Midterm Calculus: The Economy Elects Presidents. Presidents Elect Congress

A neat little essay, from UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck, at the New York Times:

Instead of rewarding or punishing the incumbent president for his handling of the nation’s economy, in midterm years voters address the president more directly — by penalizing his party members, on average, but also by calibrating that punishment based on how the president is doing his job. Average approval ratings of the way the president is “handling the job” explain more of the variation in seat loss than the economic indicators.

And it appears as if the approval rating is made up of more things than just the economy. Where voters jump on the winning bandwagon in the presidential election years, they put a finger in the wind to measure the political atmosphere in the midterms. The happier people are with how things are going generally, the less likely they are to punish members of the president’s party.

Punish the Treasonous Democrats for Enabling Obama — Crush the Bastards!

Punish the bastards!

Destroy them! Crush their spirits!

Render them outside the realm of acceptable discourse. Obliterate them. Pull the ground from under their feet. Make them beg for mercy, the useless socialist scumbags.

It's going to be epic!

From Michael Goodwin, at the New York Post, "Obama always pointing the finger of blame at someone else":

We are witnessing the total collapse of a bad idea. Obamaism, a quasi-socialist commitment to a more powerful government at home and an abdication of American leadership around the world, is being exposed as a historic calamity. It is fueling domestic fear and global disorder and may well lead to a world war.

If there is a smidgen of a silver lining, it is that the unraveling, complete with Obama’s shameless attempts to duck responsibility, is playing out on the eve of the midterm elections. Fortunately, voters seem ready to respond by giving Republicans control of both houses of congress.

I second that emotion, and not just because Obama is a failure. For all his narcissism, he didn’t make this mess alone.

He was aided and abetted by every Democrat in Congress. They marched in lockstep with his cockamamie policies, from ObamaCare to open borders. They protected corrupt leaders in numerous federal agencies, from the IRS to the Genera Services Administration. They stymied efforts to find the truth about Benghazi and the Fast and Furious gunrunning debacle.

They ceded their constitutional obligations and allowed Obama to crash the system of checks and balances. The vast majority stood silent while he gutted the military and abandoned our allies, including Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and courted Iran, the most menacing nation on earth.

With painfully few exceptions, Democrats put their loyalty to him above their duty to America.

And now they must be punished. All of them.

Punish the treasonous bastards!

Continue reading.

Don't Forget to Change Your Senator on Tuesday!

Heh, I love this.

Shortest Letter to Editor in history @EdWGillespie @JohnWhitbeck @VA_GOP pic.twitter.com/oGS32JBpRO

— ClarkeGOP (@ClarkeGOP) November 1, 2014

'Hope Remains' for Democrat Senate Chances — Keep Hope Alive!

As we close in on election day, the media storm is honing in on a Republican tidal wave — and increasing Democrat desperation!

Sweep the Democrat f-kers out to sea. Make them castaways for a generation. Let them rot on a remote political island of desolation and decay. Lord knows they have it coming.

At the Washington Post, "Republicans appear set to take control of Senate, but hope remains for Democrats."

Yes, "hope remains." Keep hope alive!

Republicans Have Good Candidates Who Relate to People — And That Just Burns Leftists Like the Fire of a Thousand Suns!

My goodness, the depraved progs tuning into the the psycho MSNBC dunghole must be blowing chunks the seams out of their undergarments!

At the clip, Michael Tomasky's long face --- and I mean it's like his momma just died! --- is da bomb! You can't buy that kind of schadenfreued, I'm telling you lol!!

Joni Ernst Interview with Neil Cavuto (VIDEO)

I just love this lady. She's driving progressives absolutely nuts!

At Fox News Insider, "GOP Candidate Ernst on Key Iowa Race: Momentum, Issues on Our Side."

PREVIOUSLY: "Joni Ernst Takes 7-Point Lead in Des Moines Register's Final Poll Before Tuesday's Election."

Libtard Fear!

I love it!

Discovered, beautifully, on Twitter.

Prince Performs Eight-Minute Jam on Saturday Night Live as Chris Rock Triumphantly Returns as Host

First time I've stayed up to watch SNL in quite some time --- and damn if Lorne Michaels hasn't gone all downtown on us!

At London's Daily Mail:

With Chris Rock returning as host and Prince as the musical guest Saturday Night Live was set to have an attention-grabbing show.

And neither star disappointed, with Prince performing four new songs in an incredible eight-minute jam - and Rock refusing to pull punches as he joked about ISIS, the Boston Marathon bombing and even the Freedom Tower and the 9/11 attacks.

Prince's star-turn had been one of the most eagerly-awaited SNL musical performances in years, and some online fans were soon praising the Purple One for having delivered one of the best musical moments in the show's history.

@BeccaJLower Seems like they're aiming hard for the black demographic, lol. Worse than the Democrats! #SNL

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) November 2, 2014

@BeccaJLower Heh. I'm just tripping on SNL now, how it's like the Soul Train of Saturday Night!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) November 2, 2014

'Cisneros thought they were dummies and it was a fake scene, but when she walked up to one of the bodies, pushing the hair back to see the face, she realized the girl was real...'

This story makes me sad.

At LAT, "Eyewitnesses to Halloween hit-and-run describe violent collision":

Clarissa Cisneros, 17, who lives on Fairhaven Avenue, was putting up Halloween decorations when she heard a man screaming and then a bang. Bodies flew in the air as a black SUV sped away.

Cisneros thought they were dummies and it was a fake scene, but when she walked up to one of the bodies, pushing the hair back to see the face, she realized the girl was real.

“I knew she was dead. Her eyes were closed. She looked peaceful,” Cisneros said.

Cisneros found some glow sticks and started directing cars away from the bodies. Meanwhile, her brother tended to the victims.

By early afternoon Saturday, about 70 people were gathered at a curbside memorial, leaving candles, bouquets and stuffed toys.

More at CBS News Los Angeles, "Santa Ana Community Grieving Loss of 3 Teens Killed While Trick-or-Treating."

Islamic State Executes Scores of Fellow Sunni Muslims

As I said numerous times over the summer, ISIS just kills everybody. Their program is about death and power. That's it.

At the Los Angeles Times:

Islamic State forces have carried out another mass killing of civilians in western Iraq, officials said Saturday – the systematic executions of at least 50 fellow Sunni Muslim men and women belonging to a tribe that has defied the extremist militants.

Amid a months-long onslaught by the Islamic State, Iraq is growing ever more violent. The United Nations mission in Baghdad reported Saturday that at least 1,273 Iraqis had been killed in October, about two-thirds of them civilians.

In the latest grisly episode, members of the Albu Nimr tribe were lined up by the militants and shot dead late Friday in the village of Ras al-Maaa, in Anbar province, according to Naim Al-Kaood, an Albu Nimr tribal leader. He spoke to the Iraqi broadcaster Al-Sumariyah.

Social media websites were flooded with pictures of the dead, their blood seeping out onto the pavement from apparent close-range shots to the head...

RELATED: At Human Rights Watch, "ISIS Executed Hundreds of Prison Inmates in Iraq."

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN EZRA KLEIN COMPLAINS ABOUT THE POLITIZATION OF EVERYTHING?

"It means he's losing," says Glenn Reynolds.

Yeah, things aren't going too well for the Vox people, or leftists generally. Tuesday's going to come crashing down. It ain't going to be pretty for the acolytes of The One.

Joni Ernst Takes 7-Point Lead in Des Moines Register's Final Poll Before Tuesday's Election

This is major, for if Ernst takes Iowa, Republicans are practically guaranteed the six seats necessary to take control of the Senate.

At the Des Moines Register, "Iowa Poll: Ernst takes 7-point lead":

Joni Ernst has charged to achieve a 7-point lead over Democrat Bruce Braley in a new Iowa Poll, which buoys the GOP's hope that an Iowa victory will be the tipping point to a Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate.

Ernst, a state senator and military leader, enjoys 51 percent support among likely voters. That's a majority, and it's her biggest lead in the three Iowa Polls conducted this fall. Braley, a congressman and trial lawyer, gets 44 percent, according to The Des Moines Register's final Iowa Poll before Tuesday's election.

"This race looks like it's decided," said J. Ann Selzer, who conducted the poll for the Register. "That said, there are enormous resources being applied to change all that."

The news will thrill Republican activists nationwide, who are counting on Iowa as an anchor for regaining the majority in the U.S. Senate. On Saturday, a progressive group organized a conference call with Majority Leader Harry Reid to urge Iowa Democrats "to double down and save the Senate."

"If we win Iowa, we're going to do just fine," he said. "Iowa is critical, there's no other way to say it."

If Republicans control the Senate, Reid said, "think of what that would mean for our country."

Here's what has shaped Ernst's lead, according to the poll results:

• Although a small plurality of likely voters thinks Braley has more depth on the issues, they like Ernst better than Braley on several character descriptions. They think she better reflects Iowa values, she cares more about people like them, and she's more of a regular, down-to-earth person.

• Voters find Ernst, who has led Iowa troops in war, to be a reassuring presence on security issues, the poll shows. In the wake of news developments on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, increasing aggressiveness of Russia and the rise of the Islamic State in the Middle East, more likely voters see Ernst as better equipped than Braley to show leadership and judgment, by at least 9 points on each issue.

• Independent voters are going Ernst's way, 51 percent to 39 percent.

• The negativity in the race has hurt Braley more than Ernst. Forty-four percent say he has been more negative in campaign ads, compared with 32 percent for Ernst.

• Among several potential mistakes the two candidates have made, the one that stands out is Braley's seemingly condescending remark about Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley. In March, GOP operatives released caught-on-tape remarks Braley made at a private fundraiser in Texas that seemed to question the qualifications of "a farmer from Iowa without a law degree" to become the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

That inflicted a lingering hurt, as did emergence of the news that Braley had missed the majority of his Veterans Affairs Committee hearings, the poll shows.

Negative TV advertising by GOP outside groups relentlessly pushed those two pieces of damage.

Oh my! Ernst holds a 12-point lead among independents?!! The Democrats are going to be castrated like an Iowa hog!!

BONUS: At Legal Insurrection, "Iowa and Colorado – Signs of the Democratic Apocalypse."

Both Parties See Election Tilting to GOP

At the New York Times, "Both Parties See Campaign Tilting to Republicans":

WASHINGTON — Republicans entered the final weekend before the midterm elections clearly holding the better hand to control the Senate and poised to add to their House majority. But a decidedly sour electorate and a sizable number of undecided voters added a measure of suspense.

The final drama surrounded the Senate, which has been a Democratic bulwark for President Obama since his party lost its House majority in 2010. Republicans need to gain six seats to seize the Senate, and officials in both parties believe there is a path for them to win at least that many.

Yet the races for a number of seats that will decide the majority remained close, polls showed, prompting Republicans to pour additional money into get-out-the-vote efforts in Alaska, Georgia and Iowa. Democrats were doing the same in Colorado, where they were concerned because groups that tend to favor Republicans voted early in large numbers, and in Iowa.

While an air of mystery hung over no fewer than nine Senate races, the only question surrounding the House was how many seats Republicans would add. If they gain a dozen seats, it will give them an advantage not seen since 1948 and potentially consign the Democrats to minority status until congressional redistricting in the 2020s...

That's what I'm talking about! Crush the bastards!

Keep reading.

#Election2014: A Referendum on Competence

Well, if it's all about competence then the Dems are in for an even bigger rout than expected.

It's just going to be a bloodbath on Tuesday.

Here's Charles Krauthammer, at WaPo, "Election Day looking like a referendum on competence."

Obama's Ebola Stimulus Package

Lolz.

Via the People's Cube.

State Announces New Stimulus Package: Ebola Treatment http://t.co/T2SgmxxywK #TCOT pic.twitter.com/L1a9YCAX6P

— The People's Cube (@ThePeoplesCube) October 29, 2014

Tahmooressi

This is really good news, no thanks to the Democrats.

At Fox News, "Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi freed from Mexican jail, returns to US." And at the Washington Times, "Rohrabacher: Obama was ‘AWOL’ in efforts to free Tahmooressi."

Douchebag Democrats Fear Iowa Senate Race Slipping Away

Joni Ernst has the momentum.

At Politico:

DES MOINES, Iowa —Democrats’ hopes of keeping the Senate may well rest on the outcome of the race in this state on Tuesday. But party faithful here are increasingly anxious that victory is slipping away, with some Democrats openly saying that Republican Joni Ernst has the momentum as the campaign barrels to a close.

In conversations with more than a dozen voters and activists in seven cities across Iowa, Republicans appeared confident, even giddy, while Democrats acknowledged they were worried that Ernst would win an open-seat race that many in their party initially thought would be an easy victory for their candidate, Bruce Braley.

“I kind of think she has the momentum,” sighed Linda Osborn, 65, a staunch Democrat who was at a canvassing kick-off with Braley in Democratic Jasper County on his birthday this week.

No one on either side is saying it’s over for Braley, a congressman. Ernst has held a tiny lead in most recent public polls, some within the margin of error. A Des Moines Register analysis indicated Friday that Democrats may be slightly ahead in early voting, but that the outcome of the race is anybody’s guess.

And Democrats have brought in big guns like Hillary Clinton to give Braley a last-minute boost. Energy on the ground, as Mitt Romney learned in 2012, doesn’t always predict the final outcome.

But the pro-Ernst sentiment, for whatever it counts, is hard to miss.

Asked why the Republican state senator may be pulling ahead, voters and activists said that polls showing her ahead generate buzz about her viability; that the nation’s renewed focus on foreign policy could help Ernst, an Iraq war veteran and member of the National Guard; and that President Barack Obama’s sinking polls numbers could weigh down Braley.

Democrats also acknowledge that Ernst is simply running a solid campaign.

In the final week before Election Day, both Ernst and Braley kept up frenetic schedules, hitting the road with high-profile surrogates. Ernst, who was wrapping up her 99-county tour, appeared with Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and John McCain. Braley, who earlier this week finished his part of the Democrats’ 99-county tour, was joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Former President Bill Clinton is expected Saturday...

Braley's toast. He's an asshole too, a typical Democrat douchebag, just the kind of guy Walter James Casper can get behind (IYKWIMAITYD).

More.

And at RCP, "Iowa Senate - Ernst vs. Braley."

Senate Control Comes Down to Eight Races

Four days away now.

It's going to be a bloodbath.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Overall Climate Continues to Favor Republicans in Costly Battle":

The electoral math remains encouraging for the GOP. Republicans are expected to win Democratic seats easily in Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia, where long-serving incumbents are retiring or already have left. Polls also give Republican Rep. Tom Cotton a comfortable lead in his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) an edge in his re-election fight.

If they fall as expected, those races would give Republicans four of the six seats they need to pick up for a Senate majority.

From there, Republicans need to win four races of the remaining eight. The party currently has a lead in five of the eight in the aggregation of public polls by the nonpartisan website Real Clear Politics. Still, many are within the margin of error.

“We have a lot of paths to get to the majority,” Mr. Collins said [Rob Collins, executive director of the Republicans’ Senate campaign arm].

Among these remaining races, polls show Republicans with consistent but narrow leads in Alaska and Colorado. The same is true for Democrats in New Hampshire and North Carolina.

Georgia and Louisiana, meanwhile, seem headed toward runoffs, casting doubt on whether the outcome will be known before Georgia would hold its second round of voting on Jan. 6. In Kansas, the GOP could hold the seat even if Republican Sen. Pat Roberts loses, as his main opponent, independent Greg Orman, hasn’t said which party he would align with if elected.

Both sides agree that Iowa remains the closest race in the country. Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst continues to run neck-and-neck with Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in a state President Barack Obama carried by nearly six percentage points.

Republicans have invested more money than in prior midterm elections to mobilize voters, and GOP officials point to big gains over prior cycles in the early vote in Iowa as evidence that those efforts are succeeding. But many privately fret that some public-opinion surveys undercount Democratic voters because two critical constituencies—young people and minorities—are tougher for pollsters and campaigns to reach than traditional Republican voters.

More.

Check RCP here.

Racism and 'Heteropatriarchal Capitalism' to Blame for UNC 'Class-Padding' Academic Scandal

Gotta keep those big black athletes "sports eligible," by any means necessary.

At Campus Reform, "UNC students blame capitalism, white supremacy for academic scandal."

'PSYCHO KILLER'

Better ... run run run run run run run away ... from the Obama-Democrats, freak progressive psycho-killers!

From this morning on the Sound L.A.

Psycho Killer
Talking Heads
10:22 AM

Monster Mash
Bobby Boris Pickett
10:19 AM

Werewolves of London
Warren Zevon
10:16 AM

Witchy Woman
Eagles
10:12 AM

Black Magic Woman
Santana
10:06 AM

Spooky
Classics IV
10:03 AM

If You Wanna Get to Heaven
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils
9:59 AM

Gloria
Them
9:56 AM

Everybody Wants Some!!
Van Halen
9:40 AM

You Better You Bet
The Who
9:34 AM

Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
The Rolling Stones
9:31 AM

Blitzkrieg Bop
Ramones
9:21 AM

Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes, Dealing Serious Blow to Richard Branson's Dream for Space Tourism

One of my first thoughts was that Branson's plans for space travel were set back a decade at least.

And that's the conclusion at the Los Angeles Times, "Debris spread over miles after Virgin Galactic spaceship explodes":

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, part of an ambitious commercial space venture founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, crashed during testing Friday and broke into several pieces over the Mojave Desert. One test pilot was killed and another was injured.

"Space is hard and today was a tough day," said George Whitesides, the CEO of Virgin Galactic. “The future rests in many ways on hard, hard days like this. But we believe we owe it to the folks who were flying these vehicles … to move forward, which is what we'll do.”

The news of the second catastrophic accident in a week has sent tremors throughout the burgeoning commercial space industry and is sure to create questions about its future.

Two pilots were aboard SpaceShipTwo, company and FAA officials confirmed. According to the California Highway Patrol, one of the pilots was able to eject and parachute out of the aircraft before being airlifted to a hospital.  The other pilot was killed in the crash. Their names have not been released.

The WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, which carries the SpaceShipTwo, landed safely. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were on their way to the site, which the Kern County Sheriff said was spread over five debris fields over a two- to three-mile area.

The rocket plane was using a new fuel formulation, said Kevin Mickey, CEO of Scaled Composites, which conducted Friday's test flight.

The new fuel mixture had been “tested and proven on the ground many times,” he said.

Virgin Galactic has engaged in a nearly decade-long endeavor to produce the world's first commercial space liner, which would make several trips a day carrying scores of paying customers into space for a brief journey...

Keep reading.

And see the Wall Street Journal, "Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Crashes, Killing One: Accident Raises Further Questions About Future of Space Tourism."

Free Advice for Leftists: Stop Complaining About Skewed Polls

From Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Free Advice for Liberals Leftists: Stop Complaining About Skewed Polls":

With so many polls out there showing much the same thing about a Republican advantage, the chances that they are all wrong about who will vote (or have already cast ballots in early voting states) are slim. Unskewing seems like it makes sense but it is invariably based more on wishful thinking than sober analysis. Just as conservatives had to eventually accept that pre-election poll estimates of Democratic turnout were right, so, too, will liberals likely have to own up to the fact that today’s expectations about their base’s voting patterns are similarly accurate. Indeed, as Silver writes, it may be that pollsters are underestimating the number of Republicans this year just as they did the same to some degree for Democrats in 2012.

This should not cause us to lose all skepticism about polls. They should be closely examined and probed for possible errors. But such analyses tend to be based on the idea that the candidates you prefer are being shortchanged more than a real suspicion of error. Assuming that the errors will all go one way or that your candidate will catch the breaks is a guarantee that you’ll soon be eating your hat, humble pie, crow, or whatever metaphor you prefer. Ms. Maddow and her friends will soon find that it doesn’t taste any better in their mouths than it did in mine.

RTWT.

I'm just glad I'm not on the "denial" side this time.

RELATED: At 538, "The Polls Might Be Skewed Against Democrats — Or Republicans."

A Downbeat Electorate Looking Nervously Toward the Future — And Ready to Deliver an Epic Drubbing to the Despicable Democrats

The despicable Democrats are going to get hammered on Tuesday, just hammered. And I'll tell you, we need to utterly crush them. Crush their spirits and demoralize them. What comes around goes around and Lord knows the bastards deserved to be mercilessly destroyed.

I can't wait for Tuesday.

At USA Today, "Poll: High anxiety, low expectations as election nears":

WASHINGTON – As Election Day nears, America is the Land of the Fearful.

Voters are rattled by the Ebola virus, braced for years of conflict against the terrorist group Islamic State and still worried about jobs, a nationwide USA TODAY Poll finds. Two-thirds say the nation faces more challenging problems than usual; one in four call them the biggest problems of their lifetimes.

And many lack confidence in the government to address them.

"There's this cornucopia of icky that's going on right now," says Laurie DeShano, 38, of Bay City, Mich., an instructor at Saginaw Valley State University who was among those surveyed. She cites concerns ranging from ISIS – "We're absolutely in the cross hairs" – to the out-sized influence of special interests in American politics.

"Just to be painfully honest, it's obvious we're quite off track," says Mike Trujillo, 46, an emergency-room physician from Miami. "I never thought the country would be going in this direction, not in my wildest dreams."

President Obama's approval rating is a so-so 44%, and neither party is broadly trusted to handle the big issues ahead. By significant margins, those surveyed prefer congressional Republicans when it comes to dealing with the economy and ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria. By double-digits, they say congressional Democrats would do a better job in handling income inequality and social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

On dealing with the Ebola virus, one in five volunteer that they don't trust either one.

But the bottom line seems to be that the downbeat mood of the electorate is favoring the GOP, whose backers are more enthusiastic about voting and animated by their opposition to Obama.

Yeah, well, Obama sucks skanky donkey balls. Crush the bastard, I say. Deliver an epic thrashing to the Democrat-socialist traitors. Make them pay. Render them beyond the pale of decent society. Screw them and their Marxist-collectivist agenda of hate and social regression.

More.

Obama's Midterm Losses Could Be Among the Worst in History

From Stuart Rothenberg, at Roll Call:

President Barack Obama is about to do what no president has done in the past 50 years: Have two horrible, terrible, awful midterm elections in a row.

In fact, Obama is likely to have the worst midterm numbers of any two-term president going back to Democrat Harry S. Truman...

Keep reading.

Millennials and Single Women Have Finally Become Repelled by the 'War on Women' Demagoguery and Exploitative Economic Policies of Barack Obama

An outstanding commentary from Ed Morrissey, at the Fiscal Times, "Democrats Just Lost the Phony War on Women."

BONUS: At Instpundit, "WAR ON WOMEN: GOP Video Highlights Dems’ Sexist Comments":

“The video, titled ‘Democrats degrade women,’ features clips — many of which are from just the past week — of Democratic men making sexist comments toward Republican women.”

Hopenchange is crashing all around.

The Reid-Obama Democrats Face an Election Reckoning — Crush the F-kers

An awesome editorial, at the Wall Street Journal, "The Senate Referendum":

With Election Day approaching, so is the democratic day of reckoning for the Democratic Senate class of 2008. Those are the Senators who gave President Obama and Nancy Pelosi the accidental 60-vote supermajority they needed to pass the burst of liberal legislation in 2009-2010 that had been pent-up for a generation—especially ObamaCare.

Now these Senators are all again on the ballot, most of them pretending in one way or another that they have had little to do with that agenda, or want to reform it, or are really the solution to gridlock.

The truth is that they are the main Washington problem. As President Obama said last week, they “are all folks who vote with me; they have supported my agenda.”

They're the source of gridlock:

In the media’s telling, gridlock in Washington is due to tea party pressure on House Republicans to resist Mr. Obama’s agenda. There is some of that, reflecting different views of government. But at least the House debates and votes in plain sight. Mr. Reid won’t allow the normal give and take of democratic voting and accountability that is the reason to have a legislature.

The Reid shutdown runs even to the core legislative function of funding the government. The House has passed seven of 12 annual appropriations bills, most with big bipartisan majorities. Chairman Barbara Mikulski has passed eight of the 12 out of her Senate Appropriations Committee, and Republicans wanted to debate. Mr. Reid blocked a floor vote on every one.

The GOP has wanted to put Democrats on record on Mr. Obama’s regulatory overreach, such as targeting coal for extinction, or on the Administration’s refusal to fast-track approval for natural gas exports that might help Europe become less dependent on Vladimir Putin . No votes allowed.

Wyoming Republican John Barrasso kept a running tally of Mr. Reid’s amendment blockade through July. In the previous 12 months Senators introduced 1,952 amendments—1,105 from Republicans and 847 from Democrats. Mr. Reid blocked all but 19.

Legislation? Mr. Reid has blocked at least 10 bills sent to him by the House that passed with notable bipartisan support. Some 35 House Democrats voted with Republicans to delay ObamaCare’s employer mandate; 46 Democrats voted to expedite the approval of liquefied natural gas exports; 130 Democrats voted for patent-reform legislation; 158 Democrats voted to expand access to charter schools; and 183 Democrats voted (in a bill that passed 406-1) to exempt certain veterans from the ObamaCare employer mandate. Mr. Reid’s response: No debate, no vote.

***
As the election nears, many voters are asking if a Republican Senate would make a difference. The Beltway media line is that it wouldn’t, which ignores that Mr. Reid’s tactics are an historic aberration. How could the Senate possibly be any worse? Mr. Obama would retain his veto against legislation passed by a Republican House and Senate, but at least the legislators would have to vote and be accountable. At least Congress would again resemble a democracy.

Throw the f-kers out on their fat asses, the dirtbags. Restore representative democracy — and common decency.

The Democrats simply suck donkey balls. Crush them. Consign them to minority status for decades.

Victoria's Secret Training 2014

The fashion show's coming up on December 9, so stay tuned here for all the updates.

Rachel Williams Awesome in Undies!

At Zoo Today.

Plus, flashback: "Rachel Williams: Zoo's Great British Babe Search Winner 2013."

Skewedenfreude

I can't wait for next Tuesday.

It's all coming crashing down for the Democrats. The party of deceit and decay will be buried next Tuesday, praise the Lord.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 30, 2014

Skewedenfreude: Why Democrats Can’t Face the Midterm 2014 Polls - http://t.co/c8GkJilmK3 #Democrat #Dirtbags

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 30, 2014

Led Zeppelin Releases New 'Rock and Roll' Music Video

Via the Sound L.A., "Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” Gets a Brand New Music Video."

Sabo

This is interesting, at the Blaze, "Secret Service Agents Pay a Visit to Anti-Obama Artist Sabo — and the Entire Exchange Is Seemingly Captured on Video."

And on Twitter:

TINA DAUNT OF THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER IS WRAPPING UP MY INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRET SERVICE. NO PRISON BOYFRIEND AS OF YET! :)

— unsavoryagents (@unsavoryagents) October 29, 2014

IF YOU ARE ON TWITTER AND YOU HAVE A POLITICAL OPINION THAT IS NOT LEFTIST, BE SCARED, BE VERY SCARED. OBAMA'S SECRET SERVICE IS WATCHING.

— unsavoryagents (@unsavoryagents) October 29, 2014

THE SECRET SERVICE INTERVIEWED ME THIS MORNING ABOUT SOME TWEETS. HERE'S THE INTERVIEW. http://t.co/t4ubq75Ilr

— unsavoryagents (@unsavoryagents) October 29, 2014

MY NAME IS SABO, I RUN UNSAVORYAGENTS. I MAKE SHEPARD FAIREY AND BANKSY LOOK LIKE QUEENS. http://t.co/2mbyi0pgl9

— unsavoryagents (@unsavoryagents) October 30, 2014

'The Rise of ISIS'

A PBS documentary, so dramatic, "The Rise of ISIS."

And at the New York Times, "Beyond Beheadings: ‘The Rise of ISIS,’ a PBS ‘Frontline’ Documentary."

Obama Ignored Early Warnings on Islamic State

Ed Morrissey has the report, at Hot Air, "U.S. ambassador to Iraq: WH was warned early on about ISIS, 'did almost nothing'."

And watch Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters, on Fox News "America's Newsroom," from yesterday morning:

Desperate Southern Dems Play Despicable Race Card

It's really, really all they've got left.

A jaw-dropping level of Democrat desperation.

At the New York Times, "Southern Democrats, Courting Black Voters, Focus Senate Campaigns on Racial Scars." (Via Memeorandum.)

Remember, this is the party that was going to heal America's "racial scars" with the election of Barack Obama. How's that working out?

Not so great, it turns out.

More at Twitchy, "‘Shameful': Sen. Kay Hagan invokes Trayvon Martin shooting in campaign spot [audio]."

Dem Ad Blames NC GOP Senate Candidate Thom Tillis For Trayvon Martin Shooting.......Can Dems get any lower????....what pukes

— anthony zumpano (@tonyzump) October 25, 2014

Nina Agdal Hot in Leonisa Lingerie and Swimwear October 2014

She's a sweetie.

At Egotastic!, "Nina Agdal Lingerie and Bikini Modeling Rockets the Sextastic Off the Charts."

Growing Crises Takes Toll on Obama's Foreign Policy

The dope can't cope.

At the New York Times, "Mounting Crises Raise Questions on Obama Team's Ability to Cope":

WASHINGTON — One day this month, as the nation shuddered with fears of an Ebola outbreak and as American warplanes pounded Sunni militants in Syria, President Obama’s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, invited a group of foreign policy experts to the White House Situation Room to hear their assessment of how the administration was performing.

She was peppered with critiques of the president’s Syria and China policies, as well as the White House’s repeated delays in releasing a national security strategy, a congressionally mandated document that sets out foreign policy goals. On that last point, Ms. Rice had a sardonic reply.

“If we had put it out in February or April or July,” she said, according to two people who were in the room, “it would have been overtaken by events two weeks later, in any one of those months.”

At a time when the Obama administration is lurching from crisis to crisis — a new Cold War in Europe, a brutal Islamic caliphate in the Middle East and a deadly epidemic in West Africa, to name just the most obvious ones — it is not surprising that long-term strategy would take a back seat. But it raises inevitable questions about the ability of the president and his hard-pressed national security team to manage and somehow get ahead of the daily onslaught of events...

"Lurching from crisis to crisis..." Ouch.

But keep reading.

Madison Bumgarner in Game 7 of the World Series

Well, you can't say it hasn't been an exciting series.

But man, the stakes tonight are excruciatingly high. Bumgarner will play. He'll be on the mound as soon as the Giants run into trouble, which should be by the second or third inning, if past non-Bumgarner games are any indication.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Royals dominate Giants, 10-0, to force World Series Game 7":

This World Series could come down to one guy, and one question.

Madison Bumgarner, how many pitches can you make in Game 7?

"Maybe 200," he said.

He did not smile, or laugh, or elaborate. If he is the one man that can stand between the Kansas City Royals and the World Series championship, Bumgarner intends to stand tall, and heaven help the man or manager that stands in his way.

The 2014 season comes down to one game. America's darlings remain alive.

More.

And at the San Francisco Chronicle, "Giants’ best bet? Start Bumgarner in Game 7."

New Monmouth University Poll in Georgia Has David Perdue Leading Michelle Nunn 49 to 41 Percent

It might be a lousy sample, under-representing blacks and Millennials, but David Perdue may still be pulling out an insurmountable lead over Michelle Nunn.

From Noah Rothman, at Hot Air, "In Georgia, Democrats’ last hope for preventing GOP takeover is collapsing."

And check the poll, "GEORGIA: PERDUE (SEN), DEAL (GOV) IN LEAD : Monmouth University Poll finds neither breaks 50% mark."

Harvard Millennial Poll: Young Americans Prefer a Republican Congress

Young people don't love the GOP, but they've definitely soured on the stupid, disease-enabling Obama-Democrat dorks. (And the findings are among those who are "definitely" voting next week.)

At Harvard's IOP, "LIKELY MILLENNIAL VOTERS UP-FOR-GRABS IN UPCOMING MIDTERM ELECTIONS, HARVARD YOUTH POLL FINDS."

Also at the New York Times, "Poll Shows Democrats Slipping Among Young Voters."

Here Comes the 2014 Voter Fraud

From Hans von Spakovsky, at the Wall Street Journal:

In the past few months, a former police chief in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to voter fraud in a town-council election. That fraud had flipped the outcome of a primary election. Former Connecticut legislator Christina Ayala has been indicted on 19 charges of voter fraud, including voting in districts where she didn’t reside. (She hasn’t entered a plea.) A Mississippi grand jury indicted seven individuals for voter fraud in the 2013 Hattiesburg mayoral contest, which featured voting by ineligible felons and impersonation fraud. A woman in Polk County, Tenn., was indicted on a charge of vote-buying—a practice that the local district attorney said had too long “been accepted as part of life” there.

Now come the midterm elections on Nov. 4. What is the likelihood that your vote won’t count? That your vote will, in effect, be canceled or stolen as a consequence of mistakes by election officials or fraudulent votes cast by campaign workers or ineligible voters like felons and noncitizens?

Unfortunately, we can’t know. But one thing is almost certain: Voter fraud will occur. Many states run a rickety election process, lacking rules to deter people who are looking to take advantage of the system’s porous security. And too many groups and individuals—including the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder —are doing everything they can to prevent states from improving the integrity of the election process...

Yep, lie, cheat and steal. That's the Democrat Party playbook.

More.

Latest ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Bwahaha! Massive Disaffection with Obama and the Democrats!

Everybody's all soured on The One --- and that dissatisfaction is dragging down Democrat Party prospects come next Tuesday.

But what else is new?

At ABC News, "Economic, Political Discontent Make for a Midterm Double Punch":

A double punch of economic and political dissatisfaction marks public attitudes in the closing week of the 2014 midterm campaign – a dynamic that reflects poorly on the president’s performance, bolstering his Republican opponents.

The discontent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll is palpable. Despite its fitful gains, seven in 10 Americans rate the nation’s economy negatively and just 28 percent say it’s getting better. In a now-customary result, 68 percent say the country’s seriously off on the wrong track.

There’s no respite politically. Six in 10 express little or no trust in the federal government to do what’s right. Fifty-three percent think its ability to deal with the country’s problems has worsened in the last few years; among likely voters that rises to 63 percent.

Views of the president’s performance suffer in kind. Barack Obama’s job approval rating, 43 percent overall, is virtually unchanged from his career-low 40 percent two weeks ago. A steady 51 percent disapprove, essentially the same all year. His ratings on the economy – still the country’s prime concern, albeit one of many – are similarly weak, a 10-point net negative score.

These elements appear poised to depress voting by dispirited Democrats, tipping the scale to customarily higher-turnout Republicans. Disapproval of Obama reaches 56 percent among likely voters, and three in 10 say they’ll show up at the polls to express opposition to him – twice as many as say they’ll vote to show him support.

The result is a 50-44 percent Republican advantage among likely voters in preference for U.S. House seats in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates. That compares with a +3-point Democratic tally among all registered voters, showing how differential turnout shifts the balance.

Keep reading.

Why America's Over Obama

From Tim Stanley, at the Telegraph UK, "Life under Obama sucks. And these numbers prove it":

America is so over Obama. In 2008, the media and a majority of the voters were head-over-heels in love with the man who told them that “yes, we can” overcome war and recession.

By 2012, the amour had cooled but they were willing to give four more years to the guy who was – if nothing else – way hotter than Mitt Romney.

But now it’s 2014 and the passion is totally gone. Obama is the withholding boyfriend who knows that he’s probably on the way out and is just sending the odd friendly text message from the golf course. If this relationship-breakdown metaphor seems a little strained consider this: Barack Obama is close to having played more rounds of golf since 2009 than Tiger Woods.

America would happily kick him to the curb, but he can’t run again in 2016 – so these midterm elections are the chance to send a message of complaint...

Heh, "kick him to the curb." Yeah, that'd be killer. I gotta remember that line for next Tuesday, lol.

Keep reading.

Here's That Don Surber Post Calling Michael Brown an 'Animal' Who 'Had to Be Put Down'

Good old Don Surber, making a great name for conservatism!

See, "Why I stop listening when you say, 'police brutality'":

This summer I had an epiphany as I watched packs of racists riot in Ferguson, Missouri, in support of a gigantic thug who was higher than a kite when he attacked Ferguson Police Department Officer Darren Wilson, who unfortunately had to put this animal down.

Keep reading, if putting down big black gigantic animals is your thing.

Hat Tip: Memeorandum.

Xenia Deli

Here's a new lovely lady!

At Egotastic!, "Xenia Deli Sexy in New Yorker Lingerie Fall 2014 Shoot."

Why Leftists Downplay Terrorism

Well, they're treasonous a-holes, for one thing.

But see Ezra Levant, at Sun News, "Why liberals downplay terrorism":

Why do liberals go to such lengths to revise the motives of terrorists, who are quite clear about their goals? Why do liberals even obscure the names of terrorist groups, replacing the crystal clear “Islamic State” with the alphabet soup of “ISIS” or “ISIL”? Why do liberals replace the terrorists’ own, express rationale with made-up excuses, such as Justin Trudeau’s famous suggestion that terrorists are driven to violence because we “exclude” them?

Why do liberals try to revise history, and whitewash the war against us? How is it any more justifiable to minimize the atrocities against us committed by Islamic fascists than it would have been to minimize the atrocities committed by Nazi fascists?

Downplaying the crimes of the terrorists, and even suggesting we are somehow to blame – isn’t that like saying “Hitler wasn’t as bad as people say, and besides, the Jews provoked him”?

We didn’t think that was in the 1940s. We do now, because liberals have abolished the ideas of good and evil as too judgmental. Terrorists? No, our enemies are actually victims themselves, you see. We are privileged. Society is to blame.

When we see the beheading of innocent children and the rape slavery of the Islamic state, it is too horrible to process for the modern, liberal mind.

We cannot accept the terrorists’ reasons, that they mean to kill us and our freedom. So we offer up our own reasons – they’re not that bad, we deserve it, it’s not black and white.

Liberals cannot understand so much hate against us. So liberals sympathize. Liberals help find the answer. They join in. To justify the hate.

By hating ourselves.

Terrible people, these so-called "liberals" (who are really America-hating, and Canada-hating, radical leftists).

End of Combat Operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

Fortunately, the U.S. isn't going for the full cut-and-run from Afghanistan. The U.S. has negotiated a status-of-forces agreement that will leave at least 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after 2015.

Meanwhile, at the New York Times, "U.S. and British Troops End Operations in Key Afghan Province."

Obama's Ebola Chaos

Sarah Palin on Greta's last night:

.@SarahPalinUSA: President @BarackObama needs to PUT AMERICA FIRST - this is a crisis #Ebola @FoxNews #Greta

— Greta Van Susteren (@gretawire) October 27, 2014

WHO IS IN CHARGE? @WhiteHouse pushes back on State #Ebola quarantines @SarahPalinUSA says we need LEADERSHIP @FoxNews #Greta

— Greta Van Susteren (@gretawire) October 27, 2014

.@SarahPalinUSA: State & Federal level - we must make sure the solutions are SCIENCE based & not let politics creep in @FoxNews #Greta

— Greta Van Susteren (@gretawire) October 27, 2014

'Nearly 7 in 10 Americans are angry at the direction the country is headed and 53% of Americans disapprove of President Barack Obama's job performance, two troubling signs for Democrats one week before the midterm elections...'

Once again, bad news in public opinion for the Democrats.

At CNN, "CNN poll: Voters are angry."

Fifty-three percent are also "scared about the way things are going in the country today." A clear majority. Scared. People are scared. That's just not something Americans are used to. Being scared, under a Democrat administration. Not good, folks. Definitely not good.

As always, the Democrat-progs are going to get hammered next Tuesday, one week from today. Let the countdown to the leftist bloodbath begin.

Ebola and Obama's Crisis of Competence

From Marc Thiessen, at the Washington Post:

Ebola may not be a widespread health crisis in the United States just yet, but it is creating a crisis of another kind — a crisis of confidence in the competence of the federal government.

Many Americans were shocked to learn that when Ebola-infected doctor Craig Spencer returned to New York City from Guinea, took a three-mile run, visited a coffee stand, ate at a meatball restaurant, traveled on three New York subway lines, met friends at a Brooklyn bowling alley and used an Uber sedan to return home, he was not violating the U.S. government’s Ebola protocols.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instructs health workers returning from West Africa to monitor their health for 21 days and that “during the time that you are monitoring your health, you can continue your normal activities.” Only after a health worker’s temperature reaches 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit does the CDC advise that he or she go to a doctor, “limit your contact with other people” and “avoid public transportation.”

Continue your normal activities? It is simply unbelievable that this remains the official federal guidance for people who were exposed to the Ebola virus — especially after the CDC just came under fire for telling Dallas nurse Amber Vinson (who had been exposed to Ebola and had a 99.5-degree fever) that she was safe to fly on a plane with 134 passengers aboard because her temperature had not yet reached 100.4 degrees.

So bad has the CDC’s handling of Ebola been that the governors of New York and New Jersey had to step in and impose their own mandatory 21-day quarantine on health-care workers returning to their states from West Africa after treating Ebola patients...

Keep reading.

'Jogger' Dean Balboa Farley Attacks British Prime Minister David Cameron in Leeds

Hmm, obviously not good, especially in light of the terrorist attack at the Ottawa parliament.

Notice Mr. Farley was just "jogging" by the prime minister. Freakin' dirtbag.

At Telegraph UK, "Jogger who bumped into Prime Minister David Cameron named as Dean Farley."



Also at London's Daily Mail, "David Cameron shoved in the street by member of the public: Scotland Yard launch inquiry into 'very significant security breach'," and the Mirror UK, "'It could have been a terrorist': David Cameron's security to be reviewed after Leeds jogger farce."

Jennifer Lopez Wants Summer to Linger

She looks spectacular, damn.

At London's Daily Mail, "'I want summer back!': Jennifer Lopez, 45, shows off her stunning figure in revealing pink bikini as she laments 'chilly' fall weather."

'Interstellar'

Starring Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. I like all of them.

Gawker Doesn't Like the World they Made

From Glenn Reynolds, at Instapundit, "HEH. I’D MISSED THIS PIECE BY SONNY BUNCH: Gawker: It’s Cool to Punish OTHER People for Their Words, Just Not Us."

GOP Leads in Critical States

I've yet to see the headline "Democrats Lead in Critical States," so perhaps we're past the point of no return.

Bummer for the Dems.

At Politico, "Polls give Republicans edge in critical states":

Republicans are on the precipice of taking control of the Senate for the first time in eight years, new NBC News/Marist polls released Sunday show, but the GOP has yet to lock up many of the key battleground races.
The surveys show the Republican candidate with slight, inside-the-margin advantages in three of the hardest-fought contests for Democratic-held seats: Arkansas, Colorado and Iowa. North Carolina is a dead heat.

Republicans’ brief scare in South Dakota appears to be over, with Mike Rounds now leading by double digits. But the party still faces danger in Kansas, where an independent candidate is in a virtual tie with the GOP incumbent.

NBC/Marist didn’t poll all of this year’s competitive Senate races. But with Montana, West Virginia and South Dakota in the GOP column, Republicans need to pick up just three seats in the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana and North Carolina.

Republicans have a cushion. Five of those states currently lean toward the GOP, poll averages show, while North Carolina is still a toss-up. They also are closing the gap in New Hampshire. But the party may need to pick up additional seats if it loses Georgia, Kansas (if the independent conferences with Democrats) or Kentucky.

Here are the numbers from Sunday’s NBC/Marist polls...

Keep reading.

Senate Control Comes Down to Colorado, Georgia, and Iowa

Actually, I think Ernst has Iowa in the bag, so it's going to come down to Colorado, Georgia, and Kansas.

But here's Norah O'Donnell at CBS This Morning:

Former Communist Insurgent Dilma Rousseff Elected to Second Term as Brazil's President

I blogged about this at the time but don't see it in my search results, but here's Telegraph UK, "The former Marxist guerrilla who is set to become Brazil's first woman president":

She is a former Marxist guerrilla whose organisation once stole $2.5 million from the safe of the governor of São Paulo.

And now she's reelected to another four-year term. At the New York Times, "Brazil Stays With Rousseff as President After Turbulent Campaign":

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian voters re-elected Dilma Rousseff as president on Sunday, endorsing a leftist leader who has achieved important gains in reducing poverty and keeping unemployment low over a centrist challenger who castigated her government for a simmering bribery scandal and a sluggish economy.

Ms. Rousseff of the Workers Party took 51.4 percent of the vote in the second and final round of elections, against 48.5 percent for Aécio Neves, a senator from the Social Democracy party and scion of a political family from the state of Minas Gerais, electoral officials said Sunday night with 98 percent of votes in the country counted.

While Ms. Rousseff won by a thin margin, the tumultuous race was marked by accusations of corruption, personal insults and heated debates, revealing climbing polarization in Brazil. Mr. Neves surged into the lead this month in opinion surveys, only to be eclipsed by Ms. Rousseff as the vote on Sunday approached.

“People without much money have seen their lives improve during recent years,” said Liane Lima, 62, a secretary in São Paulo who voted for Ms. Rousseff. “I think we should let Dilma finish what she started.”

Indeed, Ms. Rousseff’s victory reflects broad changes in Brazilian society since the Workers Party rose to power 12 years ago with the election of her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who chose Ms. Rousseff as his successor to run in the 2010 election and campaigned for her again this year.

Building on an economic stabilization project put in place by the Social Democrats in the 1990s, Ms. Rousseff and Mr. da Silva aggressively expanded social welfare programs, lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty. Pointing to the popularity of the antipoverty spending, Mr. Neves, the challenger in the race, said he would not scale it back.

But while Ms. Rousseff campaigned largely on her government’s support for poor and working-class citizens, she faced fierce criticism over her economic policies, with Brazil struggling with slow growth throughout her first term and a recession this year. Brazil’s financial markets gyrated wildly throughout the race, reflecting skepticism over her management of the economy.

Ms. Rousseff, 66, a former Marxist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured by Brazil’s military dictatorship, rejected much of the criticism while emphasizing that she had no plans to shift away from policies involving greater state control over the economy. Still, she signaled openness to shaking up her cabinet, including replacing her unpopular finance minister, Guido Mantega.

In addition to facing turbulence in the markets, Ms. Rousseff will deal in her next four-year term with a sprawling scandal involving testimony of bribes and money laundering at Petrobras, the national oil company, which has eroded confidence in the Workers Party. A former high-ranking executive at Petrobras has testified that he channeled bribes to the party and its allies in Brasília.

“I always voted for the Workers Party, since I was a teenager, but this government hasn’t done anything different,” said José Abel, 48, who runs a tourist agency in Brasília and voted for Mr. Neves largely out of concern over corruption in Ms. Rousseff’s government. “They’re just the same as other parties now.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Brazil's Marxist president seen with America's Marxist president, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Julia Roberts: I've Risked My Career by Not Having a Facelift

Actually, I think she's helped her career.

What a beauty. And let's keep it that way honey.

At Telegraph UK.

Julia Roberts: I've risked my career by not having a facelift http://t.co/BzOBIqMA8O

— Telegraph Film (@TelegraphFilm) October 26, 2014

Islamic State Urging More Lone Wolf Attacks

Impossible!

Lone wolves act alone. Progressives said so! Wah!

At ABC News:

Living With Ebola in West Africa

At the Big Picture.

Living with #Ebola in West Africa (in our redesigned blog) http://t.co/DC4SxLRp6r #photojournalism pic.twitter.com/wbZkGrfZqg

— The Big Picture (@big_picture) October 9, 2014

'Disaster' Predicted for #Democrats as Millennials Abandon Midterm Electoral Participation

Well, as I said before, Millennials have been taking it up the ass from the Democrats, so it's no surprise they're turned off from participation.

Couldn't happen to a more disgusting political party.

At American Thinker, "Democrats worried that youth vote alienation could lead to 'disaster'."

Epic Bumgarner Shutout in Game 5 of #WorldSeries

The series now heads back to Kansas City with the Giants leading 3-2.

And what a performance tonight by Madison Bumgarner. A historic shutout win.

Madison Bumgarner Complete Game Shutout #WorldSeries Game 5 We are all witnesses. pic.twitter.com/6gHrpb2rcy

— #OctoberTogether (@SFGiants) October 27, 2014

#sfgiants a win away from championship after Bumgarner gem: http://t.co/SaOhro2zQZ

— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) October 27, 2014

Don't Quarantine Me Bro! Obama Administration Pushes Back Against Mandatory Ebola Quarantines

Barack Obola's pushing back.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Christie Defends Mandatory Ebola Quarantine for Health-Care Workers: But Administration’s Fauci Says Quarantines Send Wrong Message":

The White House pushed back against the governors of New York, New Jersey, Illinois and other states that instituted procedures to forcibly quarantine medical workers returning from West Africa, deepening an emotional debate brought on by recent Ebola cases in the U.S.

A senior administration official said Sunday that new federal guidelines under development would protect Americans from imported cases of the disease but not interfere with the flow of U.S. health workers to and from West Africa to fight the epidemic there.

“We have let the governors of New York, New Jersey and other states know that we have concerns with the unintended consequences of [quarantine] policies not grounded in science may have on efforts to combat Ebola at its source,” the official said.

It wasn’t clear what action the Obama administration could take to end the quarantines.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held firm on his decision to quarantine returning health-care workers. “I absolutely have no second thoughts about it,” he said on Fox News.

A nurse detained in New Jersey after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone retained lawyers to challenge her mandatory quarantine in a tent at a Newark hospital, where she said Sunday the conditions are “really inhumane.”

One of those lawyers, Norman Siegel, a prominent civil rights attorney, said the mandatory quarantine policy infringed on the constitutional rights of the worker, Kaci Hickox, a 33-year-old Doctors Without Borders nurse, raising “serious questions procedurally.”

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also criticized how Ms. Hickox was treated.

Whatever happened to federalism? You know, the laboratories of democracy? We might find out that New Jersey's doing the right thing, but then again, the Democrat-left isn't really about keeping people safe and healthy. They're all about creating more political conflicts and distractions.

But keep reading.

Embattled Democrats Move to Pin Losses on President Obola

President Obola needs to be quarantined.

At the New York Times, "On Campaign Road, Uneasy Democrats Show Obama Their Tail Lights":

WASHINGTON — Bracing for a difficult election in just over a week, when they could lose control of the Senate, Democrats exasperated with the White House are already moving to pin blame on President Obama, whom Republicans have made the centerpiece of the campaign.

Even optimistic Democrats say they have little more than a 50-50 chance to retain their Senate majority. Senior elected officials, strategists and donors have begun to openly criticize Mr. Obama, contending that his low popularity and some ill-advised remarks have proved toxic for candidates trying to distinguish themselves from the president to appeal to swing voters.

“It is all Republicans are running on,” Gov. Mike Beebe of Arkansas said. “It’s not necessarily the national environment as it is mismanagement by the White House, real and imagined.”

Continue reading.

Heh, I'm just tickled by the Democrats' problems. They're so well-deserved, lol.

Latest NBC/WSJ Poll: Republicans Hold 11-Point Lead on Question of 'Who Should Control Congress?'

Wipeout!

At the Wall Street Journal, "Poll: GOP Expands Advantage Days Before Midterm Election":

Republicans have expanded their advantage in the final days of the midterm campaign and now hold an 11-point lead among likely voters on the question of which party should control Congress, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Annenberg survey finds.

Some 52% of likely voters in the survey said they wanted the election to produce a Republican-led Congress, while 41% favored Democratic control.

A week earlier, Republicans had held a narrower, 5-point lead on the question in the Journal/NBC/Annenberg survey.

“The Democrats, who badly need some momentum, find little comfort in these results some ten days out from the election,” said pollster Peter D. Hart, who helped conduct the survey. “The thread holding things together for them is both more slender and now even frayed.”

By historical measures, an 11-point lead on the question of which party should control Congress is large. Republicans held a seven-point lead on the question at this point in the 2010 election in a Journal/NBC survey, which used a different method to determine which voters were most likely to cast ballots. Republicans went on that year to make big gains in the Senate and to retake the majority in the House.

In the new survey, Republicans also led on the “congressional control” question among registered voters, a broader group than likely voters, with 46% favoring GOP leadership and 42% favoring Democratic control. The GOP lead had been two percentage points a week earlier.

“The GOP appears to be solidifying its lead,” said Mr. Hart.

The midterm battle for control of the Senate will hinge on state-by-state dynamics in about a dozen closely contested races, where Democrats hope intensive campaigning has built a climate more favorable to their candidates than national polls suggest.

Still, the Journal/NBC/Annenberg survey points to a national political climate that continues to favor Republicans. Coming amid fears of Ebola, the U.S. war on Islamic State terrorists and intensified campaigning just ahead of the election, the survey found that recent events had taken a toll on both parties but had hurt Democrats more.

Asked whether the events of the past few weeks made them feel more or less favorably toward the parties, 53% said it made them less favorable toward Democrats; 40% said they were less favorable toward Republicans.

Nearly 9-in-10 registered voters at the poll said they disapproved of President Obama's handling of the ISIS threat. Yep, the Democrats continue to appease our enemies, and it shows.

Jessica Valenti Lovin' Her Some Amy Poehler Sex Advice

Hmm, apparently Ms. Valenti's an anomaly for Robert Stacy McCain's theory of feminism inevitably leading to lesbianism.

She's married, of course. But besides that, she likes muff diving men --- or keep walking, brother.

Everything in Amy Poehler's book makes me think we'd be friends, but this sex advice for men proves we're soulmates pic.twitter.com/zpBc9r00iI

— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) October 22, 2014

Alana Campos

In Hawaii:



More here, "On the Set: Nude Playmate September 2012 Alana Campos (VIDEO)."

Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers

Standing ovation.

Angry Kaci Hickox, Quarantined Nurse, is CDC Employee and Registered Democrat (VIDEO)

Oh poor thing.

At CNN, "Quarantined nurse to CNN: 'My basic human rights' are being violated."

But see Got News, "#Ebola Nurse Complaining About Quarantine is Left-Wing Democrat, CDC Employee."

Polls Within the Margin of Error Are Killing the Democrats

Perhaps the polls are truly skewed toward the Republicans, or that the Dems will have the superior ground game, blah blah.

Whatever happens, at this point the Democrats are just hatin' life. And Obama.

Polls: Momentum swinging to Republicans http://t.co/6gLwiXYw6j

— The Hill (@thehill) October 26, 2014

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES," and Woodersterman's, "Toonietoon Friday."

More at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies (early edition)," and Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Grim Reapings."

Still more at Theo's, "Cartoon Round Up..."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

On Ebola, 'I don't think it's below the belt to have a feeling that the establishment or the ruling class in this country is not particularly competent...'

Oops!

New York Times columnist David Brooks goes off script!

At RCP, "David Brooks on Ebola: A Lot Of People Have No Contact With People Like Us Giving Them Expert Opinions":

I think it’s a respectable position to say we should not allow flights from West Africa. I don’t think it’s probably very effective, because don’t just fly here from direct to Africa. They fly around the world and then come here. So, I just don’t think it’s effective, but it’s a respectable position.

But I don’t think it’s below the belt to have a feeling that the establishment or the ruling class in this country is not particularly competent. And you wouldn’t look at the way Ebola has been handled, at least so far, and say it’s been a testimony to the competence of the establishment.

And there are a lot of people who are just — we have a great social segmentation going on. And so there are a lot of people just with no contact with the people like us they see on TV giving them expert opinion about Ebola or anything else, and they just want to wave it away and they just want to pull in and trust the people they trust and that’s local.

And when the national borders seem porous and uncontrolled, they are going to react. And I think that’s a completely legitimate reaction.

OMG!! Brooks is just a Fox News fearmonger! Oh, well, not exactly, since he's on the far-left PBS network, but don't tell No More Mister! He might get his "we won't panic" panties in a bunch, lol!!

Ebola and Your Safety: Why the Federal Government is Putting All Americans in Danger (VIDEO)

It's Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo, via RCP, "O'Reilly: Ebola And Obama Administration Incompetence":

The liberal media and the Obama enablers will not tell you the truth, instead you have a New York Times editorial saying: "Starting Monday in six states, and rolled out in other states soon after, travelers who visited [the Ebola region] will be required to report their temperature and any other symptoms to state or local health officials daily for 21 days, the maximum incubation period for the disease to develop. The officials will be responsible for finding and detaining anyone violating these rules."

Are you kidding me? The officials will be responsible for finding these people if they don't call in?

They should be in isolation. If you have direct contact with anyone in the Ebola region, and you come back to the U.S.A., you should be in quarantine for 21 days. Period.

The Times continues: "The new measures surely make unnecessary a harmful ban on all travelers who have been in the three countries."

Sure. Just ask Dr. Spencer, he went through the screening, it did not work. That doesn't matter to the New York Times because the countries involved are poor and largely comprised of Black Africans. That's why the Obama administration and the liberal press do not want a travel ban.

Here's what should be happening: No American airlines go to the Ebola region. None. Charter flights are allowed, but folks on those flights should be isolated for 21 days. You simply can not have self-reporting, it does not work. So the people, military people, diplomats, whoever they might be, have to give up three weeks of their lives when they return from the Ebola region. Otherwise, we're going to have more Ebola cases.

Bwahaha! Martin Longman at Booman Tribune: 'I can't think of anything that Sen. Udall has done to arouse the anger of Coloradans...'

Our crack political analyst Martin Longman, at Booman Tribune, says he "can't think of anything that Sen. Udall has done to arouse the anger of Coloradans..."

See, "A Look at the Colorado Senate Race":

As I discussed here yesterday, of all the unexpected twists and turns of this year's midterm election cycle, nothing has surprised and flummoxed me more as an analyst than the Senate race in Colorado between incumbent Democrat Mark Udall and Republican challenger Rep. Cory Gardner. Sen. Udall held a narrow but persistent lead in the polls all year until early September. Ever since, he has been trailing in virtually every poll, and the trend into October has been getting worse.

This has confused me for a couple of reasons. I can't think of anything that Sen. Udall has done to arouse the anger of Coloradans. If he's outspoken about anything, it's government surveillance which I don't think is something that would galvanize any opposition outside of the Intelligence Community.

Bwahahaha!! Boy, I'm sure old Booman's going to have a bang-up election forecast for the midterms!

Let's just say that someone's got to be burying their head in the sand if they missed the epic meme that's dogging Senator Udall: He's a one-trick pony on reproductive rights, to the point that he's been hilariously hammered as "Senator Mark Uterus."

See Twitchy, "‘Mark Uterus': Colorado debate moderator calls Mark Udall by his feminist-friendly nickname."

Senator Mark Uterus https://t.co/odi4dASTwm
— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) October 8, 2014

But hey, let's trust old Booman's 2014 midterm forecast. I'm sure he's just going to nail those predictions, lol!!

Kentucky Opportunity Coalition Has Spent $14 Million Boosting Mitch McConnell's Reelection Campaign

The Los Angeles Times does some campaign finance fearmongering with this report on the Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, "Unprecedented amount of 'dark money' fuels midterm races."



The fact is, far-left financier Tom Steyer is the dark money kingpin in this election cycle. At National Review, "Dem Billionaire Tom Steyer Now Biggest Super PAC Donor of 2014."

The left --- including the leftist media --- thrives off lies and disinformation. That's frankly the only way they can win elections: lies, disinformation, and deceit. I mean, just think, they lied their way into the Oval Office in both 2008 and 2012, and how's that working out? Democrats simply don't want to be seen with Barack Obola. It's like he's a political plague, or something.

Larry Sabato on Colorado, Georgia, and Kansas Senate Races

Again, the prospects of runoff elections deciding Senate control an issue in this analysis.



And ICYMI, "Sabato's Crystal Ball: Republicans Should Gain 5-8 Seats in the Senate."

'Saturday Night Live' Slams Obama Administration's Ebola Response

A thing of beauty. Freakin' comedic beauty.

It's a Hulu video, "Saturday Night Live - Cold Open: Ebola Czar."

'F-Bombs for Feminism' Shows the Radical Left Going Completely Off the Rails

I saw folks tweeting about this the other day but just now got around to watching it, and the people who put these little girls up for this ought to be in prison. It's that bad.

At Barracuda Brigade, "HORRENDOUSLY VILE ➡ Little Girls Unleash A Torrent of Profanity In ‘F-Bombs For Feminism’."

And Julie Borowski just destroys the losers who put this clip together. Leftist are both shameful and stupid.

Battleground Tracker: CBS News/New York Times Roundtable Discussion on 'Face the Nation'

A great panel. Folks here have pretty much convinced me that runoff elections in Georgia and Louisiana will decide who controls the Senate in 2015. Also interesting is Amy Walter's comments that in states like Colorado observers are using the results there to handicap the Electoral College vote in 2016. Republicans need to win back Colorado, which turned left with its support for Obama and the Democrats in 2008 and 2012.

Well, About That Chinese Naval Preponderance...

China's looking to upend U.S. strategic submarine dominance, as I wrote about the other day, "China's Nuclear Subs Alter the Global Strategic Balance."

As as well as that's going for Beijing, you can't field a true blue-water navy without an aircraft carrier fleet. And on that front, thing's aren't going so well for the Chinese.

See War is Boring, "China’s Aircraft Carrier Trouble—Spewing Steam and Losing Power."

Honestly, I doubt China's going to be overtaking U.S. global preponderance any time soon. And I'm glad.

Wildebeest Migration

Via Blazing Cat Fur, "That’s a lot of Wildebeest."