Iraq Veteran Sgt. Robert Delgado Touts Rep. Allen West in New Campaign Ad

At the Los Angeles Times, "Iraq war vet: 'Allen West saved my life'."

WASHINGTON – An Iraq war veteran has come to the aid of his former boss, Rep. Allen West, to tell how the Florida congressman handed over his body armor on the way to combat in Iraq, an act that might have saved the soldier’s life.

In a campaign spot that will air on Florida television during the Olympics, Sgt. Robert Delgado (Ret.) says he worried when he was deployed to Iraq that he might not make it home to see his new child – his wife was eight months pregnant at the time.

“I’m going to make sure you come home to your wife and your newborn baby,” Delgado recalls West saying to him. West, who was Delgado’s commander at the time, handed his body armor to the soldier.

“This car came flying by and this AK-47 just starts firing,” Delgado says. “And I got shot. If I hadn’t had that body armor, though, I don’t think I’d really be here because where it hit is where my lung was.”

“Because of that, I’m here today,” Delgado says in the ad, which was first reported by Politico.

Homosexuals Plan 'National Same-Sex Kiss Day' to Protest Chick-fil-A

At OC Weekly, "Gay Rights Advocates to Protest Chick-Fil-A With Same-Sex Kissing In Front of Restaurants."

This whole thing has gotten way out of hand.

Recall that first it was Boston Mayor Thomas Menino who went authoritarian on Chick-fil-A. See Legal Insurrection, "When political correctness runs amok, it will look like the Mayor of Boston."

Now we have the idiots in Chicago following suit, at Volokh, "No Building Permits for Opponent of Same-Sex Marriage." (Via Memeorandum.) And check Jeff Goldstein, "“Alderman to Chick-fil-A: No deal”":

So now a Chicago petty tyrant pol joins with the bigoted mayor of Boston to declare that, to the contemporary “liberal,” tolerance is nothing more than policing conformity of thought — and that he will proudly cast himself as intolerant of intolerance!

Well, yeah. Gay rights advocates are the biggest bigots of them all.

More at Weasel Zippers, "Another Dem Politician Moves to Ban Chick-Fil-A Restaurants – Update: Mayor Rahm Emanuel Backs Ban, “Chick-Fil-A Values Are Not Chicago Values”…"

Look, this is what the Democrat Party has come to in America. Even the far-left Los Angles Times called out the left's bigotry and bullying, "Free speech and Chick-fil-A":

The Muppets are well within their rights to shun Chick-fil-A after the chain restaurant donated to anti-gay groups and its president, Dan Cathy, made statements implying a strong, biblically-based stand against same-sex marriage. They're private, um, puppets. But public officials have a responsibility to carry out their ministerial tasks fairly and evenhandedly — and to uphold the principle of free speech — whether or not they like a business executive's social or political stances. We disagree heartily with Cathy, but are far more troubled by the reaction of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who vowed to block Chick-fil-A's effort to open an outlet in that city.

Boycotts are a time-honored way for consumers and groups to express their views through their spending power, though it's worth noting that just as Americans have split along more divisive lines politically, so have their shopping habits. Some people won't travel to Utah because of Mormon support for Proposition 8; others won't step foot in aJ.C. Penneybecause of its ads featuring same-sex couples. As both a private citizen and a prominent public figure, Menino is welcome to abstain from fried chicken sandwiches and urge others to do likewise.

It's a different matter if he attempts to trample the free-speech rights of others by using the power of his office to fight against a business license for Chick-fil-A. Menino suggested that it would be appropriate to block the chain from opening in Boston because Cathy's views amount to discrimination. That would rightly apply if Chick-fil-A were to refuse service to gay customers; the city has a right and an obligation to prevent discriminatory actions against its residents and visitors. But there's no evidence that any such thing has occurred.

More at Michelle's, "Hey, Boston: Leave Chick-fil-A alone." (Via Memeorandum.)

PHOTO CREDIT: OC Weekly.

Sheldon Adelson Courts Jewish Voters for GOP

A front-page report at the New York Times, "Mogul’s Latest Foray Courts Jews for the G.O.P." (via Memeorandum). An excerpt:

The advertising campaign features a testimonial from Michael Goldstein, 48, a community college administrator from New Jersey, who said he enthusiastically supported Mr. Obama’s candidacy but became disillusioned by his administration. A lifelong Democrat, he said he was planning to support Mr. Romney by casting his first vote for a Republican in a presidential race.

“I was enamored with Obama,” Mr. Goldstein said in an interview. “I thought he was sharp, intelligent and brought a new sense of wonder to politics. The fact that we were helping elect the first African-American president of the United States made me very proud, but I don’t believe anything he says anymore. I go more by his actions than by what he says.”

Mr. Goldstein said he gradually became disenchanted with Mr. Obama when his promises to change Washington did not come to pass. He said he was particularly incensed by the administration’s stance toward Israel, particularly the president’s view that the 1967 borders should be a starting point for negotiations for a two-state peace solution. He said he also believed that Mr. Obama showed disrespect to Mr. Netanyahu.

It remains an open question how many voters share the views of Mr. Goldstein, who conceded that some of his frustrations at Mr. Obama were also a result of what he saw as the president’s failure to uphold liberal principles on gun control and some social issues. But he said that his discontent was strong enough that he would cast a vote for Mr. Romney and that he intended to campaign aggressively in Pennsylvania.

“It doesn’t take a lot of buyer’s remorse to potentially shift the outcome,” said Ari Fleischer, a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s board and a former press secretary to President George W. Bush.

RELATED: From ABC News, "Sheldon Adelson May Stop By Romney Jerusalem Fundraiser." (Via Memeorandum.)

Anaheim Shooting Protest Turns Violent

The local channel KCAL 9 had live coverage last night. The police presence was massive, with essentially SWAT-style gang units out in front. See: "24 Arrested Following Clash Between Protestors, Anaheim Police."

And see the Orange County Register, "ANAHEIM PROTESTS: 1,000 demonstrators clashed with Anaheim police."

More at the Los Angeles Times, "Scattered crowds roam Anaheim streets to protest officer shootings."

Kyrsten Sinema, Bisexual Israel-Hating Antiwar Radical, is Face of Today's Democrat Party

Look, while even some Democrats might take pause at the extreme left-wing candidacy of Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema, who's running for Congress from the state's Ninth Congressional District, the fact is as more and more younger activists rise up the party ranks, this is what you're going to get. Sinema is the mainstream of today's Democrat Party.

Alana Goodman reports, at Commentary, "The Reinvention of an Anti-War Activist":

You wouldn’t normally expect Washington Democrats to spend much time fretting over a congressional primary in Arizona. But the three-way Democratic race between Kyrsten Sinema, Andrei Cherny, and David Schapira is getting a surprising amount of attention from national Democrats, the pro-Israel community and the political media.

Ten years ago, Sinema was one of those radical left-wing activists who donned pink tutus at anti-war rallies and organized with anti-Israel groups. Today, the 36-year-old is running for Congress as an AIPAC-supporting moderate who would have voted in favor of the Afghanistan intervention.

The problem? Some Democrats say her evolution doesn’t add up. For one, Sinema’s been involved with anti-Israel and anti-war groups much more recently than her campaign has acknowledged. And while she recently released a strongly-worded pro-Israel position paper, her latest comments on foreign policy issues have been dodgy and confusing.

“Is she for or against killing bin Laden?” asked former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block. “Based on her record, you don’t know. You would think when you’re considering a member of Congress, you would know their positions on these issues.”

One Democratic Arizona state representative who has worked with Sinema said her views are impossible to decipher.

“When she wanted to be an activist, she was anti-war, all these kinds of things that now she says she never was,” he said. “I don’t think she actually has a foreign policy core, I think she has a political core.”

According to the Washington Free Beacon’s Adam Kredo, Sinema didn’t just dabble in radical circles; she helped organize and lead extreme anti-war groups that took anti-Israel positions on issues like the right of return and Israel’s self defense. Townhall’s Guy Benson reported that she was involved in anarchist riots that encouraged property destruction.

Sinema’s campaign disputed the claim that she was involved with anti-Israel activism, calling it a smear tactic by opponents.

Continue reading.

Look, obviously the woman wants to hide her really despicable past. She wouldn't talk to Goodman on the phone, told her to schedule an interview with her staff, and after Goodman called back she hasn't returned her messages. I guess that's getting too close to home.

It's so bad that even Philip Weiss has denounced Sinema at the anti-Israel Mondweiss, "Once she joined ‘Women in Black’ and opposed aid to Israel. And then – she ran for Congress and went to AIPAC."

Following the links, it turns out that Marc Tracy has a report on the Ninth District race at the Tablet, which has this on Sinema:

Soon after 9/11, at 25 years old, she co-founded Local to Global Justice, a local advocacy group. Its initial mission was to oppose the invasion of Afghanistan, but in 2007 it signed a petition calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel and another in 2008 decrying Israeli “human rights violations against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and against civilians in Lebanon.” Sinema joined Women in Black, a group founded by Israelis during the First Intifada to protest human rights abuses in the territories—a history of which Sinema claimed to be unaware. (That’s pretty hard to believe, since the group was founded in 1988 and is easily located on Google.) Also in 9/11’s aftermath, she helped organize the Arizona Alliance for Peaceful Justice; its motto was, “military action is an inappropriate response to terrorism.” According to The Hill, this was her position, too. At least as late as 2010, she continued to associate with these groups, speaking, for example, at an antiwar rally several sponsored. She has since severed ties.

The post is documented with lots of links, damning links.

BONUS: Sinema is a switch hitter, according to the Advocate, "Bi Politician Announces Congressional Bid":

Arizona state senator Kyrsten Sinema has resigned from her post to pursue a U.S. House seat that has been created due to redistricting. If elected, Sinema would be the first openly bisexual member of Congress.

More at the Washington Free Beacon, "Adult Sinema."

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Suspect James Holmes No Easy Fit for Mass Murderer Profile

Okay, there's a couple of new articles that relate to Colorado suspect James Holmes' acadmic difficulties (which I discussed here and here).

First, Holmes did indeed take the first year oral exams in his neuroscience department, according to a report from the Denver Post, "CU officials defend academic, personal support available to Holmes (via Bob Agard). Key officials from the University of Colorado Denver are seen at the video below. And according to the Post:

The officials, referring to the ongoing investigation, would not answer specific questions about him or his academic standing. They did say that Holmes withdrew from the program June 10, three days after taking a preliminary oral examination before three professors.

Clearly, officials realized immediately the massacre's implications for the university. They talk about how the support system was the envy of the world, as if it would have been impossible for students to slip through the cracks. And listen to the Graduate Dean Barry Shur at the clip, saying "it's very unusual, very unusual, for a student to withdraw from our program." Also, the department apparently allows struggling students to take their exams over again.

So, I'll refer folks back over to my earlier entry on this, "James Holmes' Academic Frustration and Social Isolation."

What's interesting now is how extremely hush hush university officials have handled their response. Numerous reports indicate that campus personnel were told by administration not to speak to the press, but to refer questions to the university's public relations office. And you get that feeling as well at the clip, when Chancellor Don Ellman erects the stonewall on personal questions about Holmes immediately. So, this is going to be something to watch. Something I didn't mention the other day is that although Holmes may have done well during his orals, he might in fact have been abused by one of his examiners. I mean "abused" in the sense of a particular line of questioning. Research professors can be arrogant pricks and their egos can take over during situations like a formal exam, etc. If Holmes felt as though he'd been condescended to, perhaps that sent him off a bit, even if he did well otherwise. But there's the university gag order now, so we may never know that aspect, or at least not in the near term.

That said, the one faculty member apparently spoke out before the gag order was distributed. According to Jenna Johnson at the Washington Post:

A colleague of mine just spoke with a neuroscience faculty member who said he taught shooting suspect James Holmes in a class at the University of Colorado medical campus.

The faculty member, who asked for anonymity because of privacy concerns, said Holmes was “very quiet, strangely quiet in class,” and said he seemed “socially off.”

When the staff member heard Holmes’s name in connection with the shooting today, he thought that the suspect could well be his student, and he was not surprised to find out later that it was.

When Holmes and other neuroscience students took their comprehensive exams last semester, Holmes did very poorly, he said. The school’s staff wasn’t going to toss him out, the educator said, but they were planning to do something remedial, and contemplated putting him on academic probation.

Given this information, if correct, it appears if Holmes' disaffection could date back to his first semester at the school. Also key is that the suspect had begun to amass his arsenal before his first year orals in June, so whatever rage he felt could have been building up for some time. That might help explain why university officials are keeping such a heavy-duty lock on information. Perhaps Holmes was that one super exceptional case of a student about to be dismissed from the program.

A second piece that relates here is at Reuters, "Accused Colorado killer no easy fit for mass murderer profile." Here's a key bit:

As experts in forensic psychiatry try to figure out from afar what is wrong with Holmes, they are focusing on three details of the shooting: The targets were strangers to the killer, not colleagues or acquaintances; the shooter did not commit suicide or invite his own death at the hands of police; and Holmes warned authorities about his booby-trapped apartment before the explosives he rigged killed anyone.

Murdering 12 strangers and shooting dozens more points to a generalized paranoia and rage against the world rather than a specific grudge, forensic psychiatrists say.

"Most mass murderers kill specific people for specific reasons," said criminologist James Alan Fox of Northeastern University, who with colleague Jack Levin has studied every mass murder in the United States since the early 1980s. "They kill the bosses who fired them, the professors who wronged them. These are revenge killings."

One of the many mass murderers who fit this profile is Nathan Dunlap, who killed four employees at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Aurora in December 1993, after he was fired and reportedly felt his boss had "made a fool" of him.

Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the University of Colorado's graduate program in neuroscience, which has prompted speculation that academic failure might have played into his motives. But he did not target either professors or fellow students.

That he did not target people from the university points away from the hypothesis that the orals or something else like that drove Holmes to violence, but only to a point. As the article continues:

If the victims did not represent a category of people Holmes specifically hated or resented, then he would fall into the category of mass murderers who target strangers indiscriminately, the least common profile.

In such cases, "the perpetrator has a grudge against the world and feels that if it were not for the system, things would have gone better for him," said Fox. "He doesn't care who he kills as long as he kills a lot of people."

About 16 percent of mass killings target complete strangers, said Levin, professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern. They are not necessarily more or less severely mentally ill than murderers who target acquaintances or people who belong to a group they resent, but their pathology takes a distinct form.

Wide-ranging suspicion that the world has treated you unfairly can be a sign of paranoid personality disorder. The American Psychiatric Association defines that condition as "a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent, beginning by early adulthood."

The condition has an estimated lifetime prevalence in the United States of 4.4 percent; schizophrenia affects 1.1 percent of U.S. adults, according to the National Institutes of Health. There is no evidence Holmes felt paranoia, nor have any records emerged showing he was ever diagnosed with or treated for any form of mental illness. But the absence of such evidence does not rule out the disorder, experts said.

"Of all the psychoses, paranoia is the most difficult to detect," said John Jay's Schlesinger. "Unless you broach a particular subject - like work, if someone thinks his boss is out to get him - they might very well seem normal if you sat down and talked to them. In Holmes' case, it could have been an encapsulated paranoia, focused on one particular area of life where he thinks people are out to get him."

If so, Holmes would fit the profile of the mass murderer whose act has been triggered by a severe strain and led him to externalize blame, Levin and Fox's studies have shown.

"They blame everyone but themselves for their frustration and disappointment," said Levin. "Then there is some acute strain, which usually takes the form of a catastrophic loss - of a job, of money, of a child in a custody battle, or of academic standing. ... The catastrophic strain sets the stage for the planning phase of the mass murder."

By all accounts, Holmes displayed no signs of mental illness during his upbringing. At this point the key will be either statements from the suspect himself or more information released though the investigation. Basically, Holmes was a relatively isolated individual, shy buy not completely asocial, who had some difficulties making the transition to the very competitive world of professional education. The exact catalyst is missing, but some kind of stress sent him off on a really dark and terrible direction.

More Universal Condemnation of ABC News' Brian Ross

NewsBusters has Jon Stewart's amazing take down of Brian Ross at ABC News, "Jon Stewart Slams Brian Ross: 'What Story Does a Guy Have to Blow to Get in Trouble at ABC?'" (Video.)

And Peter Wehner comments, "Jon Stewart Destroys ABC’s Brian Ross":

Anyone who watches Jon Stewart knows that he’s a person of liberal political views – but he also shows impressive flashes of independence. Last night was such an instance. In the course of his show, Stewart skillfully rips apart ABC News and its chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross, for falsely suggesting that the Aurora, Colorado, killer was a member of the Tea Party.

Ross, based on the flimsiest evidence, took an innocent man and, in the words of Stewart, “casually, baselessly, and publicly accused [him] of – I don’t know – maybe being a mass murderer.”

Stewart then explains why this occurred. The mindset of Ross, according to Stewart, is that linking the Tea Party to the atrocity fits into “a pre-existing narrative. I should get that on the TV.” As Stewart puts it, “Tea Party, low taxes, madman. You do the math.”

Stewart then asks, in the form of a joke, quite a serious question: What story does a guy have to blow to get in trouble at ABC? What exactly does a chief investigative correspondent have to get wrong in order to be grounded by the news division?

When it comes to ABC News, apparently, tendentious, reckless and false allegations aren’t terribly problematic – at least when the object of the smear is the Tea Party.

Exactly.

And even Stephen Colbert hammers Brian Ross for his "partisan" hackery, "Partisan Speculation & Campaign Pauses Around Colorado Shooter."

As I've noted, the condemnation of ABC has been universal, left and right. See, for example,"Of Course Brian Ross Blamed the Tea Party."

And now even more, from Jonah Goldberg, "Brian Ross’s Brain Cramp: The facts don’t always suit the ideological agenda."

RELATED: "Repsac3, Hate-Addled Internet Predator, Screams 'Liar' at Virtually Entire World on Politicization of Colorado Shooting," and "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'."

Al Qaeda in Iraq Returns After U.S. Withdrawal

Thanks Baracky.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Iraqi Distress Signals" (via Google):

The Obama Administration last year made little serious effort to keep a smaller contingent of noncombat troops in Iraq beyond the 2011 withdrawal deadline. An American presence had calmed sectarian fevers and gave Mr. Maliki more confidence to share power.

But the White House priority was a total withdrawal it could point to as a promise kept to the political left as the re-election campaign neared. Now the U.S. has little leverage as the factions compete for power and self-preservation in a region where Iran now counts for more than America does.

Iraq has to find its own democratic way, and the U.S. can't serve as mediator forever. But Mr. Obama took the U.S. out of the country cold turkey and has since shown no interest in a crucial Middle East country where so much American blood was shed. The last ambassador left Baghdad in early June, and the Administration has no replacement on deck.

The abandonment of Iraq is consistent with the Administration's response to the 17-month conflict in Syria. President Obama says "the tide of war is receding," but you wouldn't know it from the arc of instability that is forming from Lebanon, through Syria, Iraq and into the Persian Gulf.

God, he's been just a horrible president. I can't wait to send the dude packing, and his fat-ass hypocrite wife MOoch.

Elton John Praises President George W. Bush and Conservatives for Saving Lives of More Than 8 Million Africans With AIDS

Well, he really goes against the grain, doesn't he.

From Peter Wehner, at Commentary, "The Human Drama of Saving Lives."

BONUS: Sky News has an interview with Sir Elton here.

PREVIOUSLY: "'Replace the Stigma With Compassion' — Elton John at International AIDS Conference."

Mitt Romney Hammers Obama in Speech to Veterans of Foreign Wars

At the Los Angeles Times, "Mitt Romney strongly criticizes President Obama in VFW speech."

Also at Nice Deb, "Video: Romney Blasts Obama For “Contemptible” Foreign Policy Leaks – WH Responds – Feinstein Backtracks."

Shocker — Employers Plan to Drop Health Care Coverage Under ObamaCare

Wizbang has the post.

Also, more on ObamaCare at the New York Times, "3 Million More May Lack Insurance Due to Ruling, Study Says":

Of Course Brian Ross Blamed the Tea Party

From Dennis Prager, at National Review, "Explaining Brian Ross’s Mistake: Why ABC Tried to Blame the Tea Party for Aurora.":

James Holmes is a human earthquake. We are as ill-equipped to predict the eruptions of such human beings as we are to predict the eruptions of the earth.

But that doesn’t mean that nothing meaningful came out of the Aurora tragedy.

Something quite important did, though few Americans are aware of it because it has already entered the mainstream media’s memory hole.

On ABC’s Good Morning America on Friday morning, Brian Ross, chief investigative reporter for ABC News, announced to George Stephanopoulos and millions of viewers that there’s “a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado page on the Colorado Tea Party site,” which mentions Holmes “talking about joining the Tea Party last year.”

Ross acknowledged that “we don’t know if this is the same Jim Holmes, but it is Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado.”

As the Baltimore Sun’s TV critic, David Zurawik, wrote: “So, why put it out there in the first place, if you don’t have it nailed down?”

While blaming ABC News and Brian Ross for besmirching reputations and irresponsible reporting, Mr. Zurawik doesn’t answer his question.

I will.

The news media — as there are almost no non-liberal mainstream news media, the term “news media” means liberal news media — believe they have a higher calling than reporting news.

In order to understand this, I offer this anecdote. A number of years ago I was asked to moderate a panel of judges that included a former, very liberal, California Supreme Court justice. At one point the justice said that his role as a judge was to fight inequality, poverty, and racism. I respectfully disagreed: If that is what he wanted to do professionally, he should have chosen another profession; his role as a judge is solely to administer justice in his courtroom.

People on the left think the way the judge did. The primary purpose of every profession, as they see it, is to increase what they call “social justice.”...

There is an additional explanation.

In general, the Left believes the Right is evil. Not wrong, evil. And to Brian Ross and most of his colleagues at ABC News, the Tea Party is the current apotheosis of American evil.

If you think this is hyperbolic, former New York Times columnist Frank Rich wrote that when an anonymous individual threw a brick through a congressman’s window, this somehow proved that the Tea Party was engaged in a “small-scale mimicry of Kristallnacht.”

Kristallnacht, the “Night of the Broken Glass,” is considered the opening act of the Holocaust. In November 1938, over the course of two days, tens of thousands of German Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps; scores of Jews were beaten to death; 267 synagogues were destroyed; and thousands of Jewish-owned businesses were vandalized — often by having their windows smashed, hence the term Kristallnacht.

No one at the New York Times criticized Rich for his comparison of the Tea Party to Nazi murderers. Why would they? Nearly everyone at the paper probably agreed with him. And defeating the Right is more important than moral or factual accuracy.

On the day after Jared Loughner killed six people and gravely injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others, in an almost perfect preview of Brian Ross, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote that right-wing hate had provoked Loughner: “It’s the saturation of our political discourse — and especially our airwaves — with eliminationist rhetoric that lies behind the rising tide of violence. Where’s that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: it’s coming, overwhelmingly, from the Right . . . .”

Lest the ABC News smear be forgotten, I thought it important to devote a column to it. But the truth is that, in varying degrees and in a variety of ways, it happens every day — in movies, in schools, in courtrooms, and, of course, in the news media.

Excellent.

PREVIOUSLY: "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'," and "Repsac3, Hate-Addled Internet Predator, Screams 'Liar' at Virtually Entire World on Politicization of Colorado Shooting."

'Let America Be America Again'

The great new Scott Brown ad, via Weekly Standard, "GOP Operatives Praise Scott Brown's Latest Ad."

'Batman' Star Christian Bale Visits Aurora, Colorado

At the Los Angeles Times, "Batman actor Christian Bale visits Aurora, Colo., shooting victims."

Christian Bale, star of the Batman trilogy of movies, paid a surprise visit Tuesday to injured victims of the recent shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo. The shooting occurred during a midnight screening of the latest Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Twelve people were killed and 58 were injured in the attack early Friday; a suspect was arrested in a nearby parking lot afterward.

Bill Voloch, interim president of Medical Center of Aurora, told the Denver Post that Bale spent about 2½ hours Tuesday at the hospital, where he met with seven of the victims. Five are being treated at the center; the two others came from Swedish Medical Center to meet with the Welsh actor.

"The patients were really happy to meet Bale," Voloch was quoted as saying. "They are obviously big fans of his movies. They wanted to see Batman and were really pleased to see Bale."

Bale, who was accompanied by his wife, Sibi Blazic, also met with doctors, police officers and emergency medical technicians who were among the first responders, the paper reported.

Keep reading.

Lots of folks wanted Bale to to visit victims' families in costume, which is really bad idea. I'm glad he went as is.

Syria Chemical Weapons Threat

Note first this excellent on the ground video report at Russia Today, "Syria warns will use chemical weapons in case of foreign attack." I say excellent, all but the last minute or so when RT's anchor went to radio show host and 9/11 truther Kevin Barrett, who argued that Syrian WMDs are being hyped by the West to justify invasion, allegedly just like the U.S. did in 2003 with the Iraq war. William Jacobson reported on that yesterday, "Syria threatens to use WMD which are figment of neocons’ imagination."

That said, there is some controversy on the nature of the threat, but given Syria's border with Iraq, and Iran's funding of terrorist groups in Lebanon and elsewhere, the absence of threat is not a foregone conclusion by any means. Here's Telegraph UK, "Syria raises prospect of using chemical weapons arsenal":

Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime, fighting for its life, has shocked the west by threatening to use its arsenal of chemical weapons if outside forces intervened in its civil war.

And at the New York Times, "Syria Threatens Chemical Attack on Foreign Force":

Lebanon — Syrian officials warned Monday that they would deploy chemical weapons against any foreign intervention, a threat that appeared intended to ward off an attack by Western nations while also offering what officials in Washington called the most “direct confirmation” ever that Syria possesses a stockpile of unconventional armaments.

The warning came out of Damascus, veiled behind an assurance that the Syrian leadership would never use such weapons against its own citizens, describing chemical arms as outside the bounds of the kind of guerrilla warfare being fought internally.

“Any stock of W.M.D. or unconventional weapons that the Syrian Army possesses will never, never be used against the Syrian people or civilians during this crisis, under any circumstances,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, said at a news conference shown live on Syrian state television, using the initials for weapons of mass destruction. “These weapons are made to be used strictly and only in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic.”

Mr. Makdissi said that any such weapons were carefully monitored by the Syrian Army, and that ultimately their use would be decided by generals.

Though it has for many years been an open secret that Syria possessed a large cache of such weapons, the government has traditionally tried to retain some strategic ambiguity to keep its enemies guessing. Then on Monday, after Mr. Makdissi appeared to confirm that reality, the government quickly retreated to its familiar position, saying its remarks were misinterpreted.

Asked whether Syria was finally acknowledging that it had chemical weapons, Mr. Makdissi repeated roughly the same response, but began it by saying that any stock of unconventional weapons or chemical weapons “if they exist” would not be used domestically, but would be used against foreign intervention.

But the attempt at verbal sleight of hand did little to conceal what appeared to be Syria’s intent, experts and Western diplomats said.

Now, though, Syria is backtracking a bit. See CSM, "Chemical weapons? Syria 'backpedaling furiously' over weapons threats."

BONUS: At Jerusalem Post, "Russia warns Syria against using chemical weapons."

Ho-Hum, Sally Ride Was Lesbian

I cracked open the hard-copy version of the Los Angeles Times this morning with my coffee. Sally Ride's obituary is front page news, "Sally Ride dies at 61; first American woman in space."

It's a straightforward obit, but getting to the end of the piece we have this:

Ride is survived by Tam O'Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years; her mother, Joyce; her sister, Karen, known as "Bear"; and a niece and nephew.

I thought, great, she's lesbian and decided to keep her personal life private while she pursued her career. She was married in 1982 but divorced five years later with no children. That would be 1987, and in fact, it's quite possible that she left her husband, astronaut Steven Alan Hawley, for a woman. Now that would have been news! She could have caused a sensation, struck a blow against the patriarchy! Women of the world unite! But no, she was at the pinnacle of her profession and decided to continue achieving. She could have come out as lesbian any time after that. Why not? Who knows? But it's not like there wasn't a massive homosexual rights campaign raging all those years. I think she just thought better of it, and went about pursuing her dreams without all the gay extremist showboating. Frankly, just being a woman in space was f-king pathbreaking. No doubt she thought busting through one glass ceiling was enough, at least in her case. Indeed, according to the Times, Ride saw the rights of women as the key civil rights struggle:

In 2001, she founded her own company, Sally Ride Science, to encourage women and especially young girls to become interested in science. She also wrote five children's books encouraging an interest in science.

So it turns out when I logged onto Memeorandum, I found the big headline from the sensationalist BuzzFeed, "First Female U.S. Astronaut, Sally Ride, Comes Out In Obituary." Looks like everyone else wanted Ride out of the closet except Ride.

And here's this at excitable Andrew Sullivan's page, "America's First Woman In Space Was a Lesbian":

Now talk about a buried lede! The only thing preventing the NYT from writing an honest obit is homophobia. They may not realize it; they may not mean it; but it is absolutely clear from the obit that Ride's sexual orientation was obviously central to her life. And her "partner" (ghastly word) and their relationship is recorded only perfunctorily. The NYT does not routinely only mention someone's spouse in the survivors section. When you have lived with someone for 27 years, some account of that relationship is surely central to that person's life. To excise it completely is an act of obliteration. I'm afraid the Beast's tribute is worse. Lynn Sherr manages to write an appreciation which essentially treats Ride as a heterosexual.

The horror!

Homophobia! It's homophobia!

Isn't it always?

Notice that the New York Times "buried the lede!" Imagine what that would been, "Rockin' Sally Ride, First Butch to Blast Into Space, Dies at 61."

And for more humorous pleasure, notice how Towleroad missed the part about Ride's lesbianism, and the readers go batsh*t crazy in the comments: "Towleroad jumps the shark - every hour, on the hour." And note Joe. My. God., "Sally Ride Outed In Obituary," which includes Twitter embeds bemoaning the awful, just awful situation where Ride's partner, Tam, would be "denied" federal survivor's benefits. That would be a monstrous inhumanity, except that according to the Sally Ride Science homepage:

Dr. Tam O'Shaughnessy is the COO and Executive Vice President of Sally Ride Science and a Professor Emerita of School Psychology at San Diego State University. Dr. O'Shaughnessy has been interested in science since she was a little girl.

Right. I'm sure Dr. O'Shaughnessy will live out the remainder of her life in crushing destitution, or at least that's what the idiot progressives would have you believe.

Frankly, Sally Ride is one more example of a great American, a great American who happened to be lesbian. She made a life for herself and her partner and thrived. I mean, what held her back? Nothing. But don't tell that to the hate-addled homosexual progressives currently attempting to dismantle decency and respect in this country.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Americans Prefer Romney on the Economy

This USA Today poll is likely to be repeated over and over again until election day. See, "Poll: Romney preferred over Obama to handle the economy" (via Memeorandum):

WASHINGTON – Despite concerted Democratic attacks on his business record, Republican challenger Mitt Romney scores a significant advantage over President Obama when it comes to managing the economy, reducing the federal budget deficit and creating jobs, a national USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

By more than 2-1, 63%-29%, those surveyed say Romney's background in business, including his tenure at the private equity firm Bain Capital, would cause him to make good decisions, not bad ones, in dealing with the nation's economic problems over the next four years.

The findings raise questions about Obama's strategy of targeting Bain's record in outsourcing jobs and hammering Romney for refusing to commit to releasing more than two years of his tax returns. Instead, Americans seem focused on the economy, where disappointment with the fragile recovery and the 8.2% unemployment rate are costing the president.

To be sure, Obama retains significant advantages of his own. By 2-1, he's rated as more likable than Romney. By double digits, those surveyed say the president better understands the problems Americans face in their daily lives. He has an 8-percentage-point advantage on being seen as honest and trustworthy.

However, Romney has the edge when it comes to being able to "get things done," and the broad landscape seems tilted in his favor...

Continue reading.

Republicans and independents are more enthusiastic about the election by 18 points, and 61 percent say the government is taking too activist a role in the economy, "trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses." And the Obama-Democrat attacks on Romney's business experience have had virtually no effect on the public's perception of the candidate's leadership qualities.

As always, though, what matters most is what's happening around the battleground states, and all signs point to a close election.

More on that from Nate Silver, "July 23: Is Minnesota a Battleground Again?"

Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador to U.N., Blasts Western Nations for 'Propaganda' on Syria, Defends Moscow's Veto of Sanctions Resolution Against Assad

This is an amazing interview, decidedly bellicose and "stridently," in Ambassador Churkin's words, propagandistic.

I discussed Churkin at my earlier entry, "U.S. to Focus on Forcibly Toppling Syrian Government."

The Diseased Mind of the Rampage Killer

A lengthy essay from Victor Davis Hanson, at PJ Media, "The Demons of the Modern Rampage Killer."

Tonight, I wish to know nothing about him other than the information necessary to try, convict, and punish him—and any data that might provide some sort of deterrence in preventing another such rampage.

In comparison to those he killed and maimed, and the legions of their relatives and friends, he is nothing. We the sophisticated with university degrees are supposed to know better: that hanging such a nightmarish criminal when convicted is both barbaric on our part and offers no statistical evidence that it will deter future such killers.

Perhaps. But society needs to be affirmed with a certainty that it has the clear sense of evil and good to try, convict, and punish the killer. Hanging Saddam or Eichmann, for all the controversies over their trials, at least offered some finality: they were evil and now are no more—and now we don’t worry whether Saddam was unloved, or the circumstances of Eichmann’s childhood.

In other words, I don’t care a whit whether the Aurora killer was a loner. I don’t care if he was unhappy or if he was on medication. Millions share such pathologies without killing a mouse. I don’t even know whether giving him swift justice will deter the next mass shooter. Yes, give the suspect expert legal counsel; call in all the psychiatrists imaginable; sequester the jury; ensure the judge is a pillar of jurisprudence; but if he is found guilty, I would prefer the gallows and quickly so, to remind us that we live in a civilization that prefers to remember the victims and to remember nothing at all of their killer.

Carol Chambers, Arapahoe County District Attorney: Decision on James Holmes Death Penalty 'Months Away'

At Telegraph UK, "Colorado shooting: 'death penalty decision is months down the line'." And CNN, "Death penalty decision months away, DA says."

RELATED: At CBS 4 Denver, "District Attorney Carol Chambers Put 2 of 3 Inmates On Death Row."