Bernardine Dohrn on the Real Terrorists

Saw this the other day at Verum Serum, but didn't get a chance to post:

Now also at Jennifer Rubin, "Dohrn vs. the Tea Party":

[Bernardine Dohrn] ... insists that the right is racist, armed (presumably, the Second Amendment is one that the hard left would rather do without), and violent. And she — who helped lead a violent, armed revolutionary group that resorted to bombs rather than the ballot box – is terribly concerned about the right’s dangerous propensities. And what of her past? She laughs — ah, well, they were trying to open a “front” in the heartland.

Remorse? Not from her. She still oozes with resentment, understandable given the utter lack of acceptance by the American people of her views. Perhaps her fury at the Tea Partiers, then, is nothing more than jealousy. After all, they are the embodiment of grassroots, peaceful change. And she is a has-been terrorist.

Post-Election Sunday Funnies

More cartoons at Flopping Aces, Jill Stanek, and Theo Spark's.

Sarah Palin's Alaska on TLC

Just saw this ad for Sarah Palin's reality show. And at Wizbang Pop, "Sarah Palin's Alaska Photos: Women With Guns‎."

And a preview: "TLC Unveils Trailer for 'Sarah Palin's Alaska'."

The homepage is here: "Sarah Palin's Alaska."

And a bit on the controversy, "Palin Complains About Invasion of Privacy in Sarah Palin’s Alaska’s First Ep." Plus, David Weigel on Twitter: "Joe McGinniss lawyers up, demands video of him removed from 'Sarah Palin's Alaska'." And from the misogynist assholes at Firedoglake, "Did “Privacy Advocate” Palin Violate McGinniss’s Privacy Rights?"

'So Long Number One'

Via FRC Action:

American Power Gets Results on Twitter!

From my tweet buddy JohnnyA99:

And linked there: "Casting the Victoria's Secret Show."

Be sure to follow Johnny here, and AmPowerBlog is here.

I Whip It Real Hard, Real Hard...

Wicked cool video.

My youngest son digs Willow Smith. Kinda like the hip-hop gen's Jackson Pollock. And while Will Smith is leftist as all get out, you gotta give it up for his 7 year-old daughter:

Bombshell Fantasy 2010

A follow-up to last night's entry:

Christina Perri 'Jar of Hearts'

Because she's hotter than Pink ... Rule 5 material even.

Be sure to check Pirate's Cove for a Sunday roundup, and of course Linkmaster Smith:

Plus, check out Bob Belvedere and Irish Cicero, and The Real United States.

**********

And be sure to visit some of the other friends of American Power:

* Another Black Conservative.

* Astute Bloggers (Honorary).

* Blazing Cat Fur.

* The Blog Prof.

* Bob Belvedere.

* Classical Liberal.

* Daley Gator.

* Kathy Shaidle.

* Left Coast Rebel.

* Maggie's Notebook.

* Mind Numbed Robot.

* Not a Sheep.

* Pirate's Cove.

* POWIP.

* The Other McCain.

* Reaganite Republican (Honorary).

* Right Klik (Honorary).

* Saberpoint (Honorary).

* Serr8d (Honorary).

* Snooper's Report (Honorary).

* Stormbringer.

* Theo Spark.

* Washington Rebel.

* WyBlog.

BONUS: Don't forget Instapundit.

And drop your link in the comments to be added to the weekly bikini roundups!

Saturday Rule 5: Courtney Rachel Culkin

Via Zion's Trumpet:

Courtney Rachel Culkin was Playboy's "Playmate of the Month for April 2005."

More Rule 5 blogging at American Perspective and Mind-Numbed Robot.

Will Pink Walk With Obama?

I play a lot of idealistic left-wing music, and I like it. And I make fun with the songs, poking the lyrics back at dumb lefties. But Pink? My wife likes the CD. Okay, although let's just say Pink needs to update this tune for President Obama, especially following the Democrat debacle. How does Obama sleep at night during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression?

Gloria Allred's Feminist Grievance Industry May Have Helped Sink Billionaire Meg Whitman

Yeah, it's obvious, but I'm responding to the folks at LAT. It's really one long gusher-piece on "the most famous woman attorney practicing law in the nation today..." See, "Legal Fray Still Suits Gloria Allred Just Fine." But note at the end of the quote below how the Times suggests that Allred's sponsorship of Nicandra Diaz Santillan pre-election publicity stunt may have helped decide the election:

When you walk into Gloria Allred's office to interview her, she hands you her book — "Fight Back and Win" — and suggests you read it. Immediately.

"Would you mind?" she asks. "I think it will answer some questions."

Smiling, she leaves you in the firm's conference room, with its long, glossy table and panoramic view of Los Angeles. This is where Allred holds most of the news conferences that have made her both famous and infamous — sitting at the head of the table, jaw set, arm wrapped tightly around a weepy client as cameras zoom in.

This afternoon, it's a study hall for a lone reporter frantically skimming the book subtitled "My Thirty-Year Fight Against Injustice — and How You Can Win Your Own Battles."

Whether you see this command cram course as an exercise in vanity or efficiency won't matter to Allred. As she writes in the book, "Early in my career, I decided that if I intended to be a strong advocate for women I couldn't be deterred by my critics."

She has not been. Allred has escorted into the spotlight a parade of castoff women — the TV star fired for being too pregnant, the banker fired for being too sexy, the jilted mistresses and wronged girlfriends of famous philanderers and murderers.

With her latest client — the sad-eyed housekeeper Nicandra Diaz Santillan — she may have helped spoil the gubernatorial chances of billionaire candidate Meg Whitman. After the housekeeper said she had worked for Whitman for nine years and then been fired for being undocumented, Whitman's poll numbers dropped and Jerry Brown's lead widened.

RTWT.

It wasn't just the Diaz scandal, but if some Latinos were on the fence, the explosive allegations may have shifted quite a number of undecideds.

RELATED: "The Immigrant Vote in California."

Americans' Message to New Congress: Less Gov't, Please

At IBD (via Glenn Reynolds):

A new IBD/TIPP poll on public attitudes suggests that Tuesday's event was less an election than an intervention: Stop what you are doing; you're hurting us all.

A majority of the public wants Washington to stop the spending that has exploded the budget deficit. In a listing of top priorities for Congress, cutting the deficit by cutting spending came in No. 1, cited by 53%. (Fully 73%, including a majority of Democrats, said this is a "high priority.")

"As reflected by the outcome of the midterm elections, the public is sending a clear message to Washington: They want the government to live within its means," said Raghavan Mayur, president of TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, which conducted the poll.

Rounding out the top five on the public's list, pluralities also want Washington to: 2) repeal or revise the new health care law, 3) provide more protection against terrorism, 4) reduce illegal immigration and 5) pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by next year.

Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the presumed incoming House speaker, has signaled that spending cuts and repealing ObamaCare will be the priorities for the GOP majority.

But Democratic leaders are doubling down. President Obama flatly rejected in a press conference that his policies were to blame for the election losses. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday she would run for House minority leader in the next Congress. With so many moderates in the caucus out in January, she may win.

"We have no intention of allowing our great achievements to be rolled back," she said in a statement.

But most Americans — 57% — said an ObamaCare rollback should be a "high priority" for Congress — including 46% who say it's very important.

The public is cool to liberal solutions to cut the deficit or boost the economy. Just 7% say deficit-cutting tax hikes are a top priority. Only 14% say the same about a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes.

Only 29% support the idea of more government spending to stimulate the economy; just 14% say it should be a top agenda item.

Anyone who looks at politics with a shred of pragmatism --- and even ideologues can be pragmatic at times, which includes admitting failure --- can see that the left's meme that Obama-Dems never truly advanced a progressive agenda is pure bull. The left is indeed doubling down, and one of the more despicable indicators of this --- if not outright evil --- is the increasingly strident allegations of Republicans as racist. It just proves to me that conservatives still have a lot of work to do, and of course retiring the Obamunist in the Oval Office should be job one.

Rachel Maddow Blows a Vessel, Claims MSNBC is Real 'News Operation'

I've already posted on Keith Olbermann. I say let the guy rot in the wasteland of forgotten left-wing bloviators. But the suspension debate at MSNBC lingers today with the pathetic Rachel Maddow, the fever-swamp leftist who happens to have a her own show: "On Cable News and Cable Not-News" (via Memeorandum).

Maddow can holler 'till she's blue in the face, but the fact remains: As much as the execs at GE would like to pretend otherwise, the MSNBC cable outlet is as partisan as they come. FOX News is a modern partisan news outfit that understands that the media environment today is an extension of the political battlefield, and Roger Ailes doesn't let meaningless rules and ridiculous pretensions get in the way of the problem at hand, which is to destroy the Democrat-Socialist partisan agenda. And while it's pretty sad watching Rachel Maddow preen about how ethical and upstanding MSNBC operatives are, anyone who watches the network knows that MSNBC wants nothing less than what FOX News wants, which is the obliteration of the ideological enemy. The problem for MSNBC, of course, is that FOX News has successfully compartmentalized it's real hard-news reporting from its opinion and commentary broadcasts. And it was no contest on election night, November 2nd: "Fox News 'Fair & Balanced' Offered Best Election Eve Coverage … Shocker, Even Better Than MSNBC." But Maddow's sugar daddy is Keith Olbermann, so she'll be making a stink until the commie cows come home --- one more reason why the network's ratings are in the tank: "Fox News Dominates Cable News Election Night Coverage."

Anyway, lots of lefty outrage across the 'sphere, but check this out from the brilliant minds at Comments From Left Field:

MSNBC is a serious news organization, not a gauche political op like Fox. This appears to be the message MSNBC brass are attempting to send, following criticism from both wingnut and Beltway pundits (“right-wing cackling and old media cluck-cluck-clucking,” as Maddow put it) about the network’s purportedly “biased” election night coverage this past Tuesday: We are not Fox Left. We still inhabit the same void of vainly deluded fauxjectivity like our Village brethren do.

Okay. Right.

Actually, this guy's got a bit of the objectivity that's eluding those on the brain-blown left:

Color me unimpressed with the outpouring of outrage and garment-rending from liberal colleagues in the wake of MSNBC's suspension of shouting head Keith Olbermann.

Fine, fine, fine. Fox has no such enforced rules about political contributions from commentators and news presenters. This would never happen to a conservative. NBC's rules are antiquated in a participatory, opinionated age of "news." Stipulated. Noted. Filed.

But Olbermann certainly knew the rules and made no attempt to tell management he had broken them, when he surreptitiously made contributions to three Democratic Congressional candidates. In accepting millions from the corporation paying him to fulminate and snort nightly, he certainly agreed to the points in his contract above the signatures. And whatever the outraged left may claim about his actual status, it's clear that Olbermann considers himself a journalist - and a worthy successor to Edward R. Murrow, to boot. And he's one who regularly castigates right-wing media for abandoning the strictures of real journalism. Keith's stately silence on the matter thus far is, quite frankly, his most eloquent statement in quite some time.*

Would that it extended to the chirping chorus around the rest of MSNBC's soundstage - and quite frankly, in the progressive blogosphere, which seems to be pouring out more energy and gut-level anger into defending Olbermann than it did in defending the unappreciated accomplishments of the current Democratic administration and the now lame-duck Democratic Congress.

There are many liberals who root for MSNBC to grow into a counterweight to the Fox monstrosity, our side's version of fair and balanced and loud.

Count me out. It's bad strategy, it's bad karma - and it's bad television. The MSNBC squad is almost painful to watch these days. On election night, the roiling tension on the desk was a death star of hair-shirted self-flagellation, a black hole of anger and resentment that almost sucked the sunny Rachel Maddow into its vortex. O'Donnell vs. Matthews vs. Olbermann. Feel the love. Jagger and Richards are warmer at this point. As seat-squirmingly painful as any Larry David show, but without the yucks. And the freak show vitriol of the mid-term coverage was in direct opposition to the preening West Wing-style house ads that MSNBC has rolled out to push its "Lean Forward" line-up of lefties. God, is there anything that smacks of the white upper middle class patriarchy more than the ad featuring Lawrence O'Donnell leaving the MSNBC offices late at night, and the moment he touches the shoulder of the black security guy on his way out?

Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 5: Gun Rights'

The latest installment:

Previously:

* "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 1: Small Government and Free Enterprise'."

* "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 2: The Problem with Elitism'."

* "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 3: Wealth Creation'."

* "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 4: Natural Law'."

Who Knew? MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnell Admits On-Air: 'I Am a Socialist'

Via The Blaze.

This is just part of the larger MSNBC commie catfight bewtween O'Donnell and Glenn Greenwald:

God this is wonderful.

Matt Lewis has the background, "'Morning Joe' Battle: Lawrence O'Donnell vs. Glenn Greenwald," and he notes:

... the larger debate here is over whether Democrats will view the 2010 midterm elections as evidence they misread their mandate and over-reached after 2008 -- or if they will view it as evidence they moderated too much after 2008.

And never one to miss having the last word, Rick Ellensburg has more, "Lawrence O'Donnell vehemently denies his own words." In a couple of thousand words, Ellensburg regurgitates the line that "Democrats weren't socialist enough." This is essentially the left's pathology of defeat and denial. For the ace rebuttal, see William Galston, "It's the Ideology, Stupid."

The Best Angry 'Downfall' Parody Evah!! — Hitler Finds Out the GOP Has Retaken the House

OMG this is hilarious!

Via Blazing Catfur:

Marco Rubio Delivers Weekly GOP Address

Via Kim Priestap:

As I've said, we need some Marco Rubios in California.

Keith Olbermann, a Memorial Tribute

From Reason.TV, via Big Government:

RELATED: "The Obligatory Olbermann Suspended Over Donations Post." Plus, "TV Newser: “Insiders” say Olbermann won’t be back."

*****

Check for hot updates throughout the day at American Power.

ADDED: From Ed Morrissey, "Reason TV’s valedictory salute to Olby."

NewsBusted — Bush Memoir Released Next Week

Via Theo Spark:

Black and Republican and Back in Congress

This is great.

At NYT:

For the first time in over a decade, the incoming class of Congress will include two black Republicans, both of whom rode the Tea Party wave to victory while playing down their race.

One of them, Allen West, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army, prevailed in a tough fight in a South Florida district. The other, Tim Scott, is the first black Republican to be elected to the House of Representatives from South Carolina in over a century. They will be the first black Republicans in Congress since J. C. Watts of Oklahoma retired in 2003.

“I did not want to run as a black candidate; I did not want to run as a military candidate,” Mr. West said in a telephone interview. “I wanted to run as an American candidate and win the respect of the people.”

While the number of African-Americans in Congress has steadily increased since the civil rights era, black Republicans have been nearly as rare as quetzal birds.

For Mr. Watts, a former college quarterback, the job came with a significant spotlight and significant challenges — as an African-American he was a minority among Republicans, and as a Republican he was a minority among blacks on Capitol Hill. While his time in office overlapped the tenure of another black Republican, Gary A. Franks, who represented a Connecticut district from 1991 until 1997, Mr. Watts is in the one who came to represent the perks and travails of his position.

“I was smart enough to not allow Republicans to compel me to play the role of the ‘black Republican,’ ” Mr. Watts said in a telephone interview. “But I never felt compelled to ignore real issues of the black community either.”

He did not join the Congressional Black Caucus because it was dominated by Democrats, he said, a decision that Mr. West said was a mistake that he would not repeat.

“I think you need to have competing voices in that body,” Mr. West said. “I think that is important.” (Mr. Scott has not decided if he will join the caucus.)

African-Americans found a place in Congress in the latter decades of the 19th century, particularly during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, when 16 black men served, all of them Republicans. The first was Hiram R. Revels, of Mississippi, who was in the Senate from 1870 to 1871. Joseph H. Rainey from South Carolina was the first black member of the House, serving from 1870 to 1879, according to Congressional Quarterly’s “Guide to U.S. Elections.”

There were no blacks in Congress from 1900 to 1929, but since then, their numbers have increased bit by bit, especially after the civil rights movement, this time with Democrats leading the way, a reflection of the changed dynamics of each party and the shifts of power in state legislatures. Of all the blacks ever to serve in Congress, 98 have been Democrats and 27 have been Republicans; there are 42 African-American members in the current lame-duck Congress ...

Hamas-Linked CAIR Suing to Stop Oklahoma's Anti-Sharia Law

At Jihad Watch:

The Hamas-linked Islamic supremacists of CAIR here implicitly acknowledge, as Pamela Geller points out here, that Islam and Sharia are essentially inseparable -- otherwise they wouldn't be able to call Oklahoma's ballot measure an "anti-Islam" amendment. They will mount this challenge on the claim that it outlaws things like halal meat and personal Muslim prayer, but that is unlikely to succeed, since those things don't actually constitute the use of a law other than American law to legislate for Americans.

In any case, the Hamas-linked thugs of CAIR have overreached yet again, because this suit, if it goes ahead, will provide ample opportunity to prove to the general public that stonings, amputations, the oppression of women, the death penalty for apostates, and other oppressive measures are intrinsic to Sharia. But CAIR is in a hard place with this one: if they don't challenge Oklahoma's measure, the whole stealth jihad agenda could be thwarted. If they do, it could be exposed. They must be counting on their stooges and useful idiots in the government and mainstream media to do a lot of heavy lifting for them on this one.

And at WSJ, "Oklahoma Is Sued Over Shariah Ban."

Voting the Straight Party Ticket

I love this story!

At IBD:

Judicial Retention: Three judges in Iowa were disrobed on Tuesday for voting to end the state's ban on gay marriage. Even those who legislate from the bench would be wise not to ignore we the people.

We've often complained about the power of unelected judges who, when not circumventing the U.S. Constitution and those of their respective states, are busy inventing new rights that often conflict with the will of the people, even after voters or their elected representatives have voted the opposite way.

In some states, while voters may not get to pick the judges, they can vote to retain them based on their judicial rulings or whatever. Few voters pay attention long enough to remember names or scan the sometimes long list of names found at the end of their ballots under the words "judicial retention." This time, Iowa voters did.

Vote totals from 96% of Iowa's 1,774 precincts showed that three judges — Marsha Ternus, the chief justice; Michael Streit and David Baker — failed to get the simple majority needed for them to remain on the bench.

Their replacements will be appointed by incoming Gov. Terry Branstad, a newly elected Republican who signed the state's Defense of Marriage Act during his first term 12 years ago. It's a reminder that the judicial appointment power and the preferences of governors and presidents need to be something voters should pay attention to.

It's the first time since the merit selection and judicial retention system was enacted in Iowa in 1962 that voters have ousted judges. Said Bob Vander Plaats, the Sioux City businessman who led a campaign to remove the justices because of the 2009 gay marriage ruling: "The people of Iowa stood up in record numbers and sent a message . .. that it is 'We the people,' not 'We the courts.'"

More at the link.

RELATED: "What Happened to Proposition 19?"

Indonesia Volcano Burns Whole Villages, Death Toll Climbs

At Fox News:

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia -- The tiny hospital at the foot of Indonesia's most volatile volcano is struggling to cope with victims brought in after the mountain's most powerful eruption in a century. Some have clothes, blankets and even mattresses fused to their skin.

With few beds and the only burn unit it town, doctors have been forced to turn people away.

A surge of searing gas raced down the sides of Mount Merapi at highway speeds Friday, setting houses and trees ablaze and blackening the bodies of those caught in its path.

The number of people killed by Merapi since Oct. 26 soared to 118 after the nightmarish eruption and sent tens of thousands more into already crowded emergency shelters in the shadow of the volcano.

It continued to rumble and groan Saturday, spitting gray clouds of ash and gas high into the air.

"It's scary. ... The eruption just keeps going on," said Wajiman, who was sitting in a shelter near a girl reading a newspaper headlined "Merapi isn't finished yet."

Casting the Victoria's Secret Show

At New York Times, "Angels in Stripper Heels":

Although it is doubtless the dream of untold numbers of hopefuls to be discovered at a Victoria’s Secret open call some day — their beauty so radiant that they rise above the ranks of ordinary flesh-and-blood humans and appear as dazzling supernovas in underwear and stripper heels — the truth is that those destined to be cast in the coveted role of a Victoria’s Secret angel are not drawn from the general population. There is no democracy in angel land.

“We cast 30 models, but 10 times that many are sent to us by the agencies to be considered,” Edward Razek, the chief marketing officer for the Limited Brand, the parent company of the lingerie powerhouse, said last week before a casting session for this year’s Victoria’s Secret show, which will be televised on Nov. 30 to 11 million people in 185 countries, but will be taped before a more modest crowd in New York on Nov. 10.

“And 100 times that many would want to,” Mr. Razek said. “That’s why I hate castings, because I’m basically a softy and I hate the broken hearts and I hate saying no.”

And from last year, "Marisa Miller at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!":

Demi Lovato's Crisis Shows Risks of Teen Stardom

At LAT:

As the star of the Disney Channel series "Sonny With a Chance," teen actress Demi Lovato plays an effervescent small-town girl who wins a national talent contest to land a starring role on a popular variety show. As the title character, Sonny copes with a jealous costar, a dearth of fan mail and the hazards of celebrity dating, among other situations only to be encountered by a budding idol.

One facet the upbeat comedy for kids is unlikely to explore is the dark side of teen stardom. The issue nonetheless came to the fore this week with a crisis in Lovato's personal life that forced her to withdraw a concert tour with the Jonas Brothers to seek treatment for "emotional and physical issues." People close to the 18-year-old star, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, say she struggled with eating disorders and self-mutilation before her breakthrough role on the Disney Channel series.

These hazards stand to become more commonplace as a growing number of kid-focused shows put kids front and center, according to people who work with young actors.

Unlike years past, when young hopefuls had limited opportunities on prime-time family sitcoms, the media giants in recent years have created an entire industry of television networks and programs devoted to the 20 million children ages 8 to 12 who influence $43 billion in annual spending. That has been accompanied by a rise in "live action" kids shows on channels such as Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and newcomer The Hub that led to demand for child and teenage actors.

"You're going to see more of this," said former child actor Paul Petersen, who heads A Minor Consideration, a nonprofit group that offers support for young performers. "And it's going to become more and more obvious."

Petersen isn't the only one concerned: Demi's father, Patrick Lovato, said that he has been worried about how his daughter would cope with the pressures of being a child star. But he said he never discussed his qualms with her mother, Dianna De La Garza.

"I kept those emotions to myself because Dianna was so excited, I didn't want to burst anyone's bubble," Patrick Lovato said in a telephone interview from New Mexico. "But always in the back of my mind, I was concerned. Because at that young age, it's really hard. She worked 300 out of 365 days touring, and then of course when you get back into town, you've got all the promotional stuff. I'm sure she sees the things she missed out on, schoolmates and things."

More at the link.

Actually, Demi's father is in the news himself, for getting death threats from Demi fans not pleased with his parenting. See, Radar Online, "EXCLUSIVE: Fans Gave Me Death Threats, Says Demi Lovato's Dad."

RELATED: Sheesh. These are kids, but no mattter. TMZ is digging way down: "Demi vs. Selena: Who'd You Rather?" No doubt asshole SEK will be all over it.

Mitch McConnell Says One Term for Obama. You Think?

GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, quoted at UPI:

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell isn't backing off his comment that the Republicans' top political priority is to hold President Obama to one term.

In a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, McConnell said preventing Obama's re-election is the only way to get past presidential vetoes.

"Over the past week, some have said it was indelicate of me to suggest that our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office," McConnell said, NPR reported. "But the fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things it is to put someone in the White House who won't veto any of these things. We can hope the president will start listening to the electorate after Tuesday's election. But we can't plan on it."

I love it!

See Kimberly Strassel, "The GOP's 2012 Game Plan":

"It's a great first step." That's the way Washington's resident realist, Mitch McConnell, is describing this week's GOP electoral triumph. The Senate Republican leader is known for his long game, and that's what's on his mind even in victory: "We're not going to be able to finish this job until 2012."

Mr. McConnell took some time this week to talk me through the GOP game plan. Let's just say he isn't apologizing for recently suggesting that his priority is to deny President Obama a second term. This week's message was that the American people want a repeal of health-care reform and an end to overspending and job-killing initiatives. If Republicans intend to make good on these public demands, says Mr. McConnell, the end goal has to be putting someone in the White House who won't veto that progress.

History doesn't inspire optimism. Over the past 100 years, every time a president two years into his first term lost Congress, he went on to re-election: Truman in '48, Eisenhower in '56, Clinton in '96. Newt Gingrich even wrote a book, "Lessons Learned the Hard Way," about the GOP mistakes in the wake of 1994. It boiled down to Republicans over-promising and under-delivering—becoming the foil off of which President Clinton was able to skillfully pivot away from his own liabilities.

Mr. McConnell says he too has been through the history books. "I've spent a lot time studying the two years after the opposition took over—or in the case of this week, had a really good day—asking myself and my staff to analyze why the next election turned out the way it did." This time, the GOP has got "to work smarter, and to leave behind for our nominee a playing field that is competitive."

The first help will be the 13 new GOP senators Mr. McConnell welcomes in January. Republicans failed to gain the majority, but Mr. McConnell isn't complaining about a 47-strong caucus. "When you are down around 41, every man is a king and every woman a queen. Lose even one, and you are toast. Now I've got wiggle room." He adds, with his dry wit, that he's also got "23 Democrats up in 2012 who have a newfound appreciation for the problems of spending and debt."

He and House Speaker-elect John Boehner seem acutely aware of the perils of over-promising, and came out of the gate this week intent on managing expectations. One challenge will be reminding an impatient public that ultimate power still rests in the White House, not Congress. "We are not spiking the ball in the end zone, or acting like we took over the government when we didn't," says Mr. McConnell.

The broader strategy seems to hinge on keeping the focus on Mr. Obama's mistakes, offering him opportunities to correct them, and placing the burden on him if he won't. That means propelling the rollback of ObamaCare to the top of the national agenda, with repeated "proposals and votes for full repeal of health care." The fallback is going after it "piece by piece," attempting to defund it and delay it. The plan is to do the same with aspects of the financial services law and other damaging Obama regulations.

Mr. Obama can veto some of these efforts, but he'll have to defend his actions. House ownership also allows the GOP to start bringing "serious, not frivolous" oversight to the ballooning Obama bureaucracy created for his agenda—from the EPA to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ...

The Obligatory Olbermann Suspended Over Donations Post

The main story is at WSJ, "MSNBC Suspends TV Host Over Political Contributions."

It's been the hot story on Memeorandum all day, especially William Kristol's defense, "Keep Keith!"

Although I'm with Michelle, "Support Olbermann? No Freaking Way."

Video Blast From the Past: "Without 'Fascistic Hatred,' Malkin Is Just a 'Mashed-Up Bag of Meat with Lipstick."

What Happened to Proposition 19?

Earlier, from dumb lefty Kevin Drum:

I know this won't be much solace to everyone who worked on Prop 19, but.....this isn't so bad, really. Given the automatic headwind of getting people to vote Yes on anything, the additional headwind of a big Republican turnout, plus the general nervousness that middle class people have about drugs, a loss this small is actually sort of encouraging. All we need to turn this around in a few years is for 4% of voters to change their minds.

This is the same argument we heard about Prop 8. And how's that working out? Folks said forget the electoral process and went to court, and gay marriage in California will eventually be decided by the Supremes. Meanwhile, the judges in Iowa who approved gay marriage are out on their asses, and lefties are freakin': "Iowa's Total Recall." Fact is, the public consistently repudiates Democrat-Socialist policies at the ballot box. And when there's a popular pushback against judicial activism we hear the outcry against "entrenched special interests." That's rich. See, "Rejection of Iowa judges over gay marriage raises fears of political influence."

Anyway, more on Prop. 19: Leftist Josh Marshall is getting some pushback from the usual suspects on the radical left, most notably hare-brained E.D. Kain, the infamous workplace intimidator.

At Ruby's

This morning, in Irvine.

I've been off the grid most of the day. I had some lab tests done this morning (blood work, etc., in advance of my annual physical next month). After that I stopped by my youngest son's school to drop of his lunch (which I forgot to make early this morning). And then I headed over to Ruby's off Barranca in Irvine for breakfast. Here's the view looking Northeast, over the Woodbridge Lake to Saddleback Mountain in the distance:

I've been doing some grading as well. My fall newspaper assignments were due last week, and I generally have grading through the first week of December (depending on how disciplined I am in completing these). So, if posting seems light on some days I'm probably just busy with other things. Meanwhile, Washington Rebel has a response to my thoughts on leaving California: "Preparing for the Worst."

Leaving California?

For the first time in my life I'm feeling I would if I could.

It's not the first time I've entertained the idea of living somewhere else in the country. Washington State is attractive --- I love the Pacific Northwest's natural beauty --- but too progressive, so it's not a serious idea. But I'm thinking the Mountain West, perhaps Colorado. Of course it's not possible for me to relocate anywhere at this point in my life. My career will keep me tied down teaching in Long Beach, and my wife's successful in South Orange County retail management (and we have our boys, who are settled). But when I told my wife today that a lot of conservatives are asking why folks on the right still live here, she thought it was a good question. Maybe ten years from now my wife and I will be able to pull up stakes and cut loose with some "Going Mobile." This could all be a flight of fancy, to be sure. But seeing the data on the changing California electorate I got the feeling that demographic change is making the state permanently Democrat-Socialist, and I can't dig on that. Plus, see Allahpundit shocka: "Confirmed: Happy Meals Now Banned in San Francisco." And that got Patterico thinking: "California Conservatives: Why Do You Still Live Here?" Which in turn triggered something from Jack Dunphy: "California Conservatives: Whither Shall We Flee?"

The last time I wrote anything remotely similar was shortly after Barack Obama took office. It was mostly ruminations at that time. Now I'm starting to get into the planning mode. Weird. See, "Worst Case Scenario? Preparing for Anarchy in America."

Markets Respond to Federal Reserve's $600 Billion Economic Recovery Plan

Elections have consequences.

It's not just the Fed that's driving this, "Dow Hits Pre-Crisis Level: Central Bank's Spending Binge Stokes Global Rally; 'Don't Fight the Fed'."

Global financial markets cheered the Federal Reserve's plans to spur the U.S. economy Thursday, driving commodity and bond prices higher and propelling the Dow Jones Industrial Average to levels last seen before Lehman Brothers collapsed two years ago.

Interest rates and the dollar tumbled in response to the Fed's decision Wednesday to buy $600 billion of U.S. Treasury bonds, helping fan fresh rallies in oil, gold and Asian stock markets. Major U.S. companies including Coca-Cola Co. and Dow Chemical Co. raced to take advantage of the low rates, selling at least $12 billion of new debt.

But the Fed's buying binge raised alarms, too: Officials in Brazil and South Korea criticized the move, saying it could spark inflation in their economies.

The Dow industrials leapt 219.71 points, or 2%, to 11434.84, its highest close since Sept. 8, 2008, just before the Lehman bankruptcy filing triggered the most intense phase of the financial crisis.

The blue-chip index is now up 75% from its March 2009 low. But the Dow needs a 24% gain to get back to its all-time high, set in October 2007, a stark illustration of the damage caused by the crisis and the long road the economy still must travel.

The Fed's "quantitative easing" policy, unveiled Wednesday, is designed to bolster the economy by keeping credit easy. The Fed is trying to keep rates on relatively safe Treasurys and cash so puny that investors will be enticed into riskier assets such as stocks, commodities and corporate bonds, helping inflate their prices.

The background, with the political angle, at NYT, "Fed to Spend $600 Billion to Speed Up Recovery":

The Federal Reserve, getting ahead of the battles that will dominate national politics over the next two years, moved Wednesday to jolt the economy into recovery with a bold but risky plan to pump $600 billion into the banking system.

A day earlier, Republicans swept to a majority in the House on an antideficit platform, virtually guaranteeing that they would clash with the Obama administration over the best way to nurture a fragile recovery.

The action was the second time in a year that the Fed had ventured into new territory as it struggles to push down long-term interest rates to encourage borrowing and economic growth. In a statement, the Fed said it was acting because the recovery was “disappointingly slow,” and it left the door open to even more purchases of government securities next year.

The Fed is an independent body, its policy decisions separated from the political pressures of the day. But it acted with a clear understanding that the United States, like many other Western countries, seems to have taken off the table many of the options governments traditionally use to give their economies a kick, particularly deficit spending.

The Republicans regained control of the House for the first time in four years in part by attacking the stimulus plan — begun by the Bush administration and accelerated by President Obama — as a symbol of government spinning out of control, contributing to a dangerously escalating national debt.

This political reality has left Washington increasingly reliant on the Fed to take action, though its chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, has said the Fed cannot fix the problem alone.

Mike Pence is not happy.

Republicans Made Obama Into a Lefty

Unbelievably lame.

Via Greg Hengler:

Memo From the National Affairs Desk

R.S. McCain's pitch below reminds me of last January, "Freelance Blogging the BCS Freeway-Flyer's Extravaganza!"

Aspiring citizen journalists: This is how it's done:

IDF Women

At Double Tapper:

And previously.

Well, I'm Gonna Find a Home...

Another feeling I'm having, and my wife too. From The Who (Who's Next):

ON WHEELS, see how it feels
Goin' mobile
Keep me movin'...

Simon Townshend, Pete's brother, toured with Roger Daltrey in 2009.

Palin's Endorsements Lay Base for a 2012 Run

At NYT:

If Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, decides to run for president in 2012, she will now have plenty of help.

In New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary in the nation, Ms. Palin can count on the support of its newly elected senator, Kelly Ayotte.

When the presidential campaign moves to South Carolina, the state’s new governor, Nikki Haley, will owe her one.

And out West, Susana Martinez, who will take office as New Mexico’s governor, will be ready to help during a potential general election matchup with President Obama as the two parties battle over the growing number of Hispanic voters in the Southwest.

Ms. Palin was not on any ballot. But the self-described “Mama Grizzly” had plenty at stake on Tuesday night as she sought to bolster her credentials as the Republican Party’s most powerful kingmaker and the voice of the newly empowered Tea Party movement.

Ms. Palin had endorsed dozens of candidates, including ones in some of the highest-profile races.

The result was a mixed record that included some spectacular losses — the Delaware and Nevada Senate races — but plenty of victories that Ms. Palin and her allies have already begun to point to as evidence of her political prowess and her ability to shape and direct the unwieldy frustration that is fueling American politics.

For Ms. Palin and a handful of other Republicans, Wednesday was not only a time to savor victory, but also a time to begin laying the groundwork for a bid to capture their party’s presidential nomination.

RELATED: "Corrupt Media Spins Gov. Palin's endorsements."

This Lonely View...

Thoughts on California coming up a bit later. Meanwhile, "Scar Tissue":

Scar tissue that I wish you saw
Sarcastic mister know it all
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you 'cause
With the birds I'll share

With the birds I'll share
This lonely view
With the birds I'll share
This lonely view

Push me up against the wall
Young Kentucky girl in a push-up bra
Fallin' all over myself
To lick your heart and taste your health 'cause
With the birds I'll share

With the birds (share) I'll share
This lonely view
With the birds (share) I'll share
This lonely view
With the birds (share) I'll share
This lonely view

Blood loss in a bathroom stall
Southern girl with a scarlet drawl
Wave good-bye to ma and pa 'cause
With the birds I'll share

With the birds (share) I'll share
This lonely view
With the birds (share) I'll share
This lonely view

Soft spoken with a broken jaw
Step outside but not to brawl
Autumn's sweet we call it fall
I'll make it to the moon if I have to crawl and

(I'm) With the birds(sharing) I'll share
(this lonely) This lonely view ...

Crushing Progressives

As expected, conservatives crushed the left on Tuesday (and for good reason). The indicators are everywhere: Republicans picked up 60 seats in the House, 6 seats in the Senate, a majority of governorships, and a whopping 680 seats in state legislatures across the country. The headline from this morning's New York Times really captures the scale of victory: "Decisive Gains at State Level Could Give Republicans a Boost for Years."

But in another indicator of just how brutally progressives got slammed Tuesday, it turns out that the far-left Progressive Change Campaign Committee put out a list of 95 progressive Democrats who pledged to back Net Neutrality --- legislation that would regulate Internet providers and perhaps open the door to leftist censorship of competing viewpoints. And while this may be some freaky quirk, every single one of those progressive Dems lost election: "95 Candidates Who Pledged Support For Net Neutrality Lost On Tuesday."

Adam Green is the co-founder of PCCC. Interviewed by MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell at the clip, Green offers the classic leftist talking point claiming the reason Dems got hammered is that they weren't socialist enough. And Red State has a post-election quote from Green making the case for a "bolder" Democrat agenda:

What’s left to say after this wipeout? - Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, says this: “Democrats lost because party leaders never truly fought for popular progressive reforms like the public option and breaking up the big banks, leaving voters uninspired to come to the polls and vote Democratic…. Progressives will be stepping up and insisting that the Democratic Party be bolder, not weaker. We will demand boldness, reward bold leaders, reject ‘leaders’ in name only, and hold Democratic politicians accountable when they don’t fight for popular, progressive change. In short, these next two years, progressives will push Democrats to fight strongly for popular progressive reforms — and save the Democratic Party from its own incredible weakness that savaged Democratic candidates in 2010.”

And again, listen carefully to Green at the clip above. He claims internal PCCC polling in 2009 had 80 percent of Dems, 70 percent of independents, and 50 percent --- that's right, 50 percent --- of conservatives backing the public option. Who knows? Who cares? To rely on some iffy poll sample from over a year ago to bolster the case of an even more progressive Democrat Party in the wake of the most epic electoral repudiation in decades is suicidal. This is all of a piece with the cognitive dissonance that's inflicted leftists since Tuesday. For example, at R.S. McCain, "Democrats in Denial." And George Will, "A Recoil Against Liberalism" (via Memeorandum).

And more of it at Daily Kos, "Rejecting Liberalism":

Ignore the pundits and remember the battles over the issues, including the battles that never happened. The voters didn't reject a liberal agenda because they didn't see a liberal agenda. Many wouldn't know what a liberal agenda looks like, because no one has bothered to show them one.

Hey, keep it up Kos-commies. That'll only pump up GOP chances even more heading into 2012. See, "Progressives Increase Their Power Over Obama."

Picture of the Day, 11-4-10

I picked up the New York Times this morning, at Starbucks, on the way to work. As she was handing back my change, the associate put her finger on President Obama's picture and said: "I like that." And today's a midterm exam day in my American government classes, so we won't analyze the results in class until next week. But I brought the newspaper to remind students of the importance of voting. Nothing sums up Tuesday's Democrat debacle like this:

And right under Obama's picture at the scan is the lead story, "Democrats Outrun by a 2-Year G.O.P. Comeback Plan" (at Memeorandum).

I'll have more that later.

Obama Cult Crashes in Blaze of Creepiness and Confusion

Mark Morford posted a simply pathetic essay this morning at the San Francisco Chronicle. How bad? Think of Frank Rich after a month-long drug-induced binge of Palin Derangement Syndrome, capped off with a smokin' Texas-Sized Tequila Tea-Party Chaser. Morford's piece is all-knowingly titled, "Letter to a Whiny Young Democrat." No need for a quotation (if you've read Frank Rich you've already got a handle on boilerplate left-wing teabag bashing). The eye-roller is that Morford is in no freakin' position to lecture the burnout-dropout youth cohort now copping a large share of the blame for Tuesday's Democrat debacle. No, Morford was one of the biggest Obama worshippers in 2008. He came under intense fire for penning a June 2008 essay literally elevating Barack Obama to God-like status: "Is Obama An Enlightened Being?" Folks may remember it. Morford's the one who popularized Obama as "The Lightworker."

He wasn't alone, by any means. I'm just rolling over here at Morford's hypocrisy (not to mention mendacity, unorginality, and so forth and so on). There's plenty of blame to go around --- the collapse of youth participation, the enthusiasm gap, the backlash against socialism, and Obama's epic failures themselves. But Morford's bogus tutorial to the Coachella Cohort falls freakin' flat. Democrat-Socialists had it coming. Hubris breeds humility, and the bill's come due. Here's another blast from the past, an all-hail comment at my first Pajamas Media essay in October 2008. My head hurts at the extreme creepiness:

2. Truth First

Very soon Barack Obama will be your new President. This is a reality you cannot alter or escape from. It is fact. It is history. It is justice for the world.

Many of you have seen the light and have accepted the truth. And we thank you for your support and aid in electing Barack Obama.

To those who have rejected the truth you have no reason to fear Barack Obama. He is wise and just and he will follow the principals followed by his African forefathers. Barack Obama is the son of Kings and Queens who started human civilization thousands of years ago. Barack Obama remembers his heritage and his obligations to the Truth, Justice and the Future.

Barack Obama understands what is wrong and what needs to be done. Barack Obama has intelligence and vision that has lasted for over a millennium. Barack Obama was born with the appropriate ways of thinking, speaking, and acting and this will inspire you to be liberated for now there is no shackle which can keep you enslaved.

An African Proverb tell us: “Then command the servant, thusly: Make an Elder’s staff causing my son to stand in my place I will instruct him through the speech of the listeners and the counsels of the first of the ancients who listened to the divinities. In so doing troubles will be removed from the people.”

Barck Obama is here now to listen, to instruct and will lead you to your new life.

America will have a new start. A change to right itself. A change to correct its wrongs and address its sins. If you support change that will bring forth social and economic justice, you will stand with Barack Obama. Those who have been denied justice in America will get justice. Those will have been denied opportunity will be given opportunity. Those will falsely imprisoned will be freed. Those who are guilty will be punished. America’s salvation is at hand.

Those who have profited in America will play a role helping others. Justice requires equality and fairness and those who have the means will now be fair and will contribute to equality.

Stand with Barack Obama and you will be honored you for your work, sacrifice, dedication and devotion on behalf of all oppressed peoples.

Stand with Barack Obama and you will be honored and celebrated and remembered in song and praise and by your children.

http://truthfirstnow.blogspot.com/

October 24, 2008 - 10:49 am...

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UPDATE: Blazing Catfur links: "Where’s your messiah now?"