Osama Bin Laden Tells Kids and Grandkids to Reject Terrorism: 'Do Not Follow Me Down the Road to Jihad'

At London's Daily Mail, "'Do not follow me down the road to jihad. Go and get a good education in the West': Osama Bin Laden’s extraordinary instructions to his young children."

And see Walter Russell Mead, "Bin Laden Gave Up on Jihad" (via Instapundit).

I'd personally like more evidence before gloating, although certainly the trend is that the U.S. has done right in the war on terror, defeating and demoralizing our enemies on the battlefield and in hearts and minds --- even on the home front. See: "On Second Thought: Liberals Now Support Drone Strikes on US Civilians and Gitmo."

Adele Triumphs at Grammy Awards

At Los Angeles Times, "Adele is rolling in the Grammys." (More here.)

And see New York Times, "Major Grammy Honors for Adele and Foo Fighters."

Charles Johnson's Increasingly Desperate Efforts to Simulate Relevance

See Robert Stacy McCain, "An Idiot Obsessed With Commenters."

PREVIOUSLY: "Charles Johnson Whines After Getting Smacked Down for Attacks on Pamela Geller."

Daily Caller: 'Inside Media Matters of America'

See: "Inside Media Matters: Sources, memos reveal erratic behavior, close coordination with White House and news organizations." (Via Instapundit and Memeorandum.)

None of this is surprising, although the intensity of Media Matters' coordination with MSM outlets, and its trophy case of successful attacks, is fairly eye-popping.

'Hating Breitbart'

Via Legal Insurrection:

Also at Big Hollywood, "‘Hating Breitbart’ Trailer: Internet Upstart Declares War on Establishment Media."

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

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

Whitney Houston 'Drowned in Bathtub', Reports Claim

Sources tell TMZ that Whitney Houston's body was removed from the bathtub before paramedics arrived, and prescription drugs have been found on the scene. See: "WHITNEY HOUSTON: Prescriptions Found; Possible Drowning."

And see London's Daily Mail, "Did Whitney Houston drown in the bath after taking prescription drugs? Star, 48, died just hours before Grammys party at LA hotel."

Added: The Last Tradition has more, "Whitney Houston found dead, drowned in bathtub, prescription drugs in room, partied heavily reeked of alcohol."

NewsBusted: 'Susan G. Komen vs. Planned Parenthood'

Via Big Journalism:

Photos From the Pre-Grammy's Celebrity Party at the Beverly Hilton On the Night Whitney Houston Died

At London's Daily Mail, "Is that really appropriate? Kim Kardashian, Amber Rose and Britney Spears are far from demure as they party at hotel where Whitney Houston died just hours earlier."

Well, the headline assumes that they'd shut the place down because Whitney died. I think the photos just go to show that life goes on, or "the show goes on," in Hollywood-speak.

And see Los Angeles Times for the latest on Whitney's death, "Cause-of-death ruling expected to take time."

Mitt Romney is 'Wishy-Washy' in California's Central Valley

From Steve Lopez, at Los Angeles Times, "In Central Valley, conservative flight to the right":

The way things are going in the GOP presidential primary, there's now an outside chance that California's 169 delegate votes — the most of any state in the nation — could come into play.

Who knew?

It seemed, way back when, that Mitt Romney was a safe bet to make it to the dance with President Obama in November. Then Newt Gingrich came on like the bull terrier he is, followed by a surprising surge from Rick Santorum. If the seesaw ride continues, it could even make California's June 5 primary relevant for once.

So whom do California conservatives like?

My poll may have a wide margin of error, scientifically speaking, but I did zigzag my way through the heavily Republican Central Valley one day last week, asking that very question.

"Gingrich," said Joe Rebella, owner of Fresno's Whirlwind Car Wash, where the sign says "you'll see a whirl of difference."

Romney comes off as "wishy-washy," said the carwash man, who isn't exactly "conservative" with a capital C. He said he's voted for Democrats and Republicans, but business at the Whirlwind has been worse than ever since Obama took office. About a year ago, Rebella lost a big prize when Fresno City Hall stopped having him wash its fleet of cars because of budget troubles.

OK, but given the GOP gospel of ever-smaller government, does Rebella really think he'd get the city fleet back under a President Gingrich?

In the tiny farm town of Pixley, south of Tulare, I strolled into the True Romance Tattoo parlor, because how could I not?

"I'm a convicted felon," said the owner, Josh Richardson, explaining why he won't be voting in June or November. But if he could, he'd definitely vote Republican, on gun-rights issues alone.

OK, swell.

His grandpa, James Crawford, said he had switched party affiliation from D to R that very morning because Obama is nothing but "promises, promises, promises." Crawford plans to vote for Romney in the primary because Gingrich is nothing but a politician and lobbyist.

OK, but with so many people suffering through a rough economy, does it bother Crawford that the fabulously rich Romney said he didn't care about poor people, or that he paid 13.9% in taxes on dividends while lots of working folks paid twice as much?

"No," said Crawford. "That's the way it's set up."

More at that top link. That's interesting that folks are switching to Democrat affiliation at this late date. It's not your mother's party, as Andrew Breitbart remarked at CPAC, not by a long shot.

A Specter of Violence is Haunting Our Democracy

That's Michael Walsh, at New York Post, "Attack on civility: ‘Occupy’ alive in NY, DC" (via Glenn Reynolds):

A specter is haunting America — the specter of violence that challenges the notion of civil discourse and threatens our democracy. Embodied by the Occupy Wall Street rabble and its imitators, and shamefully abetted by far too many Democratic elected officials, what once masqueraded as “dissent” is now unmasked as partisan thuggery.

I like how Walsh is riffing on the Communist Manifesto, which begins, "A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism."

Obama's Act of Supremacy

Mark Steyn does it again with a fantastic essay, at National Review, "The Church of Obama":

Announcing his support for Commissar Sebelius’s edicts on contraception, sterilization, and pharmacological abortion, that noted theologian the Most Reverend Al Sharpton explained: “If we are going to have a separation of church and state, we’re going to have a separation of church and state.”

Thanks for clarifying that. The church model the young American state wished to separate from was that of the British monarch, who remains to this day supreme governor of the Church of England. This convenient arrangement dates from the 1534 Act of Supremacy. The title of the law gives you the general upshot, but, just in case you’re a bit slow on the uptake, the text proclaims “the King’s Majesty justly and rightfully is and ought to be the supreme head of the Church of England.” That’s to say, the sovereign is “the only supreme head on earth of the Church” and he shall enjoy “all honors, dignities, pre-eminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said dignity,” not to mention His Majesty “shall have full power and authority from time to time to visit, repress, redress, record, order, correct, restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, offenses, contempts, and enormities, whatsoever they be.”

Welcome to Obamacare.

The president of the United States has decided to go Henry VIII on the Church’s medieval ass. Whatever religious institutions might profess to believe in the matter of “women’s health,” their pre-eminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, and immunities are now subordinate to a one-and-only supreme head on earth determined to repress, redress, restrain, and amend their heresies. One wouldn’t wish to overextend the analogy: For one thing, the Catholic Church in America has been pathetically accommodating of Beltway bigwigs’ ravenous appetite for marital annulments in a way that Pope Clement VII was disinclined to be vis-à-vis the English king and Catherine of Aragon. But where’d all the pandering get them? In essence President Obama has embarked on the same usurpation of church authority as Henry VIII: As his Friday morning faux-compromise confirms, the continued existence of a “faith-based institution” depends on submission to the doctrinal supremacy of the state.

Continue reading.

And at Blazing Cat Fur, "Mark Steyn on The New Yorker's Hatred of Catholics, and Barack Obama Becoming Henry VIII."

Inequality: An Unavoidable Byproduct of Capitalism?

A CNN segment with Ali Velshi.

Mostly of interest here are the comments by Harold Meyerson, who is introduced as a columnist at the Washington Post, but who is in fact a hard-line leftist and Vice-Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (via Discover the Networks).

And from the DSA website, "Where We Stand: The Political Perspective of the Democratic Socialists of America":

Socialists have historically supported public ownership and control of the major economic institutions of society -- the large corporations -- in order to eliminate the injustice and inequality of a class-based society, and have depended on the the organization of a working class party to gain state power to achieve such ends. In the United States, socialists joined with others on the Left to build a broad-based, anti-corporate coalition, with the unions at the center, to address the needs of the majority by opposing the excesses of private enterprise. Many socialists have seen the Democratic Party, since at least the New Deal, as the key political arena in which to consolidate this coalition, because the Democratic Party held the allegiance of our natural allies. Through control of the government by the Democratic Party coalition, led by anti-corporate forces, a progressive program regulating the corporations, redistributing income, fostering economic growth and expanding social programs could be realized.

With the end of the post-World War II economic boom and the rise of global economic competitors in East Asia and Europe in the 1970s came the demise of the brief majoritarian moment of this progressive coalition that promised--but did not deliver--economic and social justice for all. A vicious corporate assault on the trade union movement and a right-wing racist,populist appeal to downwardly mobile, disgruntled white blue-collar workers contributed to the disintegration of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party in the 1970s and 1980s.

Today, the mildly redistributive welfare state liberalism of the 1960s, which accepted the corporate dominance of economic decision-making, can no longer be the programmatic basis for a majoritarian progressive politics. New Deal and Great Society liberalism depended upon redistribution at the margins of an ever-expanding economic pie. But today corporations no longer aspire to expand production and consumption by raising global living standards; rather, global capital engages in a race to increase profits by "downsizing" and lowering wages.

With the collapse of the political economy of corporate liberalism came the atrophy of the very institutions upon which the progressive politics of the New Deal and Great Society had been constructed. No longer do the social bases for a majoritarian democratic politics -- strong trade unions, social movements and urban, Democratic political machines -- simply await mobilization by a proper electoral appeal. Rather, a next left must be built from the grassroots up.

Given the globalization of economic power, such grassroots movements will increasingly focus upon building a countervailing power to that of the transnational corporations. A number of positive signs of this democratic and grassroots realignment have emerged. New labor leadership has pledged to organize a workforce increasingly constituted by women, people of color, and immigrant workers. Inner-city grassroots community organizations are placing reinvestment, job creation, and economic democracy at the heart of their organizing. The women's movement increasingly argues that only by restructuring work and child care can true gender equality be realized. And the fight for national health care -- a modest reform long provided by all other industrial democracies -- united a broad coalition of activists and constituencies.

But such movements cannot be solely national in scope. Rather, today's social movements must be as global as the corporate power they confront; they must cooperate across national boundaries and promote interstate democratic regulation of transnational capital.

If socialism cannot be achieved primarily from above, through a democratic government that owns, control and regulates the major corporations, then it must emerge from below, through a democratic transformation of the institutions of civil society, particularly those in the economic sphere -- in other words, a program for economic democracy.

As inequalities of wealth and income increase and the wages and living standards of most are either stagnant or falling, social needs expand. Only a revitalized public sector can universally and democratically meet those needs.

In other words, a socialist revolution.

Freakin' Harold Meyerson, damned Marxist asshole.

Gisele Bündchen Versace 2012 Video

Well, I skipped posting on Gisele's post-Super Bowl meltdown, but her fashion clips are interesting. That pool looks skate-able.

Michael Coren on Madness and Badness of Islamic Faith

Via Blazing Cat Fur:

Rick Santorum Tailors Image to Take Advantage of Shifting Political Landscape

At Washington Post, "Rick Santorum has honed his image along the GOP campaign trail":

In the opening weeks of the Republican presidential race, Rick Santorum came across as a prickly, exasperated figure on the fringe of the debate stage, spending much of his airtime complaining about the lack of attention from the moderators.

But Santorum gradually has taken on a different image, one of a confident, good-natured and almost fatherly presence on the campaign trail who has shrewdly taken advantage of the shifting political landscape.

While his rivals attacked one another in the media glare, Santorum’s campaign has followed a carefully calibrated strategy to leverage his status below the radar.

Hearing from voters that Santorum’s electability was an issue, his advisers honed his message and focused his attention on a handful of states where he could win. When the controversy about contraception coverage and the Catholic Church emerged last week, Santorum leapt at the chance to address social issues, which are his strength.

And after nine months on the campaign trail, he has sharpened his stump speech, speaking with more confidence and authority and centering on a theme unique to his candidacy: It is impossible to tackle the economy without addressing the social problems that contribute to it.

Well, with Mitt Romney winning the CPAC straw poll and the Maine caucuses, the burden will be on Santorum to keep his momentum going. At this point I'm just holding out for March 6th. We'll have much clearer picture of the GOP race after Super Tuesday.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston, 1963–2012

She died so young. It doesn't seem real.

At Los Angeles Times, "Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies."

And from the New York Times, "Whitney Houston, Singer and Actress, Dies at 48."

Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

“The time that I first saw her singing in her mother’s act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact,” Davis told “Good Morning America.”

“To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine,” he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with “Whitney Houston,” which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. “Saving All My Love for You” brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. “How Will I Know,” “You Give Good Love” and “The Greatest Love of All” also became hit singles.

Another multiplatinum album, “Whitney,” came out in 1987 and included hits like “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”

The New York Times wrote that Houston “possesses one of her generation’s most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity.”

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the “Soul Train Awards” in 1989.

“Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?” she told Katie Couric in 1996. “You’re not black enough for them. I don’t know. You’re not R&B enough. You’re very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them.”

I'll update when the cause of death is known.

Mitt Romney Wins Maine Caucuses

The New York Times has a report, "Romney Wins Caucuses in Maine."

Ron Paul came in second place. I'm watching his speech on CNN right now.

I'll post updates with video when those become available.

Sarah Palin Speech CPAC 2012

I watched parts of it on CNN.

And the Right Scoop's got the full clip: "Full Speech: Sarah Palin at CPAC 2012":

And see ABC News, "Sarah Palin Rocks CPAC, Embracing a Long Primary." Also, at New York Times, "Palin Says Brokered Convention Would Not Hurt G.O.P."

Well, Couldn't Make It to CPAC 2012, But Looks Like Folks Had a Blast

Attending CPAC really is a rite of passage for conservatives, and especially for conservative bloggers, as it's truly the one time that you'll have a chance to meet all the people you read and link on a daily basis.

I'm pictured here from last year with Herman Cain and Pamela Geller.

Every year Pamela holds some of the best and best-attended events at the conference. And of course her criticism of the American Conservative Union for kowtowing to jihad is legend. And now it turns out that Pamela and Robert Spencer had something of an epic confrontation with Muslim snake Suhail Kahn, and she's got video: "FULL VIDEO: Suhail Khan Unhinged Spencer/Geller Take Down."

And of course, if you go, get ready to party with Robert Stacy McCain, who had a mention at Politico the other day, "5 non-politicians to watch at CPAC":

If you want to see someone thoroughly enjoy CPAC, look no further than this Washington Times-turned-American Spectator scribe, whose weathered face (he likes to call himself a “skinny redneck”) gets a new glow this time of year whenever CPAC comes to town. He calls it “Mardi Gras for the right.” After years of attending, he knows most virtually everyone and occupies the Marriott Wardman like a mayor (or “an epic schmoozer” or a “cruise director”). And he loves the rare opportunity in Washington of surrounded by his conservative pals, since he normally just annoys liberals. How can you find McCain? If the chain smoking and fedora don’t tip you off, he’ll be the guy in the press section who brings his family and boisterously laughs at Ann Coulter’s jokes, to the chagrin of mainstream types. And how do you know he’s pumped for this year? He’s already dubbed it the “best CPAC ever” and has planned how to “be in seven places simultaneously.”

Apparently not in attendance this year is Skye from Midnight Blue, who according to her Twitter feed had a ton of work commitments that kept her home.

William Jacobson didn't attend either and he's already having second thoughts: "Almost makes me wish I had gone to CPAC."

I'll have more coverage coming up.

Added: I met Kevin from Marooned in Marin last year as well, and he's at CPAC 2012 and blogging up a storm.

Mitt Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll

I just caught this on Fox News.

See: "Romney wins The Washington Times/CPAC Straw Poll."

I'll update with video if it becomes available.

Andrew Breitbart Speech CPAC 2012

It's a great speech, as usual. And especially good is this part about the pending bombshell release of videos of Barack Obama's college days. Allahpundit has the report, "Breitbart tells CPAC: I have videos of Obama in college and they’ll come out during the election."

Obama Budget Seeks Tax Increase on Wealthy — Again!

It's like a broken record, and the political battles will be like Groundhog Day.

At Los Angeles Times, "Obama's budget plan draws upon his previous proposals":

President Obama will call for new spending on infrastructure, education and manufacturing research, as well as higher taxes on top earners, in a budget proposal aimed at underlining his top economic priorities as he gears up his reelection campaign.

Senior administration officials Friday offered a preview of the president's 2013 budget proposal, which is due to be formally unveiled Monday.

The blueprint outlined pulls heavily from proposals previously put forward by the president — including his jobs bill, most of which is stalled in Congress, and his deficit reduction plan, which fizzled in the failed congressional "super committee" charged with reducing the deficit.

Officials said the budget would abide by spending caps set by Congress in the August budget deal, keeping discretionary spending levels essentially flat in fiscal 2013.

Over the decade, discretionary spending would drop from 8.7% of gross domestic product to 5%, officials said.

To achieve that, the August agreement mandates steep and unpopular cuts in defense and domestic spending, a result of the super committee's failure to forge a broader deficit reduction plan. The president's budget seeks to head off those cuts by offering up a new version of the deficit reduction package he introduced in September.

The plan claims more than $4 trillion in deficit reduction. It would accomplish this through the expiration of President George W. Bush-era tax cuts on upper-income Americans, closing tax loopholes, winding down the military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan and cutting costs in Medicare and Medicaid.

The plan will reiterate a call for tax reform to be guided by the so-called Buffett rule, the principle advocated by billionaire Warren Buffett that no household making more than $1 million a year should pay less than a 30% tax rate. But officials said the budget would not estimate how much revenue such a rule would generate.

Santorum Surges

Well, Santorum's big sweep on Tuesday has really shaken up the GOP race. Polling data now show the former Pennsylvania Senator surging ahead, beating or tying Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination nationwide

See Public Policy Polling, "Santorum surges into the lead" (via Memeorandum):

Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories on Tuesday Rick Santorum has opened up a wide lead in PPP's newest national poll. He's at 38% to 23% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Newt Gingrich, and 13% for Ron Paul.

Part of the reason for Santorum's surge is his own high level of popularity. 64% of voters see him favorably to only 22% with a negative one. But the other, and maybe more important, reason is that Republicans are significantly souring on both Romney and Gingrich. Romney's favorability is barely above water at 44/43, representing a 23 point net decline from our December national poll when he was +24 (55/31). Gingrich has fallen even further. A 44% plurality of GOP voters now hold a negative opinion of him to only 42% with a positive one. That's a 34 point drop from 2 months ago when he was at +32 (60/28).

Santorum is now completely dominating with several key segments of the electorate, especially the most right leaning parts of the party. With those describing themselves as 'very conservative,' he's now winning a majority of voters at 53% to 20% for Gingrich and 15% for Romney.  Santorum gets a majority with Tea Party voters as well at 51% to 24% for Gingrich and 12% for Romney. And with Evangelicals he falls just short of a majority with 45% to 21% for Gingrich and 18% for Romney.

Well, it remains to be seen how things shake out. Ten states will vote in the March 6th Super Tuesday primaries. See Chicago Tribune, "Republican contenders hash out Super Tuesday strategy."

See the additional comments at Hot Air and Legal Insurrection.

'Occupy Unmasked'

Debra Heine, who I met last year at CPAC, is in attendance for the 2012 conference and is providing some great reports.

Thursday's is here, "CPAC Day One." And here's this from yesterday, on a hot panel I would have loved to have attended, "CPAC Panel: Breitbart and Citizens United Unveil “Occupy Unmasked”."

The Obama Administration's Contraceptive Reversal

This was the big news all day yesterday.

See New York Times, "Rule Shift on Birth Control Is Concession to Obama Allies."

But see Life News, "Obama Revises Mandate: Free Abortion-Causing Drugs for Women."

It's still a mandate, but the appearance of compromise will provide political cover for the White House.

Lame.

Lots more at Memeorandum. And at Catholic Vote, "Unacceptable — former Vatican Ambassador, Prof. Robert George, others respond":

This so-called “accommodation” changes nothing of moral substance and fails to remove the assault on religious liberty and the rights of conscience which gave rise to the controversy.  It is certainly no compromise.  The reason for the original bipartisan uproar was the administration’s insistence that religious employers, be they institutions or individuals, provide insurance that covered services they regard as gravely immoral and unjust.  Under the new rule, the government still coerces religious institutions and individuals to purchase insurance policies that include the very same services....

The simple fact is that the Obama administration is compelling religious people and institutions who are employers to purchase a health insurance contract that provides abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization.  This is a grave violation of religious freedom and cannot stand.  It is an insult to the intelligence of Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other people of faith and conscience to imagine that they will accept as assault on their religious liberty if only it is covered up by a cheap accounting trick.

Anticipating Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition 2012

Well, this year's Rule 5 blogging will start in earnest next week when the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition hits the net and the newstands.

Here's a preview, at Global Grind, "The 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Teaser (PHOTOS)," and at Celebslam, "Kate Upton is probably getting the cover."

Rescued Dog Bites News Anchor During Live Television Report

This is freaky, and sad too for the woman, Kyle Dyer, who clearly likes the dog but gets attacked anyway.

See London's Daily Mail, "News anchor bitten by dog on air still unable to talk but issues touching message as video emerges of animal's traumatic rescue."

And see Telegraph UK, "Kyle Dyer: veteran Denver TV news anchor attacked by dog live on air."

What Happened to All the Milblogs?

An interesting discussion at Thunder Run, "Where Have the MilBlogs Gone?", and "Where Have All the MilBlogs Gone – Part 2."

Follow the links at Part 2 for some of the responses.

Mitt Romney's CPAC 2012 Speech (VIDEO)

Well, it's a good speech --- not spectacular, but Romney hits all the right notes and makes all the necessary nods to the conservative activists in attendance. The response was polite but not enthusiastic, and that's to be expected.

See Politico for a report, "At CPAC, Mitt Romney throws red meat," and New York Times, "Appealing to Activists, Romney Calls Himself ‘Severely Conservative’" (via Memeorandum).

And see Washington Post, "At CPAC, Santorum, Gingrich and Romney try to bag conservative activist."

Military Intervention in Syria

From Michael Weiss, at The New Republic, "Break the Stalemate! A Blueprint For a Military Intervention in Syria":

In the past several weeks, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other independent rebel brigades have made great strides: They have “liberated” key cities such as Zabadani, 20 miles outside of Damascus; set up checkpoints in restive areas throughout the country; and even begun to seize a few tanks and armored vehicles. For a network of ragtag militias, armed mainly with AK-47s and RPGs that defecting soldiers have given or sold them, the rebels have impressively taken the fight right up to Bashar al-Assad’s doorstep. But the rebels can only go so far. “If no one helps us, we can hit the regime painfully but we can’t topple it, not [when it has] jets and tanks,” Alaa al-Sheikh, the spokesman for the Khaled Bin Waleed Brigade in Rastan, told me.

This is a fair precis of the current situation in the nearly year-long Syrian uprising, in which the Assad regime has killed 7,000 people and dispossessed and imprisoned tens of thousands more. The rebels are waging a guerrilla war of attrition designed to exhaust Assad’s army and security forces rather than defeat them: They hope that if and when external help comes, they can make quick work of whatever regime elements remain. In that way, it would be a mistake to describe the crisis in Syria simply as a humanitarian catastrophe. It is also a military stalemate—one that the West can decisively break in favor of anti-Assad forces by offering them military assistance.

Going to war is a dangerous and risky business, and critics of Western intervention in Syria have understandably focused on three main hazards: the proliferation of jihadist groups, regional destabilization, and the rise of sectarianism (particularly between the Sunni majority and the Christian and Alawite minorities). But the worst fears of what might happen following an intervention have already come to pass and only threaten to grow worse with continued inaction.

Continue reading.

And here's Weiss' blueprint for intervention, "Intervention in Syria? An Assessment of Legality, Logistics and Hazards."

The Los Angeles Times has an editorial out today opposing intervention, "Avoiding the Syria Trap." Check the arguments there. It's obvious that "diplomacy" won't work. And if the U.S. did intervene it would be against the wishes of Russia and China, and the West could risk a new Islamist regime coming to power in Damascus. But in the absence of regime change, it's likely that Assad will continue to massacre his own people. There are no good options here.

Blake Griffin Monster Dunk Controversy

I saw the video the other day.

And now here's some of the controversy, "LeBron James won't apologize for tweet on Griffin's dunk."

Also, "Tweet from Miami Heat’s LeBron James about Blake Griffin on the mark despite Kendrick Perkins’ rant."

Michele Bachmann Speech CPAC 2012

She's awesome:

And at Washington Post, "Despite lightheartedness at CPAC gathering, tension within movement can be felt."

Romney Tries to Woo Conservatives at CPAC

At New York Times, "Romney Takes Conservative Leaders' Questions in Bid to 'Reconnect'."

Video at Fox News, "Can Romney Court Conservatives at CPAC?"

Looks like he's getting a cool reception. See RCP, "Little Enthusiasm for Romney at CPAC."

Dominique Storelli — Maxim 2012 March Cover Girl

She's lovely:

PREVIOUSLY: "Dominique Storelli: Winner Maxim's 2011 Hometown Hotties."

Santorum Adjusting to Star Treatment on Trail

At New York Times:

PLANO, Tex. — A crowd of well-wishers and autograph-seekers surrounded Rick Santorum at an event hall here this week. The place was packed; dozens of men, women and children stranded outside stood in the cold just to catch a glimpse of him.

People approached him with tears in their eyes. They gave him cowboy hats, personal notes, quilts sewn for his seriously ill 3-year-old daughter and envelopes with checks inside. His campaign had raised $1 million online in 24 hours. Earlier, at a nearby hotel, he had to apologize to those hoping to have their pictures taken with him, explaining that he had a television show to get ready for.

But as Mr. Santorum made his way through the crowd, he was asked if anything felt new. “No, no,” he said. “The same old, the same old.”

Of course, that was hard to believe: This was the Santorum campaign, post-trifecta.

On Tuesday night, Mr. Santorum stunned the political world by winning the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a nonbinding primary in Missouri, reviving his flagging candidacy. On Wednesday and Thursday, at a series of campaign stops in the suburbs north of Dallas and in Oklahoma, Mr. Santorum took advantage of a burst of momentum and campaign donations that have followed his three victories. Though overtaking Mitt Romney, the Republican front-runner, is still a formidable challenge, Mr. Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, has become as much of a political rock star as he has ever been in his life.

Continue reading.

PREVIOUSLY: "Donors Turn to Santorum 'Super PAC' After Upset Victories."

Porsche 911 Test Drive With WSJ's Dan Neil

This is cool:

PREVIOUSLY: "Test-Driving the 2012 Porsche 911."

Donors Turn to Santorum 'Super PAC' After Upset Victories

At Los Angeles Times:

Reporting from Washington — A day after former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum scored a trio of upset victories, a “super PAC” working on behalf of the GOP presidential hopeful said it was flooded with calls from donors who wanted to back its efforts.

“We've been working at a speed faster than any other day the super PAC has seen in this election season,” Stuart Roy, a political advisor to the Red White and Blue Fund, wrote in an email to the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau. “We haven’t made a single fundraising call today because potential donors have been the ones calling us.”

He declined to say how much money the super PAC -- which raised $729,000 last year -- had received in new commitments. The organization has spent nearly $2.2 million on Santorum’s behalf so far. Its major benefactor has been Foster Friess, a wealthy former mutal fund investor based in Wyoming who joined Santorum on stage at his victory party in Missouri on Tuesday night.

And see Hot Air, "Bellwether: Santorum blows past Gingrich in Pennsylvania, now leads Romney by one."

Uncertainties Loom for Europe

At New York Times, "In Europe, Stagnation as a Way of Life":

PARIS — For all the struggles that Greece has gone through to satisfy its demanding lenders, Europe’s troubles are not going away.

Because of the various, often incremental, steps European officials have taken during the nearly three-year debt difficulties that began in Greece, the crisis fever has cooled considerably in recent months — including fears that the euro currency union might suddenly fall apart.

But crisis has given way to a grinding reality for Europe: economic stagnation and even, for much of the Continent, the specter of another downturn less than three years after the last recession ended.

Greek leaders on Thursday agreed to a new set of tough austerity measures, in hopes of receiving a new 130 billion-euro bailout package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, aimed at avoiding a debt default in March. That agreement, though, is in some ways a microcosm of Europe’s broader quandary, as similar measures are being embraced by other debt-saddled countries in the euro currency union, including Portugal and Ireland.

Many analysts say the belt-tightening can only push those and other nations further into recession, sap the economies of their European trading partners and do little to address the systemic weaknesses plaguing Europe’s banks.

“We take one problem off the table for the moment,” Carl B. Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y., said. “That still leaves us having to deal with the dramatic destruction of wealth that has taken place.”

Continue reading.

Also at Der Spiegel, "German Finance Minister Doubts Deal Will Be Enough."

'Wingnut Hunting Season'

The radical left, emboldened by the trashing of Komen, is expanding its assault to other charitable organizations as well.

And across the leftosphere, it's been way more than victorious football-spiking. Progressives are out for blood. I'm only half joking when I say I expect to see conservative piked heads in no time.

John Cole's fanning the agitation, that's for sure, "They Fucking Hate You."

And from the comments, just a sample of the bloodthirsty mob:

We have them outnumbered, and they have already been doing their worst, all this time. They are already literally murdering people as best they can, calling for it as openly as they can, and doing everything short of that as well.

It is ON.

If it comes to eye-for-an-eye ‘wingnut hunting season’, I swear I will not shed tears for these people. They’ve challenged my liberal instincts enough. I don’t owe their point of view a goddamn thing. They’ve been lying and/or wrong all this time and I’m fed up with it. I’m supposed to be alarmed if I say, ‘hi, I’m a socia1ist’ for fear they will claim my ideas are bad for everybody? Reality says THEIR ideas are bad for everybody.

Very beat down and frustrated by this point. Don’t want to go full reactionary, but I’m wondering why the hell not.

Just keep reading those comments for a taste of how desperate these f-kers are.

Man, this is going to be one hella election year.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy Might Cast Deciding Vote Striking Down Proposition 8

Well, actually, Kennedy's not all the conservative these days, so it won't be a surprise.

He's into the "evolving standards of decency" doctrine that's been used is left-wing decisions on the death penalty; and more importantly, Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down sodomy laws in 2003. I'd have to research it, but the Court often hesitates to overturn state-level initiatives, arguing that the judgment of the Court can't be assumed superior to the voters in those states where a case originates.

That said, here's David Savage, at Los Angeles Times, "Gay marriage fight may hinge on Supreme Court's Anthony Kennedy":

The Supreme Court has nine justices, but if the constitutional fight over same-sex marriage reaches them this year, the decision will probably come down to just one: a California Republican and Reagan-era conservative who has nonetheless written the court's two leading gay rights opinions.

JusticeAnthony M. Kennedy, 75, often holds the court's deciding vote on the major issues that divide its liberals and conservatives. More often than not, that vote has swung the court to the right. But on gay rights, Kennedy has been anything but a "culture wars" conservative.

One of his opinions lauded the intimacy between same-sex couples and demanded "respect for their private lives," provoking Justice Antonin Scalia to accuse him of having "signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda."

"He is a California establishment Republican with moderately libertarian instincts," Stanford University law professor Pamela Karlan said of Kennedy. "He travels in circles where he has met and likes lots of gay people."

Based on Kennedy's past opinions, Karlan is confident that if the Supreme Court takes up the issue of California's same-sex marriage ban, "it meansProp. 8is going down to defeat," she said. "There is no way he will take it to reinstate" the ban.

Not all court observers share her prediction, but the uncertainty about how Kennedy might vote may, by itself, be enough to deter the high court from hearing an appeal of the decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Four justices must vote for the court to consider a case, but a majority is needed to issue a ruling.

When an appeal reaches the high court, the four most conservative justices will face a tough choice: Vote to have the court hear the case and run the risk that Kennedy would side with the more liberal justices to go beyond the 9th Circuit decision and establish a nationwide right to same-sex marriage. Or turn the case aside, leaving same-sex marriage intact in California but setting no national precedent.

More at the link.

BBC Tracks Down Notorious Internet Troll

Sometimes you just gotta smack down these f-kers.

Via Althouse:

Europe's German Future

From Christopher Caldwell, at the Weekly Standard, "Über Alles After All":

Last week Germany reclaimed its status as the leading power in Europe. In the two years since it became apparent that Greece was, essentially, bankrupt, there have been dozens of emergency meetings of the countries that use the common European currency, the euro. Most of the euro-using states believe that Germany—with a booming industrial economy, vast trade surpluses, a reputation for fiscal probity, and a history that makes it reluctant to reject the counsel of France—ought to cover the bill. Germany has long argued that Greece must become competitive again by selling off state assets and cutting government handouts. More recently, Germany has added another demand—that EU authorities be empowered to discipline Greece and other delinquent countries. At the Brussels summit on January 30, the Germans won.

Germany is fortunate to have, in the moment of its triumph, a chancellor who does not scare people. Angela Merkel is an East German intellectual, a physical chemist, the childless daughter of a clergyman. She mumbles. Her taste in clothing runs to pantsuits. She isn’t brawny and forceful like her Christian Democrat mentor Helmut Kohl, who presided over the reunification of Germany at the end of the Cold War. She isn’t eloquent and haughty, or tempestuous and randy, like her Social Democratic predecessors Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schröder, respectively. “This lack of a presidential demeanor is a big advantage,” says longtime Bavarian governor Edmund Stoiber, whom Merkel replaced as party leader. Germany’s economy naturally provides it with a leadership role, but its history means that that role is something Germany cannot be seen to claim. “Neither personally nor politically does she come off as wanting to blow her own horn, along the lines of ‘I am the leader of Europe.’ ”

By “Europe” Stoiber means the 27 countries that make up the European Union. The EU was launched in the wake of the Second World War as a way to organize Europe through economics, not war. This is a polite way of saying it was meant to keep Germany from dominating Europe with its army. A decade ago, the EU acquired a common money, the euro, which replaced the franc, the lira, the peseta, and the super-strong deutsche mark. The new monetary regime was meant to keep Germany from dominating the continent with its currency.

But the euro has backfired. In 1990 British trade secretary Nicholas Ridley was forced to resign for calling the EU “a German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe.” Ridley was quite wrong about Germany’s intentions, but he was right about the result. Joining Germany in a currency union meant playing by its rules. In fact, so big and rich is Germany—particularly now that reunification has brought its population to 80 million—that joining it in anything means playing by its rules. This is not Germany’s fault. It is the classic “German problem” that has confronted Europe for the whole modern era. It was camouflaged for six decades only by Germany’s reluctance to express any wishes whatsoever.

As long as Germany wasn’t complaining, others could make free with Germany’s credit card. Once in the euro, Greece, Italy, Spain, and other countries that bankers used to consider reckless or unstable could borrow at the same rates. (The treaties that bound all these dissimilar countries together stipulated that there would be no bailouts for those who borrowed too much, but bankers obviously didn’t believe that.) A boom in lending pushed up wages and prices in those “peripheral” countries, rendering them uncompetitive. After the financial crisis of 2008, the countries that had overborrowed were saddled with more debt than they could comfortably repay. The eurozone’s Mediterranean members have come to think that Germany ought to rescue them. But the Germany to which they are addressing their petitions is not the penitent, diffident, and easily browbeaten land that they came to know over the last three generations. Germany has its own ideas about economics and morality, and it is ready to insist that its weaker neighbors adhere to them.

That's a great piece --- pretty accurate all around.

Continue reading at the link.

'Halftime in America' — Parody

Via Theo Spark:

And the text is at Reason.

My previous comments are here.

Widener Law School Settles Lawsuit Filed by Professor Lawrence Connell

I saw this at William Jacobson's yesterday morning, "Widener Law settles with Prof. Lawrence Connell."

 I received the following statement from Connell’s attorney:

I am authorized today, February 8, 2012, to make the following announcement about my client professor Larry Connell’s pending lawsuit in the Delaware Superior Court against the Delaware Law School of Widener University, Dean Linda Ammons, and students Jennifer R. Perez and Nadege Tandoh.

“All claims amongst all parties have been resolved amicably and Professor Connell’s employment with the University and Law School has been concluded. Specific terms of the resolution are confidential. So, we have no further comment.”

Thank you.

Thomas S. Neuberger, Esq. Attorney for Professor Connell

I hope Connell received just compensation. He certainly deserved it. 

And at FIRE, "Widener Settles Lawsuit Filed by Law Professor who was Punished for Protected Speech":

While Connell may be prevented by the terms of the settlement from continuing to comment on Ammons' tyrannical behavior in this ordeal, FIRE faces no such restrictions. We will continue to make sure the public remembers the many wrongs committed by the Widener Law administration against Lawrence Connell. Prospective law school students should think twice (or more) before sending their applications to Widener.

Drone Strike Video

Not a lot of details, but pretty wicked.

Via Weasel Zippers:

Life and Death in Homs

Video c/o Telegraph UK.

And see: "The Agony of Homs."

More at LAT, "Syria violence: Who is helping the wounded?"

And NYT, "As Russia Seeks Talks, Syria Is Said to Pound City."

Pamela Geller on Michael Coren's 'The Arena'

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Michael Coren & Pamela Geller Discuss Honour Killing."

I was reading over at Pamela's earlier today. Don't miss this, among other things: "CPAC for Sissies: Self-Censoring for Sharia."

Roland Martin's Homophobic Tweets

Well, this is interesting.

At Washington Post, "CNN's Roland Martin suspended for homophobic tweets." And New York Times, "CNN Suspends Roland Martin for Remarks on Twitter":

[VIDEO PULLED]

5:26 p.m. | Updated CNN said Wednesday that it had suspended Roland Martin, one of its commentators, three days after he posted Twitter messages that were interpreted by some to be anti-gay.

“Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive,” the cable news channel said in a statement. “Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.”

In one of his many Twitter messages, Mr. Martin suggested on Sunday that if a “dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad,” he should be smacked. In another message that day, he made a similar suggestion about a football fan shown on TV wearing a “head to toe pink suit.”

When Mr. Martin received angry comments from online readers about the Beckham remark, he defended himself by saying that he was mocking soccer players, not gay people.

Right.

The hashtag was #teamwhipdatass.

See a slideshow of Martin's tweets at Huffington Post, "CNN's Roland Martin Under Fire From GLAAD For David Beckham Super Bowl Tweets."

This is especially interesting since Roland Martin is a progressive lefty, and these folks are supposed to be all about tolerance.

Santorum Victories Set New Tempo for GOP Race

Wow, what a night!

At Los Angeles Times, "Rick Santorum wins Republican votes in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado":

Republican long shot Rick Santorum poked holes in Mitt Romney's aura of inevitability Tuesday night with a trio of upset victories that shifted the dynamic of the 2012 presidential contest.

The former Pennsylvania senator's wins in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and Missouri primary were setbacks for Romney, the national front-runner, who had been expected to cruise easily through a series of relatively minor February voter tests. He must now wait three weeks to regroup, when Arizona and Michigan hold what suddenly are shaping up as unexpectedly important primaries.

In remarks to delirious supporters in St. Charles, Mo., Santorum took a swipe at Romney's big advantage in money and the negative ads he's used to defeat his opponents in previous states. He also lashed out at President Obama, describing him as someone "who thinks he knows better" and doesn't listen to the American people.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama," Santorum said, setting off chants of "We pick Rick!"

Reflecting what he sees as the altered shape of the race, Santorum told CNN that "now we're in a little bit of a no-man's land" as the candidates move into states where they haven't had months, or years, to campaign.

Romney, who won Minnesota four years ago, was running a weak third behind Santorum and Ron Paul.

Speaking to a deflated crowd of backers in Denver, Romney said he was "pretty confident" he would come in either first or second in Colorado's caucuses, his last hope for salvaging a bad night. But hours later, state Republican Chairman Ryan Call announced over CNN that Santorum had won.

He congratulated Santorum and said that he looked forward to coming contests and a united party when the primaries ended. But he also struck a pose as a populist outsider, speaking of his father's humble roots and casting himself as the antidote to the problems in the nation's capital.

RTWT.

And see William Kristol, "Romneycare: Worth Getting Worried About." (Via Memeorandum.)

Obama's Super PAC Hypocrisy

From Mark McKinnon, at Daily Beast, "Obama’s Super PAC Hypocrisy: Giving Blessing to Priorities USA Action," and from Sissy Willis, "How Obama learned to stop worrying and love the super PAC" (via Linkmaster Smith).

And at yesterday's New York Times, "Obama Yields in Marshaling of ‘Super PAC’":

WASHINGTON — President Obama is signaling to wealthy Democratic donors that he wants them to start contributing to an outside group supporting his re-election, reversing a long-held position as he confronts a deep financial disadvantage on a vital front in the campaign.

Aides said the president had signed off on a plan to dispatch cabinet officials, senior advisers at the White House and top campaign staff members to deliver speeches on behalf of Mr. Obama at fund-raising events for Priorities USA Action, the leading Democratic “super PAC,” whose fund-raising has been dwarfed by Republican groups. The new policy was presented to the campaign’s National Finance Committee in a call Monday evening and announced in an e-mail to supporters.

“We’re not going to fight this fight with one hand tied behind our back,” Jim Messina, the manager of Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign, said in an interview. “With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules. Democrats can’t be unilaterally disarmed.”

Neither the president, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., nor their wives will attend fund-raising events or solicit donations for the Democratic group. A handful of officials from the administration and the campaign will appear on behalf of Mr. Obama, aides said, but will not directly ask for money.

Freakin' asshats.

Michael Coren Interviews Douglas Murray

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Michael Coren & Douglas Murray: The Threat to Islam's Critics."

Murray's video at the Cambridge Student Union on the threat from Iran went viral last week, and Blazing has that one as well.

Israel's Case for War With Iran

From Niall Ferguson, at Newsweek, "Israel and Iran on the Eve of Destruction in a New Six-Day War."

The single biggest danger in the Middle East today is not the risk of a six-day Israeli war against Iran. It is the risk that Western wishful nonthinking allows the mullahs of Tehran to get their hands on nuclear weapons. Because I am in no doubt that they would take full advantage of such a lethal lever. We would have acquiesced in the creation of an empire of extortion.

War is an evil. But sometimes a preventive war can be a lesser evil than a policy of appeasement. The people who don’t yet know that are the ones still in denial about what a nuclear-armed Iran would end up costing us all.

Arizona Supreme Court Rules to Keep Limited-English Candidate Off the Ballot

Well, chalk that up for common sense, for the moment at least.

At LAT, "Arizona Supreme Court bars candidate with limited English":

A would-be city council candidate in Arizona will not appear on an upcoming ballot because her English skills are insufficient, the state's Supreme Court decided Tuesday.

In a brief two-page order, the high court affirmed a Superior Court judge's ruling, which struck Alejandrina Cabrera's name from the March ballot in the town of San Luis.

The case, which attracted international media attention, was closely watched because of possible legal repercussions for other border communities where Spanish predominates. Cabrera's lawyers argued that the court should not set a standard for English and that the issue should be decided by San Luis voters.

Cabrera acknowledged her English is weak, but said she knew enough of the language to represent San Luis. Almost 99% of the town's residents are Latino, and Spanish is spoken virtually everywhere.

Continue reading.

Sarah Palin: 'Life With Trig'

From Governor Palin, at Newsweek, "Life With Trig: Sarah Palin on Raising a Special-Needs Child."

Via Dan Riehl on Twitter, and follow the links for the controversy.

Charles Johnson Whines After Getting Smacked Down for Attacks on Pamela Geller

See Diary of Daedalus, "Chuck continues to play victim."

And The Other McCain, "Saint Charles, Martyr of LGF."

RELATED: Pamela at CPAC: "CPAC 2012: ISLAMIC LAW IN AMERICA -- GELLER, SPENCER, PANTANO, MUISE, ADAMS."

The Waning Influence of U.S. Constitution Around the World?

Well, yeah, the waning influence of the Constitution according to the New York Times, "‘We the People’ Loses Appeal With People Around the World."

Here's the part about Justice Ginsburg:

In a television interview during a visit to Egypt last week, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court seemed to agree. “I would not look to the United States Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012,” she said. She recommended, instead, the South African Constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the European Convention on Human Rights.

The rights guaranteed by the American Constitution are parsimonious by international standards, and they are frozen in amber. As Sanford Levinson wrote in 2006 in “Our Undemocratic Constitution,” “the U.S. Constitution is the most difficult to amend of any constitution currently existing in the world today.” (Yugoslavia used to hold that title, but Yugoslavia did not work out.)

Other nations routinely trade in their constitutions wholesale, replacing them on average every 19 years. By odd coincidence, Thomas Jefferson, in a 1789 letter to James Madison, once said that every constitution “naturally expires at the end of 19 years” because “the earth belongs always to the living generation.” These days, the overlap between the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and those most popular around the world is spotty.

Americans recognize rights not widely protected, including ones to a speedy and public trial, and are outliers in prohibiting government establishment of religion. But the Constitution is out of step with the rest of the world in failing to protect, at least in so many words, a right to travel, the presumption of innocence and entitlement to food, education and health care.

RTWT.

And then compare to IBD, "Our Constitution is the Best Model a Country Could Have":

We're not ashamed to declare the U.S. Constitution a magnificent document that, along with the Declaration of Independence, forms the greatest national charter in human history.

No other document has ever guarded freedom the way it has, and no other contract has provided such a foundation for prosperity. It's not perfect, but it's as close to perfect as man has come.

Thank you.

Santorum Wins Missouri and Minnesota

Well, Missouri's a beauty contest with no delegates, but Santorum scores some needed momentum and no doubt throws a monkey wrench in Romney's post-Florida victory parade.

See Bloomberg, "Santorum Gets Two Wins in Republican Race":

Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania won contests in Missouri and Minnesota today, shaking up the Republican presidential race just days after Mitt Romney had won two races in a row to claim front-runner status.

The Associated Press called Missouri for Santorum, as he had 55 percent of the vote, with 81 percent of precincts reporting. Romney had 25 percent and U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas had 12 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich wasn’t on the Missouri ballot.

The AP also projected a victory for Santorum in Minnesota’s caucuses, where he led with 46 percent of the vote with 38 percent of precincts reporting. Paul had 26 percent, followed by Romney with 16 percent and Gingrich with 11 percent.

The results suggest a lingering weakness for Romney, especially among the Republican Party’s most conservative voters who are focused on such social issues as their opposition to abortion and gay marriage.

At the same time, Santorum’s new strength may aid Romney in a prolonged fight for the nomination. A revitalized Santorum campaign may mean that he and Gingrich will continue to split the anti-Romney vote, leaving neither with a commanding count of delegates.
“After tonight, you’ll see this is a wide open race,” Gingrich said on CNN before the results began to be released.

California's Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional

The ruling today, at the 9th Circuit, was no surprise.

See the New York Times, "Court Strikes Down Ban on Gay Marriage in California."

And from Maggie Gallagher, at National Review, "Ninth Circuit to 7 Million California Voters: You Are Irrational Bigots." (Via Memeorandum.)

And still more at Legal Insurrection, "9th Circuit holds Prop. 8 violates 14th Amendment."

Michele Bachmann: 'I Was the Perfect Candidate'

Well, she wasn't quite perfect, but far superior to anyone else in my opinion.

See The Hill, "Rep. Michele Bachmann thinks that America missed its opportunity with 'the perfect candidate'," and CNN, "TRENDING: Bachmann says she was the ‘perfect candidate’." (Via Memeorandum.)

I'm pictured with Congresswoman Bachmann last April at David Horowitz's West Coast Retreat in Palos Verdes. She hadn't announced her candidacy yet, but I was certain she'd be candidate and I backed her from the start. No, she wasn't perfect. But I thought she best represented my interests in the race, and I do agree with her contention that no other candidate was as consistently opposed to President Obama and the ObamaCare debacle as she was.

Why Lessons of the Fall of Communism Have Not Been Learned

John Hinderaker has a must-read post from the other day, "Communism Collapsed: Who Cares?"

And following the link there takes us to Janet Daley, at Telegraph UK, "The lessons of the fall of communism have still not been learnt."

Also blogging: Bruce McQuain, "Why has the collapse of Communism had so little impact on political discourse in the West?"

There's an answer here that the above commentators have missed. The question of why progressives haven't "learned" from the collapse of communism assumes that leftists conceive of politics through reason. That is, it's an erroneous assumption to assert that since capitalism emerged objectively by the end of the twentieth century as the single working economic system that it thereby follows that progressives will see the errors of their ideological ways and abandon the collectivist's historical program.

Leftists are true believers. Their religion is the Utopian of the Marxist state. Progressive weren't deterred from their goal of a communist revolution because they don't believe true communism has been tried. I'll perhaps write more on this, but for now remember my review of David Horowitz's book, The Politics of Bad Faith, and the quote from Horowitz:

Totalitarianism is the possession of reality by a political Idea --- the Idea of socialist kingdom of heaven on earth; the redemption of humanity by political force. To radical believers this Idea is so beautiful it is like God Himself. It provides the meaning of a radical life. This is the solution that makes everything possible; the noble end that justifies the regrettable means. Belief in the kingdom of socialist heaven is faith that can transform vice into virtue, lies into truth, evil into good. In this revolutionary religion, the Way, the Truth, and the Life of salvation lie not with God above, but with men below --- ruthless, brutal, venal men --- on whom faith confers the power of gods. There is no mystery in the transformation of the socialist paradise into Communist hell: liberation theology is a satanic creed.

More on this later. In the meanwhile, see "Anti-Intellectualism and the Marxist Idea."

Intent to Annoy and the Fascist Hate-Blogging Campaign of Walter James Casper III

Look, at minimum, the purpose of progressive intimidation and harassment is to drive political enemies off the net. Plain and simple. It'd be easy to ignore these people, some claim. Just don't visit their blogs, right? Sure, except that oftentimes ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. In my case the progressive harassers have taken it all the way to my employer, and Walter James Casper III has authorized the attacks at his blog, promoted attacks against me in various online forums, and has long since escalated his harassment attacks to personal cyber-stalking.

Again, I don't post links to American Nihilist, but Casper is arguing that my wishes not to be contacted don't matter --- that he has a right to comment at this blog and send emails --- whenever he chooses --- and that these in fact are not harassing communications as defined by state and federal laws. Casper is wrong. He is harassing. He commented at my Fiat post for sole purpose to annoy. Seriously. Nothing "prohibits" him from commenting, so he comments even after he's been told repeatedly to stay away? And why? To indicate his disapproval and to reprove me for my posting. That's it. In other words, to say fuck you and your blog, you are wrong, and I'm going to link to the proof in the comments whether you like it or not. Fuck you, Douglas. You wishes don't mean shit. You're on the Internet and I don't like you and I'm going to let you know, since you are a bad man.

I will be continuing my contacts to the authorities this week. It's a time consuming process. Meanwhile, the Halt Abuse website I linked to earlier has this discussion, which goes to show clearly and without a doubt that Casper's contacts are indeed harassing and designed to annoy and cause psychological disruption. See, "It It Harassment?":

First, you need to determine whether or not what you're experiencing is truly harassment.

Harassment consists of the intentional crossing of your emotional or physical safety boundaries. You must have boundaries set in place clearly in order for that to apply. The legal definition of harassment, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is:

"A course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose" or "Words, gestures, and actions which tend to annoy, alarm and abuse (verbally) another person."

This is of course a very broad definition, which state and federal legislation and common law have narrowed and refined in various ways. However, for our purposes, WHOA defines online harassment as any actions that meet the qualifications of the above definition after the harasser has been told to cease.

If someone simply disagrees with you, however strongly or unpleasantly, that isn't harassment. Someone who sends you a single email message that isn't overtly threatening probably hasn't harassed you. Spam, while very annoying, isn't harassment. And messages posted to any open venue, such as a newsgroup, a web-based board, an AOL discussion forum or a chat room, are seldom truly harassing unless they're forged to appear to come from you or contain direct threats or libelous statements. The same goes for things said on someone else's web site. Harassment usually involves repeated communications via email or some sort of instant messaging program after the harasser has clearly been told to go away.

Casper has been "told to go away" repeatedly. He is by definition harassing.

I think I've said this a couple of times, but for people who are now just coming to this debate and are ill-informed: This is not exclusively about Walter James Casper III. This is a fight over an idea, the concept that there is right and wrong in the world, and that evil will indeed triumph over good if people of right don't stand up to defend decency.

Claiming that another person's wishes to be left alone at the blog are meaningless and that absent legal prohibitions it's perfectly fine to harass someone is the definition of evil in my book. Casper has made repeated comments at the blog and he's sent emails when comments have been closed to prevent the abuse. That's harassment. Walter James Casper III has been warned away. So no. Casper has not "won." Casper will never "win," because his evil cannot defeat me, no matter what happens with this blog. I refuse to be harassed with impunity. I refuse to be intimidated by a liar and sociopath who is the epitome of the radical left's program to silence all dissent from the collectivist narrative.

Something's gonna change. You watch.

'Euphoria'

Via Theo Spark:

Entire Staff at Miramonte Elementary Removed Amid L.A. Unified Sex Abuse Investigation

This is big.

At New York Times, "School Linked to Abuse Claims Will Replace Entire Faculty":

LOS ANGELES — The entire faculty at Miramonte Elementary School, where two teachers were arrested last week on accusations of child sexual abuse, will be replaced by new teachers this week, the Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent announced Monday night.

And at Los Angeles Times, "Parents applaud removal of all teachers at troubled L.A. school."

Michael Coren to Speak at Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Michael Coren to Address AFDI Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference in Dearborn, Michigan at Hyatt Regency."

Video c/o Atlas Shrugs.

PREVIOUSLY: "Charles Johnson's Servitude to Savages."

Charles Johnson's Servitude to Savages

It's an unfortunate component of being a partisan blogger, but as folks of late have seen around here, you can't cower from the hatred. You must never cave to the progressive totalitarians. Few people live that dictum with more resolve than Pamela Geller.

See, "Charles Johnson, Misogynist, of Little Green Footballs In Servitude to Savages":

I will not submit to the whitewashing and outright cover-up of honor killings in the West, despite the withering personal attacks on me.

That these monstrous crimes of murder do not unite rational men on the basis of sheer humanity is indicative of how debased and morally bankrupt the monsters on the left are. I hold them ultimately responsible. Devout Muslims who support or subscribe to religiously sanctioned gendercide are merely adhering to their faith. What's the left's excuse?

Imagine someone so twisted and dysfunctional that he would vilify those who are fighting against an ideology that oppresses, subjugates and slaughters women. Honor killings are a family affair, and there are as many accomplices as there are killers. Jessica Mokdad was subjected to years of strict religious punishment in that hellish house. Where was her mother? Who lured her back to that deadly house after she had run away?

The once fiercely counter-jihad now viciously pro-jihad Chuck Johnson is rabid with news of my human rights conference, mixing moral equivocation with good old-fashioned lies. Really nuts.

I/we asked the Hyatt for nothing. After they apologized profusely for canceling a Geller event in Sugar Land, Texas (the mistake of a weak, on-site tool), the Hyatt offered to give us space and pay for it at any of their hotels in America. I never bullied Hyatt. I never even contacted them.

I am always surprised when someone sends me a link from the green swamp. No one reads this boil on the ass of the blogsophere anymore, but look what's become of him. Once the pre-eminent blog on the right, the now notorious leftwing troll is mocking the fight for the right to live and live freely as a "ghoulish obsession": Pamela Geller's Ghoulish Obsession With 'Honor Killings' Takes an Ugly Turn. Fighting to save girls' lives is a "ghoulish obsession." I guess CJ would call Elie Wiesel's work on the Holocaust a "ghoulish obsession." Or any human rights group or anti-torture organization -- do they have "ghoulish obessions," too?

Continue reading.

Pamela adds:

Evil.

And although no one takes this tool seriously anymore (he was us, now he's them, tomorrow he is Gregor Samsa), it is illustrative of the left's canny ability to paint good as evil. "Ghoulish obsession" -- think about that.

It is evil. It's not simply disagreement. It's a demonically obsessed campaign to destroy her.

Pamela also a posts a screencap from Little Green Footballs, where the Little Green Gargoyles in the comments compare honor killings to circumcision and warn that Pamela and the AFDI/SIOA organizers are "looking for trouble." And on cue, Charles Johnson's posts another attack on Pamela, at the Twitter link here: "Pamela Geller Spews Hatred at LGF Again."

The hatred in the comments is heating up right on schedule.

This is what you deal with when you stand up for right. I'm engaged in this kind of thing at American Power. It's f-king unbelievable the depths of genuine evil I deal with, but as you can see with Pamela, there's black contagion spreading and people of good faith can't stand aside.

NEVER CAVE TO THESE ASSHOLES.