Two Strong, Handsome, and Smart Men, a Mormon and a Catholic, at the Top of the Ticket: Leftist Heads Assploding!

Zilla's excited about Paul Ryan joining the GOP ticket, "Exciting!!! #RomneyRyan2012 #TCOT."

Mitt Romney's Declaration of War

An outstanding essay, from Professor Paul Rahe, at Richochet, "Romney's Declaration of War" (via Instapundit):

In choosing Paul Ryan as his Vice-Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney has opted to go for broke, and he has indicated that he is a serious man -- less concerned with becoming President of the United States than with saving the country from the disaster in store for it if we not radically reverse course, willing to risk a loss for the sake of being able to win a mandate for reform.

RTWT.

And in case you missed, Professor Rahe had another awesome piece a couple of days ago, "Landslide on the Horizon."

Paul Ryan Likes Catfish Noodling

This Chip Reid report is pretty fair, and Reid finishes up with mention of Ryan's ranch in Texas, where the veep nominee like to go catfish noodling:

More at Gateway Pundit, "Take That Joe Biden… Paul Ryan Loves Catfish Noodling (Video)."

Man Who Soothes Dog in Lake Says His Companion Saved Him From Suicide 19 Years Ago

This story went viral a few days ago, and here's the update at London's Daily Mail, "'He saved MY life... I just want to help him in return': Owner of sick dog whose picture touched the nation's hearts reveals how loyal companion stopped him from suicide":

The man pictured lulling his arthritic dog to sleep in Lake Superior has revealed that his dog Schoep saved him from the brink of suicide.

John Unger, 49, adopted the dog with his ex-fiancée 19 years ago, but after the relationship ended, Mr Unger fought a desperate despair.

The companionship of his trusty rescue dog gave Mr Unger the courage to go on, saying : 'I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have Schoep with me. I just want to do whatever I can for this dog.'

The water soothes the animal's pain, Mr Unger said, allowing him to sleep.

Continue reading.

'Mission of Mercy'

Via The Psychedelic Furs homepage. It turns out The Motels will play the Totally 80s concert at Hollywood Bowl with the Furs, The Go-Go's, and Bow Wow Wow, on September 29th.

#RomneyRyan in Manassas, Virginia

Excellent campaign coverage, from Marooned in Marin, "Mitt Romney & Paul Ryan Rally a Large, Enthusiastic Crowd In Manassas, VA."

More from Erin McPike, at RCP, "Romney and Ryan Close Out Day of Campaigning in Va."

Six U.S. Soldiers Shot Dead on Friday by Afghan Forces

I can't believe these headlines, at NYT, "Coalition Soldiers Killed Were Shot in Company of Afghans." And at LAT, "Afghan worker kills three NATO troops on Helmand base."

We can't build freedom in Afghanistan if the locals don't want it. This was supposed to be "the good war," but it's hard to see a positive endgame.

Also at the Guardian UK, "Six US soldiers killed by Afghans."

Explaining the Beatles to a New Generation

From Paul Greenberg, at the New York Times, "Meet the Beatles, Again."

I just took my kids to "The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil." They loved it, and they're Beatles fans now!

Progressives Attack Paul Ryan: 'Zombie-Eyed Granny-Starving Wingman'

It begins.

Team Obama's already out of the blocks with a web-ad hit piece, via Gateway Pundit, "Let the Smears Begin!… Team Obama Releases Anti Romney-Ryan Video Following VP Announcement." And see Lonely Con, "Is the Obama Campaign Sending Out Random Texts to Americans’ Cell Phones?"

And I tweaked the "zombie granny-starving wingman" from Firedoglake's biggest asshole, TBogg, "Feel the Mittmentum: The Ryaning." Also at FDL, from David Dayen, "Thoughts on the Paul Ryan VP Selection" (a useful piece, by the way, despite the false attacks on conservatives, for it clarifies the stark divide facing the campaigns).

And here's Charles Pierce at Esquire, "Paul Ryan: Murderer of Opportunity, Political Coward, Candidate for Vice President of the United States" (via Memeorandum):

Leave it to Willard Romney, international man of principle, to get himself bullied into being bold and independent.

Make no mistake. In his decision to make Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny-starver from Wisconsin, his running mate, Romney finally surrendered the tattered remnants of his soul not only to the extreme base of his party, but also to extremist economic policies, and to an extremist view of the country he seeks to lead.

Typical, but "murderer of opportunity" is way out there. The Other McCain has more, "New Democrat Campaign Message: Grandma, Cliff, Some Assembly Required."

And Twitchy is on fire, for example, "Another leftist lie: Paul Ryan ‘wants to end Medicare’." There's more at Twitchy's Paul Ryan page.

And from John Podhoretz, at Commentary, "Paul Ryan and Liberal Glee":

The selection of Paul Ryan has been greeted with a wild joy on Twitter, and not just by conservatives; I’ve seen hundreds of liberals celebrate the choice. A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Jesse Ferguson, said this: “So this is what xmas morning feels like?” The idea here is that Ryan is the perfect target for Democrats because he has proposed specific budget cuts and the overhaul of Medicare, while supporting tax reform that would lower rates on the wealthy....

More important is the quality of the glee itself. It’s an ongoing liberal political-character flaw. So insulated ... are many, if not most, American liberals that they simply presume that which they despise is inherently despicable, and that what they fear is inherently fearful. As they gather in their echo chamber, all they hear are voices resounding with the monstrousness of redesigning Medicare and the parlousness of cutting the federal budget. They genuinely do not know that budget cutting is popular, even if only in theory, and that tens of millions of voters do understand the notion that the government is living far beyond its means. From what we can gather, in fact, these are exactly the sorts of ideas that speak to independent voters and have since the days of Ross Perot.

Ryan is a formidable presence in American politics. Generally speaking, formidable players do formidable things. The glee of the Left suggests its folk are so excited by what the Obama campaign can dish out that they are unprepared for what Ryan and Romney can dish out right back.

They're not "liberals." They're neo-socialist progressives. Other than that, Podhoretz is dead on.

More at Memeorandum.

#RomneyRyan2012 — Mitt Romney Announces Paul Ryan as Vice Presidential Nominee

I'm tired. I stayed up past Midnight. After I woke up to pee I realized Romney'd be making his announcement in less than an hour. So I got up. I haven't had coffee yet. I think I'll lie back down for awhile.

In the meantime, here's the New York Times, "Vice-Presidential Choice Shakes Up November Contest."

It's a great pick. The secular-collectivist left would have gone after any Romney pick with remorseless villainy. The only variation we'd see are the specific smears. With Ryan, get ready for tons more grandma-over-the-cliff style attacks. Get ready for extremist anti-Catholic bigotry and "pro-choice" fearmongering, like NARAL:

NARAL: Ryan "supported'Let Women Die Bill' which wld allow hospitals to refuse to provide a woman emergency abortion even if she cld die"
— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) August 11, 2012

Check William Jacobson's comments along these lines, "Romney-Ryan 2012."

And Glenn Reynolds has a huge roundup, "And on the day Ryan was picked, it’s worth pointing out that we’ve gone 1200 days now without a budget."

On twitter, it's #RomneyRyan2012.

And you can tweet the veep nominee @PaulRyanVP:

.@paulryanvp Welcome aboard. We love you, man! #RomneyRyan2012
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 11, 2012

More at Memeorandum.

I'lll be updating throughout the day, after I wake up.

Markos Moulitsas, Daily Kos Rage Boy, Vows to 'Go for the Jugular', to 'Shove Reality Down the GOP's Throats' and 'Run Up the Score'

And to think just last year the Democrats were all about promoting civility.

I guess that's out the window by now.

Here's Markos 'Rage Boy' Moulitsas, "We are winning":

Democrats are campaigning with a swagger, having fun. They know they've got the advantage. Republicans are in genuine disarray (release the tax returns! Don't release the tax returns!), trying to back a candidate they despise while keeping a lid on the Tea Party crazies.

We need to go for the jugular, destroy Romney's chances. Down-ballot Republicans will suffer without a strong candidate at the top—particularly one that reinforces every negative element of the Republican brand. Just look to 2008 for inspiration, except Romney doesn't even have a compelling personal story or a shred of heroism. Romney is on the ropes, with just one more chance to bolster his standing—his convention. The same convention Donald Trump insists he'll speak at. And Rick Santorum. And Ron Paul. And Sarah Palin. And Herman Cain. Good luck with that, Mittens.

Our job: To run up the score. I know some of you like to talk about acting like we're 10 points down. I guess that's supposed to be motivational, but if we're 10 points down, I'm like "screw it" and focus on more promising prospects. Did you work extra hard in 2010 when we were actually down 10 points? I didn't think so. Instead, Republicans ran up their margins as depressed Dems conceded the cycle and sat out the election.

We need to embrace reality and shove reality down the GOP's throats. Because yeah, we are ahead, objectively so. We're winning and we've got to own it. They can whine about biased polls and biased media and biased everything that doesn't conform to their little Fox News bubble world, all the while we do the work necessary to seal the deal.

When he has the lead, Peyton Manning doesn't pretend he's losing. He sets out to crush his opponent's spirit by running up the score. Like this horse. The best defense is a good offense. We now protect our lead by going on the attack.

More at the link.

I'll hazard a guess that this'll be Daily Rage Boy's meme until election day. More here, "Obama is winning. Period."

But, frankly, I wouldn't get cocky. Incumbents with approval ratings below 50 percent generally don't win reelection. Obama's at 45 percent nationally, and acccording to John Fund, O's getting 49 percent in Michigan and he's at 47 percent in Maine and Oregon. Check the link. Fund notes that:

Right now, if Obama swept all the states where he is at or above 50 percent job approval he would win 185 Electoral College votes. He will have to do a lot better than that in November to win the necessary 270 electoral votes.

Right.

But maybe Markos doesn't think that reality is worth attempting to shove down's the GOP's throats.

PREVIOUSLY: "Messianics vs. Menopausals, or Kos Related to Islamic Rage Boy!"

RELATED: At NewsBusters, "Daily Kos Week in Review: Anti-Life Meat Puppets."

Was Barack Obama a Foreign Exchange Student?

At IBD, "Former Classmate Speculates About Obama Applying for Foreign Student Aid."

Read it at the link, and here's this from The Donald:

An 'extremely credible source' has called my office & told me that @barackobama applied to Occidental as a foreign student--think about it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2012

Also from Wayne Allen Root, at The Blaze, "OBAMA’S COLLEGE CLASSMATE: ‘THE OBAMA SCANDAL IS AT COLUMBIA’."

Hey, inquiring minds want to know.

Jon Huntsman Daughters Deny DNC Speaking Slot Rumors

And they're also denying rumors that Jon Hunstman, Sr., is the source of "Dirty Harry" Reid's allegations that Mitt Romney paid no taxes for ten years.

At Twitchy, "Jon Huntsman Sr. and Jr. rumors abound! Reid’s ‘source,’ DNC convention speaking? Daughters deny."

Abby Huntsman, pictured at right, denies the rumors on Twitter. Liddy Hunstman, center, also tweets a denial.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Hunstman Daughers on Twitter.

The Television Cannot Lie ... Controlling Media With Smokescreen Eyes...

In honor of the lying Obama administration, "Open Your Eyes."

And see David Cohen, at the Daily Caller, "The lying game":

I hope Stephanie Cutter, President Obama’s deputy campaign manager, was wearing a dress on Wednesday. Because if she was wearing pants, they would have been on fire. Bill Burton, founder of a pro-Obama super PAC, presumably does not have the option of wearing a dress. But he, along with Cutter and the entire Obama team, has a lot of ’splainin’ to do about the “Romney killed my wife” ad that has earned them so much infamy.

Burton’s super PAC, Priorities USA Action, produced the ad. Cutter, appearing on CNN on Wednesday, denied that the Obama campaign had coordinated with Priorities USA on the ad. Cutter also professed ignorance of the details of its storyline, in which a man named Joe Soptic blames his wife’s death on his layoff from a Bain-owned company. “I don’t know the facts about when Mr. Soptic’s wife got sick or the facts about his health insurance,” stammered Cutter.

She might also have added: “Do you want fries with that Whopper?” An audiotape has now surfaced of a conference call that Cutter hosted with Soptic in May, during which Soptic told the very same story. And it turns out that Soptic also appeared in an Obama campaign ad in May — apparently wearing the same shirt that he wore in the super PAC ad. But both the Obama campaign and Burton’s super PAC insist that the two organizations could not possibly have coordinated with each other — because that would be, you know, illegal. Burton, by the way, was President Obama’s deputy press secretary before he founded Priorities USA.

Burton, for his part, says that he is proud of the ad. And well you should be, young man. Just when Harry Reid appeared to set a standard for mean-spirited mendacity that could never be surpassed, you blew right by him like Usain Bolt on steroids. “Our spots have been factual,” Burton told The Huffington Post. And indeed they have, if by “factual” you mean hideously dishonest...

Continue reading.

PREVIOUSLY: "Pants on Fire: Obama Campaign's Stephanie Cutter Slammed for Blatant Lies on 'Cancerous' Joe Soptic Attack Ad."

Is a Palestinian State Today Economically Viable?

From Professor Michael Curtis, at the Gatestone Institute:

Those who admired the second Intifada, heralded by Yasser Arafat but which generated violence for over two years and halted progress to peace negotiations, will now realize that it was a disaster, a severe blow to the Palestinian economy. The violence only resulted in the West Bank and Gaza suffering a severe economic contraction. Between 1999 and 2002, real GDP fell by 27%. In 2007 real per capita GDP was 23% below the 1999 level. Industry, agriculture, tourism, and some other services declined. Public administration, defense, and public services such as health and education grew from 20% of GDP to more than 27%.

Continue reading.

Caroline Glick: Israel on the Eve of the U.S. Elections

I mentioned that Glick would be speaking in L.A., and here's the clip of her talk:

Previously, "Caroline Glick, Scoop Jackson Lecture: The U.S, Israel and the Arab Revolution."

Priorities USA Hasn't Even Come Close to Hitting Bottom Yet

Picking up on my previous post, Allahpundit linked to this Major Garrett interview from late May, at Weekly Standard, "Cancer Ad Just the Beginning: Obama Super PAC Ready to Launch More 'Incendiary' Ads."

It's clear that Obama's prepared to run the nastiest, sleaziest campaign ever. In other words, he'll do anything to win reelection. On the plus side is that conservatives have exposed the lies, and with skill and pluck, Team Romney will pick up the ball and run with it --- hard.

And there's no better time to refocus than this weekend. Romney's apparently ready to announce his VP selection, as Doug Powers reports at Michelle's, "Romney to announce running mate Saturday morning" (via Memeorandum). Who's it going to be? Robert Costa speculates, at National Review, "From Boston to Janesville" (via Memeorandum):

Take note, veep watchers: Earlier today, a charter plane took off in Boston, stopped in Chicago, then flew to the tiny airport in Janesville, Wis. Janesville, of course, is the hometown of Representative Paul Ryan, a top vice-presidential contender. According to a source on the ground, the plane is still in Wisconsin.

Tomorrow morning, Mitt Romney will visit the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va. For what it’s worth, Ryan is scheduled to be on vacation in Colorado.

Costa notes that Mitt's son Tagg Romney was in Wisconsin today for a Sikh ceremony for the families. But Tagg also met with Tim Pawlenty today as well, in New Hampshire, along with John Sununu. I have no clue who it's going to be, but by gosh I hope Mitt's not too cautious. And I especially hope this is wrong: "Romney's potential running mate: Rob Portman."

Check back. I'll be blogging this story like crazy.

ADDED: Before I hit the post button, NBC's Chuck Todd just announced that Romney will pick Paul Ryan.

9:31pm Pacific: Here's this, from The Quinton Report, "UPDATED: Bob McDonnell (or is it Paul Ryan) to be announced as Mitt Romney’s running mate?"

Charles Krauthammer: Obama's 'Scurrilous' Attacks Just Might Be Working

I don't believe the polls. Most of those putting Obama ahead of Romney nationally have oversampled Democrats, and they've ignored crashing voter enthusiasm on the left. If the election were today it'd be a squeaker either way, so we'll see on that count.

What does worry me is Romney's campaign. While I was encouraged a couple of months ago when Hillary Rosen attacked Ann Romney as having "never worked a day in her life," now it's like Groundhog's Day with the refusal of Team Romney to exploit the political gifts they've been handed. And while I'm not down totally with Krauthammer that the public's sucking up to the "cancer" attacks, he's right to note how these dirtbag allegations are sucking the oxygen out of Romney's campaign. Allahpundit offer some Eeyorism on this, "Krauthammer: Let’s face it, the Obama Super PAC’s steelworker smear ad is working."

Via Greg Hengler, let’s wind down the week on the most depressing, eeyorish note possible. (You’re welcome.) Quoth the WSJ, “The entire theory of the Obama campaign seems to be that the more outrageous the claim the better, because the more you repeat it the more the media will talk about it, and the lie will achieve a kind legendary truth.” Yup. That’s Krauthammer’s point exactly, and that’s why, per Major Garrett, Obama’s Super PAC apparently has all sorts of nasty, emotionally charged ads already in the can and ready to roll. If you start from the premise that huge swaths of undecided voters are only half-paying attention even at the best of times, then you can do a lot of damage with an emotional ad that omits key facts...

Continue reading.

And see Michelle Malkin's interview yesterday on Fox & Friends. One can only hope that references to RomneyCare won't be Team Romney's first response to the smears going forward. Sure, there's still about 11 weeks left of the campaign, but time's a-wastin'. Romney needs to hit back twice as hard or these scurrilous attacks will be his doom. More are on the way. They need a battle plan.

More later...

Kenneth Turan Reviews 'The Bourne Legacy'

At the Los Angeles Times, "Review: 'The Bourne Legacy' lives up to its predecessors":

"There was never just one." That advertising tag line for "The Bourne Legacy"has an almost apologetic ring to it, as if making a Bourne film without Matt Damon — the star of the first three and the epitome of the empathetic killing machine that is Jason Bourne — was a brash and risky move.

As it turns out, no one needed to worry, because few films have less to apologize for than this one. Complex, unexpected and dazzling, alternating relentless tension with resonant emotional moments, this is an exemplary espionage thriller that has a strong sense of what it wants to accomplish and how best to get there. And it is impeccably cast, from stars Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton on down.

Tony Gilroy, the man responsible for this accomplishment, is more than the director and co-writer of "Legacy." Though this is his first time behind the "Bourne" camera, he has written on all four pictures, and is in effect the keeper of the franchise flame. Gilroy knows the underpinnings of this world inside out and appreciates how essential it is to maintain and extend the house style of cool and credible intelligence that marked the previous films.

Continue reading.

Alex Morgan Sports Illustrated Body Painting 2012

The video clip is here.

RELATED: At Business Week, "U.S. Women Secure Third Straight Soccer Gold Medal at Olympics." And the New York Times, "With Women’s Soccer Final, NBC Sports Network Sets a Record."

Fire Fareed Zakaria!

No, don't fire him for his petty (and stupid) pattern of plagiarism and hackery. Zakaria should be out for peddling the bullshit global warming myths at his perch on CNN. See, "Koch-backed scientist now says global warming is real," and "Robert Muller on global warming."

But hey, maybe it won't be long after all until he's out on that plagiarism thing.

See the Huffington Post, "Fareed Zakaria Suspended For Plagiarism: Time, CNN Pundit Apologizes For ‘Terrible Mistake’."

And it turns out that NewsBusters claims the scalp, "UPDATED: Time, CNN Suspend Zakaria | Talk About Concealed Carry: Fareed Zakaria Plagiarized Paragraph on History of Gun Control" (via Memeorandum).

And about that hackery, see the Boston Globe, "Fareed Zakaria’s Harvard, Duke speeches identical."

Zakaria holds a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard, and he's well-regarded for his writing on world politics, if not overrated. A while back, President Obama was photographed carrying a copy of Zakaria's "The Post-American World," which fits right into O's post-American ideology. Indeed, I guess the two get along like boon coons, with Obama rumored to be considering Zakaria for a top diplomatic post in a second Obama administration, "CNN's Fareed Zakaria Being Considered for Diplomatic Post in Obama Second Term - Maybe Secretary of State."

Zakaria now seems assured of getting that gig, since failing upward is pretty much a prerequisite for those holding top positions in O's crony cabinet.

Homosexual Couples Under Pressure to 'Have Children'

Funny, isn't it?

Homosexuals can't "have children." They can adopt them, or they can get a sperm donor and then raise a child that's biologically related to one of the parents, or they can have a surrogate mother bear the child, or they can ... so forth and so on.

All that, but they cannot "have" their own child. Perhaps that's why the New York Times changed its headline, from "Gay Couples Face Pressure to Have Children" to "Male Couples Face Pressure to Fill Cradles."

Folks can read it at that second link, but note this interesting observation at Patheos:

Tellingly, the article has a gaping hole, a kind of journalistic elephant in the room. While the story points out that some states do not allow same sex couples to adopt, there are no critical voices in the piece. At all. No one who might have qualms about the notion of gay parents — for moral, ethical or religious reasons— is heard from.

Well, the Times can't have critical voices of dissent. That'd spoil the left's extremist agenda.

And don't forget, "It Sucks for Children of Same-Sex Couples."

PREVIOUSLY, "Marriage and Procreation: Bodily Union of Spouses," and "Real Marriage is the Union of Husband and Wife."

Pants on Fire: Obama Campaign's Stephanie Cutter Slammed for Blatant Lies on 'Cancerous' Joe Soptic Attack Ad

Here's the clip showing Stephanie Cutter's desperate, despicable lies about coordinating with Priorities USA, via Right Wing News:

The Obama campaign admitted days ago that they had knowledge of Joe Soptic, and of course there's audiotape of Cutter, a blatant liar, talking to the man, "Audio: Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter On Call With Man From Cancer Ad Telling His Story…."

Also, as I pointed out previously, both Joe Soptic ads, from Team Obama and Priorities USA (wearing the same polo shirt), came out at the same time, May 14 and May 15. There's no coincidence there. The Obama campaign was coordinating with the Bill Burton Super PAC.

The RNC's out with a new spot slamming Team O, using Cutter's lies from the CNN clip above, "RNC POUNDS STEPHANIE CUTTER WITH DEVASTATING AD."

And here's this from Dana Loesch, "OBAMA SPOKESWOMAN CONTRADICTS DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER ON SOPTIC AD." Loesch is referring to Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who admitted yesterday that the campaign had knowledge of Soptic.

So, where's the big follow up in the press? I'm sure the Obama lap-dog press would rather bury the story. We're in campaign finance violation territory now, "Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki acknowledged Thursday."

More at Twitchy, "#FireLiarStef: Meet Stephanie Cutter, lying liar who lies."

Who Wins the Gold Medal for Huggiest, Touchiest Sport?

Well, Misty May-Treanor practically did a sex romp on top of Kerry Walsh after they won their third gold medal, but I guess that dynamic duo has a lot of competition.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Group Hug: Which Olympic Sport Wins Gold for Touchiest? Fist Bumps, Bro Hugs and Chest Bumps Proliferate; 'We've Got Each Other's Backs'":

Beach volleyball isn't as huggy as its larger indoor cousin. In their recent match against Italy, Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings racked up one high five, 16 low fives, six double-high and double-low fives, and five bum taps, for a total of 28 touches in the first 25 plays, an average of 1.12.

Read the whole thing.

Lady Gaga Likes Having Sex on the Beach

From Gaga's interview in the September Vogue, reported in the New York Post, "Gaga’s sex on the beach."

Also photos at Billboard, "Lady Gaga's Vogue September Cover: Inspired by RuPaul, Fozzie Bear."

Naked Fisherman Being Circled by Huge Hammerhead Shark Resued After Treading Water for Nearly 24 Hours

This is worth posting for the headline alone. See Australia's Herald Sun, "Fishing rescue turns tragic: One man dead, one safe, one missing."

At least one fisherman has died.

Misty May-Treanor: 2012 Olympics Were 'So Much More About the Friendship, the Togetherness, the Journey...'

One of the great stories of the London Olympics, from USA Today, "May-Treanor, Walsh win third gold in style":

For so long, they've dominated this sport. They've been partners for 11 years, winning three consecutive world championships at one point, and now three consecutive Olympic gold medals to end it all. Of the five gold medals awarded since beach volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1996, May-Treanor and Walsh have won three of them.

The two had been emotional on this court the night before after they clinched a spot in the final. They said this medal means more than the previous two.

"The first two medals, I think it was more volleyball," May-Treanor said. "The friendship we had was there, but it was all 'volleyball, volleyball.' This was so much more about the friendship, the togetherness, the journey. Volleyball was just a small part of it." That's because they're different women then they were four years ago

in Beijing, and certainly different than they were eight years ago in Athens.

RTWT.

Also, at the New York Times, "All-American Ending for Beach Volleyball Team."

The Postmodern President

An editorial, at the Wall Street Journal:

President Obama spent his formative years in academia, so he's no doubt familiar with postmodernism, the literary theory that rejects objective reality and insists instead that everything is a matter of interpretation and relative "truth." At any rate he's running the first postmodern Presidential campaign, now organized almost exclusively around allegations about his opponent that bear no relation to the observable universe.

The most important document of this new approach to politics may be this week's now famous TV commercial in which a man on camera accuses Mitt Romney of killing his wife. (The man's late wife, not Ann.) The spot features a Missouri steelworker called Joe Soptic, who recounts how Bain Capital bought his plant and eventually closed it, costing him his job and health benefits. "A short time after that," he says, Ilyona Soptic was diagnosed with cancer. "I don't know how long she was sick and I think maybe she didn't say anything because she knew we couldn't afford the insurance."

He continues: "There was nothing they could do for her. And she passed away in 22 days. I do not think Mitt Romney realizes what he's done to anyone, and furthermore I do not think Mitt Romney is concerned."

It's a sad tale, affectingly told. The production values are also excellent, courtesy of Priorities USA Action, Mr. Obama's super PAC that ostensibly doesn't coordinate with his campaign. But its notions about cause and effect are, well, novel....

Yeah, you might say.

More at that top link.

I think the WSJ editors are being pretty reserved. The folks at IBD just called it out blank: "Obama's Campaign of Lies Reaches Despicable Low."

PREVIOUSLY: "Connecting the Dots on Obama's 'Cancerous' Attack on Mitt Romney."

Sarah Palin Slams Obama's 'Agenda of Deception'

Stephanie Cutter is back on Twitter (folks were getting worried there for a minute), although she cancelled her scheduled Sunday appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Dana Loesch reports, "EMBATTLED STEPHANIE CUTTER DROPS ABC 'THIS WEEK' APPEARANCE."

And here's Sarah Palin on Sean Hannity's, via RCP, "Palin: Obama Should Fire Cutter, Carney, Gibbs And Others" (video).

"He should fire her," Sarah Palin said about Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter. "He should fire others around him who are full of deception like Jay Carney, like Robert Gibbs, others who who represent this agenda of deception."

Also, at The Right Scoop, "Full Sarah Palin interview on Hannity."

City of Arcata Cracks Down on Panhandlers

Arcata's way up in Northern California, an area known for far-left politics.

So this is interesting, "Panhandling in Arcata tests the city's tolerance."

ARCATA, Calif. — Over the years, Patrick Steff has installed vinyl siding, repaired Volkswagens and worked in a pizza parlor. On a recent day, the homeless father of two sat disheveled in this North Coast town's central plaza, citations spread around him.

He has been ticketed for camping in the park and smoking on the square. That morning, a police officer caught him on a downtown sidewalk holding a sign that read: "I could use a little help today."

That's illegal here too if you're within 20 feet of a retail store, intersection, bus stop or bank machine.

"It's like an everyday thing," Steff, 37, said of the reprimands.

Long known as the "Berkeley of the North," Arcata traditionally has welcomed the downtrodden, embraced the leftist fringe and fostered a live-and-let-live ethos. But these days, the square is strangely mainstream.

While one quadrant is still dotted with homeless nappers, the immaculate lawn is populated by families with toddlers and its benches have become a prime lunch spot for working folks.

Behind the transformation is a host of factors that send itinerants a new message: Don't come here.

In addition to the anti-panhandling measure — which is facing a constitutional challenge — a sales tax hike paid for two rangers whose job is to roust campers from the city's parks and forestland, as well as enforce behavior on the plaza: No smoking. No skateboarding. No drinking. No dogs.

No skateboarding? The outrage!

Continue reading.

Also, an editorial at the Times, "Arcata's Overbroad Law on Panhandling."

Anaheim Rejects District Elections

At the Los Angeles Times, "Anaheim City Council votes down district election proposal."

I wrote on this previously, "Anaheim's Political Segregation."

Also, "Social Unrest Exposes Long-Simmering Ethnic Divisions in Anaheim." I mentioned how communist Amy Goodman was elbowing into the conversation, and here's hardline communist Michael Prysner of International ANSWER, the asshole:

American Sunrise PAC Attacks Rep. Allan West as Battering Women

Via The Shark Tank, "Super PAC Attack Ad Depicts Allen West Punching White Women."

RELATED: At Legal Insurrection, "Contribute to the Allen West boxing fund."

Robert Pattinson 'Drunk Dialing' Kristen Stewart

Shoot, and I thought the guy was handling this really well.

At Fox News, "Robert Pattinson is 'drunk dialing' Kristen Stewart, report says" (via Instapundit).

I guess he longs for the long legs.

PREVIOUSLY: "Kristen Stewart Cheating Scandal."

U.S. Gymnast Alexandra Raisman: Gold Medal Routine Was Tribute to Israeli Athletes Murdered at 1972 Munich Olympics

At London's Daily Mail, "U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman reveals gold medal tribute to victims of the 1972 Munich terror attack." (Via Doug Ross.)

Raisman is Jewish --- and a real class act. She performed to Hava Nagila, a traditional Hebrew song used at weddings and so forth.

PREVIOUSLY: "Alexandra Raisman Wins Gold Medal in Floor Exercise."

Connecting the Dots on Obama's 'Cancerous' Attack on Mitt Romney

Here's the Obama campaign ad featuring laid off steelworker Joe Soptic, the guy who's wife died of cancer. This ran about May 15th. Notice how he's wearing the same sweater as the one he's wearing in libelous Priorities USA ad now dominating the headlines:

Team Obama released another Joe Soptic ad on May 14th, "Romney Economics: Bankruptcy and Bailouts at GST Steel." And here's the write-up at Obama for America, "Faces of Romney economics: Joe Soptic, American steelworker."

Amazingly, unfathomably, the campaign denied knowledge of Soptic, but Politico reports that they've now come clean, "Obama camp acknowledges knowing man's story."

And Rebel Pundit pulls it all together at Breitbart, "CONNECTING THE DOTS ON SOPTIC: BEGALA, BROCK, AND BURTON."

And here's this at IBD, "Obama's Campaign of Lies Reaches Despicable Low" (at Memeorandum):

Unable to run on his record, President Hope-and-Change has built a campaign based entirely on scurrilous lies about Mitt Romney. But the latest reaches a historic, despicable low.

That ad features a man claiming that after Bain Capital closed his steel plant, he lost his job and his insurance, and shortly thereafter his wife died of cancer.

Even it were true, trying to blame Romney for his wife's death defies credulity. But the facts are all wrong.

Romney had left Bain to run the summer Olympics two years before Joe Soptic lost his job in 2001. And his wife had her own job and insurance at that time. She later took a disability leave and lost her coverage, and her cancer was apparently symptom-free until she checked into a hospital for pneumonia in 2006.

The ad, sponsored by an Obama "super-PAC" was too much even for the in-the-Obama-tank press. CNN's Wolf Blitzer called it "a pretty outrageous claim," and Sam Stein of the Obama-worshipping Huffington Post said it went "too far."

The Obama campaign has refused to denounce the ad, which is understandable, since when you lie as often as it does, the lines of propriety start to get blurry.

The campaign continues to hammer Romney as an "outsourcer," though the only examples they can cite took place after he left Bain, and even though the independent FactCheck.org reported the claim was bogus.

Obama campaign officials at one point called Romney a felon, saying he misrepresented his position at Bain after 1999. And Obama continued to make thinly veiled suggestions along these lines after the charge was completely debunked.

Continue reading.

And here's that key headline at Instapundit, "CANCER AD TURNS MALIGNANT: Business Insider: That Brutal Anti-Romney Ad Is Blowing Up In The Obama Campaign’s Face."

Sarah Silverman Tweets to Traditional Marriage Supporters: Suck Dick

Yeah, that's the way to build support for your agenda:

To those who feel they deserve more rights than others, I say: 'Let Them eat cock'#MarriageEquality
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) August 9, 2012

You're not doing it right, sweetie.

PREVIOUSLY: "Sarah Silverman Offers Financier Sheldon Adelson 'Traditional Lesbian Sex' if He Gives $100 Million to Barack Obama."

You Can't Use Anonymous Accounts to Attack, Smear, and Harass People

Michelle Malkin smacked down an anonymous Twitter troll identified as "Bloody Leftist" this morning:

@michellemalkin WE know you're not white...but do you?
— Bloody Leftist (@warpublican) August 9, 2012

And things continued around the horn. Robert Stacy McCain has that, "#TwitterGulag and Anonymous Trolls."

Robert got involved after linking me up in a post about Sundries Shack's Instalanche:

@wilw Delicious Gay Slurry! theothermccain.com/2012/08/09/del… hat-tips @ampowerblog @jimmiebjr
— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) August 9, 2012

And it's been going around since, and my Twitter feed's in the loop.

From Robert's report:

After I posted about Jimmie Bise Jr.’s “gay slurry” post this morning and Tweeted it to Jimmie’s attention, he was accosted with vile accusations from the Twitter troll @warpublican (aka “Bloody Leftist”), an anonymous supporter of the Occupy movement who has sent nearly 10,000 Tweets but has fewer than 900 followers.

This is one of the hallmarks of a Twitter troll: A small number of followers and a large number of Tweets. They have few followers because nobody wants to read a Twitter feed that is nothing but a stream of vile attacks and obscene harassment. The whole purpose of such an account is to “get in their faces,” to annoy, distract and harass the troll’s targets.

It’s a form of psychological warfare, and it is permitted to continue because it has not been taken seriously. Except for the troll account’s comparative handful of followers, nobody sees the harassing messages except the person to whom they’re addressed. The target of this deliberate harassment feels isolated — “Why is nobody coming to my defense?” — and decides to ignore the troll.

Ignoring this kind of troll acount, however, only encourages them to continue their harassment. In their mind, they’ve gotten away with it, so it must be OK, and then they go on to attack the next innocent target and the next and the next.

Conservatives keep getting their Twitter accounts suspended because the Left uses swarming ”block and report” attacks against the targeted conservative. The leftists doing the “block and report” attacks are, in many cases, anonymous trolls. And these trolls may actually be sockpuppet accounts created for this specific purpose, so that one person can use multiple accounts to “block and report” the target.

Continue reading.

PREVIOUSLY: "The Left's Underground Online War."

Demo-Hack Stephanie Cutter Goes Dark on Twitter Amid Obama Campaign's 'Cancerous' Attacks on Mitt Romney

At Twitchy, "Radio silence at Stephanie Cutter’s Twitter page."

And at Breitbart, "RNC POUNDS STEPHANIE CUTTER WITH DEVASTATING NEW AD."

PHOTO CREDIT. Wikipedia. It turns out Cutter is a former staffer to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. What a socialist corruptocrat. Sheesh.

RELATED: From Instapundit, "CANCER AD TURNS MALIGNANT: Business Insider: That Brutal Anti-Romney Ad Is Blowing Up In The Obama Campaign’s Face."

'Obama That I Used to Know'

At the Blaze, "Gotye Parody Mocks 'Obama That I Used to Know'."

The creators, Ryan Newbrough and Justin Monticello, are interviewed at CNN.

#WAR — 1st Installment

At Breitbart (via Dana Loesch).

Folks were tweeting this out the other day, around the time of the AFP conference. Parts of this clip were previously posted at Founding Bloggers.

Video Released of Arkansas Cop Gunned Down During Routine Traffic Stop

At Telegraph UK, "Arkansas police release dashboard camera video of fatal officer shooting":

US authorities have released footage which shows an Arkansas police officer pleading for his life before he was fatally shot during an incident last year.

Footage captured by a dashboard camera in the police vehicle shows how the tragic events unfolded during a routine stop in April 2011.

Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt and his colleague Corey Overstreet pulled over a car on suspicion of it being uninsured. The driver was handcuffed and questioned. Mr Schmidt then opened the rear left door to the vehicle where Jerry Lard was sitting. Lard opened fire on the officer, shooting at his face.

He then ran from the car, continuing to shoot at the two officers as he yelled, "What you got b----?"

In the 20-minute long video, Mr Schmidt can be heard pleading with Lard off-camera: "Please don't shoot me. Please don't shoot me again."

Michelle Malkin: Hey Team Romney, 'Get a Hang of Yourselves!'

That horrendous ad from Priorities USA has been agressively debunked and repudiated. Yet, despite that, Romney advisor Andrea Saul somehow claimed that RomneyCare would have better helped Joe Soptic and his wife, who died of cancer. Romney's campaign has a knack for own-goals, but at this point it's like deadly self-inflicted wounds. Red State's Erick Erickson went off on the campaign, and R.S. McCain responds, "Steady There, Erick."

I don't care for Erickson, but Team Romney's f-king up and it shows. Michelle called 'em out on Hannity's last night:

Sally Pearson Talks About the Closeness of Australia's Olympic Team

I posted on Pearson previously, "Australia's Sally Pearson Wins Women's 100-Meter Hurdles."

Wade Michael Page Died of Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound

At the New York Post, "Sikh-massacre fiend blew himself away":

The madman who gunned down Sikh worshippers blew his own brains out after he was blasted in the gut by a crack-shot Wisconsin cop, the FBI said yesterday.

“I’ve seen the video — it was an amazing shot. And thank goodness,” FBI Special Agent Teresa Carlson said.

The unidentified Oak Creek officer hit racist Wade Michael Page in the stomach, “thereby neutralizing the threat,” Carlson said.

“Subsequent to that wound, it appears that Page died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.”

Cops first thought the 40-year-old white supremacist was killed in a hail of police bullets after he murdered six Sikh temple members and wounded two others.

But video of a portion of Sunday’s bloodbath shows Page killing himself with a Springfield Armory 9mm semiautomatic he’d bought about a week before the rampage. Carlson said she didn’t know if the cop’s shot would have been enough to kill Page, who had pumped up to nine rounds into Brooklyn-born Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy.

Murphy is up and walking around his hospital room as he continues to make a miraculous recovery, Carlson said.

The feds are developing theories but may never know for sure why the hard-drinking, unemployed US Army veteran chose to attack total strangers in a holy place.

“We’re trying to piece together, and eventually we will piece together, as much as we can,” said Steven Conley, assistant agent in charge of national security for the FBI in Milwaukee.

RTWT.

Maybe Romney Should Pick Paul Ryan

At the Wall Street Journal, "Why Not Paul Ryan?":

The whispering over Mitt Romney's choice of a running mate is getting louder, and along with it we are being treated to the sotto voce angst of the GOP establishment: Whatever else Mitt does, he wouldn't dare pick Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, would he?

Too risky, goes the Beltway chorus. His selection would make Medicare and the House budget the issue, not the economy. The 42-year-old is too young, too wonky, too, you know, serious. Beneath it all you can hear the murmurs of the ultimate Washington insult—that Mr. Ryan is too dangerous because he thinks politics is about things that matter. That dude really believes in something, and we certainly can't have that.

All of which highly recommend him for the job.

We have nothing against the other men Mr. Romney is said to be still closely considering. Tim Pawlenty twice won the governorship of Minnesota, the second time in the horrible GOP year of 2006. His working-class roots and middle American values would counter the stereotype of Mr. Romney as too rich and disconnected to average concerns. The media would say he's another middle-aged white male, just like Mitt, but he'd certainly be a safe, mature choice.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman is well respected nearly everywhere for his thoughtful, disciplined brand of conservative politics....

Marco Rubio would be a somewhat riskier choice given that he is new to the national scene and has less Washington experience. But he's a tea party favorite who would energize the GOP base while also signaling Mr. Romney's outreach to Hispanic voters...

Pawlenty and Portman? Meh. Rubio would be exciting, but so too would Ryan. I'd personally love a wonky running-mate. We could use some serious discussions about things.

Continue reading.

RELATED: At The Other McCain, "VP Tea Leaves: Is Mitt’s Short List Now Down to Pawlenty, Portman or Ryan?"

BONUS: From David Harsanyi, at the Washington Examiner, "Romney should pick Paul Ryan."

Twenty-First Birthday of the World Wide Web

It was Tuesday, actually.

But interesting, in any case. At Wired, "Aug. 7, 1991: Ladies and Gentlemen, the World Wide Web."

When I applied to graduate school in 1991 it was all snail mail.

At UCSB, I think it wasn't until 1994, or maybe even 1995, that the university assigned mandatory email accounts. I didn't have my own dial-up connection until about 1997, from AT&T Worldnet service. When I completed my dissertation in early 1999, literally just a couple of my citations were online sources --- from H-Net history reviews.

But since about 2000 or so --- and certainly since around the time I started blogging in 2006 --- the web has been the central source of news and information in my life.

Weird how the technology changes, changes your life, and changes society.

Via Instapundit.

Ontario's Sergeant at Arms Approves Anti-Semitic Hate Rally for Queen's Park Later This Month

Well, I imagine it's like letting the Nazis march in Skokie. Not many would approve, but they have the right.

That said, if these idiots are inciting violence against Jews, arrest the f-kers.

At Blazing Cat Fur, "McGuinty's Ontario: FSWC Says Approval for Antisemitic Rally by Hate Group at Queen's Park is Offensive to Canadians."

'Starbucks Appreciation Day' Goes Bust

Bust, and no one's talking about it.

From Da Tech Guy, "Anyone notice what was missing from Memeorandum today?"

And previously, at the Los Angeles Times, "Starbucks appreciation: Will retort to Chick-fil-A day succeed?"

Obviously not, or else the Democrat-Media-Complex would be rubbing it in conservative faces.

Wealthy French Balk at President Hollande's Plan for 75 Percent Tax on Income Over $1.24 Million Annually

I could have sworn Hollande was backing off his big tax and spending schemes since winning election. But I guess not. I don't think $1.24 million is astronomically rich. It's a lot of money. But folks like that are looking to get into the 100s of millions, if not billions. I can see why even the more solidaristic French are saying screw that.

At the New York Times, "'Les Riches' in France Vow to Leave if 75% Tax Rate Is Passed" (via Memeorandum). I like the chart here.

Plus, Walter Russell Mead comments, "Amazingly, Socialism Isn’t Helping France."

RELATED: I thought this was satire, actually, from Hamilton Nolan at Gawker, "Let's Have a Maximum Income." Stephen Green, at PJ Media, isn't taking it as satire, "An Idea Whose Time Has Come (for You)."

But really. It's gotta be satire. I'll tweet that guy Nolan later. Maybe he'll admit that his piece was just a hoax. No one can be that stupid.

Allyson Felix is Smokin'

She's so beautiful.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Allyson Felix golden in 200 on third try, Carmelita Jeter is 3rd."

At the New York Times, "The U.S. Bounces Back, and Over."

The video's at NBC, "Highlights: Allyson Felix Strikes Gold In 200m."

The Left's Underground Online War

A great piece, from Lee Stranahan, "Digital Dirty Tricks, Part One."

RELATED: From Bob Belvedere, "The #BrettKimberlin Report D+75: Good News – Kimberlin Gets Served." And Aaron Worthing, "The Blogger’s Defense Team Goes on the Offensive Against Team Kimberlin (Update: Instalink!)."

EXTRA: The "Freedom to Blog" series is here.

Obama Campaign Under Fire for Horrendous Attack on Mitt Romney

There's a lot of news on this, and it's devastating.

At Business Insider, for example, "That Brutal Anti-Romney Ad Is Blowing Up In The Obama Campaign's Face."

And at AOSHQ, "Wait a Minute: Joe Soptic's Wife Wasn't Even Diagnosed With Cancer Until 2006?"

And more at Gateway Pundit, "OMG!… Joe Soptic, the Anti-Romney Cancer Ad Steelworker, Admits Bain Capital Offered Him a Buyout (Video)."

And from Bryan Preston, at PJ Media, "Why Team Obama Ran with the Dishonest ‘Mitt Killed My Wife!’ Ad" (via Instapundit):

Team Obama knows that the hollow man from 2008 is a real candidate now, and that he is not a particularly good one. They have seen him up close more than the rest of us have, and they know that he is an ideologue incapable of real leadership. But they have to keep him in power to keep themselves in power.

The “Mitt killed my wife!” ad isn’t about truth. Bill Burton & co did enough research to find Mr. Joe Soptic. They did enough research to craft an ad from the man’s sad story. They did enough research to know that Mrs. Soptic died seven years after Romney left Bain, they know that Bain tried to save GST, and they know that an Obama bundler was the person who ultimately shut GST down. They did the research, they brought the ad forward, and they know more than any of the fact-checkers know, that the ad is a lie.

And they don’t care.

The ad is out there. The uninformed are seeing it in their facebook feeds, twinned up with the latest from MoveOn or whichever smear group is running in parallel today. People will see the ad, and most of them will not see the CNN, PolitiFact or Washington Post fact-checks that declare the ad a total fraud. Out in the wild, the ad is intended do its job of toxifying Romney just enough to peel off a few of his voters and ramp up hate for him among Obama’s voters. That’s the point of the ad, not to tell anything that’s true, but just to stir the pot, sully Romney and depress his potential vote.

As I wrote yesterday, we’re dealing with something in the Obama campaign that we haven’t seen much at the top of American life, except in the worst moments of the Clinton era. We’re dealing with a president who is entirely without any sense of ethics, honor or morals. He has lived a lie for most if not all of his life, hiding his true political convictions in gauzy language that makes him appear reasonable and moderate. Having lived a lie, what’s one more lie, in the service of keeping himself in power? What’s one more lie if, in Obama’s mind, it accomplishes the “good” of keeping Romney out of power?

The danger for the Obama camp is that they risk going over a tipping point...

Plus, at Power Line, "HAS THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN FINALLY GONE TOO FAR?"

Perhaps, but the Democrats have the media doing interference. Besides, most voters aren't paying real deep attention to the campaign in the middle of August. More will tune in for the conventions, but it won't be until the second half of October that a lot of undecideds will finally make up their minds. But Glenn Reynolds says no worries, Team Obama will "top themselves several more times before November."

No doubt.

More at Memeorandum.

Wine Bottles Featuring Adolf Hitler on Label Have Been Deemed 'Offensive'

You think?

At Telegraph UK, "Italian Hitler wine bottles 'offensive'":

Wine bottles featuring Adolf Hitler on the label have been called "offensive" after complaints from US tourists in the Italian city of Garda.

Michael Hirsch, a lawyer from Philadelphia, complained to local media after he found a supermarket near his hotel was stocking wine bottles with Hitler in various poses and another bottle featuring an image of Pope John Paul II.

"It is very shocking and startling to us," Mr Hirsch told The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday. "We would think of it as neo-Nazism It makes you wonder about the sympathies of the local people."

One bottle features Hitler with his arm raised in the Nazi, another is labelled 'Mein Kampf" and another was labelled "Ein volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer" (one people, one empire, one Fuhrer), Mr Hirsch said.

Local prosecutors said they have opened an inquiry into the sale of the wine bottles.

Continue reading.

'Hatecore'

I think the New York Times is making this up, the "hatecore" part that is: "Hatecore Music Is Called White Supremacist Recruiting Tool."

They're skinhead rockers, who followed after the neo-Nazi elements of Britain's Oi! movement. They're vile.

The piece also smears the tea party, so what do you expect?

And FWIW, "Subcultures, Pop Music and Politics: Skinheads and “Nazi Rock” in England and Germany."

RELATED: "Wade Michael Page Was Neo-Nazi White Supremacist, Not Conservative."

North Korea to Olympians: No Medals Means Labor Camp

From Ericka Andersen, at the Heritage Foundation:

What if not winning a gold medal in the Olympics meant being cast out of society and forced into a labor camp when you returned home from London?

Such is the fate awaiting some North Korean athletes who fail to bring home medals. Adding insult to injury, the athletes are actually forced into training at a young age by the Communist Party’s Sports Committee.

While North Koreans are dedicating their wins to their “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-un, the fear of failure terrifyingly fuels the drive to win.

Medal winners will return home to prize money, cars, and other lavish gifts as the government demonstrates its appreciation for illuminating North Korea positively on the world stage. Gold medalist Kim Un-Guk, who set an Olympic record in 62-kilogram weightlifting this year, said he “won first place because the shining Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un gave me power and courage,” according to ABC News.

Continue reading.

Brianna Keilar Fact Checks the New "Priorities USA" Ad

Someone said yesterday that this was the most reprehensible ad of the season. See: "Ad linking Romney to death of the wife of a laid off steelworker not accurate."

And see The Other McCain, "BREAKING: Lying Democrats Lie About Lying Democrat Ad Full of Lying Lies."

Australia's Sally Pearson Wins Women's 100-Meter Hurdles

I posted on the race earlier, "American Lolo Jones Takes Fourth Place in London Olympics 100-Meter Hurdles."

But Sally Pearson deserves a post of her own. Her technique over the hurdles is perhaps the best, most naturally smooth I've ever seen. What an accomplishment.

At the New York Times, "Top Two Finishers in Beijing Trade Places":

LONDON — As Australia’s Sally Pearson sailed over hurdle after hurdle Tuesday, a crowd of 80,000 at Olympic Stadium erupted in a roar, but she said she could not hear a thing.

It was like she was racing the 100-meter hurdles by herself, churning her legs in silence as the finish line grew near. So when she turned to see Dawn Harper of the United States next to her as they crossed the finish, it startled her.

“Wow, she’s really close,” Pearson recalled thinking. “Did she come first?”

Deep down, though, Pearson said she knew the gold medal was hers. And she was right. She saw her name pop up on the scoreboard and collapsed to the track that was moist with rain, sobbed and let the moment sink in.

“I’ve got every title now that I’ve ever wanted to win,” she said.

Pearson set an Olympic record with her time of 12.35 seconds, and Harper was right behind her in 12.37 to win the silver medal. Kellie Wells of the United States, who finished in 12.48 seconds, won the bronze. Lolo Jones, also of the United States, was fourth.

RTWT.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Chick-fil-A's Rachel Elizabeth Accepts Apology from Drive-Up Hate Guy Adam Smith

She's forgiven him.

What a classy lady all around, at London's Daily Mail, "'I feel sorry for him and his family': Chick-fil-A worker bullied by executive says she wants to meet him.

'Romney Hood'

President Obama's class warfare attacks have become downright shameful. I'd be embarrassed If I were him.

See John Avlon, at the Daily Beast, "Obama’s ‘Romney Hood’ Tactic Reveals His Own Tax Problem":

The president’s ‘Romney Hood’ strategy is clever, but his argument for raising taxes on the rich is a social-justice ‘fairness’ one rather than an economic one—which Americans may see as socialism.

And at the Wall Street Journal, "The Romney Hood Fairy Tale":

As he escalates his class war re-election campaign, President Obama has taken to calling Mitt Romney's economic plan "Robin Hood in reverse" or "Romney Hood." The charge is that even though Mr. Romney is proposing to cut tax rates for everybody across the board, Mr. Romney will finance this by imposing a tax increase on the middle class. His evidence is a single study by the Tax Policy Center, a liberal think tank that has long opposed cutting income tax rates.

The political left always says Daddy Warbucks gets all the tax-cut money. So this is hardly news, except that the media are treating this joint Brookings Institution and Urban Institute analysis as if it's nonpartisan gospel. In fact, it's a highly ideological tract based on false assumptions, incomplete data and dishonest analysis. In other words, it is custom made for the Obama campaign.

By the way, even the Tax Policy Center admits that "we do not score Governor Romney's plan directly as certain components of his plan are not specified in sufficient detail." But no matter, the study plows ahead to analyze features of the Romney plan that aren't even in it.

Continue reading.

Egyptian Military Fires Missiles at Suspected Islamist Terrorists in Sinai

At the Times of Israel, "At least 20 killed as Egypt strikes back at suspected terrorists after checkpoint.

Also, at Yedioth Ahronoth, "Egypt army kills 20 terrorists in Sinai":

Troops, jets kill terrorists, destroy armored cars after Sinai attack that killed 16 Egyptian border guards. Earlier, armed men, security forces clashed at Sinai checkpoints.

Alexandra Raisman Wins Gold Medal in Floor Exercise

She's so sweet.

At Detroit Free Press, "Aly Raisman wins gold in floor exercise, overshadows Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber":

LONDON -- It was a historic Olympics for the U.S. gymnastics team and a puzzling one. Just ask Aly Raisman. On the final day of competition, Raisman, the team captain and its most consistent performer, overshadowed Gabby Douglas, the star, and Jordyn Wieber, the star-crossed.

For Raisman, who will leave with three medals, the most of any U.S. gymnast, these Games were a jumble of emotions.

There was joy: Raisman became the first U.S. woman to win a gold in floor exercise after she performed what she called the best routine of her life Tuesday, to the music of "Hava Nagila."

"To have it be at the Olympic Games, in the finals, is just really amazing and just a dream come true," she said. "That's what you work for your whole life." This, after the U.S. won the team gold for the first time since 1996.

More at that top link.

And at the New York Times, "A Wait That Paid Off in Gold and Bronze."

Aliya Mustafina!

Robert Stacy McCain has been all over the U.S. water polo reporting, for example, "USA! USA! USA!", and "Go for the Gold, Melissa Seidemann!" Or, well, he's been all over Melissa Seidemann, I should say.

But I tweeted him the other day:

.@rsmccain, I know you're digging water polo, but I'll tell ya, Russia's Aliya Mustafina was sweet on uneven bars. #Olympics
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 7, 2012

I know she's Russian, but Aliya Mustafina is a fascinating athlete, especially her facial expressions. Matt Stopera at BuzzFeed picks up on that, big time, "The Ultimate Aliya Mustafina Tribute."

See also the New York Times, "Russia's Mustafina Wins Gold in Uneven Bars" (and check the photo here as well).

Marvin Hamlisch, 1944-2012

The man wrote some extraordinary music.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Marvin Hamlisch dies at 68: Sudden, brief illness halted busy life":

Marvin Hamlisch, the stage and film composer who created the memorable songs for "A Chorus Line," has died at 68. The composer died on Monday in Los Angeles after collapsing from a brief illness, his family said in a statement.

One of the most decorated composers in entertainment, Hamlisch had won a Tony Award, three Academy Awards, four Emmy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Hamlisch was still active just weeks ago. In his role as lead conductor of the Pasadena Pops, he conducted a July 21 concert at the Los Angeles Arboretum with Michael Feinstein....

In Hollywood, Hamlisch wrote music for the movies "The Way We Were," "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Sophie's Choice." In recent years, he teamed with director Steven Soderbergh on "The Informant!" and the upcoming "Behind the Candelabra," a biopic of Liberace.

American Lolo Jones Takes Fourth Place in London Olympics 100-Meter Hurdles

She wasn't the best athlete, not even close.

That photo is from Doha in 2010, via Wikimedia Commons.

And here's Bill Plaschke, at the Los Angeles Times, "Heat was on Lolo Jones, and she got burned":

LONDON — In the end, the most hyped Olympian was also the most alone.

Lolo Jones finished the 100-meter hurdles in a desperate lunge, stood by the finish line staring up at an Olympic Stadium scoreboard that registered a fourth-place finish and then slowly walked away.

She didn't stick around to congratulate the two medal-winning Americans, both of whom had questioned her enormous pre-race publicity. She didn't hang out to schmooze with fans who have increasingly questioned her sincerity. The cloudy and cool London skies broke into a steady drizzle as she walked into a tunnel and fought back tears.

"I guess all the people who were talking about me, they can have their night and laugh about me," she said.

It's a nasty business, this Olympic star-making machine. These athletes have one chance every four years to rake in the real gold, the endorsement and appearance money that helps compensate them for years of training. Most agree they would be fools to turn down that chance to capitalize on their success and enhance the quality of their often budget-strained lives.

Yet when Olympic athletes seek and embrace this publicity, they are criticized unless they have the medals to back it up. We chuckle at a guy like Terrell Owens working the system even though he has never won a Super Bowl, but heaven forbid an Olympian does the same thing, and shame on that Olympian if she is a woman.

In the middle of this double standard is where Lolo Jones found herself awkwardly standing Tuesday after, once again, her performance did not back up her buzz.

"I'm really disappointed in myself, and I felt like I let a lot of people down," she said, fighting back tears. "I just feel like a big disappointment."

The way she was viewed by many, anything less than a gold medal followed by a marriage proposal from Tim Tebow followed by a pole dance would have been a disappointment.

Jones entered these Olympics as a Time magazine cover girl, a partially nude ESPN model and Jay Leno's guest. She was an empathetic figure after losing a gold medal in 2008 in Bejing when she hit the penultimate hurdle in the final. She was an embraceable figure after sharing a background that include living in a Des Moines Salvation Army church basement. And, of course, to many she was a sexy figure with her good looks and openness that included talking about her virginity at age 30.

Put it another way: This was the only Olympian who went on national television and wondered about asking Tebow for a date...

Continue reading.

Jones' race in Beijing 2008 is here. She would've had the gold, but repeats don't come easy, as events showed.

And all that publicity didn't come easy, either. The New York Times ripped Jones in a feature story the other day, "For Lolo Jones, Everything Is Image."

RELATED: At the Washington Post, "Sally Pearson wins Olympic gold to boost Australia's ailing Olympic campaign; Jones misses out."