Feds Arrest Anarchists in Seattle, Olympia and Portland

I'm surprised this is even being reported.

Shouldn't they be arresting those "violent" tea partiers, or something?

At the Los Angeles Times, "Anarchists targeted after Seattle's violent May Day protests:"

SEATTLE — Early on the morning of July 25, residents of a neighborhood in northeast Portland, Ore., were awakened by the sound of a battering ram plowing through the front door of a small house. Inside, the sleepy young occupants stumbled out of bed as FBI agents rushed in with assault rifles.

Leah-Lynn Plante, a thin, tattooed woman who volunteers at a bookstore that specializes in anarchist literature, shivered in her underwear in the backyard as a SWAT team hauled

out computers, clothing, books and artwork — looking, the agents said, for evidence of who participated in this year's May Day demonstrations in Seattle that saw smashed windows at banks and clashes with the police.

What bothered Plante was that they weren't just looking for sticks and black masks. The FBI search warrant also listed "anarchist" and "anti-government" literature and material among items to be seized.

"It was like something out of George Orwell's '1984.' It was absolutely horrendous," Plante, 24, said shortly before she was taken into custody Oct. 10 for failing to testify before a federal grand jury in Seattle about her friends in the anarchist movement.

Plante is one of three activists being held at the Federal Detention Center near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in an investigation of anarchists in the Pacific Northwest that has led to subpoenas in Seattle, Olympia and Portland. The secretive probe has raised alarm among civil rights advocates who say witnesses are being asked to answer questions not only about their own activities May 1 — Plante says she wasn't even in Seattle — but what they know about certain groups or organizations.

The investigation in Seattle is one of several across the U.S. targeting anarchists. Last month, three self-described anarchists pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up a bridge south of Cleveland. Three purported anarchists were arrested in Chicago in May and accused of conspiring to burn down buildings with Molotov cocktails during the NATO summit there.

Oh, civil rights advocates are worried! It's the end of the republic! Bwhahahaha!!

Blast in Beirut Seen as Extension of Syria's War

At the New York Times, "Blast Kills at Least 8, Including Top Security Official":

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A powerful bomb devastated a Christian neighborhood of this capital city of Lebanon on Friday, killing an intelligence official long viewed as an enemy by neighboring Syria and unnerving a nation as Syria’s sectarian-fueled civil war spills beyond its borders and threatens to engulf the region.

The blast, which sheared the faces off buildings, killed at least eight people, wounded 80 and transformed a quiet tree-lined street into a scene reminiscent of Lebanon’s long civil war, threatened to worsen sectarian tensions. By nightfall, black smoke from burning tires ignited by angry men choked the streets of a few neighborhoods in the city, which has struggled to preserve a peace between its many sects, including Sunni, Shiite, Christian and Druse.

Within hours of the attack, the Lebanese authorities announced that the dead included the intelligence chief of the country’s internal security service, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, instantly spurring accusations that the Syrian government had assassinated him for recently uncovering what the authorities said was a Syrian plot to provoke unrest in Lebanon.

“They wanted to get him, and they got him,” said Paul Salem, a regional analyst with the Carnegie Middle East Center.

But if the attack was targeted, the blast was most certainly not. The force of the explosion left elderly residents fleeing their wrecked homes in bloodied pajamas and spewed charred metal as far as two blocks. Residents rushed to help each other amid the debris, burning car wreckage and a macabre scene of victims in blood-soaked shirts.

It was the first large-scale bombing in the country since 2008 and was the most provocative violence here linked to the Syrian conflict since it began 19 months ago.

The attack struck a heavy blow to a security service that had asserted Lebanon’s fragile sovereignty by claiming to catch Syria red-handed in a plan to destabilize its neighbor, which Syria has long dominated. It threatened to inflame sectarian tensions by eliminating General Hassan, a Sunni Muslim known for his close ties to fellow Sunni politicians who support the Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. General Hassan was viewed by Syrian opposition activists as an ally and protector.

More at the link.

Is Atlas Shrugging?

Via Glenn Reynolds, an interview with Harmon Kaslow, the producer of the film 'Atlas Shrugged, Part II', "Job Creators Are Giving Up on the U.S."

Not Good Enough

From the Republican National Committee, "Not Fixed."

Eva Longoria Gets Schooled on Twitter

From Michelle Malkin, "Obama Campaign Co-Chair Eva Longoria Gets Schooled":

Liberal celebrities want all of the adoration that social media engagement has to offer — but none of the accountability that actual engagement requires. For the Hollywood elite, it’s “do as they say, not as they tweet.” But actress and outspoken Obama campaign co-chair Eva Longoria learned a hard lesson this week on Twitter:

Conservatives online are mad as hell and aren’t taking it anymore.

On Tuesday night after the second presidential debate, Longoria shared a “retweet” from one of her 4.4-plus million followers on the micro-blogging network. “I have no idea why any woman/minority can vote for Romney,” the message read. “You have to be stupid to vote for such a racist/misogynistic tw*t.” (I’m editing the vulgarity for family newspapers, but the tweet’s foul reference to a woman’s reproductive organs was neither censored nor disavowed by Longoria on her Twitter timeline.)

On Wednesday morning, the editors at Twitchy.com, my Twitter curation/aggregation site, captured and saved Longoria’s retweet for posterity. Conservative minorities and women raised their voices. A representative sample...

More at that top link.

And at Twitchy, "Obama campaign co-chair Eva Longoria retweet: Women, minorities ‘stupid’ to vote for ‘racist/misogynistic’ Romney; Update: Malkin speaks ‘truth to Hollywood powder puffs’; Update: Longoria deletes retweet," and "Obama campaign co-chair Eva Longoria deletes retweet calling women and minorities ‘stupid’ for supporting Romney."

Well, I'm tempted to call Ms. Longoria the "C" word, but I don't normally go quite that far.

It's a close call on this one, but I'll restrain myself. Let's just say she's freakin' idiot.

Norway Base Jumper Survives When Stunt Goes Awry

Pretty crazy.

See: "BASE jump stunt in Norway goes horribly wrong."

Hot Heidi Klum for Jordache

This ad ran while I was watching Fox News yesterday.

No wonder they have the best cable news ratings!

Why Does Obama's White House Pay Women Less?

At IBD, "No Equal Pay For Women in White House Despite Ledbetter Law":

According to a report published by the Washington Free Beacon in April, the 2011 annual report on White House staffers revealed that the median annual salary for female White House employees was 18% less than male employees — $60,000 compared with $71,000.

During the 2008 campaign, columnist Deroy Murdock wrote that female staffers in Obama's U.S. Senate office were also shortchanged. "Obama's average male employee earned $54,397," Murdock inferred from Senate salary records. But the future president's "30 female employees (earned) $45,152, on average."

Defining what constitutes "equal work" is subjective, and part of the difference above may be explained by the fact that only one of Sen. Obama's top five staffers was a woman and only seven among his top 20.

Which raises another question for the champion of women's rights.

Journalist Ron Suskind, author of "Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington and the Education of a President," has a recorded interview with former White House communications director and Mao Tse-tung fan Anita Dunn in which she complained Obama's White House was a hostile work environment for women.

"I remember once I told Valerie (Jarrett) that, I said if it weren't for the president, this place would be in court for a hostile workplace," Dunn told Suskind. "Because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women."

While President Obama champions women's rights to which Republicans are supposedly hostile, Lilly Ledbetter herself might have found his White House an unfair and hostile work environment where the boss needs to practice what he preaches.

All hypocrisy, all the way down.

Whoa! Real Housewife Joanna Krupa Wears Totally Sheer Top for Thursday Dinner With Fiancé Romain Zago

That might be a tad over the top, if that's the right metaphor.

At London's Daily Mail, "A bit revealing for date night! Real Housewife Joanna Krupa wears ENTIRELY see-through top for dinner with her fiancé."

New State Department Docs Show Ambassador Stevens Warned of Security Threats Before Benghazi Attack

Fox News has been hammering on this story all day.

See, "Documents show Stevens worried about Libya security threats, Al Qaeda before consulate attack" (via Memeorandum):

Across 166 pages of internal State Department documents -- released Friday by a pair of Republican congressmen pressing the Obama administration for more answers on the Benghazi terrorist attack -- slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and the security officers assigned to protect him repeatedly sounded alarms to their superiors in Washington about the intensifying lawlessness and violence in Eastern Libya, where Stevens ultimately died.

On Sept. 11 -- the day Stevens and three other Americans were killed -- the ambassador signed a three-page cable, labeled "sensitive," in which he noted "growing problems with security" in Benghazi and "growing frustration" on the part of local residents with Libyan police and security forces. These forces the ambassador characterized as "too weak to keep the country secure."

In the document, Stevens also cited a meeting he had held two days earlier with local militia commanders. These men boasted to Stevens of exercising "control" over the Libyan Armed Forces, and threatened that if the U.S.-backed candidate for prime minister were to prevail in Libya's internal political jockeying, "they would not continue to guarantee security in Benghazi."

Roughly a month earlier, Stevens had signed a two-page cable, also labeled "sensitive," that he entitled "The Guns of August: Security in Eastern Libya." Writing on Aug. 8, the ambassador noted that in just a few months' time, "Benghazi has moved from trepidation to euphoria and back as a series of violent incidents has dominated the political landscape." He added, "The individual incidents have been organized," a function of "the security vacuum that a diverse group of independent actors are exploiting for their own purposes."

"Islamist extremists are able to attack the Red Cross with relative impunity," Stevens cabled. "What we have seen are not random crimes of opportunity, but rather targeted and discriminate attacks." His final comment on the two-page document was: "Attackers are unlikely to be deterred until authorities are at least as capable." By Sept. 4, Stevens' aides were reporting back to Washington on the "strong Revolutionary and Islamist sentiment" in the city.

Scarcely more than two months had passed since Stevens had notified the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and other agencies about a "recent increase in violent incidents," including "attacks against western interests." "Until the GOL (Government of Libya) is able to effectively deal with these key issues," Stevens wrote on June 25, "the violence is likely to continue and worsen."

After the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi had been damaged by an improvised explosive device, earlier that month, Stevens had reported to his superiors that an Islamist group had claimed credit for the attack, and in so doing, had "described the attack as targeting the Christians supervising the management of the consulate."

"Islamic extremism appears to be on the rise in eastern Libya," the ambassador wrote, adding that "the Al-Qaeda flag has been spotted several times flying over government buildings and training facilities ..."

More at the link.

And the New York Times is mocking the White House. See, "Suspect in Libya Attack, in Plain Sight, Scoffs at U.S." (via Memeorandum):

BENGHAZI, Libya — Witnesses and the authorities have called Ahmed Abu Khattala one of the ringleaders of the Sept. 11 attack on the American diplomatic mission here. But just days after President Obama reasserted his vow to bring those responsible to justice, Mr. Abu Khattala spent two leisurely hours on Thursday evening at a crowded luxury hotel, sipping a strawberry frappe on a patio and scoffing at the threats coming from the American and Libyan governments.

Libya’s fledgling national army is a “national chicken,” Mr. Abu Khattala said, using an Arabic rhyme. Asked who should take responsibility for apprehending the mission’s attackers, he smirked at the idea that the weak Libyan government could possibly do it. And he accused the leaders of the United States of “playing with the emotions of the American people” and “using the consulate attack just to gather votes for their elections.”

Mr. Abu Khattala’s defiance — no authority has even questioned him about the attack, he said, and he has no plans to go into hiding — offered insight into the shadowy landscape of the self-formed militias that have come to constitute the only source of social order in Libya since the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

It's not looking good from President Eye Candy. Not looking good at all.

Peggy Noonan piles on, "The Year the Debates Mattered."

Just read it all at the link. Another breathtakingly perceptive piece. And as the polls demonstrate, the public is quickly catching on.

Unfortunately for Obama, There's Still One More Debate — And Romney Will Be Ready

From Charles Krauthammer, at the Washington Post, "The great gaffe":

“And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our U.N. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive.”

— Barack Obama,
second debate, Oct. 16....

The rub for Obama comes, ironically enough, out of Romney’s biggest flub in the debate, the Libya question. That flub kept Romney from winning the evening outright. But Obama’s answer has left him a hostage to fortune. Missed by Romney, missed by the audience, missed by most of the commentariat, it was the biggest gaffe of the entire debate cycle: Substituting unctuousness for argument, Obama declared himself offended by the suggestion that anyone in his administration, including the U.N. ambassador, would “mislead” the country on Libya.

This bluster — unchallenged by Romney — helped Obama slither out of the Libya question unscathed. Unfortunately for Obama, there is one more debate — next week, entirely on foreign policy. The burning issue will be Libya and the scandalous parade of fictions told by this administration to explain away the debacle.

No one misled? His U.N. ambassador went on not one but five morning shows to spin a confection that the sacking of the consulate and the murder of four Americans came from a video-motivated demonstration turned ugly: “People gathered outside the embassy and then it grew very violent and those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heavy weapons.”

But there was no gathering. There were no people. There was no fray. It was totally quiet outside the facility until terrorists stormed the compound and killed our ambassador and three others.

The video? A complete irrelevance. It was a coordinated, sophisticated terror attack, encouraged, if anything, by Osama bin Laden’s successor, giving orders from Pakistan to avenge the death of a Libyan jihadist.

Not wishing to admit that we had just been attacked by al-Qaeda affiliates, perhaps answering to the successor of a man on whose grave Obama and the Democrats have been dancing for months, the administration relentlessly advanced the mob/video tale to distract from the truth.

And it wasn’t just his minions who misled the nation. A week after the attack, the president himself, asked by David Letterman about the ambassador’s murder, said it started with a video. False again.

Romney will be ready Monday.

He will be.

See also, "'Not Optimal'."

Image Credit: Via Instapundit.

Gallup Still Has Romney Up, 51 to 45

The survey has a seven-day polling cycle so there's continued volatility in the numbers.

That said, no doubt Nate Silver's still freakin' out over his super sophisticated razzmatazz polling predictions.

See Gallup: "Election 2012 Likely Voters Trial Heat: Obama vs. Romney."

BONUS: At Rasmussen, "Daily Swing State Tracking Poll: Swing State Tracking: Romney 49%, Obama 47%."

And from A.B. Stoddard at The Hill, "Obama spinning toward a loss":

President Obama is losing. So says the latest Gallup poll, and so do those swelling numbers in key states like Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia and Ohio.

Democrats say wait, he won the second debate. They are holding their breath, hoping polls next week will show that this week's debate brought the herky-jerk of the campaign back full swing, with Obama back to his September lead in the swing states and poised to win. But with two weeks to go, a sudden surge in voter support for a president as unpopular as this one, in an economy this weak, is simply hard to believe. Conservatives like Karl Rove note that this late in October, no candidate with support higher than 50 percent (see Mitt Romney: Gallup) has ever gone on to lose.

Perhaps Obama lost the presidency weeks ago, on Oct. 3, when he sleepwalked and scribbled through the first debate and helped make Romney a new candidate overnight. It was Obama's night to finish Romney off; behind in the polls, even Romney likely woke up that morning thinking it was over. But Obama underestimated the task, the challenger and the electorate — all in 90 minutes. So a win this week was critical but perhaps not decisive. There is no obvious reason for Obama's performance to reverse the course of the campaign and blunt Romney now. And though there is one final debate next week, a back-and-forth on national security and foreign policy isn't likely to make the sale for anyone who still cannot make up his or her mind.

Bob Schieffer to Moderate Final Debate on Foreign Policy

At the Los Angeles Times, "As final debate moderator, Bob Schieffer could throw more curves."

I hope Schieffer takes the Candy Crowley clusterf-k into consideration on Monday. The guy needs to be more even-handed than any moderator in history.

More at the Washington Post, "Questions for the candidates at the final presidential debate."

Silvio Berlusconi Denies Having Sex With Karima el-Marough

Right.

Because you know he'd never do something like that.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Berlusconi denies sleeping with teen, says parties weren't sexual":

ROME -- Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told a Milan court Friday that he had never had sex with an underage Moroccan girl and that the so-called "bunga bunga" parties with sexy games and stripteases at his home were instead lively dinners followed by amusing shows in his private theater.

Berlusconi, 76, also told the court that he had never pressured police to release Karima el-Marough, the Moroccan teenager also known as “Ruby Heart-Stealer,” when she was arrested in May 2010 on suspicion of theft.

The former leader is accused of paying for sex with el-Mahroug, a sometime nightclub dancer, when she was 17, and of abuse of power for allegedly asking police to release her to one of his aides rather than to foster care where she might divulge details about his parties. El-Mahroug has also denied having sex with Berlusconi.

In what the Italian trial system allows as “spontaneous” remarks, Berlusconi spoke uninterrupted for more than an hour to say that his dinner parties were convivial occasions where guests spoke about politics, sports, told some jokes and listened to music.

“I can say with absolute tranquillity that there was never anything of a sexual nature” during the now-legendary evenings, he said, which often ended with entertainment that was “never vulgar or scandalous.”

Continue reading.

'Not Optimal'

He's just an asshole.

An asshole who's in over his head.

At London's Daily Mail, "'If four Americans get killed, it's not OPTIMAL': Obama's extraordinary response to Comedy Central question about shifting story after Benghazi attack."

ALSO: "The Spring Break Presidency: Time to Put the Adults Back in Charge." And at Memeorandum.

More at Daily Mail, "'My son is not very optimal - he is very dead': Mother of diplomat killed in Benghazi attack slams Obama's comment on raid" (via Memeorandum):

The mother of an American diplomat killed during a terrorist raid on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi has hit out at Barack Obama for describing the attack as 'not optimal', saying: 'My son is not very optimal - he is also very dead.'

During an interview shown on Comedy Central, Obama responded to a question about his administration's confused communication after the assault by saying: 'If four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal.'

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline today, Pat Smith, whose son Sean died in the raid, said: 'It was a disrespectful thing to say and I don't think it's right.

'How can you say somebody being killed is not very optimal? I don't think the President has the right idea of the English language.'

Well, like I said, Obama's an epic asshole. A callous motherf-king asshole.

Ground Game in Battleground Nevada

At USA Today, "A fierce ground war for votes":

Nevada has just 2.7 million residents and only six of the 270 electoral votes needed to win presidency. But Obama, Romney and their allies are fighting hard for each vote in a state that has sided with the White House victor in every election since 1980.

"When you are in a presidential race potentially decided by one or two electoral votes, six is a lot," says Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report. "This election could come down to one state."

Obama spent three days in the state preparing for the first presidential debate. Romney has visited six times. Former president Bill Clinton stumped for Obama in Las Vegas this month, and Vice President Biden was in Reno on Wednesday.

Celebrities pop up, too. Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams makes a surprise visit to an Obama campaign office one morning to rally volunteers. He was filming in neighboring California until 2 a.m. and hopped a flight at 5 a.m., he told USA TODAY. "I try to get to battleground states whenever I can."

The state also offers a test of the candidates' ability to recruit volunteers, register voters and get them to the polls in an election so close that turnout could well determine the winner. Obama, who won Nevada by a landslide four years ago, has held a narrow lead in recent polls — as his campaign capitalized on his early fundraising advantage to build a substantial ground organization in the state. The president swamped the GOP nominee on the airwaves by more than 2 to 1 between April 1 and the first week of September, according to SMG/Delta, a Republican media-buying firm.

Romney has ramped up his TV advertising in the state, and last week outspent Obama in Nevada, according to National Journal.

Obama also has opened 27 offices in the state to Romney's 12. Obama's campaign has tapped into an experienced Democratic political operation that helped Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid win easy re-election in 2010 — a year when Republicans made big gains in Congress. And Obama has the backing of labor unions, who have unleashed their workers to turn out the vote for him and other Democrats in Clark County, where most Nevadans live.

For their part, Republicans say they have launched an ambitious election effort to catch up to Obama. Republicans have knocked on nearly 370,000 doors and made more than 1.3 million calls to Nevada voters. A key goal: persuading non-partisan voters, who make up roughly 17% of the electorate, to go with Romney.

Romney, aided by the cash-flush Republican National Committee, "has a better ground game than the state party ever has," says Bob List, a former Nevada governor and ex-RNC national committeeman.

And note that Survey USA has Romney leading among independents by 18 points, 52 percent to 34 percent.

Tom Hanks Drops F-Bomb on 'Good Morning America'

No bleeping way!

At TMZ.

The Spring Break Presidency: Time to Put the Adults Back in Charge

President Clusterf-k spends too much time trying to be a cool kid.

And it's also time to retire those golf clubs, sheesh.

A brutal ad from the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama.

'It Was the Video'

A devastating new clip from American Crossroads, via Instapundit:

PREVIOUSLY: "Nate Silver Blows Gasket as Gallup Shows Romney Pulling Away in the Presidential Horse Race."

Nate Silver Blows Gasket as Gallup Shows Romney Pulling Away in the Presidential Horse Race

Gallup's not the highest ranked public opinion poll for predictive accuracy, but as the nation's original polling organization the firm's got enormous credibility and prestige. No doubt that helps explain why wonder boy Nate Silver's practically blown a gasket over the latest Gallup tracking numbers that find Mitt Romney pulling out a large lead in the presidential horse race, 52 to 45 among likely voters in the latest daily tracking.

Here's Silver's piece, which is especially noteworthy for its passive attack on Gallup for frankly ruining the guy's day, "Gallup vs. the World":

Our database contains records from 136 distinct pollsters that have released at least one state or national survey at some point in this election cycle. Of those, 53 are active enough to have issued at least one survey since Oct. 1.

With so much data to sort through, it will usually be a counterproductive use of one’s time to get overly attached to the results of any one particular poll. Whether you look at the relatively simple averaging methods used by Web sites like Real Clear Politics, or the more involved techniques in the FiveThirtyEight forecast, the Gallup national tracking poll constitutes a relatively small part of the polling landscape...

Er, okay...

"A relatively small part of the polling landscape," which of means of course that it would be "counterproductive" to spend much time attempting to explain away such a horribly unrepresentative survey, right?

Well, no.

Little Boy Nate's pissed that Gallup's messing up Obama's mojo and he's going to use his perch at NYT's progressive propaganda shop to set the record straight for the right-thinking political cognoscenti. He continues, for example:

Over all, the Gallup daily tracking poll accounts for only about 3 percent of the weight in this stage of the calculation. The national tracking polls collectively, including Gallup, account for only about 10 percent of it. Most of the weight, instead, is given to the state polls.

This is, obviously, a rather detailed answer to the seemingly simple question of how much information is provided by the Gallup national tracking poll, as opposed to all the other state and national surveys.
Nevertheless, any rigorous attempt to consider the value of the Gallup poll would probably get you to something of the same answer. Perhaps the Gallup poll accounts for 5 or 10 percent of the information that an election analyst should evaluate on a given day.

The Gallup poll’s influence on the subjective perception about where the presidential race stands seems to be proportionately much greater than that, however — especially when the poll seems to diverge from the consensus.

This simply isn’t rational, in my view. As I discuss in my book, our first instincts are often quite poor when it comes to weighing information. We tend to put too much emphasis on the newest, most widely reported and most dramatic pieces of data — more than is usually warranted.

Poor Nate.

If Romney pulls out an upset on November 6th Pinch Sulzberger Jr.'s going to have to the wonder boy on suicide watch. Seriously. Anyone's who's pegging Obama at a 64.8 percent chance of winning the Electoral College at this point's obviously running a couple of quarts low already. An upset going to put that guy over the edge.

It's not helping that other major polls are also not cooperating with the wonder boy's super sophisticated shuck-and-jive razzmatazz rabitt-out-of-a-hat statistical polling shakedown model of progressive Democrat Orwellian truth generation. Here's a report from this morning, for example, at Reuters, "Romney gains on Obama on foreign policy issues: poll":

Republican challenger Mitt Romney has gained substantial ground on Democratic President Barack Obama on foreign policy issues but Obama still holds a narrow lead, a poll showed on Thursday.

Ahead of Monday's foreign policy debate between Obama and Romney, 47 percent of voters favor Obama and 43 percent back Romney when asked who could do a better job on foreign policy, according to the Pew Research Center for People and the Press.

"This represents a substantial gain for Romney, who trailed Obama by 15 points on foreign policy issues in September," Pew said.

The October 4-7 poll was carried out about three weeks after the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which the U.S. ambassador was killed. Romney has seized on the issue to accuse Obama of failed leadership.

The poll involved 1,511 adults, including 1,201 registered voters. It has a margin of error of 2.9 percent for adults and 3.3 percent for voters.

A 15 point pick-up since September 15th. Impossible!

Actually, not. The public's seen this president's 3:00am moment and it's not impressed. Perhaps polls coming out next week might show a little improvement in Obama's numbers when factoring in the Candy Crowley handicap, but then again, Romney'll be playing for keeps on foreign policy on Monday, and the Republican challenger may well deliver the coup de grâce to the embattled incumbent.

I'll update on Nate Silver's psychiatric condition at that time.

UPDATE: The Lonely Conservative links, "Romney Surges In Polls, Nate Silver Hardest Hit":

Now, I’m not hoping that Silver will wind up on suicide watch. There’s no need, because he can always go back to baseball. Oh, wait, is he a Yankees fan? I don’t know, never mind.

And there's a Memeorandum thread now as well, the second thread I've gotten this week. Cool!

More from The Other McCain, "Nate Silver Asks: Whose Shark Is This, and Why Do I Feel a Need to Jump It?"

Still more. Linked at Larwyn's Linx. Thanks!

And Newser too!

Candy Crowley Slammed With Fat Jokes After Shilling for Obama at Hofstra

Hey, don't blame me: I think she's a hottie.

But see Bliss Tree, "Saddest Presidential Debate 2012 Trend: Fat-Shaming Candy Crowley."

And The Other McCain, "@CrowleyCNN Targeted by Fat Jokes, Legitimate Criticism, But Mainly …":

John Nolte at Breitbart.com called Crowley’s performance “a scandal; a total and complete media scandal . . . Absolutely disgraceful.” Matthew Sheffield of Newsbusters said Crowley “disgraced herself . . . showing why many Americans were rightfully suspicious of her ability to moderate a presidential debate fairly.” Donald Douglas at American Power called it “the worst debate moderation in presidential debate history.”

Not one of them felt it necessary to point out that Candy Crowley is fat, and I’m happy for that, because too many people resort to such cheap insults when they’re angry, and it hurts the feelings of fat people everywhere. This kind of cruelty toward BBWs and plumpers also bothers “chubby chasers” like Dan Collins, whose appreciation of Rubenesque ladies is so often misunderstood.

More at the link.

And don't miss the outstanding essay from Dan Collins, "About the Benghazi “Terror” Statement in the Second Debate."

Also cool was getting a Memeorandum thread yesterday.

More later...

Victoria Beckham Gets the Coco Treatment!

Wow!

That lady's got some legs!

At London's Daily Mail, "PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Ooh la la: c'est Madame Posh! Victoria Beckham is 'honoured' to pose at Coco Chanel's house."

'Sweet Home Alabama'

The video's from just last week, at Harrah's Rincon near San Diego, on October 7th. The hotel was holding tickets for my wife, but we weren't able to make it. Bummer too. Looks like an awesome gig.

And from yesterday's afternoon drive time at The Sound L.A.:

3:00 - I Still Haven't Found... by U2

3:05 - Daniel by Elton John

3:09 - La Grange by Zz Top

3:12 - Jack And Diane by John Cougar

3:17 - Fool In The Rain by Led Zeppelin

3:23 - Last Train To Clarksville by Monkees

3:32 - Come Sail Away by Styx

3:38 - I Need To Know by Tom Petty

3:40 - Take It To The Limit by Eagles

3:45 - Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd

3:50 - I Melt With You by Modern English

Kerry Ladka Slams Obama's Non-Response on Libya Attack

At London's Daily Mail, "'Obama didn't totally answer the question': Voter who probed about Libya attack during debate slams President's 'unsatisfactory' response."

Well, that's what you get from this bumbling egomaniac.

And watch this killer clip from Revealing Politics:

Holding President Obama Accountable

Via Carl in Jerusalem.

Syrian Rebels Get Missiles

At the Wall Street Journal, "Fears Rise That Portable Antiaircraft Weapons Could Wind Up With Terrorists":

ANTAKYA, Turkey—Some Syrian rebel factions have obtained advanced portable antiaircraft weapons, according to rebels and regional officials, a development that could alter the Syrian war's trajectory and fan U.S. concerns that such weapons could end up in the hands of anti-Western Islamist militias.

Video footage uploaded to the Internet earlier this week appears to show rebels in Aleppo using weapons that military experts and rebels say are heat-seeking, shoulder-fired missiles, the first documented instance in the conflict. Versions of the weapons—also known as man-portable air defense systems, or Manpads—have been smuggled into the country over the past two months through Turkey and to a lesser extent Lebanon, according to Syrian rebels and those who supply them arms through an "operations room" coordinated by regional governments.

"Northern Syria is awash with advanced antitank and antiaircraft weapons. The situation has changed very quickly," a Syrian involved in coordinating weapons procurement with regional states said. The Manpad transfers weren't sanctioned by the regional states that have armed and financed Syria's rebels since early this year, he added.

On Wednesday, fighters said they downed a military helicopter in the town of Maarat al-Nouman, in the northern Idlib province, one of at least four helicopters and jets they say they have brought down across Syria this week. It couldn't be determined how the craft were brought down. But the reported incidents, three of which are documented on videos but couldn't be independently verified, appear to mark an increased pace over the roughly weekly downings reported in Syria since the summer.

U.S. officials oppose the introduction of such weapons in Syria, citing long-standing fears that they could wind up in the hands of anti-Western militias that could eventually use them against the U.S. and its allies, or sell them to terrorists. "Obviously, we are concerned about the proliferation of Manpads," said a U.S. official.

The rebels in Aleppo who are depicted in the footage uploaded to the Internet this week are identified as members of the al-Salam and Hamza battalions, two of the relatively unknown divisions in a mushrooming insurgency. Rebels with the two largest fighting factions in Aleppo couldn't identify the battalions in the videos, though they confirmed that Manpads acquired over the past two weeks had made their way into the city.

Way to go Baracky!

See also the New York Times, "Rebel Arms Flow Is Said to Benefit Jihadists in Syria."

David Bowie Spotted in New York

He quit touring in 2004 after having a heart attack during his final performance of the Ziggy Stardust encore. I saw him perform in Irvine for that tour. I'm glad he's taking it easy nowadays.

See Telegraph UK, "Reclusive David Bowie spotted on rare public outing":

The reclusive singer David Bowie has been pictured in New York on a rare public outing dressed in cap, shades and hooded top, bearing little resemblance to the fashion icon of the 1970s.

The reclusive singer David Bowie has been pictured in New York on a rare public outing dressed in cap, shades and hooded top, bearing little resemblance to the fashion icon of the 1970s.

Bowie lives in a large Lower-Manhattan apartment with his ex-model wife Iman and daughter Lexi and has been almost invisible since suffering a major heart attack during a jinxed 2004 tour.

Michelle Malkin Slams Anti-Woman Obama Administration

I noted previously the left's ultra-pathetic "binder" attacks on Mitt Romney. I forgot the epic hypocrisy, however --- a major omission, considering how everything's pure hypocrisy on the left.

Hawkeye Voters Apologize for Backing Obama in 2008: 'An Open Letter to Our Fellow Iowans'

This is awesome.

See the Des Moines Register, "In full-page newspaper ad, 13 Iowa voters apologize for supporting Obama in 2008."

Read it: "An Open Letter to Our Fellow Iowans."

Change! Violent Crime Up 17 Percent in 2011, Survey Finds

Hey, thank a Democrat!

At the Los Angeles Times, "Violent crimes up 17% in 2011."

The Times' suggests it "could be a fluke." Yeah, like Obama's election was a fluke.

The crime stats will improve when the economy improves, and that's not going to happen under a second term of President Clusterf-k.

Wild Kayla Fitz

She's lovely.

And who doesn't love Sweet Cheeks bikini?

Acts of Terror

Via Legal Insurrection.

Meet Mitt Romney's Binder Babes

Well, the progs are in fits about Mitt Romney's "binder full of women," and boy, are they jonesin' to debunk the idea that Mitt's got creds with the ladies. See the idiots at Mememorandum and especially David Bernstein, "Mind the Binder."

And at London's Daily Mail, "Revealed: The high-flying women in Romney's 'binder'... but was he telling the truth about his cabinet selection process?" And also at the Hill, "Binders' remark shines spotlight on Romney appointments as governor."

Big Bird. Binders full of women. The progs are really struggling to come up with something, just like President Clusterf-k.

Talk about playing "small ball." These people are complete losers.

Smokin' Alessandra Ambrosio's in Victoria's Secret's $2.5m Fantasy Bra

That fashion show is coming up soon, I'll have full coverage.

Meanwhile, at London's Daily Mail, "'I was worried. I was in total mother mode': New mom Alessandra Ambrosio's race to get in shape to model Victoria's Secret's $2.5m Fantasy Bra."

Attempted Terrorist Attack at New York Federal Reserve Bank

At the New York Post, "Terrorist attempts to blow up Federal Reserve Bank."

And at WABC-TV New York, "Plot foiled to attack Federal Reserve in Manhattan" (via Memeorandum).

More at the New York Times, "Man Accused of Plot to Blow Up Federal Reserve Bank of New York."

Expect updates...

The Morning After: Obama Takes Second Debate 'On Points'

Charles Krauthammer is a tad more charitable than I would be, but his basic gist is in the same park as my comments last night. Obama had a good night. He was aggressive and clearly wanted to make up ground. And my main agreement with Krauthammer is on the point that Romney was in his wheelhouse on the longer soliloquies. But he mentions that Romney missed his chance on Libya. I too was waiting for Romney to bring up Obama's appearance on Letterman, where he was still talking about the so-called anti-Muslim video two weeks later, and about the same time he was on Univision, where the Mexican journalists stood in as the fourth branch for the American media. Clearly, in the president's mind it wasn't an "act of terror" at all, but a "spontaneous" event, just as Susan Rice was tasked to argue nearly a week after the deaths of our countrymen in Benghazi.

Because it was close, the leftist media will spin that Obama trounced Romney. The New York Times is up to the task this morning, "For the President, Punch After Punch":

But the Wall Street Journal comes back with the sober big picture analysis, "A President Without a Plan":

President Obama bounced off the canvas with a more spirited debate at Hofstra University on Tuesday night, as everyone expected he would. He was animated and on the attack. The question we kept asking as the evening wore on, however, is what does he want to do for the next four years?

At least two questioners put the point directly, yet Mr. Obama never provided much of an answer. Sure, he wants to hire 100,000 more teachers, as if there is the money to hire them or it would make much difference to student outcomes.

He wants to invest in "solar and wind and biofuels, energy-efficient cars," which probably means more Solyndras and A123s (see nearby). He wants to raise taxes on the rich—that's one thing he's really passionate about. Oh, and he does want to pass the immigration reform he said he'd propose four years ago but never did propose in his first two years when his party controlled Congress and he might have passed it.

But otherwise, what's his case for four more years? Judging by Tuesday's debate, the President's argument for re-election is basically this: He's not as awful as Mitt Romney. Mr. Obama spent most of his time attacking either Mr. Romney himself (he invests in Chinese companies), his tax plan as a favor for the rich ("that's been his history") or this or that statement he has made over the last year ("the 47%," which Mr. Obama saved for the closing word of the entire debate).

Continue reading.

More at Memeorandum and Politico.

And at Twitchy, "Romney right, Obama and water-carrier Crowley wrong on ‘act of terror’ claim."

Hofstra Presidential Debate — FULL VIDEO

Here's the complete debate clip:

PREVIOUSLY: "Candy Crowley Shills for Obama at Hofstra Debate!"

And the inevitable, "CNN Poll: Nearly half say Obama won showdown." (Via Memeorandum.)

As I noted earlier, I thought Obama was holding his own, but clearly, he got some help from the court shill Candy Crowley.

Indeed, see Astute Bloggers, "WOW: LUNTZ INDIE GROUP SWINGS TO ROMNEY AFTER DEBATE #2."

And FWIW, here's the report at NYT, "Obama and Romney Turn Up the Temperature at Their Second Debate." (Via Memeorandum.)

President Obama and Mitt Romney engaged Tuesday in one of the most intensive clashes in a televised presidential debate, with tensions between them spilling out in interruptions, personal rebukes and accusations of lying as they parried over the last four years under Mr. Obama and what the next four would look like under a President Romney.

RTWT.

Bottom Line: The president will have slowed Mitt's momentum a bit, with the help of the moderator. The later polling data might find Romney on top, especially if there's a big controversy over the moderator's bias. But the ultimate sparks are going to fly when the final debate of the season is held on October 23rd, which will be on foreign policy. Romney will be ready. He won't let Obama get propped up by the so-called "impartial" debate moderators. It's going to be an epic smack down.

Candy Crowley Shills for Obama at Hofstra Debate!

I saw the pre-debate criticisms of Candy Crowley, and I held back from commenting. I wanted to give her a chance. But I can honestly say now that this was the worst debate moderation in presidential debate history --- and I've been watching them since 1988. The moderator's jobs is to moderate, which means to act as a referee and keep the proceedings on track. A moderator is never a participant, for to do so means inevitably to take up sides. So for President Obama to call on Crowley for a fact check during the debate is like asking the NFL refs to give you a favorable spot for the first down in the 4th quarter of a game that's all tied up. No one would ever countenance it, and as the post-debate spin picks up, especially over the next couple of days, CNN's going to come in for enormous criticism for propping up the president and violating the announced rules and advanced directives of the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Ann Althouse has this at Instapundit:

CANDY CROWLEY INSERTED HERSELF INTO THE DEBATE, OUTRAGEOUSLY, to break up Romney’s most dramatic moment, when Romney was questioning what Obama said the day after the attack in Benghazi. Obama had said he’d called the attack an “act of terror” and Romney was staring him down about it. Crowley broke up the showdown, saying “He did in fact call it an act of terror,” which took the wind out of Romney’s sails. We were advised to check the transcript, but the dramatic moment was lost. The transcript shows Romney was right, and Crowley and Obama were wrong.

Althouse updates with Patrick Brennan at National Review, "‘An Act of Terror’?" (at Memeorandum):

President Obama claimed tonight that he called the Benghazi attack an act of terror the day after it occurred, in the Rose Garden. Mitt Romney seemed skeptical, and asked him whether he stood by that statement — that he’d called it terrorism, rather than a spontaneous act arising out of a demonstration.

But here are his remarks....

One could take that as a reference to acts which include the tragedy in Benghazi, obviously, but there was clearly no effort made to label it an act of terrorism. One reason why this might be: According to U.S. law, acts of terrorism are premeditated. The Obama administration’s line for days following Obama’s Rose Garden statement suggested that the attack wasn’t premeditated.

Read the whole thing for the context. And while it's clear that the president only made an oblique reference to "acts of terror" ---- and not an explicit, purposeful condemnation of a premeditated attack ---- the exact wording provides presidential wiggle room, and then progressives will just continue to shill for the administration's cover up.

This was a new low in presidential debates. If folks will remember, as I always argue, we're no longer in a media environment where professionalism demands strict impartiality. We've long returned to a "partisan press" in which media outlets take sides. What was entirely new tonight is that a debate moderator who was charged with the trust of objectivity and fairness injected herself into a debate to deflate the momentum of the Republican challenger. It was as if Candy Crowley was of the monarch's cortege, and she juggled a court performance to place the king in the best possible light, not allowing a glimpse of true frailty of the man behind the throne. It was the spectacle of feigned impartiality in the service of entrenched power. In this case, the president was being brought down low, with truth to power charging from the challenger's attacks, then only to be deflated by a "fact-checking" moment that works to the default advantage of the incumbent. That alone made the debate a travesty of democracy.

There in fact had been a good number of back-and-forth rounds between the candidates, and I was expecting that folks might, some more moderate folks, call it a draw. But on the economy, on taxes and ---- especially ---- on energy policy, Mitt Romney was eviscerating the president. It was almost no contest at those moments. Romney, like during the first debate, was in his wheelhouse. And Crowley clearly sensed the president's trouble and gladly shilled for him at key points, shouting down Romney's attempts to get in brief clarifications and then, of course, taking sides when it came to the president's request to "check the transcript." Seriously. I've never seen such an outrageous thing at a debate. But clearly, Obama needed help.

More at Memeorandum.

Expect updates.

9:29pm Pacific: Fact-checking the debate fact-checker, at WaPo, "Fact Check: Libya attack":

What did Obama say in the Rose Garden a day after the attack in Libya? ”No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this nation,” he said.

But he did not say “terrorism”—and it took the administration days to concede that that it an “act of terrorism” that appears unrelated to initial reports of anger at a video that defamed the prophet Muhammad.

Romney was right.

9:42pm Pacific: Here's the headline at Astute Bloggers, "HUGE BREAKING NEWS: OMFG: OBAMA LIED AND CROWLEY SWORE TO IT: OBAMA DID NOT UTTER THE WORD TERROR AT THE ROSEGARDEN SPEECH!"

And over at Althouse's blog, "'The moderator will not... intervene in the debate except to acknowledge the questioners from the audience or enforce the time limits, and invite candidate comments during the 2 minute response period'":

That was the contractual term that Candy Crowley agreed to and blatantly violated in the debate tonight. She let us know in advance that she wasn't going to follow it...

More at the link.

And boy, like I said, she sure did blow off the advance directives not to deviate from the impartial script. It's a staggering assault of the process, and a blow to the decency and sense of fair play of the average voter.

9:55pm Pacific: At Breitbart, "CROWLEY'S FALSE FACT CHECK SAVES PRESIDENT, DERAILS DEBATE - UPDATE: CROWLEY BACKTRACKS."

This is a scandal; a total and complete media scandal committed by a woman who promised to violate her contract and to insert herself into the debate. All she did for weeks was brag about how she intended to grab the spotlight -- and boy did she ever.

Absolutely disgraceful.

The Buck Stops In the Oval Office

Althouse has been hammering on Hillary Clinton's "I take responsibility" moment.

See, "Hillary in '08: 'The Buck Stops In The Oval Office'."

See this one as well, "Drudge depicts women turning away from Obama."

President Baracky Secures the Highly Coveted Honey Boo Boo Endorsement!

Seems to me that Honey Boo Boo's family's more the religion and gun-clinging demographic, but hey, no doubt O will take what he can get.

At London's Daily Mail, "Fidgeting Honey Boo Boo endorses 'Marack Obama' in hilarious Jimmy Kimmel appearance."

Emma Kuziara Calendar Bikini Beach Photos at Egotastic!

Here's another one of those British beauties for some pre-debate Rule 5.

At Egotastic! "Emma Kuziara Topless Calendar Bikini Photos for a Perfectly Proper Introduction."

And don't tell Scott Eric Kaufman. The asshole will probably launch another attempt to get me fired.

Topless British bikini babes --- the horrors!

Five Years and Four Million Visitors

This blog's 5th anniversary came on October 7th.

I actually forgot about it at the time, although I was planning to write something to mark the occasion. It's not that big a deal, frankly. Folks like Jeff Goldstein have been blogging over ten years (and it's not getting any easier over there, it turns out). But longevity in the blogosphere is worth noting, since so many come and go. And "AmPower" also recorded 4 million visitors on Sitemeter a week or so back, so that's another milestone. But again, compared to Althouse, it's still a tiny number of hits.

Yesterday I was excited to get home from work so I could do some blogging, and tonight I'll be excited to post my thoughts on the presidential debate. So I guess that's the best sign that it's been worthwhile: I still haven't burned out, and that's after years of leftist attempts to shut me down.

I could do a huge roundup of thanks to all the big bloggers who've helped me, but I've been there done that. Instead, folks should check out Swedish Meatballs Confidential (pNSFW)." The guy was one of the first dudes to actually read my blog and provide feedback.

In any case, here's to another five years, and by then I will have said far more of moral significance than political scientist Daniel Drezner, who just posted his 10th anniversary post in the most anodyne iteration one could imagine. It's so nice not to worry about the academic prestige hierarchy of the political science profession. Most of those folks bore the hell out of me, but there's still a few good souls left in the field, so I'll stick around a little longer.

Lara Logan Speaks Truth to War on Terror

An amazing speech, via Daniel Greenfield at FrontPage Magazine, "Lara Logan: “Our Way of Life is Under Attack” (VIDEO)":

The quotes and excerpts of Lara Logan’s speech don’t really properly capture it the way that watching the video does. This is an emotional speech and it’s unusual because it’s been a while since we’ve heard anyone talk like this. It’s a speech that takes us back ten years to the early days of the War on Terror. And those ideas are apparently a core part of what she believes.

Lara Logan’s theme is that abandoning Afghanistan will turn it back over into a base for Islamic terrorists. And in between advocating serious engagement with Afghanistan and blasting the refusal to talk about Pakistan’s role in Al Qaeda, she slips in the occasional dangerous unexplored idea about the nature of the enemy.

'I Take Responsibility'

As I noted previously, I'm not sympathetic to Hillary playing the scapegoat. She was there at the service for the four dead Americans, as Charles Krauthammer argued. Now she's throwing herself under the bus, it turns out, but it's not two separate administrations. There's plenty of blame to go around, but the buck stops in the Oval Office. More on that at the Wall Street Journal, "Hillary's 'Responsibility'":

Hillary Clinton ducked questions Friday about what and when she knew about the nature of the attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, and then she got the heck out of D.C. The Secretary of State, who flew to Peru Monday for a conference on women's empowerment, is savvy enough to smell political trouble.

Throughout the fallout from Libya, she has taken a low profile. But this position is becoming increasingly untenable. The focus of Congressional attention and debate has shifted to her shop. Even as they defer to an internal investigation—whose conclusions won't be out before Election Day—Joe Biden and the White House last week dumped responsibility for the security and intelligence failure that led to the assault on the Benghazi mission on the State Department and CIA. Does the Secretary care to comment?

On the day after the September 11 attacks, Mrs. Clinton stood alongside President Obama at the White House without speaking. When the Administration needed someone to appear on the Sunday morning talk shows the next weekend to discuss Libya, Mrs. Clinton was the natural choice. Yet she made no appearance and was replaced by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice.

An early Obama supporter and candidate to replace Mrs. Clinton in a second term, Ms. Rice offered the now infamous view that the attacks were a "spontaneous reaction" to an anti-Islam YouTube video. For eight days after the assault, the Administration stuck to that story....

In Thursday's Vice Presidential debate, Mr. Biden claimed, "We did not know they wanted more security again." A White House spokesman said on Friday that the Veep was referring only to the White House, not State.

Asked about this on Friday, Mrs. Clinton passed on the opportunity to clarify what she was doing the night of the attacks, when she knew about changed intelligence, and what she told Mr. Obama. She said a review board is looking into it, and in passing she defended Ms. Rice whom she said "had the same information from the intelligence community as every other senior official did."

CNN reported Monday night from Lima that Mrs. Clinton finally addressed the White House comments by saying "I take responsibility" for what happened in Benghazi. She added that "I want to avoid some kind of political gotcha" so close to an election. That's nice, but it still leaves many questions, such as why her own comments to the U.N. differed so much from the substance and tone of Mr. Obama's. Saying you take "responsibility" in brief interviews from faraway Peru is a long way from acting as if you're responsible.

And see Memeorandum.

Jew-Hatred at Occupy Wall Street's Facebook Page

Via Pamela Geller, "#OWS OCCUPY JEW-HATRED."

Here's Occupy's Facebook page.

PREVIOUSLY: "Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III and Progressive Evil: Denial of Israel-Hatred Enables Exterminationist Anti-Semitism," and "Occupy Wall Street and the Jews":

Walter James Casper III has to answer for his ugly endorsement of the hate. Walter James Casper III has endorsed the anti-Semitism of the Occupy movement. Add this on top of his anti-black racist sentiments and the sponsorship of hatred at his blog under "free speech" pretenses, and it's beyond clear the depths of evil this man will go to destroy decent people, Jews and racial minorities especially, because they don't toe the collectivist line.

The New Blacklist

What I've been saying for a long time now.

From John Fund, at National Review, "Some proponents of gay marriage would rather intimidate their critics than debate them."

Romney Donations Surge to $170 Million for September

Romney's planning on burying the Democrat ticket in the last couple of weeks, and they've got the cash for it.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Romney's donations hit $170 million, close to Obama's":

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney saw a surge of donations in September, bringing in $170 million, a major cash infusion that will help pay for a deluge of advertising in the final weeks of the White House contest.

Romney came close to matching the $181 million that President Obama raised last month — and he did so during a rocky period for his candidacy and before his solid performance in the Oct. 3 debate, an event that greatly energized the Republican base.

Campaign officials indicated Monday that October was shaping up to be even better on the money front. Spokeswoman Andrea Saul tweeted that the campaign had raised more than $27 million in online donations in the first two weeks, better than any month's total so far.

The rapid contribution pace set by the former Massachusetts governor in September puts him on track to join Obama in raising more than $1 billion for his presidential bid by election day, with both surpassing the previous record.

As of Sept. 30, Romney had pulled in nearly $839 million through his campaign, the Republican National Committee and a joint fundraising committee, according to Federal Election Commission data and the Campaign Finance Institute.

And the details of the ad blitz at the Washington Post, "Romney tries to bury Obama in ads":

Republican nominee Mitt Romney and his allies are banking heavily on a high-risk, high-reward media strategy in the final weeks of the campaign, hoping that burying President Obama in ads will give them a crucial edge on Election Day.

Ad purchases in the presidential race doubled or in some cases tripled last week in swing states such as Colorado, Florida, Iowa and Virginia, tracking data show. The surge is being driven by Romney and well-funded allies, who decided against running more ads earlier in the campaign in favor of a big bang at the end.

Restore Our Future, a super PAC dedicated to helping Romney, has booked $14 million worth of ads in nine states for the final week of October — more than it spent on ads during the month of September. The group is also ramping up its spending, airing a mix of ads criticizing Obama and extolling Romney in Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia.

Charles R. Spies, the super PAC’s treasurer, said conservative groups “have been very effective in leveling the playing field” with Obama. “That effort will continue at an increasing level going forward,” he said.

The GOP effort has gained momentum with Romney’s advance in the polls since the first presidential debate in Denver, where Obama turned in a widely panned performance. The Oct. 3 event sparked an influx of donations to Romney’s campaign and to conservative groups supporting him, giving them more resources for the final push, strategists said.

The ramped-up advertising by Republicans left Obama behind his GOP foes in total ad expenditures last week for the first time since the summer, though he has massive cash reserves after raising $181 million in September. Obama and his key outside ally, the Priorities USA Action super PAC, have kept up a steady barrage ads attacking Romney in Ohio and other battlegrounds.

It's not like they'll be hurting for material, or anything:

Pew Poll: Independent Voters Say Ryan Bested Biden in Debate

The Weekly Standard reports:

A new Pew poll of registered voters shows that independent voters who tuned into the vice presidential debate last Thursday preferred Paul Ryan to Joe Biden by an 11-point margin:

Six-in-ten voters say they watched at least a little of last Thursday night’s vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan at Centre College in Danville, KY. Among debate watchers, as many say Biden did the better job (47%) as say Ryan (46%)....

Republican voters overwhelmingly say Ryan did the better job in the debate (88%); a comparable percentage of Democrats (89%) say Biden did the better job. Among independents, 50% say Ryan did better, 39% say Biden.

PREVIOUSLY: "Polls Show Joseph Biden — 'Malarkey McSmirk' — Losing Debate to Paul Ryan."

IMAGE CREDIT: The People's Cube, "The VP Debate: A True Horror Story."

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty Resigns

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Dalton 'Tranny' McGuinty Resigns: 'It's time for renewal,' 'It's time for the next Liberal premier', It's time for someone else to take the fall for the shit I caused Ontario."

Gas Prices Compound Obama's Agony

Well, it's collapsing all around the Democrat ticket, no doubt.

And here's this, at The Hill, "Obama faces dilemma over gas prices as presidential campaign hits homestretch":

President Obama faces a dilemma as Mitt Romney bashes him over high gasoline prices in the final weeks of their close race.

Obama must decide whether to address the attacks head-on, or stay the course on a messaging strategy that has recently been addressing prices indirectly.

Democratic strategists and other experts argue that three weeks before voters go to the polls, Obama should steer clear of big messaging or policy pivots on gas prices.

“Bringing the issue up this close to Election Day would be self-defeating at this point,” said Paul Bledsoe, an independent consultant who was a climate change aide in the Clinton White House.
Dramatic action on energy appears unlikely before the election even as the campaigns tweak their closing arguments.

White House officials have said in recent months that a release from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an option on the table. But speculation about the prospect has dimmed in recent weeks as oil prices have fallen off their summer highs that reached around $100-per-barrel in mid-September.

Prices closed Friday at $91.86-per-barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Democratic political strategist Michael Stratton said that tapping the SPR would damage Obama.

“Anything with gas prices that would be perceived as manipulative at this point would work against him, and would be perceived by everybody so cynically that it would be ineffective,” he said.

Average nationwide gasoline prices are currently $3.79-per-gallon and have for weeks been setting records for the highest prices on specific days of the year, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). Prices, though, have been dropping in recent days.

Also, the current national average has been skewed upward by the major recent price spike in California, which saw average Golden State prices jump a half-dollar in a week to reach $4.67 on Oct. 9 before falling back, according to AAA.

Well, it just sucks to be Obama, doesn't it?

At the photo, the ARCO station at the corner of Del Amo and Woodruff in Lakewood, where I fill up on the way home from work. Regular unleaded is $4.47 a gallon, down about 10 cents or so from the last time I filled up over there.

The Debate Jerk

Via Legal Insurrection.

PREVIOUSLY: "Polls Show Joseph Biden — 'Malarkey McSmirk' — Losing Debate to Paul Ryan."

Bérénice Marlohe

Oh boy, she's something else.

And at American Perspective, "Skyfall Trailer - Who can resist a James Bond film?"

Felix Baumgartner Free-Fall — FULL VIDEO

It's pretty amazing.

And see Time, "Baumgartner’s Jump: Triumph or Freak Show?"

Obama Campaign Spins Out of Control

Via Theo Spark:

Let's Get Fiscal!

At Maggie's Notebook, "Ryan Girl Emerges: Bikinis Yoga Let Me See Those Baby Blues – Let’s Get Fiscal Video – Send it Viral."

Hillary Clinton Puts Daylight Between State Department and White House

Personally, I don't care about Hillary's 2016 aspirations. She's Obama's gal at state and she's part of the cover up.

But the Last Refuge has the push back, "Hillary Strikes Back: Attaches U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to Obama White House Propaganda Messaging."

Linked there is London's Daily Mail, "Hillary Clinton reveals what REALLY led to Benghazi massacre - and demolishes White House claim it was triggered by anti-Islam film."

This is the October Surprise, and it's not going the way Team Obama was expecting.

Also, "Krauthammer's Take: Hillary Told Video Lie as 'Body of the Ambassador Was Lying Next to Her'."

Join the Flight

Via Theo Spark:

Is College Really for Everyone?

Well, the educational system just assumes that it is. Mostly, though, kids have to find out for themselves, and that wastes a lot of people's time and resources. Perhaps there's a better way.

In any case, from Patrice Apodaca, at The Daily Pilot, "Is College Really For Everyone?"

Reports: Obama Will Attack Romney on Bain During Tuesday's Presidential Debate

Shoot, I'm surprised O didn't lay down some Bain attacks in the first debate.

He's got nothin' but smears, in any case. What's to stop him now, when he's down in the polls?

Ed Henry reports, at Fox News, "Obama camp tips hand on debate, hints president will attack Romney on Bain":

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – As President Obama began to hunker down at a plush resort here for three full days of debate prep, his campaign team signaled the incumbent may steal a page from Vice President Joe Biden and show a more aggressive tone in Tuesday's second face-to-face showdown with Republican Mitt Romney.

"Gov. Romney has been making pitches all of his life and he knows how to say what people want to hear whether that was during his time at Bain or during the dozens of town halls he did during the primary," Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Saturday. "His running mate also left him vulnerable on a number of issues -- admitting there was a $5 trillion tax cut, after he denied it, but again failing to explain how they would pay for it, leaving women worried about their ability to make choices about their own health care and failing to articulate their plan for winding down our presence in Afghanistan."

It's significant that Psaki previewed the president's next clash with Romney with an immediate mention of his time at Bain, a word Obama never mentioned during the first presidential debate, in Denver.

Senior campaign adviser David Axelrod said on "Fox News Sunday" that Obama is making “adjustments” before the debate and plans to be more aggressive.

Axelrod also referred to Romney's investment capital career before entering politics.

“We expect Governor Romney will have a great debate too," he said. "He is a great salesman. That is what he did as a professional, he is very good at it.” Later Sunday, Psaki noted women's health-care issues were left out of the first debate, which appeared to suggest Obama would raise the topic this time.

"The American people should expect to see a much more energized President Obama making a passionate case for why he is a better choice for the middle class," she told Fox News. "He will continue to hold Mitt Romney's feet to the fire on the facts about his policies, whether that is his 5 trillion tax cut plan that will leave the burden on the middle class, his plans to voucherize Medicare or his belief that women should not be able to make choices about their own healthcare."

O's going to be crushed tomorrow. Bringing up Bain's going to make it worse, since Romney will step up and slam "The One" as a bloody f-king liar.

 More at the link.

Added: At Mediaite, "Leaked Document Shows Debate Ground Rules Agreed Upon By Obama And Romney Campaigns." (Via Memeorandum.)

The Benghazi Attack: No More Lies

At the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Regarding the circumstances surrounding the terrorist attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya last month that left this nation’s ambassador and three others dead, the Obama administration is:

a.) lying
b.) stupid
c.) living in a parallel universe, or
d.) all of the above

Go to the head of the class if you chose “all of the above.” We’re all familiar with the administration’s first narrative of the Sept. 11 incident — it was the spontaneous reaction of a rioting mob upset over a low-budget anti-Muslim film. But that fiction began to unravel almost immediately.

There was no “protest,” only well-armed terrorists in a well-coordinated attack. Yet for weeks the White House stuck to its lie. And even now, after being forced to concede its tall tale was fact-bereft, many of Obama’s acolytes have not stopped lying.

Among the latest, during Thursday night’s vice-presidential debate, Joe Biden insisted that the consulate did not request additional security. That’s a lie, as the congressional testimony of four State Department officials proves.

Then there’s Obama campaign mouthpiece Stephanie Cutter, insisting that the unbelievable Benghazi attack narrative is an issue only because the Republican presidential ticket has made it one. How stupid is she and how stupid does she think the American people are?

Caught up in its repeated lies, the Obama administration has created a parallel universe. Where and when does it end?

In the polling booth on Nov. 6.

New USA TODAY/Gallup Swing States Poll Shows Romney Up by Four Among likely Voters

This is big, at USA Today, "Swing States poll: Women push Romney into lead":

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney leads President Obama by four percentage points among likely voters in the nation's top battlegrounds, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, and he has growing enthusiasm among women to thank.

As the presidential campaign heads into its final weeks, the survey of voters in 12 crucial swing states finds female voters much more engaged in the election and increasingly concerned about the deficit and debt issues that favor Romney. The Republican nominee now ties the president among women who are likely voters, 48%-48%, while he leads by 12 points among men.

The battle for women, which was apparent in the speakers spotlighted at both political conventions this summer, is likely to help define messages the candidates deliver at the presidential debate Tuesday night and in the TV ads they air during the final 21 days of the campaign. As a group, women tend to start paying attention to election contests later and remain more open to persuasion by the candidates and their ads.

That makes women, especially blue-collar "waitress moms" whose families have been hard-hit by the nation's economic woes, the quintessential swing voters in 2012's close race.

"In every poll, we've seen a major surge among women in favorability for Romney" since his strong performance in the first debate, veteran Democratic pollster Celinda Lake says. "Women went into the debate actively disliking Romney, and they came out thinking he might understand their lives and might be able to get something done for them."

While Lake believes Obama retains an edge among women voters, the changed views of Romney could be "a precursor to movement" to the Republican candidate, she says. "It opens them up to take a second look, and that's the danger for Obama."

More at the link.

And at Memeorandum.

Video Credit: The Other McCain.

Scarlett Johansson in New Cruella de Vil-style Photo Shoot

This is amazing.

At London's Daily Mail, "ScarJo goes Goth: Cleavage-baring Scarlett Johansson has Cruella de Vil-style hair and a nose ring as she celebrates the 90s in new W shoot."

And check W Magazine for the full shoot, "FOUR ACTRESSES INHABIT FOUR DECADES OF FASHION."

Also photographed is Keira Knightley, Mia Wasikowska, and Rooney Mara.