Margaret Thatcher and the Jews

From Charles C. Johnson, at The Tablet, "Thatcher and the Jews":

When asked about her most meaningful accomplishment, Margaret Thatcher, now embodied by Meryl Streep in the biopic Iron Lady, did not typically mention serving in the British government, defeating the Argentine invasion of the Falkans, taming runaway inflation, or toppling the Soviet Union. The woman who reshaped British politics and served as prime minister from 1979 to 1990 often said that her greatest accomplishment was helping save a young Austrian girl from the Nazis.

In 1938, Edith Muhlbauer, a 17-year-old Jewish girl, wrote to Muriel Roberts, Edith’s pen pal and the future prime minister’s older sister, asking if the Roberts family might help her escape Hitler’s Austria. The Nazis had begun rounding up the first of Vienna’s Jews after the Anschluss, and Edith and her family worried she might be next. Alfred Roberts, Margaret and Muriel’s father, was a small-town grocer; the family had neither the time nor the money to take Edith in. So Margaret, then 12, and Muriel, 17, set about raising funds and persuading the local Rotary club to help.

Edith stayed with more than a dozen Rotary families, including the Robertses, for the next two years, until she could move to join relatives in South America. Edith bunked in Margaret’s room, and she left an impression. “She was 17, tall, beautiful, evidently from a well-to-do family,” Thatcher later wrote in her memoir. But most important, “[s]he told us what it was like to live as a Jew under an anti-Semitic regime. One thing Edith reported particularly stuck in my mind: The Jews, she said, were being made to scrub the streets.” For Thatcher, who believed in meaningful work, this was as much a waste as it was an outrage. Had the Roberts family not intervened, Edith recalled years later, “I would have stayed in Vienna and they would have killed me.” Thatcher never forgot the lesson: “Never hesitate to do whatever you can, for you may save a life,” she told audiences in 1995 after Edith had been located, alive and well, in Brazil.

Continue reading.

Israel 2012!

Via Theo Spark:

Happy New Year From Victoria's Secret Angels

Well, the first post of the year, in style:

And see also Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 Saturday," and The Daley Gator, "DaleyGator DaleyBabe Only one woman is beautiful enough to celebrate 1,000,000 hits!."

And more at American Perspective, "Alessandra Ambrosio - Rule 5," and Maggie's Notebook, "Rule 5 Saturday Night: Yesica Toscanini."

Plus, at Proof Positive, "Friday Night Babe: Melissa Adams!", and at Randy's Rountable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Heather Jo Hughes."

And even more at Reaganite, "Miss Albania 2011 is Xhesika Berberi."

BONUS: At Guns and Bikinis, "Swedish Babes, " and Theo Spark, "Saturday Totties..."

EXTRA: At Pirate's Cove, "If All You See...is a world flooded because government wouldn’t take action on (other) people, you might just be a Warmist."

Police, Firefighters Brace for Arson on New Year's Eve

At Los Angeles Times, "Police brace for more L.A. arson fires on New Year's Eve," and "L.A. Fire Department asks public's help to crack arson rampage."

And CNN has a report: "35 Southern California fires rock cities."

These are really horrendous, vicious attacks. The arsonists are torching cars as the "matchsticks" to set buildings ablaze. I'll be watching this story into the evening.

UPDATE: This could be the beginning of a new rash of arsons, "Firefighters respond to carport fire in Hollywood." And there's a report at the New York Times, "For Second Night, Vehicles Are Set Ablaze in Los Angeles Area."

10:35pm: At LAT, "Hundreds of police, firefighters battle renewed L.A. arson."

Leftists May Boost Ron Paul in Iowa

Well, no surprise there. Ron Paul's a progressive.

At Los Angeles Times, "Iowa's GOP caucuses may see some Democratic defectors":

 Adding an unpredictable element to the presidential contest in Iowa, some disaffected Democratic voters are planning to switch sides and cast Republican ballots in Tuesday's caucuses.

Caucus rules limit participation to registered party members. But anyone who shows up at a Republican caucus — including Democrats, independents and libertarians — can join the GOP or switch their party affiliation on the spot.

Rep. Ron Paul, in a tight race for first place in Iowa with Mitt Romney, is perhaps the most likely to benefit from Democratic crossovers. His campaign is distributing information sheets advising Iowans that they can register Republican "for a day" on caucus night, then switch their registration back afterward if they want.

"It's easy. You can register on your way in the door," David Fischer, co-chairman of Paul's Iowa organization, told voters Thursday at a campaign stop in Atlantic.

Yeah, and a few Iowa occupiers might go out and caucus for Ron Paul.

Freakin' losers.

Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III and Progressive Evil: Denial of Israel-Hatred Enables Exterminationist Anti-Semitism

Okay, here's a year-end review on my deranged stalker, racist hate-blogger Walter James Casper III --- with a special focus on Repsac3's endorsement of elminationist Jew-hatred and anti-Israel demonization. I've been spotlighting Casper's support for Occupy Wall Street as a window to pure evil and diabolical opposition to truth and justice in the world. Casper is the epitome of hate-addled progressive ideology, where up is down and wrong is right. And I know the coverage on this has been a bit much, and I apologize, but it's important to expose the program of someone who has made it his life's goal to destroy his ideological opponents. And it's especially important to expose the deception, for racist Walter James Casper is most dangerous in his campaign of lies and subversion.

Racist Walter James Casper III has written a series of whiny butthurt posts weaselly attempting to deny his endorsement of the hate. Recall, of course, the fact that Walter James Casper endorsed Occupy Wall Street in a Twitter exhortation, "Occupy wherever you are."

Yet as we all know, the evidence of Occupy Wall Street's hatred of Israel and the Jews is everywhere. Jonathan Neumann wrote a devastating indictment at Commentary, which left racist Walter James Casper in a fit of apoplexy and rage. See: "Occupy Wall Street and the Jews."

Readers can Google Casper's Jew-hating stalker blog at "American Nihilist." In response to being pinned down like an Nazi camp guard, Walter James Casper writes:

According to ... Donald Douglas, it's irrelevant that one has never spoken ill of Jewish people. All it takes to be a Jew-hating anti-Semite is to endorse a movement at which a few individuals -- either members of the general public, or in a few cases, longer term activists -- have said some pretty horrible things about Jews. Your own words and actions are not what matter; if one member of your group says or does something shameful, every member of your group is responsible for those shameful words or deeds.

I have to shake my head at this, for the denial here is by definition a clinical condition. But to reiterate, Walter James Casper is lying. To keep up a wicked facade holding that Occupy is some wonderful movement full of hope and beauty, racist Walter James Casper must spew lies about how it's just a "few individuals" who are fomenting hate. But truth is difficult to face when your whole ideological program is based on hatred, demonization, intimidation, and harassment. Towards the conclusion of his Commentary essay, after laying out example after example of vile Jew hatred within the Occupy program, Jonathan Neumann writes:

These do not begin to exhaust the extent or foulness of the sentiments toward Jews and Israel that emanated from the Occupy protests—sentiments so extreme as to compel even Michael Lerner, editor of the left-wing magazine Tikkun, to share his ‘‘distress at the hatred toward Israel and/or toward Jews’’ on display in Oakland.

Racist Walter James Casper cannot argue away the facts, so he denies them. This tendency is in fact a clinical pathology, as Dr. Pat Santy has indicated:

Denial can make otherwise intelligent individuals/groups/nations behave in a stupid or clueless manner, because they are too threatened by the Truth and are unable to process what is perfectly apparent to everyone. People who live in this Wonderful World go through their daily lives secure in the knowledge that their self-image is protected against any information, feelings, or awareness that might make them have to change their view of the world. Nothing--and I mean NOTHING--not facts, not observable behavior; not the use of reason or logic; or their own senses will make an individual in denial reevaluate that world view. All events will simply be reinterpreted to fit into the belief system of that world -- no matter how ridiculous, how distorted, or how psychotic that reinterpretation appears to others. Consistency, common sense, reality, and objective truth are unimportant and are easily discarded--as long as the world view remains intact.

It is, of course, "perfectly apparent to everyone" that Occupy Wall Street pushes a program predicated on hatred of Jews. And so for the epic hate merchant Walter James Caspser, he must distort reality to shoehorn into a deranged and hateful ideological belief system, progressivism.

Last night I posted on the comment boards from the Occupy Wall Street homepage: "Occupy Wall Street: 'F**k Israel'." As is often the case, the administrators post a disclaimer that such views are "not official" --- and one can see why. When your core constituency exhibits a fanatical hatred of Israel you'd want to post as many disclaimers as possible. But those who were on hand in Zuccotti documented the hate for all to see, and to deny this hate is to evince a clinical refusal to denounce evil. Here's Urban Infidel, who covered Occupy Wall Street on the ground in New York City:

I went back to Zucotti Square yesterday because David Crosby and Graham Nash were going to perform and since I had the afternoon free I figured I'd head down to check out the absurd scenery. I missed the show but found something else: the Left's total hatred of Israel and probably Jews. Now, it's never been a secret but to see it openly and unchecked on full display was disturbing.

And it should be disturbing. That kind of rampant hatred is unnatural. But Walter James Casper is down with it. He endorsed it and when called out he's twisted himself into pretzels of lies and distortions to avoid his responsibility.

Photo-journalist El Marco traveled to New York in November and published an epic report. Included is coverage of the progressive Jew hatred documented by Urban Infidel and so many others. Here's El Marco's description of what's going on at the picture below:

A gay, Jewish civil servant, on left, reacts in horror to the comments of this sign-carrying radical Israel-hating non-Jewish Jew. The man with the sign supports Hamas and other Jewicidal groups, and I also photographed him surrounded by muslim men and women who were delighted by his anti-Israel exhortations.

I can already hear racist Repsac's desperate bleats of denial. But the truth hurts. And we fight the left's lies because they facilitate extreminationism.

To continue, here's the statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, "The “Occupy Movement” Must Repudiate the Anti-Semites in Their Ranks":

With a big and sustained boost from the Media, the Occupy Wall Street Movement has gone global. Beyond Los Angeles’ sustained presence outside of City Hall, the anger and angst is being heard in over a hundred cities, with protesters as far away as Italy and Japan adding their disaffected voices.

Unfortunately, the hateful fringe of the Movement is now also coast-to-coast, though you might not know it from the mainstream media. Today’s hate propaganda from the New York protests has gone viral. This includes placards identifying “Wall Street Jews” as “Hitler’s Bankers,” and angry shouts of “Kill/Screw Google Jews.” According to anecdotal evidence, the conspiracy banter that the 9/11 attacks were a U.S. government and/or Israeli plot is also popular among some protestors....

For almost 200 years, blaming the world’s economic woes on the Rothschilds or Wall Street or Jewish bankers has been “the socialism of fools”—and mother’s milk of every demagogue from Hitler to Henry Ford to the Internet bloggers who still insist that Goldman Sachs’s secret Zionist high-command cunningly engineered the 2008 global financial collapse. Of course, toxic hate is not the motivator of most protestors, many of whom are suffering from orsincerely concerned about real economic hardship. Yet history shows the danger of lunatic fringe ideas spreading from the periphery to the center of a tumultuous movement. And it’s not just anti-Semitism. Americans on all sides of the economic/political divide should be concerned about a New York Magazine poll showing that 34 percent of protestors already consider the U.S. government as bad as Al Qaeda.

The Tea Party, when it emerged in 2009, also attracted its own extremist fringe, as a hyper-vigilant national media was correct to quickly expose. Some of the Tea Party fringe equated Obama with Hitler and claimed that the first African American president was a Manchurian candidate with a phony birth certificate. Yet the Tea Party Movement eventually produced grassroots leaders who denounced such nonsense and repeatedly disavowed racism and racists. Though not everyone was convinced by the Tea Party’s disavowals of prejudice, millions of decent Americans who weren’t bigots voted in the 2010 elections to support the complaints and goals of the movement.

The Occupy Wall Streeters and LA’s City Hall crowd have won accolades for marrying new social network technology to bohemian garb. Its pungent invocation of 1960s hippiedom—”God Forbid We Have Sex ‘N Smoke Pot. They Want Us to Grab Guns ‘N Go to War!”—also strikes a nostalgic chord among some grey-haired pinstripers. But street theater is no substitute for the serious work of building a mass movement that can really change society for the good. America’s “Occupy Crowd” crowd likes to compare itself to Tahrir Square and the Arab Spring Movement that toppled a geriatric dictator. Alas, that Movement has largely collapsed—as Egypt slides toward political chaos or Islamic dictatorship—in part because young Egyptian protesters never learned how to move beyond demonstrating and tweeting to become a constructive social force.

If the Occupy Wall Streeters really want their movement to achieve mainstream credibility and clout, they should begin by policing their own ranks. Organizing the public sanitation in their own encampments is a start, but social and political civility must also prevail. The Occupy Movement’s leaders in LA as well as New York need to disown the purveyors of hate within their ranks. They must pull the plug on the bigots amongst them who view the slogan of fighting the detested “1 percent of fat cats” as their opportunity to mainstream the hatred of Jews.

Unfortunately, it's doubtful we'll ever see "policing the ranks." We won't see Occupy "pull the plug on the bigots" because the bigots are running the show. Yid With Lid wrote a magisterial essay in October, "The Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Origins of Occupy Wall Street Are Ignored by the Media." Take a few minutes to read the whole thing. It's a crushing investigation of the essential organizing hatred of Occupy Wall Street, and the essay concludes:

Over the past month there have been many comparisons between the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Here is one comparison that the Mainstream Media will not make. The MSM worked very hard to brand the Tea Party Movement as Racist, but it wasn't. They are working just as hard to ignore the blatant Antisemitism and libelous demonization of Israel coming out of the Occupy Wall Street protests, and they are.

It is not just a few nuts within the Occupy Wall Street Movement who are bashing Israel and Jews, it is the leadership and founders, yet our President and the rest of the Democratic Party are practically tripping over their underwear in a rush to embrace these haters.

Yes, they are tipping over backward not only to "embrace these haters," but to deny that the hate is central to the movement. Ben Shapiro also wrote on this. See "The Anti-Semites of Occupy Wall Street." Like the Wiesenthal Center, Shapiro acknowledges the fringe elements, but indicates how anti-Jewish hatred is the animating ideological orientation of the global left:

Europe is a leftist continent – of that there can be little doubt.  Yet anti-Semitism runs rampant through it.  Socialist Spain leads the way in anti-Semitic polling, but countries like France and Austria aren’t far behind.  Britain’s anti-Israel policy is cover for anti-Semitism; Germany’s post-World War II history of stamping out anti-Semitism is beginning to fade into the past.  Crimes against Jews are up across Europe.

In the United States, the left is just as anti-Semitic, if less violent.  Their anti-Zionist rhetoric is certainly a cover for anti-Semitism, since Zionism stands merely for the principle that Jews deserve a state.  The left has no problem with anyone else having a state – Palestinian, Kurd, Tibetan.  When it comes to the Jews, however, they find it respectable to reject out of hand their right to a self-governing homeland.  Opposing specific policies of the Israeli government is not anti-Semitic.  Opposing Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is.

The focus on Zionism at the OWS rallies is odd, to say the least.  Why should a foreign state located some 5700 miles from New York have any part in the discussion about America’s economy?  The answer is simple at root: the hard left still buys into the discredited notions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, in which Jews supposedly plotted the takeover of the world economy.  Zionism, in this twisted vision, is the wellspring of that control – Jerusalem is supposedly the capital of the Jew/banker conspiracy.  That sick notion pervades the rhetoric of the OWS rallies.  Says one OWS rallier in Los Angeles, “I think the Zionist Jews who are running these big banks and our Federal Reserve … need to be run out of this country.”  Says another in Chicago, “Israel is beginning to be seen as the criminal pariah state that it is.”

This nasty thought pattern unites both the nationalist and the internationalist hard left.  The nationalist hard left – i.e. neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups, as well as many nationalist groups in Europe – see Israel as a façade for a globalist Jewish regime seeking to bring “blood-sucking” capitalism to prominence.  The internationalist hard left – i.e. OWS and its ilk – see Israel as the last vestige of discredited nationalism, and Wall Street as its colonialist branch in the United States.

If OWS wants to be taken seriously as a movement, its members need to root out the anti-Semitism from their midst.  Then again, that rooting out process may not be possible because of how close the cancer of anti-Semitism is to the heart of the movement.  If that is the case, every responsible politician has the responsibility to disassociate from OWS.  Somehow, in the case of the Obama administration, that seems unlikely, no matter how outrageous the Jew-hatred gets at OWS.

I have highlighted in bold italics that key line just above. Anti-Semitism is at the "heart of the movement."

Occupy Wall Street has pledged for 2012 an "American Spring" to bring about a revolution in the United States. It goes without saying that the "cancer of anti-Semitism" that is at "the heart of the movement" will be everywhere in evidence as the next round of protests kick off.

So, I'll close with a link to Phyllis Chesler, "An Open Letter to the 'Good Liberal' Who Ignored Occupy Wall Street's Jew Hatred." Chesler is discussing how global Jew-hatred consitutues a threat to Western civilization. And she places Occupy Wall Street smack dab, front and center, at the forefront of that program of exterminationism.

And how will Walter James Casper respond?

He'll attack Phyllis Chesler as a "bigot". He'll attack her for making "generalizations" that amount to "bigotry.' Walter James Casper will attack Ben Shapiro as a "bigot" for pointing out that Jew-hatred is the heart of Occupy Wall Street. Walter James Casper will attack Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Dr. Harold Brackman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center as "bigots" for calling out Occupy Wall Street for its toxic anti-Jewish propaganda and hatred. Walter James Casper will attack Yid With Lid as a "bigot" for exposing the top leadership of Occupy Wall Street as a raving band of Jew-hating extremists. Walter James Casper will demonize El Marco and the Urban Infidel as "bigots" for their first hand reporting on the hate at Zuccotti Park. Walter James Casper will attack Dr. Pat Santy as a "bigoted" hack for highlighting the progressive pathology of hate-based ideological denialism. And Walter James Casper will attack Jonathan Neumann of Commentary as a "bigot" for writing an essay document a nationwide movement based on eliminationist anti-Semitism.

That's right.

Walter James Casper has written an entire post attacking people for highlighting the hate. Racist Repsac3 claims, for example, "As I've said before, these kind of sweeping generalizations about whole groups of people are what lead to stereotypes and bigotry." And he continues, "When one decides to believe -- and worse propagate ... the idea that seeing a statistically small number of _______ people acting a certain way means that MOST or ALL _______ people act that way, that's bigotry."

So, all of us speaking out against the hate are "bigots" It's not the Occupiers calling for the end of Israel who are "bigots." It's the people of good will, my friends and allies cited here at the post, who are the "bigots." So, see what I mean about up is down and wrong is right? Behold true evil. It's just plain evil. And I know, to repeat, it's astonishing that one can deny the hatred that's at base of an entire movement, and it's even more astonishing to attack people as "bigots" for bringing the truth to the light of day.

But I guess you have to see it to believe it. Folks can Google Walter James Casper's hate blog "American Nihilist." I'm not linking. I long ago stopped linking that vile hate dump and attack portal.

Again, my apologies for my extra attention on these matters. But it's warranted. Walter James Casper's blog is a key repository of progressive hate and it's a documented launchpad against good and decency in the world. I will continue to highlight the deeds of the criminal stalking hate-blogger Walter James Casper III. It needs to be done. And it will be done, for the good of decency and right.

FishBowlDC's Bizarre Obsession With Michelle Fields

Michelle Fields thanked me the other day for my review of her C-SPAN interview, and then FishBowl DC launched another attack on her, with some jibes for her supporters, including Yours Truly: "Another Day, Another Round of Sycophantic Love for Michelle Fields."

These people are not only freaks, but they don't understand the significance of new media. But see Dan Riehl's smackdown, "FishBowlDC’s Peter Ogburn’s Sexist Attacks On Michelle Fields."

Restore Our Future Attack Ads Harm Gingrich in Iowa

At New York Times, "Group’s Ads Rip at Gingrich as Romney Stands Clear":

DES MOINES — The attacks began three weeks ago and have not let up since: Television ad after television ad slamming Newt Gingrich for having “more baggage than the airlines,” for being fined by Congress for ethics violations, for his position on illegal immigration, even for admitting that he has made mistakes on the campaign trail.

Democrats and Republicans alike have singled out the $2.8 million-and-counting air deluge as the biggest factor in Mr. Gingrich’s precipitous drop in polls of Iowa voters and Mitt Romney’s corresponding rise, reshaping the critical first contest of the Republican primary season to Mr. Romney’s benefit.

The ads, which continue to blanket Iowa days before the caucuses here, were created and paid for by people with deep knowledge of the Romney campaign’s strategic thinking, close relationships with Mr. Romney’s most generous donors, and even research on what television viewers like and dislike most about Mr. Romney himself.

Yet neither Mr. Romney nor his staff has had to lift a finger or spend a dollar to make it happen. In a stark illustration of how last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance has created powerful new channels for outside money to influence elections, the negative onslaught is the work of a group called Restore Our Future.

The most prominent of the “super PACs,” which can accept unlimited donations for purposes of supporting or attacking candidates, it operates independently of the Romney campaign but under the direction of former Romney aides who do not need to be told what the candidate needs.

Romney seems to really have the momentum. Ron Paul's still up in Iowa, but he won't go far after that. It's quite the opposite for Romney, of course. New Hampshire's voting January 10th and by that time some of the other candidates could be quitting the race.

Cal State University Okays Anti-Semitism

Bruce Kesler has published a piece at City Journal, "Cal State’s Chutzpah."

And here's the blog entry at Maggie's Farm, "Kesler in City Journal: Hypocritical CalState OKs Anti-Semitism."

Kesler hammers CSU's hypocrisy on Cal State Northridge Professor David Klein, a murderous anti-Israel eliminationist who maintains a hate site hosted on CSUN's server: "Boycott Israel Resource Page."

And here's Bruce at the essay:

Yet no one within the CSUN community has condemned Klein, and his webpage remains active—though it clearly violates university policies, which state that “use of computers, networks, and computing facilities for activities other than academic purposes or University business is not permitted.” The university also prohibits associating its name with boycotts and other politically motivated activity. CSUN further retains the right to remove “any defamatory, offensive, infringing, or illegal materials” from its website at any time.

RTWT.

I can guarantee you that if a conservative had done something like that and progressives complained, that web site would be down the memory hole faster than you can say Young & Hung.

Occupy Wall Street: 'F**k Israel'

A crushing follow-up to "Racist Walter James Casper III Doubles-Down on Endorsement of Revolutionary Anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street."

Here's the Google link to search Occupy Wall Street's anti-Israel commentary. It turns out that some guy back in November posts "F**k Israel" at the OWS forums and it's still up, and he writes some sample hate commentary and concludes: "Now its been said, so trolls go away, OWS hates Israel and loves Palestine." And it's not like the admins don't delete threads. This anti-Semitic troofer post was taken down at the click through: "Forum Post: Dr. Alan Sabrosky: Israel behind 9/11 | OccupyWallSt.org."

I clicked over a dozen of those links and it's almost all vile anti-Jewish hatred, and that's the tip of the iceberg. These aren't some fringe kooks. This is the essential constituency of Occupy Wall Street. It's a movement of hate. I can hardly wait for "#Occupy AIPAC." They'll be all singing the Horst Wessel Song, for sure.

PREVIOUSLY: "Occupy Wall Street and the Jews."

Newt Gingrich Cries in Iowa

See Los Angeles Times, "Newt Gingrich tears up talking about his mother":

Reporting from Des Moines— With his presidential campaign drifting out of contention, Newt Gingrich veered from his typically brash, boastful personality on the campaign trail Friday, choking up in front of a group of moms when he recalled his mother, Kit, who died in 2003.

"I identify my mother with being happy, loving life, having a sense of joy in her friends," Gingrich said when moderator Frank Luntz asked him to recall a moment with his mom. At the end of her life, Gingrich said, his mother lived in a long-term care facility, which helped him understand and become interested in brain science.

He frequently tells voters here that he recently gave a lecture on brain science at the University of Iowa.

"She had bipolar disease and depression, and she gradually acquired some physical ailments, and that introduced me to the whole issue of quality long-term care … and that introduced me to the issue of Alzheimer's," said Gingrich, who chatted with the founder of a popular website for mothers at Java Joe's coffeehouse here.

See also, "Mitt Romney: 'I won't cry'."

Well, someone asked Romney if he was gonna cry, but see William Jacobson, "Hey, let’s make fun of Newt crying about his deceased mother." Also at Memeorandum.

Republicans Risk Throwing It All Away in 2012

I don't think so, but see The Economist, "The right Republican":

 IN JANUARY the battle to become the world’s most powerful person begins—with small groups of Iowans “caucusing” to choose a Republican nominee for the White House. It is a great opportunity for them. Barack Obama is clearly beatable. No president since Franklin Roosevelt has been re-elected with unemployment as high as it is now; Mr Obama’s approval rating, which tends to translate accurately into vote-share, is down in the mid-40s. Swing states like Florida, Ohio and even Pennsylvania look well within the Republicans’ grasp.

Yet recent polls show the president leading all his rivals: an average of two points ahead of Mitt Romney, eight points over Ron Paul and nine points over Newt Gingrich, according to RealClearPolitics.com. No doubt some rather flawed personalities play a part in that; but so does the notion that something has gone badly wrong with the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Rather than answering the call for a credible right-of-centre, pro-business party to provide independents, including this newspaper, with a choice in November, it is saddling its candidate with a set of ideas that are cranky, extreme and backward-looking.

That matters far beyond this election—and indeed America’s shores. Across the West nations are struggling to reform government. At their best the Republicans have combined a muscular foreign policy with sound economics, individualism and entrepreneurial pragmatism. It is in everybody’s interests that they become champions of such policies again. That is not impossible, but there is a lot of catching up to do.

I subscribed to The Economist when I was in graduate school. I always thought it was head and shoulders above the other newsweeklies. It's expensive, and I quit the magazine, but now I doubt I'd go back as a regular hard copy subscriber. The magazine's way more leftist than they used to be. But continue reading, in any case.

Brian Lilley: Occupy Wall Street 'Goal Was Always Socialism'

Sun TV's Brian Lilley corrects Jacqui Delaney, who repeats the initial criticism of #OWS as without a systematic program.

Lilley says, actually, "their goal was always socialism" (at about 2:50 minutes, via Blazing Cat Fur):

PREVIOUSLY: "Manifesto: Occupy for the Revolution."

Oops! Four Charged With Arson at Occupy Charlotte Flag Burning

Yeah, and one of those accused was the press spokesman for Occupy Charlotte:

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Four protesters, including the spokesman of Occupy Charlotte, were charged after setting fire to two American flags early Friday near the Occupy camp in Center City, police said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police weren't sure earlier if the four men who set fire to two flags were associated with the Occupy Charlotte movement.

But, WBTV has learned that one of the men is the media spokesman for the Occupy group and has been the contact person listed on press releases from Occupy Charlotte.

These idiots basically destroyed their encampment. See: "Occupy Charlotte turmoil after 4 accused of burning U.S. flag." There's video at the link featuring an additional organizer, who's freakin' at the public relations nightmare. Because, you know, these four were no doubt just fringe transients who came out of nowhere.

#OccupyFail.

Also at Ironic Surrealism, "American Flag Burning #OccupyCharlotte Protesters Arrested For Arson."

PREVIOUSLY: "Oops! Las Vegas Occupy Hoists Palestinian Flag — Racist Water James Casper III Hardest Hit!"

Bare Naked Islam is Back Up

See Atlas Shrugs, "BARE NAKED ISLAM IS BACK ...FOR NOW," and Instapundit, "A WORDPRESS / BARENAKED ISLAM UPDATE..."

And at BNI, "Bare Naked Islam is back……sort of."

Plus, "Thanks, Meghan, the more you Muslim apologists trash LOWE’S, the more business they get from real Americans. Keep it up!"

Katrina vanden Heuvel is the added bonus. Oh, the horrible bigotry! (Scroll forward to 2:00 minutes.)

Radical Leftist Norman Lear Claims American Dream is 'Born Again' in Occupy Wall Street

I'd swear this guy's off his rocker, but he's a radical extremist, so no surprise.

At Los Angeles Times, "Norman Lear on fighting the good fight" (at Memeorandum):

I was recently shown a picture from one of the Occupy protests taking place across the country. It featured a young woman surrounded by police. She was the only protester in the picture, but she didn't seem intimidated. All by herself, up against the police barricade, she held a handwritten sign saying simply "I am a born again American."

I've never met this woman, but I think I know exactly what she's feeling.

I had my first "born again American" moment 30 years ago, when I was moved to outrage and action by a group of hate-preaching televangelists who were trying to claim sole ownership of patriotism, faith and flag for the far right. One of them asked his viewing congregation to pray for the removal of a Supreme Court justice.

I did what I knew how to do and produced a 60-second TV spot. It featured a factory worker whose family members, all Christians, held an array of political beliefs. He didn't believe that anyone, not even a minister, had a right to judge whether people were good or bad Christians based on their political views. "That's not the American way," he wound up saying. I ran it on local TV, and it was picked up by the networks. People For the American Way grew out of the overwhelming response to that ad.

One of the most encouraging things to happen in 2011 was the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which is giving the entire country the chance for a "born again American" moment. In calling attention to the country's widening chasm between rich and poor, the Occupiers have unleashed decades of pent-up patriotic outrage against the systematic violation of our nation's core principles by the "say good-bye to the middle class" alliance of the neocons, theocons and corporate America.

Jeez, a true believer --- in an extremist anti-America, Jew-hating movement.

The New Editor comments on Lear's op-ed, indicating that, "Frankly, not much in Lear's piece is all that new or interesting, except perhaps for the continued hypocrisy and demagoguery."

Word.

And it turns out that Lear was the chief organizer for the pro-terror anti-war front group United For Peace and Justice, whose  former chairman was Leslie Cagan, "a committed communist who aligns her politics with those of the longtime Cuban dictator Fidel Castro."

Wow, what an awesome endorsement for Occupy Wall Street!

The guy's a freak and Occupy's an abomination.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Sixty-Three Years and Counting: Israeli Defense Forces Wish You a Happy New Year

I love this video.

Via Legal Insurrection, "New Year’s Greetings from the IDF."

I was joking to William at LI that the IDF video was also a Rule 5 for the gals and guys. And that reminded me that Dana Pico's launching a babe blogging initiative: "Our venture into Rule 5 blogging."

'Tis the Season to Be Jolly

LATMA.tv, via Atlas Shrugs, and it's a riot:

Michele Bachmann's Damage Control

Actually, I believe her. Her top staffer went for the payout, but with the way things are shaken out for her in Iowa, people had a lot of incentive to jump ship. And politicos lie about stuff, so what can you do?

At Washington Post, "Michele Bachmann's Campaign Flameout":

DES MOINES — The rise and fall of Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) may well stand as an allegory of the most turbulent GOP presidential primary in memory, one whose latest turn has been bitter and bizarre.

With just days to go before the Iowa caucuses, where a poor finish would almost certainly mean the end of Bachmann’s presidential hopes, the candidate who only months ago led the field here is being all but counted out.

A CNN/Time poll released Wednesday showed her running last among the six serious contenders in Iowa, garnering support from only 9 percent of likely caucusgoers surveyed.

Her story line went from poignant to poisonous on Wednesday night. Bachmann’s own Iowa chairman, state Sen. Kent Sorenson — who just hours earlier had appeared with her at a campaign event — suddenly turned up onstage at a rally for Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) and announced that he was ditching her.

She fired back with an accusation that Sorenson “personally told me he was offered a large sum of money to go to work for the Paul campaign.”

Then came another twist: Wes Enos, Bachmann’s political director, contradicted his candidate, saying in a statement that Sorenson’s switch “was in no way financially motivated.”

Sorenson issued a statement saying that he “was never offered money from the Ron Paul campaign or anyone associated with them and certainly would never accept any.”

That Bachmann’s once-promising endeavor should end up in such a surreal place speaks to the larger forces that have defined the primary contest.

More at that top link.

Also at Des Moines Register, "Bachmann reasserts that defector was paid."

And more at Memeorandum.

Girl Scouts Get Lesson in Media Bias

At Fox News:

And at Wizbang, "The co-opting of the Girl Scouts can now be considered complete."

Los Angeles Times Covers Organizing for America's 'Baloney' Map to Reelection

And they even quote campaign manager Jim Messina with the "bullsh*t" billion dollars line.

See: "Team Obama lays out electoral map strategy."

And click through for the video: "Obama for America Official Says 'Billion Dollar Campaign' is Baloney."

Mark Steyn Talks to Ambassador John Bolton on Hannity's Show

Via Blazing Cat Fur:

Occupy Wherever You Are! NYPD Arrests 50 Protesters Attempting to Seize Church Lot for New Encampment

The video's at the Occupy Wall Street page: "Take Back the Commons!"

And see The Blaze, "'Occupy Clergy' Lead Invasion of Church-Owned Land to Kick Off Re-Occupation."

Notice at both the video and at The Blaze, Occupy protesters are outfitted with Arafat-style keffiyehs, freakin' terrorist asshats.

It's all about "occupying wherever you are," at home and internationally. See: "Occupy Wall Street Embodies the Soul-Crushing Stagnation of the Status Quo." And: "Racist Walter James Casper III Doubles-Down on Endorsement of Revolutionary Anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street."

Murderous bastards.

Third World Socialists Cheer Occupy Wall Street

There's more of that global communist solidarity we've been talkin' about.

At Weasel Zippers, "Occupy Wall Street Gets Big “Up Twinkles” From Third World Socialist Revolutionaries…"

PREVIOUSLY: "Occupy Wall Street Embodies the Soul-Crushing Stagnation of the Status Quo," and "Racist Walter James Casper III Doubles-Down on Endorsement of Revolutionary Anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street."


PHOTO CREDIT: Looking at the Left, "Zuccotti Utopia: Portraits of The New Revolutionaries."

Oops! Las Vegas Occupy Hoists Palestinian Flag — Racist Walter James Casper III Hardest Hit!

Well, another inconvenient fact for the deranged Occupy backer.

At Marathon Pundit, "Occupy Las Vegas Obamaville and Its Palestinian Flag."

What's this? The Gaza Strip?

No, it's the west entrance of Occupy Las Vegas, what its occupiers like to call Area 99. Where they are camped is an old parking that was adjacent to a building that probably was torn down to make way for something that would be bigger and better--prior to the start of the Great Recession--which has hit Vegas hard. But the Palestinian cause has nothing to do with our economic struggles.

Here's an ugly fact: There is a persistent strain of anti-Semitism within the Occupy Wall Street movement...

And notice the language there: An "ugly fact." Not an "ugly opinion." Or an "ugly fringe kook." Nope. The persistent, deep-seated strain of the Occupy Wall Street movement is hatred of Israel. It's everywhere. (Or, "occupy wherever you are," like the Jewish state.)

And following the links take us to Atlas Shrugs, "More Anti-Semitism from Obama-Endorsed #OccupyChicago."

Right.

And that's "More Anti-Semitism from Walter James Casper III-Endorsed #Occupy-Chicago." See: "Racist Walter James Casper III Doubles-Down on Endorsement of Revolutionary Anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street."

When you hoist the Palestinian flag it's an incitement to terrorism against Israelis. That's what that these murderous people are all about.

RELATED: "Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh Calls for Expulsion of Israel from 'Blessed Land of Palestine'."

Previously: "Occupy Wall Street Embodies the Soul-Crushing Stagnation of the Status Quo"; "Occupy Wall Street and the Jews"; "Christmas Smear: MSNBC Hack Ed Schultz Slurs Tea Partiers as 'Sewer Rats' — Assploding Hypocrite W. James Casper HardestHit!"; and "Manifesto: Occupy for the Revolution."

Heightened Attention to Santorum in Iowa

At Telegraph UK, "Santorum surges as candidates campaign in Iowa."

And from Nate Silver, at New York Times, "The Santorum Surge In Iowa and Beyond" (via Memeorandum).

Silver's got a big old model based on a "momentum bonus" and good timing, but others have been saying that Santorum's ill prepared to compete beyond Iowa, lacking organization in particular.

Robert Stacy McCain sure likes him though. See, "IOWA NOTEBOOK: Occupy Caucuses?"

See more at The Hill, "Top Santorum supporter says he can win Iowa caucus."

Tides Foundation Bankrolling Anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street

A couple of earlier reports, from Reuters, "Who's behind the Wall Street Protests?," and Aaron Klein, "Look who’s behind Occupy Jew-hating. Latest astonishing claim: Protests represent Torah."

And here's the warning from the ADL, which is not the most aggressive Israel advocacy group when it comes to calling out the radical left: "Anti-Israel Groups Attempt to Co-Opt Occupy Wall Street Message." 

PREVIOUSLY: "Documenting Anti-Semitism at Adbusters, Leading Backer of 'Occupy Wall Street'."

More: "Occupy Wall Street Embodies the Soul-Crushing Stagnation of the Status Quo," and "Racist Walter James Casper III Doubles-Down on Endorsement of Revolutionary Anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street."

See also: "Occupy Wall Street and the Jews"; "Christmas Smear: MSNBC Hack Ed Schultz Slurs Tea Partiers as 'Sewer Rats' — Assploding Hypocrite W. James Casper HardestHit!"; and "Manifesto: Occupy for the Revolution."

Nearly 60 Percent of 'Liberal Democrats' Have 'Positive' View of Socialism

That's one of the more interesting findings at the new Pew Report, "Little Change in Public's Response to 'Capitalism,' 'Socialism'."

The "liberal Democrats" --- these are the progressive radicals at the base of the Democrat-Socialist Party --- are almost twice as likely as all respondents to have a "positive" view of socialism. A strong majority of 59 percent of liberal Democrats said they held a positive view of socialism, whereas 31 percent at the entire poll held a positive view of the Marxist ideological program. Also interesting is the finding that 76 percent of liberal Democrats prefer the term "progressive" to "liberal" (68 percent positive). "Progressive" also generates a more positive reaction from Independents and Republicans, which explains why radical leftists have adopted the "progressive" moniker. After decades of failed "liberal" programs it's no wonder that radicals would try to dress up their morally bankrupt ideology with more popular terminology.

In any case, Gateway Pundit sums up the public's rejection of the murderous ideology: "Despite Obama-Endorsed #OWS Protests 60% of Americans Still Reject Socialism."

PREVIOUSLY: "Racist Walter James Casper III Doubles-Down on Endorsement of Revolutionary Anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street," and "Occupy Wall Street Embodies the Soul-Crushing Stagnation of the Status Quo."

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh Calls for Expulsion of Israel from 'Blessed Land of Palestine'

Via Theo Spark:

The Hamas Prime Minister exhorted:

"We say today, explicitly, so it cannot be explained otherwise, that the armed resistance and the armed struggle are the path and the strategic choice for liberating the Palestinian land, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river, and for the expulsion of the invaders and usurpers [Israel] from the blessed land of Palestine. The Hamas movement will lead Intifada after Intifada until we liberate Palestine - all of Palestine, Allah willing. Allah Akbar and praise Allah.

Also, at Jerusalem Post, "'Arab world must stop Israel's Judaization of J'lem'."

Well, the genocide's gotta start somewhere, I guess.

Hamas-Tied Unindicted Co-Conspirator CAIR Launches TOS Attack on Wordpress-Hosted Bare Naked Islam

TOS is terms of service.

It turns out the Hamas-linked Council on American Islamic Relations launched a successful campaign to have Wordpress censor Bare Naked Islam as a "hate site." See Blazing Cat Fur, "BarenakedIslam will rise again..."

Here's the CAIR press release: "Anti-Muslim Hate Site Removed After CAIR's Intervention."

The group alleges that Bare Naked Islam threatened Muslims, and CAIR apparently moved aggressively against the blog for its leading role in attacking TLC's program "All American Muslim."

I didn't blog about that controversy because it wasn't a controversy. Yeah, the press is stupidly mainstreaming the "religion of peace," but if folks opposed the program they didn't have to watch it. CAIR, on the other hand, campaigns to shut down dissenting voices critical of Islam. You don't have a marketplace of ideas if powerful grievance-industry lobbying groups can shut you down with persistent complaints. That's the progressive modus operandi, and it's reprehensible and anti-American --- which is why neo-commies and Jew-bashers are down with it.

UPDATE: This story's going viral.

See Astute Bloggers, "TIME TO BOYCOTT SHARIA COMPLIANT WORDPRESS," and Zilla of the Resistance, "Free Speech Hating Peas in an Anti-Semitic Pod."

And also at Gateway Pundit, "WordPress Takes Down “Bare Naked Islam” Blog After Threats From CAIR," and Ironic Surrealism, "WordPress.com Dhimmis Bow to Their Islamic Masters Take Down ‘Bare Naked Islam’ Blog."

Pakistani Death Squads Hunt Down Suspected Drone Informants in North Waziristan

At Los Angeles Times, "Pakistani death squads go after informants to U.S. drone program."

The reprisals are dreadful. But the news is working to fuel the radical left's antiwar agitation on Afghanistan, and the press reporting hasn't been particularly objective on these topics. See Telegraph UK, "Pakistani girl brought to US for treatment 'disfigured by her own nation's military'." And at Long War Journal, "CNN makes questionable claim that drone strike wounded Pakistani child."

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Kelly Clarkson Gets Slammed for Ron Paul Endorsement

I sent her a tweet last night, one of just untold numbers, apparently.

Clarkson's backtracking a bit now.

See: "I am really sorry if I have offended anyone." (Via Memorandum.)

And see Wasington Examiner, "Kelly Clarkson under fire for Ron Paul support," and The Hill, "Kelly Clarkson defends support for Paul."

House Leader Nancy Pelosi Would Like to Retire

She probably doesn't like being in the minority and doesn't think the Dems will win back control of the chamber in November.

I saw Breitbart tweeting hints about this yesterday.

At Big Government, "EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Pelosi’s Daughter: ‘My Mom Wants to Leave Congress’." (Via Memeorandum.)

Obama for America Official Says 'Billion Dollar Campaign' is Baloney

There's video at the link.

At Weasel Zippers, "Official Obama Campaign Video: Claims We’re Running Billion Dollar Campaign Are “Bullshit”…"

The Houses of the GOP Hopefuls

That's at New York Times.

And Reliapundit's not pleased: "Unreal: NYSlimes publishes photos of the homes of the GOP candidates."

Yeah, in no time the Occupy freaks'll be harassing the candidates in their own front yards. Pathetic losers.

Ron Paul Campaign Tells Dirtbag Activists to Shower and Shave Before Stumping for the Candidate

I don't ever recall a campaign news article like this one. But then again, this is no ordinary GOP campaign.

At New York Times, "Marching Orders for Paul’s Volunteers: Do Shave, Don’t Tweet" (at Memeorandum):

DES MOINES — Ron Paul’s college-aged volunteer army — a core of the powerful ground organization that is the envy of rivals — is descending on Iowa from around the nation to coax people to the state’s Republican caucuses as he seeks to pull off what only months ago seemed like an unthinkable victory here on Tuesday.

Four years after young people flocked to the state to help propel the campaign of Barack Obama, this radically different movement is embracing a 76-year-old veteran Texas congressman who is drawing supporters for his libertarian and antiwar views.

And they say they are under strict orders: To look, dress, shave, sound and behave in a way that will not jeopardize Mr. Paul’s chances. Even before flying here on their own nickel, some students said they had been instructed to cover up tattoos and told that their faces should be fresh-shaved or beards neatly trimmed, wearing only nice clothes that one described as “business casual.”

“No tats,” another volunteer, Rocco Lucente, said as he ticked off the rules after arriving at the airport Tuesday night. No liquor, no drugs and, he said, no “fraternizing in the dorms, nothing like that.”

He said the standard expected of volunteers was: “What would Ron Paul do?”

The hundreds of volunteers are considered Mr. Paul’s most potent weapon beyond his vast and acerbic advertising campaign in Iowa, where the caucus results often turn on the ability of campaigns to turn out supporters. After the volunteers arrived at the airport here, they were whisked to a Y.M.C.A. camp the campaign rented in Boone, an hour outside Des Moines, where some said they expected to be drilled on get-out-the-vote techniques and how to use scripts to talk to prospective caucusgoers.

Much of their efforts have been cloaked in secrecy: They said that once they arrive at the camp they are under orders not to speak to journalists or make postings on social media sites about their activities in Iowa, a provocative limitation for a movement lubricated by the effective use of the Internet. A half-dozen Paul aides declined to comment or allow a visit to volunteers. “We’re keeping our cards close to our vests,” said Jesse Benton, the national campaign chairman.

Jeez, it's like boot camp.

VIDEO HAT TIP: AoSHQ.

Ben Breedlove Died on Christmas Day: Made Videos on Life Coping With Life-Threatening Heart Condition

God had come to him on occasion.

At Los Angeles Times, "Texas teen dies on Christmas, leaves online message."

Ben had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart has different levels of thickness and is unable to pump blood evenly. More at ABC News, "Texas Teen Ben Breedlove Posted Powerful Videos Before Christmas Death."

Occupy Wall Street Embodies the Soul-Crushing Stagnation of the Status Quo

In a roundabout way, James Delingpole elaborates on the points I made yesterday in my epic smackdown of racist Walter James Casper III, who has doubled-down --- and by now tripled-down --- on his backing of the anti-Semitic Occupy movement.

See Delingpole's piece at Telegraph UK, "Occupy are not the solution: they embody the problem."

Check the link for the introduction to the post. Interestingly, Delingpole posts the same video I posted previously, comparing the tea party to the dregs of Occupy Wall Street. And Delingpole points out that he's angry about the same kind of crony capitalism and corrupt corporate welfare-state economic meltdowns that Occupy Wall Street protests. It's just that Occupy's solutions are, frankly, more of the status quo, and incalculably worse in key respects. He writes:

Here's the weird thing ... As I've argued before, the greatest division in the Western world today lies not between rich and poor, working class and upper class, or Left and Right, but between on the one hand the rapacious, unaccountable Bankster/Corporatist/Political establishment and on the other everybody else. Why then, aren't I standing with the Occupy St Paul's crowd right now, making this point more vociferously?

Simple. Because though my analysis of the problem may be quite similar to the Occupy crowd's, my solution couldn't be more different. This is why – as the above video explains – Tea Party types like me are unlikely ever to find common cause with Occupy. We're classical liberals who believe in low taxes, limited government, property rights and equality of opportunity, whereas they are progressives who believe in greater government control and wealth redistribution in order to create equality of outcome.

It's a shame, really it is, because in these terrifying economic times it really would be nice to harness some of that commitment, zeal and self-righteous rage you find among the Occupy crowd and channel it towards a useful purpose. Problem is, we're dealing here with the victims of two or three generations' worth of ingrained cultural Marxism. Thanks to the Gramsciite capture of the media and the seats of academe, a lot of these kids simply lack the knowledge base or intellectual wherewithal to appreciate that instead of championing freedom what they're actually defending is economic stagnation, higher unemployment, more stifling regulation, more entrenched social division and a moribund status quo in which an ever-growing political elite leeches off the backs of us wage-slave Untermenschen.

Oh, and there's one more thing I dislike about the Occupy crowd (and their ideological soulmates): there's a really vicious nastiness there which you simply don't find among the classical liberals of, say, the Tea Party or Ukip. Check out this video of Occupy DC in action and you'll see what I mean.

Check the link for the whole thing.

See also, Marathon Pudit, "Occupy Occtrocities: Death Toll at 9 Edition."

Freakin' commie douchebags.

Voters Looking for Best Candidate to Beat Obama

According to the Los Angeles Times, "Republican Campaign Hinges Less on Issues":

Reporting from Des Moines— Mitt Romney has a 59-point economic plan. Newt Gingrich promises "very big solutions." But to a large and increasing extent, issues aren't driving the fight for the Republican presidential nomination.

With Iowans about to cast the first votes of 2012, issues have declined in importance as a factor in the campaign, according to a recent national opinion survey of Republicans. Instead, the GOP contest reflects an intensifying search by voters for the candidate they believe has the strongest chance of unseating President Obama next November.

That's a departure from some past elections, when policy positions split the party.

"The striking thing about the Republican race is that there's an incredible amount of unanimity," said Yuval Levin, a domestic policy aide in the George W. Bush White House.

Republicans currently regard Romney and Gingrich as the candidates best able to defeat Obama, according to the latest CNN/Opinion Research survey. Yet each man is picked by fewer than 1 in 4 GOP voters as the candidate that they are most likely to agree with on the issues they care about most.

Even more notably, the salience of issues as a way of sorting through the crowded GOP field has declined sharply over the course of the pre-primary campaign.

In June, Republicans said a candidate's stance on issues was just as important as the leadership skills and vision a candidate would have as president, according to CNN/Opinion Research. By mid-December, a candidate's stand on issues mattered to barely 1 in 3 voters. In the same poll, twice as many Republicans ranked leadership skills as more important.

That shift reflects, at least in part, the influence of the 13 televised debates, in which the Republican contenders have largely failed to draw meaningful differences over issues or highlight new ideas, even when they have them. Instead of revolving around a galvanizing issue, the GOP race has been shaped by the overall tone of the debates and the perceived authenticity of the candidates as foes to Obama.

RTWT.

Economic issues matter. Social issues, not so much.

Kelly Brook Debuts Blonde Hairdo at Capri Film Festival in Italy

Well, she's my favorite for 2012.

At London's Daily Mail, "Blonde bombshell! Kelly Brook lightens up her locks."

'100 Million Hate Israel' on Facebook

Someone sent me this story by email, and it's so disgusting I was pretty much ignoring it, but Blazing Cat Fur blogged it, so here you go: "A particularly vile Facebook Page - 100.000.000 person hate Israel."

The page is still up, although you can report it to Facebook as violating terms of service as a hate site.

Alessandra Ambrósio is Expecting

Well, bringing you the important news!

At Hollywood Reporter, "Alessandra Ambrosio's Victoria's Secret Baby Bump." And People Magazine, "Alessandra Ambrósio Expecting Second Child."

BONUS: Lots of pics at London's Daily Mail, "Another bundle on the way: Victoria's Secret supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio expecting second child with fiance."


PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Ron Paul is an Ultra Left-Wing Radical

Well, that's what I'm talkin' about!

Via Gateway Pundit:

PREVIOUSLY: "Ron Paul: 'A Radical Who Would Destroy Traditional Marriage in America'."

National Geographic's January 2012 Issue: 'Twins'

I found this at London's Daily Mail,  "Unraveling the mystery of twins: Stunning photographs capture enigmatic beauty of identical siblings... as they try to explain their strange connection."

And it's ungated at National Geographic, "Twins":

 Every summer, on the first weekend in August, thousands of twins converge on Twinsburg, Ohio, a small town southeast of Cleveland named by identical twin brothers nearly two centuries ago.

They come, two by two, for the Twins Days Festival, a three-day marathon of picnics, talent shows, and look-alike contests that has grown into one of the world's largest gatherings of twins.

Dave and Don Wolf of Fenton, Michigan, have been coming to the festival for years. Like most twins who attend, they enjoy spending time with each other. In fact, during the past 18 years, the 53-year-old truckers, whose identical beards reach down to their chests, have driven more than three million miles together, hauling everything from diapers to canned soup from places like Seattle, Washington, to Camden, New Jersey. While one sits at the wheel of their diesel Freightliner, the other snoozes in the bunk behind him. They listen to the same country gospel stations on satellite radio, share the same Tea Party gripes about big government, and munch on the same road diet of pepperoni, apples, and mild cheddar cheese. On their days off they go hunting or fishing together. It's a way of life that suits them.

"Must be a twins thing," Don says.

That's cool.

Continue reading.

And really cool photos here.

Michele Bachmann Aide Kent Sorenson Defects to Ron Paul in Iowa Caucuses

At the Des Moines Register, "Breaking: Michele Bachmann campaign co-chairman endorses Ron Paul" (via Memeorandum).

The guy appeared just today at a campaign event for Bachmann in Indianola, his hometown. I guess it's a sign of Bachmann's campaign implosion. Weird that the dude went for Paul, though. If you're going to hop on the bandwagon, at least hop on something good and decent. Ron Paul would be a horrible nominee and even worse president.

UPDATE: Yeah, that late turnabout sounded kind of strange. Allahpundit has one of thos breaking/update posts with the red highlighting, "Drama: Bachmann’s Iowa chairman endorses Ron Paul — three hours after appearing at an event for her; Update: Sorenson “saddened” by how Bachmann’s been treated; Update: Sorenson told us Paul offered him a “large sum,” says Team Bachmann."

Here's the source for the "large sum" claim, on Twitter.

And now here from Alexandra Moe at NBC, on Twitter:

Sorenson DENIES Bachmann statement, calls it "absurd" and that he was not offered money by Paul campaign via @AnthonyNBCNews #iacaucus

Added: More bad news, it looks like, "Bachmann SuperPAC Defects to Romney."

Rick Santorum at 16 Percent in New CNN Iowa Poll

He's in third place.

See: "CNN Poll: Romney on top, Gingrich fading and Santorum rising in Iowa."

And at The Other McCain, "SANTORUM SURGE: Finally, the Polls in Iowa Are Catching Up With … Me."

More at New York Times, "News Is Good for Santorum and Bad for Gingrich in New Polls."

Well, if you're going to surge now's a good time, although the way things are going he could peak before the caucuses.

Ron Paul: 'A Radical Who Would Destroy Traditional Marriage in America'

At New York Times, "Commercial Introduces Gay Marriage as an Issue in the Iowa Caucuses":

Well, he's libertarian, so pro-gay marriage is the natural position. But this is progressivism, frankly, which is why Paul's really more leftist than conservative. It's ridiculous.

Kim Jong Il Funeral Uses 1970s Lincolns

This is interesting.

At USA Today, "Kim Jong Il's death: North Korea uses 1970s Lincolns." And at New York Times, "Americans Are Prominent at the Funeral of Kim Jong-il":

Kim Jong-il hated the United States. But an American carried him to the grave.

The casket of Mr. Kim, the cultish North Korean leader, sat atop the roof of a polished masterpiece of American automotive grandeur: a mid-1970s armored black Lincoln Continental, which wended through the snowy streets of Pyongyang on Wednesday in a rigorously choreographed funeral. Mr. Kim’s gigantic, smiling portrait was balanced atop a second Lincoln limousine. A third, slightly smaller Lincoln brought up the rear, its roof bearing an immense wreath. The aging but impeccably maintained cars gave the footage on North Korean state television the quality of a cold war Hollywood film.

“The Lincoln Continental in the old Asia was considered to be a solid, robust, powerful car,” said Kongdan Oh, a senior researcher at the Institute for Defense Analyses who has written on daily life in North Korea, where her parents were born. “They are a time capsule. North Koreans are living still the 1970s life.”

She said the cars were probably chosen because they were previously used in the funeral of Kim Il-sung, who was Kim Jong-il’s father and the founding president of North Korea and who died in 1994. “Whatever they did in the past, they are very comfortable repeating that, especially this Kim family dynasty,” she said of the North Korean leadership. “They probably didn’t even think twice about using this car. For them, it’s a very natural choice.”

Read it all at that top link.

Romney Makes Major Push in Iowa

The New York Times reports that the fluidity in Iowa lured Mitt Romney "back for a full-throated effort to win the state, including a last-minute decision to spend New Year’s Eve here."

And at Los Angeles Times, "Romney looks poised for Iowa victory, maybe even if he loses" (via Memeorandum):

 After a campaign effort that has defied convention and angered top Iowa Republicans, Mitt Romney is well-positioned to emerge as a big winner in Tuesday's presidential caucuses.

The tightest GOP caucus contest in decades features Romney, Ron Paul and a fading Newt Gingrich in a virtual tie for the lead, making the final days of politicking unusually consequential. And another candidate, Rick Perry or Rick Santorum, could get hot at the end and knock one of the favorites out of the top three.

But it seems increasingly likely that Romney, condemned only last month by Iowa's Republican governor for ignoring the state, has managed to finesse the tricky voter test that he failed four years ago. He ran second then to upstart Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and ex-evangelical minister, despite investing huge amounts of time and money.

Just before flying to Iowa on Tuesday for a four-day campaign swing, Romney said that expectations were "very different this time." He then tried to lower them, noting that a couple of weeks ago he "was a distant third in Iowa, and you just don't know what's going to happen in this process."

The Times delivers a conspicuous non-mention of Michele Bachmann there, but what can you do?

And a win for Ron Paul is a win for Romney, or so it goes.

Politico has more, "Mitt Romney in striking distance of Iowa win":

Don’t look now, but Mitt Romney suddenly seems like the Iowa front-runner.

The former Massachusetts governor has carefully tempered expectations in Iowa all year, visiting only a handful of times and saving the bulk of his television spending for the final weeks of the race. But as a crowd of conservative opponents keep the anti-Romney vote divided, his odds of a victory in the state that humbled him four years ago have never been better.

Even as he tried to keep talk about his prospects in check Tuesday, a slew of public and private polling and anecdotal evidence on the ground suggests that Romney is within striking distance of a first-place finish in Iowa — especially as Ron Paul’s momentum spurt appears to have run into the reality of front-runners’ scrutiny.

Iran Threatens to Close Strait of Hormuz Over Tension on Oil Exports

This is the kind of saber rattling that precedes the outbreak of war.

At New York Times, "Noise Level Rises Over Iran Threat to Close Strait of Hormuz."

Islamic Christmas Day Honor Killing in Texas: Media Whitewashing Muslim Brutality?

At Jihad Watch, "Islamic honor killing in Texas: "Santa" who murdered family on Christmas morning was Muslim who didn't like his daughter dating a non-Muslim."

And London's Daily Mail, "Shot dead as they opened their Christmas presents: First pictures of family of SEVEN gunned down by father dressed in Santa suit."

More from Gary Fouse, "was this a so-called honor killing?"

And at Pamela's, "FORCE THE MEDIA TO TELL THE TRUTH."

Tim Cavanaugh on How Unions Co-opting Occupy Wall Street

Freakin' union asshats.

Via Reason.tv:

PREVIOUSLY: "Racist Walter James Casper III Doubles-Down on Endorsement of Revolutionary Anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street."

The 25 Richest Celebrities Supporting Occupy Wall Street

Man, this is like assploding hypocrisy week.

At NewsBusters, "99 Percent? Top 25 Occupy Wall Street Backers Worth Over $4 Billion."

Danish People's Party: 'I Am Denmark'

Via Theo Spark:

See also, "The Party Program of the Danish People's Party."

John Hawkins: 'The 50 Best Political Quotes for 2011 (Third Annual)'

Lots of great quotes, at Right Wing News.

Here's one of my favorites, from Althouse, at #47:

Why does the left hate free speech? Because they don’t know how to talk about the substantive merits when they are challenged. Having submerged themselves in disciplining each other by denouncing any heretics in their midst, they find themselves overwhelmed and outnumbered in America, where there is vibrant debate about all sorts of things they don’t know how to begin to talk about. They resort to stomping their feet and shouting “shut up”… when they aren’t prissily imploring everyone to be “civil.” — Ann Althouse.

Are You Reading Theo Spark?

Amazing stuff he's blogging over there.

And more at the link.