Blogger Angry White Dude Announces That He Believes in the Sanctity of Marriage Between One Man and One Hot, Sexy Woman

Some pretty good lulz, at AWD, "AFTER RECORD SALES, CHICK FIL A DENOUNCES ISLAM, MSNBC AND THE PRIUS!"

More on the sales, here: "Rick Warren: Chick-fil-A’s owner told me they set a new world record in sales today."

And some gratuitous Amit Freidman while we're on the subject:

David Bowie Live on Dick Cavett Show in 1974

Via William Jacobson, who's running David Bowie clips this week for his daily videos.

Update on Why the Right Wing Blogosphere Doesn't Cover Islam

Pamela does a roundup of counter-jihad bloggers: "BLOGGING JIHAD."

Personally, I'm over at Blazing Cat Fur all the time. And also Astute Bloggers.

BONUS: At Maggie's Notebook, "Anti-Jihad Bloggers: Why So Few on the Right? Plenty to Talk About, But…Few Do?"

Breitbart.com Steps Up to Fulfill Founder's Mission

From James Rainey, at the Los Angeles Times, "Breitbart.com sets sights on ruling the conservative conversation." There's an interview with Steve Bannon, although Rainey gets some things wrong, for example:

Breitbart made his name by sowing outrage. He promoted the hidden-camera videos that helped take down the liberal community activist group ACORN. He exposed the sex-charged online romp of the now ex-Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner. He hyped a video that left the misleading impression that an Agriculture Department employee was giving a speech defending racism. In fact, she was condemning it.

That's the MSM meme, which is bogus. See William Jacobson, "Saturday Night Card Game (Repeat after me: “The Shirley Sherrod tape was not misleading”)."

Penelope Cruz Looks Radiant in Campari's 2013 Calendar

Love!

At London's Daily Mail, "She's one fine leading lady! Penelope Cruz looks radiant in red as she is announced as the face of Campari's 2013 calendar."

Greg Louganis on Chick-fil-A: 'Who Eats That Stuff?'

I mentioned Louganis the other day, and here he is basically shrugging his shoulders on the whole homo-radical freak out.

He's an Olympic hero to me. Don't care about his sexual orientation and never have. And he's not been in the closet about it either.

Oh, and lots of people eat that stuff.

More at CNN, "Chick-fil-A restaurants become rallying points for supporters" (via Memeorandum).

Spectacular Paulina Gretzky Photos!

At London's Daily Mail, "Are these Paulina's raciest photos yet? Wayne Gretzky's girl's signature snaps get professional polish in new shoot."

And speaking of Canadians, "Americans Support Chick-Fil-A! And So Would This Canadian If We Had One In Toronto."

Huge Crowds, Long Lines at Irvine Chick-fil-A

Via Instapundit, "FLIPPING THE BIRD TO RAHM: Chicago Chick-Fil-A Mobbed." (Via Memeorandum.) Added: From Lonely Conservative, "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day Appears to Be a Big Success."

And here's the scene at the local Chick-fil-A, at the Irvine Marketplace:

And the drive through was even worse. The line of cars trails around the parking and then out to the entryway, to the left, where security guards are directing traffic:

The drive through is winding around to the right from where I'm standing at the first picture.

And Legal Insurrection, "Chicagoans hungry to flip the bird to Rahm, nicely," and "Legal Insurrection readers’ Chick-fil-A photos."

Update: This is big nationwide. WND reports, "AMERICANS FLOCK TO SUPPORT CHICK-FIL-A."

And at The Other McCain, "I Love the Smell of #ChickFilA At Noon. It Smells Like ... Liberty," and "Just Another Random Coincidence: Bomb Threat Shuts Down W. Va. Chick-fil-A." More at Memeorandum.

More at Twitchy, "Boycott fail redux: Citizens, Santa unite for Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day; Photos show huge success."

And at Sooper Mexican, "Long Lines Reported at Chick-Fil-A All Over the country."

Plus, Blazing Cat Fur links, "Americans Support Chick-Fil-A! And So Would This Canadian If We Had One In Toronto." Thanks!

Even more, from Marooned in Marin, "Chew On This Libs! Chick-fil-A's Across America (& In Northern VA) Overflow With Supporters."

Wendy's Courts Public Relations Disaster: Implies Chick-fil-A Doesn't Serve All Customers

It keeps getting worse for the left-wing fascists.

Wendy's restaurants has stepped in it. See Business Insider, "A Bunch Of Wendy's Restaurants Put Up Signs That Say 'We Stand With Chick-Fil-A'."

But then they backtracked on Twitter:

@thomasaroberts @rjasoncottrell @tlrd An independent franchisee posted the sign, which he’s taken down.We proudly serve ALL customers!
— Wendy's (@Wendys) August 1, 2012

Hmm, I guess they don't back Chick-fil-A after all, and Wendy's should probably get off Twitter:

The Twitter feed for @wendys right now looks like a public relations nightmare.
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) August 1, 2012

Yeah, the Wendy's search on Twitter is on fire.

And it's not just an errant tweet, apparently. Towleroad says it got this email response from "Amanda Domyan" in Wendy's public relations department:

"This is one independent franchisee’s personal opinion. We are proud to serve customers of varied races, backgrounds, cultures and sexual orientation, with different beliefs and values. Bearing that in mind, this franchisee has decided to remove the messages from his restaurant signs."

Wendy's contact page is here.

Amanda Domyan is on Twitter here, located in Columbus, Ohio, where Wendy's corporate offices are located.

More from Dana Loesch, in any case:

OK, still not quite sure what @wendys means. They say they're proud to serve all ... just want to say #Chickfila is too bit.ly/R7Nt6g
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 1, 2012

And at Think Progress, "The Chick-fil-A Controversy Is About Religious Bullying, Not Chicken Sandwiches":

There is a very obvious reason why all of the conservatives defending Chick-fil-A only talk about it as defending “traditional marriage,” ignoring president Dan Cathy’s vitriolic comments and the company’s odious donations. They want to minimize the validity for outrage and reduce the issue to one of mere First Amendment privilege. Conceding to that spin allows the true harm of funding ex-gay ministries and anti-gay hate groups to go unchecked. Chick-fil-A and its president Dan Cathy are nothing short of religious bullies, and attacking the LGBT community for standing up for themselves is an expression of either ignorance in regards to Chick-fil-A’s offenses, apathy for LGBT equality, laziness, or a combination of all three.

Cathy's comments weren't "vitriolic."

Being conservative on marriage is apparently "anti-gay bullying."

These people are sick. They will attempt to shut down Chick-fil-A and any other business that doesn't toe the left's fascist line.

Los Angeles Times Obituary Claims Gore Vidal 'Demolished Intellectual Rivals' Like William F. Buckley, Jr

From Elaine Woo's obituary, "Gore Vidal, iconoclastic author, dies at 86" (via Memeorandum):

In other spare moments, [Vidal] demolished intellectual rivals like Norman Mailer and William F. Buckley Jr. with acidic one-liners, establishing himself as a peerless master of talk-show punditry.

Actually, attacking your opponents with ad hominem invective isn't exactly "demolishing" your rivals, as this famous video from 1968 shows:

During a discussion of the Vietnam War, Buckley -- in his aristocratic drawl -- compares opponents of the war (including Vidal) to Nazi appeasers. Vidal, in his own aristocratic drawl, fires back.

Vidal: The only pro- or crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself...
Buckley: Now listen you queer, quit calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in the goddamn face and you'll stay plastered.

Yeah, a queer alright.

Lots of folks are talking about Vidal's flaming homosexuality. See IBT, "Gore Vidal: Gay Icon Who Put Homosexuality On the Page."

London Mayor Boris Johnson Gets Stuck on Olympic Games Zip Line

He had some good momentum there, too.

Via Wizbang, "Romney’s Revenge? London Mayor Boris Johnson Left Hanging Midair." (via Memeorandum.)

Dead Humpback Whale Washes Up in Seaside Pool, Sydney, Australia

Well, not something you see too often.

At the Sydney Morning Herald, "Wait for big seas to wash whale out of ocean pool."

Latest Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS Swing States Poll — Overstates Democrats in the Electorate

My first reaction was, "No, it can't be!" Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, this is the New York Times."

So there had to be some bogus sampling issues. Here's the report, "New Polls Show Obama Has Edge in 3 Battleground States." (Via Memeorandum.) I checked the internals, "The Latest Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS Poll." And boom! There's way too many Democrats for these numbers to be meaningful. Ed Morrissey has this:

Now let’s take a look at the partisan breakdown (D/R/I) in the sample data for each state, and compare them to 2008 and 2010 exit polling:

* Florida: CBS/NYT 36/27/32, 2008 37/34/29, 2010 36/36/29
* Ohio: CBS/NYT 35/27/32, 2008 39/31/30, 2010 36/37/28
* Pennsylvania: CBS/NYT 38/32/26, 2008 44/37/18, 2010 40/37/23...

In other words, these polls are entirely predictive if one believes that Democrats will outperform their turnout models from the 2008 election in Florida and Ohio. That would require a huge boost in Democratic enthusiasm and a sharp dropoff in Republican enthusiasm — which is exactly the opposite that Gallup found last week.

Here's Gallup from last week: "Democratic Voting Enthusiasm Down Sharply From 2004, 2008." And check Take My Liberty, "Enough with the bogus polling data."

It's not just voter enthusiasm, by the way. The New York Times consistently oversamples Democrats, for example, "New York Times: Oversamples Democrats, Push-Polls Respondents in Health Care Survey."

And check Pew's findings for national-level partisan identification: "Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama Years." Dems are about 32 percent of the electorate nationally, with independents comprising the plurality of party ID.

Tyrone Freeman, Former Chief of SEIU's Local 6434, Indicted on Federal Embezzlement Charges

This guy was ripping off people blind. Jeez.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Ex-leader of major California union faces theft, tax charges."

The indictment's at LA Observed, "Feds indict ex-labor chief Tyrone Freeman."

And this guy was said to be a "rising star" in progressive politics. Figures.

Speak Out Against Forced Marriage

Blazing Cat Fur reports: "An "anti-oppressive, anti-racist position" means never having to mention Islam..."

Also, "Forced Marriage Unit."

Believe In Our Future

Via Theo Spark:

Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day

It's today.

See the Christian Post, "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day: Half a Million to Show Up at Restaurants."

Bonus: Jeez, half a million! Chick-fil-A's not hurting for more customers, despite what the hate-addled progressives say. See Business Week, "Hidden Chick-fil-A Billionaires Hatched as Value Soars":

The customers chickfila gained will give 'em extra business short term. The ones they lost will pass 'em by forever. bit.ly/NyEdvI
— J. Casper (@repsac3) July 28, 2012

Chick-fil-A generated $492 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization on revenue of $1.12 billion in 2011, PrivCo said. It added that the company’s 44 percent Ebitda margin was “virtually unheard of in the restaurant industry.”

The chain has the biggest sales per unit in fast-food, according to QSR Magazine. In 2011, the company generated gross sales of $2.9 million per location, outpacing the average unit sales of runner-up McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) (MCD) by $400,000, the magazine said in its August 2012 issue.

PrivCo said it valued Chick-fil-A at $4.5 billion using peer multiples of Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s, Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s Co. (WEN) (WEN) and closely held Wichita, Kansas-based Wil-Ken Enterprises Inc., which operates Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits restaurants. The calculation factored in the company’s 3-year annual growth rate and Ebitda margins, the report said.

The chicken chain has a value of at least $4.3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, based on the average enterprise value-to-Ebitda and price-to-earnings multiples of four publicly traded peers: McDonald’s, Wendy’s, San Diego-based Jack In the Box Inc. (JACK) (JACK) and Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) (YUM), the owner of the KFC and Taco Bell brands.

“It is a very impressive business story,” said Sam Hamadeh, CEO of PrivCo, in a telephone interview. “Whatever people think of the politics, when you look at how we quantify the amount of money they are forgoing every year by being closed on Sundays, you have to respect that.”

Truett Cathy keeps Chick-fil-A stores closed on Sundays as “a testament to his faith in God,” according to the company’s website. Jerry Johnston, a spokesman for the company, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment.

It's a huge and growing business, and while it may lose a few fascists --- people like Walter James Casper III --- it's clearly a phenomenally successful concern with a huge constituency of people of good faith and decency.

PREVIOUSLY: "Atheist for #LGBT Rights Says Chick-fil-A 'Harms Mor Gays'."

Ted Cruz Defeats David Dewhurst in Senate GOP Runoff

William Jacobson has been covering this race consistently, and he's got the results: "Texas Runoff Results (Update – AP and others call race for Cruz!)."

And check this out: "Ted Cruz serves Chick-fil-A at victory party."

Cruz has Chick-Fil-A at victory party #txrunoff #txsen instagr.am/p/NxCunHAvz9/
— Jane Cummins (@janecummins) August 1, 2012

Way to celebrate! (Freakin' fascists can shove it!)

And I think MSM folks can put the "tea party's dead" meme to rest.

See the New York Times, "Tea Party Favorite Wins Texas Runoff":

HOUSTON — Ted Cruz, an insurgent backed by the Tea Party, defeated the candidate favored by Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday in a runoff election for the Republican Senate nomination that revealed a wide rift in Texas between the party establishment and restless, anti-incumbent activists on the right.

With the come-from-behind victory, he is heavily favored to win the Senate seat being vacated in November by Kay Bailey Hutchison and appears likely to become a star of the national conservative movement.

Mr. Cruz, 41, is the latest conservative rebel to bring down an established party leader, tapping into simmering anger and anti-incumbent frustration within the Republican ranks nationwide.

These dissident triumphs include, in this year’s primaries, the defeat of Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana by Richard E. Mourdock and Deb Fischer’s win over a veteran Republican for the Senate nomination in Nebraska. They also echo Marco Rubio’s Senate victory in 2010 over a sitting Republican governor, Charlie Crist of Florida.

Mr. Cruz, who is Cuban-American, has drawn comparisons to Mr. Rubio, another 40-something Cuban-American who quickly became an icon of fiscal and religious conservatives around the country. Mr. Cruz’s rapid ascent has already shaken up the Texas Republican Party.

“Mr. Cruz’s success shows that the center of the state party has moved decisively to the right,” said James Henson, a political scientist at University of Texas. “The Republicans are in much more treacherous terrain, not because of threats from Democrats, but threats from within the party.”

More at that top link.

Milton Friedman Would Have Turned 100 Today

At Reason, "Vid: Happy 100th Birthday to Milton Friedman!"

And see Stephen Moore at the Wall Street Journal, "The Man Who Saved Capitalism" (via Memeorandum):

It's a tragedy that Milton Friedman—born 100 years ago on July 31—did not live long enough to combat the big-government ideas that have formed the core of Obamanomics. It's perhaps more tragic that our current president, who attended the University of Chicago where Friedman taught for decades, never fell under the influence of the world's greatest champion of the free market. Imagine how much better things would have turned out, for Mr. Obama and the country.

Continue reading.

Also at Instapundit, "DON BOUDREAUX: Milton Friedman, a centennial appreciation."

Added: More from Michelle Malkin, "Celebrating Milton Friedman at 100."

Lovely Photos: Kate Beckinsale in White

She's fabulous, at Celebslam, "In beautiful people news ... Kate Beckinsale" (via Linkiest).