Ahmadinejad Seeks Support in Latin America

The axis of evil expands.

At Business Week, "Ahmadinejad Woos Chavez-Led Allies in Latin America Tour":

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, facing tighter U.S. sanctions and rising tensions in the Persian Gulf, will turn to his diminished group of allies in Latin America for support this week.

Ahmadinejad arrived in Venezuela yesterday to kick off a four-nation tour to push investment projects such as a hydro- electric power plant in Ecuador. He’ll be joining forces with leaders like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Cuba’s Raul Castro in taking shots at the U.S. in its own backyard, defying attempts to isolate Iran over its nuclear activities.

Iran’s Latin American allies shouldn’t expect too much in return. Iran has yet to fulfill pledges made by Ahmadinejad on previous trips -- he’s made five since 2005 -- to build a port in Nicaragua and an oil refinery in Ecuador. Unlike during his last regional tour in 2009, he won’t visit Brazil, where President Dilma Rousseff has shown little interest in deepening ties forged by her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

“The promises of aid and investment have not been kept,” Cynthia Arnson, Latin America program director at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, said in a phone interview. “This is clearly a political solidarity tour to reinforce relationships with a small number of allies.”

After holding talks with Chavez today, Ahmadinejad will travel to Nicaragua to attend the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow of President Daniel Ortega, who was re-elected to a second consecutive term in November. He’ll also visit Cuba and Ecuador during the five-day tour.

More at the link.

Smokin' Mila Kunis Attends Children's Hospital Gala in Purple Dress With 'Plunging' Neckline

She's lovely.

At London's Daily Mail, "Dressed to frill! Mila Kunis steps out in flirty and feminine plunging purple dress as she attends children’s hospital gala."

Occupy Oakland Protesters Arrested for Assaulting Police

And not to mention possession of dynamite.

See JammieWearingFool, "Six Mostly Peaceful Occupy Oakland Losers Arrested for Assaulting Police."

IMAGE CREDIT: The People's Cube, "OccupyPuncture: Wall Street Occupiers Stab NYPD Officer, Surround Ambulance Trying to Rush Him to the Hospital."

Because, you know, it's just some strangers from outside the movement, or something.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Stumped on Obama's 'One-Term Proposition' if Economy Doesn't Recover

This is interesting:

PREVIOUSLY: "Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Shills for Barack 'Occupy' Obama on Greta Van Susteren's Show."

Amanda Seyfried to Play Linda Lovelace in '70s-Era Biopic

Well, they say there's a shortage original dramas, so why not cull the '70s for something to sell movie tickets, right?

At London's Daily Mail, "Pimp my ride! Amanda Seyfried sits in top down car with on-screen husband Peter Sarsgaard on set of Linda Lovelace," and "Not ready for your close up? Amanda Seyfried looks sloppy in her dressing gown on set of Linda Lovelace."

And turns out it's an all-star cast: At MTV, "Demi Moore Joins ‘Lovelace’ Biopic: Actress will play feminist icon Gloria Steinem in flick about adult film star Linda Lovelace."

Santorum's Momentum Stalls

Well, being falsely and maliciously attacked as a bigot 24-7 probably didn't help.

From Nate Silver, at New York Times, "Some Signs in Polls That Santorum’s Momentum Has Stalled."

RELATED: At Los Angeles Times, "Rick Santorum says South Carolina his 'best chance to win'."

Republican Schisms Sharpen Amid Escalating Offensive Against Romney

At Los Angeles Times, "As Mitt Romney surges, Republican divisions sharpen":

A fusillade of attacks on front-runner Mitt Romney presages what is likely to be at least a month of internal warfare among Republicans as the presidential candidates head for the South, the heart of the GOP's restive base.

The campaign's longtime dynamic shifted forcefully Sunday, as several trailing candidates tried to take down Romney before he more firmly grasps the Republican presidential nomination. He's a heavy favorite in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, but immediately ahead is South Carolina, where his foes are already on the ground and beaming new, more corrosive charges over the airwaves.

Some of what is powering the increasing acrimony among the candidates is personal disdain. But it also reflects profound differences between sectors of the Republican Party.

"This is a more doctrinaire Republican base than we had seen in the last 25 years," said Andrew Kohut, president of the independent Pew Research Center. "It is much more hard-core than in the past."

In particular, he said, highly energized elements on the GOP right "are looking for a rebellious kind of candidate," as reflected in polls and initial voting results that show a majority of Republicans unwilling to fall in line behind button-down Romney.

The problem, of course, is that the sharpening attacks on Romney simply set the table for the extreme left's impending jihad against the Mormon "predatory capitalist" nominee --- that is, if and when Romney clinches the nomination.

See: "Attacks on Romney Will Provide Ammo for Left's Character Assassination Machine in the Fall."

Also at the New York Times, "Romney Is Focus as Battle in G.O.P. Takes Sharp Edge."

Denver Broncos Beat Pittsburgh Steelers in Overtime

This is the one game this weekend that promised to be exceptional, and I think it was.

See New York Times, "Quick Strike From Tebow Helps Broncos Edge Steelers":

DENVER — Tebow Time met overtime, and overtime had no chance. Neither did the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Tim Tebow, who had engineered comebacks from fourth-quarter deficits to win five games since becoming the starter this season, completed a short pass that Demaryius Thomas turned into an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in overtime, giving the Denver Broncos a stunning 29-23 victory Sunday in their A.F.C. wild-card game. It was the first overtime game since the N.F.L. established rules last year that would allow overtime to end with just one team possessing the ball only if that team scored a touchdown.

Fittingly, Tebow, who has defied conventional wisdom and the best intelligence about how football is meant to be played, turned the rule on its head. He pulled the trigger. And pulled off another Tebow miracle. Now the Broncos can prepare to visit the New England Patriots next Saturday. The Patriots went into Denver on Dec. 18 and defeated the Broncos, 41-23.

Continue reading.

The video is at the NFL homepage if this one gets yanked.

Attacks on Romney Will Provide Ammo for Left's Character Assassination Machine in the Fall

See what I was saying?

At Los Angeles Times, "Attacks on Romney may pack more punch this fall."

Seems as if Romney weathered the Meet the Press debate just fine, but...

The wicked way that WHDH-TV's Andy Hiller asked a question -- in effect, what have you done for gay people lately? -- put Romney in the odd position of delivering a clarion call for compassion toward gays and lesbians.

"If people are looking for someone who will discriminate against gays or will in any way try and suggest that people that have different sexual orientation don't have full rights in this country, they won't find that in me," Romney said.

A commendable sentiment, many might say. But it is also the kind of statement that has a way of finding its way onto leaflets on car windshields outside churches in places like, say, South Carolina; it's not a message that's going to resonate well with many of the evangelicals who vote in Republican primaries.

But the attacks on Romney's role at Bain Capital, the investment firm he co-founded, may prove even more damaging. By portraying the company as a job-destroying malefactor of Wall Street greed, fellow Republicans are laying a foundation upon which the Obama campaign will eagerly build.

If anyone assumes that all will be forgotten -- Romney won New Hampshire! He's vetted! None of that matters! -- it helps to recall:

In 1988, it was not Republicans but a Democrat -- Al Gore -- who first raised the issue of weekend furloughs for convicted killers, which helped destroy the presidential hopes of another former Massachusetts governor, Michael Dukakis. The subject came up during a Democratic debate ahead of the New York primary; it did Gore little good -- he lost badly -- and did nothing to slow Dukakis' march to the nomination.

In the fall, however, Republicans seized on the case of Willie Horton, who raped a woman and stabbed and pistol-whipped her boyfriend while on weekend release, and used it to devastating effect against Dukakis.

If Bain proves to be Romney's bane, you won't know it from what happens here in New Hampshire. It will be clear only when, and if, he wins the nomination and faces Obama and his team of bruisers in the fall.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's Sunday Funnies," and Theo Spark, "Cartoon Round Up..."

Mitt Romney Denies Gay Pride Flyer from 2002

Well, it's not a new story, by any means.

But the progs are going to play it to the hilt to slam Romney for either spineless serial flip-flopping or closet anti-homosexual bigotry. As long as Romney doesn't flip back to the frothy pro-gay radical rim station extremism for the general election, he should be okay.

See Huffington Post, "Mitt Romney Campaign Disavows Pro-Gay Rights Flyer From 2002."

And at New York Times, "Debate Fact Check: Romney on Gay Rights."

Winning Our Future Launches New Round of Attacks on Mitt Romney

Seriously, I doubt these will do much more that empower the Democrats if and when Mitt Romney becomes the nominee.

At New York Times, "Pro-Gingrich PAC Plans TV Ads Against Romney."

VIDEO HAT TIP: Gateway Pundit, "Gingrich Supporters Release Anti-Romney Flick On His Tenure With Bain Capital (Trailer)."

George Stephanopoulos Under Fire for Lame GOP Debate Moderation

At Gateway Pundit, "ABC Resident Leftist George Stephanopoulos Big Loser at New Hampshire Debate."

And at London's Daily Mail, "George Stephanopoulos accused of bias in relentless questioning of Mitt Romney on jobs and contraception."

Added: From Doug Ross, "I am so f-ing sick of these left-wing, old media hacks running GOP debates. I want a conservative bloggers' debate!"

That's what I'm talkin' about!

More: See Seth Mandel, at Commentary, "The Left’s Weekend (Culture) Warriors."

Tony Blankley, 1948 – 2012

I always thought he was a good and decent guy, kind of a throwback to an earlier urbane-style conservatism.

At Washington Times, "Ex-Times Editorial Page Editor Tony Blankley dead at 63."

Also at USA Today, "Commentator Blankley dies after battle with cancer."

Rosie Jones Rule 5

Randy's Rountable had a Rosie Jones roundup previously, and perhaps it's a good time to review:

And more from Randy's here: "Thursday Nite Tart: Mayra Suarez."

See also Pirate's Cove, "If All You See…is an evil washing machine that will cause the seas to rise and cover Florida, you might just be a Warmist."

And check Guns and Bikinis for some "Facebook Girls." And at Reaganite, "Curves of Wonder- from Down Under! Miss Australia 2011 is Scherri-Lee Biggs."

There's some football babe blogging at AoSHQ, "More Playoffs!," and "Playoffs! *updated, Houston Kills the Bengals." And some great straight up football blogging at Daley Gator.

Plus, "Bye Week for the Niners...", notes Proof Positive.

That's all the linkage for now --- drop yours in the comments for later updates.

Oh My! Obama White House Threw Secret 'Wonderland' Costume Ball!

Through the freakin' looking glass!!

At New York Post, "White House threw secret 'Alice in Wonderland' bash during recession."

And Atlas Shrugs, "OBAMA IN WONDERLAND: WHITE HOUSE THREW SECRET #'ALICE IN WONDERLAND' BASH DURING RECESSION, MICHELLE'S MILLION DOLLAR RAGS."

One Year Ago Today: Progressives Ruthlessly Exploited Gabrielle Giffords Shooting to Destroy Conservatives

William Jacobson has a report: "Remembering Giffords shooting, and the reaction."

Not mentioned at William's post: Racist TBogg of Firedoglake: "Fuck it. I'm going there…"

BONUS: At National Post, "Gabrielle Giffords returns to Tucson on anniversary of shooting."

Romney Takes Fire in Second New Hampshire Debate

At Washington Post, "Mitt Romney under attack in final N.H. debate":

CONCORD, N.H. — Mitt Romney’s opponents, seizing upon what could be one of their last opportunities to blunt his accelerating momentum toward the GOP presidential nomination, trained their fire on the front-runner Sunday morning in their final joint appearance before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

One by one, Romney’s opponents took the parts of his résuméthat he touts as strengths and portrayed them as evidence that he lacks authenticity, conviction and consistency.

“Can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney?” former House speaker Newt Gingrich asked Romney, after the former Massachusetts governor once again portrayed himself as a career businessman with a disdain for lifelong politicians.

“The fact is, you ran in ’94 and lost. That’s why you weren’t serving in the Senate,” Gingrich said. “You had a very bad reelection rating [as governor]. You dropped out of office. . . . You were running for president while you were governor.”

Gingrich added: “Now you’re back running. You have been running consistently for years and years and years. So this idea that suddenly citizenship showed up in your mind, just level with the American people. You’ve been running for — at least since the 1990s.”

When Romney touted his record cutting taxes and balancing budgets as governor, former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.), who fought him to a virtual tie in last week’s Iowa caucuses, retorted: “If you didn’t want to even stand before the people of Massachusetts and run on your record, if it was that great, why did you bail out?”

And where Romney had cited his 1994 Senate bid against the late Edward M. Kennedy as a heroic and quixotic challenge to “the policies of the liberal welfare state,” Santorum said Romney’s loss resulted from a failure of spine.

“He wouldn’t stand for conservative principles,” Santorum said. “He ran from Ronald Reagan. And he said he was going to be to the left of Ted Kennedy on gay rights, on abortion, a whole host of other issues.”

And former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, defending himself against Romney’s barbs about Huntsman’s service as President Obama’s ambassador to China, suggested that Romney puts partisanship and ambition above country.

“He criticized me, while he was out raising money, for serving my country in China, yes, under a Democrat, like my two sons are doing in the United States Navy,” Huntsman said, in an oblique reminder that none of Romney’s five sons has ever been in the military. “They’re not asking who — what political affiliation the president is. I want to be very clear with the people here in New Hampshire and this country: I will always put my country first.”

Huntsman’s struggling campaign is looking for a breakout in New Hampshire. He did not compete in Iowa so that he could stay in this state and compete for the votes of independents, who are allowed under the state’s open system to vote in the GOP primary. Meanwhile, Santorum, Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) are attacking Romney from the right.

Still, in the latest polls, Romney has been maintaining a more than 20-point lead over his rivals.

More at Legal Insurrection, "“Pious Baloney” is the word."

The Left's So-Called Empathy

Progressive empathy is a cruel joke, no doubt.

From Mark Steyn, at National Review:

The Left endlessly trumpets its “empathy.” President Obama, for example, has said that what he looks for in his judges is “the depth and breadth of one’s empathy.” As he told his pro-abortion pals at Planned Parenthood, “we need somebody who’s got the heart — the empathy — to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom.” Empathy, empathy, empathy: You barely heard the word outside clinical circles until the liberals decided it was one of those accessories no self-proclaimed caring progressive should be without.

Indeed, flaunting their empathy is what got Eugene Robinson and many others their Pulitzers — Robinson describes his newspaper column as “a license to feel.” Yet he’s entirely incapable of imagining how it must feel for a parent to experience within the same day both new life and death — or even to understand that the inability to imagine being in that situation ought to prompt a little circumspection.

The Left’s much-vaunted powers of empathy routinely fail when confronted by those who do not agree with them politically...

RTWT.

Romney Stands Above the Fray in New Hampshire

At New York Times, "Romney Eludes Rivals’ Attacks at Republican Debate in N.H.":

GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — A relaxed and self-assured Mitt Romney sailed above the fray at a crucial debate on Saturday night as his Republican rivals engaged in a spirited fight to determine which of them would emerge as his most formidable opponent when the party’s nominating contest moves past New Hampshire.

Mr. Romney, who had been bracing for an onslaught of attacks, brushed aside a critique about job losses during his time buying and selling companies at his investment firm. He defended his record as Massachusetts governor with ease, fielding only occasional questions about the similarities between his state health care law and the national version championed by President Obama.

Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania painted himself as the one candidate on the stage with the credentials to provide a pure, conservative case against Mr. Obama. He warned Republicans that Mr. Romney’s pedigree would make it more difficult to push back against the income equality argument that is a central theme of the president’s re-election strategy.

“I was not ever for an individual mandate. I wasn’t for a top-down, government-run health care system. I wasn’t for the big bank of Wall Street bailout, as Governor Romney was,” Mr. Santorum said. “We’re looking for someone who can win this race, who can win this race on the economy and on the core issues of this election.”

Representative Ron Paul of Texas, who did not rule out a third-party run if he failed to win the Republican nomination, attacked Mr. Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Both of them, he said, had profited from promoting the agendas of corporations to their old colleagues in Congress.

“I mean, he became a high-powered lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and he has done quite well,” Mr. Paul said of Mr. Santorum, who, like Mr. Gingrich, had corporate clients after leaving government but did not register as a lobbyist. “We checked out Newt, on his income. I think we ought to find out how much money he has made from the lobbyists as well.”

In one of the most personal clashes of the evening, Mr. Paul and Mr. Gingrich fought over military service. Mr. Gingrich said he was married and had a child, so he did not join the military as a young man. Mr. Paul said that he, too, had children, and when he was drafted, “I went.”

The candidates gathered on the campus of St. Anselm College, just outside Manchester, three days before the New Hampshire primary moves the Republican Party one step closer to selecting a nominee to challenge Mr. Obama. The evening unfolded with far more civility than many previous debates, with a battle for second place emerging as the storyline in a central moment of the campaign.

More at the link.

Orange County's Homeless Men On Guard After Three Murders by Suspected Serial Killer

In Santa Barbara in 1992 there was a series of murders of homeless transients that dominated the news at the time. My future wife and I had just moved down there from Fresno. Apparently Santa Barbara, with its temperate climate and laid-back, small town atmosphere, attracted a lot of homeless people. But I can still feel both the shock and rage I felt at the time of the murders. Someone had walked into the park and pumped bullets into the homeless as they slept. It's still unbelievable to me, the enormity of cruelty that is truly pure evil.

I'm reminded of those feelings with news of the rash of murders of homeless men in the O.C.  See Los Angeles Times, "Vulnerable homeless men try to foil Orange County killer":

Cary Singletary is 6-foot-2, an ex-boxer who once worked nightclub security, alternating coffee and water to stay alert through the small hours. Now, encamped on the streets of downtown Santa Ana, he's the unofficial sentry for what he calls "my people," a group of homeless whose wary existence is now shadowed by a new peril: a serial killer.

"Hopefully, they'll get the sick-minded coward," said Singletary 52, speaking of the string of stabbing deaths of middle-aged homeless men in Orange County that began just before Christmas. Singletary stood in a parking lot Thursday night clutching a safety kit — a whistle and flashlight, both donated by the Orange County Rescue Mission.

Singletary said he fears that the killer, who has attacked in neighboring Anaheim, Placentia and Yorba Linda, might strike next in Santa Ana. So he is up all night, drinking coffee, keeping watch for strangers. For company, he listens to R&B on his headphones. He sleeps in two-hour shifts on the public bus.

"If that serial killer wants to come at us, he'll have his hands full," said Singletary, who has been homeless for six months. "We've got some soldiers out here. I'm just one of them. If that whistle goes off, you'll have a whole army of homeless on him."

Across the county, at the urging of authorities, many of the homeless are seeking beds at emergency shelters, or making sure to sleep in groups outdoors, and taking pains to make themselves less conspicuous on the streets and riverbeds. Many say it is just another version of a skill they have practiced for years — survival — in a dangerous milieu. In some cases, efforts to help are complicated by mental illness, paranoia and a deep-seated fatalism.

Continue reading at the link.

More at Orange County Register, "Homeless homicides bring needs to light."

Say a prayer for the safety of these people.

L.A. Light: Time-Lapse Photos of Downtown Los Angeles

Via Rhetorican:

Sarah Palin: Mainstream Media Taking 'Hands Off' Approach to Mitt Romney in Primaries

A great interview, on Jeanine Pirro's show on Fox:

Pallin argues that the left's character assassination machine is holding back on Romney now, buttering him up for the epic sleazeball attacks that the entire progressive establishment will rain down on him if and when he wins the nomination. I think Palin's right about the attacks. My sense however is that Romney won't be the pantywaist everyone makes him out to be. He's been pretty tough throughout the GOP debates and he's going to destroy Obama on both the economy and social issues.

That said, James Pethokoukis says Romney should work harder to get his message out: "Why is Romney doing such a lousy job defending his record at Bain Capital?"

Immigration and the Presidential Race

An interesting discussion, via Blazing Cat Fur:

Why Islamism Is Winning

From political scientist John M. Owen IV, at New York Times:

Political Islam, especially the strict version practiced by Salafists in Egypt, is thriving largely because it is tapping into ideological roots that were laid down long before the revolts began. Invented in the 1920s by the Muslim Brotherhood, kept alive by their many affiliates and offshoots, boosted by the failures of Nasserism and Baathism, allegedly bankrolled by Saudi and Qatari money, and inspired by the defiant example of revolutionary Iran, Islamism has for years provided a coherent narrative about what ails Muslim societies and where the cure lies. Far from rendering Islamism unnecessary, as some experts forecast, the Arab Spring has increased its credibility; Islamists, after all, have long condemned these corrupt regimes as destined to fail.

Liberalism in 19th-century Europe, and Islamism in the Arab world today, are like channels dug by one generation of activists and kept open, sometimes quietly, by future ones. When the storms of revolution arrive, whether in Europe or the Middle East, the waters will find those channels. Islamism is winning out because it is the deepest and widest channel into which today’s Arab discontent can flow.

The implications of this are pretty dire, actually. Islamism is a destabilizing force for international relations. It rejects the legitimacy of the status quo and will work to topple it.

But RTWT for context.

Owen makes an interesting argument, despite the troubling implications of the analysis.

Ron Paul Supporters Attack Jon Huntsman's Adopted Daughters

At Washington Post, "Ron Paul supporters and that awful Huntsman attack ad":

With supporters like these, Paul hardly needs detractors. I can’t think of a single thing a Paul supporter has done that has made me more inclined to see his candidate in a favorable light. Paul supporters are the ones who won’t stop talking to you on airplanes. They show up at caucuses and ramble on at length about finding the bones of giants in the earth. They comment indignantly on your blog posts and link you to conspiracy Web sites.

Stop doing this! You’ve crossed the line from self-parody into campaign liability.

You think?

Candidates Reject Gay Marriage at GOP Debate in New Hampshire

I can hear the sound of progressive heads exploding.

At Los Angeles Times, "GOP candidates restate opposition to gay marriage":

Reporting from Goffstown, N.H.— Rick Santorum's new status in the top tier of the Republican race for president has also raised the profile of gay marriage as a major issue. In tonight's debate, the candidates largely agreed in favoring a narrow definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

The first question posed to the candidates dealt with how same-sex couples should go about recognizing a committed, long-term relationship if marriage was not an option available to them.

Newt Gingrich said marriage was a "sacrament" long recognized in history as being between a man and a woman.

"It is a huge jump from being understanding and considerate and concerned, which we should be, to saying we therefore are going to institute the sacrament of marriage as though it has no basis," he said. "It's something worth protecting."

Santorum was asked what should happen to couples who have married in New Hampshire since it became state law. Santorum said marriage was a federal issue.

"We have to have one law. We can't have someone married in one state and not married in another. Once we are successful in establishing that, then this issue becomes moot," he said.

Mitt Romney said he'd support domestic partnership benefits for gay couples, but stopped short of gay marriage or even civil unions.

"To say that marriage is something other than the relationship between a man and a woman, I think, is a mistake," he said. "The reason for that is not that we want to discriminate against people or to suggest that gay couples are not just as loving and can't also raise children well. But it's instead a recognition that, for society as a whole, that the nation presumably would be better off if children are raised in a setting where there's a male and a female."

Also at The Hill, "GOP debate: No love for gay marriage."

And see Gateway Pundit, "Awesome! Newt Rips Media For Bias & Bigotry Against the Church (Video)."

And see Linkmaster Smith, "Post-Debate Spin Room."

Added: A thread at Memeorandum.

Heads at The Political Carnival's are already exploding. We'll see more progressive bigotry tomorrow.

Sparks Fly at New Hampshire Debate

There's live blogging at Legal Insurrection and So It Goes in Shreveport.

And check Los Angeles Times, "GOP debate: Romney, Santorum clash over leadership credentials," and "GOP debate: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul spar over military service."

I'll have updates shortly.

Eleven Dead After Hot Air Balloon Hits Power Lines in New Zealand

At the New Zealand Herald, "Balloon crash: 'It's burst into flames and they're dead'." And the Victoria Herald Sun, "New Zealand balloon crash pilot was due to marry fiancée."

More at London's Daily Mail, "New Zealand balloon crash pilot was due to marry fiancée (and the invitations were posted on the day he and ten others died)."

More video at the link.

GOP Debates Present Chance to Slow Romney's Momentum

We've got two debates this weekend.

One coming up in less than an hour and another in the morning. Rick Santorum will be featured front and center after his rousing showing in the Iowa caucuses. The rest of the GOP field --- now minus Michele Bachmann --- will be looking to get the hooks into the well-entrenched frontrunner Mitt Romney.

Here's a report, at Los Angeles Times, "New Hampshire debates: Will Romney's rivals try to slow him down?":

If anyone is going to take it to Mitt Romney, it might as well be now.

The slowly diminishing field of GOP presidential candidates, as odd as it may seem, has two debates that will begin within 12 hours of each other, just a couple of days before the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary.

Saturday evening’s debate, sponsored by ABC and Yahoo, will be held at St. Anselm College in Manchester; the Sunday morning tilt, co-sponsored by Facebook, will be held in Concord and shown live on MSNBC and then later on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Together, they represent a chance -- perhaps one of the few remaining ones -- for the other GOP contenders to dent Romney’s growing momentum.

Polls show Romney with a sizeable lead in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday’s primary and a new CNN-Time poll has him in the lead in South Carolina as well, raising the possibility that the question of the GOP standard bearer could be settled sooner, not later.

Romney felt confident enough about his chances in New Hampshire that he took time out this week to make a quick stop down in South Carolina before returning. It’s expected he’ll try to stay above the fray and keep his sights set on the economy and President Obama, leaving the other participants, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman Jr. and Rick Perry, to come after him.

Continue reading.

Also, at Legal Insurrection, "Pre-Debate."

BONUS: At The Other McCain, "Santorum Surge Hits Hollis, N.H."

Vatican Ambassadors Endorse Romney Over Catholic Rivals

At New York Times, "Romney Showcases Endorsement by Ex-Ambassadors to Vatican":

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Five former ambassadors to the Vatican endorsed Mitt Romney on Saturday, choosing a Mormon over two Roman Catholic rivals in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

In a statement showcased by Mr. Romney’s campaign, the ambassadors said they “are united in our wholehearted support for the candidacy of Mitt
Romney for the Presidency of the United States because of his commitment to and support of the values that we feel are critical in a national leader.”

Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are both Catholics and often talk about their religion and values on the campaign trail.

The endorsements could also help blunt any under-the-radar attacks by religious conservatives who oppose Mr. Romney because of his religion. Last year, some evangelical leaders called Mormonism a cult.

That might be especially helpful to Mr. Romney in South Carolina, even though it has only a small number of Catholics. Religious conservatives there have traditionally played a large role in the primary where tough, negative campaigning is the norm.

In the statement, the ambassadors cited what they said was Mr. Romney’s commitment to “traditional values” and said that because of his “outstanding record in defense of marriage and the family, we are confident that he understands the importance of strong families as pillars of a vibrant economy and a flourishing polity.”

Bah.

I think they're just hopping on the Romney bandwagon for good measure. The guy's campaign is looking like a steamroller.

Sick Radical Progressives Attack Rick Santorum's 'Sexual Deviance' at Hate Blog Balloon Juice

I've written a couple of times already on the homosexual extremists, but there's never a dull moment in progressive anti-Christian, anti-tradition bigotry.

Here's this from the comments at John Cole's Balloon Juice:

Rick Santorum has zero chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination. Not only is Santorum a sick and twisted homophobe, he’s even too sick and twisted for the majority of Republicans. His focus on these issues in his campaign is all about his own psychosis and has nothign to do with what is good for the country or what the country needs.

I’m afraid if an aggressive questioner asked Santorum to rank priorities for the US, his first ten or more would all have to do with sexual issues. He must have had one screwed up childhood.

Which is more important, Rick, gay marriage or climate change?

Which is more important, Rick, corrupt bankers or two women kissing?

Santorum is not your every day, run-of-the-mill Republican thug. Unlike his fellow candidates, he isn’t simply a bad person dressed in expensive clothing advocating for the rights of the rich over all else. Nope, Rick, needs psychiatric help. Instead of four years in the White House, I’d suggest a lengthy stay in a mental facility that specializes in sexual deviance.

Actually, it's homosexual relations that are sexually deviant, but standing up for moral decency and tradition gets you attacked for "sexual deviance" in our right is wrong, up is down world of radical progressive totalitarianism.

Don't stand for it. Crush these f-kers.

RELATED: "Andrew "Milky Loads" Sullivan piles on, "Rick Santorum is a Dick."

See also Doug "Weasel" Mataconis, "Rick Santorum: A Straight Dad in Prison Is Better Than Two Gay Dads Who Aren’t."

Progressive bigots are really going to town on Santorum. That's where the hate is, not with Santorum, who's simply standing up for his beliefs, quite unashamedly in fact.

PREVIOUSLY: "Rick Santorum Debates Gay Marriage in New Hampshire."

The Economy Still Sucks Democrat Donkey Dongs, No Matter What Islamo-Socialist President Barack Hussein Says Otherwise

At The Foundry, "Morning Bell: Beneath Growth, a Sea of Poison."

Also at Astute Bloggers, "THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE NUMBERS SHOW THAT JOB CREATION IS NOT SURGING, AND THE ECONOMY IS STILL NOT GROWING AT THE BARE MINIMUM IT NEEDS TO KEEP PACE WITH NEW WORKERS ENTERING THE MARKETPLACE."

And from James Pethokoukis, "What the plunging unemployment rate really means for Obama’s reelection."

Romney Looks to Wrap Up Nomination by Florida Primary at the End of January

Well, we'll know better how things are going to shake out after New Hampshire. If Romney takes the Granite State he could be the runaway candidate. But upsets in New Hampshire are not uncommon, so we'll see.

At Washington Post, "Romney pushing for four-state streak to steamroll GOP opponents":

TILTON, N.H. — After preparing for a drawn-out nominating battle that would stretch well into the spring, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign is now quietly shifting gears in an effort to steamroll his underfunded opponents — and lock up the Republican nomination by the Florida primary at the end of this month.

Buoyed by a narrow win in the Iowa caucuses and his commanding lead in the New Hampshire polls, Romney has turned his attention to South Carolina, where he is dispatching a slew of high-profile surrogates and relocating some staffers ahead of the Jan. 21 primary. Looking further ahead, Romney has begun a massive advertising blitz in Florida and launched an aggressive outreach program to early voters in the state.

Romney campaign advisers insist that they are moving forward one state at a time and not taking any contest for granted. Yet Republican observers see Romney executing an ambitious strategy that would quickly maximize his momentum and try to quash any further surges by his rivals.

“If Romney wins the first four states, he’ll be the de facto nominee of the party,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior strategist on Sen. John McCain’s 2008 GOP campaign who is unaffiliated in the current race. Ed Rogers, another unaffiliated Republican strategist, said the notion that Romney may wrap up the nomination by Jan. 31 is “perfectly plausible.”

Continue reading.

Newt Gingrich Under Fire for Blacks on Food Stamps Comment

Gingrich is frankly just talking policy, and non-controversially at that. But allegations of bigotry and racism are all the progs have left, the f-king losers.

At New York Times, "Gingrich Pushes Back Against Charges of Racism":

NEWPORT, N.H. — Newt Gingrich charged that remarks he made about food stamps and African-Americans were taken out of context and twisted to sound racially insensitive.

“I went back and pulled up the exact language of the text,” Mr. Gingrich told reporters on Friday. “I think you’d have to be nuts’’ to interpret the words as critical of blacks.

He accused the Democratic National Committee of being behind the misinterpretation, which echoed through the left-leaning blogosphere on Thursday, and was then covered by the national news media.

Asked if his linkage of blacks and food stamps was meant to evoke stereotypes with white conservatives, Mr. Gingrich attacked liberal policies that, he said, had failed the poor.

“Just as happened with Moynihan,” he said, referring to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the Democratic senator from New York whose writings on poverty stirred controversy in the 1960s, “if you in fact talk openly and honestly about the failure of liberal institutions and the way they hurt the poor, there comes a sudden frenzied herd of people running over screaming racism, racism.”

On Thursday, Mr. Gingrich, in a variation on a campaign theme, said that if he were the Republican nominee, he would run against President Obama in part by visiting minority communities to pitch his supply-side recipe for job creation.

“So I’m prepared,” he said in Plymouth, N.H. “If the N.A.A.C.P. invites me, I’ll go to their convention, talk about why the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.”

The comment was criticized by some bloggers as invoking racial stereotypes.

By "some bloggers," eh?

Might as well have been the entire leftosphere, anything to distract the public from this epic clusterf-k of a Democrat-Socialist administration.

Homosexual Extremists Harass Rick Santorum in New Hampshire

This is exactly what I was talking about.

See IBD, "Rick Santorum On Parking Lot Hecklers: ‘This Is Cake’."

And at Towleroad, "Rick Santorum Faces Most Aggressive Batch of Hecklers Yet: VIDEO."

And Washington Post's vicious hatchet man, Eugene Robinson, doubles-down on the hate, "The extreme Rick Santorum."

Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Damascus

At Los Angeles Times, "Bombing in Syria capital kills as many as 26 and injures dozens."

VIDEO HAT TIP: Blazing Cat Fur.

The Sultriest Members of Congress

The Atlantic has a report.

How Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss made the cut is beyond me, and the authors wanted North Dakota's freshman GOP Representative Kristi Noem (below), not former Democrat Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

Of course, my favorite Member of Congress is Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

United States and Israel Plan 'Largest Ever' Joint Military Exercise

At ABC News, "Israel and US to Stage Major Defense Drill," and The Hill, "Israel, US plan joint military exercise."

This kind of U.S.-Israeli defense coordination will negate whatever diplomatic benefits we see from the Navy's rescue of the 13 Iranian fisherman.

Rick Santorum is Right On Gay Marriage

From John Hawkins, at Right Wing News:

Also at Los Angeles Times, "Rick Santorum focuses on gay marriage."

PREVIOUSLY: "Rick Santorum Debates Gay Marriage in New Hampshire."

High Surf in Southern California

A fabulous photo-slideshow, at Los Angeles Times, "California surf is up, dudes; swells pound west-facing beaches."

Stolen Car Lands on Apartment Roof in Fresno

At Fresno Bee, "Car lands on roof of Fresno apartment after wreck."

Ron Paul Goes Up With Brutal Attack on Rick Santorum in South Carolina

Well, if you're running at the top of the polls after a breakthrough showing in Iowa the others candidates aren't going to just stand by helplessly on the sidelines. And I think this line of attack is pretty devastating, as I noted yesterday. Ron Paul won't win the nomination, of course, but he's been putting up a few keepers in attack advertising.

See Catholic Bandita, "Ron Paul Using Soros-Funded Opposition Research Against Rick Santorum in New Attack Ad." And Maggie Gallagher, "Ron Paul Tries to Tar Santorum with Gingrich Brush."

RELATED: At Astute Bloggers, "Rick versus Mitt: Right to work laws etc. ..." (At Memeorandum.)

U.S. Navy Rescues Iranians Held by Pirates

A sort of gunboat diplomacy, you might say, although I doubt America's good deed will improve relations with Tehran.

At Los Angeles Times, "U.S. Navy rescues Iran fishermen held by Somalia pirates":

A Navy destroyer rescued 13 Iranian fishermen held hostage by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea only days after Tehran warned the United States to keep its ships out of the nearby Persian Gulf.

Sailors from the guided-missile destroyer Kidd boarded the Iranian dhow Thursday and detained 15 Somalis after one of the fishermen was able to reveal in a radio communication that his vessel's crew was being held captive.

Seeing a publicity windfall at a time of growing tension with Iran, Pentagon public affairs officers quickly swung into action, setting up a conference call for reporters with Navy commanders in the region.

Among those briefing journalists was Rear Adm. Craig S. Faller, who commands the John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group, which conducted the rescue and includes the Kidd. Faller later received a congratulatory telephone call from Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, the Pentagon said in a statement.

"When we get a distress signal, we're going to respond," Pentagon spokesman George Little quoted Panetta as saying.

The Stennis is the ship that Gen. Ataollah Salehi, head of Iran's army, advised Tuesday not to return to the Persian Gulf after the carrier had passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic choke point that Iran has threatened to close in response to economic sanctions by the United States and its allies.

About one-fifth of the world's oil exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Secret to Kelly Brook's Hourglass Figure

The Daily Mail does a piece on Kelly Brook every few days --- which is fine by me!

What's her secret? She works out, of course, but admits to liking "a little meat on my bones."

Lovely all around, in any case. See: "'I like having a bit of meat on my bones': Kelly Brook reveals the secret to her perfect hourglass figure."

Rick Santorum Was Prototypical Establishment Senator and Washington Insider

It's Rick Santorum's turn to face the media's attack gauntlet, and he's certainly got a deep trove a material for his attackers.

I defended Santorum on gay marriage earlier, but that story's picking up steam as progressives never waste an opportunity to attack conservatives for alleged "bigotry". See New York Times, "Spotlight Shines on Santorum, Rough Edges and All." Plus lots more at Memeorandum. And there's even more progressive attacks on Rick Santorum's alleged attacks on black welfare dependency, seen here at the MSNBC clip:

All of that's a given.

More interesting from the GOP side is this report at Los Angeles Times, which shows Santorum clearly not an exemplary tea party-style candidate, "Rick Santorum's political evolution sparks scrutiny":

 Rick Santorum first came to Congress from western Pennsylvania in 1990 after waging a grass-roots campaign against an opponent he labeled a Washington insider for buying a house in a fancy suburb of the capital.

But during four years in the House and 12 in the Senate, Santorum became an insider himself. He brought home earmarks that his competitors are now criticizing. He helped lead Republican outreach to K Street lobbyists. And despite his campaign promises, Santorum established his family's home in an affluent Washington suburb while charging his children's school tuition to Pennsylvania taxpayers.

The shift from conservative insurgent to a man considered a cunning Capitol player dogged Santorum in his 2006 Senate race, in which his Democratic challenger, Bob Casey, branded him beholden to Washington interests. Santorum lost his seat in a double-digit rout.

Since leaving the Senate, Santorum has quietly built a comfortable life, following a path that has become well-worn for former members of Congress. He doubled his net worth with lucrative contracts with Fox News and Washington lobbying and consulting firms.

Now his squeaker second-place finish behind GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses has brought renewed scrutiny to the former senator's record. Santorum's campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Santorum started his political career with an upset, unseating seven-term Democrat Doug Walgren by a 2-point margin. Santorum relentlessly criticized Walgren for living in "the wealthiest area of Virginia," hundreds of miles away from the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh that he represented. Walgren said in an interview this week that the residency issue was "the key" to the election.

"He made a lot of absolute promises that he would never live in Washington, that his residence has always been in Pittsburgh," Walgren said.

But four years later, when he was elected to the Senate, Santorum and his family settled into a home in Herndon, Va., and then moved to a larger house, purchased for $643,000 in affluent Leesburg.

"He found out that [keeping his family in Pittsburgh] was not something that he wanted to do," Walgren said. "He accused me of doing something that he said was wrong and then just went right ahead and did it himself."

Santorum has told Pennsylvania reporters that his pledge not to live in Washington applied to his service in the House. "The Senate is a very different place," he said, according to the York (Pa.) Daily Record.

On Capitol Hill, Santorum at first took an anti-establishment tack, joining other GOP freshmen to expose the fact that more than 350 representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, had written thousands of overdrafts on the now-defunct House bank.

As his tenure went on, Santorum went from needling the establishment to becoming the establishment, ascending the ranks to be the third-highest Republican in the Senate. From that position, he worked on legislative successes, including passage of a massive welfare reform bill during the Clinton presidency.

Continue reading.

It's not the prettiest picture.

Santorum Sharpens Aim at Romney

At Wall Street Journal, "Santorum, Riding Wave, Sharpens Aim at Romney":

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Riding a bump in national polls after his strong showing in Iowa, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum sought Thursday to erode rival Mitt Romney's substantial lead by drawing distinctions in policy and background for GOP voters here and nationwide.

Mr. Santorum cast himself as an advocate for blue-collar workers and their economically troubled communities, hoping to capitalize on differences with Mr. Romney, a wealthy former private-equity investor and son of a Michigan governor, in a GOP field reshaped by Iowa's caucuses.

Two national polls have registered a substantial bounce for Mr. Santorum. A Gallup survey that included Wednesday, the day after he lost to Mr. Romney in Iowa by a razor-thin margin, showed Mr. Santorum spiking to 11% support and fourth place in the race, compared to 3% in late December. A Rasmussen survey Wednesday showed Mr. Santorum in second place, with 21%, behind Mr. Romney's 29%.

As he campaigned in New Hampshire, which holds its GOP primary Tuesday, Mr. Santorum spoke of plans to revive blue-collar communities. His speeches were peppered with memories of his coal-miner grandfather, along with details about his plans to revive U.S. manufacturing. For many voters, it added a new dimension to a candidate known as an opponent of abortion and gay marriage.

"A lot of blue collar workers have been left behind in America," Mr. Santorum said Thursday in Manchester. Later, at a campaign event in Tilton, he said his family and his friends' families had worked in factories. To a man who asked about manufacturing workers "sitting at home,'' Mr. Santorum replied: "My plan is 'Made in America.'"

Continue reading.

And in other developments, at Los Angeles Times, "Vote count claim could change Iowa winner," and at ABC News, "Rick Santorum Rakes In $2 Million In Two Days, Plans ‘Major’ South Carolina Ad Buy" (via Memeorandum).

Rick Santorum Debates Gay Marriage in New Hampshire

This is pretty interesting.

See the report at New York Times, "Students Jeer Santorum on New Hampshire Blitz."

Santorum has previously made some incisive arguments in this debate --- some time last year he argued that gays had "super rights," which I thought was pretty sharp. And while in Europe there's a movement to legitimize multiple homosexual partnerships --- and gay radicals are indeed pushing for "three ways" here --- folks can easily make the case for traditional marriage without attacking the radical gay propensity for multiple partners. Same-sex marriage is simply unnatural and the institution of marriage was never designed for same-sex couples. Not only is gay marriage not a civil right, but the aggressive agitation by the radical gay movement is suppressing real rights of all Americans. Santorum simply needs to say that regular Americans support whatever lifestyles that gays choose to live, but they should not be browbeaten and harassed to redefine an institution whose essential meaning is the biological union of man and woman for the purpose of procreation and regeneration of family and society.

There's additional video at New York Times, "Santorum Has Testy Exchange on Same-Sex Marriage." And the freaks at Think Progress practically ejaculated over the debate, and they write:

To be clear, Santorum’s offensive and circuitous responses are all meant to reject the natural desire of two same-sex individuals to join in a union and enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Actually, there is no "natural desire" such as this. Homosexuality is a deviant form of sexual relations and has become a "right" only at the whip end of progressive campaigns of recrimination and terror against traditionals. These are the points that Santorum needs to raise. Hold the evidence on the radical gay push for homosexual polygamy for later.

Belladonna Rogers: 'How to Confront the Anti-Israel Fixation of the Left'

Advice columnist Belladonna Rogers addresses one of the issues I've been dealing with this last couple of weeks, at PJ Media.

One of her readers asks, "Of all the challenges I face dealing with leftists, one of the most difficult is contending with their anti-Israel bias ... How can I deal with the growing, overt liberal animus toward Israel?"

Rogers indicates two key issues: ignorance and anti-Semitism. Check the post for her discussion of the facts about Israel. The facts speak for themselves. She correctly notes that when people refuse to accept the facts on Israel --- when they deny the evidence --- and when they demonize Israel exclusively, using double-standards to attack the existence of the Jewish state, that's anti-Semitism. And she concludes by reinforcing a point I made in my devastating exposé of the hate-Israel Occupy backers:

Unlike anti-Israeli sentiment based on ignorance of history ... you don’t stand a chance of persuading bigots by using facts, logic, or reasoning, because their attitudes are irrational, deep-seated, and often unconscious.

Education may help with the factually-ignorant.  With the deep-seated anti-Semite, nothing will succeed.

When you encounter such a person, I recommend minimizing contact — indeed, if you can, cutting off contact entirely.

Life is too short to subject yourself to an unrepentant bigot, no matter how charming or attractive he or she may appear to be in other respects. I’m with Moses Seixas and George Washington on this: “give bigotry no sanction.”  None.

Progressives hate Jews. And the Occupy Wall Street movement has been driven throughout by anti-Zionism and exterminationist attacks on the Jews. And of course the very denials of these facts are themselves despicable and f-king reprehensible expressions of anti-Semitic bigotry. These people are the pestilence destroying democracy in the West.

Progressive Intolerance on Display: Michael Coren's Death Wish Hate Mail

Via Blazing Cat Fur, "Michael Coren's Letter From 'Mo' Who Wants to Hurt His Children":

Bwahaha!! Progressives Disillusioned With Obama!

Despite his best efforts, even an arch socialist like Barack Hussein gets checked and balanced once in a while.

And that's once too often for the hate-addled progs.

At Gateway Pundit, "So Sad … Obama’s Popularity Dwindling Among Disillusioned Supporters (Video)."

Yeah, even the progresso-commies at Washington Monthly are looking to the future: "What If Obama Loses?"

Freakin' douchbags.

Copenhagen's Rysle Dyre Explains the Occupy Movement

Via FrontPage Magazine:

Wow, far out man!

Trash capitalism! Occupy wherever you are!

PREVIOUSLY: "Manifesto: Occupy for the Revolution."

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Shills for Barack 'Occupy' Obama on Greta Van Susteren's Show

The Conservative Examiner had a nice post the other day, "DNC chair says she admires Communist Party-backed Occupy Wall Street."

And here's the DNC Chair shilling for the Occupier-in-Chief on Greta's:

She's a genuine bloody idiot.

Ezra Levant Rips Chiquita Brands International Senior Vice-President Manuel Rodriguez

At Five Feet of Fury, "Ezra Levant: ‘I only regret that it did not get more coverage…’"

Video c/o Blazing Cat Fur.

VIDEO: Smokin' Natalin Avci

Via Maxim:

Courage Campaign Slams Kim Kardashian on Taxes

She's not that wealthy, so perhaps the Courage kooks were going for the hotness factor to generate some attention.

 See Los Angeles Times, "Kim Kardashian told to 'pay up' by group seeking tax on wealthy."

Diane Abbott, Labour's Shadow Health Minister, Apologizes for Racist Comments Attacking 'White People' on Twitter

More racism from the left.

At Telegraph UK, "Diane Abbott forced to apologise in racism row after claiming 'White people love playing divide and rule’":

Diane Abbott, Labour’s shadow health minister, has faced calls to resign after claiming that white people “love to divide and rule”.

Miss Abbott was engulfed by criticism from political opponents who said her remarks were “racist” and would never have been tolerated had they been made about black people.

Initially, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington refused to say sorry for her comments, which she claimed had been taken “out of context” and interpreted “maliciously”.

However, after a “difficult” phone call with her party leader, Ed Miliband, Labour headquarters issued a statement in which Miss Abbott apologised “for any offence caused”.

Miss Abbott, the first black female MP in the Commons, made her comments in response to a commentator who said she disliked the “lazy” and “monolithic” use of the term “black community” during coverage of the Stephen Lawrence murder trial.
Bim Adewunmi, a freelance journalist, wrote on Twitter that she found many black “leaders” shown in the media to be out of touch with the people they purported to represent.

Miss Abbott responded to say the comments were “playing into a 'divide and rule’ agenda” that is as “old as colonialism”. She said black people should not “wash dirty linen in public”.
In her most inflammatory message, posted after midnight, she added: “White people love playing 'divide & rule’. We should not play their game,” appending the reference tag: “tacticasoldascolonialism”.

Abbott's Twitter feed is here.

At the video Abbott ends the interview to take a call from "a fuming" Labour Party leader Ed Miliband.

Also at London's Daily Mail, "The hypocrisy of Diane Abbott, an expert in 'divide and rule' if ever there was one." And the Sun UK, "Fury at MP Diane Abbott’s ‘white people’ Twitter jibe."

Tamara Ecclestone's Hot Bikini Beach-Bling in Dubai

This lady is smokin'!

At London's Daily Mail, "£50,000 diamond earrings, a Rolex and a £25,000 bracelet: Tamara Ecclestone does beach bling as she soaks up Dubai sun."

Obama's Precipitous Withdrawal: Dozens Killed in Bomb Attacks Amid Iraq's Political Crisis

At Telegraph UK, "Sectarian attacks in Iraq leave over 70 dead."

And at New York Times, "Political Role for Militants Worsens Fault Lines in Iraq":

BAGHDAD — It was one of the deadliest insurgent groups in Iraq in recent years, an Iranian-backed militia that bombed American military convoys and bases, assassinated dozens of Iraqi officials and tried to kidnap Americans even as the last soldiers withdrew.

But now the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is welcoming the militant group into Iraq’s political system, a move that could tilt the nation’s center of gravity closer to Iran. The government’s support for the militia, which only just swore off violence, has opened new sectarian fault lines in Iraq’s political crisis while potentially empowering Iran at a moment of rising military and economic tensions between Tehran and Washington.

The militant group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, broke away from the fierce Shiite militia commanded by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who has strong ties to Tehran. The American military has long maintained that the group, led by a former spokesman for Mr. Sadr, Qais al-Khazali, was trained and financed by Iran’s elite Quds Force — something that Iran denies.

Since the American military withdrawal last month, Iraq has been convulsed with waves of attacks that have raised concerns about its political stability. On Thursday, bombings killed at least 68 people, including 44 Shiite pilgrims in a single attack in the southern deserts near Nasiriya. With that backdrop of violence, the Iraqi government can plausibly claim that its overtures to the group are an earnest attempt to make peace with a powerful armed foe while nudging the country closer to a much-needed national reconciliation.

Thousands of other militants, both Sunni and Shiite, have cut deals with the government to stop fighting, and few officials see a meaningful peace in Iraq that does not include reconciling with armed groups. On Thursday, Asaib Ahl al-Haq made another conciliatory gesture, saying it would release the body of a British bodyguard, Alan McMenemy, who was kidnapped in 2007 with four others, only one of whom was released alive.

Yet, critics worry that Mr. Maliki, facing fierce new challenges to his leadership from Sunnis and even his fellow Shiites, may now be making a cynical and shortsighted play for Asaib’s support. They say Mr. Maliki may use the group’s credentials as Shiite resistance fighters to divide challengers in his own Shiite coalition and weaken Mr. Sadr’s powerful bloc, which draws its political lifeblood from the Shiite underclass.

Way to go Democrats!

This is what cut and run gets you! Congratulations!

Obama's Recess Appointments

Michelle has the big story on the Richard Cordray appointment, "He’s baaaaack: Obama recess-appoints Dodd-Frank czar." And see John Yoo, "Richard Cordray & the Use and Abuse of Executive Power."

And here's Investor's Business Daily, "Acting Like a King Isn't Among the President's Duties":

Leadership: A spokesman says the president "can't wait for Congress to act" and promised that he's "going to take action." This is the president who was "ready to rule" in 2008. Is he an elected chief executive or an emperor?

In November 2008, shortly after Barack Obama was elected president, Valerie Jarrett, co-chair of his transition team, appeared on "Meet the Press." She told host Tom Brokaw that "Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one."

Shouldn't someone who had reached the political heights that Jarrett had reached know that kings rule but presidents are elected to serve and are accountable to Congress, the courts and the voters?

One would think that she and the rest of the administration are aware of a president's legal limitations, but simply aren't interested in respecting them.

A little more than three years after Jarrett declared Obama's majesty, his spokesman Jay Carney warned on the day of the Iowa caucuses that "if Republicans choose the path of obstruction rather than cooperation, then the president is not going to sit here . .. he's going to take the actions that he can take using his executive authority."

Within a day, Obama made good on the threat. On Wednesday, he bypassed the congressional approval process and named Richard Cordray as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The appointment, made while the Senate is in a pro forma session and not in recess, came after that chamber blocked Cordray's confirmation last month.

Not only is Obama trampling precedent that says recess appointments are to be done only after the Senate has been out of session for 10 days or more, he's also trying to circumvent legislation.

Continue reading.

And see Edwin Meese III and Todd Gaziano, "Obama’s recess appointments are unconstitutional."

And this Cordray guy doesn't seem fazed by the unconstitutionality of his appointment. See New York Times, "New Chief at Consumer Bureau Promises Vigorous Agenda."

Eugene Robinson Viciously Attacks Rick Santorum

The video's at RealClearPolitics, "Eugene Robinson: Rick Santorum's Stillborn Baby Story Is 'Very Weird'."

William Jacobson responds, "Now Eugene Robinson mocks Santorum’s mourning."

And Glenn Reynolds links to Peter Wehner at Commentary: "WELL, AFTER THE TRIG PALIN ASSAULTS, GOING AFTER A STILLBORN BABY ISN’T MUCH OF A STRETCH: The Casual Cruelty of Eugene Robinson. Remember this the next time they launch one of their bogus “new civility” campaigns."

Bogus "new civility."

No doubt.

Record Weather as Summer-Like Conditions Continue

It's been beach-strolling, shorts-and-t-shirt weather for the last week.

This is why people love California, despite one of the most oppressive business climates in the nation.

See Los Angeles Times, "Heat records break as summer-like weather continues."

Southern California should experience another day of warm weather Thursday as temperatures are expected to climb into the 80s.

The National Weather Service issued a high-surf advisory for late Thursday afternoon into Saturday for Los Angeles and Ventura counties. A strong storm system in the central Pacific produced breakers up to 15 feet high, weather service officials said.

High swells could bring high tides, coastal flooding and potentially dangerous rip currents, the National Service warned.

The summer-like heat and high swells sent surfers flocking to local beaches.

More at the link.

And at the video, "Evelyn Taft, Political Scientist."

Obama Slashes Pentagon Budget Amid Growing International Danger

At USA Today, "Obama announces Pentagon budget cuts":

The new military strategy includes $487 billion in cuts over the next decade. An additional $500 billion in cuts could be coming if Congress follows through on plans for deeper reductions. The announcement comes weeks after the U.S. officially ended the Iraq War and after a decade of increased defense spending in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

More at the link.

And at New York Times, "Obama at Pentagon to Outline Cuts and Strategic Shifts," and "In New Strategy, Panetta Plans Even Smaller Army."

Plus, "Text: Obama’s Remarks on Military Spending."

And here's this, from Max Boot, at Commentary, "Upcoming Election Will Determine America’s Standing as a Superpower":

In the new COMMENTARY, I write that the coming election will determine the future of America’s defense spending–and hence of our standing as a great power able to shape events around the world in ways conducive to our security interests. Today’s press conference at the Pentagon only makes the choice even more stark. President Obama unveiled a strategy documents whose title I can only assume is ironic: “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense.” In fact, the $450 billion worth of cuts that will be spelled out in the coming weeks pose a serious threat to America’s ability to sustain our global leadership; if an extra $600 billion or so of cuts is added, as a result of the failure of the sequestration process, then America’s days as a superpower truly will be numbered....

The details of what this strategy document will mean for the armed services will emerge slowly, but already one piece of news has suffered–the army, currently at 569,000 active-duty personnel, will fall to 490,000. This was entirely predictable–the ground forces are being sacrificed to maintain air and naval forces to operate in the Pacific even though the major aircraft that will sustain American deterrence in the 21st century, the F-35, is also slated for cutbacks.

No doubt the president will argue–and the army leadership will faithfully repeat–the line that the army will still be a bit bigger than it was pre-9/11 when the active-duty strength was 480,000. That is hardly reassuring, however, because after 9/11 we quickly discovered the army was much too small to fight the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq. The lack of force size made it almost impossible to stabilize those countries after the deposal of their dictators and practically guaranteed that soldiers and Marines would pay a heavy price to regain lost momentum. Is this really the model we want to follow in the future?

Apparently so, because of the fantastical belief current in Washington today that somehow we will not have to fight another major ground war ever again. The same illusion was popular before almost every one of our major wars–and each time we paid heavily in the early battles for our unreadiness. Today, looking around the world at hotspots from North Korea to Pakistan, Iran to Somalia and Yemen, who can confidently predict we will not face a situation that will necessitate the dispatch of substantial ground forces? Indeed, by not having sufficient forces at the ready we make another ground war more, not less, likely.

Continue reading.

Barack Hussein Obama, weakening America, making the world safe for Islamism.

Jon Huntsman Bets Big on New Hampshire

This has been the most quixotic campaign of the season. Huntsman's the best dressed, but with his brand of moderate Republicanism, he's 30 years too late.

At Wall Street Journal, "Clock Ticks for Huntsman in New Hampshire" (via Google):

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has staked his presidential hopes on New Hampshire, a strategy akin to Rick Santorum's shoe-leather campaign in Iowa that ultimately proved successful.

But despite his ubiquity here, Mr. Huntsman's level of support and his appeal to voters have been shaky.

Mr. Huntsman has been a constant presence in New Hampshire since the summer, and because the state's voters tend to decide late in the process, Mr. Huntsman says he is confident he will emerge a front-runner in the final days before the Tuesday primary. But Mr. Huntsman had only 7% support in Wednesday's Suffolk University tracking poll of the New Hampshire GOP race, a loss of three percentage points from the day before.

The Suffolk poll showed Mitt Romney holding his ground atop the GOP field, with 43% of the likely primary voters, while all others lagged far behind.

"Who would have guessed that Rick Santorum, tooling around in his pickup truck, would have gone from nowhere to practically winning the caucus?" Mr. Huntsman said on CBS Wednesday. "New Hampshire's going to result in the same thing" for him, he added. Mr. Santorum finished in second place in Iowa, a hair behind Mr. Romney.

Mr. Huntsman presents his policy ideas without the sharp ideological overtones of some of his rivals, and he puts little emphasis on the social issues that have defined the candidacies of Mr. Santorum and some others. The former U.S. ambassador to China says he would simplify the tax code, jump-start manufacturing and wind up the war in Afghanistan. Unlike some of his rivals, he has said he defers to the judgment of scientists on climate change, and he has supported civil unions for gay couples.

Right.

Which is why it's one and done in New Hampshire after next Tuesday.

I'm not sure what the guy's trying to get out of this. Maybe a job in the Romney State Department?