Rick Perry's Surge May Force Mitt Romney to Shift Gears

At LAT:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may be forced to shake up his strategy to win the Republican presidential nomination now that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has seized the top spot in the latest Gallup poll.

Among Romney's likely shifts: softening his focus on New Hampshire, the first primary state, and starting a more aggressive campaign in Iowa, where the race actually begins.

Romney invested heavily there in 2008 and fell short. But this time, a battle between Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota for supremacy among Iowa's social conservatives could create an opening for his more moderate brand of conservatism.

Also up for discussion inside the Romney camp: an accelerated advertising push, including attack ads against Perry.

"This nomination fight will not be a coronation," said Scott Reed, a GOP strategist who is neutral in the race. "He's got to show that he's willing to fight for it."

Romney's been campaigning as the inevitable nominee, but that's obviously not going to cut it.

Uncle Onyango!

You gotta love the "long lost" uncle.

Barack Hussein calls him "Uncle Omar."

At London's Daily Mail, "Obama's 'lost' Uncle Omar held in jail for being 'illegal immigrant'... after he was arrested for drunk driving."

Also at Telegraph UK, "Barack Obama’s uncle on drink driving arrest: 'I will call the White House’."

Britney Spears at VMAs: The Modern-Pop Definition of 'Statuesque'

From Spencer Kornhaber, at The Atlantic, "Lady Gaga and Britney Spears Share a Surreal Moment at the MTV VMAs." Here's the kicker:

The two almost kissed, and then broke off at the last moment. But Gaga kept leering, standing uncomfortably close to Britney as she attempted to give a barely felt acceptance speech. What's more, Britney had to simultaneously thank the world and introduce the next performer, Beyonce Knowles. It was a moment of weird indignity for Spears: a younger star awkwardly hogging the spotlight, a roughly contemporary diva waiting in the wings to take the stage.

But the optics of the things were the most striking. Britney, at 29, remains sturdily, conventionally beautiful. Outfitted in boots and a short but glamorous black dress, she appeared the modern-pop definition of "statuesque." And then there was Gaga as Calderone: blonde hair replaced by dark mop, her features elfin and unspectacular, her get-up shapeless and drab, her stature tiny. By pairing the two for a kind of lifetime achievement award, MTV was necessarily asking us to contrast the women. Gaga, it seemed, had picked out her shtick for the night in part to play up that contrast. And why not? With her endless parade of costume changes and her guilt-free lyrical message, Gaga's obsessed with remaking standards of beauty and achievement so that they're set by individuals, not establishments. She's the incredible, cross-dressing, anti-Britney.

Video at the link, in case this one gets yanked.

RELATED: At London's Daily Mail, "What a difference four years makes: Britney Spears gets her sparkle back as she returns to scene of THAT awful MTV performance."

Larry Derfner Fired by Jerusalem Post

Well, let's go straight to the source: "I got fired by the Jerusalem Post today."

I got fired by The Jerusalem Post today. The paper got hundreds of notices of cancellations of subscription after my blog post (“The awful, necessary truth about Palestinian terror”) of Sunday last week; the reason being given for my firing, though, is the substance of the essay, despite the apology I published later. A page-one notice to this effect will be published in the Post tomorrow.

The pro-terror Mondoweiss has the full essay, "Read the post for which Derfner was fired: "‘The awful, necessary truth about Palestinian terror’."

Jawa Report applauds: "Jerusalem Post Writer Larry Derfner Fired for Justifying Palestinian Terror."

And here's this, from Isi Leibler, "Justifying Murder – An Abomination" (at Memeorandum):

Derfner is an Israeli Jew professionally employed by the only English-language newspaper in Israel. For him to justify the barbaric murder of his own brothers and sisters on a public website represents the ultimate abomination. It is unforgiveable.

Presumably in response to massive protests directed against him, Derfner “apologized” a week after his article appeared and deleted it from his website. However, he had the chutzpah to reiterate the justification for terrorism, merely stating that he does not endorse the murder of fellow Israelis. This is neither a retraction nor an apology.

His obscene and callously insensitive remarks are likely to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Some may question Derfner's dismissal (I'm not bothered by it, but I wouldn't have called for his firing). What bothers me is that Derfner's ideas are frankly mainstream among the Israel-hating left. That is, Derfner was only stating publically the exact thoughts of the progressive Israel-delegitimation industry. See, for example, Dimi Reider's obscene endorsement of Derfner, and his claim that it's Caroline Glick who should be fired: "Jerusalem Post fires Larry Derfner over blog post." And there's more than 50 comments at Mondoweiss as this post goes live, almost all in support of Derfner. I mean seriously, it's like bloodlust:

For wannabe international lawyers, I can’t overemphasize that at times, attacks on civilians are perfectly legal and legitimate. The proper language is “protected non-combatants.” Jewish Zionist settler-colonists in the Occupied Territories cannot be considered protected non-combatants by any stretch of the imagination.

And Phillip Weiss enters the comments to add:

Larry, are you out there, do you want to post any response to the many comments at this site? Let me emphasize, you have my great sympathy on this occasion, and I like to think that your best work will flow from this very painful and upsetting incident...

So, again, while I wouldn't have called for Derfner's termination, it's clear that his words were not only incitement to terrorism, but that his views are perfectly representative of the progressive, neo-communist left's eliminationist ideological agenda. And once again, this is what I point out repeatedly at this blog. It's not leftist opposition to Israeli policies. It's leftist opposition to Israel and the Jews. It's the dawn of the new Shoah. And I will stand up against these satanic progressive fuckers as long as I live.

Flooding Devastates Vermont and Catskills: Irene Death Toll at Least 35 People

At NYT (via Memeorandum):

CHESTER, Vt. — While most eyes warily watched the shoreline during Hurricane Irene’s grinding ride up the East Coast, it was inland — sometimes hundreds of miles inland — where the most serious damage actually occurred. And the major culprit was not wind, but water.

As blue skies and temperate breezes returned on Monday, a clearer picture of the storm’s devastation emerged, with the gravest consequences stemming from river flooding in Vermont and upstate New York.

Here in southern Vermont, normally picturesque towns and villages were digging out from thick mud and piles of debris that Sunday’s floodwaters left behind. With roughly 250 roads and several bridges closed off, many residents remained stranded in their neighborhoods; others could not get to grocery stores, hospitals or work. It was unclear how many people had been displaced, though the Red Cross said more than 300 had stayed in its shelters on Sunday, and it expected the number to grow.

In upstate New York, houses were swept from their foundations, and a woman drowned on Sunday when an overflowing creek submerged the cottage where she was vacationing. Flash floods continued to be a concern into Monday afternoon. In the Catskills, where Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo led a helicopter tour of suffering towns, cars were submerged, crops ruined and roads washed out. In tiny, hard-hit Prattsville, what looked like a jumble of homes lay across a roadway, as if they had been tossed like Lego pieces.

“We were very lucky in the city, not quite as lucky on Long Island, but we were lucky on Long Island,” Mr. Cuomo said. “But Catskills, mid-Hudson, this is a different story and we paid a terrible price here, and many of these communities are communities that could least afford to pay this kind of price. So the state has its hands full.”

And see also LAT, "Irene death toll rises to 35 amid cleanup effort."

Look, this was a devastating storm for many people, and thus I was irked this morning to see some media reports suggesting that Irene was "hyped." William Jacobson, who rode it out, was not pleased: "Irene wasn’t overhyped in train- and drive-through country."

RELATED: Dan Drezner blogged the hurricane, a little more seriously this time, compared to 2005, when he dissed Katrina coverage as "hurricane porn." That's around the time I stopped reading Drezner on a daily basis. See: "We interrupt normal blogging about the rest of the world to freak out about THE BIG STORM!!!!" Idiot.

Gaddafi Family Members in Algeria

At Los Angeles Times, "Members of Kadafi family flee to Algeria":

Members of Moammar Kadafi's family, including his wife, daughter and two of his sons, have fled to Algeria, the government of the neighboring country said Monday.

Algerian state television reported that Kadafi relatives who arrived Monday through a border crossing included the deposed Libyan leader's wife, Safiya, his daughter, Aisha, and two of his sons, Hannibal and Mohammed. The group also included an undisclosed number of Kadafi's grandchildren, Algeria said.

The Algerian government said it had informed both the United Nations and the Libyan rebels' Transitional National Council that the group had arrived.

But there was no answer to a much bigger question: Where was Moammar Kadafi himself?

Also at NYT, "Qaddafi’s Wife and 3 of His Children Flee to Algeria."

'A Million Miles Away'

From Sheri Donovan, at The Sound LA, "Sheri's iPod Pick o' The Day":

And previously, from May 2009: "And There Was Nothing Left to Bring Me Back..."

RELATED: At OC Register, "A ‘Sound’ move: Sheri Donovan joins Larry Morgan on 100.3."

Libya Vindicates Obama? And Humanitarian Intervention?

I don't think the administration had a clue, but President Obama will get a lot of credit for toppling Gaddafi.

And this will generate a big debate among specialists in international relations. See Anne Marie Slaughter's piece, at Financial Times, "Why Libya sceptics were proved badly wrong":

Let us do a thought experiment. Imagine the UN did not vote to authorise the use of force in Libya in March. Nato did nothing; Colonel Muammer Gaddafi over-ran Benghazi; the US stood by; the Libyan opposition was reduced to sporadic uprisings, quickly crushed. The regimes in Yemen and Syria took note, and put down their own uprisings with greater vigour. The west let brutality and oppression triumph again in the Middle East.

This is the scenario many wise heads were effectively arguing for with their strong stands against intervention to stop Col Gaddafi. Over the months those analysts have reminded us of their views, calling Libya a quagmire. This week one of the leading proponents of that position, my friend and colleague Richard Haass, shifted gears – but only to remind us just how hard the road ahead in Libya is likely to be.

I do not know anyone, regardless of the side they took in the initial debate, who thinks this task will be easy; indeed, the battle against Col Gaddafi is not yet won. But not so fast. Before we focus on what must happen next, let us pause for a minute and reflect on that initial debate and the lessons to be learnt.

Keep reading.

Dr. Slaugther omits mention that Islamists could come to power in Libya, which in the end might not be much better than having Gaddafi. True, Muammar is about as bad as they come, and as I said all along in the case of Mubarak's Egypt, there's little satisfaction in standing up for a dictator. But the euphoria of the Arab Spring has long evaporated and a real security dilemma is emerging in the region that's forcing folks to reckon with change. Israel, of course, comes to mind, but a larger systemic transformation toward more widespread Islamism won't be good. It's already bad enough as it is.

More on this at Foreign Affairs, from Stewart Patrick, "Libya and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention: How Qaddafi's Fall Vindicated Obama and RtoP."

9/11, Ten Years After: The Costs of Security — Has All the Spending Paid Off?

At LAT, "Is Homeland Security spending paying off?":

A decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, federal and state governments are spending about $75 billion a year on domestic security, setting up sophisticated radio networks, upgrading emergency medical response equipment, installing surveillance cameras and bombproof walls, and outfitting airport screeners to detect an ever-evolving list of mobile explosives.

But how effective has that 10-year spending spree been?

"The number of people worldwide who are killed by Muslim-type terrorists, Al Qaeda wannabes, is maybe a few hundred outside of war zones. It's basically the same number of people who die drowning in the bathtub each year," said John Mueller, an Ohio State University professor who has written extensively about the balance between threat and expenditures in fighting terrorism.

"So if your chance of being killed by a terrorist in the United States is 1 in 3.5 million, the question is, how much do you want to spend to get that down to 1 in 4.5 million?" he said.

More at that top link.

John Mueller's a progressive who basically opposed the Iraq war, and was wrong about public support for the deployment. I don't trust him on homeland security issues and the war on terror.

Anyway, the Times is running a series on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. I'll have more, with some of my own commentary and analysis.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle Steps in it With Comments on NATO Bombing in Libya

What's most interesting is that this is Germany, where the use of military force has been contentious throughout the post-WWII era. See WSJ, "German Foreign Minister Takes Hit for Libya Stance."

Westerwelle is a leader for the Free Democratic Party, a center-right party most famous for having Hans-Dietrich Genscher serve as foreign minister during the crucial years at the end of the Cold War. But the FDP is internationalist and has a reputation of angering Israel back in the day (the Munich Olympics in 1972). But again, I'm just fascinated by the debate on the deployment of German military force. It's an amazing thing that after 65 years German military power is far from normalized. It's true of Europe generally, that the continent tends to rely on the U.S. for major military operations, but these things don't last forever. And Germany's the one strong economy in a sea of Euro-gloom. Maybe folks ought to step up a bit over there and provide some leadership in foreign policy. This is pretty ridiculous.

Behind on Babe Blogging

I've been slackin' on my Rule 5. So, let's get started over at Maggie's Notebook, "Rule 5 Saturday Night: Olivia Munn."

And super hot as always, from Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 Saturday: Carla Ossa."

But check Eye of Polyphemus, who has Kate Beckinsale, one of my favorites. Plus, The Daley Gate has "The Daley Babes." Over at Randy's Roundtable we've got "Thursday Nite Tart: Holly Weber" and "There Was a Football Game Last Night."

And from Zion's Trumpet, "TGIF and Pretty Redheads."

And I've blogged Lucy Pinder's calender, so a review might be in order: "VIDEO: Lucy Pinder Sexy 2012 Calendar."

BONUS: At Pirate's Cove, "If All You See…is a wonderful, wonderful tree cleaning the air of carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist...", and "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup."

And at Blazing Cat Fur, "Because It's Friday...and it's Ginger Rogers."

I know I'm leaving out a few good friends, but I'm tired. Drop me a comment or an e-mail and I'll get you linked up on a unique post. Regular blogging should be picking up again over the next few days.

O.C.'s Ocean View Team Wins Little League World Series

Hey, great local news.

At LAT, "Huntington Beach's Ocean View team wins Little League World Series," and "Ocean View Little League players maintain perspective."

Update on Hurricane Irene

At Bloomberg, "Hurricane Irene's Damage: Deaths, Flooding, Power Losses State-by-State."

And an awesome photo-essay at London's Daily Mail, "Floodwaters rise across Northeast submerging whole neighbourhoods underwater as millions without power warned they may not have electricity for weeks."

And at New York Times, "Storm Damage Largely Spares New York."

The Desperation-of-Deprivation Myth

From Mark Steyn, at National Review, "The West has incentivized non-productivity on an industrial scale" (via Glenn Reynolds).

Just go read it all.

More Socialist Agitation From the Hate-America Left

I read the Salon interview with Michael Kazin yesterday. How many times can progressives keep hitting their heads against the wall? Infinitely, it turns out. ASFLs

So, check the reaction from Linkmaster Smith, "Why Does Conservative Light Suck At Supporting Lefty Darkness?" And also at Lonely Conservative, "Lefties Upset that Americans Haven’t Embraced Their Economic Policies."

Lonely Con makes a point that's worth stressing: Progressives have not been unsuccessful, but they won't be happy until they've decimated the last remnants of American exceptionalism. That's how much they hate America.

PREVIOUSLY: "Nouriel Roubini Video: Karl Marx Was Right" (and the links therein). Those progs sure do keep smacking their heads!!

Man Accused of Stalking via Twitter Claims Free Speech

At NYT, "Case of 8,000 Menacing Posts Tests Limits of Twitter Speech" (via Memeorandum).

Even the Buddha of compassion might have been distressed to be on the receiving end of the diatribes that William Lawrence Cassidy is accused of posting on Twitter.

They certainly rattled Alyce Zeoli, a Buddhist leader based in Maryland. Using an ever-changing series of pseudonyms, the authorities say, Mr. Cassidy published thousands of Twitter posts about Ms. Zeoli. Some were weird horror-movie descriptions of what would befall her; others were more along these lines: “Do the world a favor and go kill yourself. P.S. Have a nice day.”

Those relentless tweets landed Mr. Cassidy in jail on charges of online stalking and placed him at the center of an unusual federal case that asks the question: Is posting a public message on Twitter akin to speaking from an old-fashioned soapbox, or can it also be regarded as a means of direct personal communication, like a letter or phone call?

Twitter posts have fueled defamation suits in civil courts worldwide. But this is a criminal case, invoking a somewhat rarely used law on cyberstalking. And it straddles a new, thin line between online communications that can be upsetting — even frightening — and constitutional safeguards on freedom of expression.

Continue reading.

The stalking is not just on Twitter, but includes blog posts as well. The federal prosecutor handling the case likens the tweets, which are direct communications, and unsolicited, as "handwritten notes." These in turn may be found to constitute criminal harassment. Still, most folks see the prosecution as a stretch. See Doug Mataconis, "Is “Twitter Stalking” Free Speech?" Basically, the harassment has to be demonstrably threatening. In this case, clearly the lady's being stalked, and bad. But short of actually contact or evidence of some kind of violent plotting, it's better to stand up for speech. The solution is more speech. And as we've seen around here, progressives can't handle the truth, and when it's directed at them they blow past acceptable boundaries and engage in stalking behaviors that cross the line. Indeed, many a blogger has been forced offline from such trolling, and progressives count on the mob to destroy political enemies all while protected by the First Amendment. Just stand up to these idiots. They melt when faced with facts and logic, and they resort to lies, libel and destruction. ASFLs.

Hurricane Politics

Think Progress is going after conservatives over a 6-year old hurricane that hit during the term of a president who's no longer in office: "Right Wing Tries New Tactic To Soften Bush’s Katrina Debacle: Say Obama’s Leadership On Irene Is Just For Show." (At Memeorandum.)

The Soros-backed goons single out John Hinderaker for particular scorn, attacking him pathetically as a "Koch Industries lawyer."

So, let's see what that's all about, at Power Line, "HOW TO POLITICIZE A HURRICANE":

It remains to be seen whether Irene turns out to be the Comet Kohoutek of hurricanes, but President Obama is taking no chances. He posed for a photo-op today, pretending to have something to do with the potentially-severe weather event. AFP headlined: “Obama takes charge at hurricane command center.”

*****

I’m sure it’s a relief to everyone on the East Coast to know that Obama is personally directing hurricane response efforts. Never mind that he isn’t competent to organize a Little League baseball team; today’s charade obviously is a corollary of the Hurricane Katrina fiasco, in which America’s mass media committed group malpractice, somehow managing to blame the inevitable consequences of a severe weather event, magnified by incompetent local authorities in New Orleans, on the Bush administration. Obama is setting the stage to receive praise, rather than blame, no matter what actually happens between now and when Hurricane Irene blows itself out.

Continue at the link above.

And see Bob Williams, "Shifting Blame in the Katrina Tragedy." If the pathetic progressive trolls want to go back 6 years to drudge up a blame game, they need only look to their own party to find responsibility for the left's criminal failure to protect Gulf Coast citizens in 2005.

Sunday Cartoons

More cartoons at Flopping Ace and Reaganite Republican.

RELATED: "Biden Golfed in Hours Preceding Hurricane."(Via Memeorandum.)

'I Have a Dream'

Today's the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, speech:

I'll try to put something up on this later, but check USA today, "Prayer service pays tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King."

And check Linda Valdez, at Arizona Republic, for just how screwed up the left's vision of Dr. King is today: "Today's Dems, progressives would disappoint Rev. King."

The dream is alive. Blacks have squandered much of it, IMHO. Not all of them, but an awful lot have no clue on how much equality they enjoy today. But more later ...

Beware the Danger of the Right!

I just read this phenomenal essay from Robert Stacy McCain, "The Politics of Fear."

I get a shout out as well!