, "E.D. Kain Denies 'Disciplinary Action' as Motive for Workplace Intimidation!"

RELATED: Michael van der Galien's blog is PoliGazette.

Voters Reject Democrats in New Poll

Mark Murray reports on the dramatic collapse of the Democratic Party in public opinion. See, "Tea Party more popular than Dems, GOP." (Via Memeorandum.)

But the Wall Street Journal's got the full report, "Democrats' Blues Grow Deeper in New Poll: For First Time, Voters Split Over Who They":

Less than a year after Inauguration Day, support for the Democratic Party continues to slump, amid a difficult economy and a wave of public discontent, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

The findings underscored how dramatically the political landscape has changed during the Obama administration's first year. In January, despite the recession and financial crisis, voters expressed optimism about the future, the new president enjoyed soaring approval ratings, and congressional leaders promised to swiftly pass his ambitious agenda.

In December's survey, for the first time, less than half of Americans approved of the job President Barack Obama was doing, marking a steeper first-year fall for this president than his recent predecessors.

Also for the first time this year, the electorate was split when asked which party it wanted to see in charge after the 2010 elections. For months, a clear plurality favored Democratic control.

The survey suggests that public discontent with Mr. Obama and his party is being driven by an unusually grim view of the country's status and future prospects.

A majority of Americans believe the U.S. is in decline. And a plurality now say the U.S. will be surpassed by China in 20 years as the top power.

Democrats' problems seem in part linked to their ambitious health-care plan, billed as the signature achievement of Mr. Obama's first year. Now, for the first time, more people said they would prefer Congress did nothing on health care than who wanted to see the overhaul enacted.

"For Democrats, the red flags are flying at full mast," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. "What we don't know for certain is: Have we reached a bottoming-out point?"

The biggest worry for Democrats is that the findings could set the stage for gains by Republican candidates in next year's elections. Support from independents for the president and his party continued to dwindle. In addition, voters intending to back Republicans expressed far more interest in the 2010 races than those planning to vote for Democrats.

More at the link.

See also, Allahpundit, "Waterloo: Obama approval at 47 in new NBC poll, tea party more popular than Dems or GOP."

On the video, see Backyard Conservative, "RNC Ad Nods to Tea Party."

E.D. Kain Denies 'Disciplinary Action' as Motive for Workplace Intimidation!

E.D. Kain has yet to post an apology, but I did find more clues to his completely unhinged denialism at American Nihilist:

For the record, I didn't ever attempt to have disciplinary action taken against Douglas. I simply vented my frustrations.

Look, the evidence is out there, and I've documented repeatedly E.D. Kain's campaign of workplace intimidation and harassment. And the reason for contacting someone's place of work is more than intuitively obvious: The motive can only be explained by an overwhelming desire to crush the target. The possibility of losing one's job is so unacceptable that it brings about a change of behavior in the subject of the intimidation campaign. It's an under-the-belt attack on someone's livelihood. And of course, one does not "vent" to a total stranger who happens to be the chairman of the political science department of the target! ("Venting"? This is so fantastically monumentally absurd.) The fact is, making contact with my department chair was done precisely to get me to STFU. And why not? Who can afford to lose their means of economic support? No one, of course, and if they could, they wouldn't be blogging on Blogger! And that's what makes E.D. Kain's campaign so utterly despicable. This is someone who'd rather destroy than debate. It's cowardly yet vicious at the same time, typical of leftists.

See my post on E.D. Kain's pathetic denialism, from this morning: "E.D. Kain's Double-Standards: Claims of Libel Continue Amid Bleatings to Christian Ethics - Wallowing in Denial, Little Bully Refuses to Apologize!"

And last night, William Jacobson addressed the dangers to employment from partisan blogging, "Blogging While Employed":

Blogging under one's own name is a choice, but it carries risks for those who have a real job and blog as a pastime. One of those risks is attempts to disrupt the blogger's employment by contacting other people at the employer, particularly the boss. It's happened to me, and I'm sure it has happened to many people on both sides of the political aisle.

And Grizzly Mama left a comment this morning at my post:

I can't believe he contacted your place of employment - not just once but twice. It's Christmas though - Donald - you have to forgive and forget according to him! What a bunch of crap.

Erin Andrews Confronts Peephole Stalker in Court

At the New York Daily News, "ESPN beauty Erin Andrews wants maximum sentence for her convicted stalker Michael Barrett":

Sportscasting siren Erin Andrews faced her convicted stalker in court for the first time and pleaded with a judge to show him no mercy.

The ESPN beauty broke down in tears Tuesday when she first spotted peephole perv Michael Barrett.

Minutes later, the Illinois insurance executive stood before a federal judge and admitted he hunted Andrews down at hotels in three cities and shot naked videos that he posted online.

"I am a victim of this sexual predator. I would like to see him immediately put in prison for as long as possible," Andrews, 31, told the judge.

She said she fears for her safety as long as he's free.

"I have nightmares," she told the court.

"I walk in crowds and I see him in my peripheral vision. When I'm alone in my house, I have fears that he's going to walk inside and hurt me.

"I don't know him. I've never met him. I don't know why he chose me. But I hope he never sees the light of day again."

Barrett, 48, faces up to five years in prison when he's sentenced Feb. 22. His plea agreement recommends about two years. Andrews wants the maximum.

"My career has been ripped apart, which I've worked very hard for," she told Judge Manuel Real.

"I am subjected to crude comments and suggestions that I have partnered in a crime," she continued. "I walk into stadiums, and fans say obscene things to me."

Barrett avoided eye contact with Andrews and pleaded guilty to one felony count of stalking.

He admitted he secretly rigged peepholes at hotels in Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin in 2008 and secretly shot the videos.

Andrews said outside court that she's coping by throwing herself back into work.

She said she puts on her broadcast headphones and blocks out everything but the football game she's covering.

"Day by day, it's getting better," Andrews said.

My previous coverage of the Andrews case is here.

If You Know What's Good For You, You'll Get Out of My Way...

Well, I'll post something a bit more warm and fuzzy later. This one certainly captures how I feel sometimes. L.A. punk rock at its best, circa 1981. This is Dez Cadena, Black Flag frontman before Henry Rollins came on the scene:

I'm about to have a nervous breakdown
My head really hurts
If I don't find a way out of here
I'm gonna go berserk cause
I'm crazy and I'm high
Head on my shoulders
It's going... Berserk!
I hear the same old talk talk talk
The same old lines
Don't do me that today
Yeah if you know what's good for you, you'll get out of my way
Cause, I'm crazy and I'm high
Head on my shoulders
Going... Berserk!
I won't apologize
For acting outta line
You see the way I am
You leave any time you can cause
I'm crazy and I'm high
Head on my shoulders
Going... Berserk!
Crazy! Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!
I don't care what you fuckin' do!
I don't care what you fuckin' say!
I'm so sick of everything
I just want to... Die!

After you listen to the live version above, take a few minutes with the studio clip featuring Keith Morris on vocals. Side "B" features "Wasted," perhaps the most brilliant punk anthem of the generation. (Morris later joined the Circle Jerks, also one of the defining bands of the early 1980s hardcore punk scene.)

RELATED: The Other McCain, "A Friendly Note to James Wolcott," and the Sundries Shack, "I Keep Saying We Need to Bring Back Duelling. Or At Least the Punch in the Nose.

E.D. Kain's Double-Standards: Claims of Libel Continue Amid Bleatings to Christian Ethics - Wallowing in Denial, Little Bully Refuses to Apologize!

E.D. Kain has confirmed that he contacted my department chair for a second time. See my post, "E.D. Kain Contacts Department Again: Intimidation Campaign Escalates; Fake 'Apology' Seals Moral Indictment Against True/Slant Blogger!."

Yet, predictably, E.D. Kain denies the escalation of intimidation, pleads ignorance of his harassment, and offers bleating Christian guilt-mongering while groveling for me to leave him alone. Here's an excerpt:

Donald,

That's not true at all. I contacted your department chair again this morning after reading your post saying that I had thought the email was confidential and that if he had wanted no part in this that he could have simply told me so and been done with it. I said nothing more on the issue of defemation or to shut you down. I apologized in the other comment thread for the initial email. The second email had nothing whatsoever to do with you, and only mentioned briefly that I had believed the emails to be confidential. That's it. So this whole notion of escalating intimidation is simply untrue.

My blogs are not forums for my apologies to you any more than your blog ought to be a forum to drag my name through the dirt. Once again, I'd ask you to find one single instance of my smearing your name and bring it forward. It hasn't happened.

Meanwhile you write awful, slanderous things about me on a fairly regular basis. As I am a writer, this amounts to basically bringing personal attacks into my business. I don't think that's either Christian or charitable in the least given that I have never once attacked you. Ever.

Well, to be clear, as I said before, ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.

But let's go through this once more, hopefully for the last time:

At my earlier entry, "E.D. Kain Alleges Defamation: True/Slant Blogger's Workplace Intimidation Attempts to Shut Down American Power!," I specifically demanded that E.D. Kain cease and desist from contacting my department colleagues. Yet he claims, "The second email had nothing whatsoever to do with you ..." No sir, it has everything to do with me. It's my place of employment, it's my department chair, and it's my responsbility to respond to this harassment campaign. E.D. Kain has no business contacting my place of employment. None. So once more, I demand of E.D. Kain to STOP THIS WORKPLACE HARASSMENT.

This is a de facto escalation. He is harassing my colleagues, and BLAMING THEM for HIS campaign of intimidation. Blame-shifting. Another spineless attribute to E.D. Kain, libel-blog-facilitator extradinaire. More on that below.

Alright, what about E.D. Kain's public apology? I'm reissuing my demand for a published apology. Contacting my employer is a serious threat to freedom of speech. And it has also disrupted my life personally, bringing my colleagues into a matter that should have been handled in online debate between two reasonable men. E.D. Kain is not a victim here. He needs to take full responsiblity for his actions. Perhaps Andrew Sullivan's recent apology to Charles Krauthammer might serve as a template. If libel-blogger Andrew Sullivan can apologize at his blog, so can E.D. Kain:

And I want to note that I take special exception to this comment from E.D. Kain: "My blogs are not forums for my apologies to you any more than your blog ought to be a forum to drag my name through the dirt." No sir. It's just the opposite. Blogs are calling cards to professional reputation. I stand by what I write here. That E.D. Kain refuses to speak on these issues at his own "forums" substantiates E.D.'s premium on hush-hush secrecy -- it also reveals his rank hypocrisy, given that he's the blogosphere's top proliferator a slanders against Robert Stacy McCain, and conservatives generally. That is to say: NO ONE tells me what my blog is for, and hence E.D. Kain's double-standard: Mr. Yellow Belly has ignored the true dirt-dragging among his blogging allies, to wit: Charles Johnson's post last night, ""White Supremacist Blogger Robert Stacy McCain's Neo-Nazi Pal on Trial." That's right, notice not one word here from E.D. Kain in response to his accessory to the mud-dragging smears against Robert Stacy McCain at LGF. E.D. Kain's silence -- his refusal to speak out against the despicable actions of Charles Johnson -- constitutes endorsement of libel-blogging against conservatives. And recall, that's just perfect, because in E.D. Kain's own words, McCain, or myself, or any other conservative reading this blog are in need of "salvation." See, "Conservatives as Self-Parodies":

It just makes me throw my hands up in the air. I try too hard to retain the word “conservative” – to hold on to some other sense of its meaning, some other definition that the American right has no hold over ....

I’ve tried to come to terms with the idea that the movement can be changed for the better but I’m beginning to doubt myself even there. The invention of the modern Tea Party only reveals how deep the fraud runs.

In the end I’m just at a loss. I see less and less hope for the American right however much they bellow and bluster to the contrary. I don’t even mean this in terms of electoral hope. I mean this in terms of salvation.

And further, notice the total hypocrisy in this idea that blogs aren't forums to air personal debates. It turns out that Kain posted an attack on Dan Riehl that was apprently so brutal that he had to take down the most egregious smears:

Dan Riehl responded here:

So basically, it's a myth that E.D. Kain rejects personal debates in public forums. In fact, it's unlikely he would have retracted his attacks had it not been for his co-bloggers' revulsion at E.D. Kain's merciless vituperation. He tries to walk it back in a later comment thread, suggesting that his "personal feud" was indeed over the top. And pay attention to the section about the unnamed blogger who is "slandering" the League of Ordinary Gentlemen (emphasis added):

I just got the distinct impression that everyone was very uncomfortable with the post, that it was a direction nobody wanted to take the site, that it was the possible start of a feud that I had no right dragging the rest of the group into. I wrote it on a day I’d felt especially cantankerous. I wrote it largely out of anger toward not just the target of that post but toward another target who we’ve all agreed we would never actually mention or link to for various reasons (but primarily in the hopes that said blogger would stop slandering various members of the League) and I felt that it was not only unfair to the rest of the group but to the person I wrote the post about. Beyond that, I decided it was the wrong tone entirely for this blog.

Okay, two points here: One, clearly E.D. Kain has no problem with taking "feuds" public at the blog. But especially revealing is the earlier allegations of "slander," the highlighted section in bold. I'm virtually 100 percent sure that "the target of that post" is yours truly. And while I'm not asking for confirmation from E.D. Kain, I think the whole thing is powerful substantiation of E.D. Kain's pathologies. This is a man in deep denial, one who is perfectly willing to attack others at his blogs, but has kept totally mum with regards to the issues I've raised. To wit, E.D. Kain is a coward and intellectual mountebank. He's deeply ashamed of his past ties to neoconservatism, having done a scheming about face to climb the rungs of post-modern libel-blogging (with his mentors Andrew Sullivan and Charles Johnson).

And as we have seen, to cope with his shame and hypocrisy, E.D. Kain has erected an elaborate psychological construct of avoidance, denial, and projection. Frankly, it's supremely infuriating to read E.D.'s comments blaming my department chair for not telling him that "he had wanted no part in this"! But these are the psychological pathologies of classic leftists. Indeed, checking Dr. Sanity's post, "STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH DENIAL - Part II : Logical Fallacies and Rhetorical Ploys Used in Denial," we can place E.D. Kain into a number of categories. Most striking, obviously, is "projection/denial." This whole exchange has been extremely frustrating simply for E.D. Kain's transparent evasion and denial of responsibility, capped with massive doses of "evasion/displacement," with smatterings of dishonest "smokescreens/rationalizations."

Also, important is the "minimizing/discounting" category. We see this twice in E.D. Kain, with his simplistic bleating of "un-Christian" behavior -- at the comments, where he tries to dismiss things, saying, "I don't think that's either Christian or charitable in the least given that I have never once attacked you. Ever." Well, no, actually. You've violated my trust, taken advantage for your own personal gain, and attacked tea partiers as needing "salvation" -- which of course, is an attack on me. And besides, none of E.D. Kain's arguments can justify a campaign of intimidation and harassment at my place of employment. God, that is just beyond the pale!

In short, it's time for E.D. Kain to grow up. And I reaffirm my demands:

* CEASE YOUR CAMPAIGN OF INTIMIDATION AND HARASSMENT AT MY WORKPLACE.

* PUBLISH FULL AND UNEQUIVOCAL APOLOGIES AT YOUR BLOGS.

But to reiterate as well:

* TAKE RESPONSIBLITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS.

* STOP BLAMING OTHERS FOR PROGRAM OF DESTRUCTION.

**********

Notice to Readers: Thank you for returning here again and again, and thanks for the support. Please accept my apologies for this unwanted diversion from regular blogging. But is has to be said: E.D. Kain's campaign of personal destruction is so serious that it cannot be avoided. Nothing I have written in all of this is untrue. Everything is documented and made public for the record. I will be commenting more generally on these conflicts in later posts. I especially want to revisit some of my earlier thoughts on anonymous blogging. Perhaps there's more benefits to anonymity or pseudonimity than I previoiusly acknowledged. Or, perhaps I'm just not as smart as those who have recognized that leftists cannot tolerate open debate, and they'll use any means necessary to stifle difference and shut down debate. It's pretty sad, but true. So more on that later.

First Snow, Cascadel Woods, California, December 2009

My wife's uncle owns a cabin at Cascadel Woods, in North Fork, California, about an hour north of Fresno. Family members sent pictures from the first snow last week. The sun is setting over the San Joaquin Valley, downs West from the mountains:

This view is literally just a few steps across the road from the driveway to the property. There's a creek that runs down to a waterfall. Sitting at this spot in 1992, I asked my wife to move to Santa Barbara with me, where I was headed to start grad school that September. It was Memorial Day weekend, if I recall. The family has a huge holiday barbecue there every year. Thought I'd leave this one at top overnight for a little more joyous holiday feel around here, considering ...

**********

UPDATE:

Thinking about it last night, it could have been 4th of July 1992 when I asked my wife to come with me to Santa Barbara. Either way, it's a pretty sentimental memory.

E.D. Kain Contacts Department Again: Intimidation Campaign Escalates; Fake 'Apology' Seals Moral Indictment Against True/Slant Blogger!

Okay, here's an update on developments since yesterday's report, "E.D. Kain Alleges Defamation: True/Slant Blogger's Workplace Intimidation Attempts to Shut Down American Power!"

I must say, things have taken a twist I never would have anticipated. When I posted the Elvis Costello video this morning, E.D. Kain had left a comment at the last night's post. This marks the very first time that E.D.'s engaged me directly, in all these months. Perhaps this was his breakthrough to maturity. He writes at the post":

So yes, I did contact your department chair - not to shut you down but to express my frustration, since I had no reason to believe that you would respond to me with anything but more of the same jeering. I was not and am not trying to "shut you down" and honestly only contacted the chair because I was upset over your last post which again called me numerous names over something that had nothing at all to do with you. It was an act of frustration and I was reaching out to someone who I thought might be able to help.

And you know what? I shouldn't have done that. You're right. That was me acting out of frustration and anger and it was not the right move. I apologize...

Sounds great, right?

Only one little problem: ONCE AGAIN -- AGAIN! -- E.D. KAIN E-MAILED MY DEPARTMENT TO ALLEGE DEFAMATION AND SHUT DOWN THIS BLOG!!

Jesus, what a freakin' crybaby!

But to be clear, right after I wrote "'Blame it on Cain ... Don't Blame it on Me...'," where I mentioned my pending response to Kain's "apology" above, my department chair approached me in the hallway. He said he'd gotten another e-mail from E.D. Kain, who complained that this was all supposed to be "confidential." Right. E.D. Kain can just keep threatening and intimidating, and I have to STFU because he wants it kept confidential? Sheesh.

Okay, I'll be clear for the record: I HAVE NOT RECEIVED COPIES OF THE E-MAILS - THEY HAVE BEEN KEPT CONFIDENTIAL - I HAVE BEEN CONSULTED BY ADMINISTRATION. You see, obviously, as a matter of record, the department must inform me of the complaint. The allegations themselves would not be kept secret, only the substance of the communications. But E.D. Kain thought he had a contract to smear, intimidate, and harasss, and thus cried foul when I defended myself here at the blog. Can you freakin' believe it? What a pest! And I repeat, like I said yesterday, my co-workers want no part of the flame wars. THIS IS NOT college business, and E.D. Kain's contacts amount to NOTHING MORE THAN RANK HARASSMENT!! E.D. Kain needs to deal with me personally and he must STOP THE INTIMIDATION AT MY WORKPLACE!!

And also, very importantly, I spoke with the college's VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS. I gave him a heads up just in case the harassment continues. Everything's on the record -- everything. AND THAT'S IT -- MY COLLEGE'S INVOLVEMENT ENDS THERE!!

So, I am requesting from E.D. Kain once again to stay away from my place of work. This is a private blogging matter. American Power is hosted on Blogger. None of my college identification pages link to my blog. I recommend my blog for students to read, on a voluntary, non-assignment basis. Occasionally I'll pull up an academic post in class as a lecture launcher -- and actually, THAT'S A GOOD TEACHING THING!! (By the way, check William Jacobson's comments on this, "Blogging While Employed.)

I'm also doubling my request that E.D. Kain issue an apology, published at both of his blogs, the League of Ordinary Gentlemen and True/Slant. That's the least he could do, after proving beyond a shadow of a doubt the very case for dishonesty and abject duplicity I've laid out in previous entries. I'm starting to think E.D. Kain's got serious mental instabilities. This is ridiculous.

But I need to explain to readers why I'm doing this. Why do I engage in a flame war with a man who's clearly not equipped to deal with these issues, emotionally, intellectually, or morally? Well, frankly, it's all about ideology and politics. E.D. Kain's an enabler of all the extremist libel-blogging being waged by his two biggest heroes, Andrew Sullivan and Charles Johnson. And it's personal, given the confidence and access I had previously entrusted to him. Recall my point from last night: Had E.D. Kain just moved on from NeoConstant without taking up the standard at Daily Dish and LGF, things would have been perfectly fine. But no. E.D.'s gone on to emulate -- if not worship -- these merchants of hate. And his work distributes the libel. So, to be honest, E.D. Kain provides a perfect example -- from personal experience -- of how awful these people are, how totally bereft of moral foundations, as they seek to expand their power and take down conservatives.

Indeed, here's a perfect example. Recall E.D. Kain's interview with Charles Johnson at Ordinary Gentlemen, "The Evolution of Blogging: An Interview with Charles Johnson," and this quote from Charles in particular (in response to the query that LGF is "distancing itself from the right"):

I’ve never been on board with the anti-science, anti-Enlightenment radical religious right. Once I began making my opinions known on issues like creationism and abortion, I realized that there just wasn’t very much in common with many of the bloggers on the right. And then, when most of them decided to fall in and support a blogger like Robert Stacy McCain, who has neo-Nazi friends, has written articles for the openly white supremacist website American Renaissance, and has made numerous openly racist statements on the record … well, I was extremely disappointed to see it, but unfortunately not surprised.

Actually, I believe Charles Johnson "disappointment" about as much as I believe E.D. Kain's "apology" for his workplace intimidation. Behold today's post at Little Green Footballs, "White Supremacist Blogger Robert Stacy McCain's Neo-Nazi Pal on Trial":

The link above is to the Google search (just in case readers actually want to check over at LGF). Click here for Robert Stacy McCain's rebuttals to Johnson's smears.

By now readers might have realized E.D. Kain's fatal hypocrisy. One the one hand, he's literally mounting a campaign of harassment and intimidation against me for speaking God's honest truth. But on the other, he's a premier enabler of Charles Johnson's despicable libel blogging against Robert Stacy McCain, and by implication all those conservatives who back him. That's called incommensurability. Are you with me? Are you with me in fighting the smears, in standing up against these blogospheric ayatollahs? If so, then E.D. Kain's got your number too -- literally, as it may be, since he'll contact your place of work to shut you down!

**********

ADDENDUM: I want to emphasize that I've toned down my angry rhetoric at this post, and there's a reason for it. One, my initial entry, "Sleaze-Blogger E.D. Kain Reaches Pinnacle of 'Conservative' Blogosphere! Simultaneously Linked by Andrew Sullivan and Charles Johnson!," was mostly snark. In fact, what I wrote there barely reached the level of everyday attack blogging at Sadly No! or TBogg's. Yeah, my language was far from church-friendly, but blogging ain't beanbag, alright. Now, in my second post, "E.D. Kain Alleges Defamation: True/Slant Blogger's Workplace Intimidation Attempts to Shut Down American Power!," I was just plain mad and outraged. My invective was just getting warmed up, and frankly, I'd rather keep the safety on. I mention this because E.D. Kain needed a tissue in his comment at the blog this morning, where he bawls:

I have never written one single word against you. Not one. You can go back and search as hard as you can but you won't find one single negative phrase against you from me, ever, nor against any of the other writers who contributed to Neoconstant back in the day. Indeed, I have maintained friendly relationships with basically all of them.

And yet you, from the very outset, have decided to hurl insult after insult at me. You've called me the most horrible things I can think of - and never once have I responded in kind. Never once. If you can find one single time where I've attempted to smear you, please do. But it doesn't exist. While you smear me time and time again for apparently no reason other than I had a change of political heart. (sleaze-blogger, gasbag, slander-master, butt-freak arrogance, etc. etc.)

Earth to E.D.: Actions speak louder than words. It doesn't matter what you say when your modus operandi serves as an accessory to personal destruction. So, quit crying like a baby. And most of all:

* CEASE YOUR CAMPAIGN OF INTIMIDATION AND HARASSMENT AT MY WORKPLACE.

* PUBLISH A FULL AND UNEQUIVOCAL APOLOGY AT YOUR BLOGS.

I imagine the "insults" will subide if those two conditions are met. Regular political debate remains on the table, of course, thought it's not like E.D. Kain's got a record of defending against it.

Tea Parties and the GOP: Fatal Attraction?

That's Tabitha Hale, with Representative Michele Bachmann, and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. See, "Today’s Code Red Rally":

The tone from Hill staffers and Capitol Police was less friendly than it has been. I'm getting the impression that they're sick of seeing us. Well, guess what guys, we're sick of having to go down there. I'd rather not babysit Congress every day, trust me. If they had their junk together we wouldn't have to do this every few weeks. The Senators seem a little more freaked out than the House members did about having constituents in their offices. One highlight was Senator Lieberman's office threatening to arrest Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator Mark Meckler.

Click the link for the video.

Personally, I'm still trying to figure out if the tea parties are going to remain a populist insurgency, putting killer pressure on both parties, or whether they'll be coopted by the GOP. If by "GOP" we mean Bachmann and Governor Sarah Palin, then I'm all for it. But if a bunch of RINOs start angling to leverage grassroots activism into political power it's going to be rude awakening for those Scozzafava-clones.

Andrew Ian Dodge has more on this, "Are Some Tea Partiers Selling Out to the GOP?":

Groups like FreedomWorks and Tea Party Express may portray themselves as “aides” to the grassroots, but the reality of the last few months is something different. They try to control activity and influence who is in charge of local tea party groups across the country. They play rival groups against each other and support the group which bends to their will. It all smacks of top-down politics, and now the mainstream media is claiming a “split,” portraying the movement as at each other’s throats:

Some Tea Partiers have voiced anger and concern over whether the powerful groups are “astroturfing” what is supposed to be a grass-roots coalition — the idea that the movement is being organized by old-fashioned GOP bigwigs to promote their agenda.

Those involved in the D.C.-managed groups state that we need to “stick together” and focus on “common goals.” The thinking is in terms of two parties, and doesn’t recognize that in some states the Republican Party is not the answer. In states controlled by RINOs, no former Republican, libertarian, or anti-socialist is going to be fooled into helping RINOs retain power.

Across the country I have spoken to tea party organizers who tried to make nice with the local Republican Party, only to face a steamroller attempt to co-opt the tea party for partisan means.

The tea party movement will stand or fall on its nonpartisan nature. The movement is growing by leaps and bounds because of Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their chums, who ignore the movement at their peril. It would be a great shame if those seeking glory, money, or future office were to sell out the movement for short-term gain in 2010. The stakes are far too high to throw it all away for one election. The socialists in both parties won’t all disappear in 2010, and neither should the tea party movement.

RELATED: Chris Smith, "Code Red Healthcare Protest Summary."

Scary Protests? Update on Communists at Copenhagen

Here's a little update to my previous entry, "Communists at Copenhagen." Glenn Beck absolutely pummels Nancy Pelosi's "scary protests' fearmongering from last summer and the tea parties. Remember how she decried the "Nazi signs" at the rallies as signaliing impending violence? Well, over 900 protesters were arrested at Copenhagen over the weekend, and no outcry from the American Democratic-left:

And for more unbeatable hilarity, check Matthew Yglesias' beyond-lame defense of Al Gore's epic Copenhagen fail. See, "Gore Derangement Syndrome." (Via Memeorandum.)

Israel Condemns British Arrest Warrant for Former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni

From CNN, "Israel condemns 'absurd' UK arrest warrant for Livni":

A British court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is "absurd," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.

Details of the arrest warrant were not immediately available -- news reports said it has been revoked -- but the prime minister denounced attempts to label Israeli officials as "war criminals."

"We will not accept that (Israeli) soldiers and commanders that bravely and morally defended our citizens from a cruel enemy will be called war criminals," he said. "We reject this as absurd."

Livni was Israel's foreign minister during the Israeli military offensive in Gaza a year ago. The United Nations and some human-rights groups have blamed Israel and Hamas for human rights abuses during the conflict.

Israeli National Security Adviser Uzi Arad told the British ambassador "that the state of Israel expects that the government of Britain act against this immoral phenomenon that attempts to hamper Israel's right to defend herself," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Netanyahu said Israel "will not accept a situation" in which Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "will be summoned to the dock."

Olmert was prime minister during Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas in Gaza a year ago.

Britain's Foreign Office said the United Kingdom was not trying to hamper the peace process.

"The UK is determined to do all it can to promote peace in the Middle East, and to be a strategic partner of Israel," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "To do this, Israel's leaders need to be able to come to the UK for talks with the British government. We are looking urgently at the implications of this case."

It was not clear who sought the warrant from Westminster Magistrates Court. A Foreign Office spokesman said the warrant did not require ministerial approval; it was issued at the court's discretion.

Actually, radical Palestinians requested the warrant:

Pro-Palestinian campaigners have tried several times to have Israeli officials arrested under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which holds that some alleged crimes are so grave that they can be tried anywhere, regardless of where the offences were committed.

Ms Livni was foreign minister during Israel's Gaza assault last winter.

She said the court had been "abused" by the Palestinian plaintiffs who requested the warrant.

This is a classic example of what happens when the world shifts to global governance and supranational legal authority.

Our neo-communist pals at "Hammering" Jane Hamsher's explain, "War Crimes Catch Up With Israeli Officials: They Can No Longer Visit The UK":

Countries which consider themselves to be intrinsically ‘exceptional’ — immune from obeying international laws, and thumb their noses at allegations as serious as war crimes — will naturally become viewed as pariah states.

Now if we could just get someone to investigate Bush Administration war crimes ...

Claire McCaskill Protest

Less a tea party than a constituency-initiated towh hall meeting. From Dana Loesch, "Voters Protest Outside Claire McCaskill’s Office":

Just under a hundred protesters assembled on lunch break outside of Senator Claire McCaskill’s Delmar office. Constituents braved the frigid temperatures to voice their opposition to Harry Reid’s health care legislation. Concerns cited included the penalty (and possible jail time) for those who refuse to purchase government care; the $8 billion in cuts from hospice; the Medicare expansion (as the system is already busted); the exponential increase to the deficit; and many others.

Lots more pictures at the link, and video's on the way! And from Gateway Pundit, "CODE RED RALLY at Claire McCaskill’s St. Louis Office."

Glenn Reynolds has more on Senator McCaskill.

And more protests from Michelle Malkin, "Code Red Rally in D.C. today; Update: What will Nelson’s payoff be?; MoveOn to hold counter-protest; Lieberman: “We’re heading in the right direction;” Coburn: “This bill must be stopped!”." (Via Memeorandum.)

RELATED: At the Washington Post, "Senate health bill unlikely to include Medicare buy-in: DEMOCRATS SET TO SCALE BACK -Insufficient support for public-option alternative."

'Blame it on Cain ... Don't Blame it on Me...'

Turn this video up a bit. I've been singing this tune while thinking of my response to E.D. Kain (with apologies to Elvis Costello):

I'll likely have a reply to Kain later tonight (busy day with finals at the college). Big thank you to readers who've e-mailed their support, one saying, "Take Courage."

Blaming Rahm Emanuel? Actually, Put Barack Obama in the Crosshairs

Here's the new ad buy from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, "Rahm = Weak":

I don't recall interest groups targeting a chief of staff with attack ads before. But ABC News' David Chalian suggests that Emanuel may want to return to public office, so progressive groups are turning up the heat, indirectly in this case, since the ultimate target should be the president. He's the one who's causing grassroots disillusionment with the Democratic agenda -- that is, Obama and the simply lame Pelosi-Reid Congress.

E.D. Kain Alleges Defamation: True/Slant Blogger's Workplace Intimidation Attempts to Shut Down American Power!

WARNING! THIS IS REAL!!

E.D. "ERIK" KAIN THREATENS AMERICAN POWER!!

FULL AND UNEQUIVOCAL APOLOGY DEMANDED!!

FAINT OF HEART AND PANTYWAISTS - READ NO FURTHER!!

CLICK AWAY TO STAY ABOVE THE FRAY!!

**********

I almost titled this post, "The Arrogance of Blogging: The Secret World of E.D. Kain." (But I thought better of it, starting the header instead with "E.D. Kain" so as to maximize TOTAL Search Engine Optimization!)

I was working at my office Friday night, cleaning out old books in preparation for my department's move into our new college building. While packing, I came across my copy of Anthony Summers', The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon. Two words in Summers' book title capture the essence of E.D. Kain: arrogance and secret. I wrote about E.D.'s arrogance a couple of days ago, in "Sleaze-Blogger E.D. Kain Reaches Pinnacle of 'Conservative' Blogosphere! Simultaneously Linked by Andrew Sullivan and Charles Johnson!" At the book's brief foreword, Summers asks, "Who was this man in whom so many millions of Americans had placed their trust, who had broken that trust, yet who had achieved political resurrection time and again?"

That's a rather interesting quotation in relation to E.D. Kain, a moral coward trying to outrace a secret life of reptilian dishonor and shame, also seeking political resurrection. A man who has broken trust, mine certainly, but also the trust of many other bloggers to whom I've spoken. Who knows whose trust he'll destroy going forward? Indeed, who knows E.D. Kain, really? This is a man (if I can use that noun without discrediting it) who will descend to the most slimy dirtbag techniques to preserve the filthy stealth that is his own life. It's unbelievable, really, but that's what's fascinating about being online. You meet the most despicable cobags who'll take what they can get, then move on as quickly as a thief who steals a candy from children, without a second thought.

In any case, the "Sleaze-Blogger" entry must have must have really hit a nerve because it turns out that E.D. KAIN E-MAILED MY DEPARTMENT CHAIRMAN TO ALLEGE DEFAMATION AT THIS BLOG. So, with this clear attempt at intimidation, there's not much doubt as to what's at stake for E.D. Kain. Through intimidation and threats, he's seeking to shut down this blog and quash the truth surrounding his political duplicity and moral bankruptcy.

The chair of my department, as a matter of administrative policy, informed me of the complaint, and then told me that HE WANTS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS CONFLICT. And for the record: E.D.'s complaint is going nowhere at my college, at least nowhere in the absence of formal legal action. The issue is First Amendment rights, first and formost. And what happens at the blog is my concern, not the school's. Intimidation and threats mean nothing. They won't silence me. They only prove the juvenile cowardice of the claimant. But most importantly, THERE'S NOTHING IN ANYTHING I'VE WRITTEN THAT'S UNTRUE -- NOTHING!! Nope, not a damned thing to raise even the slightest hint of libel. Hey, if it's a little in-your-face, and vulgar even, MAN UP BIG BOY!! Turn off your Ladies' Hallmark Christmas movies and GET IN THE ARENA!! It's all true. Everything I've ever written here about E.D. Kain is entirely true. Yep, and Mr. Sleaze-Blogger's totally wiggin'. So obviously I'm over the target if the puke's resorting to a cowardly campaign to chill freedom of speech. How damned pathetic.

And that, of course, substantiates what I've been saying all along: E.D. Kain is no conservative. He's a flaming Andrew Sullivan/Charles Johnson/Daniel Larison wannabe -- a spineless prick whose last inclination is to stand up like a man and TAKE SOME FREAKING RESPONSIBILITY!!

But I suppose I should explain: In June of 2008, E.D. Kain sent me an e-mail asking if I'd be interested in publication at his new online journal. He wrote, "I run NeoConstant, which I am attempting to turn into a sort of international nexus of neoconservative thought at a grassroots level." I'd already heard of the webzine. My good friend GSGF had tipped me off to it, and the site was generating considerable activity. For example, at Beaman's World, "NeoConstant Journal":

Also, in something of a journalistic coup, E.D. secured an interview with British neocon Douglas Murray, the author of NeoConservatism: Why We Need It -- noted here, at the Center for Social Cohesion:

The piece was later published at Politics and Poetry, "Interview with top British Neoconservative commentator Douglas Murray":

In 2008, I was delighted to be presented with the chance to interview the leading British Neoconservative political commentator and author, Douglas Murray. The interview was originally published on the now defunct NeoConstant website and so I have decided to post it here on ‘Politics & Poetry’. This fascinating interview will be found no where else but here.

After posting a couple of my essays at NeoConstant, E.D. Kain wrote to say that "I assume that I have some free reign in cross-posting your pieces as they all are attributed to you and link back to American Power."

And so here's the thing: E.D. Kain assumed unlimited cross-posting privileges from my work at American Power. And that was fine -- I didn't mind at all. I enjoy cross-posting at other blogs, etc. I sent him essays I thought were a good fit, and everything was cool. But then one day NeoConstant went dark. First the server-page was inaccessible. Then E.D. put up an "under construction" notice. And then, in a burst of hilarity, he actually created a new website for a week or so called "NeoConstantine"! No doubt E.D. was hoping to hold on to the domain, but for the life of me I couldn't think of anything particularly conservative about a "neo" Eastern Orthodox Christianity, or something, but I guess that was the closest fit. (Daniel Larison's Christian Orthodox, however, so maybe there's some thread there, but more on that below.)

It didn't last long, in any case. NeoConstantine came down some time thereafter, and that was it. But strangely, throughout, not a word from E.D. on what was going on -- NOT ONE WORD! -- and hence the spineless secrecy. I'm not sure what happened, but I noticed E.D. had been palling around with folks like Mark Thomspon, a Palestinian fan and "Hamas-Helper" who praised rocket attacks on Israeli civilians as "rational" during the 2008 conflict (see, "Publius Endures Applauds Hamas Rationality"). Then some time toward the end of last year, these boys joined up to establish a new blog, The League of Ordinary Gentlemen. The League's ideological program is decidely leftist, with lots of postmod-conservatism thrown in (if there's really such a thing as "pomocons").

Soon, as best I can recall, E.D. Kain's criticism of the mainstream right started getting picked up by Andrew Sullivan. I have no clue if E.D. knows Sully personally, but I it's likely they communicate. Perhaps E.D. can respond, as this is just speculation. Either way, E.D. Kain's emergence as an Andrew Sullivan myrmidon is a key indicator this man's ideological destitution. Perhaps E.D. Kain's blogging on Sarah Palin gave Andrew Sullivan a rise, since the Daily Dish's biggest campaign has been to destroy Governor Palin, a program that continues today, unrelenting.

In July of 2009, E.D. Kain posted an entry at Ordinary Gentlemen entitled, "Two Thoughts on Sarah Palin." He declaims any doubts of Palin's maternity, and says he's got no problems with her rugged individualism, etc. Yet he does have a couple of other gripes:

First, that she doesn’t seem to actually know what it is she stands for; that she may have entered the last campaign with something of a blank slate and then sort of soaked up a lot of the conservative orthodoxy that was required of her. Maybe that’s not true, but something about her inability to really express or to fully grasp what it is that these conservative policies mean leads me to this conclusion, and to the next point:

She cannot speak coherently, cannot seem to properly formulate either her thoughts or her expressions, all of which makes me suspect her capacity to lead. Leadership requires communication skills, but even more importantly, the capacity to communicate is indicative of the strength of the leader themselves.

I liked George W. Bush as a person quite a lot. I think he was a nice guy, and genuinely well-meaning, but he, too, was short on communication skills, unable to cogently express his beliefs or thoughts, and I think that was an indication of his political shallowness more than merely a public speaking tic. As such I feel that he was easily manipulated, and too reliant upon his advisers. Contrast that with Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator himself. And Palin is more in the mold of George W. than Reagan.

These two things – her shallow ideological framework and quick acceptance of the requisite talking points without much of an understanding of the policies themselves; and her inability to properly express her thoughts, beliefs, policy plans, and so forth – led me to the conclusion that she was not, in fact, ready to be a leader at the national level, whether or not she possessed some real political skills or a potential to lead in the future.

You got that? Especially, this part that, according to E.D. Kain, Palin is not "ready to be a leader at the national level ..."

The problem is that this is not the same E.D. Kain we find in July 2008 at NeoConstant. As Duane Lester points out at his post, "New to the Blogroll: Neoconstant":

A great writer and Newsvine friend of mine, E.D. Kain, has a blog that I have added to our blogroll. If you get a chance, check out Neoconstant.

Here's a sample of what you can find there:

I am overwhelmed by the excitement emanating from the Right on this. Not just social conservatives either! Secular cons and moderates are happy as can be, regardless of Palin's stance on abortion. I think many people realize that its more of a symbolic stance these days than anything. This isn't to say she doesn't stand by her pro-Life positions. I just personally think it is and should be a non-issue. I'm more interested in about a million other things like the economy and our defense, two things Palin has shown wisdom on.

Women, especially, regardless of lefty-pundits claims to the contrary, are extremely happy about this choice.

Now, as a man, I have to say, I don't blame them! I'm already in love with her whole family.

Gee, it certainly sounds like Governor Palin's ready for the national spotlight after all. And not just that, the ladies love her!

Now, since we don't have a link to NeoConstant (the blog being deleted, conveniently, it turns out), perhaps E.D. Kain can verify for us whether this discussion is accurate. WOULDN'T WANT TO SLANDER ANYONE, YOU KNOW!! That's right, perhaps another writer at NeoConstant showed such concern for the Oprah Winfrey demographic! Of course, Duane's using the passage as an example of E.D.'s "great" writing. We'll just have to wait for confirmation, in any case. But notice how in just 10 months E.D. went from praising Palin's "wisdom" on the economy and defense, to smearing her as a bog-dwelling hick. I mean what better way to win accolades -- and links! -- from such towering figures as Andrew Sullivan and Charles Johnson?!!

See the pattern? E.D. Kain's a crass political opportunist who jettisoned whatever ideological groundings he had to throw in his lot with the Obama-loving -- and alleged former "conservatives" -- Sullivan and King Charles. It's a near-perfect scheme! Start out as an anti-jihad pro-GWOT neoconservative, then start attacking the right for extremism and "wrecking" the Constitution, throw in a little anti-Birtherism, and you're all set. You'll be interviewing the LGF captain in no time!

And let me tell you: E.D. Kain is a work in progress, and a quick study!

On November 24, at True/Slant, a new gig for the sleaze-blogger, E.D. wrote a post called, "How Glenn Beck Can Save the Right." E.D. notes there that:

What conservatives need is someone with a high pulpit to tell them that this all-powerful executive branch and its corresponding militarism is wrong, is the antipathy of limited government, and is leading us far quicker toward bankruptcy than healthcare spending. Ron Paul started that ball rolling in the 2008 election. Perhaps Glenn Beck will be the one to pick it up and run with it.

Hey, not bad, except it doesn't square with the Charles Johnson's anti-climate-denialism meme. C.J.'s all about "science" you know, and since Glenn Beck just hammers the climate-change fearmongers mercilessly, E.D.'s got to throw Beck under the bus, here: "I've argued myself away from my Glenn Beck piece almost completely at this point." Wow. And in just three weeks time. Wouldn't want to jeopardize that possible blogging gig over at American Conservative -- the home of the anti-neocon resitance!

In fact, it turns out E.D.'s already angling for that gig already. Via his Twitter account, E.D. Kain attacked the "evil" neocons last week at True Slant, "America vs. Evil":

Daniel Larison lays waste to Abe Greenwald’s shoddy rendition of the history of American wars. Greenwald is attempting in his National Review piece to demonstrate how Obama is "going neocon."

Well, can't have Obama "going neocon" now, can we? Wouldn't fit well with E.D.'s butt-freak paleocon-pomocon opportunism.

Okay, it's time to sum up:

I'm not bothered that E.D. Kain took down his former, neoconservative webzine NeoConstant. That's his play. It doesn't particularly bother me either that he did so secretly, without informing me or ANY of the other people who had their work published there. (I'm keeping the names of other former NeoConstant writers confidential -- they don't need E.D. Kain calling THEIR WORKPLACE in an effort to intimate them into silence.) E.D.'s questionable methods in closing the journal might charitably be called "uncollegial"; and had he just moved on quietly, without turning to sink his fangs into the ideology of his former contributors, I'm sure I'd have forgotten all about it by now.

No, instead it's become clear that once Obama was elected, and E.D. becamed involved with the "paleocons" and the "pomocons," his former ties to the "neocons" were an obvious liability. E.D.'s a crass opportunist. It took just months to flip 100 percent on Sarah Palin (satisfying folks like Andrew Sullivan), and he took only three weeks to walk-back from Glenn Beck (appealing to the Lizard King of LGF). But the utlimate flip is the repudiation of neoconservatism itself, which appeals to the likes of Daniel Larison at the American Conservative. (And since E.D. Kain's biggest blog heroes are the champions of online libel-blogging, Andrew Sullivan against Sarah Palin and C.J. againt Robert Stacy McCain, the similarities are just devastating - and of course, for observers, the irony of E.D. Kain's moral collapse is utterly breathtaking.)

But what really bothers me is not just the DISHONESTY, CRASS OPPORTUNISM, and IDEOLOGICAL BANKUPTCY, but the SHEER ARROGANCE with a massive chaser of COWARDICE.

Recall what E.D. Kain wrote last week:

I really am spoiled reading the conservative writers that I do read at the Scene and the Porch and Pomocon and the other little pockets of intellectual conservatism remaining.

Forgive my language, but I'm calling bulls**t!! The last thing E.D. wants is true intellectualism, because to do so he'd actually have to subject his ideas to criticism. And to this day, after a number of essays written here, E.D.'s not once taken up the challenge. And why? Arrogance and secrecy, remember. The big "pomo" hotshot now at True/Slant just can't deign to tarry with the old bloggers he so eagerly published at NeoConstant! Moreover, besides the risk of getting his butt kicked in open debate, such engagement would compromise E.D.'s previously smooth but clandestine repudiation of his former neocon roots.

That is to say, as I've said before, E.D. "ERIK" Kain is a total "intellectual mountebank and an ideological imposter." I also said that E.D.'s a backstabber, and now we have absolute proof, SINCE THE SUCKER CONTACTED MY DEPARTMENT CHAIRMAN TO INTIMIDATE AND SHUT DOWN THIS BLOG!!

So, pardon me if my language is a little off color, dear readers. E.D. Kain's not the first, though. I've been previously threatened with workplace intimidation by (O)CT(O)PUS and Repsac3 (see "DEFAMATION - DONALD STYLE"). They posted my college vice-president's information online and encouraged readers to file complaints against American Power with LBCC's administration!

So, E.D. Kain's in good company. None of these freaks can't handle the truth. In fact, they're totalitarian libel bloggers, classic leftists, and I won't stand for it.

In conclusion, I have never defamed nor slandered E.D. "ERIK" Kain. Everything I've written about him is true. And thus, since things have taken an ugly and uncomfortable turn, I'm demanding a FULL AND UNEQUIVOCAL APOLOGY!! I'm calling on E.D. Kain to write BLOG POSTS linking American Power, apologizing to me and taking full responsiblity for his actions, past and present. He must also renounce the underhanded tactics of intimidation and foreswear all efforts to contact my employer. My school has nothing to do with this. If E.D. Kain has claims against me, he can make them in a court of law, not in secret e-mails to my academic colleagues.

E.D. Kain's attempt to shut down discussion and debate is reprehensible. It threatens individual rights to freedom of speech. It seeks to chill criticism and dissent. It's intolerable, but typical of leftists. And thus E.D. Kain has proven himself not only a coward and a scoundrel, but the antithesis of a true conservative.

*****

P.S. Blogwars are a dime a dozen, and if E.D. Kain can't take the heat ... well, you know.

See, for reference, Patrick Frey's attack on Jeff Goldstein:

The things I say about you, I can prove. You’re a whiny, overly verbose, hypocritical, thin-skinned, dishonest, nasty, money-grubbing sorry excuse for a man. The evidence is out there.

Unions Against ObamaCare?

Not something I expected to see. From CTA, "Health Care Alert":

The current US Senate version of the Health Care bill contains a provision which would tax premiums. CTA research shows this will cost local school districts millions of dollars—money that belongs in our classroom. The provision would inevitably lead school districts to reduce the medical benefits to their employees to avoid paying the excise tax. Some districts will decimate current benefit plans and some may even decide to eliminate specific benefits—such as dental and vision—for educators.

I warned my wife that something like this was going to happen earlier this year.

Plus, the whole "reform" thing is turning out to be a colossal waste of government time, resources, and energy. The New York Times is reporting, "Senate Democrats Likely to Drop Medicare Expansion." (Via Memeorandum.)

RELATED: Ace of SpadesHQ, "Kabuki Theater: White House Now Instructs Reid to Cut Deal with Joe LiebermanMeh Update: White House Denies Pressure," and the Plum Line, "White House Denies Report They’re Pushing For Deal With Lieberman."

'A Memo to the Global Warming Cult'

Read this phenomenal essay from Doctor Zero at Hot Air's Green Room, "A Memo to the Global Warming Cult." An excerpt:

You aren’t going to frighten the world into reducing the human population. You’re not going to succeed in terrorizing free people into embracing totalitarianism, to fend off a phantasmal catastrophe that no democratic nation has the discipline to combat. We’re not going to politely ignore swarms of private jets and limos ferrying you to carbon-belching “climate summits,” where you draw up plans for the Western proletariat to live as primitive hunter-gatherers. We’re not going to let a pampered elitist, who once flew around the world to attend cricket practice, tell us that we need to make do without air travel and ice water.

We’ll never be foolish enough to allow a band of fanatics to use “peer review” to rule all dissenting opinion out-of-bounds, then declare themselves the proud owners of a mighty consensus. You global-warming fanatics underestimate how much you needed those tactics to gain power. You’ll never have that kind of unchallenged authority again, because we will never stop demanding the raw data, and we’ll drown you in laughter when you mutter something about deleting it by accident. We will never forget that you began with a conclusion and sought to harvest data that supported it – the exact opposite of the scientific method.

Your arrogant condescension to your critics is horribly misplaced. You have completely lost the ability to call anyone “stupid.” Your capacity for reason is the matter in question. Your status as “scientists” is on probation. It will take years of faithful adherence to the scientific method, and rigorous efforts to test and disprove your hypotheses, before you can regain the trust of thoughtful men and women. Until you have accomplished this, the attitude we expect from you is humility and contrition. You have much to answer for. The time for you to issue pompous lectures is over. The time for you to give sworn testimony may soon begin. We’re a year away from the American voter’s first opportunity to respond to the politicians who terrorized them by waving a loaded cap-and-trade bill in their faces.

RTWT at the link.

Hat Tip: Theo Spark.