Sean Hannity Interview With Mia Love

We need more women like this in politics, way more.

See also, "Rockin' Conservative Mia Love Sets GOP Convention on Fire."

The Death of the Left

From Michael Ledeen, at PJ Media (via Instapundit):

Hegel would have well understood one of the most interesting contemporary developments:  the old liberal establishment is shrinking, both in numbers and in confidence, and their political/ideological opponents are growing.  Several smart people have noticed the extraordinary depth of the conservative political team, many of whose members were on display in Tampa this week.  The Ryans and the Romneys, the Christies and the Haleys, the Loves and the Rubios, the Brewers and the Walkers, on and on.  They have a much clearer vision of the real world, and they accordingly have more realistic political approaches than those on the left, who are trapped in a world that no longer exists.

Here’s another way to grasp the dialectical process:  look at Wisconsin.  Long considered one of the wackier leftist places in America, it is now the cradle of creative conservatives. The Progressive mission known as the “Wisconsin Idea” is politically and intellectually dead and buried.  Wisconsin now votes for Paul Ryan and Scott Walker (and probably Tommy Thompson in a couple of months).

If you’re one of those leftists, unable to sort out how the world works nowadays, and unable to win an honest debate with your political and intellectual opponents, it makes you very angry, and you lash out at them with a violence that often surprises observers who are less engaged in the political or intellectual wars.  The left has died as an intellectual force worth taking seriously.  Its mission belongs to another time.   It is reduced to fighting for political power alone, and its weapons are what we recently called “the politics of personal destruction.”  It’s the only way they can hope to win.  None of us should be surprised when the leftists accuse the righties of pushing old women off of cliffs, or murdering cancer-afflicted employees, or waging war on women, and so forth.  They have to destroy their opponents one by one.  They no longer have a “movement” of any significance.

That’s what happens when you become an anachronism...

Victoria's Secret Angel Doutzen Kroes in 'Amazing' Photo Shoot in New York City (VIDEO)

Before you know we'll be having the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and I'll have all the reporting on that.

Until then, enjoy Doutzen Kroes:

FLASHBACK: "Victoria's Secret 2011 Fashion Show Will Air Tuesday, November 29, On CBS."

The Left's Racial Code Words

This is funny:

Michelle developed this theme earlier, "RNC Derangement Syndrome."

Mitt Romney, His Family, and Life (VIDEO)

Via Marathon Pundit:

Sheldon Adelson's Daughter Manhandles Male 'Democracy Now' Producer...

From Dan Riehl, "Video: Sheldon Adelson’s Daughter Manhandles Male ‘Democracy Now’ Producer, He Promptly Soils His Shorts."

South Africa Charges Miners in Deaths of Striking Miners

South Africa, the banana republic.

At the New York Times, "In Police Shooting of Miners, South Africa Charges Miners":

Several thousand workers at a platinum mine, in the town of Marikana, northwest of Johannesburg, went on strike this month, demanding a raise. The mine is owned by Lonmin, a company based in London. The men were members of a radical, breakaway union whose leaders were trying to drum up membership and had urged workers to strike to get higher pay and better working conditions. They occupied a rocky hill, armed themselves with machetes, spears and clubs, and chanted war songs and anthems from the struggle against apartheid.

For days, the authorities watched warily as the crowd grew more militant. Two police officers were hacked to death, and eight other people were killed in violent clashes. On Aug. 16, the police were given the order to move in. The police said that they tried to chase away the miners with rubber bullets and stun grenades, but that they were forced to resort to live ammunition when the miners surged at them. The police said they retrieved six guns from the scene, including one that belonged to one of the dead police officers.

The bloodshed, so reminiscent of the horror of the apartheid-era police force’s firing on protesters, stunned the nation. The government, trade unions and the opposition roundly condemned the violence, and President Jacob Zuma set up an independent commission to investigate the killings and gave it broad powers to subpoena testimony.

The police involved in the shooting could still face criminal charges as well. The inquiry set up by Mr. Zuma has the power to refer cases for prosecution, and it is expected to deliver a report in five months.

RTWT.

PREVIOUSLY: "South African Police Open Fire on Striking Miners (VIDEO)."

Ryan Killed It, Romney Rocked It, and Clint Eastwood Hammered the Living Shit Out of Barack Hussein

I commented previously on this, "Clint Eastwood's Throat-Slashing Speech to the Republican National Convention." And Mitt here and Paul Ryan here.

But seriously. Have people lost their minds?

Eastwood pulled off an extremely interesting impromptu speech performance that certainly packed enough punch to elicit a very insecure response from the president. According to reports, Clint's speech was indeed improvised --- he asked for a chair to be placed on stage at the last minute. That is the complete opposite of widespread political expectations. These conventions are buttoned-down, totally managed with 100 percent scripted presidential endorsements. Eastwood caught people off guard, and the crowd was roaring. Oh sure, no doubt many a Republican strategist winced as the 82-year-old actor drew a finger across his throat to signal that Barack's days are numbered. But again, seriously. We now have the Los Angeles Times suggesting that 12 minutes on that stage in Tampa tarnished an entire film career? Yes we do: "Did Clint Eastwood tarnish his film legacy?" Well, for crying out loud. Only the ensconced media elite would mount such a relentless attack. I mean, an icon of Hollywood not down with the approved Hollywood narrative? Heaven forbid. And the political pundits? They're calling it a "disaster," what else? They're clueless Beltway bitches, mostly at MSNBC, represented below by Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams, wound up tighter than Roseanne Barr in a shrunken bikini:

So let's be honest: The Republican National Convention rocked. Both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney raised the roof. The roster of speakers was so diverse and dynamic that MSNBC literally censored parts of the proceedings lest the American people get a glimpse of what true diversity looks like. And the message after three days was upbeat and genuinely progressive --- conservatives are looking ahead to restoring our country and reviving the American dream. "We can do this," in the words of the veep nominee.

Robert Stacy McCain has more, "How Awesome Was Clint Eastwood?" And from Bridget Johnson, at PJ Media, "Eastwood Turns in a Performance to Remember at RNC."

Australia Stunned by Deaths of Five Soldiers in Afghanistan

At the New York Times, "5 Soldiers' Deaths in Afghanistan Mark Australia's Worst Toll Yet."

Jennifer Lopez Rocks Yellow Bikini in Miami, Florida

Here's a little bikini hotness to lighten things up a bit.

At Egotastic, "Jennifer Lopez Bikini Pictures for a Bit of Veteran Saucy Pool Drop."

And London's Daily Mail, "She's going straight to the bottom! Curvy J-Lo takes a leap of faith as she jumps into swimming pool in teeny yellow bikini."

Clint Eastwood's Throat-Slashing Speech to the Republican National Convention

Don't let the deranged progressive spin fool you.

Clint Eastwood gave a phenomenal speech at the RNC last night.

Early evidence of this can be seen at the initial headline at ABC News, "Clint Eastwood Electrifies RNC Crowd, Interviews Invisible 'Obama'."

Sure, there were a few awkward moments, perhaps a little too unscripted for that venue, but overall the effect was devastating to the White House. And I mean f-king devastating! Throat-slashing gestures! How dare you disrepect "The One"?!!

William Jacobson has that, "This is not the tweet of a confident man," on President Obama's response to Eastwood on Twitter. And at Nice Deb, "The Narcissist in Chief Strikes Again."

And check over at Lonely Conservative, "Video: The Clint Eastwood RNC Speech Everyone is Talking About." And Maggie's Notebook, "This will go down in history as the best political speech EVER!"

In his quirky, completely spontaneous way, Clintwood has thrown the left into a frenzy of apoplectic fits. See John Nolte at Big Hollywood, "MEDIA STRIKES BACK AFTER DIRTY HARRY DARES TO MOCK OBAMA" (via Memeorandum):

Newsflash: Obama can't take a joke. But we already knew that.

For four long years we've waited, hoped and prayed that some young comic would break free of the politically correct demands of The State and mock Obama the way all presidents and all people in power should be mocked. But for four long years (with a few exceptions) all we've seen instead are cowardly toadies of The State: Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Chris Rock, the cast of "Saturday Night Live"…

Who would've ever thought that one of the men who would display enough backbone and "edge" to finally take it to Obama with wicked mockery on about 30 million live television screens would be 82 year-old Clint Eastwood? ...

Yeah, that's about it.

You gotta love it. More at Memeorandum.

The Left Responds to Mitt Romney's Acceptance Speech

William Jacobson notes how the progs at MSNBC about f-king popped at Romney's key line about how Obama pledged to save the earth. See, "About last night":

Immediately after Romney spoke I switched over to MSNBC. Heads exploding hardly begins to describe the reaction from Chris Matthews. Romney’s mocking Obama’s promise to halt the rise of the oceans really got under their skin...

Daily Kos has a progressive roundup, and Matthew Yglesias pokes his ugly mug out with a boilerplate progressive screed about how conservatives harm women, "Mitt Romney's Incoherent View of Mothers." (Via Memeorandum.)

I'm still reading around the horn.

Folks are wiggin' over Clint Eastwood's speech so look for an update on that.

Mitt Romney's Speech to the Republican National Convention

It thought it was fine speech. Romney was confident and warm. He again showed his love for family, his own and the institution itself, which he wants to restore at the foundation of the political culture of individualism and self-reliance. That's key to bringing this country back from the failed interregnum of the nearly four years of the Obama administration.

The New York Times reports, "Romney Vows to Deliver Country From Economic Travails." And the transcript, "Romney’s Speech to the Republican Convention."

RNC Derangement Syndrome

At Michelle's, "RNC Derangement Syndrome and the demise/dementia of the neutrality posers":

The media crazy train is standing room only.

As the GOP and the Right have gotten better and better at telling their stories and pushing back against progressive narratives, the gate-keepers who once held a monopoly on controlling the airwaves and printing presses have become more than unhinged.

They’ve become completely untethered from rationality:

- sloshing on the whitewash in a desperate attempt to stifle minority Republican voices;
- invoking RAAAAAAACIISSSM at every turn;
- circling their biased wagons for their hapless colleagues;
- dripping with open contempt; and
- spinning like tropical storms while posing as neutral fact-checkers.

2012 is the year that MSM “fact checker” officially became a punch line.

We’ve been heading towards this moment for some time, of course. For two decades in my newspaper column and nearly a decade on this website, we and the growing Right Media have chronicled the demise and dementia of the objectivity posers from Rathergate to the attempted media crucification of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party and all points in between.

This year, more than ever thanks to social media (including an army of Twitter conservatives and a weaponized generation of citizen journalists/fact-reclaimers inspired by Andrew Breitbart), the lapdogs’ insanity and pretenses have been met with effective exposure, resistance, mockery, and disarmament.

R.I.P.

More at the link.

And ICYMI, Guy Benson had the best piece pushing back against the left's bullsh*t "Paul Ryan lied" meme. See, "Obama Camp Melts Down Over Ryan's Speech."

More later.

I'll be embedding some of tonight's speeches from the convention. Mitt's going to rock it!

Paul Ryan Interview With Wolf Blitzer on CNN

That was one hella speech last night, and the radical left has popped a collective vessel.

Memeorandum has all the controversy.

And ICYMI, at The Other McCain, "When It Comes to ‘Brazen Lies,’ Nobody Excels Joan Walsh":

By now, you’re familiar with the pattern for Republican National Convention coverage: Democrats choose their themes, issue their talking points and their media henchpersons then repeat the partisan spin as if it were a matter of indisputable fact.

It was decided in advance that a major theme of media coverage would be “Republicans Are Racists,” and the liberal lapdogs in the press obligingly parroted the message. Chris Matthews declared it, and MSNBC contorted their coverage to conform to the Democrat talking points. (In case you didn’t realize it, “Chicago” is now a racist dog-whistle code — the “C-bomb,” as they call it at MSNBC.)

In advance of Paul Ryan’s speech — as demonstrated by the fundraising e-mail from DNC executive director Patrick Gaspard decrying “false attack after false attack” — it was decided to call Ryan a liar. This was the pre-determined theme, and when the DNC issued its message memo, their obliging stooges in the press corps repeated the contents without bothering to verify the facts for themselves.

Democrat drum majorette Joan Walsh rushed to the head of the parade to accuse Ryan of “brazen lies,” and the Washington Post ‘s Glenn Kessler took dictation from David Axelrod...

Continue reading.

Long Beach Students Head Back to School

School's back in.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports, "First day of school in Long Beach a lesson in waiting":

LONG BEACH - Long Beach City College student Vicky Van was hoping to enroll in a psychology class on Monday, but at No. 14 on the wait-list, Van knows her chances are slim.

"I'm going to try again on Wednesday, but I doubt I'll get in," said the 19-year-old Wilson High School graduate. "It's just so crowded this year."

Thousands of area college students headed back to school on Monday for the first official day of the fall semester. And as community colleges and universities face millions in state budget cuts, students are being greeted with higher tuition, crowded classrooms and fewer courses.

Education officials warn that more cuts loom on the horizon if voters fail to pass a November tax initiative designed to fund public education.

The article discusses Long Beach State, and then continues:

Long Beach City College is also facing significant budget challenges.

Funding for California's community colleges has been cut by $809 million over the past three years. California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott has said the system will face another possible $338 million loss in funding depending on the outcome of the November tax initiative.

As a result of the budget cuts, community college students this fall are facing fewer classes, fewer instructors, higher fees and larger class sizes. On Wednesday, Scott and other system leaders plan to hold a news conference to discuss the steps that colleges are taking to offset funding cuts at a time of increased demand for community colleges.

Meanwhile, LBCC this month announced a plan to cut up to 20 instructional programs and lay off about 10 full-time faculty members next year for a savings of $2 million.

LBCC President Eloy Oakley said the college plans to cut less popular programs in an effort to focus more resources on the core courses students need for transfer and graduation.

This fall, the college increased class sizes by about 10 percent for the majority of its courses, said LBCC spokesman Robert Garcia.

Many students on LBCC's liberal arts campus said classes this fall seem larger and also more affected than in previous years.

"I was surprised because I registered early this summer and I still got wait-listed," said 19-year-old Long Beach resident Jonathan Bealta.

Bealta said he was originally No. 12 on the wait-list for his English class but was bumped to No. 2 on Monday after several students didn't show up for the first day of class.

There's another video with President Oakley, and he makes no mention of the layoffs, "LBCC - 2012/13 Message to Faculty and Staff."

My classes were jam-packed. Lots of students are petitioning classes and I routinely admit all comers --- 13 students petitioned my Monday-Wednesday 11:00am class in American government, and there were almost that many trying to add my Tuesday-Thursday early morning classes.

These are tough times and students not only enroll in large numbers, but way fewer of them drop out than in earlier years. The tough fiscal times have forced students to be more careful about maintaining their enrollment, even if they're not doing especially well in their classes, which is an ongoing problem.

More on that later.

Meanwhile, also at the Press-Telegram, "California community colleges facing dire times."

Proof That Left-Wing Radicalism Makes You Stupid

This is extremely cringe-worthy, at Gateway Pundit, "#OccupyRNC Goon says ‘F*** The Rich’ – Wants Marxism (Video)."

BONUS: From Michael Totten, at World Policy Journal, "Noam Chomsky: The Last Totalitarian."

It's an interview with Benjamin Kerstein, who's written a book on Chomsky. And this is gold:

Michael Totten: Can you boil down your case against him into a couple of sentences or paragraphs?

Benjamin Kerstein: There are a couple of main points that should be made. First, Chomsky is an absolutely shameless liar. A master of the argument in bad faith. He will say anything in order to get people to believe him. Even worse, he will say anything in order to shut people up who disagree with him. And I’m not necessarily talking about his public critics. If you've ever seen how he acts with ordinary students who question what he says, it's quite horrifying. He simply abuses them in a manner I can only describe as sadistic. That is, he clearly enjoys doing it. I don't think anyone ought to be allowed to get away with that kind of behavior.

Second, Chomsky is immensely important to the radical left. When it comes to American foreign policy he isn't just influential, he's basically all they have. Almost any argument made about foreign affairs by the radical left can be traced back to him. That wasn't the case when he started out back in the late '60s, but it is now.

Third, he is essentially the last totalitarian. Despite his claims otherwise, he's more or less the last survivor of a group of intellectuals who thought systemic political violence and totalitarian control were essentially good things. He babbles about human rights all the time, but when you look at the regimes and groups he's supported, it’s a very bloody list indeed.

Communism and fascism are obviously dead as the proverbial doornail, but I doubt the totalitarian temptation will ever go away. The desire for unity and a kind of beautiful tyranny seems to spring from somewhere deep in the human psyche.

Fourth—and this may be most important—he makes people stupid. In this sense, he's more like a cult leader or a New Age guru than an intellectual. He allows people to be comfortable with their prejudices and their hatreds, and he undercuts their ability to think in a critical manner. To an extent, this has to do with his use of emotional and moral blackmail. Since he portrays everyone who disagrees with him as evil, if you do agree with him you must be on the side of good and right. This is essentially a kind of secular puritanism, and it's very appealing to many people, for obvious reasons, I think. We all want to think well of ourselves, whether we deserve it or not...

RTWT.

'A Conclave of Lily-White Racists'

Doug Ross reports, "I refer, of course, to vintage media -- the biggest collection of lily-white racists I've ever encountered. Consider the following incidents (all "coincidental", mind you)..."

More at Instapundit, "MATT LEWIS: On paranoia and the left’s obsession with hearing ‘dog whistles’."

Paul Ryan Speech to the Republican National Convention

I loved it.

Ryan is handsome and articulate. He hammered Obama personally and politically, and made stark contrasts between the GOP ticket and the moral bankruptcy of the Obama administration's nearly four years in office. The Wall Street Journal reports, "Ryan Pledges GOP Rebirth":

TAMPA, Fla.—Rep. Paul Ryan took the national political stage Wednesday as the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate, giving a televised speech that laid out one of the GOP's sharpest cases yet against a second term for President Barack Obama, and for Republicans as the party of small government.

Mr. Ryan's address to the Republican convention was his introduction to a national audience only now beginning to take his measure as one of the GOP's leading figures and the partner of presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

He blended notes of partisan rancor with personal touches, such as a nod to his taste for rock bands AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, as he tried to build a case that Mr. Obama had hindered the economy and piled on debt.

"After four years of getting the runaround, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Gov. Mitt Romney," Mr. Ryan told the crowd gathered at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Mr. Ryan's selection heralds the emergence of a new generation of Republican leaders willing to reshape the main pillars of a social safety net that has been in place since the 1960s.

The 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman is the architect of far-reaching legislation to cut federal spending and to overhaul entitlement programs, including a proposal to transform Medicare from open-ended health coverage for seniors into a system in which future beneficiaries buy private insurance, or buy into the traditional Medicare program, with premiums subsidized by the government.

Democrats call it a voucher system that will shift health-care costs to seniors. Mr. Ryan and his allies say the plan will save Medicare from insolvency.

Mr. Ryan didn't shy from his Medicare plan Wednesday. "Medicare is a promise, and we will honor it,'' he said, an effort to blunt Democratic attacks that his plan would undermine Medicare and shift costs to future retirees. "A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare, for my Mom's generation, for my generation, and for my kids and yours."

The congressman then blamed Mr. Obama for failing to curb the deficit, wasting stimulus money to revive the U.S. economy during his first year in office and passing a new health-care law that should "have no place in a free country."

Mr. Ryan said the president has shirked responsibility for the sluggish recovery. "College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life," he said.

More at that top link.

Plus, from Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Ryan’s Star Turn Shows GOP Ready to Rumble on Medicare."

And see The Other McCain, "COMPLETE TEXT: PAUL RYAN’S SPEECH TO THE GOP CONVENTION."

BONUS: At The Lonely Conservative, "What Are the GOP ‘Pros’ Who Panned the Ryan Pick Saying Now?"

Alanis Morissette: 'I Live for Having the Larger Conversations...'

At the Los Angeles Times, "Alanis Morissette nurtures 'Havoc and Bright Lights'":

The heat outside a North Hollywood rehearsal studio is in the triple digits, and inside isn't much better, but Alanis Morissette manages a cool, beatific calm beneath the hot lights of a film crew. She is fast approaching "the fever pitch" of activity that accompanies her every album release, even after a break of four years.

A camera sweeps in on a boom for a close-up of the singer-songwriter, cheerful in a gleaming white blazer, her auburn hair long and parted down the center. She is here to talk up a new album, "Havoc and Bright Lights" (out Tuesday), and her new life of marriage and motherhood for an online video piece hosted by Wal-Mart.

A young interviewer with a clipboard asks about her newest songs, and as Morissette begins — "On 'Woman Down' I comment about the patriarchy and misogyny ..." — it's immediately clear that the singer's first album since 2008 will pull no punches, regardless of recent domestic bliss in her own life.

"It's a challenge to be away from my son for too long, but I live for this," Morissette, 38, says minutes later, settling into her dressing room couch. On her left forearm is a tattoo of a tiger, drawn around the word "gentle." "I live for having the larger conversations that are spawned by the content of the songs. That's what I'm here to do, whether I like it or not."

More at that top link.