President Obama Statement on Attacks on U.S. Diplomatic Missions

The president said the U.S. will seek "justice" following the attacks. And U.S. Marines are on the way to the region. We'll see how it goes throughout the day.

I'll be teaching today. More commentary and analysis this afternoon.

Mitt Romney Hammers Obama Administration's Response to Violence in Egypt and Libya

Freedom's Lighthouse reports, "Mitt Romney Hammers Initial Obama Administration Response to Attack on U.S. Embassy in Egypt." And at the Washington Times, "Romney hammers Obama over response to assaults on diplomatic missions."

More at WaPo, "Romney calls Obama administration response to Libya attacks ‘disgraceful’." (At Memeorandum.)

The progs are going apeshit over this, but no matter Romney's criticism, the attacks on Americans raise serious questions about the administration's foreign policy, and events could throw the presidential campaign into turmoil. Toby Harnden has more on that, "How murder of U.S. ambassador to Libya plunges Obama's re-election campaign into crisis." (At Memeorandum.)

Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens Killed in Attack on U.S. Consulate in Benghazi

My prayers and condolences go out to the ambassador's family, and to the families of the others who were killed in Libya.

The New York Times reports, "U.S. Envoy to Libya Is Killed in Attack: Died After Rockets Fired in Revenge for Anti-Muslim Film."

I'll of course have more on this story later today. Meanwhile, Jake Tapper reports, "The Politics (Ugh, Yes, the Politics) of the Attacks on the US Diplomatic Posts in Benghazi and Cairo." (Via Memeorandum.)

April Rose Maximum Exposure: Back to School Edition

She's smokin'!

Speaking of back to school, see the Los Angeles Times, "California community college board OKs new registration policies":

According to a recent survey by the chancellor's office, more than 470,000 students began the fall semester on waiting lists, unable to get classes they need, while overall enrollment dropped from about 2.9 million in the 2008-09 academic year to 2.4 million in 2011-12. The number of class sections offered, meanwhile, decreased from 522,727 in 2008-09 to 399,540 in 2011-12, a nearly 24% decline.

State funding was cut by $809 million since 2008.

"Some students will struggle for any number of reasons, but having said that we are at a point in time where we don't have as many resources as we used to and we've got to place some criteria around registration," Himelstein said. "This will place priority on students who are motivated and showing good progress above those who in some cases quite frankly are meandering through the system."

Harsh.

Nation Pauses to Reflect on September 11 — Progressives Mount Pathetic Political Attacks on Bush Administration

I spent the day teaching. Normally each year on September 11, and the day before or after, so that all my classes benefit from the discussion, I recall where I was that morning and how the terrorists attacked us. Although there were ceremonies around the country today, it seems that each year the nation is more detached from the day's events and 9/11 feels more like a plain old historical milestone. This is especially true for young people. If some of my students are 17 or 18-year-old freshmen then they were 6 or 7-year-olds in 2001. I always pull up on the projection screen the first chapter of The 9/11 Commission Report, "We Have Some Planes." Reviewing just a few paragraphs, using the example of American Airlines Flight 11, students are introduced to the shocking efficiency of the 19 terrorists on that clear late-summer day. Sometimes we have a lot of discussion. This year students seemed to have less knowledge of this history, and also less opinion of the war on terror. I try to impart the ways that the country has changed over these last few years, and that young people today are the generation of Americans living in the shadow of the largest attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor.

I thus tend to discuss September 11 as a matter of the civic culture. I don't talk politics. The attacks mean different things to different people, and I personally try to put myself in the shoes of the fallen, their families, and of the first responders. Unlike past years, there wasn't much of a dramatic build-up to the 2012 anniversary. But reading around the horn on my breaks and during office hours, it was amazing --- if not shocking, though I'm inured to it by now --- to see how intensely politicized the day became. Progressives really went after President Bush, of all people, and his administration. In Groundhog Day-like redundancy, the left replayed the old canard that the Bush administration failed to prevent the attacks and that the response to 9/11 was inept and morally bankrupt. Yeah, I know. Where have we heard those things before? Martin Longman at Booman Tribune really got off on some kind of supreme arrogance, to the effect that since he knew people --- that neighbors and co-workers suffered --- he had some elevated understanding of events. It's the moral fallacy of hubris --- again. Booman took the whole "I knew people who suffered" meme to the sickly opportunistic conclusion that we shouldn't politicize the day, unless of course it was to attack the hated Bush regime. So trite. So small. And so typical for the hate-addled progressives of the antiwar left. See, "Thoughts for 9/11." President Obama comes in for criticism too, conveniently, but since it was Bush in power at the time, clearly that's the "leadership" Booman decries.

And don't miss idiot Robert "Che" Farley piling on at Lawyers, Guns and Money. Read it at the link for the context, but slamming the Bush administration, our Patterson School national security "expert" writes: "...who knew that putting a staggeringly inept man surrounded by frauds, liars, and sociopaths into the White House could lead to bad things?"

Perfessor Farley is responding to Kurt Eichenwald's essay at today's New York Times, "The Bush White House Was Deaf to 9/11 Warnings." Folks can read it at the link. How pathetic. NewBusters has this, "On 9-11 Anniversary, New York Times Op-Ed Blames Bush." Plus Abe Greenwald offers a must read piece at Commentary, "Nobody Was Prepared for 9/11."

And don't forget Greenwald's classic piece from last year at Commentary, "What We Got Right in the War on Terror."

Plus, from this morning's Los Angeles Times, "9/11 -- 11 years later: A nation pauses to reflect and mourn anew."

BONUS: At American Glob, "Liberals Stupidly Believe Foreign Policy Is Obama’s Secret Weapon."

At Least One American Killed in Attack on U.S. Consulate in Libya

At USA Today, "American shot dead in Libyan attack on U.S. Consulate."

And Robert Stacy McCain reports, "We Are Prepared to Come Kill You UPDATE: One American Killed, Another Wounded in Libyan Attack."

PREVIOUSLY: "Egypt Protesters Scale U.S. Embassy Wall."

Egypt Protesters Scale U.S. Embassy Wall

At the Los Angeles Times, "Egypt protesters pull down US flag at embassy in Cairo."

CAIRO — More than a dozen Egyptian protesters, angry over what they called an anti-Muslim video, scaled the outer wall of the fortress-like U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday and took down an American flag.

In its place, they raised a black flag that read: "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet" before Egyptian security forces sought to tame the crowd.

And at the New York Times, "Obscure Film Mocking Muslim Prophet Sparks Anti-U.S. Protests in Egypt and Libya."

And In the Hour of Darkness ... She Is Standing Right In Front of Me...

From this afternoon's drive-time, at The Sound L.A., this seems appropriate given the 11th anniversary of the September 11th attacks:

Canelo vs. Lopez at MGM Grand

There's a big fight this Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

While we were visiting the hotel had placed the fight ring in the main entrance lobby.

And my oldest took a shot of your humble blogger:

PREVIOUSLY: "Labor Day Weekend in Las Vegas."

Lana Del Rey: 'Video Games'

Here's the viral video from the pop sensation:

PREVIOUSLY: "Lana Del Rey Nude GQ Photo Shoot."

Steven Spielberg 'Lincoln' Teaser

At Film, "First Footage From Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ Features a Bit of the President’s Most Famous Speech" (via Memeorandum).

Also at the Wall Street Journal, "‘Lincoln’ Teaser Trailer Released."

Plus, Allahpundit has commentary, at Hot Air, "Video: “Lincoln” teaser trailer."

'Bachelor Pad'

I was figuring out this show as it was going along. My wife was watching as well. But by the conclusion, when host Chris Harrison explained the final rules, I could see what kind of strategic game was at hand. And man, what a payoff! A classic display of self-interested, Machiavellian television. A rare treat. Is Nick an asshole? Perhaps. But he played for keeps. Apparently he had no partners throughout and even Rachel wasn't committed to him at earlier points in the show. But that's all I can say because it's all new to me. Definitely an explosive finale.

I don't see video for last night's episode, but here's the website. And see Lincee Ray, at the Huffington Post, "'Bachelor Pad' Finale Recap: The Most Disturbing Finale Ever." Also at E! Online, "Bachelor Pad Finale: A Proposal, Betrayal and So Many Tears."

Tourists Run for Their Lives After Spooking Buffalo at Yellowstone National Park

The tourists are smiling after that little run down, but a brute animal like that will kill you if it gets the chance:

You can see how close the tourists were to the buffalo at The Blaze, "THE STUNNING MOMENT A WILD BISON CHARGES A CHILD IN YELLOWSTONE!"

Today's Poll Numbers

It was a big day for presidential horse race polling. And after all of it I'm still not convinced Obama's pulling out a decisive advantage at this point, but I'm honestly concerned that trends could be favoring the Democrats in Ohio, and perhaps some of the other swing states --- and that's taking into consideration the horrible media bias in both polling and reporting. And note I say could be.

Earlier this evening, Scott Pelley on CBS Evening News reported that Obama's up 6 points in Ohio. This would be the Quinnipiac/CBS/NYT swing states poll. I think it was 50 to 44 over Romney, but the survey's not posted yet at any of the websites. If that's correct (and I'll post the numbers when they're up), the findings would be within one point of the Public Policy Poll out today on Ohio, which has Obama up by 5 points in the Buckeye State. I don't trust either polling outfits, so there's that. And Ed Morrissey fisked PPP in any case, noting how the internals were off, with Democrats oversampled and independents undersampled: "PPP puts Obama up 5 in Ohio":

Ohio looks deadlocked if one considers the modeling used, and even perhaps edging toward Romney when looking at the independents. I’d wait on hitting panic buttons here until seeing something with a better likely-voter model.

And see William Bigelow at Big Government as well, "Despite Media Hype, No Bounce for Obama in Swing States":

Politico’s “Unnamed Sources” say Ohio is lost for Mitt Romney. Like hell it is. They say Obama got a serious bounce from the DNC. Like hell he did.

Whatever bounce Obama got was in the blue states. In the swing states, it’s still way too close to call. Today’s Rasmussen poll results show that in the eleven swing states, including Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, which total 145 electoral votes, it’s Obama 46% and Romney 45%. In 2008, Obama won these states 53% to 46%. So how does the MSM try to spin the evidence so Obama looks like he’s unbeatable? Let’s look at Ohio, for example. Politico reported (using uncredited sources, of course), that Ohio is lost for Romney:

“Two officials intimately involved in the GOP campaign said Ohio leans clearly in Obama’s favor now.”

I didn’t know Axelrod and Plouffe were working for Romney, but hey, they’ll go where the money is.

But, as usual, Politico was relying on Obama-leaning polls to support their narrative; yesterday the PPP poll (which is always weighted toward Obama because of PPP’s affiliation with the SEIU) showed Obama up by five in Ohio. Hmmm. According to the Gravis marketing poll taken last Tuesday, Romney was up three in Ohio. Who’s telling the truth? ....

*****

Every race in the swing states is close right now, and the unconscionable skewing of the polls by the MSM shouldn’t discourage Republicans. The MSM has lied before, they are lying now, and they will lie in the future. The Obama campaign has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Romney, they have the power of incumbency, and Romney simply is not going away. And all of this is before Romney has even attacked Obama in ads and the debates.

Hey, Dems, this show ain’t even close to over; we’re just getting warmed up.

For all that, I'm not going to just wave my hand and wish away the numbers. If the election were held today Romney would lose. So it's going to take some hard campaigning, winning debates for the GOP ticket, and reasonably fair media coverage down the final stretch (fingers crossed).

Still, I think progressives are foolish for preemptively spiking the football the way they have been. Martin Longman at Booman Tribune is especially cocky about a Democrat victory. There's no cost to being wrong, of course. Progressives will just claim the GOP stole the election anyway, so better to demoralize folks now.

But I'm not one to call it quits in any event, and I'm not sure exactly which conservatives are throwing in the towel, for all the hand-wringing. John Hinderaker simply backed off his predictions for a big Romney win, and the left immediately pounced. Really. Has anyone actually caved?

My hunch is that while Obama indeed pulled out a bit of a bounce (and props to Nate Silver, who I promised a shout out if his predictions proved correct), the race will settle back down to a rough dead heat over the next couple of weeks --- and then perhaps the October debates might have some impact on the campaign. See Stephen Hayes, at the Weekly Standard, for more along those lines, "Two More Months":

One day after the Democratic convention ended here, and a week after the Republican convention wrapped up in Tampa, and American politics is basically all tied up. Here’s the top line on Real Clear Politics 60 days before November 6: The RCP average for the presidential race shows a dead heat (Obama +0.7 percentage points), the Senate is 46-46 with 8 tossups, and the generic congressional ballot is tied....

Keep reading.

And see also Robert Stacy McCain, at American Spectator, "Omens of Doom?":

Sixty-four days remain in the 2012 presidential campaign. Election Day is nine weeks from tomorrow, both party conventions are now in the rearview mirror, and Mitt Romney's uphill battle to unseat President Obama has reached its most crucial phase. Everything that happened before today was merely prelude to this, the heart of the fall campaign season, and no "expert" can confidently predict today what the final result will be on November 6.

These basic facts are important to establish at the outset of any discussion of the current state of the race, because there are many influential people who would like you to believe that the outcome of the election has somehow already been determined, and that they have clairvoyant insight on what that outcome will be. But why bring Nate Silver into this?

Silver is the poll-analyzing guru of the New York Times, whose reputation as a wizard was developed in crunching baseball statistics before being applied to political campaigns. On Saturday afternoon, Silver published an analysis which asserted that Obama now has a nearly 80 percent chance of winning the election, with 317 Electoral College votes and 52 percent of the popular vote. All of which is very interesting -- and very important, if true.

However, baseball isn't politics, and public-opinion polls are not batting averages or on-base percentages or any other such metric of past performance. Readers of Michael Lewis's bestseller Moneyball may appreciate this distinction, especially if they have any extensive experience in following polls and election campaigns....

 To put it as bluntly as possible, the economy sucks, and the attempt by Democrats to exculpate Obama for this situation -- to place the blame on Republicans, or to say that the economy would suck even worse if Romney were elected -- is perhaps more difficult than Nate Silver's statistics suggest. If somebody were to offer you 4-to-1 odds on that proposition, how much would you bet? Mitt Romney's campaign reportedly raised $100 million last month, and the Obama campaign's embarrassed silence about its own August fundraising suggests that Democratic donors are less confident than the wizard of the New York Times.

And for good measure, check Bryan Preston as well, at PJ Media, "Seriously, Don't Panic About the Latest Polls."

It's going to be a hard fought campaign down to the wire. Neither side should get complacent, although I agree that Team Romney needs to clarify its message and hammer President Obama on his big-government radicalism. We've never had a president like this, and the point hasn't been driven home to the average man-on-the-street. No one else can do it. Romney has to get more personal and less managerial, lest he end up being the Michael Dukakis of 2012.

The Last Efforts of a Dying Ideology

If you read my post yesterday on the hubristic progressives, then consider this piece from Sarah Hoyt a continuation, but instead focusing on how some on the right have been suckered into the left's brazen propaganda of inevitable victory, "Spreading Fear and Despondency."

Progressives will attempt to demoralize you, they'll send you stuff like this to prove their inevitability, but mark my words: It's still a dead heat. The election is too close to call and there remain so many unaccounted for variables in play that to assume victory is outright folly. Don't be suckered.

I'll have more on this in the days ahead.

Supporters of Freedom Are All Zionists Now

From David Horowitz, at FrontPage Magazine, "Reflections of a Diaspora Jew on Zionism, America and the Fate of the Jews."

I looked for a good pullout quote, but it's all good, and classic Horowitz. Read it all at the link.

The Sadly Obligatory Biker Chick Sitting on Joe Biden's Lap Post

The photo was being wildly circulated on Twitter yesterday, so here's my contribution. Via Right Truth, "What Is It With Joe Biden Kissing Women and Having a Biker Chick Sit On His Lap?"

It wouldn't be that bad I suppose, but frankly the scene is fraught with more improper sexual tension than you could possibly imagine. Biden's practically making out with the lady. What a freak. And the looks on the gentlemen bikers next to them tell it all.

More at Twitchy, "Awkward: Joe Biden is photographed with a female biker in his lap."

Mitt Romney 'Meet The Press' Interview, September 9, 2012

Linkmaster Smith has it, at The Other McCain, "Mitt Romney Spars With David Gregory On Meet The Press."

Legal Battles on Voting May Be Critical Issue in Election

Something I haven't focused on much in my weekend analyses, at the New York Times, "A Tight Election May Be Tangled in Legal Battles":

The November presidential election, widely expected to rest on a final blitz of advertising and furious campaigning, may also hinge nearly as much on last-minute legal battles over when and how ballots should be cast and counted, particularly if the race remains tight in battleground states.

In the last few weeks, nearly a dozen decisions in federal and state courts on early voting, provisional ballots and voter identification requirements have driven the rules in conflicting directions, some favoring Republicans demanding that voters show more identification to guard against fraud and others backing Democrats who want to make voting as easy as possible.

The most closely watched cases — in the swing states of Ohio and Pennsylvania — will see court arguments again this week, with the Ohio dispute possibly headed for a request for emergency review by the Supreme Court.

In Wisconsin, the home state of the Republican vice-presidential candidate, Representative Paul D. Ryan, the attorney general has just appealed to the State Supreme Court on an emergency basis to review two rulings barring its voter ID law. But even if all such cases are settled before Nov. 6 — there are others in Florida, Iowa and South Carolina — any truly tight race will most likely generate post-election litigation that could delay the final result.

“In any of these states there is the potential for disaster,” said Lawrence Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. “You have close elections and the real possibility that people will say their votes were not counted when they should have been. That’s the nightmare scenario for the day after the election.”

More at that top link.

Senator Dianne Feinstein Walks Out of Interview When Asked Why She Won't Debate Her Oppenent

There's so much symbolism here the significance is astonishing. It's literally as if Feinstein believes there's no reason to be accountable to the political process. And keep in mind, why should she? California's the bluest of blue states and the power of incumbency practically guarantees reelection for a milquetoast placeholder like Feinstein. I cringe at how undemocratic it seems, but then again, change takes time, especially in California. Perhaps things won't go well for the state's Democrats in November, especially on Proposition 30, and the seeds could be sown for substantial political change going forward. We'll see. Via Instapundit: